The heavy snow fell for a whole day before it gradually stopped, and the earth was white everywhere, as if covered with a thick quilt, and as the winter sun rose, a ray of golden sunlight sprinkled on the snow, reflecting the stinging pain of people's eyes.

Dozens of horsemen came from the vast snowfield, led by an elegant-looking middle-aged civil official, and behind him was a group of cavalrymen dressed in standard leather armor, with the sound of hooves, trampling out a long line of broken jade.

A man who looked like an officer rode a horse behind the civil official and muttered: "Lord Wang, look at this snow, although the lower officials are thick-skinned and thick-skinned, and they are used to running long distances, they are not afraid of the hardships of this wind and snow, but you are a civil official, and you are the respect of the county, why do you have to suffer this kind of hardship for the sake of the words of a businessman?" Why don't you send us? ”

Nawangjun Chengxian is an easy-going person, he turned his head and smiled: "Uncle Zhang, if you say this, it would be good on weekdays, but recently my Hanzhong County is not very peaceful, not only the Barbarians of Bandun have made trouble from time to time, but even those Qianghu horse thieves have begun to rob civilians frequently, well, there is also a Heavenly Master Dao, and it is not very peaceful, this is not a good sign!" ”

He paused and said, "On that day, the merchant came to report that there were homeless people in the deep mountains who had built a city with the intention of rebelling. If I don't come to check it out in person, if the incident happens in the future, won't it be a great crime of negligence and dereliction of duty? ”

That Uncle Zhang had great respect for Wang Jun Chengxian, and hurriedly said: "What the lord said is very true, the lower officials are just afraid that the adults will be tired!" ”

Thinking about it, he didn't say angrily: "Only an official like an adult who is sympathetic to his subordinates and loves the people like a son will do it himself, which is like that who is too conservative and will only ......."

Wang Juncheng turned his head and said sharply: "Hugh is talking nonsense!" ”

Zhang Dubo was taken aback, lowered his head and said, "Yes!" ”

Wang Juncheng sighed and said, "I'm saying this for your own good!" You can't be too straightforward as a person and an official, in today's world, are there fewer villains who make trouble? Beware of the misfortune that comes out of the mouth! As he spoke, his eyes swept over the group of cavalry behind him, intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhang Dubo said fiercely: "It's the lower official's gaffe, Lord Xie mentions!" ”

Wang Juncheng smiled and said, "Okay! That's it! By the way, we've been on the road for four or five days, so we shouldn't be far from that Black Tiger Mountain, right? ”

Zhang Dubo responded: "Exactly! Although the lower official had not been here, according to the trader, and judging from the map, we should be able to arrive by tomorrow evening at the latest. ”

Wang Juncheng pondered for a while and said, "That's it! We have traveled all the way, although wearing official uniforms and armor can scare off those mountain bandits and horse thieves, but it is not conducive to investigating the situation, tomorrow morning we will change out of official uniforms, change the color of civilian uniforms, and put away weapons, so as not to startle the snake! ”

Zhang Dubo said disapprerovantly: "Are you too worried?" Even if there are really homeless people who build a city, but forgive them for a group of grass robbers who dare to offend adults? I'm afraid that when I see the envoy coming, I will either open the door and surrender, or I will scatter and flee! ”

Wang Juncheng grabbed the reins of the horse and said coldly: "Do you know the situation of the other party?" What if a group of bandits deliberately rebelled? With the strength they can build a city, I'm afraid that dozens of people in our area will be killed in an instant! ”

Zhang Dubo didn't dare to say anything more, bowed down and said, "Yes!" Obey your orders! ”

Wang Juncheng said solemnly: "I have just said, the current situation is not peaceful, everything must be careful, can not be common sense, if you don't listen to me, you will be burned, remember, remember!" ”

Zhang Dubo still disagreed in his heart, but he had always respected Jun Cheng and never dared to refute it anymore.

