The rain fell on the eaves. On the long street in the rain, a middle-aged man wearing a straw raincoat cupped his hands in greeting to the group of horses.
"… My surname is Zhao, Zhao Si. I am indebted to the people of the Jianghu for giving me the nickname of a bandit. If there is anything in the Lu Liang area, find me, Zhao Si, and I can usually say a few words. Since the few of you have come through the path of the First Master, I will take care of the rest. May I ask how I should address you, brothers? "
"Can Cover, this name is not simple." The scholar on horseback cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Ning Yi. The people of Jianghu give me the nickname of 'Bloody Hand Butcher'. The one next to me is' City Burning Spear 'Zhu Biao and my brothers. Greetings Grand Duke Zhao."
The young scholar's voice was slow and unhurried. He spoke in a methodical manner, full of the strange atmosphere of Jianghu. The young man on horseback called Zhu Biao greeted them and lowered his head. His eyes lit up. "City Burning Spear … what a good nickname." That 'Can Cover' cupped his hands and said, "It's an honor to meet you."
He used to walk around Lu Liang and had never heard of such a genteel title as' Grand Duke Zhao '. After sizing up the two of them, he thought to himself, "They look like a few fledglings …"
The power structure in the Lu Liang mountain area was complicated. Although the Green Wood Stronghold had opened their doors to do business and had a certain scale now, it was still not easy to walk the smuggling path of Lu Liang. Most people did not have connections and could not find someone to pull the strings. Basically, it would be difficult to enter. This Zhao Si was one of the guides for the Green Wood Stronghold outside. He looked to be in his thirties or forties and carried a slightly rusty broadsword on his back. His eyes flashed with shrewdness. He belonged to the type of person who might not be very skilled in martial arts but was relatively popular in the Jianghu. Perhaps this was the reason why the Green Wood Stronghold chose him.
When Ning Yi and the others came over, they had already left all the carriages nearby and changed to a group of horses to carry the goods into the mountain. They used the communication method and cut that Hong Ti had once left behind. Although it was a relationship with the First Master, there was nothing special about it. It was hard to say where this relationship came from.
Zhao Si sized up the caravan along the way. Not long after, he came to a conclusion. The group of people in front of him clearly came from a large family with a powerful background in the south. Just by looking at how young the leaders were, one could tell that they were the successors of a large family that had come out to gain experience. It should be the first time for the caravan to travel this way. However, the men in the rear of the caravan were not weak in terms of physique and martial arts. Perhaps the vigor they exuded had something to do with being soldiers. At least in the south of Mount Luliang, they could be considered as half a strong dragon.
However, once such a powerful dragon crossed the mountain, it would usually be nothing. Doing business in the north and south, especially in Lv Liang, didn't require sharpness. Instead, they needed to be able to find a way to adapt to any situation. Otherwise, once they crossed the mountain, in a situation where good and bad people mixed together, even dragons would have to coil up and tigers would have to lie down. A team of one or two hundred people, no matter how strong they were, would not be that strong. What they were afraid of was a young leader.
Zhao Si thought so in his heart. However, as a leader, he still had to do what he had to do. Although the Green Wood Stronghold had developed from Mount Luliang, it still looked like a bandit stronghold to the outside world. However, internally, they were already very particular about rewards and punishments. In the eyes of Zhao Si and the others, this was a rule that the First Master, Blood Bodhisattva, had learned from the army in the south. However, they didn't know that the person who set these rules for them was the young man in the carriage behind them.
After the two parties met up, they traveled in the rain for another half a day before they truly entered the boundary of Mount Luliang. This area was filled with rolling mountains, rugged roads, and fewer people. It was a completely different place from the south side.
Located on the border, Mount Luliang was not only in the midst of war, but it was also barren. The crisscrossing loess slopes and sparse vegetation meant that the crops planted here usually did not have a good harvest. Potatoes, which were relatively suitable for growing here in later generations, had not yet been introduced to China. There was no shortage of water, but if there was a heavy rain, it could easily turn into a flood.
The people who lived in this kind of place had either left or died. Rather than saying that it was difficult to leave their homeland, it was more accurate to say that they had no intention of migrating. Two hundred years ago, this place could be considered relatively peaceful. After that, the chaos of war and harvesting had combed through this place year after year. Some people died, while others hid in the mountains in search of a new place to live. The total amount of food was not much to begin with, and a portion had been stolen. The rest could only be cannibalism.
