National color raw owl

The cold wind was howling, heavy snow was flying, and the ground was covered with a layer of white snow.

The emperor of the empire favored Taoism, and there are many Taoist temples in the country, but for ordinary people, what they look forward to more is good weather. For them, the prestige of the Lord of the Land is much higher than those Taoists, so all over Qin, many places Earth temples have been built, and the earth temples are not very large, and are generally built by the spontaneous donations of the people.

The smaller Earth Temple is less than one person tall, and it is just a memorial tablet for the God of the Earth. The larger Earth Temple is decent, like a small temple.

Such earth temples are generally built near the village, not far away from the village. Every year before farming starts, many people will go to the earth temple to burn incense and beg the land god to bless the land with good weather and good weather.

On a cold winter night, heavy snow fell, and an earth temple stood alone on the ground, and the roof was covered with snow.

The people in the village also went to bed early, so no one would pay attention to an earth temple late at night in this cold winter. The sound of trampling on the snow was covered by the cold wind, so no one could hear it.

"My lord, I can only rest here for a while tonight." Facing the heavy snow, Qiu Ruxue turned his head, and said to King Qi behind him: "The snow is too heavy, I can't go any longer. You can warm up in this earth temple."

Behind Qiu Ruxue, apart from King Qi, there were also Lu Haosheng and Ling Shuang, while Ma Zhongheng was at the end, responsible for the task of breaking the back. They were all wearing thick coarse cotton clothes and leather felt hats, The body is tightly wrapped, and at first glance, it is no different from ordinary people. It is hard to imagine that the prince of the empire will be among them.

King Qi nodded with a tired look on his face, and several people pushed the door into the Earth Temple. Ma Zhongheng was the last to go in and closed the door.

It was pitch black inside, Qiu Ruxue took a fire pocket and lit the fire, only then did he see that the earth temple was quite narrow and not spacious, but considering the scale of the earth temple, it was not small.

There was a clay statue of the earth god inside, and there was nothing else. King Qi walked to the wall, sat down on his buttocks, then looked at Ling Shuang, and said, "Ling Shuang, are you tired? Come, sit here and rest. Take a break."

Ling Shuang sat down next to King Qi, and King Qi looked at Qiu Ruxue and asked, "Hero Qiu, where are we now? How far is it from Xigu Pass?"

"My lord, this is already within the territory of Tongzhou on Xishan Road, less than three days away from Xiguguan." Qiu Ruxue said, "When I get out of Xiguguan, it will be the boundary of the northwest. I will get some horses so that I can ride them." Go to Shuoquan."

"Hero Qiu, we have been walking for several days, why can't we ride horses?" King Qi frowned and said, "If we rode horses, we might have already left the customs."

"My lord, if we really ride horses, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach Tongzhou." Qiu Ruxue sighed, "After we leave the capital, the crown prince will definitely send someone to follow us. There are several groups of people and horses, but as long as they ride horses, the prince's people will definitely follow and chase. The prince has many powerful tracking experts, and it is entirely possible for them to catch up through the traces of the horses. On the contrary, we walked on foot, and the footprints quickly disappeared. It will be obliterated, and there are so many people on foot, even if there are footprints left, they will not be able to recognize them at all...!"

King Qi looked at the coarse cotton shoes on his feet and sighed.

After leaving the capital, Qiu Ruxue had made arrangements in advance to arrange several groups of troops outside the city. Once King Qi arrived at the designated location, the four groups of troops would split up in four directions, and even Shen Wansi and Bai Xiazi would also take With a group of people and horses as a way to lure the enemy.

Moreover, new clothes were prepared outside the city, which were worn by ordinary people. Even the shoes were prepared. King Qi and his party rode in a carriage.

After walking all the way, traveling day and night, he was really exhausted, but he was also worried that the prince's people would catch up at any time, so he didn't dare to stay. King Qi had never suffered such hardships, but he was helpless.

He mentioned looking for horses a few times along the way, but Qiu Ruxue explained several times that the control of horses in Qin State is very strict. To buy horses, you need to register with the local government. Although there is a black market for privately trading horses, such a black market, But not everywhere, the most important thing is that in order to conceal their identities, several people are wearing the clothes of ordinary people. With their clothes, it is impossible to have the financial resources to buy horses, wear coarse cotton padded jackets, but ride fast Horses are more likely to make people suspicious.

"My lord, it's very close to Xigu Pass. As long as we last for a few more days, we can enter the Kansai area." Lu Haosheng also knows that King Qi is pampered and pampered. After all this tossing, it is really painful for King Qi, " Now we are in the territory of Xishan Road, which is also the last section of the journey, but at this time, we must be more careful."

"Why?" King Qi asked, "Lu Changshi, do you think the prince's people will keep chasing you here?"

"They won't give up, but the most important thing is, has your lord thought about who is the governor of Xishan Road?" Lu Haosheng said solemnly: "My lord, Qiao Mingtang, the governor of Xishan Road, is a princeling!"

King Qi suddenly lost his expression and remembered.

