Chapter 8: The Tomb Rudder

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was about to erupt, the man in black suddenly laughed and said: "Good Qing Wangye, the prince must have doubts in his heart, but if he said it early, he was worried that Huo would have a suspicion in his heart, and it would be difficult to talk, so Huo obeyed the order." ”

Li Kang smiled slightly, there was another reason why he didn't ask until this time, if the agreement was reached, then as long as it was not excessive, Huo Jicheng would not hold too much grudge, but this matter was very important, Huo Jicheng had not shown up for many years, he only heard about him, but he didn't see his face, Li Kang was always a little uneasy.

The man in black took off the hat with his right hand, and the green yarn flew, revealing a thin and straight face, although the detailed eagle nose made people feel that he was ruthless at first sight, but it was also extraordinary, especially the cold eyes, which made people frightened at first sight. Li Kang compared this person's appearance with the portrait left and painted by the Dayong military, and determined that this person was Huo Jicheng, Fang said happily: "Huo Meng's master is really extraordinary, and if he can cooperate with the alliance leader, this king will definitely be able to show his ambitions." ”

Huo Jicheng smiled slightly, and said: "The prince's words are wrong, how dare I say that my Splendid Alliance has formed an alliance with the prince, it is the prince who will not give up, and take in Huo and his brothers to eat a bowl of food, from now on, the name of the Splendid Alliance and the prince and the prince has been decided, and the prince does not have to be polite, but there are inevitably some stubborn allies in my alliance, so please don't leak this matter for the time being, and wait until Huo cleans up the food in the alliance, and then the prince must have raised troops, and Huo must come to serve under the prince's account." ”

Li Kang smiled: "Okay, okay, there is Deputy Alliance Master Chen, just like the Lord Huo League." ”

The two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while, the atmosphere in the hall gradually eased, and the murderous aura outside the hall disappeared without a trace, and Huo Jicheng and Chen Zhi took the opportunity to retreat.

It wasn't until he left the ancient temple twenty miles away that Chen Zhi said in a low voice: "Manager Dong, thanks to your thoughtful thinking and preparation of this mask in advance, otherwise I'm afraid our strategy will fail." ”

Huo Jicheng said with a smile: "Actually, Brother Chen didn't think of it, it's just that this disguise technique has long been lost, no wonder Brother Chen has no way, fortunately, my son and I have studied it carefully in the past few years, although it can't last, but it is vivid, after this meeting, basically Huo Jicheng doesn't have to appear, Brother Chen can rest assured." As he spoke, the man in black took off his hat, and then smeared a medicine on his face, but in a moment, the skin on his face began to crack like an arid land, but in a moment, some gray-white thin skin peeled off, revealing a handsome and fair face, the stars and the moon were heavy, and the dark light shone on his face, it was Dong Que who came to Dongchuan on the order of Jiang Zhe. He put on the hat and said with a smile: "This mask is just a little breathable, in the future, Childe and I will study it carefully and find a way to make a better and more durable mask." ”

Chen Zhi said: "Childe is really wonderful, the disguise technique that is occasionally circulated in the world is just to change the appearance and image, like Childe, the disguise technique that can imitate another person's appearance has long been lost." ”

Dong Que said: "Childe is still regretting, he said, if he killed Huo Jicheng at the beginning, he would have peeled off his face to make a mask, it would have been much more convenient, but unfortunately this technique has only been studied in recent years, it is very immature, and Childe only used the dough of a few prisoners to do it twice, although the effect is better, but the production method still needs to be studied, but unfortunately Childe can't bear to continue to study after all." ”

Chen Zhi said jokingly: "Childe can't bear it, can Manager Dong study it carefully in the future, after all, Manager Dong has put a lot of thought into this." He said it as a joke, but a hint of deep thought flashed in Dong Que's eyes.

The two of them were gossiping while walking slowly, today the two reached an agreement with Li Kang, they were very happy in their hearts, the two were confident that no one could approach within a hundred zhang, but in order to beware of someone following them from afar, they still turned around a few times, and it was not until midnight that the two of them walked to an ancient tomb. The two of them walked around to make sure that no one was following, Chen Zhi walked to the stele in front of the tomb, and slapped a few times behind the stele, the stele moved away silently, revealing a secret passage, and after the two walked down, the stele closed again. This ancient tomb was learned by Chen Zhi from a tomb robber the year before last, this ancient tomb has dozens of burial chambers, which are connected by Yongdao, and the organs are everywhere, which are very tight. Shanzi, one of the eight horses who followed Chen Zhi, was very proficient in learning the mechanism, and everyone took a lot of effort and spent several months to clean up this ancient tomb and become the general rudder of the Splendid Alliance.

