twin moon

At the same time that the Peng and Ye armies were chasing forward and backward in the ice and snow, seven days had passed since Yan returned safely from Luqiu Borong's tent to the Chiyan army.

On the day of his return, the young Hehan ordered to distribute all the wine and meat brought back to the soldiers under his command.Even in a desperate situation, as long as there is meat to eat and wine to drink, the simple prairie people can put all their unhappiness behind them and become morale high again.

But the glimmer of hope is often fleeting.The severe cold greatly slowed down the forward speed of the horses. Coupled with the raging wind and snow, the horse team, which could have traveled hundreds of miles a day, could only travel twenty or thirty miles a day and night at most.Even the strong and sturdy Shuobei horse could not resist the severe winter.In addition, the fodder in the horse team was running low, and the riders could only watch helplessly as their hungry horses fell to the ground and died one by one.

However, the dead horses provided enough meat and fur for people to move on.In order to avoid incidents from encountering the coalition forces of the lords again, the Chiyan Army, who was walking on foot, deliberately detoured westward for more than ten miles.Two more days passed like this, and on the morning of the third day, the rising sun only showed its face slightly on the horizon, and then sank again.Since then, the entire ghost state has entered a long eternal night, and can't wait for the sun of the coming day.

Such a change caused great panic among the already ignorant grassland people, and the following things did not easily satisfy everyone's wishes.On the contrary, the more you want to avoid something, the more you will encounter something.The team continued to travel northward for less than a hundred miles, and the figure of Guan Ning's soldiers appeared again in front of them.And this encounter made it difficult for the prairie people who have always been known for their bravery and toughness to pretend to be fearless.

Right now, on the ice field under the night, a low ice wall appeared out of thin air.Buried in the wall were hundreds of frozen human and horse corpses.Each of the once-living lives maintained the posture when they were struggling to die, or curled up against the wind, or hugged the neck of a half-kneeling horse, or stretched out their arms, trying to escape the death-threatening situation. The wind and snow seemed to break free from the snow and ice that trapped them.

When I got closer, I could actually see the painful and desperate expressions on the faces of people and animals through the layer of ice that was as thick as a foot.This group of troops seemed to have been frozen in an instant, and such a strong cold wave, even the Red Flame Army who had long been accustomed to severe cold and snow in the Shuobei Grassland, had never seen it before.

Jiang Yan handed Wu Chen's reins to a red-armored warrior beside him, and stood in front of the wall of ice and snow, but he secretly rejoiced in his heart that the Red Flame Army was able to find a low ice patch in the ice and snow last night. To survive this deadly snowstorm, take shelter in caves.

"Hehan, if you go further north, you will be the gate of the underworld, the underworld in the world's population. There are legends on the grassland that there is a connection between the human world and the ghost world. Every year around autumn, the gate of the underworld will open. Blows out such a cold wind that the night falls, and the winter rages."

Bo Du stepped forward and explained to the black-eyed boy in a low voice, unable to hide the fear on his face.

The young He Han shook his head, talking to himself in the mandarin of the southerners, as if to cheer himself up:
"We are the Red Flame Army..."

"what did you say?"

For a moment, Bodu couldn't understand what the other party meant.

Jiang Yan turned his head, and once again explained what he had just said in the language of the prairie people:
"I said, we are the Red Flame Army. Luqiu Borong's army and horses will appear here. I think the ancient city may be nearby. However, we have not seen half of the galloping wolf along the way. If Tuya is still alive today, so I definitely don’t want to see the enemy step into the city first, and I will never let the power of the ancestors fall into the hands of others!”

The young Hehan spoke every word sonorously.

"... According to the legend, there are countless ghosts from the underworld that come out with the wind and snow. They are transformed from sinners who cannot go to the Changshengtian, and they will patrol the land of Guizhou where there is no sunshine for a whole month, looking for The people in front of us must have encountered those soul-eating ghosts last night. It has already entered winter, and our supplies are running out. If we continue to move forward, it will only become more dangerous..."

Bodu still hesitated.General Yan in front of him waved his hand, and the flame of revenge in his eyes did not weaken at all:
"Tuya also told me about this legend. I know your worries—but we are the Red Flame Army! What stands in our way is ice and snow, and we melt it with our rage. In front of us is Chi Lang, so we beheaded all of them, drank their blood and ate their flesh! Even if we couldn’t enter the Longevity Heaven in the end, we would drag that Mr. Kun to fall into hell together, and watch him be eaten by the ghosts of the night with our own eyes. Bone-biting heart!"

