Volume 1 Wars and Chaos Chapter 58 Encountering a Tiger Again
When Li Yuan and his son received the news from Chang'an, they immediately issued an order to cross the river to Li Xiaogong. They passed through Huayin and Weinan and sent troops to the eastern suburbs of Chang'an to wait for new military orders.
At the same time, he ordered Tongguan garrison Duan Zhixuan to lead 20,000 Chen troops on the Lantian front line and Chen troops on the southern suburbs of Chang'an, waiting for new military orders.
He and his son led an army of 50,000 people from Taiyuan to the west of Luliang Mountain, crossed the Yellow River to the west of Wubao, and quickly captured the three counties of Mizhi, Suide and Qingjian, and then attacked Bao'an in the south on June 25th.
The security guard Liu Wuzhou saw that the enemy was powerful and did not dare to fight head-on. He abandoned the city and fled to Jingbian. Li Yuan captured the security guard without a fight and incorporated Liu Wu's three thousand defenders, making his power even stronger.
By June 28, the frontline troops had reached Tongchuan, and the Li army had surrounded Chang'an on three sides.
Just when the people from the aristocratic families who stayed behind in Chang'an City saw the situation clearly and wanted to flee from the west, Xianyang guard Zhang Shigui also raised the Li family's military flag.
And just after the siege was completed, on the third day of July, Chang He, the master of Linglong Pavilion, obeyed Li Yuan's military order and honored Yang You, who was only three years old, as the acting king in Taiji Palace and exercised the king's authority.
With the permission of his mother, Concubine Wei, he issued an edict to the world: Duke Li Yuan of the Tang Dynasty was worried about the imperial family and was ordered to go to Beijing to fight against rebellion. All those loyal to the Sui Dynasty should obey the orders of the Duke of Tang.
Anyone with a discerning eye would know at a glance that this was Li Yuan's arrangement. When Yang Xuanwu rebelled, the family members of various aristocratic families who stayed in Chang'an had no time to evacuate. Fortunately, Li Yuan made the dumplings now.
Chang'an is already in Li Yuan's pocket. Not only does he have a good reputation, but he also has a large number of hostages in his possession. This is a very good deal.
On the fifth day of July, Chang'an guard Yang Xuanping surrendered at the city gate, and Li Yuan took charge of Chang'an.
On the eighth day of July, Li Yuan supported Yang You and officially ascended the throne in Daju Hall, changing his reign name to "Yining".
It only took half a month from when Li Yuan received the news that Yang Xuanwu had withdrawn from Chang'an and found Yang You on June 22nd to when he proclaimed Li You as emperor on July 8th.
Li Yuan and his son led troops all the way south from the distant Taiyuan, and used surrounding troops to cooperate with them to seize Chang'an. If Yang Guang's spirit in heaven knew about this operation, would he be angry?
When all parties received this news, they all scolded Li Yuan for his cowardly ambition and his desire to usurp the throne.
The aristocratic families in Chang'an City did not dare to say anything more, because Li Yuan did not make things difficult for their family members. If they did not know what to do, it would be difficult to say anything.
Of course Luo Yu didn't know the changes in Chang'an now. He was three or four steps away from Li Xiuning. He saw Fei Jian coming, but he was too late to rush to save Li Xiuning. At this critical moment, Yang Man, who was closest to Li Xiuning, took action.
She was already playing with the riding crop, but when she heard the sound of cracking in the air, she didn't think twice, waved her hand and hit the arrow.
The arrow was about to reach its end when she swung it, changed its direction and fell in front of Li Xiuning's feet.
It was not difficult for Li Xiuning to duck and avoid the ordinary feather arrows that were shot in front of her, but she just shook her body and stood up straight to face the arrows.
Because Luo Yu was behind her, she would be shot if she avoided Luo Yu. She would rather be hurt herself than Luo Yu.
Yang Man took off the feathered arrow and pulled Li Xiuning towards the big tree next to him with an arrow step. He used the wide trunk to hide his figure to prevent the archer from shooting another sneak attack.
This big tree was the crownless tree that Luo Yu wanted to hide in but was frightened by the large number of poisonous centipedes. After spring and summer, it was much greener than what he had seen in the severe winter last year.
Luo Yu also quickly flew over to them. Seeing that Li Xiuning was out of danger, the three team members made stealth in three directions and went to where the arrows came from to catch him.
Only then did Luo Yu have time to look at the feather arrow that fell on the ground. It was an ordinary homemade arrow, about one and a half feet long. The arrowhead was made of animal bones and polished into a round head shape. It looked weird at all.
