The sky gradually brightened, and the moment the sun came out, it seemed to indicate that those illuminated by it would live another day.
But it was just one more day of life.
Yang Zhi leaned against the tree trunk. Although the food Chen Liu brought was enough for them to eat for a while, there was not enough water.
In such heat, even half an hour without water would be like being dry as an adult.
It seems bearable when there is no water, but after having water, the thirst becomes worse faster.
Yang Zhi looked to the south. He had given up. So many days had passed and Chen Liu still hadn't shown up. Although the group didn't say anything, they had already accepted their fate.
Death was imminent, but they didn't even have the chance or energy to leave a last word.
Even Yang Zhi, who was in the best physical condition, had lost his energy. From day to night, each of them could only say one sentence at most.
The time they spent awake was getting shorter and shorter. If the wild beasts nearby had not been slain, they would have probably become rotting corpses on the roadside.
Yang Zhi's eyes gradually lost focus.
The vitality was literally draining from him.
At this moment——
The sound of horse hooves cut through the sky, and the neighing of horses sounded not far away, like the sound of nature.
The fairy music in the fairy palace is definitely not as beautiful as this sound.
Yang Zhi sat up suddenly, and his eyes went dark because of the action. He sat there for a long time before he stood up by holding on to the tree trunk.
This sound made Li Qing, who was lying on the ground, struggle to stand up.
They all looked in the direction where the sound came from.
Then they saw a scene they would never forget:
On the official road covered with yellow sand, a maroon horse leaped out. It was facing the sunlight, and the light gave its fur a layer of gold, making it look like a divine horse in a story. It was extremely handsome, with strong muscles, and seemed to be able to fly over the mountains when it leaped into the air.
The dark brown ponytail spread out at the moment of jumping, like a whisk in the hands of an immortal.
It is so stunningly beautiful that one can't take their eyes away.
Yang Zhi, who had seen a good horse, couldn't help but murmur: "What horse... What horse!"
He was like seeing his beloved girl. He didn't dare to speak loudly and could only look at her with longing eyes.
"Slow down! Slow down!" Before the horses arrived, Yang Zhi and his companions saw Wu Yan and his group, panting and following behind the horses.
None of Wu Yan’s group members can ride a horse - Wu Yan can ride a donkey.
Although Cao'er can ride a cow, he doesn't dare to ride a horse.
Horses were a luxury in that era. Apart from unruly bandits who would steal horses to ride, many officials could only ride in ox carts when they went out. Horses were exclusive to dignitaries and nobles, and a good horse was priceless.
At first they could still lead the horses for a walk, but once the road was flat, all the horses except the two horses pulling the cart began to run wild. However, they also knew how to "take care" of humans, so they stopped and waited after running far away.
Chen Liu walked at the end of the crowd. He was unwilling to deal with Yang Zhi and the others anymore.
Yang Zhi looked at the horse stopped in the middle of the road in disbelief and swallowed involuntarily.
In fact, he had no hope of changing horses. At this time, the only ones who could have horses were probably immortals.
He hoped that the other party would provide just one horse, just one would be enough!
When the time comes, let the brother with the best riding skills take the things away.
And the horse doesn't have to be a good horse, the worst horse will do.
But the horse that appeared before him now was a peerless beauty just by looking at its legs and feet. If he traded it for money, it would be enough to buy a city.
But there are six such horses!
The last two horses are still pulling the cart!
At this moment, Yang Zhi didn't care about the strange wheels under the car at all. His eyes and all his attention were occupied by these horses.
Wu Yan brought his men to Yang Zhi and the others.
Except for Yang Zhi, everyone else subconsciously took a step back - although Wu Yan and the others were not tall, they were strong compared to them. What's more, they even brought two women with them, no, two little girls, which showed that they must have a lot of confidence.
"Mr. Yang." Wu Yan clasped his fist towards Yang Zhi.
He didn't know what to call the other person, because he didn't know how old he was, so calling him "strong man" wouldn't be wrong.
"There are six horses in total, as well as dry food and water." Wu Yan said, "You can check them out, and if there is nothing missing, we will go back and report."
Wu Yan took the bag off his back and handed it to Yang Zhi: "The immortal said that these things are not accepted. Take a look."
