Under the sky

Chapter 165 Smell the wind

Li Jingfeng ran all the way to the outside of the town. The people behind him came calling, but the pursuit became more and more powerless.Amao shouted: "Go to the courtyard!" Li Jingfeng walked around to the Zhenxi courtyard.Although there were many residents along the way, no one paid attention to him. Although they heard the noise of fighting, who was in the mood to watch the fun?Aren't you all lying on the bed hungry now?

After entering the courtyard, Li Jingfeng looked around and saw no pursuers. Then he took a breath and sat on the ground. Thinking that Wang Meng had fallen into the enemy's hands, he couldn't help but hold his head in frustration.He remembered that Third Master had taught him that he could treat everyone as the best person, but he had to be wary of everyone as the worst person. It was only his own lack of thinking that led to this disaster.

"You're an idiot!" Amao scolded, "You expose this matter and get credit for nothing. What's the benefit to you?"

Li Jingfeng pondered for a while and said: "I didn't want any benefits. It's just that I was too hasty to do this and didn't think clearly about it."

"How do you think clearly?" Amao sneered, "You've never been hungry! People are so hungry that it's useless to betray others. Even parents and sons are just meat in the bowl! You ask for your own blessings, and you can use them to arrest others. Just leave the money, you’re just a bitch, you’re asking for trouble!”

Li Jingfeng said: "I've thought about this too, but I haven't thought about it thoroughly. I'll have to think more about it when encountering problems in the future."

Amao asked: "How can you be so thoughtful? If you tell a hundred people, a hundred people will betray you! Can you think of a way with your stupid head?"

Li Jingfeng was a little annoyed when he heard him curse every time he opened his mouth, so he said, "I have a way to handle this matter without being betrayed."

"Nonsense!" Amao said, "What can you do?"

Li Jingfeng said: "You always call me stupid. You are smart. You can figure it out on your own. If you can't figure it out, let me teach you. Aren't you more stupid than stupid?"

Amao just didn't believe it and thought Li Jingfeng was talking nonsense. Li Jingfeng then said: "I only told Li Siliang and two disciples about this today, so I was betrayed. If I found more than twenty disciples to listen, how could Liao Ming do it?" Allowing so many people to share the spoils with him? Aren’t they all divided too thin? If you tell them this clearly, they will know that informing is useless, and will instead unite against Liao Ming."

Amao heard what he said and felt that it made sense.Seeing Li Jingfeng stand up again, Amao asked, "Where are you going?"

Li Jingfeng said: "I left first just to save you. Now that you are safe, I will go and save Brother Wang."

"Bah!" Amao was furious, but then he suddenly thought about it and said, "It's not impossible. You are so good at martial arts. They must be afraid of you and don't want to make things worse. Go and ask them for some silver and food. Just say it. After this matter is revealed, it will be beneficial for you to get some silver and share some food with me."

"I don't want silver. I have many ways to get silver." Li Jingfeng still shook his head, "I'll just pay it in."

"Punch in?" Amao's eyes widened.

"It's good for me at night. Besides, most of these people have weak hands and feet. Only about twenty of them can fight. I wonder if there are any other helpers in the Liao Mansion." He adjusted his leggings and took off the wooden wrist guards. , re-tied.

Amao felt that this man was incredibly stupid: "You managed to escape, and now you want to go back?"

Li Jingfeng nodded: "You stay here and wait for me, and you will have food tomorrow."

"There is not enough food to share!" Amao was anxious.His main thought was to find some food for the old man. If he stored enough food, the old man would not drive him away. He said anxiously: "This town has been sitting on empty food for a month. Even if the remaining food is taken back, it won't be enough for a few days. Everyone is exhausted." I’m hungry and scared, something is going to happen!”

"Then what do you think?" Li Jingfeng asked.

"Take your money, take your grain, and share some with me. You can save your friends without taking risks." Amao couldn't help but repeat the words, "If you don't say it, the townspeople will die. You said it, but the townspeople are not alive, so what kind of muddy water are you dripping in, and what kind of disease are you suffering from?"

