At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Huangchao rebel army was defeated in Mount Tai by Li Keyong's Shatuo army, after the martyrdom of Huangchao in the Wolf and Tiger Valley, Qin Zongquan, who was originally attached to Huangchao, proclaimed himself emperor in Caizhou in February of the first year of Guangqi, and successively sent troops to capture more than 20 prefectures such as Shaanxi, Luo, Huai, Meng, Tang, Xu, Ru, Zheng, etc., and became the most powerful warlord group in the Central Plains except Zhu Wen for a while. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Qin Zongquan was extremely cruel, and the people of Suokezhou County were slaughtered, and the houses and cities were also burned. West to Guannei, east pole Qingqi, south out of Jianghuai, north to Weili, fish rotten birds scattered, people cut off, thorns and hazel cover the wilderness, where the Qin army passed, the people were either killed, or fled completely.

On a winding path at the foot of Beibi Mountain, a grain requisition unit of Qin Zongquan was marching. The team consisted of about 100 people, with a large flag in the middle and the word "Chen" written on it, and several flatbed trucks dragged behind them, covered with a thick layer of cotton cloth. The leaders rode horses, their armor bright, and their dark red robes fluttered and rattled in the wind.

The sky is getting darker, and the sunset is hanging in the sky, and it is about to sink into a thick sea of clouds. Those layers of mountains, lined with purple-brown clouds, slowly became solemn.

The team stopped at the front, and a soldier was reporting, "Chen Dutou, there is no one in the village ahead. "Chen Dutou's name is Chen Hu, and he is the general of this grain collection army.

Chen Hu smiled, he had already expected this situation, the villages in this area had been looted many times, and they had already been emptied. The front line is tight, and there are also major problems with the logistical supply of the troops, especially the military rations. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, the Qin army went out to plunder, hunt and kill the people, and salted the corpses as military rations, which were "two-legged sheep". The common people have been killed, and even if there are people, they will hide in the mountains and not come out.

"Now there are fewer and fewer 'two-legged sheep'. Chen Hu thought to himself, tightened the cloak on his body, and the autumn mountain wind blew on his body, giving him a little coolness.

A young man jumped off his horse, his name was Li Yunjin, and he was the new guard. He saluted Chen Dutou and said, "Dutou, judging from the traces on this road, there are indeed a group of refugees passing along the road, and they may have brought a lot of supplies. He paused, looked at the darkening woods on both sides, and continued: "It's just that most of these people are frightened birds, and they dare not stay in the village, and if they are scattered in the mountains and forests, it is very difficult to find them." It's getting late, so it's better for us to ...... close."

Chen Hu laughed, interrupted the young man's words, and said loudly: "Yunjin, Lao Tzu sees that you were recommended by the eldest brother, and the knife is good at playing, so I will leave you as my guard." It is said that the artist is bold, are you kid afraid?" someone next to him echoed, "Dutou, in my opinion, if this kid Li Yunjin is alone in this deep mountain and old forest, it is estimated that he will be scared." Everyone laughed, and Li Yunjin's face seemed to turn red and he stopped talking.

Chen Hu patted his belly, which was already a little fat, and said proudly: "I have been on the battlefield for more than ten years, experienced more than 100 battles, and marched and fought at night, which is also a common thing. What's more, I just caught some 'two-legged sheep' and came back today, so why be afraid?" he pointed forward with the whip in his hand and shouted, "Brothers, keep going. ”

The sun finally sank into the sea of clouds below, and the sky was like a curtain, slowly tearing down, and the sky was getting darker and darker. After a while, the group gradually disappeared into the night. A lean man rode his horse and leaned over to Li Yunjin, and called softly: "Brother Yunjin?" Li Yunjin responded, and the man said: "Brother, you have just arrived, and some things are not very clear, so I will tell you about them." "This person's name is Wang Xiao, he is Chen Hu's guard commander, and he takes good care of Li Yunjin, who has just arrived.

Li Yunjin smiled and said, "The junior brother just came, and he doesn't understand a lot, so I ask Commander Xiao for more advice." Wang Xiao smiled, "We are all brothers, you are welcome." We are now collecting grain, and we can't collect anything. It's good to be able to find some people who have killed and pickled sheep, and sometimes you have to use some stratagem."

Li Yunjin was puzzled: "Oh, what kind of strategy?"

Wang Xiao laughed twice and continued: "When we get to the ground, let's make a few big pots and cook the meat, and the fragrance spreads out, and you can smell it from afar." Although the common people hid, they had no food to eat, and there were always people who could not stand the hunger and followed the light of the fire and the fragrance to find them. When the time comes, we will arrest him, and we are afraid that he will not truthfully explain where he is hiding?"

Li Yunjin thought to himself, "This trick is very vicious, I'm afraid I have used it more than once." ”

I heard Wang Xiao say again: "It's like catching a rabbit, catching a big nest." Back, hey, back...... This two-legged sheep is very easy to catch. ”

Li Yunjin said in his heart: "Isn't a two-legged sheep just a human being, and cannibalism and food are no different from beasts! Alas, war is so cruel. He looked sideways at Wang Xiao, and it just so happened that Wang Xiao was also looking at him, and Wang Xiao's eyes were shining in the night, like terrible beasts. Li Yunjin couldn't help but shudder, and thought: "There are frequent wars in the Central Plains, so after this incident, let's hurry back to Shuzhong." ”

The village was soon there, and there were dozens of houses scattered on both sides of the road, and there was no light in the houses, and there was a dead silence. The soldiers searched the village and found nothing.

Chen Hu ordered someone to find the yard of a large family, arranged for a fire to cook, and placed a sentry outside the door. A few soldiers dragged down a few cauldrons from the cart, set up the stove, set up the pots, and some people poured a few buckets of water from the well next to them, and then added some condiments indiscriminately, and finally added the slaughtered goats.

