After a day or two of walking, the convoy left the densely populated area and entered the semi-desert Gobi region.

Hundreds of years ago, the Kyushu army crossed the desert and planted the Xiazi banner in the frozen soil that froze for more than five months a year, and established a huge defense line composed of countless large and small fortresses there, called the "Jincheng Defense Line".

Relying on the Jincheng defense line, there is a relatively prosperous area in the northwest of Yongzhou, with emerging towns such as Dingfeng Town, and there are also famous northerners.

In fact, the real formation of the "Northlanders" is only a matter of the last three or four hundred years.

The Black Gobi Desert, which stretches from the north to the south, is one of the most famous danger areas in Kyushu. It's barren and barren, the biggest plant is a shrub, and the biggest animal is a sand weasel—no, a horse ridden by horse thieves.

In this desolate land, the famous Northwest horse thief lives. They ranged from a group of five or six to hundreds or thousands, and they came in the night, plundering and killing, and then roaring away in the night, and I don't know how many merchants had suffered. At least half of the people who die in the Black Gobi every year are not because of cold, thirst or hunger, but because of their butcher's knives.

This group of dangerous elements is naturally a thorn in the side of the Great Xia Dynasty, especially the Marquis of Yongzhou, and has been encircled and suppressed more than once. The most ferocious fight was really a murderous man. It is said that in several oases in the Black Gobi, the water of the lake has turned red.

But the outcome of that battle was not what the court wanted.

Although the horse thieves on the Black Gobi were killed, but only seven days later, a large number of unknown masters invaded many counties and counties in Yongzhou, more than 1,000 court officials and their families were killed and wounded, and several small sects involved in this battle were also wiped out, an immortal shot angrily, but he was ambushed, and almost fell into the evil sect formation, he barely broke through, and the blood was sprinkled with dust, like a blood rain - from then on, people knew that behind the original Black Gobi horse thieves, was the Demon Dao faction "Huangquan Sect".

The Great Xia Dynasty was furious, and it was ten years old in the world, killing tens of thousands of bandits of all kinds, but it never came out of the Huangquan Sect. To this day, the Huangquan Sect is still a wanted criminal of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the head of any identified member of the Huangquan Sect can go to the Great Xia Mansion to exchange for a heavy reward. Over the years, there have really been many Jianghu customers who have earned such a windfall.

It's a pity that such lucky people often don't live for a few days, and they often have the life to take the money and not the life to spend it.

And the horse thieves on the Black Gobi are gradually increasing.

A charlatan who wants to make a windfall with a clear conscience, a fugitive who commits a crime and lives in the world, and a northland boy who doesn't learn well...... All kinds of people came here voluntarily or forcedly, evading pursuit in this barren land, using their swords to fight for their own resources to survive, and living a life of drinking and drunkenness.

They were an inevitable threat to caravans heading to the Northlands to do business. If you don't have the ability to repel the horse thief, you won't be able to eat this bowl of rice, so it's better to go back as soon as possible.

The wealth of the Northland belongs only to the strong who have the ability to maintain their wealth.

But even so, there is still a steady stream of merchants venturing to the Northlands in the fall, which is really rich.

Twenty cents and one bucket of rice in the Central Plains can be sold for three times the price when it is transported to the north, and large animal skins that can be bought for one or two pieces of silver in the north can also be sold for three times the price when transported to the Central Plains.

Back and forth, nine times the profit, is enough to burn the last trace of vigilance in the minds of the merchants, so that they forget all the risks along the way, and go to the road of no return one after another.

Many of them ended up burying their bones here, and their dreams of making a fortune were shattered in the face of reality. But there are also many people who succeed and get rich as a result.

No one cares about the life and death of the loser, but the story of the successful is talked about.

Every year, many people dream of getting rich and embark on the trade route to the Northland. Under this endless stream of "blood food" offerings, the horse thieves of the Black Gobi are like weeds in the field, and they are too many to count.

Of course, there are some people who are more secure and choose to follow the big caravan action. This comes at a cost, but it's also a bit more secure.

Pan Long and the caravan of the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce that they followed were mixed with many retail investors who came with them. The Chang'an Chamber of Commerce forbade them to do grain business, so they brought medicinal herbs and spirits from the Central Plains to exchange fur goods with the Northlanders. Although they must do business in the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce before they can pick up some leftovers and cold rice, and they have to hand over 30% of their profits to the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce as protection money, but after a trip, they can still make a lot of money, and the hard work is worth it.

The key is safety, the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce is strong enough to resist horse thieves. Follow the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce, at least you can ensure that you will not be robbed by horse thieves.

It's not a problem to make less money, it's the key to earning it.

It's just that this kind of thing of getting cheap wool can be encountered but not sought, and the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce is not a big wrongdoer, so how can it give people benefits in vain? Those retail investors who are eligible to participate in the caravan are either "downline" who have a good relationship with the Chang'an Chamber of Commerce, or they are regarded as rising stars worthy of investment. A cat and a dog want to get together, but there is no door!

