Chapter 29 Chapter Ten Li Tan

The official establishment of the Jing'an Department in Nanzheng City has 62 people, who work for the Shuhan court and receive the salary of the Shuhan court.However, there are other people in the city who also work for the imperial court, but they do not receive high-sounding salaries. of civil intelligence.Li Tan is one of them. He was a pottery merchant, with a small stature and a mustache. He looked like a typical merchant.His business often travels between Han, Wei, Wu and the Three Kingdoms, pottery is not considered a strategic material, and Li Tan is good at dealing with government officials, so he hasn't caused any trouble so far.This person is very well-informed, Jing'an Division often buys some information from him about the other two countries, even including the activities of private secret societies in Shu Han, and the cooperation between the two parties has always been very pleasant.

On this day, Li Tan was counting pottery outside his residence in Nanzheng. More than 20 round-mouthed pig ring urns made by Jiangyang were stacked outside the house. These goods were ordered by Nanzheng's workshop and military workshop. Shipped to Hanzhong. Suddenly there was the sound of horseshoes rushing from outside the fence, but Li Tan ignored it and continued to concentrate on counting his goods.Since this morning, it has been tossing outside, and there are always large groups of soldiers running around, nothing to be surprised about.But this time it was different, the sound of horseshoes continued all the way to the courtyard door of the residence, and then the courtyard door was slapped heavily, making a heavy and muddy thumping sound.

"Here we come, don't worry..." Li Tan put down his brush, went to the door and opened it, he was taken aback, "Hey, Xun Zong, what gust of wind brought you here?" "Listen, I urgently need your help right now." Xun Xu said straight to the point. "Success, success, there is no reason not to help Xun with his busy work, you just ask." "Don't worry, after the matter is completed, the Jing'an Division will give you more Shu brocade expenses." Xun Xu gave him a huge profit before he said anything, which is the principle of dealing with businessmen.Each government department of the Shu Han has a fixed budget for Shu brocade every year. If these expenses are brought forward to be sold in Wei or Wu, it will be a lucrative business.

"Hey, Xun Zong, you are out of touch, don't you, even if your help is in vain, I would be willing to help me, I will not hesitate to go up the mountain of swords and down into the sea of ​​fire!" Li Tan patted his chest and said generously.Xun Xu patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, and told him why he came.Li Tan was startled after hearing this, and the account book in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, and he began to regret that he shouldn't have talked so much. As soon as Nanzheng's south gate garrison commander received the order this morning, he closed the city gate and mobilized all the people to guard the gate.Although he himself was surprised by this inexplicable order, but the military order was like a mountain, he still carried it out to the letter.Since the morning, there have been several waves of people begging him to accommodate and let people go out. There are all kinds of reasons, but there is only one ending, that is, there is no room for refusal; a young man who claims to be Jing'an has even been here twice, and they are all resentful. And retreat.

Seeing that the sun was rising three poles, the head of the gate garrison held the spear in one hand and put the other hand to his mouth in boredom, and yawned long.The people who had been warned all hid in their homes, the streets were empty, and there was no one in front of the city gate. At this moment, the head guard saw an ox cart approaching the south gate.The black ox in the bullock cart is very strong, and the two black horns are faintly shining; the goods pulled behind the cart are covered with a piece of coarse felt, which is not clear, but judging from the shape, it is something like a big earthen jar.

"Stop! Where are you going!" the gate guard shouted. The bullock cart came to a sudden stop, Li Tan jumped out of the cart, approached the gate guard with a big smile on his face and said, "Master Yao, this is a small cart." "Oh, it's you." The gate guard knew Li Tan, who often commutes here, and he is basically familiar with the guards, "What are you transporting in this car?" "Hey, I ordered a batch of urns a few days ago, and several of them were damaged. I feel distressed, but I can't help it. I have to go to Jiangyang's workshop to return the goods, or I will lose money."

The head of the gate garrison gave him a sympathetic look, and said in a relieved tone: "This will cost a lot of money." Li Tan hurriedly nodded in agreement, and then asked cautiously in a low voice: "Can you let me go out a little bit, this matter cannot be delayed." He was the first to let him go after the martial law was lifted.Li Tan still didn't give up, and used the kung fu of a businessman's stalking and beating, but the head guard was not soft. While the two were stalemate, two more knights approached the city gate from the other side and stopped their horses in front of the ox cart.The leader is fair-skinned, dressed in a civil servant's crimson robe, and has a dignified face.He glanced at the ox cart, picked up the whip and asked the gate guard: "I am the personal secretary of the prime minister's mansion, what happened here?"

