In the human world, the north wind carried snow particles and smashed into the dead grass that had been devastated, and the dead branches and leaves and snow flew in the air, and the soldiers were in it, their limbs were stiff, their cheeks were painful, and they couldn't distinguish between east and west, north and south, and there was not much difference between being in hell.

However, there is light in the world.

It was the torch in the hands of the bandits on the hillside, extinguished in the darkness and in the cold wind, like a ghost fire.

Lao Cheng, the first to poke his head out to look, waved his long knife and was about to shout kill, Wu Lin hurriedly stepped forward to cover his mouth, turned around and whispered: "There is nothing abnormal!" ”

Ye Han raised his sword and swung it, and more than a hundred people at the bottom of the pit jumped out at the same time, sneaking close to the ground in the dark, and went straight to the dense firelight on the slopes of the mountains on both sides.

It is difficult to see the bright place and the dark place clearly, but it does not take much effort to see the bright place in the dark place. Coupled with the cover of the wind, it was easy for the energetic officers and soldiers of the Northwest Army to sneak attack the bandits.

The soldiers who had been aggrieved enough finally showed the prestige that the Northwest Army should have, and a blow was like a sharp arrow through the throat, and before the bandits could react, they had already given them a powerful blow.

The sound of exclamations, footsteps, and the clashing of blades shattered the silence of the mountain, the torches still flickering, and the smell of blood filled the night.

"Let it go...... Put a signal! A thief stammered to remind his companion.

As he spoke, the spear pierced his throat as a flash of light severed his companion's wrist.

The signal was not released, the fighting continued, the north wind blew away the cries of pain and cries for help, and the hillside was obviously fighting for life and death, but it was still a strange silence from a distance.

The figures are like ghosts.

The sneak attack lasted only a quarter of an hour, after which only torches flickered on the slopes on either side.

Lao Cheng touched his injured face, spit out a mouthful of spit, and scolded: "Damn, don't be beaten, it's not fun!" ”

"That's it." Ye Han said with a smile, "Our poison can only be solved, and the stamina may not be enough, and we may suffer a loss after fighting for a long time." ”

Everyone understands the truth, but thinking of the grievances at the bottom of the pit before, and thinking of the dozen or so comrades who accompanied the war horses to be buried at the bottom of the pit, the soldiers still inevitably felt that their anger was not finished.

Chu Weiyang came over with a smile: "Akan, since everyone hasn't fought enough, let's just go and serve the thief's lair!" ”

Lao Cheng was the first to raise his hand in favor.

Ye Han raised his foot and kicked Chu Weiyang's waist: "There are still six or seven thousand people in the thief's lair, you go?" ”

Chu Weiyang smiled: "I won't go, I still have injuries on my body!" ”

At this time, everyone also reacted: who hasn't had any injuries on his body! At this time, it may not be a problem to kill another three or five hundred people while the morale is high, but if you really rush into the enemy's lair, you will be killing yourself.

Lao Cheng scratched his head and laughed twice, and asked, "If you don't go to the nest, then where are we going?" ”

said that he was here to suppress the bandits, but he couldn't see that there were many thieves, and he ran away in disgrace when he picked up his life, right?

Ye Han looked at the hillside next to him, and said in a deep voice, "Go to the mountain." ”

Avoid the edge for the time being, and then find a good solution.

At this time, everyone gradually felt a little tired, knowing that they really needed to hide at this moment. At that moment, no one had any objections, and the number of people supported each other and quietly entered the mountain.

Half an hour later, the group of bandits who came to change shifts noticed the abnormality, and they didn't dare to get close to the trap to check, so they hurriedly passed the news back to the town, and the calm mountains suddenly became chaotic, but this situation was also expected by the Northwest Army.

The bandits sent a team of more than 2,000 people to investigate the vicinity, but they never found any trace of the enemy. Eventually, the female leader sent two minions to check the trap, but both of them died at the edge of the pit and never returned.

From this, it can be seen that the poison at the bottom of the pit has not yet failed, so it is impossible to say that it is a ghost of the Northwest Army.

The thieves and bandits were puzzled, and there was no definite news to report to Shangjing, so they were immediately panicked and at a loss.

