Ren Ning pointed toward the southwest, "Zhui Feng, let's get to work!"
Bah!
The black horse roared loudly, raised its front hooves with gleaming eyes, and ran like an arrow in the direction pointed by its master.
It didn't take long.
Two figures appeared in the distance on the grassland in front of them, riding horses towards the south.
Ren Ning took out the telescope and took a look, and was immediately overjoyed.
The man in charge turned out to be Youmeng from the Lanmang tribe.
Soon Ren Ning's brows furrowed again.
Youmeng and the other man looked in a hurry, and they actually carried a spear and a scimitar.
Carrying a scimitar is a tradition of Xiliang herdsmen, just like the literati youth in the Yunchui Imperial Capital wearing a folding fan when they have nothing to do, which means nothing.
However, spears with poles that are purely offensive are rare.
drive!
Ren Ning chased after him.
Compared to Zhuifeng, the horses of Youmeng and Meng were terrible in terms of speed and endurance. The distance between the two sides was shortening rapidly.
It didn't take much effort for You and Meng to hear the rapid sound of horse hooves coming from behind, and couldn't help but turn around and look over cautiously.
"Brother Ning?" Youmeng asked from a distance, surprised and happy.
He was still a little hesitant.
At this time, except for the bow on his body, Ren Ning did not look like an ordinary soldier in the fortress. Nor did he look like a tattered and inhuman figure when the two met before.
Youmeng didn't dare to confirm for a while.
Ha ha!
Ren Ning waved his hand cheerfully.
Zhui Feng rushed to the vicinity of the two of them in an instant and then slowed down.
"It's me! Long time no see. Where are you going, Youmeng?"
"What a good horse." You Meng immediately stared at Ren Ning as he stepped off the energetic black horse, drooling with envy.
After a while, he forced himself to move away from his eyes that were almost glued to Zhui Feng, and hesitated to say: "Brother Ning, why are you..."
When the two separated in the Kailun tribe three months ago, Ren Ning said that it would be best not to see each other in this life. However, within half a year, the two met again.
cough!
He came to his senses, coughed and raised his hand to point south.
"We are going to help the Kailun tribe in front!"
help?
Ren Ning was stunned.
The Kailun tribe has 30,000 people. What help do they need from the two of them?
He looked thoughtfully at the weapons on You and Meng's bodies, "What happened to Kai Lun?"
well!
Youmeng let out a long sigh.
"A group of horse thieves who came from nowhere have set their sights on Kai Lun and have been pestering him endlessly."
"Yesterday, Kailun sent out a request for help from the surrounding tribes. Although we, Lan Mang, are small and weak, we would not be able to survive without their help last time. The Yunchui people often say that a drop of water's kindness should be repaid by a spring. So.
…”
He didn't say any more.
Horse thief?
Ren Ning was stunned and couldn't help but look up to the south.
Because he comes out from time to time to spy on the grassland, he understands the taboos and fears of some herdsmen on the grassland.
For example, fear of wolves, wildfires and heavy snow;
Another example is the fear of patronage and plunder by horse thieves!
The first three can be said to be natural disasters. When they happen to happen, you usually have nothing to say and can only resign yourself to fate.
The latter ones were completely man-made disasters. Compared with the horse thieves who were always killing people and setting fires, the Xiliang court, which bought and sold by force, could actually be said to be very gentle to the herdsmen.
"Dare to target the Kailun tribe with more than 30,000 people. This group of horse thieves must be quite large. They should be very famous." Ren Ning looked at Youmeng, "What are they called?"
"I don't know." Youmeng shook his head blankly.
"According to the news from Kailun, this group of horse thieves doesn't seem to have many people, just over a hundred riders. But they are all very agile..."
He lowered his head and checked his mount. Seeing that the horse had recovered somewhat, he drove it forward.
After hesitating for a moment, Youmeng continued.
"We small and medium-sized tribes have lived on this grassland for several lifetimes, and we have never heard of such a group of horse thieves. I think 80% of them came from other places."
The companion next to him nodded in agreement.
"Only more than a hundred riders," Ren Ning pondered, "With the population of the Kailun tribe, do we still need to ask for help from outside?"
He was a little unbelievable.
Not to mention other things, the three patriarchs of Kailun alone have more than 3,000 horses. Although those horses are either old or young. But three thousand against one hundred, quantity alone can already overwhelm quality, and can block the opponent.
.
Youmeng was as confused as he was.
"We don't know the specific situation very well."
"All I know is that when the gang of horse thieves came, they set fire to kill people. When the Kailunji clan members tried to surround them, these bastards disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye."
"It's been like this for several days. It's hard to guard against. It is said that dozens of Kailun have been injured and some cattle and sheep pens have been burned. But the horse thieves have not caught any of them."
Ren Ning looked strange.
This is a bit like their scout style.
Although horse thieves also like to kill people and set fires, most of them value loyalty and prestige.
Unless you hate your enemy to the core, you generally won't pester a tribe like this.
After all, some of their members may still be from these tribes.
"The horse thief didn't ask for anything?" Ren Ning asked again.
His predecessor once disguised himself as a caravan guard and followed the caravan to the depths of the grassland. During his trade, he also encountered horse thieves.
Generally speaking, if the caravan feels that it is not strong enough, it can usually leave safely after handing over some goods and money as required by the horse thieves.
"I mentioned it." Youmeng sneered, "In addition to asking for a large amount of money and horses, the horse thieves also want to hand over hundreds of young girls."
Ren Ning was stunned.
This is beyond negotiation.
If the horse thieves are asking for money and livestock, this still needs to be discussed.
If you are really helpless, the worst thing you can do is spend money to buy peace. As long as you have people, money and livestock, you can earn and support them later.
However, if the horse thief wants the women and children of the clan, then there is no need to discuss it.
Any ethnic group that cannot even keep its own wife and daughter has no need to exist.
"Let's go, there is strength in numbers." Ren Ning followed, "Let's go take a look together."
In addition to the fact that the Kailun tribe has always been close to Yun Chui, the three chiefs have also helped him. If given the opportunity, Ren Ning would naturally not mind helping him.
"That's great." You and Meng were overjoyed.
The three of them said a few more words and ran south together.
Zhui Feng was snorting and running easily in front. From time to time, it would turn around and glance disdainfully at the two sweaty fellows behind it, and hiss a few times.
Guys, you are running so slowly, are you a horse or a snail?
The three of them saw it clearly and couldn't help laughing or crying.
Ren Ning patted the horse's neck.
"It's called Zhui Feng, and it will take a while to reach adulthood. It's still a little naughty now. You Meng, don't worry about it."
"What do you care about?" Youmeng laughed, "A thousand-mile horse is hard to find, so it naturally deserves to be proud of it."
After saying that, he winked at Ren Ning and said, "Brother Ning, when it becomes a year, bring it over and let us take a spin around it."
Then breed the mare...
Youmeng didn't say it clearly, but Ren Ning understood it clearly.
He smiled and didn't hide it, "I may have to leave here next year, and I guess I won't be able to make it in time."
"What a pity." Youmeng was stunned and wisely asked no more questions.
Stopping and going, more than half an hour passed.
A large stretch of continuous tents appeared in front of us.