As the sun sets, the sky casts a wisp of yellow afterglow.

In the vast Gobi Desert, a horse-drawn carriage slowly drove forward.

If you look down from the sky, you can see a very small black spot on the desolate earth, as if it is a black ant, crawling with difficulty.

As the carriage continued to move forward, the vague dilapidated town on the horizon gradually became clear.

It was a city with a circumference of about two miles.

The walls of the small city are made of loess rammed, perhaps because of years of wind and sand erosion, and no one has repaired it, this famous border pass built by the previous dynasty has been dilapidated.

The loess city wall, many places have collapsed, revealing deep ravines.

The carriage drew closer and closer to the town, and finally stopped in front of one of the gates of the town.

The wooden gate of the city gate had long since collapsed, and only a black doorway remained.

Above the doorway, there is a stone plaque engraved with two seal characters - Yangguan.

Shen Ning'er looked at the city in front of her curiously, blinked her eyes, and said, "Is this the famous border city, Yangguan?

Ning Xiaotang said: "I have inquired in Liangzhou City, and it is said that this Yangguan was completely abandoned by the imperial court a few decades ago. However, some business travelers still choose to settle down here to rest. ”

Shen Ning'er frowned slightly, and said in confusion: "Then why did the imperial court abandon this place? ”

Ning Xiaotang said: "I don't know about this, maybe it's too far away, or maybe the climate here is too bad, who knows." ”

"Let's go, let's rest in this city tonight, and then continue our journey tomorrow. ”

As he spoke, Ning Xiaotang drove the carriage and slowly drove into the city gate.

In Yangguan City, rows of messy adobe houses are built.

Most of them, however, have collapsed, leaving only a few ruins.

In the middle of the city is a small square.

To the south of the square, a stone house was built. Although the stone house looks small, it is the best house in the entire Yangguan City.

However, Ning Xiaotang didn't go there. Because around the stone house, people have already taken the lead. A group of nearly thirty business travelers had already occupied that place.

When those merchants saw Ning Xiaotang's carriage driving into the city, there were immediately five or six guards, casting vigilant glances.

Ning Xiaotang glanced at the crowd opposite lightly and said, "It seems that we are not alone tonight, but there are many people over there, so we will rest here." ”

Ning Xiaotang found a relatively intact adobe house twenty or thirty zhang away from those business trips, and then parked the carriage next to the house.

Shen Ning'er and Shen Yueyue both got out of the carriage and helped carry some of the luggage in the carriage into the house.

Ning Xiaotang found some dry firewood, and then lit a fire in front of the house.

In the Gobi Desert, the temperature difference between day and night is extremely large.

Wearing a cotton jacket in the morning, wearing yarn in the afternoon, and eating watermelon with a stove in his arms, it can be said that there is no exaggeration.

Of course, with Ning Xiaotang's skills, he is actually not afraid of the cold.

lit a fire, mainly for Shen Ning'er and Shen Yueyue.

The night soon darkened, and with it, the biting temperature.

Ning Xiaotang and the three of them gathered around the fire to keep warm, eating some dry food at will.

On the opposite side, several fires were also lit by those caravanserais, gathered in groups of three or five, drinking wine and pulling around.

Perhaps it was the perennial walking of the Gobi Desert, and those merchants spoke loudly.

The three of Ning Xiaotang, even though they were twenty or thirty zhang away from that side, could still clearly hear the chatter over there.

"Speaking of which, before Yangguan was abandoned, it could be said to be one of the most lively border fortresses in the Great Jin Dynasty. It's like now, lifeless, basically a ruin. For those of us who travel for business, we occasionally come here to rest and recuperate. ”

"Yes, and over the years, the wind and sand have invaded, and this Yangguan City has become more and more dilapidated. If this continues, sooner or later it will be covered with sand. When the time comes, we just want to find a place to stay, and there is no more. ”

"Who's to say it isn't. Alas, it's strange to think about it, how could the imperial court abandon this place back then? Yangguan is also a well-known border pass. ”

"You don't know. I heard that many people died here inexplicably, and in the end, the imperial court was really unable to solve the problem, so it had to abandon Yangguan. ”

"Well, I heard about it from my grandfather. It is said that back then, every other month in Yangguan, hundreds of soldiers would die mysteriously, and the way of death was very strange. Later, the imperial court sent a master to investigate, but in the end, it ended in nothing, and the problem could not be solved at all. In the end, the imperial court had no choice but to abandon this border city pass. ”

Here, Ning Xiaotang and the three of them were also listening carefully to the discussions of those business travelers.

Shen Ning'er said suddenly: "It turns out that the imperial court abandoned Yangguan because some kind of change has happened here." ”

Ning Xiaotang was about to say something, but suddenly, he frowned slightly, and then turned his head to look at one of the city gates.

Shen Ning'er was puzzled, "What's the matter, Xiao Tang?"

Ning Xiaotang said: "Someone is coming. ”

After waiting for a dozen more breaths, the ground finally began to tremble slightly.

On the opposite side, someone immediately reminded: "Everyone be careful, someone is here again." There were quite a few people who came, and they were also riding horses. ”

Immediately, the guards picked up their swords one after another and waited for them.

"Herod~~"

On the other side of the city gate, the sound of horses kept ringing.

Then, I saw more than 20 big men riding horses, pouring in from outside the city.

The people who came were all tall and tall, and they exuded a fierce atmosphere.

At the same time, these people all had fierce faces, their hair was disheveled, and they held all kinds of blades that glowed with cold light in their hands.

One of them said loudly: "Yo, boss, there is a fat pig here today, do you want to him?"

Hearing this, the thirty people on the business side immediately stood up.

"Everyone, be careful, it's the bandits on the Gobi Desert. ”

"We are the caravan of the Ma family in Liangzhou, everyone, if you want to do it, you can think about it!"

Someone on the business side made a threat.

But the bandits didn't care, as if they were wolves staring at sheep, staring at the merchants fiercely.

At this time, one of the bald men said in a deep voice: "Forget it today, don't make any extraneous branches." Our trip is to go to the ruins of the ancient country of Naloulan. ”

"Since the boss said so, let this fat pig go. ”

"Look, boss, there's a beautiful woman there, and it doesn't seem to be with those business travelers. Why don't you let us have fun?"

"Ouch, boss, that girl is so beautiful!"

Hearing these words, Ning Xiaotang's eyes narrowed slightly.

Shen Ning'er and Shen Yueyue were both full of indignation.