The sun set, and the blood stained Taihu Lake red.

On the island of Dongting Mountain in the west, the war is almost over. Only 8,000 Jianghu children were left to join forces to hunt and kill and encircle the scattered and fleeing water bandits of the Giant Whale Gang.

Su Chen quickly searched the surface of the lakes around the island of West Dongting Mountain, but he didn't see Liu Hong, Li Biao and other bandits fleeing by boat, and they didn't know where to go for a while.

He couldn't help but be annoyed.

This island is not too big, but it is not too small. In a radius of dozens of miles, there are several steep mountains and peaks, dense ancient forests, swamps and tidal flats, and dense reeds, and it is not easy to find a few people who have absconded.

The most troublesome thing is that this is Liu Hong's lair that has been operated for decades, and I am afraid that there are a large number of hiding places such as secret rooms and secret passages, and it is easy to hide.

Not long after, a big leader of the water bandits of the Giant Whale Gang was chased by the sailors and couldn't escape, kneeling down and surrendering to the officers and soldiers, just asking for a way to live, and said that he knew a big granary and many secret passages on the island, and it was likely that the gang leader Liu Hong and others escaped into the secret passage.

The armor soldiers couldn't help but be overjoyed when they got this information, and while sending someone to report to Lord Taishou, they held torches and followed the big leader of the water bandits, and rushed into the secret passage of the granary to arrest Liu Hong.

"Taishou-sama, I've found it!"

"There is a granary in the secret passage, and there is countless grains. The fire has just started and has not yet been burned, the fire has been extinguished. ”

"In the secret passage of the Giant Whale Gang, there are a pile of dozens of self-immolating corpses, one of which has a black blade of Liu Hong and Li Biao's blade. But the corpses were all blurred by the flames, and they could not be seen. ”

Su Chen, Zhao Juzhen Taishou, Li Shuo and other grandmasters and small gang leaders came to the secret passage of the granary one after another to inspect the corpses that had self-immolated.

"Lord Shangxian, look at these corpses, can you identify them?"

Zhao Juzhen asked.

"I can't see it. Maybe it is, or maybe it isn't. ”

Su Chen shook his head.

These corpses were all burned to charcoals, and the fire was so heavy that he couldn't tell whether the two bodies were Liu Hong and Li Biao's.

It is possible that the two of them felt hopeless of escape and really set themselves on fire.

It could also be a fake death to get out.

"What instructions does the Immortal have?"

Zhao Taishou felt a little tricky about this ambiguous result.

"That Liu Hongzhong's dantian was broken, and he was already a lost dog, even if he faked his death and escaped, where could he escape. The navy blockaded the island of West Dongting Mountain. Continue to chase and kill Liu Hong and Li Biao, so that they will not be able to fly with wings, and there is no chance of luck. ”

Su Chen said in a deep voice.

"Yes, respect the decree of the immortals! The lower official issued a wanted warrant from the imperial court, and notified the rivers and lakes to reward ten thousand taels of silver to chase and kill, even if they are chased to the ends of the earth, they must also pursue and suppress these two thieves. ”

Zhao Taishou hurriedly surrendered his hand.

...

On the soil slope on the shore of Taihu Lake, in front of Fei Xingchou's tomb.

Su Chen took the heads of the three bandit leaders and came to the tomb to pay tribute to the ugly.

The main Jackdaw of the Aquila Gate, the main Han Shu of the Young Gate, and the general manager of the Willow Gate. As well as the hall masters, elders, worshippers and hundreds of elite disciples of the Aquila Gate who survived this battle, they all returned to the island and solemnly paid tribute to the hero of the Aya Gate in front of the tomb, in order to see off Augly.

After a long time, everyone in the Aquila Gate left.

Han Shu stayed at the end, her expression pale, and she bit her lip and sobbed, "I'm sorry, Ugly's death... I have a lot of responsibility to take on me. ”

He died for his dream of rivers and lakes and became a hero of the rivers and lakes of Wu County, which was his life's long-cherished wish, and had nothing to do with others. You don't need to blame yourself. ”

Su Chen shook his head and said.

"Ah ugly, we used to be poor, and we didn't have time to enjoy a few days of happiness when we became masters. When you are the first seventh, I will burn some gold and silver paper money for you, and when you get down, don't save it, feel free to spend it!"

Su Chen looked at the tombstone with a sad expression.

Thinking of these years, he and Ah Chou practiced martial arts in the Chenghuang Temple outside the county, talked about interesting stories in the rivers and lakes, and looked forward to making a name for themselves in the rivers and lakes in the future.

