The horse fell at the entrance of Black Wind Valley.
This northern war horse captured from Night Scouts stronghold, carrying Qin Tiexin and Edgeless, chased from north to south, then turned back from south to north, and finally It reached its limit. Its front hooves gave way and its whole body leaned forward. Qin Tiexin hurriedly turned over and dismounted. The horse fell on its side, foaming from its mouth and nose, its chest heaved violently, and its eyes lost all energy.
Qin Tiexin squatted down and touched the horse's neck. The fur was sticky with sweat and blood, and the tentacles were cold. He took off the saddle, took out a piece of military rations from his arms - as hard as Shitou, broke it into pieces and put it to the horse's mouth. The horse didn't eat, it just panted.
"Just rest." Qin Tiexin whispered.
He stood up and looked around. There were weapons and baggage scattered on the snow, which were abandoned by the Northern Di people when they fled. There was a baggage truck not far away, with two wheels deeply sunk in the snow, and the shaft of the truck was crooked. The car was empty, with only a few broken ropes floating in the wind.
Qin Tiexin walked over and tried the shaft. It was made of hard wood and was very heavy. This kind of cart usually required at least three or four soldiers to pull it, and when it was fully loaded, horses were needed. He put Edgeless on the cart, and the blade of the blade made a squeak on the cart board. Then he bent down, held the shaft with both hands, and kicked the ground with his legs -
The muscles are tense and veins bulge on the arms.
The car is moving.
The wheels ran over the snow, leaving two deep tracks. Qin Tiexin pulled slowly but steadily. Every step was firm, and the snow crunched under his feet. He arched his back, like an old cow plowing the fields, and the white breath he breathed formed a ball in front of him and dispersed in the wind.
The first corpse is Li Zhenwei.
He fell on the snowy slope, facing north, with his eyes open and his expression calm. His chest was bruised with blood from Helian Zheng's mace. Qin Tiexin put down the car and walked to Li Zhenwei. He squatted down and looked at it for a long time before reaching out and closing the commander's eyes. When his fingers touched his eyelids, they were cold.
Then he saw the knife.
Li Zhenwei's saber was broken into two pieces, half of which was inserted into Helian Zheng's body, and the other half fell in the snow three steps away. Qin Tiexin walked over and picked up the broken knife. The blade of the knife was cut by Repair himself, and the seam mark was still there, but this time it was broken further forward - almost completely at the root.
He held the handle of the knife and closed his eyes.
Once upon a time, there was "thought" in this knife. It was Li Zhenwei's obsession to avenge his brother, and it was the unwillingness tempered by the wind and snow in the border for twenty years. Qin Tiexin could feel it, just like a craftsman can feel the temperature of iron.
But now, it's empty.
The knife is still the same knife, forged from fine steel, and the blade is still Sharpness. But the contents inside are scattered, like a wisp of smoke, which disappears when the wind blows. Qin Tiexin opened his eyes and looked at himself reflected on the blade - a young but tired face with sunken eyes.
The great revenge was avenged, and the wish was fulfilled.
Therefore, the thoughts are dispersed.
Qin Tiexin put the two cut-off knives together, wrapped them with cloth strips, and placed them next to Li Zhenwei. Then he bent down, put his arms through the commander's armpits and knees, and lifted them hard--
Very heavy.
Li Zhenwei was burly, with armor and frozen blood, like a piece of iron. Qin Tiexin gritted his teeth, moved step by step to the car, and gently placed the body on the car board. He took off his outer robe - the Northern Army standard cotton jacket, which had been torn in several places - and covered Li Zhenwei's body.
"Commander, let's go home."
The car continues north.
At the second place, he found Tu Dazhu.
The big man fell in the snow nest, with half of his body buried in the snow. The cloth bandaged around his left wrist had been completely soaked with blood and frozen into a hard lump. His face was as white as paper, his lips were purple, but his chest was still rising and falling weakly.
"Dazhu!" Qin Tiexin rushed over, knelt in the snow, and reached out to feel his breath.
Aura. Very weak, but still there.
Qin Tiexin hurriedly removed the snow from Tu Dazhu's body and checked the wound. The bleeding at the broken wrist had stopped, but the blood loss was too much and the cold weather made the person unconscious. He picked up Tu Dazhu and put him in the car, next to Li Zhenwei.
He dug out a piece of felt that someone had discarded from the car - it was probably spread on the car by someone from Northern Di. It was dirty and torn, but it could still block the wind - and covered the two of them.
