Tang Qi Tan

Chapter 170
The so-called mitral rock, and the first generation of Yingzui Mountain where it is located, are actually the common name for the nearby mountain people, Orion.Although the Tang Dynasty has been restored to peace for more than a hundred years, there are still people living in the mountains and forests; some are used to hunting for a living, and they can sell their prey for a good price; some are criminals.

They are usually the type with lesser crimes; they don't want to be exiled to the Nine Sides of Outland, so they hide in the mountains.As long as you avoid the limelight of the initial arrest by the government, and meet the regular amnesty of Qianqiu and Longevity, or after the new king ascends the throne, you can re-send the censor to punish and leniency; you can surrender and redeem.

Therefore, in the vicinity of some densely populated cities and areas, the mountains and forests are actually maintained, and many large and small settlements with similar backgrounds are called "mountain sheds" and "wild falls".Therefore, the mountain trail leading to the Mirage Rock is what they have opened up and trampled on a daily basis.

It’s just that I went up the mountain in the intermittent drizzle, and my feet were wet and slippery. I was still wearing armor, and I was holding some improvised equipment in my hand. , and stained the jersey and cloak into a muddy color.

After walking halfway up the mountain, even the loaded pack horses slipped one after another, and their hooves were scratched and they could no longer move on.At this time, Liu Jingchang, who was the captain of the team, could only order to set up a temporary camp to guard mules and horses in a forest clearing close to the entire mountain rock.

However, the remaining entire regiment (currently 243 soldiers), except for one team staying in place, the other three teams have carried out weight loss and change of equipment according to local conditions in accordance with Jiang Tian's request.Remove the cloak and cloak that got in the way, the armor around the waist and shoulders, and the helmet that blocked the line of sight.

The wooden spears and long spears that were inconvenient to use in the mountains and forests were left behind, leaving only a few shoulder-length short spears that could be stabbed and thrown and small round cards; the standard horizontal knives used as secondary weapons were also partially replaced with cone heads. Iron rods, long-axes and other armor-piercing heavy soldiers; strong crossbows that are not easy to maintain are also replaced with bundled bids.

In the end, according to the establishment of about 30-50 people, form a number of temporary battle groups with a combination of length, short and distance, which is convenient for scattered search and easy formation; then enter the wet and faint forest slopes in batches, and move towards the faintly visible monks in the distance. Hat Rock, one by one, opened up the search and encirclement nets.

In addition, as the central command and support team, the three special attack sets of iron nets, hooks, and quicklime are also indispensable.Although I could only use local materials in a hurry, I found a few hunter's bird-catching nets as a substitute; and almost scraped clean the several walls of the wild shop.

At least because of the disadvantages I suffered many times before.Although among this group of people, it is not that no one has some doubts and lack of confidence in the sudden appearance of the river, but under the inertia of a certain order and prohibition, they still set up roads with ringing bells in the gaps passing by. The mixing rope.

This kind of rope with too high and wide gaps can't catch any people or ordinary beasts; but once it encounters the target, it is enough to provide corresponding direction guidance during the hasty pursuit and search.

Then the more you go up the mountain, the mud under your feet of different shades gradually turns into rustling gravel, and then into a harder pile of gravel; the tall trees with lush green shade gradually turn into low shrubs Cong; became more and more sparse, unable to cover the staggering figure.

At this time, the sergeants of the search team ahead also found the first trace left by the strange beast.It was several claw marks scratching and climbing up from the mountain wall; then, it turned into wide footprints deep in the mud and sand, little fur hanging from bushes and thorns that were trampled and broken.

Following a trail with blackened blood, finally a small village hidden in a valley near the top of the mountain appeared in the eyes of Jiang Tian and others.The terrain here is gentle and sunny by the wind, and there are springs flowing down the mountain wall; therefore, there are more than a dozen old and blackened shacks clustered together.

However, there was no living creature in the messy interior.Between the gaps in the shattered fence and the collapsed huts, there are only scattered and incomplete skeleton fragments, including the remains of chickens and dogs with hair, and shriveled and blackened human limbs.

"It seems that we have found these beasts!" Liu Jingchang, with a heavy complexion, let out a sullen breath: at this time, Jiang Tian reminded again: "As far as I know, this kind of beasts are not resistant to direct sunlight; therefore, in this rainy day Or at night, it can run amok. Therefore, it needs a large enough shelter during the day."

"Understood." Liu Jingchang nodded heavily and said, "Come here, send a message to Erlang in front, and then focus on searching for caves, or rock crevices, etc. If you find something, don't rush to investigate deeply; mark it and wait for help nearby "It's all come to this point, don't be too eager for success, and startle the snake."

"That's great!" Jiang Tian nodded and praised: Human ancestors can stand out from ancient times and walk to the top of the food chain occupying the world's resources; on the one hand, they discovered and learned how to use tools as an extension of their own minions; From collective cooperation and joint efforts, the crushing advantages produced.

Although in this time and space, such an unreasonable artificial product as a strange beast has emerged, as long as it is still a flesh and blood body, it must obey a certain law of nature.For example, under the basic law of energy conservation, whether it is physical strength or activity ability, the conversion efficiency of hunting and eating cannot be endless.

