Lead-gray clouds pressed against the earth, and the white sunlight fell weakly through the gaps in the clouds on the yellowed fields. The west wind blowing from the low hills in the distance "whined, wooed" like an invisible long whip waving in the air, sharply whipping the loess field. In the trembling weeds, in the bare yellow sand, an earth-gray hare sprang up from time to time, and a pair of fat sandgrouses were snatched up. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared without a trace, making the wilderness more and more desolate and lonely.

A black line appeared on the dark gray hills to the west, and this black line moved slowly, gradually appearing as a team. The line was long, winding down the rolling hills. The team was messy, massive, and noisy, with heavily armed knights at the front and at the end, all covered in dust, looking tired and grim, and many of them carrying a few empty saddle horses and foals behind them. In the middle of the procession were many wagons, large and small, loaded with tents, grain, and baggage, and crowded with women and children, and one or two hundred camels laden with water and miscellaneous goods also hobbled through the caravan. The sounds of dogs barking, horses neighing, and shouting cattle came in the autumn wind of "whining", from far and near, making this empty and lonely wasteland suddenly add a little vitality.

It was a great transfer of the people, but there was no large herd of cattle and sheep in sight, only a herd of horses following the procession driven by more than a dozen shepherds; It was also very different from the calm atmosphere of the past, when the shepherds were in transition, and the whole team seemed to be hurried and restless in the process.

Twenty or thirty knights in military uniforms rushed to the front of the procession with a leader on a black horse. The leader wore a bronze helmet on his head, a fox fur coat, and tight soft armor underneath, and stood tall in the saddle, which was very imposing. He reined in his horse, and the two stalkers looked forward for a while, then looked up at the darkening sky, and glanced at the marching procession around him, as if he was very dissatisfied with the speed of the march and the tiredness and slackness of the whole procession.

This knight on a black horse was Gao Fei, he fled all the way back from Huangzhong, and he would visit the cities he passed along the way, and tell the county commander, the county lieutenant, or the Taishou about the impending Qianghu rebellion, but those who were in charge of the officials smiled disdainfully, and no one believed Gao Fei's words.

Gao Fei didn't force it, he had already done his best to be benevolent and righteous, and if it was not good to say to the officials, he could only tell the people, he asked Zhao Yun, Pang De and others to spread the news between the various cities, and the people would be suspicious, only a few people were willing to follow Gao Fei, and some people were accepted along the way, and a team of more than 2,000 people was formed.

Gao Fei stopped the horses, he saw that this team was moving so slowly, so he turned his horse's head and said sharply to Xiahou Lan behind him: "Go and urge, don't be so slow, you don't want to live?" Let the old man and children sit in the carriage, and the disobedient animals will whip me and let the animals run! ”

Xia Houlan listened to Gao Fei's order, and rode his horse to the back of the team. In a moment the shouts and whistlings in the ranks became louder and more intense; The large, messy team immediately became a little more compact, and the horses and vehicles all trotted "rattle".

After a while, more than a dozen fast horses followed from behind, led by Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun rode a yellow fat horse, galloped to Gao Fei's side, reined in the horse, arched his hand to Gao Fei, and said: "Master Hou, Jincheng has been conquered, the captain of Huqiang and the Taishou of Jincheng have all been killed, Beigong Boyu supported Bian Zhang, Han Sui became the leader of the rebels, more than 100,000 Qiang Hu is heading towards Yuzhong, and another cavalry team of more than 10,000 people is led by Beigong Boyu himself, coming towards Longxi and threatening...... Threaten not to give up if you don't catch Hou Ye! ”

Gao Fei frowned when he heard this, and asked, "What about Pound?" ”

Zhao Yun said: "Pang De and a few people are still behind to inquire about the news, Master Hou, Xiangwu is not far ahead, Beigong Boyu will definitely not dare to come up even if he is fast." This team has been running for three days in a row, everyone is very tired, it is better to rest for the night in Xiangwu, let everyone take a break. ”

Gao Fei nodded, and said to Zhao Yun: "Send someone to inform Pang De, let him hurry back, in case he encounters Beigong Boyu's large army, he can't leave if he wants to, and he doesn't need to inquire about the news anymore, there are still 20,000 soldiers and horses in Hanyang County, and they can be used to block first." ”

Zhao Yun hugged his fists and said: "No! The subordinates sent someone to call Pound back! ”

Beigong Boyu returned to Luodu Valley the day after Gao Fei and the others fled, and after knowing that Gao Fei had escaped, he rebelled in advance, on the one hand, he sent people to contact the Qiang people, and on the other hand, he personally led a large group of cavalry to pursue Gao Fei. When he arrived in Poqiang County, he learned that Gao Fei had already gone away, so he slaughtered 700 households in Poqiang County in a fit of rage, and then attacked and killed wherever he went, and killed those who did not follow him to rebel. attacked and killed all the way to Jincheng Taishou, who was caught off guard and had no defense, so he was killed by Beigong Boyu.

