Start with a red name

The news reported by Kang Jun surprised Geng Xuan a little, but not too much.

Because according to the various information he had already obtained, Dong Guan would make a big move around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year.

No matter what big move he makes, the Hang River, which stretches south of the two states of Xuanyou and is dozens of miles wide at its narrowest point, is the first hurdle he must cross.

In addition, Dong Guan also clearly formulated a plan for "Lianyun Water Fort".

He was confident that even under the most unfavorable circumstances, he could take it into his hands overnight and seize this forward base located south of the Hang River and deep into Yuanzhou.

All of this actually implies a premise, that is, Dong Guan, who has always been famous for his Xuanyou Iron Cavalry, must have a sufficiently strong water force in his hands.

Moreover, this water force must be strong enough to completely control a top Yuanzhou gang like "Lianyun Shuizhai" in a short period of time.

If this cannot be achieved, all subsequent plans for Yuanzhou will be in vain.

Such a water force could never be formed in a hurry.

Now, it is already late December, and it is less than a month away from the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

According to Geng Xuan's deduction, all important preparatory work has been completed within the Dong Guan system.

Everything is in a state of "readiness", and we just need to wait for the official action to come.

The "looting" operation that took place at Dicui Beach further confirmed his judgment.

Considering the unprincipled and extremely flexible "art of rule" demonstrated by Dong Guan during his decades of ruling Xuan and You states, this was more like an action of "catching rabbits by pulling grass".

Anyway, idle is idle.

The other side of this self-destructive behavior reveals Dong Guan's absolute confidence in his control over his administration and that he does not believe that the two states of Xuan and You will cause any trouble because of it.

And if the most important preparations have not been completed, he will definitely not have the time to do such a bold move.

The passing geese leave shadows, the passing wind leaves traces.

It is impossible to keep such a big move absolutely confidential.

As the size of the Black Wind Group rapidly expanded, more and more sand bandits gathered around him, and all kinds of clues related to them would inevitably converge on him.

"Where is Huangwei Island?" Geng Xuan looked at Kang Jun and asked.

Kang Jun said, "I only know that Huangwei Island is roughly located in a certain area of water in the south of the middle section of Xuanqing Sea. I don't know the more specific location."

Having said this, he paused and said:
“However, although I don’t know, I can contact my sworn brother.

He has been hanging out in Xuanqing Sea for many years and is very familiar with the locations of almost all the sand islands in Xuanqing Sea.

Not only that, he is very familiar with all those who are involved in Xuanqinghai, whether they are doing business with capital or without capital, or Dong Guan’s men.”

Geng Xuan looked at him and suddenly asked, "Do you want to recommend your brother to join the Black Wind Group?"

"...Yes." Kang Jun paused for a moment and nodded decisively.

With Dong Guan's power, it would not be difficult for him to find out the whereabouts of Kang Jun after he killed all the others and only his sworn brother Kang Jun escaped.

——This person has been making a living in Xuanqinghai for a long time, and has left too many traces.

In this case, as long as the person is in the two states of Xuanyou, his safety is not guaranteed.

Either keep hiding, leave Xuanyou and Youzhou, or cling to a powerful person.

Kang Jun's request happened to be exactly what Geng Xuan wanted.

He nodded and said, "Okay."

Seeing that he answered so straightforwardly, Kang Jun hesitated.

He hesitated for a moment and said:
“My sworn brother is very wary now, unless I go and recruit him in person.

Otherwise, it will be difficult to succeed.

But if this happens, I might not be able to participate in the Black Wind Group's next move."

His hesitation was certainly not because he could not participate in the Black Wind Group's next action, but because he could not gain more credit from it.

Geng Xuan thought that this might be the reason why he was willing to reveal this information only after Yue Yan's instigation.

He said:

“In the Black Wind Group, there is more than one way to earn credit.

Anyone who does anything beneficial to the Black Wind Group will receive a contribution!
As long as the situation on Huangwei Island is true, I will guarantee you three credits.

If he can provide me with more information about Xuan Qinghai, both you and he will gain more credit."

Kang Jun's expression brightened when he heard this, and he said hurriedly:

"Then... shall I go now?"

Geng Xuan asked:
"How long does it take you to go there and back?"

"We can return around noon tomorrow," said Kang Jun.