"What about Liao Ming?" Li Jingfeng asked, "Just let him go?"

"Liao Gouzi will do your damn thing!" Amao said, "He will go wherever he falls in love!"

"These are two things." Li Jingfeng said, "Liao Ming has to clean up, and he also has to help the townspeople get food back. Even if it is not enough, he will find a way later."

"What can I do? There is no way!" Amao said again.

Li Jingfeng felt that there would be no result if the argument continued, so he thought for a moment and said, "The lives of more than a thousand people are at stake, and we cannot just sit idly by." After speaking, he stood up and said, "Wait for my news here."

Just as Li Jingfeng was about to leave, Amao hurriedly shouted: "Wait!"

Li Jingfeng asked: "What's wrong?"

Amao thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "I'll help you tell him."

"What did you say?" Li Jingfeng was confused.

"You fight in, and they threaten you with your friends. What do you do? You win, but your friends are also dead."

"I will act in secret." Li Jingfeng replied, "He will find a way, and I will also find a way."

"Then use my method!" Amao said, "I will go and tell him to let your friend go and return the food and treasure to the townspeople."

"Will he agree?" Li Jingfeng asked.

"Of course I won't agree! You have to give him a way to go. Just let him take more food so that he can escape to the Tieling Gang. You are so good at martial arts, he can't beat you. As you said, except for him With those lackeys, the people in the town are half-dead from hunger and cannot be beaten. If he doesn't agree and wants to threaten you with hostages, I will say that hostages are useless. You will still break in and kill people. If he doesn't want to take risks, he will agree. He won't be so peaceful, and he will definitely have to hide some of his wealth, even if he is allowed to make money, there won't always be much."

"The less he can make, the less trouble you will have. Everyone should take a step back." Amao said.

"What if he doesn't agree? Then he captures you?" Li Jingfeng asked, "What if there's not one more hostage?"

"If he doesn't agree to let you call in again, what kind of hostage can I be? I'll pass the message and I won't collude with you." Amao said, "I have a condition."

Li Jingfeng nodded and said, "I know, you want food."

Amao nodded: "I want to take it first. Since the old man is gone, I will take the old man's share, as long as it is enough. I will escape by myself and I won't care about you."

Li Jingfeng thought for a while and said, "Then I'll wait for the news."

Seeing that he agreed, Amao said happily: "Okay!" and then walked out quickly.

■

Li Siliang came back with three large sheets of pancakes and a palm-sized piece of dried meat, and woke up his sleeping father and wife.The two of them complained with their sleepy eyes open, and their eyes widened when they smelled the aroma of cakes.

"I was rewarded by Captain Liao Fen for my meritorious service in apprehending fugitives." Li Siliang said, "Eat slowly, don't be in a hurry."

He looked at the gluttonous appearance of his father and daughter-in-law.Liao Ming told him that he was responsible for this matter. In three days, the Tieling Gang would send someone to pick him up and follow them to Guangdong, and then escape to Fujian to settle down. That was the territory of the Beggar Gang and Hengshan had no control over it.

Liao Ming made an agreement with his brother-in-law to settle a 50-[-] split with the Tieling Gang. At that time, he would give Li Si [-] [-] taels, and he could follow him or find another way to make a living. The most important thing was to avoid famine.

A loud noise of "Bang!" startled the father and his wife, and the child woke up crying.The wife asked timidly: "What are you unhappy about?"

"There are fugitives in the town, and the helmsman needs someone to guard him." Li Siliang stood up and said, "I have to go back and watch the night."

Most of the disciples were called, 53 in total, to patrol outside the gate of Liao Mansion. They were all so hungry that their faces were sallow and their spirits were exhausted. When they saw Li Siliang, they didn't even have the energy to say hello.

They don't know that the Liao Mansion is full of food and drink every day, and the wealth accumulated by the people of the town over the years is packed into large wooden boxes.

