Chapter 4 Evil Omen

Pooh!This ghost weather!

Wu Zhanwei struggled to hold the horse, climbed up the muddy ridge, saw the path clearly, and waved to the back.

Cheng Zongyang held up a banana leaf covering the raindrops above his head and gasped: Fourth, didn’t you say that when the sunset appears, the third most important thing is definitely a sunny day?

Qi Yuan's face became even more yellow when he was rained. He carefully held his mount so that the gravel that could not be seen in the mud would scratch the horse's hooves. He gasped: Just say that the evil place in Nanhuang... It started to rain... Wu Dadao!Find a place in front and everyone will shelter from the rain!

Wu Zhanwei handed the horse to his companions, raised his long sword and cut open the dense vines, and drove out a way.

This is the third day of entering the Southern Wilderness. It was sunny when I set off in the morning, and it was raining heavily in the blink of an eye.Almost for a moment, there were raindrops as big as beans everywhere, which made people unable to open their eyes.

The climate in the southern wilderness is humid and there are dense ferns everywhere. It is clearly a good road. After a few heavy rains, the growing plants completely cover the road. Several times, Qi Yuan found a few clues under the vines, so everyone was not lost.

Wu Zhanwei cut off a bush of lush phoenix tail ferns, and in front of him was a big tree covered with vines.

The tree is more than ten meters high, with thick petioles separated from the shape of umbrellas. Pinned leaves grow symmetrically on both sides of the petioles, each of which is one or two meters long.

Although water was still dripping under the tree, it was much better than the sudden rain outside. Several guards took action together to clear out a vacant area that was enough to accommodate vehicles and horses.

Looking at the trunks covered with scales, Cheng Zongyang asked: What kind of tree is this?

A snake tree.

Qi Yuan wiped the rain from his face and said with gratitude: Fortunately, he hasn't entered the mountain yet.

how?Is it harder to walk in the mountains than here?

Everyone went south from the mouth of Bailong River and replenished items for the last time before entering the Southern Wilderness. They have not yet encountered a village.

After spending a few days on the road, Qi Yuan already knew that this young man who claimed to be from Panjiang Nan actually knew nothing about Nanhuang, but Qi Yuan didn't care.

Who can have no secrets in life?

Although this young man doesn't understand the Southern Wilderness, he is not bad. After getting along with him all the way, everyone is already friends.

It's not that the road is difficult to walk.After entering the mountain, each of them was a valley. When the rain was raining, there was a mountain torrent.

Qi Yuan was still scared as he spoke. He encountered heavy rain last time he entered the mountain. We waited for two days, and the water retreated before leaving.Who knew that the upstream was blocked by the washed-down stones. As soon as I entered the river, the mountain torrent suddenly came down.That time we had more than 20 people, only three of us survived.

Qi Yuan shook his head, took out the wine gourd and took a sip, and handed it to Cheng Zongyang.

After taking a mouthful of bitter medicinal wine, Cheng Zongyang held his mouth and said: Is there no one nearby?

Only after passing the Black Rock Beach in front can you find it.There are more trees in the south than mountains, more mountains than water, and more water than people. Sometimes, even if you walk for three or five days, you can't encounter a village.

Qi Yuan tutted his mouth. Some villages had grass at the intersection and didn't dare to enter even if they encountered it.

Why?

There are more than a dozen large clans in the southern wilderness, and a small village is the same clan.Some villages made enemies with people and moved the entire village to the mountains.There is a grass in the intersection, but outsiders are not welcome.Some people who go to the Southern Wilderness do not understand this rule and do not come out again after entering.

The slaves pushed the carriage to the tree. Their clothes were thin and they were all wet with the rain. They lay exhausted all over the floor after putting them down.

Qi Yuan went over and kicked them up one by one, wringing their clothes out!Wipe all the water on your body!I don’t want to leave my life here and sit up!All those who are asleep wake up!

