At 3:30 a.m. the next day, the noisy team finally set off. Colonel Zhu walked in front with an impatient face, cursing all the time.
He was in a hurry. According to what Feng San said, it would be dark when we reached the back of the temple on this road.
If it was not dark, there would be no suddenness in the battle, but if it was too dark, he would worry that You Sanjiang would not be able to cooperate with him.
After walking for an hour, he felt regretful and called a messenger: "Go, go back now and follow the official road to the camp.
Tell the general that I am setting off and will attack the camp tonight, and ask him to come for reinforcements when he sees the light of fire. Be sure to arrive in time!"
Feng San didn't say much after hearing this. He just kept reminding the people behind him to keep up and not fall behind. "This place has many ravines and valleys. It will be difficult to get out if you get lost!" he said to scare people.
Some people were frightened and trembling, while others were disapproving and thought he was exaggerating. However, as we went deeper and deeper, we were surrounded by endless cliffs, and there were constant ups and downs at our feet.
Everyone was panting like an ox and moaning incessantly. Some were frightened by snakes wandering in the grass, and some had their clothes caught on bushes.
Everyone became silent, and gradually began to complain and murmur quietly.
"Damn it, what kind of path is this? That's not how you get rich!"
"That's right, where does this take us?"
"I said, there is not even a trace of a person in this place. Why do I feel so uneasy?"
"Don't talk about you, it's all the same. Let's be careful. There won't be any big beasts here, right?"
"Don't be scary. Since the snitch passed by, there shouldn't be any wild animals. Otherwise, how could he come back?"
"You also know that he is a snitch? People can jump high when they see an opportunity. Do you have this ability?"
Someone spoke in the wilderness, which scared the pheasants and swans and kept flying up from the grass. Captain Zhu got angry and ordered someone to pass on the message:
"Shut up, anyone who alerts the enemy's sentry will have his head!"
"Who would come to this damn place to spy?" Someone murmured dissatisfiedly after hearing the order, but the voice was finally much quieter.
Only the soldiers sent by Captain Zhu kept encouraging everyone: "Turn right ahead and be careful of the pebbles under your feet. Brothers, work harder. The Colonel said that when he sees the big valley ahead, he will eat and rest!"
You won’t feel the pain of getting money tonight! Follow me, and walk a few steps behind to keep up!”
At this time, the queue was getting longer and longer, the swords were held upside down, the spears became crutches, and the turbans were taken off and turned into hand towels to wipe sweat.
No one had time to talk, nor was they in the mood to talk. Finally, a soft cheer came out from the front.
Lieutenant Zhu hurried over and saw that the front suddenly opened up, and a stream that was not too deep was rushing forward.
"My God, we're finally here!" He looked back at his subordinates: "Have a rest! Send two people to test the depth of the water!"
Someone agreed to go and deliver the order immediately, and the team gave out suppressed cheers.
Captain Zhu finished eating the dry food, took a drink of water from the water bag handed to him by the soldiers, and saw Feng San staggering over with a piece of cooking cake in his mouth.
He waved him forward and asked, "How far is it from here?"
"Sir, we have already completed half of the walk. The next half is a detour, but it is not so difficult to walk."
After hearing this, Lieutenant Zhu felt reassured and waved his hands, half closing his eyes to rest. He rested here for more than half an hour, then called up the team to continue setting off.
Everyone heard that the road ahead was easier, and they suddenly felt the wind blowing under their feet. The river was not a problem at all, so they happily took off their boots, let the water flow through them, and entered the forest on the opposite side to regroup.
After walking forward for a few dozen feet and making two more turns, I found that the road was indeed much smoother.
At this time, I don’t know who said it first: "Hey, when we came here just now, we looked at the river. Is it that wide?"
"It seems not?"
"Is it that urgent?"
"Isn't this... the water flowing the same way? I really didn't pay attention."
These words quickly caused a commotion in the team. After hearing this, Lieutenant Zhu stopped by the road, looked back in confusion, and asked: "Have the brothers in the team crossed the river?"
"Already come."
"Go and call the man who tested the water just now."
After a while, the soldier led the man over.
"Let me ask you, when you were crossing the river just now, did you feel that the water was deep and you were anxious?"
"No, no." The guy was sweating on his forehead. I don't know whether it was because he was walking or because he was afraid.
"Bastard!" Colonel Zhu was furious.
"Sir, I think the river is really weird. As we speak, after eating dry food for a while, it becomes wider and faster. I'm not the only one who says this. Many brothers think it's wrong." The soldier looked at it.
His expression: "Don't blame this brother, he didn't know it would be like this..."
"That's enough, get out of here!" Colonel Zhu said and then changed his mind: "Come back and give me the order. The rear team should be replaced by the front team. Everyone should turn around. Turn around quickly!"
Everyone ran back. When the people in the rear group came to the river, they were surprised to see that the river had become nearly two feet wider! "Get into the water and cross the river!" Someone shouted when they saw something was wrong.
Everyone jumped into the water desperately and found that the water in the middle of the river was already up to their waists.
At this time, a rumbling sound came from the upper reaches. The team came to the river and rushed to cross the river first. When they heard the sound and looked upstream, they saw a white line sweeping across the river.
Everyone was shouting, but only people were opening their mouths, but no sound was heard. Lieutenant Zhu felt that his legs were too heavy to move forward, so he looked back, but every face was distorted in a strange way.
Looking back again, water vapor, soil, and gravel swept past his head and face, making it difficult to open his eyes, and then a huge force pressed the dark sky and earth on him!
Feng San squatted on a platform on the top of a cliff, clasping his knees with his hands and watching the rapid-flowing river valley below gradually calm down.
People in the water were either struggling and calling for help, or wailing miserably. Those who were motionless were probably dead, and those who were drifting with the waves had long since lost any sign of life.
