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Chapter 3 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
three days later.

After rebirth, Li Chongjiu lay on the top of the mountain with his hands behind his head, looking at the cloud-shrouded scene on the opposite side of the mountain.Li Chongjiu stood up, exhaled deeply, and took a breath of the fresh air without any pollution in this era.

The bandits in Qiqianzhai, Li Yuan, and Princess Li Tang, Li Chongjiu couldn't help laughing at himself when he thought of this.

Since it has come, let it be safe.Li Chongjiu said that he worked too hard in his previous life, so he should take a long vacation for himself in this life.There is nothing wrong with being a bandit, eating meat in big chunks, drinking in big bowls, and being called gold in big bowls, this is the life of a Liangshan hero.

See Li Yuan, Li Shimin and other celebrities casually, and marry a gentle and virtuous woman to make up for the lack of being busy with career in the previous life.Living in the present is the real thing. As for rebelling against the Sui Dynasty and fighting for hegemony, let the Li family and his son do it.

The top of the mountain is foggy, but it is not easy to stay damp and cold.

He looked up and saw mountains and hills all around, as if he couldn't see the end at a glance.Different from the south, the mountains in the north are quite vast, with sparse trees, showing a sense of vastness and desolation.The place where the cottage is located is called Qiqianzhai Mountain, which is now under the administration of Shiai County, Taiyuan County.

The place name of Taiyuan is very familiar to Li Chongjiu after a thousand years.Jinyang is now the seat of Taiyuan County. In the past, Jinyang used to be Bingzhou, and Taiyuan County took over.In the third year of Daye, the system of prefectures and counties in the Qin Dynasty was restored, and this place was changed from the Bingzhou government to the Taiyuan county government.As for Shiai County, it is hundreds of miles away from Taiyuan County.

Li Chongjiu strode down the hillside and walked down the mountain for about half an hour. Just as Li Chongjiu was sweating a little, he went down to the col of Qiqianzhai and reached the place where the first line of sky was.This line of sky is the only way to enter the cottage.The road seemed to be avoided by someone with a sword like a boulder, and it was divided into two halves, leaving only a mountain road in the middle that could not be paralleled by two people.

The mountain road has been repaired, and stone steps have been cut out of it.Li Chongjiu has been familiar with this road for the past three days.Several bandits holding hunting bows were squatting on the stone to guard against them. When they saw Li Chongjiu, they greeted Li Chongjiu and said, "Young master!"

"Less master!"

Li Chongjiu nodded slightly.He could see that these bandits greeted him verbally, but their movements were still lazy, and they obviously had no respect for him.There was even a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.Obviously, he was seriously injured by a woman, and the news of his near death spread to the cottage, which made people look down on him a bit.

Without thinking too much, Li Chongjiu had arrived under the wall of the cottage.The village is nearly two feet high, and the two hugged huge round logs, one by one, and inserted them deep into the soil.There is no gate in the cottage, and the two hanging baskets are used to enter and exit on a daily basis.

The hanging basket is made of strong mountain wood, and the area is not small, even a horse can fit in it.

The two bandits on the top of the city were struggling to turn the winch, and the sound of gurgling rang above Li Chongjiu's head.Li Chongjiu not only finds it a little funny, but people who work in elevators every day, take this primitive elevator, it feels different.

With the rotation of the winch, the thick rope is pulled up inch by inch, and the scenery of Qiqian Village is also in sight.If you want to describe it in one sentence, it is like a mountain of evil!Birds can't pass, but apes worry about climbing.

At the foot of the mountain, the cottage stands facing south with its back to the mountain, behind it is a row of towering cliffs, which is the main peak of Qiqianzhai Mountain.If someone climbs, he will fall to his death.On the outer periphery, the outer wall confronted with huge mountains and trees just now blocked the way in and out.

And within a few acres of the outer wall and the mountain wall is the core residence of the cottage.With such a mountainous situation and the strength of the stronghold, it is enough to withstand the attack of an army of ten thousand people.I just thought that Li Chongjiu's father had relied on this cottage for more than ten years, and paid neither silk nor grain.After the local government took care of it, they refused to accept Wang Hua's existence and turned a blind eye to it.

