The night was very heavy, pressing down so heavily that one could hardly breathe. The world around him was already so dark that one could not distinguish his facial features.
"Chen Sheng, what time is it?"
"My boss, it's time for me to meet you."
It's ugly time, around two o'clock in the morning.
Xu Mu's face was tense. In the depths of the forest where no one could see his fingers, he could only make out the crowds of people through the pale moonlight.
"Wrap the horse's hooves in robes! Get on the horse."
"call!"
Nearly three thousand heroes, after some action, mounted their horses one after another, and many also entered the carriage. Zhou Zun and Zhou Luo, each with ten horses, went ahead to explore the wind.
"Let's set off."
Xu Mu pulled up the reins and stared ahead. Fortunately, he had made a living in the nearby area, and even though everything was in a mess, he could still roughly identify the direction.
"Little boss, where are you going to this deserted town?"
"Go east."
To the north is Wangzhou and to the south is Hezhou. Naturally, you cannot go to these two places.
Bypassing the official road, Xu Mu whipped the reins very fast.
In front of them, you could occasionally see scattered lanterns, their lights swaying in the dark night.
Seeing such a scene, Xu Mu could only ask people to stop and wait until the lanterns were far away before leaving.
"Master, how far is it?"
"Nearly fifty or sixty miles." Xu Mu replied in a solemn voice.
It was a credit to him that he carefully explored the surrounding terrain when he was on the Fourth Pass. Otherwise, with nearly three thousand people, he would have been a headless fly in such an encirclement and suppression situation.
"Let's set off."
The lantern disappeared completely, and Zhou Zun also rushed back, confirming that there was no problem on the way forward.
Nearly three thousand people took advantage of the cover of black shadows to gallop carefully on the wet and muddy fields.
Even though the horse's hooves are wrapped in robes, there is still a faint sound of "tapping".
About three hours later, after carefully following Xu Mu in a large circle, the group finally bypassed the Beidi patrol area.
The rain has not stopped yet, and it is falling sparsely on the ground. This appearance is the most annoying.
After raising his head and pressing the bamboo hat, Xu Mu looked around, distinguishing the scenery in front of him through the pale moonlight.
The mist of the night was still lingering, and the unknown night bird on the dead wood seemed to be used to seeing both living and dead people. It was not frightened at all when it learned that nearly three thousand people and horses were approaching.
It looks like a wooden sculpture standing on the top of a tree, completely motionless.
There was also an inexplicable fishy smell, blowing from nowhere, making people's nose sore.
"My boss, there's a figure ahead!" Zhou Zun reined in his horse and turned back, his voice filled with emotion.
Xu Mu frowned and was startled. It is such a far away place. Logically speaking, even if the Di people patrol at night, they would not be too frequent. They had just avoided it, so why did they encounter it again?
"Do you recognize it?"
"I recognize him clearly, but he doesn't seem to be wearing a robe or armor."
Xu Mu pondered for a while, clamped the horse's belly, and followed Zhou Zun forward slowly. When he reached the position, he looked up again, and his eyes suddenly opened.
As Zhou Zun said, in front of them, there was indeed a large number of figures, standing motionless. The movements of stretching their hands were vaguely discernible, and they looked very strange.
"My boss, is this a human or a ghost? It doesn't move at all."
"Detour." Xu Mu said in a cold voice. Regardless of whether they were humans or ghosts, with a team of nearly 3,000 people, he didn't want to make any mistakes.
At this moment, as if the heaven took pity on him, the huge dark clouds were blown away by the wind, and the pale moonlight spread across it, and the world in front of him suddenly became slightly brighter.
"My boss, it's a dead person! No, no, this seems to be a place where corpses are dumped!"
Xu Mu trembled and forced himself to look forward.
He finally understood where the previous rotten smell came from.
What was in front of him was clearly a huge pit of corpses. The man standing with his hands outstretched was clearly dead. He was tied to a wooden stake, and even his chest was rotten, revealing blue bones.
In the corpse pit, there are corpses everywhere, with different postures, severed limbs and heads, thrown everywhere. Among them, there are also some people in military robes, most of them are like hedgehogs, full of arrows.
From the appearance of his facial features, he could still vaguely see that he was in a hurry.
The long group of nearly three thousand people were stunned on the spot.
"Little boss, there must be ten thousand people here."
