sword sentient beings

Chapter 144 Five Tree Fort

After a while, the rescued girl woke up.

After drinking tea, she passed out inexplicably, and when she woke up, there were no acquaintances, but a group of people she didn't know surrounded her, which scared the girl almost to tears.Immediately after that, Tang Zhao stepped forward and told the story of the black shop one by one. After hearing this, the girl calmed down quickly even though she was still crying.

The people of Lingzhou are very strong in this regard, or very patient.

Although it was an accident to be knocked down in this black shop, in Lingzhou, it is not uncommon to be killed by bandits on the road, and the death of one or two relatives is even more common.

According to the girl, she was from Wushubao dozens of miles away, and when she went back to her grandma's house for a visit, she ran into a black shop on the way and had an accident.In general Lingzhou, especially in the countryside, the eldest girl would definitely not dare to go out casually, and she was not alone, but went on the road with an uncle in the same village.This uncle has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and three or five thieves can't get close to him when he is idle. In addition, the country people are poor and have nothing to steal, so they usually don't recruit thieves.Moreover, this small shop was not opened the first day. In the past, when the uncle passed by alone, he also went in for tea and dinner, and he was not robbed.I didn't expect to encounter such a thing today.

Tang Zhao and others asked her where her hometown was, and it turned out to be dozens of miles ahead, and a few people happened to pass by, so they sent her back.

Along the way, Tang Zhao chatted with her about local customs.The girl is not very knowledgeable, she only knows the things around her, but seeing that Tang Zhao and others are young and kind-hearted, even Wusuntong has thick eyebrows and big eyes, looks stable, looks trustworthy, gradually she is not timid, Said many things.

According to her, there are still many ordinary people in this place.After all, the fields have to be cultivated, and the bandits have to eat. Everyone can't starve to death.It's just that there are a lot of thieves, and the common people have to go together when they go out, and they have to form a stronghold to protect themselves at home.

In fact, Yunzhou is also like this. There are no retail investors in the countryside. They are all big villages and big towns, with high walls and deep ditches outside and heavily guarded.It's just that in order to prevent ferocious beasts from crossing the border and all kinds of evil disasters, Yunzhou has not deliberately prevented thieves from entering the village to burn, kill and loot.And Lingzhou is also guarding against ferocious beasts, and more importantly, guarding against ubiquitous bandits.

Because of this, Lingzhou's martial arts is better than Yunzhou's, and almost all villages have to learn martial arts.Children have to learn martial arts, adults also have to learn martial arts during their slack, and even girls themselves can fist or kick.It's just that the village has limited surplus food and lacks meat, so it can't afford to support so many warriors. The other is that ordinary villages don't have good martial arts inheritance.Therefore, ordinary villages will concentrate on supporting a few strong men.

In Lingzhou, whether there are good players in the village is a matter of life and death.If you have your own heroes, not only the little thieves will not dare to invade, but you will even have less offerings to the lords of the cottage.

Yes, all villages and towns have to make offerings to nearby cottages.Those cottages also know the principle of inexhaustible fishing, they have no scruples about robbery and murder of passing merchants, and they collect offerings from surrounding villages and towns.If enough offerings are collected, a looser cottage can even provide some protection, such as sending people to exterminate fierce beasts when they attack.But if the offerings are not enough, they will kill the chickens to make an example to the monkeys, and they will be merciless in massacring the village and killing people.

The girl said proudly that Wushubao was the strongest village nearby, with a population of over a thousand and several strong men.There is also a knight surnamed Sang.That chivalrous man was not a son of a famous family, but he was born with supernatural powers, and had an adventure. He developed superb internal strength, and he was considered outstanding among chivalrous men, not worse than the several village owners of the nearby Shanzhai Jiming Village.Because he is here, the protection fee charged by the cottage is higher than that of other houses, even if it is delayed for a while, it is not pursued.

Moreover, that chivalrous man is a decent man. In other villages, there are children who sneak up to the mountains to join gangs and become thieves. Most of the villages acquiesce and hope that the children will come out to benefit the village, but there is no such thing in Wushubao.The chivalrous man warns children to learn martial arts first and be a man, and would rather spend money to send children to a martial arts hall to learn skills than call them thieves.

Tang Zhao heard this and said, "Is he going to be hated by the thieves for doing this?"

The girl said: "Of course, they hate Brother Sang to death. Brother Sang said that being hated by the wicked shows that we did the right thing. Besides, they can't beat Brother Sang either."

The girl said it innocently, Tang Zhao knew it was not that simple, but he admired such a person, not only in the mud alone, but also sheltering a hometown, there is nothing good about it.

The girl was not walking fast, Tang Zhao and others didn't rush her, and they didn't arrive at Wushubao until evening.

In front of Wushubao, there are high walls, ditches filled with water, and archery towers at the four corners. It really looks like a fortress.The girl entered through the gate, but Tang Zhao and others were stopped outside.

The girl said anxiously: "Uncle Yang, they are good people."

The uncle guarding the gate said: "It doesn't matter if you are a good person or a bad person. Anyway, outsiders are not allowed to enter. If you want them to enter the village, talk to Brother Sang."

The girl said: "Of course I want to find Brother Sang." Then she said to Tang Zhao, "Wait a minute, Brother Sang will know as soon as I tell him." After saying that, she walked in quickly.