The head guard saw that his face seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember his name, but judging from his demeanor and attire, he must be a high-ranking official, so he didn't dare to be negligent, and reported the matter in detail.The civil servant got off his horse, walked to the bullock cart with his hands behind his back, looked Li Tan up and down with his eyes, Li Tan smiled uncomfortably, and moved his feet inadvertently. "This morning, did someone claiming to be a member of the Jing'an Department try to forcefully pass through here?" the civil official asked. The gate guard immediately straightened his waist and replied loudly: "Yes! But we didn't let him go."

"You have done a good job. According to the order Li Duhu just issued this morning, there are traitors hidden in the Jing'an Division. All of you must be placed under house arrest. You must not let any one go." The head of the gate garrison had heard this order from the patrolling soldiers passing by, and now he got confirmation from the civil officer, and he was glad that he didn't let that person go out for a while. "However... your vigilance is still not enough..." The civil official approached the ox cart, and suddenly lifted the tarpaulin, revealing several large earthy brown urns on the ox cart.

"Hey, what's going on here?" The gate guard asked in bewilderment, and at the same time noticed that Li Tan's face turned pale.The civil official sneered and pointed to a certain place between the big urns. Men Shuchang Tan turned his head to look, and suddenly found a corner of the cloth exposed outside, and looked carefully, and found that there was a person hidden between the big urns! What this person hides can be said to be well-intentioned.He made two holes in the adjacent undersides of two large urns placed side by side, and then burrowed in with his whole body, with his half-bent upper body in one urn, his legs folded over and stretched out into the other urn.The two urns are very close to each other, and there is no flaw at all if you don't look carefully.

The head of the guard was startled, and immediately clenched his spear and shouted at the big urn: "You! Come out!!" Other soldiers also ran over and surrounded the ox cart.The urn shook, and a soldier brought a sledgehammer and smashed it open.There was a "crash", and the big urn was broken into several pieces. Asher, who had nowhere to hide, retracted his feet from the other urn in embarrassment, and then stood up. "Thief, it really is you again!" The chief guard pointed at him angrily and cursed, then turned his head and gave Li Tan a hard look, and ordered them both to be tied up.The civil servant stroked his beard in satisfaction, expressing his satisfaction with the efficiency of the guard. "Thanks to my lord this time, otherwise there would have been a big mess..." The head of the gate guard respectfully said to the civil servant, bowed, straightened up and ordered: "Take these two spies to the army chief division!" "Wait a minute." The civil official stretched out his hand to signal them not to move yet, "Li Duhu is ordered. Once a spy is found, he must be sent to a special place for interrogation." The gate guard nodded again and again, which is understandable. "Then, please open the city gate." "Ah?" Men Shuchang was taken aback, "Aren't you going to the Prime Minister's Mansion..." The civil servant led his horse and took a step closer to the city gate, showing a proud smile typical of bureaucrats in charge of secrets: "You don't know about this. In order to ensure that the secrets are not leaked, Li Duhu specially designated Qinglong Mountain in the west of the city as the interrogation location. We will directly put the two A spy took him there. You should know this, and don’t tell others.” The chief guard licked his lips, still hesitating: "But... the military order..." "The purpose of the martial law is to prevent the spies from escaping. Now that the spies have been caught by you, the purpose of the martial law has been achieved. What are you worried about?" The civil servant deliberately bit the words "caught by you" clearly, It shows that he has no intention of taking credit, implying that the head of the guard has made a great contribution. The gate guard scratched his head, the civil servant's hint was indeed quite a temptation, and the other party's reasons were completely logical.So he turned around and held up his right hand, and ordered the guards to take off the crossbar, remove the horse barrier, and push the right side of the city gate to open a passage for two horses to enter and exit.Two soldiers escorted Asheer and Li Tan out in a file, followed by the civil servant and his entourage. The moment the civil servant was about to pass through the gate, the gate guard suddenly exclaimed: "Wait, wait a minute, I remember you!" Hearing this call, the civil official shook the reins, and was about to force his way in, but the gate guard grabbed the horse's side with the tip of a gun and stopped the civil official abruptly. The gate guard shouted: "You, I remembered! You are