"It's really frustrating to let them succeed and lose three horses!" The whiskers on Gu Da's lips trembled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I think we have enough people anyway." If you have more than enough, you can gather 60 people and still follow Sanlang to report to Ten Thousand Years, and the rest will stay with me to kill these reckless people!"
"How many people can there be? Didn't my shopkeeper and Chen Sanlang both tell me that those few are skilled in martial arts. The few tricksters you have are simply not enough to fight!" Liu Hongsheng said in a loud voice.
"Then what do you think we should do? Just suffer the consequences in silence?" Gu Da retorted: "Or go back to Qibu and transfer to Qingyun Town?"
"Don't make any noise." Li Dan raised a hand to stop everyone, and the room quickly became quiet.
"Originally, I thought that the water in the well would not interfere with the water in the river, and the road would be open to the sky, and everyone would go to one side. If anyone wants to come to the door to fight, I have no choice but to be rude!"
This statement made it very clear that Li Dan was determined to teach the other party a lesson.
The eyes of Gu Da, who was the most active in the fight, and Song Xiaoniu, who had long wanted to show off, suddenly shone with light, and they nodded repeatedly.
However, Li Dan knew in his heart that his team had never experienced a battle. Gu Da, Yang Yi and others had ordinary martial arts skills. It was one thing to fight in groups and use brute force, but it was another thing to fight in battle.
If there are two or three veterans and masters among the opponents, even if there are dozens of people, they may not be able to defeat them. So this time we must outsmart him and not be as powerful as Gu Da said.
Although the team has learned some tricks and can barely protect themselves, if they want to be able to attack and defend, they still need more experience.
Only after several small victories have been achieved can one gradually build up self-confidence and dare to face larger-scale confrontations.
The first time you are going to be beaten, it will be very difficult later on. Forget it, these thieves are used as a whetstone, why let them ask for trouble?
Just as he was about to speak, Yang Yi asked: "In this case, what about Wannian's errand?"
"We have to take care of our errands, and we have to seize the horses." Li Dan looked at the crowd:
"It's only been a day since we came out. If we don't take back the horses when something like this happens, will you still listen to our orders in the future?
Besides, without three horses, a cart would have to be abandoned, and at least one of the brothers would have to catch up with the whole team on foot. "
When he said this, everyone understood that this was not only a matter of losing a horse, but also involved the prestige of their leaders and the morale of the whole team.
"This group of thieves is so abominable!" Song Xiaoniu waved his fist and cursed.
"Yes, there are iron tools, food, and luggage in the carriage. They don't take these, but they steal the horses!"
Gu Daqing said angrily: "Sanlang, you said you can't miss out on your errands. Should we go to find that group of people overnight to settle the score?"
"That's what I mean." Li Dan smiled.
It is said that seven out of ten people at that time would suffer from night blindness due to lack of meat, so everything could only be done in the morning.
Or you have to use fire for lighting, exposing the target in exchange for visual safety.
But this group of people had been eating meat and offal for more than ten days, so this problem no longer existed. They also patrolled the city walls and walked at night.
"The problem is, we are not familiar with this area, and even if we find the Fire Temple, we may not be able to surround it.
Our opponents are more familiar with the local area than we are, and if we can’t catch them, they might escape, so we’ll be so busy tonight that we’ll get nothing out of a bamboo basket! "
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Wu Zhen raising his hands like others. He hurriedly asked: "What does the shopkeeper have to say?"
"Let my family Wu Kun take you there. He often travels to Wannian County and knows the roads very well with his eyes closed!"
Yang Yi waved his hand hurriedly: "How is this possible? We are going to suppress the bandits. If Dalang follows you, are you not afraid of danger?"
Wu Zhen grinned: "My son has also practiced boxing, otherwise Chief Xiao Yi thinks how could my family be able to open a shop here for a hundred years?
Besides, there are still people like you here. A few thieves can't hurt him, so it doesn't matter! "Everyone suddenly realized that it seems that there is a reason why this old store has been standing for several generations.
