In the First Sino-Japanese War, China suffered a crushing defeat, which made the already decaying and crumbling Qing government even worse. Yunshan Town, Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province, and some ordinary towns in the south are no different on the surface, but the cloudy sky, the suffocating air and the appearance of various characters are the same as the political and military situation in the country.

It was an ordinary autumn day in 1895, and a light rain at night made the lush southern town seem a little lively, taking advantage of the slightly cool weather, the villagers rushed to Yunshan Town, where it happened to be a big gathering once every 5 days, and the villagers could buy the usual oil, salt, sauce and vinegar and daily necessities.

The young man kept his head down to avoid the puddles on the ground, and at the same time kept throwing the red mud that was sticking thicker and thicker on his cloth shoes, the rotting smell of mud, the smell of rice, the dry smell of the sun, and the strange smell of all kinds of leaves on the trees kept pouring into his nostrils, the red sun cast a faint blush on his face, and the clean coarse white robe made him not very different from the peasants around him who wore big crotches and threw broken straw shoes on their feet or went barefoot to the market. He was eighteen or nineteen years old, handsome, tall and slender, and his face was white and ruddy, and what was different was that once his eyes were gathered to look at people, he made people feel like an energetic young cat in the night, and suddenly found its prey, containing a compelling penetrating and infectious power.

The bazaar is hidden in a patch of greenery. There were several large banyan trees, their thick aerial roots stuck deep in the earth like an old man's beard, and some banana trees, their branches covered with plump fruits, like little green jars. There is also a tall and dense bamboo forest, the thickness of the bamboo trunk is mixed, vertical and horizontal, some are as thick as the mouth of a bowl, some are as thin as a pen, but they all stretch out the slender branches and leaves of the verdant, crowded and crowded, competing to grow. In the center of the bazaar, there are several kapok trees, which are majestic and stand tall in the blue sky, giving people a sense of vigor and fearlessness.

The so-called bazaar is a few small shops scattered around, plus some small vendors who are temporarily lively, set up stalls along the shops to sell, and the empty ones are naturally the aisles left for buyers, and there are buying and selling, and it has become the so-called bazaar.

The first to dazzle people were seven or eight rotten soldiers who were scolding and shaking their heads.

Some of them are wearing An Yong's gowns, with a circle behind them, with a word Yong written on them, and the lower body is the people's big pants, and some are wearing An Yong's pants, with the gowns of the old face on them, some of them are open, exposing two rows of ribs, and some are tied one or two with a row of buttons, but the unity is that they all have a dirty big braid.

The leader is named Wu Daxing, who looks like a tiger with a tiger head, high cheekbones, two large front teeth, and his hands are not honest all the way. Some hawkers dared to be angry but didn't dare to speak, and some didn't buy it, so they stopped Liu Daxing and asked, "This military master, hasn't you given the money yet?" ”

"Money!?" Wu Daxing was not happy now, "Who do you want money for?" asked for money for Li Hanzhang to go. ”

The peddler asked unhurriedly, "I know who Li Hanzhang is?" If you take my rice dumplings, I will know that I will ask you for money. ”

Wu Daxing squinted his eyes and scolded: "You don't know who Li Hanzhang is, let me tell you?" As he spoke, a big-eared melon seed was pumped up, and the peddler was pulled back a few steps at once.

The dumpling vendor quit and shouted: "Beat people—beat people—" This shouting doesn't matter, there were already some hawkers who were bullied by the rotten soldiers, and they couldn't let out their anger, and they just found an opportunity to stand beside the dumpling sellers, shouting: "Why beat people?" "You have to get money to buy something." "Report to the official, report to the official."

There are also a few nosy ordinary people who hurried to the government to report.

Those rotten soldiers also stood behind Wu Daxing one after another, rolling up their sleeves and stretching out their arms, shouting at him to cheer him on.

Wu Daxing raised his head, his chest was straight, and his teeth were bared and said: "You guys are still energetic, aren't you, who is afraid of whom in this world!" In a Sino-Japanese naval battle, the brothers worked hard to keep the country, to keep you sluts, to let you do this little shitty business here, and to make you crazy about us meritorious men! We've all crawled out of the pile of dead people several times, not to mention eating a few broken rice dumplings from you, even eating restaurants, that's how it should be. ”

Some of the soldiers who followed him also coaxed: "Yes, yes, isn't it just a few broken zongzi, isn't it just a few dry steamed buns." "This is to look down on you, the Japanese look down on us, those who are officials look down on us, you look down on us again, we are really not human anymore." "If you don't bully anyone, you can't bully others!"

