The Qingying Mountain Range runs through the northern border of Dashengchao, forming a clear boundary that separates Chang and Zhuzhou. Because there are many golden eagles circling and nesting in the mountains, it is named Qingying. To the west of the mountain is the imperial capital, which is thousands of miles away. On the high ground, at the eastern foot is a large expanse of primeval forest in Suiguo. Standing at the highest point of Yujing Palace City and looking up into the distance, you can see Tuori Peak, the second highest peak on land after Baimang on the top of the mountain.
Every time the sun rises, the golden sunlight will slowly shine out from behind the ridge, turning the snow on the mountain peaks into a pure gold color, as if the sun was born from the top of the mountain. It goes around and around forever.
It is said that Bai Jiangxi once caught a golden eagle on the top of this mountain in his later years. The eagle's wingspan was more than two feet, and its eyes were as bright as gems. However, he was quite arrogant and was brought back to the palace by the emperor. He then went on a hunger strike and drank no water, and finally gave out his breath after ten days.
Bai Jiangxi was so heartbroken that he wrote down the famous saying "The eagle soared in the sky, unwilling to be content with the brocade." Then he cried loudly in the palace for three days and three nights, and then issued an edict announcing his abdication. From then on, one person and one horse, bamboo and bamboo. The stick mango shoes traveled far and wide without any news. Later generations often commented that Emperor Baijiang compared the eagle to himself - he spent most of his life fighting and killing, and finally understood life and death, and did not want to be imprisoned in Yu for the rest of his life. In this huge prison in Beijing, I no longer want to worry about worldly affairs.
However, it is not an easy task for ordinary people to climb over the towering Qingying Mountains on foot. Although there are many trails trodden by shepherds in the mountains, it only takes half a day to climb to the mountainside. But going higher still Wherever you go, the road ahead will become steep and difficult. Those winding trails are all cut off below the snow line.
Although it was still the end of summer, the mountains that were sunny just a moment ago were covered with snow in the blink of an eye. The temperature dropped sharply, and in the white snow, two figures were seen clinging to the cliff. , heading forward in the wind and snow. Those were Granny Cen and Ning Yue who had just trudged out of Moon Marsh three days ago. At this moment, for them, there was no other way but to find a sheltered place to hide as soon as possible.
"Mother-in-law, how far are we from the passage you mentioned?"
Ning Yue wrapped herself tightly in the thin clothes, but the cold wind still came in through the big and small gaps. Her red hair was already covered with white snow and ice, even though she had used the heart-controlling spell that her grandmother had just taught her. His body was covered, but his lips were still black and blue from the cold, and his hands had long lost consciousness.
"Miss, please... hold on. The passage should be... nearby."
Grandma Cen, who was walking in front, turned around and spoke to encourage her, but her voice was also incoherent and could not form a complete sentence. She had only walked this road once many years ago with Kun Jie who had just fled to the mainland, and it was from west to east. And walking. In addition, there have been many years of snow in the mountains, which has caused the road signs to change. Although I tried to remember at this time, there are still many places that I can't remember, so I can only move forward by luck.
As soon as she opened her mouth, cold wind rushed into her throat. The old woman was choked and coughed several times in a row. She quickly closed her mouth and did not dare to say any more. After walking for more than half a mile, she suddenly quickened her pace and ran He walked towards a black rock protruding from the cliff and stood still under it:
"This is it!"
"Mother-in-law, are you sure you remember correctly? There is no other road here except the snow!" The red-haired girl looked at the boulder at a height that was almost half suspended outside the cliff, and shook her head in disbelief.
"The entrance to the passage is directly under this stone. It was only buried by years of wind, snow and frost."
As Granny Cen spoke, she stretched out her hand and dug a few times in the snowdrifts under the rock. As large pieces of ice and snow peeled off the rock wall, half of the toppled stone tablet was exposed from under the snow. Now, the words on the tablet have long been It was so weathered that it was difficult to identify, but a dark cave entrance half-hidden by ice was clearly visible.
"How should we go in?" Ning Yue patted the uneven, faintly blue ice outside the cave with her hand, and found that it was as hard as stone.
"You can't break it with your bare hands. When I passed through this place with Kun Jie, this piece of black ice was already several feet thick. Now I'm afraid it will only become thicker..."
Hearing what the old lady said, the girl just looked through the ice and saw a hole that had obviously been melted inside the ice for passage, and then had been refrozen in the years of wind and snow, so she asked again. : "Grandma, how did you get through here?"
"Miss, do you still remember the Hell Fire Spell that I taught you yesterday -"
"Mother-in-law, does she want me to cast a spell to break the ice?"
