After resting for an hour by the lake, the people parted ways and set out on their way.

The Gunatai brothers went east and returned to their hometown by detouring to Yanyuan, while Long Tao and the others continued south, preparing to go directly to Yuyang from the territory of the Xi people.

Long Tao promised to take the Bodhisattva to meet Tuli and ask Tuli to help him return to China to inherit the throne.

The Bodhisattva was greatly moved, and the more than 30 Hui warriors were even more excited and tearful, if they continued to wander like this, sooner or later they would only become horse thieves.

Four days later, the team stopped at a small lake with a small village on the southern shore of the lake.

The reason why it is called a village is because there are rows of regular and neat civil structure houses, which are completely different from the freely scattered tent gathering places of the grassland peoples.

Although there are not many houses, it seems that there are less than 100 households, but the streets and alleys inside are orderly, as if it is a Han village, which makes people feel as if they have returned to Middle-earth.

The small village is full of smoke, and occasionally chickens and dogs bark, a peaceful and peaceful scene.

"I can't imagine that there is such a small village outside the Saiwai." Long Tao sighed.

The Bodhisattva said: "This place should be at the junction of Xi, Han and Tuli territory, and it is not surprising that there is such a Han village. ”

The people went around to the east of the lake and went to the small village.

There are also many tents set up outside the village, and there are Han soldiers operating in them.

"Hah!"

"Drink!"

"Steady steps! Don't shake your hands! ”

A slightly immature shout sounded at the east entrance of the village, mixed with a few gong-like shouts in the middle.

Long Tao's heart moved, and he walked over quickly.

A group of thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers lined up in a neat queue, seriously playing a simple set of boxing techniques, and a rough and mighty man paced in the middle of the queue, pointing casually.

"General Cheng, don't come unharmed!" Long Tao laughed.

That man was Cheng Zhijie, and after hearing the sound, he turned his face, "Divine Sword King!" Then he burst out laughing. Lao Qin, don't come out to greet guests yet! ”

……

In the only tavern in the village, four small tables are put together to form a large square table, and everyone sits around the table, raising their glasses and drinking, and the atmosphere is warm.

As an escort, the old village chief briefly introduced the situation of the village to everyone.

There are 83 households in the village, except for seven Xi families, the rest are Han Chinese, and this place is located at the intersection of various ethnic groups, and the villagers occasionally make a living by trading with people of various ethnic groups in addition to farming.

"We Han people are able to occupy this place, thanks to the general manager Luo of Youzhou, and his soldiers will sometimes patrol here to help us fight horse thieves and the like." The old village chief sighed: "Of course, this is also due to Tuli's more tolerant attitude towards all ethnic groups, this is close to his territory, if he is also like Jieli who robs and kills people at every turn, our small village will be gone a long time ago!" ”

At this time, the two teenagers served new wine and food, Long Tao recognized that they were two of them who had just practiced martial arts at the entrance of the village, looked at Cheng Zhijie, and asked with a smile: "How did General Cheng become a martial artist in this village?" ”

"We were originally in Tulina, and the brothers were tired of eating mutton and goat milk, so they came here to eat the hometown dishes of our Han people!" Cheng Zhijie patted one of the teenagers on the shoulder with his big hand, and said with a smile: "Don't look at these babies who are still tender now, three years later, they will be a good man!" ”

It was obvious that he liked these young men very much, and the young man was also very respectful to him, and he also had a little bit of admiration for Master Yan's father.

"Looks like it's not the first time you've been here."

Qin Shubao smiled: "This is the third time! ”

Pei Xing said curiously: "Didn't you want to see the Turkic cavalry, didn't you go to war with the Turks?" ”

Cheng Zhijie said: "Why didn't you fight? I've already played a few fights with Jieli, and I'll come here to check it out when I'm done with a break. ”

Several people spoke Chinese, but the Bodhisattva on the seat couldn't understand it at all, so Song Jingang had to take on the responsibility of interpreting it while relaying it softly for him.

Pei Xingyan asked again: "How about you and Jieli?" ”

Qin Shubao said: "Naturally, there are more defeats and fewer victories, alas! The Tuli soldiers and horses are not as good as Jieli, and they are always weaker. ”

Cheng Zhijie glared and said, "His grandmother's!" It's too troublesome to fight a war on the steppe! The army of tens of thousands of people entered the grassland, and it was like water dropping into the sea, running everywhere, and there was no way to chase it, relying on the eagles in the sky to make eyes! ”

Then he said: "However, it is also this environment that has created the strength of the Turkic cavalry, which comes and goes like the wind, and sometimes the enemy has attacked in front of you while you are still asleep!" The Turks have indeed used the tactics of this clutch soldier to the extreme, and they can't accept it! ”

