Under the sky

Chapter 248

When the fire lit up, the slaves arrived at the agreed place, and finally no longer had to fear the pursuers.There are no villages nearby, so there is no need to worry about attracting attention.

When the slaves saw the one-armed man, they were relieved and stepped forward to say hello.The one-armed man looked at the crowd and asked, "Where is Monduk?"

"Munduke didn't come with him," someone said. "His child is still young and he doesn't want his child to become a refugee. And Mira... Mira's leg is broken and needs to be taken care of." The person who answered said bitterly.

Not only Monduk, but also some people also didn't follow, most of them had children.The one-armed man was helpless, but he could understand that if the refugees wanted to return to the tribe, they had to start as slaves. Slaves could still have faith, and the refugees were not even allowed to believe in the god Sa. Their children were all under twelve, so no They will be executed. Although the future life will not be easy, they are willing to sacrifice for their children.

"Pull that disgusting bitch up!" the one-armed man yelled.

A group of people pulled Luskale forward. He was beaten until his nose and face were bruised and his mouth was full of blood. He was tied with a rope. If he hadn't used his name to surrender, he would have been beaten to death.

"Untie the rope." The one-armed man ordered, "Prepare another rope and strips of cloth."

Everyone didn't know what he wanted to do, but he was the mastermind of this resistance. Everyone followed his lead. Some people prepared ropes and strips of cloth, while others untied Luce.

"What...what do you want to do? Spare...spare my life!" Luce groaned.He used to look down on everyone, even showing disdain for Xie Yunqian, who was the penman of Gulsasi. Now he was trembling and crying, screaming for mercy: "Don't... don't kill me! I'll give you money, give it to me." You have a lot of money, more money than you can spend in a lifetime!"

"What does it smell like?" someone asked, holding his nose.

"It smells like urine, he peed his pants!"

"Hold him down!" the one-armed man ordered.Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Luce was pushed to the ground.

"Your life will be kept for a while, but I want to collect some interest first." The one-armed man said.

He pulled out the knife and cut off Luce's left hand at the wrist. Luce screamed loudly and rolled on the ground.

"Help him stop the bleeding and tell him to shut up." The one-armed man put away the knife and ordered, "Let's take another fork in the road and rest."

"I'll go with you." Xie Yunjin waved his hands and walked out from behind the stone.This time he didn't want to wait for the bow and arrow to come off the string before getting upset. He wanted to say it out loud: "You can hold me hostage!"

The slaves were surprised to see a stranger appear, and someone pulled out a knife.Someone recognized Xie Yunjin and shouted: "He is the son of the captain of the guard!" "Why is he here?" Someone even shouted: "Kill him!"

"Slow down, don't do anything!" The one-armed man stopped him hastily, "I brought him here."

Everyone was greatly surprised.Xie Yunjin rushed forward. Seeing that he was panting, the one-armed man asked in a deep voice: "Why did you come out?"

"I...I want to help." Xie Yunyan said.

"No one here can trust you," the one-armed man replied.

"As long as you can trust me." Xie Yunjin said, "The slaves rebelled and Kalle disappeared, which will definitely alarm the priesthood. I am Gulthas's penman. You can use me as a hostage in times of crisis."

The one-armed man frowned: "Why are you causing this trouble?"

"I want to be a kind person." Xie Yunyan said, "I want to meet God Sa as a kind person."

A man approached and whispered in the ear of the one-armed man. After a while, the one-armed man turned back and discussed in a low voice with a few people. Xie Yunjin didn't know what they were discussing. They probably wanted to deal with him.

"Okay." The one-armed man turned around, "You can come with me. Let's go to the rear, and I'll watch you. If you act rashly, I'll kill you with a knife."

Xie Yunjin was overjoyed: "Don't worry, I won't harm you."