It was chaotic until dawn, and there seemed to be no other way than to strengthen vigilance and send people to search the mountains.

At this time, the situation of the people of the Northwest Army hiding in the mountains was certainly not good. North winds, heavy snowfall, lack of food, onset of pain...... It's hard.

But no matter how difficult it was, no matter how Chu Weiyang pleaded with him, Ye Han still refused to take out the pill Ruan Qingzhi gave him and eat a pill.

Originally, I was reluctant, but now I don't dare to take it after knowing that this medicine has an extraordinary origin, for fear that this is something against the sky.

The last two incidents in Yangcheng had already frightened him, and he didn't want to risk trying again.

The consequence of refusing to take medicine is that the back injury is not good for a long time, and it is scary to turn over the white meat. He himself was particularly afraid of cold because of blood loss, and he would inevitably suffer more in this icy and snowy place.

Of course, he is not the only one who suffers.

Ruan Qingzhi braved the wind and snow and walked all night, and the whole person was already frozen, so that when he passed through a town the next day, the people in the town almost thought that some monster such as a snow demon had come to the world to cause chaos.

"Whose girl is this?" The mother-in-law who sold bean curd held her hand and shed tears, "How did you come all the way with such thin clothes?" What about your family? ”

Ruan Qingzhi shook his head and was speechless.

The mother-in-law handed her a bowl of bean curd, but found that her fingers were so stiff that she couldn't hold the bowl at all, and couldn't help but cry again: "Create evil, create evil, this damn world!" ”

"Grandma," Ruan Qingzhi moved her lips hard and made a voice: "Thank you, I'm fine." ”

When Douhua's mother-in-law saw her speak, she hurriedly handed Douhua to her again, wiped her tears and said, "Yes, yes, it's okay if you live!" Girl, in this weather, in this world, how dare you walk alone? Where are you going? ”

"I'm going to find bandits," Ruan Qingzhi's voice was weak and hoarse, "Does Grandma know where there are bandits?" ”

"Bandits?!" Granny Douhua's face changed in an instant, and she fell backwards, then quickly got up and rushed into the back room in three steps and two steps.

Ruan Qingzhi looked at the disappeared Douhua mother-in-law and the closed door, was confused for a while, picked up the bowl and slowly drank the Douhua, touched the purse and pinched out a piece of broken silver and put it on the table.

There was still no movement in the door. Ruan Qingzhi thought for a while, reached out and took the small quilt covered with insulation on the wooden basin next to him and threw it on the saddle, and slowly climbed on the horse and left.

After the sound of the horse's hooves and walking away, the man of Douhua's mother-in-law opened the door and poked his head out, patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief: "Let's go!" ”

"Ouch, that's gone!" Mother-in-law Douhua sighed and stamped her feet out, "What kind of evil is this, why did you bump into a female bandit in the blue sky and day!" Ouch yo, and snatched our quilt away! How to spend this day! ”

The man's eyes were sharp, and he caught a glimpse of the broken silver next to the empty bowl, and he hurriedly rushed over and grabbed it in his hand with an exclamation: "Silver!" , is this silver?! ”

Douhua's mother-in-law was stunned for a moment, and then jumped up again: "Silver, silver, silver, I think you are crazy about money!" Have you ever seen what silver looks like in your life? ”

"I've seen it!" The man bit down on the silver and grinned, "Isn't that it!" Damn, we're rich! ”

Granny Douhua looked at the silver in the man's hand in a daze, and didn't react for a while.

Her man suddenly slapped his thigh: "Do you think we are stupid?" What are the bandits afraid of? How much strength can she have as a little girl? Even if it's a bandit's seedling, it's just a little cub who hasn't been weaned! ”

Granny Douhua came back to her senses, wiped her hands on her apron and smiled: "Yes, I'm afraid of what she will do......"

"No, stupid!" The man jumped up, "I mean, that girl can throw us a piece of silver at will, she must have money on her!" And her horses, her clothes, and her jewelry...... How much silver would it get if they all stayed! ”

Douhua's mother-in-law was stunned, and her mouth opened and closed for a long time before she made a sound: "You, you, you...... You want to rob her of her silver? ”

"Why not?" The man tugged at the sleeves of the patches, "She's a bandit!" They can rob us, why can't we rob her? How long can she flutter with a girl's film? I'm in a hurry, so I sold her together! ”

"Who sold it together?" A wooden voice next to him asked.

