Lord of the Desert

Chapter 432 Helping Hand
After hearing this, Hong Fan roughly grasped the underlying context of the war situation in Shengzhou Valley West - why the Zerg always went through Maoyan instead of the wasteland when advancing eastward, why the three passes in Valley West were built at their current locations, and why the Ejiang River and Qiaohe River were named so.

Shengzhou has a rugged terrain, so there are not many variables in route selection.

From here heading north, crossing Chaojiang River, going around Huaxue City, passing through Tiewa Pass, etc. are all necessary routes. There will be divergences only after passing the pass.

First, cross Qiaojiang River to the west and enter the wasteland, go north across the Yingyang City area and then cross east, looking for an opportunity to cross the mountainous area north of Feiyan Pass - the journey is more than 1,600 miles, and it will take more than 40 days if everything goes well.

Taking this route is equivalent to making a big loop around the war zone, which can ensure that you avoid the enemy, but the road is long and there is a lack of supplies along the way, and you have to cross the river twice more.

Second, go east along the Yaogong Mountain and head north, find a relatively flat place south of Feiyan Pass to enter the mountain, and go straight into the Sanshan Basin - the total journey is one thousand miles, and it takes about twenty-six or twenty-seven days.

This route is faster, but there will inevitably be battles along the way.

The final consensus was the second route.

The reason is simple. The Zerg is coming in full force, and no one has confidence that Feiyan Pass can be defended for how long. If they fail to reach Erbai City before the Zerg rushes into the Sanshan Basin, most people will probably not survive.

As soon as the strategy was decided, there was a sense of tension and vitality in the camp.

That night, torches and fires were spread out more arbitrarily than before, covering the light forest in a ball of golden powder. The young men prepared vehicles and fed livestock, while the women smoked meat and collected spring wild vegetables such as knotweed and wild radish under the cover of night.

The team set out at noon the next day, and arrived at the south bank of Chaohe River during the dry season on the fourth day. On the fifth day, they found a shallow beach upstream and waded north.

On the same day, it was almost night.

The team camped at the edge of a hilly woodland.

The rose-red sky sank downward.

Hong Fan and Gu Yixin took off from the east and west respectively and patrolled around the camp.

A lead-gray cloud reef hangs in the northwest corner of the sky.

Looking down from a high point, the forest appears to have unusual density, and some areas even have some bald spots.

These scars are new.

At the foot of a slightly steep slope, Hong Fan flew low over a tourmaline-like pond like a night owl, like a drop of rain that had fallen to the ground and hid there, and had not yet dried up.

Within half an hour, all the sub-insects in conspicuous places around the camp had been hunted down.

Afterwards, Hong Fan had some additional work to do. The first was to use a water filtration device made of fine sand to filter the slightly turbid water in the forest, and the second was to solidify stone pots and stone stoves that were sufficient for everyone to use.

Iron pots are certainly expensive household items in Shengzhou, but it is unlikely that anyone would think of taking them with them when fleeing.

The plague of insects was like a comb, driving away most of the wild animals in the forest, and civilians were unable to be self-sufficient in food.

Generally speaking, warriors will not serve mortals for free.

However, due to the strong demands of Hong Fan and Gu Yixin, they were forced to hunt in all directions. They searched for dozens of miles before dark and caught enough prey.

Dinner was meat as usual.

Hong Fan sat cross-legged in the independent tent and watched the evening breeze blowing the thick oilcloth.

On the wooden tray in front of him, a sliced ​​venison leg was neatly placed, its surface slightly burnt, the bone marrow still pink, and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper.

As a congenital master, Hong Fan was not afraid of cold, heat, rain or snow. In fact, he had no need for such a good camping tent. His only basic need was a little privacy.

But he knew that accepting the best treatment in the camp would give the rest of the mortals a greater sense of security.

The sun had completely set, and the sky and the forest shadows merged into one.

