fourteen 1
Liu Qingye and Li Yunsheng came to the city of Naksu in silence. It had been half a month since the last attack on Naksu. It seemed that due to the combined power of Western artillery and earthquake, the walls of Naksu had collapsed. A part of the tower was still standing, and Liu Qingye saw the red headscarf flying out of the city gate.
"You're back!" Dan Ying rode up to greet him, smiling towards the bright setting sun.
You're back - just one sentence. Liu Qingye originally thought that Dan Ying would ask him why he left without saying goodbye. If Dan Ying asked, if Dan Ying blamed, if Dan Ying expressed his dissatisfaction with him and the people of the Lantern Festival, then Liu Qingye might have a reason to vent his sorrow. He felt that he really needed to vent, and then have a good cry. However, Dan Ying just asked with a smile, "You're back", as if Liu Qingye just went out for a walk, and did not experience life and death, let alone parting of life and death... He was speechless for a while, stunned for a long time, and saw Cheng Anren, Asu, Wutan, Zai and thirty or forty Uyghur guys following Dan Ying, so he asked without saying anything: "You...where are you going?"
Dan Ying said: "We have found the black spring water, do you want to come with us to take a look?"
Liu Qingye said, "Black spring water?" He vaguely remembered everyone's excitement when they mentioned "the grassland is shining", but now, he was not happy at all.
"Yes, it's in the Iberger Valley in the west." Dan Ying said.
As they were talking, Li Yunsheng also walked to the foot of the city and greeted Dan Ying. His eyes stayed on Dan Ying's face for a short moment, and then he smiled and said, "Miss Dan Ying, you are indeed heroic and brave, a heroine of the grassland."
Dan Ying laughed and said, "No, when it comes to using troops to fight, you are much better, Mr. Li. Whenever Fu Cha Tao talks about battle formations and offensive tactics, he always mentions you! Dan Ying really admires you."
Li Yunsheng spoke modestly, his tone not like he was meeting the daughter of his former lover, and he simply asked, "Where are you all going? Where is my young master?"
Dan Ying briefly told the story of finding the "Black Spring Water" and said, "Fu Cha Tao is in the big house inside, go find him yourself!"
Li Yunsheng clasped his fists and rode into the city. Liu Qingye suddenly trembled, and an impulse made him clench his fists - Fu Chatao was in the city, and the son of the enemy who killed his master was in the city... But the happy Uyghurs behind him had surrounded him and asked him about his life. Dan Ying also gently stretched out his hand from his horse and pulled him, saying: "You should go to the Iberger Valley with us, and I will tell you why later!"
Liu Qingye was stunned for a moment, and Cheng Anren slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Let's go! Hehe, listen to Danying girl, it's right!" Wutan, Asu, Zai and others behind him also smiled and said, " Go, go." After just a moment of hesitation, Liu Qingye was surrounded by the crowd and turned out of the city gate.
This group of happy Uyghurs walked slowly towards the sunset, talking to Liu Qingye about the process of conquering Naksu. It turned out that the walls of Naksu collapsed after the artillery attack that day. However, when everyone was about to attack the city, they found that the Junggars had built an inner wall in the wall of Naksu. The outer wall was riddled with holes, but the inner wall was intact. Everyone had to bombard it for two days in a row. Unexpectedly, the inner wall was twice as thick as the outer wall, and it was unconquerable after a long attack. But God bless, on the third night, an earthquake occurred, and several earthquakes occurred in succession, and the inner wall collapsed. The Uyghur warriors and the Qing army easily broke into the city of Naksu, captured thousands of Junggar soldiers, seized tens of thousands of stones of food and grass, and won a great victory.
Cheng Anren couldn't change his bad habit of cursing, and said, "Damn it, I broke into the home of the Junggar leader and found him trembling with fear!" He then imitated a frightened expression, "He said: 'Grandpa, spare my life! Grandpa, spare my life!' I said: 'Spare your grandma, who is your grandpa?' Haha, I wanted to chop him to death with a knife, but who knew that the girl Danying ran in and said she wanted to keep him for questioning."
