After more than ten days of marching, the rich and vast Hexi Corridor became narrower and smaller, and a large area of the Gobi began to appear in front of them, which meant that they had entered the boundary of Shazhou.

As the day drew to a close, the sun set behind the knights, long and pointed figures, and the night had crept down under the poplar trees that rustled along the road. It was twilight, Li Qing walked slowly, the hot wind had cooled down, and the night breeze blew his belt to hunt.

After a while, the team rushed to a bare gravel hill, Li Qing sat up straight and looked into the distance, the so-called 'official road' in front of him had been washed away by the flash flood, and the remaining three-to-five-foot path could barely pass the horses, but the cart was difficult to travel.

In the distance to the south is a dark forest with the sound of the wind, stretching for dozens of miles, the outermost few old red willow trees seem to be the gate of this forest, faithfully performing their duties, this is the place where Li Qing has walked many times, people will name these old red willows, this place is called the red willow garden, fifteen miles ahead is the post station, but whether it can flow from this mud and rock, is still a problem.

In a moment, Li Fei Shouyu returned from exploring the way, he had run rampant in this area, almost every tree knew him, whether the road could be passed or not, his words were authoritative and unquestionable.

"Dudu, the mud is quite soft, I'm afraid it was a flash flood that broke out yesterday, if you are a little negligent, it is very easy to be trapped, I suggest changing the route."

Back in the Western Regions, Li Fei Shouyu was still as cautious and steady as usual, but his tone became cheerful, and his eyes became much brighter, he looked at the Black Forest five miles away, and smiled at Li Qing: "The locals call that Black Forest Yama Temple, but in fact, it is only because the wind is strong at night, and it makes a loud noise over the treetops, and it sounds like there are countless little ghosts wailing from a distance. From the inside through the Shazhou is to take a straight line. Closer. ”

"Alright, we'll camp in the Yama Hall tonight!"

Li Qing galloped quickly, and his clear laughter came from the wind, "Listening to the ghost number to fall asleep, it is not a good flavor, brothers, go!" ”

More than a hundred knights laughed loudly, let go of the reins, and swept towards the Black Forest like a whirlwind on the ground.

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It was already completely dark. The forest was unusually quiet, with thick floors on the ground, a rancid smell in the air, the occasional chirping of night birds, and the rustling of molluscs as they crawled by.

The group marched quickly in the dark forest on horseback, lit a few torches, and the stars in the sky guided their path. Li Fei Shouyu walked at the front, his longbow in hand, his sharp gaze shining in the darkness, vigilantly observing the movements around him. From time to time, he pushed aside the branches blocking the road above his head, and after walking for about three miles, he stopped, turned back to Li Qing and smiled: "Dudu, listen carefully, is there a ghost number." ”

Li Qing waved his hand. The cavalry behind them all stopped and listened carefully, and sure enough, the wind faintly heard a low cry, very similar to a woman crying in the Black Forest, which was terrifying.

"Dudu, there is a small lake in front of you two miles away, and you can camp by the lake."

Li Fei Shouyu finished speaking. But his face suddenly became solemn, and he listened attentively for a long time. Immediately whispered, "Put out the torches." ”

The crowd did not know what to mean, and they extinguished the torches one after another.

"What's going on?"

Li Qingzong immediately stepped forward and asked suspiciously, "What did you hear?" He knew that Li Fei Shouyu's eyesight and ear power were different from ordinary people, and something must have happened in front of him.

"There were quite a few people by the lake, and there were horses, as if they had just arrived, coming from the other side."

Li Fei Shouyu's tone was a little nervous, he knew that few people came in this black forest, especially at night, at this time, a group of people suddenly appeared, maybe it was also a detour of merchants, but he was worried that it was the new horse bandit who filled their gap, and he heard Li Fei Yuan Lituo send a message saying that the new horse bandit had appeared.

"Governor, please wait here, I'll come and see."

Li Qing nodded, summoned two more capable soldiers to go with him, and advised: "If there is a situation, don't startle the snake first, and report to me quickly." ”

A small river winds through the Black Forest, which is a small tributary of the Stygian Water, about three zhang wide, the water flows slowly, and when it flows through the low-lying places, it accumulates to form a mirror lake, with an area of about three acres in size, without a bridge, and must cut down trees to cross the river.

At this moment, just beside the mirror lake, hundreds of torches burned into another lake of fire, the Tang soldiers who came and went were very lively by the lake, some were camping tents, some were cutting down trees, and soon, several large fires were lit, and the soldiers threw their torches into the fire, at this time, a towering poplar tree shook, and the soldiers who cut the trees below burst out with a shout, flashed to both sides, and the poplars creaked and then fell down.

