The cold wind howling in the evening seemed to hide the hustle and bustle of the border.

"Captain, captain, look...... A large caravan came in the distance...... Shall we go over and apply some oily meat first?or shall we ask the Border Inspector for instructions first?" said a stocky soldier in a blue leather uniform and a domed steel helmet to the tall man in front of him.

As soon as the short and fat soldier reminded him, the twenty-man "army" sitting on the ground slowly stopped the important work at hand—around the fire, drinking sake and eating dry cakes.

"Yes, it seems that there is a 'meat dish' this time, hehe......" A thin soldier smiled and took Humpty's words, stood up, grabbed the spears piled aside, looked into the distance and stretched his waist, and said: "Captain, although there are few people and horses, there are many miles, this oil meat ......"

The soldiers got up one after another, looking at the head who was still sitting on the ground drinking, and seemed to complain a little.

The captain they spoke of, with a sturdy figure, black hair unkempt and scattered in front of his forehead, and a rather hideous face, if it weren't for the crisp blue leather uniform and the domed steel helmet hanging from the back of the neck, he really didn't look like a soldier.

The captain slowly picked his teeth with an iron fork and said, "Hey...... A few months ago, I had the final say, and my mouth was full of meat...... But lately, the damn 'two-tip' doesn't know what kind of madness he has smoking......?

When the soldiers heard this, they immediately put their index fingers to their mouths and persuaded: "Shh!! that "two-tipped" hearing is good, the captain don't say it, you see, the meat is in front of you......!

"Eat!" the black-haired captain gritted his teeth, put on the steel helmet at the back of his neck, and stood up, shivering.

It was late autumn in November, and the border of the sparse forest in the northern part of the Federation was already a withered and yellow scene. Thin wood forest, the trees are sparse but not fine, the leaves are yellow but not falling, the Tibetans are difficult to perceive, and the hidden goods are difficult to appear. Stretching for 300 miles, it is mountainous, muddy and difficult to walk, and the main roads are patrolled by soldiers, and border checkpoints are set up. It is a key hub for trade between Federation merchants and northern orcs, as well as a haven for smugglers.

On this day, as usual, a team of fifty people from the Phil Chamber of Commerce, five wagons, entered the fifth checkpoint.

"Hey, good cigarettes and good wine. The short and fat soldier before, after seeing the merchant flag, couldn't help but sigh.

The leader of the caravan was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a leather coat and hat, and a fluff collar, known as 'Flim Mouth Li Ba'. This person is mediocre in appearance, but he often has a smile on his face, and he looks amiable. He was at the forefront.

And the forty or so burly men who followed the carriage closely followed were the caravan guards. They were clad in light armor and swords at their waists. There were a few coachmen in long cloaks, but they were also thin and thin. The five wagons were all driven by two horses, with leather wheels, iron trunks, and heavy canvas coverings.

Li Ba saw the twenty drunken soldiers, glanced at the remnants of fire and leftovers next to him, and had a bottom in his heart. stepped forward and threw a smile at the captain, and said, "Yo, Captain Wang Luwang, it's a cold day, not in that guard house, but tired here, it's really hard! ”

Wang Lu, born in a gangster near the Rare Wood Forest, was uneducated, relied on fraud and robbery, and donated a border patrol captain. When Wang Lu saw that it was Li Ba, he also smiled bitterly and said, "Eighth master, I don't want to do this, even if the brothers are hungry and cold, I ...... too."

Wang Lu seemed to realize something, and said: "This wine makes me drunk, the bad wine is strong, and he said the wrong thing." Eighth master, this is a fixed three trips a month, from light to heavy, how can you personally deliver this first trip?

Li Ba said with a smile: "The performance has been poor recently, there are many horse thieves, so it's not okay if you don't keep an eye on it, this time there are high-quality tin box cigarettes and craft wine, as well as some cigarettes and wine gadgets." Why don't you "inspect the goods" while "inspecting" the goods?

After Wang Lu heard this, he laughed, and everyone laughed too. Seeing Wang Lu's acquiescence, Li Ba was pleased and asked the caravan guards to lift the oil canvas of the first carriage, move a wooden box and hand it over. Open the wooden box, stroke off the straw, nine large bottles of long-necked glass wine, and the three shining 'golden circles' are presented in front of Wang Lu, the thug.

Wang Lu's eyes were straight, because he bought two bottles of this wine for half a year's salary. His men were speechless for a moment because they were so shocked. Wang Lu took the wine box, passed it to his subordinates, and then said solemnly: "It is the duty of the border guards to strictly inspect and prohibit and prevent trouble before it happens." ”

Li Ba smiled secretly, also called Dahan, opened the trunk of the second car, and handed over a small wooden box. When I opened it, I saw nine boxes of carved iron box cigarettes, engraved with the word "crisp north". Wang Lu's mouth was about to open, his facial muscles trembled a little, and a soldier immediately jumped up and held the box.

Wang Lu said loudly: "Obeying the law, loving the country and the people, and being an example for federal citizens." ”

Li Ba asked, "What does the Wang team mean?"

Wang Lu replied: "Eighth master, just salute this." I'll give you two pieces of advice. First, in the hilltop guard house behind the 500-meter road, on my seat, there is a "second tip", who is a border inspector of the third level who is the third level of my senior, and has been there recently. If he doesn't care, you can go there, and if he does, you can open the border documents and release the goods for him to inspect. Second, in the past, it was three teams and one team, and recently it was three teams and one team, not only us, but also a team of "two-point" soldiers. ”

Li Bapi laughed without smiling. At this time, more than 40 people in the back also stopped talking and laughing, their expressions became serious, and they looked dissatisfied with the fact that you eat for nothing and don't do anything.