During the famine years, cannibalism was not a strange thing in the mountains. After the Wu dynasty gradually developed, there was enough food outside of Lu Liang. Although it was difficult to say what it had directly helped Mount Luliang, over the past few decades, there had not been many famines to the point of cannibalism. However, it was still normal for people to starve to death. In a situation where the total amount was limited, to feed a portion of people, the other portion would definitely starve to death. This was the cruelest law of survival. It had nothing to do with human kindness.
If a person was about to starve to death, they would do anything. This place was like a place to raise poisonous insects. Over time, most of the order was broken. Morality became indistinct, and no one talked about morality. Only survival itself became clear. Some of the people who survived in this kind of environment were extremely cruel, some were extremely simple, and some were both. It was not that no one wanted to establish order, but those who tried to do so usually failed, ending up with blood and death.
Occasionally, there would be some conflicts with the outside world. Occasionally, the outside army would come in when they felt that it was profitable. They would find a way to kill a group of people and then hand them over to the country as the result of suppressing bandits. Other than the victims themselves, basically no one cared about such things.
To survive in such a situation, there was not much difference between humans and a pack of wolves in the mountains.
"… In this mountain, no matter where, it is not peaceful. Outsiders basically can't enter. " The rain had already stopped. As they walked along the mountain path, Zhao Si pointed at the surroundings and introduced, "To the west from here, there used to be a bandit called Zhang Da Du. He had a good time for about … two years, and then he died. He was killed by the village's second-in-command. His corpse hung on the mountain for a few months. The village was gone in less than half a year after the second-in-command took over. Now, there are a few groups of people fighting each other, and they don't care about their lives. There is a group of hunters who have set up camp over there. They are very arrogant and don't give face to anyone. So, we have to take a detour now. "
"… If you want to say who can be counted, a little to the northeast, the more famous one is Little Rumbling Horse Qiu Mengtang. I heard that he has some connections with the Tiger King. Now, he has quite a number of subordinates and is quite famous. After that, there is the Chen Family Canal's' Chaotic Mountain King 'Chen Zhenhai, and the Skeleton Village's' Black Skeleton King 'Luan Sanlang. After our Green Wood Stronghold, there is probably the Fang Family's Fang Yiyang and his brothers … Also, there is a group of Liao people who came to the north recently. I heard that they are the defeated soldiers after Liao died. There are more than two thousand of them, and they have had a few conflicts with our Green Wood Stronghold … "
Zhao Si was a local tyrant, and he was very familiar with the major forces in Lu Liang Mountain. Sometimes, a group of people would appear at the side of the mountain path, and he would go over to negotiate with them. After a while, the other party would silently let them pass. In reality, in this kind of mountain, the troublesome ones were not the major forces, but the small groups of rumbling horses that did not follow the rules. When the forces were big, they often had rules to talk about. Only those vicious wolves who did not care about the next meal after eating the previous one and moved to a new place after every shot were very troublesome. Even if the Green Wood Stronghold talked to them about the rules, after a few days, this group of people might have already died on the mountain and been replaced by another group of people. So, in order to maintain a crooked path into the mountain, Green Wood Stronghold also spent a lot of effort.
Many times, Ning Yi and the others could see the wooden stakes inserted near the mountain path. Some of the wooden stakes still had corpses and skulls on them. White bones and corroded bones were inserted high in the yellow soil. This was the most barbaric warning line, but there were not many corpses. It could be seen that the number of people killed had decreased recently, and there were more empty stakes that had been standing for who knows how long.
"That group of people just now, the leader is called Kizaru. He is a vicious wolf, but he still has to give us face … These places were all places that the boss had led us to fight once before. At that time, there were a row of human heads, and blood flowed down from above, turning the entire slope red." After getting rid of a group of people blocking the way, Zhao Si returned and waved his hand to introduce the surroundings. His eyes sized up Ning Yi and the others, and he had a rather proud expression on his face. "Now that we are going to enter the mountain, people like Young Master Ning who have their own team will naturally be led by me alone. If it's just some random people, then let them wait for a group of people to enter together. We still have to send a few dozen people to follow them. Now that it's like this, this road will be even more chaotic …"
What Zhao Si was talking about was the situation when Greenwood Stronghold had just done these things. Although Mount Lu Liang was chaotic, there had always been cases of people smuggling through here. They were either truly skilled and daring escorts, or some opportunistic and risky merchants. Although Mount Lu Liang was chaotic, it was still a vast and sparsely populated place. Once they got through, they would be able to make a lot of money. It was not easy for Greenwood Stronghold and the others to contact these merchants at first. Even if they were locals, they would have to fight several times to get through.
