After finishing the sumptuous breakfast, Yi Shangyan put down his chopsticks, picked up the clean hemp-colored hot towel on his left hand, wiped the corners of his mouth and hands, stood up, took off the large bow hanging on the wall, and slung it across his back He adjusted his position and said:
"Boss Shan sent an order in the morning, asking us to go to Beicheng to guard the public house at Dianmao at the right time. Today Heiwa and I are going to lead a team to the southern wilderness and mountainous area to search and eliminate the remaining defeated Beirong soldiers who fled. It's almost time, let's go. "
Chang Siguo quickly used the hot towel on his left to wipe his hands and mouth, and followed the two of them outside.
He unstrung the two-stone bow and placed it at home. There was a black wooden bow in the bow pouch, a quiver full of arrows on his back, and a sheathed long knife hanging on his left waist. He murmured in his heart: Boss Shan was right yesterday. He had rested for a few days, so how could he forget about it in the blink of an eye? Or just a simple polite word?
He also wanted to go to the classics library and read a few more books to enrich the knowledge he lacked.
After counting the arrows and getting the order arrows, Yi Shangyan and Chang Siguo walked out of the public room.
In the open space outside, dozens of soldiers led horses, gathered in small groups, chatting quietly and excitedly.
Yi Shangyan held a dark metal command arrow in his right hand, raised it to the middle of the crowd and shouted: "Old Niu, gather all your men. Let's set off early. I hope we can get a good harvest."
"I'm coming."
Captain Niu led the horse and squeezed out of the crowd. He smiled so brightly that his face was gleaming. He bowed his hands and said, "Thanks to you two, I got a good job this time. If I follow you, the harvest will be good. I didn't tell you." .”
Yi Shangyan said with a smile: "It depends on luck, but I don't dare to guarantee it." Seeing that there were only 12 or 3 people coming out, he frowned and said: "Can't borrow the horse?"
Captain Niu smiled bitterly: "I promised a horse ten taels of silver a day to borrow such a small horse. The price for borrowing a war horse is too high, so I don't dare to borrow it. I'm worried...hehe, I can't afford the loss."
The man in his thirties carefully looked at the expressions of Yi Shangyan and Chang Siguo.
Chang Siguo understood what he was saying. He was sent out to search for Beirong's defeated soldiers. It was not a lucrative job that anyone could grab. There was a lot of money and military exploits to be gained. It was Boss Shan who took care of him.
He used to be a fool who only knew how to charge and kill, and knew nothing about these things.
Of course, this kind of benefit rarely goes to the Breaking Thieves Army. Even if the Breaking Thieves Army gets a certain share, it is done by the close associates arranged by the top, and the Kuhaha people below have no idea at all.
Yi Shangyanxu pointed at Lao Niu and laughed and scolded: "Thank you for sending someone to send you a message in advance so that you can be prepared. You old boy is too timid. You are so timid and afraid of a ball. Every time there is a With this opportunity, who wouldn’t capture the dozens or twenty of his hidden defeated soldiers? With luck, it’s possible to capture thirty or forty war horses. You only have so few manpower, how many large areas can you find if you spread them out?”
Captain Niu said hurriedly: "How about I go to the city guards to borrow some horses?"
"You have good intentions, and it will take you back and forth for at least half an hour. We have to set off immediately. There are so many military orders that we can't afford to delay. There are still more places we have searched in the first batch waiting to be missed."
Yi Shangyan simply refused, looked at the sky, and said comfortingly: "Okay, don't cry. Maybe we are lucky. In two days, if we hurry up, we can search dozens of miles of mountainous areas. Food for food, Have you brought enough?”
"That's enough, that's enough. I've brought enough dry food and tarpaulin blankets for camping, and I've also brought some useful things."
"Okay, let's go."
After leaving the north city gate, Yi Shangyan jumped on a free old horse and rode alongside Chang Siguo. A group of fifteen riders circled east, passed the Sihuang City, and ran southeast on the snow-covered path.
On the snowy wilderness, there were many cavalry teams of varying sizes, running towards the south in different directions.
