A simple quantitative analysis could lead to a relatively accurate conclusion. For example, a middle-aged man who had seventeen concubines must be rich; an official in Chang 'an who had more than two of Ning Que's calligraphy in his study must not only be rich, but must also have a high status.
Therefore, when the number of Horse Gang silently following the grain team exceeded six hundred, the power behind the Horse Gang quickly surfaced — it was either the Yan Kingdom or the palace. Because in this Wilderness, only the Yan Kingdom and the Left King's Palace could afford to support so many Horse Gang. However, Ning Que still could not understand the purpose of this group of Horse Gang, because both the Yan Kingdom and the Left King's Palace should be very welcoming of the peace talks.
Ning Que became silent, which meant that he was also beginning to feel nervous.
There were two hundred Yan cavalrymen in the grain team, more than a hundred commoners, and a dozen cultivating girls from the Black Ink Garden of the Great River Kingdom. In the beginning, the strength of the two sides was not that different on paper. He had thought that by frightening the other party, according to the Horse Gang's usual way of doing things, the other party might retreat. However, seeing that there were more and more Horse Gang gathered in the Wilderness, he finally confirmed that the other party's purpose was not simple robbery, but something else.
Now that there were more than six hundred Horse Gang around the grain team, they had a complete advantage in terms of strength. Even if he brought Mo Shanshan with him and rushed over and killed more than a dozen of them, it would not affect the overall situation.
No new Horse Gang joined the team, and the six hundred Horse Gang followed the grain team slowly north in silence. For some unknown reason, the Horse Gang did not attack. They seemed to be hesitating, as if they were waiting for an order.
However, regardless of whether they attacked or not, the Horse Gang was there, wandering in the surrounding wilderness, and the people in the grain team were under great psychological pressure. They felt that there was a dark cloud above their heads that could not be blown away by the wind, and instead, it was getting lower and lower. The atmosphere was depressing and even desperate. If they were not in the cold Wilderness, perhaps the pale Yan army would have already scattered.
An invisible rope became tighter and tighter between the grain delivery team and the Horse Gang. Although they had not shown their ferocious faces, Ning Que knew that as they got closer to the palace, the Horse Gang would lose all opportunities if they did not attack. Therefore, this rope would eventually break.
The Wilderness was not entirely made up of frost grass and black soil. There were also abandoned mud cities and undulating hills. Around a wilted poplar forest, the grain delivery team temporarily stopped to rest. The Yan general looked at the Horse Gang outside in fear, but he still sent out scouts. Although it was meaningless, it was at least reassuring.
"If there are no reinforcements, we won't be able to defend the food team. Now we are not far from the palace. Whether it is the elite cavalry of Chanyu or the cavalry of Divine Hall, they may encounter us. My problem is that even if they can't see the fireworks, you should have a way to inform them since you are such a powerful Talisman Master. "
Ning Que looked away from the map and asked Mo Shanshan beside him. His tone was a little solemn. Mo Shanshan was as calm or indifferent as usual, as if she could not see the Horse Gang outside.
After a period of silence, she looked at Ning Que and blinked her sparse and long eyelashes. She said, "The Divine Hall is going to escort several important people to the palace. There should be a team of papal cavalrymen. According to their route, they should not be far from us. They should have seen the fireworks last night."
Ning Que stared at her dull and confused eyes and asked, "If … they did not see the fireworks, would they know we are here?"
Mo Shanshan nodded slightly, her straight black hair cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall.
Ning Que calmed down a little and took out a water bag to drink. After a moment of silence, he said, "If there are no reinforcements, I will retreat first when I can't hold on. Do you want to come with me?"
The "you" in this sentence referred to the disciples of the Black Ink Garden of the Great River Kingdom, not the Yan cavalry and the people from the Yan Kingdom.
Cat Girl came to deliver food and happened to hear Ning Que's words. She blushed and said, "Senior Brother … Senior Brother … How can you do this?"
Ning Que did not explain anything and rubbed the little girl's head lovingly. He looked at Mo Shanshan who had her head slightly lowered and continued, "You should know that I am a very cold-blooded guy. The first thing I consider is my own survival. If there are no reinforcements and the Horse Gang attacks, the grain team will not be able to hold on at all. If you still want everyone to survive at that time, it is equivalent to sending your Younger Sisters and Brothers into a desperate situation. So I hope you can be more resolute when the time comes."
Because there were 600 Horse Gang spying outside, the grain team was extra vigilant and careful every time they stopped to rest. In addition to sending out scouts, the grain carts would also be densely arranged in a circle to prevent the Horse Gang from breaking into the camp. Although this would bring a lot of trouble, compared to death, no one would think it was too troublesome.
Suddenly, there was a noise under a dying poplar tree. Ning Que stood up and looked in that direction. He shook his head, put on his mask and walked over. Cat Girl followed behind him curiously.
