The moon streaked across the tranquil night sky. In the cities on the ground, the lights were gradually extinguished. After passing through the darkest night, the first glimmer of a fish belly peeked out from the winter sky.
After the rooster crowed thrice, the city of Zezhou began to bustle with activity again. The hawkers who had woken up early entered the city in a hurry. Today, they were no longer in the mood to shout loudly. Most of them looked fearful and anxious. The patrolling bailiffs and bailiffs lined up along the streets of the city. You Hongzhuo had already woken up. He watched as a small group of soldiers passed by, followed by a group of soldiers who were escorting the bandits.
Most of the bandits who were escorted by the soldiers had injuries on their bodies. Some were even covered in blood. They were different from the criminals who had proclaimed that they would be heroes again after 18 years. The group before him occasionally spoke had a hint of despair and murderous aura. If the people who had been burnt to death yesterday wanted to show that their grandpa was a hero, then today's group of bandits were more like ghosts who had crawled out of a desperate situation. They were angry and desolate at the same time.
"Just you wait — there will be retribution —" A man covered in blood was tied up with ropes. He was locked in a prison cart and was on his last breath. He suddenly shouted towards the outside, and the soldier next to him swung the hilt of his sword and smashed it right into his mouth. The man fell down, his mouth full of blood, and it was estimated that half of his teeth were ruthlessly smashed out.
The crowd began to discuss anxiously. "Hungry ghosts … It's the hungry ghosts …"
"Hundreds of thousands of people were scattered along the banks of the Yellow River … They arrived this morning …"
"If they can't reach the south … they will come and eat us …"
"Sinful …"
This morning, thousands of hungry ghosts had already arrived from the south. Just like what the crowd had said, if they couldn't cross the Yellow River, they would come back to eat people. Zezhou was at the heart of the struggle.
While the crowd was discussing, You Hongzhuo watched as the group of people passed by. Suddenly, something happened in front of him. A soldier shouted. You Hongzhuo turned his head and saw that on top of a prison cart, a man had stretched out his arm and raised a piece of black cloth high up. When the officer at the side saw this, he shouted loudly. A soldier rushed forward and brandished his steel knife, chopping off the arm.
Blood splattered everywhere. Amidst the noise, the wounded shouted, "They can't live anymore. Those who want to go to the south have done something wrong. What have they done wrong? You want to starve them to death …"
His roar was mixed with the pain of losing his hand. Mixed with the cries of alarm from the crowd, it was especially mournful. The surrounding soldiers and officers were also roaring. One of them brandished a long saber and stabbed it into his mouth. At this moment, there were some people in the crowd who reacted, thinking of another matter. They only heard someone say in a low voice, "Black flag, black flag …" This voice spread through the crowd like a ripple. You Hongzhuo was a bit far away and couldn't see clearly, but right now, he already understood. What that person held in his hands was very likely a Black Flag Army flag.
The crowd discussed among themselves, and someone shouted, "So what if it's a black flag!"
It was the officer in charge. He dismounted, seized the black cloth from the ground, and held it aloft.
"Regardless of what others think, the people of Zezhou live in peace and contentment. We never fight with others. Hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts went south and massacred several cities, plunging the people into misery and suffering. Only then did our army move out to enforce justice on behalf of the heavens! Today, we only killed the evil leader of Wang Shi Tong's gang, and didn't implicate others. What else do you have to say? Brothers and sisters, we soldiers are here to protect our home and our country, to protect everyone. Today, whoever comes from Zezhou, regardless of whether it's the hungry ghosts or the Black Flag Army, as long as they cause trouble, we will give our lives to protect Zezhou. We will not hesitate! Everyone just needs to live a good life, abide by the law, and Zezhou will be peaceful, and no one will dare to touch … "
The officer's words were impassioned and powerful. When he finished, he drew his steel knife and chopped the black flag into pieces. Suddenly, a roar came from the crowd, "Good …"
Someone shouted, "That's right …"
"We Zezhou people have never offended you …"
"You want to starve to death, so you came to cause trouble. So what if you killed people …"
"Pui … You bastards, if you really dare to come, I will kill you …"
"Scum!"
The crowd finally had an outlet to vent their anger. Amidst the cursing, someone picked up a rock and threw it at the prisoner cart. For a moment, the sound of cursing and beating could be heard on the street like raindrops.
Outside Zezhou City, the army was moving toward the south of the city like a long dragon. They guarded the main roads outside the city, waiting for the hungry ghosts to arrive. Even under such circumstances, the city gates of Zezhou were not closed. On one hand, the army was trying to appease the people, and on the other hand, they had already strengthened the defenses in various parts of the city. General Sun Qi led his personal guards into the prefecture, and began to truly take charge.
The rich and powerful families in the city were even more flustered. Last night, they had visited Lu Anmin, who was relatively easy to talk to. Looking at the army's stance today, it was obvious that they were unwilling to be forced to close the city gates by the refugees. Only after the families strengthened the defenses did they contact each other worriedly, discussing whether they should pool together money and ask the general to treat the refugees seriously, or strengthen the guards in their homes.
In the past, when the Wu dynasty was at its peak, there would occasionally be waves of refugees and starving people in winter. At that time, whether the major cities were closed or not was considered. Even if the city gates were not closed, with disaster relief, there would not be major chaos. However, the situation now was different. These starving people had also been on the battlefield, killed people, and even massacred cities. If they were to take the risk, even if the army could suppress them, if they were not stingy, they would be buried with them.
