Mount and Blade Central Asia

"What wind brings you here?

"Not long after, Piri Reyes's more rounded figure rushed out of the village on his old horse. The old horse showed signs of stumbling from time to time while galloping, which was a bit unbearable to watch.

Fortunately, Reyes had been riding horses for many years, so he was always able to adjust his balance and run to Li Rufeng safely.

"I'm suppressing bandits nearby. I heard that you have some connections with the bandit leader named Gray Wolf, so I plan to ask you to be my guide." Li Rufeng's current status means that he doesn't need to beat around the bush with people like Reyes, so he directly stated his purpose.

Piri Reyes's expression changed. He glanced at Marida and then shouted exaggeratedly, "Who is this person who is slandering me behind my back? It's unfair, Lord Rufeng! I've always been an honest man! How could I have anything to do with someone like Gray Wolf?"

But seeing that Li Rufeng was only looking at him with a half-smile, Reyes remained unmoved. He could only say with a gloomy face, "We did know each other when we were in the army. After that incident, we settled down together nearby and occasionally did some small legal business. But Lord Rufeng, please be clear, I have never done any business with him without any capital!"

"Twenty of you will go with me to talk to that Gray Wolf. I don't care if you've had any contact before, but Aleppo is my city now, and I can't allow bandits like this to operate nearby." Li Rufeng patted the neck of his horse and glanced at Reyes's old horse with some disdain. "Also, change horses. You're almost crushing it to death."

Li Rufeng is now in the stage of improving his riding skills, and his riding skills are at the standard level of half-baked. Although he knows that Reyes' riding skills are better than his, he still can't help but give him some pointers.

Reyes looked at Marida's horse, then climbed up the pole and said, "Sir, it's no problem for me to have someone lead the way, but I really don't have any horses. How about you give me one as an emergency?"

The author says:

Author's Note: One chapter today, two chapters tomorrow

Chapter 220: Gang Incident

Gray Wolf Ibaier is a short and stocky man with strong limbs. At first glance, he looks like a dwarf from a fantasy world, but those who know Ibaier know that his swordsmanship is very vicious and he is particularly good at attacking the enemy's waist, abdomen and lower body.

Iber is a little younger than Reyes and is now in his prime. Compared to Reyes, who started to gain weight after escaping from the army, Iber is even stronger and more ferocious than when he was in the Royal Guards.

He built a village in a forest less than 30 kilometers away from Aleppo. There were three small settlements around the village with a population of less than 200 people. These settlements secretly cooperated with him, and many of the men in them were even Iber's men.

It’s just that those people are not full-time bandits. Full-time robbers are like full-time professional soldiers. They require a lot of resources, and most of the people in Ibaier’s team are not qualified.

In order to survive, they could only farm honestly while looking for opportunities to get involved in Ibaier's actions.

Ibaier didn't even need to give them any money, these people brought their own dry food to work with him...So, when Li Rufeng brought his personal guards to announce his jurisdiction over this territory to all the settlements around Aleppo, Ibaier quickly knew that he was in trouble.

As a "bad guy" making a living here, Ibaier naturally knows who the people he should not mess with the most are - the Mongols.

As early as when Ibaier first started his career, he had been careful to ensure that he was outside the Mongol activity area. He was a man who had been on the battlefield, and he knew how much advantage the Mongols had when dealing with "small targets" like him.

It is no exaggeration to say that if the Mongols wanted to deal with him, they didn't even need to send a large army. They only needed to send a team of cavalry to restrict his area of ​​activity and make his every move lose its secrecy, which would be enough to "starve" him to death.

After all, you can't expect a bunch of unproductive gangsters to have much of a tradition of frugality.

So after hearing that the Mongols had occupied Aleppo, Iber had already started planning to escape. Only a fool would fight with those Mongols. The man known as the Lightning was captured in one battle!

But before running away, Ibaier decided to make a few big moves and take away enough capital to make a comeback.

Except for his old brothers, no one knew about Ibaier's plan to escape, and the entire village was still cheerful and living for the moment.

The Grey Wolf Ibaier relied on his bravery and fighting skills, as well as the command system from the Ottoman Guards, to win over more than 40 "unemployed robbers".

These people made him invincible in the surrounding area. When he really needed manpower, he could just shout and pull out twice the number of "militia" from the surrounding settlements.

In addition, Ibaier did have some friendship with Piri Reyes. After all, they were both low-level officers in the Royal Guard. Reyes needed someone to protect his territory from being invaded in the green forest, and Ibaier also needed a reliable channel to help him sell the stolen goods.

This was their simple, pure, and straightforward business relationship. Of course, Reyes had proactively explained all of this to Li Rufeng. He also said, "Master Rufeng, please understand that we haven't worked together for over a year. We've all been living our own lives during this time. There's really nothing between us..."

