Towards evening, a rebel soldier named Pang Xiaoer leaned against the tree pole and took a nap, frowning tightly in his sleep, his expression a little twisted.

The shrill whistle sounded again, and he awoke from his nightmare, and stood to his feet, and in a short time several of his comrades had come out of the woods in a sneering manner, on all sides.

"Eat dog intestines, did you find your uncle?"

"The team is finding it."

Pang Xiaoer thought that they had found Xue Bai, but when he turned his head, he saw that the team was holding the ear of a hare in his hand, and said, "Isn't that Xue Taishou a rabbit?" ”

The soldiers burst into laughter.

"Team Zheng, I heard that the Yang sisters are beautiful, and there is really that kind of good thing that they sleep with and are promoted."

Kong Rang nodded solemnly and said, "When we take Xue Bai and cook his meat to eat one by one, we can make it easy for beautiful women to look at us." ”

"Really?"

"Idiot!" Kong Rang scolded: "Entering Chang'an, what kind of woman do you want, why do you need such trouble?" Hahaha. ”

The laughter was louder, which was also a sign of high morale, but Pang Xiaoer couldn't understand what they were saying.

Pang Xiaoer originally did not belong to this team, and his team Zheng Nie Pingyu had a conflict with Sun Rang, and was killed by General Lu, so he was assigned to Kong Rang's command. I can't tell you what kind of mood he felt after all this, his mind was muddy.

Kong Rang then led his subordinates to roast rabbits to eat, and the fire was lit for a while, and the frequent and sharp whistle had sounded again, and soon a cavalry rushed from a distance, shouting: "Xue Bai has entered Nanbai Village, immediately go to surround it!" ”

The fire scorched the rabbit skin, and the grease was roasted out, making a "zizi" sound, Kong Rang looked at it and said, "Wait until we finish eating, it's too late." ”

"No! The general has an order, go immediately, and there must be no delay! ”

"Okay."

Kong Rang kicked the sand on the ground and covered the fire, venting the dissatisfaction in his heart. Since the rebellion, they have received a lot of rewards, and they have been connived at burning, killing and looting, and their morale is high, and they are all looking forward to going to Luoyang as soon as possible to do a big job, and it is a little boring to be assigned to besiege Xue Bai.

It's like saying that you're going to hunt, but when you leave, it's "Go, catch that mouse."

"Team up, roasting, how much time can so many people take to deal with a Xue Bai? Nanbai Village is not far away, and after making a meritorious service, I just came back to eat. ”

"Hahaha, too." Kong Rang laughed, "Brothers, we have been to that village, and we will go again today." ”

"Good!"

They rode away quickly, leaving behind a bonfire still roasting the hares, and little by little the flesh was baked to the most tempting golden brown.

~~

The sunset dyed the clouds in the sky red, and in the evening, Nanbai Village was often filled with smoke, which was the most lively time. Today, it seems to be extremely silent, and the chickens and dogs don't hear it.

Deng Siniang ran out of the woods, couldn't wait to run into the village, and accidentally tripped and fell to the ground, tripped over two corpses on the ground, neighbors she knew. Further on, her man's body lay on the side of the bridge.

She ran across the bridge and threw herself at him, and when she looked up, the village was littered with corpses, some of which had been eaten by wild dogs. Her eyes were sour and she burst into tears.

There was a fluttering sound in the woods behind them, and the birds were startled away by a sudden movement.

It only took a short time for the entire Nanbai Village to move from quiet to moving, and all directions were clamoring as if they had been agreed. The thunderous sound of horses' hooves, the sound of horns for signaling, and all kinds of shouts.

"Shrink the encirclement, don't let them run!"

Deng Siniang, who was kneeling beside the corpse, turned her head and saw in the last afterglow of the sunset that dust and smoke were flying, and columns of cavalry appeared on the other side of the small bridge like mountains and forests.

Although there were hundreds of people, it was as if there were thousands of troops coming for her alone.

The feeling of oppression was overwhelming, as if she was a small ant, and the whole Tarzan was pressed on top of her head, and there was another illusion of fear at the same time.

Even if she is just a village woman, she actually has her own pride and pride worthy of being the enemy of thousands of troops.

