Xiao Yiran's plan to capture the spies of the southwestern barbarians alive was ultimately unsuccessful. According to Tian Yuan's report, those spies were unusually alert, and it seemed that they could always spot the soldiers who were secretly surrounding them and slip away in advance.

After being stationed in Mengyue River for ten days, Xiao Yiran saw that he could not catch the spies of the southwest barbarians, so he ordered Xuan Liang, Zhao He, and Tianli.

"Ordered Xuanliang to be the commander, Tianli to pay, and Zhao He to be the staff officer, leading a thousand cavalry, carrying enough explosives bags, and most of the hunting dogs, to conquer the southwest barbarians. Be sure to pay attention to their poisonous Gu, never fight in close combat, and use explosive packs a lot. The purpose of this trip is not to subdue those ethnic groups, but to shock them, so that they no longer covet the two counties of Longshan and Mengyuehe. ”

Xiao Yiran considered that the other party had a poisonous Gu and could not send scouts to go deep into the southwestern ethnic group's station, so he did not let Tian Yuan and Wei Long lead his men to follow, but let Tian Yuan return to Wangshan City, and Wei Long temporarily took Tianli's place and stationed at Mengyue River.

Xuan Liang led a thousand cavalry, and after leaving the Mengyue River, because there was no guide, they could only follow the southwest direction, stay overnight, and move forward slowly. The further southwest you go, the denser the jungle becomes. Sometimes they will walk through the jungle for three or five days without seeing the edge of the jungle. The dense jungle, covered with vines, is not at all suitable for horseback marching. A thousand cavalry had to dismount and lead their horses forward. The march became more and more difficult. Although spies from the southwestern barbarians were often found following them, they could not catch them at all. After Xuan Liang and Zhao He discussed, they could only arrange a large number of archers in the front and rear of the marching procession, and as long as they found Nanban spies, they would release arrows to attack.

After a few days, although they did not shoot a single spy, the other party was afraid of the power of the bow and arrow, and never appeared around Xuan Liang and them again.

When Xuan Liang and the three of them led a thousand cavalry and rushed to the station of the southwest tribe with great difficulty, they didn't see a single barbarian. The simple shacks, as well as all kinds of traces of life, judging from the messy and discarded living items, are obviously left in a hurry not long ago.

"Lord Zhao, could it be that those spies came back to report that they escaped?"

"Look at the signs, it should be."

"So what do we do next? You can't go home empty-handed, right? ”

"It is estimated that the other party did not flee far, and they also knew that we could not stay here for a long time, and they knew that the bows and arrows in our hands were powerful, so they avoided it. We'll stay here and see what happens in a few days. ”

"That's all there is to it."

The three of them chose to set up camp in the garrison of the Southern Barbarians. At night, not only a cavalry company was arranged to patrol, but also the hunting dogs brought with them were led by a company of soldiers to assist the patrolling cavalry. Although at least not to mention, Xuan Liang and the three of them were also afraid of the other party's silent poisonous Gu sneak attack.

It's just that despite the careful consideration and strict arrangements of the three of them, the soldiers who were in charge of guarding at night still had some Gu worms. Although they didn't die immediately, they either had a headache or a stomachache, and they completely lost their ability to fight.

It happens every night, sometimes three or five, sometimes a dozen. In the past few days, more than 50 people have been poisoned.

"It's not a way to go on like this, we have to think of ways to force them out, otherwise we can only be eaten up by them little by little."

"The only way to force them to show up is to use our explosives packs."

"When should I use it, how should I use it, and I can't leave it empty, right?"

Xuan Liang asked Zhao Daodao.

"I don't think they come near us during the day, and only send a few people at night. Every time a soldier is poisoned by Gu, the hound will bark wildly. Tonight, all the soldiers were ordered not to sleep. As soon as the hound barks, let it go, with the hound in front and the soldier in the back with the explosives in the back. It should be possible to approach them, and after approaching, drop explosives packs. ”

"Okay, just follow your plan."

After the three of them had made a good decision, they finished their dinner early in the evening, and ordered the soldiers to hide in their tents, and when the hounds barked, they rushed out together. It wasn't until the middle of the night that the hounds barked wildly. Xuan Liang immediately ordered the soldiers who led the dog:

"Let the dogs go!"

Then he turned back to the soldiers in the tent and shouted:

"Pursuit, and as soon as you get close, throw explosives packs."

The hounds, who had been released, swarmed into the dense forest in front of the barracks, and immediately heard the shouts of people. Apparently the hounds had bitten the southwestern barbarians who wanted to come over and cast their poisonous Gus. Leaving Tianzhaohe to guard the camp, Xuanliang and Tianli led the soldiers, followed closely by the hounds, and burrowed into the jungle.

After chasing for a long time, they were bitten by hunting dogs and caught three southwestern tribesmen, and the rest of the people scattered and fled, Xuan Liang and Tianli led the soldiers, chased for most of the night, and did not find the hiding place of the southwest barbarians, so they had to collect their troops and return to the camp. Not even a chance to throw explosives packs.

Next, the interrogation of the three people who were caught made no progress, first because of the language barrier, and secondly, whether it was torture or good words, the result was the same, and the other party always did not say a word.

At this point, even Zhao He, who has always been resourceful, has no choice. In order to prevent another sneak attack at night, the three decided to sleep during the day and wait for the hunting dog at night. Even so, there were no more soldiers in the Gu, and the three of Xuan Liang had no way to find any trace of those barbarians.

