However, after Ling Kong, Xu Zhi, Huifeng and the others left the Yellow Crane Tower after eating, the three of them sighed, cursing the darkness of the officialdom and the injustice of the world, and they were no longer in the mood to taste the wine, food, and characters of Ezhou.

Ling Kong hastily settled the account with the restaurant, and led Xu Zhi and Huifeng out of Ezhou City, and came to the long pavilion at a three-fork intersection by the river.

Ling Kong said to Xu Zhi and Huifeng: "The three of us brothers broke up in Ezhou here, I want to continue to travel west back to Wudang Mountain, the two of you turn north from Ezhou, pass through Kangzhou, Caizhou, Ruzhou, you can reach the foot of Songshan Mountain, you can go up the mountain to meet Master Shaolin Zhicheng." You can also continue to follow Yun Feiyang and his party along the way. ”

Xu Zhi and Huifeng have been with Lingkong Daoist for several months, and they have been intimate, and the three of them are called brothers, but they are actually masters and apprentices; Xu Zhi and Hui Feng have practiced diligently since they were instructed by the volley, and they have also made a lot of progress in martial arts, especially the internal strength moves have long been memorized and proficient in hand, but they lack some experience in dealing with the enemy. And the above changes, the two of them didn't know about it, they only felt that they were as light as a swallow and had inexhaustible strength.

Hui Feng was the first to respond: "Brother Ling, take care all the way." ”

Xu Zhi also reluctantly said: "Big brother, have a good journey, I don't know when our brothers will meet again." ”

Ling Kong didn't answer, but hugged his fists and said: "Two brothers, there is no banquet in the world that will not be dispersed, and there will be a period later!", after speaking, he walked quickly to the west, walked dozens of steps, and suddenly turned back.

Xu Zhi and Huifeng asked in surprise, "Big brother, aren't you leaving?"

Ling Kong said: "The eldest brother left in too much hurry just now, and there are a few words that have not been finished. ”

Xu Zhi and Huifeng hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "What does the eldest brother have to explain to us?"

Ling Kong said: "The two virtuous brothers don't know, after Ezhou, the north of the Yangtze River is already the sphere of influence of the Huangchao Righteous Army, although Huangchao is also born as a peasant, but this person has read books, and Gao Jixing and Yang Xingmi's generation, but it is very different, he sympathizes with the people's suffering, cares about the people's lives, so the people in Henan and Shandong are very supportive of him, and his career is also very prosperous, but this is also a big trouble for today's imperial court. Therefore, the imperial court and the righteous army often face each other in Henan, the people are displaced, and there are no people for dozens of miles north of Ezhou, not to mention the inn, it is now in the middle of winter, and the road of the two virtuous brothers to the north is really difficult to walk, and it is not very peaceful. ”

When Hui Feng heard this, he had the idea of retreating again, and said to Xu Zhi: "Brother Xu, otherwise, let's go back to Runzhou along the same road, and be killed by the Changjiao Gang when we turn around, it's better than starving to death and freezing to death, and no one will collect the body when we die." Besides, your injuries are healed, and you don't need to go to Shaolin?"

After Huifeng finished speaking, seeing that Xu Zhi did not speak, he knew that he was still insisting on his original belief: go north to Shaolin Temple and meet Master Zhicheng.

Ling Kong sighed: "What I want to explain, I have finished speaking, and there is one most important sentence, you must practice martial arts diligently at all times, so that you can strive for excellence in martial arts, protect yourself, and punish evil." ”

After Ling Kong finished speaking, he said goodbye to Xu and Hui and left, all the way to the west.

Xu Zhi and Huifeng stood in place until they couldn't see the figure in the sky, and then they reluctantly left Ezhou and continued to cross the river to the north.

Along the way, the road is sparsely populated, the ground is full of basil, the villages and towns are in ruins, and the fields are barren. The two walked dozens of miles to the north, only to see a dense pine forest in the distance, and a small village was hidden in the depths of the woods.

