Twilight Cloud Returns

For a short section of the mountain road, the wind howled.The young tree that had just grown could not withstand such torture, and was broken in half.

Yun Chuxiu stood in front of Wuqing, flying branches across his face, and a bloodstain dripped on the front of his chest...

Wuqing looked in his eyes distressedly.

Weiwu Cave is located in a hidden place covered by trees on a steep wall. A group of people entered the cave, collapsed on the stones from exhaustion, wiped the man on his forehead, and said: "His grandma's, it can be regarded as coming back..."

In an instant, the torrential rain poured out from the black clouds like a shattering force, and hit the dense tree trunks.The howling wind poured desperately into the entrance of the cave, and the master and the others skillfully blocked the entrance of the cave with the rain wooden curtain that had been set up earlier.

There was no light, and the cave was completely dark.

Hearing the crackling rain outside, Wuqing leaned back in fear until he crashed into Zhihuan's arms.

He had already untied the rope by himself, put his hands on Wuqing's shoulders, and hissed: "Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll untie it for you first..."

Before the action started, there was a sudden sound of scraping fire in the cave.

Erdang lit the fire racks that had been placed around him with a fire pocket, and the Weiwu Cave shone brightly again.The light of the fire shone on the uneven stones, reflecting all kinds of weird and scary ghost shadows.

Yun Chuxiu immediately pretended to be still tied, and leaned side by side with Wuqing honestly on the cave wall.

It's just that there was still a lot of people in the cave just now, but after lighting the torches this time, everyone instantly became silent, their faces were heavy, and they placed altar offerings and other items towards the entrance of the cave, kneeling devoutly in front of the cave.

The weird behavior has not yet been explained, and then the weird earthquake happened again...

The whole mountain was shaking violently, the rocks above the cave were crumbling, and the torches were falling to the ground. It seemed that the cave was about to collapse.

The old scalper didn't know where the shaft strength came from, and immediately broke free from the rope, with a frightened "moo" sound coming from his nostrils, and ran towards the entrance of the cave.

Several people subdued it and cursed in a low voice: "Run around again and sacrifice your life to them!"

Yun Chuxiu took the opportunity to untie the rope for Wuqing directly, pulled Wuqing up and rushed out, and said anxiously to those who still seemed to be praying: "This hole is about to collapse! What are you still waiting for! Don't hurry up and run away!" !"

Not only were they indifferent, they were even very dissatisfied with Yun Chuxiu's restlessness.

More than a dozen people stood up silently, but were furious. They subdued them with brute force, gagged their mouths with cotton cloth, and made them imitate their appearance and knelt down on the ground.

The big earthquake passed quickly, but the wind and rain outside continued.

After about a quarter of an hour, the head of the family got up and said, "It...they are all gone..."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The scholar glared at Yun Chuxiu and Wuqing, and scolded, "If it wasn't for the fact that you can get money from you, you should have been taken away by Yin soldiers!"

Yin soldiers?

Yun Chuxiu and Wuqing were full of doubts at this moment—could the actions just now be worshiping the Yin soldiers?

Everyone tidied up the cave, and soon it returned to its original appearance.

The eldest master drank a bowl of wine boldly, and stammered to the second master: "Gu...Gu Sheng...will...let go of...these two boys...haven't let...let him...they declare themselves !"

Li Gusheng pulled out the cotton cloth, and specially tightened the reining rope, "Let me wait until you run again!"

Yun Chuxiu could take a breather.

Li Gusheng took out the pen, ink, paper and inkstone beside him, and wrote the blackmail letter solemnly.

Yun Chuxiu looked over in the dim light of the fire, and it was still written in lower regular script.Acquiring good calligraphy, even if you go to the city to find a job as a letter writer, it is better than being a robber in the Big Blind Mountain.

He reported Xue Liandao's mansion in Yangzhou, so he should be alert to this old guy.

