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After walking for about half an hour, the soldier carrying Yu Mei finally stopped beside an inconspicuous elm tree. Yu Mei looked back and saw that the military camp was quite far away from him. He breathed a sigh of relief and raised his voice slightly, saying, "Junior Brother Xu, we are here." After that, he asked "Xu Jia" to bring the lantern closer, and groped among the grass and rocks for a long time before finding the cave entrance.
Yizhi observed carefully and found that the entrance of the cave was only large enough for one person to enter and exit. It was hidden under the half-man-high grass. He must have known that there was a cave here, but he couldn't find it for a while. While he was sighing, he heard Yu Mei urging: "Junior brother Xu, hurry up and catch up. Don't let the government troops find you." Then he heard a dull "Ah!" shout.
Yizhi guessed that Yu Mei's legs were weak and he accidentally fell into the cave, so he quickly used a lantern to illuminate the cave entrance, carefully reached into the cave, and helped him up. Looking around, he saw that the interior of the tunnel was much wider than the cave entrance, and two people could enter and exit side by side, but the height was only enough for one person to stand up and walk, so no one could carry Yu Mei forward.
So Yi Zhizhong climbed out of the tunnel again and ordered the soldiers to cut down two small trees as thick as bowls to make a simple stretcher. He let Yu Mei sit on it and the soldiers took turns carrying him. It was much easier than carrying him on their backs.
The tunnel was indeed very long. The light from a few lanterns could only illuminate a few steps away, so the twelve people walking in the cave had no idea how far the distance was. They only felt that the terrain in the tunnel was sometimes ups and downs, and sometimes winding, and they had no idea where it led to.
After walking like blind men for half an hour, the tunnel finally stopped extending forward and turned into a series of stone stairs, stacked up and spiraling upward.
Yizhi stopped, held the lantern high, and leaning on the dim light from the lantern, he saw that the stairs were paved with neat stone slabs with distinct chisel marks on the stones, which was very different from the stone steps in famous mountains and rivers that were worn smooth by tourists' soles - it was obvious that this passage was rarely used.
Yizhi pondered for a moment, asked everyone to stop and rest, and then said to Yu Mei who had been put on the ground: "I think we have reached the foot of Funiu Mountain. We can go straight to Yuhuang Peak through this stone staircase, right?"
"Junior Brother Xu is indeed smart. This is how I, your senior brother, came down the mountain." Yu Mei was carried for a long time. He took a nap while staggering and drowsy, and ate the dry food that Qiu Yizi brought with him. He was in much better spirits than when he had just "escaped" from the military camp. He shook his head when he spoke.
"I would like to ask Senior Brother Yu, how long will it take?"
"Well... Brother, it's been two or three hours since we came down from the mountain. Do we have to climb up from the bottom now..." Yu Mei dragged out his voice and asked himself, "I'm afraid it will take three or four hours."
Yizhi nodded and said, "Fortunately, Yuhuangding is heavily guarded, and it will be difficult for the government troops to capture it in a short time. We will walk slowly, and I believe we will not miss anything."
Yu Mei nodded and said, "Junior brother, what you said is true, but I am a senior brother with a disability, so it is hard for these brothers to carry me!"
The ten people accompanying him were all trusted followers carefully selected by Yizhi from his personal guards. They all followed the temperament of the commander and were very smart. They all answered, "It's okay, it's okay."
After hearing this, Yu Mei felt embarrassed and sat on the ground and bowed to everyone.
Yizhi saw that his appearance and behavior were very similar to those of the old scholar in Sanjia Village. He thought that although he could not pass the imperial examination, with his status as a scholar, he could grow a few acres of tax-free land and teach a few children in the village, which was more than enough for his food and clothing. So why did he inexplicably believe in Tianzun Sect
After resting for a while, Yizi ordered everyone to set off.
It was indeed very difficult to carry an adult up the stairs. Even these ten men, who were considered the elite among the elite Youyan Army, were out of breath. Seeing this, Yizhi asked them to divide into five groups, and stop and rotate every 300 steps, rest for a while, and then continue to move forward.
After five rotations like this, the long stone steps that looked like a coiled dragon finally came to an end, and they entered a stone chamber that was only ten feet square. There was nothing in the stone chamber except for a wooden door at the end.
