Volume I—Chapter 6 Shen Chu

At the same time, a crossbow bolt flew from the other side, nailing it to the ground at Cao Poyan's feet. Zhang Xiaojing's figure jumped into the courtyard, and with a rapid roll, it landed in an open area thirty steps away from Cao Poyan.

On the 14th day of the first month of the third year of Tianbao, Shen Chu.

Chang'an, Chang'an County, Guangdefang.

Xu Bin flipped through the records roll by volume, his fingers sliding over the rough edge of the paper, and the lines of ink leaping into view.

Just now, Li Sicheng said an angry word: Everything that can be lit, give me a thorough check. This gave Xu Bin a new inspiration - what can cause a fire is not necessarily just oil wow.

The materials that are transported into Chang'an City every day, to say the least, are hundreds, and there are really a lot of them. Xu Bin followed this line of thought and called up the customs declaration information of the past few days to check the classification catalog to see if there were any suspicious bulk flammable products.

But after checking for a long time, he found nothing.

There are not no flammable products, and there are many large transactions, but Xu Bin pondered carefully and found that these are unrealistic: firewood takes up too much space, paper grass is flammable and easy to extinguish, bamboo and wood transportation is too troublesome, and the cost of candle paste, cloth, silk and hemp is too high. It's easy to use these things to create a fire, but it's too difficult to quickly burn down the entire Chang'an City.

Jing'an Division has done physical simulations before, and it has been found that oil, and only oil, is the best means to quickly cause large-scale fires. It is easy to transport in concealment, longer than mobile, flammable, and fierce. If the Turks were going to burn the city of Chang'an tonight, oil was the only option.

This is fundamentally the conclusion that Jing'an Division came to earlier.

Xu Bin pushed Wen Mu away in frustration, rubbed his sore eyes, and felt that he was simply going crazy for being promoted. He was about to instruct the servant to unload the file, when he raised his elbow when the inkstone beside the desk fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces with a thud. Ink splattered and spilled everywhere.

Xu Bin stared at the ground in a daze, suddenly slapped his head, and suddenly grabbed the servant's arm. He hurriedly reported a series of numbers, and asked the servants to quickly bring the assigned file over. Xu Bin squatted down, but instead of picking up the inkstone, he used his fingers to rub the ink on the floor, and soon his fingertips were dark. Xu Bin's lips curled up unexpectedly, and his eyes lit up.

The files of Jing'an Division are stored in a regular manner and are easy to access. After a while, the servant brought him the scroll he had requested. Xu Bin couldn't even wait to untie the belt, so he ripped it open and hurriedly browsed it. He quickly found what he was looking for, first with delight, then with surprise, and then with a grim face.

He grabbed the scroll in his hand, hurriedly left his seat, and walked to the sand table, still standing beside the sand table with his brows furrowed, and the dust kept passing from his left hand to his right hand, and from his right hand to his left hand.

Xu Bin arched his hand in the past: Li Sicheng. Li Mi didn't raise his head: What's the matter?

Humble may have guessed what the Turks might have in mind. Xu Bin said a little unconfidently, but it did not damage the excitement in his tone at all.

This sentence finally touched Li Mi, and he turned his face: Speak!

The sound of drums came from afar, and the same rhythm sounded from one watchtower after another, gradually from far to near. The sound of the drum is very distinctive, low and clear, and the sound is far away. This is a lizardskin drum specially imported from Persia, which is dedicated to the transmission of Jing'an Division, and will never be confused with the sound of the festival drum, the street drum, and the drum.

Zhang Xiaojing seemed to have a sense, and opened his eyes suddenly. There's new news coming in, and the drums are long, which is unusual.

At this time, Cui Qi and the people of the brigade army scattered out to search, and only Yao Runeng remained by Zhang Xiaojing's side. He also served as a translator, and as soon as he heard the sound of the drums, he jumped up and listened attentively.

This time the transmission was surprisingly long, and Yao Runeng had to listen to it while recording it on the ground with his feet. Fortunately, each message is repeated three times so that it is not missed.

The transmission of Chang'an Wanglou is divided into two kinds: one is a fixed formula, such as three urgent and one slow represents the arrival of reinforcements, five urgent and two slow represent standing by in place, and so on; The other is the rhyme style, based on the "Tang Rhyme" repaired by Sun Yi 20 years after the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and the volume rhyme words are arranged in turn, such as 266, that is, the sixth character of the sixteenth rhyme of the second volume, and you will know that it is a heavenly character when you check the "Tang Rhyme".

The stereotype is the fastest, but the content is restricted; Rhymes can convey slightly more complex things; If it's something more complicated, you'll have to send someone to ride and pass the book.

A moment later, a melodious trumpet sounded from the watchtower, indicating that the message had been completed. The yellow earth is already full of numbers. Yao Runeng took out the booklet of "Tang Yun" from his waist and quickly translated it into words:

There is Yanzhou stone grease today to report the ink into the city, and there is no trace.

Zhang Xiaojing swept over, and his face changed greatly. Yao Runeng was a little confused, and hurriedly asked what was going on, what was the stone grease.

Zhang Xiaojing said: When I was a soldier in the northwest, I once saw a kind of water. It flows out of the rock crevices, and there is a layer of black oil floating on the surface, which is sticky to the touch, similar to fat fat, so it is called stone fat. Locals use a straw basket to collect this layer of floating grease on the surface and use it for lighting a fire, which is extremely bright.

Yao Runengqi said: It turns out that it can still be lit? Zhang Xiaojing said: Stone resin is not easy to catch fire, you have to use a secret method to refine, and then use the ignited lard or castor oil to guide - once it is ignited, it will not die. We are defending the city in the Western Regions, and a jar of stone grease poured down can take away dozens of lives in one breath - that grease can stick to the fire on the body, and it can't be shaken off or extinguished. I've never seen a more ferocious fuel. That's why the army called it fierce fire.

With Zhang Xiaojing's perseverance, they were all moved, which shows how miserable the picture was that day. Yao Runeng gasped, and his face changed suddenly: Could it be that the Turks had already brought such a dangerous thing into the city? Zhang Xiaojing nodded heavily.

If a large amount of stone grease is used, it is entirely possible to burn Chang'an overnight. It is likely that this is what the Turkic population calls Quelehodo.

How could the people of the city gate guards put in such a dangerous thing at will? Yao Runeng shouted.

Zhang Xiaojing said: Shizhi is only produced in Jiuquan, Yumen, Yanzhou and other places, and only the locals and garrisons know some of the common people in the ∝ - such as you - I am afraid that they have not even heard the name. What's more, when the Turks brought in these things, they played a trick, and his finger pointed at the word ink.

Ink? Yao Runeng was puzzled.

The paraffin burned, and the black smoke was extremely thick. Therefore, Yanzhou usually uses its moss to make ink, and the Yanmo produced is quite famous.

Yao Runeng was familiar with the case and immediately understood. Resin can be burned, and it can also be used to make ink, so when the wolf guard entered the city to declare customs, he deliberately reported it as ink. According to Chang'an's rules, raw materials and finished products are classified into the same category. As a result, the entry records of these stone greases were grandly classified as ink.

Jing'an Si was desperately tracking down oil and other combustibles, but no one could think of checking the ink—the ink thing couldn't be lit!

The Turks skillfully exploited this blind spot in their thinking to hide from the world. Even if someone wants to check, it is difficult to detect the catty from the customs declaration record.

These guys are so cunning that they can think of such insidious tricks. Yao Runeng sighed indignantly. When Zhang Xiaojing heard this, he frowned, and there was a faint feeling of incongruity. He has been a bad handsome man for many years, and his intuition of contradictions has always been very smart.

But now is not the time to think about this, the top priority is to quickly find the location of the wolf guards.

As you described, the stone grease should be black visco, and if it is spilled on the ground, it should be very noticeable, right? Looking for spills on nearby roads? Yao Runeng proposed.

Zhang Xiaojing shook his head, since the Turks have the ability to transport the stone resin in, they must be on guard against this kind of thing. As long as a few layers of hay are padded under the sealed barrel, no spills will be spilled.

So what to do?

Zhang Xiaojing patted the hound beside him: the stone grease will give off a pungent smell, and the smell is even stronger when burned. So it's only suitable for outdoor torch lighting, and can't be used to light candles or cook food in the house.

Yao Runeng's eyes lit up, but soon there was another question: this dog must have a reference before he can find it. Where can we ask it for the stone grease?

Zhang Xiaojing stretched out his hand and pointed to the west: Jinguangmen.

Jinguangmen is in the middle of the west side of Chang'an, and a street to the east is the West Market, which is the only way for caravans from the west. The convoy transporting resin came from Yanzhou and would definitely enter the city from here.

According to the inspection process, the guards would poke spears into the barrels to prevent the Tibetans. It's hard to wash off, so it's enough for the gatekeepers to find the spear. Zhang Xiaojing said.

Jinguangmen is far away from here, Yao Runeng heard this, and immediately got on his horse and wanted to rush over, but was stopped by Zhang Xiaojing: You don't have to go, if my guess is right, Jing'ansi's flying horse should be almost here, and it will bring what we want. After speaking, he looked at the end of the empty street, full of confidence.

Are you so sure?

Because Li Sicheng has to do it. Zhang Xiaojing said lightly.

Yao Runeng made no secret of his reverence for Li Yu: Li Sicheng is really a genius! Such an ingenious trap of stone grease ink can be seen through by him.

Zhang Xiaojing smiled slightly and did not correct. Recognizing the matter of stone grease should have been thought of by Xu Bin. Once upon a time when the two of them had dinner together, he once talked about some customs and customs in the Western Regions Army, and casually mentioned such a strange thing as stone grease. I didn't expect Xu Bin to have such a good memory, and I still remember it now.

He doesn't have many friends in Chang'an, and Xu Bin is the one who has the longest relationship. If this guy can take this opportunity to make a great contribution and release the brown official, it can be regarded as the completion of a long-cherished wish.

Hopefully, we've been delayed too much. Zhang Xiaojing looked at the gradually darkening sky and muttered. Yao Ru could see his sad face, and his heart couldn't help but be a little touched. He was originally suspicious of this death row prisoner, but after a series of events, he found that he was wrong, although Zhang Xiaojing's every move was negotiable, he was absolutely selfless, and even almost gave his life for it.

Yao Runeng hesitated for a moment, then suddenly clenched his hands into fists and knelt on one leg: he had a lot of suspicions about Zhang Duwei before, and he asked for punishment. I also hope that Zhang Duwei will not be resentful because of the mistake of one person and delay the major event of Jing'an.

Zhang Xiaojing looked at the red-faced young man with interest: Do you think it's not normal for me to work so hard, right?

Yes, I thought that Zhang Duwei was insincere, and he must have a plan. Yao Runeng admitted bluntly. For the safety of Chang'an? If this reason is said by Li Mi, he believes it; But a death row prisoner with a grudge against the court would say so, which is too false.

In his eyes, Zhang Xiaojing's investigation is a cover-up, and it is true that he is waiting for an opportunity to escape, which is in line with people's hearts. But now Yao Runeng felt that his cheeks hurt hotly. He wanted to escape this embarrassing scene, but he couldn't, if he didn't apologize to Zhang Xiaojing frankly, Yao Runeng might not be able to forgive that stupid self for the rest of his life.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't help him up, nor did he say sarcastic, he rubbed the top hair of the thin dog at his feet, and slowly raised his head. Looking over Yao Runeng's shoulders and looking at the majestic Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the distance, his eyes became deep for a while.

Thou can, have you ever climbed to the top of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda before and after the valley rain?

Yao Runeng was stunned, and didn't understand why he suddenly said this.

