Dense forest, official road.

The boy in brocade, a strong guard;

Besieged by bandits, robbed the road and demanded money.

Dozens of people crowded into this small space, and the atmosphere seemed to be quietly tense with the wielding of those clubs and shovels and the restless pace of the horses.

Xia Jingyun did not choose a direct conflict, but smiled and arched his hand, "Good man Rongyu, we are guests of the Yu family, we are going to visit the Yu family, and I hope that the good man will have a convenient trip." ”

Who knew that the bandit leader was unmoved when he heard this, and slashed at the trunk of the tree at hand, majestic, "Lao Tzu doesn't care what kind of fish and shrimp guests you are!" If you don't give money, don't even think about leaving today! ”

Xia Jingyun also restrained his smile and said slowly: "Your Excellency, you have to think clearly, in this Longshou Prefecture, the Yu family is not a vegetarian. ”

"Lao Tzu is not a vegetarian either!"

The bandit leader glared, "Don't fucking bullshit! Lao Tzu doesn't care if you are from the Yu family or the Hu family, even if it is Xiao Fengshan's father, as long as you want to pass here, Lao Tzu will not be able to rob it! ”

"Childe."

Chen Fugui shouted softly, meaning why talk nonsense with them.

Xia Jingyun nodded, since this is the case, then there is only one way to do it.

The people on horseback also quietly reached for their bags, but at this moment, a sound of hooves suddenly sounded on the other side of the trunk of the tree blocking the road.

When everyone looked up, they saw a man and a horse galloping towards him, and the rider on horseback was lying on the horse's back, constantly looking behind him, and his posture and expression were obviously full of fear.

But the problem is that the way ahead of him is blocked!

By the time he looked back, it was too late.

The horse did not receive the order to stop, and tried to jump directly.

But apparently he also overestimated his own ability.

The horse screamed, and the rider exclaimed.

A man and a horse, under the surprised gaze of everyone, drew a graceful curve in the air and fell into the open space between Xia Jingyun and the bandit leader.

Bang!

Smoke and dust rose instantly.

The horse fell to the ground and couldn't get up directly, and the person was not much better, and his leg was broken by the horse.

But to everyone's shock, the rider who broke his leg still didn't give up, stubbornly crawling forward on the ground, as if there was some amazing demon behind him, and he could stay away from it for a little more safety.

Everyone was a little moved, and at this moment, a dense sound of hooves sounded in the distance.

The demon that feared the rider had arrived.

"Phew!"

Five grey-clad riders rode their horses and reined in their horses in front of the trunks of trees that blocked the way.

First glanced at the young man who was still crawling on the ground, several people breathed a sigh of relief, and then the leader didn't seem to pay attention to the battle in front of him at all, and said coldly: "Who blocked the way?" ”

The bandit leader stood up, looked up and down at the comers, and suddenly saw the patterns on the chests of these people's clothes, his face changed slightly, and his demeanor became more respectful, "Dare to ask you are the heroes of the Cao Gang?" ”

The leader glanced at him condescendingly, "I know that Lao Tzu is from the Cao Gang, why don't you hurry up?" ”

In such a tone, Deng Shi annoyed one of the bandits, "What's wrong with the Cao Gang?" The official master can't control us, do you still want to manage the Cao Gang? ”

Before you rebelled, you had to be bullied, and if you rebelled, you had to be bullied, Lao Tzu didn't make it in vain!

And this is also the idea of many thieves in the field, and when they heard this, they all looked at the gray men of the Cao Gang with unkind faces.

The leader snorted coldly, turned over and dismounted, walked up to the man, and said coldly: "What did you say? ”

The man was also stiff, "I said we won't get out!" ”

Swish!

"Cool and slow!"

After all, the shout of the bandit leader was a step too late, and the gray-clothed man of the Cao Gang took out his knife in an instant, directly wiping the neck of the man in front of him.

The man clutched his neck, blood flowed from his fingers, and there was a ho-ho-ho sound of breaking wind in his throat, looking at the man in front of him in disbelief, and he fell down unwillingly.

The surrounding bandits immediately roared angrily and surrounded them, and the gray-clothed man of the Cao Gang was not afraid, and said lightly: "You can try to do something to the Cao Gang, don't say kill us, today one of the five of us has lost a piece of meat here."

