The neighing of horses, horses and mules at the foot of the mountain is endless, and countless bright bonfires are dotted among them. The mountain was silent, only a cold crescent moon accompanied by a shadow. Under the dim light, her little face was black and yellow like a cat, and she couldn't see it. Even the bun on her head collapsed, and a few naughty strands of hair broke free from the bun and hung restlessly on her forehead.

The donkey followed her silently with her elbows in her hands, and a pair of eyes that looked particularly bright in the night watched her every move curiously. Until she suddenly bent down and lifted the snow from the ground with her hands. He said lazily, "You shouldn't be looking for wild vegetables, right?" It's useless, even if the wild vegetables are not dug up by the surrounding farmers, I am afraid that they will be frozen. ”

Zhong Ziyuan carefully picked up the snow and replied, "Who said that I was looking for wild vegetables, in addition to wild vegetables, maybe I can find something more satisfying." If you still want to eat, hurry up and help! ”

The donkey sneered disdainfully and said, "I don't even know what you're looking for, how can I help?" ”

Fortunately, Zhong Ziyuan didn't really want to count on him, her eyes searched carefully on the frozen and stiff earth, and she didn't let go of an inch. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she said, "Found it!" ”

Zhong Ziyuan almost laughed, she immediately put down the oil lamp, picked up a sharp stone, and dug it up the dirt floor. In a short time, a bunch of plant roots that had been hidden deep in the ground were dug up in front of her.

These rhizomes are very thick and have a pitted surface that is not very smooth. There are also big and small sizes. The big one is bigger than a palm, and the small one is only the size of a pear apricot. Although they looked dirty wrapped in mud, there were a few rhizomes that Zhong Ziyuan had accidentally broken. The fleshy part of the flesh that is gray-white and has mucus on the inside is exposed, and it makes people greedy when they look at it.

Seeing that she had indeed dug up something, the donkey was also interested, he squatted down and picked up one of the black rhizomes and looked at it carefully, and asked curiously: "What is this thing called?" Can you really eat it? ”

Zhong Ziyuan glanced at him and said unceremoniously: "Don't believe it? Then don't be greedy. She pocketed some of these plant rhizomes under the hem of her robe. Then stand up and walk with your legs raised.

Maybe she dug too much, and she didn't pay attention to how much was left on the ground. After hesitating for a moment, the donkey muttered, "You can eat it." Don't waste it. He happily pulled the rest of the pieces together, and then followed Zhong Ziyuan's example and pocketed them under the hem of his clothes.

Zhong Ziyuan found a small stream that was hidden in the valley, washed all the roots and stems of those plants in the icy water, and then grabbed a "click" mouthful. I bit off a small half. Then he squeaked and ate it.

"It's really delicious!" When the donkey saw that she was eating happily, his eyes lit up, and he threw the ones he was carrying into the stream, washed them indiscriminately, and then grabbed a rhizome with mud in his mouth and bit it down with a "click".

Zhong Ziyuan glanced at him squintly while eating, his eyes were bright and full of anticipation. Seeing the donkey's cheeks bulging, he muttered indistinctly while chewing: "It doesn't taste very good" Suddenly his eyes widened. The busy "Bah" spit out the residue in his mouth, but unfortunately it was too late. His thin lips quickly reddened and swollen at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Right Du," he cried out with a big tongue and a slurred voice, throwing the remaining rhizome out of his hand at once.

Zhong Ziyuan jumped up, crossed his waist and looked up to the sky and laughed: "Hahaha, Right Du? It's poisonous! There are times when you are planted in my hands, and I will not kill you this time. ”

Only then did the donkey know that he had fallen for her, and he couldn't help but be shocked and angry in his heart, and his right hand moved quietly to touch the saber on his waist.

But Zhong Ziyuan didn't realize anything, he always felt that he was very much like the sad western poison Ouyang Feng played by Tony Leung in a movie he watched in his last life, and he also hung two red sausages on his mouth. The more she looked at him, the more she coke, and her amber eyes were crooked like a crescent moon, full of sparkling stars.

With a soft "ding" sound, the donkey squinted dangerously, a trace of tyranny flashed through it, and he had already pushed the snowy blade out of the sheath with his thumb.

