Chapter 19: Oath

After entering the city, Yang Shi and others did not immediately separate from Sun Batou's caravan, but continued to follow the caravan to the city's market. Along the way, the pedestrians dressed in various strange clothes. Although Wuwei County is the county closest to the mainland in the four counties in Hexi, only 40% of the Han people in the city accounted for at most, including Qiang people, Tibetans, Western Regions people, Tuyuhun people, Hui people, Tuji people, Tuji people and other grassland people.

Along the way, Mai Tiezhang and others looked around and experienced the unique style of various ethnic groups in Wuwei City and the Central Plains. Only Yang Shi was worried about Zhongzhong. If the expected result came true, how to complete the task assigned by the prince.

"Sir, we're here." Sun pointed his head at the front and said.

Mai Tiezhang looked up and saw a vast open space in front of him. Some places were sparsely distributed with white felt tents, but there were a lot of people. Mai Tiezhang was very disappointed and asked in suspicion: "Is this the market?" No wonder Mai Tiezhang was confused. Not to mention the capital, even the market in any county in the mainland was more crowded than here.

Sun Zi believed it and said to a guard next to him: "Chall the gong and tell them that our Sun caravan is coming."

"Yes!" The guard responded, took out a drum and drum from the carriage, and "Clang, clang, clang, clang," and started beating on the open space.

"The caravan is here, the caravan is here." As the gong sounded, a group of people suddenly rushed up. These people seemed to suddenly emerge from the ground, which scared Yang Shi, who was thinking.

"Sun Bartou, where is the porcelain I want?"

"My silk?"

...

The group of people surrounded the caravan and couldn't wait to ask Sun Bar. Among them, there were not only Qiang people, but also Westerners with fair skin, high noses and deep sockets.

"Don't be anxious, don't be anxious, you all have everything you want." Sun replied with a smile. The price here has been five times more than Zhongyuan. When he arrived here, he completed the caravan's itinerary. If it weren't for too much goods here, the caravan could go back directly after selling the goods.

Yang Shi touched Mai Tiebang who was stunned: "Let's go!"

Mai Tiezhang was stunned: "Where are you going?"

"Of course, it's looking for the whereabouts of the Yang family's siblings."

Mai Tiezhang patted his head and remembered that he was not a member of the caravan, and he came here not to buy goods, so he hurriedly followed the rest of the people.

Seeing Yang Shi and others leave, Sun Tzu Xin seemed to put down a big stone in his heart. On the road, there were twenty more strong guards. However, after entering the city, the caravan was no longer dangerous. Of course, Sun Tzu Xin did not want a team of imperial envoys to be by his side, making him tremble.

Outside Wuwei City, the Red Wolf Cavalry still moved on the previous route. They have been walking on this route for seven years. Even if they are familiar with their eyes closed, they will not make any mistakes. Along the way, the caravans and travelers you meet will stop and watch the Red Wolf Cavalry pass through with respectful eyes.

"Wow!" With a shout, the Red Wolf Rider was slowly stopping. The person in front lifted the mask covering his face, revealing a firm face. From the face, this person was only twenty-five or six years old, but his long beard was left under his jaw.

"Brother!"

"Brother!"

...

Four red wolf riders rode their horses to the young men with long beards and lifted their masks one after another. Their faces were younger than the other. The youngest one was obviously childish, and they were only fourteen or fifteen years old.

If Yang Shi was here, he would immediately recognize the identity of the young man with long beards. Apart from his age, this face was basically exactly the same as the dead Yang Su. He was undoubtedly Yang Su's eldest son Yang Xuangan. The other four people were Yang Su's other four sons: Yang Xuanzhao, Yang Xuanzong, Yang Wanshi, and Yang Jishan.

The Red Wolf Cavalry had already driven the horse for fifty or sixty miles. Although the weather was not hot here, there was still a trace of sweat coming out of everyone, and the horse underneath was sweating profusely.

"Dropping off the horse and rest!"

As Yang Xuangan sent the order, a clamor sound came from behind him. Hundreds of red wolf riders turned over and dismounted, took off their masks, began to loosen the horse's belly, and then took off the dry food from the horse, allowing the horse to eat the tender grass freely.

On the flat grass in the distance, there were dozens of raised hills. The hills were as full of grass as other places, but there was almost no grass growing in a large area in front of them. Yang Xuangan took everyone to the hills, knelt down silently and kowtowed three times before sitting cross-legged on the ground, taking out dry food and eating. Everyone seemed to have done this action thousands of times and was extremely familiar. This also explains why there is no grass growing here alone.

In the eyes of Wuwei County and past merchants, they were the invincible Red Wolf Cavalry, the caravan and the guardian god of travelers, but no one thought that, they were all composed of the lowest garrison soldiers. Once they were killed in battle, they could only be buried on the spot, and even a monument would not be left behind. Even if they made contributions, there would be no reward until the identity of the garrison soldiers changed.

The small hills here are the places where the Red Wolf Cavalry died in the past. In addition to this, they are also distributed on seven or eight other grasslands. Each hills witnessed a battle between the Red Wolf Cavalry and the Horse Thieves. Although every battle with the Horse Thieves ended with the Red Wolf Cavalry, these hills combined have almost exceeded the total number of the Red Wolf Cavalry now.

