(Thanks to readers for "78209", "tomix560", and "Bugs are pigs".) On the first day of listing, ask for subscription. ）

Ahead was a village, and as they got closer, the soldiers realized that it was not cooking smoke, but smoke from the burning fire.

The entire village was reduced to ashes, with only a few ruins remaining.

The soldiers were a little nervous, and from here on, they had already entered the war zone.

Xu Ji said to the team leading the troops: "Send someone in to check on it and see if there are any survivors." ”

The team snorted, turned around and assigned a small team of ten people to enter the village to check, and at the same time sent the only two cavalry and a guide to the front to inquire about the situation, and then said to Xu Ji: "Childe, can you turn around?" ”

Xu Ji sat on horseback and looked into the village, "We haven't found the rebels yet." ”

"If we find it, we won't be able to go back."

"Yingcheng will be attacked sooner or later, instead of waiting, it is better to find out in advance."

The team is a veteran, in his fifties, who is not so sympathetic to the young fallen son, and sneered: "We are soldiers of Jinyang, no matter what happens in other places, even if we want to take care of it, we will wait for the old man to come." ”

Xu Ji was slightly angry in his heart, and suddenly remembered Guo Shifeng's words, he had committed the fault of a noble son, and it was difficult to attach to the public, and he couldn't even win over an ordinary veteran, so he jumped off the horse and smiled, "I came to Bingzhou and wanted to make an inch of merit for self-efficacy, so I had to go out of the city, and I would suffer with you." ”

After all, the other party was a guest of the Shen family, and the team didn't dare to go too far, so he arched his hand and said: "Don't dare, since you are a soldier, you have to admit the life of a soldier, just don't risk our lives." I don't mean anything else, we only carry three days of dry food, it's been more than a day out of the city, after dinner, we have to turn around and go back to the city anyway, look at the way it looks here, there is no place to replenish food. ”

The team was right, but most of the soldiers in this group were on foot, and the local guide was slow to lead the way, and it only took more than 30 miles a whole day.

Xu Ji was hesitating, and the soldiers who entered the village ran back, "There is still a living person...... It's a living person. ”

There was a man sitting behind a broken wall, his whole body was blackened by smoke, and he couldn't see men and women, hunched over, probably very old.

The soldiers surrounded the man and questioned him repeatedly, but the man didn't seem to hear it, and he didn't squeak. Seeing Xu Gongzi coming, the soldiers got out of the way.

"Old man." Xu Ji called a few times, but the other party still did not respond.

Xu Ji got up, wanted some water, washed the old man's face, and the team that came with him stepped forward and kicked it, the old man woke up like a dream, looked at the person in front of him, suddenly cried loudly, and slapped the ground with his hand, it turned out to be an old woman.

The team was pulling out their knives slightly, and said sharply: "Shut up, old thing, we are officers and soldiers!" ”

Xu Ji was currying favor with the team, although he felt that he had done too much, but he didn't stop it, and stood aside and watched, feeling embarrassed in his heart, thinking that he shouldn't be so rude to an old woman who was likely to have just lost her relatives.

"All dead, all dead, what do I have to live...... "The old woman howled.

The team was pulling out a knife and tapping the old woman twice on the head with the blade of the knife, "It's easy to die, tell me who burned the village first?" When was it burned? Where did the people go? ”

The old woman was excited, and said that she didn't want to live, but she still had some strength in her body, and she stood up slowly by holding on to the wall, and she didn't look at the officers and soldiers, and she moved her bent legs to run, and every step was as difficult as if she was trekking in a quagmire.

The team laughed and was about to stop the old woman, but Xu Ji couldn't stand it, and said, "Forget it, wait for the spies to come back." ”

The team took a look at Xu Gongzi, put away the knife, and beckoned the soldiers to return to the road.

Xu Ji stayed behind and touched his body, only some silver coins and a few books, which were useless at this time, so he had to leave as well.

