Chapter 19 Section Thirteen

On the sixth day of August, Manwuyuan. A cavalry team held high the banner of golden chrysanthemums, trekking deep and shallow on the muddy grassland, with boxes wrapped in cowhide on their horses.The boxes were obviously extremely heavy, and the tired pack horses still walked very slowly as the groom repeatedly whipped his whip.It had just rained, and the surroundings were covered with white mist, and there were no roads on the grassland, so they could only take the bright cloud mountain in the distance as the direction. "Master Cavalry Captain, how long will it take to reach Beidu if we go this way?" The general led his horse to catch up with the leader at the front.

"We have already left the Xuesong River. If we go on like this for half a day, we can pass through Manwuyuan. Let's go to the entrance of Wustuhan Ha'er Valley in Tongyun Mountain. After that, we will be able to see Beidu City in about two days." Lei Yunmeng Hu patted his subordinate on the shoulder, "Be a little patient, compared to the last time Master Tuoba and I came, this journey has been much smoother." He is the eldest son of the Leiyun family, and together with Xiyuan, he is called the most promising young general in Nanhuai. Compared with Xiyuan's military exploits at Shangyang Pass, he is even better.At the age of eighteen, he traveled northward with Tuoba Shanyue, acting as the adjutant of the mission, and when he came back, the city was full of sensation.Tuoba Shanyue herself did not accept the grand entrance ceremony, and the one who led two hundred white horses to the front was Lei Yun Menghu with the golden Qiansiju military emblem on his shoulder. He was young and heroic and captivated countless officials and ladies.That year he had been promoted to lieutenant general.

"I'm afraid that the captain will be promoted to the rear general when he goes back this trip?" The general came up obsequiously, holding a small oiled paper bag. "what is this?" "Tobacco, carry it close to your body along the way, without rain, it will relieve the captain's boredom." Lei Yunmenghu waved his hand: "It's not time to relax yet. In my opinion, the risk of this trip is far from beginning." "The captain said so, and the brothers are at a loss. You said that these barbarians really dare to be rude to us? They offended us, and there is no good fruit for them. Back then, His Majesty Emperor Fengyan attacked Beidu in one fell swoop. Forced to..."

"His Majesty Emperor Fengyan did not hit the northern capital." Lei Yun Menghu interrupted him, pointing at his feet with a horsewhip, "If I remember correctly, the Fengyan Iron Brigade is on the west bank of the upper reaches of the Xuesong River. It was almost in this place of Manwuyuan that Qingyang’s heavy cavalry iron pagoda encountered Qingyang. In fact, no one won that battle. Otherwise, with Emperor Fengyan’s character, he would never have withdrawn his troops easily. And we, Dayin, also had Emperor Jing In the era when Emperor An regarded the barbarians as the upper court, the power of the barbarian cavalry should not be underestimated."

"What the captain said is true, what he said is true...then what else should we pay attention to during our mission?" "Everything is as I told you before I came here. In fact, it's nothing. We don't know the current situation in the northern capital. Let's wait for the opportunity. After crossing the Tongyun Mountain, divide the two hundred people into two hundred teams, and one hundred people will follow me. Going to the northern capital, a hundred people are stationed at the entrance of Wustuhan Har Valley and waiting, if there is any change, the waiting hundred people will immediately withdraw southward, and never stay!"

"Yes!" The general responded, blinking his eyes, "Captain, can you repeat the name of that valley? It's bald, it's a valley." "Wu Si Tu Han Har." "I don't know what the meaning of this name given by the barbarians is, but it's a mouthful." "Wustuhanhar, in the barbarian language, refers to the singing skeleton bird." Lei Yunmenghu whipped his horse and passed by, the general was stunned for a moment, looking at the mouth of the valley that was faintly visible in the mist in the distance, as if a big mouth was facing them, he suddenly felt a chill rising from the bottom of his heart .He squeezed the jade pendant for body protection in the collar of his armor, cursed in a low voice, and followed Lei Yunmenghu's horse.

"Stop!" Lei Yun Menghu suddenly raised his hand and reined in his horse. They were only about a thousand steps away from Taniguchi, which was only three arrows away for a strong bow.General Shen followed Lei Yunmenghu's gaze and desperately looked into the mist. There was a vaguely big bamboo planted there, and there was no one around.The solitary banner and the strange silence made the general feel uneasy. He hinted with his eyes that the sergeants behind took off the crossbows on the saddles, and the grooms also drove the pack horses together. Two hundred soldiers gathered the horses together surround it.

