C340

The night was silent. The scattered drizzle in the sky gradually stopped, but the ground had already become very slippery.

Gongsun Zan accidentally stepped on a rock, his feet slipped and he almost fell. The guards by his side immediately supported him.

"How far is it?" Gongsun Zan pushed the guards away impatiently and asked Zhao An who was leading the way in a low voice.

Zhao An stopped in his tracks, carefully identified the direction, and respectfully replied: "Reporting to the Marquis, we are still about fifteen kilometers away!"

Gongsun Zan raised his head to look at the dark and gloomy sky, and asked with some hesitation: "There's no direction in the dark night, wouldn't you recognize the wrong direction?"

Zhao An said softly, "This humble one has been a hunter since he was young. He often travelled at night and trained himself to be able to recognize the road at night. That's why the young duke sent me back to Qinghe County City to report this last time!"

"Very good!" Gongsun Zan nodded, she was silent for a while, then suddenly said a somewhat strange sentence, "At the end of the road, it's time for you to leave!"

Zhao An knelt on the ground with a thump. Ignoring the slippery mud on the ground, he repeatedly kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Master Hou!"

Gongsun Zan said indifferently: Continue to lead the way!

"Here!" Zhao An stood up and continued to lead the way, his footsteps seemed to have become a lot lighter.

This time, Gongsun Zan brought five hundred carefully selected people, not only were they elites, their loyalty was unquestionable. They had been walking on the slippery ground in the dark night for more than two hours. They were not the least bit tired, and not a single one of them was dissatisfied.

An hour later, Gongsun Zan and his group had traveled another ten kilometers or so.

When arriving at the edge of a small stream, Zhao An, who was leading the way, stopped and walked to Gongsun Zan's side. He bowed and said, "Reporting to Master Hou, after we cross this small stream, we will reach the back mountain of Eagle's Castle after four or five kilometers. There will definitely be Xuzhou Army's patrols.

Gongsun Zan used his sleeve to wipe the perspiration off his face, and asked coldly: "This marquis will ask you one last time, is that really okay? If anything goes wrong, you know the consequences! "

Zhao An quickly crawled onto the ground and said with a trembling voice, "Master Hou, don't worry. This lowly one is carrying the lives of several hundred people, how could I dare to lie to Master Hou in the slightest! "

Gongsun Zan caressed his beard and stared at Zhao An, he did not say anything for a while.

The slippery ground was actually not that cold, but Zhao An felt as if he was in a world of ice and snow. The decision that the Marquis Jin was about to make, was like a life and death judgement for him! He did not know if Marquis Jin trusted his words, but he kept praying in his heart for Marquis Jin to make the right decision. He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of his family and his fellow villagers being implicated and dying.

After approximately a hundred breaths time, Gongsun Zan finally came to a decision. "Get up! I'll give you fifty people. When we return to the Ji County, I'll give you another great reward! "

Hearing Gongsun Zan's words now, it was as if he had heard the sounds of nature as he continuously kowtowed in gratitude, "I will definitely remember the Marquis' kindness in my heart. If I can return to the Ji County, I am willing to sacrifice my family as a slave.

Gongsun Zan's stern face revealed a trace of a smile, and scolded in a low voice: "You bastard, you're clever! If you want to be my slave in the future, there are more than ten million of you! Get up and go to work! "

"Thank you, Master Hou!" Zhao An was ecstatic, he immediately crawled back up, and respectfully stood with his hands hanging down.

Gongsun Zan said in a low voice to the black-clothed man behind him. "Old Eight, bring fifty of your men and follow Zhao An.

Gongsun Zan had many guards, but very few of them could be trusted by him. This eighth brother was the same as the sixth and seventh brothers, and they were both his trusted aides at the time. There were a total of twelve people at that time, and only the sixth and seventh brothers remained behind. This person was usually taciturn, and did not reveal anything. Even Gongsun Xu was not very familiar with this person.

The eighth brother said in a rough voice, "If I leave, who will be in charge of the marquis' safety? I hope that Master Hou can arrange some other people to stand guard by Master Hou's side! "

Gongsun Zan laughed, then lightly patted Eighth Brother's shoulders and whispered into his ear: "What Zhao An wants to do seems to be unimportant, but is actually beneficial for this old man's big plan for the future, which is why this old man sent you to do this! Remember, if you discover anything abnormal with Zhao An, immediately kill him on the spot! "

The eighth brother asked doubtfully, "Is Master Hou serious?"

"You bastard!" Gongsun Zan unhappily kicked Ol 'Eight, and scolded: "You actually don't believe even this old one's words anymore! Get lost already! "

"Scram!" Eighth Brother simply grinned, casually picked fifty people, and followed Zhao An to the south.

