The night was dark, and Liu Bian leaned against a huge rock, looking at the stars in the sky in a daze.$..

Diao Chan leaned beside Liu Bian, holding his arms tightly, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep, breathing smoothly, and his expression was as calm as a baby in a cradle.

The wind comes from the south, with a faint spring sensation on your face, not as bitter as the north wind in winter.

Spring is here.

Unfortunately, the spring breeze has a little warmer, but there is no more water vapor. When the snow melts, seeps into the earth, and becomes an indispensable source of water for grass growth, it is still a dry and water-less wasteland. Except for those herders who have nowhere to go and merchants seeking wealth for thousands of miles, few people are willing to stay here for more.

However, this land called the Mongolian Plateau in later generations is the birthplace of countless nomadic peoples. The nomadic peoples that appeared here have grown up again and again, riding war horses, roaring towards the Central Plains, killing in all directions, affecting the history of China and even the entire world. Some have returned in vain, while others have established their own dynasties in the Central Plains, turning thousands of miles of fertile fields into pastures. Under their pressure, the Han people in the Central Plains moved south again and again, first with the Eastern Jin Dynasty and then with the Southern Song Dynasty, and were in peace in a corner. Later, in front of the Mongolian Iron Cavalry and the iron hoofs of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, even the secret of peace became a luxury.

There is a novel that once caused great controversy about this story. His arguments are not worthy of comment, but the phenomenon he mentioned is real. The Central Plains called itself a country of culture, but was knocked down again and again in front of backward alien races. It is a tragedy.

This is not only a tragedy in the East, but also for Westerners. The only difference is that the Western barbarians defeated the Roman body, but took over the classical civilization originating from Greece. After defeating the Han dynasty, the Eastern nomadic peoples took over the more rigorous ideological confinement, which almost completely destroyed the Chinese civilization.

Liu Bian has been thinking about this. He is not a philosopher or a historian, and he can't think of too many nouns. But he has a relatively common view, which may be very close to the truth, that is, sometimes culture does not necessarily bring civilization, but it may be weak. Not to mention anything else. Take Wang Qiang, who is sitting in the cave to regulate his breathing. After staying in the northern Xinjiang for a few years, he is completely different from ordinary scholars in the Central Plains. But if it were not forcing the situation, would he be willing to come to the northern Xinjiang?

It's hard to imagine.

The ideal of scholars is to save the country and to be the emperor's teacher. They educate the people with the Tao of the sages and achieve peace in the world. Even the Master was not willing to do so. The Master wanted to live in the nine barbarians and float on a raft in the sea, which was just a pissing word that he said in a difficult time.

Unfortunately, even such an ideal disappeared later.

"Oh--" Liu Bian sighed.

"Husband, what's wrong?" Diao Chan opened her hazy eyes, looked around, sat up straight, raised her slender hands, and lifted her hair around her cheeks. She looked at Liu Bian and looked back at the cave: "He hasn't realized yet? Why don't you help him?"

"That's not possible." Liu Bian shook his head. "I helped Yang Feng understand his life because he had been practicing for decades, and was only one step away from that. Wang Qiang's foundation is too poor. If he couldn't understand himself, I wouldn't help him even if he wanted to. In fact, if it wasn't for the situation, I wouldn't even help Yang Feng. After all, practice is my own business, and relying on external help is not the right way."

Diao Chan said "Oh", but looking at her expression, she didn't know whether she really understood or pretended to understand. However, for her, these were not important. She was not interested in cultivation and did not care whether she had realized her fate. As long as Liu Bian was by her side, she would be satisfied.

"Why did Your Majesty sigh?"

Liu Bian lowered his head and kissed Diao Chan on the forehead. "I was wondering if I was thinking too much for them. Is it worth delaying the trip to kill Murong Feng?"

Diao Chan blinked her eyes and nodded in agreement: "Your Majesty is indeed thinking too much about King Chenliu, but this is His Majesty's love for him. There is nothing worth it or not. As long as Your Majesty thinks it is worth it, it is worth it."

Liu Bian laughed silently. What Diao Chan said was not exactly the same as what he said, but the result was similar. He patted Diao Chan on the shoulder: "Okay, we will go our own way tomorrow, no matter Murong Feng."

"What about Wang Qiang?"

"Let him take us to Langjuxu Mountain and then go our separate ways."

Diao Chan smiled.

...

Wang Qiang sat quietly all night, although he failed to realize his life, but when he got up, he was refreshed and energetic, and he was not as depressed as he had not been asleep for a night. He believed that this was the benefit Liu Bian brought to him and was very grateful.

"Although I have not realized my fate, I am by Your Majesty's side, and I have made great progress every day."

"That was because you had been in northern Xinjiang for a few years, and your heart was firm and it was beyond ordinary people's comparison, but it was not my credit."

