Ang Lee looked up at the sky above his head and found that he could only see a small part of it. The rest was covered by branches and leaves. In other words, they were now in a dense forest. Even observing the blue sky and white clouds had become an extravagant hope. It was very difficult to determine the direction by the natural environment.
"It seems that we have to use the compass. Fortunately, I brought it."
Ang Lee took out the compass from his pocket, shook it casually, and carefully observed the direction the needle pointed.
"Map, bring me the map."
After reading the compass, Ang Lee asked his subordinate to bring him the map. He had to use the map to determine the direction of the pirates' escape. Then, he could carry out a reasonable pursuit according to the direction indicated by the compass.
"The pirates must have escaped from here. This is the only escape route for the pirates. All troops, pursue them immediately."
Ang Lee ordered.
Hundreds of people followed a bumpy road, stumbling as they chased after them.
"Assistant Minister Li, I found a headscarf. There is no dew on it. It should have been dropped not long ago. We are not chasing in the wrong direction. The pirates ran in this direction."
His subordinate ran over excitedly with the headscarf picked up by the soldiers.
Ang Lee took the headscarf, put it in front of his eyes, and sniffed it gently. It was a very unpleasant smell, which was indeed suitable for pirates.
"Yes, we are not chasing in the wrong direction. Soldiers, continue to chase. We must catch these guys."
The pirates were not far ahead. Ang Lee was completely sure of this, so he ordered the soldiers to speed up the pursuit.
Because the canopy was large and the trees were relatively dense, the Tang dynasty soldiers in the dense forest could not feel much sunlight. However, their bodies were still sweating, which was a very uncomfortable kind of sultry heat.
Occasionally, a breeze would blow through the gaps in the trees and onto the soldiers' bodies, making them feel much more comfortable. However, this breeze came and went from time to time. It was ethereal and unpredictable, just like the ethereal pirates. It could only be encountered by chance and not sought. It made one's heart itch.
Under the continuous pursuit, several clues left by the pirates were found one after another, which made the pursuing soldiers even more excited.
Ang Lee picked up the map, ordered the soldiers to slow down and expand the search area.
According to the map, these pirates had entered a place with complicated terrain. They had to expand the search area in order to be more confident in finding them. In addition, if the pirates left this area, it was very likely that they would bump into another group of soldiers searching the mountain. In short, these guys were completely unable to escape.
In Ang Lee's view, after these pirates passed through this area, they were likely to run into another group of soldiers searching the mountain of the Tang dynasty. They did not have the ability to break through the defense line of the soldiers searching the mountain and could only choose to retreat. However, there were pursuers behind them.........................
As long as these pirates hid well enough, the soldiers of the Tang dynasty were likely to miss them. In this way, they could return to their secret camp along the way they came. Of course, they could also escape by other paths. In short, as long as they were not caught, they would have a slim chance of survival.
"Assistant Minister Li, the vanguard has joined the other group of soldiers. They did not find any trace of the pirates, but they have blocked all the passages. We can be sure that the pirates did not escape. They should still be hiding in the dense forest nearby."
A subordinate came to report.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Pass the order. Tell the soldiers at the foot of the mountain not to act rashly. Don't give the pirates a chance to escape. The rest of the soldiers spread out and search. We must find these pirates."
Once they heard that the pirates were in this dense forest with complicated terrain, the soldiers were all very excited. They formed a large group of 50 people, and a small group of 5 people, and started to search carefully. The remaining 300 soldiers were deployed on both sides, ready to provide support at any time. As long as someone found the pirates' hiding place, a large number of soldiers and horses would immediately rush over and wipe out all the pirates.
The last remaining pirates were extremely strong. They were the core strength of the pirates and the most evil pirates. After they were caught, they must be killed. They must not be left alive. Moreover, they must be publicly executed to inspire the people.
Of course, if they had surrendered earlier, Li An might have chosen to let them go. However, they had refused to surrender all this time, causing the soldiers to suffer so much. Of course, he couldn't let these fellows go. Otherwise, the soldiers would be very displeased.
