In front of a small town on the outskirts of Hezhou, a light rain fell, making the road even more muddy.
When spring arrives outside the Great Wall, it is freezing cold and the drizzle is like ice, making people feel uncomfortable all over.
"What the hell is this place!" Yang Lin complained, slapping the dirt on his body hard, "Even the damn dirt is red. Walking through the dirt is like walking through a pile of dead people. It's unlucky."
"What Shao Zai said is that this little shabby place is really not worthy of Shao Zai's status. Let's go to Xiazhou as soon as possible. How can we not experience the customs of Qiang girls when we come to the northwest?"
The speaker looked flattering and did not take his identity as the commander of the bodyguard and army seriously. He turned out to be the third son of Taiwei Gao Qiu, the high official in the government office.
Yang Lin smiled knowingly and said: "What you said won my heart. I tell you that all beauties in the world have their own styles, and the Qiang girls are actually the best among them. The Uighur girls are also said to have a different flavor.
.I was in Tubo a few days ago, so I won’t talk about Tibetan girls.”
Gao Bing quickly picked up Brother Thumb and praised: "As expected of Shaozai, I often tell people that Yang Shaozai is not only a person who tastes flowers, but also a person who understands flowers. As the saying goes, a true celebrity comes from the romantic world. Who is the beauty?
Meeting a great man like Shaozai is the blessing she has gained over several lifetimes."
Yang Lin chuckled lightly, but did not expose him. There was a reason for him to flatter him so much. This kid was brought to the northwest by his father, and his intention was obvious. He was here to do military work.
It is no secret that Tubo is about to be included in the Song Dynasty. The divided Tubo longs for a powerful country to be included. If the Song Dynasty had not been weak in the past few years and Dali was isolated from Xixia, countless Tubo tribes would have surrendered long ago.
A hundred years of conquest and internal strife are unbearable for one person, let alone the countless small tribes here.
He came to take credit for his achievements, but he did not dare to go to the front line. It is said that he was carried down when he reached the plateau and became a laughing stock.
This is most likely altitude sickness, and Gao Yanei may not be faking it.
Yang Lin knew that Gao Qiu had a lot of energy, so there was no need to compete with him on this. After all, Gao Bing had a good relationship with him. At most, he would just keep his name in the credit book, and he could not share the big credit.
Gao Bing himself felt a little guilty. After all, it was Yang Lin who was in charge of the subjugation of Tubo this time. Shaozai was the most protective of his shortcomings. He came to mix military merits by himself. Although it would not affect the achievements of Han Shizhong and Liu Zhongwu, it could be regarded as taking advantage of them.
So as soon as he heard that Yang Lin's guard of honor had arrived in the Hehuang area, Gao Bing immediately led people to welcome him out, directly from Xiazhou to Hezhou.
Gao Bing, who was worried, deliberately tried some dirty words, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Yang Lin could still make such a joke with him.
The two people were chatting. Lu Qian came out of the town and said with an ugly face: "Young Zai, something is wrong. This town is empty and there is no one."
Gao Bing didn't take it seriously and said with a smile: "The peasants in the northwest countryside have never seen the world, and they feel the heroism of Shaozai. They are afraid to hide at home and dare not go out."
"Stop talking nonsense, go in and take a look." Yang Lin waved his hand, and the elite soldiers of the Long Live Battalion entered the city. One of them closed his nose and said, "Young Zai, the smell of blood is so strong."
"It's crazy, there really isn't anyone there," Gao Bing said with a frown.
There are not many people in the town, but the streets are relatively clean. Every door is open, but no one is there. There is no sound of chickens or dogs, which is indescribably strange.
In this deathly silence, not only Yang Lin and the others, but also the horses under Long Live Camp were treading uneasily.
Lu Qian said in a deep voice: "Young Zai, why don't we go to the Hezhou Prefecture in front first and then send someone to investigate."
He was thinking about Yang Lin's safety, but Yang Lin didn't believe in this evil. He raised his eyebrows and said: "What are you afraid of? I have strong soldiers and horses, and my energy is as high as the red sun. If anyone dares to make a mistake, let me search it!"
Everyone in the Long Live Battalion immediately rushed into each house and searched carefully. Yang Lin led Lu Qian, Lu Wang, and Gao Bing to the largest courtyard in the town.
This family should be a gentry in a small town, or at least a wealthy family. The fence is much larger than the yard enclosed by other fences. With three entrances and three exits, it is already a large house in the northwest. The furnishings in the room are also large.
Although it was clean and tidy, there was an oil lamp on the table in the inner courtyard that had run out of oil. The cups and plates on the table were in a mess, and the remaining food on the plate was rotten and spoiled.
Gao Bing stepped forward to take a look and cursed: "Sissiniao, why is there a weirdness everywhere, which makes the senior high school student feel so scared. Young Master, otherwise we'd better leave."
Yang Lin stepped in with a cold face, and suddenly a small wooden horse attracted his attention.
The small wooden horse was made of wood and covered with a layer of dusty mats. It was obviously made for the children of the family.
"Blood" Yang Lin spat out the word coldly.
Everyone gathered around and discovered that the left side of Trojan's face was stained with blackened blood. It had obviously been there for many days.
The originally cute horse's face looked very strange and terrifying from the side because of the blood stains.
Gao Bian's whole body wanted to be pressed against Lu Qian's body, making the latter helpless for a while.
"Young Zai, come here and take a look." Lu Wang's voice came from outside. Yang Lin stepped out of the inner hall and saw a group of guards from the Long Live Battalion standing silently in the bedroom in the inner courtyard.
What is it that makes these men with knife-tips licking blood look like this?
Yang Lin pushed through the crowd and came in to take a look. His scalp immediately went numb.
The corpses of dozens of men, both young and old, were hung on the big locust tree against the wall in the courtyard. Their wrists and ankles were all tied up and hung on the big locust tree. The rotten flesh on their wrists smelled bad.
.
The courtyard was filled with the corpses of women with disheveled clothes or no clothes. It was obvious that a group of evil men raped all the women in front of the male owners of the family, and then killed them.
After a while, other people rushed over. This was the case in almost every house. Boxes and cabinets were rummaged through the room, and all the belongings were looted.
"Send someone to summon the civil and military officials of Hezhou to meet me in this town. You can bury this family." Yang Lin took a few steps forward and emphasized, "Bury them deeper."
Everyone responded in silence.
The guards of the Long Live Battalion tied kerchiefs around their mouths and noses, dug a big hole in the yard, and buried all the corpses in it.
Yang Lin looked at the newly erected tomb. His heart was blocked but he didn't know what to say. He saw Gao Bian moving the bloody wooden horse to one side of the tomb.
With a sigh, Yang Lin led the people outside the town. Nowadays, plague is very easy to occur here, so it is not a place to stay for a long time.
The house was empty, and only a bloody wooden horse was left on the mound in the backyard, swinging back and forth in the wind.