The scorching sun buried its afterglow into the yellow sand in the west.
The gentle breeze brings bursts of coolness.
The hot air on the Huangsha Ancient Road had been roasted by the scorching sun all day, and the temperature dropped quickly.
The weather in the northwest is so weird. The temperature rises quickly during the day and drops quickly at night.
It feels like living through two seasons.
At night, the stars are bright and boundless, covering the desolate yellow sand ancient road with quiet beauty.
Su Zheng and his group of eighteen people sat in a sandy bay sheltered from the wind, gnawing on the dried noodles in the cold water.
Drinking sips of cold water slowly calmed down their violent heartbeats and tense nerves.
Just before dark, they had just finished a difficult battle.
Su Zheng's chest was cut open with a blood opening that was more than seven inches long. If the wound was moved two inches further downward, his intestines would probably flow out along the blood opening.
Jiang Huailong had five broken ribs and a stab wound on his left shoulder.
Fortunately, Li Qiaoyan helped him block the enemy's blade, otherwise his left arm would have been cut off at shoulder level.
Wei Liang was shot through the chest by the enemy, was lifted into the air, and then fell hard to the ground.
Everyone thought he would not survive, but this guy just held his breath, walked around the hell gate and came back.
Suning, Qiu Liang, Dong Zilong——
Not one of the eighteen people had intact skin and flesh, and almost all of them were seriously injured.
The war horses were also damaged in the battle.
Dong Zilong sat on the ground with his arms wrapped around his knees, his face buried between his knees, secretly shedding tears.
His horse had its throat cut by the enemy and died in battle.
The three bone-deep wounds on his body did not make him shed a single tear, but the death of the war horse made him so sad that he burst into tears.
In addition to him, six other people's horses also died in the battle. Without exception, they all secretly wiped away tears.
Along the way, they ate and slept together with their horses and were inseparable. They galloped freely under the sky together and fought side by side on the battlefield. They depended on each other for life and death.
The war horse under their crotches has become their closest partner and comrade-in-arms, so the death of the war horse makes them as heartbroken as losing a close relative and friend.
The atmosphere was dull and sad.
Morale is at an all-time low.
This was the most brutal battle they had experienced since leaving the imperial capital. The painful torture of struggling on the edge of death had a great impact on their spirits.
Some people's beliefs have even begun to waver, and they are suddenly confused and don't understand the meaning of their suffering.
They obviously have endless glory and wealth, but life is short and they should enjoy themselves in the moment.
But they are gnawing on dry biscuits that even beggars find harsh on their teeth, drinking cold water that numbs their tongues, and living a miserable life of licking blood from the edge of a knife.
What's the point?
Tap tap tap——
Zhang Xiaozu rode a thundering flame horse from the west at night, reined in the horse and stopped in front of eighteen people, threw a folded paper in front of Su Zheng, and said: "This is your route for the next five days.
As well as information about the enemies we will face on the road. I still say the same thing, you can quit at any time if you are afraid of death or if you can't hold on."
After saying that, he rode away.
He was very busy and needed to go to the front to inquire about information, plan the route for Su Zheng's eighteen people, and find suitable bandits and robbers to serve as their training partners.
There is currently no battlefield for Su Zheng's eighteen people to gain experience and improve, so Zhang Xiaopou can only do the next best thing, looking for these ruthless bandits and robbers who are full of evil, lick blood from their swords, and practice swordsmanship for them.
Zhang Xiaopeng will not be there to raid the formation for them, so every battle is dangerous, difficult, and cruel. If you are not careful, you may die under the enemy's butcher's knife.
The life-and-death battle is what inspires people's ultimate combat power. This is Zhang Xiaozu's personal experience. He is applying this extreme improvement method to Su Zhengyi's eighteen people.
Extreme methods will produce extreme effects, either by constantly breaking through the limits and becoming stronger, or by having a mental breakdown and losing the will to fight. Now the eighteen members of Su Zheng are facing such a test.
Su Zheng picked up the paper from the ground, unfolded it and glanced at it, then shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, we need to travel eighty miles westward every day, but there is a battle to be fought the day after tomorrow.
There are about thirty people on the opponent's side, and there are no particularly powerful experts in charge, so the battle should be relatively easy.
But on the fourth and fifth days, there were two fierce battles every day. Just one glance at the opponent's number of people and the masters on duty made Su Zheng feel his scalp numb, and he couldn't help but feel that he didn't want to continue and wanted to give up.
idea.
"Go to sleep."
"After the sun rises tomorrow, let's think about where to go."
Su Zheng folded the paper and put it in his arms, then lay down on the ground with his sleeves in his sleeves. Soon he started snoring.
The other seventeen people also lay down and slept on the spot.
They were so tired that even their injuries could not stop them from feeling sleepy.
This was the most indulgent night since they left the imperial capital. They didn't leave anyone on duty, they didn't think about getting up early tomorrow, and they didn't have any sense of urgency. They just lay down on the yellow sand and fell asleep in a relaxed state of mind and body.
They slept until about three o'clock in the morning before they woke up drowsily one after another.
Everyone stretched and felt energetic.
The flesh and skin wounds on their bodies have all been scarred, and the wounds on their bones and internal organs have also initially healed under the powerful effects of the top-grade healing elixir. If they don't do strenuous exercise, the problem shouldn't be too big.
