Thousands of horses are galloping, dust is flying on the official road, and straight and turbulent yellow waves are rolling out in the distant southern sky.
Shen Lie and his seven secret guards stood on the top of the towering hills and watched the dust rush towards them. It took a long time before they arrived.
Across the huge floating sky, the army rushed past. It seemed chaotic, but in fact it was sparse and orderly, without any collision or congestion.
Being able to move smoothly and quickly like this is already a very good cavalryman.
However, this army of soldiers and horses was not even ranked among Song Zhiyi's nearly one million troops. They were silent, odorless, and unknown.
From the day the offensive camp was established, Song Zhiyi's blazing ambition in the military training system became clear to the world. In just a few years, all the troops under his command were making rapid progress.
For Li Qian, this is bad news.
Tian Dayao, Yun Bozhong, Zhuang Mengyao and others would not be happy to see it either.
For Shen Lie and others, it is also not good news.
Jin Hongkang still owed him a debt for the trapped beast in Youhu County, Jiangzhou, and he has never forgotten the hell in Xiaonan Mountain for more than a month.
Wu Shaoning and Ye Zheng looked at Shen Lie in unison.
The young man's profile was handsome and deep, as white as jade, as cold as the vast cold. The wind on the top of the mountain was strong, and the scattered hair on his forehead was blown by the wind. His originally smooth eyebrows seemed to be enveloped by a thin layer of light smoke. His black eyes were as bright and deep as ink jade, staring coldly at the leaving army.
It was clear that his expression was calm, and even his tall and graceful figure did not move at all, but Wu Shaoning and the others seemed to be able to feel the frightening coldness on his body like a sharp sword, with the sharpness and bold murderous intention that had been dormant for a long time.
The few secret guards behind Shen Lie who had been following Shen Lie for a long time suddenly felt as if they had returned to the cold winter of last year. The young and handsome man in front of them had turned back into the man who had been sweeping the northwest mountains outside Pan Yububu's hometown for days. He never smiled or even said much. The cold-faced Shura.
Wu Shaoning broke the silence and whispered: "This group of people looks powerful, but unfortunately, they have found the wrong way."
Ye Zheng also said: "Master, should we wait here for the loyal army to come out of the valley, or..."
"Wait," Shen Lie said, raising his eyes to the sky, "We are not waiting for them, we are waiting for dark."
Two fast-running soldiers came back from outside on foot, with bright smiles on their faces and great joy.
"My lord! My lord!" A soldier shouted excitedly, "My lord, you have a wonderful plan! Those soldiers and horses really followed the official road and went all the way north!"
Xie Zhong sat behind a half-worn marching eucalyptus, shaking a feather fan in his hand. Hearing this, he just waved the fan in his hand to signal the soldier to retreat, and looked back at the incense burner next to the marching eucalyptus.
This incense burner was just snatched last night, and it is currently burning tea.
Tea leaves are also in demand. With the steaming heat, the tea fragrance is fragrant and quiet, refreshing the nose and spleen.
The only drawback is that the water quality here is really not good.
Seeing his frown, the two soldiers did not dare to say any more, bowed their heads and left.
After a while, a thin man of medium height with a Taoist priest's hair came down the northeast mountain road surrounded by a group of people.
The young attendant immediately said to Xie Zhong: "Sir, sir, Yan Zhigeng is back."
Xie Zhong was neither impatient nor impatient. He poured tea slowly and leisurely and asked, "How does he look?"
The little entourage looked at it carefully and frowned: "It looks like there is nothing to gain."
"Oh." Xie Zhong said, picked up the tea cup and took a breath, sighing softly.
The young attendant said: "Sir, what are you sighing for?"
"Sigh of poverty."
When the little follower heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.
He glanced back and said, "Sir, Yan Zhigeng is here."
Xie Zhong blew on the hot tea in the cup, took a slow sip, and then looked up.
"Sir," Yan Zhigeng looked embarrassed, "the geomantic omen on this mountain is not good, so there should be no imperial mausoleum."
"Where are the graves of wealthy families?" Xie Zhong asked.
"There were a few places where I had people dig them up when I passed by. There were not many burial objects. Looking at the richest grave, all the gold was fished out, less than two kilograms."
"It's poverty." Xie Zhong sighed.
"I think we should go directly to Longdan Mountain without stopping on the way."
Xie Zhong glanced at him and shook his head: "No, two pounds of gold is still gold."
Yan Zhigeng was worried: "But sir, will the pursuers behind us be more..."
