Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty

"Chang Jishi, found three mountain ranges, which seem to be the three lines of Yunshan." Wu Kuan, who was concentrating on meditation, opened his eyes and said, "Is that so? Raise the cloud-gazing mirror." A corporal got up and walked under his podium, and activated the mechanism. There was a "cluck, cluck", and a huge copper shaft surrounded by two people slowly rose up. A crystal stone was embedded in the copper shaft, and it was directly seen through bottom of the ship.Wu Kuan waited for it to rise to a position parallel to his podium, and bent down to look down.Under the crystal clear spar, white clouds are slowly drifting by.Under the white clouds is a green mountain range stretching from north to southwest.In front of them on the left—according to the report of the observer soldiers, the exact position is the direction of Haishi, sixty miles, and the height is nine miles—the mountain range is gradually divided into three, like three fingers on a hand, extending parallel to each other. The river crosses three mountain ranges.Because the country of Ba is remote and small, and the mountains and forests are really dense, there are no towns or villages to be seen at all.

Wu Kuan looked at it for a long time, then raised his head and said, "It's Yunshan. Tell the whole ship to slow down and maintain altitude. Let the combat troops and officials of Chijinju come up and wait for orders immediately." Wu Bian hurriedly turned around and gave orders loudly, ordering the ten commanders of the constant steering room, constant wing room, and constant lanthanum room to return to the cabin to command, while Lu Jishi and other officials who were fighting immediately gathered in the main cabin.Seeing Wu Kuan standing up, he said, "Why don't you inform that person?"

Wu Kuan thought for a while, and said, "I'll go. You command the whole ship, and hide behind the clouds. I don't want people from Ba to see our whereabouts, and there will be extra problems. It's better to end this matter as soon as possible." Wu Bian understood what he was thinking.The old man must have brought a shocking secret, so Wu Kuan has been seeing him alone, wanting to keep it alone so that no one else can get it.He saluted and said: "Yes! My lord, please be at ease, all the soldiers on our ship will only follow your lord's lead." Wu Kuan patted him on the shoulder, and was about to turn around to step off the stage when a soldier opened the hatch and came in, holding a letter in his hand, and shouted, "Chang Jishi! An urgent letter from Beimingkun City, just received."

Wu Kuan took a look at the cover, and said in surprise, "It's for him." "He" naturally refers to the extra guest in the formation.In Beimingkun City, Chang Jishi, who had crossed the Ling, sent an urgent letter to an outsider. Wu Bian felt a chill in his heart, and hurriedly said, "My lord! Are we going to step up our guard?" He winked at Wu Kuan, meaning to let He took a few more guards to meet the old man.At this time, the safety of Captain Chang Jishi is the most important. Wu Kuan pondered for a long time, but still shook his head, and said: "Do as I said just now. Have the reinforcements from Yao Qingcheng arrived?"

"Not yet, according to the schedule, the fastest shuttle should arrive this afternoon." "The order, the combat troops and the red gold tools are now in preparation for combat. After the reinforcements arrive, wait for my order and release them at any time. You can write today's navigation log, and send it back to Yaoqing City together with the previous two months. .If there will be a battle..." He paused, did not continue, and got off the podium. The operating officers and guards around stood up and saluted. Wu Kuan slightly raised his hand, walked through the crowd, and hurried to the back of the ship.

When approaching his room, Wu Kuan slowed down.Now this is the retreat room of the old man who called himself "pure".Has the person who took out Chaos already merged with Chaos, so even the place they are in will become cold? He took a deep breath outside the door and knocked on the door.The old man's humble voice immediately came from the door: "Please come in." He hid the letter in his cuff, pushed the door open, and saw the old man sitting upright with his eyes closed as usual, and said: "Good news, our ship is now in the territory of Pakistan." The old man opened his eyes and said with a smile: "Sure enough."

Wu Kuan walked to the window, opened the thick curtain with a clatter, and said, "Look, below are the three branches of Yunshan Mountain. Is there any lake you mentioned? I have sent three small Xingcha to search the nearby mountains carefully. .” The old man inadvertently hid himself in a place out of the sunlight, and said: "Don't look, it hasn't arrived yet. It feels like it should go further east." The sunlight outside was dazzling, Wu Kuan squinted his eyes and looked east, where was the tallest of the three mountain ranges.He murmured: "If I remember correctly, the three mountain ranges are Jishan, Jinshan and Liangshan. Then I will order the ship to turn around and search in the direction of Jinshan first."

