A month later......

In the ninth year of the Republic of China, in 1920, even though it was June, the Gobi night was as cool as water, and a bright moon rose.

Qin Beiyang got off his horse, and the nine-colored man with a red mane stood on one side, like a mastiff shepherding sheep on the Mongolian steppe, looking at the horizon at the end of the moonlight, and hearing the wolf howls one after another.

He followed an expedition of more than 100 horsemen through most of the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and entered the deserted Gobi of Outer Mongolia. There are no more ancient tombs, the camel caravans that occasionally bump into the Shanxi people, the Mongolian lamas who make pilgrimages, and the wild geese that break through the sky alone......

The White Russians set up their tents one after another to sleep, and only Qin Beiyang sat on the Gobi Desert and lit a bonfire. Wolfna got out of the tent, put on a man's white military uniform, lit a cigarette in a sultry manner, and asked leisurely: "I don't know what is behind this Gobi?" ”

"It's another Gobi."

Qin Beiyang smiled slightly. In fact, behind this Gobi is Kulen, the capital of Outer Mongolia.

The next day, the expedition crossed the Gobi Desert and saw a city in the distance. The Tula River flows from the foot of Mount Bogdo in the south of the city, and the grassy fields on both sides of the banks are met with snow-white yurt houses and Mongolian girls driving sheep.

Unexpectedly, the five-color flag of the Republic of China fluttered at the head of Kulen City, and the Beiyang Army wearing blue military uniforms stood guard, apparently recovering this Mobei homeland.

Colonel Ivanov led the expedition and lived in the Belarusian warehouse. After the fall of the Russian Revolution, there were a continuous number of White Russians fleeing here. After a short rest, the colonel took Qin Beiyang as an interpreter and went to the Northwest Frontier Embassy Office of the Beiyang Government in Kulun, which was also the barracks of the Third Mixed Brigade of the Northwest Frontier Army.

Jiuse squatted outside the gate and waited, Qin Beiyang handed over his weapons and waited outside the big tent for two hours before he saw the border envoy from the northwest - this is the feudal official of the Beiyang government, equivalent to the minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, thinking that it was deliberately put on a shelf.

Ivanov handed over gifts and letters from Belarus, and across from him sat a young Chinese general, no more than forty years old, with a blue military uniform full of medals on his chest and three gold stars on his shoulders, which was already the highest salary of a general in Beiyang.

Qin Beiyang recognized this face - Xu Shuzheng, the number two person of the Anhui warlords, Duan Qirui's right-hand man, known as "Xiao Xu". Two years ago, in the cave of Yunju Temple in Fangshan, Beijing, Qin Beiyang kidnapped this "Xiao Xu" by mistake, so that he became a particularly wanted criminal by the Beiyang government.

Isn't this a self-defeating trap? In Xiao Xu's barracks, he also had wings and could not fly. Qin Beiyang made a Russian translation hard, but fortunately, Xiao Xu didn't look at people with the right eyes at all, and he was also arrogant in nature.

The last time he fled Beijing, Qin Beiyang was only eighteen years old, and now it has only been two years, but he has experienced nine deaths and a life of death, and all kinds of adventures in heaven and earth, far beyond the lives of others, so his appearance has changed greatly. Back then, he was like a little prince of the Tang Dynasty lying in a coffin, but now he has bid farewell to his youth, his shoulders are wider, his chest is stronger, his skin is rougher, he is wearing a Mongolian robe, and he has the style of bending a bow and shooting an eagle, just like a man with a horse on this prairie. Not to mention that General Xiao Xu can't recognize him, even if his father Qin Customs is alive, he will have to take a few more looks. is like Dundee, who has experienced a lot of hardships and dangers in "Monte Cristo", when he returns from Monte Cristo to take revenge, no one will be able to recognize him anymore.

So, he also spoke generously, so as not to be sneaky and arouse Xiao Xu's suspicions.

"General Xu, Zhang Shaoshuai of Fengtian recommended us to go to the northwest to explore the geographical environment of Mongolia and Xinjiang to prepare for the future development of mineral resources, and we also have the best geologists in Russia in our team."

Qin Beiyang translated truthfully, but he thought in his heart that this Ivanov was really bragging and not making drafts, obviously going to dig tombs and find tomb beasts. However, the recommendation of the young marshal was true, and the colonel handed over a letter from the young marshal himself.

"Well, I recognize Xiao Liuzi's words, and I have also been the deputy commander-in-chief of the Feng army." Xiao Xu was not polite in the face of White Russia, but he looked at Qin Beiyang twice, as if he had seen it somewhere? He cocked Erlang's legs and said, "Mr. Colonel, I made an exception to meet you in the face of the young marshal." But you don't know that Zhang Dashuai of Fengtian stabbed us in the back again. Now that Mongolia has been recovered by us, and this is no longer Russian territory, please leave as soon as possible, and go back and forth from whence to thrice! ”

Xiao Xu never left room for speech, and without waiting for Ivanov to justify, he threw down a sentence of "sending off guests" and hurriedly left the big tent.

Ivanov walked out of the barracks disappointed, Qin Beiyang was in danger, his vest was soaked in cold sweat, in case Xiao Xu remembered it, there was no possibility of coming out alive.

