A storm was brewing.
In Shibin Gorge Village near Zezhou City, the villagers gathered at the threshing ground as they watched the soldiers enter the big house on the hillside. The clamor did not stop for a moment, it was the wife of the big landlord who was crying.
"… You guys are falsely claiming good people … You guys are falsely claiming …"
"… Shen Ling of the Shen family is helping the Black Flag Bandits in the private school, secretly hiding forbidden books, he is obviously involved with the bandits! This whole family is suspicious. Let's capture them all and interrogate them … "
The movement of the army caused a large scale of crying. In the past few days, it was not the first such incident near Zezhou City. The villagers at the threshing ground were anxious, but since it involved a big family, it did not cause too much panic.
"The situation in Zezhou is not stable! The bandits have gathered and will probably cause trouble in the next few days. Fellow villagers, don't be afraid, we are only arresting the bandits to stabilize the situation. Something big might happen in the next few days, causing inconvenience to everyone's lives, but General Sun assures everyone that once the bandit king Shi Tong is beheaded, the situation will naturally calm down! "
The soldier in charge of propaganda spoke loudly in front of the threshing ground, following which he cited the evidence of the Shen family's crimes. The young master of the Shen family, Shen Ling, was originally in charge of the private school in the village and loved to talk about current affairs, occasionally saying a few good things about the Black Flag Army. The villagers did not find it strange when they heard it, but recently, the peace in Zezhou was broken by the hungry ghosts, and it was said that the hungry ghosts were related to the Black Flag Army, so the soldiers' operation to capture the Black Flag Army was accepted by everyone. Although they usually had a good impression of Shen Ling, who asked him to collude with the bandits?
The mentality of the villagers was ultimately simple, it was one thing to beat up the Jurchens, but they only wanted to live their own lives. If the Black Flag Army wanted to burn this place, then they were naturally the evildoers.
The soldiers escorted the Shen family, pushing and shoving them all the way to Zezhou City. When the villagers saw this scene, no one realized that they might not be able to return.
Two days later would be the day the Ghost King was beheaded, as long as two days passed, everything would be fine …
In the magistrate office of Zezhou, Lu Anmin had a complicated expression as he walked through the long corridor anxiously. When he stepped down the stairs, he almost fell.
He held a scroll of Xuan paper in his hand, feeling anxious. They walked all the way to the main hall of Sun Qi's office and saw that there were many officials waiting in the hall of the State Mansion. Some were generals in the army, and some were civil servants in the State Mansion. They were clamoring and waiting for the general to meet them. Seeing that Lu Anmin had come over, the civil officials rushed forward and explained the current affairs of Zezhou to him.
Now that Sun Qi was in charge of the prefecture government, she was in charge of everything, but she gave priority to recruiting military generals. The civil servants in the prefecture government were stopped at the door for a long time, and many urgent matters at hand could not be handled. In between, there were also many requests to investigate the wrong cases and plead for leniency on behalf of others. Often, before they could see Sun Qi, the people in the army had already dealt with them. Perhaps they were sent to prison, or they had already started to torture near the military camp. Many of these people would be beheaded in two days.
When the Wu dynasty was still in control of the Central Plains, the civil officials were always in charge of many affairs. Lu Anmin was in charge of this area and was now the highest civil official in the area. However, he was still stopped outside the main gate. Over the past few days, he had been given the cold shoulder more than once or twice. Even though the situation was better than him, the resentment in his heart had long accumulated. After a while, he saw a few groups of generals enter and leave. He suddenly got up and walked forward. The soldiers wanted to stop him, but he pushed them away.
"Don't block me! I'm still the Zezhou Zhizhou … I want to see the Tiger King! I won't be looked down upon like this … "
In the hall, Sun Qi was discussing matters with a few generals. When he heard the commotion, he stopped talking, and his expression turned cold. He was tall and thin, and his arms were long and powerful. However, his eyes were long and sinister. His long military career made this general appear extremely dangerous. Ordinary people did not dare to approach him. The moment he saw Lu Anmin, he slammed the table.
