If you don't give up, I'd like to be your adoptive father.

Chapter 9 Taoist Child Qingsong
After a while, the bearded Zhu Tong was carried over by two black-armored knights.

He was very miserable.

His bronze face was extremely pale, as if it had been covered with a layer of powder.

The right arm was torn off at the elbow, and the white bone joints stained red could be seen, with several obvious teeth marks on them.

My lower abdomen felt like it was stabbed by something.

Immediately, Wei Wu, a black-clad knight who also served as a military doctor, came over with a leopard skin bag, and stopped the bleeding, applied medicine, bandaged the wound, and gave it water.
".Originally, I was stepped on by the fish monster, and the hole in my stomach was caused by the monster's claws." Zhu Tong's face showed fear and confusion. "I thought I was going to die, but the fish monster suddenly stopped, as if it was frightened by something, and retreated in panic, jumping into the quicksand river with a 'whoosh' and disappeared without a trace.

The fish monster had living people to eat, so it didn't hurt our horses.

I found my warhorse and galloped for my life, but it was dark and I couldn't see the road clearly, and the horse's left front hoof stepped into a sand pit. Cough cough. It was hateful that the three Zhang brothers were the first to be killed. They were bitten off piece by piece by the fish monster and swallowed up. Not a single bone was left of their bodies.

I went out with 35 brothers, but now I am the only one left."

He coughed up blood and tears as big as beans oozed from the corners of his eyes.

Song Changqing looked at General Guan thoughtfully and understood something in his heart.

This is like a bamboo pole encountering a wolf, both ends are afraid.

Guan Laoya may not be afraid of the fish monster, but he certainly doesn't want to fight with it for something "inexplicable".

He didn't care about Ge Qing's death at all.

The fish monster was frightened by the "Eye of the Immortal" and thought that he was being targeted by an immortal master.

Wei Wu helped Zhu Tong wipe the blood from his mouth and the tears from his eyes, and said softly, "Even if you want to hunt down the Shaman, it's already dark. Why are you still running to the Liusha River?"

"The Shaman who killed Brother Qing ran to the river. We went there for him. Shouldn't we chase him?" Zhu Tong said hatefully.

"Did you really find the person? Are you sure it was him?" General Guan was a little surprised.

Although he pointed out the locations of the strong sand barbarians for them in the afternoon, there was a vast wilderness beyond the sand dunes. If dozens of people were scattered there, it would be like pouring a cup of water in the desert. What was the use?

Unless he leads the team himself, uses his clairvoyance to lock onto the target in real time, and then uses the Red Smoke Horse's invincible speed of traveling three thousand miles a day to kill them one by one, the same thing still applies: he is just a sergeant, even if he has a bright future and is expected to join the Meng family army that is heading south to China, now that he is dead and his body is stinking, is it worth the effort for him to welcome the "Fairy Eye Tiger" of Xiang Mansion?
In fact, he didn't like Ge Qing at all.

Seeing him die miserably, he still felt a surge of pleasure and joy in his heart.

Ge Qing was popular and had high prestige. Although he was only a squad leader, even the generals of a hundred men were willing to call him "Big Brother". He was more active and popular in the Iron Cavalry Battalion than he, a dignified Cavalry Captain.

Zhu Tong lay on Wei Wu's legs and gritted his teeth and said, "That barbarian dog buried himself under the sand and killed Luo Lao Si by surprise. He used a poisoned dagger to hit his vitals and killed him in one blow. He also stole Luo Lao Si's warhorse.

His horse riding skills are also top-notch.

The war horses of the Iron Cavalry Battalion are our 'brothers' who have been with us for many years. In the past, all we needed was a look, a call, or a whistle with a specific rhythm, and the horses would respond.

This time, no matter how I whistled or shouted from behind, Luo Laosi's horse did not stop.

It kept struggling. The barbarian was very powerful.

He was a local tyrant and familiar with the environment. We chased him from dusk till nightfall, but he repeatedly shot back and killed Li Mazi and Sun Laowu. "

"He's so powerful, it must be him." Wei Wudao.

