Volume Two, The Lake of Winter, Chapter 23, Mounted as a Thief
Volume 2: The Lake of Winter Chapter 23: Becoming a Thief (7)
Both speed and slowness have their advantages and disadvantages. This is not a dialectic or a philosophical question, but a very simple truth. The horse thief charged down from the meadow. He was too fast and fell into the rocks and was embarrassed and miserable. But the big black horse was too fast.
Even with Ning Que's archery skills, he only had time to fire three arrows before he rushed to the edge of the group of horse thieves.
He put the boxwood bow on his shoulder, stretched his hands forward and held the simple knife horizontally on the pommel, raised his arms and elbows, the blade shot out of the air, and cut off half of a horse thief's shoulder, and then straightened his waist
, the arm was straight, and the sharp tip of the knife poked out the eyeball of another horse thief before the scimitar struck.
When the three horses crossed each other like lightning, the blood from the horse thief's broken shoulder and the fluid from his eye socket burst out, spraying all over his face and body. The smell of blood mixed with other odors was very strange.
They say blood is hot and wind is cold, but Ning Que felt that the wind blowing on his face was hot, but the blood sprinkled on his face was cold. Because he was very calm, and he still remembered himself clearly until this moment.
A combat principle that has been adhered to for many years.
Killing a horse thief is never as good as hurting a horse thief. If a horse thief dies, he will die. If he is seriously injured and will die temporarily, he will drag down more fellow horse thieves. Although this little idea is cruel, it is very useful.
Looking at the dozen horse-riding thieves charging towards him, Ning Que took a deep breath, clamped the big black horse under his body, raised his sword horizontally, and turned it into a blade to kill them. Behind him, the two hundred Yan cavalry finally caught up.
They came over, formed a group, and struck hard at the side of the scattered group of horse thieves.
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The winter wind in the wilderness picked up again, but it couldn't blow the hair in front of his forehead, because the hair had been soaked with the blood of the horse thief, and was now sticky and tangled together, just like Ning Que's tangled mood at this time.
The camp was in a state of chaos, and several gaps had appeared in the car formation. The horse thieves temporarily retreated, but the wave of abandoned horse foot attacks before retreating still caused great damage to the camp. Everywhere in the camp was covered in blood and their eyes were numb.
The dying civilian soldiers, if it weren't for the sharp swords of the girls from the River Country, they might have been defeated by horse thieves long ago.
The situation of the horse thieves was not much better. At the edge of the low-lying land not far from the camp, many horses with broken hooves and serious injuries were lying on the cold ground struggling to death. From time to time, their heavy heads swayed, and they were thrown under or under the horses.
Next to it, there were many dead bodies of horse thieves that had lost their warmth.
However, all the wounded horse thieves were brought back by their companions. From this, it can be seen that although the horse thieves were severely injured, they still did not collapse and still had the ability and spirit to launch another attack.
Ning Que raised his arm to wipe away the slowly dripping blood from his brow, and looked back to the northwest of the camp, where Yan Qi was fighting with a group of horse thieves and gradually moved away. He couldn't help but shake his head.
In the impression of the Central Plains people, horse thieves on the grasslands are the most ferocious existences in the world, but after having dealt with horse thieves for many years, he believes that horse thieves are the most cowardly and useless existences in the world. Brutality is just a cover for inner weakness.
At this time, the six hundred horse thieves around the meadow became ferocious and dared to directly massacre the tribes directly under the royal court. If they became timid, a group of Tang soldiers would chase them. The key lies in strength. Horse thieves are such realistic creatures.
, are most sensitive to the gap in strength, so they are easiest to break up.
Ning Que thought he knew the nature of the horse thieves well. He chose the camp last night and secretly hid the location. There was no problem with the timing. He thought that with two hundred Yan cavalry, he could launch a strong charge to the side of the horse thieves and kill the more than five hundred horse thieves.
However, he forgot that those who charged against the horse thieves with him were not the old guys from Weicheng, nor the Tang cavalry of the West Route Army in the Bishui Camp in the south, but the Yan Army cavalry with extremely low combat effectiveness.
