[Shadow Guardian] The Wind Rises from the Wild West

Uncle Thirteen sat on a rock near the gate of Qishan Mountain, watching the mountains in the distance gradually brighten, and the sky gradually brightened, feeling a little worried.Honghan went up the mountain alone yesterday, leaving a group of guards waiting at the mountain gate.He couldn't help sighing in his heart, the general is still so capricious!

Back in Xihuang, Hong Han once went alone to join a group of horse bandits whose whereabouts were uncertain, and he became the leader of the horse bandits when he came back.He was only 15 years old at that time, and he was a major general in fresh clothes and angry horses.Uncle Thirteen watched Honghan grow up, and he was always proud that he didn't raise the major general in a wrong way.As a Hu-Han mixed blood, Hong Han was neither favored by the Hong family nor recognized by the Hu people. He left Yancheng at the age of 15 and went to Xijiang on his own invitation, and broke through the world with his passion.

He is now a vassal, and he has to learn to act safely.

Uncle Thirteen disapproved of entering the customs in a hurry this time.Half a year ago, Honghan had just taken over the position of king from his elder brother, and before he had a firm foothold in Yancheng, he just ran out regardless.Those big clans in Yancheng have different ideas, so maybe something will happen.

They should have gone back long ago, but Hong Han was still running around leisurely.

Uncle Thirteen always felt that they came to the Central Plains not to fight wars, but to pick up junk, grab things, and fish for people.This is a good thing, because Xihuang is too poor, there is nothing but barren mountains and wild land.But Honghan is always evading like this, and sooner or later they have to go back and face everything they have to face.

He mentioned it to Honghan several times, and if he talked too much, Honghan would get annoyed. "Yes, yes, change will happen later, let them change for the better, the worst is to fight, so what? Who has the patience to hide it all day long!"

Uncle Thirteen was speechless, looking at Honghan's unshaven beard and angry face, he felt that the general had become more and more crooked over the years.Then, he felt old.

A figure finally appeared on the dilapidated mountain road.Hong Han stepped out of the morning dew, with his hands behind his back, and walked out of the forest with great contentment.

All the guards stood up and looked behind him.They all knew what the lord was doing. Before he left yesterday, he had already said: hunting deer.

A deer is certainly not a deer.Everyone knows that ever since he saw that young man in Tsing Yi by the mountain stream, the deer in Hong Han's heart has changed.

However, there is neither a boy nor a deer behind Honghan.

Honghan naturally knew what these subordinates were thinking, and smiled crookedly: "Come on, let you see it." He stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers.

Like light smoke, a black shadow suddenly landed beside Hong Han, knelt down on one knee, and said in a low voice, "Master."

Everyone was taken aback, not knowing how he hid in the forest, and also surprised at how fast he was.But he saw that this person was dressed in black all over, with narrow sleeves around his waist, and even his face was covered by a black scarf.The vivid brand on the right hand can be recognized as the young slave in the forest yesterday.

Hong Han was also taken aback, he didn't expect Yun to be dressed like this.He frowned in displeasure, and thought of something, he pulled off Yun's black mask, and said, "I hate these hide-and-seek behaviors the most, since you're following me, stop covering it up!"

Suddenly exposed to strong sunlight, Yun was very uncomfortable, narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head.

Uncle Thirteen saw a little bruise hidden in his collar.He is older, always more careful, and understands everything, so he can't help but look at Hong Han meaningfully.

Honghan didn't notice it at all, and waved his hands to order everyone to mount their horses.There are a dozen of them riding one by one, and there are no extra horses.Yun wanted to consciously hide in the forest, so he secretly followed, but Hong Han patted his horse's back and shook his head, "Come up."

Yun looked at Honghan, hesitant to speak.

Honghan raised his eyebrows, "Speak directly."

Yun said: "Master, please allow me to leave for a moment."

Hong Han nodded, and saw Yun walking towards the simple mountain gate and stone workshop.

Yun knelt down on the ground in the direction of Qishan.

Kowtow three times and get up.

Kneel again, kowtow three times, and stand up.

Kneel again and kowtow three times.

It turned out to be a big gift of kneeling three times and knocking nine times!

To the sky, to the earth, and to the ancestors, such a great gift is used.Did he use such solemn etiquette to bid farewell to Qi Shan?

After the ceremony, the boy got up and stood on the barren slope.At this time, the wind was blowing wormwood, and the snow-capped mountains in the distance were vast. He was dressed in black and stood alone in the boundless world.