The Yan general stared at Zhuo Zhihua in front of him with a gloomy face and said with hatred, "If it were not for you southerners, how could I be assigned to such a deadly task? You still want me to hold on and wait for reinforcements in this situation? I only have 200 people and there are at least 700 to 800 Horse Gang. How can we hold on? How can we fight this battle? My attitude is very clear. I will take my people and break out of the encirclement immediately. As for the grain, it is not a big deal to leave it to the Horse Gang. As long as people are alive, it is more important than anything else. If you want to die with the grain, that is your own business. "
Zhuo Zhihua suppressed the anger in her heart and pointed to the frightened people around her. She said, "What about these people? They are the people of the Yan Kingdom. As a general, can you not care about their life and death? "
"Who will care about my life and death?"
The Yan general waved his hand angrily and signaled his trusted aide to gather the cavalry. He was ready to break out of the encirclement while the Horse Gang was still far away.
Around the winter poplar forest, some of the people of the Yan Kingdom heard the conversation and knew that their general was going to abandon them. They immediately fell into a greater panic. There were discussions and cries everywhere. Some of the people even looked at the cavalry with hatred in their eyes.
Zhuo Zhihua and two Great River Kingdom girls held the ebony hilts of their swords and stood in front of the Yan general.
Zhuo Zhihua lowered her voice and tried to persuade him, but there was no response. The Yan general saw that the Horse Gang was getting restless and became even more anxious. He pulled out his saber and stared at the Great River Kingdom girls in front of him. He scolded coldly, "If you want to stop me, you will have to ask my saber first!"
Ning Que stood behind Zhuo Zhihua and looked at this scene. He frowned. He still did not know the name of the Yan general, and he did not care about his name. He believed that if the general dared to attack, he would die instantly under Zhuo Zhihua's sword. However, the situation was tense at this time. If there was an internal dispute or even an internal fight, then the hundreds of people in the grain team would all die, even if the Horse Gang did not come to attack.
How could he keep these two hundred Yan cavalrymen here without causing any internal strife?
Then he would end the internal conflict as soon as it started. The sparks would be extinguished and the chaos would not start a prairie fire.
Ning Que appeared from behind Zhuo Zhihua and stood in front of the Yan general.
The Yan general looked at the young man wearing a bamboo hat and a black mask. He was slightly stunned. Along the way, he only thought that Ning Que was an ordinary male disciple of the Black Ink Garden. He did not know why he stood out at this time.
Ning Que looked at the knife in the Yan general's hand. He did not ask if the knife agreed. He pulled out the podao from behind him and slashed at the cold winter wind.
The knife rose and fell. The Yan general's head was separated from his body. He spat out blood and fell to the ground. Because it happened so suddenly and Ning Que's knife was too fast and fierce, he did not even have the chance to raise his knife to block.
There was an uproar. The eyes of the Yan general's trusted aides were red. They were about to pull out their knives to fight back, but Ning Que stopped them one by one.
Zhuo Zhihua, Cat Girl, and the other girls from the Great River Kingdom stared at the scene with their mouths agape. They looked at the corpses of the Yan army's generals that were still spurting blood on the ground and were speechless. They did not understand why Ning Que would do this.
Ning Que gestured for them to use ropes to tie up the high-ranking officers of the Yan army.
He stood in the middle of the crowd and looked at the frightened citizens. He looked at the Yan cavalrymen who had complicated expressions of anger and fear. After a moment of silence, he pointed at the Horse Gang in the wilderness and said, "The Horse Gang,
"Those are the Horse Gang. You should know how cruel they are."
He looked at the Yan general who was tied up not far from his feet. He then looked up at the crowd and said, "In this dangerous situation, those who want to abandon everyone, those who are afraid of death and want to live alone must die."
"Those who don't listen to orders will also die."
"Even if I don't kill you, the Horse Gang outside will not let you live."
"So I don't want to kill too many of you. You want to live? Then fight with your lives. "
It was dead silent in the winter poplar forest. Both the Yan cavalrymen and the people of the Yan Kingdom looked at the ordinary-looking male disciple of the Black Ink Garden and his calm eyes outside the black mask. They all felt a deep chill quickly occupying their bodies. Because of the chill, they were calm. Because of the calmness, they understood that what he said was right.
Cat Girl looked at Ning Que's back as he walked towards the horse carriage in the forest. She opened her big and bright eyes in confusion and scratched her head. She realized that she could not understand this Senior Brother of the Academy. He had just advised the Hill Master to retreat in advance. Why did he react so strongly when the Yan general was about to leave?
The curtain of the carriage was lifted. Mo Shanshan looked at him and said, "Most of the fickle people I know are despicable."
"I am not a Yan. These Yan cavalry and civilians have nothing to do with me. Their lives have nothing to do with me. But as a Yan general, he has no right to abandon his people. The reason why I killed him has nothing to do with these reasons. It is purely because his death is more beneficial for the rest of us to live. "
"As for being fickle …" Ning Que began to check his bow and arrows. He lowered his head and said, "If we really can't hold on, I still suggest that you leave with me. So my attitude is not fickle. I am the same as that Yan general. We are both afraid of death. The only difference is that I have the ability to kill him, but he does not have the ability to kill me. "
…
…
(3,000 left. Keep fighting.) (To be continued.) If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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