The moon traced its path across the tranquil night sky, and in the cities upon the earth, the lights gradually dimmed. After the deepest hours of night had passed, a sliver of dawn finally peeked from the winter horizon. Search: \(¨Complete¨ Book¨ God¨ Station¨) to read high-quality literature for free.

As the roosters crowed for the third time, Ze Prefecture City began to stir with activity once more. Early-rising vendors hurried into the city, but today, they lacked the spirit for loud hawking. Most wore expressions of apprehension and unease. Patroling constables and yamen runners marched in long rows through the city streets. You Hongzhuo had already risen, watching a small squad of soldiers pass with a grim and solemn air, followed by a procession of military men escorting bandits.

Most of the bandits being escorted into the city bore wounds, some even covered in blood. Unlike the prisoners from yesterday who shouted about being heroes again in eighteen years, this group, when they spoke at all, possessed an air of despair and grimness. If those executed yesterday sought to portray themselves as "tough guys," this batch of bandits seemed more like specters crawling out of a miserable abyss, filled with anger and a chilling despair.

"You watch—there will be retribution—" A blood-soaked man, bound by ropes and barely alive, was being transported in a prison cart. He suddenly shouted outwards, and a soldier beside him swung the hilt of his saber down, striking him squarely on the mouth. The man collapsed, his mouth filled with blood, likely with half his teeth knocked out.

A murmur of discussion arose from the crowd, filled with anxiety: "Hungry ghosts… they're hungry ghosts…"

"Tens of thousands were scattered along the banks of the Yellow River… they arrived this morning…"

"If they can't reach the south… they'll come to eat us…"

"A sin…"

This morning, thousands of hungry ghosts had already come from the south. Just as people said, if they couldn't cross the Yellow River, they would turn back and eat people. Ze Prefecture was right in the eye of the storm.

Amidst the crowd's discussions, You Hongzhuo watched the procession pass. Suddenly, something happened ahead, and an officer shouted loudly. You Hongzhuo turned to look and saw a person stretching out an arm from the top of a prison cart, raising a piece of black cloth high. Upon seeing this, the officer roared, and a soldier rushed forward, raising his steel saber and severing the arm with a single stroke.

Blood flew everywhere. Amidst the chaotic noise, the wounded man cried out, "We can't live… What did those who wanted to go south do wrong? What did they do wrong—You're going to starve them to death…"

His outburst, filled with the pain of a severed limb, mixed with the shouts of the crowd, was particularly tragic. The soldiers and officers around him were also roaring. A man raised his long saber and stabbed it into the wounded man's mouth. At this moment, some people in the crowd reacted and thought of something else. Someone whispered, "Black Flag… Black Flag…" The voice rippled through the crowd. You Hongzhuo was a little further away and couldn't see clearly, but he understood. What the man was holding was likely a banner of the Black Flag Army.

The crowd buzzed with discussion. Then, someone roared, "So what about the Black Flag!"

It was the officer leading the soldiers. He dismounted, grabbed the black cloth from the ground, and raised it high.

"Regardless of what others do, we, the people of Ze Prefecture, live in peace and prosperity and have never sought conflict with others. Hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts have gone south, slaughtering several cities and causing untold suffering. Our great army has only just moved out to act on behalf of heaven! Now, we are only executing the evil ringleaders of Wang Shitong's gang and have not harmed others. What else is there to say! Brothers and sisters, we soldiers are here to protect our homes and country and to protect everyone. Today, those coming to Ze Prefecture, whether they are hungry ghosts or some Black Flag, as long as they cause trouble, we will risk our lives to defend Ze Prefecture without hesitation! You only need to live your lives well, as usual, and obey the law, and Ze Prefecture will be peaceful and untouchable—"

The officer's words were passionate and resonant. When he finished speaking, he drew his steel saber and slashed the Black Flag into pieces. A roar suddenly erupted from the crowd: "Good—"

Someone shouted, "That's right—"

"We people of Ze Prefecture haven't provoked you—"

"If you're going to starve to death, you come and cause trouble. What about those who were killed by you—"

"Spit—you beasts, if you dare come, we'll kill you—"

"Scum!"

The crowd's emotions found an outlet. Amidst the shouts and curses, people picked up stones and threw them at the prison cart. The sounds of abuse and stone-throwing reverberated through the streets like a rainstorm.

Outside Ze Prefecture City, the army was moving like a long dragon towards the south of the city, guarding the key roads outside the city, waiting for the arrival of the tide of hungry ghosts still dozens of miles away. Even in this situation, the city gates of Ze Prefecture remained open. The army was both reassuring the people and strengthening defenses in various parts of the city. General Sun Qi led his personal guards to the prefectural government and began to take command.

The wealthy merchants and large households in the city were even more panicked. Last night, they had visited Lu Anmin, who was relatively easy to talk to, in groups. Today, seeing the army's posture, it was clear that they were unwilling to be forced to close the city by the refugees. Each family strengthened its defenses and then anxiously colluded, discussing whether to raise money and goods to ask the general to take the matter seriously or to strengthen the guards of everyone's homes.

