"Thunder strikes the wood." The old Zhu Wu really had a way. He had indeed expected this situation. "If you enter the swamp and are eaten by evil ghosts, you can drive away evil by grinding powder and water suits with lightning strikes.
ghost."
"Then go and do it!"
General Zhendong did not hesitate and immediately agreed to his suggestion.
She was not afraid of the other party playing tricks.
The other party's life, including the lives of the tribe members, is in his own hands.
In addition, there must be a brave man under heavy rewards, which is enough to make the other party work hard.
Although there were signs of a camp roar, for the elite soldiers, the initial chaos was quickly controlled.
The soldiers who drank the lightning-striking wood powder were gathered together. The old Zhu Wu untied the copper bell on his waist, shook it gently, and sang the curse in the Xianbei tone.
I don’t know whether it was the lightning strike of the wood, or whether the old Zhu Wu’s curse song had the effect of calming people’s hearts, these soldiers quickly calmed down and fell asleep.
No words all night.
When he was about to move forward again the next day, Zhao Guang came to report with a serious look:
"General, it's not healing. Some soldiers' wounds have become purulent and have a warm disease. The high fever does not subside."
“How many people?”
"One Hundred and Thirty-Three."
"Then leave a hundred people to take care of them, and then send people back, and let the people outside the moor find a way to take them back."
General Zhendong looked at the way back, and the spear stuck in the swamp was like a signpost.
Just a day's journey, plus you already have experience,
After arranging the aftermath, General Guan led his troops into the swamp again.
Fortunately, with the experience of the first day, the remaining journey was much faster.
The deeper you walk into the moor, the more obvious the water flow that was originally hidden in the darkness.
When the water flows completely converge into a stream, it turns south and flows into a valley hidden in the thick fog.
"Sir, there is Poison Valley ahead."
Two gray-white rock peaks at the entrance of the valley stand opposite each other, with honeycomb-like holes on the rock walls. When the wind passes through, it makes a deep sob, like the sound of a giant wolf grinding his teeth before eating his prey.
Standing in front of the valley, I clearly felt a gust of mountain wind blowing, but the fog in the valley could not melt.
Obviously, fog is not simple.
General Zhendong leaned over and grabbed a handful of sand and soil, and immediately smelled a faint pungent smell.
This smell is different from the rotten smell in the moor.
This is a pungent fishy smell, like the stench caused by the bursting of necrotic bird eggs.
"Let's rest at the valley entrance tonight, don't enter the valley."
Although the taste was very light, a trace of confusion flashed in General Zhendong's eyes, and then it turned into doubt.
Before she could figure it out, the old Zhu Wu had already spoken quickly:
"Sir, wise."
A look of relief appeared on his face. He was really worried that the Han general in front of him would feel contemptuous because he successfully passed through the swamp.
"The evil ghosts in this valley are very different from the ones in the swamp. The more intense the sun is, the more fierce the sun is, the more fierce the ones in this valley are. The more intense the sun is, the weaker the ones are."
"If you want to cross the valley, you can only enter while the sun is hottest, the yang energy is strongest, and the evil ghosts hide underground."
"A person who is unknown, if you take it for granted, pass through the valley through the swamp, you will only be trapped by the evil spirit."
When General Zhendong heard this, he was already a little clear-headed, and his face showed an unanswerable expression, "The trap of the evil ghost? Haha!"
I didn't say much at the moment, but just ordered a place to find a place to camp and rest and count the casualties.
Although I had the first day of experience, I still lost more than 300 people over the rest of the journey.
In addition to the high fever and the people who stayed to take care of it, there were only about 7,000 people who could reach the entrance of the valley.
In other words, in just three days, the number of non-combat reductions alone reached almost half of the time.
Just as everyone was resting, General Zhendong asked someone to call Zhao Guang and Pei Xiu over and whispered a few instructions.
Soon, Zhao Guang, Pei Xiu and Lao Zhu Wu led a dozen soldiers to enter the valley in advance to explore the way while it was still early.
Until the sun was about to set and the remaining sunlight shone into the valley, the fog in the valley reflected a slightly strange dark yellow color. The figures of Zhao Guang, Pei Xiu and others appeared again at the entrance of the valley.
"General!" Zhao Guang's face was covered with thick cloth, probably to prevent poisoning in the valley. Before he could pull off the cloth, he couldn't wait to say, "Sure enough..."
General Zhendong frowned slightly, turned his head and pointed at Pei Xiu:
"You say."
Pei Xiu did not mask her face with a cloth, and there were some traces of water on her face. She must have been cleaned when she came back.
After all, the children of aristocratic families are children of aristocratic families, which is much more particular than a vulgar martial artist like Zhao Guang.
"General, there is indeed stone sulfur in the valley. The mist is all miasma caused by stone sulfur."
General Zhendong nodded.
The pungent smell she smelled before made her feel very familiar.
