The horse's head faces the west of the world.

Half a day passed, separated by two or three miles of Gobi and sand dunes, and Hong Fan's team was far behind the caravan.

"Jinhai separates Liangzhou from Snake Swamp, and there are at least a dozen sand thieves in it."

Shen Hong spit out the wind and sand in his mouth, surrounded the door with a headscarf, and said.

"Since the snake people were driven out of Jinhai, in the past few years, the sand bandits have never moved the caravan with the banners of the three Jinhai families, and mainly moved towards the counties and townships below."

"In the past few months, Haifei doesn't know what bear-hearted leopard gall he has eaten."

As he spoke, he pulled the viscar above his head.

In Jinhai in late autumn and August, the sun is still warm during the day, and Shen Hongguang's hair is hot.

"It is said that Liangzhou 'wears a leather jacket in the morning and a yarn in the afternoon', compared with Jinhai, it is all gentle."

Sun Li pulled out the auxiliary water bladder and took a sip and said to Hong Fan.

In the distance, the figure of the scout on the top of the sand dunes was undulating.

Light, dry, strong wind......

None of this has bothered Hong Fan.

In his upper dantian, the true yuan of the sand world was more comfortable than usual, as if he had entered the home field.

"You look like you're getting used to it."

Hong Lie drove his horse and rode with Hong Fan, looked at him, and said.

"From here, go west for half a day and then turn south, and you can go directly to the hinterland of Shengzhou."

"In the past two years, Huaiyang's national commercial tax has increased higher and higher, thanks to this road, our Cistanche, Gobi jade, and salt lake production can be sold all the way to the south."

Hong Fan nodded, staring at the caravan ruts that were gradually being buried by the wind and sand.

By hearing and seeing, he extracted a lot of information from his inherited memories.

Although it is a remote frontier, there are several salt lakes in the southwest of Jinhai City, which produce lake salt and miscanthus - the imperial court's "official mountains and seas" policy, but in this place far away from Emperor Gao, it is useless.

With the above-mentioned "hard currency", the trade in the west of Liangzhou is extremely developed, and the Chi family is the leader in it.

After a few more hours, it was getting late.

The heat absorbed in the yellow sand quickly dissipated, and each of the men put on a thick coat over his leather armor.

At six o'clock in the evening, everyone riding in Zhu Yi arrived at the first "oasis".

The so-called oasis is actually a basin-sized spring in the rock.

The water in the spring is enough to drink horses, and there are two circles of sparse sea buckthorn and thousand-year-old orchids, showing some greenery that is better than nothing.

But it was the small patches of green in the sand that made everyone extra solemn.

Regardless of the people, they are careful when drinking water and wiping their faces, as if they are performing solemn religious rituals.

"We're almost forty miles out of the city now, Brother Hong Fan, it's your first time coming in, I probably don't know."

Shen Hong carried a water bladder filled with water in one hand, tore half a cake with the other, and sat down beside Hong Fan.

"Hundreds of miles of Jinsha and Hanhai, whether it is a snake man, a sand thief, or us, the foundation of territory and strength falls on such a supply point!"

Hong Fan nodded when he heard this, and words like "water is the source of life" flashed in his heart.

But Hong Lie, who was sitting on the other side, smiled and said, "You haven't understood yet." ”

"Isn't that what it means to have water to feed people?"

Hong Fan asked.

"That's not just what it means."

Hong Lie tore off a piece of dry cake with his teeth and replied vaguely.

"Where people and horses can go, they can enclose the territory and talk about control - cattle and camels can drink water every ten days, and drink hundreds of catties at a time, but this big animal with a load is too slow to do anything."

"So the sand bandits and we still have to use horses in the Gobi Desert, and the horses have to drink water at least dozens of catties every two days......"

Hearing this, Hong Fan suddenly understood.

The supply points in the sea of sand are similar to gas stations, which determine the range of movement and even the route of the horse team.

"What does the team mean is that although the desert is unbounded, everyone's line is actually roughly fixed, and there are many places where the ox and camel teams can cross, but the horse teams can't?"

Hong Fan said thoughtfully.

"Brother Hong Fan is smart, that's what it means!"

Shen Hong slapped his thigh and laughed loudly.

"If you fly and plunder on the sea, you have to rely on horses, so don't look at the vast Jinhai, in fact, everyone has to follow the designated route."

"And once the caravan passes the area within the reach of the horse team, the sand bandits will not be able to reach it!"

"I see......"

Hong Fan swallowed the dry food and bowed his head.

"As Shen Hong said, if you want to do it at sea, you can only do it three days ago, and the maximum probability is tomorrow afternoon." At this time, Hong Ming, who was inspecting the personnel and horses, also paced near a few people and said.

"The size of the team that can be supplied by different supply points is also very different; For example, in the southern part of the entire Jinhai Sea, there are only four large oases that can be used by the army, and now they are all under the control of our Dahua. ”

"Of course, in addition to the public supply points, there are also secrets; In this regard, the Chi family has accumulated the deepest. ”

Hong Ming said, signaling to the ten people on the other side - the latter was the brave rider of the Chi family, dressed in thin leather armor and cloak at this time, and was also eating dry food.

Seeing Zhu Yiqi and others looking in the direction, these men also bowed their heads and were honored.

"There are three people flying on the sea, and at least one person leads the team every time they go out, with five or six good players, twenty or thirty minions."

Hong Ming noticed that Hong Fan was listening carefully, so he spoke again.

"We're more than twice as powerful as them on this trip, so you don't have to worry too much."

Another hour passed.

Hong Fan checked Bentley's condition one last time, turned around, and met the Milky Way that had landed in the desert.

Before his eyes, the night opened its arms and embraced everything in its arms.

On this night, the felt separated the extreme cold of the golden sea, and the dream was full of the taste of the unknown and adventure.

The next day, when it was still dark, the procession set out again, and soon caught up with the ruts of the caravan.

However, the direction of travel has changed from due west to due north, and the environment has gradually changed from desert to Gobi.

After lunch, as the possibility of conflict approached, Hong Fan's heart couldn't help but tense.

Similarly, Shen Hong unconsciously rubbed the handle of the horizontal knife, and Kong Hai's overcoat was unraveled, untied, and draped, as if the horses under his crotch were alternately walking through the two seasons.

[They are the same, they can't be counted as my cowards......]

Hong Fan said in his heart and looked forward along the horse team.

Hong Lie was lying on his back on his horse, his hands on his back, and he was staring at the only lonely cloud in the sky.

Hong Ming, who was at the front, believed in the reins of the horse and dozed off with his head down.

[It seems that the time is still early? 】

Hong Fan asked himself.

After a short time, he, Shen Hong and others were also taken back to enjoy the rugged mountains and rocks in the Gobi Desert.

The silent march lasted until two minutes of Shen jet lag (half past three in the afternoon).

A chirping hammer soared into the sky, and the sharp sound of an eagle's cry came out of the wind and reached the ears of Hong Fan and others.

This is the signal that the scouts have agreed upon.

"Come to life, brethren!"

A snort bloomed.

Everyone followed the sound and saw that it was Hong Ming at the forefront.

"Let's keep up!"

This bearded man turned his head and looked around at everyone in a moment, his eyes were electrifying, where was the previous drowsy appearance?

Following the ruts of the caravan, the horses galloped forward at half speed, and after about five or six minutes, they arrived at the scene in the low valley.