Astral Apostle

Lu River, Anzhou area.

A team of officers and soldiers of the imperial court, numbering several thousand people, was marching along the road, with spears and halberds like forests and tassel flags like clouds.

Liu Tongzhi rode a warhorse and walked in front of the troops, turning his head to look at the troops that were walking.

"It's hard to lead the army to go out, this time I must show my skills and make a military exploit..."

Liu Tongzhi's eyes flickered.

He was under the control of Anzhou on Luhe River. He was ordered by the prefect to bring thousands of Anzhou soldiers and horses to join forces from other states to attack Hongyun Mountain to suppress bandits.

In recent years, there has been no war in the imperial court, only the border troops occasionally fight against aliens who are not good enough, or the northern troops sometimes sway bandits to suppress bandits.

When the emperor of the dynasty did not like the military, many places had not used swords for many years, and a large number of military attachés in the imperial court had nowhere to obtain military merit. Especially in the southern region like Luhe, there is no chance to fight. Soldiers rarely have drills. Many of them have turned into farmers, and they have long been dissatisfied. Most of them are empty wages, and silver flows into the pockets of generals at all levels.

The prefect of Anzhou gave him 6,000 soldiers and horses, but in reality there were only 3,000 soldiers. This is almost the same situation in other states. Everyone makes money like this.

Liu Tongzhi knew it well, but he wouldn't point it out. After all, he was also a profitee who took advantage of the empty pay.

The officers and soldiers gathered in the four states of Luhe River this time are called an army of 30,000, but in Liu Tongzhi's view, it is not bad to be able to break through 10,000.

But he didn't care too much.

——It’s just to suppress bandits, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers are enough, and even he thinks it’s too much.

Hongyun, Hutou, and Huangdang three mountain thieves add up to 20,000 to 30,000, which sounds intimidating, but I am afraid that the soldiers who can fight are not necessarily more than their officers and soldiers.

Besides, it is still unknown whether this thief will be wiped out...

I heard that the emperor was about to go south for an autumn tour. The prefects of the Luhe prefectures may really want to suppress the bandits, but their military attachés also have their own thoughts.

Liu Tongzhi planned to meet with other state control first. If the situation is good, it is also necessary to raise bandits with self-respect. Otherwise, if the bandits are really killed, there will be no chance to send troops in the future.

They do not lack the courage to suppress bandits, but they have even greater courage to collect money in the name of bandit suppression.

However, they didn't dare to influence the Emperor's Autumn Tour, so the fight had to be really fought, it had to be a victory, at least to block this group of thieves on the mountain for a few months.

Just as Liu Tongzhi was thinking about it, a scout came back.

"Report! The frontier is the boundary of Huangxi County. The subordinates visited and found that something had happened here. The magistrate was assassinated to death yesterday. The murderer did not hide his name. , spread it among the people."

Hearing this, Liu Tongzhi immediately stared, and said in surprise, "Chen Feng?!"

It was the first time he had heard the news.

Among the four states of Luhe River, Anzhou is the closest to Jiangchun, and the state capital is next to Jiangchun.

After Zhou Jing committed the crime in Wenshui County, he did not hide, but committed the crime all the way as usual. Now he has committed crimes in three county towns, and the last crime was in Huangxi County.

As it happened, Liu Tongzhi set off from the state capital and missed the news. The direction of his march was just the opposite of Zhou Jing's, and he ran into this when he passed through this place.

"Lord Commander, please take a look, this is the evil document written by the thief Chen Feng..."

The scout presented a rag.

Liu Tongzhi hurriedly took it, looked down and found that the evil deeds of the magistrate of Huangxi County and others were written in charcoal on it, and finally there was Chen Feng's "Declaration of Evil."

"I vowed to kill all the corrupt officials and bullies in the world? Hmph, Huangkou child, I don't know how high the sky is!"

Liu Tong snorted coldly, his face full of disgust.

As the ruler of a state, he has always been indifferent to drafting and reckless. At this time, seeing Chen Feng boasting about Haikou is even more subconsciously disgusting.

A mere grass citizen,

What about martial arts, how can you change the world?

"This thief Chen Feng is wanted by the Luhe prefectures. Not only does he not hide his name and hide in Tibet, but he also dares to sway through the market and kill people everywhere.

He thought that after Chen Feng left Hongyun Mountain, he would temporarily disappear, but he didn't expect to find this person's whereabouts here.

Liu Tongzhi rolled his eyes and suddenly had an idea.

Although the goal of the expedition was to attack Hongyun Mountain, Chen Feng committed the crime of killing an official and was a repeat offense of the court. Even this expedition to suppress the bandits was related to this person. It was a great achievement to catch him.

