Kuroba Kaito grasped the handle and handle of the knife tightly with both hands and pulled hard.
But even if he suppressed the bulging veins in his temple, he couldn't pull the knife out at all.
Seeing this, Qin Zhibo slowed down the yak, almost keeping pace with Black Feather Kaito, and asked.
"How about I give it a try?"
Kuroba Kaito handed the ancient sword to Qin Zhibo.
However, Qin Zhibo did not pull out the knife after tinkering for a while.
"It's possible that the tavern owner didn't store it properly, and it might be rusty inside."
"Perhaps this knife cannot be pulled out in the first place..."
Qin Zhibo prefers the latter in his heart, because the knife shows no traces of rust from the outside.
As for why Black Feather Pirates left an ancient sword that could not be pulled out for his son, Qin Zhibo could not guess.
After Kuroba Kaito put away the ancient sword, he and Qin Zhibo continued to concentrate on their journey.
…
At dusk, the two stopped in front of a black mountain range and prepared to set up camp under the leeward cliff.
During this day, they passed by more than a dozen onyx quarries.
The inhabited areas of Inganok seemed to have come to an end, and all that was left were insurmountable gray peaks, towering sinisterly and desolately in the north.
Qin Zhibo tied the yak to the protruding stone pier on the side of the road while looking towards the more distant depths of the north.
The peaks there are still shrouded in clouds that persist all year round, and the clouds are shimmering with subtle phosphorescence like the Northern Lights, full of magical and mysterious atmosphere.
According to the description of the quarry miners I met today, those peaks shrouded in clouds are the "Leng Plains".
If you want to reach Leng Yuan, you must first climb over the gray peaks in front of you.
However, the miners also warned the two of them not to go too far north.
Except that the terrain is too dangerous, there is an abandoned ore field among those gray peaks.
Inside there are unparalleled majestic stones carved by hands older than humans.
There is also a terrifying stone monastery. There is no one left for dozens of kilometers around, so how could there be an ancient monastery in a place like that?
The people living there must not be human beings...
There is also the Shantak bird's nest on the top of the pinnacle, which is enough to scare every pilgrim.
This incident made Qin Zhibo realize that the road ahead would not be easy.
"It would be great if there were hang gliders..."
Next to him, Kuroba Kaito was also looking towards the north and murmured.
Although hang gliding requires a certain starting height, as long as you can climb one of the pinnacles, you can fly over the entire gray pinnacle area in one breath and reach the deepest part of Leng Yuan.
It's just that he doesn't have the qualifications of a dream maker like Kuroba Toichi, so he can't create matter out of thin air in a dreamland.
And it is impossible to bring a realistic hang glider to this world.
"It's better to rest early and try to find a feasible route forward tomorrow..."
…
It gets dark very quickly in Inganok.
Just as Qin Zhibo and Kuroba Kaito tied up the yaks, gathered firewood, and lit up the bonfire, the sky turned completely dark.
Only the 10 meters near the campfire could be seen clearly, while a little further away it was pitch black.
Qin Zhibo took out two pieces of hard naan bread and bacon jerky from his ration belt and gave them to Kuroba Kaito.
For two modern people with favorable conditions, this kind of food is really difficult to swallow.
But whether it was due to the environment or their determination to go to the secret realm of Kadasi, the two quickly swallowed the food with the help of water.
After filling your stomach, it’s time to rest.
Qin Zhibo bought two felt mats and two wool blankets at the market in Inganok City in the morning.
As for tents, Qin Zhibo spent a long time wandering around the market and found nothing.
There isn't even a substitute.
If it is windy and rainy in the wild, I can only pray to find a cave without an owner.
"Good night."
"Good night."
Beside the crackling bonfire, Qin Zhibo and Kuroba Kaito said good night to each other and closed their eyes.
Since they had exhausted a lot of energy during the day, the two fell asleep quickly.
In fact, activities in the dreamland are equivalent to normal deep sleep in the real world.
Even if you do strenuous exercise in a dreamland all night, you won't be affected much when you return to the real world. At most, you won't have a good rest.
Moreover, dreamers can also dream in the dreamland.
However, the dreams in the dreamland either have no background, or they are in the background of the dreamland.