One of the horsemen suddenly shouted, "Two lords, it seems that there is the sound of horses' hooves!" ”

The two of them looked pale and listened together, and when they heard the rumbling hooves, they rushed here.

Zhang Dubo's face changed drastically: "There are at least hundreds of riders!" Could it be a horse thief? Brothers, form a formation and protect your lords! ”

The cavalry suddenly agreed, each drew his sword in his hand, and quickly set his horse to form a circle formation, protecting Wang Juncheng in the center.

A large cavalry dressed in hukou galloped rapidly from a distance, and hundreds of horses' hooves staggered on the snowfield like the beat of drums, splashing large clouds of misty snow and dust.

Zhang Dubo's face became more and more ugly: "It turned out to be the cavalry of the Qiang people, damn, we are in trouble!" Everyone, be on alert! ”

The Qiang people stopped their horses' hooves a hundred paces away from the Han soldiers, and the first young Qiang man rode his horse alone, shouting from afar: "Who are you? Get out of here! ”

The hearts of the Han soldiers were relieved, it turned out that the other party had no intention of fighting, but only persuaded them to retreat.

Zhang Dubo breathed a sigh of relief, but then he was angry, and he wanted to scold.

He glanced at Wang Juncheng beside him, and considering his safety, he finally endured a bad breath in his chest, and shouted: "Brother Qiang on the other side, you are so unreasonable!" We are the generals under the Taishou of Hanzhong, and we are on official business under the orders of the officials, how can we retreat, isn't this the territory of my Han Dynasty? ”

The Qiang man said impatiently: "You Han people don't know what to do, there are often a large number of horse thieves here to rob the passing merchants, they are many and powerful, just to seek wealth, who cares what kind of Han soldiers you are?" I kindly advised you to retreat, but you misunderstood, it's really good to be rewarded! ”

Wang Juncheng stretched out his hand to stop Zhang Dubo, who was about to answer, and marched out of the circle formation, arching his hand: "In this way, it is true that we have misunderstood your kindness!" I just dare to ask this Qiang warrior, when did the horse thieves appear here, and how many people are there? We will return to Shangguan with Gushi, and we can send troops to conquer and suppress as soon as possible to ensure the stability of one side! ”

The Qiang man opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly turned his head sideways to listen, and suddenly his face changed greatly: "Not good! They're already here! ”

As soon as the words fell, everyone heard the faint sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the sound of hooves became louder and louder, like thunder, and the tide of the sea was born, and it seemed that there were at least a thousand people.

Everyone's faces changed miserably, and even Zhang Dubo's palms were sweaty.

The Qiang man hurriedly said: "It's too late to elaborate, let's avoid it as soon as possible!" Your horses are not as good as theirs, and they will surely catch up when you retreat at this time, so run south, and not far from here are the mountains that are continuous, and you will be safe as soon as you enter the mountains! So saying, he turned his horse and led the Qiang people away like the wind.

Wang Juncheng shouted: "The love of help will be repaid later!" ”

The Qiang man turned back and shouted, "But be careful, there are many tigers and wolves in the mountains...... and his voice faded away.

Zhang Dubo heard the sound of hooves approaching, and his heart trembled with anxiety, and he said quickly: "My lord, what should we do, please advise!" ”

After all, Wang Juncheng was a civil official, and when he heard the galloping momentum of the ten thousand horses, he was also a little flustered, he hesitated slightly, and said, "Retreat south!" These Qiang people should not deceive us, otherwise with their number twice as many as ours, if they really have bad intentions, they can do it just now! ”

Zhang Dubo had already ordered impatiently: "All the troops listen to the order, let go at full speed, and escort the adults to the south!" ”

Wang Juncheng and Zhang Dubo hid behind the boulder in the middle of the mountain, looking at the bottom of the mountain in horror.

More than 1,000 horse thieves in different costumes stopped at the foot of the mountain and hesitated, shouting and scolding endlessly, showing that they were hesitant to chase after them.