Zhong Ziyuan hugged her sore belly and said proudly: "Make you greedy, this is a lesson for you." It will take at least a day for your lips to become swollen and two days for the numbness on your tongue to be removed. During this time, you can't even close your mouth, and whatever you eat will taste like chewing wax, and look at how you still grab something from me. Hahaha! Laughed at me. ”

The donkey was stunned for a moment, he blinked, and quietly let go of his right hand that was gripping the scabbard. Grinding Sensen's white teeth, he unwillingly pointed to the pile of rhizomes at Zhong Ziyuan's feet, and then pointed to her mouth. The poor donkey's mouth was so numb at the moment that he couldn't even speak, and could only communicate by gestures.

Fortunately, Zhong Ziyuan could understand what he meant, she bent down and grabbed another piece, took a triumphant "click" in front of him, and then gritted her little white teeth and smiled: "Don't look at them, they all look similar, but what you eat is a dye, which is toxic when eaten raw." What I eat is a warm and tonic type of herb, which not only tastes sweet and less creamy, but also strengthens the spleen and medium. If it weren't for the fact that these two plants looked very similar and were difficult to identify, how could these things have remained in the soil and not been dug up by the villagers. ”

She wrinkled her nose with a grin, her cat-like eyes curved into crescents, and she looked like a little fox who had succeeded in her tricks. The donkey was originally annoyed that she had designed it for no reason, but he could see her smug expression with a bad stomach, and he couldn't help but want to laugh. Who knew that his lips were not only red and swollen but also paralyzed, and he couldn't even make a smile, so he couldn't help but stare at her with tears and laughter.

Zhong Ziyuan didn't notice anything, her eyes inadvertently glanced into the stream, but she inadvertently saw a black shadow slip past. She immediately exclaimed, "Look, there are fish in the water, there are so many fish." We can catch some and grill them and eat them" Seeing these fish, Zhong Ziyuan, who had not been stained with meat for a long time, couldn't help but salivate.

Who knew that the donkey, who couldn't eat enough, didn't do as she thought. Immediately jumped into the water to catch those fat and fresh fish scurrying in the water, but turned around and walked away with a cold snort from the arrogant snort.

"Hey! Why are you leaving" Zhong Ziyuan was anxious. He stepped forward to stop him. But then he thought about it, since he can't eat now, it is cheaper to catch fish, and he will definitely not do such a stupid thing. Zhong Ziyuan couldn't help but clench her fists and sighed in annoyance, is this considered lifting a stone to shoot herself in the foot?

Sure enough, for a long time afterward, Zhong Ziyuan didn't see the starving ghost appear. Although the rations are still coarse and oily. It's hard to see a trace of meat, but I can finally fill my stomach. So although the road was hard, Zhong Ziyuan gritted his teeth and endured it.

It's just that there are more and more opportunities to see Guo Chengsi on the road. He often rode back and forth in the ranks on a curly-haired black child, his eyes silently shuttling over the soldiers, and the thoughts and worries in his eyes were clearly visible.

At this time, Zhong Ziyuan will always bury his head deeply. Hide yourself in the crowd. A wisp of sweetness mixed with bitterness seeped from the tip of her heart. The lingering and unshaken flow in her heart, often making her feel the urge to cry. Although she was also very hard, she also missed his warm embrace very much. But in order not to be sent back to Chang'an City, in order to accompany him to the battlefield, she gritted her teeth and endured it.

It was time for Ugin to sink and the army to encamp. She had dinner and habitually sat down by the campfire nearest to him. Crossing his knees, he looked through the blazing campfire at his faintly lit tent and was silently distracted.

Slowly. She suddenly realized that something was wrong. There seemed to be a lot of people coming in and out of his tent today, all of them with solemn faces and hurried steps, as if something big was about to happen.

Looking in through the curtain of the tent that was lifted from time to time, Zhong Ziyuan saw him sitting in front of the bookcase full of case files and covered with maps, frowning and thinking. He was surrounded by many advisers, junior generals, and scribes, who seemed to be arguing about something while pointing to the map.

Zhong Ziyuan's eyebrows also slowly frowned, she wanted to be close to his side, and reached out to smooth the wrinkles between his eyebrows. She wanted to say to him: "Don't worry, don't be afraid, if there is any difficulty, we will overcome it together." But she was just thinking about it. She clearly knew that she should not appear in front of him at this time and disturb his mind.