Wang Meng was tied up in the hall. Liao Ming escorted him back, fearing that he would scold along the way, so he stuffed a piece of cloth in his mouth.When he saw Li Siliang, he glared angrily. Li Siliang wanted to explain, but he saw guards following him, so he had to turn his head.

Liao Ming's wife directed her disciples to fill the last box, which totaled more than twenty boxes. Some contained silver and two copper coins, which required four people to lift them into the carriage, and some contained soft goods, decorations, and antiques.With such a large sum of money, no wonder they had to wait for help from the Tieling Gang to arrive before they could leave. How about relying on these twenty or so people and encountering powerful horse bandits on the way, why not give it to others for free?Besides, if he is discovered before leaving town, no one knows whether the townspeople who know they have been deceived will fight tooth and nail.

"It's the fourth watch, is there still food this morning?" Ma Ji, the leader of the execution hall, asked Liao Ming.

"It won't work if we don't let him go. More than 1000 people are making trouble. It's terrible." Liao Ming said thoughtfully.

"Then the fugitive is still outside, what if he is making a fuss?" Maggie asked.

"Bah! Who listens to him!" Liao Ming said, "Put more food today, twice as much as usual. Just say that the Tieling Gang's food will arrive in three days. There is no need to skimp on these two days. Everyone has two meals a day, double the portion. .”

"After three days, my brother-in-law will bring more than a hundred people. We won't be afraid that we won't be able to contain the crowd." Liao Ming said, walking up and patting Li Siliang on the shoulder, and said, "Don't tell your family about this, tell us Just go.”

Li Siliang responded respectfully.

The door suddenly opened, and someone pulled Amao in.I saw Liao Ming walking up quickly and shouted: "Are you colluding with the fugitives? How dare you come here?"

"Give me something to eat!" Amao shouted, "I know where the fugitive is hiding!"

Li Siliang was shocked when he heard Amao shout loudly: "I want a jar of rice, enough to last for a month. I won't tell you if there's even one missing grain! If you kill me, the fugitive will come after you." You run away all the way, and he chases you all the way! He is so capable that you can't guard him day and night!"

Li Siliang listened to Liao Ming talking to Amao. Liao Ming said that he was willing to pay 200 taels of rice and grain so that Li Jingfeng would not embarrass him. The reputation of assassinating the deputy head of Songshan really frightened Liao Ming.Amao just wanted food, saying that Li Jingfeng was hiding in the Zhenxi compound, and asked Liao Ming to talk to Li Jingfeng by himself.

With the experience last time, Liao Ming made preparations and ordered 50 people, all with knives and bows, and each person was given a bowl of meat porridge.No wonder the ancients said that the emperor is always ready for hungry soldiers. Damn it, a disciple who doesn't have enough to eat will fall down at a push.Amao was left behind, and Liao Ming gave him a big cake. He ate it in a few mouthfuls, took a jar of rice and was about to leave, but was detained, saying that he would wait for the criminal to be caught.

Even Amao betrayed Li Jingfeng. Li Siliang thought to himself, if a person is extremely hungry, he can do anything, not to mention that he is not really hungry enough to breathe, but just too hungry to have any strength. He really believes what the ancients said People cannibalize people, and when the day comes, he will probably have to let go of his self-esteem.

The pancakes have been eaten by the old father and daughter-in-law, so why talk about self-esteem...

Li Siliang did not follow, saying that food would be distributed later and people would need to stay in the compound, so he stayed behind with Ma Ji, the master of the execution hall.He guessed that Liao Ming would not necessarily fight with Li Jingfeng. He had followed this helmsman for more than ten years and knew that he was afraid of trouble. He should be thinking of giving Li Jingfeng a sum of money to drive him away. Will Li Jingfeng agree?

I guess not. If he would agree, wouldn't he have come to blackmail him earlier?
The big pot at the door has already been set up, and waves of rice fragrance float in.It was the fifth watch, and it would be dawn soon. As usual, the people waiting for food distribution had almost gathered at this time, and he was going to go outside the gate to maintain order.He heard the disciples at the door shouting, saying that the Tieling Gang's food was coming, so there was no need to worry about it. There would be a lot of rice in the porridge today, and two pieces of meat would be given out.

