The outside of the house was full of mud puddles, and Liu Shaozong stepped out of it, impartially, and hit one of them, and the splashed sewage almost jumped on his chest. But he didn't pay attention to this, and waved sideways to a soldier outside the house. The soldier took three steps and two steps, and immediately stretched out the oil-paper umbrella in his hand.

"Tam Cai, Lao Tzu never plays an umbrella on a rainy day, don't you know?" Liu Shaozong slashed his palm on the other party's head and reprimanded him dissatisfiedly, and the soldier made a promise and took back the umbrella that had been opened for most of it.

Liu Shaozong had no intention of talking to him more, and asked in a rough voice, "What about that person?" ”

The soldier nodded and said, "Back to the town, the people are waiting in the back room." ”

The continuous rain continued one after another, but Liu Shaozong didn't move, he thought about it, and seemed to have some concerns: "Can you show it to outsiders?" ”

The soldier patted his chest, and the leather armor "clicked": "Don't worry, my lord, the little one caught this guy outside the city, so he changed into his family's clothes and brought him into the city, without much words." Now, except for adults and children, no third party knows the identity of this person. ”

Liu Shaozong was slightly satisfied, patted the soldier's head and said, "Count you brilliant." After speaking, he strode forward.

The soldier followed Liu Shaozong to the front of a house, and after Liu Shaozong pushed the door in, he stood outside the house and waited. Strings of water dripped from under the eaves, and the rain that swept with the wind fell on the soldier. After a while, there was no place around him that was dry, inside and out. But he didn't plan to hold up the oil-paper umbrella in his hand, because Liu Shaozong didn't like umbrellas, so he had to be praised, and he didn't want to spoil his good impression in the hearts of the adults in the town because of this trivial matter.

Although the door was made of wood and the sound insulation was not good, he could not hear anything outside the noisy rain, so he could only squint his eyes and try to endure the constant cold and dampness. His head was blown away by the wind and rain, and he didn't know how long it took for a burst of hearty laughter to burst from the room. He lifted his spirits and could tell that it was Liu Shaozong laughing. The laughter was intermittent, and the soldier listened for a moment, then relapsed. The sound of rain in his ears was incessant, almost making him fall into a kind of demonic panic. However, just as he wanted to pat his cheek to refresh himself, the door squeaked and opened.

Two people walked out of the room, one Liu Shaozong, and the other was dressed the same as the soldier.

Liu Shaozong glanced at the soldier who was in a trance, and said: "Send this brother out of the city, don't delay for half a moment, if you go out of the pool, Lao Tzu will never spare you!" ”

The soldier hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, the little one understands." As he spoke, he secretly glanced at the people around Liu Shaozong again, but saw that his face was dark and indifferent, as if he had not experienced the conversation in the house at all, just like when he was first found by himself.

Liu Shaozong didn't say anything, and bowed his hand towards the black-faced man and went to himself. The soldier waited for him to go away, and then he was relieved, and he couldn't wait to open his umbrella and said, "This ...... Adults, small ones will send you out of town. He didn't know where the other party came from, but when he heard that Liu Shaozong seemed to have a good conversation with him, he called the other party for the sake of safety.

The black-faced man was noncommittal, only muffled "um", and then remained silent. When the soldier saw him like this, he did not dare to ask any more questions, but led him away with an umbrella.

After walking for a while, approaching the city gate, the black-faced man said coldly: "How many people are there in Hanzhong City now?" ”

The soldier was stunned for a moment, and then he heard that he meant to ask about the garrison in the city. He is Liu Shaozong's confidant, and he knows more about the situation than ordinary military generals, and this kind of military affairs should not be said casually. But he was cautious, for fear that this black-faced man would have a close relationship with Liu Shaozong, and he would suffer his losses in the future if he didn't answer, so he still whispered: "Back to my lord, there are now three soldiers in the city." One is my family, three thousand; One is the 15,600 people of Sun Daren's department stationed in the west of the city; In the end, there were more than 2,000 people from Lord Liu, who patrolled and repaired in the city. ”

The black-faced man was like stagnant water, and he couldn't see the slightest movement, and then asked, "Are they all stationed in the city?" ”

The soldier nodded, "Yes." The little one followed Lord Liu and only came to Hanzhong in recent months. I heard that there were several camps outside the city earlier, but Lord Sun withdrew to the city on the grounds that the thieves were rampant and the foreign station was isolated, and Lord Liu also stationed in after he came, and I heard that most of the camps outside the city were destroyed by the thieves a few months ago. As he spoke, he pointed to a series of simple and dilapidated shacks near the cave in the city gate, "Your Excellency, you see, these are just for the purpose of housing those people. Hmph, my officers and soldiers have shed blood for the country, so isn't it natural for me to live in their house temporarily? They are not grateful, but they are resentful, and they complain all day long, if it weren't for the heart of Lord Liu and the Bodhisattva, they think that these people should be driven out of the city! ”