On the other hand, the Qiang people who received the news of Beigong Boyu quickly gathered their teams, and more than 100,000 horses and horses launched a siege on the Qiang Captain stationed in Huangzhong. Later, the two armies met in Jincheng, and Beigong Boyu did not have enough reputation, so he elected Bian Zhang and Han Sui, who had been kidnapped, as leaders. Bian Zhang and Han Sui simply became the leaders of the rebels, commanding more than 100,000 Qianghu rebels to attack the counties of Jincheng County, and sent detachments to attack the surrounding counties, and led the army to attack Yuzhong, preparing to enter Hanyang County from Yuzhong, which caught Liangzhou Assassin by surprise.

In the evening, Gao Fei and the others could already see the city wall of Xiangwu.

In ancient times, the transmission of information was very backward, and everything in Xiangwu City was very calm, and he didn't know anything about Beigong Boyu's rebellion. At the gate of the city, Bian Xi rode a horse and waited there early, for ten days, he visited the three rich families in Longxi County one by one according to Gao Fei's instructions, and stole a lot of gold from them, and just returned to Xiangwu yesterday, and began to wait for Gao Fei's return at the city gate.

The sun was setting, the twilight was vast, Bian Xi saw a force of about 2,000 people heading towards Xiangwu from a distance, and then fixed his eyes to see that the leader was Gao Fei, and his heart was full of joy, so he galloped over quickly, and said in his heart: "Hou Ye is really capable, four people go, more than 2,000 people return, I didn't expect to be able to raise so many warriors in Huangzhong once." ”

When approaching Gao Fei's team, Bian Xi saw clearly that this was a refugee migration at all, everyone's faces looked very tired, old and young, men and women, and the real Liangzhou athletes were only more than a hundred people. He hurriedly rode his horse to Gao Fei's side, and immediately hugged his fists and said, "See Lord Hou!" ”

Gao Fei is also tired, if it weren't for these people, he should have gone to Xiangwu yesterday, plus he had to take care of them along the way not to fall behind, and a little friction between the people and the people, it was simply heartbreaking, fortunately, almost all of these people can ride horses, and every family has a carriage, otherwise, it is estimated that they will not be able to reach Xiangwu the day after tomorrow. He saw Bian Xi turn over and dismount excitedly, so he reined in the horse and asked Zhao Yun, Xiahoulan, Pei Yuanshao and others to escort the people into the city slowly, while he turned over and dismounted, walked to Bian Xi's side, and asked slowly: "How did I do the things I told you?" ”

Bian Xi replied: "Hou Ye rest assured, his subordinates have all done a good job, and in the past few days, they have taken three or four thousand catties of gold from the three wealthy families, if someone assists his subordinates, they may take more, and it is too troublesome for one of his subordinates to carry it." ”

Goofy nodded with satisfaction and said, "That's enough, you can't be insatiable." By the way, no one doubts you, right? ”

Bian Xi said: "Don't worry, Master Hou, no one has seen me commit a crime, so why do you have any suspicions." ”

Gao Fei smiled: "Very good, I guess they never dreamed that my dignified Hou Ye would actually do this kind of stealing." However, it is taken from the people and used for the people, not to mention that we are using this money to quell the rebellion, and it is considered that they have made a contribution to the counterinsurgency. ”

"Counterinsurgency?" Bian Xi looked at the people passing by, and asked, "Master Hou, where is the rebellion?" ”

Gao Fei said: "The Qianghu rebellion, there are more than 100,000 people, and now Liangzhou is going to suffer." Without further ado, let's hurry up and enter the city, now rest in the city for the night, and then mobilize the whole city to evacuate, otherwise, once the rebels hit here, they will all be affected. ”

Bian Xi said "Nuo", then led the horse and followed Gao Fei into Xiangwu City.

Entering Xiangwu City, Gao Fei returned home first, and found the patriarch of the Gao clan and asked them to help solve the problem of food and housing for those people, but more than 2,000 people is not a small number, not to mention that there are only more than 2,000 people in the entire Xiangwu City. However, relying on the title of the marquis and Gao Fei's reputation in Xiangwu City, it was quickly resolved, so that every family accepted a common people.

