Besides, Xu Zhi followed the disciples of the Spear Sect all the way to Yangzhou in the south. On the way, there were many disciples who couldn't stand the hunger and fled behind, and there were also many hungry people who fled on the way, and the leading Taoist also did not refuse, so no one doubted Xu Zhi's identity along the way, and when the people of the Spear Gate crossed Sizhou, there were less than 100 disciples on the way. The man in yellow was a little shaken, and said to the Taoist: "Brothers, you have been starving all the way, and you don't know what the future of going south is?"

The leading Taoist smiled and said, "Isn't Your Excellency the messenger of the Heavenly Court? God bless me with the spear gate, is it true that the will of the old monarch, the brother dares to take the lead in disobeying it?"

The man in yellow saw that he was not speculative with the Taoist, so he ran away with interest. Xu Zhi heard this and sighed: "What kind of messenger of the old monarch, isn't it self-deception?"

The leading Taoist saw that Xu Zhi was following him all the way from Suzhou, and he was determined to be extremely close to him. Only then did Xu Zhi know that the leading military advisor was called Qi Shanxing, and the man in yellow was called Lu Yongzhi.

Qi Shanxing took the initiative to ask Xu Zhidao: "How do you call this little brother, how long have you been joining this sect?"

Xu Zhi replied: "Yu Junshi, his subordinate is called Wu Cheng, a native of Sizhou, because his parents were killed by the official army, and he just joined the sect not long ago!"

Qi Shanxing praised: "Wu Cheng, as soon as you joined this sect, you can share weal and woe with this sect, and share weal and woe, which is really admirable." Now that the sect is in decline, the morale of the army is shaken, and there is no caring person around the military division, I want to carry you and let you be a personal guard by my side to keep the entanglement of the sect, how about it?"

Xu Zhi deliberately showed an excited look and replied, "My subordinates are willing to obey the arrangement of the military advisor!"

Qi Shanxing and Lu Yongzhi led the disciples of the Spear Gate to walk for a few more days, and there was less than a day left before Yangzhou.

This Yangzhou is an important town in Jiangbei, the capital of Huainan, and the center of the imperial court's Jiangnan Caoyun, in order to control the taxation of Jiangnan, the Tang court had to use the veteran Gao Biao to guard Yangzhou, hoping to borrow his prestige to pacify Annan and deter Huainan Jiangnan. However, the Huangchao army went south, but Gao Biao was unusual, afraid of the enemy, causing the righteous army to cross the river smoothly, as if entering no man's land, Gao Biao was afraid of the court's blame, pretended to be paralyzed, and pretended to be a ghost and asked for immortals in Yangzhou City all day long with a group of staff. Therefore, Huainan's political affairs became increasingly disorderly, and Yang Xingmi, the deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu, openly recruited troops in Luzhou, and secretly used Jiang Shenmiao's power in Yangzhou to monitor Gao Yu's daily moves.

Xu Zhi has lived in Runzhou, Jiangnan, only one river away from Yangzhou, Jiangbei. Xu Zhi to the ancients "waist around 100,000 runs, riding a crane down Yangzhou" pride is very yearning, he has climbed the Jinshan Temple in the heart of the river many times, looking at Yangzhou in the north of the river, hoping to see the prosperity of Yangzhou, the blooming of Qionghua. Xu Zhi saw that the suburbs of Yangzhou were devastated, with broken walls and ruins everywhere, basil everywhere, and the house swallows had no room to return to, so they had to build a nest on the tree and cry. In reality, Yangzhou is not as prosperous as imagined.

Qi Shanxing led the disciples of the spear gate to walk a long way, but he couldn't find a village to rest, he saw that Yangzhou was full of people fleeing from all directions, shook his head and sighed: "When I was in Xuzhou, I often heard people talk about how prosperous Yangzhou is, everyone can eat and drink, and rich merchants are all over the world, but now it seems that the rumors are not credible! If this day does not change, all living beings will disappear!"

Lu Yongzhi stayed away from everyone, alone with a sad brow, and sighed mournfully.

Xu Zhi persuaded: "The military advisor doesn't have to worry, as long as I can teach to settle down in Yangzhou, with the help of the power of the Yellow King, and reorganize the foundation, I am not afraid that my spear gate will not be able to make a comeback!", Xu Zhi's words touched Qi Shanxing, and also inspired the morale of the spear gate. A disciple took the initiative to ask Qi Shanxing: "Military advisor, the first thing to do is to solve the problem of eating for the disciples at the moment, so that the morale of the army can be stabilized, and the disciples will not desert and run away!"

