More than 30 days later, the carriage left Kyushu from the northernmost Pingzhou.

Leaving from the north, it is a vast wasteland called Liangyuan, and after traveling more than 1,000 miles to the north, you can see the majestic Snow Dragon Mountains, and only after passing the mountain pass, can you enter the bitter cold land.

Thanks to the tall Snow Dragon Mountains blocking the bitter cold winds of the bitter cold land, the climate of the cool plains is not particularly extreme, but it is cold enough.

At this time, it was the height of summer in the south, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was nine cold winters in the cold plains.

This icy plain has been a place of exile for Kyushu and Silla felons for thousands of years, and there is no shortage of elusive rogues and the fierce natives who have settled here.

Desolate and treacherous, similar to the situation in the desert of NSW.

What is more cruel than the desert of Xinzhou is that this wild land does not belong to any country, and there is no single gang to govern it.

Even the Phantom Smoke Pavilion, which was once ranked among the five famous families in Kyushu, needed thirty or twenty people to travel here over the years.

Su Wangting was suspicious of relying only on this thin carriage to enter the bitter cold land, after all, since entering the cold plain, the horses pulling the cart had already shown great discomfort under the severe cold, and the speed of movement was getting slower and slower.

If you enter a bitter cold place with an extremely harsh climate, how can these horses withstand it?

Ruyan just comforted and said don't worry, saying that they have a small village in the cool plain, and after reorganizing there, they will advance to the bitter cold land.

Along the way, there were no animals in sight, and there were occasional clusters of strong weeds on the frosty gravel floor, but there was no other green vegetation.

It's a barren place.

After another seven days, I finally saw a circle of courtyard walls made of broken stones in this wasteland, and inside the courtyard wall, except for a few crooked stone houses, there was a large open space. Judging from the several water tanks placed in the open space, it looks like a place for domestic animals.

"That's it, let's go in and get some clean up before we go." Ruyan looked at the Zhuangzi from afar and shouted excitedly.

At the door of Zhuangzi, Ruyan jumped out of the carriage impatiently and shouted, "Ge San!" Hurry up and open the door, it's us!! ”

But after waiting for a long time, no one answered in the village.

"Ge San!! Open the door!!! Ruyan picked up a piece of gravel and threw it at the house in the courtyard.

Only then did I hear a creak of opening the door in the courtyard, and I saw a middle-aged man in an animal skin coat coming listlessly.

"Are you deaf??" Ruyan shouted angrily through the fence gate.

Ge San opened the door of Zhuangzi with a wry smile on his face, drooping his head, as if he had done something wrong, and did not dare to look at Ruyan.

Ruyan frowned when she saw this, and looked at the village: "What about the guys?" ”

"Two went back to Kyushu to buy supplies, two died, and two were recuperating in the house." Ge San's voice couldn't be more thin.

Ruyan was shocked when she heard this, and asked urgently, "Two dead!?" What's wrong!? ”

Ge San sighed a few times in a row, and said with a sad face: "Two months ago, Zhuangzi was looted by a group of thieves. The materials prepared for the girls were all robbed, and Tian Shun and Hu Laoqi complained a few words, just... They killed ......."

Ruyan buzzed in her head and shouted, "What about the white-haired bear!" ”

Ge San lowered his head when he heard this, and slowly shook his head.

"It's over!" Ruyan looked back at Su Wangting, "Without the white-haired bear, we can't enter the bitter cold land!" ”

"White-haired bear?" Su Wangting's face was full of doubts.

Ruyan explained: "The white-haired bear is a fierce beast that lives in a bitter cold land, and is not afraid of the cold by nature. We have domesticated a batch of white-haired bears early on and used them as carts. If there is no white-haired bear, then we will not be able to move an inch in the bitter cold! ”

"What are they robbing the bears for, just for the fur and the meat?" Su Wangting asked again.

