Tens of thousands of troops, fish from the entrance of the valley poured into the hinterland of the mountain, the official road here suddenly narrowed, the first section, even only allowed two people to go in parallel, the cart passed by to rub the mountain walls on both sides, but after walking more than a dozen zhang road, the eyes were impressively cheerful, the mountain walls were divided to both sides, and a valley clearing appeared in the valley.

The trees at the bottom of the valley are deep, and the night wind blows through the valley, setting off gusts of yin wind, and the night owl cries in all directions, which makes people feel goosebumps all over their bodies. If someone walks alone at night and walks on this road, the soul will be scared away.

Wang Huan took advantage of the starlight and moonlight in the sky, and roughly saw the terrain in this valley, this valley is a typical spindle-shaped valley with two ends closed and bulging in the middle, and the high hills rise all around, surrounding the valley floor in the middle, from the valley bottom to the high hills, there is a gentle slope connection, and the whole valley is like a huge bathtub. The mountains are densely wooded, wild beasts can be seen everywhere, there are no signs of human beings, and it is indeed a barren wilderness as Xu Goudan said.

The cavalry of the Qing army, armed with torches, swept past the side of the ranks, and loudly conveyed the general's order: "Each battalion will find its own open space to set up camp, burn a fire and cook, and do not make noise!" ”

As soon as this order was given, the crowd immediately stopped, and the commanders of each battalion took the captains and captains to camp in the nearby open space on the side of the road. The valley was overgrown with trees, and there was not much open space, so it was impossible to cut down trees and split the ground in the dark, and of course tents could not be erected, so most of the people had to huddle together in tarpaulins and spend the night by the campfire.

So on both sides of the official road, the sporadic fires were lit, dotted at the bottom of the valley, like stars in the night sky, scattered everywhere, the firehead army buried the pot to make rice, distributed it, people ate this little dinner that could only satisfy hunger, the family gathered together, and slowly fell asleep in the firelight.

Wang Huan took a dozen little monks and did not eat, and Li Tingyu's food messenger did not appear as an exception, they seemed to be outcasts that no one cared about, hiding alone in the periphery of the brigade.

Chen Ergou's sweaty cat bent his waist and rolled down the slope of the valley floor, he moved quickly, and without being noticed by anyone, he ran to Wang Huan.

"I found out, Lord Li really even brought people and cars to be surrounded by the Qing soldiers on the hillside, and the Qing soldiers had one or two hundred people camping outside them, and Lord Li was afraid that he would not be able to get out." Chen Ergou wiped the sweat on his face and hurriedly reported to Wang Huanyu.

Wang Huan raised his eyes and looked in the direction of Chen Ergou's finger, and saw a gentle slope on the side of the mountain, where the terrain was higher, but the slope could barely pull the cart up, at this time, the top of the slope was shining with fire, and the figure was shaking, obviously Li Tingyu's five hundred people and more than a hundred carts were pulled up. A big flag fluttered on the top of the slope, Wang Huan recognized that it was the flag of the Qing army, and the pro-soldier team led by Zuo Ling Tuhai was also on the slope.

"You're not being discovered, are you?" Wang Huan asked Chen Ergou.

Chen Ergou raised his eyebrows and showed a smile: "How come?" I have climbed the courtyard wall of a rich and noble house to steal things since I was a child, and I have not been caught once. ”

Wang Huan nodded, turned around and asked Xu Goudan, who had just walked back from a distance: "Where are you?" ”

Xu Goudan was drinking water, and when he heard the sound, he hurriedly put down the kettle, wiped his mouth and said: "The Qing soldiers in the various battalions are gone, and now there are no Qing soldiers everywhere in the entire baggage battalion except for Master Li. I asked a few well-talkative commanders, but they didn't know what was going on, only that after dark, all the Qing soldiers who had been scattered in the battalions withdrew, and not a single one remained. ”

Wang Huan looked at Hu Dahai again, this big man didn't wait for Wang Huan to speak, and when he saw Wang Huan's face turn around, he hurriedly said: "I have seen the valley mouth at both ends, which are guarded by Qing cavalry, and no one is allowed to enter or leave." ”

After the words of several people were finished, they all looked at Wang Huan fixedly, these information were combined, they were already faintly aware of it, tonight, I'm afraid it's not the Qing army going out to rob some surrounding villages, there is not even a ghost in a radius of more than ten miles, what are you robbing? They looked at Wang Huan and knew that this little junior brother must know something.