He heard that Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty was very happy to conquer Goryeo and caused tragedy to the people in the north.At this time, the man who called himself Zhishilang should have been singing in Shandong, for example, if Liaodong dies, beheading will hurt him.Don't go to Liaodong, go all the way to the long road, gather the people, become the leader of the Sui Dynasty, and rank among the anti-kings.And this Qiqianzhai, although life is poor now, but in this era when the world is boiling, it is already like a small paradise.

This is Li Chongjiu's home!
Li Chongjiu, his father, Li Hu, the head of Qiqian Village, and hundreds of brothers from Qiqian Village all live here.It can't be said that there is no dispute with the world, but it is not oppressed by officials.Li Chongjiu jumped off the cradle, got off the escalator, and walked towards the cottage.

Although the layout of the cottage is small, the distribution is patchwork.In the place against the cliff on the back of the mountain is the Juyi Hall in the center of the cottage.In front of the Juyi Hall, there is a large open space for the martial arts arena.Around the Juyi Hall are arsenals for weapons and granaries for hoarding.The houses of the rest of the bandits are all arranged in a circle around the Juyi Hall.

From the inside to the outside, there are layers of stacks. The gates of each house face north, and the south-facing side is repaired with an earthen wall made of rammed earth.Such a building was actually designed for street fighting.Li Chongjiu walked to the edge of the earth wall and scratched it casually with his nails. There was only a white mark. It seemed that the earth wall built with rammed earth was also very strong.

This is a small cottage, and its defense strength is not inferior to that of the border town.Along the way, Li Chongjiu met bandits.But these men, women, old and young, after seeing Li Chongjiu, they all retreated to the side, or turned around and left.Everyone slammed the windows shut.One woman even poured a basin of water on the ground, and closed the door after turning around.

This is obviously very unfriendly when it comes to the situation on the way up the mountain just now.How can I say that Li Chongjiu is also the young leader of the cottage, so it is obvious that something unfavorable to him has happened in the cottage.

Li Chongjiu thought for a while, then walked outside a door, and asked inside through the fence: "Second Uncle Li, take a step to talk."

This Uncle Li is the old man who taught him many things after Li Chongjiu crossed over.He also understood from his mouth that the other party was an old brother from the cottage. He lost his temper on a business trip and was arrested by the Yamen.After that, Qiqianzhai opened up the joints of the Yamen and rescued Uncle Li.Because Uncle Li was beaten and maimed by the government, Qiqian Village not only supported him, but also respected his loyalty, and entertained him with good wine and meat.Every time he gets money from a business trip, it is his meat.

But this time Li Chongjiu was seriously ill. When his father Li Hu went to the county to buy old wild ginseng, Li Chongjiu was always taken care of by him.In the past three days, Li Chongjiu got a lot of news from Uncle Li.

Second Uncle Li raised his head and glanced at Li Chongjiu, then took a step closer, covered his mouth with his hands and said, "It's not good to be a young master."

"What's wrong?" Li Chongjiu asked.

"The second master got angry this time, and wants to take all the brothers who escaped with the young master this time, and hang them on the tree to wear flowers!"

"What is hanging armor and wearing flowers?" Li Chongjiu still doesn't know much about the counterfeit cuts that Second Uncle Li mentioned.

Wearing armor and wearing flowers is the most severe criminal law for bandits in the cottage.Differentiation is used in different seasons.

"Hanging armor" is used in winter. First, all the clothes of the person are taken off, tied to a tree, and then cold water is poured on him. The temperature in Taiyuan County is extremely low in winter. In just one night, the person freezes into a snow-white icicle.

"Wearing flowers" is used in summer.They also strip people naked and tie them to a big tree in the wild.At night, there are many kinds of mosquitoes, bugs, and blind horseflies in the mountainous area. At dusk, they fly in swarms like mist, stick on the man, and suck the man's blood dry overnight.These two levels of criminal laws are intended to punish those who have committed serious mistakes among bandits, that's why.