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Next to the official road at the foot of Qi Mountain, next to the mountain stream, there is a group of large and disorderly camps.That was Hong Han's team.The outside is surrounded by ox carts, donkey carts, caravans, and livestock, and inside are people who are packing up the bonfire and preparing to leave, including men, women, and children.Rather than saying that this is an army to suppress the rebellion, it is better to say that this is a large group of migrating refugees.

Uncle Xi Yan was just like usual, flamboyant, willful, and rushed home.Behind his horse was a boy in black who was not easy to notice, as if the shadow behind him suddenly became thicker.

No one thought it was too strange, on the contrary, it would be strange if Bo Jun went out without bringing back anything.

When this team entered the Central Plains from Zihan half a year ago, it was really a simple cavalry with only 2000 people.However, in the past six months, I joined a group of refugees today, stuffed a few slaves in tomorrow, and followed a group of craftsmen the day after tomorrow, and it grew up all over the place.

Honghan is open-minded and forthright by nature, and he deliberately makes friends with capable people, regardless of whether he is a scholar or a slave, but he is willing to recruit elders with skills.Sometimes they are slaves, sometimes they are civilians with various skills, such as mulberry and weaver girls, potters and bricklayers, craftsmen, farmers and butchers, even down-and-out nobles or warriors who want to try their luck.So the team has become more and more mixed.

Today, this team has more than 5000 people, and the movement is very slow. It will already waste a whole morning just to get out of the camp and set off.

Yun got a horse.It was a sorrel mare with a white streak on the bridge of the nose, white hooves, and long, powerful legs.

Afraid of frightening it, the boy tried to touch the bridge of the mare's nose, and the mare arched his hand with warm and moist eyes. "What's it called?"

"How can a horse have a name?" Uncle Thirteen shook his head, thinking that the child was so naive. "This horse belongs to you. You have to feed it well and brush it every day. Don't look at it as just a livestock. We Xiyan people treat horses like brothers. Our battles in Western Xinjiang are different from those in the Central Plains. There are many mountains. You can’t run on chariots, they’re all on horseback.”

Uncle Thirteen also wanted to give him a cloak, the kind Honghan's guards had.They don't have unified armor and weapons. The only thing that can be unified is this simple cloak, which is fiery red and very flamboyant.

However, Yun shook his head and said, "Shadow guards are not bodyguards. Shadow guards are black."

This day's itinerary was a bit boring, and the large army moved very slowly.Due to the drag of bullock carts, etc., it took only forty miles to reach sunset.If this continues, it will take five days to reach the nearest imperial city.The day of returning to the Western Wilderness is almost in the foreseeable future.

Yun didn't feel bored at all, he saw many novel things.For example, the ox cart, such as the spinning wheel and loom on the ox cart, and even a stove with a large box, and many strange tools, I don’t know what to do.Some of them corroborated with the descriptions on the letter, so they could probably be guessed, while others could not be guessed.He was not used to communicating with people, so he didn't ask people, and just rode silently by Hong Han's side.

As a shadow guard, he was supposed to hide in the dark.Hong Han did not allow him to do this, so he had no choice but to follow his master.

He is like a monster who has just entered the world, he is very strange and novel to everything.

When they passed an ox cart slowly, the women's laughter came from inside, and someone threw wild flowers at Hong Han.Hong Han casually caught one of them and pinned it to the saddle.This action caused a burst of laughter from the women, and one of them giggled without restraint, which was quite different from the women in the boy's impression.

When the sun disappeared on the horizon, the procession stopped, and people set up camp and buried pots for cooking.

It's such an ordinary thing, Yun has never seen it before.Following the example of the guards, he took off the harness from the chestnut horse and let it graze by the river.After dinner, when he was brushing his horses by the river, someone came to see him.

The man was holding a huge long knife with a sheath, and walked over savagely. He was not tall but very strong, and he looked hostile to the visitor.Several guards brushing the horses gave each other a sign, and then continued to work indifferently.Newcomers always have to pass this level.

"I heard that you are the lord's new guard?" The man pointed at the black-clothed boy brushing the horse unceremoniously.

Yun didn't know him, but he knew that this was one of Honghan's guards.For everyone around Honghan, he has already remembered the appearance, which is what Ying must master.He didn't feel that he needed to get to know and be familiar with anyone, the seniors of the Shadow Gate always hid in the dark, and never showed their bodies unless necessary.He shook his head and continued to brush the horse.

