"I told you, I will go all over Anqing City to ask who can offend me, Tan Ya. Now that I have joined the Cao Gang, I will help the Cao Gang to show off my skills."
In a food shop in Xicheng, Anqing, Tan Leizi was holding a bowl of wine and standing tall on a bench. He was surrounded by a group of porters from the Cao Gang, all looking up at Qian Yaxing, the new member of the gang.
I don't know what happened to this lowest-level dentist recently. After meeting Jiang Fan once, he became a member of the Cao Gang. He even got a job as a stick head. Today he invited a Cao Gang porter whom he usually recognized for a drink to celebrate.
"Don't talk about a few green-skinned gangsters. Even if the gangsters come, I, Tan Ya, won't take it lightly. Just like this time... Forget it, I can't tell you yet. Pang Pang has repeatedly explained that it will have to wait until two or three days.
It will take a month to tell, brothers in the gang, drink and drink!"
Tan Leizi picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp. After drinking cold wine all night in this freezing winter, Tan Leizi grinned with ice. The people around him cheered, and many porters from Caogang followed suit and drank the wine.
Suddenly a person at the door said, "What are you bragging about, you idiot? Believe it or not, I will ask you to beg for mercy on the spot."
Tan Laizi trembled, turned around and saw that it was the dock named Cao. He walked into the restaurant door with three of his men. He thought the dock was closed and he hid in the city, but he met him here.
Seeing this nemesis, Tan Leizi instinctively wanted to get off the bench. As soon as he saw the Cao Gang porters around him from the corner of his eye, Tan Lezi suddenly straightened his back and said, "What are you doing? I am the leader of the Cao Gang, you can bully me."
no."
When the Cao Gang below heard this, they all looked towards the dock, and some people stood up.
The Cao Pier was stunned for a moment. There were two tables of people sitting in the room. It looked like they were all Pier Cao Gangs. Now that Anqing is under martial law, these Cao Gangs have been arranged to go to the city to help defend. Everyone is carrying weapons, and they are followed by a group of people.
The military is not much different.
Cao Butou didn't expect that Tan Leizi would become a member of the Caogang. After thinking about it, these porters used to look at the wharf's face, but since Jiang Fan took charge of the wharf, the wharf now looks at the Caogang's face. Delivery is still a trivial matter.
Getting to the garrison camp at the back will be a big problem.
At this time, Caobang was helping the guards, and they couldn't conflict with them. He immediately said to Tan Leizi fiercely, "Go back to the dock to deal with you."
After saying that, Cao Bu turned around and went out. The Cao gang in the shop burst into laughter. Tan Laizi was still in a daze on the bench. He had been his nemesis for so many years. Every time he saw him, he had to be beaten and begged for mercy before he could leave.
, this time he was actually scared away by the name of a member of the Cao Gang. Tan Laizi could not adapt to it for a while.
"Drink, the store will bring me three jars of wine."
After Tan Laizi shouted, he jumped down from the bench. The porters around him were drinking and they all applauded.
One of the older porters said loudly, "Tan Leizi, do you have enough money? Don't be like last time when you couldn't get away after eating."
"Lao Kang, you dare to look down on me, Tan Ya, and go to Man'anqing to inquire about Tan Ya's reputation. Let me tell you..." Tan Leizi took out the silver from his arms and slapped it on the table, "I am very happy today. I have these ten taels."
The money is here, the store only serves good wine and good food, and it’s all my business to eat and drink as much as I want.”
There was a heartfelt exclamation in the room. It was clearly a silver ingot worth ten taels. The porter here had never owned such a large asset. At this time, everyone looked at Tan Lezi with reverence.
The old porter came over and touched the silver ingot carefully with his hand, "Where did you pick it up, Tan Guantou?"
"Where did you pick it up? Lao Kang, do you know how to speak? This was given by Gang Leader Jiang personally as a gift for joining the Cao Gang." Tan Laizi sighed, "Gang Leader Jiang is very kind, so I will too.
We can no longer put on airs, Gang Leader Jiang said at that time that if there is any important matter in the future, you should always leave it to me first."
A head poked his head in at the door and shouted, "Tan Leizi is looking for you. Gang Leader Jiang asked you to go to the dock to talk and to handle important matters with Yinzhuang."