Later on, this business started to grow, and the income and food that Greenwood Stronghold could provide also rapidly expanded. In order to maintain a relatively stable road, Hongti and the others practically ran all over the mountains. Negotiating conditions, greeting, fighting, killing. Whether it was small groups of killings or large groups of fights, in the end, the number of wooden sticks stuck in the road basically equaled the number of heads.
During this period of time, there were naturally people who wanted a share of the loot. But in reality, only Greenwood Stronghold truly used their connections to open up the entire road. If an ordinary person wanted to lead a group through, they would often become food in the mouths of the "wolves" guarding the roadside. There were also people who were not afraid of anything. They ran to block the road or destroyed it, wanting to extort Greenwood Stronghold — this was naturally extremely stupid. Not long after, they were led by a group of people to kill them.
"… Just like that, they swept through again and again. Now, when the name of our Greenwood Stronghold's leader, 'Blood Bodhisattva', is mentioned, who dares not to retreat!" The group of horses moved forward. As Zhao Si spoke, he looked at Ning Yi. He had originally wanted to use these cruel things to scare this young master, but after speaking for a long time, he felt that it was a little boring.
Ning Yi listened to these things with great interest. In the past, when Hongti saw him, he would not mention these things. Things like killing until blood flowed like rivers and all kinds of fights. As for "Blood Bodhisattva", this bandit name that was gradually becoming frightening in Lu Liang, he naturally did not mention it either. "Blood Bodhisattva … How many people had she killed to get such a nickname … Compared to a good nickname like" River Mountain Iron Sword "," Blood Bodhisattva "was obviously a cameo name. When they met, they would definitely laugh at her.
"Because of this, from last year until this time, the people in the stronghold have not gone hungry. Because of our Greenwood Stronghold's share, the nearby mountains also have a much better life. " After all, Zhao Si was still considered a simple mountain person. At this moment, he looked at Ning Yi. "Young Master Ning came from the south. You haven't seen people starve to death, right?"
"Last year, there was also a famine in the south." Ning Yi smiled. "Speaking of which, recently, the news that your female leader is looking for a husband has spread …"
Zhao Si's gaze turned cold. "Is Young Master Ning also interested in this?"
"Indeed, I want to experience it."
He said that he wanted to experience it, not to participate. Zhao Si's eyebrows relaxed slightly. "Hmph, that is just a rumor. I don't know who spread it secretly, but it caused the nearest group of people to rush to the stronghold. First Master's martial arts are superb. With a sword in hand, a hundred people would not be able to get close to her. How can those mediocre people compare! A martial arts competition for a husband, a group of people who do not know death … "
He rambled on, "From that year until now, First Master alone and her sword have traveled hundreds of miles in Lu Liang. Many heroes and ruthless people would turn pale at the mention of her name. Two years ago, Lu Shang was a ruthless person among ruthless people. Her martial arts were superb, and when she killed, she didn't even recognize her own family. She ran to our Green Wood Stronghold to cause trouble, but wasn't she chased by the Stronghold Master for a day and a night before being killed? Last winter, the Old Wolf Lord, who was the most powerful person in the western region of Lu Liang, saw that our Green Wood Stronghold had grown in power, so he planned to ambush and kill the Great Master. He chased him all the way through the mountains. The Great Master, with only a sword and a torch, even encountered the most deadly wolf pack in winter. The Great Master killed a bloody path. Seven days later, the Old Wolf Lord thought that the Great Master was dead, but in the end, the Great Master chopped off his head in front of everyone. And even further, there was a group of horse bandits in Fen Yang … "
Seeing that Ning Yi was interested in this kind of matter, Zhao Si was also quite pleased with himself when he talked about the matters of the "First Master." But after chattering for a while, he noticed that the expression in the young master's eyes seemed to have changed. He was still smiling and gently asked, "At this time, do you still want your Stronghold Master to run around outside? What about you guys? "
"Naturally, there are people by the Stronghold Master's side." Zhao Si waved his hand. "But Lu Liang Mountain is too chaotic. There are people who follow the rules, and there are people who don't. It's very difficult to explain these things to you … Also, how high is our Stronghold Master's martial arts? Let me tell you, I, Zhao Si, have only learned three killing moves from the Stronghold Master. It's only after I came out to do things that I was able to cover my name. It's very difficult to explain these things to you guys. If someone doesn't open their eyes, you'll know …"
Being accused of only letting the Stronghold Master go out to do things clearly made Zhao Si feel a little uncomfortable, so he added a lot of words. Ning Yi smiled and didn't ask further. After a while, there was another col in front of them. In the col, a group of people and horses looked over in their direction from afar. Zhao Si made a gesture and then squeezed his horse's abdomen, continuing to negotiate with them.
