While the 2nd Army was busy building the city, the 1st Army was divided into three, and the main force went to the edge of the desert.

Scarface's training method has made the Lingbo cavalry miserable, and after seeing Hua Zifei's methods, he knows that the captain who doesn't like to talk is the real devil, and several standard commanders still have opinions at first, Hua Yue seems to have inadvertently revealed that he was once a leopard Jiexiao cavalry captain, and one by one he hurriedly closed his mouth, and returned to the standard team to improve the training standard by himself, and the words are frank enough, whoever wants to be appreciated by the former leopard captain may be able to be assigned to the Xiao cavalry battalion after graduation, the most elite unit in the empire, the most trusted unit of the royal family, and there is no worry about a good future.

Mei Ying took the aristocratic battalion to stay in the camp, the desert training was exposed to the wind and the sun, the children of the nobility did not want to go, and they didn't have to dig trenches to do hard labor, they were secretly happy in their hearts, they were not afraid of sacrifice or injury, and they were embarrassed and lost their identity when they were covered in mud, who knew that the next day the rules changed, the five standard teams took turns patrolling and guarding, and the others all went to ram the earth, and the nobles did not dare to say that they felt wronged in their hearts, and they were weak when they worked, when Mei Ying walked with the soil, the captain Zhao Pengfei blushed with shame, and the news spread throughout the camp, and the atmosphere of the aristocratic camp changed.

"If you hold your hands tightly, you won't be able to get blisters easily. Take a break, I'll help you pick it out. ”

The aristocratic battalion worked hard for a day, and when he returned to the camp to serve an unstable job, the most seriously injured man grinded out seven water (blood) blisters on his hands, Mei Ying had already prepared, and his superb medical skills came in handy, and he personally dealt with the soldiers with a bitter face, and did not forget to teach the skills. The progress of the aristocratic battalion was old and backward at the beginning, and the cunning Hu Li never supervised, but he set up a big wooden sign in front of the Chinese military tent to make the daily progress of each battalion public, so that Zhao Pengfei was ruthless, and after dinner, the other battalions rested, he blew the assembly horn, led people to rush to work overnight, and could sleep only after completing the task of the day, and Mei Ying was bound to be present every night, and her clothes stained the soil and became a thief.

The inspectors and Qiu Xingchen's battalion entered the forest.

The sparse trees unconsciously became tall and dense, the canopy blocked the sun, the sun could not be seen more than ten feet away in the broad daylight, the rotten grass under the feet exuded a disgusting smell, the five standard teams took turns to open the way with long knives and axes, and the soldiers led the horses through with difficulty.

The inspection team is responsible for exploring the road, Gao Yuan and the tomb robber Yeluqi are at the forefront, more than ten years have passed, the original road has long been overgrown with trees and weeds, Yeluqi can only point out the general direction, the two of them are looking for traces in the bushes and weeds, a few days ago there were some eyebrows, and then there were no clues, often probing dozens of miles forward, only to barely confirm that there was no mistake, and when they came back, the signpost team had stopped and rested for a while.

"Takagaki how far is it?"

Qiu Xingchen wanted to follow Hua Zifei to the desert, but he learned that Xiaoshan's actions were very important, so he had no choice but to lead the team to come, thinking that it was not to find an abandoned ancient village, there was Xiaoshan as an obvious target, so he didn't have to work too hard, and he didn't forget to take his own soldiers to leave the team to hunt at the beginning. A pro-soldier let the mosquito bite, didn't take it to heart, ran around in the forest as usual, noticed that something was wrong, several people lifted up and walked back and forth, and when the doctor arrived, the pro-soldier's face was swollen as if he had been soaked in water for a few days, and he was poisoned to death that night, Qiu Xingchen no longer dared to be careless, only to remember that Gao Yuan had repeatedly told him that there was danger everywhere in the forest.

Qiu Xingchen walked to the stream next to him as he spoke, wanting to wash off the dust on his face, Gao Yuan looked at him and was about to reply, his face instantly turned pale, he didn't have time to remind him, he rushed forward, Qiu Xingchen instinctively defended and counterattacked when he heard the wind, and he caught a glimpse of a familiar phantom in the corner of his eye, and he was about to laugh and scold as soon as he loosened his strength, and he was stunned on the spot before he could say anything.

A poisonous snake the thickness of a teacup, opened its mouth wide and spit out a scarlet core, seven inches for Gao Yuan to pinch tightly, the snake body has been wrapped around his arm, it looks like it is three or four feet long, Qiu Xingchen looked at the triangular head and felt cold sweat on his forehead, highly poisonous three steps, the ghost knows where it came from, just let it bite, the dignified captain will die a lot, settle down and pull out the short knife, instead of cutting this poisonous snake into small pieces to stew into snake soup.