The combat effectiveness of the Yan army's cavalry was actually worse than Ning Que's worst assumptions.
Two hundred Yan cavalry occupied the right location and charged at the horse thieves. They did not disperse the group of horse thieves. They were not even able to complete a single cavalry penetration. They were directly dragged into the fight by the horse thieves who hurriedly responded. After several attacks, they were numbered.
The ten Yanqi were hacked to the ground by the horse thieves. If the horse thieves themselves were not in extremely chaotic formation at the time, this long-awaited side attack might have resulted in the entire Yanqi army being annihilated.
Yan Qi and the horse thief struggled for a while, but neither party could bear it anymore, so they separated for the time being. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ning Que rode the big black horse back to the camp. On the one hand, because he had no hope for the remaining one hundred Yan Qi,
Another reason why he was so hopeful was because he felt a vigilance in his heart, an inexplicable vigilance.
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A scream suddenly sounded in the cold air. Ning Que reacted very quickly and turned aside. An arrow flew past his clothes and hit a grain truck hard. The tail of the arrow trembled violently.
Ignoring that the black mask was soaked with the blood of horse thieves and smelled a bit unpleasant, he hung up the mask again, took off the boxwood bow behind him, stringed the string, and shot a horse thieves who rushed to the camp to death with one arrow.
Then he felt a faint soreness deep in his shoulder. He knew that he had pulled the bow too many times today, and if he continued to hold on like this, his right arm might be stretched.
The horse thieves obviously refused to give the people in the camp of the grain team much chance to breathe. After a short rest, they attacked fiercely again, completely ignoring their own casualties. This kind of action regardless of the cost, interests and risks has gone beyond Ning.
Lacking knowledge about horse thieves, the doubts in his heart became more and more intense.
More than two hundred horse thieves came from all directions.
The civilians who had become somewhat numb to life and death, at the last moment of life and death, inspired unprecedented courage. They carried crude wooden spears, passed through the gaps deliberately left in the car array, and stabbed outwards fiercely.
A wooden spear pierced the chest and abdomen of a horse thief, and blood flowed downwards.
Immediately afterwards, three horse thieves climbed through the car formation, brandished their machetes, and chopped down the peasants holding wooden spears until they were covered in blood.
A bright sword light flashed.
The slender sword, carrying the chi chi sword aura, slashed at the three horse thieves.
One of the horse thieves was found dead and dismembered on the spot, while the other two horse thieves had their legs and limbs broken off, and they were walking backwards in embarrassment.
The civilians covered in blood rushed over like wild beasts, holding wooden sticks and stones picked from unknown places. They surrounded the two horse thieves and smashed them face to face. They repeated the movements numbly, and they smashed no one knows how many times.
Next, until there was no sound inside, it stopped stiffly.
After Tmall Girl slashed into the wind, she habitually let out a cute scream. Then, she was shocked by the bloody scene in front of her. Her little red face was covered with dust, but she couldn't hide the look in her clear eyes.
She was so frightened and panicked. After all, she was too young. Where had she ever seen such a scene?
Ning Que reached out and grabbed the back of her neck, threw her behind like a cat, avoided an arrow, held the knife in one hand, blocked and then sent it forward, cutting off the right arm of a horse thief who was secretly attacking.
The horse thief covered his blood spurting right shoulder and half-knelt on the ground in pain. Ning Que didn't even look at him again. He held the knife and walked down a dangerous place. He knew that this horse thief had a broken arm and no knife.
, the next moment he would be overwhelmed by the people, and he would naturally not put any more effort into it.
When the car formation was broken, everyone in the camp would die. Based on this simple understanding, both the civilians and the Yan soldiers became extremely brave at this time. They took whatever weapons they could find,
He desperately attacked the horse thieves who climbed over the carriage board.