There is a little novice who watches the tower, if you give him half a penny, you can secretly climb to the top of the tower and see all the peonies in Chang'an. The money saved by the little novice never used it indiscriminately, and always secretly bought river fish to feed the kittens by the temple of mercy and grace. Zhang Xiaojing said slowly, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Yao Runeng was about to open his mouth to ask a question, but Zhang Xiaojing said again: There is an old Uighur man who specializes in making Biluo cakes in the Shengdao Workshop, and the sesame seeds he chooses are very large, so the cakes taste very fragrant when they are first baked. I used to be on an errand day, and I would rush over early in the morning to guard the door of the shop and buy a few as soon as the door opened. He smacked his lips, as if he was still savoring. There is also the carved hu rice of Puji Temple, which can only be eaten on the fifteenth day of the first month, and the monks secretly add meat oil, and the taste is really good.

Zhang Duwei, you are

Arroyo from Dongshi is a good camel trainer, and his lifelong dream is to buy an industry in Anyifang, marry a wife and have children, and completely take root in Chang'an. Changxingfang lives a Taizhigong surnamed Xue, a native of Luling, every sunny and cloudless midnight, he must go to Tianjin Bridge to play the flute, just to wash the flute with moonlight, I have covered him several times for the night ban. There is also a dancing girl who lives in Chongrenfang, named Li Twelve, who is ambitious and wants to compete with the princess of the year. She practiced dancing until her heels were worn out, and she had to wrap them in red silk. Oh, by the way, when the river lanterns are released on Obon, the river is full of candlelight. If you walk along the Longshou Canal, you will see a blind grandmother selling folded paper boats along the canal, saying that she was saving a copper hairpin for her granddaughter, but I know that her granddaughter has already died of illness.

Speaking of these people and things that have no connection at all, Zhang Xiaojing's tone is long, and his eyes are shining: I have been a bad handsome in Chang'an City for nine years, and I deal with people like this every day, and what I hear and see every day is like this. For the dignitaries, these people are insignificant, and these things are even more common, but for me, this is the living Chang'an City that has not been swallowed by monsters. I feel alive when I'm around them.

When he said this, his tone lowered slightly: if the Turks were allowed to succeed, this would be the first to lose their lives. I will do my best for the sake of these insignificant people living a life that they are accustomed to. What I want to protect is such a Chang'an - I say this, can you understand?

In the face of this sudden honesty, Yao Runeng's heart fluctuated and he was speechless. This guy's idea is too unique, he is resentful of the court, but he has compassion for the people of Chang'an, how should the word loyalty be counted?

You've always thought so?

Zhang Xiaojing grinned, smiling rather than smiling: ten years of soldiers in the Western Regions, nine years of Chang'an Shuai. What do you think?

At this time, the horse's hooves were churning in the distance, the smoke and dust were billowing, and the two quickly returned to their state of work. After a while, a horse flew up and brought them a barrel of fish at his waist and a spear with a wooden handle. Yao Runeng took the spear, and the tip of the spear was indeed stained with a little black stain, and when he got closer, he smelled it, and the smell was pungent. Zhang Xiaojing opened the fish tube and took out a note full of words from it.

The General Directorate has already found out that it is Su Ji who is responsible for transporting the car. They entered the city around noon, but then disappeared, and the chief coachman and carriage did not report back to the city. Zhang Xiaojing crumpled the note into a ball and said in a deep voice, I guess most of it has been extinguished. The carriage was also wiped off its tracks, and it was impossible to find it.

Yao Runeng was not very indignant this time. First, he felt that the guy who helped the enemy carry things deserved to die; Second, after these few hours of running, he has become numb to the ferocity of the wolf guard.

Zhang Xiaojing sniffed the tip of the spear to the hound and patted its head. The hound sneezed unpleasantly, then craned its neck, shook its nose, and barked several times in one direction. If it weren't for Zhang Xiaojing holding the reins, it would have jumped out.

Without further ado, I'll go first. You wait for Cui Wei to gather his men to follow, and use yellow smoke as a signal.

Yao Runeng looked around, and then realized that they had made a mistake that was not too big or small. Cui Qi was anxious to redeem his merits, and just now he broke the brigade into pieces and scattered them to the surrounding squares. Now it will take some time to gather troops first.

In other words, before this, Zhang Xiaojing will be isolated and helpless.

You're injured, and it's too dangerous to go alone, right? Yao Runeng was a little worried.

Everyone is responsible for their own choices.

Zhang Xiaojing replied simply and let go of the leash. The hound swooped out, and he strode after him. Yao Runeng watched a man and a dog disappear into the corner of the wall, and was in a trance for a moment.

The smell of the stone grease is particularly pungent, so the hound does not hesitate to smell it. It was bending around the streets, running wildly, and Zhang Xiaojing had to run with all his strength to keep up. The pedestrians around looked at this person and a dog curiously, thinking that it was some new juggling, and there were actually cheers on both sides.

The hound ran out for more than two miles in one go, delaying several times in between. It only knew how to follow the smell in a straight line, and did not know how to go around, and several times it went headlong into a dead end, barking at the high wall. Zhang Xiaojing had to drag it out and search for it again.

When they finally came to a shop, the hound stopped, rubbed back and forth on the ground, and whined in frustration.

The smell is gone here, and the hound can't keep track of it anymore, after all, too much time has passed.

But that's enough.

Zhang Xiaojing hurriedly put a leash on it again, and wrapped its long front jaw with a thin rope, in case this was really the hiding place of the wolf guard, the dog barking might alarm them.

Zhang Xiaojing glanced at the wooden sign hanging in front of the fang, which read the three words Changmingfang. Weeds can be seen everywhere in front of the wall sill, and there are few rut marks on the dirt road in front of the door, which shows that there are not many residents, and it is desolate and silent. In this workshop, there is not even an exclusive watchtower of Jing'an Division - after all, the budget is limited, so we must first give priority to covering the densely populated northern squares, and this kind of deserted square cannot be taken into account for the time being.

This means that if something happens, there is no way to notify the outside world in time.

Zhang Xiaojing thought about it, and didn't remember any special buildings in this square - if Xu Bin was there, that guy would remember everything. He slowed his pace and walked slowly inside. There was not a single guard near the gate, so they must have run out to celebrate the Yuan Festival. Chang Ming Fang is now completely open, and anyone can come and go freely.

It's a great place to hide. After Zhang Xiaojing entered the workshop, he loosened the leash with his left hand, restrained the hound to walk forward a little bit, and at the same time observed his eyes left and right, and held the crossbow with his right hand, ready to shoot at any time.

If Wolf Wei really stored the stone grease here, then he should have entered the enemy's sentry circle by now. However, Zhang Xiaojing is not too worried, in case there is really an abnormality, a cigarette pill can be thrown, and the address can be marked. Even if the Turks ran away on their own, the resin would not have had time to be transported away.

Without the stone grease, the Turkic wolf guards are nothing more than a group of desperate villains.

In front of Zhang Xiaojing is a cross street. If you are in the north, this will be the busiest area, and the streets will inevitably be full of shops. However, there are only a few earthen houses in this cross street of Changmingfang, which are covered by a large bare locust forest. There are a few small wandering traders in the forest, pack horses and carts, and there are more people selling goods than shopping. There is a dirt slope on the right side of the forest, and there is a small courtyard on the top of the slope, and a large gourd hangs in front of the door.

This is not so much a residence in Chang'an City, but rather a remote suburb.

In such a desolate place, if a large convoy came in, it should be very eye-catching. Zhang Xiaojing wanted to get closer to inquire, but the hound suddenly fell to the ground with its forelegs and let out a whining low roar. He was stunned and noticed three figures approaching slowly.

Zhang Xiaojing quickly clipped his hand in his arms, took out half of the crossbow, his muscles were tense, and he was ready to go. It wasn't until the figure approached that he saw clearly that these people were all dressed as beggars, all wearing tattered old robes and torn jackets, with their hands in their sleeves, and their faces were yellow and thin.

This face can only be cultivated without eating meat for several months, and it is definitely not a temporary disguise. So Zhang Xiaojing's shoulders relaxed slightly, but his hands were still tightly clasped with the crossbow machine. These beggars stared at Zhang Xiaojing, neither approaching, nor far away, keeping a distance of more than twenty paces, following closely.

Zhang Xiaojing snorted coldly, his steps quickened, and those beggars also followed. He suddenly stopped in front of a stall selling fern root cakes, bought a cake, and the beggars hurriedly stopped in place and pretended to look around. Zhang Xiaojing threw a few copper coins at the vendor and turned into a half-collapsed brick-walled alley in front of him.

The beggars followed, and the first one had just turned around, and was shocked to find that there was only a dog on a leash left in the alley.

He looked around a little puzzled, wondering where the hell had the man gone? In the next instant, a burst of ash powder suddenly hit his face, forcing his entire body to squint. At this moment, a figure jumped down from the wall, and slashed at the back of his neck with a knife, causing him to fall to the ground in an instant, unable to move.

This ash is the ash of plants and trees, which Zhang Xiaojing grabbed on the stall when he bought fern root cakes just now. Eating the fern root raw will get belly defects, and it must be boiled with plant ashes to remove the poison, so the vendors who sell the fern root cake will prepare some.

To deal with these small people, you don't need to use a crossbow or a steel knife.

When the two beggars in the back saw their companions attacked, their first reaction was to turn around and flee. Zhang Xiaojing leaned over and picked up two bricks, raised his arm and smashed them, hitting the back of the heads of the two people, and the two fell to the ground one after another. The hounds galloped over and tore at their sleeves viciously. The beggars exclaimed in amazement and waved their bamboo poles in vain.

Zhang Xiaojing walked over, pulled out the steel knife in his hand, and slowly aimed it at the throat of one of them, as if waiting for something. At this moment, a voice came eagerly from the forest: Please keep people under the knife!

Zhang Xiaojing showed a meaningful smile on his lips, took the knife back three inches, turned his head sideways, and saw a beggar wearing a flower Luo jacket standing under a tree not far away, looking over this way.

They are only entrusted by others, and have no grudges against Your Excellency. Spare their three dog lives, and Jia Seventeen will be rewarded. The beggar who called himself Jia Seventeen was also resolute, and when he saw that something was wrong, he immediately appeared to stop him.

Zhang Xiaojing has been a bad handsome for nine years, and he knows that the eyeliner of these city fox society rats is all over the city, and they are well-informed, and even sometimes the government asks them to investigate. Today he was embellished by a beggar for no reason, and someone must be behind the scenes. As long as you force out the leaders of these people, things will be much easier.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't withdraw the knife gesture, nor did he speak, but just stared at the man coldly with one eye. Jia Qiqi's face changed slightly, this person knew that he was a person in the public family when he looked at his outfit, but as long as he heard that there was a return, he would not be entangled, why did this person come up and have a deadly posture?

He wanted to say more, but suddenly felt that the face of the person who came was a little familiar, especially the dry eye socket on the left, revealing Sen Sen's murderous aura. Jia Qiqi's heart turned around, and suddenly remembered a person's name.

Are you Zhang Yanluo from Wannian County?

Changmingfang is located in the southwest of Chang'an and belongs to Chang'an County, but the ears and eyes of beggars are not so limited. The five Yamas of Wannian County: Vicious and stubborn, not five people, but one person. This one-eyed dragon is a ruthless character to avoid as much as possible.

Who told you to track me? Zhang Xiaojing said lightly.

Jia Qiqi's heart turned sharply, and he heard that this person had been put on death row, which showed that the rumors were untrue. He arched his hands: If we had known that it was Zhang Shuai, how could we have such courage? We went ashore and didn't go ashore.

Who is it?

Jia Qiqiang smiled: You know, you can't say this, the rules of the rivers and lakes.

Zhang Xiaojing reversed the obstacle knife and inserted it down. With a scream, the tip of the knife pierced into a beggar's thigh and pulled it out, blood gushing out. The corners of Jia Qiqi's mouth twitched, and his face sank: If you can let go of these three rotten lives, all the beggars in Chang'an will miss your goodness.

Listening to this sentence on the other hand, if he doesn't let it go, the beggars of Chang'an will become enemies.

With a thud, the second knife stabbed cleanly into the body. Zhang Xiaojing is a death row prisoner, and the last thing he is afraid of is this threat. He didn't say a word, just poked at the unlucky beggars one by one, and the screams continued to rise and fall, constituting an invisible huge pressure.

