It took Li Xiang more than a day to overcome the lack of oxygen in the plateau. These people were all very strong. If it were ordinary people, it would take at least three to five days. Now time is urgent. Even if Li Xiang still feels a little uncomfortable, he has to cheer up and keep moving forward.
The official residence of the chieftain Maiqi is more than 400 miles away from here. If it were in the plains, there would be no need to rush for more than 400 miles. It is very likely that you can get there in one day, and there will even be enough time. But this is a plateau with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters. If you also think you can run there in one day, even if you can bear it, the animals will not be able to bear it.
In the 21st century, there were various roads leading into Tibet, but now there are no roads at all. You can only take the small paths of the living. In some places you can still gallop on horseback, but in some places you may have to collect all the war horses, and then you have to crawl over slowly. If you are not careful, both people and horses may fall off the cliff.
Fortunately, these people are strong enough, so there is no loss. If an ordinary army came in, who knows how many people would have died. No wonder it is so difficult for Tubo to march into the Central Plains. This place is difficult for us to come in, and it is also difficult for them to get out.
At night, the temperature was nearly 20 degrees lower than during the day. They could only rely on liquor to keep themselves warm and had no way to light a fire. If you light a fire at night, people nearby will quickly discover you. Before meeting Chief Maiqi, Li Xiang could not let anyone see him to prevent his whereabouts from being exposed.
On the first day, Li Xiang and his companions walked more than 170 miles, which was already the limit. Even merchants who frequently traveled could only walk about one-third of the distance in such an environment. Li Xiang and his companions did not have any guides, and they could only walk this distance relying on a vague map. This was already quite a difficult task. If you want to go faster, you can only fly.
"who?"
While in his dream, Li Xiang suddenly heard Long Qi's call, and the others immediately took the crossbows in their hands. If they were sure that the other party was not one of them, they would shoot him to death immediately. This is also an important way to prevent us from being exposed.
"May I ask if this is Mr. Li from the capital?"
Most people here speak Tibetan, and those who speak Chinese are extremely rare. Hearing this, I already believed half of it. Li Xiang also told everyone on the plateau that once he arrived on the plateau, he would be called Master Li.
Li Xiang gave a look, and Hu Yi and Hu Er rushed out, then brought the kid over. The rest of the people searched the area to prevent him from being caught up by others.
"Master, please spare me, master, please spare me. I am Cui Fu's subordinate. He sent me a letter before, asking me to wait for you here. I have been waiting for six or seven days."
The guy quickly took out a letter. Li Xiang took it and looked at it. It was indeed Cui Fu's handwriting, and there was also a mark on it that they had agreed with Li Xiang.
"We haven't revealed any of our whereabouts. Even if you were waiting for us here, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to find us. How did you find us in the middle of the night?"
Li San said with some doubt, hoping to get something useful out of this kid's mouth so that we can improve in the future. It doesn't matter if our own people discovered it today, but if the enemy discovered it tomorrow, we would probably be in a tough battle. We are not afraid of fighting, but we are afraid of implicating Li Xiang.
"To answer this gentleman, I actually didn't know you were here. I was afraid you'd come by at night, so I often strolled along these nearby roads, usually every two hours. Who knew you'd spot me just as I was stretching my legs down from above? It's more accurate to say you spotted me than I spotted you."
This guy was right. There were usually not many people on this road, mainly because it was too dangerous. There was indeed a main road next to it, but Li Xiang and his men could not take the main road. After receiving Cui Fu's letter, this guy guarded this road day and night. The word the other party said was also spoken in Chinese, so he guessed that it should be Mr. Li from the capital. If not, he would have a chance to escape from the side. Such a person could live on the plateau, and this would not be a problem for him.
Li Xiang followed him to the hillside and took a look. Sure enough, there were several ropes tied there, and next to the ropes was a deep abyss. If he called the wrong person, he would immediately climb down along the ropes. The ropes were also soaked in oil. If anyone wanted to climb down along the ropes, he would just light the ropes on fire from below. It can be said that he was fully prepared to prevent anyone from following him.
"You're quite clever, kid. Did Cui Fu tell you what you were here for?"
Li Xiang threw a piece of dried meat to the boy. It seemed that the boy was also very hungry.
"Uncle Fu told me to wait here for you. He said he would pay me fifty coins a day. He didn't tell me what I should do. He just said that I would find a way to get the work done for me."
This guy was quite honest. He lived on the plateau and worked as a small follower in the Cui family's business. However, he often traveled between various tribes to deliver letters, so he had a better understanding of the surrounding situation and knew some shortcuts. That's why Cui Fu asked someone to push him out.
"I'll give you a hundred coins a day. Just do your job well. How far is it from here to the Maiqi chieftain's official residence?"
Hearing that Li Xiang could double his salary, the guy was obviously very happy, but when he heard that he was going to the official residence of Chief Maiqi, his head immediately shook.
"Master, we can't go there. There's a war going on over there. Not to mention us Han people, even their own people are killed at will. If you appear near the battlefield, both sides will regard you as a spy for the other side and kill you without asking any questions."
The boy said while eating the dried meat that although the Cui family was rich, he was a servant at the lowest level in the Cui family. It was good enough for him to have a mouthful of brown rice, let alone such dried meat.
"Don't talk so much, just answer my question quickly, or you'll lose the money today."
When he heard Li Xiang say he had no money, he quickly counted on his fingers how far away from here was the official residence of the Maiqi Tusi...