The Hukoujian scouts who took the money and went back naturally wouldn't really go back. Let them go back, and what they saw and heard in the Suzaku Mountain camp may be leaked. Although the Xiao Riding School said that they were not afraid of them speaking out, how could they make such a low-level mistake? They changed their clothes and walked away carrying the money, just the appearance Xiaoqi School asked them to do.
Compassion does not command soldiers, and soft-hearted people can't even kill pigs. How can they lead soldiers to fight
The fate of these scouts was hung on the big trees outside the Hukoujian, which is the place where the fifty people from Xiaoqi School were hanged after they died not long ago. The soldiers on the wooden wall of Hukou Village saw the corpses at dawn, and they didn't even know when they were hung up.
Dozens of soldiers came down from the wooden wall in hanging baskets, ran over to put down the corpses and brought them back to the stockade.
Before their anger subsided a little, a group of people came outside the cottage. It seemed that there were not many people, only a few hundred riders. There are two big flags flying, one is the fierce red flag of the Sui Dynasty, and the other is a pure black battle flag. The team stopped a few hundred paces outside the stronghold, and one of the cavalrymen urged their horses forward, drew a hard bow and shot an arrow into the stronghold. with.
Someone pulled out the feathered arrow and removed a note tied to the shaft of the arrow. Without daring to open it privately, they quickly walked down the wooden wall and sent it into the cottage.
At this time, Mo Xidao, the head of Hukou Village, was standing in the yard looking at the several corpses lying on the ground in front of him. The corners of his mouth trembled slightly, and the veins on the back of his hands tensed up. The soldier holding the note came in quickly, bowed and handed the note up with both hands.
"There are officers and soldiers outside the door, they just shot in."
Mo Xidao opened the note and looked at it, then his expression changed, he frowned and muttered: "It turned out to be him..."
He glanced at the corpses on the ground, waved his hands and said: "Carry them all down and bury them. I underestimated the capabilities of the officers and soldiers. They are very skilled, but they were captured alive. Order to go down." No one is allowed to leave the village without my order."
"yes!"
The people below responded and carried the corpse out.
Mo Xidao looked at the note in his hand, and was silent for a long time without speaking.
The soldiers on the wooden wall looked outside warily, everyone clenched their bows tightly, but the cavalry stopped moving a few hundred paces outside the stronghold after shooting an arrow. Mo Xidao slowly climbed up the wooden wall, looked at the cavalry team in the distance, his face was very solemn.
"Put me down."
he commanded.
The soldiers on the wooden wall immediately became confused and tried to dissuade them. Mo Xidao shook his head and said: "Without my order, the gate of the village must never be opened. Even if I have an accident outside, I am not allowed to open the door to rescue me. The opponent I met this time was more difficult than I imagined. I thought It's just a soldier from the imperial court who was defeated from the northwest, but he didn't expect that the leader of the army was him. These days, in order to prevent the stronghold from being prying through, he has not sent anyone out, but he didn't know that it was an old friend who came."
"If something happens to me outside, you have to obey the orders of the second leader. If you really can't hold on, you would rather abandon this cottage and go out from the other side of Huya Mountain than fight to the death with the officers and soldiers. If I had known He was the one who came here, maybe he wouldn't have killed those dozens of scouts a few days ago."
He looked a little dazed, and waved his hand to signal the soldiers not to persuade them any more. He went down from the wooden wall in a hanging basket. However, their worries were a bit superfluous, and the cavalry on the opposite side still did not take any action.
Mo tidied up his clothes after washing the knife, and strode towards the cavalry. When he walked halfway, he suddenly paused, and then reached out and pulled off the black scarf covering his face. The knife mark on his face was still ferocious.
Fang Xie saw someone coming out of the village, and with his clairvoyance, he found that it was indeed his old friend Mo Xidao in Chang'an. He thought that Mo Xidao, like Zhang Kuang, died when the emperor put down the rebellion that day. Who would have thought that this person would be able to escape from such a tight search, and even pull up a team here. However, it can also be seen from this that this person's ability is really impressive.
He got down from the white lion and patted the white lion's neck to signal it to stay where it was.
"No one is allowed to follow."
He gave an order, and strode towards the opposite side.
The two walked towards each other, both of them could not calm down. The scenes in Chang'an City back then flooded up one after another, and it felt like decades had passed.
Fang Jie stopped five or six steps away from Mo Xidao, and then bowed solemnly with his hands clasped together: "I've seen Big Brother Mo!"
Mo Xidao was obviously stunned for a moment, and then cupped his fists in return: "I never thought that you and my brother would meet again, but it was even more unexpected that we would meet in such a way."
…
…
Fang Jie and Mo Xidao sat opposite each other, neither of them was armed.
"Since I left Chang'an, I have been wandering with my brothers. At first I thought that it would be a good thing to survive, and just find a place to hide my name. But the world is chaotic. Since the brothers chose to follow me, I always We can't let them be cowards for the rest of their lives. Since those famous families who have received countless benefits from the imperial court can rebel, why can't those of us who have been abandoned by the imperial court not rebel? What's more...we have already done it once."
Mo Xidao took off the wine pouch by his waist and handed it to Fang Jie: "I later heard that you made great contributions in countering the rebellion, so I knew that we brothers might never have the chance to sit and drink together again. Since God gave us the opportunity When you and I meet again, this wine must be drunk."
Fang Jie didn't say much, took the wine bag and took a sip.
"You still like to drink such spicy wine."
Fang Jie wiped the corner of his mouth and said with a smile: "I still remember when I first met you, you laughed at me for a long time for my drinking capacity."