The old man said: "Don't be too anxious, Chang Jishi. Don't you just hear about it slowly and draw it, it's good luck? Please sit down." Wu Kuan was wearing a large armor, so it was not convenient for him to sit, so he just sat in front of the small table.The old man poured him some tea, he took a sip, and said, "I'm very curious, I want to know if your feeling is really that accurate?" The old man smiled and said: "It depends on who, what, and whether it is related to me. For example, the letter that Chang Jishi is hiding in his cuff now probably has something to do with it. Otherwise, I feel itchy fingers, so I have to take a look at it." Woolen cloth?"

Wu Kuan smiled self-consciously, and said, "Look at me, I forgot about it. This is an urgent letter from Beimingkun City, please take a look." He handed it to the old man.The old man took the letter, opened the cowhide bag, took out the bamboo slips inside, and said: "Chang Jishi is busy with everything, and he can take time out of his busy schedule to personally deliver the letter for me. I am very grateful..." Speaking of this, there was a sudden meal.Wu Kuan, who was sitting across from him, saw his complexion suddenly changed, and suddenly he was extremely pale, and his forehead was so white that it turned blue.There were only two bamboo slips in the letter, which should be very concise, but the old man couldn't put it down after reading it over and over for a long time.Seeing his skinny hands trembling slightly, Wu Kuan couldn't help asking, "What happened?"

As soon as the words came out, he immediately regretted talking too much, stood up with his sword and said: "Since you have something to do, I won't bother you. I have ordered the combat troops and the red gold tools to be ready. If you need it, you can put it in at any time." Just as he was about to open the door and go out, the old man suddenly called out: "Chang Jishi, I wonder if you can stay and accompany me?" Wu Kuan's door was opened halfway, and at the end of the corridor, several heavy-armored guards were standing, probably sent by Wu Bian to strengthen the defense.Seeing the door open, one of them raised his crossbow nervously.These are the most powerful crossbows, even if the hatch is closed, the arrows engraved with forbidden runes can penetrate through them.Wu Kuan closed the door as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile, "Why not? Talk to Your Excellency, I really wish for it."