It looks like an arrow that can hurt people, with a few white feathers attached to its tail three inches.
This is not used by the military, but seems to be made by hunters in the mountains. It is not surprising that hunters appear here, but why they shoot at Li Xiuning indiscriminately, you have to ask the archer.
The three team members returned empty-handed. By the time they got there, they had long since lost sight of him. The three of them searched around again without giving up, but found nothing else, so they had to come back and report first.
Lu Xiao was a little confused and said: "Instructor, it seems that someone is lurking there, but the three students only smelled a light fragrance, and there was no other trace. The man and the fragrance seemed to disappear out of thin air."
Luo Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back to the cabin first and wait until Zhang Yang and the others come back."
Li Xiuning said: "Looking at the style of this arrow, it doesn't seem to be intended to hurt anyone. They just said there was a fragrance there. Could it be that a female hunter was joking with us?"
After saying that, he glanced at Luo Yu, as if asking: "Do you have any crush here?"
Luo Yu's head was getting bigger and he said hurriedly: "Where do you want to go? I know the old man here, but he seems to have said that he has a granddaughter. Did the old man ask her to pick us up?"
Li Xiuning smiled and said: "Why are you nervous? You will know if you go out and call me."
Luo Yu felt it made sense. Although he was not sure whether it was the old man's granddaughter who came to pick them up, the arrow she shot should not have any malicious intent. If it was really the old man's granddaughter, it would save a lot of trouble.
So Luo Yu came to the place where the arrow fell. Just as he was about to speak, a burst of laughter like silver bells came from the big tree where Li Xiuning and the others were hiding.
Everyone looked up and saw a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old sitting on the second branch of a tree. She was wearing a colorful linen dress and a white cloth hat unique to ethnic minorities. A two-inch long piece of cloth hung down from the left side of the hat.
Thin tassels, thin tassels were swaying as her legs in floral cloth boots swayed back and forth.
She held a small bow in her left hand and a quiver with several arrows on her back, with a naughty smile on her delicate face.
This was someone who had been playing hawk all her life but was pecked in the eye by an eagle. The six people who went up there did not notice at all. If this was an enemy, they would not know how they died.
Li Xiuning smiled and said: "Little sister, come down quickly, there is a snake above your head."
The girl also smiled and said: "Thank you, sister, for reminding me. I raised this snake. It's really fun. Do you want to play with it?" Her tone was like Shu's, and her voice was light and crisp, as pleasant as laughter.
Yang Man was a little afraid of snakes, so she pulled Li Xiuning and retreated to Luo Yu. Three team members also gathered around to see what she wanted to do.
The girl smiled very much. When she saw the six people retreating, she jumped down from the power branch about two feet above the ground and landed steadily on the ground. She was very good at making light bodies. She looked at the few people curiously with her big eyes.
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She is about the same height as Li Xiuning and has a good figure. In addition, the clothes of ethnic minorities are not as subtle as Hanfu. They outline a charming figure and give her a wild beauty.
Li Xiuning wanted to step forward, but Yang Man stopped her and said, "Sister Xiuning, this woman is weird, don't go there."
Li Xiuning smiled and patted her hand and said: "It's okay, she is playing with us." After saying that, he walked up to the girl and wanted to hold her hand to show friendship.
Luo Yu originally wanted to stop him, but when he remembered that the girl might be the old man's granddaughter, it would not be detrimental to them, so he didn't say anything. At the same time, he also stopped the forward movement of Lu Xiao and others.
Besides, with Li Xiuning's skills, as long as the girl doesn't need to be poisoned, she should be fine.
Unexpectedly, just when Li Xiuning was about to take her hand, she retracted it behind her and said with a silvery smile: "Sister, I'm wearing poisonous gloves. I came here to catch centipedes, but I didn't expect to meet you.
"
Li Xiuning retracted his hand and said a little embarrassed: "Why are you here catching centipedes?"
The girl did not answer, but looked at Luo Yu and the others and said, "Which one of you is Luo Yu? My grandfather has been looking for him for a long time!"
This girl is indeed the old man's granddaughter, but Luo Yu still has questions: "How do you know there is someone named Luo Yu among us?"
The girl smiled and said: "Grandpa said that only Luo Yu knows where the board with the message is hidden. I just saw you took it away. Did you go to our village?"
Luo Yu smiled and said: "Yes, but they have been gone for so long, why haven't they come back yet?"
