Cao Thief

Chapter 430
The night quietly enveloped Hongze Muyuan.

After dark, the scattered bonfires on the pasture echo the bright stars in the night sky, and the scenery is extremely magnificent.

Li Ding sneered and said, "It really is a good horse."

He was talking about the liger, but he looked at Cao Peng with disdain.

Beside the bonfire, dozens of relatives formed a group to isolate Cao Peng and Wang Shuang.There was no other way, so Cao Peng and Wang Shuang had to set up another bonfire, and they sat together, talking in low voices.Ligers are not far away, leisurely and contented.

Cao Peng understood what Li Ding meant: horses are good horses, but people are not so good...

Li Ding was ordered by Li Qi to take Cao Peng to Hongshuiji.Although Li Ding complied with Li Qi's wishes, along the way, his words were full of cynicism and irony.It can be seen that he doesn't think too much of Cao Peng, coupled with his resistance to the Han court, it also makes him not have Li Qi's enthusiasm and respect for Cao Peng, and even feels disgusted.

Living on the grassland since he was a child, Li Ding is almost no different from those Hu people.

Cao Peng felt deeply his hostility to the Han people, or to the imperial court.In fact, Li Ding's attitude also represents most of the senses of Hongze's fourth-generation children.Due to the weakness of the imperial court, the four generations of Li Ding's children were not optimistic about the imperial court at all.They have never experienced the great achievements of the great general Dou Xianbing in mobei, nor have they seen the heroic spirit of Chen Tang's majesty in foreign lands.I haven't even heard of Duan Jiong's record of destroying Xianling Qiang back then... From Li Ding's birth, most of what he saw was that the Han army was vulnerable and defeated by Qiang Hu.

From the Bianzhang Rebellion back then to Beigong Boyu's rebellion...

He was born late, and since he can remember, he has never heard of the Han army having a brilliant record.

On the contrary, it was the Xiongnu, Qianghu, and Xianbei who repeatedly invaded the border and plundered a large number of Han people.For this reason, the Hongze people and those Hu people also had several confrontations, with half and half winning and losing.The idea that the Han army was weak and vulnerable was deeply ingrained in Li Ding's mind.For a young man who grew up on the grassland and was influenced by Hu Feng, a weak imperial court was not enough for Hongze people to work hard for.Therefore, when Cao Peng brought people here, Li Ding felt disgusted with him.

Cao Peng raised his head, glanced at Li Ding, only smiled, and ignored him.

"No guts!" Li Ding sneered again, and then smiled to his followers: "No wonder Han Jialang can't keep Hexi, but relies on us to fight the country. People in Hongze are good men, but they don't know how to fight with them." Fight side by side without courage."

My followers burst out laughing.

"you……"

"Wang Shuang, shut up."

Seeing that Wang Shuang was furious and wanted to get up to refute, Cao Peng hurriedly stopped.

He turned his head and glanced at Li Ding and the others, "Your father is Han Jialang, your grandfather is Han Jialang, your grandfather is Han Jialang, and your great-grandfather is also Han Jialang... If they find out, their descendants They are a group of people who betray their ancestors and forget their ancestors. I am afraid that they will not stop crying under the nine springs. Cao is not talented, and he does not want to talk to a group of unfaithful, filial, and unrighteous animals."

Along the way, Cao Peng did not speak.

But once he counterattacked, the sharpness in his words suddenly appeared.

Li Ding was startled, but immediately realized that Cao Peng was scolding him, and suddenly became furious.

"You dare to scold me?"

"I only scold beasts, what does that have to do with you?"

"you……"

Li Ding stood up and took two steps forward.

All the relatives also got up one after another, and surrounded Cao Peng and the two of them at once.

"Cao, I won't engage in this kind of verbal dispute with you. You'd better apologize to me, otherwise don't blame me for being rude to you."

Cao Peng poked the bonfire with a wooden stick, and said with a sneer, "A certain family doesn't talk to animals."

"you wanna die."

Li Ding's face became extremely ugly, and his two followers, seeing Li Ding being humiliated, stepped forward to teach Cao Peng a lesson without saying a word.The man who grew up on the grassland has extremely vigorous skills.Seeing that the two of them arrived at Cao Peng's side, before Wang Shuang could move, Cao Peng's wrist flicked, the fire poking stick shook, and two burning sticks flew out of the bonfire, hitting the two of them fiercely. On the chest of the follower.In an instant, the fire suddenly lit up and sparks splashed in all directions.

The two relatives flew upside down, and the skirts on their chests suddenly burst into flames.

They were so frightened that they yelled and rolled on the ground.

Cao Peng stood up slowly, "Is this what Hong Ze Erlang is capable of? If you don't fight with words, you can't do it with your hands."

No one could see clearly how Cao Peng was beating the firewood just now.

Li Ding waved his hand, signaling to go up and put out the fire on the two people, and stared at Cao Peng with a pair of tiger eyes, showing coldness.

