In the afternoon of the same day, Xu Rui led Lin Shaodong and a reconnaissance infantry squad, led by the old butler, to sneak towards the place where they were being pursued.

To say that Shangguan Buda and the old housekeeper really wasted a lot of effort in order to find the rubber forest, just looking at the old housekeeper's familiarity with these nearby mountains, you can know that they have been here for a long time.

The next night, the group came to the previous accident site, a dense primeval forest.

Because of the fear of exposing themselves, the team did not light the torches, Xu Rui took advantage of the moonlight to carefully observe a thigh-thick, twenty or thirty meters high sky.

First he looked at the trunk of the tree, and then he picked up a fallen leaf from the ground and approached it, the leaf was oval-shaped, about ten centimeters long and four or five centimeters wide, and hairless on both sides.

"Lord, how is it, is it the rubber tree you want?"

The old housekeeper approached Xu Rui and asked.

Xu Rui nodded solemnly: "Like, very similar!" ”

As he spoke, he drew his small sword and slashed it hard at the trunk, which immediately oozed white sap.

Xu Rui stretched out his right index finger, dipped a little sap in front of his eyes, looked at it carefully, sniffed it again, and was immediately overjoyed.

"Yes, that's it, that's rubber!"

Seeing that Xu Rui finally came to a conclusion, a stone in the old housekeeper's heart finally landed, and he couldn't help but smile with relief.

Xu Rui was also overjoyed in his heart, no one knew what this rubber forest represented, it was very likely to bring the human race of this world into another new era, how could this not make him ecstatic?

"Shangguan, this forest is the treasure of the treasures, you and your master have made great contributions!"

He sighed with emotion, and looked around, according to a rough estimate, this huge rubber forest is at least 100 acres, which is completely enough for the current use.

If you start to grow rubber artificially in the past few months, then when the industry develops and the amount of rubber rises sharply, the newly planted trees will also be ready for harvest, which can be seamlessly connected, which is simply not too perfect.

However, just when he was rejoicing, Lin Shaodong suddenly came over and said with a solemn face: "My lord, if you have found something, you'd better come and have a look." ”

Xu Rui's eyes froze, and he hurriedly suppressed the joy of finding the rubber tree, and followed Lin Shaodong to the north for hundreds of meters.

A hidden path suddenly appeared in the dense woods, full of footprints, horses' hooves, and strange scratches.

"It's ......"

The footprints and the horse's hooves were fine, and the old butler was stunned when he saw the scratches.

"It's a rut......"

Xu Rui said with a solemn face.

Lin Shaodong nodded and said: "The rut is very deep, indicating that there are heavy vehicles back and forth, judging from the footprints, there are at least two hundred people who have walked here." ”

"Two Hundred ......"

Xu Rui's face became more and more solemn.

"Two hundred people is not a small number, in a place like Xichuan, two hundred outsiders flocked to the place, and dozens of heavy trucks were also carried with them, and the target was so conspicuous that it was absolutely impossible not to attract attention."

Lin Shaodong said in a deep voice: "What do you mean, these people should be related to the remnants of Xichuan?" ”

Xu Rui nodded and said: "If Xichuan is really like what Zhang Wei said, it is the remnants who are the emperor of the soil, then I am afraid that these people will be regarded as a thorn in the side of the remnants as soon as they arrive at the realm of Xichuan, and they can come and go without a trace, it must be the four major families who have nodded too much." ”

"But what are they pulling with these cars?"

Lin Shaodong asked suspiciously.

Xu Rui sneered: "The things that need to kill people and kill people are definitely unsightly things." ”

As he spoke, he raised his head, observed the position of the moon slightly through the dense woods, and pointed to the northwest: "This path leads to the northwest, and more than twenty miles ahead it seems to be a bay?" ”

Lin Shaodong nodded and said: "That's right, there is indeed a bay twenty miles ahead of the map of the military department, if it is a deep water bay, it may be possible to stop the big ship and transport these goods directly." ”

Xu Rui nodded: "That's right, it seems that the four major families should have colluded with some external force to carry out smuggling, but with their power, even if they are caught smuggling, it is just a small problem, and they shouldn't be so eager to kill people and kill people." ”

"Unless they're smuggling something that's not ordinary!"

Lin Shaodong listened to the deep voice.

"Hmmm......"

Xu Rui showed a hint of thoughtfulness, and suddenly a soldier came up behind him and said in a low voice: "My lord, come and take a look, there seems to be someone down here." ”

A few people were stunned for a moment, and hurriedly followed the soldier, it turned out that they were actually on a cliff, and the dense forest under the cliff was dotted with torches.

The torches are far away from them, and in the dark of night, it is easy to mistake them for fireflies if you don't look closely.

"Shhh...... It's weird......"

Lin Shaodong lay on the cliff, hooked his head to look down, and said suspiciously.

"What's wrong?"

Xu Rui asked.

Lin Shaodong pointed to the dotted torches and said suspiciously: "My lord, look at the distribution of these torches, the outline does not look like the No. 1 test base we set up in Tianqi Mountain?" ”

When he said this, Xu Rui was also slightly stunned, the No. 1 test base used for the test artillery was also located in a basin, and there was no clue from the outside, and those dotted torches were arranged in a circle, which was indeed very much like a dark post guarding the center.

Could it be that these people have also made some kind of base here?

Just thinking about it, the old housekeeper on the side shook his head and said, "I look a bit like a village." ”

"Village?"

Xu Rui looked at him suspiciously.

The old housekeeper said: "The lord does not know, there are many animals in the south, in order to prevent the animals from destroying the crops at night, the village usually builds a circle around the field, and each family guards its own field.

Just looking at the distribution of torches, it does look like a village of considerable size, but the farmers are poor and can't even afford to light oil lamps, so how can they light torches all night? ”

"The village ......"

Xu Rui was stunned for a moment, and then looked at those torches carefully, and was suddenly startled.

"No, those torches should be lookout posts, like lighthouses, so that the night patrols can find their way deep in the mountains, they are indeed very much like a village, but they are not guarded against animals, but people!"

Hearing this, Lin Shaodong's face also changed: "It seems that we have to leave quickly." ”

"My lord, what's going on?"

The old butler still didn't understand, and asked suspiciously.

Before Xu Rui could speak, Lin Shaodong preemptively explained: "If those torches below are really lookout posts, it means that the things they are guarding are very important, and since this cliff can see the whole picture below, there is no reason for them to be uneasy about inserting guards."

But if you light torches in this place, you can see them for miles away, and they will expose the target, so they will definitely set up patrol posts without torches, and the reason why you were discovered so quickly a few days ago was because you were unknowingly detected by such a patrol post. ”

Xu Rui said in a deep voice: "The patrol post patrols for a week generally not more than one stick of incense, otherwise it will leave a huge loophole, we have been here for a long time, even if the longest time is calculated, the patrol post is about to come." ”

Lin Shaodong said with a solemn face: "This is still the best result, if we were discovered by the patrol post at the beginning, then I am afraid that a large number of people are already coming, ready to surround us." ”

"What?!"

The old butler was startled, and his face turned pale instantly.

Xu Rui said to Lin Shaodong: "Inform the brothers, evacuate immediately, and try not to leave traces." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden sound of shredding in the grass in the distance.

Lin Shaodong smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid it's too late." ”

Xu Rui frowned and drew his long sword: "Get ready for battle." ”