The man sneered: "The stupid woman is just useless!" Selling a little girl scares you like this? In this world, the bold starve to death—"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped, because he finally realized that it was not his mother-in-law who spoke just now, but a frozen male voice.

He looked up in horror, and saw a tall black and shiny horse standing in front of the bean flower stall, and a man with a scruffy beard and no age was sitting on the horse's back, like an iron tower.

Granny Douhua fell on the stool with a thud, frightened.

Brigand! It's a real bandit this time!!

Her man's face was as white as paper in an instant, his legs fell to the ground with a soft pop, and he raised his hands above his head and stammered and begged for mercy: "Good, good man spare his life, the villain has the old and the young......"

The person on horseback did not bow his head, and shook the horsewhip in his hand with an expressionless face: "I heard that you took my third sister-in-law's silver, and you want to arrest my third sister-in-law and sell it?" ”

"No, no, no," Douhua's mother-in-law hurriedly denied, "My man is talking about the little girl just now......"

Before she finished speaking, her man had already pounced over and covered her mouth, shaking his head frantically: "No, no, no!" We didn't want to rob anyone! Our ancestors have been honest for generations, and we have never charged a penny more for selling bean curd......"

The man on horseback grinned: "The last person who lied to me has been dismantled by me." ”

The man rolled his eyes and fell to the ground on his back.

Mother-in-law Douhua hurriedly dragged him, but she couldn't pull it up for a while, so she had to take out the piece of silver from his hand, trembling and holding it with both hands to the man on the horse, and shouting "The king spares his life".

The man took it and tossed it into his sleeve.

But he didn't leave, and looked at the big wooden basin with bean curd next to him.

Douhua's mother-in-law Fuzhi immediately woke up and hurriedly returned to the stall and filled him with a big bowl.

The man did not dismount, but reached out on the horse's back to take it, raised his head and grunted, handed back the empty bowl, and signaled that he wanted it.

Mother-in-law Douhua had to go back and serve it to him, seeing that he drank four bowls in one go, her heart twitched.

It was easy to watch the evil god throw down the empty bowl and ride away, Douhua's mother-in-law cried out with a whimper, and staggered back to wake up her man: "Dad, our family's silver was robbed by thieves!" He also robbed our family of four bowls of bean curd! ”

"You ruined mother-in-law still wants to lie to me!" The man shook her off angrily, "It's clear that you snatched the silver from me and gave it to him, and you also served the bean curd to him, how can you say that he robbed it?" ”

Douhua's mother-in-law was stunned: "How do you know?" Aren't you dizzy? You...... You're pretending to be dizzy?! ”

The man shrunk his neck and didn't dare to speak, and Douhua's mother-in-law was so angry that she threw her apron and slapped it on his face: "Okay, you're heartless!" You have attracted bandits by talking nonsense, and if you cause trouble, you will pretend to be stunned and throw the mess at me! It's a loss that didn't make you rich, or the devil knows what else you're going to do! ”

"Is the current misfortune small? We're being targeted by bandits! The more the man thought about it, the more aggrieved he became, and he cried: "I just said don't come out to sell any bean curd on such a cold day, you have to listen!" Look, got into trouble, didn't you? ”

At this time, the neighbors were also attracted by the movement of their house, and someone came over and asked, "Why are you two crying on a cold day?" ”

"I've been robbed!" The couple replied in unison.

The neighbors were startled, and they looked around, then retreated a little distance from the bean flower stall, and asked across the alley, "Why did you get a bandit?" How many bandits are there? What did you rob? ”

Douhua's mother-in-law cried: "Two people, robbed four bowls...... No, five bowls of bean curd! And the little quilt I covered the basin on! ”

"That's all?!" Everyone looked at each other in amazement, and for a moment they didn't know whether to be afraid or laugh.

At this time, a sharp-eyed child suddenly shouted: "Bandit! The bandits are coming! ”

At first, everyone thought it was children shouting, but after a while, they suddenly realized that the black shadows in the wind and snow in front of them were actually a group of people running over on horseback.

