Xuanjia'ao is a Zhuangzi located in the north of Gyeongju on the border with the security army, which is now nearly abandoned.

When Luo Ye and the others arrived, it was almost dusk, and the autumn rain had not stopped. The abandoned village under the gray-black canopy looked like a ghost with no people. In fact, they had never collided with the Jurchen army again along the way, and they were a little prepared in their hearts. The large force of the Black Flag Army, which had been separated, had not come to this side, and was probably headed southwest.

They pounced.

The rain fell on this day, and everyone's spirits were a little sluggish, and the few captured Jurchen war horses seemed to be even more sluggish, and they began to strain, and they were no longer able to run. After that, you have to find a place to spend the night nearby.

Out of prudence, the group hid their tracks, and first sent scouts to the abandoned village of Xuanjiaao in front to investigate the situation, and then found that there were still several families living in Xuanjiaao at this time.

In the village, which seemed to have been abandoned after a lot of chaos, there were six or seven families living at this time, and a dozen or so people, all of them old and poor. When the twenty or so members of the Black Flag Army appeared at the entrance of the village, one of the old men who first saw them turned around and wanted to run, but he walked a few steps tremblingly, and then turned around, looking at them with frightened and confused eyes. Luo Ye stepped forward first: "Don't be afraid, boss, we are from the Huaxia Army, Huaxia Army, do you know that there should be that kind of big car to come over and sell things." Didn't anyone inform you Jurchens about coming? We have come to resist the Jurchens to protect you......"

After he had said this, he asked the local soldiers to repeat it, and there were people in the ruined village who came out and saw them, causing a small commotion.

The small riot finally subsided soon after, and a dozen or so old and weak people in the village lived a very difficult life here, and it seemed that there were no descendants in their families. I can't afford to move anywhere else, so it's not an exaggeration to say that I can't survive here. The first reaction when they saw Luo Ye and the others was that they wanted to escape, but at such a distance, it was useless to escape, so they chose a thin old man who seemed to have seen a little of the world to negotiate.

Luo Ye expressed goodwill. After explaining the situation in general, more than 20 people found a few houses that could still shelter from the rain and lit a fire in them. They killed two horses outside the house, and gave the other two horses that were no longer good at moving to the villagers, and put on some dry food. The old man in the village accepted it with trepidation, and then became friendly.

The thin old man explained the situation here to them, in fact, even if he didn't say it, Luo Ye, Qu Qing and others could guess it to some extent.

Since the beginning of last year, the Tangut people who invaded the south have carried out a large-scale massacre of this area. First on a large scale, then into small groups of killings and frictions, with hundreds of thousands of people dying during this time. After the defeat of the Western Xia army by the Black Flag Army, the non-inhabited areas continued to be chaotic for a while, and the fleeing Western Xia rout brought the first wave of military disasters, then banditry, then famine, and famine. It's an even more intense banditry. After such a year, the life and order of the land were maintained for decades when the plantation army ruled. It's been completely broken.

Xuanjiaao is too far away from the city, and the people who originally lived here are dead and walking, and this place is no longer very suitable for living. More than a dozen people had difficulty choosing to leave after surviving because of their old age, and they had planted some fields and wheat nearby. Not long ago, the autumn harvest was harvested, but there were mountain bandits who came several times and robbed almost all the grain, if there was no grain, this winter. They can only live on the bark of wild plants, or they will be frozen and starved to death.

The war horses and dry food distributed to them by Luo Ye and the others could fill their stomachs for a while.

The old man had a yellow face and thin muscles, and he slurred his speech until the end, but he was only thankful. Luo Ye and the others listened bitterly, asked them about their future plans, and then told them about the Jurchens, and then talked about Xiaocanghe, and said that Yanzhou, Gyeongju and other places may have porridge and rice to receive, but the old man was at a loss - they had been in this place for too long, afraid of the outside world, and did not know how to survive in a different place.

After this negotiation, the old man went back, and then brought another person over, and brought some dry firewood, a pot that could boil hot water, and some wild vegetables to Luo Ye and the others. The old man came with a woman, thin and thin, not good-looking, dumb and unable to speak, and with a somewhat lame foot. This is the old man's daughter, named Xuan Manniang, and she is the only young man in the village.