Qin Shubao continued: "Originally, we were fighting in the territory west of Tuli, but in the past few days, the Jieli army has turned to the east for some reason, and suddenly disappeared again. ”

Long Tao thought that the eastward movement of Jieli's army was mostly to deal with himself, but he asked: "You help Tuli fight, you should have horses and horses, bows and bows, why do you want to go to what bazaars, could it be that Tuli will be stingy and lack your things?" ”

Cheng Zhijie said with a smile: "The Divine Sword King doesn't know, this market is not ordinary, it is said that the 'stolen hand' Ma Ji will also go there to trade, this person is a person who sells stolen goods for horse thieves on the grassland, and he has all the treasures in his hands, we are ready to see and see, maybe we can meet high-grade weapons or thousands of miles of BMW or the like." ”

Long Tao's heart moved, Mrs. Mei Yan was Ma Ji's daughter, but there were not many people who knew about this secret grassland, and according to the plot, Ma Ji should have already colluded with Fu Nantuo at this time, so as long as he was found, he could ask for some clues about the multicolored stone.

"I see, hearing you say that, I want to see it too." Long Tao said with a smile.

Early the next morning, Long Tao handed over the two bows of the sun and the moon to Pei Xingyan, and ordered him to lead the team to continue southward and escort Shen Mohuan back to Yuyang to be handed over to the arrow master for disposal.

It is not very far from Yuyang here, and there are Song Jingang, Bodhisattvas, etc., so there should be no problems on the road.

The search for the multicolored stone did not require too many people, Long Tao only left Linglongjiao by his side, and the two of them, plus Qin and Cheng Er, brought more than a dozen followers to form a team and leave the village to go east.

Weak Yushui is a river that flows into Liaoshui from west to east, and the market set that Cheng Zhijie said is in a vast open space by the river.

When Long Tao and others arrived, the open space was full of people, noisy and lively, looking at their costumes, most of them were Khitan, Xi and Turkic, there were men and women, all dressed up deliberately, and there was a festive atmosphere.

There are ordinary herdsmen who come here to trade, and more are chiefs, local tyrants, and bullies from all sides, but everyone acts according to the rules, bargains, and does not see bullying.

As soon as everyone entered the set, they immediately attracted many extremely unfriendly eyes.

Qin Shubao sighed: "I came to the grassland to know that foreigners are so ruthless!" This is the bane planted by Yang Guang in the past year! ”

Long Tao smiled lightly: "This matter can't be blamed on Yang Guang alone, it's just that the weak eat the strong, now that the Turks are strong, they don't come to bully us Han people?" ”

As they spoke, several people walked to several large tents, which were full of all kinds of goods, such as swords, bows, leather, silk, war horses, and so on.

These big tents were used by Ma Ji to sell goods, Qin Shubao, Cheng Zhijie and others entered the tent to see the goods, and Long Tao took Linglongjiao to a gorgeously decorated extra-large tent not far away.

There were more than a dozen sturdy men guarding outside the tent, Long Tao reported his name, and after a while, the tent door opened, and seven or eight tall and short people walked out.

Long Tao recognized Ma Ji at a glance.

As described in the original plot, Maggie is a bejeweled short and fat man, dressed very luxuriously, with the top of his head, neck, wrists, and everywhere he can hang it, all filled with jewelry, which makes people feel a particularly cumbersome magnificence.

He had a big belly, a fat face, bulging eyes, and an overly wine-colored appearance, but when he narrowed his eyes like two lines, a strange light flashed, showing that he had good skills.

After welcoming the two into the tent, the guests and hosts were seated, and Ma Ji introduced a few of his men one by one, his Chinese with a thick Turkic accent, but he spoke it fluently.

"The Divine Sword King came to find Ma Ji, I don't know what to do?" After the introduction, Maggie asked in a whisper.

"I'd like to ask you for news."

Ma Ji suddenly laughed: "I am a businessman, and the news is also within the scope of my business, the Divine Sword King might as well tell the problem first, and let me see what kind of price should be set." ”

Long Tao smiled and said, "I want to know the whereabouts of Mrs. Meiyan." ”

The essence in Ma Ji's eyes flashed, stared at him for a while, shook his head and said: "There is nothing I can do about this, the grassland is so big, and the whereabouts of the beautiful lady are erviant, who knows where she is." ”

"Okay, I'll change the question, I want to know the news about the multicolored stone, I wonder if you can tell me one or two?" Long Tao said lightly, thinking that if this fat man said that he didn't know, he could only take action to catch him.

Unexpectedly, Maggie laughed.

"I can tell the Divine Sword King about this, and it's free!"