"There's someone there!"

"Take her!"

A group of knights rushed straight to her, turning from column to column like a stream, raising their weapons in their hands.

The next moment, a mutation protruded.

"Boom!"

The small bridge exploded open, and the two cavalrymen on the bridge were blown to pieces in an instant, and two of the cavalrymen who had already rushed across the bridge were lifted high and fell to the ground, becoming two pieces.

The lively offensive that was still indomitable suddenly stopped, and everyone was stunned, staring at the half of the corpse on the ground in a daze.

"Eat dog intestines."

Kong Rang finally calmed the frightened war horse, and when he came back to his senses, he first scolded a foul word to vent the fear in his heart, and found that his body was already soaked, and he was soaked in cold sweat.

He was the second team to cross the bridge, only a dozen paces away from the man who had been thrown away, and he could clearly see how the armored body was torn apart. The shattered armor also wounded a soldier not far in front of him, whose nose was cut off in half, and he screamed in horror.

"This is the thunder fire that day?"

Kong Rang's general, Lu Ziqi, was killed by the bombing, he was lucky not to be transferred to Zhending City at the time, and thought that the description of his comrades present was too exaggerated. What I saw with my own eyes today, my heart has retreated.

No wonder everyone attaches importance to Xue Bai, how can such a character be won by an ordinary pawn?

"There's someone in the river!"

Suddenly, someone shouted, and everyone looked at it, and sure enough, someone was running by the river beach below.

"Quick, shoot him!"

The arrows then "swished" towards the riverbank.

Kong Jean also shot an arrow, but before he could recover from his fright, his hands trembled so badly that the arrow finally floated directly into the river.

He didn't say it, but in fact, he was three points scared before he could fight.

Originally, it was thought that it would be very simple to rush into the village and get people, but now, the rebels must reorganize across the river and build another bridge.

~~

Little by little, the rabbit on the fire was scorched, and the flesh gradually turned from golden to charred, and finally, even the bones were burned to charcoal.

The wood was also burned, and the fire went out.

~~

Kong Rang was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back, thinking that he only needed to surround the village tonight and prevent Xue Bai from escaping, but after nightfall, Tian Tinglin arrived in person.

The lieutenants hurriedly greeted them, their faces ashamed.

"What's going on?" Tian Tinglin's face was ugly, "The army is about to pull out the camp on the fifth watch, and the general is still waiting for news!" ”

In the past, he used to call Tian Chengsi "brother", but at this time, it seemed a lot more solemn to call him "general", and he should have been reprimanded by Tian Chengsi before leaving.

"There was a thunder and fire again, there were six dead and more than 30 people injured, casualties are a trivial matter, I am afraid that there will be thunder, and it is not good to act rashly in the night, so that Xue Bai can take advantage of the chaos to escape."

"I don't listen to explanations!" Tian Tinglin shouted: "The army has come here for sixty miles day and night, because a mouse will be delayed for a few days?!" ”

He was very strict, and brought another 200 people, and immediately ordered these 200 people to open the siege, and the rest of them entered the village to capture Xue Bai.

More torches were lit, and the fire was brighter again.

"Cross the bridge."

Kong Rang held the torch in one hand and the reins in the other, looked at the bridge that had just been built in front of him, his heart palpitated, turned his head to look, and shouted: "Pang Xiaoer, you go first!" ”

"Whoa."

Pang Xiaoer was also afraid of being blown up, so he received the order with a pale face, kicked the horse's belly, and drove the horse forward, but the war horse was also frightened by the loud noise, smelled the pungent smell of gun, and refused to step forward.

"Little brute, go."

Pang Xiaoer had no choice but to dismount and pull it across the bridge. This time there was no explosion, he reached the opposite bank, walked more than ten steps forward, and saw several corpses lying in front of him, which his team Zhengkong led to kill.

"Search room by room!" Kong Rang walked behind and urged.

The village is large, the houses are all made of loess, and the alleys are lined with potholes and earthen walls, and when the torches shine, you can see the cobwebs on the walls, but the narrow road ahead is still dark.

Pang Xiaoer kicked open a door and saw the corpse of a child lying inside, he was immediately stunned, feeling cold on his back, and the sweat on his forehead kept dripping.

