Tantou Village is closer to Yanmen City than Wutai County, and the road is easier to walk. Qian Xiangmin already knew this from Qin Sange's introduction. Now Tantou Village has been burned by the Turkic army. On the mountain road to Tantou Village, there were no traces of the Turkic army marching. Qian Xiangmin, who had been in the army for several years, naturally suspected that the Turks who burned Tantou Village came from the Yanmen Battlefield.
As a result, according to Qian Xiangmin's crow's words, after arriving on the mountain road leading to Yanmen City from Tantou Village, even though it was already dark, Qian Xiangmin, He Er and others discovered the obvious Turkic figure by the moonlight alone. The traces of the army's marching also found some tattered debris, such as torn women's clothes, broken teapots and bowls, and spilled grains, which proved that the Turkic army took the looted materials from Tantou Village to return by this road. Yanmen City. Seeing this scene, our Qian Canjun also sat down on the ground and wailed: "It's over, the Turks know this way, we can't go to Yanmen City anymore."
He Er's face was also a bit ugly, because since the Turkic army knew this mountain road, they would naturally pay attention to the movement of this mountain road when patrolling, and might arrange scouts to set up ambushes on the road to guard against it. This road to Yanmen City is not only impossible, but it may even kill you. But He Er didn't give up, and turned to Third Brother Qin and asked, "Brother Third, besides this road, is there any other path to get to Yanmen City?"
"Also." Brother Qin's answer made He Er overjoyed. Third Brother Qin pointed in one direction and said, "There is also a small road to Yanmen City. That road is very remote, and even many locals don't know about it." , but it is farther to go to Yanmen City by taking that small road, the road is difficult and dangerous, some people in our village take that road to gather medicine, and some fell off the cliff and died.”
"It's okay, as long as you can reach Yanmen City." He Er was overjoyed, and hurriedly said to Qian Xiangmin: "Qian Canjun, don't worry, we will rest here for one night, and tomorrow we will take that path to Yanmen City."
Qian Xiangmin was not as happy as He Er, but cautiously asked Third Brother Qin: "Is it so dangerous that I fell to my death on that road?"
"It's very dangerous." Qin Sange nodded and explained: "Take that path, and there are two cliffs with no way at all, so you can only climb down slowly with a rope tied around your waist. The stone mill broke and fell, and the white brains spurted out from the fall, and he died terribly."
Everyone knows Qian Canjun's courage. After hearing what Qin Sange described, our Qian Canjun immediately became a little frightened. Second, third brother, why don't we forget it and don't go to Yanmen City, it's too dangerous, I dare not go."
"Aren't you going?" He Er and Qin Sange got angry at the same time, and He Er rushed to say, "Qian Canjun, what are you kidding? We've all come here, and you don't want to go. How can we tell Chen Chen when we go back?" Deputy envoy to explain?"
"Yes." Third Brother Qin also said angrily: "Master Qian, I resigned from my job in the company to lead you the way, and you won't go here now, so what about the reward that Master Chen promised me? you give?"
"But it's too dangerous, I dare not go." The cowardly Qian Canjun wailed again.
"Qian Junjun, we have no turning back now." He Er persuaded: "There are Turks everywhere, our dry food is only enough for two days at most, and Tantou Village has been burned again. If we don't go to Yanmen City, we are not hungry. To die is to be killed by the Turks, there is no way to go, only to go to Yanmen..., who?!"
Persuading him, He Er suddenly yelled, and then immediately pulled out his shoulder knife and jumped up, scaring our Qian Canjun so that he immediately hid behind He Er, and He Er shouted at a bush again: "Don't try to hide!" , I saw you! Get out, or I won't be so talkative in the past."
He Er's threat had an effect, Hou Junji came out of the grass amidst the rustling of the grass, waved his hands and said, "Don't get me wrong, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, I just saw you all going this way I came here, I thought something happened, so I followed, I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you."
"What did you hear?" He Er asked fiercely.
Hou Junji wanted to pretend that he hadn't heard anything, but he was afraid that He Er would find out, so he angered He Er, who was much more skilled than himself. With an idea, Hou Junji simply cupped his hands and said, "I'm not going to hide it from you. I heard you all, Qian Canjun, Brother He, you are going to Yanmen City, right? I will help you, and I will go with you. "
"Are you going too? Are you not afraid of death?" Qian Xiangmin was amazed and hurriedly asked Hou Junji's specific identity. Hou Junji fabricated the identity of Wutai County Yamen servant for himself, explaining that he followed his friends to avoid the flames of war. Liang Xiaosi came to this Tantou village to take refuge, but unexpectedly, Tantou village was burned down by the Turks, and he overheard Qian Xiangmin's identity and purpose, and decided to help Qian Xiangmin go to Yanmen with him as an official of the Sui Dynasty. city.