"Come on, stop talking,

"Let's get off the horse and rest for a while." Li Rufeng glanced at Reyes, and he and his guards slowed down almost at the same time, dismounting in unison.

Only two people broke away from the group, Marida and Reyes.

Looking at the knights who stopped at the same time, Marida widened her eyes, while Reyes swallowed secretly, thinking to himself, this time it's not that I won't help you, brother, but Lord Rufeng has a strong army and horses, and it is really impossible to contend with him. Ibaier, if you are lucky, he has left now.

This is exactly the effect Li Rufeng wanted. Although the guards under his command are mainly second-level soldiers with slightly better equipment, that is also the standard for second-level soldiers in the Mount and Blade world.

In the real world, the connection between him and his soldiers is like a cheat.

He especially liked to see the expressions of Maritan and Reyes as if they had seen a ghost, but Li Rufeng suppressed the arrogance in his heart, acted as if nothing had happened, and invited the two to come over and rest.

In fact, the team can still move forward. The only one who needs to rest is Li Rufeng. His riding skills have reached a proficiency level of 41 points after recent training, but he is still the one who is lagging behind in the team.

People who aren't good at riding always expend more energy on horseback. Take Li Rufeng, for example. He's now quite proficient at riding, able to control both a trot and a gallop. If the horse isn't moving fast, he can still stumble and hide in the stirrup without getting thrown to death...

But that was all. When Li Rufeng got off the horse, both of his legs were numb, and only the roots of his thighs felt burning with pain.

After getting off the horse, Master Li untied the saddle, took out a handful of salt-fried soybeans from his pocket and fed it to his horse with his hand. With his other hand, he used a brush to comb the hair that was previously covered by the saddle. The horse rubbed its nose against his hand affectionately.

In fact, Li Rufeng didn't need to personally take action to suppress bandits, but if it weren't for this, he really wouldn't have the opportunity to upgrade his personal abilities.

Li Rufeng is a shaman, and leaving behind a reputation of bloodthirstiness would have no positive meaning for missionary work, so suppressing bandits became Li Rufeng's best and most suitable choice.

"Reyes, come here and tell me about the specific layout of your comrade's village." Li Rufeng waved at Reyes and asked him to sit next to him.

Reyes walked over obediently. When he sat down, the belt around his waist and he sighed. "Sir, I'm not very familiar with Iber. I haven't even been there..."

Looking at Li Rufeng's eyes and the half-smiles on the guards' faces, Reyes turned his words around in his mouth and finally said, "Okay, I went there once... Just once!"

Maritan took food out of the cowhide bag on her own and didn't believe a word Reyes said.

There is a relationship between the Gray Wolf Ibaier and Reyes. Almost all the leaders of the settlements know about it. Every time a large caravan is attacked nearby, these "honest people" will drive their carts to Reyes to buy cheap goods.

Maritan went to buy it several times herself, and the fat man Reyes was not so docile at that time. Iber was a gray wolf and Reyes was a wild dog. Neither of them was a good guy.

Seeing Maritan's eyes, Reyes gave the other party a fierce expression implicitly, then turned around and wagged his tail at Li Rufeng like a greasy old dog, and outlined a topographic map of the Grey Wolf Village for the lord on the ground.

The forest where the Gray Wolf Ibaier's stronghold is located is not very large. It is close to the Kuweik River and is located north of Aleppo. It looks lush and green from a distance. The entire forest coverage area is a long and narrow green corridor, and there is actually not much space to speak of.

But Ibaier prepared a small boat in the Kuvik River and raised fast horses in the village. He had experienced two encirclement and suppression attacks in the past and had survived both times safely.

With this experience, although Ibaier was afraid of the ferocity of the Mongols, he did not panic. He was considering the goals of his next few actions.

The first thing that can be ruled out is the caravans that have recently become busy in Aleppo. The last thing Iber wants to attract now is the attention of the Mongolian leader in Aleppo.

He heard that the Mongols had just defeated the Wanhu that Timur had left here. This made Ibaier, who had faced the charge of the Mongol cavalry in the past, feel that the Mongols were the most capable faction in Timur's army.

Compared to the Turkified Mongols in the Ottoman Empire, these Mongols who came down from the Mongolian Plateau were the real Mongols. It is said that they even had shamans fighting with them. It was terrifying...

Ibaier wanted to rob several relatively wealthy villages. He was very familiar with the details of these surrounding settlements and knew exactly who was rich and who was poor.

After much searching, Iber discovered that the best gathering place around was the territory of his "good brother" Reyes...

After a brief hesitation, Iber made his choice without mercy. After all, he had been in the Aleppo area for so many years, giving so much profit to the other party and fattening up Reyes and his gang, wasn't it all for today?

Ibaier stabbed the dagger hard on the table, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he shouted: "Let Old Snake come to me!"

