The young man made a large circle to avoid the guards in front of the camp gate, and cautiously touched the side of the military camp. This abandoned guarding camp is not large. According to the military regulations of the dynasty, the number of troops stationed in each town in the Western Region cannot exceed 300, the number of troops stationed in each vassal state cannot exceed 600, and the number of troops stationed in each city under its jurisdiction cannot exceed 200. In case of war, the surrounding towns, cities, and vassal states would dispatch troops, and then Suiye City, the seat of the Protectorate, would rush to help.
If Qiang had not established itself before and did not belong to a vassal state, the camp could only hold about 300 people in response to the military system.
The camp walls are all made of huge rocks, which should be quarried nearby. They are about six feet high and not as tall as a person. The young man walked around to the back, felt close to compare the height, and quietly touched the head to observe the situation inside. After confirming that no one was there, he jumped in.
The interior of the military camp is naturally simple and simple. They are all simple houses built from pine and cypress trees cut down on the mountain. They are arranged in orderly rows. There are about four rows. However, they must have been idle for many years and most of them are dilapidated. The young man tiptoed and dodged left and right, groping through the wooden houses one after another, and stopped in the middle.
A team of six horse thieves patrolled in a decent manner, but at first glance they looked loose. After all, they are just a ragtag group of stragglers. If everyone is in high spirits and alert, then they are not horse thieves but an army.
The horse thief who deliberately slowed down and fell at the end limped, patted the bald horse thief in front, and pursed his lips to the side. The horse thief, who only had some messy hair on the back of his head, yawned, and the two of them walked towards the place where the young man was hiding.
The young man panicked and jumped onto the roof, lowering himself tightly against the beam and holding his breath.
The bald horse thief was outside, and the lame horse thief was inside. The two of them were just below the boy. They looked around carefully to make sure there was no one else. The lame horse thief reached into his arms, took out a package of things wrapped in oil paper, opened it and said : "That's all, be careful, the shipment from Shule will not arrive for another two days."
There was a whole piece of something similar to a cigarette cake wrapped in oil paper. It was dark in the blur, and it wasn't until the bald horse thief brought his torch closer that he could see that it was an oily green color.
This reminded the boy of the mint leaves in the sandalwood, the color they get after drying in the sun.
I wonder if the bald horse thief didn't sleep well, so he yawned again and said, "How many times can I save more? Let's have fun first." After speaking, he reached into his arms and took out a dark object, as thin as paper. , but judging from his movements, it is also extremely hard, it should be an iron thing. The bald horse thief held the iron piece in one hand, and stretched out his little finger with the other hand to spread a small amount of the green cake on the oil paper onto the iron piece.
The peeping boy thought that this thing must be very valuable. When the lame horse thief put away the oil paper, the bald horse thief put his little finger with a little tobacco leaf in his mouth and sucked it for a while, with an expression of enjoyment.
After licking his fingers clean, the bald horse thief yawned and took out the fire stick again, lit a fire, and put the flickering flames under the iron plate, burning for a while. In just two breaths, the green tobacco leaves on the iron sheet turned brown, and a burst of white smoke rose. The two horse thieves quickly stretched out their heads and inhaled until the brown turned to carbon black and then completely burnt, and the white smoke became thicker. With black hair and gray hair, the two of them reluctantly separated their heads that were close together and exhaled loudly. The expressions on their faces were one of contentment. Finally, they wiped their noses in unison and left.
The young man on the roof was astonished. There was a fragrance mixed in the air that hit his nostrils. The smell was much better than Old Yin's inferior tobacco leaves. The young man couldn't help but sniff again, thinking about writing down the smell. I’ll look for it in the future too.
But after just a few puffs, he felt dizzy. The young man was busy gathering his mind, but the trance became even worse. He could only bite the tip of his tongue to stimulate his nerves to stay awake.
I don't know how long it took for the young man to regain his composure, and then he looked around intently. There were already lights in the camp. Unknowingly, he fainted for half an hour?
The young man calculated the time and found that it was already the beginning of Xu. It was really inappropriate to be so careless. He quickly calmed down and made sure that there was no movement around him. He got off the wooden house and returned the same way.