The slaves were led by their leader and continued to move forward. Xie Yunjin counted them and estimated that there were between 300 and [-] people, including men, women, old and young.He wanted to sneak into the team, but the one-armed man held him. When the team had walked a long distance and was almost invisible in the dark, the one-armed man patted him on the shoulder: "There is still a long way to go, don't exhausted."

Xie Yunjin said: "I can walk very well."

He knew that this group of people still didn't trust him, and they only let him follow because of the one-armed man.

After walking for a long time, it must have been a long time. Xie Yunjin really didn't understand how these slaves could walk so well.

"Aren't they tired?" Xie Yunjin asked.

"For slaves?" the one-armed man replied with a smile, "Master, slaves live with tiredness."

Being called young master again, Xie Yunjin was in a daze.The one-armed man stopped by the roadside, and the two of them chose a patch of dead grass to lie down. After a while, they thanked Yunjin and then fell asleep.

The next day, he was woken up by the one-armed man and felt that his whole body was sore. Looking back, he realized that Jin Fuzi had actually taken good care of him, and he would not be tired even if he walked a long distance.

The two of them walked for a while and saw another fork in the road.

At the intersection, the slaves camped here last night, and there were still traces on the ground. Xie Yunjin squatted on the ground, touching the earth and rocks and thinking.

"What's wrong?" asked the one-armed man.

"In half a day," Xie Yunyan said, "In half a day at most, we will be caught up. We will only be faster, not slower."

The one-armed man frowned: "So fast?"

"I learned the art of war and battle formations at the Priest Academy." Xie Yunyan said, "The people who guard the sacrificial army are faster than the Prison Department, the city garrison, and the noble soldiers. Slave defection is the job of the Prison Department, but We caught..."

"We?" the one-armed man asked.

Xie Yunyan blushed: "If we capture Kale, we will definitely alert Prince Hu Gen. It is possible that he will send noble soldiers or garrison troops to capture us. There are forks along the way and it is difficult to find, but you can be sure if you find this Let’s go this way.”

"Three hundred slaves, a large number of old and weak women and children, more than 100 garrison troops, or even dozens can defeat us." Xie Yunjin asked, "When can we join the refugees?"

"According to this journey, we may have to walk until dusk to reach the place we agreed with the refugees." The one-armed man pondered, "There is a dense forest ahead where we can ambush."

"Use slaves to fight the army?" Xie Yunjin asked.

The one-armed man asked: "Do you think you can win?"

"I don't know. Unless there are very few people coming, the chance is slim. Even if it succeeds, the casualties will be heavy." Xie Yunyan said, "I have to get there first to observe the terrain."

"If you really can't escape, this is the only way." The one-armed man pondered.

"No." Xie Yunyan said, "There are other ways."

The one-armed man stared at the young man with wide eyes.Xie Yunjin pointed at himself: "I'll delay them."

"How to hold them off?" the one-armed man laughed, "Even if your kung fu is as good as your adoptive father's, you can't hold them back, and you are very...how should I say, weak? You really should practice some kung fu."

These words stung Xie Yunjin again.

"I am Gursasi's penman. The people who are chasing you will most likely recognize me. I will tell you that I was caught by you and escaped on the way." He pointed to another road, "I will tell you to go that way. Yes, this is called luring the tiger away from the mountain."

The one-armed man said: "Then what should you do? If you are found to be lying, Prince Hu Gen will definitely settle the score with you."

"Gulsas's pen will not be accused like this." Xie Yunjin said, "When Gulthas summons me, I will report the truth and let Gulthas judge my crime."

The one-armed man thought for a moment and said, "The plan is good, just wait until I notify you."

After he finished speaking, he used Qing Kung Fu and ran forward. If he hadn't brought this group of slaves with him, he would have been able to walk away and throw away the pursuers.

After a long time, the one-armed man came back and said, "I told them to leave first. I'll stay with you."

Xie Yunjin was surprised: "What are you doing here?"

"Let's change the story and say that you were kidnapped by slaves and rescued by me, and then use the method to lure the tiger away from the mountain. When things fail, you can say that I threatened you, and if you don't comply, I will kill you, and you can get away with it more or less. "

"What about you?" Xie Yunjin asked.