The old man said: "Excuse me, please close the curtain... I am old, and my eyes can no longer see too strong light." Wu Kuan closed the curtain, turned to look at him, hell, in such a short time, the old man's face was more than ten years old.When he first boarded the Star Chassis, although he was old, he was very energetic, giving people a strong sense of oppression, but now... his face has become gray, soft, and collapsed... He was startled inwardly and didn't dare to look any further, so he sat down opposite the old man and drank tea in a leisurely manner.After a long time, the old man said: "Chang Jishi, you must... hate me?" "Ah? Why did you say that?" The old man said: "I understand. What we do, in the eyes of ordinary people, is not only reckless, but also committing crimes... We dig down day and night, like people who dig up dead bodies... No, It's worse than that... what we're digging is death itself. You hate me, you hate me, you're a normal person, don't you? I know it." Wu Kuan didn't know how to answer, so he just kept silent and gave him an unclear attitude. The old man bent down, panted wearily for a while, and said again: "Only we know what we are doing. If you want to say that this matter is going against the sky, you are right, because the current great god Fuxi is the sky, if you say against him ...cough cough..." He stopped. Fortunately, he kept his mouth shut, otherwise Wu Kuan would have yelled out.Against God?This is simply... Although the Yunzhong Clan does not offer sacrifices to God Fuxi like the Wu Clan or the Human Clan, it is unimaginable to do so openly.They spent their entire lives digging down and taking out the Chaos, actually wanting to... Why did Beimingkun City secretly form an alliance with them?Wu Kuan's mind was spinning fast... Could it be that the legend... the legend about someone in the upper class secretly enshrining a prostitute (a god who is not recognized by the righteous god) is true?Could it be that there are people in the clan who support them... Wu Kuan swallowed silently, not daring to think about it any further, forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency is joking. In fact, I have heard a little about what you did in Flounder Island. Leaving aside the reason, it is only because of your concentration and perseverance. , let me admire." "Yes." The old man narrowed his eyes: "It is indeed very hard, very hard...but...very fulfilling. Can you continue to do one thing for more than fifty years? We are doing it. We are doing it A big event. Even after a hundred years, I still want to say that it is worth it... We are like brothers, whether it is witches, humans, demons, or you Yunzhong clan... Can't imagine? So many people gathered together , all the strongest elites... many people died, many people..." He picked up the bamboo slips on the table again, looked at them carefully, and said, "I...I really...can't find anyone who can bear this news with me, I'm sorry...all I can find here is It's just you, I hope you don't mind." Wu Kuan saw that his expression was strange, he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, he didn't know what to say, so he hurriedly said, "Why did you say that? If you have anything to say, please feel free to say it." The old man rubbed his eyes and said sorry: "Ah, yes, I haven't told you what it is... Actually, it has nothing to do with you at all... The sea tide attacked the flatfish island, and the tunnel was destroyed... Only a dozen people Survived... God is too cruel!" He slammed his fist on the table, and with a "snap", the small jade table with the copper edge was broken into several pieces by him.Wu Kuan was caught off guard and was almost hit.He jumped up and held down the hilt of the sword, and was about to draw it out, when suddenly his whole body went numb, and his whole body froze immediately, unable to move at all. There were several muffled sounds of "Plop, flop, flop", and a few arrows shot through the door.These soldiers had already calculated their positions, and the arrow points went straight to the old man.Wu Kuan watched helplessly as the old man remained motionless, and the moment the sticks touched his clothes, they turned into ashes and fluttered all over the ground.This is the most esoteric wood technique in the legends, I didn't expect this old man to possess this skill. The door was pushed open suddenly, and two heavy-armored guards rushed in with their swords raised. Wu Kuan saw the old man's eyes flash, and shouted: "Stop! Stop!" The two guards were stunned, the old man nodded slightly, and Wu Kuan was able to move immediately.He knew in his heart that such a narrow place was the most powerful range of spells. Even if the whole ship's guards came, they would not be a match for this person. Down!" The two guards looked at the old man and then at Chang Jishi, at a loss.Wu Kuan said: "We are discussing important matters, please don't disturb us, please step back." After the guards retreated and closed the door again, Wu Kuan almost forced himself to let go of the hilt of his sword with his stiff hand, and said, "Your Excellency's heart was agitated, it turned out that it was because of the flood attack on the Flounder Island. I can also accept this feeling." experience." The old man let out a long sigh, cupped his hands and said, "I thought that after decades of practice, my mind was at peace, but I didn't expect...Chang Jishi is really an open-minded person, which makes me feel even more ashamed." Wu Kuan said: "There are only a dozen people left? I'm afraid such a huge tide is unimaginable. Your Excellency feels sorry for the death of your companion. How can you say that you are ashamed?" The old man was exhausted, so he sat down again, and said: "It's not just the death of my companion... The tunnel... The tunnel is finally destroyed. At least three to fifty years, it will be impossible to open it again. If the Five Elements passage of Youming Huangquan breaks, it will be even more difficult. irreparable..." Wu Kuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, coughed, and planned to comfort him a little.Before he could speak, the old man suddenly raised his head, and the fierce look in his eyes startled him.The old man said eagerly: "Hurry up, hurry up! Let's see where is ahead? Keep to the left." Wu Kuan walked quickly to the window and opened the curtain, staring down, the Lingxing Xingcha was slowly passing through the gap in the middle of a cloud, and under the gap was Jishan, one of the three systems of Yunshan.Wu Kuan discriminated carefully, and said hesitantly: "It seems... there is a village... not very clear." He turned his head, only to see the old man squatting on the ground, biting off a finger, and drawing a rune with blood.He painted quickly, but also very cautiously. Many places were constantly thickened and widened with blood.Wu Kuan felt that this rune looked familiar. After thinking about it carefully, he remembered that the old man had drawn this rune back then, and it was used to track down the traitor's aura. As soon as he finished drawing, the rune suddenly flashed, and a red flame as high as a thumb rose along the lines.The old man sat down on his buttocks, his face turned pale, and he said in horror: "Could it be... let it out?" Wu Kuan