"We've been here for half a month, we can't always wait like this, and the dry food we brought with us will be finished in more than ten days."

Tianli couldn't help it and said to Xuan Liang and Zhao He.

"Let's disperse and search the mountains."

Zhao He looked at Xuan Liang and Tianli and said.

"That's all there is to it. However, it is still me and Tianli to go, Lord Zhao guards the barracks, and must not let the other party hurt our war horse. ”

"Well, leave me a company, and ten hounds, and the rest of the soldiers and hounds, you all take them. Ten of the explosives pack left me is enough. ”

Xuan Liang immediately ordered the soldiers, with platoons as units, each platoon of two hunting dogs and ten explosive packs, to disperse to find the traces of the southwestern barbarians. As soon as they are found, they throw explosives packs to notify the rest of the group to come and pick them up.

Although ** hundreds of people gathered together, it seems that there are more people, but once they are dispersed into the endless mountains and jungles, it is insignificant. For three days in a row, let alone finding the hiding place of the southwestern barbarians, not even a single clansman was found.

The three of them had no choice but to abandon their plan to search the mountain. Two days later, the soldiers who had been poisoned came to report that:

"The three adults, the brothers of the Gu worm, haven't had any more pain for two days."

"Oh?"

Zhao He replied in surprise, then lowered his head and pondered for a while, raised his head and said to Xuan Liang and Tianli:

"Gu worms that enter the human body, as long as the owner does not control them, they will not attack. There have been no seizures for two consecutive days, and there are only two possibilities, one is that the distance between the other party and us has exceeded the distance of controlling the poison Gu, and the other is that the other party intends to make peace. Which one do you think is more likely? ”

"I can't guess which one is possible, so let's go with the second one. Tianli asked the soldiers to pull the three captured people outside the tent to see if there was any movement from the other party. ”

"Yes."

Tianli responded and left, and after a while, he pulled the three southwestern barbarians he had captured into an open place, and sent a few soldiers to wait to see if the other party would take the initiative to show up.

Sure enough, not long after pulling the man out, the hound barked wildly in the direction of the jungle. Zhao He and the three of them knew that the other party was in the jungle in front of them, but they did not show up for a long time, so they immediately ordered all but the three captured soldiers to return to the tent, and the hunting dogs were also led far behind the camp.

After the arrangement was made, the figures of the two women walked out of the jungle. One is close to forty years old, and the other is a young girl. Just like the original Xuan Liang dressed up, they just used a short skirt woven with a few leaves to cover their lower bodies. The two women walked over and looked at the three clansmen who were caught before coming to Xuan Liang and the three.

It's just that the language is incomprehensible, the other party can't understand what Xuan Liang said, and the three Xuan Liang can't understand what the other party says. There can only be gestures, and slowly gestures. In the end, I figured out what the two women meant.

"Why are you attacking us?"

"You sent people to our territory first, and then we came to attack."

"We just sent people to take a look, and we didn't do anything to you? Didn't you send someone to us a few years ago to spy on us? ”

In a word, the three of Xuan Liang were speechless.

"Today we are here to pick up these three clansmen, of course, we will remove the Gu from you."

Xuan Liang and the three nodded.

After the two women danced with their hands, they nodded to Xuan Liang and the three of them, meaning that they had removed the Gu worms from the Gu soldiers. Xuan Liang and the three of them couldn't see the Gu worms, although they didn't believe it very much, and there was no better way. He then motioned for the soldiers guarding the three barbarians to stand back. When the two women led the three of them to leave, Xuan Liang called out to them. After a long time, he thought of meeting their patriarch. The two girls seemed to understand, and after nodding, they turned their heads sideways and made a sleeping position, and stretched out another finger and pointed to the sky, meaning that our patriarch will come back to see you tomorrow.

Nothing happened overnight, and the next morning, thirty or forty people came out of the jungle one after another, led by an old woman in her forties with gray hair, until they came to Xuan Liang and the three of them, who were already waiting outside the tent. Leaning over slightly, Xuan Liang guessed that the other party should be saluting, and immediately bent over to each other with Zhao He.

After a difficult comparison, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

Xuan Liang led the people to withdraw immediately, and the other party promised not to send people to spy on the two counties of Longshan and Mengyuehe, and also promised not to send people to attack. In order to show friendship, the other party also brought Xuan Liang some locally produced herbs and seeds of crops.

Looking at the herbs in his hand, Xuan Liang didn't know anything, and neither did Zhao He and Tianli. Xu saw Xuan Liang's doubts, and an older woman came out of the southwestern barbarians, picked up the herbs like them, and pointed to some parts of her body at the same time, with a painful expression on her face. Obviously, he was explaining to Xuan Liang the usefulness of the herb.

After explaining all the herbs, Xuan Liang saw that the other party was leaving, and immediately ordered Tianli:

"Send ten soldiers to the edge of the jungle and light ten explosives packets and show them."

When the ten explosive packets made a huge explosion one after another, and blew ten deep pits on the ground, the faces of the southwestern barbarians were full of shock. Xuan Liang's original intention was to sue them, don't provoke us lightly, even if you are poisonous Gu, you can't be our opponent.

Because he didn't think that the other party would give him a gift, Xuan Liang didn't want to be rude, so he ordered Tianli to gather some of the jerky that the soldiers were carrying with him and give it back to the other party. Only then did he order the camp to be pulled out and the village to be raised, and in front of the southwestern barbarians, the troops were withdrawn and left.