Chapter 24 Chapter 70: When the wind blows, the sand swirls at dusk

The crescent moon is shining. Shen Zhenzhu and her clothes were lying on the felt mat in the felt tent, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.Intuition and the previous few times told her: something will happen tonight. In the previous few camps, she was also restless like this, and went to inspect the tents many times, but after she returned to the tent to rest, the servants would still disappear.Therefore, pretending that she had been sleeping for a while during the day, she simply got up and sat on the felt mat, took out her pocket knife, and scratched hard on the felt tent to cut a thin slit.Because the tents are set up on the grasslands, which are different from the loosely distributed tents in the valleys, and the bright moon is high, so the movement of the surrounding tents can be seen from this small gap.

The world outside is peaceful.The attendants took turns to be on guard. Chen Zhou was lying on his side by the bonfire, snoring from time to time. The bonfire was on and off. Occasionally, an attendant came to add dry branches. What did you say? I looked around for a while, then walked back slowly... Shen Zhenzhu sneaked a peek from time to time, but there was nothing abnormal, she couldn't bear it for a long time and dozed off, her head turned to the side, just touching the tent frame of the felt tent, she immediately woke up in pain.Squinting her eyes and looking out of the felt tent, she saw a servant on the far side of the tent in the south, as if she was drunk, slanting down on the ground. She was shocked, the hairs all over her body stood on end, and she didn't know how amazing she was. He rushed out of the yurt at a fast speed and shouted loudly: "Come on! Come on! There are assassins—"

Her cry instantly broke the tranquility of the station, and Chen Zhou took the lead in jumping up from the bonfire: "Where, where is the assassin?" The nearby attendants on duty drew their knives out of their sheaths and looked around. Shen Zhenzhu clearly saw several black shadows jumping out from behind the camp in the south, she pointed in that direction: "Quick, quick, it's there, catch them!" While shouting, someone suddenly yelled: "Go on!" Shen Zhenzhu suddenly raised her head and looked in the direction of the sound. In this flash of lightning, she heard the sound of "swish" in her ears, and heard a sound of "clang" behind her. An arrow feather passed close to her body, and it was piercing the beam of the felt tent behind her, with unabated force, it was still trembling.

Chen Zhou clapped his palms together, yelled "Damn it", and with a wave of his hand, he immediately rushed towards the direction Shen Zhenzhu pointed with a few attendants.At this time, all the attendants resting in the tents were alarmed and rushed out of the tents one after another. There was a sound of drawing knives, shouting and killing one after another, and the torches were shaking in all directions. Several attendants stood guard beside Shen Zhenzhu, the sound of fighting could be heard from the south, Shen Zhenzhu grabbed the torch from one of the attendants and said, "Let's go and see what happened."

Walking quickly to the south, we knew that the sound of fighting came from farther away.There was only one team of Flying Dragon Envoys left at the southern camp. Seeing Shen Zhenzhu approaching, the team pointed to the east and said, "The assassin is fleeing to the east. Both adults are going to chase and arrest him. Leave me to protect Madam." Shen Zhenzhu nodded. , Seeing an Inner Dragon Envoy lying down on the ground, he squatted down and asked, "What's wrong with this person?" The captain said: "Looking at this, it seems that the mouth and nose are covered by the medicine, and you have temporarily lost consciousness. The subordinate has ordered water to be poured on the face, and you should be able to wake up immediately." While speaking, an attendant has fetched water from the tent He poured all the water on the face of the unconscious attendant, and sure enough, the attendant shook his head, although he was dizzy, he still stood up unsteadily and confessed.

Shen Zhenzhu said: "Those people must have used this method to easily rob many Inner Dragon Envoys. There are many herbs that can anesthetize people for a short time in ancient times. I wonder what the medicine is made of this time?" The team faced embarrassment: "This, my subordinates are short-sighted, so I really don't know." Shen Zhenzhu smiled and felt that this question was too difficult for others.With such an ability to understand medicines, besides Murong Linzhi, how many other people are there in the world? Just at this time, I heard the horseshoes in the east, Shen Zhenzhu's face changed slightly, she wanted to speak, but she restrained herself, and then listened carefully, the horseshoes gradually faded away, like a panic passing across the grassland. It was windy and rainy, and there was no sound in an instant.