"What is this?" The general lowered his voice. "The big flag is the flag of the tribe, the Qingyang tribe is white, the Shuobei tribe is black, and the Lanma tribe is blue. I have never seen anything else." Lei Yunmenghu held his saber, and the young His face was tense, and there was no expression on his face. The big banner vibrated and raised slightly, it was the wind.The wind quickly thinned the mist, as if tearing open the curtain sideways, and the cavalry behind the mist appeared. They were all in black scale armor, and their crotches were black horses that were a head taller than the East Land Warhorse. Iron chest guards The side of the mirror is decorated with leopard fur.On the side, a blanket has been unfolded, on which food and wine vessels are placed, and the leader of the warrior rode his horse and approached the big banner, waving to the cavalry in Xiatang.

The warriors of Xia Tang looked at each other, and finally they all went to see Leiyun Menghu. "It's Qingyang's tiger and leopard cavalry, they're here to welcome us." Leiyun Menghu nodded, "When General Tuoba and I came last time, we also saw Maharaja's cavalry nearby." Everyone smiled in relief.They have trekked on this uninhabited grassland for more than a month. Except for the occasional hunting of wild animals, most of the time they can only eat hard or even moldy cakes and drink unfiltered water from the Xuesong River.Everyone wants to take a good bath and taste the barbarian's grilled lamb chops.The warriors straightened their armors, raised the golden chrysanthemum banner of Xia Tang, and lined up in a neat line to greet them slowly.

The general followed Leiyun Menghu's horse, holding a golden lacquer box containing credentials.His mood is not as relaxed as that of other warriors. He heard from other imperial troops who have been on missions that submitting credentials is an extremely dangerous thing. As soon as his face changed, he drew out the knife.He was trembling in his heart, thinking of all the hardships he had endured on the road, and vowed never to come to such a remote place again for promotion. "Can you see clearly? Are their horse legs wrapped in leather?" Lei Yun Menghu frowned and said suddenly.

