Only starlight illuminated the black night. At the Yi-character courtyard on Pingrong Road, south of Chengdu, footsteps rapidly passed the small military doctor, the courtyard's owner. Anxious and agitated breaths filled the dilapidated courtyard.

"No one inside..."

"The surroundings seem clear..."

"Keep your voice down..."

"Come in quickly..."

"This kid really lives alone..."

Suppressed voices, hurried yet fragmented, echoed. The men entering each held weapons, bearing signs of recent combat. They surveyed the environment, assessed the surroundings, and once the most pressing concerns were addressed, their gaze turned to the young man who owned the courtyard. Huang Shan and Huang Jianfei, both green forest heroes, were among them.

A menacing-looking man, known as "Sizhou the Murderous Blade," Mao Hai, pointed his blade at the youth, saying, "Should we kill him?"

Huang Shan, standing nearby, waved his hand. "Wait, wait, he's a doctor..."

The courtyard was unlit, save for the starlight and moonlight. Several men moved about, conducting further observations. The young man, lying flat on the ground, wore a cold expression. Ignoring the blade pointed at him, he slowly sat up, glaring fiercely at Huang Shan. Mao Hai, who initially looked ferocious, hesitated about whether to kill him and retreated the blade slightly.

Huang Shan, a burly man with blood and sweat on his person, sat on a horizontal beam next to the courtyard, regulating his breathing. "Brother Long," he said, "don't look at me like that. We're old acquaintances. We had no choice but to hide here."

"Old acquaintances? I warned you not to cause trouble. What you've done… and you come here…" The youth pointed at him, his gaze sweeping around with displeasure, before realizing, "You're tracking me…"

In the dim starlight, his voice rose slightly in anger. The men in the courtyard were no saints. Mao Hai kicked him, knocking him to the ground, and then stepped on his chest, the blade once again pointing down. "You dare to act tough here—"

The youth on the ground, however, was not afraid. He tried to sit up, but was only able to struggle slightly as his chest was pinned. He roared fiercely, "This is my house! You dare to kill me—"

Mao Hai's face twisted, ready to strike, but a hand reached out from the side – it was Huang Jianfei, the Huang family's best fighter. "I told you, this little doctor has a temper. Enough," he said.

Mao Hai, assured that the youth had no martial skills, removed his foot from the other man's chest. The youth sat up indignantly. Huang Jianfei helped him up, dusted off the dirt, and guided him to sit on the horizontal beam at the back. Huang Shan chuckled as he leaned closer, while Huang Jianfei took a wooden stump and sat down in front of the youth.

"Brother Long, you're a sensible person. You may be unhappy, but tonight's events are a matter of life and death; there's no logic involved. Cooperate, shelter us, and we'll guarantee your life. Don't cooperate, and we'll have to kill you. You stole military supplies and sold medicine to us, violating the Huaxia Army's regulations. If it's exposed, you won't escape. So now…"

Huang Jianfei spread his hands. "One side is death, the other is a slim chance of survival. Even if you sell us out, you'll be punished. The Huaxia Army's rules are strict, I know—what do you choose?"

The youth, named Long Aotian, glared at him silently.

Huang Jianfei moved the stump closer. "I'll give you two more options. First, we stay peaceful tonight, and as long as we get out of the city by dawn, no one will know anything. I have a tael of gold here, ten liang, enough for you to take a risk. "

He paused. "Of course, if you still think it's inappropriate, I'll be frank. The Huaxia Army's rules are strict, you can't earn much. Come with us. Once we're past Jianmen Pass, the world is your oyster, and people everywhere are eager for talent. Brother Long, you're capable, and you've been in the Huaxia Army for so many years, you know all the ins and outs. I'll introduce you to my master. My Huang family's wealth is enough for you to live a life of luxury. What do you say? It's better than you being alone in Chengdu, risking your neck for small change. Either way, as long as you help, this tael of gold is yours."

He looked at Ning Ji, holding out the gold. "You can think about some things slowly, whether to help or not, but you have to be quick."

The youth's fierce face twitched.

Then, he grabbed the gold tael. "Close the door already, come inside, I'll bandage you up." He stood up, examined a knife wound on the other man's body, and frowned. "You need to take care of this."

