Mercenaries and Adventurers

Zhao Ji adjusted the equipment on his body, and quietly put the extra things on the ground, so as to avoid the collision sound when he attacked later.

He only kept a long sword on his body and a rope hanging around his waist. Zhao Ji gathered the wolf fur cloak on his body, and let the wide cloak cover his whole body.

The furry cloak can greatly absorb the subtle sounds of body movements.

Prepared in this way, Zhao Ji stepped back first, circled an outer circle, and approached him from behind the confused sentry bandit.

Zhao Ji put his body down and moved forward with his hands on the ground, moving only one arm or leg at a time. There were only a few meters between the bandit's back and the woods, and Zhao Ji quickly approached the other party without the other party noticing.

Quietly looked up at the confused bandit sitting on a high place.

Zhao Ji took off the rope around his waist and made a living circle with one end of the rope. After trying it quietly, the loop of the rope will shrink and tighten as long as he pulls back hard after he has caught something.

Zhao Ji tried not to let himself concentrate so as not to alert the other party. He stood up lightly, and found that after he stood up, the other party was not too far away from him. The other party was sitting on the broken tree stump, and seemed to have fallen asleep in this quiet winter night in a daze.

Squinting his eyes, following the light of the fire not far away, Zhao Ji gently threw the rope loop in his hand towards the opponent's head.

"Hmm!" The other party was dazed and didn't respond after something was wrapped around his neck.

Zhao Ji grinned, and pulled the rope back fiercely, and the living rope tightened and strangled the opponent's neck.

The bandit, who was still dazed at first, had his mouth open and his eyes protruding. He instinctively tried to use his hands to free the rope around his neck to give him room to breathe.

But Zhao Ji at the bottom pulled the rope again, and at the same time he himself took two steps back.

The bandit on the tree stump was taken backwards, and then he leaned back and fell off the three-meter-high tree stump.

Boom!

There was a muffled sound, the bandit was lucky, he landed on his back, and the ground was only soft dead leaves and soil, so he didn't kill him. Even so, the entire bandit was suffocated by the impact, his eyes went dark, and he lost consciousness.

When Zhao Ji saw the opponent landed, he hurried up and tied up the opponent's body, legs and feet with the rope in his hand, and then slightly pulled the rope around the neck to prevent the opponent from being strangled to death.

Taking out a piece of sackcloth for wiping the blade from his pocket, Zhao Ji stuffed the cloth into the opponent's mouth to prevent the opponent from yelling after waking up.

Zhao Ji poked his head out from behind the broken tree stump and looked at the situation at the fire.

I don't know if the bandits were sleeping soundly. Except for the snoring that came one after another, none of the bandits got up to ask what happened.

This is the best way, Zhao Ji will hold the sentry bandits captured by him on his shoulders, return to the place where he put his things before, and then leave here, pick up his backpack and rush into the forest.

---

"Wake up! Wake up!" Zhao Ji patted the face of the captured bandit with his hands. He is now a little far away from the previous bandit stronghold. In the mountains and forests, as long as the distance is a little farther, the sound cannot be transmitted. Therefore, Zhao Ji quickly put down the captured bandit and tried to wake him up.

The bandit was a young man, but as if to hide his age, the bandit had grown a beard on purpose, trying to accentuate his masculinity in this way.

However, Zhao Ji judged from the other party's thin figure that the other party obviously didn't eat much and was malnourished. The beard that was left on purpose was not very attractive either, not only withered and yellow in color, but also messy and curly. This man has become like this among bandits, why doesn't he go back to his hometown to farm? Anyway, I can still eat enough and plant a few plots of land,

Wouldn't it be great to find a girl from the same village to start a family with?

As Zhao Ji kept patting the opponent's face, the bandit still woke up.

In the dark woods of Bawu, Zhao Ji could not see the other party, but he judged that the other party had regained consciousness by the other party's tense breathing.

"I ask, you answer! Don't try to yell loudly, unless you don't want to live anymore." Zhao Ji tried to make his voice cold, but at this age, his voice does not have the deterrent force of those mature men.

In this regard, Zhao Ji drew out the steel dagger from his waist, and pressed the cold steel dagger body to the opponent's face.

