The sun was rising in the east, and the morning light was pouring down through the gaps in the clouds, creating golden ripples on the desert.
Just after dawn, Lao Lu excitedly stepped on the remaining bonfire smoke from last night and woke everyone up to set off on their journey. The four scholars yawned and stretched. Lu Liangsheng stretched his muscles and squinted at the golden sunlight. Turning back, he found that in the small door of the bookshelf, his master's head was tied with a bow made of bandages, and he was sitting cross-legged on the small bed with his chin supported.
"Master, should we have breakfast before setting off, or..."
"No!" Toad Taoist stretched out his hand to grab the small door and slammed it shut. The four people looked at each other and finally looked at Lu Liangsheng. The latter smiled and shook his head, took out the steamed bun he bought in Karabosa and shared it with them, "Let's eat while we walk."
Being away from home, the four people there were all very weathered, so it was common for them to just make do with a meal. They took the steamed buns and quickly packed up the pots and bowls and loaded them into their bags. Lu Liangsheng put away the bookshelf, looked up at the rising sun, pulled up the old donkey, and told everyone to get on the road, passing through the dense sandstorm and heading towards the next city marked on the sheepskin map.
On the way north, he would occasionally take out the golden hair from his sleeve and try to recite the name of Sun Wukong silently, but unfortunately he was too far away to be felt.
It is not impossible to rely on the old donkey to run all the way, but there are four scholars behind him and he cannot ride on it. Moreover, considering their physical conditions, they will probably be exhausted after running a few miles.
"It seems that we can only rely on magic to get on with our journey. It would be nice to walk back."
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng rode on the donkey's back and looked up at the sky. The golden morning sun shone through the gaps in the clouds and extended to the eastern sea. Among the undulating waves, a fish tail was splashing water, and a swimming figure rushed out of the sea, leaped onto a nearby reef, and looked around in the sunshine.
If Lu Liang was born here, he would definitely recognize that this is the mermaid he threw into the sea.
"grumble?"
On the reef, the mermaid looked at the familiar white sails gradually appearing on the coast, and joy suddenly appeared on her face. A light speedboat came along the shallow water, and the mermaid sitting on the reef raised her arms and waved them vigorously twice. However, the sailors on the speedboat were paddling with two rows of oars, and no one noticed the waving figure on the distant reef. It flew past quickly with a whistling sound.
This made the mermaid on the reef a little puzzled as to why the people here ignored her.
The speedboat was carrying the latest information about Calabousa, which was to be delivered to Constantine. It would also send out warnings to nearby cities along the way: a group of people from the East had killed the governor of Calabousa, Thebes, and were now heading towards Cairo. They were very likely to cross the Mediterranean and reach Constantine.
When the sentries along the coast received the news that the creature was thrown ashore, they rushed to the nearby towns as fast as they could. For a moment, the streets were filled with the sound of horse hooves and horses were coming and going in the city. The army also moved after receiving the governor's order and, according to the description in the message, they searched everywhere for travelers whose appearance and attire matched the description. The hotels and taverns were all in chaos.
Boom—
In the fields outside the city, thousands of cavalrymen were galloping, tracking down passing merchants along the jurisdiction of their respective towns, and some even took the opportunity to extort them.
"drive!"
"This way, go over the hill ahead and take a look."
A group of cavalry rushed across the road. A few low palm branches swayed, and suddenly several figures appeared. Four men who looked like scholars put down palm leaves. A donkey chewing hay then stuck its head out to look at the cavalry going away, but was pushed back by a hand stretched out from the side.
"I'm leaving."
Lu Liangsheng removed the decoy and told the four people behind him to leave. Having come all the way north, he naturally noticed the changes. In this era, no matter where you are, roads, rivers, and seas are important channels for transmitting information. If there is something wrong, you can clearly smell the clues.
Later on the way, Lu Liangsheng cast a spell to change his appearance as well as that of the four scholars. He himself did not look changed, but to outsiders, they were no different from the ordinary people here.
"Go over there and take a break."
After using magic for a whole morning, Lu Liangsheng didn't feel anything, but the four scholars behind him were very tired. When they heard the words of the national teacher, they hurried to a thatched hut made of palm branches and straw on the side of the road. This place was not like a resting place in the Central Plains. There was no shopkeeper to look after it, and there was no tea or snacks. It was empty, with only leaves on the ground laid by the people who had stayed there before.
The hot wind was blowing gently, filled with sand, making people's mouths dry. There were many merchants and travelers leading camel caravans passing by on this road. Occasionally, someone would come in to rest for a while, drink some water and eat some dry food. Those who knew each other would sit together, keeping a distance from others, and talk in a low voice about what they had seen and heard.
"God, I heard that the governor of Karabusa was killed. The governor here is extremely sensitive and has sent people everywhere to search for the murderer. I don't know if he has been caught yet."
"It's hard to catch the murderer. I heard that he was from the East. According to the stories passed down by our ancestors, the East is full of devils. They once took up the butcher knife and almost slaughtered all the creatures on this land. They bewitched people and made everyone follow them to kill, burn and plunder everything."
"It's just five people and a donkey. It can't be as scary as you say."
"Only God knows everything."
An overwhelming manhunt was launched. It was a great shame that the governor of a city was killed in his own body. In the first news from the official residence, the first guard who rushed into the governor's bedroom saw a man who looked exactly like Tiberius holding the governor's favorite dagger inlaid with red gems, stabbing him to death, and then dissipating in a wisp of green smoke. At first, not many people believed it, but the captain of the guards in the governor's official residence who were ordered to hunt him down came back from outside with a broken arm, a blind eye, and blood all over his body. He swore to testify that the painter from the East was the murderer and would summon the devil from the painting.
As the news came out, it caused a sensation from Karabusa to Cairo, Egypt. No one in the city, from the nobles to the common people, wanted to encounter such a devil, and they spontaneously assisted the guards in keeping an eye out for oriental faces.
The heat continued. Lu Liangsheng, who had been resting on the side of the road, signaled to the four scholars with his eyes that it was almost time to leave. He led the old donkey tied outside and returned to the main road. Inside the swaying bookshelf, the Toad Taoist priest slightly opened the small door, opened his short coat to reveal his bulging belly, and fanned himself with a small palm-leaf fan.
"Liangsheng, don't worry. This is how I was hunted down back then, and I was fine. However, when I got here, they didn't even mention me."
"Haha, Master, this is not a good thing. Besides, haven't you been staying in the bookshelf all the time?"
Lu Liangsheng turned around and said something with a smile, then drank a sip of cold water and left in a hurry. It was a pity that he couldn't enjoy the tour here and see other cities.
As for the pursuing army, the scholar was not worried that they would really block him, and he also did not want to kill too many of these soldiers. Although they were foreigners, they were only following orders. Unlike before, he gave Daer and others a chance to stop, but the other side still swung their swords to kill him.
The sky was slanting, and after avoiding the crowded roads, they crossed the Nile River and looked at the obelisks standing in the desert in the distance. The First Emperor said that these were tombs, and there was a tone of contempt in his words. After all, if the tombs were placed outside, they would not be afraid of thieves.
After seeing the scenery here, the city called Cairo has been left behind. According to the route on the parchment atlas, to the north is the sea in the middle of the land, across the sea is Constantine, and to the east is the shortest road to the east.
But that is another country - Sassanid Persia.
The sun sets.
Standing on a hillside between the two countries, Lu Liangsheng looked at the endless land, grasslands, forests, and rolling mountains ahead, and for the first time couldn't help but sigh.
"It turns out that the land is so big. I never felt it this way before."