Chapter 165: Black Mountain Turmoil

The small building swayed precariously in the evening wind, but ultimately stood firm.

In comparison, a certain part of Yuan Xi's body was in even greater danger than the small building, but it still held on, like Yuan Xi's wings that hadn't broken.

As the two embraced in the cold night, feeling each other's body temperature, different joys and sorrows were still unfolding on the earth beneath the night sky.

Just like Yi Jing, hundreds of miles away, a hundred watchtowers surrounded the tallest one in the center, like stars surrounding the moon.

In the high tower, Gongsun Zan was still sitting by the window, looking towards Ye City in Ji Province, thinking that they must have already begun mobilizing a large army from all directions to attack Yi Jing, right?

His subordinates, including Tian Kai, mostly advised him to abandon Yi Jing and return to You Province to quell the rebellions of Yan Rou, Xianyu Fu, and others, in order to stage a comeback.

But Gongsun Zan refused. People kept betraying him, to the point where he couldn't even distinguish between friend and foe around him.

He was now like a battered and exhausted bear. If he returned to You Province, he would definitely be torn to pieces by the hungry wolves coveting him.

Tired, then let's all perish together.

But before I die, I will definitely bite off a piece of flesh from Yuan Shao.

Behind him, Lady Hou knelt silently to the side, holding her young son, who was already fast asleep, with a hint of exhaustion and helplessness in her brows.

She had always wanted Gongsun Zan to send the child away, but Gongsun Zan was determined to have the whole family live or die with Yi Jing, and simply wouldn't listen to her.

Beside her was a pulley, with a long rope tied to it, hanging down through a hole in the floor, all the way to the bottom of the watchtower, with a wooden bucket tied to the end of the rope.

There was a sound from downstairs, as if something was put into the bucket, and then the rope shook a few times.

Lady Hou quickly put the child down, cranked the pulley, and the rope brought the wooden bucket up.

She laboriously took out a tube of bamboo slips from the bucket and got up to deliver them to Gongsun Zan.

Gongsun Zan opened the bamboo slips and found that they were written by Tian Kai.

It said that the situation in You Province was not good. The soldiers in Yuyang and other commanderies loyal to Gongsun Zan were attacked by Xianyu Fu, Yan Rou, and others, suffering losses in troops and generals, making it difficult to gather them to support Yi Jing.

Tian Kai suggested that instead of waiting for death, it would be better to think of another way, so he proposed two suggestions.

First, send someone to contact Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Bandits to ask for help, and let Zhang Yan send troops to attack Zhuo Commandery and Changshan Commandery in the Taihang Mountains, threatening Yuan Shao's hinterland, thereby relieving the siege of Yi Jing.

Second, Tian Kai would lead the White Horse Volunteers to leave Yi Jing, harassing Yuan Shao's army along the way, and taking the opportunity to attack the grain supply route of Ji Province, while cooperating with the Black Mountain Bandits' actions.

This second strategy seemed feasible, but Gongsun Zan didn't want to adopt it.

Putting aside everything else, Tian Yu led people out of the city a few days ago, and never returned, with no news since then.

When Tian Yu left, he said he was going to assassinate an important figure of the Yuan family and wanted to take a hundred White Horse Volunteers to cooperate, but Gongsun Zan didn't agree.

At that time, he already found it difficult to trust others. Who knew what Tian Yu was thinking? What if he ran away with the people like Zhao Yun?

In the end, Tian Yu left the city with two personal guards, looking displeased, and there was no news of him since then. Gongsun Zan thought that he had indeed defected to the enemy, right?

Now that Tian Yu had disappeared, although Tian Kai was still trustworthy, he and Tian Yu were of the same clan. If he defected with all the White Horse Volunteers, how could Yi Jing be defended?

As for the first strategy, would Zhang Yan really come to rescue him?

Gongsun Zan threw the bamboo slips aside and looked at the night sky in silence. Lady Hou behind him didn't dare to speak. The two of them spent the long and difficult night with their own thoughts.

The Taihang Mountains spanned over eight hundred miles from north to south. In the dense forests and mountains, was the location of the Black Mountain Bandits, which at its peak, claimed to have a population of one million.

Changshan Zhen Ding, at the junction of Bing and Ji Provinces, was close to the eastern foot of the Taihang Mountains, which was originally the base camp of the Black Mountain Bandits.

After several battles with Yuan Shao's army, Zhen Ding City had been almost completely destroyed. Now that Zhang Yan had retreated into the Taihang Mountains, the abandoned city of Zhen Ding had become the place where the Black Mountain Bandits' generals camped.

Everywhere in this area were thatched huts and caves, where most of the people lived, surrounded by a large wooden camp, garrisoned by Black Mountain Bandit soldiers.

At this time, screams could be heard from the camp from time to time, and the people in the thatched huts looked out through the cracks in the doors uneasily.

Inside the camp, several naked men were hanging, and several soldiers were whipping them fiercely. With each lash of the whip, streaks of blood burst out on the twisting and struggling bodies, forming lines of different thicknesses.

A group of old people, children, and women were kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy as they watched the men being beaten.

Several generals stood beside them, with Bai Rao, a Black Mountain Bandit general, in the lead.

He had once joined forces with Yu Du and Sui Gu to attack Wei Commandery, but was defeated by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, and returned to the Black Mountain, serving as a general under Zhang Yan.

Seeing that the men were almost dying from the beating, he shouted coldly, "I'll give you a chance, tell me who the mastermind is, and I'll spare his life!"

The men who were hanging had all been soldiers under his command, who had followed him to loot Beixin City, but they were defeated by the enemy, two generals were killed, and thousands of soldiers were captured.

