Early the next morning, Zhang Yuelu, Qi Xuansu and his party took the horses from the Taoist temple and set off, leaving Kunlun and entering the Western Regions.
In the regional division of Taoism, Kunlun and the Western Regions each have Taoist mansions. The head of the Kunlun Taoist mansion is served by the close disciples of the Grand Master. However, because of the existence of Jiutang and Jinque, the position of the Kunlun Taoist mansion is very embarrassing. It is far from the
It is as comfortable as other local Taoist mansions, and somewhat similar to the Shuntian mansion of the imperial court.
Logically speaking, the Western Region Taoist Prefecture should have been named after the state like the Qizhou Taoist Prefecture, and it was called Xizhou Taoist Prefecture. This was just because there were quite powerful Buddhist forces in the Western Regions, and a war broke out between the two sides.
As a result, some counties and prefectures in Xizhou fell into the control of Buddhism, and some of the areas that Taoism seized from Buddhism exceeded the boundaries of Xizhou and no longer even belonged to the territory of the Daxuan court. The name Xizhou Daofu has been changed.
It was out of date, so it was renamed Xiyu Daofu.
After entering the Western Region, the white color of the snow gradually became less and less, and the scenery of the Gobi desert became more and more gentle. The group of people rode horses and could travel about three hundred miles a day. These horses were all modified by Daomen and were good at traveling long distances.
Cold and drought tolerant. ??
Only when you enter the Western Regions do you understand the concept of a vast land and sparsely populated areas. Often, you won't see a single person for most of the day. It's no wonder that Xizhou is the largest state under the imperial government, but the number of registered residents ranks last among the states. Here
Farming the land is less about fighting against people, and more about fighting against the sky.
This was not the first time Qi Xuansu came to the Western Regions. He and his master were attacked in the Western Regions, and it was also in the Western Regions that they met Qiniang, and their fate changed.
The Bishan Temple where the incident occurred is a full eight hundred miles away from the Taoist temple they stayed at before. It takes three days to walk. Because it deviates from the main official road, there are no Taoist temples or inns along the way.
, an inn, or even a village where you can stay may not be seen.
This is the reason why everyone in the Taoist sect bought "March Pills" in advance, so that they can eat and drink immediately. After night, they camped on the spot in the leeward place and took turns to keep vigil. Everyone did not dare to sleep, so they fell into trance instead of sleeping.
Nowadays, they are all innate people with cultivation skills, so it doesn't matter.
But some people who have been in Yujing for a long time are not used to it, and they can't help but criticize Zhang Yuelu for not taking the flying boat and insisting on riding a horse. He is really asking for trouble.
Qi Xuansu and Zhou Bai were both veterans. They arranged everything in an orderly manner, and most of the vigils were held by the two of them. This caused many people who were originally dissatisfied with Qi Xuansu to become a deacon to change their attitudes again.
According to Zhou Bai, luckily it didn't snow. If there was heavy snow, the subsequent journey would be even more difficult.
As a result, I don’t know whether I should say that Zhou Bai has a crow’s mouth, but the situation changed suddenly the next day. Although it has not yet entered winter, it has entered late autumn. September 22nd is the beginning of winter. In addition, it is close to Kunlun and the Snow Mountain, and the terrain
Higher, the climate is colder than in the middle
It snowed earlier in the original hinterland, and in the evening, it actually started to snow.
The next morning, the snow had stopped, and there was only a white patch of snow left between the sky and the earth. In addition, the Gobi was already empty, as if everything in the world had disappeared, and the roads that were already there were completely missing.
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The sun fell on the white snow, making it particularly dazzling.
This is the purpose of preparing gauze or sunglasses in advance. In this environment, the white snow reflects the sun and makes it white, which can easily hurt your eyes.
Everyone put on sunglasses and cloaks, and continued on the road. In the vast white snowy sky, the group of people looked like a string of black dots, extremely small.
Because of the snow, it was difficult for the horses to run. They could travel three hundred miles a day, but now they could only cover a few dozen miles a day, and the three-day journey became out of reach.
Moreover, the weather has begun to get colder. Sitting on horseback for a long time will inevitably make your hands and feet numb, and you have to use your Qi to dispel the cold. Fortunately, in addition to water bags, everyone also brought wine, and occasionally drank a sip of strong liquor.
It can be quite warm.
Qi Xuansu saw Zhang Yuelu taking this opportunity to start drinking openly. Within a short time, the wine bag shriveled up, but Zhang Yuelu was still a little unsatisfied.
In addition, Qi Xuansu was also a little worried. The road in the Gobi was already very unclear, and now another layer of snow had fallen, and it had completely disappeared without leaving any trace. Looking around, it was all white.
, there isn’t even a landmark, it’s almost uninhabited, and there’s no one to ask for directions. What should I do if I get lost?
I was really afraid of what would come. According to the map, the group should have passed through a dry river. But on this journey, they walked for most of the day until dusk, and there was no trace of the river at all. It couldn't be the river that let the snow fall.
It has been filled up for a long time. It is only late autumn now and there is no such heavy snow yet.
Zhang Yuelu was a little helpless. She got lost again. It seemed that she was always destined to get lost.
Last time I was in Zifu, this time I was in the vast Gobi.
Qi Xuansu looked up at the sky, his face looking a little heavy.
I don't know when thick clouds rolled up in the night, covering the bright moon.
Then the wind picked up, getting stronger and stronger, and gradually became sharper, like a knife, seeming to cut off a few ounces of flesh from a person's face.
After a while, the wind began to mix with snow particles, which hit my face painfully.