But none of the three unlucky ghosts died, and they were all shouting happily. King Zhang Yan deliberately showed mercy to his subordinates, so that other beggars outside the forest could hear.

This made Jia Seventeen very embarrassed. Among the beggars, they value the group the most, they can freeze to death and be beaten to death by the rich, but they can't be killed by their own people. If Jia Seventeen sees death and doesn't save him, he is afraid that he will lose his heart in the future. This King Zhang Yan seems to be arrogant, but he is actually well versed in the inside story of the beggar.

It didn't take much struggle for Jia Qiqi to make a choice. The price of a mere silver wine jug is not worth risking the beggar to keep it a secret. What's more, he noticed that there was a black crossbow hanging on Zhang Yanluo's waist, which was a weapon only used in the army, and I was afraid that there were even more powerful forces behind it.

Okay, okay, I say!

Jia Qiqi no longer concealed it, and walked over from the forest with his hands raised. He told Zhang Xiaojing that a Hu man had given him a silver wine jug and asked them to watch at the fangmen, and if there were suspicious people entering the fang, they would go to the Rinan Wang's Mansion to inform him.

Nichinan Residence?

Yes, it's in the southeast corner of the main square. During the Zhenguan period, there was a king of Rinan who came to the dynasty and set up a big mansion here, and then he returned to China, and the house was deserted, but it occupied a lot of land.

This description fits the requirements of the Turkic hideout: remote, wide, and with enough rooms. Zhang Xiaojing asked a few more questions about the appearance and clothing of the visitor, and Jia Qiqi simply confided everything, which was highly consistent with Cao Poyan. Zhang Xiaojing patted him on the shoulder after listening and motioned to lead the way.

Jia Qiqi knew that it was useless to protest, so he had to let the three unlucky beggars support each other and go back to the pharmacy first, and then he took Zhang Xiaojing and the hound Asahi Nanwang Abandoned Garden to walk.

Changmingfang is really deserted, there are few houses on both sides of the inner street, most of them are potholed soil slopes and woodland, and there are still a few crop fields and pools. Because the land is not valuable, its area is at least half larger than that of Beifang. So even though it was walking in the workshop, it was quite a long walk.

Halfway through, Zhang Xiaojing suddenly asked: Have you seen a large number of carriages entering the workshop today?

You're kidding, the birds don't poop here, and there may not be one a day. Jia Qiqi saw that his face was starting to be wrong again, and quickly changed his words, I definitely haven't seen it today, there is any movement in the fangmen, but I can't escape our brother's eyes.

Zhang Xiaojing frowned and didn't say anything more.

The two of them walked for a while, and then they arrived in front of the abandoned garden of King Rinan. It is a ruined and ruined wall, and the grass is overgrown. However, the large appearance of the inner courtyard gate is still there, the two black paint peeling door panels are tightly closed, and the peony stone carving on the lintel is fine, and the luxury atmosphere of the past can be vaguely seen.

Jia Qiqi said that the request of the Nahu people was to come here as soon as possible to report if they found that there were suspicious people outside the fang. You don't have to knock on the door, just push the door and go straight in.

Zhang Xiaojing dodged and hid next to the door, grabbed the thin dog, and pulled out the crossbow. Jia Qiqi stood boldly in front of the courtyard gate, and pushed the door panel with both hands as agreed in advance. The door was unlocked, and it could be pushed open gently, and then only a click was heard, as if something had hit the ground inside the door. Before Jia Qiqi could look at it, a yellow smoke had risen into the air.

Zhang Xiaojing was shocked, dragged Jia Seventeen away, and broke in first. When he looked down, he saw a cigarette smoking on the ground, with a string tied to it. He hurriedly threw the cigarette pill into a nearby pond, but the yellow smoke that had risen earlier had already fluttered into the sky, and it was particularly conspicuous under the clear sky.

Zhang Xiaojing turned his head and asked sharply: When he returned to the abandoned garden of the king of Rinan, did you see it with your own eyes, or did he say it himself? Jia Qiqi said that the man personally went to the pharmacy to issue the commission, and then left, without seeing him return to the abandoned garden.

Zhang Xiaojing heyed, these wolf guards are really cunning! Cao Poyan never trusted these beggars from the beginning, he deliberately reported a fake address, so that even if Jing'an Division tracked it down, he would only be guided by the beggars in the wrong direction.

That cigarette pill should have been taken from Zhang Xiaojing by the Turks. It was tied to the back of the door panel and when pushed open, it emitted smoke on its own. In this way, the wolf guards hiding in the real hiding place can be warned immediately and buy time to evacuate.

A small setting, killing two birds with one stone, not only misled Jing'an Division, but also warned the wolf guard. Cao Poyan really used this smoke pill to the extreme.

Now that the yellow smoke has risen, those Turks may have begun to prepare to run, and the troops of Jing'an Division have not yet been able to retract. Zhang Xiaojing grabbed Jia Qiqi's shoulders fiercely and said urgently: Where is there a big garden or mansion in this square? It should be the farthest away from the abandoned garden of the king of Sunan.

Jia Qiqi thought for a while: This is the southeast corner, and the farthest is a brick kiln in the northwest corner, but the pavilion has been in place for a long time. Zhang Xiaojing's eyes flashed sharply, let him roughly outline the route, walked out two steps, and suddenly turned around: You go back to the gate of the workshop now, and when you see a tolerance or brigade army coming, intercept them and point them to the brick kiln!

Jia Qiqi smiled and said: Zhang Shuai, the emperor is not hungry and has not finished speaking, Zhang Xiaojing sneered: It is the Turks who let you go, and they want to cause chaos in Chang'an.

As soon as he heard this, Jia Qiqi's face turned pale, and then he realized how much trouble he had caused. The crime of a thief in and out of the house was smashed down, and none of the beggars in Changmingfang wanted to live. Whether it is the Criminal Department or Dali Temple, they will not seriously investigate whether they are wronged, what they need is to arrest a group of prisoners so that they can have an explanation.

He grabbed Zhang Xiaojing's arm and mourned: It's not a pity that I die alone, but the brothers are innocent, please help! Zhang Xiaojing glanced at him and sighed: You can say that you see the thief and are suspicious, and you may be able to save your life. Then he whispered another word, pushed him away abruptly, and led the dog to gallop away.

Jia Qiqi took off the head of the Hua Luo clip, and his head was already soaked with sweat. Zhang Xiaojing said this because he was willing to fulfill this lie for him, and as for whether it succeeds or not, it all depends on creation. He looked at the back in the distance in a daze, and suddenly woke up like a dream, put Hua Luo's head on his head at will, and ran wildly towards the door.

Zhang Xiaojing ran more than a dozen steps and loosened the rope he owed. Now there is no need to worry about startling the snake, you have to rely on the hound's sense of smell to guide you. The hound was already restless, and as soon as he untied his rope, he rushed out like a reined and headed straight to the northwest.

People may not be able to smell it, but for the dog's nose, the smell of stone grease here is very strong, especially in the northwest, which is like a dark night light.

They stragged all the way through most of the inner square, and in the distance they could see a brick chimney erected in the distance, which is a typical sign of a kiln. When I got closer, I saw a tall curved wall blocking the way, and the bricks were faintly blackened, which is characteristic of the perennial proximity to the high-temperature furnace.

This should be the brick kiln that Jia Qiqi said. A smooth loess path winds its way to a wooden gate, and the trees on both sides grow wildly and do not form a pattern.

Zhang Xiaojing slowed down, called the hound back, and breathed for a while. At present, it will take a while for the people of Jing'an Division to gather slowly.

If there is a hoarding of stone grease here, there must be a lot of guards, and he must be cautious.

He tentatively moved a few more steps forward, and most of his body was already standing on the loess road. It stands to reason that there should have been a perimeter observation post here, and it would have been long overdue to spot his movements. But there was no movement on the other side of the wall, and it was still quiet.

No, the number of guards should not be much, Zhang Xiaojing changed his mind.

If there are enough manpower, the wolf guard will not hire beggars to let out the wind at all, let alone set up any institutions in the abandoned garden of the king of Ninan. They were so deliberate, which just exposed the dilemma of the wolf guards.

Zhang Xiaojing did the math. This morning's raid by the brigade army in Xishi killed fifteen people, he killed one person in front of the Zoroastrian Temple, and Xiuzheng Fang killed a total of five, adding up, twenty-one. This number is at least half of the Turkic wolf guards who infiltrated Chang'an City. The Turks were too poor to afford to devote more resources.

It is too reluctant to rely on the rest of the people to control such a large kiln and take into account the unloading of the resin.

Zhang Xiaojing took a deep breath and decided to go alone before the reinforcements came. At the very least, this will disrupt the enemy's deployment and buy enough time. The more important reason was that he had to find Wen Ran before the Jing'an reinforcements arrived.

He carefully leashed the hound to his side, rubbed its neck hair affectionately, and stood up again. The fierce murderous aura tempered in the Western Regions violently erupted from him. Zhang Xiaojing rolled up his sleeves and finally checked the hand crossbow. On his left forearm, a tattoo was a broken knife with a mid-fold spine and a clumsy and rigid stroke.

Wen Wuji, our eighth regiment is going to fight the Turks again. You have a spirit in heaven, and you must bless your daughter.

Zhang Xiaojing's voice was both a sigh and a prayer. That one eye, the more radiant it shines. He took out two cigarette pills from his waist pocket, shook his arms, and threw them out.

Two streaks of yellow smoke soared upward.

On the inside of the curved wall, which is only more than 30 steps away from Zhang Xiaojing, Cao Poyan is building a pergola in his hand and looking towards the southeast. There were a few wisps of yellow smoke there, which had not yet been blown away by the north winds.

It seems that the people of Jing'an Division have entered Changmingfang. Cao Poyan was mentally prepared for this, and even felt that they came a little slower than expected. He had informed the warehouse of the situation, and Long Bo said that the work here was almost done.

The timing was just right.

Next, let's go ahead with the plan.

Cao Poyan locked the door of the warehouse from this side, then took out the captured crossbow and ran it along the edge of the crossbow groove with his index finger. In fact, he did not like this kind of weapon, it was both insidious and stingy, and in comparison, it was more appetizing to ride a bow in the steppe. Unfortunately, his arm was injured, and now he can't pull the bow even if he has it in his hand.

I really want to shoot a yellow sheep again on the grassland, which Cao Poyan squinted his eyes and looked at the old cocoon on his tiger's mouth. These hands, I'm afraid I won't have a chance to hold the bow again.

Two streaks of yellow smoke rose on the other side of the wall, indicating that the enemy was close at hand.

He put away his emotion, and his eyes turned cold, like a winter wolf.

He is already a man who has cut off his hair, and has no right to escape, so he is destined to stay here and buy time for the warehouse with his life. Cao Poyan touched the necklace with his hand, as if he wanted to draw strength from it and usher in the last battle of his life.

The gate remained silent, and a human head suddenly appeared on the wall. Cao Poyan raised his hand and shot a crossbow, and at the same time, his body was crooked, and he flashed to the side, and the arrow hit the head, but it made a sound of piercing into the grass. At the same time, a crossbow bolt flew from the other side, nailing it to the ground at Cao Poyan's feet. Zhang Xiaojing's figure jumped into the courtyard, and with a rapid roll, it landed in an open area thirty steps away from Cao Poyan.

The two adjusted their positions, looked at each other, and realized that they had made the same mistake. They all thought they were outnumbered, but when they fought, they found that there was only one person on the other side.

Cao Poyan? Zhang Xiaojing called out his fake name. This murderer, who made the entire Chang'an uneasy, was finally caught up by Jing'an Division again. Lay down your arms and have a chance to live!

Cao Poyan didn't answer, threw away the empty crossbow, and pulled out the dagger at his waist. Chang'an City's control of weapons is too strict, except for a few inferior short crossbows, the only thing the wolf guard has been using in battle is daggers. Zhang Xiaojing also quickly threw away the empty crossbow, in front of the fierce enemy, it was impossible to have room to reload, it was better to enter the white-edged battle directly.