Naturally, Tang Zhao and the others don't have to live in this village, they have tents, but who knows how many scumbags there will be sneak attacks at night in Lingzhou?Living in a village is indeed less of a hassle—provided this isn't just another den of thieves in human skin.

After waiting for a while, the door opened, and a young man strode out.

The young man was about twenty-seven or eight years old, with a simple and upright appearance. Compared with Wusuntong, he was a bit more rustic. He was wearing a coarse bunt, like a farmer who had just returned from the field.

However, upon closer inspection, his back is straight, his eyes are sharp, his body is muscular, especially his footsteps are steady, and he has a solid foundation. Experts can tell at a glance that this is a practitioner with outstanding martial arts.

Tang Zhao looked at him, and suddenly thought of Guan Lei. Although the two were a few sizes apart in size, they should have the same number of training routines.Among Tang Zhao's teachers, Guan Lei is not considered a strong one, but he is the most normal one. He is also Tang Zhao's first teacher in Martial Arts. The relationship between teachers and students is very good. Feel good about it.

The young man also looked at the four people, and the more he looked at them, the more frightened he became. not on.

How could such a character be a thief?
Even if he is a thief, is his village worthy of being stolen?
Thinking of this, he relaxed his vigilance, smiled and went forward to salute with fists in his hands, saying: "The honored guest has arrived, and he is far away to welcome you. Sang Jialiang is here to make an apology."

Tang Zhao and others also returned the gift, and Sang Jialiang warmly invited them to the village to rest.

He confirmed that Tang Zhao and the others were good people, and everyone, including the gatekeeper, relaxed immediately, with smiles on their faces. It was obvious that all the young and old in the village believed in Sang Jialiang's judgment.

Passing through the thick wall, the village elders stood in the village to greet them, and all the children on the street gathered to see what was new.Tang Zhao saw that the houses in the village were very crowded one by one.And most of them are thatched huts with thatched roofs and earth walls, which are quite simple. Obviously, the village is not rich because of the large number of people and small land.In addition, the traffic in the fields, chickens and dogs hear each other, but it is also peaceful.

Tang Zhao had never seen a village in Lingzhou. If it was Yunzhou, the village would be considered poor.

Sang Jialiang took a few people to his home to rest.His house also has earthen walls, but it is more spacious than other houses, with a few tiles on the top.When I entered the house, there was no decent furniture, but it was cleaned.There is an earthen kang on one side of the inner room, and there is a table on the kang.Sang Jialiang asked them to sit on the kang, then turned around and went out to prepare food.

Yunzhou and Lingzhou are all in the north, and there are earth kangs in the houses. Tang Zhao skillfully took off his shoes and got on the kang. Wu Suntong and others are strange. They live in yurts in Liangzhou, and there is no earth kang. The little girl came in and brought them a bowl of oil noodle tea for each of them.

Tang Zhao took a sip of the oil noodle tea, only to feel that it was steaming hot, and the fragrance of the grain was tangy, making him very comfortable.

And clean and safe, no additives.

After drinking a large bowl of noodle tea, I heard the rooster crowing outside.It turned out that Sang Jialiang was digging out chicken coops, and obviously wanted to kill chickens for the guests.Tang Zhao went out from the kang and said, "Please don't bother us. We don't eat chicken, especially my brother... he doesn't eat anything with wings."

Hearing this, Jiang Shenyi poked his head out of the window, and said, "That's right, my junior brother has a bad stomach and can't eat fine grains, so I'll let him eat the thickest buns later."

Sang Jialiang carried the chicken and said: "You are the ones who are welcome. We raise chickens for food, and we don't entertain you heroes who are brave enough to do what is right. Will it be cheaper for the chicken-crowing bandits who come into the village to make trouble? Don't look at them It’s called Chicken Mingshan, and it’s very fierce to eat chicken. Humph, Jiming Mountain—we eat chicken, it’s like biting a thief’s meat.”

Talking about raising the knife and dropping it, a big rooster was killed.

There was no woman in the Liang family of the Sang family, so the village elder helped to call a village woman who was good at cooking. She stewed the rooster, picked some sprouts and mushrooms and stewed them in a large pot. The dirty wine stored in the altar house is for guests.The village elder, several martial arts masters in the village and Sang Jialiang accompanied them for dinner.

It is inevitable to chat while eating and drinking. After a few bowls of turbid wine, the village elder blushed and let go, asking, "Where did the distinguished guest come from?"

Tang Zhao didn't hide anything, and said, "We are from Yunzhou, and these two are from Liangzhou."

The village elder let out a sigh, and praised: "Yunzhou is a great place. When I was young, I heard that it was very rich? Everyone has food and drink, carefree?"

Tang Zhao murmured, "You can't say that. It's better in the city, but the countryside is just food and clothing." At least three years ago, he went to the countryside with Xingji, and the common people only had simple food and drink. A bucketful of surplus food for a year-round exchange for new clothes is considered a good year. scene.

It is said that the past two years have been better, at least the weather has been smooth for a few years, and there have been no natural or man-made disasters.But since ancient times, even in a peaceful and prosperous age, the people of the world dare not say that they have no worries about food and clothing.

Sang Jialiang said in a muffled voice: "But it's peaceful over there, right? There aren't so many goddamn thieves?"

(End of this chapter)