Before dawn, an uneasy and restless atmosphere pervaded the states, counties, and villages on the eastern and northern banks of the Liangshan Marsh. The states and counties closed their city gates, and the soldiers and constables responsible for guarding the walls rose and peered into the darkness. Some Lizheng and Baojia in villages and settlements without walls were also startled awake from their dreams by messengers. They roused the villagers and peasants, and brought out knives, spears, and other weapons. Many households were awakened as a result, and lights were lit, only to be urged to extinguish them. Dots of light appeared and disappeared, and then everyone was on guard in the darkness, with only the barking of dogs and occasional sounds carried on the night wind.

Liangshan had fallen, and the bandits had begun to collapse and flee. This news spread at the fastest speed in the early hours of the morning. Before this, even the most well-informed people only knew that the Wu Rui Battalion had only begun to attack Liangshan on the twentieth day of the sixth month, and Liangshan had fallen in two days.

Too far away, the ordinary villagers around may not fully understand the strength of Liangshan. For most people, it was not surprising to hear the news of the official army returning in defeat, and it seemed natural to hear the news of the Liangshan bandits collapsing. Neither existence was something they could presumptuously measure. Only the bandits who fled after the war were closely related to everyone's lives.

In fact, along the mountains and shores extending to the east and north of the marsh, the defeated Liangshan members were indeed landing and fleeing in different directions. Among them were large groups of forces, as well as close friends traveling in pairs or threes. Just on the northern shore of the marsh, the night wind fanned the flames, and the three large ships pursued by the official soldiers' warships were all on fire. Eventually, one of them crashed into a reef not far from the shore and could no longer move forward.

Behind them, the official soldiers' ships chased after them, raining down arrows, javelins, and fishing nets. The leading general led his soldiers off the ship, and they fought in a chaotic mess on the shallow beach and in the woods on the shore. On the Liangshan side, several leaders fought bravely, shouting for everyone to rush into the woods, and taking advantage of the darkness, hundreds of people fled toward the surrounding fields, villages, and wild forests.

In some places, some people also landed on the shore full of weeds and rocks in small boats, helping their wives or family members carrying bundles down. They held the knives in their hands, or threw their weapons into the water, looked back at the night, and finally left, praying in their hearts that they would not be caught on the road ahead.

On the eastern shore of the marsh, the dilapidated fishing village was still immersed in the darkness of the night. A thin girl born into a fisherman's family had already gotten up, and was carrying a wooden bucket to fetch water at the small pier on the edge of the village. When the night wind blew, she squatted there, closed her eyes, and inhaled the cool morning air, and then a strange wave came over her.

She opened her eyes wide and looked forward, but she couldn't see much. Until… a huge outline pushed through the waves and suddenly appeared in front of her.

The girl was stunned for a moment and turned to run, but then there was a loud bang, and the warship smashed the wooden pier and pushed onto the shore, breaking the silence of the night.

One ship after another, then two, three… The restless air began to appear in the firelight, and people came down from the ships and began to engulf this dilapidated little fishing village. Lights came on in some houses, and dogs barked, and then arrows were shot down from the ship, accurately piercing the dogs' throats. Under the first large ship that pushed onto the shore, the girl who was fetching water had her legs broken and her whole body was pressed in a pile of broken ruins, crying and trembling. The leader who came down from the ship looked at her, hesitated for a moment, but shook his head.

"Girl, I'll relieve you." He drew his knife and stabbed it into the girl's neck. After the blood spurted out, the girl finally stopped moving.

Wave after wave of people came down from the ship, making countless restless noises. The soldiers drove away the awakened villagers, and let some family members and leaders go to the rooms to rest for a while. After the dead girl's family members came out of the house, her father cried under the pushing of the Liangshan soldiers, and then picked up a wooden fork beside him to fight them desperately. Suddenly, someone chopped him down with a knife, fork and all, and then kicked him into the nearby debris, and blood began to soak through.

"A bunch of trash! You want to hurt my brothers!" the leader roared, and then stared at the remaining people and the surrounding villagers who were being driven away. "Your grandfather spared your lives, but you don't know what's good for you. If anyone dares to pester me again, your grandfather will kill you all like him!"

