Chapter 526: 480 Rescue

Liangzhou, the northwesternmost and most remote province of Great Jin, is vast and sparsely populated, with a harsh environment.

The size of Liangzhou is several times that of Yunzhou, yet its population is not even half that of Yunzhou, and most of it is concentrated in the east; the further west one goes, the fewer people are seen.

It is truly because the environment of Liangzhou is overly harsh; there is a large mountain near the eastern border with Yunzhou that acts like a watershed, blocking most of the moisture coming from the sea, and once past the mountain range, the climate suddenly becomes arid.

In the lands near the eastern mountain range, there is still some arable land at the foothills, and there are still sizable towns; further west is the vast grassland, where only some nomadic people who follow the water and grass live, and going deeper, even the grass stops growing, leaving only desert and wilderness.

In the vast wilderness, the further west one goes, the more arid it is, and the further north, the colder it is; it is no longer suitable for human survival, and large swathes are no-man's-lands, with only oases formed near sporadic water sources, which in turn have formed some tribes and even small market towns.

Past the border of Yunzhou, one leaves the territory of Great Jin and arrives at the wild and desolate Hu lands; it is said that at the end of the wilderness, there are some places with abundant water and grass, and different major powers are entrenched there, establishing their own civilized nations, but those are no longer within Shenzhou.

For example, the most famous Guifang is an exotic kingdom deep in the desert; it is said to have a population of one million and dozens of cities, and the residents there are born with strange appearances, vastly different from the people of Shenzhou, and their local customs are also worlds apart. It is just that the great desert is dangerous, and it is difficult for mortals to cross it; only sporadic merchants pass through, forming a tenuous trade route.

On the border of Liangzhou, the most numerous are merchants who come and go to the Hu lands to purchase wool and horses and sell utensils and tea, having built several border market towns.

There are also some major powers living in seclusion from the world; although they are also of Shenzhou lineage, they have deep foundations, have broken away from the Great Jin Imperial Court, and have formed their own systems, also hiding deep in the wilderness, which can be called mysterious, and outsiders cannot even find their mountain gates, only occasionally seeing disciples who look like immortals walking down the mountain, gradually turning into legends on the grassland.

Liangzhou border, desert.

The desert is not a sand desert; there are no continuous sand dunes or overwhelming yellow sand, only thin sandy soil and large areas of exposed rock, looking bare and dark, a veritable forbidden zone for life.

The sun had already slanted to the west, and the temperature dropped bit by bit.

It is difficult to distinguish spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the desert, but it is divided into day and night; one morning and evening seem to experience a year of cold and heat. Even though it is nearly April, the sun is scorching during the day, and the temperature drops sharply at night, just like an ice cellar; the night wind is like a knife, and travelers without sufficient preparation can hardly survive.

"Help... help..."

Behind a large rock in a wind-sheltered spot, someone was groaning intermittently.

They had been groaning intermittently for a long time, their throat hoarse from calling, from day until night; seeing that night had fallen, they could already feel the bone-chilling cold, and their groans revealed a hint of despair.

At this moment, they felt a beam of light approaching, seemingly from a lamp; the person was overjoyed and used all their strength to shout: "Help!"

Then they heard someone say: "I told you I didn't hear wrong, there really is someone."

Footsteps approached, and that light finally shone on the person on the ground; it could be seen that the person was a fat man, and one could see that their clothing was still quite refined, like a wealthy merchant, but now they were covered in sand and in a sorry state. Their left leg was actually broken, empty below the knee, with bloodstains, obviously an injury from not long ago, only crudely bandaged with torn clothing to barely stop the bleeding.

For this person to struggle and groan for most of the day despite being seriously injured, their will to survive was quite strong.

"Tsk, how miserable."

The newcomer sighed.

The fat merchant stole a glance at the newcomers; there were two of them, both very young, wearing similar green straight-collared robes, one quite handsome but with dark skin, the other with a plain appearance, forgettable at a glance. With this merchant's experience, they could see at a glance that these were two servants from a wealthy family, and could even guess their temperaments in a single sweep:

The handsome one was more arrogant, and the one with the ordinary appearance should be more honest.

But in any case, they were not dangerous figures like bandits; they looked like they had no murderous aura, and young people were more likely to show extra kindness than experienced old veterans of the world.

The fat merchant breathed a sigh of relief and groaned: "Help... I was robbed by bandits, my wealth... my family are all gone, save me, I will definitely repay you..."

The handsome servant examined them for a moment, untied the water skin from their waist, and handed it to them.

The merchant was overjoyed, endured the pain to take it, and began to drink.

Although they were already parched with thirst, they did not drink greedily upon taking the water; they first used the water to moisten their lips, then took a mouthful and held it in their mouth for a moment before swallowing, and only then began to drink in small sips, obviously very experienced.

The handsome servant said: "Whether we save you or not is not up to us; how about this, you come with us to see our YoungMaster."

The merchant said submissively: "Yes, thank you for the introduction, young master." They felt around their body, took out a gold bead from their bosom, and stuffed it to the servant.

The handsome servant laughed: "Don't try that, do you think I..."

At this moment, the ordinary servant beside them reached out, took the gold bead, and said: "Brother Jiang Bage, just take it, why not take money given for free? We are saving their life, isn't it worth these yellow and white things?"

The handsome servant was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "That's true. A horse doesn't get fat without night grass. Is this leg of yours also cut by someone?"

The merchant saw them accept it, breathed a sigh of relief, almost fainted, and braced themselves to say: "It was a... bandit! Such a ruthless robber, they killed all my people; if it weren't for my life-saving item, I would have been finished too, if not for meeting two living Bodhisattvas..."

