Chapter 118

After the kiss, Lin Shuge was still a little confused. He suddenly remembered that there were a group of people following him, so he punched him hard a few times, "There are still people here, do you still have any shame?"

"It's dark and far away, they can't see." Xie Chen looked innocent. The eagle moved on his shoulder, and Xie Chen let him go. "Go find Lao Zhang."

Lin Shuge watched it flap its wings and fly high into the sky. Its huge shadow passed over the withered grass and headed towards the river valley. He asked Xie Chen, "What's its name?"

Xie Chen: "Xiao Hei."

Lin Shuge: “…”

Lin Shuge's mouth twitched. You told me such a handsome bird of prey is called Xiao Hei?

Seeing Lin Shuge looking at him speechlessly, Xie Chen said confidently, "The white cat at home is called Xiaobai, so it's natural for it to be called Xiaohei."

Okay, let’s call him Xiao Hei. I just wonder if the swift black eagle will be happy to hear this name.

“You have to feed it. Otherwise, what if it gets unhappy one day and eats the pigeon you gave me as a snack?” Lin Shuge thought about the pigeon’s small body. It wasn’t even enough for... Xiao Hei to eat in one meal.

"No, brother." Xie Chen suddenly chuckled, "Brother, hold on tight," Xie Chen whipped the horse whip, and the horse under his crotch neighed, kicked off its hooves and ran away.

When they arrived at a place with abundant grass and water, they saw a river running through it and lush vegetation on both sides. Xie Chen was the first to get off his horse and stretched out his hand to Lin Shuge.

Lin Shuge rolled down and said to Xie Chen, "This place is suitable for farming." It's a pity that it has been occupied by the Qiang people, and they just graze and raise sheep here, which is a waste.

Xie Chen walked over and stood beside him, "Then let's take this place back and let brother farm it."

What he said was very arrogant, but also convincing. Lin Shuge wanted to laugh for some reason, blaming the modern Internet for being harmful. Unconsciously, he remembered the joke "This is the kingdom I built for you".

Seeing his expression of trying not to laugh, Xie Chen felt a little unhappy, "Brother, you don't believe what I said?"

"No, I believe it. I just remembered something." Lin Shuge laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?"

Just as Lin Shuge was about to speak, he heard He Xin's intermittent voice, and then saw him coming towards this side with his soldiers.

"Captain Hou, Lord Lin, aren't you going too fast?" He dismounted and looked at Xie Chen's horse. It had been running for such a long time but its gait was still steady. He thought to himself that it was indeed a majestic horse.

An eagle cry was heard in the sky. Xiao Hei flew through the clouds from a distance and swooped down. Xie Chen shouted, "If there is any situation, follow me."

"Yes, Lord Hou."

Lin Shuge climbed onto his horse. Xie Chen turned around and Lin Shuge nodded to him. Then they followed the eagle and galloped forward.

The wind in the river valley was moist, but it was already late autumn, so it was inevitably a bit icy cold. Lin Shuge gathered his cloak, quickened his pace a little, and walked parallel to Xie Chen.

"Zhongxuan, you have fought against the Shaoliang tribe. What do you think of their combat effectiveness?" Lin Shuge asked.

"It is stronger than the Huotu tribe, so we cannot allow it to grow stronger. If the Shaoliang tribe is really allowed to unify the Qiang tribes, it will be as troublesome as the Xiongnu." Xie Chen slowed down and replied.

"Don't worry, Lord Lin. The warriors of the Shaoliang tribe who were known to be able to defeat ten thousand enemies were also defeated by our Marquis. If western Yunnan had not intervened at that time, Marquis would have dealt with them long ago." A soldier at the back heard the conversation between the two and said.

"Why would western Yunnan help the Shaoliang tribe?"

Xie Chen shook his head, "I guess it's probably an alliance..."

He paused as he spoke, his gaze suddenly becoming sharp, Lin Shuge looked where his gaze was reaching, only to see two teams of men fighting with flags flying in the air.

