Although Xuan Liang tried his best to take care of the forty soldiers, when the temperature rose in the spring, twenty-two soldiers still died one after another due to their dissatisfaction with the water and soil in the north and their inability to adapt to the cold winter.

In order to prevent his soldiers from being buried in a foreign land, Xuan Liang burned the corpses of the dead soldiers and asked the living to bring back some of their ashes. made a wooden raft out of wood, exchanged it for a cow with prey, put the seeds of many crops on the raft, and let the scalper pull it, Xuan Liang and others finally embarked on the way home in the warm spring breeze.

Xuan Liang didn't know how far away he was from the Mengyue River station now, but he just followed the approximate direction and headed south. The eighteen soldiers who survived were not very healthy, and coupled with the slow oxen pulling the wooden rafts, they could only march fifty or sixty miles a day. In this way, I walked for nearly three months before I came to the bank of the big river. Xuan Liang roughly estimated that the river here should be nearly a thousand miles east of the three clans' garrisons that they attacked, and it would not be blocked by the three clans.

By the time they had crossed the river on a raft, the weather was already very hot, and when they saw the jungle to which they had long been accustomed again, the eighteen soldiers, including Xuan Liang, gradually regained their old mood. It's just that the body is still relatively weak, and can only continue to walk slowly.

After crossing the river, he walked for ten days, and Xuan Liang counted the time to leave Mengyue River in his heart. It was a month and thirteen days from the departure to the time he broke up with Lin Zhan and the others, and it was a month and eighteen days to the day he crossed the river. The winter is two and a half months, and it took fourteen days to come here, and one day is seven months. If the estimation is correct, there are at least three thousand miles away from the Mengyue River station, and at the current speed of travel, it will take at least two months. So this time I went out, a total of nine and a half months.

As the farther south you go, the higher the temperature, and everyone is like an arrow, and it is inevitable that they will be greedy for more travel, and some nights will not have time to set up a simple grass hut.

On this day, in order to hurry more, by the time they stopped to rest, it was already late at night. The fatigue along the way made everyone a little tired. Nineteen people who were sleeping soundly in a jungle did not expect it to rain in the second half of the night. This sudden rain was not only heavy, but also lasted quite long. From the second half of the night until the afternoon, it gradually became smaller. It wasn't until it was dark that it stopped completely.

Tired, exhausted, and struck by a heavy rain, eleven of the eighteen soldiers fell ill. Worst of all, Xuan Liang also fell ill. There were only seven healthy soldiers left, and they couldn't continue the march anyway. The only way to do this is to set up a drafting shed on the spot, and then set off after the sick person has recovered.

Seven soldiers, not only to choose herbs for Xuanliang's twelve people to cure diseases, but also to hunt and prepare food for everyone, half a month passed, and two more fell ill. Xuan Liang's heart began to sink. After five days, three of those who had initially fallen ill recovered, but two soldiers did not survive and died silently.

For a moment, panic spread in the hearts of the remaining dozen or so people. Xuan Liang didn't care about his weak body, and insisted on leading eight soldiers who were in good health while sick, as well as the other four soldiers who had improved slightly, and tried his best to take care of the four who were sick. It was two and a half months, during which two more people died. Including Xuan Liang, there are only fourteen of the original forty-one people left. As before, Xuan Liang led people to burn the bodies of the dead soldiers and bring their ashes. For fear of being attacked by the tribes they encountered, they did not dare to go out of the jungle, so they could only march in the jungle with little difficulty.

By the time Xuan Liang led the remaining thirteen soldiers to Longshan, it was already a year and a month and six days after he had left the Mengyue River station.

Xiao An and Xiang Lin, who were stationed in Longshan, did not expect Xuan Liang, who was worried about the emperor's tea and rice, to come back to Longshan. While sending someone to deliver a letter to Xiao Yiran as soon as possible, he took care of the frail fourteen people with all his might. Until the relationship between Xuan Liang and the emperor, Xiao An directly arranged Xuan Liang to the third floor of the tulou, in the emperor's room, and arranged two maids to take care of them day and night.

Since Lin Zhan and Siwei rushed back to the Mengyue River station one after another, and brought back seventy-three coveted war horses, although they didn't see Xuan Liang come back, Xiao Yiran was not very worried at first, she was still very relieved that Xuan Liang was still very relieved. For a time, the entire dragon clan was immersed in the ecstasy of getting the war horse. It's just that with the passage of time, one day, two days, a month, two months, there is still no trace of Xuan Liang and forty soldiers, and Xiao Yiran can't sit still. Sent Wei Wu, Wei Qian, Wei Tian, and Wei Fei to lead the people, and they originally returned to find Xuan Liang and others.

Forty days later, the four Wei Wu brought people back.

"Emperor, we have always found the location of the three clans, and we have not found any trace of Xuan Liang and the other forty-one people."

Xiao Yiran, who was worried, stopped letting the sixteen guards sleep for the first time, because whenever Xiao Yiran slept with the guards, he always missed and worried about Xuan Liang even more. First, after spending a period of time alone, I couldn't bear the insomnia of worrying about the guide in my heart, so I asked the eight maids of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and Meilan Zhuju to take turns to accompany him at night. Only in the arms of the eight maids could Xiao Yiran barely fall asleep.

Three months, four months, half a year, a year, and still haven't seen Xuan Liang return, Xiao Yiran can't make himself believe that Xuan Liang is still alive. Looking at the increasingly emaciated emperor, the sixteen guards were distressed, but they couldn't find words to comfort the emperor. The entire dragon clan was affected by Xiao Yiran, shrouded in a faint sadness.

Xiao An's letter reached Xiao Yiran's ears in the afternoon, and he didn't stop at all, Xiao Yiran led the sixteen guards and eight maids, as well as the great wizards of the original five clans, and immediately rushed towards Longshan. Day and night, on the morning of the third day, Xiao Yiran rushed to Longshan. first went to visit the thirteen weak thirteen soldiers, and then under the leadership of Xiao An, he came to his room on the third floor of the tulou, and when he saw Xuan Liang for the first time, Xiao Yiran burst into tears. Stretched out his hand to help Xuan Liang, who wanted to stand up and give him a salute, back to the bed and lay down, gently stroking Xuan Liang's emaciated face, and warm teardrops fell to Xuan Liang's chest one by one.

"Take care of your body, and wait for it to recover."

In the face of the emperor's concern and gentleness, Xuan Liang's eyes also left tears.

"Xiaochun, each of the eight of you is in a team of two, taking turns guarding Xuanliang. Xiao An, let the Great Wizard do his best to heal them and provide them with the best food, and strive to make the warriors recover in the shortest possible time. ”

That night, Xiao Yiran stayed in the room, stayed by Xuan Liang's side, and served Xuan Liang with Xiao Chun and Xiao Xia all night.