A hawker asked back: "You have meritorious service in protecting the country, you should have given you a lot of silver, you should have eaten at a good banquet, why did you go here to eat a few broken rice dumplings and take a few dry steamed buns, is there really a lack of this small money?" ”

Wu Daxing waved his hands and snorted his nose and said: "If it's unreasonable, it's unreasonable to come here, the life is out, the force is also down, after the battle, all the people are laid off, and some of them are laid off, and some of them are left." What is this called, this is called employing people in the front, not using people in the back, it's too bullying. We're just going to make things bigger, and the bigger the better! Look at him, how does Li Hanzhang clean up? ”

The vendor selling zongzi shouted: "That's your business with the country, we have a small business, how can we manage so much, you have to take money to buy zongzi, and when you have money, my business can continue." Some hawkers also coaxed: "Why don't you give money to buy things, if you don't give money, you can't leave!" "What's so great about being a soldier, you can't buy things without taking money!"

The rotten soldiers shouted: "You know money, money, money, birds, where to touch money." "If you have money, can I give you money." "Anyway, there is no way to live, so I just go up the mountain and become a thief."

People are gathering more and more, of course, Gong Ren is also watching the excitement in it, and he pondered in his heart: "It seems that these soldiers have anger in their hearts, that is, they have anger in their hearts, but they should not spread all their anger on the people." It seems that there is a lot of excitement to see. ”

A villager led and brought a dozen officers and soldiers who were babbling. These officers and men were brightly dressed and wore red hats, and they were all imposing. The leader has one eye bulging, one eye slanted, a face full of meat, and a big bared tooth, shouting while running: "I see who is so bold that he dares to buy things without giving money, is there any royal law here!" Is there still me Liu Yanei in his eyes. With a wave of his hand, the officers and soldiers wielding knives and guns immediately surrounded these rotten soldiers in the middle.

These rotten soldiers are not ambiguous, Wu Daxing waved his hand, these rotten soldiers formed a circle, and each took out a small dagger with oil shine from his arms and pointed it at the officers and soldiers, it seems that the two sides are evenly matched, and the swords are tense, and there is about to be a big battle.

Wu Daxing smiled slightly, and shouted: "We have seen a lot of real knives and real guns, how many living people have become dead in front of us, and we still care about you boys." If you don't want to live, come forward, the old men haven't fought for a few days, and their hands are already itchy. Kind of come up—"

The soldiers in Wu Daxing's hands, who had been in battle for a long time, were not afraid, and gently shook the daggers, which flashed and reflected the cold light from time to time in the sun. However, these officers and soldiers who rushed to maintain order were timid, and a few of them had a winceing emotion in their eyes, a few of them looked behind them, looking for a way out, and a few of them were trembling with a single knife in their hands.

Those who were frightened to see the excitement also retreated one after another, making room for these rotten soldiers who were making trouble and the officers and soldiers who had come to maintain law and order.

Gong Ren didn't retreat, he squeezed forward, he wanted to see how the two groups of people fought, and who could beat whom. I was still thinking in my heart: "These officers and soldiers who were defeated by the Japanese are not bad!" How did you get beaten so badly by the Japanese? The officers and soldiers in these county yali who usually show off their might to the common people usually look quite capable, why are they afraid of these officers and soldiers who put down their guns, who will kill the deer, today has a good eye, and it can be regarded as a sight. ”

The two sides were deadlocked, just staring at each other with big eyes, needle tips against Mai Mang, and playing patiently, no one dared to make the first move.

……

A small grumbling voice suddenly came from behind Gong Ren: "Who are fooling you, officers and soldiers, they are not all a family, they are just making a show." Only the common people, who are oriented to themselves, have to count on us if they want not to be bullied. ”

Gong Ren squinted his eyes and saw that a man with a big head, big eyes, and a big nose next to him was stuffing a ticket to a bullied vendor, and while stuffing it, he also encouraged and said, "As long as they follow us, if they want to bully you, dare?" ”

The ticket is a kind of proof of the gang, that is, the ID card of the gang, a cloth ticket two inches wide and three inches long, with some code slogans written on it, and the ××× of the first team below.