Liu Bian said a few words and said his plan after the change. Wang Qiang heard it, and felt it was reasonable. Compared with killing Murong Feng, rushing to Xuanming Sea as soon as possible and competing for the dragon with Xun Yu. Although Murong Feng's strength has become stronger, it is still a world of difference compared to Tan Shihuai back then. Tan Shihuai cannot enter the Central Plains. Murong Feng can only do so in the northern border at most, not to mention Dong Zhuo and Gongsun Zan are in charge of the northern border, so he should be able to control the danger to the minimum. Even if Murong Feng grows stronger, Liu Bian can't do anything. He can't take care of everything with one hand. If the dragon falls into Xun Yu's hands, the danger will be even greater.

"Your Majesty, I think this should be the case."

"Okay, let's go after breakfast."

Wang Qiang responded and hurriedly went to arrange breakfast. After the three of them enjoyed a rich breakfast with sashimi and horse meat, they packed up and set off north. After temporarily putting down their plans to kill Murong Feng, Liu Bian stopped hesitating and moved forward wholeheartedly. His speed suddenly increased. He ran sixty miles in half a day and left Murong Feng's men far behind.

...

Murong Feng received the news, pondered for a long time, and then ordered to continue chasing.

He was originally worried that Liu Bian would have other intentions. After all, even if he could not face his five thousand knights head-on, it would not be difficult to find an opportunity to launch a surprise attack. He did not want to command thousands of people, but died in an assassination. The Xianbei was divided into pieces, and he also wanted to take over the battle flag of Tan Shihuai and unify the Xianbei again.

Now that Liu Bian accelerated his journey north, he had no intention of staying at all, so he felt much more at ease. At this speed, his plan to surround him was failed and he could only concentrate in one place. With thousands of troops gathered around him, Murong Feng was even more at ease and ordered a pursuit.

However, his speed was still not very fast. Seeing that Liu Bian was getting further and further away, the distance between the two sides reached more than 150 miles, he could only follow the traces left by Liu Bian and others on the snow. He Lian was anxious and found Murong Feng again.

"Master, if you continue chasing like this, we will not be able to catch up with Liu Bian before we reach Langjuxu Mountain. Liu Bian will run away."

Murong Feng ignored it, as if he hadn't heard of it.

He Lian was very anxious, but he did not dare to force Murong Feng. After Murong Feng saw it, he promised not to covet the position of Xianbei King. He Lian felt guilty when he saw Murong Feng. Now he found that his scheming had nothing to do with studying, and he did not know a Chinese character in Murong Feng, which did not affect his speculation about people's hearts. His little bit of scruples could not hide for long in front of Murong Feng.

Standing outside Murong Feng's tent, He stomped his feet and sighed.

...

Ten days later, Liu Bian and the other two rushed to Langjuxu Mountain.

Seeing the winding river on the east side of the hillside, Liu Bian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, the river on the west side of the hillside leads to the North Sea. This river goes east, which should be the river that leads directly to the sea that Your Majesty said. However, I have never been there, and I don't know if this is the case."

"It should be true." Liu Bian raised his head and looked around, feeling relieved. Although he had not seen the familiar scenery, he had a premonition that this should be the source of the river called Heilongjiang in later generations - the river he once went upstream and met Xun Yu. "Shaoze, thank you for sending us all the way here. I will rest here for a night today, and we will part ways tomorrow. You go back to the Central Plains and we will travel east."

"Yes." Wang Qiang responded with regret. For the past ten days, although he has been practicing hard every day, his progress has been very fast, and he feels like he has been transformed compared to before, but after all, the practice is short and he is still a distance from enlightenment. With Liu Bian, he can't help, but instead becomes a burden to him. What's more, he can see from Diao Chan's expression that Diao Chan does not like the world of two people he disturbs them.

Wang Qiang took them to a hidden cave, and then took the initiative to collect firewood. Diao Chan was busy setting up the cave to prepare for camping. However, Liu Bian climbed the high slope and released a big eagle to inquire about the situation around him.

The eagle spread its wings and flew high, and saw all the grass and trees within a radius of more than ten miles.

There was a calm surroundings, and there was not even a single figure on the snow except for the footprints of some small animals.

Liu Bian went down the mountain, rode the beast, and ran for dozens of miles to the source of the river flowing to the North Sea on the west side of the hillside. He got off his horse, pulled out his mysterious sword, and explored into the clear and cold water. The mysterious sword turned into a dragon, poured into the river water, and rushed forward, and in an instant, he came to a wide lake.

This place should be Beihai, Lake Berga in later generations, and the famous Su Wu once shepherded sheep for 19 years.

Now, the North Sea is silent and deserted. Liu Bian has been marching along the lake, but he has not seen a single figure.

Liu Bian retracted his consciousness and put it into the sheath, but did not leave. He sat on the huge rock by the river for a long time, then stepped on the beast again, and did not return to the campsite, but walked further away.

The eagle spread its wings and flew to the four directions that it passed by. With the afterglow of the sunset, it scanned the grassland within dozens of miles around Langjuxu Mountain.
Chapter completed!