"How dare you! Now that the army has moved, this is the central military tent! Lord Lu, do you have no sense of propriety!? "
"General Sun, I haven't been dismissed yet. I'm now the governor of Zezhou. I have important matters to see you, and you've reported to me time and time again. Who exactly do you think you are?! "
His eyes were bloodshot. After a few days of suffering, he had lost his mind from anger and temporarily ignored the fact that the army was actually the most important thing right now. Seeing that he no longer cared about the consequences, Sun Qi waved his hand and said, "All of you, leave!" Before he left, he looked at Lu Anmin and said, "Lord Lu, this operation was personally ordered by the Tiger King. You only need to cooperate with me. I don't have to give you too many instructions!
"However, after this incident, do you still want Zezhou?!
"Lu Anmin, do you know what I'm doing now?!
"There's no need to go to this extent!
"Who do you think I'm waiting for? 70,000 troops! "Do you think I'm waiting for those 10,000 people who are about to die outside the city?!"
"There's no need to go to this extent!" Lu Anmin emphasized loudly. "There are so many people, and more than 90% of them are innocent! They have relatives and families behind them … and their families have been destroyed! "
"This general's army of fifty thousand dispersed four hundred thousand hungry ghosts! But now, there are 70,000 people in Zezhou City! Lu! Da! Ren! "Sun Qi's voice pressed over, suppressing the howling of the wind under the gloomy sky outside the hall." You! Arrive! At! Know! Dao! No! Know!?! Who are we waiting for?! "
Lu Anmin looked at him in a daze. Then, he enunciated each word clearly, "Family! Destroy! Ren! Die! Ah! "
"We've been at war for 10 years! Families are broken and people are dead! " Lu Anmin pointed outside and said, "How many families are broken and people are dead? General Sun, I know you have your means. The 10,000 refugees outside the city were beaten, suppressed, and killed by you. They couldn't resist, and the people in the city still felt at ease. "I'm just a civilian, but I know that after this is done, Zezhou City will collapse and be in chaos. It's been 10 years, and it's not easy to have such a place. You want to mess it up."
"I know you want to do things. You think I don't know what's important and what's not, but there's no need to go to this extent." Lu Anmin waved his hand and said, "It's fine if fewer people die. You want to amass wealth, you want to gain power, but if you go to this extent, you won't have anything to gain in the future … "
"What did you say!" Sun Qi slammed his hand on the table with a bang. He stared at Lu Anmin like a cobra. "Say it again. What do you mean by amass wealth! Gain power! "
When Lu Anmin said that, he was already a little scared. He mustered up his courage to face Sun Qi. His mind was muddled, but he still said some things that he shouldn't say. Sun Qi stretched out his hand.
"90% innocent? Do you think they're innocent just because you say so? You vouch for them! You guarantee that they're not Black Flag people!? You'll be responsible for letting them go. Can you bear the responsibility?! "I thought you'd understand if I told you. My 70,000 troops are waiting in Zezhou, but you treat it like a child's play. I think you've lost your mind. 90% innocent? When I came out, the Tiger King already said that he'd rather kill the innocent Black Flag people! I won't let them go! "
"Hmph! People like you are not fit to be the parents of a province! Do you think you're just a lowly official? It's really a waste of my effort to meet you. Guards! Bring him out. If anyone dares to cause trouble in front of me again, I'll kill them without mercy! "
The moment Sun Qi said this, the deputy general next to him had already brought people in. They grabbed Lu Anmin's arms and walked out. Lu Anmin looked at Sun Qi and finally couldn't help but struggle. "You're making a mountain out of a molehill! General Sun! You — "
At this time, he had already been dragged to the door. As he struggled, the two soldiers didn't want to hurt him too much. They only grabbed his arms and forced him to retreat. Then, with a loud smack, Lu Anmin suddenly staggered backward and rolled on the ground outside the main hall.
This sound was so sudden that many people outside saw it. They couldn't react in time, and the nearby corridors instantly fell silent. A moment later, people realized that just now, the deputy general had actually slapped Lu Anmin on the face, almost sending him flying.
Lu Anmin was also stunned at this moment. He only felt the burning pain on his face after he fell to the ground. What was even more embarrassing was that there were so many people watching him.