Jiang Huailong gently pressed his re-regrown ribs, and couldn't help but be amazed at his healing speed. He looked at the others and asked, "Do you feel that your healing ability is getting stronger and stronger?"
"Well, I feel like this." Wei Liang, who was the most seriously injured, said as he patted the chest that was stabbed yesterday.
"I have it too."
"Ever since I took a medicated bath with the painful stove, I have been feeling this way, but I've never been sure if it was the stove." Suning said.
"Shit, are you coming with me?" Su Zheng suddenly stood up and shouted.
"I go."
"I am coming too."
Immediately received responses from many people.
After half an hour, all the food, drinks and diarrhea were done. The eighteen people got on their horses and set foot on the ancient yellow sand road to the west, riding their horses in the dust.
Because they were injured, today's task was not heavy, and the seven Dong Zilongs needed to get familiar with their new mounts, they did not run too fast.
As for the self-denial and doubt last night, they have forgotten it.
…
Shen Wenyu and his son walked very fast and rushed from Liujia Village to the Imperial City in just eight days.
The two of them got the news about Zhang Xiaozu before they entered the city, because there were three eye-catching wanted notices posted on the bulletin board next to the city gate, and the wanted person was Zhang Xiaozu.
Shen Wanhua read Zhang Xiaopeng's wanted notice in front of the bulletin board, and then asked a middle-aged man wearing a short-sleeved coat next to him: "What did this Zhang Xiaopeng commit, and why is he wanted with a reward?"
"Look over there." The middle-aged man raised his hand and pointed to the mountains to the south.
Shen Wanhua looked in the direction of the middle-aged man's finger and saw an endless stretch of scorched earth on the top of the mountain in the distance.
"There used to be a majestic and magnificent fairy pavilion there, spanning dozens of miles from north to south, entrenched on the top of the mountains like a giant dragon. However, it was burned down by the murderer Zhang Xiaopou. His Majesty Long Yan was furious. So I ordered the arrest of Zhang Xiaopeng." The middle-aged man said.
Shen Wanhua frowned when he heard this and said, "That means Zhang Xiaopou is not in the imperial capital."
"The streets and alleys in the city are covered with wanted posters for him. There is no place for him anymore," the middle-aged man said.
"I wonder where he will escape to?" Shen Wanhua asked.
He didn't expect to get a reply to this question, but he heard the middle-aged man reply with a very definite tone: "Zhang Xiaopeng must have fled to Northern Xinjiang to join Butcher Zhang."
When Shen Wanhua heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked: "Who is Butcher Zhang? Where is he in Northern Xinjiang?"
"——" The middle-aged man had an expression of extreme surprise on his face.
Shen Wanhua didn't find it strange that he didn't know Zhang Xiaozu, because Zhang Xiaozu's name had not yet made a splash in the world.
But Shen Wanhua didn't even know who Butcher Zhang was, which made the middle-aged man incomprehensible. He even couldn't help but want to laugh, feeling that the knowledge of the guy in front of him was as narrow as his slender eyes.
Shen Wanhua saw the smile in the middle-aged man's eyes, and his eyes suddenly turned cold.
The middle-aged man was so frightened that he choked and quickly replied respectfully: "Butcher Zhang is Zhang Xiaozhu's grandfather. He lives in Eternal City in Northern Xinjiang."
"Haha——" Shen Wanhua sneered when he heard this, turned around and looked at his father Shen Wenyu not far behind him and said: "This will save trouble, even the whole family of that scoundrel has been found, and the shame of the Shen family can finally be wiped away. Lost."
Shen Wenyu's eyes were gloomy and he sneered: "Butcher Zhang, wait until I go and slaughter him."
After saying that, he will take Shen Wanhua to the north.
Several soldiers suddenly ran out of the city gate, went straight to the bulletin board, and tore up the wanted notice for Zhang Xiaopou.
Shen Wanhua asked strangely: "Why did you tear it apart?"
"The thief has been caught, of course he must tear it up." One of the soldiers responded.
"Caught? Where is he?" Shen Wanhua asked urgently.
"How did I know?" the soldier said angrily.
Shen Wanhua's face darkened and he was about to get angry when Shen Wenyu stopped him.
"What can a soldier know? Since Zhang Xiaopou is a person wanted by Emperor Da Su, he will naturally be handed over to Emperor Da Su after he is caught. We can just go to Emperor Da Su to ask for him." Shen Wenyu said.
"Yeah" Shen Wanhua nodded.
Then the two disappeared from the same place.
"Who are these two people?!" the soldier asked in fright, because the conversation between the two men was too arrogant, and it seemed that they did not take their Emperor seriously at all.
"That man also said he was going to northern Xinjiang to slaughter Zhang Butcher." The middle-aged man also had a frightened expression on his face.
Shen Wenyu took Shen Wanhua to high altitude. Instead of going to the main entrance to meet him according to etiquette, he crossed the palace wall from the air and went straight to Huangji Hall, the largest palace in the palace.
Woo! Woo! Woo——
The two of them had just crossed the palace wall when several sharp and harsh sounds suddenly filled the air.
This is the sound of the arrows of the Eight Angular Zhuxian Heavy Crossbow breaking through the air.
This chapter has been completed!