These people were undoubtedly merchants who were traveling for profit. The camels were all carrying heavy sacks of goods. The three people on the camel's back were covered in dust and haggard. As the camel walked, they undulated and swayed on the camel's back, as if they would fall down at any time. .
The camel team was only three miles away from the oasis at this time. Due to the darkness, they did not find the oasis. It was not until the camels brought them within a hundred feet of the oasis that they saw the oasis and the pool. They screamed and jumped off the camel's back, like crazy. Rush to the pool.
When walking around in the desert, there is always an oasis where you can stop and replenish water. The three of them looked like this. It is obvious that they have lost their way and missed the oasis to replenish drinking water. If they can't find drinking water again, they will probably die of thirst.
One of the three people looked like a businessman, and the other two were dressed as porters. One of the porters rushed to the edge of the pool first, leaned over to scoop up the water, took a sip, and then shouted to the other two, "It's clear water, okay." drink."
When the two men heard the man's cry, they rushed over, leaned down, and drank the cow.
The camels then arrived, knelt down by the pool, and drank water.
The three of them quenched their thirst and saved their lives. They lay on the sand beside the pool. Lian Daotian saw that their lives should not be cut off.
Nanfeng had been observing secretly until the three of them gathered firewood and lit a bonfire, then he showed up.
The two porters were both fifty years old. One of them spotted Nanfeng by the light of the fire, screamed in surprise, and backed away.
The other two people followed his line of sight and saw Nanfeng. They were also shocked. The reason was simple. There should be no one here, and Nanfeng's clothes didn't look like someone from Mobei.
"Don't panic, I'm not a bad person." Nanfeng said hurriedly. He finally met a few people, but he couldn't scare them crazy.
Even so, the three of them were still very frightened. They walked in the desert all year round to make a living, so they would not encounter ghosts and evil spirits. Although Nanfeng had a form, there was no shadow under the reflection of the fire. If there was no shadow, wouldn't it be a ghost
Just as Nanfeng was thinking about how to appease the three of them, one of them held his hand to guide the wind and said loudly, "I recognize you."
Nanfeng tilted his head when he heard the sound, and the person who spoke was one of the porters. This man had an ordinary appearance, with a weathered face. He looked up and down, but he didn't recognize him.
"You are the little cripple's brother," the porter shouted.
Nanfeng was surprised when he heard this, but after thinking about it, he understood what was going on. The little cripple in this person's mouth undoubtedly refers to Mo Li who broke his leg. Previously, Mo Li worked at the Sifang Inn in the west of Chang'an City. He had gone to Sifang I had looked for Mo Li at the inn, and the Sifang Inn was the gathering place for merchants traveling to the Western Regions.
"Hero, I had a good relationship with your sworn brother when he was raising horses in the inn." The porter tried to make friends.
"It doesn't matter whether we have friendship or not, I told you that I'm not a bad person." Nanfeng said casually.
The porter said yes, but he didn't believe it in his heart. The reason why he was so impressed by Nanfeng was because in his early years, Mo Li raised horses and worked there. The shopkeeper deducted his wages and gave him to Mo Li after he got sick. Drive away. As a result, after Nanfeng found Mo Li, he took Mo Li back to the inn and burned down the Sifang Inn in front of everyone. He didn't allow everyone to draw water to put out the fire until the owner kowtowed and begged for mercy.
It is said that people are cheap when they leave their hometown. This is true. People who travel around are just to make money and live, and they don’t care about face. When the owner saw this, he stepped forward and bowed and said, "Hero, there was a strong wind in the desert the day before yesterday, and we lost our way. , then we stumbled into the treasure. We still have some money with us, and we are willing to hand it over as compensation. We also brought some incense, candles and wine... "
"How do you know I'm not human?" Nan Feng asked with a smile.
"You, you, you have no shadow." The cargo owner was very frightened.
Nanfeng suddenly realized after hearing this, "I forgot about this, don't worry, I am not a ghost, but the land of Huangshaling."
When the three of them heard this, they suddenly realized, and at the same time they felt relieved. Everyone in the world is afraid of ghosts and evil people, but they are not afraid of gods and good people.
"Take out the drinks and I'll talk to you. Once you have rested, you can leave at any time." Nanfeng said.
Hearing what he said, the three of them immediately started to move around. There were more than a dozen jars of wine in total, all of which were unopened. The ones they brought were all strong liquor and could not be used to quench their thirst.
Nanfeng kept all the wine and didn't drink it with them, but he didn't ask for their wine in vain. There were many cellars underground in this city, and there was still horseshoe gold in one of the cellars. He took out two ingots and drank them with them. The owner of the goods made wine.
The owner didn't dare to ask for it, until Nan Feng glared at him, then he thanked him profusely and humbly took a tablet, saying that it was just like this, and he took too much.
Nanfeng threw the other ingot to him, then sat on the ground and got back to business.
After being isolated from the world for four years, apart from everyone's safety and whereabouts, what he wanted to know most was current events.
