The wind didn't blow in the border camp at night, and the bright red tongues of fire on the woodpile could gently shake their waists. Dozens of Tang border army elites were scattered around, either in deep sleep or vigilantly standing guard. Only Ning Que and the captain were sitting by the fire.
In the daytime, the captain called Ning Que Mr. Thirteen, as if he didn't know his real identity. However, at this time, beside the red warm fire, his title had been changed in a whisper, "Your Excellency Ning, do you really want to go to Dongsheng Stockaded Village tomorrow? It's too close to Yan Kingdom. There may be trouble. "
Ning Que was fiddling with the sweet potatoes in the fire with a branch. Hearing this, he looked up at him and couldn't help shaking his head. Looking around at the border army elites who didn't pay attention to him, he said, "I've stayed in the frontier fortress for more than a month, but I didn't get into any trouble. In my opinion, this is the real trouble."
He looked at the captain's seemingly dull and honest face and sighed, "Speaking of which, isn't our luck a bit too bad? You are the only secret bodyguard in Tuyang City, but you are sent to follow me. So I don't know who to ask if I want to ask about the situation in Tuyang City. "
The captain said with a wry smile, "I also feel helpless when I know it's me who personally protects Your Excellency."
"Could it be that General's Mansion knows your identity as a secret bodyguard, but they are too embarrassed to do anything to you, so they simply drive you out of Tuyang City and follow me around … or have they even found out my identity?"
The captain shook his head and said, "Please rest assured, Your Excellency. My identity should not be leaked. As for Your Excellency, I think neither the military counselor nor the Inner Vanguard Camp can guess that you are actually the secret bodyguard of His Majesty."
Ning Que pulled out two roasted sweet potatoes from the fire and gave one to the captain. He grabbed it with his fingertips and slowly tore off the skin of the other sweet potato. He lowered his head and began to gnaw on the steaming white flesh. He said vaguely, "It's fine as long as no one finds out. I don't want to be watched by someone in the dark whenever I do something."
The captain picked up the cooked sweet potato that rolled to his feet and looked at Ning Que's face reflected by the fire, not knowing what to say.
He had mixed feelings about Mister Thirteen next to him. Other soldiers might not know Ning Que's identity, but he was a secret guard. Of course, he knew that Ning Que was a core disciple of the Headmaster of Academy. Why would such a distinguished bigwig come to the frontier fortress? What puzzled him even more was that they had to do such a troublesome thing. Why bother?
It should be known that this was the Wilderness with few people. This was a battlefield where long grasses hid bones. If one really angered General Xiahou, the General would not care whether you were a student of the Second floor of the Academy or not. He would kill you and throw you into the depths of the grassland. Who would know how you died? Even the Headmaster couldn't do anything about it.
A faint sound came from afar. The cavalryman in charge of the night patrol stood up and walked toward the periphery. The captain glanced in that direction and changed the way he addressed him for the sake of safety. He said softly, "Mister Thirteen, what are you here to investigate? With a goal in mind, this subordinate can make arrangements. "
"I came to the frontier fortress not to investigate anything, but to take a look on behalf of His Majesty."
Ning Que threw the half-eaten sweet potato into the fire and wiped the residue on his face with his sleeve. He said, "But according to the current situation, there is no way to see anything."
"You have a special identity. The General's Mansion is worried that something will happen to you. They also don't want you to get into trouble. Of course, they want you to stay as far away as possible. If you want to see … someone in the General's Mansion, you can't see him without going to Tuyang City."
The captain hesitated for a moment and then directly mentioned Tuyang City. He knew very well that an important figure like Mr. Thirteen, who had received His Majesty's secret order to come to the frontier fortress to inspect on behalf of the Son of Heaven, was only qualified to enjoy such treatment. However, he still did not dare to directly say General Xiahou's name.
The students of the Academy had passed through Tuyang City on their way from Chang 'an City to the frontier fortress of northern Yan Kingdom. At that time, the General's Mansion was in charge of receiving them, so Ning Que had not seen General Xiahou in person.
Now hearing the words "Tuyang City", he thought of the famous General in Tuyang City who was known for his violence. After a moment of silence, he said with a smile, "I will go there in the future."