In the camp tent, the scout captain pointed to the map on the bookcase and reported to Guo Chenghe: "General Wu Xian, the last general has already found out clearly, and the thirty miles ahead is the Eagle Narrow Valley, which is the only place to go to Juchong Pass. The two sides of this canyon are high and the middle road is narrow, and only two grain trucks can be allowed to pass side by side at a time. ”

A staff member who was very familiar with Juchong Pass stroked his beard and said, "Although this Eagle Narrow Valley area is our territory, in previous years, there were often Khitan horse teams bypassing Juchong Pass to this threshing grass. Over time, most of the villagers in this area abandoned their land and fled, and over time they became desolate. In addition, the mountains on both sides of the canyon are high and densely forested, so it is no problem to hide tens of thousands of iron horsemen. I'm afraid it won't be too peaceful along the way! ”

Some people sneered disapprovingly and said: "Tens of thousands of horses? Do you have the ability to scatter beans into soldiers? What's more, this place is close to the Central Plains, not to mention the transfer of tens of thousands of horses, even a few thousand people and horses will arouse the vigilance of the beacon tower. In previous years, those Khitan villains who threshed grass were only a hundred at most, they rode fast horses, and came and went like the wind, so those soldiers stationed there could not do anything about them, if it was really thousands or tens of thousands of horses, we should have received the wolf smoke alarm from the beacon tower a long time ago. ”

The staff member snorted coldly and said: "On the twenty-third day of the lunar month, when 100,000 Khitan iron horsemen attacked Juyong Pass, none of the beacons gave wolf smoke alarms. In the end, they succeeded in their sneak attack, and the lives in the Giant Surge Pass were destroyed, and all the food was looted. ”

"You"

"Alright, don't fight." Guo Chengsi finally opened his mouth, rubbing his swollen forehead and asking the scout captain, "Can you find traces of cavalry ambushes in the Eagle Narrow Valley?"

The scout captain thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Not for the time being."

Guo Chengsi ordered: "Release all the scouts and carefully search the mountain streams on both sides." This is the last level to get to the Giant Surge Pass, so make sure you don't miss anything. ”

"Yes." The captain of the scout clenched his fists and took the order.

Guo Chengsi also looked at the other soldiers in the tent, and the staff instructed: "According to General Ben, when we cross the Eagle Narrow Valley tomorrow, we will simply divide the troops into three teams. The first group of 3,000 light cavalry passed quickly, the middle group was escorted by 5,000 infantry to pass through the grain carts, and finally 2,000 infantry were left on standby. What do you think? ”

Some groaned, some nodded, some shook their heads, and everyone thought differently. The staff member who spoke before clenched his fists and said, "The general's method is very safe. However, the third team is all infantry, and it is okay to resist in place when the enemy encounters it, but if it is pursued, the speed will not be able to keep up, so I am afraid that something will be wrong. ”

Guo Chengsi's eyes flashed, and he said, "It's okay, they just need to press the formation and don't need to pursue." Besides, since the road in this Eagle Narrow Valley is narrow, and thousands of people and countless carriages are piled up in it, even the speed of cavalry cannot run. The first team was light cavalry, led by the general himself, and could meet the enemy in front and reinforce in the rear. I don't think it's a big problem. The staff thought about it and felt that it seemed reasonable, so he clenched his fists and retreated.

Then they discussed it for a long time before they took their leave. After everyone left, Guo Chengsi said to Rong Xi worriedly: "It's been twenty days, haven't you found her whereabouts?" ”

Rong Xi also said with great confusion: "Lord Shizi, why do you say that she is so good at hiding a girl's family?" Even Boss Li and Boss Li's side have arranged for manpower, but I haven't seen her show up once. ”

Guo Chengsi smiled bitterly: "She has a good relationship with them, we all know it." She must also know that we will be staring at the two brothers of the Li family, with her intelligence, how can she throw herself into the net. ”

After a pause, his eyes flashed, and he said slyly: "Now the closer you get to the Giant Surge Pass, the more dangerous it becomes, I'm just worried that she will be bullied in a place I can't see." Since she's hiding from us, let's find a way to force her to show up."

Zhong Ziyuan sat in place, only to feel that the noise around him was getting quieter and quieter, and many people couldn't bear the drowsiness and went back to the camp. She also felt her eyes misty, and a sense of tiredness came over her. Reluctantly glanced at Guo Chenghe's still bright tent, and she also stood up and prepared to go back to the camp to rest.

Before she could take a few steps, a warm palm landed on her shoulder. She looked back in surprise, but it was a donkey she hadn't seen for a long time, grinning with white teeth, looking at her and smiling.

She yawned and said nonchalantly, "It's you!" The mouth is already good, right? What are you wandering around without sleep in the middle of the night! I'm so sleepy, I won't play with you anymore. There was a hint of cunning in the donkey's dark eyes, like a wolf grandmother who was about to abduct Little Red Riding Hood. (To be continued.) )