Shubi Lake was near. Could the City of Wei be far away?
It was quiet in the carriage. Sangsang glanced at Ning Que. Ning Que did not respond. He had made a decision in the White Tower Temple. Now he did not even return to the Academy. Why would he go to the City of Wei?
Shubi Lake was located between the Seven Stockaded Villages and the Golden Palace on the border of the Tang Empire. It was a rare freshwater lake in the Wilderness. The rocky bottom of the lake, after years of erosion, extended to the west and connected with the elongated body of the lake. It looked like a comb, which was how it got its name.
Caravans often stopped by the lake, so the Horse Gang often appeared here. The battle of blood and money lasted for many years. No one knew when it started, but the caravans were gradually forced to choose more remote and difficult routes, and Shubi Lake became a gathering place and hiding place for the Horse Gang.
In the evening, the black carriage came to the periphery of Shubi Lake. The sky was covered by clouds, blocking most of the sunlight. It was as dark as night. From a distance, bonfires could be seen by the lake, singing could be heard faintly, and even the aroma of barbecue and liquor could be smelled.
The carriage wheels rolled over the simple dirt road in the rocky mountains and dense forest by the lake, making a squeaking sound. It smoothly avoided the hidden sentries left by the Horse Gang and came to the lake. For Ning Que, who had been here countless times and was familiar with Shubi Lake like home, it was a very accurate description to say that he was familiar with the road.
There were more than ten bonfires by the lake, divided into three places according to the distance. Hundreds of Horse Gang were eating and drinking around the bonfires, which should belong to three forces.
The Horse Gang in the Wilderness was the most cold-blooded and cunning creatures. They were extremely greedy and would never trust any outsiders, especially their peers. If these Horse Gang met in the Wilderness, they might have already killed each other. But this would not happen at Shubi Lake, because it was the rule.
There was a very thick piece of firewood at the bottom of each bonfire, making a soft crackling sound. The flame was like a giant's tongue, constantly licking the rolling roast sheep. The fat dripping from the roast sheep was like the invisible giant's saliva.
Singing, drinking, and women's coquettish whispers echoed in Shubi Lake. The Horse Gang drank and played with women, looking very happy. But their knives and arrows were very close to them, and they could pick them up at any time.
The Horse Gang's machetes were generally not sheathed. Under the light of the fire, mottled bloodstains could be seen, some of which were very bright. Presumably, some caravans or lone patrolling cavalrymen were killed by the machetes not long ago.
The Horse Gang had been very happy these years. The Horse Gang had been confronting the Tang Empire for a long time. Both of them were very cautious, so they seldom went into the Wilderness to clear their enemies. Horse Gang suddenly felt that the Wilderness was was much less. the Tang of Of the Tang. So Horse Gang was Of Tang was Shof the Tang of Of Tang. and Chen. the Chen. of Gang of Long of Of Shan of Chen of the Kingdom.
Horse Gang of Gang also knew. Lake. of Shan of Cheng of Less of Mountain. Horse of Tian Shan was San. he had. and Shan. Shan of Shan of Wang. Shan of Mountain of County of Tang Shan, Dynasty Shan Shan, King King of Tang Gang of Shan Mountain of of. Chen of Of Lake.
A lonely horse carriage appeared at Shubi Lake in front of the three hundred most ruthless horse bandits. It was like a little white rabbit walking into a pack of wolves that had been starved for countless days.
However, the Horse Gang did not rush forward with a strange cry. Instead, they seemed to be somewhat vigilant. The three leaders of the Horse Gang looked at each other across the fire and saw the uneasiness in each other's eyes.
Shubi Lake had long been famous, so neither caravans nor travelers would choose to stay overnight here. It was very strange that this black carriage came from the Wilderness and dared to travel alone, even daring to come here.
A Horse Gang leader looked at the black carriage and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I don't know where you come from. How could you come to our shabby house? Please come out and meet us."
What answered this leader was an arrow. With a whoosh, an arrow accurately shot into the space between his eyebrows, drilling out a bloody hole. The leader's eyes widened, and just like that, he fell to the ground and died.
The horse bandits around the bonfire were in an uproar. They pushed away the women in their arms and stood up with their knives in their hands. Especially the dozens of horse bandits under the leader's command. They shouted sternly and rushed towards the carriage.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. The sound of the arrow was endless. In a very short time, seven or eight Horse Gang at the forefront had an arrow between their eyebrows. Like trees that had been cut down, they kept falling and heavily hit the ground.
Ning Que walked down from the carriage with the box of arrows on his back and a boxwood bow in his hand. He looked at the frightened Horse Gang and said, "When did Shubi Lake become your place?"
The night was dark, and the bonfire was swaying in the wind. The dim light fell on his black Academy uniform and his expressionless face, revealing his eyebrows and eyes very clearly.
Shubi Lake was the lair of the Horse Gang in the Wilderness. Even the border army of the Tang Empire had to form a team before daring to come here. However, this man actually said that Shubi Lake was his home?
One of the leaders of the Horse Gang looked at his face and frowned, as if he was recalling something. Suddenly, his face turned pale as he thought of the bleak, stormy, and miserable time a few years ago. He turned around and ran to his mount.
As he ran, he desperately kicked his subordinates who were still in a daze. He shouted in a trembling voice, "You're all f * cking blind. Get up and follow me!"
The Horse Gang around the bonfire did not understand why their leader suddenly became like this. They thought that although the man's archery was excellent, he was only one person. How could he kill more than 300 Horse Gangs? Big Brother was usually the bravest and most ruthless. How could he become more timid than a woman today?