Qian Xiangmin, who had never been to Wutai County, did not have any doubts about Hou Junji, but asked curiously: "Why did you help me go to Yanmen City, you are not afraid of death?"
"Of course the young one is afraid of death." Hou Junji said with a playful smile: "But the young one knows that you are a high-ranking official in the army, so the young one is not afraid. The young one was just a small yamen servant before, and this time the county town was also taken down by the Turks. Now, I don’t know if I can keep my job in the future, but I know that if I can hold your thigh with money to join the army, I will definitely be able to keep my job, and maybe I can do better.”
"It's not bad to bring one more scapegoat. The more scapegoats there are, the safer I will be." Qian Canjun pondered in his mind, and quickly made up his mind, and immediately smiled: "Well, since you have the courage, then I will bring you a surrogate." For you, you also have a hundred hearts, as long as you can protect this official and arrive at Yanmen City safely, this official will not treat you badly."
"Thank you Lord Joining the Army. From now on, the villain's life is yours." Hou Junji saluted Jishou happily, and said with a smirk in his heart: "Joining the army? Yanmen City? It seems that our goals are probably the same. , very good, let's see how I deal with you on the road!"
Fortunately, our foolish Qian Xiangmin who joins the army has a finer He Er beside him, so he hastened to remind Qian Xiangmin in a low voice not to trust outsiders easily. He also personally helped Hou Junji, who was the head of Ji, to salute, and the flamboyant Hou Junji quickly got into a heated fight. During this period, Hou Junji took the opportunity to ask Qian Xiangmin's intention and identity, and Qian Xiangmin also Tell the truth, and when Hou Junji heard that Qian Xiangmin was an official under Chen Yingliang's command, he was of course overjoyed. He became more and more respectful and flattering to Qian Xiangmin, and then offered to persuade Liang Xiaosi to go to Yanmen City with him. Qian Xiangmin was even more delighted that the more he could replace the dead ghosts, the better he agreed.
Hou Junji soon realized that he had made a choice that couldn't be more correct. The Liang Xiaosi he hired hadn't walked through another remote path leading to Yanmen City. Hou Junji hurriedly told Liang Xiaosi about the negotiation between himself and Qian Xiangmin, and asked Liang Xiaosi to cover up his identity, and promised to kill Third Brother Qin to vent his anger on Liang Xiaosi when he arrived in Yanmen City. Knowing that there is no way to retreat now and can only continue to move forward, he also agreed to Hou Junji's request, and also agreed to pretend to reconcile with Third Brother Qin to deceive Qian Xiangmin and others into trusting them.
In this way, after sleeping in the village for one night, in the morning of the next day, they collected enough ropes in the village, and Qian Xiangmin, Hou Junji and others set off for Yanmen City again. According to the introduction, the other path is really remote and hidden, and no traces of the Turkic army have been found, but it is terribly rugged and difficult to navigate. There are only traces of the path that are feasible. He was forced to walk several miles in the water, but fortunately Sange Qin had walked this trail twice and was fairly familiar with the terrain, otherwise even the other guide, Liang Xiaosi, would have lost his way in the deep mountains.
The path is so complicated and difficult to walk, Hou Junji also wisely gave up his plan to kill Qian Xiangmin and others on the road, and worked together with Qian Xiangmin and others in a decent manner, hand in hand, and took the initiative to carry the pampered Qian Xiangmin behind his back Min has come a long way, moved Qian Xiangmin so much that he was full of praise, and also made the relatively simple bandit soldier He Er let go of his guard, and began to believe that Hou Junji sincerely took refuge in Qian Xiangmin, only Qin Sange and Liang Xiaosi, the deadly rivals, still refused to pay attention to each other, but fortunately, there was no more conflict.