Yang Zhi reached out to take the bag, but he lost his balance the moment he took it and fell to the ground with the bag.
Wu Yan and the others were frightened by Yang Zhi. Fortunately, the people around Yang Zhi could see clearly that Yang Zhi was so weak that he couldn't even bear the weight of the bag.
Yang Zhi slowly got up and opened the bag with weak hands.
When the glittering golden jewelry came into his sight, Yang Zhi's eyes gradually widened and he fell to the ground in disbelief.
Among that bundle of gold jewelry, only these few items belonged to good families.
The rest is all the ill-gotten gains of corrupt officials.
These things that were returned were the result of Huangshan brothers robbing the wrong people. Although no one was killed, for Huangshan, this was a stain that could not be washed away. This incident seemed to have confirmed their reputation as bandits. Ordinary brothers did not think it was a big deal, but for someone like Yang Zhi who was not interested in being a bandit, this incident was enough to keep him awake at night.
There were so many gold ornaments, and he could recognize the origins of these at a glance.
Wu Yan also guessed the source of these things from Yang Zhi's expression. The problem that had been bothering him was finally solved. Wu Yan sighed and said, "The immortal knows everything."
At this moment, Yang Zhi finally asked with a little doubt: "Why did the immortal want to...save us?"
He believed that they were no longer clean and that since they had robbed good people, they could not be called good people and did not deserve to be saved.
What's more, this is something he already knows. There are so many brothers in the mountains, and he dare not say that all of them are good people, let alone say that they have not robbed or killed good people. He did not dare to make this guarantee even before the severe drought, let alone now.
Wu Yan: "I'm afraid the immortals think that warriors can become good people in the future."
Yang Zhi smiled bitterly and said, “Yang cannot be a good person. I am afraid I will have to kill more people in the future.”
Wu Yan said, "The immortal has never misjudged anyone. Warriors should not underestimate themselves. If you kill a bad guy, isn't it also saving someone from danger?"
Yang Zhi waved his hand, unwilling to talk further.
He climbed onto the carriage with Wu Yan's help. Only then did he notice the strange wheels. But what surprised him more than the wheels were the things in the carriage: buckets of water, piles of dry food, and even rations for the horses, all arranged in different categories.
The last moment they were still hovering on the brink of life and death, but now they suddenly "got a windfall".
Yang Zhi's hands couldn't stop shaking, and his steps were unsteady when he got out of the car. If Wu Yan hadn't supported him, he would have almost fallen again.
In the first twenty years, Yang Zhi lived a smooth life. As the son of a wealthy landlord, he was born in a position that ordinary people could not reach.
But he was born with a sentimental nature, sympathized with the weak, and couldn't bear to see people around him being bullied.
To this day, he still doesn't know whether it was right or wrong for him to take the farmhand to the county government office.
The family's century-old foundation was destroyed because of him.
Although the king saved his family, he could not save their tenants.
His parents, brothers and sisters lived in constant fear on Mount Huangshan, worrying day and night about the imperial court's crackdown on bandits. The once peaceful and stable days suddenly became out of reach.
Everyone praised him, praising him for his loyalty, his fearlessness of power, and for being a good man.
But only he himself knows how much he has to sacrifice to be a good person.
His parents cried all day long, his brothers and sisters no longer spoke to him, and even his former tenants probably wouldn't be grateful to him.
If he had not gone to the county government, most tenants would still be able to live honestly by farming.
But when he went to the county government, his family property was confiscated, and the tenants were driven out of the land they had cultivated for generations. They didn't know how to do anything except farming. Could they rent land in other places? Could they fill their stomachs?
His momentary indignation did not bring any good results. It destroyed his foundation, cut off the livelihood of his tenants, and forced his family to follow him into the mountains to become bandits. As for him, he went from being a young master from a farming and reading family to the second in command of a group of bandits.
But he didn't think he did the right thing, but he didn't know what he did wrong either.
Was it wrong for him to stand up for the tenants? Was it wrong for him to be compassionate to the weak? Was it wrong for him to want to be a gentleman?
Yang Zhi couldn't find the answer, so he could only go down this path to the end. It seemed that as long as he reached the end, he would know whether what he did was right or wrong.
