Chapter 1: The Great Thief (Part 7)

Where are you going to go in the future? While everyone was busy planting straw people, Liu Hongji came to Li Xu's side and asked in a low voice.

"Where are you going?" Li Xu put down the artemisia grass in his hand blankly. When he was with Xu Dayan, the other party once suggested that the two of them infiltrate the caravan and go to Jiangnan, and evade military service by the way. Now that he is separated from Xu Dayan, the arrangement to go to Jiangnan has to be put aside first. And returning to Yixian's hometown is obviously not a good choice, if the county lord investigates the crime of evading military service, he will inevitably be imprisoned. And unlike Liu Hongji, he has a group of friends who are active in officialdom. He was born in a side branch of the Li family, and he has no relatives and no reason in the official mansion. Even if you bring up the gold to count, you don't know who to give this gift to.

Perhaps the best option is to be a horse thief and never take care of it. This thought just turned in his heart, and Li Xu himself shook his head again and again. The Li family is innocent and wants to be a horse thief, but when he says others, his father is the first to kill him.

But is there any other way to go? He thought with a wry smile. From the time he left the jam to the present, all the roads have been forced or chased step by step, and no one has ever asked him what he wants to do and what his future plans are. Now when it was time for him to choose, his heart was empty and completely lost.

Liu Hongji looked at Li Xu's expression in his eyes, smiled, and said in Li Xu's ear: "I have an elder who is a friend of the world who supervises the food for the army in Huaiyuan Town, if you have nowhere to stay, it is better to go with me to vote for him." This Shibo has some ways to clear our body of desertion! ”

"Is that really possible?" Li Xu asked happily. Since he learned from Pan Zhanyang that those who evade military service are regarded as thieves by the government, he has always been very embarrassed about his identity. Liu Hongji's words were tantamount to opening a window on his head, allowing him to vaguely see a glimmer of light in life in the dark.

"But if you don't have a family or a reason, why should people stand up for me?" The inferiority complex in his heart soon made Li Xu veto this hope again. Liu Hongji is a son of a family, although the family has fallen, the connections left by his father are still there. And ...... yourself. He smiled wryly and twisted the artemisia grass in his hand into several pieces.

"We'll talk about it when we have a chance!" Liu Hongji patted Li Xu on the back, got up and walked into the distance. The neighing of war horses could already be heard on the other side of the river, and he needed to hurry up and hide his men.

Li Xu shook his head and put his mind back into the grass. Some gaps are innate, like grass in the hand, some are born with artemisia, and some are barnyard seeds.

"But people are not animals, and they don't need to be famous!" Tiger General Luo Yi's words suddenly sounded in his ears again. When he looked up, the weeds around him were tall or low, with different shades of color, but each one had the same blue sky overhead.

"Xuzi is a good craftsman, and he has done farm work before?" I don't know when, Zhang Liang sneaked over and asked.

"I learned a little bit at home, but now I almost forget it!" Li Xu shook his head and replied modestly. His movements as a straw man are very neat, and none of them have finished it, but he has done a good job, and each one can stand in the grass without falling down, like a real person hiding here.

"Where are you going after returning to the Central Plains, will you go back to your hometown?" Zhang Liang smiled, and actually asked another question that Liu Hongji had just asked.

"Can't go back! I came out of military evasion! Li Xu shook his head, his face full of bitterness. If it weren't for the damn military service, he might have gone to the capital to take the Ming Jing exam by now. At that time, I didn't put a lot of effort into the Analects, and I could remember almost any sentence from that article, and every column of the column.

"Listen to me, our proprietor has hands and eyes to the sky, and he will definitely let the government exempt you from military service! How about coming with me to meet the owner when you arrive in the Central Plains? Zhang Liang gently scratched the hair on Li Xu's head and whispered advice.

"Ahh Li Xu involuntarily let out a low snort. Looking at the Tong Mix who turned his head, he hung his head down in embarrassment.