Ruyan shook her head and said, "You don't know." There is a precious snow lotus in that bitter cold land, if you bring it back to Kyushu, one flower can be worth dozens of taels of gold! There were lotus pickers from Silla and Kyushu who risked their lives to go deep into the bitter cold to find the snow lotus. ”

Su Wangting was stunned again and again when he heard this: "Tut-tut, it's really to make a fortune, and I don't want my life." That... What does this lotus picker have to do with the thieves who robbed the white-haired bear? ”

"Most of the thieves who operate on the Liangyuan are also to obtain Snow Lotus, otherwise they would not have wandered in such a wild place. First, they came to loot the surviving lotus pickers, and secondly, they themselves occasionally ventured into the bitter cold to find the snow lotus. Like those lotus pickers, they go to the bitter cold land with only two legs, and they often go without returning. But if you have a white-haired bear, it will be very different, and you can safely roam around in the bitter cold. The domesticated white-haired bears are extremely precious, all of which we found from the bitter cold land and brought the white-haired bear cubs to warm the island to domesticate, domesticating these fierce beasts, but it took us a lot of effort. ”

"So... After they found out that this Zhuangzi had domesticated a white-haired bear, they immediately came to rob it? ”

Ruyan nodded and said angrily: "There have been thieves who have coveted it before, but after learning about the skills of our girls, they have always only had the heart of a thief but not the courage of a thief!" I didn't expect that this time I really dared to do it! ”

Su Wangting sighed, approached Ge San and asked, "Who snatched it this time?" ”

Ge San didn't answer this question, but after looking at a few of them, he shook his head and said, "You only have four people this time?" Eh, then don't think about it, it's no fun! ”

Ruyan frowned and said, "Ge San, you know, we are not ordinary women. If you are an ordinary thief, three or five can't get close to us! ”

"But this time the thief... It's just unusual!! Ge San shook his head repeatedly.

It turned out that the group of people who came back to loot were really not ordinary thieves.

Most of the bandits that roamed the wasteland were composed of exiled prisoners from Kyushu or Silla, and at best they were mixed with three or two local natives.

But this time, after Ge San's inquiry, these people were actually composed of martial arts people from Silla and Kyushu.

Moreover, they are all good!

At this time, Su Wangting questioned: "It stands to reason that how can a person in the martial arts be willing to degenerate into a thief who robs everywhere?" ”

Ge San replied: "I have made some money, and I have asked the exiled prisoner to inquire about it. Those people were samurai who were driven away from the rivers and lakes of Kyushu or Silla, and they were all masters who survived the fierce battles. I heard that most of them were Silla people. ”

"Do you know where they are staying?"

Ge San stretched out his hand and pointed to the northwest: "There is a hill more than thirty miles in this direction, and they set up camp among that hill. ”

Su Wangting sighed and asked again, "What things have been robbed in total?" ”

Ge San grabbed the greasy and knotted hair, snapped his fingers and said, "Six white-haired bears, about sixty pieces of whale oil ointment, and two garlic carts... Well...... And then there's the dry food for the girls. ”

"What about whale oil paste and garlic carts?"

"Anyway... It's something you need to get to the bitter cold land! Ruyan looked very agitated.

Su Wangting jumped into the carriage, picked up the horsewhip and said with a smile: "Don't be impatient, you and the two girls will rest in this Zhuangzi first, and I will go back when I go." ”

Ge San was shocked and asked, "Brother, are you going to go alone and ask for something?" ”

Su Wangting nodded.

"Hey, how does this work! There are twelve or thirteen of them, and all of them are very skilled, and you are afraid that you will die in vain if you go alone! ”

Su Wangting ignored this, waved the horsewhip, shouted "drive", and the carriage galloped away in the northwest direction.

Ge San stomped his feet on the distant carriage: "Ah, why waste your life!" This brother is too reckless, why don't the girls persuade him!? ”

Ruyan sneered: "Persuade? Can he use the jade-faced demon knife to persuade us? ”

"Jade-faced demon knife?" Ge San furrowed his brows, "Yo, I haven't been back to Kyushu for a long time, could it be that this old brother is the number one person in today's rivers and lakes?" ”

Ruyan walked into Zhuangzi impatiently and flicked her sleeves: "I'm too lazy to tell you, this girl is not in the mood now!" If you have hot tea soup, bring three bowls! ”

"Uh... Be. ”

After traveling more than 20 miles to the northwest, as Ge San said, some low hills could be seen.

