In the first month of the spring of the eighth year of Chongzhen, the cold wind was cold.

Since the outbreak of the Shaanxi civil uprising in the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the world has been in chaos for eight years. In the past, the Central Plains was fertile for thousands of miles, but now it is full of beacons and wolves. The bones of soldiers and civilians are exposed in the wilderness, and they do not hear the rooster crowing for thousands of miles.

On the fifth day of the first month, Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui, Cao Cao, Ge Liyan, Zuo Jin Wang, Zhishi Wang, Zhengshi Wang, Guotianxing, Breaking into the Collapsed Sky, Shooting the Collapsed Sky, Xue Rengui, Mixed Heavenly King Thirteen Families, as well as 72 battalions such as the Reincarnated King, Hengtian King, Mixed 100,000, Nine Dragons, and Shuntian King, a total of more than 200,000 righteous troops suddenly gathered under Xingyang City from all directions.

The company camps of the rebels from all walks of life were set up outside Xingyang City, and for a time large and small camps sprung up on the river beaches on both sides of the Suo River like mushrooms after a rain, stretching for dozens of miles, which was magnificent.

In the midst of this busyness, there were more than ten horsemen standing majestically on the dirt slope on the west bank of the river, but the leader was wearing a white felt hat, wearing a scarlet robe, and a black horse on his crotch. The body is long and thin and the face is slightly yellow, two inverted eyebrows are obliquely inserted into the temples, the beard is about two feet long, the appearance is outstanding, not angry and self-threatening, which is unforgettable. I also saw that there were six big characters in the big book behind him, "Zhang, the Eight Kings of Xiying", and this person was the leader of the righteous army who shook the world, and Zhang Xianzhong, who was known as "Yellow Tiger".

I saw Zhang Xianzhong raise his whip and look into the distance, and as far as his eyes could see, a white horse galloped from far and near, and in a moment he came to the front of him, and a handsome young man about eight feet tall jumped from the horse. The young man raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead, and reported loudly: "Father! Twenty miles away in Guanzhuang Village, official and military activities were discovered! The smoke and dust cover the sun, I don't know how many people and horses, whether to meet the enemy, please decide! ”

"Dingguo, have you ever shown it to my old Zhang? Which way is the official army? Zhang Xianzhong leaned over the horse, and his voice was like a bell.

This young man named Dingguo's surname is Li, five years ago when Zhang Xianzhong was in Shaanxi, he stumbled upon the ten-year-old Dingguo in a group of fleeing hungry people, and his temperament was not ordinary, and he was born in poverty, so he liked it very much, so he accepted it as the son of the moth, changed to the surname Zhang, and cultivated it with heart. Since then, Dingguo has followed Zhang Xianzhong to fight in the south and the north, and he is willing to drive and be loyal.

Seeing Zhang Xianzhong ask, Dingguo raised his head and replied unhurriedly: "The child has seen it clearly!" It's still Zuo Liangyu's tail that can't be shaken off, this Zuo General Soldier is also strange, he always follows our butts around, and now that he sees our rebels gathered, he doesn't dare to move forward. ”

Zhang Xianzhong straightened up after hearing this, stroked his long hair and scolded angrily: "Damn, this Zuo Liangyu fights mother-in-law and mother-in-law, it's really unpleasant!" I'm ashamed of him! ”

"Tomorrow Lao Tzu is going to the Xingyang Conference, you, Wenxiu, and Nengqi will stay in the old camp with your Uncle Wang!" Zhang Xianzhong looked at Dingguo, raised the horsewhip in his hand, and continued, "Nothing else!" Let's go back to camp and rest! ”

"Thank you, Father!" Dingguo hugged his fist towards Zhang Xianzhong, then turned over and galloped away.

Before dawn the next day, Zhang Xianzhong took his son Zhang Kewang and the main generals of Xiying, together with King Gao Yingxiang, Cao Cao, Luo Rucai and others into the city to discuss matters, leaving only the chief Wang Shangli to sit in the old camp.

After a period of confusion, calm gradually returned to the old camp. However, Dingguo tossed and turned all night, seeing that the time was almost up, he quietly got up and changed into a torn cotton jacket, dressed up as a disaster victim, and hid a dagger in his arms, came to the tent of the third brother Zhang Wenxiu in the dark, covered his mouth with both hands, and imitated a few mouse calls: "Squeak, squeak......"

