the enlightener says

It’s because I can’t manage it, but it’s not that I don’t want to.

Cai Yan blinked and smiled secretly: "Don't worry, I'm very careful. I'm still wearing gold silk soft armor. Lao Gao found it from the warehouse of the public loser. I even tried it myself. Within fifty steps, iron Even the arrows can’t go in, do you want me to take it off for you to see?”

"Stop making trouble." Qin Ke blushed inexplicably, "Take it off or something, it's not decent, you'd better keep wearing it, at least I can feel more at ease."

He looked at Cai Yan's cheeks stained with pot ashes, feeling a little distressed, and took out a towel from his cowhide armor: "Wipe your face, it looks like a painted cat."

Cai Yan shook her head: "It's better not to wipe it off, I finally wiped it off, so that it has not been recognized by anyone."

Qin Ke thought for a while, and it seemed to make sense, so he put the towel back again.

Now that she has come out, there is no way to send this reckless young lady back. What's more, she is right. Jinzhou is also a place of right and wrong. If Tang Jun goes crazy and continues to attack the city regardless of losses, Jinzhou will fall It's also a matter of time, she has no cultivation base, maybe it's easier to keep her by his side to protect her.

Abu got closer and said softly: "We have to hurry. Although we have traveled more than a dozen miles, there is no guarantee that there will be no pursuers. The cavalry of the Tang Kingdom has lost a lot, but we can still gather tens of thousands Cavalry, and now we are not under the city of Jinzhou, and without the protection of the ballista, we can't fight the Tang army head-on."

Qin Ke nodded, let go of the reins leading the horse, and solemnly said to Cai Yan on the horseback: "From now on, you have to follow me closely and don't run around."

Cai Yan had a rare sweet smile, and her tone was full of meekness, and said: "I know, I will listen to you."

Qin Ke glared at her, and shook his head helplessly. He really couldn't fully believe her sugar-coated guarantee. Before he left the city, he murmured in his heart that all the common people in the city would come out to send out the army, but Why didn't Cai Yan come to see herself off... It turned out that she had already sneaked into the expedition team and gave herself such a big "surprise".

No, it was frightening.

Qin Ke got on his horse, drove the horse and approached the big cavalry man before him, and asked, "What's your name?"

"General, my name is A Guo."

"A... Ah Guo?" Qin Ke couldn't help laughing, "It turns out that there is a person in my village with a name similar to yours. When we were young, we called him Xiaoguo, and later he was called Daguo when he grew up, but now he is the county master. The servant, the county lord appreciated him and even gave him a great name..."

Ah Guo scratched his head, and said with a naive smile: "I'm not that lucky. My parents have never studied in my life, and I can't even write my own surname well... But I think it's okay. I don’t think I’ll be hungry, hehehe.”

"It's really... not hungry, that's great." Qin Ke looked a bit bitter, and raised his eyes and asked, "What about your parents?"

A Guo's eyes darkened: "When Tang Jun called, they couldn't bear to part with the food at home... Later, my uncle took me and ran out, and they fell behind, probably... they all died."

Qin Ke nodded sadly, not knowing what to say, but at this moment, Cai Yan beside him suddenly bowed respectfully and said, "I'm sorry."

The tall Mohist man stared blankly at Cai Yan. Even though the little man on the horse lowered his voice deliberately, he could still hear a clear female voice, but it seemed that she and Qin Ke were very familiar. Naturally, I won't talk too much.

What puzzled him was Cai Yan's inexplicable apology. What was the reason for this?

However, Mohist men are always careless and don't think too much in a roundabout way, so A Guo returned a salute and said with a grin: "It's nothing, it's all over, my parents are watching me from the sky, I killed three people today." People from the Tang Dynasty have already avenged their revenge."

On the way, Qin Ke looked at A Guo who was leading the way ahead, and then turned his gaze to Cai Yan. Of course he knew why Cai Yan said that he was sorry.

She is from Tang Dynasty.

And her father, Cai Yong, once led soldiers, and he attacked the Mo family no less than Xiang Chu. Maybe he was not as brutal as Xiang Chu, but among the rebellious army, there were several casualties, dozens, or even Hundreds of Mohist people are also commonplace.

