A young Xianbei man came running towards me and told me to follow the team quickly because the other side was releasing hunting dogs to search for us.
The barking of dogs was approaching. In the quiet night, the barking of hunting dogs was particularly fierce. I knew that since these beasts with sharp noses had found our location, the Wuhuan people were not far away.
I told the young man to follow the group, I got off my horse, took off my cloak, put my quiver on the ground, picked up my iron bow, looked at Po Liu Han on the southern ridge, and reached into the quiver to take arrows. I knew that my heart was very calm that night, because I carefully counted the arrows in the quiver while looking at the way they came. There were seventeen arrows, and I counted them twice. There were not many arrows in my quiver. I looked at the caravan going away behind me. I went straight to Po Liu Han because he was looking at me.
I took out an arrow from the quiver and waved over there, hoping that he would send someone to bring me some arrows, because I didn't understand their hand signals. He was very smart and knew it immediately, but he didn't ask someone to send me arrows. Instead, he immediately drew his bow and shot at me!
I knew he didn't use his full strength, and the arrow was silent, but it was not a good idea to go straight to his face! I caught the arrow, feeling uneasy. I quickly waved the wolf and pointed it three feet behind me. Following the direction of the wolf, there were whistles that broke through the air one after another. I saw snow splashing behind me, and a pile of arrows piled up behind me in an instant. I ignored his arrows and waited for the arrival of the hunting dogs.
The fur of the hounds was very obvious on the white snow, and the speed of these beasts was also reduced in the snow, so when they appeared, they became my targets. At first I was still pulling the bow to its full length, and then I started to learn the half-bow shooting of Po Liuhan, because there were simply too many beasts, and they were getting closer and closer to me. When I had used up the arrows in the quiver, some of the beasts had already approached me.
When I shot the last arrow at these beasts, a dog was hanging on my right arm. I felt that I owed Lu Bu another favor, because this armor was indeed an extraordinary item. The dog bit my arm, but I just felt something light on my shoulder, which did not affect me from shooting through a hunting dog that was about to leap up in front of me.
An arrow shot from the left and pierced the head of the hunting dog ornament on my arm. However, I didn't have time to thank the young man in the distance. Seeing another dog jumping forward, I didn't have time to squat and pick up the wolf, so I could only rush forward. Just as my left hand grabbed the dog's throat, another dog came from behind. Before I could think about it, my right hand rose again, and I bit the throat of the dog in my left hand, freed my left hand, and combined the strength of my right hand to crush the last beast chasing me to death.
I spat out the hair skin and blood in my mouth fiercely. The fishy smell in my mouth was extremely strong. A nauseous feeling made me very irritated. I howled like a wolf towards the direction in front of me.
I gasped and felt much better. I looked at the young man in the distance on the left. He was waving at me, asking me to catch up with the group. At this time, there were only a few carriages around him. The others turned south along the ridge behind him and disappeared into the forests on both sides. I turned around, put the arrows piled in the snow into the quiver, put them on my back, hung up the bow, picked up the Tianlang, turned over and got on the horse, looked back at the way we came, and the Wuhuan people didn't seem to come up. Everything returned to silence again.
Suddenly, there was a loud shout of killing from Lieya's place. In an instant, arrows rained down on Lieya's place. The Wuhuan noticed that Lieya was the Xianbei commander and launched a surprise attack on Lieya. I could already see some Wuhuan abandoning their horses and climbing up the hillside. I quickly rode over to support them, drawing my bow and shooting at the vague figure on the hillside.
Po Liu Han Lieya was leading some Xianbei teenagers to block the enemy on the way of the caravan. The horses and livestock that were pierced like hedgehogs were piled together by them to form a shelter against the flying arrows. Because some people began to rush up the mountain, the arrows were much sparse, which made it much easier for Lieya and his men to fight back from time to time. Under the powerful longbow arrows of these brave young men, the Wuhuan people left some corpses on the hillside and temporarily stopped the attack. However, the rain of arrows began to fall again. I hurriedly got off the horse, and soon my head was resting on the belly of a dead horse, shouting to Lieya: "Why are you staying here instead of leading the way and moving on?"
"There is only one road ahead, and it is impossible to go astray. This is the only way to pass the mountain pass ahead. I stopped just now because there are few trees on the slope below. The enemy may attack from here, so I stayed here to prevent a sudden attack and being caught in a trap. Sure enough, they attacked here." He poked his head and looked down the hillside, "Something is wrong, it seems like they have left."
"You are injured." I saw a pool of blood on his right animal hide sleeve and pointed to the wound.
"It's okay. We can swing the axe and shoot arrows. ... Listen, there seems to be the sound of horse hooves." Everyone fell silent.
Suddenly, a Xianbei boy pointed at the ridge ahead where I was coming from.
