No matter whether Xu Chen's judgment is correct or not, at least it has a scientific basis. It is better than waiting for the rabbit to come out or wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly in hundreds of square kilometers of virgin forest.
However, ideas are just ideas, but he couldn't explain it clearly to these primitive hunters, so he could only ponder for a moment and then said with a smile: "Everyone's ideas are very good, but our time is limited at the moment and we can't delay here for too long. Soon the wizard will
The Zhuzhu Conference is about to begin, and we must defeat the barbarians and find the salt mine before the Wuzhu Conference, so I decided to pray to the gods for guidance to help us find the barbarians as soon as possible!"
A group of officers and hunters looked at each other, but after a moment they became excited.
"Your Majesty the Witch King, can the gods really help us?" Lei asked excitedly.
"Yes, the First Mother Goddess has always been blessing us, and she will definitely help us find the salt mine smoothly!" Xu Chen nodded.
"Then how should we pray to the gods for help?" A hunter asked tremblingly.
"The gods taught me a method called divination. It may be effective. Please step back a little..."
So a large group of officer hunters immediately retreated around, and soon a large open space was cleared.
Xu Chen pretended to place a few pieces of roasted food on the open ground, then sat down cross-legged, took out three copper coins from his pocket, held them in his hands and shook them up and down, while muttering a few words.
The First Mother Goddess Lingling was about to appear. After closing her eyes for a long time, she dropped the three copper coins on the ground.
"..."
Hundreds of people gathered around, all staring nervously at the three copper coins that fell messily on the ground.
Xu Chen slowly opened his eyes, looked at the copper coins for a moment and then said seriously: "The gods have given us guidance. The salt mines and the barbarians are heading south towards the Mongols."
"Fuck, it's so easy!" A hunter cursed in surprise.
"Yes, the direction prompted by the gods is in the south!" Old God Xu Chen picked up the copper coins and nodded.
"Your Majesty the Witch King, can the gods tell us how far away the barbarians are from the salt mines?" Long asked extremely excitedly.
Xu Chen shook his head slightly: "No, the guidance of the gods is very vague, we need to find it ourselves, but as long as we have the direction, it should not be difficult to find it."
"Yes, we just have no direction now. Since the gods have guided us in the direction, we will definitely be able to find the barbarians and the salt mine tomorrow!" Lei rolled up his sleeves excitedly.
"The barbarians will die this time!"
"His Majesty the Witch King is amazing!"
A group of officer hunters cheered for a moment, and then squatted down in groups, beat their chests and saluted Xu Chen, their eyes were excited and warm, and their respect and awe were beyond words.
This is the first time Xu Chen has shown another weird ability of his.
Because such a thing as divination has never happened before.
With the development of human beings to this point, witches have been passed down as the spokespersons of gods for thousands of years, but witches can only analyze the intentions of gods from some things that occur naturally, and then guide the development of tribes.
But Xu Chen was able to get instructions from the gods by throwing coins. This was simply a magical skill.
No witch can achieve this ability.
In other words, if we really find the salt mines and barbarians tomorrow according to His Majesty the Witch King's instructions, then it means that His Majesty the Witch King really has the power of the gods.
So a group of people cried like wolves and howled in incomparable shock and excitement and started eating like crazy, and then fell asleep with incomparable excitement and excitement.
With the guidance of His Majesty the Witch King, who is so powerful, there is no need to worry about not getting rich.
These hateful Southern barbarians will definitely be killed tomorrow and their blood will flow like rivers.
…
The night passed peacefully without any danger or accident.
Early the next morning, after having a simple breakfast, the army packed up their equipment and packed up the camp. Xu Chen summoned a group of officers to make simple arrangements before officially setting off.
This time, it was still the Yu Gong clan's coalition forces in the front, with Lei leading the elite hunters in the center to provide support, and Long leading the imperial army to escort Xu Chen and the logistics equipment following behind.
The three teams were separated by about two to three hundred meters in front and back. They were dispersed into a crescent-shaped fan-shaped array according to the teams, scattered within a one-mile range, and marched south through all the obstacles.
All the officer hunters were extremely excited.
Since there is a correct direction guided by the gods, everyone believes that they will be able to quickly find the location of the barbarians and the salt mine.
But Xu Chen felt a little worried inside.
Pretending is fun for a while, but if the pretense fails and no trace of the barbarians and the location of the salt mines are found in the south, His Majesty the Witch King's divine aura will be exposed.
But if you say it out loud, there is no way you can take it back if you spill the water.
Although he does not believe in gods, he believes in science and the experience and wisdom accumulated by human civilization over thousands of years.
He estimated that there was a 70 to 80 chance of this happening.
But during the next half-day march, the leading troops did not find any trace of the barbarians.
This made Xu Chen's initially strong thoughts gradually weaken.
The current barbaric era is completely different from the densely populated situation in later generations.