Just as he was eating in public, the youngest Yang Jishan suddenly spitted the dry food on the ground with a "smack" and said, "It's so uneasy."

This was Yang Jishan's first march after joining the Red Wolf Cavalry. He was a child. He was fed with food and food. Later, although he was sent to him, everyone pity him for his youth and took care of him. He didn't have big fish and meat. There were always simple foods. From time to time, there were some meat dishes to improve the food. The Red Wolf Cavalry was composed of garrison soldiers, and the standard of food was not high. Their dry food was just black steamed buns, made of some miscellaneous grains, and there was a small portion of rice bran, which was worse than a horse. Yang Jishan naturally couldn't get used to it.

"Pick it up!" Seeing Yang Jishan throw away the steamed bun in his hand, Yang Xuangan's face turned pale.

"Brother." Yang Jishanmeng shouted aggrievedly.

"Pick it up!" Yang Xuangan was not moved by Yang Jishan's aggrieved voice at all, and ordered it again.

Yang Jishan was very dissatisfied and thought that it was just a steamed bun, just not eating it himself, so why bother making such a big deal? It was just that the elder brother was like his father. After Yang Su died, Yang Xuangan naturally became the leader. With Ji's power, Yang Jishan had to move slowly and pick up the black steamed bun that was rolling aside.

Seeing Yang Jishan picking up the steamed bun, Yang Xuangan's face was a little more straight: "Eat it."

Yang Jishan had no choice but to wipe off the soil stained on the steamed bun with his hands, biting it up in small mouthfuls, and tears were already spinning in his eyes.

Regarding this small episode, the Red Wolf Cavalry around them seemed to have no idea. They were all chewing the black steamed buns in their hands carefully, and they refused to waste even a little bit of the residual foam, as if the black steamed buns were delicacies, only Yang Jishan ate half of them, and he couldn't eat the half he took.

Yang Xuanzhao came over, patted Yang Jishan on the shoulder, handed him a water bag, and encouraged him: "Fifth brother, eat it, you will know later. If you don't eat it, you will lose strength. Once you encounter an enemy, you may die."

Yang Jishan took the water bag, drank a big sip, gritted his teeth, stuffed the remaining half of the steamed bun into his mouth, his cheeks bulged up, and he ate it like a swallow, which caused a strong cough. Yang Xuanbao quickly patted his back a few times and gave him another sip of water. Yang Jueshan stopped the cough.

"Second brother, I used to hear that as long as I leave the city, I can catch a lot of prey, or eat such unpalatable steamed buns." After such a cough, Yang Jishan was already in tears.

"Of course you can catch prey. You will know when you arrive at night. But before you catch prey, you have to eat steamed buns." Yang Xuanzhang said with a smile.

"Second brother, since you can catch prey, can I not do it right now?" When leaving, each Red Wolf Rider carried more than twenty steamed buns on his body. Yang Jishan tasted one and no longer wanted to eat it.

"No!" Yang Xuanzhao answered very firmly. Seeing Yang Jishan's face was confused, he quickly explained: "Silly brother, we came out to eliminate horse thieves and ensure the safety of the caravans, not to hunt. Once we have to fight with horse thieves, we don't have time to hunt. If we don't have these steamed buns, we can only go hungry, let alone we can't eat meat every day to live."

What Yang Jishan didn't know was that for the Red Wolf Cavalry, the best food was never the prey that could be caught at any time, but the inconspicuous steamed buns. It was these steamed buns that were only survived by the exile seven years ago. When they first arrived in Wuwei County, all the garrison soldiers also survived such steamed buns, and sometimes one steamed bun could save one person.

Six years ago, horse thieves joined forces on the grassland to surround the Red Wolf Cavalry. After the two sides fought for a long time, it was precisely because of these steamed buns that the Red Wolf Cavalry could maintain their physical strength and become more and more brave as they fought. Not only did they break out of the siege of horse thieves, but they also launched a counterattack on the horse thieves. After defeating the horse thieves, they chased them for three days and three nights in a row before killing the horse thieves gang led, achieving the reputation of the Red Wolf Cavalry's undefeated reputation. Even now, these steamed buns are the staple food of the Red Wolf Cavalry.

After eating dry food, everyone got up and called the mount, tied the horse's belly tightly, stepped on the horse's back, and ran to the next place. Since the establishment of the Red Wolf Cavalry, in addition to the occasional rest time in the city, they have spent this every day. It was particularly difficult at the beginning. There were crowds of horse thieves on the grassland and must be ready to fight the horse thieves they encountered at any time. Now the Red Wolf Cavalry is famous, and the number of horse thieves on the business road has been greatly reduced. Even if there are horse thieves, they will avoid the flag of the Red Wolf Cavalry. Basically, a war has occurred in the first half of the year, but the Red Wolf Cavalry's patrol has never stopped.

At about one hour before darkness, the Red Wolf Cavalry stopped moving forward and began to fan the team around a small low forest, driving out the animals in the woods, including yellow sheep, hares, wild pheasants, pigs... all kinds of prey dazzled Yang Jishan.