Among this group of new companions, Zhang Liang's background is the most secretive. Liu Hongji escaped into the grassland to avoid military service, and Wu Heimin was a swordsman hired by Zhang Liang at Yanmen Pass. Niu Jinda is a veterinarian and horse dealer, and Liu Jizhen is the eldest son of Liu Long'er, the old shopkeeper of the horse thief gang "A Gust of Wind", and a family of thieves. The identities of all of them match their self-introductions, and the only thing that is strange is this Zhang Liang. He called himself a horse dealer, but he was proficient in martial arts. Not only is he thoughtful and well-behaved, but there is also a mysterious owner behind him. And this time, a gust of wind shot Ashina Choyu's tiger whiskers, and it is said that he was also commissioned by the owner.

What the hell is the mysterious proprietor trying to do? The more Li Xu guessed, the more curious he became. There is a way that it is easy to enter the door and difficult to get out, once the owner is a robber head who sits on the ground and divides the spoils, wouldn't he follow Zhang Liang into the den of thieves?

"Does my brother want to stay in the thief's den and follow Liu Zhai's master?" Zhang Liang saw that Li Xu didn't answer for a long time, and asked a little eagerly. "This kind of head-losing thing can't be done once, it's not a big deal, if you are trapped here for the rest of your life, you will be ashamed of your ancestors!"

"Actually, Brother Liu and they are very good. None of them are bad guys, the real bad guys are the ones who forced them to be horse thieves! Li Xu looked around and replied in a low voice.

"There is no difference between good and evil, but they are not the masters of great things. Brother, you have all the ability, why don't you take some fame immediately. Falling into recklessness may not be a long-term solution! Zhang Liang shook his head and said in a low voice. Li Xu's tepid performance made him a little disappointed, but after years of life adventure, he has experienced his joy and anger.

"Brother Zhang, let me think about it again!" Li Xu put down a tied straw man and grabbed another handful of grass. If Liu Hongji hadn't been invited first, he might have really agreed to Zhang Liang. But now the two of them showed their intention to solicit at the same time, so he didn't know what to do for a while.

"Don't worry, let's talk about it after entering the Great Wall!" Zhang Liang hunched his waist and slowly moved forward. The Turkic wolf riders on the other side of the river had already begun to herd sheepskin rafts into the water, and the big battle was imminent, so he couldn't spend too much time on Li Xu.

"Let's talk about it after entering the Great Wall!" Li Xu responded in a low voice. His body began to tense again, his nostrils opened and closed, and his breath was filled with the smell of blood. He knew that the Turks were coming again, but this time, he didn't want to be scared out of his mind again. Either they die or they die, in this case, there is only one choice.

There were more than 300 Turkic wolves riding across the river, and it seemed that they were subordinates of the same general. The general was so angry that he ordered the horses to be driven into the water before most of the people could blow up the sheepskin raft. Horses are natural swimmers, but they are timid, and no one pulls them and does not want to go into the water. Several Turks in black armor whipped them with whips, and the horses were forced down the river one after another.

"If you have no conscience, you will treat the animal badly, and the animal will do it badly!" Niu Jinda held the horned bow and muttered in front of Li Xu. As a veterinarian, he has a much deeper affection for horses than for people, and despises the abuse of livestock the most.

"The more horses they drive across the river, the more money we make!" Liu Jizhen sneered and shook his head. From the color of his opponent's uniform, he could see that these men were the same cavalry as the one who had intercepted him in the morning. He had to avenge the revenge of more than 20 brothers, and he was very confident in Li Xu's serial plan.

Li Xu put down the straw man and picked up his bow and arrow from his side. Whether or not you can beat the enemy depends on the first three volleys. All horse thieves, both those responsible for the attack and those responsible for disorienting the enemy, were required to participate in the first three rounds of shooting.

One after another, war horses climbed ashore, and groups from east to west walked to the place next to the river beach to graze. Some of the beasts blocked the view of the horse thieves, but they couldn't drive them away. The purpose of this battle is to kill and injure the enemy as much as possible, and no one can make any moves without Liu Jizhen's order.

More and more Turkic soldiers took to the river beach, cursing and taking off their wet clothes. The river was already cold in autumn, and the leather clothes that had been splashed with water were cold and hard against the body. Everyone didn't have to suffer this crime, they all blamed a group of damned Han people. They actually dared to go to Lord Qiyu's new camp to steal horses, and finally set fire to Lord Qiyu's camp. This is an insult to all the Turks, and everyone will not tolerate it. Especially when there are less than a hundred of them, the wolf riders have to defend the dignity of Lord Qiyu.