Although the barrier knife in his hand is light and short, it is still much longer than the dagger, and the advantage is here.

Zhang Xiaojing used the knife technique in the Tang Army, straight and straightforward, simple and fierce. It is said that in such a situation, Cao Poyan should rush to attack, but he is not in a hurry to fight. Although this strategy will not be hurt by the enemy for the time being, it will not want to hurt the opponent.

The two fought for several rounds, and Zhang Xiaojing suddenly realized that the other party was not afraid of death, but was delaying time! His one-eyed glance behind Cao Poyan saw a large wooden warehouse with a closed door and an iron lock hanging outside.

Not good, he is delaying the accomplices to retreat!

As soon as Zhang Xiaojing thought of this, the obstacle knife in his hand attacked even more fiercely. Cao Poyan clenched the dagger and struggled to resist, and the sound of bells and bells filling the entire courtyard. After all, Zhang Xiaojing was killed by the corpse mountain blood monkey, and he was experienced, and he soon found that his opponent's left elbow seemed to be injured, and no matter how he moved, he maintained a strange angle.

So he consciously increased his blow to the left, which hit Cao Poyan's weakness right now. The latter was stumbled and soon stabbed several times - although it was not a fatal wound, it was a quick defeat in a master duel.

At this moment, there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the courtyard, and then the gate was slammed open. Standing outside the door was Cui Qi, who personally carried a log that hit the door, like an angry King Kong, and dozens of brigade soldiers swarmed in from both sides of him.

It seems that Jia Qiqi passed the news over in time.

This sudden change made Cao Poyan's movements slightly sluggish for a moment. Zhang Xiaojing waved his knife and slashed at his throat. Cao Poyan reacted extremely quickly, and his body retreated backwards, which could be avoided. But the colored stone necklace around his neck suddenly bounced up, just in time to meet the blade.

When the blade passed, the tether was broken, and the small stones on the string of ropes scattered and fell. At this time, Cao Poyan made an unexpected move: he kicked in the opposite direction, and his whole body leaned forward again, trying to reach out to grab the colored stones. I only heard a swoop, and the tip of Zhang Xiaojing's knife just pierced his abdomen.

But Cao Poyan's movements did not stop. He still swung his arms as hard as he could, trying to catch even one. It's a pity that the colored stones have fallen to the ground and are rolling everywhere. His head was raised, and a Turkic syllable of unknown meaning came out of his mouth, which seemed to be someone's name, but unfortunately no one could understand it.

Cao Poyan just stood up to the obstacle knife and slowly lowered his head.

Zhang Xiaojing was shocked, Cao Poyan couldn't die, there were too many things waiting for answers. He didn't dare to pull out the knife, so he could only hold the handle of the knife with one hand, and grab Cao Poyan's shoulder with the other, and shouted eagerly in his ear: Where is the woman you caught? But there was no response from the other party. Zhang Xiaojing suddenly noticed that a piece of hair had been cut off from the top of the wolf guard's head, revealing his scalp.

According to Turkic customs, a person who has his hair cut off is equivalent to having his soul taken away in advance. No wonder Cao Po has survived his will to die, he has long been a dead man.

Zhang Xiaojing shook his shoulders angrily, trying to wake him up, but Wolf Wei's body collapsed limply.

Beside the two of them, a large number of brigade soldiers rushed over and headed straight for the warehouse.

Broke!

A heart-to-air voice rang out from the courtyard. Cui Qi had recovered his spirit at this time, in his opinion, Cao Poyan was just a small minion, life and death didn't matter, the real big dish was in the warehouse in front of him.

This warehouse is converted from a brick kiln warehouse, and the doors are made of crisp pear wood, and there is no way to defend it. More than a dozen brigade soldiers rushed over, and the leading soldier pushed the door, only to find that the door had been bolted from the inside and locked outside. They didn't wait to lift it and hit the door, and their knives fell and slashed down the crack in the door. The big knife castrated violently, first cutting the lock, and then cutting off more than half of the wooden latch of the horizontal frame in the door, but this hundred steel knife was also broken by force.

Another soldier kicked the door open with a bang. In pairs, they rushed forward with crossbows side by side, and more than a dozen people entered the warehouse.

As soon as you enter, the breath is extremely choking, and it can smoke people. The soldiers first settled their minds before observing the movement inside. It was a spacious empty storeroom, with two large urns in the center, the top of the urn pressed against the stone cover, and a simple stove made of stones and firewood underneath, and the fire was raging. There were drops of black stains on the stove on the urn, and there were many fine bamboo chips on the ground.

At the end of the storeroom, there were two other open doors, and at the doorway was an unloading platform four feet above the ground, empty and empty. The soldiers glanced at each other, all suspicious, the crossbow in their hands kept their crossbows flat, and moved cautiously forward.

The hounds tied to the outside of the courtyard suddenly yelled for no reason, Zhang Xiaojing shrugged his nose, hurriedly let go of Cao Poyan's body, and yelled at Cui Qi: Quickly tell your people to withdraw! Fast! Cui Qi was inexplicable: Zhang Duwei, don't worry, I'll look at this time

Before the words fell, a violent explosion suddenly sounded in the warehouse, which was deafening. The room swelled suddenly, and blazing flames roared out from the doors and windows, and in an instant, the heat overflowed, like Lao Jun's alchemy furnace. The soldiers standing close to the warehouse were caught off guard and were knocked to the ground, and the people in the distance also felt a faint burning sensation on their faces, and they were in pain.

The whole courtyard was blown up by this sudden change, and it was a full ten snaps of fingers, but no one reacted, and everyone froze in place like wooden figurines, their ears buzzing. It wasn't until Cui Qi's almost desperate roar sounded in the sky above the courtyard that everyone woke up like a dream and went to rescue the wounded.

Cui Qi looked at Zhang Xiaojing in a panic, before the explosion, he shouted to retreat, he must know what was going on. Zhang Xiaojing's face seemed to be blown by the Mobei Shuo wind, and his lips trembled and spit out three words:

Fierce fire and thunder.

As early as the Gaozong Dynasty, the alchemy Taoists of the Tang Dynasty discovered that mixing saltpeter sulfur with black charcoal made of soaphorn can produce a bright flame, which is called a fierce fire. In the arduous war in the Western Regions, a certain craftsman in the Tang army had the ingenuity to mix the stone grease with a special secret method, stir it with crushed wood chips and white phosphorus, heat it and pour it into a sealed clay pot, kneaded a fierce fire at the seal, and then led a piece of dried rattan soaked in castor oil to the outside of the jar.

When using, first light the dried rattan and burn it to the mouth of the clay pot to cause a fierce fire. The fierce fire is extremely hot, and when it touches the prepared stone grease mixed with flammable substances, it is bound to become a dragon and a tiger, and the power is amazing. Because it bursts like thunder, it is named fierce fire thunder.

Ordinary stone grease can't be detonated at all, and it has to be the stone grease concocted by this secret method to have this power. There are very few craftsmen who know this kind of preparation technology, the process is too complicated, and the fierce fire and thunder are very easy to blow up by mistake, so the Tang army in the Western Regions is not much. Who would have thought that the grassland barbarians who only knew the bow and horses, and somewhere to find a craftsman who could fire fiercely, would actually create such a dangerous thing in the heart of Chang'an City.

Fortunately, Zhang Xiaojing has rich experience in the Western Regions, and as soon as he smelled the familiar smell of sulfur, he reacted immediately, otherwise the casualties would have been even more tragic.

Looking at the momentum of this explosion, the stock of fierce fire and thunder in the warehouse is really not small. They should have calculated that they would be attacked by Jing'an Division, and they had prepared this killing move. Cao Poyan, who was guarding the front, was a victim of the fierce fire and thunder from the beginning.

In full view of the Jing'an Division, the entire warehouse burned wildly, like a bright torch emitting thick smoke. Its structure has not collapsed yet, and looking through the window and open door, you can see that the warehouse has become a hell of karma. The dozen or so soldiers of the brigade who rushed into the house first, needless to say, had a miserable end.

This scene was too impactful, and these brave soldiers could only turn their heads away, all of them looking sad. Cui Qitie's face turned blue and asked in a trembling voice: Could it be that this is a trap to lure us into an ambush?!

Zhang Xiaojing shook his head: No, there is no point in killing us. They are doing this in order to stop us from pursuing and to facilitate their transfer of the processed fierce fire thunder as soon as possible.

Cui Qi gasped, the two fierce fire thunders already have great power, if there are dozens of such things, he said hurriedly: But after we entered the workshop, we went straight here, and I didn't see any trace of them!

Zhang Xiaojing raised his hand and pointed. At the end of the burning warehouse, smoke fills the air, but another exit can be faintly seen on the opposite side, and even the outline of the unloading platform can be seen.

It was originally a brick kiln, with a large production capacity and frequent entry and exit of cars. If you go to the gate of Changmingfang, it is extremely inconvenient, so the kiln owner should ask the Yu Department to make an exception and open a door directly from the wall facing the kiln, so that the trucks can easily go directly to the street - the Turkic carriages enter and exit through there, and the beggars of Changmingfang naturally can't see it.

Zhang Xiaojing asked Jia Qiqi before, and the latter said that he had not seen a large number of carriages entering the workshop today, and he suspected that there was another exit at that time. Now his suspicions have been confirmed.

No one can be blamed for this. The brick kiln has been closed down for a long time, and where will anyone still remember these old details.

The Turkic wolf guard let Cao Poyan stand in the way, and then sneaked out from here. Unfortunately, this exit was blocked by fire, and no one wanted to approach it until it was completely extinguished. Jing'an Si was one step away, but he didn't expect to let the Turks run away again.

Cui Qi's face is like ashes, once this thing explodes in Chang'an, his life will basically come to an end.

No, there's still a chance! A sharp light flashed in Zhang Xiaojing's single eye, this kind of thing can't be prepared in advance, it must be heated and used - they must have just gone far! The carriage transporting the resin will not be very fast, and it should be able to catch up now.

As soon as Cui Qi heard this, his eyes regained a little anger, and he stood up and said in a deep voice: I'll go and inform the watchtower and send nine drums!

Well, here you go!

Zhang Xiaojing turned his head and ran towards the nearby Fang Wall. Cui Qi was puzzled, not knowing what he wanted to do. Zhang Xiaojing looked at the root of the wall, lightly stretched his ape arm, stepped on several earthen walls alternately, and climbed the wall of the fang wall cleanly, and then turned around and shouted:

Inform Li Sicheng and let all the teams around him watch me smoke and act!

After explaining this sentence, Zhang Xiaojing made a whistle ↓ Not long after, a jujube red horse galloped on the street outside the wall, Zhang Xiaojing turned over and jumped down, and sat firmly on the saddle. Without pause, he flicked the reins and galloped forward. Yao Runeng rode another horse to follow.

It turned out that Zhang Xiaojing had just asked Jia Qiqi to bring a message to Yao Runeng, asking him to lead the two horses along the outside of the wall towards the northwest corner. Now time is more precious than gold and jade, and there is no time to detour from the door, and it is the fastest to get out of the wall.

At this point, the streets are already a bit chaotic. More and more people entered the city, and when they saw the sudden black smoke rising from Changmingfang, they all stopped to watch. For a while, mules, carriages, and camel people were all crowded together, and there was a lot of discussion. Zhang Xiaojing rode his horse and rushed into the merchant several times. There was a camel team guy who scolded and refused to give way, and Zhang Xiaojing unceremoniously hit his spine with a whip, causing the man to jump on the spot. The people around him were so frightened that they hid in both directions.

They pursued Dunyi Guiyi – that is, the crossroads of East Dunyi Fang and West Guigui Guiyi – and had to stop. Zhang Xiaojing looked around in all directions and could not see any suspicious traces. He tugged at the reins anxiously, and the horses snorted impatiently as they delayed their journey.

Time passed with a bullet of time, but the fleeing Turks disappeared as if they had disappeared into the sea. These guys are now carrying extremely dangerous fierce fire and thunder, and they may have kidnapped Wang Yunxiu, and they will be in big trouble wherever they go.

