From October to November, when you walk on the road, time flies fast. The brigade of 500 people has only been screened for ordinary camel caravans of less than 50 people. Sometimes Ji Jiu looks at this team, and does not know how many of these men who will accompany him through the desert will be complete. return home. They are all young people who are in their prime, and they may be buried in the sand stream or die under the sword of the enemy. What will happen in the future, no one knows.

In fact, what if you knew? No one will quit halfway through.

They are soldiers and death is their mission. If you can drink a mouthful of the blood of your enemy before you die, you will die without regrets.

These fifty people were carefully selected by Ji Jiu's careful observation. From skill to temperament, one of the five hundred people was selected from ten miles. Since they were selected, they were handed over with their lives, and there was no doubt.

In the future, whether in good times or in adversity, they will fight side by side, support each other, and rescue each other.

So far, the journey has been peaceful. He had never encountered thieves, nor found any enemy spies, and even those in the court who wanted him to die had not yet taken action. Calm like an illusion.

In a life-and-death struggle, the hunter who indulges in a false calm is mortal. Ji Jiu didn't dare to let go of his vigilance for a day. He knew that the road would be bumpy and bumpy, but he was still calm.

Climbing mountains when encountering mountains, wading in water, and killing enemies when encountering enemies, this is his way.

The yellow sand was blowing in the swirling wind. Everyone held their breath and lowered their heads one by one to avoid the wind and sand. In November, the wind and sand became bigger. Can't open. After the wind and sand passed, everyone patted their clothes, patted the next floor, stomped their feet, and led the camel team to move on.

Ji Jiu walked in the middle, and Shen Jue, who was carrying a wooden box, walked in the end.

The camel caravan of fifty people formed a long line, winding its way along the endless road, and no one but them knew where it would extend or how far it would go.

You can only keep going until the road under your feet breaks, dividing life and death.

It was getting dark, Ji Jiu ordered the team to stop, leaning on a hill, and everyone set up a tent.

It is said to be a tent, in fact, it is just a small world supported by simple cloth. It cannot block the wind or rain. At most, three or five people can rest in it, so they can feel at ease, and at least have a shelter.

Everyone began to divide their labor, picked up some dry branches and lit a bonfire, and took some dry food out to eat.

It's getting colder at night, and without a fire, the trip will get harder. Not every place has an inn, the farther west you go, the less populated it becomes. After a while, you should enter the desert and enter the real trek.

The warm light of the flames flashed on his face, Ji Jiu nibbled on the noodles and whispered: "I can go to the town tomorrow, make up dry food and water, and have a good night's rest."

The soldiers nodded in agreement, and after coaxing their stomachs, they covered their bodies with felts, or rested with their eyes closed, resting on stones or cargo boxes.

Not long after falling asleep, there was a camel bell not far away, and the sound was getting closer and closer. At this time, in such a place, there is no one else except the caravan.

Just as Ji Jiu was about to move, Shen Jue stood up, shouted into the darkness, and asked, "Who?"

Someone over there responded, and it really was a caravan.

Soon the group of people walked to the fire and chatted with Ji Jiu and the others.

There was a team of 15 people. The leader was surnamed Zhou, and everyone else called him the boss of Zhou. He looked in his early 40s, his face was rough and polished by the wind and sand all year round, his voice was rough, and he had a southeastern accent. Only when asked, found out that he was only in his early thirties, and running around made him look a lot older. The dozen or so people were not members of his camel caravan. Among them were the lone wandering merchants he met on the road. Seeing that there were a lot of them, they traveled together with companions.

This time, the time was wrong, and the group met Ji Jiu. This is what he himself said.

After the greeting, Boss Zhou asked Ji Jiu and the others, "Where did you guys come from and where are you going?"

Ji Jiu said, "Come from the south and find a way to make money."

"The South is good," Boss Zhou wiped his face and said, "I shipped a batch of silk last year, but it sold for a good price."

Ji Jiu laughed and said, "There is a lot of wind and sand in the north, and silk fabrics look bright but not practical. Have you shipped silk again this year?"

"Haha, my brother is very knowledgeable. Later, selling silk will not be popular, so this year I shipped some medicinal herbs and tea to sell." Boss Zhou asked him: "There are so many brothers, all the good things you want to come here are good things. I have also been running for more than ten years, but I have never seen my brother. I don’t know what business my brother is doing, who does he do business with?”

I just met, but it was just a chance encounter on the road. He asked this way, it was a bit too much. The soldiers sitting beside Ji Jiu all had cold faces, feeling that he was inappropriate.

Ji Jiu found it interesting, this man looked rough and spoke recklessly, but he went straight to the goal and didn't go around in circles. Such people are either stupid and straight, who don't understand routines, or they are so sophisticated that they can't hide their tricks.

Obviously, the man who has been on the road for more than ten years is not the former. Ji Jiu laughed, the corners of his eyes narrowed, he moved the fire in front of him, put down the stick, and began to lie.

