From Guangquanzi, climb over the ice slab, cross the Tianshan Mountains, and arrive at the territory of Turpan.

But the ice slab, although it is only a few dozen miles away, is difficult to move an inch.

It turns out that the majestic peaks of the Tianshan Mountains are covered with snow all year round. Deep in the mountains, it is also like winter all year round. However, at midday, the sun is blazing. Snow at the peak corners, with a small amount of melting. The snow water seeped down the peak like blood.

At the bottom of the ditch, icicles as thick as the claws of a dragon are formed, lying on the already rugged and narrow road. If the horse wants to pass, he can only use an axe and steel drill to smash the icicles into the ditch on the side of the road, so as to make a barely passable road.

After tossing and turning on the ice slab for most of the day, the caravan walked for another half day in the scenery of the roadside gradually filling in the greenery and the endless singing of birds.

Turning a knife-like canyon, Huo Ran was in another kind of world.

The hot wind permeated the scorched earth, and the mountains and the earth, as if they had been burned by the fire of the sky, showed an overly enthusiastic color.

The land that was about to smoke could hardly find a trace of life except for some pebbles that had been scorched by the scorching sun and turned into a dark and shiny shiny. - The caravan has reached the foot of the Flaming Mountain.

The sudden change in temperature and environment caught the caravan passing by for the first time a little unprepared.

People had to hurriedly peel off the clothes that had gradually thickened all the way, like shaking scorpions. Some people simply go half-naked.

The caravan steward's surname is Jia, and he has also become familiar with the small ancient city along the way.

Seeing such a drastically changing climate, he took off his clothes irritably, and muttered in his mouth: "What the hell is this place, you can bake people." ”

The small ancient city, but he looked indifferent, and said with a smile: "This place is called Flame Mountain, which is the place where the Iron Fan Princess burned Sun Wukong, and it is the boundary of Turpan. ”

The surnamed Jia seemed to have an understanding, and muttered: "No wonder, it turned out to be the place mentioned in "Journey to the West"." ”

After a pause, he glanced at the small ancient city again and said, "Have you been here before?" ”

Xiao Gucheng shook his head with a smile and said, "I heard the elders say that if you bypass that red clay beam, you will go to the official road." ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pointed to a faintly visible, red clay beam like a giant bull.

The westerly sun, even more desperate, splashed the scorching white light on the people and animals who were walking slowly. The sweat in the body seemed to have been dried, and the whole body began to become hot, as if it was slowly becoming ripe.

Although the surname is Jia, he pulls his chapped throat and shouts from time to time to let everyone drink water evenly, and stay up until the sun sets. But the thirsty people still kept pouring life-saving water into their mouths, knowing that there was not much life-saving water.

Xiao Gucheng, I couldn't help it, I took off the hot water bag from the horse, took a sip, put it in my mouth, and was reluctant to swallow it.

Helplessly, he glanced at the laterite beam that seemed to be near, but far away. Instinctively discovered, what seems to be a mirage-like world, there is a faint murderous aura hidden in the sky.

He was a little surprised, hurriedly swallowed the water in his mouth, put away the water bag, put his hand on his forehead, and looked at it carefully for a while.

With a solemn expression, he approached the surnamed Jia and said, "We may encounter bandits, and there are quite a few of them." ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his finger and pointed, a black dot that was faintly squirming in an illusion.

The surnamed Jia straightened his legs, looked at the horse for a while, and his expression suddenly became nervous.

Subconsciously glanced at Xiao Gucheng, and muttered in a low voice: "What can I do?" A piece of black pressing, but there are many people. ”

The little ancient city said calmly: "Let the horses and camels come and gather on the hillside, and let the people bring felt or leather jackets, spread them on the trench in front, and prepare to snipe!" ”

The surnamed Jia groaned slightly, gritted his teeth and said, "I have to do this." ”

As he spoke, he beckoned the caravan, and according to what the little ancient city said, he prepared in two times.

It turned out that the small ancient city let people take felt and leather jackets because the sun dried the stones on the ground like eggs that had just come out of the pot, and they were not sticky at all. Only when the felt is laid first can people lie down. These are all tricks he learned when he was hunting in Beishawo.

The small ancient city chose a place with a wide view, and beckoned the surname Jia to ambush there.

It didn't take long for the black dots to turn into human figures, peeling off the cocoons from the flickering waves of air.

The small ancient city has a one-eyed hanging line, and the distance is less than 600 meters, and the number of people is not less than 30. When they were about three or four hundred meters away, the small ancient city had already seen that the person who came was dressed as a Uygur. Armed with a spear and a scimitar, the blade shimmered white in the slanting sun.

He casually glanced at the guards in the shallow ditch. shook his head contemptuously, and said to the surnamed Jia, who was already a little distracted: "Look at this group of cowards you brought, there is no blood on the muzzle of the gun, right?" ”

The surnamed Jia sighed lightly and said, "I know some kung fu, but few can shoot guns." ”

Xiao Gucheng snorted coldly, pointed to the man holding the Mosin Nagant rifle not far away, and said, "Bring me that gun." ”

The surnamed Jia hurriedly shouted: "Little Liuzi! Hurry up and get the gun. ”

Xiao Gucheng took the gun, opened the warehouse and looked at it, and the bullets were full.

There was a "bang", and the bullet was loaded. At this point, the group seemed to stop there, pointing and talking about something.

Just in the midst of doubt, I saw a piece of loess suddenly flying on the opposite side, and dozens of horses swarmed like a tide. At the same time, there was a dull shouting of killing in the air.

The little ancient city set the ruler unhurriedly, and when the horses rushed into range, he raised his hand and shot one, knocked over one, and then another shot, and planted another one in response.

The horses immediately stopped, only swirling in place.

The little ancient city did not let go, and after two shots in succession, two more were put down. After panicking for a moment, the horse team turned around and headed northwest, and fled in a panic.

Xiao Gucheng immediately shouted: "Two shots per person!" ”

As soon as the words fell, the gunshots around him rang out like festive firecrackers.

In the midst of the praise, Xiao Gucheng pretended to be irritable, waved his hand and said, "Okay! Okay! Don't talk nonsense. If you want to eat this meal, you have to practice more miles in the future. ”

As he spoke, he said to the frightened surnamed Jia: "Turn that earthen beam, and you will go to the official road, and it will be peaceful along the way." ”

The surnamed Jia leaned over with a look of admiration and said, "Oh, my brother's courage and marksmanship are all first-class, so he must have been born in martial arts, right?" ”

Xiao Gucheng smiled casually and said: "Marksmanship was practiced by hunting when I was a child, do you have the courage..."

The small ancient city pretended to be mysterious and said: "It has been fought against bandits in the past few years." ”

I heard that the small ancient city had fought bandits, and everyone was interested for a while, so they had to talk about the small ancient city. On a whim, the small ancient city added fuel and vinegar to blow through several bandits, only to hear everyone stunned and smack.

After passing the Jiayu Pass, the small ancient city bid farewell to the caravan, rode alone, and went straight to Hezhou.