Chapter 9

The camel caravan is quite large. At a rough look, there should be three or five hundred people walking with him. Although there are many people who want to travel through the desert like Shen Xinghun and the other two, they want to travel with the camel caravan, but with the size of three or five hundred, ordinary horse bandits will never dare to act rashly.

Although it is safe to travel with your peers, you will inevitably be questioned by the camel caravan. Although you don’t care about what purpose you are going with your peers, you are also afraid that there will be bandits lurking in the camel caravan.

These business travelers traveled between homes in the two places, bringing the things here to places where there was no place. This was not only a material transmission, but also a cultural exchange. The things you carry with you can of course be considered valuable.

In this way, naturally, some people covet it, and there were horse bandits in the desert.

Usually when they meet small camel caravans, men will be killed, and some children and women will be taken back to the bandit's den.

Large camel fleets are relatively safe, but if you want to travel with them, you need to pay silver.

A group of three or five hundred people was in a vast and huge crowd, plus thousands of camels, the team of people could not see at all.

It took me three days to approach the largest desert in the Great Xia Empire.

Although there are still thirty or forty miles away, it is obvious that the temperature here has increased a lot, and some people have removed the cotton coats on their bodies.

This desert is called the Demon Island by the merchants who come and go. Some horse bandits live in the desert all year round. They occupy this water source that others cannot find and barely survive in this desert.

They usually dare not leave the desert. Once they lose barriers like the desert, they will definitely be wiped out by the imperial army.

Only by hiding here can the empire's army be unable to enter the desert to suppress bandits. First, the desert is too vast and cannot be walked out without a detailed route map. Second, not to mention whether the bandits can be defeated in one fell swoop. The spent financial and manpower alone also made the upper leaders of the empire feel that it is not worth it.

Li Shan was seriously injured and could not walk, so he simply bought two camels from the camel caravan. They rode on the camels and looked at the people around him.

Most of the people around me are rushing on their own, and few communicate with each other, but not all of them are.

Behind Shen Xinghun, a camel was dragging an old man. The old man was pregnant with a little girl of five or six years old. He talked happily along the way like an oriole.

Looking back a few times, the little girl was as delicate as a porcelain doll, with her elegant facial features, a pink face, and her big eyes were like stars in the sky, flashing.

Seeing Shen Xinghun's gaze, he was not afraid at all, but instead smiled and greeted him.

The old man was the little girl's grandfather, and this time he took the little girl to meet her parents.

The little girl's name is Xiaoxuan. Her parents are also business trips. Every time they go out, they can't go home for half a year. Xiaoxuan is reluctant to do anything, and finally convinces her grandfather and takes her across the desert to meet her parents.

The little girl was very curious about everything along the way and kept asking his grandfather various questions. Her grandfather thought she had too many problems and pretended not to hear them.

The little girl shouted Shen Xinghun loudly, not timid at all, just as Shen Xinghun was his biological brother, chatting and talking nonstop to Shen Xinghun.

Looking at the little girl's cute appearance, Shen Xinghun's sadness was dispelled a lot.

"Brother Shen! Wait for me slowly! My grandfather said I was too talkative and said he wanted to give me away. I want to ask if you lack a sister. If you don't have one now, I'll ask you again later."

Looking at the little girl's weird appearance, Shen Xinghun stopped the camel.

"I really lack a sister, but if you talk so much, I'm afraid of being annoyed by you. I don't dare to accept your sister."

Shen Xinghun looked helpless, as if he was saying it was the same as the real thing.

"Hmph! Brother Chen, you are as bad as my grandfather. You are all big bad guys. When I grow up, I won't deal with you two!" Xiaoxuan frowned and put her hands on her waist, like a little adult.

As soon as he finished speaking, his grandfather knocked on his head with a thunderous millet. The little girl covered the area she had just knocked, and her eyes were filled with tears.

"I have a bad grandpa!"

After saying that, he wiped his tears away, and ignored whatever the old man said.

The old man quietly took out a piece of osmanthus cake from his arms and swayed it in front of the little girl.

