Chapter 62: The Winter of Jiwei (13)

  The first snow of Bailu Mountain finally fell, covering the mountains with a thick layer of white. The snow continued to fall, and when it reached the back mountain valley, it was melted by geothermal heat into snow water, seeping into the fields and nourishing the grain fields. Some of it also turned into hot air, slowly rising, and for a time, the misty vapor was like a fantasy.

  The drill ground of the White Wolf Mountain military camp was covered with snow overnight, with snow reaching ankle-deep. Walking on it produced a crunching sound. Li Chengzhong gazed at the snowflakes dancing in the sky and, overcome with excitement, declared a one-day holiday for the entire army, allowing the soldiers to enjoy the snowy scenery. His playful nature suddenly emerged, and he started a snowball fight with Zhou Xiaolang's personal guards. Large and small snowballs flew wildly across the drill ground, inevitably hitting bystanders, who picked up snow and counterattacked with all their might. In no time, over a hundred people engaged in a chaotic snowball battle on the drill ground.

  Xie Li sat at the entrance of his own kiln, gazing at the snowflakes filling the sky, watching the chaotic battle in the schoolyard, listening to the sounds of laughter and curses from the crowd, and recalling the scenes of playing with companions in his tribe during childhood, he couldn't help but let out a heartfelt smile.

  Since being kicked to the ground by that shameless Han military officer with a ruthless kick, until now being imprisoned in the cave of the White Wolf Mountain barracks, it has been almost a month. As a Tujue warrior with status, Erlie's initial thought was not to be humiliated like this, only seeking a quick death. All along, he had considered himself a true brave warrior who did not fear death. But reality is so cruel, that officer surnamed Li did not give him the opportunity for a direct confrontation with death, instead using various methods to torture him. That was a "Wolf Demon", Erlie had already given him a place in his heart, that Wolf Demon would certainly go to hell after he died!

  Those methods were really sinister, leaving him completely unable to cope. For example, threatening to cut off his lower body and make him a eunuch, or pulling out his fingernails with force, or catching extremely disgusting insects and forcing them into his mouth, or tying him up on a wooden bench and constantly adding wood blocks under his feet... What made it most unbearable for him was that the Han military officer did not allow him to rest or sleep, sending people in shifts to torment him. Every time he reached the point of extreme exhaustion, they would immediately wake him up...

  That officer did not leave any scars on Ryeo's body, but took away many things from his mouth. Every time after questioning, the officer would give Ryeo some good food or let him move freely in the military camp for a while, causing him to gradually lose the idea of taking his own life. In this way, Ryeo sometimes wanted to die and sometimes couldn't bear to die, spending nearly a month in the White Wolf Mountain military prison in a state of extreme entanglement.

  Xie Li had made efforts, telling the Han officer surnamed Li that he was one of the most trusted Khitan warriors and if released, Yelü would be willing to offer a large number of cattle, sheep and war horses as compensation. However, the Han officer did not follow the rules of the grasslands and ignored his words about ransom and compensation. As a result, Xie Li could only continue to be detained in the White Wolf Mountain military camp, occasionally telling the officer what he knew when questioned. The "Wolf Devil" surnamed Li was very trusting of him and did not tie him up with ropes. Xie Li had thought about escaping, but firstly, the guards were strict, secondly, the food was not enough to eat, and his body was weak, so he didn't find a suitable opportunity. Moreover, this was a mountain valley military camp, with walls blocking both ends, guarded by soldiers, even if he wanted to run, where could he go?

  Jier got some relaxation and freedom every day, of course, this kind of freedom was relative, limited to the military camp, with Han soldiers watching and accompanying him. Every time it came to this moment, Jier would wander around or curiously watch these Han soldiers training on the edge of the school field, sometimes he would sit at the entrance of his own cave and stare blankly, just like today.

  A snowball suddenly flew over and hit Rie's face, the cold snowflakes splashing everywhere, pulling Rie out of his childhood memories. Rie was stunned for a moment, then grabbed a handful of snow from beside him, casually made it into a ball, and threw it back at the group of people where the snowball came from. Rie's counterattack was very accurate, directly hitting a Han soldier's head. When that Han soldier turned his head around, he only then realized that his behavior had exceeded his current identity, possibly bringing him great trouble.

  As expected, the Han soldiers who were hit became furious and charged over in a frenzy. Jie Li's heart tightened for an instant, but he quickly made his preparations. As a Xiongnu warrior, he could not afford to lose face in a fight with the Han people. He might die because of this matter, but even if he did... it would be a relief.

  That Han soldier had just rushed over a few steps when he was stopped by an officer. The officer had also seen him before, but didn't know what his identity was. Although the officer was short in stature, he seemed to have great authority. The short officer beckoned to him with a hook of his hand, and he stared blankly for a moment before slowly realizing that the other man wanted him to join in and play snowball fight together.

