On the first day of the first month of the first year of Jiajing, in Youyu County, Shanxi, the north wind on the Loess Plateau was roaring, and the snowflakes were dancing wildly with the north wind, and the cold was like a boning knife.

The Cangtou River is the main river of Youyu County, which runs through most of Youyu County from south to north, and finally flows into the Yellow River from the mouth of the Killing Tiger (Hu) Pass.

Kill Tiger (Hu) Pass is also known as West Mouth, the two sides of the high mountains confront, the terrain is very precipitous, the east is based on Tangzi Mountain, the west is near Dabao Mountain, between the two mountains is the open Cangtou River Valley, it is an important passage between the north and the south since ancient times, it is the border fortress of the Ming Dynasty, it has been broken by the Tartars many times. During the orthodox years, the Tile Thorn people broke through from here and marched under the city of Beijing.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the original name of the killing tiger mouth was Shenhekou, and later in the Yongle period, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di led the army many times out of the fortress from this to conquer the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan forces, so it was renamed to kill Hukou, and built a large number of fortresses along the Great Wall, such as killing Hu Fort, Victory Fort, etc., in the Republic of China period, in order to alleviate the national contradictions, this was renamed to kill the tiger mouth.

In this season when winter is coming to an end and spring is not coming, it is the coldest time of the year in Youyu County, and the Cangtou River has been frozen for several feet.

The team consisted of only ten horses, but it rode fifteen people, because five of them were ridden by two. The men were dressed in a very messy and strange way, some wearing shabby cotton jackets, others wearing woolen fur coats, and they were dressed in tartar attire.

The man at the head was wearing an old cotton jacket, his head and face were tightly wrapped, revealing only a pair of pale blue eyes, and although he was bloated, he was vaguely recognizable as a woman from his body shape. The woman at the head was clearly a very good horseman, braving the wind and snow to gallop her horse, her body shaking in a very rhythmic manner, effectively cushioning the bumps.

The caravan crossed the Cangtou River, traveled several miles north, and finally came to a halt at the entrance of a small village.

However, the small village in front of him was in a dilapidated state, looking desolate, with only the north wind whimpering, no human voices to be heard, and no dog barking, this was clearly a deserted village.

Youyu County is located on the edge of the Great Wall, and there are often Tatars who sneak in from remote passes to plunder the border villages and towns of the Ming Dynasty, and the Tatars not only loot food and property, but also kidnap Han people out of the fortress as slaves, so in these border areas, deserted villages are too common.

At this time, the woman in the lead untied the cloth towel wrapped around her head and face, revealing a cold and beautiful face, which was Xue Bingxin.

It is said that Xue Bingxin left Daqingshan with dozens of people under his command that day, and took a boat into the Yellow River by the Qingshui River, but the boat leaked and drowned more than a dozen people (most of them wounded).

Xue Bingxin realized that this was Xu Jin's bastard's calculation, and he actually acted stupidly according to his arrangement, so angry that his chest hurt, he immediately abandoned the ship and landed, entered the territory of Hebei, and then cautiously walked all the way back to Shanxi.

After more than half a month of arduous trekking, Xue Bingxin finally led the crowd back to Taiyuan, Shanxi, and found that the headquarters of the dart store in Taiyuan City had been eliminated by officers and soldiers, and even the sect leader Lu Mingzhen had been arrested, and there were wanted notices everywhere, including Zhao Quan, Sun Cai, Xue Bingxin, Qiu Fu, Li Zixin and other fugitive White Lotus Sect backbones.

The head of the sect was arrested, Xue Bingxin and Qiu Fu were like a bolt from the blue, they didn't dare to stay in Taiyuan, and immediately rushed to Zuoyu County, Shuozhou, where the White Lotus Sect's lair was located.

After Xue Bingxin and the others entered Zuoyu County, they happened to encounter a small group of Tartars who crossed the border and plundered, so they killed them, captured ten horses and weapons, and even the leather clothes on the Tartars became their warm clothes.

"Commander Xue, the village is deserted, there is no one!" Lei Jun tore off the cloth towel covering his face and said.

Xue Bingxin nodded and said, "The snow is too big, rest in the village first, and then go up the mountain when the snow stops." ”

The horse thieves all turned over and dismounted, and led the reins into the village.

It is said that when Xue Bingxin left Daqingshan, there were still more than 30 people under her command, but 12 people were drowned in the Yellow River, and several more died when she trekked all the way back to Shanxi, and now there are only 15 people left with her.

Of course, this is also a process of removing the chaff, those injured and poor health horse thieves are dead, and now the rest are the elite of the horse thieves, who are physically strong, and they are all equipped with martial arts, and their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated.

"Hey, there's a dead body here!" A horse thief suddenly shouted.

Xue Bingxin followed the prestige, and sure enough, she saw a frozen arm exposed in the snow that had been removed. The thief, who had been the first to spot, had pushed the snow away with his foot, revealing the whole body, a man's body, completely frozen, with a painful expression, and a terrible wound in his chest, apparently stabbed to death by a spear or something.

Soon, more corpses were found in the village, mostly men and old people, and all of them died outside the house, some of them clutching firewood knives and poles, etc., apparently killed in defiance.