Of course, when the Mohists attacked the Tang State for the so-called ideal of "helping the world", their hands were also stained with the blood of the people of the Tang State. I couldn't tell at night.

Maybe this world is actually a battlefield?

In Qin Ke's mind, he recalled the stories his master had told him back then. It seemed that from thousands of years ago to hundreds of years ago, the wars among the kingdoms of the world have never stopped.

When a dynasty has risen for less than a hundred years, it will be annihilated in the long river of history due to various reasons, and what will follow is a chaotic world that lasts for hundreds of years.

Just like a dining table, people keep eating at the table, and people keep getting kicked off their chairs by the latecomers. What changes is the faces sitting at the table, but what remains the same is their greedy way of eating. In the eyes of these people, the world It's like a feast that can't be finished, even though they know they can't eat any more, they still can't help but continue to stuff their mouths until they die...

Qin Ke trembled slightly, as if the gluttonous feast appeared in front of his eyes, but behind those delicious dishes, the flesh and blood of the common people were cooked.

"It's not your fault." Qin Ke said softly, "You can't decide these."

Cai Yan looked at him sideways, her big eyes were shining with warmth, and when she smiled, she showed two pointed canine teeth: "Do you think I'm sad?"

Qin Ke looked at her smile, frowned and said, "Isn't it?"

"Of course not." Cai Yan smiled broadly: "I apologize because although I am in the Mohist family, I am wearing the armor of the Mohist cavalry, but I don't know how to carry a knife into battle, let alone help them kill. You want to ask if I am I feel ashamed of the Mo family, but I just want to say...no."

Cai Yan looked forward: "Of course, I will sympathize with them, because they really deserve sympathy. But I know it's not my fault, as you said, I can't decide these. What's more, when the Mohists attacked Tang on a large scale, the people of Tang did not I was not so lucky. I went to the palace to meet the king, and I also heard the battle reports from the front. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land were burned, and tens of thousands of people were displaced... Believe it or not, if Ah Guo can continue to live, there will be One day he will definitely wield his butcher knife against the people of Tang Kingdom."

Qin Ke was dumb.

Cai Yan's eyes are very dark and bright, as pure as black gemstones, and her smile is as clean as a child's, which makes people feel no whimsy in their hearts.

But this time, Qin Ke saw something that he hadn't noticed before from those pure eyes like a child's.

In this world, some people live clearly, some people live confusedly, some people pretend to understand while pretending to be confused, and some people pretend to be confused while pretending to understand.

Cai Yan should be the kind of person who understands in his heart but doesn't show it.Although sometimes she is very childish, and she even seriously grabs the children's candied haws, but in the face of big right and wrong, she is far wiser and more free and easy than herself.

She is not sad, nor entangled, because she knows that she doesn't have to be like this, and she doesn't want to be like this.

Qin Ke lowered his head, but felt a little ashamed: "Maybe. But I hope... I will never have that day, my sword will never..."

Before he finished speaking, he felt a pain in his abdomen, and he almost carried it back in one breath.

Cai Yan stabbed him in the ribs with the unsheathed knife in his hand, but there was a nonchalant expression on his face: "Look at your expression, you are thinking wildly again, aren't you? Really, you are not Lao Gao. Such a smart person, why do you have to rush to put so many messy things in your head? If you continue to struggle like this, beware of premature aging, or do you want to become an ascetic monk to save all sentient beings?"

She glanced at the Sanskrit inscribed on the scabbard in Qin Ke's hand, and read out softly: "There is no hindrance in the heart, no hindrance, no terror, stay away from reversed dreams, and finally Nirvana..."

