After the challenge ended, another two days passed before everything was ready.
The east gate of the fortress is wide open, and suonas and sutra flags are hung high. The four-year event of sending souls back to their hometowns officially begins.
Ren Ning stood as straight as a javelin.
In addition to the weapons he carries, he also has a flag.
Block the falling stars with one sword and one sword.
It is the Starfall Military Flag.
Boom!
He raised the scarlet flag, and fifty high-spirited soldiers quickly gathered in front of him.
These are his temporary subordinates who are sending spirits back home this time, and are responsible for escorting the spirits from Xingluo County, Yingchuan County and Yunzhong County in the southwest.
Ren Ning glanced at the team.
Most of the people were unfamiliar to him, but there were also familiar ones. For example, Lei Er led his big red horse Ben Lei and the horse Dali who tried to challenge him three days ago were among them.
He didn't know most of the people in the queue, but everyone in the queue recognized him.
Three days ago, under Ma Dali's challenge, Ren Ning shot and killed a spy who was trying to murder a military doctor with an arrow from a distance, shocking the entire fortress.
Even the general who defended the fortress came out personally to inquire about the situation of wanting to be imprisoned after hearing the news.
Many interested people went out of their way to measure the distance between the two sides at that time. They were astonished by Ren Ning's archery skills and were so impressed that they fell to the ground.
Soldiers have always worshiped the strong.
No matter how young Ren Ning is, he easily wins the recognition of other veterans with his unique skills.
Ren Ning didn't think much and shouted coldly: "Send the soul back to the southwest of the hometown to guard and report!"
Ma Dali was the leader of Qian, and the person with the highest military rank in the group besides Ren Ning.
"One!" he began in a loud voice.
Lei Er next to him quickly answered loudly, "Two!"
"three!"
"Four"
"five"
…
"Fifty!"
Ren Ning nodded and pointed the military flag eastward: "Let's go home!"
"Yes!" Fifty people loudly accepted the order, got on their horses, protected the fifty carriages in the middle, and slowly left the east gate.
The fifty carriages carried a total of fifteen cabinets of coffins and six hundred and three jars of ashes, in addition to ten carts of grain and grass and three carts of relics of the martyrs.
Those carriages carrying coffins or urns were filled with weeds and shrubs, blocking the space tightly to prevent accidents when the road was bumpy.
The convoy moved forward slowly, passing through small villages one after another near the fortress, and from time to time one or two carriages would join in.
Those are the women and children who returned to their hometown with them.
Almost none of these women and children are literate. They can't even tell whether their hometown is in Xingluo County or Yingchuan County.
But they recognized the flag in Ren Ning's hand and knew that they could go home if they followed the military flag embroidered with "One sword and one sword to block the falling stars".
Despite this, Ren Ning still checked the certificates issued to them by the fortress one by one to ensure that these women and children were not with the wrong team.
The team stopped and went, starting from the fortress in the morning until the sun set in the evening, and they had not yet walked thirty miles. The team behind Ren Ning had already formed a long queue, with as many as a hundred vehicles.
Choosing an open space, Ren Ning ordered the car to park for the night.
Immediately, a soldier was ordered to ride back, shouting reminders again and again as he ran.
"Stop to cook and spend the night here. The women and children are in the middle, and the carriage is outside. The weather is dry, so pay attention to fire prevention..."
Soon, hundreds of carriages formed a huge circle, surrounding hundreds of women and children.
Common fire-proof, waterproof, and uncommon insect-proof and virus-proof.
Ren Ning personally led the team to check everything.
Most of an hour passed, and after making sure there was no problem, he sat down and took out horse food to feed Zhui Feng.
Ma Dali was silent for a while, then came over and saluted.
"Commander, bring all the women and children you want to take with you today. After the team is organized, the speed will be much faster in the future. According to the past speed, we can reach Pingxicheng in the afternoon the day after tomorrow."
"Pingxicheng!" Ren Ning knew this city.
Yankuo Fortress is in a special situation. It is directly under the imperial military department and is not subject to local jurisdiction. However, it is within the territory of Pingxi County.
