When Jiang Shuo asked, Li Zhuer had floated several feet away. She looked back and said with a smile, "Look, you will find out if you come with me."
Jiang Shuo said "Okay", and before he jumped off the wall, he heard a "squeak" behind him, and another door opened. This time it was Xiang'er and her aunt who ran out. She said with a tearful voice. He shouted: "Brother Shuo, where are you going?" Apparently he had just cried.
Jiang Shuo said: "Sister Zhu'er's visit late at night must have something to do. Xiang'er, you come with me."
Dugu Xiang burst into tears and said with a smile: "Okay!"
Ge Ruliang shouted: "You are not allowed to go!"
Dugu Xiang was shocked and did not dare to disobey. Mrs. Achu pinched her shoulders from behind and shook her head gently.
Seeing Xiang'er not leaving, Jiang Shuo turned around and saw Li Zhu'er jumping down along the scattered roofs of the palace city. She was already far away and the situation was urgent. He stamped his feet and said: "Xiang'er, I'm going to see Zhu'er. If anything happens, I’ll come back to you later!”
As he said this, he chased Li Zhuer's figure. Dugu Wen quickly caught up and said, "Shuo'er! Why do you care about that little demon girl? Isn't it enough to have Xiang'er as your wife?"
Jiang Shuo said in embarrassment as he ran, "No, it's not..."
Ge Ruliang did not chase him, he just stumbled on the spot and said: "Hey... Grandpa, why are you chasing him? Isn't the daughter of the Dugu family still rushing to get married?"
Dugu Wen ignored Ge Ruliang and just followed Jiang Shuo as he jumped downwards, saying, "Shuo'er, what are you thinking? Give your grandpa a happy message."
The Khotan palace city was built on a cliff. Li Zhuer walked outside the city and kept jumping down. At this time, the pavilions and palaces were blocking the way, and no one was seen. Jiang Shuo and Dugu Wen just followed her away. Just chasing in the general direction.
When he was losing his direction, he suddenly saw a ray of silver light striking Dugu Wen's chest. Dugu Wen was startled and stepped back. Jiang Shuo said angrily: "Zhu'er, what are you doing?"
It turned out that Li Zhuer had gone and returned, hiding in the shadows under the wall. When Jiang Shuo and Dugu Wen flew overhead, he suddenly took action and slashed at Dugu Wen with his sword. The moonlight was dim that day, but Jiang Shuo had extraordinary eyesight and could vaguely see. When I saw that Li Zhuer was using Yin Ziqi's sword "Xintinghou", I couldn't help but feel my heart skip a beat.
However, Li Zhuer did not intend to kill Dugu Wen. She used a stabbing attack in a sneak attack, but she swung her sword horizontally with the intention of forcing Dugu Wen back. As expected, Dugu Wen knew how powerful he was and took a step back, but Li Zhuer did not pursue him. Marquis Xinting drew out his sword and drew a cold light, inserting it back into the scabbard at his waist. At the same time, he stretched out his hand to take Jiang Shuo's hand and said, "This way." Then he led Jiang Shuo through the shadows between the walls of the palace courtyard. .
The two of them left the palace city soon, and Dugu Wen was nowhere to be found. It was not known whether he was thrown away or whether he was not pursued at all.
The cities in the Western Regions are different from the Central Plains cities like Chang'an and Luoyang. The streets are neat and straight, and the city is as intricate as a maze. Li Zhuer is obviously very familiar with the routes of Khotan City, and she takes Jiang Shuo through the door quickly, regardless of Ge Ruliang, No matter how good Dugu Qinggong was, it would be impossible to find the two of them.
At this time, Jiang Shuo had time to ask: "Sister Zhu'er, what's the important thing you want to see me for?"
Li Zhuer did not answer, but pointed to a well. Khotan City was different from Han Dynasty. There was a small square at the road intersection in the city, and a well in the middle. There was a colonnade outside the well, and a roof on it, like a house. A beautifully decorated pavilion.
