Long Ying felt reassured after hearing this, but he thought that the concubine group that came with Hengkong Muye might be in danger, and he felt pity in his heart. He still remembered that after the banquet, they went to the promenade along the river outside Shangyang Palace, the girls and the beautiful cultivators The touching scene of Neve singing and dancing made him even more depressed.
Wan Renyu said: "What happened?"
Lin Zhuang said: "We still can't figure it out to this day. After returning home, we accompanied the king on an expedition to Nanzhao. During one of the marches, the king was assassinated and died. The prince and we were in another place at the time. We had to retreat after hearing the bad news. The border will return the king's body to the capital."
Long Ying said: "The person who raided your great king was someone sent by Nanzhao?"
Lin Zhuang said: "There are no such masters in Nanzhao. The assassin didn't know how to pretend to be one of our soldiers. He suddenly launched his attack and killed more than ten escort masters and the queen before successfully escaping. The prince said that the assassin must have a traitor to help him. Otherwise, it would never be possible to get so close to the king."
Feng Guoting said: "When your king passes away, shouldn't it be the prince who takes over?"
Lin Zhuang said: "The prince is just the king's cousin and nephew. The king has a son, Chide Zuzan, who has just turned one and a half years old, so he will inherit the throne. His grandmother does not have Chima of the Lu family to handle politics, but the one who really speaks out is It is Chide Zuzan's biological mother Zhi Qingli. This woman once proposed to the prince, but was rejected by the prince sternly, and she has been filled with resentment ever since."
Wan Renyu frowned and said: "Such a reason should not be enough to make Zhi Qingli go to war with the prince."
Lin Zhuang said: "Because the king thinks highly of the prince the most and regards him as his own son. He also hopes to make the prince his heir. However, due to strong opposition from Zhi Qingli and the support of many ministers, it has not been implemented."
The three of them understood that this was a battle for the throne.
Long Ying said: "Isn't the prince a hero that your countrymen admire?"
Lin Zhuang said proudly: "To this day, there are still many people who support the prince in the country. After we returned to the capital, we had no intention of taking precautions. Therefore, when Zhi Qingli launched, we did not receive any news in advance. We were caught off guard and could not resist. The enemy's repeated fierce attacks forced us to break out and escape. If it were a head-on confrontation, who would we be afraid of?"
Feng Guoting asked in confusion: "Isn't the prince a commander in charge of the military? Who can Zhi Qingli mobilize to deal with you?"
Lin Zhuang explained: "Besides the prince, there is another commander who is second only to the prince in terms of reputation and martial arts. This man is called Qin Mochenri. He is from a famous family and helped the former king Song Mangbojie to conquer the Gar. The family's Lun Qinling. He made great achievements and was promoted to the status of commander-in-chief. We went to Nanzhao, and the military power of the capital fell into his hands. It was with his strong support that Chidezuzan succeeded to the throne as king in his infancy. ."
Long Ying said: "There must be an affair between Qin Mo Chenri and Zhi Qingli. After cleaning up the prince, Qin Mo will show his ferocious face and force the orphans and widows to give up the throne."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The situation in Tubo was clearly a big conspiracy to seize the throne, planned by Qin Mo, including the assassination of Dusong Mangbojie.
Wan Renyu said: "The emperor colluded with outsiders, otherwise how could such a terrifying master come about? Under strict protection, he could not only successfully assassinate your king, but also escape safely afterwards, so that you can find no evidence at all?"
Lin Zhuang said angrily: "That's true. We also found out later. A group of masters from Tianzhu came to the commander-in-chief's mansion. One of them is named Wu Su. It is said that he is the number one master in Tianzhu's Harsha Dynasty and is proficient in yoga and esoteric practice. , whose martial arts have reached a state of perfection. When we were deeply involved in the war in Nanzhao, Qinmei once again received envoys from the Turks."
Feng Guoting said: "Did you encounter any masters from Tianzhu or Turks when Qin did not lead his troops to attack your commander's mansion?"
Lin Zhuang said: "We have indeed fought against a large number of people of unknown origins, and we have suffered heavy casualties. The prince's personal regiment of mine has a strength of five thousand, and the commander's residence is located on a mountain with a dangerous situation.
Despite its size, it was still unable to withstand the opponent's attack, and in the end, fewer than 500 people were able to escape from the tunnel."
Everyone can imagine how tragic the battle was at that time.
Lin Zhuang said: "After escaping from the confines of the capital, the prince knew that Lord Ying would definitely come to help us, so he sent me and another person to wait for Lord Ying, respectively, here and in Qinghai, the two only roads to climb the plateau."
Wan Renyu asked: "How to get to your place from here?"
Lin Zhuang said: "There are two routes to our place from the north. One is through the Kumtag Desert in the south of the grassland, crosses the Altyn Mountains, first reaches Qinghai, and then goes west over the mountains. The other route is to climb
We went up to the Kunlun Mountains near Khotan, but that route is very difficult.”
Feng Guoting couldn't help but asked: "Is it easier to cross the desert than to climb a mountain?"
Lin Zhuang said: "There are two oases in Kumtag. As long as you know the location, it is not difficult to get there. When we came back from China, we followed this route back to our country."
Long Ying said decisively: "We will set off before dawn tomorrow morning."
