Start with a red name

"There are also several warehouses of hay, a lot of it.

According to the assessment of several experienced partners, 400 Canglan horses can be supplied to meet the demand for four to five months.

They should have been prepared in the summer and autumn to make up for the shortage of forage in the winter and spring."

"…There are also 865 short-wool sheep and 624 long-wool sheep."

Short-wool sheep are mainly used for meat production. From the perspective of feed-to-meat ratio, they are the highest quality and most economical sheep breed in Xuanyou and Youzhou.

Although long-wool sheep have a much lower meat production efficiency, they are rich in wool, and clothes made from their fur are also better at keeping warm.

In the winter in Xuanyou and You states, this is a basic need, just like food.

“In addition, there are 1100 shi of barley in the warehouse of the other courtyard.

Due to your request, Captain, we did not conduct an inventory of the surplus food and other property of each household.

But according to information shared by other new brothers, I estimate that if we save a little, we can save another 400 to 500 dan of grain."

"We also found a lot of gold, silver and copper coins, but due to the rush, we didn't count them carefully.

But after a rough count, I estimate that if all of it were converted into silver, it would be around 5,000 taels."

"Also, sufficient weapons and harness to arm one hundred and fifty horsemen."

Having said this, Cao Ao paused, a look of delight appeared on his face, and he said to Geng Xuan:
"Captain, I finally know the answer to the question you asked me before."

Geng Xuan asked doubtfully, "What's the problem?"

"..."

Cao Ao hesitated for a moment, and his voice became lighter. He said:

"When you first came here, weren't you wondering why this place was called Iron Arrow Mountain?"

"Ah... it's not just a random name?" When he mentioned this, Geng Xuan naturally recalled the confusion that subconsciously arose in his heart at that time.

Cao Ao said, "There is a small iron mine at the foot of this hill."

Geng Xuan suddenly realized, but then a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"Is there any iron smelting and forging in this courtyard? Why don't I see any?"

Before Cao Ao led people to carefully comb the inside and outside of the villa, he was the first person to "sweep" the entire villa.

But he did not see any traces related to it, nor did he see anyone related to iron smelting and forging.

Cao Ao said: "Because this small iron mine has long been abandoned."

Having said that, he gave a more detailed explanation without waiting for Geng Xuan to ask further questions.

“Firstly, Dong Guan has very strict control over this aspect. If something like this were to happen here, even the slightest sign would cause a blow to this place and even all of Tielang’s industries.

Secondly, these small iron mines are basically deep underground and of poor quality, far from comparable to the iron ore in Chidunyuan. Not to mention making weapons, they are too brittle even for forging farm tools, and can only be used to refine arrowheads.

But if that were the case, this small mine would not be worth mining at all.

But for this reason, this place got the name 'Iron Arrow Mountain'."

"...This Iron Wolf is quite arrogant." Geng Xuan said.

Cao Ao shook his head slightly and said:

"The name 'Iron Arrow Mountain' existed long before he turned this place into a villa.

The people in Dongguan have long known about the situation here."

"..." There were some deviations from what he had expected, and Geng Xuan nodded silently in his heart.

Cao Ao paused and said with a smile:

"The reason why I suddenly mentioned this is that there is a type of weapon in the armory that has a particularly large reserve."

Geng Xuan's mind moved, and he asked, "Bow and arrow?"

Cao Ao nodded and said:
“Not only are there twenty iron-back bows, but there are also three copper-framed iron-back bows.

In addition, there are two hundred bags of solid wooden arrows, fifty bags of iron-headed arrows, and ten bags of heavy iron-feathered arrows.

These quivers are all standard quivers of thirty-six quivers."

Geng Xuan was surprised and asked, "So many? ...And there are enough weapons and horse harnesses to arm 150 cavalrymen. Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Because the purpose of these reserves is not for personal use...but to serve as a secret supply point." Cao Ao said.

