Chapter 22 Incident
Early the next morning, in Xingyefang, on the school grounds of the escort team.
More than a hundred well-dressed warriors, carrying burdens on their backs, wearing swords on their waists, and leading horses, stood in formation, including Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan.
In front of the crowd, Wei Wuding was also holding a horse and was bidding farewell to Shopkeeper Sun:
"Senior brother, I'd like to send you to you. I'm going to clear out the bandits in Heifeng Village. The time is uncertain, but I will definitely return within a month at the latest."
Shopkeeper Sun smiled and said:
"Then I wish my junior brother immediate success. If a mere bandit dares to provoke our Fuhu Gang, he is really asking for his own death."
The two exchanged pleasantries, and Wei Wuding got on his horse, turned its head, and said loudly:
"Let's go!"
Hearing this, Chen Yuan climbed on the horse's back a little clumsily and spurred his horse to follow.
He had learned to ride horses from Zhao Shan before, but after all, he was not the commander of the escort, so he had not had many opportunities to ride horses. His equestrian skills were not good, and he was far less skilled than Zhao Shan.
After mounting their horses, Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan walked side by side. Zhao Shan whispered:
"Didn't Deacon Wei say that this trip to the mountains will take a long time? Why are there still horses to ride on?"
The terrain of the Chimang Mountains is complex. Only Yuanpingxingzhong can ride horses. If you want to enter the mountains from the mountain trails, you can only walk.
The last time Baibingtang and Heifeng Village traded, except for the large cart carrying weapons, which was pulled by mules and horses, everyone else was on foot, even Manager Li and Zhang Jinkui.
But this time, more than a hundred warriors have horses to ride, which is really strange.
Chen Yuan shook his head and said:
"I don't know either. Let's wait and see for now. Act carefully and don't be careless."
Zhao Shan nodded and said no more, but his expression became obviously more solemn.
…
Shopkeeper Sun watched Wei Wuding and his party walk away. The sound of horse hooves gradually disappeared. The smile on his face slowly faded. He snorted heavily and said:
"You dare to bring so many people into the mountain without finding the Black Wind Village, and you only bring a marrow refiner with you. How arrogant! If you don't come back within a month, don't blame me for reporting you to the Law Enforcement Hall. !”
Then, he turned and left, not forgetting to tell Senior Brother Hu who was following him:
"Tomorrow you will recruit warriors and rebuild the guard team. No matter whether they are innocent or not, as long as they are in the Skin Refining Realm, you can recruit them. Then you can slowly eliminate them in the future, so as not to crowd the main hall with people."
"yes!"
Senior Brother Hu responded respectfully and asked again:
"Master, what are the arrangements for Junior Brother Zhao and Junior Brother Chen?"
Shopkeeper Sun pondered for a moment and said:
"Give Zhao Shan the position of acting in charge, and give Chen Erniu the position of leader of the escort team."
Senior Brother Hu said in surprise:
"Agent in charge?"
Shopkeeper Sun said:
"This time the escort suffered heavy losses and almost the whole army was wiped out. Although Zhao Shan is only at the peak of bone refining, he is an old man in the hall and has seniority. I feel relieved and cannot mention the stewardship, so I mentioned the acting stewardship first. "
Senior Brother Hu suddenly understood and talked about another thing:
"Master, Li Ying'er has been seeking death and survival these days. She has been clamoring to go to the Chimang Mountains to find Li Yong. She said that she wants to see people alive and her body after death. She has been having trouble with Mrs. Zhang for several days. She almost ran away from Xingyefang yesterday. You How should we deal with this matter?”
Shopkeeper Sun frowned slightly. After receiving Madam Zhang's secret book and money, he asked Senior Brother Hu to send people to keep an eye on the Li Mansion to prevent any lawless people from bullying this widowed mother and orphan.
But I didn't expect that Li Ying'er was so ignorant, and immediately said impatiently:
"Send more manpower to guard the Li Mansion and don't let her cause trouble!"
"yes!"
Senior Brother Hu responded respectfully, but Shopkeeper Sun became even more upset and quickened his pace.
