Chapter 2177 Wake Up
Bai Shan didn't sleep very peacefully. He vaguely seemed to hear the sound of someone walking outside, and there was also a rumbling sound of footsteps in his ears. This sound was very familiar, and it made his heart tighten even in his sleep...
He was confused for a moment, and when he realized that it was the sound of horse hooves, he suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. A faint firelight was reflected on the tent. Bai Erlang and Yin or Liu Huan were still sleeping soundly, but Daji and a retainer of the Yin family who were in the same tent with them were gone.
He quietly lifted the quilt and stood up. As soon as he walked out of the tent, he saw several people standing not far away.
Mr. Zhuang and Manbao were both standing there in their cloaks. When they heard the noise, they looked back and smiled in unison, "Are you awake too?"
Manbao's hair was still loose, and he was only wearing a cloak, so he had obviously gotten up directly.
Manbao: "Why don't you wear more clothes? Be careful not to catch a cold."
Daji went to get Baishan's cloak. He walked to Manbao's side, looked up the hillside, and asked, "Is someone coming?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a fire light up in the night, and several people saw more than 20 riders stopped in the distance.
Bai Shan narrowed his eyes and asked General Nie, "Are these the only ones?"
Lieutenant General Nie said, "We've already sent scouts to investigate. They might still be hiding somewhere else, but they're definitely not that close, otherwise we'd definitely find them."
There is no shelter here, and the surrounding area is empty, which has both advantages and disadvantages.
The disadvantage is that it is difficult for them to hide, but the advantage is also that if the enemy wants to launch a night attack or something, it will also be difficult for them to hide.
Daji took out a black cloak and put it on Bai Shan. A scout sent to communicate with the other party came back quickly to report, "Sir, they said they are herdsmen from nearby areas. There is a lost child in their tribe, so they came out to look for him late at night."
The scout paused and continued, "We have already explained our identities. They said they disturbed the adults and wanted to come forward to apologize in person and ask for a bowl of hot water."
Everyone looked at each other, and Manbao said, "Let them come up."
Lieutenant Nie pointed out a man and said, "Take your men into the tent and watch them. It's okay if they're asleep, but if they wake up and make a fuss, kill them immediately."
The soldier took the order and left, and the scout also got up and left to go get someone.
Manbao touched her messy hair. Bai Shan took a look and gave her his hairband. She casually gathered it and tied it up.
After receiving the reply from the scout, more than 20 riders came galloping directly. All the guards in the camp woke up, and even the two passers-by stuck their heads out to take a look. However, when they saw that Zhou Man and the others were in casual clothes, they shrank back and continued to lie down. Although their eyes were narrowed, their ears were perked up, waiting to run away if they heard anything wrong.
More than twenty riders came galloping to the front. Manbao felt a surge of fierceness coming towards her. She raised her lip and thought, "How dare he pretend to be a herdsman when he has such strong banditry?"
The three leading men dismounted, while the others remained mounted. They stepped forward, their eyes glancing at Zhou Man standing in the middle, then passed over her to Mr. Zhuang, who was standing beside them. Mr. Zhuang placed his right hand over his heart and bowed slightly, "Sir, I apologize for disturbing you. Please forgive me."
Mr. Zhuang glanced at Manbao and smiled, "You're very polite, young man. However, it's late at night and there's no hot water available. I've already asked someone to boil some."
Mr. Zhuang turned aside and pointed to a large fire not far away. He said, "When you're out and about, things are pretty simple. The children are still sleeping in their tents. If you don't mind, why don't you sit here and rest for a while?"
The three men responded with a smile, turned around and waved their hands, and their men dismounted and came over, surrounding them and heading towards the fire.
General Nie lowered his eyes and shook his hand slightly at his side to stop the soldiers and guards who were about to surround him.
Manbao and Baishan looked at each other, followed Mr. Zhuang in front, and when they arrived at the campfire, they did not sit in the main seat. They still let Mr. Zhuang sit in the main seat and Manbao sit in the secondary seat.
General Nie sat down one seat behind Zhou Man and asked the three people who followed him to sit opposite him. These small stools were from the carriage and there were not many extra ones, so not many people could sit on them.
They didn't care and just sat cross-legged on the grass, but the three leaders did sit on the benches.
They glanced at their tent calmly and happened to meet the eyes of Bai Erlang, who was woken up and stuck his head out to see what was going on.
At this time, Bai Erlang's eyes were not fully open, but only a slit of them was opened with a frown on his face. He glanced at them without thinking about anything, but only saw the blazing red fire. He shrank back and said to Liu Huan and Yin Huo who were sitting up in a daze: "I don't know who can't sleep and got up to light the fire. Let's go back to sleep."
After saying that, he lay down, hugged the quilt, closed his eyes and fell asleep again.
After hearing what he said, Liu Huan also slid down and pulled the quilt up to his neck.
Yin Huo was about to lie down, but then he thought something was wrong. He opened his eyes and looked around the tent, then asked, "Where's Bai Shan?"
The two people who were still half asleep murmured, "Who knows?"
"Go change your clothes, do you want to change your clothes too?"
Yin Huo didn't mean that, so he lay down. Then he vaguely heard Mr. Zhuang's voice. It was strange. Why would Mr. Zhuang get up so late?
The thought only flashed through his mind, his breathing quickly slowed down, and he fell asleep...
As Bai Erlang retreated, he also withdrew his gaze and asked Mr. Zhuang with a smile: "What official position do you hold, sir? Where do you want to be appointed?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "I am not talented, just a minor official in the Honglu Temple. This time I have been ordered to go to the Anxi Protectorate."
"I didn't expect to go so far, but Anxi is a good place. Is it your intention to pursue a successful career in Anxi in the future?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and nodded. "It's a good place. We, your subjects, will naturally obey your Majesty's wishes. If your Majesty orders us to stay, we will naturally stay."
Someone nearby couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, where is the Anxi Protectorate?"
The second brother glanced at the other person without saying anything.
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "Anxi is Gaochang, in the area of Qiuci."
After hearing this, they understood and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. It was far enough.
The second brother wanted to ask more, but Mr. Zhuang smiled and asked slowly, "I heard from the scouts that you lost your child?"
Several people almost forgot the reasons they had given. Upon hearing this, they immediately nodded and said with a worried look, "Yeah, I don't know where he ran off to."
Mr. Zhuang asked seriously, "How many children are missing? How old are they? Did they get lost on their own, or did they get caught by a beggar?"
Even though he knew it was fake, Manbao couldn't help but ask, "Are there still beetles on the grassland?"
Mr. Zhuang glanced at her and said, "Of course not. There are beggars everywhere, so you better be careful and don't let anyone kidnap you."
After teaching his disciples a lesson, he looked at them with concern.
They could only come up with the explanation they had prepared in advance. "They were all children around ten years old, five in total. They disappeared while grazing. The cattle and sheep are still there, but the children are missing. Their families are worried. This is the first time the tribe has lost so many children, so we are out looking for them."
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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