Chapter 456 Traveling

Seeing Qin Ke's eyes starting to lose focus again, and about to fall into a sluggish state at any moment, Cai Yan quickly waved his hands in front of his eyes twice, and said with a smile: "But you can neither be an arhat with fierce eyes, nor a kind-hearted arhat. Bodhisattva, you are just an ordinary person... When I was young, my mother told me that a human being is like a cup filled with water. No matter how much the teapot is poured into it, the water in it cannot overflow the cup. Maybe some people Some people’s teacups are bigger, some people’s are smaller, but there will be a limit after all. If you insist on thinking of yourself as a teacup that cannot be filled, and hope that the tea you pour into it will never stagnate and never flow away, worrying about gains and losses...then you must I can't even keep the glass of water that I should have."

Cai Yan had a delicate blush on her gray cheeks, and she looked at Qin Ke blissfully, and said, "Think about when we ate candied haws and flew kites together, the war... will eventually pass, and we can still be able to How good would it be to listen to operas, climb high, and sleep until the sun rises?"

Qin Ke stared at Cai Yan, stunned for a long time, finally relieved, and laughed: "Yes, I should learn from you in terms of freedom and wisdom."

"Then why don't you call me Mr. Hurry up, be respectful, be flattering, and imitate those dog legs of the public loser, and flatter me." Cai Yan straightened her back, and she looked very funny under the large cowhide armor. , but she didn't care at all, and even gave her a wink.

"I've never seen such an ugly gentleman." Qin Ke pointed to his cheek and said, "You'd better wipe off the pot dust on your face first."

The Mohist cavalry changed horses and traveled nearly [-] miles in one day. This was because they were afraid of being exposed. The path in the forest has always been taken. If they can gallop on the road, they should be able to go faster than expected .

However, at such a speed, the Tang army obviously couldn't catch up, unless they were desperate and forcibly separated their horses to switch to pursue them. However, based on Abu and Cai Yan's guess, the Tang army would definitely not formulate such a strategy under the previous downturn.

After all, this is still within the Mohist territory, and Xiang Chu’s cavalry is less than [-]. Forcing the horses will only continue to reduce the number of cavalry. Let’s not talk about whether the tired Mohist can resist if the Mohist turns around. , is a big problem.

Qin Ke could go to the counties along the way to make supplies, but Tang Jun... who would give them food for free?

At night, Qin Ke arranged for everyone to camp at the foot of a mountain.After running for a day on horseback, many people were exhausted, and the wounded were a little unable to hold on.

Perhaps if Wang Xuanwei was there, he would have demanded an overnight raid in order to reach Xingzhou as soon as possible, but Qin Ke was not such a ruthless commander, so he couldn't sit back and watch the wounded finally die of exhaustion on the road.

However, in order to march in a hurry, the cavalry team did not bring much luggage, and the cloth strips and knife wound medicine used for bandaging were also very scarce. Some sergeants with minor injuries could not be treated, so they could only be mixed with the water of the creek. Salt is enough to wash the wound.

However, Qin Ke has lived in Daoxiang Village among the mountains for so many years, and has read many medical books about herbs in order to gather herbs for his master. Naturally, he knows a lot about herbs on the mountain, and then he selected a few people from the army who knew how to gather herbs. As a helper of medicine, along the way, I found many herbs that can be used to stop bleeding and remove stasis.

Cai Yan should be regarded as one of the most active people on this matter. Of course, she thinks this matter is more interesting. She bounced around along the way and chased wild rabbits when she saw them. But in Qin Ke's eyes, On the contrary, she is the most cheerful wild rabbit.

Qin Ke is also helpless, and has nothing to say, not to mention Cai Yan is indeed a good helper.

Although the eldest daughter of this Zhu country has never gone to the mountains to collect medicinal materials, she is talented and intelligent, and she can learn it quickly. In addition, she has read medical books when she was bored at home. Later, she also helped many people identify medicinal materials. decent.

"Hey, did you see it? This is Vitex japonica. A leaf has five prongs, like a human palm. There are some jagged edges on the edge. It is good for clearing away heat and detoxifying."

After Cai Yan finished speaking, the people around her suddenly realized, "This grass is all over the mountains and plains in my hometown, and it can be used as medicine? It's good now, brothers, apply the herbal medicine to stop bleeding, and drink a bowl of this yellow jingshui. Get a good night's sleep, and tomorrow you'll be strong like a cow again."