"No one pays attention to me. I have to eat this osmanthus cake by myself. I can't find a second piece of this sweetness in the desert!"

When the little girl saw the osmanthus cake, her eyes smiled like crescent moons, and she no longer looked pitiful. She snatched the pastry from her grandfather's hand and started eating it slowly.

"I just said grandpa is the best. No matter where I go, I will bring my favorite osmanthus cake. Hehe!"

"I just said you have a bad grandfather, why do you change now? I'm not afraid that your bad grandfather will knock your head!"

"What bad grandpa is there? I mean Grandpa. If you don't believe me, please ask Brother Chen. He will definitely hear it clearly. Grandpa, you are old and may not hear it clearly."

After a while, all the osmanthus cakes in the little girl's hand were eaten into her stomach. She wiped her hand, and the little girl looked at her grandfather with unsatisfactory desire.

"Don't look at me. I have brought a little osmanthus cake, but the journey is so long, you have to save some food. After eating, I will feed the little greedy worm in your stomach."

"Okay, let's not eat it today, wait until tomorrow."

The laughter and quarrel between the grandparents and grandchildren along the way made Shen Xinghun feel much happier.

After walking for a day, the 10-year-old camel team stopped to rest in the evening, and set up a tent to block the cold at night.

The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is very large. If the warmth at night is not done well, it is very likely that tomorrow's sun will not be visible.

The tent was set up, hundreds of people scattered, raising a bonfire, and starting to prepare supper.

Dinner in the desert is very simple. It is basically dry food and jerky. It is roasted on the fire and heated it up. Just put it in water and ends the supper.

Shen Xinghun helped Li Shan into the built tent, prepared some food and water for him, and took care of Li Shan after dinner, lay down to rest, Shen Xinghun sat by the campfire, looking at the crowd around him, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Brother Chen!" Just as Shen Xinghun was in a daze, a small hand gently patted his back.

Shen Xinghun knew that it was Xiaoxuan, a little girl during the day, who came to find her.

Xiaoxuan came to Shen Xinghun and sat down, mysteriously took out a small handkerchief from her arms.

When I opened the handkerchief, I found a small piece of osmanthus cake. The square osmanthus cake was missing a corner, and it seemed that someone had carefully broken it down.

"Brother Chen, I'll treat you to osmanthus cake!"

Xiaoxuan handed over the handkerchief in her hand, and Shen Xinghun was a little moved. The little girl liked the taste of osmanthus cake so much, but she secretly sent a piece to herself. It seemed that the missing corner should be because Xiaoxuan wanted to eat it so much that she broke away one piece and gave the rest to herself.

Shen Xinghun took the handkerchief and osmanthus cake from the girl's hand and touched the little girl's head.

"Thank you, Xiaoxuan!"

"Brother Chen, try the taste of this osmanthus cake. Xiaoxuan likes the most. Every time her parents come back, they will bring me the osmanthus cake, but they can't come back a few times a year. After a long time, I almost forgot what they look like, so every time I miss them, I will eat this osmanthus cake, as if the taste of the osmanthus cake is the taste of my parents."

Although the little girl is still very young, her eyes are strong. A little girl of five or six years old who says such words can imagine how much she misses her parents.

"Xiaoxuan, you are here and you know how to run around, causing grandpa to look for you everywhere!" The old man walked over from a distance panting and found that his granddaughter was missing. The old man was very anxious and went looking for it everywhere, looking for it very tired.

"Young Master, my little girl has caused you trouble, so I'll take her back now."

Shen Xinghun stood up and bowed, "You are kind, Xiaoxuan and I can chat very well. I like her very much, and there is no saying whether to cause trouble or not."

Before Shen Xinghun could finish speaking, the little girl also stood up.

"Grandpa, look at it. I just said I am very popular. I believe it now!"

Xiaoxuan looked proud, as if she was showing off her grandfather.

The old man grabbed Xiaoxuan tightly, afraid that she would not be able to find him, so he chatted for a few words and took Xiaoxuan away.

When he was rushing through the day, Shen Xinghun was already exhausted and returned to the tent to rest early.
Chapter completed!