More than ten thousand people.
Xu Mu turned his head slowly.
After defeating Wangzhou, not to mention the refugees who were blocked at the north gate of Hezhou, even if they were just hiding in Zhuangzi Village, they would definitely not be able to escape bad luck if they were discovered by the Di people.
For a moment, Xu Mu only felt that the pungent smell became more and more purulent, making him hold his breath for a long time and unable to breathe out.
"Cover your pockmarked face and leave the corpse pit."
Afraid of contracting the miasma, Xu Mu urged him in a deep voice.
"My boss, if not, it will be better to bury him alive."
"How to bury it! It will take at least two or three days for a long procession of three thousand people!" Xu Mu suppressed his voice.
This group of people is in the enemy's hinterland. If they are not careful, the whole army will be wiped out immediately, not even the dregs will be left.
With the cessation of fighting in Hezhou City, Beidi's pursuit of them will only become more and more fierce.
"Walk!"
Nearly three thousand people, silent in the rain, slowly followed Xu Mu and continued to run forward through the vast night.
…
Hezhou is bloody and mottled. The cool breeze in the morning, mixed with the drifting rain, cuts people's faces.
Zhao Qingyun stood at the top of the city and did not pay attention to the civilians repairing the city wall. Instead, he looked at the extreme poverty.
He felt a little happy. On this day, Beidi didn't seem to have any plans to attack the city.
"General Zhao, come down and have a drink. It's all warmed up. The calf has been raised for half a month, just in time for the banquet."
General Pi Liu Zhu stood at the foot of the city, his voice filled with satisfaction.
Zhao Qingyun frowned and initially ignored him, but when he thought of Liu Zhu's backer, he immediately turned around with a slightly flattering look on his face.
"Thanks to General Liu, the Di people were defeated, and the third battalion of Xifu also contributed a lot."
"Haha, both you and I have made great contributions."
The tangy beef soup made many ragged children squat on the wet ground next to it, wrinkling their noses and sucking it in.
A captain walked by, knocked out three or two people with his sword scabbard, and kicked them aside. The remaining children dispersed in a hurry.
In the tent.
Zhao Qingyun raised his head and looked at a child lying on the ground, feeling vaguely familiar. Before he could take a closer look, a woman hurriedly came over and ran away with the child in her arms.
"General Zhao, I'll give you a toast! I wish General Zhao will be crowned a marquis as soon as possible!"
Zhao Qingyun recovered his thoughts, forced a smile, and picked up the wine cup.
"By the way, General Liu, where is Lian Yong?"
"No matter what he does, if a son of an official and a criminal sits on equal terms with him, we have lost our status."
…
Lian Yong held his saber and sat in a simple thatched shed. Occasionally he raised his eyes and looked at a large group of howling people in front of him, using only half a bowl of thin soup to worship God.
As soon as they finished praying, the only bowl of thin soup was snatched away by more than a dozen people.
"General, it's time to eat." An old guard sighed and walked in with a bowl of sticky rice.
"General... I just went to ask. The people from the Third Battalion of Xifu are suppressing our rations again."
Lian Yong closed his eyes slightly, his face full of bitterness. As early as when he came to the border, the Marquis with the surname of Guo came to him and said a word.
"Even if we are officials and criminals and ordinary people who go to the national disaster together, they still have their share of responsibilities."
"That year when I had my hair cut off, I also entered the border and fought a battle. One hundred thousand Di people besieged the city, so I dared to have one hundred thousand Ji soldiers march out to meet them."
Lian Yong's eyes were blurred, as if he was reminiscing.
"I don't even remember when exactly... I have been like a sick child since I was a child, and I can't stand the beatings."
Lian Yong held the knife, closed his eyes slightly, turned around and fell asleep.
The old guard's eyes turned red and he sighed again. He walked out of the hut carrying the bowl of paste and gave it to a passing woman.
"Thank you, General. I have some medicinal herbs here that can cure dysentery. I will send some to the General."
The longer the city is defended, the more raging dysentery will become.
The old guard took the medicinal herbs and was slightly surprised.
"It's rare for a village woman to know etiquette."
"As taught by my boss, you should never forgive evil and never be ungrateful."
With the paste in one hand, the stick in the other, and the injured child in her arms, Xiniang walked forward slowly with steady steps.