Because the Tuqishi warrior blocking the way was too close to him, Giza beside him could not give any hints. Li Siye could only tilt his head slightly and listen to the chatter of the man below him.
Li Siye's hand holding the handle of the knife was filled with sweat, but the man in front of him became more and more angry as he talked, shouting so loudly that all the Tuqishi people looked in this direction.
It was dark at the moment, and there were torches on both sides of the city wall. He could only see that the man was short and thick, with a thick beard. He could not understand a word of Turkic language.
He hummed again mechanically, but the Tuqishi warrior jumped up excitedly, tugging at his black cloak.
Li Siye subconsciously covered his stomach, lying on the horse and waving to the man with his other hand. Giza quickly bent down and hugged the man, and mumbled again.
The fat man was pulled aside by two other cavalry soldiers, and Li Siye quickly grabbed the horse's belly and fled forward quickly.
As they walked through the sparsely populated streets of the city, Li Siye moved his shoulders and felt that his back was wet with cold sweat. He turned around and asked Giza sternly: "What happened just now?"
"The team leader, Su Ke, owed that man a lot of money due to gambling, and he hasn't paid it back for several months, so he stopped you at the door and clamored for you to pay back the money."
"It turns out I owe money." Li Siye suddenly realized and felt scared. Fortunately, his move of pretending to have a stomachache was correct. If he was wrong and gave the other party a slap in the face, dozens of their lives would be at stake in the city.
It's the door.
Gisa complimented repeatedly from the side: "Thank you for your quick reaction, captain, so I told Nabu Sang that the captain had a bad stomach and is in severe pain now. I will pay you back another day. This way we will not be suspected."
"
Li Siye glanced at Giza suspiciously. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have known that Su Ke promoted gambling, so why didn't he remind him that he was a creditor? Could it be that this Tuqi Shi was so bold that he dared to be petty? He then started to have murderous intentions.
He glanced around and realized that he was now in an open space in the city. He might attract others, so he would argue with him later.
Since most of the residents in the city have been driven away, the city of Talos is dark and gloomy. The earth-built flat-roofed houses or dome houses that line the streets are dimly lit, and the sound of drinking and shouting by the Tuqishi men can be heard. In addition, as far as you can see,
It was completely lonely, with the occasional crow landing on the roof, adding a bit of the exotic atmosphere of a desolate castle to the place.
Giza took the initiative to lead the way to a more remote open space in the city. In front of him was a row of thatched sheds dozens of feet long made of thatch and wooden pillars. Inside were piles of hay, and in the open space outside were pavers.
New pasture is coming.
There were also a few guard soldiers here. Giza said they were just a few old guys, so he went up to negotiate in person. Li Siye and his party watched indifferently, while the herdsmen went to the corner and took out wooden forks, led by Duan Xiushi.
Unload fodder.
Giza used some unknown method to lure a few veterans and led them toward the street. Bai Xiaode took the initiative to follow Giza to prevent him from making any hints of tipping off the enemy.
Duan Xiushi and the others sped up their actions, unloading the hay from the twenty carts and spreading it out, and then moved all the weapons under the carts to the haystack in the shed.
After a while, Giza came over under the escort of Bai Xiaode. He hunched his shoulders and reported to Li Siye: "Those old soldiers, I spent some money to invite them to a wine shop in the city to drink."
Li Siye nodded and said to everyone: "Understand the situation as soon as possible and settle everyone down. I will lead 22 people to the camp, and Duan Xiushi will lead 26 people to stay among the herdsmen."
Bai Xiaode talked with several herdsmen for a while and learned that there were a total of sixty people working in the forage farm, more than forty people were responsible for harvesting forage outside the city, and a dozen people stayed to cut grass to supply horses, cattle and sheep. Since the Tang army captured Suiye City,
When the news came, the Khan banned soldiers and herdsmen from leaving the city to graze. In the past few days, the fodder for nearly 10,000 horses and tens of thousands of livestock in the entire city was supplied here, which shows the intensity of labor.
To the west of the forage field is a row of food troughs, grass cutters and water troughs, as well as three wells. Every day, all the soldiers and herdsmen in the city bring their horses, cattle and sheep here to feed and drink water.
At night, the herdsmen who were working did not have enough to eat, but were extremely tired. They even had their fingers cut off with a grass cutter because they were dizzy and dizzy.
Bai Xiaode told these herdsmen not to tell others their identities for the time being, and the herdsmen nodded obediently.
After all the weapons were hidden and the fodder was spread out in the field, Duan Xiushi clapped his hands, walked over and asked Giza: "Where should we stay tonight?"
Giza's face changed slightly, and he mumbled in embarrassment: "Uncle Tang Jun, I have to humiliate you tonight."
Duan Xiushi looked at the others with a strange expression, and said with a stern face: "Take us there."
Giza stretched out his hand to point to him, and everyone discovered that there was a very low thatched roof on the edge of the shed in the hayyard. They walked closer and saw that the roof was only half a person high, and half of the space was dug underground. This is the so-called underground
Nest.
Gisa sneered and walked down the excavated steps to the den. He used the key to open the iron chains on the wooden fences. A foul smell came to his face. Duan Xiushi bent down and looked inside. There were pairs of twinkling lights in the darkness.
The dim eyes looked like frightened and resentful ghosts.
He turned back and asked a herdsman: "Is this where you usually live?"
The herdsman answered him in Turkic: "That's right, it's just big enough for sixty people to lie side by side. The door is locked when they're not working or eating, and they pee and poop inside, so it smells bad."
Duan Xiushi regretted choosing to play the role of a herdsman. He didn't expect that he would have to hide in such a den when he sneaked into the city. He was born in a poor family, so it was no problem to endure hardship, but the smell was really unbearable for a person with a slight mysophobia.
Li Siye urged the general outside in a gentle tone: "Mr. Duan, can you do it? If not, let someone else do it."
"No need." Duan Xiushi gritted his teeth and got in. Other herdsmen dressed as Tang Jun also held their noses and filed in. However, the dozen or so herdsmen were accustomed to it and followed them in.
Gisa held the chain and said with a smile: "Brothers Tang Jun, I locked the door."
The last ray of light in front of his eyes disappeared, and the whole underground cave exuded a sweet and fishy smell. Duan Xiushi and his colleagues squatted together, feeling that it was acceptable for the moment, but it was just one night and one day.
The living conditions of Li Siye and the others were much better than those of the herdsmen. They had a spacious flat-roofed house with a small yard where they could enjoy the cool air on the roof in summer evenings. This was Shi Hei, a tug of war, who wanted to resist the Tang Dynasty.
The residents' houses were expropriated, and the indigenous people in the city were imprisoned in dark underground dens.
Gisa led them into the house and lit the oil lamp hanging on the wall. Li Siye winked at Tian Zhen, and Tian Zhen suddenly kicked him into the wall, jumped over and pulled it out from his waist.
He held the handle of the scimitar in his right hand to clamp down on Giza, and the cold blade touched his Adam's apple.
"Uncle Tang Jun, spare your life, I am still useful to you! Don't kill me! I swear, I am absolutely loyal to you!"
Giza was so frightened that he raised his neck and leaned his head against the wall, as if one foot had stepped into the gate of hell, and begged Li Siye with trembling lips.