Guli Beetle was deeply embarrassed, and Hebula refused to give him any respect. He paused and said, "Great Khan Hebula, if Jin and Mongolia join forces, we can divide Western Xia into east and west, giving the western half to the Mongolian Empire. As for the Song Dynasty, we can resist it along the Song-Jin line."
Hebula was a little hesitant. After all, the vast territory of Western Xia was a great temptation to him.
Seeing a promising outcome, Guli Beetle hurriedly added, "Think about it, Khan. If Jin and Mongolia join forces to conquer Western Xia, then the mere Song Dynasty won't be worth mentioning. At worst, we can join forces and divide up the Song Dynasty as well. Then, the world will belong to Jin and Mongolia."
Hebule's mind moved: Humph, the Jin people are untrustworthy. If they swallow up the Song Dynasty, you can deal with us more easily. If you swallow up the Song Dynasty, I will strike first and then gain the upper hand.
The temptation offered by the Guli beetle was too great, and Hebule couldn't help but be tempted. He paced back and forth in the tent and said, "Okay, go back and tell Wanyan Sheng. If you want to join forces with me, you must divide Xixia into north and south. I want the northern half of the land."
Guli Beetle was delighted: "The Khan is wise. I will report this to His Majesty. I will choose a date for my Princess Dajin to marry the Khan. Our two families will become one."
Yu Bu Tong went on a joint mission to the Mongol Empire with Li Baiwan, the envoy of Western Xia, and traveled along the Gobi Desert on the northern line of Western Xia.
Entering Mongolia, the vast green grasslands came into view. The Song-Xia envoys advanced slowly, as this was the territory of the Tatars.
The Tatars were another Mongolian tribe, whose leader, Meiguzhen Xingchenjiu, surrendered to the Jin Dynasty. Xingchenjiu and the Hebula tribe frequently fought each other over cattle, sheep, and women.
Li Baiwan was the prime minister of Western Xia and the envoy on this mission. He said to Yu Bu Tong, "Brother Yu, the one ahead is Xingchen Jiu from the Tatar tribe. He is vicious and cruel, a lackey of the Jin Kingdom. We must not let him down."
Yu Bu Tong nodded and said, "We are pretending to be merchants this time. If Xingchen Jiu finds out that we are envoys, he will definitely kill us to silence us."
Fortunately, the journey was safe and these people did not encounter any Tatar tribes.
As night fell, the stars on the grassland were particularly bright. Everyone lit a bonfire on the grassland and roasted the dry food they brought with them.
"Ah~" The howling of wolves could be heard from the grassland at night, making people feel creepy.
To conceal their whereabouts, Yu Bu Tong and Li Baiwan brought only twelve followers, who led camels loaded with tea and silk.
Yu Bu Tong said, "Brother Li, why is this grassland so quiet? We haven't encountered any Tatar tribes along the way."
Li Baiwan smiled and said, "We're taking the horse trail. This is the dedicated smuggling route for our Xixia horse caravans. Our Xixia caravans are often robbed by the Tatars on the grasslands. They steal goods and kill merchants. So we Xixia people discovered this horse trail. We generally don't encounter Tatars on this road."
Yu Bu Tong nodded and said, "I see. I've been terrified all along the way, afraid of encountering these barbarians."
Li Baiwan laughed heartily and pointed at the twelve followers, saying, "These people are merchants from our Xixia who have been smuggling horses for many years. With them, we will surely reach the Kubule tribe of the Mongol Empire safely."
Suddenly the camel herd became a little panicked, and several camels kept raising their hooves and breathing air from their mouths.
The followers shouted: "No, there is danger!"
Animals are always more sensitive than humans, and they can always smell potential danger at the first moment.
Yu Bu Tong and Li Baiwan were shocked and hurriedly put out the fire to prevent them from being discovered by the enemy.
The place where everyone was was a depression in the grassland. They chose this place because they could block the wind and cold and avoid being exposed.
Everyone looked around and didn't find anything unusual, but the camel became even more anxious.
"Wolf! It's a pack of wolves!" Someone shouted.
I saw a pair of green eyes appearing in the darkness, slowly approaching like two lanterns.
Yu Bu Tong felt his hair stand on end. There were dozens of wolves in this pack. It was the first time he had seen such a large pack of wolves.
"Light the bonfire! Quick, quick!" Li Baiwan ordered hurriedly.
Everyone quickly lit the bonfire that had just been extinguished, but it was still unknown whether this bonfire could stop the wolves.
Steppe wolves are the most terrifying animals. They live in packs, attacking sheep and camel caravans. Even Mongolian locals are afraid of large wolf packs.
Wolves feared the bonfire, but they were even more greedy for the camels. Hunger drove them mad, their lantern-like eyes filled with a desire for blood and flesh.
"Ah!" A black wolf leader howled to the sky.
The alpha wolf was enormous, the size of a calf. Even Li Baiwan, who had lived in the northwest for many years, had never seen such a huge alpha wolf.
"Ah-woo!" the wolves raised their heads and howled loudly. Suddenly, more and more lanterns gathered around them, and there were nearly a hundred of them. Everyone's face changed color, and some camels were so scared that they knelt down.
The wolves were getting closer and closer. If they hadn't been afraid of the campfire, they would have pounced on everyone and tore them to pieces.
"What, what should I do?" Yu Bu Tong's voice trembled.
Li Baiwan swallowed his saliva and said, "Take, take the weapon."
Everyone pulled out their swords from the camels' backs. The swords flashed and the wolves took a step back. It seemed that they recognized the weapons.
But hunger overcame fear again. The wolves paused for a second, and a few of them quietly moved forward again, testing the waters.
A servant rushed forward with a knife in hand. Although these servants were once merchants, the camel merchants and horsemen all carried weapons with them. They were used to protect themselves and fight against thieves when they encountered them.
The wolves were very cunning. Two of them went around behind the servant and tried to surround him.
Seeing the situation was bad, the others picked up torches and threw them over. The two wolves, seeing the torches flying towards them, backed away. The servant was so frightened that he quickly retreated, and at that moment, the wolf in front leaped up and pounced on the servant's head.
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