"There's no here, let's look for it again."

A group turned back into the alley.

Pang Xiaoer didn't give up, looked around, and finally asked, "Did you hear...... A child's voice? ”

"Eat dog intestines, don't talk nonsense, look for it."

"I don't think so." Kong Rang said, "We are walking in the bright place with torches, if we collide with Xue Bai head-on, will we be able to kill him?" ”

He thought that Tian Tinglin was still too anxious, whether it was 300 or 500 people, they would scatter into this village and encounter Xue Bai's men and horses, and there would be some casualties. It's better to rest overnight and search during the day.

"Walking in this alley like this, it's easy to get ambushed......"

"Poof."

Kong Rang felt blood splashed on his body, looked back, and immediately exclaimed, "Here! ”

At the back of the alley, I don't know when two fierce men appeared, all of them were fully armored, holding sharp long-handled Mo knives, and they had raised their knives again and slashed down.

The two men didn't bring torches, and they didn't need to bring them.

"Someone!"

Kong Rang clearly had the advantage in numbers, but he was timid in his heart, and after a while he remembered to blow the whistle, he brought the whistle to his mouth in a panic.

"Shhhh

Before the whistle sounded, the Mo knife had already slashed down and slashed diagonally from his neck.

Pang Xiaoer, who was walking in the forefront, turned around, and couldn't see what was happening clearly through more than ten colleagues, only to hear his comrades shouting "The team is dead" and pushing him forward.

Among them, there are also soldiers who want to fight to the death, but under this kind of terrain, there is only the share of being pushed, but if they escape late, the sharp Mo knife will be cut over mercilessly.

Pang Xiaoer hadn't even seen the enemy's face clearly, he had been pushed to lose his weapon, he simply ran forward regardless of it, and only then did he notice that several places were shouting "Here!" ”

The whistles came and went, as if the village was full of Xue Bai.

Suddenly there was a clear light ahead, and the alleys that led in all directions converged into an ancestral hall in the middle of the village, and the soldiers from all the teams of fleeing flocked to the same place.

One of the lieutenants was trying to control the situation, shouting, "Don't mess around, line up, line up!" ”

Pang Xiaoer was about to run over subconsciously, but what Kong Rang said came to his mind again, causing him to wake up suddenly.

Xue Bai was not a prey hiding somewhere in the village at all, but a hunter who had set up an ambush and waited for the prey to come to the door.

These rebels are the prey......

"Boom!"

This was the third explosion, but the damage caused was by no means comparable to the previous two. Dozens of rebel soldiers huddled together in confusion when explosives exploded in their midst.

Taking advantage of the situation, the fire ignited in the middle of the village and swept away in all directions.

~~

Tian Tinglin also knew that he was a little anxious, Xue Bai was not an ordinary opponent, the official was too guarded, and he could also borrow flying money to buy and sell to mobilize a lot of civil forces, although he could not resist the army, he was very advantageous in this kind of small group battle.

In a hurry, I am afraid that there will be a lot of casualties.

Of course, this is also for the sake of the big picture. Because Taiyuan was not taken, and Li Guangbi was recommended by Xue Bai as the deputy envoy of Hedong Jiedu, so if Xue Bai was not captured, it was very likely that this Hedong Taishou would go to Taiyuan to bring reinforcements, kill back to Changshan, and cut off the rear of the army.

Compared with this kind of concern, damaging a little soldier and getting rid of a piece of heart disease as soon as possible is a price that Tian Chengsi can fully afford.

The rumbling sound in the distance once again caused a lot of commotion among the soldiers, but Tian Tinglin had expected it. He knew that Xue Bai must still have gunpowder, but when gunpowder was always used up, it was worth consuming it with the lives of a dozen or twenty soldiers.

After that, the fire in the village lit up and got brighter and brighter.

"They set it on fire."

Tian Tinglin frowned, realizing that the casualties were only greater than expected.

Seeing this situation, the secretary in charge of his army also stepped forward and whispered: "General Tian, I'm afraid it's not right." Xue Bai has this weapon of thunder, earth and fire, and it is not difficult to break through, why is he shrinking into a small Nanbai Village? ”

"You mean, he's setting up an ambush?" Tian Tinglin's face was ugly.

