Chapter 24 Cooperation
Just when Zhang Huang made up his mind to join forces with Tang Zhou of Taiping Road to kill He Ying, the prefect of Taishan, and rob the county warehouse of the grain, Tang Zhou was having a laughing chat with a rough-looking man in a refugee camp in the county.
The man was eight feet tall, with wide shoulders and strong body, his muscles were tight and full of explosive power. The eyes of Haoba revealed a wave of spirit, which made people subconsciously feel guilty and dared not look directly at him.
What a mighty hero!
However, in front of this strong man, Tang Zhou's expression was still the same as before, and he said with a smile, "I heard that Senior Brother Ma was still in Nanyang a while ago, and I don't want to come to Mount Tai today..."
It was shocking that the strong man was actually a great master Zhang Jiao who sat down with thirty-six great disciples among the seventy-two small parties, Ma Hun, Ma Yuanyi, and Taiping Dao Yellow Turban Army with immeasurable status and fame.
The strong man, no, Ma Hun laughed and said, "The news from junior brother is very good. Not bad. Senior brother was indeed in Nanyang earlier, but a while ago he was summoned by his master, so he went to Julu. By the way, he also reported to his master about the situation near Nanyang in recent years... This time he came to Mount Tai, he was specially visiting Junior Brother Tang."
"Look at me?" Tang Zhou's eyelids jumped slightly, and he looked at Ma Hun calmly.
"Yes." Ma Hun didn't notice it and sighed slightly, "Although Master has accepted more than a hundred disciples, he has distributed all over the place for the sake of his great cause. Junior Brother Tang is close to Mount Tai. Therefore, Senior Brother specially came to visit Junior Brother Tang. Isn't it not unwelcome?"
"What's the matter?" Tang Zhou smiled slightly and said, "The eldest brother is worried about his junior brother. That's his junior brother's blessing. The junior brother is flattered. How can he say that he is welcome or not? But I wonder how long can he stay in Mount Tai?"
"I'll stay there for a while." Ma Hun sighed and said in a narrow voice, "This time, senior brother is here to see his junior brother's condition and will leave later."
"So fast?" Tang Zhou was stunned and guessed in surprise, "Is it because Nanyang is unstable?"
"That won't be." Ma Hun shook his head and said, "Men Cheng is here in Nanyang, so senior brother can rest assured."
Tang Zhou nodded, and he naturally knew that the Mancheng in Ma Hun's mouth was Zhang Chun and Zhang Mancheng, the young man who was half a teacher with Ma Hun, who was only about 10 years old. After being promoted and taught by Ma Hun, he had become a leader in Taiping Road in Nanyang and could also be called an unattainable talent.
"Senior brother won't go back to Nanyang?" Tang Zhou's eyes moved slightly and he said, "Nanyang curbs the princes of Guanzhong in the west and the wealthy families in Jingxiang in the south. This is a place that military strategists must fight for. If the senior brother does not sit in Nanyang, it may be inappropriate."
"It's not a problem." Ma Hun touched his chin and said happily, "In recent years, my senior brother has discovered talents in Nanyang, Yingchuan and Gepo, and has made great progress. In addition to Mancheng, he also found a boy named Bo Cai. That boy is naturally handsome, and in terms of talent, he is even better than Mancheng... With this person and Mancheng, Jingbei is not worried."
"Haha, then I want to congratulate you." Tang Zhou bowed with a smile and said in accordance with Ma Hun's words, "There are indeed many talents in Jingzhou."
"Isn't that?" Ma Hun nodded with joyful face, and then said mysteriously, "In addition to Mancheng and Bocai, the senior brother also found a martial arts genius named Peng Tuo. This man can carry a tripod and has the courage of ten thousand men. Unfortunately, this piece of uncensored jade has not been carved and is just a martial arts man. This is what the senior brother thinks. When he comes back from Luoyang this time, he will polish this man well."
"Luoyang?" Tang Zhou's eyes changed suddenly.
"Yes!" As if he noticed Tang Zhou's strangeness, Ma Hun nodded and said, "Have you said it just now? This time, Master, he sent me to Luoyang to take root. For the sake of my Taiping Dao's great cause in the future, it would be best to instigate some people in Luoyang to obtain their support."
Tang Zhou opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word for a long time.
"Junior Brother Tang, what's wrong with you?" Ma Hun asked in surprise.
"Nothing." Tang Zhou gave out a breath, his expression returned to its original state, bowing and saying, "Since that's the case, I wish my senior brother a success!"
"There is no success in the 'ma'? Hahaha!" Ma Hun laughed so much that he laughed, but did not notice the anxiety deep in Tang Zhou's eyes.
[I never thought, have you reached this point?]
After Ma Hun said goodbye, Tang Zhou stood alone, looking at the sky with thoughtful look on his face. After a while, he murmured, "Luoyang... It seems that I have to find a way to go to Luoyang..."
Tang Zhou was thinking, suddenly, his eyes moved slightly. It turned out that he saw Zhang Huang in the distance.
