Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 196 White Lion

   540 years of the imperial calendar, autumn.

   [Note: Winters was two years old, 18 years ago]

  The Great Wasteland, the Black Sheep Pastures, an unnamed river valley.

  Plateau's 1st Hussars are "recruiting".

  Two sentries came to Lieutenant Colonel Arpad with a unkempt half-size boy.

   The arm of the half-eldest boy was twisted behind his back, and he was still struggling and yelling, and the two adults could barely hold him down.

   Arpad gave Lieutenant Haugewitz a look at him, irritated.

The lieutenant    walked over and punched half the boy hard in the stomach.

   The latter curled up like a shrimp in pain, and the ears of others were clean.

   "What's the matter?" asked Lieutenant Colonel Arpad.

   "This kid is sneaking outside." The sentinel replied: "Call us [Arpad] when we meet, and we don't understand anything else we say, so we brought him to meet you."

   "He called Arpad, you brought him to see me." Lieutenant Colonel Arpad reprimanded: "He called your father's name, do you want to take him to see your father?"

   The sentinel dared not speak.

   "Call the interpreter!"

   After a while, the interpreter rushed over.

   "Ask him." Arpad instructed impatiently: "Who is it from? What are you sneaking about? Where did you know about me? Ask clearly!"

  The interpreter leaned over to communicate with the half-eldest son,

   Without saying a few words, the interpreter reluctantly reported: "Sir, this kid is just repeating a sentence."

"what?"

   "He said that if you gave him his mother, sister and brother, he could exchange his life for you and be your 'Hahel'."

   "Mother? Sister? What are you talking about?" Arpad asked inexplicably: "And Hahal, what do you mean?"

  The interpreter thought hard for a long time, but couldn't find a suitable adjective: "Probably a soldier, but more loyal than a soldier... Loyal a lot."

   Arpad raised his eyebrows: "Which department is he from?"

   "He wouldn't say it."

   "If you don't say it or die, tell him."

  The interpreter leaned over and asked the half-eldest son, and replied: "Wenduoer - meaning of hills and mountains, he said he was from Wenduoer."

   "Wendor's Department? Wenduoer's Department has not been leveled?" Arpad remembered a little.

The translator listened to one sentence, and translated one sentence: "He said that the Wenduoer clan was destroyed like ashes, his father died, his mother had a big belly, and took him and his sister to pick fruit in the Oran River to eat, and later gave birth to him. younger brother…"

   "Stop! It's all messed up! I didn't ask him about his family tree!" Arpad came up impatiently and was furious: "Give me a point!"

The interpreter scratched his head, asked the half-eldest a few more questions, and replied: "He said that his family was robbed by the [Zarchiwu] tribe, and his mother, his sister, and his brother were all taken away by the Zarchiwu people. I heard that you are going to attack the Zhar Chiwu tribe, so I came to join you."

  Alpad's face was a little weird: "Fleeing to me? I led the troops to level the Wenduoer, he doesn't know? He doesn't care?"

  Translation: "He said he only cares about his family."

  Alpad laughed loudly, looked at the half-eldest and said, "I want to save my family... I'm a bit stubborn. Ask him, is there a warhorse?"

   "Yes, he rode an old horse." The sentinel hurriedly replied: "Yellow, very old."

   Arpad clapped his hands: "It's okay to have a horse, anyway, we need people, not more than one of him. Send him a knife and take him with him."

Lieutenant    Haugewitz answered yes.

   "Release him!"

The    sentinel released his hand, and the half-eldest returned to freedom.

   He didn't run, he just stood there tensely, and looked around vigilantly with a pair of brown eyes.

  Alpad walked over and asked, "Boy, how old are you?"

   Interpreter acts as a communicator: "Seventeen."

   "Seventeen? You can bring your knife to battle." Before leaving, Arpad asked casually, "What's it called?"

   "Yasin." The interpreter replied: "The white lion."

  …

   542 years of the imperial calendar, spring.

  [Note: a year and a half later]

   In the dark night when you can't see five fingers, a warhorse carrying two people ran desperately to the east.

   The hooves and shouts of the chasing soldiers could be heard faintly, and a fire could be seen not far behind.

   One side underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, while the other side was well prepared.

   It's not surprising that this result came out in the end.

   "I haven't lost yet! I haven't lost yet! I'm going to regroup!" Arpad lay on his horse, furious: "Let me go! Yasin! Let me go!"

   "No!" the brown-eyed rider replied in blunt common language.