It was already afternoon. After traveling for a while, the group set up camp in a nearby mountain. This mountain did not seem barren. There were strange rocks, short trees, and not very dense shrubs and grass in the distance. A small stream snaked through the mountain. As the sun set in the west, the group chose a place with an open field of vision. In the distance, they could see the ruins of a village. It was obvious that no one lived there now. Ning Yi stood at the foot of the mountain, looking in the direction where the sun set.
Zhu Biao carried his spear and walked over from afar. "I exchanged a few moves with that guy just now. The martial arts here are different from those in the south. They are all trained in life and death battles. What's important is the aura. If a normal expert can't withstand that kind of desperate ruthlessness, they'll be killed in two slashes. But if they can withstand it, it's hard to say. "
Ning Yi also smiled. "Training with the saber here is not a competition. If you can withstand it, they'll naturally turn around and run. Then, they'll use all sorts of methods to take revenge."
Zhu Biao's martial arts attainments were much higher than Ning Yi's, so he naturally understood this. In reality, although Zhu Biao was talking about Zhao Si's imposing manner, with the cultivation of Zhao Si and the others, whether they had imposing manner or not, made no difference to Zhu Biao in a real fight. This was mainly because the gap between them was too great. He chuckled and said, "Big Brother Ning, you're thinking about Senior Lu, right?"
"When I first considered Lu Liang Mountain, I had the idea of smuggling." Ning Yi put his hands behind his back and frowned. "When we open the door to do business, we look at the benefits. But with benefits as the core, it's hard to cultivate enough loyalty. I'm afraid that a few bosses will unite for the sake of benefits. They usually develop well, but when it's time to make a move, everyone will be afraid of the slightest thing. "
He paused for a moment. "That's why I reminded her back then that the core of the armed forces in her hands was the most important. Those who could fight had to be controlled with the strictest discipline. When it came to cultivating unity, she had to use her personal martial arts and charm. As long as a martial arts master knew a little about management, the possibility of betrayal would be much lower. But now it seems … her charm has been cultivated a bit too much. "
Ning Yi's tone was rather complicated as he spoke. When he first entered the mountain, he found all sorts of things interesting. Lu Hong's nickname of the Blood Bodhisattva was just a joke. As for things like killing and killing, Ning Yi certainly yearned for a more peaceful life, but he had a deep understanding of the dark side of the world. It was just that after listening to Zhao Si's self-satisfied boasting for a long time, he would truly feel complicated emotions.
"… What Lu Chang, what Old Wolf Lord. Of course, there's a discount if you can cover them, but it definitely won't be too fake. What one person, one sword, one torch, facing a pack of wolves in a world of ice and snow, with someone chasing after them? Brother Zhu, what do you think? " He thought of the scene of that woman facing the pack of wolves in a world of ice and snow, and for a moment, he felt that it was quite beautiful. But then, he couldn't help but sigh.
Zhu Biao shrugged. "Well, I think … wolves also understand human nature. If it was only one or two wolves, I might be able to scare them away. Senior Lu is so powerful, ordinary wolves probably wouldn't dare to bite her. "
"But that's a world of ice and snow, a pack of wolves that have been hungry for a whole winter …" Ning Yi waved his hand. "Her martial arts skills are already high. As for her personal charm, she just needs to show off every year. As for the rest … high-pressure policies, mysticism, everything else is useless, and she likes to do things herself. She raised a group of people to do things for her. Is she raising good-looking people? This time, I have to take a good look at what her imitation looks like … "
Zhu Biao had been working under Ning Yi for a long time, and Ning Yi had taught him many things. At this time, he pursed his lips and smiled, but he knew that he didn't need to say anything. It was also at this moment that he suddenly sensed something. His gaze turned towards a direction not too far away. In the sparse poplar forest over there, birds flew out with a whoosh, and then there was a bang. The sound was not loud, but after that, it became quiet again.
Like a sudden gust of wind that blew through the foothills, half of the hundreds of people who had started to set up camp were startled at this moment, and looked in that direction.
It was almost suffocating. In the camp, Zhao Si flew out and leaped onto a large rock, unsheathed his steel knife, and waved his other hand behind him. "Don't panic!" Of course, no one panicked at all.
In the poplar forest, another figure suddenly flashed, and in the midst of crossing paths, there was a short scream. Then, figures appeared on the trees, and the sound of weapons clashing could be heard. Only simple sounds could be heard.
"Who is it!"