In the view of General Zhendong, the most profound person in the world who studies stone sulfur is his own Alang and his concubine Amei.
So the same is true for General Zhendong is also very familiar with Stone Sulfur.
More importantly, General Zhendong was the first person in the Han Dynasty to use the secret weapons of the Thunder God Camp.
Stone sulfur is toxic, and the poisonous gas produced blocks the entire valley.
Even for the old Xianbei Zhuwu, this valley is far more dangerous than the swamp.
But for General Zhendong, it is the opposite.
In the early years, in order to study this thing, countless laborers died of poisoning.
Even some of the students involved were not spared.
I have long used human life to summarize enough experience.
"What's going on in the valley?"
"We walked in for several miles, and there was no trace of birds and beasts. The only living thing was ant insect."
General Zhendong felt relieved when he heard that there were indeed ant insects in the valley:
"A land of sulfur poison, an ant nest is built against the wind, so it avoids sulfur poison like fire."
After saying that, he looked up at the sky and the last golden thread had fallen into the distant mountains.
At the twilight, there was still a golden red that refused to fade away in the folds of the clouds, as if the sky was swallowing countless ashes that were about to be extinguished.
At this time, the West had already been burned into a crucible of molten gold, and the clouds were fish scales, layer by layer, as if soaked in orange-red and pink-purple glaze.
The sunset is beautiful.
The face of General Zhendong made General Zhendong's face look a layer of gold.
General Zhendong showed a rare smile on his face, and his smile was even more beautiful than the sunset:
"Get a good rest and enter the valley at noon tomorrow!"
The morning glow does not go out, but the sunset travels thousands of miles.
On the second day, before noon was waiting, the sun was already hot.
Pei Xiu wiped her sweat and murmured:
"This sun is even hotter than fire. In fact, if I want to say, it's better to set a fire in the valley, and no poisonous gas will be gone."
Zhao Guang, who was standing next to Pei Xiu, heard this and slapped him with a slap:
"You can't set fire! You may be as far away from the thief. Once you set fire, you will most likely attract the attention of the thief."
"I'm just talking!" Pei Xiu stood firm again, held his head, and looked at Zhao Guang with dissatisfaction.
"It's not okay to talk about it, it shakes the morale of the army!" Zhao Guang glared at him, "At this time, no matter how much you have any opinions, you must keep them in your heart and must completely obey Guan Shuai's military order."
"Search it last!"
"Set off!"
"Walk!"
Pei Xiu took a deep breath, and was almost choked by the rich smell of urine that was full of nose.
He hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with the wet cloth stained with urine, and followed the group of people into the valley.
The old Zhu Wu, who was walking in the front, held up a torch and leaned over to observe the ground from time to time.
In the sulfur mist, sporadic red light flashed between the cracks of the rocks - this is the only living creature living in the valley, red ant worms.
These heat-loving insects are lined up in a twisted queue, bypassing a seemingly flat sandy land and drilling into the nest at the bottom of the cliff.
No mistakes, one song, one post, one content, one reading!
General Zhendong used the tip of his sword to pick up a piece of ant nest soil, and the charred particles were mixed with bat dung - this is a natural filter material used by fire ants to neutralize sulfur poison.
The old Zhu Wu's voice sounded a little vaguely: "Where there is an ant path, the poisonous fog is three feet thin, and you can follow the traces!"
The soldiers walked forward on the ant path, and their boots were crushing the fire ants that had no time to retreat from time to time.
The most dangerous murderous intent is hidden at the end of the ant path.
When the iron hooves of the war horse stepped onto a rock slab, only a slight "click" sound was heard - like a hungry wolf biting a sheep's knee bone.
"Retreat!" The experienced old man roared and grabbed the reins, but it was too late.
The rock slab shattered with a bang, and boiling mud gushed out from the cracks of the ground, and three cavalrymen and their men and horses fell into the boiling pool.
The whine of the war horses came to an abrupt end, because the sulphur mud had burned their vocal cords, leaving only half-baked bodies floating in the bubbling mud.
"The red ant is the eyelashes of the Mother Earth." The old Zhu Wu knelt down and looked at the fire ant that was running wildly. "When the eyelashes move, the Mother Earth is blinking."
"The Earth Fire Dragon has woken up." Another Hu guide pointed to the collapse edge tremblingly.
There was a dark red veins exposed there, and the heat evaporated in the cracks of the rocks twisted the light, as if a red dragon was turning over under the rock formation.
Zhao Guang rushed forward, picked up the old Zhu Wu and roared:
"The great Han soldiers only believe in Emperor Tianhoutu, only believe in God Haotian, and do not believe in the Earth Mother in your mouth! Find a way!"
"Red ants! Find the red ants and follow them!"
The old Zhu Wu suddenly pointed to the red ant nest that had not been affected by mud. The surviving red ants were fleeing wildly along the valley - the route they chose was a safe route.