Pingxi City is the capital of Pingxi County, a small and medium-sized city with a population of just over half a million.
Patting the side, Ren Ning motioned for him to sit down, "So you have some experience, Old Ma. Then sit down and tell me in detail."
Ma Dali was slightly startled.
He is nearly forty years old and has served in the fortress for more than twenty years. Naturally, he has experience in sending souls back to their hometowns. But every time it is the same as this time, he can only be an ordinary guard and cannot be a security commander.
"Sit down." Seeing that he was absent-minded, Ren Ning patted the ground next to him, "They all say that a master is a teacher. I don't know anything about sending souls back to their hometown. Since you understand, old horse, I will treat you with kindness during this trip.
Guidance.”
Ma Dali had mixed feelings for a moment.
Three days ago, he failed to challenge Ren Ning in public. He thought Ren Ning would give him little shoes to wear on the road, and he would have to shed his skin even if he died.
When I heard it at this time, I found that although the other party was young, he was very energetic and had no intention of doing this at all.
Ma Dali sat down silently.
He touched the beard all over his face as a habit, and suddenly he felt something clear in his heart.
Perhaps this is the reason why the fortress favored Ren Ning during this time of sending the spirit back home, and specifically chose him to be the security commander.
"Pingxicheng is the capital of Pingxi County." Ma Dali put aside his messy thoughts and spoke carefully.
"It takes several months to go back all the way. Anything can happen. Especially if there are hundreds of women and children in the team, it is most likely to get sick during the long journey."
"So when we get to Pingxi City or outside every big city, it's best to send people into the city to buy some medicines that can treat colds, headaches, etc."
Ma Dali rattled off a bunch of common disease names.
"Okay." Ren Ning nodded, took out a pen and paper and silently recorded.
Seeing this, Ma Dali became even more energetic, "There are so many horses in the team, and only ten carts of food and grass will definitely not be enough to eat, and we also need to buy them on the road."
"Grain and grass, aren't they provided at the inns on the road?" Ren Ning said.
Ahem!
Ma Dali coughed twice.
"The team that we send the souls back to their hometowns can logically ask the inns along the way to provide food and grass. It's just that the inns on the way don't have as many conductors as we imagined. And it's not easy to ask others."
"What if the postmaster says that there is no more food and grass in the posthouse, we can't rush in to check. Besides, if we can kill one person, how can we kill all the way?"
Ren Ning was stunned and quickly reacted.
It seems that these bullshit things like the King of Hell being easy to deal with and the Emperor of Mountains and Mountains disobeying the sun and violating the Yin, can be found in every world and era.
"Then we also have to buy food and grass in Pingxi City ahead?" he asked.
"That's not necessary." Ma Dali stroked his beard slyly, "Commander, have you heard of the caravan?"
"What does it have to do with the caravan?" Ren Ning was a little confused.
Ma Dali drew a long line on the ground.
"If our team wants to return to Xingluo, we have to go all the way east from Pingxicheng, pass through five counties, and then reach the Jinglan Grand Canal, then turn southwest and return to Xingluo."
Ren Ning nodded.
As a commander, he certainly knows the route from the fortress back to Xingluo County.
Xingluo County is a basin created by meteors. The surrounding areas are either high mountains, dense forests or cliffs. With hundreds of carts of urns, women and children, it is absolutely impossible to go directly southwest from the fortress.
Therefore, you need to go east first, pass through half a cloud, and then turn southwest. This way is easier to walk.
Seeing that Ren Ning understood, Ma Dali continued.
"Among the five counties heading east, the roads in three counties are difficult. Some caravans may need some protection."
"And we can provide such protection. As for the caravan, they will pay us some protection fees and share some food and grass."
Ren Ning was speechless.
It’s understandable that the caravan needs protection in the Xiliang Prairie next door. I didn’t expect that it would need to be protected when it returns to the territory. What is this?
Ma Dali smiled.
"Old Ma, I have lived for most of my life, and I know some of the caravan owners to some extent. If the commander needs it, I can go over and contact them first. When the team reaches Pingxi City, we can go east together."