After nightfall, Pang Yu didn't dare to take off his clothes. He put the sticks and knives beside the bed. The sticks were made of balsa wood that he bought today. They were not as heavy as ordinary sticks and were easier to use.
Pang Yu and Pang Ding took turns to watch the night, and at the second watch, as expected, gongs were being beaten everywhere outside, and there was a lot of noise.
"You motherfucker is here again!"
After cursing, Pang Yu climbed up the stairs to the roof, and found the south and east gates. This time the fire was much stronger than last night. Pang Yu could see flames strung high at Yimin Gate, as if the whole area was burning. The screams of the crowd could be heard in the distance. It was unclear whether they were putting out fires or killing people.
Pang Yu only hoped that people near the fire could prepare early and control the fire in time to prevent it from spreading. He was also glad that his home was in the west.
Some neighbors nearby were also building ladders to go up to their houses, and there were shouts for family members to get up everywhere, which could be heard very clearly at night.
Everyone probably realized that the fire was not small. Although the fire was still far away, no one dared to take it lightly. Tongcheng had tile-roofed houses in the majority, but there were also many thatched houses. These buildings contained a lot of wood, and the furniture and firewood in the houses were basically flammable. , once the fire gets out of control, it will spread throughout the city.
In nearby Yujiawan, Chaixiang, and Qingfeng City, gongs were also sounded to summon people. These alleys were the former marketplaces and were a natural community.
There are gates at both ends of the alley, and the neighbors are relatively united. If the village elders are able, some young people can be arranged to stay on duty at night. By guarding the gates at both ends, the entire alley can be kept safe. The level of organization is relatively high.
Stores on the streets like Pang Yu's are very loose, and their open environment makes it difficult to create a sense of community.
Over the years, it has been changing hands, and there are businessmen from all over the place. There is a lack of connection between them, and the cleverness of the businessmen. Most importantly, there is a lack of cohesion.
"Master, do you have a severe fever tonight?"
Pang Ding looked up at Pang Yu from below.
"Look at the Ye family and Wu family that are burning again in that direction. Remember, whatever you do, you must stay away from the bad guys. If you stand close, you will be struck by lightning. If you live close, you will be burned. Only by following the young master and a good person like me can you get good rewards."
"Miss Zhou, her house is also on East Street. Will it be burned down?"
He had met Zhou Yueru yesterday morning and asked her to take care of his store. At this moment, he remembered that Zhou Yueru's home was on Dongzuomen Street, not far from the Ye family mansion. The fire today might be dangerous.
Pang Yu stood high and took another look. The fire in the east had expanded a bit, but it didn't look completely out of control.
When I was hesitating whether to go to East Street to take a look, I heard a few loud bangs coming from the street outside.
"Someone is breaking down the door."
Pang Ding's voice trembled, "Let's run, young master."
Pang Yu quickly came down and shouted in a low voice, "Don't panic, you're not breaking down our door."
"Why does it sound so close?"
The banging sound continued, which was very loud on the street late at night. Pang Yu's heart was beating wildly. After taking a deep breath to calm down for a moment, he listened carefully and thought it was still a few doors away. He then bravely picked up the stick and came to the shop. In the middle, Pang Ding also followed lightly, and the two of them put their eyes between the cracks in the door panels and looked out.
In the narrow field of vision through the crack of the door, there was a flickering light of fire on the street, projecting a few black shadows that kept shaking on the bluestone.
There were two more loud noises, and Pang Yu whispered, "Someone is breaking down the door."
Before he finished speaking, he heard a clicking sound. It seemed that the door panel had not been smashed open, but he didn't know which house it belonged to.
"Brother Yu, Brother Yu, help! Neighbors, come and help, there are thieves robbing the shop! Help!"
Aunt Liu's sharp shouts pierced the night sky.
"Master, what should we do?
Aren't you a good person? Do you want to help Aunt Liu?"
Pang Yu raised her hand to tell Pang Ding to stop talking and listened to what was going on outside.
A strange man's voice shouted, "There is someone in this house, what the hell do you think, please find another one..." "It's all smashed, it's this house anyway."
Bring the money and let's go, oh, you're so mean, rush in."
Pang Yu rushed in front, and the four figures in front were wandering in front of Aunt Liu's store. They were holding torches, carrying big bags on their backs, holding sticks and kitchen knives in one hand, and were fighting Uncle Liu and Aunt Liu inside the door.
The fight was messy.
While they were not paying attention, Pang Yu strode closer. He did not hold the wooden stick high, but held the light wooden stick in both hands and used the momentum to hit the nearest person.
The man turned his head when he heard the noise, and the head of the stick pierced his ribs with a pop. The man screamed, and the torch flew out of his hand and fell in a circle on the stone floor, splashing sparks all over the ground.
He took a few steps back and fell heavily to the ground. He rolled around before stopping, curled up like a shrimp, and was in so much pain that he couldn't even make a sound.