Gong Ren was secretly surprised in his heart, he had never seen such a bold person, he dared to distribute a meeting ticket in front of the officers and soldiers, but he would really take advantage of the opportunity to ask the officers and soldiers to catch them, and if they didn't kill their heads, they would have to peel off their skins. Seeing that the big eyes were stuffing the ticket into his hand, Gong Ren grabbed his hand and whispered to him: "How do you know that the officers and soldiers don't care?" ”

The big eye also whispered, "Okay, wait and see!" ”

There was a stalemate between the officers and soldiers and the rotten soldiers for a while. The officers and soldiers arched their hands to Wu Daxing and said: "My name is Liu Yanei, and I am currently on a mission in the county government, I don't know what this soldier brother is called?" ”

Wu Daxing also arched his hand and said to Liu Yanei: "My name is Wu Daxing, I am An Yong who has just come down from the naval battle, I don't know what has alarmed the government, is it worth such a revival of the army?" ”

The villager who led the officers and soldiers complained to Liu Yanei: "They ...... If you don't give money for taking things, you beat people! ”

Wu Daxing glanced at Liu Yanei with his eyes to see how he handled this matter.

Gongren and the common people also looked at Liu Yanei to see how they handled this matter.

Liu Yanei said to the vendors, "What did they take from you?" ”

The hawkers said, "They took five steamed buns from me." "They took 10 of my buns." "They took me five zongzi and slapped me." The vendor who sold zongzi also leaned his face over and showed Liu Yanei five red finger prints.

Liu Yanei was stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed and said: "It's just such a trivial matter, if you all do this, Lao Tzu would have been tired to death." Go home—"

The villager who brought them here quit and said to Liu Yanei: "Official, if you don't give us the master, who will call the shots for us!" They bully us people, you don't care who cares? The vendors also said in unison, "Yes, if you don't call the shots for us, who will call the shots for us!" "They bully people." "Why don't you give money when you buy something, isn't this a robbery!"

Liu Yanei's mouth opened and said, "Oh...... Oh, that's the case, it's not easy for them, they just came down from the battlefield, they didn't win the battle, they were aggrieved, and they were laid off again, people had nothing to eat and did something too much, even the Governor had no choice, and we couldn't do anything, if you want to find it, go to the Governor. Leave—"

One of Liu Yanei's adjutant was not convinced, and whispered to Liu Yanei: "Liu Guan, just let these rotten soldiers go?" If these rotten soldiers are not cured, they will be even more lawless in the future. Besides, we can't explain to these ordinary people? ”

Liu Yanei glared at the adjutant and said, "Look for death!" These rotten soldiers are worried that they can't find something to do, aren't they taking meat cakes and sending them to their dogs' mouths! Besides, there are a lot of these rotten soldiers, a gang here, a gang there, can they be cured, I don't want to form a bond with them. It's better to have more than less, don't hurry up! ”

Liu Yanei greeted him, and no matter how the people scolded, he led those people and withdrew.

As soon as the officers and soldiers of these county offices left, Wu Daxing had a long face, and mocked the villagers who led the officers and soldiers: "Didn't you call the officers and soldiers, they can give you anger!" Arrest us all! Why don't you catch it? Haha......"

The rotten soldiers laughed too.

The common people were angry and muttered one after another: "What is this called, we ordinary people deserve to be bullied." "The world is as black as a crow." "We can't live anymore, so we'll just be bandits."

Gong Ren was even more cowardly in his heart, and said to the big eyes that distributed the tickets: "I really let you be right, these officers and soldiers don't look at the usual bravado, but as soon as they meet these rotten soldiers, they will be bearish." You just said that you will not be bullied by following you, I think it is also a bare mouth, and when you encounter these rotten soldiers, you still dare not care. ”

The big-eyed man said, "What if we dare to take care of it?" ”

Gong Ren said: "If you dare to fight for our people, I will join your gang." ”

The big eye said, "A word is a certainty." ”

Gongren said: "The husband has made a word, the horse is difficult to chase, and if you don't get angry for the people, then the world is really over." ”

The big eyes smiled and said secretly: "You can please!" A whistle, a "squeak" in his mouth, and more than a dozen people immediately gathered in front of him, all of whom were twenty upwards and thirty down, all of them were really thin and powerful, and all of them showed their bodies from their bodies, and they were also a murder weapon that was half long and not short and shiny, flashing cold light under the reflection of the sun.