Shen Zhenzhu sighed: "It's a pity, it's a pity, those thieves must have escaped. I wonder if the two adults caught one or two fish that slipped through the net?" After a while, as expected, Cheng Yuanzhen and Chen Zhou ran back with their attendants in dismay. Chen Zhou shook his head and cursed: "This group of people is well-organized and well-planned. It turned out that soldiers and horses were ambushed early to respond! We chased them, and they fought and retreated. They didn't entangle us and fought with us. After chasing for several miles, the responders shot randomly. All together, let us injure several flying dragon envoys, but they retreated without any damage."

Cheng Yuanzhen was unhappy and kept silent about success or failure.Thinking that it was due to hand-to-hand combat, the Nei Feilong Envoy was defeated again, he was very unhappy in his heart. Shen Zhenzhu and Chen Zhou inspected the servants' injuries and asked, "Do you know where they come from?" Chen Zhou casually picked up an arrow that had been pulled out from the wounded attendant, and said: "They shoot arrows with shoddy bows. Although the arrows are short and powerful, their range of damage is limited, so our flying dragon envoys only suffer skin and flesh injuries. Just add diagnosis and treatment. ——This is the bow and arrow commonly used by Huihe people. This group of people should be Huihe people.”

Shen Zhenzhu saw this kind of short arrow more often in Huihe in the past, she nodded slightly. Chen Zhou went to see the attendant who had been stunned, and came back and said: "A certain person asked about the symptoms of this person, and the drug is nothing special, it is a kind of herb that grows everywhere in Huihe, called Teng'erzhi. " Shen Zhenzhu said: "Oh, why is the name so weird?" Chen Zhoudao: "Because the Huihe people lived as nomads, many of them were injured in fighting with wild animals. This Teng'erzhi is originally a Turkic language, which means 'mystery'. It can temporarily relieve the pain of the injured. The medicinal principles of powder are roughly the same."

"These two things are closely related to Huihe. It seems that as soon as we entered Huihe, we were targeted early." Shen Zhenzhu said. Chen Zhou frowned: "But what is their intention to deal with us? Just to prevent us from saving His Highness? In the current situation, our strength is no different than theirs, so why bother so much? Aren't we just going to be fine?" Shouting towards Cheng Yuanzhen: "Brother Cheng, you can't keep your head shut and say nothing, what do you think about today's matter?" Along the way, the relationship between him and Cheng Yuanzhen seems to be getting closer , Occasionally, they are called brothers and sisters, but most of the time they are respectful to each other, and they are so polite that it makes people frightened.

