A short while later, Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng took over driving the Qing Sui car from the bandits, and then picked up Zhu Wen and Pei Sining.
They quickly changed direction and drove the camels into the forest.
At that moment, Grandma Zhu was coaxing Xixi in the woods when she heard the sound of camels and came running towards them.
She hurriedly looked over at the sound and whispered a reminder to her daughter-in-law and grandson.
"Everyone, hide quickly!"
Upon hearing this, Liu and Sun quickly led Da Bao and Er Bao to hide in the bushes, while Tao pulled Zhu Zinan along and followed closely behind.
"Madam, hide well and don't come out."
An Qing and Zhu Haotian, along with several brothers, gripped their broadswords tightly with tense expressions and looked in the direction from which the sound came.
A moment later, Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng drove the Qing Sui car over at high speed.
Anqing breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Chen Xiang, and his legs went weak as he sat down on the ground.
"It's the eldest, Madam, it's the eldest."
Zhu Haotian also breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with a pale face.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Zhu immediately stood up and walked out of the bushes with Xixi in her arms.
"Lord Chen and the third prince are back?"
After hearing Anqing's words, Liu and the others also came out of the bushes and looked in the direction Anqing was looking.
At this moment, Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng drove the Qing Sui car to the group. The two hurriedly brought the bandits out of the car.
"Time is of the essence, hurry up and change your clothes."
Zhu Chenfeng dragged the bandit to Zhu Haotian and quickly stepped forward to pull at his clothes.
Zhu Haotian, bewildered, retreated repeatedly. "Third brother, what are you doing?"
"Second Brother, change your clothes first." Zhu Chenfeng didn't have time to explain to Zhu Haotian slowly. He pulled off Zhu Haotian's clothes while turning back to instruct the others.
"Quickly take off their clothes."
After Zhu Chenfeng gave the instructions, the crowd, who had been standing there in a daze, finally came to their senses and hurriedly took off the bandit's clothes.
With the help of others, Zhu Haotian and Zhu Wen quickly changed into bandit clothes.
After changing his clothes, Zhu Chenfeng hurriedly turned to look at Madam Sun and gave her instructions.
"Honey, can you draw a snake? Make it look realistic?"
Mrs. Sun nodded blankly. "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Then hurry up and draw on your second brother's and Lord Zhu's arms."
Zhu Chenfeng pulled Sun Shi to the two of them, took the pen and ink from Chen Xiang, and anxiously handed them to Sun Shi.
After a moment of stunned silence, Sun took the wolf-hair brush that Zhu Chenfeng handed her and began to draw on his arm based on her memory.
"Second brother, what exactly is going on?"
Grandma Zhu stared at the group's busy activities, feeling uneasy. She then carried Xixi to stand behind Zhu Chenfeng.
Seeing this, Pei Sining pondered for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to answer, "Grandma Zhu, we found bandits in the desert. They robbed and killed the wealthy merchant who had previously stolen our camels."
“These bandits are in cahoots with the government. In order to cross the desert, we plan to disguise ourselves as other forces in the desert.”
"There's a rule in the desert: bandits can't kill each other. This is our only chance to get to Mohe City."
After Pei Sining's explanation, Old Lady Zhu finally understood why the third son had his wife draw snakes on Zhu Wen and the second son's arms.
"Is this a type of sashimi unique to other factions?"
"Yes, in order to convince them, we have to draw the sashimi on it."
Pei Sining was still worried that the tattoos on the two of them would be discovered, so after Sun finished drawing them...
With a stern face, he looked around and said, "Grandma Zhu, we need everyone's help to find some safflower."
"The sap of safflower is very similar to blood. So, we apply the safflower sap to the sashimi to cover it up."
"Are you worried that the sashimi will be discovered?" Old Mrs. Zhu immediately understood Pei Sining's meaning, and hurriedly handed Xixi over to Liu Shi, instructing her daughter-in-law and grandson.
"Everyone, hurry up and find the safflower. It's getting late, and we must get to the desert as soon as possible."
Under Old Lady Zhu's orders, the group split into two: the women were responsible for finding red flowers, while Chen Xiang led the men to bury the bandits' bodies.