Big Eyes led these people, and suddenly surrounded those rotten soldiers in the center.

Gong Ren's ears seemed to sound a Beijing accent and Beijing accent, and the man seemed to praise Gong Ren and said: "The people sue the officials, the officials are afraid of the soldiers, the soldiers are afraid of the bandits, all things grow, they are mutually reinforcing, they are interdependent, brother, you use it well!" ”

Gong Ren felt that these words were a bit philosophical, but when he looked back, the people who were shirring were all watching the excitement, and he didn't see clearly which person said it.

Wu Daxing saw such a group of people with weapons surrounding him for a while, and said to Big Eyes in horror: "Who are you?" ”

The big eyes smiled, but he said unhurriedly: "We don't change our names, we don't change our surnames, we don't hide it, we are triads." Today, the members of our triad have been bullied, and I am going to reason with you. ”

Wu Daxing also smiled and said: "I thought it was someone, it turned out to be a brother of the triad, since you came to call the battle, if I shouldn't, it seems that I am too little of a friend." Well, if there is no incivility, I will use the Shaolin double dagger to see your ability. After speaking, he shook two daggers in his hand, and made a move to sunrise in the east, waiting for Big Eyes to come forward and make a move.

The Shaolin double dagger is one of the rarer routines in the Shaolin Temple, and there are mainly four ways, two for single and double daggers. Its actions mainly include picking, pointing, sweeping, dialing, pressing, splitting, blocking, separating, teasing, etc., and dividing the upper, middle and lower three ways of the human body. Offensive and defensive, practical. Rise, fall, retract, vertical, advance, retreat, turn, and side are all on the same line, which belongs to the typical style of Shao Gong.

The big eye casually took out a single knife from the burden in the hands of the brothers who followed, arched his hand to Wu Daxing and said, "Then I will be rude, and let me see, what kind of ability do you use to bully the common people?" Don't you think the people are bitter enough! I will teach you a lesson with the family heirloom of the 48 ways of the Wang family. ”

After speaking, the big eye used the family knife method of the Wang family, and played for a while, the knife method is splitting, teasing, piercing, hanging, chopping, stabbing, sweeping, wrist flowers, etc., and there are actions such as wrapping the head and rolling the brain. The knife technique is brave and fast, imposing, strong and powerful, like a tiger in the mountains. When dancing the knife, hold the knife in one hand, and the other hand will expand and contract, open and close, wrap and other actions with the change of the knife technique to help the knife momentum. The single knife is the same as sticking to the body, the body is advancing and retreating, flashing and jumping vertically, and the knife is wrapped around the body, and the single knife rolls around the body, flying up and down, and the changes are endless.

"Good! Good! Gong Ren couldn't help but cheer. Okay! Okay! The crowd watched, and they also cheered, cheered, and shouted together. Even those rotten soldiers were dazzled, and they all looked like they were stupid.

The big eyes were playing, and a big knife came first, and with a "brush" sound, a gust of wind came towards Wu Daxing. Wu Daxing didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly used a move, called the double eagle to dance, and blocked the single knife. Subsequently, the two men fought together. When I was fast, I saw two weapons, one long and one short, each wrapped two people, and only heard the weapons match, making a metal sound of ping-pong. When it was slow, each bit his weapon separately, and the two of them were also baring their teeth and glaring to try their internal strength and compete with their internal strength.

The common people and those rotten soldiers have become spectators, and they are applauding and coaxing: "Okay, good, good kung fu!" "With such good kung fu, how can you not defeat those Japanese!" "Who said that you can't be defeated, those Japanese also died a lot, even if you win, it will be a remnant victory."

The two of them competed for a while, and gradually showed that their big eyes had the upper hand, only to see that he was playing faster and faster with a single knife, and the more he fought, the more brave he became, but Wu Daxing only had the ability to parry, and had no power to fight back. Wu Daxing's hands and neck were weak for a while, only to hear the sound of "dang", a dagger was sent into the air, Wu Daxing was shocked, his energy was scattered, and with a sound of "dang", another dagger was sent flying again.