In the past, when the Wu Dynasty was prosperous, there were occasional refugee tides and famine tides in winter. At that time, whether or not the major cities were closed was a matter of deliberation. Even if the city gates were not closed, disaster relief and pacification would prevent major chaos. But now the situation was different. These starving people had also been on the battlefield, killed people, and even slaughtered cities. If they took risks, even if the army could suppress them, wouldn't these people become buried with them because of a small mistake?

Amidst everyone's anxiety, the local civilians in the city had become agitated and were quite unfriendly to outsiders. By the afternoon of this day, chaotic begging and migrating groups were approaching the soldiers' checkpoints in twos and threes. Then, they saw the corpses and heads planted on the flagpoles ahead. These were the bodies of Gu Dahu, Tang Side, and others, as well as the charred and broken body of Li Guifang—people couldn't recognize him, but they could more or less recognize one or two of the others.

The crowd gradually gathered. They were ragged, thin, and their hair was as messy as grass. Some pushed wheelbarrows, some carried various bundles on their backs, and most of them had expressions of despair in their eyes—they were not all beggars. Some were even well-off when they set out to the south, but now they had all become almost the same.

The crowd began to feel at a loss in front of the army and the corpses. After a long time, an old man with white hair led a large group of people to kneel in front of the army, kowtowing and begging. The crowd burst into tears. The wall of people formed by the army remained unmoved. In the evening, the officer leading the team finally waved his hand. Carts loaded with white porridge and steamed buns were pushed out, and the starving people began to queue up to receive food.

With food, large numbers of starving people began to obey the army's command. The officers at the front looked at all this with smug expressions—in fact, without leaders, most of them were ordinary people who could not cause much harm.

Threats, incitement, suppression, division… That night, what the army did outside the city spread to Ze Prefecture City, and the city became excited, talking about Sun Qi's actions with relish. Without the thousands of refugees, even if there were bad people, they could not cause any trouble. The people, who had originally felt that Sun Qi's army should not have scattered the hungry ghosts by the Yellow River, drawing disaster to the north, suddenly felt that General Sun was the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, a divine strategist.

On this day, even in the temples of the Great Brightness Sect, You Hongzhuo clearly felt the restless emotions in the crowd. People cursed the hungry ghosts, the Black Flag Army, and the world, and also quietly cursed the Jurchens, using this form to balance their emotions. Several groups of villains were found by the army in the city, and various small-scale battles broke out again. One group was near the Great Brightness Temple. You Hongzhuo also quietly went to watch the excitement. The bandits who confronted the soldiers were blocked in a room and shot to death by the army with bows and arrows.

You Hongzhuo couldn't help but worry. In this situation, individuals were powerless. Old veterans of the world often had means of hiding and various ways of interacting with the underground and green forest forces, but You Hongzhuo was not familiar with these at all. In the small mountain village, his family was forced to death by the Great Brightness Sect. He could climb out of the pile of dead people and kill all the men and women in a small temple. At that time, he put life and death aside and desperately sought a chance to win.

But fighting these troops was meaningless, and the only result was death.

When he entered Ze Prefecture City, Mr. Zhao had obtained a travel permit for him, but at this time, You Hongzhuo did not know if this travel permit was really useful. If it was fake and exposed—perhaps he should leave here sooner.

He deliberated on this matter, but felt that this emotion was too timid. Before he could decide, that night, troops came to the Liang'an Inn and began to check room by room. You Hongzhuo prepared to fight to the death, but fortunately, the travel permit worked. The other party asked a few questions and finally left.

After this small episode, he felt that he did not need to leave immediately.

This day was the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month of Jianshuo eight years, and there were still four days until Wang Shitong was to be executed. During the day, You Hongzhuo continued to go to the Great Brightness Temple, waiting for Tan Zheng and others to appear. He listened to the news in the crowd, knowing that someone had been arrested for robbing a prison last night, and several waves of chaos had occurred, and some people had even died in the east of the city. By the afternoon, Tan Zheng and others had not yet appeared. He watched the sun gradually set in the west, knowing that there might be no result today, so he left the temple.

After walking a few streets, he realized that he was being watched.

There were not many pedestrians on the evening streets. When a man carrying a saber on his back approached directly, two people also surrounded him from behind, forcing You Hongzhuo into a small alley next to him. These three people's martial arts skills seemed to be high. You Hongzhuo took a deep breath, thinking about what to say. At the end of the alley, a figure caught his eye.

“…Fourth Brother.” You Hongzhuo murmured softly. Opposite him was his former "Fourth Brother," Kuang Wenbai. He was wearing white, carrying a single whip on his back, looking at You Hongzhuo with a hint of smugness in his eyes.

You Hongzhuo calmed himself down and smiled: "Fourth Brother, how did you find me?"

"Fifth Brother taught me a lesson: there are only a thousand days to be a thief, and there are no thousand days to guard against a thief. After I did such a thing and you ran away, I can't just go to drink and find women without worry. So, to wait for you, I also put in a lot of effort."

I did such a thing… Hearing this sentence, You Hongzhuo sighed in his heart.

"Then… Fourth Brother…" He felt heavy in his heart, and it was difficult for him to speak at this time, "Are the other brothers and sisters still alive?"

Kuang Wenbai looked at him, silent for a long time, and suddenly smiled: "Do you think, how is that possible." He reached out and touched the single whip, "If you leave today, I will really be relieved."

"But… why is this?" You Hongzhuo said loudly: "We swore brotherhood!"

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