This oasis is not large, and suddenly appears at the end of the desert, like a beautiful mirage, and like a spring in the cracked earth. The dry air gradually seeped into a fresh dampness, and even the fiery sun overhead covered the warm mist.

The camels lined up, shaking the brass bells under their necks, and took steady steps, unhurried, towards the beautiful oasis, passing all the way, casting slender shadows on the golden sand dunes.

It was a caravan across the desert, with camels carrying heavy loads, and a man sitting on each of the camels in front of the head and behind them. To protect themselves from the scorching sun and windswept sand of the desert, they wore black coarse cloth burqas from head to toe.

The caravan walked very slowly and without stopping.

The oasis is closer, and you can clearly see the rammed walls of loess, and a few tall green trees peeking out of the walls, which are rare in the desert.

The man who took the lead turned the reins, stopped on the side of the road, waited for a camel behind him to catch up, patted the shoulder of the rider above, and pointed to the oasis in front of him, "The original son, the town of Qiongta is ahead, and when you arrive at your destination, it's time for us to break up." ”

The rider on the second camel, following the example of the others, covered his whole body tightly with his burqa. He pulled the burqa on his head, revealing a pair of bright eyes with a quiet smile in his eyes, and said to the man who was headed: "Thank you for taking care of me all the way, otherwise I would have been lost in this desert." His voice is like his eyes, clear and gentle, and it makes people feel trust.

"The person who should say thank you should be me, if it weren't for you helping us fight away those Tangut people who were dressed as horse thieves, not to mention the goods, we wouldn't even be able to keep our heads. The man who took the lead patted the Central Plains man on the shoulder again, jumped off the camel, waited for the Central Plains people to also get off the camel, and then said, "Good brother, we will have a date later." He took the reins from the hands of the Central Plains, stepped on the camel, and led his caravan on a long journey to the desert.

The people of the Central Plains put their burqas over their heads and faces again, turned their heads to look at the boundless desert, and walked forward. He didn't walk fast, it seemed that he had already walked far away in the blink of an eye, leaving only shallow traces behind him, and not stepping on deep footprints like ordinary people.

Qiongta Town is located at the junction of the Central Plains, Western Xia and Great Liao, but it is not as prosperous as the general transportation center, and the desolate and harsh desert has blocked many merchants and has been ignored by the officials.

Walk through the town gate of Qiongta Town and walk up to the main street, which is crowded with all kinds of shops on both sides of the street, with a fairly complete range of goods and many pedestrians.

The only striking feature on the street is a half-human-high mud niche standing on the side of the door, which does not worship gods and Buddhas, but offers a snow-white long silk scarf and a bowl of water.

The people of the Central Plains walked on the street and blended into the crowd, at first glance there was nothing special, but after a second look, they felt different. He pulled down the burqa that covered his head and face, his bright eyes were still calm, his gentle and delicate face was incompatible with the roughness of the desert land, and his straight nose and the corners of his mouth were raised, but he showed a deeper and stronger will than the vast desert.

He wasn't supposed to be in this town that almost no one knew about, but he was in it, and he had been used to running around for years, but this time it had a dreamlike fantasy feeling.

The great desert covered with yellow sand, the oasis like a pearl, the calm and lonely town, does give people a feeling of unreality.

Not far from the extension of the street, a banner was held high on the door of a shop, which rolled up in the wind and embroidered with four big characters: "Wusan Inn". Wusan Inn is the only inn in Qiongta Town, and the people from the Central Plains came to the door, looked up, and walked in.

The front hall of the inn is also used as a tavern, and there are two tables of regular customers, drinking coarse wine, serving small dishes, and whispering gossip. A shopkeeper, dressed in coarse cloth, leaned against the corner and dozed off. Behind the counter sat the shopkeeper, with an obese figure, sparse eyebrows and thin eyes, and his left hand seemed to be disabled, retracted into his sleeve and curled in front of his chest.

