Chapter 302: An Old Horse Knows the Way
Old man Hongshi was heartbroken when he saw his wool felt blanket sprinkled with salt.
I feel sorry for the precious salt on the grassland and my own wool felt.
He stared at Song Dekui angrily and shouted, "Did you grow up eating grass? You can't even hold a bag of salt!"
Song Dekui leaned over and stepped on the salt with shaking legs, turning the white salt into black, and then stepped it into the gaps in the floor mat, unable to even pick it up.
He even reached into the cardboard box and said in a frivolous tone, "Oh, you've soiled the headman's wool felt. I'll help you throw away this mat. I'll compensate you for any amount you owe me."
The red stone man's eyes suddenly turned red with anger: This is salt! How dare you waste it like this? You will be punished by the gods.
What's even more abominable is that this thin man who looks like a weed took out a bag of salt...
"Stop! I believe you are a caravan, okay?"
The red stone man finally couldn't help but admit it.
Salt is precious on the grassland.
If these two men only sold salt, the stock in that small box would be enough to exchange for dozens of sheepskins.
In addition to exchanging tea and salt for furs with the Red Stone Tribe, Song Liyun also wanted their map from here to the Mida Valley.
The Red Stone Man snorted angrily, "There's no map. The path our Di people have taken is passed down from generation to generation. It's all in our minds and we won't speak it out easily."
Song Liyun didn't believe what he said. As long as there was enough benefit, anything could be exchanged.
She slowly said, "Five bags of salt..."
"No, this is the wealth of the Red Stone Tribe..." The shriveled old man shook his head like a rattle.
"Six packets of salt!"
"no……"
"Ten packets of salt!"
"I can't tell you!"
"Ten packets of salt... and one packet of sugar!"
"That road is not easy to walk on...you need to add another bag of tea!"
"Okay! You have to draw a picture!" Song Liyun took out charcoal pencil and paper.
"No! No! I've never touched a pen before! I can only tell you how to get there."
Song Liyun: “……!”
Is it appropriate to tell someone who has never been to the grassland about a distance of nearly a thousand miles: how many ditches, rivers and hills they have to cross in the middle?
Obviously, oral narration alone is not enough.
According to the Red Stone Man himself, he walked along the gravel Gobi from the Mida River Valley to the Hungry Wolf Beach.
You can follow the traces left by summer mountain torrents to go to the Mida River Valley.
That is the end point of the rivers surrounding hundreds of miles. If you follow the river, you will reach it sooner or later.
However, the Redstone Tribe had been on the road for half a month, and there were too many variables to encounter over this distance, so she had to be cautious.
Song Liyun estimated that with the sheep grazing and stopping here and there, they would cover an average of 20 kilometers a day, which means they would cover at least 300 to 400 kilometers in half a month.
And the Redstone Tribe is still on the road. If they walk faster, the distance will be longer.
At such a long distance, in the vast and uninhabited wilderness, there are only wandering wild sheep and buffaloes, wolves, and bandits.
In addition, what is more terrifying than beasts and humans on the grassland is getting lost.
A blizzard is expected to fall any moment now.
There are no road signs on the grassland, and if you are not familiar with the terrain, all representative objects on the surface will be covered under the snow. If you get lost again, you are basically waiting for death.
Song Liyun had experience in dealing with animals, so she was not worried about the wolves. She was also confident that she could avoid the bandits. She was only afraid of getting lost.
After some bargaining, Song Liyun finally exchanged ten bags, which was two kilograms of salt, one kilogram of sugar, and half a kilogram of tea, for ten sheepskins and a guide from the illiterate red stone man.
After leaving the Red Stone Tribe, Song Dekui, wrapped in a sheepskin robe, rode on his horse. He looked at the old horse walking slowly in front of him with disdain, complaining, "That damn old fox! He actually spent a pound of salt on such a dying old horse!"
Song Liyun also felt a little regretful. She didn't feel sorry for the salt and sugar, but only regretted taking the old horse.
Using a horse to lead the way is useful, but you should have a young and healthy horse.
The old horse was really too old, with skinny bones and tangled hair. One of its legs was bitten by a wolf on the way here, and it still limped when walking. It had basically lost its practical value.
With half of his life left, I was worried that he would die suddenly while walking on the road.
According to the rules of the Di tribe, they will not kill an old horse that has accompanied them for decades. They will let it follow the tribe and wait for the last day of its life.
As a result... it has now been exchanged to me by the owner.
At this time, the old horse, whose original coat color could no longer be seen, lowered its head and walked slowly in front, indifferent to the fact that it had changed its owner.
After walking for more than an hour, the Red Stone Tribe was no longer visible. At this time, a circle of dark clouds hung low in the sky, connecting the sky and the earth.
Song Dekui rode over and looked at the horizon and said, "Xiaoyun, we have to find a place to camp now. I'm afraid it will be windy and snowy once it gets dark."
As usual, it would have snowed by now, but only sporadic snowflakes were flying over Suijin Town.
I stayed at Jiang's house last night. I heard that there was less snow on the grassland than in previous years, and the daytime temperature was significantly higher.
Although there is no heavy snow, the cattle and sheep will have grass to eat, and the fodder prepared by each household can be saved, but it also indicates that there will be a drought in the coming year, and the deficit can only be made up if there are several consecutive heavy snowfalls in winter.
Song Liyun also felt that they needed to set up camp early.
She is still unfamiliar with the grassland.
Even though I have experience surviving in the wilderness in the end times, I can't compete with the darkness of winter and snow.
When the two of them were discussing where to set up camp, the old horse in front stopped moving.
I didn't know what was happening and just stood there stupidly.
A gust of wind blew by, and the skinny body seemed to be blown down.
Seeing this dying appearance, Song Dekui frowned, his thin face stretched longer than Lao Ma's face, and he muttered and cursed: "You old fox are lying. You look like you are about to die, and you still say you can walk to the Mida Valley."
The old horse shook for a while, then walked directly to the place with the most stones, wandered around twice, knelt down on its four hooves, and lay down.
"It's over! I've been tricked by that old man. The horse has only been walking for two hours and it's about to die!"
Song Dekui shouted, jumped off his horse and ran away.
Song Liyun was also startled, and immediately dismounted, leading Juqing and the red horse over.
Song Dekui ran to the old horse, touched its neck, looked into its eyes, and even lay on its shoulder blade to listen to its heartbeat. After climbing up and down for a long time, he said to Song Liyun who had followed him, "The old horse is fine, it's just tired! If it doesn't want to leave, then we won't leave either. Let's set up the yurt here."
He still felt some sympathy for the old horse, so he untied the reins to let it relax a little.
After finishing the work, he complained, "Oh! If we have to walk for an hour or two every day like this and then have to rest, we won't have walked very far by the New Year."
"Let's take a break today! We'll talk about the future later!"
Song Liyun was not in a hurry. Walking slowly had its advantages. It would help her remember the direction. If she closed her eyes and ran around on the grassland, she would definitely not be able to find her way back.
She heard from the Red Stone Man that there were many tribes that had escaped from the grassland near Wu Dynasty.
If Lao Ma can't walk far, he can just find a nearby tribe and ask.
(End of this chapter)
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