The bandit on the opposite side felt the cold weapon on his face, immediately gulped and whined.

"Very good, let me say it again, don't try to shout loudly." After Zhao Ji finished speaking, he took out the sackcloth from the other party's mouth and put it away.

"Are you a human or a ghost?" The bandit on the opposite side asked in a low voice.

Zhao Ji felt that the opponent seemed to be still awake, so he moved the dagger slightly, and stabbed the opponent's cheek with the sharp point.

"No ears or brains? Let me ask! You answer!" Zhao Ji was a little angry.

The other party trembled, and whispered in a crying voice: "Then ask quickly, don't kill me, don't kill me."

Clearing his throat, Zhao Ji asked, "Are you a member of the Yaguijing Bandits? Answer."

"Yes, yes, I am from our team."

"Very well, how long have you been in the gang of tooth ghosts?"

After a moment of silence, the other party replied: "Counting this winter, it has already been two winters. However, I rarely go out with the leader to catch caravans. I am only responsible for things like guarding the camp."

Zhao Jicai didn't believe the gangsters' excuses. Maybe every bandit captured by him in the future would use such excuses.

"Do you know any other gangs like yours around you? Those who are too small are not counted."

"The ones around? That's not too many. The north seems to be old Johnny's manpower. There are not many people, but they are all very powerful. They only pick up valuables to work in the caravan. To the east is the ice flood Guan, I heard that a group of people in the Kendall River occupied a lumber mill, usually felling trees, and when they met a suitable target, they would pick up the felling axes and go out to attack people."

Zhao Ji listened carefully: "Do these people have any names?"

"I heard from the boss that it was called 'the tree fell'. I don't know who came up with the ghost name. Anyway, I heard that they always shouted 'the tree fell, the tree fell' and then rushed forward."

"It's interesting, go on!"

"Recently, a group of newcomers came to the south. They seem to be a group of wandering people. They went out to rob the road, and they only want food and nothing else!" The bandit became more and more energetic.

"Where is the west? What bandits are there in the west?"

"The west side is full of old things. Every time the brigade of militia came over, they always came from Bingxun Pass. So before, everyone ran to the west and hid when they found a place."

"Then what?"

"There are several large bandits claiming to be bandits in the west. The closest one is a guy called 'Docking Cave'. They occupy a cave. Every time the militia raids, they hide in the cave and hide the entrance of the cave. , a bunch of cunning guys. Further to the west are two parallel teams. I heard that the original family split into two teams. They are both called 'Man-eating Hounds'. We call them Big Dog and Little Dog according to their size. Dogs. I haven’t been to any further west, only the leaders occasionally went to participate in the gatherings of the leaders.”

When Zhao Ji heard the news about the bag-dropping hole, he memorized it carefully, knowing that the bag-dropping hole was on the west side of this group of people.

For other things, Zhao Ji felt that there was no need to ask any further questions, so he suddenly stopped talking, but took advantage of the other party's carelessness, directly grabbed the other party's face with his left hand, covered the other party's mouth tightly, and then pointed the dagger in his right hand towards the bandit's chest Pierce along the subcutaneous crevice of the sternum.

The bandit struggled vigorously, but Zhao Ji stabbed the dagger in his right hand into the front of the opponent's chest, and the steel dagger pierced the opponent's beating heart.

The struggle lasted only a few seconds, and then the bandit couldn't exert his strength and made no sound.

Zhao Ji cautiously did not take away the left hand from the opponent's mouth, stirred the dagger in his right hand, and then pulled it out carefully, only then did he confirm that the man was dead.

Streams of blood poured out from the opponent's chest wound, Zhao Ji pulled the opponent's clothes to prevent the blood from splashing out and getting on him.

After searching, the bandit was very poor, with only a few iron coins and some scattered small pieces of pure copper on his body.

There is nothing good about other things, only the short spears on the opponent's back look good, and I feel that they are probably good to use.

After thinking about it, this man was standing on a high place and threw an iron-tipped short spear. If he was stabbed, he would be seriously injured, and he might be slightly injured if he was wearing armor. If it's summer, people don't wear much, and if they are stabbed hard by this thing, they may be able to beat people through each other.

