Before dawn the next day, the mission had already sorted out and packed up, put away the tent and loaded the car, leaving only Xue Huai'an with a tent to be put away for the time being, while Chu Huan got up early and went up the hillside, staring at the exit of the town, waiting for the camel riders to come and deliver the news.

The early morning was also an extremely cold time, and after the two weak officials got up early in the morning, they sneezed and complained bitterly.

Qiu Yinghao promised to send a reply before the hour, but the climate and environment outside the gate were different from those in the pass, and the sun had not risen in the morning, Chu Huan was not sure what time it was, his subordinates sent dry food, Chu Huan ate some dry food, and finally saw three or four horses galloping out of the town, all of them were woolen clothes, and he knew that Qiu Yinghao sent the news.

Chu Huan asked Xue Huai'an to inform Xue Huai'an that the town entrance could be seen on the hillside, but there was still a distance between them, and the road in the Gobi was not easy to walk, the horses slowly grew up from the small black shadow at the beginning, and when they arrived at the bottom of the hillside, Xue Huai'an had already gone down to the loess slope surrounded by several officials, and saw that the horses were all stopped, and the first one was Qiu Yinghao, who shouted to the hillside: "Is it Uncle Chu?" ”

Chu Huan arched his hand on the hillside and said, "Master Qiu, it's Chu, please come up and speak!" ”

Qiu Yinghao turned over and dismounted, and took a few people up the hillside, Chu Huan smiled and said, "Qiu Dangjia really kept his promise!" Pointing at Xue Huai'an, he said, "This is Lord Xue, our envoy of the mission!" ”

Qiu Yinghao was located outside the gate, not under the control of the imperial court, and did not care about Xue Huai'an's identity, so he gave his hand at will, and Xue Huai'an said a little anxiously: "I heard that this official still has to think about it, I don't know how to think about it now?" Will I be able to get out of the country? He added: "The price is negotiable!" ”

Qiu Yinghao waved his hand and said, "Lord Xue's words are not right. Our camel riders can survive because there are rules and regulations, and the set price will not be reduced, but it will not be increased. ”

Xue Huaian smiled awkwardly: "That's what I said, what I said!" ”

Chu Huan asked with a smile: "Master Qiu, I don't know what you think, can you go this time?" ”

Qiu Yinghao thought for a while, and finally said: "Uncle Chu, I thought about it all night, and I also discussed it with a few camel guests, the rules of the ancestors, if there are guests, no matter how difficult it is, you can't refuse guests, but if you bring merchants and people without soldiers, we will always defend Luoyan Town." Seeing that Xue Huai'an was in a hurry, he raised his hand and said: "Lord Xue, don't worry, we have also discussed it carefully, saying that you are soldiers, it is not counted, saying that you are not soldiers, you are also members of the official family, so it is difficult to live." In this way, since you have found our Qiu family camel guest, and you have been waiting here for a day for this, we will not miss your business, this job, our Qiu family camel guest is to take it. ”

Hearing Qiu Yinghao say this, the officials finally breathed a sigh of relief, Xue Huaian was relaxed, nodded and said, "Okay, the camel rider is really righteous!" In his opinion, with a camel rider leading the way, this trip to the desert is hard, but there should be no fear for his life.

"But if you want to live, you have to promise us a few conditions." Qiu Yinghao is colorful.

Chu Huan and Xue Huai'an glanced at each other, but Chu Huan still smiled and said, "Master Qiu, please speak!" ”

"When we enter the desert, the path we walk must be completely decided by us camel riders." Qiu Yinghao said: "You can't take another route and go against our camel rider's route, otherwise our camel rider will not return the deposit, and it will be withdrawn immediately." ”

Xue Huai'an said: "I just let you lead the way, and this route is naturally decided by you." ”

"Second, whether the journey is to go or rest, you must obey the arrangements of our camel riders." Qiu Yinghao said: "We have to go, even if it is a barbecue in the scorching sun, or the weather is cold, we must go, if we want to stop, no matter how anxious you are, you must also stop and rest." ”