He looked at the bandit leader and said confidently: "Your cottage will definitely have no grass!" ”

The bandit leader who was still arrogant in the face of Xia Jingyun and the others stretched out his hand to stop his subordinates, and looked at the gray-clothed man of the Cao Gang with uncertain eyes, and finally really chose to retreat.

"Move the trees out of the way!"

"Boss!"

"Do as I say!"

The bandit leader roared unwillingly, and a group of bandits had no choice but to turn aside the trees in the road under the mocking and disdainful eyes of the Cao Gang.

Then, with the man's body, he disappeared into the dense forest.

"That's it!" The leading Cao gang gray-clothed man stretched, "Take this kid and go back!" ”

The young man who had just crawled in front of Xia Jingyun on the ground propped up his upper body and looked up at Xia Jingyun, "Heroes help, they want to kill me, heroes save me!" ”

The Cao Gang didn't care about Xia Jingyun and these people at all, a gray-clothed man walked over directly, kicked the young man's body, kicked him to the ground and rolled a few times, and jokingly said: "Dog, keep running away!" Will you be able to escape? ”

The man was instantly covered in mud and dust, his hair was messy, he looked at Xia Jingyun, and said in despair: "Good man, save me, I am innocent!" ”

The man in gray sneered, and reached for the young man's collar, intending to drag him to his horse.

But at this moment, Xia Jingyun said softly, "Slow." ”

The man in gray didn't even hear it, and his hand stepped forward firmly, grabbing the young man by the collar.

Suddenly, there seemed to be a breeze blowing, and then a strong force instantly clamped his arm.

Chen Fugui said coldly: "My son-in-law told you to be slow and deaf?" ”

After speaking, he kicked out directly, kicking the invincible man in gray a few steps back.

The gray-clothed man in the Cao Gang who led the Cao Gang was not panicked, but just looked at Xia Jingyun arrogantly, and his tone was slightly cold, "This is the person we want from the Cao Gang, you can weigh it clearly." ”

Seeing that there was a play, the young man with a broken leg who was being chased and killed spoke: "I know they are a gang."

"Shut up!"

Xia Jingyun suddenly snorted coldly, and then looked at the Cao Gang, with the same indifferent expression, "My son doesn't want to know what news he has, and I don't want to know what grievances he has with you, but my son has never liked to see others kill people in front of me, and you have already killed one, so I think you are very unhappy, you guys get out." ”

The gray-clothed man in the lead Cao Gang sneered and slowly drew his knife, "What if I don't get out?" ”

Whew!

In response to him, the sound of nine people drawing knives at the same time was heard.

The nine snow-white blades reflected the sunlight, almost blinding them.

The arrogance and smile on the face of the leader of the Cao Gang slowly solidified.

Armaments are strictly forbidden in Great Xia, and gathering people to hold weapons without reason is regarded as complicity in rebellion.

Even a few of them from the Cao Gang, only he had a knife on him, and the rest could only hide daggers privately, and only dared to carry weapons such as short sticks on the surface.

Although the world is in turmoil now, this ban has gradually relaxed, but those who can have this strength are by no means simple people.

His gaze fell on Xia Jingyun's body and looked him up and down.

First of all, this man is so young, he is definitely not an official;

There are no more and no fewer people with them, like the configuration of the road, although the dress is not very luxurious, but it is exquisite enough, it should be the son of a big thief, who goes out to run errands with his personal guards, or which noble son of a foreign state crosses the river with a dragon, so he dares to be so arrogant in front of them.

He looked at the dazzling blade and hesitated for a moment, "Dare to ask Your Excellency's name." ”

Xia Jingyun said lightly: "You don't deserve to know." If you don't get out, I'll do it. ”

The gray-clothed man in the Cao Gang who led the Cao Gang glanced at Xia Jingyun deeply, and adhered to the principle that a hero does not suffer immediate losses, "Withdraw!" ”

"Boss, the Cao Gang has withdrawn!"

In the dense forest on the side, a group of bandits hid behind the bushes and peeked secretly.

"You fucking little noise, I know!" The bandit leader roared.