According to what Jiang Tian encountered and verified before, this kind of strange beast will be suppressed by natural instinct and weakened in observation, judgment and reaction during the daytime.On the contrary, the night after the sun goes down is the time for them to be extra active according to their instincts.

However, it wasn't long before Liu Jingchang's order spread out that a sharp whistle sounded suddenly from a corner of the rock in front of him; There were a few rapid growls; then, a few small black dots popped out suddenly.

But amidst the whistling wind in the turbulent mountains and the successive roars, it was visible to the naked eye, climbing up and down the steep sloping walls criss-crossed with rocks, flying and galloping down; There was a rapid horn sound; and they gathered nearby among the rocks, shooting the first wave of arrows quickly.

It's a pity that these hastily fired arrows were almost aimlessly deflected by the mountain wind, and were easily dodged or left behind by these strange beasts that appeared suddenly; but they were also hindered and deflected to some extent. The castration of these attackers; on the spot, a strange beast slipped and lost its footing, rolled violently and fell between the rocks, scraping off a large swath of black blood before barely stopping.

Almost at the next moment, the remaining beasts trampled down the mountain wall, knocking on the rolling sand and gravel on the outer shield surface, and suddenly flew straight into the first group of soldiers who bore the brunt.However, as the soldiers in the formation roared loudly, dozens of spear darts were almost thrown back in the face, and there was a mess of things.

Almost at a very short distance, and at the same time when most of them missed in an instant, they used the remaining spears to hit one of the strange beasts that bore the brunt.In an instant, huge inertia and throwing momentum intersected; almost a face-to-face crossed through it, and the nail fell on the ground close at hand; immediately, dirty blood spurted and wailed.

Even more frightening and driving away the other beasts, they could not help dodging and deflecting to the sides; while passing by the edge of the formation, they also used their minions to smash several hands blocking the periphery, overturning and hanging some soldiers. fell to the ground.At this time, the mass of things that came later also stretched out in the air, but it was a bird-catching net used for forest hunting.

Just when everyone thought it was a complete failure, they unexpectedly got entangled with the hind legs of the last strange beast.Immediately, it lost its balance with it, and turned several somersaults head-on.And the moment it struggled and roared to tear open the fragile entanglement net, it was immediately thrown all over its body by more darts.

Then, following the soldiers of the military guards who surrounded him, he approached the short spear again, approached the long ax that was cut horizontally, and struck the awl and hammer on its limbs and head; after a few breaths Suddenly, this calf-sized alien beast was turned into a mass of rotten flesh and severed limbs that could not be distinguished from its original form...

At the same time, taking advantage of the trend and rushing into the sparse rocks, the few remaining alien beasts in the woodland also encountered the formation of soldiers in the rear one after another; it turned into a roaring and shouting, roaring and shouting on the hustle and bustle, and the clash of weapons And the intense movement of crashing and rolling; occasionally, there is also a strange beast that suddenly jumped onto the stone pile, and was shot and rolled down by the bows and arrows waiting behind...

And as Liu Jingchang continued to mobilize manpower to support, this fierce reverberating clamor gradually subsided, and turned into an involuntary burst of cheers.Only then did he let out a heavy sigh of relief, and he bowed his hands to Jiang Tian in a sincerely convinced way: "Thanks to the guidance of the noble officer, I am humble on behalf of Zuo Wuwei's generals..."

"No, it's not right." Jiang Tan looked at these soldiers covered in sweat and blood, and cheered happily as he picked up a few bloody ones, and said with a slightly solemn expression: "These strange beasts in front of me are too weak. Will you still be afraid and avoid?"

After all, when he met those ferocious beasts, they not only possessed sharp claws that could easily tear through armor, powerful enough explosive power to fly over city walls, and even had tailor-made iron armor that was hard to hurt by a sword.In contrast, the ones that appeared in front of them were not only much smaller in size, but also had much weaker defense and strength, as if they were some kind of degraded products made in a hurry.

"What?" Liu Jingchang couldn't help being stunned when he heard the words, just about to say something; the next moment, a vicissitude-looking guard beside him suddenly changed his face and pushed him aside.And Jiang Tian, ​​who was face to face with nothing to hide, was exposed to a large monster that suddenly swooped in after making a detour without making a sound, and the ferocious claws with its cheeks cracked.

"careful!"

"Come on people!"

"not good!"

"stop!"

In an instant, amidst Liu Jingchang's jaw-dropping roar and struggle, and the exclamation of Zuo Jin's sergeant who couldn't run, he saw blood splashing all over the sky like rain, splashing and pouring Zuo Jin's people all over their heads and faces; But suddenly disappeared.All that was left was the huge corpse floating on the ground, and the viscera that had split open and flowed all over the floor.

Then, Jiang Tian, ​​who was hardly contaminated by any foreign matter on his body, lowered his hand to stand on the sword in the opposite direction; he turned his head in astonishment and said, "What were you shouting just now?" At this moment, the stunned audience was silent, and It was broken again by the weapons dropped by the dumbfounded sergeants.

At the same time, in the distant mountains and forests, Murong Wu and Li Huan, who led a small team, were also escorting a captive dressed as a hunter who was tied up and dressed as a hunter. , in the forest on the back of the mountain on the other side, there is only this guy who is sneaky and sneaky, trying to sneak past the guard post and go down the mountain."

(End of this chapter)