Chapter 6: Rong Qiqi

  Jiang was as tense as ever, he used to be just a steward of a wealthy family, responsible for managing the accounts for the old master, except for being good at abacus and accounting, he had no other skills. Although his life wasn't rich, but in the village, he was still considered a person with some status, and his life was still manageable.

  But the good times ended two years ago, when Shaanxi suffered a severe drought and famine spread throughout the land. The government showed no intention of providing relief, instead increasing its extortionate demands, leading to widespread discontent and armed uprisings. His master turned out to be an unscrupulous person who hoarded grain and refused to distribute it to the starving people in the surrounding areas. One night, several hundred rioters suddenly appeared at his master's house, killing everyone inside and looting all the food and wealth.

  He, the accountant, was also included in the settlement, and his home was looted clean, even the house was burned to ashes by the rioters. Fortunately, because he was a honest person and had not done anything evil, he managed to save his life, but from then on, he lost his job and became homeless, thoroughly experiencing the hardships of those refugees.

  The government can't suppress the rioting people, but instead many officials and soldiers are even more brutal than the rioters. By day they are soldiers, by night they are bandits, and some even openly join in the looting. The situation in Shaanxi is basically hopeless, with no way to control it. Those who have lost their jobs wander all over the place, wanting to rely on relatives or friends for support, but in this chaotic world everyone is looking out for themselves - who can afford to take care of another family? After many hardships and wandering around, he still couldn't find a place to settle down. Over the past two years, his wife and children all starved to death, and he could only watch helplessly as his loved ones died one by one, unable to save them. Just when it seemed like he too would be starved to death, Xiao Tianjian appeared before them with that iron-headed man.

  He still clearly remembers what happened that day, he and Zhao Er Liu and others mixed together, after entering the territory of Changwu County, they were all homeless and hungry, and had no strength to walk. After much difficulty, they found a dilapidated ancestral temple outside a village, and they all lay down outside the temple, wanting to rest and find something to eat. However, what they got was a family guard holding a whistle rod with a scar on his face, who also led a vicious dog. Seeing them, he fiercely drove them away immediately.

  But these few people had long been out of energy, lingering in the ancestral hall and refusing to leave. The house servant then revealed a sly smile, and actually released the dogs to let the vicious dogs pounce on them.

  Terrified, they fled in all directions, but with their hands and feet numb from hunger, how could they outrun that vicious dog? One of the beggars was actually bitten to death by the ferocious beast right before their eyes. Just as it seemed like the rest would also be doomed, a tall young man appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by a dark-skinned youth, and blocked the dog's path.

  They watched in horror as the young man flew up with one foot and kicked the vicious dog, immediately pouncing on it, tightly grasping its neck, and right before everyone's eyes, he strangled the vicious dog to death with his arm.

  The sudden appearance of this young man saved the lives of several people, but things were not over yet. Before they could kneel down and thank him, the vicious slave who was carrying a stick quickly caught up with them. As soon as he saw that someone had killed the dog he was leading, he became furious and cursed, "You dare to kill our master's beloved dog! You're really looking for death!" After speaking, he raised his club and swung it at the young man with great force.

  Just as Jing Tong and the others were worried about this young man, he suddenly pulled out a waist knife from his long package on his back, swung it without saying a word, and beheaded the evil slave on the spot. He then added another blow to end the evil slave's life, and with one kick, he kicked the slave's corpse into the ditch by the side of the road.

  The young man seemed to be quite hungry, dragged the dead dog and left the village, found a deserted place, immediately used a knife to peel off the skin of the dead dog, let the dark and thin man pick up some dry firewood, and set the dead dog on fire.

  The smell of roasted dog meat was unforgettable, and he and several other refugees who had not eaten for days were scared by the young man, but they couldn't resist their survival instincts. Seeing that the young man had caught a big dog and just saved them, they followed him with bated breath, asking about the source of the smell of roasted dog meat. They then squatted at a distance, swallowing saliva eagerly.

  Although they were almost starving, because of the ruthless performance of that young man just now, they didn't dare to snatch these dog meats from him, but only hoped that after he was full, he could also leave some leftovers for them.

  The young man didn't say a word from head to toe, and continued to roast the vicious dog. After it was roasted, he and the dark-faced man devoured it with big mouthfuls.

  Ying De and his friends watched them eat with relish, but could only drool while watching, that feeling was truly more unbearable than death!

  Until the young man turned his head and coldly glanced at them, stood up, picked up the dog meat, walked in front of them, and asked: "Do you want to eat?"

  Then Jing and the others immediately knelt down, knocking their heads on the ground with a loud bang, begging the young man to give them a piece of dog meat to save their lives. However, the young man coldly replied: "If you want to eat dog meat, then follow me from now on!"

  This condition is simple, with the help of his heroic rescue in front, plus the super temptation of dog meat, as for what this young master wants them to follow, it's no longer a problem in the eyes of people like Jing Fu Zi. So from then on, they followed the tall and handsome young master, became his subordinates, and the tall and handsome young master who saved them is none other than their current leader, Xiao Tian Jian.