There were dozens of Wuhuan people riding horses towards us. Without thinking too much, everyone drew their bows and arrows and shot with all their might. But how far could fifty carts and animals go? They were approaching us, and suddenly, something came to my mind.
"Let me have a taste of the new stuff." Thinking of this, I immediately threw down my bow and arrow, picked up the wolf and ran to the middle of the cart tracks, facing forward, and shouted loudly, "Everyone, pay attention."
The Wuhuan people who turned around and galloped towards us were obviously afraid of our bows and arrows, and all hid behind their horses. Even so, people kept falling off their horses due to being shot by arrows.
I tried hard to calm my panic, mentally counting the pace of the Wuhuan people approaching.
Suddenly, I made the same move as Deng and the others to break the horse, but I didn't have the big shield to protect myself, so I could only use my left arm to protect my vital parts. I didn't expect that the first horse was a light and stupid horse. It hit the pole of the wolf and flipped forward. My left shoulder immediately felt a strong impact. I almost let go, and the front leg of the horse slightly behind passed the wolf, but scratched its belly on the wolf's fangs. The wolf's fangs were immediately carried forward by the horse that couldn't bear the pain, with the handle flipped over, and the end of the handle just hit the front of the horse behind, and it pierced in at once, and both ends pierced in together!
Immediately, two seriously injured horses carried my Sirius and jumped, causing all the horses that were rushing forward and couldn't stop to be hit by the two mad horses and the silver pole in the middle. The horses, unable to bear the pain, became even more crazy, and all of a sudden, the front of the battle became a mess with people and horses falling to the ground. I didn't expect this ending, but I couldn't stand up on the ground. I turned over with great effort, and then turned over again, trying to avoid the trampling range of these mad horses.
Because my abdomen was still stepped hard by a horse. If it weren't for this armor, my intestines might have been stepped out. Although the plan was implemented better than my best idea, I couldn't be happy. My right arm couldn't move. It didn't seem to be dislocated, but it was definitely strained. The severe pain in my abdomen made me lose interest in everything.
Po Liu Han Lie Ya was leading his Xianbei warriors to form a semicircle, all with bows and arrows drawn, and slowly pushing forward. From time to time, they could hear the sound of arrows leaving the strings and piercing the body, as well as the inhuman groans and wails squeezed out of the throat. They had never thought that there was such a longbow and crossbow propulsion method. The current situation was already a one-sided massacre. The Wuhuan people had no ability to resist, and the few people who stood up to resist were immediately shot like hedgehogs and fell to the ground helplessly.
I suddenly thought of a saying of my master, but I would like to change it: Fortunately, war is so cruel, otherwise I would definitely fall in love with it.
I slowly closed my eyes, and my whole body seemed to be numb. The only thing I could feel was the excruciating pain in my abdomen and right shoulder. But soon, I knew nothing.
When I woke up for the first time, Po Liu Han Lieya was beside me. He was happy to see me wake up. Or maybe it was because I saw that he was very happy after I woke up, but it was very short-lived, and I fell asleep again in a daze.
But I was very happy because I found out that I was not dead.
The second time, I was probably awakened by the pungent smell, a smell of burning rock yellow (main component: sulfur. Author's note). When Uncle Zhang had carbuncle, he applied this yellow powder mixed with strong liquor. I burned the remaining with fire, and the whole room was filled with this stinky smell. My sister scolded me for this. Thinking of this, I began to miss my sister. I don't know how she is doing. It was snowing in the sky, but the snow was gray and warm. It didn't melt. Later I found out that it seemed to be some kind of ash. They told me that there is a mountain that can spit fire. The Wuhuan people should not chase us anymore. This smell will prevent the hunting dogs from finding us. The falling ash will quickly cover our wheel tracks and horse hoof prints. I struggled to get up, and they said: "You want to see the mountain that spews fire? You can't see it now."
I had no choice but to tell them that I needed to relieve myself. I never thought that I, Xie Zhi, would need two people to help me relieve myself. They were lucky that the horse didn't step on that thing. If I really stepped on it, the first child of your gang would have to be named Xie. I think I am starting to get better because I can joke so calmly. After relieving myself, I fell asleep again. Those two places are still burning and painful, but it is definitely much better.
When I regained consciousness for the third time, I was being fed medicine, so I asked what the bitter water was. They said it was a medicine made from ginseng, ganoderma lucidum, and deer horn. The first two ingredients were top-grade herbs, and the ganoderma lucidum was good for joints and strong for tendons and bones; the ginseng was good for calming the soul and benefiting the five internal organs; all of them made sense, but what did the deer horn treat? I was told it could strengthen yang and tonify the kidneys.
Fortunately, I am weak and can hardly move, otherwise, I think something would have happened, especially to this Xianbei woman.
I think I am getting better and better. I can remember everything in the classics. Moreover, I have some not-so-pure ideas.
