Huang Ting

"After I have thanked Brother Ziwen for his kindness, please tell him that Amei and I will be heading to the Western Regions soon. I hope we can meet again in the Western Regions."

Hu Xiuwu put away the map and said to Tang Yifu.

"Here."

Tangyi's father performed a very standard Chinese ceremony, turned around and went back to resume his life.

After Tang Yi's father left, Hu Xiuwu unscrewed the leather case containing the map, took out the rolled-up map and spread it out. After just one glance, Hu Xiuwu frowned.

What is this, a responsive map?!

With just a few strokes on the parchment map, the entire Western Region was drawn. Everything was drawn, not to mention contours and scales. Even the mountains were replaced with the same shape of hills.

This is not a freehand landscape painting. What's the use of painting it so crudely?

You just drew two lines and marked the names of the cities on the lines. Can you call it a map?

Hu Xiuwu felt that even the annotations on the map had more strokes than the map itself.

We really can’t blame Li Guang for getting lost when fighting with such a map. At the same time, it also highlights Huo Qubing, who can rely on such a map to fight guerrilla warfare on the grassland. His sense of direction is really powerful, and he can be called a human compass.

The map Hu Xiuwu got from the horse bandits was simple enough. He originally thought it was just a special case, but he didn't expect that the map of the Western Regions he got from Zhang Qian was also like this. This was an official map of the Han Dynasty.

Even the official maps are so rudimentary. It can be imagined how little the current Han people know about the Western Regions. I am afraid that the only thing the current Han people know about the Western Regions is that the Western Regions are rich in beautiful jade.

Looking at the two nearly parallel lines on the map, Hu Xiuwu exhaled in distress,

Gumo and Jingjue are actually on the same road! Gumo and Yumenguan are on the same route, while Jingjue is on the same line as Yangguan. One south and one north, they are almost parallel.

Moreover, it appears from the map that Gumo is further away from Yumen Pass than Jingjue, and closer to where the Dayue clan currently lives.

What's going on?

Hu Xiuwu made a profound complaint about Hu Bayi’s unreliability:

It’s not like brother, you arrived at Xiye Ancient City first, and then arrived at Jingjue Ancient City. How did you walk around in circles in the Western Region?

Free?

Mainly because of the dignity of being brothers, Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan focused on how they found the tomb of Prince Gumo by relying on their profound Feng Shui skills, and how they bravely fought the black snake.

As for the small matter of accidentally getting lost, I didn't tell Hu Xiuwu, which caused Hu Xiuwu's confused understanding of the locations of Gu Mo and Jing Jue.

I was just bragging with my brother, who would have thought that he would use this knowledge point.

Rolling up the sheepskin map in his hand and putting it back into the cylinder, Hu Xiuwu repeatedly clapped his hands with the cylinder and thought in his heart:

"What I thought before was too simple. Even with this map and the guidance of the stars, it is not that simple to go to Gumo. No wonder my eldest brother had to find a local guide before setting off."

"It seems that I have to find an Anliman."

(Anliman: a personal name, meaning a living map in the desert.)

Putting the cylinder containing the map into the ghost tomb, Hu Xiuwu shouted to Chen Duo:

"Duo'er, I'm going out for a trip. You don't have to wait for me at noon. You can eat first."

Chen Duo stopped and said to Hu Xiuwu, "I want to go with you."

"I'm just going to find a guide for us, you don't have to..."

Hu Xiuwu originally wanted to refuse, but then he thought that if Chen Duo was here alone, she would probably sit alone facing the wall all afternoon, so she might as well go out with him.

"...Forget it, you'd better come with me."

Before the opening of mutual trade, the Han Dynasty knew little about the Western Regions, and traveling to the Western Regions was too difficult, so there were very few caravans going to the Western Regions.

But few does not mean none, because the businessmen near Jiuquan County know at least one thing.

The Western Regions outside the Han Dynasty produced jade, and the jade was also beautiful in mutton fat. Even Xiaoshipan City was later renamed Yumenguan, which was named after it was used to transport jade for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

China's love and pursuit of jade has never declined from ancient times to the present. As long as a handful of beautiful jade can be brought back from the Western Regions, it can be exchanged for ten carts of gold.

