Zi Yang

  Avoiding danger is human nature, a cavalry team is rushing forward, this is the territory of the Hu people, and those who come are naturally the Hu people. Don't ask, in a state of terror, he turned around with Lao Wu and ran away.

  Two men carrying a large amount of dry rations, with gold hidden in their shoes, couldn't run fast. The sound of horseshoes behind them was getting closer and closer. Mo didn't ask anxiously looked around, trying to find a place to hide, but the two had lost their way earlier and hadn't dodged into the forest, instead running along the main road. At this point, they had already run out of the forest, surrounded by a grassland with nowhere to hide. Wanting to turn back was also too late.

  At this time, the soldiers and horses behind had already discovered Mo Wen and his companion. They were shouting loudly "Halt!" Mo Wen saw that it was impossible to escape, so he stopped and stood by the side of the road, watching as the cavalry approached quickly. Lao Wu saw Mo Wen stop, and no longer attempted to flee, turning around to stand beside Mo Wen.

  More than twenty riders came galloping from afar, wearing the same clothes as the Huns who had shot him earlier, and they were all equipped with bows, arrows, and curved knives. What made Mo Xun feel puzzled was that among these people, there were actually three women, one of whom was a black-clothed girl who rushed to the front.

  The cavalry quickly arrived in front of Mo Wen, the black-cloaked girl reined in her horse, and the people behind quickly surrounded Mo Wen and Lao Wu. Except for the black-cloaked girl's face, which was filled with doubt, everyone else, including the other two women, had angry expressions.

  "Why did you two sneak into the hunting grounds?" The black-cloaked girl turned her head to size up Mo Xiong and Lao Wu.

  Don't ask, they had already made the worst preparations beforehand, wanting to curse the barbarians before their death. At this time, they were carefully selecting curses, but unexpectedly these barbarians, although armed with bows and knives, did not immediately attack the two of them.

  "I didn't know this was a hunting ground." Mo Wen raised his head and stared straight at the black-robed girl. The girl wasn't very old, probably around 14 or 15 years old, with fair skin, high nose bridge, big eyes, and an extremely beautiful appearance. However, what Mo Wen saw now wasn't her beauty, but rather the obvious Hu features on her face.

  "Kneel down!" Just as the voice fell, a barbarian on the right suddenly whipped towards him. Mo Wen dodged too late and his face was instantly covered in blood stains. But he did not kneel down, instead turning his head to glare furiously at the barbarian who had whipped him.

  The barbarian saw him being tough, and immediately became furious, counterattacking with another whip. Xiao Wu, who was watching from the side, quickly rushed to Mo Wen's side and blocked this whip for him.

  "Why did you hit him?" The black-robed girl looked at the whip-wielding barbarian with discontent.

  "Return to the princess, these two people are suspicious and abnormal in their behavior, I think they are not Zhao citizens, but spies sent by Nanman." Hu Ren said to the black-clothed woman with a bow.

  "Where are you two from?" The black-haired girl frowned at the pair.

  It wasn't until now that I realized this black-robed girl was actually the Princess of Zhao, and seeing her expression seemed quite kind, so I told her the truth: "Some time ago, my concubine was taken away by your country's officials, and my master and I came north to find her."

  No sooner had these words been spoken than the surrounding barbarians drew their swords in unison and glared menacingly at the two men.

  "Non-Chinese who enter our borders without permission must be spies and should be punished severely." The Hun who had just whipped him shouted loudly.

  "We are not petty thieves." Mo Wu didn't loudly defend himself. He wasn't afraid of death, but he was unwilling to bear unjust accusations.

  "Why must we flee at the sight of these little creatures?" The barbarian urged his horse closer.

  "There are many corpses eaten by humans in the forest ahead, my master and I saw them with a chill, so we dodged." Mo Xiong looked at the curved knife in the barbarian's hand, it was this kind of curved knife that had cut off his father-in-law's head earlier.

  "Go and take a look." The black-robed girl said to the barbarian, who turned his horse's head and went forward to investigate. After a moment, he drove his horse back and nodded at the black-robed girl.

  "At this time, there is no shortage of military rations, what's the point of eating it? After hunting, you go and investigate, see which general's subordinate it is. Find out and scold them." The black-cloaked girl instructed the barbarian.

  The barbarians heard the words and responded with a loud "Yes".

  Mo Wen and Lao Wu, who were listening on the side, were terrified. The implication of Hei Qiu's words was that their army did indeed eat people, and she didn't think it was wrong to eat human flesh, but rather thought it was unnecessary when they had military rations.

  The black-haired girl finished speaking and glanced sideways at Mo Xiong and Lao Wu, clearly thinking about how to deal with them.

  "Your Highness, my master and I are here to find my master's wife. Whether we find her or not, we won't be returning. My master is a scholar and also knows medicine. Don't kill us, we're not spies." Lao Wu stepped forward and spoke up, seeing that Mo Xiang had yet to beg for mercy.

  "How dare you use flowery words to deceive the princess, your kind of southern barbarian tricksters won't be summoned without some measures. Come on, each of you give me thirty lashes." This foreigner seemed to have a strong prejudice against Han people.

  "The princess's spirit is like a phoenix eye, clearly distinguishing right from wrong. You should be able to see that we are not petty people." Mo Xiong had no choice but to speak up under helpless circumstances.

  "It's also quite an experience. Hou Bo Yan, give them a pass and let them go." The black-cloaked girl smiled as she spoke to the barbarian.

