This is not the first time that the Qiang people have committed crimes in the Central Plains, and it will never be the last, Xiahou Zhi led the army to the grassland a few years ago and dealt with these people, but that branch is slightly different from the lineage of the ancient Qiang Tianmen Taoist people.

The grassland of Daning is too long, the western part of the grassland is in the northwest of Daning, part of it is the border line of Daning, but the grassland close to the border is not very large, from this area to the northwest is the ancient Qiang land, the Qiang people were divided after the defeat of Chu, and then this place was occupied by the Western Regions Houque State, but even the people of the Houque country did not dare to go to the ancient Qiang land to swagger, if the army was mobilized to fight it was not defeated, but the losses were bound to be heavy, and the gains outweighed the losses.

It is rumored that there are at most one or two thousand Qiang people on the ancient Qiang land, and the Qiang men of the year of the fight are two or three thousand people, and the emperor of Que State ordered the ancient Qiang people to provide three thousand soldiers, otherwise the ancient Qiang people will be exterminated, but the Qiang people do not pay attention to it at all, so the emperor of the Hou Que State was furious and ordered to mobilize 20,000 troops to suppress the Qiang people.

The regular army of the 20,000 Hou Que State was beaten by two or three thousand Qiang cavalry and abandoned their armor, and finally fled in embarrassment after losing four or five thousand people.

It is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Qiang people are fierce, and since then, the Houque State has simply abandoned that place, but it is just a county land, and the gains outweigh the losses, so they simply let it go.

The Qiang people operate in this small area, like an iron wall, the khans of the Montenegrin Khanate once sent people to invite, willing to set aside a large grassland for the Qiang people to live, as long as the Qiang people are willing to join the cavalry of the Montenegro Khanate, but the Qiang people still ignore it, for no other reason, because the people of the Montenegrin Khanate are not credible.

Later, the rebel tribes on the grassland did not know how to convince the Qiang people, and there were ancient Qiang people in it when they killed Da Aijin Yun Sangduo.

It was already dark when Shen Leng chased out of Chang'an, he inquired at the gate of the city, and made sure that there was a young man who went out of the city with a view of auspiciousness and tranquility, and went southwest along the official road, Shen Lengxin said You are really an idiot, how could the Qiang people take the official road.

He also had to chase along the official road to the southwest, chased out for about twenty miles and there was no trace, Shen Leng suddenly woke up, if Xiao Zhang Zhenren suddenly reacted after leaving the city that the Qiang people could not take the official road, then she would definitely turn to the northwest, but then there was no official road to go, walking in the wilderness, the night had fallen, this night of the Chinese New Year's Eve, maybe Xiao Zhang Zhenren would spend it curled up in the field.

Shen Leng couldn't be sure whether Xiao Zhang Zhenren had gone to the northwest at all, looking for someone was such a trouble, if he continued to chase along the official road, he might catch up or get farther and farther, and the same would be true for chasing northwest.

The night falls, and the weather is cold.

Shen Leng tightened the big sword on his body, and urged the horse to plunge into the field to the northwest.

It is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack during the day, not to mention at night, Shen Leng can only move forward according to his own speculation, using the stars to discern the direction, he only brought a knife when he came out, and he didn't even bring the deer skin bag that he must bring when he went out, and in addition to that, there was only a fire fold and a small hunting knife on his body, and there was no dry food.

Walking to a place, Shen Leng saw a tree by the moonlight, drew a knife and cut off the branch to make a simple torch and lit it, but such a torch could not burn for a long time, and it didn't take long for the surroundings to fall into darkness again.

Without a sense of direction, it is the most frightening, if you are an ordinary person, even a man in the prime of life will be afraid of death, Shen Leng naturally knows how to use the stars to identify the direction, and the recognizable direction is the direction chosen by Xiao Zhang.

She may not even be able to bring a fire fold, so in such a dark night, if Xiao Zhang Zhenren doesn't make a sound, the two of them may miss it dozens of feet apart.

After walking like this for more than an hour, a very strange sound came into Shen Leng's ears, and he immediately stopped to listen, but he didn't hear it again for a while, and there was nothing else in his ears except the howling north wind.

Before he urged the horse to take a step, the voice came again, like a ...... The sound of a horse.

The voice was intermittent, and Shen Leng was sure that the voice was coming from the north, not northwest or due north, but slightly in the northeast direction behind him, so Shen Leng paused for a moment, could it be that he overtook it?