Another thief swallowed his saliva and said with palpitations: "Boss, we were going to rob them just now." ”

The bandit leader also oozed a cold sweat on his back, and he didn't dare to imagine that if there was no such episode, how many of them would have survived.

Where the hell did this cross the river raptor come from, and he didn't raise a flag in advance to remind him!

As he spoke, one of the guards in the group found two branches to help the young man fix the broken leg and put it on his horse, and then the whole team moved.

Before leaving, the leading boy and brother glanced at Lin Zi with a smile, which made the thieves feel creepy.

When the sun was in the sky, several old men were also afraid of the sun, and walked for about an hour, and when the sun was scorching, they found a shady place and sat down to rest.

The horses were tethered to the side to graze, and several of the guards spread out to guard each other.

Xia Jingyun, accompanied by Chen Fugui, came to the young man's side and handed over a water bladder, "Tell me, who is your surname, and why are the people of the Cao Gang chasing you." ”

The young man poured a few large mouthfuls and wiped the corners of his mouth, "Is there anything to eat?" ”

Chen Fugui took out a baked cake and handed it over.

The young man took a few mouthfuls of bread and water, and quickly solved it, and then looked at Xia Jingyun, "Didn't Gongzi just say, don't you want to hear this?" ”

Xia Jingyun smiled, "I've saved everyone, and people who don't listen to the Cao Gang will think that I listened, so it's better to listen to what should be heard, at least I know what it is, and how people will deal with us." ”

The young man looked at him, "Aren't you afraid that those people will go and come back and bring more people?" ”

Xia Jingyun said: "I think this is not a problem you should worry about now, you can also choose not to say it, but you have your choice, and I also have my choice." ”

The young man was silent for a moment, and then said: "My surname is You, my name is Qianli, and my name is Gui, I am a native of Xichu County, Longshou Prefecture, and I am a ranger, and I wander around this Huaisi place on weekdays to make friends, and they chase and kill me because I happened to bump into Long Gongzi's secret meeting with others." ”

Xia Jingyun raised his eyebrows, "Young Master Long? Isn't it Ye Gongzi? ”

He also thought that this person could be chased and killed by the Cao Gang because he offended the Ye family, the leader of the Cao Gang.

The young man smiled bitterly, "If it is Ye Gongzi, I am afraid that he will not be able to leave Chuning County in the next morning." ”

Then he slowly explained: "Young Master Long is the son of Long Zhengqing, the third elder of the Cao Gang, and he can be regarded as an important figure in the Cao Gang. Last night, he and his friends drank Dadan at his home outside the city of Chuning County, and after drinking, he was bored, so he got up and walked around, but heard the sound of carriages and horses' hooves. ”

"I wondered where the carriage would come from in the middle of the night, so I crept over under the cover of the reeds and bushes, and followed the sound. Sure enough, I saw a carriage moving forward under the escort of four men in black. When they arrived at the place, a man in black was already waiting under the tree, and there was also a person walking down from the carriage, and it was Long Gongzi. ”

Xia Jingyun said softly: "Do you know him?" ”

The young man snorted, "In Chuning County, several important people in the Cao Gang are to be recognized, and it's not easy to mix up if you don't know them, a ranger like us, if you don't have a long eye to collide, it will be difficult to save the gods and Buddhas." ”

He laughed at himself, "As soon as I saw that it was Long Gongzi, I knew that this was not something I could know, so I thought about retreating silently, but I accidentally stepped on the air and fell, which attracted the attention of those guards, so I had to quickly escape, and this is what happened later." ”

Xia Jingyun remained silent, "They chased you for a night and a morning?" ”

Chuning County is only more than sixty miles away from here, if it is really to chase and kill that kind of fast horse galloping, it will not take such a long time at all, and the truth and falsehood can easily get some verification.

The young man shook his head, "I escaped last night, I thought I had dumped them, but I didn't expect them to be determined not to want the matter to be revealed, so they divided into several teams to search around, and finally found me." ”

He arched his hand towards Xia Jingyun, "If there is no son, there will be no doubt that you will die in the next place, thank you for the life-saving grace of the son." ”

"Don't, you've dug me a big hole!"

Xia Jingyun sighed, he thought that this person probably had some big secret of the Cao Gang on his body, and he could help him in this matter, so he did not hesitate to save him at the risk of exposing his whereabouts.

