"Boys, get up quickly and clean up the traces of last night's camping. If you want to keep this place as a place to stay, do it. No one knows what tail we don't want to see will be attached to it by then.
.”
The next morning, when the sun was about to rise over the green mountains in the east, Chen Shi, who was fully dressed, woke them all up from their deep sleep one by one. It is true that half a day's rest was just a drop in the bucket for their tired bodies.
However, they must do more before Songfeng Mountain notices something is going on.
After erasing all traces of their camping in this dilapidated village last night, Chen Shi left some traces during his final inspection.
"It's done without any flaws. In the eyes of experts, there are flaws everywhere." Chen Shi explained after leaving a few footprints. "It's normal for a few people to come here to do business without capital, so they will never leave any traces."
We will lay down some clues, but we will never be traced to our group."
After twenty years in the border army, the imprint left on Chen Shi was still profound, and he could still find it easily when he had to conceal his whereabouts.
The only one who didn't need him to shout was Wei Changpan, who tied the two corners of the gray homespun bundle tightly together again. A knife, this clothes, and this small bundle were all his carry-on luggage.
They are all desperadoes, and it is natural that they have nothing to offer.
....
"Relax, tell me again, how many troops were attacked in total?"
In a quiet room on Songfeng Mountain, the walls are empty and only a futon is placed in the center. Gao Xu, the master of Songfeng Mountain, is sitting cross-legged in a white robe with a peaceful face. This leader in Jiangzhou's world has always been here recently.
As soon as he sat in a quiet room, he was like an old monk who had entered samadhi, and he no longer bothered with the matters that he had spent all his energy on and resolved on the Songfeng Mountain.
The old Yushu, who was described as still handsome and graceful a few years ago, is now an old man with gray hair and pale face. The disciples of Songfeng Mountain serving nearby are all worried. The master of the mountain, Gao Xu, is aging so fast.
Inexplicably, according to common sense, a martial artist with the level of the Lord of the Mountain, not only can live as long as heaven and earth as the Taoist classics say, but at least half a year longer than ordinary people, how can he reach his sixtieth year so quickly?
Are you old?
The disciples on the mountain didn't know why, so how could Gao Xu himself not know that this was the root of the disease left behind by that fight? The martial artist's physique, which had been tempered for half a lifetime, was on the verge of being broken by the force of the mountain spear.
It was solid and well-treated, and it was nourished by the treasures of heaven and earth on Songfeng Mountain. Although it looked like it had recovered for the time being, it was still full of cracks on the inside, and there was a risk of it falling apart if I moved a little.
This is the reason why Gao Xu has been trying to make up for the cracks in his body with his martial arts energy in this quiet room for days. Songfengshan has gone to great lengths to collect all the best elixirs and elixirs, but for him they only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. However,
Gao Xu, who had been working hard for decades but still couldn't see any results, had just calmed down the energy in his body, and heard that a confidant was in a hurry and said that he wanted to tell him something important.
"Six groups of troops, a total of seventy-five people, have been attacked. They are all dead, and no one has survived?" Gao Xu lowered his head and laughed at himself, "Everyone has died, and no one has survived. Is it possible that my disciples from Songfeng Mountain are already incompetent?
Is it difficult to deliver the message without one person?"
"This is Jiangzhou! It's not a place where barbarians gather! Songfeng Mountain is now the only highest mountain in Jiangzhou. Don't you guys still be able to deal with it?
A few insignificant bastards at the foot of the mountain?"
The confidant and the Songfengshan disciples outside the quiet room all knelt on the ground in fear, burying their heads very low and not daring to look up at the furious Gao Xu. Although Lord Gaoshan treated them in the past, he was not very approachable, but he was still more of a scholar after all.
Be more charming, it is really rare to be so angry and unable to restrain yourself today.
"Mountain Master, the officials at the foot of the mountain say that it is most likely the work of bandits from all over the place. A large number of government officers and agents, together with the state army, will soon send out troops to encircle and suppress the enemy. However, most of the bandits in the mountains of Jiangzhou are just petty and incompetent.
Breaking up the sky is nothing more than kidnapping a few wealthy people to extort some gold and silver money. Not to mention whether they have the courage to attack and kill our Songfeng Mountain troops. Even if they have the courage, they want to kill a team of troops purely composed of disciples from the mountain.
Silently obliterated..."
"They are not rat-like bandits. If all the bandits in Jiangzhou gather together, no one will be able to escape."
After a brief moment of losing control, Gao Xu closed his eyes and murmured: "Everyone, get up and go out. The fault for this matter is not yours."
He was angry that the disciples of Songfeng Mountain were incompetent, and that even today, some people dared to attack and kill the disciples of Songfeng Mountain in Jiangzhou.
Gao Xu originally thought that not only the several states in the south of the Yangtze River, but also Jiangzhou, where he owns one-third of an acre of land, could handle many matters at his fingertips, but now it seems that this is far from enough.
The panicked Songfeng Mountain disciples stood up and left. Gao Xu's confidant was left behind intentionally or unintentionally. After the others left, he said in a deep voice: "Mountain Master, there are still things under my command that I haven't reported yet."
"Tao Lai."
