In the dark night, the wolf carried Lu Xu, and stopped on a small hillside in the north-central section of Qilian Mountains, looking at the village below. To the north of the village, the sound of horseshoes was neat and orderly, like drums. There was a muffled sound.
The wolf made a dull guttural sound, while Lu Xu opened his eyes wide and trembling. The wolf roared angrily, but the pack of wolves were full of fear and retreated one after another.
The wolf turned his head, looked at the pack of wolves angrily, and rushed down the hillside first. The pack of wolves bowed their backs one after another, their hair stood on end, and finally, under the power of the wolf, rushed down in a swarm!
Thousands of black ghouls rushed in like a tidal wave, engulfing the entire village in an instant. The village only sounded the alarm at this moment, screaming in a panic, children crying, and chaos!
There were tens of thousands of cavalry charged by the ghouls, and the wolf turned sideways, threw Lu Xu off, and shouted: "Lu Xu! Take the people to find a place to hide!"
Before it was too late, the wolf grew bigger again, rushed into the village from the south, and roared, "Run!"
A giant wolf bathed in the moonlight rushed in, and the people in the village came back to their senses instantly after being roared by the wolf, and fled outside one after another, regardless of their belongings. The wolf stepped on the roof all the way, and the buildings it stepped on were It collapsed suddenly, rushed straight along the street, and crashed into the cavalry formation with a long roar! All the cavalry were trampled on their backs, in disarray.
The charging ghouls each picked up their spears, moved in unison, and rushed towards the wolf. The moment the wolf was about to hit the spear formation—
——The wolf jumped up in the air, turned sideways, and transformed into Mo Zhigen wearing a mask. At that moment, Mo Zhigen was like a white falcon piercing the sky. Seven arrows on the nail head.
"咻咻", all seven arrows flew out one after another, spinning and flying around the battlefield, when Mo Zhigen fell to the ground, he instantly transformed into a wolf again, and rushed towards the battle formation!
The seven nail-headed arrows flew across the entire battlefield with magical light, and shot down the ghoul's helmet. When each arrow flew to the enemy, it hit the face inside the helmet, and shot through the ghoul's head completely, but the ghoul turned into a mountain Cheng Hai, after being trampled by the wolf, struggled to get up, and rushed towards its legs.
The wolf turned around and transformed into Mo Zhigen. Mo Zhigen waved in mid-air before he landed, and all the seven nail-headed arrows flew back with a "swish", bringing countless flying helmets on the way. The ghouls rushed forward one after another, rushing towards Mo Zhigen, Mo Zhigen turned his hands around and drank the spell!
All the seven arrows with nail heads returned to his body and began to spin wildly. Mo Zhigen threw his hands outward again and shouted: "Go!"
The seven arrows set off a storm-like fluctuation of mana, and flew in all directions, blasting the ghouls that rushed to the front and flying in all directions.
There are too many... Mo Zhigen rushed left and right, and roared: "What are you all? Where did you come from!"
The ghouls rushed forward one after another, pounced on him, and Mo Zhigen was immediately pushed down to the ground, and more ghouls rushed in densely, piled up like mountains, and suddenly the wolf roared again, rose up from the ground, and flew away. That hill of ghouls.
Arrows flew, and the wolves charged in all directions, but a cry came from afar.
"Star Dawn!"
The wolf turned his head suddenly, and saw that Lu Xu was actually holding the shovel, leading the wolves to resist the invasion of the ghouls.
Canglang: "..."
The wolf changed immediately, and Mo Zhigen retreated to the village, and jumped up to a high place to take a look. He saw Lu Xuna's movements were extremely fast, with the dagger pinned to his waist, and a shovel in both hands. When he rushed, he was slapped away with a shovel, causing his head to fly up and land on the ground in an arc.
The villagers had evacuated to the mountainside, and Mo Zhigen put his fingers between his lips, and with a whistle, he turned into a wolf and rushed down.
At that time, I saw Lu Xu dancing with the shovel, dancing vigorously, slapping left, slapping right, cutting forward, sweeping, slashing, picking... Sometimes he made a feint, and rushed five steps away with a "shua", sometimes Drill down towards the crotch of the ghoul, turn around and twist...
Mo Zhigen: "..."
"Go!" it jumped down and roared, "Stop hitting! Come back!"
