Zhou Ruoxiao was riding a horse on the road, and the evening breeze blew soothingly across his face, making his somewhat stern face soften a bit.
Although it was getting very late and the mountains and forests on both sides of the road were starting to get dark, his speed still did not slow down. Several of his men behind him were also galloping behind them.
The sound of horse hooves shattered, leaving a trail of smoke and dust.
After running for a long time, Zhou Ruoxiao felt refreshed and there was no trace of fatigue on his face.
"Your Majesty, if we go over this mountain ahead, we will reach the Red Dragon Army's station." The men behind him shouted loudly.
Zhou Ruoxiao laughed and said, "Okay, hurry up and try to get there before dark."
In the dusk, Zhou Ruoxiao led a group of people into the mountain forest. The dark mountain forest swallowed their figures like a giant beast with its bloody mouth.
After walking through the forest and over the mountains, the moon was already near the treetops.
Zhou Ruoxiao stopped and saw a brightly lit military camp in front of him. The military camp was so vast that it was impossible to see it all at a glance. Before he could take a closer look, a group of soldiers patrolling outside the military camp spotted them.
"Who is coming? This is the Red Dragon Army's station." The soldiers shouted loudly and surrounded them.
The patrolling soldiers all held torches in their hands. By the light of the fire, they saw clearly that the person coming was King Xiaoyao, and they all knelt on the ground.
"I didn't know that King Xiaoyao was coming. Please forgive me."
Zhou Ruoxiao dismounted and said softly, "Take me to see your general. I have something important to ask him."
The soldiers immediately took Zhou Ruoxiao into the military camp, while several of Zhou Ruoxiao's men were waiting outside.
Passing through the slightly crowded but very tidy soldiers' camps, I encountered piles of soldiers cooking rice in large pots from time to time, and the fragrance of rice wafted in the air.
Although there were patrolling soldiers leading the way, there were still many soldiers looking at Zhou Ruoxiao critically along the way.
"Your Red Dragon Army is very disciplined. I have to say that you are better than the average army in this regard." Zhou Ruoxiao looked at the environment along the way and said with a smile, "Among so many armies I have seen, I can rank you fifth.”
The soldier did not say anything when he heard the words, and led him to a large tent in the center of the military camp. Two mighty-looking soldiers wearing heavy armor looked at them with bright eyes at the door.
"My lord, I can only send you here. The general is in this camp."
Zhou Ruoxiao nodded and faced the majestic gazes of the two soldiers guarding the door. He took two steps forward and was about to enter the tent. However, the two soldiers stopped him with their hands and said, "Prince Zhou, there is no order from the general." You can't go in."
Zhou Ruoxiao was stunned for a moment when he saw this, then turned back to look at the soldiers who were leading the way, and said with a smile on his face, "I was wrong, I guess this one can be ranked third."
"Oh, I'm curious about which two armies are ranked first and second in the row. I would like to ask the prince to come in and help me clarify my doubts."
An Zicheng's voice came faintly from inside the tent, and the guard guard opened the door curtain, and Zhou Ruoxiao strode in.
Several oil lamps burned silently. There was a long table and several chairs at the entrance, with a map of Kyushu placed on it.
An Zicheng was sitting at a small table opposite the door. There was half a bowl of white rice and a plate of soy sauce beef on the table. It looked like he had just had dinner. There was a stack of official documents beside the desk, and he was reading one of them.
"General An is indeed a very busy man. He doesn't even have time to eat." Zhou Ruoxiao said with emotion.
"I'm not as busy as Prince Zhou. Why are you rushing to see me so late? Is there anything important?" An Zicheng chuckled.
"Haha, it's not urgent. General An, let's eat first." Zhou Ruoxiao smiled and walked around the map to read.
Hearing this, An Zicheng also put down the official document in his hand and finished the meal in a few bites. He simply put the bowls and chopsticks aside, wiped his mouth again, and said, "If you're not in a hurry, then please ask Prince Zhou to help me clear up my previous confusion."
"Oh, General An eats quickly." Zhou Ruoxiao looked up at him in surprise and said.
An Zicheng just looked at Zhou Ruoxiao expressionlessly, and Zhou Ruoxiao calmly lowered his head and reached out to flip through the somewhat worn map and said, "When it comes to the army in the world, I think I know more or less about it. The second best in my heart is the Yan Guards of Chang'an."
An Zicheng was stunned when he heard this, his expression was thoughtful.
Zhou Ruoxiao continued, "The reason why it is ranked second is that Yan Mo is in charge. I believe General An also knows the reputation of General Yan Mo. He is fierce in his troops and has powerful fighting skills. He is especially good at attacking cities and plundering territory." battle. He was awarded the title of Tiger General by the late emperor, and his seventh-level strength is also extremely powerful."
"Two tigers and one wolf guard, the gods also give way." An Zicheng said with a smile, "Some people say that the late emperor's empire was all defeated by two tiger generals, the wise tiger and the fierce tiger, and the wolf guard military counselor."
"Haha, these are just jokes made by boring people." Zhou Ruoxiao waved his hand and said, "The second is the strength of the soldiers of the Yan Guard Regiment. Today's Yan Guard Regiment is the same as when Emperor Jiang first established the Jiang Dynasty. It is composed of elite soldiers selected from all levels of the army from all over the country. These people are all the elite of the elite, and the lowest among them have a third-level cultivation level. Therefore, someone once said that 30,000 Yan Guards can be worth a hundred thousand troops. "
"Then who is this First Army?" An Zicheng asked with twinkling eyes.