not the chief secretary of the prime minister's mansion! You are from Si Wencao!" As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind passing by his ears.The gate guard quickly turned his head to look, and saw that the civil servants who had been keeping quiet all the time suddenly rode their horses and exerted force, rushed away from the gate guard and the civil servants, and galloped out of the city.Just now the head guard hadn't paid attention to the appearance of that attendant, but now he finally remembered that it seemed that he was in charge of Jing'an Division, and his surname was Xun. "Xiaohe, hurry up and leave us alone!" Du Bi yelled at Xun Xu's back, and at the same time forced the horse to cross his body, sealing the gap in the city gate which was not wide.With a shake of his arm, Asher shook off the soldier who was holding his arm, rushed to the door and punched Men Shu on the long nose, trying to remove the gun head from the side buckle of Du Bi's mount. The South City Gate of Nanzheng was in chaos in an instant, shouts and hisses mixed together, and even the drums of the city tower rang out.Du Bi and Asheer resisted desperately, but there were too many guards after all. After a short struggle, they were both captured, and Li Tan had gone somewhere.The chief guard rubbed his nose that was bleeding from the beating, and stared at the prisoners in front of him full of resentment. "Do you want to send someone to chase after the one who escaped?" the subordinate asked carefully, trying not to offend the boss. "The martial law prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the city gate is still in effect, and you cannot easily send people out. You report to the Prime Minister's Mansion immediately, and wait for Li Duhu's order." This time the gate guard became more cautious, and he didn't want to Violated an order. Of course, the gate guard will never get an answer from the prime minister's mansion.This time Li Ping's martial law order actually helped Xun Xu a lot. After leaving Nanzheng City, Xun Xu didn't have time to feel sorry for his companions, so he drove his horse along the edge of the rolling hills outside the city.Compared with the other three districts, the southern suburbs of Nanzheng City are relatively desolate, with few trees and yellow sand everywhere. Only a circle of artificially planted bushes marks the boundary of the city.Xun Xu didn't ride very far, and soon he saw a young man in a navy blue coarse robe squatting under a bush, looking boredly at Nanzheng City throwing stones. Xun Xu rode his horse straight to him, leaned down and shouted, "Report to me!" The man was drowsy under the scorching sun, but when he heard the roar, he lost his balance and fell from the ground. The mound rolled down the hill.When he got up from the bottom of the pit in embarrassment and looked up to find the source of the sound, he saw the face of the chief officer of Jing'an Division. "Xun... Xun engaged in..." he stammered.Obviously, the young man knew nothing about the situation in the city. He just wondered why no one came to pick up the report within the stipulated time, so he waited at the door. "Report! Quick!" Xun Xu's voice was louder than the first time. He took out a stack of hemp paper from his pocket and handed it to Xun Xu tremblingly.The latter snatched it up.Immediately flipping through it roughly on the horse, making a rattling sound. "...This is the surveillance report as of 9 o'clock this morning, and all twenty-six outposts have been submitted..." The young man nervously added some explanations.But Xun Xu didn't listen at all, he just turned to the report of the surveillance post in the Eastern District of Nanzheng.According to the report, five outposts mentioned that they saw two knights passing through the monitoring area at Yinshi this morning. The two men were wearing military brocade robes, and their speed was not fast, but their faces were cleverly covered. More importantly, these five outposts are located on the same road, and this road is where Pei Xu guessed that Li Ping's escape route must pass. This has already explained everything, Xun Xu threw the piece of paper in his hand on the ground, and fixed his eyes on the face of the young man who was still panicked. "Do you have a horse?" "Ah... yes, yes... just tie it behind... it's a horse..." Xun Xu interrupted his introduction coldly: "Get ready within dozens of numbers, and then follow me as fast as you can, understand?" "Understood... Oh, by the way, my subordinate's name is Yang Yi..." "Go!" Xun Xu scolded angrily, he has no time to understand these things. After counting ten, Xun Xu and Yang Yi rode on the road and ran towards the east of Nanzheng City as if they were flying.Xun Xu flogged his mount desperately in front, as if trying to squeeze all the strength out of the poor animal, while Yang Yi followed closely behind inexplicably, completely unclear about the situation.I saw the two horses flying with all four hooves, drawing a semicircle around the southeast periphery of Nanzheng City like lightning, and then turned all the way