Chapter 8

Before long, the bearded man Zhu Tong was carried over by two black-armored knights.

He was very miserable.

His bronze-colored face was pale, as if smeared with a layer of powder.

His right arm was torn off from the elbow, and one could see the blood-stained, bone-white joints, on which there were several obvious tooth marks.

His lower abdomen also looked like it had been stabbed by something.

Wei Wu, a black-clad knight who also served as a military doctor, immediately came over, carrying a leopard-skin bag, stopping the bleeding, applying medicine, bandaging, and pouring water...

"... I had already been stepped on the ground by the fish demon, and the hole in my stomach was poked out by the demon claw." Zhu Tong's face was filled with both fear and confusion, "I thought I was going to die, but the fish demon suddenly stopped, as if it had been frightened by something, retreating in panic, 'swoosh' jumping into the Liushahe, and disappearing without a trace.

The fish demon had living people to eat, so it didn't hurt our horses.

I found my warhorse and ran for my life, but it was dark and I couldn't see the road clearly, and the horse's left front hoof stepped into a sand pit, cough, cough... How hateful, Brother Zhang San was the first to be harmed, bitten and swallowed by the fish demon section by section, leaving no bones behind.

Of the thirty-five brothers who went out with me, now only I am left..."

He coughed up blood, and bean-sized tears instantly rolled out of his eye sockets, flowing into a line on his face.

Song Changqing looked at General Guan thoughtfully, already having some realization in his heart.

This was like a bamboo pole meeting a wolf; both sides were afraid.

Guan Old Duck wasn't necessarily afraid of that fish demon, but he definitely didn't want to fight for his life with it for "inexplicable" reasons.

He didn't care about Ge Qing's death at all.

That Ge Qing had good connections and high prestige; clearly a squad leader, yet even a hundred-man commander was willing to call him "Brother," and his activity and popularity in the Iron Cavalry Battalion were higher than his, the dignified Cavalry Commandant.

Zhu Tong lay on Wei Wu's lap, wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth and the tears from the corners of his eyes, saying softly: "Even if you want to hunt down the Sand Barbarians, it's already dark, why did you run to the edge of the Liushahe?"

"The Sand Barbarian dog who harmed Brother Qing's life was running toward the river, we were originally going for him, so shouldn't we chase?" Zhu Tong said with hatred.

"Did you really find the person? Are you sure it's him?" General Guan was a bit surprised.

Although he had pointed out the positions of the adult Sand Barbarians for them in the afternoon, the vast wilderness outside the sand dunes was like a cup of water splashed into the desert; what was the use?

Unless he led the team personally, using the Thousand-Mile Eye to lock onto the target in real-time, and then using the Red Smoke Steed's invincible speed of three thousand miles a day to point-kill them one by one... but still, that sentence, a mere squad leader, even if he had a bright future and hoped to join the Meng family army of the Southern Central Kingdom, now that the person was dead and the corpse was stinking, was it worth his "Immortal Eye Tiger" of Yingxiang Mansion to labor his heart and mind?

In fact, he didn't like Ge Qing at all.

Seeing him die miserably and cowardly, he felt a fountain of triumph and joy in his heart.

Zhu Tong lay on Wei Wu's lap, gritting his teeth, saying: "That barbarian dog buried himself in the sand, sneak-attacking and killing Luo Lao Si, using a poison-quenched dagger, hitting the vital point, killing him in one move, and also snatching Luo Lao Si's warhorse.

His horsemanship was also top-notch.

The warhorses of the Iron Cavalry Battalion are 'brothers' we have spent years with; in the past, as long as there was a look... at most a call, or blowing a whistle with a specific rhythm, the warhorses would react.

This time, no matter how I whistled or shouted loudly behind, the warhorse wouldn't stop.

It didn't stop struggling, that barbarian was very powerful.

He is a local snake, familiar with the environment; we chased from dusk to night, but were instead countered by his repeated back-hand shots, shooting dead Li Mazi and Sun Lao Wu."

"So powerful, it should be him." Wei Wu said.

Song Changqing looked around the circle, finding the old barbarian man who had quietly climbed up from the ground and was now honestly huddled in the corner without speaking, but had been pricking up his ears to eavesdrop, and asked: "Do you recognize him?"

All the cavalrymen looked at the old barbarian man.