He first said that in the south of the border, there are dense jungles, and there are many strange animals and animals born in the huge jungle with high temperature all the year round. This is the beginning of what he said, and then looking into the eyes of the boss Zhou, he said slowly: "Brother Zhou, have you ever heard that there is a village in the southern part of the country, which is called 'Witch Village' by outsiders, and uses the magic of witchcraft. Which is famous for 'gu'?"

Boss Zhou was stunned, and quickly said: "I have heard of it, but I have never seen it with my own eyes. Could it be..."

"Listen to brother," Ji Jiu waved his hand to signal him not to intervene, and quickly continued: "In that witch village, men and women, young and old, everyone raises Gu, there are centipedes, black spiders, and highly poisonous things in the mountains and forests. If they don't raise them, they catch poisons to tame each other, and then use poisonous insects to fight each other to practice, and finally leave a Gu, and then they develop. From the beginning to the end, it takes three to five years to raise a Gu. If it is harsher, how long will it take? It is possible to raise a Gu for ten years. Brother... that's where it came from."

The night was dark, and the sky was only the moon and no stars. Beside this desolate loess hill, Ji Jiu was sitting in front of the fire. The bright yellow firelight jumped on his face, bright and dark, and the three-point distortion was unreasonably strange, which was very terrifying.

Ji Jiu fiddled with the fire again, and said slowly: "Brother Zhou, the things you are selling, that's all. My team only sells this one trip in my life. Brother Zhou can't mess with the things that my brother sells. Get it. Brother Zhou sells things, and I have no intention of getting involved in it. This way, the well water does not violate the river water, and Xiongtai does not need to worry about blocking the way of money.”

After smiling, Ji Jiu said, "Maybe Brother Zhou will suffer in the future, and he will need to rush you home." In the last sentence, he said very lightly, that is, because it was too light, it seemed that he was suddenly deafened.

Before Boss Zhou could react, someone already screamed, "Could it be that you have a corpse hunter?!"

In the middle of the night in the wilderness, with just this sentence, the faces of the dozen or so people who had already been bluffed were pale.

Ji Jiu neither admitted nor denied it, got up and bowed to them, and withdrew to the other side with his own people, rekindled the bonfire and set up a tent, avoiding the group of people far away.

After the things were put back together, the camels also lay down again. The fifty or so people sat beside Ji Jiu around the bonfire and said with a low smile, "The general opens his mouth so he can speak."

Ji Jiu sighed and said, "I met many caravans along the way, haven't you listened carefully to their conversations?"

Someone asked: "What talk?"

Ji Jiu said: "I heard a few days ago that this business road is controlled by a week-long person, and all the profits from the businessmen will be paid 30% to him, otherwise the road will not be peaceful. You were there at the time, why didn't you record it? ?"

He added: "Do you think that man is reckless and ignorant when he talks straight and straight? He is just unscrupulous. It is this man who is said by the traders. If we tell them to be afraid of us as soon as possible, it will be less troublesome."

Shen Jue said, "Are they scared when you say that?"

Ji Jiu said: "It doesn't matter whether he is afraid or not, it's just that everyone has been running around for the past few days, and everyone is tired. Let's bluff him for the time being, and wait until we enter the city tomorrow, and then I will clean up after a good rest."

It turned out to be lazy and only willing to play tricks first. When everyone realized this, Ji Jiu was speechless for a while.

Ji Jiu yawned, straightened up, and went back to the tent lazily. If nothing goes wrong, this night will be peaceful. Even if you want to watch the play, you have to wait until tomorrow.

The next morning, we were on our way and arrived at the town at sunset, which was the last town. Further ahead, there is a sea of ​​sand, a scorched yellow, only a mirage.

Ji Jiu and the others entered the inn, had a full meal first, and then called Xiao Er to wash with hot water. After the whole body was covered with sand and dust, Shen Jue said, "That person is here."

That week, the eldest eldest also entered the inn with his men and horses. For a while, the backyard was noisy and noisy. Closing the window, Ji Jiu said, "It's okay, he has no confidence in our group of people, he doesn't dare to act rashly, rest for a night, and enter the desert tomorrow, if he still follows, kill him."

The tone is indifferent, but it reveals a cold color.

Shen Jue said "um", untied the wooden box behind him, put it on Ji Jiu's bed, and went out.

After closing the door, Ji Jiu leaned on the head of the bed, reading with a book in his hand. I don't know how long it took, and I was sleepy. I put the book away and was about to lie down when I saw a white light flashing through the gap in the window lattice, as if someone was holding a weapon. Ji Jiu was stunned for a while and then recovered. After thinking for a while, she opened the soft quilt, and hugged the big snake that had been drunk for more than a month in the quilt and held it in her arms.

Holding it like this, wrapping the thick long snake around his waist, Ji Jiu hugged it out of bed and went to the table to drink water.

He had wet hair, and after drinking the tea, he raised his eyes and looked out the window with a half-smile. The black snake was wrapped around his snow-white tunic. The smile on his face instantly revealed a strange aura, like a poisonous monster.

For a moment, the voices outside the window were silent.

Ji Jiu stroked the cold scales and stood for a while, making sure that the person who should watch it has already seen it, and no one will watch it anymore, so he went back to bed and put down the tent, and disappeared behind the tent together with the snake.