Xu and Hui walked through the woods, startled a group of black crows, and let out bursts of terrible screams, and as soon as they walked out of the woods, they saw the village in flames, accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves, smashing, and the cries of women and children.

Xu Zhi and Huifeng hurriedly walked into the village, only to see a brightly dressed general, riding on a horse, commanding dozens of officers and soldiers to rob the people's property. Some of these officers and soldiers were robbing rice and grain, some were chasing chickens and ducks, some were chasing cattle and sheep, and one of the generals was chasing a weak girl who was only too young to be caught, and when the girl was about to be caught, the general pounced on him like a hungry wolf, and his mouth let out bursts of prodigal laughter.

Xu Zhi couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, jumped up, took off more than a zhang in the air, slapped his palms, and made a move "Immortal Guiding the Way", hitting the back of the general, throwing it out three feet away, the general hit a broken wall, his brain burst, his hands and feet twitched a few times, and he died.

The girl was about to run away from the clutches of the devil, when she was caught off guard by an arrow shot by the general on horseback, and the bright red blood drowned the flower-like years.

"This brute is so inhuman!" Xu Zhi yelled and rushed towards the general on horseback.

Seeing that Xu Zhi was menacing, the general hurriedly bent his bow and arrows, and shot an arrow at Xu Zhi, but when he saw that he didn't hit, he took out his sword again, and hit Xu and Hui on his horse.

Xu Zhi saw that the general was only a few steps away from him, and when he saw the opportunity, a whirlwind swept the leaf legs, and actually broke the horse's front legs, and the horse lost its front hooves, and stumbled, slamming the general to the ground. After the general landed, he complained again and again. Xu Zhi didn't wait for the general to react, picked him up from the ground, and asked: "You eat the imperial court, you should protect the territory and the people, why do you want to fish and flesh the people?"

The general begged: "A good man spares his life! I am also forced to be helpless, and the higher authorities have asked us to exterminate the grass bandits within a time limit, how can we complete the task with few men and weak soldiers?"

At this time, Hui Feng basically subdued the other soldiers through point, hit, split, hook, take and other moves, and stepped forward to ask: "No matter what! You officials and masters can't rob the people's property, kill people and set fires, and rob the people's daughters!"

Xu Zhi said: "They not only robbed the people's property, but also wantonly killed the people, took the heads of innocent people to pretend to be the heads of thieves, and asked for merit, am I right, General?"

"The two knights are right, they don't dare to do it anymore, so they will spare the villain this time, right?" begged the general.

Xu Zhi shouted: "If you do such a hurtful thing next time, we will chase us to the ends of the earth, and we will also take your head, take your people, get out!"

The general, as if pardoned, took a few wounded soldiers with him, and disappeared into the darkness of the night in an instant.

Xu Zhi and Huifeng found that most of the houses in the village had been destroyed by fire, leaving behind some broken walls and ruins, and there were almost no young men in the village, all of them were old, weak, sick and disabled, women and children. After this catastrophe, more than half of the villagers were killed or injured, which was very miserable.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Xu and Hui borrowed a slightly complete house from the villagers, laid the floor, built a fire, and prepared to eat some dry food and rest early.

Xu Zhi and Hui Feng were about to eat the dry food in their hands, when they suddenly found a pair of greedy eyes in the darkness that had been looking at them, and the sound of swallowing saliva kept coming, and the two of them drank at the same time: "Who is it?"

Xu and Hui waited for the man to come out of the darkness shyly, only to find that it was an unkempt and ragged girl. The girl was only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a melon seed face, willow eyebrows, a small cherry mouth, a light body, and a very beautiful appearance.

Xu Zhi and Huifeng didn't expect that the uninvited guest turned out to be a beautiful girl, both of them blushed and stopped talking, which was regarded as apologizing to the girl for their abrupt language just now.

