treacherous world

In the Zhao Pu barracks, there are many veterans who have marched and fought for most of their lives. These people have spent their entire lives in the desert, but it is the first time in their lives to see such a magnificent and shocking mirage spectacle. Zhang was the boss.

Zhan Zhao's "sight familiar" sentence successfully attracted Bai Yutang's full attention.

"Do you remember, or did you come here?" Bai Yutang asked a question that sounded contradictory to everyone.

But Zhan Zhao understands that only Bai Yutang can understand his feelings. If he has never been here, how can he remember? In the deepest part of my heart, I will not realize it, and I will not be able to distinguish it without full attention.

"I'm sure I've never been here, and I've never seen it before." Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang, "But it still looks familiar."

Bai Yutang nodded, expressing his understanding.

Zhao Pu frowned and looked at the still mirage wonder, and rubbed his chin, "This thing...how did you make it?"

Gongsun grabbed Zhao Pu and hugged his arm with one hand, and pressed Hei Xiao's neck with the other hand to look up at the horizon as far as possible, "It's strange."

"What's strange?" Zhao Pu looked at him.

"Mirages usually appear on the sea, and in the desert, they are suspended in mid-air. And mirages don't come out of thin air, they need a real scene somewhere. But these things are obviously not objects at this time, why do they appear?" Gongsun shook his head and said to himself He said to himself, "It's really puzzling."

Now all the people can do is to stare at that strange non-stop, the most knowledgeable person here is Gongsun, he can't see why, and the others don't even know why.

And just when everyone was watching intently, the color of the mirage began to gradually fade, as if it had become thinner.

"Are you going to die?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang behind him.

Bai Yutang nodded, "Probably..."

As soon as the words fell, sure enough, the mirage disappeared, leaving the monotonous and barren flat land...

"Is there something wrong?" Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand and pointed to the distant horizon, "What is running over?"

Bai Yutang also frowned and looked over, gradually seeing clearly, he saw a horse team galloping towards the place where heaven and earth meet in the distance, the head of which was particularly conspicuous with a red head.

Zhao Pu frowned, "Ouyang...what is the red hair doing?"

Everyone could only see the yellow hussar of Huo Qilin Ouyang Shaozheng was extremely fast, and the hoofs of hundreds of cavalry behind him kicked up the yellow sand, which was very spectacular, but this desperate posture was a bit embarrassing.Everyone is the natural way. Who is Ouyang Shaozheng? He is a ruthless character. What made him run away?

The horse team gradually approached, and I saw Ouyang Shaozheng holding his domineering Fangtian painted halberd in his hand, waving something to Zhao Pu.

Zhao Pu raised his eyebrows, raised his hand and signaled to his subordinates behind him, "Retreat to Black Wind City!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, and a group of guards who had just arrived behind Zhao Pu turned around and ran towards Black Wind City.

Bai Yutang flicked Bai Yunfan's reins lightly, walked a few steps to the other side, looked behind Ouyang Shaozheng's cavalry, and saw that there seemed to be something behind the rolling yellow sand.

At this moment, two "swish" sounds came from Black Wind City, and the sound of the arrows flying into the air and exploding was like thunder.

When everyone turned their heads, they saw He Yihang on the city tower jumping his feet and waving his arms crossed at Zhao Pu, telling him to return to the city quickly.He Yihang stands high, so he probably saw something chasing Ouyang, probably something extraordinary.

But at this moment, the sky suddenly darkened... Dark clouds swept in, and the black clouds on the horizon were in a rolling state, spinning up, and overwhelmingly coming here.

"Damn, Black Storm!" Zhao Pu tugged on Hei Xiao's rein, "Quickly retreat!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, and they had already seen the turbulent momentum of the black sand swept by the wind behind Ouyang Shaozheng's horse team. It was the first time to see this wonder of heaven and earth, and it was really frightening.

Before Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao pulled the reins, Zao Duoduo and Bai Yunfan had already turned around and galloped in the direction of Black Wind City.

Scissors ran faster than anyone else, and led Xiao Liang to the direction of the city gate. He was still screaming for some reason, and the storm that even the clawed civets wanted to flee was estimated to be astonishing.

The sound of horseshoes approached behind him, and Ouyang Shaozheng's fast horse team followed closely.

Zhao Pu protected Gongsun with one hand and grabbed Hei Xiao's rein with the other, and he still yelled at Ouyang, "Where did Hei Feng come from? Why did you go to the desert?"

"My lord, I found the treasure!" Ouyang Shaozheng looked ashamed, but he looked very excited.

"coming!"

Looking back, Zhan Zhao was amazed—he was born in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was the first time he saw such a majestic and terrifying storm, with black clouds and black sand covering the sky and swirling to destroy everything.

Fortunately, they were all good horses, and they were extremely fast. The gates behind Black Wind City were wide open, and all the soldiers on the towers had already evacuated.

