Long Dan was quite experienced in handling such situations.
He first knocked out the two men with swift chops to their necks, then asked Jiang Si, “How would you like us to deal with them, My Lady?”
Although these scoundrels trying to steal his roasted rabbit leg was infuriating, it didn’t warrant killing them. He wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer after all.
Jiang Si walked over and looked down at the two unconscious men.
Upon closer inspection, both men were of large build with slightly rough skin.
“These are foreigners,” Jiang Si spoke.
Elder Hua, who had stayed behind, raised her eyebrows slightly upon hearing this.
Long Dan was surprised and pointed at the two men, “They’re not from Da Zhou?”
They didn’t look any different and spoke fluent Da Zhou language.
Thinking of this, Long Dan glanced at Elder Hua.
This old lady wasn’t from Da Zhou either, but if he hadn’t known her identity beforehand, he wouldn’t have been able to tell.
The silent Old Qin suddenly spoke up, “Just now, this man shouted something that sounded like the language from Northern Qi.”
Old Qin was referring to the older of the two men.
Earlier, when Old Qin had splashed him with hot porridge, the man had blurted out in his frustration.
“Northern Qi?” Long Dan stroked his chin, his eyes showing a hint of killing intent, “This is already south of the capital. Why would people from Northern Qi appear here?”
In recent years, Da Zhou and Northern Qi hadn’t engaged in formal warfare, only occasional small conflicts at the border.
Or rather, it was Northern Qi’s one-sided plundering of Da Zhou’s border villages.
Northern Qi was a nation of horseback riders, with a harsh life and scarce resources. Looting food, cloth, and other supplies from Da Zhou people had become a shortcut to improve their lives.
Of course, the Da Zhou troops stationed in the north would retaliate, but the Northern Qi people would raid and flee quickly, making it hard to defend against them and causing constant trouble.
Over the years, as long as no large-scale conflicts or incidents were happening right under their noses, these stationed troops could only turn a blind eye.
Moreover, in terms of combat prowess, the Da Zhou people were generally not as strong as the Northern Qi people. Growing up on beef, mutton, and milk, the Northern Qi people were all tall and strong, with excellent horsemanship.
“Looking at these two men’s build, they are indeed larger than our average Da Zhou men. But this man only shouted once, I didn’t even hear clearly what he said. Old Qin, how can you be so sure they’re from Northern Qi?” Long Dan circled the two men on the ground, curious but cautious.
He had dealt with people from Southern Lan often, but if these two were from Northern Qi, it would be his first encounter with them.
Old Qin crouched down and started pulling at the older man’s clothes, saying, “When I was young, I was once stationed in the north on rotation.”
Long Dan suddenly remembered Old Qin’s background and smiled, “I had forgotten, you used to be General Qin.”
“What General Qin,” Old Qin didn’t want to dwell on the past and quickened his movements.
Seeing this, Long Dan hurriedly stopped him, “Old Qin, the mistress is still here. What are you trying to do?”
Old Qin looked up at Jiang Si.
He had always felt that the Princess Consort wasn’t one to mind such things, but with Long Dan’s reminder, undressing a man in front of her did seem inappropriate.
“Are you looking for something? Don’t worry, go ahead and search,” Jiang Si said calmly.
Did they think she was the kind of person who would blush at the sight of a man’s bare chest? Don’t be ridiculous. Rather than wasting time on such concerns, it was better to quickly determine why these two foreigners were here.
With Jiang Si’s words, Old Qin proceeded without hesitation, quickly pulling open the man’s cotton jacket to reveal his chest.
The man’s exposed chest was covered in thick hair, with a tattoo in the center.
Upon seeing the tattoo, Old Qin said with certainty, “This man is undoubtedly from Northern Qi.”
He then went to pull open the younger man’s clothes, finding a similar tattoo on his chest as well.
Long Dan curiously leaned in and hesitantly said, “Is that a wolf’s head on this man’s chest?”
Old Qin nodded, “That man has a wolf tattoo, this one has an eagle. Both wolves and eagles are revered by Northern Qi people, symbolizing power and nobility. Northern Qi men often tattoo images of wolves, eagles, or similar creatures on their chests. This can be considered a marker of their identity.”
Jiang Si observed for a moment and murmured, “These two are disguised as Da Zhou people and are fluent in our language. What could be their purpose here? Long Dan, can you try to find out?”
Long Dan smiled, “This is my first time dealing with Northern Qi people. I’ll do my best, but I’ll need everyone’s cooperation.”
“How should we cooperate?”
Long Dan whispered a few words, causing the three others, including Jiang Si, to look at him with strange expressions.
They hadn’t expected Long Dan to be this kind of person.
After an unknown amount of time, the younger man’s eyelids twitched, and he opened his eyes.
He saw a damaged Buddha statue and dark walls, with the aroma of roasted meat wafting into his nose.
After a brief moment of confusion, the young man immediately closed his eyes again, secretly trying to move his limbs.
His hands and feet weren’t tied!
Had that pretty boy just knocked them out and left them alone?
The young man opened his eyes to a slit, turning his gaze towards the direction of the firelight and the strong aroma.
An old woman, a young girl, a scruffy man, and a pretty boy.
The firelight illuminated their faces, allowing the young man to see them.
These people hadn’t left… they were still roasting meat and eating!
Realizing this, the young man’s first reaction was anger.
They had knocked him and his brother out, and now they were just casually continuing to roast meat. They were treating them with such disregard, it was insulting!
The young man moved his fingers, about to take action when suddenly a voice came from that direction.
It was the pretty boy speaking: “Hehe, I told you one roasted rabbit wasn’t enough for four people to share, barely enough to fill the gaps in our teeth. On such a snowy day in this old temple, people just deliver themselves to our doorstep.”
The young man was startled, feeling an inexplicable chill at these words.
Then came the voice of the scruffy man: “Help make a few cuts, the meat on the leg is thick and hard to flavor thoroughly.”
“Sure thing.”
Then came the sizzling sound of fat dripping into the fire.
The young man felt inexplicably tense and looked towards the fire.
A leg of meat was mounted over the fire, seemingly just the middle section of a leg, skewered on a thick wooden branch being turned by the scruffy man. The skin had already turned golden, and that rich aroma was coming from there.
The pretty boy poked the large leg meat with a dagger, looking somewhat concerned: “It’s a pity, the leg meat of an adult man is still a bit too tough, the texture won’t be as good.”
The scruffy man turned the roasting meat without changing his expression, saying, “On a snowy day like this, having anything to eat is good enough.”
The pretty boy stroked his chin: “That’s true, and since two came at once, if we roast them all night and make jerky, we can eat for quite a while. But let me tell you, the meat of women and children tastes better…”
The young man’s expression froze as he glanced to the side, seeing a boot.
It was the shoe of the older man.
The young man leaped up and ran for his life.