But the caravans that go to the Western Regions and come back with jade often don't save even one out of ten. This earns a lot of money, but there are always people who would rather die in the Gobi than die poor.

Either you take a risk and make money that you won't be able to use for the rest of your life, or you don't have the rest of your life.

So now there are actually several caravans staying in Xiaoshipan City without leaving. As long as they find a reliable caravan, Hu Xiuwu and Chen Duo, they can join the caravan and head to the Western Regions.

When choosing a caravan to call upon, Hu Xiuwu was less concerned with the strength of the caravan. The main thing was to choose a caravan that was familiar with the Western Regions, so as not to get in trouble if it got lost in the desert.

But Hu Xiuwu didn't know much about the situation in Xiaoshipan City. If he wanted to find a more reliable caravan, he still had to rely on local snakes.

It just so happened that Hu Xiuwu met a local snake yesterday who was very familiar with the situation in Xiaoshipan City and had some reputation in the local area.

Wei Shazhu, the county of Xiaoshipan City.

Hu Xiuwu led Chen Duo around the county government office but did not see Sha Zhu. After asking several people in the county government office, he learned that Sha Zhu was in the warehouse of the county government office at this time, leading people to keep an eye on the mission's supplies.

Condition.

This is the top priority of Xiaoshipan City now. The county magistrate Xu Yuanjin attaches great importance to it, and the top boss of Xiaoshipan City attaches great importance to it. Naturally, the people below do not dare to be vague.

"Alas, that's for horses, not for humans. Why do you have two eyes? Is it just to be gregarious?"

When Hu Xiuwu found Sha Zhu, he saw him yelling at the people carrying supplies at the door of the warehouse:

"Shaxian Lieutenant!"

"Who! Who called me! Oh, it turns out to be Zhang Xianchang."

Originally, Sha Zhu was so busy that he was sweating on his forehead, and he was a little annoyed and his tone was not good. But when he turned around and saw that the person who stopped him was Hu Xiuwu, he suddenly became enthusiastic.

Hu Xiuwu shook his head: "I haven't become an immortal yet, just call me Xiuwu."

"No, no, you are different from a rough guy like me. Why are you here this time? Are you here to get the supplies that Zhang Shijun specially stored for you?"

During the Han Dynasty, people in the streets and streets spread stories about strange people, thinking that they were all gods descended from the earth and capable of anything and everything.

Although Sha Zhu was not as ignorant as the ordinary people in the city, he still could not avoid being in awe of strangers, so Sha Zhu's tone was still very humble.

Hu Xiuwu said: "No, I came here specifically to see you, Lieutenant Shaxian. I hope you can do me a favor."

After saying that, Hu Xiuwu bowed to Sha Zhu in front of everyone in the warehouse to express his gratitude.

"Oh, oh, I can't do it, I can't do it!"

Sha Zhu's face turned red with joy. For a face-saving person like him to be thanked by an immortal, he felt very proud.

He said he couldn't help it, but actually after taking a look at the faces of the people around him, Sha Zhu's heart was bubbling with beauty, he slapped his chest loudly and shouted:

"If you have any questions, please tell me. As long as it's something within Xiaoshipan City, I will definitely help you with it, Lao Sha."

Hu Xiuwu told Sha Zhu about his desire to find a caravan to go to the Western Regions, and also told him his requirements.

After hearing this, Sha Zhu pondered for a while: "Don't mention it. During this period, there are really four or five caravans in Xiaoshipan City that want to go to the Western Regions."

Hu Xiuwu asked suspiciously: "Didn't you say that not many caravans dare to go to the Western Regions? Why are there so many caravans in Xiaofangpan City now?"

Sha Zhu explained: "You also know that going to the Western Regions is a life-threatening business. If you are not well prepared, it will be even more difficult."

"But during this period, in order to help the mission raise supplies, Xiaoshipan City no longer has any extra food and grass to sell to these caravans, so there are many caravans waiting to set off in the city."

Hu Xiuwu asked: "Which caravan has the most experience?"

Sha Zhu was a little embarrassed: "Going to the Western Regions to exchange for jade is a life-threatening business. Very few people are willing to make the trip twice. The most experienced ones..."

Not knowing what he thought of, Sha Zhu's eyes suddenly lit up:

"By the way, I remembered that there is actually a caravan in the city that can be considered very experienced."