…
…
The next day, Ning Que and dozens of elite soldiers of the Tang Army who protected him set off again. They marched to the east along the simple frontier fortress defense line in the north of Yan Kingdom. It was just past noon when they arrived at the easternmost part of the western front line that the Tang Army was responsible for. Looking over the dry willows, they could clearly see a piece of green mountains and the yellow city not far from the mountains.
More than a dozen officers were waiting for their arrival outside Dongsheng Stockaded Village. The general of Dongsheng Stockaded Village did not know who Mister Thirteen was. He just guessed from the documents of the General's Mansion in Tuyang City and the excited expressions of those subordinate officers that he should be a bigwig from Chang 'an City and should have some relationship with the Academy.
Ning Que looked at the officers outside the stockaded village and smiled. He jumped down from the big black horse. He first exchanged a few polite words with the general and then walked to the right side. He walked to someone and said with a smile, "Are you used to staying here?"
The officer in front of him was a young girl, dressed in an archery outfit and covered with dust from the Wilderness. She looked at Ning Que and said with a smile, "Although it is not as comfortable as you, I am still used to it."
Ning Que said with a smile, "You have to get used to it even if you are not used to it. I have told you before that the real battlefield is not the same as what you guys imagine in Chang 'an City."
Then he noticed that Linchuan Wang Ying was also standing among the officers. The 15-year-old boy was blown away a lot of immaturity by the wind and sand of the frontier fortress, and his posture seemed to be a lot taller.
He looked at these Academy students who had come to the front line for less than a month, but their temperament and spirit had changed a lot from when they were in Chang 'an City. He said with appreciation, "It seems that everyone is still very used to the life here. I am relieved."
The general of Dongsheng Stockaded Village followed him. Seeing that Ning Que did not pay attention to him, he was a little unhappy. He thought that even if Ning Que was a bigwig from Chang 'an City, he was not qualified to put on airs in the military camp.
However, when he heard this dialogue, he immediately understood that Mr. Thirteen was really a bigwig who could not be provoked. Anyone who dared to speak like this to the daughter of General Yunhui and dared to put on airs to the Academy students was a real bigwig.
The training goal of the Academy students in the future was to become officials of the imperial court, and they would not have anything to do with the military system. However, the Tang Empire was founded by martial arts, and frontline practice was an indispensable part of the training plan.
Dongsheng Stockaded Village was located in the easternmost part of the Tang army's defense line. It was very close to a tribe of the Left King's Palace, and it was also very close to the Yan Kingdom army and the young masters of the Central Plains who came to help. It was under double pressure, and it could be said that it was the most difficult place in the Yan Kingdom army.
For thousands of years, the Academy's practice principle was that students should go where the most difficult place was. Therefore, this yellow earth city with 3,000 troops and horses had the most Academy students. In addition to the cavalry troops, there were a total of 11 Academy students.
On the journey from Chang 'an to the frontier fortress of northern Yan Kingdom, Ning Que and the Academy students were very familiar with each other. Moreover, those who participated in the practice were all Tang students. Those disputes in the past had long disappeared. When the two sides met again after more than a month, they were naturally enthusiastic and lively.
After experiencing the real bloody life on the battlefield and experiencing life and death, the young people would quickly mature. And it was because of their maturity that their enthusiasm for Ning Que would inevitably be mixed with some admiration and a sense of distance. After all, Ning Que was a student of the Second floor of the Academy, and his identity and status had been far away from theirs.
By the blue lake, Situ Yilan took out a handkerchief and wet it to wipe off the dust on her forehead. She looked back at the silent Ning Que and asked, "Are you not used to being surrounded by people?"
Ning Que walked to the lakeside, looked at the shadow of the old wood at the bottom of the lake, and said with a smile, "Being surrounded by people and being respected is the goal of people like us. You grew up in the General's Mansion of Chang 'an City, and the female army was famous everywhere. How could you understand the mentality of people at the bottom of the society like us?"
Situ Yilan stood up and handed the handkerchief to him, and said, "But I saw that you smiled reluctantly before."
Ning Que wiped his face and said, "In the past, these classmates ignored me. Later on the journey, they already got along with me, but now they talk to me so respectfully. The contrast is too big, and I can't adapt to it."
"So you want to walk with me by the lake alone?"
"Yes."
"The army is the most particular place about social class. Military orders are like mountains. As long as it is a superior, no matter whether the military orders issued by him are reasonable or not, no matter whether you think it is to die or not, you must ride the horse and rush forward."