Gongsun Zan watched as the eighth brother and the others disappeared into the distance, then continued to move forward under the guidance of another guide.

Most of the people in the group did not know what Marquis Jin was planning to do. Previously, they could not help but guess in their hearts, could it be that Marquis Jin wanted to secretly help the Young Marquis escape from the back mountain? Now that they had indeed arrived at the back mountain of the Eagle's Castle, they immediately felt that their guess was right. It seemed like the Marquis was already burning with anxiety, which was why he took such a huge risk and only brought a few people to meet the Young Marquis.

However, Gongsun Zan's following decision left these people who thought they had guessed correctly confused — — Master Hou did not have any plans to head to the rear mountains of the Eagle's Castle, but had instead ordered a northwest direction. Even though he was puzzled, no one dared to ask. The duke had a good temper towards his family and his trusted aides, but he was known for being cold and harsh in the military.

Gongsun Zan had just brought his team to the northwest direction for about three to four miles, when he saw a group of Xuzhou Army cavalry soldiers rushing over from the back of the mountain. They were holding torches, and without stopping, they flew towards the direction they had turned towards.

Many people in the group quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was night time and they tried their best to walk along the roadside, the ground was very slippery, so there were many footprints left on the ground. If that group of riders had stopped and looked closely, they would have likely noticed it. Fortunately, the other party was moving at a lightning speed, as if they hadn't noticed it at all.

Gongsun Zan watched as the group of riders quickly left. Suddenly, he gave a weird smile and ordered them to move faster.

After they had gone four or five miles, they suddenly heard the sound of water flowing. A small river appeared in front of them. On the other side of the river, there was a small village.

The guide turned around and reported, "Reporting to the marquis, the village ahead of us is Qingshui Village!"

Gongsun Zan asked solemnly: "Qian Er, are you sure?"

"Master Hou, please be at ease. This lowly one came here yesterday and will not be wrong!" The guide, Qian Er, replied with certainty.

Gongsun Zan nodded his head: "Bring a few people over to take a look! The rest of you can rest on the spot! "

Qian Er bowed and agreed. He brought four people to cross the river, which was knee-deep, and quickly ran towards the small village.

After a while, a few torches were lit in the village across the way.

Gongsun Zan waved his hand, and quickly brought the remaining people to the outside of the village.

Qian Er bowed and reported, "Reporting to the marquis, the brothers have already brought the villagers under control and are waiting for the large group to arrive."

Gongsun Zan nodded and with large strides, he entered the village.

"Greetings, Master Hou!" In front of the biggest tile house in the village, tens of Marquis of Ji's Mansion's guards were waiting. They saluted Gongsun Zan the moment they saw him.

An old man dressed in a Ge Yi was standing at the door. When he saw the scene in front of him, his legs went weak and he kneeled on the ground. He could only kowtow repeatedly and was so scared that he couldn't even speak.

Gongsun Zan asked coldly: "Have the enemy's patrolling teams been here?"

"Reporting to the Marquis, about eight hours ago, an enemy cavalry unit passed by the entrance of the village, but did not enter!"

Gongsun Zan walked towards the door in large strides. When he passed by the Ge Yi old man, his footsteps slowed down and he said in a low voice: "Prepare some food and drinks for the soldiers. We will leave in an hour without harming you guys!"

The Ge Yi old man was startled at first, but immediately kowtowed and expressed his thanks. Just now, when he found out from these people that the person who came was Marquis Jin Gongsun Zan, he was immediately scared out of his wits. Under Yuan Shao's unsparing efforts, Gongsun Zan had long become a blood thirsty demon king, he thought that the entire village would be killed, but who would have thought that Marquis Jin would personally promise him that! When the old man passed by him, wearing the leather boots of a cow, and stepped into the room, he immediately crawled up and ran out to find someone to make food and drink, afraid that he would be late and cause Marquis Jin to change his mind.

Gongsun Zan drank a few mouthfuls of the soup, then asked the guards who had followed him in: "How far is this place from the ambush site?"

"Reporting to the duke, we'll arrive after another seven to eight miles due north!"

One of the guards replied, turned around, and left to relay the order.

Soon, the village became lively. The village women tried their best to cook, and everyone else did their best to help. They took out almost all the edible food they could. After all, 500 people's worth of food was too much for this village. However, no one dared to show any dissatisfaction. At most, they could only curse in their hearts, and the reputation of Marquis Jin would stop right after Yuan Shao had entered the Jizhou.