Chapter 3639 Living Water
After walking for a day and a night, they would occasionally find messy footprints and food residues on the snow.
Then, on the third morning, they discovered that the group had changed their route.
The scouts reported that the group had turned around and headed northeast.
After hearing the news, Zhu Feng, who was originally rushing all the way, finally waved his hand to stop the group of people. Ying Shao did not get off the horse either. He immediately took out a sheepskin map from his arms and handed it to him.
The two people huddled in front of the map, whispering something.
As for Nan Yan, she had been running for several hours straight, and the inside of her thighs had already been worn out. The blood had soaked through her clothes, which had dried and torn, torn and dried again. This time, she had no feeling at all.
She began to understand why those cavalrymen could remain calm while riding on horseback. Perhaps they had already developed a layer of calluses on their bodies. No wonder they were much stronger than herself.
She was relatively better off. Aunt Tongyun and Delu, who had never experienced such a hardship before, really suffered a lot. However, they did not dare to dismount without the emperor's order. They could only curl up on the horse's back to catch their breath and drink water continuously. After a while, Delu's water bag was empty.
Aunt Tongyun said softly, "Didn't I tell you to be frugal when traveling?"
As he said that, he handed him the water bag in his hand.
Nan Yan only glanced at them, then gently shook the reins and spurred his horse slowly towards Zhu Feng. As he approached, he heard Ying Shao say, "If I'm not mistaken, their target should be here."
Zhu Feng pondered for a moment, then said, "Give the order and tell them to rest here. We'll set off in a quarter of an hour."
"yes."
Ying Shao immediately rode down to deliver the order.
After he left, Nan Yan slowly rode over and saw Zhu Feng still holding the map, deep in thought. He didn't know what he was thinking about, and his face became even heavier. The heaviness made him breathe hard, and he started coughing while covering his mouth.
"emperor."
Nan Yan hurried over. Zhu Feng took a deep breath, as if swallowing a cough, and turned his head to look at her.
His eyes immediately fell on her thighs.
Nan Yan looked down fearfully, but Zhu Feng remained calm and said calmly, "If you can't hold on, I can ask Ying Shao to send someone to take you back while we're still close to the camp."
Nan Yan ignored him completely.
She spurred her horse closer, and the two horses were close together, rubbing against each other. Nan Yan leaned over to look at the sheepskin map in his hand.
They were not very familiar with this grassland, especially the environment within the territory of the Neng Kingdom. Nan Yan knew that this map was originally drawn by Zhu Feng himself when he was guarding Peking. He was familiar with all the routes every time he went on an attack, and then he came back to draw a rough map. Later, Nan Yan went to Kulun City and Baihu City, and came back to add to and subtract from it according to her memory, and finally got this simple map.
What Ying Shao pointed to just now was a very small circle on the map.
It should be a small lake.
Or rather, a pond.
Judging from the location, it was probably dozens of miles away from them.
Nan Yan whispered, "Should we change our route?"
Seeing that she ignored what he had just said, Zhu Feng couldn't help but sigh softly. A hint of anger appeared on his face, and even his voice was a little impatient: "Do you know what path we are going to take?"
Nan Yan said, "I don't know."
"What do you mean by changing the route?"
Nan Yan looked up at him, knowing that he was deliberately taking his anger out on her, so she didn't argue with him and just said, "That's right, are we going to this place?"
“…”
“It’s a lake.”
“…”
"Are we going to get some water?"
Zhu Feng was helpless as she spoke so eagerly and seeing her getting closer and closer, almost reaching into his arms, he rudely snatched the map away and said with a frown, "It's the raiding group. I originally thought they were going back to Kulun City immediately, or there should be a large group waiting to pick them up nearby. But I didn't expect them to change course when they got here and headed for this place called Makouzi Pond."
"Are they going to get water?"
"This group of people came here for the raid with light equipment. They must have little water and food on them. After walking on the grassland for a few days, they should probably get some water."
Nan Yan smiled and said, "That's perfect. We're almost out of water here."
Zhu Feng glanced at her, then looked at Tongyun and Delu, who were not far behind her and got off their horses as if they had been pardoned, and were eager to lie down on the ground and take a nap.
They, as slaves, had never suffered such hardship, let alone Nan Yan.
Over the years, Nan Yan had lived a life of luxury in the deep palace. He thought that if he took her out for two days, she would suffer. However, he didn't expect that she would be tougher than those people.
Thinking of this, Zhu Feng said, "Are you really not going back?"
“…”
Nan Yan still ignored him and took out a water bag from the bag behind her horse's buttocks and handed it to Zhu Feng: "This is the medicine I had someone brew in advance. Your Majesty has been exposed to the wind for the past few days, so you need to drink some. The medicine is not as effective when it is cold as when it is hot, but a little is better than nothing."
Zhu Feng looked at her with a sullen face, but in the end he said nothing. He took the water bag and drank it.
The medicine was not as bitter when it was cold as when it was hot, but Zhu Feng still frowned as he drank it. Seeing him like this, Nan Yan hurriedly took out the other water bag and handed it to him to clear his mouth, but Zhu Feng just waved his hand lightly and pushed away the water bag she handed over.
He said, "You guys should save some water over there."
“……?”
Nan Yan was stunned for a moment.
Aren’t they going to follow that group to Mabutuzi to replenish water?
Zhu Feng glanced at her and said nothing.
Seeing him like this, Nan Yan didn't ask any more questions. She just turned around and walked back silently, and mentioned it to Aunt Tongyun and Delu and the others. Delu was originally holding Aunt Tongyun's water bag and pouring it continuously, but when he heard her say that, he immediately stopped.
After resting for a while, the group got ready to set off again.
This time, with an accurate target, they walked faster than before. Nan Yan did not dare to lag behind and rode his horse with all her might. Finally, in the evening, she saw a patch of blue appear on the white snow in front of her.
It is the pond called Makouzi.
There are many ponds on the grassland, which can provide sufficient water for horses and pedestrians. However, in winter, most of the ponds and lakes will freeze. Only a small number of ponds will not freeze all year round because of the running water underground.
This horse button is one of them.
As soon as they saw the pond, everyone became excited.
But then, Zhu Feng, who was riding on horseback, raised his hand with a serious expression, and everyone stopped.
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