Chapter 330: The Darkness Before Dawn

The area around the Sword Pavilion belongs to Longqing Mansion. Ten years ago, it was the last barrier against the enemy in the north.

From the topography point of view, it is an extremely steep section of the mountains along the edge of the Sichuan Basin, the most abrupt of them, the sword mountain, this mountain stretches horizontally for more than 100 miles, the wall stands thousands of miles, it is straight and straight, the road that will go south from the direction of Wudu in Hanzhong, it is cut off from the left and right, it is all similar to the high mountains, and the apes do not climb. In other words, if you want to pass through here, you can only pass through the plank road artificially carved out in the Sword Mountain.

Jianmen Pass, it is a pass in the plank road that is carved out on the cliff, it is built in the gap between the two mountains, high in the middle of the mountainside, and the slope is the official road from Hanzhong, from the official road upward, climb hard along countless steps, and it takes a long time to touch the wall.

In the rainy season of July and August, there is a mountain flood raging, and the flood water pours down from the waterway on the edge of the Guanlou, surging, at this time, even the Daluo Immortal can not resist such a surging natural force.

Therefore, if you want to take the pass, you generally have to take advantage of the dry season when the waterway is dry, otherwise the defenders can close the sluice gate at any time to store water, and wait for the enemy to climb up halfway to release the water, laughing and watching the enemy army be washed away like leaves in the turbulent water.

Therefore, the winter of water shortage is the time when the defenders of Jianmen Pass are most vigilant.

But this year is different.

In the past, the Mongolians who needed to hold their heads high and look up at the high gate building have now become the master of Longqing Mansion, this pass has long been abandoned, and the careful Mongolian army also bothered to tear down the wall of the pass building, burn it all down, and even push the stones to the bottom of the cliff to prevent someone from building a pass here in the future.

The Mongols guarding Longqing Mansion did not want to stay in the mountains and suffer from the cold, and the clammy and cold ghost weather had frozen the eagles on the steppe very uncomfortably, and they entered the city.

The city of Longqing Mansion was burned down, leaving only a few houses, but it didn't matter, the warriors from the grassland were used to living in tents, which were covered with sheepskins and burned on the stove, which was as warm as spring.

The fine mare's milk wine, the fragrant roasted mutton, the bubbling tea bricks in the pot bubbling with a pleasant aroma, and the wind blowing low over the earth outside the air hole above the head whistling, but it could not make the tent feel the slightest chill, and it was very comfortable to sit in it and bake the fire.

Nai Rentai stretched out comfortably, he had just swallowed a whole leg of mutton, and his stomach was swollen.

Full of warm thoughts, Nai Rentai felt a hot breath rising between his chest and abdomen, and he stretched out his hand in a daze and pinched it on the buttocks of the busy Song woman in front of him.

The woman screamed, turned her head back, and found that it was the paw of the Mongolian nobleman who was not clean, and silently lowered her head and continued to do her own thing.

Nairentai laughed, continued to touch wantonly, and while touching, he smiled obscenely at the Mongolian comrades who were shouting loudly and drinking and eating meat around him: "I like women like Nanren women, if you touch it, this pinch will come out of the water!" Hahaha, it's a hundred times more exciting than women elsewhere! ”

The hands and feet of the people next to them are not very clean, and the oily big hands are also touching the Han women who are shuttling through the crowd to drink and serve meat, and it is unusually cold outside, but these women are thinly dressed, often just a Luo skirt to cover their bodies, while carefully holding the plate, while enduring the kneading of rough big hands.

"That's natural, I heard that the women here are all made of water, adults are so strong, it's strange that you can't pinch a handful of water!" A Mongolian man responded, eliciting a burst of laughter.

Nai Rentai also laughed more and more, rolled his eyes, and suddenly stuffed a sheep thigh bone in his hand into the double strand of the woman in front of him from behind, the woman screamed, threw herself forward, and suddenly knocked down the stove in the middle, which was full of charcoal fire, and the woman was in pain, and suddenly rolled over.