The force of the impact made Pang Yu's mouth numb, and the stick almost flew away from his hand. Pang Yu staggered and almost fell to the ground. The old Pang Yu lacked exercise, and his body was very weak. Pang Yu has been here for more than a month.
I have done some exercise, but there has been no significant improvement.
The other people were startled, and they all backed away from the door. Pang Yu used the firelight to observe, and found that the three of them were not strong. Pang Yu knew that he must pursue the victory at this time, but he did not dare to poke with the stick again.
He took two steps forward and raised his stick high to hit the person opposite with the kitchen knife.
Ponting also arrived at this time and hit his head with two sticks.
Pang Yu shouted loudly, "Everyone, come here to fight the thieves. The 20 people from the west come here quickly. Don't go west!"
Pang Ding screamed as he hit him. He swung the stick twice and it flew away unexpectedly.
Fortunately, the combat prowess of the three men was worse than Pang Yu imagined. They barely resisted. They cursed and ran away after throwing away the torch. They didn't even want to leave their teammates on the ground. They even dropped things along the way. They didn't care.
Not allowed to be picked up.
Aunt Liu walked out of the shop cautiously with a hatchet in both hands, while Uncle Liu held a stick. The fairy of the Liu family came out unexpectedly, holding a kitchen knife in her hand. It was too dark to see her face clearly, and she could only hear
I had to gasp for air.
"Brother Yu, it's better to be a family. Neighbors and sisters are all unreliable."
Aunt Liu fell to the ground and suddenly burst into tears.
In just such a moment, Pang Yu was panting a little, stopped chasing those people, and stopped at the door of Liu's house.
The thief on the ground coughed twice and finally wailed. Pang Yu naturally knew how painful it was to poke his ribs. It was because his body was not strong enough, otherwise the man's ribs would not be able to be saved.
Pang Yu didn't care whether he was in pain or not, he took off the man's baggage, then twisted his hands, dragged him over and pressed him face down, and knelt on his back with his left knee. The man groaned and couldn't move immediately.
"When I ask you a question, you are not allowed to pause when answering.
What’s your name and where do you live?”
"Zhuang Chao, stop..." Pang Yu heard his pause and immediately adjusted his center of gravity and put more weight on his left knee. The man suddenly screamed in pain.
After Pang Yu relaxed, the man quickly said, "I live in Pan's house in the south of the city."
"How many people are there in your group?"
"Sir, please spare my life, it's just those four people."
"How many of you are in Hujiazhuang?"
"I...we are not from Hujiazhuang, we are all from Panjiazhuang. Ma Si said today that many people went out of the city to avoid trouble. He visited the places during the day to see those people leaving, and at night he went to pick up some things from the uninhabited houses, which were already smashed.
I hit several houses and somehow hit a house that was occupied."
Aunt Liu said in a tearful tone, "Why is there no one in our house? It's open most of the day."
The man also cried, "It's only Ma Si's fault.
But while I was waiting to knock on the door, you and your family didn't make a sound, just screamed and we left. I was so tired that I received this stick for no reason."
Pang Yu slapped him on the back of the head and said, "You guys are robbing things and you still keep silent."
Aunt Liu wiped her tears and said, "How dare you say anything? You are trying to scare people to death! Why don't you go and rob the Zhou family? His family owns a grain store and has money!"
Pang Yu coughed after hearing this and reminded Aunt Liu not to say it again, after all, the sound could travel far at night.
Looking back, I saw that Zhou's grain store was quiet, and it really wasn't open.
Pang Yu saw that these people didn't look like the materials for murder and hanging corpses. Most of what they said was true, that is, they came to take advantage of the fire and rob someone, and they didn't dare to go to someone's house.
He didn't want to hear the two complaining about each other, so he let go of the man's hand and cursed, "Get out!"
After the man got up, Pang Yu planned to scare him to prevent him from retaliating in the future, so he said coldly, "I remember your appearance. There are so many young people in our Yimin family. You are lucky today. There are fierce people in our neighborhood."
They have all gone to the west. If you dare to come here next time, I will break your legs."
The man responded repeatedly, bent down and took two steps while covering his ribs. When he saw that the bundle was still on the ground, he reached out to pick it up.
Pang Yu caught up and kicked him in the thigh, cursing, "How dare you take it."
The man quickly stumbled away.
After Pang Yu had gone away, he collected all the things that had been dropped by several people. They were not very valuable, just some copper utensils, cloth, etc., and handed them all to Pang Ding. Then he said to Aunt Liu: "Aunt Liu, your door panel is broken."
Okay, let’s go to our pharmacy first and I’ll be back in a while.”
The Liu family fairy suddenly said, "Brother Yu, where are you going?"
At this time, Pang Yu felt less scared than before, and made up his mind, "I have to go to the east gate to have a look."
"Then I'll go with you!"
The Liu family fairy raised her kitchen knife.
Pang Yu trembled and said quickly, "Thank you sister Liu family for your kindness, but it's not peaceful here yet. Please stay here to protect your parents and our two shops. You must not be careless. You must protect the Liu family."
