The sounds of fighting tore through the night, flames raged, smoke billowed, and from the high ground beside the mountain hollow, someone began throwing down lit rattan balls. Although the hollow wasn't small, the smoke and fire forced the two thousand-odd people inside to come out. Search: \(¨Complete¨Book¨God¨Site¨) to read high-quality literature for free.

As weapons clashed, some resisted hysterically, some wept from their injuries, and some tried to surrender. But on this night at Zhanjia Hollow, slaughter was the theme. When Song Jiang fell, and a group of leaders fell, losing their backbone, losing their base, and fleeing repeatedly only to be caught in trap after trap, the Liangshan men could no longer muster the spirit of a desperate army. When the people of Dúlóng Gǎng, leading the government troops and bearing bloody grudges, pressed into the hollow, what was left in the midst of the chaos was a field of corpses and severed limbs.

There were also a few who tried to take revenge or break out of the encirclement, struggling with all their might, but they could no longer mount an attack of significant force.

The hearts of the people were scattered, their courage chilled. Even if they wanted to survive, they could only struggle a little harder, and they were soon swallowed up by the overwhelming attacks.

When Yan Qing and Guan Sheng came out of the camp tent, what they saw was the seething scene of human carnage in the hollow ahead. They had suffered serious injuries and, even after being bandaged and treated, their bodies were still aching and weak. But after only a short rest, the unease in their hearts compelled them to come out and see. A soldier from the Zhujiazhuang silently followed them.

They walked onto a small earth slope. In the hollow ahead, countless torches and war flags were mixed together. Arrows flew across the sky, and fireballs rolled down from the cliffs on both sides of the hollow. Among those who were desperately trying to fight their way out were faces that they had once considered familiar. The people of Dúlóng Gǎng charged at the front of the Liangshan men, killing with the greatest ferocity, but the hollow wasn't wide after all. Some could get through, while others were assigned to the rear. Along the way, they saw that some of the soldiers were hysterically excited, some were laughing with red eyes, and some had fierce expressions, shouting to go over and kill people. For them, this was a feast of revenge.

Some were injured and carried back. When Yan Qing and Guan Sheng passed by, they could hear a man with a severed arm shouting on a stretcher, "I've taken revenge! I killed two! I've taken revenge..." It was unclear whose revenge he was talking about. As he spoke, he began to cry, his weeping weak but sorrowful and desolate. The doctor beside him tried to calm him down, but couldn't stop him. Finally, he was carried away into the distance, and his voice disappeared. It was unclear whether he had fainted or died.

The corpses of Song Jiang and the others were still placed near the wooden platform. It was hard for Yan Qing and Guan Sheng to say what their feelings were. Moreover, from their perspective, they could see that the battle at Zhanjia Hollow was now an all-out war of annihilation. By forcing people into a dead end, even if the Liangshan side could no longer organize a unified military force, killing them all would come at a cost. Only in the words, excitement, and slightly red eyes of the people of Dúlóng Gǎng in front and nearby could the necessity of this war of annihilation be found.

And a little further to the side, they saw that young scholar who had orchestrated everything, sitting on a chair in the midst of the noisy battlefield. It was also a small earthen slope, beneath a tree with no light. He sat there, leaning against the back of the chair, tilting his head slightly, seemingly thinking about something. His entire body seemed to be embedding itself in the darkness. Shield-bearing guards protected him as much as possible, front, back, left, and right. A little further ahead were the people of Dúlóng Gǎng. And on the Liangshan side, there were also those who could spot this place. Led by Li Kui, Hua Rong, and Sun Erniang, they struggled and roared, trying to kill their way over here. With the number of people around them dwindling, they had to fight their way through a bloody path...

But Ning Yi was just sitting in that darkness, not knowing what he was thinking...

**************

In the noisiest of times, some things would gush out from the bottom of one's heart, like the candied osmanthus petals sprinkled on osmanthus cake in spring, or the light carried by the raindrops falling from the eaves in an instant. Refreshing, with a hint of warmth, yet elusive.

In Jiangning, at that...small and not-so-famous Yushan Academy, there used to be a group of children who would come to listen to lectures in the varying seasons. They might not all have been cute, or maybe they were a little silly or even mischievous. They were all supposed to have a tomorrow...

Yushan Academy mostly taught the children of families. There was one child who was six years old, and Ning Yi called him over to school. Most children were well-behaved at this age, and Ning Yi taught him about manners and such. After that rainstorm, that child was cut in half. Among the corpses that were recovered, there were several other children he recognized...

People in this world will encounter tigers. This seemingly straightforward statement could comfort some people, including him. Perhaps he could make himself seem less innocent, and offer some explanation for the bad things he had encountered, so that a person...wouldn't be overwhelmed by pain and questioning. But such words shouldn't have been applied to those children in the first place.

Extreme intelligence is prone to injury, and deep affection is short-lived. Having walked such a path, he might be able to suppress the sympathy and pity in his heart, but there would always be some things that would accumulate in his heart, and gush out at certain times,

stirring his emotions...

Although one shouldn't have emotions when doing things, the matter was, after all, coming to an end...

*****************

In the darkness, the bloody scent filled his nostrils, and as the sounds of slaughter came over, the beads of the bracelet turned in his hand like prayer beads.

The one shouting from over there was Li Kui, but Ning Yi didn't want to pay attention to what he was shouting.

Some emotions, from the moment the steel blade pierced Song Jiang's body, had been surging up from his heart, loosening the cornerstone of his reason, but it didn't matter anymore. He quietly felt these things, sadness and anger intertwined. This was what he had been suppressing in his heart.