However, not long after drinking, I lost consciousness again.
The fourth time I woke up seemed to be at night. I heard someone singing. I felt that I often heard it in my dreams. It was really fascinating. No one was by my side. The campfire was shining outside the tent. I lay quietly in the tent until we set up camp temporarily. The song was cadenced and sang a touching story in the poetic and gentle language of an old man. The story happened in the far north:
There is a high mountain in the north called Baigala.
Beautiful river flowing beside the mountain.
There are countless rare birds and animals in the mountains.
There are also beautiful and holy snow lotus flowers.
The brave hunter and his wife settled down.
The mother gave birth to twins.
Sister Katu and brother Alta.
Twelve years later, they were both equally tall.
Just as brave and as good at archery,
The brother and sister look exactly the same.
This year, the strange beast Mammoth suddenly appeared.
The head is like a bear, the body is like a wolf, and the tail is like a snake.
Its mane is like an iron spear, and its sound is like a huge wave hitting a cliff.
It is as big as a hundred tigers.
Hunters who encountered it lost their lives.
The poor brother and sister are still at the foot of the mountain.
They will stay here to avenge it.
In a blink of an eye, seven years have passed and the siblings have grown up.
I practice archery diligently every day and never forget to do so.
One day, Alta returned from hunting.
The water on the fire swells and the steam fills the room.
Katuyan went out to collect herbs and has not returned home yet.
My brother Alta is busy sharpening his knife.
Suddenly I heard a roar behind me that echoed through the hills.
When he turned around, he saw the strange beast grinding its teeth.
The younger brother went forward and stabbed his heart.
My sister dropped the basket when she heard the roar.
The mammoth opened its seven-foot-long bloody mouth.
Swallowed Alta whole in one gulp.
Alta struggled in the mammoth's belly,
Katuyan was panicking on the rough road.
A young man stabbed the beast with a knife.
The mammoth raised his palm and slapped his chest in pain.
The girl returned to the tent at the foot of the mountain.
Seeing that Mammoth was dead at his feet,
But his younger brother has disappeared.
She saw the scratches on the mammoth's belly,
He immediately raised his axe and split the mammoth in half.
Rescue Alta from the mammoth's belly.
Katu called out his brother's name.
Alta could not give an answer.
The sister wept bitterly on her brother's body.
But no one comforted my sister's sorrow.
Katu cried all night long.
This moved the mountain god, Baiyin Nacha.
He transformed into a pine tree to comfort Katuyan.
You should be happy that your brother has gotten rid of the evil.
But why are you so sad
Katuyan turned around and bowed to the mountain god.
How could I bear to lose my brother Alta
The mountain god Baiyin Naqia pointed out the method,
Teach me how to save my brother Alta.
Silver Naqia teaches the Katu yàn method,
Your brother can still be saved, but chop off my skin.
Take the thick yellow juice and sprinkle it on your brother.
Then practice hard, and practice often so that you won't forget.
When the wild geese come, shoot them with one arrow.
Finally, I went east, and there was a fairy island in the sea.
The island owner has three daughters, and the youngest daughter is brought back to the tent.
You can save your brother yourself, so don't be sad anymore.
From then on, Katuyan was busy practicing archery every day.
Spring comes and three pairs of geese fall with one arrow.
In autumn, at least ten geese fly south.
Wait till the spring geese arrive in a group of eighteen.
Katuyan shot down all the geese with a single arrow.
He cut his long hair, put on monk's clothes, rode a horse, and headed east.
It took three years to build a raft and cross the vast ocean before we finally arrived.
Katuyan went to see the island owner Dai Yilang.
He wanted to find his little girl to go home with him.
Dai Yilang decided to test Katuyan.
Take out two glasses of wine, one red and one yellow.
One of them is poisonous, choose one and drink it.
The little girl has fallen deeply in love with this pretend boy,
Pointing to chún behind his father's back, he hinted at the answer.
Katuyan drank up the red wine immediately.
The father was afraid that Katuyan had no ability.
I'm afraid my daughter will suffer and miss home if she goes there.
He conjured up ninety-nine wild wolves to go wild.
Haokatuyan shot an arrow through the pack of wolves.
Dai Yilang decided to marry all three girls to her.
But he didn't know that the boy was a beautiful girl.
He gave each of the three brides a hairpin.
Let them return home when they find life hard.
Then waved his hand and sent it to the west with the wind,
Katuyan returned home with them.
Tell them to wait and enter the tent first.
When I went in, I saw my brother seemed to be fast asleep.
Wipe the dust off my brother's face,
Then change clothes and hide behind the tent.
The three girls waited outside for a long time.
But she never saw her groom.
Finally they couldn't help but walk into the tent.
Seeing their bridegroom sleeping,
They sat down in a circle, probably because they were too tired.
