As far as the eye can see, the yellow sand is endless, and the undulating sand dunes are like the vast ocean frozen in place, stretching to the sky.
Under the scorching sun, the camel team walked slowly on the top of the sand dunes, leaving a line of footprints. Cheng Sanwu picked up the water bag and took a sip. It was not like a whale of a cow, but just to moisten his throat a little.
Looking back, he saw Peng Ning riding on the back of a camel, drowsily swaying from side to side with the camel's pace. Cheng Sanwu asked: "The sun is too bright, and even the camel and horse can't stand it. Why don't we hide from the sun first?"
, wait until it gets dark before setting off?"
Hearing this, Peng Ning forced his eyelids up and nodded slightly. Cheng Sanwu dismounted and held the camel team, formed a camp, and set up a tent to provide shade.
Cheng Sanwu took two biscuits and a packet of soy sauce, handed them to Peng Ning and said at the same time: "When I set up the tent just now, I found a lot of glassware in my luggage. Is this your cargo?"
"That's right." Peng Ning's face didn't change, and he didn't blame the other party for looking through the camel team's luggage. He saw that the biscuits were dry and hard, like stones. In addition, his injuries were not healed and he had a poor appetite, so he simply lay down in the shade to rest.
"Liu glaze is not cheap. Almost all of it comes from the western countries, and the firing method has always been kept secret." Cheng Sanwu held the Hu cake and ate it with relish: "There are also people in the Central Plains who want to imitate, but unfortunately the fired glaze is turbid and rough, and cannot be used.
mesa."
Peng Ning glanced at Cheng Sanwu a few more times: "Do you understand this too?"
"I used to have a Taoist friend who liked to tinker with elixirs, sulfur, lead, mercury and the like." Cheng Sanwu said with a smile: "Unfortunately, these things cost too much money, and he even blew up the cauldron several times.
So he planned to make colored glaze, hoping to use this skill to cling to the powerful and get some rewards."
"Then what?" Peng Ning asked curiously.
Cheng Sanwu raised his chin and gestured to the camels who were lying down to rest: "Businessmen from all walks of life are constantly getting high-quality colored glaze from the Western Regions. No matter whether you are an alchemy Taoist who turns stone into gold or an experienced craftsman, you will be beaten to the ground."
Next. My Taoist friend lost all his temple property because of this, and in the past few years he had to earn a living by drawing talismans and catching ghosts for people."
Peng Ning was stunned for a moment: "Do you think that business travelers buying Western Regions colored glaze in large quantities will ruin other people's livelihoods?"
Cheng Sanwu didn't think about it. He just happened to see the glass cup in the camel team's luggage and mentioned it casually. How could he have expected that the other party would ask this?
"It doesn't count, right? Those who can afford colored glaze are mostly relatives of the emperor and dignitaries, and ordinary people's livelihoods don't depend on these." Cheng Sanwu finished a piece of Hu cake in several mouthfuls: "Besides, those from the Central Plains
Isn’t silk also popular in the Western Regions? It is said that even the jute paper used to wipe buttocks can be sold for a huge price."
Peng Ning's expression softened a little, and he turned to ask: "I see that you have extraordinary skills, and the horizontal sword in your hand should be made from the Daxia Dragon Bird. Why don't you serve in the army and instead work for the trading company?"
Cheng Sanwu put the horizontal knife on his leg and pulled it out. The blade was straight, like a bunch of silver snow, and there was no additional decoration on the ring at the end of the handle.
The so-called Daxia Dragon Bird refers to the sword held by Taizu of this dynasty, with a dragon wrapped around the handle and a bird ringed with jewelry. It is said that when Taizu raised troops to conquer the four directions in the past, whenever there was a fierce battle in front of the battle, the sound of dragon roars from the sword turned into
Rolling like thunder, it passes by, invincible and victorious in every battle.
Later, when Taizu ascended the throne, in order to show his martial virtue, he ordered the weapons inspector to imitate the Daxia Longque to forge horizontal swords, so that all the soldiers in front of the battle had one in their hands, and even flowed into the civilian population in large numbers.
