That year, that cicada, that sword

Chapter 14

In the 20th year of Taiping, June [-]th.

Just at noon, the sky was gloomy and frighteningly gloomy, just like the atmosphere in the Northwest Dark Guard Mansion at this time, it was extraordinarily dignified, almost making people breathless. watch events.

A fourth-rank chief inspector, a fourth-rank adjutant captain, five internal guards from the imperial capital, 43 elite dark guards, 120 ordinary dark guards, all died in battle.How many years has it been since such a loss happened?Although the Dark Guard Mansion claims to have a population of 20 people, all kinds of informants have to be added. In this regard, the Dark Guard Mansion is no match for an army of tens of thousands of people. The army can not worry about hundreds of casualties On the other hand, the Dark Guard Mansion was just the opposite. This level of casualties was almost traumatic.

As the real speaker of the Northwest Dark Guard Mansion, Lu Chen sat on the main seat in the main hall, and on his left and right sat the senior officials of the Northwest Dark Guard Mansion. Sitting upright, no one dared to make the slightest sound, for fear of being angered by this acting capital governor who was known for his gloomy temperament, and suffering unreasonable disasters.

There was a sound of needles falling in the whole hall.

Lu Chen looked around at the people in the hall, his voice was unexpectedly calm, and he said slowly: "I think you all know what happened a few days ago, it was originally a long-planned plan, but I don't want someone to spoil the situation in the end, Let us die a total of 170 people. The official staff of the Northwest Dark Guard Mansion is only more than [-] people, and this has to be dispersed among the departments of several large states such as Shanzhou, Xiliang, and Xihe. , There are more than [-] people in a secret guard department, and two-thirds of them died in one fell swoop, and the entire central guard department is almost wiped out."

When the words fell, there was a sudden thunder, which illuminated the dim hall, and at the same time illuminated the gloomy faces of the people in the Dark Guard Mansion.

A downpour came suddenly this late summer.

Soybean-sized raindrops hit the eaves, making a crackling sound, and in an instant, they gathered into a thin stream, flowing down the corners of the eaves, forming silvery water lines.

The people in the hall were indifferent to the sudden heavy rain, even the dark guards guarding outside the hall with swords and armor, let the raindrops hit the armor fiercely.

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes, looked out at the rain curtain through the wide-open hall door, and continued: "That's all, after all, there is no such thing as immortality, and we will admit it when we meet an expert. The key is to count the corpses afterwards. There is also a little Taoist girl named Zhiyun missing."

Lu Chen got up from his seat, walked slowly to the door, and said coldly: "Now that things have happened, the original plan to incite the people to burn down the Chonglong Temple within three days is no longer possible, and the fact that so many people died It is impossible to hide it no matter what, the incident is too big, and it won't be long before the Town Demon Palace will notice it. If the people from the Town Demon Palace find this little girl again, what are the methods of the officials in Baihutang? You also know that we will definitely regard our Northwest Dark Guard Mansion as an outcast, and use our heads to calm the anger of the Taoist sect."

Everyone in the hall felt a bone-chilling chill.

Lu Chen's words are definitely not words of intimidation. Everyone knows that the dark guard is ruthless, but they don't know that the dark guard is not only ruthless to outsiders, but also merciless to his own people. As the battle between the three governors intensified, he died of internal fighting over the years The hidden guards abound.The Northwest Dark Guard Mansion has always been the sphere of influence of Governor Fu. If this incident happens, the other two governors will definitely not hesitate to add insult to injury and step on it again.

Lu Chenhan said in a loud voice: "Stop talking nonsense, it's not too late to make up for it, all the divisions have thrown down their hands, and strictly guarded the entrance and exit of the northwest gate, only allowed to enter and not to exit, even if the northwest is turned upside down, it is not too late. You must find Zhiyun. If you are alive, you must see people, if you are dead, you must see corpses."

All the high-ranking officials of the dark guard stood up, cupped their hands and said in a low voice: "No!"

It was raining heavily in the middle of the country, but it was light rain here in Xiliangzhou.

After a few days, Xu Beiyou and his team have arrived at Longnan, which is located on the southeast border of Xiliang Prefecture. It is connected to Shanzhou in the east and connected to Shuzhou in the south. The land is known as "the key of Liangshan, the throat of Bashu", so there is a frontier guard of about 3000 people here, guarded by a commander of the third rank.

Don't think that third-rank officials are very small. To the people of a state, they are big figures like heaven. The world has been turned upside down, these third-rank and fourth-rank officials in the frontier are real local emperors, turning their hands into clouds and rain, and even those who have been in business for decades are deeply entrenched. It is not an exaggeration to say that they can cover the sky with one hand. Even the first- and second-rank officials in the imperial capital may not have such awe-inspiring prestige.

The old man led Xu Beiyou and Zhiyun into the pass guarding Longnan in the slight drizzle.Because Xiliangzhou and Shanzhou have direct access to the grassland, there are a lot of merchants and horse dealers here, so this pass has become more and more prosperous, and it has a medium-sized city, and here is a no-care zone. Basically, only the commander-in-chief with [-] soldiers and horses has the final say. Here, his words are the king's law.

However, this Lord Commander is not really lawless. After all, who dares to do grassland business, which one has no official figures standing behind him?Especially the group of horse dealers, most of them have the background of the military bosses, and they have to have a real relationship with the Taijis on the grassland. If they don't have these two kinds of relationships, they want to do the horse trading business, and I am afraid that they will even leave the grassland. If you don't reach it, you will die without a place to bury you.That's why the leader generally doesn't provoke these people, as long as the passers-by get enough money, then both sides will live in peace.

As soon as the three of them entered the city, they saw a group of sturdy riders riding forward, with sabers undisguisedly hanging from their waists, and even bows and arrows that were banned by the imperial court on their horses.

Before entering the city, Zhiyun was told by the old man to put on a big robe to keep out the wind and sand, and his face was tightly wrapped, with only a pair of eyes showing, so these people didn't pay much attention to Xu Beiyou and the other three, directly whizzed by.

After the group of people walked away, the old man said flatly: "These people are horse dealers, most of them are swordsmen from the Northwest, their strength is very good, about six or seven ranks, have you seen those bows? The worst It is also a two-stone bow, one stone weighs 120 catties, and its arm strength is comparable to that of the soldiers in the main barracks of the frontier army. As for the character of these people, compared with the horse thieves on the grassland, it is not only a letter, but also a step. "

Xu Beiyou's face was a bit solemn, his current strength was around the fifth rank, and compared with these horse dealers, he was only on par with these horse dealers.

Next, the old man took the two of them to a time-honored inn in the downtown area with ease, and asked for two upper rooms.

The old man looked at the two young men and women who were puzzled, and calmly said: "It's not peaceful here at night, I'm in the room alone for the teacher, and the two of you are in the room to take care of each other."

After all, the old man walked away without caring about the delicate atmosphere between the two young people.

Xu Beiyou opened his mouth, hesitant to speak, he vaguely felt that Master smiled just now, and the smile was very playful.

When the old man came to his room, his originally calm expression became a little weird, and he smiled softly: "Boy, the teacher has paved the way for you, it depends on your understanding."

(End of this chapter)