Mo Xidao smiled and said: "At that time, you were the little brother of our frontier army candidates, and everyone liked you. It's just that you were destined to take a different path from us from the beginning, and we took a wrong step. It’s impossible to go back.”
Fang Jie shook his head, but didn't know what to say.
When they saw each other again, both of them felt uncomfortable like a stone was stuck in their hearts.
"Actually, it's quite strange to think about fate."
After taking a sip of wine, Mo Xidao smiled and said: "At the beginning I worked for Prince Yi, and you worked for the emperor. If you and I met face to face at that time, I'm afraid it was not drinking but drawing swords. You should understand me Even if you and I hit it off, I will never show mercy once I make a move."
Fang Jie hummed, but his expression didn't change at all.
He never thought of accusing Mo of washing his sword. It is impossible for everyone to choose the same future. Maybe what is wrong in your opinion may not be wrong to others.
"I know… "
Mo Xidao smiled bitterly and said: "Later, Prince Yi's incident was defeated, and people from the Dnei Guard Office, the Dali Temple of the Criminal Department, and the army searched for Prince Yi's people wantonly in the city. You did not participate. I know that you are actually afraid of encountering As for people like us, if you meet, you will be very embarrassed. You are not too cold-tempered. I remember that when we were drinking together, I said that your temper is not suitable for being a scout... At that time, I actually looked down on you , who would have thought that a few years later, I would become a bandit, and you would have become a great general."
Fang Jie shook his head: "There is no right or wrong in those things. If I did it differently, you would give it a go. But you are right about one thing. At that time, I was really afraid of meeting you so I didn't take the order to go there. Manhunt."
"It's me and Zhang Kuang who are sorry for you."
Mo Xidao lowered his head and remained silent for a while, then said: "Actually, think about it, at that time we were called brothers, but Zhang Kuang and I had some prejudices against you in private, and we also deliberately alienated you. Although we came from similar backgrounds, you When you arrived in Chang’an City, you were appreciated by the emperor, and with the help of people like San Jinhou, you quickly climbed up. In fact, thinking about it, most of them are still jealous... I have worked in the border town for more than ten years, and Zhang Kuang also has it in northern Xinjiang. Ten years, in terms of credit, which of the two of us is not bigger than you?"
"Zhang Kuang dealt with the barbarians in northern Xinjiang, and he was worried all day long. It's easy to mix in with the barbarians. If it were someone else, how many people could do it? I was in Eastern Xinjiang, and I went into Eastern Chu to kill thousands of miles alone, and then relied on one person You are just killing horse thieves, but you get more than us, how can we be happy?"
Fang Jie remained silent, he knew that Mo Xidao was right. For Da Sui, the two of them have made far more contributions than themselves. Zhang Kuang lived in the barbarian tribe for a few years, and then led the frontier army to drive the barbarians hundreds of miles north in one go. In those few years, which day did he live a steady life
Mo Xidao was in Dongjiang, sneaked into Dongchu alone and assassinated several important figures in Dongchu. It was a miracle that he could come back from Dongchu without backup supplies. Because of the death of those big figures, those people in Eastern Chu who were clamoring to sanction Da Sui to prevent Eastern Chu businessmen from doing business with Da Sui all stopped.
It stands to reason that these great contributions are enough for the two of them to be promoted to nobles. But the imperial court did not do this, because the imperial court would not admit that these things were done by the Sui Dynasty. Using tactics against the barbarians to force the barbarians to retreat hundreds of miles to the north, spreading the word would not be good for the Sui Dynasty. Naturally, he would not admit to killing the officials of Eastern Chu.
"The same person has different fate."
Mo Xidao smiled and took another sip of wine: "This time you are here to destroy my Huya Mountain?"
These words were finally said.
"Brother Mo."
Fang Xie was silent for a while and said: "No matter what happened before, now we have encountered something difficult. Let's just drink today and not talk about other things."
Mo Xidao was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Yeah... You and I are actually very similar in some things. When I came out, I told my subordinates that if I knew that you were the one who led the soldiers to Huangyang Road, I would not Order to kill the dozens of scouts under your command, and you will not order people to hang their corpses outside for public display. Because of this, even if you know that it is me in Hukoujian, people will still let people hang my corpses. The scouts killed it and hung it outside."
He sighed: "This is a soldier..."
Fang Jie didn't speak, just drank the wine one mouthful at a time.
"I will not surrender, and I will not bring people to join you."
After a while, Mo Xidao suddenly said: "You know it even if I don't tell you. When you sent someone to hang the corpses of my subordinates outside the cottage, you knew that I couldn't surrender. Unless the people in Huya Mountain They are all willing to surrender, but even so I won't. They are willing to follow you and I will not stop them, but I can't pretend to be idle and see you every day without looking up or down."
"If you think about it carefully..."
Mo Xidao smiled: "We don't have a deep friendship, right? With your current status, I'm satisfied if you can come alone and call me Brother Mo. If I were in your current position , maybe I won't come."
Fang Jie answered after a while, "Because you are you and I am me."
"Um."
Mo Xidao put aside the empty wine bag, looked back at the cottage and said, "I will discuss with them when I go back. If they are willing to follow you, then I will open the gate of the village and let them seek refuge. If they I don't want to... Let's meet again on the knife head!"
"Leave it alone."
Fang Jie stood up and cupped his fists: "Actually, what you said is right, if you meet... no one will turn back and show mercy..."
Mo Xidao was stunned, then laughed, turned and left.
"happy!"
He roared, breaking the clouds in the sky.