Ever since he had been pursued by the Great Radiant Sect, You Hongzhuo had been suffering from hunger and injuries for the past few days. It was only after meeting these two seniors the day before that he had a full meal. This morning, as he ate porridge while listening to Senior Zhao talk about the principles of martial arts, he felt that his heart was at ease and at peace.
He knew that these two seniors were highly skilled in martial arts. If he were to follow them, he might not have to be afraid even if he were to encounter the River Heavenly Blade, Tan Zheng. However, this thought only lingered in his heart for a moment. Although these two seniors were highly skilled in martial arts, they had already saved him. How could he implicate these two benefactors because of his matters?
After finishing his breakfast, You Hongzhuo cupped his hands and bade farewell. Mister Zhao smiled and looked at him. "Little brother, where are you planning to go?"
You Hongzhuo gave it some thought. "I … I haven't thought it through yet. I think that since my martial arts skills are low, the Great Radiant Sect won't spend too much effort searching for me. If my brothers and sisters are still alive, I'll have to look for them … Also, when we were ambushed that day, Big Brother said that Fourth Brother was a traitor. If that's really the case, I'll have to look for Fourth Brother and take revenge."
Right now, he had also thought things through clearly. Compared to the Great Radiant Sect, he and his six brothers and sisters were probably not much of a threat. His encounter with the River Heavenly Blade, Tan Zheng's biological brother might have been just a coincidence. Right now, the situation outside was unbearable, and the forests were in chaos. As long as he kept a low profile, he would be able to avoid the limelight and settle the blood feud with his sworn brothers and sisters.
"If that's the case, you can travel with us for a few days." After You Hongzhuo said that, the other party smiled. "Your injuries have yet to recover, and there's no place you must go to. Traveling with us for a while would be a good way to keep you company. "Men and women of the pugilistic world, there's no need to be pretentious about this. The two of us will be heading south and will be passing through Zezhou City. That's where the Great Radiant Sect's branch is located. We might be able to find some information there. In the future, when your martial arts skills become stronger, you can look for Tan Zheng to take revenge."
"Thank …" After listening to Mister Zhao's words, You Hongzhuo did not insist any further. He cupped his hands in front of his chest and thanked him. When the first word came out, his throat strangely choked. Fortunately, Mister Zhao had already turned around and walked towards the young mule not far away, as if he did not hear what he said.
In fact, You Hongzhuo was only a young man of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Although he had seen life and death and had no family behind him, how could he avoid the taste of starvation, the fear of injury, and even death? The reason why he said goodbye was because of his upbringing and the last bit of pride in his heart. He knew that after saying these words, the two of them would never be able to be together again. Who would have thought that the other party would actually open her mouth to ask him to stay? The gratitude in his heart was indescribable.
The three of them traveled together, following the official road from Xiangzhou to Zezhou all the way south. During the flourishing of the Wu dynasty, this road was an important trade route, but now the number of pedestrians was greatly reduced. On one hand, it was because of the hot weather. On the other hand, due to the Daqi's policy of prohibiting residents from fleeing south, the closer they got to the south, the more chaotic the security became, and the more deserted the trade route became.
This area was close to Tian Hu's territory, so there were still some pedestrians. There were small groups of merchants, travelers, travelers dressed in tattered clothes, and escort teams driving large carts. Along the way, they could also see monks from the Great Radiant Cult. At this time, the Great Radiant Cult had countless followers in the Daqi territory. Although You Hongzhuo did not have a good impression of them, he knew that the Cult Leader of the Great Radiant Cult, Lin Zongwu, was the world's number one expert. Along the way, he opened his mouth to ask his benefactor and his wife.
Subsequently, from Mister Zhao, he learned many old stories about the Great Radiant Cult. He also understood that the "Lin Eichan" that his benefactor had mentioned yesterday was the world's number one expert.
At this time, the Central Plains had suffered from many wars, and the oral traditions of the Lulin had long been lost. Only Lin Zongwu, who had disciples all over the world, and Zhou Dong, who had been heavily promoted by Takeshi a few years ago, were still known to the public. Previously, when You Hongzhuo was traveling with his six brothers and sisters, he had also heard some rumors about the Lulin. However, how could the information he had heard from those few people be as detailed as what he was hearing now?
