When the accident happened, this short team of horses followed the leader walking in the mud as usual. When the two loaded horses cracked the mud shell condensed on the swamp, no one noticed anything strange. Until the third horse
The horse stepped on it and crushed the surface with one hoof.
In an instant, with a frightened neigh, its legs sank in. Qi Huan reacted quickly. He grabbed Mo Dao and immediately jumped off the horse. After a few unsightly ups and downs, he stood on the solid ground. There was no time to be afraid.
, he called to his companions in front who noticed something unusual:
"Come here and help me, this horse is going to sink!"
They approached hurriedly and vigilantly, reaching out their hands within the shortest distance they could stand, holding out their weapons, and hurriedly picking up the luggage from the saddle. In the end, they even overturned the saddle on the horse's back, and the horse neighed in despair.
Screaming, struggling to pull out the hoof and stand up. However, the quagmire was slow and
Merciless, it could be seen with the naked eye that it swallowed up its four legs and abdomen inch by inch... until only the horse's head was still floating on the surface, it no longer screamed, and most of the people also stopped their futile efforts.
Open your face, stand up and reposition your luggage, no longer looking at its big dark eyes.
Jun Aoyan was the last one to get up. She half-knelt on the ground and stared deeply at it. Even though the horses in Jiutian Kingdom were different from those in her hometown, they often reminded her of those similar, silent four-legged comrades in the military camp.
Come on. At this moment, such a pair of similar pure eyes are filled with human tears, just like the horses with broken legs and broken chests and abdomen on the battlefield. At the end of their lives, their last attachment to the world is flowing out.
There was a vague palpitation in her heart. It was for the horse that died after a hard journey, and for everything she had and lost.
Just like every time in her and her companions' lives, they always had to stand up again and continue to move forward. The lack of a horse slowed down the journey somewhat. Jun Aoyan's knife was different from the one originally on Qi Huan's horse.
The supplies were moved to Bai Ya's mount, while he and Qi Huan took turns leading the horses or exploring the way ahead.
Privately, Liu Shenghan and Bai Ya expressed their concerns. From the map, this swamp was extremely vast. If they kept following the distribution of the swamp, they would not know when they would be able to get out.
The days of walking on thin ice did not last long. Liu Shenghan's inference from the previous few days came true: as if suddenly, Bai Ya found traces of sparse vegetation in the forest, like a trampled path. Walk along it.
, the vines entwining the surrounding trees decreased, and axe-cut vines began to appear.
There were not so many dead branches under the trees, as if someone had picked them up to light up the smoke. Occasionally, when they were searching for hunting, they would see the remnants of traps. Not long after, Qi Huan noticed the trees on the roadside.
On the top, about the same level as the touch and sight, a strange-shaped symbol appeared.
He and Bai Ya coincidentally thought of the dense forests near the sea, the signs of despair that lead to dead ends. In this forest swamp, if they deviated from the path they had found at the beginning, the map would not allow them to re-confirm their direction. Fortunately, Liu
Shenghan had the compass given by the God of Fragrance in her hand. She led them carefully along the winding path marked by the carvings on the tree trunks for a while, and she was convinced that the direction pointed by these marks was exactly the direction beyond the swamp.
Xiangji Kingdom.
They all breathed a sigh of relief and moved forward with renewed energy. Following their guidance, scattered wooden blocks or stone bricks that had been carved by humans gradually appeared on the road; further forward, they discovered some semi-abandoned huts, which seemed to be
Someone stayed temporarily but then left.
This made them briefly worried that the residents here had moved away or died out. But not long after, their eyes suddenly became a little brighter, and more houses appeared in their field of vision.
These buildings are not tightly distributed and are scattered among the forests, forming a vast and loose settlement. Their styles are different from those they are familiar with, and they are even different from each other. They all have strange personalities.
Build it however you want. What they all have in common is that they all
It is built of wood and stone, and the surfaces of these materials are all engraved with strange symbols. Some are like simple sketches of flowers, birds, insects and beasts, others are winding, sometimes repeated, and there is a vague pattern, which seems to be special words. But how many people are there?
No matter how well-informed they are, they cannot understand their contents.
The residents were as weird as the houses. The four of them walked towards the area where the houses were more densely packed. Along the way, they caught glimpses of people moving in front of the houses from time to time. Some people had ordinary faces, while others were missing arms and legs, or their skin was covered with large areas of scars.
They were probably injured or born with a disease. They even caught a glimpse of a figure that did not look like a human being, which reminded several of them of the monsters they encountered in the Garuda Territory, whose appearance was inhuman but not human.
What these people have in common is that they seem to turn a blind eye to outsiders. Most of the villagers on the roadside just glanced at this group of people, and then went about their business. It was neither welcoming nor repulsive. This kind of treatment only made them
Feeling a little confused, when they reached an open space surrounded by houses, they stopped, dismounted, and met to discuss.
"These people are not surprised." After Liu Shenghan finished speaking, he shook his head. "It looks like an ancient settlement. It doesn't look like it often interacts with big city-states."
