The wind did not move in the border camp at night, the red flame tongue born on the firewood pile could gently shake the waist, and dozens of elites of the Tang Dynasty border army were scattered around or sleeping or standing guard vigilantly, only Ning Que and the captain were sitting by the fire.

During the day, the lieutenant whispered to Ning Kai that Mr. Thirteen, as if he didn't know his true identity, but at this time, beside the red warm fire, his title had already changed in a soft voice: "Lord Ning, are you really going to Dongshengzhai tomorrow? ”

Ning Que took a branch and tossed the sweet potatoes in the fire, and when he heard this, he looked up at him, couldn't help but shake his head, looked at the elite of the border army who didn't pay attention to him, and said: "I stayed in Biansai for more than a month, but I didn't get into trouble at all, in my opinion, this is really trouble." ”

He looked at the captain's seemingly honest face, sighed and said, "Speaking of which, isn't our luck too bad? Tuyang City is just you, the secret guard, and you were sent out to follow me if you didn't die, so that I didn't know who to ask if I wanted to ask about the situation in Tuyang City."

The captain smiled bitterly and said, "When I learned that I was protecting the adults closely, my subordinates also felt helpless. ”

"Could it be that the General's Mansion knew the identity of your secret guard, and he was embarrassed to do something to you, so he simply drove you out of Tuyang City and followed me around...... Or did they even find out who I was?"

The lieutenant shook his head and said: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, the identity of your subordinates should not be revealed, as for you, my lord, I don't think that whether it is a military advisor or an internal striker battalion, no one can guess that a person with such an identity as you is actually His Majesty's secret guard." ”

Ning Que pulled out two roasted sweet potatoes from the fire, gave one to the captain, grabbed it with his fingertips and slowly tore the skin of the other sweet potato, lowered his head and began to nibble on the steaming white scalded flesh, and said vaguely: "As long as I don't find it, I don't want to have someone secretly watching everything I do." ”

The captain picked up the ripe sweet potato that rolled to his feet, looked at Ning Que's face under the firelight, and didn't know what to say.

For the thirteen ancestors beside him, his feelings were very complicated. Other soldiers may not know Ning Que's identity, but he is a secret guard, of course he knows that Ning Que is the master's personal disciple, why would such a noble person come to Biansai? What makes him even more puzzled is that he has to do such a troublesome thing, why bother?

If you really anger General Xiahou, the general will not care if you are a student on the second floor of the academy, and if you are killed and thrown into the depths of the grassland, who knows how you died? Even the master didn't do anything.

There was a faint sound in the distance, and the cavalry in charge of the night guard mission stood up and walked to the perimeter. The lieutenant glanced at the place, changed his name for safety, and said softly: "Mr. Thirteen, what are you here to investigate? ”

"I have not come to Biansai this time to investigate the matter, but to take a look for Your Majesty. ”

Ning Que threw most of the sweet potatoes that had been eaten off into the fire, wiped off the slag sticking to his face with his cuffs, and said, "It's just that according to the current situation, nothing can be done." ”

"You have a special status, the General's Mansion is worried about your accident, and I don't want you to come to trouble, of course, I hope you get as far away as possible, if you want to see it......、...... Someone in the General's Mansion didn't go to Tuyang City after all. ”

The captain hesitated for a moment, but still spoke directly to Tuyang City. He knew very well that a big man like Mr. Thirteen had received His Majesty's secret order to come to Biansai, the so-called inspection for the Son of Heaven, and of course the only one who could be qualified to enjoy this kind of treatment was the general himself, but he still didn't dare to say the name of General Xiahou directly.

The students of the academy left Chang'an City and came to Yanbei Biansai, and they passed through Tuyang City on the way, and the General's Mansion was responsible for receiving General Xiahou at that time, so Ning Que had never seen General Xiahou himself.

At this time, when he heard the three words of Tuyang City, thinking of the general in Tuyang City who was famous for his violence, he was silent for a moment and said with a smile: "I always have to go in the future." ”

On the second day, Ning Que and dozens of elites of the Tang army who protected him drove again, marching east along the simple border defense line in the north of Yan State, and the time was just past noon, and they arrived at the easternmost end of the western front in charge of the Tang army.

