Chapter 16 Chapter 3 King of the Army III

At this time, the infantry of the Chinese army in Xiatang was still fifty miles away from Shangyang Pass.Hundreds of transportation vehicles were in the center, and the sergeants followed on foot with weapons in hand, slowly advancing under the hazy sky. Lu Guichen opened the curtain of the car and watched, the army converged into a long snake along the slightly undulating grassland, heading for the place where the cirrus clouds hovered at the end of the sky and the earth.He thought of the migrating herds of antelopes in the Hokuriku wilderness. When autumn went east, they formed a long line, followed the ancient route with water, and traveled two thousand miles to the warm pastures in the south.The dangerous road through the vast wilderness seems to be imprinted in the blood of the flock. Even the newborn lambs know to follow the adult antelope and start when the autumn wind blows.

When he was very young, he went hunting with his father and encountered migrating sheep. Along the way, there were antelopes that fell down due to thirst, and the ewes licked the dead lambs, which was endlessly sad.Lu Guichen asked the old hunter who was traveling with him, and the hunter said that because several nearby springs were cut off, the sheep migrating along the old road had to suffer from thirst. "Then can't we find water from other ways?" Lu Guichen couldn't bear it in his heart. "The sheep are like this. Year after year, they walk the same road. So many died of thirst this year, and they will die of thirst again next year on this road. I don't know how to turn back." The old hunter said, not sure if he was feeling emotional, The old pastoral song was sung loudly.

At this time, Lu Guichen suddenly had a feeling that this army rushing to the battlefield was like an antelope migrating south along the old path, and he didn't really understand why he chose this path.Going into battle again and again, falling down again and again, the blood of each dynasty and generation flows into rivers, but the successors are still rushing to the dead end in a steady stream. "Asule, what are you thinking?" Ji Ye's voice sounded behind him. Ji Ye was lying in the car, his whole body was tightly bound with white cloth, his left arm was covered with a splint and hung around his neck.When the medical officer looked at his injury, he couldn't help exclaiming that he had never seen anyone who was injured so severely and remained unconscious. Then he fixed Ji Ye's whole body with a wooden branch, tied it with a cloth belt and sealed it.Ji Ye could only move his fingers at most at this moment, even if he twisted his neck, the wound would still hurt to the bone.

The car door opened, and Xiyuan jumped up like a tiger, holding the decoction in his hand, without spilling a drop. "Drink the medicine." Xi Yuan sat beside Ji Ye. "This thing is fucking bitter. If you try to feed the cows, the cows may be killed by it." Ji Ye struggled and complained. "Stop complaining, you look like an unmarried girl." Xiyuan blew on the medicine, "Can a bull compare to you? Does a bull dare to fight against the mighty king? You are so majestic these days, the whole army, No one does not know your name. Do you know Hua Ye, the famous general of the Chun Kingdom? He is nicknamed Chouhu, but his subordinates call him Tiger God. He is like a military god. With this fame, even if he wins a showdown with Mighty King, he will be on par with Hua Ye!"

Xiyuan said seriously: "It's called, um, 'Wild God'!" "Wild gods... are not as good as wild ghosts..." Ji Ye couldn't continue talking. Xiyuan stuffed a funnel into his mouth with one hand, and poured down the bowl full of soup and medicine with the other.Xiyuan looked at his funnel with satisfaction: "Sure enough, this thing works. I kept thinking, saying that you can't look up like this, and what to do if you keep taking medicine. I came up with this method, look, not a drop leaked! " He glanced at Ji Ye: "Why are you glaring at me? I blew it on you before, it's not hot!"

"It's not hot, but you choked him to death." Just as Lu Guichen was about to come up to help, Xiyuan had almost finished pouring, and he could only watch Ji Ye's eyes protrude from being poured, as if he was about to die at any moment .Ji Ye hadn't caught his breath yet, and couldn't yell at Xiyuan. Even if he wanted to fight Xiyuan, he couldn't get up now. Xiyuan looked at the funnel and smiled, he realized that he had made a mistake, but he also found it quite interesting to see this friend lying there helplessly like a beast, who could only let others toss about him.

Huge equipment mounted on carts rumbled past the window, and their cart was overtaking. "What is that?" Lu Guichen asked. Xiyuan glanced at it: "It's a rhinoceros horn rush, but it's actually a siege vertebra. Previously, this thing was extremely heavy. It took sixty pack horses to pull it out once, and dozens of soldiers guarded it. But uncle changed the blueprint. The rhino horn It can be dismantled and assembled, and the heaviest vertebra after dismantling only weighs more than 4,000 catties, so it can be carried on a cart and walked." "What about the back?"

