treacherous world

Speaking of eight years ago, it was not long before Zhao Pu became the Generalissimo of the Song Dynasty. After a few victories, the territory was basically stabilized. Several lieutenants were divided into several groups and let them patrol in shifts. He also led the army to patrol town by town, deal with some bandits and help rebuild some villages and towns.

Usually, Zhao Pu stayed in each town for about ten days and half a month. This time, they were stationed in an unnamed small town in the desert of the Western Regions.Out of the city to the west, there is a vast desert, very magnificent.

The thing happened in this magnificent desert.

Among Zhao Pu's many lieutenants, there is a young general named Chen Wang. He is a Confucian general. In terms of kung fu, he is definitely not a master in Zhao Pu's army, but he is highly valued by Zhao Pu. Proficient in the metaphysics of algebra, very profound.

In fact, in the early years, Zhao Pu still hated scholars very much. This Chen Wang had a nerdy air, and he liked to make jokes about marching and fighting, pretending to be ghosts, so that Zhao Pu wanted to beat him up several times.However, several old generals in Zhao Pu's army were full of praise for him, saying that Chen Wang is not a simple person, he is good at observing the changes of the weather, and can observe the abnormal phenomena, which is rare.

Sure enough, Chen Wang accurately predicted the weather and disaster more than once, and helped Zhao Pu a lot.Zhao Pu was rewarded and punished clearly, and this man was also the fastest promoted among the Confucian generals.

When the team was patrolling, Ouyang Shaozheng, a geography expert, had a headache for an area that was not marked on the map. Chen Wang told everyone that this wasteland deep in the desert in the northwest was a dead land. According to astrology and Fengshui, this It is a dangerous area that must not be entered at any time.

Of course Zhao Pu didn't believe in these things, so he asked him why, and Chen Wang's answer was - this place is the eye of the world leading to the Paradise of Paradise in the Western Paradise, and there is no return!

Zhao Pu listened to what he was talking about, and was skeptical, but the area was indeed barren, from the outside, there was not even a bird in the air, which was very strange, so Zhao Pu asked the patrolling soldiers and horses to avoid the area and forbid approaching it.

Coincidentally, one day, a group of rogues ransacked a village. At that time, they were hit by a patrol led by Ouyang Shaozheng.Those gangsters panicked and ran into the barren restricted area.Ouyang wanted to go in, but he was grabbed by Zou Liang, who was always calm - this place was forbidden by Zhao Pu's order, so they just sent people to wait outside, and did not enter without authorization.

The two came back and reported the matter to Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu had long forgotten about the forbidden ground and asked everyone to catch thieves. What did they come back empty-handed?Ouyang was about to turn around and go back, but Chen Wang tried his best to stop him, saying that he must not enter this place!

Ouyang and Zou Liang looked at each other, and finally had to look at Zhao Pu.

Although Zhao Pu is the one who decides the key moments in the war, he usually listens to people's persuasion. If he is recognized by him as capable, he will respect your opinion very much. Therefore, since Chen Wang tried his best to prevent it, he will not enter if he does not enter. chant!Anyway, it wasn't a big deal, so he asked Ouyang Shaoze and the others to watch nearby and wait for a rabbit. There was no clothes or food inside, and even gold and silver could not be eaten.

But the strange thing is that after half a month, those stragglers remained silent.

Ouyang Shao kept watch for a few days and gave himself up, because the wasteland with broken walls and broken bricks was eerily quiet. After waiting for so many days, not even a bird flew in from the sky.

Ouyang also specially asked someone to build a bamboo platform several feet high, climbed up to look at it for a long time, and found that the place was empty, with yellow sand all over the ground, and there was no one there.And the weirdest thing was that he watched several birds pass by here, and they all made a detour.

After telling Zhao Pu about the matter, Zhao Pu also felt a little weird, and ran up to the bamboo platform to have a look, but he was also dumbfounded—could it be a large expanse of quicksand?But why are the stones and bricks still in the quicksand?And looking at the structure of these dilapidated walls, it seems that it was originally a town with a complex structure, built artificially, but what about this town?Was it buried in the yellow sand?I have never heard of any ancient city that was buried here.

Back in the barracks, the news spread. Many people said that this place might be some kind of ghost town or demon city. Rumors spread all over the place, causing people to panic.

Zhao Pu is not a believer, afraid of shaking the morale of the army, so he insisted on going into that wasteland to have a look.

But not only Chen Wang, everyone stopped him from going, some old generals threatened to die, Zhao Pu had no choice but to give up.But that night, he still rode Hei Xiao alone, and brought Zi Ying and Zhe Ying to go in to see what happened.

But what's even more strange is that when he got to the vicinity, Hei Xiao refused to go in and went around in circles.

Zhao Pu was furious, so he simply got off his horse and walked in alone, but Hei Xiao bit his sleeve and refused to let him go.