Cheng Yuanzhen smiled wryly, pulled out his long sword and stuck it on the ground, clasped his hands together, turned his back to Shen Zhenzhu and Chen Zhou, and stood still for a long time. Shen Zhenzhu comforted: "My lord, don't be discouraged, what happened today is enough to boost morale." "Ma'am, my lords, there is a letter tied to this arrow shaft!" An Inner Wyvern envoy ran over quickly and handed the arrow feather in his hand to Cheng Yuanzhen. Shen Zhenzhu said "Huh" and said: "Isn't this the same arrow that hit the beam and pillar of the tent just now?" The team is saying "exactly". At that time the situation was urgent, Shen Zhenzhu only wanted to quickly catch the attackers, she didn't pay attention to what was special about this arrow, only then did she see a piece of kraft paper tied with silk rope on the shaft of the arrow. Cheng Yuanzhen untied the kraft paper, Shen Zhenzhu opened it and said: "To find the trace of His Highness the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, go eastward for one hundred miles to Pingluoyu, then turn northward for three hundred miles." Chinese characters are very difficult. Chen Zhou was very surprised, took the kraft paper, looked at it from beginning to end, and murmured, "How could this be? How could this be?" "What's wrong?" Shen Zhenzhu and Cheng Yuanzhen said in unison. Chen Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead: "According to someone's knowledge, traveling from Pingluoyu to the north is an endless desert. How could His Royal Highness be there, and how could people survive there! This, this, what is written on this kraft paper mean!" Shen Zhenzhu bit her lips lightly, thousands of thoughts flashed through her mind for a moment, all kinds of conjectures were intertwined and intertwined, making her mind confused, it took a long time to force herself to calm down, and said: "This matter is really strange. Well, since they want to attack us, why did they send a letter to inform His Highness whereabouts? Could it be that they are asking you to get into the urn? If they want to harm us, why don't they kill us? If they don't want to deal with us, why should they Repeated attacks and kidnapping of servants?" Chen Zhou and Cheng Yuanzhen were also at a loss, Cheng Yuanzhen said: "In Madam's opinion, what should we do next? Still head towards Huihe Wangting, or do we follow what the kraft paper says?" Shen Zhenzhu let out a long breath, seeing that the galaxy was fading away and the dawn was about to dawn, she said: "We are tired after a whole night of tossing around, those people will not come again tonight, we all go back and think carefully, let's discuss it tomorrow morning. " In fact, Shen Zhenzhu couldn't sleep, she went back to her yurt and took the kraft paper book back and forth to read and think. Judging from the tone of this letter, Li Yu's life should not be in danger, and he is still alive.The biggest purpose of this letter should be to lure (or lure?) her and the attendants to look for Li Yu in the indicated direction. But, why lead them to look for Li Yu?There are less than a hundred people in my party, no matter where I am, I will not be able to make waves, and I will not be looked down upon by anyone. It's still the same old saying: what is the intention, what is the intention! The next morning, when Chen Zhou and Cheng Yuanzhen discussed the matter again, Shen Zhenzhu said: "We will follow what is written in this letter and head north after meeting Luoping!" Chen Zhou waved his hands and said, "Ma'am, how can we be so passive and be led by the nose by those people!" Shen Zhenzhu smiled helplessly: "Then how should we go? In fact, you and I don't know where His Highness is, and there is civil strife in Huihe. Even if we go to the direction of Huihe King's Court, we may not be able to find His Highness. These people are so Instead of trying to deal with our small team, it is better to follow what they say, and there may be unexpected gains." Cheng Yuanzhen also echoed Shen Zhenzhu, saying: "Madam's words are reasonable, if you are running around, why not just follow the letter and try your luck." Chen Zhou spread his hands and said: "Since Madam and Brother Cheng said so, Chen will obey. But there is one more thing, after Ping Luoyu, you only said that after entering the desert from the north, you didn't say where His Highness is. , what should we do if we still haven't found the crown prince after traveling three hundred miles?" Shen Zhenzhu thought about it and said: "Since those people want to lure us into Tianjin, they will naturally try to show us the way, otherwise it will be a good show. I don't think there is any need to worry about this." Pingluoyu is a famous village in Monan, so it is located in a flat terrain with abundant water and grass. There are about ten households settled down, and a small village is naturally formed. Moreover, from Pingluoyu to the north is a large desert, and then you can reach the important town in the northeast of Huihe. Telley, so some business travelers in the past stop here for a while to rest and stock up on aquatic plants. There has never been a road on the grassland, and herdsmen travel, they only need directions.The direction is the road of the grassland.Fortunately, there were many business travelers in Pingluoyu, and there were wide or narrow, shallow or deep ox cart ruts left on the grassland, and Chen Zhou was good at knowing the direction. The group was led by Chen Zhou and galloped on horses. Arrived in Pingluoyu smoothly. The Huihe people met in Pingluo are used to Tang people, and they are not surprised by Shen Zhenzhu and his party. Only one or two Huihe girls are amazed by Shen Zhenzhu's beauty. With dark amber eyes, staring at Shen Zhenzhu with envy. Chen Zhou had heard long ago that there was no oasis in the great desert to the north of Pingluoyu, and now he asked these Huihe girls, and the girls all laughed and said, "Grandpa and grandma have always said that the desert in