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Chapter 200 Lingbao

The breeze passed through the river valley, fluttering a large dark red flag, with the five characters "Eight Kings of Xiying" traced in gold lines on the flag.

People near the river valley were shouting, and countless figures were fetching water for their horses in the valley. On the mountainside on both sides, more people were chopping down trees and collecting firewood.

The little kid took off a quilt from the carriage frame and threw it into a nearby ruin. Only the mud wall was left here. It was still better than sleeping in the wild.

There are a few slaves outside the wall who have just settled down. Although they cannot sleep in the wall, it is good to have a side to block the wind. Those who can get there first are considered to be in good physical strength and can grab a good position. Generally speaking, they can

Look around for food in advance.

Those with weaker physical strength were left behind, and when they arrived, it was difficult to find food and had to eat whatever food they had with them, which was often in short supply.

A group of shirtless boys splashed in the knee-deep river for a long time, and finally caught a fish. Several people screamed loudly in the river.

The little kid glanced at it indifferently and walked towards the official road, intending to take a look at the maintenance team on the opposite mountain. He hoped that they would cut more branches on the mountain to build a roof inside the wall in case it rained at night.

.

There were several corpses lying on the roadside. This was a former village and it was relatively close to the official road. This was not the first time they had passed by. The surrounding farmland was largely abandoned.

This is Lingbao County at the junction of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces. It is adjacent to Tongguan in the west, Lushi in Henan in the east, and the Yellow River and Shanxi in the north. The terrain is complicated with mountains and rivers crisscrossing it. The once world-famous Hangu Pass is located here.

here.

The little boy has been to Lingbao a few times. Along the official road are dilapidated villages and stretches of abandoned land, including the fields near the river. It is overgrown with weeds and the tall thatch is even as tall as a person.

Xiying has been here for two months. The complex mountainous area and marginalized administrative location of Lingbao County do not easily attract the attention of the officers and soldiers. It is a suitable hiding place for Xiying, and they are also familiar with this place.

.

This place is very close to Tongguan, which is the main route from Shaanxi to Henan. The rogue bandits and officers and soldiers come and go, which is not a good thing. It is impossible to resume production in this area, and the residents have already fled.

The corpses on the ground were stripped of their clothes. The little boy took a quick look and saw that they did not look like local farmers, but probably passing merchants.

It is now September, and the autumn harvest has passed in various places in the north, so Xiying is approaching the official road again from the mountainous area.

Although the little boy is young, he is already quite experienced. Lingbao is a good place to hide from officers and soldiers, but it is desolate and barren, and there is nothing to grab. Everyone cannot survive the winter here. Now that they have returned to the official road, it shows that they are very

You may have to leave the vicinity of Shaanxi, and probably go to the hinterland of Henan, because Henan also has its autumn harvest.

Autumn is the little kid's favorite time. You can get enough food on the road, and the wheat straw and grain grass harvested and dried in various places can also make the horses fat.

The harvest throughout the autumn will determine their quality of life in winter. In the severe cold weather in the north, survival in the wild is very difficult.

Neither officers nor soldiers want to be active in the wild. It is best to stay in a stable winter camp to reduce heat loss, so the chance of survival will be much greater.

However, this is still a luxury hope for the little boy. For the increasingly large team of rogue bandits, fixed winter camps can only be cities at the state and county level, and the imperial court severely punishes the loss of cities, and the local military equipment

Both the governor and the governor will mobilize troops to recover.

Therefore, in the past few years, the little boy is still migrating every winter, leaving his footprints from the northwest of the Ming Dynasty to the Central Plains.

The servants on the mountainside were descending one after another. The little boy was looking for the people in his team. He heard the sound of horse hoofs behind him. He looked back and saw several horse soldiers in red riding past. The little boy stepped back.

Take one step and let them pass in front of you.

There was only a cry, and the leading cavalry soldiers suddenly stopped. The few cavalry soldiers behind them skillfully reined in their horses and turned around. They stopped in front of several corpses on the roadside. The clothes of the corpses had been stripped off, and several corpses had been stripped off.

After selecting the knife, the person took out the short knife, inserted it into the stomach, and then pulled it downwards.

Several horsemen each handled a corpse. The blade of the knife cut the flesh and made a muffled sound, and a small amount of black blood flowed out. It had obviously been dead for a long time.

Then they took out all the intestines and internal organs, and placed a large pile of red and black beside it. The thick black liquid kept dripping, and the fishy smell filled the surrounding area.

After digging out the stomachs of the corpses into a cavity, several horsemen took hay and beans, put them in the cavity, and then led the horses.

The people nearby were not surprised and stayed away, while a few boy soldiers were still watching with interest.

The little boy turned his head, looked at the old man behind him and said, "Master, do you want our mule to eat the blood tank?"

The old man raised his old face. Next to him was a strong mule. The old man glanced there with a sad expression, then shook his head and said, "Mules don't eat this. Old man, I have been feeding livestock for decades, and I have never heard anyone do this."

It will run better if you feed it."

The little boy said expressionlessly, "They all say that horses and mules that eat blood will become as ferocious as tigers and wolves."

"That's not even going to eat the horseman."

The old man sighed in a low voice, "A mule is a mule, no matter what it eats, it can't turn it into a tiger or wolf.