east, setting off a series of billowing smoke and dust along the way. According to the surveillance report, it was obvious that only Li Ping and Zhulong were involved in the escape—this is in line with common sense, and the fewer the participants in the escape operation, the safer—this is luck among misfortunes for Xun Xu, who has no time to organize a group With a large-scale pursuit team, Du Bi and Asheer were lost at the city gate again, and now they can only fight alone, the fewer the number of enemies, the better. Now it's two-on-two, but tactically speaking, there is no essential difference between this and one-on-two.Theoretically, it is difficult for two people to effectively stop the same number of fugitives, at least five times more; if there is a direct conflict, it is difficult to say who will win: Xun Xu is a civil servant, Yang Yi is still young; A battle veteran and a total enigma. Thinking of this, Xun Xu turned his head pessimistically and glanced at Yang Yi, who was lying on his horse, struggling desperately with his poor riding skills and the bumpy road.His embarrassment made Xun Xu's pessimism even stronger. "Forget it, since you have already embarked on this road, you have to keep going..." Xun Xu thought to himself, and the two hands holding the rein were even more forceful.In any case, he has to stop Li Ping and Zhulong. This is not only a duty, but also a matter of self-esteem.He had already failed once, and that deep sense of frustration was the fundamental driving force for him to persevere in chasing Zhulong—even if Li Ping brought five hundred people and he had only one, he would still go after him alone without hesitation. This matter seems to have a result soon, either Xun Xu catches Zhulong, or dies in the action to stop Zhulong. Paranoia".A senior in the intelligence community once said that only the paranoid can be competent for the work of the Jingan Division. The mountains and forests on both sides kept retreating at high speed, and the sound of the wind whistling past Xun Xu's ears made him squint his eyes.They had been flying for an hour and a half, and had just left Nanzheng area and entered Xixiang.Xun Xu has been nervously calculating in his mind that now Li Ping and Zhulong may have arrived at Nanxiang or somewhere in the lower reaches of the Mianshui River. In any case, it must be finished before they reach Shiquan, otherwise everything will be over. "No matter which route they take, they must bypass the Yunwu Mountain on the border of the Han and Wei Dynasties from the south, and then turn back to the east. If we take a shortcut and cross the Yunwu Mountain, we may be able to make it in time." Xun Xu thought unconfidently, after all, they were nearly half a day behind, and they would never be able to catch up by taking the main road; it was possible to take a shortcut, but it was a mountain road, and there was no posthouse to change horses along the way, so they had to make sure that they were poor His mount ran continuously for more than ten hours without any problems.In short, Xun Xu had to be very, very lucky if he wanted to get ahead of Li Ping. But after thinking about it, the speed of the mount under his crotch did not decrease at all.In the evening, Xun Xu and Yang Yi arrived at a small post station somewhere in Xixiang, where they changed their exhausted horses, and learned that two people who held documents from the Prime Minister's Mansion also changed their horses here in the afternoon. , heading south.The two of them didn't stay for a moment, and immediately started on the road after carrying a few pieces of thick buns. They ran along the avenue for two hours, and then Xun Xu made a decision. They would leave the avenue and venture into the eastern mountains. This was the only possible way to succeed. "Xun Zong, do we have to do this?" Yang Yi timidly looked at the dark mountain shape in the distance, and asked timidly.As of this morning, he was just a small messenger in Nanzheng City, but now he is working with Jing'an Division and standing on the edge of the steep mountain in the east of Hanzhong. "We have to." Xun Xu replied calmly. The nights in the mountains were quite cold, so Xun Xu and Yang Yi had to put on felt robes and tie sheepskins around their legs to resist the ubiquitous damp and cold.The surroundings were pitch black, and the dense branches and leaves stretched out in all directions, like dark spider webs covering the moonlight and starlight. The thick ink-like breath made despair slowly grow in people's hearts, as if they would never be able to get out of this dark forest.The two people can only confirm each other's position by the tassel bell on the horse's neck and shouting. The speed of the horses is very slow, and the road is extremely difficult and dangerous at night. Sometimes it is impossible to tell which side is the cliff and which side is the ridge.When they got to some scary road sections, they even had to dismount and hold the reins to move forward step by step cautiously. They could often hear the rumble of stones rolling down the cliff under their feet. Xun