  Jie Li glanced at the soldier standing beside him, who nodded and gave him a slight push forward. Jie Li crouched down, made two snowballs on the snowy ground, one in each hand, but still hesitated for a moment. As he hesitated, the Han soldiers didn't, the one he had hit earlier threw his own snowball at Jie Li, who dodged and threw his two snowballs forward, one after another.

  The snowball fight became more and more intense, and Li's arrow shots were very accurate. The accuracy of the snowballs was naturally extremely high, almost every shot hit its mark, which also made him gradually become the main target of attack. Li dodged the flying snowballs while trying to counterattack, then he saw that "Wolf Demon" surnamed Li. Li's heart moved, and the snowballs in his hand flew one by one, specifically targeting the "Wolf Demon" surnamed Li. The opponent took a few of Li's snowballs, turned around and started to counterattack, but the accuracy was not enough, all being dodged by Li.

  Every time Jie Li hits "Lang Mo" once, he feels a little relieved in his heart. The more he hits, the more he feels relieved. Jie Li's revenge behavior attracted the attention of Lang Mo's personal guards, and more snowballs flew towards Jie Li. Jie Li completely ignored dodging, he targeted Lang Mo, desperately throwing the snowballs in his hands, beating Lang Mo to flee in disarray.

  He laughed loudly, and when he was exhausted, a snowball flew over and hit him on the head. His feet slipped and he fell to the ground, lying on his back in the thick snow, still laughing, feeling extremely happy and carefree.

  After the snowball fight, Jie Li's free time also ended, and he was locked back into his small cave. The White Wolf Mountain in winter wasn't cold at all, especially with a wooden door blocking the wind at the entrance, thick dry grass keeping warm inside, and a fireplace on the wall. Jie Li was even allowed to light a fire in the fireplace to keep warm, and the material used for the fire was a kind of black hardwood block. According to Wang Er, this block was "charcoal" made from burning wood in the mountains. This "charcoal" was really good, it didn't produce thick smoke when burned, and there was even a faint woody fragrance coming from the fire. Jie Li felt very curious about this and secretly admired the ingenuity of the Han people for being able to create such a thing.

  In the evening, a small wooden door on the kiln opened and someone sent in a bowl of porridge and two pieces of coarse flatbread. There were also some green vegetable leaves in the porridge, which was Xie Li's second meal of the day. Xie Li knew that Han soldiers in the White Wolf Mountain could have three meals a day - one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening - but as a captive, he didn't get such treatment. According to Wang Er, the food supply in the military camp was not sufficient, and even the civilians could only eat twice a day.

  Jie Li quickly finished his meal, putting the last bit of green vegetables from the bowl into his mouth. He placed the wooden bowl at the door and someone would come to collect it soon. He hadn't eaten enough, for a brave warrior like him, this meal had only filled him three or four parts full. Jie Li had been feeling weak these days. If he could eat another pancake, he would have more energy, and in the morning's snowball fight, he could make that "wolf demon" suffer even more. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little regretful. It would be even better if he could eat a piece of meat.

  Jie Li couldn't help but feel a little excited, and he didn't know when that surname-Li "Wolf Demon" would come to ask him questions again. Every time after being asked, Jie Li could get a piece of dried meat, thinking about the flavor of the dried meat made his mouth water.

  He thought it was pointless, so he started doing push-ups in front of the fireplace, and did thirty before stopping. After a short rest, he began to do sit-ups, getting up fifty times in a row before lying down panting. These two exercises were learned by Rie from Han soldiers, who would usually be punished with these two exercises when they made mistakes during training, but Rie had keenly seen the benefits of these two exercises.

  Push-ups are extremely effective in training arm strength, while sit-ups focus on the use of the waist and abdomen. The hero is a brave warrior, not only accurate in archery, but also skilled in horse riding, and has a set of skills in hand-to-hand combat. He believes that these two movements are very useful for shooting arrows and riding horses to kill, anyway, he spends most of his time trapped in the cave, with nothing to do, so he uses this to pass the time. It's just that the food is not enough to eat, and there is too little oil and water, so every day can only be done symbolically for a while, hoping to maintain his arm strength and waist strength as much as possible.

  He was leaning against the wall, staring at the red flames rising from the charcoal in a daze. Before he knew it, as he was about to doze off, the small door creaked open and the guard beckoned him to follow. Jeol's spirit lifted - that "Wolf Devil" surnamed Li had something to ask him, which also meant he would get a piece of dried meat tonight.

  As usual, Jie Li was taken to the den where "Lang Mo" lived. The lamp in the cave was lit, and Wang Er, the fatty, was chatting with "Lang Mo". Behind "Lang Mo", two bodyguards stood with their hands on the hilts of their swords, staring at Jie Li vigilantly.