"Don't come back here, go directly to Wild Wolf Gorge to meet me." Geng Xuan reminded.

Kang Jun was delighted when he heard this and said, "If that's the case, then I don't have to go alone."

Geng Xuan suddenly realized, and asked, "Is he in Wild Wolf Gorge now?"

Kang Jun nodded, "Yes."

Geng Xuan was a little surprised, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was not surprising.

Yelang Gorge is a place where a large number of bandits gather and travel, making it very suitable for hiding. In addition, due to its "cesspool" properties, it is a place that Dong Guan's forces actively avoid and are unwilling to intervene too deeply. This is exactly in line with Kang Jun's needs to become sworn brothers.

Geng Xuan said to Kang Jun, "Then you don't have to go out alone, go have dinner... Don't worry, no matter where others are, your contributions will not be less."

After Kang Jun bowed respectfully, he returned to his seat.

The one-eyed dragon Yue Yan stood there and did not leave with him. Instead, he seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Geng Xuan seemed to read his thoughts and said, "Don't worry, you will get the credit you deserve."

Yue Yan hurriedly said, "I just gave a little reminder. I don't want to take credit for it. It's just that my eyes..."

As he spoke, he pointed to his right eye which had completely atrophied.

Geng Xuan said, "We don't have any fresh materials right now. When the next battle is over, I will personally replace it with the best one for you."

Yue Yan was immediately delighted, and hurriedly bowed and returned to his seat.

……

After the meal, Cao Ao came to ask for instructions and inquire about the next arrangements.

"Prepare supplies and be prepared to rush to Wild Wolf Gorge immediately."

"Unite the whole group and be prepared to engage the enemy at any time."

"Then... rest immediately."

These three commands, which seemed contradictory at first glance, made Cao Ao stunned for a long time before he understood.

Immediately coordinate and make arrangements with Zheng Liangcai, Shen Shangxian, Yue Yan, Kang Jun and others.

Not long after, the villa, which was originally very lively with bonfires everywhere, immediately fell into darkness and silence.

Inside the villa, all the members of the Black Wind Group placed their weapons in the most convenient positions, or even held them in their hands.

Except for the people on duty, everyone else soon fell into a sound sleep.

——For the bandits, this is also a basic skill. Not to mention falling asleep on the spot, experienced ones can even fall asleep on the back of a moving horse.

Even the three Xuanqinghai sand sculptures returned quietly, landed on the roof of the villa, and huddled together tightly.

Geng Xuan himself stood quietly in the open space of the villa like a stone pillar.

Geng Xuan stood like a "Heaven and Earth Post" and took this opportunity to conserve his energy and restore his spirit, while at the same time blending with the "ripples" of the earth, allowing himself to achieve the most harmonious state with the "Earth Listening Technique".

With the full activation of the "Earth Listening Technique", all the movements within dozens of miles around him were recorded through the "ripples" of the earth, converged under his feet, and appeared in his mind.

After careful filtering, Geng Xuan's heart once again became empty and peaceful.

But his ethereal and peaceful state is fundamentally different from the ignorance of other people.

He was like a spider, weaving a strange spider web on the earth with Tiejianshan Villa as the center and a radius of more than forty miles.

Even without the aerial detection provided by Xuan Qinghai Sha Diao, Geng Xuan was confident that as long as any cavalry entered the range of this "spider web", he would detect it immediately.

time flies.

The night of December 27th passed quietly in this quiet atmosphere.

After midnight, time enters the early morning of the 28th.

The master's level of "earth listening technique" has quietly advanced to the grandmaster level.

His "spider web" with a radius of more than 40 miles extended further into the distance, until the radius exceeded 60 miles before gradually stabilizing.

Not only has the range become larger, the sensitivity of the "spider web" has also been greatly improved.

Shortly after this upgrade occurred, regular vibrations began to be heard from the edge of the "spider web" in the south of Tiejian Mountain, ranging from light to heavy.

Geng Xuan's spirits immediately lifted.

Under his close attention, the "spider web" on the south side of the courtyard began to vibrate more and more obviously, and the closer to the edge, the greater the amplitude.

Finally, at a certain moment, the rumbling and dense sound of horse hooves sounded like muffled thunder and entered Geng Xuan's heart.

