Chapter 22 Interface

"What conditions?" Chai Rong asked.

Baye said: "The one who lets go of us."

Chai Rong was a little surprised: "What does it mean?"

Baye said: "It is to let go of all of us - all those who are willing to leave."

Chai Rong stared at Baye, as if confirming his sincerity. After a while, he finally said, "Okay, I promise you."

Then they came to the crowd. At this time, Hu Yanzhao and others were distributing fruits to eat. Their dry food was limited. At this time, the entire valley was immersed in a depressed atmosphere.

Chai Rong said to Hu Yanzhao: "The team is dead now. Our two teams must choose a leader."

Hu Yanzhao said: "Why do you have to say it? Of course you are the one who comes to take charge of the situation. We all accept you. From now on, you are the leader of the Quan team, and I will be your deputy!"

Shi Octopus, Chen Fengxiao and others said, "Yes, deputy team leader, we all obey you. You should be our team leader."

Chai Rong said: "If this is the case, then I will give an order."

Hu Yanzhao and others said: "Okay!"

Chai Rong summoned everyone and said to all the young slaves: "If you are willing to surrender to the Khitan, I promise you to leave, go! Let's go find your own way to live!"

Shi Octopus and others were stunned and shouted, "Mao Zheng, what did you say?"

Chai Rong said, "I said let them go!" After a pause, he said, "Those who are willing to surrender to the Khitan can go!"

Nearly a thousand teenagers looked at me, and I looked at you. No one dared to move for a while. Hu Yanzhao shouted: "Master, you! What do you mean!"

Chai Rong said: "Stay here is just waiting for death. What's the use of keeping them dead with us?"

Shi Octopus still had to argue, Chai Rong said: "This is the first order from the team leader after becoming the rank of Quan. Don't you listen to it?"

Everyone looked at each other, Hu Yanzhao, Shi Octopus and others couldn't bear to betray him, so they stopped talking for the time being.

But the slaves still didn't dare to move. Chai Rong said, "You think about it. After a meal, you will decide that if you don't want to leave, you can't leave in the future."

The slaves discussed in groups of three or three, some of whom seemed to be moved, but more of them were afraid. Some said, "We are willing to go with you, we won't leave!" But they were some teenagers who had received Chai Rong's care.

Finally, there was a saying: "You really... let us go?"

"yes."

Although most people still don’t believe it, some people think about Chai Rong’s current scrutiny, so they dare to climb up the haystack. Chai Rong said, “If you want to leave, go one by one!”

The slaves climbed onto the haystack and slowly climbed down, and walked out of the valley treacherously. The Khitan soldiers were wary of being alert. The young slaves were so scared that their legs were trembling. Shi Octopus suddenly picked up the bow and arrow and aimed it at one of them in the back of the back. Chai Rong shouted: "No arrows are allowed!"

Finally, several slaves ran out of the effective range of bows and arrows and fled to the Khitans. The Khitans didn't know what these people were doing, so they took them to harbor.

The slaves then believed that Chai Rong really wanted to let them go. Most of them were eager to try. Dozens of people rushed to Caoshan. Chai Rong pulled out his knife and shouted, "Let's go one by one! Those who dare to break up the piles of hays, kill!"

The dozens of people climbed onto the haystack and slipped down slowly, still leaving as before, leaving in batches. Half an hour later, more than 400 people left, and suddenly there were crying outside the valley. However, the Khitans did not understand why Chai Rong suddenly released the people and was torturing the young slaves, but what could those young slaves offer? Chai Rong did not arrange any tricks. These young slaves said that the Quan team was kind enough to let them go, but the Khitans did not believe it. They believed that these young slaves had ulterior motives, and they were tied up with ropes and stringed into a ball. Some torturers were even beaten and rolled around on the ground!

The young man who was still in the valley felt cold in his heart when he heard this, thinking that he had really escaped, but he didn't know what fate it was, and he didn't have this idea for a while.

