The woman was still suspiciously observing the two men when she noticed the small porcelain bottle in the elderly soldier's hand. She quickly stepped forward, snatched it from him, and asked, "What is this?"

“You can’t do this…” the elderly soldier hurriedly turned around and called out to him nervously.

Both soldiers felt a sudden jolt, and their eyes met for a moment.

Suddenly, taking advantage of the moment, the young soldier swiftly reached out and snatched it.

Little did the woman know that she had already caught his subtle movements out of the corner of her eye. With just a slight shift of her body, the soldier missed his target, fell face-first into the desert, and ended up with a mouthful of sand.

Because he exerted too much force, he struggled in pain for a long time before finally standing up with the help of an elderly soldier.

The elderly soldier then slowly explained, "Young lady, you don't know this, but this is the last precious sip of water we had left to get out of this desert. There's really nothing special about it. Please, young lady, have mercy and return it to us. Without it, we will surely die. Is that alright?"

"Oh? If it's drinking water, why is it so strange to use a medicine bottle to hold it?" the woman asked, frowning in confusion.

As they were talking, he suddenly noticed the water bag that the young soldier had left by the campfire, and pointed at it, asking, "Don't you have water bags? Why isn't it in the water bag?"

"Uh..." The elderly soldier, who was not good at lying to begin with, suddenly looked embarrassed. In his anxiety, he didn't know how to answer.

At this moment, the young soldier smiled, glared at her contemptuously, and said, "That's not a water bag, it's a wine bag I secretly use to drink. If you don't believe me, you can try it yourself!"

“Yes, yes, it’s a wine sac, it’s a wine sac…” The old soldier stared intently at the bottle, agreeing as he quietly reached up to gently cover the water sac on his body.

However, the woman remained unfazed, pointing a large knife at the two men in one hand and holding a small porcelain bottle in the other. After pondering for a moment, she suddenly said, "Whether it's water or wine, I can tell just by smelling it."

As he spoke, he reached out to lift the lid of the porcelain bottle.

Upon seeing him, the two shouted at him in unison:

"Can't……"

"Can't……"

Then, he lunged at it, trying to snatch it.

Seeing this, the woman's eyes darted around, a sudden idea flashed in her mind, and she pointed behind the two men, exclaiming, "Western Qin soldiers!"

"Western Qin soldiers?"

"Western Qin soldiers?"

Just as the two men, terrified and filled with fear, stopped and looked back, the woman quickly put down her large knife, and stealthily lifted the lid of the small porcelain bottle, gently bringing it close to her nose and carefully smelling it.

He seemed not to have noticed anything. Then, by the light of the campfire, he tilted the porcelain bottle slightly and examined it carefully, but immediately frowned deeply.

After pondering for a moment, he murmured to himself, puzzled, "Strange, what exactly is this colorless and odorless liquid? It really does look just like drinking water. But why are they protecting it so carefully?"

Seemingly unwilling to give up, she brought it close to her nose again and smelled it carefully.

Just then, like many others, she experienced the most common physiological reaction due to prolonged dehydration in the scorching desert, and unexpectedly started bleeding from her nose.

One drop, two drops.

Two drops of bright red blood dripped into the small porcelain bottle she held in her hand.

The two soldiers quickly looked around and found nothing unusual, seemingly understanding the situation instantly.

They exchanged glances for a moment, then hurriedly turned around and looked at the woman in surprise.

As expected, the woman opened the small porcelain bottle containing the deadly poison. The elderly soldier's mouth dropped open, and he stood frozen in place, completely stunned.

The young soldier rushed over, shouting angrily, "What are you doing? Give it back to me right now!"

In an instant, the young soldier rushed up and forcefully snatched the porcelain bottle from the woman's hand.

The woman asked in surprise, "Why are you so nervous? What's inside?"

The young soldier glared at her fiercely, clearly no longer wanting to pay her any attention.

He bent down and picked up the two swords at the woman's feet, pointing the gleaming tip of one of them at her nose, and said irritably, "I'm warning you, mind your own business from now on."

He then gave a cold snort, went back to extinguish the campfire, packed his belongings, and prepared to leave.

The elderly soldier followed to help, his mind preoccupied yet persistent in answering her, "Didn't I tell you already? It's just ordinary water. Why are you so suspicious?"

Just then, the woman seemed to shift her attention and pursed her dry lips, but suddenly felt something strange about her nose.