It's going to snow again
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Qi Xuansu couldn't help but sigh, and pulled up the one-piece hood of his cloak and covered his head.
He has only lived in Yujing for less than two months, and he is already a little unaccustomed to it. Those who have been in Yujing for a long time may be scolding them in their hearts.
As expected, many people's faces were not very good-looking, but they were afraid of Zhang Yuelu's power and did not dare to show it. If Qi Xuansu was the one who made the decision at this time, I am afraid that many people would have started to mock him in a weird way. .??.
Qi Xuansu thought for a while and said loudly to Zhang Yuelu: "Deputy Hall Master, the first priority is to find a place leeward to hide from the snow. Brothers are all innate and will not freeze to death in a snowstorm. The key is the horse."
Qi Xuansu followed Qi Niang and wandered in the arena for a long time, and absorbed many habits of the arena, and accidentally used the usual names in the arena.
Zhang Yuelu didn't care about these minutiae at this time and pointed forward: "Go to the back of the hillside."
There is a shallow ditch half a person's height behind the hillside, which can indeed provide shelter from the wind.
Just spent the night like this, as Qi Xuansu said, everyone is a person born with innate nature. A little wind and snow may not kill him, but suffering is unavoidable. After all, the biggest difference between a person born with nature and a person born after tomorrow is that he cannot be a human being.
Being harmed by diseases and epidemics, rather than being immune to cold and heat, is what Zhang Yuelu can achieve.
It’s just that everything is difficult at the beginning. After the initial period, everyone gradually got used to it and soon found the right road. They walked in the wind and snow for about ten days, and finally arrived at the "Bishan Temple" in early September.
Taoist temple.
Because of its remote location, Bishan Temple is quite simple. It is just a courtyard with two entrances. In the front is the main hall, dedicated to Taishang Taoist ancestors, and in the back is the living area. There are a row of houses, with a total of less than thirty rooms. They are usually stationed there.
There are more than ten Taoist priests from the Western Region Taoist Prefecture, which can be regarded as a "post" set up by the Taoist sect here.
As a result, the whole family was slaughtered overnight.
After the incident, the Taoist Government of the Western Regions sent people to check. However, due to the shortage of manpower, after forming a file and reporting it to the ancestral court, they did not continue the in-depth investigation. They only sent two people to guard the body here and wait for the people of Tiangang Hall.
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Seeing that the large team of people from Tiangang Hall finally arrived, the two people who had been nervous all breathed a sigh of relief.
Although you can't freeze or starve in a Taoist temple, it's really hard to stay with more than a dozen corpses all day long and worry about whether those monsters will leave and come back again.
Zhang Yuelu didn't waste any time and asked the two of them to lead the way to check on the body.
The corpse was placed in the main hall, covered with white cloth under the watchful eye of the statue of Taishang Daozu.
Zhang Yuelu drives from the far left
At the beginning, the white cloth was lifted, revealing a pale corpse. Although it had been dead for a long time, it had not yet rotted due to the cold weather.
Zhang Yuelu did not show disgust like ordinary women, but calmly reached out and turned the corpse's chin.
However, Qi Xuansu carefully discovered that Zhang Yuelu still used "Five Qi Yanluo" to wrap a thin layer of zhenqi on her hands. It seemed that she was not completely unconcerned.
Zhang Yuelu asked: "What do you think?"
Xu Zhen, who had always been taciturn, said: "He lost too much blood and there are tooth-like bite marks on his neck. They should be fangs. It looks like he died from a zombie."
"Zombies will not attack the caravan." Lingquanzi said.
Lingquanzi is an alchemist who is in the stage of returning to his true form. The alchemist is also good at raising ghost zombies and is most familiar with zombies.
Lingquanzi continued: "After death, the soul returns to heaven, the soul returns to the earth, and the three corpses turn into ghosts. The corpse is buried in the geomantic treasure land and is nourished by the earth's energy before it turns into a zombie. Zombies are extremely yin things.
Because there is no soul and three corpses, there is no memory of his life and he can only act on instinct."
Xu Zhen said: "Could it be that someone who is good at raising corpses drives zombies to commit crimes?"
Lingquanzi pondered: "It's not impossible, but the Taoist sect has very strict control over the method of raising corpses and ghosts. It's extremely difficult for Taoist disciples to practice it. How can those foreign monsters master it?"
While talking, Zhang Yuelu came to the second corpse and opened the white cloth. It was a seventh-grade Taoist priest. He saw that the death of this corpse was quite miserable, and his expression was ferocious. It seemed that he had seen something extremely terrifying. On the door.
There are five blood holes, located between the eyebrows, both eyes, and on both cheeks.
Zhang Yuelu's five fingers were like hooks, and he made a gesture, which corresponded to the five holes.
Qi Xuansu's heart moved and he said: "This seems to be somewhat similar to the 'Xuanyin Slaughter'."
"Xuanyin Slaughter" is a Taoist magical power. After being practiced, it can make the nails grow to more than a foot long, like a dagger, and it is indestructible. Qiniang is good at this method.
Zhang Yuelu nodded and said: "They are very similar."
Then she opened the white cloth of the third corpse, and the wound on the neck was clearly visible. The face was pale, and what was even weirder was that there was a smile on the face, as if he died in a state of ecstasy.
Zhang Yuelu said softly: "Zombies have no such ability."
Lingquanzi nodded in agreement and said: "This person seems to have been under an illusion. Zombies have no souls and no thoughts. Even the most powerful zombies cannot use illusions."
Zhang Yuelu signaled everyone to take off all the white cloth covering the remaining corpses.