October in Liaodong has turned cold. Although the evergreen trees were still covered with leaves, the ground was hardened by frost. Hundreds of horsemen and horses sprang out of Ekhkulen, their galloping hooves rattling the ground and startling countless birds.

October is a critical season, and whether you can survive the winter depends on whether you can stock up on enough food this month. It doesn't matter if the food is ploughed, gathered, hunted, or simply looted. Anyway, if you don't have enough to eat, you will starve to death, and this thing happens every year, and you can't ignore it.

The Han people in the Central Plains chose farming, but the Jurchens in the northern wilderness did not have this condition, in their eyes, only the weak would work and cultivate, and the strong only needed to grab it at the right time - in fact, Westerners also thought the same, from the Greek period to the various city-states were robbing each other.

Chu Ying is a person who is used to looting, he really doesn't have any food reserves, and looting is a natural thing for him. Don't think it's too shocking, it's a different people, a different culture.

The Great Belle was born at a time when Nurhachi was in the most difficult time. But since he appeared on the battlefield, he has always been invincible and has never been defeated. He used to be the sharpest spear in his father's hand, inheriting Nurhachi's tyranny and bravery, but not Nurhachi's brain. He didn't have the troubles of Nurhachi's existence, nor did he think about struggling with hardship.

Her early life experiences made Chu Ying completely believe in violence. Nowhere was this more evident than in the months he had been in the slot, when he had a good hand that he had played to the ground. The sweat bits at your fingertips can be thrown away, and the cooked ducks are flying.

Now another 'boiled duck' flew away from Chu Ying's hand.

Chu Ying needs to rob, and he can't rob alone, so he needs a subordinate with brains like Zhou Qingfeng. He consciously was very tolerant of Zhou Qingfeng, and he was gracious, and he already regarded him as a confidant, so Zhou Qingfeng should be loyal to die for himself.

And does Zhou Qingfeng have a little crooked thoughts? Absolutely.

Chu Yingman thought that with his powerful force, Zhou Qingfeng, a kid with crooked thoughts, would definitely not dare to play tricks with him. Who would have thought that Zhou Qingfeng was playing a trick under his nose to 'hide from the sky and cross the sea' - the extremely important iron-making furnace was completely scrapped, and Zhou Qingfeng himself led the team to evacuate on the grounds of attacking the Ministry of Jianzhou.

At this moment, Chu Ying was full of evil fire.

Chase, you must chase Zhou boy back.

I thought I could take advantage of it, but who knew that I was being played.

The Jurchen nobles of Ekhkuren were also furious after being fooled, and Ucha immediately sent people to chase Zhou Qingfeng, and Chu Ying personally dispatched for this. When he hurried away from Ehekulun, he was still a little uneasy in his heart - where did Zhou Qingfeng, this kid, get the courage and confidence to be sure that he would definitely be able to escape?

According to Chu Ying's calculations, more than 200 people under Zhou Qingfeng had no horses at all, even if they escaped without stopping, they would escape about 100 miles at most in one day, and it would have to be a plain terrain. But Ekhkulun is surrounded by mountainous areas, and there are only a handful of roads. Running a hundred miles of mountain roads a day, most of the slaves had to die of exhaustion.

Zhou Qingfeng's men lacked large animals to travel, and only more than 20 trolleys loaded with logistics supplies, so it was impossible for them to walk the mountain trails like Chu Ying had fled to Ekhkulun. In fact, it would be very unnatural for them to be able to walk fifty miles a day along the mountain road. The pursuing team quickly fought out for a long time, but they couldn't find any trace of Zhou Qingfeng's team.

"Something is wrong." After leading the team to chase for a few hours, Chu Ying waved his hand to stop the pursuing cavalry. He walked through the dense mountains, the roads were rugged and winding, and the woods were silent, and not even a ghost was seen. "Zhou Xiaozi didn't escape along the mountain road we expected."

Taking advantage of the short pause, the pursuing Kulen cavalry took out their dried meat and water bags to replenish their food. The Jurchen barbarians understood very well the importance of maintaining their physical strength, and Chu Ying's minions also handed over the smoked dried meat, which made Chu Ying's brows furrow even more.

Cavalry often carried three days' worth of jerky, but water could only carry one day. Therefore, the field march must follow the water source to facilitate the supply. Otherwise, even if you are the king of heaven, Lao Tzu will not be able to command a thirsty army.

"Are there any rivers near us?" Chu Ying asked the Cullen slaves beside him.

"River? There are ......, there are many. Cullen said.

Ekhkuren is a city deep in the mountains and forests, surrounded by three rivers and many tributaries. Some rivers don't even have names, but they still have wide surfaces and gentle currents.

"We were all fooled, Zhou boy should have slipped away from a certain river." Chu Ying guessed.

The Cullen slave reminded in a low voice, "Baelor the goat doesn't have a boat, he only has a cart." ”

"Stupid!" Chu Ying hated and scolded: "Is it difficult to cut wood and make a raft? That guy knows how to make iron, and he must have secretly made a lot of axes to chop down trees. We were two days late, enough for him to make dozens of rafts to float on the surface of a certain river. ”

The Jurchens lacked metal tools, and it was difficult to cut wood. Chu Ying knew that this was not difficult for Zhou Qingfeng, and it could even be said to be easy. He had seen Zhou Qingfeng's saber of light with his own eyes, it was really sharp and not afraid of rust and bluntness, and it couldn't be more convenient for cutting trees.