The soldiers searched for a long time, but they still didn't find anything. These damned pirates seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the world. No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find any trace of them.
"I forgot to bring the dogs this time. I'm so angry."
Ang Lee sighed angrily.
If there were dogs, it would be much easier to find the hiding pirates. After all, a dog's nose was very sensitive. Humans could only rely on their eyes to observe. Naturally, their searching ability could not be compared to a dog's.
"Assistant Minister Li, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain have brought dogs. Why don't we have them bring them over?"
The subordinate said.
Ang Lee roared, "What are you waiting for? Go and bring the dogs."
He really had to hand it to these subordinates. Since they knew that the soldiers at the foot of the mountain had brought dogs and they were searching for pirates here, they should have made a suggestion long ago. But they held it back. If Ang Lee did not mention the dogs, the subordinates probably would not have said anything.
Soon, two large dogs that had been trained were brought over and presented in front of Li An.
"Quickly bring the pirate's scarf and other things for the dogs to smell."
Ang Lee ordered.
After sniffing for a long time, the two large dogs began to search for the owner of the hat.
Li An led the most elite troops and followed the two big dogs all the way. They circled around the forest and paid attention to the surrounding situation at all times. As long as they found traces of pirates, they would immediately launch an encirclement.
"Assistant Minister Li, what's wrong with these two dogs? Why are they circling around?"
The subordinate could not stand it anymore. He felt that there was something wrong with these two dogs. If not, why would these two dogs not lead the way and instead circle around in the forest?
Ang Lee also felt that it was a little strange. The behavior of these two dogs was very abnormal. A trained dog would not be like this.
"Could the pirates be hiding in this circle?"
A subordinate pointed to the dense forest in front of them and said.
Ang Lee looked up. This circle was not big. It had a radius of only 30 steps. There were only a few hundred trees in the circle. They had already circled the area three times. If the pirates were hiding in the middle, they should have discovered them long ago.
However, in order to verify whether there were really pirates hiding, Ang Lee ordered his soldiers to enter this small area and conduct a three-foot deep search. Every inch of the ground had to be searched. Furthermore, they could not use their eyes to search. They had to use the weapons in their hands to search.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of leaves. It was hard to say what was under the leaves. They had to use weapons to prick a few times to be at ease.
Many strange trees had roots under them. They also had to use weapons to prick the roots to prevent people from hiding.
This area wasn't flat land. Although it wasn't large, the terrain was uneven. It was entirely possible to hide someone here.
More than a hundred soldiers began a detailed search from different directions. Even the two dogs were forcefully led into the circle.
"Woof woof …"
At the root of a large tree, the two large dogs started barking.
"Let's see what's going on."
A lieutenant ordered the two soldiers behind him to go down and check out the situation.
Behind the root of the tree was a spindle-shaped crack. This crack was only five to six meters long. The widest part was less than three feet. It looked like a very inconspicuous crack in the mountains.
Furthermore, the top of this crack was covered with small shrubs and weeds. This covered the crack tightly. It was difficult to discover it from a distance. At least, before walking to this tree, the soldiers did not notice the large crack behind this tree.
Two soldiers walked over and used the spears in their hands to poke the hole a few times.
"Pu …"
Ang Lee heard a very familiar sound. It was the sound of weapons piercing flesh.
"There's a situation down there. Surround it."
His subordinates reacted very quickly. Hearing a special sound was enough to prove that there was a situation down there. Even if it was not pirates, it had to be a wild beast.
"Woof woof woof …"
Perhaps it was the smell of blood, but the two large dogs were very excited. They rushed towards the crack with all their might. The soldiers behind them could not control them.
Ang Lee seemed to have sensed something. He smiled slightly and said, "Untie the dogs and let go of these two dogs."
Hearing this, the soldiers immediately untied the chains on the dogs' necks. The two large dogs barked wildly and ran towards the crack. They jumped in without any hesitation.
