In the wilderness of the barren land of Liangzhou, there is an abandoned mountain temple behind the mountain beam on the left side of the official road, and the dirt road in front of the temple gate is stained with blood, one of which is particularly obvious, and has not yet been covered by the wind and sand and dried up.

A small man dressed in gray was struggling to climb on the ground, a knife stuck in his back, brown blood running down the wound and beneath him.

Someone quickly caught up from behind, stepped on the hilt of the barrier knife, and pierced his thin body, and the little guy spat out a mouthful of dirty blood, completely cutting off his life.

"Solved!"

The murderer's face was green, and he turned around and smiled: "It's over!"

"Drag the body back!"

At this moment, in the apse of the mountain temple, there are six or seven bodies lying together, some men and women, old and young. Four men in mutilated armor sat on the base of the idol, staring at the money spread out on the cloth.

Among the piles of possessions were three hanging coins, a golden hairpin and a step shake, and a few silver particles.

The leader of the bandits sighed, pointed to the money, and said, "It's not worth it to kill a family of seven for this little money."

The bald man beside him rubbed his head: "It's not worth it, we stayed in this ghost place to wait for the meat and sheep, and to plunder some money in our spare time, so that we don't go empty, at least we can buy good wine in Dunhuang City." ”

"San'er, Ah Wu."

"Yes," replied the two thin young men.

"Chop the carriage outside into firewood, drag the family out and put it on the pyre, remember to put more oil, otherwise it won't burn out."

"Got it."

After a short time, a raging fire broke out outside the mountain temple, and black smoke billowed and evaporated on the horizon.

These four people are a group of stubborn bandits, active in Liangzhou, Ganzhou, and Guazhou, and their methods of killing people and goods have no lower limit, unlike those who abide by the rules of the desert swordsmen.

Zhang Kuo, the leader of the bandits, used to be a chief in the border guarding city, because he was unwilling to live a boring border life, often doing dirty work behind the governor's back, and finally his deeds were revealed, and he escaped with his three best brothers, and began to be active around the Silk Road, plundering lonely merchants.

Three days later,

Zhang Kuo took his bald head and sand gold, climbed on the mountain beam next to the mountain temple, and looked at the flags that gradually appeared on the official road in the distance.

Anxi Du escorted Yao Qiu to return to Chang'an Xugong, and is now on his way back to the Western Regions. Dozens of large flags are waving in the wind in the loess raised by the horses' hooves.

"We've never concocted a two-legged sheep of any grade, so remember to be extra careful this time."

The bald Sha Jin snorted coldly: "Don't we know the root of this person, but he is a cook who has won the official title of serving vegetables, even if he has some kung fu in his hands, he is a chick who has never experienced the killing array." In the six armies of the Son of Heaven of the Su Wei Jing Division, there are some wine bags and rice bags, and the eldest brother doesn't have to be too careful. ”

Zhang Kuo didn't speak, his eyes were fixed on the team passing in front of him at the foot of the mountain, and when these people disappeared into the distance, he blew his nose and said: "Follow them all the way by pretending to be a merchant, and after passing the Yang Pass, this person will be alone, we will do it in the desert and sink his body under the yellow sand, which is called death without proof." ”

They climbed down the cliff and returned to the mountain temple. The two younger brothers were sitting on the ground roasting their prey over a bonfire, roasting four leg of lamb until they were browned and blackened.

Zhang Kuo sat opposite them, took the leg of mutton from San'er's hand, reached out to tear off the unpeeled fur on it, looked at the firelight and said leisurely:

"I'm going to tell the big guys a story, and everybody has to keep their ears up and listen carefully."

The two young men smiled knowingly and whispered, "The boss is going to tell a story again."

The bald Sha Jin squinted his eyes and looked impatient.

Zhang Kuo didn't care whether they were impatient or impatient, and opened his mouth: "There was once a bandit in the desert, named Sha Lifei, he was a lone wolf and liked to act alone. One day, they set their sights on the Hu Shang family in the Western Regions who moved their family to the Central Plains. This Hu merchant is a total of ...... Total ......"

Seeing that the boss couldn't come out for a long time, Ah Wu took the initiative to say: "Six people, a husband and wife, an old man, a child, two servants, and three camels. ”

"Nonsense, it's clear that there is only one servant, a family of five."

"Boss, the last time you spoke, it was obviously a family of six."

"Fart, don't make trouble!"

Ah Wu lowered his head in annoyance, and Zhang Kuo continued to tell the story: "Sha Lifei attacked this family of five in the desert, first killed the husband and the old man, and then killed the servant, because he saw the beauty of this Hu Shang's wife, he coveted possession, guess what the final result is?"

San'er and Ah Wu were just about to nod, but when they saw the boss's expression slightly annoyed, they quickly shook their heads: "I don't know." ”

"yes, I don't know."

Zhang Kuo snorted with satisfaction and said, "When Sha Lifei occupied Hu Shang's wife, he was cut off from behind by a child. ”

He poked his head wide and said solemnly to the three of them: "This story tells us that you can despise your prey, but you must not ignore or despise them, otherwise it will end up being Sha Lifei." ”

The bald Shajin grunted from his throat, and suddenly spread his hands and complained: "What decisions are you going to make, just say it, don't tell a story every time, my ears are calloused!"

"I've said it many times, and you haven't grasped the meaning of prudence. When we follow the team of Du Hu to cross the Yang Pass, we will hire two swordsmen to ensure that nothing goes wrong. ”

"What's the matter" Sha Jinden stopped doing it: "You still have to hire someone to kill a seven-grade dog official, our employer has an internal response, and he can be left alone!"

"The price of these desert swordsmen is not low! Most people don't want to do this kind of dirty work. Let them take some money, how much do we have left"

"Hmm"

Zhang Kuo was not angry, the two handfuls of beard at the corners of his mouth shook with laughter, and then he stood up with his hand on Sha Jin's shoulder.

"Be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years, as long as there is a life, the money can continue to be earned, but if you lose your life, you will have nothing. This time, the nobles of Chang'an City spent 100,000 yuan to buy this person's life, and we hired a swordsman, even if it costs a few thousand or tens of thousands more, it is worth it. ”

"For this transaction, I specially asked the master in Lanzhou City to calculate a hexagram, and every six can be lucky. This thing cannot be disbelieved. Our brothers are going to do this job beautifully, and everyone is safe and sound. When the time comes, I invite you to find the most handsome sister in the best green building in Lanzhou City and have a happy night. ”

Sha Jin could only nod sullenly, in this matter of prudence, he has never been able to resist the boss, yes, everyone is right. Zhang Kuo's style of acting is like this, even if he crushes a bug to death, he has to exert twelve points of strength on the sole of his shoe, for fear that the worm will come back to life and devour them.

In other words, the most upscale Qinglou in Lanzhou City, the sisters in it are not cheap, since Zhang Kuo is willing to give this blood, he will hire two more people, and there is no opinion.

After persuading his accomplices, Zhang Kuo ordered the three of them to eat quickly: "After eating, we will leave immediately, the escort team is all cavalry, and we are afraid that we will not be able to catch up if we run away." ”

As the sun sets, the figures of the four galloping horses stretch longer and longer on the horizon.

……