"Haha, this is number one... I wonder if General An still remembers Meng Huangwei?" Zhou Ruoxiao said, looking directly into An Zicheng's eyes.
An Zicheng's expression changed and he said, "Hasn't Meng Huangwei been wiped out by the demon emperor's army long ago?"
Zhou Ruoxiao said with a smile, "In terms of military strength, the demon clan was several times stronger than our human clan at the time. The Menghuang Guard was formed by Emperor Meng himself, and its strongest point is the Demon Locking Formation passed down by Emperor Meng. This formation is extremely mysterious. , the 100,000 Menghuang Guards relied on this demon-locking formation to forcefully trap millions of demons to death, which laid an important step for the human race to later defeat the demons."
"Indeed, after this battle, Meng Huangwei disappeared. Everyone in the world has said that Meng Huangwei also died together with the millions of monsters."
Zhou Ruoxiao walked to an oil lamp again, and the light of the oil lamp was flickering. He squinted his narrow eyes and looked at the flickering light, and said, "However, the Demon Locking Formation is still in the hands of the Menghuang Royal Family. But the Menghuang Royal Family is A lot of people escaped."
The camp fell into silence again. After a long time, An Zicheng said, "It's just a thing of the past."
"With 100,000 men, we can annihilate a million powerful demon clans. I dare say that no other army in the world can do this." Zhou Ruoxiao sighed.
An Zicheng said calmly, "Please tell me, Your Majesty, why are you here today?"
"General An, don't worry, it's just a trivial matter." Zhou Ruoxiao walked slowly to An Zicheng's desk and said, "General, does he know about Jian Fu, the Minister of War, who was arrested during the morning court today?"
"Have heard a little bit."
"He has confessed."
Zhou Ruoxiao took out a purple token from his arms and placed it gently on An Zicheng's desk.
On the top of the copper token were written three characters: Prime Minister's Order.
After a long time, Zhou Ruoxiao and An Zicheng walked out of the camp one after another.
An Zicheng shouted loudly, "The first battalion of the Red Dragon Army will gather outside the military camp in a quarter of an hour."
Several of Zhou Ruoxiao's men were startled when they heard the shout. Looking from a distance, the flames of the Red Dragon Army's station were flickering, as if the sleeping dragon was about to wake up.
Late at night, Xishan. This is a small mountain valley less than thirty miles away from Chang'an City.
At this time, Huo Long was sitting in a cave, and he and Zhao Gao were gathered around the fire. The darkness of the outside world lingered outside the cave entrance, and the firelight was silent.
Inside the cave, more than thirty servants were already asleep.
The firelight shone on their faces. Zhao Gao looked at the dark sky outside the cave and said uneasily, "I'm afraid something happened to the lady. It's so late and she hasn't arrived yet."
"If you're tired, go to sleep. I'll sit here for a while." Huo Long fiddled with the fire twice with a wooden stick.
In the forest outside the cave, a burst of bird chirping rang out. Zhao Gao hesitated for a moment and said, "Master, don't worry. I will go back to Chang'an tomorrow morning to inquire about the news, and I will definitely find the lady. It's quite cold in the middle of the night, so don't freeze."
Huo Long didn't pay attention, but looked at the darkness outside the cave with an uneasy expression.
After the birds chirped, silence fell outside the cave again, a deathly silence.
He stood up and came to the entrance of the cave, looking into the dark forest. Darkness slowly poured into Huo Long's heart as thickly as ink, but he could feel that a powerful aura had surrounded the entire Xishan Mountain.
"What's the matter? Master." Zhao Gao followed Huo Long and asked.
"Something may be going on, someone is coming!" Huo Long said with a sad face.
"Didn't we leave five informants outside? Why didn't anyone come back?" Zhao Gao said in surprise.
bang
A mass was thrown out of the darkness and landed right next to the fire.
Zhao Gao took a closer look and saw that it was the heads of the five eyeliners. The five heads were tied together with their own hair, and blood was spattered everywhere. The expressions on their faces were all shock and fear, which made his heart tremble.
Huo Long closed his eyes and put his hands behind his back.
Just as the surroundings fell into silence again, with only the occasional sparks popping up from the fire, there was a sound of footsteps.
Huo Long bowed to the place where the footsteps came from and said, "Welcome King Xiaoyao, General An."
"Haha, I'm really sorry for keeping Mr. Huo waiting for so long."
Zhou Ruoxiao strode out of the darkness with a smile on his face. An Zicheng followed him, expressionless.
The next moment, the entire mountain forest suddenly lit up, and countless soldiers of the Red Dragon Army lit torches to illuminate the entire Western Mountain.
Huo Long looked at Zhou Ruoxiao and An Zicheng who were walking towards him, heaved a long sigh and said, "Is this the second prince's intention or the prime minister's intention?"
"Mr. Huo, I don't seem to have the obligation to answer your question." Zhou Ruoxiao said with a smile.
Zhou Ruoxiao and An Zicheng stopped five steps in front of Huo Long. The next moment, more than a dozen black shadows appeared around Huo Long, surrounding him, all looking at the two of them warily.
"The Huo family has such a big business that they really have many friends. They actually invited so many friends from the world to help." Zhou Ruoxiao glanced at the group of black figures and chuckled, "But be careful, this money is destined to be taken. You're a waste of life. If you go against the imperial court, you'll lose your head."
Upon hearing this, several black figures were startled.
The atmosphere in the mountain forest instantly became solemn, as Zhou Ruoxiao and Huo Long in the dark shadow looked at each other from afar. An Zicheng lowered his head and kicked the stones on the ground, wondering what he was thinking. Zhao Gao in the cave disappeared at this time.
There is no moon tonight.
