Back at camp, time is almost up.
Li Xiuyuan looked at the group of busy guards in front of him, thinking about the cultivation level of those guys hiding in the pine forest.
The night was too dark and the pine forest was too dense, so Li Xiuyuan did not feel the cultivation of several monks.
One of the guards was wounded by an arrow. They made a fire and bandaged the wound while boiling water.
Li Xiuyuan checked carefully and found that no guard suffered too much damage tonight. This was good news, at least he could move on.
Some boys and girls who woke up in the night stuck their heads out, but they were frightened and shrank back when the guards shouted.
Only Xu Fu didn't wake up. Maybe he was too tired on the first day of travel.
Li Xiuyuan didn't dare to sleep, so he came to the fire and waited for the guards to boil water and make a pot of tea to watch the long night.
For some reason, the guard leader came over to chat with Li Xiuyuan after inspecting the camp.
"Brother, you are not afraid of these bandits."
The visitor patted his chest and smiled: "My name is Zhao Meng, and I am responsible for accompanying Mr. Xu Fu to the sea to find the elixir for the king."
"My name is Li Xiuyuan, and I opened a small wine shop in the Imperial City."
Li Xiuyuan replied calmly: "Xu Fu is my friend. I heard that he was going back to the sea, so I followed him to join in the fun. Mr. Zhao won't care, right?"
There was a long road ahead, and Li Xiuyuan didn't care about communicating with such warriors on the journey. He even had some small thoughts, if Xu Fu and others were to be like Zhang Liang.
Then it is three times out of the East China Sea. Will it become easier?
At least in a situation like this, he wouldn't become the victim of a bandit killer.
Zhao Meng laughed: "So, we don't have to worry about drinking on the way. I have to thank Shopkeeper Li. Why do you care?"
As the leader of the guard, Zhao Meng naturally knew that the fact that Xu Fu could take a wine shop owner out with him had already explained a lot of things.
Not to mention Li Xiuyuan's calm performance tonight.
Even Li Xiuyuan felt a little strange to him. He always thought that merchants in Da Qin should not have such thoughts of traveling around, let alone have a calmer heart than the guards.
But these are not things that he needs to care about. His mission is to protect Xu Fu's safety, lead everyone to buy a boat safely and go to sea, and obtain the elixir for the king.
If you are lucky, you might be able to follow Xu Fu to obtain the elixir, and embark on the path of immortality like the monks in the imperial city.
That was what he was dreaming about.
Li Xiuyuan thought for a while, looked at Zhao Meng and said, "As long as we spend the night in the wilderness along the way, we are not allowed to drink. I don't think this will happen only tonight."
Zhao Meng trembled and couldn't help but ask: "Is it possible that these guys still don't want to give up?"
Li Xiuyuan did not answer, but asked: "Have you found anything useful from these guys?" Although he knew there would be no results, he couldn't help but remind him.
Zhao Meng shook his head: "I looked through a few guys' bodies and found nothing that could prove their identities."
Li Xiuyuan sighed secretly, these guys came prepared and did not leave any clues.
It seems that we need to discuss it with Xu Fu in detail tomorrow.
The two of them were thinking about their own things. Li Xiuyuan just reminded Zhao Meng to clean the battlefield carefully after dawn to see if he could find anything left by the enemy.
Zhao Meng naturally had no objection. He also wanted to know where these guys came from.
As a soldier, he has always dreamed of one day embarking on the path of spiritual practice, but has been unable to do so. He is willing to accompany Xu Fu to sea precisely because he wants to become a monk one day.
When the ugly time was about to end, Li Xiuyuan sent Zhao Meng and a group of guards to rest.
Zhao Meng was worried and looked at Li Xiuyuan and asked: "Shopkeeper Li, can you do it alone?" Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "You guys go and refresh yourself quickly. We have to continue traveling tomorrow. I will catch up on my sleep on the carriage during the day. I’ll leave it to you.”
Looking up at the vast starry sky, Li Xiuyuan was trying hard to find the shaking star.
Looking at the twinkling stars in the sky, I wondered whether the master of Xuanwu Continent would be practicing on Meishan Mountain or on Tianyun Mountain?
And have the monk Buli by the Tongtian River and the little princess in Phoenix City found the opportunity to become mortals?
Although he had to leave, Li Xiuyuan thought that he would have to go back and have a look after he completed Master's Cause and Effect on Mount Sumeru.
Just like Watson will return to the world where Yunqi Temple is located to complete his responsibilities under Wentian Peak.
The Loulan in the dream, the flowers in the apricot blossoms, I don’t know how many times they have bloomed?
Did the junior sister’s family rebuild their home on the ruins? Did the great elder who went out return to Loulan?
Watching a fire, holding a cup of tea, watching the long night in silence.
…
Li Xiuyuan, who got up early, took advantage of a group of guards not waking up and walked around the lake. Except for picking up some money bags, he saw nothing useful.
By the time Xu Fu came to his senses after breakfast, the motorcade had already rushed up the official road, facing the morning breeze, and far away from the grassland beside the big lake.
Li Xiuyuan threw the recovered money bag to Zhao Meng. A group of guards needed the money to go to the next market town to replenish Jinchuang Medicine.
Li Xiuyuan, who was lying on the carriage to relax, did not tell Xu Fu what happened last night. He wanted to have a good sleep first.
While the carts and horses were walking, Xu Fu couldn't ask Zhao Meng what happened last night.
Because he saw some guards with injuries in the morning, which puzzled him.
Did you just take a nap, and when you wake up, everything will be different?
Thinking and analyzing, he couldn't figure it out. It wasn't until the motorcade stopped for a break at noon and Li Xiuyuan woke up and got off the carriage to boil water and drink tea with everyone that Xu Fu looked at him and frowned tightly.