Li Xu gently put the feather arrow on the bowstring and slowly pulled the bow arm apart. He was still a little nervous, but he tried to adjust his breathing. The general of the Turkic wolf rider had already stepped on the river bank with the support of everyone, hiding at the end of the crowd, about a hundred and fifty paces away from him, a little far. However, if he had been shot, the losses of his companions in the ensuing battle would have been much smaller.

The careless Turks began to straighten their clothes and armor, and they were divided into several clumps in a chaotic manner. Someone walked down the river beach to lead the war horses, and some figures were already less than sixty steps away from the stealth place of the horse thieves. Li Xu heard his heart pounding, and the air exhaled from his nostrils was uncomfortably hot. His whole body was trembling, but his hand holding the bow was getting more and more steady.

"Shoot!" Liu Jizhen jumped up suddenly, raised his hand and released a ringing arrow.

The feather arrow let out a long, mournful roar, drew an arc, and smashed straight into the outermost wolf horse. The wolf riders, who were undressing, were beaten and messed up with their pants.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh......." More than sixty feathered arrows flew into the crowd at the same time, and more than 20 wolf riders were directly overturned on the river beach. Without waiting for the other to react, the horse thieves unleashed a second wave of feathered arrows, and the sharp triangular pyramid pierced the breastplate, claiming more lives.

"Don't panic, column--" The Turkic general waved his sword at the innermost layer of the team and shouted, there will not be many people on the other side, as long as everyone is lined up and raised their shields, they can completely rush through this distance.

His command was forever held in his throat, and a feathered arrow flying from a distance went beyond the usual range and shot directly into his throat. The Turkic general struggled, convulsed, his body went limp, and he fell on his back to the sky.

Li Xu put down his bow and erected the first straw man beside him. The third row of feathered arrows had been fired, and the wounded jumped up from their hiding places one by one, placing more straw men in a long line. A few seriously wounded men who could not get up to fight with their comrades lay on the ground, their arms waving the banners made of clothes whirring.

Farther away, the King of Horse Thieves drove more than twenty horses, each with a battle flag made of torn clothes on their bodies. From a distance, it seemed as if dozens of teams had rushed over to reinforce them.

The Turkic wolves rode back, they never expected that the horse thieves had thousands of accomplices on the other side of the river. The cavalry, who did not have time to go ashore, quickly turned the sheepskin raft and rowed desperately towards the way they came. The cavalry, who had already come ashore, picked up the sheepskins as best they could, and "plopped" and swarmed and jumped into the river. And those whose sheepskin rafts had been deflated, and who had no way out, had no choice but to wave their scimitars in a panic, like a flock of rams to be slaughtered shaking their short horns.

"Kill, leave no mouth alive!" Liu Jizhen shouted, snatched the horn from the hands of the minions beside him, and blew it up with a "woo-woo-woo". This battle is cheap and profitable, and there is actually a shit luck Leng Touqing on his side who shot the opponent's main general at such a distance. Will it be the courage of a soldier, and a soldier who has no general will still have a fart fight?

Liu Hongji and Wu Heimin each rushed to the river beach with more than 20 horse thieves, one left and one right. Two neat teams wedged into the chaotic crowd and stabbed the Turkic warriors in their way one by one. The samurai who were not in the way were squeezed by the formation of the horse thieves and had to retreat into the river.

The river turned red in an instant, and the Turkic wolf riders, accustomed to wielding knives on horseback, were not at all accustomed to foot combat, not to mention that their legs were still wrapped in cold water and could not take a step. Often, they are slashed by their opponents, and the next moment, their blood has melted into the red river.

The flanks were suddenly attacked, and the panicked Turks had to move their ranks closer to the center. And in the center, more weapons pressed over. The small attack phalanx composed of more than thirty horse thieves advanced step by step, and the sword light was like snow, and there was only a dead end in front of it.

Zhang Liang and Niu Jinda brandished their scimitars and rushed to the front of the frontal attack team. There is only one place that is best for swimming, so they are in the right place. Under their leadership, the attacking phalanx smashed heavily into the wolf rider who had lost its war horse, and the sound of weapons colliding, the friction of blades and bones, and the screams of ** instantly resounded.

