The Fallen Nation System, Turning the Tide - Chapter 67: Grass Field

Chapter 67: Grass Field

“This sheep cannot be sold. We must bring it back to Great Jin.”

Zhang Keqian had stepped down from his position as army supervisor. Exposed to wind and sun in the military camp as the weather grew warmer, soldiers increasingly preferred washing clothes and relaxing downstream by the river after training, enjoying their brief leisure time.

Xia Chenglie sent word that he would lead troops to the Northern Barbarians’ border to eliminate remnant deserters who had fled from the Northern Barbarians. With the Western Rong blocking their path and the Jin army advancing northward, they formed a pincer movement to encircle the Northern Barbarian remnants.

Western Rong soldiers silently cleared a path for Zhang Keqian. The Jin army successfully reached the designated location. The Northern Barbarians panicked at the sight of the Jin troops, fled northward when unable to resist, but then encountered Xia Chenglie’s forces. Trembling with fear, they immediately discarded their weapons and surrendered.

Ji Mo.

The female physicians originally intended to dictate medical knowledge, have Maimaiti translate, and then record it using Ji Mo’s writing system. However, they encountered problems from the start – Maimaiti couldn’t accurately translate many specialized terms. Having them learn Chinese wasn’t feasible due to time constraints.

Wang Qiu approached Halike for negotiation and proposed a solution: “Why don’t let us handle the Western Rong matter first? After we return to Great Jin, we will report your country’s request to His Majesty. The Emperor will then dispatch more accomplished experts to teach medicine?”

After Maimaiti explained their difficulties to Halike, Halike hesitated for a moment before producing a long, guttural string of words. Maimaiti bowed and nodded repeatedly, making Wang Qiu’s heart pound with anxiety.

After a while, Maimaiti turned and approached Wang Qiu: “We need to report to our king. Please wait.”

Wang Qiu nodded in understanding, aware that their return to Great Jin would also require time.

During the waiting period, the female physicians treated local residents and explained simple treatment methods for common illnesses.

Soon Halike brought a sealed document. Maimaiti thoughtfully provided a translation, with Chinese annotations on a separate piece of sheepskin.

Wang Qiu received it with both hands, unrolled it, and read the Ji Mo king’s letter to their emperor. She softly read the contents to the Women’s Army.

The King of Ji Mo offered to send fine horses, spices, and rare treasures to Great Jin, requesting their emperor to send great wizards to teach Wizardry. If inconvenient, they would select intelligent women to study in Great Jin.

“Wizardry?” Niu Pengnan sounded puzzled.

Wang Qiu speculated, “It must be a clerical error.”

Additionally, Ji Mo’s willingness to send women to Great Jin likely stemmed from observing that all practicing physicians were female, mistakenly assuming medicine was passed down only through women.

Wang Qiu found this both amusing and exasperating.

They packed their belongings and prepared to depart. Before leaving, Ji Mo presented them with several tethered sheep, naan bread, spices, and other local specialties, arranging camels to carry their luggage. Halike sent escorts to accompany them partway. After resting in Ji Mo, Wang Qiu’s group set out for Western Rong with anticipation.

Ji Mo was an oasis in the desert, situated on an alluvial plain with flat terrain. Meltwater from the Tianshan Mountains nurtured the local population.

Looking back after leaving the city, Wang Qiu marveled at this place, resolving to pacify Western Rong and petition the emperor to send more envoys to communicate with Western Region kingdoms.

Not long after departing Ji Mo, as dusk approached one evening, the Women’s Army stopped to rest. Wang Qiu unscrewed her water flask to drink when suddenly a cry rang out: “The sheep!”

Wang Qiu followed the sound and looked over. The sheep that had been tied to the withered tree had somehow broken free from their ropes and scattered in all directions. Startled, Wang Qiu exclaimed, “The Emperor’s sheep!”

She had planned to present them to the Emperor so he could taste Ji Mo’s mutton!

Her heart sank, and without thinking, she leaped up. The water pot in her hand splashed irregular droplets that quickly soaked into the ground.

Now wholly focused on the escaped sheep, Wang Qiu hastily stoppered the water pot and hung it at her waist. “Quick, go catch the sheep! Don’t let them get away!”

Niu Pengnan also rushed over, but the frightened sheep immediately bolted whenever anyone approached.

Some went to catch the sheep while the others quickly gathered the scattered luggage on the ground, tossed it onto the camels’ backs, and led the camels to catch up with those ahead.

Originally, Ji Mo had gifted ten sheep, but only eight were recovered in the end. Two had run off and disappeared without a trace. Seeing everyone dejected and full of self-blame, Wang Qiu steadied her breathing and comforted them, “It’s good that we found most of them. Let’s just assume the missing two fell ill and died on the road. It’s not a big problem.”

Niu Pengnan tightly bound the eight recovered sheep, removed some luggage, and hung the sheep on both sides of the camels. The sheep bleated miserably in discomfort.

Wang Qiu asked doubtfully, “Will this work?”

Niu Pengnan patted his chest confidently. “No problem. We’ll let them down soon to feed them something and let them get familiar with us.”

Since Niu Pengnan had previously been a Cook Soldier, Wang Qiu, though skeptical, did not voice any objection. She silently prayed that the sheep would hold on until they returned.

After recovering the sheep, Wang Qiu looked up and her expression turned grave. The vast Gobi stretched before them, wind whipping up sand and stones. The traces of their arrival had been blown away, covered by sand swept in from who knows where.

Niu Pengnan soon realized the problem as well, his heart sinking. He stood frozen in place, swallowed hard, and his voice was immediately torn apart by the wind, the remnants scattered: “…Have we gotten lost again?”

