The Desert of No Return is deserted and I walked eastward along the edge without encountering any obstacles.
Although the horses they rode were all good, the journey was too long and the things they carried were too heavy and heavy. The group walked slowly and hurriedly, and it took them two full months to see the rolling mountains to the east in the distance.
The Luoxia Mountains are coming soon.
Ren Ning looked at the compass and compared it with the map.
"Going south from here, it should be the border or fortress between the two countries."
Gu Datou and the other soldiers nodded, their expressions became serious.
This also means that if they walk south for a few days, they will enter a melee zone. They may encounter scouts or even large corps from both sides at any time.
"Is the fortress still in our hands now?" Someone hesitated.
When we were in the west, we could see long queues heading eastward along the way. We don’t know how many people from the various tribes in Xiliang sent eastward.
Others laughed, "Do you still have to ask?"
As long as they have stayed in the fortress, almost no soldier will doubt that the Xiliang people can capture it.
This is true even when the epidemic is at its worst and everyone moves out of the fortress.
Ren Ning and Lei Er's wealth was entrusted to the caravan to go east, but the two of them had a light carriage and a simple horse.
"Brothers, Lei Er and I will take the first step. You will follow up later. Only when you see the safety signs we set up can you continue to move forward. Do you understand?"
"This..." Gu Datou and others were a little embarrassed.
Both Lei Er and Ren Ning have much higher military ranks than them, but now they are exploring the way ahead for them.
This is inappropriate.
"What the hell!" Lei Er was annoyed, "When did you learn how to be a mother-in-law, Datou?"
"When I was in Kailun, I taught you so many ways to identify signs. Have you not forgotten them?"
Gu Datou and others quickly straightened their backs and answered resoundingly: "No!"
These are the essence of war summarized by Ren Ning. They have passed numerous practical combat tests and can save lives when necessary.
Soldiers such as Gu Datou were able to survive the chaos and survive until now, so they knew the importance of these things. Although it was boring to learn, they still forced themselves to learn to chew them up and swallow them.
Ren Ning and Ren Ning stopped talking, separated about twenty miles from each other, and took the lead to go south.
While walking, he checked what was going on around him, which was hardly a problem for Ren Ning, who had gold fingers and a telescope.
After walking for ten days, everything around me was peaceful.
Occasionally, I see one or two corpses that are highly decomposed, and I don’t know how long they have been dead.
If he sees one of his own, Ren Ning will help bury him and pack up his belongings.
That evening, he had just set up a safety sign in the bushes and was preparing to take a rest.
Dang! Dang! Dang...
Suddenly, a dull bell sounded in the distance from the south.
The sound is neither urgent nor slow, and is struck every ten breaths.
Ren Ning perked up, stood up and counted silently.
"One, two, three...ten!"
Perfect.
This is the sound of the huge bell of the fortress. It tells the fortress and surrounding areas that everything is safe. Everyone can rest assured.
It seems that the fortress is not only still in Yunchui's hands, but is even up and running again.
Ren Ning felt more relieved now and fell asleep.
If you can hear the bells ringing, you are not far from the fortress.
The next day he and Lei Er would gather together and wait silently for Gu Datou and others behind them.
It took another three days of waiting before the two parties would meet again.
Ren Ning took out a cowhide bag.
The bag is bulging and tightly sealed with fire paint.
Inside is a map of Xiliang drawn by Ren Ning.
Originally, the map had a lot of blank spaces. But after Allen and Youmeng went to the Prairie Royal Court with the caravan, and with the additions from Matthew and others, they were able to draw a rough outline.
Secondly, the bag also contains the existing numbers, strength, and surrounding terrain maps of the large tribes in Xiliang, including Angel, as well as suggestions for attacks or sneak attacks.
The third one is the text written by Hu Ting Tuo Chi himself.
Finally, there is the location of Kailun Stone Forest, how to ask for help if necessary, and the connection code.
"Botou and Lao Lu, the contents in the bag are extremely important and must be handed over to the general of the garrison. They are not allowed to pass through the hands of others."
"Understand?" Ren Ning's face was serious.
"Understood!" Gu Datou and Lu Youtian's faces straightened, "I promise to hand it over to General Huo personally and never hand it over to a third person."
Ren Ning and Lei Er took out the relics they found along the way, "These are the relics of our brothers, let's take them back together."
"Yes!" Gu Datou nodded.
They couldn't see any remains when they went south, so they naturally knew what to do.
"Go. See you later!" Ren Ning and Lei Er waved goodbye.
"General/Old Ren..." Many of the soldiers had complicated expressions.
It's just that there are many people in the fortress, and it's not suitable for Ren Ning to appear in his current status.
They had no choice but to give up.
Gu Datou laughed and said, "See you soon! I hope it won't be long before I can fight with you, Lao Ren, and kill Xiliang like a fool!"
The two sides surrendered and parted ways without further nonsense.
Watching more than 180 riders slowly disappearing to the south, Lei Er asked: "How do we go now?"
Ren Ning looked toward the southeast.
"First find a windmill communication point and see if there are any instructions from General Wei and General Guan. If not, we will go back to Guangxin directly."
With a telescope, it is easy to find the windmill transmission point.
In the afternoon of the next day, the two of them reached a hilltop and placed identification marks of the Starfall Legion. Not long after, soldiers came out to greet them.
"What a good horse." The soldier looked at the two tall horses Zhui Feng and Ben Lei with envy, "I wonder who you two are?"
Ren Ning and the two laughed but said nothing.
The soldier reacted, scratching his head and laughing.
The identification marks placed by Ren Ning were no longer at a level that he could ask about.
Turning left and right, he led the two of them into a hidden tunnel.
There were a few soldiers resting in the cave, and they were surprised when they suddenly saw unfamiliar faces.
"Lao Zhu, who are they?"
Lao Zhu, who was leading the way, ignored them and asked respectfully: "I wonder if the two generals want to send a letter to the legion, or do they want to know some information?"
Ren Ning remained silent, but looked around.
The layout inside and outside the cave was similar to what he originally imagined, so he nodded with satisfaction, "It's well distributed. Thank you for your hard work, brothers."
Several soldiers quickly straightened their backs and said, "It's not hard."
Ren Ning nodded and said straight to the point: "I want to read the letters sent from Guangxin or Xingluo County in the past two months?"
Lao Zhu and several other soldiers acted quickly, and soon delivered three letters to Ren Ning.
"General, the situation in the fortress and Dingxi has been relatively stable recently. There are no instructions from Yingshan Camp and Houxue Camp. Therefore, there are only these three letters."
Ren Ning nodded.
He looked up.
Letters are all written in Pinyin.
The soldiers at the site were illiterate and only knew how to press the "password" to send messages to the messaging station farther west. As for what the twisted things on it represented, they couldn't understand a single word.
Ren Ning and Lei Er naturally have no problem.
After the two of them finished reading, they couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
There was nothing wrong with Guangxin and Xingluo. Wei Junqian only expressed his efforts to the fortress to move the defense to the west in August.
One of the letters also mentions them.
The two of them had been traveling west for so long. Wei Junqian hoped that if Huo Ling, the defense general, received help from Ren Ning, he would try his best to help.
Lei Er looked strange.
If he didn't know the details of Ren Ning, he would have doubted whether Wei Junqian had an illegitimate son who ended up in the Taishi Mansion.
Since there was nothing else to do, the two of them rested for a while, then left the secret site and headed home.