Li Ying'er's fuss reminded him of the "Six Yang Gong" secret book that Wei Wuding copied yesterday.
It was a second-rate Kung Fu book. Although it did not have any accompanying martial arts skills, it was enough to be used as a subjugation technique for a small gang in the county. It could be sold on the market for at least two thousand taels of silver.
Shopkeeper Sun felt heartbroken when he thought that Wei Wuding had stolen so much money from him just by talking.
To rob him of his money would be to take his life.
It's just that Wei Wuding is a disciple of Hou Yan, the leader of the main hall. At a young age, he has already reached the peak of his inner strength. He is highly valued by Hou Yan and even appreciated by the leader Luo Zhenwu.
But he was old and frail, so he only worked as a guard for Hou Yan for a period of time, and then luckily gained enough strength to come to Leping County to retire and become a rich man.
Wei Wuding insulted him, and he could only swallow his anger.
But he won't let it go. If he finds an opportunity, he will definitely give Wei Wuding a stumbling block!
…
Wei Wuding and his party rode horses all the way to the outside of Leping County, along the official road to the Chimang Mountains.
But halfway through, Wei Wuding suddenly raised his hand, and everyone slowed down.
Then he turned the horse's head and walked towards a path, and the others followed suit.
The road was quite narrow, but the surface was extremely smooth. Wei Wuding rode his horse slowly, passed through a large field, and came to a village gate before stopping.
This village covers hundreds of acres and is surrounded by an earthen wall about one foot high. The door of the village is wide open, and there are more than a dozen people waiting outside. After seeing Wei Wuding, they all came to greet him.
Wei Wuding got off his horse and showed his silver waist badge.
After the leader saw it, he immediately clasped his fists and saluted:
"Liu Wei has met Deacon Wei!"
Wei Wuding waved his hand, threw the reins over, and said:
"Have food and lodging been arranged?"
"The arrangements have been made. Please ask Deacon Wei to come into the village to rest."
Wei Wuding nodded, turned around and greeted:
"Follow me to the village!"
The others had already dismounted and were waiting. After hearing this, they all led their horses and walked into the village one by one.
Chen Yuan followed Zhao Shan and looked around at Zhuangzi's environment.
After entering the gate, there is an open space of several acres, and then a large group of buildings, including granaries, mills, workshops, warehouses, etc. On the left are rows of stables, and on the right are more than a dozen single-entry yards, three two-yard buildings, etc. The entrance courtyard and a large house with three entrances are neatly arranged.
Along the earthen wall, there is a wooden watchtower every ten feet, but there is no one on it.
Everyone stopped in the open space, and the dozen or so farmers took the reins and led the horses into the stables.
Wei Wuding whispered a few words to the leader of the villagers, then came to everyone and said loudly:
"I will listen to Manager Liu's arrangements later. I am not allowed to move around at will, and I am not allowed to enter or leave the village. Three meals a day will be delivered to me on time. Do you understand?"
"yes!"
Everyone agreed and followed Manager Liu, and were assigned to different courtyards to live there.
The skin-refining warrior lives in a courtyard with one entrance, the eight bone-refining warriors live in a courtyard with two entrances, and the only marrow-refining warrior, Luo Hai, lives alone in a courtyard with two entrances.
As for Wei Wuding, he naturally lives in the big house in Sanjin.
Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan had been walking together and were assigned to a courtyard.
In addition to the main hall and the wing room in the backyard, this two-entry courtyard has four bedrooms. In addition to Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan, there are also two other bone-refining warriors living there.
After Manager Liu left, Zhao Shan came to Chen Yuan's room, looking quite nervous and asked:
"Junior brother, aren't we going into the mountains? Why did Deacon Wei bring us to live in this village? Do you think it's something that happens in the mountains..."
Chen Yuan frowned and said:
"Brother, don't talk nonsense! Deacon Wei naturally has his own reasons for doing things. All we have to do is wait with peace of mind and be prepared to go into the mountain to suppress the bandits."