The stove was overturned, and the flames that fell out of it immediately ignited several woolen carpets, and the people jumped up for a long time, and the servants outside hurriedly fetched water to extinguish the fire, and brought in new carpets, before they were calmed.

The woman who was still screaming on the ground was dragged out, and the tent resumed the original feasting scene, but the panic in the eyes of the serving Nanren women was a little worse.

Nai Rentai was disturbed, a little unhappy, leaning on the sheepskin pillow and glaring angrily, his subordinates observed the words, and someone changed the topic loudly.

"My lord, it's getting cold outside day by day, it's a good time for winter hunting, why don't you lead me to wait, go to the ground of the southerners to run a horse, I haven't gone out for more than two months, and the muscles and bones of the sons and daughters are a little tight!"

Immediately, someone seconded the proposal and shouted in a rough voice: "That's right, my lord, didn't we leave our hometown and come here thousands of miles just to conquer the southerners and plunder their property and women?" Nest here all day, how can you do that? ”

The Mongols shouted and cried incessantly.

Nairentai leaned over, squinting and did not speak, but an older-looking Mongolian beside him spoke.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Have you forgotten the orders of Marshal Du? Lord Nairentai took us to stay here, just to stand on the land under your feet and defend the mouth for the Great Khan's southern expedition in the future, but you covet property and women, these things, you still lack? He said majestically, apparently of great importance among the Mongols.

"Lord Bileg, we didn't say we had to go, Lord Nairentai didn't give an order, who would dare to go out?" The Mongols were stunned at once, and they said stupidly.

"Hmph, live here, there is wine to drink and meat to eat, and there are southerner women for your pastime, just wait, store your strength, there will always be a day for you to work hard." Bilegg dropped a sentence and waved his hand again: "Scattered, let's stop here today, go back to sleep, take care of your horses on a cold day." ”

The men stood up and said goodbye in a scattered manner, and after a few moments, the tent was quiet.

"Billeg, they have a point." The squinting Nai Rentai opened his eyes, picked up a knife to cut mutton, and looked at the blade through a ray of sunlight sprinkled in the hole above his head: "There is nothing to do here every day, it is better to go out hunting, Marshal Du let us guard Longqing Mansion, but did not ask us to be wooden bodhisattvas." ”

"I know this, but my lord, the southerners over there in Chengdu are getting more and more difficult to deal with, and the news from the south says that their army is getting stronger and stronger, even more powerful than the most heroic enemy we encountered when we came in.

"Billeg, you're too careful." Nai Rentai smiled, cut a piece of fine meat, stuck it on the tip of the knife and handed it to the white-bearded Billeg: "You are an old man who has participated in the Western Expedition, why do you have no courage?" ”

"Got no guts?" Bilege also laughed, took the meat, put it in his mouth and chewed, "Lord Nairentai, I killed many more enemies during my expedition to the west than you do now. ”

"So, we shouldn't let the warriors get stuck in the tent and get moldy, let them out, they can be alive, the Mongolian warriors can only dance on horseback, they can't dance in the tent." Nai Rentai said seriously.

Bilegg glanced at him and swallowed the meat after chewing a few times: "I know what you mean, I'm just saying my worries, as for what to do, it's up to you, I'm just a little person sent by Lord Yelu to keep an eye on, and I can't interfere with the rights of adults." ”

"When you say that, I'm relieved." Nai Rentai stroked his palms and smiled: "As soon as it dawns tomorrow, I will send a few teams of people out and let them go out in turn, this winter, I can get by." ”

The two of them looked at each other and laughed, and the laughter was full of meaning that only a savage man would understand.

Outside the tent, a Han woman kneeling in the mud and shivering, covered her face burned by the stove, and her face was like ashes with her eyes closed.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Several Han soldiers stood around her, laughing and scolding, and one of them raised the big knife in his hand, and with all his strength, slashed at the white jade neck.

Blood splattered on the mud floor, scarlet and hot.

It's like the hottest light in the sky before dawn and sunrise.

(End of chapter)