From the moment he realized the whole situation during that rainstorm at the end of March, he hadn't shown any of these emotions. He didn't show them when he saw the corpses, he didn't show them when he saw the people from Liangshan, he didn't show them when he killed and coerced the Liangshan people one by one. Even though he sometimes appeared frighteningly cold and crazy, on an actual emotional level, he had never wavered, and he even refused to let any anger dominate his actions.

If he had really shown any anger, Song Jiang and the others might not have felt fear. Before everything was completed, he just wanted to spread fear and despair completely and efficiently. But at this moment, those things could finally surge up from his heart, entangling his entire thoughts.

Qi Xinyong, Wang Shanyue, and others protected him nearby, paying attention to changes or stray arrows. Only they were close enough to clearly understand what was happening nearby. They could also hear the strange tune that this strange young man was humming at this time, just like the one he had hummed on the hillside outside Dúlóng Gǎng that night, slow and ethereal, counting his prayer beads, creating an atmosphere that was out of tune with the battlefield slaughter.

Li Kui's roar still came.

"I'll kill you—"

"Ning Liheng! You come out..."

"I won't let you go even as a ghost, I'll kill your whole family—"

"Hahahaha, when we killed our way into your house that day, we don't even know if we touched your women—"

"Have the guts to look at me—"

The number of people who were killing their way with him was dwindling. Sun Erniang and Hua Rong died in battle along the way. Li Kui wielded his twin axes, advancing all the way: "Who dares to stop me—" At this time, he wielded his twin axes like a blood-soaked demon god, and had already killed his way close. Spears stabbed at him from the side, and grappling hooks bound him. He exerted force, swung, and pulled, and the soldiers beside him were dragged to the ground. But after all, he had already been pierced by many arrows. Several grappling hooks flew over, embedding themselves in his chest and abdomen, almost tearing his stomach open. He pulled with both hands, struggling forward. Finally, his legs were stabbed, and he knelt on the ground, but he was still roaring and walking forward.

Behind the shield wall not far away, Ning Yi opened his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and after a moment, picked up an iron wolf-tooth club and walked out. Li Kui's entire stomach had almost been torn open, his face ferocious, looking at Ning Yi: "You...thieving bastard, have the guts...to look at my eyes, I'll...in my next life..."

Ning Yi looked into his eyes and raised the iron club: "I can look for a lifetime..."

The iron club hit Li Kui's face with full force. His head tilted back, and then, a roar was suddenly heard on half of the battlefield: "A bunch of bastards!" The second blow broke Li Kui's entire neck, and his head tilted back.

****************

As life gradually flowed away, the slaughter on the battlefield gradually came to an end. Ning Yi returned to the rear military camp, wiped the blood from his body, and prepared to begin doing the aftermath.

Just as he was arranging things, Zhu Hu came in from outside the tent. He seemed to have traveled a long way, and was quite excited that the Liangshan men had finally come to this step, but first he handed a piece of paper to Ning Yi.

Ning Yi unfolded the piece of paper and looked at it for a moment, then looked at Zhu Hu. Zhu Hu said, "The one responsible for gathering intelligence on the twelfth got this news and was rushing over. Actually...Jianghu intelligence is inevitably inaccurate..."

Ning Yi nodded, then nodded again. He looked at the people in the tent, and finally said, "What I said just now...take the heads of Song Jiang and the others to the Wu Rui Camp, and the rest...whatever, feed them to the dogs and wolves or burn them, whichever is convenient...I...I have something to do. Zhu Biao, can you accompany me to...Jizhou?"

Zhu Biao, who was bandaging a minor wound on his body, looked up and said, "Of course."

"We have to leave right away. You go...gather two hundred people, those who can leave now, and are willing to go with me. The rest should stay here to kill and clean up. Actually, it was already arranged before. Brother Wang, you are responsible for dealing with the Wu Rui Camp and the surrounding government offices. Wen Yu, you stay too. The three brothers Qi will come with me. Things are a bit urgent, so I'll leave things here to everyone. More...I'll tell you when I get back."

Seeing him so anxious, Wang Shanyue frowned: "Could it be your teacher..."

"Heh." Ning Yi nodded. "It shouldn't be too big of a deal. Everyone should take care of the business at hand first. I'll come over when I'm done, or you can come and join me when you're done. It's all the same."

After these arrangements were completed, Ning Yi left the camp tent and got into the carriage. In the mountain hollow over there, the slaughter was reaching its final stage. The light was spreading to the surrounding mountains, clearing out the part of the people who had luckily escaped during the battle. The carriage drove away from the military camp, with Zhu Biao leading two hundred people, riding horses or running, following behind. In the carriage, Ning Yi took the piece of paper and read it several times, but in fact, he couldn't see anything more from it.

--On the afternoon of July 12th, Lu Hongti was ambushed and besieged by Lin Chong, Shi Jin, Sun Li, Chen Jinxia, Lu Wenhu, and the newly arrived "Ten Thousand Mile Traveler" Tunyun Monk near Black Ox Ridge. It is rumored that she was injured and fled, and her whereabouts are now unknown. The greenwood figures near Anping County are still carrying out a large-scale manhunt.

July 12th, that was a day and a half ago...

"I want to sleep for a while, just keep driving and don't worry about me."

He said this, straightened his clothes, and lay down on the side of the carriage. Soon after, he fell into a dream.

In the dream, perhaps several children came over and said goodbye to him.

The carriage traveled day and night, bumping along the rugged road.

Soon after, it started to rain...

************

There should be a summary about Liangshan later.

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