The desert was hot, and the sand underneath was soft and hot. During the day, the air would fluctuate due to the heat, and walking in the middle of the desert, even taking in a deep breath would cause one to feel a burning pain in their lungs.
Fortunately, Blaine was familiar with the roads, so he often brought the lot of them to different places. The ground was also relatively hard, which allowed them to travel faster, and from time to time, they would pass the oasis by, and from time to time, they would arrive at the oasis at noon or at night to enjoy the cool weather.
Just like everyone else, Tang Yin was also unable to stand the heat of the desert. After walking for a whole morning, his clothes were drenched in sweat, and at this time, everyone was only wearing their clothes, the armor on the outside had already been taken off.
On this day, on the third day of entering the desert, Tang Yin and the others were all exhausted. They looked forward, and saw a boundless desert before them. Tang Yin urged his horse to gallop forward a few steps, and caught up with Blaine who was in front, and asked: "Blaine, how many more days do you need to walk before we can leave the desert?"
Blaine laughed heartily as he wiped the sweat off his face and said, "It's going to be soon. If all goes well, we'll be able to leave the desert tomorrow afternoon and reach Dookie City by nightfall!"
"Oh!" Tang Yin sighed, raised his head and looked at the blazing sun, and said: "It seems that it's noon, we need to find a place to rest."
"Yes!" Blaine nodded his head, closed his eyes and looked ahead, and said faintly: "If I remember correctly, there should be an oasis in front, and a small lake inside."
"Ha?" Tang Yin immediately became interested. In the past few days, while walking in the desert, there were many oases he had passed by, but he had never seen anyone bring water with them. He smiled and said, "We don't have much water, if the lake is fresh water, we can replenish it a little!"
Blaine laughed, "If the small lake is still there, it must be fresh water inside."
The water in the desert could walk, because most of it was formed by underground water. It could appear here today, or it could appear elsewhere tomorrow, but of course, its movements were also regular. People who were familiar with the desert could find the freshwater lakes hidden in different parts of the desert.
Just then, Shauna also rode over. Like the others, she had taken off all her armor, and was dressed in a simple white dress, her fair and white face was covered with perspiration, she used a towel to wipe the sweat on her neck from time to time, and muttered unhappily: "If I don't find a place to bathe, my body will rot away!"
Blaine shook his head and laughed bitterly: "Your Highness, the water in the desert is more expensive than gold. Even if there is a lake in the oasis ahead, I'm afraid... It's not enough for your highness to take a bath. "
"What?" Not even enough water for a bath? What kind of lake is that? " Shauna asked with his eyes wide open.
Blaine said in a low voice, "Your Highness will know when the time comes."
After Shauna heard this, her face immediately revealed disappointment.
Tang Yin sighed, returning to his hand and taking out his own water bag, giving it to Shauna. The latter did not hold back and took the water pouch. He removed the lid and gulped down two mouthfuls of water.
What Blaine said was not wrong, there was indeed an oasis up ahead, but when Tang Yin and the rest arrived, there were other people inside, a small caravan was resting right there.
There were around two to three hundred people in this caravan, and just the number of camels used to carry goods numbered around one hundred and sixty to seventy. Seeing Tang Yin's group arrive, the members of the caravan who were resting on the ground stood up one after another, and many of them reached for their swords at their waists.
Bandit crisscrossed throughout the desert, and Tang Yin and the rest of the people rode their horses and quickly rushed over. Those who did not know anything could not tell who they were.
When Tang Yin and the others reached the oasis, the two sides could clearly see each other's appearances. Everyone on the other side of the caravan was stunned. Tang Yin and the majority of the others all had long faces, so there was naturally a huge difference between them and Morfeas Confederacy. Just then, two middle-aged men in their forties walked out from the caravan. They looked like the leaders of the caravans, they sized up Tang Yin and asked politely.
Blaine urged his horse forward, and said smilingly: "We are from Pisa, we are going to Dookie City!"
"Oh!" Hearing this, everyone in the caravan heaved a sigh of relief. The hands that were holding the sabers also loosened their grip. Blaine's accent was indeed Bessar's accent. In the Bandit, even without People of Bessa City, the normally arrogant People of Bessa City would not bother to make such a thing.
The two middle aged men's eyes fell on Tang Yin and the rest again, curiously sizing them up, and asked: "Who are they?"
"He …" Just as Blaine was about to speak, Tang Yin turned slightly and lightly patted his shoulder from behind, interrupting him. Then, he said with a smile in his fluent Morfeas: "We are merchants who have travelled through Pisa."
