Sorry, there was a power outage in the dormitory at 11 o'clock yesterday, so I couldn't update it, and it was made up yesterday. Will post tonight. ）

Drive west.

In the desert of Salander, there are only two colors left in the whole world: the pure pale blue of the sky and the mottled beige of the earth.

My father had just passed through an oasis where Cesar and the Oriental man had been laid down to rest for a while. The father washed their filthy bodies with water. In the fresh air and neat environment in the carriage, the two people recovered quickly. It wasn't long before Cesar was able to struggle to sit up and ask what was going on.

But the Oriental man was in a bad situation, and he had a high fever.

Only those who have walked through the desert know the value of an oasis, especially when water is desperately scarce, and encountering an oasis can almost make a thirsty traveler ecstatic. On the oasis, my father filled all his skins with water and filled the horses with water.

On the oasis, Aoi gathers berries and some tubers that she is familiar with. Marion once personally taught Aoi what to eat and what to poison. When Aoi squatted in the grass and filled her straw hat with green plants, her back looked as weak and pitiful as Adeline.

It's been a long time since I've seen Xiaokui, and the last time my father remembers seeing her was before she was in military school. After that, Aoi only occasionally said a few words at the end of Marion's letters, and during this time, Aoi seemed to have matured a lot, and looked more and more like her sister. When he was in the car, his father asked why Xiao Kui wanted to join the army, but Xiao Kui just smiled faintly and did not speak.

Cesara was a bystander, and he soon saw the clue, but the matter had nothing to do with him, so his main focus was not on teasing my father, but on taking care of the Oriental.

Cesar had no affection for the Oriental, but he had been the Oriental's friend all the way from the ship to Dukuba, and now he had become a man who had died together, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for each other. After the oasis was cleansed, this oriental man showed clear facial features, and this person did not look like a Kujit. To be sure, this man was the Oriental who made silk and porcelain.

If you count it, the whole result of my father's abandonment of the White Dove Valley in exchange for the crew was that the crew was separated and exchanged for Xiaokui and this unknown Oriental.

While in the car, Cesar asked his father in detail what had happened during his contact with the Sultan. My father said lightly that it was because my grandfather had an old relationship with the Sultan, so he was taken care of by the Sultan, and in the trials arranged by the Sultan, he performed well, so he was finally honored by the Sultan as a guest.

Xiao Kui whispered at this time: "After the **** duel, the palace people in the entire palace are whispering about the strange tactics of a young Swadia man", at this time Xiao Kui was still worried, "People say that you are almost not alive."

"So serious?" Cesar couldn't help but be touched by Aoi's words.

"Well", there is no need for my father to hide anything anymore, "That person is superb in swordsmanship, if it weren't for Ji ''''My friend's mother taught me throwing, I would definitely die there''."

The father then explained his astonishing throw.

After hearing this, Cesar said with a wry smile, "Only you can encounter this kind of thing, and wonderful things can always happen to make you turn evil into good fortune." Speaking of this, Cesar's expression was sad: "But what about others? What about boatswain? What about the soldiers who are determined to die with you? They're gone, you don't have to take risks, and you always seem to be able to survive. But those who follow you, they don't have your good luck. Arcadio two, really, I'm not at all glad that I survived. I saw our soldiers being sold like cattle. I was determined not to be a slave, nor to die, and for this I crushed the flesh of my arm. ”

Cesar lifted his tightly bandaged arm, "If you do something like this again, think of the boatswain, think of my arm."

The father pursed his lips and looked back at Cesar, not knowing what to say.

The carriage continued along the stone roads built by the Salanders in the desert Gobi, with deserted villages lining the roads. In the past, when the Muta River in the territory of Salander was not diverted, this area was a fertile agricultural area, and it was once one of the most densely populated areas of Salander. But since the diversion of the Muta River, this land has been abandoned, because the oasis formed by the snow-capped mountains has become the only place to live, and all the settlements along the Muta River have gradually been abandoned, and now only this lonely road remains. Despite this, the road construction skills of the Salander people are still impeccable, and they are still fully functional after being eroded by the wind and sand for a long time, and when walking from the road, there is still a huge space on the left and right of the carriages, and you can imagine the beautiful scenery of trucks and mules and horses everywhere in this place in the past.

In his car, Zaitsev prepared for his father a map and a book called "Encyclopedia of the Geography of Karadia", which contained several pages of beautiful illustrations depicting the entire continent. By studying the maps of Sunuo, my father found that these two maps were detailed and accurate, and they were indeed good things. When I was in the military school, the school used to print many maps, only one of which was correct, and the cadets were asked to find the correct one among the many wrong maps. After training, my father could clearly remember the terrain of the continent, and now that he had this well-made map, he determined his position and devised his own escape plan: from Dukuba, all the way west, along the abandoned official road to the Sekuten Oasis, then over the Gamiyed Oasis into the Kugit steppe, then south to the Amera Pass or continue west to the Swadia-controlled area.

