Shengshichun

Chapter 382 There is a problem!
On the tower of the camp, several falcons were circling under the dark sky. Pei Zhan stretched out his arm, and a kite landed on him with a cry.

Under the lights, Jiang Lin stepped forward with the military report in his hand: "The situation of the twenty-three sentries along the line has been reported back. There are no abnormalities at the key ones at present."

Pei Zhan shook his arms, let the harrier go, and then opened the military newspaper to read.

"Lao Wu!"

At this time, Liang Zhi's urgent call came from the bottom of the stairs. Pei Zhan looked up and saw Liang Zhi rushing to him breathlessly: "I have a situation!" After saying that, he waved his hand back, and the soldier who had followed him earlier came over with the mute, and then he handed over the moon-shaped pattern in his arms:

"When I arrived at Yangjiaoai just now, I found this man holding this thing and trying to contact the Dongzi people at the posthouse. Come and have a look!"

Pei Zhan frowned: "The engraving on it is exclusive to the Dongzi royal family. This is something from the Jin family!" He looked up at the mute on the ground: "Have you examined it?"

"He can't speak, but there's a border guard badge sewn on the back of his collar!" Liang Zhi said it all in one breath, then quickly pulled up the mute's collar and turned it over for him to see, "Look! Not only is he from our Northwest Camp, but judging by his number, he's from the Yangjiaoai sentry post!"

"Yangjiaoai?" Pei Zhan's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "Luo Zhao's territory?"

Before leading the army to triumph, Pei Zhan personally deployed all the outposts along the route. He was of course familiar with the terrain here, and every time a general was replaced at the border over the years, a copy would be sent to him for review.

These past few days, Gao Changyuan and I had been locked in the big tent looking at maps. Even though Luo Zhao was only a centurion, since he was guarding the fortress, this name had of course appeared many times in their conversations.

"That's exactly where it is! Luo Zhao is a veteran who has served in the Northwest for many years. He has been on duty at various sentries along the route, but he has not made much progress. When I saw the emblem inside his collar, I was afraid of alerting the enemy, so I pretended not to notice it and brought him back under the pretext that it was getting dark."

Pei Zhan frowned as he looked at the shivering mute: "You did the right thing. Take the man away first and keep him under good care! Then lead a group of elite troops to Yangjiaoai, I will be there soon!"

"Yes!"

Liang Zhi immediately took the order and went down.

Pei Zhan looked at the half-moon map in his hand, then waved to Jiang Lin in the distance: "Bring the topographic map of Yangjiaoai, and then send a message to General Gao, asking him to come see me!"

The general not far from the balcony heard this and hurriedly said, "General, General Gao is not here!"

Pei Zhan frowned: "Where did you go?"

"He left an hour ago without leaving any message about where he was going..."

Pei Zhan withdrew his gaze.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly glanced at the drawing in his hand and said, "Where's Mr. Yang?!"

……

Luo Zhao went out with the picture drawn by Lian Yang and did not come back until dark.

Lian Yi stayed in the house with Lian Yang throughout the afternoon, his nerves tense and he never relaxed at all, so as not to miss any movement outside.

After all, Liang Zhi and his men were heading towards Yangjiaoai. No matter how slow they were, they would definitely arrive before dark.

At that time in Yingpan Town, Lian Yang was able to remain calm because he had prepared for retreat in advance. But at this moment, Pei Zhan came so urgently, and the fortresses along the northwest line were guarded so strictly, which was beyond his imagination. He no longer had the ability to remain calm.

They had been looking for an opportunity to conquer the city for so many days. That day, Lian Yi unexpectedly learned that Luo Zhao, whom he had met twice before, was transferred to guard the important stronghold of Yangjiaoai. After contacting him, he arrived here and saw that a small frontier centurion named Luo was wearing silk and satin. As expected, he was a greedy person.

Lian Yang has plenty of money. What does it matter if it's enough to make a living? I'm just afraid that he doesn't covet money or power.

He stared at the hourglass leaking out little by little, feeling nervous for most of the day. When the night completely covered the earth, news came that the person Luo Zhao sent to verify the pattern of the half tiger talisman was caught by Liang Zhi.

It is not a good thing that the person was captured by Liang Zhi, but it is also worth breathing a sigh of relief that Liang Zhi is gone!
Lian Yang let out a long sigh and poured himself a cup of tea. At this moment, Luo Zhao's voice rang out from outside the door.

Luo Zhao returned to the house under the moonlight. As soon as he sat down at the table, Lian Yang and the other man came in and said, "General Luo, you will be gone for a long time this time."

Lian Yang signaled Lian Yi to close the door: "Did you get everything done this afternoon? Did you verify the half tiger talisman I drew?"

Luo Zhao looked at him and said, "It has been verified. But things are not good. The people I sent out were captured by Liang Zhi."

Lian Yang raised his eyebrows: "I know that."

"You know?" Luo Zhao looked at him, "That's easy. Do you know that I'm already in danger?"

Lian Yang raised his lips and said, "It can't be traced back to you, because I know that the person you sent there is a mute.

"General Luo is very scheming. The mute can't speak. Even if he falls into Liang Zhi's hands, he won't betray you."

Luo Zhao glanced at him and said, "So, everything is really under your control."

"Please forgive me, General Luo. You also know my situation, so you will inevitably be more careful."

Luo Zhao looked at the ground and said, "You guys know all this without leaving the house. It seems like I have no other choice."

Lian Yang said: "I have always believed that General Luo is a wise man."

Luo Zhao looked at him and said, "In that case, let's go."

As he said this he stood up.

Lian Yang's eyes flickered slightly, but he didn't move: "Have you really thought it through?"

Luo Zhao turned around and said, "Didn't you promise me that you would give me the title of a third-rank general? And that you would let me hold an important position in the court when I rule the Central Plains in the future?"

Lian Yang frowned slightly: "Yes, these are what I promised you."

"Then what worries do you have?"

Lian Yang couldn't explain it. This was indeed the result he had prayed for, but it suddenly went so smoothly that he felt something was wrong.

“There are high mountains on both sides of Yangjiao Pass. After passing through the checkpoint, you can only go forward or backward. There is no third way.

"After you let me go, you won't regret it, right?"

Once he changes his mind and catches up from behind, even if the only way to survive is to keep moving forward, they still have a 50% chance of being caught.

If that was the case, he would rather kill him now.

Luo Zhao looked at Lian Yang without blinking, then took two steps back and stopped in front of him: "When Liang Zhi caught my man just now, he had already reached the border of Yangjiaoai. Do you know why he left suddenly?"

Lian Yang narrowed his eyes: "Why?"

"On the collar of that mute soldier is the emblem of our northwestern border soldiers. And it is exactly the number of our Yangjiaoai outpost." Lian Yang suddenly restrained his expression.

"I deliberately let him wear this shirt inside, so that when he couldn't answer, it would be easy to make people anxious. After the shoving and shoving, how could Liang Zhi not be suspicious?

"He is an experienced general, and he is also from an aristocratic family. After discovering this suspicious point, he will definitely not rush over here without thinking, so he will definitely retreat immediately."

Lian Yang's expression changed and he glanced at Lian Yi.

Luo Zhao continued, "This is the only way I can successfully get them to leave and buy time for you.

"This will only benefit you, not me. If I hadn't already agreed to your terms, what other ideas would I have?
"If I go back on my word, will it be any good for me?"

When Lian Yang heard this, the sharp light in his eyes gradually faded.

Although the person who was inquiring for information did not mention the inside story of the collar, judging from the situation, if it was treated as if nothing was wrong, it would be unlikely for Liang Zhi to retreat suddenly.

On the other hand, even if he hadn't said all this, Luo Zhao had already handed the mute and the blueprint to Liang Zhi. If they sent them away quickly at this time, he would be in danger at all times.

"General, the soldiers guarding the checkpoint have been replaced by our own people."

At this time, a man came to the door, bent down and looked at the people in the room with a smile. It was Liu Gui standing there with a lantern.

Lian Yang met his gaze in the air, then looked away, raised his hands towards Luo Zhao with a smile on his face, and said, "General Luo is thoughtful and considerate, I admire you!
"In that case, without further ado, please lead the way, General Luo!"

Luo Zhao looked at him deeply and stepped aside: "Please!"

After leaving the gate, he sent two soldiers outside the gate: "Go guard outside the camp gate, and report immediately if you find anything unusual!"

...Liang Zhi led his men on horseback and rushed to Yangjiaoai. In order to avoid alerting the enemy with the sound of horse hooves, they abandoned their horses and walked away when they estimated the distance to be about the same.

This area was all sandy, which could muffle a lot of footsteps. They quickened their pace and arrived outside the barracks of Yangjiaoai, then prostrated themselves on a high place and looked into the distance.

The barracks were in a quadrangle shape, and the post was designed to accommodate 1,000 men. Thirty percent of the men lived in the barracks, and the remaining 70% were scattered around the barracks.

The centurion commander Luo Zhao lived at the innermost part, close to the foot of the cliff, near the checkpoint sentry post.

At this time, the brightest light in the barracks was where Luo Zhao lived.

Luo Zhao led Lian Yang and the other man northward. After passing through a long corridor and climbing several winding stairs, they arrived at the checkpoint set up by the imperial court.

Liang Zhi lay on the cliff, looking at the lights in the distance. Someone slowly walked out and waved his hand: "Follow me!"

About forty people swooped down from the air like hawks that had locked onto their prey.

The two soldiers sent out by Luo Zhao had just stepped out of the front yard when suddenly several men in black appeared in front of them. Before they could react, an iron hand grabbed their necks:

"Where's Luo Zhao?"

The soldiers' legs weakened as they squeezed out a few words: "Are you... General Liang's... men?"

One of the hands that was strangling his neck suddenly stopped, and then the other hand pulled off the mask on his face, revealing Liang Zhi's face:
"What happened?!……"

……

The checkpoint was heavily guarded, with at least five levels of defense from bottom to top. Lian Yang and the other man followed behind Luo Zhao, their hearts tense.

In such a situation, if there was any mistake, even if the two of them were highly skilled in martial arts, the weapons in the hands of the guards would be enough to sting them into a honeycomb.

Finally reached the top floor, which is the last level of guard. Through here is the stone staircase leading down.

In the middle of the stone stairs, there is a huge iron gate.

Lian Yang looked up and saw a narrow strip of sky above his head formed by two cliffs. It was impossible to tell how high it was in the dark, but the rock walls on both sides converged in the middle, creating a daunting feeling of oppression.

In order to facilitate checking the situation at the other end of the checkpoint, the iron gate is not a closed type, but is made of vertical and horizontal railings as thick as a child's arm.

Under the light, one could see that the gate was built in the middle of the downward stone stairs, while at the other end of the iron gate, the stone stairs extended forward. Judging from the light from the oil lamps on the stone walls on both sides, the stone stairs ended after about half a mile, and at the end was an open gravel area. Combined with the map that Lian Yang had seen before, that ten-mile area was outside the Great Wall.

But to actually reach Dayue, one needs to go forward ten miles through a narrow road that is over eighty miles long.

But as long as they pass through this gate and then through this gorge, they will be able to successfully join forces with Wu Chengping and his 100,000-strong army.

By then, with his half tiger talisman and Wu Chengping's half tiger talisman, they will be able to form a powerful military force among the Three Kingdoms and start the great cause of sweeping across the north and the south!

A new wave of emotion gradually surged in Lian Yang's chest. He pretended to be calm and looked at Luo Zhao: "Thank you, General Luo, for seeing me off."

Luo Zhao looked at them and said, "After passing this checkpoint, the road is open all the way to Dayue, but there is still a risk of wild beasts attacking you. Are you planning to go alone? Are your followers not going to leave?"

Lian Yang raised his lips and said, "General Luo, just ask the fifth-level officers and soldiers who were guarding below to make way for us, and my people will naturally follow."

Luo Zhao withdrew his gaze and slapped his face three times on the way back.

Then there was the sound of weapons clashing. On the long stone stairs leading up the mountain, the lights held high by the officers and soldiers now split into two paths to the left and right.

As expected, several figures soon flew down into the passage in the middle, which was more than two meters wide. After careful counting, there were as many as twenty people.

They jumped behind Lian Yang as fast as an arrow.

Luo Zhao took out a heavy key and asked, "Are you all here?"

Lian Yi looked back and nodded, "Open the door."

Luo Zhao inserted the key into the keyhole, and when he was about to turn it, he pulled it out.

Lian Yang, who had been watching his movements closely, suddenly looked up.

Luo Zhao said: "Now that Master Lian has left, I won't be able to find you. Words alone are not enough, please leave me some deposit."

Lian Yang took a deep breath, untied the purse from his waist, and took out a few silver bills from his bosom: "These are more than a thousand taels of silver. Don't think it's too little."

Luo Zhao took the money, counted it a few times under the light, and took out a document and a seal from his pocket, saying, "I appreciate your kindness, sir.

"Here I have written a letter of commitment that you have promised me. Please put your fingerprint on it. Let's make a gentleman's agreement so that we can have a proof in the future."