But it is the Mochiyuan disciples from the River Kingdom who have really allowed the camp to hold on for so long. These girls and boys, who do not have much battlefield experience, rely on the pride, perseverance and excellent swordsmanship given by the sect, in
Lines of sword energy were drawn among the wasteland meadows, cutting down those troublesome horse thieves one after another.
However, there are too many horse thieves and too few disciples in Mochiyuan. Although the civilians and soldiers try their best, they still cannot change the overall situation. The camp is surrounded by dangers and may be breached at any time. It seems that it has reached a desperate situation.
At this moment, a clear whistle sounded from the carriage in the center of the camp.
Listening to the sound of the flute, Tmall Girl and other Mochiyuan disciples were refreshed. Without hesitation, they used their sword energy to push back the horse thieves in front of them, and then walked to the grain bag.
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Hearing the sound of the flute and observing these scenes, Ning Que felt a little solemn, and there was even a hint of anger in his eyes exposed outside the black mask.
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This is a team transporting grain and grass to Zuozhang Wangting. They are escorted by Yanqi and need mules and horses to transport grain. Therefore, in addition to many carts of grain, they also carry a lot of hay for the mules and horses to eat.
The unloading carriages of grain trucks form a circular array, and the bags containing grass are all concentrated under the carriages. On the one hand, they are used to strengthen the fortifications, and on the other hand, they can also play a role in slowing down the damage of arrows.
Hearing the sound of the flute, the disciples of Mochiyuan came to these straw bags and lifted them into the air outside the car array with their swords. At this time, the densest wave of horse thieves attacked again.
I don’t know whether it was the inner sword energy of the disciples of Mochiyuan, or some other reason. More than ten bags of hay flew into the air. The bags suddenly burst open and fell apart with a hissing sound. The hay in the bags looked more like
He was punched hard and spread out in all directions at a very fast speed, like a rain of grass.
Just as the hay bags burst into pieces, an extremely dry smell enveloped the entire camp. In the rain of grass formed by each bag of hay, a spark dimly lit up, and then in an instant... the entire sky burned.
The rain of grass turned into rain of fire, falling from the sky, covering up the light of the rising sun in the east, and turning the entire camp perimeter into a sea of fire. The horse thieves, who were stunned by the strange scene, had no time to react and were engulfed by the sea of fire.
Become a poor person who will drown or burn to death.
The civilian soldiers in the camp were also shocked and dumbfounded by this scene. They held various weapons and looked at the sea of fire that was so close, but none of them flew into the car array. They seemed to have seen what Haotian showed.
miracle.
Only Ning Que noticed the sudden change in the vitality between heaven and earth when the hay bags burst and burned. He felt the faint talisman power in each bag of hay, and even saw the subtle scene of the talisman paper burning.
The talisman fire rose up from the grass, burned quickly and spread, falling on the horse thieves, and was extremely difficult to extinguish. The horse thieves who rushed in front of the car formation were covered in fire, howling miserably, running around, some rolling on the ground, but still
Rolling in the flames, some looked for clean water everywhere, but it was not easy to find water in the winter wasteland. Several horse thieves who were on fire rushed into the car formation howling, and they couldn't even lift their scimitars.
He fell to the ground in pain.
The group of horse thieves finally retreated again, leaving dozens of charred corpses outside the camp. Many of the corpses were hugged tightly together. Probably because of the panic before death, the group of horse thieves could not tell who was the enemy.
Who are the companions.
There was a burning smell in the air.
A cheer of victory echoed in the camp.
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Ning Que stared at the girl in white in the carriage and said: "I reminded you that you are our strongest person, and your telekinesis is our most precious weapon. It should be used when it is most suitable and should not be used casually.
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Mo Shanshan raised her head and glanced at him. She didn't know whether it was because she had seen too many bloody scenes or for some other reason. Her face was very pale at this time, whiter than the white dress she was wearing.
"A lot of people have died. If I don't take action, more people will die just now."
Ning Que looked at her and said, "You are a woman of kindness."
Mo Shanshan's eyelashes trembled slightly and he replied: "I am a woman."
Ning Que suppressed his anger and said mockingly, "You're not married yet."