At this time, Qin Zhibo was dreaming.
He dreamed of the distant town of Usa, where lazy kittens were dozing in their cradle.
He dreamed of the port of Dilas-Lynn, where merchants all dressed in dark clothes were walking in the streets and alleys, and boatmen were sitting on wooden boxes on the dock, drinking and singing.
He dreamed of the Tombs of Xin in the underground world, and the ghouls were running and jumping freely on the plains.
There seemed to be Matsumoto Ryohei and Nancy among them.
Finally, he dreamed that in the depths of Leng Yuan, beautiful white towers stood among the clouds.
The tops of those huge towers are like double crowns, and the pale onyx above emits dazzling white light, illuminating the entire sky like a lighthouse.
There are also music and songs that do not belong to this world, echoing between heaven and earth...
Qin Zhibo is immersed in it.
suddenly!
A fine sound of rubbing gravel sounded in my ears, accompanied by the unusual "moo" sound of the yak.
Qin Zhibo suddenly woke up from his sleep and quickly looked around.
I saw a much weaker bonfire reflecting on the rocks not far away, and a few dark figures approaching the camp furtively and clumsily.
"who!"
Qin Zhibo was startled, his sleepiness suddenly disappeared, and he shouted in the direction of the figure.
And this sound not only stirred up those figures, but also woke up Kuroba Kaito who was sleeping next to him.
"What's going on? Uncle..."
Kuroba Kaito wiped his sleepy eyes and raised his upper body to look at Qin Zhibo.
Qin Zhibo stared at those figures and replied: "Someone is coming..."
He was convinced that those shadows belonged to humans, because only humans could have such sneaky movements.
At this time, when the figure standing by the rock saw that he had been discovered, he no longer covered himself up and walked directly into the bonfire range openly.
"Jiejie..."
"We meet again."
A total of five people came out of the dancing firelight.
Qin Zhibo recognized at a glance that three of these people were the three black businessmen wearing turbans that he had met in the bar of Dilas-Lingang.
If it weren't for the wrong guidance of these people, he and Kuroba Kaito would not have boarded the black sailboat controlled by the moon beast.
"Is it you?"
Qin Zhibo put one hand under the blanket, ready to draw out the Oath-Keeping Sword at any time.
At this time, Kuroba Kaito also got rid of his sleepiness and stared at these five people as if facing a formidable enemy, but he did not dare to stand up and resist immediately.
Among the five people, the leader is a short-legged businessman with slanted eyes.
He turned his face to other places, grinning maliciously, and the teeth in his mouth were not only burnt yellow, but also missing a few.
"Jiejie..."
"Our master would like to invite you to sit for a while."
As soon as he finished speaking, another person walked over from behind the rock.
This man was also dressed in black, but he was holding a slender upward rein.
Looking back again, I was shocked to find that behind him he was actually leading a group of... horses with wings?
No.
That's not a horse, but a bird.
Because when Qin Zhibo looked down, he saw pairs of giant bird paws stepping on the gravel ground.
This is a strange bird with a horse head and a pair of narrow bat wings spread behind it.
Against the backdrop of the firelight, you can see that the strange bird's body has speckled reflections and smooth scales.
Qin Zhibo immediately thought of the Shantak bird mentioned by the miners when he passed by the quarry during the day. It was a strange bird with scales on its body.
Are these shattuck birds?
"Okay, now sit on them!"
"As long as you sit on them, you can fly to the master!"
The short-legged businessman with slanted eyes spoke in a somewhat excited tone, and his face clearly demonstrated what "ugly" means.
The four followers behind him, holding scimitars in their hands, left no room for negotiation.
Kuroba Kaito quickly glanced at Qin Zhibo, trying to find a way to deal with the current situation from his eyes.
Is it a fight?
Or run?
In Kuroba Kaito's mind, he definitely couldn't obey these people's suggestions and ride those huge strange birds.
Because these people are not good people at first glance, and the masters they serve are even more unreliable.
And those strange horse-faced birds, how could normal people ride on them?
I would rather fly around Tokyo on a hang glider with a hole in it than ride on one of these monsters!