At this time, Yao Runeng pointed to the ground: Zhang Duwei! Look here! Zhang Xiaojing looked down and saw a few drops of black dots on the surface of the loess. Yao Runeng had turned over and dismounted, squatted down and took a closer look, raised his head and said: This ink dot is not a round drop, the round head is to the west, and the tail of the broom is to the east.

The Turks evacuated in such a hurry that they could not be resealed, and the dripping of the stone grease became the best indication.

Zhang Xiaojing made an approving gesture at him, there are really not many young people who are willing to observe carefully these years. Yao Runeng was praised, and two faint blushes appeared on his cheeks, but when he thought of the previous discord between the two, his excitement suddenly faded a little.

Walk!

Zhang Xiaojing didn't care about Yao Runeng's careful thoughts, turned the horse's head and galloped away. Yao Runeng also hurriedly got on his horse and followed, the current priority was to catch the Turks, and other things would be talked about later.

They ran through an intersection, and Yao Runeng checked the stone grease spills again, and found that the Turks had turned at the intersection of Yong'an Tonggui and headed all the way north. After judging the direction, Zhang Xiaojing and Yao Runeng gasped at the same time.

The road taken by the Turks is the third street west of Suzaku Gate Street, facing north and south. From here all the way to the north, there are two rows of Zhufang along the way, all of which are rich and prosperous places, and to the north to Yanshoufang, which is a first-class luxury place in Xijing. The opposite street on the west side of Yanshoufang is the west market where the world's treasures gather.

It is usually crowded here, and today is the first day of the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. The time has come, the sun is moving westward, I don't know how many lantern wheels, lamps, trees, lamp stands are being provoked, and how many people and traders are gathering.

Just two urns of stone grease have already caused heavy losses to the brigade army. If the wolf guard is allowed to break into this area with more fierce fire and thunder, I am afraid that the entire Jinghua of Chang'an Xicheng will be destroyed in one fell swoop.

The situation has reached its most critical juncture, and there is no room for hesitation.

Zhang Xiaojing pulled the reins, turned his head sideways and said to Yao Runeng: Listen, what I want next is absolute obedience, even if it is a woman and a child who is killed, there is no hesitation. If you can do it, follow me, if you can't do it, get out! With that, he clamped his legs and galloped north. Yao Runeng knew how bad the situation was, gritted his teeth, threw a cigarette pill from his arms, and followed.

The watchtowers around saw the smoke pills rising, and the drums were beating continuously, and they all reported the news to Jing'an. At the same time, Cui Ji's report was also sent back. In the main hall, the documents were staggered, and the atmosphere was suddenly tense to the point of suffocation.

What are Cui Qi and Zhang Xiaojing eating! This will allow them to escape!

Li Mi threw the quiet dust aside and quickly walked to the sand table. The heads of all the departments in the Jing'an Division also gathered slowly, and more than a dozen pairs of eyes stared at each other. Tan Qi put the black figurines symbolizing the wolf guard to Yong'an Tonggui, and the head was facing north, so that the situation was clear at a glance.

Li Mi snatched the moon rod from Tan Qi's hand, drew a deep line on the delicate clay sand table, and said categorically: they must be intercepted south of Guangde Huaiyuan, this is a dead line that must not be crossed!

To the north of this intersection, all of them are important places in the capital. To the north, Guangdefang is the headquarters of the Jing'an Division, or the government office of Jingzhao Mansion, and further north is the prosperous places such as Yanshoufang in the West City, as well as the imperial city. If you want people to make trouble here, Li Mi, Jing'an Sicheng, doesn't have to do it.

A principal said: From Yong'an Tonggui to Guangde Huaiyuan, it is only four miles away, and a card must be set up to block it as soon as possible. Another principal retorted: This neighborhood is the most prosperous place to watch the lanterns, and setting up a card now will only increase the confusion - have you forgotten what Supervisor He told me? The first person in charge said: When the fierce fire and thunder explode and erode dozens of squares, won't it be chaotic? The third principal reminded: Don't forget, Wang Jiedu's daughter is still in their hands!

Li Mi listened to these people arguing endlessly, and felt distraught. He silently recited the Taoist Purity Formula, first settled his mind, and then waved his hand: first transfer the guards to all nearby intersections, but don't set up cards openly.

This order was ambiguous, because Li Mi himself didn't know how to deal with it, so he could only take one step at a time. The general transmission transcribed the order, walked outside, and coldly Li Mi broke off behind his back: Use the run! Frightened, he almost fell and stumbled out.

Under the strong pressure, Li Mi couldn't care about being indifferent and calm. At this time, Xu Bin came over, still looking cowering: Li Sicheng, hey

Speak! After finishing speaking, Li Mi saw that it was Xu Bin, and his attitude was a little kinder. This chief has just made a great achievement, and he has seen through the trick of the Turks to transport the stone resin.

Xu Bin seemed to have made a lot of determination, and took a deep breath before saying: Now that the situation is dangerous, why doesn't Si Cheng consider giving the fake festival tower to Zhang Duwei? As soon as Li Mi heard these four words, his eyes suddenly burst into two sharp mangs, and Xu Bin's shoulders trembled for a moment, but after all, he didn't hang his head.

Those who are fake, borrow also; The knot, the right also. The false festival was originally a statement authorized by the Son of Heaven to his courtiers during the Han and Jin Dynasties, and Jing'an Division used this ancient name, but the meaning was different. Holiday watchtowers refer to all watchtowers that no longer report to the General Department of Jing'an Division, but listen to the arrangements of those who are holidaying.

Xu Bin's suggestion is tantamount to letting Zhang Xiaojing take over the entire Jing'an Division and become the second center.

Do you know what you're talking about? Li Mi said coldly. This person has just made a small achievement, and he has become arrogant to this point.

Xu Bin plucked up the courage and said: The watchtower was passed to the General Division, and the General Division was then transmitted to Zhang Duwei, and the turnaround time was too long. We can wait, but the Turks can't. It's a matter of urgency!

You really have confidence in Zhang Xiaojing.

Xu Bin said eagerly: This guy is the most persistent and trustworthy person I have ever met. These words were originally said to be magnificent, but the momentum was interrupted by a stammer☆ Even though he was full of worries, he couldn't help but laugh:

If I had not believed in his power, I would not have used him. It's just a holiday, it's not a child's play, he's still a death row prisoner.

That's not what you said in front of Eunuch He! As soon as Xu Bin spoke, he realized that he was too Meng Lang, his forehead was dripping with sweat, and he hurriedly retracted his tone, hey, what I mean is that Zhang Duwei is at the scene, and his judgment of the situation is more accurate than that of us hiding in the palace and reading documents.

Li Mi said in his heart, no wonder this person can't change officials in his life, he really can't speak. He waved his hand to let Xu Bin step back, and turned his head to stare at the sand table: Where is Zhang Xiaojing and Cui Qi?

Tan Qi hurriedly took the moon pole, put the red figurines representing Cui Qi in the south of Changmingfang, and pushed Zhang Xiaojing's gray figurines to the position of Yong'an Tonggui. It can be seen that the main forces of the Jing'an Division are scattered at the north and south ends, and there is only one Zhang Xiaojing who is closely behind the Turkic wolf guard. The gray figurines stood in the sand table, looking extremely important, but extremely lonely.

Li Mi only groaned for three breaths, and then issued an order: All the watchtowers on the third street, keep an eye on the nearby cars and horses for me, and return with thirty breaths! He hesitated for a moment, and added, report it to Zhang Xiaojing first, and now make sure that he knows all the news first.

The surrounding principals were stunned, and they all looked at Li Mi, but Li Mi didn't plan to explain at all.

Xu Bin's eloquence is not good, but he is really right in what he said: we can wait, but the Turks can't.

Yao Runeng chased Zhang Xiaojing all the way to the north, and suddenly heard a drum sounding from the watchtower not far away, which was a fixed message! He gripped the reins and listened intently on his horse. This pattern was so rare that he had to think hard to recall the corresponding code in the booklet.

Fake Watchtower?! Yao Runeng could hardly believe his ears, which would make this death row prisoner instantly become one of the most powerful people in Chang'an.

But he didn't dare to delay, and even the Fallacious Mount and Zhang Xiaojing side by side, told him about this new appointment. Zhang Xiaojing didn't have any excitement on his face, but just commented: Li Sicheng is a person who understands - you tell Wanglou now, let them keep an eye on the broad-tailed carriage!

These Turks robbed the carriages of the Su Ji chariot and horse shop, which were used to transport goods over long distances, and the wooden wheels at the rear of the cars were wide and durable, while the cars walking in Chang'an City were generally sharp and narrow like swallowtails, so as to facilitate walking through the streets and alleys. The difference between the two is generally unknown to people outside the car.

It is a bit difficult for the Wuhou on the watchtower to distinguish such a subtle difference, but this is the only way to quickly distinguish the wolf guard carriage at present.

Yao Runeng stood up from the horse, holding two small red and yellow flags, and began to compare paintings with a little funny. By the time he passed the order, the two had already crossed the intersection of Yanfu Yongping.

The farther north the street, the more people there are, and the festive atmosphere becomes stronger. On both sides of the neighborhood, many soap-clothed workers climbed on the bamboo frame, and were busy picking up colorful lanterns with bamboo poles, and the spring silk of Shangyuan hung down one by one. Below, a group of people leaned under the tree, looking up and pointing at the same time. Artists from the Western Regions are singing and dancing with ropes, vendors selling steamed cakes and pomegranate water are walking, and restaurants are selling fish, sorrel, and roasted camel's hooves. There is even a group of teenagers holding a moon cane, playing a bow ball on the street corner, dusty, every time a ball is scored, a few onlookers beat the drum, more energetic than the Son of Heaven playing.

This lively scene of leveling and leveling, in the eyes of Zhang Xiaojing and Yao Runeng, is extremely heavy. If the Turkic Wolf Guard is not caught soon, it will all fall into hell.

The only good news is that the street is crowded by these people and there is only a narrow road in the middle, and it is not easy to ride through it, let alone the carriages and horses. As long as the Turkic wolf guard continues to the north, it will only get more and more blocked, don't try to raise the speed.

At this moment, a low sound of lizardskin drums sounded, and through the commotion, it clearly reached the ears of the two people. The two of them were in good spirits, and Yao Ru could quickly distinguish the direction and look towards the east side of the watchtower.

In front of Chongxian Fangnan, there are two carriages! Northbound!

This is where the benefits of the holiday come into play. If the watchtower had been transmitted back to Jing'an Division, and then passed over, the target would have moved to nowhere.

Yao Runeng shouted loudly that Jing'an Division was doing something, get out of the way! , the two shook the reins, bumped into a few Haiyu who danced into the military drama, ignored the scolding and screaming all the way, and quickly rushed over. They soon saw the two carriages, which were walking slowly. Yao Ru was able to show his heart, took the lead in blocking the front, ordered the coachman to stop, and showed the waist card of Jing'an Division. But soon he was dumbfounded, this was a small band from Luoyang, and the carriage was full of musical instruments and dance clothes, which was for the birthday performance of a certain nobleman.

At this moment, another message entered: longevity and waiting for the virtuous, three wide-tailed cars, westbound.

Longevity Square and Waiting for Grace Square are located on West Fourth Street of Suzaku Gate Street, which is not said to be on their estimated Third Street route. Yao Runeng didn't dare to specialize this time and looked at Zhang Xiaojing.

Zhang Xiaojing waved his hand: Chase it and take a look!

Third Street is very congested right now. It is very likely that the Turkic Wolf Guard will first make a slight circle to the west, and then turn back from Huaiyuanfang. The two threw down the panicked troupe and ran sideways to the west.

East-west streets are a bit smoother than north-south streets. The horse's hooves flipped and flew, leaving a long trail of hurried hoof prints on the road. They soon arrived at the entrance of Changshou Zhixian Street, and the nearby watchtower reported the latest developments in time: the three cars had just turned north.