There was another burst of exclamation in the room. Sure enough, Tan Leizi is a person who does big things. The leader of the gang came to see him personally, but he still dealt with Yinzhuang. What is Yinzhuang? The people in it are all high-level intellectuals, which is very different from the Cao Gang.
.
"There must be something you don't understand in Yinzhuang and you want to ask me for advice." Tan Leizi put the money into his arms, "Everyone, eat first, and we will continue drinking when we come back."
The old porter grabbed Tan Leizi and said, "How about I pay for the food and drinks first?"
"Why, are you afraid that Mr. Tan has run away? Leave important matters to me, and it will only last for a quarter of an hour at most. I will still be drinking when I get back."
Others also blamed him one after another. Tan Leizi waved his sleeves, and Lao Kang let go with a guilty conscience. In the end, he still said uneasily, "Then Tan Guantou will go and come back early."
Tan Laizi strode out of the door, hurriedly followed the person who was delivering the message, and handed over two coins, "Brother, do you know what important matter Gang Leader Jiang wants to do with me?"
The man whispered, "It's a good errand. It seems that I'm going to the lower reaches to do some errands. This trip costs a lot of money. Please walk faster. The people from the bank are waiting at the pier."
Tan Laizi scratched his head with satisfaction. It seemed that he had entered the fast lane of life. Good errands came one after another, and a lot of money was coming soon. He also saved money on food and drinks at the restaurant.
Now I hurriedly followed the man out of the city. There were people from the Cao Gang leading the way, and the city gate was under martial law. The person who opened the door was a group of Wu Song soldiers, wearing ragged clothes, hiding in the doorway to warm themselves. They were like beggars, and they looked worse than Cao.
The gang is strong in combat.
With a strong sense of superiority, Tan Leizi walked out of the Shengtang Gate. When he arrived at the dock, he saw that a ship was already preparing to raise its sails. Liu Ruogu and Jiang Fan were talking to several people from the bank. Liu Ruogu was in charge of the dental shop.
, was the former leader. Tan Leizi was not doing well at that time, so he went directly to Jiang Fan without saying hello to him.
"I've met the Jiangdong family."
Jiang Fan looked back and pointed directly at the boat channel, "Get on the boat when you get there. Someone on the boat will tell you."
After that, he talked to Liu Ruogu again and ignored Tan Lezi again.
This treatment was a bit different from Tan Laizi's expectation, but he did not dare to have any objection to Jiang Fan. After he boarded the ship, the ship immediately left the shore.
Several people from the bank on the ship went back to their cabins, leaving seven or eight people from the Cao Gang on the deck. Tan Laizi looked at it, and his face seemed a little gloomy. Tan Laizi suddenly had a bad premonition that something had to be done.
Not a good job.
The leader was one of Jiang Fan's confidants. He told several people, "This time I sent Yinzhuang to buy grain along the south bank of the river. Caobang was stationed in various places in the north of the river. If I found out where the bandits were going, I crossed the river to report the news. First
For the cost of three taels of silver, Cao Peng went to Quanjiao, Liu Wanhe went to Jiangpu, Chen Guangzu went to Jiangxi, and Tan Lezi went to Hezhou. Brothers, don’t be afraid. Most of the bandits will not come to Jiangbei...
"
…
On December 18th, in Liujia City, Huoqiu County, the snow-white ground around the official road was covered with thousands of black pits, like scabies on the ground. There was nothing left to burn in the village.
There is not even a tree or a dead grass left, only the remaining walls that are still standing, which can still show that there was once a human habitation here.
Scattered corpses were left around the pit, and groups of crows sat on the corpses, squawking and pecking at the remaining meat. From time to time, new crows would arrive and pounce on the birds, causing chaos.
There was a sound of hoofbeats in the distance, and several figures on horseback came from the north. The crows flew up, and then flew back to the corpse. In a few days, they had become accustomed to the movement of the horse's hooves.
The three riders in red did not intend to stop, their horses did not slow down, and they prepared to pass directly through this soon-to-be-disappeared market town.
Suddenly, a woman ran out from behind a broken dirt wall. She wore a bloated floral cotton coat on her upper body, and her skirt was exposed on her lower body. Her hair was disheveled, and she ran towards the west of the market town with one foot taller and one foot shorter.