Lu Xu rushed to the wolf, but turned around, jumped to the other side of the wolf, let out a desperate cry, held a shovel in both hands, and shoveled down hard, nailing the ghoul who was holding the knife to the wolf to the ground!
The wolf turned around, and Lu Xu jumped on its back. The ghouls had filled the entire village, like locusts eroded. The village continued to collapse under the black tide, and finally there was a loud noise.
The wolf stood on the hillside and looked back, and saw the villagers trembling with panic, staring at the giant wolf, and then looked up at the young scout on the wolf's back.
"Wolf God!" Someone shouted.
"Star Dawn!"
People in the village knelt down and bowed to the ground.
"Go along the Qilian Mountain South Road." Canglang said in a low voice, "There is a small village in the south, take refuge there first, then find a way to go south, and seek help from the nearest county town, go quickly!"
The people evacuated one after another, and the wolves made a grunting sound, and the wolves bent down and dispersed one after another.
Lu Xu was panting, still holding the shovel in his hand, trembling.
"The martial arts are good." The wolf lowered his head slightly, his eyes glowed green, like two gems inlaid in the darkness, watching the movement down the mountain. After chasing and killing them again, and filling up the villages and towns, the ghouls withdrew slowly again, gathering on the plain like a colony of ants, and began to evacuate in a mighty manner.
"Chasing?" Canglang raised his chin slightly, raised his head and said to Lu Xu.
Lu Xu put the shovel on his back, leaned over and hugged the wolf's neck, and the wolf jumped off the snow, followed the ghoul army, and headed northwest.
In Liangzhou city.
As soon as night fell, the whole city became cold, and every household closed their doors and lit charcoal stoves to keep warm.
Qin Liang said to his wife: "Today there are distinguished guests, add some dishes and kill the chicken. Bring some wine."
Hong Jun untied his bag, and was about to ask if he could make some meatballs for the carp demon, but when Mrs. Qin saw it, she smiled and said, "Oh! You're so polite! You even brought some food!"
“Just fried for a…”
"This is not a dish." Hong Jun said hurriedly.
"I'm not a vegetable." The carp demon explained to Mrs. Qin, "Just give me some meat. I don't eat much. If I don't have any, buns and dumplings are fine."
Mrs. Qin screamed and almost fainted from fright. Li Jinglong hurriedly explained again, and Mrs. Qin reluctantly accepted the explanation that carp could talk and the origin of the Exorcist.
Qin Liang hurriedly sent her to cook. The Hu girl came in again, looked at the carp monster curiously, and laid out the case.
"This is the little girl Qin Xuan." Qin Liang introduced to the two of them again, "the only daughter."
Li Jinglong and Hong Jun greeted her. Hong Jun was very surprised and asked, "Is your wife a Huihe?"
Li Jinglong hurriedly said: "I want to call you Madam."
Qin Liang said cheerfully, "I met her mother seventeen years ago at Yangguan, and we got married according to the rules of our Han people."
Qin Liang chatted with Li Jinglong for a few more words. He was originally from Longxi, and his family arranged for him to handle paperwork under the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu when he was young. After the deputy envoy retired, Qin Liang moved to Shazhou. Now Ge Shuhan sits in Liangzhou and has been granted the title of Duke of Liang. Qin Liang was recalled to be the governor of Liangzhou County because of his integrity and never embezzled military expenses.
However, the generation of Liangzhou is near the northwest border, and Jiedu envoys sit in town. The sky is big and the earth is big, and Ge Shuhan is the biggest. And mediate civil-military disputes. In the final analysis, there is not much real power, and life is very clean.
Not long after, Mrs. Qin came in to set up a meal and killed a chicken specially to entertain the guests. Li Jinglong was very sorry, but Qin Xuan removed a chicken leg and let Li Jinglong eat first. Li Jinglong gave it to Hong Jun, Qin Xuan glanced at it, but didn't speak.
Qin Liang opened a letter of wine and said to Li Jinglong: "Although I believe in ghosts and gods in the world, I finally feel that monsters are far away from us. Seeing you with this monster, the exorcist must have some skills."
Hong Jun almost spat out the soup with a "poof", wondering why the carp demon can prove that the exorcist is capable
Li Jinglong raised his glass and said, "It's just a matter of being loyal to the king." After speaking, he and Qin Liang exchanged a toast.
Hong Jun asked: "Or take Zhao Zilong tomorrow and let General Ge Shuhan take a look?"