During the day, residents all fetch water here. Although no one fetched water at night, there was a small group of soldiers guarding the place. The two men's lightness skills were extremely impressive. Taking advantage of the dark moon and high wind, Li Zhuer took the lead to sneak into the pavilion, turned over and walked out of the well. Jiang Shuo jumped down immediately after her, and the soldiers patrolling the square were unaware of it.
Jiang Shuo had walked through the secret underground tunnels more than once or twice, and he was already used to it. He used the gecko wall-walking technique and followed the wall of the well to the bottom. Sure enough, there was another tunnel on the wall of the well, and Li Zhuer had already lit up the tunnel in advance. The torch inserted in the wall is held in the hand to lead the way.
This tunnel only allowed one person to pass through. The two of them walked in tandem and walked for a while. They heard the sound of water and saw in front of them the Black Dragon Hidden River that ran through the city of Khotan.
Jiang Shuo suddenly realized that after the battle a few days ago, the secret passages in the royal city must have been sealed by the Khotanese army, but not all the passages outside the city could be sealed. Li Zhuer entered the palace through these underground rivers and secret passages. of.
Jiang Shuo rushed up and walked side by side with Li Zhuer, and called out again: "Sister Zhuer..."
But under the firelight, Li Zhuer was different from the smile he had when he faced Dugu Wen and Ge Ruliang before. At this moment, his face was expressionless and he didn't say a word. He just walked forward with one foot high and one foot low in the shallow water of the dark river. Jiang Shuo had no choice but to shut up and follow her.
Jiang Shuo heard a whistling sound in his ears and said happily: "Are there horses here? Oh... yes, they must be the wandering horses trapped underground by the cannibal."
That day, Pei Min and Li Zhuer blocked the exit with huge rocks, and many black-robed soldiers of the Great Food were sealed underground. When they walked back, they were swept away by the Khotanese army led by Yuchi Yao, and the Khotanese massacred all of them. They were cannibals and took the horses away, but it seemed that some of the horses had escaped and were hiding in the dark, undiscovered, so Jiang Shuo heard the horses' cries.
He sucked his tongue and made a horse talk, and sure enough he summoned several horses. He said to Li Zhuer, "Sister Zhuer, let's ride away."
Li Zhuer still didn't say anything, but chose a horse and jumped on it. Jiang Shuo saw that although these big horses were not thousands of miles away, they were all good horses. He rode on one of them at will and called the other horses to follow them. Walk.
The horse galloped for more than ten miles in the shallow water. The underground river had many twists and turns. In the darkness, Jiang Shuo didn't know where the two of them were going.
Li Zhuer suddenly stopped without warning, and Jiang Shuo asked, "What's wrong with sister Zhuer?"
Li Zhuer raised her head in the air and said, "We are already out."
When Jiang Shuo raised his head, he suddenly saw the sky full of stars. He had walked from the underground to the ground without even realizing it. When I looked back, I saw that the place was covered with rocks and crisscrossed by streams. If I hadn't known it in advance, I wouldn't have known that there was an underground river leading to the foot of Khotan City.
Li Zhuer dismounted and sat on a rock in a daze.
Jiang Shuo asked again: "Sister Zhuer, what happened?" He glanced at Li Zhuer's saber and continued: "Could it be An Qingxu..."
Li Zhuer tilted her head and smiled lightly: "Will you leave Xiang'er behind and follow me?"
Jiang Shuo suddenly felt that Li Zhu'er had a unique lazy temperament. The big events like the sky falling, the earth falling, and the blood flowing everywhere seemed to be nothing serious in her mouth. This was something Jiang Shuo had never experienced before when he was a teenager. Feel.
To Jiang Shuo, Li Zhuer was half enemy and half friend, always unpredictable, and this time he didn't even know why she came. Jiang Shuo calmed down and said: "I didn't abandon Xiang'er, I just wanted to see what you have." The matter comes to me...I'll speak first. If I'm a lobbyist for the Hidden Alliance, or if he's An Erlang, please stop talking as soon as possible."
Li Zhuer said: "Not for the Hidden Alliance, but for the giant."
Jiang Shuo said: "Isn't the leader of the Hidden Alliance General Pei? What's the difference between the two?"