"When you fend off the pursuers, we will go our separate ways." The one-armed man patted Xie Yunyan on the shoulder and said with a smile, "You are also a good person, and God Sa will bless you."

Good guy?Xie Yunjin smiled bitterly.Along the way, I have killed countless innocent people. Although I did not do it myself, it was all related to me.

The two simply sat on the ground and strung together their testimonies, and then started chatting. The one-armed man still refused to give his name. He only said that he was homeless, doing business for a living, and wandering around. This village was short of iron, and that village was short of donkeys. , I would run errands to earn some money for a living. When I had no money, I would find a village to work as a guard. If I made enough money, I would leave.He has helped the tribe hunt down the refugees, and he has also helped the refugees hunt. He has been wandering like this for more than ten years.He is not bad at martial arts and is not afraid of danger, but he is wandering around the world and sometimes lacks women.

Xie Yunjin only felt that this business was really tiring.As for Xie Yunjin, he only said that his parents died young and his adoptive father took care of him. When he came to the Batu Kao Priesthood, he once set up a chess stall on the street.The one-armed man had heard this before when he was recovering from his injuries in Nabu Batu. It turned out to be the person in front of him, and he couldn't help but marvel.

During this conversation, the two got closer. In the afternoon, they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves. They got up in a hurry and pretended to be passing by.I saw seventy or eighty cavalry gradually approaching, and the leader was actually Xili Dege who was familiar with Xie Yunjin. Xie Yunjin was overjoyed and waved his hands quickly.

"Yunjin?" Hillidegg stopped his horse, "Why are you here?"

"I was also in the slave room when the slaves rebelled." Xie Yunjin asked, "Where's my father? Didn't he follow?"

"Your Majesty? I don't recognize him." Hillidegg has never seen Master Jin, "but I didn't see anyone else along the way."

It seemed that Mrs. Jin didn't catch up. Xie Yunjin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I was held hostage by slaves in the slave room and separated from my father. The slaves slept here last night. Fortunately, this elder brother passed by and rescued me. .”

"When I saw such a large group of people tying up two people, I knew something was wrong." The one-armed man said, "The other one was injured and I couldn't save it. I pretended that nothing happened, grabbed one of them and ran away. They were very poor at martial arts and wanted to stop me. , was frightened by my one knife, one knife and two knife, so I took him and escaped."

There are a lot of details in this statement that need to be carefully studied. Xie Yunjin was about to elaborate, but Hillidege said: "Hold on, Yunjin, please speak slowly about your matter. Kaler is still being held hostage, where are those slaves?" Already?"

Xie Yunjin planned to delay, but seeing that he couldn't, he could only point to another way: "That's where we're going."

Hilidegg said to the one-armed man: "God bless you, thank you for your help. The priesthood will give you a corresponding reward." After saying that, he turned his head and shouted, "Give up two horses! "

Someone led two horses, and Xili Dege said: "Yunjin, you are frightened, go back first." Then he rode the horse and led the crowd to chase to the other side.

Xie Yunjin watched Hillidege go away, breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, he was anxious and didn't become suspicious."

The one-armed man smiled and said, "I also made two horses."

The two of them got on their horses, and the one-armed man said, "Just say goodbye?"

Xie Yunjin said: "I'd better go with you. I won't be relieved until I see you meeting the refugees."

The one-armed man smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern." He turned the horse's head upside down and chased towards the slave.

The two of them had enough foot power to travel without being encumbered. They worked hard and caught up with the front team in less than half an hour.Everyone was happy to hear that the pursuers had been led away, but they were still wary of Xie Yunjin, but they did not stop him from entering the team.