Wang Huan's eyes looked at the top of the hillside, stared coldly for a quarter of an hour, sneered at the corner of his mouth, snorted, and said to the monks around him: "Senior brothers, tonight, everyone is afraid that it will not be clean, when you sleep, you should stay closer, wait for something to happen, remember, follow me, run up the hillside, but don't get close to the Qing army camp, just hide in the woods, if you are separated, also hide in the woods, wait until everything is calm, and then come out, understand?" ”

The monks looked at each other, their faces full of fear, they didn't know what was going to happen, but they didn't dare to ask, since Wang Huan said so, there must be a reason for him, so more than a dozen people responded in unison: "Understood, understood." ”

But Hu Dahai was anxious and bold, and couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart, and couldn't help asking: "Wang Huan, what's the matter?" ”

The eyes of the little monks suddenly focused on Wang Huan again, and their ears were all pricked up. Wang Huan swept around calmly, and said word by word: "Tonight, there are Qing soldiers pretending to be bandits, and they are about to enter the valley to loot, and there will be a killing disaster in this baggage battalion family team." ”

They have always thought that after leaving Yangzhou City, they will be out of the war, as long as they arrive in Xuzhou, they will be a little more stable, but they did not expect that they will go out of the tiger's mouth and enter the wolf's den, and it will not be a few days after a stable life, and they will face the test of life and death.

"You don't have to be afraid, just do what I say, don't panic, and there will be no problems." Wang Huan said again. "Besides, we are not the target of the Qing army, as long as we hide, we will be safe."

Chen Ergou and Hu Dahai glanced at each other, raised for a while, and said angrily: "Wang Huan, we are not afraid, it's a big deal to follow the dead brothers to the West Heaven Bliss, but there are many women in this valley who are old and weak, and their lives are going to be taken away by those Qing soldiers at will. ”

Wang Huan felt a pain in his heart, in the modern world, China was invaded by foreign tribes, and the history of oppression and plunder seemed to appear in front of him again, and those dark years, stains of blood flashed in his mind.

Wang Huan shook his head, gritted his teeth and said: "Now we don't have the ability to help them, we can only have a chance to take revenge in the future by saving our lives and keeping our good bodies." I am as unwilling as you, but the gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late, you remember, wait less than ten years, I will let you kill the enemy! Tonight, you must obey my commands, and take a break from the enemy's edge. ”

A group of people were suddenly silent, no one spoke, a pair of eyes or grief, or pain, or helpless, all kinds of emotions flashed in them, complex emotions collided fiercely in the heart and chest, fists clenched, more than a dozen figures stood in the dark, standing for a long time.

At this moment, in the barracks on the hillside, it is a different scene.

The lights in the Chinese military tent were bright, and the Qing army isolated this place, and outsiders were not allowed to approach. Inside the camp tent, Su Le was draped all over, wearing tattered leather armor that was obviously not the standard equipment of the Qing army, wearing a nondescript felt hat, the braid at the back of his head was coiled in the hat, his feet were on cowhide boots, and his long knife was hanging high, standing in the Tuhai tent with an excited face, and a circle of Qing army generals in the same costume as him stood around, facing Tuhai, listening to him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's good opportunity, it is the time for us to make a fortune, the outside has been arranged, the money, gold and silver of the Han people are already waiting for you to snatch it, tomorrow morning, I will have hundreds of more rich people in the white flag!" Tuhai laughed and shouted in an undisguised and rough voice.

"Hahaha, Lord Xie Zuoling, we will live up to the trust of adults!" Su Le and the others also laughed loudly and responded in unison.