The old barbarian man swallowed his saliva, hesitating: "Does he have a scar on his face?"

Zhu Tong shook his head, "Doesn't seem to."

The old barbarian man asked again: "Can you see a tattoo on his chest? It's a Buddha."

Zhu Tong immediately nodded, "That barbarian is just like you, only wearing a leopard-skin skirt, exposing most of his chest, and there is indeed a tattoo, a very large one, not sure if it's a Buddha... that thing is black and blurry, which Buddha is it?"

He had previously thought the barbarian had tattooed a Kun fish on his chest.

How big is the difference between a Kun fish and a Buddha in appearance?

"Of course it's the most powerful Buddha, Yu girl's suggestion, and she helped tattoo it.

Hmm, early on we knew the Central Kingdom had the habit of tattooing, but didn't understand how to do it; it was Yu girl who tinkered with tattoo potion and needles.

She didn't have a tattoo herself, but tattooed many warriors in the tribe."

The old barbarian man explained, then said: "That person is Sha Long, the headman's brother, and also the 'Pseudo Sand Dune Kingdom's' Pillar General..."

Facing the group of black-armored knights who were either sneering or coldly laughing, he also began to feel embarrassed for the "Pillar General" title that was so awesome, and his voice became a bit weaker.

"The headman trusted him, and the work of contacting the Lu Kingdom's monarch and ministers was always done by him and Sha Gui.

The headman and five thousand warriors went and never returned, only the two of them came back half a month ago.

This slave heard Yu girl complaining that Sha Long learned a supreme divine art in the Lu Kingdom, but he kept it hidden, not even willing to pass it on to her, and she was very angry."

Zhu Tong, with a pale face, said: "I didn't notice he had any supreme divine art; we didn't have a chance to formally fight, and the fish demon jumped out of the river and bit off half his body."

He paused, then said: "I feel that Sha Long did it on purpose; he deliberately ran toward the Liushahe, while running he let out ghost-wailing and wolf-howling screams. When he was bitten to death by the fish demon, he seemed to let out a ferocious laugh."

"Abominable thief."

"Dog-fucking goods!"

"Sand Barbarian who deserves to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

The Iron Cavalry Battalion was filled with righteous indignation, cursing Sha Long, who had bitten off a large piece of their flesh even when dying.

After cursing, everyone surrounded Zhu Tong, saying some peaceful words like tangerine peel soup and fruit medicine that had no actual therapeutic effect but could comfort people.

After tossing and turning for two or three hours, the night curtain faded into an indigo color.

Only a few sparse stars remained, Chang'e had hidden, frost covered the ground, and clear dew wetted clothes; dawn was about to break.

"Day is about to break, take out the 'Immortal Filling Pill,' one for each person, two for each warhorse, and fill all the leather bags with water, preparing to return to 'Hengsha Pass'." General Guan said.

The soldiers were shocked, doubting: "General, are we leaving the sand dunes now?"

General Guan said: "This muddy pit, this stinking dung trough, what else is worth your lingering?"

Song Changqing said: "Although the losses were heavy, we finally killed Sha Long, and Brother Ge can rest in peace in the underworld. It's just the Central Kingdom envoy's mission, Sand Barbarian Yu..."

General Guan said decisively: "The barbarian wilderness is full of spirits and monsters, even the Iron Cavalry Battalion lost half a hundred brothers; a little Sand Barbarian girl dying in the belly of a demon is only natural."

Including Song Changqing, all the soldiers nodded lightly, expressing agreement.

General Guan's Thousand-Mile Eye couldn't find anyone, so she must have been eaten by a demon.

Hmm, confirming Sand Barbarian Yu's death at least counts as completing the mission and can give the Central Kingdom envoy an explanation.

"General Guan, wait!"

Suddenly, a ball of yellow light emerged from the ground in front of the cavalry, and a childish voice followed.

Song Changqing and the brothers all put their hands on the hilts of their sabers, but after hearing the voice, they quickly let go of their sabers, and all bowed their heads, cupping their hands in respect, and saluted toward the yellow light.

"Greetings to the Central Kingdom envoy." Not only them, but even General Guan was performing a great ceremony.

If it weren't for the fact that they were wearing full armor and it was inconvenient to move, they would have knelt on both knees directly, or even prostrated themselves.