The black-faced man looked up, and the shacks built against the base of the wall were one after another, one after another, until the corners of the city wall still stretched, I don't know how many. It rains heavily, and it's hard to imagine how much rain can be held back by this shabby and leaky shack made of dry grass and dead branches. Outside the shack, there are piles of extremely dirty dung heaps, which have accumulated for a long time, and have long been agglomerate, and now they are washed by the rain, and there are constantly black and yellow sewage flowing down and overflowing along them, and those who pass by cover their noses.

Occasionally, a few ragged figures cowered together, peering through the cracks in the shack. They were soaked, their hair clumped, their eyes hollow and dead, and they were covered not so much with clothes as with rags. In such a tragic situation, it is not enough to say that it is a refugee and a displaced person, and perhaps it is more appropriate to describe them as a rat in the sewer.

It is hard to imagine that such a scene will appear in Hanzhong City, which is known as the largest city in southern Shaanxi and has the strongest city in Shaanxi. Only Liu and Sun settled in, so many innocent people were displaced, and they could only survive like cave rats and ants! And these officers and soldiers even think that this is a matter of course.

The appearance of this tragic scene made the black-faced man's face deeper and deeper. The soldier didn't know where he had said the wrong thing, so he hurriedly shut up.

Walking outside the city, everywhere you look, every grass and tree has been cut down, replaced by countless wooden stakes densely covered with countless wooden stakes, radiating out at least a mile from the radius of the city. Between these stakes, there are also bottomless trenches dug and criss-crossed. And some small fortresses and watchtowers are also dotted around.

From time to time, from afar, groups of officers and soldiers would come in shifts, the rain was pouring down, the ground was rotten like a swamp, their leather boots had long lost their former brilliance, and they were helplessly struggling in the mud.

The soldier reacted quickly, always predicted in advance, and walked around in time with the black-faced man. The black-faced man heard him whisper: "These are all veterans of Lord Sun's camp, and they are very domineering, so it's better not to entangle with them." ”

Because someone led the way, and the two were wearing the clothes of officers and soldiers, Yu Lu did not attract interrogation. They walked for nearly two miles until they came to a ridge, and the soldier breathed a sigh of relief: "From here, no matter what you want, there should be no one to stop you." As he spoke, he handed over the oil-paper umbrella in his hand and said, "My lord, you can hold this umbrella and use it on the road." ”

The black-faced man remained silent, seemingly indifferent to the other party's courtesy, but still took the fan. Then he nodded slightly, and left the soldier with a lost face, and quickly disappeared into the rain and mist.

From this place to the east dozens of miles to the ground of Chenggu County, the black-faced man held an oil-paper umbrella and walked in the rain for a while, because the wind was too strong, the umbrella handle and umbrella surface were damaged successively. He shook his head, dropped the broken umbrella, and put the hat behind him on his head.

Braving the wind and rain, and being alone in the enemy situation, the black-faced man easily remembered what happened more than half a year ago. At that time, it was also this situation, he lost his hooves in a tea shed in Shizhouwei, and he was captured, but the world is unpredictable, the enemy who captured him at the beginning is now actually in the same camp as a general and has become a robe.

Thinking of this, the black-faced man couldn't help but smile with emotion, and at the same time secretly reminded himself that this action must not be repeated. They are all kind-hearted, and they can forgive themselves for a mistake, and it is impossible to tolerate their stupidity again and again.

He walked half a mile to the east, the rain was too strong, and he couldn't stand it, and on the way he met an old farmer who hurried by, and learned that there was an abandoned village three miles west to take shelter from the rain. I made a temporary decision to go there to take shelter first, and then set off when the rain was lighter.

Walking like a fly, the three-mile road is just a blink of an eye, and within the weedy ruins, there are several adobe houses that have not completely collapsed. He chose one of the more intact rooms to enter, only to find that there was already a person sitting inside.

"Yo, this brother, but from Hanzhong?" The man inside was also dressed as an official soldier, and when he saw the black-faced man, he hurriedly got up and asked, however, the black-faced man used his peripheral vision to see which person's hand was obviously placed on the part of the knife hanging on his waist.

