frightfiction Chapter 253 Arrival at the Border Town
Chapter 253 Arrival at the Border Town
Lin Wantang stood in front of Qingshuang's grave by the grove.
"Shuang'er, I'm sorry I hurt you. You stay here for a while, and I'll come back to take you when I get home. Don't worry, I will definitely avenge you. Xu Jing, one day I will make her pay for what she did."
Lin Wantang wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and gathered the large cloak left by Prince Su on her body.
Her heart had never been so resolute and clear as it was at that moment. She turned to the two guards of Prince Su and said:
"Now, as the quasi-Princess Su, I order you to take me north to catch up with Prince Su's troops."
"But His Highness has ordered us two to escort the young lady back to Shengjing." The guard was very embarrassed.
Lin Wantang said solemnly:
"I'm so concerned about His Highness's safety that I'd leave home to be with him. Now that he's right in front of me, how could I go back so easily? You can't bear to see us two separated, missing each other, right?"
"This……"
"What the hell! Let's set off now. If we walk faster, we can catch up. If we're slow, we might run into something on the way, which would be really dangerous."
Lin Wantang didn't give the two of them any chance to hesitate. He got into the carriage and slapped the horse's butt. The carriage started to rush forward.
……
A cold wave swept across the north.
Though spring had arrived, the landscape was bleak. A heavy snow had covered the scars of war, but even so, along the way, one could still see the charred remains of buildings. Packs of stray dogs roamed the roadside, occasionally rummaging through the snow.
It's obvious what they are looking for.
Starving wild dogs will eat anything, especially corpses. When they find a corpse, they will dig from the softest part until they have hollowed out the entire body.
Song Ci, riding a horse, walked across the vast land.
Looking around, there was no living creature between heaven and earth except for the group of wandering wild dogs.
It has been more than a month since I left Shengjing City.
She traveled day and night without stopping for a moment. After leaving Guazhou, she deliberately avoided the main roads and took the secluded paths, as Liangzhou and Ganzhou to the north had already been occupied by Beimang. She calculated her pace and should have bypassed Liangzhou. If nothing unexpected happened, she would reach the border town before dawn.
She stopped by the roadside and ate a few bites of the hard, tooth-breaking rations. She didn't dare start a fire, fearing the patrolling Beimang people would discover her. The dry rations were too hard to swallow, so she grabbed a handful of nearby snow and stuffed it into her mouth, waiting for it to melt before swallowing it along with the rations.
She found a place sheltered from the wind, leaned against the horse and took a short nap, then she set out again in the wind and snow.
After walking for another half the night, when a ray of light appeared between the sky and the earth, a dilapidated city wall gradually appeared in sight.
The city wall stretched out to the horizon, pitted here and there in the snowy wind, the marks left by the catapults that pounded the walls during the Beimang siege. There were also tiny particles of something so densely packed that it was hard to tell what they were.
It was not until the first ray of sunlight shone on the top of the city wall that Song Ci could see clearly.
Countless corpses were hung densely on the top of the city wall, spreading to both sides along the broken city wall. On one of the broken flagpoles, there was a single corpse, swaying in the wind and snow, like a tattered flag, telling people where this place used to be.
A group of vultures circled and screamed above the city wall, swooping down from time to time to peck at the corpses.
Song Ci's legs went weak and he fell to the ground.
Border town...we're here.
……
"Sir, we found fresh horse manure up ahead. Judging by the hoof prints, they're definitely from the Su Mansion."
The guard rode back and reported to Su Zhe on horseback.
After pursuing her for half a month, Su Zhe looked haggard, his cheeks cracked by the wind and snow, his lips already cracked, and sparkling icicles clung to his eyebrows and eyelashes.
He had been chasing Song Ci day and night for the past half month. He had found traces of Song Ci when he was in Guazhou, but after leaving Guazhou, Song Ci disappeared like a drop of water in the ocean.
But he firmly believed that Song Ci's destination was the border town, and this would not change.
The group sneaked north and finally caught up with them ten miles outside the border town.
Hearing this, Su Zhe's tired body perked up.
"Have you seen anyone?"
"No. Judging from the direction of the horses' hooves, they should be heading into the city."
Su Zhe frowned.
Along the way, they have basically understood the situation in the north.
According to the court's war report, the people of Beimang are now attacking Guazhou, and all the land north of Guazhou has been taken over by Beimang.
After leaving Guazhou, they disguised themselves as nomadic people from Beimang. As they passed the borders of Liangzhou and Ganzhou, they found no trace of war. The Beimang people were still stationed outside the city, maintaining a non-aggression policy with the Liangzhou and Ganzhou defenders.
Based on everything they saw and heard, Su Zhe and his colleagues speculated that Liangzhou and Ganzhou were not defeated in the war, but had surrendered due to treason.
In this way, it becomes clear.
Why did the people of Beimang easily cross the borders of Liangzhou and Ganzhou and directly march to the city of Guazhou?
Thinking that Liangzhou garrison commander Zhao Dayong and Ganzhou garrison commander Wu Yong had once served under Prince Jing, Su Zhe felt as if he had grasped something, but he did not understand the deep meaning behind it.
However, the situation in the North was much more complicated than they imagined.
"Let's go into the city."
Su Zhe pushed the shepherd's felt hat on his head and tied his lambswool robe tightly.
“Tut! Tut!”
He waved the whip in his hand and drove a herd of cattle and sheep towards the city with his men.
Among the ten people sent by Pei Heng, some were fluent in Beimang language. They mumbled something to the Beimang soldiers at the city gate and stuffed a package into their mouths, and their team was allowed to pass.
The city was littered with broken walls and ruins, the charred remains of a former fire. A group of Beimang soldiers, wielding whips, drove a group of Daqi people to clean up and rebuild.
The Daqi people were shackled on their feet, their skin was dark and cracked, and they were wearing clothes that were torn into strips. They stood barefoot in the mud, their eyes numb and their movements mechanical. If their hands moved a little slower, the thick whip would fall on them, accompanied by a burst of muttered curses.
After the Beimang soldiers finished cursing, they immediately burst into laughter.
The subordinate who understood Beimang language came closer and said to Su Zhe:
"They said that these Daqi people were all four-legged sheep, and that being able to survive and help them rebuild the city was a great blessing. If they didn't work hard, they would be hung at the city gate to feed the hawks."
Everyone in the team frowned when they heard this and clenched their fists under their sleeves.
"Beimang dog!"
Su Zhe turned around and glanced at them.
Now is not the time to act on impulse. We must find Song Ci quickly and leave here, and tell His Royal Highness Prince Su the true situation in the northern border as soon as possible so that they can prepare in advance.
"Let's go find a place to wait until dark."