He immediately turned and walked back in a northeasterly direction, the sound not coming from him since he changed direction

Now, Shen Leng could only roughly identify the direction and grope forward, facing the north wind, as if his face had been slashed by a knife.

But for Shen Leng, such a wind and such cold are nothing, compared to the northern Xinjiang, this wind is far worse.

After walking for about two quarters, Shen Leng vaguely saw that there seemed to be some firelight swaying in the distance, he pulled out the black line knife, pulled the scarf up, and got closer and closer to the firelight, so he saw a thin figure walking back and forth by the fire, she should be very afraid, afraid of the dark, so afraid that the fire will go out, but the previous preparation should be insufficient, dry firewood has long been insufficient, she kept groping around, and did not dare to leave the fire too far, she could only watch the fire getting smaller and smaller, the more anxious and scared, the more scared you are, the more anxious you are.

Far away, Shen Leng already felt her despair and helplessness.

Shen Leng knew that if he said something at this time, he might scare Xiao Zhang Zhenren, who was already on the verge of collapse, half to death, and after being silent for a while, he shook the fire fold, and a faint light appeared, he cleared his throat and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm Shen Leng." ”

Next to the fire that was about to be extinguished in the distance, Xiao Zhang Zhenren trembled with obvious fright when he heard the voice, and then turned around violently.

Shen ...... General Shen? ”

She dared to ask.

"It's me, Xiao Zhang Zhenren, don't be afraid, I'll come over now."

Shen Leng shook the fire fold in his hand again: "You just don't move next to the fire." ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren nodded vigorously, tears came out in an instant, she thought that she could hold on until Shen Leng walked to her side, but when Shen Leng was still a few feet away, she couldn't help but start running forward, and then crashed into Shen Leng's arms in Shen Leng's surprise.

Shen Leng immediately spread his arms, and after hesitating for a moment, his right hand patted Xiao Zhang Zhenren's back: "Okay, it's okay now." ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren nodded on Shen Leng's chest, she knew that this was not suitable, but she didn't dare to leave, just now she suspected that there were wild wolves and wild dogs everywhere around her, maybe there were ghosts, she was scared by herself again and again and didn't dare to look back, her whole back was already wet with cold sweat, the north wind swept by, and the cold on her back turned into pain.

"Why bother?"

Shen Leng said in a very soft voice.

Xiao Zhang Zhenren was shivering from the cold, perhaps because of the shivering caused by his sudden relaxation.

Shen Leng untied his big coat and draped it on Xiao Zhang Zhenren's shoulder, and took Xiao Zhang Zhenren's arm and walked back to the fire, at this time there was not much flame left in the fire.

"Sit here, don't move, I'll get some dry wood."

"Don't go!"

As soon as Shen Leng turned around, he was grabbed by Xiao Zhang Zhenren, and the little hand that was already white with fright grabbed the corner of his clothes.

"I can find you."

Shen Leng pulled out the black line knife and poked it next to Xiao Zhang Zhenren with a pop.

"There are no ghosts in this world, and even if there are, my knife is here, and nothing dares to approach it."

How many people has Shen Leng's black line knife killed?

Xiao Zhang Zhenren still refused to let go of Shen Leng's clothes, Shen Leng was helpless, so he had to take her to find dry firewood, fortunately, there was not much dry firewood in this field, and after walking about dozens of feet away, he also saw a small forest, Shen Leng decided to change the camping place here, the forest is not very good because it is not sparse, and it can block the wind.

He took Xiao Zhang Zhenren back again, led his own and Xiao Zhang Zhenren's horse tied to the tree, Shen Leng cut down a lot of branches with a black line knife, and there was a black line knife to dig a ditch on the ground, the ground was frozen strong, relying on his arm strength The black line knife was sharp and sharp, and finally buried the branches in the ditch to make a fence, although it was simple, it still had some effect on blocking the wind.

Then Shen Leng went back and brought some charcoal back that had not been extinguished, and lit a fire in the forest, and when the fire burned, Xiao Zhang Zhenren's heart gradually warmed up.

"Helpless, irrational at all, how old is it?"

Shen Leng glanced back at Xiao Zhang Zhenren, Xiao Zhang Zhenren's hand was still holding the corner of Shen Leng's clothes, no matter where Shen Leng went, she followed her, and never let go.

"I don't want to throw in the towel."