Xi Yuan poked his head out of the window and took a look: "That's a bed crossbow. With a large bow stretched by a machine, it can shoot from a distance of one thousand to two hundred steps. It's still relatively small. It is said that Heluo will make a large bow. There is a huge crossbow that needs to be fired by sitting on it, called Habarqin, which can shoot an iron arrow weighing 80 jin, and shoot it two thousand steps away!" "Why do you make such a big crossbow?" Lu Guichen looked at the iron crossbow arrows tied on both sides of the cart, which were as thick as his wrist, and had two-foot long thorns on his head.

"That one doesn't shoot people, it shoots at the city wall and nails it into the wall, so that soldiers can climb up when they are attacking the city. When the ladder can't be pushed up, this thing works." "If it shoots on someone..." Xiyuan was stunned for a moment: "I'm afraid it's going to break people into two parts?" Lu Guichen nodded and remained silent. "I'll go to the rear army to have a look. Now that my uncle isn't here, all the battalions are slacking off." Xi Yuan patted Ji Ye on the shoulder, "I'll think of a different way next time."

"Don't think about it, you can just pour it like this," Ji Ye gritted his teeth, showing a painful expression, "But major general, stop patting my shoulder, I'm afraid there is not a whole piece of bone there." "I can't beat you! I have confidence in you!" Xi Yuan smiled and jumped out of the car. Only Ji Ye and Lu Guichen were left facing each other in the cart. "Asule, what are you thinking?" Ji Ye asked again. Lu Guichen was taken aback, and came back to his senses: "Did you ask me just now?" "But you didn't answer me." Ji Ye said.