The young Hehan had a fierce look on his face, as if the anger and hatred in his heart made him completely lose his mind.

Bo Du's throat twitched slightly, but he didn't try to persuade him again——In the current Red Flame Army, although horse meat can still last for a while, it is no longer possible for them to return to Yanluoyuan alive, and even return to Shijinghai extravagant hope.And he also knew in his heart that if he gave the power of the ancestors to the man who raised the wolf like this, even if he could go back alive to reunite with his relatives, what he would face next would still be a dead end to be slaughtered by fierce beasts .

The dense dark clouds have already completely covered the bright moon and the stars, and the sun, which will never rise again, has completely wiped out the last hope of people going home.Regardless of whether Yamato Han in front of him is willing to turn his head or not, the warriors can only follow him and continue walking.

At this moment, the scout who explored the road suddenly heard an exclamation:
"Someone, someone is still alive!"

The young He Han and Bo both looked at each other, and immediately rushed forward one after the other.

The one who survived was a man dressed as a stable boy.When the severe cold came, he happened to be feeding some of the pack horses in the procession.It was also because of this that he was able to block the deadly cold current with the help of the horses around him, and successfully cut open the horse's belly with the dagger on his body, and hid his body in it.

However, the residual temperature in the horse's body was not enough to keep it alive.When Jiang Yan saw him, the lower body of the groom had already been frozen into a large piece of hard dead flesh together with the fallen pack horse.His upper body was also on the verge of being frozen, and he couldn't even see the white air coming out when he exhaled.

Right now, the man couldn't hear any questions at all, and couldn't answer with his frozen tongue. He just stretched out his right arm, which had already been frozen black, as if he still wanted to break free from the belly of the horse that trapped him. It seems to be pointing to an unknown direction in the wind and snow.

The young Hehan seemed to have read something from the survivors who were so angry, and suddenly looked up into the distance.And in the endless snowstorm, apart from the endless whiteness, there seemed to be something slowly wriggling on the horizon like a dying earthworm.

"Luqiu Borong must have gone there! That might be where the ancestors left the city!"

With a loud roar, he led the crimson team to chase up at full speed in the snow and ice.

The shadow on the horizon is indeed the coalition of princes led by Luqiu Borong.Even though they had made perfect preparations for this trip, in the unprecedented cold north wind last night, any attempt to resist was as fragile as a piece of white paper on fire.

Today's coalition forces have long lost the majesty and momentum they saw before.The original team of more than [-] people was less than [-] when we met again.The flags of various colors that had been held aloft had long been thrown away. Only one side was covered with wind and snow, but the king's flag embroidered with gold on it could still be vaguely recognized, and it stood firm in the strong wind.

When he was trapped, Luqiu Borong, who was standing under this flag, was judging the position according to the ancient scrolls he found in Yongyang Palace.She uses the position of the sun to judge her direction every day, and has imagined countless times how the legendary city of the ancestors will appear in front of her.However, the destination that should have been found long ago has not appeared for a long time.Now, wherever she can see, she can see the boundless ice field in the sky with just one glance.

To make matters worse, even the sun disappeared completely.

The sudden cold wave caused more than half of the coalition forces of the princes to freeze to death and frostbite.In the wind and snow, it is no longer difficult for the crowd to follow the command and act in a unified manner.The army was soon torn apart by the strong wind like a defeated battle, and gradually dispersed.And the more than [-] heartfelt Guanning soldiers who followed Luqiu Borong could only use the pack horses as the only barrier between themselves and the cold wind, driving the horses all the way forward.

It's a pity that the pack horses from the south are not as strong as the Yubei horses.Even if he only supported for a short moment in the bitter wind and snow, his heart and lungs were frostbitten, he vomited blood and fell to the ground, unable to move anymore.And the last piece of warmth made up of people and horses on this ice sheet is increasingly heading towards the end of being swallowed by the cold.

Luqiu Borong, who had lost his supplies and was in a dilemma, still refused to believe at first that the grassland people he had met at the foot of Wuping Mountain could also support him to travel so far in this icy and snowy place.However, when she clearly saw the blob of bright red approaching towards her in the vast whiteness, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

However, this emotion only existed for a short moment before it was replaced by stronger vigilance and vigilance.In the depths of a desperate situation, all emotions will be infinitely magnified, not to mention the enmity between the North and the South since a hundred years ago, and the extreme distrust that has continued to this day.

