Chapter 61

After traveling westward for a few days, a message came back from the front.

After days of heavy snowstorms, the Duchuang garrison was blocked by snow, and the troops transporting rations could not pass, and were blocked in front of the pass.

There is not very far from Jincheng, only a few hundred miles left.

Seeing that he was about to reach his destination, he was blocked by Blizzard. Her anxiety is understandable.

Xie Changgeng speeded up his journey, chasing him all the way, and in ten days, he caught up with the mountain alone.

The blizzard continued one after another, and it stopped a few days ago. The food delivery team is still waiting here.

Mu Fulan was no longer here.

The detainee who was ordered to guard here told him that ten days ago, when Lord Weng arrived here, the Guan Road was blocked, and she was very anxious. Another trail, coming out of the valley, is far away, the road is dangerous, and the army cannot pass, but it can bypass the pass and continue westward, so I ask to lead the way.

In response to her words, the **** sent a guide who was familiar with the road and a team of escorts, who had already led her around and left.

“How long will it take to clear customs here?” Xie Changgeng asked.

“A few days ago, the snow was so heavy that it didn’t stop for two days. Although I have already brought people through the passage with all my strength, I estimate that it will take at least seven or eight days to get through all of them…”

Xie Changgeng turned around, walked to the side of his mount, and patted a large leather bag hanging on the side of the saddle.

There was a bulge in the big leather bag, and as he flapped it, a child’s head popped out of his mouth.

The boy had a unkempt head, his face was dirty, and he didn’t know how to wash his face and comb his hair for a few days, but his eyes were round, black and white, like two sparkling gems between the eyes.

On this road westward, except for the necessary rest, the rest of the time, day and night, almost all of the group is on their way. Adults are fine, children are a problem. Xie Changgeng came up with a way to put Xi’er in this bag made of old lambskin as a sleeping bag and hang it on a horse to keep warm and safe. The only downside is the bumps. Fortunately, within a few days, the child adjusted very well. No matter how the horses were upside down, sometimes after walking for a long time, Xie Changgeng stopped the horses to rest, and when he opened the sleeping bag, he found that the child inside was still slumbering and couldn’t even wake up.

Xi’er thought that she would be able to see her mother here today, but when the arresting envoy spoke, he hid inside and listened.

“Thank you, sir, I’m not tired at all!”

Without waiting for Xie Changgeng to ask himself, he got out of his head and said loudly immediately.

Xie Changgeng was startled, smiled, patted his little head as usual, then pressed it down, put it back in his pocket, turned his head and commanded: “I have something urgent, send someone who knows the way to lead the way, and I will also detour. , go to Jincheng!”

At first, the envoy and others thought that the leather bag that Jiedushi was carrying was carrying some important personal belongings, but suddenly they saw a child burrowing out of the mouth of the bag, very close to Jiedushi, like a father and son, The child called him “Mr. Xie” again. He was all surprised and not good at asking questions. When he was staring at the two of them, he heard such an order and immediately went to call the guide.

On that day, after taking a short rest and replenishing some food, Xie Changgeng ordered the guards to strengthen their guards to prevent the northerners from using the bad weather to surprise and attack, and then continued on the road with Liang Tuan and other thirty entourages.

The terrain in that section of the valley was extremely rugged and covered with snow. The thickest part was waistless, and horses could not ride. The group could only dismount, lead the horse and trek for three days, before they bypassed the pass, returned to the right path, and continued onward.

If everything goes well in the future, after another three or two days, you will be able to reach Jincheng. Tianshan is just a stone’s throw away.

At noon, when walking through a snowy woodland, Xie Changgeng saw that he was tired and tired, so he ordered a temporary rest on the spot.

These thirty entourages were all fierce warriors who had experienced hundreds of battles and fought ten times with one, but after walking the three-day journey, they stopped and their faces were dull. Everyone sat on the spot, made a fire and ate hot food, took a rest, and regained their strength.

That child didn’t need Xie Changgeng to hold it up and down for a long time, he got out of the skin, climbed the belly of the horse with ease, and fell to the ground, grabbed a handful of snow, and was not too cold, and wiped his face indiscriminately, the right to wash his face , then ran to Xie Changgeng’s side, took a piece of freshly baked naan, took a few bites, turned his head to look ahead, and said, “Master Xie, are we coming soon?”