Mo Shanshan replied calmly: "I won't marry you even if I marry someone else."
Ning Que was silent for a moment and then said: "If you still have telepathy, then your last telepathy must be left to me."
He is a person who cultivates talismans, and he is very aware of the extent to which Talisman Dao consumes telekinesis. The girl's pale and haggard cheeks indicate that she has consumed too much telekinesis these days, and he has to admit that among the entire team, this girl in white is the most powerful.
He is the one with the strongest strength, so when faced with this situation, it is inevitable to feel a little angry.
The horse thieves suffered heavy casualties under this shocking fire talisman, but there were at least two hundred horse thieves above the meadow who still had the strength to fight again. Mo Shanshan's mental power was exhausted, and his true state was only non-confusion, so he could not resist at all.
Of course Ning Que still has some life-saving skills, but if things like Yuan Thirteen Arrows and the tips his master gave him were used on these horse thieves, it would be a huge waste before his life is in real danger.
, who is only slightly less stingy than Sangsang, he will never use it.
The key is reinforcements. The food team camp has been holding out for such a long time, but the imagined reinforcements have never appeared. You must know that if it was determined that there would be no reinforcements from the beginning, he would have run away on a big black horse.
"Are there any reinforcements?" he asked, staring into Mo Shanshan's eyes.
Mo Shanshan looked back at him indifferently and said, "Only the reinforcements know that."
Ning Que stopped trying to communicate with her and said directly: "Get ready to break out. My horse can only take one person. I want to take Tmall Girl. You are responsible for your people."
Mo Shanshan asked: "What about these Yan soldiers and civilians who have fought with you for so long?"
Ning Que replied: "I just met them by chance and have no comrade-in-arms relationship."
Mo Shanshan shook his head slightly and said, "I won't leave."
Ning Que looked at her and suddenly said: "Haven't you discovered that the goal of these horse thieves on the meadow is to kill you? Apart from you, what else in this grain-breaking team is worthy of such a high price?"
Mo Shanshan looked at him and said calmly: "If the target of these horse thieves is me, then these people died because of me, and I should not leave them."
Ning Que raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Idiot, if you leave, you can attract thieves. How can these thieves attack these Yan army civilians who are not a threat?"
Mo Shanshan smiled slightly and said, "You don't have to lie to me, I now understand how cruel horse thieves are."
Ning Que suddenly noticed that her eyes, which often seemed a little dull and unfocused, became exceptionally clear and sure at this moment, as if he could easily see through all his thoughts. He looked at her for a long time, then turned around and left.
The horse thieves are gathering on the meadow, and there may be another attack in the next moment.
He casually wiped the thick blood on his face with his palm, put on a new mask, and walked in the camp full of corpses and broken soldiers. Regardless of the Yan army or civilians, when they saw him covered in blood, they would go to him on their own.
Avoiding both sides, even the girls from the River Country such as Zhu Zhihua looked at him with admiration and a little more fear in their eyes.
Since the battle with the horse thieves, apart from the sky-burning fire talisman, the main reason why the grain team camp can be saved is due to Ning Que. I don't know how many horse thieves fell under his simple sword.
Many people have seen how he killed the horse thief. It was really killing people like grass without hearing a sound. The most chilling and awe-inspiring thing was the calmness with which he killed the horse thief. This calmness seemed to contain some kind of indifference to life.
Feeling the strange looks from all around, especially the timid appearance of Tmall Girl, Ning Que did not explain anything and whispered to everyone to repair the car formation. At the same time, he used his peripheral vision to observe the surroundings of the meadow sloping valley, thinking about the escape route.
The horse thief is afraid of death, and he is also afraid of death, but he knows one fact better than most horse thieves. The more brave and fearless you are when facing death, the less likely you are to die. This is a precious lesson learned from countless years of life and death tests since childhood.
experience.
As for being indifferent to life... He has always been extremely indifferent to the life of a horse thief.
