"This is impossible!"
In a wooden hut in Xiao Family Village, Zhou Fugui said, stunned for a moment, after hearing Ji Duo'er say that all the women in Xiao Family Village belonged to Xiao Guanshan.
"How is it impossible?" Ji Duo'er looked at Zhou Fugui and said, "Deputy General Zhou, before entering the village, I told you not to meddle in other people's business. Have you forgotten?"
"You did tell me not to meddle in other people's business," Zhou Fugui nodded. "But you also asked me where Xiao Ningshan had gone. His subordinates said he went to a wedding banquet in the village. If all the women in the village are his women, what kind of wedding banquet would he be attending?"
"Bang!" Ji Duo'er slammed the wooden cup on the table and said dejectedly, "What he does is none of your business!"
"Heh heh..." Zhou Fugui smiled obsequiously. "Deputy General Ji Duo'er, I have indeed kept your words in mind and dare not forget them. It's just that Deputy General Ji Duo'er, the night is long and I cannot sleep. Let's talk about some rumors and interesting stories to pass the time. What harm is there in that?"
"Hahaha..." Ji Duo'er couldn't help but laugh. Zhou Fugui made sense, so Ji Duo'er let out a loud laugh, looked around, gestured on the table with his finger, and chuckled in a low voice, a very lewd chuckle. "He's going to fetch the 'red pill'. Whichever family in the village has a joyous occasion, he will go to fetch the 'red pill'. And the women he has taken the 'red pill' from, who else are they but his women? Deputy General Zhou, what I'm telling you today, heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know. You must not let a third person know, especially Master Xiao."
"Ah?" Zhou Fugui was so shocked that his jaw dropped, and he couldn't speak for a moment.
"This is the custom of this place. Deputy General Zhou, there's no need to be so surprised," Ji Duo'er continued to chuckle in a lewd whisper. "He doesn't even spare his own daughters..."
"Damn it! A beast, a beast in human clothing!" Zhou Fugui roared in anger.
Zhou Fugui seemed to know some customs of the borderland nomads, which was that when a woman was to be married, she first had to spend a night with her father. Hearing Ji Duo'er mention this, he was still shocked and extremely angry.
Even a tiger does not eat its cubs; human cruelty can be worse than that of relatives. To think that such beasts in human clothing existed in the world! Zhou Fugui felt both shocked and extremely bewildered, wondering if it was true.
"Keep your voice down, Deputy General Zhou, you're at it again, aren't you?" Ji Duo'er quickly said, seeing this. "This is the custom of this place, why are you making such a fuss? Do you want to stand up for those women? Let me tell you the truth, if you dare to step forward, you won't even need him to act. Everyone in the village will attack you. So, just be patient and don't get agitated. After this meal, go back and get some rest. You'll have to continue your journey after you've rested enough."
"That's true. Come, come, Deputy General Ji Duo'er, let's have three more cups," Zhou Fugui nodded in agreement, raising his large wooden cup and said.
Every place has its own customs. Whether it's a bad habit or an evil custom, what does it have to do with me? Zhou Fugui thought to himself.
Besides, to act as a hero of justice, one needs the means to do so.
......
"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."
Wei Liang, carrying an oil lamp and a bundle of straw, pushed open the dilapidated wooden door of the woodshed. A cold wind "whoosh" into the room. Wei Liang quickly closed the broken wooden door. Although cold wind still leaked in, the situation was much better.
Not everyone had a warm wooden house to rest in, delicious food, and fine wine to drink, like Zhou Fugui. Most prisoners could only crowd in woodsheds, stables, or dilapidated thatched huts to spend the night.
Wei Liang spread the straw on the firewood on the ground, then used a few pieces of firewood to block the gaps where the wind leaked from the broken wooden door. He then lay down on the ground bed made of straw and firewood, wrapped himself in his tattered cotton jacket, and felt much warmer.
"Waa..." Just as Wei Liang closed his eyes and was about to drift off to sleep, a baby's cry came from under a broken wooden frame beside him, startling Wei Liang. He quickly got up, holding the oil lamp and drawing the sword at his waist, and went to look under the wooden frame.
The wooden frame was piled high with firewood and other杂物. Under the wooden frame, there were four eyes, flickering and looking at Wei Liang. Their appearance was truly terrifying, making Wei Liang cry out "Oh!" and sit down on the ground with a thud.
His sword slipped from his hand and fell to the ground with a "clang."
"Master... Master, spare my life."
A moment later, a girl of about ten years old, holding a chubby baby in her arms, crawled out from under the wooden frame. She then knelt before Wei Liang and begged for mercy.
"I... you... who are you?" Wei Liang, seeing that it was just a young girl and her child, not some beast or ghost, felt slightly relieved. He sheathed his sword, held the oil lamp, and asked kindly while carefully observing her.
"Master, I am from Xiao Family Village. My name is Aicao," the girl named Aicao said, coaxing the child, as Wei Liang looked kind.
"I am not a 'master', just a prisoner," Wei Liang said with a self-deprecating smile, and then asked, "You are from Xiao Family Village, what are you doing here?"
