Time flies, three years have passed, and the time has reached November of the seventh year of the Tang calendar.

The first light snow of winter fell in the Hexi Corridor, and the river began to freeze, and herders in the cold northern regions moved south with their flocks.

The shores of Hutu Lake are also covered with light snow in early winter, the grasslands have turned white, and a thin layer of ice has formed on the surface of the lake.

Early in the morning, several children galloped towards the lake, they were Ying's three children, the eldest was a girl, named Xi, thirteen years old, and the second and third were twin brothers, one named Pu Shan, the other called Pu Yan, who had just turned eleven years old.

"There it is!" Joy refers to the big willow tree.

Guo Song's war horse was grazing leisurely under the big willow tree, a huge eagle eagle hovering on the lake, there were many large and small holes on the ice, the eagle eagle suddenly retracted its wings and fell, swept over the lake, its steely claws buckled a big fish weighing at least three catties.

The horses had bows and arrows and long swords, and a robe was attached to the saddle.

"Eldest sister, go and call him out!"

"Wait a minute, he'll come up."

The three of them waited for nearly a stick of incense by the lake boredly, only to hear 'Wow! A column of water rushed up, and a very tall young man rushed up from under the water, with a quiver on his back and a large bow in his hand.

"Brother Guo, don't go down!" Several children hurriedly shouted.

It was Guo Song who rushed out from under the water, he began to practice the last step of riding and archery last winter, practicing archery at the bottom of the lake, which was actually practicing the foot bow, because the horn bow was afraid of water, he could only use the herdsmen's single bow, and the killing range was only fifty steps.

There is a lot of resistance in the water, the water flow is complicated, and when he holds his breath, the muscles and blood of his body will change, which is of great benefit to him to master all kinds of subtle influences, and after a whole year of hard training, he can shoot an arrow through a swimming fish thirty paces away in the darkness of the water.

Guo Song wiped the water from his face and smiled: "I'm going south tomorrow, why don't you go back and pack your things?" ”

"The chief asked us to come, and a guest is looking for you."

Needless to say, it must have been Zhao Tengjiao, who was captured by Baiting, who came to find him, and his guests were no one else except Tang Jun.

Baiting Shou is located fifty miles to the east, south of Baiting Sea, there are usually five hundred garrisons, but in winter they will shrink to two hundred, the reason why Guo Song knows them is actually an accident.

Last spring, more than a dozen Tang soldiers came to the Black Mountain tribe to buy sheep, and accidentally found Guo Song who was practicing arrows, and they saw Guo Song holding a piece of 30 pounds of pig iron in each hand, and stood for an hour with a bow posture, which was simply a statue, and his arms were as steady as Mount Tai, not moving at all.

More than a dozen Tang soldiers ran back to report, and Zhao Tengjiao didn't believe it, so he ran to check it in person, and also witnessed Guo Song riding a horse galloping, shooting the magic arrow of incense fire a hundred steps away, which made him breathtaking, and persuaded Guo Song to join the army several times, but he rejected it, and Zhao Tengjiao finally died, but since then they have also made friends.

Guo Song let a few children go back first, he went ashore to dry his body with a cloth, put on a robe, he is seventeen years old this year, his body has been fully nourished by meat in the past three years, his height has grown to one meter eighty-five, tall and strong, his appearance has not changed much, but the contours of his face are more obvious, his eyes are deeper, and a lion's nose is very distinctive.

He planned to practice for a few more months, and then it was time to leave for Kongtong Mountain.

Guo Song whistled to the sky continuously, the sky echoed, Mengzi has lived a very nourishing life in the Hexi Corridor in the past three years, there are similar companions, snow-capped mountains and meadows, there are vast lakes, and there are herdsmen who respect it, and there is plenty of food, which makes Guo Song a little worried, and Mengzi is willing to go back to Kongtong Mountain with him.

Sometimes Mengzi would leave for a day or two and then come back, and Guo Song gradually got used to the brief separation.

And one person and one eagle are very tacit, and the fierce son can understand the meaning of Guo Song's various whistles, and he no longer flies down as soon as he whistles like when he was a child.

For example, just now, Guo Song whistled two times in a row, just to tell Mengzi that he was going back to the camp.

Guo Song turned over and got on his horse and urged the horse to run towards the camp, the iron sword on the saddle was still the thick iron sword that the master found a blacksmith to build, and the Tang Army had horizontal swords, but unfortunately they were too light and not suitable for him, so the master gave him this thick iron sword of more than 20 catties to take advantage of it and polish it sharp.

