In order to prevent misjudgment, Liu Ce took the initiative to say hello, "Ma Han, why are you here?"
Ma Han also smiled and cupped his hands, "It turns out to be Brother Liu. It's so rare to meet you here."
After saying this, Ma Han turned around and pointed behind him, "I accepted a business and took a few people into the mountains to collect some herbs."
"By the way, Brother Liu, why are you here too?"
Liu Ce laughed, "Oh, we just came out of the mountains and are resting here."
Both parties know each other well, but they don't mean what they say to each other.
After saying a few more polite words, the two of them said goodbye.
Liu Tie, who looked at them all far away, asked with slight surprise, "Why didn't brother Liu Ce stop him?"
Liu Ce sighed, "Maybe our two families will have to fight side by side in the future, so it won't be too tense today."
"Then what's next? What do we do?"
Liu Ce looked at the direction Tian Wen and the others were leaving, and his eyes became more determined, "Send someone to follow him secretly. You go and report the situation to His Highness the Crown Prince. I will stay and guard the steep slope. Let's follow him when he leaves."
Pull it apart slowly."
Liu Tie was stunned, "You want me to go down the mountain?"
Liu Ce nodded, "Brother Tie, didn't the prince give you another task? We can't delay that matter."
Liu Tie shook his head, "I'm leaving. I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it. The prince's errand is not particularly urgent."
Liu Ce frowned, "Whether it's urgent or not, you must hurry up and make arrangements for the prince. You can't keep him waiting for too long." As he spoke, he shouted loudly into the distance, "
Yang Chun, Yang Chun, come here."
When Yang Chun heard the call to him, he hurried over and said, "Steward Liu, please give me your instructions."
Liu Ce looked at him and said seriously, "Yang Chun, I have a difficult matter and I want to hear your opinion."
Seeing how solemn he was, Yang Chun also put away the smile on his face and said, "If anything happens to Butler Liu, just ask him."
Liu Ce pointed to Liu Tie next to him, "Brother Liu Tie has been ordered by my Marquis to arrest Xiong Fei and Hou Liu."
Yang Chun was dumbfounded, "Xiong Fei and Hou Liu? Does the prince recognize them?"
"Yes, the two of them used the names of villagers in Hetou Village to deceive my prince. They committed a capital crime."
Upon hearing this, Yang Chun's expression became solemn, "I do know where their hometowns are, but I can't guarantee that they are there."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I'll send a few more people to you. You can search slowly and be sure to catch these two thieves." Liu Ce's words made Yang Chun feel relieved.
Yang Chun turned around and said goodbye to Yang Zhi. Hearing that he was on an errand for Liu Xiangnan, Yang Zhile's mouth was split to the back of his head, "Brother, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you do this errand, you will be embarrassed in front of the Marquis."
Got the number."
"Whether you can clear your identity as a mountain bandit and start a new life depends on how successful you are in this trip."
After hearing this, Yang Chun became a little excited, "According to what you said, then I must complete this mission."
"Yes, I will assign some brothers to you." Yang Zhi immediately began to make arrangements.
At this time, Tian Wen led Ma Han and the others out for a few miles and stopped only after looking back and losing sight of the steep slope.
Ma Han asked slightly worriedly, "Guard Tian, was there no problem with my response just now?"
Tian Wen raised his hand and patted Mahan on the shoulder, "Okay, don't think so much, let's move on."
"They are still guarding the steep slope. This is good news. It means that Lord Lotus and the others are on the mountain."
Ma Han still looked very cautious, "Guard Tian, what should we do next?"
Tian Wen pointed to the roadside, "There are many traces of people passing by here. Let's look for them slowly."
"Everyone, please keep your distance and don't get separated. If you get separated in the mountains, it will cost your life."
On his side, he led people into the mountains to search. On the other side, the leader of Lotus also received a piece of news that was both happy and disappointing.
Butterfly led the people to track them all the way to the Longwang River, convinced that someone had crossed the river.
But it could also be seen that someone was ambushing me on the other side of the river.
After listening to Butterfly's report, Master Lotus frowned and remained silent.
At that time, Chu Han next to him spoke, "Master, we might as well go all the way down the river. The river is thousands of miles long and eventually reaches the sea. We can always get out."
After hearing Chu Han's words, Master Lianhua's eyes lit up.
"That makes sense. Let's go downstream and see if we can find a way out."
After the Lotus Master took the map and confirmed the route again and again, he led everyone to set off in a mighty manner.
There were still more than ten miles away from the Longwang River, so they chose a branch road and turned downstream. Although it was very difficult to walk due to the thorns everywhere, everyone seemed to have high morale. After all, there was a glimmer of hope to get out of the mountain.
At this time, Chen Xiaobei also led everyone to the woods. As soon as he arrived here, Chen Sanliang immediately became excited.
"Yes, yes, that's it, that big stone eye, right over there."
Chen Sanliang pointed to the east as he spoke.
Judging from his performance, it shows that Chen Sanliang has really been here.
Chen Xiaobei led everyone to move forward slowly, step by step, on the thick withered leaves.
At this time, a member of the village protection team spoke up, "Captain Xiaobei, it's too laborious to clean up. It's better to burn it on fire."
Chen Xiaobei shook his head, "No, burning it is too dangerous."
What Chen Xiaobei is worried about is that combustion will produce a large amount of carbon dioxide, which will accumulate in lower places.
If there really is a huge cave under this stone eye, the cave will be filled with carbon dioxide, and accidents and dangers will occur if people go down.
At Chen Xiaobei's insistence, everyone present worked together to clear a simple passage.
When he came to the entrance of the cave, Chen Xiaobei ordered someone to light a torch, tie it with a rope, and slowly go down the cave.
It went all the way to a depth of about three feet, and the torch hit the wall, indicating that it was the end.
Chen Xiaobei slowly lifted it up a little more, shook the rope in his hand a few times, and let the torch rotate for a look.
It can be seen that when the torch is turned to the southeast, the flames obviously extend outward, indicating that there is air flow there, which means that you can keep going forward there.
This is completely consistent with some of what Chen Sanliang said.
After confirming this, Chen Xiaobei turned to look at Chen Sanliang and said, "Brother Sanliang, you are familiar with the situation, be the first to attack."
Chen Sanliang took off the rope from his shoulders and tied it firmly to the stone next to him.
For these mountain people, ropes of more than three feet are simply commonplace.
After a few clicks, Chen Sanliang fell to the bottom of the cave.
Chen Xiaobei ordered two more village guards to stay, "You two don't want to go down, just stay at the entrance of the cave. For as long as it takes for a stick of incense, you shout twice, and we will judge the distance by the sound."
It's just that Chen Xiaobei didn't fully explain. What he wanted was not just to judge the distance, but to leave two people to guard the entrance of the cave. If anything happened, they could easily deal with it inside. For example, if it suddenly rained heavily, they would have to evacuate quickly.
Otherwise, so much water would pour into the cave and they would die without a burial place.
After everything was arranged, Chen Xiaobei was the last one to descend into the cave.