Chapter 55: Winter of Jiwei (6)

  Nor did she know how long she had spoken, but the woman no longer asked questions and stood up, pacing back and forth in the forest.

  The Khitan cavalryman tied to the tree said something to the woman, and she nodded. She turned to Li Cheng and said: "He says that's all he knows, he asks for a quick death, let us not torture him anymore, give him a painless one."

  Li Chengzhong took a look at the Khitan cavalry and sighed: "This guy has great strength in his hands, he's still a good man."

  The woman smiled and said: "This man is a Qi Dan Tu Jie Bu's warrior, these several Qi Dan cavalrymen take him as their leader... If not for you... it would be difficult to make him speak."

  "What the...? What is this thing?" Li Chengzhong was stunned.

  The woman said with a bad tone: "Tiaoma is the entourage of the tribal leaders, to get this title, not only bravery is required, but also loyalty, they are the elite warriors of the Khitan people."

  Li Chengzhong nodded, he still didn't understand how the two words "he. ma" became elite in Khitan language, but at least he knew that this guy was a personal guard of some leader of the Tujue Department, no wonder he had such great strength.

  "Give him a good death then. A warrior should get a warrior's treatment. You can't do this to him, not on the steppes... it's against the rules."

  Li Chengzhong secretly sneered. The interrogation technique he used earlier was just child's play, and the more sinister tricks had not been used yet. The culture of the Central Plains has a long history, and the study of criminal law is vast and profound. How could these grassland barbarians think of it? He mentally classified the woman and the Khitan cavalry as barbarians, but he would not openly refute the Xianbei woman, after all, they were in the same trench. However, he also wouldn't kill this Khitan cavalryman just like that. Since the Khitan cavalry was what "he" called an elite force, he had to make good use of it. Li Chengzhong knew very little about the military system, combat methods, and internal situation of the Khitans so far, and naturally wanted to take this Khitan cavalryman back for further interrogation.

  Li Chengzhong changed the subject and asked, "Isn't he from the Tujue Department? How did he end up in the Pingzhou border area? I remember that the Tujue Department is besieging the Lulong Pass." This time when he returned to Pingzhou, he also read the recent military reports left for him by Zhou Zhiyuan, and had a general understanding of the military situation at various borders.

  The woman hesitated for a moment and said: "They came here chasing me..."

  Li Chengzhong was somewhat astonished: "You went to Lulong Pass? They chased you from Lulong Pass? Lulong Pass is at least over 300 miles away!"

  The woman nodded, but didn't want to say too much. She only said: "They've already sent someone to inform the Khitan commander of this place. I estimate that by dawn, the commander will send people to surround and blockade this grassland. Let's leave under the cover of night."

  Li Chengzhong saw her diverting the topic and thought that this woman might have grasped some important information or taken something important from the Tulun Department, but since it involved private matters of others, he couldn't ask in detail. He agreed to go get those four Khitan warhorses and brought them over. After thinking for a moment, he reluctantly gave one to the woman: "You're traveling such a long distance, one horse won't be enough; take another one so you'll have a spare on the road."

  The woman didn't stand on ceremony either, made some preparations, mounted a horse and led another one, ready to set off immediately.

  "Where are you going?" asked Li Chengzhong.

  The woman said: "I'm going straight north, to the foot of Mount Rongle."

  Li Chengzhong said "oh" and said, "That side seems to be your Qi people's Wang account, the road is still quite far," and handed over the leather bag containing dry food and bacon: "Eat on the way. Be careful!"

  The woman silently took it over, hesitated for a moment, and asked: "I don't know what the young master is called? Which general's account is under Pingzhou Military?" Her tone suddenly became more serious.

  Li Chengzhong smiled and said, "My surname is Li, my name is Li Chengzhong, you can also call me Li Dalang. I'm currently serving under General Zhou Zhiyu. Tonight's encounter is fate, so don't worry about it." He spoke in a way that was ahead of his time, with a hint of flirtation in his words, especially when he said "fate" and "don't worry about it". However, if taken at face value, his words seemed to convey a sense of selflessness. This way of speaking was common among men and women in later generations, but rare in this era. The woman's face turned bright red as she listened, yet she couldn't help but be charmed by Li Chengzhong's words.

  The woman thought and thought, but couldn't think of a response, so she awkwardly said: "Then we'll meet again someday!"

  Li Chengzhong murmured a response, but felt a pang of disappointment in his heart. This woman was not only beautiful, but also had a strong and confident personality, and was skilled in martial arts, with an air of nobility about her that made one's heart skip a beat. Although he seemed carefree in his words, saying things like "no need to repay" and such, it was hard to know when they would meet again, so he steeled himself and asked: "By the way... how should I address you, milady?"

  Li Chengzhong knew it wasn't quite proper to ask someone's name directly, but he thought that since the other person was a Xi tribeswoman, she probably wouldn't have the same etiquette customs as women from the Central Plains. Indeed, the woman hesitated for a moment before saying: "My name is Salana, if... in the future when you arrive at the foot of Raoyue Mountain... and encounter any difficulties, you can look for me." After finishing speaking, she didn't even wait for Li Chengzhong to respond, urging her horse forward with her legs, riding away and leaving behind only a heroic and elegant silhouette.

  Li Chengzhong couldn't help but laugh at her almost fleeing appearance.