Maybe it was because Zhang Huang openly insisted that Tang Zhou cast spells in public and was cheated. The Taiping Dao member with a yellow turban on his head had no good feelings for this kid. Now, Zhang Huang was surrounded by those big men before he got close to Tang Zhou.
"Tang Immortal Master, Tang Immortal Master." Zhang Huang kept waved to Tang Zhou and signaled by a strong man who was big and thick.
[Is it that interesting little guy? What is he going to do?]
Tang Zhou felt a little funny, and the concerns that arose because of Ma Hun's words also faded a little. He waved his hand and said with a smile, "Brothers, let him come here."
The strong men with yellow turbans did not like Zhang Huang at first. After all, Zhang Huang had questioned their mysterious and supreme magic of Taiping Dao. However, after Tang Zhou said this, they had no choice but to let it go. However, they did not verbally warn Zhang Huang not to make trouble again.
"Sir Tang, don't be fine." After dealing with the strong men wrapped in yellow turbans, Zhang Huang then came to Tang Zhou and bowed his hands and fists.
To be fair, Tang Zhou had a very good impression of Zhang Huang. Although he didn't understand the reason for this good impression, maybe this is the so-called relationship, and it hit it off at first sight.
"What's the point of doing, little brother? Could it be that you have to question Tang's Taoism again?" Tang Zhou quipped with a smile.
After hearing Tang Zhou's teasing, Zhang Huang's face was filled with a bitter smile, so he had to bite the bullet and say, "What did Master Tang say? Master Tang is very capable. Zhang Huang had seen it a few days ago, so how dare he offend it?"
Seeing Zhang Huang's bitter expression, Tang Zhou felt very amused and nodded, "The ignorant is not guilty. The little brother can correct his mistakes. Tang is also very impressed by this calmness." Speaking of this, he looked at Zhang Huang up and down a few times, suddenly frowned, and asked with a strange expression, "Little brother used the aisle technique these days?"
"Huh?" Zhang Huang was stunned and looked at Tang Zhou in surprise and asked, "Tang, how do you know, Master Tang?"
Tang Zhou smiled but said without saying a word, "The Taoist technique is the art of stealing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and driving away ghosts and gods, which is not recognized by the way of heaven. If you can avoid it, try not to use it... If you are not lucky, you may be missed." In the last sentence, Tang Zhou's expression became a bit unpredictable.
[Will people still be missed by using Taoism?]
Zhang Huang had an unclear expression, but he felt that Tang Zhou's words were somewhat consistent with their adoptive father who taught him Taoism.
"Who is thinking about it?"
Tang Zhou smiled subtly, shook his head and said, "It's not to be said. In time, the little brother will understand."
"Tsk!" Zhang Huang subconsciously curled his lips and muttered with depression, "What I annoyed the most is these pretentious words. One or two sentences can explain it. I have to say that the secret of heaven cannot be revealed... Uh? Master Tang, I am not talking about you."
Tang Zhou still looked at Zhang Huang with a smile, but when Zhang Huang said, "The secret of heaven cannot be revealed", a strange look flashed in his eyes.
"By the way, my little brother is here today. Isn't it just a few chats with Tang, right?"
"Oh, yes." After Tang Zhou reminded him, Zhang Huang remembered his original intention, paused for a moment, and said in a low voice, "Sir Tang, please don't be surprised. Zhang Huang came here today, intending to make a deal with Shinter Tang."
Tang Zhou shook his head and said lightly, "Tang is not a merchant, so how can you talk about business?"
"Don't be anxious, please listen to me in detail." As he said that, Zhang Huang expressed his idea of cooperating with Tang Zhou to kill He Ying, the prefect of Taishan, and seize the county's warehouse rice and grain.
"What?" Tang Zhou frowned slightly when he heard it, and looked at Zhang Huang with incredible expressions, and asked in surprise, "Little brother, are you talking about cooperating with Tang, plotting to kill the prefect and seize the county warehouse?" At this point, his expression changed slightly, and he said with some displeasure, "Little brother, who do you think Tang is?!"
Seeing that Tang Zhou had signs of turning against each other, Zhang Huang was not in a hurry and said in a low voice, "Don't be angry at the Immortal Master Tang. This Taishan Prefect He Ying is not a good person. Although he seems to be a good official, in fact, the guy secretly sold the grain used by the county to save refugees to other rice merchants. He lied to the outside world that the county warehouse was insufficient in stock, and instigated the local people to make enemies with the refugees, reap profits from it, and gained personal gains. A while ago, Cao Zangjie, the prison of Taishan Prison, verified He Ying's corruption and abused the law, and worked hard to collect evidence. He wanted to sue Xuzhou Prefecture.
But he didn't want to be found out by He Ying and was framed and imprisoned. Zang Ba and I joined forces with the Taishan Army General Zang Zhucao to rob him. He Ying had another plan to kill the lives of two innocent people of the Zang family. Also, can the immortal master of Tang know what they did in Fei County, Xishan? He Ying and his confidant Ma Yan recruited many innocent prisoners in Fei County in Fei County, Xishan, and beat people to death if they were not satisfied. They took human lives to such a rude hero... Zhang Huang thought that with such a righteous hero, he would not tolerate such shameless villain!"