Xiao Zhang Zhenren's answer was very soft, but it was stubborn.

"Because of you

Is it a woman? ”

Shen Leng shook his head helplessly: "There are many ways to prove that you don't lose to men, but you chose what you are not good at, the first generation of real people at that time, even if you are not the number one master of Daning Jianghu, it is not much worse, what about you?" Have you ever mentioned a sword? ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren has a sword tied to her back, but she really doesn't use it well.

"I can probably guess what you're thinking."

Shen Leng sat down against the tree, the fence wall was not high, fortunately there were trees, the wind finally seemed to be lighter, he said while adding firewood to the fire: "You think that if you don't catch up, you're sorry for the title of the real person, and you also feel that it's your own cowardice if you don't catch up, so you'd rather die than protect the name of the real person, I was also angry just now, don't be surprised, just angry that you run out like this and send to death, what's the difference...... The title of real person is passed on to you by the old real person, you want to prove that women do not lose to men, and you don't want people to say that the old man is wrong to pass on the position to you, and you are not defending yourself, but your master. ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren sat on the edge of the fire, the firelight reflected her face, she kept her head down and didn't speak, and when she heard Shen Leng say that you were afraid that others would say that your master had chosen the wrong person, she raised her head suddenly, and her eyes were full of sadness.

"Master chooses me ......."

"Your master should have been ready to be scolded for choosing you, and you should have done well, there is a sentence you may not like to hear, but I think it should be the truth, your master is ready, but you don't."

Shen Leng looked at the night sky, raised his finger and pointed: "If he could see you by nature, he would also scold you idiot." ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren suddenly couldn't help but bow his head and cry when he heard the word idiot, Shen Leng was caught off guard by crying, what Shen Leng was most afraid of was that girls were crying, although he hadn't seen it a few times, he wouldn't let the tea master cry, never, but a woman crying would make him feel clumsy and clumsy, and he didn't know how to persuade him.

"At that time, Master often called me an idiot."

Xiao Zhang Zhenren also raised his head and looked at the starry sky: "Maybe Master will regret it now." ”

"The real person is not as fragile as you think, and the fragile has always been yourself."

Shen Leng took off the kettle and handed it to Xiao Zhang Zhenren: "People who are scolded are not necessarily wrong, but all those who choose to die to prove that they are right are definitely wrong, and use their lives to prove others wrong, why bother?" ”

Shen Leng glanced at Xiao Zhang Zhenren: "You are not a real idiot, of course you know how to go on the road you choose, I will help you think of two options now, one, I will send you back to Chang'an early tomorrow morning, and second, you will return to Chang'an by yourself early tomorrow morning." ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren was stunned: "Why?" ”

"Because I have to go, you can't go."

Shen Leng was silent for a moment: "Even if you don't leave the city, I will go." ”

"I'm not going back."

Xiao Zhang Zhenren took a deep breath: "Even if you go back, I won't go back, you think I used my death to prove that Master's choice was right and I was wrong, but I have to do it, because I am actually not as fragile as you think, I only think about one thing...... I am a real person of Daozong Longhu Mountain, I am not as idiot as you think, I thought about it before I went out of the city, I have a national teacher token, I can mobilize the disciples of the Dao Sect in the world, I am just ......"

She turned her head away from Shen Leng, maintaining her last self-esteem: "I'm just...... I'm really afraid of the dark. ”

Shen Leng suddenly smiled: "Chang'an City is also afraid of you being black." ”

He stretched out his hand and pointed in the direction of Chang'an: "Look, Chang'an knows, so Chang'an is also accompanying you." ”

On the side of Chang'an City, the fireworks are brilliant and the night sky is bright.

"Happy New Year."

Shen Leng clenched his fists.

Xiao Zhang Zhenren laughed and sniffled.

"Happy New Year."

The two people sitting next to the fire looked at the direction of Chang'an City, and looked at the Chang'an night that Chang'an people couldn't see.

Shen Leng looked at the kettle and raised it: "I have to celebrate." ”

Xiao Zhang Zhenren also took off his kettle and touched Shen Leng, and the two of them raised their necks to drink at the same time, and then shook them at the same time.

The water froze.

Two idiots, holding a kettle, waiting for the water to drop.

If it were a normal person, they would laugh and put down the kettle, but neither of them had it, they still held it, and said that they wanted to celebrate, and they had to drink every drop, and every drop was also a celebration.