"Well, where did the brother come from?" The black-faced man looked stout, but in fact his heart was as thin as a hair, and he observed that although the other party was also dressed in a soap suit, the shape was slightly different from his own, and at the same time, he pretended to be a big grin, and stabbed himself on the ground nonchalantly.

Seeing that he was calm, the man's vigilance gradually subsided, and he walked to the black-faced man in two or three steps and squatted down, and said, "Baocheng." ”

As soon as he heard these two words, the black-faced man's heart tensed instantly, he hid his emotions, and said casually: "Oh, Baocheng. The younger brother's mother's house is there. ”

"Oh? That's a coincidence. ”

The rain outside the house was pouring down, and the two couldn't leave for a while, and they were idle, so they started talking through this conversation. It's just that one has a heart and the other has no intention.

After a long while, the heavy rain showed no signs of abating, but the relationship between the two has become a lot closer. The black-faced man pretended to be a gesture, stretched lazily, and said, "The weather is so bad, what kind of errand are you doing again, big brother?" ”

The man said indignantly, "It's not a ghost errand, no, even ghosts won't come to do this kind of work." ”

The black-faced man smiled and said, "Yes, what errand can't wait for the rain to stop, so desperate to rush alive?" ”

The man hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't hold back the resentment in his heart, and said, "It's not the rogue who suffered a thousand knives!" ”

"Oh? Thieves are coming to Baocheng? ”

The man shook his head and said, "If the thief really comes, I will save this drudgery." Just because the thieves are close at hand, Baocheng County ordered He Yongxi, no, Lord He is panicking, these days it is blowing up the city. The various yamen in the county were not idle for a moment, and they were busy all day long for the 'preparation' of Nalaoshzi. No, I had a whim yesterday, and I rushed to Hanzhong overnight to ask for help......"

"Asking for help?" The black-faced man wasted no time in asking.

The man sighed and said: "Yes, I don't know what Lord He is afraid of, there are obviously three thousand officials and guards in the city, and it is enough to defend a city for self-protection, why do you need to come to Hanzhong to work Sun and Liu?" ”

"Three thousand?" The black-faced man was a little surprised, as the first important town in southern Shaanxi, Hanzhong City had less than 10,000 garrisons, and a small Baocheng actually had 3,000 soldiers and horses, which could not but be noticed.

"There are so many people who are still thinking about asking for help, do you think this Lord He is as cowardly as a mouse?" As the man spoke, he couldn't help but laugh, but he still added, "I think my brother is a real person, so I said this, and I asked my brother not to spread it." ”

The black-faced man bowed his head and said, "This is natural, big brother rest assured." ”

The two chatted for a while, the atmosphere became more and more harmonious, the man said, found that the rain outside the house was much lighter, patted his ass and stood up and said: "Brother, I have heard that those hills and eight barbarians in the camp of Lord Sun in Hanzhong City, I am not familiar with life, if it falls into their hands, I will be squeezed out of three catties of oil, since you are here on an errand, can you lead me into the city and take care of it?" When I'm done, I'll invite you to have a drink. If you come to Baocheng in the future, I will also do my duty as a landlord. ”

The black-faced man only hesitated for a moment, then got up and said: "This is natural, I can meet the eldest brother here, it is fate, the eldest brother commands, there is no reason." ”

The man was overjoyed when he heard this, pulled the black-faced man and said, "Brother is righteous, which is so touching." As the brothers say, meeting is fate, if we don't worship as brothers here, we can take care of each other in southern Shaanxi in the future. ”

The black-faced man nodded and said, "Big brother's words are exactly what I want." ”

The man couldn't help but be overjoyed, so he pointed to a dilapidated shrine in the house and said: "There is neither a saint nor a Yue Wu here, brothers are wronged, let's first marry Jin Lan towards it, and then pick another time to make up the wine and officially bow down." ”

The black-faced man was very happy, but said, "It's exactly as my brother said!" ”

The man was very satisfied, very diligent, first knelt inward, knocked three heads, said something loudly, and then turned his head and said, "Brother, it's your turn." Kneel down towards the shrine, report your name first, and then follow my preface and say it again......"

Before he could come back to his senses, he felt that the heavens and the earth suddenly began to turn upside down, and then he saw a headless corpse kneeling in front of him, spurting blood. When he remembered that this familiar body seemed to belong to him once, the darkness had taken him away completely.

The black-faced man tore off a piece of cloth on the man's body, and while slowly wiping the bloody waist knife in his hand, he shook his head and said, "Lao Tzu's name is Pang Jinming, but it's a pity that you are not blessed to hear it." ”