After Xue Poye adjusted his breath, his blood gradually became smoother. Although the bones of his right arm were slightly cracked, they were much better after being treated and bandaged. The effect of the leaf medicine was very good. After applying it, the pain was greatly reduced and there was
A touch of coolness.
"I want you to find a great wizard to treat me." Xue Poye smiled and said, "How could I let you die so easily?"
Seeing Xue Poye's gentle smile, Sumayu felt relieved when she knew that he was fine. At this time, Xiao Shitou had snatched him over, his eyes were red, and he said with a cry: "Master, you... how are you?
Already? This damn beast, we have already killed it."
"I'm fine, don't worry." Xue Poye took a deep breath and felt that his breathing was smooth. It seemed that it was just a flesh injury. The arm bones will recover after a while. He looked around and said: "This fierce head
I'm afraid the bandits have noticed the leopard's cry just now. It's not suitable to stay here for a long time. Let's pack up and leave here."
Everyone knew that what Xue Poye said made sense, so they helped Xue Poye and got on the horse.
Although the terrain of the Qilin Valley is complex, Sumayu and Chenatai are quite familiar with this area. When walking in the dense and deep valley, considering Xue Poye's injury, they did not try to move quickly.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, they were not far from the exit of the big valley. Because of the warning from Leopard, the few of them were careful along the way to beware of sudden dangers.
Xue Poye felt a dull pain in his arm along the way. He suppressed the pain and kept silent. He didn't know how long he had been walking. Suddenly, he heard Chinatai say in surprise: "We are out of the big valley, and in front of us is the ancient Zi River."
Sure enough, there was a sound of slippery running water. Xue Poye raised his spirits and realized that he had walked out of the dense forest. The Qilin Mountains suddenly became lower. He had left the big valley. Not far ahead, there was a long and winding river.
It flows from east to west.
A gust of fresh wind blew in front of them, which was soothing to every pore. China Tai and Sumayu both cheered and saw the familiar grassland, which made them happy and excited after encountering many hardships along the way.
"Brother Choushi, after crossing the Guzi River, we will reach the grassland area, which is the territory of the Guzi tribe." Sumayu couldn't hide the smile on his face: "When we get there, we can rest for the night, and your injuries can be cleaned.
Come on. On the bank of the ancient Zi River, old man Manglit should be grazing here."
Xue Poye smiled and nodded, finally reaching the grassland successfully, and felt slightly relieved. However, as night fell, the entire prairie was also shrouded in night, and for a while, the vast scene of the prairie could not be seen.
"Is this the grassland?" Xiao Shitou blinked and asked, "Sister, why can't you see the lights?"
"Xiao Shi, we haven't entered the real grassland yet. This is the ancient Zi River, the second mother river for us grassland people." Sumayu urged the horses and pointed: "There are sometimes cavalry patrols here, but the pasture is
Not here, grazing here, afraid of the wild beasts in the big valley coming out to eat the cattle and sheep."
"Were the barbarians afraid of wild beasts?"
"It's not that I'm afraid of wild beasts, I'm just grazing here. The wild beasts in the big valley might come over in the middle of the night." Sumayu explained: "Then it would cost more warriors to guard them, so it's better to migrate inside. Many years ago, Gu Zi
The tribe grazed here. Many cattle and sheep were eaten by wild beasts and people were injured, so they all moved north. However, in addition to grazing, some of us Hu people like to go into the valley to hunt.
Old man Te likes to go hunting in the big valley. His archery skills are very good. When he was young, he could kill a big bear with one arrow. Now that he is old, he lives by the ancient Zi River to graze, and occasionally he goes into the big valley."
"Isn't Old Manglite afraid of wild animals eating his cattle and sheep?" Xiao Shitou asked with a blink of an eye. He was full of curiosity about many things.
"Eating his cattle and sheep?" Sumayu laughed and said, "Old Manglite is not afraid. His archery skills are enough to protect his cattle and sheep."
While the few people were talking, they had already arrived at the ancient Zi River. Sumayu led several people to find the intersection and cross the river, and set foot on the border of Beihu Grassland. In the darkness, Xue Poye had already seen the grassland.
Those young grasses have already emerged from the ground, and it won't be long before the prairie, which has gone through the harsh winter, will once again be covered with a green veil.
