Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 818: Attack on the Village
After crossing the river, Li Zicheng and others drifted eastward for dozens of miles before reaching the north bank. Li Zicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief when his feet stepped on the land.

Looking around, there were only two boats that landed with him. As for the other boats, he could not see them. As the Yellow River was too turbulent, it was impossible for the ferries to land together. Some arrived earlier and some later. Li Zicheng didn't know whether the other boats had landed earlier or were still ahead. But he couldn't care less at this time, and asked Li Guo and others to hurry up and get ashore first.

When everyone was ashore, Li Zicheng looked around, frowned and asked the boatman where they were. The boatman said nervously that the place where they landed should be near Wuzhi. To the north of Wuzhi is Jiaozuo, and further north are Taihang and Wangwu. After crossing the mountains, they will reach Shanxi.

"Old man, you have worked so hard. Take this little bit of silver as your reward for this trip." Li Zicheng put a piece of silver into the boatman's hand with a pleasant face. The boatman hurriedly declined: "How can I do this? How can I do this? King Chuang, how can I take your silver?"

"Take it. I feel guilty for letting you take such a big risk. By the way, please keep the news of crossing the river secret."

"Don't worry, King Chuang. I will never tell anyone where you landed or which direction you went after I go back." The boatman patted his chest and promised, but he held the ingot of silver tightly in his hand. This was a full ten taels of silver! He had never seen so much silver in his life. With this ingot of silver, his youngest son's marriage would be settled. When he got him a wife and had children, and had many children, what else could he ask for in this life?

Just as the boatman was happily thinking about these things and looking forward to a bright future, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a sharp knife stuck in his heart. The person holding the knife was Li Zicheng, who had just given him silver and was very friendly to him.

"Chuang..." The boatman struggled to utter a word, but he could never ask the following questions. He fell limply to the ground, his eyes wide open as if asking Li Zicheng why he wanted to kill him. As for the silver ingot, it was still in his hand.

"Kill them all! Don't leave any alive!" Li Zicheng turned around and gave the order in a cold voice. Instantly, several screams were heard on the shore. The several boatmen who helped them cross the river were killed by Li Zicheng's men in an instant.

Looking at the corpses lying in a pool of blood, Li Zicheng's expression did not change at all, as if it was as easy as killing a few chickens.

These boatmen must not be allowed to stay, and the news of where they landed and where they went must not be leaked out. Once the government knows their whereabouts, Li Zicheng's tracks will no longer be concealed, so they must die and they should die.

After killing these boatmen, Li Zicheng had their bodies thrown back onto the boat, then he drilled a hole in the bottom of the boat and pushed the boat to the other side of the river.

As several boats floated into the river, the surging river water soon surged up from the bottom of the boats. Soon, the fishing boats and their owners were submerged by the river water and eventually sank to the bottom of the river.

After dealing with the boats and boatmen, Li Zicheng and others changed into clothes that had been prepared long ago, dressed up as ordinary people and headed directly north. Because of the tight time, he did not dare to spend time looking for other missing people, and only left with his nephew Li Guo and a dozen guards. As for where Liu Zongmin and Tian Jianxiu were now, he no longer cared. The most important thing at this time was to escape.

The location the boatman described was correct. The place where they landed was near Wuzhi. After determining the direction, Li Zicheng and his companions headed north, hiding during the day and moving at night, taking small roads. After a few days, they bypassed Jiaozuo and arrived near Taihang. When they arrived in the mountainous area, Li Zicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what the current situation of Liu Zongmin and others was, but now that he had arrived in Taihang, he was temporarily out of danger.

These were not easy days. Not long after they landed on the north bank, the local government received news from the south bank, saying that Li Zicheng and others had crossed the river. The local government had sent out garrison soldiers and combat troops to search everywhere for their whereabouts.

All the way north, Li Zicheng and his companions dared not even show their faces. They ate the dry food they brought with them and slept in remote mountains and wilderness at night. They hurried on their way to avoid people for fear of being discovered. After arriving at Taihang Mountain, Li Zicheng and his companions plunged into the mountains, wandered around in the mountains for more than ten days, and finally walked out from the other side of Taihang Mountain.

After leaving Taihang Mountains, Li Zicheng and his men had long since changed into a different person. They were all ragged and unkempt, and had no food left. If they had not relied on the wild animals they caught in the mountains to satisfy their hunger, they might have starved to death in Taihang Mountains.

But no matter what, after leaving Taihang, he reached the border of Shanxi. This finally escaped from Henan, which also made Li Zicheng feel relieved. But it was too early to say that he was safe now. Li Zicheng knew that the government must still be tracking his whereabouts. Now he had to find a way to find a place to stay, recuperate for a while, and then find an opportunity to make a comeback. "I will come back!" On the day he walked out of Taihang, Li Zicheng looked back, and his eyes seemed to be looking through the towering Taihang Mountains at the Central Plains. He lost the battle in the Central Plains, and the defeat was particularly tragic. Almost all of his family assets were gone overnight, and even Li Guo was the only one left among his brothers.

