On a spring trip, apricot blossoms bloom all over your head.

After exiting the west city gate, both sides of the official road were covered with apricot flowers, which bloomed all the way to the top of the twin peaks.

It's a good time for spring outings.

However, there are not many Xunyang people on the official road who go out to enjoy the scenery in spring.

There are very few people even leaving the city.

Because the peaks of the two peaks and the surrounding ten miles have been nominally closed, the mountains and rivers have been sealed, and ordinary people are prohibited from entering.

Since yesterday evening, a group of about 300 people in white robes and armor entered the city, quietly passed through the busy streets of Dongshi, and finally arrived at Xiushui Fang and stationed themselves at Prince Xunyang's Mansion.

Since this morning, the atmosphere in Xunyang City has become more solemn, and many people have spread the word.

There are various speculations. Some people say that it was the Queen of Luoyang who discovered that King Xunyang was harboring evil intentions and sent troops to arrest him and take him back to Luoyang for questioning.

Others said that there was no need to capture her at all. The middle-aged female official who was surrounded by three hundred white-robed soldiers last night actually brought a pot of palace poisonous wine, which King Xunyang had already drunk last night.

There are also some who are more reliable, saying that it is just a normal shift change of the palace guards. This time, the defense is just strengthened... The source of this news is from Jiangzhou officialdom, from the mouths of some fringe officials.

Overnight, various rumors began to spread in the market, but before they could ferment, they were self-defeating early the next morning.

Ouyang Lianghan, the governor of Jiangzhou, and Shi Yuanhuaimin, the governor of Jiangzhou, brought a group of officials to visit the palace in the early morning. They went to the door in person to invite King Lixian of Xunyang out. Together with his son Li Fusu, they mounted their horses in front of the palace gate and rushed out of the city.

.

It happened in public.

As a result, some miscellaneous discussions in Xunyang City were calmed down as soon as they arose.

But we can get a glimpse of the situation in Xunyang.

After the last time the Xingzi Lake Buddha collapsed and the Xingzifang blockade had passed, people in the city still had fresh memories.

The closer we get to the completion of the Buddha, the more uncertain people become.

…

On the official road on the outskirts of the city, Ouyang Rong squinted his eyes and looked in the direction of the twin peaks in the distance.

Ships like black spots can be faintly seen on the river.

Looking back, he found Yuan Huaimin picking apricot flowers on the roadside.

"Let you rest, you may want to enjoy the flowers."

Ouyang Rong shook his head, went to greet the team, and continued on his way.

Yuan Huaimin seemed to have not slept well last night and was a little distracted. He withdrew his hand from the branch, got up and got on his horse to follow.

Ouyang Rong, Yan Liulang, Yuan Huaimin.

Li Xian, Li Dalang.

The five of them were all riding light horses, running towards the peaks of the twin peaks in the distance.

There is an agreed-upon meeting at Xunyang Grottoes today, which is related to the subsequent deployment of Jiangzhou defense and the completion of the Donglin Giant Buddha.

Li Xian's face was a little serious. He hadn't been out of the city for a long time, and his horsemanship was a bit neglected.

Yan Liulang and Li Dalang followed him to the left and right, guarding him in the middle.

Seeing this, Ouyang Rong distanced himself a bit and rode close to Yuan Huaimin who was behind him.

"I heard that Commander Yi left the city last night. Why don't you stay with her overnight so we can reminisce about old times?"

Ouyang Rong asked with a chuckle.

Yuan Huaimin shook his head:

"Isn't Qiuniang the commander of this reinforcement team? She has just arrived and is busy. Why should she stay here? We can't delay her work, so I asked her to go back not long after Lianghan and you left."

Ouyang Rong asked: "Why don't we hold a candle and talk at night?"

Yuan Huaimin said in a serious tone: "Liang Han, this is a cousin of our clan. You can't, at least you shouldn't."

Ouyang Rong said casually: "She's just a clan sister. Who knows how far apart the blood lines are."

Yuan Huaimin hesitated to speak. He wanted to say something, but finally shook his head.

It turned into a deep sigh.

Ouyang Rong suddenly asked:

"Brother Huaimin, why are you absent-minded so early in the morning? Aren't you very open-minded and cheerful before? Today, I didn't ask you to stay in Jiangzhou lobby to do your work. Come out to get some fresh air. It's fishing. Logically speaking, you should be enjoying yourself secretly."

He nodded: "So, does Brother Huaimin have something on his mind?"

"Is there any?"

Yuan Huaimin touched his face and argued:

"Your Majesty, aren't they quite serious today? What's wrong with me being more serious too?"

"This is not like you. Well, did Commander Yi say anything to you last night?"

