Chapter 457 is an essential item for any military expedition!
(Thanks to those who voted with 2 monthly tickets under the Eiffel Tower.)
The moonlight shone down and shone on the earth.
A gust of wind blew by, lifting the stray strands of hair that had fallen down Li Shiyue's temples.
She rode on her little red horse, standing at the village entrance, watching the armored soldiers silently marching towards Lijiatun behind her.
Even though it was late at night, and even though everyone who should have been asleep was asleep, there were just too many dogs in Lijiatun.
Even though the Xuanjia soldiers were light-footed and skilled at controlling their horses, and even though they had shoddy footwork strapped to their hooves, the dogs from Lijiatun still managed to hear them.
After one dog barked twice, a whole bunch of other dogs followed suit and started barking too.
Among them were Li Shiyue's four dogs, and of the four dogs, the big yellow dog barked the loudest.
After being woken up by the barking of the dog, Shi Tou slipped on his shoes and went out. He first scolded the dog in the yard, and then saw Li's mother open the door, wearing a coat.
"Mother?"
"Take a carrying pole and stand at the door and look outside. Why are the dogs barking?"
"Don't let a thief or someone else break in."
Standing behind Li's mother, Zheng Meiniang said, "Shitou, don't listen to your mother. How can a carrying pole be enough?"
"Listen to your aunt, go to the kitchen, grab the wood-chopping knife, and see what's wrong."
Stone was still Li's mother's favorite son. Even after hearing Zheng Meiniang's words, he still scratched his head and looked at Li's mother. When Li's mother nodded, Stone immediately turned around and went to the kitchen, grabbed a wood-chopping knife, and headed to the courtyard gate.
As soon as he opened the door, before he could even stick his foot out, the big yellow dog's paw was already there.
As soon as we left the hospital, Da Huang ran and barked towards the village entrance.
Riding on his horse, Sun Xiaoliu finally had a clear understanding of just how many dogs were kept in Lijiatun.
At first, when they said they needed to pass through Lijiatun at night, he didn't think much of it and didn't understand why Li Shiyue said that she had to lead the way.
Sun Xiaoliu knew that watchtowers had been built at the entrance of Lijiatun Village and on the mountain, and that people were stationed there every day, making it look like a village office.
But all they need to do is send a scout ahead to inform the guards.
However, Sun Xiaoliu overlooked the hundred or so dogs in Lijiatun!
Right now, all I can hear is the constant barking of "woof woof woof," which is making Sun Xiaoliu's ears hurt.
As soon as Dahuang darted out, the white dog, black dog, and spotted dog in the yard all followed suit and ran out as well.
At this moment, not only did Shi Tou go out with his machete in hand, but all the dogs in the village started barking, and the men from every household, shirtless and carrying their tools, opened their doors and stood in their courtyards, peering towards the village entrance.
Big Yellow ran fast. Li Shiyue was still riding on Little Red Horse by the big locust tree at the village entrance when Big Yellow neighed and ran to Little Red Horse's legs.
Big Yellow is very intelligent. When it saw Li Shiyue and Little Red Horse, it stopped barking and just kept wagging its tail.
Li Shiyue sat on his horse, watching as many families had already brought out lanterns and left their homes.
She had no choice but to gather her strength in her lower abdomen, pull off the whistle from her waist, and blow it three times, three long and two short.
When the whistle was blown, the dogs continued to bark.
Those from Lijiatun who understood the whistle blew out their lights one by one, scolded the dogs that were running around in the yard trying to run out, and went back inside.
"Keep going!"
"Yes, General!"
Accompanied by the barking of dogs, the 3,000-strong group left the riverbank in less than 15 minutes and headed towards the horse farm.
As Li Shiyue passed by her own door, she saw Shi Tou standing there holding a wood-chopping knife.
Li Shiyue nodded to the stone, then said to the big yellow dog that had been following her and the little red horse, "Go back!"
The big yellow dog whimpered twice in reluctance, and finally slunk into the yard. In the moonlight, Li Shiyue saw that the big yellow dog's tail was drooping.
Riding at the back of the procession, Li Shiyue watched as all three thousand people passed through, then picked up her whistle again at the end of the village and blew it.
Two long and three short notes were blown three times.
Only then did she spur her horse and pull on the reins to chase after the departing Xuanjia Army.
After she left, Shi Tou closed the door, put down his wood-chopping knife, and turned around to see Li's mother wearing a coat.
"Mother."
Li's mother nodded. "Is it October?"
Shi Tou nodded, and Li's mother said to him again, "Alright, go back to sleep."
The Li family went back to sleep, and the others in Lijiatun were relieved after hearing Li Shiyue's whistle.
After the dogs stopped barking, the people lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) dared to whisper among themselves.
"Sanlang, is it October?"
Upon hearing Zhao Min speak, Li Shiliang turned to the side and pulled her into his arms. "Judging from the whistle, it's October."
Since the guards on the watchtower at the village entrance didn't ring the gong, then it must be because they wouldn't allow it in October.
"It's alright. Since it's October, it's not a bad thing."
"Is it the Xuanjia Army?"
Li Shiliang leaned close to Zhao Min's ear and whispered to her, "It should be."
In October, he must have led his troops through our village to borrow a passage, heading to... the only place he could be going is the Turks.
Since they left at night, let's just pretend we didn't know anything.
"Ah, we don't know, we don't know, we don't know anything."
As dawn broke, and Li Shiyue and General Liu led three thousand men into the grassland, the people of Lijiatun also got up one by one.
Today, I ran into some people from Lijiatun in the village, and they were all making faces at each other.
Finally, Li Shiliang sent Ma Zi and Wei Zi to tell everyone that no one should talk about what happened last night, and only then did everyone stop acting so strangely.
After traveling all night and sharing the view with the golden eagle, Li Shiyue fed the strips of fresh meat in her hand to the golden eagle standing on her left arm. Then she instructed Chen Yong and Sun Xiaoliu beside her: "Chen Yong, go ahead and tell General Liu that there is a water source about two miles away where we can stop and rest."
Turning her head, she said to Sun Xiaoliu, "Xiaoliu, go and tell our brothers."
"Yes, General!"
General Liu rode his horse over to Li Shiyue, who had dismounted, and plopped down next to her.
Along the way, General Liu had to admit that the golden eagle was really useful!
Not only can it help them avoid wolf packs and speed up their journey, but it can also help them find suitable campsites and good places with water sources. It's simply an essential tool for monks and nuns on their travels!
Ah, no, it's an essential item for military expeditions!
"General Li, according to your estimate, we should be able to reach that place in less than three days, right?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
