Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 678: Something is strange

The desert bandits were rampant, and the situation in the Western Regions was not peaceful. Gradually, fewer merchants went to the Western Regions to do business.

As the number of merchants decreased, there was not much business to do in the market town, so naturally there were fewer and fewer people, and the market gradually became deserted.

However, despite the deserted nature, many people are still willing to take risks for the huge profits.

The spices from the Western Regions were well-known far and wide. For merchants from the Song Dynasty, if they went to the Western Regions to purchase them, they would be as cheap as cabbage.

On the contrary, vegetables that are cheap in the Song Dynasty and grains that are of average price can be sold at high prices in the Western Regions.

Goods such as silk, tea, etc. were also in short supply in the Western Regions.

Hei Ya said that if the adults wanted to go to the Western Regions, they could hire an escort agency.

The rampant sand bandits, with no one to control them, led to the opening of many escort agencies in the Yangtian Pass area. If some caravans wanted to take risks, they would hire an escort agency to escort them, which was relatively safer.

It just so happens that a caravan is heading to the Yelang Kingdom in the Western Regions and has hired the most powerful Hulu Escort Agency in the Yangtian Pass area and will set off tomorrow.

If Chen Mo goes to the Western Regions, you can follow him.

Chen Mo told Nalan Yiren, Si Song and Liang Mu the news he got from Hei Ya.

Si Song thought about it for a while and felt that it would be better to follow the caravan.

After all, they don’t know the way, and if no one leads the way, they might get lost in the vast desert.

And it's not that conspicuous in the crowd.

They were going to the Western Regions to look for someone, so it was better for them to keep a low profile until they found the person.

Chen Mo felt that what Si Song said made sense, and then he looked at Nalan Yiren and said softly: "Miss Nalan, I think you should change your mask to something else, otherwise you will still attract attention in your current state."

After all, she had said before that the material of her mask was a kind of iron wood unique to the Baiyue people. What if she arrived in the Western Regions and before she could find the person, she was discovered by Tang Yichen in the dark, which would alert the enemy and be bad.

"Yiren, I think what Mr. Chen said makes sense." Si Song said.

When outside, Si Song and his companions no longer addressed him as the King of Wei.

"I understand." Nalan Yiren had an idea in her mind.

Since he had decided to follow the caravan, Chen Mo asked Hei Ya to talk.

Not long after, Black Crow returned, and both the caravan and the Hulu Escort Agency agreed.

After all, one more person means more strength, and the more people there are when traveling through the desert, the better.

However, the Hulu Escort Agency demanded forty taels of silver from Heiya.

Ten taels per person.

Pay a deposit of five taels first.

Let Chen Mo and other three arrive at the checkpoint before noon tomorrow and pay the remaining thirty-five taels of silver.

There is no problem with Chen Mo and the others.

At night, Chen Mo and three others set up a tent in the backyard of the teahouse and stayed there.

Nalan Yiren also changed her clothes for Chen Mo to see.

A loose black robe, mainly black in color, and length from shoulder to heel. Different from the black robe Nalan Yiren had worn before, it was very simple and loose, without any extra decorations, and covered the body tightly from top to bottom.

Under the black robe, Nalan Yiren also wore a pair of loose wide-leg pants, covering up her body curves.

A black veil covers the head and face of the Naranyi, leaving only the eyes exposed.

Nalan Yiren said that women in the Western Regions all dress like this.

In response, Chen Mo nodded. Before coming here, Chen Mo also learned about the Western Regions.

……

The next day.

Before the hour of Chen, Chen Mo and his companions had already arrived at the checkpoint. The sun was rising slowly from the distant horizon.

In front of the pass, under an old tree of unknown species without branches and leaves, there were vehicles parked, and the vehicles were pulled by a huge black camel. This camel was a species unique to this world, not a spiritual beast. It was twice as big as the camel Chen Mo had seen in his previous life.

On both sides of the vehicle, there were many people riding camels, but these camels were not as big as the camels pulling the vehicle.

Most of these people were bare-armed, wearing only rough leather jackets, looking somewhat tough. Behind them, weapons with cold gleams sparkled with a piercing luster under the sunlight.

Hei Ya came here with Chen Mo and said that the camels these people were riding were still young, only a year old, while the camels pulling the carts were already adults.

"Why did you come just now? We've been waiting for you for a long time." A middle-aged man with a scar on his face saw Hei Ya, walked up to him and said with a reproachful look on his face.