The yellow light scattered, revealing a green-robed Daoist boy with red lips and white teeth, five feet tall, with a pleasing, fleshy round face, green clothes, white socks, and black shoes, a very clean and refreshing little Daoist boy.

"General Guan, this little Daoist bows to you." The Daoist boy smiled and returned the salute.

General Guan didn't hide the shock on his face, asking: "Daoist Qingsong, where did you come from, are you passing through here, or..."

The Daoist boy withdrew his smile, serious: "General Guan, have you captured Sand Barbarian Yu?"

General Guan was even more shocked; for the sake of a tiny Sand Barbarian Yu, not only was he transferred from Marquis Lieyang's side, and the dignified Cavalry Commandant was personally leading the Iron Cavalry Battalion to raid the sand dunes thousands of miles away, but now he had even come personally.

"Sand Barbarian Yu is dead, eaten by a demon in the Liushahe." He said naturally.

The Daoist boy looked at him deeply, shaking his head, saying: "She is not dead."

General Guan frowned: "Within a thousand miles of the sand dunes, and two thousand miles to the north, there is no trace of her."

His tone was confident and serious, and there was no half-heartedness inside.

Yesterday morning, when raiding the sand dunes, near noon, Song Changqing came to remind him that Sand Barbarian Yu was missing, and he activated the Thousand-Mile Eye to observe all around for the first time, searching for a full hour, carefully looking at all the Sand Barbarians within a thousand miles.

By the afternoon, Zhang San and Zhu Tong took dozens of cavalry to hunt down Sand Barbarians in the southeast to avenge Ge Qing, and he himself wasn't idle.

According to the information provided by the Sand Barbarians—before the Great Shu Iron Cavalry Battalion entered the sand dunes, Sand Barbarian Yu had moved to an earth cave in the northeast direction—he rode the Red Smoke Steed alone, circled a large circle in the northeast direction, running at least eight hundred miles if not a thousand.

There was no trace of Sand Barbarian Yu.

So he said Sand Barbarian Yu was eaten by a demon, really not to prevaricate the Central Kingdom envoy.

The Daoist boy faced the northwest sky, pointing to a star that was not very bright and about to break dawn, saying: "That is Sand Barbarian Yu's life star." ===== CHAPTER 10 =====

Daoist Qingsong faced the northwest, pointing his finger at the night sky about to break into dawn, "Sha Man Yu definitely isn't dead; look, her life star is still bright and brilliant."

"What, Sha Man Yu still has a life star? Could she be a Star Lord descended to the mortal realm?" The soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion were all astonished.

The old barbarian in the leopard-skin skirt lowered his head, his eyes flickering, his old face unable to hide his excitement.

Daoist Qingsong smiled, "How noble is the status of a Tiangong Star Lord? Why would they be willing to let themselves be tainted by filth and descend to such a bitter and cold land of barbarians? Not to mention the Western Sha Barbarians, even your Western Shu Kingdom is also... cough cough!"

He was still counting on this group of Western barbarians to risk their lives later, so there was no need to say unpleasant things.

The Daoist pretended to cough a few times, taking the opportunity to change the subject, saying, "Even among the common people of the Western Shu Kingdom, there is the saying that the monarch is the Ziwei Star descended, the general is the Wuqu Star, and the civil official is the Wenqu Star.

Just think about it a little, and you will know this is simply impossible.

The Four Great Continents are infinitely vast; there is only one Human Emperor, His Majesty the Great Qin, but there are tens of thousands of monarchs.

Counting the barbarian soil states like the Sha Barbarian Sha Qiu Kingdom, there are countless people calling themselves kings and hegemons.

How could the Civil and Martial Star Lords be busy enough?

But there is no smoke without fire.

Being able to form the common cognition in the human world that 'the general is Wuqu, the minister is Wenqu' indeed has a real basis.

It is not that the Star Lords descend to be generals or ministers, but that the life stars of the generals and ministers correspond to the constellations of the Tiangong."

"Astrological changes can calculate the rise and fall of a country, and can also measure the fate of all living beings in the human world; the star that can be used to mark an individual's fate is the person's life star."

Daoist Qingsong said, while carrying his hands behind his back, walking toward the high ground with an elegant posture.

Walking to the very top of the sand dune, he pointed to a star in the northwest that was not very bright and said, "It is Sha Man Yu's life star."