"Through Bessar?" The two middle-aged men froze for a moment, then asked in unison, "Then you are the people of the wind?" Their faces were all people of Haotian Empire, and the only way to pass through the Haotian Empire was for Bessa to pass through the Dookie.
He never thought that the other party would be able to tell where he was from. Tang Yin was startled at first, but his reaction was also fast. He immediately nodded and laughed: "That's right, we are Wind People!"
Ah!" The two middle-aged men couldn't help but glance at Tang Yin. After all, there were too few Wind Men who had come to the Duji, especially the merchants of the State of Feng. They had never seen them before.
"Don't waste time talking to them, let's quickly go in!" Shauna dismounted from her horse, and rushed Tang Yin and her to the oasis.
The oasis was not small, and was filled with lush green and luxuriant leaves of poplar trees. Hu Yang Tree was the most common tree in the desert. Rumor has it that it didn't die after three thousand years and didn't rot after three thousand years.
In the middle of the oasis, there really was a small lake, but when Shauna saw this small lake, her tears almost fell out. Even if it was called a small lake, it would be more accurate to say that it was a puddle of water, its length and width was only about five or six meters.
Standing quietly in front of the lake for ten seconds, Shauna suddenly turned her head around, glared at Blaine, and asked: "This is the lake you were talking about?"
Blaine innocently shrugged his shoulders, walked up and said in a low voice: "Like I said before, this lake is definitely not enough for Her Highness to bathe in."
"You're going to die!" Shauna no longer had the temperament and self-control of a princess, she angrily pushed Blaine away, then quickly walked to a poplar tree and sat down on the ground, her pink cheeks puffing out.
It would be weird if there was a large amount of lake water in the desert. Tang Yin did not hold much hope to begin with, and at this time, he was not disappointed either. He smiled as he looked at Shauna who was sitting under the tree and sulking.
Although the puddle was small, there was a spring below it. The group filled up all the water sacs, but there was no decrease in the water in the puddle.
He nodded in satisfaction. Then, he walked to Shauna's side and sat down beside her with the water bag in his hands, saying, "Letting Princess Shauna accompany me to suffer suffering together with me is truly letting you down!"
Hearing that, Shauna turned to look at Tang Yin, pouting: "I didn't say I was wronged."
"Your expression is written on your face."
Shauna curled her lips, and said in a low voice: "It's not that obvious, right?!" After she finished speaking, she hurriedly explained, "It's not that I'm regretting going to the Dookie with you, it's just that … "It's just that I feel that the road ahead is too difficult to walk on …" She had never gone to the Dookie before, she had only heard that they had to pass through a vast desert, but she had no inkling of how difficult it was in the desert. Now that she had experienced it for herself, she felt that this was not a place where humans could live.
Looking at the serious Shauna explaining, Tang Yin was moved. If not for helping him out, the noble and noble Princess Shauna would not need to go through all this suffering. He took a deep breath and said slowly, "This time, I owe you a favor. I will definitely repay you in the future, no matter what request you make."
"Really?" Shauna's eyes instantly lit up.
Tang Yin couldn't help but laugh when he saw her bright eyes. He nodded and said with certainty: "Really."
Shauna laughed until her mouth could not be closed, her eyes rolled around non-stop, and laughed: "Then I must think carefully!"
"You can bring it up anytime you want."
Her happiness had also been influenced by Tang Yin. The latter added with a smile, and her gaze on Shauna also became abnormally soft and gentle. Perhaps, even Tang Yin himself did not realize, that Shauna's happiness, anger, and sorrow had already begun to gradually affect his mood. The promise that he had made at that time would greatly affect him in the future.
As they were resting, the two middle-aged men in the caravan walked over and chatted with them, asking them what business they were doing at the Dookie. If there was a chance, they could work together.
Blaine was good at communication, and dealt with the two middle-aged men easily.
After eating the dried meat and rations he brought along with him and resting for a while, Tang Yin looked at the sun and headed westward. He estimated that it was about three in the afternoon and should be time to continue his journey, just as he was about to urge everyone to get on his horse, the sounds of hooves came from afar, it seemed that a large number of riders were quickly rushing towards the oasis.
Tang Yin sighed, this place seemed to have already become a road that had to be travelled through the desert, and merchants and pedestrians alike would often take this place as a resting place. He cried out in his mind, "Trouble!" He was going to order everyone to get on their horses, but when he heard that someone else had arrived, he sat back down on the ground, his face full of smiles. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
Very quickly, a Hidden Arrow Crew guard that was left at the perimeter of the oasis ran to Tang Yin and knelt on one knee. He lowered his voice and said seriously: "Master, a team of riders is rushing over, but there's something wrong.