The shopkeeper buried his head and flipped through the account book with his right hand. The abacus was old and broken, crackling with one of his fat hands, as if it would fall apart at any moment. Seeing that there are not many customers in the store, I don't know how he has so many accounts to settle.

Hearing the footsteps, the shopkeeper raised his head, a pandering smile appeared on his chubby face, a pair of clever little eyes turned, and quickly looked up and down at the Central Plains people who walked in. He looked at it once, and couldn't believe his eyes, and then looked at it carefully, "This guest officer, you have come all the way? Do you want to stay in a hotel? This hotel not only provides guest rooms, but also drinks and food." ”

The people of the Central Plains did not care about the inquiring eyes of the shopkeeper, and wanted to come here in a remote place, and rarely saw travelers from afar, so they smiled slightly and said: "I live in the store, please open a single room for the shopkeeper." ”

He speaks concisely and clearly, never saying a word that is useless, and does not make people feel abrupt and rude, perhaps because he often has a modest smile on his lips, which is particularly reassuring.

The shopkeeper was stunned, his eyes staring straight ahead, as if he couldn't believe that this dusty and detached young customer really wanted to stay in the hotel, and seemed to speculate about the origin and purpose of the customer.

Seeing that he didn't react for a long time, the Central Plains people knocked lightly on the counter, "Shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper was startled, and quickly lowered his head, trying to hide his confusion. The people of the Central Plains are very well-cultivated, they don't blame or study carefully, they stand in front of the counter and wait quietly.

The shopkeeper raised his head again, with a flattering smile on his face, cleared his throat, took an old booklet, opened it, picked up the pen again, asked respectfully: "May I ask the guest officer's name?"

"The surname is Shen, and the name is Yi. The Central Plains said.

The tip of the pen trembled, and a drop of ink fell, staining the paper.

The shopkeeper smiled apologetically, wrote down the guest's name in a dignified manner, then closed the booklet and moved out of the counter awkwardly, "Shen Gongzi, the little one will take you to the guest room." ”

Shen Yi followed behind him, "You're tired, are you the shopkeeper Wu?"

The shopkeeper looked back at Shen Yi, glanced at the banner outside the store, and praised: "Shen Gongzi guesses that the villain is Wu San." ”

Shen Yi didn't care about his explicit flattery, and smiled faintly.

Wu San walked up to the shopkeeper, slapped him on the head with a heavy palm, and scolded: "Liuhuai, you are here, you are still sleepy?! ”

Liuhuai didn't react when he was slapped in the face, as soon as he heard that the new guest was going to live in the Tianzi room, he immediately opened his eyes, stared at Shen Yi firmly, and ran to the back hall as if flying. The guests at the two tables who were drinking and chatting also raised their heads and looked Shen Yi up and down unscrupulously.

Shen Yi's expression remained unchanged, Wu San was embarrassed, and apologized repeatedly, "Shen Gongzi, people in our small place, I have never seen such an outstanding character as Gongzi, it is inevitable to be rude, don't blame it." ”

Shen Yi smiled: "It's okay, shopkeeper Wu, please lead the way." ”

When I entered the guest room, it was neatly clean, but the air was turbid and no one lived in it for a long time.

Wu San rushed to the window first, stretched out his hand to push open the window, and let in the warm and fresh air.

Shen Yi glanced around, untied the robe he was wearing, and put the things he was carrying on the table, a small burden and a sword.

The sword is hidden in an old and quaint scabbard, and it is dull.

There seems to be some kind of mysterious connection between the sword and its owner, the same sharp and internal, the same firm as a rock, trusting each other and attaching to each other. This is a good sword that looks ordinary, but definitely not ordinary.

Wu San silently looked at the sword on the table, and silently glanced at the owner of the sword a few times, his eyes showed a look of determination, and there was endless sorrow, both made up his mind, but also hesitated and contradicted.