The Shayuan supervisor went to Tongguan, and Maoer Mountain was a must-pass place.

The topography of Maoer Mountain is peculiar, high on all sides and low in the middle. As a result, a lake was formed in the mountains.

If you look down from the sky, the narrow and twisting valleys around you are like tentacles sticking out of a lake. When flash floods occur during the rainy season, the valleys are the channels for the flooding. After the rainy season, when the flood waters receded, the valley was revealed.

Because of the existence of this lake, Maoer Mountain has a strange phenomenon. Except for the freezing of the lake in winter, there is always a heavy fog every morning, and the fog pours into the valley for a long time. Ten feet away, I only heard its voice, but I couldn't see the figure clearly.

The valleys in the mountains are connected, and the roads are even more winding and rugged. Once the fog is up, it's easy to get off the road without a local guide.

Originally, at the east and west mountain passes, there were locals who worked as guides, guiding the traders to pass quickly. However, since Jin Chao occupied this place, the guides were all driven away. Traders can only enter on their own, and often get lost and are robbed of goods by Jin Chao.

"What a great place to be." At this time, Qin Chong was standing on the mountain behind Maoerzhai.

A round of morning sun is rising, and above the lake below the mountain, there is a layer of ethereal white mist, surging with the wind. Where the sun shines, the lake is golden; And where it can't be illuminated, it is green. The distant mountains are staggered, but only half of the mountain is exposed.

Magnificent and fantastical, ethereal like a fairyland.

Last night, Qin Zhong learned the news of the war horse, and instantly thought of that shooter. Therefore, he didn't care about interrogating any further, and forced a group of bandits to find Maoerzhai. As a result, it was still too late, and the shooter Gao Qing and his companions had already fled.

According to Li San's confession, Gao Qing also had two companions, both of whom came from Yanzhou. When they came, there were more than a hundred people. Later, the rest of the people left, but the three of Gao Qing were greedy for the women in the village, so they stayed here and spent every day drinking.

Qin Zhong didn't care about these things. However, what he wanted to know, Li Sanwang Er couldn't say clearly. Because their task is to keep an eye on them, hide in the dense forest valleys around the horse team, and report the horse team's whereabouts to the village at any time. As for other things, I don't know anything.

Moreover, when the horse team entered Mao'er Mountain, it was foggy, and it was impossible to see it at all.

Did those horses get lost here? Qin Zhong was irritable, but he had to suppress himself.

"Boss, Jin Chao is awake." At this time, Lang Zongyu ran over quickly. After not sleeping all night, Lang Zongyu's eyes were bloodshot, but he was in high spirits. Since he followed Qin Chong, this is the first battle, and it is also to exterminate the bandits. This experience made him excited.

"Oh? Check it out. As soon as Qin Chong heard that Jin Chao was awake, he walked quickly towards the village.

Mao'er Village is not big, and there are no more than 50 men and women. The men were all able-bodied, and there were more than thirty of them. And the women are all robbed, and they have become the playthings of the bandits, and life is miserable. is slightly better, but it is Jin Chao's seven-room wife and concubine.

Entering the walled gate, there is a row of wooden houses on the left, which is the residence of a group of bandits. On the right side is also a row of wooden houses, which naturally also lived for bandits. In the middle, there is a row of five-bay wooden houses, which is the place where the cottage is discussed. Behind the council hall is Jin Chao's residence.

The inside of the wooden house was crude, and there was an inexplicable smell of fishiness. Qin Zhong couldn't bear it anymore, and couldn't help but reach out and touch his nose.

In a spacious wooden house, Jin Chao was lying on the bed, his face was still pale and bloodless, but he had already woken up. There were two women next to her, both in their twenties, fair-skinned and beautiful. At this moment, he was trembling and feeding Jin Chao medicine.

These two women, Qin Chong had already seen last night, they were Jin Chao's third and fourth wives, and they were specially left to take care of Jin Chao. As for the others, they were all locked up by Lang Zongyu. Seeing Qin Chong enter the house, the two women trembled and hurriedly hid to the side.

"Awake?" Qin Zhong pulled over a wooden stool and sat down, staring at Jin Chao and asked.

"Thank you Childe for saving your life." Jin Chao wanted to sit up, but he was weak, struggled a few times and fell down.

"If you are asked something about you, if you are willing to answer honestly, it is okay to let you go."

"Childe, excuse me." Jin Chao's eyes flashed, and he didn't know what to think. After a while, he finally said cooperatively.

"How did you steal those horses?" Qin Zhong asked straight to the point.

"What?" Jin Chao was suddenly startled, his body was raised up suddenly, and he pulled the wound, and suddenly bared his teeth and cried out in pain. With a cry of pain, Jin Chao peeked at Qin Chong, but unexpectedly bumped into Qin Chong's gaze, which frightened him into a spirit, and cold sweat was on his forehead.

"Won't tell?" Qin Chong grinned, his fists clenched tightly, only to hear the snapping of bones.

"No? No, I say, I say. Jin Chao naturally knew that if he didn't say it, he was afraid that it would be a dead end. He really didn't have the courage to dare to talk to Qin Chong. The two shots last night had made him lose his courage, and until now he is also cold.

He had been in the army, but he had never seen it, and he had all taken his guns and planted them in the same place. Lang Zongyu has been classified as a brutal person by him, and Qin Chong is called the boss by Lang Zongyu, which can be seen to be even more brutal. He just wants to please him with everything he can so that he can keep his life.

With Jin Chao's story, the situation of stealing the horse that day gradually became clear.

Jin Chao has a fellow villager named Chang Shouyi, who served as a waiter under the command of the Soldiers and Horses of Yanzhou. After Jin Chao fell into the grass, he was unwilling to be a bandit, and always thought that he could be recruited to become an official and a half-job. Therefore, he gave up a large amount of money and contacted Chang Shouyi.