The car moved again.
The third place is the body of Yelü Yun.
Headless. The body fell in the snow, and the blood at the broken neck froze into red ice crystals. Not far away, the head was half-buried in the snow, with its eyes still open and the pupils dilated.
Qin Tiexin took a look and didn't stop. He pulled the car around and the wheels ran over the blood, leaving two red marks.
Then he found Lin Feng's sword.
Just ten steps away from Yelü Yun's body, it was stuck diagonally in the snow. One-third of the sword was submerged in the snow, and the exposed part was stained with blood, but the hilt was very clean - Lin Feng always wiped the hilt very clean, saying that the hand holding the sword should not slip.
Qin Tiexin drew his sword and looked around.
There were traces of fighting, bloodstains, and dragging marks on the snow - but no one. There was no body of Lin Feng, and no living person. He looked north and then south, and there was nothing in the vast snowfield except the wind.
"Lin Feng..." He shouted in a low voice.
The wind blew the sound away.
Qin Tiexin stood for a long time holding the sword. Finally, he put the sword on the car next to Li Zhenwei's broken knife. Then he pulled up the car and continued southward.
Tu Dazhu woke up when passing by the first Night Scouts station.
He snorted, very softly, but Qin Tiexin heard it. The car stopped, Qin Tiexin turned around, and saw Tu Dazhu struggling to sit up, but when he pushed up with his left hand, it was empty, and he fell back down.
"Don't move." Qin Tiexin said.
He walked to the car and took out the water bag from his pocket - there was still the last bit of water in it, which was already half frozen. He unscrewed the cap and brought it to Tu Dazhu's mouth. Tu Dazhu took two sips, choked and coughed, and blood foam overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
"Tiexin..." Tu Dazhu's voice was hoarse, "Where are the others?"
Qin Tiexin said nothing. He pointed to the car.
Tu Dazhu turned his head and saw Li Zhenwei. He stared at it for a long time, then slowly turned back and closed his eyes. After a while, he opened it again and asked, "Where is Lin Feng?"
"Not found." Qin Tiexin said, "Only the sword."
Tu Dazhu was silent. He tried to push himself up with his right hand, and this time he succeeded. He sat in the car and looked at Qin Tiexin who was pulling the car. The big man was only wearing a single coat. The muscles on his back were tense due to exertion. Sweat mixed with snow and flowed down the ridge.
"I'll hold you for a while." Tu Dazhu said.
"How can you pull me with only one hand?" Qin Tiexin didn't even look back.
"I still have my right hand."
"Sit tight."
The car continued to drive. Tu Dazhu didn't insist anymore. He just sat in the car and pressed the robe covering Li Zhenwei's body tightly with his remaining right hand, as if he was afraid that the wind would blow it away.
At the next stop, they found Shi Meng.
Instructor Team A was leaning against the door of the Night Scouts station, as if he was afraid that the people inside would rush out, so Qin Tiexin used a lot of effort to push it open. He died miserably - five arrows were inserted into his body, two in the chest, two in the shoulder, and one in the throat.
Qin Tiexin Turn him over.
Shi Meng's eyes were open, his pupils had dilated, but there was no pain on his face, only an almost ferocious ferocity. His mouth was grinning, as if he was roaring. There was a huge wound on his chest, stretching diagonally from the collarbone to the ribs, and the bones were deeply visible. But the fatal thing was the arrow in the throat...
Qin Tiexin stretched out his hand and tried to close his eyes, but after trying twice, his eyelids could not be closed. He seemed to be dead and still staring, looking at the people inside to prevent them from rushing out.
The two Night Scouts sharpshooters inside have already lost their heads.
Finally Qin Tiexin gave up. He carried Shi Meng into the car and placed him next to Li Zhenwei. The two veterans, who were superiors and subordinates during their lifetime, lay side by side after death.
Then there is Wang Meng.
He was found in two places - his body behind the station door, and his head in a snow pit ten steps away. His face was still frozen with the expression of the last moment: his eyes were wide open and his mouth was open, as if he was shouting something.
Qin Tiexin put his head and body together, wrapped them in cloth, and carried him into the car.
Zhou Laowu fell in the room they had rushed into before, completely attracting the attention of the enemy archers. His throat was penetrated, and blood poured out from the front and rear holes, freezing into two red icicles. He should have died quickly and did not suffer much.
Zhang Shan is behind a big piece of Shitou. The fatal knife was stabbed into the abdomen, and the intestines flowed out from inside. He was still covering it with his hands.