"You can say it." Tang Zhou was happy. After frowning and thinking for a while, he asked in a voice, "Is this really the case?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Huang raised his right hand, raised three fingers, and said solemnly, "Zhang Huang swears to the sky, if I..."
As soon as he said this, Tang Zhou grabbed Zhang Huang's hand and said solemnly under the latter's astonishment gaze, "Boy, Tang consciously gets along with you, so he warned: Remember, you can swear, but don't swear to the sky casually... Otherwise, if there is a little difference, your life will be unsafe!"
"Huh? Why is this?" Zhang Huang asked in surprise.
However, Tang Zhou did not answer. After slowly letting go of Zhang Huang's hand, he paced back and forth with his hands on his back for a few steps. After a while, nodded and said, "One time ago, you misunderstood that Tang was playing a slutty trick to deceive the people, so he came forward to question it. It can be seen that you have a sense of righteousness in your heart... Logically speaking, it would not be lying to me. Since He Ying is really such a bad person, and when Tang is caught, Tang naturally will not stand by. OK! Tang Ying made this matter!"
"Really?" Zhang Huang looked overjoyed when he heard this, and said, "The plan is this. Tang Xianshi helped me kill the prefect He Ying and his evil party, opened warehouses and released grain, and distributed it to the people and refugees in the city. My Black Feather Crow is willing to bear the bad reputation of this matter, and it will never involve Tang Xianshi and Taiping Road."
"It doesn't matter whether you are holding it or not..." Tang Zhou looked at Zhang Huang carefully and asked suddenly, "But, what are the benefits of this? Do you know that if you kill the prefect, rob the county warehouse, and have such a bad reputation, you, Black Feather Crow, will be the first-class thief in the future... What kind of benefits are worth doing this?"
"The benefits?" Zhang Huang blinked his eyes and looked at Tang Zhou in confusion. After a while, hesitated, "I want to rescue Zang Ai, Zang Shun and others..."
"..." Tang Zhou looked at Zhang Huang's eyes deeply and said with a strange expression for a long time, "If it weren't for the different positions, Tang would be willing to make friends with a loyal and righteous man like you."
Zhang Huang was puzzled after hearing this and asked in surprise, "Isn't Taiping Dao a rebel army who cares about the interests of the people of the world?"
"Is that?" Tang Zhou's expression became very calm at this moment, but immediately, he seemed to notice the shock and confusion on Zhang Huang's face, nodded and smiled, "Yes, little brother is right."
Zhang Huang looked at Tang Zhou inexplicably. He instinctively felt that this extraordinary immortal master seemed to deliberately hide something. Unfortunately, Zhang Huang was disturbed by Tang Zhou's words.
"You and I fell in love with you at first sight, and Tang admires you again, so there is no need for red tape. Tang calls you Xiaohuang and calls you Tang "Brother, how about you?"
"Eh?" Zhang Huang couldn't help but feel thumping when he heard this. You know, although Zhang Huang couldn't remember some of his memories, he also remembered that this elder brother Tang Zhou and Tang was an important figure in Taiping Dao. Being able to make friends with such a big man is simply a good thing that is hard to come by.
"Xiaohuang greets Brother Tang." Zhang Huang bowed respectfully to Tang Zhou.
Tang Zhou smiled and helped Zhang Huang up and said, "Brother, be polite."
The two looked at each other and felt that their relationship was one step closer than they had just happened.
"By the way, Brother Tang, I wonder how many people Taipingdao has in Mount Tai?" After a few words, Zhang Huang asked about Taipingdao's strength in Mount Tai. After all, what he had to deal with was the prefect of Mount Tai.
"There are more than 30 brothers in Mount Tai. What's wrong with me?"
"Just... only more than thirty people?" Zhang Huang widened his eyes in shock, and the joy on his face retreated a little, and he said hesitantly, "This... seems to be not enough manpower... Brother Tang doesn't know that He Ying has a lot of minions, and there are seven or eight hundred soldiers under Ma Yan's command alone, let alone the city guards of Mount Tai. Brother, do you think... ask for some helpers?"
Tang Zhou smiled without saying a word and comforted him, "Don't worry, brother, brother has his own plans for this matter. At that time, brother promises that you can rescue the Zang brothers and get out safely."
"Then...then please brother."
After taking a reassurance here in Tang Zhou, Zhang Huang left happily.
Seeing Zhang Huang leaving his back as he gradually faded away, Tang Zhou couldn't help but chuckle.
"What a pure and ignorant little guy. In a small Taishan County, I, Tang Zhou, still want to find someone? Ha! If I weren't afraid of affecting this game of chess, I, Tang Zhou, could have made this county town empty in an instant! But then again..."
A little puzzled appeared on his face, and Tang Zhou frowned slightly and murmured to himself.
"It's strange. I had clearly thought about not being involved in this 'chess piece' before, so why... why did I inexplicably want to get close to this person? Could it be that kid had a fate with me in his previous life?"
After shook his head, Tang Zhou couldn't figure it out.
Chapter completed!