Chen Hu waved his hand, signaled everyone to be quiet, and said, "Brothers, everyone has worked hard in the past few days. Everyone follows me, doing the business of licking blood with knives, I naturally can't treat everyone badly, and I will eat and drink for my brothers to enjoy first. One of the guards beside him shouted: "It is a blessing for all of us to follow the capital, and if you give an order, the sword mountain and the sea of fire will not be a problem." ”

Chen Hu was very useful to this sycophant, and he smiled: "The sword mountain and the sea of fire are not enough, but the military order is like a mountain, everyone must move forward bravely." Now that people's livelihood is withering and food is hard to find, we have to find some 'two-legged sheep' to make up for it. Everyone agreed, and the accompanying generals each brought people to prepare.

After a while, the mutton was ready, and everyone had a full meal with dry food. After the meal, several people hugged Chen Hu into the hall, and the courtyard was quiet for a while, only the whirring wind and the crackling sound of firewood burning were heard.

Li Yunjin had just come in from outside the door when he saw Chen Hu beckoning to him, "You come, I have a few words to ask you." ”

Li Yunjin took a few steps forward and said, "What do you have to say?"

Chen Hu stared at Li Yunjin in front of him and said, "How old are you this year?"

Li Yunjin said: "The young general has just passed the year of the weak crown. ”

Chen Hu seemed to sigh lightly and sneered: "It's a good year, but it's a pity, I'm afraid you won't survive tonight." ”

Li Yunjin was taken aback, his face changed, and he said in shock: "Why did you say this?"

Chen Hu sat leisurely, stretched out his fingers and flicked the wick a few times, and the lights in the room became brighter. Several guards also dispersed at this time, quietly blocking Li Yunjin's retreat. Chen Hu said coldly: "You brought my eldest brother's letter, and he recommended you in the letter, but I have always felt that you are very suspicious. ”

Li Yunjin was also a little panicked in his heart, and said: "General, even if you don't believe me, you should always believe your eldest brother Chen Long, how can there be a problem with the person he introduced?"

Chen Hu has three brothers, he is the second, the eldest brother Chen Long, and the third brother Chen Bao, three of them are classmates, all of whom studied under Master Jingyun of Shaolin Temple. After Yicheng, Chen Long returned to his hometown to sell illicit salt, while Chen Hu and Chen Bao defected to Huangchao. After the defeat of Huang Chao's army, Chen Hu defected to the Qin Zongquan Department, but Chen Bao was nowhere to be found.

Years of experience in birth and death made Chen Hu extremely cautious, most of these soldiers who followed him had experienced life and death together, although Wang Xiao, the commander of the guards, had only arrived in the barracks for less than three months, but he had saved his life on the battlefield, and he trusted these people very much. But for Li Yunjin and Fang Yishan, who were recommended by his eldest brother, he always suspected that the two had other plans.

Hearing Li Yunjin talk about the letter, Chen Hu laughed and said, "My eldest brother's letter did recommend you and Fang Yishan to come to my barracks, but it told me to be careful of the two of you. He explained: "When we exchange letters, there are some secret things that are inconvenient to talk about openly, so we leave a secret message in the letter, and of course those who do not know it can understand it. The reason why I didn't kill you was to see what you were doing in my barracks. ”

Li Yunjin seemed to be stunned and fell silent.

Chen Hu then said: "Which of our brothers has never eaten human flesh? But after you came, you refused to eat anything, and would rather go hungry than eat." Cai Huotou saw you wandering outside my tent in the middle of the night last night, and in the morning, Fang Yishan was gone. I'm going to have to do it first. Haha, I'll tell you, you're dead and blind. ”

Several people in the room were staring at Li Yunjin, although they hadn't moved yet, they were all ready to make a move at any time.

The room fell silent, and for a moment no one spoke. Suddenly, a terrible scream came from outside, and then the screams continued one after another, everyone was taken aback, Chen Hu's face changed, and he was about to stand up, at this moment, Li Yunjin moved. Everyone only felt that the figure in front of them flashed, and when they opened their eyes again, they saw that Li Yunjin had already blocked Chen Hu's vein, and Chen Hu's face had turned pale.

Chen Hu is a lay disciple of Master Jingyun of Shaolin Jingzi, and he has experienced a hundred battles, and his martial arts are not weak. But he was just distracted by the screams outside, Li Yunjin's blow happened suddenly, the most important thing is that he underestimated Li Yunjin's martial arts, and when he felt that it was not good, he felt that his left wrist was tight, like an iron hoop wrapped around his arm, the pain was unbearable, and even his right arm could not use his strength, and cold sweat trickled down his body in an instant.

All the guards shouted in unison: "Boy, have you eaten the bear's heart and leopard gall? A person slashed at Li Yunjin with a knife, Li Yunjin gently pulled Chen Hu, Chen Hu became a shield, the man hurriedly withdrew, fortunately the change was fast, otherwise the knife would have slashed his head.

Chen Hu snorted coldly, and said sharply: "Brothers, don't take care of me, ...... knives" Li Yunjin exerted a little force, and the following words could no longer be said. The guards looked at each other, but none of them dared to move.

The screams outside had gradually stopped, and Li Yunjin smiled at Chen Hu and said, "Dutou, offended." With a slight push of his right hand, Chen Hu couldn't help but walk forward. Their heads were held by others, and the guards didn't dare to do anything, so they had to follow behind.

The door opened, and the fire was blazing outside, and there were soldiers lying on the ground, most of them had not moved, only a few were still moaning in pain, and a man in black stood with his back to them.