In the dark snowy wilderness, the entire envoy team mobilized, silently dismantling their tents and preparing to pack their bags.
Xiang Shaolong, Teng Yi, Jing Jun, Xiao Yuetan, Li Si and twelve Wu family disciples were lying on the bank, observing the movements on the other side.
There was total silence in the dark forest. If Deng Jia hadn't been captured and learned the enemy's plans from his mouth, it would be hard to believe that there were as many as 3,000 enemies with vengeful intentions, watching eagerly.
Xiao Yuetan snorted coldly: "In order to understand the Zhao people's siege, the Yan people are really unscrupulous." Xiang Shaolong sighed in his heart, in this Warring States era, who in power did not do such a thing?
At this time, Lu Xiong came to report: "Master, everything is over and we can start our journey."
Xiang Shaolong gave the order.
The thousand Qin troops were then divided into two groups, each with 500 men. They led horse-drawn carts and drove upstream and downstream. The wind lanterns shone like countless fireflies.
Ji Yanran's daughters and three hundred generals from the Lu family quietly retreated into the red pine forest in the dark.
In the dark night, the sound of cars and horses neighing constantly sounded, causing a disturbance and destroying the sacred and inviolable tranquility of the snowy night.
Teng Yi stared at the dark mountains and forests on the other side and said with a smile: "If I were Xu Yiluan, I would definitely have a headache right now."
Xiao Yuetan said in a deep voice: "Will he fall into the trap?"
Jing Jun whispered: "You will know soon."
Since it was difficult to find the way in the dark night, the march was as slow as a snail. It was not until a full hour later that the two groups of people parted ways.
According to the plan, they will meet up at Yangchang Mountain next to the Qinshui River between Zhao and Han in twenty days. If they still don't see each other after three days, they will go to Henglong Ridge, another big mountain between Qi and Zhao.
The Qin army was well-trained, and everyone was good at riding and shooting. In addition, the number of troops was greatly reduced, so it should be easy to escape from the chasing horses in this wilderness.
Teng Yi whispered: "There is movement"
I heard a strange noise coming from a hilltop on the other side, the sound of footsteps and hooves, then hundreds of torches were lit, and two fire dragons chased upstream and downstream along the river.
Xu Yiluan knew that his traces had been exposed and he no longer had any scruples.
After the fire dragon had gone away, Xiang Shaolong said: "Xiaojun, please cross the river to explore the situation. If the enemy is really gone and no one is left, we will cross the river immediately tomorrow morning."
Xiaojun took the order and led the twelve Wu family guards to push the two rafts that had been placed by the shore into the water and push them to the other side. Li Si and Xiao Yuetan also followed.
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi walked toward the red pine forest easily.
The sudden ambush by the Yan people really caused them to panic for a while, but now the matter has finally been resolved.
Xiang Shaolong was about to speak when he suddenly looked ahead in stunned silence. Teng Yi was shocked and said: "Not good"
Suddenly, the red pine forest lit up with a red light all over the sky. Thousands of torches came from the edge of the jungle like a fan, and the shouts of death came from far and near, with an alarming force.
At the same time, they thought of the people sent by Yang Chunjun to deal with them. They were so frightened that they drew their swords and ran towards the red pine forest half a mile away.
The intruders, numbering at least 5,000 men, sneaked through the dense forest silently. Only when they encountered the sentries posted outside by the Lu family generals did they attack openly and wildly.
From the beginning, the dense forest and the upstream and downstream sides were completely sealed off. Even if they wanted to escape, they would be blocked by the river and have no way to escape.
When it's so cold and freezing, if you jump into the river, isn't that another dead end?
It can be seen that the other party has a vicious mentality that will not spare them, and they are deliberately planning to wait until the best time to kill them.
The sound of killing was loud and the men and horses were neighing. Ji Yanran commanded the generals to protect Wu Tingfang, Zhao Qian, the fourth maid Chunying and the two Meng brothers and fled towards the river in a hurry.
If it weren't for the obstruction of trees, the undulating terrain, and the depth of night, which made it difficult for the enemy to fire arrows, they wouldn't have been able to escape as far away as they wanted.
However, when they were forced to the river by the enemy, it was the moment they lost their lives.
There were so many enemies that I could not even count, coming from all directions. Although the generals of the Lu family were all highly skilled in martial arts and desperate to die without caring about their own lives, they still fell to the ground one after another in the face of my outnumbered enemies.
Shortly after leaving the forest, Chunying screamed, and a long arrow penetrated his back, killing him in the grass.
Wu Tingfang and all the girls cried out in unison.