Song Changqing looked around and found the old barbarian who quietly got up from the ground, then huddled in a corner without saying a word but eavesdropping with his ears perked up. He asked, "Do you know him?"

All the cavalrymen looked at the old barbarian.

The old barbarian swallowed his saliva and asked hesitantly, "Does he have a scar on his face?"

Zhu Tong shook his head, "It seems not."

The old barbarian asked again: "Can you see the tattoo on the chest? It's a Buddha."

Zhu Tong nodded immediately. "That barbarian is just like you. He only has a fur skirt on his body, and his chest is mostly exposed. There is indeed a tattoo on it, a large one. I'm not sure if it's the Buddha's. It's all black. Which Buddha is it?"

He had previously thought that the barbarian had a Kun fish tattooed on his chest.

How big is the difference in appearance between Kunyu and Buddha?

"Of course it's the most powerful Tathagata Buddha. It was Yu Yatou who suggested it and she also helped with the tattoo.

Well, our tribe knew earlier that the upper country had the custom of tattooing, but we didn’t know how to do it. It was Yu Yatou who invented the tattoo potion and needles.

She herself has no tattoos, but she has tattooed many warriors in the tribe."

The old barbarian explained, and then said: "That man is Sharon, the chief's brother, and also the general of the 'pseudo-sand dune country'."

Faced with a group of black-armored knights who were either sneering or laughing at him, he himself began to feel embarrassed for the boastful title of "General Pillar of the Country", and his voice became a little weaker.

“The chief trusted him, and the work of liaison between the ruler and ministers of Lu State had always been handled by him and Sha Gui.

The chief and five thousand warriors never returned, and only the two of them returned half a month ago.

"I heard Yu complain that Shalong had learned a unique skill in Lu State, but he kept it hidden and refused to teach her, which made her very angry."

Zhu Tong's face turned pale, and he said, "I didn't realize that he had any extraordinary skills. Before we had a chance to fight, the fish monster jumped out of the river and bit off half of his body."

After a pause, he continued, "I feel that Sharon did it on purpose. He ran towards the Quicksand River on purpose, howling like ghosts and wolves as he ran. When he was finally bitten to death by the fish monster, he seemed to be laughing hideously."

"Damn thief."

"You bastard!"

"You Shaman deserves to be chopped into pieces!" The people in the Iron Cavalry Battalion were filled with righteous indignation and cursed Shalon who wanted to bite a big piece of their flesh before he died.

After cursing, everyone surrounded Zhu Tong and talked about some peaceful things like tangerine peel soup and fruit medicine that had no actual therapeutic effect but could comfort people.

After two or three hours of hard work, the night sky turned indigo blue.

Only a few sparse stars are seen, Chang'e has disappeared, thick frost covers the ground, dew wets the clothes, and dawn is approaching.

"It's almost dawn. Take out the 'Immortal Belly-Filling Pills', one for each person and two for a warhorse. Then fill all the leather bags with water and prepare to return to 'Hengsha Pass'," said General Guan.

The soldiers were shocked when they heard this and asked in surprise, "General, are we leaving the dunes now?"

General Guan said, "What is there in this rotten mud pit and stinking dung trough that is worth your attachment?"

Song Changqing said: "Although the loss was heavy, Shalong was finally killed, and Brother Ge can rest in peace in his grave. It's just the mission of the envoy, Shamanyu..."

General Guan said decisively: "There are many monsters in the wild land. Even the Iron Cavalry Battalion lost half a hundred brothers. Isn't it natural for a little girl from the Sand Barbarians to die in the belly of a monster?"

All the soldiers, including Song Changqing, nodded slightly in agreement.

General Guan’s clairvoyance couldn’t find the person, so he must have been eaten by the monster.

Well, confirming Shamanyu's death is at least a mission accomplished, and I can give an explanation to the envoys from the superior country.

"General Guan, wait a minute!"

Suddenly, a ball of yellow light emerged from the ground in front of the cavalrymen, followed by a childish voice.

Song Changqing and his brothers all put their hands on the hilts of their knives, but quickly put them down when they heard the sound. They all bowed their backs, clasped their hands together, lowered their heads, and saluted respectfully towards Huang Guang.

