Chapter 4: Loulan (Sanshang)

The habitat of the snow wolf is not far from here, it is located on the snowy peaks of the Altun Mountains!

The day after Miss Xiaoluo announced the conditions for choosing a son-in-law in public, Fang Ziling heard specific news about the snow wolf from her newly met Loulan friend.

This strange beast lives at the junction of the snowline and the woodland. It is only during the coldest days of winter that groups descend from the mountains to hunt all the creatures they see along the way. Including bears and leopards!

Because the head and feet are light ivory. The snow wolf is not considered the same species as the silver wolf, which is regarded as a sacred beast by the Turks. In the Western Regions, if you kill a silver wolf, you will definitely be hunted down by countless tribes under the influence of the Turks. However, those who can hunt snow wolves will be regarded by the tribes as heroes blessed by the gods.

Unfortunately, there are very few heroes of this kind in the Western Regions.

The adult snow wolf can grow to a height of eight feet and weigh more than 160 catties. In a fit of rage, you can directly overturn the war horse. Ordinary tribal warriors can't stop it from pounce at all. (Note 1)

Even more unfortunate is that this beast actually likes to live in groups. Either they don't appear, or at least thirty or fifty of them when they appear.

Think about what it's like to be besieged by twenty or thirty strong snow wolves like Wang Xun, right? Absolutely chilling. Sensei said that hunting one of them, and being able to get out of the wolf's mouth safely, are all blessings accumulated from burning incense and kowtowing in front of the Buddha for several lifetimes!

"If you have sweat medicine on hand, go down to the mutton in advance, and then throw the mutton near the wolf's den!" Unwilling to miss out on the beauty, Fang Ziling began to plan to outwit.

As soon as this idea was spoken, a basin of cold water was poured on his head. "Definitely not!" The friend of Loulan he had just met, a tribal warrior named Kumi and Qing who was also around ten years old, retorted loudly, "You think it's a dog, and you can eat all kinds of rotten meat!" The beast was very arrogant, and only ate animals that he had beaten or had just been killed by his companions. You take a piece of frozen meat and throw it to it, and you don't even look at it! ”

"Then get under the clip!" If the plan failed, Fang Ziling had another plan in his heart. "Clamp it with a clamp, and there are several of our people who know how to work as a blacksmith, so you can help me find a few pieces of pig iron!"

"It'd rather bite off its leg than wait for you to be captured alive. And how do you know which way it's going? Altun Mountain is so big, you can't just put clips everywhere! Gu Mihe glanced at Fang Ziling innocently, and retorted with an extremely blunt Tang dialect.

"Then dig a trap!"

........

"Set up a cover!"

........

The answer to him was one big roll after another. The tribal warriors are all natural good hunters, and Fang Ziling's ghost tricks, Cave Rice and Qing have played with his companions since childhood. I haven't heard of anyone who has ever hunted a snow wolf in this way.

"Then everyone went up the mountain to hunt, and after finding the wolves, they fired three consecutive crossbow arrows. Kill ten snow wolves first, and then decide where the wolf skin belongs! The more Fang Ziling thought about it, the more anxious he became, and he even took out the ability to march and fight.

"Then, then shoot the wolf's skin into a sieve!" Gu Mi and Qing were stunned and stunned for a long time before stammering and reminding. "Let's be here, let's pay attention to the whole skin for the dowry. There should be no more than two holes in the body. Preferably, preferably with an arrow into the eye......."

Without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, Fang Ziling interrupted angrily, "If I have that ability, won't I just carry the bow up the mountain?!" What kind of crossbow arrows do you need to take?! Are you here to help me, or are you here to fight me for someone else?! Could it be that you have a suitable candidate here? ”

"Stone, Brother Stone's arrow, just can penetrate through the eyes of the prey. Others, no one else! "Gu Mi and Qing are also honest, and they unreservedly explained the truth to Fang Ziling." Last year, last fall, I saw Brother Shi shoot a fire fox to death, and with one arrow, he pierced both eyes! ”

"your big brother stone!" Fang Ziling was ashamed and jealous, and stretched out his hand to push Gu Mi and Qing to a fart, "I don't believe it, he can single-handedly pick up dozens of snow wolves!" The storage was gnawed so that there were no bones left! ”

"You asked me?" Gu Mi and Qing Haosheng were aggrieved, got up from the ground, and muttered. "It's not me who took the initiative to threaten you for Brother Shi. I like it, there are more people who like Sister Xiaoluo. However, no one is like you, like you to lose, you can't afford to lose! ”

"Which ear did you hear me say I liked her!" Fang Ziling became more and more annoyed, and asked with his eyes pricked up.

