The bottom of the dry ditch is relatively flat, mainly because of the water erosion in the past, so Ma Xiaoquan walked on the bottom of the ditch very smoothly. However, the further he walked, the light became worse and worse. When he looked up, he saw that there were large trees on both sides of the dry ditch.
Large and small drought-tolerant trees block most of the sunlight.
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and murmured: "There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The good thing is that I don't have to worry about the cow's eggs on top being exposed. The bad thing is... at the bottom of the ditch, my field of vision becomes smaller.
Already."
As Ma Xiaoquan spoke, he walked forward and stopped at the corner of a dry ditch.
Squatting down, Ma Xiaoquan saw the footprints at the bottom of the ditch. He stretched out his hand and twisted the soil. Well, it should have been a short time since he stepped on it and left a mark.
"Judging from the footprints, there are at least three to four people..." Ma Xiaoquan looked at the size of the footprints and judged, "Well, maybe it's not far ahead. Well, from here on, I have to be careful.
....."
The bottom of the ditch is not always smooth and easy to walk on. When Ma Xiaoquan turned this corner, there were obviously many large and small stones at the bottom of the ditch, and it was not as easy to walk on as before. When he stepped on them, he occasionally had troubles.
The crackling sound is caused by the stone being soaked in water for a long time, and then the stone drying out and cracking after the ditch water dries up.
Fortunately, the soles of shoes made in this era were made of multiple layers of oilcloth or pure leather, so the sound made when stepping on them was not too loud. In addition, there were occasional calls of birds and insects in the ditch.
The sound of the cool wind blowing through the ditch could completely cover the sound of stepping on the gravel.
Even so, Ma Xiaoquan still felt that he was not careful enough. He pulled two pieces of cloth from his body and tied them to his shoes to weaken the sound of stepping on the rocks at the bottom of the ditch.
Of course, the effect of this approach is actually not great, but it is better than nothing.
"Okay, you can go now..."
Ma Xiaoquan squinted his eyes, packed himself with dry food and water, and continued moving forward.
...
At the same time, somewhere not too far away from Ma Xiaoquan, Li Zongyu and four others were sitting on a stone at the bottom of the ditch and resting.
From the very beginning when they decided to walk along the bottom of the ditch until now, the four of them have been holding on to great hope that there will be a breach in the ditch and they can climb up from the breach.
However, after walking for such a long time, they found nothing. Not only that, they were hungry and thirsty all night, which really made it impossible for them to concentrate on thinking about things and countermeasures.
One person kicked away the small stone in front of his feet and cursed: "I'm so angry. If I go up there, I will definitely settle the score with that bastard Wang Zhixian. I ripped off his skin and played with his daughter to death."
....Use his head as a toilet..."
Another person said: "Okay, you can do it for me after you finish..."
"Well, when you're done, bring it over and I'll do it again..."
Li Zongyu, who was on the side, heard the conversation between the two people, rolled his eyes and said: "Okay, let's not talk about this for now. Let's discuss how to get up. In fact, after thinking about it, as long as the four of us work together, we can
You can go up..."
The other three people have also thought about Li Zongyu's proposal, but...the four of them will not work together as Li Zongyu said.
Although they are all Wei Zhongxian's minions, the four of them were not familiar with each other before and their official positions are at different levels.
In terms of official positions, Li Zongyu was the lowest, but before he was demoted by Wei Zhongxian, he had the highest official position.
The four people present are all good people, and they all know that the current official position does not guarantee the future official position. If the four of them go up, there will definitely be someone at the bottom who will be a stepping stone. It is better not to say this kind of thing, but if they say it in the future, they will definitely be punished.
People laugh at you.
Besides, if the person acting as a stepping stone brings the person on top of him, how will the person acting as a stepping stone get up? Will the person who stepped up first put some unreasonable conditions at that time? Or will he not save me?
Everyone had their own thoughts, so no one responded to Li Zongyu's proposal.
Li Zongyu sighed secretly in his heart. It's now, and these people are still playing tricks. Do they really have to wait until they are hungry, thirsty, and dying before they can figure it out?
Li Zongyu licked his dry and numb lips, raised his head and looked at the edge of the ditch that could be seen within his field of vision. As he looked at it, he suddenly felt that it was a mistake to keep going forward, because after visual inspection, Li Zongyu found that this
The dry ditch is getting deeper and deeper, almost becoming a dry valley.
Li Zongyu looked at the other three people. All three of them looked tired and listless.
"Colleagues..." Li Zongyu licked his lips and licked his tongue on the dry and cracked bloody mouth, causing Li Zongyu to feel a heartbreaking pain.
