May is the beginning of summer, and it is the time when the grass and water on the Gulang grassland are most lush.
At noon on May 14, deep in the Gulang grassland, a large team was slowly moving across the grassland. The team was large, with about 20,000 people. Unlike ordinary herdsmen on the grassland, the team consisted of young and strong cavalrymen, who were fully armed and rode on majestic rhinoceros horses, following the team and slowly moving across the grassland.
On the road of this cavalry team, there were lush aquatic plants more than half a person's height everywhere. The scattered lakes were like gems dotted in the endless green ocean. Around the lakes, there were wild peonies and amaranths in full bloom everywhere, as well as various colorful wild flowers, spread on the grassland like brocade.
There are large groups of wild rhinoceros horses playing in the water and gathering by the lakes. In the breeze, wild antelopes and yaks can be seen everywhere in the rolling grass waves. Looking around, in the grass, you can see all kinds of medicinal herbs growing everywhere on the grassland - licorice, astragalus, scutellaria, red peony root, ephedra, siler, anemarrhena, codonopsis, gentiana, bupleurum...
These good medicines that can be sold for money in the Han area are just as common as ordinary grass and can be found everywhere on this grassland.
The entire Gulang grassland is like a natural treasure house, its richness is unimaginable.
This marching team was already accustomed to everything they saw along the way. The colorful scenery on the grassland did not make those people in the team feel relaxed and pleasing to the eye. On the contrary, as the team moved forward, many people in the team had solemn and cautious expressions. More than ten outposts and cavalry had been sent out along the way, as if they were afraid of being ambushed. Not only that, there were also two eagles circling in the sky, monitoring every move on the ground around the team.
This team is the cavalry of the Ebony tribe, and the one leading this team marching on the grassland is the chief of the Ebony tribe, Ugusa.
Ugusa was riding a tall and strong black rhinoceros horse that seemed to be glowing all over. He was in the middle of the team, marching with the vanguard of the team.
In more than a year, Ugusa, the chief of the Ebony tribe, seemed to have aged a lot. The pain of losing his son Mobiedu, coupled with the battle with the Uli tribe in the past year, made the wrinkles on Ugusa's forehead deeper. Ugusa's originally thick black beard now had a few strands of gray.
At this moment, Ugusa pursed his lips tightly, frowned deeply, and stared at the distant horizon with an unpredictable look in his eyes. He seemed to be full of thoughts. Occasionally, a hint of fierceness appeared in his eyes. Since the army crossed the Ximu River in the morning, Ugusa had not said a word along the way.
Because Ugusa did not speak, the nobles and important figures of the Ebony Tribe next to Ugusa also fell silent one by one. In this silence, only the sons who were most favored by Ugusa still maintained their "vitality", running around in the team, very active - since Mobedu's death, Ugusa has paid more attention to his remaining sons, and his sons, vaguely, also like to show themselves in front of Ugusa.
The death of Mobiedu was a huge blow to Ugusa. Originally, everyone in the Ebony tribe understood that Ugusa was planning to train Mobiedu as his successor.
It was a major plan for the Wumu tribe to conquer those small tribes in Yulong Mountain. Ugusa gave this plan to Mobiedu to execute. Originally, Ugusa wanted Mobiedu to make great achievements in Yulong Mountain, establish his prestige and lay a foundation for future succession, so that his brothers would be convinced and the nobles and elders of the Wumu tribe would be speechless. However, what was unexpected was that Yulong Mountain eventually became the burial place of Mobiedu. The action of the Uli tribe made the plan of the Wumu tribe to conquer the tribes in Yulong Mountain fail instantly, and thousands of soldiers were lost in vain, including Ugusa's most valued son.
This is a deep hatred that is difficult to resolve!
If people from the Shatu Alliance had not come, the war between the Wumu and Uli tribes would have continued and it would have been unknown when it would have ended. However, this time people from the Shatu Alliance came to mediate the dispute between the Uli and Wumu tribes. Ugusa could not give face to anyone on the Gulang grassland, but he had to show an attitude towards the special envoys of the Shatu Alliance. In the past month or so, he gradually stopped the actions of the Wumu soldiers and agreed to meet and talk with the people of the Uli tribe in person.