This means that there is a cavalry team that is marching rapidly across the desert in the middle of the night, and has entered the area of more than 60 miles from the south of the villa.

Geng Xuan did not make any additional moves and just quietly "observed" for a while.

After this large cavalry marched forward for more than ten miles, it was now within fifty miles of him.

Observing their movements, Geng Xuan finally became convinced that this cavalry, like the joint cavalry composed of Yue Yan, Kang Jun and others, had targeted the Tiejian Mountain Villa.

Geng Xuan just "watched" like this calmly.

"Hey, you're too slow."

He knew that the opponent had actually fully utilized the potential of the Canglan Horse, but from his unique perspective, the speed was indeed a bit outrageously slow.

When the cavalry reached a distance of about thirty miles from the villa, the rushing cavalry stopped completely.

As it stopped moving, its originally clear and precise trajectory quickly became blurred in Geng Xuan's "vision".

If it weren't for the sporadic sounds of horse hooves stamping on the ground, which were accurately captured by the Grandmaster's "Earth Listening Technique", he would have suspected that the other party had completely disappeared.

"Why did you stop?"

"Relax?"

"Make adjustments to your strength and tactics before the final sprint?"

Thoughts emerged in Geng Xuan's mind.

Suddenly, another piece of information appeared in Geng Xuan's mind.

"Judging from the distance and direction, that seems to be where Yue Yan and his men parked the supply wagon."

As he was thinking this, Geng Xuan remembered another thing.

That was the spy from the Wild Wolf Village. On the way to the Tiejian Mountain Villa with the main force, he would find opportunities to leave some marks whenever the team stopped to rest.

He himself wasn't sure whether it would work or not, he just did it as per custom.

And under the guidance of the sixty-two points of bad luck, maybe his approach of trying both ways had worked.

"It was you who really lured them here?!"

……

Just as Geng Xuan was thinking this in his heart.

About thirty miles south of Tiejianshan Villa.

A cavalry of more than 600 men was parked in the desert late at night.

Although it was late at night, the horse team stopped in the desert showed no signs of setting up camp to rest. Instead, they were seizing the time to replenish food for the Canglan horses.

While feeding their mounts, the bandits also took the opportunity to replenish their own water and food.

In this busy yet quiet atmosphere, several people were standing on a piece of sand holding torches.

This piece of sand had obviously been cleaned up by someone intentionally.

The sparse gravel that should have been evenly distributed turned into an arrow pointing to the north.

Next to it, someone had drawn a very abstract picture using a sharp weapon like a sword.

Because the painting style is too abstract, it is impossible for those who don’t understand the meaning to see anything from this picture.

However, the few people gathered here holding torches at this moment naturally knew that this was a wolf head.

“It’s an ugly painting.”

A middle-aged man with a weather-beaten face stared at the "wolf head" on the ground for a few seconds and commented like this.

As he spoke, he kicked the arrowhead made of sand and gravel apart.

By the way, erase the picture carved by this sharp weapon.

He said to the others, "Okay, you all should stop hanging around me and go do what you need to do."

The people holding torches dispersed, and only one person remained with him.

This man was in his early thirties, and both his clothing and appearance were much more refined than the other "rough" bandits. He looked like he had not suffered much hardship.

He smiled and said:
"Fourth Uncle, I never expected that this trip south would bring me so many unexpected surprises.

Not only can you earn so many horses, but you can also pick up such bargains on the way back."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man couldn't help but smile.

However, as the fourth in command of the Wild Wolf Village, his temperament is much more stable than that of the young man.

The smile on his lips disappeared immediately, and he warned the young man beside him:
"You must stay close to me later and don't run around. This is not a mountain stronghold.

It's pitch dark here, anything could happen, don't think the threat is minor and don't take it seriously!"

The young man quickly responded, "Fourth Uncle, I don't need to... But no matter what the situation is in the other courtyard, it can't pose a threat to us, right?"

The middle-aged man turned to look at him and said seriously:
“It’s true that they pose no threat to us.

But whether anyone died or not is another matter... What do you think is the possibility of us taking over the villa without losing a single person?"

The young man was stunned for a moment and said, "It's possible... However, this possibility should not be high... I understand, Fourth Uncle, I won't cause you any trouble."