She took a couple of gentle sniffs, then reached down and gently probed with her fingertips, only to find that she had started bleeding from her nose without realizing it.

So he quickly took out a handkerchief, turned his back, and wiped it clean.

After a moment, he snapped out of his daze, his eyes widening in shock. He then frantically searched his body, muttering, "My military tally, where's the military tally..."

"Have you seen one..." He paused and turned around, only to find that the desert behind him was empty, and the old and young soldiers had long since disappeared.

Helpless, he had no choice but to use the faint moonlight to hurriedly search around.

After an unknown amount of time, his hands finally touched a copper-like object in the yellow sand. He pulled it out and immediately held it tightly in his hands, pressing it to his chest, his eyes filled with tears of emotion.

He murmured repeatedly to himself, "Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness it's still here..."

After a moment, he slowly stood up, took a deep breath, stared at the vast, dark desert before him, and stammered, "Where am I? Which way should I go?"

Summer nights in the desert are like furnaces in the first half and like winter in the second half; you can only understand this feeling by experiencing it yourself.

She had been walking alone in the dark night for an unknown amount of time, and was now cold, hungry, and thirsty.

He fell down again and again, but got up again and again. The road beneath his feet was clearly difficult, yet he felt as light as a feather.

He was utterly exhausted, as if he might collapse at any moment and never wake up again.

Only his mouth, never giving up, kept muttering intermittently: "Second Prince, Second Prince, Heavenly Horse Military Talisman, Heavenly Horse Military Talisman..."

As dawn broke, she lay motionless on the high sand dune.

Right before her eyes, a spring appeared in the distance in the boundless desert, surrounded by undulating sand dunes, only it was as green as jade.

Suddenly, a group of figures appeared in the distance.

Who is there?

As they spoke, they all drew their swords and charged towards her, instantly surrounding her.

She stared into their bright eyes, and they stared back at her. She remained motionless.

Suddenly, a cacophony of voices seemed to drift from a very, very far place.

"Girl, wake up! Girl, wake up! What's wrong with you?"

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"She must be dying of thirst, quickly give her some water."

...

A moment later, she felt as if someone was helping her heavy body up.

Finally, streams of clear spring water flowed into her parched body, and she slowly regained consciousness.

Only then did she realize that the most lovable people standing before her were all wearing clothes with the words "Western Qin" printed on them.

She spoke tremblingly, her eyes seemingly brimming with tears of excitement, "You are...you are soldiers from the Western Qin Kingdom?"

Seeing that she had finally woken up, these most lovable people in the desert all had smiles on their faces that seemed to be the most radiant and warmest smiles in the world.

At this moment, one of the soldiers, who seemed to be their leader and had dark skin, finally spoke up and asked, "Young lady, what's your name? Why are you here alone?"

"I, I am Yi..." Overwhelmed with emotion, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, and then said, "My name is Wule. I am an ordinary herdsman on this grassland. Yesterday, I was caught in a tornado and was blown here. I got lost."

She finally saw the people from her hometown again, but she couldn't reveal her true identity. Yet, she still answered with tears of joy.

Just then, another soldier exclaimed, "Girl, you're injured!"

As soon as it was light, she discovered that she was covered in wounds.

As he examined the gruesome wounds on her body, the soldier leader thought to himself and said, "This place isn't far from our Western Qin army camp. Why don't you come back with us, young lady, and let the army doctor examine your injuries? You can rest for a while and then make other plans. What do you think?"

"The Western Qin army camp?"

Upon hearing this, she was immediately startled, and then excitedly asked, "Does Brother mean that His Highness Prince Qin is also nearby?"

"Yes! This great battle has proceeded so smoothly thanks to Your Highness's wisdom and wisdom. It looks like the battle is about to end," the soldier leader said happily.

"As a woman, I'm afraid there will be many inconveniences for me in the military camp?"

She had her reservations, though she couldn't quite explain them herself. She was afraid of seeing Xuan Yuanhan, yet she also longed to see him. How long had it been since she last saw him?

Even if I did see him, what difference would it make? It would only add to my sadness.

My emotions, which had finally calmed down, were stirred up again...

As she was pondering this, the head guard reassured her, "Miss, you're overthinking it. Just come with us, and no one will make things difficult for you."

"I……"

Seemingly still hesitating, he was suddenly hoisted onto someone's back and, surrounded by a group of people, rushed straight towards the Western Qin army's camp...