A horse thief who looked like a leader rode out of the crowd and shouted, "What is the noise? Have you forgotten the rule that we can't get into the mountains? ”

Wang Juncheng and Zhang Dubo both breathed a sigh of relief.

I only heard the thief leader shout again: "Second brother, you lead the three hundred brothers to wait at the foot of the mountain for another half a day, and see if there is any gain, and the others will drive the dozens of horses left by those people back to the village for me, damn!" I finally didn't go back empty-handed! ”

When the two of them on the mountain heard this, they put down their hearts and picked up Lao Gao again.

After the two of them retracted the stone, Zhang Dubo smiled bitterly: "My lord, we are finally safe for the time being!" Alas! It's a pity for those dozens of horses! ”

Wang Juncheng also smiled bitterly: "Do you still miss your horse?" It's a blessing to be able to save my life! This is thanks to those Qiang people, otherwise would you and I still have lives today? ”

Zhang Dubo gritted his teeth and said, "Hmph! I never thought that there were so many thieves gathered around our Hanzhong, and they dared to openly attempt to kill the officials of the court, it was simply bold! The tired adults are frightened today, and they all blame the incompetence of the subordinates! ”

Wang Juncheng stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder, comforting: "How can this blame you? However, in the future, we need to mobilize troops and horses as soon as possible to come and exterminate these outlaws, otherwise I don't know how many people will be poisoned by them! ”

He muttered: "Now that the thieves have sealed the mountain, we can no longer take the big road, only the mountain road!" And we should also get out of this dangerous place as soon as possible, and no one knows if the thieves at the bottom of the mountain will suddenly search the mountain. ”

Zhang Dubo exclaimed: "Do you still want to go to the Black Tiger Mountain to investigate?" Didn't the Qiang people also say that there were many tigers and wolves on the mountain? ”

Wang Juncheng said with a bitter smile on his lips: "Look at the mountain, do we have any other way now?" ”

The group barely identified the direction of going to Heihu Mountain, against the biting cold wind, stepping on the ankle-less mountain snow, deep and shallow feet along the rugged mountain trail slowly, walking for a long time, all felt weak hands and feet, but only walked less than ten miles, that Wang Juncheng had already fallen more than ten times, thanks to the support of two soldiers.

Seeing that Wang Juncheng's face was pale, and the three strands of beautiful hair under his chin were also covered with snow powder, Zhang Dubo couldn't bear it in his heart, and said: "My lord, I'm afraid that we are still at least dozens of miles away, why don't we rest for a while?" The brothers are a little overwhelmed! ”

Wang Juncheng reluctantly raised his head, looked at the sky and said, "You are right, it should be dark in two hours!" Let's find a sheltered place to prepare for the night camp! ”

When they fled up the mountain, although they had to give up their horses, they listened to the order of the king, and carried all the tent, food and water up the mountain.

Wang Juncheng leaned under a big tree, panting and still did not forget to tell loudly: "Everyone should raise the fire and cook as soon as possible, and strengthen vigilance!" ”

A chief was walking by with a handful of dead branches, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, my lord, we have come so far, I see that those horse thieves will never chase after them!" ”

Wang Juncheng gasped and said: "What am I worried about, I'm afraid that there will be big insects in the mountains, haven't you heard those Qiang people say that there are tigers and wolves?" ”

Another chief smiled and continued: "Your Excellency, you can rest assured, there are as many as forty or fifty of us, and we are all armed with sharp blades, what tigers and wolves are we afraid of?" It would be even better if there were really tigers and wolves, and we just caught the filial piety of the adults to accompany the food! ”

Wang Juncheng snorted and said, "You'd better be careful!" ”

Nashi straightened his chest, and was about to say a few more bold words to please Shangguan, when he suddenly saw a yellow and black figure flashing in the distance, and couldn't help but stagnate, and roared: "Be careful!" There are tigers! ”

All the troops drew their swords in surprise, and sure enough, dozens of steps away, a tall tiger paced silently, and a little fierce light flashed in the tiger's eyes, intending to choose someone to devour.

