Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"Quickly find a place to hide—"

"Notify my brother, there is an ambush ahead!"

"The enemy is on the mountain, on the mountain!"

Dozens of rocks the size of human heads fell from the sky and hit people with a horrific noise. The people falling to the ground didn't even scream, and those who were still alive only made intermittent groans. Most of them either died on the spot or fainted.

Lightning fireballs and poison smoke balls mixed with stones and fell from above. The deafening noises made people's hearts skip a beat. Before they could check the dead and wounded, pungent smoke rose among the crowd.

There was a violent coughing sound.

“Let’s go… ahem, brother, let’s go!”

Zhu Wu covered his mouth and nose with his hands, his face showing some anxiety. He pulled Shi Jin's bridle with one hand and pulled it back hard: "There's an ambush ahead, hurry up!"

Shi Jin was not an ungrateful person. He did not say anything but was determined to lead his men out of the encirclement. He quickly pulled the reins, and the warhorse neighed and turned around. After taking two steps, a loud "bang" sounded from behind the horse.

Shi Jin and Zhu Wu were so frightened that they broke out in cold sweats. When they turned around, their pupils shrank at the same time.

A bale of straw.

bang——

bang——

Pong bang——

Amid the continuous noises, some people were knocked to the ground by straw falling from the sky. Those with better luck had broken bones and fell into coma, while those with less luck ended up like the people who were hit by the rolling stones.

But more often than not, the dull sound of tiles breaking came from the straw.

"Go, hurry up——"

It happened in a flash. Shi Jin lifted the horse's belly with his feet and ran past Zhu Wu. The military advisor Shen Ji didn't pay attention and loosened his hand, and Jiu Wenlong's horse jumped out. This time it was Shi Jin's turn to reach out and grab the reins on the side, pulling Zhu Wu's horse and running away.

A rain of arrows poured down from the pine forest on the cliff top. The arrow heads were tied with hemp wool soaked in tung oil. The flames kept shaking in the air, as if they were threatening lives.

Three rockets flew over Zhu Wu's head and penetrated into the ground. The flames ignited the arrow shafts, causing black smoke to rise. Occasionally, a flaming arrow would pierce the straw, and the square haystacks would instantly burn into giant torches. A pungent smell filled the air. The bandits, who were already dodging in a panic, were suddenly frightened by the flames. While being forced back by the heat wave, their eyes unconsciously began to search for a suitable place to escape to.

pong——

The sound of a clay pot breaking was heard on the road, and the splashed liquid slowly flowed on the ground with a pungent smell.

bang bang-

The sounds of explosions rang out in the haystack one after another, and several pieces of porcelain with flames suddenly flew out from the flames.

puff--

The flying fragments pierced into the unlucky guy's calf, causing a loud scream of "Ah——"

The setting sun stretched the shadow of the cliff into a blood-red fence. More and more liquid flowed out of the straw and merged into the liquid on the ground. The flames spread along the newly opened path and instantly burned the road. Gradually, the fire could not be controlled and spread to the woods next to it.

Several streams of black smoke meandered up into the sky amid the high flames, looking shocking under the blood-red sunset.

"Report——"

The bandit in a tight suit ran over and knelt on one knee: "The government troops are ambushing ahead and setting fire to the road. Leaders Lei Heng, He Ji, and Shi Jin are in front and their connection with us has been cut off."

"I saw."

Song Jiang clenched his fists, his face gloomy as if water could be squeezed out of it: "Order the whole army to be on alert first, and the three troops of Wu Song, Zhu Tong, and Mu Hong on the left wing will turn around and go into the mountains to the front to drive down the ambushing government troops."

Wu Yong, who was riding on his horse at the side and rear, felt uneasy. It was he who said that Zhai Jin had few soldiers, and it was also his judgment that the government army would not ambush. Now that something has happened, no matter how you look at it, he is responsible for it.

After hearing this, Wu Yong hesitated for a moment, even though he felt his face burning, he gritted his teeth and rode forward a few steps: "Brother, please gather the troops quickly and retreat slowly, and don't go into the forest.

It is getting dark now, and I don't know what the government troops have prepared in the forest. If we rush into the forest rashly, we might get ambushed. "

At this moment, a faint roar was heard from the front, and the leaders including Song Jiang changed their expressions immediately.

It was a familiar sound, which they could still hear in the fields at noon.

Under the Broken Cloud Cliff, the green leaves on the branches trembled slightly, the roar of war horses gradually became louder, and the huge sound reverberated back and forth in the silent mountains, forests and plains.

"Zhai Jin has returned (it's that fellow Zhai Jin)."

Song Jiang and Wu Yong looked at each other, and then Song Jiang shouted, "Order the left wing to quickly go up the mountain to defeat the ambush of the government troops, and the rest of the troops to go forward and get sand to put out the fire!"

At that moment, the 13,000 or 14,000 bandits who were lagging behind began to act according to the order. Wu Song, Zhu Tong and Mu Hong led about 6,000 bandits to crawl up the mountain. Song Jiang used Lei Yingchun and Zhang Yue'e as the vanguard and ran quickly towards the place where the black smoke was rising.