With everyone's efforts, the team finally set off again, but this time it was different from before.
This time, everyone was able to ride in the comfortable Qingsui carriage, whose wheels were several times larger than those of an ordinary camel carriage.
Driving on the bumpy, muddy road, the people in the car felt no bumps at all.
The vehicle quickly passed through the forest and entered the desert. After entering the desert, Chen Xiang and the others turned around to look at Old Lady Zhu.
"Madam, you will need to walk a short distance from here."
Grandma Zhu understood Chen Xiang's actions, and with Zhu Chenfeng's help, she got off the Qinghui car.
After everyone got out of the car, Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian used ropes to tie up the Zhu family members and Chen Xiang and the others.
Then, Zhu Wen tied the rope to the back of Qing Sui's vehicle and turned around to pat the camel with an uneasy expression.
"Walk."
The convoy resumed its journey through the desert. Grandma Zhu and Chen Xiang were separated and tied to the back of Qing Sui's vehicle, walking slowly forward.
Just then, a figure rushed out of the cave, wielding a large knife and blocking the two of them.
"Who are you? From the Green Snake Gang?" The bandits looked Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian suspiciously, then swaggered up to them and stopped the camel cart.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Wen's face hardened, and he jumped off the vehicle, angrily kicking the bandit.
"Who do you think you are, daring to stop us?"
When the other bandits saw Zhu Wen make a move, they all drew their broadswords and surrounded him.
"We've always kept to ourselves and avoided conflict with you. Are you trying to start a war?"
Zhu Haotian buried his face in the veil, revealing a pair of sinister eyes, and deliberately showed his blood-stained arms.
The faint blue snake visible on his arm caught the bandit's attention, coupled with his menacing warning.
The crowd immediately felt terrified, looked at each other in dismay, and retreated in fear, none daring to take the initiative to attack.
Just as the situation reached a stalemate, a bandit suddenly ran over and whispered something to the leader.
After hearing this, the leader exclaimed in surprise, "What? You're saying the boss was killed by a camel?"
"Yes, the second-in-command wants us to go back," the person who came to report said anxiously.
After a moment of contemplation, the leader immediately changed his attitude and bowed to Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian.
"Gentlemen, we are brothers in the same trade, please forgive us, please come in."
After exchanging a glance, Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian continued driving the carriage forward.
As Grandma Zhu and her companions passed by the bandits, the leader stared at Liu and her group with suspicion.
Fearing exposure, Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian had no choice but to speed up the camel cart.
The vehicle in front suddenly accelerated, causing Grandma Zhu and Chen Xiang to stumble a few steps and run forward.
After pondering for a moment, the leader led the bandits in a westward direction.
Chen Xiang glanced back at the bandits who had disappeared into the desert, and hurriedly patted the Qing Sui cart.
"Alright, let us go up quickly."
Upon hearing the sounds behind them, Zhu Wen and Zhu Haotian quickly tightened their grip on the camel cart, jumped off, and untied the ropes binding the men.
"Boss, that scared me to death." Zhu Wen's hands trembled as he untied Chen Xiang's ropes.
Zhu Haotian, also covered in sweat and panting, nodded, "To avoid any unforeseen complications, let's leave quickly."
After untying the ropes, the group quickly climbed into the Qingsui car, and Chen Xiang and Zhu Chenfeng drove off at high speed.
The wheels of the Qingsui cart moved smoothly across the desert, as if it were traveling on flat ground.
Xixi lay in her mother's arms, tilting her head back curiously to observe her surroundings.
While she was searching around, she unexpectedly saw the manager of the camel shop meeting with the bandits.
She also told the story of how her grandmother bought three camels, one of which had a flat hump.
When the leader heard the shopkeeper describe the group's features, he suddenly remembered that there was an elderly woman among them.
"You mean, among those people was an old woman?"
"Yes! There were eight men, four women, and four children."
The shopkeeper, panting, wiped the sweat from his forehead and cursed angrily, "The theft of my warehouse must also be related to these people."
"The old woman happened to be in the backyard when the warehouse was robbed."
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