Early the next morning, Ma Xiaoquan packed his luggage and prepared to go to the secret location.
Second sister-in-law Qiao Yu suddenly came. Seeing Ma Xiaoquan dressed in smart clothes, she asked, "Where are you going?"
Ma Xiaoquan was stunned: "I'm going to a secret location. Why, didn't my second brother tell you?"
Qiao Yu shook his head.
"Well, you know now. By the way, don't tell Hua Yue and Bei Mingshuang that I'm going to a secret location. It's very dangerous there. I don't want them to worry."
Qiao Yu said: "Then you don't worry about yourself?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled, waved his hand and said: "I will go alone, so I will naturally know how to avoid trouble. Don't worry, my second brother and third brother will be waiting for me outside the secret place."
"Well, then I'm relieved."
Ma Xiaoquan sighed and said: "Second sister-in-law, actually I don't want the second and third brothers to go. If they are in any danger, I can't explain it to you."
Qiao Yu smiled confidently: "You are too underestimated of your second and third brothers. Don't worry, they will protect you."
"Well, then I'm relieved."
Ma Xiaoquan put his backpack on his back, said goodbye to Qiao Yu, and rode away from Ningyuan.
...
The secret location is on the hillside of Guangming Mountain, not far from Ningyuan, but the road is difficult to walk. Ma Xiaoquan has been there once before, but he didn't go in and just walked around.
At this moment, he was holding a map and studying the route carefully.
Although the journey is not far, according to the markings on the map provided by Ma Ruiqing, the areas marked with red circles are patrolled by Jurchen soldiers.
Ma Xiaoquan did not want to meet the Jurchen soldiers so soon. He needed to avoid unnecessary trouble.
After planning for a long time, I finally selected a route, but... this route was impassable for horses, so I had to walk on my own.
Ma Xiaoquan sighed, jumped off the horse, took off his backpack, slapped the horse's butt, and the horse neighed in a low voice, turned around and ran away.
...
At this moment, there was another burst of laughter not far away. Ma Xiaoquan frowned and recognized that they were Jurchen soldiers, so he hurriedly hid behind a mound.
Sure enough, several Jurchen soldiers came over laughing and joking, each holding a pheasant in their hands.
The Jurchen soldiers spoke in their ethnic language, which Ma Xiaoquan could not understand, but judging from their tone, these men seemed very proud.
Ma Xiaoquan waited quietly without saying a word. He hoped that these Jurchen soldiers would leave as soon as possible. However, they suddenly stopped, inserted the spears in their hands on the ground, took out the machetes on their bodies, and started a fire using local materials.
It looked like he was going to rest for a while and have a good meal.
Ma Xiaoquan cursed in his heart, no, we must lure these people away, otherwise it will take too long.
After thinking about it, Ma Xiaoquan picked up a stone and threw it not far away.
With a "pop" sound, the stone hit the tree trunk opposite.
"Who!" A Jurchen soldier reacted quickly. He picked up the spear beside him and looked at the source of the sound alertly.
Several other Jurchen soldiers also stood up at the next moment. They were back to back and ready to attack.
Ma Xiaoquan saw this and secretly sighed in his heart. These Jurchen soldiers seemed to be carefree. Once something happened, they would respond and prepare very quickly, which proved that these people usually trained very hard and were very effective.
Ma Xiaoquan squatted behind the mound and remained motionless. After a while, he heard the voices of the Jurchen soldiers.
This time, the Jurchen soldiers spoke Chinese.
"Are we too nervous?"
"Well, it should be true. All the people around here are from us. I guess no Han people would dare to come, right?"
"Yes, but I don't understand. General Batu asked us to guard this area, but I don't understand. What is there to guard around here?"
"Don't you know? We say we are guarding this place, but we are actually guarding a secret location."
"Secret location? What is a secret location?"
"I don't know either. Anyway, that's what the Han people who were guarding here said so."
"Oh~~"
"Okay, I think we should change places. There is a road not far away. If General Batu passes by and bumps into us, we will be doomed."
...
Behind the mound, Ma Xiaoquan took a long breath.
After these Jurchen soldiers left, Ma Xiaoquan waited for a while before sticking his head out from behind the mound.
After making sure that no one was around, Ma Xiaoquan slowly moved out.
"The secret place those Jurchen soldiers mentioned just now should be where I want to go. It just sounds like it's heavily guarded by a guy named Batu. How should I get in? Well, also, I don't know the guard yet.
What’s the situation?”
Ma Xiaoquan patted his head and suddenly had a plan in mind.
...
The few Jurchen soldiers who left did not go too far. They were still carrying chickens in their hands, so they needed to eat the pheasants in their hands before they could return to the camp.
Therefore, these people walked around in a small circle, found a relatively secluded open space, and stopped to rest.
Several people were all skilled at it, and they took out the internal organs of the pheasant in three strokes. Then they took out the kettle they brought with them, made some water, washed the blood, and each took out a seasoning bag from their arms.
Stuff it into the pheasant belly, and finally, wrap the pheasant with a layer of mud.
Ma Xiaoquan squatted behind a hidden rock and witnessed every move of these Jurchen soldiers. He secretly praised in his heart that the way these guys pick up pheasants is similar to our beggar chickens. Of course, there is still no beggar in the way of doing it.
The chicken is so delicate.
Several people threw the pheasants wrapped in mud into the dug pit, then covered it with soil and set up a fire in the pit.
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly, took out a small porcelain bottle from his backpack, opened the cap, and threw the porcelain bottle towards the Jurchen soldiers.
The porcelain bottle fell to the ground and made a slight sound. The Jurchen soldiers immediately picked up their spears and machetes in alertness and looked around.
Soon, they found the small porcelain bottle thrown by Ma Xiaoquan not far from their feet. They picked it up and exchanged glances with each other. Then they each brought it to their noses and smelled it.
"What does this smell like? It's really unpleasant..."
At this time, Ma Xiaoquan stood up from behind the rock. His appearance made several Jurchen soldiers nervous.
The Jurchen soldiers quickly raised their spears, drew out their machetes, and shouted at Ma Xiaoquan, but they spoke in their ethnic language, which Ma Xiaoquan could not understand.
"Stop, don't move!" A Jurchen soldier reacted and shouted in Chinese.
Ma Xiaoquan laughed and replied: "What are you afraid of? I'm just a passerby."
"People passing by?" Several Jurchen soldiers looked at Ma Xiaoquan carefully and then focused on his backpack.
"Yeah, I know what you are thinking. You think I have few people and I am carrying a bag. Do you want to kill people and get goods? It's a pity that you have such evil intentions now, but you don't have the strength..."