Everyone laughed and said, "You talk about his grandmother all the time, so of course he thinks you are his grandfather!" These Uyghurs have been living with Cheng Anren for a long time and have become familiar with his temper and even learned his catchphrases.
Cheng Anren said, "Damn it, I won't be the Tartar's grandfather! I won't do it even if I die!"
Everyone burst into laughter, and the joy of victory was on everyone's face. This made Liu Qingye feel sad: Master will never see this Gobi Desert, this grassland, this victory! This is all caused by the treacherous Fu Cha Kang! And his son, Fu Cha Tao, is in the city!
But everyone continued to follow their topic. Someone picked on Cheng Anren and said, "Hey, you used to call your friends from the Qing Dynasty 'Tartars', but that day the young man from the Qing Dynasty called you uncle, and you were very happy..."
"Ah, this..." Cheng Anren scratched his head, unable to answer for a moment, and said perfunctorily, "Calling you uncle is different from calling you grandpa. If I call you uncle, I am not a Tartar. If I call you grandpa, then I become a Tartar!"
Everyone laughed and said, "What's wrong with the Tartars? Friends from the Qing Dynasty are so great!" One said, "Help us dig wells to find water!" Another said, "Teach us how to use Western cannons - so impressive!" Another said, "They will continue to help us fight the Junggar bandits!" Even Asu said, "Yes, this time the black spring water was discovered by Fu Chatao and Miss Mingxin when they were out riding horses!"
"Fu Chatao and Li Mingxin?" Liu Qingye was slightly stunned. "They both came out to ride horses together?"
Dan Ying smiled and said, "What's wrong? You didn't expect it, did you?" She kept the topic secret while speaking, with the innocence of the former "Miss Dan Ying": "Fu Cha Tao and Sister Ming Xin are fine now. Sister Ming Xin's injury was taken care of by Fu Cha Tao, and he chats with Sister Ming Xin every day. Fu Cha Tao speaks Chinese well, and he has a lot of funny things to say, which often makes Sister Ming Xin laugh... But the most amazing thing is that he can make a lot of sense and tell Sister Ming Xin not to be mean to her father... Sister Ming Xin is about to recognize Mr. Li as his daughter, and she is shy. She must be embarrassed with outsiders around, so I just pulled you out." When she was talking excitedly, she suddenly saw Liu Qingye's face pale, biting his lips and trembling slightly, and said in surprise: "Liu Qingye...you...are you injured outside? Or are you very tired?"
Liu Qingye was in no mood to answer her. He just admired Fu Cha Tao for the name - Dan Ying admired Fu Cha Tao so much... He also admired Fu Cha Tao very much once, but now - hate him? He didn't know. He just wanted to turn his horse's head, rush into Naksu City, rush into Fu Cha Tao's room, draw his knife on him, and then he would know what to do next. Maybe question him, maybe stab him in the chest!
This impulse and determination made every muscle in his body tense. He held the reins and twisted them slightly, almost turning the horse's head.
At this time, the group had walked into a hilly area. After passing through the narrow path in the mountains, they saw the Iberger Valley. There were various flowers and trees, dense shrubs, and a dark green lake. The only drawback was that there was a fishy smell. Looking closely, there was a layer of black greasy stuff floating on the lake, which was extremely dirty. There were also several black fountains by the lake, flowing out puddles of sticky black liquid.
Cheng Anren covered his nose and yelled, "Damn it, there is treasure in this stinky place? There must be gold in the toilet!"
The others also covered their mouths and noses, complaining hummingly. Only the knowledgeable Kazakh father rode up from the end of the team, shouted happily, then jumped off his horse and threw himself on a puddle of oil by the lake. He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, and he murmured, "I finally found it! I finally found it!"
Because of the stench, everyone dared not get too close. Dan Ying took a few steps forward and asked, "Dad, is this the black spring water?"
The old man said, "That's it! That's it!" He casually broke off a branch from the side, dipped it in some "black spring water", and then lit it with a tinder. Sure enough, a ball of blue flame rose up. Everyone got excited, and they pinched their noses and broke off some branches to dip them in the black spring water to start the fire. For a moment, the Iberger Valley was like a midsummer night, full of fireflies.