But who knew that it was just such a trivial matter behind it, although it involved the son of an elder who helped Cao, it didn't look like it was information that could help him.

He whispered, "So what are you going to do next?" ”

The young man thought for a while, "I'm afraid I won't be able to mix in the land of Lianghuai, let's go to the border pass to join the army, see if I can fight for a fame, even if I die on the battlefield, it can be regarded as a waste of strength." ”

Xia Jingyun pondered for a moment when he heard this, "I need a lot of details about the Cao Gang, if you can satisfy me, I can shelter you." ”

The young man looked at Xia Jingyun, and there was no joy in his eyes, but a little suspicion.

Xia Jingyun smiled, and was about to explain two sentences, but the young man suddenly smiled, "Actually, no matter whether what the son said is true or not, the grace of saving life is here, how can it not be truthful to tell the truth." ”

Hearing this, Chen Fugui silently raised his eyebrows.

Xia Jingyun smiled slightly, "This is reasonable." ”

The young man then began to talk about the news he knew, from the situation of the various factions of the Cao Gang, as well as the factions on the surface of each other, and some rumors in the market.

As a ranger, he really knew some strange news, and Xia Jingyun felt that he had not wasted time after hearing it.

After talking for more than half an hour, the water in the water bladder was emptied, and the young man shook his head, "That's basically it, and the rest of the things are not something that such characters can know." ”

Xia Jingyun snorted, and then saw the young man looking at him with a look of hope, obviously he didn't want to go to the border gate to the horse leather shroud.

Xia Jingyun smiled, "Save people to the end, at least after you are injured, you can move freely, let's talk about it, just follow us during this time." ”

"Thank you, Childe!" The young man hurriedly clenched his fists.

A moment later, Xia Jingyun and Chen Fugui stood aside.

Chen Fugui whispered: "Childe, do you think there is something wrong with this kid?" ”

Xia Jingyun shook his head with a smile and said: "It's hard to say whether there is a problem now, but in fact, it has little impact on us, if he has a problem, either to direct our attention to the Long family, or to give us wrong information, it is actually no difference to us, we are now black-eyed, we are going to Haosheng to inquire about the news of the Cao Gang." ”

Chen Fugui snorted, "It's good that the son has a number in his heart." ”

"Since we talked about the Long family, let's go visit this Long family and see what kind of color this Cao Gang leader's ironcore is!"

The next day, in the morning.

On the outskirts of Chuning County, outside a wide manor, there are crowds.

Today is the fiftieth birthday of Mrs. Long Zhengqing, the third elder of the Cao Gang.

As one of the five elders with the highest power in the Cao Gang, such a major event naturally attracted the arrival of many gentry and wealthy businessmen in Chuning County and even the entire Huai'an County.

Xia Jingyun, who was wearing a mustache, and Chen Fugui, who was wearing a beard, changed their clothes and also mixed in the crowd.

After paying ten taels of silver to the Zhike Office, he entered the Zhuangzi, and while looking around at the family background of this Cao Gang elder, he listened to everyone's words and conversations, and all kinds of news that usually took time and effort to inquire could be heard everywhere as if he didn't need money.

Long Zhengqing is an old man in his fifties, not tall, and his bearing is not as calm and noble as those big people Xia Jingyun has ever seen, only a rich state that has been pampered in recent years.

At this moment, he was wearing a big red robe, and a young man in his twenties was in the main hall to receive some people who were qualified to greet them in person, drinking tea and talking with them, and bursts of exaggerated laughter came out.

Xia Jingyun's eyes looked at the young man, observing his behavior, he was indeed not a calm and skilled young man, and his eyes were a little cunning, but they were in line with the information he learned yesterday.

But to a certain extent, this is also Xia Jingyun's nitpicking, what grade are the young people he usually comes into contact with, the most of them are Zheng Tianyu's kind, how can this Jianghu person like Long Gongzi be compared.

Just as the two of them were pondering, the acquaintance at the door suddenly shouted, "Lord Zunbai of Chuning County has arrived!" ”

When the two of them turned their heads to look out, they saw a sedan chair, swaying and stopping at the door of Zhuangzi.

(End of chapter)