The head of the family carefully looked at the characters Li Gusheng wrote that he didn't understand at all, grinned and said: "It's really good to be able to... not like me... who only... can only yell... yell... kill……"

Li Gusheng smiled bitterly: "Brother Zhang Qing was joking, literacy is useless, it's not like the same big fellow was forced by the government to come to this Big Blind Mountain and become a bandit."

As soon as the government was mentioned, everyone showed expressions of grief and indignation, clenching their fists as if they were going to fight them with a knife.

Yun Chuxiu asked: "Why do you say you were forced by the government?"

Hearing this, Zhang Qing spat in displeasure.The rest said: "What do you know, a rich man like you! Your family has a great career, and the government protects you. People like us, whose lives are like nothing, even survive has become a luxury!"

Li Gusheng grabbed them who were filled with righteous indignation, and said: "It is useless to argue with them."

The wind and rain outside lasted all afternoon and finally faded at sunset.

Zhang Qing was playing with the feather fan he found from Yun Chuxiu, and when he opened it, the exquisite fan surface drew praise from everyone.

"The things from this rich and noble family are really good... Even the small fan for fanning the wind is so exquisite... We can eat this for a long time if we replace it with food..."

The simple and honest Zhang Qing has never discovered the mystery of the lupine fan, so he closed it and put it on his waist, got up and took two steps, and said triumphantly: "How about it?"

Everyone: "The boss, handsome!"

Li Gusheng brought two bowls of wild vegetables and put them in front of the two of them while a fire was lit in Weiwu Cave, "There's nothing delicious in the wilderness, I'll feel wronged for rich young men like you to eat wild vegetables with rough people like us."

Wuqing also thought that the group of them had become bandits, and the food should be as written in the story book, drinking in big bowls and eating meat in big mouthfuls.

But the reality is not like this, they are still eating leftovers, and their life is very bleak.

Li Gusheng untied the ropes between the two of them, Yun Chuxiu picked up the wild vegetables in front of him, and looked forward - a group of people were gathering wild vegetables from a pot.

In the past, he always saw local officials describe how the people here live and work in peace and contentment in Yangzhou's booklets.

It turned out that the so-called Wufu Minfeng only relied on wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger.

Yun Chuxiu suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. In today's prosperous Da Zhou, he was still starving to death.

Li Gusheng sat next to the two of them, staring at them while eating to prevent them from sneaking out, and the ransom was in vain.

Although the wild vegetables are difficult to swallow, Li Gusheng still bites the bullet and eats them.

Yun Chuxiu looked for a topic and said, "I see that you can write well, but did you go to school before?"

Li Gusheng didn't seem to want to mention it, so he replied dully, "Not only have you been admitted, but you've also been selected as a scholar."

"Then continue to work hard, get fame and fame, and in time, you will be able to break through a world. Why did you fall to this point?"

Li Gusheng put down his chopsticks, and said with a sneer: "Young master who is ignorant of the world always thinks so simply. If you are a scholar, you will be a scholar, a tribute scholar, and a Jinshi. But what if you pass the exam? I am a commoner, with no family background and no background. They are crowded out by those gentry people everywhere."

"Unlearned and incompetent playboys can get official positions with the recommendation of others, but a humble person like me can't see the end of his life. It's better to let them who are forced to go to the mine by the government People can be bandits together, and they can still fill their stomachs."

Li Gusheng's words were astonishing.

Yun Chuxiu was full of sympathy for what he said. The bureaucracy of Da Zhou had a long history of injustice, especially after the rise of the Rong clan, this trend became more prevalent; but he did not expect that the bandits here would be He was once a person who was forced to go to the mine by the government.

Officials forced the people to rebel, and the people had to rebel.

He asked prudently: "Is the mine under it an iron ore mine?"

Li Gusheng looked at him unexpectedly: "It seems that you are not a son who only knows how to eat, drink, have fun, and enjoy yourself. It is true that you are an iron ore mine."

"As far as I know, according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, miners need to make a register, and the government distributes pensions and silver taels every year to comfort them to mine with their lives."

At some point, other people in Weiwu Cave heard the conversation between the two.