Bandits, bandits!

The people scattered in an instant, and even the children who were shouting and scurrying before were lifted up by their own adults like chickens and thrown into the threshold, and then the wooden doors of each house were slammed shut, and the alley was silent for a moment.

Only Douhua's mother-in-law and her man were still standing in front of the stall, dazed.

The black shadow in front of him came close in the blink of an eye, and it was actually dozens of strong men on horses.

Douhua's mother-in-law's man rolled his eyes and fainted, and he didn't know whether it was a real faint or a fake faint. Douhua's mother-in-law also wanted to do the same, but she couldn't roll her eyes well, and she was worried that she would fall directly to the ground and stain her clothes, so she couldn't help but hesitate for a while.

The dark shadow of this hesitation was already in front of him, and he only heard a voice louder than thunder and asked, "The seller of bean curd!" Have you ever seen a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old, who looks like a lady from a big family, walk past here? ”

Granny Douhua nodded hurriedly, but then shook her head frantically even more panickedly: "No, no!" Absolutely nothing! ”

"Is there or isn't?!" The man on horseback flung over with a whip.

Douhua's mother-in-law cried while hiding: "No, king! There was a little girl before, but she wasn't good-looking at all, and she didn't look like a young lady from a big family! ”

When the man heard the words and was about to fight again, a person next to him hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and asked softly in his place: "What's a bad opinion?" ”

Douhua's mother-in-law was afraid of beating, so she hurriedly said: "Grizzled and dirty-faced, wearing a small jacket that looks very thin at first glance, and I don't wear a hat, my whole face is frozen like a paper ghost, riding a broken horse, and robbing my bean curd to drink...... At first glance, she is a female bandit who mixes badly! ”

Several men on horseback looked at each other, and they all felt a little uncertain.

But I can't ask anything more. A few people who did not believe in evil went and knocked on the doors of the next few houses, and asked and asked, but the statements of each family were similar:

A female bandit who was so cold that she couldn't see her eyebrows clearly, robbed Granny Zhou's bean curd to drink, and snatched the quilt that was covered on the basin by others!

Pretty? How good can a female bandit look? It's not good-looking, it's fierce like a dominatrix!

It doesn't seem to be a little girl, and there is a man behind her who calls her sister-in-law! The man couldn't tell his age, most of them were already in their thirties and forties, so that "little girl" was probably the wife of a bandit leader or something, right?

When such news came out, the men on horseback talked to each other with eye eyes, and shook their heads in unison.

It's not like that.

If a person had walked from this official road, he would have caught up for so long no matter what, and there would never have been any news.

"There was no news from the inn or inn along the way, so I guess I didn't go this way." One soldier concluded.

The leader glanced at the road ahead that was covered by wind and snow, and turned his horse's head: "Return!" ”

The horse's hooves clattered back the way they came. Mother-in-law Douhua and the man who suddenly woke up lay on the table and stretched their necks to look at it for a while, and then retracted their hands and patted their chests: "Why are there so many bandits?" What kind of world is this! ”

Ruan Qingzhi didn't care what kind of world this was, and she didn't care too much about the weather.

All she knew was that the night was cold in the north, in a certain mountain where bandits were raging. As long as you don't go in the wrong direction, you can always find it.

The last time the news came back from the north said that it had arrived in Qixian County, and then there was no news. Ruan Qingzhi estimated the speed of their march, and considering that it would take time to suppress the bandits, he guessed that Ye Han's location at the moment should still be within two hundred miles of Qi County.

Of course, she can actually directly inquire about the bandits near Qi County, and she can even directly inquire about the Zhenwu Army. However, she did not dare.

The closer she got to Qixian County, the closer she was to this place where bandits were raging, the more she didn't dare to ask anyone.

Later, she didn't even dare to see anyone. Whenever she went to the downtown of villages and towns, and saw the people gathering in groups to chat, she always avoided from a distance as if she were facing a great enemy, for fear of hearing about King Li from the mouths of those strangers.

She had heard the news of his death and told others about it, but that didn't mean she had the courage to hear it again.

Words are cone-hearted.

Because of avoiding people all the way, Ruan Qingzhi has never had the opportunity to buy a warm cloak, and can only wrap the small quilt to block the wind along the way, so it is conceivable that the image must be extremely embarrassing.

