Chapter 330 The Darkness Before Dawn

The area around Jiange belongs to Longqing Prefecture. Ten years ago, it was the last barrier for the four routes of Chuanxia to resist the enemy in the north.

From the terrain, this place is a very steep section of the mountains standing on the Sichuan Basin. The most abrupt one is Jianshan. This mountain stretches over a hundred miles across, with a wall of thousands of feet high, and is straight and straight. It cuts off the road south from the Wudu direction of Hanzhong. The left and right are all similar mountains, so no ape should climb. In other words, if you want to pass here, you can only pass the plank road artificially opened in Jianshan.

Jianmen Pass is a pass in this plank road opened on the cliff. It is built in the cracks between two mountains and is high on the hillside. At the bottom of the slope is the official road coming from Hanzhong. From the official road, climbing upwards along countless steps. It takes a long time to reach the wall.

During the rainy season in July and August, mountain torrents are raging here, and the flood pours down from the waterway beside the Guanlou, surging. At this time, even the gods of Daluo cannot resist such surging natural forces.

Therefore, if you want to win the pass, you usually have to take advantage of the dry season and when the waterway is dry, otherwise the defenders can close the water gate at any time, waiting for the climbing enemy to release the water halfway, laughing at the enemy being washed away like leaves in the turbulent water.

Therefore, the winter when water shortage is the time when the guards of Jianmen Pass are most vigilant.

But this year is not much the same.

The Mongolians who used to look up at the tall gates with their heads raised their heads, have now become the masters of Longqing Mansion. This pass has long been abandoned. The careful Mongolian army has also tried to demolish the walls of the gates and burn them all, and even push the stones under the cliff to prevent anyone from building a gate here in the future.

The Mongols guarding Longqing Prefecture were unwilling to stay in the mountains to get frozen. The wet and cold weather had already made the eagles on the grassland extremely uncomfortable, and they entered the city.

Longqing Prefecture City was burned out, leaving only a few houses, but it doesn't matter. The warriors from the grassland were used to living in tents, which were covered with sheepskin and burning stoves, which were as warm as spring.

The best horse milk wine, the roasted mutton, the bubbled tea bricks in the pot radiated a pleasant aroma, the wind blowing through the earth from the hole above the head whizzed past, but it could not make the tent feel the slight chill. It was very comfortable to sit inside and roast on the fire.

Nai Rentai stretched out comfortably to the waist. He had just swallowed the whole leg of lamb, and his stomach was bulging.

After being filled and warm, Nai Rentai felt a heat rising between his chest and abdomen. He stretched out his hand in a daze and pinched the butt of the busy Song woman in front of him.

The woman screamed, turned her head and turned around, and found that the claws of the Mongolian nobleman were not clean, and silently lowered her head and continued to do her own thing.

Nai Rentai laughed loudly and continued to touch and pinch it freely. While touching, he smiled at the Mongolian comrade who was shouting loudly and drinking and eating meat and said in a lewd way: "I just like women like southern women. If you touch it, you will get out of water if you pinch it! Hahaha, it is a hundred times more exciting than women elsewhere!"

The people next to them were not very clean, and their oily big hands were also touching the Han women who were drinking and serving meat. The outside was extremely cold, but these women were dressed thinly, often just a silk skirt covering their bodies. While holding the plate carefully, they endured the kneading of the rough hands.

"That's natural. I heard that the women here are all made of water. It would be strange if the adults can't squeeze out the water!" A Mongolian man responded, causing a burst of laughter.

Nai Rentai also laughed even more and more. His eyes turned, and he suddenly stuffed a sheep thigh bone in his hand into the woman's thigh from behind. The woman screamed and rushed out to the front, and suddenly threw the stove in the middle, which was full of charcoal fire. The woman was in pain and rolled up immediately.

The stove was overturned, and the flames that fell out immediately ignited several wool felts. People jumped up and flew for a while. The servants outside quickly fetched water to put out the fire, and replaced them with new felts to calm them down.