This is exactly the same as Zhang Xiaojing's estimate. His face turned pale, and he took out his crossbow so that Yao Runeng could hold the smoke pill in his hand. They ran about a hundred steps north, and Yao Runeng suddenly shouted: It's that!

At the street intersection not far away, three horse-drawn carriages were parked at the intersection, and the horses' heads were diagonally to the east. They were all the same shape, with long spokes, a wide and thick tail, and several large barrels in the carriages, which were covered with straw curtains. They did not advance, for a convoy of vans coming from the north was turning awkwardly east.

The street crossing is too small, and if two groups of carriages come in opposite directions and turn in the same direction, they must pass in turn. There are hexagonal luan bells hanging in the four corners of this van, and there are several high-headed horse guards next to them, presumably a few noble ladies and relatives who have bought things in the West Market and returned to Dongcheng.

According to the traffic rules of the "Ritual Order", avoid the noble and avoid it. The three carriages did not hang any flags, and their status was low, so they could only give way obediently.

Zhang Xiaojing slapped the horse's buttocks to speed up and quickly approached. The three nine-horse carriages stopped diagonally, so that the silhouette of the coachman could be seen from behind, and a familiar face was soon reflected in the one-eyed eye.

It was this person who used a knife to spin off his flesh in the Xiuzheng Workshop, and then escaped with Wen Ran hostage!

As if he had a sense, as soon as Zhang Xiaojing approached, he also turned his head in a ghostly manner, and the two happened to look at each other. Ma Ge'er fell into a moment of consternation, and then shouted. Five or six wolf guards came out of the three cars, poured a large area of pitch-black oil with a water ladle and a wooden basin, and then one man threw down the pine torches, and the ground burst into flames, forming a wall of fire that was not too high.

It seems that they have been prepared for the possible pursuit of Jing'an Division.

Zhang Xiaojing was not afraid, but the horse let out a frightened cry, raised its front hooves, and refused to jump over. Taking advantage of this, the three carriages started suddenly, and despite the fact that the van in front of them was still turning, they slammed into it viciously.

With a frontal impact on the fragile side, the van was immediately knocked to the ground with a thud. For a moment, the screams of the ladies in the car and the neighing of the horses were mixed. The surrounding guards are all blinded, how have you ever seen such a vicious coachman in Chang'an City?

There were guards who still had to pull the reins, and Ma Geer was so murderous that he took out his dagger and stabbed three guards and a female relative to death, and then made the carriage take a few steps back and push forward again.

Zhang Xiaojing saw that the mount was no longer usable, turned over and dismounted, covered his face with both hands, and rushed through the fire wall. Yao Runeng, who was behind him, saw that the enemy was on track, threw out the smoke pill without hesitation, and then drew his knife and pounced. Black and yellow smoke tangled in one place, reaching into the sky.

After Zhang Xiaojing walked through the wall of fire, his eyebrows and hair were burned, and his skin was painful. He didn't care about it, he barely opened his one eye, and saw that Mager's car had already topped the overturned van and moved east. The two cars behind also accelerated, ready to flee.

He took two quick steps and jumped onto the roof of the overturned van. The female relatives in the car were about to get out of it, but Zhang Xiaojing stepped on her head, and she retracted with a miserable scream. The guards roared angrily, but they didn't dare to come over. Zhang Xiaojing stood on the carriage and jumped forward high with his height, landing just at the rear of the third car. The wide tail provides an excellent place to stay.

One of the wolf guards in the car poked his head out and stabbed him with a short wooden spear. Zhang Xiaojing clamped the spear shaft with his armpit, and fired the crossbow in his left hand at his temple, directly shooting a brain splash. At this time, another wolf guard also pounced, Zhang Xiaojing threw the crossbow away, leaned over and picked up the triangular stone used to fix it when parking, and wedged it into his eye socket. The wolf guard screamed, and he kicked him off the speeding carriage.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't stop, he stepped on the narrow edge of the carriage, and moved towards the front of the car with his hands on the buckets. The driver in front of him felt that something was wrong, and was about to resist when a sharp barrier knife had already slashed through the back, almost slicing half of his neck.

This series of actions, like lightning and fire, cannot be used intermittently. Zhang Xiaojing glanced at it and found that there was no one else in the car, so he raised his knife and cut off all the ropes of the horse in front of him, and then jumped on the horse's back to chase the second car.

The car ran out of power and slowly stopped. Later, Yao Ru could arrive, but he didn't dare to leave. The car was loaded with several barrels of fierce fire mines, which could erupt at any time. He had no choice but to put a cigarette pill first, called Cui Qi's troops to follow in time, and then looked ahead, and saw that Zhang Xiaojing was already level with the second car, raised his arms high, and raised his thumbs.

This is not a compliment, but a pre-agreed code. Zhang Xiaojing should immediately notify the Jing'an Division to set up a blockade at the intersection of Guangde Huaiyuan Street in front of him and evacuate the people. Up to now, Zhang Xiaojing has no way to guarantee that every carriage will be intercepted, and he must plan for the worst.

After all, the horses were much faster than the carriage, and Zhang Xiaojing quickly chased after the side of the second car, and the guards did not use spears this time, but tore off the tarpaulin and poured it with stone grease instead. A black, viscous liquid spilled down from the wagon, and the thing could have had trouble throwing a torch. Zhang Xiaojing didn't dare to get too close, so he could only follow closely.

It can be seen that the carriage is loaded with five barrels of fierce fire mines, which occupy half of the area of the car plate. If these five barrels burst, I'm afraid that this street will be gone.

The two frantic carriages showed no intention of slowing down, and a series of exclamations were heard in front of them, and vendors and pedestrians were knocked to the ground. They were already close to the most prosperous place in Xicheng, and they were not far from the dead line drawn by Li Yu.

Zhang Xiaojing gritted his teeth, stabbed the horse's back with a knife, and the horse roared and jumped forward.

The wolf guard of the second car immediately poured stone grease again, only to find that the horse suddenly turned sideways, but the man on the horseback was gone. It turned out that Zhang Xiaojing desperately turned the horse's head, and he quickly hung on the other side with his clever riding skills, and used the huge horse body as a shield to block the stone grease. Taking advantage of the enemy's momentary distraction, Zhang Xiaojing turned over the horse's back and jumped towards the carriage.

But this time he was not as lucky as the last time, there was a wolf guard standing on the tail, and the two of them collided together, and their bodies fell together in the middle of the carriage, and for a time they staggered the big wooden barrels. The coachman, who seemed to be experienced, immediately made a sharp turn to the left. Zhang Xiaojing couldn't control his balance all of a sudden, and his body fell out crookedly. The other two wolf guards pounced on him and gave him a hard thrust in the chest.

At the moment when his body fell out of the car, Zhang Xiaojing was in a hurry, his hand shook, and a long shadow like a snake flew out.

This is a rope made of cow tendon, and it is a bad person who catches and steals equipment ∠ qualifications in the capital. Zhang Xiaojing is not handsome, and his skills are naturally even more clever.

The rope is usually wrapped around the wrist of the right hand, and when needed, it can fly out with a flick of the arm. The moment Zhang Xiaojing landed, the end of the rope was already wrapped around the davit on the side of the carriage. The carriage was still galloping, he grabbed the handle on this side, and did not let go, the whole person's back was close to the ground, and he was dragged forward by the carriage, leaving a long and shocking drag mark.

The wolf guard in the car took out his dagger and tried desperately to cut the rope, but unfortunately the rope was too flexible, and it couldn't be cut for a while.

The people in the carriage couldn't shake him off, but he couldn't climb into the carriage again. dragged out thirty or forty steps, the back of Zhang Xiaojing's shirt had been worn out, and his back was blurred with flesh and blood. He suddenly fished on the ground with his other hand, grabbed half of the green brick, and smashed it along the castration hook. The brick made a beautiful arc, right in the eye of the horse on the right side in front of him.

The horse was suddenly frightened, and leaned desperately to the right, and the other horse followed suit. The driver couldn't control how he pulled and shouted, and the whole car unconsciously deflected to the right.

At this time, they were on the horizontal street between Huaiyuanfang and the south wall of Xishi, and a huge light wheel was sitting on the right side of the street in front of them. The light wheel is as high as six zhang, and the bottom is set up with a town stone and wood platform, and the upper part is a huge bamboo frame in the shape of a spoke, and the outside is pasted with embroidered paper and spring victory patterns. A few soap-clothed little girls climbed on top and carefully picked up the big lanterns with bamboo poles.

The carriage could not contain its momentum and hit the bottom of the light wheel headlong at a very high speed. This time the momentum was extremely violent, and the two horses collided and their brains burst. Where can the wooden lantern wheel support this kind of strength, only to hear a bang, the whole shelf fell down, and the small guy on it and a dozen or so huge fish dragon lanterns Fushou lantern Qibao lantern crackled and fell, all of which fell on the carriage.

Several wolf guards in the car were crushed by the light wheel rack and couldn't move. Under the violent collision, several large wooden barrels behind the car gurgled and rolled out.

Zhang Xiaojing let go of his hand in time before the carriage collided, and was not dragged into the collision by the carriage. He lay on the ground, his palms were bloody and his back ached. Before he could get up, a familiar smell wafted into his nose.

Not good! Zhang Xiaojing's face changed greatly, leaned over and dragged an unconscious soap-clothed little guy out, while desperately shouting to the people who came slowly: Retreat! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!

A fierce fire is not a reliable ignition and can catch fire at the slightest collision and friction. After a series of chasing and collisions just now, those wooden barrels were already in danger, but now they were hit so hard that the barrel mouth was awakened by the fierce fire, and it could ignite the stone grease at any time. You know, these vats are more than five times more than the amount in the warehouse just now

Those ordinary people don't know what's at stake, and they're still smelling and watching the excitement. Seeing that the warning was ineffective, Zhang Xiaojing untied a cigarette pill from his belt in a hurry and threw it into the crowd. As soon as the smoke pill exploded, it made those people blow up their nests, and everyone didn't know what kind of evil was doing, and they screamed and avoided back.

Zhang Xiaojing heard that there seemed to be movement behind him, and immediately fell to the ground. At the same time, a roar came from behind him, and a hot wind blew up. However, the roar was not as explosive as in the warehouse, but close to the whirring of flames after the fire was poured into the fire.

Zhang Xiaojing propped his elbows on the ground, turned his head carefully, and saw that the five large barrels in front of him had turned into five dazzling fires, five blazing flames licking the huge lamp wheel, the paper lanterns and paper skins were the first to turn into flying ashes, and then the entire large bamboo carriage and a few nearby elm trees also began to burn, and from time to time there was a crackling bamboo crackling sound, like firecrackers to ward off evil spirits in the New Year. The flames of black smoke rose into the sky, higher than the wall, and the outer side of the wall had been dyed a shocking black.

As for the person who was pressed under the lamp wheel, except for a small guy who was dragged out by him with great difficulty, the others must be hopeless.

But this is already a blessing in misfortune.

One of the big problems with the fierce fire is that even with the fierce fire as the trigger, the success rate of the explosion is still not high. More often than not, instead of causing the stone grease to explode, it was simply set on fire and placed on the car, there were a total of five barrels of stone grease, probably because the seal was not good enough - so it was spilled all the way - not a single one of them exploded, and all of them became self-combusting.

In this way, although the fire is still fierce, it is showing a trend of spreading, and the power is greatly reduced, otherwise Zhang Xiaojing and the people on this half of the street will be finished.

He stretched out his aching arms and lay on the ground gasping for breath. Although the pursuit just now was short, it exhausted all his physical strength. The last carriage of Mager ran farther and farther, and it must have been too late to catch up, so he could only hope that Jing'an Division would lay down the blockade in time in front of him.

The fire was so big that it soon alarmed the Wuhou shop in Huaiyuanfang. More than 20 Wuhou dressed in fire cloth hurried over, holding splash cylinders and linen ties, and some people carrying water bladders. Today's Shangyuan Lantern Festival, Wuhou Shop in Zhufang has received orders to deal with the fire alarm at any time and be fully prepared.