Xue Huai'an suddenly hesitated a little and said, "We still have more than a month left, and within half a month, we will always get out of the desert." ”

Qiu Yinghao said: "Lord Xue, the way of the desert is different from others, it depends on God's meaning, if everything goes well, follow our instructions, it will take you out of the desert in less than half a month, but if God is wrong, it may not be able to go out in half a month." But then again, as long as we follow our method, twenty days at most, we guarantee that you have passed through the desert. ”

Xue Huaian thought for a while before nodding and saying, "If it's really as you said, it can also depend on you!" ”

Qiu Yinghao said with a smile: "Also, in the desert, if we really don't happen to encounter sand bandits, we will also fight with you, but if we meet the Xiliang soldiers and you have a conflict with the Xiliang people, then we camel riders can only help each other and will not make a move, please be considerate of this!" ”

There were three hundred cavalry of the Guards who were brave and good at fighting in the mission, and Xue Huai'an really didn't care about the combat effectiveness of the dozen or twenty camel riders, he just let them lead the way, and said happily: "This is natural." However, we will not clash with the Xiliang soldiers, even if there is a conflict, the three hundred cavalry warriors under the command of this official, how dare the Xiliang people move lightly? ”

"Cavalry?" Qiu Yinghao swept down the hillside, saw the hundreds of horses densely packed with the mission, shook his head, and said, "You horses are going to enter the desert?" ”

"That's nature!" Xue Huai'an said.

"It's not going to work." Qiu Yinghao shook his head and said: "I look at the past, half of your horses here can't enter the desert, depending on what you mean, and you are still going to ride through the desert, I tell you bluntly, just these many horses among you, entering the desert, it will not take three days, you will die of exhaustion!" ”

Chu Huan frowned and said, "Master Qiu, do you mean to say that our horses are not good?" ”

Qiu Yinghao said: "It's not that it's not impossible, some can enter the desert, but they can't ride people all the time, if you keep riding across the desert, few of your horses can pass through the desert alive." ”

An official couldn't help but say, "Will Your Excellency watch the horses?" These are all the strongest horses in my Great Qin, why can't they even enter the desert? Pointing to a few horses that Qiu Yinghao rode at the bottom of the hillside, he said, "Our horses can't be successful, can your horses be?" ”

Compared with the high-headed horses ridden up and down by the mission, the horses ridden by Qiu Yinghao and others were much shabby, the skeleton was not as good as the horses of the mission, and the mane was very sparse.

Qiu Yinghao said: "If we have been riding horses across the desert, our horses will not be able to walk out of the desert, but it is not a problem to run in the desert for more than ten or twenty miles." ”

The official said disdainfully: "According to what you say, it is natural that our horses will be free for fifty or sixty miles. ”

"Our horses, once they let go, have to rest for at least half a day, and they have to drink two full bags of water to recover." Qiu Yinghao looked at the horses of the mission at the foot of the hillside, shook his head and said, "Your horses can't run ten miles, and if they run out of ten miles during the day, their lungs will crack open." ”

All the officials disagreed, but Chu Huan felt that Qiu Yinghao was not alarmist, and asked, "Master Qiu, is it really as serious as you say?" ”

"Uncle Chu, don't look at our horses, when we were still calves, we took them to the edge of the desert for training." Qiu Yinghao said solemnly: "This is a long time to practice. Do you know why Xiliang Horse is the best in the world? Just because their horses work hard. You horses, galloping in the pass, there is no problem, and you can withstand the climate in the pass, but you can't go into the desert. Pointing to the north, he said: "As far as I know, the Western Liang army crossed the desert on foot, and took very good care of the horses, even so, I heard that they also had thousands of horses die in the desert!" ”

Chu Huan bowed slightly, understanding what Qiu Yinghao meant.

When the officials saw Chu Huan nodding, they didn't say much.

