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墨書 Inktalez
Wang Xiang occasionally looked back, glancing at the carriage where Qin Feng was seated. Bai Lian was treated too well; he was riding on warhorses while she was in a carriage.
Beside her was a stunning beauty, not just any maiko, but the daughter of a wealthy family, and it seemed she was still unmarried. What a fortunate situation!
The more he thought about it, the more unbalanced he felt. He had to make contact with that woman; otherwise, it would be too humiliating. He had asked Bai Lian several times, but she had not agreed.
Ahead was a post station, a familiar place where the stationmaster had been an acquaintance for several years. He had arranged for him to take the position of stationmaster; originally, he was just a soldier!
Now that he needed his help, he had to drive Bai Lian away to get close to that woman; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to sleep that night.
Looking at the winding mountain road ahead, even though it was only ten miles away, they still had quite a way to go. The road was terrible; they should have taken a better route, but that would take much longer.
Normally, when approaching the post station, there would be several figures visible—some passing merchants and some refugees—but now there wasn't a single shadow in sight, which was unusual.
Could it be that bandits had been active lately and were intercepting travelers ahead?
In the command room, Zhang Mu and Liu Xian were studying a yellow map. After looking for a while, they felt they were close to the post station and rode their black warhorses toward Wang Xiang.
Wang Xiang was being too lazy; as he rode along, his speed slowed down as if he didn't want to push his warhorses faster, even though they were better than theirs.
Upon arrival, he smiled broadly and appeared very respectful.
He asked, "General Wang, since we often stay in Tokyo City and don’t travel far, the post station should be just ahead! Please guide us."
Wang Xiang looked at them proudly. Although these two rarely ventured out, their eyesight was still good enough to recognize the winding yellow map; they had some skills.
He laughed heartily and said, "You two indeed have good eyesight! You can read this winding yellow map. Just ahead is a post station where we can rest well! The supplies for the warhorses also need to be changed; they are truly exhausted."
Zhang Mu and Liu Xian also smiled and praised him, saying that the general was impressive! Without even looking at the map, he could tell there was a post station ahead; that was true skill.
Wang Xiang was very pleased; these two not only had skills but also knew how to flatter, which was truly delightful. They were much better than Bai Lian, a useless scholar!
The dozens of Imperial Guards surrounding them, riding on Black Warhorses, also looked exhausted. The journey was incredibly tiring, especially on the uneven mountain roads that nearly took their lives.
Upon hearing that there was a Post Station ahead, they all smiled with joy, whipping their weary Warhorses. The Warhorses were panting heavily, their mouths dripping with sticky saliva; they could barely move.
As they slowly moved forward, the intense pain in their bodies forced them to muster their last bit of strength to run ahead. They longed for a good rest and better horse feed; otherwise, they would really collapse on the road! Over twenty Warhorses had already died from exhaustion.
Although Qin Feng was in the carriage, he could still hear some people outside talking about how they would soon reach the Post Station and could finally have a good rest.
Feeling happy, he really didn't want to sit in this carriage any longer; it was jostling him so much that he felt like his bones were about to fall apart.
He said, "Xiao Xiao, when we arrive at the Post Station, please don't call me Husband anymore; just call me Qin Sir. After all, I haven't married you yet. If my subordinates hear you, they'll think I'm just a lecherous and useless man who only occupies women, which would have a bad influence."
Liu Xiaoxiao felt a bit unhappy. They had already embraced each other, and her body had been touched; yet he still insisted on this.
But thinking about it, there was some truth to his words. He had just saved her and then claimed her for himself; if his subordinates heard that, they would indeed think he was a corrupt official!
She replied, "Oh, I can call you Qin Sir in front of them, but you must marry me. We still need to sleep together at night. I feel like Wang Xiang has ulterior motives towards me, and I'm worried."
Qin Feng smiled and nodded. A compliant woman was truly wonderful; he pulled her even closer.
After bouncing around for a while longer, the hundreds of Escort Army finally arrived at the so-called Post Station.
Although it was only ten miles away, the mountain roads were incredibly difficult to traverse! Sometimes high and sometimes low, the road surface was full of potholes; even the horses struggled to walk.
Upon arrival, not only were the people's bones nearly shattered, but even the horses were panting heavily and could barely stand; they were on the verge of collapsing onto the ground.
The so-called Post Station has already ceased to exist; the ground is a vast expanse of ruins, and the wooden Post Station has been nearly consumed by a great fire.
The houses are gone, likely burned down by someone, leaving only a large area of black ashes, measuring several dozen meters wide and long.
Thick black smoke is rising from the ground into the air. Although the smoke is dense and black, it cannot be compared to last night; it must have burned last night.
After several hours of raging fire, everything was burned down. A significant portion of the wood has not yet been completely consumed, so it continues to burn, emitting thick black smoke.
A few meters away from those black ashes is the path ahead, scattered with quite a bit of wood debris.
It seems that a fierce battle occurred, which led to the destruction of the Post Station, with debris scattered outside.
Even the main road bears numerous dried bloodstains, which have turned dark red. They are connected one after another, indicating a particularly brutal scene.
Commander Zhang Mu and Liu Xian looked on with concern; this was a Post Station established by the court specifically for officials and soldiers to rest and change horses! Since someone dared to destroy it, it seems that a fierce battle took place last night.
In the areas turned into black ashes, there are clearly some humanoid shapes about one or two meters long among the soft ashes; these are human corpses, with dozens of them scattered around.
Who could be so ruthless and brutal as to kill even soldiers and throw their bodies into the fire to erase all traces?
They usually stay in the capital and do not venture out much; they are unfamiliar with these bandits and robbers outside and think this is already a cruel act. However, there are indeed many such occurrences.
Wang Xiang also noticed that those black ashes contain not only some wood debris but also human corpses, specifically those of the soldiers from this Post Station.
The clothing on the soldiers is of relatively good quality, so even after burning, it remains attached to their bodies. Most of the corpses still wear such material; although their faces have been charred black and their flesh burned away, those garments remain intact on them.
There are also some corpses whose clothing is of poorer quality, completely burned away; these were coarse cloth garments worn by common people that would tear easily upon touch. It seems that there were refugees causing trouble.
The main characters of the Imperial Guards were all there, looking worried. The other Imperial Guards nearby were even more frightened, unable to believe that such a terrifying event had occurred! The court's Post Station had actually been attacked, and it had been completely consumed by fire!
Soon, the news spread from the front to the back, and everyone was aware of it, leading to a flurry of discussions and commotion.
"The Post Station was actually burned down by Bandits, and even the Soldiers there were killed and thrown into the flames. It's truly brutal; I didn't expect things outside to be in such chaos!"
"What should we do? The horses can hardly move now. I wanted to feed them some good hay and let them rest for a while, but with this chaos, we must hurry on! We can't run into them."
Amidst the worried discussions, their inner fear was palpable. Most of the Imperial Guards were encountering such a situation for the first time—an attack on a court post station by fire.
Qin Feng felt the carriage come to a stop but did not immediately stick his head out. He simply leaned back and rested; not having to endure the bumps was quite nice. It was much more comfortable to be still than to be on the move.
However, upon hearing those voices and sensing the fear around him, he poked his head out to look at the so-called Post Station.
What Post Station was left? The once grand and ancient Post Station had turned into a pile of ruins. The black ashes stretched for several dozen meters, with some human-shaped remains about one or two meters long—clearly unburned corpses.
He was truly terrified; it was his first time seeing dead bodies, especially ones that had been burned like this! It was utterly unrecognizable, barely resembling anything but ashes!
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