When all order had collapsed, such a thing was actually not surprising. The area around Zezhou had also experienced and felt such a period in the past. It was just that the recent years of peace had diluted people's memories. Only this slap at this moment made people remember it again.
Even in the most stable and peaceful place in the Central Plains for the past few years, Tiger King Tian Hu was once just a hunter who rebelled. This was a chaotic world, not the Wu dynasty …
Lu Anmin sat there, his mind filled with unknown thoughts. After a long time, he climbed up from the ground with great difficulty. Humiliation and anger made him tremble all over. But he didn't turn back to pester them. When this land was at its most chaotic, even the largest official's mansion had been broken into by the rioters. Even the families of the prefectures and prefectures had been raped to death by the rioters. So what? The royal family of this country had also experienced such things. Among the women who were captured and headed north, there were empresses, imperial concubines, princesses, ministers, and noble ladies …
Actually, nothing had changed …
The deputy general returned to the main hall. Sun Qi looked outside and nodded while gritting his teeth. "If he can do something, let him do it! If he can't, then take off his hat … "
In Zezhou City, most of the people were still in a relatively calm mood. They only thought that the chaos was caused by the assassination of Wang Shitong, and Sun Qi's control over the situation outside the city gave the commoners a temporary sense of superiority over peace. Some people ran back and forth because their families were affected. In the initial days, they didn't receive the sympathy of the people — they were at the heart of the struggle, so they shouldn't add to the chaos. Things would be fine after killing Wang Shitong.
The 70,000 troops strictly guarded the barracks and checkpoints outside the city, the streets, and the high walls inside the city. At the same time, they were constantly purging possible dissidents from within the city, waiting for the enemy who might or might not appear. In fact, most of the cities under the Tiger King's command had already fallen into such a tense atmosphere. The purge had already begun, but the most important ones were still Zezhou, where they wanted to kill Wang Shitong, and Wei Sheng, where the Tiger King was overseeing.
In the prison, You Hongzhuo sat on a haystack, quietly sensing the chaos around him and the increasing number of his "cellmates." It was difficult for him to speculate too much about what was going to happen next. He also didn't know much about the situation outside the prison. He was just wondering if he had really seen Mr. Zhao that night. Why did he disguise himself as a doctor and enter this prison? Could he be one of the Tiger King's men? And if he had come in, why didn't he save him?
Maybe it was fake …
That was what he thought in the end. If his fourth brother, Kuang Wenbai, could extend his reach into this prison, and Mr. Zhao and the others could also come in at will, wouldn't this matter seem too childish …
The experiences and tragedies that he had witnessed in the past few days had more or less disheartened him. If it weren't for that, his brain might have spun a little faster and realized something else.
In the increasingly tense Zezhou City, the people from the Greenwood Forest also gathered in various ways. Some of these people from the nearby Greenwood Forest had already found their organizations, while some had wandered around. There were also many who had been surrounded and killed by the soldiers or arrested in the prison in the past few days of conflict. However, in the past few days, there were also more articles that were secretly written around the prison.
It was already evening, and the weather was not good. The wind was blowing, but there were no signs of rain for the time being. In the alley at the back door of the prison, several figures supported each other as they came out of the prison. Several carriages were waiting there. Seeing that the group had come out, a monk led more than ten people and went to welcome them.
The people who were released were young and old, but they all had the aura of martial artists in their outfits. Many of them had even been tortured and were injured. The monk and his entourage greeted them in the manner of the pugilistic world — they had also brought a few doctors with them.
"Hero Tang, Hero Zheng, seniors, brothers, you've suffered. This incident happened in a hurry, and the officials were cunning. We couldn't save you in time, and it's a big mistake …"
The monk spoke respectfully. Among the rescued people from the Greenwood Forest, an old man waved his hand and said, "There's no need to say anything, there's no need to say anything. There will be a time when we get back at them. The Church of Light's benevolence and benevolence have been engraved in our hearts. Everyone, this isn't a bad thing. In this prison, we can be considered to have cleared the path and gotten a little better … "
"What Senior Tang said is extremely true …" Everyone echoed.