The three cavalry soldiers shouted and chased the woman. They kept making strange screams. The woman became even more panicked. After falling to the ground, she probably knew that she couldn't run away from the horse, so she turned south again.
In the ruins, the figure was blocked by a section of brick wall.
The cavalryman skillfully controlled the horses and quickly arrived at the place where the woman disappeared. The leading cavalryman slowed down and turned with a strange scream. In front of him was an alleyway. The inertia of the mounts led the three people into the alleyway. They still
When he didn't adapt to the new scene, sudden changes occurred on his left side.
The black shadow of a flying ax quickly expanded in front of his eyes. The leading cavalryman instinctively tilted his head to dodge, and a strong force scraped across his face. His head was dizzy and he felt a chill on his face, followed by severe pain from his face.
Sharp screams resounded through the remaining town, and densely packed crows rose into the sky among the ruins and wilderness, their wings carrying snow powder flying everywhere.
With the tearing pain on his face and warm liquid flowing down his chin, the leading cavalry soldier didn't bother to check the injury. He knew from the sound that the two people behind him were attacked at the same time. The attack came from the side, and there were several black figures shaking among the ruins.
, there were many attackers. He was blocked by his companions behind him, and he would definitely not be able to retreat. There were no attackers in front of him, only a half-collapsed low wall. The horseman made a prompt decision, and rushed forward with a fierce attack. There was a burst of wind behind him,
The horse soldier quickly lay down on his horse, and a javelin passed over his head from the side and stuck into the earth wall in front of him with a thud.
At this time, they have arrived in front of the low wall. The cavalryman struggled to pull the horse and lift the reins. The mount lived up to his usual care and jumped over the low wall. When the front hooves landed, the cavalryman had already quickly observed the new environment. On the left
Even though there was a road leading to the official road, he had great confidence in his escape.
Turning the reins to the left, the mount turned to the left with speed and ran around an arc toward the path. As long as he entered the path and was covered by walls on both sides, it would be difficult for the opponent to attack him.
With a whip to the horse's butt, the horse galloped forward. It was only a few steps away from the safe path. Another hoof fell. The horse's front hooves finally stepped into the path. The cavalry soldier stared at that position, and another hoof fell.
It will be safe.
Just before the figure cut into the path, a light arrow flashed from the side. The sharp arrow broke through the two layers of cotton-padded clothes of the horse soldier, tore his chest muscles, and only stopped after it penetrated into the chest cavity. The horse soldier banged
With a crash, the horse flew away along the path.
The cavalry soldier lay on the ground coughing up blood. He could hear the fighting over there through the wall. His two companions were probably in danger as well. He endured the severe pain and struggled to crawl out, hoping that
The horse did not run far. Relying on the instinct of survival, the horseman crawled slowly, with blood flowing from his face and mouth, and was rubbed by his body, leaving a wide blood trail in the snow.
After a while, the sound of fighting over there disappeared, and the strength of the horsemen was about to disappear. The horse did not appear, but a pair of black Tartar boots appeared in front of them.
Yang Xueshi buried his head and looked down. The bandit's left cheek was scraped off by a flying axe. At this time, blood was pouring out. The white bones were looming among the red flesh. The cavalry soldier looked up at him, his eyes full of pleading.
look.
Soon several other people came to the side. Chen Rulie, who was still wearing women's clothes, was stabbed on his left arm. The outer floral cotton coat was torn and white cotton was pulled out, but the cotton armor inside blocked the attack.
Yang Xueshi nodded to him, and Chen Rulie's boot stepped on the wound on the gangster's cheek. The gangster's exposed nerves were rubbed over a large area. The severe pain made his whole body tremble violently. He had a big mouth but could not scream.
Yang Rulie stepped on it firmly, blood spraying from the edge of his boots. Seeing this, several other sentry riders looked away.
Chen Rulie cursed loudly, "Do you know it hurts? Do you know it hurts when you killed so many people?"
After he shook for a while, Chen Rulie loosened his foot. There was a lot of dirt and loot on the wound, and blood gushed out again. The gangster's eyes were bulging and he was still shaking.
After he calmed down a little, Chen Rulie picked him up and leaned him against the wall next to him.
"Do you want to live?"
The rogue took short breaths and nodded slightly. Everyone else present knew that even if no one stopped hurting him, this man would not survive. Only he could no longer understand his own state despite being seriously injured.
