The next day.
When the sun shone brightly on the earth and mottled spots of light shone through the gaps between the lush branches and leaves onto the four people in the woods, Shu He, Wang Qian and Zhou Ran, who had been knocked unconscious by Zhu Li, slowly woke up one after another.
"Wow, I'm fine, I'm actually fine!" As soon as Zhou Ran woke up, he twisted his neck and stretched his buttocks to check his own condition.
After a check, he found that except for a few dead leaves still clinging to his body, his overall condition was surprisingly good. He immediately shouted in surprise and delight.
I've been sleeping for half a day and a whole night, how can I not be in good spirits
"What are you howling like a ghost?" General Shu He just woke up and heard Zhou Ran's cheering like a ghost. He immediately glared at him with a gloomy face and unfriendly eyes and scolded him.
Then he turned around and looked at Zhe Silun, whose eyes were bloodshot, and asked doubtfully, "Where is he?"
Zhe Silun hadn't slept all night and looked very tired. After all, they were in the wilderness and he was the only one awake among the four people. For everyone's safety, how could he dare to fall asleep
After waiting for the three to wake up, no one came to comfort them. Instead, they asked about Zhu Li's whereabouts. This made him very frustrated. He said weakly, "Are you talking about the young man who is suspected of stealing Red Hare?"
"If it's not him, who else could it be?" General Wang Qian also had a gloomy look on his face and replied to him dejectedly.
"Gone. Left yesterday."
Looking at the two elders' ashamed expressions, Zhe Silun finally let go of the little grievance in his heart and responded frankly.
"Gone?" Shu He exclaimed in disbelief, "That little bastard took advantage of me when I was not prepared and gave me a sudden attack, and then he left without saying a word?"
Zhe Silun nodded helplessly, with an expression that said, "If they don't leave, what else can you do to them?"
"You bastard, you defeated me by sneak attack, what kind of skill is that? Fortunately he left quickly, otherwise I would have beaten him to a pulp." When Wang Qian heard that Zhu Li had left, his expression instantly became energetic, as if he had regained the spirit he had before being beaten.
"Brother Wang, what you said makes sense. I haven't even had the chance to display my best skills. If that kid hadn't left, I would have taught him a lesson and let him experience how powerful I am as the top martial arts champion of Dazhong University."
Upon hearing that Zhu Li was gone, Shu He suddenly became arrogant. It seemed that he, the martial arts champion in the first year of Dazhong, finally got a chance to catch his breath.
By saying a few polite words, the two elders were simply trying to save some face.
They had never experienced such a miserable fate in their entire lives. Just yesterday, they were completely defeated and their reputation was ruined. They hadn't even understood what was going on before they were knocked down. The two old men could only find a way out and leave on their own.
But even this was the only self-consolation. Some people still didn't know the situation. Zhou Ran suddenly appeared from the side and looked at him puzzledly. Shu He and Wang Qian looked at each other and said in surprise: "Grandfather, Lord Wang, the four of us were beaten up. If you see that 'little black guy' again, it's better for you to run away, so as not to be beaten unconscious for no reason again."
It would have been better if he hadn't said this. As soon as he said it, Shu He and Wang Qian jumped up as if they were humming a tune and suddenly kicked a protruding rock. One of them suddenly grabbed Zhou Ran's ear, and the other kicked Zhou Ran's butt hard.
"Asshole, if you don't speak, no one will think you are dumb."
"Ouch, great-uncle, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."
"Kick you to death, you bastard. Which side are you on?"
"Ouch! My Lord, my ass..."
... ... .
Looking at these three funny guys, Zhe Silun wailed in his heart. He finally understood that there was a reason for Zhou Ran's nonsense. Following these two old guys since childhood, a gentleman would eventually become a fool.
It’s already this late, shouldn’t we discuss our next itinerary
After a while of commotion, Shu He and Wang Qian felt refreshed, as if they had vented all their resentment on Zhou Ran.
Leaving behind Zhou Ran, who had two panda eyes, one hand covering his ears and the other hand covering his butt, the two elders finally figured out what to do for the next trip.
"General, he learned from General Heshuo Zhongwu, and his specialty is the sword technique called 'Nine Di Killing Styles.'" Shu He seemed to know Zhu Li very well. As soon as he opened his mouth, he told him the name and origin of his martial arts.
"The 'little black guy' yesterday used the sword technique. I have fought in many battles and have seen countless sword techniques. But the sword technique of that bastard is the only one I have ever seen in my life." Wang Qian's eyes were deep and he continued thoughtfully.
When the two elders spoke like this, Zhe Silun knew that they were analyzing the young man from yesterday, and he quickly added: "Shu Gong, Wang Gong, what you said is correct; if we add the fact that the Red Hare has no objection to that man, Zhe is 70% sure that the man is the general himself."
"Oh my god, that little black guy is really a general?!" Zhou Ran came closer again without knowing when, and then he wailed: "Oh God, please open your eyes, a person as suave and heroic as me is still a nobody, and that dark guy is actually a general, where is this justice?"