"Why, do you want to do it?"

Li Ding's cheeks trembled slightly, and his hands slowly reached towards his waist.

"You can't do it with hands, you can't do it with a knife..."

Cao Peng sneered, ignored Li Ding's actions, but said indifferently: "Let me make it clear, I don't want to go with you this time when I go to Hongshuiji. It's just your grandfather Li Xiaowei begging, I'm here agree to come down.

Don't think that I have taken the light of your tribe, I can roughly understand your grandfather's mind.

I just hope that you can get acquainted with me, that one day you can return to your hometown, and you can make contributions in the future, which is better than being a lonely soul without a name and a name for a lifetime on this pasture.I endured this journey, not because I was afraid of you, but because I was worried that I might hurt you, which made Captain Li worry... People from Hongze, I am!Your ancestors, and even your ancestors for generations, regarded themselves as Han people. When did you have more shit that betrays your ancestors and forgets your ancestors?That's right, the imperial court abandoned Hexi back then, maybe there was something wrong with your ancestors, but this is definitely not an excuse for you to forget your ancestors...

You want to get your hands dirty, are you ready? "

"what to prepare?"

Li Ding was stunned and asked in a blur.

Unexpectedly, Cao Peng didn't say anything, stepped on the yin and yang, and rushed out all at once. Before Li Ding could react, a gleaming long knife was already pressed on Li Ding's shoulder.The sharp edge of the knife exuded a thick bloody smell, and a dark red light circulated in the firelight... Li Ding didn't even see clearly how Cao Peng came to him and how he pulled out the knife.The long knife in his hand didn't have time to get out of its sheath, and it was restrained by Cao Peng.The sharp blade made his heart tremble, a gust of cold air rushed straight to the tailbone, and his body froze all of a sudden.

"Let go of my young patriarch!"

Several entourages drew out their weapons in a swish, shouting sharply.

Cao Peng said sharply: "Wang Shuang, tell them to shut up and not kill anyone."

Wang Shuang, who had been ready to attack as early as Cao Peng's attack, grabbed two fire sticks and threw himself forward before Cao Peng's words fell.It has been four or five years since Wang Shuang entered Cao's mansion since he was a child.From simple dog training at the beginning, to being valued by Cao Peng and teaching Kung Fu... Later Hua Tuo came to Xudu, and Wang Shuang followed Hua Tuo to learn tiger and crane plays in Wu Qin Xi, and his kung fu also made great progress.When Cao Peng taught Cao Zhang and others, he also asked Wang Shuang to follow and learn.In just five years, Wang Shuang has already practiced to a great extent, slightly inferior to Han De, but still at the level of a first-class general.If not, it is unlikely that he will follow Cao Peng when he is on an envoy to Saibei.

As soon as he made a move, he saw two groups of flames dancing.

With his nimble movement, combined with the mystery of Bai Yuan Tong Bei Fist, the poker in his hand seemed to have a spirituality. After three popping sounds, a series of screams sounded, and the weapons in the hands of the three attendants dropped their hands. There was a burn mark on the wrist, and he backed away repeatedly with his arms folded.Wang Shuang threw the poker into the bonfire, raised his hand and drew out a pair of iron knives, and stood beside Cao Peng with a murderous look on his face, staring at the panicked followers.

"Cao, you..."

"Li Ding, shut up for me."

Cao Peng shouted sharply, Li Ding swallowed the words when he reached his mouth.

"I don't care what you think of me, or how you feel about the imperial court. I have come to Hongze this time, and I have my own mission. Whether you believe it or not, I never thought of taking advantage of your Hongze people. strength……

So, it doesn't matter what you think of me.

But if you dare to ruin my affairs, don't blame me for being cruel.

That's right, you may be brave and good at fighting, but to the imperial court, you are nothing more than clowns... How about Ma Teng and his son?Regardless of whether they are sincere or not, at least in name, they must obey the imperial court's orders.If you dare to ruin my business, I can immediately mobilize tens of thousands of troops from Guanzhong to wipe out Hongze within ten days. "

Cao Peng's voice was stern, but Li Ding's face was pale.

He trembled in his heart, but he held his head up stubbornly and stared at Cao Peng.

"I've seen a lot of people like you... Don't think I'm so powerful. When I was 15 years old, I led thousands of people to fight against elite soldiers ten times as strong as me. What about Jiuyuan Lu Bu? Didn't break through the city I guarded... After this mission is over, you can do whatever you like. But now, you'd better be honest."

As he spoke, Cao Peng flicked his wrist, and the steel knife swept across the void.

Li Ding only felt his body go cold for a while, and the knife gleamed in front of his eyes.When he came to his senses, Cao Peng had withdrawn his knife and gone back.

And on his body, there were knife marks left behind.

The knife marks, clinging to his body, tore his clothes.The wind blew over, and Li Ding shuddered Lingling.