As soon as Grandma Cen opened her mouth, Ning Yue had already guessed her intention. Now that the opponent's staff was lost, if she didn't want to continue to endure the bitter cold in the wind and snow, she seemed to have no choice but to agree.
"Miss, your talent is extraordinary. Although this is your first time, you only need to try it a few times and you should be able to use the Hellfire Spell at will."
Although she was still not confident that she could do it, Ning Yue still started to act according to the other party's request. Although she had memorized the key points of the spell by heart these days, it was always difficult for her to actually use them. After an hour, Only fire burned a palm-sized depression on the ice.
"No, this is too slow."
The girl was a little discouraged, and the cold wind blowing on her body quickly sapped her fighting spirit. Upon seeing this, Granny Cen wanted to cheer her up, but before she could speak, she suddenly heard a whimpering sound in the wind. Unusual noise.
"What's that sound?!"
Ning Yue's reaction also confirmed that the old lady heard it right. The sound seemed to come from above the two people's heads, like the creaking sound of someone walking in the snow, or something foreign in the ice. Scratching on the surface. Suddenly, the huge protruding rock on the cliff trembled with an amplitude visible to the naked eye, and the sound of breaking snow was heard in the air one after another!
"It's an avalanche!"
This time, the noise was much louder and clearer than before. Grandma Cen's expression suddenly changed. She hurriedly took the girl's hand and wanted to lead her back along the way she came. Unexpectedly, the huge rock above her head had already fallen from the cliff. The wall came loose and fell directly within a foot of the two of them, breaking the narrow mountain road!
The fall of the boulder triggered a larger avalanche. In just a moment, deafening roars were heard from the surrounding cliffs. A piece of pure white snow dust like clouds suddenly rose in the light gray sky. The old woman knew , now they have no other choice but to break through the solid ice in front of them.
The situation was critical, and Granny Cen finally cast the Hell Fire Spell herself. A large ball of blue flames quickly ignited on the solid ice, making the ice surface sizzle. The fireball seemed to be alive. Accompanied by the deep chanting from the old woman's mouth, she dived hard under the ice!
"It's done, hurry in!"
At the moment when the fireball penetrated the ice, Granny Cen pulled the girl up and dived into the darkness behind the ice. Following closely, large chunks of thousands of years of snow collapsed along the ridge. Where the two of them were standing just now, there were countless large and small gravels wrapped in the snow, causing a thunderous roar that lasted for a long time. The snow also poured into the passage through the break in the ice, and the people who had escaped were trapped in the snow. Unable to catch up, Ning Yue and her old lady were completely buried underneath.
But in the end, she managed to escape with her life. The red-haired girl struggled to get out from under the snow, fumbled and took out a fire ring from her arms, lit it, and then turned to dig up Granny Cen who was standing aside. However, the old woman was stuck on her head and neck. After digging out the snow, they found that his eyes were tightly closed, his face was like gold paper, and his expression was very painful.
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law, what's wrong with you?"
Seeing that there was still a faint pink color in the snow, Ning Yue suddenly realized that it was diluted blood. She felt a buzzing in her head, increased the speed of her hands, and tried her best to pull the old woman out of the snowdrift. Drag it out.
Without the snow on her body, the old woman's breathing became slightly easier. She panted heavily and struggled to support her upper body, but her face was still sick. She tried her best to comfort her with a smile:
"I'm sorry, miss. I didn't expect that I would collapse here."
"Mother-in-law, didn't you tell me before that the injuries on my body were not serious, so how could they bleed?"
There were faint tears in Ning Yue's eyes. It was only then that she realized that, unconsciously, she and the old woman she had been with day and night since childhood had already developed a bond that was better than that of mother and daughter.
"Don't worry, Miss. I just used up too much energy in my previous fight with Kun Jie. I'll feel better after a short rest."
"I don't believe it! Just now I clearly saw a faint trace of blood in the snowdrift. Along the way, I always felt that you were hiding something from me. When you persuaded me to learn spells earlier, you also said that even if you are no longer with me in the future, What on earth do you mean?!"
The girl shook her head vigorously. When she was in Mulu City, she had learned some skills in reading, hearing, asking, and checking. She reached out to take the old woman's pulse, but Granny Cen suddenly withdrew her hand. The girl refused, and pressed the hand. He grabbed the opponent's wrist. After rolling up the cuffs, he saw that the old woman's arms were covered with purple swelling and bruises. Those injuries looked like frostbite, and some of them were ulcerated. And before the snowdrift The blood in it comes from these ulcerated places.