The two walked down the secret room, and it was Bai Yi who was responsible for greeting the two, he was not tall, his complexion was slightly dark, and his appearance was a little honest, but he was the number one master in the secret camp, and his fighting skills were above everyone else, and he assisted Chen Zhi to control the Splendid Alliance, and his contribution was not shallow, of course, his identity here was Huo Yi, the righteous son of Huo Jicheng. Dong Que took off the hat, took a grimace mask handed over by Bai Yi, and put it on his face, here, he is still Huo Jicheng, although some of the disciples of the Splendid Alliance here are Chen Zhi's henchmen, but they don't know that Huo Jicheng has long since died, so Dong Que still has to appear as Huo Jicheng.

The two walked into the largest tomb, which was the meeting hall of the Splendid Alliance, and there were more than a dozen people of different shapes standing on both sides, Dong Que sat proudly in the middle seat, Chen Zhi sat beside him, and Bai Yi stood behind Dong Que and acted as a guard. Dong Que said in a cold voice, "Everyone, please take a seat." ”

After those people saluted Dong Que, they sat down cautiously, most of them were Shu people, "Huo Jicheng" rarely met with them, most of them conveyed various orders through Chen Zhi or messengers, and they were very afraid of Huo Meng's master, whether it was Huo Jicheng's viciousness and cruelty in the past, or the secret and ruthless now, they did not dare to betray their hearts.

Dong Que said coldly: "This seat has reached an agreement with King Qing, we will take over King Qing's spy monitoring organization, and on the other hand, we also want to support King Qing to restore the Shu Kingdom, I don't know what you think?" ”

A middle-aged man with a heroic appearance stood up and said, "Alliance leader, this matter is not allowed, Li Kang is the prince of Dayong, and it is not his turn to restore Shu State." ”

Dong Que snorted coldly and said: "Luo Protector, you think clearly, with the strength of our Splendid Alliance, is it possible to restore Shu, if there is no army of King Qing, it is just a mirror, as long as we help King Qing to seize Dongchuan, and then find an opportunity to send troops to Guanzhong, when the power of our Shu Kingdom has the upper hand in King Qing's forces, are you still afraid that he will have different hearts?" ”

The middle-aged man sat down suddenly, he would not be worried because the alliance leader reprimanded him, Huo Jicheng's temperament has changed a lot in the past few years, when he asks everyone's opinions, everyone can speak freely, but if he has already made a decision, no one will be allowed to disobey his orders.

Everyone discussed for a long time how to better control King Qing, and the atmosphere was very warm, after all, this is the best opportunity to restore the country over the years. Dong Que's eyes flashed, snickering in his heart, Gongzi's strategy is really clever, control these people who are eager to restore the country, eliminate the overzealous elements among them, restrain the remaining people, and now they can use their enthusiasm for restoration to eliminate King Qing's suspicions. However, when Dong Que's gaze fell on a silent middle-aged man, he frowned. That middle-aged man is called Gu Ning, he has a very high reputation in the Splendid Alliance, and he is also one of the founding elders, the original Huo Jicheng was very different from him, and he almost framed him to death. After Chen Zhi received the Splendid Alliance, he released him, because this person's ambition to restore the country is very firm, and his talent is also quite outstanding, and he is not that kind of fanatic, so he is still allowed to hold a high position, and he is used to recruit those real people who want to restore the country, and of course he is monitored more closely. Fortunately, he and Huo Jicheng were not very close, and it was not difficult to hide from him, otherwise they would have to kill him, which would be a heavy loss. Dong Que saw that his expression was wrong, so he said coldly: "Gu Protector, do you have any opinions?" ”

Gu Ning's heart sank, he almost died at the hands of Huo Jicheng back then, but fortunately, after Chen Zhi joined, he persuaded Huo Jicheng to pardon him, and in recent years, Huo Jicheng's heart has matured a lot, and the strategies arranged are very careful and thoughtful, and the power of the Splendid Alliance has risen steadily, except for the temporary hopelessness of recovering the country, there is nothing wrong with it. But Gu Ning couldn't say the bitterness in his heart, almost all of the people around him were sent by Chen Zhi to monitor him, his wife and children were all in the hands of these people, and he had no other choice but to act on orders, if he didn't have Chen Zhen's permission, his orders would not be conveyed at all. Although his own strategies were mostly adopted, the shadow of his death at any time still forced him to breathe.