Ji Yanran was the calmest, pulling Zhao Qian and shouting: "Come with me quickly" she ran through the sparse forest in the edge area and ran up a hill. On the other side was the highland beside the river.
At this time, there were only more than a hundred generals left beside them, half of whom turned back to block the enemy, and the other sixty people protected them, fighting and retreating, and rushed towards the hills. They only regretted that the snowy slopes were difficult to walk on, and they couldn't do it.
The light behind was filled with torches, illuminating the mountains and fields a bloody red.
More than a dozen enemies dressed in hunter attire rushed in. Ji Yanran was furious. She stabbed them with the spear in her hand, killing several people in a row and breaking through a gap.
At this time, a man came in and struck Zhao Qian, who was following Ji Yanran, with a sword. He would not show any mercy because the other party was a woman.
At this moment, Ji Yanran's spear had just pierced the chest of another enemy. Seeing this, she could not save him in time. Meng Tian, who was guarding her left wing, rushed up suddenly. With a flash of his sword, the man was already in another place.
As they were about to reach the top of the hill, a shower of arrows came from them, and ten more of the generals were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.
The enemies were chasing after them, and those who were hit by arrows were hit with a sword.
Qiu Ying tripped and fell to the ground.
Xia Ying and Dong Ying felt like sisters with her, and hurriedly turned around to help her up. After a moment of hesitation, a group of enemies like wolves and tigers broke through their defenses, surged up, and struck her with a flurry of swords.
, the three maids died tragically at the same time, which was unbearable to witness.
Wu Tingfang and others almost fainted, but it was only thanks to the support of Meng Wu and Meng Tian that they reached the top of the hill.
The remaining thirty masters will use their condescending attitude to barely block the enemy, but they will not be able to hold on for long.
At this time, Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi had just arrived. They couldn't see Chunying and the girls, so they knew what had happened.
Xiang Shaolong shouted: "Hurry to Dahe, where is Jing Jun?"
Wu Tingfang cried out sadly: "Xiang Lang" had been dragged away by Meng Wu a long time ago.
Ji Yanran screamed: "Don't be obsessed with fighting" and led the four of them downhill toward the river.
Teng Yi rushed to the top of the hill early, opened and closed his heavy sword, and was invincible to anyone who stood in his way.
Xiang Shaolong intercepted more than a dozen enemies who were pursuing Ji Yanran and went on a killing spree. The battle was extremely brutal.
Hundreds of enemies swarmed up the hill, and someone shouted: "Xiang Shaolong is here!"
Xiang Shaolong had just knocked over two enemies. When he glanced around, he saw the enemies coming from behind. Except for Teng Yi, all his people were dead. He knew that if he didn't escape, he would have to go to the Emperor of Hell.
After reporting to the office, he shouted loudly, spread out his sword, and rushed to Teng Yi's side, shouting: "Let's go!"
At this time, both of them were suffering from multiple sword wounds. Teng Yi understood and swiped his sword horizontally. Two of them fell down with blood spattered on them, while the others retreated in shock.
The two of them fought and retreated, but they were tightly entangled by the enemy and could not escape.
Seeing the enemy rushing up the hill from the red pine forest, Xiang Shaolong shouted: "Get down!"
As soon as the wings were pulled, the two of them flipped upside down, tumbled down the slope from the edge of the hill, and rolled down.
Fortunately, it had snowed heavily for several days, and the snow-covered slopes were slippery and soft. In an instant, the two of them rolled to the snow at the bottom of the hill.
The enemy chased down the hill like crazy.
As soon as the two got up, Teng Yi stumbled and was hit by an arrow in his left shoulder.
More than ten enemies came to kill each other on both sides.
Xiang Shaolong pulled out the flying needles and threw them continuously. Before those people knew what was going on, six or seven people were hit by the needles and fell to the ground. The others dispersed in shock.
Suddenly the fire dimmed.
It turned out that the snow slope was extremely slippery, and many torch-holders lost their footing and rolled down the slope, causing the torches to go out immediately.
Teng Yi reached back, grabbed the long arrow, pulled out the arrow with blood and flesh, threw it with his hand, and inserted it into the throat of an enemy at the rear left.
Because he was protected by armor, the sharp arrow could only penetrate a few inches into his flesh and not reach his internal organs. Otherwise, the arrow would have stopped him from walking.
Taking advantage of the darkness that made it difficult to see clearly, the two dispersed a group of enemies blocking the road, finally escaped from the encirclement and ran toward the river.
The light spots of countless torches surrounded him from the three sides behind, and the shouts of killing could not be heard.