In his opinion, if Li Xiuyuan slept in the tent like him last night, why was he lack of energy and needed to catch up on his sleep in the car?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Li Xiuyuan looked at the frowning Xu Fu and asked, "If you have anything to ask, just say it."
Xu Fu took a breath, suppressed his emotions, and said softly: "Why were some of the guards injured, and why did you sleep all morning? Could it be that something happened last night?"
In Xu Fu's opinion, no one except Li Xiuyuan can answer the questions in his heart.
"Some bandits came at midnight." Li Xiuyuan took a sip of water and replied after a moment of silence: "There may be ambushes by bandits along the way. As long as you listen to me, I guarantee that you will be safe and sound."
When Xu Fu heard this, he was stunned and speechless.
How far away were we from the imperial city? It was only a day's journey, and yet our team was ambushed by bandits on the road? If you say this, who would dare to believe it?
But he saw sincerity in Li Xiuyuan's eyes, and he believed that the guards around him would not betray him.
After thinking about it, I can only blame myself and my group for traveling too high-profile and provoking bandits who make a living by robbing.
Sighing, Xu Fu said quietly: "What should we do next? Should we retreat?"
Shaking his head, Li Xiuyuan said in a deep voice: "Your dream has not yet begun, and you want to step back. No matter how big trouble you encounter in the future, what will you do?"
"What should I do?" Xu Fu murmured.
"When you meet bandits and killers, be more ruthless than them." Li Xiuyuan replied: "The premise is that you must have the ability and courage."
Xu Fu said nothing and looked at Li Xiuyuan with questioning eyes. In his opinion, he seemed to have neither the ability nor the courage.
"Just like Zhao Meng, the leader of the guard."
Li Xiuyuan replied: "I believe he also wants to become more powerful. He will definitely not be an ordinary bandit if he dares to assassinate the special envoy sent by the king."
Xu Fu hesitated when he heard the words, and murmured: "You...mean."
"They know your true identity." Li Xiuyuan frowned slightly and said quietly: "We will talk about this at night. I will have to go to bed later, and I may have to keep a vigil at night."
After people filled their stomachs, they immediately ate grass and drank water, and the convoy continued to move forward.
As they got farther and farther away from the imperial city, the group got closer and closer to danger.
Zhao Meng and others riding on the horse were thinking about what Li Xiuyuan said yesterday, and Xu Fu was doing the same, but these did not affect Li Xiuyuan's sleep.
In his opinion, it would be strange if the gold and silver jewelry that this large group of people loaded up on horseback did not provoke a few butterflies to chase them.
The sky is falling, and with him here, what are you afraid of?
In the dream, Li Xiuyuan was thinking whether he would sleep in the mountains like yesterday or whether he would pass by a small town.
If he continued to spend the night in the wild, he wouldn't mind giving Xu Fu, Zhao Meng and others a surprise.
After all, the final destination of these guys is not Daqin, and even if Li Xiuyuan does something, it will not affect the balance of Tiandao in Daqin.
Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan turned over in his dream and murmured: "They are all here to give money."
To Li Yuan's surprise, even though they were on the road for two days, they still didn't find a suitable town to spend the night. Even the town they just passed by was only half way through.
This time was not suitable for staying overnight, so Zhao Meng and his guards purchased some medicinal herbs. The grooms bought some bean cakes for the horses, and the group continued on their way.
So, that night, the team had to camp in the wild again.
Because Zhao Meng continued walking even after Li Xiuyuan told him to stop, it was even more dangerous for the large group of people to walk at night.
However, that night, Li Xiuyuan asked Zhao Meng to take the convoy away from the official road and find a place to camp under a stone wall dozens of feet high. In this way, he could even avoid being attacked from all sides.
Dozens of carriages formed a circle, and all the fed horses gathered inside.
The guards were divided into two teams. One team went to set up camp and make a fire, and the other team followed Li Xiuyuan in the mountains to make traps.
The time was limited, so the group just made some simple trip ropes and hidden arrows. As long as the trip rope was touched, the hidden arrows would be shot out, which could hurt the enemy without being too conspicuous.
At the moment, Li Xiuyuan didn't want to use the rune formation. He was afraid of scaring the guys following him.
It was a long road, and he was taking Xu Fu and Zhao Meng to deal with the killers sent by them, whether they were from the imperial city or other nobles.
In his view, this journey to the sea will be the path of growth for people like Zhao Meng and Xu Fu.
After this experience, even two more times will not scare this team.
The sun was setting, and smoke was rising in the camp. When Zhao Meng and a group of guards were almost finished eating, Li Xiuyuan took out a jar of spiritual wine and poured a little into each person's bowl.
He poured another half of the bowl for Xu Fu, then looked at everyone and said with a smile: "This is the medicinal wine for bruises and bruises that I brewed. It can cure illnesses if you are sick, and strengthen your health if you are not sick. Let's try it."
Zhao Meng was so excited that he couldn't speak. He patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Shopkeeper Li. As long as I, Zhao Meng, and my brothers are here, Master Xu and everyone will not be harmed."
Li Xiuyuan laughed: "Don't forget, I am also a hunter. Jackals, tigers and leopards cannot scare me."
Xu Fu didn't say anything. He drank the spiritual wine in the bowl in one breath and felt a flame burning in his chest and abdomen.
He was so frightened that he took Li Xiuyuan's hand and said, "I won't become like Zhang Liang, right?"
Li Xiuyuan gently patted Xu Fu's hand and said, "Don't worry, it's still so fast... Next, you have to learn to practice swordsmanship like Zhang Liang."
Xu Fu was stunned and blurted out: "You want me to kill the bandits?"
