About a quarter of an hour later, Wang Wenzuo began to hear the faint crows of many fighting cocks in the distance. As he approached a wasteland, the incredible chorus of crows became louder and louder; he smelled the aroma of wine,

There were also many horses and donkeys tied to wooden posts. They were snoring, snorting, stepping and wagging their tails, and many people were chatting.

"We're here, right here!"

Jin Renwen jumped off the horse with great interest to relieve the stiffness and numbness of his knees. Wang Wenzuo looked around. He could see the poor man in ragged clothes and the Wuling boy in bright clothes and angry horse, but at this time they were mixed in.

Together, there seemed to be no difference, and the cries of hundreds of fighting cocks seemed to be performing a crowing contest, and the spicy smell of moonshine filled the air.

"Don't just stand there, little guy! Come and help these chickens relax!" An old man in commoner clothes shouted loudly. He had just parked the carriage. The young man beside him hurriedly opened the chicken coop and put out the chickens one by one.

The fighting cocks pecking and squawking angrily were handed over to the old man, who then massaged the feet and wings of each chicken. After taking the last chicken, the old man said: "Go and get some good corn for these fighting birds."

The fighting cock eats its last meal.”

At this time, the old man happened to see Wang Wenzuo looking at him, smiled at Wang Wenzuo, and immediately shouted to the young man: "Don't be lazy!" He shouted loudly, "You are cheating on the cockfight now, and the cockfight is on the field.

I lied to you!"

"This old man must have come from afar and is a good player!" Jin Renwen said with a smile: "It seems that today's visit was not in vain, Sanlang, do you want to play with it too?"

"Playing two hands? I don't have a fighting cock!"

"I mean betting!" Jin Renwen said with a smile: "When the cockfight starts later, we can all bet!"

Wang Wenzuo looked around, and everywhere he looked there were excited faces. There were dozens of chicken coops next to each carriage, containing all kinds of fighting cocks with feathers ranging from snow white to carbon black, and even more colorful.

The variety of colors is unimaginable.

There is a large circular square in the center of the crowd, with a depression about two feet deep in the middle, surrounded by soft cushions. A small circle is drawn in the center of the solid red clay tamping platform, and a straight line with equal distance is drawn on both sides. That is the cockfighting ring.

! Noisy people were looking for seats on the slopes of the outer ring, and many people were exchanging wine bags in their hands. A man in brown clothes nearby shouted loudly: "Everyone, everyone, please sit down, the game will officially start in a quarter of an hour.

Got it!"

People sat down one after another, and the crowd was crowded. The two found a place to sit down, and saw two people walking out of the field, each holding a fighting cock in their arms. Suddenly, there were shouts from the audience: "Red cock, red cock,

Ten guan!"..."Follow!"..."Yellow, twenty guan!"..."Follow five guan!"..."Add five more guan!"..."Betting is over!" when the shouts

As it got bigger and more rhythmic, Wang Wenzuo saw two chickens being weighed on the scale, and then the referee declared that the weight difference between the two chickens was not more than two taels.

"Why is this?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"For the sake of fairness!" Jin Renwen stared at the fighting cocks in the field with interest: "If the weight difference between the two chickens is too big, it would be unfair. Only chickens whose weight difference does not exceed two taels can be competed!"

"This cockfighting competition is really legal, and there are actually weight classes!" Wang Wenzuo thought to himself.

"Get your chickens in place and everyone else get out!" someone yelled from the side of the cockfighting ring. Then he and the other two people sat cross-legged outside the ring, while the two chicken owners squatted in the circle.

Hold your chickens tightly in your hands and let them be close enough to try pecking for a while.

"Get ready!" The two chicken owners each retreated to the starting point, then pressed the chicken to the ground, preparing to fight the other side with all their strength.

"start!"

At the command, the two chickens immediately rushed towards each other with great force, causing both chickens to bounce back. But less than a second later, they came back again. They jumped up, with their feet covered with steel bars.

They clawed and clawed randomly in mid-air, and after they both fell to the ground, they flew up again to fight. Suddenly, the entire cockfighting ground was covered with flying feathers.

"The red one is injured!" someone yelled loudly, and Wang Wenzuo watched with bated breath as the two chicken owners grabbed their chickens, inspected them quickly and then put them back to the starting point. The injured and desperate red fighting chicken

He jumped a little higher than his opponent, and suddenly, his scissor-like feet pierced the head of the blue cock with a steel spur. The blue cock immediately fell to the ground, flapped its wings convulsively for a few times and then died.

Amidst a burst of excited cheers and rude curses, Wang Wenzuo heard the referee’s final announcement: “The winner is Wang He’s chicken!”

Wang Wenzuo could hear the rapid breathing coming from beside him, and he suspected that Jin Renwen was not so nervous on the battlefield. He saw that the next duel ended faster, and the chicken owner was very angry and threw the defeated chicken's bloody

The body was thrown to the side as if it were throwing rags. "Once the chicken dies, it is nothing." Someone behind him sighed. When the seventh game was over, a person called out: "Li Shangwen's chicken!"

Wang Wenzuo saw an old man in civilian clothes walking into the fighting ring with a chicken in his arm. It was the old man who had just called the young man to massage the cockfighting ring. The old man and his opponent were weighing the chicken next to the cockfighting ring, and then there was a loud noise.

While bets were being placed, a steel rod was put on the fighting cock.

After the "Start!" command was given, the two chickens collided head-on; after being thrown into the air and then falling to the ground, they fought furiously, luring the enemy into feinting attacks, and twisting their necks like snakes.

Taking advantage of the weakness, they rushed upward again, flapping each other with their wings - and then they all landed on the ground. The old man's fighting cock was shaking unsteadily, and it was obviously poked by the steel spur! But a few seconds later, there was another attack in the air.

Sprinting like a hurricane, the old man's cock pressed down its steel span and dealt a fatal blow to the opponent.

The old man grabbed the chicken that was still crowing triumphantly and ran back to the crowd and back to his carriage. Wang Wenzuo only vaguely heard: "The winner is Li Shangwen's chicken." Then he saw the old man grabbing the chicken.

The fighting cock was bleeding, and his fingers quickly explored its body for injuries. Then he put his lips to it, puffed up his cheeks, and sucked out the blood clots from the wound with all his strength. Suddenly, he pushed the chicken to the young man who was traveling with him, and said to him

He yelled: "Quickly pee on it! It's right here!" The panicked boy did so, and his urine not only covered the chicken's body, but also the old man's hands. Then the old man placed the chicken gently on a bamboo

Between the soft straw of the basket. Then he said to the young man: "Boy, take out that chicken, the one in the orange basket!"

(https://.23xstxt./book)

.23xstxt.m.23xstxt.
Chapter completed!