The shopkeeper grew angrier and angrier, and directly drew a large knife from the person next to him, saying with a ferocious expression.

"Brother Qiu, please let me go with you. I want to kill these people with my own hands."

Seeing the shopkeeper's excited expression, Boss Qiu reached out and pressed the knife down from his hand.

"Don't rush. These people must know something to go to such lengths. If we want to subdue them..."

We must catch them off guard.

The shopkeeper stared at him with a puzzled expression, somewhat confused. "Boss Qiu, what do you mean by this?"

"My point is simple: since they dared to deceive us, why don't we give them a taste of their own medicine?"

Old Qiu stood calmly on the rock with his hands behind his back, his eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of disdain.

The shopkeeper sensed a conspiracy in Qiu Lao's boastful words, quickly suppressed his anger, and stepped forward to inquire.

"Boss Qiu, do you have any plans?"

Boss Qiu ignored the shopkeeper's question and simply beckoned to his men behind him.

After receiving the order, the men quickly turned and left the rock, mounted their camels, and rode off in the direction where the Zhu family had disappeared.

The innkeeper watched the departing bandits, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. "They've gone so far, will our men be able to catch up?"

"Don't worry, my men cross the desert year-round. Even if a sandstorm comes, they can still make it out of the desert alive."

Boss Qiu was very confident in his subordinates' abilities. He turned around, put his arm around the shopkeeper, and left. "Shopkeeper, let's talk about things related to Mohe City."

"I heard that Zhu Shenghua has taken over Mohe City, and the city is peaceful. He has even reduced taxes. After hearing this, the people in the surrounding cities all plan to move to Mohe City with their families."

"Zhu Shenghua's actions are tantamount to cutting off our brothers' source of income. Go back and tell the magistrate of Minghai City about this, and ask him to find a way to gather troops to attack Mohe City."

When the shopkeeper heard that Boss Qiu wanted to attack Mohe City, he hesitated. "Boss Qiu, I've heard that Zhu Shenghua is a brave and skilled warrior who once single-handedly repelled the Turks."

"I'm afraid that going against him will not do us any good."

"If you're afraid, you can part ways with us, and we won't blame you."

Boss Qiu turned to stare at the shopkeeper with a sinister expression, his cheek twitching from time to time.

The shopkeeper retreated in fear, shaking his head repeatedly, "I'll go tell the magistrate right away."

Xixi saw their conversation and frowned uneasily.

[Damn it, our plan to impersonate bandits has been exposed! Those bandits are heading into town to find reinforcements.]

This is terrible. If we call for help, our family will be in danger.

I don't know how far it is from the city where my father is stationed.

Xi Xi's muttering reached Old Lady Zhu's ears. She looked around thoughtfully, then took out a map from her bundle.

She secretly brought this map from the capital city with her clothes before setting off, to prevent herself from getting lost from the group.

She spread the map on the ground and compared it with the surrounding terrain.

Seeing her mother-in-law's actions, Liu hurriedly stepped forward, "Mother, what are you looking at?"

"It's getting dark soon, and I'm calculating how much longer it will take to get there."

Upon hearing this, Pei Sining curiously leaned over to take a look, holding the map in her palm and gazing at the surrounding terrain with a serious expression.

"Madam, we'll be spending the night around here."

"Want to stay overnight nearby?"

When Old Mrs. Zhu learned that she would be spending the night nearby, her expression instantly turned sour, and her brows furrowed slightly.

"At the current rate, we'll need to spend the night nearby."

Pei Sining noticed the unease on Old Madam Zhu's face, nervously pursed her lips, and asked in a low voice.

"Madam, have you noticed anything amiss?"

Grandma Zhu naturally dared not reveal the news she had received from Xixi; she could only shake her head with a half-smile.

"I'm worried that if those thugs find out we lied to them, they might send people after us."

Zhu Chenfeng, who was driving, also felt that his mother's concerns were justified, as they were still several kilometers away from Mohe City.

As darkness fell, I wondered what terrible things might happen in the desert.

"Why don't we speed up our journey and head straight for Mohe without stopping to rest during the night?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiang disagreed with Zhu Chenfeng's suggestion, and shook the whip in his hand while looking around at the surrounding environment.

“Young Master Zhu, the desert is different from the land. If you travel at night, you may get lost.”

Pei Sining pondered for a moment, then climbed out of Qing Sui's car and shouted loudly at Zhu Chenfeng and Chen Xiang.

"Brother Zhu, Lord Chen, why don't we rest at the desert post station?"

The sounds that Xixi had been making earlier also reached Pei Sining's ears. If those bandits were planning to attack them...

Setting up camp halfway will only give them a chance to catch up.

Be careful at the post station; those scoundrels seem to be planning to impersonate the post station's officials.

These villains knew we'd be resting at the inn.

This time, Xixi's message was very loud, and everyone, including Grandma Zhu, Pei Sining, and Chen Xiang, heard it.

After learning that there were bandits at the post station, the group members looked grave, pursed their lips, and lowered their heads in deep thought for a moment.

After a moment, Chen Xiang looked at the cave in the rock and turned to Zhu Chenfeng to offer his suggestion.

"The post station is too risky. How about we hide the Qingsui cart and spend the night in the cave?"

“Yes, the cave is interconnected. Even if the bandits chase us, we can escape through other exits of the cave.”

Before anyone else could speak, Pei Sining was the first to agree to Chen Xiang's suggestion, as he originally thought the post station was a good option.

It seems that the post station is not suitable for staying here now, but the cave is quite nice. He had been into the desert cave when he was a child.

There are many tunnels leading to different exits, which is a good way out.

Upon hearing this, Grandma Zhu and the others agreed with Chen Xiang's suggestion and quickly turned their camels around, heading towards the rocks beside them.

The group quickly arrived at the rock. Old Mrs. Zhu led the women of the Zhu family into the cave to rest, while the rest hid the camels.

Xi Xi nestled in her mother's arms, waving her little hands happily, feeling extremely joyful.

She thought the group would have to spend the night at a desert post station, but fortunately Uncle Chen had considered the risks of the post station in advance.

She followed her mother and looked inside. The cave walls were very smooth from the long-term erosion by wind and sand.

Grandma Zhu led the group slowly inside, and unexpectedly heard the sound of water coming from inside the cave.

Liu looked at Old Madam Zhu with surprise, "Mother, it's the sound of water, there's water."

Following Liu's gaze, Old Lady Zhu also heard the sound of water dripping on the stone. She found a relatively dry spot and gave everyone a serious warning.

"The water in the rocks is not clean and cannot be drunk. We have brought enough water for everyone to drink."

Yes, these rocks have evolved over thousands of years, and the water that has condensed inside them is incredibly dirty.

[Eating this will make you sick, so please don't eat it. Getting sick in the desert is a real problem.]

Thanks to Xixi's reminder, everyone finally understood why the water inside the stone wall was not drinkable.

After seeing Old Lady Zhu stick her torch into the stone wall, everyone hurriedly fixed their own torches to the wall as well.

At this moment, Zhu Chenfeng, along with Chen Xiang and Zhu Haotian, rushed back from outside the cave. The group was covered in sand and dust.

Looking at the yellow sand on her husband's body and face, Mrs. Sun stepped forward to help him clean it off, asking in confusion, "What happened to you two?"

"Don't even mention it. Luckily you came in first. We were just trying to find a place to hide the camels when the sandstorm hit."

Zhu Chenfeng angrily spat out the sand in his mouth and stomped his feet repeatedly, trying to get the sand out of his ears as well.