Wu Zhanwei and the young guard named Xiao Wei both walked through the southern desert. Without Qi Yuan's instructions, they untied their saddles and removed the load of the mule.

Cheng Zongyang also took off his saddle and wiped off the rain from his riding body.

His mount was a black horse. Since he was riding in the mountains and forests, this horse was not as tall as the war horse galloping on the grassland. Its endurance was excellent, its fur was black and shiny, and its temperament was gentle.

Cheng Zongyang rode for a few days, and the more he looked at him, he became more and more pleasing to him, so he named him Black Pearl.

The vines and weeds in the forest seemed to be inconsistent with the taste of black pearls. They poked out their soft and big noses and sniffed them east and west, then sniffed, raised their heads layer by layer, and shook their tail lazily.

Perhaps the most comfortable person among this group of people was Wu Erlang. Cheng Zongyang had seen this guy's lazy rogue behavior on the way. Everyone rushed to the road, and he slept soundly in the car.

For the prepared meal, this guy is the first to start, and he will have to have a song after eating and drinking.

This man was not here to work, but someone was in charge of food and accommodation and traveling to the southern wasteland, which made Cheng Zongyang regret not giving him a high price of silver.

Ning Yu is completely opposite to Wu Erlang. Everyone was full of worries along the way, but few people had seen Ning Yu.Most of the time she seems to disappear, only occasionally...

Cheng Zongyang couldn't help but smile.This woman did bring him a lot of unexpected surprises.

Suddenly the mane behind the black pearl's neck trembled, and it raised its head and made a loud noise, then raised its front hooves, as if it wanted to break free from the reins.

Cheng Zongyang patted the horse's neck gently, "What's the name, quiet!"

The always gentle black pearl became more and more uneasy. It roared and struggled hard to move the reins, and large patches of mud and water splashed under its hooves.

A chill passed by his heart, Cheng Zongyang suddenly turned around, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

A slave sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the tree in a stiff position.

A thick green vine walked around between his neck and chest and abdomen, wriggling and tightening.

The slave was entangled with one hand by the green vine, and the other hand reached out from the gap between the green vine, and was still holding a piece of unfinished dry food in his hand.

He opened his mouth wide, but couldn't make a sound, and his face turned red like he was drunk.

A green snake head stretched out from the slave's armpit, and there was a yellow snake pattern in the middle of its forehead, and the narrow pupils in the gloomy snake's eyes were straight up.

It raised its head slightly, and its blood-red and forked sharp tongue flashed through the snake's mouth like a flame, and then circled slowly stretched towards the slave's neck.

Cheng Zongyang pulled out the scimitar on the side of the saddle and said with a hiss: Snake!

Everyone was suddenly panicked. Qi Yuan turned his head and was startled when he saw it. He reached out to stop him, but Cheng Zongyang had already pounced on him.

Back off!Back off!

Qi Yuan kicked away the panicked slave, pulled his sword and ran over, shouting at the top of his throat: Don’t touch it!

That was raised by the Snake Yi people!

Wu Erlang has also taught him a few sword techniques these days, but Cheng Zongyang has never been interested in this famous Five Tiger Broken Gate Sword. He rushed over with a courage, forgot those tricks, and just instinctively slashed out.

The snake was caught in the snake's body and hung on the vine, and the color of the scales was almost exactly the same as the vine body.

Cheng Zongyang was afraid of hurting his own people, so he slashed in the center of the snake's body with a knife.

The green snake's scales shook, and a bitter green liquid oozed out from under the scales.

Under the pain, the green snake suddenly tightened.The slave's chest was originally suffocating, but it suddenly sank, making a sound of bone shattering, and a stream of blood spit out of his mouth.

Cheng Zongyang was stunned for a moment, and saw the snake's head suddenly spinning, loosening from the slave's neck, and then stretching straight towards his throat.

