On the cliffs on both sides of the small village.
Under the moonlight, two people riding maroon horses stood side by side. Although the night was dark, they could not hide the majestic silhouette of the maroon horses.
These two horses are rare and good horses, and the two people on the horses are also extraordinary.
One of them was wearing a plain robe, a black gauze hat, and a mustache at the corners of his mouth. He had an upright appearance.
He raised his head high and looked down at the cliff. His eyes were full of determination and official style.
The other person is tall, wearing a red cherry helmet and a set of fine steel and soft armor. He holds a rein in one hand and a sheathed sword in the other, very majestic.
Clearly dressed as civil servants and military generals.
The general's name was Guan Xu, and he was an army commander stationed there. In fact, his station is located in the center of the territory of the remaining country. It is very stable and peaceful on weekdays. There is no rebellion or invasion by foreign enemies. He just manages some local security.
But this time he suddenly received an order from above. A second-grade governor came to his station in person and asked him to assist the governor in completing a task.
However, this task seemed to be very hidden. Not only did the people above not mention it in the order, but even after the governor arrived in person, he kept the matter secret and never mentioned it.
He didn't dare to ask too much. After all, the governor did not dare to do such a big thing at will. How could he, a small sixth-grade official, be killed?
The governor named Qi Wen has not done anything since he arrived in the area. He just stayed in the government office to practice calligraphy, making it unclear what kind of medicine he was selling in the gourd.
It was not until yesterday that this great man issued an emergency order, asking Guan Xu to personally lead five hundred officers and soldiers to follow him all the way into the depths of Huangqi Mountain.
The dangers of Huangqi Mountain were very clear to him, the local general stationed there. Even the desperate bandits who committed murder and arson did not dare to enter Huangqi Mountain, which was almost a dead end.
However, their group did not dare to disobey the governor's order, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and come in. As expected, in just one day, the five hundred officers and soldiers lost more than a hundred people, and many others were bitten by poisonous insects and it seemed that they would not survive long.
Such casualties are still due to the fact that there are herb collectors who are familiar with the terrain of Huangqi Mountain to lead the way, otherwise there will only be more casualties.
Traveling under the stars and the moon, they finally arrived at this cliff after spending a day and a night.
Guan Xu suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and asked the governor humbly: "Sir, I really don't know why we have to come to Huangqi Mountain overnight. Please make it clear. I didn't mean to offend you. But more than a hundred soldiers died on this day, and they died for no reason. The morale of other soldiers is very low, and I really can’t explain it."
Qi Wen didn't even look at him, but said to himself: "Do you know that the coalition forces from Yamato Kingdom entered our Dayu Kingdom a few days ago?"
The general immediately exclaimed: "What, those people turned out to be Yamato's army! I only knew that there was a large army going south from the north of Dayu, with a huge momentum. I didn't expect it to be from Yamato! They are not always Are there any conflicts with us? Why did the emperor allow them to enter our country? Could it be that the north has been invaded?"
He was a little scared when he thought that the north would be conquered and that he, who was used to being a comfortable general, would have to go into battle to kill the enemy.
Qi Wen shouted angrily: "Nonsense! The north has been an important line of defense for our country since ancient times. How can it be so easily breached? The soldiers in the north are all tough men. How can they be as fearful of death and useless as you?"
This general was also a weak man. Hearing the angry rebuke from his superiors, he did not dare to reply. Instead, he only greeted him with a few words of courtesy, which made the governor calm down his anger.
Qi Wen then continued: "Do you think the emperor wants to do this? To tell you the truth, the battle on the northern border has stopped long ago. Now all the armies are retreating south. Not only our own army, but also the Yamato Kingdom So does."
After hearing this, Guan Xu became even more puzzled and said, "Then why is this happening? Isn't it just inviting the wolf into the house by enlarging Heguo's army?"
Qi Wen said disdainfully: "Huh, what do you know, you little sesame officer? This involves an extremely important plan. Even I don't know it very well, let alone you? You'd better think about yourself carefully, and don't know anything you shouldn't know. ask."
Guan Xu did not dare to be disrespectful in front of the governor at all, so he quickly said yes.
Qi Wen continued: "But our coming to the mountain this time has nothing to do with the emperor's plan. We are here to get something."
