Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 103 Soldiers and bandits mixed together and raised suspicions

On the morning of August 5th, Liu Huai and his two companions found a ferry near the Yishui River and found a boatman.

Liu Huai asked Luo Huaiyan to pretend to be a rich young man who was fleeing, while he and Guan Chongyan pretended to be bodyguards to escort the young master home to visit his relatives.

With the help of silver and money, the three men successfully found someone who was willing to do the river ferry business and crossed the Yishui River before noon.

After a short rest and watering of the horses, Liu Huai and others continued to advance northwest along the Jun River, the largest tributary of the Yishui River, and arrived in Fei County, which is the southern foot of Mount Meng, in the evening.

Mount Meng is divided into two parts here, with a mountain pass several miles wide in the middle. If you travel northwest along the mountain road between the hills for 150 miles, you will reach Xintai County.

That place is the territory of Tai'an Prefecture.

There are two roads from Tai'an Prefecture to Yizhou. The other one is to go east from Xintai County to Juzhou, and then go downstream along the Yishui River to reach Linyi. This road is relatively farther, but slightly flatter than the road Liu Huai is taking now.

Don't underestimate this slight difference. As we all know, even the smallest mistake can become a huge problem if magnified ten thousand times. The same road, with three people walking it, is a completely different concept than with three thousand people.

So in Liu Huai's imagination, if Geng Jing agreed to send troops to Yizhou, he should take the road south of Juzhou. However, what he didn't expect was that when he just came out of Mengshan Pass along the Anzi River, a tributary of Jun River, and arrived at a small village at the foot of the mountain, he saw an unexpected scene.

At this time, it was already the morning of August 6th.

"Who are you?"

At the entrance of the village, six men carrying long spears, who were lazy and could not be identified as soldiers or bandits, saw Liu Huai and immediately became alert.

Although there is a young boy like Luo Huaiyan among the three, Liu Huai and Guan Chongyan are both knights equipped with three weapons, equipped with bows, swords and spears on horseback, and there is a murderous aura in their every move.

Although the spearmen at the village entrance are numerous and powerful, how can they dare to relax?

Liu Huai clapped his whip on his palm and responded loudly: "We are General Li's men."

"General Li? Which General Li?" The leader, dressed in colorful clothes, asked in surprise.

Liu Huai did not answer, but said: "Now it's my turn to ask you, which unit are you from? Are you Marshal Geng's soldiers?"

Several spearmen looked at each other, instinctively feeling that something was wrong, but at the same time, they felt that the person in front of them was full of momentum and irresistible.

The leader hesitated for a moment and said, "We are the Tianping Army, but we are not the soldiers of some Marshal Geng, but the soldiers of Pingshan Hu."

Liu Huai was stunned for a moment, and couldn't understand what it meant to be a member of the Tianping Army but not know Marshal Geng.

Then he immediately realized that the grassroots soldiers only knew the general and the military number, but didn't even know who the supreme commander was.

This Tianping Army is a joint-stock company!

"Pingshan Hu, I know him. We drank together half a month ago." Liu Huai pointed at himself with his whip. "Do you know Li Tieqiang of the Tianping Army? I am Li Tieqiang's good friend."

"I've heard of the big iron spear. It is said that he has the power to pull out nails and can straighten a bent iron spear. He must be a hero." Someone muttered a few words.

The leader nodded in understanding, his cloudy eyes rolling, and asked again, "The main force is in the north, how come you came from the south?"

"Military orders, military orders, do you understand?" Liu Huai cracked his whip, making a crackling sound in the air, as if impatient. "Military orders mean the general said so, and I must do it. Forget about going south, I have to go through mountains of swords and seas of fire. You ask what military orders are? You are not qualified to know, let Pingshan Hu ask."

The leader didn't expect Liu Huai to be so disrespectful, but he didn't dare to really turn against him, so he could only mutter something in a low voice.

Liu Huai immediately came over and asked, "What are you doing here?" The leader immediately became excited and said, "You are not qualified to know. Let Li Tieqiang ask."

As soon as he finished speaking, and before Liu Huai's sneer had died down, a shrill scream was heard from the village at the foot of the mountain a hundred steps away. Following the sound, he saw a man and a woman dressed as a couple turning out from the foot of the mountain. They were covered in blood, staggering and running, shouting for help.

It happened so quickly that Liu Huai's hand had just touched the long sword on the victory hook, and Guan Qilang had just pulled out an arrow, when a huge Mo Dao rolled towards the man and woman with a strange whimpering sound.

Just like a naughty boy beating rape flowers with a stick, the upper bodies of the man and woman flew up, and the sharp blade of the Mo Dao cut down like a hot knife through butter, and stuck into the ground. The hilt was then firmly grasped by a two-meter-tall, disheveled strong man.

The strong man seemed to have also noticed the three people at the village entrance. He raised the Mo Dao on his shoulder and let the blood on it drip down and wet his tattered leather armor.

He opened his mouth wide, stuffed his dirty fingers into his mouth, blew a whistle, and then grinned grimly, his provocation too obvious.

Following the whistle, more than ten people turned the hillside and walked towards the village entrance.

However, Liu Huai didn't care about them. He had just figured out something.

Liu Huai suddenly realized that the fancy clothes worn by the spear-wielding man who spoke to him were just some strange costumes.

That is clearly a woman's dress!

"You man, don't cause trouble while I'm happy. Get out of here!" The leader became bolder when he saw the reinforcements coming behind him. He pointed his spear at Liu Huai from a distance and shouted wildly.

"Hey, what did I ask you just now? Oh, right, what are you doing here?" Liu Huai just sighed and replied: "Now I know..."

The west wind suddenly blew hard, and the murderous aura was rampant.

"So you came here to steal!"

However, just when the two sides were on the verge of a war.

From the northwest, the sound of horse hooves suddenly approached.

Guan Chongyan and Guan Qilang kept their bows drawn and arrows ready. They listened for a moment and said to Liu Huai in a deep voice, "Eight riders, half a mile."

Seeing that the bandits at the village entrance were also on guard, Liu Huai thought for a moment and signaled Luo Huaiyan to stay away, while he and Guan Chongyan retreated.

The dozen or so bandits had just breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Liu Huai had only retreated more than ten steps and stood on the overgrown official road, maintaining a posture that allowed him to attack or defend.

This made the bandits both happy and anxious. They were happy because if the visitors were their own people, they could keep Liu Huai and others. This was not only because it would prevent the scandal from being spread, but also because the three high-quality war horses alone were a weapon to save their lives and make a fortune.

What worried them was that they didn't know whether the person coming was one of their own.

The mystery was soon solved.

With the war horses galloping, half a mile was just a moment.

Eight knights in iron crotch armor appeared from the end of the official road. They were obviously stunned when they saw the two sides confronting each other.

Immediately afterwards, the leading young knight raised his right hand and clenched it suddenly. The eight riders reined in their horses and the attendants behind the young knight raised a large flag at the same time.

There is a word "辛" written on it.

(End of this chapter)