The Ascension of Ghosts

When the sun was setting, a group of Rouran people wearing animal skin armor rode their horses through the sandy willow forest, dismounted and set up camp in a valley fifty miles west of Yizhou, and built several sheepskin tents.

During the construction period, people returned one after another, or carried the hunted wild deer, handed it over to the tribe for skinning and roasting, or reported the details of the investigation to the leader.

The leader is in his early thirties, his chin is shaved blue, his flaxen braids hang over his shoulders, his body is slender and strong, like a gray and white giant wolf, his long and narrow eyes are white and black, and the light in them is as cold as a knife. He is sitting in front of a campfire , took the soft leather and wiped the love knife carefully, listening to the report of his subordinates attentively.

After several rounds of listening, he said, "Afu never came back?"

A young man beside him said with a smile: "Afu and Bulu followed Big Brother Qilun. When the Yanggu in the Central Plains met, they could only end up crying and begging for mercy. There is nothing to worry about. I'm afraid they are not satisfied with the killing and are reluctant to come back. Let them go." Play a little longer."

The leader's name is Helian Tuo, Helian Fu's elder brother. After hearing the bold words of the deputy, his face became more and more gloomy, and he said coldly: "If the flock gathers more, it can trample the lone wolf to death. Here After all, it is the territory of the Central Plains people, and we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, not to underestimate the enemy. Go Tuo Li, and send twice as many people to guard the four directions."

The young man paused for a moment before he said helplessly: "The leader is right, I will send someone right away."

Goutuoli got up and went, a teenager who looked like a teenager came forward and said: "Boss, the deer is ready."

Helento took his favorite knife, got up and ordered: "Go invite the little prince."

The boy turned around excitedly, and went to invite someone to the largest tent in the camp.

Above the largest bonfire in the camp, a whole stag was erected on wood. It was disemboweled, skinned and bled, and inside and out were smeared with secret herbs that originated from the Central Plains and improved by the shaman in the clan. Delicious, but also has the effect of strengthening the body and nourishing.

The little prince held a rope in his hand, and sat down carelessly. The other end of the rope was tied to a "two-legged sheep" he had caught from a city walled in the Central Plains. When he came out, the young man was wearing the military uniform of the Western Army of Dajin Town. He was as thin as skin and bone, his lips were chapped and bleeding, and his hands were tied with ropes. It's day.But his eyes were still stubborn, he gritted his teeth without saying a word, and forced himself to stand up, and it turned out to be Yang Xiong who had been missing for a long time.

The little prince was only thirteen or fourteen years old, and he was black and thin, and he was the beggar boy who bit Lu Sheng hard back then.He lived in the frontier since he was a child, and he didn't know who his parents were. The people of Rouran oppressed him and were lonely, and the people of the Central Plains hated him, so he was tortured no matter which side he was in, and his mind became more and more distorted, vicious and cruel.Because of Lu Sheng's soft heart, he was lucky enough to survive a catastrophe. Since then, things have changed, and he was found by Helento, who called him Yu Jiulu Yangui, the sixth son of the great khans of today's Rouran, and wanted to send him off. Hui Rouran met Khan most of the time.

If you were an ordinary person, from a little beggar who had been scorned and tortured, you suddenly became the son of a khan holding a group of slaves, beauties, cattle and sheep, as well as mountains of gold, silver and jewels, most of the time you would be ecstatic of.But Yu Jiulu Yangui went in the opposite direction, more and more hate poured out, like a raging flame.He hated Yu Jiulu Khan for being cold-blooded, allowing his flesh and blood to suffer outside for ten years; he also hated that his mother died early and never protected him at all.He even hated the town west army in Mulan Castle for oppressing him when he was young, and using him in every possible way.

I don't know why, but I hate Lu Sheng especially - when he bit Lu Sheng, if that person showed a frightened look, scolded him, kicked him, or even killed him with a sword, he would have felt happy.However, the man seemed to know no pain and no temper. Instead of being angry at all, he only looked at him with a pair of warm and beautiful eyes, revealing a hint of pity and sadness.

It made him feel as if he was thrown into the frozen lake naked, and the deep pain in his heart was endless.He couldn't tell where this feeling came from, so he actually regarded Lu Sheng as the person he hated the most in his life.

It's a pity that when Helian Tuo came, most of the people in Mulan Castle were killed or injured, and the rest disappeared without a trace. The little prince couldn't find any enemies even if he wanted to kill people to vent his anger, so he simply killed all the orphans who were wandering together. He captured Yang Xiong alive again, and tortured the young soldier in various ways along the way, only then did he vent a little bit of the hostility in his heart.

Helian Tuo personally cut off the grilled venison breast, which was full of oily fragrance, and put it on a stone tray and handed it to Yangui, without paying attention to Yang Xiong who was struggling to get up a few steps away.It's just the rations that the little prince feeds, and it's not worth paying attention to.

