Blue, Red and White Dark Abyss Cauldron

The two then talked about how they captured Jinyang City's young lady, Jin Li'er, and Chu Xiaomu told them the truth about what happened.

Li Qi thought, "This young man is brave and resourceful. If he is willing to join the army, he can be trained and tempered. If he can open up the Force in the future, he may even be able to become a battalion commander in Bicheng."

After finishing his meal, Li Xian borrowed a dozen horses from the horse steward of the posthouse and gave them to Chu Xiaomu and thirteen others to ride.

Seeing that it was the Central Army of the Zhongjing Camp who wanted to borrow horses, the horse officer naturally selected more than a dozen good horses without hesitation and led them out. Li Xian signed the receipt for borrowing horses and led the troops out.

After everyone got on their horses, they galloped towards Bicheng together.

Li Qi was surprised to see that Chu Xiaomu was an excellent rider while the other dozen or so people were not good at riding. He thought that these young people were different in every way and he didn't know what their intention was in coming to Bicheng this time. He had to be more careful.

The horses in Bicheng were very well trained. Chu Xiaomu, Yang Dou and a dozen other people each had a horse. After trotting for a while, they gradually became familiar with the horses and started galloping. In less than a day, they arrived in Bicheng.

The place where Bicheng was built was called Biyuan, a very flat and wide grassland. It was said to be 1,500 miles long from east to west and 600 to 700 miles wide from north to south.

The main city is close to the Kun River on the west side, and is surrounded by plains on the east, south and north sides. Although there is no unique scenery, it has a desolate and majestic feeling.

The main city gate was built with rough wood, only a few feet high, and looked very low, far less tall and imposing than the gate tower of Xihai City. The city wall was also simply built with rough wood, extending to the east and west, with no end in sight.

After entering the city, most of the houses are short and mostly sheepskin tents. Occasionally, a few are made of wood and covered with thatched roofs, which look shabby. The houses are closely laid out in rows, with wide streets in between - rather than streets, it is more appropriate to describe them as open spaces.

There were many pedestrians on the street, most of them were strolling, having fun, selling goods, and performing juggling. Occasionally, some people herding sheep and cattle crossed the street and did not avoid Li Xian and his soldiers when they saw them.

Seeing how bold the civilians in the city were, Yu Aqi, Lin Zhen, Zhang Hou and others worried that they would be whipped and beaten by the soldiers, or at least reprimanded. When they saw Li Xian rein in his horse and stop to make way for them, they found it even more incredible.

The area within Bicheng is quite large. Li Xian led everyone along the road, first heading south, then turning east. After about a meal's time, the houses gradually became fewer and fewer, and they arrived at the gate of a military camp.

On the wooden sign in the middle of the camp gate were written three big black characters "Zhong Jingjun". On both sides were flags hoisted high. There were three flags on each side, one big and two small. On the big flag was written a big character "Bi", and on the small flag was written a character "Li". They fluttered in the wind, making a whirring sound.

When the two silver-armored soldiers in front of the camp gate saw Li Xian, the central army commander, returning to the camp, they opened the gate and welcomed everyone in.

Gray military tents were arranged neatly in the camp. Opposite the main gate of the camp was a large tent with a flag on each side. It was the central military tent of Li Xian's Zhongjing Army.

Chu Xiaomu and the others had never seen such a majestic scene before, and they couldn't help feeling nervous and scared.

On the east side of the camp was a huge racecourse, and next to it were two long rows of wooden fences, divided into horse stables, about two to three hundred in total. Nearly half of the stables were empty, and each of the remaining stables held twenty to thirty military horses.

These horses were all red, with only slight differences in the position of their feet: some had black feet, some had the same color as their bodies, and some had all four hooves white. Each of them was strong and sturdy, and they were all excellent horses picked from a hundred miles away.

Yu Aqi and others were full of praise and said it would be great if they also had one.

Li Xian led everyone into the camp to rest for a while, and sent someone to report to General Bi Ye that Li Xian, the commander of the central army, had returned to the city and had something to report. The man ran away.

Not long after, a report came that the general had gone to the grassland to patrol the border two days ago and it was unknown when he would return to the city.

Li Qi asked Chu Xiaomu and others what their plans were for coming to Bicheng and whether they had anywhere to go.

Everyone shook their heads and said that they had fled here to avoid being hunted down by the warriors from Jinyang City and had nowhere to go.

Li Qi smiled and said, "Of the seven major cities in Cangmu Country, the other six are richer than Bicheng. Why did they choose to come to this desolate place like ours?"

Yingdan replied, "In reply to the general, more than a dozen of us were sold as slaves, and everyone had our own reasons. The people in Jinyang City treated us like pigs and dogs. Fortunately, we were able to escape, and we all agreed to go to Bicheng. Firstly, Bicheng is closer, secondly, everyone admires the general's reputation, and thirdly, Bicheng never buys or sells slaves..." His voice was soft, and he spoke slowly, with a pitiful look that was hard to avoid moving.

Li Qi said: "Do you all admire the general's reputation? I don't think so. I'm afraid some people have never heard of him." He turned to look at Chu Xiaomu to see how he reacted.

Chu Xiaomu couldn't help but feel a little scared under his gaze, but then he thought that he hadn't done anything bad, so what was there to be afraid of? He said, "The three of us are from Baihua Island in the West Sea. We have never heard of General Bi Ye, and we can't say that we have admired him for a long time." Suddenly he thought that there were only two left among the three, and his heart was gloomy.

Li Qi nodded and said, "You don't have the official certificate, so you are not allowed to enter the city. I am breaking the precedent by letting you in. If you have any conspiracy, you will not be able to escape the eyes of the general, and you will not be able to get past me."

When everyone saw how serious he was, they hurriedly said no, they dared not, they would never do that, and their hearts were pounding with fear.

Li Qi said, "Before the general returns to the city, you must temporarily stay in my Zhongjing Army and are not allowed to go out."

When they heard him say that they were staying in the barracks temporarily but were not allowed to go out, they were all a little angry. They thought, is this how you treat your people in Bicheng? How can it be the same as the "Order to Reassure the People"? However, they did not dare to show it on their faces and said that they would follow the general's arrangements.

Seeing that everyone was still wearing the tattered clothes they had worn when they came to Bicheng, Li Qi sent someone to fetch more than ten sets of clothes, shoes and socks used by the soldiers and gave each of them a set.

After everyone put them on, they immediately became full of energy and vitality.

Li Qi also sent someone to prepare a military tent for Chu Xiaomu, Yu Aqi and thirteen others, asking them to stay there first and make further arrangements after the general returned to the city.

Another civilian soldier came into the tent with a pen and paper in his hand. He asked everyone to tell him their hometown, age, when they came to Bicheng, why they came to Bicheng and other matters, and recorded them one by one in a book in great detail.