Its blood-red snake mouth was almost completely opened, its lodged fangs stood up, and a few drops of poisonous saliva splashed out from its thin and long tips.

With a tense sound, a short crossbow arrow flew across Cheng Zongyang's face, passed through the fangs of the green snake, and shot into its large upper jaw, revealing the yellow patterns on its forehead, nailing the entire snake's head to the vine.

Xiao Wei put down his hand and smiled and said: The crossbow from Tianwu Camp is very useful.

The slave's chest was broken and he was already exhausted.

The snake was nailed to the vine and twisted.

Qi Yuan looked at it with a calm face, then cut away from the seven inches of the green snake with one knife.

The snake head nailed to the vine shook, sprinkling a string of dark green blood.

Qi Yuan wrapped his hands in cloth, carefully pulled out the crossbow arrow, then dug two pits, and buried the snake head and crossbow arrow respectively.

A big hand suddenly reached out and patted Cheng Zong on his head heavily. Wu Erlang cursed: What a shit technique!Even a worm cannot be killed!Didn't eat you!See clearly!

Wu Erlang grabbed the knife, shook his shoulders, and the scimitar in his hand slashed over.

The green snake scales were extremely tough. After being stabbed by Cheng Zongyang, only a faint scratch was left.

The same sword came to Wu Yiyilang's hand but the sharpness was revealed. Wherever the sword light passed, the snake's scales flew and the snake's body broke inch by inch.

body!shape!step!Eye!

Every time Wu Erlang slashed out, he was like an eagle fighting a rabbit, focusing his strength on the edge of the blade.The green snake was like a rotten hemp rope, scattered in the light of the knife, but did not hurt the slave at all.

Cheng Zong coughed, "You don't want to save him?"

Wu Erlang snorted coldly, threw down his knife and walked away with great strides.

Looking at the slave's eyes that lost his life and turned into a dead gray, Cheng Zongyang felt bored.

He couldn't even remember the name of the slave, and he couldn't talk about any feelings.

But his companion died in an unknown wilderness, which made him realize the dangers of the Southern Wilderness for the first time.

Qi Yuan straightened his waist and ordered in a deep voice: Bury him and leave quickly.Once the rain stops, the snake and Yi people will come to look for the snake.

The slaves worked together to dig a deep pit and bury their dead companions.

The rain is slightly smaller.No one knew how many poisonous insects and strange snakes there were in the dense ferns around him. Everyone dared not stay for too long and rushed to the road without waiting for the rain to completely stop.

The Snake Yi people are considered a large ethnic group in the southern desert, and there are several villages north of Panjiang.

Qi Yuan took a sip of the medicinal wine, tutted his mouth, and said: Nanhuang is a place with great evil spirits. If a good person stays here for a long time, he will become a half-human and half-beast monster.In addition to the snake and Yi people, there are also dozens of races, including flower seedlings, red seedlings, white eagle, black fang, fox cave, bear li, white nude...

Qi Yuan glanced at the carriage behind and whispered: Wu Erlang's Baiwu clan is a descendant of the tiger clan. Apart from the tiger spots on his body, it is not much different from ordinary people.

Cheng Zongyang nodded, at least that guy didn't have a long tail.

Qi Yuan laughed and hurriedly covered his mouth.After all, Wu Erlang's fist doesn't like to joke.

Qi Yuan cleared his throat and continued: It's strange that women in Nanhuang are similar to those outside, but men are seven percent like beasts and three percent like humans.The people of Nanhuang also know that they are different from those outside, so they don’t like strangers.The village of the Snake Yi people is right in front, not far from Heishi Beach. I have been to the Southern Wilderness several times.Although the Snake Yi people are withdrawn and do not like to deal with outsiders, they never harass the past businessmen and are kind.Sometimes when you encounter someone staying in, you are willing to stay overnight.

Qi Yuan turned around and said, Xiao Wei, the goods he brought included borneol, cinnabar, moon stone, and Xuanming powder. He picked out some of them.