More than a dozen officers were waiting for their arrival outside Dongsheng Village. General Dongshengzhai didn't know who this thirteenth gentleman was, but he guessed from the documents of the Tuyang City General's Mansion and the excited expressions of those subordinate officers that he should be a big man in Chang'an City, and he should have something to do with the academy.

Ning Que looked at the officers outside the walled city and smiled, jumped off the big black horse, first said a few polite words to the general, and then walked to the right, walked in front of someone and said with a smile: "Are you still used to staying here?"

The officer in front of him was a young girl, dressed in an arrow suit, covered in dust from the wasteland. She looked at Ning Que and said with a smile: "Although it's not as comfortable as you, it's still used to it." ”

Ning Que said with a smile: "If you don't get used to it, you have to get used to it, I told you before that the real battlefield is not the same as what you guys imagined in Chang'an City." ”

Then he noticed that Linchuan Wang Ying was also standing among the officers, this fifteen-year-old boy was blown away by the wind and sand on the side, and his posture seemed to be a lot taller.

He looked at these academy students who had been on the front line for less than a month, but their temperament and spirit had changed a lot compared to when they were in Chang'an, and said with appreciation: "It seems that everyone is still very accustomed to life here, so I am relieved." ”

General Dongshengzhai followed behind him, and when he saw that he didn't pay much attention to himself, he was a little displeased...... s thinks that even if you are a big man from Chang'an City, but now you are in the military camp, what qualifications do you have.

However, when he heard this conversation, he immediately understood that this Mr. Thirteen was indeed a big man who was not easy to provoke, and anyone who dared to speak like this to the daughter of General Yun Lu and dared to play music to the students of the academy was a real big man.

The future training goal of the academy students is to become court officials, and they will not have anything to do with the military system, but the Tang Dynasty established the country with force, and front-line practice is an indispensable part of the training plan.

Dongshengzhai is located in the easternmost part of the Tang army's defense line, very close to a tribe in the left tent and royal court, and very close to the Yan team and the young masters from the Central Plains countries to help, and it can be said that it is the most difficult place to aid the Yan army under double pressure.

For thousands of years, the practical principle of the academy was that where the most difficult place was, the students should go, so this yellow earth city with 3,000 soldiers and horses stationed in the academy had the largest number of academy students, except for the rangers, there were a total of eleven academy students.

On the journey from Chang'an to Yanbei Biansai, Ning Que and the students of the academy got along day and night, and they were very familiar with each other, and the people who participated in the practice were all Tang students, and the disputes in the past had long disappeared, and the two sides met again after more than a month, so they were naturally enthusiastic and lively.

It is precisely because of their maturity that their enthusiasm for Ning Que will inevitably be mixed with some admiration and a sense of distance, after all, Ning Que is a student on the second floor of the academy, and their identity and status have been greatly distanced.

On the shore of the turquoise lake, Situ Yilan took out a handkerchief and wet it, wiped the dust off his forehead, looked back at the silent Ning Que and asked, "Not used to being hugged by the front and back?"

Ning Que walked to the lakeside, looked at the shadow of the 10,000-year-old Chen Mu at the bottom of the lake, and said with a smile: "Being hugged by the front and back, and being respected is originally the goal of people like us, you grew up in the General's Mansion in Chang'an City since you were a child, and the Women's Army is powerful in all directions, where do you understand the mentality of people at the bottom of us." ”

Situ Yilan stood up, handed him the handkerchief, and said, "But I saw that you were smiling quite reluctantly. ”

Ning Que wiped his face and said, "In the past, these classmates ignored me, but then they were already good on the journey, but now they are so respectful to me, the contrast is too great to adapt." ”

"So you want to walk around the lake with me alone?"

"Yes. ”

"The army is the most class-paying place, military orders are like mountains, as long as it is a superior, whether his military orders are justified or not, whether you think this is death or not, you must ride a horse and rush forward. ”

Situ Yilan looked at him and said, "After leaving the academy and coming to the front line, participating in several battles, and being beaten a few times by the generals, they naturally understand that this world still relies on strength to speak after all." ”

"Speaking of combat and strength. ”

Ning Que looked at her and said with a smile: "When I first met you, I thought you were just a wicked girl who relied on her family background to run rampant on the long street, and I had never seen the legendary Women's Army, and I didn't think it was great. I really didn't expect you to take the initiative to choose to come to Dongshengzhai and do it so beautifully here.

