"What? We're only halfway there? We can't even get there in the dark!" another soldier shouted.
"Who said we can get there after dark? But the trees in front should be sparse, so we definitely won't be so tired!" He Qizhou promised. After arriving here in the afternoon, five hundred soldiers took turns working, cutting down trees to avoid roads, and they turned over three mountains in a long time.
On the top of a small hill, there is a mountain trail of nearly ten miles.
"Master, do you think that boy is leading the right way?" Magistrate Lang asked, looking at the soldiers in front who were constantly complaining.
"The direction seems to be right. If that kid wasn't looking for death, he wouldn't have any reason to lie to us, right?" Master analyzed.
"Keep cutting! Set up camp after dark and try to attack Bailian Mountain tomorrow!" The prefect shouted with confidence, and the dozens of people in the front row cut through the thorns faster and faster.
Half an hour later, the red sun set in the west. As the mountains got higher, the trees became taller and sparse. Looking back, I saw an undulating and winding path with no end in sight.
"Don't set up camp yet. Let's walk a few miles along the valley. There are almost no back roads. I know there is an open forest land. From there, it only takes more than an hour to reach Bailian Mountain Waterfall!" He Qizhou shouted.
"Okay!" Everyone, please follow closely, don't get lost in the dark! The prefect shouted hurriedly. Seeing that there was no need to clear the way, the others also became more energetic.
He Qizhou led five hundred people into the deep mountains along the criss-crossing valleys. There were gradually more and more huge rocks. There was no road in the mountains. If you encountered rocks, you had to take a detour. After many twists and turns, more than half an hour later, the group finally arrived.
We arrived at a flat hillside, which turned out to be a shelter from the wind.
The confident Suizhou prefect immediately ordered the pots to be buried to make rice and pitched his tent in the center. All he could think about was the victory tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, He Qizhou quietly stood up, and the middle-aged man he was huddled with suddenly woke up and said, "Boy, are you going to pee again? Come back quickly, it's going to be cold to death with no one around!"
"Why didn't I say you were cold when you went to pee? Shhh - the prefect asked me to go to his tent to talk. Don't tell anyone else. Just pretend you don't know. Otherwise, you will leak military information and be careful not to save your head.
! I won’t accompany you tonight.” After He Qizhou said that, he walked to the magistrate’s tent with all his might. The two soldiers guarding the door of the tent had already sat on the ground and fell asleep.
The middle-aged man knew that He Qizhou had offered a plan at noon. When he saw what the other party said, he hurriedly huddled over to the other soldiers, pretending that he had not heard what He Qizhou said.
Outside the tent, He Qizhou thought for a while and decided to let the greedy magistrate go. He used a dagger to carve a line of large characters on the big tree behind the tent: "If you don't want to starve to death, go out of the mountain due north and turn right when encountering obstacles!" Then he flew away!
Disappeared into the dense forest.
It was He Qizhou's temporary decision to let these five hundred people clear the way. This is the Huishan Mountains at the junction of the two provinces, and it is also the place where he hunted since he was a child. The northwest of Bailian Mountain is thick with bushes and thorns. There has always been no way to go. Now through
After half a day's work, the five hundred people finally managed to find a path. He Qizhou's idea was to open an escape passage for the Yang family trapped under the waterfall.
As for why he left those words to the Suizhou Army, it was just because Yang Zheng's formations were not only deployed at the foot of the mountain, but also used the boulders in the canyon above the waterfall to set up a enchantment array. Just now, He Qizhou was leading the battalion of Suizhou soldiers in the dark.
After passing the stone formation, just by luck, it would take two or three days to find a way back to the original route, so He Qizhou pointed out a way out to the prefect, mainly because he wanted to help those ignorant soldiers.
He Qizhou quickly passed through the interlaced canyons, passed the stone formations he came from, and then ran southwest for six or seven miles. The streams in the mountains gradually gathered together and rushed down the mountainside of Bailian Mountain.
In the moonlight, a black shadow fell heavily into the deep pool below along the waterfall, making an unusual "thud" sound.
"Who is it?" Someone suddenly asked sharply by the waterfall.
He Qizhou could have slid down the cliff next to the waterfall without getting soaked, but at this time, his heart was filled with excitement, urgency, joy, worry, anxiety... and the strange feeling made his body jump uncontrollably.
After entering the waterfall and emerging from the water, as soon as I poked my head out, I heard the question.
"Grandpa Huang, it's me!" He Qizhou couldn't help shouting when he heard that the person shouting was Huang Quan.
"Xiao Qizhou? He Lian, He Lian, Qi Zhou is back!" Huang Quan seemed to not believe his eyes. After being stunned for a moment, he shouted in surprise.
A woman in the thatched house ran out quickly in a fancy dress, then rushed directly to He Qizhou, who had just walked out of the pool, and hugged the wet He Qizhou into her arms.
"Mom, it's great that you're okay. The Imperial Guard has sent troops here. It's not appropriate to stay here for a long time..." He Qizhou said hurriedly.
"You, what are you doing back here? Come on, leave from the back hill!" He Lian pushed He Qizhou away.