It is said to be a hill, but it is also full of gravel, without a single grass or tree, and it is the same desolation.

It is more appropriate to say that it is a stone mound.

Su Wangting set up a carriage and walked through the stone hills, and found several traces of bonfires burning along the way, and it was obvious that there should be people moving around this area.

In addition to the traces of burning, some animal bones can also be seen, these brown and crispy bones can be seen to have been burned and cooked, it seems that they should have been discarded after being eaten.

"Huh?" At this time, Su Wangting suddenly sniffed his nose, "This is ...... Why does the smell of burning waft through the air? ”

Jumping off the carriage and sweeping onto the top of the stone mound beside him, Su Wangting squinted and looked around.

After a while, the corners of his mouth raised.

I saw a large stone valley about three miles ahead, and black smoke rose from the valley.

"Is that there?"

Su Wangting abandoned the carriage and swept down the top of the hill with light work.

At this time, beside a roaring bonfire, more than a dozen men were sitting or lying, gossiping about each other.

On the bonfire, a whole roe deer is roasted, and the aroma is overflowing.

There were no animals in a wild place like Liangyuan, and most of the thieves who wandered on the Liangyuan went to hunt in the pine forests near Kyushu.

Fortunately, the temperature is very low all year round, and the raw meat is easy to preserve, so the animals hunted from the pine forests can be used as food reserves, so you don't have to worry about spoilage.

This roe deer, very Kenne, is one of their stocked meats.

I saw that these men all had their own weapons beside them, including long swords common in Kyushu, and narrow sheathed long knives similar to those made by Su Wangting.

"Is it baked, I'm starving to death!!" At this time, a big man with two axes on his waist shouted impatiently, and slapped his fat belly with a bang.

A man with a long knife at his waist in charge of the barbecue laughed and scolded: "You dog, every time you count the most you eat, shout hunger and count you the most!" You fucking shout hungry every day, why don't you see half a cent of your fat fall off? ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone laughed and began to ridicule the big man, and the chatter was very lively.

"Wow, what a fragrant barbecue! You're really going to get by! ”

An unfamiliar voice suddenly came.

Everyone was startled, and when they looked closely, they saw a man with a long knife with a narrow sheath at his waist appearing by the bonfire at some point, staring at the roasted roe deer and smacking his lips again and again, and the hara was about to flow out.

Su Wangting!

"Boom la la ......"

There was a sound of weapons being copied.

The man in charge of the barbecue closest to Su Wangting rubbed his eyes and muttered, "I think I was dazzled by the fire, you guy... Where did it come from? ”

Su Wangting smiled and said, "It's cold, I'm hungry, can I share some barbecue meat to eat?" ”

"Go, go, we don't have enough to eat ourselves!" The barbecue man hurriedly blocked in front of Su Wangting and protected his beloved barbecue.

"Hush, stingy!" Su Wangting pursed his lips.

At this time, the big man looked Su Wangting up and down vigilantly, and asked, "Are you a Silla samurai?" ”

"No, I'm from Kyushu." Su Wangting stared at the barbecue stupidly and replied casually.

"But the long knife on your waist is a typical Silla weapon."

Su Wangting swallowed: "Yes. But I'm really from Kyushu. ”

The big man held the double axe on his waist and slowly walked towards Su Wangting: "Could it be... Do you want to join in? ”

Su Wangting pointed to the barbecue and smiled: "Once you join the gang, can you share the meat for me to eat?" ”

The big man's eyes glowed coldly, and he said in a deep voice: "It's okay to join in, but... There is no reason to join the gang empty-handed. ”

"Mmmmmmmmmm

Saying that, Su Wangting took out the silk bag that Bai Kui gave him from his arms and opened it.

Yellow cancan's gold ingot.

Everyone let out a burst of exclamation, and then a cruel smile appeared on their faces, staring at Su Wangting's hand like a hungry wolf.

"Now, can you join in?" Su Wangting grinned.