Xu Zhi saw that the girl was trembling and restless, and was silent for a while before asking, "Who is the girl, why is she here, have you eaten?"

The girl shook her head slightly, but still did not speak.

Hui Feng saw that the girl looked very cute, and suddenly talked more: "Yes, girl, if you don't mind, why don't you eat with us?"

The girl thought that she hadn't eaten for a few days, and when she saw that Xu and Hui were young, they weren't like bad people, and they weren't polite to them, so she timidly took the cake in Hui Feng's hand and ate it with gusto, eating too violently for a while, accompanied by bursts of coughing.

The girl finished eating the cake, only to slowly tell her life experience, the girl's surname is Zhou, called Yuan Zhi, was originally a young lady from a large family in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and later her father died, the family fell into the middle of the road, the mother and daughter decided to go to Yuezhou to join their relatives, how to know that the road was difficult, the mother died of illness on the way, Miss Zhou was penniless, living by begging, all the way south, only to get here, has not eaten for three days. Zhou Yuanzhi couldn't help but cry like rain as she spoke.

Xu Zhi asked, "What are Miss Zhou's plans in the future?"

Zhou Yuanzhi said: "What can the little girl do, now that the army is in chaos, the road to Yuezhou is far away, and she can only take one step at a time, and I don't know if I can go there?"

Hui Feng worried: "Now that there is chaos everywhere, Miss Zhou is penniless, and she goes to Yuezhou alone, how can she make it?"

Zhou Yuanzhi touched the tears on her eyes, and said helplessly: "If the little girl doesn't go to Yuezhou to join her family, where can she go?"

Hui Feng hurriedly persuaded: "If the girl is willing, come with us to Luoyang, maybe you still have relatives and friends in your hometown in Luoyang?" Besides, we still have some dry food and silver taels, it should be no problem to bring you to a girl's house, Brother Xu, you say okay?"

Zhou Yuanzhi took her tearful eyes, glanced at Xu Zhi secretly, and sighed softly: "Go back to Luoyang with you, how can this be done?"

Xu Zhi saw that the girl was lonely, and he was also moved by compassion, and persuaded: "What Senior Brother Hui said is reasonable, Miss Zhou, you don't have to hesitate, our brothers are not bad people, if you believe us, go with us, go back to Luoyang, everyone also takes care of each other along the way, it is better than the girl going to Yuezhou alone." ”

Zhou Yuanzhi saw that Xu Zhi's face was full of sincerity, and did not speak again, which was regarded as an agreement.

Early the next morning, Zhou Yuanzhi changed into clean clothes, and after freshening up, she followed Xu Zhi and Huifeng, said goodbye to the people in the village, and continued to hurry.

The three of them walked north for a few more days, eating and drinking, very hard, seeing that they were getting closer and closer to Caizhou City, and the pedestrians on the road gradually increased.

One day the north wind was cold, the sky was full of clouds, the three of them walked the mountain road for nearly a day under the goose feather snow, Zhou Yuanzhi saw from a distance that there was an inn with wine at the intersection of the post station in front of him, and hurriedly greeted Xu Zhi and Huifeng: "Brother Xu, Brother Hui, there is an inn not far ahead, why don't we rest in the store tonight?"

Before Xu Zhi could answer, Huifeng replied first: "Miss Zhou, good idea, we want two good guest rooms, it's best to have a glass of hot wine or hot water or something to warm up." ”

The three of them entered the inn, and asked the guy for two upper rooms, who knew that the inn was already full, and there was only one room left, and the two had no choice but to discuss with Zhou Yuanzhi, who knew that Miss Zhou didn't care, or Xu Zhi was careful, after all, men and women are different, and they don't kiss, and suggested to Huifeng: "Otherwise, our brothers stay up all night and talk to Miss Zhou." ”

So the three of them followed the guy into a local house. They entered the room, just putting down the package on their shoulders. Xu Zhi suddenly saw a few familiar figures floating by outside the crack in the door, and went straight into the Tianzi room next to them, it was Yun Feiyang, the Eagle Strike General in the imperial court, and several of his entourage.

