My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 544: Soldiers of the West
Occasionally, consciousness returns briefly...and then dissipates.

Mental disorder, limbs twitching from time to time.

Vaguely, he heard mutterings in the difficult language of the Western Regions, as if someone was carrying him on his back, walking through the mountains and forests, and soon there was a rustling sound again.

It was like walking in the Gobi desert, with warm wind and sand blowing on my face. The brief moment of consciousness made the comatose figure open his eyes, and he saw camels, tents, and grass clippings rolled up in the wind and sand.

"Help me summon Da Yanxia..."

"Who are you...what are you talking about?"

"...King Xia, my master Zhang Dongshan...the national master...Zhang Jiao is in trouble..."

"What on earth are you talking about, I don't understand!"

The man from the Western Regions who was carrying him was also shouting, and then led the camel and rushed into the camp ahead. The women and children inside greeted him with smiling faces and took over the food the man brought back.

Soon after, the unconscious man was brought in and placed in a tent.

Li Chaofu, who was quietly reading the contents of the book, had an expression of surprise both in his heart and on his face. He was from the Liang Kingdom. When the general of the Yan Kingdom was called the King of Xia, he followed the caravan to do business outside the Western Regions. .

The most important point is that going west from Tianfengling is another world. He once found a shortcut and climbed over there ten years ago. He saw people in that world who looked somewhat similar to them. There was just a language barrier and I was worried that the other party had malicious intentions, so I peeked at him from a distance for a while and then went back the way I came.

Li Chaofu naturally couldn't understand this series of Western dialects, but he could understand the title written on the cover of the book in the other person's hand.

Vaguely, Li Chaofu also heard that the two men seemed to mention the word longevity.

He is from the Liang Kingdom and grew up in the Liang Kingdom, so he naturally has feelings for it.

"My China?"

The cold moonlight passed through the loose felt curtains. The tent was dirty and messy, with piles of baggage, broken earthenware jars, and a bloody camel skin.

"I won't leave... I won't leave... Don't touch my master!"

"I don't speak Chinese. Can you understand or understand my gestures? My name is Zaha...Za! Ha!"

But then something happened...

In the night, the outline of the hills was immersed in the cold moonlight, and the sound of wind blowing gravel could be heard outside the tent.

But later, the world in the West was not peaceful, and many rebel armies appeared inexplicably. Then, a powerful country farther west attacked the country where he was doing business.

"The Liang Kingdom is gone...the King of Xia unified the six kingdoms?!"

Li Chaofu closed his eyes to stop the memories in his mind, then closed the book, his cheeks bulging and his teeth clenched.

After this trip, he came back as a member of the Xia Kingdom. His master's original determination to bring the words to him was now shaken by the destruction of the Liang Kingdom.

It may seem like they will benefit, but small herdsmen like them are likely to be forced to leave their current homes to make way for other parties to do business.

During the time that Li Chaofu got along with them, he realized that these two old men were not ordinary people, so he had the idea of ​​becoming a disciple.

"Evil thief! Despicable person!"

Although the man from the Western Region kept making gestures, the man over there only understood that the other person was called Zaha. He also imitated the other person's last gesture and said his own name emphatically: Li Chaofu.

For a moment, Li Chaofu stopped gesticulating to convey what he wanted to express to the Westerners who rescued him. He just sat blankly on the camel fur and was lost in thought.

Here, Zaha really had no choice but to sit down cross-legged in frustration. Suddenly something occurred to him. He quickly got up and got out again. When he came back a short time later, he had a book in his hand.

He hurriedly took the book from Zaha's hand. Zaha felt distressed and helplessly lit the oil lamp for this man to provide him with light.

I originally thought that I would just travel around for a while, and then follow my master and Zhang Jiao to find the 'immortality' I wanted and then return to Liang Kingdom.

Among them, the old man named Zhang Jiao paid no attention to him. He just traveled around and wrote down everything he saw and encountered, including the customs, geography and landforms.

With a sudden shout, the sleeping figure lying on the camel fur suddenly opened his eyes, sat up suddenly, and stared blankly at the leather felt door curtain opposite that was slightly blown by the wind.

"I gave directions to a Xia Kingdom caravan. They gave it to me. There are many words on it that I don't recognize. You should be able to understand them."

And he couldn't understand what the other party said. This was the most difficult thing for both sides. He wanted to know how this Xia man appeared in Tianfengling. It was a high-altitude mountain with only people living here. , I would go up the mountain to collect some herbs to exchange for some food in the market below, or hunt some small game to improve the food for my family.

