Ever since Su Ce became the leader, no one has complained privately that the food is not delicious. A broken fishing net tied in the river can provide a few fresh fish every day.
It was the middle of winter in the first month of the year, and everything was silent. It had been less than two decades since we arrived at Beacon Castle, and everyone had just adapted to the boring environment.
A heavy snowfall is coming soon, and it is completely white outside. The northwest wind is blowing the snow particles, and the visibility plummets. This is the most dangerous season for Beacon Castle.
Because they couldn't see too far, when it snowed in previous years, the barbarians' cavalry followed the northwest wind and rode the snow to rush to the forefront of the beacon forts. Every year, many beacon forts were breached, and ten of the guards inside were killed.
No life.
Sometimes even the garrison in the south dare not guarantee that it will be impregnable, because there are many examples of Guan Town being breached.
In snowy weather, there are two things you fear most: meeting a hungry wolf when you are alone, and meeting a rogue rider on a beacon fire.
Su Ce had encountered the situation of being alone and encountering a hungry wolf once. Just two days before the snowfall, Su Ce went to the fishing net to catch fish as usual.
A male wolf and two female wolves were crawling in the withered grass. When Su Ce passed by, three wolves pounced from behind on both sides. If Su Ce hadn't been accustomed to being alert, he would have fallen into the trap of these three wolves.
He waved the fish in his left hand to interfere with the wolf's sight, ran forward, turned around, drew out the horizontal knife with his right hand, swung it horizontally, and killed two wolves in a row. One cut off the wolf's head, and the other's head hung down on his neck.
Above, two wolves were decapitated with one knife. The price was that two rows of tooth holes were bitten out of the leather armor of his left arm, and the cotton-padded clothes inside prevented the wolf's teeth from penetrating further.
He bowed down, suppressed the last wolf, thrust the knife forward, stabbed it hard, pierced the wolf's chest, and slashed hard, opening the heart protected by the ribs. The eyes of the wolf under his arm gradually became dim and dull.
Light.
Pulling the wolf's head open, Su Ce untied the leather armor on his left arm and rolled up his sleeves. He found there were indentations on his arms but no wounds. He breathed a sigh of relief. There were no antibiotics at this time. Thinking back to just now, he was covered in cold sweat and his legs were trembling.
, this is the first time he has seen blood in a real sense.
Cutting off the necks of two wolves with one knife and slicing the chest and abdomen of one wolf with one knife were all subconscious actions.
Su Ce didn't want to move, so he slumped on the spot, looking up at the blue sky of late winter, feeling a little lost for a moment.
Guan Yue, who was on sentry duty, saw the wolf pressing down on Su Ce, and the first warning gong of Fengsui Fort was sounded.
Zhou Zheng, Liu Sanlang, and Zhao Junjun heard Guan Yue's call and rushed out of the beacon fort.
Su Ce's eyes couldn't help but get moist as he looked at the three comrades carrying guns and knives who were shouting and trying to scare the wolf away.
In this desolate grassland, the only person who can rely on each other is Zepao, who eats and sleeps together.
"Stop shouting, it's dead!" Su Ce opened the wolf corpse and tried to stand up, but his legs were trembling and his whole body was shaking. This was not fear, but muscle twitching caused by high levels of adrenaline in his body.
Zhou Zheng happily helped Su Ce, Liu Sanlang, and Zhao Junjun look at the wolf corpse and the fish on the ground, their eyes shining, and they went back and forth twice before bringing back the wolf corpse and the river fish on the ground.
Returning to Fengsui Castle and sitting on the warm kang, Su Ce took a quarter of an hour to regain his senses.
Feng Commander Li Feng had a smile on his face. After all, one of his men had finally seen blood and gained courage.
Whether it's a hungry wolf attacking a person or a surprise attack by an unknown horseman, human behavior in this world is as regular and cruel as the migration of animals.
