After escaping from the cliff, Xu Rui could be sure that the people they met this time were not the same as those they met a few days ago, these people were not only very familiar with the terrain, but also pursued very quickly.

Not long after leaving the battlefield, a small force caught up, and Xu Rui's team had to stop again, and fought several sporadic encounters one after another, each time striving to completely annihilate the enemy.

Fortunately, the enemy's organization was not very tight, let alone communications, or coordinated operations, and every time they caught up with them, they were only a dozen or twenty people, but they became the training objects of this reconnaissance squad.

However, even so, Xu Rui still didn't dare to slack off, after all, he was in someone else's territory, and since the "base" was guarded by genuine officials and soldiers, then this matter was inseparable from the four major families.

There are only more than 1,000 people in the entire Apocalypse, and they are now surrounded by wolves, if they really provoke the four major families to jump over the wall, not only will the overall situation of the Galaxy Group be destroyed, but even the lives of him and Apocalypse will be difficult to save.

The sporadic battle lasted all night, and the soldiers' ammunition and physical strength were at the bottom, Xu Rui led everyone to solve the last pursuers, and then repaired in a hidden mountain col for two hours.

Subsequently, Lin Shaodong found a trail with complex terrain from the map, bypassed the possible follow-up enemy, and advanced towards the mountain pass where Zhang Zuofeng was stationed.

Due to the rugged road, the speed of the march was greatly reduced, and it was half a day later than the scheduled time, and it was not until noon on the third day that Xu Rui's team finally walked out of the mountain and joined the three companies that responded to the mountain pass.

As soon as he returned to the main army, although he was already very tired, Xu Rui did not make any stops, and immediately ordered the whole army to return to the Gonghe Mansion camp.

Unexpectedly, after being delayed in the mountains for so many days, there was another small battle, and now he must rush back as soon as possible, so as not to be suspicious of the four major families.

When he came out this time, the four major families naturally had eyeliner to follow, but the eyeliner was attracted by the large army that Yamaguchi received, and they didn't know that he had led a small team into the mountains.

This is Xu Rui's best protective color, even if the four major families have doubts afterwards, they don't dare to really do anything if they are not sure, but if they delay any longer, the other party will inevitably be more defensive of themselves, and the follow-up plan will be difficult to implement.

In the carriage on the way back, Xu Rui looked at the tongue he had caught earlier and cheered himself up.

The fragments of the grenade explosion pierced his kidneys, and it was impossible for Xu Rui to operate on him all the way to escape, and now this man was dying.

"Are you really an officer?"

Cao Siyuan carried a knife and viciously put it on the man's neck, severely tortured this kind of thing, except for the masters of the criminal department, they were the best at these gangsters.

Although the man was weak, he was still trembling with fright.

"Yes...... Ben would have been ...... It's Changqing General Zou Hong, don't believe it...... I don't believe you can go and verify. ”

"Why are you in the mountains?"

"The war is coming, and the general is ...... This general was ordered by the military department to lead the troops into the mountain with Shangfeng for training......"

"Fart!"

Cao Siyuan let out a low snort, and the long knife in his hand fell without hesitation, and he directly cut off one of Zou Hong's little fingers.

"Ahh

Zou Hong screamed, and the sharp pain burst through the wound, and red blood immediately oozed from the bandage on his abdomen.

Cao Siyuan didn't show any pity on his face, snorted coldly, pressed it on his stomach and said with a cruel smile: "To be honest, otherwise it would be nice for you." ”

"A good man spares his life, a good man spares his life...... I say...... I said......"

Zou Hong was covered with cold sweat in pain, and said tremblingly: "We...... We are doing business with the Xiliang people, we smuggle grain and exchange it for silver and war horses from them......"

"Do you need so many officers and soldiers stationed there?"

Cao Siyuan frowned, and his hand was slightly forced.

Zou Hong screamed miserably, and hurriedly said: "It's really business, it's true, we have cultivated a piece of land in the deep mountains, planted some things, and sold them to the people of Xiliang." ”

"What do you want to grow in the mountains?"

