After a while, a group of men and horses came out of the water village.
The leader was Li Dian, leading five or six cavalry, followed by an elite troop of fifty people.
The elders hold bows and arrows, while the younger ones hold spears. Those who are stronger carry the flag of the Li family, and those who are brave and brave are the leaders with a sword and a shield.
Everyone scrambled to be the first and worked hard to kill all the Zibangfu and the palace guards.
That's right, in addition to Zhang Chong and the others who ran out, Han Kuang and the others also had a few people stand out from their team, walking in the same direction as Zhang Chong and the others.
However, Li Dian was not sure where these people ran.
He first sent the four cavalrymen out along the river and asked them to gallop for half an hour. Regardless of whether they saw anyone or not, they all came here to meet.
After that, he asked everyone to eat and wait.
Watching the sentry horses scattering in all directions, Li Dian stared at the dim light of the morning, stunned.
How could things be like this?
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"How could things be like this?" My father asked Zhang Chong in a woods.
At this time, Zhang Chong also came to his senses. He looked at Sun Xun, who was breathing weakly in his arms, and sighed.
"It's all my fault. When I was throwing the spear to kill Li Jin, I was unprepared. A small soldier took a chance and stabbed me.
I thought I was going to die, but it was Tingzhang Sun who pushed me away and saved my life, but he was stabbed himself. Alas..."
"What? You killed Li Jin? How is that possible?" The person who asked the question was Ding Sheng, who looked shocked at this time.
Zhang Chong nodded at him and said yes, he was the one who killed him.
But when I saw Sun Xun, I felt ashamed again.
Everyone wanted to ask for more details, but Sun Xun, who had been unconscious, suddenly coughed and opened his eyes.
He first looked around, then grinned and said to everyone:
"Second son, you did a good job, just bring everyone back well.
It's my fault. I brought you out one by one, but in the end I couldn't bring you back. I hope you don't blame me."
Then he looked deeply at Zhang Chong and thought:
"You and him are so similar, we are both such heroes. When I was in the army, there was a man like you, wise and brave.
It's a pity that he is just a mediocre man. No matter how great his achievements are, they belong to others. After all, he saved my life. If I save you now, I have earned it by living so many more years.
Alas, this world may have always been like this. Those who were guilty were given high status and died in old age, while those who were innocent died in jail and their corpses were abandoned in the ditch.
But I still don’t understand it, and I haven’t read many books, so I still can’t understand these principles.
Why, although he is clearly the master of the country's economic system, he regards the people as enemies. Why, the ordinary people who should live a good life are turned into ravines, and the strong are scattered in all directions.
I don’t understand it, but if you can understand it, my second son, please tell me about that useless grandson, and ask him to tell me when he makes a family sacrifice.”
After saying that, he looked at the crowd and then at Jishui in the distance. The morning light was faint and vast.
Sun Xun died.
Everyone burst into tears, and even the sailors on some ships also looked sad. They not only felt sorry for Old Man Sun, but also had no hope for the future.
Zhang Dan wiped away her tears and looked at Zhang Chong with tears in her eyes. At this moment, he looked like a boy in his late teens. He said sadly:
"Brother Chong, let's take Old Man Sun back. I'm a little homesick."
Before Zhang Chong could speak, Duman had already spoken:
"You can't go back. Do you want your whole family to become slaves of the government? We lost the water ship this time and haven't completed the water service. If we go back like this, all our relatives will be punished."
For Cheng Dan, life will be worse than death when the time comes, so don’t even think about going back."
"Furthermore, I estimate that the reason why Li and his group dared to openly attack the Jibei King's guards was because they wanted to use the water bandits to rob and kill the canal ships.
When the time comes, they will definitely report that all of us died in Juye Ze. So, if we don’t go back, our family will be fine. If we go back, everyone will be exiled.”
Duman said it to Zhang Dan, and also to everyone. He was afraid that everyone would not know the power of it and go back rashly, harming himself and his family.
Sure enough, not only Zhang Dan's face became stiff after hearing these words, but almost everyone except for a few people couldn't stand it anymore. They were whispering and making a fuss.
Just when everyone was about to lose their patience, Ding Sheng suddenly roared.
"Stop talking, stay down quickly, a sentry horse is coming." As he said that, he pinned down Heifu, who was still mumbling.
Everyone was convulsed and buried in the grass, and some of them were still trembling.
Everyone held their breath and roared for a moment, then the sound of horse hooves came from a distance.
The cavalry coming from the opposite side were wearing armor, and their saddles and pantaloons were equipped with bows and arrows. They obviously followed the tactics of the grassland barbarians, who used cavalry and archery to fight the enemy.
When Ding Sheng shouted, Zhang Chong pulled out the spear from Old Man Sun's belly.
He didn't care about the people lying down, he just raised his spear with his backhand and rushed towards the sentry horse.
The sentry horse also saw Zhang Chong, was slightly startled, and drew out his bow and arrow to ask for someone.
But suddenly, an arrow hit his palm at a faster speed and was directly nailed to the arrow.
