Zhang Shi and his men have returned to China first. Xue Li's injury was not serious, he was in a hurry to go back to his life, and after two days of recuperation in Zhuqiu, he returned to his heart like an arrow.

Judging from the current situation, the summer planting situation in Yuzhou is very bad, the autumn harvest is not optimistic, and there is still a large shortage of grain in Yuzhou. In particular, in some places in Yingchuan and Runan in southwest Henan, after the drought, waterlogging occurred. Therefore, Huang Wan and Xue Li agreed that the remaining 80,000 grains would still be delivered here by land, and the specific date would be subject to Xue Li's return to Xu. Xue Li estimated that it would be delivered in ten days.

The day Xue Li went back, it was September 13. It was a crisp day, and the sky was as clear as clear water. The winding official road cuts the yellow and green fields in half and extends to the east. The ridges of the roadside ditches are overgrown with weeds and wildflowers, and Yuzhou, which is full of disaster, is full of vitality here, revealing the warmth of this earthly world.

A group of more than 50 people, Yingtao walked to the front, some of them were high-spirited, and roared loudly:

Hunger does not follow the tiger's food,

Twilight does not perch from wild birds.

Wild sparrows have no nests,

Who is the wanderer proud of?

This short song, Ying Tao often listens to Xue Li sing, this time he can't help singing it, his voice is high-pitched and majestic, and it spreads far away in the wilderness. The peasants working in the fields looked at this side one after another, and many people cheered loudly.

When the procession marched to Shengquan Post in Xiao County, the sky changed, and suddenly it was overcast. Seeing that it was time to arrive, Xue Li decided to stay overnight, and after showing the official handicap, the postal historian enthusiastically took Xue Li and others to the house. Due to the large number of people, the small room of the post house was not enough to live, so Xue Li called Yingtao and a few other people, and prepared to live in the pavilion dozens of steps away.

The Han family regulations generally "one post in five miles, one pavilion in ten miles, and one place in thirty miles". Post, pavilion, also known as post, pavilion, and place, pass that is, transfer, refers to "people stopped, the predecessors have gone, the descendants have returned, and the transfer is also passed on." ”

The difference between kiosks and postages is that kiosks are mainly responsible for maintaining local law and order, and also provide accommodation for a small number of people; The postal service is mainly responsible for delivering clerical messages, and secondarily providing accommodation for public officials. The person staying at the hotel must have an official certificate, i.e. something like "official biography" or "official charm".

The Tingbu official residence was the most ordinary hanging hilltop house at that time, with a brick and rammed earth wall structure. The south-facing door opens on the side, and a square lattice wooden window is on the side of the door. On the back wall of the north side, there are small breathable windows with the size of two people's faces. There are more than a dozen sleeping couches in the house against the wall together, and there is a lot of space for laying on the floor or adding sleeping couches when there are many people.

When Xue Li and the others entered, several people with accents in the customs were laughing and playing inside, obviously, they were not officials.

The pavilion chief explained: "Because the houses are full, a few Guanzhong guests are arranged to live here. ”

Ying Tao wanted to have a seizure, but was stopped by Xue Li. Those Guanzhong people, seeing that Xue Li and the others were dressed as officials, didn't dare to gossip anymore, and took the initiative to carefully let out the sleeping couch inside. Due to the lack of a couch, the leading Guan Zhongke arranged for his fourteen or fifteen-year-old son to sleep with him.

After dinner, there was no moon, it was very cloudy and breezy. Xue Li was bored after dinner, and when he saw that it was still early, he wandered around the pavilion.

The pavilion has two entrances, with a kitchen, stables, several houses and a pavilion in the front yard, and the official residence and the pavilion chief's residence in the back. There were cows and horses in the stables, which aroused Xue Li's interest, and one horse was significantly taller than the one he was riding, and Xue Li estimated that it was more than seven feet tall. When a person is a ruler, he is about 23 centimeters. "Zhou Li" says: A horse above eight feet is a dragon, a horse above seven feet is a horse, and a horse is more than six feet. When Emperor Xiaojing of the first Han Dynasty, the imperial historian Wei Juan played: "The horse is more than five feet nine inches high, and the teeth are not flat, so you are not allowed to go out of the customs." It can be seen that the height of 5 feet 9 inches was already the standard of good horses at that time.

