It was getting late, and the sky was gradually changing to a color similar to strong tea. Han Shizhong took a sip, spit out a small piece of jerky that couldn't be chewed on the ground, stood up, tied his belt, and whispered to a few people next to him: "Get up, go!" ”

The soldiers followed behind Han Shizhong without saying a word, except for the seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man, the people who signed up were all veterans, and they had participated in at least one camp stealing in the Western Army. Before leaving, they all removed all the metal objects that might make a noise on their bodies, and the blades of their weapons were also smeared with a special black grease to reduce friction and prevent the reflection from causing the enemy's attention.

Han Shizhong didn't walk fast, he walked a short distance, he cautiously looked around for a while, and at this time, the other people curled up in the hidden places on both sides of the road, avoiding the biting night wind. In the mountains during this season, it is very difficult.

About the time of the first shift, Han Shizhong and his party had already reached the halfway point of the mountain, and suddenly he stopped and whispered to the old soldier behind him: "Old Lu, look over there, but there is a fire?" ”

The old soldier looked at it silently for a while, and saw a small piece of fire in a small shadow near the top of the mountain in the moonlight, which would definitely not be visible if he did not pay attention.

"Yes, there should be a cave there, otherwise it wouldn't be so small!"

"It's supposed to be the Manichaean thief's sentry!" Han Shizhong slapped his palm excitedly: "Fortunately, this season, the thieves can't stay up to the cold, if it's spring and autumn, it will be troublesome!" ”

"It's also a blessing for the flag head!" The old soldier cracked his mouth and laughed. Revealing the missing half of the gums, it looked quite infiltrating at night, which was the work of a Western Xia slinger.

"If you get a reward, you can marry a good family, you don't have to suffer so hard!" The smile on the old army's face was a bit obscene, but Han Shizhong patted the other party's shoulder indifferently and smiled: "Lao Lu, you too, you will enter the Gangyuan Cave later, and when you see that handsome young man, just open your mouth to the general, and even save the bride price!" ”

The two laughed twice, and Han Shizhong returned to the crowd. He whispered, "I've found out where the thief is." Everyone took out the wooden pieces and didn't make a sound, otherwise they would blame the ruthless military law! With that, he took a short wooden stick from his waist and put it in his mouth and bit it. Others followed suit. Han Shizhong looked at it. Then he turned and walked first in the direction of the firelight.

You can see up close to the mountains. In fact, it was very far away, and Han Shizhong didn't dare to raise fire at night, so they could only walk by moonlight. Fortunately, it was a full moon that night, and there were no clouds, and by about the third watch, the group was no more than twenty or thirty paces away from the firelight. At this time, Han Shizhong had already seen clearly, there was a cave not far away, the door was covered by a row of branches, and the firelight was shining from inside, no wonder it was so looming.

Han Shizhong recited the Buddha in his heart, and was about to step forward, but he heard a creaking sound, the wooden raft was pushed away, and a person came out of the cave, and he hurriedly lowered his body. I saw that the man took two steps and unbuttoned his shirt and urinated on a clump of grass. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had come out to relieve himself, and was about to step forward, but he heard someone in the cave scolding: "You are too good, and Xiao Xie doesn't go farther, is it so close that everyone can smell your commotion?" ”

Xiao Xie turned around and said, "You should think of it, but you have set up a nest bow on the way here, and if you step on it in the dark at night, won't it kill you?" ”

"You fool, you don't know how to step on those rocks by the roadside, and we don't have a bow on the stones. If you pull it anywhere, Lao Tzu will see you as eight pieces to feed the dog tomorrow morning! ”

Xiao Xie answered, and walked over to Han Shizhong while carefully stepping on a few stones on the side of the road while lifting his pants. Han Shizhong was secretly happy in his heart, pulled out the dagger from his waist and held it in his hand, and when the man got closer, he gently stretched his ape arm, one had already choked the man's throat, and the other fell to the ground, and then his knee was already pressed on the man's back. The man was about to struggle, but he felt as if there was a mountain on his back, and he could not move.

Han Shizhong made a gesture, and two people had already pounced on him, tied this person firmly, his throat was strangled by hemp rope, and everything was back in his stomach. Han Shizhong gently scraped the blade of the dagger twice at the man's throat, shook the dagger on the moonlight, and said in a low voice: "Now I ask you a few words, if you don't tell the truth, a certain family will use this dagger to open seventeen or eighteen transparent holes in your body to see if it is transparent, do you understand?" ”

The guy couldn't speak, so he could only nod his head again and again. Han Shizhong smiled slightly, motioned to his subordinates to loosen the hemp rope, and asked in a low voice, "You say, how many people are there in the cave?" What are you staying in this cave for? By whom? ”

The frightened eyes looked at the men in armor and soldiers around him, and he already understood six or seven points: "I was sent by Wang Laofo to guard the old camp under the command of the Holy Father, and there are eleven people in the cave, beg the master to spare his life!" ”

Han Shizhong looked this person up and down, and sneered: "The master is an official and military envoy, as long as you are honest and obedient, don't say that you can save your life, and it is common to make a small fortune!" ”

"Thank you, thank you, sir!" The guy hurriedly thanked him, Han Shizhong pushed it and said, "Lead the way ahead, if you want to die, just shout loudly, see if your feet are fast, or the arrows of our robes are fast." Speaking of this, Han Shizhong patted the old soldier surnamed Lu behind him on the hand of the god arm bow that was already full of strings. In the moonlight, the tips of the short crossbow bolts emitted a chilling light.

