Tibet

Hengshan Mountain is not a mountain, but a mountainous area with a radius of hundreds of miles. There are many ravines here, making it easy to hide. In the late Sui Dynasty, there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers here, and thieves were rampant.

Hundreds of people are hiding in this mountainous area. Although it is not like finding a needle in a haystack to find them, it is not easy. The key people are alive. If you find that you are looking for them, you can leave Hengshan at least and let you find a few Yue also gained nothing, but more importantly, he dug a few traps for you, and maybe your life was lost in them.

The Tang army captured eight prisoners of war and got some information. The black warriors were hiding near Qili Valley.

Zhang Dian led 300 scouts into the Hengshan Mountain area. Zhang Dian was rich in experience. He knew that it would be easy to be discovered when there were many people, so he simply let 300 of his scouts hide in a mountain col to rest. He personally took five of his subordinates and one of his scouts to Head to the direction of Qili Valley and touch it.

The guide's surname was Luo, a local hunter who knew the Hengshan area well. He knew every plant and tree here.

"General, there are two Qili Valleys here, one is called Qili Knife Valley, and the other is called Qili Fragrant Valley. You said there are hundreds of people hiding in Qili Fragrant Valley. I guess they are in Qili Fragrant Valley."

"Why can't Qili Knife Valley work?"

The guide smiled and said: "You can tell by the name. The canyon is like a knife splitting it. It is about three miles deep, but at its widest it can only have two people shoulder to shoulder. Hundreds of people hiding in it can only face the wall. Qili Fragrant Valley is larger. There are many woods inside, with abundant water and a depth of more than ten miles, which is very suitable for hiding. I often go there to hunt deer."

Zhang Dian pondered for a moment and said: "It just means hiding near Qili Valley, not necessarily hiding in the valley."

The guide thought for a while and said: "I still recommend that you go to Qili Fragrant Valley, because most people don't know the name Qili Knife Valley. I have been called Knife Valley since I was a child. They are outsiders, so they probably don't know the name Qili Knife Valley and Qili Fragrant Valley." It hasn’t changed.”

"How far apart are they?"

"Qili Knife Valley and Qili Fragrant Valley are about thirty miles apart. I remember there is a road connecting them. Why not go to Knife Valley first and then go to Fragrant Valley."

Zhang Dian also meant this, so he nodded, "That's it!"

Everyone turned around and walked southwest. The soldiers of the Tang Army left marks along the way. Half an hour later, a valley appeared in the distance. The guide pointed at the valley and whispered: "The Valley of Knives is inside, you can see it when you go in."

Zhang Dian waved his hand to stop his men. He raised his clairvoyance to observe the surrounding situation, and then carefully checked the ground. He could not see many traces of people coming.

He then sent two of his men into the valley to investigate. After a while, the two men came back and said, "We went in to check and didn't see any trace of anyone."

"How deep did you go?"

"It's about two miles away. There is moss on the ground inside, but it's all intact. If someone walks by, it will definitely be trampled."

Zhang Dian nodded. Since he said so, it must not be here.

He thought for a moment and then asked: "Is there anyone living nearby?"

Guide Luo thought for a moment and said, "There is an old hunter, we call him Uncle Chang. He lives alone on a cliff, not far from here."

"Take us to him."

The guide described Uncle Chang as being in his early fifties, very thin, as nimble as a monkey, and living alone in a thatched hut.

After listening to Zhang Dian's words, Uncle Chang said slowly: "I saw the people you are looking for a few days ago. They are all dressed in black and look very fierce. They are in Qili Fragrant Valley."

Sure enough, in Qili Fragrant Valley, Zhang Dian asked again: "Are all of them hiding in the valley?"

Uncle Chang nodded, "The valley is very big. I seem to have seen many wooden houses. They seem to believe in the sun and worship the sun collectively every morning."

"Uncle Chang didn't see it when he entered the valley, right?"

"No! I saw it on the mountain."

Zhang Dian immediately asked his men to find all the brothers.

At the first watch in the evening, Zhang Dian set out with three hundred scout soldiers. The old hunter Uncle Chang took them on another mountain road. They quickly went up the mountain and meandered through the mountains.

Around the third watch, they came to the top of a mountain. Uncle Chang pointed down and said, "At the bottom of the mountain is the Qili Fragrant Valley!"

Zhang Dian looked down the mountain and saw a dozen wooden houses under the bright moonlight. There were lakes and large forests next to the wooden houses.