He asked the mute girl to do some rough work for everyone, and when he looked at everyone, he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

They killed the horses, cooked the meat, and after they had eaten them, more than twenty people rested here for the night. Zhuo Yongqing has been drenched in the rain for two or three days, he has received high-intensity training in Xiaocanghe, and he may not be much on weekdays, but at this time, due to his chest injury, he finally felt a little dizzy when he got up the next day. He stood up and listened to Qu Qing and the others discussing how to chase after him in the southeast direction.

At this point, the rain outside the window finally stopped. When they were about to set out on their journey, they suddenly heard a scream coming from the other side of the village, and when they listened carefully, they knew that someone had come, and had already entered the village.

Qu Qing, Luo Ye, Hou Wu and others outside the door each made a few gestures, and more than 20 people silently picked up their weapons. Zhuo Yongqing gritted his teeth, pulled the crossbow and wound it and went out, the dumb lame girl ran over from the front, pointing at everyone to indicate something, Luo Ye raised a finger at the other party, and then waved his hand, calling a team of people to go forward, Qu Qing also waved his hand, and took Zhuo Yongqing and others to go around the other side along the corner of the house.

The voices in the villages in front of them were still chaotic, some people smashed open the door, some old people screamed, pleading, and some shouted: "Don't you recognize us? We are the righteous people of Luo Fengshan, this time we went out to fight against gold, and quickly took out the food! ”

Someone else shouted, "Where is the food?" They are all out, and where have you hidden your grain? ”

"Smash their nests and get them out!"

"Old Stuff ......"

The mountain bandits came from the north, and Luo Ye and the others walked all the way along the corner, gesturing with Qu Qing, Hou Wu and others in the gaps of those dilapidated earthen houses.

-- About 60 people.

――Arima.

The shouting outside continued: "Get me out!" ”

"What is this—"

"How can you have horses when you have two horses......"

- Do it, kill them.

The black flag soldier behind the wall raised his crossbow, Zhuo Yongqing wiped his nose, Mao Yishan shook his hands and feet, and someone pulled the reed.

Brush a few times. In different parts of the village, someone fell, Luo Ye held a knife and raised a shield, and rushed out suddenly, shouting, screaming, and colliding more violently. People rushed out from different parts of the village, and the formation of three or five people fiercely entered the formation of the mountain bandits.

"Someone-"

"Save ......"

"Be careful......

"Death—"

Luo Ye's shield knocked people out, and the war knife swung up and slashed down, splitting the chest of the mountain bandit wearing wooden armor, countless armor pieces flew away, and the spear behind pushed up, stabbing several mountain bandits back, and when the spear was pulled out. Blood poured out of their chests, then stabbed and pulled out.

"Who are you, I am a righteous man of Luo Fengshan, you-"

Zhuo Yongqing exerted all his strength and slashed back with a long knife at a mountain bandit leader who seemed to have some martial arts. The leader just resisted Zhuo Yongqing's slashing for a moment, and Mao Yishan next to him had already taken care of several mountain bandits, holding a blood-stained long knife and walking over step by step, the leader's eyes were fierce: "Don't you think Lao Tzu is afraid of you-" The knife momentum turned. The long knife was waved like a splash of wind, and Mao Yishan's shield was raised. During the walk, he only heard the bang bang and was slashed several times by the leader, but Mao Yishan walked faster and faster, and stabbed the other party in the stomach when he approached, and after the shield opened the other party, he stabbed him three times in a row, knocking the man into a pool of blood.

The battle was soon over. The mountain bandits who entered the village fled more than 20 people in panic. Most of the rest were cut down in a pool of blood by the Black Flag soldiers, some of them were not dead, an old man was hacked to death by the other party in the village, and there were basically no casualties on the side of the Black Flag Army, only Zhuo Yongqing. When Luo Ye and Qu Qing began to give orders to clean up the battlefield, he staggered to the ground, retching, and after a while, he fainted.

*************

Zhuo Yongqing was not injured in this battle, but the bone wound in his chest lasted for two days, coupled with the influence of the wind and cold, at this time when he lost his strength after the battle, the injuries on his body finally broke out.

