choke element

Chapter 3
Guo Ning sat blankly beside the mound for a long time until the sky gradually brightened.

There are clouds in the sky, and the hazy sun shines through the clouds and shines in the deep reeds.The mist on the reeds and the water became more and more diffuse, like gray waves rolling over.Occasionally, the sound of ice shattering and splashing water can be heard from a distance.

That is the Feijun River flowing to Bianwudian is thawing.

Bianwudian is one of the Yuanbian Tangluo excavated in the Song Dynasty.Bianwudian in the southwest of Anzhou, and Qinudian and Laodian in Baozhou were originally combined into one water, with a width of more than 99 miles and a length of one hundred and fifty miles.Together with many water systems from Anzhou to Xiongzhou, it is known as [-] lakes, once vast and vast, reaching the sky.

In recent years, the climate has been dry, and many ponds were originally excavated for military purposes, and it is important to "not be too deep to sail in a boat, and not too shallow to wade in vain."Once it dries up, the area of ​​Tangluo will be greatly reduced, and a complex terrain of swamps, rivers, gentle slopes, reeds and shrubs will be formed on the edge.

This kind of terrain happened to be a hiding place for many rout soldiers.The companions who followed Guo Ning to the south were stationed at a port branch where the Feijun River merged into Bianwudian.Guo Ning led people out this time to collect food for everyone.

The results of it?There was a surprise attack, the food was still there, but the people were gone.

In fact, there is not much food, there are three bags in total.One bag is messy beans, two bags are yams and the like.Xiao Haohu's subordinates didn't take these scraps of grain seriously, and after killing people, they let the bags fall into the mud.

Guo Ning searched for a long time before he found it.

After soaking in water, the bag is very heavy.With a little more force, the side of a bag opened a crack, and a lot of beans spilled out.Guo Ning pulled two robes and three belts from the corpse, tied them up again, carefully picked up the scattered beans, and gathered them in his sleeves.

These are blood-stained food, and they must be brought back to the camp.

The number of Guo Ning's companions is very small, twenty or thirty.

Most of them were his old acquaintances in Wushabao and Changzhou, as well as their families, women and children.

In the early years, the garrison troops established by the imperial court along the border trenches were divided into two types: the Yongtun Army and the Fenfan Army.Generally speaking, the Yongtun army is mainly composed of Bohai, Khitan or Xi people, while the Fenfan army is mainly composed of Han children who were signed by the people and released after the matter was completed.

There is no isolation between the two.Guo Ning's father went north from the Central Plains during the Dading period. He was originally a strong man who built the Great Wall and the boundary trenches.

However, generally speaking, the number of Han'er in the northern Xinjiang garrison is not large, and their status is generally lower.As brave and good at fighting as Guo Ning, he is just a mere regular army.

When the army was defeated last year, many people were afraid of the brutality of the Mongolian army, so they surrounded Guo Ning and relied on his bravery and skill to escape.But these people will not always obey the orders of a regular army, so they dispersed one after another.Up to now, they still follow Guo Ning, but there are only a few strong men, more than ten women and children.

Now, Yao Shi'er, Gao Kezhong, Lu Su and other strong men are all dead, and there are only a dozen women and children left. The food is enough for a long time.

Guo Ning felt that his physical strength had recovered a little, so he struggled to carry the food and continued to move forward.

As he walked, the weapons hanging around his waist collided with each other, making a light tinkling sound.

Go west for two miles and you will arrive at the Feijun River.Fifteen miles further south along the Feijun River, you will arrive at the Gang Branch where the camp is located.To the south of the port branch, across Bianwudian is the Zhisuowocheng County of Anzhou, and to the northwest and northeast of the port branch are Baozhou and Ansu Prefecture respectively.

This remote port, where there is nothing to do, is where Guo Ning has settled for the past six months.

He and his companions built simple shacks here, erected wooden fences around them, and formed a small stockade.In addition, a small piece of arable land was reclaimed.Because the farming season was missed last year, I don't know what the harvest will be.

Guo Ning walked for a while, took a rest, and didn't rush back until noon.

A few miles away from the stockade, a child jumped out of the withered grass beside the road.He dropped the toad he was holding, ran a few steps towards Guo Ning, and shouted with joy, "Liulang! Liulang! You're here!"

Before Guo Ning answered, the child turned around and headed towards the stockade, continuing to shout, "Sister! Brother Liulang is back!"

After shouting a few words, he turned around again, looked up and down at Guo Ning, and asked, "Brother Liulang, where is my brother? Didn't he come back with you?"

This boy is Lu Su's younger brother, called Lu Shu.Lu Su was young and mature, taking over from his father who died in the battle since he was 12 years old; Lu Shu was only seven years old this year, just an ignorant child.The two brothers have always been taken care of by Guo Ning, and they have long regarded him as a family.

The brothers' father was a doctor before joining the army.Therefore, the names of the two brothers, one is taken from "Su Wen", and the other is taken from "Lingshu".On top of the two brothers, there is an older sister with a single name and a character letter, which is taken from "Yu Han Fang".

Lu Shu asked such a question, but Guo Ning didn't know what to say, so he forced a laugh, touched his head, and said softly: "Let's go back and talk about it."

Lu Shu followed Guo Ning.