Although he still has to march, but since he found the trace of this person, how can he just sit back and watch the great achievement slip away.

Liu Tongzhi was secretly excited, but he felt that he was lucky.

"This thief Chen Feng committed the crime yesterday and should not have gone far... Release all the scout teams and search the whereabouts of this person along the road. Once the thief is found, he will hold on to it and send someone to report. I will be stationed near Huangxi County for the time being. "

Without hesitation, he made arrangements immediately.

This trip is just a rendezvous, and I don't worry about delaying the military plane. It's not a big problem to delay here for two or three days.

If he can't find Chen Feng's whereabouts for a few days, this person is probably far away, and no matter how difficult it is to catch, it will not be too late to turn back and march. He naturally knows how to choose.

...

the other side.

Zhou Jing and his party passed by a tea shed in the countryside. Seeing that the sun was fierce, they took a break for a while.

There were no other guests in the tea shop, everyone took their seats, ordered tea soup, and chatted casually.

"I've been following my brother around for the past few days, I'm really happy, I just feel that I really lived in vain before."

Hong Ding first spoke in a low voice, but his tone was quite excited.

Since Zhou Jing helped him get rid of his enemies, his respect for Zhou Jing has risen to a new level.

Moreover, these few days, he has opened his eyes. Chen Feng's violent temperament has taught him to be full of emotions. He only thinks that a man should be like this. When Lu Jian is not flat, he draws his sword to eradicate evil. Don't look ahead.

Hong Dingxian couldn't help but feel fortunate to leave Hongyun Mountain with Zhou Jing, how could it be so exciting to stay on the mountain.

"That's not true. Back then, I followed my second brother to make trouble in Anlin's house, which was also a general idea."

Fang Zhen laughed, feeling deeply.

Guo Haishen was a little more mature and worried: "Second brother really wants to kill Jiang Chun all the way with great fanfare? In this way, I am afraid that we will not be able to move an inch in the future, and if we show up, officers and soldiers will be hunted down."

Zhou Jing took a sip of tea, waved his hand and said, "I'm running around, and the number of people is small. Even if the officers and soldiers raise their troops and move the crowd, it will be difficult to round me up."

Lin Song on the side did not dare to speak.

He has seen Zhou Jing's behavior in the past few days, and only then did he realize that this person is a lawless generation, and he was cowardly, and did not dare to speak up easily.

Just as the group was drinking tea soup, a few sweaty passersby walked in.

Seeing this group of strong and powerful men, a few passersby hesitated and sat in the corner.

Zhou Jing and others stopped when they saw outsiders, and drank tea for themselves.

After a while, the passersby started chatting. For fear of disturbing Zhou Jing and other big men, their voices were so low that ordinary people couldn't hear what they were saying.

However, many of Zhou Jing and his party were proficient in martial arts and had outstanding ears. They heard a series of words such as "court soldiers and horses", "Hongyun Mountain", "suppressing bandits".

Hearing these words, everyone's eyes flashed and they exchanged glances.

Guo Haishen got up immediately, holding a bowl of tea, smiled and leaned over to chat.

He travels all over the world, and he is also good at this kind of communication.

Guo Haishen chatted with these passersby for a while before returning to the crowd and winking, indicating that this is not the place to go into details.

Everyone understood, paid for the tea, left the tea shop, walked a short distance, and then asked the reason.

"I just found out that the four states of Luhe and the river joined forces to attack Hongyun Mountain, claiming to be 30,000 troops. This Anzhou sent 6,000 officers and soldiers, and they happened to be nearby. Those passers-by saw it yesterday."

Guo Haishen's tone was solemn.

Everyone was surprised.

"Thirty thousand soldiers and horses to suppress bandits? Why are there so many this time?"

Hong Dingxian was shocked.

He had also seen officers and soldiers suppressing bandits in his career in Hutou Mountain, but this was the first time he had heard of such a big hand.

Fang Zhen snorted coldly: "Hey, there are a lot of people in the army who are on empty pay. Half of the 30,000 people is not bad."

"There are 15,000 people in half, not a small number. The second brother helped Hongyun Mountain expand, and the three villages were combined into one village, becoming a big bandit in Luhe. It is estimated that the prefects of the prefectures can't sit still, and they have to send troops... Hongyun Mountain is here. The second is in danger, second brother, what should we do?"

Guo Haishen asked.

Everyone turned to look at Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing touched his chin, and said in deep thought, "What do you guys think?"

"Go back to Hongyun Mountain and help Yuzhai Master to repel the officers and soldiers."

Guo Haishen didn't hesitate.

Zhou Jing shook his head, noncommittal.