Each cavalry team is led by two body refiners, each of whom roughly divides the search area.
There are also single or two teams of body refiners who have already set off in advance to clear the mountainous area south of Sihuang City for more than a hundred miles, all the way to the Cang River to prevent the remaining soldiers from crossing the river and going deep into the opposite side of the Cang River. , harming the people.
The distance of more than fifty miles lasted for more than an hour.
The sun rose high and the mist dispersed. More than a dozen old and weak horses were breathing heavily, foaming at the corners of their mouths, dripping with sweat, and their speed was getting slower and slower. It was obvious that they could no longer run.
Seeing the hills ahead, Yi Shangyan jumped off his horse and said: "Old cow, wipe the sweat of the horses, lead them to the shelter at the foot of the mountain at Erchakou ahead, feed them some refined grains, drink some water, and rest their horses." , Brother Chang and I are going to trample the nearby hills first. You should be more alert. If there is an emergency, send a warning to inform us. Be smart." He drew two loud arrows from the arrow pot and handed them over.
"Okay, thank you both. It's all because of Lao Niu's inability to do things..."
"Okay, I'm tired of reading too much. Just be more careful next time. The area we divided is five miles up from the Erchakou Valley. It's not too far away, so we have to search quickly. Don't let the two teams nearby help us. Collected."
Yi Shangyan took the big bow in his hand and swept towards the valley ahead with Chang Siguo. He took care of Chang Siguo's speed and did not leap with all his strength. He casually explained: "Niu Li is my neighbor in the same county. , it’s not easy even when you’re away from home.”
Chang Siguo smiled. He had long seen Yi Shangyan's care for Captain Niu. It turned out to be this relationship.
He didn't care much about his military exploits, but he wouldn't say anything to shirk Yi Shangyan's good intentions.
Just think of it as going out to practice and hone his understanding of body skills. When he entered the mountainous area, he no longer planned to ride on a horse. He would rely on two legs to travel. The speed was faster and he could respond to any changes in a more timely manner.
Jumping up the low hill along the valley, Yi Shangyan looked around for a moment, pointed to the mountains to the east, and said: "Heiwa, you go to the three hills to the east, and I will go to the west. Using this valley as the center line, we will split up and go in circles. Look south, don't go too far, be careful there are Beirong body trainers lurking, similar situations have happened before."
"If you find something is wrong, make some noise quickly or call me. I will arrive soon. The Beirong people are now frightened. They are discouraged and dare not fight to the death. You just need to hold on for a moment."
"Sure." Chang Siguo nodded in agreement.
The two of them separated, one to the east and the other to the west, sometimes disappearing and looking for each other on the hillsides and low ridges.
Chang Siguo scanned the snow for traces from a high place, and when he encountered a hole in the earth, he directly opened his eyes to scan.
No one could escape his "sight" detection. A few days ago, he was chased by the Beirong body trainers and fled in embarrassment, hiding in Tibet. After only a few days, the situation turned and it was his turn to search and hunt down the Beirong people. Yes, the world is impermanent.
Jumping quickly across the mountains, with his body occasionally swaying like a convulsion, he was trying to coordinate the flow of true energy and the subtle changes in body balance during the leap. He figured it out himself.
After searching for two quarters of an hour, the two met several times in the valley. They pushed forward for nearly ten miles but found nothing.
While searching out of boredom, Chang Siguo suddenly turned his head and looked to the southwest.
A bright light shone under the blue sky, and then an explosion was heard in the air, and a warning firework exploded in the air, startling many wild birds that took advantage of the sunny days to forage for grass seeds and wild fruits, and fluttered their wings. Called Luan Fei.
It was estimated that the place was about ten miles away from him and belonged to the search area of another team nearby.
There were indeed Beirong cultivators hiding in the mountainous area without escaping back to Beirong overnight, and they were very powerful. One or two cultivators could not deal with them, and they were forced to send out fireworks signals to ask for help from nearby companions.
Chang Siguo drew out a bamboo arrow, without hesitation, and quickly ran towards the southwest.
Anyone who fails to help when the fireworks signal goes off will be severely punished.
