"The first thing you need to do when you enter the desert in front of you is to bring plenty of water, and you don't have to worry about that, dozens of camels are full of water bladders. You also have water bladders on your bodies, and I heard you say that you have only been in the desert for a few days, and the water is absolutely enough. The old man twisted his sparse yellow beard and said.

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Don't forget that horses and camels also need to drink water." ”

"Enough is enough, and enough for the animals to drink. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the heat and cold, otherwise you will die inside. The old man smiled.

"Why do you need to protect yourself from the cold? Isn't it said that the desert is deadly hot? Liu Jun said in surprise.

"The little general had never been in the desert before, and the heat in the desert was unbearable during the day, but at night it was dripping with ice. When I was young, I went into the sand with others, and slept on the dunes at night, and the next morning, one of my companions froze to death. You don't believe it, but it's true. ”

Everyone was stunned, and it was hard to believe that there was such a thing.

The guide said with a smile: "We have a saying here: eat watermelon around the stove." Watermelon is a summer thing, but it has to be eaten around the stove, which shows that there is a big difference between the hot and cold days and nights. ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "I understand, we sleep on horses at night, and we also bring tents and other things, so there should be no problem." ”

The guide Lao Han said: "That's natural, the old man just mentioned it in passing, so as not to cause the soldiers to lose their frostbite in the middle of the night." Another point is the ability to enter the desert to discern the direction, which does not need to be worried about the military masters, otherwise what do you want us to do with the guide? But there is another point, the old man feels that he is not sure, and is about to ask the military masters to ask for a clear understanding. ”

Wang Yuan said: "Uncle, please ask." ”

The old man squatted down and drew on the ground with a dead branch, and after drawing a few strokes, everyone saw that it was actually the topographical graphics of this area, which was not much different from the map that Wang Yuan spread out on the side.

The old man said: "The military masters are going to enter the desert, although the old man doesn't know what to do, but the old man can ask more, how many miles do the military masters plan to go into the desert, and in which direction?" ”

Wang Yuan pointed to a figure on the ground and said, "If you go here, you will be about forty or fifty miles deep." ”

The old man was shocked: "Into such a deep area? That's dangerous. Don't you know that there is a Tibetan city in the direction you are pointing? There is a river called Jinchuan River, and there is a small oasis by the river, where the Bison City of the Tibetan people is located. Could it be that the military master was going to take these two or three hundred people to attack Bison City? ”

Wang Yuan shook his head and said, "Of course not, but we are going to Bison City." ”

The old man frowned and was silent for a while. Wang Yuan said: "Uncle, is there any difficulty? ”

The old man smacked his lips and said: "Don't hide it from the big handsome, the old man is not afraid of these things in the desert, the cold and the summer, the lack of water and food, but if he wants to go to the left side of Bison City, the old man is very worried." The Tibetan soldiers and horses stationed in Bison City were very fierce. In order to make a living, the people in our Yazhou area sometimes have to go deep into the sand to catch sand scorpions, sand snakes and other things, which are precious medicines, so this is also a livelihood for the people in our Yazhou area. But every year, dozens of civilians are killed by the Tibetan soldiers and horses roaming around the Bison City. These Tibetan cavalrymen rode camels, held scimitars in their hands, and came and went in a hurry, and their movements were very fast. In a radius of ten miles from Bison City, no one dared to approach at all, but today the military masters are going to Bison City to the left, which makes the old man very worried. ”

Wang Yuan said: "Don't worry, there are so many of us to protect you, you will be fine." ”

The old man pouted and said: "You don't know the ferocity of the Tubo people, and the military masters still want to think twice about this matter." If it was in a different direction, the old man would never say a word. ”

Zhao Qing smiled: "Uncle, do you know who is talking to you?" ”

The old man shook his head and said, "I don't know, the old man was just hired by someone for money, saying that he was a guide, but he didn't say that he was going to die." ”

Zhao Qing said: "The one in front of you is our new Jiannan Jiedu envoy Wang Dashuai. You've probably heard his name. ”

The old man looked at Wang Yuan in astonishment and said, "You...... Are you Wang Dashuai? The Wang Dashuai who led the troops to pacify the Nanzhao Kingdom? ”

Wang Yuan smiled and said, "It's me." ”

