Dongting Lake was called Yunmengze in ancient times, but Yunmengze does not only refer to Dongting Lake.

"The land of Chu is boundless and boundless," Du Fu's boat sailed out of Nanjinguan in the past, and he could not help but sigh. The vast fertile fields in his poems are the Jianghan Plain, known as the land of fish and rice. The Jianghan Plain is low-lying and is bounded by the Jingjiang River.

The impact of the water potential of the Han River and the influence of sediment has evolved into thousands of islands, rivers, lakes and swamps, collectively known as Yunmengze.

The terrain of Yunmengze has been changing for thousands of years. Some lakes have begun to shrink or even be filled in due to sediment accumulation. In some places, new lakes have formed due to rising tides. Not only the water area of ​​Dongting Lake is ever-changing, but also nearby areas

Other rivers such as the Xiangshui River and the Yuanshui River have also changed their courses several times. Even within the same year, Yunmengze may sometimes "swell with floods in summer and autumn, and the water is as vast as the sea", and sometimes "the water dries up in spring and winter, and it is flat fields" due to changes in precipitation.

.

The swamp mentioned by Murong Ying is the result of the interaction and evolution of lake tide and sedimentation. It is located east of Dongting and north of the Xiangjiang River. Because it is more than a hundred miles wide and uninhabited, it is also known locally as

"A Hundred Miles of Wasteland". When Lan Qiao and Bai Xueyin arrived here, the sky had already started to get bright.

They had a fierce battle with An Xiaohan on Du Zhen's Changde last night, but the arrival of Murong Ying turned defeat into victory.

Lan Qiao firmly believed that there were accomplices from Lingyutang on a nearby passenger ship. After telling Du Zhen about going to Changde to look for fish and herbs, he and Bai Xueyin caught up with him in a small boat and dived not far from the passenger ship to board the ship. Sure enough, he found An on the passenger ship.

Xiao Han's proud disciple Xu Wuchen.

They disappeared all the way until the passenger ship left Dongting and turned into the Xiangjiang waterway. Then they disembarked with Xu Wuchen, hanging far behind him, and came to this prohibitive Yunmeng secret swamp "Hundred Miles of Wilderness".

It was just dawn at this time, and the thick clouds revealed bright or dim light, making the entire space pale.

Sparse or dense water mist accumulates on the ground, connecting with the clouds in the sky to form a vast expanse of white, limiting people's sight to within a hundred steps. Not far from the feet are dotted large and small pools, some of which are crystal clear, and some of which are crystal clear.

Some are turbid, some emit a weird smell, and some even produce blisters.

All kinds of strange plants grow along the bank of the pond, including towering old trees with dense branches and leaves, charred and dry bare deadwood, and various dense or scattered shrubs, plus countless strange mushrooms of various colors.

The water pools join together to form an indescribable and strange atmosphere, which makes people feel as if they are in a ghost land.

Bai Xueyin looked at everything in front of her in disbelief, took a deep breath and said softly, "These pools of water with indistinguishable depth should be the quagmire that Master Murong mentioned."

"There are still roads like paths between these quagmires. I'm afraid if we go further, the mire area will become wider and wider, and we won't know where the road is." Lan Qiao squatted down and reached out to feel the mud under his feet.

land, while staring at the void that was getting farther and farther away from the end of the sight, he said, "Fortunately, someone knows the way, otherwise we will only sigh in vain even if we come a few more times."

"He is walking further and further, let's catch up quickly." Bai Xueyin said, gently pulling Lan Qiao's sleeves, and the two of them followed forward tiptoeing.

At this time, Xu Wuchen walked into the depths of the thick fog, and Lan Qiao could only vaguely see his silhouette from behind. Due to the small range of sight, he had to shorten the distance from Xu Wuchen to avoid losing him.

Lan Qiao pulled Bai Xueyin and was about to take two steps forward, when suddenly a strong south wind blew, and the bare crown of a dead tree could not withstand the force of the wind. It was completely overturned and landed on the muddy ground behind Xu Wuchen.

"Hide quickly!" Lan Qiao shouted in a low voice, and without any further explanation, he pulled Bai Xueyin into the bushes nearby. Almost instantly, Xu Wuchen heard the sound of the tree crown falling to the ground and looked back. His eyes swept across Lan Qiao and the others where they had just stood.

place passed.

Knowing that he had not been discovered by Xu Wuchen, Lan Qiao secretly wiped away a cold sweat and said, "It's so dangerous."

The bushes they were hiding in were very short, and Bai Xueyin had to curl up and cling to Lan Qiao, barely avoiding Xu Wuchen's gaze.

Seeing Xu Wuchen, she walked forward again, got out of the bushes and breathed a sigh of relief, "It's too narrow in there and it's stuffy."

Lan Qiao also crawled out of the bush at this time, scratching his head a little embarrassedly and said, "It must be the smell of my sweat and the smell of blood that is suffocating Junior Sister. I'm sorry."

Just as Bai Xueyin was about to explain that she didn't have any objections to him, Lan Qiao quickly walked forward and walked out. After a few steps, he turned back and said, "Xu Wuchen is gone."

"What's going on?" Bai Xueyin was confused. He didn't know whether Xu Wuchen changed direction or suddenly quickened his pace. "Could it be that we were discovered after all?"

Lan Qiao and Bai Xueyin walked forward again without knowing where they were going. Although they speeded up, they still remained vigilant, fearing that Xu Wuchen would be hiding aside and spy on them chasing after them.

The road soon came to an end, and a huge swamp lay in front of us. The smell of decaying vegetation in it was disgusting.

Bai Xueyin frowned slightly and said in confusion, "This is too strange. There is obviously no way ahead, so where did Xun Wuchen go?" At this time, because a pair of shoes were filled with mud, she simply took off her shoes.

He stepped on the mud with his bare feet and put his shoes away carefully.

Facing the foggy mud in front of him, Lan Qiao looked thoughtful and said for a while, "Maybe there is a bamboo raft here. When Xu Wuchen arrived, he took the bamboo raft to cross the mud. We rushed behind him, so naturally we couldn't see anything.

arrive."

Bai Xueyin bit her lips and said, "Lingyu Hall's precautionary measures are not lax. If crossing the mud is the only way to find Lingyu Hall, this bamboo raft can kill the pursuers behind. It's really a

A simple and practical method.”

"Yes, after all, we are here for the first time and don't understand the various arrangements here. If we had followed too close just now, we would have been discovered by Xu Wuchen. Now if we follow too far, we will be thrown off by him borrowing a bamboo raft." Lan Qiao.

Although there was a slight hint of defeat in his eyes, he was still full of hope, "For our current plan, we have no choice but to use local materials and build a raft to try our luck."

"Okay senior brother." Bai Xueyin said in a tone of obeying the Lord's orders, he drew out the Heqing Sword with a "swish" sound, and cut off a large tree with sparse branches and leaves on the side of the road with a wave of his hand.

Seeing Bai Xueyin's energetic look, Lan Qiao couldn't help laughing and said, "There's no need to be so hasty. We're all injured, so there's no need to push ourselves like this. We've lost him anyway, so there's no rush at this moment."

Bai Xueyin rolled her eyes at him and said, "Senior brother, if you are tired, please rest and just leave the heavy work of chopping wood to me."
Chapter completed!