But Li Zicheng was unwilling to accept this. He thought that his defeat was just bad luck. If Zhang Xianzhong had not surrendered to the court first, and Luo Rucai had not been killed suddenly because of the civil strife, how could he have been defeated so easily? If Kaifeng City had been captured at that time, everything would have been completely different. Unfortunately, Luo Rucai's defeat and death made Li Zicheng lose the battle. If he had been given more time, it would definitely not be like this now.

How could Li Zicheng, a small postman, have come to this point today? How could he be a person who retreated in the face of difficulties? Otherwise, he would not have succeeded the King of Chuang after Gao Yingxiang's death. It's a pity that he was unlucky and fell into this situation, but there is always a way out. Since he escaped, Li Zicheng didn't believe that he had no chance of making a comeback. As long as he was given some time, when the government troops searching for him stopped, he, Li Zicheng, would still be Li Zicheng, and the banner of the King of Chuang would still be raised again.

Li Zicheng knew that now was not the time to show up. He had to wait until the storm was over before he could think of a way to start a new rebellion. Therefore, finding a suitable place to hide and patiently waiting for an opportunity was the most important thing. Shanxi was a good place. It was mountainous. He had more than a dozen brothers around him. With the addition of himself and Li Guo, it was impossible to deal with the government troops, but it was more than enough to deal with ordinary people.

Li Zicheng had made plans to continue to move northward away from Taihang and find a remote mountain village to hide for a while. Their food had run out, so it was necessary to replenish it and rest. So Li Zicheng and his companions continued to move northward, still traveling carefully by day and night. Three days later, they came to a valley close to a mountain. When the brothers who had explored the way ahead reported that there was a village ahead, which was neither big nor small, and there seemed to be nearly a hundred households, Li Zicheng immediately decided to take over the village, first suppress it by force, and then coerce the villagers for his own use. He would hide here to recuperate for a few days, and wait for an opportunity to start the rebellion again later.

After making up his mind, Li Zicheng ordered everyone to put on armor and prepare for battle. They took off their tattered clothes, put on the armor they had been carrying with them, threw away their walking crutches, and picked up swords and bows and arrows.

Li Zicheng personally led his men forward and arrived near the village half an hour later. He lay on the hill and looked towards the village. It was evening and smoke was rising from the village. The breeze was carrying the smoke towards them. The smell in the air made Li Zicheng lick his tongue involuntarily.

Because the dry food had been eaten up long ago, they had not had a full meal for several days. Even relying on prey and wild vegetables could only barely fill their stomachs. Not to mention others, even Li Zicheng was already starving. Now when he smelled the smell of cooking smoke, Li Zicheng's stomach couldn't help but growl.

"King Chuang! Lead the brothers to charge! These peasants are no match for us. Once we take over this village, we will have a good meal." A guard could not help but say something at the side. The others nodded in succession with an impatient expression. Everyone's eyes were glowing green, even Li Guo.

Li Zicheng did not say anything. He continued to stare at the village and confirmed that it was just an ordinary village. There were not many people in the village, and there were crops planted on the edge of the village. There were not only adults in the village, but also children playing. The laughter of children could be vaguely heard. Only then did Li Zicheng make up his mind.

"Brothers! Kill! Follow me to take the village!" Li Zicheng shouted in a low voice, with great excitement in his eyes. As his orders were issued, everyone perked up, and could no longer hold back, and rushed towards the village with weapons in hand and howling.

In the eyes of Li Zicheng and his gang, what was a small mountain village worth mentioning? What if there were more people in the village than they did? These peasants knew it all too well. As long as they were threatened with a knife, they would be no different from obedient sheep.

Besides, Li Zicheng and his men were all veterans of battles, who didn't have blood on their hands? It was no problem for them to take over the village with just a dozen people. To put it bluntly, it was also easy for Li Zicheng to massacre the entire village.

Everyone rushed towards the village at the foot of the mountain with weapons in hand, full of excitement and anticipation. Soon they were discovered by the villagers. When they saw a group of people wearing armor and holding weapons and rushing towards their village ferociously from outside, several villagers on the periphery shouted in panic, and some even ran towards the village in a hurry.

"Kill! Kill! Brothers! Follow me and charge in!" Li Zicheng's blood boiled when he saw this. He shouted loudly and continued to rush forward. After a while, their group broke into the village entrance without any hindrance and rushed into the village.

At this moment, Li Zicheng concluded that it was completely certain that he could take over the village. Once he controlled the village, he would kill a few people to show these peasants how powerful he was. This village would become his home. He would hide here for a while. When the search outside was over, he would be able to lead the villagers to make a comeback. By then, he would still be the majestic King Chuang.

(End of this chapter)