He heard thunderous cheers outside the door, turned around and saw Maggie's sneer, and saw more than [-] wooden boxes on the ground.

What will happen to these people next?He thought...no matter what, he couldn't be saved.He knew how much food was left here. If everyone in the town was really fed, they wouldn't be able to survive for three days.

Just as he was thinking about it, suddenly a figure flew down from the eaves. It was Li Jingfeng. Wasn't he hiding in the Zhenxi compound?

Even Amao was dumbfounded.

Li Jingfeng rushed into the courtyard. Most of the guarding disciples followed Liao Ming out. There were six more disciples looking at the cauldron outside the door. The only fourteen disciples left in the courtyard immediately surrounded them and slashed out with their swords. Li Jingfeng was stunned. Sliding, he passed through the gap between the two people, turned around, and shook his sword, knocking one unconscious and kicking the other.

The remaining 12 people in the house immediately rushed over and surrounded Li Jingfeng.Li Jingfeng tried his best not to kill anyone, but these 12 people were all well-fed and well-fed guards. They were no better than hungry civilians who could be knocked down with just a push. He drew his sword and stabbed one person in the thigh, turned around and slashed another one with his palm. There was a sound of wind behind him, and he dodged slightly, " With a "pop" sound, fortunately it was only a slight scratch. He kicked one person back and rushed towards Wang Meng.

When Wang Meng saw Li Jingfeng being surrounded, he was worried. When he saw Li Siliang rushing forward, he knew that he was going to take him as a hostage, so he couldn't help but struggle.Li Siliang grabbed Wang Meng, his mind was racing, and he slashed with his knife, splitting the restraints on Wang Meng's body.

"Li Siliang, what are you doing!" Ma Ji, the leader of the execution hall, saw Li Siliang let go of the hostage and took a step forward to attack with his sword.Li Siliang pushed Wang Meng away to block. He was very hungry. He gave all the food given by Liao Ming to his father and wife. When the two knives collided, Li Siliang's wrist went limp, and the waist knife fell out of his hand. He was hit in the chest and blood sprayed out.

In a rage, Ma Ji wanted to take Li Siliang's life and stabbed him in the chest with a knife.Wang Mengfang woke up from his surprise, swooped up and knocked Ma Ji to the ground. The two started fighting, and Li Siliang took the opportunity to get up and run to the door.

"I didn't betray you!" he yelled.

He hesitated for a long time before going out tonight. He was determined to help Li Jingfeng, but when he arrived at the inn, he discovered that the other two disciples had betrayed Li Jingfeng.Seeing that Liao Ming had a large number of people, he thought that Li Jingfeng would definitely die, so he changed his mind and decided to stop Li Jingfeng for the sake of his wife and children, surrender to Liao Ming, and save the lives of his family.

But when he really heard the townspeople shouting happily outside, he couldn't bear it. When he saw Li Jingfeng barging in, he changed his mind.

His name is Li Siliang, and half a catty is eight liang. He is only half of half. He has always had a bad temper in his life. He wants to be a bad guy, but he can't be cruel, and he wants to be a good guy, but he doesn't have the courage.He wants self-respect but lacks the courage to act righteously. He disdains grabbing food and worries that his family will starve to death.

He ran towards the gate of Liao's house. Ma Ji knew what he wanted to do and shouted loudly: "Stop him!"

The three disciples let Li Jingfeng go and chased after him. Seeing that Li Siliang was in danger, Li Jingfeng stabbed the two disciples with two swords in a row. He ducked out of the encirclement and stabbed the two pursuers from behind with two swords in a row.

There was still one person who caught up with Li Siliang and struck Li Siliang in the back with a knife.Li Siliang was so hungry that he was dizzy and had no strength to fight back. He rushed forward, held the door with both hands and pushed it.The man was about to kill him when Li Jingfeng arrived and kicked him more than a foot away.