Situ Yilan looked at him and said, "After leaving the Academy and coming to the front line, they participated in several battles and were severely beaten by the generals for several times. They naturally understood that the world still depends on strength after all."
"Speaking of fighting and strength."
Ning Que looked at her and said with a smile, "When I first knew you, I thought you were just a wicked girl who ran amuck on the street with the help of your family background. I had never seen the legendary female army, and I didn't think it was so great. I really didn't expect that you would take the initiative to choose to come to Dongsheng Stockaded Village, and do such a good job here. "
After all, they were young talents selected from the counties of the Tang Empire. Once they adapted to the strict rules of the military camp and the cruel battle, the Academy students who participated in the practice soon began to show their abilities. Although they were only low-level officers, they did a good job in the part they were responsible for.
Situ Yilan was born in a family of generals. She dared to take on tasks, and her performance was especially outstanding. She had led the cavalry into the Wilderness for six times in less than a month since she came to Dongsheng Stockaded Village. Among them, she met the cavalry of the palace twice and beheaded more than ten times. Her military merits had been reported to Tuyang City, and she was waiting to be rewarded and promoted immediately.
"The Left-Tent palace doesn't have the courage to start a full-scale war. Those cavalry are not the palace's elites at all, but the cavalry of small tribes. They just write it like this for the sake of military merits."
Situ Yilan was valiant and heroic, without any arrogance, and said, "It's nothing to kill the cavalry of small tribes. If I really fight with the palace cavalry, I dare not say I can win. I can only strive to kill more."
Ning Que rubbed his stiff wrist. It had been nearly two years since he left the City of Wei, and his blade had not been stained with the blood of the grassland cavalry for two years. At this time, listening to Situ's calm and hot-blooded words, he could not help but miss those bloody times when he rode horses to Shubi Lake and chopped firewood with a knife.
"In fact, I have always been curious about what kind of person you are."
Situ Yilan turned around by the lake, and her eyebrows slowly raised. She looked at Ning Que's face with great interest and said, "My father once looked through your files in the Military Ministry, but he only told me some general information and refused to tell me too many details. When I asked him anxiously, he only said that if there was a chance to fight with you in the future, he would listen to everything you said. I rarely see my father speak so highly of people. What did you do in the City of Wei? "
"I am really proud to be evaluated like this by General Yunhui."
Ning Que looked over her shoulder and fell on the blue lake, thinking of those years in the City of Wei. After a moment of silence, he said, "When I was in the City of Wei, I mainly did one thing."
"What thing?"
"Killing the Horse Gang."
"I heard that the Horse Gang in the Wilderness is the fiercest. Even the cavalry of the Golden Palace is not willing to provoke them."
"It's not that exaggerated. But the composition of the Horse Gang is very complicated. There are real Horse Gang and homeless refugees. I have seen refugees from the North of Yan Kingdom at Shubi Lake. It is so far away, and I don't know how they crossed the Min Mountain. And you certainly can't imagine that the most powerful Horse Gang I have ever met is the cavalry of the Golden Palace in disguise. "
"The cavalry of the Golden Palace? Did you win or did they win? "
"I said that I only did the thing of killing the Horse Gang. If they won, how could I kill them?"
Ning Que looked at her and said, "I think the reason why General Yunhui said that to you is that he probably knows that I have a good skill of killing people in the Wilderness. In fact, this is not unusual."
Situ Yilan looked at him and said, "You killed so many Horse Gang without dying. You are very powerful."
Ning Que said, "I don't deny this. It is said that cultivators are the strongest in the world. But according to those cultivators I have met, if they are put in the Wilderness, as long as they meet a team of 100 Horse Gang, they will never survive. "
"But you still want to be a cultivator."
"Because I can kill people. If I become a cultivator, I can become a cultivator who can kill people."
Ning Que paused for a moment and said with a smile, "I always have an idea. Don't talk about it outside."
Situ Yilan was very interested and said, "I promise I won't leak the secret. Say it quickly."
Ning Que walked to the lakeside and looked at the blue lake extending to the north without an end. He said, "Cultivators do have strong enough personal strength. But in my opinion, these cultivators in the world do not know how to kill people."
After thinking for a long time, Situ Yilan frowned and asked, "Killing … is killing people?"