An Tian praised: "As expected, he is the brother of Hengkong Muye, and he will never look back. The prince said that Lord Ying is the most terrifying warrior in the world. One person is better than thousands of troops. An Tian can share the same tent with you, it is An Tian's."
It’s an honor, and it’s also an honor for our family.”
Wan Renyu asked: "Are there any new-looking people here recently?"
An Tian looked at Bada, who had been unable to interrupt, and motioned for him to speak.
Bada was no longer as talkative as before, and said respectfully: "There are indeed many people passing by, but it is the season when roads are prosperous, so there is nothing unusual about it. But it is a fact that there are fewer Han business travelers."
An Tian explained: "It is said that the Tuqishi people are at war with your country. It is understandable that many Han people adopt a wait-and-see attitude."
Feng Guoting understood that Wan Renyu was trying to find out the enemy's situation, so he changed the subject and asked, "Are there any other races besides nobles on this grassland?"
An Tian signaled Bada to speak again. Apparently, he was comforted by Bada's great achievements in receiving them.
Bada replied: "This grassland is very large and can accommodate many people. In addition to our tribe, there are more than 20 other ethnic groups, but we are the strongest. When encountering trouble, we will point our arrows outward in unison.
."
Long Ying and others exchanged glances, feeling uneasy. Since there were other nomads, not all of them were under An Tian's control, and it would be easy for them to leak the news of their arrival on the grassland.
There was laughter, and a sweet female voice spoke to An Tian outside the tent. After An Tian mumbled a few words, the two young wives that Makino had given to An Tian came into the tent holding a piece of cloth and placed it on the tent.
In front of An Tian, he walked out of the tent without squinting.
An Tian looked at the tent door and said proudly: "When they first entered my tent, they were still virgins. Making them live happily over the years is my greatest achievement."
He signaled to Bada again.
Bada quickly moved forward, picked up the cloth, and placed it in front of Long Ying.
An Tian said: "This is white cotton cloth woven by my wife. It is tough, thick and soft. Clothes made of it are most suitable for wearing in the desert. In addition, it has other uses. It can be used as a sleeping mat."
If it is torn into strips, it can also be used as a wick. This piece of white cotton is our return gift."
Then he said to Bada: "What is your return gift?"
Bada said hurriedly: "I promise to give each person a bag of salt."
An Tian nodded to express satisfaction.
The three of them were unwilling to accept such a gift, but they knew they could not refuse it. They had to pretend to be happy and wait until they were far away from the grassland before they could think of a way to deal with it.
An Tian ended the conversation by saying "May God bless you".
The three of them, Long Ying, were still not sleepy, so they returned to Antian with Lin Zhuang to another large tent that had been vacated to greet them. They inquired in detail about the topography and population of Tubo and the details of the route to the plateau. They took a short nap a few hours before dawn.
Before dawn the next day, the four of them set out on the road to the plateau.
Before setting off, Feng Guoting repeated his old trick and borrowed dye to dye Xueer's legs black to reduce the chance of them being recognized.
After reluctantly leaving the grassland, under the leadership of Lin Zhuang, they returned to the semi-desert area that had long disgusted them. With their strong will, they restrained the urge to turn back to Puchanghai and headed towards Kumtag.
Long Ying and others have lost interest in looking around, because no matter which direction they look, they see roughly the same things, namely yellow sand, rocks, rocks, yellow sand. The space has not changed, and time has stopped. No life at all.
This is a world that has no connection with life. It is extremely hot and extremely cold. The four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter can appear in one day.
However, according to Lin Zhuang, compared to the desert, this area can be regarded as a paradise on earth.
They hurriedly traveled day and night for five days, and the daunting Kumtag was already in sight. They thought it was very close, but they still had to walk for two more nights before reaching the edge of the desert. The sun rose. Afterwards, they set up camp to rest and set up a tent to block the sun to prevent the heat from burning the horses.
Everyone stood on a protruding rock and looked into the depths of the desert. As Lin Zhuang said, it was much more monotonous than the semi-desert area. The rising sand dunes and swirling sand patterns extended to infinite distance.
Lin Zhuang said: "The ghosts of the desert will come out to harm people at noon."
Long Ying smiled and said, "Can you see them?"
Lin Zhuang had a frightened expression on his face and said: "If you can see them, there is no need to be afraid. It is precisely because they are invisible that they are irresistible."
Wan Renyu has always been a person who does not believe in evil, and said: "If you can't see or touch them, how do you know they exist?"
Lin Zhuang said deeply: "The power of ghosts is reflected in the people who are attacked by them, just like a fever that breaks out at regular intervals. The victim is so weak that he is not only exhausted, but also completely loses his fighting spirit, as if he is going crazy. , the tongue is out of control, unable to speak, or running crazy into the depths of the desert. That is the most serious situation, and death is inevitable."
Feng Guoting smiled bitterly and said: "The dangers of the desert are indeed beyond our imagination. According to my guess, it has nothing to do with ghosts, but a terrible symptom of the desert."
Lin Zhuang said: "We must lead the horses tomorrow night, otherwise they will never reach the oasis."
Long Ying smiled and said: "After arriving here, you are the only master, we are all followers."
Lin Zhuang quickly gave in, feeling very embarrassed.