Although a few months ago, the Yu Gong clan's coalition forces fought back and forth with the barbarians several times in this primeval forest. Both sides suffered casualties and left a large number of battle traces. However, these traces have changed over time.
After the summer, the plants that had been washed away by heavy rains and grew wildly were completely submerged and invisible.
Not to mention the traces of battle, even dead people can disappear without a trace overnight.
Therefore, the farther Xu Chen walked, the more confused he became.
Even many officers and hunters, who were initially excited and excited, became depressed.
Although they did not dare to doubt Xu Chen's divination methods, they still gained nothing for a long time, which made people feel that something was not right.
"Your Majesty the Witch King, we have never found any traces of barbarian activities. Are you heading in the wrong direction?"
Watching the sun above his head gradually turning to the west, Long finally couldn't help but secretly ask Xu Chen in a low voice.
"Don't be anxious. This group of barbarians should be afraid of being attacked by the Yugong clan again, so they voluntarily gave up their territory in this area. The instructions from the gods should be correct. Send the order and inform the teams in front to cheer up and search carefully.
Don't slack off, maybe we are close to the barbarians, and even if we can't find the barbarians, the salt mine should be nearby!" Xu Chen could only explain bravely.
"Obey the order!" Long was refreshed and quickly arranged for the imperial army to ride on horseback and catch up with the elite hunter team led by Lei in front to deliver the order.
Soon, in the dense forest ahead, the sounds of various beasts and birds began to sound one after another, and they began to send messages to each other.
Marching in this primitive dense forest with no roads at all, we had to closely look for traces of the barbarians, so our marching speed was not very fast, and we only covered more than ten miles in half a day.
According to Xu Chen's general understanding of the living habits of the barbarians, twenty miles should be the limit of their daily activities.
Now that the march is halfway through, even if the barbarians want to hide, in order to survive, the hunting range will not be too small. Just like the Ba tribe back then, a radius of ten miles is the daily activity range. Even if the barbarians are willing to give up a large territory close to the Xiu tribe,
But there will definitely be no trace of activity at all, unless they really completely gave up this territory and moved away.
But can such a good thing as a salt mine be given up casually?
Xu Chen thought it was impossible.
What's more, even if the barbarians leave, they can't take the salt mine with them. The biggest goal this time is to find the salt mine, and killing the barbarians is just a military goal.
Therefore, if the barbarians had lived in this direction for a long time, some traces would definitely be found within three to five miles.
The traces left by this long-term survival activity are different from the traces of battle. There will be some iconic things, such as piles of rocks, territory marks carved on rocks or big trees, etc.
Sure enough, the subsequent search quickly confirmed Xu Chen's judgment.
After walking forward for less than half an hour, a sound of howling wolves suddenly came from the front. Soon after, a hunter officer from the Xiu tribe came over with several companions excitedly to report that they found something left by the barbarians in front of them.
Territory markers.
So Xu Chen hurried forward surrounded by a group of forbidden troops. In the woods about a mile ahead, he saw many large moss-covered stones. Not only were many broken stones and discarded wooden sticks and bones found around the stones,
There is also a huge beast skull placed on the stone.
This skull shouldn't have been there for too long. There are even a few broken spears stuck in the eye sockets. It is heading in the direction of Xu Chen and others, and its aura is slightly terrifying.
"Damn it, this beast is probably quite big!"
It was a surprise to suddenly discover traces of barbarians, but Xu Chen was even more surprised by this beast skull.
Xu Chen walked to the stone. The skull was white and extremely terrifying. The two eye sockets were the size of footballs. The whole skull was half a person tall. It was a bit scary.
The head of this beast shows that it is a very large beast, no smaller than an adult tiger.
And looking at the two sharp fangs protruding forward, it should belong to the category of saber-toothed animals.
"Your Majesty the Witch King, maybe the barbarians are nearby!"
Seeing this situation, Long and a large group of officers and hunters surrounding the stone were all very excited.
Xu Chen looked at the skull for a moment and then nodded: "Yes, the barbarians probably haven't migrated away yet. The nest is not far from here. This skull is their demonstration to us, telling us not to get close!"
"Fuck, we have killed Mao Gong and the evil dragon. This can scare us. Your Majesty the Witch King, I will lead the imperial army to find the barbarians, and I will definitely defeat them quickly!" The dragon clasped his fists with disdain and begged for orders.
Xu Chen waved his hand slightly and said, "Don't worry. Since a trace has been found, there must be more nearby. The Imperial Army is not the main force in the battle this time. They mainly come out to study and send signals to ask the nearby exploration teams to shrink their formations in the middle.
, don’t spread too far, and look closely for more traces. If you hear any noise or discover the whereabouts of the barbarians, don’t be alarmed too early, and try to find their lair!”
"Follow the order!"
Long cupped his fists to accept the order, and let out several wild wolf howls of varying lengths. Soon, in the dense forest on the left and right in front, there was once again a burst of wild beasts and wild birds, and the scattered search team slowly moved closer to the middle area.