Seeing Liu Qingye standing there in a daze, Dan Ying handed him a burning branch and said softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't notice that you were tired... I shouldn't have dragged you out..."
Her gentle words eased Liu Qingye's irritability a little. He sighed, took over the blue flame and lost himself in thought - the grassland was shining brightly, why did fate always play tricks on him like this?
"It's strange, this Ibergel wasn't like this before!" said a member of the Yugusa tribe. "I used to fish and bathe in this lake, but now it has become a black pond."
"What's the point of catching fish and taking a bath?" said a man next to him. "This black spring water can be used to light lamps, roast mutton, and fight the Dzungars. Let's fill a few hundred cans with this black spring water and use it as artillery shells. I think we can take down the Dzungar city of Nalati!"
The man from the Yugusa tribe said, "I didn't say that the black spring water is bad. I'm just wondering how Ibergel became like this in the blink of an eye!"
"Actually, it's not surprising." The Kazakh father stroked his goatee and said, "It was God who blessed us, so the Gobi Desert experienced an earthquake. Maybe the source of the black spring water was deep underground, and God used the earthquake to crack the rocks above, and the black spring water flowed out."
When Wutan translated this, everyone nodded in agreement and thanked the Almighty God. Some even said, "Whoever worships God will be blessed by Him. We Uyghurs and Kazakhs believe in God wholeheartedly, so God gave us the Black Spring Water and sent friends from the Qing Dynasty to help us!"
Cheng Anren didn't know what they were talking about, but he said cheerfully, "Although this black spring water stinks, it is a good thing. I will take some back to the pass and blow the Manchu Tartars to pieces!"
"Brother Cheng, what are you talking about?" The man from the Yugusa tribe said, "The people from the Qing Dynasty are all our good friends. They helped us conquer Naksu City and will help us attack Nalati City. Why do you want to bomb them?"
Cheng Anren said, "Oh - you are not a Han Chinese, so of course you don't know. The Manchu Tartars have occupied our land. They are not good people. We Han Chinese must drive them away."
As soon as he said this, the Uyghurs immediately exploded, and all of them were opposed. Some said: "Friends of the Qing Dynasty are all good people!" Some said: "At least Fu Chatao and his men are good people. They are brothers!" Others said: "In fact, I think Han people are not good people - except for Brother Cheng, Liu Qingye and Fu Chatao's teacher Mr. Li, none of the Han people are brothers!"
Liu Qingye was filled with resentment, and suddenly he asked in a hoarse voice, "What did you say?"
The man was stunned and said, "What did I say? In Jiamuta Valley, those Han people ran away on their own, causing the death of many of our brothers? We almost couldn't even take Naksu City. How can they call us brothers? Humph! They still say 'Han and Uyghur are brothers' every day."
"What do you know!" Liu Qingye roared - this man knows nothing, understands nothing! He doesn't know the tragedy of Cao Mengsheng and his party in Shanshan, the sacrifices they made for their homeland, and Yan Tiebi's repeated "life is in the world" - of course he doesn't understand, even Liu Qingye doesn't understand how much sigh and bitterness this sentence "life is in the world" contains.
The Uighur was stunned by his reaction, but then he said, "How could I not know? You are determined to oppose your friends in the Qing Dynasty - I won't agree..." He was about to continue, but was stopped by Dan Ying:
"Shut up! Our friends from the Qing dynasty have helped us fight the war, and our Han brothers have also helped us fight the war. They are all our friends. No one is allowed to speak ill of them. Those who sow discord will be punished by military law!"
The Uighur stuck out his tongue, of course obeying the leader's words, but he was not convinced in his heart. And how could Liu Qingye be convinced by this judgment? The sentence "all our friends" does not mean "Han people and Manchu Tartars", "him and Fu Chakang and his son"? No, it can't be like this! It can't be like this! He shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to break through his chest.
"Everyone, stop gossiping! Fill up the jars you brought!" Dan Ying ordered, turning around and looking at Liu Qingye: "I'm sorry, they are all very concerned about the last attack on Naksu City... But I want to tell you, I know that Master and Uncle Wang have their own dreams, they want to restore their country - just like us Uyghurs want to drive away the Junggar invaders. Everyone is for their own dreams... They are not wrong, I don't hate them."