The big eyes and a big knife were on Wu Daxing's neck in a hurry, and suddenly Wu Daxing felt a cold air on his neck, cool and silky, extremely terrifying, his heart fluttered, he thought it was over, his eyes closed, and said: "I lost, my skills are not as good as others, I die without regrets, you kill, right?" ”

And the big eye did not cut it off, but said: "The dagger is against a single knife, the dagger is not stained in the first place, you pick up the dagger, let's fight again, how about it?" ”

Those rotten soldiers saw that their leaders were put on the neck with knives, you look at me, I look at you, they all wanted to rush to the Savior, but they were afraid that Wu Daxing's head would be cut off by that big eye, so they were all hesitating, wanting to step forward but not daring to step forward. And those triad members were elated one by one, shouting, and forcing those rotten soldiers with long and short weapons.

Big Eyes smiled and said, "Although you are really hateful for bullying the people, you should not be killed." I remember that you just returned from the front line, and you can be regarded as a person with no merit and hard work, so let's keep your strength and contribute to the country! If you swear an oath, I won't kill you!" ”

Wu Daxing was already a little frightened, and when he heard Big Eyes say this, he knew that he still had a way to live, so he had to say: "Say it, what swear do you swear?" ”

Big Eyes said: "You swear that you will never bully the common people again!" ”

Wu Daxing raised his hand, pointed to the sky and said: "I, Wu Daxing, swear to the sky that I will never bully the people again in the future, if this alliance is violated, heaven and earth will not tolerate it!" ”

Hearing him finish his oath, Bigeye withdrew his knife and took a step back.

Wu Daxing listened to a cold breath, retreated, opened his eyes, and sure enough, he saw that the big eyes had retreated a step away, and said to the big eyes, "Thank you for giving me a life, if you have the opportunity in the future, you should repay yourself." ”

Those common people had long hated these rotten soldiers, and at this time, seeing the big eyes of the triad for the people, they still did not understand their hatred, and said: "He should have been killed a long time ago, what is the use of keeping these scourge soldiers." "If you are left alive, you should kowtow and thank you, why are you so ignorant?" "Kowtow! Kowtow! ”

Wu Daxing was a little afraid of the big eyes, but he was not afraid of these ordinary people, and he snorted and said: "I, Wu Daxing, have gold under my knees, kneel to the sky and kneel to my parents, and I can kill but not humiliate, why kneel to these bandits." ”

A sentence of bandits angered the members of the Sanhe again, and they had to come up together with long and short weapons to deal with Wu Daxing. The big eyes stopped them and said, "It's not the first time that people call us bandits, so why don't you call them again." Thank you or not, it's a matter of returning the people's things. ”

Wu Daxing arched his hand at the big eyes and said, "That's it, we will pay for what we take." So saying, he took some pieces of silver from his breast pocket and threw them at the peddlers. Some of his rotten soldiers were still unwilling, saying: "Officer Wu, we are not afraid of foreign devils, we are not afraid of officers and soldiers, even if we are afraid of triads, why are we still afraid of the common people?" ”

Wu Daxing whispered to them: "We are not afraid of foreign devils, because either you die or I live, and there is nothing to fear about the officers and soldiers, they are all afraid of death, so it is a big deal to arrest us and lock us up for a few days." These bandits can't afford to offend, they are all some demon kings who kill people without blinking, and they finally escaped from the battlefield with a life, and then they will be their sword ghosts, why bother? Singles don't suffer immediate losses, these ordinary people are relying on these bandits to support them, isn't it temporary to bow their heads to these people! Let's go! ”

"Wait!" The big eyes roared and said to Wu Daxing, "When you leave, can you listen to me a few words." ”

Wu Daxing had to stand still and said: "Your life is all given by you, of course I have to listen to what you say." ”

The big eyes said: "All beings are equal, don't look at them just some ordinary people, but they are also human beings, and compared with those rich people, there is no distinction between high and low." Thinking more about the common people and always thinking about sentient beings in my heart is the purpose of the gang and the teachings of the Buddha. ”

Wu Daxing let out a "hmm", threw down some broken silver, and hurriedly led those rotten soldiers away.

At this time, the hawkers and the common people laughed for a while, and they all felt very proud and refreshing.

When Wu Daxing saw that these troublemakers were gone, he raised his hand and said to the triad brothers, "If they are gone, we will also go." At this moment, when he raised his hand, he heard Wu Daxing, who had just walked not far away, "ouch-" sounded, covered his arm, fell to the side, and when he fell to the ground, he pointed to his big eyes and said, "You...... Villain, but also make the secret weapon hurt people......"

The big eyes opened their mouths wide, and they were so shocked that they didn't speak for a while.