The reason why the horse thieves on the banks of Subi Lake were frightened by the news that he killed them was because he was just an ordinary soldier when he was in Weicheng. Once he left Weicheng and entered the wilderness, he became a thief on horseback.
Ning Que and his colleagues in Weicheng were horse thieves themselves, the most ferocious type of horse thieves.
In those years, he had killed countless horse thieves. If at that time, there was a world-famous girl Talisman Master behind him, he might have stayed and dealt with these horse thieves for a while.
But not today.
Because he was a little wary and uneasy, not because there were too many horse thieves, not because of the cruel and passive situation at the moment, but because he always felt that someone was watching him, and that person had been watching him for a long time.
Not one day, not two days, but many days.
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At the highest point of the east meadow, a dozen horseback thieves stood quietly, looking down at the chaotic battlefield.
Most of the dozen or so horse thieves arrived here last night. It was those who caught Ning Que's attention. They were different from ordinary horse thieves. They all covered their faces with cloths, as if they didn't want others to see their faces.
It is obvious that these ten riders are the leaders of the six hundred horse thieves, but for some unknown reason, the horse thieves keep dying in the inclined valley. Whether they are killed by Yan Qi or crushed to death by falling horses, they always maintain their
calm.
When the sky-burning fire talisman was lit in the food team's camp, the eyes of most of the more than ten riders finally showed shock, but the leader of the riders at the front still maintained absolute calm.
The leader of the horse thieves has a weathered look and is obviously middle-aged.
"There is indeed a very powerful talisman master in the food team. Maybe he is actually the young talisman master. These disciples in Mochiyuan are worthy of being under the sect of the Book Sage, and their sword energy flow is really powerful."
The leader of the horse thieves said coldly: "But after so many days, even the legendary bookworm must have almost exhausted his mental power, leaving the people below to prepare to continue attacking."
He worked hard for several days and nights in a row, just to make the young Talisman Master hidden in the food team waste his telekinesis. This leader’s plan seemed extremely patient, and now he did not hesitate to let his subordinates use their lives to squeeze out the last of the young Talisman Master.
His telepathy showed his cold-bloodedness.
Feeling the hesitation of the subordinates beside him, the leader frowned slightly and said in a cold voice: "The Central Plains Allied Forces and Wang Ting are negotiating peace. Apart from the Huangren, the most unlucky people are horse thieves like yours. Kill the people we should kill."
, to prevent this peace negotiation, for this purpose, no matter how many people die, it is worth it."
A famous subordinate said in confusion: "The Shanyu of the Royal Court and the Temple of God will not be deceived by such an obvious method."
The leader said coldly: "What we want is the truth. The truth is more powerful than any other statement. As long as the following people are killed, there will be no way for this negotiation to continue."
The riders on the meadow thought of the big man and immediately understood what he meant.
The leader looked at somewhere in the camp and said: "Continue to attack. If the man riding the black horse tries to escape from the camp, it will be our turn to take action ourselves. Remember, this operation must ensure that the man is killed."
The knights only knew that the person the leader mentioned was a male disciple of Mochiyuan, who had previously shown extremely strong strength, but they did not know the true identity of the person, so they were very puzzled after hearing this and thought about it.
If it causes enough shock in the wasteland, the first goal should be to kill the young Talisman Master in the carriage.
A horse thief behind the leader hesitated for a moment, then summoned up the courage to say: "Sir, our subordinates have suffered too many casualties. We are really unable to fight any more. If we continue to press, I'm afraid these guys will collapse."
This title is very strange. It doesn't sound like a title among horse thieves, but more like some kind of official title.
The leader of the horse thieves glanced at him lightly and said, "If you have led this group of horse thieves in the wilderness for nearly ten years and still cannot lead them, then what is the use of your lives?"
The horse thief was chilled by his gaze and did not dare to say another word.
The leader of the horse thieves looked at the camp below and said without emotion: "These horse thieves don't know their identities. They always thought that they were real horse thieves, but you can't forget your identities."
"Mounted are thieves, dismounted are soldiers, and you are the general's soldiers."