"You, you don't, don't like her. What are you doing, why do you want to go up the mountain to fight snow wolves?! Gu Mi and Qingzui were a little stupid, but their thoughts were not slow, they took Fang Ziling's words and asked aggrievedly.

"I want to be a wolf's skin, okay?" Fang Ziling stomped his feet in anger. looked at the other party's face full of disdain, and quickly led the trouble to the east, "I'll find a way for our king's leader, okay?" Don't think that except for those surnamed Shi, no one has the ability to kill one stone. We, our kings, have it. Wait until he's healed......."

If it was placed a year ago, even in order to fight for his brother, Wang Xun would have to pretend to be a marksman. But now, he doesn't have the slightest desire to be jealous. Seeing that Kumi and Qing turned their gaze to themselves, they immediately smiled and waved their hands, "Don't listen to him blow, I don't know how to shoot arrows at all." You two go ahead and figure it out, I've got to go for a walk!" ”

After that, he took the crutches that Lao Wei helped to beat, and walked towards the distance in a leisurely manner.

"Didn't you say that the snow wolf would come down in winter, it's winter now. I waited for it to appear near the big hot spring on the slope of the mountain, and I didn't believe it, it could be smarter than people! ”

"If you don't want to live, you can go! I can tell you, the snow wolf is the smartest beast in the Altun Mountains! Smarter than a leopard! ”

The argument behind the back continued, and it was all about raising the bar. Wang Xun smiled and shook his head slightly. With the appearance of Miss Xiaoluo, there must be no shortage of suitors around her. She has not married Yunying so far, either because her vision is too high, or because she has a heart. No matter which of the above situations, Fang Ziling is destined to not be able to get what he wants. Besides, yesterday I heard that Miss Xiaoluo's choice of husband was not only Minzhuang and the Flying Dragon Guard. Many Loulan people who have close contacts with everyone also heard it. As long as they spread the word, there must be people in the tribe who want to show their talents.

In any case, Wang Xun didn't want to get involved. Subconsciously, he has defined himself as a passerby. Because of some unexpected reason, I came to the misty valley in front of me, and after recovering from my injuries, I would leave without hesitation. Since then, I have nothing to do with all the locals here.

He is an official army, even if he is abandoned by his boss, he is still a member of the Tang Dynasty official army. And the people in the valley are all sand thieves, sand thieves who are inseparable from the official army. Even if they call themselves Loulan!

Therefore, it is the best outcome for the two sides to have no exchanges in the future.

But there are few supporters for this view. In particular, some guards and people who are as old as Fang Ziling, under the warm hospitality of the Loulan people, have begun to be happy. Wang Xun once saw with his own eyes that several flying dragon guards quietly entered the tent of the Loulan woman yesterday evening. There were many more brothers who were eager to try with envy on their faces.

"Immoral!" Hiding in no one's place, Wang Xun secretly slandered. But he couldn't come up with any good solutions. The custom of the Loulan people has been like this since ancient times, as long as men and women of appropriate age are happy with each other, they can go into each other's tents at any time to spend the night. As an outsider, he has no right to point fingers at all.

Moreover, after rolling back before the ghost gate closed, many brothers had already seen it completely. Since the imperial court has abandoned everyone like garbage. Then, it's not bad to stay in the Loulan tribe and spread out. At least, there is no need to go back to Chang'an, and Yang Guozhong will be killed by another way.

A group of men who have no home to return to, a tribe in dire need of fresh blood, the two sides are almost a match made in heaven. Sometimes, Wang Xun even wondered if those enthusiastic Loulan girls were deliberately sent by the tribal elders to seduce the brothers. Through his sneaky observations during his walks in recent days, he found that the number of women in the Loulan tribe was much higher than that of men. Because of the poor living conditions, there are many boys and girls in the tribe. Coupled with factors such as constant fighting with the surrounding tribes, a young man with a strong body is simply a priceless treasure here. In front of many tents, there were five or six women, circling around an adult man.