The other party interpreted this as arrogant, he poked the long knife on the river beach, and said proudly: "Boy, use your weapon!"

Yun raised his eyes, very puzzled.

"I am from Southern Chu, the sixth generation descendant of Badaomen, Jingqujiang." Jingqujiang pointed to himself.He practiced martial arts well since he was a child, but because of his humble background, he had nowhere to report. Until he met Hong Han a month ago, he was finally appreciated and joined the guards.Because he is a newcomer, he has always been the one with the lowest status among the guards.

"So that the boy knows that it is not so easy to be the lord's bodyguard." Jing Qujiang did not draw his sword, pretending to be generous: "Let you go first."

Yun is completely ignorant of human relationships in the world, and doesn't understand why this person came to make unnecessary provocations, so he can only look at Honghan.On the river bank not far away, Hong Han was chatting with an old man with a blade of grass in his mouth, without looking at him at all.

The young man who was challenged was still in the mood to look elsewhere, Jing Qujiang felt slighted, "Heh!" He swung his arm and threw the knife and sheath at Yun.

He didn't draw his sword, and as a guard, there's no need to see blood - there are still rules.Besides, he thinks that the young man is not very old, so even if his martial arts are good, they are probably very limited.If I want to find someone to stand up to, I can just make sense of it, and there is no need to bully others too much.

The scabbard looked heavy and menacing.Of course Yun could dodge, but if he did, the horse would be hit by the scabbard.He likes this gentle horse very much, and has already named it Xiaoli.

Yun raised his left arm for an instant and resisted the blow.

The scabbard hit the forearm, the force was enough to bear without breaking a bone.But there was only a crisp sound of "dang", and there was a metallic sound!

Jing Qujiang felt as if he had hit an anvil, and a huge force bounced back, and he took a step back before standing still.Seeing the young man in black standing upright as if nothing had happened, he was extremely shocked.He knew that he was born with great strength, so he could practice martial arts with ease, but he had few opponents in his early twenties, and he had made quite a name in the Chuxiang area.However, the other party was only sixteen or seventeen years old, with a thin and inconspicuous figure, and he blocked his blow with a single raise of his hand.

Although he didn't use all his strength, the other party was too understated.

Jing Qujiang had never gone hunting with Uncle Xiyan on Mount Qi, so he had never seen the young man catch an arrow empty-handed.At this time, he put away his contempt, threw off the scabbard, and decided to show real kung fu.

Yun looked towards the river again.Hong Han had already heard the commotion and looked over, but he just picked up the grass and continued to chat.Without an order, Yun was a bit at a loss as to what to do, to fight or not to fight?

The other party didn't give him a choice, and the big knife came roaring.It was dusk at this time, and the river beach was shimmering, and the big knife reflected the setting sun was also shining golden.The surrounding guards were already bored, and immediately surrounded by many spectators.

Jing Qujiang's talent in martial arts is excellent, and he has been very diligent since he was a child, and he has already obtained the essence of Ba Dao Sect.Ba Daomen uses a mighty and fierce sword technique, with calm moves and overwhelming power.His moves are also open and close, very fierce.When normal people confront each other, they have to wander and fight, avoiding the front for the time being.

However, the boy in black seems to be weak, but his martial arts are also fierce.He didn't retreat a step, and resisted every move.

After Jing Qujiang finished using the sixteen moves of the broadsword, he escaped after one move, gasping for breath.The essence of Ba Dao Sect is these sixteen moves, no matter how many tricks there are, it is just superfluous.At first he was still dissatisfied, but now he is only amazed.At such an age, with such skill, I don't know how to practice it.When he came out, his master taught him earnestly, saying that in martial arts, there are many masters, so he should not be complacent.In the past, Jing Qujiang was just pretending to be modest, but now he really admires it.

He clasped his fists together and said solemnly: "Admiration! Gao's surname?"

Seeing him like this, Yun was somewhat at a loss.He knows how to worship heaven and earth, how to salute the emperor, how to salute the master, but he has not learned how to salute other warriors.Raising his hand hastily, he made a common courtesy of a scholar, "My name is Yun." He spoke without any confusion, obviously he still had a lot of energy left.

Jing Qujiang had seen the brand on his hand a long time ago and knew that he was a slave.Slaves have no surnames, only first names.He didn't despise Yun because of this, he solemnly clasped his fists as a salute, raised his knife and left.