This is a long queue of people. I couldn’t see clearly last night. There are horses and ox carts in front of them. On the horses are elderly people. In addition to food, there are women and children on the ox carts. There is also a young mother who is feeding her child with a cloth covering her chest. .Most of the people walked. The strong man holding a steel knife who seemed to know some martial arts walked at the front of the team. When he was thirsty, he passed the water bottle. When he was hungry, he took the dried meat and barley cakes from the oxcart and chewed them as he walked.

There is everything on the oxcart, including sheepskins, meat, cloth, ropes, clothes, pots and pans, valuable and worthless things. Slaves have no private property. These are all plundered things from their masters.

Xie Yunjin also felt a little hungry, so the one-armed man gave him a piece of dried meat.Luskale, who was lying on the bullock cart, was not so lucky. His face was pale, his lips were chapped, and his eyes were covered with red threads. His left hand was tightly tied, and he moaned and whined from time to time. His eyes were staring at the sky without sight.

Then he saw Xie Yunjin.

"Save me..." His voice was filled with tears, "Jin Yunjin...save me."

His ugly appearance made Xie Yunjin feel extremely disgusted, and he turned his head and ignored him.

"You colluded with slaves..." Luce groaned bitterly, "You despicable commoners, my father will make you pay the price!"

They came to an intersection. On the left was a sloping land with waist-high withered yellow weeds below. On the right was a low mountain slope with a rare dense forest on the grassland.

"How long do we have to go?" Xie Yunjin asked.

"It should be until dusk... Huh?" The one-armed man looked surprised.The convoy ahead slowed down and even stopped.

Xie Yunjin was surprised. Could it be that he was blocked?The one-armed man clapped his horse forward, looked from a distance, raised his hands and said happily: "Chief Mahler!"

Mahler was the leader of this group of refugees. When he saw the one-armed man from a distance, he shouted and waved.The one-armed man was overjoyed, raised his sword high and shouted: "Brothers, Chief Mahler has come to meet us, we are safe!"

The slaves cheered and celebrated each other, many hugged each other and couldn't help crying.Although they have to become refugees, they no longer have to worry and fear, they are free!
The one-armed man rushed to the front and asked, "Chief Mahler, why are you here?"

The leader named Ma Le has a big round bald head, leaving only a sparse and stubborn patch of gray on the back of his head. He has a thick beard and looks a bit honest. He has a snowflake tattoo under his right eye, which is the symbol of the Liu tribe.Behind him he led more than thirty people, all on horseback, equipped with spears, scimitars, bows and arrows, and looked stern.

Mahler said: "Aren't you worried that the brothers will be caught up and come to rescue them?" He looked at the crowd and said in surprise, "So many people?"

The slave leader said: "There are 280 five people."

Mahler stepped forward to inspect and said happily: "There are a lot of things, brother, thank you for your hard work this time." As he said, his face darkened, "But the most important thing is that thing, where is Luskale?"

"Here." The one-armed man shouted, "Pull this person over here!"

Several strong men pulled Luskale from the bullock cart and escorted him forward.Mahler craned his neck to look into the distance and asked, "Are there no pursuers?"

"I threw away the pursuers." The one-armed man said, "I led them to another road."

"Oh?" Mahler frowned.Luce had been brought in front of him, and the slave leader pushed him to the ground and knelt.

The one-armed man said: "Who do you want to take action? Me or the slave leader?"

Mahler saw Luce's hands covered with blood and asked, "You cut off one of his arms?"

The one-armed man nodded, and Mahler said: "Okay, give the man to me."

Finally arriving safely, Xie Yunjin breathed a sigh of relief.He had no good impression of the refugees and was about to leave quietly. When he turned his horse's head, he saw faint movement in the haystacks. Sensing that something was wrong, Mahler pulled Luce to his side.Luce raised his head and looked at Mahler, surprised: "You...you are...Uncle Mahler?"

Before the one-armed man could react, Mahler grabbed Luce and took a few steps back, shouting: "Do it!" Dozens of strong men holding bows and arrows suddenly stood up next to the slope on the left.