  Since they followed Xiao Tianjian, Xiao Tianjian led them to start as bandits. From Longwu County, they walked along the way, robbed several rich households, and obtained some grain and money, barely surviving. Although he became a thief, Jin Tong and Zhao Erdui were different from this group of people. Jin Tong couldn't be like those people who cut and killed others. He was born timid and couldn't stand bloodshed, even if it was forced by circumstances. In his lifetime, he had only done things like holding a pen to keep accounts. If he did such things, he really couldn't do them no matter what. So every time they were doing something, Jin Tong would be scared and trembling, even urinating in his pants, hiding far away. As a result, everyone looked down on him, thinking he was just a waste of space, only able to eat idle food while following them.

  If it weren't for Xiao Tianjian, he would have been driven away by these people long ago and starved to death on the side of the road. Jing Tong often hated his own cowardice, and he wanted to become more ruthless and strong, but no matter how hard he tried, when he was asked to chop people again, he would still be as afraid as ever, still wetting his pants, unable to do anything.

  So he was very self-abased, feeling that he was really useless and didn't deserve to be here eating with them. However, for some reason, Xiao Tianjian still kept him around and no longer forced him to go fight and kill, instead letting him take charge of distributing food or managing the loot they had plundered, and even temporarily taking care of cooking meals for everyone, making him at least half a useful person.

  Following Xiao Tianjian for some time, Jing Fuzi used his previous way of looking at people, but he couldn't see through Xiao Tianjian's background because Xiao Tianjian's hair was very short and quite different from others. He somewhat resembled a monk or a lama, but how could a monk or a lama do such things? Judging from his demeanor, Jing Fuzi sometimes thought that Xiao Tianjian might be a soldier, otherwise he wouldn't be so decisive in his actions!

  But Xiao Tianjian never mentioned his origins, letting everyone guess in secret about his previous identity. No one knew where Xiao Tianjian was from or what he used to do. A mysterious aura always surrounded him, and since he handled matters fairly and treated his subordinates well, with a tall stature and decisive actions, they all deeply respected him.

  As soon as he thought of what they were going to do today, Jing Tong couldn't help but tremble slightly again, clutching the jujube wood stick in his hand, which had already been soaked with sweat from his palm. His legs became weak and numb, feeling heavy as if filled with lead.

  Suddenly, a hand patted his shoulder, and Jiang Tong, who was highly tense, almost jumped up, but then he saw Xiao Tianjian's angular face.

  Xiao Tianjian sat down beside Jing Tong and said to him, "Jing Tong, you don't have to go in with us tonight! We still have some things that we can't all carry with us, and it's not good if they get lost. You stay here tonight and take care of these things! Also, my horse is still stuck at the bottom of the ditch, take care of it too! If the brothers can't come out before dawn, you bring these things and leave by yourself!"

  Jing Tong, who was tense just a moment before, suddenly felt a wave of relaxation wash over him after hearing the words, and his entire body almost went limp. He even had an urge to burst into tears. As for this arrangement by the one holding the tray, he knew it was out of consideration for him, so he immediately knelt down and heavily kowtowed several times, almost using a choked voice to reply: "I'm useless, I need the one holding the tray to take care of me everywhere, please don't worry, I'll definitely take good care of these things until you come back! I know I'm not capable, I can't help the one holding the tray, but I also know how to repay kindness, from now on my life belongs to the one holding the tray!"

  Zhao Erdu looked at Jing Tong with a disdainful gaze, he really couldn't understand why, among so many refugees, Xiao Tianjian casually picked one out and they were all much stronger than Jing Tong this useless guy, how come he insisted on keeping this good-for-nothing around to freeload?

  However, he didn't dare to say more, and found a piece of whetstone to sit on the ground and sharpen the iron tip of the three-toothed dung fork in his hand, making it slightly sharper.

  Xiao Tianjian faintly stirred up the porridge, not saying much. Although he also disliked Xiao Tong's weak personality at first and even had the idea of driving him away, so as not to raise a freeloader who didn't work. In this chaotic world, only the strong should survive, and people like Xiao Fuzi would naturally die out on their own.

  However, after learning about Jiaotong's previous profession, he changed his attitude and took good care of him, because he knew that his team couldn't do without someone like Jiaotong. At present, they were indeed very poor, but he believed that with his skills, he would eventually become rich. Jiaotong was rare in being literate and able to keep accounts and calculate numbers; even a small team needed someone like him to take care of these matters.

  Moreover, after a period of observation, he found that Jiong Fuzi was a person who, although weak in character, was very honest. Such people are rare and precious in this world, with a kind heart, and should be trustworthy. In the future management of logistics, such people will not be lacking. Rather than searching for someone later on, it would be better to cultivate a loyal person first. That's why he has always taken care of Jiong Tong; otherwise, he reckoned that without his support, others would have driven Jiong Tong out of his small team long ago.

  More than 20,000 words, starting to rush the list, second update is here! Brothers, please help me out with some red tickets and collections! Thank you!)

  ，！