Of course, the horizontal sword in the hands of ordinary soldiers does not have the magical power of the dragon bird sword in the hands of Taizu Taizu of Great Xia.
Cheng Sanwu took out a sharpening stone and carefully sharpened the blade while saying: "There are strict rules in the army, and I am used to being undisciplined. What's more, they are all brothers, father and son, and relatives and friends from the township party joined the army. I am alone, I am afraid I will not be given anything."
I can't bear to be treated as a handyman."
"Is this too much?" Peng Ning asked.
Cheng Sanwu put his sword back into its sheath and did not answer. He gave Peng Ning the Hulu containing the arrows and stood up with a smile: "Rest with it on your pillow. If a horse thief comes, you can hear the sound of horse hooves and footsteps from a distance."
.If it is a monster crawling underground, it can be detected in advance."
"What about you?" Penning asked.
"I'm not tired yet, and someone has to look out for the wind." Cheng Sanwu said and left the tent.
Peng Ning originally wanted to say something, but unfortunately she was unable to ask. She just touched the things in her arms and then fell asleep.
She didn't know how long she had slept, but suddenly she heard Cheng Sanwu's loud call: "It's not good, get up! There's a demon coming!"
Peng Ning woke up suddenly. He instinctively reached into his arms, but before he could ask about the situation, Cheng Sanwu pulled Hulu away, then turned around and rushed out of the tent.
"What's going on? Where did the monster come from?" Peng Ning pressed his sword and looked around blankly. He saw the camels outside were panicking. If they weren't connected together with ropes, they would have been frightened and dispersed.
At this time, a shadow crossed the ground. Penning looked up and was surprised to see a strange bird flying overhead.
This strange bird has wings spread out to five or six feet, with a big head like an eagle or a lion, a ferocious face, and sparse feathers all over its body. When it flaps its wings and flies, it rolls up clouds of dark green smoke, dragging a trail of smoke visible to the naked eye in the air.
mark.
The strange bird swooped towards the ground, two scarlet claws stretched forward, trying to catch the camel. Cheng Sanwu quickly bent his bow and arrow, and shot the strange bird straight into the eye.
However, the arrow missed the target and only hit the strange bird's forehead. However, it was frightened and immediately fluttered its wings, bringing up a gust of wind that swept across the ground and overturned the tent.
Cheng Sanwu and Peng Ning were so confused by the flying sand brought up by the strong wind that they could not open their eyes, so they had to rush to hold the frightened camels and horses.
"Then, what is that?!" Peng Ning asked loudly, still confused.
"Bah, bah!" Cheng Sanwu spit out two mouthfuls of sand: "Corpse vulture! The monster bird that haunts Yingsao River all year round! Damn it, this is the first time I have seen such a big corpse vulture!"
"Corpse vulture? Could it be the falcon-headed god worshiped by the Shunishi tribe in Turles?" Penning asked again.
"I don't understand these ghosts and ghosts... That guy is coming again!" After the smoke cleared, Cheng Sanwu looked up and saw a strange bird circling half a circle in the sky in the distance, turning back and approaching again, obviously unwilling to retreat.
"Ordinary bows and arrows cannot hurt such monsters." Cheng Sanwu gritted his teeth, lowered his head and looked around, then swung his knife to cut off the cable rope of a camel and unloaded all the goods.
"What do you want to do?" Peng Ning asked urgently.
Cheng Sanwu made a quick decision, got on his horse, and took the camel away at the same time: "You can't escape by running, so kill it here!"
This was the first time Peng Ning faced such a monster, and he was flustered: "We can leave a few camels to it and then escape alone!"
"The corpse vulture not only eats meat, but also devours souls. I'm afraid these dozen camels can't feed this guy enough. If you're injured, leave it to me!" Cheng Sanwu galloped away, leaving Peng Ning alone at a loss.
in its original place.