"Thank you." Yang Zhi looked into Wu Yan's eyes. "Does the immortal have a Dharma name? If I can reach the south safely, I will build a statue for the immortal so that he can enjoy the incense forever."
Wu Yan shook his head: "That's not necessary. Whether you believe in immortals or not, or whether you erect statues or not, the immortals don't care."
Yang Zhi murmured: "God..."
"Come and get some water." Wu Yan took out a bucket of water from the car. The water was in a wooden barrel, and the strong man had to use all his strength to tilt and hold it so that the water would not spill in the process.
Yang Zhi and others couldn't wait to use the cups prepared in the car, put their mouths to the opening one by one, and drank heartily.
At the end of drinking, Yang Zhi felt that his stomach was full of water, and he could hear the sound of water sloshing when he walked.
They finally drank enough and wanted to lie down to rest, but they all insisted on standing where they were.
Wu Yan: "Since you have no objection, I will leave now."
"Chen Liu!" Yang Zhi suddenly called out Chen Liu's name.
Chen Liu, who was hiding behind the crowd, shrank his neck and refused to answer or go out. He really didn't want to have anything to do with Yang Zhi and the others!
Unexpectedly, Yang Zhi walked straight up to Chen Liu. He bowed with his hands clasped, but could not lift his long bow. His voice trembled slightly, "I'm sorry for offending you before."
Chen Liu looked around helplessly, blinked, and said dryly: "I, I have repaid the kindness of my brothers, and I will not owe you anything in the future. If we meet in the future, please don't recognize me."
Yang Zhi didn't say anything and continued to bow.
Wu Yan gave Chen Liu a wink, and the group did not contact Yang Zhi and the others again, but walked back along the official road in silence.
Cao'er whispered to Sarah, "Sister, is this the end?"
She thought she was using a repeating crossbow!
But it's better not to use it than to use it.
Sarah yawned. Cao held her hand and she rubbed her eyes while saying, "Well, it's done."
She even said she wanted to show off, but it seems like there's really no room for her to show off on this trip.
Cao'er let out a long sigh and smiled: "It seems that the immortal is looking after us!"
Sarah didn't refute, she nodded slightly to show her agreement.
Giving face to the boss and not undermining him is the working principle of a good bodyguard.
Only Yang Zhi and others were left standing there, looking at their backs with complicated expressions.
Yang Zhi's voice was as soft as a mosquito: "God..."
·
The sky was filled with rosy clouds, and the scattered clouds were coated with a layer of dim, gentle, and hazy color. At the last moment when light and darkness met, the world was so beautiful that it took one's breath away.
"Let's rest here." Wu Yan chose a place.
They never travel at night, and even if they have powerful flashlights, they rarely use them to avoid unnecessary trouble.
What's more, traveling during the day was tiring enough, and the immortal didn't require them to arrive at the supermarket at a certain time, so there was no need to rush.
The employees took out the toilet water in an orderly manner, sprayed it on themselves and then handed it to the person next to them.
They don't think they smell too good, and some even smell so good that it's choking. After all, insect bites are more uncomfortable than choking fragrance.
They didn't light a fire when they came out - the weather was too hot and lighting a fire would just be roasting themselves.
Everyone only ate dry food, but this time they also had cold dishes prepared by Cao'er's mother, along with dry biscuits and bread biscuits. Even when there was no drought, it was an incredible treat.
"Auntie Li is willing to add sesame oil now!" Wu Yan took a bite of the cold dish and said with a smile, "She was not willing to add it before."
Cao Er retorted: "You don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are if you don't manage the household! Salt and oil are so expensive that even the landlords are reluctant to use too much!"
The men laughed: "We didn't dare to put too much salt in our house before!"
"In order to get some meat oil during the market, we have to go to town before dawn, otherwise how can we get the fat?"
"Sesame oil seems to be squeezed from sesame seeds? How many sesame seeds does it take to squeeze a small bottle?"
"The beans don't produce much oil." Wu Yan sighed, "If they don't produce much oil, they will be expensive, and not many people can afford them."
Who would want to buy soybean oil when you can buy fat for a little more money?