Old Manglite's tent is located on the vast prairie, just like a star in the vast night sky, with a faint light of fire, resting quietly on the grassland. In the circle outside the tent, there are dozens of cattle and sheep, as well as two
A horse, a rope tied between two poles outside the tent, and animal skins and bacon hung on them. These were all the possessions of the old man Manglite.
The old man Manglite has no children, but lives with his wife Ubazan by the ancient Zi River. Although he is over sixty, the old man is still in good health, with nimble hands and feet, and can pull a three hundred stone bow.
A small lamb can be eaten in one meal.
People of the ancient Zi tribe have lived by the ancient Zi River for generations. Although the El Dolenau River is the largest and widest mother river in the entire Beihu, for the people of the ancient Zi tribe, the status of the El Dolenau River is
It will definitely not be higher than the ancient Zi River. The ancient Zi River is the real mother river of the ancient Zi tribe Hu people.
Although the ancient Zi tribe has migrated north and is far away from the ancient Zi River, old man Manglite's love and nostalgia for the ancient Zi River are reflected in his actions. He did not follow the tribe's migration, but stayed in
On the banks of the ancient Zi River.
Just like usual, old Manglite had finished his day's work and was drinking kumiss in his tent. He was holding the deer meat brought from the big valley in his hand, adding seasonings to it and roasting it on the fire.
With.
Upazan is cleaning and combing his fur.
Such days are peaceful and leisurely. For the two old people, it is the most beautiful thing to spend the rest of their lives in such a comfortable life.
"Old man Manglit, old man Manglit...!" A soft shout suddenly came from outside the tent.
Manglite immediately put down the barbecue in his hand, picked up the bearded knife next to him, strode out of the tent, and shouted loudly: "Who is calling Manglite? Manglite is here." His voice was loud, and he was strong and tall.
The bodies match each other very well.
"Haha, old Manglite, don't you recognize us?" A cheerful laughter came from the side.
Old Manglite turned around to look, and saw three horses parked outside the tent in the dim night. On the two horses in front, there was a beautiful Beihu girl sitting on each of them, and behind the two horses was a horse.
The gray horse, although not comparable to the strong Beihu horse, is still a good horse. There are two people sitting on it. An ugly guy with disheveled hair has a little boy sitting in his arms.
As soon as Old Manglite saw the two Beihu girls, he immediately burst into hearty laughter: "Haha... I thought what kind of guests were coming to my tent in the middle of the night. It turned out to be the two most beautiful girls in Beihu."
A flower, the two most courageous female warriors, Sumayu and Chinatai of our grassland!" He put the scimitar in his arms, opened his hands, and came forward: "There is delicious kumiss in the tent.
There is fresh barbecue, and I am willing to share it with you, my flowers."
He stepped forward and took Sumayu and Chinatai off the horse one by one, like a loving grandfather, with a smile on his face that was as heart-warming as the spring breeze.
Manglit came to Xue Poye's horse, put one hand on his chest, and saluted politely: "Eagles come from far away, and warriors come from the south. Manglit welcomes guests from far away to visit the grassland." He said.
It is a very accurate Chu language. The ancient Zi River was the front line of communication between the Great Chu Kingdom and Beihu. Manglit often dealt with Chu people, so he was quite proficient in Chu language.
Xue Poye hurriedly dismounted from his horse, made a salute like that of old man Manglit, and said respectfully: "The guests from the south are grateful to old man Manglit for his warm welcome, and are willing to become old man Manglit's trustworthy friend."
Mangli Te laughed loudly and took Xue Poye's hand: "Come on, my friends, the kumiss is still hot, I can kill a fat milk for you." He said loudly: "Ubazan,
My wife, when the distinguished guests arrive, can’t you come out to greet them?”
Upazan finally came out, but the moment he came out, when he saw Sumayu and Chinatai, his eyebrows twitched and his face darkened, but soon he still forced a smile and bent down and said: "Welcome, distinguished guests.
.”
Sumayu and China were on the stage, holding Ubazan's hands from left to right, and said slowly: "Grandma Ubazan, you are still so young, we meet again." They seemed extremely cordial.
At that moment, Manglit invited a few people to come in. Knowing that Xue Poye had been injured by Leopard on the shoulder because he rescued Sumayu, he immediately took out the wound medicine and brought water. Sumayu and Chinatai took care of Xue Poye.
