Chapter 65: Chasing Camels and Catching Camel Cubs
Sui Yu learned that Uncle Lao Niu had been guarding outside all night, so she took down the pickled chicken hanging on the wall and soaked it in warm water. She asked Sui Liang to stay at home to watch the door while she went to Shiqitun to find Uncle Lao Niu.
When Tong Huaer saw Sui Yu come in, she felt a little panicked. The two had met many times in the past, but they had never met eyes.
Sui Yu stood at the door and glanced into the yard, asking, "Isn't Uncle Niu at home?"
"He went to get some water. Do you want to come in and sit for a while?" Tong Huaer rubbed her hands.
Sui Yu waved her hand. She tried it, but she still felt reluctant to contact Tong Huaer.
She turned and walked away, also changing her mind.
After returning home, Sui Yu washed the pickled chicken several times, chopped it into small pieces, put it into a pot, added water and started stewing. Thinking that Uncle Niu had no teeth, she went to the vegetable garden to pick three radishes.
Bring the chicken to a boil and pour in the diced radish.
"It smells so good, are you eating meat again?" Passersby slowed down their pace and joked half-seriously, "Captain Zhao isn't home, so you two siblings always eat good food at home."
"My cousin sent me a pheasant. I pickled it for a few days but couldn't bear to eat it. Uncle Lao Niu came to watch over me all night last night, so I stewed the chicken to thank him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been willing to eat it." Sui Yu explained. She also smiled and joked, "Don't be jealous. Just smell the meat for a few more times. I won't charge you."
The person outside the door curled his lips, muttered something, and walked away.
Sui Yu chuckled. She pulled her hair up and wrapped it with a headscarf. She said, "Brother Liang, you stay home and light the fire. I'll take the half basket of ash I shoveled out and carry it to the vegetable garden to spread on the fields."
Sui Liang knocked the stone under his butt to indicate that he heard it.
Sui Yu carried half a basket of straw ash. She gritted her teeth and let out a "hey yo" sound. She leaned half of her body and used her hips to push the bamboo basket out of the door.
"Where are you going?" Uncle Niu just walked into the alley and stopped when he saw someone. He stood at the entrance and shouted, "I heard your aunt say you came to see me. What's going on?"
Aunt? Sui Yu laughed.
"It's okay. Don't cook at noon. I stewed some chicken and will bring it to you when it's done." Sui Yu's movement of carrying the basket became increasingly difficult. She shouted, turned around and continued walking.
Aunt Sun came out when she heard the noise. She stood outside the door, took a look, and said, "Aren't you going to help?"
"She's not my wife, so I shouldn't feel bad for her." Uncle Niu didn't care. He wasn't a hardworking person. "If Zhao Xiping hadn't explained this before leaving home, I wouldn't have worried about this."
Sui Yu's face was always prone to causing trouble. If he kept watch and showed his courtesy, within three days, these gossipers would probably start gossiping about him trying to take advantage of Sui Yu.
"It's been almost a month since Captain Zhao left, right?" asked Aunt Sun.
Uncle Niu nodded. He was also concerned about Zhao Xiping's whereabouts and was hoping that he would come back today. As an old man, he had to take care of two families and was so tired that he couldn't even sleep well.
The man he was thinking about was still in the Gobi Desert. Zhao Xiping sat under a huge rock to take a breath. There was no grass or trees on the Gobi Desert. It was dry and sunny. Only the shadow cast by the huge rock could provide shade.
This was his second time coming in. The caravan he escorted before did not encounter bandits who killed and robbed people. After Zhao Xiping and ten other soldiers dressed as bodyguards returned to Yumen Pass, he was arranged to follow another group of Hu merchants to cross the Gobi Desert again.
"Masters, come and eat something." Hu Shang brought the rice over. He said that rice was soaked rice. Boil a pot of water and pour it into the steamed, dried and fried rice. When the rice grains swell up, it becomes a bowl of rice.
Zhao Xiping took the bowl and drank some water first. Just when he was halfway through his meal, a black bird squatting on a huge rock on his right suddenly called out twice. He turned his head to look over there and lowered his gaze. He saw yellow sand floating on the ground in the distance. The floating yellow sand gathered into clumps, and there was no trace of wind blowing.
"Brother." He shouted and motioned for people to look over.
The leading soldier nodded and said, "Eat quickly, and we'll leave after you're done."
Zhao Xiping chewed the rice in his mouth and swallowed it, then casually placed the earthenware bowl on the ground. He pretended to lead the camel, but in fact he was sending it away. After settling his own camel, he slung his bow and arrows, put his knife on his waist, and hid behind a huge rock to listen for any movement.
Suddenly, the camel neighed, and the black bird on the boulder spread its wings and flew high. A few black feathers brushed against a wooden arrow that broke through the air and fell down in a circle.
Zhao Xiping saw the direction from which the arrow was shot. He walked around several rocks and saw the bandit hiding behind the rocks and shooting arrows. He pulled the leather string and an arrow flew out with a "whoosh". A stream of blood spurted out and the man fell to the ground.
On the other side, the sound of golden swords clashing was heard. The soldiers and bandits were fighting in a chaotic situation, making it difficult to shoot arrows and kill the enemies. Zhao Xiping carried a bow on his back, drew out his scimitar and rushed into the circle of fighting.
Thick smoke and yellow sand were billowing from the ground. People standing in it were blinded by the wind and sand and could not open their eyes, let alone distinguish between friend and foe. Zhao Xiping did not dare to fight and he quickly retreated.
There were other people who had the same idea as him. Those who were lost alone did not dare to say anything, for fear that they would not call their accomplices and instead be surrounded and killed by the enemy.
For a moment, there was no sound in the Gobi Desert except the sound of running footsteps.