But Ruan Qingzhi didn't care anymore.

On the fourth day, the wind and snow gradually stopped, and the outline of the sun appeared in the gray sky for many days, and finally there was a warmth or two in the world.

At noon, Ruan Qingzhi touched the frost that turned into water on his face, took out a hard cake from his pocket and nibbled it twice, reluctantly sent it down with cold water, and then changed to the back of another horse and continued to urge the horse forward.

Qi County has passed. At this moment, the place where Ruan Qingzhi walked was a chaotic mountain.

When she was buying water in a nearby town, the tea shack girl kindly reminded her that she couldn't go any further, because there were bandits in the mountains ahead.

Ruan Qingzhi was so frightened when he heard the word "bandit" that he knocked over the teacup. Seeing this, the teashed girl was deeply sympathetic, and even said that the people nearby had suffered at the hands of the bandits, and there was a town in the mountains that was occupied by the bandits, and the people in the town never came out again, and they didn't know if they were dead or what, and the officials in the county government did not dare to ask.

Ruan Qingzhi drank several bowls of tea in a row before she mustered up the courage to ask the number of bandits, and the girl said that she didn't know, only that the birds and beasts in the mountains had been hunted out, and the nearby merchants were also robbed and did not dare to cross, and a few days ago I heard that even the county town was disturbed by the bandits.

If you dare to disturb the county, then the number of bandits must be at least a few thousand. Ruan Qingzhi estimated this in his heart, and the frozen blood immediately boiled.

Her instinct told her that she had found it.

After paying for the tea, Ruan Qingzhi immediately got up and got on the horse, and did not take the official road again, but directly found a small path and got into the mountain that the tea shack girl said.

Frightened, several tea customers looked at each other, suspecting that this little girl was scared crazy.

Ruan Qingzhi also felt that he was about crazy.

She never knew that she was willing to endure such hardships and suffer such sins in the severe winter wind and snow, just to confirm the life and death of a man.

She knew that her physical and mental strength had been stretched to the limit, and in two days at most, if there was still no progress, she would probably break off like a dead branch in the cold wind, and fall into the snow and never get out again.

Yehan, that bastard, he's really good at tossing people.

Ruan Qingzhi complained in her heart all the way, her cheeks and eyes were cold, and she couldn't be delicate anymore, and she couldn't stand up.

This mountain road is really difficult to walk.

The road was too steep to ride a horse, so Ruan Qingzhi had to get off the horse and walk, picked up a dead branch from the ground as a cane, and walked step by step with great difficulty.

She couldn't help but think of the past when she was tricked out by Ling Xiao and was almost trapped in the mountains.

That time, she also crossed the mountains and suffered a lot of grievances, but compared to today, that level of hardship is simply not worth mentioning.

The small hillside on the outskirts of Beijing has no sharp rocks, no strange potholes, and no such annoying snow...... How was she embarrassed to be wronged like that at that time?

At that time, she was just a little wronged, so she was so hypocritical that she cried and made trouble, and finally walked home with her all night on her back......

Today's hard grievances are more than a hundred times more serious than that time, but the night cold doesn't care, right?

Ruan Qingzhi didn't dare to expect him to carry her home again. As long as he is willing to show up, as long as he is alive, let her carry him home.

Ruan Qingzhi walked all the way and climbed all the way, slipped and stood up again, stood up and slipped again, he didn't know how many falls he had fallen, and when he looked up, there was no road left.

Can't you be trapped in this deep mountain, right?

Ruan Qingzhi felt that he shouldn't have died like this.

But she couldn't walk.

There is no snow here, the dead grass is dry and fluffy like a quilt, maybe you can lie down here. Ruan Qingzhi thought to herself.

At the same time, she also knew very well that at this moment, as long as she lay down, she would not have a chance to get up again.

"No, I'm not convinced!" Ruan Qingzhi slammed a stick on his leg that was about to be lazy, gritted his teeth and continued to climb the mountain.

When I looked up over the hillside, I was stunned by what I saw.

On the other side of the hill is no longer covered with snow, but people.

Densely packed and neatly arranged, the murderous people with blades in hand reflecting the white snow.