Liu Qingye was stunned and felt his eyes blurring.
Dan Ying gently held his hand, looked up at him, and said: "I know that your parents were killed by the Manchus, and you hate the Manchus...but...but our friends in the Qing Dynasty help us Uyghurs...In order to drive out the Dzungar bandits, we must form an alliance with the Qing Dynasty..."
"Alliance?" Liu Qingye felt as if someone had hit him hard on the back of the head.
"Yes, we will form an alliance." Dan Ying said, "This is for the grassland, for everyone. For our dream. I hope you don't hate me."
"Resentment..." Liu Qingye repeated word by word, his voice becoming hoarse and like crying and laughing. Resentment? Does he want to resent? Resent Dan Ying? Of course not, she was his mirage when he was 18 years old, she was his promise to his dead best friend. Dan Ying's dream was also Liu Qingye's dream? Such a bloody battle was to realize this dream. However, Dan Ying was going to form an alliance with Fu Cha Tao, that is, to form an alliance with Fu Cha Kang's army, and to form an alliance with Liu Qingye's enemy - how could it be like this? Why should it be like this?
Waves of dizziness attacked him, his steps were shaky, and he almost fell.
"Liu Qingye..." Dan Ying quickly supported him, "You... who are you..."
Liu Qingye suddenly shook off Dan Ying's hand and shouted sternly: "Resentment... yes... I don't want to resent... but I resent it! I resent it!" After that, he turned around, jumped onto the Black General, and flew away.
The red eagle drove the rouge horse to chase after him - it seemed as if they were chasing each other on the grassland in the past, but now, they were not in the mood for that.
"Liu Qingye, what... are you doing this for?" Dan Ying fought to keep pace with him, "Is it because... Master doesn't agree... I know he doesn't agree... but I have no choice..."
Liu Qingye gritted his teeth and galloped away on his horse.
"Liu Qingye...what happened?"
"Master... There is no master anymore!" Liu Qingye hissed, "Master Fu Chatao's father killed me! Aunt Wu is also dead!"
The red eagle did not catch up. Liu Qingye did not know where he had been running. He had been through grassland, Gobi Desert, desert, grassland again. He did not know how far he had gone. When he returned to Naksu City in a daze, it was already nightfall. He let the hatred in his heart guide him, like a beast seeking blood, and he rushed into the city at full speed, and rushed straight to the room where Fu Chatao took care of military affairs.
The door of the room was open. Under the light, Fu Cha Tao could be seen standing dejectedly, as if his soul had left his body. Not far away from him were Li Mingxin and Dan Ying, one holding two swords and the other wielding a golden whip. They were fighting at a critical juncture. Li Yunsheng stood woodenly in the corner of the room. From Liu Qingye's position, he could not see his expression clearly, but could vaguely make out the scar on his face.
Liu Qingye jumped off his horse and rushed into the room. He saw Li Mingxin with her hair loose and dressed in white, dancing with two swords in her hands without any mistakes, all of which were offensive moves, and she shouted in a hoarse voice: "Fu Chatao, I must make you pay with your life! You have deceived me with sweet words!"
Dan Ying's martial arts skills were not as good as Li Mingxin's to begin with, and she was in a state of panic when she encountered such a desperate and unsystematic fighting style. She was careful not to be hit by the two knives, while trying to take the knives away, and she advised: "Sister Mingxin, calm down first! Fu Chatao is not your enemy!"
Li Mingxin twisted his body to avoid Dan Ying's whip and sneered, "Isn't he? Since ancient times, the son pays for the father's debt. I will kill him first and then kill the old thief Fu Cha!" As he spoke, he stabbed Dan Ying three times, forcing Dan Ying to jump and retreat. Li Mingxin took advantage of this opportunity to chop Fu Cha Tao's throat with his left hand, and stabbed Fu Cha Tao's heart with his right hand.
Her two moves were very powerful and could have succeeded in one strike, but Dan Ying, in desperation, swung a whip at her head, and as she blinked, he twisted his wrist and whipped the scimitar in her left hand, and continued to fall, hitting the knife in her right hand with the whip, making her attack in vain.
