Gu Shengchao and Ding Ying rode away from Yunshang City. Ding Ying saw that he had deviated from the way he came, and reminded him: "Brother Gu, we seem to be going the wrong way."
"That's right. We have nothing to do anyway. I'll take you on a shortcut so that you can experience the beauty of the desert at night." Gu Shengchao led the way without hesitation.
"Have you been here?" Ding Ying didn't believe it.
Gu Shengchao explained: "I listened to the diners chatting at the noodle shop and learned about this road. It happens to be connected to the road I once walked. It can't be wrong."
"Tell me about it." Ding Ying became interested.
Gu Shengchao looked at the rolling hills in the distance and recalled the past: "My life experience has been told before, so I won't repeat it. Later, seeing that there was no way to get revenge, I planned to try my luck in the West Cold Country. That day, I walked through a desert and finally found There was a clear spring. After filling the water bag, I smelled a trace of blood. Looking for the smell, I saw corpses everywhere, and the blood had not yet solidified. I had no money at the time, so I had the courage to rummage around, and I actually collected it. It was a lot of money, but when I found someone, that person suddenly woke up and almost scared me to death."
He paused, obviously still frightened by the threat he received at that time, and continued: "The man grabbed me and muttered something that I didn't know what he was talking about. I was frightened and was about to run away, when I suddenly saw him coming out of his arms. He took out a small wooden box, said "Xuan Qing" and died. I went to get it happily, but I didn't expect that the man was pretending to be dead. There was a mechanism under the wooden box. He pulled the mechanism and wanted to kill me with the sleeve arrow inside. That's right. I was lucky, but the man was not accurate after losing his strength, and the sleeve arrow missed. I waited for a long time without seeing the man move. I went over and kicked him a few times to know that he was really dead."
"I opened the wooden box and found a luminous pearl inside. I also heard rumors that there are four top luminous pearls in the world, namely Mingyue, Xingluo, Zhaoye and Xuanqing. I couldn't tell the truth from the false. I remembered that Zhao Yinhu was about to pass his birthday. He It turned out to be the housekeeper of my family. He once told me about my birthday as a joke, so I remembered it. Unexpectedly, I actually used this luminous pearl and the sleeve arrow in the wooden box to distract him, and successfully pierced his life gate with a dagger. Then I killed him, and then my brother wanted to kill me and knocked me unconscious in the cemetery, where we met."
After Gu Shengchao talked about this experience, his grief and anger were unspeakable, and his eyes were full of hatred. He rode forward for a while before slowly recovering.
Ding Ying also felt a lot and said with relief: "Let him let go of the past. Anyway, you finally got your revenge, which can be regarded as fulfilling your wish."
The two of them rode forward on horseback. In the first few days, they visited towns of various sizes along the way and stayed in inns to rest at night. Gu Shengchao would take time to read the book "Detailed Explanation of Formulas" every day. He found that this book explained the formulas of various martial arts mental methods in more detail. The "Explanation of Formulas" he originally read was just an introduction, and "Detailed Explanations of Formulas" It is true knowledge. Gu Shengchao reviewed the mental techniques and formulas he had mastered, and his martial arts improved even more.
On this day, they came to a small town with a vast desert in the distance. After staying at the hotel, Gu Shengchao and Ding Ying inquired and learned that there was no place to stay further ahead. It would take three days to walk in the desert without getting lost. Only the Queen of Heaven can reach the territory of the Dawu Dynasty. The innkeeper suggested that the two of them stay for a few more days and wait until there was a large group of business travelers before heading out together. Gu Shengchao smiled and said nothing, and he made all preparations alone. She bought two long guns, two hard bows, two quivers with sixty arrows in each, as well as tarpaulins and wooden strips. She even bought a quiver for farm work, which Ding Ying couldn't figure out. through.
Convenient food and enough water are necessary to prepare. Gu Shengchao also bought a lot of grains and alfalfa, mixed them together, and put them into a big bag.
"There are green grass everywhere on the road. Are you still worried that the livestock will have nothing to eat?" Ding Ying was puzzled.
Gu Shengchao told her: "The desert is desolate. The horses will not die of hunger if they don't have enough to eat, but it will affect their physical strength and they will never be able to walk out for three days."
Ding Ying had no experience and had to follow Gu Shengchao's arrangements. The two stayed in the town for one more day, fed the horses enough, and entered the desert after dark that night. Ding Ying couldn't understand this operation. There was no point in rushing in the dark. She just stayed by Gu Shengchao's side silently and followed him forward.
The two of them rode very far, leaving the small town behind them. Gu Shengchao pointed to the flat and barren desert ahead and asked, "Can you find the road signs in such a wilderness?"
Ding Ying looked far away and saw that everything was the same everywhere. She couldn't tell the difference between east, west, north and south. She smiled and said, "I can't find it. Since you asked me, there must be a way."
Gu Shengchao praised: "You are still smart. I didn't know it before. I learned it after helping the caravan on many long journeys." He pointed to the north and said: "Look, that star is called the North Pole, and it will always be there. We are due north, so as long as you refer to it when traveling at night, you will not lose the square shape. Although there is a red sun during the day, the position of rising in the east and setting in the west is not fixed. It is easy for us to go in circles and take the wrong path. We may even find ourselves back after a hard day's work. Stay where we are. The guy at the inn asked us to wait for the business travelers to travel together. In fact, we have to travel at night. When there are many people at night, wild animals will stay away, which ensures everyone's safety."
"So that's it." Ding Ying finally understood.