On the contrary, Goutuo raccoon bit the tendon of the deer and said with a smile: "Yangui, if you don't feed your two-legged sheep, I'm afraid you will starve to death. What rations do you need?"

The young man glanced at Yang Xiong with a pair of indifferent and gloomy eyes, but still didn't say a word, he just randomly grabbed a rib of meat from the venison plate piled up by the fire, got up and threw it in front of Yang Xiong.When the young man raised his hand to grab it, he raised his foot to step on the bone, crushed it several times, and trampled the fragrant venison until it was covered with mud and dirt.

Yang Xiong lowered his head pitifully, without saying a word, and when Yangui stopped his feet, he grabbed the bone, hurriedly slapped off the sand, and devoured the venison, causing laughter from the surrounding people.

Yangui raised the corners of her mouth and squatted beside Yang Xiong, like stroking a pet dog, stroking the top of Yang Xiong's head lightly, and said softly: "You people from the Central Plains claim that you can kill and can't be humiliated. The meat under it is also delicious, it should be seen by your self-righteous comrades."

Yang Xiong has been starving for a long time, and he has little physical strength left. Now it is rare for him to eat something. He is afraid that Yangui will suddenly change his mind and take it away again.He just turned a deaf ear to the young man's insult at this moment, and gnawed a bone until it creaked.Before he could gnaw it clean, a long whip came down with a sharp wind sound, covering his head and face. Yang Xiong hurriedly curled up his body and hugged his head and face, protecting the bones in his arms, letting the vicious young man vent his anger. Seep out.

After finishing a round of whipping, Yangui saw that the young man was dying, and the anger in his heart just calmed down. He threw the whip and sneered, "You are living like a beast, but you dare not die. You people from the Central Plains speak beautifully. , they are just sheep who are greedy for life and afraid of death."

Yang Xiong slowly opened his eyes, two lines of tears were mixed with blood, dripping down silently, he clasped the bones in his hand tightly, and said hoarsely: "Brother Lu...Brother Lu will definitely come to save me."

This trick proved to be successful, and when the young man heard him mention Brother Lu, his eyes became brighter, and he couldn't hide it, but he still smiled sternly and said: "If he comes, I will capture him alive and fight with you." Companion, together as my ration."

Yang Xiong said angrily: "Dream! Brother Lu is very capable, sooner or later he will tear you to pieces—"

Yangui was furious, and kicked Yang Xiong in the face, which made his mouth full of blood, and he could not speak the second half of the sentence.The young man kicked one kick after another, kicking his feet until his feet hurt, and then he gave up, but he still said fiercely: "I only think about Lu Sheng and Lu Sheng all day long, but you should quickly ask Lu Sheng to come to me! Dong What kind of a hero is hiding in Tibet, but he is just another two-legged sheep, and if he meets him someday, he will also catch him and drink!"

The surrounding barbarians cheered and clamored one after another, obviously they were very happy to watch.Yang Xiong had no way to resist, he just tried his best to curl up his body, letting him do the violence in a drowsy state, but he still tried his best to retain some clarity and sanity, firmly protecting the deer ribs hidden in his arms, the remaining aroma of barbecue slowly radiated, mixed with the bloody In the taste, it seemed that he had never given up a chance.

When everyone fell into a deep sleep, he took out the deer rib, pressed it against the exposed rock on the ground, and sharpened it carefully back and forth.Although his face is haggard, only his eyes are particularly bright, and he no longer has the look of shrinking and patience in the daytime.He bears the burden of humiliation, not for the sake of prolonging his own life.That Rouran Khan has many heirs, but he sent people everywhere to find the little prince, which shows that this son has a special weight in Khan's heart.

Another doubtful point is that there are nearly 200 people in this team. Now that they have found the little prince, they refuse to go west and return to the North Sea. Instead, they want to make a detour and go deep into the Central Plains territory. I'm afraid they have other plans.The leader, Helento, was quite cunning. He wiped out two villages along the way, and even captured and slaughtered all the scouts on the way, without letting the slightest word out.If such people let the tiger go back to the mountain, they will undoubtedly be powerful enemies of the Jin Dynasty.

He still has one breath, and he has to find a way to send the news out.

What's more...Yu Jiulu Yangui did not know why he harbored deep resentment towards Lu Sheng. This young man was cruel and inhumane. Yang Xiong was also worried that if Lu Sheng really fell into his hands, he was afraid that the situation would be worse. He is going to be a hundred times more miserable now.

Yang Xiong was very cautious, he grinded his bones for a while, but still listened to all directions, and stopped his movements immediately when there was any movement, unexpectedly no one noticed.It's just that he is extremely weak, and soon after doing things in hiding, he loses energy, so he has to suffer day after day.

