The sun sets in the west.
There was a heavy snowfall not long ago, and the ground was covered with white snow. It looked like a piece of pure white paper. And on this white paper:
Armor in disarray;
Bodies pierced with spears, decapitated, and mutilated;
The intestines are still warm and colorful;
dark red blood stains;
A head with a ferocious face and a look of death;
They all unknowingly became the embellishment of this white paper.
It was originally a picture of white snow in the wilderness, but now it has become a picture of purgatory on earth.
In the snow, the barely alive barbarian cavalryman, whose legs were cut off and his chest was pierced, was crawling silently on the snow, dragging a bloody path several feet long behind him, twisting and winding.
call out!
Lao Li stepped on the thick snow with his head and a ferocious look on his face. He raised the knife in his hand and stabbed Manzi's vest with the knife, piercing through the chest.
Manzi twitched a few times and became completely silent.
"Huh~"
Lao Li kicked Manzi's body away with his head, and slashed his neck twice with the blade. He was sure that the Barbarian Cavalry would never survive. He shook the long knife with an expressionless face, bent his forearm, and the blood-stained long knife was The elbow socket is dragged and pulled... rustling!
After wiping away the blood, Old Li put the knife back into its sheath and turned to leave.
Zheng Jiajun ran all the way and finally arrived in front of Jialasuo Mountain.
Along the way, they encountered harassment by barbarian cavalry eleven times, and Zheng Haoran encountered assassination attempts by barbarian assassins twenty-six times.
Although these encounters and assassinations were all narrowly avoided in the end.
But Manzi's purpose was not really to use the harassment or assassination of Zheng Haoran by a small group of cavalry to completely wipe out the Northern Expeditionary Army.
"Firstly, they want to delay our arrival at Mount Jalazor, and secondly, they want to tire us out of the march. Therefore, they do not hesitate to send thousands of dead soldiers to sacrifice their lives. They are so cruel."
Zheng Haoran also saw the other party's plan.
In this way, he can be more sure that, just as the secret letter from the national master said, the Wolf King has already arrived at the front and has laid a dragnet behind the canyon, hoping to compete with Zheng Haoran in front of this key natural moat.
"Old Zheng, the situation is not good."
As the commander-in-chief and deputy general, Lao Li Tou confirmed that no one in the small group of cavalry survived, then walked around the army, looked gloomy, and walked back to Zheng Haoran. Zheng Haoran did not take off his armor and sat silently on a stone, looking at the army.
Old Li Tou knelt down next to Zheng Haoran, took out the whetstone and unsheathed the long knife.
Uh-huh!
Uh-huh!
Uh-huh!
Old Li stroked the blade of the knife and brushed it on the whetstone, making rhythmic sounds.
As he sharpened his knife, he said:
"More than a hundred brothers have contracted the cold and have high fever that won't go away, making it difficult to go into battle."
"Sixteen brothers have frostbite on their feet. If they continue walking, their feet will become useless."
"Xiao Sun..." Old Li Tou's voice was choked with sobs. He gritted his teeth and lowered his voice and said one thing to Zheng Haoran: "Do you still remember that young man who was just in his early fifteens, and before he went to the expedition? A girl from the next village got engaged, and before leaving home, she boasted to her brothers that she would get married when she got back."
"The new gang leader, Xiao Hua, the young bald man who knows some fur healing skills, treated them. The frostbite was gone. The bald gang leader shaved off a layer of Xiao Sun's frostbite. He He said he had scraped it before. Alas, it was bloody and the white bones could be seen."
"When I was shaving... Xiao Sun was a man. He bit the soft armor, leaving a gash on the soft armor. He almost bit through the soft armor. He didn't make any sound. He said he was afraid of what Lao Zheng would think. He's a coward."
Zheng Haoran was silent for a moment, wiped off the snow residue on his face, and nodded: "I'll go see him later."
"There are also more than a dozen brothers, who are in a daze from the fever, talking nonsense, always saying that they saw something, fell into the water, etc., their eyes open and close, and they don't have any consciousness, and they talk for a while. I opened the door and walked on the lush green grassland."
Lao Li Tou sharpened his stirrup, stood up, and followed Zheng Haoran around the army.
Wounded and feverish soldiers lay on improvised sleds, pulled by horses.
Xiao Sun, whose frostbite had been scraped off, fell asleep with a pale face, muttering "green flowers" from time to time.
Old Li Tou added: "His unmarried daughter-in-law is called Cuihua."
Not far away, a monk was carrying a large pot on his back and using melted snow water to wash away the blood on his hands.
Zheng Haoran did not wake up Xiao Sun, but walked towards the monk.
"Do you know medical skills?"
"I understand a little bit." The monk clasped his hands together, a little shy.
"That just so happens," Zheng Haoran patted the monk on the shoulder: "From today on, you will be our military doctor."
"Ah?" The monk was also dumbfounded, but after thinking about it, he nodded in agreement, cupped his hands, and said loudly: "Yes! General Zheng!"
Zheng Haoran raised his fist towards the monk.
The monk seemed to have known Zheng Haoran's "quirks" for a long time, and he raised his fist and touched it hard.
boom!
