On the east side of the Liaodong Peninsula were a large number of islands collectively known as the Changshan Islands. Guanglu Island was the largest of them. It was only about 20 miles away from land and had an area of more than 30 square kilometers. It had fresh water. There were more than 160 households on the island with more than 700 people. It was a self-sufficient area.
The Revolutionary Army swept through the Liaodong Peninsula and carried out an extremely cruel policy of killing the gentry of the four prefectures. Every time there was resistance, Zhou Qingfeng would mobilize the army to suppress them and not give them any chance. As a result, the resistance forces on the peninsula either fled or lay low.
The surviving gentry had to huddle together for warmth. Naturally, they would have a better life if they fled to Tianjin and Shandong. There were also many who could only seek refuge on the islands and wait for a chance to counterattack.
There were still many remnants of the Ming Army on Guanglu Island. The island commander was Hu Kebin. This person was originally living a comfortable life in his own territory, but one day, he suddenly received a promotion from the Ministry of War — Hu Baozong became Hu Youji, responsible for commanding the soldiers and civilians on the east side of the Liaodong Peninsula to annihilate the rebellious Revolutionary Army.
Hu Kebin was confused. He asked the person who came to deliver the decree and found out that the Liaodong Peninsula had changed. The four prefectures had fallen into the hands of the bandits. Hu Youji sighed. I was wondering why there were so many fleeing gentry from the mainland. They all said that they encountered bandits. Now I know how strong the bandits are!
He promoted You Ji, but he didn't pay for the promotion. He didn't give him any lip service, so Hu You Ji wasn't interested in retaliating. However, more and more gentry fled from the mainland. There were people from all four prefectures. The gentry who could escape from the pursuit of the 'Revolutionary Army' all had some abilities, and many of them had quite high cultivation.
The people who came to Guanglu Island were even more complicated. The White Lotus Society in Shandong also sent people to the island. One day, an old man with white hair and beard appeared in front of Hu Kebin. He said that he was the leader of the White Lotus Society, Xu Hongru. He brought seven or eight elite disciples with him.
White Lotus Society?
Hu Youji was really shocked. No matter how ignorant he was, he knew that the White Lotus Society had dealings with Zhu Hongwu in the past. The grudges between the two sides intersected, and they had been at loggerheads for more than two hundred years. Even now, Shandong was still the White Lotus Group's territory. The imperial court had given strict orders to crack down on this evil cult. Who would have thought that they would take out the East Faction Guards' waist token and say that they wanted to 'support the Ming and destroy the evil, protect the country'?
Seeing that the East Faction Guards and the Ministry of War had issued the same decree, Hu Youji could only pinch his nose and accept it. Following that was not just the White Lotus School. The Golden Core Path, the Red Spear Society, the Five Pan Sect, and so on. These local Taoist sects, together with the aristocrats who escaped from the mainland, eventually formed the 'Three Sects and Five Schools, Nine Poles and Eighteen Branches'. There was even a group of pirates among them.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Scripture Master, Society Head, Hall Master, Altar Master, Incense Master, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being, Enlightened Being. Shandong, Zhili, Liaodong, Liaoxi, and many other places.
Hu Youji felt that his Guanglu Island had become a den of monsters. Within a few days, the island was filled with demons, tormenting him incessantly. Yet, when these people came, they acted like lords, claiming that all the heroes of the world had gathered together to fight the rebels and protect the Zhu Ming.
When questioned further, Hu Youji found out that these people had been incited by Ma Keshi, Eunuch Ma of the East Faction Guards, to gather at his place. It was said that Ma Keshi had already offered a reward of ten thousand taels of silver for killing the leader of the bandits, Zhou Qingfeng, five thousand taels for killing the other ringleaders, another three thousand, a thousand, and even five hundred.
A large group of Jianghu heroes who wanted to make a fortune had all come.
Among these people, the White Lotus Society was undoubtedly the most famous. Everyone elected their leader, Xu Hongru, as their leader, to lead the hundreds of people who had come to the island. Most of these people were ordinary people who liked to fight. Most of them had a cultivation base of around a hundred. Those who had real power and could fight numbered less than twenty, and a small half of them were Xu Hongru's disciples.
With such a large group of people coming to the island, the people of Guanglu Island had suffered a great calamity. In just a few days, dozens of fights broke out, and more than ten people were killed or injured. Many heroes caused trouble and looted everywhere, not even sparing Hu Youji's family. Unfortunately, Hu Youji couldn't beat this group of people. After a few fights, even the food stored in his house was robbed clean.
In the end, Xu Hongru had no choice but to kill a few of the most shameless heroes. Only then did he establish some rules on the island. However, there were more than a thousand people on the island. There was no external supply, and no internal production. If this continued, they would only be able to survive. Hu Kebin couldn't wait to drive these unlucky people away, so he gathered a few boats to send these heroes who wanted to make a fortune and become famous to the mainland.
As for whether these people lived or died, Hu Youji didn't care.
After the various Jianghu heroes went to cause trouble for the 'Revolutionary Army', Xu Hongru didn't leave. Instead, he stayed on the island to 'take care of the overall situation'. This old man had the air of a sage, and his face was amiable, which made Hu Youji feel like he was an otherworldly expert. In addition, the White Lotus Society had spread all kinds of unbelievable legends among the people, which made Hu Youji rather afraid.
One day, Xu Hongru was telling Hu Youji's fortune. Suddenly, he frowned and took out seven or eight wooden tablets from his waist pocket. Hu Youji stole a glance and saw that one of the wooden tablets had been picked out. The name written on the tablet was slowly fading and disappearing.