"Come on, don't get close to the quagmire!"
Before everyone could pass through the quagmire, a large area of the ground that seemed hard but actually crisp and thin collapsed.
I saw a crack at the base of the rock wall. The river that first merged into the valley but disappeared at some point turned into a dark river and gushed out from the ground.
But the color is no longer normal, but has become a light yellow color that is visible to the naked eye.
"Earth fire! It's the earth dragon that moved!"
The sudden vision made the soldiers retreat instinctively, but unexpectedly they bumped into the sulfur crystals peeled from the rock wall, and the light yellow crystals broke into powder, mixed with mist and penetrated into the nasal cavity.
The soldier suddenly pinched his throat and black blood oozed out of his fingers.
"Cover your mouth and nose! Don't tear off the face towel!"
"Go, go quickly!"
The underground rivers are surging more and more. As the water flow continues to increase, the steaming hot air makes the original sulphur fog thin and the surrounding valleys are once again inclined to be covered by fog.
"Don't stay here!"
Fortunately, there was only one place that collapsed, and with the guidance of red ants, most of the people finally passed the most dangerous area without any danger.
Unfortunately, even though they were prepared, there were still nearly two hundred people who remained in the valley forever.
The further you walked, the thinner the pungent mist became until it disappeared completely, and the sound of water suddenly came from the front.
"General, there is living water!" The cheers of the vanguard soldiers echoed in the valley.
General Zhendong looked in the sound, but saw the hidden river that appeared and disappeared. At this moment, he finally stopped hiding his face, but showed his entire face without hesitation and flowed forward along the valley.
General Guan pulled off the mask, quickly stepped forward, scooped up the water, and splashed it on his face.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion or if I have been in the valley for a long time, but I always feel that the mountain stream still has a faint smell of stone sulfur.
But this is no longer important.
The old Zhu Wu was also kneeling beside the water flowing, coughing desperately while saying:
"As long as we see living water, it means we are about to go out."
"General, there seems to be light ahead!"
As if he had verified the words of the old Zhu Wu, a sharp-eyed soldier quickly pointed ahead and shouted.
General Zhendong, who had washed his face and breathed a long breath, raised his thousand-mile mirror and looked forward.
After looking at it for a while, I put down Qianlijing and a smile appeared on my face:
"It should be just an exit, send someone to investigate."
"Here!"
The scout quickly rewarded it, indeed it was an exit.
When everyone learned that they had finally left the valley, they had smiles on their faces that had survived the disaster.
If there had been no military orders before, the soldiers would have been unable to clamor loudly, and the soldiers would have been unable to suppress their joy and cheered loudly.
The mountain streams emerged from the valley and merged into a rushing river.
General Zhendong stood at the entrance of the valley and looked at the opposite peak. His eyes suddenly froze, and even his face changed slightly.
She raised the Mile Mile Mile again and looked at the opposite side.
A siege standing in the vicinity of the village came into her eyes.
"Is that the traitor's sentry camp?"
When she saw the village, she became nervous, but when she saw the village clearly, she felt relieved:
"How could it be so broken?"
It is obvious that this is a long-abandoned village.
But before she could figure it out, a thought came to her mind, and her face couldn't hide the surprise:
"All this water is the Baoqiu Water (that is, the Chaohe River in later generations)?"
"That's right, sir, this water flow is the water of Baoqiu."
This trip almost cost Lao Zhuwu half his life.
Whether it is the sweeping or the poisonous valley, the passing of a large group of people is completely different from the passing of careful passing of several people.
There are many times when accidents happen that he never expected.
Fortunately, he finally brought the King of Han to the edge of Baoqiu Water.
"That sentry village was set up by Tian Yu, the captain of Huwuwan in the early Wei Dynasty. Originally, there was a sentry village every few miles of Baoqiu River."
"Later, I heard that Tian Yu was transferred by the Emperor of Wei, and the current governor of Youzhou removed all these sentry camps. This was many years ago..."
"Cough cough cough..." Old Zhu Wu coughed several times and pointed to the upstream direction of the Baoqiu Water. "In the past, Tian Yu had a pass at the upstream of the Baoqiu Water, but now it is also abandoned.
”
The conflict between Wang Xiong, the governor of Youzhou, and Tian Yu, the captain of Huwuwan, was naturally collected by the Han Dynasty. After all, Ke Bineng was involved in the early years.
Of course, General Zhendong also heard about this.
But she didn't expect that the aftermath of this incident would affect her leading troops across Yanshan this time.
"If Tian Yu was still in Youzhou, how could I have the opportunity to lead troops here? From this point of view, the Han Dynasty should have three rises!"
Although the Wei State Shore was abandoned, General Zhendong still asked someone to search for the upstream and downstream, just in case someone saw his own surprise soldier emerging from the mountains.