Geng Xuan suddenly understood and nodded slightly.

There must be more stories here.

Including the complex and entangled affiliations behind it, the secret operations, the dealings with various forces, etc.

However, Geng Xuan had no interest in exploring in depth these stories, which he could roughly outline just by thinking about them in his mind.

"What else?" Geng Xuan asked.

Cao Ao shook his head: "That's basically it."

"Cultivation resources, and medicine...don't you have these things?"

“There are some common medicines in the public treasury, but not many.

As for cultivation resources, I haven't found any... maybe there are some stored in some private residences."

After hearing this, Geng Xuan nodded slightly and did not pursue the matter any further.

After that, the two didn't talk about anything else.

Geng Xuan signaled Cao Ao to continue to be on guard outside, while he quickly filled his stomach and went to a quiet place in the other courtyard to practice.

Time passed slowly and the sun set further and further in the west.

More than an hour later.

Geng Xuan, who stood in the "Heaven and Earth Posture", recovered his body to its peak condition.

He completely digested and absorbed the "Blood-Draining Hand" which had just reached the level of minor success, and took another step forward, breaking into the level of major success.

At this moment, Geng Xuan suddenly raised his head.

In the distant sky, he could only see three black spots circling in a regular pattern.

And through the connection established by the master level "Flying Eagle Technique", a clear warning emotion is transmitted to oneself.

Looking at the trajectories of these three Xuanqinghai sand sculptures circling in the sky, their direction is pointing directly to the south of Tiejian Mountain.

Geng Xuan's mind moved, and his figure flashed and disappeared from the spot in an instant.

Soon, he left the villa and stood at the top of the hill, looking in the direction of the warning from the three Xuanqinghai sand sculptures.

Gazing into the distance, he first saw a dense group of small black dots "slowly" approaching this place from the sandy plain south of Tiejian Mountain.

"That's you."

After locking onto this group of targets, Geng Xuan's pupils changed slightly.

Originally, there was only a small, dense black dot in the field of vision.

But as the pupils changed, the black spots magnified four or five times, and the outline of the person could be roughly seen.

Although the appearance cannot be seen completely, basic features such as height, weight and body shape are basically visible.

His eyes seemed to have turned into "biological telescopes", suddenly possessing the ability to magnify distant scenes to a certain extent.

These new changes seemed to come "naturally" after he advanced to the master level of "Flying Eagle Technique".

"This is the additional 'eagle vision' that the Falconry Technique brings."

"It's still nearly twenty miles."

After some observation, Geng Xuan made this judgment in his mind, then quickly went down the hill and returned to the villa.

He immediately asked Bai Ma to call back Cao Ao and others.

Cao Ao, who was following Geng Xuan's instructions and leading a group of people to set up defenses around the villa, was confused.

"Captain, do you really want me to take everyone back?" Cao Ao asked.

"Yes."

"Do you know why?" Cao Ao asked.

"do not know."

"..."

Looking at Bai Ma who was very frugal with words, Cao Ao did not delay and eventually brought everyone back to the villa.

After giving the order to Bai Ma, Geng Xuan entered the room where he had fought for several hours.

Seventeen "former disabled persons" who had their severed limbs reattached are now in a deep sleep.

From Geng Xuan's perspective, the "ripples" emanating from these people have become much more stable compared to when the severed limbs had just been reattached.

However, the frequency of change is still faster than that of normal people.

But compared to the peak of the frequency fluctuation, it has now calmed down a lot.

Geng Xuan's eyes swept over the group of sleepers and he thought:

"I don't mean to harm you, it's just that the Black Wind Group is about to face a big test.

And you are all the backbone of the Black Wind Group."

Apart from him, the only two Marrow Refining Realm experts in the Black Wind Group are here.

With this in mind, Geng Xuan walked up to the sleeping people one by one and patted their chests one by one.

As he passed by, his palm seemed to have plucking the invisible strings scattered around them, and the "ripples" that had gradually subsided began to fluctuate rapidly again.