A total of nearly four thousand people gathered near this fishing village, and then they were summoned and gathered according to the new leader's organization, in the wind that was about to dawn, towards Song Jiang's voice.

"...I, Song Jiang, Song Gongming, have always done my best to make friends and value loyalty in my life. Whenever my brothers are in trouble, I have always done my best to help them. I also once had the ambition to serve the country, but unfortunately, treacherous people in the court were in power, and I was framed. Later, I had no choice but to become a bandit, and only wished to leave a pure land in Liangshan, so that we Jianghu children could live here and have a way out... But tonight, everyone has seen the situation on Liangshan. That person is pressing us hard and unwilling to give us a way out... I, Song Jiang, swear here that as long as I live, I will never coexist with this person..."

"...When I was in Liangshan, I gathered with all the brothers, and I came and went as I pleased. It is the same today...Liangshan has reached this point today, firstly because I, Song Jiang, am incompetent, and secondly, I can't blame the brothers on the mountain for defecting. They were forced by that devil for the sake of life and death and had no choice...But the brothers who are here today are the most trustworthy brothers around Song Jiang. We must not repeat the same mistakes...From now on, I also guarantee to you that I will definitely lead all the brothers to break out of this predicament and demand justice from that devil who manipulates people's hearts..."

The words were swallowed up by the wind, and soon after, dozens of captured officers and soldiers were brought up, and everyone went up and killed them one after another, chopping and stabbing with knives and guns, blood flowing all over the ground, almost chopping the corpses into pieces. The fishing village and the warships by the fishing village were set ablaze. Among the crying villagers gathered aside, some people were shouting.

"...If you want to blame! Then go blame those officers and soldiers! We have been forced to the point of desperation! But even so, our Liangshan is benevolent and righteous, and today we will only take your money and food, not your lives! As for the rest, you can ask the government for it! There are fish in the water, and the rice in the fields is about to ripen, and a way out has been left for you. In the future, I hope you will take good care of yourselves and do not collude with the government to do evil, otherwise the day the Liangshan heroes return will be the day your heads fall to the ground!"

On June 22nd, Liangshan, which originally gathered nearly 60,000 people in the marsh, had been completely scattered. However, even though the fighting on Liangshan was frightening, in addition to the 4,000 people led by Song Jiang who organized the escape from Liangshan, there were also thousands of people who chose to flee in the rout. Among them, there were escapes organized by leaders such as Lin Chong who protected their men, and there were also routs led by various scattered big and small leaders. In a few days, the chaos and tense atmosphere spread to the land near the marsh.

This bizarre and grand victory was, to some extent, encouraging. With this fact as a foundation, the people in the surrounding states and counties who knew the inside story mostly felt the terror of this young man from the capital. No matter who it was, leading a group of people over here and playing some conspiracies to make Liangshan collapse suddenly could give people this feeling of looking up to a high mountain. What's more, he also carried the trust of the Right Chancellor, so they could only regard him as the most outstanding figure in the capital. Under this influence, the surrounding states and counties did not dare to disobey openly, and in a few days, they searched and blocked the surrounding areas and captured many of the Liangshan soldiers.

Apart from the power of the government, the villages and mountain strongholds in Shandong had the power to protect themselves. Firstly, for their own safety, and secondly, everyone pushes the wall when it falls. Although many conflicts occurred after the collapse of Liangshan, and many lives were lost, the carrying capacity of this area was the highest. It wasn't like you could steal melons from the peasants' fields with a knife; you had to be prepared to be beaten to death. During this period, only a few larger defeated forces caused trouble to the surrounding areas. The biggest impact was still the more than three thousand people led by Song Jiang.

In two or three days, these more than three thousand people fled quickly, robbing money and food and burning houses wherever they went. They didn't kill many people, but they spread the news that they were being forced to the point of desperation by the government, and began to put pressure on the soldiers. During this period, they were also blocked by the official army once, but the Wu Rui Battalion was only more than 20,000 people, and in a state of divided troops, the blocking force was not enough. After a fight, the more than three thousand people who had been forced to become desperate bandits finally broke through.

At noon on the third day when Song Jiang and others were wreaking havoc, on a mountain ridge in a barren mountain range, Lin Chong was leading his horse and carrying his spear, bidding farewell to the more than two hundred people around him.