"After the six groups of troops in Songfeng Mountain were attacked, their bodies were all burnt. The government official could only identify five of them with sword wounds and knife marks on their bodies. The human skin and muscles were burned to char, but some things were
Even a fire can't burn it." The confidant took out a small package of things wrapped in fine white silk from his arms and said, "Master of the mountain, please take a look."
"arrow?"
"It's a crossbow arrowhead, and it's not an ordinary crossbow arrow." The confidant carefully picked up the silk handkerchief with two fingers and wrapped it until it was burned into a dark object.
They were all burned, but when the corpses were disposed of, arrowheads remaining in the body were found. No matter how powerful the bandits in Jiangzhou were, it was shocking to have more than ten hard bows on the mountain, not to mention the crossbows that the imperial court strictly prohibited from spreading among the people.
..”
"Why a crossbow and not a bow?"
"The mountain master's question is on point. The arrows used in Dayao's crossbows all have shapes, and there are more than ninety in total. But the shape of this arrowhead is obviously not any of the ninety kinds of arrows." See Gao.
Xu looked at the arrow he picked up with great interest. The confidant did not dare to look at ease anymore, and took out an unedged knife, gently scraped off the burnt smell on the arrow, and wiped it with fine white silk.
Clean the surface,
"It seems...much smaller than ordinary arrowheads?"
"As the mountain master said, if this arrowhead is matched, the length of the arrow shaft must not exceed eight inches. If it is slightly longer or shorter, the arrow path will be erratic. It is still much smaller than the one equipped with the crossbow. It can kill within fifty steps.
People have to be unarmored. Fifty steps away, even if they open their chests and let the crossbow fire, they may not be able to achieve great results." The arrow was presented to Gao Xu for a closer look, "Things on the battlefield.
The subordinates don't know, but they also know that they can't kill the armored soldiers with this crossbow.
Although it is solid, it cannot be compared with armor."
The iron-cast arrowhead lay on the fine white silk cloth. The small arrowhead, which was no more thick than Gao Xu's little finger, was in the shape of a cone. There were still red and black stains in a few places that had not been wiped clean, which were the dried blood of Songfeng Mountain disciples.
"Is this an arrow that can kill my Songfeng Mountain disciple?" Gao Xu looked at the arrow for a long time and then laughed and said, "If it didn't hit the vital point within fifty steps, this arrow would never be able to kill someone in an instant.
"
Unless these crossbow arrows came in extremely large numbers, extremely densely, and extremely quickly, and they all hit before these disciples could draw their swords to block. However, if so many arrows were shot out in an instant, how many ambushed crossbowmen would there be?
There are many crossbowmen lying in ambush on both sides of the trail. How can they not be noticed if there is a slight disturbance?
Could it be...
"The mountain master must have thought at this time that the crossbows used by the thieves who attacked my Songfeng Mountain disciples were basically repeating crossbows. Although they were made by the imperial court for many years, the arrows have limited power and cannot penetrate armor to kill people. In the battle formation
It was a bit useless, so I only purchased a few hundred frames. There were many craftsmen from the Shaofu Nufang Department who knew the craftsmanship of this continuous crossbow. They were also tired of the fact that this continuous crossbow was not valued by the court, so they lost their job.
The errands of official food are among the people, and I am afraid that they will be used by traitors, and they will make repeating crossbows and send them to the thieves who attack and kill the disciples on the mountain."
To turn the craftsmen of the Nufang Department of the Imperial Palace for your own use, this requires a lot of hidden skills. You must know that the barbarians in the northern grasslands and the neighboring countries adjacent to Dayao's territory use all means to coerce and lure these craftsmen.
After the craftsmen were repatriated to their hometowns, they had to report their whereabouts to the nearest county government every three months. There were two or three important people, and it was common to use assassins from Zhangan to protect them in the dark.
Gao Xu didn't know who could have this ability, at least not him, the co-owner of Jiangzhou Jianghu, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to all the trouble to get crossbow weapons from his brother. Songfeng Mountain has secretly cultivated a crossbow army of more than 300 people.
Team, each man has a Dayao standard hard crossbow and two quivers of arrows. If the person in Dayao's imperial city knew that Gao Xu's act of supporting a private army with state army weapons could be regarded as treason, probably
I will also withdraw my praise for the master of Songfeng Mountain who knows people but not his heart, and instead order Jiangzhou officials to clean up and down Songfeng Mountain.
"As long as the mountain master gives the order, my subordinates will do their best to bring the people down from the mountain to kill this group of rats of unknown origin, so as to comfort the spirits of those brothers in heaven."
Gao Xu ignored the great gift from his confidants and slowly closed his eyes on the futon, motionless like an old monk in meditation.
The confidant cannot afford to kneel down.
"Take fifteen disciples from the inner mountain and select a hundred capable people from the outer disciples. They are all at your disposal." Gao Xu suddenly said, "Don't let me down."
After hearing this, his confidant was overjoyed and was about to turn away when he heard Gao Xu speak again behind him: "Forget it, bring the crossbowmen with a hundred-man team. Remember to put on the uniforms of Jiangzhou Prefecture Army and remove the traces on the mountain. If this is the case,
There is still a loss..."
"My subordinates should raise their heads and come to see you."
After a while, Gao Xu was alone again in the quiet room. He stared blankly at the white walls and sighed quietly.