Tu Haimian smiled, sat on the soft leather cushion, and said cross-legged: "After the matter is over, you don't have to come back, just rush to Huai'an with your belongings, find a farm outside the city to live temporarily, change your clothes, and then meet us when we arrive tomorrow." ”

"Yes!" Souler clenched his fists in response.

"Of course." Tu Hai's eyes flashed with murder: "That farm is going to be destroyed." ”

"Yes! Rest assured, not even a dog will see the sun tomorrow morning. Su Le said in a deep voice: "It's just, my lord, when we leave, there are only one hundred and fifty flag soldiers left in the battalion, will there be a problem with the safety of your lord and the silver chariot?" ”

"What's the problem?" Tu Hai slapped the big slap of Pu Fan on the case, and said angrily: "The Ming army is like a pig and a dog, from here to Huai'an, but it is only a few dozen miles away, and within a hundred miles is my land of the Qing Dynasty, what are you afraid of?" Even if there are really remnants of the Ming army who dare to come to sneak attack, my Qing Dynasty soldiers will be ten if they don't kill him, and when the time comes, I will only increase my head on the merit list! ”

Su Le and the others were overjoyed, and clasped their fists and complimented: "Zuo Ling Shenwei, I'm too worried." ”

Tu Hai waved his hand and urged: "No need to say any more, the night is dark, hurry up, don't miss the hour!" ”

So all the people in the tent went out, turned on their horses, and without torches, went quietly down the other side of the hill by the light of the stars.

Tu Hai stood at the door of the battalion commander, watching the backs of Su Le and the others disappear into the darkness, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said to himself: "Your mother, you want us to starve while guarding Jinshan, are I stupid when Tu Hai?" I don't dare to move this silver car, move Lord Liu's private property, what's the matter. ”

With that, he turned around and went into the tent.

In the tent, a stooping Han man has been taken in by his own soldiers to wait, on the table in the middle of the tent, a large pot of steaming beef is exuding a fragrant smell, this beef must have been added cumin condiment, people can't help but want to eat when they smell it.

"Hmph, you're quite filial." Tu Hai walked over with a sting, sat down at the table, and squinted at the Han people standing on the side.

"Where, my lord, this is some of the meat that the villains collected a few days ago, and I don't dare to enjoy it exclusively, so I will send it to the adults and the flag soldiers to taste it first, and talk about it." The Han man nodded and said.

"Li Tingyu, I heard about you, you are also a figure who once served as a general, and your subordinates must also have some skills, follow me well, and make meritorious contributions, I will report to the prince of Yu, he is happy with the old man, maybe you can raise the flag." Tu Hai tore off a piece of beef with his hand, threw it into his mouth, chewed it with oil, and said comfortably.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Li Tingyu was overjoyed, and bent down to thank him.

He peeked at Tuhai, who was eating happily, and his eyes were full of light, and the killing intent flashed.

The night is getting deeper and quieter, and the people around the campfire have gradually dispersed, lying or leaning in the woods, gradually falling asleep, and after a day's journey, tired and tired, and tired, it is time to rest.

Liu Liangzuo's personal soldiers were removed before departure, but he still left two to pretend to be family members and fill the carriage queue. Along the way, these two people did not leave Liu Liangzuo's more than a dozen privately owned carriages, and they hid a few waist knives in the mezzanine of the carriage, so as to prevent themselves in case of unforeseen needs.

However, the two people are mainly the family members of the soldiers in the team, who are worried about being secretly stolen from their property, and as for the rest, they are not particularly worried, after all, this is a baggage battalion guarded by the Qing army, how can there be such an eye-opening person to look for trouble.

These two people are cautious and vigilant, and even sleep in the cage to find a space to lie down, as for Liu Liangzuo's wife and concubine family, but not so concerned, this time with the road, mainly some silver and gold ingots, not Liu Liangzuo's main property, as one of the four towns in the south of the Ming River and the north, it is modest to say that the family has thousands of guanguan, and in major cities in the country, there are his family businesses and properties, which is the main source of wealth.

In the middle of the moon, when the whole valley fell into silence, a faint sound of horses' hooves sounded on the official road outside the valley, slowly getting closer and closer, louder and louder, and in the end, it was like thunder.