Chai Rong said: "Is there anyone else going out? If you don't go out, you are not allowed to go out!"

The remaining young slaves saw that the person who went out had ended up like this, and thought that it would be better to stay in the valley. A naturalized leader said: "We are willing to follow you. Whether you are alive or dead, follow you!"

The slaves said one after another: "Yes, we are willing to follow the team."

"Okay!" Chai Rong said: "Since that's the case, we will live and die together in the future. If we leave this valley, we will no longer divide the master and slave, and we will be brothers."

The young slaves were happy when they heard this. They were not happy because they heard that Chai Rong wanted to help them get rid of their slaves. Many people knew that Chai Rong had a low status after spending a period of time in the Tang army. They had to apply to help them get rid of their slaves. They were happy that there seemed to be a chance of escaping from Chai Rong's tone!

Hu Yanzhao, Shi Octopus and others also heard it and asked in unison: "Master, do you have a way?"

Chai Rong nodded: "I have some clues, but everyone in the valley must work together. Some of the young men in the past are willing to return home, while others will definitely pull us back, so I must first find out those who pull us back."

Hu Yanzhao, Shi Octopus and others said, "So that's what. What should I do now?"

Chai Rong said: "Huyan, bring people to prepare horses and food, take action at any time, and destroy all the carriages! Pile them by the grass mountain, and cannot be left to the Khitans or octopus. If you bring people, pile the remaining grass at the entrance of the valley, prepare the torch, and I will set the fire at once!"

The young men took their own orders. This time, in addition to bringing 120 war horses, they also brought more than 300 inferior horses to transport grass. After removing the carriage, they got more than 50 more. They could almost ride a horse and had a little left. However, the inferior horses used for transportation were short legs, endurance but insufficient sprinting power, and could not be compared with war horses.

Seeing that everyone was almost ready, Chai Rong said to Baye: "I keep my promise, what about you? If you deceive me, I will kill you first and then lead my brothers out of the valley!"

Baye sneered, "Are you the only one who keeps your promise in the world?"

Chai Rongxi said: "So there is really a way?"

Baye said, "Follow me!" He took Chai Rong to the back of a big rock, where there was a young man who was knocked out and tied up by him. He had woken up at this time. Looking at Chai Rong, Baye, his eyes were full of fear. Baye said, "This guy knows the way. I just took advantage of the chaos to tie him here. Otherwise, he will be the first to escape when you say you let him go."

Chai Rong was overjoyed and immediately ordered the stone octopus to ignite Caoshan. When the Khitan outside the valley saw the sudden fire, they exclaimed: "Are these Han teenagers really willing to die than surrender?"

Caoshan was full of fire-induced objects, and it was burned in a moment that the fire rose into the sky! It shone brightly on half of the valley.

Baye laughed and said, "It's great now. You don't need torches until the fire is extinguished!"

Chai Rong looked at the sky-sky fire and said, "If I had known this, I wouldn't have come at the beginning! The soldiers of the battalion were in vain..."

Baye sneered and pushed the local Uighurs to lead the way. Chai Rong and Shi Octopus led people to follow him, Hu Yanzhao and Geng Xin broke the rear.

The team went deeper and deeper, and became more and more rugged. There were no way to ride horses in many places because the rocks on both sides were too close to each other, so they had to get off the horse and walk. They walked eight or nine miles and walked to the other side of the valley. There were cliffs on both sides, making the stone octopus and others gasp: "Is there really a way out here?"

The local Uighur boy said to Baye: "You have to keep your promise, and you really let me go after you go out!"

"Go away!" Baye pushed him: "When did you see me lie?"

The young man took them through a rock and pushed apart a pile of dry vines. There was indeed a hole behind the dry vines, which was dark and unsightly. Chai Rong thought to himself: "This hole is really hidden. Although we have been here for many days, we can't find it without him."

Baye said, "You go first!" He lit the torch and followed, and a scream came after a while: "There is really a way out! Come quickly!"