Zhao Xiping retreated from the yellow sand circle. Before he could rub his eyes, he saw two bandits rushing towards him. He raised his feet and ran, trying his best to keep distance. He kicked hard with his feet, kicking up yellow sand to block people's sight.
Noticing that the footsteps behind him had weakened, Zhao Xiping turned around quickly. He raised his bow, drew the string, and the arrow shot out. One man fell to the ground and screamed, while the other hid behind a boulder.
With one enemy gone, Zhao Xiping was no longer afraid. He strode forward, drew his sword and killed the man lying on the ground, then pulled out the arrow. When he heard footsteps approaching, he swung his sword to fight back.
Another person fell down, Zhao Xiping took a few deep breaths, and he followed the footprints back to find the bandits. He drew his bow and shot arrows when he saw bandits. Every time someone fell down, he thanked Sui Yu a little more. Having a bow was much more useful than practicing any boxing.
As the sun set, the Gobi Desert, once suffused with the scent of blood, returned to calm. The Hu merchants, who had been hiding in the distance, came over, and with their help in bandaging his wounds, Zhao Xiping, his scimitar in hand, went to count the enemy, stabbing those still alive and, incidentally, cutting off their left ears so he could return and claim the credit.
"Brother, there are 23 dead bandits. There must be more who escaped." Zhao Xiping dragged a group of eight people over and said, "I killed these few."
Wu Zu: ...
"I will report the truth to the captain when I get back, but I guess these minions are not enough to free your wife from slavery," he said.
Zhao Xiping knew that military merit was not easy to accumulate, and he did not expect to achieve great success overnight.
"Save it first, it will be enough after saving it a few times." Zhao Xiping said.
Wu Zu looked at the group of people being dragged over. The arrow wounds were all on their upper bodies. Although not fatal, they made them unable to move.
"Your archery skills are pretty good." He praised.
"Most of them attack from behind. If they are running, I can't do it either." Zhao Xiping said truthfully.
Wu Zu shook his head and said that this was not the case. Many people threw stones, but even at a distance of three steps, the stones could still miss the target, not to mention shooting arrows.
When the Hu merchant came over, Zhao Xiping tactfully left. The bandits had been dealt with, and he could return tomorrow. He wanted to go home, eat soup noodles, flatbread, meat, and sleep.
"It's getting dark, let's hurry up, otherwise the smell of blood and dead bodies will attract other things." Wu Zu gave the order.
Of the eleven garrison soldiers, five were dead, three were wounded, and only three were intact.
Zhao Xiping carried two colleagues who had fallen ill. They had been eating together half a day ago, but now they were separated by life and death. The excitement in his body subsided, and Zhao Xiping's back was covered with cold sweat. This time he could stand and walk, but maybe next time he would be lying down.
When the sky was full of stars, the travelers stopped. The Gobi Desert would dry people out during the day, but would make people shiver with cold at night. The Hu merchants built a fire and all the survivors sat around it.
"Brother Zhao, I'll call you next time we have a mission." Wu Zu handed him half a bowl of muddy wine and said, "It's cold at night. Have some wine to warm yourself up."
Zhao Xiping waved his hand, pointed to the wolfskin draped over his shoulders, and said, "I'm not cold."
Wu Zu sat down and asked, "Is it worth it? Will you come out again next time?"
Zhao Xiping was silent for a long time. When a gust of wind blew, he gathered up the wolf skin and said, "Come out again. If there is a suitable mission, please let me know."
"Bewitched." Wu Zu sneered.
Zhao Xiping said nothing.
After a night of half-sleep and half-wakefulness, at dawn, after receiving the silver from the Hu merchants, the garrison soldiers parted ways with the caravan, one group heading west and the other heading east.
The six living men returned with the camels laden with the corpses. The footprints they had left yesterday had long since been obliterated by the yellow sand. The corpses, strewn across the Gobi Desert, exuded a pungent odor from the bites of insects and birds. Zhao Xiping glanced past and saw a thick layer of sand covering the bodies. Perhaps in a few days, before the next caravan passed by, all twenty-three bodies would have sunk beneath the sand. Over the years, huge mounds of sand and earth would have formed over the bones.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xiping felt a little scared when he looked at the Gobi Desert again.
"If I were alone, I wouldn't be able to get out of the Gobi Desert." Wu Zu laughed. There were endless huge rocks, and they were all the same in all directions. If he went in the wrong direction, he would starve to death.
People may not know the way, but camels do. The eleven camels were all accustomed to their respective families and they remembered the direction of home. After four days of traveling through the Gobi Desert, we emerged from it on the fifth day, and the walls of Yumen Pass were faintly visible.
After leaving the Gobi Desert, the first thing the six survivors did was to dig a pit to bury the bodies. If they were buried in the Gobi Desert, it would be difficult to find them. If they were buried outside, their families could come and move the graves later.
"Why don't you choose a good place for yourself?" Wu Zu walked up to Zhao Xiping and teased.
"Get out! I won't die even if you do." Zhao Xiping kicked him. He led the camel to the river. He was stinking so much that he jumped into the river to wash himself.
Spending the night by the river, Zhao Xiping woke up in the middle of the night to urinate. He noticed camels with their calves drinking water on the other side of the river. Sui Yu's words flashed through his mind: building an inn, training camels, and renting them to caravans...
When the sky was just beginning to light and the six of them woke up and prepared to continue their journey east, Zhao Xiping took a few more glances at the desert on the other side and said, "You guys go back first. I saw a herd of wild camels last night. I'll go chase them and see if I can catch one or two camel calves."
"Don't you already have a camel?" asked Wu Zu.
"I don't think it's too much." Zhao Xiping laughed twice.
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