Guoyi Hall, Ban Chao and others are ready to set off. There were tears on her face, and she held Ban Chao's hand and said: "The leopard's head is public and then private, which is admirable, I am waiting for you to triumph as soon as possible." After that, he shouted, "Sha Xue come in." I saw a handsome young man push the door and come in. I saw that this person was six feet tall, wearing a dark robe, and a purple silk silk around his waist, heroic and very capable. The person who came clasped his hands into fists and said, "General, sister! If there is any sending, please advise. Ban Chao was wondering, and said luxuriously: "Leopard head, isn't this Sister Sha Xue?" Ban Chao suddenly realized and said in surprise: "Why is the girl dressed like this?" Without waiting for Sha Xue to speak, Xiang Xiang smiled and said: "Today, the general is going to Khotan, and I will ask Sha Xue's father and daughter to be your guide." Sha Xue often does business in the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, and for convenience, she often wears men's clothes, which saves a lot of trouble. Ban Chao said happily: "Thank you, princess, Khotan has a thousand climates and very little water, I am worried about losing my way, it is really good to have Sha Xue's father and daughter together." Gan Ying come in! ”

Gan Ying pushed the door in and said, "What advice does my brother have?" Ban Chao pointed at Sha Xue and said, "This little brother is a guide sent by Princess Luxiang. You're going to Khotan, and you're going to keep him safe, understand? Gan Ying clenched his fists: "Obey." Then he patted Sha Xue on the shoulder and said, "Little brother, don't worry about following me, I will definitely not let you suffer." A good offspring, I said that the head of the leopard is handsome and chic, and Kunlun is suave, but I didn't expect you to be as beautiful as Princess Luxiang, if you were a woman, I would chase you. Ban Chao and Xiangxiang leaned forward and leaned back with laughter.

Ban Chao said: "Okay, you big black guy!" You don't look at who is in front of you. Gan Ying took a closer look and seemed to be a little familiar. I only heard Sha Xue say: "Brother Gan Ying, thank you for complimenting me, you are strong in martial arts, you are famous in Bali Mountain, I am afraid that you will not look down on me, a woman from the Western Regions." After saying that, he took off his turban, and his black hair flowed down. Gan Ying saw that it was Sha Xue, and ran out with a red face and a cigarette in shame. Luxury Xiang took Sha Xue's hand and said: "Sister, this is going to Khotan, you have to do your best to help the leopard's head, I know that you admire Ganying, and my sister will call the shots for you in this matter." ”

Sha Xue bent down and said, "Thank you, sister, for worrying." ”

When everyone came to the courtyard, they saw that Sha Xue's father, Sha Lihong, had prepared ten camels, and each camel had a bulging leather bag hanging from its neck, which was filled with water, and its legs were drooping heavily. In addition, he also brought a lot of silk brocade and ceramic utensils. Sharihun was in business and knew that the further west he went, the more valuable these things became. Seeing Ban Chao and the others coming out, Sha Lihong hugged his fists and said: "From here, we have to go west over the Hundred Miles of Flame Mountain, and there are thousands of miles away from Khotan, which is a dry and waterless area, so we must prepare more drinking water and stay at night to avoid the heat, save physical strength, and reach Khotan." Ban Chao said: "Thank you uncle for your advice, I heard that there is Gaochang City in the west hundred miles, I don't know what the situation is recently?" Shalihong said: "A few days ago, an old man came from Khotan and passed through Gaochang. It is said that the city wall of Gaochang is intact, but due to the withdrawal of the Han army and the fact that Heibatian had set fire to it, it is now sparsely populated and very depressed. ”

Ban Chao turned to Xiangxiang and said: "I want to ask Captain Niu Du to bring some people, and you can ask General Che for some people, taking advantage of the fact that Gaochang is unmanaged, and occupying Gaochang can not only serve as a barrier to the west of Shanshan, but also extend the springboard for our westward journey forward, killing two birds with one stone." Xiangxiang nodded and said, "This is very good, I will carry out the order." Ban Chao saw that Luxiang and his heart were in touch, and said softly with affection: "Thank you." Extravagant Xiang smiled, diluting the sorrow of separation a lot.

