frightfiction Chapter 720 Betrayal and Being Betrayed
Chapter 720 Betrayal and Being Betrayed
After chatting with Zhou Sanpi for a few more minutes, Sun Lang took his leave. Instead of returning to the mountain stronghold, he climbed a crooked tree not far away to secretly observe whether Zhou Sanpi would leave immediately.
Although he and Zhou Sanpi were childhood friends and partners, and were once people who could entrust their backs to each other, that was in the past. He really couldn't guarantee what Zhou Sanpi's attitude would be now, after all, people's hearts are fickle.
Moreover, the fact that Zhou Sanpi was not affected at all after being forced to go to Jiangnan by the Wei army for so long is quite suspicious.
The Cao Wei government wasn't incompetent; it's impossible that they couldn't find out about his relationship with Zhou Sanpi after so long. If that's the case, Cao Wei had already labeled him a traitor, so why was Zhou Sanpi still completely unscathed?
Under these circumstances, he truly did not believe that Zhou Sanpi had not defected to the Wei army.
So here's the question: if you had doubts about Zhou Sanpi, why did you come over?
The reason is simple: he wanted to turn his doubts into confirmation so that he could completely give up and abandon this line of investigation. Otherwise, constantly thinking about it would be too much of a test of his mental fortitude.
As expected, Zhou Sanpi did not disappoint him. Just 15 minutes later, he left the room, led the donkey out of the yard, and secretly left.
Watching Zhou Sanpi's departing figure, Sun Lang sighed calmly, "Shence Hou is right. One must be careful when traveling, or one will not even know how one died."
As he spoke, he climbed down the tree trunk and began to follow Zhou Sanpi. Zhou Sanpi was riding a donkey, not a warhorse, and it was impossible for him to be riding a donkey at full speed in the middle of the night. His speed was within the normal range, so he was not worried about losing him.
Sun Lang followed Zhou Sanpi for more than half an hour to the outside of Kunyang City. It was the middle of the night and the city gates were already closed. The guards on the city walls were also dozing off. But under Sun Lang's watchful eye, Zhou Sanpi stood outside the city and woke up the guards. After negotiating, he was hoisted up in a basket.
Sun Lang turned and left, cursing as he went, "Damn Zhou Sanpi, you actually betrayed me."
Pi came to the county town right after meeting me on Wednesday. Do you believe he came to visit or meet up with someone he likes?
Sun Lang returned to Zhou Sanpi's house again, skillfully found a hoe, ran into the livestock pen and dug around, successfully unearthing a wooden box containing several gold ingots and two strings of copper coins.
A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Zhou Sanpi, who makes money through shady means, never puts all his eggs in one basket. He has many places to hide his money. Sun Lang only knew this one place. He took the box, left a line of words on the wall with his feces, and left calmly.
Meanwhile, after reporting the situation to the county magistrate on Wednesday, Pi did not go home. Instead, he was detained by the Kunyang magistrate on the grounds of preventing leaks, and they planned to wait until the operation to lure Sun Lang was over before making any decisions.
Zhou Sanpi expressed his understanding and patiently stayed at the county government office. However, when he lay down on the bed, he found that he could not fall asleep. His conscience was still a little aching about betraying his childhood friend Sun Lang.
As early as the end of the Battle of Xiangfan, when Sun Lang was driven to Jiangnan by the Wei army, he was captured by the Wei army and thrown into prison. Fortunately, he had accumulated some connections over the years of engaging in shady dealings, and he spent a lot of money and effort to get out of prison. However, he also received special attention from the government. Before the new year, the government specifically instructed that anyone who discovered Sun Lang or other strangers from Jiangnan must be reported immediately, otherwise, both old and new scores would be settled.
Zhou Sanpi, being a local, naturally wouldn't dare offend the government because of Sun Lang, so he could only wrong Sun Lang.
On Wednesday, Pi tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, while Sun Lang returned to the mountain stronghold and also tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
Now that he had confirmed that Zhou Sanpi had betrayed him, he could no longer stay here. Just as he knew where Zhou Sanpi hid the money, Zhou Sanpi also knew him very well. He might have been tricked by Zhou Sanpi because of some detail he hadn't noticed.