Like a gust of wind, Zhao Pu and the others rushed into the gate of Black Wind City.

Zhao Pu turned around and shouted, "Close the door!"

Hundreds of officers and soldiers at the gate closed the huge stone gate together. However, the stone gate was too heavy and huge. Just before it was closed, a gust of wind arrived and blocked the stone gate.

Hundreds of soldiers pushed the gate together and couldn't move, wrestling with the strong wind. At this time, the wind and sand had already got in through the crack of the gate, and the huge banner on the tower was uprooted.

Ziying and Zheying flew over to catch the flag, good guy, Zhao Pu's Nine Dragons flag can't fall on the ground.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang jumped up, turned around and jumped towards the gate, with a sigh of relief.

Zhao Pu shouted to the hundreds of soldiers, "Get out of the way!"

As soon as the generals let go, the strong wind "huh" immediately gained the upper hand, and at the same time as the door opened to both sides, the palms of Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang also arrived...

With a loud "boom", the stone door closed instantly, and the strong internal force of the two people still leaked out to both sides, shaking the officers and soldiers behind the door to sit on the ground.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao landed on both sides of the gate tower, hidden behind the thick brick wall, looking into the distance...

This scene was truly astonishing. Originally they thought that the Black Wind City in the desert was so huge and stable, but now that the black sand was sweeping around, the Black Wind City felt like an isolated island in a precarious state.

However, this city is really strong, such a big wind and sand can't shake half of it, not even a single brick has fallen.

The two looked at each other and came down from the tower.

Ouyang Shaozheng was patting the black sand on his clothes.

Bai Yutang suddenly asked Zhan Zhao curiously, "This desert is full of yellow sand, why is the storm black?"

Zhan Zhao blinked, and felt that this question seemed too difficult, so he subconsciously looked at Gongsun.

Gongsun shrugged, "There are two places in this world that cannot be explained."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang listened attentively.

"One is the sea." Gongsun Sheng stretched out two fingers, "The other is the desert."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought about it - saying it was tantamount to not saying it.

The black storm didn't last long, and after a while, the sky cleared up.

Zhe Ying and Zi Ying went up to the tower, looked into the distance, nodded to the people below, indicating that they were safe, and planted the Nine Dragon Flag again.

Zhao Pu looked at Ouyang Shaozheng, what did he mean—what's going on?

Ouyang took out something from his arms, "I picked it up in a bunker on the seabed."

Zhao Pu was puzzled, took a look, and saw that it was wrapped in a piece of cloth, and when it was opened, it was a golden token with nine dragons on it, and turned over, there was a word "Chen".

Everyone clearly saw Zhao Pu's face change, and grabbed Ouyang, "Where did you find it?"

Seeing Zhao Pu's energy, Ouyang was also excited, "Under the sea of ​​bones, I was looking for a water source there, but I dug up this token when I didn't find any water."

"What token is this?" Gongsun was curious.

"It's General Chen Wang's token." Zhe Ying helped explain.

As soon as everyone heard the name "Chen Wang", they thought of what Zhao Pu said before, the Confucian general Chen Wang who disappeared in the Land of Elysium. This was the most troublesome thing in Zhao Pu's life. No wonder he was excited .

"I just wondered if Chen Wang and the others were buried down there. At least there was no one to look for the bones." Ouyang stomped his feet when he said this, "I haven't dug it up yet, but a black storm is coming in the distance, drag me back three times. gone."

The third Ouyang mentioned, named Luo San'er, was the deputy general of the Pioneer Battalion who was with him. He was about the same age as Ouyang. , The two of them have a geography and a weather knowledge, and they cooperate seamlessly.

Luo San glared at Ouyang, "If I don't pull you back, you'll be blown away!"

Zhao Pu flipped through the tokens, and he was sure it was correct. Every token of a general in the army has its special features. will be wrong.

"Didn't find anything except tokens?" Zhao Pu asked.

"I've said I haven't finished digging." Ouyang stroked his arms, "I can't escape the sea, it's such a big basin, I put a dart there, let's go back and look for it!"

Zhao Pu nodded, and continued to leave the city with his troops.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang hurriedly followed, Xiao Liang went with the scissors as soon as he heard that he was going to dig a hole, and this time the fourth son did not leave behind, riding a rock to watch the excitement.

……

At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark, and the stars all over the sky were many times brighter than that of the Central Plains.

Luo San looked at the sky and told everyone, "It's clear, there will be no more storms."

So everyone went forward with confidence.

Ouyang saw that there seemed to be some doubts in Luo San's eyebrows, so he asked him, "Hey, San, what are you worried about?"

Luo San rubbed his chin, frowned and said, "The black wind and sand just now came evil. I haven't encountered such a big wind and sand for many years. I saw the weather last night. The weather should be fine recently, but first a heavy rain came suddenly, and then A strong wind, unreasonable."

Ouyang pursed his lips, "Is it because your skills have regressed and you missed it?"