The vast Gobi is endless, and under the leadership of Shalihong's father and daughter, Ban Chao and other 36 people traveled at night and rested day and day, and came to the Flame Mountain in less than a day. Gan Ying said: "Leopard head, I heard that this Flame Mountain is a scene in the Western Regions. Sha Xue said: "At noon, put the eggs on the mountain for a while and they will be cooked. And there are often pavilions and pavilions on the Gobi, like a fairyland on earth, so let's rest here for a day today, okay? Ban Chao said: "Everyone is a little tired after marching for days. It's okay to stay here for a day. Then he ordered them to pitch their tents and set up cloth tents for horses and camels. The weather in Turpan is very peculiar, the heat under the sun is unstoppable, as long as there is something to shade, it suddenly cools down. At noon, everyone came out of the tent, but there was a red mountain in front of the meeting, it was very peculiar, the soil and stones on the mountain were all red, under the illumination of the sun, the top of the mountain seemed to have the breath of boiling pot swaying and rising, and it was like a fire burning, it was really a veritable flame mountain!

Gan Ying saw this scene for the first time, and heard Sha Xue say that she could boil eggs just now, and she clamored to go and see it. Sha Xue said angrily: "You are not allowed to go, look at the mountain and run dead horses, you see that we are at the foot of the mountain, in fact, it is still far away!" You have to run for an hour on horseback, and you are not afraid of the heat on the mountain, and the horse will not be able to bear it. "Then I'll ride a camel, and it's a pity not to go to the Flaming Mountain to see it." Sha Xue saw that Gan Ying didn't listen to the advice, so she rolled her eyes and smiled: "Aren't you going to boil eggs?" I take two eggs and put them on this dirt bun, and they can be cooked. As soon as Gan Ying heard this, she hurriedly shouted, "Okay, I'll take it." After speaking, he took the egg from Sha Xue's hand and climbed up to the dirt bun beside him. Sha Xue shouted below: "Put the eggs on the stones, the temperature on the stones is higher." The two were laughing, Ban Chao walked out of the tent, saw Gan Ying holding two eggs on the small dirt bag looking around looking for a place to put it, and shouted: "Come down, there is still a lot of road to catch up, and you will faint after a long time in the sun." ”

Suddenly, I heard Li Kaishan shouting: "Everyone, look! There is a lot of water in front of it, and there are many buildings, don't you think it's the Han Palace? Gan Ying jumped down the dirt bag and shouted, "Where is it?" Where is it? How I didn't see it. Sha Xue said: "Don't worry, you see that the buildings and pavilions in front of you are all ethereal." Everyone ran out of the tents, and suddenly the pavilions became clear. Everyone exclaimed, some said it was Afang Palace, and some said it was Penglai Wonderland. Gan Ying hurriedly pulled over the oolong horse and jumped up. "I'll take a look." Saying that, he raised his whip and left. Sha Xue grabbed the reins and said angrily: "Fool, where are you going?" You'll never get close to it, that's an illusion. Sharikhon clasped his hands together: "Lord! Where do you show this fairyland? How many horses have died for this fairyland, and how many strong men have died of exhaustion! Ban Chao saw that Gan Ying was still stubborn and eager to try, and said with a smile: "Get off the horse quickly, this is an illusion, how can it be taken seriously?" If you don't want to go into the tent, go and see if your eggs are cooked. The crowd laughed. Gan Ying ignored it completely, really got off the horse and climbed onto the dirt bag, and then ran down happily with the egg. Everyone saw that the egg was really a little cooked, and they all asked him to open it to take a look, Gan Ying carefully knocked open the eggshell, the egg white seemed to be cooked, but the egg yolk did not solidify, and as a result, Gan Ying's hand flowed, and everyone laughed. Gan Ying said: "I'm going to put the eggs up the mountain, but you don't let me, see if the eggs are undercooked, and make the yolks in my hands." Sha Xue smiled and took out a handkerchief to help Gan Ying wipe her hands.