Huang Jianfei, who was sitting opposite him, smiled and stood up. "No rush, there are more people coming."

The little doctor frowned. He gestured, and someone went out the door. After a moment, more people entered. Seven people led by Huang Jianfei had originally entered the courtyard, but more than seven followed, including two or three seriously injured men. The little doctor took a look and frowned. "Quick, help them into the room and onto the bed. Someone go boil hot water. You're… these are gunshot wounds. You're lucky to be alive…"

Huang Jianfei, while directing his men to cover up the scent of blood and tracks, reported the entire incident to Huang Nanzhong, the head of the family, who had arrived later. Turning back, he asked, "Brother Long, can you handle these injured brothers?"

The little doctor, with a sullen face, gritted his teeth and finally said, "This is my courtyard. No one dies without my permission."

His words were bold. Huang Shan gave him a thumbs up. "Brother Long is domineering... Look, that's our family head. If you go out with us this time, and perform well, you'll have everything."

"Hmph." The little military doctor, who came from the Huaxia Army, didn't seem used to flattering someone or performing in front of someone. He snorted coldly and turned to go inside. There were already fourteen people in the courtyard, but more figures were entering from outside. The little doctor looked down, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen… Suddenly his face changed. A girl in black was supporting an old scholar with a limp. It was not until the twentieth person entered that they closed the door.

Huang Shan, who had been observing his expression, saw the youth's face change again and was about to speak when the youth said, "So many people, still coming? How many more are there? Do you think this is an inn?"

"That's all of them." Huang Jianfei walked over, put his arm around his shoulder, stopped him from continuing to say nonsense, and said with a smile, "Brother Long, let's treat the injuries first. I'll help, I'll be your assistant. Huang Shan, go help boil water. And that girl, the one named Qu… Qu Longjun, right? Please come and do some caring work…"

"My father twisted his ankle..." The girl in the black dress, named Qu Longjun, was clearly running in a hurry, unadorned but unable to hide her natural beauty. She said, but her father, looking worried, pushed her, and she nodded. "Okay, I'll help."

The worried father, named Wen Shoubin, was helped by his daughter to sit on the steps beside the courtyard. "Unexpected disaster, it's all over..." He covered his face with his hands and murmured a sigh, "It's all over, unexpected disaster..." Huang Nanzhong and another scholar went over to comfort him.

Candles were lit in the room, hot water was boiled in the kitchen, someone was watching from the dark roof, and someone was clearing the traces of the escape outside, using a special powder to cover the smell of blood. The courtyard became lively, but from afar it was still a quiet corner…

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

On July 20th of the Wuzhenxing first year, in some later records, it would be considered the moment when the Huaxia Army, as a tight governing system, first truly greeted the fragmented Wu Dynasty forces from the outside.

Some aristocratic families and warlord forces separated from the Wu Dynasty made the first systematic and large-scale tentative probes against the Huaxia Army, just like the moment when heroes meet in the Jianghu, shaking hands with each other, so that they can see each other's weight. This night of July 20th in Chengdu was exactly like such a handshake, although the result of the handshake was insignificant, the meaning of the handshake and greeting still existed - this was the first moment when countless people finally saw the mountain outline of this behemoth named Huaxia.

From the night of July 20th to the early morning of July 21st, chaos of all sizes occurred. In later generations, countless stories would be generated with this night as a template. The passing of the Jianghu, the tragic songs of ideas, the clash of heroism... but if we return to that time, it was just a series of bloody killings.

In this world, whether it is correct reform or wrong reform, it must be accompanied by the outflow of blood.

At the end of Haishi on the evening of July 20th, Huang Nanzhong decided to shed his own blood.

For him, the night's submission was long and agonizing, but after making this decision, he felt relieved.

In the original plan, he would wait until dawn to take action, when the chances of success would be greater. Because the Huaxia Army was in constant defense, while the raiders were waiting for work, and at the moment when night turned to dawn, the Huaxia Army, which had been tense all night, might have loopholes.

However, news from the city would occasionally come. The Huaxia Army's first strike caused heavy losses to the righteous men in the city. In particular, Wang Xiangfo, Xu Yuanzong, and many other righteous men were defeated one by one in the first Chenshi, causing more people in the city to fall into a wait-and-see state.