"Don't kill!"

Gao Yuan secretly shouted luck, but fortunately Qiu Xingchen opened his mouth to attract attention, only to find out that the stick was actually a poisonous snake, and when the snake's mouth was less than a foot away from him, he pinched the seven-inch vital point, and his finger was almost kissed by a snake, and he had to die before leaving his last words.

"The three steps are generally in groups, and they are used to entrenching in grassy caves, how can they hide by the water's edge?" Gao Yuan let the poisonous snake roll around his arm, his eyes kept scanning the stream, and he was relieved after not finding a hidden poisonous snake, and explained to Qiu Xingchen: "This snake is especially vengeful, killing one will attract the revenge of the snakes, and it can't be killed." ”

"Captain Gao is right, three steps generally do not take the initiative to hurt people, killing it leaves a bloody smell, and the snakes are unable to prevent it. Captain Qiu, didn't you sprinkle anti-snake water?" Gao Yuan's speed was so fast that Yeluqi's exclamation choked in his throat, and he still had palpitations at this time, and he glanced at the poisonous snake and Qiu Xingchen.

"I really don't know whether to say that the captain is unlucky or lucky, hehe, back then, we had someone die under the mouth of the shekou, hiding in the water's edge of the three-step down, I still have the impression, walk for two or three days, we will reach the destination. ”

Qiu Xingchen thinks that the snake water smells bad, there are always pro-soldiers around him, there is no need to suffer again, who knows that talking to Gao Yuan about business, the pro-soldiers are on guard in the distance according to the rules, and the result is almost killed, listening to Yeluqi's words, he is even more depressed, dare to love the two of you haven't found it yet, it was Lao Tzu who accidentally found the road sign, it was not good to give Yeluqi a face, and he was angry on the disciple: "You didn't sprinkle the medicine, you ran back and forth a few times, why did the poisonous snake only come to Lao Tzu?"

"Coach, believe it or not, I have killed snakes since I was a child, and I have not been bitten by snakes, and ordinary poisonous snakes dare not get close. "What Gao Yuan said is the truth, but it has become a myth in the ears of Qiu Xingchen and Yeluqi, I have only heard that the butcher who kills the dog has a bad spirit, which can make the wild dog bark silently, and I really don't know if someone will let the poisonous snake hide, if Gao Yuan is not joking, then how many poisonous snakes should he have killed.

"It's not that I intend to kill, set a trap in the grass to catch rabbits, almost catch a few by mistake every night, at first I didn't dare to move, but the trap is not good, so I had to kill and get it back, hehe, the snake will not hide from the danger is not sure, but the wolves in the forest later saw me and ran, a wolf pack of dozens did not come to surround and kill, so I chased all day. ”

The father who did not meet died in the claws of the wolf, Gao Yuan found the wolf trace when hunting, and would rather abandon the goat and sika deer in front of him, but also chase after him to peel off the wolf skin, many times when he was a child, he almost died in the mouth of the wolves, and the grandfather who was secretly protecting rescued him, and after the age of ten, the mountains and forests around Changqing Village could no longer see the wolf trace, Gao Yuan once went to the depths of the dense forest, and the wild wolf ran away when he saw him.

"Three steps, the coach is going to rest, he doesn't want to hurt you, it's your fault to take the initiative to attack him, let me catch the fortune teller, don't provoke the wicked in the future." ”

Gao Yuan and the poisonous snake face to face, the tone of his speech did not seem to be a joke, Qiu Xingchen was angry and strange, he was afraid that the snakes would retaliate and did not dare to kill, could he understand, do you need to pretend to be friends with snakes?

"Captain Qiu, he is serious about talking to snakes, I don't believe that God is not afraid of ghosts, but I believe that plants and animals have spirituality, the more poisonous the snake, the smarter it is, if you don't believe it, you see, you must turn back and say goodbye before leaving in three steps. ”

Yeluqi's strange theory was quickly verified, Gao Yuan kept whispering, his fingers gradually relaxed his strength, slowly bent down, and when he saw that the three steps no longer spit out the core, the snake body wrapped around the arm hung down, and threw the poisonous snake to the ground as soon as he let go, and the body suddenly drifted back a long way, and the poisonous snake swam forward quickly after landing on the ground, and stopped at the water's edge after leaving half a zhang, coiled up and turned around, and saw the triangular snake's head nodded a few times, Qiu Xingchen really doubted whether it was an illusion, and watched the three steps fall into the stream.