"Could it be that brother is going to ignore it?" Guo Haishen was surprised.

Zhou Jing waved his hand: "The Anzhou soldiers and horses are nearby. I'll go to check the facts first. If I can take advantage of it, I can disturb the soldiers and horses and cut off the officers and soldiers. As for Hongyun Mountain, I don't have to go back."

He didn't want to go back to Hongyun Mountain to help. After all, he was not a group. He helped Yu Feng to expand, and he had already repaid his love for shelter. Although this led to officers and soldiers to conquest, it is best for Hong Yunshan to pass this test by himself, and he can't get any benefits.

The officers and soldiers are powerful, and if they don’t go back, Green Forest Road will not say anything. However, it was not in line with Chen Feng's temperament to completely stand by, so Zhou Jing decided to help indirectly.

Fang Zhen was taken aback: "Second brother, how can the six thousand soldiers in Anzhou be disturbed?"

Zhou Jing said in a deep voice: "I care about myself, you don't have to follow me, I am enough."

"How can I let my brother be in danger alone?!"

The crowd was in an uproar and immediately objected.

"The fewer people in this matter, the better. If you intervene, it will bring more risks."

Zhou Jing's tone was firm, he discouraged everyone, and said his plan.

After listening, everyone was stunned and shouted boldly.

However, everyone had seen Zhou Jing's amazing martial arts, and after hesitating again and again, he was persuaded and decided to let Zhou Jing act alone.

...

That night.

Next to Huangxi County, thousands of soldiers and horses under Liu Tong's command camped on the spot, waiting to rest.

At the same time, Zhou Jing was lying on a dirt slope, observing the camp below, his eyes flickering.

"Fortifications and sentry patrols are quite reliable. They are much better than bandits. The commander is a bit of a soldier... but it's still useless to me."

A large number of court officers and soldiers did not hide their tracks, so Zhou Jing only inquired a little during the day and knew the camping location of Anzhou soldiers and horses.

On the way, he also found officers and soldiers scouts searching around him, so he figured out the ins and outs... Apparently, this troop passed through Huangxi County and found traces of his crime, so he stopped the march for the time being and wanted to try to catch him.

Guo Haishen and others continued to move forward, revealing their tracks to passers-by, and deliberately led away the chasing soldiers and horses, making people think they were moving away.

Zhou Jing himself turned back quietly, and took advantage of the darkness to find the camp of Anzhou soldiers and horses.

He didn't plan to break through thousands of troops in Anzhou, but commanding troops and horses required officers at all levels, and the plan was crude and simple.

He is currently incapable of rushing to kill thousands of troops head-on, and his ability to assassinate is to maximize the efficiency of destruction.

It is impossible to start on the march, but the troops always need to camp, and this is the opportunity. Even if the officers and soldiers are on guard again, if they want to sneak in single-handedly, they can always find flaws.

"Anzhou claims to have 6,000 soldiers and horses, why doesn't it seem like they don't even have half of them?"

Zhou Jing observed the camp and muttered to himself.

This is good news. It is more convenient to sneak in and kill yourself.

He took a deep breath, turned on the map radar, and quietly touched the camp in the darkness.

...

Inside the camp, the main tent.

Liu Tongzhi wore a helmet and armor, read at night with the lamp on, and watched the military situation reported by the scouts during the day.

"This Chen Feng really hasn't gone far... This official is really lucky!"

Liu Tongzhi was in high spirits and his heart was surging.

If you win this Chen Feng, you will be rewarded by the imperial court.

Moreover, this Chen Feng once injured Qin Xiang's disciples, and he made this merit by himself, and he may even climb the Qin Party, and his success is just around the corner!

Liu Tongzhi was secretly excited, and he was bound to win. He only felt that the future of promotion and fortune was beckoning to him.

At this moment, the door curtain was suddenly opened.

A man dressed as a soldier walked in without notice.

Liu Tongzhi was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously shouted: "Which battalion are you a soldier? Who let you in? Where are the guards outside the door?"

Zhou Jing didn't say a word, and pulled out his waist knife.

At this time, Liu Tongzhi realized that something was wrong, his face changed greatly, he hurriedly pulled out his sword, and shouted:

"Come on! Help..."

brush!

The bright light of the sword disappeared in a flash.

Liu Tongzhi's body froze, a blood line appeared on his neck, and fine blood beads ooze out.

He widened his eyes in disbelief, made two "ho ho" sounds in his throat, and fell backwards, slamming to the ground.

'How can I die here before this official shows off his skills...'

Liu Tongzhi's face was full of unwillingness, and he struggled to raise his hand, as if trying to grab something, but in the end his palm was unable to hang down.