On the contrary, it was people like Pan Long who traveled with them, and they were strongly welcomed by the caravan.

At sunset, the caravan walked unhurriedly in the desolate Gobi Desert. Han Feng dozed off the horse boredly, and his previous energetic appearance was gone.

He thought that this trip would meet robbers in a few days, and then a big battle would make him famous. But I didn't expect that it had been more than ten days of walking, but let alone the robbers, and even the beasts had not encountered a few.

In this way, day by day, his motivation is naturally exhausted. Now it has developed to the point of being listless every day, like a child who has lost his favorite toy.

Pan Long looked at him and secretly felt funny - he had to put it in his previous life, and he hadn't even graduated from junior high school, but he was just a child.

A cold wind blew, Han Feng shivered, woke up, looked up at the sun, and then looked at the caravan that seemed to be unchanged, sighed, and asked: "Brother Long, didn't you say that the Black Gobi is full of horse thieves? Why haven't we encountered any of them?"

Before Pan Long could answer, Zhao Lin spoke first: "Horse thieves won't meet 'one'." They always come in droves, and they always attack when they can have the upper hand. For a caravan of our size, once a horse thief attacks, there will be at least two or three hundred people. ”

Han Feng was taken aback, and his eyes, which were originally a little sleepy-eyed, widened suddenly: "Two or three hundred people?

"Nonsense, can't you fight to be a horse thief?" Pan Ying smiled, "Of course, there are old and young among horse thieves, but even if they are old men or children, they can shoot bows and arrows, can wield knives to kill, and can carry guns to charge into battle." If you don't have this kind of ability, you can't get mixed up in this industry. ”

Han Feng smacked his lips, a little depressed.

He thought that he was already a good hand of the younger generation, skilled in bows and horses, and could play slippery with long and short weapons, even if he only relied on his fists and feet, he could make ordinary ten or eight strong men unapproachable. Unexpectedly, according to Pan Ying, this kind of martial arts can only be regarded as the minimum level among horse thieves, and it is nothing more than the level of "old man and child......

"Uncle Ying, don't scare him. Pan Long saw that Han Feng's face had changed, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "If the horse thief comes, of course the master will lead the team." There are innate masters in this caravan, where is his turn to charge into battle? At most, he will shoot a few arrows in the back and fight them. ”

Han Feng suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, although he really wanted to become famous, but he was not a fool, he had to fight weaker than himself to become famous, and fight with people who were stronger than him, that was not to make a name for himself, but to send him to death!

At this moment, there was a sudden terrible sound in the air ahead, which was the sound of an arrow.

The sound of the arrow is the signal of the horse thief! Han Feng's hairs almost stood on end, and he immediately turned around and put up the saddle, quickly took off the hard bow behind his back, and took out the bowstring and put it on. The work that can usually be completed in an instant, but this time it took three bumps and bumps to install the bowstring.

At this time, there were already masters in front of the team who rushed out and rode up to the one who came from afar.

"The heart should be calm, the hands should be steady, and the eyes should be flat. With your back against the saddle and your legs on the stirrups, you can't clamp the ......horse's belly," Han Feng muttered to himself, reciting the key to archery on horseback

Pan Long is not nervous, there is only a team of two or three hundred people, what is there to be nervous about?

Not long ago, in the world of "Sword and Tragedy", he only relied on the strength of one person to harden an army of nearly 200 people.

With the help of a dozen villagers, he also won.

The individual strength of the horse thieves is not necessarily higher than that of the soldiers of the Holy Legion, and they are not afraid of death, and they are not comparable to the fanatical guardian knights of the Monotheistic Cult, while his comrades-in-arms are far more powerful than they were at the beginning.

So what's so scary?

Unhurriedly, he took off the stiff bow on his back, put on the bowstring, adjusted it slightly, and made sure that it was all right, before holding the bow in his right hand and the reins in his left, ready to rush up and shoot the arrow.

Looking around, almost everyone is doing the same thing. Even the chariot boy stopped, ready to fire his bow and arrows, and fight fiercely.

In the battle in the Northland, the arrows were shot first, and then the charge was charged. It is far better to be able to solve it with arrows than to draw a knife and fight. Therefore, almost everyone in the Northland can shoot a bow and arrow, with rare exceptions.

If there are a hundred Northlanders, that is a hundred marksmen. There are a thousand Northlanders, and when you fight, the enemy will be the first to enjoy a rain of arrows from the sky.

But no one was in a hurry to make a move, because the enemy had not yet appeared.

The leader of the caravan, accompanied by the innate master, rode forward, and soon met with the envoy sent by the horse thief.

The two sides said a few words, and then the leader took a bag of silver to the other party, and the messenger of the horse thief shot another rattling arrow into the air.

In the distance, there were many black dots moving in the wilderness, fading away. The messenger saluted the caravan with a fist, turned and rode away.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the stone they were carrying in their hearts finally fell to the ground.

Only Han Feng looked dazed, and after a long while, he asked in surprise and regret: "This is the end?"