Yun Feiyang obviously drank a lot of wine, and complained in the room: "This ghost is cold, and the journey can make General Ben tired, Zhou Chen, you kid come over and pinch General Ben's shoulders and feet!"

The general named Zhou Chen was the guard who injured Xu Zhi back then, Zhou Chen hurriedly stepped forward and knelt on the ground, carefully helping Yun Feiyang knead and massage him.

Yun Feiyang seemed to be very comfortable: "General Zhou, everyone knows that your kid's tiger palm is strong and powerful, I didn't expect that your massage skills are not bad, compared to our girls in Wanxianglou in Chang'an City, they are not lost to them at all." ”

Zhou Chen flattered: "General Yun acts on behalf of the imperial court, and it is within the subordinate's duty to wait for General Yun!"

Yun Feiyang said with a smile: "General Ben is holding a gold medal order arrow of long live, this trip to Runzhou is finally a complete merit, and the local hospitality is quite courteous and thoughtful, but in Ezhou, a few water ghosts of the Changjiao Gang actually blocked the general's drive, and asked the general for ransom money, which is very funny to think about!"

Zhou Chen said: "A few clowns can't set off any big storms, if it wasn't for Lord Yun to stop them at that time, his subordinates would have wanted to teach them a good lesson?"

Yun Feiyang seemed to be a little dissatisfied and said: "General Zhou, you are too impulsive and reckless, you have to use your brain in everything! If you really make a move with these water ghosts, Jiang Chengfeng will turn black and white upside down, and he will say that it is the people of our imperial court who oppressed him that caused this misunderstanding!"

Zhou Chen hurriedly apologized: "The subordinates are stupid! It's not as far-reaching as General Yun thought, it's the subordinates who almost did something wrong!"

Yun Fei said proudly: "Finally, Jiang Chengfeng is sensible, not only did he not make a big deal about this matter, but also consolidated the alliance between Huainan and Jinghu, and the two of them are willing to take our lead as the leader, which is very beneficial to us to do big things!"

Zhou Chen was not without worry: "Both of them are the envoys of the imperial court, and we don't have many men and horses in our hands, will they follow us with all their hearts?"

Yun Feiyang said with a smile: "Don't worry about this, according to General Ben's judgment, the two of them are equal in strength, so whoever of them is the leader of the alliance is unwilling, so they elected General Ben as the leader, but it is just a mutual balance!"

Zhou Chen said with a smile: "It's still General Yun's foresight, and he is one step ahead!"

Yun Feiyang continued: "Let's not talk about this, we found out that the remnant book in Runzhou this time is related to the rebellious remnants who lived in seclusion in Runzhou back then, and this book is likely to be in the hands of their descendants, so we have to rush back to the capital as soon as possible, tell the princess, and then go to the household department to thoroughly investigate the details of these rebellions and the situation of their descendants." ”

Zhou Chen replied: "The little ones know. According to reliable sources, the traitor Huang Chao posted heroic posts on the rivers and lakes, asking young talents from all sects to gather in Caizhou Yanyulou during the Lantern Festival after the New Year to discuss major matters. This time, even the Jiang Shenmiao and Changjiao Gang, who opposed Huangchao, sent people, I don't know why?"

Yun Feiyang said impatiently: "You want to see the excitement again, we have urgent matters on our bodies, we still have to rush back to the capital as soon as possible, it is important to do the right thing!", after speaking, he looked at the almost pleading eyes of Zhou Chen and the others, sighed and said: "General Ben saw that you were absent-minded, and you didn't want to drive you back to Beijing." Well, let's also go to Caizhou to join in the fun and have a good time, but we can't delay there for too long. ”

Zhou Chen and several of his subordinates responded in unison: "Yes, Lord Yun." ”