In the midst of everyone's anxiety, the local civilians in the city had become turbulent, and they were not friendly to outsiders. In the afternoon, in the south of the city, the chaotic begging and migration groups approached the soldiers' blockade point in twos and threes. Then, they saw the corpses and heads stuck on the flagpoles in front of them. These were the corpses of Gu Dahao, Tang Side, and the others, as well as Li Guifang's body, which had been blasted black and tattered. The crowd could not recognize him, but they could more or less recognize one or two of the others.
More and more people began to gather. Their clothes were tattered, their bodies were thin, and their hair was messy. Some of them were pushing wheelbarrows, and some of them were carrying various kinds of baggage on their backs. Most of them were filled with despair. Most of them were not beggars, and some of them were even well-off when they left for the south. But now, they were almost all the same.
The crowd began to become helpless in front of the army and the corpses. After a long time, a white-haired old man led a large group of people to kneel in front of the army, kowtowing and begging. The crowd burst into tears. The human wall formed by the army did not budge. In the evening, the military officer in the lead waved his hand, and carts filled with porridge, steamed buns, and other food were pushed out. Only then did the starving people line up to receive their rations.
With food, large groups of starving people began to obey the commands of the army. The military officer at the front looked at all of this with a complacent expression. In reality, without a leader, most of them were civilians who could not cause too much harm.
Threats, incitement, attacks, division … That night, the actions of the army outside the city spread into Zezhou City. The emotions of the people in the city were stirred up, and they began to talk enthusiastically about what Sun Qi had done. Without the tens of thousands of refugees, even if there were bad people, they would not be able to cause any trouble. The people who originally felt that Sun Qi's army should not have scattered the hungry ghosts by the Yellow River and brought trouble to the north suddenly felt that Great General Sun was the reincarnation of Marquis Wu, and he had great foresight.
On this day, even though he was in the temple of the Great Radiant Sect, You Hongzhuo could clearly feel the restlessness in the crowd. The people were cursing the hungry ghosts, cursing the Black Flag Army, cursing the ways of the world, and also cursing the Lady Zhenren in soft voices, using this method to balance their emotions. A few groups of bandits were found out by the army from within the city, and then various small-scale battles broke out. One of the groups was near the Great Radiant Sect, and You Hongzhuo also secretly went over to watch the show. The bandits who were fighting against the soldiers were blocked in their rooms, and the army used bows and arrows to shoot them to death.
You Hongzhuo could not help but feel worried. In such a situation, a single person was powerless. The experienced people in the pugilistic world had many ways to hide themselves, and they also had various ways to interact with the underground and underworld forces. However, You Hongzhuo was not familiar with these at all. When he was in a small mountain village, his family had been forced to their deaths by the Great Radiant Sect. He could climb out from the pile of corpses and kill all the men and women in a small temple. At that time, he did not care about life and death, and if he fought with his life on the line, he would be able to obtain a chance of victory.
However, fighting with these troops with his life on the line was meaningless, and the outcome would only be death.
When he entered Zezhou City, Mister Zhao had gotten him a travel permit, but even now, You Hongzhuo did not know if this travel permit was really useful. If it was fake and was seen through — perhaps he should leave this place earlier.
He pondered over this matter, and felt that this kind of emotion was really too cowardly. Before he could make a decision, the army came to Liang An Inn that night, and began to inspect each room. You Hongzhuo was prepared to fight with his life on the line, but fortunately, the travel permit was effective. The other party asked a few questions, and in the end, they still left.
After this small interlude, he felt that there was no need to leave immediately.
This day was the 27th of June in the eighth year of Jianshuo, and there were still four days until the day Wang Shitong was to be executed. During the day, You Hongzhuo continued to go to the Great Radiant Sect, and waited for Tan Zheng and the others to appear. He listened to the news from the crowd, and knew that someone had been caught breaking into the prison last night, and there were a few more waves of chaos. There were even some deaths at the east side of the city. In the afternoon, Tan Zheng and the others still had not appeared. He looked at the sun setting in the west, and knew that there might not be any results today, so he left the temple.
After walking a few streets, he realized that he was being watched.
There were not many people on the streets in the evening. When a man with a knife on his back approached him, there were also two people behind him, and they surrounded You Hongzhuo, forcing him into a small alley on the side. These three people seemed to be quite skilled in martial arts. You Hongzhuo took a deep breath, and thought about how he should speak. At the end of the alley, a figure came into view.
"… Fourth Brother," You Hongzhuo murmured softly. You Hongzhuo murmured in a low voice. Opposite him was his former "fourth brother", Kuang Wenbai. He was dressed in white and carried a whip on his back. He looked at You Hongzhuo with a hint of complacency in his eyes.
You Hongzhuo calmed himself down, and smiled. "Fourth Brother, how did you find me?"
"Fifth Brother taught me a principle. You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't guard against a thief for a thousand days. I did something like that, and you ran away, so I can't just go drinking with girls and looking for girls without any worries. So, in order to wait for you, I also spent a lot of effort. "
"I did something like that …" When he heard this, You Hongzhuo sighed in his heart.
"Then … Fourth Brother …" His heart was heavy, and it was difficult for him to speak at that moment. "My brothers and sisters, are they still alive?"
Kuang Wenbai looked at him, and after a long silence, he suddenly smiled. "How do you think that's possible?" He reached out to touch his whip. "I'm really relieved that you left today."
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