The surprise of the army was only out of instinct, and the panic in their hearts flashed at this time, and the chief couldn't help laughing and said, "Lord Juncheng, Lord Dubo, what did you say just now?" Brothers, surround me together, we have tiger meat to eat! ”

The army laughed in unison, and slowly surrounded it with their swords.

Wang Juncheng also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the situation, and Zhang Dubo even smiled and leaned on the boulder with his hands, just waiting for the army to kill the tiger and cook the meat to come to pay respect.

The tiger looked coldly at the army slowly approaching, and a trace of disdain seemed to flash in his eyes, and suddenly he raised his head to the sky and roared wildly, shaking the snow on the surrounding trees to "fall", and the power was amazing.

The army was startled and stopped, and Nashi Chang's face turned red and said angrily: "What are you afraid of! It's just a big worm! One man and one knife also chopped it into minced meat! Give it to me! ”

Suddenly, I heard another roar beside me, and a bush of snow fell, and another tiger rushed out.

Nashi was stunned for a while, and just wanted to divide half of his men to surround and kill, only to hear the sound of tiger roars in front and back, and dozens of fierce tigers burst out in a row, and dozens of pairs of tiger eyes came out with a faint green light, forcing everyone to look.

Wang Juncheng, Zhang Dubo and the army were all stunned, only to hear the sound of "choking", a soldier fell to the ground with a long knife, trembling like chaff, and suddenly let out a terrible scream, and turned around and fled. Extreme fear was like the fastest epidemic in the world, and then most of the soldiers abandoned the crowd.

Zhang Dubo tried hard to open his mouth to scold and stop the fleeing soldiers, only then did he realize that his mouth was dry, and he couldn't say a word.

He looked down at Wang Juncheng, and saw that although his face was like earth, and his hands and feet trembled slightly, he still showed the color of seeing death as home, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed in his heart.

Zhang Dubo gritted his teeth, his heart was a big deal, it was a death, seeing that there were still seven or eight of his subordinates who had not escaped, his heart was a little calm, and he shouted: "Good brothers, come back quickly, and protect your lordship together!" ”

After those few people rushed back, Zhang Dubo tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart, slowly pulled out his long knife, and shouted: "Brothers! Zhang knows who is the real good man today! Today, you live and die together, and it is not in vain! ”

Everyone was thrilled by him, and they waved their knives and shouted angrily, but they also had a bit of pride and ambition to die calmly.

The group of tigers was unmoved, slowly formed a semicircle, and forced over. Suddenly, the first tiger pounced without warning.

Zhang Dubo roared wildly, and said in his heart that his life was at stake, and he was about to give up his life to fight, but there was a loud roar behind him that was at least several times louder than him, "Bah! The sound was so loud that it almost knocked out the ears of several of them.

A burly figure flashed out from behind everyone, towards the tiger, and with just one stretch of hand, the tiger's hundreds of pounds of tiger body was lifted up in the air, followed by a thunderous shout "Ah! ”

The tiger had been thrown out of his hands like a cloud, and fell far into the snow, smashing the snowflakes everywhere. The tigers retreated in unison.

Wang Juncheng and the others seemed to be in a dream that they couldn't wake up from, looking at the scene in front of them like fools, is this still human?

The tiger that was thrown out was very sober, it looked at the black man in front of it, and couldn't help but be full of grievances, although I usually play like this, although I am very familiar with you, although you are very powerful, but you can't throw me so hard! It shook its huge tiger head, roared in protest, and immediately led the tiger group to quickly disappear into the vast snowy forest.

The black man chuckled proudly, turned around and came to Wang Juncheng and the others, and said in a rough voice: "Hey! Are you all right? ”

Everyone looked at him with almost demented eyes, but no one answered.