Before Hei Ya could speak, the middle-aged man spoke again: "Didn't we agree on four people yesterday? How come it's five, and two of them are old men? They look sick."

"It's just four people. I just brought them here. If I don't go, is there any age requirement?"

"Forget it, forget it. Did you bring the rest of the silver?"

"Give."

"You, you guys, come here quickly. There are only two camels left. Two of you ride one. Hurry up." The scarred man seemed very anxious. After taking the silver, he quickly called Chen Mo and the others to come over quickly with a very bad attitude.

Chen Mo and the other three frowned slightly, but thinking that he was just a passerby and there was no need to cause trouble, they said nothing and walked away.

A bare-armed man pointed to the two empty camels.

"Why are there still goods?" Liang Mu frowned and found that there were still goods tied to the camel.

"You don't have any luggage with you, so it won't be a problem," said the man.

Chen Mo and his companions traveled in simple clothes, carrying only a set of spare clothes, some dry food and water.

Liang Mu was about to say that this was not a matter of bringing luggage or not. Ten taels per person for escort fee was not a low price. It would be fine if two people shared a camel, but they did this.

Moreover, he is the patriarch of the Liang family and is somewhat arrogant.

But before he could finish his words, the scarred man said in a bad tone: "Are you going to sit down or not? No."

"Captain Hulu, don't be angry, don't be angry, it's our fault. Be kind, be kind." Just then, a middle-aged man with a sturdy build and a very kind face came over with two people, and then ordered the two to unload the cargo from the camels.

Seeing this, the scarred man could only take back his angry words, snorted coldly, and urged Liang Mu and the others to hurry up.

Chen Mo discovered that this person was dressed differently from the group of people led by the scarred man, still wearing long robes. He guessed that he should be from the caravan, while the scarred man and those wearing rough leather clothes were from the Hulu Escort Agency.

After the cargo was unloaded, the kind-looking middle-aged man thought Liang Mu was the leader among the four people, so he bowed to Liang Mu and said, "Old sir, I am Han Yang, the manager of the team. I am very sorry for what happened just now. Please forgive me, sir."

Since the other party had said so, what else could Liang Mu say but to give up.

Seeing that Liang Mu had forgiven him, Han Yang bowed again, then smiled at Chen Mo and the other two, glanced at them, and returned to the vehicle in the middle of the convoy.

Chen Mo looked at Han Yang's departing back and raised his eyebrows. This man was a sixth-rank warrior, and the strength number on his forehead was even higher than that of the scarred man.

"Brother Liang, let me ride with you."

Just when Chen Mo was planning to let Nalan Yiren and Si Song ride on a camel together, and he and Liang Mu squeezed in, Si Song spoke first and said to Liang Mu.

Liang Mu glanced at Nalan Yiren and Chen Mo and nodded.

"Are you ready?" The scarred man, whom Han Yang called the Hulu Escort Leader, urged again.

Chen Mo didn't bother to pay attention to him. Just when he was about to say that he would sit in the front, Nalan Yiren sat there first. Chen Mo sat behind Nalan Yiren.

Although the humps of this black camel are relatively wide, it is still relatively crowded for two people to sit on it.

The moment he sat down, Chen Mo could directly feel the fullness of the other's millstone.

He noticed that Nalan Yiren's body was obviously stiff for a moment, and he wanted to sit forward, but between the two humps, Nalan Yiren could not move forward or backward. He could only bite his lip and whispered, "Don't move."

"I'll try my best." Chen Mo said with a wry smile.

There is nothing wrong with Liang Mu and Si Song. They are both at the age of "purity and few desires". They are also men, so they don't think too much about it.

The convoy headed towards the checkpoint.

There are armed men guarding the checkpoint. They are not from the imperial court, but some gang-like people who are collecting "pass fees".

When the convoy accompanied by Chen Mo was received, the scarred man simply drew his knife, and the "guard" stepped back to let the convoy pass.

Instead, Han Yang gave some change to the "guard".

Chen Mo thought to himself, "When I come back from the Western Regions, I will definitely send someone to govern Xiliang properly."

……

The road to the Western Regions is indeed difficult to travel. It is a vast red and yellow desert. Strong winds carry sand across the desert, and the whistling sound is endless.

Looking around, there is almost no one to be found, only golden sand.

