Fox Road Travel Notes

Suddenly, someone shouted in the darkness ahead: "Who?"

Dozens of men in black pulled out their long knives and dispersed silently, protecting Wang Heming and several carriages in the middle.

At the same time, he threw several torches into the darkness ahead.

"The gathering of dragons and tigers from all directions——"

Under the light of the dancing torches, several people flashed out from the roadside.

"Unify the mountains and rivers, the sun and the moon!"

Someone here responded.

"Commander Wang, is that you? Brother, I'm here to welcome you, haha..."

Following the laughter, a strong man dressed as a rich man strode over with a big face and ears.

Wang Heming whispered to Chen Zican, "This is Master He."

He quickly got off his horse and stepped forward with a smile.

"Brother He, why are you willing to come out of your comfort zone and welcome you from afar? I'm ashamed of myself..."

The two held hands and laughed.

Chen Zican couldn't help but sit in the carriage, and he quickly got out of the carriage when he saw that Kou'er was sleeping soundly.

Just in time, Monk Tong also came from behind the team.

"Old He, haha, Master He, if you don't prepare the wine for my old boy at home, what are you doing here in the dark?"

It seemed that Monk Tong was very affectionate with the Master He.

"Be prepared, your monk Tong is a water ghost, and I, Lao He, am an alcoholic."

"Drinking water, I can't drink you. Drinking water, how can you be my opponent?..."

The two laughed again.

Monk Tong pulled Chen Zican over and said, "Lao He, Military Advisor Wang and I brought you an honored guest today."

"This little brother's surname is Chen. He is a new friend of Commander Wang and I. He is very capable, and his background is even more impressive..."

Chen Zican hurriedly stepped forward to greet him: "Hello Master, my Excellency, Chen Zican..."

However, he saw that the owner of He Village narrowed his eyes slightly, and only felt two cold flashes in the firelight. He was already looking Chen Zican up and down calmly.

Gong Gong said, "Brother Chen, you're welcome. You are a friend of Military Advisor Wang and Monk Tong, so naturally you are a friend of me, Lao He."

"Come on, get on your horse, let's go to the farm and have a drink..."

Monk Tong put his arm around Chen Zican's shoulders and said with a smile: "My brother, although he is very capable, has a small capacity for drinking. If you want anything later, just come to me, old Tong..."

Several people got on the horse while talking and laughing.

Chen Zican was too embarrassed to ride in the car, so he also rode on the big black horse and walked towards the dim lights in the distance.

After walking for another five or six miles, when we were about to reach midnight, we saw a blur of buildings in front of us.

A high wall of green bricks extends into the depths of darkness. There are two red-painted doors with tall lights on them. There are several well-dressed men standing next to them.

Wang Heming smiled and said to Chen Zican: "Congratulations, Master, this village is very magnificent."

"He retired from the world and built a gold-selling cave like this for his friends on the green forest road to rest, gamble and play."

"It's very convenient to ask about something and buy something..."

Chen Zican nodded and thought to himself: "Isn't it just a dark den for exchanging intelligence, gambling and selling stolen goods?"

As soon as he entered the door, he saw two people coming out.

A man with a gray beard and wrinkles on his forehead looked like a weathered old farmer.

Next to him was a thick, dark, tower-like man.

Wang Heming was stunned, immediately dismounted, stepped forward quickly, and bowed respectfully.

"Mr. Ren, I never thought that you would be here first. How are you always?"

"Brother Ba, you are still so majestic..."

Monk Tong and Chen Zican also dismounted quickly. Monk Tong whispered: "This is the leader of the Taihang Mountain Rebel Alliance, Gourd King Ren Liang, Mr. Ren."

"Next to him, that's the fierce general in his village, Bashan Tiger."

Chen Zican secretly cursed: "How come this whole journey is destined to gourd!"

"I deceived a gourd boy on the road, tricked two gourd scholars on the river, and now I met a gourd king, and a set of gourd dolls is about to be completed..."