But now, on the huge rivers and lakes of Wu County, he doesn't even have a brother who can talk.

I was depressed in my heart, and I was speechless for a long time.

The battle for the island of West Dongting Mountain is already over.

There is also an unspoken wish of the ugly, which has not yet been resolved.

Su Chen turned around, left Taihu Lake, and headed towards Gusu City.

...

Outside Gusu City, Ximen Wharf, Hanshan Taoist Temple.

Hanshan Zhenren and many first- and second-rate Taoist masters all died on the island of Dongting Mountain in the west of Taihu Lake. In today's Hanshan Taoist Temple, there are only dozens of second- and third-rate Taoist priests left.

The news of the rebellion of the real people in Hanshan and the defeat of the Giant Whale Gang, the White Lotus Sect and the Hanshan has just been transmitted back to Gusu City by the disciples of the Heavenly Eagle Sect, causing a huge shock. The little Taoist priests were all panicked and fled for their lives.

Su Chen came to the Taoist temple, his eyes were cold and cold, holding a torch in his hand, and set fire to the Hanshan Taoist temple.

...

The officials, the sailors and the disciples of the rivers and lakes cleaned up the battlefield on the island of West Dongting Mountain, which lasted all night, and captured many water bandits and White Lotus Sect disciples.

"Lord Zhao, the three bandit leaders are ambushed. The demon road of the cold mountain killed himself, and the Mao sect leader killed himself by waving his sword on the lakeside. Only Liu Hong and Li Biao were self-immolated, and the corpses could not be distinguished. ”

The officials reported to Zhao Juzhen, the Taishou of Wu County, the battle of Taihu Lake, the casualties and prisoners of the naval army, the disciples of the rivers and lakes, and the water bandits.

"The corpses of the bandit leaders Hanshan Demon Dao and Mao Ziyuan were wrapped in grass ash and straw mats and escorted to the capital. ”

"In addition, the giant whale gang of tens of thousands of water bandits was destroyed. That Liu Hong lost the Giant Whale Gang, was wanted by the government, and was chased and killed by the people in the rivers and lakes, even if he faked his death and fled, he would not dare to show his head incognito, and he would not be able to become a climate.

On this island of Taihu Lake, build a naval camp to continue to clear the remnants of the fleeing water bandits and protect the island of West Dongting Mountain. Completely cut off the trouble of water bandits here!"

Zhao Juzhen commanded.

"My lord, there are some relics in the Cold Mountain Demon Dao, and there are more than a dozen demon talismans among them, how to deal with them?"

The official reported.

"These colorful demon talismans and monsters, I don't know what they are used for, don't touch them indiscriminately. If you are not careful, it will be set on fire, so collect it all and put it in a box, and hand it over to Su Shangxian to dispose of! He should know how to dispose of it. ”

Zhao Juzhen glanced at it, and her heart palpitated.

Then, it is very important to compile an accurate report of the battle and determine the merits of those who participated in the battle.

This detailed battle report was counted by all the armor soldiers and officials, and handed over to Zhao Juzhen, the Taishou, to personally look at it and determine the final result.

This battle report should be reported to the imperial court and handed over to His Majesty for personal inspection, and it must not be sloppy.

After the Giant Whale Gang was wiped out, the gangs of all sizes in Wu County had to join forces to carve up the territory of the Giant Whale Gang.

How to divide the partition? Of course, we should not insist on different opinions without evidence. It is necessary to have a recognized war report, in order of the merit, to divide the territory and the spoils. Otherwise, the uneven division will not be enough to convince the gangs, large and small, and there will be unnecessary disputes and turmoil.

List of individual exploits.

Su Chen single-handedly defeated Hanshan Zhenren, the White Lotus Sect Leader Mao Ziyuan, and the Giant Whale Gang Leader Liu Hong. In the rebellion of the Taihu Lake Giant Whale Gang, the head of the three grandmaster bandits died, turning the tide. Su Shangxian set up the first battle of encircling and suppressing the Giant Whale Gang, which is naturally indisputable.

Li Shuo, the leader of the horse gang, ranked second, and exterminated thirty White Lotus wrestlers in Beiludang, avoiding heavy losses for the coalition forces. After the rebellion of the Hanshan Demon Dao, he commanded the remaining 8,000 allied disciples to evacuate the Ethereal Peak and stabilize the battle on the shore of Taihu Lake, which made great contributions.

The medicine king Sun Baihong ranked third, and used thaumaturgy in Taihu Lake to exterminate a thousand water ghosts in the Water Ghost Hall, and severely damaged the water bandits without a single soldier.

