Skinny fingers brushed across the paper, back and forth in that corner, rubbing incessantly.

It only occupies such a small area on the map, not much bigger than a fingernail, and in the eyes of the old man, it is a bloody mouth that swallows up everything in his family, wealth, and life.

Even though most of his life has passed, the experience of that day is still a nightmare, haunting his heart.

And the other names of the places on the map, some of which he had once set foot on, and others that he had only heard but had not seen, had just fallen on paper, and he did not know which traveler's dream they had been.

The old man choked up for a long time, he couldn't speak, he just felt that his mind was very messy, and his heart was also very messy.

Gu Yunjin and the others didn't urge him, although the time was not early, but put themselves in their shoes, the meaning of that sand dune to the old man was not the meaning of the northern land to them.

After a long time, the old man finally put down the map, stood up, dragged his legs, walked outside, and looked at the northland in the evening.

It was an empty city, very different from the first time he came here, and different from the decades he had been begging for life here.

The once fresh life, the vigorous vitality, whether it is a child or an old man, is gone.

The old man hung his hands, closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

He eased up for a while, and finally turned around, looked at Gu Yunjin, and asked, "If there is a detailed map, can you drive the Di people away?" ”

Gu Yunjin pursed his lips: "Very likely." ”

"Is it possible to let our soldiers survive more when the two armies are fighting?"

"A clear terrain can formulate more detailed and advantageous tactics, and can have more emphasis when pursuing and defending, so that the soldiers can survive as much as possible," Gu Yunjin glanced at the tall north city wall and said, "We can know how many routes the Di people can take to cross the grassland and do the most effective garrison, and we will not know the situation when they surprise attack under the city wall." ”

Gu Yunjin sniffed the tip of his nose.

The northern land was lost, and Gu Zhize's sin of opening the city gate was the most serious, but they still don't understand how the Di people came.

The old man experienced that night, and he also knew that he was still asleep one moment, and the next moment he had broken the city.

The wind and snow blurred the vision, so that the soldiers on the city walls could not be guarded at all, and when they heard the sound of horses' hooves, it was too late after all.

This is a question that must be guarded against in the future, and there is no answer to it, and all the cities and passes that confront the Di people in the north are at risk of being attacked in the winter when the line of sight is blocked.

The old man asked, "If we had a map, would our caravan be able to go more smoothly?" ”

"Old man, you have walked through business, why do you need a guide when you enter the desert? Isn't it just to see the sky and find an oasis, so that the caravan will not be lost in it? Gu Yunjin said, "Oasis, recorded on the map, guides and businessmen have maps to refer to, how to see the sky, from the oral biography of the guides as a text, can be spread more widely, help more people." ”

The old man thought for a while, and then asked, "What about the horse thief?" ”

Gu Yunjin replied: "The horse thief has gone without a trace, and he quickly withdrew after the robbery, even if the merchant reports the case afterwards, his property and life will be damaged." But once the Di people were damaged and they didn't have the energy to go south to invade the border, the soldiers and horses of the imperial court could draw their hands to deal with the horse thieves. And sorting out the map may allow us to find the location of the horse thief, and if we have a direction, we will not waste time in the desert and grassland. ”

The old man pondered Gu Yunjin's words repeatedly, and then nodded slowly.

Gu Yunjin said very sincerely, she didn't pat her chest and be ashamed to respond to this and guarantee that, there was some reservation in her words, and it was this reservation that made the old man willing to believe what she said, and also thought that what she said was possible to be realized.

"Not only that," Gu Yunjin said, "I read some books by merchants describing the Western Regions, and the customs there are different from ours, and many neighboring small countries and tribes have their own set of rules.

Our businessmen visited for the first time, they were unprepared, they did not know the situation, they were wronged, they were excluded, and they were prone to conflicts. ”

The old man listened, and his eyes turned red again.

He remembered that when he first followed his brothers through the desert when he was young, he was curious and lively, and he was told by his brothers to teach him what to do and what not to do over and over again.

He went in and out of his left ear, and finally committed a taboo in other people's tribes, and was chased by three or four big men with sabers, and finally his brothers talked badly and spent money to eliminate disasters.

Those times were like yesterday.

The old man smiled, rubbed his stiff face, and said, "It's a good idea, but madam, why do the merchants want to go outside the customs and fight for their lives?" Scarcity is precious, and once the things from the Western Regions enter the customs in an endless stream, they will be worthless. ”

Gu Yunjin also smiled: "The risk of going to the Western Regions can not only be resolved by relying on the map that guides the way and the documents that guide the way?"

Deserts, grasslands, natural hazards are still natural hazards, storms are coming, if you hide slowly, you will lose your life, and if you understand the sky, you will not be able to escape unscathed.

It's not so easy to make money. ”

"Well said," the old man nodded heavily, "No matter how much people say and read a lot of books, after all, it is only on paper, but if you don't have that piece of paper, you don't even talk about it, all the way to the west and north, you are gambling that you have a few lives." ”

After the old man finished speaking, the dull depression in his heart was expressed a lot, and he once again fixed his eyes on the Northland City.

He doesn't know how many gaps he can help fill in now, but as long as he gives the message, it will be worth it to live even one more person.

Half a lifetime ago, he survived alone on that sand dune, unable to save his brother.

On that day, after the Di people retreated, he found Gu Yunchan and the Jiang family brothers, but he did not save any of them.

He had regretted it, he had been annoyed, he had hated himself for being powerless, and now he had a good opportunity to do what he had not done.

The young woman in front of her was the daughter of the Gu family, the wife of the prince of the Guogong Mansion, and her connections could ensure that the things they sorted out could really come in handy, rather than a few small fights among the little old folk men.

The old man grinned: "The old man follows you, I must help you do this well." ”

This is the only thing he can give back to Gu Yunchan and the Jiang family brothers who saved his life, using the footprints of the first half of his life to find a way to make Di people not swagger.

Then he is dead, and it is meaningful.