Although it sounded like it would occasionally cause a riot, and there were also sounds of gongs and drums catching thieves, Huang Nanzhong understood in his heart that the number of people who were truly courageous and willing to take action would probably not be too many next - at least compared with the previous grand "doing it" pretense, the actual momentum would probably be insignificant, and it would not be possible to cause a huge burden on the Huaxia Army.

He had to act before midnight, and the goal was no longer to stop at causing riots, but to go directly to Mohe Pond and Yingbin Road to attack the core of the Huaxia Army, which was also the place where Ning Yi was most likely to appear.

At about the same time, Guan Shanhai in the city finally gritted his teeth and made a decision, ordering his subordinates Yan Ying and others to make a risky gamble.

Neither group arrived at Yingbin Road, but their attacks coincided with a chaos that broke out next to Mohe Pond. That was the assassin Chen Wei, under the planning of Ren Jingzhu, who was known as a ghost strategist, and several companions launched a large-scale feint near Mohe Pond, once breaking into the inner circle of Mohe Pond and even starting a fire.

Huang Nanzhong and dozens of family generals sneaked through two streets, and someone came to report this exciting news. They were then discovered, but several groups were encouraged by the news spread by Ren Jingzhu and began to take action, including the team led by Yan Ying. They launched a brief confrontation with a team of twenty Huaxia Army soldiers, and realizing that they had a great advantage, Huang Nanzhong and Yan Ying and others commanded the team to launch a fight.

Nearly a hundred elite troops rushed towards twenty Huaxia Army soldiers, and then there was a chaos.

There were gunshots and constant screams in the dark night. Although Huang Nanzhong was constantly encouraging morale in the crowd, he was dragged back by Huang Jianfei and others. The fighting on the street was tragic, and some people's heads were exploding. As a scholar, he could not see the situation clearly in the chaotic crowd at eye level. He just wondered: how could he lose, how could it be so fast. But the screams in the crowd were terrifying, and he fell again, and finally could only flee in a chaos.

When he woke up, there were only twenty or so people around him, including Yan Ying, a subordinate of Guan Shanhai, and some Jianghu people from nowhere. Under the leadership of Huang Jianfei, he fled all the way. Fortunately, the great momentum of Mohe Pond had seemed to encourage the morale of the rebels in the city, and there were more troubles, so they ran farther. They lost a few people in the middle and then met with two wounded. After a brief introduction, they learned that these two were Chen Wei and his junior brother Qin Gang.

Both were badly injured. Huang Nanzhong and Yan Ying were in tears when they met these two righteous men, and vowed to rescue them no matter what. After a discussion, Yan Ying told them about a house nearby, where a scholar who had recently joined Shan Gong lived. He should not have participated in the rebellion tonight, and if there was no other way, he had to go there for refuge.

The group then went to the residence of the scholar named Wen Shoubin. Then Huang family's general Ye Zi went out to eliminate the traces, only to find that it was already too late. Two constables had already noticed the abnormality of this residence and were mobilizing troops.

The group dragged Wen Shoubin and his daughter Qu Longjun to run away quickly. At this time, Huang Nanzhong and Huang Shan and others remembered that this place was not far from the residence of the Huaxia Army little military doctor that they had noticed more than a month ago. The little military doctor was an internal member of the Huaxia Army, with a clean family background, but his hands and feet were not clean, and there was a handle in the hands of these people. This dark line was originally intended to be used at a critical moment, and this was not exactly the critical moment.

The group immediately went there. The place where the little military doctor lived was not a downtown area, but rather very remote. The troublemakers in the city would not come here at the first time, so the Huaxia Army would not have many people arranged. After such a calculation, they grabbed the straw like a lifeline and went there. Along the way, Huang Shan, Huang Nanzhong, Yan Ying and others talked about the little military doctor's bad temper, love of money, but good medical skills and other characteristics. Such people could also be won over.

As long as Chen Wei and Qin Gang, the two righteous men in the team, could be cured, then when they talked about it in the future, the sacrifices of these two groups of people today would not be meaningless - after all, this was an assassin who had once extended the blade to the front of the Huaxia Army's great devil!