Tiejianmen Han Pingshan ranked fourth, as the vanguard, and died in ambush when he went to the foot of the Ethereal Peak, and he was also the only one who died in the body of a generation of grandmasters and the four gang leaders, and was the highest status in the list of the coalition forces.

The Lord of the Heavenly Eagle Sect, Jackdaw, was the fifth, assassinating hundreds of water bandits and White Lotus Sect disciples among the ten thousand troops, disturbing the hearts of the water bandits, but he was personally shot by Hanshan Zhenren and injured with a fireball charm, and failed to do his job.

The sixth person of war exploits, who was designated as the Ugly of the Aquila Gate, covered the escape of hundreds of Aquila disciples and died on the battlefield. But he died in battle, and the credit was unclaimed.

The merits of the remaining generations are much smaller, and each has its own military exploits, in order.

As long as you kill a water bandit, you can get a reward of at least ten taels of silver.

As for Wu Jun Taishou Zhao Juzhen himself, he was not on this list of military merits. Successfully exterminating the Giant Whale Gang, this is already a great achievement in itself, and this battle is reported to the imperial court, and the Son of Heaven will naturally appreciate it, and there is no need to add snakes.

"Where is Su Shangxian now?"

"I don't know... Some people saw that after he and the disciples of the Heavenly Eagle Gate paid tribute to Ah Chou, they left Taihu Lake and went to the direction of Gusu County, and they didn't know what to do. ”

"Quickly send someone to find it! This is the first merit of Taihu Lake to suppress bandits, and the imperial court will reward him with a heavy reward of silver taels, I am afraid that there are tens of thousands of taels, and the official will hand it over to him personally. ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Wang Xian Ling hurriedly ordered his subordinates to go to Gusu City to find someone.

Tiejianmen Han Dagongzi and other seven or eight hundred people temporarily built a coffin, carried Han Pingshan's coffin, and transported it back to Gusu City.

Li Shuo comforted Han Dagongzi for a few words, held the cold coffin, his heart was silent, and he sighed silently. Since ancient times, the rivers and lakes have been fighting, and several people have returned. After this battle, another decades-old brother left. On this river and lake, there are fewer and fewer people who can talk and drink together.

Zhao Juzhen looked at Li Shuo's lonely back, and hurriedly said, "General Li Shuo, stay a step." ”

Li Shuo was slightly shocked and said coldly: "Lord Zhao, Li Mou is a grass man, not a general. ”

Zhao Juzhen said sincerely: "General Li was excluded and wronged in the Western Regions back then, and left angrily, with resentment in his heart, Zhao understands.

But you are in the rivers and lakes, although you are a generation of grandmasters, but you can only show the courage of one person, and the ability to fight against ten thousand enemies on the battlefield that you have learned all your life is very useless. In the rivers and lakes, it just sank, buried the light.

When the situation is collapsing today and the court is difficult, it is the time to employ people. Your Majesty has also been old all these years, and he misses the old man and the general very much.

Every time the general fights, he will wear armor and bow and silver spear and iron horse, which shows that he has never forgotten the battlefield for a day. Everyone has his own destiny, and General Li's destination is not in the rivers and lakes. Why don't you go back to the Western Regions, the battlefield is your destination. Leave a name in the history books, and people all over the world admire!"

Li Shuo's hands trembled, he sighed, and silently rode his horse, leading the horse to help the disciples leave.

The depression and resentment in his heart, if it is so easy to disappear, why did he stay away from the land of the Western Regions and wander the rivers and lakes of Wu County for more than ten years.

Zhao Juzhen watched him lead the horse away, and sighed silently, it seemed that he could only wait for him to slowly eliminate this knot.

"Report! Lord Taishou, Lord Wang Shoucheng, the special envoy of the imperial court, has arrived. accompanied by a Jiangzhou Bai adult. ”

Suddenly, a messenger arrived in a hurry.

Zhao Juzhen's heart sank, and she couldn't help but snort.

I am afraid that this envoy of the Qin mission has already arrived in Wu County to watch the battle against bandits, and only to wait and see the outcome of this battle from a distance. Seeing that the battle of Taihu Lake was won, I couldn't wait to come out immediately to see if there was any benefit to be gained.

It's just that this Qincha is a eunuch and eunuch beside the Son of Heaven, and he often speaks beside the Son of Heaven, and he doesn't dare to offend.

"Let's go, go and meet the King of Chincha!"

Zhao Juzhen took the chief book, Wang County Ling and other Wu County bureaucrats to greet Lord Qincha.