The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 601 Crossing the Desert... Was My Choice Wrong? What, I have to keep going?

task?

What kind of task?
Am I the only one who can accomplish this?

Shen Le racked his brains, trying to sort through this body's memories. The time when the Tibetans invaded, raided the beacon towers, and plundered people was already over…

Five years?

ten years?

Ah, it's been ten years. Ten years of guarding the desert, ten years of no communication, ten years of time, and the once spirited young man is now weathered and worn.

Over the course of ten years, the power of the Tibetans and Uyghurs grew stronger and stronger, while the Tang army received less and less support from the Central Plains, until it eventually stopped receiving any.

At this point, only the Anxi and Beiting Protectorates, supporting each other, can barely hold on and preserve the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, which are surrounded by wolves...

He clasped his arms together and shouted:

"General! I would rather die than fail your trust!"

"it is good--"

The general suddenly turned around and slammed his hand on the table in front of him, causing the entire table to shake violently.
"I order you to take a troop of men and head north to Kucha to meet the Grand Protector. Then, join forces with the troops dispatched by the Grand Protector and go to—Chang'an!"

Shen Le shuddered slightly. Or rather, the soul belonging to Ah Li, which was dormant within this body, trembled slightly:
Since the first year of Yongtai, when this group of people followed the Grand Protector-General to inspect Hexi and Anxi and were forced to stay in Anxi, the Protectorate General's Office has tried to send envoys to Chang'an almost every year.

However, Liangzhou fell, Wuwei fell, and the entire Hexi Corridor was conquered by the Tibetans.

None of the messengers knew whether they reached Chang'an; all that was known was that they never returned.

No one came back.

Shen Le held his breath for a moment. The general had already fixed his gaze on him, his sharp eyes almost piercing into his heart:

“Ah Li, I know that going to Chang'an is arduous and dangerous; in fact, no one has returned alive so far. However, sending a message to Chang'an is firstly a matter of duty for a subject, and secondly…”

He sighed:
"The Anxi army is in dire straits...it's too difficult...If we could receive support from Chang'an, even just a few words, we could rally our hearts and minds and hold out for a little longer..."

Shen Le silently lowered his head. He took a deep breath, his chest heaving and then calming, and whispered:

"Set your goal and go there."

I hope this trip will go smoothly and that we'll return safely... I recall that one of the envoys sent by Anxi successfully reached Chang'an...

Ten people.

Ten people formed a team, led by Shen Le, and embarked on a long journey. They plunged into the desert, accompanied only by the dwindling flow of the Hotan River, nearing its dryness.

"Squad leader! There's no water here!"

They hurried along the river. From Khotan to Kucha, an eight-hundred-mile stretch of desert, they could traverse it with their eyes closed, but they had done so more than ten times already.
Everyone knew exactly where the water sources, the oases, and where to camp. However, on this northward journey, the rivers grew narrower and narrower, and by today's campsite, there was simply no water left!
"dig!"

Shen Le glanced at it and then gave the order decisively.

He untied a shovel from the camel's back, walked slowly around the campsite, then walked around the dry riverbed, and finally, at the edge of a sand dune where a clump of tamarisk trees had taken root, he dug straight down with the shovel.
"Dig a well and get water!"

Three shovels surrounded him. Shen Le remained silent, burying himself in his work, secretly thanking himself for the experience he had gained at the archaeological site.
Without this experience, I'm afraid he won't even know how to dig the sand properly, and he won't be able to do much work, but he'll be exhausted.

However, the two soldiers beside him, while engrossed in digging, were muttering to themselves:

"How come there's no water after only two days in there..."

"At this time of year, the water doesn't run out until the sixth or seventh day..."

"Will we really be able to get out this time...?"

"Definitely," Shen Le replied firmly without looking up.
"Each of us carries two camels, and with enough food, we can last at least a month. We've crossed this desert several times before, and it only takes us half a month to get out..."

Even if we have to dig a well, it will only take five or six more days at most, and we'll definitely be able to get out!

He shoveled deeply into the sand, one scoop at a time. After shoveling about a foot deep, the sand began to feel heavy.
When you dig down to two feet, the color of the sand is visibly different from the surface of the adjacent dunes.

They dug out a well three feet deep, and the sand at the bottom was already wet to the touch, and it looked like water was about to come out!
"Thank God!" exclaimed two soldiers who were shoveling sand.

"The water is coming out! The water is coming out!"