There was a loud sound where the two fists collided.
A few strands of Lao Li's hair were blown around, and he was stunned for a moment.
Zheng Haoran's eyes widened, and then he laughed: "Not bad!"
Military doctors mainly deal with trauma.
After General Zheng left, Old Li Tou told the monk what the military doctor had to do.
The monk noted it down carefully and kept nodding.
In the end, Old Li Tou did not forget to remind him: "By the way, since you have become a military doctor, you don't have to rush to the front when fighting barbarians. The last military doctor was too brave."
Only then did the monk know that the previous military doctor had died in the charge.
After Lao Litou left.
Zheng Xiu, who was secretly listening to the conversation of several people not far away, grabbed the monk and walked to a deserted place with an evil look on his face.
"Why do you know a little bit about medicine?"
The monk's eyes wandered and he replied: "The young monk used to learn a lot by himself in Yunliu Temple without a teacher. Brother, look, wasn't my leg injury healed back then?"
"Are you treating me?" Zheng Xiu hit the monk on the head with a loud bang, "You have a special physique and your legs have grown fat!"
The monk chuckled: "But the young monk can't just ignore death."
Zheng Xiu pursed his lips and asked, "Have you forgotten what I said?"
The monk shook his head: "I haven't forgotten." As he said that, he smiled slightly, clasped his hands together, and said calmly and calmly: "But Brother Zheng, do you still remember what happened when we stopped in Jingtang Town?"
Zheng Xiu frowned: "Which thing?"
The monk smiled and said:
"The people of Jingtang Town have been plagued by centuries-old pests. Since ancient times, they have burned pregnant women to death to cure 'cotton slough'."
"Later, because the young monk was ignorant of the world, he rashly intervened, causing more pregnant women to die."
"The young monk feels guilty."
"At that time, brother, you said something, which made the young monk suddenly enlightened."
"Brother, you said it's hard to distinguish between good and evil, black and white. The young monk did something wrong."
"The young monk blames himself. If you scold the young monk, it is wrong."
"But you finally said,"
The monk's eyes were clear and innocent, and he looked at Zheng Xiu sparklingly: "As long as you have a clear conscience."
Zheng Xiu was stunned.
He never expected that the monk would remember his casual words to this day.
…
Zheng Haoran ordered people to count the military supplies.
With the remaining food and the hunting of wild game to satisfy our hunger, we could barely survive for ten days.
The Zheng family army camped at the foot of Yalasuo Mountain and rested for the night.
The next morning.
A crow with two blood-red eyes flew from the south and circled endlessly around the Zheng Family Army's camp.
"It's a raven."
Zheng Xiu didn't close his eyes all night. He stood up warily, stared at the familiar raven and moved his fingers. He almost couldn't help but shoot the raven down.
The raven hovered in the sky for a moment, and finally landed in Zheng Haoran's hands.
Lao Li rubbed his bloodshot eyes, his tired expression suddenly lifted: "Here's the news!"
He turned around and saw Zheng Xiu's vigilant expression, and patted Zheng Xiu on the shoulder: "Don't make a fuss, that's a messenger crow raised by the Imperial Master to convey military information."
Zheng Xiu nodded silently and followed Lao Li towards Zheng Haoran.
Old Li Tou wanted to say that such military secrets could not be mixed up by a soldier like you, but he saw Zheng Haoran waving to Zheng Xiu and Old Li Tou from a distance.
Zheng Haoran couldn't hide the joy on his face.
The military information conveyed by the raven was indeed good news.
Because Zheng Haoran led his army to the north and went deep into the hinterland of the Northern Barbarians, the Wolf King really felt like he was facing a formidable enemy. He was afraid that when he led his army to fight, his hometown would be taken away by Zheng Haoran. After getting the news, without saying a word, he led an army of ten thousand people and rushed back to the rear to defend.
The Wolf King took away an army of ten thousand people in one breath, leaving the remaining main fronts empty. The remaining generals guarding the border recovered vast tracts of lost territory in a short period of time, and actually pushed the invading Northern Barbarians beyond the national boundary. outside.
At the end of the secret letter, there is a small roll of secret roll as thick as a little finger. The whole body of the secret roll is dyed yellow and sealed with fire paint.
"His Majesty's secret decree."
When Lao Li saw Zheng Haoran taking out the emperor's secret decree from the mailbox, he consciously wanted to avoid suspicion and took a few steps back.
Zheng Xiu moved his head forward.
"you!"
Old Li Tou could not wait to slap this ignorant boy unconscious. Can just anyone read the emperor's secret decree?
"It's out of the way!"
Zheng Haoran glanced at Zheng Xiu and waved his hands carelessly: "No one saw it anyway."
Old Li Tou thought that this was also the case and put his head closer.
The emperor's secret decree contained only four words.
Zheng Xiu was angry: "Fuck!"
Lao Li's lips trembled.
Zheng Haoran silently tore up the imperial edict.
Four words: swear to kill the Wolf King.
"Wei Yangzun!"