"Qin Beiyang!"

Suddenly, a man's shouting sounded from behind, startling his calves and stomach. Qin Beiyang almost pulled out the Tang knife, ready to fight with others, only to see another familiar face.

Unexpectedly, it was the king of the small county of Ordos Doro-Erdojin Timur, who was about the same age as Qin Beiyang, but he looked like a southerner with fine skin and tender meat, wearing a blue Beiyang military uniform, and the epaulettes were already the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Qin Beiyang whispered: "Shhh! Let Xiao Xu hear my name and it's over! ”

The little county king "Nuo" sighed, put his arm around his shoulders and looked: "My mother! It's really you! You're very different from what you used to be, and you're like two people. ”

When he met his old acquaintance in a foreign country, Qin Beiyang hugged the little county king, and he was about to have another wrestling that met for the first time.

The little county king still didn't dare to touch the nine colors: "This small town tomb beast is also by your side, it must be because of it that you saved the day." You know? They all say you're dead, dead in the crater of an isolated island in the Arctic ice, but I don't believe it. ”

"Hey, it's a long story, it's hard to say!"

It was already dusk, and the little king led him to a yurt. Outside is the market of Kulen, where Han, Mongol, and Russian people are buying and selling. There is a White Russian girl in the yurt, a Mongolian girl, and the nature of the merry little county king is difficult to change. He retired his daughter, ordered someone to roast a leg of lamb, took out mare's milk wine, and wanted to get drunk with his brother.

Qin Beiyang also ate meat like a Mongolian, touched the meat oil on the side of his mouth and asked, "Timur, aren't you studying at Peking University?" Why are you in the army again? ”

"Since Xu Shichang became the president and I replaced my father as a member of Congress, the infighting in the Beiyang government has intensified. The president wanted to stop war with the south, but Lao Duan and Xiao Xu were unwilling. Since the formation of the participating army, it has used Japanese loans and weapons, but it has not fought a single battle, and Xiao Xu took the initiative to ask Ying to pass through Mongolia. He became a frontier envoy in the northwest, mobilized 80 trucks from Beijing, carried thousands of elite soldiers, crossed the Gobi in seven days, and marched to Kulen at a rapid pace, recovering the lost territory in one fell swoop. ”

"Recovering Mobei, Yan Ran Leshi, this Xiao Xu can be regarded as a generation of famous generals."

Qin Beiyang remembered that two years ago, in the Jingjiao Necropolis Palace in Fangshan Tomb King Village, in exchange for his life, Xiao Xu promised him three conditions-

First, the tomb beast is not allowed to foreigners; second, an immediate cessation of the civil war; Third, send troops to recover Outer Mongolia.

In the first two cases, Xiao Xu missed the appointment, but the third thing, he actually did it.

"I am a prince of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, a descendant of Genghis Khan, who was selected by Xiao Xu to join the Northwest Frontier Army, responsible for dealing with the princes of the Khalkha Department of Outer Mongolia." Xiaojun Wang took a sip of mare's milk wine, his face was slightly drunk, "Recently, the situation has been tense, Xiao Xu has recovered Outer Mongolia, and the Northwest Frontier Army has become a pivotal force. Cao Kun and Wu Peifu of the direct line and Zhang Zuolin of the Feng family united and called for the removal of Xiao Xu by name. ”

"This is what General Xiao Xu said today that Zhang Dashuai stabbed in the back?"

"What's more, the direct line and the Feng line are fierce, Wu Peifu is on the front line of Zhuozhou and Gaobeidian, and now that there is going to be a big battle with the Anhui system, General Xiao Xu will go back to Beijing these days."

"Beijing is going to fight a civil war again?"

Qin Beiyang patted the table, looked up to the sky and sighed, Chinese people, when will the hard days come to an end?

"I also just arrived in Kulen last month, and Xiao Xu ordered me to stay here and confess a secret mission. Beiyang, this matter should not have been leaked to you, but you are a descendant of the tombsmith clan and are proficient in the doorways in the ancient tomb, and I want you to help me complete it. ”

"Don't tell me it's digging graves again, you have to find a tomb beast to transform it into a weapon, I can't forgive my fate."

"This time it's not, it's another big treasure related to Jiangshan Sheji and the emperors of China."

"Wait a minute, I'll ask you one thing first!" Qin Beiyang didn't want to let the little county king talk nonsense anymore, "Is Anna okay?" ”

This is what he has been holding back for a long time to ask.

Ouyang Anna - countless days and nights of separation, the name in her heart, and her glass-colored eyes.

The little prince was pale, and everyone thought that Qin Beiyang died in the North Pole, and Anna was married to Qi Yuanshan...... As a college classmate of the woman, he also attended the wedding and sent many congratulatory gifts. He was worried that if Qin Beiyang knew about this, would he go to Qi Yuanshan to fight hard? and blamed the little county king for watching them get married and not stopping it, but he also went to bless it, wouldn't he have to invite himself to eat fists on the spot?

The little prince has already made a decision - this fact must be concealed from Qin Beiyang, anyway, in the distant Mongolian steppe, basically cut off from the mainland, he will not know so quickly.

"Anna is very good, but she's not in Beijing, and she just recently returned to Shanghai."