"National Master, what's going on over there?!"
The four scholars naturally heard the sound of horse hooves and people shouting. They carefully clung to the tree trunk and poked their heads out from behind. When they saw a group of cavalrymen waving spears chasing after them, they quickly shrank back and sat on the ground against the tree trunk.
"I met a vengeful murder."
"Don't be afraid, the Imperial Master is here." "Yes, with the Imperial Master here, why would you be afraid of a bunch of barbarians... Ouch, the sound of horse hooves is getting closer."
The old donkey was chewing hay. When he saw a donkey among the people running over, he shook his ears excitedly, propped himself up from the ground, took small steps, and hopped and jumped for two steps before he was slapped back to his bed by Lu Liangsheng.
"The barbarians' affairs have nothing to do with us."
The Toad Taoist in the bookshelf also opened the small door. How could he not join in the fun? He snapped his fingers, lit his pipe, held it in his hands, jumped to the edge of the door and sat down. He took a puff and looked at the five barbarians who were being hunted with a calm look.
"It turns out that watching others being chased is pretty good, but it's still a little lacking in excitement and not satisfying enough."
Looking into the distance with interest, in the desert sand, five Arabs were running stumblingly, pulling a donkey loaded with a basket. Seeing the same five people and a donkey resting under a tree over there, who looked like Greeks, he waved his hand hurriedly, but there was no intention of them moving at all. He could only look back at the Byzantine cavalry that was about to catch up.
He gritted his teeth and looked at the other four people behind him.
"Don't want the donkey anymore, take the Hadith inside!"
The man leading the donkey loosened the reins, ran to the back, took out a scripture from the hanging leather bag, stuffed it into his arms, and shouted breathlessly to the front:
"Baishar, I can't run any more."
The man in front with a white cloth wrapped around his head turned around. The four people behind him had sweat on their faces and were breathing heavily, but they still roared at them.
“The followers of Allah cannot learn to compromise!”
The four men at the back gritted their teeth, and somehow they found the strength to abandon their donkey pace and try their best to keep up with the men in front, and hurriedly passed by the five Greeks under the tree over there.
Boom—
The sound of hooves shook the ground, and dust splashed in all directions between the flying hooves. The Byzantine cavalrymen who were riding over also saw the five people and a donkey under the tree from afar. The leading knight was gesturing to his subordinates to disperse and surround them. He suddenly clenched his raised hand and turned his gaze to the five people under the tree again.
"Five people...donkey..."
Then, he loosened his clenched fist and waved it over there: "Capture them as well, bring them back to Constantine, hand them over to His Majesty, and let Dael of Karabosa identify the murderer!"
When the Greek words came out, Lu Liangsheng, who was sitting under the tree, frowned. Even Toad, who was tapping his pipe to shake off the dust, was stunned for a moment. "Why are these guys coming towards us?"
"They are here to arrest us."
Lu Liangsheng put away the paper, stood up dragging his long sleeves, pinched a spell and casually waved it. The Byzantine cavalry who were galloping on their horses seemed to have something covering their eyes. When they could see clearly, they suddenly turned in another direction and rushed towards the empty desert on the other side, waving the spear in their hands as if they were fighting with someone, and the fight was getting farther and farther away.
"Master."
The scholar got off the rock and stopped thinking about drawing a map. He turned around and called out to the four scholars who were sitting with their heads leaning against the tree trunk, "And the four of you, pack up and get ready to leave."
“Are you okay?” Ma Liu stretched his neck and looked around. Seeing that the dozen cavalrymen had run away for some reason, he was immediately delighted. He got up and jumped twice, shaking his body. “Barbarians are barbarians. They came with such force, but in the end, they still got pissed and pissed.”
Zhao Tang dusted himself off and said, "Of course, being unruly in front of the Imperial Master is really uncomfortable."
Just as the four were about to struggle to grab the old donkey's reins, a voice suddenly came.
"Baishar thanks the friendly Greeks for their help."
Over there, the five Arabs who had escaped earlier turned back, with gentle smiles on their thick beards. "Without you, my companions and I would probably have been caught up by the Byzantine soldiers."
The Greek this man spoke was not fluent, but Lu Liangsheng could still understand it. He glanced at these people out of the corner of his eye. They were all wearing rough robes, and their hands and feet were thick, as if they often traveled long distances. He probably thought they were business travelers, but one should be more careful when going out.
He smiled at the other person and clasped his hands together.
"It's just a coincidence. I don't know why you are being hunted by them?"
When asked about this, the man named Baishar seemed a little depressed. He walked under the shade of a tree and asked his companion to find the donkey that had run away. Then he sat on a rock nearby and pounded his knees.
"We don't know why they are hunting us. We were preaching in Tairush before, and suddenly we heard a rumor that a siren was caught in the Mediterranean. It was said to be a half-human, half-fish sea monster, which caused a sensation in the city. The preaching was also disrupted. We were just about to go to the next place according to the plan. After leaving Tairush, we met the Persians at the border. They were not friendly to us. On the way to the transfer..."
The man suddenly chuckled.
“… On the way south, we encountered Byzantine cavalry again. As soon as they saw us, they said that the five of us had killed the governor of Kalabsa and had a warrant for our arrest. As a result, the Persians caught up with us. The two sides had been at war for years, so they fought each other first. The five of us took advantage of the chaos to escape here.”
After saying this, he took the water bag handed to him by his companion and took a sip. He was very tired after the long journey and the wild run just now. After taking a breath, he suddenly remembered what he had just said and recalled what the Byzantine cavalry said when they captured him. He turned his head and looked around. There were exactly five people like him, plus a donkey.
All of a sudden, he understood something and the smile on his face gradually froze.
However, he still stood up and walked over to shake Lu Liangsheng's hand with both hands. The latter would not refuse this courtesy and shook hands with him with a smile.
Baishar nodded and laughed too:
"Your whereabouts, Baishar swears in the name of Allah that we will never do anything bad to those who helped us."
At this time, the companion also found the donkey, and said goodbye to Lu Liangsheng and others, put on the scarf and continued on the road of preaching. Watching them go away, the four scholars coaxed the old donkey over, "Master, let's go too."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the five figures getting farther and farther away in the distance, hummed softly, reached out to take the reins, turned north, asked Wang Feng and the other three to point to the east, then looked to the north and hurried to follow.
"Master, we are going in the wrong direction." "Yes, the east is the direction back to the Central Plains."
There was the sound of tinkling copper bells ringing. Lu Liangsheng, who was walking in front, turned his face slightly and looked a little cold. Wang Feng, Ma Liu, Zhang Ti and Zhao Tang looked at the handsome imperial teacher in fear and shut their mouths instantly.
In front, Lu Liangsheng turned around and continued to move north.
"That mermaid was captured by the Byzantines. She saved me once, so I can't just ignore her. Since I brought her here, I have to take her back, just like you."
The four of them looked at each other for a moment, then clasped their hands.
"The National Master is truly kind and righteous." "Yes, the National Master's heart of righteousness is rare in the world, and he is truly a role model for us!"
“… I don’t think a small barbarian can defeat the Imperial Master. When the time comes, the four of us will cheer for the Imperial Master and show the might of the Sui Dynasty!!”
"Shut up!"
Lu Liangsheng turned around and shouted, and then there was silence behind him. Taoist Toad opened the small door and called the four over. He asked them to say some flattering words to him. After listening to them, he touched his white belly and shook his head contentedly, feeling quite comfortable.
Ahhhh~~
The old donkey looked back at the bookshelf, stamped his hooves excitedly, and followed his master. There were four scholars chatting and laughing along the way, making the scene quite lively.