A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

After about five or six days, they could already see the vast expanse of the desert from afar. Under the sunlight, the golden dunes undulated like a boundless ocean. The howling wind blew through, stirring up clouds of dust and sand, making one marvel at the majesty and mystery of nature. From afar, the desert seemed endless, stretching as far as the eye could see.

This place is close to the desert, so there are families who raise camels. My second uncle also brought a servant, so there are four people in total. Du Shuangshuang bought eight camels. The extra ones were for emergency purposes. Just like horses, they prepared a few more so that they could have some to replace in case of accidents.

There was plenty of fodder and everything else prepared, and Du Shuangshuang was very generous. The other party also taught them a lot of things to pay attention to when raising camels and how to treat problems.

This region, located in the south, was known for its intense heat. Even though it was approaching early autumn in the north, the heat here was still unbearable. The sun hung high in the sky, mercilessly releasing its blazing light, and the ground seemed to be baked into a sea of ​​inferno. The vast desert was particularly scorching, with endless dunes and sand seas that made people feel suffocated and oppressive.

In this dangerous desert, lurking behind the scenes are a band of extremely vicious and ferocious bandits. Like demons, they constantly threaten the lives of passersby. However, for Du Shuangshuang and her companions, these bandits aren't the biggest threat; the real headache is the unbearable heat of the desert itself.

Before entering the desert, everyone loaded up on the camels they had purchased earlier. These camels were tall and strong, well-adapted to the desert environment and capable of navigating the harsh conditions. Du Shuangshuang, on the other hand, kept the horses in her Duobao bracelet. She secretly rejoiced at the magical treasure, which allowed her to easily carry her belongings across the desert.

This Duobao bracelet was truly remarkable, because neither the ring her mother had left her, nor the bracelets she had acquired later, nor the storage bag, could hold living things. Only the Duobao bracelet could. Du Shuangshuang couldn't help but exclaim, "This Duobao bracelet is truly a treasure!" She grew fond of it, feeling it brought her many conveniences.

When the little bracelet heard Du Shuangshuang's praise, it said proudly: "Huh, I have many more advantages, you will know them in the future." Du Shuangshuang responded with a smile: "Okay, I'm waiting to discover your good points." She was full of expectations for the little bracelet and believed that it would show more surprising functions in the future.

Little Bracelet was very happy to receive the recognition from its owner.

The moment they entered the desert, they felt the heat. It was so hot that breathing burned their throats. While it wasn't a problem for Du Shuangshuang and Second Uncle Du, it was a tough situation for Jinxiu and Second Uncle Du's servant. They were ordinary people, but the servant was a man, with some martial arts experience. Jinxiu barely made it halfway before she collapsed from heatstroke. Before entering, Du Shuangshuang had wanted to keep the two of them, but they refused. They knelt and kowtowed, fearing they would be abandoned.

When Du Shuangshuang was holding the person and didn't know what to do, a soft and sweet child's voice rang out. To Du Shuangshuang, this voice was like the sound of nature. At this time, Xiao Zhuo spoke up and there must be a way.

"Master, just scrape off some of the powder from the Gu Yuan Dan and feed it to her."

Du Shuangshuang quickly took out a Guyuan Pill and scraped some of it off with a dagger. Fearing that it was not enough, she scraped a few more times.

"That's enough, that's enough. If you scratch her again, you might burst her."

Du Shuangshuang was so scared that her hands shook and she almost dropped the pill on the ground.

Is this all right? There won't be any problems, right?

"Well, no, don't worry and let her use it."

Du Shuangshuang put the powder in a cup, poured some water into it, and fed it to Jinxiu. After drinking it, Jinxiu woke up soon and was very energetic.

Seeing Jinxiu's renewed spirits, Du Shuangshuang prepared some more medicinal powder and water and gave it to her uncle's servant. They hurriedly ate lunch there. The weather was too hot, so Du Shuangshuang asked the others to bring out their meals. They drank porridge, ate some refreshing cold dishes, and ate some fruit. Afterward, Jinxiu and the servant Xizi washed the dishes, which Du Shuangshuang then stored in her ring. After a short rest, they continued on their journey.

As they walked forward, both of them, using their spiritual sense to coordinate their vision, kept a close eye on the surroundings, and would move away if they spotted anyone. The familiar spiritual sense's observation range was too close, only about 600 meters, while Du Shuangshuang could observe farther, around 1,800 meters. However, a person's spiritual sense couldn't be constantly directed outwards; when it became exhausted, they would feel dizzy and inattentive, so they could only observe for a short while.

As they walked, the sand suddenly rose up around them. A group of bandits, armed with machetes and rifles, jumped out of the sand and surrounded them. Du Shuangshuang counted about thirty or forty of them. All of them were dark-skinned, like Africans. Were the bandits the same race as the Great Xia? Were they the ancestors of the Africans? Du Shuangshuang couldn't help but wonder, especially because they were so dark.