"I've also heard that he also has an object called 'Clairloom,' and it's hard to say whether he can see a thousand miles, at least he can see things a few miles away. Not to mention the breakthrough, he shouldn't be easily surrounded. ”

"Whatever happens, he will go west." Tian Tinglin said: "I also guarded against him. ”

"I say, how can the west be so quiet, the general turned out to be surrounded by three queyi, and there are ambushes in the west, right?"

Tian Tinglin suddenly raised her hand, interrupted the staff's speech, and said, "Listen." ”

The wind blew the fire in the village and brought screams. But Tian Tinglin didn't want to hear this, he turned his head, looked behind him, and muttered, "Someone is coming." ”

"The general is sending troops again?"

Tian Tinglin looked up at the sky, it was already three watches, presumably Tian Chenghei had ordered the army to cook and prepare to pull out the camp, waiting for Xue Bai's news impatiently, and he wanted to urge him again.

Gradually, a troop of cavalry appeared dozens of paces away from him, and in the moonlight, it showed the silhouette of a slaughter.

"Who's coming? To the flag! ”

The other party did not answer, and they stopped their horses, adjusted the queue, and let the horses rest.

Although it was dark and far away, Tian Tinglin could feel that the war horse on the opposite side was digging its hooves on the ground, preparing to charge, he took a deep breath and shouted, "It's the enemy!" ”

The whistle sounded again in a hurry. The rebels were numerous, but they were too scattered for the purpose of encircling and hunting, and they had to be gathered in the shortest possible time to meet the enemy.

But Xue Bai's men and horses had already begun to charge, and there were not many of them, but like a sharp dagger, they suddenly stabbed Tian Tinglin's heart.

~~

In Nanbai Village, the bigger the fire, the more blood splattered.

Pang Xiaoer fled frantically, and finally fled back to the river, shouting at the opposite bank: "General! Ambushed! ”

However, he was answered only by a panicked shout.

"The enemy killed ...... from outside the village"

Pang Xiaoer didn't understand that the enemy was clearly in the village, how could he be outside the village? In any case, Tian Tinglin's attack destroyed his last will. He had only one thought in his heart, and that was to run as far away as possible.

He looked around and saw that the west was the quietest, and he fled westward. Feeling that the armor on his body was heavy and inconvenient, he simply took off the armor as well, and suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

Running and running, the sound of the water in front of me is getting closer and closer, Nanbai Village is on the bank of the Hutuo River, and in front of it is the place where the river bends, and there is a rather large lake. Finally, he saw a sparkling wave.

Pang Xiaoer couldn't swim in the water, listening to the killing shouts in the distance, he kept running along the river, and gradually couldn't run, and when he was desperate, he saw a small boat moored by the river, he hurriedly ran up and reached out to untie the cable.

"Whew-whew-"

He was so tired that his fingers had no strength, and the more anxious he was, the more he couldn't unravel it, and suddenly, with a heavy blow to the back of his head, he fell into the mud by the river.

"Spare my life, I didn't rebel, no!"

Pang Xiaoer couldn't look back, and begged for mercy.

There was a sharp pain in his head, but the knife behind his back did not come down again, and when he saw that it was useful to beg for mercy, he was sure that it was not his comrade.

"Really, I went north to join the army, I wanted to defend the border for the country, and the Nie team was telling me 'Don't teach Humadu Yinshan', I really don't want to rebel, they forced me, forced me to ......"

As he spoke, Pang Xiaoer burst into tears.

He was the second son in the family, and his brother was fifteen years older than him, and died in the war with the Khitan in his early years. His aunt is fifty-two years old this year, with gray hair and drooping old age. He desperately hopes to earn military merits and return to his hometown as soon as possible to serve A-Niang.

"Really, I haven't read a book, but I know the word 'loyalty and filial piety', the general looks at my poor aunt, spare my life."

"I will spare you, who will spare my child."

Pang Xiaoer was stunned when he heard the sound behind him, turned his head to look, and saw a peasant woman standing behind him with a knife.

The original fear in his heart immediately dissipated a lot.