He disagrees with the matter of cooperating with King Qing, the Shu people should not rely on other people's forces if they want to restore the country, in Gu Ning's heart, if they can't successfully restore the country, then they would rather maintain such a state, as long as the fire of the restoration of the country is passed on, then one day they can get their wish, and he does not agree with this kind of quick success. But he knew Huo Jicheng's attitude, so this decision was actually impossible to resist. But seeing that the Shu people were innocently caught in the flames of war, he was really reluctant, turned his head sideways to avoid the cold gaze, and he said in a deep voice: "King Qing rebelled, that is their Dayong's family matter, no matter who wins or loses, we can't really restore the country, why wade into this troubled water, I'm afraid that we have killed many allies in vain." ”

A cold light flashed in Chen Zhi's eyes, if Gu Ning had this kind of thought, it would inevitably cause everyone in the alliance to drift away, after all, Gu Ning's prestige was here, and the Splendid Alliance could only have one mind from top to bottom, and Chen Zhi didn't want to leave the aftermath of the split of the Splendid Alliance. The Shu people who are committed to restoring the country cannot be allowed to break away from the Splendid Alliance, this is an iron law set by Jiang Zhe. He stood up, and he said coldly: "Alliance leader, there is a matter that my subordinates have long wanted to report, but before the time came, two disciples in my alliance had different intentions, they were tired of the restoration of the country, and they actually wanted to withdraw from the alliance. ”

Dong Que understood what Chen Zhi meant, pretended to be furious, and said sharply: "How can this be true, is the Splendid Alliance a place where you can come and go casually, who are these two people?" Passed on the decree that these two disciples should be put to death for me, and the family members should sit together. ”

Chen Zhi looked at the people below one by one, everyone who came into contact with his gaze couldn't help but bow their heads, Shuzhong has been in good weather in the past few years, King Qing's governance adheres to the will of the Dayong court, and it can be regarded as quite successful, the people live and work in peace and contentment, even some young disciples in the Splendid Alliance have the idea of not wanting to return to the country, after all, their attachment to the homeland is relatively weak, and they understand that Chen Zhi must take the opportunity to attack someone, and they also know that most of the target is not themselves, but everyone is still uneasy in their hearts.

A cold glint flashed in Chen Zhi's eyes, and he said respectfully: "It's Xiong Storm and Shangguan Yan under Gu Protector's hands." As soon as he said this, most of the people breathed a sigh of relief, but there were still some people who showed worried looks, Xiong Storm is Gu Ning's nephew, Shangguan Yan is Gu Ning's righteous son, Gu Ning has a high status in the hearts of everyone in the alliance, but everyone is more afraid of Huo Jicheng and Chen Zhi's scheming, so no one dares to support Gu Ning.

Gu Ning was shocked, his face became pale, these two people are his dearest people, and they are young heroes, Gu Ning's first thought was that Chen Zhi wanted to take the opportunity to weaken his strength, but after thinking about it, Gu Ning felt that his whole body was weak, these days Xiong Storm and Shangguan Yan did have some complaints, they proposed that in fact, Dayong's domination of the world has been irreversible, rather than seeking to restore the country, it is better to let the common people live and work in peace and contentment. Gu Ning also felt the same way in his heart, so he just warned them not to say it, but he didn't expect Chen Zhi to still know.

In any case, Gu Ning couldn't watch the two young men being executed like this, not to mention that his family would be affected if he sat together, so he had to get up and bow down and say: "Alliance leader, these two juniors under him just gossiped a few words, they are loyal to this alliance, and they have no rebellious intentions, and I ask the alliance leader to forgive them for being confused for a while, please spare them for the sake of their meritorious service to the Splendid Alliance." Gu was willing to bear the blame on their behalf. ”

Gu Ning pleaded in a low voice, peeking over, only to see the fingers of the alliance leader's right hand on the armrest of the Taishi chair trembling slightly, this was Huo Jicheng's habitual action of killing the machine, Gu Ning's heart became more and more nervous, and his tone gradually became urgent. At this time, the alliance leader raised his right hand and stopped Gu Ning from continuing, and said: "Since Gu Protector is interceding, then this seat will open the net, this seat has decided to send Huo Yi to serve in front of King Qing, let them go with Huo Yi, can Gu Protector have any objections to this matter?" ”

After hesitating for a while, Gu Ning finally said dejectedly: "The subordinates have no objections. Thinking of his family, he finally compromised, for the great cause of restoring the country, he can sacrifice everything, but it is still unnecessary to sacrifice his family for this kind of thing, Huo Jicheng has had no last resort in the past few years, he should at least be able to retreat with his whole body, Gu Ning thought so.