I spent the night cleaning the wound and re-bandaging it.
Old Manglite went out directly, pulled out the fattest one from the fence, and killed it to entertain the guests.
Xiao Shitou looked at a big bow hanging in the tent, stuck out his tongue and said, "Master, look at this bow, it's bigger than yours."
Xue Poye glanced at it and saw a big black bow hanging there. He smiled and said: "That is a powerful bow of three hundred stones, but not everyone can pull it. I captured this bow from the bandits."
, it’s just a hundred-stone bow, just make do.”
Sumayou asked curiously: "So Brother Choushi also knows how to bow and arrow?"
Xue Poye was about to say: "Brother Wu Lachi taught me this." He suddenly thought that he was not Xue Poye now, but Chou Shi. He shook his head and smiled and said: "I have practiced, but I can't say I understand this art of bow and arrow."
There are so many, it’s easier said than done to understand them.”
Ubazan carefully poured the kumiss for everyone. His voice was panicked, as if he was afraid of Sumayu and others: "Invite the guests to taste the kumiss we made."
Xue Poye picked up the bowl and took a sip. A milky aroma filled his mouth, and among the milky aroma, there was a strong aroma of wine. He said with emotion: "This is pure mare's kumiss. Prairie people are really good at it."
It’s wisdom.”
Everyone laughed for a while. Seeing Ubazan looking distracted, Sumayu asked worriedly: "Grandma Ubazan, are you feeling unwell? Why do you look so ugly?"
Ubazan was startled, shook his head and said: "No...no...!"
Sumayu went up to hold Upazan's hand and said softly: "Grandma Upazan, if you need anything, you can tell me, and Sumayu will relieve you of your worries and make you happy."
Ubazan shook his head, did not speak, looked gloomy, and sat aside.
Sumayu sighed and returned to the fire.
She and Ubazan were talking in nonsense, so Xue Poye and Xiao Shitou couldn't understand. They just looked at Ubazan's expression. Xue Poye felt that there seemed to be something in Ubazan's eyes.
The look of fear was obviously hiding something. Naturally, he didn't want to ask. He thought to himself: "Is it because Xiao Shitou and I are from Dachu, so she doesn't welcome us?" I just feel that the possibility of this reason is extremely low.
of.
Manglit washed and skinned the fat sheep and came in with the meat. He laughed loudly and said, "This is a fat sheep. It tastes very delicious. I hope my friends will like it." He cut the meat with a razor knife and each person
He divided a piece and said: "Barbecue on the fire. If you like my barbecue, you can give it to me and I will roast it for you to taste."
Everyone laughed and said, "Manglit's barbecue skills must be the best." They all gave the meat to Manglit, who would come to barbecue.
Manglite readily agreed and seemed very satisfied with everyone's trust. Except for Upazan, everyone sat by the fire and watched Manglite's barbecue with great interest. Manglite explained the process while grilling and was very patient.
, Xue Poye and Xiao Shitou watched and listened very carefully. If they learn the barbecue method on the grassland, they will be in good luck in the future.
After it was baked, everyone tasted it. It was indeed crispy and delicious, and they all praised Manglite's skills.
Manglite laughed loudly, took a big sip of kumiss, and asked Sumayu: "Sumayu, flower of the grassland, you have been in Da Chu for two months. Have you learned a lot?"
Sumayu said seriously: "Old Manglite, the prosperity of the Central Plains is even more lively than we imagined. They have a lot of money and products that we cannot match. Their national power is far above that of our Beihu.
"
Manglit agreed very much and said: "Yes, Sumayu, the powerful Chu, they have products that we cannot match. Many years ago, they relied on their strong national power, and their emperor led troops to invade our grassland.
Come, we grassland people unite as one and fight them back. Sometimes, a strong country may not be able to win the battle." He turned to Xue Poye and smiled: "My friends, I am not laughing at you, I am just
I remember the past war. At that time, the water of the ancient Zi River was dyed red with blood. We Hu people and you Chu people all had countless corpses floating on the ancient Zi River. It was a very tragic thing, so we don’t want to do it again.
During the war, I hope to be friends with you Chu people."