Jun Aoyan also said: "These houses are too scattered, and I don't know where the center is. It is difficult to find a person in charge - if there is one."
"Just ask someone with a nice face and ask? Pick a house and knock on the door?"
Bai Ya was also a little moved: "It's easy to talk to him."
Someone noticed their confusion, stopped, looked at them for a while, and then stopped walking. However, they did not say anything, but just watched quietly. When Qi Huan asked, he just shook his head, leaving people confused.
Fortunately, there were curious people who were attracted by the immobile few here and gathered around.
More and more people gathered, and finally a middle-aged man who was blind came forward and asked:
"Are you also lost?"
"Well... we got lost and ended up here by mistake." Liu Shenghan replied politely.
The middle-aged man scratched his head, as if he was a little confused and didn't know where to start the question. His reaction made the four of them look at each other, and they had a vague feeling that that was not what he wanted to ask. Before they could ask, he clicked.
He nodded and walked away again. Bai Ya felt baffled by this lackluster behavior:
"The people here...are very casual?"
The crowd suddenly parted a path. They all turned around and saw a woman in black and red clothes. Standing next to her was a person who was the first villager to watch them. He was gesticulating enthusiastically.
"I asked him why he didn't speak. It turns out he is mute..." Qi Huan suddenly realized.
On the other hand, the woman seemed to understand the silent man's narration, and after saying something to him, she walked towards the group of people.
She was dressed solemnly, like a shrine maiden in a shrine, and the wooden stick she held in her hand was connected to a zigzag-shaped note at the top, which also looked like a shrine maiden's royal coin. She walked up to them and bowed to them plainly.
"How many of you are visitors from a foreign land?"
"Um...yes."
She looked at them for a while, her eyes as calm as water, without any malice.
"Then may I ask, do you need any help?"
The four of them exchanged glances, and Liu Shenghan replied:
"We would be grateful if you could help us. We are passing through a certain place and we are not familiar with the journey. Our horses have gotten stuck in the mud, and we are also worried about the hairy scale insects in the vast forest. I wonder if I will be lucky enough to stop here for a while?"
She said it too politely, and the response she got was considered friendly. The witch smiled politely and said softly:
"In that case, come with me."
Seeing the witch talking to them, the villagers dispersed in twos and threes. They led their horses and followed the witch smoothly, walking through the houses and trees. After making countless turns, the surrounding area was empty, and there were no longer any village houses they had seen before.
They looked around and saw a red torii gate standing in the forest. Beyond the black cornices and vines in the forest under the twilight, a magnificent temple was vaguely visible.
The miko led them through the torii gate and headed straight towards the temple. Along the way, they could see women dressed like the miko, or men wearing pointed hoods and black robes, with red on the black bottom.
, holding a staff in her hand. The witch didn't even greet them, she got closer to them, and they nodded when they passed each other, which was regarded as a courtesy. On the surface, they were really as casual as Bai Ya Wuxin lamented.
It was not until she reached the entrance of the temple that the witch stopped and greeted a black-robed priest beside the door:
"Please report to the high priest that four strangers have entered Daze."
The people inside asked what they were asking, and the witch shook her head and said, "It's not the lost ones."
The man expressed his knowledge, signaled her to wait, turned around and entered the temple.
Behind her, Liu Shenghan raised his eyebrows slightly. The word appeared again, and it was difficult not to speculate that it might have some specific meaning, rather than referring to a lost traveler.
The reply came quickly. They handed over the horses to the other two priests summoned by the witch. Under the guidance of the witch, they cleaned their hands in a pool nearby. The priest just opened the door and said to them:
"Come in, everyone, the high priest invites you."
The witch stopped outside the door and had no intention of accompanying her. They thanked her and followed the priest through the door.
The door closed, and his eyes suddenly darkened. Bai Ya's eyes were the first to get used to the light. He squinted and looked inward. There was a deep corridor inside. There were lights on the walls, so it wasn't too dark. The sides were a little tight.
The closed doors were probably side rooms with different functions in the temple. The priest led them through the stone corridor, finally stopped, opened a door, and saluted the people inside:
"Great Priest, people have arrived."
After saying that, he respectfully stepped aside and extended his hands to invite a few people in.
This is a spacious room with simple decoration and nothing special. There are only some shallow reliefs on the four walls and roof, and their ancient lines are illuminated by the candlelight.
What you see is a long table, and the person sitting at the end must be the great priest among these people. When you get closer, you can see that the staff he holds in his hand is different from the witches and priests outside. It has carved patterns.
There was a red ore embedded in it. The flickering firelight cast a shadow on his face. For a moment, they, who had never been relaxed, felt a sense of coldness. They almost thought they had entered some kind of snake's den or tiger's den.
Fortunately, this ominous atmosphere was quickly broken. The great priest stood up and greeted them calmly:
"It's not easy for travelers from far away, so come first and take a seat."
Recommended: The Witch Doctor’s Awakening for mobile reading.