Ning Que looked at her and asked a few questions in a row, "How to kill people with the least effort? How to kill people when their strength is far less than the enemy's? How to use the environment, wind and even sunlight to kill people? How to squeeze the last strength to kill people when they are seriously injured and dying? How to kill people without being killed? "
Situ Yilan shook her head and thought that when she met the grassland cavalry in the Wilderness, she picked up the bow and arrow to shoot, and picked up the podao to chop. How could there be so many questions?
"If killing people is really so complicated, can you teach me?"
"This kind of thing can't be taught. You will naturally learn it when you kill more people. So the frontier fortress military camp is the most suitable place to practice killing skills. But cultivators rarely practice in the military camp."
Ning Que said, "Fortunately or unfortunately, I have lived in the military camp of the City of Wei for many years. I think this is why General Yunhui thinks I am good, and it is also what you can't understand for the time being. "
Situ Yilan looked at him and asked curiously, "You are the first disciple of the Second floor of the Academy to come to the frontier fortress for practice. Do you want to practice in the military camp?"
"If there is a chance, of course I would like to try on the battlefield with the ability of a cultivator."
Ning Que started to walk again and walked along the narrow white stones by the lake to the east. He said self-mockingly, "But now it seems that neither Tuyang City nor the imperial court will give me such a chance."
Situ Yilan looked at his back and shook her head.
Ning Que quietly looked at the blue lake water, looked at the trees and white clouds reflected in the water in the distance, and looked at the depths of the Wilderness that could not be seen by the naked eye. He felt that his fingers were more and more itchy.
He did not know whether there were cultivators who specially practiced on the battlefield. He was really interested in this idea. However, what really made his hands itch was not this idea, but some very simple things.
Being in the Wilderness, smelling the smell of horse dung in the wind and the smell of the slightly scorched grass burning, he felt that every part of his body was slightly trembling with excitement like the three long knives carried behind him. It was difficult to restrain the urge to rush into the depths of the grassland and swing his knife to cut down one enemy after another.
Unfortunately, the blue lake in front of him was not Shubi Lake.
No one knew what the name of the lake around Dongsheng Stockaded Village was among the grassland barbarians. It was slender like a kidney. From here, it extended to the depths of the Wilderness in the extreme north, and the end could not be seen. Because the lake was too deep, it was glowing with blue luster, like a sapphire that was melted and condensed into silk.
"This is a saline lake. The lake water is not drinkable, so we did not camp here."
Situ Yilan looked at his eyes quietly looking at the lake. She raised her arm and pointed to the forest by the lake in the distance. She said, "When the barbarians' cavalry invaded the south in the past, they all drilled out from that forest. It was very sudden. But in recent days, no grassland people dare to approach here. "
Ning Que looked at the faintly visible forest in the fog and asked, "Can we go there now?"
"After crossing that forest, we will arrive at the eastern front of the Yan army. In order to avoid trouble, we don't go there. Of course, they don't come here. Both sides have a tacit understanding to ignore that place."
"Have you seen those people?"
"Who?"
"Young masters from various countries who came here because of the edict of the West-Hill Divine Palace, such as the Sword Garret and the White Tower."
Situ Yilan shook her head and said, "I haven't seen them. But after the last encounter with the cavalry, Dongsheng Stockaded Village sent troops to expel that tribe. As a result, they met the Papal Cavalrymen of the West-Hill Divine Palace. "
Hearing the words "Papal Cavalrymen", Ning Que turned around and asked, "And then?"
Situ Yilan thought of the scene that day and was still a little angry. She sneered and said, "It was obviously the battle of our Dongsheng Stockaded Village, and we had basically wiped out all the enemies. As a result, those cavalrymen of the Divine Hall who had been watching coldly finally rushed up."
"They wanted to grab the credit?"
"Yes, many heads were chopped off by them. Wang Ying quarreled with them, but he didn't win."
Ning Que said, "I thought Wang Ying had matured a lot on the battlefield. I didn't expect him to be so childish."
Situ Yilan said angrily, "Do you think we shouldn't quarrel?"
"Of course we shouldn't quarrel. What can we get from quarreling? When we used to collect firewood at Shubi Lake, we never quarreled with people from the Seven Stockaded Villages who came to rob the military credit. "
Ning Que looked at the calm lake, shook his head and said, "We directly drew our knives and chopped." If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