What was once fierce, brutal, and strong became insignificant in front of such power. He looked at it and sighed deeply.
At this time, some rafts and bamboo rafts were pulled out from some valleys. People holding bamboo guns, hook guns, spears and machetes began to identify them one by one.
Those who were dead were beheaded and their bodies pushed into the water; those who were alive surrendered and begged for mercy and were tied up; those who resisted were stabbed to death in the water and their heads were taken off.
Feng San waited until a bamboo raft came over and spotted the Tan Zhongxiao on it before shouting hello.
Tan Zhongxiao asked people to come closer. As he came closer, Feng San landed lightly on the raft with two feet. Even Tan Zhongxiao and several others were startled.
"Sure enough, he is the 'Three Money Man'! I said Feng San, your investment certificate is pretty good!" Tan Zhongxiao nodded with satisfaction.
Feng San didn't say anything, but smiled and cupped his hands: "Tan Yingzheng, please ask the brothers to row over there. I saw their leader seems to be floating past, so we can't let him slip through the net!"
On Tanzhongxiao, a wild sentry called three or four boats to search together. After passing through the bushes behind a stone wall, a brother from the back camp shouted loudly: "There is someone alive here!"
The bamboo raft in the pond leaned over. Feng San took a closer look and saw that it was not Captain Zhu!
Several people helped him to the boat. They saw that the big and impressive bow was still there, but the arrows were scattered somewhere, and only three or four were left in the pot.
The sword on the leather belt was immediately taken off and handed to Tan Zhongxiao.
He pulled it out, looked at it, and said, "Good knife!" He looked up again and saw Feng Sanchashou saying, "Please Ying Zheng, please lend me this knife for a while."
Tan Zhongxiao didn't know what he was going to do, so he looked at his subordinates, nodded, and handed over the scabbard.
Feng San drew his sword and jumped onto the raft opposite. He picked up Colonel Zhu and asked with a sneer on his face: "Does Captain still want to be a general now?"
After the water rushed over, Lieutenant Zhu was swept to the bottom of the water. His head was smashed on a stone, and then his right lower back was pierced by a shrub branch.
His face was now covered in blood, and a wooden branch with white stubble poked out from in front of him.
He knew that even if he was put on a raft, he would not be able to survive with such an injury, so he tried his best to say in a hoarse voice: "You, the snitch, betrayed me? What a plan!"
"If you don't sell it, I won't confiscate anyone's benefits. You have done so many evil things to yourself, how can you still live?
You didn’t kill the dozen or so members of Cong’s family in Kwun Tong Village? Didn’t you kill Mr. Cong’s granddaughter? Now it’s your turn to pay off your debt!
You are right, I was once a thief, but I have never done such immoral things. Moreover," Feng San said, raising the knife and gritting his teeth:
"If I kill you today, it will be like severing my former self as a thief!"
Lieutenant Zhu grinned and didn't know whether to cry or laugh: "I won't survive anyway, boy, just take my head and offer it as a treasure to your new master!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Feng San cursed, the blade flashed, and the head fell into the water. Immediately, a brother skillfully picked up the hair with a spear and put it back on the raft.
Whoever cuts it gets it, this is the rule. Feng San didn't say anything, rubbed the knife washed in the water on the corpse, gave Tan Zhongxiao a fist, and then pushed the knife into its sheath.
Tan Zhongxiao returned the gift, gave an appreciative thumbs up, and shouted: "Brother Feng San is mighty!" The surrounding brothers in the back camp shouted in response:
"Brother Feng is mighty, mighty!" The voice echoed back and forth among the red cliffs, echoing with faces: mighty, mighty...
"Hey, where's Feng San? Didn't he come back with you?"
When Li Dan saw the happy Tan Zhong Xiao, he praised his newly acquired sword. After declining his idea of giving it to him, he looked around and asked.
"Ahem, Brother Xiao feels that he didn't get enough. Brother Feng said that the bandit leader kept dozens of old and weak guards in the camp. They took a hundred brothers from Zuoying to completely remove this thorn in his side and asked me to come back and fight with him.
Speak defensively.”
Listening to what Tan Zhongxiao said, Li Dan smiled and nodded without saying anything. This must be because Xiao Wanhe and the others were not as good as the rear camp, so they were jealous, which is fine.
"How is the water in the valley? Are there any brothers in the back camp cleaning the battlefield?" he asked.
"Lao Xiao said that he and Brother Zhu had agreed to use bamboo cages filled with rocks to plug the gap once the water level dropped to the point where the river bank was exposed.
So when I came back, the water level had begun to drop, but it was still as high as someone's chest and abdomen. About a hundred people from the back camp took over the search, and the rest came back to rest.
So far, more than 270 corpses have been found, and less than 40 prisoners have been captured. The heads have been brought back, and they are piled separately in the left camp and the rear camp. Do you want to go and take a look?"
As he said this, the guy was still rubbing his hands.
"What's so good about a human head? It's no different from the stones on the roadside." Li Dan said, smacking his lips: "I'm afraid it will pollute the pure land of Buddhism, so that the Buddha won't blame me!"
"Then, what should we do?"
Li Dan frowned, looked around, and pointed toward the mountain: "Hang it on the cliff. Brother Tan, do you think You Sanjiang will be mad to death after seeing it?"
Tan Zhongxiao laughed loudly: "It's so easy to get it down from the mountain, but you have to move it up again. The defense is so ruthless! That's all, I'll find some brothers to take care of it!"
After saying that, he turned to leave, but Li Dan stopped him again and told him to bury the corpse to prevent it from being exposed and causing another plague and causing the local people to suffer.
"The rest of the people in the back camp should seize the time to rest. Maybe after a trip to Sanjiang, they will get desperate and fight for their lives?" he said.