Shi Octopus said: "Team is in charge, be careful!"

Chai Rong said: "We are all people who are surviving from the dead, don't you dare to take this risk?"

After walking all the way, I walked more than a hundred steps, and felt more and more spacious as I walked. Finally, my eyes lit up. Stars and moons shone in from the entrance of the cave. Baye was smiling and looking at himself!

Chai Rong was overjoyed and urged the team to follow him!

This cave was really hard to walk on. It took more than half an hour for the entire team to pass through. Hu Yanzhao was dealing with the falls behind.

After passing this cave, it was in the northwest of the valley! The firelight raised by the burning of grass mountains seemed to be far away. The young slave continued to lead the way in front and walked for more than ten miles. It was extremely dark and there was a little light in the southeast. The young slave said: "We are all out. There is the south side. You can go all the way to Beiluntai City, and the north side. If you walk another fifty miles, you will be in the desert. There is a small oasis in the desert. I was born there, but it should be dry now."

Chai Rong said, "Okay, you can leave." He said to Baye again, "You can leave too!" He asked Shi Octopus to lead a war horse to give it to him, and gave him a knife, saying, "This is for you, I hope you can survive this battle."

Baye took the knife and horse, but said, "We Uighurs look down on those who have been captured. Even if I go back, I have no future. Seeing the Khitan treating those who escaped from Caoshan like this, I will not live a good life when I go to surrender to them."

Chai Rong said: "Then do you want to surrender to our Tang Dynasty? If you surrender to us..."

"I won't surrender to you!" Baye said: "Your people are good. If you were a big shot in the Tang army, I might surrender to you, but now you are just a pawn, and the generals of the Tang army don't treat you as an adult! What's the future for me to follow you?"

"Then what are you going to do?" Chai Rong said: "If you don't surrender to Khitan, if you don't surrender to Uighurs, if you don't surrender to our army, even though Beiting is big, there is no fourth power."

"I won't vote for anyone!" Baye said, "From now on, I, Ashina, will be my own! I will stand up with a big flag! Go and be a horse thief!" He said to Chai Rong, "Our people..." Chai Rong knew that he was referring to the Uighurs, "If you don't want to follow you, let them follow me!"

Chai Rong looked at the boy in the wilderness and suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart. Now, Baye is nothing, probably no one will pay attention to him, and he himself seems a little immature, but Chai Rong felt that if he was not dead in another ten years, he would definitely be a hero!

"Okay!" Chai Rong said to the young slaves: "All those who are willing to follow Baye, you are free! Go!"

The young men looked at Chai Rong and then Baye. Half of them followed Baye. Chai Rong divided half of the low-class horses to them. At this time, the dawn was about to break through the clouds. Two groups of young men came on the horse to say goodbye. Chai Rong said, "In the future, I will be the general and if you are not dead, you will come and join me!"

Baye laughed and said, "Okay! If the Tang army is defeated and you are not dead, you come and join me!"

As he said that, he drove the bad horse and slowly left. The Uighur young man who was leading the way was originally let go, but then he came back and followed Baye.

When the rising sun in the east rose, the stone octopus approached and asked Chai Rong: "Captain, let's go back."

At this time, there were about 300 people left. Chai Rong looked south and said, "Now, I'm afraid there are Khitan cavalry everywhere in the south. Our group of people is too weak. As long as we bump into one group, we will be wiped out immediately!"

"What should I do?"

"Let's go to the northwest area first." Chai Rong pointed in the direction Baye left.

"Northwest?" Geng Xin said: "Isn't that the Uighurs?"

"Yes, the Khitans would not have thought that we would flee northwest, so we could escape from heaven because of this. I heard from the old team that the Khitans and the Uighurs have not yet met." Chai Rong said: "Then between them, and in the north of Beiluntai City, there should be a line where the three armies intersect. That place is the most dangerous and safest, because it is the most difficult place for both the Khitans and the Uighurs to reach at the same time! Let's go there and go south! In this way, our chances of survival should be much greater."

