Running all the way, it was not until the sky was about to get dark that the caravan saw the outline of the transit oasis.

It was another trek, Zhang Cheng and others came here, set up camp, and rested. The caravan leader arranged for people to boil water for cooking, Zhang Cheng dragged his tired body into the newly built tent, and did not want to move at all, but under the habit of it, he still got up and dragged the package on the hunchback to him, counted it, and did not lie down again with peace of mind until he was sure that it was a lot.

After lying down for a while, he bounced up again, as if he had a spring on his back, took out a booklet from his bag, and wrote and drew on it with charcoal.

It took a while to stop writing, and with satisfaction he closed the booklet and solemnly stuffed it back into his pocket. It records the intended purpose of the journey, the goods that can be traded and marketed, some information about the merchants of the Western Regions, and information about this suddenly rising quicksand city. The whole thing is a guidebook, a planner.

After doing this, Zhang Cheng finally lay down again with peace of mind, but before he could completely relax, Wang Sen lifted the curtain and walked in, making his plan for a short rest ruined again.

"Steward Zhang, that barbarian invited you to the banquet, saying that there are some things for you to discuss. ”

Zhang Cheng turned over and sat up, glanced at the black-faced man in front of him helplessly, and thought to himself, if Liu Ju would definitely ask first: Is Steward Zhang here? Forget it, I and the other party are not too different, and I really can't expect too much from this rude guy who has retired from the army.

Standing up, Zhang Cheng tidied up the messy bed a little, and replied: "Okay, I'll go now, by the way, what is Lao Liu doing?"

"I'm going to talk to Pebble. ”

Wang Sen glared at a pair of big eyes and replied, if it was an unfamiliar person, he would definitely think that his expression was that Zhang Cheng owed him money, but Zhang Cheng knew that this product was born fierce, so he didn't care, but remembered what he said to Liu Ju during the day, and after a little hesitation, he said to Wang Sen: "Lao Liu is probably not free, why don't you accompany me for a trip." ”

Of course, he knew who the barbarians Wang Sen was talking about, it was Aida, the leader of this caravan, who was a Cisai. Of course, it is not to blame Wang Sen for not being able to explain clearly, in the eyes of the cadres, in addition to the big cadres and people, there are only Hu people and barbarians left, and they do not know that the so-called Hu people refer to at least hundreds of ethnic groups, and there are only a lot more barbarians.

In the eyes of the proud people, the Central Plains are all barbaric, no matter what the hell you are, you are Yidi, and you don't even think about distinguishing who they are. Zhang Cheng also made up some knowledge of the Western Regions before he traveled, so he figured it out. Of course, he also knew what the purpose of this shrewd Xisai man wanted to entertain him diligently, not because he was on the line of Taiyi Shangzong, and wanted to be closer to him and mix in the northwest territory, how could he not buy the account of Taiyi Shangzong.

In fact, Zhang Cheng also wants to have more contacts with Aida, the Western Regions, since he is ready to expand the trade route to the Western Regions, it is not wrong to make more friends in the Western Regions, not to mention that Aida, the head snake, is very open on this trade route, and it is even rumored that his people are also a little thin in some famous sand bandit groups, this is a golden signboard, Zhang Cheng went to the Western Regions for the first time and shouldered the mission of expanding trade routes for his family, so when he learned about the market, he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to join the caravan.

At the moment, there is a reason to be close to the other party, how can you refuse, so you agreed without thinking too much, as for dragging Wang Sen, it is purely because she went to the banquet alone, which is not polite and lacking in momentum, and it is easy to be underestimated.

Wang Sen nodded, and inevitably followed Zhang Cheng out of the tent and walked towards the center of the station.

Along the way, there are also small vendors, who are said to be from nearby villages, providing drinking water and some souvenirs to the passing merchants to earn some extra money. Zhang Cheng was also surprised, because he couldn't understand at all how there could still be people living in a place like Shahai, which was almost desperate, and the road in the past two days had made him almost collapse.

The scale of the caravan was not large, and there were only 100 people in total, and it didn't occupy much of an area when it was spread out, so Zhang Cheng walked a few steps and saw Aida with curly hair, this Cypriot had the roughness of the desert people, and the shrewdness of the people of the Western Regions.

When he saw Zhang Cheng, he was a bear hug, and at the same time greeted him in fluent official dialect: "My friend, are you okay, the two-day journey didn't break you." ”

"It's okay, it's okay, Toaida, you are blessed, we hardly suffered anything this time. Zhang Cheng laughed dryly, and at the same time quietly broke free from Aida's embrace and straightened his clothes.

"That's good, don't worry, we will arrive in Quicksand City in two days, and I will have a banquet to entertain you then, but now I can only wronged you to use these humble foods with me. ”

"You're so gracious. ”

Zhang Cheng followed Aida into his tent, said a few polite words, and then looked at the food placed on the low table, it was indeed not exquisite, but it was much stronger than the dry food they brought, Zhang Cheng's purpose to go to the banquet this time was not only to befriend Aida, the head snake, but also to come to fight the tooth sacrifice, so he took Wang Sen to sit down happily.

