Chapter 149
Chapter 149
At the sound from outside, Qin Ying paused, stopping in the middle of tracing the lacquered patterns on the desk.
She rolled up the palm-sized piece of sheepskin in her hand and tucked the charcoal pencil, made from a burned twig, inside it.
Aman was leading the Sand People as they kept watch outside. They did not dare wander around this camp, which was filled with Monstrous Beasts.
Seeing that night was about to fall, they had gathered some thorny branches and built a fire outside the camp gate.
When someone called out, Aman rose to negotiate.
The newcomer was a young soldier in regulation leather armor.
Like most men of Great Xia, he had a bit of short beard along his jaw.
His looks were ordinary, and his expression was not especially friendly.
As Aman approached, the man made no attempt to hide his frown. “Stop. Stop right there. Say what you have to say from over there.”
Then he muttered, “What is that smell on you?”
Aman had once been burned, and his skin was always covered with an ointment mixed with Immortal Grass.
After traveling through the desert all day, wrapped up and sweating, he naturally did not smell very pleasant.
Aman was an honest, straightforward man. Hearing this, he stopped three or four paces away and asked politely, “Sir, may I ask-”
Before he could finish, the young officer of the Great Xia Official Army said impatiently, “Pack up. Move to another tent.”
Aman hesitated at that. The person inside the tent was the Divine Envoy. The matter was of great importance, and their small group might not be able to protect her.
He declined, “Squad Leader Han ordered us to wait here. As for moving tents, we should wait until he returns.”
Aman’s reason was perfectly sound, and his tone was courteous, but the officer who had come to carry out the errand flew into a rage at once.
He was a Company Military Marquis in the army, responsible for the company’s grain, fodder, and supplies. With the evening meal approaching, this was his busiest time.
Ye Sima had ordered him around, first making him find these Sand People another tent, then telling him to arrange food and drink for them. The extra work had already irritated him to no end.
And now Aman still wanted to argue.
The Great Xia Official Army looked down on the Sand People. The man’s brows shot up, and he snapped, “So you mean to make me come all this way for nothing?”
“It’s bad enough that I’m ordered around by the officers all day. Now even you lowly Sand People think you can order me around?”
“Enough nonsense.”
His spittle sprayed onto Aman’s face as he cursed, but what stung even more was being called a lowly Sand Person to his face.
Aman was filled with anger and humiliation, but he did not dare let it show. He was so furious his lips trembled.
He stood before the tent and refused to move even half a step.
Seeing him like this, the Company Military Marquis’s malice surged, and he reached for the beast-taming whip at his lower back.
He did not dare kill someone without cause, but giving him a couple of lashes to vent the fury in his chest was perfectly acceptable.
Just as the tension was about to snap, a voice called, “Aman.”
The Company Military Marquis raised his brows and craned his neck to look. He saw a woman in a cloak and veil standing behind them.
The sky was already darkening, and only the bonfire cast any light. The Company Military Marquis could not make out the speaker’s face clearly, but he vaguely sensed she was a beautiful woman.
Before he could say anything, the woman slowly stepped forward.
“Thank you for making the trip.”
Her voice was pleasant, and the Company Military Marquis was just about to say something when he saw that her hand, wrapped in the wide sleeve of her cloak, was offering him an item.
Through the coarse fabric, that thing was pressed into the Company Military Marquis’s hand.
The Company Military Marquis lowered his eyes for a look, and his heart gave a sudden jump.
It was a pure gold bracelet set with obsidian, red agate, and chips of White Jade.
Heavy in the hand, and clearly worth a fortune.
At a rough estimate, it was enough to equal two years of this Company Military Marquis’s military pay.
The imperial family and the powerful nobility favored burying gold ingots, gold vessels, and jade wares with the dead. Over the centuries, Great Xia had carried vast amounts of gold into underground tombs.
Thus, in Great Xia, gold mostly circulated among the powerful and was collected by them, stored away to be used in future burials. Commoners had few chances to come into contact with it.
The Company Military Marquis’s heart lurched. He meant to return it, but his hand would not obey him. His wrist drew back, hiding it inside his sleeve.
The scene turned a little awkward. His gaze could not help wandering as he asked stiffly, “What do you mean by this?”
“Just a small token.” Qin Ying kept her hand hidden in her sleeve and laughed softly.
“What do you mean, a small token?” The Company Military Marquis looked into her eyes and saw that they were extraordinarily beautiful, with the faintest hint of a smile.
But looking straight into those eyes was like looking into a polished mirror.
