Yang Congyi was waiting, waiting for the news that the imperial court had sent troops into the mountains.

Once the army entered the mountain, it must have been the imperial court that made the decision to exterminate the bandits, and then they could safely exit Tianzhu Mountain and return to the calm and peaceful Taihu County. But before that, someone will become a victim, and since Chen Zhixian told him, he can't let this gang of catchers become someone else's pawn. He must ensure that he cannot have a head-to-head confrontation with the bandits, they are not the opponents of the bandits, and there has always been a conflict between officials and bandits, and once they fight, they will all die in Tianzhu Mountain.

Set up camp at Hutou Rock and control the rations, they can't go too far, and the scope of the westward search can be determined, and the team can't get close to the central area of Tianzhu Mountain, and everyone is a little farther away from danger. All Yang Congyi did was to encircle the team in the periphery and drag it out for a long time, until the imperial court sent troops to Tianzhu Mountain, and then suppress the bandits again.

Everything was under control, and as he expected, the search team would leave at dawn and return in the evening, at most the next day, carrying food that would not allow them to stay far from Tiger Head Rock.

"Brother Yang, Brother Biao, they haven't come back yet." Li Erniu took the hot roasted food back to the shed.

Yang Congyi is practicing, Zhang Biao always likes to go far, he is used to it. Feng Lin's team will definitely come back that evening, while Zhang Biao's team will either return in the middle of the night or will not return until the next day, and basically did not come back on time. This time it was the same again, I set out yesterday morning, and it was dark and I didn't come back.

They don't have much rations with them, they eat today and tomorrow they will be gone, and if they don't come back, they will starve, and they will definitely have to come back. Zhang Biao has always insisted on going west to arrest fugitives, he firmly believes that the more dangerous the place, the greater the chance of finding fugitives, Yang Congyi knows that he can't go west, but he can't say that he won't catch fugitives.

The real reason for this he couldn't tell anyone in the team, he guessed from Chen Zhixian's private confession that this mission might involve a game between various departments of the imperial court, since there is a game, there will be sacrifices, how can the upper game let the lowest pawns and victims know? Even if Yang Congyi can vaguely guess now, he can only pretend not to know, and he can't know what he shouldn't know, let alone talk nonsense without a door.

So far, in order to protect this team, he can go back and have an explanation with Chen Zhixian, he thinks that this is the best way, the fugitives must be searched, but they can't go deep into Tianzhu Mountain.

Feng Lin knows how to pursue advantages and avoid disadvantages, whether he led the team to search for fugitives with their hearts, whether they can find clues, Yang Congyi doesn't care, and he doesn't care, just tell Yang Congyi that they are indeed searching for fugitives.

Yang Congyi is not worried about Feng Lin and them, whether they are cheating or clever, they will go with them, as long as they don't break into the bandits' den.

What bothered Yang Congyi the most was Zhang Biao, as the oldest catcher in the team, his duty was deeply imprinted in his heart, as long as he accepted the task, there was no possibility of not executing it, he insisted on going to the west to search, and he went farther and farther again and again, and he couldn't stop it at all.

In the early morning of the next day, Zhang Biao and the others still did not return, Yang Congyi was worried that something unexpected would happen, and temporarily decided to ask Feng Lin to lead people to the west to find them.

At dusk, the westbound team returned to the camp and found only three of them.

Yang Congyi didn't see Zhang Biao, so he knew it was bad.

Feng Lin said, "Brother Biao led people all the way west the day before yesterday, and he has no intention of turning back." The three of them refused to follow and were driven back. When we found the three of them, they were too hungry to walk, frightened and delirious, but fortunately they found it in time, otherwise the three of them would have died in the mountains. ”

Yang Congyi was anxious, only three came back, and the other seven people were in danger and their whereabouts were unknown, he led this team, and he was responsible for everyone's safety, responsible for himself, Chen Zhixian, and the whole family of each brother.

After pondering for a moment, he gathered everyone together, "You also know the current situation, it is dangerous to go west, you don't want to go, I don't want to go, but now we can't help but go. At the beginning of the month, 26 of us came all the way from Taihu County, went deep into the mountains and forests, slept in the open air, and went through all kinds of hardships, isn't it because many of the fugitives are from Taihu County, and we are afraid that they will escape punishment and continue to cause trouble in the township, so we want to re-arrest them? Now Zhang Zhutou and they are in danger in order to hunt down the murderer fugitive who is burdened with blood debt, and go deep into danger, as brothers, can we stay out of the matter? Of course not. Even if we can't get all the fugitives back, we have to get our brothers back. ”

Everyone was silent in the dark, and it was not easy to find someone in the mountains. But they have been following Zhang Zhutou for a long time, and they have some feelings with him, and now they haven't eaten or drunk, and they don't know how long they can last. The villagers of Fenghuang Village told them, they all took it to heart, and they couldn't go west of Hutou Rock. For them, going or not going is an ordeal.

