Li Xu felt really uncomfortable due to the cold, so he turned his face to the fire again. The moment he turned his face, the little wolf Ganluo jumped up gently and jumped into his arms.
Although he has been living rough and sleeping in the open air recently, Gan Luo's body is growing at a speed that is visible to the naked eye. At this time, he is already as big as the rooster that tells the time at home, and his plush wolf skin is gray with silver.
It felt extra warm to the touch. Perhaps in order to repay his master's kindness in protecting him yesterday evening, Gan Luo jumped into Li Xu's arms and lay down gently. His warm body happened to be close to Li Xu's most uncomfortable part due to the wind.
He immediately felt a strong warmth in his abdomen.
"You are not a disaster star!" Li Xu patted Gan Luo's head and said in his heart.
As if he understood his master's intention, the little wolf turned his head back and raised it slightly. A pair of pale golden eyes just met Li Xu's gaze, and they looked as bright as starlight.
"Go to sleep! We have a long journey tomorrow!" Li Xu patted the wolf's head again and blocked its eyes with his hands. The little wolf Ganluo slowly curled his head into Li Xu's arms.
The voice snored softly.
"Beasts are sometimes kinder than people!" Li Xu thought silently while holding the little wolf. He raised his head and wanted to find an opportunity to chat with Uncle Jiu, who had saved him many times. Since Uncle Jiu had always been sincere to him, he would
He should tell the other party the true purpose of this trip to the north. Li Xu would feel uneasy no matter what if he deceived such a kind and open-minded elder. Looking carefully, he found that Uncle Jiu, who was sitting diagonally opposite him, had fallen asleep.
A stream of glistening saliva was slowly flowing down from his mouth, glistening with the dancing flames.
"Can you sleep in such a cold wind?" Li Xu's eyes widened in surprise. Looking carefully again, he found that not only Sun Jiu, Hao Laodao, Wang Mazi and others were already curled up and asleep.
Next to another fire in the distance, Uncle Zhang's snoring was as loud as thunder.
Drawing on the method of observing people that Xu Dayan mentioned that day, Li Xu glanced at the faces of his companions one by one. He was surprised to find that everyone had a different expression on their face while sleeping.
No two people have exactly the same expression. Hao Laodao, who is sitting on his left, is a man who works hard to earn a living, so the expression on his face looks very fierce when he sleeps, and he is snoring.
But he held the handle of the knife tightly, as if he might jump up and fight with others at any time. But the philistine Wang Mazi had a flattering look on his face, as if he was discussing a business deal with someone, lest the other party would regret it halfway.
Du Scaran, who was curled up next to Wang Mazi, curled his lips, as if he had just had an argument with someone. Under the light of the fire, the scars on his face looked even more ferocious. Among all the people, Xu Dayan's face had scars
His expression is the calmest and his sleeping posture is the most elegant. He is seen sitting cross-legged with his hands slightly hanging on his legs. With his thin and long breathing, his chest rises and falls. Obviously, even his sleeping posture has been specially trained.
.
"Behind the details, what is often hidden is his life experience." Li Xu suddenly realized that Xu Dayan's words were very reasonable. He observed Sun Jiu who was sleeping carefully and found that Uncle Jiu's waist knife was inserted in a very special position. Except for a few swordsmen in the team
The guest's weapon is always held out of the palm of his hand, and the knives used by other people for self-defense are usually hanging casually on the left or right side. But Sun Jiu's saber is half-crossed on the left side of his waist, and the handle is always pointed.
He is facing the right front. Even if he is sleeping soundly at this moment, if someone comes to attack, he can quickly draw his sword to fight.
"Uncle Jiu may have been a swordsman or served in the army!" Li Xu came to the conclusion in his heart, and an extremely uncomfortable feeling immediately surged in his chest. He thought that he should not secretly detect someone who was good to him.
Secret. However, in the past few days, the actions of Uncle Zhang, Du Scaran, Wang Mazi and others allowed him to find enough reasons for his actions.
"Right and wrong, good and evil, are not on the surface. What you see with your eyes may not be the truth, and what you hear with your own ears may not be the truth!" Old Master Yang once said this before leaving. But how to see through people's false smiles and always see the truth?
The promise that would not be fulfilled, Master Yang observed the truth behind the fog, but did not have time to give any guidance.
Xu Dayan's ability to observe people just makes up for this flaw. After training, he can guess the opponent's family background from the weapon of the infantry captain. Li Xu believes that if he pays more attention to details,
I will never be deceived by the superficial enthusiasm of Uncle Zhang, Du Scar and others.
No matter how true the lie is, clues will emerge in the details. Grasping these details is the key to grasping the truth. This is another life principle that Li Xu has learned over the past few days. He knows that he is no longer Yi
The ignorant boy in the county town, he could feel that he was growing up slowly, like the little wolf in his arms...
With something to distract his mind, the cold in the middle of the night is not so difficult. After studying everyone's expressions in their sleep for a while, and thinking about the interesting things that happened in the past few days, Li Xu hugged the little wolf and fell asleep in a daze.