As soon as Yu Mei was carried into the room, she hurriedly jumped off the stretcher, her legs went limp, and she sat on the ground. Without waiting for anyone to help her, she supported herself and stood up, staggering to the wooden door, knocking on it vigorously, shouting, "Someone! Someone! Yu Mei is back!"
After shouting for a long time, until Yu Mei was exhausted, the wooden door slowly opened a tiny gap, revealing a ray of light. Seeing this, Yu Mei inserted her fingers into the gap impatiently and pulled the door open with force, and suddenly the narrow stone room was illuminated.
The people who had been climbing hard in the dark for a long time were suddenly stimulated by the bright light of the sun and could not open their eyes. It took them a while to adapt, but they saw countless people gathered outside the door, each holding a steel knife and looking at them.
Yu Mei was standing at the door. Seeing this scene, he took a half step back in fright and said, "Why do you all look like this, brothers? Have you forgotten me, Yu Mei? I'm back to save you!" Seeing that everyone looked confused, he asked hurriedly, "Where is Deacon Shi? Is Deacon Shi here? I want to see Deacon Shi!" As he spoke, he put his hands on his forehead and looked for him in the crowd.
Then a white-haired old man parted the crowd, walked hurriedly to Yu Mei, looked him up and down several times, and finally said: "Alas, you have been gone for a few days and there has been no news. We thought you were either killed by the government troops or ran away... I didn't expect you to come back. You have worthy of my trust!" As he spoke, a few tears squeezed out of the corners of his eyes.
Seeing that he was sad, Yu Mei quickly advised him, "Now is not the time for us to complain... Come on, I'm here to introduce someone to Deacon Shi. This time I was able to escape from the government prison, all thanks to this Xu Jia - Junior Brother Xu!"
As he spoke, he told the story of his experience with "Xu Jia" over the past two days in a exaggerated way, and asked "Xu Jia" to take out the bronze mirror given by the saint and pass it around for everyone to see. In this way, the group of Tianzun followers trapped on the top of Yuhuang Peak had already believed most of it.
Deacon Shi seemed to be thinking about something. He slowly walked up to Qiu Yizi, who was using the alias "Xu Jia", handed him the bronze mirror and said, "Now our Holy Church headquarters is in danger. This brother is able to come up the mountain to rescue us at this time. He is truly a loyal believer of our Holy Church!"
Yizhi saw that no matter how young this "Deacon Shi" was, he was already past 50 years old, with a head full of white hair and five long strands of snow-white beard that reached his chest. He looked like an immortal, so he took the bronze mirror and said, "This is the duty of a disciple of my sect. How can I deserve such an unjustified praise from Deacon Shi?"
Deacon Shi stroked his beard, narrowed his triangular eyes, and said, "Okay, okay. But I don't know when did this junior brother join the Holy Church? And which senior brother introduced him?"
Yizhi had been prepared for this question in the camp for a long time. Lang Lang replied, "I am an orphan and have little experience in joining the sect. I was personally introduced to you by Lord Wang in Guangyang City and was personally arranged to be placed in the Youyan Army."
Deacon Shi heard him say nothing but the four words "no evidence to prove the truth", but he couldn't find any fault with it, so he wanted to ask him about the secret code of Tianzun Sect.
At this moment, someone shouted, "The government troops are attacking!"
When everyone heard this, they were thrown into chaos. They had no time to verify the identity of this "Xu Jia" and they scattered and climbed up to the top of the city wall to observe.
It turned out that when Yizhi discussed with his two brothers yesterday, he estimated the time to pass through the tunnel and asked Zheng Sen to launch the attack at Mao time the next day to force the stubborn bandits on Yuhuang to fall into the trap. Unexpectedly, Zheng Sen was careless and misunderstood Yizhi's words of launching the attack at Mao time as starting the attack at Mao time, so it was almost Chen time when he attacked Yuhuang. Unfortunately, Yizhi's action was delayed for a while because he had to carry Yu Mei, who had difficulty walking. As luck would have it, the timing was perfectly coordinated.