"Hmph!" Zhao Ji wondered how the bandits who could use this kind of weapon hadn't killed people when they robbed the caravan. They were just fooling around.

Zhao Ji warned himself in his heart that he must not believe any of the robbers' excuses about him.

Anyone who believes who is a big fool.

---

He dug a hole for the bandit's body in the dark, and buried it simply. Zhao Ji decided to take advantage of the night to pass through the area controlled by the bandit gang.

When it was daytime tomorrow, he would find a place to hide and rest for half a day, and for the other half day, he would try to see where there might be caves. Specific actions should be placed in a safe night.

After identifying the direction, Zhao Ji safely passed through the territory of Ya Guijing.

It is not easy to walk through the mountains and forests in the dark at night. The flat terrain is fine, but once the terrain undulates, he has to proceed carefully. In the winter forest in the early morning, even those bandits would not go out for activities, so Zhao Ji could boldly bypass some deep ditches and dense bushes that were not easy to travel with.

A moment before the sky became bright, Zhao Ji climbed up a big tree again, and observed the weak fire of the tooth ghost from the height of the tree.

Judging the approximate distance, he felt that the bandit gangs probably wouldn't be very close together. If it was that kind of situation next to each other, the friction between them would probably not be small.

Therefore, after moving away from the tooth ghost gang for a certain distance, Zhao Ji dug a shallow pit in a hidden tree root corner, built a simple low shed with naturally fallen branches, and covered it with fallen leaves. Zhao Ji got into this pit with his whole body.

After covering the entrance, Zhao Ji spread out a dog-skin sleeping bag in the narrow hole, and the whole person went directly into it and fell asleep.

---

After sleeping until the afternoon, Zhao Ji carefully crawled out of this place. After he came out, he covered this place so that it could be used again next time. After crushing a few bugs that crawled into his clothes, Zhao Ji looked in the direction and proceeded cautiously towards the place where there might be a bandit camp.

According to the sentinel bandits who were killed before and Mr. Kendo from Bingxunguan, this gang of bandits named Luobag Cave is hiding in a natural cave.

If this is the case, this gang of bandits will definitely put most of their things in a safe cave, which is very different from other gangs of bandits who need to keep moving their lairs.

Since the lair is a cave, it will not work to use the previous method of observing the heating fire at night.

Do you want to catch another bandit who is alone?

Shaking his head, Zhao Ji felt that the other party didn't know his existence now, and it was the best time for him. If he acted recklessly, the bandits would know of his existence and alert them, it would probably be very difficult to rescue the kidnapped people.

The first opportunity is the best, and he must seize it.

After thinking about this, Zhao Ji returned to the place where he slept before, put his backpack and supplies here, and only took a little food and some weapons with him.

He didn't take a long gun, but he took a short spear that he had seized before, and used it for a possible sneak attack and long-range attack.

The place where he is now, according to Zhao Ji's estimation, is in the middle of the two bandit gangs, and a little further to the west, it is estimated that it is the main site of the Luodaidong.

As Zhao Ji moved westward, he left some of his usual marks on the tree.

In the same mountain forest, as long as he follows these marks, he can return all the way to the place where he slept before. There is no need to worry that these marks will be discovered by other possible patrolling robbers. Zhao Ji's marks are left in some places that ordinary people don't pay attention to. Only he himself will regularly observe those places.

As long as he develops the habit, Zhao Ji can quickly find his way in the woods that look exactly the same.

In addition to leaving marks along the way, Zhao Ji also paid attention to some ground traces in open terrain as he advanced.

Compared with the ground in the woods, bandits who relax their vigilance will definitely go to open and safe places. In those places, walking around all the year round will definitely leave obvious footprints.

Zhao Ji soon found out.

On an open and gentle slope, he found a path on the lawn that people often walked and stepped on. He knelt down and carefully observed the footprints of people on the path, and found that someone had walked here not long ago.

After judging the direction of the footprints, Zhao Ji quickly chased after these people.

---

After a quick walk, Zhao Ji was the first to spot a group of people.

When people are moving forward, it is difficult to pay attention to the safety and sight behind them. So Zhao Ji, who came after him, discovered this group of people first.