"What's the meaning of this?" Hu Youji asked.
Xu Hongru frowned and said in a low voice: "This is the soul tablet of my fourth disciple. He's dead."
Hu Youji looked at it curiously, but he didn't understand what it meant. He only saw that Xu Hongru had eight soul tablets in his hand. With one dead, there were only seven left. Obviously, the dead 'fourth disciple' was quite important.
Xu Hongru pondered for a while and said: "I've been training under him for many years. He's very strong, and normal people aren't his match. Two days ago, he was still communicating with me, but today he's gone. I also found out that the 'Revolutionary Army' that took over the Liaodong Four Guards aren't normal bandits, but a strong enemy that wants to take root. Their leader, Zhou Qingfeng, is known as the world's number one, so he must have some skill. "
Hu Youji sneered and said: "In less than a month, he took over the Four Jin Guards and caused the imperial court to be at a loss. This kind of leader doesn't just have some skill, he must be very strong. The Ministry of War has ordered me to go ashore, but I won't go. Eastern Faction Guards' Master Ma sent a bunch of monsters to kill me. Isn't that a fool's dream? "
At the end of his words, Hu Youji suddenly realized that this Xu Jiaozhu in front of him was also a 'monster' sent by Master Ma, so he immediately stopped talking.
Xu Hongru acted as if he didn't hear him. He slowly put away the wooden tablet and stood up, saying: "My disciple is dead. As his master, I can't just stand by and do nothing. Right now, staying on this island is useless. I'd like to ask Hu Youji to help me prepare a boat. I have to go ashore. I want to see who killed my disciple. "
"What if the world's number one, Zhou Qingfeng, killed your disciple?"
"Then I'll fight him to the death."
Xu Hongru said and left. He boarded the boat and disappeared into the sea.
Hu Youji watched him leave and sneered. "This White Lotus Cult has always been secretive and sneaky. When did they dare to fight to the death? I don't know what this old man is planning. But if this group of people makes a big deal out of this, I'm afraid the Revolutionary Army will come looking for me. What should I do? "
Xu Hongru boarded the fishing boat and went ashore with two children. Because the Revolutionary Army's control over the entire Liaodong Peninsula was mainly concentrated in the cities, the villages were still randomly patrolled due to the lack of cadres. After Xu Hongru went ashore, he changed his clothes and pretended to be an old man fleeing for his life. He brought his two children and headed southwest towards Jinzhou.
Guanglu Island wasn't far from Jinzhou. After going ashore, the straight-line distance was only sixty to seventy li. But the closer they got to the city, the stricter the inspection became. Xu Hongru relied on his high level of cultivation to hide from the militia on the road. After a day and a night, he arrived at a village called Liujiadian, twenty li outside of Jinzhou City.
When he arrived outside the village, it was already dark. Xu Hongru took out a soul tablet from his pocket and lightly flicked one of the tablets. In Liujiadian, a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old raised his head in pain. He knew that his master was calling him. This young man used the excuse of going to the toilet and quietly left the village to find Xu Hongru outside the village.
When the master and disciple met, this young man first kowtowed and asked, "Master, what orders do you have for me?"
In the dark night, Xu Hongru's body was full of Yin Qi. He stood under a withered tree and asked the kneeling young man, "Your fourth brother is dead. Do you know?"
The young man quickly raised his head in shock. "I've been working hard every day since I joined the Revolutionary Army. I haven't seen the other brothers for many days and I don't know what happened to fourth brother."
"How many days do you contact the other brothers?"
"The shortest is five to six days and the longest is more than half a month. The Revolutionary Army is very strict. If you don't finish your work, you don't even have food to eat. Recently, I've been trying to make friends with the village officials in this village, so I have a little free time. However, the Revolutionary Army often sends cadres to the countryside to patrol and check the register. If they find something suspicious, they will investigate it thoroughly, so the village officials don't dare to let me go. "
The Revolutionary Army was really hateful!
Except for the Qianshan Mountain Range in the center of the Liaodong Peninsula, the other places were flat and the road conditions were good. In addition, it was a time of war, so the Revolutionary Army attached great importance to controlling the place. Even Zhou Qingfeng sometimes worried about being infiltrated and felt that he couldn't sleep well. He would personally ride the giant wolf and run around to see if there was anything suspicious in the place, not to mention the grass-roots cadres who were patrolling.
"Do you have a residence for me to stay in?"
"Master, you don't have an ID. If the village officials find out that there are outsiders, they will definitely interrogate you. It's useless even if you bribe him. The villagers will report you when they see an outsider. The people in the Revolutionary Army are very unruly. They often carry out activities to sow discord. Any abnormality will be reported. "
Xu Hongru was furious when he heard this. He asked again, "I sent you here, but you didn't do anything?"
The young man kneeling on the ground was shocked and quickly said, "Second Brother sneaked into Jinzhou City. It is said that he became a civil servant and his status is not low. A few days ago, I secretly went to see him. He said that he was planning to assassinate the important members of the Revolutionary Army with Fourth Brother to mess up the situation. But I didn't expect Fourth Brother to die.
If Master wants to stay, you either have to find Second Brother or Fifth Sister. Fifth Sister is good at seducing men. It is said that she has already achieved some success. She is the most charming and charming one. Whether it is to assassinate the important members of the Revolutionary Army or to settle down, it is the easiest. "
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