It had been more than half a year since Wu Beichen and the others returned to the border area.
The border soldiers didn't tell anyone about their trip to the military cemetery. Granny Cai and her granddaughter were arranged to stay in Longcheng Pass, and they lived a peaceful life there.
Thanks to the Heaven-sword Thirty-six Styles gifted by Li Mu, the strength of the border soldiers improved by leaps and bounds in the past half a year.
Especially Wu Beichen.
His aptitude in swordsmanship was excellent. He had already mastered the Heaven-sword Thirty-six Styles, and his cultivation was advancing at a rapid pace. In several border battles, he turned the tide and made great contributions. Now, he was already the general guarding the east gate of Longcheng Pass, which was four ranks higher than before.
The other border soldiers, except for one who unfortunately died on the battlefield, were also promoted. They could be regarded as the new elites in the border army.
It could be said that the encounter in the military cemetery in Chang 'an changed their lives.
Therefore, the border soldiers were very respectful and grateful to Li Mu.
Moreover, in recent days, the news that Li Mu killed the second prince, defeated Huang Shengyi, the Fire Devil, and was finally conferred the title of Lord Taibai by the imperial court spread all over the world. Wu Beichen and the other border soldiers were filled with mixed feelings. They didn't expect that they could meet such an earth-shattering figure when they went back to pay their respects to their dead comrades.
A Sage-to-be!
To many martial artists, just thinking about these two words would cause them to feel dizzy and unreachable.
They even buried this experience deep in their hearts and regarded it as a wonderful scene in their lives, so they didn't tell others.
They didn't expect to see Li Mu again in Longcheng Pass today.
Wu Beichen was overjoyed.
After a brief conversation, he led Wu Beichen to the gate of the small yard where Granny Cai and her granddaughter lived in Longcheng Pass.
"Caicai, Caicai, come and see who's here." Wu Beichen pushed the door open and entered.
Granny Cai, who was washing clothes in the yard, immediately knew who it was. She wrung the wet clothes and said with a smile, "Beichen, why are you here at this time? Caicai went to the Iron Sword Club to practice swordsmanship. Eh, it's … Ah, it's Your Honor Li. You …"
She looked up and saw Li Mu standing beside Wu Beichen. She immediately stood up in joy.
"Granny Cai." Li Mu greeted her with a smile.
The old lady was in good spirits, and her body looked much healthier.
"Lord Li, what brings you here?" Granny Cai was very happy. "My savior! If it weren't for Li Mu, she and Caicai would have died at the gate of the military cemetery."
"I was passing by Longcheng Pass for something. I ran into Brother Wu on the street, so I came to see you and Caicai." Li Mu said, "Judging by your health, how are you doing in the border area?"
"Good, all good." Granny Cai hurriedly asked Li Mu to sit down and served him some food, which was the specialty of the border area, mostly mutton. Outside Longcheng Pass was the prairie, where animal husbandry was relatively developed.
Before long, the other border soldiers also arrived one after another under Wu Beichen's notice. When they saw Li Mu, they all bowed respectfully.
"Big Brother Madcap …"
Caicai also rushed back.
The little girl was dressed in a swordsman's outfit, with a sheepskin coat with fur inside and an iron sword in her hand. Before she saw him, she heard his voice. Her little face was flushed, and when she saw Li Mu, she directly threw herself into his arms, very excited.
When she was still practicing swordsmanship in the Iron Sword Club, a soldier came to inform her that a distinguished guest had come and asked her to hurry back. She was still puzzled, because she had no relatives except her several uncles.
However, on her way back, she met Wu Beichen, who was buying wine, vegetables, and meat in person. After asking, she learned that the guest was Li Mu. At that moment, the little girl ran all the way back, overjoyed, and ran back breathlessly.
Li Mu rubbed Caicai's face and said, "Well, you've grown taller, more handsome, and stronger …"
The climate in the border area was certainly much worse than that in Chang 'an. But Caicai, who had meat to eat, really thrived. She was a head taller than half a year ago, and her cheeks were more plump. Her figure began to develop, and she became taller. Soon, she became a young beauty.
Moreover, the little girl's character was much more lively.
Soon, Granny Cai prepared a large table full of steaming hot dishes.
Li Mu had eaten a lot in the street stalls, but when he smelled the aroma of the dishes, his appetite was stimulated. Anyway, he had to wait for Qiu Yin today and could not leave Longcheng Pass. So, he sat down and ate to his heart's content.
"Big Brother Madcap, will you stay in Longcheng Pass for a few more days?" Caicai blinked her big black eyes, her face full of expectation.
Li Mu rubbed his forehead.
"Can't you call me something else?"
"I really dug a hole for myself when I made up a Buddhist name."
"I was going to leave today, but a friend I have an appointment with didn't show up. So, I'll probably leave tomorrow."
Some of the light in Caicai's eyes suddenly dimmed.
"Oh." She lowered her head and picked at the food in her bowl.
Everyone knew what was on the little girl's mind.