When they first set out on the journey, because he was sitting behind Naran Yiren, the two of them would have some friction between their bodies as the camel moved, which made Chen Mo feel quite comfortable. However, as the sun got higher in the sky, that enjoyment suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by the scorching heat of the sun.

After all, Chen Mo was pretending to be an ordinary person and did not mobilize his innate spiritual energy or anything.

In this state, Chen Mo had no other thoughts.

Chen Mo and his companions were like this, and the people from the escort agency and the caravan were even worse. They had to drink water after a while, and they didn't talk in order to save energy.

In the desert, it is difficult to tell the time and find a shady place.

When resting, the group of people rested under the camels and vehicles.

The people from the escort agency sat together.

The caravan members sat together.

Chen Mo and three others sat together.

Eat dry food and drink water.

"Manager Han, wouldn't the distinguished guest in the car like to come down to eat something?" The scarred man said to Han Yang who got out of the car. His face was completely friendly, which was completely different from his attitude towards Chen Mo and the others.

"No, I'll just take some food to the car." Han Yang said.

The scarred man said no more, but took some food and water, came to Chen Mo, put them in front of Liang Mu, and said, "My dear brother, I apologize for what I did to you this morning. I was thinking that we could get going earlier and it would not be so sunny, so I didn't pay attention to my tone. I apologize for what I did to you. I'm sorry."

It's a completely different attitude from the morning.

"It's okay." Several hours had passed. With Liang Mu's intelligence, he had long since stopped taking it seriously. Or perhaps, he didn't take the other party seriously at all, just like a person wouldn't bother with an ant, even though Liang Mu's cultivation had been destroyed.

"From your tone, you don't sound like a native of Xiliang? What are you going to the Western Regions for?" asked the scarred man, looking at Chen Mo and the other two.

Liang Mu also glanced at Chen Mo. With his shrewdness, his acting skills were superb. He said, "He offended someone and fled to the Western Regions."

Seeing that Liang Mu was unwilling to say more, the scarred man looked at the four people a few more times. Judging from their attire, they did seem to be fleeing, because Chen Mo and the others were dressed very "simplely" at the moment, and their faces were ruddy, so they were definitely not from poor backgrounds. This made the scarred man believe Liang Mu a little.

Without asking any more questions, the scarred man got up and left.

As soon as the scarred man left, Nalan Yiren whispered, "It's not poisonous, you can eat it."

When the scarred man was asking questions just now, Nalan Yiren secretly checked the food and water that the other party brought.

"This person is a little weird." Liang Mu whispered.

"As long as it doesn't bother us, just ignore it." Chen Mo said.

Several people nodded.

Next, Chen Mo learned through their conversation that it was indeed as he had guessed.

The sturdy man with bare arms and wearing rough leather clothes is from the escort agency.

The scarred man was the head of the escort agency, a sixth-rank warrior named Hulugu Guang, and also the "founder" of the Hulugu Escort Agency.

There were about thirty of them in total.

The remaining less than ten people were from the caravan, wearing long robes.

And according to Hulugu, there was another distinguished person in the carriage.

……

After resting for about two quarters of an hour, the convoy continued on its journey.

There are no obvious signs in the desert to identify directions, and the footprints left by predecessors have long been covered by wind and sand. If you are a novice, you will definitely get lost in such circumstances.

After walking for about an hour, the convoy stopped again to rest.

Hulugu brought food and water again.

After Nalan Yiren checked it, there was still no problem.

After only a quarter of an hour's rest, the convoy set off again.

The next time we rest is at night.

The night enveloped the desert, and the bright moonlight poured down all over the place.

The desert, which was originally scorching hot, suddenly became cold at night.

The convoy set up tents early and built several fires around them.

Both the people from the escort agency and the caravan went into the tent to rest.

Chen Mo discovered that the noble person Hulugu called had not yet gotten out of the carriage.

Hulugu brought food and water again.

After passing the inspection by the Nalan Yi people, there was still no problem.

Overnight passed.

This night was particularly peaceful and nothing happened.

The next day, at dawn, Hulugu brought food and said that after they finished eating, they would set off on their journey.

But this time, after inspection, the Nalan Yi people found that there were problems with both the food and water.

"There's something strange." Si Song also noticed it.

At this time, Hulugu, who was distributing food to the caravan, turned his head and looked at Chen Mo.

Si Song took the food brought by Hulugu and started eating. Hulugu smiled and continued to distribute the food.

(End of this chapter)