Yequ Mountain is a semi-arc-shaped mountain ridge that stretches for seven or eight miles. The Yequ Spring flows out from the foot of the mountain in the south of the mountain and converges into a shallow lake of 100 acres in size at the southern foot, forming an area of 4,000 to 5,000 acres. An oasis of sparse trees and meadows.
When Chen Hai and the seven others rushed to Yequ Mountain, the wind and snow had stopped, and the vast desert was covered with a layer of white snow. Yequ Mountain looked particularly tall in the vast sea of sand and snow.
"Yes, historical records record that the Great Yan Frontier Army built a fortress here in the early years and filled it with elite troops to resist the Huma demons and barbarians from going south and to protect the smooth flow of the Western Qiang main road. The stone village at the foot of the mountain was probably built by the Great Yan Frontier Army in the early years. And the camp to stay?" Chen Hai pointed his horsewhip at Little Rock City at the foot of the mountain, chatting and laughing with Hu Bilie. It seemed that he was not familiar with the world and did not see the murderous intent and contemptuous smile hidden in Hu Bilie's eyes.
"The horses produced in Yanzhou couldn't stand the severe cold weather. They both fell down and died within a few days of leaving Tieliangling. However, my master and servant were not willing to give up halfway. They had been walking for three days and three nights in this windy and snowy day. , I don’t even know how far I have deviated from the old path of the Western Qiang." Chen Hai explained calmly.
This group of people looked extremely fierce, but they didn't look like ordinary horse thieves. They looked well-trained, more like ruthless soldiers wandering the desert.
Everyone here wears spirit armor, and the yellow-level spirit armor cannot be said to be very powerful, but the Taoist seal restrictions engraved on it clearly affect the vitality of heaven and earth, and there are hidden divine flowers. Once they encounter a surprise attack, they will immediately show their invulnerable power.
These seven people actually all have the cultivation level of the Spirit Realm. They carry big bows on their backs, carry swords at their waists, each holds a spear and a halberd, and their horses form a semi-arc, surrounding Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er faintly, like knives. Sharp eyes swept over the faces of Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er, but they did not take the initiative to ask Chen Hai about their origins.
"My name is Hu Bilie, the surname of the Yao family in Yanzhou!" The leader is a strong man with a full beard. He has a cultivation level in the late stage of the Spiritual Realm. There are two scars across his face. It's hard to tell how old he is. He stared at Chen Hai with fierce eyes like knives. Although this person had a hawk-nosed nose and deep eyes, and was a Qiang Hu, he was very familiar with the situation in Yanzhou and would not easily believe Chen Hai's words.
"Where are your horses?" Hu Bilie asked.
After winter, even though the environment in the Xixia Corridor is better than the desert to the north, it is still extremely cruel. If you are not careful, even a martial artist with Tongxuan Realm foundation may die in the snow and ice. Ordinary caravans cannot I will choose this time to go west. And the group of people in front of them don't look like horse thieves, but they are going to the horse thieves' den to visit some friends. Who would you believe that they are the escorts of some kind of caravan
And Ning Chan'er tracked him all the way to the vast desert, so she wouldn't want him to be surrounded and killed by horse thieves.
Judging from the appearance of these people, some are from Yanzhou and some are Qiang and Hu people, but most of them are in ragged clothes, with yellow faces and thin skin. They must be slaves captured by horse thieves and enslaved.
"It is said that Yequ Mountain, although small, is a pearl deep in the desert. Did Brother Yao feel deeply when he saw this situation?" Hu Bilie reined in his horse at the edge of the oasis, turned around and asked Chen Hai with a smile.
Yequshan is a bit reluctant to call it a city. Xiaoshi City is about a mile in circumference. It is close to the mouth of the stream where Yequ Spring gushes out of the mountain. There are buildings such as arrow towers and sentry towers, which completely enclose the small Yequ Lake. Control within the shooting range of the archery tower.
Chen Hai thought to himself that if he didn't want to go with him, would these seven people attack them immediately
Each of these dozen people had an empty horse tied behind them. A knight poked the lame horse with a halberd and asked Chen Hai and Ning Chan'er to ride on the lame horse together.
On the south bank of Yequ Lake, there are thousands of acres of farmland reclaimed, and canals are dug to divert water from Yequ Lake for irrigation. It was winter, and no one could be seen working in the fields. However, there was a quarry on the southern slope of Yequ Mountain. Nearly a thousand people were digging out large pieces of solid stone and transporting it down the mountain under the supervision of supervisors. A larger stone village was built south of Little Rock.
"Don't mention the historical records. Twenty years ago, Emperor Yitian conquered the Qiang in the west and sent troops and horses to Yequshan. However, Emperor Yitian was killed by our Qiang coalition forces at the bank of Chochai Lake, and the military stronghold in Yequshan fell into disrepair. Come down." Hu Bilie couldn't help laughing when he talked about the past twenty years ago, as if he was laughing at Emperor Yi Tian's overestimation of his abilities. He waved his riding whip to Little Rock and said, "Now my friend lives here. , built cities and fortresses, they are now the city lords of Yequ City, but they have not yet been canonized by the Western Qiang Kingdom."
Which force are these seven spies sent by? What is the intention of the horse thieves who came to contact Yequshan at this time? Should they be detained directly for interrogation? But will Ning Chaner, a witch, cause trouble?
"Yes, the Yao family is a princely family in Yanzhou. My ancestors are still involved with Yao Jing, who lives in Yanjing, but they are no longer connected at this time." Chen Hai said with a smile.