Xu didn't make any comments on this arduous journey, he just walked forward with a dull head.I don't know how the situation in Nanzheng City has changed now. Has the entire military and political system noticed the fact that the top leader has fled?Are Du Bi and the others safe and sound?These thoughts only flashed in Xun Xu's mind for a moment, and then they were replaced by more important things. "Xun Zong, who are we going after?" Yang Yi asked cautiously.At this time, the two men were dragging their horses through a steep slope full of tall pine trees. There was no road here, so they could only use the gaps in the trees to cross, and they had to be careful not to roll to the bottom of the slope, God knows how deep it was. Xun Xu frowned, he didn't like this question, but he had to give some encouragement to this young man who had followed him for a long time, so he briefly explained the whole thing to Yang Yi.Yang Yi opened his mouth wide after hearing this, he hardly believed it was true, he waved his right hand, not hiding his surprise at all: "You mean, Li Duhu really..." "Be careful!" Xun Xu suddenly shouted.Yang Yi's waving movement suddenly made his feet lose his balance, and he tugged on the reins of his mount and fell down the slope.Xun Xu let go of his horse and flew over. "Let go of the rein!" Xun Xu yelled, Yang Yi let go of his hand immediately, Xun Xu grabbed him by the back, but the beast rolled towards the bottom of the slope because of the force of the pull. Let out a whine.Soon there was the crackling sound of branches being broken from the bottom of the slope, and then the dead silence returned. Xun Xu pulled up Yang Yi, who was still in shock, and asked him to hug a pine tree to prevent the tragedy from happening again; the young man shuddered, and stared in horror at the darkness where the horse fell, gasping for breath.Xun Xu said to him coldly: "Remind me when you go back, you don't want to hear any stories from me in the future." When they climbed over this steep slope, the mountain eased up significantly, and a rough path with inconspicuous traces could be seen in the shadow of the foothills.Unfortunately, Xun Xu found that his horse had also sprained its front leg in the sudden accident just now. Although it could barely move, it could no longer run. This was an extremely heavy blow to Xun Xu. To be honest, he would rather it was Yang Yi who fell just now.Without their mounts, it was impossible for them to catch up with Li Ping. The distance from here to the nearest post station was at least forty miles away. Xun Xu staggered to the middle of the road, and squatted facing east without saying a word, his back arched badly.Yang Yi couldn't see his expression from behind, but he didn't dare to go over and speak, so he could only rub his hands nervously and stand away from him, his face pale - he knew how big a mistake he had made. At this moment, the sound of horseshoes suddenly came from the other side of the road, scattered but not chaotic.Xun Xu and Yang Yi were startled, and at the same time raised their heads to follow the sound, and soon they saw a group of fifteen to twenty horse riders appearing from the shadows in the distance, walking slowly in this direction. come. The knights also noticed the two men, and the leading knight stopped twenty steps away from them, raised his right hand and made a gesture.The other cavalry immediately divided into two teams and skillfully circled around Xun Xu's two wings, forming a perfect encirclement circle around him.Xun Xu recognized them as the Shu Han military by their attire and harness type, but it is not known which part they belonged to. "Who are you, what are you doing here so late?" the cavalry leader asked sternly on the horse, his voice was deep and powerful. "I am Xun Xu from Nanzheng Division Wencao Jing'an Division, and I am currently performing official duties. Which unit are you in?" Xun Xu asked back. He noticed three obvious tiger stripes on the right side of the cavalry leader's neck. The leader of the cavalry didn't expect that the ugly guy in front of him was actually a middle-level official of the prime minister's mansion. He couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and his tone softened a little: "My name is Zhong Ze, and I belong to Du Bo of the patrolling army under General Gao Xiang. Task." "The grain patrol army? Why did the grain patrol army come to the south of Hanzhong?" "Execute the mission." Zhong Ze said four words briefly, he didn't need to say anything more.Xun Xu nodded in understanding, and then showed Jing'an Division's copper token from his pocket: "Uncle Zhong, I don't know what your mission is, but please stop now. I need your assistance to complete another mission." An urgent task, which is the highest priority." "I'm sorry, Xun is engaged, but the order we received is also the top priority." In the faint moonlight, Xun Xu saw the strong and sharp chin of the Dubo in front of him. He should be a stubborn and stubborn person who would not change his mind easily.He raised his head to look at the sky, and every