This includes both the "Life-Gathering Technique" of the Great Accomplishment Realm and the "Blood-Draining Hand", and the effect is very obvious.

Normally, in a natural coma, it would take at least several days to wake up and generally adapt to the reattached limbs.

Now, that process has been shortened dramatically.

When Geng Xuan pressed the last palm and walked past the seventeenth sleeper, the first sleeper had already opened his eyes and sat up from the table. He was full of energy, and from the moment he opened his eyes, there was an incredible look in his eyes.

He lowered his head and looked at the unfamiliar right arm in front of him. The five fingers moved slowly under the control of his consciousness.

Palms, wrists, elbows...

Finally, he even pinched his right hand hard with his left hand.

"ah!"

Because he hit her so hard, the clear pain made him cry out.

But how could one see any pain on his face?
Just a bright smile.

The price of all this was only about two years of shortened lifespan.

If there had been no emergency awakening and he had woken up naturally, the cost would have been halved.

Geng Xuan was aware of these disappointing situations, but there was no need for him to speak out.

Moreover, Geng Xuan believed that even if they knew this situation, most people, after weighing the pros and cons, would still choose to pay this "small" price in exchange for a healthy and complete body.

When Cao Ao led everyone back to the villa, they couldn't help but widen their eyes and look at their companions who were disabled half a day ago but now became complete and energetic.

Seeing that everyone had gathered, Geng Xuan quickly said to them:

"Right now, there is a group of about 300 sand bandits approaching us quickly."

As soon as these words were spoken, the air suddenly froze.

Originally, all eyes focused on those "newcomers" and "newcomers" were now focused on Geng Xuan.

Everyone looked serious, but not panicked.

Geng Xuan was satisfied with this.

Cao Ao immediately asked: "Captain, how should we respond?"

Geng Xuan swept his gaze over everyone and said, "It's very simple. This villa looked exactly like what it looked like before we arrived this morning."

"..."

When he said this, the bandits were stunned and puzzled at first, and then gradually understood.

Soon, everyone dispersed away from Geng Xuan.

After quickly making arrangements, Geng Xuan said to Cao Ao, "Bring me a copper-framed, iron-backed bow."

Cao Ao nodded and asked, "Captain, what kind of arrows do you usually use?"

"Prepare some... the more the better."

……

After the four bandit groups joined together, they had a total of 362 horses.

If it was a bandit gang of this size, it would be considered a well-known name in the bandit circles of Xuanyou and You states.

This group of three or four hundred horsemen, after meeting up, marched north in a mighty procession.

Under the guidance of an experienced person, they quickly approached the Tiejian Mountain Villa.

When they were about thirty or forty miles away from the Tiejianshan Villa, the cavalry paused for a moment.

Took a final rest.

At the same time, the horse-drawn carriages used to transport supplies were left in the desert.

All other unnecessary burdens were also removed.

The cavalry covered the last few dozen miles in the most agile manner.

In the distance, the low hill called Tiejian Mountain was visible, nearly ten miles away.

After some discussion among the four cavalry of the Sand Bandits, three of them tacitly went around from both sides, while the one led by One-Eyed Dragon waited in place.

This time, they planned to completely devour the entire Tiejian Mountain Villa.

With such a huge disparity in power between the two sides, they were not worried about being discovered in advance by the other side, but only worried about "some fish slipping through the net".

In order to prevent this situation from happening as much as possible, the current arrangement was made.

The one-eyed man and his subordinates stayed where they were, looking up at the sky from time to time.

According to the agreement, the four teams will approach the Tiejianshan Villa together in one hour.

——Even if there is a lack of accurate timing tools and it is impossible to achieve completely consistent actions, the sun in the sky is the most eye-catching reference.

An hour later, it was around dusk when the sun was about to set.

To them, this was a sure sign.

For the guards in the villa, it was also time to go home for dinner.