Of course, Ugusa agreed to talk, but no one in the Ebony Tribe knew what he was thinking.
"Father, are you worried about the meeting with the Uli tribe tomorrow and what tricks the Uli tribe will play?" The person who said this was Ugusa's youngest son, Gedan. Although he was the youngest son, Gedan was already in his twenties. He looked very much like Ugusa, with a strong appearance, but also a delicate mind and very smart, so he was very much loved by Ugusa.
"Gedan, remember, unless one day all the wolves on the grassland walk on two legs, any promise made by the enemy cannot be trusted!" Ugusa glanced at his youngest son, shook his head gently and said.
"But the two envoys sent by the Shatu Alliance are here with us. One is in our team, and the other is still in the Wumu tribe. These two people are our hostages, and they are also your safety guarantee for agreeing to attend the appointment this time. If the Wuli tribe dares to play any tricks, won't we be able to explain to the Shatu Alliance?"
Ugusa squinted his eyes and glanced at the front of the team. Just a few hundred meters away, a special envoy of the Shatu Alliance was riding on a rhinoceros horse, among the vanguard team. From a distance, the envoy seemed to be talking to one of his generals while riding the horse with his head tilted, pretending to be relaxed and trying to win people's hearts.
"If we, the seven Shatu tribes, had not escaped, we would have already become the victims of the Shatu Alliance. Since ancient times, the number of Shatu people who died at the hands of the Shatu people has been dozens of times higher than that of those who died at the hands of other races. Do you think the heads of a few special envoys of the Shatu Alliance are more valuable than the heads of so many people in our Wumu tribe?"
Ge Dan rolled his eyes, "Then why did father agree to the mediation of the Shatu Alliance and be willing to talk to the Wuli tribe?"
"Don't you understand?"
"Not really understand!"
"In the eyes of shepherds, wolves and leopards are in the same group! The Han people in Baishi Pass are the shepherds, do you understand?"
"I... kind of understand!"
"After I meet with Sultan this time, no matter whether the Wumu and Wuli tribes are at war or peace, you should prepare yourself after you come back. Follow the caravan into the country. I want you to stay in the Han people's place for two years. During these two years, you should watch carefully what the Han people are doing and learn all the skills you can!"
Ugusa suddenly mentioned this matter, which made Ge Dan stunned for a long time before he reacted. He even asked with a tone of contempt and confusion, "Why do you want to go to the Han people's place?"
The wrinkles on Wugusa's forehead suddenly became as deep as ravines. He glanced to the east and said, "In the past year or so, the Han people in the northwest have changed a lot and have come up with a lot of new things. If you want to deal with the Han people in the future, it would be best to understand their ideas first. You are young and unfamiliar to the Han people, so you are the most suitable person to do this. In the future, there must be someone in the Wumu tribe who understands the Han people most thoroughly!"
"Okay, since my father ordered me to do so, I will go!"
“Hmm!” Ugusa nodded and said nothing, but the deep furrows on his forehead were not smoothed out and were still wrinkled. What Ugusa did not tell his youngest son was that in the past six months, for some reason, every time he heard news from the northwest, he always felt frightened, especially when he heard a few days ago that the Han people could spin fine cloth with wool. Many nobles and elders in the Wumu tribe thought it was a good thing to hear this news. Their eyes were shining, and they fantasized about doing wool business with the Han people or spinning fine wool cloth on the Gulang grassland and selling it to the Han people. Only Ugusa felt uneasy when he heard the news. On the night he heard the news, he even had a nightmare. He dreamed that the ancestors of the Wumu tribe appeared in his dream one by one, and then looked at him in tears without saying a word, letting him shout in his dream. The ancestors of the Wumu tribe did not speak, but only shed tears. In the end, the faces of the ancestors shattered in tears and disappeared into the darkness...
When Ugusa woke up from that dream, he was covered in cold sweat...
(End of this chapter)