Brother to brother, father to son, two behaviors that are regarded as inferior to beasts in the eyes of the Central Plains people, are almost natural here. As long as the other party is not his biological mother, he can be accepted as a wife and concubine after the death of his husband. At first, Wang Xun was shocked by this, but after thinking about it, he understood the truth. The people of Loulan are not good at farming, and even if the hot springs are spring-like, they do not know how to turn the open land in the valley into farmland. In this way, their food was obtained exclusively by grazing, hunting, and plundering. Without the support of a man in the family, women simply cannot continue to survive.

But this does not mean that all the women in Loulan are as weak as Miss Xiaoluo. As the daughter of an elder and the most skilled doctor in the tribe, Miss Xiao Luo is a special case here. She doesn't need to be attached to any man, and naturally she doesn't need to take on heavy housework. Her medical skills were enough to make her food and clothing worry-free, and she was respected by her people wherever she went.

Most of the other women in the tribe were not as lucky as Miss Xiaoluo. They usually have the right to pursue beauty only before they get married for the first time. So, during this time, they bloomed like wildflowers in the valley. Despite the veil, it is still breathtakingly beautiful. And once they became relatives, they quickly changed from ornamental to practical. All the complicated tasks, including chopping wood and carrying water, must be carried up. The young men, in addition to herding their herds, competed in martial arts, wrestled and archery on the school grounds every day, in case they needed to take up arms to fight for the tribe. (Note 2)

For such a tribe that lacked adult men, the twenty-seven Wyvern Guards and one hundred and thirty-four people who survived the battlefield were simply a strange commodity. If he were a tribal elder, Wang Xun would also try his best to swallow the guards and the people into his stomach, and he wouldn't even give others the bones.

Those who can become the Wyvern Guards are all those who performed well in the school selection that day, and their bodies are far stronger than ordinary people. After experiencing a baptism of blood and fire, those who survived were even more good at one in a hundred. If you fight alone, you can pull out any one, and you won't be much worse than the first-class samurai among the sand pirates. If you talk about the basic skills of marching, arranging, and cooperating with each other, it is even better than the sand thief samurai.

And although the body bones of those Tang Minzhuang are weaker than those of the Take-off Dragon Guards, they are no less than ordinary Loulan men. Besides, the men in Guanzhong pay attention to diligence and thrift, and all the guys who can do it themselves will never spend money to entrust outsiders to do it. Many of these people could also work as carpenters, blacksmiths, or masons. Some can even wear three hats, and they can do all kinds of work.

The people of the Central Plains pay attention to the grace of dripping water, and the spring reciprocates. In order to thank the Loulan people for their warm hospitality in the past few days, many people have taken the initiative to make furniture, make ondols, or repair horseshoe, utensils and blades for the Loulan people. Whenever they show their skills, not only will the Loulan girls happily come forward to watch the excitement, but many Loulan old people with crutches will also watch silently outside the crowd, with an inscrutable light in their eyes.

"If this continues, even if we can get half of the baggage back, I'm afraid we won't even be able to get together the manpower to drive the carriage! Grandma's, a bunch of old foxes, simply eat people and don't spit out bones! Wang Xun, who thought he had insight into the sand bandits' scheme, couldn't help but curse in a low voice. He didn't believe that the sand thieves happened to save everyone's lives at the most critical moment. Everything must have been planned by the sand thief leader known as Kang Lao, who first let the Flying Dragon Guards and the Hexi officials and thieves fight to defeat both sides, and then reap the benefits of the fisherman.

Yes, it must be, otherwise the sand pirates wouldn't have been so coincidental. The more he thought about it, the more Wang Xun found that he had fallen into a huge trap. However, the surrounding brothers were unaware of this, and they were still immersed in the gentle countryside and could not extricate themselves.

didn't wait for him to come up with a suitable way to wake everyone up. A new trouble has found him again. He had just left the station on crutches not far when an Anzai horse suddenly ran towards him. It was his mount, but it no longer belonged to him. The young man who was scolded by Miss Xiaoluo that day didn't dare to talk back flew down from the horse and leaned over him gently: "Wang Xun is it." My name is Shi Huaiyi! There's something I'd like to discuss with you! ”

Note 1: In the Han system, one foot is about 23 centimeters now.

Note 2: In many northern tribes, even now, it seems that the difference between girls and women is very large. A bucket-like mother shopping with a bony daughter is common in some areas.