The vast sea of sand before us is not flat; it contains many large sand dunes and undulating sand mountains.
Even when walking on the windward side and sand ridges that have been hardened by wind erosion, the roads deep in the desert are extremely unstable.
However, at this moment, Yi Shangyun had to descend from the soft sand on the leeward side to the bottom of this sand slope, which was more than 30 feet high. This would put a lot of pressure on her knees and cause them great damage.
Along the way, she only had a tree branch that she couldn't remember where she picked up to use as a walking stick, which slightly reduced the pressure on her knees and saved some energy.
But as people often say, going uphill is easy, going downhill is hard.
Now, she was being scorched by the blazing sun overhead, and was already teetering on the brink of exhaustion and thirst.
Just a few steps later, he suddenly lost his footing and stumbled down, sliding off the path.
Then came a terrified scream: "Ah..."
But it was quickly drowned out by the same thunderous sound that had been heard not long before when the man fell.
"Boom..."
After another sandstorm, the vast desert fell into a deep, lifeless silence once more.
All traces left behind were blown away by the wind, as if no one had ever been here and nothing had ever happened.
I don't know how much time passed.
Most of its body was buried by yellow sand, with only one slender finger on its exposed hand twitching slightly.
It only moved slightly twice, almost imperceptibly, and then fell silent again.
Then a long period of time passed.
Miraculously, Yi Shangyun slowly opened her eyes again.
She glanced sideways slightly, a hint of surprise appearing on her face, as she realized she had already reached the foot of the sand dune.
Suddenly, a splitting headache struck, so I tightly closed my eyes.
After a while, I tried to sit up, but found that my whole body ached, as if my bones were about to fall apart.
At this moment, her face was pressed tightly against the sand, and she felt as if she were paralyzed and unable to move at all.
Time passed second by second.
She remained lying still, trying to conserve her strength.
Finally, feeling that I had gathered enough strength, I tried to get up again after a struggle, though it was difficult.
As soon as I stood up, there was no time to think.
Under the scorching sun, he stumbled and staggered toward the man who had been buried deep in the yellow sand for a long time, not far away.
What would normally be a simple act of getting up has exhausted all the strength she has painstakingly accumulated.
Exhausted, she still struggled with all her might, dragging and pulling, using the last bit of strength she had left to finally pull the man out of the sand.
He then collapsed heavily to the ground with a thud.
After resting for a while, she returned to the man's side.
"Wake up..."
"Wake up..."
"Can't sleep..."
"You absolutely mustn't fall asleep..."
"Once you fall asleep, you'll never wake up again..."
"Wake up..."
No matter how much she shook him or called out to him, the man didn't respond at all.
At midday, the scorching sun seemed to be scorching his body.
The man's lips were extremely dry and peeling, and his skin was unusually hot. His exposed skin was scorched red, clearly indicating severe dehydration, which had caused him to fall into a deep coma.
"Oh, right..."
Just then, Yi Shangyun seemed to remember something.
She quickly took out a porcelain bottle from her person, uncorked it, and without hesitation, slowly poured the water she had painstakingly found into the man's mouth.
But such a small bottle is far from enough.
Seeing that it wouldn't be very effective, after only a moment's hesitation, Yi Shangyun took out all the bottles and jars on her body, uncorked them, and poured them down the man's throat one after another.
Just as she was about to open the last, smallest porcelain bottle, the man finally reacted.
Perhaps due to prolonged thirst, the man swallowed hastily and choked, letting out a series of heavy coughs: "Cough cough cough..."
Upon seeing this, Yi Shangyun quickly tucked the last precious small porcelain bottle into her sleeve, then gently lifted the man's upper body slightly and patted his back with one hand.
She apologized profusely to him, saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I was in such a hurry, I'm really sorry."
Only after the man finally recovered did he take a closer look at the woman in front of him. Although she was dressed in plain clothes and her head was tightly wrapped in a thick turban, it could not hide her stunningly beautiful face.
The man stared at her face, his eyes widening as if he had discovered something.
Suddenly, she exclaimed in utter astonishment, "You...you are...how did you get here?"
Seeing the inexplicable surprise in his eyes at seeing her, Yi Shangyun asked, puzzled, "You...do we know each other? I don't know who you are..."
The man then realized that his face was now unrecognizable, so he raised his sleeve and vigorously rubbed his face.
In an instant, Yi Shangyun finally recalled the face in front of him from his memory, and said in surprise, "Brother Long En...you are...you are Brother Long?"