Xiao Wei agreed and went to pick up the medicinal materials.

Qi Yuan explained: Every household in Snake Yi raises snakes.Snakes can also get sick. These medicinal herbs are good medicines for treating snake mouth sores.If we kill someone’s snake, don’t make a statement and give a generous gift quietly, it’s considered equal.

Cheng Zongyang said unhappily: How can the snakes they raise be released casually?There is another person dead here, how should we calculate the loss?

Qi Yuandao: The snake and Yi people regard snakes as more important than life. Many people work hard for a snake.If something happens like this, you can only forget it.

He was a little puzzled as he said that the snakes were usually kept under the snakes very tightly.How could this snake get outside the village?

Qi Yuan thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out.

The group was speechless, thinking about their own thoughts and rushing to the road.

The mountain road that had just rained was extremely muddy. From time to time, someone fell, but without Qi Yuan scolding, he quickly got up again and followed behind silently, for fear of leaving the team and falling into this strange rain forest.

Although the rain stopped, the air was so wet that it could wring out the water.The coolness of the rain just now was steamed by the heat, and everyone was wet and uncomfortable.

The group stumbled to the Black Rock Beach, and the sky was already dark.

No!

Wu Zhanwei grabbed the rider violently.

There is a huge flood in front of me.The turbid river water is mixed with branches and leaves rushing down from the upstream, rolling across the two sides.The water was so surging that it couldn't even see the original river.

This place was originally a rocky beach. The river water overflowed the gravel in the beach and divided into countless streams of large and small sizes. It can be passed by just wading through it.

But now it has just rained and the river has skyrocketed, and the fine lingers are lingering. Although it is not too deep, it is so wide that it can't even find the edge.

Cheng Zongyang said: Is there any other way?

There is another place.Thirty miles away from here.

Qi Yuan looked at the sky and said that it was afraid it would rain on this day, and the ferry was not as good as the Heishi Beach. The water may rise even harder now.

Cheng Zongyang estimated the depth of the river. It seemed that the water was not very deep?

Qi Yuandao: There are rocks under this black stone beach, and two carriages can't find the bottom even if they fall into the deep place.

The merchants who walked to the southern desert have killed countless lives before they found a way to walk.

Qi Yuan pointed to the distance, and there was a large black stone by the river, which was the signpost to cross the river.

Cheng Zongyang looked up and saw a vast ocean in front of him. Where could he see the shadow of the black stone?

Qi Yuan smiled bitterly and said: If we can find it, we don’t have to wait here.

The sky quickly darkened, and the group was trapped by the river with their horses and horses.

A big head suddenly emerged from the water. Wu Zhanwei wiped the water from his face and roared with breath: No!

Not found!

Qi Yuan shouted: Come up!If not, let's just stop here for a night!Let's go when the water recedes!

Wu Zhanwei didn't answer, but turned over and dived into the water.

If it rains again tomorrow, the water may rise even harder.

The caravan was trapped by the water, with no place to live, and even the rain and freeze, plus the poisonous snakes in the forest, it would be better to try and find a way to cross the river.

Qi Yuan asked someone to raise a torch and illuminate Wu Zhanwei on the shore.

The wet river wind blew, and the torches swayed, and the shadows reflected the whirlpools of water that were sometimes big and sometimes small.

The heavy rain washed down a lot of mud and sand, and the river was turbid. Wu Zhanwei dived into the water, and he couldn't even see the corner of his clothes.

Two young men with good water quality in the guard took off their clothes and prepared to go into the water to pick up their companions.

Suddenly, a few slight neighs from the wind came from the upstream wind, and disappeared into the turbulent sound of water in a flash.

Qi Yuan's ears immediately stood up, listened carefully for a moment, and then shouted: The torches are gathered together, raise them higher!

Shi Gang, who had just taken off his boots, also heard the sound and lowered his voice: Fourth brother, I don’t know who comes over there, don’t expose everyone.

