Chapter Fifty-Four Phoenix Eyes
Qin Mo was about to act like a ruthless merchant and buy the carriage of this fallen nobleman when he was stopped in his tracks by a pair of phoenix eyes peeking out from the carriage's toes. The phoenix eyes were beautiful, but filled with a chilling aura, making even Qin Mo, a cultivator at the Profound Realm, feel a chill run down his spine.
Qin Mo shook her head, smiled awkwardly at the carriage, and said, "Nice carriage... Sorry!" before riding away, leaving the driver, who already had his hand on his sword hilt, and the phoenix-eyed man behind the curtain completely bewildered. What did "Sorry" mean?
As Qin Mo's cavalry emerged from Wangbei Gate to serve as the rearguard of the main army, the driver of the old carriage angrily flung the reins, and the four unremarkable draft horses pulled the carriage at breakneck speed, chasing after the main army.
Ulan City is located in the northern part of the grassland. Further north, beyond the grassland, the terrain begins to undulate, and tall trees gradually appear. Qin Mo had once seen a program that explained why the northern grassland receives less rainfall than the southern grassland, yet has tall trees, while the grassland receives more rainfall but only has short weeds.
Due to evaporation, although the grasslands receive more rainfall than the Russian kingdom, they experience even greater evaporation, resulting in consistently dry land, severe desertification, and difficulty for tall trees to survive. In contrast, while the Russian kingdom receives less rainfall, its low evaporation rate leads to a proliferation of tall trees and forests.
The heavy snow had been falling for several days, and the smugglers could only find obvious landmarks, not the precise roads. Fortunately, the grassland was flat, and Qin Mo's army traveled by sleds and horses, so they didn't care whether they were on roads or grass, as long as they could accurately find the campsites.
The campsites on the grasslands have been built up over thousands of years by merchants and smugglers at the cost of human lives. They are usually located near lakes, hills, etc., either in easily defensible locations or near essential water sources.
“Young Master, the guide just told me that we are moving much faster than he expected. So we either need to set up camp now or we need to get to the next campsite. However, the next campsite is a bit difficult to find. With so many of us, we can't all camp in a sheltered spot. Although we can use sleds to make a windbreak, he doesn't dare to make the decision himself and wants you to decide.”
Qin Mo was warming up in her sled when Wu Shengze arrived and asked where she planned to camp that night. He had only made a show of riding a horse when leaving the city, and soon after, he retreated to the warm sled.
"Naturally, we should hurry on our way. At this time of year, who knows what might happen? We should be as fast as we can. We'll stop for a while at noon to feed the horses, make some hot soup for the brothers, and then continue our journey." Qin Mo made the decision without hesitation. It was already almost the twelfth lunar month, and if two cold fronts came in succession, half of the army would probably suffer frostbite. Taking advantage of the high morale and sufficient fuel, the best strategy was to hurry on their way.
"Yes, then I'll have the cook go ahead and prepare. These bastards are really lucky, marching on sleds, with cotton-padded coats and fur coats, they're living the high life." Wu Shengze was full of admiration for Qin Mo's preparations. The most difficult things, like food and fuel, were solved by a single sled, which provided the necessary guarantee for crossing the snowfield.
The cook quickly drove the sled to the front of the main force. Qin Mo had arranged this at the beginning of the march; the cooks' sleds were the fastest, pulled by two good horses. The bone broth was prepared at night, frozen into lumps, and thawed the next day for a meal.
The army stopped, and a group of bulky warriors wrapped in fur jumped off the sleds to stretch their arms and legs. Then they took out feed to the horses and checked the warm fur on their bellies. If the horses got cold, it would be terrible. Walking to the trading city on two legs would be worse than burying themselves in a snowdrift.
Qin Mo was slurping a bowl of mutton soup. He didn't like the taste, but the veterans all drank mutton soup to keep warm, so he drank it along with them, even though with his cultivation level, it was impossible for him to freeze to death.
"Your Highness, that carriage is still following us." Kaihime, disguised as a spy, sneaked over to report. As Qin Mo's personal maid, she naturally stayed by Qin Mo's side. Whether she saw the phoenix-eyed man or not, Qin Mo didn't know, but she couldn't forget the charioteer who had placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it, in front of Qin Mo.
"That's normal. After a heavy snowfall, you can't find the roads. The places we've been are the roads. They're horse-drawn carriages, not sleds. Following behind them is a smart thing to do."
"Your Highness, I still find them suspicious, but why are they suspicious...? I won't come up... I'm willing to continue keeping an eye on them."
Qin Mo looked at Kaihime with interest and said, "You can investigate them as you please, but don't get too close to them. You are no match for them. Also... keep an eye on that telescope. It's better to break it than for it to fall into someone else's hands."
The telescope was a battlefield weapon Qin Mo created after discovering natural crystal in the capital. Unfortunately, there wasn't much transparent crystal, and Seaman had stayed in Dayuan and hadn't come to the north. His own processing skills were too poor; he only managed to make three superior-grade telescopes. He kept one for himself, one for Allen, and sent one to Uncle Lin. As for the flawed ones with blurry images, he packed them up and sent them back to Dayuan, giving one to the officer on duty at sea as a secret weapon.
"...No...I just thought that carriage was too strange...I didn't mean to play with the telescope." Kaihime's face flushed red, and she stammered, which Qin Mo found very amusing.
Qin Mo gently ruffled her hair, offered her a few words of comfort, and then sent her away. After Kaihime left the carriage, Qin Mo fell into a daze. Those phoenix eyes filled him with too many questions. What kind of person could have such cold and domineering eyes?
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