"Lin has only known how to wield a spear and stick in his life. In fact, his temperament and talent are insufficient, so he was forced to death by his family and forced to go to Liangshan. Brothers, you have looked up to Lin, and Lin is ashamed in his heart. This time, Liangshan has been scattered. It is not impossible to go to the mountains with you brothers again, but before that, there are still some things to do, so I can only take a step first. If Lin can get news from you brothers in the future, he will definitely come to reunite with you..."

In the last few days of Liangshan, Song Jiang and Wu Yong's plans, and the division of the entire Liangshan, leaders like Lin Chong knew more or less in their hearts. The other party didn't ask him to come because of the fear generated by Ning Yi's words. He could understand that, in fact, even if he was asked, he wouldn't have gone. This time, he broke out with a group of trusted brothers, and now that the disaster has been temporarily resolved, he has to leave. Everyone actually understands why. He has been to the Su family, and the other party will not let him go, and he is unwilling to implicate these brothers.

This time, he was determined to leave, and everyone tried to persuade him for a while, and then they bid farewell reluctantly.

As the collapse of Liangshan and the spread of banditry, there were also other things that were spreading. Those were the words that were spread after that morning of June 22nd, through the mouths of some people who still planned to choose to leave.

"...Song Jiang has always been upright, whether he is an enemy or a friend, and he is confident that he can treat people frankly. Even if he is an enemy, he can fight people upright on the battlefield. We are just begging for a living in the green forests, and we are forced to do so, but rules and morality must be followed...But today, this bloodthirsty butcher Ning Liheng only knows how to be insidious, killing people recklessly, and using tricks that are vicious and treacherous. Our Liangshan brothers originally gathered for the sake of loyalty, but under this person's design and coercion, brothers on Liangshan killed each other and turned against each other, which is the most tragic thing in the world...But if it weren't for this person's insidious design, it would never have been like this! This person manipulates and incites people's hearts so powerfully. If this continues, how can there be any morality in our green forests..."

"...Song Jiang also doesn't know if he can defeat this person. Brothers, if you have family members, you can leave now. Song Jiang understands, and he will offer travel expenses for you. But he only hopes to use your mouths to speak out about this person's evil deeds and about the events of Liangshan. If this person is here, there will be no morality in the green forests, and everyone can be a puppet in his hands. This matter...you must be careful."

These words did not carry any "Gathering Order", but in the name of "Hubaoyi" Song Jiang, they began to spread throughout the green forests and Jianghu from this day on. His name in the entire Wu Dynasty Jianghu might not be as famous as Sacred Duke Fang La, but the reputation of "Hubaoyi" and "Timely Rain" actually carried a great weight. In a few days, the news was only spreading little by little, and the waves that were about to be set off were still quietly brewing. Only a few people could understand the power contained in such rumors.

"Since we have already made a move to make him suffer, of course we must also be psychologically prepared to be attacked by him." Ning Yi was silent for a long time after learning this information, and then smiled casually. "'Inner Demon' Ning Liheng, um, this nickname is quite cool. I wonder if I will become a great demon like Fang La in the future..."

In fact, at this time when he was about to wholeheartedly deal with Song Jiang and others, both he and Song Jiang somewhat underestimated the waves that this matter would eventually cause. If viewed from the opposite direction of Ning Yi, this was almost the beginning of a "Martial Arts Catastrophe" that lasted for more than ten years...

Now, all of this is still quietly brewing in some clues, spreading with the end of the battle to destroy Liangshan. In such days, there were also some guests from the Luliang Mountains who had just quietly arrived in Shandong, and then...

"...**** your mother! Why don't you go die! Go die quickly! Why didn't you say earlier that you were going to kidnap this kind of person! I've been with you for so long, you bastards are all tired of living and came here to die! Kidnap someone!? Sixty thousand people died in front of him! ****...I don't want the balance, buy coffins! After I go back to the Luliang Mountains, I'm going to laugh at you with everyone, you bastards! I want to go home, home, home, home—"

It is not known where such voices rang out. Under the same sky, entering the small river surface of Shandong, a figure stood on a flat boat, going down the river. That figure wore a red dress, a bamboo hat, and carried an ancient sword on her back, like a fairy Lingbo, coming through the dawn and stepping on the twilight—

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Okay, as we agreed, updated ^_^