While driving the camel, Cheng Sanwu turned his head and fired his bow. The sharp arrows shot through the sky like stars and flew like lightning, hitting the corpse vultures one after another.
Although the arrow did not cause much damage to the corpse vulture, it really aroused the demon's anger. Seeing that Cheng Sanwu was alone in the group, it did not hesitate, assumed a swooping posture, and pounced condescendingly.
"Sure enough, it's here!" Cheng Sanwu was secretly happy in his heart, but also had a surging fighting spirit.
Seeing the corpse vulture approaching like a black cloud, Cheng Sanwu threw off the camel's leash and ordered the horse to turn sharply to the side, cleverly avoiding the sharp claws.
The corpse vulture is heavy, and once it lands, it often cannot take off quickly. When it grabs the camel, it directly falls to the ground due to its own weight. The camel only has time to let out a half-whining cry before being dragged down by the corpse vulture and killed on the spot.
This was the countermeasure that Cheng Sanwu came up with in a hurry. He turned around on his horse, immediately drew his sword out of its sheath, and charged towards the corpse vulture.
The corpse vulture noticed something, spread its wings wide, and emitted a large cloud of dark green smoke from its body.
The big bay-red horse couldn't stand such an enchanting atmosphere, so it immediately raised its front hooves and neighed. Cheng Sanwu responded to the situation, slapped the saddle, jumped into the air, flew up, and landed on the back of the corpse vulture.
How could the corpse vulture allow someone to fall on its back? It vigorously shook its back, trying to throw Cheng Sanwu off.
Cheng Sanwu was not polite, he fiercely raised his internal energy and stabbed the corpse vulture's back horizontally. The strange bird felt the pain and let out a harsh hiss, then ran along the ground like crazy, while constantly flapping its wings.
"Oops!" Cheng Sanwu guessed that the strange bird wanted to take off so that he could be thrown down from the air.
Not only did Cheng Sanwu show no intention of retreating, he instead exerted a fierce force and plunged the horizontal knife deeply into the body of the corpse vulture. He also took out a short dagger from his boot and inserted it into the back of the strange bird.
The corpse vulture ran for a hundred feet, kicked up a large amount of sand, and barely flew up. Cheng Sanwu was also brought to the sky. He could only hold on to the handle of the knife to avoid being thrown to the ground.
Peng Ning stood on the ground, watching with shock as the corpse vulture flew up. Cheng Sanwu was like a little rag doll hanging on its back, struggling hard.
Seeing that the ground was getting further and further away, Cheng Sanwu became more and more interested in fighting. It was not enough to insert two weapons into the back of the corpse vulture. He even pulled out a short dagger and stabbed it randomly into the back of the corpse vulture with sparse feathers.
, causing a mess of blood and flesh, and foul-smelling pus and blood splashed out.
Although the corpse vulture is a monster, it still has a body of flesh and blood, and it has to rely on the movement of its whole body muscles and bones to flap its wings smoothly. Now that its back has been severely damaged, even the tyrant of the desert has to break its wings and fall.
Fortunately, the corpse vulture had an instinct to survive and did not fall straight towards the sand sea. Instead, it spread its wings and glided precariously for several hundred feet before hitting a protruding sand dune, raising large amounts of sand dust.
Cheng Sanwu fell to the ground with the corpse vulture, and was thrown away, rolling dozens of times on the ground. Although he survived, he was still beaten to pieces, and coupled with the foul smell of pus and blood from the corpse vulture,
It made his stomach churn, and he vomited profusely as soon as he got up.
"Bah! I'm really going to die!" Cheng Sanwu was covered in dust, and before he could take care of himself, he heard the screams of corpse vultures coming from the smoke.
"The evil beast is not dead yet?!"
Although the corpse vulture suffered heavy damage when it fell to the ground, it still had some strength left. It was repeatedly tricked by Cheng Sanwu, and its ferocity became fierce, vowing to eat its flesh and blood and soul.
Seeing the strange bird crawling with its wings and claws on the ground, its posture is strange, but its speed is not much inferior to that of a galloping horse, and its black eagle beak and feet can easily tear through iron armor.
