The carriage jolted along for a short distance as it drove wildly, before gradually regaining its balance.
After the carriage passed through the official road, the weather changed from biting cold to blazing sun.
Everyone stared in disbelief at the area divided into two lines, where the weather was different despite being only a step away.
"The water vat has cracked." Tao Shi snapped out of her panic and pointed in horror at the water vat that had been reduced to shards.
Everyone near the water tank was soaked and looked at each other in disarray.
At her daughter-in-law's prompting, Old Lady Zhu slowly raised her head and tried with trembling hands to scoop the overflowing water back into the water tank.
Seeing her mother-in-law's heartbroken state, Madam Sun hugged her and choked back tears.
"Mother, stop fussing, the water is no longer useful."
Liu pulled all the children to her side and quietly buried her head, letting out soft sobs.
Xixi emerged from the space and looked at everyone blankly, sensing the atmosphere filled with sadness and despair.
She frowned, pouted sadly, and looked around.
When she saw the water tank broken in two, she understood why everyone was so sad.
It turned out that the only water tank in the group had been shot through by the pursuing officials.
Fortunately, no one was injured, and the water supply isn't a major problem.
After entering the desert, we found a small river. Now, the most important thing is to reach the post station before the horses break down.
[Zhu Yanyan's wheels hadn't been replaced with larger ones, which meant the team was only able to delay.]
[Once she changes the wheels, she'll probably chase after us again.]
Xixi's dark eyes were full of worry, her brows remained furrowed for a long time, and she craned her neck to look around.
She needed to find clues about the caravan as soon as possible and couldn't let Zhu Yanyan get there first.
Just as she turned her little head, Old Lady Zhu also calmed down from her grief and anger, and leaned awkwardly against the car wall.
The others slumped wearily on the ground, a faint sorrow etched on their brows.
The horse-drawn carriage, with its wheels being changed, moved smoothly across the desert as the weather grew increasingly hot.
The Zhu family women, who were originally soaked, had their clothes completely dried in no time, and their faces were flushed red from the scorching sun.
Grandma Zhu wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to her daughter-in-law and grandson, saying, "Take off your cotton-padded clothes, take out all the water bags, and fill them with all the remaining water in the water tank."
Upon hearing Grandma Zhu's suggestion, everyone took off their clothes and used their water bags to collect the last of their water.
The carriage had been traveling for an unknown amount of time when the horses gradually slowed down.
When Xixi sensed that the carriage was about to lose its balance, her heart skipped a beat.
[Oh no! The carriage is about to collapse from the heat; we can't continue.]
Everyone, along with the carriage, fell down.
Sensing danger, Xixi kicked her little feet and cried loudly.
Her cries made Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian turn around to look, and Old Madam Zhu even came to Liu's side.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, did the carriage go too fast and scare Xixi?"
"Mother, it's too hot. If the horses go too fast, they might run out of energy and die suddenly."
Liu took her daughter's reminder to heart and looked around at the desolate desert with unease.
Grandma Zhu also felt that her daughter-in-law made sense, and then told her son.
"Second brother, third brother, slow down! Those people can't get into the desert by car, they won't catch up for a while."
After hearing their mother's reminder, Zhu Chenfeng and Zhu Haotian slowly tightened the reins and slowed down the carriage.
Upon seeing this, Old Lady Zhu hurriedly got off the carriage and walked anxiously to the horses.
"Third brother, give the horse some water and let it rest for half an hour."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Chenfeng hurriedly turned around, took the water bag handed to him by Madam Sun, and went to the horses with the water bag.
Chen Xiang and An Qing followed closely behind, both of them drenched in sweat from the heat.
"Grandma Zhu, why did you stop?" Chen Xiang asked, panting as he jumped off his horse, wiping the water droplets off his body.
When Old Lady Zhu turned around and saw Chen Xiang's soaking wet appearance, she quickly reminded him, "Lord Chen, you can take off your clothes now!"
Chen Xiang then realized that he was wearing a cotton robe and had small, heat-generating patches attached to it.
He quickly unbuttoned his clothes and stared blankly at the vast desert.
"Grandma Zhu, vultures often appear in this area, so we must proceed with caution."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Zhu's eyes revealed deep unease. She walked past Chen Xiang and looked at the horses behind him.
"Lord Chen, the desert is hot and sunny. I'm afraid the horses won't be able to pull the carriage for very long under these conditions."
Chen Xiang had just been worried that the horses wouldn't be able to withstand the scorching heat of the desert. With so many people and luggage, the horses might die suddenly after a short journey.
"Yes! We can't..."
However, before he could finish speaking, a huge sound rang out from ahead, and countless grains of sand floated over with the sound.
The sudden sound instantly plunged everyone into panic, and they all looked fearfully in the direction of the sound.
Chen Xiang drew his broadsword and cautiously walked forward.
The swirling sand ahead obscured the view, and he could only lead Anqing towards it with a puzzled expression after the sand had cleared.
Suddenly, several dark figures appeared in the sand, slowly approaching the group.
Seeing this, Chen Xiang slashed at the dark figure without hesitation, but to his surprise, a familiar voice came from inside.
"Boss, it's us."
Zhu Wen and Lao Liu, along with several escorts, emerged disheveled from the swirling sand.
"Zhu Wen? Old Liu? What happened? Where are the supplies?"
Chen Xiang frowned, looking nervously at the empty space behind them, and asked in a trembling voice.
Zhu Wen didn't know how to explain the situation at the time, and knelt down in front of Chen Xiang in despair.
"Boss, we didn't leave you on purpose, the situation was just too chaotic at the time."
After he finished speaking, he kept tugging at Lao Liu's clothes, trying to get him to explain to Chen Xiang as well.
Even now, Lao Liu still doesn't think it's his fault and refuses to explain.
"What's the explanation? We were just resting in the car when we saw someone chasing us, so we just drove off."
"Where's the truck? There were supplies on it!"
Chen Xiang didn't care why Zhu Wen and Lao Liu did what they did; he only cared whether the supplies that determined the team's life or death were still there.
Old Liu was somewhat displeased with Chen Xiang's question, and nonchalantly pointed ahead, "The weather was too hot, the horses couldn't take it and died suddenly, and the carriage fell apart."
Following Old Liu's gaze, Grandma Zhu decisively led Zhu Chenfeng, Zhu Haotian, and Zhu Dabao forward.
After this incident, Chen Xiang completely lost faith in these people. With a dark face, he led An Qing and followed behind Old Lady Zhu.
Seeing this, Zhu Wen hurriedly got up and intended to follow, but Lao Liu grabbed his hand and angrily reminded him.
"What are you doing? Even at a time like this, you still treat him like the boss?"
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