Chapter 258 'The Disappearance of the Hundred Cavalry Forbidden Army'
As expected, Baiqi had an accident. Cheng Wuzhong couldn't bear it anymore and rode directly up the mountain. Li Yan also followed.
Soon the bandit's village came into view. At first glance, it looked like a mountain village with many houses arranged in an orderly manner.
But if you look closely, you will see that there are no cultivated fields and no livestock here. Instead, there are a long row of stables where horses are kept and there is plenty of fodder...
There are also four tall sentry towers standing at the four corners of the stockade, allowing you to look down into the distance.
This is obviously the den of thieves, and all the food and drink expenses come from the villagers down the mountain.
At this time, in the center of the village, several rows of bandits were already kneeling. They were usually fierce and domineering, but now they were trembling and fearful.
Because around them, corpses were piled everywhere, including several village leaders, who all fell to the ground and died with their eyes open.
After killing the leader and the fastest thief, thirty elite hundred cavalrymen occupied the sentry post and controlled the remaining people in the center with ease.
As Cheng Wuzhong said, this is killing a chicken with a sledgehammer. How can the Forbidden Army, which has been selected from thousands of people, still not be able to handle this?
Something happened.
Cheng Wuzhong took the lead, rode his horse forward, looked at a tall and thin Imperial Guard, and asked in a low voice: "You haven't found it yet?"
The man lowered his head: "Reporting to the leader, I couldn't find him."
Cheng Wuzhong's eyes were sharp: "Go quickly!"
The man responded: "Yes!"
Li Yan deliberately stayed back in front of the village gate, observed carefully, and then looked at the bandits kneeling on the ground, revealing a strange look.
Seeing that he was avoiding him, Cheng Wuzhong took the initiative to come over and said politely but awkwardly: "Li Jiyi, I made you laugh."
Li Yan said seriously: "What are you talking about, Commander Cheng? Not to mention the mistakes made by people and the mistakes made by horses. You and I are both soldiers of the Tang Dynasty. If I laugh at you, wouldn't it be like laughing at me?"
Cheng Wuzhong felt the sincerity in his tone and couldn't help but said: "Li Jiyi is so kind!"
He came closer and assumed a friendly posture: "You and I are both His Majesty's confidants, but there is always some competition between us. Now that I see Li Jiyi's broad-mindedness, it really makes me ashamed."
Li Yan said: "We, the people of the Tang Dynasty, are very competitive, which is why we have a vast territory, surrender from all directions, and hundreds of knights who are so elite, so naturally we have to fight for the first place in everything."
Cheng Wuzhong grinned: "Yes, striving for first place in everything makes Baiqi as brave as it is today. Li Jiyi is really our confidant. I heard that Li Jiyi grew up in Liangzhou?"
Li Yan nodded: "Not bad."
Cheng Wuzhong said: "That's a coincidence. There are several Liangzhou men in our army. I am from Lanzhou and also from Longyou."
In this era, geographical relationships are the closest, even compared to those in the same department. Li Yan looked at him and smiled: "That's a coincidence!"
This leader of the Hundred Cavalry Army was quite capable. He had been vaguely targeted before, but now that something happened to one of his subordinates, he immediately came over to befriend him. He was indeed a talented person. No wonder Li Zhi asked him to lead the army out of Chang'an and come to protect the crown prince.
In any case, Cheng Wuzhong was flattering, and the two started chatting.
While Cheng Wuzhong was inquiring about the situation in Tubo and Tuyuhun, and occasionally praising the Tang army's majesty in killing the Tibetan bandits, he kept watching the comings and goings of his men, with anxiety in his eyes.
Li Yan's posture relaxed, and he actually scanned the front and back of the stronghold, and found 30 Hundred Cavalry Forbidden Soldiers who had gone up the mountain, and there were two missing.
There were fifteen Imperial Guards guarding the bandits, and other Imperial Guards were walking around in a hurry, as if they were searching for something.
There are only thirteen people in charge of these searches.
After half an hour passed, Li Yancai said: "Leader Cheng, the sun is setting. If you are looking for someone, it will be harder to find someone after dark. Do you need my help?"
Cheng Wuzhong's expression changed slightly: "This matter is a matter for our Hundred Cavalry Army. I hope Li Jiyi will not interfere."
Li Yan said: "I don't want to interfere, but this village is not big, but there is something fishy about it."
Cheng Wuzhong frowned: "What's so strange?"
Li Yan pointed at the bandits kneeling on the ground: "Leader Cheng has encountered bandits before. If you compare those bandits with this group of people, you can see what is wrong."
Cheng Wuzhong looked over and quickly reacted: "Yes, most of the bandits we encountered before were in ragged clothes, with yellow faces and thin muscles. The ones who had enough to eat were the leaders, but this group of people looked at their looks, but they were all eating.
You look like you’re full?”
Li Yan nodded: "There was a big disaster in the pass. So many people starved to death. The victims ran in groups outside the pass. It was difficult for the bandits to have enough to eat. But this village is an exception. Where did your food come from?
of?"
As soon as these words came out, the thieves on the ground changed their expressions. Some of them even raised their heads and shouted: "The officers and soldiers want to kill us to seize food. Let's take action!"
As they spoke together, most of the thieves suddenly stood up and rushed toward the surrounding imperial troops.
Cheng Wuzhong was not afraid and sneered and waved his hand: "Shoot! Just leave some alive!"
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh——"
As soon as the words were spoken, the imperial guard occupying the sentry post released his crossbow, and the arrows were fierce and accurate, piercing the thieves' arms and firmly fixing them on the ground.