Chen Zhi and Dong Que exchanged a look, and deliberately imitated Huo Jicheng's habitual actions, which made Gu Ning believe that the alliance took the initiative to kill, and the silent threat made Gu Ning quickly succumb, an iron-clad man was forced to such a point that outsiders would sympathize when they saw it, but Chen Zhi and Dong Que were both hard-hearted and unmoved. Dong Que said loudly: "The matter has been decided like this, but this alliance can't come out of the nest, and the heart of guarding against people is indispensable. All the people agreed in unison. Chen Zhi and Dong Que looked at each other again, the two of them had already planned in their hearts, arranging those allies who were eager to restore the country to King Qing, and letting them sacrifice all of them was the best disposal, and Gu Ning's calmness was indeed appreciated by the two, and Jiang Zhe's ultimate goal was to make the people in the Splendid Alliance forget the idea of recovering the country, so Gu Ning didn't have to go, as for Xiong Storm and Shangguan Yan to follow Bai Yi to King Qing's command, it was just to find an opportunity to control them and prevent Gu Ning from acting without permission.

After causing everyone to disperse, Dong Que said in a low voice: "How is that person?" ”

Chen Zhi knew that Dong Que was asking about the captured spy of the Mingjian Division, and also said in a low voice: "Still in custody, this person has been restless recently, and has repeatedly wanted to escape, if he hadn't been a person from the Mingjian Division, he would have died ten times ago." Dong Que said: "This person should be released, Gongzi said that let Mingjian Division and Jinxiu Alliance fight, and our side can also eliminate some stubborn people who can't be educated, as for the loss of Mingjian Division, it will make King Qing believe in our sincerity, but Gongzi said that it can't be too much, after all, Mingjian Division belongs to Dayong, although some of them are born in killing people and setting fires, and Gongzi doesn't want to offend Xiahou Yuanfeng, this person is not easy to mess with." ”

Chen Zhi sneered: "Xiahou Yuanfeng won't be heartbroken, but what you said makes sense, you still have to maintain a tacit understanding with him, but in this case, I'm afraid you will have to go." ”

Dong Yi nodded and said: "I think so too, but I can't be too hasty, the meaning of the son, the Splendid Alliance will still be retained in the future, first release the person from the Mingjian Division, let him go back and spread the news, Xiahou Yuanfeng should also have points in his heart." ”

Chen Zhi said: "Don't worry, even when I was interrogated, I also went with a mask, he would never know what was here, and he had never heard the word Splendid Alliance." Dong Que said with a smile: "It's time to let him know a little now, this person is a good man, he has been trapped for so many days, and he hasn't given in, since he wants to let him go, let him know something, these Xiahou also said it in the past." ”

Dong Zhi nodded, and followed Chen Zhi to the depths of the ancient tomb, where there were several burial chambers with dense institutions as prisons, and the Ming Jian Division, who had been under house arrest for more than a month, was currently the only prisoner.

Qiu Shan sat on the stone couch, his face was expressionless, this cell was very neat, the stone couch was covered with straw, and the bedding was complete, although these mysterious people who imprisoned him were tortured to extract a confession from him at the beginning, but it stopped in a few days, no longer forced him to confess, and tried his best to treat his injuries, but this did not make Qiu Shan feel a trace of gratitude. I can't see the light of the stars and the moon, I can only calculate the time by three meals, and more than a month of time is wasted, thinking that I can't send the information out of Dongchuan, Qiu Shan is very angry in his heart, and he has failed to escape several times, if it weren't for his strong heart, I'm afraid that he would have been driven crazy by this seemingly endless captivity. couldn't help but touch the whip marks on his body, this was the last time he stunned the guards and wanted to escape and was captured, those mysterious people seemed to order him to be beaten with thirty whips, but they didn't hit it hard, otherwise they were afraid that Qiu Shan wouldn't want to get up now.