Cai Yan smiled and said: "Mmm, then... who else wants to ask questions?"

"Me, me, me! Miss Cai, can you see if this is the '[-]' that the general said?"

Cai Yan glanced at it, nodded, but then smiled, and said: "Panax notoginseng is notoginseng, but you are a leaf, and the usefulness of notoginseng is the root, you have to dig out its roots. "

"Well...that's how it is."

Everyone was a little surprised when they first knew that she was a girl, but gradually, everyone liked this beautiful girl who was smiling all day long and had clear eyes. Several young soldiers who were about the same age as Qin Ke saw Cai Yanxi After cleansing his cheeks, his neck turned red when he just met her eyes.

But soon they could all see the intimacy between Qin Ke and Cai Yan, so no one dared to make any "shocking" move.

It's just that they still have doubts in their hearts: Qin Ke is obviously the husband of the noble Patriarch of the public loser, why is he confused with another girl now?

Or...is this the servant girl that Gongshu Yinxue acquiesced to?

This is probably the only reason that can be used to explain it, although it sounds ridiculous.

At night, although the tents had been set up, many people slept without tents because they were traveling in a hurry this time and did not bring much luggage.

They put a layer of thatch and animal skins on the ground to make simple beds, and slept close to each other.

As a "general", Qin Ke is naturally qualified to sleep in a tent. Although he couldn't bear to look at the soldiers sleeping in the wild, his tent is actually just a small tent for a quick march, even if he gave it to them , and can't accommodate many people, so he doesn't have to act like "love soldiers like children, eat and sleep with soldiers".

But I don't know whether it was intentional or not, everyone seems to have forgotten to prepare a tent for Cai Yan, or in other words, they didn't treat Cai Yan as an independent person at all, but regarded her as Qin Ke's "female family" , Sleeping in the same tent with Qin Ke is understandable.

"I... go to them and ask for another tent... or I can squeeze with Abu." Qin Ke stood behind Cai Yan, hesitated and said.

"Forget it." Cai Yan looked calm, and stretched out her hands to slowly roast on the bonfire. The warm flames warmed her palms and backs, "Can you and Abu squeeze into a tent? I guess you will end up with Sleeping outside is just fine... Actually, you don’t have to think about it, don’t you forget that when we left Ding’an, on the scooter, you, Lao Gao, and Abu, the four of us often squeezed together. "

Cai Yan had already taken off her armor, revealing her plain dress. Under the moonlight, she could clearly see the glittering gold silk inner armor in her dress. She stretched her waist: "Let's sleep together."

Qin Ke was stunned for a while, and finally nodded. After all, the current situation is not the same as usual. The army is full of young men, so it is best for Cai Yan to stay by his side.

God knows what kind of animal thoughts those men who practice in the army all day long have. During the day, when they saw Cai Yan's back, they all stared straight, blushed and had thick necks...at night like this, he dared not let it go. Cai Yan left his sight.

"Cough, then I'll go in first." Qin Ke said and got into the tent. A layer of thatch was spread under the animal skin cushion, which was very soft. The felt cloth propped up on all sides blocked the cool wind at night, and there was a cloud in the tent. A wonderful warmth.

With his current cultivation base, he really wasn't afraid of the cold, but for some reason he was shivering a little in such a warm tent, and the hairs on his back stood up one after another.

He didn't know what he was afraid of.

After a while, Cai Yan came in, and the two looked at each other.

Cai Yan's expression was very calm, but when she lay down, she was as light as a feather, and the two were very close, even though they closed their eyes, they could feel each other's breath.

In the darkness, Qin Ke suddenly heard Cai Yan say: "When you slept with Gongshu Yinxue, was it like this?"

Qin Ke was agitated, and suddenly felt like a light was on his back, he hesitated and said: "Why do you ask this?"

"Just curious..." Cai Yan said, "Have you ever hugged her?"

Chapter 457

"No, no...Of course not." Qin Ke felt a chill on the back of his neck, and his whole back hunched, as if a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake was stuffed in his throat, and said: "Actually, I didn't sleep with her for long. Afterwards, I slept on the ground..."