If they could find water, there was hope for survival. The group waited patiently for an hour, and finally they could take turns drinking water, filling their water bags, and then bringing the camels over to drink.

In the following days, the water level decreased day by day, and the digging became increasingly difficult. On the tenth day, after two hours of strenuous digging under the cover of night, they had dug a well deep enough to be held by a person, but still could not find water.
"How to do?"

Nine pairs of eyes fell on Shen Le, staring at him expectantly, hoping he could make a decision. Should they dig somewhere else?

Are we going to travel overnight?

Do you want to slaughter the camel?
Shen Le closed his eyes, trying to mobilize the heat within his body and expand his mental power. Once, twice, but to no avail.
This copper plate, while granting him greater physical strength and endurance, as well as the ability to run faster and jump higher, is insufficient for him to cast spells to gather water in the desert.

Even his spiritual energy couldn't extend outside his body, and he couldn't sense the direction of any moisture...

"Just a little longer." His voice was low and hoarse as he tried to retain some moisture in his mouth to prevent his saliva from evaporating.
"We still have half the journey to go. If we slaughter the camels now, we won't last long, or we'll have to abandon what we're carrying—"

His gaze slowly moved, sweeping over the twenty camels lying curled up at the foot of the sand dunes, and the baggage unloaded beside them:
Crossing the desert, even with just one person and two camels, the packing was already as minimal as possible. In Shen Le's view, there really wasn't much that could be removed:
One man, clad in full armor, carrying a bow, a quiver of arrows, a broadsword, and a short sword. A packet of dried meat, a packet of naan bread, and two water pouches—

Also, each person carried a large bag containing letters to be sent to Chang'an.

War raged for three months, and a letter from home was worth a fortune. But the soldiers of the four garrisons of Anxi had been separated from their homes for at least ten years.

Every time an envoy was sent to Chang'an, almost all the soldiers would write letters home themselves or have someone else write them, and then send them to the envoy, earnestly entrusting them to deliver them to their families—even if what they received was disappointment time and time again.

"How about this?" Shen Le inhaled, exhaled, and sighed deeply.
"Leave the armor behind. Leave all the armor, and half the bows and arrows—with such a drought, there probably aren't many bandits around. We'll win once we reach Kucha..." They found a clump of tamarisk trees, packed the armor into a bundle, buried it underneath, and marked the spot. They spread out their clothes, untied the bundles, and laid the bundles on top of the sandpit. They managed to collect a little water, just enough for everyone to moisten their throats.

On the second and third nights, they still couldn't find water. The group survived for two more days by killing camels, drinking water from their rumen, and drinking their blood.

On the fourth day, under the starlight and moonlight, they stumbled along for half an hour. Suddenly, the camel under Shen Le's mount raised its head, flared its nostrils, sniffed hard a few times, and then galloped away!
Shen Le lunged forward, grabbing the camel's saddle. The camel, running at full speed, was much more jolted than a horse, seemingly oblivious to the passengers on its back—

Unlike the past few days when he carried them slowly through the desert, Shen Le felt like he was about to be thrown off. Behind him, an old soldier shouted:

"There's water! There's water!!!"

There's water!
Shen Le was also delighted. He buried his head behind the camel's neck, letting the big guy carry him at full speed, and even tentatively let the heat flow into his palms and into the camel's body.

Whether it was useful or not is unknown, but in any case, the camel ran incredibly fast, reaching an unprecedented speed...

"Zheng!"

A bowstring twanged, followed by a long, agonizing scream from his comrade. Shen Le tensed, reflexively drawing his sword. Squinting, he looked ahead and saw several camels standing far off on the sand dunes, with someone on their backs drawing a bow and nocking an arrow—

"Bandits!"

"The horse bandits are coming!"

Everyone left their armor behind.

Half of the arrows remained.

Ten men, only five bows; five men had already emerged from the opposite sand dune. Shen Le's eyes turned red with hatred; he spurred the camel with all his might, circling it towards the dune.

The camel neighed loudly, but refused to turn back, continuing to run forward with its head down. Shen Le gritted his teeth, leaped off the camel's back, and drew his bow and arrow:

Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
He sprinted forward, firing three arrows in quick succession. Unfortunately, none of the three arrows hit their mark;
Fortunately, the three enemies were too busy dodging to shoot arrows, or their arrows flew as soon as they drew their bows. Seeing the enemy camels charging towards him, Shen Le stood still, held his breath, and drew his sword—

This ship of the desert is truly magnificent!