The handsome servant said: "One person?"

The merchant said: "Yes, yes, a lone bandit! One cannot judge a person by their appearance; who would have thought there would be such a fierce lone bandit in the Gobi! Two young masters, you must remind your YoungMaster to be careful."

The handsome servant said: "Interesting, if there really is a bandit in this desert capable of hurting us, I would like to see it." As they spoke, they reached out and took out a bottle, just about to open it, when the ordinary servant beside them said: "Brother Bage, use mine."

Having said that, they also took out a medicine bottle and poured out a pill with a fragrant scent.

The merchant had long seen that these two servants had well-proportioned builds and full spirits, and must have martial arts; seeing the medicine they took out had a rich medicinal scent, it must be a secret medicine of the Jianghu, and they were even more certain that that "YoungMaster" must be a noble young master from some family or sect in the Jianghu, thinking: What do these little servants know about the height of the sky and the depth of the earth? Having learned a few moves of martial arts, they hold their noses high, thinking they are the best in the world; when that evil woman comes knocking, you won't even be able to cry.

Although they secretly despised the two for their lack of experience, for their own sake, it was better not to be found by that person again, and the medicine had to be taken, so they hurriedly took it with the water skin; immediately, they felt a burst of heat moving through their limbs and bones, and the pain was greatly reduced.

They said cautiously: "What a miraculous Spirit Medicine! Thank you two young masters for saving my life! I taste that it seems to be a Qianmiao Pill produced by Zijin Academy; could it be that your Master is a high-ranking disciple of Zijin Academy..."

The ordinary servant suddenly grabbed them, hoisted this fat body onto their shoulder, and said: "Why so much nonsense? Go and tell our YoungMaster."

The merchant breathed a sigh of relief, being carried out from behind the large rock; although trembling with fear, they soon discovered that this servant walked steadily, not swaying at all while carrying their nearly two-hundred-pound body, and was secretly amazed in their heart, thinking: This kid is at least a Strongman, could they be a Knight-Errant?

To be able to use a Knight-Errant as a servant, and to be so young, what is the status of this Master?

This time, they had encountered an expert.

At this time, night had fallen, and the desert was pitch black and dead silent. Only the handsome servant in front was lighting a lantern, illuminating the road ahead.

Although the merchant was fat, they had just been injured, and being blown by the cold night wind, they felt cold in every bone; they wanted to ask for the lamp to be brought closer for warmth, but they were quite sensible and had already noticed that compared to the handsome servant who looked arrogant but was actually kind-hearted, this ordinary-looking servant seemed silent but actually had strong opinions, was hard-hearted, and did not like them, so being carried on this person's shoulder, they behaved themselves and did not dare to say another word.

After walking for a while, they turned around a small hill, and saw light shining.

It turned out that a camp had been set up behind the small hill.

The perimeter of the camp had simple and complete fences, with torches inserted, making it brightly lit. The gravel in the middle of the camp had been swept away, clearing a large open space, and a bonfire was lit in the middle. A group of people were gathered around the bonfire, and the prey roasting on the fire was sizzling with oil. The aroma of meat mixed with the aroma of wine was captivating in the night wind.

The camp had a large tent, made of unknown skin, embroidered with gold thread, topped with bright pearls, truly very luxurious; there were two small tents around it, although not as magnificent as the large tent, they were sturdy and neat, exceeding what ordinary travelers used. On one side of the camp, there was even a simple stable, with livestock tied up, carriages parked, and stone walls piled up for warmth.

This was a small but complete and thoughtful camp; to be able to organize the camp like this just after nightfall showed that the Master's strength was extraordinary.

Seeing this scene of the camp, the merchant's tears fell—what a familiar scene this was! Before today, just yesterday, they also possessed such a camp, such a bonfire, such a warm tent. They could have had fine wine and roasted meat, with beauties in their arms, sleeping warmly in the desert until dawn!

Damn that bitch, she ruined them completely!

At this time, the handsome servant approached the bonfire and said something to one of the people in the middle, and after a while, they saw the person in the middle nod.

The servant carrying them then stepped forward and unloaded them in front of the fire, saying: "YoungMaster, this is the person."

The merchant looked up and saw that the "YoungMaster" in the center was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, dressed in wealth, with an air of being pampered, sitting with a young woman on each side, also dressed in silk and satin, surrounded by pearls and jade, each with their own allure; one was pouring wine, and the other was holding a plate of fruit, feeding it to the YoungMaster's mouth.

Especially strange was that a fox was lying beside the YoungMaster, its fur like snow, which looked like a precious breed, lazily dozing by the fire.

There were also people on both sides, old and young, and there seemed to be several children. The merchant did not dare to look more, ignored the injury on their leg, and performed a grand salute, saying: "Baorenwu of Yutang, Jin, greets the YoungMaster."

The YoungMaster gave a grunt, casually took a sip of wine from the woman's hand, and said, "I heard you are in business? Were you robbed?"

The wealthy merchant was already distressed, and at this, he let it all out, tears and snot streaming down his face as he said, "I am so miserable. I was originally a decent, honest businessman, traveling East and West, North and South to do a little trade, earning a hard-won living. Who would have thought someone would come knocking, killing people and seizing goods? Now my wealth is gone, my team is scattered, and I am crippled. I don't know how I will live from here on out..."

The YoungMaster grunted and said, "You don't want to live? Do you want me to give you a quick end?"

The wealthy merchant shuddered and hurriedly said, "No, no, no, even an ant clings to life, I..."

At this moment, a voice spoke from the side, "A decent, honest businessman? Yutang? You're a human trafficker, aren't you?"