Yuan Huaimin waved his hand:

"I talked a lot, just repeating the same old tunes. I also brought some family letters with concern and advice from the elders of the clan."

Ouyang Rong smiled again: "Oh, I thought I was urging you to get married."

"Brother Lianghan, why do you always make such jokes..."

Yuan Huaimin was sad.

Ouyang Rong shook his head and said nothing. After a while, he whipped his horse, suppressed his smile, and looked back at a team of well-trained guards following closely behind him.

At the front of the escort team, there were two figures standing side by side.

A cold-faced middle-aged female officer in palace attire, and a baby-faced young man in white robe.

They kept their distance and followed behind.

Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze and continued to advance on horseback, following Wang Lixian of Xunyang.

Li Xian and Li Dalang left the palace and went to Xunyang Grottoes to attend a meeting.

Miaozhen, the female guard of the palace, and the latest team of White Tiger Guards who arrived at the palace, also followed silently to protect Prince Xunyang and his son.

That baby-faced young man in white robe is the captain of this White Tiger Guard team, his name is Li Congshan, and he is in charge of three hundred soldiers.

He was the general who led the team when Yi Qianqiu arrived yesterday afternoon and directly made arrangements according to the imperial edict.

Yan Liulang actually brought a group of government officials out of the city today.

But compared with these three hundred White Tiger Guards, they pale into insignificance.

Especially when the two sides walk together, the contrast is even more stark.

For the former, even if they straighten their backs, cheer up, and show their best, the details are still a bit messy.

The three hundred White Tiger Guards, all wearing white robes and white armor, wearing silver tiger masks, mounted and dismounted their horses in uniform movements. Almost all of them were tall and burly. At a glance, they seemed to be carved from the same mold.

If the two sides were to completely line up in the open space and fight against each other, the former would definitely not be able to withstand the first wave of impact from the latter and would be scattered and defeated.

In addition, the silver masks uniformly covering the faces of the three hundred White Tiger Guards are a bit strange in style.

Under the sun, there are dazzling and reflective tiger faces, with the corners of the mouth facing downwards. At first glance, people subconsciously think that these white tiger soldiers are a little unhappy.

In addition, they also carried some special equipment, the purpose of which Ouyang Rong could not understand. In addition, they were accompanied by Si Tianjian, a Qi practitioner, to assist them.

No wonder the four guards of Qinglong, White Tiger, Xuanwu and Suzaku are transcendent beings among the sixteen. Such a violent machine built to scale and prepared for war is not so easy to resist individually.

The most important thing is... they are all elites in the army of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They are well-trained and not afraid of casualties. Compared with ordinary armies, they have suffered a certain proportion of battle losses, but they can still remain undefeated and fight in an organized manner. This can be done by using armored soldiers.

to consume the lives of the Qi Refiners.

I heard from Rong Zhen that during the Great Qian Dynasty, under extreme circumstances, there was an encirclement and suppression of a high-grade Qi Practitioner... Both sides suffered heavy losses. The final result was that the top-grade Qi Practitioner lost a thousand armors.

Seriously injured, nearly exhausted of spiritual energy, Yukong ran away...

But this was done in conjunction with Si Tianjian's Qi Shi training, using a special formation similar to the Moon Pool Formation that Ouyang Rong had experienced to trap the enemy...

While Ouyang Rong was riding his horse, he secretly estimated in his heart that even if he was given a chance to deploy his sword, the safety range needed to be sufficient. These three hundred White Tiger Guards were still standing together, and they were all within the "Return to Come" range.

Then [Craftsman] would have to kill a stick of incense to collect 300 heads and build a small Jingguan.

As for a normal fight, if they were to target him and there was no sword guard around him, he would probably be attacked by their cavalry without even using a stick of incense.

The main reason is because the Hanshi magical power "Return to Come" is not strictly a group killing method. It focuses more on killing with one hit and taking the heads of several major enemies.

If you really encounter the extreme situation of being surrounded by a large number of people, it is suitable to spread the sword in public and hang it in the sky to intimidate the whole audience. Whoever moves first will die.

At this moment, Li Congshan from the rear came with three soldiers, clapped their horses, clasped their fists towards Li Xian and suggested:

"Your Majesty, Lord Governor, could you please slow down a little? The scouts ahead of us who are scouting the road have no time to check for danger. Besides, it's still early, so there's no need to be too hasty."

The tone is respectful.

Li Xian and Ouyang Rong looked at each other, nodded, and the group slowed down a bit.

Ouyang Rong looked back and saw Miaozhen following quietly behind him. He didn't care about it. He didn't seem to be familiar with Li Congshan.
To be continued...