The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 174 Offense and Defense
The sun had completely set, and night had fallen. The sky and the earth were pitch black. The inside of the ancestral hall was eerie and smelled of mold. The altar had long since collapsed, and the enshrined tablets were scattered on the ground, covered with cobwebs and dust, making it even more eerie and mysterious.Everyone was even more horrified when they thought that there had been a plague in this village and almost all the people in the village died.

At this moment, outside the wall, pirates and Japanese pirates have surrounded the entire ancestral hall. Some people are running around holding torches and making frightening screams. The door of the ancestral hall has also been banged and banged. The sand, stone and dust on the gatehouse fell loudly, as if it was about to collapse, which was very scary.

Fortunately, the wall of the ancestral hall is nearly three to four meters high. The pirates tried several times to climb over the wall, but Tiehu and others struggled to knock them down. After killing and injuring several people, they did not dare to climb over the wall rashly again. After giving away their lives, several pirate leaders gathered together to discuss countermeasures. It was rare for everyone in the ancestral hall to take a break to recover their strength.

Lin Ruhai was in a very bad condition, coughing and short of breath all the time, and couldn't care about anything. Lin Daiyu and Xue Yan stood aside worriedly, a little helpless.Salt Transport Envoy Zhang Yongdong was a dignified man. When he came in, he fell down and sprained his foot. He was sitting in a corner, rubbing his face in pain, and he was also too distracted to take care of himself.

Yancheng County Magistrate Lu Renjia was obviously out of ideas. He was pacing back and forth like a panicky chicken, muttering something to himself.The boy Shitou deliberately walked closer and listened carefully, but when he heard the guy chanting "Gods, Buddhas" and so on, he couldn't help but rolled his eyes.

"Third Master, what should we do now?" Shitou walked up to Jia Huan and asked in a low voice. I'm afraid those elders can't be counted on. They are sick and injured, and the remaining one is still praying to God and chanting Buddha. It's really special. What a shame.

Jia Huan was surprisingly calm at this time, and his thoughts were unusually clear. He reloaded the double-barreled musket with ammunition, used a wrench to wind it up, pointed at the god card all over the ground and ordered: "Get these things." Go to the yard and light a fire first, lest thieves come in in the dark, and there are many poisonous insects at night."

"Uh...that's not good, it's detrimental to moral integrity!" Shitou said hesitantly.

Jia Huan asked angrily: "Do you want to lose your life?"

Shitou thought for a while and decided that it would be better to lose his yin virtue. After all, his yin life was gone, so why should his yin virtue be used to protect his descendants?I haven’t even gotten married yet, so what a shame!

At that moment, Shitou summoned several salt men, brought a large number of God's Lord Cards scattered on the ground to the yard, and ignited them with gunpowder. A blazing bonfire immediately lit up, and the fire light immediately illuminated the surrounding walls, making people... I felt inexplicably relieved.

Jia Huan walked around the ancestral hall by the light of the fire and found a collapsed screen wall. He called Mr. Jiang to discuss it and said: "These bricks are just used to block the courtyard door. What does Mr. Jiang think?"

Jiang Bin suffered several injuries on his body, but they were not serious. Hearing this, he nodded: "Good idea. I'll call a few brothers to come in and help."

Jia Huan said quickly: "Mr. Jiang, wait a moment. There is a window in this ear room and that ear room. They are blocked by the way to prevent thieves from breaking the window in the middle of the night and ignoring them."

Jiang Bin looked into one of the ear rooms and found a window about two meters above the ground. The window lattice was rotten and it was easy to break in from the outside. Fortunately, the thieves outside had not discovered this loophole yet. He couldn't help but secretly She called out "lucky" and looked at Jia Huan with a bit of admiration. He was young, not only calm and measured, but also insightful. No wonder he saw through Diao Sheng's conspiracy and saved Master Lin. Life.

At that moment, Mr. Jiang did not dare to underestimate Jia Huan anymore. He personally led people to block the windows of the two side chambers, and moved the remaining bricks to the courtyard gate outside the ancestral hall to reinforce it.

After doing all this, all the salt soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. General Jiang licked his dry lips and said: "The thieves can't attack easily now. As long as we stay on guard for a while, our reinforcements should be able to arrive." .”

"Are you sure?" Jia Huan asked calmly.