The group of bandits who were enjoying the cool air in the yard fell silent for a moment after hearing Gray Wolf's call. Then a tall and thin man with a gloomy face pushed away the disheveled woman in his arms and walked in with a pot of wine.

"What's wrong?

Are you still worried about those Mongols? "Old Snake was Ibaier's adjutant when he was serving in the Imperial Guard. It was Old Snake who made the decision not to return and to become a bandit here.

"There's going to be chaos sooner or later. We have to retreat, but before we go, we have to rob Reyes and his gang." Iber gestured for the other party to sit down and then continued, "During the previous transactions, that fat guy actually charged us a 30% loss fee. That's too much."

"So when are we going to tell our people about the evacuation?" Old Snake, who had no camaraderie with Reyes and didn't care, simply asked, "Quite a few people have settled here. We definitely won't be able to take them with us when we leave. Do you want to—"

The old snake made a cutting gesture in front of his neck, as if he had no psychological pressure to attack his own people.

"Forget it. When this group of Mongols runs away one day, maybe we can come back." Ibaier shook his head and rejected the suggestion. He was not so cruel as to attack his own people.

"I'll listen to you. That's settled. Let's drink!" The old snake answered calmly, but a fierce light flashed in his eyes. The moment Ibaier took the wine jug, he had pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and stabbed it into Ibaier's throat!

Chapter 221: Alone and Deep

"Master Wizard, I have killed the gray wolf according to your wishes. What should we do next?" The old snake stood respectfully beside a man in black robes and asked with his body bent.

Although the man in black robe had a black face, if Li Rufeng were here, he would definitely recognize from the smell that this was his old friend Azadirim at the first moment.

At this time, his skin was dark, his lips were chapped, and his corneas were white, but his limbs were well-developed and he was wearing a suit of chain mail. Standing in the shadows, he looked particularly inconspicuous with his natural protective color.

"Gather the men, call all the people from the villages, we need more men." Azadirim ordered, and then looked into the old snake's eyes with his creepy eyes, "Why stab his throat?"

Azadirim was referring to the body of the gray wolf Ibaier. The old snake's vicious strike not only pierced Ibaier's trachea, but also cut his vocal cords.

Even if Azadirim took over the body, he would be a mute and unable to speak.

"Sir, I'm... I'm worried that he might make a noise and attract other people's attention!" Old Snake broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly explained, "We were drinking outside the door at the time. Most of those people were loyal to Gray Wolf. I only have two people, and I was afraid that he would make a noise..."

"Hmph, don't think I can't see through your little tricks. This is the last time." Azadirim grinned at the old snake, and a foul breath blew directly into the old snake's face, making him dizzy. "If it happens again, you will be my new vessel."

"You are an adult, I dare not!" The old snake explained with sweat on his face.

His knife strike was indeed intentional. Although the old snake was subservient to the black wizard and was afraid of his black magic, he still had his own ambitions. He could not let the black wizard use the gray wolf's body directly.

Otherwise, the combination of black magic and the prestige of the Gray Wolf would be enough to crush him.

During this time, Old Snake has been secretly observing the black wizard in front of him. He also came from the Royal Guards and had heard some legends about court wizards, but in Old Snake's eyes, wizards and mages were just that.

If they were truly invincible, Bayezid would not have been defeated and captured by the Mongolian cavalry and war elephants.

But even so, Old Snake was still walking on thin ice in front of this dark wizard. He witnessed with his own eyes how the other party was resurrected from the dead five times in total. Three of them were corpses that Old Snake personally found for him, or rather, corpses that he created.

The corpse that Azadirim is using now was originally a fugitive slave who escaped from the Mamluks. He had always been brave and courageous in fighting, and he also obeyed the Gray Wolf's words. The old snake found an opportunity to poison him to death.

Old Snake had wanted to get rid of Gray Wolf for a long time. As a robber, he was always cruel when he shouldn't be cruel, and kind when he shouldn't be kind. He acted too casually.

For example, the relationship between him and Reyes' gang. In Old Snake's eyes, they were too close. He knew very well what kind of person Reyes was. If the Mongolian lord really came to attack them this time, it must be Reyes who led the way.

For example, Old Snake had long ago advised Gray Wolf not to slaughter passing caravans. Although collecting protection fees along the way might seem to bring in less income, it would be a long-term profit and much less dangerous. They wouldn't have to support so many idle people, and most importantly, it could prevent things like today from happening.

Any lord who has ambitions for Aleppo will not allow such a cancer to exist.

In order to win the hearts of the people, they probably didn't even have the chance to surrender, and could only abandon all the wealth they had accumulated over the past four or five years...

The old snake was unwilling to give up, so he chose to cooperate with Azadirim. The black wizard's target was the leader of the Mongols. If he could succeed, perhaps Aleppo could return to its original situation.