In an earthen cave, the bodies of a young child and a woman were found, the young child appeared to have been thrown to death, his head was rotten, and the woman was covered in red fruit and presumably humiliated.

"Bastard, it must have been the Tartars who did it!" Qiu Fu said angrily.

Xue Bingxin looked at the tragic scene in the house, and suddenly felt a turbid wave in her stomach, and ran to the courtyard outside and vomited violently. Lei Jun and the others couldn't help but look at each other, they had seen a scene ten times more tragic than this, Commander Xue wouldn't vomit like this, right?

Xue Bingxin vomited violently for a while before calming down, holding her lower abdomen and gasping for a while, before she came back with a frown. Lei Jun asked with concern, "Commander Xue, are you okay?" ”

Xue Bingxin shook her head and ordered someone to collect and bury the bodies of the two mothers and sons in the cave. The people rested in the deserted village for about half an hour, and when the snow finally stopped, they continued to gallop towards Heitai Mountain.

Heitai Mountain is a barren mountain on the edge of the Great Wall, the terrain is dangerous, facing east and west from Jiaotai Mountain, the White Lotus Sect has a hidden cottage on Heitai Mountain, and the women, Confucians, old and weak in the sect are placed here.

When Xue Bingxin led people to the door of Heitai Cottage, a warning gong immediately sounded in the village, and someone climbed to the arrow tower to observe outside. Qiu Fu stepped forward and made a few agreed gestures, and after a while, the gate opened.

As soon as the door of the village was opened, a group of people came out inside, the leader was Zhao Quan, and there was a middle-aged man who looked very weak, tall and thin, with a slightly pale face, smooth and smooth under the chin, and not even a little beard, which felt weird.

"Senior Sister Xue, Senior Brother Qiu!" Zhao Quan was overjoyed to see Xue Bingxin come back safely.

It is said that after Zhao Quan escaped that day, he first found a place to stabilize Sun Cai's injuries, and then modified his disguise and sneaked back to Shanxi, and found that the sect leader Lu Mingzhen had been hunted and killed by officers and soldiers, so he had to hide back in the village, only seven or eight days earlier than Xue Bingxin and others.

"Miss finally came back safely, but I'm worried about the death of the old slave these days." As soon as the feminine middle-aged man spoke, his voice was so sharp that Lei Jun and the other horse thieves couldn't help but look at each other.

At this time, a smirking teenager ran out and shouted, "My sister is back, where is it?" Hee-hee...... It's really my sister back, it's great, it's the New Year! ”

When Xue Bingxin saw this young man, her eyes suddenly became extremely gentle, she opened her arms and hugged the young man, touched his head affectionately and said, "Taiyu, my sister is back to see you." ”

The boy smirked at the ground, although he looked heroic, he knew that he was an idiot when he looked at his expression and eyes.

Zhao Quan frowned imperceptibly, and said with a smile: "Senior Sister Xue, it's windy outside, Taiyu can't stand the cold, let's go in and talk again, it just so happens that Senior Brother has a distinguished guest to introduce to you." ”

"Guest?" A different color flashed in Xue Bingxin's eyes, and she led people to follow Zhao Quan and others into the village.

Only a few houses were built in the village, all of which were communal, and the residents of the village lived in caves dug along the surrounding mountains, and the cave fire kang is a major feature of the Loess Plateau.

Xue Bingxin and the others followed Zhao Quan into the largest house, which is usually a place for everyone to gather, and at this time the brazier was burning in the house, which was much warmer than outside.

The furnishings in the room are very simple, there are only two tables, there are more than a dozen benches, and Li Zixin, a god stick dressed as a Taoist priest, is chatting with a man at the table.

"Tartar!" Lei Jun couldn't help but blurt out, because the person sitting at the table chatting with Li Zixin at this time was a Hu man, with deep eyes and a high nose, a full beard, and a very strong beard.

The Hu man estimated that he knew Chinese, and when he heard Lei Jun calling him a tartar, he immediately frowned, his eyes were fierce, very powerful, and he said coldly: "Your Excellency's title is very rude!" ”

Lei Jun subconsciously grasped the hilt of the sword, and the other horse thieves behind him were the same, they had only killed a small group of Tartar cavalry not long ago, so naturally they would not be frightened by the Hu man in front of them.

Zhao Quan hurriedly shouted: "Lei Jun, don't be rude!" ”

Lei Jun looked at Xue Bingxin inquiringly, and when he saw the latter nodding, he let go of the hand holding the hilt.

Zhao Quan frowned imperceptibly, and said with a smile: "Senior Sister Xue, let me introduce to you, this is the Houyi of the Golden Family, and now the second son of Tumut Jinong, his name is Erjin Alatan!" ”

The so-called Jinong is the deputy khan, the deputy of the Great Khan, equivalent to the prime minister, and Tumut is one of the three thousand households on the right wing of the Tatars.

The Hu man smiled and stood up in his chair, as if he had an injury on his leg, he stood still and gave Xue Bingxin a chest salute, and said in stiff Chinese: "Hello Miss Xue, my name is Alatan, you can also call me A, I am honored to meet you." Your beauty is as enchanting as the Gesang flowers on the grassland. ”

Xue Bingxin's face was slightly gloomy, she was born in a border area, so she knew the forces outside the Seychelles very well, and the answer in front of her was not small, and she was also very famous.