Camel bells rang along the ancient road of silk; the Hu horses still carried the airs of Tang and Han.
Countless people had set foot on this thorn-strewn road, either making fortunes or burying their bones in the sea of sand.
A Western Regions caravan led camels along the ancient Silk Road, passing crumbling walls and broken ruins as it traveled toward the setting sun. Rich flaxen-gold hair, high noses, and deep-set eyes all gazed toward their distant homeland with expectation, longing to return and trade Eastern goods for wealth.
The camels plodded along at an unhurried pace, ships of the desert linking two different worlds.
Suddenly, the Western Regions merchants saw a trail of dust rising in the desert and rapidly approaching their caravan. It was dust kicked up by a running horse or camel. Since there was only one rider, there was no need to fear.
Unexpectedly, that lone rider was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, they could make out the mount and its rider.
A Black Horse—only a horse could be so black. A woman in white sat on its back. Men and women were easy enough to distinguish. The Black Horse was so fast that it beggared belief. They wanted to seize it, yet feared the woman on its back might be too formidable, so they could only suppress their thoughts and watch. Robbery was always the theme of trade routes, after all; this was a chaotic region.
Bai Yujun had been racing straight ahead, crossing paths with the winding merchant road. She happened to want to buy some jerky and horse feed. In any case, there were many small nations along the trade route, so there was no need to worry about these caravans starving to death.
The Western Regions merchants, already