Old Snake walked out of the small room without announcing Gray Wolf's death. He just winked at his men, who understood and stood guard at the door of Gray Wolf's room.

"Gray Wolf asked us to gather our men. If those Mongols dare to come, we should teach them a lesson." Old Snake instructed the drunken robber leaders, "Go to those villages and ask them to gather at the mountain stronghold. Tell them that if we win this time,

I can officially join the village and live in the village!"

The group had almost finished drinking, and when they heard Lao She's words, they immediately started moving, each of them taking messages to the village they were familiar with. In their eyes, this kind of job was just to continue drinking in another place.

The leaders of several surrounding settlements saw that they were as well-behaved as grandchildren, and always treated them to delicious food and wine.

Although Old Snake's order to recruit people this time will probably make them unhappy, who cares about their thoughts? Whoever has the sharper knife has the final say in this land.

Coincidentally, Li Rufeng also agreed with this logic, so he had arrived early and met one of the unlucky guys outside the forest who was planning to go to another place for a second round of drinks.

God knows how frightened he was when he saw a group of fully armed Mongolian cavalry. Of course, it might also be because he drank too much and couldn't ride well. In short, the moment he saw Li Rufeng and his gang, he fell off his horse and fell very hard.

When Li Rufeng's personal guards rushed over on horseback, they could only carry his body back on horseback.

"Is our reputation so bad now?" Li Rufeng looked at the corpse in confusion, then turned to ask Maritan and Reyes.

Maritan just turned her head away without answering, while Reyes smiled awkwardly. He still remembered that when Li Rufeng first recruited them, he shot a missionary to death on the spot, just like killing a chicken.

The guards searched the body carefully, but found nothing except that the man had just been drinking.

At this time, it would be great if the dark wizard was here. This thought suddenly appeared in Li Rufeng's mind, but he immediately shook his head and threw the idea away.

The feud between him and Azadirim was huge. That was two tons of gold. Even if Lord Azadirim was generous and willing to give up this wealth, Li Rufeng would have to find an opportunity to kill him.

There is no way, Li Rufeng... is not that magnanimous. The last thing he wants to hear is that one day all the forces around him suddenly know that he has such a huge fortune.

You have to know that Mr. Li only spent one twentieth of his wealth in Aleppo's "charity" by spending money lavishly. Of course, this was also due to the fact that the existing brokerage scale in Aleppo was relatively small, which could easily cause inflation, so he had been holding back.

Li Rufeng gave new orders to his guards in his mind, asking half of them to spread out and conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity, with a focus on those directions that could lead to populated areas.

The corpse in front of me didn't bring any food, only weapons, and was alone. It was impossible for him to survive in the wild. It is more reasonable to speculate that he went to a settlement with a cooperative relationship.

Li Rufeng knew with his eyes closed that these settlements were more or less related to the robber gangs in his area, and this was something he could tolerate. After all, the Mongols played a considerable role in the formation of Aleppo's current ecological system.

So Maritan and Reyes once again witnessed the amazing actions of the knights under the shaman. The ten knights suddenly turned their horses' heads and scattered in different directions.

The shaman himself and the other knights were completely indifferent.

Maritan felt that she would never be able to figure out how these people communicated and passed on orders to each other. She was not a worldly-wise bumpkin, but she had never seen such soldiers before. This was not something that could be explained by tacit understanding.

She took a deep look at the young shaman. His unusual complexion, smooth skin, and his unintentional lack of adaptability to his surroundings all indicated that he must be of noble birth, and of an extremely noble kind.

At the very least, compared with this shaman, the heirs of the Koning royal family were as crude as the serfs kept by a local rich man in the countryside.

But he really appeared here, bringing a group of barbaric nomads, relying on his eloquence to take Aleppo without bloodshed, and coordinated all forces inside and outside the city at the fastest speed. He even has the leisure to come out and suppress bandits.

In Marytan's eyes, Li Rufeng's act of suppressing bandits was just like a nobleman enclosing land and hunting in the forest, which was an act of entertainment.

Of course, in reality, it is almost the same. For Li Rufeng, riding and killing is indeed much more interesting than worrying about the country and the people and fighting for their livelihood in the city.

Riding a horse is so great! Especially for someone like him who has a system, although riding a horse to level up is slower, this kind of free proficiency experience is simply addictive.

Li Rufeng did not stay here for too long. He threw the body into the bushes and continued to go deeper into the forest with the remaining guards, Maritan and Reyes.

Anyway, with Reyes leading the way, they didn't have to worry about getting lost, nor did they have to worry about the scattered guards not being able to find their way back.

"Master Shaman, there are Gray Wolf's men standing guard further ahead. We'd better dismount and take a detour." After walking for a while, Reyes carefully surveyed the surroundings and whispered, "Even though they don't have many powerful bows and crossbows, it's still better to be cautious."