Xie Changgeng glanced ahead, took him, climbed to a nearby high ground, picked him up high, pointed to the tall snow peak like a white dragon at the end of the line of sight in the distance, and said, “Did you see it? , That snow peak is the top of the Tianshan Mountains. At the foot of the snow peak is the Golden City.”

Xi’er followed the direction he pointed, stared intently, and urged excitedly: “Sir, let’s go!”

Xie Changgeng nodded with a smile, retracted his distant gaze, and was about to turn around when suddenly, his gaze moved slightly and landed on an old pine tree ten meters away in front of him, and he concentrated for a moment.

He quickly closed his eyes, carried Xi’er down calmly, put him back in the sleeping bag, then took the bow and arrow, and returned to the high ground just now. arrow.

The arrow cluster left the string and broke through the air. “Pfft”, it was deeply nailed into the tree trunk.

The branches trembled slightly, and some snow, like fine dust, rustled from the top of the tree.

The person hiding behind the tree was taken aback. Knowing that he was discovered by the other party, he hurriedly turned around and ran away, but how could he escape? As soon as he got out of the protection of the tree trunk, before he ran a few steps in the snow, a second arrow came after him.

A cluster of powerful and sharp arrows chased from behind in an instant, inserted into the socket of the knee, and shattered the knee bone.

The arrow cluster came out with flesh and blood through the legs.

The man screamed and fell into the snow, but he was very fierce. He quickly got up from the snow, dragged a wounded leg, limped, and continued struggling to escape.

Liang Tuan and the others were startled by the sound, grabbed their weapons and jumped up from the ground.

“It should be from the North. If you catch it, interrogate it on the spot!”

Xie Changgeng put down his bow and gave a light command.

The crowd rushed up and quickly caught the northerner who was still fleeing in the snow. Zhijiedushi did not want the young master to witness the **** scene, so he interrogated him on the spot according to his instructions.

The distance was a bit far, and the scene of the interrogation could not be seen, but the screams from the man were still heard in Xi’er’s ears.

Xi’er’s small hands were clinging to the horse’s back, and she kept looking over there.

Another shrill scream came over.

He seemed a little uneasy, turned his face and silently looked at Xie Changgeng who was feeding the horse, hesitating to say anything.

Xie Changgeng raised his head, glanced at the child, walked to his side, and while tidying up his wrinkled collar, he said softly: “Xi’er, don’t be afraid, don’t be pitiful. That person is our enemy, Want to be bad for us.”

Xi’er turned her head, glanced at the direction where the screams came from, and asked in a low voice, “Master Xie, you have never seen that person before, how do you know that he is our enemy?”

Xie Changgeng said: “That man just hid behind the tree to spy on us, sneaking, and I sent the first arrow as a warning. If he had no malicious intentions, he would come out to explain. But he turned around and fled, showing his guilty conscience, naturally Bad intentions towards us. Bad intentions are the enemy.”

He paused, accentuating his tone.

“Xi’er, remember that you are soft-hearted towards the enemy, and those who are harmed may be yourself and the people you want to protect.”

“Do you think so?”

Xi’er shook her head immediately. “The person I want to protect is my mother. I remember your words!”

“What should I do when I encounter an enemy?”

“kill!”

Xi’er thought for a while, then raised her childish voice and said loudly.

Xie Changgeng applauded and nodded.

Over there, Liang Tuan had already finished the interrogation, hurried back, and said: “Sir, it is indeed a Beiren spy, he has confessed! Something happened! The Beiren army of thousands of cavalry should be attacking Dudengshu at this moment! ”

This spy came from a cavalry group that had been riding on the border line from Hexi to Tianshan for many years.

They had been active in the Tianshan area and spy on the city of Jin. They knew that they were not sure of capturing the city. In addition to the heavy snow, they planned to return to the royal court first. A few days ago, when they were walking through this area, they found that there was a batch of military rations to be distributed in Hexi. Going to Jincheng, a blizzard fell just in the sky, the food team was blocked before the pass of Dudeng Mountain, and traffic from east to west was cut off. So I decided that this was a good opportunity, and made a temporary plan. rations.

