Chapter 3 The pursuit of life and death in the ghostly desert (3)
In the early morning, the sky gradually became brighter, the vegetation along the way decreased, and the soil turned into a desolate and undulating desert, with the edges stained with the crimson and blue-purple colors of the morning glow.
The clear morning breeze blew through the sand dunes, raising wisps of sand smoke. Gordon tightened the rope, jumped off the horse, walked to the piles of horse dung in front of him, picked up a little and rubbed it, the surface of the horse dung was warm.
There's still a little humidity inside
"The horse manure was left about an hour ago." He looked at the twinkling morning star in the sky and approached a few scattered brown-green shrubs and grasses. There was a shrub with needle-shaped leaves and curved branches.
Gray-white spikes are a unique plant in the western part of the Guimi Desert. "We should be at the northwest corner of the Guimi Desert. According to the routes of the horse thieves and the black hawks, they are approaching the central area of the desert."
"Just waiting for the black hawk and the horse thief to bite the dog." Freckles muttered while struggling to control the mount so that it could turn up the slope according to his own wishes, "I hope this idiot Hongmao is safe."
"This is the territory of horse thieves, we must fight quickly." Tracy picked up the water bag hanging on the saddle and drank it in small sips. They prepared a total of forty water bags and ten bags of oats, enough for two
Monthly food supply.
Artest untied the water bag and let his horse head to drink water first. "Finally, we have to deal with the leopard. Will he always follow us?" He took out his monocular and looked far into the distance in the direction he came from.
"I heard that there is a ghost town deep in the Ghost Desert. It's so scary. You can hear screams from a long distance away." Sinbad jumped off his horse and ran to the back of the sand dune to shush, his face full of excitement. "I have it.
It’s a chance to see a real ghost, right, Mr. Ghoul?”
Gordon also heard Mr. Rou talk about the ghost town. The area was filled with wind and sand, making it difficult to see clearly. It was said that the sound of crying and howling wandered in the wind all year round. Business travelers occasionally got lost here and could never escape. There were once treasure hunters.
Following the cries and howls, we searched for the ghost town, but no one survived.
"Of course, Sinbad, you have already started your adventure." Gordon walked, jumped, and ran on the desert, testing the resistance of the yellow sand. Unlike the hard gravel sand of the Ghost Gobi, the desert in this area is very soft and difficult for feet.
As soon as you step on it, it immediately sinks in. It is quite laborious to pull it out, which greatly reduces the speed of movement.
Tracey took out the oatmeal, fed it to the horses, and then buried the oatmeal in the hot sand. More than ten minutes later, the oatmeal was cooked, and the rich aroma filled the air. After everyone ate, they got on their horses again and started on their way.
Along the way, they saw large and small caravans riding camels, loaded with goods, crossing the Guimi Desert from north to south, heading for the Aquarius Territory on the other side. But except for Gordon and the others, no caravan chose the east-west direction.
However, the climate in that area is harsh, barren and desolate, and a ghost town that can stop children from crying at night is also hidden on the other side.
On the way, everyone also discovered several saltwater lakes, which were small in size and as blue as gems. Populus euphratica, sand bamboo, and Artemisia spp. were growing densely nearby. Gordon compared the terrain one by one based on the detailed maps collected by Mr. Rou. I don’t know.
As the day passed, the shining sun sank behind the sand dunes, the scorching heat receded like a tide, and the dusk wind carried the yellow sand, bringing bursts of coolness.
"This place is beyond the scope of the map." Gordon stepped back and looked around. The nearby terrain gradually became steeper. There were no longer gentle undulating slopes, but large ups and downs, and towering deserted sand mountains. His sight was blocked by the sand mountains.
Interrupted, unable to understand the trend ahead.
Tracey said uneasily: "This kind of terrain is easy to be attacked by sneak attack."
"Why don't those two pieces of shit just get up?" Freckles spat out the foam in his mouth, cursing and picking up the blood blisters on his inner thighs caused by riding horses for a long time.
Gordon looked at the hard horse dung left along the way. Their riding skills were not as good as the Black Eagle tribe. The distance between the two sides was getting farther and farther. It was almost two hours of riding. If the delay continued, the sand wind would completely bury each other.
whereabouts.
"We can't rest anymore, we must speed up and drive all night." Gao Deng whipped his horse and ran towards the sand mountain ahead.
The wind blows more and more frequently, constantly blowing up pieces of yellow sand, filling the field of vision like turbid smoke. The surrounding visibility is getting lower and lower, and even if the five people are close at hand, they can only see the blurred figures of each other.
Gordon put on his hood, bent down on his horse, and walked up against the sandy wind. The sand hill was steep and difficult to climb, and the horse's hooves were stuck in the ground, making it difficult to move. Finally, Gordon had to dismount and pull the horse forward.
Suddenly, a twisted insect shadow shot out from the sand and pounced on Gordon's calf. Gordon withdrew his leg at a faster speed, leaned over, and swung his dagger. The insect shadow broke into two parts and fell into the sand, melting.
Without a trace.
"Be careful, there is something here." Freckles waved the blood-spattered short knife and warned loudly. He felt that he was being attacked from behind, and immediately drew his knife to fight back, but he saw nothing.
Tracey stopped and was on full alert. "Whoosh!" Her horse neighed painfully and fell to the ground. The horse's legs struggled desperately and still sank into the yellow sand little by little, as if it was being pulled down by something.
"Swish, swish, swish," Tracy's hands trembled, and the sharp hidden weapons whizzed out one after another, shooting into the sand layer, splashing dust and smoke. Freckles then threw out the steel wire, entangled the horse's reins, and tried to pull the horse up.
"Crash!" The surrounding sand suddenly collapsed, and the horse plummeted downwards. Freckles had no choice but to let go and roll outwards. The yellow sand covered the previous position like a huge surging wave.
"Sinbad, follow me." Gordon quickly leaned towards Sinbad, protecting the boy and the horse with his daggers.
There was a loud "boom" and a fierce gust of wind blew by. The entire slope suddenly slid down and poured heavily. At once, most of Artest's body was buried, with only his neck and head exposed. He noticed that the sand that buried him was
It was still rolling, getting more and more violent, heading straight towards him. Artest subconsciously clenched his fists with both hands, and according to the secret method of the Thunder Evil-Breaking Fist, the source of thunder circulated throughout his body.
A faint light of thunder and lightning flashed, and "Boom" everyone simultaneously heard a shrill scream coming from the depths of the sand mountain. The pile of sand exploded, and the yellow sand splashed like foam, and a deep cave opened, and the entrance of the cave suddenly became free.
There were a few rays of lightning from the Thunder Evil Slaying Fist.
Artai stared in amazement at the deep cave at his feet. At the bottom, hundreds of meters away, there was a huge and strange shadow, blending into the yellow sand. Countless grotesque tentacles extended out, trembling and swaying, passing through
It penetrated most of the sand mountain.
The yellow sand surged, and the deep cave instantly closed and disappeared.
"You all follow me," Artest suddenly shouted. He led everyone to turn around and avoid the locations where the tentacles were distributed. As expected, they were no longer attacked along the way.
Just as they were about to cross the sand mountain, the sand mountain suddenly shook with a "rumbling boom". The yellow sand on the top of the mountain poured down like a waterfall, and the smoke billowed. The sand slopes under their feet also shook with it. The yellow sand surged violently, and the horses were frightened and neighed.