The entanglements and grudges between the Devil Cult's Saintess Si Kongnan, Holy Duke Fang La, Tyrannical Blade Liu Dabiao, Fang Baihua, Nine Appearances of the Cloud Dragon, Seven Buddhas of Fang Qi, Iron Arm Zhou Dong, the beautiful and white-haired Cui Xiaolu, and even the Inner Demon Ning Liheng and the other experts of the Jianghu from the previous generation to the previous two generations were narrated by Mister Zhao. Only then did the scene of the flourishing Wu dynasty and the flourishing of the Lulin become more and more vivid in You Hongzhuo's heart. Now, all of this had been blown away by the wind. Only the former Left Protector Lin Eichan was left to dominate the Jianghu. As for the Inner Demon Ning Yi, he had already died a few years ago while resisting the Jurchens in the northwest.
He had heard of some of these things, but there were also some things he had never heard of. At this time, Mister Zhao simply made up a story, which made one sigh incessantly.
"… If we were to head west, it would still be a hell on earth. Because of the three-year war at the Little Cang River in the northwest, the Jurchens had massacred the entire city in revenge. Almost all the people there were killed, and a plague broke out among the survivors. Now, there are only a few people left. Further to the northwest … Xixia. Two years ago, the Mongolians came down from the north and pushed through the Helan Mountains. After conquering the Silver Stream, they massacred the city. Now, the Mongolian cavalry has taken root there, and blood has flowed like a river … The world is in chaos. Lin Eichan took advantage of the chaos and bewitched a few foolish people. It looked like he had great power, but in fact, his achievements were limited … "
After listening to Mister Zhao, You Hongzhuo suddenly remembered that Madam Zhao had said yesterday, "Even Lin Eichan doesn't dare to talk to me like this." What kind of status did these two benefactors have in the Jianghu? Yesterday, he did not know who Lin Eichan was, so he did not realize this. Now that he thought about it, these two benefactors had saved him in passing, but he did not know where they came from and what they were going to do in the future.
It was not convenient for him to ask. On this day, Mister Zhao occasionally told him some anecdotes in the Jianghu, and occasionally gave him some advice on martial arts and bladesmanship. The You family's bladesmanship was actually a well-developed internal bladesmanship. You Hongzhuo had a good foundation, but he did not know how to fight in actual combat. Now that he had placed too much emphasis on actual combat, the couple's advice could not make his bladesmanship improve by leaps and bounds, but it could help him walk more steadily.
On this day, in the evening, the three of them temporarily stayed at an inn in a market along the way. This place was still a day's journey from Zezhou, but there were many people in the inns in the market, perhaps because there were many merchants staying here. Among them, there were quite a number of people who were armed with weapons, and they looked at each other with hostility. The Zhao couple, who were known as the Twin Killers of the Dark Winds, did not care. You Hongzhuo had not been in the Jianghu for more than two months, so he did not know if there was anything unusual about this situation. It was only when it was dinner time that he carefully mentioned it. Mister Zhao nodded. "They should be people from nearby who are rushing to Zezhou."
"Did something big happen in Zezhou?"
"When traveling in the Jianghu, one must keep one's eyes and ears open." Mister Zhao smiled. "If you're curious, before the sun sets, go out and take a walk. Listen to what they're talking about, or just treat someone to two bowls of wine. Won't you be able to figure it out then?"
You Hongzhuo felt a chill in his heart, knowing that the other party was teaching him the way to travel in the Jianghu. He quickly finished the food in his bowl, cupped his hands, and left.
In the past, he had been worried about being hunted down by the Great Radiant Sect, so he did not dare to get close to these markets. Now that the two seniors were keeping watch in the inn, he no longer had to be timid. He walked around the vicinity of the inn for a while, listening to the conversations of the people. After about two hours, when the red sun had set from the western horizon of the market, he could roughly piece together the outline of what had happened from the fragments of other people's words.
It turned out that while he was being hunted down by the Great Radiant Sect, hundreds of thousands of Hungry Ghosts had been defeated by the Tiger King's army at the north bank of the Yellow River. The leader of the Hungry Ghosts, Wang Shitong, was currently being escorted to Zezhou.
Although the name "Hungry Ghosts" was unpleasant to the ears, in the eyes of the people of the Greenwood Forest, this force was not a villain. On the contrary, it was a rather famous volunteer army.
The appearance of the "Hungry Ghosts" had an honorable reason. Ever since Liu Yu established Daqi with the support of the Jins, the Central Plains had always been in chaos. Most of the people had no way of making a living. Daqi had first started a war with Old Cang He, and on the other hand, it had always been in a tug-of-war with NMAU. Liu Yu's talents were limited. After he became emperor, he did not pay attention to the people's livelihood. With one imperial edict, he conscripted all the men of age in Daqi to become soldiers. In order to accumulate money, he imposed countless exorbitant taxes on the people. In order to support the war, he constantly expropriated and even robbed the people of food.