Zhang Qing let out a "bah", "There is...a fart pension silver!"

The rest echoed: "Yes, not only did we not receive any compensation money, but the government also forcibly expropriated us without giving us a penny! I saw with my own eyes that so many brothers in the village did not come out alive after entering the iron mine! This is a terrible job." , who dares to go?"

Li Gusheng took over the words and continued: "If they don't go, the government will send people to arrest them. They have to run to the Big Blind Mountain where many people get lost, and the government will report these people as bandits and come to suppress the bandits."

Zhang Qing cursed: "He... grandma's! Bandit... just gangster! Fortunately... fortunately, Gu... Gu has a belly... there is... a little ink in it... command me... let's go ahead... Run...that's why I didn't fall into the hands of those...group of bastards!"

So Yun Chuxiu also understood, no wonder Wei Guoan and others could not complete the task of suppressing bandits after entering Blind Mountain for a long time.In addition to the complicated terrain factors, it is also because they have a small military division that they can live happily.

After chatting for a long time, Zhang Qing suddenly realized that he had nothing to do with the hostage!They grew up with golden spoons in their mouths, and they didn't know the sufferings of the people.

He waved his hand, and said, "Tongtong...Your father-in-law...Your father-in-law...it's useless to talk...except...unless...you...are sent by the court...the court sent you to be more powerful than you... Only after...the officials of the governor...can help...help us clear up...clear our grievances..."

Wuqing couldn't help laughing after listening to his stammering words.

Isn't the one who was tied up the Jiangnan dethronement envoy sent by the imperial court?

He tilted his head to look at Yun Chuxiu, who was lowering his head heavily.

Wuqing quickly understood his purpose of deliberately provoking the robbers today - firstly, these bandits were familiar with the terrain of Blind Mountain, which could solve their predicament of encountering ghosts hitting the wall, and secondly, he wanted to delve into the hidden secrets of Yangzhou's banditry.

It was late at night, Li Gusheng sent a piece of animal skin to the two of them, and said: "The mountains are no better than the city, even though it's already summer, the night in the mountains is still cool."

Wuqing took it and said politely, "Thank you."

Li Gusheng's footsteps stopped suddenly, and he said unexpectedly: "It's the first time I've seen someone tied up, and he can still thank us thieves."

Wuqing's cold syndrome was deeply rooted in his body, Yun Chuxiu put the whole animal skin on his body, and said to Li Gusheng: "It's also the first time I've seen bandits greet the hostages."

Li Gusheng snorted, and said stiffly: "This is asking for Yinzi's health! You still beg your family to send the ransom as soon as possible, and if you miss one or two, you will not be able to leave the Blind Mountain alive!"

Wuqing leaned on Yun Chuxiu's broad shoulders and gradually fell asleep.

But he couldn't sleep, and his eyes looked from the hole full of roadblocks.

There are no stars in the night sky, and the blood-stained dark red spreads from far to near, like the other side of Huangquan Road.

The "storm" in Yangzhou has never stopped.

Not far from the entrance of the cave, Yun Chuxiu seems to have heard the sound of a large group of people moving—first, the long sharp sword slashed across the stones and made a "stab" sound, and then suddenly turned into a noisy cry of soldiers meeting. killing sound.

Yun Chuxiu seemed to have returned to the days when he was stationed outside Yanming Pass, and he was all too familiar with the sound of weapons fighting on the battlefield.

The sound was far and near, in this ethereal mountain, it seemed desolate and sad, and even added a trace of fear.

It's just that in this big blind mountain, where does the army come from?

If Wei Guoan led his men to find the lairs of these thieves, they could just rush in, so why are they playing tricks outside?

Just as he was wondering, one of the robbers who were sleeping soundly got up to urinate in a daze, and the sound of fighting on the battlefield suddenly intensified and became deafening.

The man suddenly woke up from the dream, urinating more and more, but he was frightened.

He trembled, and said in horror: "The Yin soldiers are making excuses... The Yin soldiers are making excuses..."