Although Zi Ying and Zhe Ying were used to following Zhao Pu to do things wrong, they also saw that something was wrong, and they also held Zhao Pu to prevent him from acting recklessly. After all, he had a noble status—if something went wrong, the consequences would be disastrous.

After Zhao Pu was dragged back, the group of old officials had a headache reading, so they decided to lead the troops to withdraw and change to another place.

Just before he left, another incident happened. Several soldiers in the army fought, and one of them ran into the wasteland and did not come out. The others were afraid of being punished if the incident spread, so they went in quietly to look for him, but they also disappeared.

This matter naturally alarmed Zhao Pu, Zhao's army lost soldiers, even if it was a mountain of swords and fire, with Zhao Pu's temperament, he would go to save people.However, the incident was treacherous, and no one would let him take risks, so there was a stalemate for a while.

In desperation, Chen Wang came up with an idea, the soldiers who happened to be lost were all his subordinates, and he knew the art of geomancy, so he decided to let him lead them in.

Zhao Pu led people to watch from a distance on the nearby high platform, so that they could help if something happened.

However, it was this decision that Zhao Pu regretted the most in his life!

On that day, Chen Wang calculated the time of day, chose the position, and led a hundred elite soldiers, taking advantage of the sunny and sunny noon, stepped into the mysterious desert.

Zhao Pu and the others stared closely at the high place, not daring to relax for a moment.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Chen Wang and the others successfully entered the wasteland and walked forward slowly.

When the team reached the center of the wasteland, Chen Wang seemed to have suddenly discovered something on the ground, so he hurriedly got off his horse and squatted on the ground to check.

Zhao Pu frowned. It was too far away, and no matter how good his eyesight was, he couldn't see clearly. He suddenly stood up and shouted as if he was frightened. He waved his hands at the generals behind him, which seemed to mean Let everyone run quickly!

Those soldiers will retreat immediately.

Zhao Pu looked at it inexplicably, but also became nervous, with some bad premonition.

But at this moment, the horses in the entire barracks became restless, and even the dogs barked, and at the same time, a gust of sand blew up...

Only in the blink of an eye, with just such a "swoosh", everyone found that Chen Wang and his more than 100 people had disappeared.

……

After a moment of silence, everyone looked at Zhao Pu, because everyone didn't see what happened... At this time, Zhao Pu's face became even more ugly, and he didn't know what happened.Looking again, there was no one in that wasteland, as if a gust of wind and sand just now swept everyone away, and disappeared together with the footprints on the ground.

After hearing Zhe Ying's narration, everyone couldn't sit still, and the first one who didn't believe it was Gongsun.

"It disappeared after a gust of wind? Could it have fallen into the ground or was there some kind of mechanism?"

"That's right!" The fourth son also nodded. It takes a long time for these more than 100 people to walk one by one.

Everyone also nodded.

Zhao Pu shook his head, "It did disappear in front of my eyes. The thousands of soldiers present at that time were all witnesses."

Everyone looked at each other.

"What about after that?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Afterwards the marshal insisted on going in." Ziying said, "More than 1000 soldiers took him back to the barracks for a long-term plan!"

Gongsun heaved a sigh of relief and nodded. It was indeed a wise move. Fortunately, the shadow guards were able to hold him down.

Zhao Pu curled his lips, but he seemed to be brooding over this matter. If he had been allowed to go in to see what happened that day, maybe it would have been okay.

Afterwards, everyone went back to the city to ask some guides who were familiar with the local terrain and history, but to no avail.But at this time there was a change in Xixia, Zhao Pu hurriedly took his men back to fight, and he could get away after half a year.He never forgot about it, and left his men to look for Chen Wang nearby, but none of them came back.

When Zhao Pu was fighting in Xixia, he met a few travelers from the depths of the desert. While chatting and drinking, he talked about this place.It was they who told him that it was a land of swallowing people, and it had something to do with the ancestors of the Falcon tribe. Since ancient times, there has been a saying of the land of bliss...you can only enter and cannot exit.At the same time, it also mentioned that it is the passage from the human world to the Paradise of Ultimate Bliss.

"The Land of Ultimate Bliss..." Zhan Zhao frowned and asked, "Then you haven't entered it again?"

"I'll look for it when I look back after the battle, it's so strange, I can't find that place!" Zhao Pu shook his head up to the sky.

Everyone finds it new, is there such a thing?There is a map, a guide, and Ouyang Shaozheng. The geography is there, but I can't find it!

"The terrain in the desert is ever-changing, and it is absolutely possible not to find it." Zhe Ying sighed, "Oh, it's a pity that Chen Wang is gone, and there are still a hundred soldiers. After this incident, the marshal's face The character has converged a lot."

Everyone looked at Zhao Pu.