"Strength is not in the mouth, nor in the hands, but here."

Cao Peng pointed to his heart with his finger, "Your grandfather is a powerful person, but it's not because of his skill, but because of his unswerving loyalty to the court. And you, I don't deserve my care, because you even I don’t even know who I am.”

Li Ding's face was pale, and he stared at Cao Peng in a daze.

It's just that Cao Peng seemed to have lost interest in him, and turned back to the campfire.

"Young patriarch, let's..."

"Shut me all up!"

Li Ding stopped his subordinates' words, turned around and returned to the campfire.

He sat there, staring at the raging bonfire in front of him motionless, without saying a word.

Seeing that Li Ding was silent, those followers also closed their mouths one by one.Several injured subordinates took out the medicine they carried with them and applied it to the wound.

Someone sneaked a look at Cao Peng and Wang Shuang, with admiration in their eyes.

The men who live on the pastures admire the most brave men.Before that, due to the influence of Li Ding, they didn't care about Cao Peng.But just now, the power shown by Cao Peng's master and servant made them feel incomparable admiration.In contrast, the cynicism and sarcasm of people like myself along the way now seem like clowns.

This is a powerful man!
No wonder, even ligers followed him.

"Hey!"

Li Ding turned his head suddenly and called out to Cao Peng.

Cao Peng raised his head and looked at Li Ding...

"You... have you really fought against the Bingzhou tiger?"

"Of course!"

"The result..."

"I lost!"

Cao Peng spoke very frankly, without showing the slightest affectation.

"But the tiger is dead now, and I am still alive."

"I know."

Li Ding lowered his head while talking.

The reputation of the Jiuyuan tiger is also very loud in Hexi.Lv Bu was in Bingzhou back then, and made great military exploits. He once killed those barbarians who fled after hearing the name of a tiger, which really touched Lv Bu's edge.Although Li Ding has never met Lu Bu, he respects Lu Bu very much.Hexi was occupied by the Qiang Hu, and Lu Bu was no different from a hero to the Han people living on the grassland.

Li Ding hesitated for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "I will assist you with your work, but I want to make it clear that I am not afraid of you."

Cao Peng smiled, "Are you afraid of me, what have you got to do with me?
Boy, for Captain Li's sake, let me give you a piece of advice.There are many masters in the Central Plains, and my lord's tent is even more fierce.Your skills are good, but if you are still so defiant in the Central Plains, you will be killed sooner or later.Not to mention anything else, just a few followers around me, pulling out one can take your life.

You have a good sentence, see the real chapter in your hand.

But if you don't have a strong enough heart, your hands won't be much better.Learn from your grandfather and make your heart stronger as soon as possible.Only with a strong heart can you be fearless at any time. "

After all, Cao Peng stretched his waist, lay down with his clothes beside the campfire, and closed his eyes.

The autumn wind is gentle, swaying the rustling grass on the pasture in the distance, as if singing in a low voice with the autumn wind...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++
The bonfire has been extinguished, billowing smoke.

When the sun rose, Li Ding changed his clothes and set foot on the journey with Cao Peng again.

Only this time, instead of mocking Cao Peng, he remained silent.Even his followers showed a little respect to Cao Peng.A group of people went all the way without incident, and arrived at Hongshuiji at noon.

The sun is shining brightly in autumn, which makes people feel warm and comfortable.

Li Ding took the lead and came to the gate of Hongshuiji City. Just as he was about to enter the city, he suddenly heard someone shouting loudly: "Li Ding, why are you here?"

Li Ding looked back, and saw a young man surrounded by a group of people, galloping towards him.

"It's Dou Hu!"

Li Ding didn't look back, but told Cao Peng in a low voice.

"He is the eldest son of Dou Lan, and he is also a very famous warrior in Hongshuiji... But this person does not have a good opinion of the Han family."

After finishing speaking, he urged his horse to go forward and greeted Dou Hu.

Among the followers, Cao Peng patted Rhubarb's forehead lightly, narrowed his eyes, and looked towards Dou Hu.

This person is also very hostile to the Han Dynasty!
However, it is understandable that when his ancestor was bestowed to death by the Han Emperor, the general Dou Xian's branch fell apart, and his family was sent to Hexi to guard the border.Dou Xian may be arrogant, but for the Han Dynasty, he did make great contributions.But in the end... No matter who this kind of thing happens to, they will feel dissatisfied and even develop resentment.

Li Ding specifically pointed out this person, and it seemed to remind Cao Peng that this Dou Hu's status in Hongshuiji must not be too low.

At this time, Dou Hu took Li Ding and prepared to enter the city.

Suddenly, he turned his horse's head and ran towards Cao Peng...

Cao Peng was startled, but his expression remained calm.

Dou Hu reined in his horse, stared at Cao Peng for a long time, and said in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

(End of this chapter)