In his sleep, he saw a wolf running alone in the snow. For a moment, he felt that it was him.
As soon as the sky was polished the next day, Wang Mazi and others jumped up and urged everyone to hurry up. The traders all know that the Lin people are a nation that likes to migrate. From Ruoluoshui to Taimi River, they have traveled all over the country within a thousand miles.
Some people say they have seen their footprints. If everyone goes there too late, the Xi people may suddenly disappear like dew on the grassland like the Xi people. If so, everyone may lose everything. So,
No one complained about Wang Mazi's irritability. Everyone ate a piece of dry biscuit in the cold wind and hurriedly ran north. (Note 6)
In the afternoon, the team had to slow down again. The terrain on the grassland undulated again. It was not like Wanli Yanshan, where one peak was next to another. Instead, a huge gentle slope appeared, making it impossible to use both hands.
The end of it can be seen visually. The rolling hillsides make people have to jump off the horse and pull the reins to move forward. The animals carrying the goods also tense their limbs and struggle to move forward step by step.
According to Hao Laodao and others, this kind of terrain is called a dam by the grassland people. I don’t know where it starts, and I don’t know when it will end. Except for the Mohe Department in northern Liaoning, you only need to go north in other areas.
Everyone has to go through this hurdle. Therefore, caravans coming from the Central Plains rarely go this far north, but the more sparse the caravans are in the area, the greater the profit may be. (Note 7)
After listening to the guide's introduction, the traders gathered their energy and worked hard to move forward. The taxes in the Sui Dynasty were not high, but officials in various places had their own methods of making money. If the caravan can't make money from this trip north,
Next year, some people may lose the opportunity to set foot on the grassland again because they cannot pay the miscellaneous taxes stipulated by the government. Therefore, even if there is only a glimmer of hope, no one intends to turn back halfway.
Li Xu had long been numb to the fatigue of his muscles and bones. After jumping off the horse, he immediately distributed a small part of the burden on the blue and white mule to the horse. The little wolf Ganluo was also put down from the bag and followed him.
Climbing north slowly. Gan Luo was obviously very excited about this long-lost freedom. He rubbed his hands around Li Xu, as if he didn't feel the fatigue of climbing at all.
When the traders saw that the burden on the blue and white mules was reduced, they were obviously full of strength. They also followed Li Xu's example and spread some of the goods on the packmen's mounts. In this way, the speed of the caravan was somewhat increased, at least
The pack animals no longer foamed at the mouth and looked as if they were about to die at any moment.
When the sun climbed out from the southeast again, Li Xu found that his steps were no longer weak. The wilderness in front of him was wider and more desolate. The mountains in the distance looked shorter, but the peaks were all white. It was obvious that
They were traces of snow. The surrounding weeds were no longer waist-high like those near the Rushui River. Instead, they were withered and yellow, covering only people's ankles. But suddenly many small animals appeared in the grass, fat ones.
Wild pigeons, bloated sand grouse, and weird gophers with huge eyes and short ears would jump up in front of people's eyes from time to time, swaying away into the distance. Farther away, there was even a large group of thick-necked, short-tailed, long-tailed gophers.
The yellow-furred sheep were grazing leisurely. When they saw the caravan passing by, the male sheep on guard just raised its head with a right angle and watched curiously. It seemed that it had no intention of informing its companions to escape. (Note 8)
"Just rest here for an hour and let the livestock slow down. We have already reached the dam and will reach our destination in the afternoon!" Sun Jiu met Hao Laodao and others and announced loudly.
"Hoola!" The team immediately started to shout. The old vendors spread out their luggage rolls on the grass, and fell asleep regardless of the cold. The younger or stronger vendors used their fastest speed to get on their mounts.
The goods were unloaded, and then, regardless of the animals' protests, they jumped on the saddle and charged towards the yellow sheep in the distance, waving their bows and arrows.
They are yellow sheep, with a gentle temperament and delicious meat. Late autumn is the time when their meat is fattest, their hair is thickest, and they run the slowest. Just kill one of them and try to get it back to the Central Plains. The strong short horns are brown.
Fur with pekoe on it can fetch a good price.
"Be careful, don't run too far!" Sun Jiu shouted to the crowd leaving. His words were instantly drowned in the sound of horse hooves. Among the young people in the caravan, except Xu Dayan, a rich boy who didn't care about money at all, and Li Xu
Who doesn’t want to make a small fortune from this ignorant young man who doesn’t even know what a yellow sheep is? After a while, he was the only one left in the camp, along with Zhang San and a few old traders who were too tired to ride horses, and almost everyone else
They all rushed out.
"So those sheep are wild!" Li Xu thought regretfully. He wanted to ride his horse to hunt, but he was really unsure of his shooting skills. He shook his head and rolled out his luggage in panic.
"Still angry about what happened the night before yesterday?" Xu Da saw Li Xu's hair wilting, walked over, and patted him gently on the shoulder, "You can't do it, some people are like shit, they exist just to make you feel sick. It makes you feel sick.
, their goal is achieved, and they don’t care how stinky they are!” (To be continued)
