Chapter 346 Encounter and Rescue
The two of them had only walked a few miles when they heard the howling of wolves getting closer. They were already tired and hungry.
Stone kept looking around.
Zhao San sighed, "Don't look anymore. The people who killed Ba Wan must have already fled. There's no way they'd stay here."
Stone licked his wrinkled lips and murmured, "It would be great if they came to kill me again!"
He would rather die at the hands of humans than be torn apart by wolves.
Thinking of his distant homeland, the stone blinked to prevent tears from flowing from his dry and sore eyes.
He cried and made a fuss when he was first caught on the grassland, but the more he cried, the harder he was beaten.
Then he stopped crying.
But at this moment... Shi Tou only felt his hands and feet were cold, his whole body was weak, and the hope in his heart was extinguished bit by bit.
He thought about how he and Uncle Zhao had been looking for opportunities to escape over the years, and how they had been beaten many times but never gave up. So they were taken to the mule market by their master and sold many times, and finally followed the Dongyue tribe to the Mida River Valley.
When he heard that there were people from the Wu Dynasty in the Wuda army, he tried to find a way to escape from the Dongyue tribe and join the Wuda army.
But before he left Dongyue, he was given to the Pingshan tribe as a gift.
After going around in circles, they learned that they were going to launch a surprise attack on the Wuda headquarters. Shi Tou and Zhao San were overjoyed. As long as they could reach the Wuda tribe, they would surrender immediately.
But fate played such a trick on us. When we were only one day away from the Wuda tribe, he and Uncle Zhao were injured and abandoned.
Tears welled up in Stone's eyes.
One day, just one day of persistence, and he would be able to return to Suijin Town and see his father and mother.
But this day has now become extremely long, or even forever.
Zhao San's legs are now red and swollen. They were painful at the beginning of the march, but now they are only numb.
He pinched his thigh hard before he felt a little bit. He knew that something was wrong. If he didn't stop to rest, he would become a disabled person even if he survived.
Zhao San looked at Shitou's desperate expression and mustered up his last bit of strength.
If he died at the age of forty, he would be dead, but Shitou was only fifteen years old. Now was his chance to escape from the sea of suffering. If he missed it... he would either die or be forced into slavery by the Di tribe again.
It was completely dark, and the howling of wolves was very close, as if they were waiting for the people in front to fall.
Zhao San was completely unable to move. Shitou took off his belt and tied him up, then struggled to drag him across the snow.
Although he is thin, he has developed strong muscles and bones through long-term labor.
However, he had not eaten anything for more than a day except for a few bites of horse meat that was frozen into stone. In addition to the shoulder injury, he was now seeing black and his head was dizzy. He had no idea where he was.
He had only one belief in his heart: to go to the Wuda tribe.
Just then, the sound of hurried horse hooves came from behind.
Shitou suddenly woke up and quickly shook Zhao San: "Uncle Zhao San, listen, is there the sound of horse hooves? Is someone coming?"
He was worried that he had fainted from hunger and heard it wrong!
Zhao San had already started to have a fever. He tried hard to open his eyes, put his head down and listened attentively. Then he looked up and said to Shitou, "Quick, strike the flint. The flint is in my crotch!"
They had picked up the flint by accident a few months ago.
These were ordinary white pebbles on the riverbed, but they were rarely found on the Dilu grassland, especially for slaves like them, who were not allowed to have fire.
After picking up the flint, Zhao San kept it carefully.
Shi Tou took out two pebbles that were still warm from his body temperature and started hitting them hard with his trembling hands.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
The crisp sound of the blows mixed with the sound of the wind could be heard from far away, and the occasional flash of sparks broke the dark night.
At this time, even if Song Liyun, who was using the night vision telescope, had not spoken, everyone else could see the twinkling lights in the distance.
Balin pulled the horse back: "Young Madam, there really is someone there!"
Lin Qingyuan rubbed his numb face and said, "Old Qian, go over and take a look. Be careful, it might be some ghost fire!"
Old Qian responded, raised his knife and gently urged his horse forward.
Song Liyun said unhappily, "There are only two people there. Balin, you should go and see what's going on."
Among all the people, Balin has the best horsemanship and can escape in time if there is any accident.
Lin Qingyuan did not object, and Lao Qian returned to his side. Everyone was on high alert.
Before dark, they met Song Liyun on their way back to the camp.
He was shocked when he saw a group of horses suddenly appearing.
After learning that Song Liyun had killed a vanguard and could no longer go to the camp, Lin Qingyuan decided to return to the tribe overnight, but he didn't expect to meet someone halfway.
Balin returned quickly, carrying a dying man in his hands and dragging another behind his horse.
"Young Madam, they are from the Wu Dynasty. They say they are slave soldiers left behind by the Pingshan tribe..."
The wooden house was erected again, and next to the warm campfire, Balin and Lao Qian were examining the unconscious Zhao San.
Someone brought over the cooked rice porridge: "The young lady said to drink the porridge first and take the pills. If the wound is not infected, don't touch it. Just wash it with hot water and bandage it."
Warm porridge was poured into Zhao San's stomach, and then he was given a fever-reducing pill. All that was left was to wait.
Zhao San's leg was crushed by the collapsed snow. It was only a muscle injury and he would recover after a few days of rest.
But now they have to march quickly, and the lives of these slave soldiers are not even as valuable as a sheep. Not only is no one caring about them, but they will get a fever after running in the snow and ice for a whole day.
In the small wooden house, the young slave soldier was wrapped in a thick cashmere blanket, holding a wooden bowl and swallowing rice porridge in big mouthfuls, not even noticing that it was scalding hot.
This slave soldier was so smelly that Lin Qingyuan sat as far away as possible, pinching his nose as he mumbled, "Tell me clearly, where are you from in the Wu Dynasty? How did you get to the grassland?"
He saw the brand on the little slave soldier's face, a mark only worn by tribal slaves.
But this little slave soldier wouldn't say a word no matter how many times he was asked. If he hadn't said "Wu Dynasty people", people would have thought he was mute.
Shitou made up his mind that he would not tell the truth until Uncle Zhao San woke up, so he just focused on eating.
Since he left Suijin Town at the age of nine, most of the people he came into contact with were from the Di tribe.
It's rare to meet a few people from the Wu Dynasty, and they are all on guard against each other.
Uncle Zhao said that you can’t just say where you came from or how you got there.
The origins of slaves were all humiliating, and slave owners only hoped that slaves would be working animals without having to speak.
If the slave owner ever felt that these slaves were troublesome and did not want to cause trouble, he would kill all the slaves or cut off their tongues.
So learning to keep your mouth shut is the way for slaves to survive.
On the other side, Song Liyun was holding a bean-sized stone seed in her hand and thinking hard.
The stone was found in the gap between the lapel of the little slave soldier.
These are small pebbles with white stripes that can be seen everywhere in Suijin Town. They have been rubbed by human hands for a long time, and their surfaces are shiny.
Stone?
Stone!
Little Stone! Song Liyun murmured.
The little slave soldier was licking the bowl desperately when he suddenly stopped.
His subtle movements caught Song Liyun's attention, and she couldn't help but look at him carefully.
Song Liyun suddenly walked forward, regardless of the dirt, lifted up the little slave soldier's braid that had become a tangled mess, and looked down at the back of his neck.
(End of this chapter)
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