Qi Yuan grinned, Shi Gang, this is your first time in Nanhuang?Those who walk in the southern desert are all men who lick blood on the knife. Everyone can tell you everything clearly, but they are afraid of hiding it. You should guard against me, I should guard against you, and you will cause trouble if you have nothing to do.

A few ignitions lit up in the distance, and someone shouted: Are you a friend who is traveling to the southern wilderness opposite?

Qi Yuan raised the torch and waved it hard, and said loudly: Baihu Shopping Mall, Wuyuan City!Where are the friends from the east?

The opposite side also raised the torch high. Under the flames, several people lowered their heads to discuss a few words, and then got off the horse from afar. Several men came over surrounded by an old man.

The old man had gray temples and was wearing a green cloth robe.Although the tail of the robe was covered with mud and water, a purple silk ribbon on her waist was not messy at all, and there was a green jade pendant on it.

The old man took a few steps and bowed: Jiankang City Yun Family Chamber of Commerce, Deacon Yun Cangfeng has met you.The Bai Family Store in Wuyuan City has had business with me before. I wonder if you know you?

Qi Yuan hurriedly said: It's a small trumpet, now it is renamed Baihu Shopping Mall.

As he said that, he pushed Cheng Zongyang, half flattering and half reminding: The Yun Chamber of Commerce, together with the Jun and Xie Chambers, is one of the best chambers of commerce in the Six Dynasties.This is Deacon Cheng from our museum.

Cheng Zongyang also bowed his hand as he clasped his fists.

The old man smiled and said: It turns out that he is an old acquaintance.It was almost twenty years ago when you were in the business of your library. It is rare that I still remember my meeting.This young man Cheng is so old that he can lead the team to the Southern Wilderness. It turns out that he is a hero and a boy, which makes me ashamed.hehe.

The two sides climbed to friendship, and the guards who had been on guard secretly breathed a sigh of relief.Shi Gang loosened the hilt, and Xiao Wei also quietly put the crossbow into his backpack.

The Yun Chamber of Commerce and his group came over in the water. They were not many, but they were all strong men. More than a dozen people led more than twenty horses, half riding and half carrying weights.

Those men have thick joints and strong skills, and they are obviously good at having a solid foundation.

Following the team was a middle-aged man wearing the scholar's usual square scarf and leading a thin horse. His expression was faint. Although he walked with everyone, he seemed to be very far away from everyone, like a lonely traveler.

Cheng Zongyang didn't care either, and exchanged a few greetings with Yun Cangfeng, praising: You are not often seen in the army with such a strong subordinate.

Yun Cangfeng smiled and said: How can you compare to the guards of your museum? Deacon Cheng laughed at me.

There are still seven guards left in Baihu Centre. Although they are also elites selected by Qi Yuan, they are pale in comparison with the subordinates of the Yun Chamber of Commerce.

As for those slaves, they may not be the opponent of one of their guards.

Cheng Zongyang couldn't say that this was to facilitate his escape and deliberately picked the old and weak, so he made a fuss and changed the topic.

Why is Deacon Yun still rushing to the road so late?

Our association originally crossed the river from the upper ferry, but this severe rain flooded the ferry, so we had to look for it all the way along the river.

Yun Cangfeng frowned slightly, this should be Heishi Beach, right?how……

The water was rising too quickly, and the black stone leading the way was flooded, and he was looking for it now.

Qi Yuan said with some concern: The water is too strong, and even if you find the way, you may not be able to pass.

Yun Cangfeng looked at the water level and said: Yi Biao!Yihu!Go down and take a look!

The two big men responded and jumped into the water.Both of them were burly men, but the river water kept flooding to their chests. Even if they could wade across the river, Cheng Zongyang and the slaves in the mall could only swim.

Suddenly, Wu Zhanwei's big head appeared and shouted: Here!