In an instant, the two of them reached the high ground next to the shore. Jing Jun rushed over and said happily: "Let's go quickly."
He led the two of them and ran down to the river.
At this time, the raft carrying Ji Yanran and others had just left the shore, and another raft was waiting for them.
The three of them jumped on the raft and immediately rowed to the other side.
When the two rafts reached the middle of the river, the enemy chased them to the bank. Everyone bent their bows and shot arrows at them.
Twelve Wu family disciples built a wall and waved their swords to block the powerful arrows.
Screams broke out.
One of them was hit by an arrow and fell on Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Teng let out a cry of sorrow and shouted: "Squat down!"
Three more people on the two rafts were hit by arrows.
The raft finally left the range of the enemy's arrows and reached the other shore.
Although the enemy shouted and cursed, they had no choice but to think that they could still escape in such a one-sided situation.
As soon as Xiang Shaolong jumped ashore, Wu Tingfang jumped into his blood-stained arms.
Jing Jun suddenly screamed: "Third Princess"
Xiang Shaolong looked around in shock, only to see Zhao Qian lying in Ji Yanran's arms, with an arrow protruding from her chest, and the scent of her death had faded away.
(missing paragraph)
Jing Jun hurriedly walked through the forest to the hidden cemetery in the forest, and said anxiously: "Enemies have appeared in the southeast. In addition to Yangquan Jun's people, there are also Korean soldiers and horses, numbering about five hundred people.
We still have hounds with us, so we have to leave quickly."
Xiang Shaolong's heart was filled with grief and he asked blankly: "Where to go?"
Teng Yi said: "The road to Yangchang Mountain is all plains and rivers. We have no war horses, so we will not be able to escape the enemy's capture. The only way is to climb the mountain to Jingjia Village, where Jing Jun originally lived, where we can not only get dry food for the horses, but also recruit soldiers."
These skilled hunters will increase our strength. Jing Jun and I are familiar with the road, so we should be able to avoid the enemy."
Xiang Shaolong tried his best to cheer up, looked at Ji Yanran, Wu Tingfang's two beloved wives, the Meng family brothers, Xiao Yuetan, Li Si, Jing Jun, Teng Yi and the remaining eight Wu family soldiers, and said decisively: "Okay, let's
Let’s go, as long as I, Xiang Shaolong, am alive, Yang Quanjun and his accomplices will never have a chance to live a good life.”
Passing day and night.
Twenty-five days later, after going through untold hardships and enduring hunger, we finally arrived at Jingjia Village.
It is indeed very difficult to hunt in the snow. Fortunately, Teng Yi and Jing Jun are both good at it, so they did not starve to death in the deserted mountains.
On the way, he was almost overtaken by pursuers several times, but thanks to Teng Jing's intimate knowledge of the mountains and forests, he finally escaped.
When they arrived at Jingjia Village, even strong men like Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi couldn't bear it, let alone delicate girls like Xiao Yuetan, Li Si and Wu Tingfang.
Fortunately, everyone was practicing martial arts and fencing at this time, and their bodies were strong, so they could still hold on, but they all ended up in less than human form, which was heartbreaking.
Jingjia Village is composed of more than a dozen small and large villages scattered across the mountains. Teng Yi has always been the most respected hunter by the villagers. All the young men here have learned sword riding and shooting from him. When they saw him come back, they were all very happy and tried their best to greet them.
He also went out to see if there were any pursuers for them.
After three days of rest, everyone seemed to be refreshed and regained their fighting spirit and vitality.
Time can indeed dilute anything, at least it can suppress sadness deep in the heart.
That day, when everyone was having lunch in the village chief's big house, Teng Yilai called Xiang Shaolong out of the open space outside the house. Thirty-eight young hunters were talking excitedly to Jing Jun when they saw the two of them coming out.
He immediately saluted solemnly, as if waiting for selection and review.
Xiang Shaolong whispered: "Second brother, can't you just give me an idea?"
Teng Yi replied: "Wouldn't it be better to let them think that you, the great hero, picked them out?"
Then he sighed and said: "They are not originally named Jing. The entire Jingjia Village is from a nomadic people who have lived in the barbarian land in the north. They live a life of living in harmony with the world and living in pursuit of water and grass. Only because of Zhao
The country couldn't help but expand to the north, and the Huns were raging in the north, so they moved south. After more than a hundred years, they settled here, but they were squeezed out by the Koreans and forced to change their surnames, so they had a deep hatred for Zhao and Han."
Everyone in this group of young hunters had angry expressions on their faces.
Jing Jun said: "We all practice martial arts here. Not only do we have to deal with the looting of Korean soldiers, but we also have to fight against horse thieves and people from other villages."