"Come out —"
"Ah ah —"
"Everyone be careful, there's a stabbing —"
Some of these voices shouted out, and some stopped abruptly. The poplar forest was stained with blood. A head rolled across everyone's field of vision, and then a corpse with its chest split open was thrown out. Clearly, just now, in this small forest, two small groups of people met silently, and then began a short but fatal fight.
Zhao Si still couldn't figure out what was going on, so he looked back. Under the setting sun, the people behind him spread out in groups on this mountain ridge. Some held knives, some held spears, and some held crossbows. They silently arranged themselves in formation, and almost no one spoke. The atmosphere was murderous and solemn. A few people were still looking at him on the large rock in confusion. A young man who had spoken with him before, hiding behind a rock, tilted his head, silently telling him: Why aren't you coming down yet? What are you standing there for?
Even further away, the two young men leading the group had already slightly changed positions. They silently and calmly looked at everything below them, and there was almost no surprise in their eyes. In reality, with Ning Yi's personality, in such a chaotic place like Lu Liang Mountain, how could he only place his hopes of safety on a guide from Green Wood Stronghold. Suddenly having some accidents happen, and some people having brain problems, it may seem troublesome, but it was not enough to make him make a fuss over nothing.
Turning back again, beside the poplar forest, as the corpse was thrown out, a figure slowly retreated from the forest. It was a tall man. Zhao Si had seen him in the caravan today. This man had a knife scar on his face, was tall and sturdy, and walked steadily. His skills seemed to be quite good. Coupled with his silent and serious expression, even in Lu Liang Mountain, he was probably a tough opponent that others would not dare to provoke. In Ning Yi's group, he held the responsibility of a small team leader. At this moment, the steel knife in the man's hand was stained with blood. He made a few hand gestures towards the sky, then walked behind a pile of rubble and hid his body. Soon after, several people retreated from the forest. They were the members of his small team who were in charge of guarding.
"There are three to four hundred people coming from the southeast …" Zhu Biao interpreted the information that the other party had sent and told Ning Yi. Ning Yi nodded. "Help Nie Shan and the others come up."
The Nie Shan he spoke of was the name of the man below. This Nie Shan was originally a small leader in Liang Mountain. He was cruel and had killed many people. Later, in the camp at Lone Dragon Hill, he had received pointers in martial arts from Lu Hongti — mainly because he had been beaten. After repentance, his martial arts had improved. In fact, for most skills, be it martial arts or art, after reaching a bottleneck, what could push for a breakthrough was often philosophical understanding, which was the tempering of one's mind. The repentance in Lone Dragon Hill had its own twisted side, but it also brought with it an extreme element of fanaticism. This kind of people, in addition to the special training of small teams, were almost a nightmarish existence when they fought in a small area like sentries in the forest. The elite scouts that sneaked into the forest were almost all killed the moment they came into contact with them.
The movement in the mountain ridge was quiet and orderly. Some people were on guard, while others were packing up. Nie Shan and the others had already come up from below. In the distance, when the first group of people appeared in their field of vision, Zhao Si saw two people on this side draw their bows and arrows. With a swoosh, they consecutively shot down a few figures. The other party hurriedly retreated, but then more and more people came, surrounding them from the southeast.
"Master Zhao Si." Ning Yi came closer. "For three to four hundred people to come at this time, who do you think they are?"
"Damn it." Zhao Si ground his teeth. "This is still the territory of Little Rattling Horse. Just now when we passed through the col, we even greeted their people. Qiu Mengtang doesn't want his life anymore, attacking us. What is he thinking? Damn it! "
As he said this, Zhao Si glanced at his surroundings. He saw more than a hundred people gather and move, and each person's essence, qi, and spirit were actually not the slightest bit chaotic. He finally confirmed that this group of people was not simple. Gritting his teeth, he charged in the direction of the figures.
"Qiu Mengtang! Stockade Master Qiu! " He shouted at the figures over there. "I am Zhao Si of Green Wood. Today, it is the First Master's wish that I bring our brothers to pass! You've already taken the money for the road, what are you doing! You've taken the wrong medicine! You dare to break the agreement with Green Wood Stockade — "
He, a little brother of the stockade, dared to challenge the other party. This was the might of Green Wood Stockade that had been drenched in blood. In the warm yellow sunset, a voice came from the other side. It was Little Rattling Horse that had swept through Lu Liang.
"Zhao Si. I will leave the group of people you brought behind today. As for what happens next, I, Little Rattling Horse, will personally explain it to Blood Bodhisattva. " That tone sounded a bit lazy, but it was driven by inner force. Also because the atmosphere here was solemn and quiet, it actually rang through the entire mountain ridge, sweeping up a cold and clear echo. "I will only say it once. You, may leave."
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