Another Horse Gang leader also remembered at this time. Looking at the young man beside the black carriage, he shouted with a pale face, "Hurry up, the woodcutter is back!"
The bank of Shubi Lake fell into a dead silence. The Horse Gang's expressions became extremely strange, as if the world had frozen. Then the next moment, with an extremely shrill scream, the Horse Gang came to their senses and fled in all directions.
"The woodcutter! It's the woodcutter from the City of Wei! "
"The woodcutter!"
…
…
In the unwritten history of Shubi Lake, the most famous figure was not the legendary former Horse Gang leader who hid ten thousand taels of gold at the bottom of the lake, but a young Tang soldier in the City of Wei.
The Tang army called the activities of cleaning up the Horse Gang or robbing the Horse Gang by pretending to be the Horse Gang as firewood collecting. Those who carried out this activity must be the best elite cavalry, generally called woodcutter or woodcutter.
Since the young Tang soldier in the City of Wei joined the team of firewood collecting, the woodcutter mentioned by the Horse Gang in the Wilderness only referred to that young man. This was the woodcutter of Shubi Lake that the Horse Gang had been talking about.
The young Tang soldier did not rob the most taels of silver, nor did he kill the most Horse Gang, but he was definitely the object that the Horse Gang of Shubi Lake feared the most. Those miserable days were still a pain in their memories until today.
It was not until the young Tang soldier left the City of Wei and went to Chang 'an that the Horse Gang of Shubi Lake regained their courage and regained the pleasure and happiness of wielding knives in the wind.
The woodcutter of Shubi Lake was the nightmare of all the Horse Gang. There was no Horse Gang that was not afraid of him.
When the news from Chang 'an spread to the Wilderness, the Horse Gang knew that he had become a student of the Second floor of the Academy and the most trusted subordinate of the Tang Emperor. Their fear and even some abnormal admiration suddenly rose to the peak. But at the same time, they thought that he was already a person from another world and could not come back to Shubi Lake to deal with the relatively lowly Horse Gang, so they were a lot more relieved.
But tonight, the woodcutter returned to Shubi Lake again.
…
…
Countless screams sounded by Shubi Lake. Women were screaming, and the usually cold-blooded and cruel Horse Gang were also screaming like women. It was chaos around the bonfire and the horses' hooves were hurrying. In a very short time, hundreds of Horse Gang left with their women like the wind, and the lakeside became extremely quiet.
During this process, none of the Horse Gang members dared to attack Ning Que. No one even dared to look at where he was. They looked terrified and even thought it was ridiculous.
Ning Que carried the boxwood bow on his shoulder, pulled the reins, and led the black carriage to a bonfire by the lake. Then he helped Sangsang down from the carriage and let her sit on the carpet left by the Horse Gang.
The roast lamb on the bonfire was still dripping with grease, giving off a tempting aroma.
Ning Que would not be polite to the Horse Gang. He took out a sharp knife, picked the best part, and cut three large plates of meat. Then he went to the bonfire and took out two unopened leather bags of liquor and handed them to Sangsang.
Sangsang ate the meat and drank the liquor in small mouthfuls. Ning Que ate the meat and drank the liquor in small mouthfuls. In a short time, he finished the roast meat on the plate and drank the liquor in the bag.
Ning Que turned to look at Shubi Lake, which he had not seen for many years.
Sangsang looked at his profile and said, "Aren't you afraid that the Horse Gang will reveal our whereabouts?"
"Shubi Lake is the sphere of influence of the Tang Empire. Neither the Golden Tribe nor the Buddhism or Taoism Sects dare to enter at will. Even if they want to kill us, it should be the Tangs who do it."
Ning Que suddenly noticed that there was a pile of charred wood by the lake. The wood was surrounded by a circle of stones, and a whole leg of lamb was placed on top of it. It looked like an altar, but he did not know what god it was for.
In his memory, neither the barbarians of the Golden Tribe Royal Court nor the Horse Gang had such a worship ceremony.
Beside a bonfire in the distance, a Horse Gang was so drunk that he passed out. He was ruthlessly abandoned by his companions and did not know what had happened. Ning Que walked over and threw him into the cold lake.
…
…
The Horse Gang immediately woke up after being hit by the cold lake water. It did not take Ning Que much effort to find out what he wanted to know, such as the current situation of the City of Wei and the recent situation of the Golden Tribe Royal Court. He also knew that the simple altar by the lake was a religion that had been rising in the Wilderness in recent years.
The god that the religion worshiped was called Tengri.
Ning Que had never heard of this name, nor had he heard of this religion. After a moment of silence, he decided not to think about it anymore. He took out his podao and chopped off the Horse Gang's head.
His movement of chopping off the head was very smooth, as if he had repeated it countless times. In fact, he had indeed done this movement so many times that it was more like a habit.
After chopping off the Horse Gang's head, Ning Que came to his senses. He was no longer a soldier of the Tang Empire, nor a woodcutter of Shubi Lake. There was no need to kill this person.
However, if he killed them, then so be it. He would not feel any guilt.
All the Horse Gang's hands were stained with the blood of innocent people. They all deserved to die. He had let the 300 Horse Gang go because he was very tired and not in the mood, and it was indeed difficult to kill all of them.
Since this Horse Gang dared to get drunk at Shubi Lake, then he should die.
It could be regarded as the woodcutter's worship or commemoration of Shubi Lake.
…
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(I haven't eaten yet. I'm going to eat first. The next chapter may be at one o 'clock in the night. If you can't wait, please go to bed first. You can read it tomorrow. Anyway, I'll try my best to continue writing. Now that the situation is grim, I need your monthly vote. Please vote for me. Thank you.) (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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