By the time it was dark, the entire team had already fought more than twenty yellow sheep, a wild donkey, a wild boar weighing more than 200 pounds, and even two wolves became prey. As for other hares, there were not many pheasants. There were too few wild rabbits and pheasants. Unless they hit them, the soldiers of the Red Wolf Cavalry would not bother to pull the bow away.

The hunted prey was quickly carried to the edge of the stream and the belly was broken. Except for one wild donkey skin and two wolf skins, the fur of the other prey was discarded together with the internal organs. After the red wolf rode away, these things were naturally treated by other animals on the grassland.

A bunch of bonfires were born, and everyone took off their covers and drove the stripped and washed prey onto the bonfire. After a while, the aroma of barbecue penetrated into the nostrils, and the whole grassland was filled with laughter.

Yang Jishan only ate one steamed bun at noon, and his stomach was already hungry. He smelled the aroma of barbecue and swallowed his saliva constantly. Yang Xuangan came over and handed over a roasted pheasant: "Give it!"

Yang Jishan was overjoyed, took the pheasant and bit it. After a while, he ate it all over and said vaguely: "Thank you, brother!"

Yang Xuangan showed a smile on his face: "Slow down, don't hurry, no one will snatch you."

"Brother, today's prey is so rich that you can obviously fight more, why do you have to let those yellow sheep go in the end?" Yang Jishan asked while gnawing on the chicken.

"Just eat enough prey, why do you want to fight so much?"

Yang Jishan was just about to say that he could keep it and go back to the city and sell it. He remembered that he had to stay in the wild for at least half a month before he could return to the city. He had to swallow his words and replied, "Then he could keep it too. Isn't he going to stop hunting tomorrow?"

Yang Xuangan shook his head and did not explain. As long as these things take a long time, Yang Jishan would naturally understand that hunting every day is not only a drill for the Red Wolf Rider, but also a chance to relax. In order to reduce the burden on horses, you must not put too much prey on the horse.

After eating this pheasant, Yang Jishan patted his half-full belly and looked at Yang Xuangan with a embarrassed look. Yang Xuangan smiled slightly, patted his shoulder intimately, and said, "Fifth brother, if you want to eat, have some time to wait."

Looking at the elder brother's smile, Yang Jishan suddenly asked impulsively: "Brother, with your contribution, you can already leave the garrison, why do you still have to take the Red Wolf Cavalry out of the city? It's so hard every day?"

The smile on Yang Xuangan's face disappeared immediately, and he said word by word: "Brother has already sweared that as long as there is a brother of the Red Wolf Cavalry who has not escaped from the identity of the garrison, the eldest brother will not escape from the identity of the garrison."

"Brother, you are so nice!" Yang Jishan felt that his elder brother became tall and could not be looked up to.

Yang Xuangan shook his head bitterly: "Brother is not good. If the eldest brother is good, he should cleanse up his father's grievances and let the Hongnong Yang family stand up again."

"But...but..." Yang Jishan became cowardly, and gritted his teeth for the last time, and said, "But, brother, my father's unjust case was decided by the prince. Is it possible to be cleansed?"

Yang Xuangan fell silent. Most of the Red Wolf Cavalry were generals of the Yang family. When he followed Qinghe Gong in the past, he had to say that he would be as glorious as he was. Except for the emperor, Qinghe Gong could not sell anyone's face. However, Jiangnan was unified, the prince immediately killed the donkey, and everyone fell from the sky to the ground, becoming a traitor, and was sentenced to guard the border. The prince was equivalent to a taboo in the Red Wolf Cavalry, but this taboo was suddenly broken by Yang Jishan.

Yang Xuanbao happened to come to the side. When he heard Yang Jishan's words, he glared fiercely and did not speak. Seven years ago, they were the sons of the powerful Qinghe Gong, and they were still far-reaching clans with the emperor. His father had just made a grand duke. Just when they thought this power could be further improved, they were suddenly accused by the prince of rebellion. Then his father committed suicide, his family was confiscated, and they were exiled. For their brothers, this blow was really too great that after seven years, it seemed that it was still yesterday.

With a "Zheng." Yang Xuanwei pulled out the long sword from his waist and sweared to Tianmeng: "No matter who decides it, if we don't cleanse our father's injustice and restore the Yang family's momentum, I, Yang Xuan, will be a son."

"Zheng, Zheng." Under Yang Xuangan's leadership, Yang Xuanzhao and Yang Jishan couldn't help but pluck out their swords and swore to the heaven: "If we don't cleanse our father's injustice and restore the Yang family's momentum, I, Yang Xuanzhao (Yang Jishan), will be a son."

Hearing the sudden oath to the sky, the Red Wolf Rider, who was grilling his prey, stopped moving. In an instant, the whole grassland was silent, with only the sound of beating and peeling when the bonfire was burning.

Yang Xuanzong, Yang Wanshi immediately understood, and immediately followed the oath to Tian: "If we don't clear the injustice for our father and restore the Yang family's momentum, we, Yang Xuanzong (Yang Wanshi), will be a son of man."
Chapter completed!