A disciple stood up and said, "The disciple was originally a fisherman, but now Yangzhou has rivers and lakes everywhere, as long as the disciple goes into the water, he will definitely be able to catch some fish and shrimp and come back, and satisfy the hunger of the military advisor and the angel!"

A disciple also said: "My subordinates have no other ability, they are good at climbing, as long as they gather some disciples who can climb trees, they can take some bird eggs and come back to satisfy their hunger!"

In the evening, Xu Zhi gazed at the night sky and saw a crescent moon rising above the treetops, which was already the ninth day of the eighth month. Qi Shanxing and his disciples sat around a pond, lit a few fires, set up a few large iron pots, cooked the herring fish, grass carp, crucian carp, shrimp and crab separately, made soup, and put a lot of bird eggs and quail eggs in the cauldron. Xu Zhi and his disciples, replacing wine with water, first saluted the military advisor and the angel, and then chewed heavily. That night, it was the first time for many disciples to eat such delicious game, and many disciples sang loudly, and they couldn't help but burst into tears.

At noon the next day, Xu Zhi followed Qi Shanxing, Wu Yongzhi and a group of disciples of the spear gate to the west gate of Yangzhou. Qi Shanxing and Xu Zhi saw that the west gate of Yangzhou was full of officers and soldiers, all holding spears and broadswords, colorful flags, lined up in two long columns, several guards on horses, waiting at the city gate, as if to welcome an important person, although the city gate was wide open, but the people were forbidden to pass.

After a long time, there was a sound of horses' hooves from outside the city, and a general in a red robe, with several lieutenant generals, wearing armor and swords at his waist, rode a maroon war horse to the west gate. Xu Zhi took a closer look from the side and saw that the red-robed general headed by him was Yang Xingmi, the deputy envoy of Huainan Jiedu, and a young deputy general behind him was Jiang Chao, the young master of the Jiang Temple. Xu Zhi was puzzled: I don't know what the purpose of their visit to Yangzhou this time is.

When the guard of Yangzhou City saw Yang Xingmi, he quickly jumped off his horse, bowed down and said, "My subordinates welcome Lord Yang to Yangzhou!"

Yang Xingmi just arched his hand slightly on the horse, nodded, and did not answer to the guard, just glanced at the several lieutenant generals behind him, and several of them rode their horses and whips into Yangzhou City.

Qi Shanxing saw that Yang Xingmi and others had entered the city, and the vigilance of the city gate was not eliminated, he waved his hand backwards, signaling the disciples behind him to stop, but the fleeing people who were mixed in the team did not pay attention to Qi Shanxing's gestures, they saw that there was a horse team breaking into the city just now, and the guards did not stop them, they held the idea of rushing into the city and being able to eat their stomachs, and they swarmed forward, and they were about to break into the west gate of Yangzhou.

The guards of Yangzhou were very ugly because of Yang Xingmi's domineering, and when they saw twenty or thirty disheveled hungry beggars rushing to the city gate, they were even more angry, and they waved their hands to take all the people outside the city back and torture them carefully, and kill them as an example.

Xu Zhi saw a group of soldiers armed with spears, bows and arrows surrounding Qi Shanxing and dozens of disciples of the spear gate, he hurriedly retreated to Qi Shanxing's side and asked in a low voice, "Military advisor, how should we deal with it?"

Qi Shanxing said without thinking: "Brothers, let's fight our way out of the encirclement first!", and rushed to the front after speaking. The officers and soldiers who defended the city did not expect that these hungry people would gather in rebellion, and they raised their spears and stabbed the people.

Qi Shanxing took out a whisk from his sleeve, wrapped it around the spear in the hand of a soldier, and with a slight pull, he snatched the soldier's spear and threw it to Xu Zhi beside him. Then he whisked the dust on the soldier's face, which was made of oxtail, and had a tough texture, and whipped the man, but it was also red everywhere.

Xu Zhi took the spear, picked it left and right, stabbed it up and down, and repelled the siege of several soldiers for a while. At this time, Lu Yongzhi also grabbed a saber, waved the hilt of the sword, and repelled several soldiers from behind, but more and more spearmen disciples and innocent people were killed.

The guard saw that Xu Zhi and others were very brave, and transferred a battalion of archers from the city, under the siege of the archers, Lu Yongzhi saw that the disciples of the spear gate around him were killed and wounded, and hurriedly pleaded loudly: "General, please stop, we are willing to be captured, and confess to the law!"