The ginseng looked over vigorously, covered by the fog, he could only vaguely see that there seemed to be something wrapped around the leg of the barbarian black horse from the horse's hoof to above the knee. "Is it hoof-wrapping? The horse's hoof is stuck in the mud when walking on a muddy road. I'm afraid it will be sprained and hurt, so I wrapped it with leather." "When did this rain start?" The general thought for a while: "Two days ago, around dusk." Lei Yun Menghu suddenly reined in his horse and lowered his voice: "Go to the back quietly and order the rear team to stop and be on guard with bows and crossbows! A hundred people from the front team will follow me." "What's wrong?" The general was stunned. "It's at least two days' journey from the northern capital to the mouth of the Har Valley in Wustuhan. The horses were all bound, and they came out when it started to rain. They rushed here in just two days! "Lei Yun Menghu spoke very anxiously, and no longer suppressed his voice, "Stop! The rear team stops!" "March in a hurry..." The general was startled in horror, with a chill in his heart. It was already too late, the barbarian warrior in front suddenly pulled up the big banner, he let out a roar, and the whole team of tiger and leopard cavalry poured over like a flood breaking a bank.The samurai raised their saw-bladed sabers high above their heads, and the welcome line turned into ferocious beasts in an instant. The entire Xia Tang mission was dumbfounded by the momentum of the opponent's charge. No one expected such a change. The tiger and leopard riders were on a higher terrain, and the Beilu horse charged with all its strength. mission.The vigilant war horses first neighed wildly, intending to get rid of the rider's control and turn around to escape, while the dull pack horses just panicked. Not only did they not disperse in time, but they desperately gathered together, like a herd of horses formed when surrounded by wolves. Circle defense. Lei Yun Menghu understood that any defense was useless, the opponent was tiger and leopard cavalry, and the sabers in their hands were far sharper than wolf teeth, they came here purely for killing.There will be no survivors under such a charge, and the opponent has no intention of capturing him alive. "Scatter! Scatter! Scatter!" he roared, drawing the crossbow on his saddle and firing an arrow. This was the only attack by the lower Tang cavalry. The arrow pierced through the chest of the frontmost black horse. The steed neighed and rolled its owner down, and was immediately trampled by the iron hooves following it.Lei Yun Menghu knew that there was nothing he could do, so he was the first to turn around, whipping his horse out of the battlefield like crazy.The tiger and leopard cavalry were only half an arrow away, and the Tang cavalry also understood the situation. They scrambled to escape with their horses, and the war horses rushed into the poor pack horses. , the box on the pack horse's back cracked open, and a dazzling golden light overflowed. They were golden scorpions and pearls the size of rice grains, which were gifts Xiatang was going to give to Qingyang. When the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry arrived, they suddenly split into two paths and bypassed along the left and right.The saber was swung flatly, the blood of the pack horse mixed with the blood of the groom and splashed in large swaths, the golden scorpions and pearls scattered into the grass like sand, and the barbarian horses rode straight past, chasing after the cavalry who had no time to escape Hack and kill.They were born on horseback, and the lower Tang cavalry had no room to fight back. The barbarian horse approached three feet behind the fugitives, and its owner easily swung his sword horizontally and chopped off a head.The blood in the cranial cavity had just rushed up, and the tiger and leopard rider who succeeded had already led the horse to gallop over to look for the next prey. The massacre slowed down the pace of the tiger and leopard cavalry's pursuit. Leiyun Menghu had retreated two arrows away, so he had a chance to look back.There was only one little foal left alone on the battlefield just now. It was surrounded by hundreds of tall barbarian horses, running around in fear, as if it was contained in an iron bucket.Its mother fell in the bloody field together with other pack horses, and in another pool of blood not far away were cavalrymen and war horses who had just escaped a few steps. But the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry didn't give chase, they just mobilized their horses and gradually gathered around the warrior holding the big banner. "Captain, go! Go!" General Shen escaped after him, his face as pale as a dead man. "Scatter and let's go!" Lei Yunmenghu roared, "No one can escape if we get together!" But his subordinates were trembling, and no one knew what to do.Lei Yun Menghu stared at them desperately, and saw that one of them was still carrying a red lacquered wooden box in his hand.It was a gift box on a pack horse. "Bastard! What's the use of carrying this thing at this time?" He whipped hard and knocked the cavalryman off his horse. The cavalryman's box was out of his hands, and he stumbled over to pick it up: "If you don't take it, you may not be able to escape alive! With this box, it is enough for me for a lifetime. I don't want to be a soldier anymore, and I don't want to go to this dead place again." Come on, go fuck!" There was an extremely sharp sound in the air, as if some invisible thing had cut the fog.Lei Yun Menghu only felt something passing by not far from him.The cavalryman who jumped at the box fell into the muddy water, and a black-feathered arrow pierced through the back of his neck, piercing his throat completely, leaving only the arrow feather outside, and the arrow pierced through the box he was hugging.His face was firmly pressed against the box, nailed together by arrows. Lei Yun Menghu looked in the direction of the arrow, and there was an erratic black shadow far away.The shadow's arrow had just been shot, and it had already turned the horse back, and disappeared in the mist in a blink of an eye. "Ghost Bow! Yes!" Lei Yun Menghu was stunned for a moment, then hoarsely shouted, "Go! Go!" Just as he was shouting, more black-feathered arrows shot from all directions.The erratic black shadows flashed away in all directions, each time they fired a long arrow with black tail feathers, and then immediately disappeared in the mist.One after another the cavalrymen fell beside Leiyun Menghu, they could only run in groups, but those black-feathered arrows kept appearing, none of them missed their target! "We're going to die! We're going to die!" The general yelled desperately, crying, "They'll kill us all!" Lei Yun Menghu slapped him hard on the face with his hand, taking advantage of the gap to turn