Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The morning on the grassland was already quite chilly, with the autumn wind blowing briskly, carrying moisture away to the south of the empire. The pastures around Salt Lake had begun to wilt and turn yellow, yet somewhere by the lake, there was a scene filled with laughter and joy; it was the team of Xu Zhen harvesting the refined salt!
As piles of snow-white salt crystals sparkled under the morning light, reflecting an enticing glow, everyone cheered. Their gazes towards Xu Zhen were filled with reverence!
The Salarian people living on the vast grassland had never seen such translucent salt in their lives; many of them didn't even know that this was true salt!
They wished they could settle here permanently, turning the entire Salt Lake into salt. With this refined salt, would they still need to worry about their livelihoods? Would they still need to shed blood over a patch of grassland?
However, Yin Zong and Ulyet knew well that possessing great wealth without sufficient power was not a blessing but a disaster. As the Tang People say, "A common man has no guilt but bears the guilt of possessing wealth," which essentially conveys this truth.
They loved wealth but cherished their lives even more than anyone else. It was precisely because they understood the importance of life that customs like setting up tents continued to be passed down on the grassland.
Thus, they chose to take this salt and leave Salt Lake, continuing towards the edge of the grassland. With this salt, they could connect with more tribes and strengthen their power to fight against the Murong Clan. Only by overthrowing the Murong Clan's oppression could they gain true freedom and have the capital to claim Salt Lake.
Everyone busily began packing up their tents and loading bags of salt onto horseback, yet no one noticed a dirty and weak prisoner lying listlessly on the ground—Murong Xiao.
His wounds had healed, but he had been tortured into a frail state. His eyes were filled with terror, devoid of any sharpness, resembling a ghost wandering on the edge of humanity. The more bustling and lively his surroundings became, the more it highlighted his desolation.
Along the way, he had become excessively docile; he answered every question and endured spitting, humiliation, and beatings. Who would have thought he was once a proud descendant of the Murong Royal Family, a Cavalry Captain of Murong Clan?
His hands and feet were not bound or restrained; however, he carefully followed behind the ox cart carrying supplies, afraid to escape—even slowing down felt like an act of defiance.
The Old Shepherd driving the ox cart looked sturdy enough, but if he had encountered Murong Xiao in his prime, it would have been as easy as a single strike. Yet now, Murong Xiao couldn't even muster the courage to look directly at this Old Shepherd.
Xu Zhen had no mood to pay attention to Murong Xiao because she knew that this enemy had been thoroughly defeated in spirit and no longer posed a threat. His remaining value lay only in using his experience to infer possible locations where Murong Clan might be stationed.
However, three days passed without finding even a small tribe after they had circled around Salt Lake and crossed through the edge of the grassland, arriving deep into the Tuguhun where everything was barren earth and gravel. Along the way, they hadn't encountered a single tribe!
This was highly suspicious.
The Salar Tribe was the closest tribe to Liangzhou. If they were migrating south for winter, those tribes should have moved southeast instead. It made no sense that Xu Zhen and her group would not encounter anyone along their route.
As they ventured deeper into the arid desert, Xu Zhenxin began to have second thoughts. It wasn't a big deal that he couldn't unite with other tribes, but he had already been pressured by Duan Zan and Hou Polu to sign a military order. How could he return without finding the exact location of the Murong Clan?
He was certain that once winter arrived, the Tang army would launch a full-scale war against the Tuguhun. The Tang Dynasty was powerful and not afraid of lacking reserves. The Imperial Guards would cultivate land in spring, summer, and autumn, training in winter, making them well-prepared. Once the war began, even if they couldn't defeat the Tuguhun outright, exhausting their winter supplies would ensure they couldn't survive the following year, let alone stir up trouble again.
Thus, Xu Zhen had no choice but to press on with her team. She divided the Rouran Cavalry and Salar forces into several groups, advancing in a net-like formation with each team two miles apart, keeping watch over one another as they traveled for half a day.
The outcome was disappointing; morale among the brothers was low, leading to rising grievances and tempers flaring. Arguments broke out frequently, sometimes escalating to physical confrontations over trivial matters.
Zhang Jiunian was also worried and discussed with Xu Zhen whether they should continue forward or find a way to boost morale. However, before they could devise a strategy, they were interrupted by a commotion ahead!
It was a yellow earth slope with a small grove of poplar trees below it, their leaves falling with the autumn wind. The yellow leaves and twisted trunks lay unnoticed at the foot of the slope.
In front of the poplar grove, dozens of Salar warriors tightly gripped their curved blades, surrounding two fighters in the center who were engaged in combat, occasionally erupting in roars and curses.
Just as Xu Zhen intended to intervene, Zhang Jiunian stopped her and gestured with his eyes. Xu Zhen immediately understood; this was an opportunity to change the atmosphere of the team and instill fear.
Thus, Xu Zhen and Zhang Jiunian quietly approached from behind the crowd, sitting high on their horses. As she looked over the throng of heads, Xu Zhen saw something she didn't want to witness.
In the midst of the crowd, Caesar crossed her dual blades in front of her chest, crouching like a poised leopard. She faced a tall Salar warrior whose arm was dripping blood and appeared extremely disheveled. On the ground lay four or five Salarian warriors, each clutching their wounds and groaning.
Not far from their fight lay a bent poplar branch resembling a cow's horn on the ground; Xu Zhen immediately understood what had happened.