"But how do we know where the Khitans and Uighurs have the weakest forces at the same time?"

"Follow Baye!" Chai Rong said: "He should have people familiar with local geography among his current subordinates, and he came from the Uighurs and should know some information about the Uighurs. If he wants to be a horse thief, he will definitely go to the Khitan. The Uighurs' power is at the same time, and only in that kind of place can he have the chance to survive."

After the decision was made, Chai Rong led three hundred young men to the northwest, and they walked slowly to the northwest. They walked and hid, and occasionally encountered Khitan cavalry on the way, but fortunately they were all avoided. Hu Yanzhao from the rear said that the Khitans seemed to have found some of their traces, and they might be approaching behind. Several times when they were about to go south, they all found Khitans in front of them, so they were forced to turn back. Fortunately, everyone walked very carefully, and they walked the right path again - after the Khitans broke into the valley

Chai Rong did not dare to stay, so he walked northwest for several days. Seeing that the dry food had been eaten up, he killed a few bad horses and ate them with fruits. He brought all the meat he could not finish as military rations.

"We can almost go south." Chai Rong said: "If we meet our own people all the way, then we will be able to recover our lives, but if we encounter an enemy..."

"Then rush over!" Shi Octopus and others shouted, Chai Rong laughed. Although he felt that it was unlikely that he wanted to rush back with the boys and bad horses at hand, he still said: "Okay, when the whistleblower sent out to investigate came back, we set off."

The whistle riders from east, west, south and north came back after a meal. There was no special situation in the southeast and southwest, but the whistle riders sent to the north brought a scary news: "The team is five miles away from the northwest, it seems, it seems..."

"Is there a large army?" Chai Rong asked.

"This...is not a large army, no, there is a large army, but..."

Seeing that the brother was so hesitant, Chai Rong was a little strange, so he asked Hu Yanzhao to lead the team temporarily and took a few people to the place where he found something strange with the young scout.

They walked through a poplar forest and looked down at a place that the young scout occasionally found. Chai Rong couldn't help but be shocked!

This is a very hidden valley, but due to the drying of the river, the entire terrain has become dry stains. The surrounding protruding mounds and Gobi have formed natural protection, obscuring the views of the cavalry. If Chai Rong had not come to this nearby by chance, I was afraid that no one would have come to pay attention to this inconspicuous place! I would not have thought that an army would have been stationed in this place near the desert!

No, it’s not just the army! Chai Rong looked around and saw many soldiers, but more of them were flocks!

Beiting is in a full-scale war, but this hidden valley seems very peaceful, as if the wars in the outside world have nothing to do with it. The people who are moving in the valley don’t look like warriors, but more like herders.

The dry ground was dug out, and the pits were filled with mud - to be more precise, it was groundwater! Because it was mixed in the mud and sand, it looked very turbid. If there was too much mud and sand, it would be like mud, but it could still be fed sheep and drunk horses. The Uighurs also used buckets to filter the dry sand with linen and filtered. After filtering it a few times, they must be able to drink it.

It is located at the junction of the desert and the grassland. The water on the ground is dry, but there is still water underground. Geographical information like this can only be discovered by a herder occasionally and then spread among the local nomadic tribes, and it is difficult to obtain from the exploration of the camp.

"This is the secret garrison of the Uighurs!" Chai Rong said in his heart: "This place should have no water and cannot be left for a long time, but now they have dug out water! The Uighurs are stationed here, but they are afraid they have major plans!"

But soon he discovered that in addition to the Uighurs, there seemed to be another military horse in the valley. Since there were no flags in the valley, Chai Rong did not notice anything at first. But at this time, he looked closely and found that the clothes and tents of the military horses located in the east were not as good as those of the Uighurs!

"It's Khitan! It's Khitan! They... have actually met here!"
Chapter completed!