Wang Lu saw that the atmosphere was not right, so he hurriedly played a round and said, "Eighth master, this is ...... It's no wonder I didn't remind them, lately the "Two-Tips" seem to be checking for contraband, some kind of munition-grade "magic mine", I don't know what the use is, anyway, the Federation has opened a lot of new mines, and a lot of people have stolen! There are many people who sell, and more people ...... buy! Eighth Master, you didn't ."

"Hahahaha, isn't this a joke? I'm in a hurry! Why don't you ask the king team to send it?" Li Ba said with a smile.

Wang Lu said: "The eighth master has spoken, then you guys, I will protect this trip!" The words fell, straightened out the epaulettes of the single bar, and asked a few soldiers to symbolically poke and touch the trunk.

"You, and you!" Wang Lu nodded, and the two sober men looked at the "gifts" of the legal citizens. He took a dozen or so people, lined up two lines of not very neat lines, and opened the way ahead. Li Baze led the caravan ten meters apart, followed closely, and his heart began to beat the drum slowly.

The woods on both sides of the open avenue, the corners shaded by yellow leaves, seem to be blown by a cold wind, with the smell of blood......

Usually, there are small towns along the border, where the Federation has border posts and official banking offices. Normal caravan foreign trade, must first be registered at the border post post, subject to inspection, and then pay taxes at the official banking bureau, logarithmic and quantitative before they can pass on the designated trade routes, along the main roads, small roads are set up checkpoints or inspection posts to check and confirm, but also equipped with Wang Road such a border patrol patrol. The sole purpose of such rigor is to ensure that the money flows into the ruler's purse as much as possible. If any of the links are not matched, the federal smuggling charge can be charged to your face. The crime of smuggling is punishable by imprisonment or hanging. But in the face of huge profits, a small number of officials and civilians are willing to take risks.

Wang Lu walked in small strides in front of him, humming a little song, very proud, and kept stroking the dome of the helmet.

It was getting closer and closer to the hilltop of the hill. The watchhouse is quite large, two floors, the first floor seems to be empty, and there is a sentry on the top of the building, and the view is excellent. The yard is connected to an iron fence with large trees. The avenue was closed off by the rejection of horses, and only this one road could pass the carriage, if it was taken normally.

At this time, a groom who did not drive in the front car sat in the passenger seat and beckoned Li Ba, lowered his head to Li Ba's ear, and said softly: "There won't be any whatever, right? It's too quiet at this point!" Seeing the two talking, the other driver immediately controlled the speed.

Checkpoint 5 is a small road, but it is also a business road. When the sun sets, there are few travelers, but caravans are always there because of business.

Li Ba replied softly: "It's all come to this point, I know in my heart, I have to have a case, I also have ten ways." ”

The "coachman" heard the assurances of the "old eight" and quieted down. The guards in the caravan were lightly armed and simple, and their fur hats did not cover their faces. Several coachmen, but they were covered tightly with overcoats, and wore cloaks to protect themselves from the cold, and they could not see their appearance and figure clearly. But none of that matters.

Refusing to block the road, Wang Lu waved at the sentry and shouted at the watchhouse: "Legal commercial transportation, allowed to pass." ”

Wang Lu's subordinates stepped forward one after another, and they struggled to move the horse. Maybe it's because the rejection of the horse is too heavy, or maybe it's because the quality of the soldiers is not good, and the rejection of the horse is very slow.

The watchhouse was quiet, and the sentry on the second floor was just lying on the guardrail and looking at them, and he didn't even have the basic weapon, a bow and arrow.

Li Ba looked at the dense forest around him, looked at the rejection horse, and said with a smile at Wang Lu: "Captain Wang, thanks to my many cares, the Snow Desert Town Branch of the Phil Chamber of Commerce, welcome to drink." Then he took out a silver flask from his bosom and threw it to Wang Lu.

Wang Lu happily played with the treasure in his hand and said, "Okay, okay, the eighth master is gone, I won't send you, and I can't send it." ”

Li Ba's smiling face was still the same, and he didn't take Wang Lu's words at ease. Seeing that the horse had moved away, he got into the car and ordered the convoy to move on, but the speed was obviously faster.

There are many large trees on both sides of the road, and the foliage is very dense. Especially when it was almost night, the wind was strong, and the leaves were blowing. When the convoy had disappeared from Wang Lu's field of vision, Li Ba didn't know that Wang Lu ordered the rejection horse to be moved back, but Mu Jian was facing the direction where the caravan had left.

The convoy went fast, and the guards followed. Seeing that he was about to leave the country, Li Bachang exhaled and said to himself: "Ninety-five percent, if you are lucky, I am afraid that the last border patrol team will not be able to meet it." As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the coachman he had been talking to. Seeing that the man was now sitting motionless in the car, he was much more relieved, and Li Ba pondered again.

At this moment, the driver of the head car had just turned a corner and suddenly shouted: "There is no road ahead!"

Li Ba suddenly looked up and looked forward.

Fifty meters ahead, I saw that the wide road was blocked by tall horses. Behind the rejection of the horse, twenty heavily armed longbowmen stood in a formation two meters apart, sealing the way, and the quenched bows and arrows were already on the strings, and the arrows had no dead ends, waiting for the order to be fired.