At the same time, the Imperial Guards who were guarding nearby came forward with swords. A series of sharp sword lights flashed by, and blood splashed rapidly. They were all equal to ten, without any fear.
Amidst the shrill howls, the bandits' resistance was quickly suppressed.
Although the Hundred Cavalry Forbidden Army intended to keep alive, they still killed more than a dozen bandits, and the remaining ones lost all morale and fell to their knees, trembling, and never dared to move again.
Cheng Wuzhong got off his horse, walked over, and kicked down a thief who had just instigated him: "Tell me, where does your food come from?"
The man was hit by an arrow in the knee, and was kicked by Cheng Wuzhong. His hands fluttered in pain, and he wailed: "We robbed a caravan, which was full of grain and rice, so we were full!"
Cheng Wuzhong was a little dubious, and Li Yan immediately said: "It seems that your leader is a kind person. If I were him, seeing how serious the disaster was in the pass, I would store food and prepare for war and famine, instead of letting everyone eat it."
Full meal."
The thief roared: "Our village leader is very loyal to begin with. If he were here, he would kill all of you long ago!"
Cheng Wuzhong's face became gloomy: "It seems that there are still fish that have slipped through the net. The leader is not in the village?"
Li Yan asked: "How many people did your village leader bring with him when he went out?"
The thief stopped answering. Li Yan looked at the stable not far away: "Go and check the mount."
The Hundred Cavalry Forbidden Army passed by and quickly reported: "Two horses are missing."
Cheng Wuzhong asked curiously: "Only one person will accompany you?"
Li Yan said: "Maybe he went out alone and brought an extra horse for transfer. This is weird."
He looked at Cheng Wuzhong and asked for the second time: "Cheng Tongjun, do you need my help?"
Cheng Wuzhong still refused: "Thank you for your advice, but this is an internal matter within our army. Please wait a moment, Li Jiyi. The matter will be resolved soon!"
Li Yan didn't force others to do anything, and said: "Okay."
Cheng Wuzhong simply took his cronies and walked into the village, asking sternly along the way: "Zheng Sanlang and Guo Wulang haven't been found yet?"
The men replied: "No, we searched the village and found no trace of the two of them."
Cheng Wuzhong's face turned completely gloomy.
Two Hundred Cavalry Imperial Guards unexpectedly disappeared mysteriously.
Although the possibility of being killed by bandits is extremely low, as Li Yuanfang said, people make mistakes, horses make mistakes, and there are many examples of strong men accidentally being killed by weak men. It is still acceptable.
But now we can’t see anyone alive, and we can’t see dead bodies, it’s really baffling!
Cheng Wuzhong's voice trembled slightly: "Do they have crossbows on their waists?"
The subordinate replied: "It's worthy."
Cheng Wuzhong closed his eyes: "Then the trouble will be big!"
The Hundred Cavalry are the most elite part of the Forbidden Army. Whether it is the quality of the soldiers or the equipment of their weapons, they far surpass the rest of the army.
The most important thing is that when they are out on duty, Baiqi is authorized to carry crossbows, and is solely controlled by soldiers who are good at shooting.
The rest of the Forbidden Army can only be equipped with crossbows in the palace. After the patrol is completed, the crossbows are handed over directly and will never be taken out.
As a result, a crime of missing ordnance arose.
Losing the crossbow is a serious crime. If the crossbow is obtained by thieves and in turn shoots the officers and soldiers, all the horsemen and soldiers will be affected.
Cheng Wuzhong looked at the stockade again. From the layout of the stockade to the sentry posts around it, his expression became more and more solemn: "There is indeed something wrong with this stockade. It cannot be arranged by ordinary thieves. After a few changes, I'm afraid it can be done."
As a military camp, the disappearance of the two of them may have something to do with it!"
The subordinate sighed: "I didn't expect that we could encounter something like this if we randomly chose a bandit den. I checked the almanac before leaving Beijing..."
Cheng Wuzhong glared angrily: "Don't say such depressing words. I never believe in the theory of luck. The top priority now is that we must not let the crossbow tools of my Baiqi flow out, let alone let the elite of my Baiqi be lost without knowing anything.
Here! Go down the mountain quickly and let others come up to search together!"
"yes!!"
The Imperial Guards who stayed at the foot of the mountain also came up together and participated in the search.
While people were coming and going, Li Yan sat on the lion's nest, closed his eyes slightly, and calmly practiced his consciousness-only energy.
The sun continued to set in the west, and the afterglow of the setting sun fell on his straight back, as if covered with a layer of golden clothing.
After eye consciousness, ear consciousness, and nose consciousness, Li Yan's goal is tongue consciousness and body consciousness.
I thought I would give priority to opening tongue consciousness. After all, among the five consciousnesses, body consciousness is the most difficult.
However, the talent bonus of [Arm-like Command] not only strengthened his control over weapons, but also gave him a deeper understanding of the degree of control over his body.
Compared with tongue consciousness, body consciousness is undoubtedly more helpful to combat effectiveness. Li Yan naturally keeps up his efforts and never misses every opportunity to practice.
Just as he was feeling the exquisite energy in his body, a slightly rapid breathing sound came in front of him. From the rhythm of that breathing, Li Yan could hear the complexity of this person's emotions.
He opened his eyes, looked at the sky, and looked at Cheng Wuzhong.
Cheng Wuzhong hesitated to speak, and finally clasped his fists, lowered his head and whispered: "Please help us, Li Jiyi!"