Hong Fan sat for half the night. The more he calmed down, the more uneasy he felt. Finally, at dawn, he went west alone and found the place where he had killed the soldier insects two days ago. He followed the traces and found Liu Dicheng and his group.

They didn't walk far, just wandered around nearby; it was clearly dawn, but most of them were awake.

Less than three days after they last saw each other, Shen Shaochuan's face looked noticeably dirty.

The last time Hong Fan saw him, he still had the rare calmness and alertness in the disaster, but this time even his eyebrows were covered with dust, and his eyeballs were covered with a layer of turbid mist, mixed with the lingering dream of last night. As for the leading Guantong warrior among the guards, his eyes wandered in silence, and his haggard expression gradually became gloomy, like a few crabs that were not dead but had already begun to rot.

Hong Fan was very familiar with these looks.

They are called despair.

The reunion with Hong Fan was like a slap in the face of these people whose vitality was gradually draining away. Their eyes cleared in tears of ecstasy, and they followed his instructions to the east with endless gratitude. They successfully reunited with the main force two days later.

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Another day, the eighth day of February.

noon.

Huaxue City is still two hundred miles away from Tiewa Pass.

Hong Fan climbed up the wind, overlooking the team moving like a colony of ants on the official road, and turned west.

On the right hand side, the clouds in the distance are dark, and the sunlight that shines through is thin and transparent, like a curtain of light hanging down into the deep sea.

It was suspended and flying for dozens of miles, and everything seemed to be sinking in the water.

What Hong Fan saw along the way seemed to be a huge and unpredictable beast that crashed through the waves and passed through the base of the world, leaving only ochre tree shapes blooming on the green landscape.

Soon, he arrived at the confluence of the two rivers.

This place is famous for the wonder of the clear and turbid rivers converging and separating, attracting people from all over the country to come here.

The wonder is still there, but there is no ghost on the viewing platform.

The west wind is strong.

Hong Fan turned to the northeast towards Huaxue City.

On the left hand side, Mount Longsha flickers on the edge of the world.

In the peripheral vision, Qiao Jiang shrank into a silver line.

The scale of Huaxue City is similar to that of Jinhai City. Compared with Maoyan, which is mostly composed of low houses with earthen brick structures, it has many more wooden structures.

Of course, now that the city has been emptied for twenty days, all of the above has become a ruin.

Hong Fan ignored the dozen or so flying insects that were chasing him relentlessly from behind, flew through the city at a low altitude, and saw an unexpected bustle at the north gate.

A dozen burly men dressed in a mix of brocade and animal skins were fighting surrounded by worker insects. They mostly used rough weapons such as machetes and maces, and under their feet were tacky blocks of red and green blood.

On the breakout line, the two dead men fell to the ground with their limbs scattered, and a glow of fire rolled out of the bundles scattered around them.

Just like what happened in Maoyan City in the past, the Zerg will devour all organic matter and some hard metals in the city, but they have no interest in things like gold, silver, and gems.

This is not the first insect swarm.

The bandits living in the caves in the mountains knew very well how much wealth an entire city that suddenly lost its owner represented, so they swarmed around like flies.

At the crossroads, the human battle zone was constantly shrinking, and frenzied emotions and roars evaporated into the wind.

The worker insects that came one after another were always as cold as ice. They dismembered human corpses and their companions who died in battle without any discrimination, and ate them all on the red and green land.

Rather than a battle, it's more like washing rice and vegetables.

Hong Fan circled for several weeks, feeling horrified, and finally swooped down and shot out four-colored glowing jade, blasting a hole in the encirclement.

The bandits had found their way out of the desperate situation and had no time to figure out who was helping them. They just grabbed their spoils and fled madly towards the city gate. Some of them fell on the way but their companions did not look back, and finally they were drowned in the second stream of insects that gathered like liquid.

Hong Fan witnessed this scene in silence and pulled up silently.

To the north, the clouds were as dark as the sea, hanging upside down, and the bottom of the ocean could not be seen.

(End of this chapter)