Either way, the road ahead is dangerous: the two armies of the Salanders and the Kugits are friend and foe.

But with Zaitsev's threat at the back, once he returns, he may fall into a situation from which he will never recover, and now he can only move on.

Cesar suggested that he should find a place close to Dukuba to hide, and then expose Zaitsev's deception to the Sultan's secret contacts.

Father shook his head: "I know a well-informed lady, you know, the news she told me in advance was often accurate and terrifying, and believe me, she can know almost every day what is happening in Sunno City or every city on the entire continent. And even such a lady confided in me that she was very worried about Zaitsev's strength. I can surmise that once we turn around and go back, the first people we meet will be Zaitsev's minions. ”

Cesar was silent, he knew that he had no choice in the current situation, so he had to figure out a small bottle of ointment and look at the Oriental man on the side.

Cesar could not tell the difference between this man and the Cugit, he had the impression that this man was similar to the Cugit: yellow skin, although lighter; elongated eyes; Pitch-black hair and emaciated cheeks.

But my father knew. My father had been in contact with two Kugits for a long time, and he could tell from a few simple movements that he was not a Kujits.

At the beginning of the carriage, there are three horses, and when one pulls the cart, the other two will be led by a rope to the side, which can save energy.

When night falls, three horses and carriages form a small camp, and they sleep together in a campfire under the high rising dunes. This way, the flame will not be detected unless it is from a close distance. Aoi's head rests on her father's shoulder, and Cesar bakes the blanket with a flame and covers the Oriental man's body. In the past few days, the oriental man has been able to open his eyes, at first, he looked at the few people around him suspiciously, and his eyes occasionally flashed with a very bright luster, which let his father know that this person would not be an ignorant person.

The goblin once taught his father simple fortune-telling, and the goblin told his father that fortune-telling was definitely not nonsense. "You see, if a man's hands are white, then he is not a man who does heavy work; If a person's eyes are bright, they are wise and educated. If a person describes a withered hair, then look at his hair, a person with dry hair is overwhelmed by life, and the smooth hair shows that the person is calculating and always worried. In short, when a person comes to you for fortune telling, he already has the answer and what he wants to hear, and he is not here to ask for your advice, he is here to listen to your comfort--- or rather flattery. If you say what he wants to hear, you will be a good soothsayer. ”

Although most of the goblins' words were a little difficult for my father to understand, my father strongly agreed with the statement that human eyes directly reveal the human heart.

Even though Adeline is blind in both eyes and has a faint layer of fog in her eyes, as long as you look closely at Adeline's eyes, you can see the shadow of virtue and wisdom in them, which her father cannot see in the eyes of many girls.

Xiaokui seemed to have been listening to every word her father said, but she didn't say a word more, as if quiet listening was already something that satisfied her.

The flames danced between the crumbling firewood, and a hanging pot boiled half a pot of bread porridge with wild herbs, sprinkled with herbs and mushrooms picked by Xiao Aoi, and Cesar occasionally stirred it with a clean wooden stick to let the smell of food come out.

Aoi hugged her knees and curled up beside her father. Cesar coughed and fiddled with the flames, making it even stronger. The desert night was only the sound of howling wind, and it was extremely cold. The stars in the sky are like a brilliant diamond sprinkled on obsidian, sparkling with a faint and serene luster.

My father looked at the atlas, pointed to a place and smiled, and said, "Do you remember?" Hot Springs Town, where did I see you for the first time, that time, uh'''"

Father suddenly stopped talking. Cesar asked curiously, "What happened that time?" ”

Xiao Kui shrunk her cheeks and rubbed them on the blanket, as if to hide her embarrassment, "It's nothing, I saw my brother there."

"Well, you were naughty at that time than you are now, and I still had a headache at the time. You know, when you asked me to go to your house to look for you, I had a headache, and Wright was worried."

"Isn't it," said Cesar, "that Wright's stone is going to be troubled?" ”

Xiao Kui smiled embarrassedly, her face was red from the flames, and she was tender and dripping.

Father laughed. Then a few people talked about the events of Rhodoc, and the stories seemed to have passed for a long time, and at such moments they poured out with a warm feeling like the water of a spa town.

Xiao Aoi looked at the flames, a little sleepy in a faint smile.

The father said, "It's not early, go to sleep, we have to go tomorrow." ”

"Yes".

"By the way, Xiaokui, when we go back to Rhodok, I will marry your sister, and you will be her bridesmaid when the time comes."

Xiao Aoi trembled for a moment, and after a moment of silence, said softly, "Okay."

The father put the hot end of the blanket on Aoi's body, and slept on the outermost part of the body.

The stars are shining brightly, and the evening breeze is like a song.

Everyone fell asleep, and the flames slowly dimmed.

In the sound of quiet breathing, tears slowly overflowed from the corners of Xiao Aoi's eyes, and they fell uncontrollably on the gravel.

Xiao Kui covered her mouth and cried quietly, the tip of her nose trembling uncontrollably.

It's peaceful.