As soon as the county commander and the county lieutenant heard about the Qianghu rebellion, they were very frightened, and did not hesitate to express their willingness to mobilize the whole city to evacuate, and sent the officials to notify the evacuation news from door to door, so that the people in the city were ready to evacuate, and all the valuable, food and drink were taken away.

When I returned home, it was already night, and I saw that the Gao clan ancestral hall was brightly lit, and it turned out that Xiahou Lan told the Gao clan patriarch about recruiting volunteers, and the patriarch gathered a hundred strong men of the whole clan in the ancestral hall, and expressed their willingness to follow Gao Fei to resist the rebels. The patriarch of the Gao clan also contacted the patriarchs of other clans in the city, and the other patriarchs also followed this method and recruited warriors one after another, and in one night they won 340 brave warriors, plus the more than 160 swordsmen who had followed Gao Fei back, forming a team of 500 people.

The Yiyong family has horses, everyone has bows and arrows, and they are all skilled in bows and horses, so this makes Gao Fei a little overjoyed, and he feels from his heart that it is better to be home.

At dawn the next day, under the escort of 500 cavalry, more than 4,000 people evacuated the whole city and began to follow the official road towards Chencang.

At two o'clock, only the last part of the evacuated people remained, and Pound returned alone from the West Gate, as if he had been baptized with blood, and his eyes were red, and the horses under his seat were sweating like rain, as if he had returned from a night of galloping.

As soon as Gao Fei saw Pound, he hurriedly greeted him, only to see Pound fall from his horse, and there was a knife wound on his left arm, the skin was open, and blood was oozing outside, so he hurriedly asked with concern: "Pound, did you encounter the rebels?" ”

Pang De grabbed Gao Fei with a bloody hand, and hurriedly said: "Hou Ye, his subordinates were bitten by the front of the rebels, the brothers who accompanied him died, and the subordinates fought hard to escape, and now more than 1,000 horsemen in the front of the rebels have been less than thirty miles away from here, Hou Ye hurry up and go, go towards Jicheng, where there are still 20,000 officers and soldiers...... cough cough cough ......"

Gao Fei hurriedly shouted: "Pei Yuanshao! Pei Yuanshao! ”

The bald Pei Yuanshao immediately squeezed out of the crowd, with a bandage wrapped around his arm, and the bandage had already been stained with blood, which was an arrow wound left when he broke through from Luodu Valley only a few days ago. As soon as he came to Gao Fei's side, he replied loudly: "Master Hou! ”

"You take a few brothers to take care of Pang De, let Xiahou Lan and Bian Xi evacuate with two hundred horsemen to escort the people, and let the county commander and county lieutenant command along the way, and go to Jicheng to hide first." After saying this, Gao Fei turned his face and said to Zhao Yun beside him, "Zilong, you and I must not let the front of the rebel army bite the people!" ”

Zhao Yun hugged his fists and said: "The subordinates understand, and the subordinates will go to gather soldiers and horses, but ...... What should Li Wenhou do? ”

"Li Wenhou?" In the past few days, Li Wenhou has been detained by Gao Fei, and Gao Fei was busy along the way, but he forgot about Li Wenhou, at this time, Zhao Yun was reminded, and hurriedly said, "Leave him behind, maybe it will be a little useful to the rebels!" ”

Zhao Yun said "no", and immediately walked out to greet someone.

Gao Fei held Pang De's hand tightly and said to Pang De: "Ling Ming, you are overworked and injured, for the time being, follow the large army, rest for a while after arriving in Jicheng, and when I come, we will retreat to Chen Cang together." ”

Pang De endured the pain and said, "Master Hou, I want to stay...... I'm going to stay and kill the rebels...... Yikes......"

Gao Fei shook his head and said to Pei Yuanshao: "Quickly carry Ling Ming away, and send someone back to Chencang to inform Liao Hua and Lu Heng, so that they can prepare to receive the people and resist the rebels, and prepare more rolling wood and stones to put on the city wall." ”

Pei Yuanshao said: "My subordinates know!" ”

Pang De was carried away by Pei Yuanshao with people, put him in a carriage, and evacuated with the people. In order not to cause panic among the people, Gao Fei did not tell them the news of the arrival of the rebel front, but only found the county commander and the county lieutenant, and asked them to command the people to evacuate, the sooner the better, and asked them to go to Jicheng to tell the assassin to prepare for defense.

So, Gao Fei, Zhao Yun and the three hundred cavalry stayed, taking advantage of the fact that the rebels did not arrive, they took the lead in ambushing the city, just waiting for the arrival of the rebel front.