When Xie Yunjin heard the shouting, he turned his horse's head and shouted: "Everyone, run away!" Then he galloped straight away.

Bows and arrows were fired at the slaves.

The one-armed man didn't know what was happening, but a strong man next to Mahler slashed at him with a sword. He quickly drew his sword to block it, but he heard screams from behind, and slaves who were not good at martial arts fell to the ground after being struck by arrows.

Behind Ma Le, his men also took out their bows and kept firing arrows.Those slaves who knew martial arts wanted to come forward, but how could they defeat the refugees who had experienced many battles?The spear penetrated the chest, the machete cut open the intestines, and the heads rolled to the ground.

A slave was seriously injured and fell beside the one-armed man. He reached out to grab the one-armed man's ankle and asked angrily: "Why do you want to harm us?" The one-armed man's eyes were split.He couldn't figure it out, why, why should these slaves be killed?He approached Ma Le with a knife, but was pushed back by a spear and a knife. He was very skilled in martial arts and cut one man off his horse, then turned around and killed another refugee who wanted to attack him.

Screams kept coming from behind. The one-armed man rushed towards the slope with his sword and rushed towards the ambush soldiers who were firing arrows. The sword passed by and killed two more people. When his mount fell, he dismounted and attacked.

It was useless. There were many enemies. The three refugees closest to him abandoned their bows and arrows and slashed at him with their knives.The group of refugees he had brought were slaughtering the slaves he had brought. The old man on the horse fell to the ground. The blood of the woman guarding the bullock cart had soaked into the sheepskin. The mother who was nursing was protecting her child and was shot in the back. Three arrows, lovers in love embrace each other tightly, and the arrows connect the two hearts.

What did you do?He rushed to the road, brandished his sword to defend the slaves from bows and arrows, and shouted: "Run away! Run away!"

Slaves fell one after another, everyone was horrified and looked at the one-armed man with resentful eyes.The one-armed man was annoyed, painful, crazy, and remorseful. He wielded a big knife and killed the refugees one after another. With tears in his eyes, he kept shouting: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

He collapsed, went crazy, didn't know how this happened, and was filled with guilt.

"Shoot him!"

Most of the bows and arrows were directed at the one-armed man, and the arrows were released following Mahler's command.Arrows rained from all directions, and the one-armed man could only wait to be pierced by thousands of arrows.

At this moment, a figure rushed towards him awkwardly, and a girl threw herself on the one-armed man, arching her back and using her body to block the rain of arrows for him.The girl didn't leave a word. Before she died, she stretched out her hand as if she wanted to touch the one-armed man's face. Then she fell into the one-armed man's arms and died.

The one-armed man didn't even recognize the girl, and he didn't know why she didn't run away but sacrificed her life for him. However, the girl's death awakened the one-armed man's sanity.He suddenly turned over and prepared to escape from this hell. He wanted to find out the truth, who they were and why they killed these slaves.

If Xie Yunjin was by his side at this moment, he would recognize that the one who awakened the one-armed man's sanity was the girl who lost an arm by the one-armed man who saved her from being humiliated by the barley field.However, Xie Yunjin didn't see this scene.He ran away when the ambush started, and the slaves around him were also running away in a hurry. He fell off his horse and was kicked several times by the fleeing slaves, but he didn't feel any pain. He stood up and continued running.People around him fell down one by one, and his ears were buzzing, but he couldn't hear any sound.

Under the protection of great luck, he did not fall in the rain of arrows, but the disaster did not stop.

"Stop the arrow! Kill!" Mahler pointed forward with his sword.

The refugees rushed down the slope, blocking the escape route. Not a single slave was spared, and they came at them with their swords. The slaves who wanted to escape were forced to retreat, and they were pinched at both ends, leaving almost no way out.

Xie Yunjin had no ability to resist at all, and was about to die on the spot. Suddenly, a horse passed by him, and the shadow of the knife was heavy, blocking the sharp blade for him.

It’s Master Jin.

(End of this chapter)