Feng Lin said, "Brother Yang, I think so, Brother Biao, they must go to find it, and we can't lose the camp of Hutouyan." Tomorrow I will continue to lead people to the west. ”

Yang Congyi nodded and said, "Okay, tomorrow you take ten people to the west to look for them, and if you find their traces, follow them, don't lose them." Leave marks along the way so that we can deliver you rations. After finding Zhang Zhutou, no matter what method you use, you must bring him back. But there is an exception, although it is not nice to say, you must remember that once you find that they are in danger and cannot be rescued, you should not act rashly, and send someone back in time to inform me. ”

Feng Lin said, "Brother Yang, I know how to do it. ”

Yang Congyi said, "This trip is related to the safety of everyone, you yourself must also pay attention to safety, I don't know what the situation is west of Hutou Rock, be careful." ”

Feng Lin said, "Brother Yang, don't worry, I will pay attention." ”

Yang Congyi said, "Okay." Go and rest. ”

The crowd dispersed, and everyone was under pressure on their heads. From tomorrow onwards, they can't be as lazy as before, and they must take risks to follow Zhang Biao's footsteps, rescue them, and save themselves.

When it comes to the justice of the law, they may not understand it, and they don't have that kind of awareness, but when it comes to brotherhood, everyone has it in their hearts. The fugitives can not be caught, but Zhang Biao is a brother who has been together for many years, and they must be recovered.

After that, Feng Lin and the others went west, and Yang Congyi did not get the news until the sixth day, they found a bandit lair along the trail of Zhang Biao and others, and it is estimated that Zhang Biao was in the hands of the bandits or had been killed. After Yang Congyi learned the news, he immediately took people to meet Feng Lin.

The road was far away, there was no road in the mountains, and after two days, the two teams were united again.

Without waiting for Yang Congyi to ask, Feng Lin said, "Eight days ago, we followed the mark left by Brother Biao and came here, after which the mark was gone, and I couldn't find them, I didn't dare to act rashly, and then I found that there was a large group of people on the opposite mountain, almost everyone was carrying knives and guns, I think there must be a bandit den on the mountain, I wanted to quietly touch it to investigate, but I was afraid of alarming them, we have to suffer a loss, and finally I had to let people go back to you." ”

Yang Congyi looked at the mountain opposite, the mountain is high, the road is steep and the forest is dense, if there is really a bandit nest, Zhang Biao and the seven of them break in, I am afraid that there is really no return. "You've been staring here for the past four days, what did you find?"

Feng Lin said, "Since I found a team of people coming down the mountain four days ago, I haven't found anything else. ”

Yang Congyi asked, "How many people are in that team, have you gone back?" ”

Feng Lin recalled the situation at that time and said, "The forest is too dense, too many to count, there will be no less than thirty, the commotion is a bit big, we can all hear it from such a distance, and there will definitely be no fewer people." They didn't go back after they came down the mountain, and they didn't know where they went. ”

Yang Congyi was very angry after hearing this, but he couldn't get angry, so he could only try to stabilize his emotions and said, "You haven't done anything in the past four days? Just waiting here? So many of them have come down the mountain, can't you go to the mountain to investigate? Find out what's going on on the mountain? ”

Feng Lin and the others are greedy for life and afraid of death, and they know that they are at a loss, but they still have to argue, "Brother Yang, we are doing what you say, Brother Biao, they must have been captured by the bandits in the mountains, they are not the opponents of the bandits, we will be sent to death if we go, where do we dare to move." ”

Yang Cong was angry and had nothing to say, and now was not the time to blame them, after calming down, he ordered, "You take two people over now, go up the mountain to find the bandits' residence, and see how many people are still on the mountain." ”

Feng Lin hesitated, "Brother Yang, what if we encounter bandits on the mountain, then we are not dead." ”

Yang Congyi comforted, "What are you afraid of, if the bandits dare to make such a big move when they go down the mountain, they are not afraid that anyone will know, and they will not hide, you will touch it quietly, as long as you don't act rashly, they won't find you." Be sure to come back before dark. ”

Feng Lin suddenly said with red eyes, "Brother Yang, if I can't come back, you must not leave me here, I want to go back." ”

Yang Congyi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let you go to find out the situation, and it's not for you to fight with bandits, don't say it's the same as going to die." Go and go back. ”

Feng Lin didn't say anything more, and led people to drill up the opposite mountain.

Yang Congyi said to the remaining dozen people, "Judging from the current situation, Zhang Zhutou and them are likely to be on the mountain, as for whether they are dead or alive, everyone does not know." But no matter what they do now, we will go to the bandits' den, and if the people are alive, we will rescue them, and when the people are gone, we will avenge them. I won't say much else, you have been with Zhang Zhutou longer than me, you should know what to do in your own hearts. Rest first, recuperate, and when they find out the situation, we will go up the mountain tonight. ”

After saying a word, without giving others time to speak, he just lay down on the spot, no matter how big the matter was, first recover his energy.

Before the sun set, Feng Lin led people to run back in a hurry.

Yang Congyi woke up when he heard the sound of someone moving, got up and asked impatiently, "Is there a situation?" ”

Feng Lin panted and said, "Brother Biao, they are indeed in the mountains, in the bandits' den, to be precise, it is a bandit cave, and they have locked them up." ”

Hearing that Zhang Biao and they were still alive, everyone was excited.