Heiya Mountain in the north of Yunzhou is located at the junction of Song and Jin. To the north is Fang County, which is already part of the Jin territory.
There are more than a dozen households scattered at the foot of Heiya Mountain.
Zong Ze was quite puzzled. Were these people not afraid of the bandits? Or were they already in league with the bandits?
An old woman came out of a house, leaning on a cane and holding a handful of corn.
"Excuse me, is this the way to Black Cliff Mountain?" Zong Ze asked.
The old woman looked at Zong Ze and asked, "Who are you?"
"Oh, we want to go up the mountain, up the mountain." Zong Ze pointed to the Black Cliff Mountain in front and said.
The old woman was quite forthright: "You are going up the mountain to look for your son. Mr. Wang's stronghold is right here on the mountain. Follow the mountain path and you'll be there in about half a day."
Zong Ze smiled and nodded: "Yes, my son is in the mountains."
The old woman said, "Many children have gone up to the mountains. They have enough food and warm clothes up there, which is better than starving to death here."
Even Qin Wenzhi, who was with Zong Ze, felt puzzled. He stepped forward and bowed, "Excuse me, old man. You live at the foot of this mountain. Aren't you afraid of the bandits up there?"
"Bah!" Unexpectedly, the old lady was furious when she heard this: "You are the robbers. It is true that this kind man Wang has lived in the mountains. But he is not a robber. He comes down from the mountain every year to help poor people like us. How can you be called a robber if you don't rob the poor people in Heiya Mountain!"
Zong Ze and Qin Wenzhi exchanged a glance, this was too strange. Zong Ze smiled and said, "Don't be angry, neighbor. My nephew is not very good at speaking, so I'm sorry to bother you."
"Hmph," the old lady said angrily as she carried her corn back to the house, muttering before leaving: "If it weren't for the people in the mountains helping these people, we would have starved to death long ago."
The mountain road of Heiya Mountain is rugged, the peaks are steep, and there are endless mountains and ridges around it.
Zong Ze was too old to climb the mountain. Qin Wenzhi, the commander of Yunzhou, was holding him up, but Zong Ze pushed him away.
"I'm old, really old. When I was young, I fought against the Western Xia and chased the enemy for three days and three nights without sleep, but I didn't feel tired. But now a small mountain has stumped me, haha."
Qin Wenzhi said with a smile: "The commander's heroic demeanor is truly admirable."
Zong Ze looked at the mountain road ahead and said, "The government forced the people to rebel, and these bandits must have had no choice but to take up residence here. A bandit, yet the people down the mountain call him a great man, there must be a reason for this."
After walking along the mountain road for half a day, the two of them were extremely thirsty. Suddenly, they heard the rumbling sound of water on the left. They turned around and saw that there was a stream there. Below the spring was a waterfall. The rumbling sound just now came from here.
Zong Ze and Qin Wenzhi came to the stream and scooped water to drink.
"Strange, why didn't we encounter any sentries from the mountain stronghold on the way up the mountain?" Zong Ze said.
Qin Wenzhi was also puzzled: "I feel something is wrong too. Let's go down the mountain."
Zong Ze shook his head: "Since we are here, let's make the best of it. Let's go up and take a look first."
Suddenly, the stream water flowing down from upstream turned red, and Zong Ze was shocked.
"Blood!" Qin Wenzhi said softly.
"Ping ping pong pong!" Then came the sound of weapons clashing in front.
The two men thought something was wrong and hurriedly hid behind a big rock.
I saw a dozen people in front fighting and retreating, while hundreds of people behind were shouting and chasing them.
These dozen people fled in a panic, and when they arrived, they were surrounded by hundreds of people behind them.
Zong Ze watched quietly and saw that they were all dressed like ordinary people, except that they were holding weapons in their hands.
One of the dozen or so people surrounded raised his knife and said, "Brother, we are so close, please let me go!"
The hundreds of people behind were all filled with righteous indignation. One of them covered his left arm, which was bleeding profusely, suggesting he was injured.
The injured man said, "Zhang Xiaohu, if you don't want to become a bandit in Black Cliff Mountain, I won't stop you. But if you want to go down the mountain and join the Jin bandits, don't blame me for being heartless and ungrateful!"
It turned out that the man with the injured left arm was Wang Shan, the boss of Heiya Mountain. The one who spoke among the dozen or so people who were surrounded was called Zhang Xiaohu. It seemed that there was a fight within the Heiya Mountain group.
Zhang Xiaohu said, "Brother, everyone has their own aspirations. We brothers don't want to be bandits forever. The Jin people promised that if we were willing to come down from the mountains and join their army, we would reward each of us with 100 taels of silver, and our descendants would be promoted to high positions."
Someone beside Wang Shan shouted angrily, "Zhang Xiaohu, you running dog, traitor! Big Brother treated you well, yet you actually plotted against us. You even killed many of our brothers, and now you're trying to defect to the Jin bandits. Have you forgotten how Zhangjia Village was massacred by the Jin bandits? You're worse than an animal!"
Zhang Xiaohu felt a little ashamed: "Third brother, you and I are from the same village. The Jin people slaughtered our village, and this hatred is irreconcilable. But, but that is all in the past. My life is over in this mountain. I might as well follow the Jin people and live a life of luxury."
"You..." The third brother was so angry that he couldn't speak: "Zhang Xiaohu, even beasts are better than you!"
Zhang Xiaohu sneered, "Brother, surrender. I've already told the Jin army the path to the back mountain. The Jin general, Asu Miaozhao, is leading his men to attack the mountain right now. I'm afraid they've already reached the top."
"What! You!" Wang Shan was furious. "I still have some brotherly feelings for you, but it seems you are unrepentant. Kill him!"
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaohu was very skilled in martial arts. He swung his sword and knocked down several bandits, then rushed towards the waterfall on the other side of the stream.
As long as Zhang Xiaohu jumped off the waterfall, these people would never be able to catch up with him.
Suddenly, a man jumped out from behind a huge rock nearby and challenged Zhang Xiaohu with his bare hands.
Zhang Xiaohu was shocked. He didn't expect that there was a person hiding behind the stone.
Zhang Xiaohu raised his knife and slashed straight at him, but the man turned slightly and dodged. Zhang Xiaohu raised his knife and slashed horizontally again, but at this time, another person behind the boulder reached out and grabbed his wrist.
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