Xie Zhong raised the hand holding the fan and signaled him to stop talking.
"Go," Xie Zhong looked at the little entourage beside him, "Follow Mr. Yan to count today's rewards. After counting, wait for Mr. Yan to bathe and change clothes."
"Yes," the little attendant took the order and walked towards Yan Zhigan, "Mr. Yan, please."
Xie Zhong watched them leave and lowered his head to serve tea again.
He shook his feather fan and shook his head: "This is really not a good place, the water quality is so bad."
After saying this, he raised his hand and poured all the tea in the cup.
"Come here." Xie Zhong called.
People standing on both sides of the eucalyptus came to him immediately: "Sir!"
"Have you explored the villages to the east?" Xie Zhong asked.
"After checking it out, we found that they are all small villages with not many people. Several villages share one earth temple. The temple looks dilapidated and has not been renovated for several years."
"Take two thousand soldiers and horses," Xie Zhong said. "There is no need to set fire this time. Just scare them and surround them."
"Then, do you want to kill?"
"Well," Xie Zhong frowned, looking like he was thinking seriously, "It wouldn't be good if there were screams when killing people. Just grab something. Just grab something."
"yes!"
Xie Zhong stood up on his marching gum and said with a smile: "Hey! I'm going to see my wife and children!"
As night falls, there are only sporadic firelights in the entire valley.
The young attendant stood outside the simple tent. After yawning, he raised his hand and touched his belly.
I am very hungry and hungry.
When he first left Youzhou, Xie Zhong established a military law that no one was allowed to open the stove after the official hour every day, and he had to endure no matter how hungry he was.
The army is full of refugees who are used to being hungry. They will kowtow to express gratitude even after eating a meal a day, but for the young followers, this is too difficult.
In particular, this military law only takes effect on people like them, and is useless against them.
Now, inside the tent there is not only the aroma of rice, but also the aroma of roasted chicken legs and fried meat.
The young attendant glared at the tent, what kind of person is this? He really thinks he is a master, and he still eats meat, ah!
About two hundred meters away, by the stream down the hillside, two handymen who had finished cleaning the pots quietly hid behind a big rock.
Two people each hid something, one hid a quick white rice ball, and the other hid half a piece of dried meat and a chicken leg.
The two of them separated quickly, and when they were about to eat, the cold and sharp sword blade suddenly and quietly pressed against their necks.
One person didn't even realize that this was a crisis, so he reached out and grabbed it. Such a slight movement caused his fingers to instantly break through the skin and flesh, blood spurted out, and even the fingers were almost broken.
He almost screamed in pain, looked up with a white face, and met two pairs of cold and numb eyes.
Wu Shaoning lowered his voice: "If you make any noise, I will cut you into pieces."
After saying that, Wu Shaoning and another secret guard looked up and looked ahead.
The two handymen followed his gaze, and a tall, thin young man appeared at some point, looking down at the dried meat and rice they had dropped.
"Who is this for?" the young man asked, with a deep voice that was clearer than the river water.
A chore soldier stammered: "Here, thank you sir."
"Where is he sleeping?" Shen Lie looked up.
The handsome face in the dim light dazzled even the soldier as a man.
The handyman stretched out his hand tremblingly and pointed in one direction behind him: "His tent is green and brown, it is very big and easy to recognize."
"Yes, it's easy to recognize. There will be someone guarding the camp. It's Mr. Xie, Mr. Xie's little entourage." Another handyman said.
"Where is Qian Fengrong, where is he sleeping?"
"The king is here, in the southwest, at the entrance of the valley. Mr. Xie said that the king has the courage of ten thousand men. If he sits at the mountain pass, no one will dare to attack."
Ye Zheng sneered behind Shen Lie: "What king, this guy dares to be called king? He is still sitting at the mountain pass. I think he is a watchdog."
A chore soldier looked at Shen Lie and begged: "Master, please spare my life... Are you the master, or are you also a king? Which king? Which general?"
"Don't worry," Shen Lie said, "I won't kill you."
It is more useful to keep two people who live fearfully among the enemy than to leave two corpses in this barren mountain.
The little follower is getting sleepier and hungrier.
The person inside had finished eating, so he patted the table and motioned for him to go in and clean up.
The young attendant rolled his eyes and turned around to open the tent.
A sharp sense of crisis suddenly approached at this moment. The little follower heard the wind in his ears and turned around immediately. Halfway through his scream, his mouth was covered.