Qi Shanxing didn't expect that when Lu Yongzhi was in trouble in his own religion, he would abandon his sect and join the enemy, and while waving the dust to block the flying arrows in front of him, he scolded loudly: "Lu Yongzhi, you traitor, are you worthy of the sect leader? He trusts you so much!", after he finished scolding, he saw that Xu Zhi was about to break out of the encirclement, and turned his head and shouted: "Brother Wu, you don't have to worry about me first, you fight your way out of the encirclement first, if the old man is unfortunately killed, don't forget the Mid-Autumn Festival covenant of this sect!"

Xu Zhi replied: "The subordinates dare not forget the trust of the military advisor!", stretched out his arms and jumped up vigorously, like an eagle grazing over the heads of the officers and soldiers. Xu Zhi flipped a few times in the air, jumped into the fence of the city gate, and hung an upside-down bead curtain and hid in the city gate tower. When the officers and soldiers saw that Xu Zhi was as light as a swallow, they were stunned for a while, where could they still care about catching up.

Seeing that the sun was falling, the guard quickly ordered his subordinates to tie up more than a dozen injured spearmen disciples such as Qi Shanxing and Lu Yongzhi with hemp rope, load them into a prisoner car, and escort them back to Yangzhou City.

Xu Zhi secretly followed closely, and he saw that the guard did not escort the prisoners to see Gao Biao, nor did he beat them into the cell, but made many detours and took them directly to Yang Xingmi's mansion. Xu Zhi jumped on the roof, performed light skills, and walked on the ridge of the roof, he found the room where Yang Xing secretly interrogated the prisoner, uncovered a piece of tiles, and peeked inside the house.

I saw Yang Xingmi sitting down on a Taishi chair in the middle, and the guard general bowed down and reported: "General Yang, my subordinates have captured a group of thieves who were making trouble outside the city, they gathered a crowd to rebel, openly attacked the officers and soldiers, and asked your lord to give instructions on how to deal with them?"

Yang Xingmi scolded: "Just a few thieves, you also want General Ben to interrogate him personally?"

The guard accompanied him and said, "But several of the thieves are strong in martial arts, and they also killed several of our soldiers, and their subordinates suspect that they are from the rivers and lakes." The lord once always instructed his subordinates to report immediately as long as they met a good man in the rivers and lakes, so he didn't dare to slack off, and quickly took them to the general's mansion and asked the general to ask for it himself!"

Yang Xingmi deliberately scolded: "You waste, do you still have General Ben in your eyes? Didn't General Ben repeatedly explain to you, don't be rude to the heroes of the rivers and lakes, treat them politely, you just don't listen, and you tied them up?" , and then said: "It's all to blame for the recklessness of the subordinates, and a few heroes have suffered!" After speaking, he pretended to step forward to untie Qi Shanxing, but he was unexpectedly pushed by Qi Shanxing. Jiang Chao, who was behind Yang Xingmi, made a timely move and slapped Qi Shanxing.

Yang Xingmi withdrew his smile and asked, "What sect are you from, why are you gathering people outside Yangzhou City to make trouble?"

Qi Shanxing didn't answer, and Lu Yongzhi beside him said with a flattering smile: "Back to General Yang's words, we are from Xuzhou Spear Gate, and our gang leader is called Pang Xun." ”

Yang Xingmi nodded and said with a smile: "Very good, this hero still knows the current affairs, and General Ben is currently the time to employ people, and I sincerely recruit heroes from all over the world to join my Huainan Army and conspire with General Ben!"

Lu Yongzhi said with a smile: "The villain is willing to withdraw from the spear door and devote himself to the general!", Qi Shanxing listened to it and snorted at Lu Yongzhi.

Yang Xingmi laughed and said, "This hero is serious, General Ben did not let you quit your sect, but hoped that you could convince your helper so that all of you sect members can join me Huainan." ”

Qi Shanxing couldn't hold back any longer, and scolded: "The surname is Yang, you are really delusional, although I have a small number of people in the spear gate, but all of our sect members stand up to the sky, only do good deeds to fight grievances, and never be the lackeys of the court!"

When Lu Yongzhi heard this, his face flushed. Jiang Chao, who was behind Yang Xingmi, heard this, and his face was also very unbearable, and he shouted: "Lord Yang, this person doesn't know what to do, let's let him settle down!"

Yang Xingmi saw Qi Shanxing dressed in a Taoist robe, and sneered: "You don't do a good Taoist, you call yourself a good hero, and General Ben finally asks you, you never obey?"