The old man and the rest of the guides bowed their heads and said excitedly: "It turned out to be our Jiannan's handsome, why don't you know your name?" The matter of the handsome stepping on the Nanzhao has long been spread in our Yazhou. However, some people say that the handsome man is eight feet tall, holding a big knife in his hand, his eyes are like copper bells, his mouth is like a blood basin, and his voice is like a bell like an arhat. I didn't expect you to be a handsome offspring. ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said: "This is also a mystery, the eyes are like copper bells, the mouth is like a blood basin, and the sound is like a bell, isn't this a yaksha?" ”

The old man arched his hand and said, "It's really a pleasure to see the handsome man today." The handsome man is not afraid, what am I, a half-dead old man, afraid of? If you don't say it, take the handsome with you. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Don't worry, we won't die, we are going to do a big thing." It's done, and you have a credit for it. I'll be rewarded. ”

The old man hurriedly said: "I don't dare to be rewarded, my youngest son admires you very much, during that time Yazhou recruited soldiers, he had to go to join the army, I didn't agree." So until now, I'm not happy. This time I met the marshal, and if I turned around and did something for the marshal, the marshal took my Shiro away as a pawn, satisfied his desire to be a soldier, and gave him some care, thank God. ”

Wang Yuan laughed, the wishes of ordinary people are also very practical, this is not only to satisfy his son's desire to be a soldier, but also to hope that he will take care of his son, not to be sent to the battlefield to fight, it is best to be able to give an official position.

"No problem, do this, accept your Shiro into my personal guard camp as a personal guard, and look at these people around you, they are all my personal guards. All of them are carefully selected, the armor is put on, and the horses are ridden, how imposing. ”

The old man thanked again and again, knelt down and kowtowed again.

……

Early in the morning, Wang Ji and Luo Xixiao drank some wine last night and slept very sweetly. After getting up early, they were refreshed, washed up and had breakfast, and the two went out with a smile and ordered the team to march west.

After a few guides finished the work, they led more than 200 Nanya guards and Wang Luo Xixiao and others into the desert slowly.

When they first entered the desert, the two Qincha were still a little excited, and the weather was not too hot, and the endless sand dunes stretched in front of them, and the undulating scenery of the sand waves was very magnificent. Wang Ji and Luo Xixiao rode on their horses, pointing and talking, laughing and laughing, very happy.

But as time goes on, the sun gets higher and higher, and the temperature in the desert gets scorching hot. Although the magnificent scenery looks delightful, the whole surrounding scene becomes boring. The hot wind blew, the sand and dust flew, the charming eyes and mouth were very uncomfortable, and the temperature rose sharply, the bodies of the two Qincha lords were unbearably hot, their clothes were soaked, and the thick bun was full of a mixture of grit and sweat, which was extremely uncomfortable.

The smiles on the faces of the two had disappeared, frowning and panting for heavy breath, washing their faces and wiping their hands with precious water from time to time, but to no avail. The guards around him were even more bitter and sighed, and one by one they sat on their horses lifelessly like sun-dried leaves.

For a moment, Wang Ji almost retreated, but he was too embarrassed to say it. Thinking that when he returned to the capital, he would use this to tell His Majesty some things and express some credits, so he gritted his teeth and held back.

Fortunately, the guides said that they could cross the border line this evening, and Wang Ji and Luo Xizao both thought about this day in their hearts, and as long as they stepped into the territory of Tubo tomorrow, they would be considered to have completed the purpose of this trip. You can grab a handful of sand from Tubo and bring it back to the capital to brag about it. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that there were more than 200 guards around him who couldn't lie and deceive people casually, Wang Ji and Luo Xizao would definitely not go on.

Take a walk and rest, and hold up until the sun sets. The hot sweat on the body of the day has not dried, but the weather suddenly becomes cold. The guide found a sheltered sand dune and suggested camping and resting, but Wang Ji and Luo Xizao were already unspeakably uncomfortable, and immediately ordered to camp.

At night, the dizzy Wang Ji simply ate something and fell asleep, listening to the night wind outside the tent and the crackling sound of the sand hitting the tent, disturbing people and unable to sleep. Wang Ji secretly scolded himself in his heart, why did he want to die to come to such a place.

In a daze, Wang Jiao fell asleep, but the biting cold in the middle of the night woke Wang Jiao from freezing, and he got up with a low curse, ready to call the guards to build a fire outside his tent. He got up and walked out of the tent, and the cold wind outside made him sneeze several times. Everyone was sleeping, but Wang Ji saw a few figures moving sneaky above the sand dunes in the moonlight. If it weren't for the moonlight, if it weren't for the sand dunes reflecting the sky, it would have been impossible to spot those figures.

Wang Jie's heart tightened, and he shouted loudly.