Xue Poye stretched out his hand and held it with old man Manglite, with a spring breeze-like smile on his "ugly" face: "Old manmanglite, as long as we think about peace in our hearts, there will be a day of peace."
Manglit nodded in agreement, and a few people ate barbecue and drank kumiss. After a while, the kumiss was gone. Manglit was in high spirits. His tent had not been so lively for a long time, so he turned around and said: "
Upazin, my wife, can you bring us some more mellow kumiss?" Suddenly, Upazin was found to be no longer in the tent, and no one noticed when she went out.
Manglite stood up and said with a smile: "My wife is too timid. She was not like this when she was young. When she was young, she could kill a prairie wolf." He patted Xue Poye's uninjured shoulder and said
: "My friend, I'm going to get a drink."
When Manglit came out of the tent, Xue Poye asked in a low voice, holding his voice: "Sumayu, what happened to Granny Ubazan? What happened? I see that she has been feeling uneasy."
Sumayu also showed doubts: "Yeah, I also think she is a little distracted, but I asked her what happened, but she didn't tell me, well, it's okay. Granny Ubazan is a very good person.
people."
Xiao Shitou suddenly said: "I seemed to hear the sound of horse hooves just now."
"What?" Xue Poye looked at Xiao Shitou and frowned: "The sound of horse hooves? What sound of horse hooves?"
Xiao Shitou took a big bite of a piece of barbecue, ate it with great taste, and said vaguely: "When Granny Ubazan went out just now, I saw it, but I didn't know what she was doing when she went out. Then I listened carefully and heard
There was a very light sound of horse hooves, I thought Granny Ubazan might have gone riding a horse in the middle of the night."
Xue Poye smiled bitterly and said: "What nonsense are you talking about? Who can ride a horse and play in the middle of the night? What's more, at such an old age, Granny Ubazan can't play like this."
Chinatai frowned slightly, stood up and said, "I'll go out and take a look." Just as he was about to leave the tent, old man Manglite walked in with a frown on his face, holding two bags of kumiss in his hand, and muttered: "Ubazan wants to
What to do? Where is she going on horseback in the middle of the night? Don't meet the prairie wolf." She looked very worried.
Chi Natai hurriedly stepped forward to take the wine bag and said, "Old Manglite, I'm going to go out and look for you to make sure nothing happens."
Manglit waved his hand and said with a hearty smile: "It's okay, she will be back soon. She is old, and wild beasts will not like to eat her meat." Amid laughter, everyone's bowls were poured out again.
Pour kumiss into it.
The wind on the grassland is different from the wind in the Central Plains. Even if the wind force is the same, because of the openness of the grassland, the strong wind can rage at will, and the whistling wind is like a ghost crying at night.
Grassland people are not afraid of this kind of wind noise, but Xue Poye and Xiao Shitou, who are new arrivals, although they are not timid, still panic when they hear this kind of wind noise that sounds like ghosts crying.
By the time they had had enough wine and food, Upazan had not returned yet.
Manglit was really anxious now, so he rode out to search. Xue Poye and others wanted to search together, but Manglit refused. In Manglit's heart, Ubazan's sudden departure was a sign of gratitude to his guests.
If he was disrespectful and asked the guests to help him find him, his face would be greatly lost. Everyone knew what he meant, so they had no choice but to let him go and sit quietly in the tent to wait.
After Mang Lite left, he didn't come back for more than half an hour. A small stone was placed on Xue Poye's leg, and he fell asleep in a daze.
"Brother Chou Shi, why don't you take a rest first? You are injured and need to recover." Seeing that Manglite didn't come back for a long time, Sumayu finally said: "We will set off at dawn."
"Yes, Brother Choushi...!" Chinatai was about to speak, but saw Xue Poye suddenly stretched out his hand and said, "Listen!"
Chinatai and Sumayu tilted their ears and listened carefully, but heard nothing. Sumayu couldn't help but ask: "Brother Choushi, what did you want us to hear?"
"The sound of horse hooves, shouts...!" Xue Poye frowned. He had practiced the ecstasy technique, and his sense of the five senses was much stronger than that of ordinary people. There were sounds that Sumayu and Chinatai did not hear.
But I could hear it vaguely.
In the whistling wind outside the tent, Xue Poye seemed to hear the shouts of old man Manglite. The shouts were carried by the wind, which was quite blurry and seemed to be very far away.