Bai Rao was regretting how to explain this to Zhang Yan, but after a month, the captured soldiers of the Black Mountain Bandits were released one after another.

He was very happy. Did this mean that Beixin City didn't dare to offend the Black Mountain Bandits?

However, he gradually realized that something was wrong.

The people who came back were privately spreading how good Beixin City was, that they were not only not abused there, but also got to eat their fill every meal!

It should be known that the Black Mountain Bandits had hundreds of thousands of people. Since being driven into the Taihang Mountains by Yuan Shao, except for a few generals, they had been living from hand to mouth.

Moreover, not only that, but the people who came back also proclaimed that the current governor of Zhuo Commandery, the second son of the Yuan family, was the true man who fulfilled the prophecies of the Taiping Dao for saving the world!

This greatly touched the foundation of the Black Mountain Bandits. Bai Rao had people arrest several soldiers who usually spoke the most enthusiastically and even wanted to secretly leave with their families, and tortured them severely.

One of the men who was hanging spat out blood and hissed, "We were not instigated by anyone!"

"We were captured in Beixin City, and after doing a month of hard labor, we were released. No one abused us during that time, and we even had enough to eat, which was much better than here!"

"We are just telling the truth!"

Bai Rao sneered, "I see you won't shed tears until you see the coffin!"

He was about to speak when a Taoist priest in a Taoist robe walked out from behind him and said to the men who were hanging, "You demons, you have betrayed the will of the Yellow Heaven!"

"Everything else is fine, but why do you say that Yuan Xi, the son of Yuan Shao, is the true man of the Yellow Heaven?"

"You have been deceived by the enemy!"

The man snorted and turned his head away.

Another man who was hanging showed a mocking expression, "If it's not the Yuan family's son, then is it General Zhang (Zhang Yan)?"

"We have been following the Black Mountain Bandits for more than ten years, and we have never had enough to eat. We did a month of labor there and ate our fill for a month!"

"If General Zhang is really the true man of the Yellow Heaven, why doesn't he let us eat our fill?"

The Taoist priest was about to speak when Bai Rao snatched the spear from the guard beside him and cursed, "Go to hell!"

He gripped the spear tightly, took a step forward, and threw the spear in his hand. The tip of the spear instantly pierced the man's chest.

Fresh blood flowed down the spear, and the man's body trembled a few times before he died.

Among the group of women and children, one of the women was his wife, and she fainted on the ground.

The other men who were hanging shouted, "Bai Rao, you are wantonly killing brothers of the same faith. Are you still a member of the Yellow Heaven!"

The Taoist priest heard this and shouted, "You people have betrayed the Yellow Heaven and become demons! Why don't you repent!"

Someone sneered, "The demons give us food to eat, what about the leaders in the sect? How do they treat us?"

Bai Rao didn't expect that the soldiers who had previously been obedient had turned out like this. He was immediately furious and shouted, "Kill them all!"

His subordinates hesitated for a moment, then drew their knives and went up to kill the men with a flurry of blows.

Now the families of the men all cried out. Bai Rao was furious and shouted, "Divide the women among yourselves, kill the others, and make an example of them!"

The soldiers rushed up, picked up the children and threw them to the ground to their deaths, slashed down the old people, and carried the crying women away on their shoulders.

Inside the thatched huts, people silently watched all of this happen.

Bai Rao thought that this would suppress the matter of the surrendered soldiers, but as the days passed, he gradually discovered that people were constantly leaving Zhen Ding at night and fleeing towards Beixin City.

He had his subordinates intercept some of the people and was surprised to find that among the people who were fleeing were not only the soldiers who had been released from Beixin City, but also a large number of unrelated people!

He killed a group of people and hung their heads on the gate of the camp. The number of people who fled decreased a lot that day, but then it started again.

The Taoist priest found him and sighed, "General, this cannot continue."

"What is causing them to flee is not only that there is enough food to eat in Beixin City, but also the rumors of the true man of the Yellow Heaven."

"If this momentum cannot be suppressed, I am afraid that the morale here will be lost. How will we explain this to General Zhang then?"

Bai Rao frowned, "What do you think we should do?"

The Taoist priest thought for a moment and shook his head, "It will be difficult for you alone to suppress that Yuan family's son."

"I have heard that Beixin City is mobilizing troops to attack Yi Jing. At that time, that Yuan family's son will definitely lead troops to attack Yi Jing. The interior will be empty, and his marching route is close to Zhen Ding, so there is an opportunity."

"Why not ask General Zhang Yan for help and send a few generals to sneak attack Beixin City and take the opportunity to intercept and kill that Yuan family's son?"

Bai Rao listened and hesitated, "This plan seems feasible, but I don't think General Zhang wants to provoke the Yuan family at the moment."

The Taoist priest smiled, "No one knows what General Zhang is thinking. If you don't ask, how will you know General Zhang's thoughts?"

"Moreover, the rumors of the Yuan family's son being the true man are shaking the foundation of the Black Mountain Bandits, which is extremely important. You only need to send someone to tell him."

Bai Rao listened and slapped his thigh hard, "That's right, if this continues, all my people will run away!"

"We must kill that Yuan family's son!"

Yuan Xi didn't know what was happening in Zhen Ding. At this time, he was sitting in front of Tian Yu and said, "Brother Guorang, are you really not coming with me?"

Tian Yu said expressionlessly, "Don't even think about it, Gongzi. I will not defect to you."

Yuan Xi had a headache. Tian Yu was extremely stubborn after being captured. He had tried all kinds of methods, persuasion, enticement, and even the method of labor reform by farming in the fields, but Tian Yu remained unmoved.