"Mother-in-law, how did you get these injuries? Why didn't you tell me!"
"Miss, I didn't expect that I would be able to hide it so quickly..."
Grandma Cen sighed deeply and tried hard to maintain a slightly stiff smile. Seeing that she could no longer hide it, she told the matter exactly as it was, "Do you still remember the Lu Hui Pill that I once gave you? Because I was seriously injured a few years ago, I had to take the highly poisonous elixir, and I only had a few years left to live. It was only with the help of the mysterious rose on the staff that I was able to survive until now. But the staff had already been in the same place before. Kunjie was damaged during the martial arts fight, and the curse had just been forcibly cast. The toxicity of the elixir spread in the body, but it could no longer be suppressed..."
"Then we will turn back immediately. Lu Hui Dan was made by Kun Jie, he must have a way to cure you!"
"You must not do it now! The last thing Mrs. Coral entrusted me with before she died was to do her best to protect the young lady. Now how can I let you throw yourself into a trap again for the sake of my humble life..."
Although she heard what her old lady said, Ning Yue still used her hands to dig hard in the snow around her, hoping to find a way out again. But every time she dug some more, more new snow would come out of the hole. People were pouring in from everywhere, and the two of them were obviously completely isolated under the deep layer of snow.
"Miss, don't waste your efforts anymore. Don't worry, this injury seems serious, but I won't be able to survive for a while. The top priority is to leave here as soon as possible. The other end of the passage is Changzhou."
The red-haired girl understood in her heart that what the other party said was correct, so she could only wipe away her tears with her hands, raised the fire to observe the surrounding environment - what they were currently in was a huge forest dug out of the mountain by someone unknown. The cave. Although the place for people to stand at this time is only a tunnel leading to the depths of the mountain, it is enough for eight horses to keep pace.
Due to years of disrepair, the top of this arc-shaped corridor is covered with large and small cracks, but you can still distinguish it from the rocks in the mountain. On the flat and smooth walls, slender stone stalactites are made of The growth that grew out of the damaged area was like a strain growing out of the rotting body of a giant beast, which made people feel horrified.
"This ruins was left by the ancestors and has been sleeping underground for thousands of years. Because it is buried deep in the mountains, few people come here, so the damage is not very serious."
The old woman's words had just begun, and Ning Yue was already stunned: "Ancestors? Are they the ancestors who built the Holy City?"
"Exactly."
"But why would they build their house in such an inaccessible mountain?"
"Miss, you misunderstood. This ruins was not used to live in the past, but was built by the ancestors to avoid the disaster of war. However, before it could be put to use, its owner had disappeared from this land forever. .”
"What kind of war would make people want to hide in such a gloomy place?!" Ning Yue clicked her tongue, stretched her neck and looked into the darkness in front of her, temporarily forgetting that she was still in danger.
"I don't dare to speculate on my own. I just heard Kun Jie once say that it seems that the ancestors have a powerful magic power that can cause hundreds of miles of mountains to collapse and the ground to be destroyed in an instant. Compared with that power, our people use The magic breath is just a small trick left by the ancestors in this world. Once upon a time, the ancestors were afraid that someone would use this magic power on each other, so they built such a place in the mountains."
"Could it be that this kind of magic power is what Kun Jie plans to go to the Holy City to find?"
Grandma Cen's words made the red-haired girl feel pimples all over her body.
"Regarding this matter, he has always kept silent in front of the three elders of law enforcement, staff holding, and deacon, and I have no way of knowing. Maybe it is, maybe it is not, but it has nothing to do with the road we are going to take next. ——”
The old woman changed the subject, "If you want to stop Kun Jie, young lady, you must get out of here alive first, so you must keep in mind every word I say next, and what I ask you to do next." Everything must be obeyed unconditionally without any hesitation, do you understand?"
Seeing that the other party's expression suddenly became extremely solemn, Ning Yue couldn't help but become nervous and nodded in agreement.
"From now on, we will be walking deep into the mountain for at least a few days. Every step during this period will be a matter of life and death, and there is no room for carelessness. You must always remember to maintain absolute silence, never speak loudly, and do not step too much You must take it as lightly as possible and hurry up and get on your way!”
As Grandma Cen spoke, she took out a moon bead the size of a pigeon egg from her arms and held it in her palm to light up the road ahead.
Ning Yue understood that the other party would never make a joke at this time, and she was vaguely aware that there was indeed some crisis hidden in the darkness ahead, but she did not dare to ask any more questions, and even breathed deliberately very softly.
The starting point is not the first release, and all copies are free.
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