Summary of "Shazhou Messenger"
A road back to the Tang Dynasty paved with mortal flesh and blood is more tragic than any myth.
If "Journey to the West" is about seeking scriptures from the West under the protection of gods and Buddhas, then "Shazhou Messenger" is about mortals entrusting their lives to die in the sand sea to convey success. They went all the way east to Chang'an, taking a bloody road.
Sixty years after Shazhou fell to Tubo, Zhang Yichao, the leader of the Guiyi Army, sent ten teams of 123 messengers across the 800-mile salt-alkali flats, broke through the Tubo siege, and reported to the Tang court the successful return of Shazhou to Tang. There is no magic weapon, only a group of twelve people led by Wu Zhen move forward secretly: Monk Wu Zhen's demon-conquering stick contains a secret message, the mute girl Xiaoman relies on a copper whistle to summon lizards to explore the way, and the young Du Xiaoguo carries bloody dry food...
Sun Wujiu used his body as a shield to block the scimitar, while Cai Wujin fell off the cliff and still held on to the coke cake he gave to his companions. In the past three years, almost all ten teams were buried in the sea of sand. In the end, only three people from Wu Zhen's team arrived in Chang'an.
When they presented the defense plan with their bloody hands, and when the little mute girl said, "Grandma will still hold the Tang card until her death," the Tang Dynasty finally understood: What is hotter than the scriptures is the heart of the Tang Dynasty, and what is heavier than the gods and Buddhas are the bones of mortals.
This is not the myth of the Eighty-One Dilemma, but the "path of learning from the world" paved with the lives of 123 people. Elaeagnus blooms every year, and the beacon fire will eventually end. The good news they sent with their lives made the flag of the Guiyi Army fly in the wind on the city walls of Shazhou and even the 11th Prefecture in Hexi Province.