Zhao Pu rubbed his chin in embarrassment and gave a helpless "tsk", "Oh, it's also my fault for my ignorance. I didn't know that Tian Gao Di Hou killed a favorite general, and the past is unbearable! If Chen Wang can stay until today, he will definitely be the prime minister's material , what a pity."

Gongsun touched his neck, knowing that what he said seemed to be about not to mention the past, but he was actually very guilty. This must be something that Zhao Pu regretted all his life.

After listening to Zhao Pu's description, everyone turned to look at Xiao Liang, after all he was very familiar with the place.

After listening to it for a long time, Xiao Liang didn't understand why he described that place so horrible, he scratched his head, "No... a group of us children often went to play, and nothing happened, but I remember my mother was I told us not to go in that place. Now, I was still very young eight years ago, isn’t it a place?”

Everyone counted the time and felt that it seemed that it was a bit out of date.

Zhan Zhao asked, "Could it be a mistake?"

Zhao Pu shrugged, "Maybe, after all, I heard from some passers-by."

"With your personality, you won't have asked about it later, right?" Bai Yutang asked Zhao Pu.

Zhao Pu smiled and nodded, "Of course I need to inquire. I did hear some old people mention the Land of Elysium, but the words were vague, which seems to be some kind of taboo."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang watched Tianzun and Yinhou together, what does that mean—how about you two?Have you heard it?

Both of them shook their heads and signaled——I haven't heard of it, so the movements are the same.

It was just a very synchronized movement of the two, but it aroused the suspicion of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

The movements of Tianzun and Yinhou are never in sync. Generally, when one doesn’t know, he will subconsciously look at the other and ask him if he knows. This time they not only shook their heads but also didn’t look at each other. A tendency to conceal their complicity... Weird!

The discussion here is not over yet, the palace has already sent people to invite them, the ceremony will start first, and the fourth son will be sent to the palace, everyone will follow, and then we will have a dinner together.

Everyone changed their clothes, Gongsun was worried about life and death, and the fourth son was alone with Duan Sulong, so Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang acted as "relatives" with them.In addition, the two of them had another purpose for their trip - that was the word that Long Weixing accidentally slipped out just now.

In the ruined temple before, Long Weixing seems to have said that the structure of the ruined temple is very similar to the temple where the emperor picked up the Buddha statue.And Bai Yutang speculated that the ruined temple and the statue of Guan Erye were used to test the mechanism, so could it be that the place where the mechanism is really planned is in the temple?No need to ask, the target of the attack will not be that hapless Dong Fang, but the emperor of Dali!

What if Duan Sulong took the Buddha statue back, triggered the mechanism, and was slapped to death by the Buddha statue... This would be an earth-shattering event.People in Dali still believe in Buddhism, so I really don't know what it will be like.

Bai Yutang is the only person who is familiar with this set of mechanisms, and he might be able to prevent a catastrophe... After all, Zhao Pu is also here, and it is his son who receives the Buddha statue. To expand this matter and get involved with Zhao Pu, it can be big or small.

After leaving the other courtyard, a group of people arrived at the palace and found that they were ready.

The fourth son climbed into Duan Sulong's big sedan chair, and there were soft cushions for him to sit on. He didn't need to do anything else. It happened that he was so tired after staying up all night last night that he fell asleep after lying on his stomach for a while. .

Duan Sulong himself has no heirs, seeing that the fourth son is innocent and cute, and also full of fatherly love, he covered him with a blanket, carefully used a fan to protect him from the wind and sun, and ordered the playing outside to be quieter, so as not to disturb the fourth son to rest.

Everyone was wary of Duan Sulong at first, but seeing that his love for the fourth son was not pretending, they also had a good impression of him.

The itinerary this time is very simple. Go to the "Shen Pagoda" in the south to pick up the Buddha statue, and then enshrine it in a temple near the palace. Then you're done, and then return to the palace to start the dinner.At most, some activities such as chanting scriptures will be added to it, and it won't be long.

The brigade marched out in mighty force, and the people along the way were crowded together, kneeling down and praying for blessings.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang followed behind the sedan chair, and the shadow guards on both sides led their men to hide under the eaves and among the crowd, strictly protecting the safety of the fourth son. drive.

As the team walked all the way, when the high tower ahead was clearly visible, Zhan Zhao suddenly heard the wind in his ears... subconsciously stretched out his hand, and caught a small stone flying from a distance.

He looked at the stone, and followed the direction tacitly with Bai Yutang, and saw a person standing behind the kneeling crowd at the entrance of an alley not far away.

The half-familiar face made Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang inexplicably want to say hello to him, this person was the one who drove them all the way from Song Dynasty to Dali—Dead Ye!

Zhan Zhao lightly tossed the stone in his hand, seeing the dead leaves hide in the alley after showing their faces, a little puzzled—was he trying to remind them of something?