Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

Rumble—boom!

Thunder passed from a distance and exploded in my ears. A few flashes of lightning flashed through the clouds, crossing a long arc in the sky. The air was stagnant at this moment. The first rain of spring seemed to be today. It's about to fall.

Since the warm spring, or perhaps earlier when the Yuan Dynasty went north to attack, most places between Liaoyang Prefecture and Shenzhou and Guizhou have been afraid of the outbreak of war. In order to avoid being affected, villages and manors between the two places have fled. There are countless people fleeing the war. Most of the villages are empty, with few people still staying in their homes. Large tracts of fertile and beautiful land are left uncultivated, but in the rare spring time, no one goes to take care of the land.

On a hillside next to the deserted village, dozens of riders stood high up looking at the dark clouds in the sky.

"Hiss... It's really going to rain. If you're only two or three days away, you'll encounter rain when you step out of the gate. It's really a good day to send troops."

"Don't be nagging." Among the dozens of riders, the general at the head was Yelu Yujian. He was dressed in luxurious armor with cloud patterns carved on his shoulders. In the middle of the armor was carved a ferocious wolf head, with an iron helmet on his head. Wrapped in black wolf fur, he said something indifferently, then turned to the guards accompanying him: "Can the baggage and food be transported into the camp?"

Someone from the rear rode his horse two steps forward and clasped his fists at the rear: "Just now, General Han sent a message, saying that the camp had been set up and food and grass had been brought into the camp. However, General Aba also sent a message, saying that General Cao had not brought his army and horses. Return to camp, and the scouts sent to the south have not returned to camp for a long time, and may have been intercepted by Lu Thief's scouts. "

"General Cao... Cao Mingji?" Yelu Yujian frowned: "That guy came with me... huh? Wait... I remembered that this guy has a bad reputation in the army and is always looking for opportunities. The thresher, bah - I came here to make a fortune, but it’s a shame there aren’t many people in this village, otherwise I would have wanted him to look good.”

Xu Shi thought that Cao and Chu were here for surveillance, so he grumbled and reined in his horse: "Let's go, if the scouts don't come back, it may not be safe here. Let's go back and guard the camp..."

A few raindrops fell down. Yeluyu stopped talking and touched the water drops on his face: "Tsk...this damn weather, I really don't know whether to thank or curse..."

Several close guards at the back heard the words and smiled: "Sure, we think we should thank you, otherwise we have to go forward in the rain at this time. If we fight with the Lu thief first, wouldn't we let the big man in the west Handsome and proud?"

"Hahaha, that's good. Who wants to rush in this weather? Let's go!"

With a whip on the horse, a group of guards shouted quickly and followed behind the coach. The sky rumbled in the distance, and bits and pieces of rain fell down, forming a rain curtain.

……

at the same time.

Half a million cavalrymen heading northeast were trotting. In the gray rain curtain, Lu Bu wiped the rain off his face. Looking back, he saw dense black shadows rising and falling as the horses ran. Occasionally there were The sound of weapons clashing, the atmosphere was solemn and murderous.

"Report——" A horse galloped from the front, turned sideways in the distance, and followed the cavalry heading north. While the other riders were giving way, they came to the rear of Lu Bu and shouted loudly: "Ma Sima sent me to report. The scouts in front have been strangled. "Sir, the rain is getting heavier now, and Sima asked if he should continue to explore."

"Keep moving forward." Lu Bu looked back at him and said, "Find the enemy's central army, don't worry about his vanguard, someone only wants Yelu Yu to see his position!"

"Yes."

The scout responded loudly, tightened the reins, ran out from the side, whipped the horse frequently and galloped away into the distance. After a while, he disappeared into the rain curtain, and there was a strange whistle in the distance. Lu Bu touched Red Rabbit's wet mane and narrowed his eyes. The rain came just in time to cover up the traces of the cavalry. He just hoped that the rain would last longer.

……

"...That's growing food, you can't rob it!"

The old man in coarse linen clothes shouted and rushed forward, grabbed the soldier's arm, and fought with him vigorously. Behind him, the old woman with a cane walked tremblingly into the rain, raised the pulp-coated wooden stick in her hand and beat him tremblingly. Past: "I'll beat you to death, you beast! Let go of my man!"

Behind them, chickens croaked and dogs barked. Several Liao soldiers twisted their chicken wings and walked out. They kicked away the dogs barking at them and looked at their fellow comrades who were being pulled away with a smile: "You can't do that, kid. You can't even do two... Even the old guys can’t beat you, so I don’t care about you anymore, it’s starting to rain heavily.”

In the chaos, the soldier blushed, punched the old man in the face with his hand, and then kicked the old woman away. The muddy water splashed up. The soldier wiped his face, cursed and walked away with the other soldiers.

Outside the village, a general in armor casually took the bamboo hat handed by a soldier, took off his iron helmet and put it on. Listening to the sound of raindrops, he looked up at the sky, spat on the ground, and shouted loudly: "Everyone, come into the village. Damn it, how can we go back in such a heavy rain? Let’s go inside and take a rest!”

Cao Mingji was a border general. According to the tradition of the Liao army, he would cross the border to the Song Dynasty every year to clear grass and plunder valleys. Although the number of grass and valley clearing has become less common in the past few decades due to the easing of relations between the two countries, it has not disappeared.

He was already addicted to plundering on the border. He was transferred to Nanjing as a general and did not dare to break the law and rob villages. He finally set off to conquer Liaodong. He followed Yelu Dezhong all the way and did not dare to do anything arbitrarily. He was already depressed and uncomfortable. It was rare for him to be He was sent to monitor Yelu Yujian, so he found an opportunity to talk to Chu Mingyu. Anyway, Liaodong was full of rebels. Even if his colleagues in the army knew about it, they would just turn a blind eye. He had three thousand people under his command. , simply left two thousand for Chu Mingyu, and took a thousand people out to the village to have fun.

After the order was issued, the soldiers cheered and ran to the house carrying a few items. Some people chopped up tables and chairs and lit a fire to keep warm.

The village was not big, and all the unoccupied houses were occupied, so we had to go to the houses that were still inhabited. The villagers who stayed behind saw that they were still trying to seize their homes after robbing them. How could they be willing to do so? As soon as they uttered the word "no", they were immediately hacked with swords and guns. , stabbed to the ground, the blood gradually diluted as the rain fell, seeping into the earth.

The rain curtain gradually became denser, and the sky became gloomier and darker. Several fast horses galloped from the southwest. They couldn't help but be overjoyed when they saw the lights on in the village. The horses moving forward were like drowned in water. They wiped the cold rain from their faces and pointed at the village. : "There's a house over there, go there to have a rest and drink some hot soup."

Immediately, he beat his horse and left. When he arrived at the first house at the entrance of the village, a scout jumped off his horse impatiently and came up to pat the door: "Excuse me, the rain is too heavy. I wonder if I can stay here for a while to rest my legs?"

Boom——

There was thunder and rain, and laughter came from far away in the village. Ma Ling in the team dismounted and took a step, then suddenly changed his color: "No! Why are there so many people in this village?"

squeak-

The concierge opens. (End of chapter)