Boss Ma waited a little nervously in the gatehouse inside the gate of the Zhizhou Mansion.

Judging from his appearance, Boss Ma is dressed like an ordinary old farmer, with deep frowns, heavy bags under his eyes, rough skin like No. 1 sandpaper, and the calluses on his palms are too thick for him to hold his hands.

He changed into the best clothes now, and washed it deliberately, but he still couldn't wash off the earthy smell in his body.

Anyone who sees Boss Ma will think that this is an honest old farmer, the kind who has never seen the world in his life.

But in fact, Boss Ma is not.

Ma Boss is not surnamed Ma, he leads the entire horse gang, so he is called Ma Boss.

Ma Boss's horse gang used to be the only caravan in the entire Zaitian Prefecture that dared to go deep into the hinterland of the wasteland, half bandit and half businessman, with a fierce style. In the endless wasteland, there are no people, there are countless fierce beasts and demons, dare to enter the depths of the wasteland, and there is only one kind of person who is willing to enter the depths of the wasteland.

People who have no way out.

In the caravan of Ma Boss, there were bandits who did many evils, monks who were expelled, criminals who were sent to the frontier, deserters who escaped from the army, ordinary people who had no way out, and minorities who defected from the tribe.

Boss Ma can accept anyone, and everyone can control it. This old man, he had been a soldier, killed the enemy, learned superficial exercises in the barracks, and later, because he was ostracized by his colleagues, he pulled a group of people out and set up a horse gang.

Selling smuggled salt, transporting jade, delivering letters, they did everything that could make money, and many small cities in Zaitan Prefecture depended on them for their lives, Wangdong City, Dingshui City, and so on.

When he was about to grow old, Boss Ma handed over his caravan business to his son, reclaimed a piece of land in the Far North Wasteland, and built a city with a group of old brothers who were too old to run.

A city where no one sees them as criminals and bandits, and sees them as traitorous deserters, the same place where he defected and decided to become a horse gang, Matou Mountain.

That city was called Matou City, a city smaller than Wangdong City, a city with nothing but deserts and rocks, but it was their home, and they had worked hard for most of their lives to finally find a home where they could live on their own.

Boss Ma's hands clenched, and his rough skin rubbed against each other, like two stones squeezing each other.

A few months ago, his son got married, and Ma Boss asked his son to stay, and he ran the last business for his son. Ma Boss thought that he would go on this trip to see his old friends, and tell them that he would never come again, and that seeing him today would be goodbye, and that he would wait to hold his grandson, even if it was hard, but the sons and daughters cultivated in this wasteland were all good men, and he liked such a place that was difficult but full of human feelings, and hoped that his grandson would one day be able to run on this trade route and become a link and bridge between these cities.

But he never thought that today's farewell would really become a farewell.

The entire Zaitianzhou suffered a catastrophe, most of the cities turned into dead lands, and the Matou City on the wasteland was not spared.

At the beginning of the catastrophe, Ma Laoda relied on his survival instinct and correct judgment of the situation, forcibly suppressed the urge to go back to Matou City, and quickly fled.

brought his brothers to Zaitanfu, and he asked the old brothers to flee for their lives, but he refused to go.

His son, his future grandson, his woman who was born into a rich family, who was robbed by him, and who is now dead, is still in Matou City, and he can't leave them alone.

He didn't leave, and those old brothers also stayed, and in the midst of danger, they formed a group, helped each other, helped each other, and most of them had practiced the shallow art of qi training, and they actually survived several tribulations.

You must survive before you can go to your family, and if they can survive, then your family may also survive, and Boss Ma knows this very well.

Reality is sometimes hopeless, sometimes hopeful. It's like the aura of heaven, with twists and turns.

But when there was a person who created many miracles and convinced everyone, even Boss Ma couldn't help but think: "If it is the son, he must be able to." ”

It must be possible, it must be possible, begging the son to rebuild Matou City, to send people to find their families, at least to find them, whether they are dead...... Still alive...... As long as I find them, I am willing to give anything.

Even Boss Ma, who licked blood from the knife edge and struggled in the wasteland all his life, couldn't help but give Zi Baifeng such hopes, he was not a young man who was easy to impulse and believe, but he still firmly believed in this in his heart.

Because he has nothing but that little hope.

He had been waiting here since early in the morning, but there were already a few people waiting in front of him, and the officials came in a hurry, and they also inserted themselves in front of him one by one, so that he could continue to wait.

Boss Ma is like this, suffering from gains and losses in his heart, sometimes thinking: "They must be dead, even if they go to find it, what's the use? Let's go, let's go, why bother to ask for my son." Sometimes I think, "What if they're still alive, what if they're waiting for me to save them?"

