The drizzle was drizzling, and a light layer of fog was shrouded over the river.

It's the middle of summer, and after several days of scorching heat, it's finally coming to a cool day. The rain fell on the water, the willow tips on the side of the road, and on the grass, silently.

Zheng Yanqing suddenly stopped and looked at the thin light mist on the river surface with a distraction.

After crossing a river, it is the border of Silla. Tired of running around, Yan Qing did not have the delicate appearance when he stepped on Haipu from Shabei City.

The face has been thinned, so that the cheeks, which used to look plump, are now thin. The sharp edges and corners are as if they have been cut by a knife and an axe, showing a stiff atmosphere. His gaze remained soft, but it also became deeper, making it impossible to guess what was in his mind.

His armor was stained with blood and looked shabby.

However, in this atmosphere of loneliness and decadence, there is a faint murderous intention.

"Yanqing, why did you stop suddenly?"

Zheng Hongyi urged him to step forward and asked in surprise: "After crossing this river, it is the border of Silla." ”

His injuries were already healed, and he no longer needed to be taken care of by Shen Guang. The original childish face was replaced by a mature and stable spirit. Behind Zheng Hongyi, he followed ten cavalry and thirty military horses. On horseback, they also carried the looted grain, grass and ordnance. After recovering from his injuries, Zheng Hongyi still played the role of quartermaster. And along the way, he did a very competent job as a quartermaster.

Dou Xiaowen and Xie Yingdeng also urged the horse over, looking at Yan Qing suspiciously.

Eighty-eight cavalrymen, reined in the drizzle, looked at each other, but none of them stepped forward.

After the confrontation, Zheng Yanqing and others attacked and looted 21 Goguryeo military villages, killing nearly 400 Goguryeo soldiers, which can be described as high morale. However, the more than 150 Sui soldiers brought out by Yan Qing from Dacheng Mountain, in addition to the 23 who escaped halfway, killed 37 people, accounting for one-third of Yan Qing's troops.

Of course, the eighty-eight survivors were completely different from when they came out of Mount Aeshiro earlier.

All of them are lightly armored and black-robed, carrying bows and swords, revealing a fierce atmosphere.

In continuous battles, these people gained not only food and grass and baggage, but more importantly, they gained the confidence they had lost since the defeat of Pyongyang.

Eighty-eight knights, uniformly named Yuan Cong Huwei.

plus the majestic sea Kan Leng, Xie Ke, Zheng Hongyi, Shen Guang Dou Xiaowen, a total of one hundred and four people.

With these one hundred and four people, Zheng Yanqing galloped half of the Goguryeo border, which can be described as invincible. However, seeing that Silla was ahead, Zheng Yanqing muttered in his heart. For the past few days, he has been feeling that something is wrong. The closer you get to Silla, the stronger this uneasy feeling becomes. He felt as if he had neglected something and was in danger.

The river was surging, and Zheng Yanqing suddenly said: "Do you think that we have been too smooth recently? ”

"Yanqing, what do you mean by that?" Xie Ke couldn't help but smile and said, "Could it be that you still want to be blocked and killed?" ”

Zheng Yanqing shook his head, "That's not what I said.

Do you still remember the last time we attacked the Goguryeo military fortress two days ago? It was as if it was undefended, and twenty or thirty veterans did not resist when they saw us, and dispersed in a hurry...... I remember that when we attacked the military fortresses of Wonsan and Seoul, the Goguryeo people resisted desperately, and even fought to the last man. Later, however, the Goguryeo people seemed to have become somewhat vulnerable.

Brother Xie, don't you think it's strange? ”

Zheng Yanqing's words immediately made Xie Ke and the others fall into deep thought.

"When you say that, if you think about it, it seems that this is indeed the case."

Zheng Hongyi hesitated, "Yanqing, do you mean to say that the Goguryeo people have sensed our movements?" ”

"Herein lies the problem...... If the Goguryeo people were aware of our movements, why didn't they stop them? Not only did they send troops to encircle and suppress, but even the guards became more and more lax. Although we attacked 21 military fortresses, we carefully calculated that in addition to the initial raids such as Wonsan and Seoul, the Goguryeo people suffered heavy casualties...... Especially in the last ten days, how many Goguryeo people have we killed?

I calculated carefully, in the past ten days, we have attacked a military village, but we just killed ** people.

In most cases, isn't it strange that the Goguryeo people did not resist at all, and scattered in a hurry, and did not go head-to-head with us at all? ”

Xie Ke said, "The Goguryeo people are letting us go to Silla. ”

"Exactly."

Yanqing raised his head and said, "I'm afraid that the Silla people have already known about our arrival, and now they are on the other side of the river, waiting for us to appear."

With the Silla people's Xi surname, after the defeat of our army in Pyongyang, they will definitely repeat it. As long as the Goguryeo people persecute slightly, they will definitely bow their heads and give in. If this is the case, we will cross the river and we will probably be caught in the net. ”

After Zheng Yanqing said this, he suddenly felt a sense of fear.