Several soldiers on duty were gearing up on the side, just waiting for the tree bridge to be erected, they went to the opposite bank to set up a sentry, Li Fei Shouyu's face on the opposite bank became more and more solemn, although the other bank was all Tang army soldiers' clothing, but these soldiers were clearly not Tang people, he suddenly saw a flaw, a few soldiers who were fetching water by the river took off their helmets to scoop water, but they showed half of the hair on the top of their heads.

"It's a Tibetan person!"

A thought flashed through Li Fei Shouyu's heart, and then, another big tree fell, and the soldiers shouted, 'Get out of the way!' In the Tibetan language, his heart was full of questions, hundreds of Tibetan troops suddenly appeared in the territory of Tang Shazhou, what were they going to do?

"You quickly go and tell the governor that there is a Tubo army here, and let them hide first."

Li Fei Shouyu whispered an order to one of his subordinates, and his subordinates immediately took the order, but Li Fei Shouyu's eyes were fixed on a sentry who was carefully crossing the bridge, he waved his hand, and quietly dived with another of his men, like two wild wolves foraging for food at night.

Li Qing had already received the report, and his first reaction was the Tubo scouts, it was common for them to enter the Tang Realm to reconnoitre, but most of the scout teams were dozens of horses

There are only 100 riders, but this time there are more than 300 riders, and he is not a little puzzled, it is enough to wash an ordinary small county in blood.

But the situation is urgent, and he can't think twice, the other party's sentry will come over at any time, and he only has more than 100 people, and once he encounters it head-on, he may not be able to take advantage.

"Everybody step back and move a little softer. Don't alarm the birds. ”

Li Qing led his men to slowly retreat to the place where they came. After walking hundreds of steps, everyone scattered behind the big tree and waited for news from Li Fei Shouyu.

About a quarter of an hour later, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps ahead, and a mass of figures appeared, and by the faint moonlight, a sharp-eyed soldier recognized it, "Dudu! It seems to be General Lifei. ”

Sure enough, Lifei Shouyu and another of his subordinates came out of the darkness. When he saw Li Qing and the other brothers appearing, he walked up to Li Qing and threw the person on his shoulder on the ground, and said with a smile: "This is their sentry, captured by me, as if he can speak a little Tang Chinese." The Governor could get some news from him. ”

The captives were sturdyly tied, their mouths were stuffed with stinking socks, their helmets had fallen off at some point, and their hair was scattered and draped over their shoulders. His face was distorted with fear and looked unusually hideous.

Li Qing picked off the Tang Army armor on his body with his foot, revealing the clothes of the Tubo people inside, he sneered, and said to Li Fei Shouyu: "This person is a small Tubo soldier, forgive him and he won't know much inside." You come and ask him, know how much to say! ”

"Governor, please wait a moment." In a moment, there was a muffled grunt from behind the tree, and the captive had his neck broken.

"He really didn't know the mission of this trip, he just knew that he was going to come here to ambush someone."

"Ambush man?"

Li Qing frowned and walked a few steps, who was ambushed? Could it be yourself? Probably not. Who is it? He thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure it out, so he said to his subordinates: "Everyone work hard. Rest on the spot tonight, no fire, tomorrow we will keep an eye on this group of Tibetans. ”

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The next day, as soon as the sky was bright, Li Qing was woken up by his own soldiers, it was May at this time, the sun came out and the day was unusually hot, like a furnace, but it was very cold in the morning and evening, Li Qing's blanket was also covered with a thin layer of hoarfrost, and the mouth exhaled was still a ball of white gas, the Tubo army in the depths of the forest had begun to act, but the direction they went to was south, that was the direction they came from, they seemed to be in a hurry, and they didn't even have time to collect the tent.

Li Qing led his more than 100 guards to move parallel to the Tibetan army a mile away, and soon reached the edge of the forest, but the Tibetans lay in ambush.

Outside the forest is a sidewalk, the official road in the north is cut off by the mudslide, if there are carriages and other heavy goods can only take this sidewalk, bypass or pass through the Black Forest back to the official road, although the road is closer, but there is no post station, and it is not safe, so there are not many people walking, many merchants would rather crowd in the post station and wait for a few days, the mud is dried and hard, the official road can naturally go.

