Outside the Great Wall, the grass is luxuriant. There is about a mile of road ahead, and there are some small bushes beside the road. Mang Shen led everyone into the bushes. Mang Shen asked everyone to lie down and lifted up their robes to reveal the scratches. He opened the water gourd and rinsed away the sand and soil from the wound with water. He opened another water gourd, poured some medicine into the palm of his hand, and patted it on the wound.
Zheng Anping felt hot first, then cool. The pain was relieved a lot, and his admiration and affection for Mang Shen increased a little more. "After all, the general has no son!" He thought to himself, and thanked him: "Thank you, sir!"
Mang Shen smiled at Zheng Anping: "Please help me, Master!"
Zheng Anping followed Mang Shen's example, opened his own water gourd, washed the other person's wound clean, then stretched out his hand to ask Mang Shen to pour some medicine into his palm, and patted it on the wound as before. After a while, the five of them were all dressed up and sitting on a grassy field among the trees.
Mang Shen's face suddenly became serious and he said in a very formal tone: "Now everyone listen to me while you are having a meal."
After hearing this, everyone immediately straightened up, took off the dry food bag from their shoulders, took out the completely cool corn rice, put it in their mouths and chewed it. Mang Shen took out a copper festival and a jade pendant from his arms: "There is no military envoy communication between the army and the city. Now that the war is coming, I ask you to assign military envoys. Please use five miles as a pavilion, and the posts must be sent at the same time. Maintain integrity and honor."
When Zheng Anping heard this, he felt relieved: he no longer had to fight on the front line! Just move the postman's errands from the post station to the outside of the city. Although the outdoor transmission station is not as comfortable as the inn, fortunately it is not winter yet and the weather is still mild. Compared with one-on-one fighting on the battlefield, it is still much better.
He picked up the knot and pendant and looked at them carefully. The knots are ordinary copper knots, but the jade pendant is made of high-quality white jade. It is half-moon shaped and decorated with Taotie patterns. It looks like a ball of grease. It is cool and warm in the hand, making people unable to put it down.
"This thing is very valuable!" he thought to himself.
After a while, the sky was completely bright, and everyone had finished eating and drinking. The pain in their waists and backs was almost gone, and they felt much more energetic. Mang Shen led everyone forward along a path that emerged from the grass.
About five miles away, Mang Shen would always leave one person behind, pointing out an obvious landmark and asking him to wait there. He also told everyone: "Remember this place, don't get lost!" He also told the postmen: "In addition to holding on to the place, No one is allowed to approach anyone who is restrained. Anyone who refuses to comply will be shot!"
Zheng Anping hoped that he could point him to a place to stay so that he could rest. You know, from yesterday to now, he had only rested in the posthouse outside the city for less than an hour, not counting walking. , just running for almost two hours. But Mang Shen never pointed his finger at him. This made him extremely disappointed, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it.
I walked for three hours in one breath, and the sun moved from east to west. The dust in front of me became more and more obvious, grew larger and larger, and finally I could even smell it. At this time, only Zheng Anping was left beside Mang Shen. Just now, Zheng Anping hoped that Mang Shen would keep Masan by his side and stop to guard the post. But Mang Shen resolutely stretched out his hand to Masan: "Please ask the post official to wait at the entrance." There is actually a li here. The place inside is beside the road. It's a great job to guard the post here. It's not a problem to make a fire or water. With grass on the bed, you can lie down comfortably. The thought of lying down immediately made him feel comfortable. But Mang Shen's words broke his dream: "You can't get close to Li Zhong, and the people in Li Zhong are not allowed to come out, otherwise they will be shot!"
"Shoot and kill" was the word Zheng Anping heard most today. He was surprised that he could calmly listen to someone casually say "shoot" a stranger.
After arranging Ma San, Mang Shen said to Zheng Anping: "We are not far ahead, let's speed up!" Then he quickened his pace. Zheng Anping endured his displeasure and quickened his pace.
After walking for about an hour, the sound of people shouting and horses neighing could be heard in the distance. It was obvious that the army was in front. Mang Shen pointed to the bend of a small river and said, "Master, please stay here! No one is allowed to approach without restraint, and anyone who refuses to follow will be shot."
Zheng Anping looked at the post pointed to him. There is a section of the river flowing from the west, and here it turns to the northeast; there is a stone bridge not far to the north. He estimated that the range of the crossbow might be barely enough, but the lethality would not be mentioned, and it would be shocking at most. There is also a stone bridge to the north in the west, but it is farther away. On the other side of the river was an abandoned city. This big bend formed a natural moat for the city. On this side of the river, there are no homes within three or two miles, but there are some small-scale fields. They don't look like a village, but they are scattered savages.
"This is the old Guan Kingdom," Mang Shen explained to Zheng Anping, "now it is completely abandoned."
He took out another piece of scarlet linen and said to Zheng Anping: "Master, please tie it on your left arm for sending messages and identifying it! Don't lose it."
Zheng Anping took it and tied it up as instructed. Mang Shen crossed the stone bridge and ran westward along the city wall alone.
It's dusk and everything is quiet!
Due to the damaged city wall in front of him, Zheng Anping couldn't see where the army was, but judging from the dust rising above the city wall, it should be very close.
A wave of sleepiness hit him, and Zheng Anping wanted to fall down on the spot and have a good sleep, but he suppressed his desire: the army was not far ahead, and this was already the front line. If he wanted to survive, he had to be more alert!
He first went around to the river, grabbed two handfuls of water and poured it on his face to wake himself up. After he came up and carefully observed the surrounding terrain, he thought about crossing the river and finding a place to settle in the old city; but he couldn't clearly see the situation in the city, and it would be bad if there were people or beasts.
He finished himself off again, counted the dry food bags, water gourds, crossbows and quivers, picked up his halberd, and quickly approached the stone bridge. He stopped by the stone bridge and carefully looked at the abandoned city in front of him.
The city wall is not high and is made of rammed earth. It looks like it took a lot of work. However, due to years of wind and rain, gaps have appeared in many places in the city wall. If there is someone inside, point a crossbow at him... He looked back again, but it was empty. He couldn't find a tree or even a slightly larger stone. But he finally found a good place: on a slope, the weeds grew very tall, and there seemed to be a ridge behind.
He quickly flashed here and looked around: the view here is very wide, and the weeds grow very lush. If someone approaches, he is confident that he can find them before they find him. The bridgehead is not far from this grassland and within the range of the crossbow. He sat down on the grass, untied the dry food and water gourd, put the crossbow on the string, and put the halberd at hand, while quietly listening to the movements around him, while eating dry food and drinking water.
It was getting darker. Everything around him became hazy, and his eyes became heavier and heavier. In the end, he simply closed his eyes and lay on the ground. While resting his tense body, he put his ears to the ground and listened to the sounds around him.
The sound of people and horses in the distance became stronger and stronger, and it was obvious that a large number of troops were being mobilized. There was the sound of wind blowing nearby and the sound of birds flying. Zheng Anping was hazy several times and struggled to wake up several times.