At first, Chang Shouyi didn't like to deal with him. The money is collected, but nothing is done. For more than half a year, countless money was sent out. When Jin Chao was discouraged, he didn't know that there was good news. Chang Shouyi told him that the capital prison had an order, and as long as one thing was done, he could be allowed a commanding position.

Jin was overjoyed, and naturally countless money was sent out.

Jin Chao excitedly returned to Maoershan and waited for Zhao'an. I don't know that the years ago and the years later, but there is no news.

Until the end of March, Chang Shouyi led people to Maoer Mountain. There were more than 100 people, all dressed as ordinary people. These people were very silent and did not talk to anyone in the village at all. And Chang Shouyi did not mention the matter of recruiting peace, but only asked him to send people to guard the mountain pass and wait for a large number of horses.

On the third day of the fourth month, there was indeed a large number of horse teams, which came to Maoer Mountain. Xu didn't know the strangeness of Maoer Mountain, and plunged into the mountain. The mountain was so foggy that you couldn't see it ten feet away. There was no guide to guide the way, and he soon lost his way.

A large herd of war horses, shuttling through the valley, turned around in a daze. It didn't take much effort, and the herd was divided by the valley fork and scattered everywhere. If there is no fog, it can be recovered quickly. But it happened that the fog was thick here, and before I knew it, the war horse was gone.

And Jin Chao's task is to lead his minions to keep an eye on which valley these horses have gone, and then report to Chang Shouyi.

The rest of the matter was commanded by Chang Shouyi, and Jin Chao didn't know about it.

"The horses turned into a fork in the road, and the forbidden army escorted them didn't notice it?" Qin Zhong asked.

"The fog is too big to see far. And there are too many forks in the mountains, and there are twists and turns. Only when you go out of the mountain can you find that there is less. ”

Qin nodded and agreed with Jin Chao's statement. He had already seen it just now, and the fog was surging in the valley, which indeed blocked his vision. When the horse turns into a fork in the road, it is impossible to find out in time. Besides, Qin Yutian didn't bring many people with him when he escorted the war horses to save food.

There were 100 cavalry in both capitals, plus 100 people in both horses. There were 200 men in total, escorting 500 horses, and carrying a large amount of horse fodder, grain and grass. In normal times, there would be no trouble. But when you encounter a valley and it is foggy, you will definitely not be able to take care of it.

In this case, the loss of the war horse is inevitable, not to mention, there are still people who secretly have the idea of stealing horses.

"Where did the horses go?" Qin Zhong asked.

"I only know that I was taken away by Chang Shouyi, but I don't know where I went." Jin Chao replied honestly.

"Yanzhou." Qin Zhong stood up and slowly walked to the window, pondering this matter in his heart. According to Jin Chao's analysis, the theft of the war horse was a well-designed game. Some people already know about sending horses, and even the time and route of sending horses are clear.

"Who is Gao Qing?" Qin Chong didn't look back, and suddenly asked.

"He is a man who keeps righteousness and leaves the aftermath." Jin Chao looked at Qin Chong's back and said, "There are three people left, all of whom are marksmen. Especially Gao Qing, who can open a three-stone hard bow. It was also he who helped us stop the forbidden army. ”

"Oh?" Qin turned around and asked, "How did he block it?" ”

When Qin Yutian walked out of the mountain pass, he would naturally find that the war horse was lost, so how could he not come back to look for it? Even if the cat ear village is hidden, it must be found. Now that the cat ear village is intact, presumably the forbidden army did not kill here at that time. Even, I didn't find it at all.

"As soon as the horse team came out of the western mountain pass, Gao Qing and the others occupied the high place." Jin Chao said, "The mountain pass in the west is more dangerous than the east side, two bows and arrows can block the mountain pass, or take people's lives, don't think about rushing in." Speaking of this, Jin Chao's voice was full of excitement.

"Really?" Qin Zhong was noncommittal, but he thought to himself, it would not be easy to kill the archers and rush in? But soon, he thought of Gao Qing, a fierce man who could shoot a three-stone bow. With his hard bow suppressed, the arrows of the forbidden army could not reach him at all.

You can't fight back just by being beaten, how aggrieved is this battle? He could imagine that his father must have been furious at that time, but there was nothing he could do.

"It's been a long time, why is Gao Qing still here?" Qin Zhong asked again.

Hearing Qin Chong's question, Jin Chao's face changed color for a while, and he lowered his head unnaturally. After a moment, he looked up and said, "They speculate that the forbidden army has lost its war horse, and it must be replenished again." They waited here, just for the news of the next delivery of horses. ”

"Hey." Qin Chong was amused, these thieves are really big-hearted, they don't worry about encirclement and suppression, and they are even more worried about the next batch.

"By the way, here's the carrier pigeons, they brought them." Jin Chao suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said.

"Pigeons?" Qin Zhong smacked his lips and said in his heart, the communication is advanced enough, and even carrier pigeons are used. After asking where the pigeon cage was, Qin Chong asked Lang Zongyu to take a look. In fact, he knew in his heart that these people had fled, and the carrier pigeon probably would not stay.

After a while, Lang Zongyu returned to the wooden house. The pigeon cage fell, but the pigeon was gone, which was the same as Qin Chong's estimate. Lang Zongyu took a step forward and approached Qin Chongyi to spread his hands, only to see that in his palm, he was holding an inch-long bamboo pipe.

"What is this?" Qin Zhong recognized that this was a bamboo pipe tied to the pigeon's feet. Write a message on a small piece of paper, stuff it into a bamboo tube, and the message can be delivered.

There was nothing in the bamboo pipe, and the news had already been taken out.