They went to the northwest this time, and they did not pass through Yunshan Mountain. Instead, they took a detour and entered the Tongzhou area. Tongzhou is the only place to pass through when they leave the customs. It has always been an important place for military strategists.

King Qi had been to Yunshan before, but he had met Qiao Mingtang, governor of Xishan Road, and he really knew that Qiao Mingtang was a princeling.

"When the prince leaves the capital, the prince will definitely guess where the prince will go." Lu Haosheng said: "The destination of the prince is nothing more than two paths. One is to go to Hexi to find the Holy One, and the other is to go to the northwest to find Chu Huan. Of course, the prince is well aware of the two roads, so he will definitely send people to pursue them. He will not relax on the road to the northwest. Tongzhou is the only way to the northwest from the pass, and Tongzhou It belongs to Xishan Road, and the governor of Xishan Road is Qiao Mingtang, who is so humble that he even suspects that the crown prince has already sent someone to greet Qiao Mingtang, ordering him to look for the prince's whereabouts on the ground of Tongzhou...!"

King Qi frowned and asked, "You mean Qiao Mingtang will send someone to intercept us in Tongzhou?"

"It's not impossible." Qiu Ruxue finally said: "Qiao Mingtang is very familiar with the situation in Tongzhou, and he is a member of the princeling party. If he really got the prince's secret order, he will definitely send more people in Tongzhou. , looking for the traces of the prince, so when we got here, we saw that we were only one step away from leaving the pass, but it was precisely the moment when we could not relax. Only when we left the Xigu Pass, could we be considered out of the prince's control area. The princeling forces in the northwest Very weak, his tentacles have not yet reached the northwest."

King Qi had no choice but to lean against the hard and cold wall, "Then we can only be more careful and get out of the customs as soon as possible...!" Clenching his fists, he sneered and said, "The prince will force this king to his death. The king will also let him live but not die...!" His tone was filled with deep-seated sternness, obviously full of deep-seated hatred for the crown prince.

There was silence in the room, and soon, the faint fire was extinguished, and the torch in Qiu Ruxue's hand couldn't last long. In the darkness, it seemed that the air had become very cold again.

"There's a wind leak in here...!" King Qi couldn't help but said, "Let's stay here for one night, until dawn, I'm afraid we're going to freeze to death...!"

Ma Zhongheng said: "Then we can only find some firewood that can be burned... When we came here earlier, we passed a small forest where there were many dead trees. We went to cut some trees. I wonder if we can start a fire?"

"There are no windows around this earth temple. If the door is closed, the fire can't shine out. There should be no problem." King Qi immediately said: "There is no fire, and if it lasts until dawn, people will really freeze to death...!"

"Commander Ma, if you can, go and chop some firewood...!" Qiu Ruxue thought for a while and said to Ma Zhongheng.

Ma Zhongheng said: "Hero Qiu, the prince's side...!"

"Don't worry, I will protect the prince, there is no problem."

"Okay, then there will be the hero of Labor and Chou." Ma Zhongheng said happily, tidied up, stepped forward to open the door, a gust of cold wind came in from outside the door, Ma Zhongheng stepped out, and Qiu Ruxue stepped forward to close it.

The room was pitch black, as if they were too tired from the journey, and none of them spoke, even the sound of breathing was covered by the howling cold wind outside.

Although the earth temple was simple and crude, King Qi was extremely sleepy. He leaned against the hard wall and closed his eyes. However, Qiu Ruxue held down the handle of the knife and remained vigilant.

Time passed, but Ma Zhongheng did not come back for a long time. Lu Haosheng finally asked: "Hero Qiu, Commander Ma has been away for so long and he hasn't come back. Could something happen?"

Qiu Ruxue was silent for a moment before saying, "Wait a minute, there shouldn't be any problem...!"

After waiting for a while, there was no sign of Ma Zhongheng. Lu Haosheng stood up and said, "Hero Qiu, even if you cut down two big trees, you should be back...!"

King Qi was obviously also awakened, and asked: "Ma Zhongheng hasn't come back yet?"

"My lord, Commander Ma has been there for more than half an hour, and he hasn't seen anyone for a long time. I'm afraid something happened."

"What will happen in such a cold day?" King Qi immediately became nervous, "Hero Qiu, what should we do? How about...how about we go and look for it together?"

Qiu Ruxue thought for a while before saying: "My lord, don't act rashly, Lu Changshi, you and Miss Ling Shuang are waiting here with the lord, holding your knife, don't go out until I come back... let alone Open the door." Standing up, "I don't want to leave that grove, I'll go over and have a look, and I'll be back soon...!"

"Hero Qiu, you have to be careful." Lu Haosheng immediately said, now that Qiu Ruxue is the backbone, and he has to be led by Qiu Ruxue to go to Shuoquan, Lu Haosheng really doesn't want Qiu Ruxue to have any problems.

Qiu Ruxue opened the door, Lu Haosheng waited for Qiu Ruxue to go out, and then went forward to close the door. He also had a knife on his body, and he drew it to guard the door.