This is the secret code of contact between their brothers, and after a while, Wen Xiu got out of the camp, also dressed as a disaster victim, and behind him was a little girl wearing a patched coarse cloth jacket and smearing her face. Dingguo was a little surprised: "Third brother, didn't you say that you are alone...... Hey, Sister Xianglian? It's you? ”

"Hmph, I saw the two of you muttering last night, and sure enough, there was something to hide from me! It's such a fun thing to catch tongues, and if you don't bring this girl, you're too boring! It was Zhang Wenxiu's twelve-year-old sister Xianglian who spoke. Since Chongzhen three years ago, Wenxiu was adopted by Zhang Xianzhong as a righteous son, and the young Xianglian also came to Xiying with her brother. Over the years, under the words and deeds of the female dependents and personal soldiers of the old battalion, Xianglian Nuhong has not learned much, but has practiced a good kung fu that does not lose to men.

Wen Xiu shrugged helplessly: "My sister, second brother, you don't know it, how can you hide anything from her?" But maybe with her girl by her side, it would be convenient for us to act. ”

Dingguo thought for a moment, but he was still not very relieved: "But ......"

"Don't do it, it's about to dawn, if you bump into Uncle Wang later, we won't be able to go!" Xianglian glared at Dingguo fiercely.

Dingguo pouted: "This is not an outing, girl, if you want to go, you have to follow us, in case you ......"

Xianglian pouted impatiently, with an unconvinced face: "Okay, okay, I know, how can there be so many just in case, if something really happens, I don't know who protects whom!" ”

Dingguo sighed, which was considered a tacit acquiescence, and then waved his hand to signal everyone to stop talking. The three of them tightened their sleeves, tiptoed past the patrol, slipped to the wall, and took advantage of the fact that the patrol had gone far away, and quickly got out of a slightly larger gap under the wooden fence without anyone in the effort.

Out of the camp, not far away is a forest, to go to Guanzhuang Village you need to follow this forest all the way to the north, and you have to bypass the northernmost camp of King Gao Yingxiang. Yesterday, Dingguo had already memorized the route on the way back, and today he was naturally familiar with the road, and he came out of the woods in less than half an hour, and the sky was already a little bright at this time.

"Further on, but it's the territory of the official army...... Dingguo turned around and reminded, but before he could finish speaking, a handsome young man holding a steel knife and wearing a red fat jacket of the official army suddenly came out of the grass.

"Where did the spy come from! Dare to sneak around in the master's territory! Look at the knives! Before Dingguo could react, the steel knife had already slashed towards his front door. It was too late, it was fast, Dingguo almost subconsciously flashed, and the sword wind whistled past his cheeks. Everything is only in the slightest, there is no room for the slightest hesitation, the second knife followed one after another, pointing directly at the choked throat, Dingguo was busy leaning back and dodging again, and then quickly retreated, which was regarded as a firm foothold. Seeing that the sneak attack was unsuccessful, the young man in the red jacket was no longer in a hurry to attack, and raised his knife sideways to put on a posture.

The Wenxiu brothers and sisters also recovered from their previous shock at this time, and were about to step forward to help, but they were stopped by Dingguo: "Third brother! Sister! Stand down and I'll meet him!" As he spoke, Dingguo took off his torn cotton jacket and threw it to Wenxiu, wearing only a coarse cloth short coat, and threw the dagger in his arms aside.

Seeing this scene, the young man in the red jacket also threw the steel knife to the ground: "Hey, good boy! Have guts! The master doesn't take advantage of you! Let's let you taste the power of the master's fists and feet! ”

As they spoke, the two stepped forward almost at the same time and fought. In this way, you have fought back and forth for hundreds of rounds, but it is difficult to distinguish between victory and defeat. Dingguo couldn't help but be secretly surprised in his heart, he had been fighting with his father-in-law over the years, and he had never seen any battles, but it was rare to meet such an opponent. This person is dressed in a red fat jacket, obviously just an ordinary soldier, it seems that the official army is really Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon! Thinking of this, Dingguo couldn't help but blurt out: "It's a pity! ”

"What a pity?" The fierce fight was in full swing, and when he suddenly heard Dingguo pop out such a sentence for no reason, the young man couldn't help but be a little stunned.

"It's a pity that you are good at martial arts, but you are willing to be an eagle dog of the court!" Dingguo looked regretful.