  "How did you know they were not spies?" asked a Xiongnu tribesman named Hou Bao Yan cautiously.

  "They're running too slowly, they can't be thoroughbreds." The black-cloaked girl said as she spotted a wild deer in the bushes and excitedly rode after it.

  "Have you caught any prey in this hunting ground?" The barbarian took out a square piece of paper from the side pocket of his saddle and threw it in front of the two.

  "No, for two reasons: we don't have the heart to hunt, and secondly, we run too slowly and can't catch up." Mo didn't ask him to bend down and pick up the cardboard on the ground.

  "I detest you Southern Barbarians, with your glib tongues. Get out of here!" The foreigner lashed out with his whip and knocked Mo Xun to the ground before riding off in pursuit of the others.

  "Old man, are you alright?" Lao Wu helped Mo Wen up from the ground.

  "It's nothing serious, how about you, does it hurt?" Mo Wen asked, although he was wearing thick winter clothes, the whip's force was great, and his back felt like it was on fire at this moment. However, the joy in his heart made him forget the pain, being able to keep his life was already a stroke of luck, and unexpectedly, he even got the famous letter.

  "Thank you for your concern, I'm fine." Lao Wu replied emotionally. In his opinion, blocking the whip for Mo Xiang earlier was something a servant should do, and he didn't expect Mo Xiang to remember it in her heart.

  They got the pass and hastily left this place to continue northward.

  "Master, I have something on my mind that I don't understand." Lao Wu furrowed his brow for a long time before finally speaking up.

  "What?" Mo asked.

  "How did you know that the barbarian princess could tell we weren't spies?" asked Lao Wu, voicing his own doubts.

  "I don't know if she can see through it, but I just praised her 'spiritual body and phoenix eyes, clearly distinguishing right from wrong'. If she still thinks we're spies, then she's 'a mortal with ordinary eyes, unable to distinguish right from wrong'." Mo Xun sighed and opened his mouth, praising the enemy was something he wouldn't have done in the past, but to save his life he had no choice but to go against his heart. He finally understood the helplessness of having to bow one's head when under someone else's roof.

  "Oh, in our words, you've put a tall hat on her." Lao Wu suddenly realized.

  "Flattery is not what a gentleman does." Mo Wen sighed again.

  "It doesn't matter, you're a gentleman and I'm just a lowly person. From now on, saying nice things and wearing high hats is my job." Lao Wu said with a smile.

  "From now on, don't address me with a single word of inferiority. You and I are now brothers in adversity. Moreover, when has the Mo family ever treated the Wu family as inferiors?" Mo Xiang asked solemnly.

  "Thank you, sir." Lao Wu hastily bowed his hands in gratitude.

  Mo asked helplessly and glanced at Lao Wu, Lao Wu's habit had already been formed and couldn't be changed in a short period of time.

  "Old master, I heard that the princesses of our Jin State usually don't go out, and when they do, they bring a large group of people. How come this Hu princess only brings so few people and dares to come out hunting?" Lao Wu handed over a pancake to Mo Xun.

  "The nomads are different from the Han people, their ancestors have always made a living by hunting." Mo Wen took over the pancake and took a bite. When his father was alive, the family's situation was only quite well-off, not extremely rich or noble, so after falling on hard times he didn't have a big decline, nor did he pick at food.

  "Unexpectedly, the Huren woman is quite good-looking." Lao Wu said with his mouth full of flatbread.

  "They are not of our kind, their hearts must be different. Even if they look like heavenly immortals, they are still as treacherous as snakes and scorpions." Mo didn't ask and instead gave Lao Wu a sideways glance.

  "I think her heart isn't that unusual either. If it weren't for her today, our lives wouldn't have been saved." Lao Wu didn't notice Mo Xun staring at him.

  No need to ask, the black-robed woman spared him, but her words also revealed a hint of contempt for Han people, and she even thought that eating humans was not wrong, all of which were hidden behind her beauty.

  They hadn't gone far when they stumbled upon them. Earlier, they had wondered why the princess would only bring so few people out hunting, but now they understood that her guards were relying on their numbers in the back, and there were no less than a thousand of them.

  Even if there is a princess's nameplate, Mo Xiang still decides to avoid it, one less thing is better than one more thing.

  That evening, the two finally saw the city and the long city wall. The pass worked, and the soldiers guarding the gate left the pass and let the two enter the city.

  And regardless of Princess Hei's temperament, Mo Xun had already started thanking her. If it weren't for the famous letter, the two would have rushed all the way here only to be unable to enter the city.

  Both of them were traveling far for the first time, and they had entered a foreign land. After arriving at the city of Zhao, Mo asked and found that this place was similar to Jin State, with most soldiers being Han people, and there were only a few Hu people on the streets.

  After entering the city, the two of them started inquiring around and soon found out that the Hu people were heading north with grain carts and abducted women.

  At this time, the sky was already late, and the two did not continue to rush on the road. They found an inn to stay overnight. After Mo Xun negotiated with the innkeeper, they exchanged the gold fragments that fell when the golden cake melted into scattered silver and copper coins.

  After a series of rushes on the road, the two finally didn't have to camp outside and fell asleep quickly after settling down.

  The next morning, Mo Xun got up and found that Lao Wu had already prepared clean water for him to wash his face. After thanking him, he simply washed his face a few times and didn't even comb his hair.

  After washing their faces, the two left the inn and continued northward in pursuit...