Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

A group of troops entered Lanzhou in a mighty manner. They were divided into two groups. One group went deep into Beirong to investigate the situation, while the other group pretended to patrol the border and defeated several waves of rebellious Beirong soldiers.

Then, under the pretext of celebrating the victory, Lin Xi suddenly launched an attack at the banquet, throwing out evidence that the Jiedushi Lu Mi had delayed military operations and collaborated with the enemy for treason. Lu Mi and his cronies who were lying in ambush outside the palace were all beheaded. Then he took out the emperor's edict and promoted the marching Sima Wei Zhaoyue to be the new Jiedushi of Lanzhou.

With a series of swift and iron-blooded tactics, the Hongmen Banquet, which had not yet taken shape, was quickly strangled in its cradle. But the matter was not over yet.

Although the internal situation has been stabilized, the covetous Northern Rong army has not been dealt with yet. Fortunately, the former military commander and now the new Lanzhou Jiedushi Wei Zhaoyue is a man of foresight and wants to make great efforts as a new official. He suggested that instead of being on guard, it is better to take the initiative to attack.

Now it is the turn of autumn and winter. Although the Northern Rong are covered with snow for thousands of miles, which is not conducive to the march of the Daqin soldiers, the various Northern Rong tribes are also short of soldiers and horses due to lack of food and clothing. If we send elite troops who are familiar with the terrain of the Northern Rong and march lightly, and attack Huanglong by surprise and kill the Northern Rong Khan, the remaining Northern Rong tribes will retreat without a fight because they have no leader.

Lin Xi, who is highly skilled in martial arts, horsemanship and long-distance raids, is the most suitable candidate to lead the troops.

But such a perfect plan was only half successful. Lin Xi, who led 500 elite soldiers, lived up to everyone's expectations. He attacked the Beirong's lair at night, beheaded the leader of the Beirong Khan Gulu, and burned the den of thieves clean.

However, as the victorious team was on their way back, the Northern Rong, which had been sunny for several days, was hit by a snowstorm that was rare in a century, blocking their return journey. In the flying snow, the horses were blinded and fled in all directions.

After the wind and snow subsided, Lin Xi gathered his troops and found that only less than 100 of the 500 elite soldiers were left, and most of the remaining half were buried in the vast snowfield and disappeared.

However, this was not the worst. The worst thing was that dozens of Lanzhou soldiers who were familiar with the terrain of Beirong were not spared and all disappeared in the snowfield.

Haven’t you seen that even a flying general with great military achievements could get lost in the sea of sand after years of fighting, not to mention Lin Xi and his group who lost their guide in the vast snowy plains.

Fortunately, although Lin Xi was not familiar with the terrain of Beirong, she had been traveling around Daqin all year round and was quite familiar with the climate and scenery of each place. Moreover, there had been no heavy snow since that day, so Lin Xi took the remaining soldiers and followed the wind direction. They found this inn built by the previous dynasty but abandoned for a long time and rested there for a while.

They thought that reinforcements would arrive soon, but after enduring the biting wind and frost for half a month and almost running out of energy, they still hadn't received any news, and the soldiers they sent out for help almost all never returned.

Seeing that food, fodder and charcoal were about to run out, and that the war horses had been slaughtered to the point of being almost wiped out, but there was no sign of reinforcements in the vast snowfield, an atmosphere of despair gradually spread among the soldiers who had been freezing and starving for more than half a month.

"The snow is waist-deep. I'm afraid it's not that the prefectures didn't send back any news, but... they didn't receive any news at all." After hearing Huaiyun's somewhat discouraged report, Lin Xi stretched out his hand and crossed the prefectures and counties near Beirong on the map one by one, and said in a deep tone.

"Then...those soldiers who were sent out?" When Huaiyun heard this, the soldiers who were sent to different directions for help immediately emerged in his mind, and his tone couldn't help but become a little difficult.

Lin Xi didn't say anything, but just shook his head slowly, and his mood became a little heavy.

The boundless snowfield made it impossible to tell where we were except for the slightly higher hills. The soldiers sent out said they were asking for help, but in fact it was tantamount to sending themselves to their deaths.

But compared to waiting slowly for death in the endless waiting of enduring cold and hunger, these warriors who signed the death contract when leaving the capital would rather ride on horses that are not much stronger than them, rushing towards the unknown direction, seeking a slim hope.

But even though they were dead men, they were still living people after all, and they had the companionship of someone who had come all the way from the capital. Therefore, even though Lin Xi had always been aloof, he could hardly be depressed at this moment.

"Wait one more day. If there are no more reinforcements, you and I will lead them out and go in different directions."

Feeling the cold air gradually climbing up his stiff knuckles, Lin Xi knew that if he waited any longer, the weather would get even colder, and if there was a heavy snowfall, the road would be completely buried. By then, even if any county received the news, they would not be able to find the way here. He closed his eyes and made a decision.

"Yes..." Huaiyun wanted to say that he would stay with his master until death, but when the words came to his lips, he thought of the soldiers who were huddled together in the inn for warmth, so he could only grit his teeth and agree.

"Okay, it's late, go and get some rest." After making the decision, Lin Xi seemed to finally relax a little. She waved her hand and let Huaiyun leave.

Huaiyun bowed and stepped back. Lin Xi kicked the charcoal basin, which was burning to the point of only a few sparks, to the side of the bed, turned off the light, and lay down with his clothes on.

An unknown amount of time had passed before the last bit of heat in the charcoal basin was completely swallowed up by the pervasive cold. Lin Xi was wrapped in a quilt that was as hard as a chopping board. She felt that except for the slowly beating heart and the heat flowing between her lips and nose that proved that she was still alive, her body and mind seemed to have been frozen.

Thinking that he himself had internal strength and was not afraid of the cold, yet he was still so cold, let alone those soldiers in the inn who were only slightly stronger than ordinary soldiers, the already confused thoughts in his mind suddenly became even more like a tangled mess.

Half asleep and half awake, there was a sudden noise outside the door. Lin Xi, who was a little confused due to the cold, thought at first that she was hallucinating, but the gradually louder sound made her realize that she was not dreaming.

Before she regained consciousness, the alertness that had been ingrained into her bones over the years had already enabled her to turn over and get off the bed. She quickly avoided the furnishings in the room and ran to the door.

Outside, there was a chaotic chaos of voices, footsteps, and horses neighing. Even though Lin Xi had excellent hearing, he couldn't hear what was happening.

But amidst the noisy voices, she could hear clearly the sound of approaching footsteps. The footsteps were quick and fragile, yet weak and feeble. They were obviously not those of the soldiers, let alone those of Huaiyun, who was highly skilled in martial arts.

But it had a clear goal and was heading straight towards Lin Xi's door, as if nothing could stop it. Lin Xi immediately frowned.

She put one hand on the long sword at her waist and the other hand on the door bolt, moving slowly, ready to restrain the person the moment he pushed open the door.

The shaky wooden door was pushed open with great force from the outside, making a strange creaking sound. Lin Xi's eyes were as fast as lightning. He drew out his long knife with a clang, and made a claw with one hand, grabbing the other person's neck.

But the next moment, the figure outside the door seemed to be tripped by the threshold, and his cold body rushed straight towards Lin Xi.

A familiar cold fragrance brushed past her nose. Lin Xi was startled. She loosened the long knife in her hand, stretched out her hands, and caught the figure that was rushing towards her.