If it weren't for his restlessness, he sensed something bad in advance. When they cross the river, they will be greeted by ...... Thinking of this, Yan Qing gasped.

He couldn't be sure if what he had speculated was true. This is another dilemma: if he guesses correctly, he can get away with it; But if the speculation is wrong, then stopping here is equivalent to fighting before, and it becomes meaningless.

Cross the river, or turn back?

At this time, Zheng Yanqing had to make a choice.

Since the Nanshui camp, he has been constantly doing multiple-choice questions...... The previous choice, right or wrong, no longer matters. And now this choice will be related to the safety of everyone. This made Zheng Yanqing a little embarrassed, I really don't know, should I cross this river?

"Yanqing, it's about to dawn!"

Zheng Yanqing suddenly woke up from his contemplation.

When it was almost time to arrive, the midsummer day always came early. If they can't make a decision as soon as possible, once the Goguryeo people find out about their traces, they will definitely besiege and rob them. Previously, the Goguryeo people allowed them to pass because Yanqing and his party were haunted and difficult to catch their tracks. But after this dawn, once their deeds are revealed, do you know if the Goguryeo people will sit idly by and ignore them?

"Let's not go to the river first...... To the east, into the mountains! ”

Zheng Yanqing made a decision, and Xie Ke and others did not hesitate to implement it.

Although Yuan Conghuwei didn't know what was going on, the trust that had been condensed made them carry out the order without reservation.

Traveling eastward along the river, about twenty miles or so, is a mountain range.

Close to Silla, it is densely covered with hills and mountains. It's not that hard to find a place to hide.

This is also one of the reasons why Gao Jianwu is unwilling to encircle and suppress Zheng Yanqing. Huge mountains, dense hills, God knows where they will hide? Once they hid in the mountains, the Goguryeo people might have to spend hundreds of thousands of troops to search and encircle and suppress.

And the current situation of Goguryeo does not have so many soldiers and horses.

Therefore, Gao Jianwu would rather let Zheng Yanqing go to Silla, and even pay the price of 21 military villages.

In his opinion, Zheng Yanqing, who fled in a hurry, must be in a hurry to defect to Silla. And Kim Bojing, the king of Silla, is just a soft bone and a repeated villain.

At dawn, Zheng Yanqing and his party escaped into the mountains.

Fortunately, he doesn't need to worry about the problem of grain and grass now, and the grain, grass and ordnance carried by more than 30 pack horses are enough for Zheng Yanqing and others to hide in the mountains for ten days and have nothing to do with it. Therefore, after finding a remote cave, everyone settled down quietly.

Zheng Yanqing sat at the entrance of the cave, breathing in the moist and fresh air of the mountain, without the slightest sleepiness.

After dawn, the drizzle continued.

Shen Guang handed a cake wrapped in jerky to Yan Qing, "Young Master, let's escape into the mountains now, what should we do next?" ”

"We have to figure out what's going on with the Silla people."

Zheng Yanqing took a hard bite of the cake and swallowed it with water. Then asked Zheng Hongyi to take the map and carefully check the situation on it.

After a lot of raids and looting, Zheng Yanqing's hands were more than just the map that Mai Zizhong gave him.

He even had a detailed map of the Silla border in his hand. It was found in a Goguryeo military village, which not only marked the distribution of the Goguryeo military village along the river, but also the town ferry of the Silla people on the other side of the river.

"Hongyi, I remember you could speak Goguryeo and Silla?"

Zheng Hongyi was stunned, nodded and said, "I learned from the teacher in my early years...... The teacher is fluent in Turkic languages, Goguryeo, and the Chinese languages of the Western Regions. I also thought it was interesting back then, so I learned a few more. In fact, the Silla language is similar to the Goguryeo language, and the teacher once said that the Silla Baekje was originally a native of Samhan and had no written language. Later, after following Goguryeo's example and learning the culture of the Central Plains, the native language was gradually abandoned and Goguryeo was adopted......"

"And what do you say?"

Zheng Hongyi's chest straightened, revealing a look of pride, "I can't compare to you in poetry, but in Goguryeo, even the teacher has praised me." ”

After he said this, he suddenly reacted.

"Yanqing, what do you mean ......?"

Zheng Yanqing nodded, pointed to the map and said: "We are now hiding in the branch of Taebaek Mountain, and we cross the river from here, about twenty miles, which is Silla and Hibiscus Town. Hongyi, I need you and Shen Guang to go to Hibiscus Town to find out the movements of the Silla people. ”

Zheng Hongyi's face showed a look of joy.

Along the way, every time the conquest and battle were made, Xie Ke and Dou Xiaowen took action, and Zheng Yanqing led the majestic sea Kan Ling to finish. He and Shen Guang had no chance to make a move at all. Coupled with the fact that he almost lost his life in Pyongyang before, Zheng Hongyi felt that he was very useless.