Li Dan thought, could it be that my shopkeeper also knows some martial arts? "Well, in that case, thank you my shopkeeper for your generosity!"
Li Dan accepted it generously, knowing that the other party also wanted to use their hands to solve the problem of strong men, so he no longer insisted.
My shopkeeper was overjoyed and ordered his assistants to call Wu Kun up to listen to arrangements and dispatches. Wu Kun quickly came to the house, and after hearing what his father said, he was happy to go.
Li Dan asked him to explain in detail the situation and terrain around the Fire Temple, and he had a rough idea in mind.
Revising as he asked, with a few strokes, Li Dan soon drew a map around the Fire Temple on the paper, even including woods and trails.
My father and son looked at each other in shock.
Li Dan asked someone to find three bamboo clips and a thin hemp rope, hang the picture on it, then turned around and said to the surrounding eyes:
"Brother Wu Kun just talked about the situation there. I drew a picture for everyone to see."
After speaking, he asked several leaders to gather around him and pointed with the pencil in his hand:
“This is the direction of Maotang we came from, this is our current location, and this is Guanlong Pond where the West Pearl River flows into from our northeast direction.
Along the West Pearl River is the official road, four miles to the southeast, there is an uphill slope.
The mountain on the right sticks out its tongue in front of the face, and the hillside from Ax Ridge on the left still faces east and west. Xizhu River and Guandao are almost close to each other here.
Brother Cai just said that when the water is strong, it will flood the official road, but there is not much rain now, and the water in Xizhu only reaches the feet.
So the group of people may have left horse hoof prints when they walked here, so we need to observe carefully. The Fire Temple is in the col behind the left-hand slope.
If he can't see us on the official road from there, we can't see them either. Therefore, I guess the robbers will put a post on Ax Ridge to monitor the movement of the official road. "
After saying that, he glanced over and said, "Brother Yi, you and the elder brother will go together first. It's best to hold the thief's eyes shut first, and then surround the mountain temple to find out what's going on inside."
Then he told Gu Da: "Let the whole team assemble. You, me, Mavericks, and Shou Jingang (Zhang Bo) all packed up and set off. They hitched four carts, and the mules and horses chewed their heads and wrapped their hooves in thick cloth to Lihuo Shen. We stopped two miles away from the temple to wait for news about Xiao Yi."
After speaking, he turned to Liu Hongsheng and Li Biao, who looked anxious: "You two, take the fourth person to pack up your things, settle the store money, and take the remaining carriages and horses to join the brigade as soon as possible, and then continue to the front official road to the regiment." Outside Ji Village, trains are on guard."
After the arrangement was completed, everyone separated to prepare for departure. Xiao Yi was already impatient. He and his group of people tied up their luggage and threw it into the carriage. They carried swords, shields, flails, and bamboo guns and went ahead under Wu Kun's guidance. Set off.
After less than half an hour, the four main players were on the road. At this time, it was Yin hour, the sky was misty and bright, and the people behind could see the back of the people in front.
After receiving the instructions from the corps commanders, everyone gritted their teeth and kept silent. They walked forward for about two miles in silence and then got off the car gently.
Li Dan jumped out of the car. As soon as the stick head was placed on the ground, someone in front was heard whispering a command in the mist.
Soon Gu Da led a team member wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat over, who was Yang Yi's subordinate.
"Leader of the team," the visitor said, clasping his fists: "The sentry above has been captured. Brother Yi surrounded the Fire Temple and asked his subordinates to send the prisoners back."
After hearing what he said, Li Dan noticed that there was a second-largest fire soldier behind him, holding down a guy who was wet and sleepy like a rice dumpling, kneeling on the ground and shaking.
"Have you ever tried it?" Li Dan asked in a low voice.
"Just asked a few questions." The team member replied: "There are five in total, and there are three in the temple now. There is also one who went out to check the hunting traps dug in Yinshi and has not come back yet."
"Haha, there is still a lucky one." Song Xiaoniu said with a smile.
"Ask him where the man went. Mavericks is leading an ambush in that direction. We must capture or kill him without leaving any further trouble!"
Li Dan just finished speaking and grabbed him. After thinking about it, he said: "Since you are a hunter, he may be very capable of tossing, so bring two rope nets with you!"
Go back and ask all the horsemen and fire soldiers to stay and guard the vehicles until the fourth one comes up to join them. The rest each hold weapons and go up the mountain with rope nets and bamboo fences.
Looking over, I saw that the slope on that side was gentler, and there was a not-deep valley in the middle. After climbing another slope, we saw an adobe house with a thatched roof outside the bamboo forest on the mountain col.
Yang Yi was sitting on the roots of a Chinese toon tree chewing dry food. When he saw them coming, he pointed and said in a low voice: "Here, that's the Fire Temple."
"That's it?" Gu Da grinned after hearing this: "What kind of temple is this? It doesn't even have a mountain gate!"
"This is really it." Wu Kun came over and said, "You see, there's nothing special about the three thatched huts. That's why it's strange.
It is said that some people saw wildfires and lightning strikes around here, but nothing happened to this cabin.
After standing for two hundred years without any damage, the people around it gradually began to think it was a god. They built a statue of the god of fire inside and it became a temple. "
"Oh, what's the origin?" Everyone did not feel that a war was imminent, but was attracted by this magical story.
"Then if we capture the robber inside, wouldn't it be best not to destroy it?" Zhang Bo asked, and everyone nodded in agreement.
While they were chatting, Li Dan had already taken a closer look at this rustic "temple", and then asked Yang Yi: "How did you arrange your people?"
"There are them in four directions, especially the main entrance and the east wall. Because the east wall collapsed and had a gap of more than one foot, the remaining part is only two feet high." Yang Yi explained.
Li Dan nodded and began to assign their respective tasks.
According to Li Dan's plan, there are three walls to be surrounded, and the most important of these three walls is the east wall!
Li Dan had observed that there were two side rooms with half of them on the west side. He heard the neighing of horses and speculated that they were used as stables. However, the back wall was still there, so it was unlikely that the thieves could easily escape from here.
So he appointed Zhang Bo in this direction. Zhang Bo gave Yang Yi a group of men, and he took a group himself and the two men Yang Yi left in the west.
The main entrance...the door panel actually no longer exists, leaving only the empty porch. Li Dan placed Gu Da here and reinforced the three people Yang Yi placed outside the main entrance.
"One team rushed in to control the horses in the wing, and the other team blocked the front as my backup. After these two teams entered, Brother Xiao Yi's people sealed the main entrance with fences and rope nets to prevent people from shouting. Do you understand?"
Li Dan said, and when Gu Da nodded, he turned to Yang Xiaoyi and said, "I will give you a group of people, and the other group will use a fence to seal the gap. I will personally take three of your people to go in through the gap to block the door."
At this time, the other party will definitely panic and retreat into the house.
But there is no danger inside. In the end, it is very likely that they will climb up to the rafters, break open the thatch on the roof, and run toward you. You need to set up a trap for him with a fence and tell him to run toward the gap. Then you just set up a net behind the gap and wait. "
Gu Da clapped his hands together: "Sanlang, there are so many of us, why not rush in and stab them with swords and spears? Why bother?"
"You want to swarm again? These people are strange." Yang Yi said: "Didn't I tell you in the store just now, why did they steal our horses?
Why didn't you run away after you did something bad and lead us to find you? I guess Brother Dan wanted to catch him alive for questioning, but it would be boring if he was dead! "
"Brother Xiao Yi can guess a lot, but it's not just that." Li Dan smiled: "We came out to serve as husbands on errands, not to catch thieves.
If there really is a Jianghu person here, let's talk about it and there is a misunderstanding. If he hurts his life rashly, it would be bad to form a grudge. "
"Oh, that's right, we never thought about it." Gu Da and others nodded repeatedly.
After the discussion, we split up. Chen Salmon stayed below to lead the convoy, and Li Dan used the excuse of insufficient manpower in the west to ask Mao Zaidi to follow Zhang Bo.
Everyone came down from the west slope, quickly surrounded the earth temple, quietly took their positions, and then began to close the circle.