Chen Rulie was afraid that he would die soon, so he asked without delay, "If you answer the question, you will live. What is your master's name?"
"Shake, shake the sky, move." The horse soldier coughed out a mouthful of blood and said intermittently.
"Where to go?"
"Luzhou, fight, Luzhou."
"Where are we going after we hit Luzhou? Should we go to Anqing?"
"I don't know, just follow Gao Scarzi."
"Did Gao Scarzi not go to Kaifeng?"
"Kaifeng, it's fake, it's fake, trick Master Lu into rescuing it, don't chase us."
The blood on the horse soldier's face dripped down, and the cotton-padded clothes on his chest were dyed red along his beard. His eyes became more and more distracted.
Chen Rulie grabbed the left side of his face and rubbed the wound with his thumb.
The severe pain caused the cavalry soldier to tremble all over, and his eyes focused again, but the shaking of his body became more and more rhythmic, and it didn't look like he was about to stop.
"Think quickly, have your parents ever told you where you want to go?"
"Go to Yangzhou, a good place, and grab a boat... Just cross the river and grab Jiangnan. Jiangnan is also a good place. If there is no boat, let's go back to Guanli... We won't come out until autumn. Our hometown is in Guanli. It's a good place.
We left Tongguan and walked one hundred and thirty miles." The bandit's shaking became smaller and smaller, but he spoke faster and faster. Because his cheek was broken, his voice was a little blurry, and blood foam would come from the wound on his cheek from time to time as he spoke.
fly out.
"Think again, did you say Anqing?" Chen Rulie let go of his wound and kept shaking his shoulders.
The cavalry soldier tilted his head, his eyes slowly blurred, but suddenly he seemed to have a strange look. He stopped answering, but said to himself, "Well, I haven't lived a good life. There is no one at home, so I have to kill people."
, I can’t go home, live a day... just a happy day, live a year, just a year..."
His voice slowly weakened and finally became silent. His head drooped, and blood was still dripping down his cheeks, mouth and nose.
Chen Rulie pulled off the floral cotton-padded clothes on his body, grabbed a handful of snow and rubbed it in his hands to wash away the blood. Several sentries did not make a sound, and the crows above the ruins flew back in groups, as if they knew that there was a new arrival.
food.
Yang Xueshi waited for Chen Rulie to stand up and then said, "Collect their things and horses."
Several people nodded in agreement and dispersed to clean up.
Yang Xueshi exhaled a breath of white air. Shouzhou was obviously much colder than Anqing, which made him feel uncomfortable.
After coming out of Zhengyang Town, they took shelter in Huoqiu. The bandits of rogues came like a tide, swallowing up everything along the way. The scale of the bandits this time was far greater than the invasion of Tongcheng at the beginning of the year, and the scope of the raids was also larger to support them.
Such a huge population.
Several people had to stay away from the official road and attacked a small group of bandits who were collecting food twice. They were just servants and had no idea where the group was going. After the bandit group passed, they returned to the area near the official road. The ruined countryside once again
It was destroyed, corpses were left everywhere, and there were many dead servants in the wilderness. In the ice and snow, whether they were injured or hungry, those with weaker constitutions could be eliminated.
According to Yang Xueshi's guess, the roving bandits needed sentry horses to spy on the pursuing officers and soldiers, so they might also stop the horsemen at the end of the group. These people were elite roving bandits and would definitely know more detailed information. It was not until today that we found the opportunity.
Crows were flying nearby, making a cacophony of noises.
At this time, several subordinates came over. In an attack the day before, one of the sentinel horses was killed. Now there are only four people left. Five people have nine horses. Yang Xueshi looked back and said, "Let's go south today."
, the rogue bandits really have plans to cross the river, they must tell Pang Pang as soon as possible, Chen Rulie will take the front position, and Li Sanfu will finish."
Everyone pulled their horses and set off one by one, walking along the alley to the official road. Yang Xueshi lowered his head and glanced at the horse soldier again. The blood on his face had solidified and formed a red ball along his beard. Soon it would become
A cold clot of blood.
Yang Xueshi sighed softly and pulled his horse towards the official road. Behind him, a flock of flying crows swooped down, and amidst a croaking sound, they densely covered the bodies of the dead horsemen.