There are more and more bodies in the car.
Qin Tiexin pulled slower and slower. Every time the wheel turned, it seemed as if it was sinking into the ground. But he didn't stop, moving forward step by step.
As they approached the first station, they met Zhao Ziliang.
He was dragging one leg and using a branch as a crutch, limping southward. He heard the sound of the car, turned around, and then froze.
"Tiexin...Dazhu..." Zhao Ziliang's voice was trembling.
He staggered over and saw the bodies in the car. He looked at them one by one: Li Zhenwei, Shi Meng, Wang Meng, Zhou Laowu, Zhang Shan... Every time he looked at one, the blood on his face faded.
Finally, he held on to the shaft of the car, his legs went weak, and he knelt in the snow.
"All... are all dead?" he asked, his voice so soft as if he was afraid of waking him up.
Qin Tiexin nodded.
Zhao Ziliang stared at the car board for a long time. Then he struggled to stand up, threw away his crutches, and walked to the other side of the car shaft. "I'll help you pull it."
"Your leg is hurt."
"You can still move."
Qin Tiexin didn't refuse anymore. He gave up half of the car's shaft, and Zhao Ziliang supported it with his shoulders, and the two of them exerted force together. Tu Dazhu sat on the car, holding on to the edge of the car panel with his right hand, as if he could contribute some strength.
The car started moving again.
Three people, a car, five bodies, a broken knife, and a lone sword.
The snow fell heavier and heavier. The snowflakes fell on Qin Tiexin's naked back, and were instantly melted by body temperature, turned into water, and then turned into ice. He gritted his teeth, and the veins on his neck popped out, and the ground shook with every step he took.
"Team A--" He suddenly roared, his voice hoarse, but Penetration Fengxue, "Go home--!"
Tu Dazhu and Zhao Ziliang shouted, "Go home--!"
The sound echoed in the valley, startling a few jackdaws on the dead trees in the distance.
They refused the help of the twenty elite cavalry soldiers. When the cavalry team caught up and wanted to take over the task of pulling the cart, Qin Tiexin just shook his head. "We will do it ourselves."
The captain who led the team looked at the bodies in the car, then at the three scarred men with stubborn eyes, and finally gave up. The cavalrymen were scattered on both sides, escorting them silently.
The car finally got on the road.
On both sides of the road, the traces of war are shocking.
There were Northern Army soldiers celebrating their victory - they were showing off their military exploits and captures. Some killed three, and some captured five. Some of them saw Qin Tiexin pulling the cart, and their laughter stopped, but soon continued.
There were dozens of captured Northern Di people, strung together with ropes, and escorted by soldiers toward Xinyang Pass. Most of them had their heads lowered, their eyes numb. Some were injured, dragging them step by step, leaving traces of blood on the snow.
There was a corpse collection team, a team composed of civilian husbands and auxiliary soldiers. They were carrying corpses one by one on wooden boards and throwing them into the big pit on the roadside. The corpses included Northern Di and Great Xuan. They were mixed together and it was impossible to tell who was who. The pit was almost full, and someone was spreading lime.
There were affected people - a few old men and children wearing tattered cotton-padded jackets, standing in the distance, watching all this blankly. They might be from nearby villages. When the war came, the village was destroyed, and their family members died, leaving them alone.
won.
You should be happy, right?
Qin Tiexin looked at all this, and his heart felt like a huge stone was weighing down on him. It was so heavy that he couldn't breathe. He thought of Li Zhenwei saying "it's worth it", he thought of Shi Meng saying "glory", and he thought of Wang Meng saying "I entered Team A, it's worth it".
But these deaths, these injuries, these broken families...
Is it worth it?
He didn't know. He only knew that he had to bring these brothers home.
As we approached the north gate of Xinyang Pass, a figure rushed out of the snow and wind.
It's Zhao Ling.
He ran so fast that he almost fell down. When he rushed to the car, he stopped, staring directly at the bodies in the car, his lips were trembling, and he could not say a word.
Then he knelt down in the snow with a plop.
"General Li...Instructor Shi... Brother Wang..." he called over one by one, his voice broken, "It's all my fault... if I catch up... if I..."
He cried. He didn't sob quietly, but cried loudly, like a child. His shoulders shook violently, his head rested on the snow, and his fists hit the frozen soil.
Qin Tiexin put down the carriage, walked over, and pulled him up.
