Chapter 15: Contact War (Part One)

  According to Di Lie's estimate, after speeding up, it should still be possible to run about 20 kilometers per hour. After deducting the time wasted earlier, they can arrive at their destination by around 4 pm at the latest, Xiangzhou - if the person they are looking for has not left yet.

  But plans often can't keep up with changes, and a sudden rainstorm in the afternoon delayed their journey for more than half a day. The storm came suddenly and fiercely, bringing strong winds, thunder and lightning, lasting for two hours, pouring down at least 50 mm of water, turning the dry hard ground into a swampy land. As far as the eye could see, streams were flowing everywhere, and puddles were all over the place.

  Di Lie and a few others were lucky, before the rain got heavier, they found a broken thatched hut, urgently gathered some branches and leaves to reinforce it, barely able to block the wind and rain. Fortunately, it was now the beginning of May in the lunar calendar, which is already summer. Although being drenched by such heavy rain in the wilderness was unbearable, with some shelter, they could get through it relatively safely.

  Summer rain won't last too long, especially in the north, such torrential rains are rare. At around 3 pm, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, the sky was washed clean, and the sun shone brightly as before. If it weren't for the muddy mess all over the ground, you wouldn't be able to tell that there had been a violent storm that changed the color of the sky just before.

  Di Lie and the other two had already eaten their lunch while hiding from the rain, which was just a few pieces of flatbread dipped in sauce. At this time, Yang Zhechong was holding a branch and drawing a route map on the muddy ground. From their location, they had already passed Tongyin and may have reached the outskirts of Xiangzhou City, but it was unclear how far away from Xiangzhou they still were.

  "It seems that we are still missing a map." Di Lie thought of this indispensable item for marching and fighting very naturally. Unfortunately, such important military information couldn't be obtained at the moment.

  Due to the delay caused by this sudden heavy rain, it's unlikely that they can reach their destination today. Seeing that there was still time, Di Lie decided to press on. This was naturally to Ye Die'er's liking, who was anxious to get going. And Yang Zhechong, being completely obedient to Di Lie as his leader, wouldn't object either.

  The road was extremely muddy after the rain, and when the horse's hooves stepped on it, mud splashed everywhere. The horse's legs quickly became muddy, and the lower halves of Di Lie's three people were also covered in mud, but they didn't care at all. At this moment, Ye Die'er only wanted to save her sister back, even if she had to become a muddy person; Yang Zhe, who was used to exploring, had encountered such situations many times before, so it was nothing to him; and as for Di Lie, as a special forces soldier, what kind of dirty and filthy terrain hadn't he been in? This level of mess wasn't even worth mentioning.

  As the sun set, when the three men rode up a small hill, in the distant horizon, a broken village could be vaguely seen. Such villages, the three men had seen many on their way, like the thatched cottage they took shelter from the rain before was one of them. These villages all have a common point: broken walls and no signs of human habitation, apparently all suffered from the ravages of the Jin army - or also include the defeated Song army. The so-called "bandits pass like a comb, soldiers pass like a sieve" is a true portrayal of the fate of the people in troubled times.

  Yang Zhechong shook the reins and said with a smile: "The luck is not bad, the old heaven did not let us sleep outdoors, at least there is a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Otherwise, another rain would be enough to soak us."

  Di Lie habitually pulled out the scope from his pocket and used it as a monocular telescope to observe distant places. In fact, the 8x magnification scope was not much inferior to ordinary military binoculars in terms of observation function, and its clarity was even better, with almost no chromatic aberration, making the observation effect extremely good.

  Every time Yang Zhechong saw this mysterious object, he was envious in his heart. He also recognized that it was a treasure removed from Di Lie's "divine weapon". On the way, Di Lie had lent it to him twice. When he saw the distant scenery clearly, Yang Zhechong almost fell off his horse. After the shock, he seemed to understand that Di Lie could kill the Jin soldiers at such a distance last time, probably because of this treasure-like "thousand-mile eye". As for what the silver-blue long iron instrument sprayed out, which could easily and silently kill or tear apart the Jin soldiers, it was completely beyond Yang Zhechong's common sense. Even if he wanted to think about it with all his might, he couldn't understand it.

  Dilie, who was observing from a distance of about 40 feet, suddenly made a hand gesture: "There's something going on, quickly retreat to the woods behind."