The owner's name is Zhang Deli, and he is from the Western Wei Dynasty. Let's talk about the Western Wei Dynasty first. The biggest thing that happened in the Western Wei Dynasty in the past few years is that the old emperor died and the new emperor succeeded. Although he was called the old emperor, he was not actually old. He was only in his forties, while the new emperor was only in his twenties.
The Eastern Wei Dynasty has also changed a lot in the past few years. The Eastern Wei Dynasty is no longer there. To be precise, it was usurped by the Gao family. Back then, Gao Huan led his troops to attack Yubi, but could not capture it for a long time. After he returned, he became angry to death, and his son Gao Yang took power. , Gao Yang deposed the Eastern Wei Emperor two years ago and established himself as emperor. Now the Eastern Wei Dynasty has changed its name to Qi.
Compared with the two Wei Dynasties, the changes in the Liang Kingdom were even greater. They were earth-shaking. The obscure old emperor who often became a monk did not get the protection of the Buddha because he built 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties. He was eventually killed by the Hou Hou. Jing was captured and starved to death.
After the old emperor died, Hou Jing established two puppet emperors one after another. Later, he found that neither of them liked him. He still felt that it would be more convenient to be the emperor, so he became the emperor himself and changed the country's name to Han. But after all, this guy was an outsider. Unstable, he was wiped out by various princes within a few days of being in power. Now the emperor of Liang is named Xiao Yi, and he is the seventh son of the old emperor.
This was all Zhang Deli took the initiative to say. If Nanfeng wanted to know the specific situation, he could only ask in detail.
Zhang Deli didn't expect that Nanfeng would care about what happened to the Western Wei emperor's harem, but he didn't know about it, and there were no rumors among the public, so he had to tell the truth, except that he didn't know the details.
When Nanfeng asked this, he naturally wanted to know about Chu Huairou's situation. Now that the old emperor was dead, Chu Huairou would not continue to stay in the palace. If Li Chaozong and others had not attacked her before, she should have been by now. Left Chang'an.
However, compared with worrying about Chu Huairou, he was more worried about Chang Le. When he left that year, he had told Fatty and told everyone not to go to Chang'an. If it were normal times, that would be fine. But if Chang Le knew that the old emperor was dead, He will definitely go to Chang'an to protect Chu Huairou. As long as he goes to Chang'an, Li Chaozong may attack him.
"What's the current situation of Wang Sizheng of Yingchuan?" Nanfeng asked.
"Yingchuan was conquered by the Eastern Wei Dynasty three years ago. General Wang failed to commit suicide, and was treated politely by the Eastern Wei Dynasty. He has already surrendered to the Eastern Wei Dynasty," Zhang Deli said.
Nanfeng nodded slowly. Wang Sizheng was originally a general of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. He left the Eastern Wei Dynasty with Yuan Anning's father. This man was very loyal. It was reasonable for the Eastern Wei Dynasty to treat him with courtesy after taking him.
This person defected to the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and there was no hope for Yuan Anning's sister and brother to return to the country. However, this could be regarded as a blessing among misfortunes. If you had to do something you couldn't do, there would definitely be no good results.
However, what he was worried about at this time was whether Yuan Anning's sister and brother helped defend the city when the Eastern Wei Dynasty attacked Yingchuan. Judging from the time, he had been away for less than a year when the Eastern Wei Dynasty attacked Yingchuan. Yuan Anning's spiritual energy cultivation must have never recovered. If The two of them participated in the defense of the city and were very likely to be in danger.
"Since you are a god and you care about the Central Plains so much, why don't you go back and take a look?" Zhang Deli asked doubtfully.
"The land is not allowed to leave the jurisdiction," Nanfeng asked casually, "How is the situation of Chen Baxian in the southern country?"
"We are not going to the Southern Kingdom. We don't know much about the Southern Kingdom." Zhang Deli shook his head, "But the person you mentioned seems to be very powerful in Liang Kingdom."
Nan Feng did not ask again. In fact, what he wanted to know was the situation of Lu Pingchuan and others, but it was not convenient to ask directly, so he could only go around in circles. However, this person was unfamiliar even to Chen Baxian, so naturally he would not know about Lu Pingchuan.
After pondering, Nanfeng asked again about the current situation of the three sects. Zhang Deli's answer was still the same, but his reputation was not as great as before. The leaders of the three sects no longer concurrently served as protectors of the country. On the contrary, Buddhism has become more and more prosperous in recent years. In the Western Wei Dynasty alone, there were hundreds of large temples, tens of thousands of small temples, and millions of monks and nuns. The number of temples and monks and nuns was more than that of the Liang Kingdom.
Regarding what Zhang Deli said, Nanfeng was both surprised and not surprised. The reason why he was not surprised was because in the battle at Qianyang Gate, almost the entire Yuqing elite army was wiped out, and the internal strife shortly thereafter also severely damaged the Taiqing Sect's vitality. Among the sects, only the Shangqing sect was not affected. Although Yan Feixue's moral character was noble, it was a pity that this man was brave but insufficient in strategy. He could be a general but not a commander, so it was difficult to carry forward the Shangqing sect.
