On the way back, Han Xuan happened to meet Huang Zhong, remembering that he had been assassinated before, and it was Huang Zhong who had beaten the assassin away, the more Han Xuan wanted to take Huang Zhong under his command.

Han Xuan handed over the official uniform seal letter to Yang Xiong for safekeeping, and went out with Huang Zhong to find a clean place to talk.

Huang Zhong first made a polite remark: "Han Gongzi became a county lieutenant at such a young age, what a promising future!" ”

Han Xuan coughed embarrassedly, if he hadn't lied about his age and joined the army, how could he have a chance to become a county lieutenant. Then asked Huang Zhongdao: "I don't know what Uncle Huang's plans are in the future?" ”

Huang Zhong was a little disappointed when he heard this, although Qin Jie reused him to let him lead the army before, he didn't give him a real position. Now that Nanyang has been decided, he has been left aside by Qin Jie.

Huang Zhong paused and said: "Naturally, I will continue to stay under the account of Qin Taishou, although I am idle, I can also take some money to seek medical advice for Xu'er." ”

Han Xuan said: "Qin Jie is not a person who can achieve great things in the end, although he knows people, he is not good at it. And he despises the white body of the soldier, and he will be harmed by it in the future. Uncle Huang is so heroic, why don't you come to help me? Although he is only a small county lieutenant at the moment, if he soars in the future, he will let Uncle Huang show his ambitions! ”

Huang Zhong looked at Han Xuan with some surprise, such a young man who was only twelve years old had said similar things in front of him several times. Huang Zhongwan refused: "Qin Taishou has the grace of knowing me, and I can't bear to abandon him." Childe's kindness is in the heart, if Childe needs to help in the future, he will be duty-bound! ”

Han Xuan said helplessly: "In this case, please take care of Uncle Huang." In the future, I must first rush back to Changsha to take office. ”

After bidding farewell to Huang Zhong, Han Xuan took Yang Xiong to the barracks, and a captain took them to select five hundred soldiers and handed them over to Han Xuan.

Han Xuan is bitter, only half of bringing a thousand people back. However, thinking that these soldiers were all fully armed regular soldiers who had experienced battle formations, Han Xuan's heart was balanced.

Everyone took a boat from Hanshui down the river and sat on the boat for a long time. Dong Ping was seasick, so he was miserable, so Han Xuan had to let him sit in the stern of the boat and let him sleep more and drink more water.

When the boat sailed to the territory of Jiangxia, the water flow slowed down. Because it was a tailwind, he hoisted the sails and let the boat drift forward.

A lot of mist gradually rose on the water, and soon after the boat sailed, I saw a lot of small boats on the water in front of me. Han Xuan's boat was a big boat, which was much bigger than these small boats. Those small boats broke through the mist and sailed straight towards Han Xuan and them.

The patrol soldiers found these small boats and reported them to Han Xuan, who hurriedly led people out of the cabin to inspect them. Han Xuan shouted at them, "Who are you, why are you blocking me and others?" ”

I saw a strong man come out of a small boat, and shouted at Han Xuan: "Are you the guards escorting Han Xuan back to Changsha?" ”

Han Xuan wondered how they knew, so he asked, "I am Han Xuan, what are you looking for me for?" ”

Because the surrounding mist had not yet dissipated, Han Xuan couldn't see the strong man's face clearly. The strong man suddenly laughed and said, "Han Xuan, you are the one who killed so-and-so!" ”

Han Xuan was even more puzzled: "I have no grievances with you, why do you want to kill me?" ”

The strong man ordered his men to sail the ship closer, revealing his full appearance, naked and fleshy upper body, and a long scar on one of his faces, which was extremely fierce. The strong man said: "I am Jiangxia Zhang Hu, let me ask you, Zhao Heihu is harmed by you?" ”

Han Xuan and the soldiers on their ship who Qin Jie brought from Jiangxia recognized Zhang Hu and said in shock: "What should I do?" It's Jiangxia thief Zhang Hu! Let's run away. ”

Han Xuan tried hard to recall the name "Zhang Hu", only to remember that he was in Yamen Village before, and it was Zhao Heihu who heard that the materials they gave to Jiangxia Zhang Hu were robbed, which triggered a series of events later. Hearing him say this, he should think that Zhao Heihu was killed by himself, and he, the boss, came to avenge his younger brother.

