treacherous world

Xing Huaizhou sent more than 3000 elite soldiers to Zhao Pu. Although it is easy to say, it will take a lot of effort to bring the three thousand soldiers out of hundreds of thousands of troops, but this is what Zhao Pu needs to worry about. Zhan Zhao will not consider this issue.

Zhao Pu told them to go first, and he wanted to prepare with Gongsun, so Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rode horses and went for a stroll to the hill near Heishui, wanting to go up the mountain to see for themselves what the Nanman army camp was like.

Although the two horses, Zao Duoduo and Bai Yunfan, have been together for a while, their relationship seems to be unabated, and they are in a mess.Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were riding on horses, and they felt their legs touch their legs every now and then, looking down, the heads of the two horses had already been bumped together.

Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand and patted Zao Duoduo's forehead, "Duo Duo, you are a girl anyway, be more reserved."

Zao Duoduo reluctantly took a step to the side, but Bai Yunfan bumped up again, Bai Yutang had no choice but to pull the reins of the horse, and the two horses looked back at their owners with some resentment at the same time, as if they were being beaten with a club.

When they arrived near Heishui, they could already hear the sound of water, but instead of going forward, the two chose to climb the slope.So, the not-so-steep mountain road reminded Zhan Zhao of the previous encounter here, the injury Bai Yutang suffered, and his despair that night, and he was really afraid.

Bai Yutang knew that revisiting Zhanzhao might be uncomfortable, so he hurriedly changed the subject, "Mao'er, have you been to Nanban?"

Zhan Zhao was led by him cooperatively, shaking his head, "Of course I haven't been there...you have?"

Bai Yutang nodded, "I went there once when I was young, with my second brother."

This time it was Zhan Zhao's turn to be surprised, "Why did you go to Nanban?" My elder brother needs yellow dragon wood for shipbuilding, so I searched everywhere. I heard that there is a thousand-year-old rare wood in the Nanman area. Yellow dragon wood is worth tens of thousands of gold. What if he buys it and someone robs him? So I came with her." "Yellow dragon wood is used to make boats." Zhan Zhao couldn't figure it out. Make a coffin, it’s very heavy and it will sink in the water, how do you make a boat?” Bai Yutang didn’t answer, but just stared at Zhan Zhao with a complicated expression.

Zhan Zhao was a little flustered by being stared at, and he had already put the previous discomfort behind him, and after thinking about it, he didn't feel guilty, what was wrong?Huanglongmu is indeed mostly used as coffins.

"Cat. The boat is not made of a single piece of wood. The yellow dragon wood is only used to make the keel." Bai Yutang stretched out his hand and squeezed Zhan Zhao's arm, "Bones also sink to the bottom of the water, but people can float up. You Why is there a muscle?"

Zhan Zhao felt ashamed, but he had never built a boat before, so it was understandable, and he felt that his focus seemed to be misplaced, so he didn't care about the boat wood or the coffin wood, and then asked Bai Yutang, "So you go to Nanban?" , did you have any adventures?"

"Speaking of it, it's really an adventure." Bai Yutang stroked his chin and recalled, "I almost died in Nanman."

Bai Yutang said casually, and Zhan Zhao's heart hung in the air, "What? What happened to you, were you sick or were you attacked?"

Bai Yutang thought for a while, "I can't say, but luckily someone saved me.

Zhan Zhao opened his mouth wide, "Be specific!"

"Where do we start?" Bai Yutang thought for a while, "My second brother's lifelong ambition is to build the largest ship in the world, which can travel across oceans to far, far places, so we need a thousand-year-old sacred tree to build it. Make the keel."

Zhan Zhao nodded and listened carefully.

"There are only a few thousand-year-old trees like Huanglongmu in the whole world? Most of them were conscripted into the palace to repair the palace, and most of the trees left only have roots, but there is one place where you can find the real Huanglongmu. , do you know where it is?"

Zhan Zhao was stunned for a moment, then smiled, "In the water, right?"

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows, "Oh?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head, "What did you say just now, if yellow dragon wood is used to make the keel of the boat, someone must have done it before. When the boat sank, wouldn't the keel be in the water?"

Bai Yutang nodded approvingly, Zhan Zhao is really smart, he will draw inferences when he gets it right!

"Could it be that the yellow dragon wood you want to buy this time is the keel of a sunken ship?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.