Du Shuangshuang also admired these people. They actually hid in the sand. You have to know that the temperature in the desert is over 40 degrees Celsius. It was already mid-afternoon. The hottest time was close to 50 degrees Celsius. The sand on the ground was even hotter. Even the feet were burned in the shade. It was still very hot now, especially under the sun. The temperature was high. It was really hot. It would burn you if you touched it.

Perhaps these people have adapted to the climate here after living here for a long time.

"Ah, there's a young lady, a tender young lady with delicate skin. I don't know how long she can survive after being caught. We brothers haven't had meat for a while. The young ladies caught outside die after being raised for a few days. We can't go out all the time, and now someone has taken the initiative to send one in. Hahahaha" came the obscene voice of the man, and he stretched out his disgusting tongue, licking the corner of his mouth, revealing his big yellow teeth. Du Shuangshuang almost vomited at the sight of such a disgusting man. She would probably get anorexic if she slept with him once.

Du Shuangshuang suppressed her nausea and continued to watch. There were people of all shapes and sizes, but none of them were too fat. They were just relatively sturdy.

"Hey, little sister, do you want to choose the groom for tonight? No need to choose, the brothers will give it to you, haha, I guarantee you will be so happy. Hahaha."

"Hahaha......"

A group of men laughed along.

In fact, if you look closely, they still look like people from Daxia. There are also a few people from other ethnic groups, but their skin is darker. Apart from being dark, they don't look like Africans at all.

"Second Uncle, please protect them both. I'll practice with you."

With that, Du Shuangshuang unleashed her longsword, not even using spiritual energy. She simply combined her Flowery Sword Technique with basic body movements, and with one sweep, all the bandits fell to the ground. Almost all of them were killed with a single strike, leaving no one alive. Du Shuangshuang had originally intended to spare some of them to inquire about the situation in the desert, but these people disgusted her. There were plenty of bandits anyway, and these vanguard troops were probably just testing them; the real, powerful bandits were probably still to come.

Du Shuangshuang left the bodies on the ground, and the others continued on their journey. This time, Du Shuangshuang brought enough water for the group to use for a year or two, and of course, she gave half to her second uncle. However, this water was for cooking and daily drinking. Du Shuangshuang didn't need it for bathing, preferring to waste some spiritual energy. Bathing was too water-consuming. If she came across an oasis with water, she would consider it. But in this desert, it might take ten days, half a month, or even several months to find one, so whether she could bathe or not depended on fate.

As night fell, the group found a sheltered spot. Du Shuangshuang brought out her tent, while Jinxiu and Xizi set up two tents. After sunset, the temperature in the desert plummeted, dropping from over 40 degrees Celsius to just over 10 degrees Celsius. It continued to drop at night, reaching around freezing. The cooler temperatures worked up everyone's appetites, and they had a hearty dinner. They had six dishes, a soup, and the main dishes were steamed buns, steamed buns, and rice. It wasn't a large portion, but there was still more left after finishing, mainly because Du Shuangshuang didn't want to waste food.

After the meal, everyone was full. Xizi and Jinxiu had originally wanted to keep watch, but Du Shuangshuang overruled them.

"Don't fight over it, you two. Even if someone is right in front of you, they might not notice you. Just serve me and Second Uncle. You two are not needed for anything else."

"Your eldest lady is right. You two just need to do what you can. We will take care of your safety." Uncle Du also said,

The two of them calmed down and quietly returned to the tent to rest. There wasn't much they could do, so they tried their best not to hold their master back.

In the second half of the night, more bandits came over, still unwilling to give up. At this time, it was Uncle Du who was on guard.

"Shuang'er, come back to life!" Uncle Du yelled.

As soon as the spear came out, he rushed out. Du Shuangshuang did not rush out, because there were still two people who needed protection.

Uncle Du wielded his spear with great vigor, his shots killing everyone as he charged straight into the enemy's vital points. In the darkness, those people's eyesight was not very good, but Uncle Du and Du Shuangshuang could see them clearly.

Before they could even light their torches, half of their men had already fallen. As they waited for the torches to light up, illuminating everything around them, they saw their men falling like building blocks, unable to get up again. Some of the quick-witted ones had already begun to flee, while others foolishly rushed upwards. Those who rushed upwards had only one outcome: death!

Du Shuangshuang could occasionally pick up a person who had escaped the net. Uncle Du was brandishing his spear, looking like a lone man blocking the way for ten thousand.

There weren't many people this time. The two of them looked at the battlefield and saw that except for those who had escaped, the rest were lying on the ground, a total of 28 people. Among them, there were two who were not completely dead, so they were left for Du Shuangshuang and Du Ershu to interrogate.