In a daze in his mind, in the residual consciousness, the squad leader Mao Yishan said something to him, probably because the front was still fighting, and everyone couldn't take him anymore, hoping that he would recuperate well here. When he came back to consciousness, the ugly-looking lame mute girl was feeding him herbs by the bedside, the herbs were extremely bitter, but after drinking, his chest warmed up slightly, and it was already afternoon.

Zhuo Yongqing's spirit relaxed slightly, although as a native of Yanzhou, he also knew what it meant to be a strong people, but this was his first time on the battlefield after all. With the repeated tossing and turning of his companions, seeing the death of so many people, the impact on him was still great, but no one behaved abnormally about it, and he could only suppress his complicated emotions in the bottom of his heart.

On the contrary, he relaxed at this time, and when he closed his eyes, he could see the bloody scene, and many of his companions, who had been training with him for more than a year, died under the enemy's sword in the first photo. The possibilities of these companions and friends for decades to come to an abrupt end in an instant. He was faintly afraid in his heart, he might have to go through a lot of things in his life, but on the battlefield, these things would disappear in an instant at any time.

This emotion accompanies him. In the room, the lame mute girl also sat by the door with him, and in the evening she went to boil medicine and feed him, and then fed him a bowl of porridge.

At the end of the day, the father of the mute girl, the thin old man, also came and said a few greetings. He was finally calmer than before, but his words were slurred, and there were always things that seemed difficult to say. Zhuo Yongqing faintly knew the other party's thoughts in his heart, and he didn't say anything. In such a place, these old people may have no hope, his daughter is mute, lame and unsightly, and there is no way to leave, the old man may hope that Zhuo Yongqing will leave with his daughter - this is not surprising in many poor places.

The old man didn't speak, and of course Zhuo Yongqing didn't answer, although he was only a civilian in Yanzhou, his family life was okay, especially after joining the Huaxia Army, he didn't have to worry about food and clothing in the Xiaocang River Valley, if he wanted to marry, he could be worthy of the daughters of some big families in the northwest at this time. Zhuo Yongqing's family is already in Zhang Luo, although he doesn't have too many illusions about his future wife, but he naturally doesn't have much affection for the lame dumb girl in front of him.

His physical fitness is good, but his bone injury is accompanied by wind and cold, and he can only lie on that bed to recuperate on the second day. Day 3. He still didn't have much strength in his body, but he felt like his injuries were almost healed. Around noon, he suddenly heard a cry outside on the bed, and then the screams became more and more, and Zhuo Yongqing got out of bed. When I tried to stand up and tried to hold the knife, my body was still weak.

The mute woman rushed in through the door.

She didn't gesticulate, she said a few words of "Abba Aba" in her mouth, and then came over to help Zhuo Yongqing to leave, Zhuo Yongqing struggled to get her sword, shield, armor, and armor, the dumb girl shook her head desperately, but finally went over to pick up these things, and came to help Zhuo Yongqing again.

At this time, Zhuo Yongqing's whole body was weak, and half of his body was also pressed on the other party. Fortunately, although the mute girl was thin, she was extremely tough and could carry him. The two stumbled out of the door, Zhuo Yongqing's heart sank, and there was a faint sound of Jurchen in the shouting and killing sound not far away.

The two of them walked past several dilapidated houses, in the direction of the dilapidated ancestral hall in the village not far away, and stumbled into a small room next to the ancestral hall. The mute girl let go of him, struggling to push away a stone in the corner. But I saw a dark cave below. The mute girl was about to come to help him, and a figure obscured the light of the door.

Zhuo Yongqing subconsciously wanted to grab the knife, but before he could catch it, someone kicked him away. He was wearing a single coat and no armor at this time, so the other party did not kill him in the first place. Zhuo Yongqing's head slammed into the corner of the wall. Buzzing, he tried to turn over, the mute girl had been knocked to the ground, and the Jurchen soldiers at the door had already shouted.

Other Jurchen soldiers also came, and some saw his weapons and armor. Zhuo Yongqing was kicked in the chest again, he was caught, knocked to the ground again, and then someone grabbed him by the hair and dragged him all the way out, Zhuo Yongqing tried to resist, and then more beatings.

In the middle of the village, the old men were arrested one by one, and when Zhuo Yongqing was kicked all the way here, his face was already covered in blood. This is a Jurchen squad composed of about ten people, probably also separated from the brigade, they spoke loudly, someone brought out the Jurchen war horse left here by the Black Flag Army, the Jurchen people were furious, and slashed an old man to the ground, and someone came over and punched Zhuo Yongqing, who was barely standing, in the face.