Mr. Jiang nodded and said affirmatively: "This place is probably twenty or thirty miles away from the Miaowan Saltworks. After the escaped brothers return, the local officials should soon organize personnel to come to the rescue."

Jia Huan frowned and said, "How many people can be mobilized in Miaowan Field?"

"There are estimated to be between 40 and 200 salt soldiers stationed at the scene, and the three squads of fast-moving government officers in Yancheng County total hundreds of people. Mr. Lin and Mr. Zhang are trapped here, and they dare not not come to the rescue." Jiang The boss replied confidently.Shitou curled his lips when he heard this and said: "That's no use. There are [-] of you, and you haven't been killed by others. Unless there are regular troops, you are no match for the pirates."

General Jiang's face turned red at the words, and he remained speechless for a long time. The combat power of the salt soldiers was really hard to describe, and those yamen agents were probably not as good as the salt soldiers.

Tiehu pulled Jia Huan aside and whispered: "Third Master, don't you think it's surprising? Pirates always plunder just to get money. They usually leave with one strike and escape to the sea after they succeed. But this group of pirates But he chased us all the way, and it didn’t look like he was asking for money, but more like...he came for Mr. Lin."

Jia Huan nodded and said solemnly: "I originally came here for Mr. Lin. How can there be such a coincidence in the world? Not long after we arrived, pirates also appeared at the same spot. Could it be that they are gods who can pinch and calculate? Can’t do it?”

Tiehu was shocked and whispered: "Third Master, you mean that someone deliberately leaked Master Lin's whereabouts to the pirates. The real purpose of this trip is to assassinate Master Lin?"

Jia Huan nodded and said: "We are close to each other, otherwise it is unlikely that the pirates will happen to appear here and chase us."

A cold light flashed in Tiehu's eyes, and he whispered: "This salt farm was recommended by Magistrate Lu, and this guy keeps talking about it. Isn't he a traitor who wants to assassinate Master Lin?"

Jia Huan glanced at Lu Renjia, who was pacing back and forth in the distance, shook his head and said, "I can't say for sure. After all, there are many people who know that Mr. Lin is here to inspect. At least many local officials in Miaowanchang know about it. Some people know it in advance." It’s impossible to tell the pirates a message, but you have to be more careful tonight. If your guess is right, someone may not come to rescue you tonight.”

As soon as he said this, Tie Hu couldn't help but flash a look of horror in his eyes, and said in disbelief: "No way, Mr. Lin is the salt inspector of Yangzhou, and Mr. Zhang is the envoy of Huaidu. Those local officials dare to die. Help? Do you think your life is too long?"

Jia Huan said calmly: "It's not surprising. The position of the Salt Patrol Censor involves too much interest. It is inevitable that someone will take risks. The last time he was poisoned, this time he colluded with pirates. It can be seen that the other party can do anything. We want to Be prepared for the worst.”

Tiehu's heart sank and said: "What should we do? There are at least fifty or sixty pirates outside. They have firearms and bows and arrows. If there are no reinforcements, even if the other party does not attack, we will die of hunger and thirst. Here it is.”

Jia Huan was at his wits' end at the moment. The pirates were outnumbered and he could barely hold on with his small manpower against the high wall. If he wanted to break out, it would be the same as death. If he was trapped here, without outside help, he would sooner or later die. it's here.

At this time, the sound of banging on the door sounded again, and with a strange cry, a Japanese pirate with antlers on his head jumped onto the wall. At the same time, thieves were climbing up the wall from all directions.

It was obvious that the thieves were going to launch a fierce attack based on the large number of people, and the atmosphere became extremely tense in vain.

Tiehu roared, rushed forward, propped up the iron rod on the ground, and took advantage of the force to fly into the air. A flying shovel kicked a Japanese pirate out of the wall, while he himself landed firmly on the wall. , sweeping across the entire army at the same time, a pirate next to him was hit in the chest. There was a snap, the sternum collapsed directly, and blood spurted out and his internal organs flew out of the wall.

The boy Shitou raised his hand, and a small ax flew out of his hand, accurately hitting a Japanese pirate in the chest. The Japanese pirate screamed and rolled down the wall on the spot.

At this time, Mr. Jiang came forward with a roar of more than a dozen salt soldiers, and an offensive and defensive battle around the courtyard wall began.

(End of this chapter)