After listening to these words, the meadow became quiet. It took a long time before someone asked a question.
"Sir, how should we deal with the young Talisman Master in the convoy?"
"No matter how strong the bookworm is, it's all in vain if she doesn't realize her destiny. If her mind power is gone, how is she different from ordinary people? And even if she still has the strength to fight again, can she still stop us from killing that young man?"
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Since the beginning of the war, the dozen or so horsemen who had been standing quietly at the top of the meadow dispersed, gathered their subordinates, and began to prepare for the last and most powerful attack. Only the leader of the horse thieves remained there.
The leader of the horse thieves raised his right hand, lowered his hat lower, and looked quietly at the young man in the camp below who was wearing Mochiyuan disciple uniform, carrying swords and arrows and was covered in blood. After a long silence, he expressed complex emotions.
Smiled.
From Chang'an City last year to this moment, he has been secretly watching this person named Ning Que for a long time. Although he has never found evidence that Ning Que is related to the death of Yushi Zhang Yuqi, nor has he found out that this person has any influence on the general.
There was no hostility, but for some reason, he always felt that this person would be a trouble.
Because Ning Que is suspected, and because Ning Que has now entered the second floor of the academy, and has become the only successor of Talisman Master Yan Se, and has the favor of His Majesty, even if there is only one suspicion, he still needs to be vigilant.
Especially when Ning Que came to the Yanbei Frontier Fortress, no one knew whether he secretly received the emperor's order, and no one knew the profound meaning of the academy's move. So the trouble turned into pressure. There was no point in raising suspicions, and there was no longer a need to verify.
There is no need to investigate whether this person is involved in the censor's murder case or whether he is secretly targeting the general. They can only do and must do one thing, and that is to eliminate possible threats for the general.
Thinking of this, the horse thief leader's complicated smile gradually faded away.
At any other time or place, no one would dare to murder a second-floor disciple of the academy in broad daylight, but now we are in the wilderness, and no one knows the relationship between these horse thieves and the general.
The imperial court has become suspicious of the general, and sooner or later these group of horse thieves will be cleared out. Killing Ning Que today, sabotaging the peace negotiation, and wiping out all these group of horse thieves is a wonderful thing.
So when the news that Ning Que left the Bishui camp in disguise and escorted the grain team into the wilderness with the disciples of Mochiyuan reached the general's palace, he spared no effort and stayed up for days and nights to come here from Tuyang City to personally take charge of the matter.
.
This is a good opportunity given by Haotian. If you miss it, you will be punished by God.
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However, just when the horse thieves were about to launch another attack, Ning Que was about to gallop away, and the horse thieves leader was about to take advantage of the situation to kill him, there was another intensive sound of horse hooves in the distance in the wasteland meadow.
The Mochiyuan disciples and Yan Guomin men in the camp under the meadow were alert and preparing for war, and the horse thieves preparing to charge on the gentle slope of the meadow all invariably paused their actions and looked towards the place where the sound of hoofbeats originated.
A group of cavalry came from the meadow to the west.
This group of cavalry is small in number, about a hundred, but both the cavalry and their horses are wearing gorgeous gold-rimmed black armor. They are solemn and majestic, with an astonishing momentum, as if thousands of cavalry are here together.
It is the Temple Guard Cavalry Regiment, known as the strongest cavalry in the world.
A warm cheer sounded from below the meadow.
The horse thieves quickly regrouped and prepared to evacuate.
However, no one expected what happened next.
An old hand stretched out from a carriage in the center of the temple cavalry team. The hundred temple cavalry slowly stopped and stared indifferently from a distance of several hundred feet, but did not immediately attack the horse thieves.
The people in the food team camp looked over there in astonishment. The cheers gradually subsided and became silent. Some people guessed the intentions of this group of temple cavalry, with expressions of disbelief and grief on their faces.
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(I haven’t stopped writing. I wrote 12,000 words today. Tuesday’s task is completed. Oh, I only have to write 8,000 words tomorrow. I’m so happy.)