Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 494

With an order, Hao Meng and Cao Xing's troops immediately took action.

It only took about half an hour to complete the assembly. Except for a small group of people left to watch the house, the rest of the people all brought their tools and went to find the location of the will-o'-the-wisps and look for the mausoleum.

But how do they know.

This green will-o'-the-wisp is nothing more than Wu Liang's trick to pretend to be a ghost.

He asked the Bai family to add copper powder made of copper coins to the fire oil used in the torch in advance, so that the torch would produce a green flame when it was burning. People just can't understand it.

In this way, at night, the Bai family wore black clothes, even their faces were smeared with charcoal black, and they ran through the woods holding torches. Naturally, they could only see the will-o'-the-wisps, but no traces of people.

at the same time.

The Bai family has also been secretly monitoring every move of Hao Meng and Cao Xing's subordinates.

When they found that they started to gather and marched towards that area, those tribesmen who were holding "wild fire" in the forest had already dispersed quietly, and they would definitely not be caught by them.

This is in line with Hao Meng's saying "just the vast yang energy can make the ghost fire retreat."

Not long after, Hao Meng and Cao Xing's troops arrived at the forest where the "wild fire" had just appeared.

It is now late autumn, and the ground of the forest has been covered with a layer of fallen leaves, most of which are the common pine needles in the north. This kind of primitive mountain forest has not been cleared all year round, and the fallen pine needles have accumulated a thick layer. The top is very soft, like stepping on the sponge of later generations.

And this kind of environment is naturally the most suitable environment for setting traps and hiding traces.

After Hao Meng, Cao Xing and the others entered this forest, they soon saw some rather strange stone pestles in the forest.

These stone pestles are all made of messy and different stones, and the shapes of the stone pestles are also different.

Some are in a conical pile, which looks like a solitary tomb; Together, there is no shape at all, it seems that they are just put together randomly.

Besides.

There was also a thick layer of dust and pine branches and fallen leaves on these stone steps. It seemed that they had existed for a long time, but it was impossible to determine how long.

"Have you seen these stone pestles before?"

After seeing these stone pestles, Hao Meng called the scout leader over and asked seriously.

"I've never seen..."

The scout said somewhat unconfidently.

"Have you never seen it before, or have you never come here to investigate carefully?!"

Hao Meng suddenly raised his voice and asked loudly.

"General forgive me!"

The leader of the scouts quickly knelt down on the ground and apologized, "It's the negligence of the subordinates. All along, our focus of investigation has been in the Valley of No Return. Although there are secret sentries patrolling outside, the focus is still on guarding against foreign enemies, but we haven't noticed this. Whether there are these stone pestles in the forest, so the subordinates can't say..."

"Write this matter down for now, and I'll deal with you when I go back!"

Hao Meng glared at the leader of the scouts, but finally did not pursue the responsibility on the spot.

As a result, he has no way to accurately determine the origin of these stone pestles, but one thing is certain, these stone pestles must not have been formed naturally, but were built by someone.

However, there are two situations in which someone builds:

One is the recent temporary construction, which is a big problem. It is very likely that some people with ulterior motives set up a trap, but as for the function, everything is hard to say;

The other is that it was built a long time ago, which is a good thing for him. This shows that this place is a relic, and it is very likely that it is a relic related to the tomb of King Guangchuan. The goal of the line is already very close.

But judging from the dust and pine leaves left on these stone slabs.

The latter is more likely.

"Go back."

Cao Xing waved again at the scout leader who still dared not move, and then said to Hao Meng, "The general cares so much about these stone slabs, but found something wrong?"

"That's not true. It's just that last time I met the group of monsters suspected to be related to the mausoleum, I had some concerns in my heart, so I had to be more cautious."

Hao Meng didn't treat him as an outsider either, she shook her head and said with a wry smile, "If this time I return home as badly as last time, even if General Lu doesn't punish me, how will my colleagues in General Lu's account look at me, then I will have nothing to do. Yan is now in General Lu's account."

"What the general said is that it is always right to be careful."