"Brother, follow me closely for a while." Xie Chen said.

Lin Shuge said, "Okay." He reached out and took something hanging on the saddle. This was a musket made by Xiangli Gu. There were only two of them. There was a bamboo tube with gunpowder in the front and a hand-held wooden stick in the back. As long as the gunpowder was ignited, fire would spray out of the bamboo tube. Originally, the muskets of later generations could spray bullets made of gunpowder, but time was too tight, so they could only make it like this for now.

"Zhongxuan, wait, take it." Lin Shuge threw one of the bamboo tubes to Xie Chen, picked up one himself, lit the gunpowder nozzle and shot it far away. A raging fire immediately spurted out of the bamboo tube and continued to burn.

Xie Chen and the soldiers following behind him felt their scalps tingling and stared at Lin Shuge with wide eyes.

He Xin laughed loudly, "Captain Hou, you haven't seen much. We have seen how such things can kill the Qiang people. The Qiang people fell to their knees and thought it was a punishment from heaven sent by Lord Lin."

Xie Chen's eyes were burning as he looked down at the musket in his hand and said, "Let's go. It's a good time to give it a try."

The soldiers saw the muskets and looked at the crossbows in their hands with envy, but they could only follow Xie Chen and rush forward.

Lao Zhang killed a Qiang soldier with a single blow. He heard a deafening shout of killing. He turned around and saw the "Yan" flag flying high. He laughed loudly and said, "Brothers, hold on. The commander is here."

"Lao Zhang, take the brothers to retreat." Xie Chen shouted.

"Okay, brothers, retreat."

When the soldiers heard the order, they all retreated to the rear. The Qiang soldiers were already timid when they saw the large number of reinforcements from Dayan. A man who looked like a leader said angrily, "There are too many soldiers from Dayan. Follow me and retreat."

Before he could finish his words, suddenly, an arrow shot towards this side. The Qiang leader spurred his horse to avoid it hastily, but the arrow exploded with a "bang" nearby. The surrounding Qiang soldiers fell to the ground wailing, with countless casualties.

"What is this? Run away." The Qiang leader shouted loudly, but behind him he heard a "whoosh" sound and an explosion like a death call. The Qiang soldiers looked as pale as death and they ran forward desperately until they reached the river.

"Oh my god, what...what is this? How come it is more powerful than kerosene?" Old Zhang wiped the blood off his face and said in extreme shock.

"You haven't seen it before, right? This is called gunpowder. Lord Lin had people make it. It was it that helped us destroy the Qiang people who came to attack Pingxiang. Lord Lin has brought gunpowder to support Hou Chang again. It's a pity that not much was made, so we have to use it sparingly." He Xin patted Lao Zhang's shoulder.

"Follow me." Xie Chen waved his hand.

"yes."

The soldiers and cavalry were in high spirits and followed Xie Chen towards the fleeing Qiang people. Seeing that the enemy was so fierce and had such powerful weapons, the Qiang people wanted to cross the river and escape. However, due to the fast current and their ignorance of swimming, countless people drowned. The rest of the Qiang people saw the corpses floating in the river and had no choice but to surrender.

"We won, we won." The Yan soldiers cheered.

Xie Chen dismounted and looked at the surrendering Qiang people. "Are you from the Shaoliang tribe? Where is Yeli?"

The leader said, "We are from the Shaoliang tribe, and I am Liangdang, the son of Chief Hao."

Good? Xie Chen looked at him carefully and found that he was indeed a good man. When he was captured by Shaoliang tribe, he had met Yeli's son before. Because of his intelligence and bravery, he was the son that Yeli valued the most.

"Zhongxuan, what did he say?" Lin Shuge walked up to Xie Chen and asked.

"Brother, he is Yeli's son Liangdang."

Before Lin Shuge could say anything, Lao Zhang said happily, "We've caught a big fish this time, Hou Chang, quickly ask where the Shaoliang tribe's nest has moved to?"

