The stars rise from the wilderness, and the moon flows over the hills and mountains.
In order to avoid assassination, Lou Yunchun and his party sped up their pace and rarely stopped at post stations. After replenishing supplies, they would rush to the next city day and night without stopping.
At this time, they were resting in a flat place. Under the dim light of the stars and the moon, Lou Yunchun and a patrolman distributed water and food to everyone. Most of them were dry food such as Hu Bing and Sazi, which made people choke.
These days, Lou Yunchun has been very aloof from extravagance. He doesn't care about the quality of food and just wants to fill his stomach. His eating habits are getting rougher day by day. He can swallow half a Hu Bing in just a few bites and roll his eyes secretly because of choking.
The oldest of the patrol guards was named Duan. He handed the water bag to Lou Yunchun and advised, "Sir, don't eat too fast. It will hurt your spleen and stomach."
Lou Yunchun drank half a bag of water in one breath before he could suppress the scratching pain in his throat.
Old Duan sat down beside him, munching on a Hu pancake while gazing at the scattered lights in the distance. He said, "We're up ahead at Shimen Pass. After passing it, there are two roads: one goes over Quwu Mountain and straight from Huizhou to Lanzhou, and the other goes around to Xiji and into Weizhou. Which way should we go?"
"Go to Huizhou, it's closer."
"But the people in Huizhou are more diverse and difficult to defend against."
The assassin sent by Prince Ying to kill Lou Yunchun that day but failed and had his tendons cut instead once said that they had messengers that were faster than the official post stations. Judging from the ambushes they encountered in the past two days, what he said was true.
Whether it was a post station or a messenger post, besides relying on a thousand-mile horse, they also relied on well-connected roads. Because of its proximity to clear water, not only were land routes open, but water routes were also well-developed. Furthermore, with merchants and spies from various countries traveling here, they would be in great danger if they went through Huizhou.
Lou Yunchun's eyes sparkled, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, "If they decide to attack, no matter which route they take, we won't be able to escape. Huizhou Road is well-traveled, but there are also many post stations and checkpoints. Instead of taking a detour to avoid pursuit, we should turn defense into offense, lure them into the checkpoints, unite with the garrison, and capture them in one fell swoop."
Old Duan sighed in his heart, after all, he was a young man, full of vigor and vitality, not afraid of life and death, unlike him who had many worries and was afraid of death.
"This journey is arduous and arduous. If we leave room for maneuver and compromise, we will only encourage their power and be controlled by them." Lou Yunchun's steady gaze pressed against his face. "Only by facing the difficulties head-on can we seize the initiative and defeat them one by one."
The Hu Bing got stuck in Lao Duan's throat, making him speechless.
"With a strong heart and a firm will, you can transform yourself into a sharp blade, crushing mountains and shattering rocks, and be invincible." Lou Yunchun's voice became gentle, as if to soothe. "Besides, we have the advantage, so why should we be afraid?"
You are right. They are officials and have the emperor's orders. When they pass by the provincial capital, they will obey the orders. Why would they be afraid of these despicable villains?
Old Duan swallowed the Hu pancake, squeezed out the hesitation in his chest, and said in a strong voice: "Okay, then let's go to Huizhou!"
Lou Yunchun smiled and looked towards the west, where the flagpole was faintly visible in the clouds.
I don’t know whether Zhao Xiu caught up with the Tubo caravan and retrieved Yuhu.
————Dividing line————
Fuqiang County.
Zhao Xiu and his party were buying supplies in a shop. Opposite the shop was an inn. A group of Turkic merchants were negotiating with the owner, apparently wanting to stay in the inn.
Ever since the Tibetan merchant sold the jade tiger to this group of Turkic merchants, Zhao Xiu has been tracking its whereabouts without stopping and finally caught up with it in Longcheng.
When he was in Longcheng, he wanted to negotiate with him to redeem Yu Hu, but he never expected to see him killing someone. He was so frightened that he and the caravan turned around and ran away.
The other side was outnumbered and powerful, so a collision would be suicidal. He was not Lou Yunchun and had no right to confront them head-on. He did not dare to report the matter to the authorities. Firstly, his own innocence was still unclear; if a thorough investigation were conducted, he would be imprisoned before the Turks. Secondly, he was afraid of alerting the enemy and losing the jade tiger.
Finally, after discussing with everyone in the caravan, he decided to pretend to be an ordinary caravan, follow them secretly, and after finding out their details, try to redeem Yu Hu.
This time they followed him to Fuqiang.
Fuqiang was originally a place where Qiang people lived together. Later, it surrendered to Dasheng and opened up trade routes, connecting with the Central Plains and the countries in the Western Regions, and gradually evolved into a place where various ethnic groups lived together.
Besides the Qiang and Central Plains people, the largest groups of people here were Tibetans and Turks. This group of Turks was clearly very familiar with this place and was also very familiar with the innkeeper, so it seemed they came and went here all year round.
"Boss, do we want to stay in a hotel?" The attendant brought a bowl of water and handed it to Zhao Xiu.
Zhao Xiu took it and drank half of it in one gulp. Then he licked his lips and said, "What kind of inn are you staying at? Don't you see this is someone else's territory? The Turks are so familiar with the innkeeper, there's no guarantee that this inn is not a shady place. We'd better be cautious."
"This Fu Qiang vassal has been here twice and stayed at this inn before, so it doesn't seem like a shady place. Besides, there's a government office and a garrison here. Such a large inn wouldn't allow them to openly commit murder and robbery."
Zhao Xiu squinted at him and asked, "Last time you said that the Vietnamese doctor was reliable, what happened?"
If he hadn't believed what this idiot said, would he have chased people all over the place?
The attendant knew he was in the wrong and didn't dare to argue. He changed the subject in an attempt to extinguish his anger, "Then... where are we staying tonight?"
Zhao Xiu finished the last half bowl of water, turned around and pointed at the stable behind the shop and said, "It's right here."
"Sleeping with a camel?"
"It's not like I haven't slept before."
Zhao Xiu took the bowl and went to find the shop owner, and discussed with him to pay some extra money so that they could stay in the stable for one night.
It was common for traveling merchants to stay in stables because they could not afford an inn. The shopkeeper counted the number of people and saw that there were six of them. He accepted the offer after charging an extra ounce of silver.
The attendant had no choice but to accept his fate and lead the others to clean the stables, otherwise the dung from the horses and camels would be enough to suffocate people to death.
After the shop owner took them in, he closed the shop, leaving only two stable boys to guard the stable.
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