The unconscious figure lay on it, moaning unconsciously, his sweaty cheeks swaying, and his hair stuck to his face.

After coming back to his senses, he stood up unsteadily, dragged his extremely tired body, and opened the felt door curtain. The night wind carried the gravel, and with a 'buzzing' sound, it hit his face, and his whole body went to the ground. Then he staggered back two steps.

Zaha then sat aside, fell asleep, and slowly fell asleep.

During the chaos of war, he actually met two old men here. After saving him, they continued to travel in this world together.

The tent in the middle had been opened at this time. The Westerner who had rescued him before was wrapped in a camel fur and rushed over in the wind and sand. After getting into the tent, he quickly closed the door curtain again.

"Master..."

The next day after arriving, Zaha woke up and found that the Xia man he had rescued was still sitting outside the tent, wondering what he was thinking.

In the desert night, the cold wind whimpered and blew harder.

In the quiet camp, a slightly painful moan gradually sounded from the tent on one side.

This journey lasted for several years, passing through mountains and grasslands, and even through two different countries. I originally thought that I would be able to return with a full load this time.

After that, he never set foot there again, and he never told anyone about the shortcut.

He was mumbling something, but unfortunately the Xia man behind him couldn't understand him.

This further strengthened his idea of ​​becoming a disciple. Fortunately, after two years of getting along with him, one of the old men named Zhang Dongshan was moved by his obsession and took him under his knees and became his disciple.

Although people from the Western Regions often trade with the West, it is only on the main road. If such a shortcut is known, more traders will inevitably come.

"Don't think that coming back alive from Tianfeng Mountain is a gift from God. You should enjoy the beautiful days to the fullest, just like the sunny days after the wind and sand."

The enthusiastic Zaha went to his tent, asked his wife to cook a sumptuous breakfast, and took Li Chaofu to eat and drink. Soon after, Li Chaofu made gestures, asking Zaha to take him to Tianfeng Mountain again.

He wants to leave here. Anyway, his home country is gone. He doesn't want to help his enemies. For the master, he will use his own life to save him.

Zaha, who didn't know anything about it, didn't hesitate after understanding what he meant. He took some dry food into the mountain and a highly alert camel, and set foot on the southern section of the towering Snow Mountain in the west again.

The temperature in Tianfengling is low and the air is thin.

Zaha, who had brought furs with him, gave one to Li Chaofu. The two of them covered themselves with camel furs and walked hard in the mountains. The camels that followed were not the kind of adult camels. They followed the two of them docilely while walking. Chew the surrounding leaves.

After a while, both of them were exhausted and found a place to sit down and rest. Zaha wiped his sweat and looked around. They were all dense mountain forests, with leaves rustling in the wind and then falling down.

At the end of the field of vision, there are rocks covered with snow and frost. This place is inaccessible, and there are basically no traces of anyone walking there.

He didn't know what Li Chaofu wanted to do when he came here. He couldn't understand the language, so he wanted to ask but had to give up. After resting for a while, Zaha was about to stand up and continue to lead the way. Li Chaofu, who had been silent over there, pulled him back and made gestures, which probably meant that Zaha would come here, thank him for leading the way, and he would be on his own for the rest of the way. People leave.

Before the other party could understand, Li Chaofu smiled at him, took the baggage with dry food on his shoulders, turned and walked towards the dense forest ahead.

When Zaha caught up with him, Li Chaofu in front suddenly stopped, squatted on the ground, turned around and said "hiss".

Zaha reacted quickly. While squatting down, he also made a gesture to the camel behind him. He must have been trained. The camel stopped grinding its thick lips, bent its limbs down, and knelt on the ground.

"What did you find?"

"Do not talk!"

Li Chaofu didn't understand, but he still scolded the other party.

The next moment, the sound of wings flapping could be heard in the forest, and flocks of birds flew out from the foothills to the west, covering their field of vision like the sky and the sun.

Zaha quickly closed his mouth, breathing heavily with his nostrils flaring, and his chest was rising and falling violently at this moment. As a herdsman, he was born with a sense of alertness.

Among the towering mountains, the birds passed by one after another, and soon they heard the sound of slight footsteps.

Zaha crawled next to Li Chaofu, crawled a few steps forward with him, got into the bushes in front, and pushed aside the leaves that blocked his view.

A 'long dragon' winds its way from a distance, spreading along the mountains, as if the mountains are giving way.

The sound of footsteps, the clash of weapons, and armor was endless.

The two people here gritted their teeth and did not dare to make a sound. In the depressing atmosphere, the ground beneath them trembled slightly from the roaring footsteps and horse hooves.