The black man frowned and said unhappily: "What do you ask!" None of them can speak? ”

Everyone finally woke up, and Wang Juncheng screamed with a loud "ah", turned over and shouted: "Xiaguan thank the hero for saving his life!" Thinking of turning from death to life, I couldn't help but shed tears, and Zhang Dubo and others also bowed down in the snow together, thanking them again and again.

Suddenly, the withered branches on his side trembled again, and although Wang Juncheng and the others had the black man by their side, they were still frightened and stood up together.

But he saw two people coming out from behind the tree, one was a young man in his twenties, and the other was a young man of fifteen or sixteen years old, both of whom looked like hunters.

When the young man saw the black man, he couldn't help but exclaim: "Big brother, I finally found you, I'm still worried that you will run into a group of tigers!" ”

The black man smiled at Wang Juncheng and the others: "Everyone, this is my second brother and third brother looking for me." ”

A boulder in Wang Juncheng's heart finally fell to the ground.

Everyone watched for a while, but not only were the tigers nowhere to be seen, but even half of the dozens of soldiers who had fled had not returned.

Zhang Dubo was even in danger today, and his subordinates openly became deserters in front of the officials, and he was very ashamed and angry, and said angrily: "If these wastes are dead, if they don't die, let me catch them, and they will definitely be punished for the crime of escaping!" ”

Wang Juncheng waved his hand and said, "That's it! The danger of the situation just now is really beyond the imagination of ordinary people, but they can't be blamed completely! Let's hope they get out of the way! ”

Then he encouraged: "But today, the official has seen the bravery of the Dubo Brothers, and in the face of such a terrifying group of tigers, he still has to defend the official regardless of life and death. This friendship will never be forgotten! ”

Zhang Dubo and the army were overjoyed, and their hearts fluttered, and they couldn't help but feel very lucky, fortunately, they didn't escape just now, otherwise not only would life and death be uncertain, but also fall into the charge of disloyalty and injustice.

Wang Juncheng turned his head to the three black brothers again, and said again: "Help, the official has thanked me again, and I don't dare to ask a few strong men with their surnames and where the immortals live, so that the official can have a chance to repay his kindness!" ”

Before the black man could speak, the young man had already rushed to say: "This lord is too polite, my three brothers are surnamed Ma, and they are hunters in the mountains near here. Today's coincidence, being able to share the worries of adults is really a blessing for Xiaomin and others, how dare they be praised by adults? In fact, even if there are no villains, adults will be blessed with good fortune! ”

Wang Juncheng saw that he was courteous, empathetic, and had no intention of being arrogant, so he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart, and added a little more favor.

Suddenly, he remembered something and said, "Do a few strong men live nearby?" Have you ever known about Black Tiger Mountain? ”

The young man was stunned and said, "If you go back to the adult, the three of you live in Black Tiger Mountain!" ”

Zhang Dubo said happily: "Oh! That's great! We just wanted to go to this mountain, but accidentally lost our way in the mountain, would the three of you be willing to show us the way? ”

The boy said, "What's so hard about this? We had been out hunting, but we had been stranded in the mountains for a day due to heavy snowfall, and today we are about to return, so we can lead the way for the adults! ”

At that moment, the three brothers were in front, and Wang Juncheng and his party of ten people were behind, and they continued to walk along the mountain road.

Wang Juncheng is cautious by nature, but after walking for a while, he was suspicious in his heart, only to feel that although today's events are in danger, they are always in danger, which is a bit too coincidental.

He remained silent, but quietly quickened his steps, and walked to the side of the young man, and began to talk without a match, which seemed to him to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, and if he lied, he was afraid that there would be a flaw in his words.

The young man looked innocent, talking and laughing all the way, and answering questions to Wang Juncheng, everyone listened to them talk and laugh, but they also talked about the pain of climbing the mountain.

