In the Blade

When Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan just left Jiankang, the road was relatively peaceful.

Perhaps because of the proximity to the capital, several states and counties near Jiankang still maintained the most basic order - of course, it was only the most basic. Robbers, road robbers, and man-eating monsters were all there, but as long as you were not stupid enough to travel at night, or had to go to some remote directions, it was generally acceptable. Food and supplies along the way could also be purchased in the city.

"But from now on, this road will not be so easy to travel."

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan realized this on the first day they set foot out of Bozhou.

After leaving Bozhou, they arrived at the territory of Songzhou. From here, the influence of Dachen began to weaken. As for the specific manifestation, it was the forts all over the road - originally these military forts were built by the government army on the northern border to delay the grassland people, but now these forts have been learned by those local nobles and built in their own homes.

In theory, these local nobles were building fortresses to avoid disaster, but the grassland people were not coming now, so who were they avoiding?

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan were not sure who they were avoiding. They only knew that these locals could not accept them. Even if they were willing to pay more to buy some supplies, these locals still did not let them get close to the walls of the fortress. So after being locked out for three consecutive times, Shan Bing, who was not experienced in the martial arts world, could not help but show the token given by the court.

But even if they revealed their identities, they were not greeted by the hospitality of the local nobles.

Instead, they were attacked by bandits.

Shan Bing revealed his identity as the commander of the army in the evening, and then eight groups of robbers came in succession that night. They were called robbers, but they were well-armed and more powerful than the other. In the end, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan even killed three of them before they could barely escape from the encirclement.

"You come from the military, and you may think that revealing your identity is useful, but how can you say this... You should treat this place as an enemy country."

Jiang Wenyuan didn't explain to Shan Bing until they fled to a relatively safe place far away.

After the dangerous fights just now, Shan Bing could understand that what Jiang Wenyuan said was right, but Shan Bing was still a little confused. He didn't know where the problem was.

"At the beginning, we were regarded as spies of the bandits, so they didn't let us in, in order to prevent us from colluding with the outside to clean up their fortress...As for what happened later, it was obvious that we were regarded as the court investigating the case, and they happened to have committed a crime."

"You mean, those weapons?"

Hearing Jiang Wenyuan say this, Shan Bing immediately thought of the weapons in the hands of the bandits.

Those weapons with fine texture are not made by any folk blacksmiths. They are cold and fierce-the most outrageous thing is that these weapons are even the same in shape. It's so obvious, if he still can't see it, then his eyes can really be scratched.

"Yes, the weapons of the prefecture arsenal."

Jiang Wenyuan nodded.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the state capital of Songzhou has been robbed by these surrounding nobles, in the name of bandits entering the city. As for where the bandits robbed things, you should have seen it. No wonder they can even afford to support masters with evil spirits... Well, it's not your fault. Even if you don't reveal your identity, they will deal with us two outsiders sooner or later. After all, these people have something to hide."

Having something to hide?

Hearing this last sentence, Shan Bing's heart suddenly jumped inexplicably.

Of course, he has nothing to hide. As the saying goes, there is no two suns in the sky. In his heart, there is only one sun, Eunuch Cao. For Shan Bing, who has been a soldier for the first half of his life, Eunuch Cao is already the thickest thigh he can hold - as for His Majesty, it has nothing to do with him, that is Eunuch Cao's thigh.

Moreover, the feeling he had just had was not this kind of "something fishy", but another kind, how to say it, more mysterious, in short, there is no way to explain it...

"I think we should run quickly."

Shan Bing thought about it and decided to be honest with this temporary partner.

"You may think that I am talking nonsense without reason, but I really feel that something seems to be wrong..."

"Let's go."

Before Shan Bing finished speaking, Jiang Wenyuan stood up decisively.

Jiang Wenyuan was decisive, but Shan Bing himself was not so decisive. After all, he himself could not figure out the feeling clearly. How could he make such a judgment without any reason...

"Intuition itself is also a kind of judgment."

Jiang Wenyuan's face was serious.

"Especially this kind of intuition about danger... Let's go! We have been delayed for too long!"

