met free Chapter 237 Letter
Chapter 237 Letter
Zhou Weide picked up a piece of charcoal from the ground and wrote a word from "one" to "nine" on each of the nine ponies. He glared and said, "Can you tell them apart now?"
Wu Sheng said in a strange voice: "I said that among the ten of us, Brother De'er is the smartest. Are you still dissatisfied?"
Zhou Weide was neither angry nor not angry, so he let out a harsh "Pooh".
Everyone sat aside chatting and joking with each other, and looking at the ponies in front of them who were like naughty children, all the hardships and sadness of the past few days were swept away.
The north wind gradually becomes lighter, the heavy snow stops, and the cold winter is gradually passing.
Chu Xiaomu and his companions had initially thought of separating the military horses from the wild horses, and then taking the military horses back to the Nanding Army Camp. However, the vast snow covered the mountains and the long journey to the Nanding Army Camp was not something that the military horses could endure. In addition, some foals were born not long ago. Although many of them were born by wild horses, after getting familiar with Chu Xiaomu and his companions, they often followed them around and acted like a spoiled child. In addition, their appearances were very similar, and they were no different from military horses. If they had to return to the Nanding Army Camp, they would have to leave the foals born by wild horses in the wild horse herd. If these foals were abandoned by the wild horses, they would have a hard time surviving in the Beast Mountain. So everyone thought about going back after winter was over and spring came.
After finally getting through the winter, Zhou Weide, Wu Sheng and the others started clamoring to go back to the camp, saying that the time for herding horses had long passed and they should have gone back to the camp to rest for a while. Chu Xiaomu also had this plan, so he asked the two to go down the mountain first to explore and find a way down the mountain.
But the two of them kept silent after they came back and never mentioned going back to the camp again. When everyone asked, they found out that the snow at the foot of the mountain was several feet thick and it was impossible to walk.
After much deliberation, everyone decided to temporarily give up the idea of returning to camp and wait until the weather warmed up and the snow melted before making any plans.
After the weather warmed up a bit, there was no need to burn wildfires to keep the horses cool, so they put out the wildfires, saving them the trouble of making fires out of snow. The military horses and wild horses were trained to be very obedient, and they only needed to whistle a few times to know which direction to run, so everyone finally had some free time.
Everyone was happy that they didn't have to look after the horses, so they no longer had to worry about whether the snow at the foot of the mountain had melted or whether the horses and men could walk. Moreover, the rumors that there were many vicious beasts on the Beast Mountain seemed to be just rumors. So far, in addition to pheasants and rabbits, the larger wild animals were only wild boars and spotted deer, and there were no vicious beasts. Everyone had food and drink, and they were very relaxed and free, so they were not in a hurry to return to the camp.
The days of leisure are the easiest to pass, and in the blink of an eye, most of the mid-spring has passed. The wild grass and trees on the hillside that were burned by fire began to grow tender green buds. Everyone realized that they had been out for five months and it was time to return to the Nam Dinh camp. When we walked to the foot of the mountain, we saw that the snow had melted a lot and we could barely walk. We estimated that in another ten days or half a month, the snow would melt completely.
Everyone began to count the horses, various camping equipment, dry food and fodder, etc., in preparation for returning to the camp. They would set out as soon as the snow melted.
The sky was clear and the breeze was gentle, making it a sunny and comfortable day.
Chu Xiaomu and his companions played with the foals, such as Xiao Qisheng and Hongda, and watched the bright sun gradually rising. They breathed in the clear air between the mountains and could not help but let out a long howl. The howl was heard far away, and it echoed for a long time among the mountains.
Lingweidou suddenly pointed to the air and said, "Brother Xiaomu, what is that?"
Chu Xiaomu looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a black dot moving slowly in the air, almost level with the clouds. It was a high-flying bird.
Wu Sheng said: "What else could it be? The thing flying in the sky must be a bird, could it be a human or an animal?"
Chu Xiaomu said: "It must be an eagle to be able to fly that high."
Wu Sheng said disdainfully: "An eagle is also a bird. Am I wrong?"
Lingweidou said: "Brother Xiaosheng, you are right. What I find strange is why there are eagles on this beast mountain..."
Zhang Hou came over and said, "There are all kinds of things on the Beast Mountain. What's so strange about an eagle?"
Chu Xiaomu shook his head and said, "Douzi is right. We have been in the Beast Mountain for so many days, but we have never seen an eagle before. There are many eagles in the sky above the Green Plains, but they always fly in circles when hunting, not like this straight..."
As they were talking, the black dot was getting closer and closer to everyone, and it was obviously flying towards this place. From the silhouette, it was vaguely visible that it was a falcon.
When the eagle flew over the crowd, it dropped rapidly, flapping its wings and landing in front of them. It turned out to be a messenger eagle commonly seen in Bicheng.
Chu Xiaomu thought: "Could it be that the general or Zhou Zhongjun sent a message?" He looked closely at the eagle's leg and saw that there was indeed a small bamboo tube tied to it, so he stepped forward and took it down.
Everyone gathered around, wanting to see what was written in the letter. Lin Zhen said, "I guess General Zhou finally remembered us. He originally said that we would herd horses for two months, but now the time has passed. I'm afraid we will be beaten with a military stick when we return to the camp..."
Wu Sheng said disdainfully: "I don't think so. They may not care if we die. They may even think that it is better for these ten useless brats to die..."
Chu Xiaomu pulled out the stopper of the bamboo tube and carefully removed a thin piece of paper from the tube. Everyone held their breath, fearing that it might contain words of severe punishment. Su Mishun was so nervous that he dared not look, and covered his eyes with his palms, only daring to peek through his fingers.
Chu Xiaomu spread out the thin paper and saw only four simple words written on it: Danger, do not return. The handwriting was a bit sloppy, and it was obvious that the person who wrote the letter was in a hurry.
Everyone looked at each other, all puzzled. These four words were very simple, and all ten members of the herding team knew them and the meaning of each word. But when they were written on this thin piece of paper and delivered by a messenger eagle, they had no idea what they meant.
Chu Xiaomu's heart skipped a beat: "Could it be that something happened in the Nanding Army camp, or that some evil spirit invaded?" He took the messenger eagle in his hand and looked at it carefully, but he couldn't tell whether it came from Bicheng or the Nanding Army camp. He looked at the four small words on the letter and was even more confused.
Yingdan asked: "What do you think the letter means? Is it for us?"
Chu Xiaomu frowned and said, "I find it difficult to understand what you mean specifically. This messenger eagle has become much thinner due to hunger, and it is obvious that it has been searching for quite some time on the way. We turned from Cuilai Lake to Beast Mountain, probably because it took a long time to find us." The messenger eagles in Bicheng are trained to be extremely loyal and intelligent, and they are also able to endure hunger and hard work. After their masters send out orders, they generally will not return without completing their mission.