But when the soldiers saw that the fire was so big, they knew that it was impossible to extinguish it, so they had to draw a barrier to prevent it from spreading, and then wait for it to extinguish itself.

Several of them saw Zhang Xiaojing and the little guy lying on the edge of the fire, and dragged them up, swearing and swearing in their mouths, obviously taking them as the culprits of arson. After Zhang Xiaojing's waist card was lost, he didn't care about making up for it, and he couldn't prove his identity. Fortunately, at this time, Yao Runeng arrived from behind, took out his waist card, drank everyone back, and helped Zhang Xiaojing to the corner and sat down.

Zhang Xiaojing asked the water vendor next to him to ask for a scoop of sweet plum water, and drank it all in one gulp, snorting and panting.

Yao Runeng noticed that when Zhang Xiaojing fled from the explosion area, he didn't forget to drag out a soapy guy he didn't know.

A despicable man who betrays his colleagues in exchange for information, a former bad handsome man who is experienced and ruthless, a saint who speaks to protect the insignificant people, and an agent who is dissatisfied with the court but works hard. All kinds of contradictory images make Yao Runeng fall into cognitive confusion.

He remembered what Zhang Xiaojing said before, and suddenly had a strong impulse to ask Zhang Xiaojing, what is your capital crime? But now this occasion is a bit abrupt, Yao Runeng hesitated for a moment, but still closed his mouth.

Reality did not leave him with a chance to regret it. In the next moment, the drum of the watchtower sounded again, and the drum beat rapidly, and at the same time, at least ten yellow smoke rose into the air in the distance. This means that there is an extremely important change happening, and all the subordinates of the Jing'an Division must put down everything in their hands and rush to gather.

Zhang Xiaojing opened his eyes after the first drum sounded. He saw the yellow smoke rising into the air, and muttered in his mouth: Guangde Huaiyuan

Guangde Huaiyuan is a dead line drawn by Li Mi himself, and it is absolutely not allowed to be crossed to the north. What kind of state of affairs can make ten yellow smoke rise in this sensitive place one after another? What happened to the leak full of fierce thunder?

Yao Runeng said a little worriedly: Zhang Duwei, you are injured, why don't I go over and see what is going on first? Zhang Xiaojing pressed his shoulder, pressed his hand, and stood up with grinning teeth.

Let's go together. He said in a hoarse voice, Yao Runeng had no choice but to obey.

Their location is on the main road between Xishi and Huaiyuanfang, and it is only more than two miles away from the street. Zhang Xiaojing and Yao Runeng immediately got up and rushed to the east. After running out a few steps, Zhang Xiaojing suddenly stopped, pulled past a Wuhou who was extinguishing the fire, and snatched the fire cloth cloak from his body.

The fire cloth is not bad through the fire, and it is a weapon for firefighting. Zhang Xiaojing did this, which shows that he has decided that there will be great danger ahead. Yao Runeng hesitated for a moment, then also stopped a martial marquis, and semi-forcibly requisitioned another cloak with Jing'an Division's waist card and draped it on his body.

They ran all the way to the junction, and saw in the distance that the soldiers of the brigade were dragging several thorny hedges across the middle of the road. Many ordinary people and dignitaries were blocked aside, and the crowd was full of voices.

Blocking roads, especially such an important road, is the last thing Jing'an wants to do☆Since this order has been issued, it means that the situation has reached a point where it is almost irreversible.

Yao Ru was able to get out of the way of the soldiers of the brigade army and let the two of them in. They soon saw that the four sides of the street had been strictly blocked by horse rejection and thorn fences, and on the south and east sides were Cui Qi's brigade troops, and on the north side were full of soldiers with large shields. These are not the direct subordinates of Jing'an Division, but the elite of the leopard cavalry subordinate to the right Xiaowei.

The north of Guangdefang is Yanshoufang, Yanshoufang is oblique to the northeast, and there is only one street away from the imperial city and the palace city, and the N Wei has rushed to such a close distance, and the sixteen guards of the South Ya are no matter how dull they are, they should also react, and the leopard riders are the first to assemble.

However, with the intervention of the military, I am afraid that Jing'an's life will be difficult.

At this time, the intersection of Guangde Huaiyuan Road was empty, only two half-pasted lamp stands stood on the side of the street, and a double-wheeled carriage stopped in the middle of the street. The tarpaulin had been ripped off, revealing five large dark vats inside. Magar stood between the barrels, holding a flaming torch in his hand. Not far from the carriage, three corpses lay prone on the ground, each with dozens of feathered arrows stuck in their vests.

Obviously, Ma Ge'er drove the carriage to the corner of the street, and was stopped by Jing Ansi, who was waiting for him. After a battle, the other wolf guards were all killed, but they bought enough time for Magar to light the torch and deliver it to the barrel.

This hand shocked everyone, and no one dared to let these five barrels of fierce fire thunder explode in such a sensitive area. With a hideous face, Ma Ge'er put the torch only a few inches away from the mouth of the barrel, and slowly let the horse walk forward. The nearby archers are at a loss, and who can guarantee that they will be able to kill this fang with one arrow? Who can guarantee that after his death, the torch will not fall right at the mouth of the barrel?

Yao Runeng looked forward and saw that in the southwest corner of Guangdefang, Li Yu and the others were standing in a high pavilion, staring at the street entrance. The fire burned to the door of his house, and he could not sit in the temple.

Margar was the last of the wolf guards, knowing that he was going to die, but he had no fear. So many Tang people were buried for it, what a rare opportunity! He laughed, clutching the torch in one hand and gently shaking the reins with the other. Unaware of the tension, he just lowered his head and walked forward. Their direction is still to the north, towards the most prosperous and lively neighborhoods.

Yao Runeng said: No! I have to tell Li Sicheng that the fierce fire and thunder are ignited, but they may not explode! Zhang Xiaojing stopped him: But it may not be explosive. This is Chang'an, there is no 100% certainty, and Li Sicheng does not dare to take risks.

Yao Runeng hurriedly said: What should I do? Just staring at him and watching him go north? Zhang Xiaojing didn't answer, he narrowed his eyes and wrapped the fire cloth cloak tightly.

The situation at the intersection of the street has reached the point of tension, and it can explode at any time without the need for fierce fire and thunder. Motionless and unoccupied, Mager's carriage finally reached the edge of the blockade to the north. The horse slammed into the wall of thorns, and its two front hooves kicked the front of a row of shields.

The surrounding soldiers could obviously kill this Turkic wolf guard with a single blow, but no one could touch him in the slightest. Those five brown vats are five silent impermanences. In this wonderful confrontation, the elite leopard riders kept retreating and scattering, and they were squeezed out of the way by the carriage. The general who took the lead had a gloomy face and did not dare to act rashly.

Li Mi stood on the high platform in the corner of the square and closed his eyes. As soon as the dead line is crossed, the nature of the whole incident changes completely, and a decision must be made. He said in a deep voice: Prepare rockets!

Immediately, twenty elite archers ascended the high platform, and the twenty auxiliaries next to them dipped the round cotton arrowheads prepared in advance in pine oil, lit them, and handed them to the archers. As the team gave the order, the archers quickly drew their arrows and aimed them at the carriage outside the square.

Sitting back and watching the wolf guard approach the imperial city and the palace city, it is Jing'an Si who does not take the safety of the Son of Heaven and the civil and military officials seriously. The two evils are the opposite, Li Mi would rather let it blow up half of Guangdefang and his own face into the sky than allow it to go north any further.

There was the creaking of the bowstring in his ears, and he knew that if he spit a word out of his lips, the whole thing would be over. Twenty rockets, it is impossible to deviate from the target at this distance, but what will happen next can only be left to fate.

Childe, it's too dangerous here, or what's that first? Tan Qi originally wanted to persuade Li Mi to go down first to avoid being affected by the explosion, but she suddenly saw a movement at the street entrance and couldn't help but exclaim.

Everyone followed the direction of her jade hand and looked towards the street.

A figure rushed towards the carriage at unprecedented speed, without hesitation. He wore a cloak of strange colors, and he couldn't see his face clearly. Magger's attention was all focused on the blockade line ahead, and he didn't notice it for a while. The figure took the opportunity to jump into the carriage, and the long rope in his hand shook, wrapping around Ma Geer's wrist.

It's Xiao Jing! It was actually Xu Bin, a short-sighted eye, who was the first to recognize that figure.

When the people of Jing'an Division heard this name, they were all refreshed. This death row inmate has repeatedly performed miracles in the past few hours. No matter how desperate the situation, he can always tenaciously find a way to break the situation. From the main thing to the small officials, all of them are happy and convinced.

Zhang Xiaojing made a brazen move at this time, making the hero image in their minds even more perfect. If it weren't for the etiquette, they would have cheered. Only Li Mi remained silent and looked at the carriage with his hands in his hands, and the twenty rockets were still aimed at the carriage.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't care about Jing Ansi's reaction, his whole mind was on the Turkic bandit in front of him. The slightest mistake could blow up the entire wagon.

He had just put on a cloak, and under the cover of the crowd of onlookers, he quietly approached the north entrance of Cross Street. One of the soldiers in the blockade just now couldn't withstand the tremendous pressure, and the spear in his hand was raised one point, which temporarily attracted the attention of Ma Ge'er. He seized the fleeting opportunity, galloped twenty paces, and with a keen spurt, jumped into the carriage from behind.

Mager immediately recognized this person who had repeatedly troubled them, and he yelled in Turkic: I should have killed you a long time ago! Zhang Xiaojing smiled coldly and didn't say anything, but the fierce one-eyed lone wolf-like made Ma Ge'er's heart palpitate for a while.

The two men fought desperately in the carriage. Zhang Xiaojing only needs to pull Ma Ge'er half a foot away, which is enough for other soldiers to come up to help; As long as he could buy half a snap of his fingers, he would be able to dig the torch deep into the barrel. The two of them are like standing on a rope between a deep cliff, and if they are not careful, they will be crushed.

This confrontation only lasted a few short moments. First, Zhang Xiaojing's fist smashed Ma Ge'er's right eye, and the broken iron between his fingers directly pierced the wolf guard's eyes, and then Ma Ge'er hit Zhang Xiaojing's nose with his forehead, causing his blood to burst out. The two of them fought in a completely disorderly manner, but they were extremely fierce, like two bloodthirsty wounded wolves.

Ma Ge'er's wrist was entangled in the shackles, and his movement was restricted, and Zhang Xiaojing took the opportunity to slam his head. Unexpectedly, Ma Ge'er did not dodge or dodge, endured the severe pain of being hit the head, and stretched out his fingers to pick the wound under Zhang Xiaojing's armpit. This wound was exactly what Ma Geer left for Zhang Xiaojing in the Xiuzheng Workshop. This time, the pain made Zhang Xiaojing's eyes darken, and his actions froze.

It makes no sense that Mager didn't take advantage of the victory. He quickly picked up the torch, glanced at the soldiers who were crawling up from all sides, muttered a Turkic word, and threw the torch into the barrel. Zhang Xiaojing screamed, rushed over and smashed Ma Ge'er out of the car, but it was too late.

The mouth of the barrel quickly emitted a sulphur smell, and light smoke curled up.

The soldiers who had climbed up like ants were so frightened that they retreated like a tide. Li Mi on the high platform closed his eyes in frustration, didn't it work out after all?

Childe, look! Tan Qi exclaimed, and opened his eyes again, and everything in front of him made him take two steps forward in a faux puff, and almost fell off the high platform.

I saw Zhang Xiaojing jump into the coachman's seat, whip the horse, and desperately make gestures to the soldiers in front of him to get out of the way, and drive north.

What does Zhang Duwei mean by this? One of the directors of the Jing'an Division shouted.

Could it be that he wanted to get the carriage to safety? Where does this come in time?

Even if it's in time, the direction is not right, this is still north!

Isn't that the same thing that the Turks were going to do?

If Zhang Xiaojing chooses to retreat now, no one will accuse him. But at the risk of being consumed by the flames, he drove the carriage northward—there was no open space where the five barrels of fire could be safely detonated.