Pingluoyu used to be as wide as the clouds in the sky. If you get lost, you may not be able to get out for a month. I have never seen a jinze in it!" "Zijinze" in Turkic means green land in the desert . Cheng Yuanzhen and Chen Zhou cleaned up the luggage and luggage, discarded many useless utensils, exchanged six good horses for four camels from the Huihe people in Pingluo, and prepared enough clean water for more than 20 days to drink.The extra water bladders weigh heavily on the camels, oxen and horses like hills. After resting overnight in Yuping, Pingluo, the group set off for the desert. There is still a small river in Pingluoyu heading north. As the team marched, the river gradually dried up and entered the Gobi Desert.After walking for another day or two, the Gobi Desert gradually took on the appearance of a desert, with less and less vegetation.In the end, it finally turned into a desert completely. After entering the desert, everyone can truly understand the meaning of the words "the desert is boundless". The scorching sun is like golden strands of jade, densely covering the desert with a layer of golden armor, and the boundless yellow sand seems to be connected to the sky and clouds.In the desert, the red willows bloom like fireworks, and the branches of Haloxylon are tender and soft, accompanying each other. There are also sporadic camel thorns and sandy dates, which are sparsely dotted with the yellow sandy desert. As soon as Shen Zhenzhu entered the desert and opened the curtain of the carriage, the dazzling sunlight made her unable to open her eyes suddenly. She suddenly remembered that six or seven years ago, Li Yu traveled all the way from Huihe to take her back to the Central Plains.It was winter and early spring. Although the desert had to pass through, the sunshine was not so gorgeous and insolent.Along with them was Changsun E, who invited her to play chess every day for fun. At that time, Li Yu would hold her hand and say, "Don't get tired." Leaving him for so long and so far away, the shadow covering my heart has faded away.Even if he will forget her, even if he will never understand her, he will still suddenly transform into a light and shadow, flying around her world in shock, landing in the mountains, rivers and valleys, covering her, making it difficult to distinguish the sun, the moon, and the day and night. Chen Zhou had his own method. Once he entered the desert, he ordered his attendants to put wooden shoes on the hooves of cattle and horses and wrap yak skin on the hooves of camels to prevent them from sinking into the sand. In April, the climate is dry and the days are extremely hot. It is not the best time to cross the desert. In addition, some parts of the desert are windy and sandy.Only from October to March in a year is it most beneficial to cross the desert.What everyone saw along the way were mostly sand piles buried halfway up the mountain, wavy sand dunes and jagged red rusty peaks. On the fifth day, according to Chen Zhou's calculations, the group had traveled nearly 300 miles to the north, which should not be far from the place mentioned in the letter. However, all they could see was the desert as vast as the ocean, and they didn't see a single thing. Green traces.Some of the attendants couldn't help being suspicious, they were afraid that Chen Zhou would lead the way in the wrong direction, and it would be very bad if things went the other way. Chen Zhou was rich in experience. Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu was a little worried, he explained: "Walking in the desert can only be indicated by the rise and fall of the golden crow (note: the sun is called the golden crow in Tang Dynasty) or the movement of sand dunes to know the direction. Especially the golden crow rises from east to west, The direction is the most reliable." It was early morning at this time, and Chen Zhou pointed to the rising sun and said, "Madam, look at the rising of the Golden Crow, and the shadows of everything we see are falling to the west. At three o'clock, when the Golden Crow is in the south, the shadow points to the north; when the Golden Crow moves to the west, the shadow points to the east. Walking in the desert in this way, you will never lose your way." After hearing his explanation, everyone was relieved. That night, everyone still slept next to the camel horse.Not only the attendants, but also Shen Zhenzhu, Cheng Yuanzhen and Chen Zhou slept soundly during the day's hard work. Near midnight, Chen Zhou woke up suddenly.With years of combat experience, he felt a little uneasy.Because of fatigue, he still lay in place, with his face pressed against the horse's neck, and only opened his eyes, relying on his hazy consciousness to listen to the movement around him.After a while, his face moved slightly, and he saw a team of more than ten camels in the distance, heading towards where they were. His whole body tensed up, and he pushed Cheng Yuanzhen by his side vigorously: "Be careful, someone is coming!" Cheng Yuanzhen reacted very quickly, pressing the long sword on his waist with his hand, trying to jump up quickly, Chen Zhou held him down: "Don't startle the snake!" .” Cheng Yuanzhen nodded immediately, and half-kneeled behind the camel horse, observing the opponent's movements carefully.After a while, he breathed a sigh of relief: "It should be a passing caravan. It looks like there are a lot of goods on the camels." Having said that, he didn't dare to take any chances and wake up the attendants beside him.Going on like this, all the attendants were awakened, each took up their weapons to prepare for the battle, and Shen Zhenzhu hurriedly sat up from the carriage. The camel team gradually approached. This distance does not look far, but it is actually not so easy to shorten.After about a long time, the camel team went behind a small hill and disappeared.Soon, however, it popped up again, and surprisingly quickly. "Who is it!" Chen Zhou raised his voice and shouted in Huihe language.