Wang Qiu nodded in despair. She pointed in the direction behind the Women’s Army. “We came from this way. Let’s just follow this direction. At worst, we should be able to return to Ji Mo.”

Given how easily one could get lost here, Wang Qiu instructed everyone to stick together as much as possible. Being isolated in this desolate place could lead to trouble.

After several more days of travel, they still had not returned to Ji Mo, nor did they know in which direction they were heading. Every place looked quite similar, making it impossible to distinguish.

Wang Qiu sensed something was wrong, but they couldn’t change direction arbitrarily now. They had to press forward until they found someone to ask for directions.

Amid the ringing of camel bells, they finally spotted some low-lying wild grass. Further ahead lay a grassland that lived up to their hopes. Overjoyed, everyone urged the sheep forward, quickening their pace.

During their journey, three more sheep had died. The remaining five were listless and sickly. Wang Qiu hoped that upon reaching the grassland, these five sheep would regain their appetite and vigor.

Amid the endless green grassland, a furious roar suddenly came from behind. Wang Qiu turned to see a bearded man on horseback not far away, his brows furrowed and eyes glaring with intense anger. He was shouting loudly in some unintelligible language, waving his arms wildly as if cursing.

Everyone turned to look at each other, exchanging glances.

The bearded man rode over on his horse, holding a whip, and pointed at the sheep beside Wang Qiu while grunting loudly.

Wang Qiu thought he wanted their sheep and quickly waved her hands, pointing at the animals as she explained, “These sheep aren’t for sale. We need to bring them back to Great Jin.”

Unexpectedly, this only angered the man further. He rattled off a stream of unintelligible words, dismounted, and shouted at the sheep to scare them away from grazing. Then he turned to face Wang Qiu, pointed back in the direction they had come from, and emitted a threatening growl from his throat.

Wang Qiu finally understoodhe was driving them away.

“We came from Great Jin and lost our way. This is our identification and travel pass issued by Ji Mo,” Wang Qiu hurriedly took out the stamped document from her robe, unfolding it to show the man.

The man took the document and studied it for a long time, pausing particularly over the seal. Wang Qiu had no idea if he could read it, her heart pounding nervously as she awaited his reaction.

After a while, the man’s expression softened slightly. He returned the document to Wang Qiu, spread his large palms wide, stretched both arms, made two whooping sounds, and pointed at himselfapparently indicating this territory belonged to him.

His gaze then shifted to the sheep Wang Qiu had brought. He bared his teeth at the five sheep, startling them fiercely. One sheep took a bite of grass, retreated two steps, and chewed slowly. When it had nearly finished eating, it stretched its neck forward again, round eyes bulging, and took another bite. The man snorted in frustration and waved his hands to shoo them away.

Niu Pengnan understood his meaning and quickly stepped forward to catch the five sheep, tying them securely and hanging them from the camels.

The man visibly relaxed, finally taking time to properly observe their group. He stared at them strangely for a long moment before pointing in a specific direction.

“Is that the way to Great Jin?” Wang Qiu vaguely grasped that he was giving directions.

The man paused to think, then hesitantly took a few steps forward, extended his arm toward the direction he’d indicated, and walked over to Wang Qiu to tap his finger on the document.

Niu Pengnan watched from a distance and couldn’t help commenting, “He must have understood Ji Mo’s document and is showing us the way. This is most likely the direction back to Great Jin…”

Hearing this, the group’s faces lit up with joy. Wang Qiu also believed this to be true and immediately raised her hand in gratitude to the bearded man before leading the Women’s Army and female physicians away.

The bearded man followed them for part of their journey to see them off. Niu Pengnan said movedly, “The Western Region tribespeople are so kindhe’s even escorting us.”

Wang Qiu deeply agreed: “Indeed. When we return to Great Jin, I must record all our experiences in the Western Region in detail. This will help Great Jin better understand these lands and let future generations learn about such touching encounters.”

As she imagined this, a faint smile unconsciously spread across Wang Qiu’s face.

The bearded man escorted the strange group out of his pasture boundaries and didn’t return home on horseback until evening. His wife asked curiously, “Why are you back so late?”

“I encountered several dozen strange-looking people today carrying what appeared to be Ji Mo’s insignia on sheepskin documents. They’re not to be trifled with. They were grazing sheep on my land, so I drove them toward Bayi’s territory,” the bearded man quickly explained the day’s events to his wife, proving he hadn’t been out fooling around.

His wife turned her head, “Strange people?”

The bearded man nodded vigorously and described to her: “His nose isn’t as high as ours, his mouth is small, and his face is roundin short, I’ve never seen anyone so strange before.”

His wife guessed, “Must be a merchant caravan from somewhere.”

The bearded man shook his head, “Doesn’t seem like it. Probably came from Ji Mo.”

“That would be the Eastern Lands then. Never seen a merchant caravan from the far east before. Next time you run into them, bring them over for me to see…”

Author’s Note:

Wrapping up soon.

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solutions between 2023-05-24 21:35:28 and 2023-05-25 23:40:44~

Special thanks for nutrient solutions: Miao Jiang77 (20 bottles), Rebel Knight, Suitable for Home (10 bottles each), Grass Lizard (5 bottles), Lakeside of Yinlai (3 bottles), Fang Qianqian, Arrogance, Purple Moon (2 bottles each), Samoyed, Bookworm Lost in Fog, Tardy Bell, Ice Point Cream, 61829451, Mumu (1 bottle each).

Thank you all so much for your support. I’ll keep working hard!