With that, Jiang Wenyuan and Shan Bing quickly packed up and fled.

Just as the two of them disappeared at the corner of the mountain road in the distance, four burly men with tattoos suddenly appeared at the place where they had just stopped.

"How could they run away?"

The leading man was dumbfounded.

"We used the power of ghosts and gods to divine their location. How did they know we would come so quickly?"

"Maybe some of them are blessed by ghosts and gods."

Another man narrowed his eyes.

"Anyway, follow the footprints first. The footprints are still fresh. They can't run far."

As soon as the words fell, the four shirtless men ran away along the footprints.

Only Jiang Wenyuan and Shan Bing, who were hiding in the nearby forest, were left staring at each other.

"Have you really been blessed by... ghosts and gods?"

Even though Jiang Wenyuan didn't believe in these things on weekdays, it was hard to say at this time.

Those burly men with strange auras were not easy to mess with at first glance, and the sharp tattoos on their bodies reminded him of some bad memories-so Jiang Wenyuan could understand that they could chase him, but it was hard for him to say that his companions had some kind of ability to predict the future.

"When you were in the south..."

"No!"

Shan Bing shook his head decisively. Although he did serve as a soldier in a place close to the Nanman, he had never worshipped any of the strange gods that the barbarians believed in.

This kind of thing cannot be admitted. After all, the gods of the barbarians are famous for their evil nature. They often kill a few living people to offer sacrifices to help them. If people think that they believe in the local gods of the Nanman, it is basically equivalent to being labeled as mentally abnormal.

But if you look at it this way... the tattoos on those Songzhou people just now seem a bit like the barbarians in the south?

"It's hard to say, it may be something more dangerous."

Jiang Wenyuan thought about it and still chose not to continue fighting, but left Songzhou quietly with Shan Bing.

Although Jiang Wen, who chose to leave Songzhou, didn't know it himself, it turned out that his choice was wise, just because the big tripod in Songzhou City burned for him and Shan Bing for a day and a night, and in the end, because the two spies sent by the court were not caught, the local forces in Songzhou could only throw the four tattooed men into the pot and cook them as a sacrifice to pray to the gods this time.

Due to a correct judgment, Jiang Wenyuan and Shan Bing were lucky not to become acquaintances, and even more fortunately, they met a patrolling team of officers and soldiers just after leaving Songzhou.

"Are you from the imperial court?"

The leading sergeant looked at Jiang Wenyuan and Shan Bing with curiosity. After all, they were both agile and armed, especially Shan Bing's big shield, which looked very capable.

Looking at the familiar armor on the officers and soldiers opposite, Shan Bing instinctively wanted to reveal his identity when he saw his own people - but after remembering the previous experience in Songzhou, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan looked at each other and finally chose to be smart.

"We are not from the imperial court."

Shan Bing introduced himself.

"We brothers came out to make a living in the world, I am..."

"Great! We are not from the imperial court either!"

Before Shan Bing finished speaking, the officers and soldiers cheered first.

"Brother! Looking at your stature, it's a waste of talent to make a living in the world, why don't we work together!"

"Work, who?"

Shan Bing was stunned by the question. The sergeant in front of him was too enthusiastic and familiar.

How did they do it together? He hasn't even said who he is yet...

"Of course, it's the little emperor of Jiankang City!"

The sergeant dressed as a soldier held Shan Bing's hand.

"Brave man, you have been traveling around the world, and you must have seen it! Now the world is full of evildoers and people are living in poverty. What's the reason? Of course, it's because the court of the Southern Chen Dynasty is incompetent and unjust!"

As he said this, the sergeant dressed as a soldier raised his arms and shouted.

"As long as the unjust Southern Chen Dynasty is destroyed, everything will be fine!"

"This..."

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan were sweating profusely.

Although theoretically, they had to speak up to integrate into this group of officers and soldiers to avoid causing trouble, the problem was that what the other party said was too horrifying, and they were not sure whether it was a fishing bait - if they responded, but the other party was just testing their real officers and soldiers, then if their words were spread to Jiankang...