After all, he was a young handsome man selected from the counties of the Tang Dynasty, and once he got used to the strict rules and brutal battles of the military camp, the students of the academy who participated in the training soon began to show their abilities, although they were only some low-level officers, but they did a good job in the part they were responsible for.

Situ Yilan was born in a family of generals, dared to do things, and performed particularly well, came to Dongshengzhai for more than a month, and has led the rangers into the wasteland to reconnoiter six times, of which two met with the royal court rangers, beheaded more than ten, and the army has reported to Tuyang City, just waiting to be rewarded and promoted immediately.

"The Left Tent Royal Court doesn't have the courage to start a full-scale war at all, and those rangers are not the elite of the Royal Court at all, they are the cavalry of the small tribe, but they are just for the sake of the beauty of the army, so they will write like this.

Situ Yilan was sassy and heroic, without the slightest arrogance, and said: "Killing some small tribe cavalry is nothing, if you really want to fight against the royal court cavalry, I don't dare to win, I can only fight for more kills." ”

Ning Que rubbed his somewhat stiff wrist. It has been nearly two years since he left Weicheng, and his blade has not been stained with the blood of the grassland cavalry for two years.

"Actually, I've always wondered what kind of person you are. ”

Situ Yilan turned around by the lake, her eyebrows slowly raised, she looked at Ning Que's face with great interest, and said, "Father once checked your files in the military department, but only told me some general information, and refused to tell me too many details. I was anxious to be asked, and I only said that if I have the opportunity to fight side by side with you in the future, everything will be up to you. I've rarely seen my father think so highly of people, what did you do in Weicheng?"

"It's really a bit proud to be evaluated by General Yun Lu like this. ”

Ning Que's gaze crossed her shoulders and landed on the blue lake, thinking about the years in Weicheng, and after a moment of silence, he said: "When I was in Weicheng, I mainly did one thing. ”

"What's the matter?"

"Kill the horse thief. ”

"I have heard that the horse thieves in the wasteland are the most ferocious, and even the cavalry of the Golden Horde are reluctant to provoke them. ”

"It's not that exaggerated. However, the composition of horse thieves is very complicated, there are real horse thieves and homeless people who have no food, I have seen the homeless people from Yanbei in Sobi Lake, and I don't know how they crossed Minshan Mountain from such a distance. And you wouldn't have guessed that the most powerful horse thief I've ever encountered was a cavalry of the Golden Horde in disguise. ”

"The cavalry of the Golden Horde, did you win or did they win?"

"I said I only killed horse thieves, and if they win, how would I kill them?......、

Ning Que looked at her and said, "I think the reason why General Yunlu said that to you is probably because he knows that I have a good skill in killing people and lives in the Yuanyuan, but this is not unusual. ”

Situ Yilan looked at him and said, "You haven't died after killing so many horse thieves, you are very powerful." ”

Ning Que said: "I don't deny this. It is said that the cultivators in the world are the strongest, but judging from the cultivators I have met, if they are put in the wasteland, as long as they encounter a horse thief of the hundred-man team, they will definitely not survive. ”

"But you still want to be a cultivator. ”

"Because I can kill, and if I become a practitioner, I can become a practitioner who can kill. ”

After Ning Que paused for a moment, he said with a smile: "I've always had a thought, don't go outside and talk nonsense. ”

Situ Yilan was very interested and said, "I promise not to leak secrets, say it quickly." ”

Ning Que walked to the shore of the lake, looked at the blue lake that stretched to the north and could not see the end, and said, "Cultivators do have strong enough personal strength, but in my opinion, these cultivators in the world don't know how to kill people. ”

After thinking for a long time, Situ Yilan frowned and asked, "Killing...... Isn't it just murder?"

Ning Que looked at her and asked several questions in a row: "How to kill people with the least amount of effort? How to kill the other party when their strength is far inferior to the enemy; How to use the environment, wind and even sunlight to kill people? How to squeeze out the last strength to kill people when they are seriously injured and about to die? How to kill people without being killed?"