There were a lot of people, about a dozen of them, and they all gathered together, walking noisily. The messy-dressed people on the periphery of the crowd were obviously bandits, and the few in the middle were tied up and pushed around. Zhao Ji estimated that they might be some caravan buddies who were caught recently, or they were traveling together. people.

The bandits all carried some things on their backs. As they walked, they were still showing off the various things they were carrying to their companions. Those things that seemed to be looted by them, it was obvious that the things they were carrying on their backs were their own after being looted.

Zhao Ji estimated that when the gang of bandits was small, it was a few people who discussed and distributed the looted goods and harvest. And when the gang of bandits is as big as this kind of pocket hole, it must be another distribution model.

The gang leaders will definitely take part of the looting harvest, and the rest is probably to maintain the interest and desire of the gang members to rob, whoever grabs it himself will belong to whom.

Of course, whoever snatches something particularly valuable will definitely be forcibly taken by the gang leader. Zhao Ji estimated that there must be a set of distribution rules internally.

Similar to when a heist is complete, the gang leader has rules for picking things first from all gang members' harvests.

Zhao Ji followed the footsteps of this group of people from afar. He hid himself in the woods, relying on the trunk to hide his figure, and every time he lowered his body from one tree to another.

In this way, Zhao Ji got closer and closer, and soon he was less than 50 meters away from the group of people.

The bandits were all happily showing off their gains to each other, but no one paid attention to the forest beside them. After all, they were walking on the territory of their gang, and the bandits all had rules that they would not act on the territory of another bandit gang unless it was a fire merger.

Even if you are passing by in a hurry to rob a caravan, you have to send someone to notify the bandit gang passing by the site first, and the other party agrees to pass quickly. That's why you have to accept the opponent's stalking when passing through the opponent's territory.

The bandits were elated. After all, a bandit gang of their size usually only robs a few large caravans a year. Not everyone in the gang has the opportunity to be selected by the leaders and taken out to work.

There are not many rules in the bandit gang, but they are strict. If you are not selected to go out to work and leave the gang privately, you will be regarded as a defector and hunted down. If you want to have a chance, you have to become a direct subordinate of a certain leader, consider him a big brother, and do your best.

Each leader has his own group of people, and every time the group takes action, the number of people dispatched is negotiated according to the size of the looted target. There are five leaders in Luobagdong, and each leader has at least ten or as many as twenty people. Although they all live together, they do not belong to each other, and everything is negotiated.

This time, the bandit leader nicknamed "Iron Hook Arm" once again led his men back home with a full load.

They ambushed and robbed a group of migrants who had fled from the southern part of the kingdom two days ago. The people who were able to travel so far to migrate here were all small and wealthy families.

When robbing the other party, the other party's resistance was still very fierce, but they were all guys who were working in the ground to plan food workshops, so how could they be the opponents of his group of screaming guys.

His men threw out the special throwing sticks all at once, and they beat many people to death. Then they swarmed up from all directions, so that the robbed migrants could not look at each other from head to tail, and the fighting men in front ran back thinking of their family members hiding behind. The family members at the back were frightened by his subordinates, fled to the front, bumped into a ball with the returning men, and were killed by them indiscriminately.

All the strong men were killed, leaving only the young women and a few male artisans alive. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled were all thrown into the Kendall River and fed to the fish.

The bandits happily boasted to each other that they had killed a few people, which made 'Iron Hook' very excited. Thinking that they were surrounded by pocket holes and that they were safe, he led his men to sing:

"We, who are hungry and thirsty, are hiding in the grass, watching the fat sheep come forward!"

"Raise the knife to splash blood and heads, harvest treasures worth ten years of cultivation!"

"You ask us why we are excited and wild, that is the roar of truth in the world!"

"Roar! Roar! The blood-stained knife is a violent power. Roar! Roar! The strong are born to take everything!"

In the woods not far away, Zhao Ji listened to the gangsters singing, and spat in disdain: "The strong take everything? If everyone thinks this way, how can human beings be organized into a collective? Do they all rely on robbery? You rob me, I rob you, isn't it all messed up?"

Zhao Ji muttered in a low voice: "It seems that these bandits deserve to die, I have to be ruthless."