"All dead!" Suddenly, the old woman began to cry again.

Xu Ji didn't dare to look back.

On the way, the two spies and the guide had already returned, apparently not far, talking to the team.

The team turned his head and said: "It was a group of thieves who burned the village, and I don't know if they killed each other on the way, or if they met other officers and soldiers, and a few people died." The guide said that there is a riverside town twenty miles away, and there has been no news for several days, and it is estimated that it has fallen and become a lair of thieves. ”

"Twenty miles, not too far." Xu Ji intended to go and find out.

The team is shaking his head, "We don't go, although the anti-thieves don't know how to fight, and they don't even have scouts, but there are many people, and the so-called two fists are hard to defeat with four hands, and our little people are only enough to send meat to others." Xu Gongzi wants to make meritorious contributions, so go back to the city and transfer more soldiers and horses. ”

The soldiers all spoke out in agreement, these Jinyang veterans had not fought for many years, and they did not want to get close to the enemy.

When he went out this time, Xu Ji carried a jacket with him, straddled his shoulders, loaded books in the back, and some application things in front, picked them up and put them on the ground, first took out the book and showed it to everyone, to show that he was not hiding privately, and then took out a small package, looked at a corner, and revealed the jewelry and silver coins inside.

"Meritorious service is rewarded."

This trick was simple and straightforward, but it worked, the soldiers surrounded him, and Xu Ji put the package away.

The team hesitated for a moment, "These are all bounties?" ”

"Of course, this is my personal reward, if there is any gain, I will ask you for credit after returning to the city."

The team was looking at their soldiers, and a few glances understood each other's intentions.

"That's it, I'll send twenty people to go with you, and the rest will stay behind, if Childe is in danger, run back immediately, and we'll answer, if you don't come back early tomorrow morning, we won't wait for anyone." As for the reward, when you come back to me, I will divide it, how about it? ”

The soldier only listened to the team's orders, Xu Ji had no choice, and said with a smile: "It couldn't be better." ”

The team was allocating nineteen slightly stronger soldiers and a guide, and instructed: "Xu Gongzi will come back safely, you will make meritorious contributions, and the reward will be an extra share, Xu Gongzi will not come back, don't come back, surrender on the spot and become a thief." ”

The soldiers said yes again and again, Xu Ji stood aside and couldn't cry or laugh, Guo Shifeng was really right, he really didn't know how to attach to the people, when he was in the Eastern Capital, the emperor, the general and others at least took him seriously, here, the team was only treating him as a valuable and fragile cargo, which needed to be properly protected, but it was useless.

Xu Ji led twenty people to set off, only one horse, led by soldiers, and he walked side by side with the guide in front.

After walking a few miles, there were traces of burning on the road, and there were still a few corpses lying in the field.

The guide was originally a farmer, on duty, and was assigned, so he had to go out of the city to lead the way, and he was unwilling to do so, but he was not in the team, so he didn't dare to show it, his pace slowed down, and he pointed to the path and said, "There is a section of road ahead that is not easy to walk." ”

"It doesn't matter, if others can go, we can go too." Xu Ji said to the soldier who was leading the horse: "If you have to work hard, ride the horse first, and return immediately when you encounter the police." ”

The soldier was puzzled and handed over the reins.

Xu Ji smiled: "You should be a spy, ride a horse in front, don't get too far away, if there is any trace of the enemy, come back immediately to report." ”

The soldier finally understood, nodded his head, handed his spear to his companion, turned on his horse, and galloped away.

As the sky was getting dark, the spy in front rode back, jumped off his horse out of breath, and waved to everyone, "Turn around, turn around." ”

"There's a rebel ahead?" Xu Ji asked.

The spy gasped, took his spear from his companion's hand, and used it as a crutch in his hand, "No, I don't see it." ”

"Huh?"

"Dead people, all dead people."

Xu Ji grabbed the reins, got on his horse and left, and the soldiers behind him looked at each other and had to follow.