Cao Siyuan asked again.

Zou Hong shook his head and said: "I don't know, I really don't know, I just know that Xiliang seems to be very short of that thing, and we will buy it at a large price, how much we want." ”

"What does that thing look like?"

"It seems to be planting fruit, we are not responsible for planting, but only for safety, and I have never seen that thing."

After hearing this, Cao Siyuan turned his head and looked at Xu Rui.

"What kind of fruit is so valuable, and it needs to be guarded by officers and soldiers?"

Xu Rui frowned and muttered to himself, looking puzzled.

Cao Siyuan said in a low voice: "I'm afraid this guy didn't tell the truth, if someone doesn't give me a bottle of the truth potion you said, I'll keep him and spit it clean." ”

Xu Rui glanced at Zou Hong, who was foaming at the mouth of blood, and shook his head: "Forget it, that thing is not cheap, and his body can't hold it, and he will die before he can speak." ”

"What then?"

Cao Siyuan asked.

Xu Rui rubbed his chin, combed through useful information in his mind, and slowly spoke.

"I think he has told the truth, since that kind of fruit is so valuable, the level of secrecy must be very high, and it is not surprising that he is a security squad leader who doesn't know, but what kind of fruit is so valuable?"

"Will it be selling dog meat on the head of a sheep, it is not a fruit at all."

Cao Siyuan speculated.

Xu Rui nodded: "It's possible, but it's a pity that when we went there at night, we couldn't see what was down there, and now we have been startled, and I'm afraid it's even more difficult to figure it out."

But even so, the harvest of this trip is still great, we not only found the rubber forest, but also discovered the secret of the four families, this secret must be extraordinary, maybe it is the breakthrough of this trip to Xichuan. ”

"Your Excellency still wants to cooperate with the four major families?"

Cao Siyuan was stunned.

Xu Rui nodded: "The rubber forest is too important to the technological development of Galaxy Group, and the geographical location of Xichuan is also too important to the trade development of Galaxy Group.

You've been in the rivers and lakes, you should know that anyone's butt is not clean, and it's more reassuring to have a handle to grasp, but I always feel that the four major families are a little strange, and many places are unreasonable, which makes me very unsteady. ”

Cao Siyuan frowned: "What do you mean that the four major families are doing other than smuggling?" ”

Xu Rui nodded and shook his head again.

"Yes and no! Smuggling is a way to make money, but the four major families have monopolized all walks of life in Xichuan, so why take risks?

What are they doing with all that money?

Also, this Zou Hong said that they exchanged for war horses from Xiliang, but we didn't see the horse market along the way, nor did we see many more war horses in the nearby military camp, so where did these war horses go? ”

A series of questions made Cao Siyuan frown, and he couldn't seem to think of a clue.

At this moment, Zhang Zuofeng suddenly rode a horse close to the carriage window and said, "My lord, there is news from the camp just now, saying that a person named Lu Tianhao has been waiting for you in the camp for a day. ”

"Lu Tianhao?"

Xu Rui was slightly stunned, searched his intestines, and confirmed that he didn't seem to know this person.

Zhang Zuofeng explained: "I heard that it is from the Lu family, very young, not yet thirty years old. ”

Cao Siyuan's face changed: "Could it be that the four major families already know about the affairs in the mountains and come to Xingshi to ask for guilt?" ”

Xu Rui shook his head: "It shouldn't be, the news in the mountains won't come out so quickly, not to mention that even if you know, you won't use this stupid method to tempt, I guess it's because the previous momentum has worked, and the four major families finally plan to take the initiative to contact me." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the half-dead Zou Hong, and said to Cao Siyuan: "Dispose of him as soon as possible, don't leak flaws." ”

Then he said to Zhang Zuofeng: "Order the whole army to speed up, rush back to the camp before sunset, and I will meet this Lu Tianhao tomorrow!" ”