Guan Xu asked curiously: "I wonder what it is?"
Qi Wen gave another lie and said, "Do you know the woman from the Middle-earth sect who was captured from your place ten years ago?"
Guan Xu was also transferred from other places to work here in recent years. He was not very clear about the old things here. After thinking about it carefully, he suddenly realized: "Is that the sword nun from Middle Earth?"
Qi Wen said: "Yes, our country used to sell the face of China and turn a blind eye to what she left here. But it is different now. They ignore us, so we don't have to Look at their faces. This time we came to the mountains just to take away something from her. With this thing, although it only makes the situation slightly better, we must accumulate every strength now. "
Guan Xu was still a little confused after hearing this.
He didn't understand what this thing was and why it took so much effort to find it. The governor also said that he should accumulate every strength he could, but he didn't know why.
But he was able to sneak into the position of leader of a place, so he was obviously not stupid. Since the people above were unwilling to explain clearly, of course he did not dare to make any mistakes and asked, as long as he obeyed the orders from above. As for the more than 100 people who have died, they can only blame their bad luck for encountering such a difficult task.
The remaining three hundred or so people in this small team were already well prepared. They were lying in ambush in the upper and lower reaches of the river valley and on the cliffs. They surrounded the small village and were just waiting for the moment before dawn when people are most relaxed. An attack will be launched to capture all the people in this village.
…
Xu Huaigu had already left the small village and walked downstream along the river valley. Because the nearby water area is the drainage basin of Qishui, all rivers, no matter how big or small, will eventually flow into Qishui, so Xu Huaigu does not worry about getting lost.
He moved along the river bank, which also had the advantage of being able to stay away from the monsters in the woods. If a monster comes, he can hide in this river. He doesn't want what happened three months ago to happen again.
Xu Huaigu walked forward, but saw a few scattered firelights by the water downstream, which was extremely strange against the dark night. The caution in his bones caused him to stop and carefully observe what it was.
Those few firelights emitted a faint light, and they should be lighting objects such as torches. They were still far away from him, but because he was already a second-level monk, and the firelight was very conspicuous in the dark night, he could see it clearly. . As for those holding torches, they definitely couldn't see Xu Huaigu.
Xu Huaigu became more vigilant. Such a group of unknown people appeared in the hinterland of Huangqi Mountain at night, which was obviously very suspicious. He was ready to go closer and investigate more.
He stepped lightly and got a little closer. From about ten feet away, he could see the clothes of this group of people.
There were about fifty of them, standing on both sides of the river. They were all wearing soft armor and official long swords, and they were obviously dressed in official official style.
Xu Huaigu was a little curious as to why the government officials appeared here, but then he heard their conversation.
"What a ghost! What kind of bad order is this? It actually asked us to come to this fatal place in the middle of the night. In just one day, so many brothers have died. I really don't know what Commander Guan is doing! "
"Stop complaining. I can't blame Commander Guan for this. I saw with my own eyes a man dressed as a civil servant. When he was walking in the mountains, he walked further ahead than Commander Guan. At first glance, he looked like a high official. Even Commander Guan was a senior official. You have to obey him."
"Then you can't joke with the lives of our brothers! How long has it been, so many people have died, and we are still asked to stay by the river in the middle of the night? What do you think this is for?"
"That's right. When we came here, everyone saw the dangers on the road. We don't know whether we can go back alive. No matter what the order, it's not as important as our lives. If I had known it was such an errand, I wouldn't have It will come!"
This group of officers and soldiers were chattering among themselves, most of them complaining about the dangers of Huangqi Mountain, and some brave ones cursed the officials above in low voices.
Xu Huaigu roughly understood the whole story from the words of these people. They seemed to have come to block the river downstream to prevent anyone from escaping. Xu Huaigu then thought about it. Apart from the small village he had just left, where else in the valley were there people?
Could it be that he came to arrest the people in this small village?
This thought flashed through his mind, and he could no longer calm down. Although he didn't know how the people in the government knew that there was a small village here and why they wanted to arrest the people there, since the Yu family saved his life, he couldn't stand by and watch this matter no matter what.
He did not dare to hesitate for a moment, and immediately turned back and ran towards the small village.