Over there, Ah Da returned according to the prescribed time. The three of them waited and saw the young man. They couldn't help but feel anxious and secretly worried.
When Ah Da went to the back mountain to investigate, he saw the young man on the wooden roof of a house from a high position. However, he was far away and could not see clearly. He only saw him lying on the roof, so how could he know the young man's condition at that time. Now that we have arrived in Xuzheng, there is still no sign of the young man. How can we not worry the three of them?
A rustling sound sounded, and Ada was immediately alert. He subconsciously bowed his body slightly, and touched the halberd hidden in his boots. Old Yin leader also immediately protected Wu Liuqi behind him. His eyes instantly became sharp, staring motionlessly at the direction of the sound.
The young man appeared slowly, rubbing his head. Here, both Ah Da and Lao Yin took a deep breath and relaxed. Without waiting for the outspoken Ah Da to ask questions, the young man did not hide anything and told everything he had just experienced.
After all, a wisp of green smoke put him to sleep for so long, and the young man was really curious about what it was.
After listening to the young man's story, Ah Da looked very understanding and said, "Mixiang, it's definitely Mixiang." His knowing look, as if he had everything under control, made the young man curl his lips.
Wu Liuqi opened his mouth to expose his shortcomings and said, "Those two are fine." Ah Da rolled his eyes.
The old Yin leader on the side smacked his mouth, rubbed the fine stubble on his withered old face with his thumb, and asked: "Oil green tobacco leaves?"
"It's much thinner than tobacco leaves, like powder, but also like tea cakes."
"No matter how much the tobacco leaves are ground, they can't be turned into powder." Old Yin leader pondered, "What's more, the tobacco leaves turn yellow as soon as they dry. How can they still be green?"
The boy and Ah Ziran had never seen such a thing before, and Wu Liuqi didn't know it at such a young age. The three of them just waited for Old Yin, the most knowledgeable of the four, to explain this thing that made people dizzy. What is it that has been sinking for so long that I have forgotten the real purpose of coming here.
Fortunately, Lao Yin leader lived up to expectations and suddenly said: "Afurong!"
This answer stunned Ah Da and Wu Liuqi. They didn't understand why, but the young man was shocked. He hurriedly sat down cross-legged and united his mind to activate the Qi machine to circulate in his body.
The young man naturally knew the meaning of these three words. Don't think that the name "Aphron" is very nice, but speaking of it, this thing has great abilities. A small amount can cause hallucinations, and a large amount can make people die slowly, which is equivalent to Chronic poison.
I remember that there was a time when I was a child. The boy’s sister loved to read some eccentric miscellaneous journals, and she would always read them to the boy. If I remember correctly, there is a record of this in the "Miscellaneous Notes of the Dream Field" written by a former scholar who failed. : Blurry flower, introduced to our country during the Xifulin Dynasty, also known as aphrodisiac. Eating it can cause people to dream and become addicted. People who become addicted will burst into tears, and their limbs will be wilted and unable to lift. Even if a knife is thrust in front of them, they will only bow their heads. He was waiting to die and could not even resist for a moment. Therefore, if you eat it for a long time, your shoulders will be hunched, your waist will collapse, your color will be withered, and you will look as if you are about to die.
How could the young man not be afraid of such a terrifying thing? After all, Old Yin Boss was younger than him.
Old Yin Boss told A Da and Wu Liuqi about this aphrodisiac. The young man felt that there was no serious problem in his body and said: "During the Wei Dynasty, it was explicitly forbidden to cultivate this thing among the people. I asked Zitian The emperor has always paid attention to it since the founding of the country. The checkpoints at all levels have always been strictly inspected, and the criminal law for offenders has been so severe that they will even sit in the village. Is it possible that the Shule that the horse thief mentioned is still secretly planted?"
"Impossible." Old Yin's head denied it directly, "The governor's office is in Suiye, which is only a day or two's journey from Shule. They don't dare. Maybe Shule is just a transit station, and this Afurong It must have been smuggled in."