Zhao Shan was startled, but still looked worried:
"But……"
Chen Yuan said again:
"Brother, don't worry too much. According to my guess, Deacon Wei is waiting for the most suitable opportunity. You also know that bandits come and go without a trace, and the location of the mountain stronghold is rarely known. If you enter the mountain rashly, it is easy to alert the enemy. "
Zhao Shan's doubts disappeared and he nodded repeatedly:
"What my junior brother said is true, I'm just too worried."
After that, he stood up and left.
Chen Yuan raised his hand to stop and said:
"Wait a minute, what senior brother said makes sense. After all, this time we are going into the mountains to suppress bandits, and the risks are not small. It is not convenient for me to come forward. You go and make friends with the other two senior brothers in the courtyard, so that you can have someone to look after you on the way."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
Zhao Shan obeyed Chen Yuan's words at this time and immediately agreed, got up and went out, knocking on the door of another bone refining warrior.
…
An hour later, Chen Yuan, Zhao Shan and two other bone refining warriors sat together.
Under Zhao Shan's introduction, Chen Yuan learned that the names of the other two people were Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong, and they were both referred to as senior brothers.
Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong also had a good impression of the straightforward Chen Yuan. The four of them chatted happily and had lunch together before returning to their respective rooms.
The smile on Chen Yuan's face disappeared. He took out the jade from the coarse cloth bag stored close to his body, frowned, and looked at it carefully.
He has been in a bad mood since last night.
It was a sunny day last night. When the sky darkened and the stars were in the sky, Chen Yuan took out the jade as usual.
But Yu Jue did not emit green light and could not induce starlight to fill his body!
Chen Yuan tried several times, but all failed, and he was confused.
Yujue is his biggest trump card. If it suddenly loses its effect and can no longer attract starlight into his body, he will be just a mediocre inner strength warrior.
Chen Yuan did not give up, and kept struggling until late at night by soaking in water, dripping blood, etc., before he accepted the fact that Yujue could not attract the starlight.
Chen Yuan was in a depressed mood and sat in the courtyard for a long time. He suddenly remembered that the starlight injection had been extended to twenty breaths. Is the change in Yujue related to this, but the interval had become longer?
He found the possible reason for Yujue's change and finally calmed down, but he still tossed and turned in bed for a long time before he managed to fall asleep.
Fortunately, after many starlight injections, his energy was stronger than that of ordinary people. Although he only slept for two hours, he was still full of energy.
It's just that Chen Yuan wants to follow Wei Wuding into the mountain, so he can't verify whether the interval between starlight injections has really been extended.
He frowned and looked at Yujue for a long time, his mind fluctuating and uncertain for a long time. He simply took the long knife and came to the courtyard to practice the Five Tigers' door-breaking sword technique.
This fifty-refined long sword was given to him by shopkeeper Sun before he set off. It was better than the previous thirty-refined long sword.
There are so many people in Zhuangzi that Chen Yuan cannot practice the Six Yang Kung Fu, nor the Shadow Step, nor the Red Yang Sword Technique, but can only practice the Sword Technique.
When he first started practicing his sword, Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong watched with interest for a while.
But after seeing that Chen Yuan was practicing the Five Tiger Door-Breaking Sword, the two of them showed no interest. They gave a few perfunctory compliments and returned to the house.
Chen Yuan didn't take it seriously and continued to practice his sword skills.
Although the Wuhu Door-Breaking Knife is simple and direct, it happens to be able to bring out Chen Yuan's great strength.
If the moves are exquisite, it would not be suitable for Chen Yuan to defeat ten groups at once.
The same is true for the Chiyang Sword Technique. It is extremely strong and has simple moves. Chen Yuan likes it very much.
Swish, brush, brush!
Chen Yuan's hands moved faster and faster, and the blade of the knife in the courtyard shone brightly. Under the sunlight, it reflected a cold light, which was piercing to the eyes.
Suddenly, Chen Yuan paused, slowed down, and the cold light faded away.
A moment later, a clear voice came from the hanging flower gate at the entrance of the courtyard:
"Such a fast sword technique, such a strong murderous aura!"