At this time, a large piece of dust has appeared in the northwest direction, smoke and dust are billowing, it seems that a team is coming to this side, about three miles apart, this is probably the person who the Tubo scout army is waiting for, Li Fei Shouyu quickly climbed a big tree, the curtain of the thug covers the dazzling sunlight and looks into the distance, after a while, he jumped down from the tree and said to Li Qing: "Dudu, I see a festival, it seems to be the mission of a certain country, it seems that the Tubo people are going to ambush them." ”

Li Qing looked up at the sky, the people sent to Shazhou last night should have arrived early, and the reinforcements were on the way, although I don't know what kind of mission came from the opposite side, but the Tubo people actually ambushed them in the territory of Datang, which shows that they are extremely important.

"Let's do it first!" Li Qing said decisively.

The guards took off their bows and arrows one after another, gathered into ten teams and quietly touched the ambush of the Tubo people, and there were still a hundred steps, Lifei Shouyu waved his hand and ordered the soldiers to stop and hide behind the trees.

The Tubo people over there were also highly nervous, and they drew their long swords one after another, waiting for the other party to come, they stared at the front intently, not expecting that their backs had been targeted.

Li Fei Shouyu rubbed his hands and whispered excitedly: "Dudu, do you want to do it?" ”

Li Qing looked at the people, it was less than half a mile, this is a team of more than 100 people, mainly soldiers, holding various flags in front, there is a carriage in the middle, and the car is inserted with a white ground festival.

At this time, if you do it, there are too many trees in front of you, I am afraid that the lethality of the Tubo people is not enough, they are easy to counterattack, the most effective way is to hit the Tubo people's buttocks after they are completely exposed, Li Qing pondered for a moment, and immediately said to the two pro-soldiers: "You go up to the tree, unfurl the flag, and try to be as conspicuous as possible!" ”

Sure enough, the team suddenly found a red flag fluttering back and forth above the forest a hundred paces away, and couldn't help but be puzzled and stopped their pace. But they have been gathering momentum for a long time. There was no time to think about it anymore, so a shout erupted, and they rushed out of the forest, their swords glistening blue in the sunlight, and rushed straight towards the mission.

"Shoot the arrows!" Li Qing finally gave the order, and more than a hundred wolf's tooth arrows broke through the air, shooting accurately and strongly at the back of the Tubo people, and in an instant, the arrows were clustered through the body. Horses neighed, some Tibetans were killed by arrows in their backs, and some horses were shot, neighing and falling forward, throwing the horsemen out sideways.

Then the second and third rounds of arrows were fired, and there was no need to aim at all, and after one round of arrows, a group of people would always be shot down. In just a moment, five rounds of arrows were fired, and the Tubo people suffered more than 100 casualties, and even the 100 people in the rear position were pierced through the heart by Li Fei Shouyu. Nail to the ground.

The mission had turned and fled, but the Tibetans were so confused by the surprise attack behind them that some of them turned around and went back to the forest, while others pursued the mission.

"Shoot again!"

The Tang army rushed out, and calmly released arrows in the face of more than a hundred killings. They all

The elite, there are Li Qing's original personal guards, and there are also soldiers from the Yulin army who are ten miles away, all of them are skilled in bows and horses, and there is no space for the arrows, and soon nearly 100 Tubo troops who killed back were planted nearly half, and the rest of the land saw that the situation was not good, and shouted. Turning around and fleeing southward, dozens of Tibetans who pursued the mission also fled southward.

"Shouyu. Don't chase them, there is a Shazhou army over there to clean them up. ”

Li Qing stopped Li Fei Shouyu, compared to the Tubo people, he was more concerned about the mission, who they were, and let the Tubo people sneak into Shazhou to intercept it.

Soon, the carriage stopped in front of Li Qing, the door opened, and a man of about forty years of age walked down, only to see that he was wearing a bearded hat, wearing a big hat, dark skin, a pair of bright eyes, he was not tall, but his shoulders were unusually broad.

He stepped out of the carriage, looked left and right at the Tang army in front of him, his eyes fell on Li Qing's body, he bowed to Li Qing gratefully, and said in a skillful Chang'an official language: "Below is the envoy of Tocharian (present-day northern Afghanistan) to protect Rigalo, go to Chang'an to meet His Majesty the Heavenly Khan, thank you for your help, please ask the benefactor by his name, when I see your Majesty, I will definitely ask for credit for you." ”

Li Qing immediately bowed slightly and replied: "A month ago, I was the squire of the Tang Dynasty, and now I am the deputy protector of the Anxi Metropolitan Protectorate, and I am also the governor here. ”

The messenger was taken aback, involuntarily took two steps back, looked at Li Qing carefully, and stammered: "You are really Li Shilang, and now you are transferred to Anxi?" ”

"You know me?"

The messenger nodded, turned back and gave a few words, and soon a tent was set up by the soldiers, and they moved skillfully, and soon a white cowhide tent was set up.