"Let's talk about this matter after we leave …"
"That's right, let's leave first …"
Amidst the discussion, everyone boarded the carriages and left. The alleyway became spacious, and not long after, another carriage came to pick up another group of people from the Greenwood Forest.
In a quiet small building not far away, the experts of the Church of Light gathered. River's Heavenly Saber Tan Zheng, whom You Hongzhuo had been waiting for for several days, was one of them. He was experienced and knowledgeable, and he quietly watched everything through a crack in the window. Then, he turned around and whispered some information to the man in the room who looked like a Maitreya. "'Soul Guiding Saber' Tang Jian, 'Dragon Fist' Zheng Wu, and some friends of the Chai Men Fist … They've been rescued. Later, there should be a hero of the Five Phoenix Saber and a hero of the Thunder Sect …"
Due to the arrival of the Maitreya-like nobleman, this matter had been going on for some time. Originally, there were other lackeys who were here to make records. After listening to Tan Zheng's report a few times, Lin Zongwu put down his teacup, nodded, and gestured outside. "Go." A moment after he finished speaking, someone knocked on the door.
Tan Zheng went to open the door and listened to his subordinate's report. Then, he turned back and said, "Sect Leader, we've investigated the origins of those people."
"Mmm." Lin Zongwu nodded.
"I heard that they're on the same side as the Eight-Armed Dragon King. He couldn't continue his business in the Crimson Peak, so I didn't expect him to come to Zezhou and make things difficult for us. I heard that he's planning to go against us in the Heroes' Meet tomorrow.
"Back when he was managing the Crimson Peak, I thought that he had made some achievements. I didn't expect him to come back to the pugilistic world. He's really … limited."
Lin Zongwu said calmly and took a sip of tea. Over the past few days, the Great Radiant Sect had been running a big game of chess in Zezhou City and had gathered quite a number of heroes. However, there were naturally many people who were unwilling to work together with them. In the past two days, a group of people had appeared, privately lobbying various parties and spoiling quite a number of the Great Radiant Sect's plans. After realizing this, Tan Zheng sent people to investigate, and it was only now that he found out that it was the Eight-Armed Dragon King.
In the past few years, the Eight-Armed Dragon King could be considered to be one of the most famous figures in the Central Plains. When the heroes of the Crimson Peak were at their peak, they had gathered 100,000 heroes. However, in the past half a year, news of internal strife in the Crimson Peak had appeared frequently. It was probably not long before Sun Qi had defeated Hungry Ghost, and the forces under the Pacifying East General, Li Xizhi, had broken into the Crimson Peak. The Eight-Armed Dragon King had wandered into the pugilistic world and unexpectedly appeared here.
Tan Zheng looked at the information he had gathered. "This Eight-Armed Dragon King, Shi Jin, is said to have been a bandit from Liangshan. His real name is Nine-tattooed Dragon, and he disappeared after Liangshan was destroyed. It was only in the past few years that he became famous as the Eight-Armed Dragon King. He spared no effort in killing the Gold Men in private. "I heard that his martial arts skills are quite high. There are private rumors saying that when Iron Arm Zhou Dong tried to assassinate Gu Han, Shi Jin traveled with him and even enlightened Zhou Dong, passing on his legacy …"
"Haha …" Listening to Tan Zheng's words, Lin Zongwu laughed. He got up and walked to the window, his hands behind his back. "Whether it's the Eight-Armed Dragon King or the Nine-tattooed Dragon, I've heard of his martial arts skills. Back then, when I tested the world with my fists, I wanted to meet him. But I was worried that he was a hero, and I was afraid that it would damage his position in the hearts of his subordinates, so I skipped it. This is also good. Zhou Dong's final teaching … Hahahaha … "
Lin Zongwu laughed happily. Tan Zheng walked up. "Do you want to visit him tonight?"
"Why do we have to do this? Why have we come to the Ze Province? If we can't even face a mere Shi Jin head-on, how can we face the great enemy behind these muddy waters? We just need to prepare as usual. At the Heroes' Gathering tomorrow, I will use my fists to personally face his Octagonal Copper Rod and pull out his dragon skin and dragon tendons! I have the right to — "
"— This is the appetizer of this trip!"
The wind blew through the city, and countless different wills gathered together.
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