For children who have grown up on the edge of the desert since childhood, I am no stranger to this sea of sand in front of me.

The yellow sand everywhere is steaming under the scorching sun of early summer, and it is unbearable to be in it.

The undulating sand dunes are like the waves of water in the Qingfengze Great Lake, rippling wave after wave, extending to the place where the blue sky falls in the distance.

Grandpa and I rode side by side on horseback, and my grandfather commanded the men in front of us to lead the camels in a long line, slowly winding forward in the desert.

"O Jincheng! How does it feel? Grandpa asked with concern.

"Hot! It's so hot that I want to rip off all my clothes! ”

I exclaimed profusely, and the strange thing was that Grandpa and the guys around me didn't sweat much at all, as if they were nothing.

"If you are naked on this red sand, within half an hour, the flesh and skin on your body will fall off one by one! In the desert, there are robbers who extort money from us merchants, and that's what they do. Grandpa said faintly.

"Grandson understands!" I shook the fine sand off my body and gritted my teeth and replied, and I began to realize that the business was not fun anymore, and the days of "Qingfengze" were simply heaven.

"Jincheng, this desert stretches for thousands of miles from Khotan to Dunhuang County in Middle Earth, and there are only a few oases such as Loulan and Shanshan on the way, which is a rare dangerous road in the world. You still have so much to learn to survive on this trade route! ”

Grandpa continued to introduce a little coldly, the kind old man who was at home before was gone.

"Grandpa, why do we have to go north in this hot season, wouldn't it be better to choose spring or autumn?"

Going forward under the scorching sun is the last thing I can figure out.

"Legend has it that there are two dragons hidden in this desert, a yellow dragon and a black dragon. The world has clouds: the yellow dragon is angry and the boulder flies into the sky, and the black dragon turns over and moves mountains and reclaims the sea! Whether it's the power of this yellow dragon or the black dragon, I've seen your grandfather! ”

Grandpa set up the pergola and looked ahead, and his grandfather in the distance seemed to be waving to him, urging the caravan behind him to hurry up.

"I think back then, I took dozens of my family members from Jincheng County to take refuge in the Western Regions, and we escaped the pursuit of the Hun horse team. But in this sea of sand, they were all buried under this sand dune overnight, and only me and your Grandpa Lu Yu survived. Ay! They are all young people, and if they live until now, they will also be at the age of full children and grandchildren! ”

Speaking of which, Grandpa was a little sad.

I had heard about this family story a long time ago when I was in Qingfengze, and now it sounds particularly shocking when I put myself in my shoes.

"What does this have to do with our summer north?" I asked, puzzled.

"It's a big deal! Every spring, autumn and winter is the time when the Yellow Dragon is angry and the Black Dragon turns over. Every time our caravan goes to Luoyang and Jiankang in Middle Earth, it sets off in early summer, and this is the reason why we return in the autumn of the following year! ”

Grandpa patiently explained, and while beating his horse and galloping forward, his grandfather greeted him again in front of the camel caravan.

The scorching sun was in the sky, and I had already sunburned my eyes to Venus, and I couldn't distinguish between the east and the west.

And grandpa is like walking in the backyard of Qingfengze, easy and easy.

This trade road through the desert, he has been measuring with his feet for more than 20 years.

Therefore, I have long been familiar with all the habits of this sand sea, and I have also developed a pair of discerning eyes to distinguish direction and direction.

The guy next to me told me that I would never get lost walking in the desert with my grandfather.

He could tell where the caravan was currently located, how close it was to the water source, based on the shadows of the sun, the clouds in the sky, the windward slopes of the dunes, and the smell of the air, and he could never make a mistake.

I learned this set of skills for survival in the desert for more than ten years before I realized one or two of them.

Grandpa called out to grandpa, it turned out that the first campsite on the way had arrived!

Underneath the two sand dunes, a dense poplar forest miraculously survives, leaving a large and rare shade for the people of the journey.

The men in front of them had already tied up their camels and lay on their backs on the cold sand to enjoy a moment of coolness.

I hurried my horse down the sandy slope and ran wildly towards the shade of the trees.

After dismounting, a sensible fellow took the reins.

And I hurriedly took off my sweat-soaked robe, and then lay down comfortably in the shade of the tree, never to think about it again.

Noon had long passed, and the scorching sun was slowly turning westward.

The guy in charge of the team's water and food distribution brought me a piece of naan and half a pot of drinking water, which was lunch and dinner on the way.

In the desert, I know that if there is an oasis, there is a water source, and where there is a water source, there are people.

And this poplar forest is in the dead sea of thousands of years, and there is no family at all, which was discovered by grandpa by accident.

Since then, it has become the first post station for caravans on their way through the sand sea.

"Golden City! Be sure to remember this place, which your grandfather called the Survival Slope! If you miss it, the next oasis is the Peacock River a few hundred miles away! It takes ten days to get there! ”

My grandfather walked up to me shirtless and laughing, and I shook the sheepskin bladder in my hand, and I had no strength to greet him.

"The first day of wading into the sand sea was the hardest! The first time I accompanied your grandfather to do business, I almost lost my life here! Hehe! Grandpa kicked me and continued to laugh.