The girl also smiled and said: "I drew that map. They couldn't find it. That's right. Which one of you is Luo Yu?"
Li Xiuning pointed at Luo Yu and said, "He is it. Didn't your grandfather tell you what he looks like?"
The girl said: "I told you, but it doesn't seem right. How about you prove that you are Luo Yu?"
When Luo Yu met the old man that day, he was dressed exactly as he would in later generations. His hairstyle, clothes, and height had all changed from what he is today, which is why she said he didn't match his age.
Luo Yu smiled bitterly and said, "I believe your grandpa told you that he and I had roasted taro and hot noodle soup in this wooden house. If you can't prove it, you can only prove it by meeting his old man."
Just as the girl was about to speak, the sound of horse hooves was heard. It must be that the patrolling army heard the movement and came to investigate. The sound was no less than two hundred horses.
The girl's expression changed, and she shouted softly: "Don't make any noise, come with me!" After saying that, she quickly walked towards the back of the wooden house.
Luo Yu saw that she seemed a little afraid of this patrol, but it was not convenient to ask why now, so he winked at Lu Xiao and asked him to follow her.
Lu Xiao understood and followed the girl. Luo Yu pulled Li Xiuning and followed Lu Xiao, followed by Yang Man and the other two team members.
The direction she led was the same as the direction Zhang Yang and the others were going. Luo Yu was relieved, as Zhang Yang and the others would return the same way if they couldn't find the place, so there was no need to come to pick them up again.
Zhou Ye followed at the end, and he was not at ease. He left special marks unique to the special forces wherever he passed, to prevent Zhang Yang and the others from coming back from elsewhere, and to find a way to follow.
The trees are getting taller and denser, and the sunlight shines through the dense leaves on the ground full of dead branches and leaves. In some places, if you step on it, you can reach your knees. I don't know how she leads the way.
Luo Yu was ten steps behind the two of them, so he didn't know if the traces under his feet were left by Zhang Yang and the others. He was now a little worried whether this girl was the old man's granddaughter.
This is a place where Han people and ethnic minorities live together. Several ethnic minorities such as Miao, Bai, and Shui all live around this jungle. They have always been bullied by the powerful Han people and do not have much favorable impressions of the Han people. What if this is a trap?
But that's bad.
Just as he was thinking about it, the girl stopped moving forward. Luo Yu looked up and saw movement coming from a hundred and eighty steps ahead. Weeds as tall as a person's head were quickly separating to the left and right, like a large beast trying to carve out a path.
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Luo Yu stretched out his hand and clenched his fist, raising it slightly to indicate that he should stop advancing. Even the special forces could understand this action. Lu Xiao quickly grabbed the girl, squatted down gently, took out the dagger between her legs, and waited for the thing to appear.
The girl's bow and quiver were discarded at some point. She was now bare-handed, but her face was extremely excited. This is probably the nature of hunters. The stronger the prey, the more they like it.
Zhang Yang smiled and handed her the other dagger, indicating that she should hold it for self-defense.
The girl looked at Zhang Yang, reached out and took the dagger, then turned to look at the weeds, her back arched like a cheetah ready to strike, ready to deliver a fatal blow to its prey.
Naturally, Luo Yu and the two women did not take out their daggers. With the four of them here, unless they encountered a pack of wolves, they would have to lie down when a tiger came.
The movement over there also stopped, as if they had discovered Luo Yu and the others. The three girls, Li Xiuning, all had body fragrance, and they were in a position upwind. How could an animal with a sensitive sense of smell not smell it?
Luo Yu suddenly remembered that the people facing him might not be wild beasts, but they might also be Zhang Yang and the others. After all, it was time to come back after being out for so long.
With the training and battlefield experience they have received, it is no problem to get out of this peripheral jungle. Even if they are pursued by ethnic minorities, they can escape unscathed. It can be said that no one in this world understands jungle warfare better than them.
Luo Yu made a move towards Zhou Ye behind him, asking him to call the other side with a coded signal to see if he could receive feedback.
Zhang Yang nodded, put his hand to his mouth, let out three owl calls in succession, and then waited for a response.
Before he could respond, a deafening roar came from the right, echoing in the jungle.
Luo Yu remembered the sound. It was the tiger as big as a calf that he had fought with the gorilla. How could it have come to the edge of the jungle?
I don’t know if the gorilla has followed. Just now I was thinking that with Lu Xiao and the four of them here, even if the tiger comes, it won’t be of any use. Now that this big guy is here, I can’t guarantee it...