The dagger was sharp, and soon most of the charcoal handprint was cut off, leaving only a blurry spot.
At this moment, Xiaoruo also realized that the fairy and Yuyi he was muttering about were probably the story of the Seven Fairies.
She found it a bit funny and held Xiaoxun's hand, which was still whittling away at the wood.
"Okay, don't do it. You've cut off such a big piece that the car curtain can't even cover it. How can you pay back the money to the shopkeeper when you get back?"
Xiaoxun stopped, touched the dented car roof, and said seriously: "This was chopped by bandits."
When he felt it was almost done, he put away his dagger.
"Ruo Ruo, I will always be here. You should not be afraid of me..."
Don't be afraid of me, don't leave me, don't alienate me because of my unspoken love.
These words rolled back and forth on Xiaoxun's lips, and were finally swallowed by him.
He shook out the blanket for Xiaoruo and covered her body, tucked it in, and whispered: "Go to sleep, it's too late, we have to go on the road tomorrow."
After saying that, he stood up and blew out the fish oil lamp, exited the carriage and closed the door tightly.
Wrapped in a warm blanket in the dark, Xiaoruo felt like she was in a thick embrace.
All worries and anxieties were isolated from the carriage like the cold wind.
Her chest was sore, numb, and swollen. She had a lot to say, and there was no place to express her thousands of words. In the end, she just muttered: "You are so courageous. How can you be a puppy? This is a wolf, right?"
Rubbing her cheek on the soft blanket, Xiaoruo finally fell asleep peacefully.
As daylight broke the next day, the caravan regrouped and continued moving forward.
The bandits had their hands tied with hemp ropes, like two strings of rice dumplings, following one behind the other at the back of the last carriage of the caravan.
Near noon, the caravan arrived at the new town. Jiang Ping and Ran Zhongren handed over the deserters and bandits to the local Sima and received a reward of five bolts of silk and ten kilograms of tea.
"Tsk, Sima here is so stingy. Twenty deserters and over fifty bandits only give this little thing." Ran Zhongren looked at the not-so-fine silk cloth with his thick fingers and cursed.
Jiang Ping said: "This place is not as good as our Qinzhou. It is not bad to have five bolts of silk and ten kilograms of tea. I will exchange them for wine and meat later to reward my brothers."
Hearing this, Ran Zhongren frowned and muttered: "How much wine and meat can such a small thing be exchanged for? It's not enough for me to eat and drink alone..."
As he spoke, he reached into his arms with his big hand, took out his money bag and stuffed it into Jiang Ping's hand.
"I'll add some more, buy more good wine and meat, and eat as much as you want!"
This action was unexpected by Jiang Ping. He raised his eyebrows and looked at this big man who was even bigger than him again.
"Look what I'm doing, I'm just good at fighting and killing, but I'm not stingy!" Ran Zhongren said in a rough voice, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Jiang Ping finally understood why the shopkeeper insisted on letting this evil god be the escort leader. Although he was reckless and aggressive, he was always targeting his opponents.
For his own people, this evil god is still just like his name, benevolent and righteous.
Jiang Ping smiled and patted Ran Zhongren's arm and said loudly: "Okay! I'll add some too! We brothers will all have a good time!"
In addition to the necessary supplies of dry food that day, the escort team also purchased dozens of kilograms of roasted mutton and local specialty ale, and even the people with the caravan had a good meal.
After dinner and setting off, some people in the caravan were unwilling to continue on the road.
They grew up in the affluent south of the Yangtze River. They were not well-off, and they had never faced life and death as they did yesterday.
They originally thought that this was just a business trip. They would negotiate a good price to buy goods and receive a generous reward when they returned to Qinzhou. No one thought that they might be hacked to death on the way.
It's one thing to work for the shopkeeper, but it's another thing to lose your life.
The escorts did not force them. Those who did not want to go on the road could stay here and go home on their own, or wait for them to return and then go back to Qinzhou together, it was their choice.
In the end, only less than half of the original seventy-member team set off on the road again.
After walking for another month or so, the endless grassland gradually appeared in everyone's eyes.
The dry wind blows the green ocean, the sun is warm, the cattle and sheep are lazy, and more and more white appears on the top of the huge and stretching mountains, spreading little by little towards the foot of the mountain.
They finally arrived in Qiangfan.
The Qiangfan territory was vast and sparsely populated, and the caravan did not see a single living person for several days. There were only about thirty of them walking through the vast and empty wilderness. The carriages were like small boats, struggling to find their way in the vast white sea.
Margin.
Ma Laosan came to knock Xiaoruo's carriage again with the horse's belly under his arms.
"Sister Xiao, Huha... Huha... have some more candy..."
He had chest tightness and shortness of breath since he entered Qiangfan.
Xiaoruo checked him out and told him that it was mild altitude sickness and that it would be relieved after a few days as he got used to the Qiangfan environment.
The human body consumes a lot of energy at high altitudes, so sugar can quickly replenish energy and relieve symptoms. This is the same as modern people drinking Red Bull, Coke or butter tea and milk tea to fight altitude sickness.
In order to prevent altitude sickness, Xiao Ruo prepared some coarse sugar early, and followed the example of people in the past, snapping two bowl-shaped hollow sugar cubes together and wrapping them in oil paper and sealing wax to prevent moisture.
Taking out a bowl of candy, she peeled off the oil paper and handed it to Ma Laosan.
Ma Laosan couldn't wait to put the candy into his mouth, wrapped it with his tongue and sucked it for a while, then he felt that the tightness in his chest was relieved a little.
"Hey, luckily Miss Xiao is here." He shook his head and said.
Ever since he came to Qiangfan, he felt dizzy all day long. Only after eating the bowl of candy given by Xiao Ruo could he regain his clarity.
"Brother Ma San, are you asking Miss Xiaoruo for sweets again? When will you be able to quit sweets?" Zhai Er teased him.
Ma Laosan deliberately retorted, but he couldn't think of what to say for a long time. After all, he was the only one among the thirty or so people who needed to eat sweets regularly to relieve discomfort.
In the end, he could only snort from his nose and let Zhai Er and the others tease him.
Ran Zhongren rode a few steps from the rear of the team to the front of the team, keeping pace with Jiang Ping.
"Boss Jiang, are we heading in the right direction? Isn't it only a three- or four-day trip to Golok?"
The rough voice floated far across the vast wilderness.
Jiang Ping took out the map from his pocket and unfolded it, trying to distinguish the messy lines on it.
"It stands to reason that it is correct. Goluo is the largest tribe here. The old man from the last town pointed in this direction..."
He was also unsure. After all, it was the first time for everyone to take the Qiangfan route. Could it be that they really took the wrong route?
Just when he fell into self-doubt, the sound of a bright whip came from the distance.
Within a few seconds, a rumbling sound appeared from the horizon. The sound was so thick that it seemed as if the ground was slightly trembling.
The horse stopped on the spot, scratching the ground with its hooves restlessly, and neighing from time to time.
Everyone clenched their weapons and stared at the horizon.