After the snow started to fall, the number of people sent to Fengsui Fort was no longer one person per sentry, but now two people per sentry. As the gang leader, Su Ce also joined the sentry team.
The two men whistled day and night, and everyone slept with their armor on, their bows strung, and their swords unsheathed.
In case of a surprise attack by Hu Qi, there is no other way but to fight to the death. There are horses in the Beacon Fort, but they are rogue horses. Escape only delays death. It is better to kill them on the high platform of the Beacon Fort.
Calculating the date was New Year's Eve, beacon commander Li Feng did not relax. There was no holiday for the frontier army. If there were, the only holiday was the day when the garrison period expired.
It's just nostalgia that permeates the beacon fort. Li Feng, the beacon commander, went up to the high platform to look at the vaguely visible Anbei City in the south. He didn't know whether he saw it with his eyes or in his heart.
The family settled in the military camp in the south of Anbei Prefecture, but they can't go back now. The fourth child in the family asked him to go home and bring a red cloth to tie his hair. He hasn't found it yet. Li Feng's eyes were wet and he wiped them with his rough hands.
Come on, there are still five boys to take care of.
In the past, no one wanted to go up to the third floor of the Fengsui Fort to blow the wind except on sentry duty. There were a lot of people tonight.
After a quick tour, all six of us went for a walk in the evening. The most time we stayed was standing by the southern female wall and looking at the south.
After Li Feng walked away, Zhao Junjun of Henan Road went up to the high platform and looked at the southeast. His eyes became wet when he thought of his father. He had hunted with his father since he was a child to support his family. Since he was fourteen years old, he had been cheated out of two dollars to buy leather goods.
Being scolded as a literary slave, Zhao Junjun discovered that his father, an omnipotent hunter in the mountains and forests, had turned gray on his temples.
Hunting is dangerous and hard. I still remember that when I got the hunting order and the Yongye field was allocated to my family, my father's wrinkled face put on a smile, but his eyes were full of worry.
Guanyue, Dao of Hedong, sat by the kang and took out a jade pendant from his neck. The down-and-out nobles did not show their dignity, so they gave up their pens and joined the army. The people who were burdened with the burden of reviving their family did not want to speak.
Liu Sanlang of Guannai Road was sharpening a sharp horizontal knife with various whetstones. Thinking of his father's harsh words at home, the night he left home, he didn't know who was lingering outside the window until dawn. If he could go back, he would see
Seeing whether the old man would respond harshly, he let out a sigh. After all, joining the army was the unavoidable fate of a good man in Guanzhong.
Zhou Zheng looked at the darkness around him. The snow reflected the gleam under the stars. The snow looked like the salt field at home. The merchants were lowly and looked down upon others. The tax collector was too difficult to deal with. Since he became a
Fu Bing, the clerk stopped yelling in the store and spoke softly.
It would be a lie to say that I miss home. This is the first time in my life that I have seen such a magnificent snow scene. The emptiness and magnificence are all my comfort.
The old parents in the family had a son in middle age, but they themselves were disobedient and chose this path. The newlywed wife stayed for two months after the marriage and couldn't get enough of Lan'er dressing up in the morning.
It would be a lie to say that I have no regrets. It is just a choice in life. Once you make a choice, you have to go on because the price of going back on it is too high.
I took a few deep breaths of the cold air to cool down the intense longing.
Su Ce turned his head away from looking at the south, which only increased his homesickness. Life will always go on!
In these days, with the deliberate connivance of Feng Commander Li Feng, the five of them had stockpiled a lot of meat at the cost of breaking seven white-feathered arrows and one red-feathered arrow. Zhao Junjun even caught no mice and brought them back to the fort.
Twenty-seven fans of rabbit meat, plus the three wolves Su Ce killed two days ago, the coarse salt in the fort has been used up. Simply, the smoked meat also contains salt.
Since there is always meat, the food consumption is far below the quota. Now there is no shortage of food and drink in the fort, and the garrison period of guarding the beacons can be completed smoothly.