passing minute was extremely precious. Xun Xu took a step closer and decided to tell the whole thing: "Okay, Uncle Zhong, it's like this..." ...After listening to Xun Xu's statement, Zhong Ze remained unmoved, his expression didn't seem to change, as if he was listening to something completely unrelated. "I'm sorry, Xun Eng, I can't abort the mission casually because of an unverifiable event." "Even if this may cause irreparable and huge losses to the big man?" Xun Xu asked aggressively. Facing this question, Zhong Ze pondered for a while, and slowly replied: "How about this, Xun Zong, I can lend you two horses, and then you and I can continue each other's tasks, how about that?" "It's not enough!" Xun Xu cried unwillingly, his tone became more and more anxious as time went by.Zhong Ze seemed very dissatisfied with his insatiable greed. He loosened his neckline and said impatiently: "Then what do you want? Xun Eng." "All of you." Xun Xu replied without hesitation, "I must rush to the Donggu crossing of Yunwu Mountain as soon as possible, and stop Zhulong and Li Ping there." After he finished speaking, he took a step forward, almost facing Zhong Ze. horse's head, arms outstretched in front. "Either follow me to the East Valley crossing, or just trample me to death here and continue your mission." Zhong Ze was taken aback by Xun Xu's almost rogue behavior, and he pulled the rein involuntarily to make the horse back a little, as if he couldn't bear the opponent's momentum.Yang Yi and the cavalrymen under Zhong Ze stared at the two of them dumbfounded, not daring to say a word, and the whole place was extremely quiet. "Please make a decision quickly!" Xun Xu urged. Zhong Ze hesitated for a moment, shrugged his shoulders slightly, and finally let out a long breath, seeming to accept Xun Xu's proposal: "Okay, Xun Xu, as you like, let's go to Donggu Crossing. The destination is not too far." The last sentence sounded like he was convincing himself. So Xun Xu and Yang Yi joined Zhong Ze's team, Zhong Ze asked two of his subordinates to give them the horses, and the group continued on their way. Xun Xu should feel lucky that he met Zhong Ze: this team is a very good mountain cavalry, the horses have obviously undergone professional training, and the riders' control is also very precise. not slow.If Xun Xu could understand that Zhong Ze belonged to the Pushing Battalion under the command of General Huang Zhong and showed his might on Dingjun Mountain, he would not be surprised by this. At noon on May 7th, Xun Xu finally reached the Donggu crossing. Such a speed is a masterpiece. The East Valley crossing is a long and narrow passage naturally formed in the valley, which can barely accommodate three or four horses in parallel. Both sides are covered with grayish-yellow jagged rocks, covered by sparse light green vegetation, but they cannot hide the water washed by the rain. of ditches.The exit of this tunnel is connected to Wei Guoshiquan in the east, but the exit on the other side has to turn south to the south foot of Yunwu Mountain to connect with Micang Mountain in Hanzhong. It has almost no military value, so Wei and Han never sent people to guard it here. deserted. Xun Xu didn't know whether Li Ping and Zhulong had passed here, so he could only hope that his calculation was correct.He asked Zhong Ze's subordinates to lie in ambush on both sides of Taniguchi, and he and Zhong Ze chose behind a raised shield-shaped boulder halfway up the mountain, where he could hide his body and observe Taniguchi's situation. "If there is still no movement after the sun sets, I have to withdraw my staff and continue to carry out our mission." Zhong Ze reminded Xun Xu, who was staring at the movement in the valley below, without turning his head, and casually nodded nod.If the two fugitives hadn't appeared before the sun set, then they must have passed through the Taniguchi long before the ambush was set up, and no one would be needed in that case. "How long will Jing'an Division's bad luck last..." Xun Xu squatted behind the rock and muttered to himself, at the same time rubbing his face with both hands desperately, since yesterday morning he has not closed his eyes at all.Only at this time did Zhong Ze have the opportunity to take a closer look at what this Jing'an Secretary was doing.Running around all night made this man look dusty and exhausted, and there were a few white hairs on his head that did not know when they appeared; but his expression was not at all tired, as if he was being spurred by some motivation, his whole body was filled with A wonderful vitality. In the past, Zhong Ze had only seen such a luster in the eyes of soldiers who were fighting to the death. It was driven by pure spiritual power.Zhong Ze looked at the sky, the sun was hanging in the middle of the sky and scatters the heat vigorously, the few plants around were drooping from the sun, and even the rocks were slightly hot.He lay down with the luggage under his head, grabbed a piece of grass, chewed it carefully in his mouth, the mixed taste of bitterness and sweet hit the tip of his