The horse was already tired, Xu Ji did not spur it, and let it move slowly.

When night fell, it could not hide the tragic situation in the world, hundreds of corpses were scattered all over the road, just looking at the costumes, it was impossible to distinguish which were rebels and which were civilians, and even the original armor and boots on their bodies were stripped naked.

"Not long ago, a few hours ago." A soldier whispered, for fear of disturbing the dead.

The other soldier, who was more bold, went forward to check on the situation, and suddenly alarmed a flock of birds, and rattled and flew so frightened that he threw away his spear and crawled back to his companions.

"The living must be seen." Xu Jidao, insist on moving forward.

The soldiers had no choice but to follow, and those who lost their guns had to go back to the corpses to retrieve their weapons.

A few miles later, there was a wailing sound on the side of the road, and Xu Ji was the first to step forward to check.

A man sat against a stone on the side of the road, holding his stomach with his hands and wailing, when he saw someone coming, dragged his body and crawled into the field.

Xu Ji jumped off the horse, "Don't run, I'm not here to kill you, I'm ...... Soldiers. ”

The man turned around, although the night was dark, he could roughly see that the person who came was a young man in a long shirt, and his heart was a little calm, "Officers and soldiers? The officers and soldiers have already chased here? ”

"Well, the officers and soldiers of the brigade will be there soon. Tell me, how many of you are there? Why cannibalism? ”

"I—I don't know how many people managed to find a little food, and everyone fought for it on the road...... I still have a wife and children to support, and I beg the official to save my life......"

Xu Ji stepped forward and saw through the moonlight that the man's chest and abdomen were full of blood.

The soldiers behind followed, and the wounded couldn't see clearly that there were many people, thinking that this was the army, and sighed, "I'm a thief, what else do I ask for help, my wife and children...... It's probably someone else's, but it's a pity that my wife, I'm afraid no one will support it. ”

"Your family is in the army?" Xu Ji asked.

The wounded man showed obvious surprise on his face, "If you are not in the army, where else can you be?" Alas, let's die, let's die, this world, don't leave people a way to live, what's the ...... for a few more days or a few days"

A soldier stepped forward and stabbed the wounded in the chest with a single shot.

"You ......" Xu Ji was shocked.

The wounded man was silent, and the soldier withdrew his spear, "He is a thief, what is he doing to listen to him?" Cutting your ears and bringing them back is a credit, right? ”

The soldier put down his spear, drew his knife, literally cut off the ear of the deceased, and reminded himself in his mouth: "Left ear, not right ear." ”

The other soldiers sighed repeatedly, regretting that they were late, and someone said: "Isn't there a corpse in the back, and you can cut dozens of them if you pick them up?" ”

Everyone said yes, turned around to leave, Xu Ji said: "We haven't seen the enemy camp yet?" ”

The ear-cutting veteran got up, "Childe originally said that he wanted to see a living person, but this is a living person just now, Childe wants to see the enemy camp, it is estimated that there is not much ahead, so you don't have to take a look in person." Let's go back to the city, these thieves will even kill their own people, and they may be killed in a few days, and then they will come to collect the corpses. ”

Xu Ji was about to get on the horse, and several soldiers stepped forward, walked back with his arms, and said in their mouths: "The son is tired, let's help him walk." ”

"You ......" Xu Ji couldn't compete with these soldiers.

Not long after everyone walked out, a shout suddenly came from behind: "The person in front, is there my husband Qi Liulang?" ”

It was actually a woman, and the soldiers stopped and turned around, and vaguely saw a figure on the road.

Xu Ji shook off the soldiers and said loudly: "We haven't seen Qi Liulang, may I ask who is in the camp in front?" ”

The woman walked slowly, and replied, "Yesterday belonged to the King of Heaven Destruction, and today belongs to the King of the Descendants, whose people are you?" ”

The listener was shocked, the incarnation king should have been in Qinzhou, when did he run to the east?