Ren Ning's direction is generally south.
But instead of going straight south, he dodged and circled all the way.
This circuit took Ren Ning for seven days.
In the past seven days, he encountered several Xiliang people searching for Yun Chui Xiaobing and several waves of wolves.
If Ren Ning can hide, just dodge, and if he can't, he will fight his way out.
There were a few more wounds on his body, luckily they were all superficial wounds. Under the treatment of life-seeking grass, there was no serious problem.
It was getting brighter every day, and the weather was getting hotter and sultry, as hot as if there was a fire.
Ren Ning emerged from the grass and subconsciously touched the ration bag at his waist.
There is still some rations in the bag. But he had already drank all the water he grabbed, leaving only a few empty bamboo tubes.
He glanced to the north and frowned immediately.
There were several thick smoke rising in the distant sky.
Gelong was riding on his horse, looking at the flames licking the grassland in front of him, his face constantly cloudy.
He ordered the fire to be lit, but it was not his idea to set the fire.
He is just a hundred-year-old man, but he has no authority to light the fire just because he wants to.
After all, there was more than just his hundred-man team in this grassland, there were also several hundred-man teams searching for Yunchui's scouts.
Setting a fire is an easy task. If the fire is set without a purpose, not only the Yunzhui scouts who are hiding will be burned, but also hundreds of their companions.
"It's well burned." The laughter of subordinates came from the side. "Those cloud-clinging rats are hiding in Tibet and popping up from time to time to kill a few of our brothers. We should have set fire to them and burned them to death long ago."
"Haha, I seem to smell the smell of roasted human flesh."
"Well, I smell it too, it smells so good!"
"I have no objection to Shao Yun Chui Ren, but I heard that our brothers and sisters from Xiliang are settling nearby..."
hehe.
Someone sneered.
"This is not far from the border of Yunchui. Those who will settle here are small tribes with only a few thousand, hundreds or even dozens of people. If you die, you will die."
"Yes," someone nodded in agreement, "I heard that these people will intermarry with Yunchui people. Who dares to say that they are real Xiliang people? Maybe they are Yunchui spies. Burn them."
"That's right. There are so many of these small tribes, a few of them won't be a problem. I'm just worried that the fire will burn to my hometown in the west..."
"Don't worry. The northwest wind has been blowing this season. If you set a fire, it will only burn to the southeast, not back to your hometown."
"It's a good thing to burn to the east. It's better to burn down that damn Rock Fortress as well."
…
Ren Ning shook his head and silently looked away.
"This damn weather..." He muttered and swallowed.
The weather on the grasslands has been really weird these past few years.
I have become accustomed to not seeing rain for a long time, and it is getting hotter every year.
Half a month ago, Shangfeng had asked them to pay attention when they left Yanjie Fortress and came out to the grassland to investigate the situation.
The abnormal climate, coupled with the approaching harvest season of Yunchui, made it very likely that the people of Xiliang would venture eastward.
As expected, high temperatures and little rain combined with overgrazing. The pastures on the grasslands have become deserted on a large scale, and even those bright lakes are rapidly shrinking or disappearing.
Without water, both people and livestock have no way to survive. The people of Xiliang could either go west to find new water sources, or go east to kill the rich Yunchui Empire.
Shangfeng expected that the Xiliang people might advance eastward, but he definitely did not expect such a large scale. Not long after Ren Ning and other scouts entered the grassland, they encountered enemies that were ten times their own number, and were eventually forced to flee.
Thinking of this, Ren Ning curled his lips.
He clearly remembered that even when the weather was good in previous years, during the autumn harvest season, Xiliang people had the habit of going east to plunder food and women.
For them, taking other people's things is an honor.
Hold!
Ren Ning's expression suddenly changed as he was sorting out his thoughts.
He didn't bother to check whether there was an enemy ambush around him, so he ran away.
The place where the fire was started was originally far away from him. However, the sky was dry at this time, and the fire took advantage of the wind and the wind assisted the fire. It had already burned overwhelmingly towards him.
Crackling!
In the blink of an eye, it seemed that the entire northern sky was filled with blazing flames and thick smoke, which was daunting.
After observing the wind direction, Ren Ning quickly ran westward.
Not long after running, there was a sudden movement behind him.
Ren Ning looked back and was immediately overjoyed.
Behind him came a big gray wolf.
The wolf looked at the fire approaching from the north in panic, running wildly on all fours just to escape for its life, turning a blind eye to the prey in front of it.
It didn't want to pay attention to the two-legged beast in front of it, but Ren Ning didn't let it go and took the initiative to hug it.
When the wolf passed by, Ren Ning flicked the reins, instantly covering the wolf's head and pounced directly on the wolf.
Ouch!
The wolf roared in anger.
He wanted to stop giving the damn human a bite, but just looked up to see the fire that was burning in front of him. The gray wolf decisively put aside his personal grudges and rushed forward quickly with his limbs spread wide.
It's just that wolves are not horses after all, and are relatively short in stature. Ren Ning, who was lying on its back, had suffered a serious crime. Just the grass and thorns around him caused cuts all over his body, and soon he became a bloody man.
Ren Ning seemed as if he hadn't heard anything and clung tightly to the wolf's neck.
Crackling!
The fire burns closer and closer, and burns brighter and stronger.
Although it was still dozens of feet away, Ren Ning seemed to feel that his body had begun to feel the intense heat of the flames.
Ouch!
The wolf roared again and charged forward wildly.
Ren Ning has been through life and death all year round, and the more dangerous he is, the calmer he becomes. He looked up in front of him, then at the flames to the north, estimated the distance between the two sides, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
At the wolf's speed, unless it suddenly twisted its legs, they should be safe.
After rushing out of the fire path for more than ten feet, Ren Ning released his hand without hesitation.
flutter!
He fell heavily onto the grass and rolled around in despair. When he stopped, he already had a short knife in his hand.
Ren Ning got up gruntingly and looked forward.
The wolf didn't care about causing trouble for him and disappeared without a trace.
After all, they are wild animals. If they are caught in a wildfire, it is too late to escape. How can they think about such a trivial matter as traveling?
The fire scene was right behind him, and Ren Ning didn't dare to stay any longer. If the wind changed direction, he would surely die.
Bumping and stumbling, all the way to the west.
Sure enough, although the wind on the grassland mostly blows southeast, it occasionally blows down the skin.
Fortunately, Ren Ning kept running westward and was not blocked by the fire again.
While running, he suddenly stopped.
On the small slope in front of them, dozens of Xiliang herdsmen were waving their swords desperately, chopping down the bushes and grass in front of them, seeming to be trying to create a fire barrier.
There was a fire behind, and there were dozens of Xiliang people in front...
Ren Ning only hesitated for a second before rushing over.
"Who the hell will give me a knife?" He raised the dagger in his hand and shouted in broken Xiliang dialect: "Mine is too short to use."
Boom!
"I have plenty here, here you go!" Someone immediately threw a long boning knife over, "Go and chop off all that bush!"
The man turned back and shouted: "Women, come here and move things! Move these small trees and weeds on the ground as far away as possible."
When Ren Ning bent down to pick up the knife, he looked around.
Not far behind is a small village with dozens of yurts scattered there, most of them in dilapidated condition.
Some children were standing at the gate of the fence, looking at the overwhelming flames and smoke to the east and north, with bewildered faces.
Keep running west, or stay and help?
A trace of hesitation flashed through Ren Ning's mind.