The middle-aged man nodded and said no more about it.

This time he went south to Dicui Beach with the purpose of selling some goods accumulated in Yelang Gorge before the end of the year.

As the son of the village chief, the young man was not originally included in the itinerary.

It was because the young people had no resistance to the den of brothel like Dicui Beach, so they followed it desperately.

However, bad luck, or perhaps it could be said that the luck was too good, as the team was about to enter Dicui Beach but had not yet officially entered Dicui Beach.

Dong Guan's planned and premeditated "looting operation" against the entire Dicui Beach began.

Looking at the large number of sand bandit gangs rushing out from Dicui Beach like flies, they stopped quite a few of them at first in order to inquire about the reasons.

Later, the middle-aged man directly targeted the bandits themselves. Considering Dong Guan's sudden move, the two states of Xuanyou are likely to enter a "period of chaos". To survive such a "period of chaos", the more cards in hand, the better.

So, when the team turned around and headed back north, a group of elite sand bandits from the Wild Wolf Village, led by a middle-aged man, used their traditional skills to gather and grow stronger along the way.

The number of people in the team quickly expanded from less than 100 to more than 600.

Originally, they had a chance to collect more, but the middle-aged man was worried that something had happened in Wild Wolf Gorge.

Secondly, the rapidly expanding team caused the originally ample supplies to suddenly become tight.

——The bandits who escaped from Dicui Beach, Yue Yan, Kang Jun and others, all had no supplies. The middle-aged man and his group did not enter Dicui Beach, nor did they get any new supplies.

Just as they were considering whether to go to a tribe along the way to "obtain" a batch of supplies.

A rider from the Wild Wolf Village who was on scout patrol reported a piece of news that a mark left by a spy from the Wild Wolf Village was found somewhere in the desert not far away.

With a clear direction, more clues were soon found.

With their experience, they immediately figured out the plots of Yue Yan, Kang Jun and others.

The original plan to obtain supplies from a certain tribe was immediately canceled.

Firstly, at the critical moment of life and death, the tribe’s resistance will be extremely resolute. Even the herdsmen without any cultivation will rush towards them with pitchforks in their hands without caring about their lives.

This would cause them more unnecessary casualties.

This was a big blow to the team that had just been put together.

Secondly, he not only set his sights on the supplies in the Tiejianshan Villa, but also on the bandit gangs including Yue Yan and Kang Jun.

The mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind.

The oriole wants not only the cicada, but also the mantis, he wants them all!

Compared to the tribe covered with thorns, this target is obviously more to the middle-aged man's liking.

What’s even more interesting is that although the direction is slightly off, in the general direction, Tiejianshan Villa and Yelang Gorge are both in the north.

This is a convenient thing and will not delay their return journey.

……

Half an hour later.

After the rest, both the man and the horse were basically back to good condition.

The middle-aged man took a look around, nodded with satisfaction and said, "Let's go!"

Because he was confident about the outcome of this trip, he led only fifty elite soldiers from Wild Wolf Gorge and other bandits to rush towards the villa.

The other forty-five elite soldiers in the village followed slowly behind, escorting a number of horse-drawn carriages.

A small number of these carriages contained supplies.

Most of them were resources transported from Yelang Gorge to Dicui Beach to be sold for cash. Now they have made a circle around the edge of Dicui Beach and are about to be transported back to Yelang Gorge.

By temporarily putting aside the burdens of carriages and baggage, the speed of the cavalry was significantly improved.

When the cavalry was about ten miles away from the Tiejianshan Villa, the middle-aged man shouted and the cavalry slowed down a lot, reducing the sound of the horses' hooves hitting the ground.

Moreover, when the bandits were controlling their mounts, they intentionally staggered the rhythm of the horses' hooves rising and falling to prevent the more than 600 Canglan horses from rising and falling at the same pace, causing noticeable ground shaking.

These are the experiences of veteran bandits who have been around for many years and can minimize the chances of being exposed.

And it was late at night, just after midnight.

The middle-aged man was confident that the other party would not be able to detect their presence until they got face to face with each other.

Because of such confidence, he did not arrange any detachments to encircle the enemy. In the context of a night attack, this kind of operation was purely a wink to a blind man and was totally unnecessary.