It turned out that this time Li Chongjiu was beaten by Li Sanniang until he vomited blood and fell to the ground. The bandits next to him saw this situation and ran away.Entering the cottage, everyone has made oaths and drank wine, saying that they want to share weal and woe together.Greed for life and fear of death, abandoning one's brother and fleeing, are all considered to be lack of morality, so in this case, it is often necessary to make an example.

Second Uncle Li talked for a long time, and Li Chongjiu finally understood. He was taken aback for a moment, thinking that in order to strictly discipline the Qiqian Village, he would kill more than ten people at one go, and it was because of himself.This can explain why the bandits looked so weird when they saw themselves.

Because their family members and companions will suffer disaster because of their own reasons.That is why they feel dissatisfied when they see themselves.Of course, once the dozen or so people were executed, their family and friends would definitely resent Li Chongjiu for this, although they dared not express anything publicly.In the future, it will be difficult for Li Chongjiu to gain a foothold in the cottage.

Li Chongjiu asked: "Where are those ten people now?"

Second Uncle Li said: "It's on the martial arts arena in front of Juyi Hall."

Li Chongjiu nodded and walked a few steps.At this time, Second Uncle Li hurried to catch up, and added in his ear: "Xiao Jiu, don't offend the Second Master."

"I know."

Li Chongjiu smiled immediately, expressing relief.

A row of big jujube trees are planted on the martial arts arena in Qiqian village. When the jujube trees mature in August and September, the jujube trees are heavy.When the people in the cottage are harvesting, they call to make tooth offerings.But now on the big jujube tree, it's not just dates, but a big man with his hands behind his back.

Presumably these people followed him to rob Li Sanniang that day, although they returned in a big defeat, they left their companions alone.It's just a pity that now they recognize Li Chongjiu, but Li Chongjiu doesn't recognize any of them.

After Li Chongjiu came close, when these big men saw Li Chongjiu coming, they seemed to shout: "You are the master! You are the master!"

Li Chongjiu didn't speak, and didn't look at the man he was calling. He went straight to the jujube tree, and said respectfully to a man, "I've seen the second uncle!"

This man is tall and tall, wearing an eye-catching green robe, even sitting on a rock, he is like a mountain.And behind this person, a bandit held a weapon for him. It was a long-handled and iron-clad horse-chopping knife. Without Uncle Li's previous instructions, Li Chongjiu could guess the opponent just by looking at his appearance.

What a Yanzhao man!
This man's face is like a jujube, with a long beard hanging from his face, he is not angry and majestic. He is the second head of Qiqian Village, Wang Junkuo (Note 1).Before coming, Second Uncle Li pulled Li Chongjiu over and gave a serious account for a long time, telling about the background of the second head of Qiqianzhai.

Before Wang Junkuo entered Qiqianzhai four or five years ago, he was born in a villager (Note 2).Later, the government conquered and displaced people, so he robbed halfway. He made a fishing gear out of bamboo sticks with barbs built in. When he saw lonely traders coming and going on the road, he used the fishing gear as a drop of blood and covered the opponent's head. , seized the goods and fled.

After many years of robbery, he learned a good martial arts, gathered a group of heroes, plundered Changping County and killed many officers, soldiers and officials.Afterwards, he was besieged by heavy soldiers of the government and army. Wang Junkuo led the crowd to break through, and almost escaped with his own body. Afterwards, his men dispersed, and he was seriously injured. He happened to be rescued by Li Chongjiu's father.Although Wang Junkuo is vicious, he knows how to repay his kindness. In order to repay his life-saving grace, he decided to stay in Qiqianzhai and became the second master without hesitation.

After Li Chongjiu learned the other party's details, his heart trembled.Could this person be the general of Wagang Village? If there were no accidents in the future, he would definitely be one of the 24 generals in Lingyan Pavilion, the general Wang Junkuo.Unexpectedly, in such a small cottage, there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

Note 1: According to "Book of Tang", Wang Junkuo was born in Shiai, Bingzhou.Shao died as a group of thieves, gathered more than a thousand disciples, turned to plunder Changping, and forced Xia County.

In the Romance, it is the prototype of the Wagang Five Tigers Sword King Junke.

Note 2: 驵侩, that is, Yaxing, an intermediary businessman in ancient times.

(End of this chapter)