Teng Yi said: "This group of people were selected from the best of nearly a thousand hunters in the village. If they are trained further, they will be no less than our Wu family's elite troops."
Xiang Shaolong asked: "Are you willing to follow me, Xiang Shaolong?"
The hunters responded with a bang.
Xiang Shaolong said: "From today on, we will share weal and woe and we will never break our promise."
Everyone was excited and encouraged.
When going back to the house, Teng Yi said: "We will set off to Henglong Ridge tomorrow, but all our documents and property were lost in the red pine forest. It seems a bit inappropriate to go on an envoy like this."
Xiang Shaolong said sadly: "Those are the second best."
The tragic and heartbreaking scenes, as well as the strong images and sounds of that night, once again appeared in their profound memories.
Wu Tingfang woke up screaming, tears streaming down his face.
Xiang Shaolong hurriedly held her tightly in his arms, comforting her in every possible way. Ji Yanran on the other side woke up and opened the window a little, allowing a limited amount of cool air to flow into the room.
After Wu Tingfang went back to sleep, Xiang Shaolong was completely sleepless and his chest felt like it was stuck on a big stone. He suggested: "The moonlight is pretty tonight, why don't you go for a walk outside?"
Ji Yanran said sadly: "How come Fang'er has no one to accompany her? You go alone?"
Xiang Shaolong casually put on his fur coat, pushed open the door, and walked into the garden in the courtyard. Under a bright moon, Xiao Yuetan looked up at the night sky with his hands behind his hands, with a solemn expression.
Xiang Shaolong was shocked and stepped forward: "Brother Xiao, can't you sleep?"
As if she knew he would come out, Xiao Yuetan still stared at the night sky blankly and sighed: "I like to think about random things, especially at night, so I usually like to sleep with a beautiful woman in my arms to avoid thinking about things I shouldn't.
, the old habit happened again tonight.”
Xiang Shaolong was in a bad mood at this time and asked casually: "What is Brother Xiao thinking about?"
Xiao Yuetan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I'm thinking about Mr. Lu. He has changed a lot since he became Prime Minister You, making it difficult for me to connect him between the past and the present."
Xiang Shaolong smiled bitterly and said: "The ever-changing changes are actually not the original nature. It's just that in different environments, in order to achieve a certain goal, some parts of the nature have been suppressed. But once there is no more scruples, it will be suppressed."
The evil nature will be revealed and it will be out of control. This situation is most obvious in people who suddenly assume great power, and they are completely unable to suppress it, because no one dares to control him or frustrate him."
Xiao Yuetan looked at him in shock and said in surprise: "From Shaolong's tone, he doesn't seem to have much fondness for Mr. Lu."
Xiang Shaolong knew that he had slipped his mind and said hurriedly: "I just have feelings, and I'm not talking about it against Mr. Lu."
Xiao Yuetan pondered for a while, then whispered: "You don't have to hide it from me, Shaolong. You and Mr. Lu are two completely different types of people. I can trust you completely, but Mr. Lu? Although Mr. Tu and I are his confidants, we are against each other.
But when you touch him, you have to fight, lest you offend him."
After a pause, he added: "And he expanded too fast. When he first arrived in Xianyang, there were only more than 700 diners and disciples. Now the number has exceeded 5,000. How can he not attract the jealousy of the Qin people? Today, our pine forest in Zhao is attacked
, that’s why.”
Xiang Shaolong thought of the sacrificed people and was speechless for a moment.
Xiao Yuetan knew that his thoughts were aroused, and he sighed again and said: "We can say that we will live life and death together, so we have to say what we shouldn't say. With Shaolong's character that values friendship, he will not be able to tolerate many Master Lu in the future.
You understand what I mean by what I have done.”
Xiang Shaolong nodded silently.
For the sake of Xiaopan, he is destined to become Lu Buwei's mortal enemy. This may be fate.
The tragic death of Zhao Qian and others strengthened his determination to help Xiaopan unify the six countries.
Only force can stop force.
Although there is still a long way to go to achieve a society ruled by law, which is more than two thousand years away, there must be a beginning.
He responded: "It's late at night and we have to travel early tomorrow morning. Why don't we go back and rest?"
Xiao Yuetan said: "You go back first, I want to stand here for a while."
Xiang Shaolong smiled and said, "Why don't we take this good night and talk until dawn? I also want to know more about the situation in Xianyang."
Xiao Yuetan said happily: "Of course Xiao is happy to accompany you."
That night just passed.
At dawn, more than fifty people rode out on horseback and rode toward Henglong Ridge.