"Oh, how ruthless." Cai Yan closed her eyes, the corners of her mouth seemed to twitch lightly, but she commented in a very steady tone: "Anyway, I have worshiped the world with you, and you don't care much about them."

"Uh..." Qin Ke asked cautiously, "Then what do you think... how should I care for you?"

"Then how do I know!" Cai Yan snorted suddenly, "I'm not the one who worshiped her!"

Qin Ke was stunned and frowned. He really couldn't guess what Cai Yan was thinking. Even since he met Cai Yan, he never guessed her once. She was like a bird hiding in the dark. The cat here, when the weather is good, will pace out, enjoying the sun with a face, but sometimes her eyes will be contemptuous, or show a savage... Her expression changes so quickly, as much as the facial makeup on the stage. , dazzling.

In the dark, Qin Ke was silent for a long time, and finally said in a low voice: "When I go back this time, I will move out of her building."

It's just that he suddenly thought of waking up one morning, only to find that Gongshu Yinxue didn't sleep on the bed as usual, but got into his bed at some point, curled up like a cute little animal, with a peaceful face.

His eyeballs rolled around in their sockets, and he thought it would be better not to mention this matter.

Cai Yan didn't respond. Gradually, he could feel that Cai Yan's breathing became even and long. The tent was as quiet as a lake after the rain, and the breeze could only make a little ripple.

Qin Ke sighed softly, closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

In the early hours of the morning, Qin Ke was suddenly awakened by Abu. In the distance outside the tent, the sky was shimmering with gray.

"Ake." Abu whispered, "Something happened."

Qin Ke rubbed his sleepy eyes, but when he heard these words, he immediately cheered up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"The scouts are back." Abu said, "They said that they saw a team from the Tang Kingdom about 2000 miles ahead, with about [-] people, both on foot and on horseback. Unsurprisingly, within an hour, they saw a team from the Tang Kingdom. Pass us."

Qin Ke glanced at Cai Yan who was still sleeping soundly, dragged Abu out of the tent, and asked, "2000 people? Can you avoid them?"

Abu shook his head: "If you want to avoid it, you can only turn around. If you encounter chasing soldiers and are surrounded by both sides, the situation will be even worse."

"Then what should we do?" Qin Ke's heart became heavy, "Can we fight?"

"It's hard to say." Abu raised his head and thought for a while, "How about this, let the officers gather together to discuss whether it is a fight or a peace, we will not be arbitrary for the time being. Although General Wang is not here, when he comes back, we will We still have to explain to him. In a direct confrontation, our number is less than three thousand, and even if we win, we are afraid that we will lose both."

Qin Ke nodded: "Then do as you said, lead troops to make strategies, you are far better than me."

Abu lived in the Imperial Academy for a longer period of time, and what he learned was serious and practical knowledge.Zhuge Wanling not only arranged for them to learn the principles of governing the country, but also opened up various subjects such as mathematics, farming, art of war, astronomy, etc. Now that they are on the battlefield, if a layman like him monopolizes the power, it will be harmful. No benefit.

The Mohist military system is not consistent, but divided into two parts, one part is the old army, which still uses the earliest Mohist military system, and later, Wang Xuanwei created a new military system, which is used for infantry and cavalry respectively.

After the Jinzhou Army selected the 3000 men, they naturally arranged them according to Wang Xuanwei's new military system: five cavalry had one commander, ten cavalry had one official, and one hundred cavalry had one commander...

As for the generals and above, each of them commands two hundred cavalry. Once a battle starts, these people will be like the fingers of the commander, led by a higher-level "thousand people", sweeping the entire battlefield.

There should have been 3000 officers above the general level in the 18 cavalry, but in yesterday's battle, the 18 lost a few after all, and there were 14 people gathered in front of Qin Ke at the moment.

"General." The two thousand people are the highest rank and stand the most forward. They turned their backs to Tianguang, and each of them bowed their hands respectfully to Qin Ke and said: "Except for one hundred general who was too injured to move. It's all here."

"Okay." Qin Ke nodded, and glanced at Abu beside him.