"You killed my child!" The peasant woman roared and slashed down.

Pang Xiaoer stretched out his hand to block it, grabbed her hand, and desperately pushed the knife towards her neck, and the two fought.

Fighting to the death, all of them used all their strength, Pang Xiaoer's whole face turned red, and it was easy to press the knife on the peasant woman's shoulder a little bit.

His eyes almost exploded, and then he looked at her, and immediately felt an incomparably strong hatred, and at that moment, he guessed who she was—the two children who died under his knife.

But Pang Xiaoer's first feeling was wronged, what could he do? The king of Dongping County rebelled, the general rebelled, and the team was killed, if he didn't do it at that time, he would have died.

This is the helplessness of troubled times, and the two of them have never experienced it before.

The troubled times came, like a huge wave slapping down, smashing small fish and shrimp like them fiercely.

A trace of guilt floated in Pang Xiaoer's heart.

"Poof."

At this moment, the knife had already pressed heavily into his neck, and blood gushed out.

His eyes widened, and he let out a final whimper.

In troubled times, he and Deng Siniang's little black dog have the same fate.

"Whew."

Deng Siniang stood up, heard the murderer of her child let out a puppy-like whimper, her nose was sore, and she cried.

She's already home.

When she arrived in the backyard, she was stunned when she saw two large stones above the water tank. He threw the stone off and threw it to the ground with the lid of the water tank.

The force was so strong that she fell to the ground.

"Five babies!"

She cried and shouted, and didn't hear a response for a long time. She didn't dare look into the water tank, but her mind guessed what she would do after she fainted in the hall.

"Team Kong, the still hides a baby in this tank."

"Then help her hide it, cover it, hahaha......"

Deng Siniang had the heart to die at that time.

When it got dark, the explosion on the bridge prevented the rebels from entering the village immediately, and she dug a large pit in her backyard to bury her dead child.

After crying profusely, she walked back to the bridge to bring her man back for burial.

It was then that she saw a group of soldiers with torches and horses leading their horses across the bridge, and the faces of several of them made her feel hatred at the sight of them.

So, under the cover of darkness and familiarity with the village, she quietly followed them, thinking of exchanging her life for one of them.

In the process, Deng Siniang actually caught a glimpse of another group of people, she knew that they were the subordinates of Xue Taishou, she didn't dare to come close, and witnessed their surprise attack on the rebels from a distance.

Those people won't chase the fish that escaped, but she couldn't let go of the grudge in her heart, so she caught up and finally stabbed an enemy, even if she knew that the other party was also forced.

At this time, the last wish was fulfilled, Deng Siniang picked up the long knife in her hand, but her eyes caught a glimpse of the corpse on the ground, she did not want to die with the murderer, so she boarded the boat, cut the cable, propped up the penny, and rowed to the depths of the Hutuo River.

She leaned over to look at the dark and deep surface of the river, hoping it would wash away the filth from herself.

Just as he was about to jump, suddenly, an earth-shattering sound came from the west bank.

That is the real momentum of thousands of troops, the momentum is more majestic than the hundreds of cavalry in the evening, and the heavens and the earth seem to be moved.

The fire was shining brightly, like the sun rising in the west.

"It's right by the river!"

Deng Siniang once again felt the sense of oppression and pride of being surrounded and suppressed by heavy soldiers, which made her forget to die for a while, watching the change of the firelight from the other side, imagining the tragic battle she had never seen.

The boat kept being swept down by the river.

She tried to paddle, but she was still getting farther and farther away from the battlefield.

Until she gradually stopped hearing the shouts of killing, she felt quiet around her again, and prepared to throw herself into the river again.

At this moment, a morning sun fell on the surface of the river, dispelling the darkness.

The water reflected the morning sun and fell in Deng Siniang's eyes, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and found several corpses floating on the river.

One of the corpses caught her attention, and it was clear that the outfit was among the people who saw Xue Taishou and his party yesterday. She hurriedly propped the boat over, hooked it with a penny, pulled it closer, and took a closer look through the morning sun, but it was not the Xue Taishou she thought.

I don't know what happened to last night's battle.

Then she heard a slight choking sound.

(End of chapter)