Only when my sister is here can I rest assured."
Fairy Liu family hesitated and replied, "Then I'll stay."
"Ponting is guarding the shop."
Pang Yu picked up a torch and ran eastward.
... Pang Yu was running on the empty county front street. He met several people along the way, and he didn't know what they were doing. Everyone ignored each other. There was no one in front of the county government office, not even anyone watching the fire.
I ran all the way to the Zhou family paper shop and found Zhou Yueru successfully.
There was a raging fire inside Ye's house, but the fire on the side of the street had become smaller.
The head of the Ye family is called Ye Can. He was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli. He was once a minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing. He is as young as Wu Yingqi. He has a lot of business in his family and neglects the management of his slaves, which has caused serious resentment between the Ye family and the people.
, naturally became the primary target of the rioters.
All the nearby residents got up. Fortunately, the wall of Ye's house was very high, which blocked the spread of the fire. The nearby residents still did not dare to be careless. They gathered around the wall of Ye's house and rushed to fight whenever they saw a fire approaching. The women and children were still there.
Carry water in buckets.
The fire was right next to their home, and they didn't dare to ignore it like the Zhou family did.
Zhou Yueru was carrying a bucket, her forehead was covered with sweat, and her short hair stuck to her forehead. When she saw Pang Yu running towards her, she was stunned for a moment and then smiled at Pang Yu, which was actually a little bright in the firelight.
Pang Yu stopped to breathe for a while, then smiled at Zhou Yueru and said, "I'm here to see if the mortgage holder is still there."
Zhou Yueru dropped her smile, gave Pang Yu a blank look, and turned around to fetch water again.
Pang Yu quickly stopped and said, "There's no fire outside. Why don't you go to Ye's house to put out the fire?"
"Why should we, the common people, put out fires for these gentlemen?"
"That makes sense."
Pang Yu smiled, raised his head and looked in the direction of the former concierge of Ye's house. There were swaying figures there, and it looked like there were quite a lot of people there.
"Then who is that person in front of you?"
Zhou Yueru said coldly, "They are the ones who set the fire, they just let it go and did not save it.
There were also people nearby who went inside to get things, and countless people got in when the fire was a little smaller."
Pang Yu put his head around to observe. After repelling the gang of thieves tonight, he suddenly felt very brave.
According to the information obtained in the past two days, this group of people was just seeking revenge.
Pang Yu felt that the risk was not great and wanted to see what the group looked like, so he left Zhou Yueru behind and ran towards Ye's house.
The Ye family's concierge had been burned down on the 23rd. At this time, there was no fire in the concierge. The courtyard was noisy and noisy. People kept coming and going from the concierge, carrying large and small bags. Many people seemed to be indifferent to each other.
know.
Pang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the rioters were a minority, and most of them came to take advantage of the fire. He could just pretend to be such a person and go observe the rioters.
The Ye family occupies a large area, and within the ruins of the gatehouse are two corridors on the left and right. Before Pang Yu could decide which direction to go, another person hurried out from the corridor on the left and met Pang Yu face to face.
They both screamed at the same time.
"Gu Xiaowu!"
"Brother Yu!"
Gu Xiaowu panted violently and glanced around in a panic.
After seeing no one around, he took Pang Yu and hid in the ruins of the concierge.
"Brother Yu, this is for you."
Gu Xiaowu took out a jade Buddha statue from the baggage, "I originally wanted to give you something special, but I just can't take it with me.
It is fate that I can meet Brother Yu tonight. I don’t know when I will see you again in the future. I will leave Brother Yu in my thoughts."
Pang Yu hesitated and did not pick him up, "Why is Brother Gu here? Are you here to pick up some items, or are you also joining the riots?"
"Who said they were rioters!"
Gu Xiaowu shouted angrily in a low voice, "We don't want to cause trouble at all, we just want revenge.
Let me tell you about the opportunity. It was clearly agreed that after the grain harvest in September, I must blame Zhu Zong. He actually... Hey, there is nothing I can do now. I am here to take revenge tonight, but I also want to get something as payment. I don’t know what will happen in the future.
When can we see you?"
Pang Yu was quite surprised when he heard this. The rioters had been so powerful in the past two days. Why did Gu Xiaowu look like he was running away at any moment? A voice came from the distance: "Gu Xiaowu!"
"Did you see that I told them not to call them by name, and it still happened ten times? How can such a companion be successful?
It’s a pity that the strategies prepared by Brother Wang can’t be used, and Wang Dazhuang’s revenge can’t be avenged.”
"If Brother Gu is worried, why don't you withdraw from the mob?"
Gu Xiaowu let out a long sigh, "I'm leaving. Brother Yu is destined to see you again."
After saying that, he stuffed the jade Buddha into Pang Yu's arms, picked up the bag and disappeared into the darkness.
Pang Yu looked at Gu Xiaowu's back and said in astonishment, "Are these rebels strong or not? There are not thousands of people in Hujiazhuang?"