The Manichaean shuddered, nodded hurriedly, and then shook his head again. Han Shizhong sneered, lifted the iron shovel with his right hand, but pulled out his waist knife with his left hand and followed up. After a while, everyone had already arrived at the entrance of the cave, and there was an even snoring sound in the cave, Han Shizhong made a gesture, and the first one rushed in, and the people behind also rushed in. There was immediately a dull sound of iron tools slashing on the flesh and a dying scream in the cave, and after half a cup of tea, Han Shizhong walked out of the cave, his body was already covered with blood.

The Manichaean couldn't help but tremble when he saw Han Shizhong covered in blood and a fierce and vicious look. Han Shizhong grinned at him: "Do you know how many soldiers there are in that thief's lair, and how far away it is from here?" ”

"There are about sixty or seventy thousand people in the sect, all of whom are in the two caves of Bangyuan and Zitong, and there are still about six or seven miles away from here."

"Nonsense, how can sixty or seventy thousand thieves hide in two caves, are you coaxing a certain family?" When Han Shizhong heard this, he suddenly shouted, and shook his saber menacingly with his right hand.

"The villain doesn't dare, the villain doesn't dare!" The disciple hurriedly explained, it turned out that these source caves and Zitong caves were not really talking about caves. but a treacherous valley in the mountains. Locally, it is commonly known as "cave".

"Azusa?" Han Shizhong touched the beard under his chin, and suddenly asked, "Listen to this name, there are a lot of trees around these two places, right?" ”

"What the lord said is that these two places are deep in the mountains. But there are many sumacs, trees, and pine trees. The production is quite abundant! ”

"Good. Good, good! Han Shizhong suddenly laughed and patted his palm. As if he had heard something very happy, he suddenly ordered the young man on the side: "Xiao Ding, you take this guy in, take care of it, don't let him run away!" ”

When the Manichaeans entered, Han Shizhong smiled at the old soldier and said, "Old Lu, the thief's lair is in the deep mountains, surrounded by many trees, and it is winter that has not rained or snowed for many days, it is really a great merit given to me by God." ”

"Exactly!" The old soldier laughed understandingly: "Hurry up and tell the military master, don't make a mistake!" ”

At noon the next day, help the source cave.

Although these source caves are in the mountains, there are many sumacs, pines and other economic trees in the local area, and the population is large, and it is not the kind of uninhabited mountain remote land, so when Fang La got up, he transported a lot of looted property and grain to this place, built houses and palaces, and prepared to retreat to this place once the situation was unfavorable for a long-term plan. After abandoning Hangzhou, Fang La himself led most of the congregation to retreat here, although the morale was far less than that when the incident first started, but the people who were able to follow him here were all very devout Manichaeans, and it was generally believed that as long as they could hold on, it would be impossible for the imperial army to stay in Jiangnan for a long time, and there would definitely be a turnaround.

At this time, it was almost lunchtime, and I saw puffs of cooking smoke rising in the valley, if it weren't for the sword-wielding disciples wearing red scarves guarding the valley, it would be like an ordinary mountain town in eastern Zhejiang.

"What's on fire in the woods over there!" Suddenly, someone exclaimed, and everyone heard the sound, only to see that smoke suddenly rose from the lacquer garden on the hillside on the right side of the valley, and in a blink of an eye, they could see the bright fire rushing up. Everyone couldn't help but be shocked, the water and soil near the source cave are particularly suitable for the growth of lacquer trees, and most of the local villagers rely on the lacquer industry to live, and even Fang La himself was also a big lacquer garden owner before the incident, and the lacquer tree caught fire so it burned their rice bowls. For a while, both the sect members who were guarding with knives and ordinary villagers abandoned their work, picked up buckets and branches, and rushed to the direction of the fire, trying to extinguish the fire and recover the losses. But perhaps because of the dryness, the fire spread very quickly, but in the blink of an eye, the fire has been practiced, and I am afraid that there will be more than a thousand steps square.

Chen Antian, Wang Laofo, and Zheng Demon King were discussing things in the Mani Temple, and when they heard the shouts outside, they hurriedly rushed out of the house, only to see the fire rushing to the sky, and couldn't help but be shocked, Chen Antian was about to call his subordinates to go up the mountain to put out the fire, but was stopped by Zheng Demon King: "Don't go, I'm afraid it's not a mountain fire!" ”

"How is it not, if you don't save it, I'm afraid that even the village will burn down together!" Chen Antian said urgently. But I heard Wang Lao Buddha say coldly: "Yes, how can ordinary mountain fires burn so fast, someone must have deliberately set the fire." Speaking of this, he sighed and said: "What a vicious heart, it seems that the official army wants to wipe out these sixty or seventy thousand living beings, and not one will be left!" ”

"Could it be that the officers and soldiers are coming?" When Chen Antian heard this, he couldn't help but feel cold, and said in a trembling voice: "But these source caves are so deep, and we have also set up a secret sentry outside the mountain——"

"If we can come, the official army can naturally come, as for the secret whistle-" Speaking of this, Wang Laofo's voice was heard, but Chen and Zheng already understood what he meant, and couldn't help but bow their heads gloomily.

"You two quickly lead people to protect the Holy Father and break through!" Wang Lao Buddha suddenly shouted.

"Whoa!" Demon King Zheng answered, called a few of his subordinates to prepare to go, but saw Wang Lao Buddha standing there without moving, and couldn't help asking, "Old Buddha, why don't you leave?" ”

"As long as the Holy Father does not die, there is still hope for great things, and as for me, I am old and do not want to suffer from that flight anymore!" When Wang Lao Buddha said this, his face showed a trace of awe: "Besides, my Holy Sect has suffered such a great calamity, how can there not be a martyr of sufficient weight?" (To be continued......)