I started on a deserted island and encountered Ying Zheng, who insisted I was an immortal.

Wang Ben took three steps at a time, like an agile monkey, and climbed onto the tank in a flash.

He lifted the hatch on the roof and climbed inside.

A few seconds later.

The tank's engine emitted a deep roar, like a giant beast awakening from its slumber.

On the roof of the vehicle, the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun slowly rotated its muzzle, aiming at the restless beasts on the opposite bank of the river.

"Old Zhao, Li Si, you two get in the car too," Zhang Ying said to the two people beside her. "Leave this to Wang Ben and me."

Without hesitation, Ying Zheng immediately pulled the still-dazed Li Si back into the command vehicle.

Although he longed to experience the thrill of slaughtering wild beasts with an AK4-7, he knew even more clearly that his own safety was the top priority.

The gentleman does not stand under the wall.

The emperor, even less so.

The herd of animals on the opposite bank of the river seemed to sense the danger as well.

Without further hesitation, they turned and tried to escape back into the dense forest behind them.

"Come and go as you please?" Wang Ben chuckled coldly in the cockpit. "Did you even ask your Grandpa Wang?"

He pressed the fire button on the machine gun.

Da da da da da da da—! ! !

A long tongue of fire shot out from the machine gun muzzle.

The 12.7mm heavy machine gun bullets, with a piercing whistle as they tore through the air, swept towards the woods like the scythe of death.

This is no longer a massacre.

This is a dimensional reduction attack.

The bullets easily tore through the beasts' thick fur and tough muscles.

Large, bowl-sized holes kept bursting open on their bodies.

Some wild animals were even cut in half at the waist!

Screams and wails echoed throughout the valley.

Trees were easily sliced ​​off by bullets, with debris and blood flying everywhere.

It only took a dozen seconds.

The hundreds of giant beasts that were so imposing just moments ago have now fallen in large numbers.

The rest were completely terrified.

They scrambled and crawled away in a panic, fleeing into the dark depths of the forest, never daring to look back.

The gunfire stopped.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

The opposite bank of the river was a scene of utter devastation.

Everywhere there were mutilated corpses.

Wang Ben poked his head out of the tank, looked at his masterpiece, and smacked his lips in satisfaction.

"That was awesome!"

Zhang Ying jumped off the command vehicle and walked to the corpse of the giant beast whose head had been blown off by Ying Zheng's gun.

He crouched down and examined it carefully.

"A strange species," he muttered to himself. "Like a hybrid of a wolf, a bear, and a hyena. The ecology of this plateau is quite interesting."

He drew his military knife, pried open the beast's mouth, and broke off its longest tusk.

This thing is at least 20 centimeters long and looks like a sharp dagger.

"Here you go." Zhang-Ying tossed the fangs to Wang Ben, who had followed her. "I'll have someone polish them up later and make them into a pendant for you to ward off evil."

"Thank you, Imperial Preceptor!" Wang Ben happily accepted it.

Ying Zheng and Li Si also got off the carriage.

Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground, Li Si felt a wave of nausea and wanted to vomit again.

Ying Zheng, however, remained unfazed.

He walked over to the giant beast's corpse and kicked it.

"Thick-skinned and strong," he commented. "If they could be tamed and used as mounts, they would be a formidable force."

"Forget it," Zhang Ying retorted bluntly. "This thing is wild and untamed, and it's not very bright. Look at how stupid it was just now, charging straight at you. Besides, you have a tank, what do you need this thing for?"

Ying Zheng thought about it and agreed.

Compared to a tank, this thing is a sitting duck.

"Dispose of the body properly," Zhang Ying ordered the soldiers. "Drag it downstream to prevent it from rotting and polluting the water. Also, double the guards tonight, and no one is allowed to sleep."

Although the herd of beasts has been driven away, no one can be sure that some other, even more powerful monsters might emerge from the forest.

That night, no one dared to close their eyes.

The campfire was blazing, and the searchlights were always on, illuminating the entire camp as if it were daytime.

Fortunately, no further accidents occurred until dawn.

Early the next morning.

The convoy continued its journey.

Having learned from last night's experience, everyone is much more vigilant now.

Wang Ben even sat directly on top of the tank, holding the anti-aircraft machine gun, ready to fire at any moment.

We walked along the valley for another day.

The terrain became increasingly flat, and the vegetation became increasingly lush.

They finally emerged from that desolate, rocky mountain.

Before us stretched an endless grassland.

Although the grass was withered and yellow, it was still much more pleasing to the eye than a bare, rocky mountain.