Soon they heard the sounds of fighting and shouting across the fire. They realized that the cavalry were clashing with the people in front. Lei and Zhang, the couple, quickly asked people to shovel dirt and put out the fire.

However, in a hurry, the ground covered with various palm oils, pine oils and straw was not so easy to extinguish. Moreover, the heat of the flames made it impossible to get close, which made the bandits anxious as they listened to the sounds of fighting.

On the other side, the night replaced the sunshine in the sky. Wu Song, Zhu Tong and Mu Hong had just climbed halfway up the mountain with their troops. The dim vision made the three leaders hesitate. Normally, they should have lit torches and searched the mountain at this time.

However, the ambush ahead made several people hesitate. They didn't know whether it was right or wrong to light the torches at this time. What if the torches became targets for the government troops on the mountain, wouldn't they all be in trouble?

However, they soon ran out of time to worry.

Pong bang——

The sound of breaking porcelain echoed in the silent forest.

Wu Song and his two companions were all experienced people in the martial arts world. Although they didn't know what the sound just now meant, they still instinctively shouted, "Oh no, there's an ambush."

Bang, bang, bang—

The sound of porcelain breaking continued in the dark forest, and then burning fire sticks drew irregular arcs and were thrown from the darkness.

Wu Song had experienced more, so he reacted faster and shouted, "It's kerosene, retreat quickly."

tumultuous--

The flames rose as the words fell, and the oil helped the fire climb up the tree trunk. The flames licked the dark jar hanging high on the branches, and the hemp rope tied to the porcelain jar was burned by the flames.

"Bang" and "Pang" the sounds of shattering rang out in the forest one after another. As the flames grew, smoke with a pungent smell drifted over along the mountain breeze.

"Cough-cough-"

"Retreat... cough, it's poisonous smoke!"

"The government troops are vicious—"

Under the firelight, the bandits kept covering their mouths and noses and coughing, tears and snot streaming down their faces. Some of them didn't pay attention to the mountain road, tripped, fell to the ground, and rolled down the hillside. "Damn it, we were tricked..."

Zhu Tong held a long knife and protected his mouth and nose with his arm. His exposed phoenix eyes were full of annoyance: "Zhai definitely didn't ambush here on impulse. It seems that he has been preparing for a long time."

Wu Song and Mu Hong did not say anything, but they looked a little unhappy. They turned their heads to look at the rising fire. They could vaguely see a figure standing behind the flames. Against the backdrop of the flames, bits of cold light flickered in the dark night.

Their eyes suddenly widened and they shouted at the same time: "Be careful of the arrows!"

An arrow with feathers suddenly flew out from the fire. Wu Song and the other two reacted quickly and squatted down. A "whoosh" sound flew over their heads and "bang" hit the tree trunk behind them.

There were screams all around and many dead bodies rolled down the slope.

Wu Song and Mu Hong looked back with tingling scalps. Zhu Tong was closest to the tree trunk. He stretched out his hand to pull out the arrow but failed. With the help of the firelight in front of him, he took a closer look and his scalp suddenly tingled: "The arrow of the divine arm bow, retreat quickly--"

In the chaos, Wu Song and Mu Hong did not dare to show their bravery, and hurriedly retreated with a roar of "Retreat". The feather arrows shot from the crossbow whizzed through the night sky from time to time, causing screams and wails.

When the three men retreated to the top of the hill to check the casualties, two of Zhu Tong's brothers, Gong Zheng, were killed, and Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang, Wu Song's men, were injured.

The former had kerosene splashed on his arm. This man was also ruthless. Seeing that there was no way to put out the fire for the time being, he cut the burning part with a knife. Now he is fainted from the pain. The latter was shot in the shoulder by an arrow. Half of his body was numb and he was unable to move. The couple was carried away by several minions.

Only the brothers Mu Hong and Mu Chun managed to retreat safely, but their men suffered heavy casualties. Although the deaths of the three groups combined were less than 300, more than half were injured. Especially when they went down the mountain in a panic, many of them tumbled down, and it was common for them to suffer injuries to their arms, waists and legs.

In the front, the central army was blocked by flames. Lei Yingchun, Song Jiang and others could not break through for a while. The government troops on the cliff tried to throw earthenware jars at them, causing the thieves who were afraid of the burn to retreat one after another.

Fortunately, Shi Jin, Zhu Wu, Chen Da and Yang Chun ran fast. Although half of their subordinates were killed, it was a good thing for Song Jiang that the leaders were still there.

When Wu Song and his two men on the left wing were set on fire by the government troops, Xiaoyi Heisaburo sighed, looked at the fire ahead with reluctance, and gave orders word by word: "Retreat."

The leaders around looked at each other in bewilderment. Sun Xin, who was in the army, looked at the fire and hesitated: "Brother, Lei Heng and the others are still at the fire..."