With this plan decided, the group first let Huang Jianfei and others take the lead. Some people sang red faces and some people sang white faces, and it didn't matter how many benefits they promised. In this way, before long, Huang Jianfei really lived up to his expectations and persuaded the little doctor to their side, and the promised twenty taels of gold only used ten taels.

The people entered the quiet courtyard one after another, Chen Wei and others were carried into the room, and the little doctor began to treat them. Huang Nanzhong also arranged for Huang Jianfei and others to watch by the side, and must ensure that the little doctor did not mess up and kill people. A group of people sat down one after another in the courtyard outside the house. After a while, Huang Shan came out to pour blood water and confirmed with Huang Nanzhong that the little doctor's medical skills were indeed excellent, and he seemed to be trying his best to save people, Huang Nanzhong's mood was settled.

Only Wen Shoubin, who had been preparing for a long time, came to Chengdu this time, and finally got on the line with Guan Shanhai, preparing to slowly wait for the situation in Chengdu to ease, and then try to send Qu Longjun to the Huaxia Army high-level. Who knew that before the teacher had left, his body had died first. This time, he was involved in such a thing, and whether he could leave Chengdu alive was probably a problem. For a time, he sighed and wept.

Huang Nanzhong then went to persuade him: "This time, as long as we leave the Southwest, Brother Wen's losses today, I will bear it all. Alas, speaking of which, if it weren't for the special circumstances, we wouldn't have implicated Brother Wen. The two assassins in the room are righteous and fierce men. Tonight's many chaos, only they, assassinated the devil and almost succeeded. I really can't bear to let these righteous men escape in the city and have nowhere to go..."

Then Yan Ying also came to persuade him, saying that Shan Gong would definitely remember his losses today and there would be a reward. Wen Shoubin then stopped sighing and sighing. Yan Ying then chatted with Wen Shoubin about his daughter Qu Longjun - he was Guan Shanhai's confidant, knew some martial arts, and was also a literati, so he was arranged by Guan Shanhai to manage the family generals. Guan Shanhai first met Qu Longjun that day, and he was a follower, and had seen the other party's appearance and talent for a long time, and was very moved, but Wen Shoubin said that he would use the woman as a spy, so he did not express too much meaning. At this time, Wen Shoubin and Qu Longjun could only run away, and the spy obviously could not be done, and some words could only be vaguely expressed at the moment...

Wen Shoubin looked sad and could only nod and promise vaguely that if he could leave, he would definitely arrange for his daughter to spend time with the other party.

In the distance of the city, there was another riot, and this piece was temporarily quiet, and the danger had left them in a short time.

In the room, the highly skilled little military doctor cursed while treating the wounds, and had already scolded Huang Jianfei, Qu Longjun and other helpers like pig heads, but the wounded's injuries were given the best treatment in a short time with his skilled techniques.

At a certain moment, a wounded person woke up from a coma, suddenly stretched out his hand, grabbed the stranger in front of him, and seemed to be grabbing a weapon to defend himself. The little military doctor was dragged down, and Qu Longjun next to him was startled and wanted to reach out to help, but was stopped by the little military doctor who had a bad temper.

The wounded blinked his eyes, and the little military doctor in front of him showed a reassuring smile: "It's okay, your injury has been controlled, rest first, you are safe..." He patted the wounded's hand gently, repeating, "You are safe."

"Sa-safe?"

The wounded looked blank for a moment, and then finally saw the relatively familiar Huang Jianfei in front of him. Jian Huang Jianfei nodded, and then he felt relieved: "Safe..."

"Safe." The little military doctor smiled reassuringly and put the other's hand back on the quilt. Eight or nine candles were lit in the room, thick bedding was hung on the windows, and under the eaves outside, someone closed their eyes briefly and began to rest. At this moment, this originally dilapidated courtyard seemed to be the safest piece of pure land. They would not find a safer place in the city...

"Hehe..."

After bandaging a wounded person, Qu Longjun seemed to see the little military doctor with a very bad temper bend his fingers and secretly smile...

It seemed like he was counting how many people he had saved.

Although this little military doctor liked to say dirty words, his heart was still very kind.

...she thought.