The two walked on the night road all night. When the white fish belly appeared in the east, Gu Shengchao and Ding Ying stopped. He was full of internal energy and quickly dug a large pit with a gentle slope next to it. He built wooden bars and covered it with a tarpaulin. Then he and Ding Ying led their horses down the gentle slope. The people feed the horses, and then the two horses rest under the tarpaulin.
When Ding Ying woke up, she felt a little stuffy. She walked out of the tarp along the gentle slope. The scorching sun outside was burning like a raging fire. She looked around, and she couldn't open her eyes because of the bright lights everywhere. At the far end, the steam was thick and steaming like a steamer. , Ding Ying was so frightened that she ran back under the tarp and did not dare to go out.
When the sun set and the sky became dark, Gu Shengchao took action. The people and horses had a good meal, packed their bags and set off again.
Gu Shengchao pointed to the southeast and said: "If I remember the direction correctly, we will pass by a clear spring in the middle of the night. Let's do a little repair there and find a small village before dawn. The village is not big and only has a few households. , and it can also ensure that we have a good sleep."
Ding Ying was also curious after hearing this. How did the villagers survive in the desert? She couldn't wait to see it.
The crescent moon was like a hook, and in the empty desert there was only the sound of horses' hooves and breathing. Ding Ying suddenly pointed at the faint black shadow in front of her and said, "Brother Gu, look, what is that?"
Gu Shengchao became happy: "That's a tree. There are three willow trees in total. Under the tree is the clear spring I mentioned."
The horse also smelled the fragrance of the green grass, and ran over at the same time without the urging of the two, and arrived under the tree in a short time. It is a miracle that a small patch of green appears in the barren desert. Gu Shengchao and Ding Ying dismounted from their horses and went to the spring to collect water and fill their water bags. The horses ate the grass leisurely and snorted a few times to express their pleasure.
The two were resting when the clear sound of camel bells came from the distance. Gu Shengchao was worried, so he and Ding Ying took their horses aside to avoid trouble, giving the spring out of the way to avoid trouble.
Not long after, the camel team arrived. There were more than 20 well-trained camels, and they all lay down to facilitate the people on the camels to get off. Gu Shengchao counted silently, there were twenty-two camels, thirteen people, and the rest of the camels were carrying things. The camels drank water one by one around the spring without fighting. It seemed that they were used to coming here frequently. The thirteen people sat together, with two women in the middle, and the others were surrounding them. Bows and arrows were placed beside them to keep alert, and they ate in silence.
The leader was a middle-aged man. When he saw Gu Shengchao and the others taking the initiative to give way to the spring, he took some dried meat and handed it to Gu Shengchao and said: "Sorry to bother you two, how far is it from the boundary of the Dawu Dynasty?" Far away?" the middle-aged man said, his eyes sweeping over the two of them like lightning, and using his peripheral vision, he glanced at the spears, bows and arrows and the packages they were carrying.
Gu Shengchao didn't want to expose him, so he took the dried meat and said calmly: "If everything goes well, we can arrive the day after tomorrow."
"Thank you!" The middle-aged man seemed to have gotten the answer he wanted, and returned to his team without asking any more questions.
Ding Ying asked in a low voice: "Brother Gu, where are they from and what do they do?"
Gu Shengchao looked at the people sitting together, tore off a small piece of dried meat, put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly, and whispered to Ding Ying: "Look, they are from Beihu, and ordinary dried meat is baked." , only Beihu’s jerky is naturally air-dried, it’s unmistakable.”
"Really?" Ding Ying didn't believe it, so she tore off a small strip of dried meat and put it in her mouth. She said in surprise, "Yes, it just tastes different from the dried meat I've eaten."
Gu Shengchao looked at the goods on the hump: "This is the junction area of Beihu, Xileng Kingdom and Dawu Dynasty. It is normal for desperadoes to often smuggle goods to make huge profits. But there are actually two women in their team. It's unreasonable. And..." Gu Shengchao stared at the dusk in the distance and said worriedly: "They also provoked wolves, and there is one lurking there."
"Where?" Ding Ying searched carefully but couldn't find it.
Suddenly, a shrill howl of wolves was heard in the distance. The horses around Gu Shengchao were frightened and raised their front hooves high, neighing uncontrollably. Gu Shengchao held the reins to prevent the horse from getting frightened and running around. At the limit of his perception, there were hundreds of wolves coming in and out from all directions. He was eager to rush in, but was controlled by some mysterious force. He worriedly said: "No, it's a pack of wolves, there should be a lot of them."
The team that had been quiet just now also broke into commotion, and the middle-aged man said sternly: "Don't panic, form a formation."
They moved quickly, leading the camels into a circle. Some people put the camels down one by one and tied the two hind hooves, while others held bows and arrows and stood guard outside.
Ding Ying felt the vibration on the ground, grabbed Gu Shengchao's arm and said in panic: "Brother Gu, what should we do?"
"Stay with them. It's easy to take care of them when there are many people. I have never seen so many wolves." For Ding Ying's safety, Gu Shengchao took the horse and took the initiative, fearing that something might happen during the melee and he would not be able to protect her in time. Join the team.
The middle-aged man welcomed them when he saw them coming. Before all the more than twenty camels had been brought down, the ancient sage Chao drew his bow and pointed an arrow in the northeast direction.
"Whoosh!"
A wolf lurking in the night was hit by an arrow in the forehead. The ancient sage's inner strength was extremely strong. The arrow pierced the wolf's head and then flew it backwards for a while before landing.
"good!"
There were many experts in the team who saw the hidden strength of Gu Shengchao's arrow and cheered for him.