The horses grazing on the bank of the river were stunned by the sight in front of them, they did not know how to escape, nor did they know how to help their masters defend themselves, and watched their masters being cut down by horse thieves who suddenly emerged from the ground, and their bodies were swept down by the current, rushing away without a trace.

"Anyone who can copy a guy, give it to me!" Liu Jizhen dropped the horn and jumped out of the grass with a large chopping horse with a wide door panel. There was no need to be suspicious anymore, all the Turkic wolf horsemen had long been frightened and could not organize any effective resistance. Those who had already climbed to the opposite shore did not dare to turn back and fled on foot into the distance. Those who did not have a chance to jump into the river retreated to the middle of the river in desperation, not remembering that they could not swim.

The horse thieves did not know what mercy was, so they waded into the water to chase after them, stabbing the fleeing Turks one by one from behind. There were also clever horse thieves who picked up the bows dropped by the Turks from the ground and stood on the shore to shoot live targets in the water. At the edge of the river, there were Turkic soldiers who did not know how to surrender on their knees, but their weakness did not pay any return from their opponents.......

The situation on the battlefield has turned into a one-sided slaughter. The wolf riders were obviously more numerous than the horse thieves, but no one had the sensibility to take a look at the "ambushes" in the grass and in the distance, and since the beginning of the war, the "ambushes" had not advanced half a step at all. They fought in groups of three and five on their own, delaying the end of their lives with the blood of themselves and their companions. The horse thieves were very patient, and they rotated in circles, making the circle a few feet smaller with each change of position......

Wu Heimin led a few horse thieves and forced more than twenty dying Turkic soldiers into a corner. Behind them was the river, and the Turkic soldiers heard the screams of their comrades in the river, refused to retreat, gritted their teeth and fought back.

A small Turkic leader with a thick skeleton howled and rushed out of the ranks, pounced on Wu Heimin. He obviously found the wrong target, and before the scimitar in his hand fell, Wu Heimin's boots had already kicked into his lower abdomen. The leather armor suddenly recessed inward, and the little leader staggered back a dozen steps, opened his mouth and spurted out a pool of black blood, and his body immediately fell limply on the shallows.

Wu Heimin didn't want to stop there, his body twisted, and the knife light swept into the lower abdomen of a wolf rider. Immediately afterward, he struck his left fist straight into the neck of the other wolf rider.

"Wow!" The sound of a broken neck bone is eerie. The two wolf riders fell down at the same time, creating a three-foot gap around Wu Heimin. The last intact procession of the Turks collapsed, and the horse thieves rushed in with a rage, scattering and chopping the wolf horsemen to pieces.

Wu Heimin found two other wolf riders, and he swung his knife like the wind, and the knife did not leave the opponent's vital point. With no way to escape, the Turkic wolves let out a desperate cry from their mouths, supporting each other and dying and struggling.

A scimitar was knocked into the air by Wu Heimin, and he stepped forward and stabbed the tip of the knife forward. The Turkic man with empty hands knew that he would die today, so he didn't run away or dodge, screamed, and used his body to resist the scimitar in Wu Heimin's hand. The blade pierced the armor, pierced the clothes, and stabbed the wolf rider in the chest. The dying wolf rode his arms together and hugged Wu Heimin's body tightly.

"Ahh Several weapons slashed at his body, but he ignored it, howling, and the scimitar slashed down.

A huge black scimitar lay across Wu Heimin's body, and the blow that he was determined to win was blocked by force. The badly wounded Turkic wolf rode up and fell straight down.

"Save with you little brat!" Wu Heimin got rid of the corpse on his body and turned around to scold. Li Xu smiled at him, turned around and killed into another wave of scuffle.

"If Lao Tzu's steel fork hadn't been lost....... Wu Heimin looked at the scimitar in his hand and said with some annoyance. The scimitar is shorter than the steel fork, and if it were not a scimitar in the hand just now, the Turks would not have had the opportunity to hold themselves at all.

Raising his head, he saw that Li Xu had blocked another knife for others, and took advantage of the situation to cut down an exhausted Turkic soldier. Then, carrying the ridiculously long scimitar, the fluged head green rushed towards the denser area.

"Come back, you're going to die, who else will Lao Tzu go!" Wu Heimin scolded loudly and rushed towards Li Xu.