Three months ago, the old guard gave his horse a blood trough when the weather came up, but in the end he didn't turn into a tiger or a wolf, so he might as well have been beheaded by the officials."

The little boy lowered his head and thought for a moment and then stopped talking. There is a saying among the bandits that they empty out people's stomachs and use them as troughs to feed horses. After the horses eat them, their power will greatly increase and their temperaments will be fierce. The horses of officers and soldiers will run away when they see them.

, no longer afraid of being chased by officers and soldiers.

This old man was the one who took him in the bullock cart. He took care of the little boy for two or three months, from Nanzhili to Shaanxi, until the little boy recovered. After that, the little boy asked the old man for help and followed him.

The previous bullock cart moved too slowly. During the movement in Shaanxi, the frontier troops led by Hong Chengchou chased closely, and the bullock cart was quickly lost. The mule cart was only snatched two months ago, and it was still driven by an old man.

With.

This mule cart is the treasure of the two people. The old man has raised livestock all his life and is quite experienced with horses and mules. In a short period of time, he has taken care of the green mule until he is fat and strong. With this cart frame, they can carry more supplies.

, the probability of survival is greater, almost approaching the middle class among the wanderers.

Of course, there is still a gap compared with those horse soldiers, and even less so with the old camp. Those in the old camp can have three or four horses and mules per person. They usually march on mules to save horse power and wait until the critical moment.

use.

"When we get to Henan, I will definitely win some horses."

The old man lowered his head and inspected the mules' hooves, and replied: "Every time the city is breached, each family grabs the horses and mules first. The one who is first in the city must grab them. Don't risk your life."

The little kid tilted his head and looked at the old man, "Life isn't worth much anyway."

The old man sighed, "My life is worthless, old man. You are still a young man, and you always have to think about the future..." The little boy suddenly interrupted, "Master, take good care of your mule."

The old man was stunned, turned around and saw a horse soldier walking towards this side, staring straight at the green mule.

The old man quickly pulled the rope of the green mule next to him. The horseman had already walked up to him.

One use.”

The old man stepped back in panic, but the little boy stopped him in front of the old man without saying a word.

The cavalry soldier stopped and looked at the little boy with some surprise. The little boy still looked indifferent, but showed no intention of flinching. Upon seeing this, several boy soldiers who were watching the excitement rushed over and stood there.

Behind the little kid.

The cavalry soldier took his hand back, looked at the little boy sideways for a moment and said, "Is he a boy soldier?"

The little boy replied indifferently, "Are you a servant?"

The horse soldier's expression changed, and he glared at the little boy fiercely, "If you dare not answer my question to you, how can you seek death?"

"You are not my eldest son, I don't want to answer you."

With a swish sound, the cavalry soldier drew his sword in his hand, and the servants around him fled. Several boy soldiers shouted, ran back to the ruins, took out their weapons, and ran back quickly to confront the cavalry soldier.

Several other cavalry soldiers who were still looking at the horses gathered around and drew out their swords and shouted curses. Several more people gathered on the Boy's Army side. Although they were lean and lean, they were more menacing than those cavalry soldiers.

There was tension in the field, and the leading cavalryman did not intend to back down. He stared at the little boy in front of him, "I have taken a liking to this mule, and I will give you two of my servants in exchange."

The little kid still had no expression on his face and slowly pulled out his sword, "I'll trade it with your life."

When the onlookers heard this, they slowly retreated outside. In the bandit community, robbery was always present. The focus was on horses, mules and food. Both of these were the key to survival. They often caused fights. Looking at today's situation, it is indispensable.

Fight.

The muscles on the cavalry soldier's face twitched, and the hand holding the knife turned white. There were more than a dozen boy soldiers on the opposite side, several times more than them. Although the weapons were a little broken, they could still kill people. They were quite eager to try.

The cavalry soldiers looked like they were going all out. They felt it was a bit difficult to deal with, but they couldn't lose their face.

Several horsemen exchanged glances with each other, and the scene was about to explode.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise in the distance, and the servants nearby screamed loudly.

The little boy took a step back, and when he looked over there, he saw a red flag coming from the west, with a steady stream of horse soldiers under it, and they did not stop until they reached the barracks of the Eighth Prince.

The little kid couldn't read, but he had seen that red flag many times. It was the flag of King Gao Chuang. Just as he thought, the Eighth Prince was waiting to join King Gao Chuang.

The cavalry soldier gritted his teeth, raised the sword in his hand, tapped the little boy twice, and led several cavalry soldiers away.

A group of boy soldiers were laughing and scolding from behind. The little boy waved his hand to them, indicating that they should stop provoking, and then he put the sword back into its sheath.

The old man led the mule over and said worriedly, "The leader is from the old camp. You kid, you can just give him the mule."

The little boy shook his head, "The mule is valuable, so I won't give it to him."

The old man still wanted to persuade them, but there was a roar of cheers at the banner of the Eight Kings, and two more cavalry teams arrived. The flags were unfamiliar and I didn't know which one they belonged to.

"Master, please feed the mule more beans. He will have to walk a long way in the next two days."

The old man sighed, "Henan or Huguang."

"Everything is available."

The corner of the little boy's mouth twitched, "It would be best if we could go to Tongcheng."


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