After entering the desert, he did not go straight west, but to the southwest. The Tingzhou he was currently in was not on the main road of the Silk Road. The Ni family did not take this road when they moved westward, but took a road to the south, that one

The road is located on the national border between the Gaochang Uygur and Tubo tribes.

It was the first time I set foot in the desert. Facing the endless yellow sand desert, I felt 30% novel and 70% nervous. Although Mr. Hei had followed everyone in the Ni family to the Western Regions, he did not take this path. He could only find the place where he wanted to go that day.

Only the black master can know the way to the Western Region and go there.

The sand is much softer than the soil. Running on it requires more effort for Young Master Hei, and his speed is greatly affected. Young Master Hei has crossed the desert twice and has gained experience. He always follows the ridges of the sand dunes when running.

Never set foot in the low area between the two dunes.

As night fell, the temperature dropped, and the snakes and insects in the desert began to go out to look for food. Young Master Hei was bitten before he ran very far. The one that attacked Young Master Hei was a venomous snake. Fortunately, Young Master Hei was gifted and immune to all venomous snakes.

Don't hurt it.

Realizing that he had been bitten, Mr. Black immediately slowed down. The reason why he slowed down was not because he was injured, but because he wanted to go back for revenge. He ran back and stomped on the venomous snake. After being still angry, he opened his mouth and bit the venomous snake, shook his hair and pulled it.

Only after biting the poisonous snake did he calm down his anger.

At midnight, an abandoned city appeared in the desert. Many years ago, this place was not covered by the desert and had been inhabited by people.

This city is very small, and it has been abandoned for many years. There are only some ruins left in the city, and no decent buildings can be seen. However, the name of this city is still confirmed by a broken plaque. The name of this small city is Yanqi.

In charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, I have some impressions of this name. When the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, it established four Anxi towns in the Western Regions, and Yanqi was one of them. However, later on, when the Tang Dynasty's national power declined, the Four Anxi towns were gradually annexed by Tubo, and the court was too busy to take care of itself.

, and was unable to send troops for reinforcements.

It has been more than 270 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty. The previous 130 years were very glorious. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty began to decline. Although the national power was not what it used to be, it could still maintain the illusion of prosperity.

, The Huangchao Rebellion not long ago had a devastating impact on the Tang Dynasty. At the same time as the Huangchao Rebellion was quelled, the vassal town began to support its troops and respect itself. After quelling the Huangchao Rebellion, the vassal town became invincible.

I was sure that the abandoned city in front of me was Yanqi, and I knew that I was not lost. There was a map of the Tang Dynasty hanging in the Ministry of Household Affairs. It was an old map drawn in the prosperous times. On that map, Yanqi was still the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

He brought a water bag and dry food with him. The Taiping Company had fed Mr. Black when he was participating in the auction, so he was not hungry or thirsty at this time. He drank a few water and continued on his way.

When Li Dexin said that Yutian was more than a thousand miles away from Tingzhou, he meant a straight-line distance. In fact, except for flying birds and homing pigeons, no one can walk in a straight line. In addition, it is necessary to circle the southwest to find the path that the black master is familiar with, so the real distance is

It is much farther than the more than a thousand miles mentioned by Li Dexin.

At dawn, the wind suddenly picked up, before

Without any warning, the wind picked up and quickly became stronger. After a while, there was flying sand and rocks, covering the clouds and blocking out the sun.

It was the first time I encountered this kind of situation, so I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Mr. Hei must have encountered similar situations before, and when he saw the situation was bad, he immediately chose to run with the wind.

The previous route was diagonally to the southwest, but at this time the southeast wind was blowing to the northwest. If you ran with the wind, you would run into the depths of the desert. Worried that you would lose your way after going deep into the desert, you tried to kill Master Hei. He lay down in a sheltered place to avoid the wind, but Mr. Black didn't listen and kept running with the wind.

At first, I was confused, but as time went by, I finally understood why Mr. Hei didn’t lie down and hide under the sand dunes. This is because the sand dunes in the desert are different from the mountains outside. The sand dunes will move with the wind when they are blown by the strong wind. If you spend time lying in place, you will be buried by the moving sand dunes.