"There are many swamps and jungles in the Nanman area. In the jungle area that spans the entire Nanman tribe with hundreds of tribes, there is a river. I don't remember the name. It is a long string of Nanman language. The gap is very large. It passes through the mountains and the water flows Soon, there was a large wharf in the open area, which is said to have been a waterway in ancient times, leading to the open sea, but it was abandoned because of the war.” Bai Yutang recalled, while narrating, “Many houses in Nanban were built near the water, and my second brother and I just When I arrived, I lived in an inn by the water, and that night, I slept halfway through, when I heard strange noises outside."

Zhan Zhao opened his cat eyes wide and listened quietly.

"The strangest thing is that I woke up, but my elder brother didn't wake up." Bai Yutang smiled faintly, "Elder brother is always alert, usually he is the first to hear any strange sounds, but this time he didn't wake up, I just find it weird."

"Maybe it's more at ease with you." Zhan Zhao asked, "Then what sound did you hear?"

"It's like a monk chanting scriptures, and it's also like the wind..." Bai Yutang shrugged, "So I opened the window and looked, and found that the fog outside the window was so thick that the entire river could not be seen clearly, so I went out.

Zhan Zhao frowned, why did he go alone, so he could call his second brother to take care of him!

"As soon as I got to the stairs, I bumped into a guy head on." Bai Yutang said, "He told me that I don't care about the things going on downstairs, and told me not to look downstairs, let alone Open the window!"

Zhan Zhao frowned, "It's kind of evil."

"You think, they won't let me see..."

"You just want to see it more, don't you?" Zhan Zhao knew Bai Yutang a lot, and he answered before he finished speaking, but if he were himself, he would probably do the same.

"I opened a little window and looked downstairs first... Cat, speaking of it, I haven't seen such a spectacular scene since then." Bai Yutang said, gestured, "The fog cleared a little After driving a little, boats lined up on both sides of the river for hundreds of miles. In each boat, two lamas or monks sat facing each other, surrounded by lit candles. These monks and lamas were all chanting sutras collectively. It's very low, but the atmosphere is very strange, especially the sound of the prayer wheel, which makes people feel a little uncomfortable."

Zhan Zhao roughly imagined the scene at that time, and thought it should be quite astonishing, but doesn’t chanting sutras and reciting Buddha make people feel calm, why does it make Bai Yutang feel uncomfortable instead, “So many people do things for the sake of Who is going beyond the limit?"

"At that time, I also wondered if a certain king of the Nanban had died... Just when I felt strange, I saw a boat sailing slowly across the river."

Zhan Zhao missed the point, "A ship?"

"In the mist, a big black broken ship sailed by..." Bai Yutang described it briefly, "It's pitch black, the sails are broken, and there's no one on board, like a ghost ship."

"Just the same as what we saw earlier?" Zhan Zhao was even more surprised.

"Yeah." Bai Yutang nodded, "At this time, my second brother was woken up by me, turned over and asked me what I was looking at."

Zhan Zhao was nervous.

"I said it's nothing, it's like a ghost ship, and many people downstairs have been rescued." Bai Yutang continued, "My second brother has gone out to sea a lot, and when he heard about a ghost ship, he hurried over to look. But evil things happen. It's..."

Zhan Zhao became even more nervous.

"My second brother asked why there are so many lamas, and also asked—where is the ghost ship?" Seeing Zhan Zhao's surprised expression, Bai Yutang nodded, "I saw the ghost ship still passing by slowly. , but my second brother only saw the monk lama, not the boat."

"Why?" Zhan Zhao couldn't figure it out.

"So I simply went downstairs and opened the door to look up. It turned out that there was no fog on the river at all, and there were no big boats, only lamas chanting sutras." Bai Yutang smiled helplessly.

Zhan Zhao frowned, "How long did it take you to go downstairs?"

Bai Yutang laughed dryly, "I'm not lame, so of course I went downstairs directly."

"That's weird." Zhan Zhao couldn't figure it out, "Why did the boat disappear?"

My second brother also followed. He has a lot of experience in sailing. He felt that something was wrong, so he asked a nearby guy to ask.

"The clerk of the restaurant told the door that a long time ago, a large ship from Nanyang sank in this river. It is said that there were hundreds of people on board at that time, and they all died so that there was no one left."