  Saranna rushed out for more than two miles, almost like she was running away, before slowing down her horse. Her face was flushed red with anger, but she felt her heart beating a little fast, and couldn't help but think to herself, "This guy is just a small scout, what's there to be afraid of? I actually ran away so shamefully, and... this anger is so unjustified..."

  She recalled Li Chengzhong's words from earlier, which sounded righteous at first but were actually quite off the mark. She had handled so many big situations with ease before, but tonight she was completely defeated by his words and couldn't even muster a rebuttal. It was both infuriating and laughable. But... those words really did have a lingering aftertaste, and who knows whether he said them on purpose or by accident...

  Then I thought of Li Chengzhong's trick of taming that Khitan horse, and suddenly my ears felt hot...

  And not to mention the various thoughts of the little girls on the road, Li Chengzhong stood in the forest, silent for a moment, sighed, and tried his best to drive away Salana's shadow. This is ancient times, there is no mobile phone network or communication tools here, and it is located in the smoke-filled grasslands outside the pass, where is the "appointment after the meeting"? Although he knew her name was Salana, living under Mount Raoke, what could be done? Could he really abandon the White Wolf Mountain barracks and throw away his hard-won career to find someone at Mount Raoke? Even if he found her, what could he do? Who knows if she is already married with children, or if she has no feelings for him at all. If he forced her, would it be possible? Although in this era, even if he forced her, it would be in line with the historical trend, and no one would blame him too much. But Li Chengzhong, who came from a later generation, valued mutual affection more, and could not do things that would force others.

  Let's just consider it a chance encounter on the road. Li Chengzhong forcibly pushed aside his distracting thoughts, turned around and tied the Khitan cavalryman to a horse, not caring what the Khitan cavalryman was muttering and shouting about, stuffing a piece of cloth torn from his body into his mouth, only then did his ears become clear again. He tidied up a bit more, then took the captive and the three captured warhorses and galloped northwest.

  After running for more than a time, all the way uneventful, with the moonlight, Li Chengzhong saw the black mountain shadow of Bailu Mountain, carefully identified the direction, and went around to the mouth of Bailu Mountain, where he saw his own sentry post. There were two people at the sentry post, one stayed behind to continue monitoring, and the other accompanied Li Chengzhong back to the military camp.

  Feng Dao, Jiang Miao, Zhang Xingzhong and Zhou KanDao etc. heard that Li Chengzhong was back, they all rushed to the cave where Li Chengzhong lived. Li Chengzhong roughly told them about the situation of this trip to Pingzhou, everyone listened to Pingzhou's side is about to send a large amount of supplies to support Bailang Mountain Garrison, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. With these things, Bailang Mountain Garrison solved all the difficulties of spending the winter, that is to say, they can reduce the troops and conduct training.

  Let the crowd disperse, Li Chengzhong interrogated the Khitan cavalryman overnight. In the entire White Wolf Mountain military camp, there were not a few people who could speak simple Khitan language. Except for Meng Xuxing and Jiao Chengqiao, two men from outside the pass who knew some Khitan language, many people from outside the pass had also dealt with the Khitans before. However, their Khitan language was not very proficient, and most of them could only speak some everyday phrases, which was not enough to interrogate the Khitan cavalryman. The only one who was fluent in Khitan language was Tang Dai'erxiǎo, who led the Khitan soldiers and horses in a circle on White Wolf Mountain and successfully escaped.

  Wang Er Xiao, a chubby merchant, came to the White Wolf Mountain military camp and had nothing to do. He didn't understand farming, couldn't be a soldier, and couldn't work either. In the end, he was called over by Wang Da Lang to help feed the war horses. During his free time, he told Wang Da Lang about what he saw and heard while transporting goods among various tribes outside the pass, which also brought some gains to Wang Da Lang.

  At this moment, he found a place to use his skills and became energetic, serving as an interpreter beside Li Chengzhong.

  "I know you are the 'son of a bitch' of the Khitan people, but don't think I will treat you kindly. The more 'sons of bitches' like you there are, the greater the guilt and harm to our Great Tang Dynasty..." Li Chengzhong said sternly, staring into the eyes of the captive.

  "Are you talking about Tie Ma?" asked Wang Er Xiao with a smile. "In Khitan language, it means 'brave warrior'..."

  "I know that in Khitan language, 'he ma' means brave warrior, no need to repeat." Li Chengzhong waved his hand impatiently, cutting off Wang Er Xiao's words with some annoyance.

  Wang Erxiaowu helplessly found a branch on the ground and wrote out the two words "Ta Ma", Li Chengzhong was stunned, feeling embarrassed and amused at the same time.

  "Hmm...alright, you're a Tartar, aren't you? So you should know many things. If you don't speak up, I'll deal with you in some ways that will make you extremely ashamed and miserable. I think you've already had a taste of this. But to be honest, the moves used on you in the forest just now were quite simple, and there are even more exquisite methods that haven't been used yet - I'm really looking forward to it." Li Chengzhong continued, then turned to Wang Erxiao and signaled for him to translate what he had said to the captive.

  The captive Naitan's eyes flashed with anger, helplessness, and despair, before he finally lowered his head and slowly said a sentence. Wang Er Xiao Dao: "Da Tou, he says you are... uh... Wolf Demon... He is willing to answer your questions."

  Is the Wolf Demon? Hehe, being a wolf demon is not bad either, as long as you're afraid of it. Towards this new title, Li Chengzhong didn't mind at all and asked: "What's your name? Which leader in the Tu Huo tribe are you under? What position do you hold?"