turmoil

In the blink of an eye, Yang Fan thought of a lot—he heard Zhuo Jiusi talk about what happened on the way back, and he also knew that Mingli, like Miaohuo and Miaoshui, was one of the five enlightened disciples of Manichaeism.It's just that he didn't understand, how did the Manichaeism know that he would pass by here?

Was it a spy from the Northwest Camp who revealed his whereabouts in advance... Or did they learn through some means that the Northwest Camp was short of food, and they had calculated in advance that Yang Fan would definitely go to the Qidal Exchange Market to try his luck and lay an ambush early in the morning? here?

If it is the former, it means that the problem is only in the Northwest camp. Yang Fan can go through the sieve of the general camp, and he will not worry about not finding the inner ghost who is eating inside and outside.But if it's the latter... The army rations were sent from central Beijing, and even Marquis Dingbian himself only discovered the problem when he saw the grain trucks. How did he know that the Manichaeism was far away in the Western Regions?

Is it because of these people's clever calculations, or...they have all-hands and eyes, and they have contacts with the nobles in Beijing?

Are they lurking here, are they making their own decisions, or are they taking orders from others... are they even related to Beijing?

Yang Fan closed his eyes and suppressed these intricate thoughts, and when he opened his eyes again, he was impeccable: "Benhou remembers that my Dayin and the Manichaeism have always been indifferent, and Elder Mingli has been waiting here for a long time. What are you doing?"

Ming Li raised the corners of his mouth and smiled humbly: "Of course...to take Lord Hou's life!"

This is actually a master who doesn't talk too much, and the tail has not dissipated, and the person has already stood up.At the same time, the Manichaeans showed their bows and crossbows, and the arrows were so dense that they covered the sky. The guards were well-trained and raised their knives to pull them down. The sound of gold and iron colliding could be heard endlessly, and the war horses were frightened and neighing endlessly.

Yang Fan, who had been through battle for a long time, didn't pay attention to the battle of the Manichaeists at all. He got on his horse, clamped the horse's belly, and charged forward against the rain of arrows.The rushing arrows were cut open, Yang Fan's left hand was switched like lightning, and the small crossbow was set up in the blink of an eye, and three arrows shot out in succession.

The Zhuantou of Dingbian Hou was not the same as the mob of the Manichaeism. There were screams and blood dripping on the yellow sand.Ming Li just hesitated for a moment, Yang Fan's mount was already in front of him, the blade reflected the sunlight, leaving a cold and pale mark on his face.

Mingli suddenly twisted his body, the blade rubbed against his shoulder, and with a little help from his toes, the man flung himself away lightly, turned over in mid-air, and landed on the tip of Yang Fan's blade without any force.

Dingbianhou's pupils tightened immediately.

In the next moment, Mingli's figure was like lightning, and a sharp blade that was a quarter of an inch long popped out from his fingertips, approaching Dingbian Hou's eyes.Yang Fan fell back, his back was almost attached to the saddle, his right arm was thrown across the elbow, and he heard a "Dang", the blade actually broke the sharp blade in two.

Mingli was a little surprised, he missed a hit, and immediately backed away, with a complicated look on his face: "...good knife!"

Yang Fan remained expressionless: "Your skill is good... If you do another ten tricks, I will kill you!"

Mingli looked around, and saw that the Manichaeists were no match for the well-trained elite soldiers, and they had already lost half of them in just a moment.He frowned, smacked his lips and whistled, and led the Manichaeists back quickly.

The soldiers were also injured a lot, seeing that these people are about to run away, how can they be willing?Just about to catch up, Yang Fan suddenly shouted: "Okay, stop chasing!"

The leader of the family turned his head, his face was a little upset, but he did not dare to disobey the order of Marquis Dingbian: "It is... the commander-in-chief!"

It's not that Yang Fan doesn't want to chase after him, but he knows that the other party has worked so hard to track down his whereabouts, just to kill him with one blow, so he won't retreat easily - if it were him himself, he would probably plant a killer on the only way to retreat. This move, when the enemy takes advantage of the victory and pursues, suddenly violently rises up, killing the opponent by surprise.

However, Marquis Dingbian is also a master of the art of war, he does not intend to give his enemy this chance!

"Don't chase after poor bandits," Yang Fan summed up his reason for standing still in four words, "Count the number of people and see how the casualties are!"

He brought thirty riders with him on this trip, all of them dressed as merchants, without any armor to protect themselves, and suffered a lot in the first round of arrow rain.Fortunately, the bows and crossbows modified by the Manichaeans were limited in power, and thanks to the well-trained generals of the Hou family, although a few were injured, there was no reduction in personnel.

Yang Fan looked around and made a quick decision: "You can't stay here for long, get on your horse immediately, we must arrive at Zidal before sunset!"

In the Northwest camp, the orders of Marquis Dingbian were absolutely authoritative, and the whole family would have no complaints. Even the few wounded simply bandaged their wounds, remounted their horses before taking medicine, and continued on their way with Yang Fan.