The young man fell into deep thought again and considered whether he should inform the court. After all, this thing was so harmful that it made people and gods angry.
"I'll go in and investigate again." The young man no longer dwelled on the matter of Afurong, and put it aside for the time being. For now, this matter can only be regarded as unimportant, and saving people is the most important thing.
But Ada stretched out his hand to hold the young man and said, "I just saw the same thing in the back mountain." Then the young man remembered and secretly thought that this drug was really harmful to people, and his head is still a little dizzy even now.
Ada added: "There are two teams patrolling here, each team has six people. There is a house with a collapsed corner in the northeast, which should be the kitchen, next to the stable. There are three or four houses to the west, and two or three people go in and out. Calling people, I feel it should be the room of the leader of this group. There are two rooms to the northwest, and three or four people came out to relieve themselves in the middle. It should be their bedrooms. According to the military system of the dynasty, there are twelve couches in the soldier's bedroom. The number of people happens to match the number of patrols. This brings the total number of people in the camp to around thirty. But I didn’t find the girl you were looking for.”
Ada was also attentive and figured out the outline of the horse thief, which made the young man slightly stunned and secretly praised him. He really had the talent to be a spy.
Old Chief Yin said: "It should be around thirty people."
The young man and Ah Da looked at Mr. Yin with suspicion in their eyes. .
"After all, this is a larger stronghold. There should be some hidden sentries around here."
The two people on the opposite side were suddenly stunned, and the young man immediately said: "But until now, I haven't seen a hidden whistle all the way."
Lao Yin's wrinkled brows furrowed, "I'm wondering too."
The four of them fell into silence for a while.
"There is a conspiracy." Wu Liuqi suddenly said, attracting the attention of the three people.
Even though this young Morizuro usually doesn't like to talk, it always makes the teenager unconsciously forget his existence, but the child's occasional words always seem to be able to clear up the fog when they are deep in thought. middle.
"When something goes wrong, there must be a demon." Thinking that the three of them didn't understand what he meant, Wu Liuqi explained anxiously, "The storytellers in the city are good at saying this."
"That makes sense." Ada nodded in agreement.
The young man also made a rare joke with them and said: "If you have nothing to do, listen to books and gain knowledge."
One sentence made Wu Liuqi's young face turn red.
"If the horse thieves really have a trap, according to my analysis, it is most likely to be aimed at me. It was me and Zhuang Yuan who provoked them last time, and now they have only captured Zhuang Yuan. They are probably using Zhuang Yuan as bait to lure me. Take the bait." The young man analyzed.
"This is called luring you into an urn." Ah Da suddenly realized, "Then he closed the door and beat him..." He felt it was inappropriate in the middle of the sentence, so he said, "Catch him in an urn..." He also felt it was inappropriate, so he laughed and shut up.
Old Yin Boss answered the conversation and joked: "Your book listening ability is not as good as that of Xiao Wuzi."
The few days of contact made the young man accustomed to the banter and bickering between the three of them, and he smiled in agreement with their occasional harmless jokes. Naturally, the young man would no longer pay attention to the unintentional mistakes made by Shou Zhuolang, who had made a living by fishing since he was a child. He obviously didn't have much ink in his belly, and said: "Since they have a trap, let's use it to their advantage." And so on. After whispering like this, the plan was finalized.
The crescent moon, which seemed to be very close to the ground, was already in the sky, and the evening wind was even more biting. This is the case in the Western Regions. Because the terrain is too high, it gets hot to death during the day and freezes to death at night.
The noise in the camp gradually faded away, and the guards who had just been replaced were still listless, leaning or sitting in a nap. The young man got up first and was about to sneak in when he heard shouts and torches on the mountain road in the distance.
Within a few breaths, I saw a group of twenty or thirty people holding torches and carrying wooden clubs and rushing to the camp gate. The leader, whose messy blond hair was illuminated by the fire, spoke a very unauthentic Zhou Mandarin and shouted loudly. , "Give our women back quickly and God will spare you."
The four young men, who were obviously frightened by the scene in front of them, looked at each other: How could this be possible?
Ada said in astonishment: "The old storyteller never said this."