Wu Yan: "My family's oil press sells oil to the grain store in town. Business is not good, so they lower the price of my oil every year. I dare not use more oil when cooking at home."
"Nowadays, we eat all kinds of oils, including animal oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, and rapeseed oil. There are so many oils and water that we don't think they are rare anymore."
The grass beside it nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
She loves sesame oil the most. My mother puts some in when mixing cold dishes, and it smells very fragrant!
Mustard oil is a good thing, but you can't put too much of it, otherwise she will cry while eating.
As they were talking, Sarah, who had been silent all this time, suddenly stood up. Her eyes suddenly turned red. She looked toward the woods, her muscles tensed, her upper body leaned forward, her lips pressed into a straight line, and she whispered, "Someone is coming."
Chen Liu was stunned for a moment, and asked in a low voice: "Refugees?"
Sarah: "There were thirty of them, all men, armed with knives and axes."
Everyone's eyes widened involuntarily and they all began to panic. They were all good citizens. Although they had known that this situation might happen, they had never faced it and had no experience, so they could not suppress their fear.
Thirty people! Their number is several times greater than theirs!
Wu Yan also panicked: "Wu, weapons! Bring out the weapons!"
Cao'er hurriedly went to get his crossbow, but because of his panic, it fell to the ground the moment he got it.
Sarah suddenly snapped, "Calm down!"
"With me here, what are you afraid of?! These people came just in time, and they can give you some practice."
Strangely, Sarah's petite body gave the employees unlimited confidence.
Wu Yan regained his senses. He took out his long sword and said to the employees, "Those with crossbows, please retreat and find a place to hide. Those with long swords and electric batons like me, please come closer to me."
He was worried that his companions might be injured by mistake, so he reminded them again: "Shoot when they get close, and don't shoot when we are fighting, otherwise the other side will not be injured, but our own people will fall."
Cao'er was in tears. She had never expected that a girl like her would have to go to the "battlefield".
But when she looked at Sarah, she inexplicably gained courage.
With her sister around, she shouldn't die, right?
Just leave her alive.
The light of the fire soon came into their sight.
With good food and drink during this period, their night blindness is not as severe as before.
Wu Yan held the knife horizontally in front of himself, mustered up the courage to stand at the front, and the others holding knives and sticks surrounded him.
The flames disappeared and the group of people put out the fire!
Under the cover of darkness, the other party was approaching them, but they could not see where the other party was.
The best way now is to escape in all directions. If the other party can use the darkness, so can they.
But Sarah was obviously not prepared to let them escape.
It is easy to escape but difficult to reunite, as not everyone among them knows the way back.
Sarah looked at Wu Yan with red eyes. Wu Yan was shocked, knowing that Sarah had seen through his thoughts, so he pursed his lips, put aside all thoughts in his mind, and looked at the woods intently.
The sound of dry branches being stepped on came from the woods.
Cao'er hid behind a tree. She picked up the crossbow tremblingly. Her hands were shaking. She tried to calm herself down, but her trembling body did not listen to her commands at all.
Sarah whispered, "Here it comes."
No one knew who shot the first arrow, but they all heard a short cry of pain, but the sound disappeared in an instant.
The other party is not an ordinary bandit!
Ordinary bandits would never be able to hide their tracks like this!
Sarah didn't give the employees time to think. She suddenly shouted, "Archery!"
As soon as these words were spoken, even Cao'er, who was trembling all over, subconsciously shot arrows forward.
The repeating crossbow can hold twelve arrows, but before Cao'er could react, all the arrows were shot out.
After she reloaded, she looked up and saw someone rushing out of the woods!
She couldn't count how many people there were in total, she just felt that they were as powerful as an army. Her hands were shaking as she loaded the crossbow. The more anxious she was, the less obedient her crossbow became. The arrows she took out fell to the ground, and she could only kneel on the ground to reload.
Wu Yan only heard a "clang" sound in his ear, and he used his long sword to block the opponent's axe. His hand was numb from the shock, and the long sword almost slipped out of his hand in an instant. He could not see the opponent's face, but he could see the axe flashing with cold light.
The moment the long sword fell to the ground, Wu Yan subconsciously closed his eyes.
He was dying—
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