The man was also very excited and said in surprise, "Ruoxi...you really are Ruoxi...That's wonderful, that's wonderful! I never thought I would see you again in this life."
At this moment, Yi Shangyun asked in confusion, "Brother Long, why are you all alone in this desert?"
Long En's eyes darted away slightly, concealing his inner scheme, and he lied, saying, "I came to Lu County to find a friend, but I got lost and was hit by a sandstorm. When I woke up, I was here. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have died here."
Yi Shangyun thought for a moment, but said dismissively, "No, perhaps it's more likely that Brother Long helped me!"
Long En asked, puzzled, "Did I help you?"
Yi Shangyun explained, "I came here specifically to find a sacred spring deep in the desert..."
Long En asked curiously, "What do you want to find it for?"
Yi Shangyun said softly, “Brother Long, you may not know this, but in Lu County nearby, the people have suffered from sandstorms for generations and are currently fighting against them. However, the sand-fixing agents used to prevent sand shifting are not very effective. I heard that mixing them with the water from the sacred spring deep in the desert can achieve a very good sand-fixing effect, so I came here to find it.”
Long En thought to himself, "Isn't she the most noble princess of Dongning Kingdom? Shouldn't she be living a life of luxury in the magnificent palace of the wealthy Dongning Kingdom? How come she's with these poor people in Xiqin Kingdom?"
After she came to her senses, he turned to her and asked, "So, did you find it?"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun sighed deeply, then looked down at the ground beside the two of them, where several empty porcelain bottles were scattered haphazardly.
Long En suddenly realized what was happening and asked in surprise, "Could it be that what you just forced me to drink was...?"
Seeing that Yi Shangyun remained silent, it was clear that he had guessed correctly.
So he hurriedly picked up the porcelain bottles and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was like this. Where did you find these? I'll go and refill them for you right away."
Just then, a gust of wind swept in.
Suddenly, a fierce sandstorm swept through, tearing at their faces and causing them excruciating pain; the sand and gravel pierced their skin like sharp knives.
Yi Shangyun turned his head and looked at the sand dune that was more than 30 feet high beside him. Long En followed his gaze and said in astonishment, "You mean, this water is on this sand dune."
While he was still hesitating, worried that the sand on the hillside would soon fall again and hit the two of them, Yi Shangyun quickly looked away and turned her head.
He asked Long En, "Brother Long, are you still able to walk? We must move to a safe area immediately."
Long En looked hesitantly into her eyes and said, "But...this divine spring water..."
Yi Shangyun smiled and said, "It's alright. I didn't have a better way to bring this spring water back anyway. Now that we've found it and confirmed that this water is indeed what the people need, that's good. We can discuss the rest when we get back!"
Long En also realized that this place was extremely unsafe, so he nodded and said, "I can."
Yi Shangyun said, "Then I'll help you leave here."
The two then stood up, supporting each other, and slowly moved away.
Within the territory of Lu County.
Upon learning of Yi Shangyun's disappearance, Xuan Yuanhan urged his horse onward at breakneck speed, without a moment's rest.
Finally, as night fell on the second day, we set foot on the land of Lu County.
The team that led the way quickly and efficiently completed the task of setting up camp.
At this moment, a guard hurried into the commander-in-chief's tent and reported to him: "Your Highness, the sandstorm in Lu County has been getting stronger and stronger since this afternoon. It seems that the major sandstorm predicted by the Astronomical Bureau to arrive in more than a month will come ahead of schedule."
"What?" Xuan Yuanhan was startled upon hearing this.
Then he asked, "How much longer until Wei Ning arrives?"
The guard hesitated for a moment, then said, "General Wei... he is already waiting outside the tent."
Xuanyuan Han immediately shot him a cold look and said in a deep voice, "Let him in."
"yes"
As soon as the guard left, Wei Ning strode in.
Upon seeing his master, he knelt down heavily, bowing his head and saying, "Your Highness, I pay my respects! I deserve to die for failing to protect the Princess Consort. Please punish me as you see fit."
Xuan Yuanhan's eyes seemed to be filled with thousands of sharp arrows ready to be shot out. He slammed his tightly clenched fist heavily on the table in front of him and shouted at him, "Damn it, you really deserve to die. Even if you die a thousand times or ten thousand times, it won't be enough."
Despite his anger, Wei Ning remained kneeling on the ground without raising his head or uttering a sound.
After calming down, Xuan Yuanhan said, "Repeat to me every word the Princess Consort said to you the night before she disappeared. Remember, not a single word can be omitted."
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