"Excuse me, we have no interest in this great cause."

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan bowed to the team of officers and soldiers, and then hurriedly fled.

It was too scary, too scary. This team of officers and soldiers who didn't know whether they were loyal or rebellious was even more terrifying and more scary than the four tattooed men just now!

"So do you really know where we should go?"

Until watching the team of officers and soldiers disappear from sight, Shan Bing, who was still in shock, looked at Jiang Wenyuan.

"You must know...right?"

"Yeah...I know."

Facing Shan Bing's scrutinizing eyes, Jiang Wenyuan scratched his head awkwardly.

"According to my understanding, the last time Grand Tutor Du appeared was in Songzhou. As long as you enter Songzhou City, you can always find out some information... But the question is, are you willing to go back?"

No.

Jiang Wenyuan was obviously unwilling, and Shan Bing was even more unwilling. He would go back to Songzhou if he was crazy. What if he ran into those four shirtless men again?

You know, although those four shirtless men were just unarmed, just looking at the fierce tattoos on their bodies, he actually had a feeling that he couldn't beat them.

As a soldier, Shan Bing always believed in his feelings. After all, this feeling saved him countless times in battle.

This is why he thought Jiang Wenyuan was a good partner, because Jiang Wenyuan was not like his former lousy sergeant, who ignored his intuition and even forced his squad to stay where they were and face those ferocious barbarians head-on. The subsequent battle record also proved that his judgment was correct. The barbarians wielding big sticks had a fishy smell on their sticks. Although they were just ordinary wooden sticks, they easily broke the iron armor of the sergeant.

After that battle, he was the only one left in his squad, and the damned sergeant who didn't die. The reason why he said that the sergeant deserved to die was naturally because the sergeant, under severe injuries, threw all the blame for the annihilation of the soldiers in the squad to him, who was just an ordinary soldier.

Of course, he would not indulge the damned sergeant. After all, he survived by fighting with the barbarians, so he pressed the sergeant's body with a big shield like he killed those ferocious barbarians, and then pierced the sergeant's waist with a dagger.

After that, he was imprisoned for killing Shangguan, waiting to be executed in the autumn.

Until the old eunuch appeared in front of him.

Until his killing skills were once again needed by Da Chen.

"...What's wrong with you?"

The voice of his companion sounded in his ears.

"Are you okay? Why did you get distracted while talking?"

"No... I remembered something from the past."

Looking at Jiang Wenyuan beside him, Shan Bing smiled, but did not pursue the other party's loss of clues.

In fact, it doesn't matter if there are no clues, or it's okay if you can't find them. Anyway, the old eunuch just asked them to come out and find someone, and didn't set a time limit for them - in other words, they don't have to be so anxious, they can start looking bit by bit.

Just like now, it's not easy to go back to Songzhou, but if they are not in Songzhou, can they find no clues?

"That's true, I just said this."

Seeing that Shan Bing was fine, Jiang Wenyuan continued to speak.

Although there are no clues about Songzhou City, other clues are not difficult to find. After all, Jiang Wenyuan remembers clearly that when Master Du left, he did not leave alone, but took a large number of refugees with him.

How could such a large group of refugees walking on the road be seen by no one? In addition, they have to purchase a large amount of supplies for food and horses, right? These are not difficult to find, and they can be found with a little effort.

"This is indeed an idea."

Shan Bing also nodded.

He knew that this partner was a truly reliable person.

"What should we do now?"

"The identity of Jianghu Ranger is too conspicuous, and it is not easy to continue using it."

Jiang Wenyuan thought for a moment and made a decision.

"Since we want to find news about refugees, we might as well disguise ourselves as refugees first."

The second update is late, although it is very late, but it is here. The same 4,000 words, although it is only a small step, but it is a big step to add more. Since there is successful experience, two more chapters will be added at night.

In addition: Thank you for your recommendation votes and monthly tickets, thank you for your encouragement and support.

I can't bear it any longer. I'm really going to take a rest this time. Good night everyone. See you in the evening.