"This is so strange." Zhan Zhao wondered, "Shouldn't all boat runners be good at water? It's understandable that one or two unlucky ones died when the boat sank. There's no reason for them all to die without leaving any survivors."

"Second brother also asked the same question, but I was not interested in this matter at all at the time." Bai Yutang also confessed, "I went to buy wood, no matter how many years ago he sank a ship and died, but then The man went on to say that a section of the waterway was dried up due to the construction of a dam upstream recently, and a sunken ship was found in it, and a thick piece of yellow dragon wood was picked up, which was said to have been taken away by a local gentry and is being sold at a high price."

"Could it be the one you want to buy?"

"It just so happened, and what's even more coincidental, the buddy told us that there was something weird about that log, and all the people in the squire's family died." Bai Yutang shrugged, "Everyone who has been close to that yellow dragon tree during this time also They're all dead."

Zhan Zhao frowned, "How did he die?"

Bai Yutang shrugged, "I didn't ask, I'm more interested in what the guy said next." What? "

"The guys said that before they died, they all said they saw a broken black boat passing by on this river." Bai Yutang said it lightly. If your heart stops beating, you die."

Unknowingly, Zhan Zhao's mouth has opened into the "0" shape that the fourth son is most accustomed to, staring at Bai Yutang, "Three days..."

Bai Yutang nodded, "So I didn't pay much attention."

Zhan Zhao was a little annoyed, "You still don't care about this matter, so why should you care? At least be careful!"

Bai Yutang shook his head with a smile, "If this happened to you, what would you do?"

Zhan Zhao looked up and thought about it calmly, and finally got discouraged, "I don't believe it." So, I didn't believe it at first. "Bai Yutang nodded, "But my second brother was very nervous. For the next two days, he stayed up every night, sitting beside me and resting on my wrist, lest my heart suddenly stop beating. "

Zhan Zhao could hear Bai Yutang's usual cold tone, when he mentioned his older brothers, he would always bring out a bit of gentleness, but those older brothers were indeed loving.

From the second night, I started to get sick.

"Sick?" Zhan Zhao felt a little strange. Although Bai Yutang said he was pampered, he was in good health, and he was not afraid of the cold. He usually caught a cold, and he was fine when he was recruited. His body was second only to the fact that he would not get sick at all. Zhao Pu, why did he get into the Nanman, he said he was sick, "What's wrong with you?"

"I was dreaming, and I couldn't wake up." Bai Yutang frowned, "The dream was very strange, very real. I dreamed that I entered a dark room, which seemed to be a dry well or a basement. There is a musty smell inside. There is a light in the corner of the dark stone room. There, there is a huge piece of yellow dragon wood. I walked over and found that the tree pole was covered with a layer of black cracks like spider silk. Just when I wanted to When Li Jin looked carefully, suddenly, a part of the tree trunk was opened, as if the lid of the coffin was lifted, and a black hand stretched out, grabbed my wrist, and wanted to pull me closer The wood goes away."

"Did you see whose hand it is?" Zhan Zhao was surprised.

Bai Yutang shook his head, "No! It's the first time my second brother woke me up, because my second brother saw me frowning and sweating when I fell asleep, so he woke me up just in case."

"Fortunately, Second Brother is alert enough!" Zhan Zhao heaved a sigh of relief.

"But the next day I had the same dream, and according to my second brother, he shook me for half an hour, but I still didn't wake up!"

"Then what's the matter with you?" Zhan Zhao wondered.

"I still had the same dream. This time I was pulled into the darkness, and then I felt like I was falling quickly, as if I had fallen into a deep pit. I kept falling and falling, knowing that I was very sleepy and wide."

Zhan Zhao was nervous, he must not fall asleep at this time!

"Just when I was so sleepy that I couldn't open my eyes, suddenly, someone woke me up." Bai Yutang smiled faintly, "A great monk."

Zhan Zhao's eyes were wide open, "Your second brother shook you for a long time and you didn't wake up, why did you wake up when he shook you?"

"When I woke up, I saw the great monk standing beside him, holding a handful of dragon's blood grass in his hand, and patting my shoulder with the other." Bai Yutang frowned, "My second brother is beside him. He couldn't wake me up, when a big monk suddenly opened the door and came in, telling him to come! So I was woken up."