around.His heart turned cold, there were no other companions around, and the corpses of his companions stretched into the mist all the way behind him.Those erratic black shadows gathered behind them, and the wind blown away their black felt clothes, like ghosts without substance. The ghost bows raised their bows and shouted in unison, and one rider rushed out alone.It was a pure black war horse, its long mane was untrimmed, and it flew like a battle flag.No one can imagine the speed at which this horse runs, the mud splashes under its iron hooves, it jumps, neighs, and its long mane flutters like a dragon jumping out of the mud.The man on horseback sat upright like a puppet, and he steadily stretched the bow in his hand. "Let's go! Go in two ways!" Lei Yun Menghu rushed to push the general. "If you want to die, let's die together!" The general's face was covered with snot and tears, "No matter how you go, you will die!" "Trash!" This was the only thing Leiyun Menghu could say. The bowstring sounded. Lei Yun Menghu felt that the surroundings were silent for a short moment, and then something hard and cold rushed in from the back of his heart, his whole chest suddenly went cold, and then came a sharp pain like a burning fire .He didn't dare to exhale, he knew he still had one last chance to breathe.He slashed the general's horse's rump with a knife, and the horse neighed in pain, and rushed out desperately. Lei Yun Menghu fell from his horse on his back. The middle-aged warrior leading the tiger and leopard cavalry led his horse forward and pressed down the bow-holding arm of the black horse warrior.The arrow was already on the string, the bow was already tensed, but it didn't shoot out, and the back of the last Tang cavalryman disappeared into the mist far away.On the back of the black horse was a young man, he turned his head to look at the middle-aged warrior.His eyes are slender, and it seems that there is light overflowing from the thin eye slits. His skin is dark and dry. At a young age, there are already traces of knives at the end of his eyes, extending to the hairline, looking like a grassland. Ordinary poor herdsmen.But his bow was extremely heavy, it was so dark that the material could not be seen, and it was heavy with a metallic luster. "Let him go, it's like hunting a gazelle to keep the lamb. He is useful to us." The middle-aged warrior smiled. "The King of the Khan gave orders, and you will obey them without any fuss." The young man's answer was simple and powerful. He skillfully turned the bow and put it back into the bow bag behind his saddle. Nine Kings is the only remaining Great Khan King in Qingyang. Now when he enters the Golden Tent to discuss matters, he sits at the lower head of the Maharaja, and people give him the same courtesy as they do to the Maharaja.Nowadays, as long as people talk about the Great Khan, they are the Nine Kings. "The Great Khan summoned us with the order of Prince Bimogan. Buhuala came from the Iron Line River overnight with ten ghost bows, and finally caught up at the last minute. May I ask the Great Khan if there is anything else we can do for you Do you?" The young man said respectfully. "Thanks to the magic arrows of the Ghost Bows, otherwise, how many talents would it take to wipe out the enemy on such a wide grassland? Thank you Pantar God for giving us the number one hunter on the grassland, Buhuaca, your magic arrows Always full of the blood of the enemy, never to kiss the trees and the land." The Nine Kings smiled slightly, "People call me Qingyang's Divine Bow, but I don't see that Huaci is our Qingyang's Divine Bow!" The ghost bowmen in black felt clothes were leading their horses close to Buhuasa at this time. They raised their bows and cheered together, and the warriors riding tigers and leopards also cheered, tapping their saddles with their sabers. There was no show but no smile in the tide-like cheers, and his expression was even more respectful: "If the Great Khan is the tooth of a saber-toothed leopard, but not showy is just a fine hair of it, I dare not accept such praise." Nine Kings waved his hand to stop the shouting: "Has your father been dead for six years? It's a pity that I didn't see him when he was dying. Recently, I often think of the time when I fought side by side with him. It's a pity that my old friends left first." "He died very peacefully, because he held a bow and arrow all his life to protect the Maharaja. The Pantar God will take him to the temple in the clouds to enjoy blessings. Thank you King Khan for your concern." "Although Biligutai has left, I am so happy to see that Beligutai's son has become a younger and braver Beligutai!" Jiu Wang looked straight into Buhuala's eyes, "The new The majesty is about to officially ascend the throne, and our Qingyang road of good luck is coming. Don’t worry, this is an opportunity for your people to build their achievements. If you don’t mind listening to my orders, let the ghost bow and my tiger and leopard ride Let's be together. As long as the Tiger and Leopard Cavaliers have a sip of good wine, they will never forget the brothers of Gui Gong." All eyes were on Bu Hua's body, he remained silent and expressionless. "King Khan should know that from the day we have the ghost bow, we only obey the master of the golden tent. Besides, we are just hunters on the grassland. We are just eagles scattered in the sky. The owner of the golden tent ordered us to punish rebellion for him, and we went to peck their eyes blind, but we could not open up the territory for him." Rubbing his left chest, "Thank you King Khan for your kindness, but it's a pity that you can't accept it without flowers." "If there is no other order, Buhuala will take them back to graze." Buhuala took his black horse with a long mane back step by step. He didn't wait for the answer from the Nine Kings, and turned around suddenly.The Ghost Bows followed closely behind his horse, and galloped to the mouth of Wustuhan Har Valley in the mist. Soon, the mist covered their backs, and they disappeared as erratically as when they came.The Nine Kings looked at them, silently stroking the mane of the war horse. A centurion approached the Nine Kings and said bitterly: "Buhua assassinates this crazy person. The Great Khan gave him a chance, but he doesn't know how to be grateful. He should be punished!" "No, that's not flamboyant. He's right. You can kill an eagle, but you can't let it lick your boots." Jiu Wang smiled silently. He glanced at Leiyun Menghu's corpse in the distance. This young Xia Tang warrior faced the sky with his back. The arrow pierced through his forged steel dace armor completely, not even the arrow tail. passed through his heart. "Put a wooden stake here, and hang his body on the wooden stake, so that people who come and go can see it." The Nine Kings rode away. ----------------------------------------------- Notes: