"I have no idea……"
"Sister Jian..." Chi Chengzi hugged her awkwardly, letting her tears wet his clothes.
Sister Jian snuggled into his arms: "Actually, when you appeared in front of me that day, I thought it was Nie Liang who was back."
Chi Chengzi frowned: "Do I look similar to him?"
Sister Jian nodded: "With longer hair, it looks more like her."
Chi Chengzi couldn't help but froze, savoring every word that Sister Jian said.
After this delay, Yun Kong had arrived at the exit mentioned by Jian Mei, and indeed saw a different scene from the past. It was obvious that there was a path that could be continued, not what he usually saw.
However, he vaguely remembered that when Chi Chengzi came with him on his back, he did not pass through the mountain stream, and there was dry land along the way...
Ignoring it, once he saw the exit, he couldn't wait to run out.
He stared at the exit, fearing that it would suddenly close.
He stared at the exit, and it seemed that he could see the time outside the exit flowing like a river, bright and dark, dark and bright again, and the speed of the sun and the moon could be seen with the naked eye.
The more he stared, the more anxious he became.
"What the hell is Chi Chengzi doing?"
Take the first step. He thought so.
So he took a step forward.
One more step?
He took a step further and looked back, but there was still no sign of Chi Chengzi.
His consciousness could no longer control his feet.
Before he knew it, he was almost at the end.
At this time, he finally saw Chi Chengzi.
But it's strange, Chi Chengzi's movements are so slow!
What the hell is he doing?
Chi Chengzi stepped slowly, incredibly slowly. Yunkong was almost getting angry waiting for him to take a step forward.
"Chichengzi, come here quickly!"
Before Yun Kong finished shouting, something cold was pressed against his neck.
This cold feeling is very familiar.
He slowly turned his head and saw five fierce-looking soldiers.
Needless to say, what was pressed against his neck was a weapon, and he could even feel the resentment lingering on the weapon.
"Who are you?!" the soldier shouted.
Yunkong wanted to see if Chi Chengzi was coming, but just as he was about to move, the weapon penetrated deeper into his flesh.
"Who are you?! You're so brave, sneaking around here?"
"No need to ask," another soldier said, "Just take him back."
Yun Kong wanted to look back at Chi Chengzi again, but someone grabbed the back of his neck, his hands were locked behind his back, and he could no longer move.
※※※
Chi Chengzi didn't know whether he saw Yun Kong.
Something flashed outside the exit, and he had no time to see it clearly.
He saw that it quickly became dark outside the exit, and only a few steps closer, it turned back to daylight.
He thought that maybe Yun Kong had gone out earlier.
This step is probably a few days away.
"That guy is impatient."
He shook his head, smiled, and strode out.
Very busy tonight.
He sat in the camp tent and read at night, reading one of his favorite books, "Sun Wu's Art of War".
Tomorrow is the first battle of his life.
Rereading "Sun Wu's Art of War" on the eve of the war, it was like the two sages of military science, Sun Wu and Wu Qi, came to the camp in person to guide him thousands of years apart.
Everything has been deployed, and tomorrow is the time to verify whether the military strategy is effective.
At this important moment, an unprecedented sound of copper bells came from outside the camp. He was just confused when his subordinates escorted a Taoist priest in.
He immediately stood up from his chair and questioned his subordinates with his eyes.
"Captain, this man is sneaking around at the foot of the mountain."
He took a look at the Taoist priest to see if he was a real Taoist priest or a trick of the other party.
If he sends people to sneak into the enemy camp, there is no guarantee that the other party will do the same thing.
Sun Wu said: "Soldiers are crafty."
He also said: "The one who wins the temple before fighting has to be counted as the winner."
Wu Qi said: "This is not the power of chariots and cavalry, but the plan of a sage."
The deployment before the decisive battle, various detailed calculations and strategies, may have decided the outcome before killing the enemy.
He and his subordinates were all new to the battlefield, like young and fearless tiger cubs.
However, he has strong martial arts skills, a lot of reading, and is both wise and courageous. Therefore, he was appreciated by Liu Kai, the pacifier of Zhending Mansion, and was appointed as the squad leader, giving him a chance to show his ambition. Therefore, there must be no mistakes in this first battle!
The Taoist priest was dressed in a Taoist robe and a straw hat. On his back was a yellow cloth bag embroidered with the Eight Trigrams of Innateness. He held a bamboo pole in his hand, hung a yellowing white cloth trick, and even the two copper bells made an old sound.