Cheng Sanwu retreated sharply, but unfortunately his sword and dagger were stuck on the corpse vulture's back. At this moment, his hands were empty and he could not fight with it head-on.
"If you give me a big gun, why don't you stab your throat?"
Cheng Sanwu cursed inwardly and jumped back one after another. However, in his anxiety, he forgot to pay attention to his feet and happened to trip over a stone.
The body overturned, and the corpse vulture took advantage of the situation to pounce. When Cheng Sanwu saw the eagle's beak plowing the ground and shoveling the sand in front of him, he immediately curled up and ducked into it, and then used all his divine power to forcefully open the eagle's beak like steel pliers.
.
The corpse vulture didn't seem to have expected Cheng Sanwu's move. It bit the eagle's beak several times, but it was always opened again. The strange bird shook its head and tail like crazy, as if it had a stone stuck in its throat.
"Come on! Let's see who can't hold on first!" Cheng Sanwu's muscles were stiff and he gritted his teeth and persisted. At this moment, he was fighting so selflessly that he wished he could grow to two or three feet tall and burst the strange bird's mouth!
One person and one bird were in a stalemate, wrestling with each other for a short while. Just as the corpse vulture was briefly tired due to its frantic struggle, a burst of rapid horse hooves came from not far away.
Then there were several shouts and sharp blades piercing the air. Cheng Sanwu noticed that the corpse vulture was hurt and screamed. The huge body immediately collapsed and the upper and lower beaks no longer bite.
After struggling to crawl out of the strange bird's mouth, Cheng Sanwu turned around and saw Peng Ning standing on the back of the corpse vulture, breathing heavily. The long sword in his hand was pulled out from the back of the corpse vulture's neck. It was stained with blood. It was obvious that he took the opportunity to perform a fatal blow.
hit.
"Thank you." Cheng Sanwu was so tired that he sat down on the ground. The big bay horse came to his side and Xiang Xi gestured. It was obviously it that brought Peng Ning.
"It's okay, I can't die." Cheng Sanwu patted the horse's face and panted heavily.
"Is this how you usually serve as a guard for caravans?" After a moment, Peng Ning threw the horizontal knife and dagger at Cheng Sanwu's feet, with a hint of doubt and reproach in his tone.
Cheng Sanwu heard this and explained: "The corpse vultures I have dealt with in the past were all driven away with a few arrows. I have never seen such a big one before."
"Such a demon has probably caused trouble in the Western Region for many years. Why hasn't it mobilized troops to exterminate it in the past?" Peng Ning was puzzled.
Cheng Sanwu put away his weapon and patted the dust on his body: "We have already killed it more than once. We also invited monks and Taoists to chant sutras and practices. I heard that we also found several nests and spent a lot of effort.
Destroy it."
Peng Ning looked at the dead demon beside him, and there were wisps of dark green smoke floating out from the corpse of the strange bird. He frowned and said: "How could such a huge corpse vulture, which has swallowed so many lives and flesh, appear here?"
"Only the devil knows." Cheng Sanwu said unintentionally: "Hurry up and leave. The corpse vulture will emit poisonous smoke after death. If you smoke it too much, you will get sick."
Peng Ning stared at the corpse of the strange bird for a while, then put his hand into his arms with a solemn expression. He turned back to look at Cheng Sanwu who was leading the horse away, and said loudly: "Thank you!"
"Thank you for what?" Cheng Sanwu looked puzzled.
"You saved me again." Although it was Peng Ning who took the life of the corpse vulture in the end, if Cheng Sanwu hadn't risked his life first, he might have become the monster's meal.
Peng Ning vaguely guessed that the corpse vulture might be coming for him, and Cheng Sanwu was involved in it for no reason, but he still showed no concern for his own safety when facing the monster. He was greatly admired for his courage and bravery.
Cheng Sanwu didn't care, and said with a smile: "Walking in the desert of the Western Regions, you rely on helping each other, how can you come up with so many thanks?"