"Woof woof woof …"
"Ah …"
First, the barks of the large dogs came from the crack. Then, there were the painful cries of humans.
"There are people down there. The pirates are hiding down there. We finally found them."
The subordinates were very excited. They had been busy for so long and finally found these pirates. Of course, they would be happy. Moreover, they were very happy.
The two large dogs were very brave. However, the pirates had weapons in their hands. Therefore, in a short time, the two dogs were killed by the pirates. They let out helpless cries.
"Assistant Minister Li, the pirates are actually hiding here. The situation down there is complicated. There must be a lot of space. If we go down rashly, there will be casualties."
One of the subordinates said.
Looking from above, the crack was really small. The soldiers could only go down from the widest position. Moreover, they could only go down one by one. In this way, they would probably be stabbed by the pirates as soon as they went down.
Ang Lee smiled and looked at the fallen leaves on the ground. He said, "There seem to be a lot of leaves here! If it burns, it will definitely be a big fire. "
The subordinates were not fools. They immediately ordered the soldiers to collect the leaves and pile them up at the crack. They were ready to burn the crack and smoke these bad guys to death.
The pirates below obviously heard the commotion outside and knew that there were many Tang soldiers outside. They definitely could not go out. If they went out, they would die, but if they stayed below, they would also be waiting for death. This kind of despair could be imagined.
The leaves quickly piled up. The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty immediately lit the leaves. When the fire was burning fiercely, they pushed a large number of burning leaves into the crack and continued to add new leaves.
After the burning leaves fell into the crack, due to the lack of air and the impact of falling, a lot of smoke was produced. It quickly filled the entire crack. Very thick smoke could be seen from the top.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough …"
Very violent coughs and painful howls came from below the crack. Obviously, the remaining pirates hiding below the crack could not stand it anymore.
The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty did not feel sorry for these guys. The louder the coughs below, the more excited they became. They gathered more leaves and threw them all down.
The human body was very fragile. How could it withstand the roasting of smoke? The coughing below was very loud at first, but as the smoke continued to roast, the sound became softer and softer. In the end, no sound could be heard at all.
"Assistant Minister Li, there's no movement below. Are these pirates all smothered to death?"
The subordinate said excitedly.
Ang Lee was not sure about the situation below. However, even if they were not smothered to death, they were not far from death. They would definitely faint.
"Come on, dig for me. Make the hole bigger."
Ang Lee ordered.
The soldiers had brought a lot of farming tools in order to open roads and build bridges. As soon as they heard the order, they immediately began to dig.
The crack was surrounded by soil. It was a crack in the soil structure, not hard rock. Therefore, it was not difficult to dig. However, because there were more trees here, the soil was covered by tree roots and grass roots, so it did not continue to expand.
The strength of tree roots and grass roots was limited. They could not stop the shovel from digging. Unless they encountered a thick tree trunk, it would take more effort to dig.
It was as if the soldiers had been injected with chicken blood. They worked very hard and soon, the entrance that was originally less than three feet wide had been dug several times wider. The originally narrow area had also been dug wide enough for people to pass through.
Some of the soldiers were digging, and some were using existing tools to build long enough ladders so that the soldiers could smoothly go down to the bottom of the crack.
The leaves in the crack were still smoking. However, as the crack was opened wider and wider, the smoke could easily drift out. It would not gather in large quantities in the crack, which satisfied the soldiers of the Tang dynasty to go down.
"The smoke is much smaller now. Go down and see what's going on. Get these guys up."
Seeing that the ladders had been built, Ang Lee ordered.
A dozen soldiers immediately put several ladders into the crack and went down along the ladders.
"Cough, cough …"
Although the smoke at the bottom was much smaller, it was still a little blinding. The soldiers' eyes hurt a little and they could barely open them.
"They've all fainted. I don't know if they're dead."
The soldiers said.
"Pull them up whether they're dead or alive."
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