Half a year ago, not long after spring began, under Peng Niu Sheng's nose, another group of bandits sprang up in Xiaoshan. They were entrenched in Dongshan and blocked roads and robbed, which was quite a trend.
In today's world, it is not uncommon for people to turn into bandits. There are also people who work alone, and there are more people who gather in the mountains and forests. In the final analysis, it is only due to two reasons - the first First, they are unwilling or unable to do serious errands, and just want to have a leisurely and happy life like "I have wine today, and I will get drunk tomorrow", so I choose to make money from side jobs; second, it is the transfer of "evil" .
It is undeniable that some of these people who join the green forest are forced to have no choice but to be domineering in this world. In short, they have also been victims - just like Gongsun Nu in Fujing City, but Some of them chose a different path - no matter what happened in the middle, some people still chose to vent their "evil" on the weaker ones in the end.
Of course, not everyone is a thief for the same reason. For example, Wang Zheng Qulai, a widower who once reached an agreement with He Nan, is the son who inherited his father's legacy; another example is that he was impressed by He Nan and Wei Kui , King Rui Wuxun of Chujiang, who is also currently implementing a big plan, is his disciple's instructions.
And this red-crested leopard who led a group of thieves to dominate Xiaoshan does not have so many tragic stories about his misfortune, nor so many bizarre accidents... He chose to be a thief just because he was born with no sense of morality, or It is said that he did it out of personal interest, which is the purest evil.
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Peng Niu Sheng has long been accustomed to the occasional appearance of some petty thieves around Xiaoshan. He was originally in this business, and of course he can understand the reasons why thieves cause trouble - not to mention the reason why He Nan is rectifying the situation in the village. After the election, many people rebelled or left, and continued to make trouble in the surrounding areas in small groups - not because they were accustomed to the "good life" in the past. How could it be so easy for them to change their ways and defend the township party and work diligently today? ?
Peng Niu Sheng is not an honest person, but since he agreed to He Nan, he can shoulder the burden. Therefore, the security in the Xiaoshan area is indeed much better than that of Qing Mian Yan Luo during his lifetime, but because of the manpower in the village The reason for the serious turnover is that Peng Niusheng is really unable to cope with these "former colleagues" who are raking and brooming.
The red-crowned leopard was also born at this time. This man was good at intelligence and force, and the most distinctive feature of his appearance was that a bunch of bright red hair suddenly grew out of the black hair on the top of his head, so he used this as his nickname. nickname.
At first, this red-crested leopard was just a solitary man blocking the way east of Xiaoshan, and had conflicts with many small bandits. However, due to his strong martial arts, these bandits gradually gathered under his command, and they Taking the abandoned East Village of Yanluo Village as his home base, he came to revive the dead.
That is to say, when the power of the red-crested leopard became more and more expanded, the red-crested leopard had the desire to be not satisfied with the status quo and wanted to be the biggest thief leader in Xiaoshan. It is also possible that this was what he had been pursuing from the beginning to the end - but Although the red-crowned leopards' martial arts skills are high enough, they are not capable of fighting one against a hundred, so they usually commit crimes in a small area to accumulate strength.
In this matter, Peng Niu Sheng was indeed slow and overconfident. By the time he reacted, the power of the red-crowned leopard had grown to be as great as his. Peng Niu Sheng also went to the county to ask for the help of officers and soldiers to exterminate the red-crowned leopard, but the red-crowned leopard also paid extra money, and the government's attitude towards this was to turn a blind eye - after all, in this country In their opinion, Peng Niu Sheng was not a good person, and it was best for the two of them to die together.
Since then, Xiaoshan has fallen into a situation of being divided into two. The red-crowned leopard is the king and hegemony in the east mountain, and Peng Niu Sheng continues to maintain the righteous and brave team in the west mountain. In a short period of time, neither one can do anything to the other.
Human desires are the most difficult to cut off, especially those who were once bandits and are now good citizens. If there was no figure like Red-Crowned Leopard who took the lead, perhaps they would not dare to have different intentions, but now the brother thieves who used to drink and eat meat together in Dongshan are all following the bandit leader to eat and drink, and they have to follow the villagers in Xishan. Farming and working together? Many people became more and more angry as they thought about it, and finally switched to the Red-crowned Leopard over the mountains and ridges, and the Red-crowned Leopard did not refuse anyone who came——
How can a bandit pick someone? What's more, now is the time of development. If you want to kill Peng Niu Sheng and dominate Xiaoshan, of course, the more manpower the better. As the power of the Red-Crowned Leopard grows, more and more people come to seek refuge with them. There is even a former capable general of Qing-faced Yama among them - the subordinate who fought with the four young disciples of the Jinghong Sect with Cheng Qingshu at that time. The only left ghost king who was lucky enough to survive, he ran away after the incident, and occasionally came out to do it secretly when the news was not serious. Now that the red-crested leopard is in power, the Zuogui King has found a backer, and even got a position based on his old qualifications.
A month ago, that is, after realizing that the time was ripe, the red-crowned leopard launched a general attack on the mountain village where Peng Niusheng was located. Logically speaking, there were quite a few people left with Peng Niusheng, except for those who had passed. There are enough conscientious people who have to fight and live in fear, and there are also many passionate young people from surrounding villages and towns. Their fighting power cannot be underestimated. At least it is not difficult to hold on to the current territory.
