Fourteen, the road to Lixuan City (Part 2)

That night, under the guidance of nomads, Feili and others found the only remaining green space on the wasteland, and stopped to camp. It was a well in the ruins of a temple, hundreds of feet deep, the bottom of the well was clear and the water was clean, and the edge of the well was covered with reeds. A stone path was built along the slope of the well wall, so that people could walk to the bottom of the well to fetch water.

Unfortunately, although they have clean water for washing, due to lack of fuel and magic, they still cannot make a fire and cook hot soup to relieve fatigue, or even heat food. The desert is so hot that it can burn people during the day, but it is so cold that people shiver. The hard dried meat bites in the mouth and is cold and chuckling, and it can't be relieved for a long time. The hard bread, like a stone, was held in the arms for a long time before it became a little softer. The fresh fruits and fruits collected from the oasis the day before yesterday were deteriorated in just two or three days and had to be discarded anywhere.

So all the fatigue and hardship accumulated along the way suddenly broke out uncontrollably. Thousands of officers and soldiers shivered while wrapping blankets, which not only made the commander Feili feel anxious, but also made the grassland nomads laugh.

"...Tsk tsk, what a bunch of young masters with delicate body and expensive body. After walking on the Gobi Desert for two days, they were panting like skinny dogs. Do you know that for those travelers who cross the desert with two legs and four legs, this is the easiest journey."

Xianlang Xiaobai gave Feili a middle finger disdainfully and commented, "... There is such a striking snow mountain in front as a landmark. There is no need to worry about going in the wrong direction and encountering a 'ghost wall'. If you are trapped in a place and you will never get lost if you walk along. There is almost no terrible monsters in the wasteland, and even bandits are rare, and there is such a good place to replenish clear water; there is enough food around you, so you will definitely not be hungry... But... Oh my god, you are already so relaxed, you still have to complain."

...Li Li was embarrassed and angry for a moment, but her waist was not hard and she had to speak out.

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In short, no matter how the soldiers complain and make noise, or how contempt and disdain the guides are, when the sun rises on the new day, the difficult journey to Lixuan City must continue.

After walking for a while in the scorching sun, these sleepy travelers saw another strange scene.

——Flipping over a low hill without any grass, everyone's eyes were filled with white reflections. Feili quickly took a few steps back, squinted his eyes and looked at it briefly, the outline of a silver-white salt lake quietly emerged among the rugged strange rocks.

The area of ​​this salt lake seems to be quite vast, even if it stands above the hills, it is impossible to see at a glance. The center of the salt lake is a thick water surface, and the part near the edge is growing many crystal salt flowers, like corals in the sea, with colorful colors. Under the illumination of the strong sunshine, the vast salt lake is like fish scales paving the ground, extending layer by layer, wave by wave. The salt layers and salt flats formed on the edge of the salt lake also stretch along the lakeside, like the best jade belt, shining with sparkling brilliance.

However, around this magnificent and moving salt lake, there are barren mountains and strange rocks without any grass, and no birds can be seen passing by in the sky. The empty lake surface is always filled with death-like silence. It seems that since eternity, it has been so desolate and desolate.

Everyone was strolling on the endless salt flats, with scattered coarse salt rustling under their feet.

"...This is Yulong Salt Lake. From here, you can see the tall walls of Lixuan City."

A middle-aged nomad of the White Wolf Tribe with dark skin and scars on her face introduced to Feili, "...Around this vast desert, although there are many salt lakes, most of them are bitter water and alkali water that are difficult to eat, and some salt lakes are even highly toxic.

Therefore, there are only a few salt lakes that can truly produce edible salt, among which Yulong Salt Lake outside Lixuan City is the largest production site. Moreover, the salt here is the best in terms of quality, with pure grains and mellow salt flavor, and has always been widely sold in various places... Since the Silk Road gradually cut off, this salt lake has become the largest income in Lixuan City - after all, people can not wear silk or use spices, but they cannot eat salt...

In order to control this wealth, Lixuan City also built a salt lake fort in front of it. Not far from here, we will be able to get there soon..."

"...Oh, I know everything, thank you for your advice... Hey? Strange, how could there be fish in this salt lake?"

Feili listened and walked slowly on the salt flats. When she looked up by chance, she found many air-dried fish in the middle of a low-lying salt flat, with various species, scattered everywhere in a mess.

So, he was stunned for a moment, quickly asked the guide beside him, and then received an intriguing answer.

"...Haha, there are naturally no fish in this Yulong Salt Lake, but there are fish in the Yulong River upstream. When it encounters water coming upstream, it is naturally washed down and then dried into this way..."

The middle-aged guide who was temporarily guest-starring, grinned, "...I heard from the old man in the clan that this place was not a salt lake, but a real big lake. The water surface was as vast as the sea, surrounded by the most fertile fields and pastures. Some people built ships in the lake. Unfortunately, over the past few hundred years, the water in Yulongchuan has become less and less year by year. Yulong Lake is like this salted fish, and it has been dried to the bottom and turned into Yulong Salt Lake..."

——In fact, this is a microcosm of how the once famous oasis city-states in the desert quietly disappeared in the long river of history.

It seemed that since I had come to the salt lake, I shouldn't have returned empty-handed. All the nomads took this opportunity to use knives and other tools to chisel the salt shells, put the pieces of salt into their pockets, and in the gap between the salt chisels, they directly picked up the dried fish from the salt lake, threw it into their mouths and chewed it... For a moment, they were actually holding it in their mouths and picking it up in their hands, without delaying both sides, and everyone was busy.

Seeing that they all seemed to eat quite deliciously, Feili and others also picked up some dried fish and tasted it. Although it felt very salty, it had a natural fish fragrance, which seemed to be stronger than the genuine seafood salted fish shipped on the ship.

After finishing the salt blocks and filling the excess pockets, the group set off again. Sure enough, there was no shortage of steps before a simple but solid stone guardhouse appeared in front of them, and there were still many figures shaking.

Seeing that an army of thousands of people was approaching, the defenders in the guardhouse became nervous immediately, ignited wolf smoke to warn again, and sounded a long horn. There were also a small group of scouts riding horses to find out the truth and reality of these strangers from afar.

Seeing the opponent's appearance as if he was facing a great enemy, Marshal Fili Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. The White Wolf Tribe envoys who led them here also showed a look of relief.

——They ventured through the vast desert and traveled hard for many days to Lixuan City, and it was finally here...
Chapter completed!