Zhang Chong knew that this was shot by the man with pleated hakama. He had obtained a hand slave from somewhere before, and when he charged, he was already half-kneeling and aiming at the sentry horse.
Zhang Chong walked slowly, then accelerated, and then became furious and threw the spear with a "scream" sound.
The sharp spear cut through a graceful curve and penetrated ruthlessly into the body of the sentry horse.
The violent force even flew him off his horse, and the spear stuck him in the ground.
The man hung on the spear, struggled and died.
The horse felt its body light up and didn't know what was happening. The humans in front of it grabbed the bridle and stopped it.
The people lying in the grass cheered and jumped out with joy. They all came to look at the big-headed horse. You and he touched it. This thing is indeed rare.
Zhang Chong walked up to the sentry horse, rummaged through his folds and found some useless bits and pieces.
Then they drew their spears, tore off his clothes and armor, and kicked the man's body into a ditch beside the road.
At this time, Zhang Dan and the others also searched the horses. In addition to a bow, a bag of arrows, a bone and three halberds.
Zhang Dan happily sent these things to Zhang Chong, waiting for him to distribute them.
Distribution is the power of the leader, and to their ragtag team, Zhang Chong is the leader.
Zhang Chong wiped the blood off the spear with his sleeve. Old man Sun and the sentry horse were all wiped off with this wipe, and everything became a thing of the past.
Zhang Chong said to the cheering crowd:
"Everyone has just heard what Duman said. I know that for those of us from the countryside, home is everything.
No matter how hard or tired you are, it doesn't matter. As long as you get home and eat grandma's soup cakes, everything will be over.
But now, this shitty world makes it impossible for us to return home. First of all, this damned labor force requires us to travel thousands of miles just to feed the silverfish in Kyoto. They sacrifice their lives for the people's blood and are extravagant and licentious. What have we gained?
We had nothing, we could only abandon our wives and children, and row on that damn boat day and night.
Then, there are those powerful people who don't regard us as human beings. We escaped from the bandits with a narrow escape, but in the end these people still wanted us to die.
Ting Chang Sun died at the hands of these people. Are the lives of us people so cheap?
Now, like animals, we are being cornered by jackals. When Lao Suntou was about to die, he told me to lead everyone alive and return home alive.
Then I, Shi Zaizi, will do it even if I risk my life.
I just don’t believe that good people don’t live long in this world. If God is really blind, then I, Shi Zizi, will do justice for God.”
After saying that, Zhang Dan and Ding Sheng shouted together:
"Lead everyone alive and do justice for heaven. Lead everyone alive and do justice for heaven."
Then, everyone was shouting, and their hope and fighting spirit were ignited again.
Then Zhang Chong said to everyone:
"The current situation is that Li's side is still chasing us. Now let's kill his sentry horse. If the sentry horse doesn't come back after a while, they will definitely come from here.
So what should we do now? How about we run away separately. I guess many people think so in their hearts. The ones who killed me before and after were all my Shi Zaizi, so what does it have to do with you."
A few people who were told the central issue unconsciously took a step back.
Zhang Chong continued:
"It stands to reason, but I am very responsible to tell you that the Li family wanted us to die together. Because they killed an official worth 400 dan in public, and they wanted to frame this matter on the water bandits.
Then our entire population must be wiped out.
So if everyone separates, everyone will be hunted like wild animals.
And with my bravery, maybe even if all of you die, I can still fight my way out.
But why don't I abandon everyone?
It was Lao Suntou who taught me. He could have run away last night, but in order to save me, he came back. This is a sacrifice.
Now, I, Shi Zaizi, will also tell you that from now on, whenever we fight, I will be the first to charge, and whenever I stand behind, I will be the last to leave. Please supervise me. If one day I fail to do it, please behead me."
After saying that, he knelt down facing the south sky, worshiped with both hands:
"Today, I and a group of brothers will live together and die together. We will lead everyone to find a way to survive."
Then everyone present knelt down and roared:
"If you live, you will live together; if you die, you will die together. Seek a way to survive!"
The sound of oaths circled this forest for a long time.
Instead, it attracted three leather-armored warriors.
The man with the folded hakama was the most alert, with his hand on the bowstring, pointing directly at the three people. Others also picked up their weapons and surrounded the three people.
Zhang Chong knew them. These three were warriors in Han Kuang's bodyguards. They were among those who had fought in Li Jin's tent before.
Among them, this middle-aged man with a fierce temperament impressed him the most because he was the first to defeat Li Dian.
Li Dian still managed to block this person with the help of a soldier.
In Zhang Chong's eyes, he was also the second warrior besides Han Kuang in Han Kuang's team who was proficient in sword fighting.
At this time, he pushed aside the crowd, walked up to Zhang Chong, stared at this ridiculously young warrior, and suddenly knelt down on one knee:
"A certain Yang Mao, please also ask the hero to take us to find a way to survive." After saying this, he dedicated the sword to Zhang Chong.
Zhang Chong, holding his sword, looked at the sharp blade and pointed towards the sky, and everyone cheered.
In this way, these three warriors, plus the 62 people on Zhang Chong's side, a total of 65 people, led the horses, bypassed the official road, and ran towards the reed swamp.