Zhe Silun glanced at this guy helplessly. This guy is obviously a wheel that has developed horizontally. He is also suave and heroic. Please don't insult these two words. Of course, he was just criticizing
"Get lost!" Upon hearing this, Shu He suddenly stretched out his hand and pushed Zhou Ran away. He then continued, "If that person is really the general himself, why did he go south alone?"
"Mr. Shu, before he left, he confessed that his trip to the south this time was related to his wife's life and death, so he had to be cautious." Zhe Silun hurriedly spoke out.
"Is it really so?" Shu He and Wang Qian immediately looked at Zhe Silun with surprise and suspicion.
"That's indeed how he explained it," Zhe Silun said frankly.
"That makes sense. There has always been a lot of rumors about the general's wife. It is said that Li Keyong used despicable means to put the lady under house arrest and forced her to work for him. The current Luzhou in Hedong was conquered by that lady single-handedly." Shu He suddenly realized and immediately introduced.
"That's right." Before Shu He could finish, Wang Qian said, "The general lost his temper for his beloved and led a large army to Hedong. He not only rescued his wife, but also seized the five states of Hedong. Well, that's what storytellers say."
It would have been better if he hadn't added anything. This addition immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of Zhe Silun and Shu He. They both glared at him at the same time, and the meaning was obvious, as if to say, can you be more reliable? Do you believe the storyteller's words
"Forget it." After analyzing this, Shu He's face suddenly became serious, and he said solemnly: "Since the other party is really likely to be a general, we can't just ignore it. I have decided to follow the general all the way to see if I can help him a little at the critical moment."
Having said that, Shu He and Wang Qian couldn't help but look at Zhe Silun.
Shu and Wang are not only comrades-in-arms who will stick together through life and death, but also good friends who are inseparable. If one of them makes a decision, the other will unconditionally support him most of the time.
Since this proposal came from Shu He, Wang Qian naturally didn't need to ask any more questions. Now it depended on Zhe Silun's opinion. As for Zhou Ran, it seemed that no one among the four people here cared about his opinion at all.
Facing the two elders' gazes, Zhe Silun nodded immediately: "Shu Gong has made the decision, and Silun will follow it."
The four of them must have followed Zhu Li, so they hurried all the way south to chase him.
After crossing the Yellow River, you will reach Weinan, which is already Guanzhong.
You won’t know until you go to Guanzhong, and you’ll be shocked once you get there.
Along the way, countless common people, scholars, and heroes fled northward as if they were in a group.
Zhu Li had seen this kind of situation many times along the way. He originally thought that it was caused by the Yellow River flood. After some investigation, he found out that it was not just a natural disaster that caused all this.
Since ancient times, the vast area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, with Henan Province as the core, is what we call the Central Plains.
The Central Plains region is now in complete chaos.
Eastern Xuzhou.
Zhu ?, the Tianping Jiedushi who controlled Qingzhou and Zibozhou, fled to Hebei with his brothers Zhu Jin, Zhu Yu, Zhu Han, and the remaining Tianping troops after being defeated by Xuzhou general Yang Shihou.
At that time, Han Jian, the governor of Weizhou, was killed by Zhuge Shuang, the governor of Heyang. Taking advantage of the chaos in Weizhou, the brothers Zhu Xi and Zhu Jin quickly captured Dezhou and Dizhou, and found a place to survive.
Those who were swept out of the country by the Xuzhou army were not only the Zhu brothers, but also Qi Kerang, the Taining Jiedushi who occupied Yanzhou.
The chaos in Wei Bo gave Qi Kerang an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, and he occupied Beizhou almost without bloodshed.
In the past two or three years, Han Zhi has been like a dormant tiger, gathering his strength and conserving his energy, concentrating on governing Xuzhou, and has not made any major military moves.
Instead, the brothers Zhu Xi and Zhu Jin grew stronger rapidly. Facing the wealthy and powerful Han Zhi, they did not dare to touch the tiger's beard lightly. Compared with Han Zhi, the Zhu brothers were very weak, but there were even weaker vassal states in the world, and they happened to have one right next to them.
This vassal state was Qi Kerang, the former governor of Taining. With only one state under his jurisdiction, Qi Kerang was obviously weaker than the Zhu brothers. In times of chaos and struggle for supremacy, being weak meant being eaten up.
The Zhu brothers set their sights on the isolated and powerless Qi Kerang and began to plot to seize Beizhou.
When talking about Qi Kerang, we have to talk about the situation here.
Since Han Jian's death, Le Yanzhen became the newly appointed Jiedushi of Weizhou. How could he be willing to let others seize his original territory of Weizhou? Therefore, he had always been eyeing the Zhu brothers and Qi Kerang.
Based on the principle of banding together for warmth, the Zhu brothers and Qi Kerang have always supported each other and jointly resisted Le Yanzhen's attack.
Last year, Zhu Li raided Hedong, forcing the Hedong army to retreat across the board; this also led to the cessation of the fight between Li Keyong and Hezhaoyi Jiedushi Meng Fangli.
But Meng Fangli was a man who could not sit still, so he immediately turned his attack and attacked his neighbor Le Yanzhen.
The current Weizhou Jiedushi Le Yanzhen had to be busy dealing with Meng Fangli; the Zhu brothers and Qi Kerang suddenly lost their common enemy, which provided an opportunity for the Zhu brothers to seize Beizhou.