For her, except for Granny Cai, Li Mu was probably the closest person in the world. His status was even higher than that of Wu Beichen and the other frontier soldiers. Because Li Mu's words and deeds had a great impact on her and left a deep impression on her heart.
These days, every time when Wu Beichen and the others had dinner together in Granny Cai's house as usual, whenever Wu Beichen and the others talked about Li Mu's legendary military exploits that shocked the Western Qin Empire, the little girl would be enraptured. She would listen attentively to Wu Beichen's stories over and over again, and she would also ask incessantly.
Li Mu rubbed the little girl's hair and said, "If you feel uncomfortable at the border, you can go back to Chang 'an. Now the entire Taibai County is my territory …"
After all, the border was a place of war.
Moreover, the Western Qin Empire was in a precarious situation.
The internal strife had already occurred, but would the external troubles be far behind?
Perhaps, as the news of Lord Zhenxi's rebellion spread, the Northern Song and the vast pasture would also take action. It would not be long before the war at the border would escalate and become more tragic.
Wu Beichen and the others also nodded.
As soldiers, they naturally could clearly sense that the situation at the border was tense these days.
But Caicai said firmly, "This is the place where my dad once fought. I will stay here and work hard to practice my swordsmanship. I will defend this city like my dad did."
Li Mu nodded and did not say anything.
People with faith were happy.
The little girl was young but strong-willed. In less than half a year, she had already reached the peak of the Joint-thoughts level, which showed that she really put in a lot of effort. It was the best that she could have her own opinions.
Time passed quickly as they chatted.
After giving Caicai, Wu Beichen, and the others some advice on martial arts, Li Mu was ready to leave.
At that time, there was a sudden noise outside the door.
The door to the small courtyard was pushed open, and the first to enter were a few cultivators wearing leather armor. Then, a short and stout middle-aged man with characteristics of the Savanna Barbarians walked in. Behind him were a few generals wearing the armor of the border army.
"Why are you here?" Caicai's face changed.
Wu Beichen and the others also stood up, looking unfriendly.
With a little anger, Wu Beichen stared at a lanky general behind the stout middle-aged man and said with a frown, "General Zhou, what do you mean by breaking in with the pasture barbarians?"
The tall and skinny general smiled and said, "So Deputy General Wu is here too … Haha, Ambassador Wu couldn't forget Caicai after seeing her in the Iron Sword Mansion. He thought of his daughter who passed away at a young age. Therefore, he decided to visit Caicai before leaving."
"I don't want to see him. You can go." Caicai stood up, holding the iron sword in her hand, and directly refused.
A trace of embarrassment appeared on General Zhou's face.
The short and fat man from the grassland, who was called Ambassador Wu, had been staring at Caicai since he entered the yard with his eyes shining. His eyes were not the eyes of a father who had lost his daughter and saw a girl who was very similar to his daughter. His eyes were full of undisguised possessiveness, but more like a wolf staring at a fat piece of meat.
As for the others, they were all ignored by the so-called Ambassador Wu.
Even Wu Beichen, the guarding general of the east gate of Longcheng Pass, was not in the eyes of the stout middle-aged man.
As for Li Mu?
He was just a young man in his teens, and his clothes were very ordinary. No one would associate him with Lord Taibai, who had the same name and shocked the Western Qin. They would think he was just an ordinary neighbor.
Wu Beichen's face was full of disgust. He said, "General Zhou, since the host has given the order, you'd better leave with Ambassador Wu. This is Longcheng Pass, not the pasture. It's not a place where the pasture people can do whatever they want."
General Zhou smiled and said, "The Western Qin is a country of etiquette. Everyone who comes here is a guest. What's more, Ambassador Wu came with the goodwill of the Spider Shrine. Now that the border is tense, General Yue has ordered that Ambassador Wu must not be neglected."
A frontier soldier beside Wu Beichen could not help saying, "Does the so-called not to be neglected mean that the children of the Qin people should flatter the pasture people?"
"How dare you!" General Zhou glared at that soldier and said, "What's your rank? You have no place to speak here. "
On the other side, Li Mu whispered to Caicai, "What's going on?"
Caicai came to Li Mu's ear and told him what had happened.
A few days ago, the Spider Shrine on the pasture sent out an envoy, willing to ally with the frontier army of the Western Qin to deal with the Wolf Temple on the pasture. The news had spread in the inner city. Some people in the frontier army of the Western Qin were quite interested in such an alliance. Therefore, the envoy named Wu La Buduo entered Longcheng Pass on behalf of the Spider Shrine. Once, he met Caicai by chance and flirted with her. Later, he said that Caicai looked like his daughter who died young, so he wanted to adopt Caicai and take her back to the Spider Shrine on the pasture to train her … However, Caicai refused. Later, he pestered her several times. If it were not for the help of Wu Beichen, the gate general, Caicai might have been taken away by those pasture people.
Unexpectedly, after a few days of peace, that pasture man Wu La Buduo directly broke into Caicai's house.
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