   Arpad's left calf presents an unnatural twist, apparently broken, and hastily held by several sticks and twine.

  His shirt was soaked with blood, and the scabs of blood stuck to his shoulders and the back of the knife and the clothes.

   And Arpad himself was tied to the horse's back, looking utterly embarrassed.

   He yelled hysterically: "I'd rather die! Than this humiliation!"

   "No!" The brown-eyed rider beat the horse harder.

  The warhorse was foaming at the mouth, breathing hot air from his nose, and his belly was almost touching the tip of the grass.

   "You Heard barbarian! You bastard! Bastard! Yes! I know! You are going to betray me! You are going to take me to your master to collect the reward! I will kill you! Ah!!"

   Silence was the only answer to Arpad.

   I don't know how far it ran, but the warhorse stopped suddenly, its hind legs bent and fell to the ground.

  The two people on the horse's back were like sacks full of grain, and turned over from the horse's head.

   The brown-eyed rider quickly got up, put Alpad on his back, and continued east.

  Alpad, who had lost too much blood, was already confused, he murmured: "Give me a knife, I don't want to be a prisoner, and I have no face to live..."

  The moment he accepted the fact that he lost the battle, he no longer denied reality, no longer angry, only shame and despair.

   "You can't carry me, Yasin, run for your own life."

   After saying these words with the last strength, Arpad fell into a coma.

  The brown-eyed Hurd stepped forward with difficulty, saying word by word, "I am your Hahor."

  …

   548 years of the imperial calendar, summer.

   [Note: ten years ago]

  The Castles of the Kings, the Palatu Army Headquarters, a dozen people sat in a small conference room.

   Brigadier General Arpad was among them.

"Here, the Suledi tribe." Arpad drew a circle on the map: "The Suredhi tribe's territory is very close to the buffer zone. They defeated the Wagan tribe a year ago and began to expand rapidly. Now from Oran The river to the Kurgan is theirs."

   Arpad concludes: "The Sule Die is dangerous, and it's getting more dangerous."

General    Yanosz took the file and read it: "What do you mean?"

"The chief of the Yangwei Department is old and faint, and he is not a big threat. The leader of the Sulede Department is just the opposite. He is very popular, and many small tribes even defected with their clans." Arpad explained his plan: "I suggest that we still make an attack on the sheep. The illusion of the perimeter, the legion bypassed the Oran River to attack the Suledi."

   "One old wolf, one wolf cub." General Yanosh put down the file and said with a smile, "Then beat the cub first, then the old wolf."

   Brigadier General Sackler took the file and asked casually, "Seledie, what do you mean?"

   "The red river." Arpad said blankly: "The leader's name is White Lion."

   A month later, the army of Plato swept across the wasteland, but the white lion was spared.

  …

   Time back to the present: 559 years of the imperial calendar, February.

  Hard's "coalition" did not join forces, but each part set up camps several kilometers away from each other.

   On the one hand, the horses need space to forage; on the other hand, the tribes are on guard against each other.

   On the north side of the Chihebu camp, more than a dozen riders were galloping forward, with a trail of brown smoke rising behind them.

  The guard on the sentry tower narrowed his eyes to identify it carefully, and suddenly shouted happily: "The white lion is back! There is also a little lion!"

   Everyone in the Chihe tribe cheered.

  The guards moved away from the deer village, and the riders rushed into the camp and stopped only when they ran to the side of the tent.

   Everyone's horses were dripping with sweat, as if they had been washed with water.

  The little lion watched his brother leap out of the saddle vigorously and went straight to the big tent.

   He also hurriedly dismounted and followed closely behind his brother.

  The guards were all guarding outside the tent, and only two brothers entered the felt tent.

As soon as    was out of sight of the clan, the white lion with a firm and powerful footstep suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.

   "Brother!" The little lion shouted in a low voice and rushed forward.

  He helped his weak brother up and let the white lion lie down on the blanket.

   "White Lion, what do you say with gray eyes?" The door curtain was opened again, and the old chief of the Eagle Forest Department [Tie Feng] walked into the felt tent.

  [Note: Tiefeng, once translated as "Tie Duo". Heard pronunciation "begging iron teeth", meaning a lot of iron, ch and ya are plural]

   Hearing that the white lion was back at the camp, Tiefeng came to the tent immediately.

   He originally wanted to ask about the situation, but as soon as he entered the tent, he saw his nephew lying on the ground, and Tie Feng quickly turned around and lowered the curtain.