What's more, the sand bandits who were the main force of the attack this time were all a "rabble" that had just been received by the people, and there were not many forces that were directly under the control of the Wild Wolf Village.

He controls the entire team with his absolute strength and the prestige of the Wild Wolf Village.

Once the team is divided, the bandits will be out of his sight and may just disappear.

Just like this, a cavalry of more than 600 riders quietly approached the villa.

Seeing that there had been no movement in the villa so far, a slight smile flashed across the man's lips.

The moon was barely visible, with only scattered stars casting a dim glow on the earth.

If you don't take a long time to slowly adapt, suddenly being in such an environment, or suddenly waking up with your eyes open, it would not be much different from complete darkness.

This is the most favorable time for them as they have slightly lost the advantage of terrain.

In order to avoid the noise made by the uncontrolled Canglan horses due to being too close and attracting the attention of the bandits in the villa, the middle-aged man asked the bandits to tie all their mounts in the bushes opposite the pond.

After doing all this, he led more than 600 bandits, tiptoed around the pond, and silently moved towards the villa.

The team had bypassed the pond and arrived at the open space in front of the villa, but there was still no response from inside the villa.

The young man following the middle-aged man finally couldn't bear it anymore and muttered in a low voice:
"This is outrageous. There isn't even a single scout on night duty?!"

The middle-aged man immediately raised his hand, signaling him to shut up.

Soon, the bandits reached the gate of the villa.

The bandits in front did not rush in rashly, but looked at the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man came to the door and listened attentively. Even from a long distance, he could hear the sounds of deep sleep.

He turned around and waved to an elite bandit from the Wild Wolf Village. The man immediately sheathed the scimitar in his hand and came to the front of the courtyard wall.

With a slight leap, his body rose from the ground like a flea and landed silently on the wall.

Soon, he opened the tightly closed courtyard door silently from the inside.

At the signal of the middle-aged man, more than 600 sand bandits filed in silently and orderly.

After all the bandits had slipped into the gate of the villa, the elite bandit from the Wild Wolf Village who had been guarding the door and opened it with his own hands suddenly revealed a mischievous and ferocious smile at the corner of his mouth, and closed the gate again carefully.

Shortly after he did all this and returned to his original team.

The middle-aged man, the fourth in command of the Wild Wolf Village who has reached the late stage of marrow refining cultivation, has already clearly arranged the next actions through gestures.

Most of the people present, if not all of them, were veterans among the sand bandits.

When it comes to the skill of "how to rob efficiently", they are very familiar with it.

The middle-aged man's arrangement was just to make a final combing and take the opportunity to establish his leadership authority.

After making all the arrangements, he lightly waved his arm, and the bandits holding knives and swords immediately dispersed to various places in the villa.

The space around the middle-aged man quickly became empty and sparse.

He was not ready to do it himself for the time being, but just stood there with his hands behind his back, leading the young man, and walking towards the widest passage facing the gate.

"Hey, whose oil tank was knocked over?" The middle-aged man thought to himself as a faint smell of oil entered his nose.

At this moment, a whisper seemed to sound in his heart.

"Oh, what a delay."

The middle-aged man's heart suddenly tightened, and a chill rose from the depths of his heart.

But before he could make any more moves, he felt a light breeze entering his body, and the tense strength in his body was instantly defeated. He could neither move nor speak.

With only his eyes able to move, he discovered with horror that space seemed to be frozen and time seemed to be suspended.

The young man walking beside him, and the elite soldiers of the Wild Wolf Village rushing in front of him, were all in the same state as him.

The middle-aged man wanted to shout out a warning, but he could do nothing.

Next, he didn't know how much time had passed.

It seemed like an eternity had passed.

It seemed like just a very brief moment.

Those fellow bandits who were going away did not make any unusual noises.

until--

A voice came into my ears again.

"Do it."

This voice came from the same person as the teasing that seemed so close just now.

The next moment, the courtyard was completely silent and pitch black, with only the sound of snoring coming from time to time.

Suddenly, it fell into an even more eerie silence.

Then he heard the scattered bandits and all kinds of panicked noises.

Immediately afterwards, there were sounds of "whoosh" and flaming arrows flew across the night sky and shot into different corners of the courtyard.

Wherever the arrow landed, with the landing point as the center, flames would appear in an instant.