He pointed to the yellow bag on the Taoist priest's shoulder: "Search his bag."
The subordinate agreed, pulled down the yellow cloth bag, and dumped the contents on the ground.
A peach wood sword, a bronze mirror, a wood seal, a pen, ink and inkstone, cinnabar, yellow paper, a bamboo tube, flint, a bunch of copper coins, a book of "Book of Changes"... What caught the attention of the young team leader was a book and a small scroll.
Open the book first. The front is full of words, which seem to be recorded by Taoist priests. The second half is still blank. The last part of the text is: "I have lived in Xiushui Stream for thirty days, and I know that Jian Mei knows its exit..." There was also a stick of hay in it.
"Be careful of that blade of grass, don't drop it." The Taoist priest suddenly said.
When the team leader heard this, he even wanted to pick up the hay and smell it. It was so dry that there was no smell anymore: "What kind of grass is it?" He pressed the stem with his fingers and found that the inside was soft.
"It's just an ordinary rush, a souvenir from my master."
The team leader glanced at the Taoist priest's eyes and saw that his eyes were extremely clear, and no liar could fake such a look.
The sage Mencius once said: "The eyes cannot hide the evil. If the mind is upright, the eyes will be clear; if the mind is not right, the eyes will be dim." This means: The eyes cannot cover up the evil and righteousness in the heart. Those with an upright mind have bright eyes, while those with an evil mind have blurred eyes. . He had also experienced what Mencius said, so he believed it deeply.
The squad leader also has a beloved master, Zhou Tong, a master archer from his hometown.
Zhou Tong taught him the magic skill of being able to shoot a bow with both hands, and also gave him his two favorite big bows as gifts. This time when he went into battle, his master Zhou Tong's beloved bows were always with him.
He put the dry rushes back into the book, picked up the small scroll, and asked, "What is this?"
"The "True Shape Map of the Five Mountains" is used to ward off evil spirits when entering the mountains."
Opening the scroll, he drew strange patterns on the mildew-stained paper. He also marked the words Taishan, Songshan, Maoshan, etc., and wrote the shapes and names of various monsters.
"I'm sorry, Taoist Priest." The team leader bent down and put the things on the floor back into the bag, "It's so late, why are you walking around here?"
"I also want to ask, what year is this?"
"What year?" the team leader asked curiously, "What year do you think it is?"
"Zhenghe seven years."
The soldiers who escorted him in frowned: "Brother-in-law?" They shook their heads at the squad leader, implying that this person was not trustworthy.
The team leader was calm and noncommittal: "It's been four years since Xuanhe."
"So...how many years has it been?"
The squad leader calculated with his fingers, raised his head and asked his subordinates: "Zhenghe changed his name after eight years, right?" His subordinates nodded suspiciously, "So it's been five years."
The Taoist priest pursed his lips and bit his lips in annoyance, and then asked: "Is this Jiangning Mansion?"
The team leader found it even more interesting: "No, it's Zhending Mansion." Seeing that the Taoist priest was still confused, he added: "It's on Hebei West Road, and further north you will reach the border of the Liao people."
"So far away..." The Taoist priest lowered his head and said to himself, "I think it's Beiyue Changshan Cave."
The subordinates became impatient: "Brother-in-law, we caught him, but why is he the only one asking us questions?"
"You are right," the squad leader said sternly, "What should I call the Taoist Priest?"
"I'm poor Yun Kong." Yun Kong cupped his hands and said.
He saw that the young man had a strong body and strong muscles in his arms, but his face was childish, as if he was serving as a soldier on his first trip. He is a brother-in-law to his subordinates, and he is gentle and elegant, so he is highly respected by his subordinates, which makes Yun Kong also feel respect for him.
"Back to the original question, why is the Taoist priest walking around here?"
"I... went to visit the ancient ruins of the Immortal. As soon as I left the cave, I was caught by your men."
"There are robbers running rampant around here, how dare the Taoist Priest run around?"
"Robber?" Yun Kong was stunned.
"We are stationed here under the orders of the imperial court. To avoid harming innocent people, we also ask the Taoist priest not to leave the camp for the time being."
Yun Kong was anxious to get on his way. He just calculated with his fingers and found that he had indeed missed the ten-year agreement with his master. Now he wished he could fly to his master.
