The Hu people laughed again and again, and You Miao could not understand the language at all. While hiding, he secretly cursed these people for being stupid. When can they rob things? Wouldn't it be better to rob the goods before entering the city? They were all goods from the Central Plains. If they came to rob now, they would just take back the furs and other specialties from the outside of the Great Wall that they had exchanged with them... Why didn't they rob the goods before? They came all the way from Yangkou Mountain. Why didn't they rob?
You Miao vaguely thought of one thing - these people, could they be brought here by Li Zhifeng? No, no... This thought was like a shadow that instantly enveloped him.
The carriage moved without warning, and You Miao was startled again. The Hu people shouted one after another, and then the whole carriage flipped to the left, causing You Miao to see stars, the horses neighed, and the sound of horse hooves gradually faded away.
The whole carriage fell to the ground, and the charcoal fire poured out and fell on the bedding, instantly igniting the inside of the carriage. You Miao coughed loudly. He could no longer hide when he heard the noisy noise outside. He had to cover his head with his outer robe and push open the window. The Hu people shouted in his ears. As soon as You Miao went out, he was picked up, dragged all the way on the snow, and then thrown to the ground. The snow was very cold.
You Miao thought it was over. At this time, he didn't want to shout "I have money, don't kill me", but couldn't help but look up to see if Li Zhifeng was among the group of people.
The Hu people were holding torches and their faces were full of flesh. They stood around like iron towers. You Miao was very panicked at first, but after taking a glance at these people, he gradually calmed down. Thank God, there was no Li Zhifeng.
But on second thought, the tip-off might not appear.
The leader of the Hu people gave the order, and some people came forward to tie You Miao tightly, stuffed rags into his mouth, and threw him onto a horse-drawn carriage. The Hu people rode on horses and talked excitedly to each other. You Miao couldn't tell which tribe these people came from. Looking back, he saw that the goods robbed by the Hu people were less than ten carts, and he expected that many of the previous merchants had also escaped.
Yes, these barbarians saw that he was dressed in fancy clothes, and they must have planned to hold him hostage and ask the Great Qi Kingdom to send money to redeem him.
After thinking it through, You Miao felt relieved.
What he feared most at the moment was to see Li Zhifeng, but now that things had come to this, it was useless to think too much. He was the only one caught alive in the entire caravan. The Hu people were so careless that they did not even search for his dagger. You Miao had stuffed the dagger into his boot before, and now he gently shook his right foot. The dagger was still there, heavy. With his
hands handcuffed behind his back, it was not difficult to pull out the dagger, cut the rope and escape.
However, at this moment, it was icy and snowy, and the plain was endless. Where could he escape to after getting free? I was afraid that I would be frozen to death on the ice field in less than two hours. I decided not to escape and wait and see what the situation would be. Judging from the wind direction, You Miao was now heading northwest, and the further he walked, the further he went... If he went beyond the Great Wall, I was afraid that he would never be able to enter the Great Wall again in this lifetime.
For a moment, I was in a state of confusion. I kept thinking about it. When I saw the village in the distance, the gray sky had already brightened. The sun was hidden behind the thick clouds, and snow powder was still floating between the sky and the earth.
It was a village that was burnt black by fire. It was obvious that it was a temporary stronghold occupied by the Hu people after looting. The snow was full of blood, and there were abandoned human corpses on both sides of the road.
The Hu people took You Miao down and threw him into an intact house. You Miao hit his head on the wooden floor, his eyes were black, and he struggled to get up. The light in the room was very dim. Several pieces of red charcoal were placed in a copper basin. There were coughing sounds in the room.
"Woo woo..." You Miao stuffed a cloth in his mouth and crawled over.
"Who?" A young man's voice sounded from the corner.
"Um--" You Miao turned over and lay on the ground.
After a long while, You Miao's eyes adjusted to the light. He looked around and saw a strange boy who was about the same age as himself.
"Are you also captured?" The boy asked in a low voice.
You Miao nodded slowly. The young man turned his back and approached You Miao with his hands tied behind his back, and pulled off the cloth stuffed in his mouth.
You Miao let out a long breath.
"Don't talk..." the young man said, "You will be beaten if you make a sound."
The two talked in a very low voice.
You Miao: "What's your name?"
"Zhao Chao." The young man replied, "What about you? How did you get caught here?"
You Miao looked at him and saw that he was in tattered clothes and wearing leather armor. He replied, "My name is You Miao. I followed the caravan to Jiangbei and was robbed on the way."
Zhao Chao said, "I followed my family slaves to secretly hunt, but I didn't expect to run into this group of people, damn it."
You Miao: "What tribe are you from?"
Zhao Chao whispered, "A branch of the Tatars, I guessed..."
You Miao's heart moved, and asked, "Is it related to the Quanrong people?"
Zhao Chao seemed a little surprised and said, "No, why do you suddenly ask this? The Quanrong people are from the northeast, and the Tatars are from the northwest, They can't even speak the same language."
You Miao nodded, feeling relieved, and said, "I'll find a way to get you out."
Zhao Chao immediately said, "Don't act rashly. This place is too far from Yanbian, and they have dogs. You won't be able to run far before they catch up."
You Miao hummed, and sat up reluctantly. The two teenagers sat with their backs against the wall. You Miao couldn't help but look at Zhao Chao. Although the teenager was wearing a soldier's leather armor, he didn't have the temperament of a soldier at all. There was a lot of blood on his armor, and there seemed to be a sword edge hidden between his eyebrows. The coarse linen clothes under the leather armor were torn to shreds, and he was almost naked.
"I ask you." There was a sense of oppression in Zhao Chao's words. Although he talked in a low voice, the tone that could not be argued with forced You Miao to pay attention to him.
"Which caravan did you come with?" Zhao Chao raised his eyebrows and asked in a low voice: "Is it the caravan of the You family at the end of the year?"
"Yes, yes." You Miao nodded hurriedly. Zhao Chao frowned slightly and said: "The family of You Deyou, the head of the Ministry of Revenue?!"
You Miao was shocked and said: "You know him? He is my cousin."
Zhao Chao nodded slowly, looked at You Miao's face in the firelight, and said: "You are from Jiangbei, right? Is your name You Miao? It turns out to be you..."
You Miao was shocked: "Yes, yes, yes! My name is You Miao. Do you know me?"
Zhao Chao stopped talking, just looked at You Miao, smiled slightly, and nodded.
You Miao didn't expect to meet someone who knew his family in such a place, and thought that he would probably not suffer this time.
Zhao Chao said again: "When the capital gets the news, they will definitely send someone to rescue you. Wait patiently and remember not to be rash or reckless. We must save our lives."
You Miao kept nodding his head, knowing that the young man in front of him must be of great importance. He asked in a low voice: "What about you?"
Zhao Chao said: "You don't know me. My father is just a small official. I came here with my friends to hunt. I didn't expect to be caught. Let's not talk about it."
You Miao said again: "There is a dagger in my boots. Let's cut the rope first?"
Zhao Chao said: "Not now. We have to wait for the opportunity. Don't worry, we will definitely escape."