Cao Xing responded with a smile.

"The generals obey!"

Hao Meng pondered for a while, and then shouted to everyone, "These stone pestles are probably the relics of the sleeping garden near the mausoleum. The victory is close at hand. Immediately form a team, led by the chief, to scout out the forest. , find out the situation here as soon as possible, and draw a complete topographic map. After I have seen the topographic map, I will dig in groups to make sure nothing will go wrong! After this is done, we can leave this ghostly place and go back Only when I meet General Lu will I be able to avenge my shame, and then I will personally ask for merit and reward for everyone."

"promise!"

Everyone obeyed the order, and quickly broke into pieces and scattered into this mountain forest.

Hao Meng herself was never idle, she led Cao Xing and a dozen or so bodyguards as a group, and went into the forest to investigate for herself.

……

Hao Meng didn't notice anything unusual at first.

After walking in the woods for about half an hour, the eyes still see the rocks of different shapes, and sometimes scattered and sometimes dense trees, and the ground under the feet is also soft and thick with pine needles.

This kind of ground is very suitable for disappearing, because even if you walk on it, you will leave footprints, and it will be back after a while, and unless you step on a branch, you will hardly make any sound.

Walking on such a soft ground consumes more physical strength than usual, which is definitely not as good as a hard and flat road.

So it only takes half an hour.

Hao Meng, Cao Xing and his party already felt that their physical strength was a bit exhausted. Even in the cold mountain forest in late autumn, they were still sweating, and as the sweat evaporated and encountered the cold air, everyone's heads could I saw a wisp of white mist rising.

"General, why don't we take a break first? Anyway, the soldiers under him have already gone to investigate, and this mountain forest is not big. I believe we will bring back news soon. If the general is tired, who can come to support us? Big picture."

The guards dared not speak, but Cao Xing was able to raise some opinions. He was already panting heavily. After all, not everyone was a monster like Dian Wei, and his physical strength and endurance were not like a human being.

Besides, what Cao Xing said was very pleasant.

"Zhong Yong's words are justified, since that's the case, let's sit here for a while...wait a minute!"

Hao Meng just nodded and was about to find a place to sit down, but his tone froze suddenly, and he looked at Cao Xing with a strange expression, "Zhong Yong, do you think this mountain forest is not big?"

"Exactly."

Cao Xing replied with some doubts, "I heard from the scouts that this forest is only a few miles in size. Besides, when we entered the Valley of No Return, we did not see any larger forests nearby, did we?" ?”

"This……"

Hao Meng's brows were already furrowed, and she asked with an even weirder expression, "We have traveled lightly for about half an hour in a forest that is only a few miles away. Under normal circumstances, even if we took some detours, I'm afraid Have you already reached the edge of the forest?"

"General means..."

After hearing Hao Meng's words, Cao Xing finally realized the problem, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"One more thing."

Hao Meng frowned even deeper, paused and said, "At least three hundred of us have entered this mountain forest with a radius of only a few miles. A group of ten people is a group of thirty or so, and we are here. I walked for about half an hour, but I didn't even meet a group of people, isn't it strange?"

"..."

Cao Xing suddenly had nothing to say, and a worried look appeared on his face.

He had to admit that what Hao Meng said was true at all. In a mere mountain forest with a radius of only a few miles, more than [-] groups of people entered it together to investigate. Are you on your own?

Besides, if someone reaches the edge of the forest, they will inevitably turn back, and there is no such thing as drifting away. There is no reason that a group of people has never met.

What a strange thing!
How quaint!

"..."

The ten or so bodyguards accompanying him also looked at each other in blank dismay. They were also human beings, so they would naturally be afraid.

What's more, this place not long ago had a "wild fire" transformed from the soul of the dead, so it was not a good place in the first place, which made it easier for these relatively superstitious ancients to feel fear.

"Strike the gong!"

Compared with Cao Xing, Hao Meng has more experience in robbing tombs. When he encountered this situation, he quickly made a decision, and immediately shouted to the guards around him, "This mountain forest is not big, even if there are stones and trees Stop it, the sound of the assembly gong should be able to spread throughout the small half of the forest. If our people are nearby, they will come to join us when they hear the sound of the gong. No one came, so..."

Speaking of this, Hao Meng didn't know how to describe it.

Because he had never encountered such a situation in tomb robbery before, he naturally didn't know how to judge what situation he had encountered now.

"promise!"

The personal guard was also very panicked, he didn't dare to be negligent, so he immediately took out the copper gong and beat it vigorously.

"Bang bang bang! bang bang bang!"

The sound of the gong soon sounded in the mountains and forests.

"The general summoned urgently, quickly follow me to assemble!"

Sure enough, a sound came from the nearby woods soon, and at the same time, Shichang rang the rattle that he carried with him in response to Hao Meng's gong.

They often go out to dig graves, so they naturally have their own unique way of communication.

at the same time.

"Jingle bell! Jingle bell!"

The same response appeared in the other directions.

However, these ringtones are slightly farther away, far less than the group of people who could directly hear the conversation just now.

"General, listen quickly, there are many responses!"

Qin Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief, and reported to Hao Meng with a look of surprise.

"Could it be that I was worrying too much, we just took a lot of detours, and happened to pass by our people?"

Hao Meng also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to the guards beside him, "Tell them not to assemble for the time being, and continue to do their business, don't waste time."

"promise!"

The guard rang the gong again, but the rhythm was different from last time: "Dang-dang-dang! Dang-dang-dang!"

"Jingle bell! Jingle bell!"

Responses came from several directions soon, indicating that the order had been received.

So Hao Meng, Cao Xing and the others didn't think too much, they sat down and rested for a while, chatting patiently while waiting patiently for the results of the soldiers' investigation.

It took another half an hour to sit like this.

"It's been an hour, and the bigger woods should have been explored long ago. Why hasn't anyone sent a letter to report?"

Hao Meng yawned, stood up and hammered her sore waist, and finally couldn't help asking again.

It is the same as the assembly gong, if someone completes the investigation, they will first use a specific ringing method to get in touch with the nearby people, and then divide and reconcile them, so as to gradually form a network, and finally connect to Hao Meng to unify report.

But until now, they have not received any ringtones.

"The strange thing is that we sat here for another half an hour, and we still haven't met our people once. Could it be that more than [-] groups of people still just happened to pass us by, but this is too coincidental Are you ready?"

Cao Xing brought up the old story again.

The response half an hour ago made them feel relieved, but the situation at this moment made them worry again. Yes, this is too coincidental. Could it be that they just happened to be sitting in everyone's blind spot? ?
"Zhong Yong is right. If they are not lazy, there are still many strange things in this matter!"

Hao Meng woke up suddenly, and then shouted to the guards beside him: "Strike the gong! Tell everyone to come to see me immediately, I want to see our people with my own eyes!"

"promise!"

"Bang bang bang! bang bang bang!"

The rushing gong sounded again, and the knocking was more secretive than before.

"Jingle bell! Jingle bell!"

The ringing bells also began to respond one after another. This time, two bells were very close to them, and it seemed that they were only twenty or thirty feet away.

Hao Meng stood on tiptoe and followed the sound of the bell, and could vaguely see some faint fires in the forest, which were naturally her troops, and it was not too far away.

"Just wait, the nearest cup of tea can come to us."

Hao Meng was slightly relieved again.

But he didn't teach those soldiers to continue to investigate. To be cautious, he still wanted to gather the troops first so that he could be completely at ease, otherwise he would be as restless as he is now.

As a result, the time for a cup of tea soon passed.

The work of two cups of tea is also over.

But still no one came to assemble for a long time, and even stood up and looked at the place where the fire was seen before, but it was no longer possible to find it, as if it had disappeared out of thin air.

However, in the other two directions, there were a few faint flames.

Hao Meng said angrily: "Your mother, continue to hit the gong for me, beat it faster, and give me another cup of tea. If I don't see them by then, I want them to look good!"

(End of this chapter)