The stone door was pushed open, Qiu Shan didn't raise his eyes, although according to his hunger level, it should not be time to eat, but this kind of unexplained imprisonment and strong sense of powerlessness made him lose interest in many things.

A clear voice came: "What, Brother Qiu doesn't want to leave here?" ”

Qiu Shan Teng stood up suddenly, but his face was red, he felt that he was too eager, raised his eyes, and saw two black-clothed people standing in front of him, both wearing demon masks, one stood with his hands in his hands, and the other stood at the door. ”

The man in black standing at the door spoke, "This is our elder Huo Ye." ”

Qiu Shan's heart was cold, he was shrewd, he knew the situation in Dongchuan well, and he had the ability to imprison himself for a month, and there were not many organizations that did not show any news, as soon as he heard the word "Huo Ye", he blurted out: "Splendid Alliance." A look of vigilance and confusion immediately flashed in his eyes, the hostility of the Splendid Alliance and Dayong was very clear to him, and some doubts could be explained, why these people neither wanted to release themselves nor handed themselves over to King Qing, but another question arose, why did these people treat themselves so politely?

Dong Que said with a smile: "Brother Qiu's quick mind is worthy of being a person from the Mingjian Division, and in Xia Huo Ji City, he is the leader of the Splendid Alliance." ”

Qiu Shan showed a cold look on his face and said: "I see, today the alliance leader came to meet, expose the fog, and already know his own ending in the next, for many days, your alliance has been courteous to the next, Qiu Shan is grateful, but there is nothing to say in the next, just ask the alliance leader to give the next one." ”

Dong Que said playfully: "It seems that you think I am going to kill you?" ”

Qiu Shan sneered: "I know in my heart what the Splendid Alliance is, the leader of the alliance is famous, and I have heard of it for a long time, but for the sake of the care of your alliance for many days, I might as well persuade the alliance leader that Dayong unifies the world is the trend of the times, and it is better to give up the hope of recovering the country." ”

Chen Zhi smiled and said: "You are kind, but King Qing rebelled, I'm afraid Dayong's future is uncertain, how do you know that we have no chance." ”

Qiu Shan heard that this was the person who had come to visit and interrogate him many times, and said coldly: "Your Majesty Shengming Shenwu, I Dayong has a million, and King Qing will definitely not succeed." He said it categorically, Dong Que and Chen Zhi looked at each other and smiled, and said in their hearts that this person is really determined, so it is most appropriate for him to go back.

"Lou boat night snow melon state crossing, iron horse autumn wind big scattered pass", scattered pass is one of the four famous passes in the pass, since ancient times is the throat of Qin Shu, east from Longshou, west to the south, high and dangerous, before the death of Shu State, here is the fortress of Dayong blocking Shu State, although since Yangping Pass, Jiameng Pass fell into the hands of Dayong, the status of Sanguan has been reduced a lot, but Dayong still stationed enough military strength in Sanguan, and Li Yuan and Li Zhen were a little wary at the beginning, so King Qing could not interfere in Sanguan at all, The general who guards Sanguan is called Li Zongxun, and he is also a son of the Li royal family, but his bloodline is remote, he is good at defending the city, and there is no problem with loyalty, so he was specially selected to guard Sanguan. And Xiahou Yuanfeng also came to Sanguan a few days ago, presiding over the spy on Shuzhong, he brought the manpower of Siwen Cao Nanan County Division and Mingjian Division to arrange the matter of infiltrating Dongchuan, but Dongchuan was almost unable to enter, Xiahou Yuanfeng did not know that this was the result of the Jinxiu Alliance secretly assisting King Qing, and he glanced at King Qing's ability, and became more and more distressed in his heart. So when Xiahou Yuanfeng learned that Qiu Shan asked to see him, he was almost stunned, and the subordinates who originally thought he had died a long time ago reappeared, this incident was enough to shock him, but this time Xiahou Yuanfeng brought to assist him Hua Liu, but he knew it in his heart, although he no longer had the opportunity to contact Jiang Zhe's forces in recent years, but some things could still be known, the Splendid Alliance was secretly controlled by Jiang Zhe, and he knew about it, so Qiu Shan suddenly survived, and Hua Liu quickly thought of the possible reason. Xiahou Yuanfeng was thoughtful, and when he saw a smile on the corner of Hua Liu's mouth, he immediately remembered what Li Zhen had vaguely said, and his heart was relieved, and he ordered Qiu Shan to be recruited recently.