"Rest for half a day, let the three-step reverse move, give us a way out. There was no attack after the three-step retreat, and he curled up to say goodbye when he left, but he was careful to make the Wannian ship, and he didn't have to regret it before he retreated sharply to dodge, and Yeluqi had confidence: "I found that the three steps were down, and I didn't need to explore the road anymore, the general direction was correct before, and I took a little detour, and there will be no more trouble behind." ”

"If it weren't for the school captain who raised you since childhood, Lao Tzu would have doubted whether you were a disciple of the witch sect. ”

Qiu Xingchen took out the anti-snake water, sprayed all the clothes and boots, a bottle of potion was enough for more than ten days, so he used less than half a bottle at a time, Gao Yuan retreated with all his strength when he released the snake, obviously afraid of the poisonous snake bite, he was so careful, who would dare to pretend to be a big-tailed wolf.

After three days, the trees became low and sparse again, and a vague mountain shadow could be seen in the distance, and they were breathless in the dense forest, and the soldiers saw the sun like relatives and friends who had been absent for a long time, and the marching speed was much faster.

After walking for dozens of miles, the forest was far behind, and there were no trees in sight, even the wild grass became sparse, the wild beasts and birds were long gone, the beasts and birds in the forest roared and the birds screamed, but there was a dead silence on the empty flat land.

Qiu Xingchen was not in a hurry to go up the mountain, and ordered to camp at the foot of the mountain near the water, perhaps not relieving himself from the fright of falling three steps, so he had to walk back and forth along the stream dozens of times, and he didn't dare to use the water he took casually, picking out an old horse for testing, and the other horses all drank reserve water.

After camping, Qiu Xingchen took the captains to see the terrain, the steep slope was littered with rocks, a three-zhang wide mountain road, winding up along the mountain, the road surface was flat enough for cars and horses to pass, a standard commander drew a knife to test the road conditions, saw the tip of the knife spark, the group was inexplicable, to clean up the troubled times to carve out this road, how much manpower and time does it take?

"Don't be surprised, horse bandits and bandits don't have this ability, haha, you'll understand when you go up. "Yeluch deliberately sold Guanzi and took the lead up the mountain.

"Fortress?"

The stone wall made of boulders is as high as two or three zhang, it can allow a sentry to walk side by side, there are low wall battlements inside and outside to protect, rows of stone houses in the stone wall have doors and no windows, arranged in an orderly manner, patrol around the city for a week, Qiu Xingchen came to the conclusion that more than ten years ago the horse bandits were just borrowed, the ancient village has existed for many years, no wonder the strong tribal cavalry will give up the strong attack, the tactics of water siege, the cliffs on three sides of the ancient village are nearly 100 zhang, not even a single tree, the smooth stone wall monkeys are difficult to climb up, not to mention that there is a circle of city wall protection on the cliff, the price of the attack is really unbearable。

"Good terrain, poor place, who knows which dynasty and which generation and which tribe built it, birds and beasts are extinct within a radius of dozens of miles, there is no water source on the mountain, and the fortress is to find a good coffin for your own family!" Yeluqi didn't want to become a sinner, so he kindly reminded Gao Yuan: "Captain Gao, almost all the people in the grassland have heard of this ancient village, Cuihua witch soldiers are familiar with the mountains and forests, there is no reason not to know, you want to store grain here, people will surround it and not attack, it won't take many days for the defenders to surrender obediently." ”

"Don't forget the season, this is summer, there is a lot of rain in the forest, the horse bandits did not expect that someone would besiege them before, we are prepared to be fooled again, see which stone houses are not? Hehe, first clear out a few rows of water storage, and then slowly build a reservoir in the village, a battalion of 3,000 men and horses, a little preparation will not worry about running out of water, there are tens of thousands of troops outside, I wish the enemy came to besiege the grain and grass camp. ”

"You said this, Lao Tzu is relieved, but still can't be careless, try to store as much water as possible, at least enough for half a month. Lao Tzu also has an idea, if what Yelu said is true, it is not difficult to dig the rocks under the ground, anyway, to open a kiln, simply take more effort, first take materials from the ground, dig a few more dark channels, lead a few streams to the bottom of the cliff, dig a deep well in the village, and use water no longer have to worry. ”

"Coach, why don't you leave after the battle? Gao Yuan teased a few sentences, and without waiting for Qiu Xingchen to stare at the lesson, he echoed: "However, I agree, natural fortress, it's a pity to give up, just build a secret camp for Yanning, we all know that this place is difficult to defend for a long time due to lack of water, solve the problem of drinking water, reserve food for a few years, have tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and don't be afraid of hundreds of thousands of people to besiege it, hahaha." (To be continued.) )