"Then did he tell you the reason?"

"The master only told me that the piece of yellow dragon wood that was fished up a while ago had resentment and curses planted in it. It could have suppressed the resentment by sinking in the bottom of the water, but it was suddenly fished up, coupled with the greed of the people around it, and it made it worse. The ghost ship is making troubles, making this coastal area so unsettled."

"But why are some people recruited and others not?"

"I asked the same question at the time." Bai Yutang smiled, "The Great Monk said something very strange."

"what?"

"He said that those who bought wood were recruited because they were too close, and I was recruited..." Bai Yutang thought for a while, "He said that I am the person who is looking for wood."

Hearing this, Zhan Zhao squinted his eyes and stared at Bai Yutang for a long while, "I thought you were just men, women, children, and all living things. I dare to treat you like wood."

Bai Yutang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Mao'er, you seem to be the one who kills all men, women and children!"

"Did Mu Mu see you later?" Zhan Zhao continued to ask.

"I didn't understand what it meant at the time. The second brother asked the monk for help. The old monk gave me a few sachets and an amulet to wear, saying that this place is very dangerous, but the curse of the wood has been lifted, so that we can Don't worry." When Bai Yutang said this, his expression was a little dark, "The old monk left after that, and I asked him where he was going, and he said that he would never see each other again. He repaid his kindness. In addition, he also asked us to take the wood away and find a place to keep it properly."

Zhan Zhao sighed, "It's a divine monk."

"My second brother and I went to the wood seller the next day, and found that the surface of the yellow dragon wood had been shaved off, and the hideous feeling was gone, but there was a hole in the wood.

"Hole?" Zhan Zhao wondered, "Did the beaver do it?"

"The size of the hole is just right for a person, almost like a coffin."

"Then..." Zhan Zhao was surprised, "Isn't it similar to what you saw in your dream? Is there any connection?"

"It is said that that night, someone saw a monk take out a sculpture from the yellow dragon tree that no one dared to approach. It seemed to be a black clay doll. The monk muttered something, so he brought I left with clay sculptures."

"Did you buy wood afterwards?"

"The old monk ordered, of course I want to buy it, anyway, no one dared to ask for it, but my second brother and I took the wood home, and nothing happened along the way, because the wood had holes, so it was not suitable for making keels, so we left it in the trap. It’s an empty island.” Bai Yutang said, and took out a cross-shaped light green jade pendant from the pocket that held the black jade flying locust stone, and showed it to Zhan Zhao, “That amulet was given to me by the great monk. I wear it by my side all year round, and I haven’t had any nightmares since then. Aunt Wu saw it, and she said it was a treasure, so I must keep it on my body, and try not to let others see it, it might save my life in the future.”

Zhan Zhao took the jade and looked at it, then suddenly reached out and touched his chin lightly.

"What's wrong?" Bai Yutang saw that his expression was different, "What's the problem?"

"I seem to have seen this somewhere." Zhan Zhao said to himself while holding the jade pendant, "I can't remember where it is."

Before they finished speaking, Bai Yunfan and Zao Duoduo stopped in their tracks one after another, and they had already arrived at their destination.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were talking just now, but before they knew it, they had already reached the high point of the hillside. The two got off their horses, climbed onto the top of the hill, and looked down...

On the other side of the billowing black water, tens of thousands of tents were densely lined up. These tents were all made of vines. It's not how many soldiers and horses there are from those alien races, but how many animals there are in this barracks!

"What's that black thing?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, pointing to one of the leopard-sized big black cats.

"Black panthers or something." Bai Yutang had a good impression of cat-like animals, and asked Zhan Zhao, "I wonder if it's good to keep them?"

Zhan Zhao didn't have the intention to joke with Bai Yutang. After a cursory scan, there were at least a thousand beasts in the barracks below, and they were all elephants, leopards, tigers, jackals and the like. They were all chained and guarded by special personnel. .

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and then heard someone from behind ask, "Is it bad?"

"Yeah." The two nodded together, it was really bad!At the same time, the two came back to their senses, turned their heads suddenly, and saw Tianzun squatting behind them, holding a little furry tiger in his hands.

Looking at Tianzun, Bai Yutang stared at the little tiger, and the two spoke together.

What Zhan Zhao said was, "Tianzun?"

What Bai Yutang said was, "Big cat!"