A bunch.

Two clusters.

Three clusters.

……

As the flames burned fiercely, the group of sand bandits that had originally blended into the darkness were all exposed.

This sudden change shocked the bandits so much that they were stunned and their scalps went numb.

"Ping ping ping -"

"Dangdangdang——"

The sounds of weapons colliding suddenly rang out from all directions.

That’s not all. Following the sounds of sharpening knives, there are breathtaking and uniform shouts.

"Don't kill if you abandon your weapons!"

"Surrender and avoid death!"

"Don't kill if you abandon your weapons!"

"Surrender and avoid death!"

"..."

The bandits, their scalps tingling and terrified, had no idea that they, the self-righteous "orioles", were actually the "stupid cicadas" who had fallen into the enemy's net and were unable to escape.

These movements did not completely break down the bandits' defenses.

What if the other party is bluffing?

We also have the fourth leader of the Wild Wolf Village and many marrow-refining combat forces!
The bandits tightly grasped their swords and knives, and the team that was originally dispersing in various places subconsciously gathered back to back.

At the same time, they were hoping for a change, looking around.

But this sight alone did not matter. Their already shaky defenses were shattered in an instant!
What did they see?
All the marrow-refining combat forces that they relied on as an opportunity to change the situation, not a single one responded to their expectations with actual actions.

At first, everyone thought that they just happened to be mixed up with a group of cowardly bosses.

But soon, they discovered something strange.

From the early stage of marrow refining, to the middle stage of marrow refining, to the only one in the late stage of marrow refining, the fourth in command of the Wild Wolf Village, these figures scattered everywhere, all stood there motionless like wood sculptures or stone carvings.

Not only them, but some of the people closest to them are the same as them.

Apart from moving the eyes and conveying negative emotions such as fear, suspicion, and despair, the eyes can't do anything else.

This discovery completely broke down the defenses of the bandits.

when.

The first bandit threw down his weapon and shouted, "I surrender!"

It was like a fuse that was lit.

Soon, in the courtyard, the clanging sound of weapons being thrown to the ground could be heard continuously.

"I surrender!"

"I surrender!"

"..."

When such momentum is formed, no bandit who can still move will dare to go against such a trend.

The sand bandits are all very aware of the current situation.

He is also a loyal supporter of the law of "survival of the fittest".

……

Forty-five elite members of the Wild Wolf Village drove their own cars, escorting a convoy of precious supplies as they rapidly approached the Tiejian Mountain Villa.

After going around the low hill, before they could see the gate of the villa, the bright light of fire had already torn through the darkness and entered their sight.

Along with this came the lively atmosphere that came from afar.

The people driving in the front smiled at each other and one of them said:
"I told you, with the Fourth Master personally leading the charge, how could these two or three hundred makeshift gangs not immediately kneel down and surrender?"

Another person complained: "Really? We were so nervous along the way that no one remembered to come back and let us know."

The first person who spoke soothed:

"What's so sour about you? Including the newly recruited people, the Fourth Master and his men now have eight to nine hundred people under their control.

With such great pressure, how can they spare any manpower to inform us?

Hurry up!"

His reminder also made the bandits wake up.

Seeing that the villa was in sight, he no longer cared about the horsepower and waved the whip more frequently, speeding up the convoy towards the villa.

But as soon as they rushed to the open space in front of the gate of the villa, they suddenly felt something was wrong.

Because until now, no one has come out to guide them.

This is very wrong.

Someone was already looking into the courtyard with suspicious eyes.

But before they could do anything else, the bandits heard a "hey" sound. Their hearts began to beat wildly, and their hands and feet suddenly became weak and they collapsed on the shafts of the carts.

The next moment, a group of strange bandits came out excitedly.

They picked them up one by one in their hands as if they were picking up trash, and then threw them into several empty carriages.

The carriage that was originally about to drive into the villa stopped at the open space in front of the villa gate.

Someone brought a fully powered Canglan horse to replace the one pulling the carriage.

Inside the villa, a continuous stream of horsemen filed out.

After the team was replaced, a new group of drivers whipped their horses and followed closely behind these people, leaving the Tiejianshan Villa and continuing to rush north of the Villa, that is, the direction of Yelang Gorge. (End of this chapter)