In a forest outside the city, seventeen or eighteen warriors were as panicked as bereaved dogs. They had not yet recovered from the fear of brutal killings. As soon as they closed their eyes, their heads were chopped off and blood spurted out from their necks.
Yang Jian was sitting on a big stone, his face was ashen, his eyes moved slyly, what was he thinking?
At this time, deputy Wang Fei ran over with Xiao Feilong, clasped his fists and said: "Join the army, they are out of the city, maybe they want to cross the Yellow River to the west, maybe we have a chance in the water!"
Yang Jian glared at him angrily, "If you want to die, just go ahead and don't drag others along with you!"
"Then what should we do?"
"What should I do? There are many people who want to make a fortune. If the news about the reward offered by the Xue tribe is spread, I don't believe those horse bandits won't be interested?"
The little flying dragon next to him was startled and said quickly: "That's not good!"
Yang Jian gave him a sinister look and suddenly grabbed him by the lapel, "I asked you how could we fail? It turns out you were the one tipping Li Ye off!"
"I don't!"
Xiao Feilong tried his best to explain: "I definitely didn't inform him about joining the army!"
Yang Jian stared at him fiercely and said: "If you hadn't reported the information, how would he have known about our existence? If you hadn't reported the information, how would he have known that we were sent by the Yang family?"
Xiao Feilong suddenly understood and shouted: "You want me to take the blame."
His shouts suddenly stopped, and he stared at Yang Jian with wide eyes. A sharp dagger was inserted into his chest. The life in his eyes gradually disappeared. Even to his death, he did not understand that he was just a polo player. How could he
Will it be reduced to today?
Yang Jian coldly pushed his body away and said to everyone: "The prime minister told me that this man had a personal relationship with Li Ye and asked me to be careful. Now it seems that he has betrayed us."
Wang Fei knew very well that the soldier in front of him was as ruthless as Li Ye. He did not dare to object and asked in a low voice: "How to spread the news about the reward?"
Yang Jian sneered and said: "Those horse bandits are local snakes. It's strange that they don't have spies in the county. The biggest inn and the biggest restaurant are probably their spies!"
Yang Jian is very smart. He guessed right. The leader of the largest group of horse bandits in Huizhou is called Tuoba Changshun. He is the owner of the largest Changshun Restaurant and Changshun Inn in Huining County. Many people in the city are well aware of this.
, including Magistrate Ma, but no one dared to say.
Yang Jian fought his way back to the city and found the innkeeper of Changshun Inn. Under his intimidation, the innkeeper reluctantly admitted that he knew some of the horse bandits.
"The Xue tribe offered a reward of 100,000 old sheepskins for Li Ye's head. An old sheepskin in Chang'an is worth several thousand dollars. Think about what 100,000 pieces of sheepskin means! Most of my men were killed by him, and I don't care.
It will make him feel better. I’ve told you about this opportunity to make a fortune. It’s up to you if you want it or not!”
The shopkeeper was pressed against the wooden pillar by him, his small eyes as big as soybeans were rolling around, wondering what he was thinking?
"let's go!"
Yang Jian turned around and left the inn with a group of his men, then got on his horse.
Yang Jian looked at the puzzled looks of everyone and said coldly: "The prime minister just wants him dead. It doesn't matter whether he gets the reward or not!"
He led everyone on horseback to leave the small county town and return to Chang'an.
Li Ye left the Yellow River with his black spear and a guide and continued towards the west of the river.
It was not that easy to go to Anxi in the Tang Dynasty. There was the Gobi Desert along the way, as well as grasslands, deserts and snow-capped mountains. It would take several months to go on horseback, and a lot of food, water and fodder were needed along the way. It was not all grassland.
, most of it is desert, and without sufficient logistical support, the horses would not be able to support it first.
Otherwise, Tang Seng would not have traveled so hard for more than ten years. Of course, Tang Seng spent most of his time studying in the monastery, not traveling on the road, but he had been on the road for at least one or two years.
The guide Li Ye invited was named Zhang Xiaohuan, who was the nephew of the ferryman, Zhang Tou. He was about 20 years old. Li Ye offered a price of two hundred guan, which made the captain tempted. They only made two guan for a month of ferrying, and one trip would cost
It took him ten years of hard work to earn it. His nephew wanted to build a house and get a wife, so he needed the money.