Infantry versus cavalry, inferior versus superior, the psychological pressure was immense!
But so what—I have internal energy, superhuman strength and endurance, and most importantly, I'm in a memory. At worst, I'll just lose this life and start over!
kill!

In the nick of time, he stepped aside, letting the camel pass. He leaped up, his blade slicing across the bandit's neck, drawing a stream of blood. Before he could even rejoice, his eyes narrowed:
Dust billowed. Behind the dunes, thunderous hooves thundered as twenty or thirty bandits charged forward in one go. Shen Leqiang channeled his energy, leaping and bounding among the camel herd, fighting and shouting:
"do not come!"

"Don't come here!"

"Run! Run!!!"

However, none of his comrades obeyed his orders. Screams, shouts, the clash of swords, the horrifying sound of camel hooves breaking bones... all rang out continuously.

Shen Le fought with all his might until suddenly everything in front of him went empty and all was quiet around him. Only then did he realize that the camels had gone far away, and the bodies of camels, bandits, and his comrades lay scattered all around him...

He was all alone now.

Once again, he was all alone.

Shen Le looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh. He didn't even have time to grieve before he began searching for the water bags carried on the camels.

He raised his water pouch, drank deeply, carefully examined the corpses of all his comrades, straightened his bow and sword, and, stumbling along, headed north...

There is a water source there.

There are camels there.

There—are enemies there!

He pressed the military dispatch hidden deep in his chest, and, under the dim starlight, pressed on with all his might. Five li?
Ten miles?

Fifteen li?
He didn't know how long he had walked, only that a small campfire glowed in the darkness ahead. Shen Le held his breath, crouched down behind a sand dune, listened for a while, and then carefully began to move forward, using the dune as cover.
The night breeze carried a complex array of scents: the dampness of the spring water, the strong, pungent smell of camels, the wonderful aroma of roasted meat… and… and…

On the sand dunes, a group of bandits sat in a circle. At this moment, they were rummaging through the contents of their camel packs, roasting dried meat, boiling flatbread, tearing open letters from home one by one, reading them aloud in strange, exaggerated voices, and then throwing them into the fire with bizarre shouts.
"Dear Parents: Your son is well in Khotan and has already been promoted to Yunqiwei (a military rank) through meritorious service... Oh wow, a Yunqiwei! Old Cao, aren't you afraid that guy will come to kill you?"

"I'm so scared!"

The man, "Old Cao," grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotten, yellowed teeth. He snatched the letter from home, used it to blow his nose, and tossed it directly into the campfire.

The person asking the question didn't take offense and instead took out another letter from home to read:
"Zhang Shiliu respectfully presented his wife with her makeup... but he's already married! Too bad I couldn't win him over..."

Shen Le held his breath and slowly drew his bow. There were still forty or fifty men in this group, and he might not be able to kill them all in one go. Originally, he would have had a better chance of survival if he had quietly left, stolen a camel, and headed straight for Kucha.

But how could I ignore the letters from my comrades-in-arms? Anyway, we can always restart. Restarting might even save those nine comrades. Let's go!

This battle was exceptionally arduous. Fighting against an endless number of enemies, even Shen Le had seven or eight cuts on his body by the time he was finally outnumbered.

Under the starlight and moonlight, he leaned on the ground with his sword across his body, gazing around blankly:
"There are... one, two, three... eleven, twelve... twelve camels, and there are springs around. I... can I get out of here?"

Even if you can't walk anymore, you have to keep going. Even if the bandits come back again, as long as you have a breath left, you have to fight your way forward.

Shen Le stumbled and staggered, feeling like a string of camels desperately making their way to Kucha. Then, just as he caught his breath and drank his fill of water, he was struck by a blow to the head:
"What? We have to take a detour?"

"Yes, we need to take a detour." Guo Xin, the Protector-General of Anxi, who received them, was a handsome young man when he led the team away from Chang'an, but now his temples are gray.

However, when he waved his arm and pointed to the map, his eyes still shone brightly, as if he were looking up at the sun, as if he were seeing Chang'an:

"Our relationship with the Uyghurs has improved slightly recently, so we can now take a detour through them. It's still far, but we can walk there,"

He gazed northward, his eyes resolute.

"I'm counting on you!"

Uyghurs...

How far do we have to go?
(End of this chapter)