pushed open the door of the command room and strode in.The soldiers around hurriedly saluted him, and he walked onto his podium without looking back.Wu Bian was talking to a centurion, when he saw him approaching with a sullen face, he hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" "Looking at the cloud mirror!" Wu Kuan said loudly. "Quick! Watch the Cloud Mirror!" The two corporals quickly raised the copper shaft.Wu Kuan bowed down and shouted for a long time: "Turn! The left front is in the direction of Wushi, twenty miles, the village, confirm!" The three observing soldiers sitting in the front, left and right of the command room turned their cloud viewing mirrors at the same time, and after a while they all replied: "Village! Twenty miles!" "Eighteen miles, the village is confirmed!" "Twenty miles, the village is confirmed!" "Is there only one?" Wu Kuan asked. "It's very scattered...but only one 'she' is found so far." The observation soldier at the front said: "No large observation post has been found, it doesn't seem like the Pakistani army is there." The other two observation soldiers nodded, Said: "Agreed." "Then it's this one." With a livid face, Wu Kuan drew out his long sword and pointed the tip of the sword at the huge window in front of Xingcha.This is an order to fight, Wu Bian immediately straightened his waist and shouted: "Li!" Everyone stood up at the same time and turned to Wu Kuan.Two of Wu Kuan's trusted guards hurriedly brought out an eight-legged and two-beast dragon-head cloud pattern tripod from the audience, and placed it in front of him.The dragon's head on the front of the tripod was upwards, with its mouth slightly open, Wu Kuan inserted the sword into the dragon's mouth, and said quietly: "Xianling, this task is unusual, and it will be dealt with at the highest level. Immediately deploy three troops, thirty-five Combat red gold equipment. The target is the village. All personnel within a mile radius of the village will be executed on the spot." Wu Bian's eyes twitched twice.Although the Yunzhong Clan has fought against the Human Clan for years, they are all battles between soldiers. They have never heard of attacking civilians, and they will only issue massacre orders to cities that have stubbornly resisted and caused a large number of casualties.Why go to war with such a small village?He sneaked a glance around and saw that all the people were numb and did not agree in unison. It seemed that none of them understood what Wu Kuan meant. Wu Kuan also noticed the silence around him, and said: "This is an extraordinary move. I'm sorry I can't elaborate on the specific reasons. After the troops go down, they will find that the people in the village...if there are any people, probably all have become Ghosts." Surprised murmurs sounded from all around, and Wu Bian was extremely astonished, but he immediately sternly said: "Silence! Chang Jishi's order, anyone who disobeys will be punished by military law on the spot!" The Yunzhong Clan is governed by soldiers, and the military regulations are the strictest. Everyone knows from childhood that violating the military regulations is a capital offense no matter what the situation is, and the room immediately fell silent.Wu Kuan took out a copper flying tiger seal from his pocket and placed it in a ring in the middle of the tripod. The bottom of the seal fit seamlessly with the ring.He said sternly: "This is the seal of authority granted to me by the emperor, and anyone who violates it will be executed immediately! I also want to tell you that this mission is very dangerous, and if you are careless at all, what awaits you is the disaster of killing and living. I will personally do it later." On the ground, Shuji, all the rights on the ship will be temporarily taken over by you." Wu Bian said: "My lord's safety is the most important thing, please give orders for the last general to lead the team down, and my lord to stay on board and control the overall situation." Wu Kuan shook his head and said, "You don't understand... Anyway, I have to do this myself. Remember, the safety of the ship is the most important thing. If there is any adverse situation on the ground, I will send a signal, You set off immediately and return to Yaoqing City without any delay, understand?" He turned his head to the audience and said, "Lu Jishi, bring the children out!" Slap-squeak! With a muffled sound, a huge copper door in the belly of Lingxing Xingcha was slowly opened.It was suspended by dozens of copper cables and sank for a certain distance, with one side sloping slightly downward.The ship's hull was turning slowly, and the light air sprayed out by the two balanced jets a few feet away was driven by the turbulent wind in the air, and some of it was sucked into the opened door, and a white mist lingered near the door for a while. Several soldiers in heavy armor and ropes jumped onto the copper door, holding copper hooks, buckled each other, and each stood in a position to fix themselves on the copper cables.One of them checked for a while, and then signaled that the preparation was complete. At this time, the Xingcha had already turned in place, thirty feet above the ground, and there was an open and flat grassland below.The balance of the ship's body sprayed together with the lanthanum, stabilizing the hull.Almost at the same time as the ship's hull stopped rotating, the sixteen hatches in the lower part of the ship opened simultaneously, causing the hull to vibrate violently.Several soldiers observed one direction each, kept raising flags, and adjusted the spray speed of the lanthanum one by one. A corps leader reported to Wu Bian: "Shuji, the wind direction is a bit chaotic, do you want to open the fixed sail?" Wu Bian had been standing by the window watching the bottom, and said, "No rush. This kind of vibration should still be delivered. If the sails are opened and the wind suddenly increases, there may be problems. Tell them to try to stabilize as much as possible. As soon as the troops go down, they will immediately go up. .” The first red gold tool came down.It is a leopard-shaped tool for the assault troops. Its claws are made of foreign gold, sharper than ordinary swords, and are mainly used for close combat.There are also four crescent-shaped sharp blades at the ends of the limbs, which are powerful weapons when sprinting, just like the triangular knife tip on the tail.Its mouth was covered by the cage, and a soldier came to its waist, pulled off the cage deftly, checked the rope one last time, and then stepped aside quickly, making a release gesture. The four ropes were released at the same time, and the leopard-shaped tool fell onto the bronze door, slid forward, rushed out without hesitation, and fell into the white mist.The rope tied around its waist was suddenly stretched straight, and then retracted quickly, it seemed that the decelerating wind wings on the leopard's back had been pulled away.Soon the observing soldiers reported: "The first launch went smoothly! It is currently on patrol." Wu Kuan nodded and said, "Speed ​​up the launch." He took a last look down, turned and walked to the command platform, and said loudly, "After the release is complete, ascend two hundred feet, release two starships, and support at any time."