Xie Chen turned around and glanced at him. Lao Zhang touched his head and grinned at him. Xie Chen said to Liang Dang in a cold voice: "Tell me the whereabouts of Ye Li, and the group of Qiang people behind you will not die."

Liangdang remained silent. The Qiang people behind him were frightened today and hurriedly said, "Master Liangdang, our tribe is led by you. The chieftain is ambitious and wants to annex other tribes to strengthen himself, but the Yan people are strong and have such magical weapons. We have no chance of winning. It is better for us to surrender to the Yan people early and survive."

Xie Chen quietly translated what he said to Lin Shuge, who nodded. The Qiang people were also composed of various small tribes, and it seemed that this team regarded Yeli's son Liangdang as its leader.

Liang Dang turned pale and leaned forward and said, "As long as you can forgive us, I am willing to tell you where my father is."

"I always keep my word. Tell me, where is Yeli?"

Liang Dang closed his eyes and said, "It's just ahead at the foot of Sun and Moon Mountain."

Xie Chen repeated: "Sun Moon Mountain?"

Sun Moon Mountain, wouldn't that mean we'll be there after walking through this section of the river valley? Lin Shuge smiled at Xie Chen, "Zhongxuan, let the soldiers rest for a while, we'll set off immediately."

"good."

After hearing this, He Xin shouted for the soldiers to rest. He sent people to distribute the dry food they brought this time to everyone, and threw some to the Qiang captives. The Qiang people looked at the things He Xin threw over with caution and didn't dare to touch them, but Liang Dang picked them up and shared them with his tribesmen, saying, "Eat it."

Lin Shuge glanced over there, took a bundle off his horse, and took out a few cakes, "Zhongxuan, this is for you."

This was what Lin Shuge had prepared at the moment. There were various fillings in the pancake. The one Xie Chen bit into was pork filling, which was mellow, fragrant and tender. After sleeping in the open for the past few days, he finally had a good meal.

"Brother, sit next to me." Xie Chen said while biting the biscuit.

"What's wrong?" Lin Shuge had doubts in his heart but still sat down obediently. Once he sat down, he understood what Xie Chen meant, "So you want to block the wind for me."

Xie Chen picked up the water bag next to Lin Shuge and took a sip. "I haven't asked about my brother's injury yet. Is it all healed?"

"It's well now. Look, I can move freely." Lin Shuge walked a few steps and was pulled by Xie Chen to sit next to him. "Now that you're well, stay out of the wind." He gathered Lin Shuge's cloak.

Xiao Hei let out a long cry, hovered in the sky for a long time, looked down again and then landed on Xie Chen's shoulder. Xie Chen fed it a piece of raw meat, and in the blink of an eye, he saw Lin Shuge looking at it with sparkling eyes.

"Brother, do you want to touch it?" Xie Chen said with a smile.

"Can I touch it?" Lin Shuge pointed at his torn sleeve.

“In fact, it likes you very much.”

"Really?" Lin Shuge said as he stretched out his hand and carefully touched Xiao Hei's wings with his fingertips. It looked so adorable with its head tilted, so he touched it firmly several times. He Xin, who was eating dry food nearby, was drooling at the sight, but as they hadn't seen each other for a long time, he didn't want to disturb them.

Lin Shuge snatched the meat from Xie Chen's hand and fed it to the dog. While feeding it, he said, "I'll get you something better when I get back."

Xie Chen said beside him: "Brother, did you see that there is someone next to you?"

Lin Shuge deliberately asked: "Where? Why don't I see anyone else?"

"Brother." Xie Chen raised his voice.

"Okay, okay, why are you jealous of it? You don't need me to feed you." Lin Shuge returned the meat to him and let him feed Xiao Hei himself.

"Brother, it's not dawn yet, let's set off." Xie Chen stood up and pulled Lin Shuge up.

"Okay, let's press on and pursue the victory." Lin Shuge said softly.