"Immediately inform the master of the Wucha Department to stop chasing along the mountain road, and let him send someone to find it along the river." Chu Ying turned the horse's head and was about to return to Ehekulun. It's just that he instantly thought in his mind that if he followed the river, Zhou Qingfeng would have too many routes to travel, and it would be even more difficult to catch him now.

No, that kid is going to run away, he must definitely flee back to Mingguo. He could use the river to avoid the pursuit for the time being, but he still had to go ashore eventually. For most of the rivers around Ekhkuren flow northward, but the Ming kingdom is in the west, farther west than Hetuala.

"It's impossible for this kid to bring a lot of food, and he must also choose a place to settle down to prepare food." Chu Ying calmed down, and asked the Kulen slaves beside him, "What villages are there to the west of us?"

"Peak of the green mountain, Gaoli ditch, flowing water ditch ,......。" The slave burst out of the ground in one breath, and when it sounded like a small gathering point in the mountains and valleys.

Chu Ying hurriedly asked: "Is there a place that is the closest, the place is big enough, and enough food can be prepared?" ”

The Kulun slave was silent for a while, and then said slowly: "That is the Liuhegou of the Jianzhou Department, also called Liuhezhai. There are a lot of people there, and there must be a lot of food hoarded. ”

Chu Ying whipped his horse viciously, and with a snap, he ordered all the Kulen cavalry who followed him: "Let's go to Liuhe Village, Zhou Qingfeng's kid must have gone there." Even if he didn't go, we would take down the stockade, and you would grab the money, food, and women at will, and if the knife was not sealed for three days, we would wait for him there. ”

As soon as they heard that they were going to rob, all the Kulen cavalry shouted excitedly, and they didn't even care about Zhou Qingfeng or not Zhou Qingfeng, they just cheered for 'not sealing the sword for three days'.

And in the city of Ekhkulun, a maid was also hurrying into Abahai's house, and shouted in a low voice full of surprise: "Mistress, you are too accurate. Master Zhou escaped, and Wu Cha and Chu Ying both led people to chase him, and now no one in the city is staring at us. ”

Abahai was drinking tea, and when he heard this, he immediately stood up, and asked with a happy face: "Zhou Qingfeng escaped?" Did he really escape? ”

"Yes." The maid nodded again and again, "Little Master Zhou not only escaped, but he also destroyed the iron-making furnace he built outside the city, Wu Cha and Chu Ying were furious about this, and led hundreds of people to chase them out in several ways. Now the whole city knows about this, and I just inquired about the news, saying that the chasing people have not found Master Zhou until now, and I don't know where he is hiding? ”

"Hahaha......!" Abahai laughed heartily, "These men, I know that none of them are well-intentioned. As long as I secretly tapped Zhou Qingfeng a few times, with that kid's unwilling temper, he would definitely anger Wu Cha and Chu Ying. Now everything is in my calculations, and it has finally been in vain that I have acted in so many plays in the past few days. ”

Abahai's mouth could not close with joy, and he had not been so happy since he arrived at Ekhkulen. She was lonely and frightened, and she was worried that she would be trapped in the territory of this wild girl, and there would be no scum left. She has been looking for an opportunity to create a chance to escape in order to stir up something.

Abahai thought of many possibilities, such as Nurhachi bringing troops to rescue, such as Chu Ying sending her back, such as Zhou Qingfeng secretly taking her away, but these assumptions were too passive. She actually has the best situation in her heart.

Whether it was explaining the situation to Zhou Qingfeng about Ehekulun, or secretly informing Ucha and the others of their intentions, Abahai had an expectation that Zhou Qingfeng could provoke and attract the attention of Ucha and Chu Ying, and then she could leave relatively easily.

Whether this situation will arise or not, Abahai actually doesn't have much hope. But Zhou Qingfeng did even better than she imagined - now almost all the wild Jurchen nobles in the city ran to chase Zhou Qingfeng, and no one in the city could watch Abahai anymore.

"Pack up now, we have to get out quickly. Just bring something to eat, and throw away all the other burdens. Abahai was happy but not in a hurry, and she focused on the maid and said, "Quickly release the Haidongqing left by Darkhan, and tell the servant to come and meet me quickly." I don't know how long Zhou Xiaozi can last outside, and I don't know when Chu Ying will come back, we have to leave quickly. ”

An carefully raised Hai Dongqing was taken out of the eagle cage, and the old slave in charge of raising the eagle fed a few pieces of fresh meat into the mouth of the bird of prey, tied a written paper roll to Hai Dongqing's leg, and gently threw it. Hai Dongqing immediately spread his wings, flapped his wings and flew high, and after a while, he disappeared into the clouds.

Abahai stood behind the old slave who raised eagles and asked, "Where can this Haidongqing fly?" Can Darkhan be found? ”

The old slave who raised the eagle hurriedly knelt down and replied: "Back to the master, the old slave can't find Uncle Darkhan, it will only go back to the old slave's house." Uncle Darkhan should be waiting at the old slave's house. ”

Abahai really didn't know the relationship. She only knew that after Zhou Qingfeng expelled Dar Khan, Dar Khan deliberately left the old slave who raised eagles, saying that if there was anything, she could contact Hai Dongqing of this old slave. Hearing that this Hai Dongqing was going to fly to the old slave's house that raised eagles, she asked again, "Where is your home?" ”

"Back to the master, the slave lives in Liuhe Village in the west."