Volume 1: War Dragon in the Wild Chapter 40: The Great Gathering at Lin (Part 2) Worry-Free

  "Zhao Wu Xu 2014" rewarded me in the middle of the night, showing great kindness; "Evil Wolf Star" has also been continuously rewarding and supporting me for many days, thank you!

  In August, the water of the Ruo Le River is abundant and the fish are fat and beautiful. The two banks are covered with green grass like a carpet, and the distant mountains are layered and towering. Many umbrella-like yurts, as if they had emerged after the rain, are scattered all over the hills and plains, stretching as far as the eye can see. The silence of the prairie has been broken by countless galloping horsemen, racing day and night without stopping, stirring up the prairie like a boiling pot.

  This is Ma Huan's first impression when he entered the range of Xianbei Ya Zang.

  After nearly ten days of long-distance travel, Ma Xian and his party finally arrived at their destination. When they were still a hundred miles away from the Xianbei headquarters, they encountered Xianbei scouts who inspected the copper plate and sent out a dozen cavalry to guide them forward until they reached the banks of the Rao Le River.

  In the distance, a cavalry team came galloping towards them. When they were still several hundred meters away, Yan Zhi had already made out that it was his elder brother leading their family's troops. Excitedly, he reported to Ma Han and led his entourage in hastening to meet them. Before long, the sound of hooves shook the ground as the Yan brothers, accompanied by dozens of mounted attendants, came galloping up.

  Yan Rou's bright laughter came from afar, obviously in a great mood: "I've been waiting for days, and finally, the Surprising Dragon has appeared. The Surprising Dragon really knows how to keep people waiting, arriving just one day before the conference starts, truly keeping everyone's appetite whetted."

  Ma Xun and Yan Rou exchanged greetings, smiling: "How did I whet your appetite?"

  Yan Rou raised his thumb in praise, saying: "Xiao Zhishan defeated the Wuduan with empty hands, forcing the great Uluan to retreat and surrender. This matter has long been spread throughout the north of the desert, all the Xianbei tribes and all the counties of the Wuduan know about it. At this grand meeting, the one person that all the tribal leaders want to see most is you, yet you are the last to arrive. Don't you think that's enough to whet the appetite of the tribal leaders?"

  Ma Xuan smiled calmly and didn't say anything. Only Tian Yu behind him asked: "Has Ambassador Xing arrived?"

  "I arrived yesterday."

  "Alright, after paying respects to Lord Kibi no Makibi, I would like to trouble you, Brother Wakasugi, to take me to meet with the Commander-in-Chief of the Xiang army."

  "It would be my pleasure."

  As they chatted and laughed, everyone let their horses roam freely, pointing out the sights along the way as they proceeded at a leisurely pace.

  As a group of people approached the floating bridge on Rao Le Shui, a team of cavalrymen suddenly galloped over, their momentum fierce.

  Wu chased after him, his hands moved swiftly, and the bow and arrow were in his hand. He shouted loudly, leading twenty Han halberdiers to block Ma Yuan's path, with twenty-one bows pointing at the approaching cavalry.

  Ma Xian raised his head and looked over, from their attire, this cavalry was the Wuhuan people, among them there was one who actually recognized him. Ma Xian narrowed his eyes and smiled, patted Wu Zhu's shoulder, gesturing for him to make way, urging his horse to push through the crowd and come out, laughing: "So it's Youyu Hou, what? Have you found some interesting prey again, letting me practice my skills?"

  This familiar person was none other than the Right Beiping Wuma's Right Xiao Hou Neng Shi. At this moment, his expression was a bit awkward, he forced a smile, and squeezed out a hint of a smile. He first indicated that he had no malicious intentions, then pulled back his horse, and brought out a young Wuhuan boy from behind him.

  This young man, no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, wore a hat made of extremely rare snow leopard fur, with three white feathers inserted in it. He was dressed in a white fox-fur coat, his physique robust and his features handsome. At this moment, the young man was staring intently at Ma Han, his expression so focused that it seemed as if he wasn't looking at a person, but rather at some rare object.

  After a while, the Wu Maru youth shook his head in confusion: "Although it's very majestic, but compared to Hei Lian brothers, there is still some inadequacy, can't see how you can kill a real bear with your bare hands! Ma Jinglong, how did you do it?"

  Yan Rou was about to tell Ma Yun the young man's identity, but Ma Yun raised her hand to stop her and smiled: "As I expected, this must be King Gou Li."

  Wu Wan's young man nodded: "That's right, I am Lou Ban."

  This young man was the future Khan of Wuhuan, Chuligui's son, and Lou Fan, who held the position of King of Left Valley with Xianbei. Ke Pi Nai was able to invite him to attend the Linhe Conference, which indirectly proved his strength and prestige among the three branches of Xianbei.

  Ma Xun, Tian Yu, Yan Shi brothers and a group of followers who had put away their swords and bows all bowed to Lou Fang on horseback.

  The ceremony ended, and Ma Xun smiled: "Gu Le Wang really wants to know how I did it?"

  A young face with a heavy brow, full of longing.

  Ma Xun stretched out his hand: "Lend me Right Xiao Hou's waist knife for a use."

  Neng Chen hesitated for a moment, seeing Lou Fan's unpleasant expression, and had no choice but to pull out the three-foot blade from his waist and throw it to Ma Han.

  Ma Xiang took it over with a wave of his hand, bent his fingers and plucked the blade, praising: "Good sword, at least thirty folds."