The yellow sand in the sky is like the ghost land of the underworld, and the piercing wind is like the cry of all ghosts. In this situation, there is nothing you can do. You can only lie down on the horse and let the black man rush towards the depths of the desert.

People who practice Taoism never think that humans can defeat heaven. All they understand and understand is to obey nature and respond to humans. When they are in danger, they feel more and more powerful about heaven and earth and how insignificant they are. Don’t say that they only have the cultivation of a big hole and a deep blue aura, like this. This dangerous situation is at the peak of Purple Qi, and Taixuan masters are helpless.

Because he was running with the wind, Young Master Hei's speed was extremely astonishing. With the help of the wind, he could even jump seven feet when encountering a ravine, as if he were riding clouds and mist.

This situation suddenly gave rise to a strange idea. The Black Master is extremely talented. Under the influence and changes of the corpse poison, his meridians are much stronger than those of ordinary horses. If the Black Master's meridians are strong enough to withstand the attack of purple energy, , you can pour your own spiritual energy into the meridians of Young Master Hei, and then you will have the possibility of riding him through the sky.

Purple Qi is the superior state that all qi practitioners dream of, and it is very different from red and blue spiritual energy. The reason why practitioners value purple qi so much is not only the tempering and improvement of themselves by purple qi, but also a large part of the reason. It's because after being promoted to purple energy, you can fly through the sky. The so-called flying in the sky is not soaring into the clouds and riding on the fog, but hovering in the air and flying through the sky with one use of force. The lilac sky flying in the mountain can fly two miles away with one use of force. , Dongyuan Purple Qi can fly five miles away with one use of force, while Deep Purple Taixuan is even more terrifying, it can fly eight miles away with one use of force.

Since we only have the cultivation level of the Big Cave at this time, the spiritual energy cannot be released outside the body, so it is impossible to verify whether this idea is feasible. However, I have a little more hope in my heart. I must try it after I advance to the mountain cultivation level. If Young Master Hei can really use his spiritual energy to fly across the sky, so long-distance raids in the future won't have to be as strenuous as this time. He can ignore obstacles on the ground and go straight like a flying bird.

The strong wind started at dawn and lasted for three hours. The black man also ran wildly with the wind for three hours.

After an hour, when the strong wind subsided and the dust settled, one person and one horse had already penetrated deep into the hinterland of the desert, and no one knew where they were.

The black master knew that he had brought dry food with him, and when he got off his horse to relieve himself, he went to scoop up the baggage behind him.

He tied up his waist and took out a piece of bread from his bag, tore off a piece and stuffed it into its mouth, "It's good to let you run around. Now you're lost."

Mr. Hei is very smart and can understand short and clear words, but he cannot understand words that are too long or too complex. After running for so long, he is also a little hungry, and will chew the dough with his teeth as soon as it enters his mouth.

I still want it after eating.

He also took a few bites, and then gave the remaining half of the pancake to Young Master Hei, while he took out his water bag and drank some water.

I drank water myself, and wanted to give water to Young Master Hei, but Young Master Hei was not thirsty. There are many reasons why Hei Young Master can run long distances day and night, one of which is that his blood is cool and he will not sweat and become dehydrated.

He was just lost, but not lost in his direction. The sun was shining brightly at this time, and he could accurately judge the southeast, northwest, and northwest.

After identifying the direction, I rode on Hei Gongzi and continued westward. When it was late afternoon, I suddenly found a dead tree in front of me. This dead tree was half an arm thick and lying across the sand dunes. It had been dead for many years.

Trees are rare in sand dunes and can only be seen occasionally in the Gobi Desert. There is no grass growing deep in the desert, so naturally there are no trees.

Just as he was looking down at the dead tree, Young Master Hei had been looking westward. Following its line of sight, he saw a city vaguely appearing more than ten miles away.

People who practice qi have clear ears and clear eyes, and can see further than ordinary people. The city in front is not big, covering an area of ​​only four or five miles, but it is relatively well preserved. If you look carefully, there seems to be a figure moving on the wall.

.

When he found someone, he rode there. He didn't know where he was at the moment and needed to determine his current location.