  On the side of the mountain about fifty zhang away, there was a wild apricot forest, although not large in area, but hiding a few people was no problem. Di Lie protected Ye Die'er, leading an empty horse to go first, Yang Zhechong followed behind, erasing the hoof prints as they walked. The three had just hidden into the forest when the sound of urgent horseshoes came from the other side of the mountain slope.

  Yang Zhe's expression changed suddenly and he asked in a low voice: "Is it Golden Dog?"

  Di Lie's eyes widened, and he was secretly shocked. He had only discovered the presence of people in the village with the help of his scope, but the other party had spotted them with just their naked eye. Their eyesight was as sharp as a hawk's. Moreover, the other party's reaction was even more astonishing. From the mountain slope to the village, the distance was at least three miles. In just this short period of time, the other party had rushed down the slope. This speed and agility were no ordinary feat!

  Before long, five knights appeared on the mountain slope where the three men had stopped their horses earlier. Each of them wore a helmet and was clad in leather armor adorned with iron leaves, with long swords, short axes, hard bows, and large arrows hanging from their saddles. Although they were far away, the aura of ferocity and bloodlust emanating from them could be faintly sensed.

  "It's the vanguard scouts of the Golden Dogs!" Yang Zhechong exclaimed in a low voice, "It seems that Miss Ye spoke the truth and the troops are not far away."

  The butterfly-like girl's slender body trembled violently, and apart from the excitement, she was more afraid - since leaving that nightmare-like wolf den, this was her first time facing these devil-like golden soldiers. Although they were separated by a not-so-short distance, she still felt that those layers of fierce gazes seemed to penetrate through the dense foliage, making it impossible for her to hide.

  Those few Jin soldiers jumped onto the mountain slope, immediately dispersing in all directions, two in front and three behind, drawing their bows and arrows, vigilantly guarding against any possible threats, displaying their well-practiced coordination and exceptional quality. Indeed, they are the most formidable warriors of this era.

  At this time, a Jin soldier jumped off his horse, parted the weeds and looked for a while, then suddenly said a few words loudly, and several other Jin soldiers' eyes turned to Ye Linzi.

  Yang Zuochong gritted his teeth reluctantly. In fact, he had a set of skills for erasing traces, but unfortunately, it had just rained heavily...

  Di Lie stared intently at the movements of those few Golden Soldiers, raised his hand and lightly waved it backwards: "It seems we've been discovered, you take Ye Xiaoniang and the horses to exit the forest, I'll deal with them."

  Yang Zhe's heart suddenly felt hot, and he could see that amazing "exploding corpse" again, so he didn't want to leave. He stared intently at the gun box behind Di Lie's back, his expression eager as he said: "But only five Golden Dogs, I'm afraid they won't even make it into the forest before being annihilated by the leader's divine weapon, why bother retreating..."

  Di Lie gave him a sideways glance, his tone unpleasant: "Still want to watch the shooting? Think it's a game where bullets are unlimited? Wasting bullets on these few blockheads isn't worth it! Get me a small Thunderbolt bomb from the saddle bag, then you can scram."

  Yang Zhechong didn't quite understand what "bullets" were, but he also sensed that Di Lie had no intention of using the "divine artifact". He couldn't help but feel a little anxious. If they didn't use this powerful weapon, how could they defeat these five Golden Soldiers? These weren't ordinary foot soldiers, but the elite vanguard of the Golden Army!

  Five Jin soldiers rode their horses to about ten zhang away from the wild apricot forest, then dismounted in unison, each spaced about one horse apart. The three men in front drew out their curved knives and short axes, parted the wild grass, and stepped forward cautiously. The two men behind slowly drew open their bows and arrows, the bowstrings creaking loudly, the arrowheads' cold light pointing directly at where Di Lie and his companions were hiding. It can be seen that these Jin soldiers' tracking skills are quite impressive.

  When the golden soldiers rushed to the place where the three people were hiding, they didn't find any trace of the enemy. The golden soldier in front was about to search for clues and chase when his nose suddenly twitched, as if he had smelled something unusual. He stopped in his tracks, following the strange smell with his nose, and found that it came from under a piece of tree bark that had just been lifted up on the ground. When he subconsciously used the curved knife in his hand to pry open the tree bark, a hissing, burning, black oval-shaped ball appeared before his eyes...