He fell to the ground with a thud and his teeth fell out. But a little pain is nothing to Zhuo Yongqing, and it is strange to say, he was still afraid when he thought of the battlefield before, but at this moment, he knew that he couldn't live, but he was not so afraid. Zhuo Yongqing struggled to crawl to the weapon that was put aside by the Jurchens, and the Jurchens saw it and kicked him again.

Zhuo Yongqing continued to climb, and nearby, the mute girl "Abba Aba" was struggling, as if she wanted to intercede with Zhuo Yongqing. Zhuo Yongqing just looked at these out of the corner of his eye, he was still reaching for the weapon, a Jurchen said something, and then pulled out a slender knife from his body, stabbed it to the ground, Zhuo Yongqing cried out in pain, the knife pierced into the back of his left hand, pierced into the ground, and nailed Zhuo Yongqing's left hand there.

In Zhuo Yongqing's shouting, the surrounding Jurchens laughed. At this time, Zhuo Yongqing's body was weak, he stretched out his right hand to reach the hilt of the knife, but he was unable to pull it out at all, a group of Jurchens looked at him, and someone waved a whip and whipped him behind his back. The dumb girl was also knocked to the ground, and the Jurchens stepped on the dumb girl and said something to Zhuo Yongqing, as if they thought that the dumb girl was someone from Zhuo Yongqing, and someone tore the dumb girl's clothes in an uproar.

Among the old people in the rear, the father of the mute girl rushed out, ran two steps, knelt on the ground, and then asked for mercy, a Jurchen slashed over, and the old man fell to the ground. Zhuo Yongqing shouted "ah-", the nearby Jurchens tore off the dumb girl's shirt, revealing a dry and skinny upper body, the Jurchens discussed a few words, quite disgusted, they dragged the dumb girl to Zhuo Yongqing, stepped on the dumb girl's Jurchen hands held the long knife, and stabbed the dumb girl's vest.

"Ah...... Bar...... Abba ......"

Zhuo Yongqing watched as blood poured out of the mute girl's mouth, and the subtle light in her eyes slowly disappeared. Zhuo Yongqing tried hard to pull out the knife that was nailing his left hand, but he still had no strength. The Jurchens laughed and began to kill other people, someone kicked Zhuo Yongqing's body again, and then he was whipped again, the bloody breath was permeated, and Zhuo Yongqing heard a strange "pounce".

There were Jurchens who fell.

Then there was the sound of chaos, and someone rushed over, and the blades clashed sharply. Zhuo Yongqing just stubbornly drew his knife, and at some point, someone rushed over. Brushing the knife up, it stabbed into the chest of a Jurchen soldier as it struck the surrounding ping-pong blades.

"Zhuo Yongqing, Zhuo Yongqing ......"

It was a faint shout, Zhuo Yongqing staggered to his feet, and in the nearby field of vision, the old people in the village had already fallen. The Jurchens also gradually fell. It was the team of Qu Qing, Luo Ye, Hou Wu, Mao Yishan and others who came back, they slashed and killed these Jurchens in the battle, Zhuo Yongqing's right hand grabbed a long knife and wanted to cut it, but there was no one he could cut.

He sat down on the ground, and in front of him was the body of the dumb girl who had died in humiliation with half of the ****. Luo Ye and the others searched the entire village and came back, Mao Yishan came to bandage Zhuo Yongqing, and said something in his mouth, the big war outside had become completely chaotic, and they went south. Seeing the Jurchen vanguard again, they hurried north, and during the time they left, the main force of the Black Flag Army had another big fight with Lou Mur, and it was said that there were many casualties.

It would not be long before the Jurchens could come here - they thought that the direction of Xuanjiaao might be a choice for the Jurchens to transfer, and it was only then that this was realized.

It was difficult for a small force to resist the Jurchen army, and Luo Ye and the others discussed a hurry to transfer. Or wait somewhere to join the brigade - they can actually join the brigade by bypassing the Jurchens on the way, but Luo Ye and Qu Qing and others are extremely proactive. They felt that it was always good to get ahead of the Jurchens. After discussing for a while at this time, he may still have to turn north as much as possible, and in the middle of the discussion, Zhuo Yongqing, who seemed to be dying with bandages on the side, suddenly opened his mouth, and said in a hoarse tone: "There is a ...... There's a place ......."