Facts proved that this decision was very wise, and they did not encounter any volleys along the way.At nightfall, the group finally arrived at the edge of the oasis, where patches of Populus euphratica forests grew by the water, shimmering shadows were reflected in the waves, tents like clouds could be faintly seen in the distance, voices of people could be faintly heard, and a group of cooking smoke came up The clear blue sky.

The scene in front of them could easily make people relax their vigilance, and everyone from Dingbianhou to his personal guards heaved a sigh of relief.Yang Fan got off his horse and said in a deep voice, "We will set up camp by the water tonight. The injured brothers will rest, and the others will be on duty overnight."

A group of people will settle down on the spot without any objection.

The dusk in the desert is very beautiful, the sunset glow is like blood, and it contrasts with the clear water of the lake.Yang Fan squatted by the water, scooped up a handful of spring water to wash away the blood on his arms, and pondered over the accidents along the way.

Obviously, the group of Manichaeists knew the whereabouts of Marquis Dingbian very well, not only judged that he would come to the market to try his luck, but even calculated his approximate itinerary, and set up an ambush beforehand.

The location of the interception is also very knowledgeable. Kankanka is before he is about to arrive in Zidal—if it is two days in the morning, with the shrewdness and caution of the Marquis of Dingbian, he will probably not pursue him tail-to-tail, but go straight home and call them. The next step is all in vain.

Although in the current situation, the calculations of the Manichaeists have also come to nothing...

Just thinking of this, Yang Fan's eyes suddenly changed, and an extremely ominous premonition flashed across his heart.The instinct at this moment saved him. While he threw himself out, the enemy lurking in the water also completed his aim, and the hidden arrow broke through the water, rubbed the corner of Dingbianhou's clothes, and nailed into the tree trunk with a "swish".

Populus euphratica shook, and the green and yellow leaves fell to the ground like raindrops.

The water's edge was some distance away from the camp, so when he spoke to warn, the guards stationed at the camp might not be able to hear him.Yang Fan put his mind on it, took out a small stick at the risk of revealing his whereabouts, unscrewed the cover and threw it into the air, only heard a "pop", and a cluster of blue fireworks exploded under the bloody sky.

The guards guarding the camp suddenly became alarmed, raised their weapons, and ran towards the water's edge.

Yang Fan turned over and jumped up, dodging the two crossbow arrows without any time, and the moment he passed by, he noticed something strange: the crossbow arrows were extremely powerful, and they were definitely not defective products made by Manichaeans, but were actually used in the military. the crossbow.The arrows sent out like this cannot be resisted by manpower. If the mantis arm is used as a cart, the long knife may have not cut through the crossbow arrow, and the arm has already been broken by the force attached to the crossbow arrow!

If you can't block it, you can only hide.

Yang Fan retreated one after another, who knew that the arrow array was also quite knowledgeable, they surrounded him from all directions, and only opened an opening in the northeast corner.Yang Fan knew that the enemy was deliberately forcing him to the water's edge, so he could only jump into the trap. As expected, the next moment, the mirror-like water surface cracked, and a group of men in black rushed out. The knife will cut.

Yang Fan flashed sideways, the light of the saber flew like lightning, instantly forcing back the wolf-like assassin.But more men in black rushed out from the Populus euphratica forest, and immediately divided into two groups, blocking the generals who came to support and blocking Yang Fan's retreat.

Their goal is clear, that is to intercept and kill Dingbianhou here!

Yang Fan is not afraid of face-to-face fighting. He is a fierce fighter on the battlefield, and he is like a tiger chasing a deer when he falls into a siege.But these assassins are not only difficult to deal with, but also come up with endless tricks. Yang Fan raised his knife and swept across, the necks of the two assassins were cut off, and blood spurted out wildly. down.

In an instant, Yang Fan's heart trembled slightly, knowing that he had been hit, but instead of slowing down his attack, his attack became more and more fierce.The light of the knife was like snow, and the men in black backed away one after another, but Yang Fan felt a numbness in his legs, and he ran up slowly along his thighs, and seemed to spread over his waist.

Ding Bianhou staggered, seeing that he was on the verge of falling, two black-clothed assassins took the opportunity to bully him, cut off Xi Hui with a machete, and rushed towards the door without time.

Yang Fan seemed to be exhausted, and fell to the ground obliquely, but swung the long knife in his hand, cutting off the legs and feet of the two at this delicate angle.

The assassin screamed and fell to the ground. At the same time, the personal guard finally repelled the assassin who was intercepting him, and arrived in a hurry.

Dingbianhou let out a long breath, and was about to speak when he suddenly felt his heart beating slightly, and a chill ran up his back.He saw the man in black jumping at him with a knife, but he didn't have the strength to dodge it. The numbness had already passed his waist, and he couldn't move half of his body.

At this moment, the explosion sound suddenly exploded.