"Cheer up! It's time to get used to it! You are a young man, is it possible that you are not as good as us old men? ”

My grandfather laughed and went to check on the camping arrangements, and the old man, like my grandfather, had no mercy for me.

After half a pot of water and a piece of naan, my spirit slowly recovered.

Only then did I realize that in the sand stream where the poplar forest intersects with the surrounding sand dunes, there is still gurgling water.

I quickly packed up my clothes and ran barefoot into the crowd of sandy streams.

A few men were busy filling all the skins with water, while others were galloping down the sand stream with all the camels and horses.

There is a waterhole connected to the sand sea, and the waterhole is surrounded by lush reeds.

Camels, which are extremely sensitive to the land of water and grass, may have smelled this place for a long time.

"Young master, how do you feel? Pretty good! ”

"Actually, it's not a big deal to walk in the desert, the key is to bear the sun, and you can't get lost!"

"Jin Cheng, when you really can't bear it, just shift your attention, think about your sister-in-law, think about the good things of Qingfengze! If you can't do it, just lead the camel's tail, and you will go wherever it goes! Our caravan has plenty of water, and no matter how hot it is, it won't kill anyone! ”

Everyone gave me a place and asked questions, introducing their experiences.

These guys are all old rivers and lakes who followed my grandfather to the north and south, and they all grew up watching me grow up in Qingfengze, so they also have a bit of a joking taste while caring about me.

I'm going to be the leader of this group of guys in the future, and it's not okay to be too weak in front of them.

So I said haha: "It's okay, it's just that the sweat is endless, and the clothes are soaked!" As he spoke, he began to scrub his clothes.

Immediately, a guy snatched my dirty laundry and washed it all in three times and divided it by two.

"Young master, how can you do such a job yourself! All you have to do is say hello in the future! ”

After I thanked him repeatedly, I lay down in the cool stream, rinsing off the sweat stains all over my body, which was really comfortable.

"Young master, let me tell you the truth, there will be no such comfortable place in this desert from the Survival Slope to the Peacock River!" Shan Poole kindly reminded.

I have no words, I know what he said.

In the next ten days, there will be no more water supply ground, and it will be a real purgatory on earth.

"Of course, from the third day, you won't sweat anymore, hehe."

When he saw that I didn't respond, he reminded me again, and it was the most terrible warning I've ever heard along the way.

It's no wonder that the merchants who have just walked out of the desert in the "Qingfengze" inn are all like dried corpses.

It turned out that the water on their bodies had been completely evaporated by the hot wind of the desert.

The temperature in the desert dropped so hard at night that as we spoke, it was suddenly cold, and the clothes we had just washed seemed to be covered with a thin layer of ice.

At the temporary campsite, my grandfather had already asked me to prepare the bedding and tent for the night.

He and his grandfather and others set up a bonfire not far away, made tea and chatted.

When I recovered, I didn't feel sleepy, so I quickly wrapped myself in the futon and surrounded me.

"Jin Cheng, from tomorrow onwards is the time to really test you, you must hold on!" Grandpa looked at me kindly and smiled.

It seems that he was quite satisfied with my performance on the first day of entering the desert.

"No matter how hot it is, it won't heat people to death, and no matter how tired you are, you won't tire people to death! As long as you old people can survive, I'm fine! I took the hot tea poured by the guy next to me and replied.

"The young master has ambition and is responsible enough!" Uncle Sudel, the housekeeper on the side, smiled and gave a thumbs up.

He came to my house as a teenager and has been with him for half his life, and is one of his most trusted buddies.

"In this desert, it's useless to say pretty things! You have to grit your teeth and carry everything by yourself, and no one can help you, including me, your grandfather, and Uncle Su! ”

Grandpa took a sip of tea disdainfully, as if he wanted to fully arouse my latent fighting spirit.

"Don't worry, young master, there will be nothing wrong with your grandfather. Even if there is something, you Uncle Su and I will bear it for you! Uncle Su smiled warmly, his face full of vicissitudes of life was full of trust and loyalty.

Compared with my grandfather and grandfather's indifference to me, Uncle Su and the guys have taken care of me in the past few days, which can be said to be meticulous and comprehensive.

With such a group of old guys accompanying him to the end of the world, no matter how difficult things are, they can carry it down.

However, the loyalty of the guys is conditional, and it depends on the wisdom and kindness of the master's family.

Just like in this desert, they know that as long as they follow their grandfather, they can sleep peacefully every night, without worrying about getting lost and being swallowed by the black storm.

They knew that as long as they followed their grandfather, they would earn gold and silver, and there would be a good life waiting for them.

And I, although I am respected by everyone as the "Young Master", it is still too early to take over my grandfather's class and become the soul of the entire caravan!

"Young master, from tomorrow you put on that white robe. The sun in the desert is so powerful that it can cut your skin and drink your blood! Cover your face, neck, and hands! Just leave your nostrils to breathe and your eyes to see the road outside! "Grandpa's designated guy Qin Chong, who took care of my daily life along the way, suggested.

This young man is an orphan taken in by his grandfather on the way to Luoyang many years ago.

Grandpa has been deliberately cultivating him, and since then he has become my right-hand man on the business road, just like Uncle Su is to grandpa.