It's already very chilly in the northwest in mid-September.

Xu Maoxiu had been lying on the hillside for a long time, his legs and feet were a little numb, and someone slowly crawled over from the side.

"How is it?" Xu Maoxiu asked in a low voice.

"The fire pit is still warm." Fan Jianglin whispered.

"No one was left behind. They were all gone. Why?" Xu Maoxiu said in a low voice, looking towards the valley in front of him.

There are not many trees in the valley. This is to prevent surprise attacks and to facilitate self-defense, so they have been cut down.

At a glance, the tents and bags were still there, but it was quiet and unpopular, with only the chirping of birds echoing in the mountains.

Xu Maoxiu frowned, thinking of something.

"It's not that far from here to Longgu City..." he said.

"So what?" Fan Jianglin asked.

"It would be very convenient if we go on a raid." Xu Maoxiu said.

Fan Jianglin stared.

"Raid? The leader of the Fujiang tribe is in Longgu City! He would only rebel if he was crazy!" He whispered.

"What if someone else is going crazy?" Xu Maoxiu said.

Fan Jianglin wanted to say something else, but Xu Maoxiu waved his hand to stop him.

"We'll go back and report it to the adults, and let them decide," he said.

The two of them slid down the hillside, took the horse beside them and galloped away.

The atmosphere in the camp five miles away was relaxed. Although the journey was easy, the long journey was still very tiring. We were still dozens of miles away from the castle we were about to reach. I felt comfortable thinking about entering the city.

Eat, drink and sleep, the soldiers and generals are very happy.

"What did you say? Longgu City is in danger?"

A conductor frowned and looked at the two people in front of him and asked.

As usual, the marching army sent out outposts to explore and follow, but it was just a decoration along the way. After all, the banner of the imperial military commander was here, and any unsighted thief would dare to come and die.

Just as they were about to arrive at the castle, the two scouts unexpectedly said that the castle was in danger.

Longgu City is the largest fortress on the northwest line and has always been heavily guarded. Western thieves dare not offend easily.

"If Longgu City is empty of troops, it is not impossible..." Xu Maoxiu said.

Can Longgu City be empty of troops?

"You know nothing." The conductor cursed, waving his hands to drive away, "Get out of here."

"Sir, we have been in Longgu City, and we know that Longgu City has not encountered such sneak attacks..." Fan Jianglin said.

The dispute here attracted the attention of others.

"What are you doing?" several generals asked.

Xu Maoxiu looked up and saw Liu Lang among the people coming.

But Saturday Lang didn't even look at them, it seemed like they never knew each other.

The conductor hurriedly stepped forward to explain what Xu Maoxiu and Fan Jianglin had said.

"How is that possible?" Several generals also didn't believe it when they heard this and shook their heads, "If there is no one in the tribe that has surrendered, it can be considered as a sneak attack. Maybe they are out hunting."

Maybe they really overthought it.

After all, I haven't been here for nearly two years.

Xu Maoxiu and Fan Jianglin looked at each other, lowered their heads and backed away.

"It's okay anyway, so let's go take a look."

Suddenly someone said.

Xu Maoxiu looked up and saw that the person speaking was Liu Lang, but he still didn't look at them.

"... Both adults are here, so be careful." He continued, "There's no harm in taking a look anyway."

He emphasized his tone to the two adults. Although these two adults appeared to be friendly on the surface, they were actually pulling each other. Otherwise, it would not have taken them so long to get here.

If this matter is reported to someone who is interested, right and wrong can arise even if nothing happens.

After a quick discussion, it was decided to let Xu Maoxiu take someone to check first.

"I don't agree!"

Liu Kui shouted, glaring at Xu Maoxiu.

"Sir, this is simply useless."

Useless work?

Several generals frowned.

"If there is really a surprise attack, these people have been gone for a long time and our cavalry has no chance of catching up." Liu Kui said with a snort.

Long-distance action has caused great damage to the hoof shells of the war horses. They have been walking so far, and the horses can no longer run fast, let alone catch up or even surpass those people. Then check the results before running back to report...

If you can't do this, it's really useless...

The people and officers present were silent.

"You are looking for a chance to escape!" Liu Kui said with a glare.

Xu Bangchui made a sound.

"Our horses can do it." Suddenly someone said.

Everyone looked back and saw that it was one of Xu Maoxiu's brothers.

Xu Sigen took a step forward, his face flushed, and he seemed a little excited.

"Our horses can," he said again.

Liu Kui sighed again.

"What's the difference between your horses? Besides, you are not two horses." He said.

When they set off from Beijing, all the soldiers were assigned horses. Xu Maoxiu and the other seven were given seven more horses because of Cheng Jiaoniang, but they did not get the treatment of two horses. Not long after walking, the horses assigned by the official were taken back with excuses. .

"It's different." Xu Sigen said. He, who has never been good at talking, was even more awkward because of his excitement. "Our horses are different. Our horses' hooves are intact."

This statement caused everyone to be astonished.

"How is that possible?" Everyone frowned and said.

They walked slowly because the two adults couldn't bear to run long distances, and because after halfway through the walk, the horses' hoofs were damaged and they had to slow down.

Everyone’s horses were injured, but theirs was not? Is their horse a Pegasus?

"This is the horse our sister gave us! The horse our sister gave us is a very powerful horse!" Xu Bangchui shouted.

It's her!

Zhou Lang suddenly realized that this was the case.

How could he be chasing after me in the middle of the night just to send a few ordinary horses!

But those horses, everyone secretly and curiously looked at them, they were indeed very ordinary...

Xu Sigen had already brought the horse over and pointed at the horse's hooves excitedly.

"Look at our horses, their hooves are not damaged," he said.

Everyone present gathered around. They had not noticed it before, but now they followed what he pointed at and saw that there were black things on the hooves of the seven horses.

"What is this?" a general asked, reaching out and touching it.

Iron...

"This is..." Xu Sigen opened his mouth but couldn't speak. His sister didn't say her name. Then... the horse's hooves were made of iron... "It was the horse's hoof that fell! It can protect the hooves from wear and tear."

"Are these just a few pieces of iron?" someone asked in surprise. He crouched down and saw that they were just a few pieces of pig iron, apparently branded on the horse's shoe. Other than that, there was no other pattern at all.

"It's just these pieces of iron." Xu Sigan nodded and said, "In addition, I took good care of it, and the horse was not damaged at all along the way."

Although they saw it with their own eyes, the people present still looked hesitant.

"Okay, let's not delay things now. We'll talk about it later. Since your horses are not injured and can run quickly, let's go quickly." Zhou Lang said.

"Xiao Zhoulang, this matter is indeed a bit unreasonable. Just because someone is missing from the Fan tribe, we can speculate that he has evil intentions. If we cause trouble, will you be responsible?" A general asked calmly.

The imperial court always treated these surrendered Tibetan people favorably and appeased them in order to ensure the stability of the border.

It would not be fun if someone was accidentally accused of sabotaging the recruitment.

Xu Maoxiu and others looked at Liu Lang.

"I'm responsible." Zhou Lang said without hesitation, still not looking at Xu Maoxiu and others, "I believe her."

After saying that, he turned around and left.
To be continued...