"You remember all of this." "You've been like this all the way from Shibumeya, like you're always thinking about something. I've wanted to ask you for a long time." "I'm fine," Lu Guichen shook his head, "You should rest, the medical officer said that you may not be able to recover in three months, if you force yourself to move now, I'm afraid your bones will not grow well." "Asule..." Ji Ye paused slightly, "Are you afraid?" Lu Guichen was silent for a while, then nodded, "I miss my cousin." "Your cousin?" "Longge Zhenhuang Boruha Kusar, that's his name, but people on the grassland call him the Lion King," Lu Guichen said, "he's dead...I told you about my Anything at home?" "No," Himeno said.Sometimes Lu Guichen would tell him and Yuran about the North Land, from geese to antelopes, from Kuafu to Longma, but Lu Guichen seldom mentioned his parents and relatives.Occasionally say a few words, but also immediately stopped. After a while of silence, Lu Guichen turned his head to look at this good friend: "Don't tell anyone, okay?" "it is good!" "I am the fifth son of my father, but my mother is not from the Qingyang tribe. She is from the north of Shuo. When the Qingyang tribe defeated the north of Shuo, defended the northern capital, and killed many people, my grandfather sent my mother to the north. Go to Qingyang Department to discuss peace..." Lu Guichen lowered his head and remained silent for a while: "The teacher said that Donglu's wedding requires accepting geese, asking auspicious luck, posting posts, and hiring. If one step is missing, there will be no rules. Simple. My father actually has a lot of women, most of them are captive women, and they don’t need any ceremonial status. Whoever snatches them will belong to them. The ancestor of our Qingyang Department is called Lu Qingyang. He has seven At that time, the eight of them fought together, and the cattle, sheep, and population they robbed were divided according to the military achievements. Later, the seven brothers betrayed him for the cattle, sheep, and pastures. So my ancestors killed the seven brothers. , cut off the parietal bones of seven of them, embedded them in his own sword, and occupied all the cattle, sheep and people. He was afraid that other tribes would steal his things again, so he married his older sister and younger sister... I I know this is incest, but it is said that it is so easy to give birth to offspring with mad blood. Later, I really had three sons with mad blood. Everyone was afraid of Qingyangbu and brought gifts to surrender. Qingyangbu became Great Tribe." Himeno listened silently without making a sound. "I have four older brothers, but I am the eldest son," Lu Guichen continued, "Your father and your younger brother treated you badly, but they will never kill you. But sometimes I think, maybe one of my elder brothers It will really kill me in the future. A person like me is not worthy to be the king of Qingyang, and I can’t shine Qingyang’s martial arts. The rule of our Hokuriku is that whoever is strong can survive, and the weak will not die. There will be people who are pitiful... Brothers don't kill me, they are ashamed of Qingyang's ancestors..." "Ji Ye," Lu Guichen raised his head suddenly, "Do you know that when I met you and Yu Ran, I really thought that I would never go back to Beilu in my life... I am not afraid of death, I am Afraid to see my brothers come to kill me with knives!" The two faced each other silently, unable to speak for a long time. "I know I'm stupid..." Lu Guichen was slightly embarrassed. "Then why do you still want to learn swords and military?" Ji Ye asked in a low voice. "Sometimes I also think, maybe it's not as bad as I thought. One day in the future, I will protect Qingyang and make meritorious deeds like my father. Then I can protect them..." Lu Guichen shook his head suddenly, "I realized that I was wrong when I saw you and Li Gong try their hands. I can't do it. My fourth brother is right. No matter how hard I try, I will be a coward. If it were me in Li Gong Under the knife, I can't even pull it out..." Lu Guichen smiled palely: "Ji Ye, I really admire you, if I have your courage..." "I'm not that bold either." Ji Ye interrupted Lu Guichen. "What?" Lu Guichen looked at Ji Ye in confusion. "I'm not that brave, and I'm also afraid," Ji Ye said, "At that time, I also thought I was going to die... But Asule, I was very afraid of death, more afraid of death than you, so I felt that I was going to die in my heart at that time. Someone is yelling like hell don't let him kill you, don't let him kill you...Only I can save myself. Do you think I'm crazy when I practice guns? Because I'm really scared sometimes, I guess I'm not Chang Ye, no one will care about me, if I want to stand out, I have to rely on myself, and only by practicing my spear skills well can I go into battle without being killed and survive." Lu Guichen looked at Ji Ye in surprise, at those bottomless pure black pupils. Ji Ye didn't look at him, but looked straight at the roof of the cart: "I dreamed about my mother last night, and when I woke up, I felt like crying." "How did your mother... die?" "Can't remember." "Can't remember?" "I remember she took me to play when I was young, but I can't remember her appearance. When we were young, our family was in Tianqi City, and then we moved to Nanhuai after a sudden change. During that change, my mother died. But no matter what No matter how I think about it, I can't figure out how she died. Actually... I can't remember anything from the time I was six to eight years old." "Could it be... Lost soul disease?" Lu Guichen recalled that father and son Lu had once told him about this intractable disease. "I don't know. When I moved to Nanhuai from Tianqi, I was separated from my family. When my family found me, I didn't remember anything. My father took me to see the doctor, and the doctor also said that I was lost." Soul disease, probably because I fell on the road and hit my head, maybe I fell a little stupidly, so I can't remember the past." Ji Ye turned to look at Lu Guichen, "Do you think I look like I fell stupidly? ?” Lu Guichen shook his head: "I don't think so, you're pretty good." "Maybe I was a little smarter than ordinary people before, but when I fell, I fell like ordinary people..." Ji Ye seemed to be talking to himself, "But I don't care, I just want to know what my mother is like, but I Every time I think about it hard, I can't think of anything." "Is there no portrait of her left?" Lu Guichen became curious. Ji Ye shook his head: "I haven't seen it, and I haven't heard of it. It is said that our family is also a descendant of a big family. There must be portraits left by the family members, but when I asked about my father, my father said I lost it when I moved. So I just thought and thought, what kind of woman my mother is, and when I think about it, I dream about her..." "Then what did she look like in the dream?" Lu Guichen asked, thinking of the woman who was always humming quietly and sitting deep in the tent, holding a doll in her arms, thinking that It was him, she sang for him to let him fall asleep obediently. Ji Ye was silent for a while: "It's strange, I always dream of one afternoon, the sun outside is very dazzling, and it shines in through the window with curtains. Mom and I are two people in the room, and someone is knocking on something outside. It's like a clapper. Sometimes I sleep on the bed and my mother is sitting next to me and sewing something. Sometimes my mother hugs me and sings to me. Every time I want to go to see what she looks like like this, but I couldn't move my body in the dream, I tried my best to turn my head away, but the sun was too dazzling, I could only see her clothes, but couldn't see her face clearly." His voice became sleepy , "There are figures walking around outside the door..." Lu Guichen stayed for a while and said, "You miss her very much, don't you?" "It happened a long time ago, and now I'm used to being alone." Ji Ye said softly. "It's just that sometimes I think..." Ji Ye looked at the roof of the cart and muttered to himself, "Did I really fall stupid?"