According to the information they had learned, the guards of this kind of villa were very lax and perfunctory.

If they started to act at that time, with some luck, they might even be able to completely surround the villa without alerting the guards.

If we wait a little longer and take action at night, the possibility of being exposed in advance will be lower.

But in the dark environment, the guards will have complete home advantage, causing them unnecessary casualties.

In order to maximize the timing of the action, the one-eyed man has been looking up at the sky frequently since the other three horse teams left.

Finally, when the setting sun was less than a palm's distance from the horizon, the one-eyed man ended his last observation.

He shouted softly, "Let's go!"

However, just as the team started to move and the horses began to run again, the one-eyed man couldn't help but look up at the sky again.

This time, he was not looking at the sunset, but at the sky above his head.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but when he looked away for the last time, he saw small black spots moving regularly in the sky above.

At this moment, he looked up again at the airspace in his impression.

Nothing was discovered except that the background color of Tianyu became a little darker.

"You must be dazzled."

The one-eyed dragon thought so in his heart and didn't think much about it.

For normal people, staring at the sun can easily cause dizziness.

This is even more true for him.

Before long, the horse team, having rounded the low hill, was able to see large grasslands and a conspicuous pond.

While bypassing the low hill, the One-Eyed Dragon himself led more than 30 elite soldiers to dismount from the Canglan horses and prepare to cross the low hill on foot.

Completely blocking the escape route for people in the other courtyard.

As for the problem that the strength of his own cavalry would decline after losing this group of elite soldiers, the One-Eyed Dragon naturally had corresponding arrangements.

The group quietly came to the highest point of the hill. The outline of the villa below, from the pond, grassland, cultivated land, to the large area of crowded buildings, everything came into their sight.

What made One-Eyed Dragon feel at ease was that everything was just as they expected. At this time, everyone from the guards to the sand people had returned home.

Or you have already reached the entrance of the villa and are ready to go in.

The curls of smoke are rising into the sky through the chimneys.

The one-eyed man raised his head and moved his gaze slightly outward, and saw that four horse teams had completed the encirclement of the villa from four directions, and were almost face to face.

According to his experience, when things reached this point, the operation was actually over.

After some observation and understanding of the latest situation, the One-Eyed Dragon decided to make arrangements for the next course of action.

At this moment, a sigh sounded from beside him:
"Hey, why are you guys dividing into teams? Isn't this just a hassle?"

"???"

The one-eyed man was confused at first, and even suspected that he was hallucinating.

But soon, a chill spread from deep in his spine, because he finally realized what this sentence that sounded out of nowhere meant.

Realizing the danger, he wanted to dodge immediately.

At the same time, he shouted loudly to warn others.

However, when he wanted to take these actions, the opportunity had passed.

No matter whether he dodged or shouted, he failed.

As a light breeze blew into his body, the one-eyed dragon stood motionless.

A light breeze, with the one-eyed dragon as its center, blew into the crowd.

This "wind" does not blow up clothes or mess up hair, but blows straight into everyone's body.

Anyone whose body is penetrated by this "wind" will have all their strength dissipated.

The body cannot move, the mouth cannot speak.

In fact, this use of strength based on the "Yin Feng Hua Gu Palm" is extremely gentle and mild compared to the original version.

If it is truly activated with the genuine version, any body that is blown into by this "wind".

It's not just the body that can't move, the mouth can't speak.

The internal organs, flesh and blood will all be "blown" into a ball of minced meat.

After this "wind", more than twenty of the thirty or so people who had abandoned their horses and crossed the mountain with the One-Eyed Dragon were captured.

The eight people who were far away and further out were lucky enough to avoid being blown by the "wind".

But don't wait for them to run away, don't wait for them to shout loudly.

A low voice, so audible that it seemed to shatter their hearts, suddenly came.

"Bah!"

The eight people fell into a new state of paralysis. (End of this chapter)