The carp demon was stuffing meatballs into his mouth with his chopsticks. Hearing this, he was startled and said, "What if he wants to chop off my fish head and replace Chang Shi?"
Li Jinglong put down his cup and said, "I guess General Ge Shuhan is not always stubborn, but because of his position."
After a moment of silence in the hall, Qin Liang sighed heavily, and replied, "That's exactly the case. Therefore, in front of Li Changshi, there is only one thing to ask."
Hong Jun: "?"
Li Jinglong looked sideways at Hongjun and said, "Do you still remember what the prince said to us before we set off?"
Hong Jun couldn't help recalling what the prince said, Li Heng really hoped that Li Jinglong would investigate the matter clearly and resolve it smoothly, without affecting the relationship with Huihe, and don't start a war... huh? !
Hong Jun noticed that Qin Liang's wife and daughter were both Huihe people.
Qin Liang said to Li Jinglong: "The war with Huihe, I think, was more or less instigated by Prime Minister Yang. General Ge Shuhan and An Lushan and Shi Siming have always been at odds..."
"Father." Qin Xuan said dissatisfied.
Qin Liang waved his hand, indicating that it's okay.
Li Jinglong frowned deeply, and said: "Old General Ge Shuhan, you must make friends with Yang Guozhong, the right minister of the court."
Qin Liang replied: "Of course, Prime Minister Yang must also have the intention of wooing. The Tubo and Huihe tribes often send envoys to the Hexi Jiedu envoy..."
Li Jinglong said "hmm", and frowned deeply: "So Yang Xiang persuaded the old general Ge Shuhan to win over Tubo and be hostile to Huihe... It's really difficult."
"That's right." Qin Liang said again, "Because the crown prince was good friends with Gele Khan when he was in command of the army abroad. Your cousin was named a general, and he also had the help of Gele Khan when he broke through the Dabolu Kingdom last year. In the past few years, the relationship between the imperial court and Huihe has entered a period of calm, but I did not expect, alas... "
Hong Jun was confused by what the two said, and said: "I don't understand, Yang Guozhong persuaded brother...that old general doesn't want to get too close to Huihe, so he wants to blame the Huihe people for the massacre of the border city."
"Yes." Li Jinglong replied, "Exactly."
Hong Jun frowned and said, "But how does he know who slaughtered the border city? Do you think he would know about ghouls?"
When Li Jinglong was told this, his heart immediately trembled. If Yang Guozhong knew about it, it would be too scary.
Qin Liang replied: "He is a prime minister on the right, how can he care about the life and death of the soldiers and civilians on the frontier? After all, the city has been slaughtered, whether it is Turks, Huihe, or even Tubo, or ghost soldiers, it doesn't make any difference to him. What he wants , is just an excuse to write a letter to His Majesty and start a war with Huihe."
"In this way." Li Jinglong said, "I'm afraid that many people in Liangzhou City will have a hard time."
"All Huihe people will be expelled." Qin Liang sighed, "So... Li Changshi, the task is heavy. General Ge Shuhan is preconceived and will not believe you. Even if he does, he still has his concerns."
Li Jinglong said in a deep voice: "He is too arrogant. In my opinion, the plague of ghouls has far exceeded the seriousness of Yang Guozhong's calculation. Although we don't know why it happened, we can be sure that if we don't Find out as soon as possible, I'm afraid..."
Li Jinglong stared at Qin Liang's eyes, and said word by word: "When the disaster comes together, everyone, even General Ge Shuhan himself, will be involved, and there will be no redemption."
In the dark night, on the plain in the middle of Hexi, the black army marched at full speed, and the wolf started to pant after landing.
"Too tired." Panting heavily, Canglang said, "I need to rest for a while."
Lu Xu said, "Blood."
"Is it bleeding?" The wolf turned around to look for a shelter from the wind, sniffed a few times, and found the side of the mountain wall.
Lu Xu reached out and touched the wolf's back. His hand was covered with blood, and he suddenly became nervous.
"It doesn't matter." The wolf pawed at the snow on the mountain wall with its paws, digging out a hole, which happened to be a cave. Lu Xu hurriedly jumped down, and the wolf bent down and got in again, transforming into a human.
Mo Zhigen held the cave wall with one hand and gasped for breath, and it took him a while to recover.
A moment later, a bonfire was lit in the cave, and Mo Zhigen took off his shirt, showing his strong back muscles. Long-term bending of bow and arrow makes his shoulders and back full of masculine strength and beauty. He chewed the dry food, became thirsty, and ate a lot of snow in one breath.
