The sun has just risen, and the dense morning fog has not yet dispersed. At the northern city gate of Gubeikou, the Northern Expeditionary Army is slowly exiting the city. A solemn atmosphere pervades the air, with only the sound of armor rubbing against each other and the neighing of horses breaking the silence. The damp air has transformed into dew that clings to the soldiers' bodies, their somber faces and neat footsteps a testament to the grand departure of the mighty Ming dynasty's iron army.

  Zhang Feng was at the very back of the entire team, while the vanguard had already marched tens of miles ahead, and their procession had just left the North City Gate.

  Looking back at the city wall of Gubeikou, which was full of scars, from the moment his left foot stepped over the national border monument, he officially left the territory of the Ming Dynasty and arrived in the land of Northern Yuan that he had been thinking about for a long time.

  From this moment on, when it's time to kill, he will definitely kill. The benevolence of a woman no longer exists in Zhang Feng's heart, and he will not show mercy like he did when he was heading to Beiping City.

  The knife at the waist has been sharpened, the sword on the back has been unsheathed, and they are eager to drink the fresh blood of the Northern Yuan people...

  In the morning, they marched; at noon, they cooked meals; in the afternoon, they marched again; and at night, they cooked meals and rested. The days passed by in this manner, one after another. A group of new recruits who were once full of vigor and enthusiasm now felt somewhat disheartened. They had thought that once they left the pass, they would encounter the Northern Yuan army and engage in a fierce battle with swords and guns clashing.

  But now, looking around, there are only tender shoots of grass that have just grown out a little while ago. They don't form a lush meadow yet, but instead appear as patches of various sizes on the vast plain, not even arousing any interest in viewing them.

  These days, except for a pack of wolves and the army passing by, Zhang Feng and his group had not seen any other living creatures. Even the snakes, insects, rats, and ants hiding in the caves were scared away by the army's footsteps, let alone the swift Northern Yuan cavalry. Meanwhile, General Xu Da was frowning at the map in front of him, feeling that something was off from the moment they left the pass.

  They had not yet arrived at Gubeikou when the Northern Yuan general Naiman's troops were still attacking various passes. Just the day before they arrived, Gubeikou had just experienced a brutal defense battle. How could it be that after they left the pass, not a single Northern Yuan soldier was seen, and not even an enemy scout was found? This situation is absolutely suspicious.

  "Report to the General, the vanguard cavalry has captured a man from Northern Yuan!"

  "Hurry up and bring it here!" Xu Da's gloomy face suddenly lit up with joy, finally seeing someone from the Northern Garden, he was determined to get something out of him.

  "Kneel down!" The guards brought in a person who was tattered and disheveled, with unkempt hair, into the grand tent. This person had a dark complexion, resembling a savage, and emitted an inexplicable odor from their body.

  Xu Da looked at the savage below with a frown, seeing that his clothes were dressed in grassland attire, but he didn't shave his hair and leave a braid, it seemed that he was just excited for nothing, this person should be a slave or something of a lower class, maybe he secretly escaped.

  With a disappointed heart, Xu Da still asked as usual: "What's your name, who are you, and why were you caught by our army?"

  The savage kneeling on the ground heard Xu Da's words and quickly opened his mouth, stretched out his hand to gesture, making "Woo Woo" sounds. Xu Da was confused, and the guard next to him looked down and saw that the savage only had a short stump of tongue left in his mouth, he was mute!

  This exhausted Xu Da's last patience, he waved his hand to signal the guards to take him away for questioning, he didn't have time to ponder a mute's gestures.

  "Great General! Our army has been out of the pass for many days now, and in just five more days we will reach the borders of Gaozhou. But now, not even a ghostly shadow can be seen - where have all these Northern Yuan Tartars gone?" said Mu Ying, who couldn't help but speak up as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition's Western Route Army.

  Xu Da gave him a displeased look and thought to himself that even he wanted to know why they had all gone missing, and how it ended up with the current situation being so confusing.

  "Mu Ying, go and pass the order. Instruct each department to expand their search range with scouts. I don't care how far they can run, but we must find the Northern Yuan's trail as soon as possible. As soon as there is news, come back and report immediately!" Now Xu Da could only do this, and could only hope in his heart that the scouts would bring back some useful information.

  ……

  On one side of the military tent, Xu Da's personal bodyguard, Xu Sheng, was interrogating the mute barbarian. The barbarian gestured with his hands and shouted "ah" repeatedly. Xu Sheng could vaguely understand what he meant, fortunately, the barbarian seemed to be able to understand Chinese, otherwise Xu Sheng would have had to learn sign language first in order to communicate with him.

  From the savage's antics, Xu Sheng gradually became clear about his origins. The savage ran to the stable to feed the horses hay, indicating that he was previously responsible for raising horses; looking at him gesturing with a flip of his hand and then pretending to be sneaky, Xu Sheng roughly guessed that this savage had escaped from his slave owner under the cover of night.

  As for how to know he was a slave, just look at the scars on his hands and feet, those were the marks of being hung up when he didn't listen as a slave. If you strip off the wild man's clothes, you should still be able to see the whip scars on his back...

  After a complex exchange, Xu Sheng felt that his cultural level had been greatly improved. He could even understand the expressions and movements of a slave and translate them roughly. However, he got stuck on the last question.

  When asked about the wild man's name, it was clear that his body was trembling instinctively, and a fearful expression appeared in his eyes unconsciously, as if the name was a very terrifying thing for him. Xu Sheng didn't ask further, after all, he was just a wild man, with or without a name had nothing to do with him, so he got up and went to report to the marshal.

  "General, I've spent a great deal of effort to understand what that savage was saying." Xu Sheng rushed in to report.

  "Oh? Tell me about it, what did he say to you?" Xu Da said with a smile as he looked at his old subordinate.

  "This savage was originally a slave who raised horses for a tribe in Gaozhou. His master was a brave warrior of the Northern Yuan, and he escaped several nights ago when it was dark and windy. He headed south and encountered our scouts, who captured him. He also said that before he escaped, he discovered that his master had gone out one day and never returned, which gave him the idea to escape. Oh, and he said he was a Han Chinese, kidnapped from his family as a child and brought to the grasslands." Xu Sheng conveyed all the information he had translated from the savage.

  Xu Da listened and seemed to be thinking deeply, it seems that something they didn't know about had indeed happened in Northern Yuan.

  "Since he says he's a Han Chinese and you can understand him, this man is now in your charge. Keep a close eye on him and don't let him leave the camp."

  Xu Sheng was very unwilling about this order: "General, since you don't trust him why not just kill him directly, why must I always keep an eye on him, who will protect your safety then?"

  Xu Da was so familiar with this family that he couldn't be any more familiar. How could he not know that little trick of his? "Do you still need me to guard your safety? Do you think the 8,000 soldiers outside are made of mud? Just keep watching and stop talking nonsense! You'll definitely be needed when we go into battle, so hurry up!"

  Xu Sheng walked away with a smile after hearing what he wanted to hear, taking care of himself was all that mattered, it was an insignificant matter, what he feared was not being able to participate in the war, this was the big deal that affected his future.

  Xu Da was left alone in his tent, with his hands clasped together on the table, deep in thought...

  Complete works txt download, full text free, e-book, remember 77 reading books