Although it was March, Xingluo Kingdom was located deep inland and was surrounded by high mountains, so the weather was still cold.
Liu Mo led three thousand light cavalry on a journey day and night, hurrying on their way, sleeping in the saddle, only taking a short rest when drinking horses, and then continued to move forward.
They walked over bare rocks, through gloomy pine forests and old snow, over ice ridges and across nameless shallow rivers.
Although Tang Die was ordered from time to time to lead a small team to explore the road, danger was always everywhere.
Once, when they were walking through a low ridge between snowy peaks, a plateau snow leopard came out of its den and roared, less than twenty steps away from the people. Although the beast was haggard and hungry, the horse of a certain Bactrian cavalryman panicked, knocked the man off his horse, and fled quickly.
By the time we found it, it had tripped on a steep slope and broken its leg.
Since they were traveling quickly and lightly, they only brought ten days' rations. Therefore, the seriously injured horses naturally could not be wasted.
That day, everyone finally had fresh meat, but Tang Die insisted that everyone mix horse blood into rice, saying it could increase physical strength. The pungent horse blood porridge made Liu Mo feel uncomfortable, but he tried his best.
Before setting out on the road, they cut the horse meat from the horse carcasses. The horse bones could also be used to make soup, so they were also taken away for this purpose.
Since that day, every night has become bleaker.
Tang Die is not always around, but he is never too far away. Even if they are separated, Liu Mo can still feel her presence, and he is deeply relieved about it.
I don’t know what tricks Tang Qingfeng played to tame her so obediently within a period of time.
The person Bai Chengzong sent to him was an "old acquaintance" named Sun Kan (the one Zhu Min mentioned that Liu Mo had funded), who was the fifth-grade pacification envoy at that time.
According to Bai Chengzong, although Zhu Min and Lu Sheng were both Liu Mo's eldest brothers in name, they had already developed admiration for Liu Mo and obeyed him in everything and were unable to perform "supervision" work.
But unlike Zhu Min and Lu Sheng, Sun Kan was an unsmiling person. On weekdays, he was only seen riding a horse silently, his messy hair slowly swaying, and he did not exchange a word for two hours. The only sounds were the light tread of the horse's hooves on the stone and the cry of the cold wind. cry.
As a result, Liu Mo still can't figure out the other party.
High on the mountain, the wind never calms down. Now Liu Mo can often sleep without dreams: dreaming about Lin Shiqi, dreaming about several wives, dreaming about Xiao Siyu, dreaming about his newly born son, dreaming about He Ruda, and the dead Wei Guang.
So much so that later, before going to sleep every night, Liu Mo would pray in his heart.
"Shiqi, Xiaowan, Xin'er... I hope everything is well with you. Old Man Wei, if you are really harmed by someone, I will avenge you!"
The further you go, the harder the road becomes, and the farther you ride, the tighter the cliffs on both sides become.
After walking all day, they came to a frozen river.
Under the dusk sunset, the stream was like a ribbon, guiding them straight to the source. The stone shore was covered with ice, but under the thin hard shell, Liu Mo could hear the sound of gurgling water.
There was a landslide on this road, and a huge rock fell across the middle, but their horses still squeezed through.
Afterwards, the mountain walls become tighter and steeper, and the stream extends directly to a winding and towering waterfall. The mist shrouded, like the panting of a huge ice beast, and the rushing water glowed in the sunset.
Liu Mo looked at the waterfall in frustration. A dead end.
"Tang Die, are you sure this is a shortcut?" He turned around and asked.
It turned out that Tang Die told Liu Mo that she had been to Xingluo three times and knew that there was a shortcut to Yirle, the capital of Xingluo.
The so-called shortcut is rugged and difficult to walk, and his soldiers have begun to complain, why should they listen to a "little soldier" of unknown origin instead of taking the main road.
But at this time, time is Liu Mo's enemy, not his comrade-in-arms. He has no choice!
"Master Liu, just follow me!" Tang Die replied in a commanding tone, "Move quickly!"