Xue Lixin said: "Those two short horses are supposed to be the horses in the pavilion." The owners of these good horses did not live in the official house, so they must be the horses of the big clan, and ordinary people can't afford to raise this horse. He just wanted to move away after looking, and a person behind him said in a rough voice: "What do you see?" Go away! ”

When Xue Li looked back, he saw a person standing at the door of the house, tall and stout, with a short black jacket and a long knife hanging from his waist, staring at him with a fierce face. Xue Li smiled at him, and said in his heart This guy is so big, he is wearing official clothes, he actually dares to shout five and six, I don't know what the reason is?

When passing by this person's side, Xue Li noticed a slight movement from him, this person kept pressing the handle of the knife with his hand, as if he wanted to take out the knife at any time. And the way he holds the knife is obviously specially trained. The Chinese officials of this dynasty generally practiced martial arts, and military attachés also studied some scriptures, especially in the past ten years, when wars and chaos were frequent, and many people began to pay more attention to learning martial arts and self-defense. Xue Li also learned fencing, riding archery, etc., and he also practiced the ring head knife. This person's method of holding the knife can quickly draw the knife and attack with all its strength when the body moves slightly. From this point of view alone, this man is a knife expert. However, what is this guy so vigilant just because the horse is being watched? Could it be the official uniform he wore for him?

In the middle of the night, Xue Li was dreaming when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of "popping" slamming the door. A Guan Zhongke who slept at the door replied in a daze: "Who...... Who is it? ”

"Pavilion Chief! Check the night, open the door! ”

"Pavilion Chief? Oh, here it is! When the guest got up, Xue Li didn't sound right. This voice is a little familiar, very different from the pavilion chief who whispers softly during the day, is it ...... He?

Xue Li suddenly felt a little bad, and hurriedly shouted: "Hugh open the door!" ”

As soon as the words fell, I only heard a "bang", and the door was slammed open! There seemed to be a flash of knife light in the darkness, and the guests who opened the door screamed "ahh......hh

"There are thieves! There are thieves ......"

"Help! Help ......"

Several guests had been woken up by the sound of the door, and they were so frightened that they got up from the couch, and one person in front of them was knocked down by a thief!

Suddenly there was a light in the room, and the thief who entered behind took the torch in his hand, and shouted coldly: "No one is left!" ”

The person in front was the stout tenant Xue Li had met by the stable during the day. He shot extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, he hacked three people to death!

At this time, Ying Tao made a move.

Originally, Xue Li didn't think about it, and only said to Yingtao, "The tenant in front is a little weird, and the horses are good." Yingtao was cautious, slept in clothes that night, put the ring-headed knife next to the pillow, and a few soldiers who came with him joked with him, "Yingjun don't hold the knife as a woman!" ”

Xue Li reacted first, and when he shouted not to open the door, Yingtao was already protecting Xue Li's couch. The five soldiers were stripped to sleep, and hurriedly put on their underwear in a panic. By the time they showed their blades, Ying Tao had already fought fiercely with the man in front. The soldiers hurried up to help in the battle, and the thieves also came up with four people, filling the room in the open space for a while. The stout thief was extremely fierce, and his sword was so fierce that one of the soldiers of the camp tauga gradually lost the wind.

Xue Li hurriedly used his heart attack technique: "You wait for the thieves to be rampant!" I am Pengcheng Guogong Cao Xueli, there is my brigade outside, you don't want to be rampant, don't run away! These words obviously want to scare them away, these thieves are not easy to deal with, only the thief who took the lead is really powerful!

After the words were shouted, the thief with the torch got up and shouted: "Bullshit! Brothers, don't listen to him! Several thieves in the house also turned a deaf ear, and the struggle in the head killed the retreating camp Tao with one blow, and saw the knife fall with his empty hand, and waved a Guanzhong resident who was trembling on the couch into two pieces!