It's a pity that Lu Sheng didn't know about it. He just buried a few corpses hastily and cleared the traces of the scene.One of the three horses ran away during the fight, and Lu Sheng took advantage of the remaining two.

He cut off the heads of two Rouran people, tore off the clothes from the corpses, wrapped them up, tied them to the horse's back, then got on another horse, and headed towards the village where Hou Yan was waiting.

Not long after he left, suddenly the waves on the lake surged rapidly, and a person and a dog floated out from the bottom of the water.

The small dog stood on the surface of the water, looked at the direction of Lu Sheng's retreat, scratched the base of its ears with its front paws, and said in confusion: "Zi Yin, that person is concerned about Mr. Xie, why don't you tell him where Mr. Xie is?"

Zi Yin sighed: "If I dare to say it, I will naturally say it...not to mention——"

That little dog was Dilang Chanxue who once dug through the Tianchi Lake and caused great trouble, now he blinked his eyes, wagging his tail and circling around Ziyin's feet.

Zi Yin lowered his head and sighed softly: "I'm afraid Mr. Xie doesn't want him to know what he has done now."

Zuoxue raised her head and yelled a few times, then snorted: "If people don't want to know, unless they don't do it themselves, why bother to ask for trouble and go to great lengths to hide it."

Zi Yin smiled, lowered his head and glanced at it, "Is that true? You never did anything to hide from me?"

Zuoxue's brown-yellow ears twitched, she shrank her neck slightly, and stopped humming.

After a while, the little dog said in a low voice: "I stole and ate the head sheep of the Gaolin Department back then."

Zi Yin laughed, knelt down and gently rubbed the back of Xuexue's neck, and said softly: "The culprit who caused me to be hated and expelled by everyone in the Gaolin Department, the truth is finally revealed today."

Zuoxue lowered her head and said embarrassingly: "I, I was afraid that if I said it back then, you would ignore me."

Zi Yin said softly again: "Now do you understand why Mr. Xie refuses to speak?"

Zaxue immediately put away her dejected look, raised her two pointed brown ears, licked her front paws, and said with a smile, "I see, I see, that gentleman looks more like a fairy than you, but in fact But it's the same as me."

Ziyin couldn't laugh or cry when he heard his outrageous words, so he could only sigh: "Zhanxue, this is true for me, but absolutely not for others."

Zuoxue nodded again and again, "I understand, I understand."

The water mist around the person and the dog gradually thickened, covering the figure and disappearing.

When Lu Sheng rushed back to the village, the night was dark and everything was silent, and the sound of horseshoes resounded inside and outside the village.All the villagers only closed the doors and windows tightly, not daring to show any intention of spying.

Only Hou Yan rushed out of the courtyard and asked, "Brother Lu, how is Yizhou City now? Could it be that it was really flooded?"

Lu Sheng led the horse into the courtyard, carried the bundle into the main room, closed the door, took off the bundle, and threw the two heads on the ground.

Hou Yan looked through the light and saw two ferocious skulls rolled on the ground, his face turned pale with horror, he just covered his mouth tightly and dared not make a sound.

Lu Sheng briefly mentioned the cause and effect, and said: "It is not too late, Hou Yan, now that Rouran enters the country, there must be massacres. It is a pity that the city of Yizhou has fallen and the defense is empty. If I want to transfer troops, I need to go back to the Western Regions. However, this time, it will take five or six days, even if we go fast, so it is better to go to Pingcheng County for help."

Hou Yan asked in a daze: "Yizhou City... fell? Where did the people in the city go?"

Lu Sheng was stunned, but he comforted him: "This matter is strange, not to mention that Ah Rong is also in the city... the people in the city may not be safe. The most urgent thing is to solve the current crisis first."

Hou Yan took two steps back, tried his best not to look at the head on the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "How...how..."

Lu Sheng said, "Hou Yan, have you ever met the governor of Pingcheng?"

Hou Yan nodded slowly, and Lu Sheng said again: "Follow me to see him."

Hou Yan was hesitant, and when he was hesitating, Lu Sheng had already collected the two heads, and explained his plan to Hou Yan.

It was naturally inappropriate for him to rush to Pingcheng County to borrow troops, so he used the head as evidence and relied on Hou Yan's recommendation to make this plan feasible.

Hou Yan became more and more distracted, and just when he didn't know how to speak, he saw Lu Sheng barely opened the door, and then his body shook, and he fell to the ground without a sound.

Hou Yan finally shed tears. While crying, he rushed forward and called out, "Brother Lu! Brother Lu?"

He embraced Lu Sheng's burning body, pressed his forehead on the young man's shoulder, sobbed, and realized that he was weak and helpless, and finally whispered: "Daddy..."

A faint sigh suddenly sounded outside the courtyard door, and he said softly: "Shiro, do you know that you are wrong now?"