In the midst of the gossip, a strange conjecture surfaced in everyone's minds. This person, but he once openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the imperial court, wouldn't he want to push the boat down the river and drive the carriage to Miyagi to take revenge?

The team of the archers couldn't help but shout: Li Sicheng, the carriage is about to leave the firing range! Li Mi's eyes flashed, and he finally issued an order: withdraw the arrow. The team's eyes widened, thinking that they had misheard, and Li Mi repeated again: withdraw the arrow. The tone is unmistakable.

Twenty archers had to put down their bows, inexplicably. The principals looked at Li Mi together, Li Sicheng has always been known for his bold decisions, but this time he was too bold.

At this time, Li Yu's heart was also fighting fiercely. He remembered what Zhang Xiaojing said to him: People are chosen by you, and the road is chosen by me, and we all have to be responsible for our own choices. Since you have made a huge bet on this death row inmate, you will simply gamble to the end.

He believes that Zhang Xiaojing must have his reason for doing so. But with Li Yu's cleverness, he couldn't figure out how to crack this game.

Zhang Xiaojing drove a horse-drawn carriage and galloped wildly through the wide street between Xishi and Guangdefang. Black smoke was coming out of the barrel behind him. The fierce fire and thunder did not sound at the first time, which was a blessing in misfortune, but the fire had already started, and the stone grease was ignited, and it could break out at any time.

Zhang Xiaojing suddenly bent down and tapped the horse's left ear with the harness, and the whole carriage began to turn to the left.

Tread! Li Mi reacted suddenly, and then Xu Bin also shouted: wheel base! He saw that the other principals were at a loss, and said two more words: West Market, wheel base!

There are two entrances and exits in the west market, one east and one west, respectively, set up a dragon sill ↓ The dragon sill is a stone sill under the door, there are two notches on the sill, and the distance between the two troughs is five feet three inches. In other words, only a carriage with a wheel base of five feet and three inches can enter the West Market, and if it is too wide, it is too narrow to enter. The distance between the two gaps is only four feet, and only narrow cars are allowed to pass through the dragon thresholds of other squares in Chang'an City.

In this way, the wide-distance carriage that transports large quantities of goods can only enter the east and west markets, and cannot go to other markets; The narrow-distance cars used in Chang'an City can pass between Zhufang without hindrance, but they can only enter the two cities. The diversion of large trucks, small cars, goods and passengers not only avoids congestion, but also facilitates the management of the Municipal Bureau and Jingzhao Prefecture.

Su Kee Carriage & Horse Shop has always only transported bulk goods, so it is natural that vehicles will be prepared according to the standard of 5 feet 3 inches. If Zhang Xiaojing wants the carriage to leave the main street as soon as possible, entering the West Market is the only option.

The east gate of the West Market, which at this time happened to be about sixty paces in front of the carriage, and it was instantaneously accessible at the speed of the carriage - but! Xishi is also an important town in Chang'an, where countless merchants accumulate goods, as well as wealthy business envoys from all over the world. If it blows up in there, it will also suffer heavy losses.

What kind of medicine is sold in Zhang Xiaojing's gourd, Li Mi doesn't know at all. There was nothing he could do now but follow the death row prisoner with his gaze, one way to the dark.

In full view of everyone, Zhang Xiaojing showed a very clever car driving skill. He replaced the whip with a rope and turned the horse a little westward, and the wheels pressed two near-perfect arcs on the loess road. When the car turned completely to the west, the hooves of the two horses happened to cross the threshold of the east gate of the West Market.

The two flying wooden wheels cut into the two notches on the dragon sill accurately, and they fit perfectly. The speed of the whole carriage was not affected by the steering in the slightest, and roared into the West Market.

As soon as he entered the West Market, he did not follow the main road to the cross street, but plunged into the courtyard of the house next to him. First slammed open a dozen large soju urns stacked on top of each other, then stepped on several fences and half a wooden house, and rushed straight down a sloping dirt slope.

What is the condition of those five wooden barrels, Zhang Xiaojing doesn't need to look back to know. After so many collisions, the sulfur flavor has become more and more intense, and it is infinitely close to the limit. In fact, the fact that the fierce fire and thunder have been able to persist until now and have not exploded is already a miracle blessed by the gods and Buddhas.

Death was near, but there was no panic or despair in his single eye, only silence, a stony stillness.

At the bottom of the slope is a canal about six feet wide, and the surface of the canal is covered with a thick layer of ice. This is called the Guangtong Canal, which enters the city from Jinguang Gate and flows into the West Market along the second square of Jude Qunxian. In order to facilitate the transportation of timber in the Qinling Mountains, the Guangtong Canal has just been widened once in the second year of Tianbao, the canal is deep and the water is wide, and it can be used for a large ship of 500 stones.

Three hours ago, Cao Poyan jumped into the river here to escape the pursuit. There is still a cracked hole on the ice, which is the trace of Cui Qi falling into the water.

Zhang Xiaojing wrapped his cloak tightly with an expressionless face, and whipped the horse hard one last time. The castration brought by the slope, combined with the horse's painful running frenziedly, brought the carriage to an extremely high speed. It swept past the rammed loess ladder embankment and fell towards the wide expanse of ice without hesitation.

The heavy wagon flew through the air and slammed into the thin ice. With a loud bang, the ice collapsed without accident, and the icy waves turned into countless hands that dragged the carriage deep into the water. At the same time, the fierce fire and thunder in the carriage finally burst open, and a series of fire clouds were half on the surface and half under the water, making a muffled sound, and the circle of ripples expanded rapidly outward.

Like a frightened giant snake, Guangtong Canal suddenly rolled wildly. The water splashed and sparked at the same time, and countless small pieces of ice splashed high, accompanied by thick smoke into the sky. If the poets who wandered around the capital at this time stood on the shore and saw this wonder, they would surely chant a lot of famous sentences.

Not long after the explosion, a large number of elites of Jing'an Division and Right Xiaowei rushed to both sides of the canal embankment. At this time, the ice surface of this section has completely crumbled, and only half of the mutilated wheels are floating on the water, and the whole body is charred black.

The whole thing starts from the ice here and ends underwater here, as if it is the embodiment of the reincarnation of Buddhism.

After a preliminary count, a large crack was found in the embankment of the canal, the water gate was crooked, half of the small temple of the city god near the canal was destroyed, and some trees and boats near the bank were destroyed, and several porters broke their legs - this is the total loss.

How many of those five barrels of fierce fire and thunder exploded are no longer verifiable. But one thing is clear, if Zhang Xiaojing had not sent the carriages into the Guangtong Canal to overcome the fire with water, no matter where they detonated, the losses would have been dozens of times higher than they are now.

The crisis was finally resolved, and everyone breathed a long sigh of relief. Only now did they understand Zhang Xiaojing's intentions - in that critical situation, the Guangtong Canal in Xishi was the only solution, and it was really difficult for him to think of this solution, and even more difficult for him to dare to implement it himself.

People from the Jing'an Division arrived one after another, ready to start cleaning up the scene. Xu Bin ran faster than everyone else, and he rushed to the ditch first, looking anxiously at the river, trying to find the trace of his friend. He searched back and forth several times but didn't see a figure, and his lips couldn't help but tremble. It was he who introduced Zhang Xiaojing to Jing'an Division, and if he harmed his life because of this, he would really feel guilty for a lifetime.

Xu Bin was so anxious that he grabbed Yao Runeng's arm next to him: My eyes are not very good, you can see accurately, have you found him? By the way, the West Municipal Bureau is equipped with six grasshopper boats in the Guangtong Canal, so quickly transfer them to the center of the river to find them!

Yao Runeng had mixed feelings at the moment, and this death row prisoner had completely convinced him. It turned out that Zhang Xiaojing didn't brag, he was really born and died for the city. Looking back now, in addition to killing Xiaoyi, Zhang Xiaojing's actions in the past few hours are really blameless. Yao Runeng was even more ashamed, he had been suspicious of such a hero.

However, he believes that under such a violent explosion, it is unlikely that there will be survivors. Yao Runeng couldn't bear to tell Xu Bin this judgment, so he kept standing by the river and kept silent, staring solemnly.

If Zhang Xiaojing dies like this, he and his experiences will become a permanent mystery.

There was a sound of footsteps, and when he looked back, he found that Li Sicheng had also arrived in person, standing on the dirt slope from a distance and watching, unable to see his expression clearly. The beautiful maid stood beside her, her goose-yellow brocade jacket particularly eye-catching. Yao Runeng thought to himself, at the beginning, Li Sicheng tried his best to appoint Zhang Xiaojing against public opinion, and even fell out with He Jian because of this, I don't know what kind of mood he will feel when he faces this ending now.

At this moment, on the bank opposite the canal, there were bad people waving their hands and shouting excitedly. Yao Runeng hurriedly put away his thoughts and looked over there at the same time as Xu Bin.

They saw that several unscrupulous people were walking from the river to the shore with a figure in their arms. The figure was wearing a cloak and looked very weak, but at least it could move. Behind them was a tall lotus petal nine-story stone scripture building.

The Tang Dynasty believes in Buddhism and becomes a trend, and an important place like the Guangtong Canal naturally needs to erect a prayer building, and ask the Bodhisattva to bless it, which has the effect of measuring the depth of the canal. The figure just now should have been lying under the stone scripture building, so it was not discovered by the first searcher.

Xu Bin jumped up excitedly, almost wanting to swim straight over. He urged Yao Runeng and asked again and again if it was Zhang Xiaojing. Yao Runeng forcibly suppressed the beating heart and looked into the distance. His eyesight was excellent, and at a glance he could see the gray-brown cloak with several large black holes in it.

That's right, it's the Fire Cloth Cloak.

So, Zhang Xiaojing is still alive?!

It is estimated that he took the initiative to jump out of the car in a moment before the explosion, but was thrown by the shock wave of the explosion to the side of the stone scripture building. The cloak kept him safe from the first waves of the flames, and the eight-sided shape of the stone prayer building was suitable for climbing and keeping him from sinking to the bottom. This is really blessed by God and Buddha!

Xu Bin and Yao Ru could cheer like children, and their joy was beyond words. Yao Runeng breathed a big sigh of relief, such an ending couldn't be more perfect. He began to think in his mind about whether it would be better to congratulate him on his pardon or apologize again.

Little did Zhang Xiaojing know that there were two people on the other side of the river cheering for his survival. He was still dizzy, his body was very weak, and he had to sit down after being carried a few steps. Although I was extremely lucky to avoid the explosion just now, the smell of being burned first and then soaked in ice was really unpleasant. The wounds on the armpit and back of the severed finger began to bleed again.

A few unscrupulous people diligently removed the wet and tattered cloak and robe for him, and put a dry coat over him. Zhang Duwei, thanks to you, everything is safe now. One of the bad guys said flatteringly, handing over a cloth towel.

Zhang Xiaojing took the cloth towel, wiped the water stains in his eye sockets, and handed it back to the bad guy, but his face was not at all relaxed.

The wolf guard was indeed dead, but he always felt that the whole thing was not over yet. The number of fierce fire mines is not too much, but too few, only fifteen barrels, at most a few squares will be blown up, and it is far from enough to burn Chang'an. Is it really that simple, the Turks had high hopes for?

It's really that simple, just drive and collide, what kind of square map guidance do you want.

What's more, Wen Ran's whereabouts are still unknown, and there is no trace of any woman, whether it is in the warehouse or in the three carriages just now.

There are too many questions about this matter. Zhang Xiaojing was thinking about how to tell Li Mi about this, when he suddenly heard sonorous footsteps from far and near, and when he raised his eyes, it turned out to be Cui Qi. Cui Qi was in charge of the search on this side of the canal, so he arrived first.

Cui Lvshuai, the matter is not over yet, take me to see Li Sicheng immediately. Zhang Xiaojing said loudly.

But Cui Qi had a stiff face, and there was no smile. He walked up to Zhang Xiaojing, and as soon as he raised his hand, the soldiers of the two brigades rushed over like wolves and held Zhang Xiaojing's arms down.

Take. Cui Qi didn't even touch his line of sight.