Due to the serious lack of water deep in the desert, the small town in front of him had long been abandoned, and the figures on the wall were just merchants passing by to rest. As the distance approached, he was surprised to find that there were a few trees around the small town. This showed that

There is a water source in the small town. It seems that the small town is not abandoned, but has always been inhabited.

After climbing over several sand dunes, we were less than five miles away from the small town. Only then did we realize that there were many people standing on the wall of the small town, and there were also many people surrounding the city. Most of them were riding horses, but some

People ride camels.

The weapons flashed in the sunlight, and it was judged that those under the city were carrying weapons and had them unsheathed.

There are also some sand dunes around the small town. The situation is unknown, so I gradually approached the small town from the north through the cover of the sand dunes. As the distance shortened, I was surprised to find that the soldiers standing on the wall were wearing Tang Army armor, but they were all very old.

, the youngest should be in his forties or fifties.

In addition to these veterans wearing Tang army armor, long

The survivors found a flag floating on the wall of the small town. The flag was semicircular, with a black interior, a gear-shaped edge, and a black horizontal ribbon on it.

When he saw the style of the flag clearly, he became even more shocked. As an official of the imperial court, he naturally knew the flag of the Tang Dynasty. The flags of the Tang Dynasty army all had this style. How could there be an army of the Tang Dynasty in this vast desert?

The flags of the Tang army are also slightly different. The surnames of the commanders are embroidered in the middle of the flags. However, the flags on the wall are extremely worn and faded, and they are fluttering in the wind. Therefore, after looking at them for a long time, I can’t see clearly what is embroidered on the flags.

What word.

However, although he did not see it clearly, he heard it clearly. At this time, the people besieging the city were shouting loudly, asking the defenders to open the city gate and accept the city's surrender. The soldiers on the city wall retorted righteously and sternly, saying that the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty were brave.

If you are fearless, how can you bend your knees to horse thieves and bandits?

He held his breath and listened carefully. At this time, the besieging party was still trying to persuade them to surrender. They only said that Zhang Yichao had been dead for many years, and the Tang Dynasty court had long abandoned them. They had been living in poverty and hardship for these years. As long as they handed over the city,

Makashan gave them some money and money, and let them go back to reunite with their families.

Hearing the words of the besieging party, I suddenly realized that Zhang Yichao was a military general of the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, he was an envoy to the rebel army. Thirty years ago, he led his troops to defeat Tibet and recaptured many cities in Hexi. General Zhang was a loyal minister.

A national hero, it turned out that these veterans were all his subordinates.

When he learned that the people besieging the city were actually from Maka Mountain, he secretly cheered. He had broken through the iron shoes and found nowhere, and it took no effort to get there. He unexpectedly encountered this group of bandits who did all kinds of evil.

Deciding to take action, he began to observe the numbers of both the enemy and ourselves. There were less than a hundred soldiers on the city wall, and there were at least more than 500 horse bandits besieging the city. In addition to carrying bows and arrows, the horse bandits also brought ladders and other siege equipment.

While observing the enemy's situation, the soldiers guarding the city shouted back, saying that soldiers should die to serve their country. As a civilian, surrendering is understandable, but as a soldier, it is the greatest shame to put down your weapons and surrender in the city. You have no shame in returning to your homeland.

, standing without face in heaven and earth.

Hearing the shouts of the soldiers guarding the city, I was both ashamed and admired. What I was ashamed of was that the imperial court had really forgotten these soldiers guarding the border. What I admired was that these soldiers would rather die than surrender and did their duty loyally. These are the real soldiers.

The horse bandits from Maka Mountain must have attacked this city before but failed. In order to reduce casualties, they continued to persuade them to surrender. It was still an offensive strategy to sow discord. They just thought that the Tang Dynasty had forgotten them and there was no need for them to fight for the Great Tang again.

The Tang Dynasty guarded the border with loyalty.

The soldiers guarding the city swore and retorted, saying that the court had not forgotten them. They were born as people of the Tang Dynasty and died as the ghosts of the Tang Dynasty.

As a bystander, one can hear that these soldiers' rebuttal lacks confidence. In fact, they also know that they have been abandoned, but they just don't want to believe this cruel fact.
Chapter completed!