Soon after, Zhuo Yongqing took them with him. I went to the small dilapidated room next to the ancestral hall and saw the black cave cellar.

This is the place where the old people in Xuanjiaao village secretly hid food, and after being discovered, the Jurchens had actually gone in and moved things out, only a few poor bags of grain. The place below is not small. The entrance was also extremely hidden, and it wasn't long before a group of people gathered to look at the dark entrance of the cellar, and it was hard to figure out what to do here......

************

In the evening, more than 20 people entered the cave, Luo Ye and others disguised the scene outside, and tried to make the end of the fight in the abandoned village as much as possible, and all the survivors left, and let some people "die" on the way to the north.

Whether this will be useful or not, whether you can touch the fish, it depends on luck. If a small team of Jurchens passes by, and they and others ambush in the chaos, it can be regarded as adding a force to the team. They originally wanted people to take Zhuo Yongqing away and go to the nearby barren mountains to recuperate, but in the end, because of Zhuo Yongqing's refusal, they still brought people in.

"If there are many people coming, we will be discovered, but we will catch turtles in the urn......"

"I looked outside, and it was quite hidden after closing it."

The Jurchens had not yet come, and the people had not closed the cellar, but as the sky gradually dimmed, the whole cellar was pitch black. Occasionally, someone whispers to each other. Zhuo Yongqing sat in the corner of the cave, and the squad leader Mao Yishan asked a few words about his situation nearby, but Zhuo Yongqing only spoke weakly, indicating that he was not dead.

This is the only thing that everyone expects from him, he is injured all over his body, and it is a great luck that he did not die directly. The breath in the cave was dull and rancid, and Zhuo Yongqing sat there, always hovering in his mind about the death of the people in the village, the death of the mute girl.

The woman was not beautiful, dumb and lame, she was born in such a family, and probably nothing good had happened to her in her life. Outsiders came, and her father hoped that outsiders would take her out and not wait here to die, but in the end he didn't speak. What was going on in her heart? Does she have this expectation in her heart? Such a life...... Until she was finally killed in front of him, there may not have been a good thing.

He was just thinking about it. Outside gradually came Jurchens, they quietly closed the cellar, the footsteps rumbled, Zhuo Yongqing recalled the name of the mute girl, remembered for a long time, it seemed to be called Xuan Manniang, and what he remembered was when she died. At that time, he had been beaten, his left hand was pierced by a knife, and he was still bleeding, but in retrospect, he didn't feel any pain at all.

Mao Yishan sat in the darkness, and at a certain moment, he heard Zhuo Yongqing speak weakly: "Squad leader......"

"Hmm."

"I want to ......," Zhuo Yongqing said, "...... I want to kill. ”

"Hmm." Mao Yishan nodded, he didn't take this sentence as a big deal, on the battlefield, who doesn't want to kill, Mao Yishan is not a delicate person, not to mention that Zhuo Yongqing was injured like this, I'm afraid it's just a simple emotion.

In the dark, nothing can be seen clearly.

In that darkness, Zhuo Yongqing sat there, his whole body was wounded, the blood on his left hand had soaked the bandage, and it had not completely stopped until now, his back was scarred by the Jurchen whip, his skin was open, the corners of his eyes were broken, they were already swollen, several teeth in his mouth were knocked out, and his lips were cracked. But it was such a severe injury, and he sat there, blood foaming from his mouth, and his only right hand, which was fine, still held the hilt tightly.

He seemed to be getting better, his body was getting hot, and the last of his strength was concentrating on his hands and the knife. This was his first combat experience, and he had killed a man under the city of Yanzhou, but until now, he had not really or desperately wanted to take someone's life - such a feeling had not been felt at any time before, until this time.

On the cellar, the movement of the Jurchens was ringing, Zhuo Yongqing didn't think about his injuries, he only knew that if there was still a last moment, the last bit of strength, he just wanted to slash the knife at these people's bodies......

――I want to kill someone.

On this night, they lifted the lid of the cellar and slaughtered into the countless Jurchen figures in front of them...... (To be continued.) )