Zhao Ling's face was full of tears, mixed with snow, and he was in a state of embarrassment. He grabbed Qin Tiexin's arm, and his nails almost dug into the flesh. "Tiexin... I... I... I thought... I thought... it was all my fault... but they... they are all dead... all my fault!!"
"I don't blame you." Qin Tiexin said with a steady voice, "The general and the coach don't blame you. You are good."
"But I--"
"They died gloriously." Qin Tiexin interrupted him and looked into his eyes, "Now, come with us and send them home."
Zhao Ling stared at Qin Tiexin blankly for a long time, and finally nodded. He wiped his face, walked to the shaft of the car, stood side by side with Qin Tiexin and Zhao Ziliang, and held the rough wooden shaft with both hands.
Four people, one car.
Step by step, step into Xinyang Pass.
It's very quiet inside the pass.
There were no cheers, no gongs and drums. There was only dead silence, and the occasional suppressed cry. The soldiers stood on the roadside, looking at the car, looking at the familiar but now cold faces in the car, and silently took off their helmets.
Qin Tiexin pulled the car to the training camp of Team A.
A mourning hall has been set up there. White flags were fluttering in the wind, incense was burning in the incense burner, and the smoke was pointing straight upward and then blown away by the wind. Qin Tiexin and three other people carried the bodies down one by one and placed them on the wooden bed covered with white cloth.
There is also the body of Chen San inside.
He personally sorted out the remains of each Pao Ze.
We brought hot water - it was actually melted snow, so it was cold - and wiped the blood on their faces with cloth towels. Combed their messed up hair neatly, gently closed their open eyes, and slowly closed their open mouths. Put the broken limbs together and sewed them together with needles and threads - the stitches were rough, but they were as neat as possible.
Shi Meng still couldn't close his eyes. Qin Tiexin tried three times and finally gave up. He found a piece of white cloth and covered Shi Meng's face.
After doing this, it was already dark.
The body cannot be kept for a long time, nor can it be transported to a distant hometown - it will rot on the way. It can only be cremated.
In the open space outside the camp, a firewood pile had been set up. It was very simple, just wood and hay. Qin Tiexin and others carried the bodies up one by one and lined them up in a row.
Pass the torch.
Qin Tiexin took it and looked at the beating Flame for a long time. Then he stepped forward and lit the pyre.
The fire burst into flames with a "boom".
The flames soared into the sky, illuminating every face around them. Qin Tiexin stood at the front, watching Flame devouring those familiar figures, watching the skin and flesh curl up and carbonize in the fire, watching the bones gradually exposed, and finally turned into ashes.
There was no expression on his face. He just looked.
The fire kept burning until late at night. Finally, the pyre collapsed, leaving only a pile of embers and scattered sparks. Qin Tiexin and others used wooden sticks to push away the ashes, picked out the ashes, and put them into coarse pottery jars.
The jars are very ordinary, just the jars used to hold pickles in the military camp. They have been cleaned. Each jar contains a person, and the names are written on the jar in charcoal: Li Zhenwei, Shi Meng, Wang Meng, Zhou Laowu, Zhang Shan, Chen San.
As for Lin Feng, Qin Tiexin only released his sword.
A total of six jars were placed in a row in the open space.
Qin Tiexin Kneel down.
Tu Dazhu knelt down - he supported the ground with his right hand, and it was very difficult for him to kneel down.
Zhao Ziliang knelt down - the injury on his leg made his face twitch, but he tried his best to hold it back.
Zhao Ling Kneel down.
There was another person - Li Shun. He was rescued by Zhao Ling. He was hit by an arrow in his right shoulder, and the arrow was poisonous. He almost died, but he was lucky and survived. He was helped over and knelt down.
Five people kowtowed three times to six jars.
First, thank you for your support.
The second head is about what happened after Nuo's death.
The third head, vowing to meet again in the next life.
After kowtowing, Qin Tiexin stood up, looked at the jars, and said, "Send them home."
Others nodded.
The snow is still falling. The lights of Xinyang Pass are clearly extinguished in the distance. This battle is won, and Northern Frontier will be able to live in peace for at least twenty years. Yelü Hongshan is captured, and Northern Di's vitality is severely damaged, and he is unable to invade south in a short time.
But what happens after you win?
Qin Tiexin doesn't know. He only knows that he has to send these jars back to where they belong.
As for the future...
He glanced at his blood-stained and calloused hands, and then glanced at the north - that was the direction of Black Wind Valley, the direction where Lin Feng disappeared.