tongue, it seems that there is still some time before the sunset. Two hours later, at the time when Weishen met, two figures appeared at Gudaokou. This news lifted everyone's spirits.Xun Xu grasped the edge of the rock with both hands, and looked carefully, his hands trembling slightly. "Is it the two people you are looking for?" Zhong Ze leaned over and asked in a low voice. Xun Xu maintained the original posture, and it took a long time before he slowly answered: "Yes." Zhong Ze had never heard the word "Yes" so clearly and forcefully before. The decisive moment has finally arrived. Those two people were completely unaware of their situation, and still ran towards Taniguchi at a normal speed.They all wore the military's unique gray-brown marching brocade robes, with one side of the robes raised to cover their faces to resist the sand and dust along the way.The mounts under the crotch are two sorrel horses, two half-empty cowhide water bladders are dangling behind the saddles, and a black flag is planted on the horse of the leading knight.This is a unique symbol of the Prime Minister's Mansion. As long as there is this flag, anyone can travel unimpeded in the territory of Shuhan. "Let's do it." Seeing that they had entered the encirclement, Zhong Ze proposed.Xun Xu nodded.Their encirclement is impeccable, with five men each intercepting the target; in addition, there are six crossbowmen lying in ambush on several commanding heights, and if the target tries to escape, they will immediately shoot and kill the horse; They are fast enough to catch any fish that slip through the net. The two knights moved forward more than ten steps, Zhong Ze stood up vigorously, waved his right hand vigorously, and shouted at the same time: "Do it!" The soldiers in the encirclement yelled together, and the sudden loud noise made the two knights at a loss and froze in place.Ten soldiers in charge of intercepting immediately rushed out from the mountains on both sides, brandishing short knives and rushing towards them. One of the knights pulled out his sword, kicked the horse's belly and ran forward; Holding on to the bit, the other two men pulled him off the horse and knocked him to the ground with a thud. The knight rushing to the front relied on the impact of the horse to almost break through the encirclement of the interceptors. At this moment, a crossbow pierced through the air and was accurately nailed to the horse's neck.The mount let out a whine, and fell to one side; the knight suddenly couldn't adjust his posture, and fell to the ground, being heavily pressed by the falling horse, unable to move. About fifty steps away, Xun Xu hung down the crossbow and stared at his masterpiece coldly.He was also a good shooter, which no one noticed. The arrest process lasted less than one-fifth of a stick of incense. Both knights were subdued, and two soldiers each held their arms tightly, and two sharp short knives were placed on their chests neck. "Finally...is it over?" Xun Xu's heart trembled with excitement, and his legs walked as if they were stepping on cotton.This is the ending he has been pursuing, but now it makes him feel that he lacks a real sense of reality, like a dream that is easy to wake up. He walked up to the first knight, stretched out his hand to uncover the corner of the robe on his face, and then bowed slightly to him: "Li Duhu, we meet again." Li Ping's square and serious face now looked Frightened and in pain, bean-sized drops of sweat flowed down his broad forehead; his leg was broken by the horse just now, and now he can barely stand up with the support of the people on both sides. Xun Xu read "despair" from his eyes. He made a big bet on his career, and now he lost, he lost everything in it.Yesterday he was the guardian of Shu Han, but now he has been reduced to a prisoner.Li Ping was breathing heavily. He watched Xun Xu's lips move, but he didn't say anything after all. "Come here, treat Li Duhu's leg." Xun Xu ordered, and then turned his attention to another person. The man covered his face with the hem of his robe and stood there without saying a word, allowing the soldiers to press his arms without any resistance.Xun Xu took a deep breath, some wanted to laugh, some wanted to cry, none of his expressions could accurately describe his current mood. From the seventh year of Jianxing to the ninth year of Jianxing, it took three full years, nearly three years of fighting, and nearly three years of tracking, all of which have come to an end today.Xun Xu looked at the opponent who was only separated from him by a thin brocade robe, and couldn't help swallowing, and pressed his left hand on his chest. He found that his fragile chest seemed to be unable to restrain the beating of his heart.With just a flick of his arm, Shu Han will be able to get rid of the biggest heart disease in history, and he will also lose one of his best friends.At this moment, will Xun Xu hesitate? The answer was no, he stretched out his right hand without hesitation, and pulled down the corner of the robe that was covering him. Xun Xu and Zhulong finally face each other.