Zhang Xiaohuan is a Han from Longyou. He came to the Yellow River ferry with his father and uncle to make a living since he was a child. He has rich experience. More importantly, he wants to make money well and go home to marry a wife. He does not want to die in the Gobi Desert.
Zhang Xiaohuan took Li Ye and the two of them to the northwest.
"Let me tell you, actually you should not take the Huining ferry. The caravans taking this ferry are all going to Shuofang, Qingzhou, and Jingyuan. If you are going to Chang'an, you must go to Jincheng County."
Jincheng County is today's Lanzhou. Li Ye frowned, "Why?"
"Because after crossing the Yellow River from Jincheng County, you can go north along the Lishui River Valley all the way to Liangzhou. We are also walking towards Lishui now. Going directly north is a mountainous area and we cannot enter the Hexi Corridor. The only way to enter the Hexi Corridor is along the Lishui River Valley.
Go in."
Li Ye remembered that to enter the Hexi Corridor, you really had to go through the Wushaoling Valley. In later generations, because you took a train and the valley was relatively wide, you couldn't feel it. In fact, it was a valley road two to three hundred miles long.
"Can I enter the Lishui River Valley from here?"
"Of course you can, but you have to be familiar with the terrain. Why do you need a guide? If it's your first time here, you won't be able to find it. So if you go through Jincheng County to cross the Yellow River, you won't have to spend this wasted money."
Li Ye chuckled, "If we don't go here, how will you make money?"
Zhang Xiaohuan scratched his head, "That's true!"
They walked on the vast Gobi desert, and Hei Spear never said a word. He was always a boring gourd, and now he didn't speak even more. He just looked around with vigilance.
As night fell, Zhang Xiaohuan looked around. He suddenly pointed at a small black dot in the distance and shouted: "There!"
He urged the mules to run towards the black spot, "Follow you quickly!"
Li Ye was confused, so he had to speed up and run towards the black spot, gradually getting closer. It turned out to be a garrison. Under the vast sky, it looked like a huge black top hat lying upside down on the wilderness.
This is an abandoned fort with traces of bonfires around it. It seems that a caravan has spent the night here recently.
Zhang Xiaohuan went in to take a look and said with a smile: "You can stay overnight and bring in the camels and horses!"
Li Ye walked into the fort. The fort was empty. It was much larger than he imagined, covering more than 300 square meters and about three meters high. It was also very complete and should have been abandoned for a few years.
"This was abandoned four years ago. There were troops stationed there before. After it was abandoned, horse bandits appeared!"
Zhang Xiaohuan climbed up the stairs to the second floor, looked around, and said with a smile: "There are also discarded blankets and hay up there."
"Will the horse bandits definitely come?" Li Ye asked.
Zhang Xiaohuan sighed and said: "Let me tell you this! There are spies of horse bandits in the county. The inns and restaurants opened by party members are most likely related to horse bandits. They will see that there are no military guards and there are many camels.
, they will definitely notify the horse bandits. In a situation like yours, there are only two people and they are not businessmen, so I guess the horse bandits will not come."
Zhang Xiaohuan suddenly realized that he had let something slip, so he shut up quickly and looked at Li Ye in panic, only to see him rolling his eyes and looking at him. Zhang Xiaohuan laughed guiltily and said: "It's mainly because you can't find the way that you asked me to be your guide, right?"
, it has nothing to do with horse bandits!"
Li Ye didn't bother to tell him. Ten guan was enough to serve as a guide. But they kept saying that they would lose their lives if they encountered horse bandits, so they tried their best to increase the money. They didn't stop until they reached 200 guan.
To the horse bandits.
Alas! The superficial honesty and simplicity is the best cloak for cunning.
Zhang Xiaohuan thought of another excuse and said quickly: "I am mainly worried about wolves. There are many wolves here, groups of thirty or fifty. They will appear when they smell camels."
Five camels and six horses, one mule lived in the hall on the first floor, three people slept on the second floor, and the third floor was an open-air observation deck. The exit was covered by a heavy wooden cover. There was originally a wooden ladder, but the ladder was damaged.
It was gone, leaving only a broken armrest.
In the middle of the night, Li Ye was suddenly woken up by a push. He opened his eyes and saw Zhang Xiaohuan's frightened face. Li Ye sat up and said, "What, the wolf is coming?"
"Not a wolf"
Zhang Xiaohuan was so frightened that he trembled all over. Black Spear said in a deep voice beside the window: "It must be a horse bandit!"