The "little man" Tang Die, who was riding on a tall horse, flew toward the waterfall, passed through the water curtain, and disappeared without a trace.
Liu Mo frowned, but still gave the order, clamped his mount, and followed.
His horse struggled to escape, the pouring ice water beating him with frozen fists, and the tremors of bitter cold taking his breath away. Then it passed. He was soaked and shivering, but it eventually passed.
The gap between the rocks was extremely narrow and difficult to pass through, but after passing through it, the road opened up and the ground turned into soft sand.
"I didn't expect there to be such a secret passage!" Sun Kan, who was following behind, sighed. "A soldier once told me a story about tracking a plateau wolf across a waterfall. I was younger than you at that time."
"This road runs through the mountains." Tang Die said, "Mr. Liu, it's getting late, why not rest here and wait for tomorrow's dawn before setting off. Tonight, I will keep watch."
After finishing speaking, Tang Die leaned against the rock wall and sat on the sand, becoming a vague black shadow in the gloomy cave.
"That's fine!" So Liu Mo ordered the whole army to camp on the spot after crossing.
Afterwards, Liu Mo took off his wet cloak, but it was cold and damp here and he was not allowed to take it off again.
By the time the campfire was up, the sun had set and the moon was climbing into the sky.
The moonlight once penetrated the rushing water curtain and cast several pale and fading stripes on the sand.
Sleep finally sets in...
When Sun Kan woke him up, it was already dawn on the second day.
After letting the soldiers eat breakfast, Liu Mo immediately gave the order to set off.
The rocky tunnel twists and turns, first down, then up, while the road gets wider and wider.
After hours of trekking, we finally saw the light of day again.
However, Tang Die stopped Liu Mo at this time: "Master Liu, there are people in front of us, and there are quite a lot of them!"
Anyone? Liu Mo pursed his lips. "Go down with the order and line up to meet the enemy!"
"The terrain here is good," Sun Kan announced after observing the surroundings. "There is shelter above and a secret passage behind. Even if there are enemies, they cannot make a sneak attack."
"Yes," Liu Mo replied, "Feed the horses first. Cavalry horses cannot charge with their stomachs full!"
As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of grass and fed it to his mount, stroking its soft mane.
A horn echoed in the mountains, and Liu Mo heard the hoofbeats of the war horse.
"They will be here in a moment." Sun Kan announced!
Less than half a mile away on the ridge, a cavalry unit of dozens of people appeared. They moved closer cautiously to avoid being attacked by flying arrows.
"Sir, there are only so many people, maybe we are worrying too much!" Tang Die said with a frown.
"No, be careful, it's Zhou Chao's bait!" Sun Kan replied, at this time he had already drawn his long sword.
Legend has it that after Sun Kan lost half of his right hand in a battle, he developed the skill to wield a sword with his left hand, making it even more powerful than before. Liu Mo stood side by side with the tall warrior, "Oath" in hand. Although the air was cold, sweat blurred my vision.
The visitor stopped at a hundred meters, and the leader stepped forward alone. His horse climbed the rugged slope gently, always on guard against attacks by Liu Mo and others.
"Stop!" Liu Mo shouted down.
The visitor stopped and then observed carefully.
Then, he suddenly stretched out his hand and babbled a lot of words from his mouth.
Unfortunately, the other party spoke Xingluo language, and Liu Mo couldn't understand it at all.
"Tongshi, where is Tongshiguan (ancient translation)?" he called immediately.
"No need, Mr. Liu, I understand!" Tang Die stopped Liu Mo, then rode forward and began to communicate with the visitor in Xingluo language.
At this time, Liu Mo noticed that the more they communicated, the more complicated Tang Die's expression became. At the end, she turned her head in disbelief and asked, "Master Liu, are you Xingluo's consort?"
"Yes what's the matter?"
Tang Die forced out a smile and said, "I came to see you!"
Good guy! Liu Mo couldn't help but take a deep breath, "Is the person coming here Xingluo Scout?"
"Yes!" Tang Die said!