All the darkness and filth in his body and soul seemed to be seen through completely.
The Company Military Marquis instinctively felt that the thing in his hand was too hot to hold, yet he clutched it tight, reluctant to let go.
As his heart twisted and bled, he heard the woman laugh lightly. “From now on, we are friends. It is only right that we look after each other.”
“We will move tents first. Please send us more wine and water.”
The Company Military Marquis hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still tucked that heavy piece of jewelry into his robes.
His earlier hostility vanished, and he laughed heartily. “Yes, yes. From now on, we are friends.”
“My name is Qiu Zhang. I am the Company Sima of this company. If you need anything, come to me.”
Qiu Zhang thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead. “Look at my memory. That new tent you were given is still a little too small. These Sand People brothers do not have anywhere to stay.”
“The night is deep and the dew is heavy. How could they sleep out in the open? I will go change it for a larger one. You are also short a few beds and such, so I will make some preparations.”
All smiles and good will, he left, clutching his Sleeve Bag that now held something extra.
Aman looked at Qin Ying in confusion.
Qin Ying raised a finger, signaling for him to keep quiet.
Judging by the attitude of the entire Fengshan Elite Cavalry, they looked down on the Sand People.
Someone like Ye Sima could never have his greed satisfied by a single piece of jewelry. Instead, it would only make him mark them as targets.
But a Company Military Marquis like this was different. A single piece of jewelry counted as a heavy bribe, and with a Superior Officer keeping him in check, he would not dare go too far.
Most importantly, a Company Military Marquis in charge of logistics and supplies could sometimes do things even more useful than currying favor with high-ranking officials.
It would make Qin Ying’s next actions much more convenient.
Seeing her reaction, Aman shut his mouth and said no more.
Money could make even devils turn the millstone. The Company Military Marquis Qiu Zhang had left in a hurry, and he returned just as quickly.
When the sky darkened, he came back, bringing a cart drawn by an animal that resembled a moose.
He helped Aman and the others load their belongings onto the cart.
When they reached the Coffin-like box, Qiu Zhang asked, “What is this?”
Qin Ying replied, “It is a comrade of Lord Han who died at Golden Saddle Mountain.”
“We are planning to take him back to Luoyang and return him to his family for burial.”
Qiu Zhang let out an “ah,” his expression carrying a fair bit of respect and emotion.
Qin Ying sat beside the Box as the pack beast pulled them through the military camp.
This time, she could observe this otherworldly military camp more closely.
Fire basins and Migu Flowers were everywhere, used for illumination.
Qin Ying saw quite a few Monstrous Beasts that looked somewhat like hunting dogs or fighting beasts, kept by their owners inside the tents.
Of course, there were also many tents for lower-ranking officers and soldiers. They were broad like longhouses, filled with large communal bunks.
It was dinnertime, and Qin Ying saw them cooking a kind of grain mush.
Military rations were the best way to judge the logistics and national strength behind an army.
Even these soldiers could only eat mush. It seemed the Fengshan Elite Cavalry did not have such an easy life after all.
Their logistics seemed to contradict the formidable military force displayed by the giant beasts outside.
Qin Ying frowned slightly and took the opportunity to ask something she had wanted to know all along.
“What are those giant Monstrous Beasts outside?”
“Do they eat meat or grass?”
She had deliberately adjusted her tone when she asked, making herself sound like a little girl trying to act grown-up but finally unable to suppress her curiosity.
The Company Military Marquis Qiu Zhang was leading the pack beast by the reins. Hearing this, he laughed.
These Sand People really did live in a remote place. They did not even know such common knowledge.
He said, “Those giant beasts are called Chongyuan. They eat grass.”
Grass?
After getting the answer, Qin Ying could not help raising an eyebrow.
If those huge things ate grass, then the fodder consumed every day by the dozens of them forming a wall around the city would be an astronomical number.
How did the Fengshan Elite Cavalry supply that much grain and fodder while still maintaining such a terrifying marching speed?
She asked the question aloud.
Qiu Zhang, looking rather smug, was just about to answer when a shrill burst of sobbing suddenly came from off to the side.
A person with only a piece of ragged cloth around his waist and skin as pale as death ran out, iron chains on his hands and feet clattering loudly.
He tripped over his shackles and fell straight forward in front of a pit of yellow sand. His exposed back was covered in dense whip marks.
Qiu Zhang, who had been about to show off a little, changed expression. He pulled out the whip used to drive the pack beast, raised it, and struck.