If the adventure is successful, in an isolated city in the hinterland of Jincheng, the soldiers will have no food for the winter, and there will be only one dead end. Moreover, more importantly, if the military road established by the Jiedushi Mansion in Hexi is cut off in the past few years, the mountain will go west alone. The entire Tianshan Mountains, as well as the gateway to the Western Regions, will all be in the hands of the Northerners.

“This spy dived here to find out the exact location of the beacon tower while taking advantage of the heavy snow. In addition to raiding the garrison alone, they also divided their troops and planned to cut off the nearby beacon to prevent the news from being passed on and attracting rescue troops. They were sent out. It’s not just this spy who is looking for Fengsui!”

After Liang Tuan finished reporting, the thirty guards all gathered around, with dozens of eyes staring at Xie Changgeng, waiting for his instructions.

Xie Changgeng looked in the direction of Dudengshu.

The snow passed and the sky was clear, and the sky there was clear and clear, and there was not a single bit of wolf smoke.

Two possibilities. Or the Dudeng garrison has not yet been attacked, and the defenders are unaware. Or, another possibility.

That is, shortly after they left, Dudengshu was raided by the northerners, and the beacon was controlled by the northerners.

“The next beacon tower in the west direction should be Mo Li Feng. Do you know the way?”

Xie Changgeng knew all the beacon towers on the westward marching road, and turned to ask the guide.

“I know! Thirty miles from here!”

“Go to Molifeng immediately and start smoking before the Beiren arrives at Occupy!”

Mo Li’s beacon smoldered, and the next beacon received the message. In this way, within three hours, the war news could be spread to Jincheng one after another, and within three days, the soldiers would come to support the Dudeng garrison.

With the ability to stand alone to capture the envoy, even if the force is not dominant, it should not be a big problem to insist on defending for three days.

The situation was urgent, and the group immediately set off on the road and rushed in the direction of Mo Lifeng. However, when they finally arrived, Liang Tuan and the others were shocked by what they saw.

In order to spread far, the beacon towers are mostly built on high ground, and the same is true for Moli Fengtai, which is built on a ridge.

A few days ago, there seemed to be an avalanche here.

A large amount of snow slid down from the steep **** above the beacon tower, burying almost the entire towering base of the tower.

Several beacon soldiers who were originally guarding here have disappeared, and in all likelihood, they should have also been crushed under the snow.

Liang Tuan immediately led people to dig the snow, wanting to dig a hole to lead to the base of the platform, so that the beacon fire could be lit inside. After a while, two dead bodies of beacon soldiers were dug up one after another, but they were far away from the beacon tower. The base entrance is out of reach.

With such a pile of snow, it will be sleepless tonight, and it may not be able to dig through tomorrow.

With a “ding” sound, a guard’s knife used to dig snow was inserted into the gap of a boulder that rolled down with the snow. When it exerted force, it broke into two pieces.

“My lord! I’m afraid it’s too late. I’m afraid we haven’t dug through, and the people from the north have already found this place. It’s better to rush to the next beacon tower, maybe sooner!”

Liang Tuan, sweating profusely, stopped and persuaded.

Xie Changgeng looked at the direction of the next beacon tower, and while he was pondering, suddenly, he heard a child’s voice behind him saying: “Master Xie, I can climb in and help you set a fire.”

Xie Changgeng turned back and saw Xier pointing to the top of the beacon tower and said to himself.

Liang Tuan also turned his head and stared at the few smoke vents on the top of the beacon tower that had not been buried by the snow and the air vents on both sides.

“Young Master is right! We can’t get in those openings, but Young Master is small, you can try to climb in, just pile up firewood and wolf dung, pour kerosene, and light the fire…”

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Even if this child could really climb in through the smoke vent and start a fire, at that time, it would be like being in a furnace. No one could guarantee whether he could get out of the same way safely.

He hurriedly shut his mouth and looked at Jiedushi.

Xie Changgeng looked solemn.

He was silent for a moment, then squatted down slowly, staring at the child in front of him who was still digging up the snow with a dagger a moment ago, lightly touched his head, and said, “No!”

After he finished speaking, he stood up, ordered to leave, and immediately set off for the next beacon tower.

“My lord! I can do it! I really can! Trust me!”

The child was very stubborn, looking up at him, clutching his sleeve tightly and refusing to let go.