"...I know." Song Jiang's eyelids drooped slightly. "If we can break through this flame, Song Jiang will risk his life to rescue them from Zhai Jin. However, the fire is blocking the way and the government troops on the mountain are constantly throwing things that start fires. We can only pray that they are safe."

choke--

Song Jiang drew his sword and said fiercely to the crowd, "I, Song Jiang, swear to heaven that if anything happens to Lei Heng, He Ji and other brothers, I will kill Zhai Jin to avenge them. If I break this oath, I will be hated by both humans and gods and die under a hail of arrows."

He raised the knife and pulled it against his palm. After the burning pain, blood immediately flowed out. Song Jiang turned the long knife over, pointed the blade upward, bent his arm to clamp the blade and pulled it, wiping the blood on the cloth on his sleeve. The short dark body shouted: "Let's go!"

All the leaders were in awe when they saw this. They sighed in their hearts, looked back at the blazing fire, and stamped their feet: "Let's go——"

The large group of thieves turned their backs in the firelight and walked away into the distance.

……

On the northeast road, a team holding torches was winding its way, and from time to time someone would complain.

Su Yuanjing rode on his horse with his head lowered. He had walked a lot recently and felt a little tired. He secretly thought about finding a softer bed to have a good sleep later.

Dang Shiying and Dang Shixiong rode their war horses on both sides of the team, with sullen faces, urging them from time to time, "Hurry up, you bunch of lazy guys!" "The general's journey has been delayed by you, so go back and make me suffer!"

But the shouting and scolding did not have much effect. Many of the imperial guards looked up at them, groaned louder, and dragged their feet three times slower.

"What should we do?" Dang Shixiong approached his brother and whispered, "If we procrastinate like this, it will definitely make the general unhappy."

"Go talk to the commander and find a village to stay for the night. There is a light over there, maybe it's a village."

"That's all."

The two brothers whispered a few words, then rode their horses to Su Yuanjing's side. Su Yuanjing just wanted to have a rest and didn't care whether he could reach Longxing City today.

At that moment, the sluggish pair of imperial guards changed direction and walked slowly towards the spots of light.

……

Southeast of Duanyun Cliff.

The leaves and grass made rustling sounds as he hurried forward. The running figure looked back from time to time. The number of his confidants running with him was still the same, not too many but not too few, and they all looked panicked.

The leader had a beard and purple complexion. The scarf on his head had long since fallen off. He ran like a madman with disheveled hair. Seeing that no one was chasing him, he slowed down his pace and said, "Take a break... take a break."

He stuck the machete in his hand into the ground and bent over to take a few breaths.

Ever since the fire cut off the road behind them, the bandits in the front were killed by the cavalry led by Zhai Jin. Perhaps because the morale of the army was lost in the chaos, Zhai Jin successfully broke through He Ji's troops in front of him, and then killed the bandits in front of him. If he had not taken advantage of the darkness and ran fast, it would be unknown how he would have ended up.

Only after running to this point did Lei Heng feel at ease. He found a stone to sit on and asked his trusted followers to count how many people were left. After a check, they found that there were only more than a hundred people here. His subordinates Ji Sansi and Huang Zhongshi were nowhere to be seen.

"…My daughter."

He cursed fiercely, stared fiercely at the trees in an unknown direction, and ran as fast as he could. They were lucky enough to escape with their lives, so they had no idea where to run to.

"Which brother is this?"

Just as he was feeling frustrated, a voice came asking a question. Lei Heng and the others jumped up like frightened rabbits, pointing their swords and guns at the place where the sound came from.

Lei Heng shouted, "Who?"

"Damn it, I asked first, who are you?"

A voice came from the darkness. Lei Heng's eyes moved. It sounded familiar. He thought it was not the government troops. He lowered the machete in his hand and said, "I am Lei Heng. Who are you?"

"It's Chief Lei!" The voice on the other end also became more relaxed, and then many people walked out of the darkness: "My younger brother Qian Yi, nice to meet Brother Lei Heng."

own people...

The men led by Lei Heng all breathed a sigh of relief and put away their weapons. Lei Heng looked at the people around him and said, "It's Brother Qian. Are you the only one here?"

Qian Yi smiled and said, "My brother is taking care of He's brother in the front."

"Brother He Ji is okay too?" Lei Heng was even more delighted.

"I was shot by that guy named Zhai, but luckily it was the barrel of the gun that injured my arm." Qian Yi sighed, and then said, "Brother Lei Heng, why don't you come over and let's discuss a way out."

Lei Heng had no objection to what he heard and said several times, "Lead the way," and followed Qian Yi. When he met He Ji, he saw that He Ji looked fine and there were hundreds of shadowy figures around him, so he felt relieved immediately.

"It's not a good idea to have nearly 400 people on both sides." Lei Heng looked at the dejected figures around him and said, "Why don't we travel overnight and find a village to rob, so that we can get some food and give our men a rest."

"I know there is a village here." Brothers Qian Yi and Qian Yi looked at each other and stood up: "We have been in Ruzhou for a while before, and I remember a lot of the roads."

"Brother, lead the way."

Lei Heng and He Ji were overjoyed.

A rustling sound was heard in the darkness, and the thieves holding knives and guns nimbly followed the figure in front and ran out. (End of this chapter)