"So what do you say?" Xue Huaian frowned slightly: "Is it difficult to leave these horses?" ”

"You don't have to leave it all behind." Qiu Yinghao said: "You have more than 300 horses here, and they are all good horses, but I glanced at it, there should be more than 100 horses that cannot enter the desert, and the others can barely enter, but they must not be ridden across the desert. ”

Chu Huan thought for a while before saying, "In this case, Qiu Dangjia might as well send someone to help us choose one and see which ones can be on the road." ”

Qiu Yinghao nodded and said, "It's not a problem. Then he pointed to the carriage lanes full of goods: "The carriage will not be made either." Uncle Chu, I already said yesterday that when these carriages enter the desert, the horses pulling the carts will die in less than three days, and in the dust, you can't move fast at all, if you rely on these carts to cross the desert, you can't get out of the desert for two months. ”

Xue Huai'an thought that if he found the camel guest, everything would be fine, but he couldn't imagine that he really wanted to go into the desert, and there were so many things, he was a little depressed, but he could also see from Qiu Yinghao's connection that what he said was true, and when he was depressed, he was secretly glad in his heart, if he didn't find the camel guest, he would have entered the desert in a daze, even if he didn't encounter a sandstorm alive by the sand bandits, I am afraid that there would be big trouble.

"Master Qiu, these goods must be brought." Chu Huan groaned slightly, and finally said, "You said yesterday that there are camels available!" ”

Qiu Yinghao said with a smile: "Uncle Chu, don't think that I am going to do the camel business, we will share blessings and misfortunes along the way, so before leaving, there are some things that must be reminded." ”

"Understood!" Chu Huan smiled: "Master Qiu is laughing. You look at these goods, how many camels do you need to transport them over? ”

Qiu Yinghao glanced at it a few times, and finally said: "You have a lot of goods, only my family of twenty-six camels, it may not be enough." ”

"In this case, Master Qiu will send someone to help us pick the horses first, and then see how many camels we need." Chu Huan arched his hand and said, "The sooner these are the better, leave as soon as possible!" ”

Qiu Yinghao turned around and said, "Wei Liu, you take Zhang Qiu here to help take a look." Only then did he say to Chu Huan and the others: "Everyone, the wind and sand are blowing here, why don't you go into the town and go to the cold house to rest first?" Nothing else, a few cups of hot tea are still available. ”

Xue Huai'an immediately said: "Okay, okay, let's go to the town and rest." ”

Qiu Yinghao said: "There can't be too many people in the town, so as not to frighten the residents of the town. ”

Chu Huan thought for a while, and then said: "General Xuanyuan, I'll hand it over to you first, transfer ten people to me, and Master Xue and I will enter the town." "It's not that he wants to go over and rest, after all, this is a small town outside the gates, this town is not big or small, what kind of people are in the town, Chu Huan doesn't know, Xue Huai'an wants to enter the town to rest, and he can't stop it, but when he goes to the guard, he can't be careless.

Xuanyuan Sheng only transferred ten people over, the white blind man and Sun Zikong also followed Chu Huan, pulled the horse, including Xue Huai'an, seven or eight officials got on the horse, and went down the hill under the escort of Chu Huan and ten cavalrymen, Qiu Yinghao turned over and got on the horse, led the way in front, the sound of horses' hooves rumbled, and gradually approached the town, but he heard the sound of horses' hooves in front of him, and more than a dozen horses galloped towards him, like thunder and lightning.

Qiu Yinghao slowed down the horse, and the oncoming dozen riders were also dressed as camel guests, the first one was nearly fifty years old, galloping forward, the horse neighed and strangled the horse, the horse stood alone, and then stabilized, immediately this person had a thin face, hooked nose, small eyes, a pinch of beard on his chin, no smile on his face, looking a little gloomy, Qiu Yinghao also stopped the horse, and said with a smile: "Senior brother, where are you leading people to?" ”

The gaze in the eagle hook nose small eyes was sharp, staring at Qiu Yinghao's eyes, and said lightly: "I'll wait for you!" ”

"Wait for me?" Qiu Yinghao said strangely: "Senior brother, do you have something?" ”

The hooked nose raised his finger and pointed at Chu Huan's group, and said lightly: "You can't come out of this job!" ”

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PS: In the new year, I wish you all a happy and healthy new year, all your wishes come true, and I also hope that the national color can achieve good results in the new year under everyone's care!