As soon as these words came out, the young man was even more stunned, and his move was slightly paused, and he was punched in the chest by Dingguo. The young man was in pain, covered his chest and retreated several steps, only then did he stabilize his position: "What? Aren't you an official or a military spy? ”

"Phew! Look at your official skin, I think you are a spy! Xianglian was already anxious when she saw that Dingguo had not been able to win for a long time, and she couldn't help but shout at this time.

"Stop! Stop! Wen Xiu hurriedly stepped forward, stood between Dingguo and the young man, and asked the young man, "Brother, who are you?" ”

"If you don't change your name, you won't change your surname, and Li Laiheng will break into the camp!" The young man reported himself to his home without showing weakness.

Hearing the name Li Laiheng, Dingguo couldn't help but look the young man up and down again, and then burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at? Is the master's name ridiculous? Li Laiheng was a little baffled by Dingguo's joke.

"It turned out to be Brother Laiheng, the righteous son of General Li Jin, a tiger under King Gaochuang's account! Disrespectful, disrespectful! Dingguo said with a smile.

never thought of Dingguo's overtures, but Li Laiheng was annoyed for no reason: "Phew! My father-in-law's name is also what you can call a boy? Who the hell, report your name quickly! The master's knife, don't kill the nameless! ”

Seeing that Li Laiheng had misunderstood, Wen Xiu hurriedly stepped forward and became a peacemaker: "Brother, don't be annoyed!" We are from Xiying, this is my second brother Zhang Dingguo, in the next Zhang Wenxiu, this is my sister Xianglian. ”

"Zhang Dingguo? Could it be ...... Could it be that he is called a lieutenant Chi Chi in Xiying...... Zhang Dingguo? Hearing Zhang Dingguo's name, Li Laiheng's white face instantly turned red, "Wow! I said that you guys are sneaking around in this forest early in the morning, and the master thinks that the officials and soldiers are treacherous from somewhere! ”

"I'm embarrassed to say that we don't look at what you're dressed for...... "Halfway through the words, Xianglian suddenly realized something, and covered her face in a panic, "Tsk, I said that you two are shirtless on such a cold day, it's cool!" ”

After Xianglian reminded them like this, Dingguo and Li Laiheng remembered that they had just been fighting and were drenched in stinky sweat, but they had taken off all their shirts. I didn't feel it when I spoke, but now that I came back to my senses, I couldn't help but shiver a little cold, and hurriedly put on my clothes, and looked at each other and laughed. After that fight, the two already cherished each other in their hearts, and it was too late to see each other.

"I knew the name of the little lieutenant of Xiying, and I admired him for a long time, but I never had the chance to meet. If you don't give up, you are willing to make a blood alliance with the two brothers and marry Jinlan! Li Laiheng proposed.

"That's what I mean!" Dingguo and Wenxiu did not hesitate for a moment, and immediately echoed.

"It's a pity that things were rushed today, and I couldn't prepare all the sacrifices for the three animals." Dingguo's face showed a look of regret.

"Don't we still have Sister Xianglian here, so we have a personal certificate!" Wen Xiu pointed to Xianglian as she spoke.

Following the direction of Wenxiu's finger, the three of them looked at Xianglian almost at the same time, Xianglian's face was slightly red, and she was a little embarrassed: "Hmph, you can bow if you want to, what do you want me to do?" ”

Dingguo then took the dagger, and the three of them cut a hole in the palm of their hands in turn, allowing the blood to penetrate into the ground under their feet, and then knelt side by side at the same time, and swore to the sky: "The emperor is above, the thick soil is below, and now there are Li Laiheng, Zhang Dingguo, and Zhang Wenxiu are here to form a righteous Jinlan and make a blood alliance!" Don't seek to live together, but seek to die together! Work together to clarify Unai and Ann Lishu! If this oath is violated, heaven and man will be killed! Come to a sticky end! ”

After the oath, the three of them are ranked according to age, Li Laiheng is sixteen this year, the oldest of the four, worship him as a brother, Dingguo is second, and Wenxiu is a younger brother.

After this delay, it was already noon.

Dingguo took the lead in getting up and said to Li Laiheng: "I still have important things to do, and I will leave first!" He will get together with his brother again in the future, drink and talk, and he will not return home if he is not drunk! The three of them immediately bid farewell to Li Laiheng and continued to walk, and after walking for more than half an hour, the smoke rising from the direction of Guanzhuang Village in front of them was already clearly visible.