The caravan consisted of several merchants who hired Aida as a guide to escort them to the Western Regions. It's just that at this time, only Zhang Cheng's family is sitting in the tent, and Aida's purpose is already very clear.

Although the distribution of forces in the northwest is complicated, the Taiyi Shangzong is definitely the top level, and this kind of Jianghu sect power, with tentacles extending into the three sects and nine streams, is much more convenient than the power of the imperial court and the Spirit King in some aspects. Being able to ride this line is a huge benefit for anyone aspiring to develop in the Northwest.

Aida is doing a similar business as a dart in the Central Plains, and all the cows, ghosts, snakes and gods have to worship at the entrance, how can he be lazy in the face of the big Buddha of Taiyi Shangzong.

Although in his intelligence, Zhang Cheng only caught the line of the deacon of the Taiyi Shangzong and the First Outer Gate, but in the face of that behemoth, it is not an exaggeration to pluck the hair of his legs at will be thicker than his waist, not to mention that it is just a banquet.

In the banquet, there are Kangju's fine wine, Xisai's dried meat, and even Bomi's melons and fruits, Puli's grapes, although all these are considered simple diets in Qianbao in the northwest, but in the eyes of Zhang Cheng, who has been gnawing dry food for half a month, it is a sumptuous feast.

In addition, the two of them have a good relationship, so the guests and hosts are happy.

After being full of wine and food, Zhang Cheng and the two said goodbye to Aida and walked back with each other's arms.

I haven't walked a few steps but I saw Li Shi from a distance, this kid was emotionally talking to the Hu girl in the daytime, but it was only a moment, and he left with a depressed face, the Hu girl stood in place for a while, as if inadvertently glanced in the direction of Zhang Cheng and the others, and then also got into the tent next to him and disappeared.

This sudden encounter seemed a bit clueless, but Zhang Cheng, who was a person who came over, understood it, shook his head and sighed with wine: "Infatuation has been empty since ancient times." "The Hu girl is very exquisitely dressed, according to Aida, she is a noble girl from a certain country in the Western Regions, and she took this tailwind team home, with Li Shi's status, purely a toad who wants to eat swan meat.

"Who is not young and frivolous," this abrupt answer, Zhang Cheng was stunned when he heard it, and subconsciously turned his head to look at Wang Sen beside him, only to see him looking up at the sky at a forty-five degree angle, his eyes were full of emotion, this thing is also a person with a story.

There was nothing to say all the way, and when they returned to the camp, Zhang Cheng and Wang Sen went to sleep separately.

The wine in the Western Regions is not very strong, but the stamina is full, Zhang Cheng slept groggily until the second half of the night, and was awakened by a chaotic noise. Or that he always had a string in his heart, and the slightest movement made him break through the shackles of alcohol and sit up strongly.

At this time, the sound of shouting and killing reached his ears, which made his heart palpitate, and he woke up most of the wine in an instant.

Whew, Liu Ju dragged Li Shi, whose eyes were red and looked confused, to lift the curtain and enter, and said hurriedly: "Steward Zhang, it's not good, there are sand thieves stealing the camp." ”

Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth and endured the wave of vertigo that forcibly awakened, his eyes wandered around Liu Ju and Li Shi, and said in a trembling voice: "What about Wang Sen?"

As soon as the words fell, Wang Sen also came in neatly dressed, nodded and said, "I'm here, what should we do if we take care of things?"

The look in Zhang Cheng's eyes gradually gathered: "Go out first to see the situation, and then make a decision." ”

There is no way, walking in the desert is the same as sailing in the sea, it is impossible to abandon the caravan and escape alone, without a leader who is familiar with the road, once you lose your direction, facing the endless sea of sand, it is a dead end. Therefore, Zhang Cheng will never leave Aida as a last resort.

Along the way, everyone was accustomed to obeying Zhang Cheng's orders, and in Liu Ju's eyes, although the steward was a little weaker, he was as careful as a hair, thoughtful, and a good leader, so after listening to his words, he subconsciously turned around and ran out to open the way for him in front.

Li Shi was in a trance, he was dragged in by Liu Ju, and naturally followed him out again.

And just when Wang Sen was about to go out, he was stopped by Zhang Cheng, he stood up, measured Wang Sen a little, and decisively took off the robe that was covered, covered Wang Sen, and said in a deep voice: "Old Wang, if something happens, you must find a way to escape and hand over the goods safely to the eldest young master." ”

After speaking, regardless of Wang Sen's reaction, he didn't even look at the package that originally contained the belongings in the corner, and walked out first.

Wang Sen didn't react until the clothes were draped on his body, his whole body was crushed by the clothes, it turned out that the package that was dangling in front of his eyes all day was a trick, and all the gold cakes were sewn into Steward Zhang's robe.

Thinking of this, he was a little dumbfounded, that was three hundred catties, how did Steward Zhang come all the way?

No wonder, I didn't see how he moved, he was tired and panting, and he was also strange, everyone in the big cadres practiced martial arts, and ordinary crops had musculobones and wing membranes.

It's just that now it seems......