But instead of going straight south, he dodged and circled all the way.
This circuit took Ren Ning for seven days.
In seven days, he encountered several Xiliang people searching for Yun Chui Xiaobing and several waves of wolves.
If Ren Ning can hide, just dodge, and if he can't, he will fight his way out.
There were a few more wounds on his body, but fortunately they were all superficial wounds. After being treated with the life-seeking grass, they were not serious.
As soon as it dawned, the weather became more and more sultry, as hot as a fire.
Ren Ning emerged from the grass and subconsciously touched the ration bag at his waist.
There was still some rations in the bag. But he had drank all the water he grabbed, leaving only a few empty bamboo tubes.
He glanced towards the north and frowned immediately.
There were several thick smoke rising in the distant sky.
Gelong was riding on his horse, looking at the flames licking the grassland in front of him, his face constantly cloudy.
He ordered people to light the fire, but it was not his idea to set the fire.
He is just a hundred-year-old man, but he has no authority to light the fire just by saying so.
After all, there was more than just his hundred-man team in this grassland, there were also several hundred-man teams searching for Yunchui's scouts.
Setting a fire is an easy task. If the fire is set without a purpose, not only the Yunchui scouts who are hiding will be burned, but also hundreds of their companions.
"It burned well." The subordinates' laughter came from the side. "Those cloud-hung rats are hiding here and there, and they pop up from time to time to kill a few of our brothers. We should have set fire to them and burned them to death a long time ago."
"Haha, I seem to smell the smell of roasted human flesh."
"Well, I smell it too, it smells so good!"
"I have no objection to Shao Yun Chui Ren, but I heard that our brothers and sisters from Xiliang are settling nearby..."
hehe.
Someone sneered.
"This is not far from the border of Yunchui. Those who will settle here are small tribes with only a few thousand, hundreds or even dozens of people. If they die, they will die."
"That's right," someone nodded in agreement, "I heard that these people will intermarry with Yunchui people. Who dares to say that they are real Xiliang people? Maybe they are Yunchui spies. Just burn them."
"That's right. There are so many of these small tribes, a few of them won't be a problem. I'm just worried that the fire will burn to my hometown in the west..."
"Don't worry. The northwest wind has been blowing this season. If you set a fire, it will only burn to the southeast, not back to your hometown."
"It's a good thing to burn to the east. It's better to burn down that damn Rock Fortress as well."
…
Ren Ning shook his head and silently looked away.
"This damn weather..." He muttered and swallowed.
The weather on the grasslands has been really weird these past few years.
I have become accustomed to not seeing rain for a long time, and it is getting hotter every year.
Half a month ago, Shangfeng had asked them to pay attention when they left Yanjie Fortress and came out to the grassland to investigate the situation.
Due to the abnormal climate and the approaching harvest season, the people of Xiliang are very likely to venture eastward.
Sure enough, due to high temperatures, lack of rain and overgrazing, the pastures on the grasslands have become deserted on a large scale, and even those bright lakes are rapidly shrinking or disappearing.
Without water sources, both people and livestock had no way to survive. The people of Xiliang could either continue to search for new water sources to the west, or go east to kill the rich Yunchui Empire.
Shangfeng expected that the Xiliang people might advance eastward, but he never expected that the scale would be so large. Not long after Ren Ning and other scouts set foot on the grassland, they encountered an enemy that was ten times their size, and were finally forced to
Fleeing everywhere.
Thinking of this, Ren Ning curled his lips.
He clearly remembered that even when the weather was good in previous years, during the autumn harvest season, Xiliang people had the habit of going east to plunder grain and women.
For them, it is an honor to plunder other people's things.
Hold!
Ren Ning's expression suddenly changed as he was sorting out his thoughts.
He didn't bother to check whether there was any enemy ambush around him, so he ran away.
The place where the fire was lit was originally far away from him. However, the weather was dry and the fire was driven by the wind, which in turn helped the fire. It had already burned overwhelmingly towards him.
Crackling!
In the blink of an eye, it seemed that the entire northern sky was filled with blazing flames and thick smoke, which was daunting.
After observing the wind direction, Ren Ning quickly ran westward.
Not long after I ran, there was a sudden movement behind me.
Ren Ning looked back and was immediately overjoyed.
A big gray wolf came behind him.
The wolf looked at the fire approaching from the north in panic, running wildly on all fours just to escape for its life, turning a blind eye to the prey in front of it.
It didn't want to pay attention to the two-legged beast in front of it, but Ren Ning didn't let it go and took the initiative to hug it.
When the wolf passed by, Ren Ning flicked the reins, instantly covering the wolf's head and pounced directly on the wolf.
Ouch!
The wolf roared in anger.
He wanted to stop and give the damn human a bite, but just looked up at the fire that was burning in front of him. The gray wolf decisively put aside his personal grudges and rushed forward quickly with his limbs spread wide.
It's just that the wolf is not a horse after all, and is relatively short in stature. Ren Ning, who was lying on its back, suffered a serious crime. Just the grass and thorns around him were scratched all over his body, and he turned into a bloody man after a while.
people.
Ren Ning seemed as if he hadn't heard anything and clung tightly to the wolf's neck.
Crackling!
The fire burns closer and closer, and the fire burns more intensely.
Although it was still dozens of feet away, Ren Ning seemed to feel that his body had begun to feel the intense heat of the flames.
Ouch!
The wolf roared again and rushed forward madly.
Ren Ning has been through life and death all year round, and the more dangerous he is, the calmer his heart becomes. He raised his head and looked in front of him, then looked at the flames to the north, estimated the distance between the two sides, and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
At the wolf's speed, unless it suddenly twisted its legs, they should be safe.
After rushing out of the fire path for more than ten feet, Ren Ning released his hand without hesitation.
flutter!
He fell heavily to the grass and rolled around a few times. When he stopped, he already had a short knife in his hand.
Ren Ning got up gruntingly and looked forward.
The wolf didn't care about causing trouble for him and disappeared without a trace.
After all, they are wild animals. If they are caught in a wildfire, it is too late to escape. How can they think about such a trivial matter as traveling?
The fire scene was behind him, and Ren Ning did not dare to stay any longer. If the wind changed direction, he would definitely die.
Bumping and stumbling, all the way to the west.
Sure enough, although the wind on the grassland mostly blows to the southeast, it occasionally blows downward.
Fortunately, Ren Ning kept running westward and was not blocked by the fire again.
While running, he suddenly stopped.
On the small slope in front of them, dozens of Xiliang people were waving their swords desperately, slashing at the water and grass in front of them, seeming to be trying to create a fire barrier.
There was a fire behind, and there were dozens of Xiliang people in front...
Ren Ning only hesitated for a second before rushing over.
"Who the hell will give me a knife?" He raised the dagger in his hand and shouted in broken Xiliang dialect: "Mine is too short to use."
Boom!
"I have plenty here, here you go!" Someone immediately threw a long boning knife over to him, "Go and chop off all that bush!"
The man turned back and shouted: "Women, come here and move things! Move these small trees and weeds on the ground as far away as possible."
When Ren Ning bent down to pick up the knife, he looked around.
Not far behind is a small village with dozens of yurts scattered there, most of them in dilapidated condition.
Some children were standing at the gate of the fence, looking at the overwhelming flames and smoke to the east and north, with bewildered faces.
Keep running west, or stay and help?
Ren Ning felt a moment of hesitation in his heart.