Qi Shanxing said with a smile: "Poor Dao swears not to be the eagle dog of the imperial court!", Yang Xingmi saw that Qi Shanxing could not be bought, nodded at Jiang Chao, and sneered: "Then Jiang Shaoxia, you will fulfill him", Jiang Chao listened, raised the white rainbow sword, a white light flashed, and Qi Shanxing was in a different place.

Yang Xingmi looked around at the dozen or so disciples of the Spear Gate around him, and those disciples involuntarily took a few steps back, and Yang Xingmi said to Lu Yongzhi again: "By the way, this hero, this general still doesn't know your high surname? Since you have surrendered to this general, you must first hand over a letter of surrender!"

Lu Yongzhi hurriedly reported his name and flattered: "As long as the general is willing to accept Lu, Lu is willing to do anything!"

Yang Xingmi heard this, and laughed and said, "Is it? Lu Yingying! Then you can learn a few dog barks first, and let General Ben listen to them!"

Lu Yongzhi hurriedly knelt down on his knees, stretched his limbs, and lay on the ground, learning from the puppy to keep shaking his head and making a "Wang" bark. Lu Yongzhi was afraid that Yang Xingmi would reproach him for not learning well, so he shouted several times.

Yang Xingmi saw that Lu Yongzhi didn't care about his face in front of everyone in order to please himself, and hurriedly dissuaded: "General Ben was joking with Lu Daxia just now, but I didn't expect Lu Yingying to believe it." Hasn't your sect been active in Huaisi, why did you move south to Yangzhou?"

Lu Yongzhi replied: "Don't hide it from the general, since the Huangchao rebels fled south to the south of the Yangtze River, our Spearmen have been isolated in the Huaisi area, surrounded and suppressed by the officials and troops everywhere, and we really can't stay any longer, so the sect leader Pang Xun gathered all the gangs to move south and prepare to rebuild the general rudder in Yangzhou." ”

Yang Xingmi saw that Lu Yongzhi did not admit himself, and told the secrets of the gang truthfully, and asked: "Aren't you afraid that you will come to Yangzhou and never return? By the way, what kind of route will you take to help the leader move south?"

Lu Yongzhi replied: "Back to General Yang's words, we are only the vanguard of this southward migration, Pang Xun and the backbone of the Spear Gate did not move with us, they went south along the canal by boat, and they are still behind!"

Yang Xingmi asked again: "Lu Daxia, what else do you know?"

Lu Yongzhi thought for a while, and replied: "I almost forgot, there is another important thing I forgot to return to the general, that is, when Pang Xun asked Qi Shanxing to do something on August 15 during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he met with the envoy of Huangchao in Yaochi in Yangzhou, and the meeting place was a restaurant with black and white lanterns, and he gave three high-fives!"

Yang Xingmi said with a smile: "Okay, Young Master Jiang, you transfer a thousand soldiers and horses to ambush in the ancient ditch in the north of Yangzhou City, and give the rest of the Lance Gate an urn to catch turtles." On August 15, Lord Gao invited me to Yaotai for a banquet, and you will go too, Lu Daxia, just to watch a good show!"

Yang Xingmi saw that Lu Yongzhi finished talking about all the secrets of the spear gate, and said: "The old man heard that Lu Daxia acted as the messenger of heaven in your sect, and he was a fairy-like figure, and this general has something to trouble the hero to do!"

Lu Yongzhi had a thick face and said flatteringly: "As long as General Yang orders, it is okay to go to the soup and fight the fire!"

Yang Xingmi laughed and said: "Look at what Lu Daxia said, it seems that General Ben asked you to do something difficult, I am to promote you to General Gao to serve as a staff officer in the inner room, I don't know what Daxia wants?"

Lu Yongzhi couldn't believe his ears, and asked again: "What General Yang said is true?

Yang Xingmi smiled and said: "Is General Ben a joker? But General Gao is General Ben's superior, and General Ben heard that he likes to do things like to seek immortals and ask for medicine, so General Ben wants to do what he likes, and recommend the hero, he must make the best use of his talents, and it can be regarded as a great reward for the hero to take refuge in my Huainan!", after speaking, he smiled at Lu Yongzhi, beckoned him to his side, and explained a lot of words softly. Xu Zhi pricked up his ears and didn't hear a word clearly.

After Yang Xingmi finished explaining, he sighed, seemed to be a little tired, and waved his hand to let everyone retreat.