  "It's Fifty Refining." Nangong Qiuyue coldly hummed in response.

  "Oh, fifty refinements, it's okay if I mess it up?"

  Neng Chen's face changed color, just about to speak, but Lou Ban took the lead and said: "Don't worry, if it gets broken, I'll return him a good seventy-refined knife."

  Neng Chen was extremely annoyed, but he wasn't particularly concerned about his knife being damaged - after all, he had several such knives in his collection. What bothered him was that if Ma Han were to damage the knife in front of him, it would be a slap in the face. Wait a minute, what did he want to do? This was a fifty-fold steel knife!

  Ma Hu directly told him the answer with action - left hand holding the knife handle, right hand grasping the blade, five fingers pinched and folded. With a crisp sound of piercing, the fifty-refined steel knife was like a wooden board weighing five taels, broken into two pieces.

  Ma Xun threw his broken sword to the ground and laughed loudly: "If even steel can be broken like this, what about flesh and blood?"

  Among the laughter, when the first horse flew over the bridge, a group of Han Ge riders and Tian Yu, Yan Shi brothers followed closely behind.

  Neng Chen resisted, looking at the broken knife on the grass, his face turned pale and white, with a hint of horror in his eyes. Behind him, a group of Wuman cavalrymen whispered to each other, both shocked and admiring.

  Only Lou Ban's eyes shone brightly, gazing at Ma Yun's departing figure, muttering to himself: "The brave warrior, indeed lives up to his reputation, his hands are even harder than iron?"

  ……

  Going deep into the lair of tigers and wolves, Ma Hu knew that only bravery can intimidate the Huns. As long as there is an opportunity to show it off, it must be brought out. Nomadic tribes only believe in fists, only obeying military power, hiding and concealing will only lead to being looked down upon, thus inviting even greater trouble.

  After calming down the Wuhuan people, Ma Xian originally wanted to go and pay respects to Kou Beineng, but a messenger from Yaqi came to inform him that Kou Beineng and other tribal leaders had gone out for a hunting expedition and had not yet returned. Therefore, Ma Xian, along with Tian Yu and the Yan brothers, went instead to pay respects to the Protector of Wuhuan, Xing Ju.

  Xing Ju also received Ke Bi's hunting invitation, but he arrived only one day earlier than Ma Yuan. He had been traveling for days and was still tired and hadn't recovered, so he declined the invitation. At this moment, Xing Ju was smiling all over his face as he met with Ma Yuan and his party in the tent.

  Despite the long and arduous journey, Xing Ju's beard and hair were still neatly combed, and even in a foreign land, he would not lose his dignity. By his side stood a military general of about thirty years old, who was Li Gu, the commander of the cavalry, escorting Xing Ju to the meeting in the north.

  Xing Ju praised Ma Yuan's victory at Xiao Zhi Shan: "With bare hands, they grasped the enemy and sent them fleeing in disarray. The bravery of Xing Long is truly trustworthy. With Xing Long and Han Gong as my shields, the northern borders of the Great Han are free from worry."

  Ma Xun knelt on the right side of the upper seat, bowed his head and said: "The messenger overpraised me. Ma's bravery is ultimately just a common man's bravery. To truly intimidate the various Hu tribes, what we rely on is still a strong army."

  "Yes, yes! A strong army is hard to come by. The barbarian bows are swift and fierce, the barbarian horses fly like birds, what can defeat them? Only a strong army with sharp weapons." Xing Ju was reminiscent of his predecessor's tragic fate, and sighed endlessly.

  "Let you..." Tian Yu, who was kneeling under Ma Xun's horse, opened his mouth and swallowed the words back in response to the sharp gaze cast at him from the side.

  Ma Xun knew what Tian Yu wanted to say - new-style horse harnesses.

  As the second-in-command of the Han army, Tian Yu could not have failed to notice the unique equipment of the Hanguo cavalry. Of course, this was also because Ma Xun had not deliberately concealed it from him. Tian Yu immediately realized the great importance of this new type of horse harness for the cavalry and wanted to write a letter to Xing Ju, but was stopped by Ma Xun.

  Ma Huan spoke bluntly to Tian Yu, giving him a year's time to build an elite cavalry that could rival the Xianbei and Wuhuan horsemen. He would then present this secret to Xing Ju. "The more people who know about it, the easier it will be for the secret to leak out. If the Xianbei and Wuhuan people find out and equip themselves with it, they will gain an advantage like adding wings to a tiger. At that time, my cavalry won't even have been formed yet. In this way, the Han Dynasty's cavalry advantage will be completely lost, and the Han Dynasty itself will also be in danger."

  Tian Yu fell silent, and finally nodded in agreement with Ma Xuan's condition of revealing the truth a year later.

  This time going north, before departure, Ma Xian had ordered to remove all stirrups and horseshoes. The twenty Han Gou cavalrymen who followed him on the journey north were all slaves whose families had been killed by the Hu people and had repeatedly suffered humiliation at their hands, harboring a deep-seated hatred for the Hu people; even if it meant sacrificing their lives, they would never reveal half a secret.

  Tian Yu was just moved by Xing Ju's words and was about to blurt out the truth, but fortunately Ma Yuan stopped him in time.

  After the conversation, Xing Ju Ben wanted to invite Ma Yuan and others to stay for a banquet, but there was an urgent message that Ke Bi Neng Da Ren had returned, asking them to go and meet him. Everyone had to bid farewell and leave.

  Don't forget Sanjiang ticket.