Suddenly I found that it was a dead person who was panicking.
Katuyan rushed in to explain the situation.
The eldest and second daughters immediately said goodbye to the hairpin.
They transformed into two wild geese and flew straight to the east.
The woman tried every possible way to save the boy.
A tear awakened Alta from his dream,
The younger brother woke up and stroked his sister's face.
Katu pushed his brother to the bride.
How did my brother treat that girl
The fairy blushed and did not answer.
Those who have lived happily ever after,
They all live together at the foot of Baigala Mountain.
Let this beautiful day follow the river,
Flowing slowly around the silver river.
…
There is nothing substantial in the rest of the story. I didn't expect that I would listen to it for so long. The rhythm is very monotonous and the words are very plain, but I was deeply attracted by the story. It's just a pity that the story didn't explain the happiness of the elder sister Atuyan. I think such a girl should be matched with a great hero, but there is no such thing in the story. I suddenly thought of my elder sister. Maybe my sister is just like Atuyan, who is constantly busy for me and has no time to consider her own happiness.
I think it would be better for me to stay out for a while. I don’t want my sister to be like Atuyan without a home after I get married.
I fell asleep again, and heard this song from time to time in my dreams. I dreamed that I ran to Atuyan and asked her to be my bride.
The fifth time I heard the sound of water in a daze, I was floating downstream on a large raft. Po Liu Han was no longer by my side, and only the sound of the rushing water was left in my ears.
When I regained consciousness for the sixth time, there was only an elder next to me. When he saw me wake up, he smiled.
I asked him why we were on the water, facing the sun, and we were still heading south. Could it be that the Wuhuan people were coming again and we had no place to hide? In my heart, I thought that this song had a great influence on me.
The elder wasn't as affected as I was. He just told me calmly to follow the current.
This time I woke up longer, thinking about Catuyan and Alta in the story. There were some wood chips on the raft, and I threw them into the water casually. However, I suddenly found that the situation was not as I thought. I thought that we were floating downstream without paddling and only one person was at the helm on the raft. With so many things on the raft, this piece of wood should be faster than us. However, our heavy raft easily got rid of it. I threw it several times and the same thing happened again.
After thinking for a long time, I still couldn't figure out what was going on.
I talked to the elder about the idea of coming to me. He certainly didn't expect that I was such a high-ranking official. But he still trusted me because I was injured for them and almost lost my life. After he got ashore, he met with other elders to discuss it.
The seventh time I got up, I could already ride a horse, but I often dozed off on the horse, and needed someone to remind me from time to time to prevent myself from falling off the horse. Why didn't I take a raft? Po Liu Han Lie Ya, the river has turned east and finally flows north. The elders have agreed to go to my place, and we are continuing to move south. He also told me that there are wild wolves everywhere.
I wanted to talk to the elders of the tribe, but Po Liu Han Lie Ya just pointed to the place behind him in the fog. The Wuhuan people finally caught up, and many of them had already fallen asleep last night.
I left the horse and found a place in the carriage to lie down quietly. I took off my armor to look at my wounds. There was no pain in either wound, but there was some soreness in my shoulder and numbness in my abdomen. There were some bruises on my abdomen, but my shoulder was fine.
I took back my Tianlang. It was brighter than the last time I saw it. I insisted on not falling asleep so that I could be able to help when the Wuhuan people came.
However, I still fell asleep at dusk that day, and in my dream I returned to Xiangyang.
The eighth time I was woken up by someone, and we were surrounded by a group of soldiers, but I was not nervous because I saw their clothes clearly. I took out my edict and gave it to their leading centurion. As a result, they escorted us back to the northernmost defense of the Han Dynasty.
When I entered the customs, I finally restrained my recent changes.
"I am Xie Zhi, the Marquis of Peace and Wind and Cloud of the Han Dynasty. These are the people I brought back to our Han Dynasty from the Northern Territory. Please register all of them."
When I looked at these members of the Po Liu Han Lie Ya clan, I suddenly remembered the 17-year expedition of the Spartacus clan. When the list came into my hands, I felt even more sorrow and desolation. I turned to Po Liu Han Lie Ya and said, "Don't worry, from now on, I, Xie Zhi, the Marquis of Ping An Feng Yun, will ensure the safety of your clan and let you safely reach Lelong, and never suffer the pain of migration and the sorrow of separation again."
On the morning of June 29th, the second year of Zhongping in the Han Dynasty, I led the Xianbei people of Po Liu Han Lieya back to the territory of the Han Dynasty. When we left, the entire tribe had 156 people. After more than a month of arduous migration, when we arrived here, there were only 54 people left.
The young Po Liu Han Lieya had no tears or sadness. He looked around at his people with determination, looked far to the north, then climbed onto his beloved white horse and raised his longbow high, signaling: Let's go!
That year, he was seventeen years old and had become the leader.