The pawns who were being slowly devoured by despair spontaneously rearranged on the ice and confronted the Red Flame Army behind them.Luqiu Borong hurriedly pushed aside the soldiers standing in front of him, and bowed to Yamatohan who was facing him from a distance:
"Hehan is really a hero, he was able to lead his subordinates to this place without getting hurt!"

Standing Yan on Wu Chen's back, it looks like a flame burning on a mass of black coals:
"Has the emperor found the Ancestral City?"

"Right now, my star destiny has not yet been blessed with good luck."

Empress Daxin shook her head slightly, but changed the subject, and asked impatiently, "The wine and meat that were given to Dahehan before—if there is still more, can you share some with my soldiers?"

"Sorry, the wine and meat have already been eaten, and there is nothing left."

Jiang Yan hesitated for a while, but shook his head—it is unknown how far it is to go to the city of the ancestors, and the ration of water and food must be carefully calculated.

Luqiu Borong did not give up:
"I also saw that there are still many horses in Hehan's formation. I don't know - can we slaughter one or two to feed the soldiers under my command?"

Unexpectedly, this question violated the big taboo of grassland people.

Grassland people regard horses as their brothers and sisters, and there are many stories of war horses bravely saving the Lord in times of crisis.Unless it is a dead horse, the meat can be cut for food.If someone kills a live horse privately, it will bring disaster to the whole family.They will be ruthlessly expelled from the grassland and cast aside forever.

However, the proud and ever-victorious army on the opposite side knew nothing about it.

The Red Flame Army was even ignited, and they pulled out their knives and roared: "What nonsense are you talking about, do you want to court death?"

The soldiers in front of the formation felt as if they were in a fog, and they only thought that the opponent was stingy.But soon, some sharp-eyed people saw the strips of fresh meat immediately hanging from the Red Flame Army, and immediately shouted:
"If we hadn't shared the precious wine and meat with you, you savages would have froze to death on this ice field. Now that you have a surplus of horse meat, but refuse to use it to save people, you are really ungrateful!"

"These horse meat are all taken from the horses that froze to death in the previous snowstorm. The grassland people will never kill horses for food easily—"

Young He Han understood the reason and opened his mouth to explain.However, there was already a commotion behind him, and when he turned his head suddenly, he saw that a group of soldiers had quietly touched the front of the Red Flame Army's formation, and swung their knives to kill two or three horses that were alone!
Hunger has already made Wei Liang's soldiers lose their minds.The silver-white armor on their bodies was almost integrated with the ice field, and now the cloak covered the reflection on the metal, making it even more difficult to find in the snowstorm.

The war horse neighed before dying, and fell heavily to the ground.Guan Ning's soldiers wrapped the horse's neck with the ropes they had prepared earlier, and desperately dragged it towards their formation.The bright red horse blood was steaming, drawing long bright red marks on the ice.It was as if someone had made a huge wound on this frozen land.

It wasn't until this moment that the Chi Yan army, who were in a loose formation, realized that they had been attacked unexpectedly.The nearest few knights couldn't wait for the Shangguan to issue an order, so they jumped on their horses and chased them out, blocking the thieves who stole the horses halfway.The two sides were at war with each other, as if they were going to fight to the death on the spot.

"Leave the horse!"

The red-armored knight restrained the anger that was about to burst out of his chest with the last sliver of reason, pointed his knife at the tip of the opponent's nose, and shouted in not-so-standard southern mandarin.

"You can eat horse meat yourself, but I can't kill you. You barbarians, don't bully others too much!"

The Guan Ning soldier, who was starving and crazy, refused to give in at all, and firmly protected the two horse corpses on the ground that could never be brought back smoothly.

"You are the ones who deceive people too much! The horse is our Shuobei horse, how can you allow you to slaughter it casually!"

The Chi Yanjun finally couldn't hold back anymore, took the mount under his crotch and slammed into the opponent's body fiercely, knocking him to the ground.The soldiers were not to be outdone, and they swung their knives to attack:

"Stop talking nonsense, these Diren barbarians are used to drinking blood, and there is no kindness and morality with them! Anyway, they will die anyway, so I will fight them today!"

The horse under Chi Yanjun's crotch couldn't dodge in time, and its leg was cut off on the spot.The knights also rolled off their horses one after another, and the rage they had always restrained broke out completely. Just like the ancestors of the prairie people more than a hundred years ago, they regarded it as a spoil of war for killing the enemy before the battle!