The woman who was still screaming on the ground was dragged out, and the original banquet scene was restored in the tent, but the fear in the eyes of the southern women who served were even more intense.

Nai Rentai was disturbed and a little unhappy. He leaned against the sheepskin pillow and stared at him. When his subordinates observed his words and expressions, someone spoke to change the subject.

"Sir, it's getting colder outside day by day. It's a good time for winter hunting. Why not lead me to wait and run a horse on the ground of the southerners. I haven't been out for more than two months. The men's muscles are a little tight!"

Immediately, someone asked again and shouted in a rough voice: "That's right, sir, we left our hometown and came here from thousands of miles away. Isn't it just to conquer the southern people and plunder their property and women? How can we stay here all day long?"

The Mongolian people started yelling and kept shouting.

Nai Rentai leaned his body, squinted his eyes and didn't say anything, but a more mature Mongolian beside him spoke.

"What are you talking nonsense? Have you forgotten the order of Marshal Du? Lord Nairentai took us here just to stand at the land and guard the entrance for the Khan's future Nanzheng. But you are greedy for property and women. Are you still lacking these things?" He said majesticly, obviously having a great status among the Mongolians.

"Master Bilege, we didn't say we must go. Master Nairentai did not give an order, who dared to go out?" The Mongolians suddenly fell silent and said in disappointment.

"Hmph, live here, drink, eat, and eat southern women for your entertainment. Just wait, reserve your strength, and there will always be a day for you to work hard." Bilege dropped a sentence and waved his hand: "It's gone, let's go here today, go back to sleep, take good care of your horses in the cold day."

The men stood up and said goodbye in a mess. After a moment, the tent became quiet.

"Bilg, what they said makes sense." Nai Rentai, who was squinting, opened his eyes, picked up a knife for cutting mutton, and looked at the blade with the sunshine sprinkled from the hole above his head: "It's better to go out to hunt if you spend nothing here every day. Marshal Du asked us to guard Longqing Mansion, but he didn't call us wooden Bodhisattvas."

"I know this, but sir, the southerners in Chengdu are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with. The news from the south said that their army is becoming stronger and stronger, even more powerful than the bravest enemies we encountered when we entered. I am worried that winter hunting will ruin my son in the past."

"Bilge, you're too careful." Nai Rentai smiled and cut a piece of good meat, inserted it on the tip of the knife and handed it to the white-bearded Bilege: "You are an old man who participated in the Western Expedition, why are you losing your courage?"

"Didn't have courage?" Bilege also laughed, took the meat, put it in his mouth and chewed it: "Master Nairentai, I killed much more enemies during the Western Expedition than you are now."

"So, we shouldn't let the warriors get moldy in the tent. Only by letting them go out can they be energetic. Mongolian warriors can only dance on horseback, and they can't dance in the tent." Nai Rentai said seriously.

Bilege glanced at him and swallowed the meat he had chewed a few times: "I know what you mean, I just said my concerns. As for how to do it, you will decide. I am just a little person sent by Lord Yelu to stare at, and I cannot interfere with Lord Yelu's rights."

"I'll be relieved if you say that." Nai Rentai smiled and said, "As soon as tomorrow is dawn, I will send a few teams of people out and let them go out in rotation. This winter will be achievable."

The two looked at each other and laughed loudly, and the laughter was full of meaning that only barbaric men would understand.

Outside the tent, a Han woman kneeling in the muddy ground was trembling, covering her face that was burned by the stove, and her eyes were closed and her face was as if dead.

Tears were flowing in the corners of her eyes.

Several Han soldiers stood around her, laughing and scolding. One of them raised the big knife in his hand, put all his strength into it, and suddenly slashed at the jade-like neck.

Blood splattered on the mud, scarlet and passionate.

It is like the hottest light in the sky before dawn.
Chapter completed!