The old farmer over there laughed loudly and took Wang Heming's hand.

"Commander Wang has come a long way and it's hard work. I am my half-host after all. How can I keep you waiting for so long?"

He looked Wang Heming up and down and said in admiration: "Commander Wang is still as handsome as ever, but I am getting older!"

"It's a pity that among our three cliffs, there is no Mr. Zhuge like you. Otherwise, I would have gone to the capital long ago..."

Everyone laughed again.

However, Monk Tong was quite dissatisfied and whispered to Chen Zican: "Every time this old guy sees our military advisor, he looks like his father-in-law to his son-in-law. He likes him so much that he wants to drag him back to Huluchuan."

"Don't even look at the kind of friendship that Brother Wu and I have with Commander Wang..."

Wang Heming exchanged greetings with him and then introduced Chen Zican.

The Gourd King saw that Chen Zican was just a young junior, with eyes like stars, and he was barely decent.

But with his small body, he didn't look like a practicing practitioner at first glance, and he probably didn't have much ability, so he made a few casual remarks.

At this time, two more people walked out of the hall, wearing Confucian clothes and white scarves wrapping their heads. They looked at Wang Heming from a distance and bowed to the ground.

Wang Heming hurriedly returned the salute and said with a smile: "Brother Qingui, brother Zhonghua, you haven't been taught for a long time, how are you always?"

The two people on the opposite side straightened up.

The short-built scholar glanced at the Calabash King and the Tong Monk from the corner of his eyes.

He smiled and said: "Thanks to the good news from Brother Heming, I learned that Master Wang is about to send troops to the Northern Expedition. We, the disciples of the saints, are determined to serve the country with all our fists. How dare we stay behind in the grass..."

The Calabash King's face was filled with anger, and he spat a mouthful of thick phlegm on the ground.

He cursed in a low voice: "Smelly Sour Ding! Scholars have rebelled, it will take ten years..."

Monk Tong felt a little embarrassed when he saw that they were only talking to Wang Heming but not talking to him.

He whispered to Chen Zican: "These two are Zhou Qingui and Ren Zhonghua from the Yushan White-headed Army."

"They are mostly talented people. They always have their noses in the air and are very proud."

"Hmph, even though they are both scholars, compared with our military advisors, it's like shit and gold..."

Wang Heming was also a little embarrassed.

Can Ming now only has three provinces: Yun, Qian, Guangxi, and Hunan, but there are countless factions.

The noble and veteran ministers who fled from the north looked down on the new nobles and backwards from the south.

The new rich in the south were backward and looked down on the former Dashun Army and the Western Army that had come to join them.

The Dashun Army and the Western Army looked down upon the rebels from three mountains and five mountains.

These pretentious scholars in the rebel army looked down upon the recklessness of fighting side by side...

Chen Zican frowned and said loudly: "I once heard a story."

"It is said that during the Dragon Boat Festival, every family hangs mugwort figures on their doors."

"The door god was furious when he saw it. What kind of bastard are you?"

"A handful of dying grass actually dares to stand on my head!"

"The mugwort people also retorted, these outdated things like you should have been thrown into the garbage dump long ago, how can you still have the honor to occupy the position?"

"Taofu advises them, I mean you two, it's just our own fault that we are in such a bad situation now!"

"Everyone is just hanging on and clinging to their family, so what else is left to fight for?..."

Zhou Qingui and Ren Zhonghua both had stagnant expressions and stayed on the spot.

Gourd King Ren touched his beard, smacked it, and laughed.

He patted Chen Zican's thin shoulder hard: "That's right. If we hadn't been corrupted by this group of corrupt scholars, how could our Ming Dynasty be in such a state?"

"Well, you young man is good at talking. It's a bit interesting, and it suits my old Ren's taste."

"How about you come to the three cliffs of Huluchuan?"

"My little granddaughter is only fourteen years old. She looks like a flower——"