"I... I..." Aicao looked fearfully at the dilapidated wooden door, then knelt before Wei Liang and said with a soft sob, "Please, brother, save my mother and child's lives!"
"You... who wants to harm you and your child? And who is the father of the child? Where is he?" Wei Liang asked curiously.
"The child belongs to that beast. His surname is Xiao and his given name is Ningshan," Aicao replied in a low voice, with fear and hatred.
"Master Xiao?" Wei Liang exclaimed in surprise.
Aicao nodded.
"Since the child is Master Xiao's, who would dare to harm you and your child?" Wei Liang asked with great confusion after a moment.
"It's him. He not only harms people, but he also eats them..." Aicao fearfully told Wei Liang the whole story in detail. kuAiδugg
"Unreasonable! Is there such an evil person in the world?" Wei Liang was greatly shocked after listening, and didn't know what words to use to describe Xiao Guanshan's wickedness.
This place, Xiao Family Village, not only had the evil custom of "sending daughters to their fathers" but also the evil custom of "killing the firstborn son." That is, the first son born to a woman was killed, while girls were spared. After killing the firstborn son, they would often share the flesh to "seek good fortune" or "ensure brotherhood." However, Xiao Guanshan not only killed the firstborn son but also all subsequent sons. That is, as long as it was a son, he would kill and eat them, leaving only daughters for himself. This was truly shocking and chilling.
Even a tiger does not eat its cubs, but Xiao Guanshan, with a kind face and a wicked heart, was more vicious than a beast.
"Little girl, you don't need to be alarmed," Wei Liang said in a low voice to Aicao after being shocked for a long time. "My name is Wei Liang, and I am just a prisoner. I don't have the ability to save you and your child's lives, but our commander, Zhou Fugui, has the ability, and he will surely save you and your child from danger. You hide here first, and when it's dawn, I'll take you to the commander."
"Wei... Big brother, why don't we escape the village now? At dawn... at dawn... I'm scared!" Aicao said in fear.
"Now?" Wei Liang held his sword and peeked through the crack of the door, then shook his head gently.
It was completely dark now, and he had no idea what the situation was outside. Moreover, in the middle of the night, with heavy snow falling, the temperature dropped sharply. Even if Wei Liang and Aicao's mother and child could escape Xiao Family Village, they would surely freeze to death in the wilderness, or meet with wild beasts and die a tragic death.
......
The next morning, at the first light of dawn, the weather was still cold, but the snow had stopped. Several rays of morning sun pierced through the clouds and fell on Xiao Family Village and the surrounding wilderness, casting a hint of golden color on the snow-covered Xiao Family Village and wilderness.
"Who first awakens from a great dream, I know my life within. My thatched cottage in spring... sleeps soundly, the sun outside is slow."
Exhausted from the journey and having drunk quite a bit, Zhou Fugui slept soundly last night. He had barely closed his eyes and opened them to find that it was already dawn, without even having a dream. After waking up, Zhou Fugui put on a thick fur robe, hung a long saber at his waist, and walked out of the wooden hut refreshed, stepping on the snow and heading to the stable to check on his warhorse.
In this desolate borderland, a warhorse was almost a person's second life, and it could not be neglected.
"Good poem, good poem, marvelous, marvelous!" Chen Kunkun, a fellow villager in the stable, said to Zhou Fugui with a smile. "Commander, you're in a good mood!"
"Fugui not only excels in martial arts and archery but also writes poetry? He's truly accomplished in both civil and martial arts!" praised fellow villager Hong Wei.
"Hahaha..." Zhou Fugui said with his hands on his hips, smiling proudly. "Of course, aren't my verses good?"
"Who first awakens from a great dream, I know my life within. My thatched cottage in winter sleeps soundly, the sun outside is slow." Li Qing savored it and said, "Fugui, spring is more exquisite than winter, why did you change it? When spring becomes winter, the magical becomes rotten..."
As for the exquisite poems of masters in the poetic world, even changing one word would be unacceptable, and its charm would be greatly altered. Li Qing, who was also good at composing poetry, immediately noticed it.
"Sour scholar..." Zhou Fugui's face turned slightly red upon hearing this, and he glared at Li Qing, saying, "Is spring that cold?"
"Alas, I say, Wei the blind, are you feeding the horse or treating it?" Zhou Fugui then ignored the stunned Li Qing and asked Wei the blind, who was busy in the stable. "You can't treat people, don't treat the horse to death. If you treat the horse to death, I'll make you crawl to Xuelin City."
"Fugui you..." Wei the blind poked his head out from under the horse's belly and said angrily, "Whether I treat horses or people, I can perform miracles. Don't you believe me? Why don't you try it?"
"Forget it, forget it..." Zhou Fugui was so scared that he jumped out of the stable and waved his hands repeatedly. "You'd better continue treating your horse."
"Hahahahaha!" The group of fellow villagers burst into laughter.
"Are you Zhou Fugui, Deputy General Zhou?" Just then, a gruff voice sounded in Zhou Fugui's and the others' ears.