"Grand Preceptor, are we almost at the desert?" Wang Ben asked over the walkie-talkie.

"It should be soon." Zhang Ying looked at the navigation map. "We should be there once we cross this grassland. Tell everyone to be careful; this area looks flat, but there might be swamps or quicksand."

"clear!"

The convoy moved slowly across the grassland.

Just then, Zhang Ying's brows suddenly furrowed.

He saw some small black dots appearing on the distant horizon.

Those black dots are moving rapidly toward them.

"Stop the car!" Zhang-Ying immediately ordered.

The convoy stopped.

Zhang Ying picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction of the black dots.

A moment later, he put down the binoculars, his expression somewhat strange.

"What's wrong?" Ying Zheng asked.

"They are people," Zhang Ying said. "A group of cavalry."

"Cavalry?" Ying Zheng also became interested and picked up the binoculars.

really.

Through the telescope, it appeared to be a cavalry force of about five hundred men.

They rode tall horses, wore tattered leather armor, and carried all sorts of weapons, including scimitars, spears, and bows and arrows.

Judging from their posture, they were menacing and their intentions were clearly not good.

"Are they Yuezhi people?" Ying Zheng asked.

"It doesn't look like it." Zhang Ying shook her head. "The Yuezhi people aren't this dark-skinned. Look at their skin color and appearance; they're different from us and the Yuezhi people."

Ying Zheng examined it carefully.

indeed.

The cavalrymen had dark brown skin and more defined facial features.

"Are they from the Mauryan dynasty?"

"It doesn't seem like it." Zhang Ying shook her head again. "The main ethnic group of the Mauryan Dynasty should be further south. This is a border area, so it should be some unknown small tribe."

"Who cares what tribe they are?" Wang Ben shouted excitedly into the walkie-talkie. "Grand Preceptor, give the order! Should we run them over, or bombard them?"

In his view, these five hundred cavalrymen were no different from the pack of wild beasts from last night.

They're all sitting ducks.

"Don't rush," Zhang Ying said. "Let's see what they're up to first."

He didn't want to waste ammunition here.

Moreover, he also wanted to take this opportunity to have his first formal contact with the "locals" of this world.

The cavalry quickly charged to within a kilometer of the convoy.

They stopped and formed a loose formation, seemingly observing.

Inside the command vehicle.

Ying Zheng put down the telescope, a hint of disdain on his face.

"A rabble," he commented. "The formation is disorganized, the equipment is incomplete, and they don't even have a military flag."

In his view, this army was not even as good as the ragtag armies of the six kingdoms back then.

The Qin cavalry could tear them to shreds with a single charge.

Just then.

A man charged out from the opposing cavalry formation.

He rode a white horse, carrying no weapon, but instead holding a wooden pole adorned with white feathers.

As he urged his horse forward, he shouted something in a language that neither Zhang Ying nor Ying Zheng could understand.

"What is he saying?" Ying Zheng asked.

Zhang Ying shrugged: "I don't know, they're probably asking us which crack in the rock we popped out of."

"Send someone to ask," Ying Zheng ordered.

"Who should we send?" Zhang Ying retorted. "Does anyone here understand their language?"

The two looked at each other and fell silent.

This is a very awkward question.

They fought their way here without ever considering the language barrier.

Just then, a commotion came from the back of the truck.

The Yuezhi king, who had been half-dead, suddenly started shouting excitedly.

A soldier ran over and reported, "Your Majesty, Imperial Advisor, that Yuezhi king seems to have gone mad. He's babbling incoherently, and we can't understand what he's saying."

Zhang Ying and Ying Zheng exchanged a glance and immediately walked over.

The Yuezhi king was clinging to the railing of the cart, pointing at the man riding a white horse in the distance, his expression excited, repeatedly uttering a single word.

"Sai... Sai... people..."

Zhang Ying couldn't understand.

But Ying Zheng, who was standing next to him, had a slight change in expression.

"The Sai people?" Ying Zheng repeated in the Qin language.

Upon hearing the familiar language, the Yuezhi king grasped at a straw and nodded frantically, "Yes! Yes! Saka! They are Saka!"

Ying Zheng's eyes sharpened instantly.

The Saka, or more specifically, the Saka race.

A once incredibly powerful nomadic people on the grasslands of the Western Regions.

They were brave and skilled in battle, with hundreds of thousands of archers.

Before the rise of the Yuezhi people, they were the dominant force on this grassland.

Later, they were defeated by the powerful Yuezhi people. Some migrated westward, while others went south and crossed the Pamir Mountains.

I never expected to run into them here.