"Greetings to the envoy from the superior country." Not only them, but even General Guan was performing the ceremony with great respect.

If they were not wearing full body armor and had difficulty moving, they would have directly knelt on the ground or even prostrated themselves.

The yellow light dispersed, revealing a Taoist boy in a green robe with red lips and white teeth. He was five feet tall, with a cute chubby round face. He wore a green robe, white socks, and black straw shoes. He looked very clean and refreshed.

"General Guan, I bow to you." The Taoist boy returned the greeting with a smile.

General Guan did not hide his surprise and asked, "Master Qingsong, where are you from? Are you passing by here, or..."

Qingsong Dao Tong put away his smile and said seriously, "General Guan, have you captured Sha Manyu?"

General Guan was even more surprised and suspicious. For a mere Sha Manyu, not only was he transferred away from Marquis Lieyang, but he also let the dignified Cavalry Commander personally lead the Iron Cavalry Battalion to attack the sand dunes for thousands of miles, but now he even came here in person.

"Sha Manyu is dead. He was eaten by the goblins in the Liusha River." He said naturally.

The Taoist boy looked at him deeply, shook his head and said, "She is not dead."

General Guan frowned and said, "There is no trace of her in the thousand-mile radius of the sand dunes and two thousand miles in the north."

His tone was confident and serious, and he didn't feel guilty at all.

They raided the sand dunes early yesterday morning. Near noon, Song Changqing came to remind him that Sha Manyu was missing. He immediately turned on his clairvoyance and looked around. He searched for a full hour and carefully looked at all the Sha Manyu within a thousand miles.

In the afternoon, Zhang San and Zhu Tong led dozens of cavalrymen to the southeast to hunt down the Shaman and avenge Ge Qing. He himself was not idle either.

According to the information provided by Shaman - before the Great Shu Iron Cavalry Camp entered the sand dunes, Shaman Yu moved to a cave in the northeast direction - he rode the Red Smoke Horse alone and made a big circle to the northeast, running at least 800 miles, if not a thousand miles.

There is no trace of Sha Manyu.

So when he said that Shamanyu was eaten by a goblin, he was not just trying to appease the envoys from the superior country.

Taoist Qingsong faced northwest, raised his hand and pointed at the night sky that was about to break dawn, "Sha Manyu must not be dead. Look, her life star is still shining brightly."

"What, Sha Manyu has a life star, is she a star god who has descended to earth?" The officers and soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion were all shocked and astonished.

The old barbarian in the leopard-skin skirt lowered his head, his eyes flickering, his old face unable to hide his excitement.

Qingsong Dao Tong said with a smile: "The status of the Celestial Palace Star Lord is so noble, how could he be willing to let himself be stained with blood and descend to such a barbaric and cold land? Not to mention the Xisha Barbarians, even your Xishu Kingdom cough cough!"

We're still counting on these Western barbarians to fight for our lives, so there's no need to say anything unpleasant.

The Taoist boy pretended to cough a few times and changed the subject, saying, "Even among the people of Western Shu, there is a saying that the king is the incarnation of Ziwei Star, the general is Wuqu Star, and the civil officials are Wenqu Star.

If you think about it for a moment, you will realize that this is simply impossible.

The four continents are infinitely vast, and there is only one Human Emperor, His Majesty the Great Qin, but there are hundreds of thousands of kings.

Including the barbarian states like the Shaman Dune Kingdom, there are countless people who claim to be kings and overlords.

How can the God of Civil and Military Affairs be so busy?

But there is no smoke without fire.

The common understanding among people that "the general is Wu Qu and the minister is Wen Qu" does have a real basis.

It is not that the star gods descended to earth to serve as generals or ministers, but that the star of the general or minister corresponds to the star in the heavenly palace.

"The changes in the stars can be used to predict the rise and fall of a country, and can also be used to predict the fate of all living beings in the world. The star that can be used to mark an individual's fate is the person's fate star."

As Qingsong Dao Tong spoke, he put his hands behind his back and walked up to a higher place in an elegant manner.

When he reached the top of the sand dune, he pointed to a dim star in the northwest and said, "That is Sha Manyu's destiny star."

(End of this chapter)