Xue Li was furious, and he also attacked with his sword in his hand. Five thieves were against Xue Li's seven people, you came and went, and there was a vicious fight in a small space. Xue Lifang kept retreating, but the enemy became more and more courageous, and the thief with the torch in his hand hadn't made a move yet! In the fierce battle, another Guanzhong guest was killed by the thief, and the thief saw it really and shouted: "There is also a young one, hiding under the bed!" ”

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the thieves to kill Guanzhongke, Xue Li and Ying Tao ended up with two thieves one after another. Seeing that his subordinates were defeated, the thief leader roared angrily: "First chop up all of you who are in your way!" ”

He also killed the general with a knife in one hand, this thief's knife technique is extremely pure, one hand against three, just a few to cut down a soldier. Just as he was triumphant, another soldier screamed at him because of the loss of his companion. As the saying goes, those who are horizontal are afraid of being stunned, and those who are stunned are afraid of dying! This mad soldier hit and slashed, and he had already saved his life. The thief had just stabbed the soldier next to him, and hurriedly used a torch to block him. But the madman ignored it, and screamed at the torch, and the thief threw the torch and stabbed back, and the madman was killed instantly! But the torch was also pressed under him, and the room was suddenly dark!

For a moment, both sides quickly retreated, holding knives against their chests, ready to attack.

After being silent for a while, they all quietly switched positions and waited for the opportunity.

"Xue Li, listen, I kill the enemy of life and death, and it has nothing to do with you! If you only hand over the people, I will spare you from death!" This man called Xue Li's name, and when he heard the voice, it should be the head of the thief who had just held the torch.

......As soon as the words came out, Xue Li suddenly realized that the enemy must be ready to throw, so he lured him to speak, and then listened to the sound to identify the position, when he dodged in a hurry, it was already too late!

A feathered arrow roars in the wind!

Yes, Feather Arrow!

These people are all too familiar with it! Even if you can't see your fingers, you can tell the difference.

Hide? Where to hide? Maybe it's just right to hide on the tip of the arrow!

Xue Li simply didn't hide, only took a sword to protect his chest.

Suddenly, he heard a loud shout around him, and at the same time, he was also knocked away by a strong force!

It's a camp pottery! He shouted, "Watch out for the protection in front of you!" Take arrows and throw them at the thieves! ”

It turned out that when the thief spoke, Ying Tao was fully alert. He grabbed a case in advance, ready to strike at any time. But Xue Li fell for his lack of experience in facing the enemy in the dark!

The feather arrow "snapped" and was inserted on the case, and the shadow was sufficient, because it was not inserted deeply, it was taken off by the camp pottery splitter and thrown back! With a "bang", the arrow hit the wall and fell, apparently the camp Tao threw back liliang not much.

"It's dangerous!" Xue Li was glad that he was guarded by Ying Zhongqi, otherwise he would have died. Before he could wipe his sweat, he listened to the sound of the wind, and another arrow was thrown! He was still at a loss for what to do, so he simply lay down.

The other party challenged Xue Li one after another, obviously knowing that he was the leader here.

"Hide behind the couch!" Yingtao shouted.

I only heard the sound of "ah", and a soldier was thrown in the abdomen, and the pain was terrible, and he fought! He suddenly rushed out, bumped into the other party, and was immediately hacked to death with a knife!

Yingtao took the opportunity to grope for the feather arrow, and several people threw it indiscriminately, and a thief seemed to be hit by the arrow, screamed, and retreated to the door.

This time, the two sides have returned to the balance of power.

But in the dark, static braking is the best choice. But this situation is actually not good for the attacker, especially Xue Lifang, although he is not skilled in martial arts, he is not afraid of death!

"Get out!" The thief leader decisively ordered.

Although I couldn't see it, I could feel it by the sound of footsteps, and the thieves slowly withdrew from the official residence.

"You two guard the window, if you dare to come out, you will be stabbed! You, go to the pavilion chief's house to start a fire! The thief leader ordered.

"That's right! Wait until the torch is lit, and then go in and kill it! It was the strong man who took the lead in the fight just now.

The thief leader sneered again and again and scolded: "Hmph! You idiot, what are you fighting for? Just burn them to death, isn't it over? ”

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Ring head knife, long knife: The Han Dynasty mainly used knives, and its knives were often used as chopping, stabbing, etc. People who don't understand the function of the ring head knife and the long knife often talk about Guan Yu's stabbing of Yan Liang, in fact, even the long knife that appeared in the late Han Dynasty should also be used to "stab" this trick. Of course, there is no such thing as the Glaive Sword. Qinglong knife, the knife light Qingyin plays like a dragon dancing.