"Everyone..." Li Zongyu repeated what he said, "Everyone, look up and take a look. The ditch is getting deeper and deeper. I think we should go back..."
Li Zongyu's reminder attracted the attention of the other three people. They all looked up and saw that it was just as Li Zongyu said, it was getting deeper and deeper.
It's just... you've come this far, do you still have to go back? You know, you can't go up at all if you go back.
Li Zongyu suggested again: "This dry ditch is about as high as five people put together. There are four of us. As long as the four of us step on each other's shoulders and increase our strength, someone will be able to go up. As long as we go up
, then find ropes to pull the remaining three people up one by one..."
This time, Li Zongyu's suggestion was not rejected, but everyone still did not answer him with their own thoughts.
Li Zongyu suddenly felt sad in his heart. He regretted choosing these people. He thought they didn't know each other, so they could cooperate more and chat less. But now it seems that it is better to lead people who are familiar with him.
...
At this moment, one of the four people suddenly stood up, made a quiet movement, and then pointed behind him.
The other three people suddenly became alert and looked behind in the direction of the man's finger.
Everyone held their breath, feeling both uneasy and excited.
Could it be that Wang Zhixian figured it out and came down to rescue them?
Or...someone else?
The eyes of the four people were staring back, unblinking, for fear of missing this crucial scene.
The next moment...
The next moment...
A man walked out slowly, holding a slender fire stick in the man's hand. Although the light in the dry ditch was not very good, since it was daytime, there was no need to light a fire, but the man's hand held a slender fire stick.
Just hold a slender fire stick to illuminate it.
There was a huge kettle hanging on the man's chest, and the kettle was holding a bag that looked like a dry food bag.
"Gulu..." Someone swallowed involuntarily.
When the man saw the four of them, he was also stunned, but then he smiled slightly and took two steps back.
...
Li Zongyu looked at the man and felt that his movements were somewhat familiar, but the man's appearance was not the man he remembered.
"Who are you?" Li Zongyu asked alertly.
The man did not answer Li Zongyu's question. He smiled slightly, opened the kettle hanging on his chest, and took a sip.
The sound of the man drinking water was not loud, but under the ditch, everyone could hear it clearly.
That's not all. After drinking the water, the man opened the dry food bag hanging on his chest, took out a piece of cake in front of the four people, and started eating it in front of the four people.
"Gulu..." This time, it was another person's stomach growling. This was the stress response of seeing food and wanting to eat it but not being able to eat it.
"Brother..." Li Zongyu breathed out and said, "Can you share some of the water and dry food in your hands with me..."
Li Zongyu said "divide a little for me" rather than "divide a little for us". It was obvious that he no longer wanted to take care of the other three people when it came to food and water.
The other three people naturally heard what Li Zongyu meant, so they said to the man unceremoniously: "Brother, give me some water and food. I have money here. Oh no, I have what you want."
of......"
The man stopped eating the cake, put down the kettle, glanced at the four people, and suddenly said to Li Zongyu, "Li Zongyu, long time no see..."
Li Zongyu was stunned and wondered how this man knew my name, and why his voice was so familiar.
"Who are you......"
The man lowered his head and gently tore off the human skin mask on his face, revealing his true appearance.
Ma Xiaoquan.
That's right, it's Ma Xiaoquan.
In fact, Ma Xiaoquan didn't want to expose himself, but he made a noise because he didn't keep his footing before.
Ma Xiaoquan also knew that he should have been exposed, so he thought of simply going out and taking a look. Anyway, he would have to meet those people on the other side sooner or later, so it was better to meet them now.
But I didn't expect that among the people I met, there was an old acquaintance - Li Zongyu.
Ma Xiaoquan didn't want to reveal his true face, but when he saw Li Zongyu in a place like this, there was only one possibility - Li Zongyu's existence was related to him.
Thinking of this, Ma Xiaoquan decided to reveal his true colors and find out.
Sure enough, when Ma Xiaoquan showed his true face, Li Zongyu was shocked at first, and then shouted: "Ma Xiaoquan, is it you? You are still alive..."
Li Zongyu's words also directly exposed his purpose. What does it mean to be alive? Why is there the word "still"?
Ma Xiaoquan understood in an instant that Li Zongyu must be related to the Assassin Alliance that had been chasing him before.
The other three people were also shocked when they saw Ma Xiaoquan, but compared to Li Zongyu, they were much calmer. Of course, calmness does not mean neglect. Each of them will find what they can find around them, what is available, or what they think can be used.
The things that killed people were taken out.
It is a pity that, except for a sharp piece of stone held by one of them, the ones held by the other people did not have much lethality at all.