The bad thing is that the second-in-command and second-in-command of this righteous army, that is, the old taro who adapts to the wind, this man who is greedy for life and afraid of death, sees the menacing and powerful red-crested leopard, and actually takes the initiative to open the gate of the village and surrender. This is also This directly led to the collapse of Peng Niu Sheng's party, and the righteous and brave people were also scattered.
"After this battle, the army was dispersed, and the brothers all found their own places to go. I am an orphan. I have no strength, and my appearance is not pleasant. I was not taken seriously in the first place, so Just follow the others and hang out under the red-crested leopard, doing some shabby jobs like keeping weapons and cleaning stables." Ren Tianjing held the horse's reins and walked side by side with He Nan: "Although I don't understand any righteousness, but I also know that it is not a good idea to continue like this, and there are some brothers in the village who have the same idea as me, secretly planning to kill the red-crowned leopard and welcome back the bull-headed brother, but the bull-headed brother is too seriously injured, and the red-crowned leopard's ability It’s not like we can match it, so we haven’t had a clue until now.”
"But this time you are back, maybe this can be done!"
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After the defeat, several brothers fought tooth and nail to snatch Peng Niu Sheng away from the rebels. The place where Peng Niu Sheng rested was the same village where He Nan and the others had "borrowed land" and stayed in the bed of a fellow villager. In the cellar below.
If Peng Niu Sheng could use this village as a hiding place, there was no reason for Red-Crowned Leopard not to know about it, so he immediately sent people to the village to investigate. Fortunately, Niu Tou has helped the village to gain a good reputation this year. , hundreds of villagers in the township did not reveal the news, and it was considered a secret for a while.
"Brother Niutou, do you think who is back?" Ren Tianjing walked at the front, holding a torch and leading everyone down to the cellar.
There was nothing in the cellar, just a bed, two stools, and some half-person-high earthen jars containing some home-brewed wine and pickles. In order to avoid being discovered as much as possible, candles are not lit at night. Sometimes Niutou will go out for a brief exercise, and two little brothers will take turns watching him while he sleeps.
"Hey... Boss He, Boss Wei? Why are you back?" By the light of the fire, Niu Tou could clearly see the faces gradually coming down into the cellar. Although he lived like an earthworm in the soil all day long, he could occasionally Go up and take a breath, so you won't be unable to open your eyes if you suddenly see the light.
"Old Niu, what are you..." He Nan's attention was immediately attracted by Niu Tou's current condition - this man is much thinner than when we met last year, but the biggest change is that the left sleeve is empty. Empty, dry and clinging to his side.
"I lost an arm, but I found a life." Peng Niu Sheng's mood was not as low as expected. Perhaps the past month had been enough for him to relieve the inner trauma caused by his physical disability.
"I have already allowed my brothers to talk about what happened during this period on the road." Seeing Niutou's miserable state, He Nan felt unbearable and regretful in his heart: "Maybe it was my fault... I didn't leave a message for you. There is a better way, but it leaves behind the lives of those duplicitous people..."
What people didn't expect was that Niutou suddenly interrupted He Nan: "No, Boss He, please don't say that."
"If you really want to blame me, I have to blame Lao Niu for my own incompetence." Niu Tou sat up from the bed and made room for He Nan, but the young man still forced Lao Niu to lean against him.
On the bed, he pulled an empty bench and sat in front of the other person.
Niu Tou continued: "To tell you the truth, it was you who gave me, Peng Niusheng, and many other brothers who had gone astray a chance to live. I, Peng Niusheng, consider myself not a good person, and I did what I did in the first half of my life. That was an outrageous thing. Logically speaking, one person should have died a long time ago. But now God has allowed me to break this arm and live like a useless person, but he has not taken the life of my old cow. It is the debt I owe that has not yet been repaid. clear."
"Back then, I committed a heinous crime by killing my mentor and trying to steal other people's money. Although I lived a happy life, I still couldn't escape the condemnation of my conscience. Learning to be a good person this year has made me even more embarrassed - I have to Why would the villagers take in a rotten guy like me if they don’t think I’ve made up for my past mistakes?”
"I speak with my conscience. I only listened to you because I lost to you in a bet. As for what you really want to teach us, it wasn't until I lost this arm that I took it into my heart and realized what you really wanted to do." At this point, Peng Niu Sheng suddenly rolled sideways, fell to the ground, and knelt on his knees: "Old Niu, I haven't studied for a few days, but at least I am a person who has really wallowed in the quagmire. I used to be a When a horse is stolen, no matter whether it is killing people or seeing one of its own dead, he really doesn't blink an eyelid. He always just cares about his own life, hoping that more people will die and less will take his own share. But you let me think of this The leader of the Yiyongwu team, leading this group of good young people from all over the country, has made me really human - seeing those young people die because of me, Old Niu makes me feel uncomfortable!"
At this juncture, Peng Niu Sheng no longer cared about whether anyone was searching or not. He was crying in agony and misery, and He Nan seemed to be still. He crossed his legs and watched him kneeling on the ground, crying bitterly. No movement at all.
No one knew what He Nan was thinking, and no one asked. He Nan was left alone in deep thought.