Shencehou is right, working behind enemy lines is damn exciting.
But what should we do next? Should we wait until tomorrow night to rob Lin Mahu's grain transport team and then retreat immediately?
We should retreat, but wouldn't it be too impulsive to continue robbing Lin Mahu?
Lin Mahu is currently in Kunyang City. Zhou Sanpi has also entered the city, which means that Lin Mahu already knows that he has returned. Based on Lin Mahu's understanding of me, he is probably on guard. If I go to rob him again, wouldn't it be like walking into a trap?
Thinking about this, Sun Lang suddenly realized that being too familiar with the area wasn't necessarily a good thing. Looking around, he saw familiar faces everywhere, which made things difficult.
After much deliberation, Sun Lang decided to abandon the plan to rob Lin Mahu. Shence Hou had said that operations behind enemy lines should be approached with caution, and one should not attempt anything if the success rate was less than 50%, because one could not afford to lose.
But...
The Cao Wei officials around Kunyang were well aware of Sun Lang's fame and strength. To capture him, they would have to mobilize more than five times the number of troops to surround him. Moreover, Zhou Sanpi did not know how many troops he had and could not report to the government. In that case, to ensure the success of the operation to annihilate him, the magistrate of Kunyang County would definitely transfer troops from nearby Ye County, Wuyang, Dingling and other counties to besiege him with an overwhelming force. Wouldn't that leave the surrounding counties vulnerable?
Thinking of this, Sun Lang's spirits lifted, and he quickly got up, went down the mountain, and headed to Wuyang.
Kunyang is at least a hundred miles away from Wuyang. By the time Sun Lang arrived, it was already dawn. However, Sun Lang was not discouraged and waited patiently outside the city.
Around noon, two men dressed as yamen runners rode fast horses from the direction of Kunyang and headed straight for the county town. Only two hours after entering the town, an official led a mixed force of more than two hundred yamen runners and county soldiers out of the town and headed towards Kunyang.
Sun Lang sneered, "That damned Zhou Sanpi really betrayed me completely. He even used the troops from Wuyang to besiege me."
This is the heartland of Cao Wei. There are no regular troops, only county soldiers to maintain order. Most of the county soldiers are concentrated in the county seat, with only a small number scattered in various county towns. When there is an operation, the principle of proximity is adopted, and the nearest soldiers are pulled over.
The troops from Wuyang have gone to Kunyang, so Wuyang is now an empty city for Sun Lang.
Sun Lang and his army only showed themselves after they had passed through. They stared at the county town for a moment, then decisively returned to their mountain stronghold to catch up on sleep, preparing to raid Wuyang that night.
He was now somewhat grateful to Zhou Sanpi for betraying him; if it weren't for Zhou Sanpi, he really wouldn't have found such a good opportunity to raid Wuyang.
The sun sets, and the moon rises above the branches.
Busy activity began in Kunyang City. The magistrate of Kunyang County, along with the troops supported by the magistrates of Ye County, Wuyang County, and Dingling County, and Lin Mahu's grain transport team, a total of more than 1,500 people, quietly headed towards the trading location between Sun Lang and Zhou Sanpi.
Everyone on the way was very excited, because Sun Lang was on the Wei army's wanted list and had been specially trained by Guan Xing, having infiltrated from the puppet Han regime to cause sabotage.
As early as the first month of the lunar calendar, the imperial court issued an order that those who captured the pseudo-Han special training personnel would be given a heavy reward.
Sun Lang is both a wanted criminal by the imperial court and a special trainer for the puppet Han regime. Capturing him might earn them a promotion.
So the magistrates of the surrounding counties all came, and even Lin Mahu, who was transporting grain, temporarily abandoned his mission to actively participate.
Why are you so eager? Isn't it just to steal the credit?
The four county magistrates and Captain Lin Mahu discussed their plan as they walked, and even before reaching the designated location, they had already devised a battle plan. Upon arrival, they immediately set up an ambush and waited for Sun Lang to arrive.
These ambush troops lying in the grass all shared the same thought: if Sun Lang didn't come tonight, fine; but if he dared to come, he would definitely not escape.