Such a heavy snowstorm is definitely not something that the pampered clan clan disciples in Yanzhou can bear; and Chen Hai's tall, slightly bloated face is also covered with beards and has a few shallow scars crisscrossing it. They looked ferocious and brave, and they definitely didn't look like pampered sect disciples. They even looked more like spies sent by horse thieves than them.
"Yao Xing has met many generals. My master and servant left Tieluli Ridge west to travel to the Western Qiang countries. They never thought that they got lost in the wind and snow. I dare to ask all the generals, where is this place?" Chen Hai shrugged his burly body, walked up from behind the boulder and asked, holding his hands in his hands.
Ning Chan'er's affectionate hug made Chen Hai feel on pins and needles, but her words still moved his heart.
After walking zigzag for more than ten days and four to five thousand miles in the depths of the desert, he suddenly saw such an oasis full of spiritual energy. Whether it was occupied by powerful horse thieves or not, the sight in front of him made Chen Hai's mind wander. A jolt.
Leaving the Xixia Corridor, the oases in the depths of the desert are extremely limited in number, regardless of size. What's more, the spring in Yequ Mountain is a rare spiritual spring that can occupy the horse thieves in Yequ Mountain, even if it only has two or three hundred people. , and should not be underestimated.
Perhaps because he noticed that Chen Hai had joined more people, the wolves stopped chasing him from behind and disappeared into the depths of the vast sand sea. Chen Hai followed Hu Bilie and his group all the way to Yequ Mountain without seeing any wolves. The traces follow again.
Yequ Mountain and the black stone ridges seen along Chen Hai are all the remaining veins of Taiwei Mountain exposed above the ground.
"If you walk three to four hundred miles south, you will see the ridge of the North Mountain of Wushaoling. That is where the ancient route of the Western Qiang lies. However, if you continue to walk blindly like this on this windy and snowy day, how high will it be? Even with his cultivation level, he is afraid that he will end up exhausted." The man who claimed to be named Hu Bilie could not see through Chen Hai's details. He stopped his men who were about to move with his sharp eyes and said, "We happened to be escorting a group of soldiers. The caravan is returning to the Western Qiang Kingdom. If you don’t mind accompanying us to visit our friends in Yequ Mountain first, we can lend you a horse to serve as your footwork. You can pay us an appropriate amount of money when we arrive in the Western Qiang Kingdom."
Ning Chan'er also behaved like a personal maid. When the seven strange riders - muscular men with bruises or scars on their faces - approached, she hid behind Chen Hai, shrinking, as if She was afraid that these seven people would drag her out and rape her on the spot.
"You are also going to the Western Qiang Kingdom. It will be great to have company along the way. As for Yequ Mountain, I have seen records about Yequ Mountain in ancient books. It is said that deep in the desert, there is a black mountain named Yequ. Spiritual springs gush out of the rocky ground in the south of the mountain to drink from the bitter journey. If I have the opportunity this time, I have to take a look. Thank you!" Chen Hai thanked him and said perfunctorily, while secretly trying to figure out the identities and origins of these seven people. .
Chen Hai just now thought about seizing the horse and running away, and did not want to rush into the den of horse thieves, but when he heard Ning Chan'er said that she was carrying Niiling Powder with her, she wanted to follow Hu Bilie and his gang to Yequ Mountain. But they have a better chance of winning.
Ning Chan'er took off the veil on her face again at this time. Chen Hai turned around and found that her charming face suddenly became ordinary again, as if she was a personal maid accompanying him when traveling - Chen Hai knew that Ning Chan'er It was to stir up the essence between the facial orifices and twist the muscles of the face to achieve the purpose of changing the face, but what was extremely rare was that he could not see any flaws.
He said that he invited Chen Hai and others to go with them, but Hu Bilie did not allow Chen Hai to refuse and signaled his men to give up a horse.
The scale of the horse thieves in Yequshan is not large, but if this group of people really wants to lure them into the horse thieves' den and then attack, Chen Hai will not take this risk easily.
In addition to Little Rock City, there are also two to three hundred small and dilapidated houses scattered on the edge of the oasis. Most of them are made of stone and earth and are very simple. Some women and children in tattered clothes poked their heads out of the leaky earth houses and looked at them. Nu Nu looked at Chen Hai and other visitors.
When Chen Hai came out of Mazong Mountain, the black hills he saw along the road were only more than a hundred meters or tens of meters high. They looked like road signs deep in the vast desert. The main peak of Yequ Mountain was four to five hundred meters high.
"I'm bringing Ni Ling San." Ning Chan'er, who probably noticed Chen Hai's hesitation, got on the horse from behind and hugged Chen Hai's back, and didn't mind riding with Chen Hai intimately, said quietly.
The main trunk of Taiwei Mountain is only more than 10,000 miles long. It borders Tengjiao Ridge in Tianshui County to the east. Past Fujiao Ridge is the rolling ridge at the western foot of Qintong Mountain. From Taiwei Mountain to the west, it stretches for two thousand miles. The remaining veins of Mazong Mountain and Tieliangling, and including the remaining veins of Yequ Mountain, the Taiwei Mountain veins extend for nearly 30,000 miles.
Ning Chan'er also sensed that someone was approaching. Her beautiful eyes flashed with murderous intent, and she wanted to kill someone and seize the horse. However, she changed her mind in an instant. She didn't know where she found a dark brown burqa, which was the same as what Chen Hai was wearing. It turned out to be the same style. She put the burqa on her body and wrapped her proud figure in it, only revealing a small face as big as a palm.
Chen Hai didn't expect that this group of horse thieves, with only three to four hundred people, would actually have the intention of running Yequshan next to the old Western Qiang Road. It was really rare.