"Let's go together! Are uncle and grandpa okay? I'll go inside first to see uncle." He Qizhou wanted to pull He Lian into the house, but saw Huang Quan and He Lian were silent, their faces full of sadness, and
Dozens of people walked out of the three huts one after another. The leader was Yang Zhi from the big house and his female relatives. Others were some women from the village, including Lin Chuan's mother. These people all had their left arms tied.
Wearing a black cloth, everyone has a look of sadness and anger on their faces.
Only then did He Qizhou realize that Huang Quan was also wearing a black cloth on his arm, and He Lian was wearing a white belt around her waist and wearing linen clothes, so he asked in a voiceless voice: "Mother, yes, who left?"
"Grandpa and third uncle left on the same day four days ago." It was Yang Zhi who answered He Qizhou.
"What's going on?" He Qizhou screamed with heartache.
Yang Zhi said: "Five days ago, Jiangling Mansion sent more than a thousand people to break into Jiangjun Village, saying that Yang Zheng was treason, and they were ordered to arrest Yang's party. Fortunately, Zhang Luyao's daughter Qingrou came back a day early.
, brought over the news that Jiang Shan had usurped the throne and brought disaster to the Yang family. We were prepared and all retreated into the formation. Half a day later, Yang Shan and Lin Chuan also rushed back, and that night we defended the enemy together with everyone.
The enemy soldiers were temporarily gathered from Jiangling Prefecture by the Yulin Army chasing Yang Shan. Although there were many people, their combat power was not strong. They lost more than 200 people in just one attack, so they stopped attacking. Early the next morning, they were deceived.
Thousands of laborers from this village and neighboring villages went to cut down bamboo trees in the south of the mountain, hoping to break through the stone formation and reach the waterfall!
This move is extremely vicious. We can never take action against people who don’t know the truth. And those people who have received favors from the Yang family all think that the Yang family has colluded with the Zhou people and is a traitor who deceives the world and steals their reputation. More and more people come to cut down trees.
My father was so angry that after seeing his third uncle who was bedridden, he asked Lin Yan to carry him up to a large rock overlooking the mountains to the south. With only a few words, he persuaded the villagers who were logging."
"What did grandpa say?" He Qizhou asked excitedly.
Yang Zhi said: "Grandpa stood on a big rock, dozens of feet below were people who couldn't help but curse. At that time, grandpa threw down six imperial edicts and a pair of iron coupons to avoid death, and shouted, 'Please listen to me!', and then
The scolding gradually stopped, and his father said: "Whose family has lost so many sons for treason? Are all the previous emperors fools? Jiang Shan is the wolf who usurped the throne! I, the Yang family, are loyal and loyal, and we can learn from you!
If you want to help the tyrants commit evil, just step over my corpse!' After saying that, he jumped from the boulder dozens of feet high, blood splattered on the spot!
At that time, no one expected that the old man would do this. It was too late to save him, but the people were deeply shocked. For a while, most people put down their swords and axes and left. Several imperial soldiers and government soldiers led by Chen Yan
He wanted to force the people to cut down trees, and even injured several people on the spot. Zhang Luyao, Lin Yan and others were already filled with righteous indignation and led the crowd to rush out, killing the soldiers and fleeing. One of the culprits, Chen Yan, was also beheaded on the spot.
Kill! It can be regarded as avenging Ji Sheng for killing his wife."
"Grandpa..." He Qizhou was about to cry but had no tears. His knees weakened and he knelt down on the ground. He took out two hundred taels of silver notes from his arms, which he had snatched from the bandits. The reason why he resisted not helping the people was,
He just wanted to fulfill the agreement with his grandfather and return the two hundred taels, but his grandfather regretted the agreement and went ahead. He Qizhou suddenly felt that his fingers were weak, and the two banknotes were blown into the air by the mountain wind...
"Grandpa told you something before he left: 'If that child Qi Zhou comes back, tell him not to think too much and to live well!'" He Lian said, with two lines of clear tears falling.
"Where's my uncle?" He Qizhou asked with a choked voice.
Huang Quan said: "Yang Zhan's condition has not been good for the past six months. He was already in a state of decay. After learning about his father's death, he said calmly: 'It's time for me to leave. Remember to leave the thatched house in the house.
"My three brothers burned the classics." After saying this, he drove away to the west. He was very calm when he left..."
"No! We have to leave quickly. Xu Xuan has brought two thousand imperial guards here. If we don't leave, I'm afraid we won't be able to leave!" While He Qizhou was grieving, he suddenly remembered this most important thing.
"They have attacked three times today. The waterfall here is so loud that you can't hear what's going on outside. You should be able to hold on. If you can't hold on, someone will come and notify you. Zhou'er, those with high martial arts skills can escape from the back mountain, but these
How can women and children escape? Even if they enter the back mountain, where can they escape?" He Lian said sadly.
"Someone has already opened a trail on the mountain. Mom, where are so many people guarding the formation? I'll go and take a look first!" He Qizhou wiped away his tears and turned towards the stone formation to enter the mountain.
"Go, they are all your adoptive father's old subordinates, alas - we still can't let them live a peaceful life!" He Lian hesitated, and wanted to ask He Qizhou to flee again, but when she thought about her husband's veterans,
Shi Zheng was desperately protecting the Yang family and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
While they were talking, someone broke into the bamboo forest with a man covered in blood on his back, running and shouting: "There is an arrow wound in the abdomen and a knife wound in the thigh!"