"Liao Ming wants to run away!" Li Siliang shouted loudly.Thousands of townspeople gathered outside the door. Seeing that he was covered in blood, they couldn't help but be stunned.

"There is no food, there is nothing! Liao Ming wants to steal our money and run away!" Li Siliang shouted loudly, "There is no food! The Tieling Gang is not here to deliver food, but to steal money!"

The disciples outside the door rushed over and slashed at Li Siliang with a knife. Li Siliang fell to the ground, closing his eyes and waiting to die.The sword light flew out from behind the door in time. The two disciples screamed and fell to the ground. Li Jingfeng helped Li Siliang and asked, "Are you okay?"

Li Siliang's face was pale and he looked into the courtyard. The disciples in the courtyard were also pale.Ma Ji and Wang Meng had already stopped fighting and were staring blankly at the door. Liao Ming's wife also came to the courtyard, her facial features twisted into a ball.

"No... no food... no food?" The townspeople standing closer were so hungry that their faces turned pale, and their originally pale faces were now stained with a layer of red.

Bang, bang, several people fell to the ground.There began to be whispers, some said they didn't believe it, some said it was impossible.

A few more people moved, and they walked towards the Liao family courtyard.

Some people move forward, others follow, and some are pushed forward. More than 1000 heads, black, white, gray, and bald, all unevenly distributed from front to back. The ones at the end were pushed forward, and the ones in the middle were pushed toward the front, pushing the ones at the front forward. , as if the back is pushing the front, or as if the front is leading the back, the crowd of more than 1000 people is like a wriggling earthworm, rising and falling towards the gate.

They walked very slowly, and the disciples outside seemed to have forgotten to stop.Li Jingfeng realized something was wrong and took Li Siliang back into the yard. Wang Meng hurriedly came up.Li Jingfeng glanced at Amao, his little face flushed, and murmured to himself: "It's over! It's over!"

Suddenly there was a shout, and no one knew who it was, and more than a thousand people rushed into the courtyard. The disciples at the door didn't dare to stop them and fled in a hurry.

The big pot for cooking porridge fell to the ground. Without caring about the heat, someone lay on the ground, holding the big pot, and shoveled the hot porridge on the ground into his mouth.It was too slow. They scooped up the soil with a bowl, and they didn't know whether there was more soil or more porridge.

The vats were broken, pickles were scooped up and stuffed into mouths, arms, and sleeves. Several pieces of dried meat were eaten in the blink of an eye.

Liao Ming, who had missed the opportunity in the Zhenxi compound, knew that he had fallen into the trap and hurried back, but he could only watch from a distance with a pale face and did not dare to get close.

Hungry people poured into the courtyard. Li Jingfeng grabbed Li Siliang and jumped onto the roof of the corridor. Wang Meng and other disciples also quickly climbed up the wall.Amao held Cangmi in his arms and refused to let go, but his thin body could not climb up the wall with only one hand. The influx of people knocked him down. Amao burst into tears and tightly protected the Congmi in his arms. He would bite anyone who came to snatch him away. No matter how many times he was punched in the face, he would still hold on to the vat of rice.

But it was in vain. He was pushed to the ground, the rice vat was broken, and the fragments pricked his hands and face with blood.He was pushed and squeezed. In the critical moment, a hand grabbed his arm and picked him up. Wasn't it Li Jingfeng?There were only a few rice grains stuck to his clothes in Amao's arms.

"Look at the good things you did!" Amao cried loudly.It's gone, nothing is gone, the food is gone, the smelly old man won't want him anymore.

Mrs. Liao was not so lucky. When the hungry people poured in, she turned around and ran away. She was soon caught up by the hungry people and thrown to the ground. The crowd trampled on her. She screamed a few times and then fell silent.

Maggie had already climbed over the wall and ran away.

Everyone poured into the backyard, where pancakes, pickles, bacon, salted eggs, and all kinds of dry food were piled up.

Too little, just a little bit, how can it be enough to eat?

Grab, grab whatever you see!
Li Jingfeng, Wang Meng, and Li Si had never seen such a battle before. Li Jingfeng said: "Go to the backyard and have a look!"