The section where you have to use ropes to go down the mountain has come, and the best chance to kill Qian Xiangmin and others has also come, but seeing the vast forest under the cliff and the mountains in the distance, Hou Junji still gave up on this plan—if in He accidentally injured Brother Qin, the guide, when he started, and he might never be able to get out of this mountain forest in this life. With no other choice, Hou Junji had no choice but to carry the pampered Qian Xiangmin on his back, and slowly descended the mountain with the help of his companions, and finally sent Qian Xiangmin down the cliff safely. Of course, Qian Xiangmin was extremely grateful However, Hou Junji was extremely depressed, and said to himself, "Is this Lao Tzu a subordinate of Ambassador Li? Or is he the running dog of Chen Yingliang's little thief?"
In this way, after going through countless difficulties and obstacles, more than one encounter with poisonous snakes and beasts that may kill them, it took two full days, and when the dry food was about to be eaten up, the only third brother Qin who knew the path pointed to the mountain ridge in front of him and said : "Crossing this mountain is Yanmen City, and you can see the situation of Yanmen City from the top of the mountain."
Qian Xiangmin, Hou Junji and the others, who were all exhausted, cheered feebly, and then staggered forward with each other's support. While it was still dark, they hurriedly marched towards the mountain ridge. A few fish were caught in the creek and distributed to everyone to eat raw. At the same time, Qin Sange also handed the raw fish to his arch-enemy Liang Xiaosi in a very rare way—after all, he lived and died together for two days. Brother Qin San, who was as devastated as Chen Sangliang, did not have such a strong hatred for Liang Xiaosi long ago.
It's a pity that Third Brother Qin's hot face was stuck to his cold butt, and after taking the raw fish expressionlessly, while gnawing on the raw fish, Liang Xiaosi looked at Third Brother Qin with incomparable resentment, full of resentment in his heart , "Why is my family all dead? Can your family run away?"
When it was completely dark, Qian Xiangmin and others finally arrived at the foot of the mountain ridge, rested for a while to recover some physical strength, and confirmed that there were no Turkic soldiers on the mountain, Qian Xiangmin and others slowly climbed up the mountain. Fortunately, during this period of drought and no rain, and the moonlight was very bright, Qian Xiangmin and others could still see the road clearly even though they did not dare to light torches, and they climbed up very hard. Min and the others finally climbed to the top of the mountain, and condescendingly saw the situation on the Yanmen battlefield with their own eyes.
The scene at the bottom of the mountain surprised Qian Xiangmin and others again. Although Yanmen City in the north of the lower reaches of the Hutuo River was still safe and sound, the surrounding wilderness outside the city and both sides of the Hutuo River were densely packed with Turkic military tents. Surrounding the small Yanmen City like a vast ocean, the Turkic campfires illuminated the countryside like daytime, and the denser Turkic military flags were blown by the mountain wind, undulating like the waves of the sea, boundless.
Seeing this scene, not to mention the cowardly Qian Xiangminqian joining the army, even Hou Junji, who was born as a local ruffian, turned pale and murmured: "There are so many Turkic troops, how can we enter Yanmen City?"
"There is a way to get in!" He Er suddenly said, pointing to the Hutuo River in the south of Yanmen City, which was brightly illuminated by the fire, and said in a deep voice: "That river is next to Yanmen City, and our place is upstream. Go down to the river right away, and then you can swim downstream to Yanmen City, and then you can enter the city."
"Good idea!" Qian Xiangmin's eyes lit up, and he said happily, "I know how to swim. Last time I was scared by Wagang bandits in Tongji Canal, I took great effort to learn swimming just in case. The water skills are not bad, and I can swim to the bottom of Yanmen City with confidence. He Er, Brother Qin, can you swim?"
"I will." Third Brother Qin rushed to answer, while He Er said with a smile: "I forgot to join the army. Before I was rescued from the thief's nest by Brother Sanbao, I used to rob Tongji Canal for food. Can I still get water?"
Qian Xiangmin, who had been crying bitterly for several days, finally showed some smiles, and asked Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi if they could swim, Liang Xiaosi nodded, but Hou Junji said with a mournful face, "I don't know, I don't know how to swim." Never learned to swim."
"It's okay, I'll let He Er take you with me." Qian Canjun was quite loyal, and immediately said: "You help me on the way here, it's up to us to help you now. He Er relies on water for food. He is good at water, so take him with you." You can still enter Yanmen City."
Hou Junji was overjoyed when he heard that, and quickly nodded in agreement. Then Qian Xiangmin and He Er discussed again, and quickly distributed the last dry food to everyone to replenish their strength as much as possible. Qian Xiangmin naturally had to examine Chen Yingliang's memorials carefully during his trip to the Hutuo River, which is the key to success or failure. Fortunately, the oil paper wrapping the memorials was not broken, and waterproofing was not a problem, so there was no need to worry about being soaked in water. Hou Junji also took the opportunity to say a few words to Liang Xiaosi alone, but he didn't know what he said.