Situ Yilan shook his head, thinking that he met the grassland cavalry in the wasteland, picked up a bow and arrow and shot it, picked up a simple knife and cut it, where is there so much to say.

"If killing someone is such a complicated thing, can you teach me?"

"This kind of thing is not taught, and it will naturally happen when there are more people, so the Biansai military camp is the most suitable place to hone killing skills, and cultivators rarely practice in the military camp. ”

Ning Que said: "Lucky or unlucky, I have lived in the Weicheng military village for many years. I think this is where General Yun Lu thinks I'm good, and it's also what you can't understand for the time being. ”

Situ Yilan looked at him and asked curiously, "You are the first disciple on the second floor of the academy to come to Biansai to practice, could it be that your purpose is to cultivate in the military camp?"

"If I have the opportunity, of course I am willing to try it on the battlefield with the skills of a cultivator. ”

Ning Que raised his steps again, walked along the thin round white stone by the lake to the east, and said self-deprecatingly: "But now it seems that neither Tuyang City nor the imperial court will give me this opportunity." ”

Situ Yilan looked at his back and shook his head.

Ning Que quietly looked at the blue lake, looked at the trees and white clouds in the reflection of the water in the distance, and looked at the depths of the wasteland that were invisible to the naked eye in the distance, and felt that his fingers were getting more and more itchy.

I don't know if there is a cultivator who has made a special trip to practice on the battlefield, he is indeed very interested in this idea, but what really makes his hands itch is not this idea, but something very simple.

Being in the wasteland, smelling the smell of horse manure in the wind, and the smell of those slightly scorched and burning grass, he felt that every part of his body trembled with excitement like the three long knives he carried behind him, and he couldn't help but want to ride his horse into the depths of the grassland, swinging his knife and cutting down one enemy after another.

It's a pity that the blue lake in front of you is not Sobi Lake.

I don't know what the name of the lake around Dongshengzhai is among the grassland barbarians, it is slender like a waist, and it stretches from here to the depths of the wasteland in the far north, and there is no end in sight. Because the lake is so deep, it has a faint blue luster, like a sapphire that has been melted and condensed into silk.

"It's a salty lake, and the water is not drinkable, so I didn't camp here. ”

Situ Yilan looked at his gaze quietly looking at the lake, raised his arm and pointed to the mountains and forests by the lake in the distance, and said, "When the barbarian rangers invaded the south in the past, they all came out of that mountain forest, and it was very sudden. However, in recent days, no steppe people have dared to approach here. ”

Ning Que looked at the faintly visible forest in the fog and asked, "Can I go over now?"

"After crossing that mountain forest, we arrived at the eastern front of the Yan army, in order to avoid trouble, we didn't go over much, of course they didn't come much, and the two sides had a tacit understanding to ignore there. ”

"Have you seen those people?"

"Who?"

"Because of the edict of the Xiling Temple, the young masters of the countries who rushed over, the White Tower of the Sword Pavilion or something. ”

Situ Yilan shook his head and said, "I haven't seen it." However, after the last encounter with the rangers, Dongshengzhai sent troops to expel that tribe, and only encountered the apologists of the Xiling Temple. ”

Listening to the four words of the apologetic cavalry, Ning Que turned around and asked, "Then what?"

Situ Yilan thought about the scene of that day, still a little angry, and said with a sneer: "It was obviously our battle in Dongshengzhai, and we had basically completely annihilated the enemy, but as a result, those temple cavalry who had been watching coldly finally rushed up.

"They want to rob?"

"Well, many heads were cut off by them, Wang Ying quarreled with them and didn't win......"

Ning Que said: "I thought Wang Ying had matured a lot on the battlefield, but I didn't expect to be so childish. ”

Situ Yilan said angrily, "Do you think you shouldn't be arguing?"

"Of course we shouldn't quarrel, what can be the result of arguing over the sky? When we used to collect firewood at Sobi Lake, if we encountered people from the Seven Cities Fortress coming to rob the army, we never quarreled with them. ”

Ning Que looked at the calm lake, shook his head and said, "Let's draw a knife and cut directly." ”