(12)
I climbed over countless grassy slopes and traveled long distances for days and nights. In order to avoid the pursuers, they deliberately detoured from the main road and took a detour, and finally found their destination on the vast green land - another team came to defect after hearing the news.
The leader of the team chatted with the guards of the camp for a while, then followed the lead boy into the camp.
There are about fifty people in this team, and only ten of them are wearing armor. Most of them are in terrible shape, and they seem to have fled in a hurry. However, everyone is preparing war horses. It is said that they stole horses from Heba's victory account at night. of.
It was the time for dinner, and all the camps were cooking soup, and the smoke was floating in the air, which was very tempting. This was undoubtedly a great temptation for the team that had just entered the camp.
Due to days of running around, they lacked food and water, their lips were chapped, their stomachs were weak, and their eyes were bloodshot due to lack of rest. If they could drink a bowl of broth and then sleep, there would be nothing better than this. Better things to come.
Soon, the smell of meat and spices grabbed everyone's heart like an invisible hand.
"Brother, the brothers haven't eaten or drank for several days and nights. I wonder if..."
"You should have told me earlier! What's so difficult about this?" The boy who led the way said, "Come on, come on, give the new brothers a bowl of soup to drink!"
"good!"
After all, the soldiers from each battalion warmly invited them, and many of them knew the people in that team. After all, most of the people present were from the six-town coalition. They were originally under the same command, but now they are just comrades in arms again.
New soldiers, veterans, old acquaintances and new acquaintances all gathered together to drink soup and eat meat. After a while, the people in the new team realized that being here was completely different from when they were under Heba's tent.
The soldiers here are always smiling, but they don't feel a trace of frivolity; they are free, but they don't feel a trace of laxity; they clearly live on the battlefield, but they don't feel a trace of surliness.
You can see someone playing the piano for fun while eating, someone squatting in a basin to take a bath outside the camp, someone polishing their weapons near the blacksmith, and someone practicing martial arts on the school grounds. Everything is harmonious and orderly.
"Haha!" A woman's voice came from somewhere, and a boy thought: "Brother, do you still have a woman here?"
"Ah? Are you talking about Miss Shen?" Someone replied: "Look, she has been practicing swinging her sword there these two days! Although this girl is inexperienced, you must not mess with her." He deceived her. He went over and said softly: "It is said that our General Huang Quan likes her..."
"Swinging a sword?" The boy asked, "Is it possible that she wanted to use the sword to chop down the wooden pile?"
"Hey, who knows? I guess anyone with a good head can figure out how it is possible to chop down such a thick wooden pile with a sword?"
As she spoke, Shen Qiongzhi's huffing never stopped. She stood in front of the wooden stake that was taller than herself and kept repeating the movements of waving and sheathing the sword. However, the effect was very little. After two days of continuous efforts, she finally succeeded. What came out was an incision less than half an inch deep.
Such thick and solid wooden stakes are often used as tent pillars. Shen Qiongzhi may not know such a thing, but she has already secretly guessed in her heart: Bai Fengduan will not let her pass the test easily.
After a while, Huang Yixiao responded. He came to the new team and asked, "Where did you come from?"
After hearing this, the leader immediately stepped forward and bowed his hands in respect: "Report to General, we were originally under He Basheng, but we accidentally delayed the military situation. If we still wanted to go back to resume our orders, we would definitely be beheaded in public, so we chose to come here to join General Huangquan." With General Hakuho."
"It doesn't matter, the soldiers here were originally subordinates of the Heba clan." Huang Yixiao said: "Huang Yixiao, if my brothers want to show my favor, please call me General Huangquan. General Bai Feng is thinking about military matters and cannot come here. . Just take a rest for now, and we will send someone to make arrangements for you later."
"Yes, thank you General Huangquan!" After the leader said this, he knelt down and kowtowed, followed by dozens of others.
"Okay, let's all get up, we are all brothers." As soon as Huang Yi's joke ended, he noticed Shen Qiongzhi who was still swinging his sword vigorously beside the school field. He walked over and asked: "Miss Shen, are you hungry?" ?”
"Not hungry." Shen Qiongzhi replied and waved his sword again.
"I see you can't even hold the sword steady." Huang Yixiao walked to the soldier's tent and scooped up a bowl of broth, then brought it to Shen Qiongzhi and continued to ask: "Are you going to continue to persevere?"
"Of course!" Shen Qiongzhi said discouragedly: "Even you look down on me, right?"
"How could it be? You were recommended by recommendation. If you don't believe me, ask General Bai Feng in person." Huang Yixiao replied, "But if a person doesn't eat, he won't have the strength to fight." He handed the broth closer to him. The mutton soup with a slightly fishy aroma will greatly increase your appetite.
Shen Qiongzhi nodded and reluctantly accepted the kindness. She drank up the broth in one gulp, then picked up the meat residue with her bare hands and put it into her mouth. She didn't care about her image as a lady. The hard-working and approachable Shen Qiongzhi who usually took care of the wounded no longer existed at this moment.
"Hahaha..." Huang Yixiao suddenly sneered: "If Miss Shen is not full, just go there and fill it up yourself." After that, everyone laughed and sighed.
After eating and drinking, Shen Qiongzhi started his experience again. In hundreds of sword swings, she slowly found the most energy-saving method, but she was still unable to damage the wooden stake in front of her at all. On the contrary, the iron sword in her hand became more and more blunt.
An unreasonable foreboding gradually came to my mind.
The third and last day.
As usual, Shen Qiongzhi came to the wooden pile alone early in the morning to prepare before starting today's test.
After three full days of settling, her heart had changed from the excitement at that time to extremely calm. She began to think about why she insisted on taking up arms and joining the army. Do you want to avenge the servant who protected you? Or do you want to kill all those Rouran people who want to offend and insult you?
"Are these enough?" She thought to herself: "What else am I missing...the sacred tree, the holy land, why do I always feel so empty in my heart."
She picked up the sword and continued swinging it.
"I don't know...I can't figure it out either."
"I can only swing my sword, just swing my sword! As long as I can cut down this wooden pile, can I understand?"
"The first blow, the second blow, the third blow..."
Shen Qiongzhi thought to herself, just like she had done in the past few days. Suddenly, the iron sword clanged and she cut it, breaking into two halves on the spot.