Zheng Xiu almost used the force of biting his teeth to squeeze out Wei Yangzun's name from between his teeth.
Lao Li sat down on the snow and muttered to himself: "I'm just telling you, you shouldn't read the emperor's secret decree..."
Wei Yangzun should have returned to the palace.
The message he conveyed by issuing this secret decree was very clear: Zheng Haoran was like a magnet at this time. His bravery and majesty attracted the main forces of the Northern Barbarians away, relieving the pressure on the entire front.
As the king of the Northern Barbarians, the significance of killing the Wolf King is self-evident. And at this moment, the Wolf King unexpectedly had a sudden attack and wanted to fight with Zheng Haoran. When Wei Yangzun learned about this, he wanted to push the situation and let Zheng Haoran find a way to kill the Wolf King.
Once the Wolf King dies, according to common sense, the Northern Barbarians will fall into intra-clan fighting. Several major clans will be busy competing for the throne of the Wolf King and will no longer have time to intrude on Daqian.
In the past, Wei Yangzun's words came to mind. Zheng Xiu verified the history and what he saw with his own eyes one by one, and quickly deduced the real reason why Zheng Haoran died in the battle.
Imperial decree!
Have to follow!
A complex emotion surged into my heart, including anger, helplessness, and confusion, all mixed together. Wei Yangzun had taken great care of Zheng Xiu over the years and was kind to the Zheng family. However, when Zheng Xiu saw this secret edict, what he was thinking more about was that Wei Yangzun had ordered Zheng Haoran to kill the Wolf King, which indirectly led to the Wolf King's downfall. He felt ashamed of Zheng Xiu and did this to Zheng Xiu. A pair of orphans are taken care of in every possible way.
In the silence, a fist was raised silently in front of Zheng Xiu.
It was Zheng Haoran's fist.
"come."
Zheng Haoran smiled and shook his fist.
Zheng Xiu looked at the calloused fist and couldn't help but touch it.
Zheng Haoran said nothing more and ordered the entire army to rest for two days and enter the valley tomorrow.
After setting up camp.
Not long after, the sound of gun sharpening came from Zheng Haoran's military camp.
And in these two days.
Several strange things happened.
There were several soldiers who had frostbite. The frostbite on their feet was visibly dissipated. Not to mention jumping around, at least they were able to walk.
Half of the soldiers who contracted the cold had their fever subsided on the first night and their eyesight became clear.
They said they had a dream about a winding road. Some said the road was in the mountains, some said the road was in the woods, some said the road was pitch black and could not be seen clearly, and some said it was this. The road is paved with thorns. Some people say that this road is the tip of a knife. The scenery is different and different.
The only thing that is the same is that they walked this road and dreamed that they opened a door.
Then I woke up.
When Zheng Xiu learned about this, he was surprised for a moment and then felt that it was natural.
Many people in the Zheng family army saw the door and opened it despite various conditions and hardships!
Some people feel that they are infinitely powerful, some feel that they have smart ears and eyes, and when some people wave their swords, a faint white light appears on the blades.
More people are initially awakened to thaumaturgy without knowing it.
After Zheng Haoran learned about this, he laughed three times.
Word soon spread in the army that it was General Zheng Haoran's persistence and perseverance that moved God and a miracle happened, and there was a loud cry of "God bless you" in the army.
Some are happy and some are sad.
After scraping off the frostbite, Xiao Sun still couldn't survive and died in the military tent early the next morning.
Next to the body, he wrote two words in crooked handwriting: Cui Hua.
Zheng Haoran put away Xiao Sun's military badge, kept it close to his body, buried the body and set up a monument.
Everyone in the army knew that they would enter the valley early the next morning.
Zheng Xiu didn't sleep that night, he always felt that something was going to happen.
Because the moon is full tonight.
The bright moonlight shone down and there was no cloud in the sky.
A burly figure looked like a ferocious beast, carrying a huge bow on its back. On the other side of Yalasuo Mountain, it landed on all fours and climbed up to the top of the mountain nimbly.
He looked down from the top of the mountain, looking at the Zheng Jiajun military camp stationed at the foot of the mountain outside the canyon, with a sneer on his face.
The figure slowly placed the long bow on the ground and took out a four-foot-long giant arrow from behind.
Rather than talking about arrows, it would be more appropriate to call it a "spear".
The figure placed the spear on the giant bow and gradually drew the bow to full capacity.
collapse! collapse! collapse!
Every time the bowstring was tightened, the giant bow made a terrible sound, as if it would break at any time.
The figure's pupils were dimly shining, and densely packed dots were reflected in the depths of his pupils, like a candle flame.
He aimed at the hottest point of light and shot out his spear.
call out!
That was Zheng Haoran's military tent.
The spear shot towards the military tent with a thunderous sound.
Boom!
The sound was like thunder on the ground.
In the darkness, Zheng Xiu suddenly opened his eyes and flew up.
Another figure floated out from the darkness, took off his gloves, and slapped the spiral arrow spear with one palm.
Feng Bei and Zheng Xiu, as if they had a clear understanding of each other, took action at the same time to protect Zheng Haoran.
(End of chapter)