Then, they saw flags like flags fluttering in the wind.

There was nothing painted on it, and before they had time to take a closer look, they saw a torrent of troops already entering their field of vision, advancing towards them.

"The army...the army that chased Master..."

While Li Chaofu was muttering, Zaha, who had never seen the world around him, was shaking like a sieve.

"They are coming, they are going over Tianfengling!"

The atmosphere was depressing to the extreme. Zaha wanted to get up and run down the mountain, but was held down by Li Chaofu. Once he got up, he would be discovered and both of them would definitely die.

At the moment, he could only look at the distant foothills without daring to move. The road that the army stepped on from below extended towards the east of Tianfengling.

When the sun above their heads tilted slightly, the army had just finished walking through this rugged and inaccessible mountainous area.

Wow~
The leaves rustled softly, and Li Chaofu emerged from the bushes and ran quickly behind the army. Zaha followed behind with his camel.

When the two of them reached the bottom of the mountainside and walked out of the dense coniferous forest, the distance opened up in their field of vision, and an ominous scene came into their eyes.

Black smoke rose in the distance, which was the camp where Zaha lived, and in the farther direction, black smoke also rose from several similar camps.

In the desert at dusk, dark crowds gathered there, and the faint laughter of people could be heard.

"no no!"

Zaha let go of the camel and ran down the mountain with disheveled hair. When he fell down, he immediately got up again, regardless of his skinned knees and elbows. The further he went, the more tears fell from his eyes.

By the time the two men rushed back to the camp, the place had been razed to the ground, and the army that had descended from the mountain had already gone far away.

"Hana! Uji!"

Zaha cried and rushed into the camp. There were burning flames everywhere, all the tents were burned, and only the bones and skins of the few camels and yaks that had been raised for many years were left on the ground.

And his wife and children were missing. Only a calf bone that had been shaved off by a knife was seen in a pile of burning tents...

"Ah!"

Zaha rushed into the fire to pick up the leg bone. Li Chaofu pulled him out and extinguished the flames on his body. However, Zaha seemed not to know the pain, and just held the bone in his arms and knelt on the ground crying. Heartbreaking.

Li Chaofu could tell from the length of the bones, and he was shaved so cleanly, how could he not know what was going on.

He had heard some rumors about barbarians in the west. Some barbarians like to treat people as livestock and put them on the table...

As for Zaha’s wife, no bones were seen here, indicating that she was taken into custody by the army, and the result may be even more miserable than that of a child.

What a bunch of beasts that are.

"Tell the Emperor of Daxia...tell him that a man-eating army is here..."

At this time, the sadness of the destruction of the family and country was suppressed by Zaha's cry, replaced by the desire that this army should be punished.

……

The western clouds are dyed a magnificent orange red.

Between the sky and the yellow sand, wind and sand blew again. A brown war horse slowly stepped on the hot gravel. A tall figure sat on the horse's back, with long, slightly curly hair hanging on the leather jacket on his shoulders. On the top, his beard was trembling, his lips were covered with a layer of grease, and he was chewing on a slender arm.

As blood overflowed from the corners of his mouth, his yellow eyes narrowed, as if he had found a new prey in the distance.

At one point, he grabbed a severed arm and raised it.

"Follow the caravan ahead and find the city here. Let's party in the city tonight and enjoy the meat here!"

Behind him, on the golden sand, were a group of figures drinking hair and blood. They formed a black wave and ran forward on the desert with their strong legs. Under the long hair blown by the wind, there was a picture of A ferocious face covered in war marks.

Like a wild beast, it opened its bloody mouth and let out an extremely savage cry.

Before dark, the frenzy running through the desert rushed towards a Western Region earth city that had just experienced a war.

Still in a state of confusion, the Western Region soldiers and caravans in the city saw a barbaric crowd coming towards them.

Within an hour, raging fires began to burn in the city, and countless miserable screams resounded throughout this desert oasis.

The next day, 30,000 troops rushed towards the next prey, leaving only the broken city wall and a field of bones.

The Middle Road of the Western Region was a place where caravans were densely packed, and the brutal massacres could not be hidden at all. Moreover, almost all the passing caravans and villages in the oasis were massacred, and the bones of humans and animals were everywhere.

Those who were lucky enough to escape spread the news, and then it spread wildly and explosively in all directions.

……

The Queen of Yelan Kingdom, who was trying to think of a way to deal with the coming Western Region Protectorate, received this news, but without going into details, a messenger came from Ugoli.

"What? Ugoli wants to unite with this foreign army?!" Itas held the letter and stood up from the throne.

(End of this chapter)