Although Zheng Sen was rude, he was not stupid. He knew that whether Yuhuangding could be captured depended on this one move. Therefore, he personally led the army to supervise the battle and ordered the soldiers to form groups of five, carrying two giant shields specially used for the "Dangshiying" to block the opponent's arrows and wooden beams, and slowly advance from the mountain road. In this way, they actually reached the gate of Yuhuangding, but the mountain road was narrow and it was impossible to carry siege equipment. They were still helpless against this heavy city gate. However, the government troops had never made such progress in their previous attacks. For a time, they resisted the gate, chopped with knives and axes, and set fire to it, with great momentum.
At the beginning of the Tianzun Sect's uprising, the war went quite smoothly, and they captured several cities, forcing the Henan government troops to shrink like turtles. But since the Youyan army went south to suppress the rebellion, the Tianzun Sect's army was like a flood washing away the sand and a sharp knife splitting bamboo, without any resistance. Therefore, although the Yuhuangding main altar was still as solid as a rock, the believers in it were already frightened birds.
Although Qiu Yizhi is young, he has been with the King of Youyan since he was a child. When he was in the army, he immediately felt the uneasy atmosphere in the main altar stronghold, so he raised his voice and said: "The Youyan army has gathered together a few days ago, with a total of 40,000 soldiers and horses. Regardless of casualties, we must go all out to break through the main altar and capture my disciples of the Holy Church..."
Yu Mei had "escaped" from the hands of the government troops, and was most afraid of being caught again and suffering again. Before Yizhi could finish his words, he hurriedly said to Deacon Shi: "The current situation is urgent. After all, staying in the main altar is not a long-term solution. Deacon, please make a decision as soon as possible!"
While Deacon Shi was hesitating, a Tianzun believer next to him suddenly dropped the steel knife in his hand, squeezed into the stone chamber, and was about to escape into the secret passage, but was blocked by the ten trusted men brought by Yizhi.
Without saying a word, Qiu Yizi drew out the sword from his waist and stabbed the man to death with one sword. Without waiting for others to react, he walked to the ear of Deacon Shi and whispered, "The main altar is in danger now, and I am worried that the exit of the secret passage will be discovered by the government troops. The only way out now is to evacuate as soon as possible. However, this secret passage is narrow and long. If everyone scatters and tramples on each other, it will be tantamount to killing each other. Therefore, I think that the altar master, deacons, and soldiers in the main altar will evacuate first, and the rest of the believers will continue to resist the government troops and gradually escape. This is the best strategy!"
Deacon Shi was still thinking about it carefully. But Yizhi didn't wait for him to think it over and urged him, "This matter is urgent and there is no room for hesitation. Deacon Shi, please discuss it with the other brothers as soon as possible and make a decision as soon as possible, so as to avoid failure in this risky move!"
Deacon Shi finally stopped hesitating and turned around to leave. After a short while, he led fifty or sixty people to "Xu Jia" and Yu Mei and said, "These fifty-eight people, including me, are all fellow disciples who hold positions above the altar master in the sect. We are all willing to listen to the arrangements of the two junior brothers and evacuate the main altar in order to make a comeback!"
If Yu Mei's position in the Tianzun Sect was placed in the government, it would be just a small clerk in the county government. Seeing that these backbones of the sect who had never taken him seriously and forced him to take risks to go down the mountain to investigate were now obeying his orders, he couldn't help but be extremely excited and said, "I don't deserve it! I am willing to lead the way!"
Yizhi raised his hand to stop him, saying, "No! Senior Brother Yu has a disability and moves very slowly. I am afraid that this will delay the great plan. Let me lead the other senior brothers to retreat!"
This suggestion was exactly what everyone wanted to do, as they all wanted to evacuate this deadly place as soon as possible, and everyone agreed with it.
After everyone prepared for more than an hour, Yizhi brought the four personal soldiers who had followed him up the mountain, and led nearly sixty backbone members of the Tianzun Sect, and went down the mountain through the tunnel.
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PS. In ancient legends, tunnels are a "causal" weapon that can bring the dead back to life. For example, in the story of Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yuanzhang secretly dug a tunnel in the palace for Zhu Yunwen to escape. There are similar legends about Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen. However, its role, in short, is to arrange the back door of fate in advance... Who doesn't want to go through this invisible and intangible door? (To be continued)