In this painful struggle and torture, Ma Boss would stand up and sit down, anxious. Most of the people in front were like this, until Boss Ma became the one at the front.

The porter walked in again, and Boss Ma immediately stood up excitedly, finally it was his turn?

"I'm here to inform you, your lordship has gone to eat and rest. The porter was an elderly veteran, a little hunched over, and his ears were a little deaf, and he looked at them dissatisfied: "I said you, if you don't have anything important, don't bother the adults, do you know how busy the adults are now? Even if the adults are willing to see you, you don't understand the adults, wait, wait! The adults don't agree at once, the adults are busy with some big things now, you are in the east and the west, and the trivial things are still bothering the adults!"

Everyone bowed their heads, a little ashamed, but no one left.

The people's reverence for the official family has existed for a long time, and if it weren't for the fact that there was no way, they would never come here.

After complaining, the old porter turned his face and brought a big pot of stew, and said: "My lord said, everyone you are waiting here is in charge of the rice, the chef is too busy, my skills are not good, but the stew is full, and the rice is enough." Come on, come on, eat them all, while it's hot. ”

Ma Lao Dad ate a little, but he couldn't swallow it, and he was restless and restless.

I don't know how long I waited left and right, and finally the porter came in and said, "Your Excellency has returned, Boss Ma, it's your turn next time." ”

As soon as the words fell, another official came in and said, "I have something to see your lord, please help report it." ”

The porter waved his hand impatiently and said, "Wait, wait, I've just finished informing the next one." ”

This old porter has been serving here for many years, and when those high-ranking officials come here, they have to lie on their stomachs, where do they have the slightest temper? Hurriedly smiled: "Please also ask the old man to help me report, this matter is extremely important." ”

"Where there are so many important things, if there is something to do, come to the adults to report, don't you just want to get closer to the adults? Do you know how busy the adults are? Old Ma, come, it's your turn." ”

Boss Ma followed the gatehouse in nervously, there was already a document waiting there, took over the old porter, took Boss Ma backwards, stopped outside the study compound, and said, "My lord is waiting inside, please come in." ”

When Boss Ma entered the courtyard, his heart suddenly became nervous, what if the adults didn't agree? What if there was no hope......

He was about to turn around and leave, until he heard a voice from inside the door: "Please come in." ”

The door of the study was not closed, it was opened directly, and Zi Baifeng stood in front of the desk, smiling and looking at Boss Ma.

......

"Where are the Matou Cities you are talking about?" After listening to Boss Ma's words, Zi Baifeng stood up and pointed to the huge map behind him.

This map was drawn by Xiaopan, Hua Da and Zi Baifeng together. Because of the loss of aura, Zi Baifeng's porcelain tiles were dark, only Yinglongzong, Shanshui City, and Zaitianfu were lit, Zi Baifeng only drew more accurate places, and the rest of the places were just blank.

Boss Ma stood up and stretched out his finger to point over, but hurriedly withdrew his hand, drawing such a beautiful map, he had never seen it.

"This is Wangdong City, from here to the north four hundred and fifty miles, there is a small city called Zhuji City, there are more than 400 people, and then a thousand miles to the northeast, there is also a city, called Night Fog City, and then to the north is the Drinking Horse River, along the Drinking Horse River to the north, to the end...... Here, this is Matou City. ”

Hearing Boss Ma counting these cities like a family, Zi Baifeng's eyes lit up.

Zi Baifeng picked up a small flag, wrote the words "Matoucheng", and inserted it in the position pointed by Ma Boss.

"Boss Ma, do you know all the cities?" asked Zi Baifeng.

"The old man was in the horse gang, and he went to these places, but some cities are gone, leaving only ruins, and some cities have fewer and fewer people, and only a few cities have developed, alas, it is not easy to live in the wasteland......"

Zi Baifeng nodded, marked all the cities that Ma Lao said before with small flags, and asked Ma Lao Avenue: "You can tell me about other cities." ”

Although Boss Ma wanted to hear a quasi-letter from Zi Baifeng's mouth, but Zi Baifeng came to ask, he didn't dare not answer, in order to satisfy Zi Baifeng, he marked the cities he knew all his life.

Zi Baifeng counted, and Ma Boss marked a total of ninety-three cities, not counting those that Zi Baifeng had marked before.

Adding the cities that were originally marked by Zibaifeng, there were one hundred and twelve cities in Zaitianzhou.

Of course, some of these cities can only be considered small towns, but there are also cities with a population of tens of thousands.

Zi Baifeng was staggering, in the barren and vast land of Zaitianzhou, there were far more people living than he imagined, and Ying Longzong's sins were deeper than he knew.