"Squire, please come to the tent for a while."

Li Qing smiled and agreed, dismounted and followed him into the tent, which had been covered with a thick carpet, a small square table in between, and a servant had poured two bowls of sheep wine, and put a few plates of grapes, courgettes and other fruits.

"Squire, please be seated!"

Li Qingxue sat down cross-legged, picked up the sheep wine and put it to his lips, a strong smell of sheep came to his face, he held back his nausea, and took a shallow sip, which was considered to be courtesy.

The envoy saw it in his eyes and smiled slightly: "The squire has been in Anxi for a long time and is used to it, this wine is not sweeter and more delicious than wine, but it has a miraculous effect against the cold, and it is a treasure that the Western Regions cannot live without." ”

He picked up the wine bowl himself but drank it cleanly, wiped his mouth, and turned to the topic, "I went to Chang'an in the spring of the year before last to meet Tian Khan, and I met the squire once, but there were many envoys at that time, and the squire would not notice me. ”

Li Qing suddenly remembered that there were many envoys from the Western Regions who came to Beijing to meet in Tianbao Nian, and at that time, the Ministry of Shangshu and the waiter met them together, and they only remembered that they were all the same, where did he remember, Li Qing nodded, and asked: "We found the Tubo scouts in the forest last night, and we have been keeping an eye on them, let me ask you, why did they sneak into the Tang Realm to ambush you, but something big happened?" ”

"It's really a big deal."

The envoy sighed and said, "My name is Shamitar, and you asked me to go to Chang'an on the order of the protector to ask the Heavenly Khan to send troops to attack the Shushi Kingdom with us." ”

"Why do you want to fight the Misty Division?"

The envoy of Taal poured another bowl of sheep wine, and drank it dry in one gulp before he said angrily: "After Gao Dashuai took Xiao Bojin the year before last, there were no more Tubo people in the Tocharian area, and it was quiet for two years, but the Tubo people did not give up, they have been trying to win over the king of the Shushi country, Bote did not finally agree to form an alliance with them last year, so he took refuge in Tubo, cut off the grain road of Xiao Bojin, and the army of Xiao Bojin Town became more and more difficult, so he asked my family for help, and the Hu first ordered me to negotiate with Bote and let them repent, but the dog became a wolf and had ambitions, I didn't listen to the persuasion and turned north to Chang'an for help, but the hateful Shushi people guessed my intentions, so they sent troops to harass them all the way, and informed the Tubo people that today should be the last fight of the Tubo people, thanks to the squire to save him. ”

The state of Shushi said by the envoy of Taal is located west of Xiaobojin, between the traditional power of the Tang Dynasty Tocharian region and Xiaobojin, that is, today's northern Pakistan Chitral, Xiaobojin is today's Kashmir West, and Tocharian is today's northern Afghanistan, north is the Hindu Kush Mountains, in the last years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, Tubo and Xiaobojin formed an alliance to open up the passage into the Western Regions, directly threatening the Tang Dynasty's rule over the Western Regions, Tianbao year, Gao Xianzhi led 10,000 cavalry troops to cross the Hindu Kush Mountains and seize Lianyunbao, The surprise army captured Xiao Bojin, captured the king and his queen Tubo, and cut off the westward road of Tubo, but the Tubo people were not reconciled, and in the following year, they won over the Shushi country to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and threatened Xiao Bojin again, Tocharian protected the loss of Rigalo and took the lead in discovering the conspiracy of Tubo, so he sent an envoy Shamitar to persuade the king of Shushi, and in the case of no effect, he decisively ordered the envoy to go north to the Tang Dynasty, wanting to unite the Tang Dynasty to seek the Shushi country, but was harassed and robbed all the way, this time thanks to Li Qing's rescue.

"Have you ever reported being tall and handsome?" Li Qing pondered for a moment and then asked.

Tal shook his head, "We went to Qiuzi first, but Gao Dashuai was not there, and the border supervisor said that Gao Dashuai couldn't be the master of this matter, so he ordered us to go directly to Chang'an." ”

"Alright, you guys are on your way! To the east, there should be no more ambushes of the Tibetans. ”

Li Qing took out a famous thorn and handed it to Tar and said: "Waiting for a call in Chang'an, I'm afraid it will take time, this is my famous thorn, you go directly to Li Xiangguo, just say that I asked you to come, it should be faster." ”

Tal was overjoyed, took the thorn and carefully put it away, and thanked: "Thank you so much." ”

At this moment, there was a loud horn sound outside, far clear and piercing the sky, and a personal soldier rushed into the tent to report.

"Governor, the Shazhou army has arrived!"