lcionline Chapter 441: Pick the softest persimmon
Chapter 441: Pick the softest persimmon
Xue Wei, Guan Yue and their group left Wan'an Pass. The road ahead twisted and turned through the mountains, with many blind spots.
The Gobi Desert along the way is covered with thick yellow sand and gravel, with sparse grass and trees scattered among the sand and gravel.
As dusk falls, the temperature around gets lower and the environment becomes unusually quiet, with only a few bats circling in the sky.
The road was difficult to travel at night, and the team's progress slowed down.
Guan Yue and Cheng Jiayu rode two horses, one black and one white, and walked at the back of the team.
As the captain of the Xin family army's light cavalry, Cheng Jiayu has a keen sense of danger.
He caught a glimpse of several dark figures hiding between the rocks not far away, and chatted with Guan Yue nonchalantly: "After we left the border, there were several of them following us. They waited until dark before making a move. They are really patient."
"Should we close the net now? Give them a chance to take action?"
Guan Yue shrugged, "They are patient, but I am not."
Over the past year, with Cheng Jiayu teaching her martial arts and having gone through various tough battles on the road as an escort, her strength has improved by leaps and bounds, and now she has become a capable escort agency manager (bandit leader) on her own.
Cheng Jiayu smiled and nodded to her: "Then tell Brother Xue."
Guan Yue sent a message to Xue Wei in the group, informing him that the team behind them was getting closer and closer.
After Xue Wei received the news, he lifted the curtain of the carriage and said to Qiu Fang, the leader of the guards beside him: "Qiu Fang, it's getting late. We are all tired and hungry after traveling all day."
"Notify everyone to camp in the open space ahead and make a fire to cook."
Qiu Fang was stunned when he heard this. Every day, the escorts of Guanzhai Lord delivered rice balls, roujiamo and other dry food that were easy to carry with them. They were delicious. The guards and logistical servants were always in good condition and had no problem traveling overnight. Now that Lord Xue said this, there must be something going on.
"Yes! I will do it now!"
Qiu Fang informed the guards and servants one by one, "Come on, brothers, we have been traveling all day. Let's go to the open space in front to rest and prepare dinner."
"okay!"
The team stopped in an open space in the valley and started to make a fire.
Among the group, the twelve guards sent by Emperor Qingning were all Miao people selected by the General of Cavalry, and the thirty servants who looked cowardly and powerless were all played by the veteran escorts from Guan Yueyue's escort agency.
Unlike the bodyguards who only know how to fight and kick, these veterans who came from the bandits of Guanjiazhai have learned to play the pigs and eat the tiger.
They were dressed more miserably than each other, and at first glance they looked like honest people who had nowhere else to go and had to leave their hometown and travel far away.
In addition, this time they also invited "internal help", and the squad leader Qi Yun's father, Doctor Qi, was also tricked by Qi Yun.
Before Xue Wei's team set off, the squad leader told the old imperial physician Qi that he had signed him up for a "tour group". The team would travel around the mountains and rivers with the Yuelai Escort Agency as bodyguards and a great writer as his tour guide, so that he could stay away from the hustle and bustle and power struggles of the capital.
When Doctor Qi heard this, he excitedly got on the carriage prepared by Qi Yun with his bag.
The carriage was luxurious, and the bed was soft. He fell asleep as the carriage swayed along the way.
As a result, early the next morning, when the old doctor Qi opened his eyes, he saw Xue Wei saying good morning to him enthusiastically in the carriage, and the carriage was already two hundred miles away from the capital. Only then did the old doctor Qi realize that he had been deceived!
It turns out that the trip "away from the hustle and bustle of Beijing" is to a remote frontier area, and the great writer who served as the tour guide was Xue Wei!
This is really a bummer!
On the way, Old Doctor Qi started to curse at first, but later he found that the team's food was not bad, so he cursed less fiercely. He found that the scenery along the way was sometimes quite good, so his cursing became quieter. Now he just occasionally complained that the itinerary was too boring and there were no entertainment activities.
Hearing Xue Wei asking the team to stop and rest, Doctor Qi got off the carriage leisurely, put his hands behind his back, and looked around the camp, "What are we having for dinner tonight?"
"It's so boring every day. When will it arrive?"
The mediocre guards, the nagging sixty-year-old man, the fair-skinned Xue Wei and Cheng Jiayu, and the young and pretty Guan Yue, this team of 46 people was simply a treasure trove in the eyes of the bandits who were following them.
Behind the rocks not far from Xue Wei and his group, two gangs of bandits were secretly observing them.
The leaders of the two gangs gathered together to discuss how to take down these valuable items.
"What other strategies are there? Just go ahead and do it!"
The person who spoke was Zou Hu, the boss of Menghu Village. He was not tall, but had broad shoulders and a big waist, with two slanted eyes that looked fierce.
He had been hanging around in this area for eight years. He had originally fled to the outskirts of Wan'an Pass because he was wanted by the government for killing six people.
Zou Hu is strong, brute force, and cruel. He gradually recruited younger brothers in the area and became the boss.
The middle-aged man opposite him was the leader of the Jinyin Village. He was wearing a patched grey coat, was tall and thin, and had an unattractive appearance. His face was so common that you would not be able to find it in the crowd.
People in the underworld didn't know his real name and only called him by his nickname "Zhang Tongban".
This man is a charlatan with superb deception skills. Even if you only have three copper coins on you, he can still cheat you out of everything. Therefore, he got the name "Zhang Tongban".
Compared to Zou Hu of Menghu Village who is impetuous, Zhang Tongban is more cautious.
"I heard that this year's top scholar Xue Wei is on his way to Jingshui to take up his new post. Could it be them?"
The more Zhang Tongban looked at the scholar-looking man, the more he looked like the legendary number one scholar: "This Xue Wei is someone the emperor has given special attention to."
"Oh, aren't you usually the smartest? Why are you so restrained at this moment?"
Zou Hu pushed him and looked at him with a disappointed look: "People who are specially favored by the emperor just mean more benefits, right?"
"They must have come prepared to be robbed. Why don't we just spare their lives?"
"You and I, along with the people from our two villages, have been here for so many years. We have killed countless powerful people without any problems. How could we fall into the hands of a stinky bookworm today?"
Zhang Tongban wanted to say something, but the people under his command became restless.
"Oh my god, I've been here for seven or eight years, and I've never seen such a pretty girl!"
"Village leader, let's act quickly, I can't wait!"
"Even if there are more than 150 people on our two hills combined, would we be afraid of these 40-odd people?"
......
Seeing that everyone was getting more and more angry, Zhang Tongban took another closer look at the situation and said, "Okay, once we get there, you should first control the young woman, the two fair-skinned scholars, and the elderly Lao Deng."
"This way, the other guards won't dare to act rashly."
Zou Hu nodded: "Not bad, you should pick on the weak ones. I admire your tactics, brother!"
He excitedly called out to his men, "Everyone grab your weapons and follow me! Take down those four weaklings first!"