If it was unexpected, the rapid rise of Buddhism was beyond his expectation. There were one million monks and nuns, which was an extremely astonishing number. Buddhism respected the renunciation of human relations and ascetic practice. So many monks and nuns joined Buddhism, which would inevitably damage the foundation of people's livelihood in the Western Wei Dynasty. Regardless of people's livelihood, the large number of monks and nuns alone has posed a threat to the imperial power. You must know that in the eyes of Buddhists, the Buddha is much greater than the emperor.
Being so unrestrained and expanding wildly is really asking for death.
"Besides, is there anything big happening in the world?" Nanfeng asked again.
Zhang Deli waved his hands repeatedly, "We are just foot traders, how do we know what is going on in the world?"
After finally meeting a living person, Nanfeng was not willing to let go of the opportunity to ask, "What other major events have happened outside in the past few years?"
Zhang Deli was very sleepy at this time, and he mustered up his energy to recall for a moment, "There are really no big things, and there may be, but we don't know, but there are a few strange things. Last summer, a god appeared in Gaoping County, Yuanzhou, and for Everyone is surprised when they see it.”
"Do you know who the god is?" Nan Feng frowned and asked.
"It is said to bless the heavenly officials," Zhang Deli yawned, "I heard that around this time, there were also gods appearing in the Northern Qi and Liang Kingdoms, which seemed to pardon the local officials and relieve the misfortune of the water officials."
Nanfeng didn't answer immediately. In the early years, Emperor Sanguan had appeared as a saint, and now he appeared as a saint again. There must be an unknown reason behind this matter.
After pondering for a long time, Nanfeng asked, "After the three temples were revealed, did the court issue an order to worship them?"
After saying this, Zhang Deli didn't reply. When he looked up, he saw that Zhang Deli had fallen asleep. This man was really tired and could fall asleep even while sitting.
"It's getting late, let's rest first and we'll talk tomorrow." Nanfeng woke up Zhang Deli.
Zhang Deli woke up in panic, "God forgive me, what did you ask me before?"
"Let me ask you, did the court worship them after they appeared as saints?" Nanfeng asked.
"Such auspiciousness naturally cannot be worshiped, not only by the court, but also by the people." Zhang Deli said.
Seeing that he was tired, Nanfeng didn't ask any more questions, explained a few words and let him sleep first.
Those camels had not eaten for a long time and had been eating the weeds by the pool. Nanfeng saw it but did not stop them and allowed them to eat.
The reason why he asked Zhang Deli before whether the court worshiped the three officials was because he suspected that the reason why the three officials frequently appeared as saints was to gather incense in the world. You must know that incense can not only be used by oneself, but can also be transferred to others. The court and the people worship the three officials. After they get the incense, they can pass it on to any god.
Zhang Deli's answer also confirmed his guess. The purpose of the three official appearances was indeed to gather incense. Although their purpose of gathering incense is still unclear, one thing is certain, that is, they are making intensive preparations for something. .
It was the third watch when the three of them arrived, and the fourth watch had already passed when Zhang Deli fell asleep. While the three of them were sleeping, Nanfeng began to think about it in his heart. Most of what Zhang Deli said before was about major current events, but what he was most concerned about was Regarding the situation of Fatty and others, he was considering whether to ask Zhang Deli to return to China to inquire about it.
Meeting by chance, without knowing the details of Zhang Deli, it is very risky to entrust him rashly. However, this place is inaccessible, and merchants going to the Western Regions do not pass by here. Zhang Deli and others also came here because they were lost. At the moment, they have no choice but to invite him. help.
Zhang Deli is a businessman. As long as it is profitable, he will do his best. There are many cellars under this abandoned city, and the gold in them is enough for Zhang Deli to come back here again.
At nine o'clock the next day, the three of them got up one after another. The vendors had delivery deadlines, and they had already been delayed for a long time. After getting up, the three of them got some water and wanted to hit the road.
Nanfeng took Zhang Deli aside and asked in a low voice, "How much profit can you get from going to the Western Regions?"
"It's not much. Even after three years of running around, I still can't earn the two ingots of gold you gave me last night." Zhang Deli said.
"I still have dozens of ingots of horseshoe gold. Please do something with me and give them all to you." Nanfeng said.
"God's words are serious. It's my gift to be able to share my worries with you. I just wonder if you have anything to entrust to me?" Zhang Deli asked.
Nan Feng lowered his voice and spoke in a low voice.
Zhang Deli was relieved after hearing this, "It's simple, we will turn back immediately, but winter is approaching, and I'm afraid we won't be able to get back here until next spring."
"This matter is not urgent. You don't need to look back. Keep going west. Next time you go to the Western Region, you can just take a detour." Nanfeng said. Even if he knew everyone's situation at this time, he couldn't do anything. What, because he's stuck here and can't go anywhere.
Zhang Deli naturally would not refuse such a good thing. He asked for details, set a date, and then led the camel team to the southwest.
Nanfeng watched the camel team leave. Only after the camel team disappeared did he silently turn around and return alone...