Amidst such man-made disasters, there were also endless natural disasters. These days, the Yellow River was already prone to flooding. After the political system was paralyzed, the Yellow River's embankment could no longer be maintained, causing the embankment to burst every year during the flood season. The flood, coupled with the drought and locust plague in the north, over the years, all the resources of the Central Plains had been used up, and a large number of people migrated south.
Liu Yu's regime spent a great deal of effort to stop this migration. On one hand, they strictly guarded the borders, and on the other, they no longer supported or protected any long-distance travel. If one did not have a background and did not have a road ticket from the court and the local tyrants, it would be difficult for the average person to travel. They would have to bear the heavy exploitation of the horse bandits, fugitives, black shops, and low-ranking government officials. In places where public security was not stable, the local government officials would treat foreign merchants and travelers as fat sheep. It was common for them to capture or slaughter them in the middle of the night.
These dangers could not stop people who had nowhere to go. Every year, a large number of refugees would try their best to head south. Along the way, they would suffer the tragedy of being separated from their wives, leaving behind countless corpses. Many people could not make it to the Wu dynasty. Those who could survive would either become bandits or join some army. Beautiful women or healthy children would sometimes be caught and sold by human traffickers.
This year, Wang Shitong gathered a large number of refugees in an attempt to fight their way out of the heavy blockade of various forces. This force rose rapidly, and within a few months, it had expanded to a scale of several hundred thousand people. At the same time, it attracted the attention of various forces.
Both the Jin Men and Liu Yu gave orders to stop them. Along the way, the various forces were not happy to see the "hungry ghosts" go south. Their rise was due to the local situation. If everyone left, who could they bully as the king of the mountain?
Under such circumstances, the hundreds of thousands of "hungry ghosts" were blocked on the road. After breaking through the blockade of a few Great Qi armies, the refugees, who already had problems eating and drinking, naturally looted the towns along the way. At this time, the Tiger King's army came out with the slogan of enforcing justice on behalf of the heavens. Just a few days ago, the "hungry ghosts" who had reached the north bank of the Yellow River were slaughtered and scattered by the Tiger King's army. Wang Shitong was captured alive and was about to be escorted to Zezhou to be executed.
Most of these people from the woods were mobilized by the Great Radiant Sect to go to Zezhou to support the righteous. Of course, although it was said to be "support," they would naturally consider saving people when the time was right. And among them, there was also a portion who seemed to have the mentality of watching from the sidelines. This was because, according to the mouths of these people, there seemed to be a hidden story behind Wang Shitong's matter.
It was said that the "Ghost King" Wang Shitong, who had gathered hundreds of thousands of people and tried to lead them south, was once a member of the Black Flag Army of Little Canghe. The Black Flag Army had resisted the Jin for three years and had become a legend in the Central Plains. After the Jin left, it was said that a considerable portion of the remaining Black Flag Army had broken up and infiltrated various places in the Central Plains.
It was also said that the inner demon, Ning Yi, had never died. He had always been hiding in the dark and had only created the illusion of his death so that the Jin would stop. Such a rumor was admittedly the wishful thinking of the Black Flag Army. However, it seemed that there were really people who wanted to use the incident of the "Ghost King" Wang Shitong to lure the remnants of the Black Flag Army out, or even to find out the truth about the inner demon's life and death.
After he understood these things, he hurriedly returned to report to the two seniors. On the way, he suddenly thought that the "Twin Killers of the Dark Winds", a nickname that carried a baleful aura, did not sound like they were from the righteous path of the woods. It was very likely that the two benefactors had come from an evil sect in the past. Now, it was obvious that they had been enlightened, which was why they had become so calm and magnanimous.
After a while, he thought about it again. However, seeing how Madam Zhao had killed Tan Yan and the others in the blink of an eye as if she was cutting melons and vegetables, such an awe-inspiring baleful aura did indeed give off the feeling of the "Twin Killers". These two benefactors might not have come out of seclusion for a long time. Now that a storm had gathered in Zezhou City, it was unknown how the juniors would feel when they saw the two seniors. Or, would the world's number one, Lin Zongwu, appear? How would he feel when he saw the two seniors?
Just thinking about these things made him excited.
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