Li Zhuer sighed and said: "Not everyone in the Hidden Alliance thinks like a giant. Even Zhuer has selfish motives. It's just that everyone admires the swordsman of the Tang Dynasty for his character and martial arts and gathered around him..."
Jiang Shuo thought of Piluo Ge, Ye Guizhen and the like, but he didn't think so and just kept silent.
Li Zhuer continued: "However, in the past few years, people in the alliance have been dying, going crazy, going crazy, and their vitality has been severely damaged. Many things can only be done by the giant himself..." She smiled slightly at Jiang Shuo and said: "Speaking of which, I still have to thank you for it."
Jiang Shuo remained silent.
Li Zhuer continued: "In the battle in Khotan a few days ago, although I did not expect that the Tang Dynasty's frontier troops were so powerful and they wiped out the main force of Da Bolu without any effort, but the spirit of the Great Cannibal was wiped out. Ling was unable to fight for a while, so it was considered that the goal of the Hidden Alliance was partially achieved. After that, the giants went south."
Jiang Shuo thought to himself: It turns out that Pei Min has left Anxi. I couldn't help but ask: "Where has General Pei gone?"
Li Zhuer said: "He went to Tubo. In the battle at Shibao City, the Tubo soldiers suffered little loss, but they lost a strategic location and killed a general. Their morale was greatly reduced. They have completely withdrawn from the land of Hequ and Xihai. Brother Shu Han still refused to give up and launched continuous attacks on the front line of Jishi Mountain. The Tubo army was beaten to the point of exhaustion. This went against the balance of the Hidden Alliance, and the giant went to find help for Tibet again."
Jiang Shuo said: "Tubo has Tianzhu to the south, Dashi to the west, and Nanzhao to the east. They are all enemies that have been conquered for years. Where can we find allies?"
Li Zhuer said: "Originally there was no possibility of forming an alliance, but the leader of Nanzhao was newly deceased. Although Ge Luofeng inherited the title of his father's King of Yunnan, the new Jiannan Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty, Xianyu Zhongtong, treated him very lightly. This is when you need allies.”
Jiang Shuo said with a hint of sarcasm, "Isn't that right? Pi Luoge and his son are important members of the Hidden Alliance."
Li Zhuer didn't seem to hear the thorn in his words, and said: "Young Master originally thought the same way. He went south just to make the two countries join forces and become the horns of each other... But something unexpected happened in Nanzhao."
Jiang Shuo shook his head and said, "It's been less than a month since we last said goodbye, and you've already gone to Nanzhao for a round trip? I don't believe this."
Li Zhuer said: "I didn't go south with the master. He told me everything through flying pigeons."
Jiang Shuo said: "Isn't this place thousands of miles away from Nanzhao? Even if it takes a month one way, we can't get there."
Li Zhuer said: "Tang people from Anxi want to go to Nanzhao. They have to go back to the Central Plains along the west bank of the river, and then take the Shu road through Jiannan to get there. The distance is not even ten thousand miles, but eight or nine thousand miles, and the Shu road is difficult to reach." OK, it is indeed difficult to reach in ten months, but Juzi’s route is to cross the uninhabited wasteland in the hinterland of Tubo, and then follow the Lancang River to Yuben City, which is only five thousand miles, and the road is smooth and easier to walk."
Jiang Shuo couldn't tell whether what she said was true or not, so he didn't want to pester her anymore and just asked, "You just said what happened."
Li Zhuer said: "Tubo said it was an alliance, but they sent a large army south to seize Yuben City. Fortunately, the guard general Duan Jianwei was careful and saw through the Tubo people's treacherous plot. He closed the door to resist the enemy at the critical moment, so Yuben City did not fall." It’s in the hands of the Tubo people, but now the city of Yuben is completely besieged, and the giants are also trapped.”
Jiang Shuo was amused after hearing this, and thought that Duan Jianwei was indeed alive and well. It seemed that it must have been his handiwork when he and Xiang'er were trapped underground. I am afraid that this person is also a member of the Hidden Alliance.
He sneered and said: "Sister Zhu'er, your lies are too incomplete. With General Pei's sword master ability, how can the mere Tibetan army trap him?"