Zhang Dian took out his clairvoyance and looked at a dozen wooden houses. He saw several men in black. He said to everyone in a deep voice: "We will observe for another day tomorrow and take action at night!"

The next day, night fell again. The Tang army on the mountain waited patiently for all the black warriors to fall asleep. After a day of observation, they had a very good understanding of each other's habits and vigilance, and they were already confident.

Zhang Dian ordered Captain Luo Ping to lead fifty of his men to ambush the black-clad warriors at the mouth of the valley.

He himself led 250 scout soldiers to climb down the mountain ridge with ropes.

The crowd walked through the woods and gradually approached the wooden house. They had already determined the annihilation plan during the day.

Zhang Dian asked his generals and soldiers to split up, while he led twenty of his men to surround a small wooden house.

During the day, he found an old man living in this small wooden house. He should be a priest, but he didn't look like a Central Plains man. Zhang Dian estimated that his identity was more important and he needed to be captured alive.

With a wave of his hand, soldiers surrounded the windows and the door. At this moment, shouts of killing suddenly broke out. Zhang Dian kicked open the door and rushed in. He saw the old man wearing a white robe and holding a sword. , ran out in a panic.

Zhang Dian kicked his sword away, and the soldiers rushed forward, pushed the old man to the ground, and tied him up.

Zhang Dian searched around and put everything he thought was important into a bag before escorting the old man out together.

More than a dozen wooden houses were on fire, and the bodies of black warriors were everywhere. Although these black warriors were skilled in martial arts, in actual combat, they were far from the scouts' opponents. Most of them were killed, and dozens of others were killed. He fled towards the mouth of the valley in a panic, with more than a hundred scout soldiers chasing him behind.

Fifty scout soldiers have been ambushed at Taniguchi, and no one can escape.

Not long after, more than a dozen wooden houses were engulfed in raging fire. At five o'clock, the battle in the valley ended. More than 270 black-clothed warriors were all killed, and no one escaped. Three leaders were captured alive, including the An old man.

Zhang Dian used the captured money to reward the guide and the old hunter heavily. Soldiers brought the war horses. The scouts got on their horses and returned to Zhending County with the prisoners of war.

In the room, Li Ye used Sogdian to talk to the captured old man. The old man's name was Kang Mulun, one of the thirteen chief priests of Daguangming Temple in Kang State. He had met Li Ye in Kang State and was quite afraid of Li Ye.

Li Ye was not interested in the relationship between Daguangming Temple and Ashina Chengqing. He was only concerned about where Yan Jun's kerosene came from? "

"The Great Light Temple in Samarkand established a relationship with Ashina Chengqing last year. In March this year, the Great Light Temple sent 5,000 barrels of kerosene to Ashina Chengqing."

"Apart from Takhan, is there any other place where you can find kerosene?"

"No more. The five thousand barrels of kerosene were shipped from Bukhan."

Li Ye frowned and asked again: "The oil wells in Bukhanna are the assets of the Tang Army. I have an agreement with Bukhanna. It is not allowed to be given to anyone else except me. How can you get the kerosene?"

Kang Mulun smiled bitterly and said: "It seems that His Highness doesn't know at all!"

"Do not know what is this?"

"There was a mutiny in the country of Bukhanna at the beginning of the year. The king and princes died. Princess Lan Zhenye ascended the throne and became the queen of Bukhanna."

Li Ye was surprised, "Did the princess mutiny?"

"To be precise, it was a mutiny caused by the Holy Maiden Society. The country of Bukhanna has been controlled by the Holy Maiden Society. The Holy Maiden Society supported Lan Zhenye to become the queen. Now the Holy Maiden Society not only controls Bahanna, but also controls the Stone Kingdom. Including Sui Ye is also under the control of the Saint, and the Hezhong Governor's Mansion has retreated to Kucha. Now the Saint's Association is very powerful, with an army of at least 80,000 people, overwhelming the Daguangming Temple."

"Is the Golden Saint of the Saintess Association still the Golden Mountain Spirit of Ge Luolu?"

"It's her! But she is no longer called the Golden Saint. She calls herself the Nana Divine Envoy and controls the entire Saintess Association."

Li Ye was speechless for a long time. It was beyond his expectation that Jin Shanling's ambition had expanded to this extent.

Li Ye thought of another major incident. They could no longer get kerosene from Bahan, but now they only had 3,000 barrels of kerosene left. What should they do?