Wang Juncheng pretended to be casual and said: "I heard that this Black Tiger Mountain is not only majestic and majestic, but also a city has been built on the side of the mountain, well, but I forgot what it was called for a while!" ”

The young man said in surprise: "Adults really know everything, and even heard of this!" We're living there! ”

Wang Juncheng and Zhang Dubo's hearts tightened at the same time, and they both felt hesitant, if the three brothers were really anti-people, what should they do? After all, I just received the grace of saving my life from others, but how did I do this thing of revenge in the blink of an eye?

The young man smiled again: "Actually, it's not a city, it's just that hundreds of our mountain people and hunters have jointly built a dock wall to protect themselves!" ”

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

The dock wall is also called the dock fort or rampart. Since the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, it is not uncommon for people to build dock walls, especially in remote and chaotic places, some families or local heroes choose to build on the land that is suitable for agriculture and can be cultivated with both mountains and forests, and claim to be the suzerain. In addition, there are also dock walls that appear in the form of gatherings of displaced people, and the owners of the dock are all appointed by the talented or relatively powerful clan power of the displaced people. These small forces are only for self-protection, and rarely cause trouble, and many dock owners also pay tribute to the local government on a regular basis, so that officials at all levels turn a blind eye to this, or even simply ignore it.

Wang Juncheng thought for a while, and then asked: "How did you gather hundreds of families, and how did you think of building a dock wall?" ”

The young man smiled bitterly and said, "Don't hide it from your lordship, many of us moved here from Hanzhong, just because we didn't want to join the Five Doumi Sect, and because we were afraid of their revenge, we had to avoid the mountains. Unexpectedly, not only is Qiang Hu strong and domineering here, but there are also many bandits and horse thieves, if you don't gather together, and then build a dock wall to hide, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait to meet adults today! He sighed.

Wang Juncheng listened to his reasonableness and sincerity, and then thought of the encounters along the way, and the doubts in his heart dissipated.

Zhang Dubo secretly pulled Wang Juncheng aside and whispered: "My lord, we are afraid that we have been fooled this time, I guess that the merchant either has a grudge against these mountain people, or is greedy for a reward for reporting, so he is holding false accusations!" ”

Wang Juncheng nodded secretly, this one privately built the city and the other built the dock wall, there is a world of difference between the two, and he doesn't believe it in his heart, who has the great ability to build a city in the deep mountains?

He also secretly regretted that he should not have misheard the words, so that today he was in danger again and again, and almost threw his life in this wilderness and deep mountains.

He said tentatively, "What do you want?" ”

Zhang Dubo simply said: "In the opinion of the lower officials, immediately go back to the house, and then cure the crime of being framed by the businessman!" ”

Wang Juncheng thought about it again and again, and finally shook his head and said, "No! We have to go to the dock wall! ”

Zhang Du Boqi said: "Do you suspect that these hunters are deliberately deceiving us? ”

Wang Juncheng smiled bitterly: "That's not it! But you don't want to think that we have not much water with us, and that we have lost our horses, and that the return journey is even more dangerous, so it is better to go to the fort of Nawu for a few days to rest and ask for some more dry food and water, and it is better to buy a few more horses, and then ask them to escort us back. ”

Uncle Zhang was greatly admired: "My lord is really far-sighted! ”

Suddenly, the young man leading the way in front of him whispered, "No! See, what's going on? ”

PS: Yesterday, this book was pushed in points, and after a day, Bai Xue couldn't help but be dumbfounded, there are indeed different recommendations! The results of one day are almost as good as the previous month (it was so bleak that Bai Xue almost lost his self-confidence). Here, thank you to the editors of the starting point for their love of this book! At the same time, I would also like to give special thanks to the book friends, your generous reward has given Bai Xue a shot in the arm, which is a good medicine to enhance my confidence! Thank you!

Nearly 7,000 words of chapters, thank you for your attention and support! At the same time, I sincerely ask you to collect and recommend (if you think Bai Xue's works are acceptable), thank you friends!