After walking a few steps, he asked again with great anticipation: "Liulang, when will brother come back? He said that he will bring me a rattle this time."

"That's true." Guo Ning felt a pain in his heart, took out a rattle from his bosom, and handed it to Lu Shu.

It was taken out of Lu Su's arms when he buried the body.

The rattle was also stained with blood, and Guo Ning washed it clean; but after soaking in water, the sound of the drum was not crisp.

Lu Shu didn't care about these things, and held it in his hand with a happy face, shaking it endlessly.

At this time, someone from the village came out to welcome him.

Guo Ning and the others were supposed to be back yesterday, and the people in the village were very worried until now.Hearing the good news from Lu Shu, more than a dozen people, young and old, rushed out together, and then they saw Guo Ning, who was carrying three grain bags on his shoulders and several weapons on his waist.

These people are either old soldiers or relatives of soldiers.Everyone has been in the frontier for a long time, and they have seen many things about life and death.With just one glance, everyone understood what happened from Guo Ning's expression.

Several people's eyes turned red instantly.

A pretty woman cried on the spot. While crying, she kept asking: "Didn't you say, go hunting for food? Didn't you say that everything has been arranged? How did it become like this?"

Guo Ning could only remain silent.

This woman's surname is Feng, and her husband's surname is Yan. Her husband was also the reason why he signed up to join the army in Wushabao in the early years, but unfortunately he died in battle on the way to escape.Her young son died of illness last year.So for the past few months, Mrs. Feng lived with Master Yao.

Yao Shi'er liked Feng's appearance very much, so even if he was defeated and the army was in various embarrassments on the way, he always protected her by his side.

Now, Master Yao is also dead.How can a lonely woman survive?What kind of future will she face?No one knows.

A girl with jet-black hair who was wearing a double bun, stood beside the woman and comforted her a few words.As he spoke, he also shed tears.

That girl is Lu Su's elder sister, Lu Han, who is usually called the young lady of the Lu family.

Lu Shu followed beside his sister, holding the rattle in one hand, while holding his sister's sleeve with the other.Only he didn't understand what happened yet, so he looked a little confused.

Today's world is not much different from the troubled times recorded in history books.Hundreds of thousands of people have been crushed like powder by the current situation.Guo Ning and others are only struggling to survive with their meager strength.

This time they were ambushed, and all the brave men died except Guo Ning.Then, this small group has no reason to continue, and it's time to fall apart.

And the people in the small group probably only have a dead end.

"These grains are enough for a while, you go and share them." Guo Ning put down the three grain bags and ordered in a deep voice.Then he turned to Lu Han: "If you have many pancakes, bring me a few."

After speaking, he walked towards his own shack.

His shack was slightly taller than the others, and it could even be called a wooden house.Usually, the little lady of the Lu family helps to clean it, and it is very clean.There is a wooden shelf on the wall of the room, and a set of precious iron armor and a phoenix-winged iron helmet made by the Song Army in the Southern Dynasty are hung on it; on the wall are long bows and leather quiveres.

Guo Ning took all these things down and put them in front of him for inspection.

After confirming that the weapon was well maintained, he took out a black clay pot from under the bed.

The jars contained spirits.

Guo Ning removed the military uniform and leather armor on his body, untied the skirt that bandaged the wound, then opened the clay pot, and slowly poured the spirits on the back of his shoulders.The cold wine brought a severe sting, and he couldn't help but groan twice.

After re-bandaging the wound, Guo Ning took out a white collared robe and put it on his body.

When he was about to continue packing the armor, the door of the wooden house was suddenly pushed open by someone, and a figure rushed up.

Guo Ning turned around immediately, and reached out to grab the handle of the knife at the same time.

The long knife was half out of its sheath, and then retracted.

It turned out to be Feng Shi who jumped on Guo Ning.I don't know what she was thinking just now, but now she hugged Guo Ning tightly and frantically, trying her best to move her lips to Guo Ning's face.With hot breath from her mouth, she murmured: "Liulang, I can follow you. I can have a son. I, I... I can do anything!"

As she spoke, she let go of one arm to untie her clothes. The exposed shoulders were white and dazzling.

Guo Ning was very embarrassed.He wanted to struggle, but he was afraid of hurting Feng Shi, and after a lot of effort, he came out of the wooden house.

As soon as he stood outside, Feng's heart-piercing cries came from inside the wooden house.

Guo Ning sighed.

At this time, the young lady of the Lu family came around from behind, holding a few dry biscuits wrapped in reed leaves.

The girl's eye circles were swollen, and there was sadness in her eyes. It was obvious that she had exhausted her willpower to maintain her demeanor.Her younger brother Lu Shuyuemo knew the news of his elder brother's death, and followed behind her sister, walking and howling, still holding the rattle tightly in his hand.

"Take out all my bow, knife and armor." Guo Ning pointed to the wooden house, and calmly said: "The one who attacked us was Xiao Haohu from Gaoyang Pass...I will kill him!"

The little lady of the Lu family nodded, handed the dry biscuits to Guo Ning, and went into the wooden house.

Guo Ning looked at her back and said softly: "After killing Xiao Haohu, I will come back. Everyone, everyone, I will continue to take care of you, don't worry."

(End of this chapter)