He had been cut several times on his back, but because he was in the form of a wolf, the wounds were fortunately not deep after he turned into a human.
Lu Xu chewed the herbs, spit them out and applied them evenly on his back.
For the remaining herbs, Lu Xu applied them under Mo Zhigen's ribs.
"Sleep for a while." Mo Zhigen said to Lu Xu, "It's too late."
Lu Xu yawned. For him this day, he suffered a strong mental and physical shock, so he curled up in the cave and fell asleep exhaustedly. However, the winter night was getting colder and colder. Trembling uncontrollably, Mo Zhigen turned into a huge wolf after a while, grabbed Lu Xu with his claws, put him in his arms, facing the bonfire, one person and one wolf, sleeping next to each other.
In the middle of the night, the cold wind was howling, Qin Liang's house had only one guest room, Hong Jun lay down first, Li Jinglong was still writing letters at the desk and lighting the oil lamp.
When Li Jinglong imitated Lu Ji's copybooks when he was young, his handwriting was so beautiful that even a student like Qiu Yongsi, who was born in calligraphy, felt inferior. Hong Jun was covered with a quilt, kept looking up, and asked, "Who are you writing to?"
"To His Royal Highness. Go to bed first if you are sleepy." Li Jinglong urged, "Don't watch."
Hong Jun was a bit cold. In the past, he was on the top of Taihang Mountain, and there was Chongming, and he never encountered severe cold in winter. He asked, "Is it very cold in the world this year or every year?"
"It's like this every year." Li Jinglong glanced at Hong Jun and said, "Warm your bed well."
Hong Jun was tightly wrapped, and his head was exposed under the quilt, like a spring roll.
Hong Jun: "?"
Halfway through Li Jinglong's writing, he hesitated to write. He repeated what Qin Liang said truthfully. After reporting it, he might cause a rift between the prince and Ge Shuhan; if he didn't write it, he would be suspected of deceiving.
"Stop writing." Hong Jun was so sleepy after running around for days, he said, "Sleep, you haven't recovered from the cold yet."
Li Jinglong's mind was a mess. After thinking about it, he finally tore up the letter, untied his coat, and got into the bed. There was a strong wind outside, almost blowing the roof away, but the bunk in the bedroom was extremely warm.
"How to go out, no matter where you go, there is only one room." Hong Jun said.
"Yo, I didn't dislike you, you still dislike me." Li Jinglong looked at Hongjun, Hongjun hurriedly said no, in fact Li Jinglong's whole body was warm, and the feeling of the heart lamp in his chest made him feel very comfortable.
"Curiosity." Hong Jun said in a daze.
"Chang'an is also cold at this time." Li Jinglong said casually, the two chatted for a while, Hong Jun no longer knew what he was talking about, compared to the abandoned barracks last night, Qin Liang's house was as comfortable as a palace, he remembered Unable to say something in a daze, Li Jinglong freed his arm for him to pillow on, and Hong Jun leaned close to his chest and fell asleep.
In the long night, in the boundless darkness, Hong Jun suddenly had a strange dream after sleeping for an unknown amount of time. In that dream, there was a person who was burning under the black fire.
"Help me... save me..." a man's voice said.
Hong Jun wanted to speak, but he opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.
The flash of countless memories in an instant made him travel through time. Outside the door of the Exorcist Division, there was a golden armored warrior holding a luminous long sword, and his parents knelt in front of the warrior.
"I'm just this baby..."
When it flashed again, Hongjun seemed to be another person, and he had grown a lot taller. He stood in the courtyard with warm spring flowers and looked sideways at the promenade. A beautiful woman in a Han skirt walked by in the spring breeze. The long corridor, looking sideways at him.
In an instant, the black fire engulfed his whole body, and Hong Jun panicked instantly and couldn't help backing away.
"Chang Shi!" Hong Jun suddenly opened his eyes and sat up abruptly.
The wind was still outside, the sky was dark, and the night had passed, but Li Jinglong was missing by the couch. There was Feng Yu on the table, leaving a note.
[In the early morning, Dexin Wushan was suddenly attacked by ghouls at night. Qin Shishi and I went to investigate the situation beforehand.]
Hong Jun grabbed Feng Yu and put it in his arms, put on his clothes, and went out like a gust of wind.