Han Xuan asked the Jiangxia soldiers, "Who is Zhang Hu, is he very powerful, why are you so afraid of him?" ”

A soldier stepped forward and said, "Back to your lordship." When we waited in the Jiangxia camp, I encircled and suppressed Zhang Hu and other water thieves many times with Lord Taishou, and every battle ended in a crushing defeat for our army. The water thieves led by this tiger often come and go without a trace on this river, and they are also very good at the water, often robbing large and small ships, and there is probably no one on this river. ”

Han Xuan said in his heart that this is the master who has encountered a prickly hand, and if he can't explain it clearly, he is afraid that it will inevitably be a vicious battle.

Han Xuan defended: "Zhang Hu, I didn't kill Zhao Heihu. It was Luo Ping who killed him with a trick and led people to fight against the water! ”

Zhang Hu scolded: "Maotou Xiaoer, don't be strong, accept your life!" After speaking, he ordered his subordinates to release arrows at Han Xuan and them.

Several of Han Xuan's soldiers were killed by random arrows before they could react. Yang Xiong swung his knife and slashed away several arrows that came from him, protecting Han Xuan into the inner cabin.

Dong Ping was seasick and vomited in the inner cabin, seeing that he had no combat effectiveness like this. Han Xuan ordered the soldiers in the cabin to carry wooden shields, planks and other things that could cover the cabin, and the arrows of the water thieves all hit the shield planks, and only occasionally one or two unclever soldiers were injured by the arrows that came in from the corner.

After a while, the water thieves ran out of arrows. Han Xuan saw the water thieves driving the small boat towards their big ship through the gap in the shield, and Han Xuan shouted at the archers, "Hurry up and let them get close to the hull!" ”

The archers drew their bows and arrows, but the fog on the river could not be targeted, so they could only shoot at a few small boats that were speeding away. Many water thieves were shot by random arrows and fell into the water, but there were too many small boats for the water thieves, and Han Xuan's target was large and there was only one, and there were still a few small boats that crashed into the hull of the Meng.

The water thieves threw the anchors onto Han Xuan's ship, and Han Xuan hurriedly ordered Yang Xiong to lead people to cut the ropes of these anchors. They cut a few ropes, but they didn't expect that many of these water thieves had ropes with triangular anchor heads, and they were thrown on the boat together.

They pulled the rope, and many thieves climbed up along the rope. Yang Xiong hurriedly led the soldiers to resist, and more than a dozen soldiers standing on the side of the boat swung their spears and stabbed at the climbing water thieves, who were stabbed to death and fell into the water screaming.

Zhang Hu personally held a big shield and led the water thieves to rush over, Zhang Hu ordered his four water thieves to drop anchor together, and the four water thieves firmly pulled the rope at the same time. Zhang Hu jumped up, stepped on the rope, and quickly walked to the big boat.

Zhang Hu jumped onto the boat, holding a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, and slashed several soldiers who stabbed him with spears in hand. An archer shot an arrow at him, and he raised his shield to block it, and the arrow bounced off directly. He shielded his front and advanced all the way to Han Xuan, who was being protected by the soldiers.

Zhang Hu put down the shield with his left hand, raised the knife with his right hand and slashed at Han Xuan, Han Xuan saw him rushing and hurriedly drew his sword to resist, Han Xuan gritted his teeth to resist the knife he chopped. How could Han Xuan's strength be comparable to Zhang Hu's, seeing that as soon as Zhang Hu exerted his strength, the sword that pressed Han Xuan was about to cut Han Xuan's neck.

Yang Xiong suddenly jumped in and picked up Zhang Hu's knife, and the sword in Han Xuan's hand was unsupported due to the external force, and he took a few steps back and almost fell to the ground, and several soldiers behind him stopped him before helping him up.

Yang Xiong swung his knife and slashed at Zhang Hu, Zhang Hu's right hand was resisted with a horizontal knife, and the treasure knife in Yang Xiong's hand split Zhang Hu's knife into two pieces.

Zhang Hu was so frightened that he took a few steps back, Yang Xiong chased after him and slashed wildly with his dancing sword, and Zhang Hu had to pick up the big shield in his left hand to resist. The surface of the big shield was plated with a layer of iron, and at this time, there were also a few cracks under the swing of Yang Xiongbao's sword.