The poplar tree is a type of tree found in arid regions and is considered valuable for its durability. It is said that it can live for a thousand years without dying, remain standing for another thousand after death, and not decay for yet another thousand years. Its wood is exceptionally tough and ideal for making bows and crossbows.
Both Salarian and Rouran people have a strong desire for bows and crossbows. The equipment in Xu Zhen's caravan included Yuanrong Crossbows sent by Li Deqian without permission—impressive weapons that were blatant displays of wealth for the impoverished Salarian people. Most recent disputes arose from this very issue.
Thus, the appearance of these poplars felt like discovering treasure for the Salarian warriors since they rarely had opportunities to find quality poplar wood deep within Kuber Prairie.
It seemed that Caesar and some others were fighting over that piece of poplar wood when things escalated into violence. However, these men underestimated Caesar too much; after injuring several of them, they shamelessly resorted to a wheel battle!
Xu Zhen saw that seven or eight Salarian had already been injured, and upon noticing that Caesar was truly intent on killing, she quickly shouted, "Everyone, stop!"
Upon hearing Xu Zhen speak, Caesar's mind cleared instantly, and she halted her attack. However, one Salarian, seeing the opening Caesar had exposed, was overjoyed and swung his blade across. Caesar sensed the danger from behind and quickly countered with her own blade to block it, but the Salarian was strong, and the blade still left a cut on her arm.
This made Caesar completely furious. She twisted her waist and stepped forward in quick succession, her figure becoming elusive. The Salarian, having suffered from Caesar's agility before, hurriedly swung his blade but found it ineffective.
However, Caesar let out an angry grunt and feigned a thrust towards the Salarian's chest. When the latter raised his blade to block, Caesar kicked him hard in the groin!
The Salarian fell to the ground in pain. Fueled by anger, Caesar aimed her dual blades at the Salarian's throat! But at such a critical moment, the light before her shifted, and Xu Zhen had already stepped in front of the Salarian with her own blade raised.
Caesar was startled and quickly retracted her attack. Yet Xu Zhen's face was pale with anger as she slapped Caesar across the face!
"Smack!"
Her cheek immediately turned red; Xu Zhen did not hold back but struck with real force! Caesar initially looked incredulous but was soon filled with resentment. Xu Zhen continued to scold her sternly.
"Have you had enough of this?"
"You are all brothers; why must you harm each other? Is it worth it over a piece of wood?"
Xu Zhen took this opportunity to rally everyone's spirits with her words, moving them deeply. However, Caesar felt utterly disheartened. She bit her lower lip, lowered her head deeply, silently pulled out the Poplar stick, and walked away from the crowd.
After this incident, everyone became more subdued because they understood how close Caesar and Xu Zhen were. Xu Zhen did not care about right or wrong but reprimanded Caesar instead, which provided some explanation for the Salarian. With Xu Zhen's reputation as Son of Ahura still intact, things passed without further incident.
However, Caesar never approached Xu Zhen again. Even when she appeared nearby, she remained silent and distant, sometimes going an entire day without speaking a word. During breaks, she would carve and shape the Poplar stick with a short blade out of spite, neglecting even to tend to the wound on her arm.
Xu Zhen watched with some heartache; she hadn't considered how much it mattered for a man’s pride. But to stabilize the Salarian's morale, she could only pretend not to notice.
Nevertheless, her efforts bore fruit as everyone worked hard to search for clues and unexpectedly found signs of a large troop's presence! Zhang Jiunian roughly estimated the fire pits on the ground and broke into a cold sweat because this vast camp had around thirty thousand troops!
Xu Zhen's expression grew serious. With so many military horses, the traces left behind were very obvious. The team continued to pursue and discovered that this large army was actually heading towards the Qilian Mountains!
"This is bad! Their main force intends to launch a surprise attack on Ganzhou!" Zhang Jiunian quickly reached a shocking conclusion. No wonder the tribes along the way had disappeared; it turned out that the Tuguhun had already summoned various tribes and made early preparations to ambush the camp at Ganzhou, where Li Jing was stationed!
If Ganzhou fell, the situation would become extremely difficult!
No wonder the Murong Clan had been causing disturbances outside Liangzhou Pass. They had been concealing their true intentions to provide cover for their main forces crossing the Qilian Mountains!
After pondering for a moment, Xu Zhen made a decisive decision. He would lead his brothers to continue the pursuit, hoping to grasp the direction and real-time intelligence of the main forces of the Tuguhun. The task of returning to deliver the message was entrusted to Zhang Jiunian.
Time was of the essence, and Zhang Jiunian no longer hesitated. He quickly gathered thirty to fifty men and raced back like the wind.
Based on the remaining signs at the camp, this large army had left a long time ago. Although there were obstacles from the Qilian Mountains, if they were not discovered in time, they would surely catch Ganzhou off guard!
With this in mind, Xu Zhen decisively ordered his brothers to increase their speed and pursue this large army at full throttle. After running for most of the day, as dusk began to settle, they finally stopped to rest.
After a bumpy journey, both men and horses were exhausted. After hastily satisfying their hunger, everyone closed their eyes to recuperate. Just then, however, a cacophony of battle cries erupted from the left side of the hillside as a group of Barbarians Riding Team charged towards them with murderous intent!
Comment 0 Comment Count