Yang Fan couldn't open his eyes, his last waking consciousness was seeing the man in black who was rushing in front of him stop without warning, and his figure swayed.Immediately afterwards, they fell to the ground like puppets whose strings were broken.

Yang Fan breathed a sigh of relief, and sank into the darkness boldly.

He didn't know how long he had been in a coma. When he woke up again, his consciousness was still a little drowsy. He vaguely felt as if he was lying in a camp tent. The leather mattress under his body was padded with thick layers, which was actually more comfortable than the camp tent.But soon, he discovered that this was not a camp, because the wooden boards under him were movable.

Yang Fan suddenly opened his eyes, and finally recognized his situation—this is not a tent, but a carriage with a leather mattress on the floor and a small coffee table beside it.A woman leaned over the table, flipping a page of the book casually.

The girl was very handsome, she couldn't tell how outstanding she was, but she definitely wouldn't hurt her eyes.Yang Fan didn't recognize her, but it was not difficult to guess that it was this woman who saved him.He tried to stand up, but his arms couldn't make any strength, half of his body was still numb, and he fell to the ground unsustainably just after half of the support.

Yang Fan took a very slight breath, and the woman in front of the case looked at him in surprise when she heard the movement: "You woke up so soon?"

Yang Fan tried to clench his fists, but found that such a simple movement was extremely difficult to do by himself.He didn't want the woman in front of him to see his powerlessness, so he asked nonchalantly, "Who is the girl? What is this place?"

The woman said nothing, opened the curtain of the car, and said something to the outside.Soon, the carriage stopped, someone rode forward, stretched his neck and said excitedly: "Marshal, are you awake?!"

Yang Fan recognized that it was the voice of the guard, and he finally let go of his breath.

The personal guard said: "You have been hit by the assassin's hidden weapon, and the poison has been poisoned on it. Fortunately, Mr. Ding and this Miss Wang passed by to help us repel the assassin, and took the trouble to detoxify you."

Yang Fan was taken aback: "Mr. Ding?"

In the next moment, the person who was looking around changed, and Ding Ruan's smiling face appeared at the window: "Master Hou, we meet again."

Yang Fan was genuinely surprised this time: "Why is Mr. here?"

Ding Ru'an smiled: "It's not that there was a lot of noise in the Qidal exchange market, which robbed us of a lot of business. My master was worried and asked me to find out the details. Who knew that I ran into Lord Hou on the way..."

He paused, then turned to Wang Xuan: "Since Lord Hou is awake, the poisonous injury shouldn't be a serious problem, right?"

Wang Xuan's expression was indifferent: "Life is safe, but it's hard to say whether this leg can be saved."

Yang Fan and Ding Ru'an were surprised at the same time: "What?!"

"The hidden weapon on his leg is very vicious. It not only has blades on both sides, but also has barbs," Wang Xuan said. , can only cut open the flesh, take out the hidden weapon, and then sew the flesh tightly."

Yang Fan's scalp became numb when he heard it, but Ding Ru'an acted as if nothing had happened, as if sewing wounds was as common as sewing clothes: "It's so troublesome? It seems that the master can only do it himself..."

Yang Fan endured it for a long time, and finally found a chance to speak: "Why, your master is also going to Qidal Exchange Market?"

Ding Ru'an was very polite to Yang Fan, it wasn't respect to "Marquis of Dingbian", it was more like being in the way of someone, showing closeness in his hospitality: "It is the master who summoned us to Qidal Exchange Market, he has already gone one step ahead, We made an appointment to meet at the exchange market, but we didn't expect to bump into Lord Hou halfway."

Yang Fan gathered his strength for a long time, and finally managed to stand up: "Listen to Mr. Ding, can your master cure me?"

Ding Ru'an nodded: "My master's medical skills are superb, and there are many techniques that we can't even think of. If he is willing to do it, he will definitely be safe."

He paused, then smiled again: "Of course, if the master knows that the injured is Lord Hou, there is absolutely no reason not to agree."

Yang Fan's thoughts moved slightly, and he aroused his curiosity: "How do you know that your master will definitely heal Benhou? Could it be an old acquaintance of Benhou?"

Ding Ru'an smiled but did not answer, he just said: "Qidale Exchange Market is just ahead, if Hou Ye is trustworthy, please rest in the car for a while, everything is arranged by me."

Yang Fan couldn't see through Ding Ruan's background, but this did not prevent him from trusting this man. Even if Ding Ruan escaped under his hands once, Yang Fan still subconsciously believed that he had no malicious intentions.

Dingbianhou came and went to the battlefield a few times, and he was past the age when he was passionate and confiding in his heart, but Ding Ru'an had a deja vu aura, which reminded him of an old friend whom he hadn't seen for many years.

"In a blink of an eye, it's been four years," Yang Fan thought while lying in the carriage, "I haven't seen you for so long, I don't know if he still recognizes me?"