But just when Kuroba Kaito was convinced that the next negotiation would inevitably break down, Qin Zhibo stood up from the felt mat with a smile.
"Since your master has warmly invited you, we can't neglect it..."
"We accept your offer."
What?!
Kuroba Kaito looked stunned, and was extremely shocked inside.
"Uncle..."
Before he could ask, Qin Zhibo reached out and made a comforting gesture, "It's okay."
"Since they have arranged a 'special car' to pick us up, they will definitely ensure our safety."
"We just need to sit on it..."
Hearing Qin Zhibo's words, the corners of the slant-eyed businessman's mouth rose crazily, and he repeatedly echoed, "Yes, yes, yes..."
Seeing this change in expression, Kuroba Kaito complained even more.
This is rather suspicious!
However, Qin Zhibo's eyes remained firm and he even walked towards the group of strange birds.
These Shantak birds, like their owners, looked askance at the relatively short Qin Zhibo, looking very disgusting.
Qin Zhibo frowned slightly and came to one of the Shantak birds.
He raised his hands to support the Shantak bird's back and prepared to turn it over, but the scales on it were very smooth and it was not easy to grasp it.
At this time, a man in black pushed him from behind.
With his help, Qin Zhibo sat firmly on the back of the Shatak Bird.
But when he looked down, he saw Kuroba Kaito still standing by the campfire, not knowing what to do.
"come on……"
"Trust my judgment."
Seeing Qin Zhibo's serious expression, Kuroba Kaito felt a little touched in his heart.
Along the way, I relied on my uncle's judgment to avoid danger and find a new way out.
Maybe this seemingly dangerous move is also for...
After thinking about it in his mind, Kuroba Kaito also decided to follow.
But he looked back at his luggage again. These luggages were important supplies for future adventures and he couldn't give them up.
“What about the luggage and the yak?”
"The master has prepared everything for you..." the slant-eyed businessman replied with a grin.
Then, he urged, "Come up quickly, the master is waiting for you!"
As a last resort, Kuroba Kaito could only put the ancient sword left by his father into his arms and follow Qin Zhibo on the same Shantak bird.
As the two of them sat down, the Shantak bird flapped its wings, lifting up a lot of the saltpeter on its wings.
One shattuck can carry the weight of two people at most, and the remaining six people ride on other shattucks.
Just like that, a menacing team of Shattuck birds set off.
…
In the cold and dark sky, giant birds flap their wings rhythmically.
They first climbed very high into the sky, and then flew eastward, trying to get around those gray peaks that were insurmountable in height.
Qin Zhibo lay as much as possible on the back of the bird, holding his hands on the smooth scales, and stretched his head out from the side of the Shantak bird, looking down.
Through the high-altitude vortex below, you can see the undulating mountains between the gray peaks.
These mountains seem to be very small, but they are also very difficult to walk.
Um……
It seems that as expected, it is almost impossible to reach Leng Yuan.
In addition to having to ride a slow-moving yak around a long way, we also have to face the problem of food supply.
However, this area is almost no man's land, and it is a cold plateau area, so there are very few animals and plants that can be found as food.
Kuroba Toichi is a dreamer and can create food out of thin air, so he can go there without any scruples
But I can't fight Kuroba Kai alone.
So Qin Zhibo decided to take a risk and take a ride on the Shantak bird that these people sent to his door.
As for why he was sure that these people's shattucks must have flown to the Leng Plains, it was because shattucks basically live in this area.
These people can tame these evil strange birds in large numbers, which shows that they are also locals.
As for the "master" they mentioned, Qin Zhibo guessed that it was probably related to the stone monastery mentioned by the miners.
If you can take the Shantak Bird and fly closer to Leng Yuan, it would be like taking a free ride.
Or, if you can directly enter the range of Leng Yuan, the situation will be different...
While Qin Zhibo lay on the back of the bird and looked below, Kuroba Kaito also looked around nervously.
The Shantak birds that the six people were riding on surrounded them, trapping them in the center of the circle.
Moreover, this kind of bird has no reins and does not seem to obey the orders of the rider.
At an altitude of 10,000 meters, Kuroba Kaito has never felt so restricted.
At this scene, Kuroba Kaito couldn't help but sigh in his heart.