Now, it seems that there is a place for him to display his talents, and Zheng Hongyi suddenly came to his senses.

"Hibiscus is an important town in Silla, and if the Silla people make any moves, Hibiscus Town is the way to go...... However, it is said that the town of Hibiscus is very well guarded, and if we dress up in this way, we may disturb the people of Silla. Zheng Huai'an, you take the bag of the No. 3 pack horse. ”

Zheng Huai'an is Zheng Hongyi's personal entourage, and he is also the only one of the Zheng children he brought out from An Yuantang.

Zheng Hongyi is quite particular about dealing with baggage. Number all the more than 30 pack horses and remember clearly what each pack horse carries. Zheng Huaian agreed and hurriedly walked out of the cave. After a while, he and several baggage soldiers came in with a bag. Zheng Hongyi ran over, rummaged through his bag for a while, and found a few clean clothes from inside.

"This is the clothing I found earlier for the civilian population of Silla in a military village. Originally, I just put it in, but I didn't expect ......"

Zheng Yanqing really didn't know what items Zheng Hongyi had in his hands.

So he and Xie Ke stepped forward, and after tossing a few times, he asked in surprise, "Why are they all clothes?" ”

Zheng Hongyi said proudly: "It's all Goguryeo's clothes and armor...... Hehe, I've counted a total of fifty-three sets of armor. ”

"What do you want this thing for?"

Zheng Hongyi scratched his head a little embarrassed, "It's useless, but since I saw it, I took it with me." ”

Xie Ke and Dou Xiaowen couldn't help but laugh.

I didn't expect Zheng Hongyi to have this problem, no wonder there are more than 30 pack horses, all of which are full...... But Zheng Yanqing's heart moved. He vaguely felt that these clothes and armor in Zheng Hongyi's hands could not be of great use. But what exactly is it for?

Yan Qing scratched his head, "Put away all these clothes and armor and keep them properly." ”

Zheng Hongyi agreed, took two sets of Silla civilian clothes, handed Shen Guang a set, and then asked Zheng Huaian to pack his bags again.

"Yanqing, what is the use of these Goguryeo people's clothes and armor?"

Xie Ke couldn't help but ask softly.

Yan Qing waved his hand and asked people to bring clean water and wipe all the blood stains on their bodies for Shen Guang and Zheng Hongyi. After the two of them changed into clothes, Yan Qing advised: "Remember, let you go to Hibiscus Town, not to cause trouble, but to find out the news."

Here, together with me, the lives of a hundred and three people will be entrusted to you two.

As soon as he realized that the situation was not good, he immediately left. I'll have Daikuro and Arene take someone to meet you at the mountain pass...... Remember, don't be aggressive, don't provoke right and wrong. ”

"Yanqing, you just have to rest assured, from now on, I will be an ordinary civilian in Silla.

Brother Shen Guang doesn't know Goguryeo, so he pretends to be mute...... We will come back as soon as possible. If there is a situation, wait for the opportunity to act. ”

In fact, the person Zheng Yanqing is most worried about is Zheng Hongyi.

Shen Guang said: "Young Master don't worry, Shen Guang will definitely take care of Young Master Hongyi." ”

"So go and get back quickly...... Xiaowen, you and Dahezi Ah Ling, take thirty people and escort Hongyi and Shen Guang out of the mountain. ”

Dou Xiaowen agreed and immediately went down to prepare.

Zheng Yanqing and Xie Ke sent the group out of the cave until Zheng Hongyi and the others disappeared on the mountain road, and then returned to the cave.

"Brother Xie, I have a hunch that maybe when we will use these armors."

Xie Ke was stunned for a moment, and immediately reacted. He lowered his voice and said, "Yanqing, do you mean that the road of Silla is impassable?" ”

Zheng Yanqing nodded and beckoned Zheng Huai'an to come over.

"Huai'an, you clean up all the baggage and make a list for me."

Zheng Huai'an bowed down to answer the order, beckoned a few heavy soldiers, and went down to get busy. Zheng Yanqing and Xie Ke stood beside them, watching Zheng Huaian and the others clean up the pack horses. Gradually, both of them couldn't help but show a smile on their faces. This Hongyi...... It's no different from picking up rags, take anything!

Two baggage soldiers, while unloading a package from a pack horse, one accidentally slipped out of a bag from it.

Zheng Yanqing walked over and picked up the bag.

Opening the bag, he glanced inside, his pupils suddenly closed, and his face showed surprise.

"Brother Xie, Hongyi is afraid that this time he has made a great contribution!"

As he spoke, he handed the bag to Sheko. After Xie Ke took it, he glanced at the items inside, first stunned, and then nodded slightly.

"If Silla is not passable, this thing should be of great use."

(To be continued)