  The little lion hurriedly untied his brother's armor and robes so that the white lion could breathe more smoothly.

Tie Feng turned around in a hurry, beat his thighs and complained to the little lion: "You two brothers! The great shaman left a message, he can heal the bleeding wound, but your brother will also lie on the couch for ten days. What should we do now? How to do?"

  The little lion was silent, tears welling in his eyes.

  Little lion heard his brother say weakly: "I'm fine, help me up."

  Tie Feng helped him, and the old and the young helped the white lions to the couch.

   There are two light red marks on the left abdomen of the white lion, like birthmarks, and like newly grown tender meat that has just peeled off the scab.

  The two "birthmarks" look inconspicuous, because the white lion's body is full of scars that are a hundred times more terrifying than them.

  The daring Paratus even disguised as a Hurd and pushed a cannon to within 100 meters of the White Lion.

   At the critical moment, the owl blocked most of the shells with his life, but there were still two lead shots that hit the white lion.

   If it wasn't for the help of all the shamans, the white lion would have died long ago.

  The little lion felt something touch his shoulder - his brother's hand.

  He looked up and saw his brother squeeze out a smile.

   "It's fine," said the white lion.

  Little lion nodded and wiped away his tears.

  The white lion sat upright with difficulty, and slowly tightened his belt.

   "What did the gray eyes say?" Tie Feng asked anxiously, "What did the leaders of the tribes say?"

   "The Platos want to make peace."

  Tie Feng was taken aback: "What? The two-legged people want to make peace? East Haidong and Suzi will not be deceived, right?"

   White Lion shook his head.

The   peace was a one-year truce, and the Hurds knew it all too well.

   Seeing that the white lion had difficulty speaking, the little lion said, "My brother has brought back the family members of the tribe."

  Tie Feng slapped his thigh: "Okay! If you want to come back, it means that the ministries still use us as a flag."

  The wind swept through the tent, making a humming sound.

The little lion also sat on the couch and said indignantly: "The greed of a healthy eater is greater than his appetite. Hearing that Gray Eyes and my brother did not choose a war leader, he is like a vulture who smells the smell! Is it the greatest credit? Isn't it us?"

   "All the tribes recommend the health eaters to be the war leaders?" Tie Feng stared at the white lion: "You have no objection? When you become the war leader, half your **** will sit on the throne of sweat!"

"The prey has not been caught, but they bite each other for who will eat the meat first. There is no such stupid dog in the world." The white lion said slowly: "The battle has not been won yet, but arguing over the spoils first, then it is better not to fight. Fight. Beat the Paratus first, and everything else will be settled."

  Tie Feng sighed: "We have lost too much, and so did the Terdun Department. Now our two groups are only eligible to share the spoils. I'm afraid that the fire roaster will not be with us."

   "Fireboilers are irritable, but not stupid."

   "What did the health eaters say?"

   "He wants to fight."

   Note: The social structure of Hurd is still in the clan and tribe stage, and the standard of living is also very difficult, so there is no time to play word games.

   Therefore, the Hurds speak more straightforwardly and rarely twist and turn around. But will use a lot of metaphors, and often use common things in life to make comparisons.

   And the Hurds tend to be more fist-sized than words. If the white lion made a low-key request, he would be despised instead.

   This setting refers to the "Secret History of Mongolia", for example, when Temujin discussed the successor, the sons spit at each other:

   [Genghis Khan: I haven't encountered death yet, so I forgot about dying of old age. Among the sons, Zhuochi, you are the eldest son, what do you say? Say it. "

   Before Zhuochi could speak, Cha Aye said first: "Father Khan asked Zhuochi to speak, so is it that he wanted to pass the throne to him? How can we let this savage beggar govern?"

When Cha Ai was saying this, Zhuochi got up and grabbed Cha Ai's collar and said, "I have never heard anything from my father to look at me differently, how can you treat me as an outsider? What skills do you have? Beat me, you're just short-tempered. I fight you long shots, and if I lose to you, I'll cut my thumb and throw it away! I fight you, and if I lose to you, I'll fall to the ground forever Get up! I would like to hear the holy judgment of Father Khan."]

   First, Chagatai pointed out that his eldest brother may not be his father's kind; secondly, the two directly pulled each other's shirts; thirdly, it was very interesting to compete for the khan position, wrestling and archery;

   All in all, very straightforward and candid, without too many twists and turns.

   (end of this chapter)