It is easy to go up the mountain and difficult to go down the mountain. On the way down the mountain, the clumsy Qian Xiangmin often stumbled and fell, but in order to seize the opportunity in the middle of the night and to alarm the Turkic soldiers patrolling down the mountain, Qian Xiangmin never complained and gritted his teeth. Just insisting, with the help of He Er and Qin San Ge, and with the help of moonlight and firelight, I finally went down the mountain at half past four o'clock, and came to the grass only two miles away from the Hutuo River.
This is a two-mile journey that determines success or failure. The patrols of the Turkic Army on both sides of the Hutuo River come and go with torches, and the distance between them is extremely close. Immediately surrounded by Turkic sentries, or shot to death with random arrows. To be on the safe side, Qian Xiangmin, He Er, and Third Brother Qin had no choice but to discuss countermeasures in a low voice, and finally decided to use the Turkic sentry patrols to crawl to the river. However, after discussing the solution, Qian Xiangmin just turned his head to explain to Hou Junji, but was surprised to find that Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi had disappeared.
"Where's Hou Junji? Where did they go?" Qin Sange and He Er were also confused, they searched left and right, but couldn't find Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi, and they didn't dare to shout out, at the same time Time waited for no one, and Qian Xiangmin and the other three had no choice but to ignore them, and quickly took advantage of the gap between the two Turkic sentry teams to cross and walk away, crawled out of the grass and climbed towards the Hutuo River.
Time is precious, Qian Xiangmin and others climbed very quickly, and they climbed more than 200 meters in a blink of an eye. However, at this moment, two stones suddenly flew from behind and landed next to Qian Xiangmin and others. Qian Xiangmin and others were startled by the sound, and hurriedly turned their heads, only to see Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi who had disappeared suddenly before, appearing on the hillside at some point, and threw a few more stones to make the noise. Even though it was still dark and the distance was a little far away, Qian Xiangmin and the others seemed to be able to see the ferocious smiles on the faces of Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi.
Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi's deliberate noises still attracted the attention of the Turkic patrols, and when they realized that something was wrong, the two Turkic patrols that crossed before turned their heads and rushed towards Qian Xiangmin and the others. Seeing this At this scene, Hou Junji's face was filled with a grim smile, and he secretly said: "Second Young Master, I have vented my anger on you, and you must reward me heavily. Ambassador Li, don't worry, I not only know how to swim, but I am also very good at swimming. I still have dry food hidden in my body, I will go further upstream and send you a letter after hiding in the mountains for a day."
While grinning, a strange thing happened suddenly, Qian Xiangmin, who was crawling on the ground, suddenly stood up, pointed at Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi and yelled, the words Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi couldn't understand at all, Hou Junji couldn't help being startled, and said to himself, "What is he talking about?"
Hou Junji couldn't understand what Qian Xiangmin said, but the two Turkic patrols rushing over could hear them clearly and plainly, "Taijun, don't shoot, I'm a good citizen, grab that Eighth Router! Grab that Tubalu..." Oh no, I made a typo, it's this sentence...
"I am the Khan's emissary! Grab that man, catch that Central Plains spy! He is a Central Plains spy! He is a Central Plains spy!"
Hearing Qian Xiangmin's correct Turkic accent, and following Qian Xiangmin's instructions to see Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi on the hillside, the two Turkic guards immediately rushed towards the The two of Hou Junji scared Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi out of their wits, turned around and ran up the mountain, the Turkic patrol immediately dismounted and chased up the mountain, Hou Junji cried desperately, "What are you doing?" Catch me? Catch those people down the mountain, I kindly remind you, why do you still want to catch me?"
It's a pity that the Turkic soldiers couldn't understand what Hou Junji was yelling, and they chased them faster and tighter. After Hou Junji and Liang Xiaosi attracted the attention of the Turkic guards, Qian Xiangmin, He Er and Qin Sange also rushed to the Hutuo River in front of them, exerting all their strength, and rushed to the Hutuo River at a speed that they had never experienced in their life. They rushed forward again, but the distance was farther after all, and they couldn't stop Qian Xiangmin and others rushing into the river in time...
There were three splashes, splashes, and splashes, and three brightly colored water flowers bloomed in the Hutuo River with a large flow rate. The shadow is gone.