He hurried to the backyard. All he could see on the eaves was a large black mass of human heads, squeezed so tightly that there was no gap.Everyone was scrambling for the food. The people in the front row grabbed pickled meat, but were pushed down by the people behind them. Some people grabbed a few salted eggs, but were also pushed down.They obediently took off their clothes to pack food, and their descendants followed suit, but they couldn't leave because when they tried to leave, they were squeezed and robbed by those behind them.The yard was too small to accommodate more than 1000 people. They crowded in front of the food. Some fell to the ground and were trampled by the crowd. They died silently. They were beaten and robbed. Although there were many people who entered the yard, no one could really Take away food.

How many people have to die?

They rushed to the rice barn, which was locked, and they couldn't stop banging on the lock with rocks.Li Jingfeng stepped forward and grabbed the eaves of the warehouse with his left hand. He looked down from a high position and struck with his original intention.He swung his sword like lightning, struck hungry palms, kept shouting, trying to drive away the people in the front row, but it was of no use?Even if the person in front wants to retreat and the person behind is pushing, how can he stop it?

Wang Meng shouted out the danger and asked Brother Li to come back quickly. Li Siliang woke up from his trance and realized what he had done.

Seeing that Li Jingfeng couldn't hold back, he gritted his teeth and ran towards the front yard along the fence.At this time, the sky was just getting bright. Because everything had happened that night, before the lantern could be put away, Li Jingfeng took off the lantern, jumped back to the rice warehouse, and shouted: "Stop grabbing it!" He stepped on the roof and fell. Enter the rice warehouse.

Everyone thought he was going to steal the rice, so they stepped up their efforts to destroy the lock.Suddenly thick smoke rose from inside, and Li Jingfeng suddenly came out and landed on the roof of the rice warehouse. Thick smoke came out from the crack in the door, choking the people in the front row and coughing, so they had to step back. They retreated and huddled together.But the stalemate only lasted for a while. The thick smoke and fire gradually spread, and even the people behind realized that something was wrong and stopped pushing.

Everyone was stunned, including Wang Meng, Li Siliang, and Amao.

Li Jingfeng actually set fire to the rice warehouse?
The fire seemed to wake everyone up, and they were all stunned in place.

"Put out the fire! Put out the fire!" Someone suddenly woke up and shouted.The sounds of putting out fires come and go, but how can we save them?More than a thousand people were packed in, and no one wanted to leave.

Li Jingfeng stood on the roof of the burning rice warehouse, with thick smoke floating behind him. He shouted loudly: "I have food! I will keep it full!"

These words shocked everyone again. Everyone stared at the unknown outsider and suddenly became quiet.

"Everyone get out of the compound! I'll take care of everything!" Li Jingfeng shouted again, "If you don't get out, you will all starve to death!"

Li Siliang ignored his injuries and shouted loudly: "Get out! Get out! This man can be trusted! He has food!"

The fire in the rice warehouse expanded instantly, the thick smoke spread, and the firelight shone through the crack in the door. Li Jingfeng also jumped to the wall.The people in the compound had no choice but to gradually withdraw, and others followed suit.

The fire was raging, and the people in the inner courtyard had all left. Only then did Li Jingfeng realize that Amao had run away at some point.

"Brother Li, how are you injured? Ten people will be sent in to put out the fire, and the rest will patrol to prevent chaos." Li Jingfeng said.

Li Siliang nodded and wanted to jump off the wall. He almost fell down when his body swayed. Wang Meng quickly pulled him back, but he pulled him off the wall and almost fell to his death.

"I'll help you!" Wang Meng took off his clothes to bandage Li Siliang's wound, then turned to ask Li Jingfeng, "Where did you get the food?" He suspected that if this matter could not be solved, all the townspeople would starve to death.

"There is a lot of grain, we have all seen it." Li Jingfeng said, "Let's rob Dian Cang's grain truck!"

Wang Meng was surprised again.

(End of this chapter)