After a short time, Guo Song returned to the camp, during which time the herdsmen were all living together, everyone was busy packing up their tents and various belongings, it had already snowed for the first time, and it was too late to leave.

"Guo Song!"

It was Aunt Ying, the woman who was rescued by Guo Song three years ago, she was pregnant again and was about to give birth to the fourth child.

Guo Song walked forward quickly, "Aunt Ying, have you packed up your things?" ”

Yinggu's eyes were a little red, she knew that Guo Song was going back to Longyou, and she didn't know if there would be a chance to see her again after this farewell.

"Yinggu, you're crying again, didn't I say it? I will come again, in a year or two, I will come back in a year, I miss Brother Heiyan's barbecue very much. ”

Yinggu hurriedly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled: "I won't cry anymore, let me tell you, I put two bags of dried meat and milk wine in your big tent, and you still have a lot of tea bricks, so I won't give them to you." ”

Tea bricks are a big expense for herdsmen's families, Guo Song has been inseparable from drinking strong tea, last month Zhao Shou gave him twenty catties, enough for him to eat for a few months, in addition to the salt is not lacking, the tribe will send people to Qinghai Lake every year to carry salt, there is simply the world of salt.

Guo Song hurriedly said: "I'll just keep a few catties of tea bricks, and I'll take the rest of Yinggu away, otherwise it's a pity to throw it away." ”

"Oh well! I'll leave you five pounds, and I'll take the rest." ”

They are like a family, and there is not so much politeness.

Guo Song came to the chieftain's tent, opened the tent curtain, bowed his head and walked in.

The big tent was very warm, filled with a strong smell of milk tea, tea was being boiled in the tea hanging in the middle of the big tent, and a Tang army general was sitting next to the chief Pu Luoshan.

This person is Zhao Tengjiao, the envoy of the White Pavilion, about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, tall and burly, full of beard, and very bold personality, he was born in the capital Wang clan, and his ancestor is Zhao Gui, one of the eight pillars of Guanlong.

The Guanlong aristocracy has gradually declined, but his father Zhao Guanshan performed well in the Anshi Rebellion, coupled with his timely support for Li Longji's change to seize the door, he was named the general of the left prison guard, and the family has a revival appearance.

"Why is Brother Zhao here?"

Guo Song sat cross-legged in front of the fire and bowed to the chief.

Zhao Tengjiao said with a smile: "I don't admit that you are a fake Taoist priest, but you actually perform monk etiquette, quickly take off your Taoist robe and go to the army with me, and I will let you be a brigade commander." ”

The Tang Army has ten people and one fire, five fires are one team, two teams are one brigade, and the leader is the brigade commander, which is equivalent to a small company commander.

Guo Song pursed his lips and said: "I do the gassho salute because the Black Mountain tribe believes in Buddhism, and it has nothing to do with my own identity, and besides, you yourself are going to be transferred back to the capital, and you are digging a big pit for me here." ”

"Letting you join the army is actually digging a pit for you, I have nothing to say."

Zhao Tengjiao pointed at Guo Song, feeling a little hated in his heart, he didn't join the army with such good riding and archery skills, it was simply a tyrannical thing.

"I'm not actually here to look for you, I'm here to remind the chief to be careful when moving the pasture, the Shatuo people are a little nervous these months, there are signs of going south, don't encounter their forward sentinels."

Guo Song immediately thought of the horse bandit he encountered three years ago, which was clearly the outpost of the Shatuo people, and the Shatuo outpost has become more and more rampant in recent years, often attacking the Han and Qiang tribes.

"Brother Zhao, it's winter now, and the Shatuo people will go south in winter?"

"Generally not, but it's hard to say, they will bypass Zhangye City to attack the Tang army's supply line, and there was one incident in December last year, where thousands of stone of grain were burned."

"Then do you want the Tang Army to increase troops to Zhangye?"

"There may be an increase in troops, but it will be until next spring at the earliest, it is estimated that in another month, the Hexi Corridor will be closed by heavy snow, Guo Song, once the road is closed by heavy snow, can you still go back to Kongtong Mountain?"

Guo Song smiled, "I plan to go back in February next year, when the snow will begin to melt." ”

"Take your liking! If the days are sad, come to the Baiting Military City, where we have sufficient provisions. ”

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