Luo San rolled his eyes fiercely, instead of arguing with him, he went to the side to study with Gongsun who also felt that the celestial phenomenon was abnormal.

Zhan Zhao looks up at the sky full of stars. It’s strange to say that he rarely comes to the desert, and occasionally he comes and goes to help Zhao Pu in a hurry, but the various scenes in the desert always make him feel very familiar, like deja vu The sense of familiarity, the twinkling stars in the dark night, gave him a very close feeling, and he didn't know where it came from.

"Xiao Liangzi." The fourth son pointed to a few stars in the sky and said to Xiao Liang, "Look at those two fat stars are still there."

Xiao Liang and the fourth son would accompany Zhao Pu to live in Heifeng City for a while every year, and they knew the desert quite well. The two children liked to watch the stars when they had nothing to do at night. The fourth son even named some of the stars, especially the sky. Two fat stars that can't be named.

Everyone's cavalry walked along a gentle slope, and when they reached a high place, they didn't feel that they had climbed a mountain, but when they looked back, they found that Black Wind City was already under their feet, and they walked too far.

"Here we are." Ouyang pointed forward.

Everyone looked down, and sure enough... there is a huge basin in front of them.

"It's so big!" Gongsun has never walked so far out of the desert. He always heard people say that if the Haihai Basin is filled with water, it is estimated that sea water will be used to fill it. Looking at it this way, it is really incredible.

Ouyang Shaozheng pointed to a point shining on the bottom of the basin, which was the reflection of the dart he inserted under the moonlight.

Zhan Zhao was surprised, "Did such a big storm just now have no effect on this place?"

Everyone nodded, "The few places in the desert with clear place names are not affected by the wind and sand. As for why, no one knows."

Everyone rode their horses down the slightly steep slope to the bottom of the basin.

Zhao Pu remembered what Ouyang said just now about finding a water source, so he asked him, "Did you come here to find a water source?"

"Yeah." Ouyang nodded, "Didn't those Liao soldiers look for shells? If there is water, there must be shells. I tried this trick a lot, but I didn't expect to find a piece of gold this time."

Ziying stomped her feet and tested whether the ground was soft or hard, between sand and mud. "It looks lifeless."

Zhao Pu dismounted, stared at the dart left by Ouyang Shaozheng on the ground, and asked after a long time, "Here?"

"Yeah!" Ouyang nodded.

Zhao Pu nodded lightly, "Dig!"

Zheying and Ziying looked at each other, and started digging with people.

The stone and the scissors looked around curiously, but the fourth son didn't ask them to help, so they lay down on their stomachs and watched people dig slowly.

Shovel after shovel of sand was dug out, and soon, a small pit appeared.

Every shovel made everyone a little nervous. Gongsun stretched out his hand and gently held Zhao Pu's hand. Although Zhao Pu often missed Chen Wang after he disappeared, the body was not found after all.People always have a sustenance, so as to relieve some guilt, Mr. Zhao Pu always hoped that Chen Wang might have an adventure and not die.But this inseparable token is buried in the sand. If hundreds of bones are dug out later, it will probably be another heavy blow. Although everyone didn't say anything, they were silently prepared psychologically. .

However, the deeper and deeper the digging, the bones were not found.

"Huh?" Ouyang squatted by the pit and held his chin, "It's weird."

Zhan Zhao asked, "General Chen Wang disappeared in the Land of Elysium, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"How far is the distance between the Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Sea of ​​Skeletons?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Wow..." Luo San nodded his fingers and estimated, "It's so far away!"

Gongsun took the gold medal and weighed it. The token used by General Zhao Jiajun was made of pure gold, which was very heavy. It should not have been picked up by flying birds or the like. Could it be because of the wind and sand, it just landed here. Buried for a long time?

Everyone was puzzled.

Zhe Ying had already dug one person deep, looked up with his probe, and asked, "My lord, do you still want to dig?"

Zhao Pu looked down, he also hesitated, should he dig all the way down, or dig around?If you dig around and turn over the entire sea of ​​bones, at least a few thousand people will be mobilized. If you dig down...

While hesitating, Rock and Scissors rubbed against the little four and wagged their tails, looking a little eager to try.

"Why don't you let them dig?" Gongsun asked Zhao Pu, "It's late tonight, let them dig down. If they can't, bring someone to dig tomorrow morning?"

Zhao Pu nodded. If this matter is not investigated clearly, it may be difficult to sleep and eat.

Little Four patted the buttocks of Rock and Scissors, and pointed to the pit.The two clawed civets immediately went in with two "swish".

It was too late for Ziying and Zheying to crawl out, and they stood by the pit to take pictures after being covered in sand.

The stone and the scissors fell to the ground, and a big hole appeared in a short while, and then dug down.

Everyone waited patiently at the side, and waited and waited until He Yihang sent someone to check on the situation. Zhao Pu raised his face to look at the sky, then looked at the dark hole below, and asked the left and right, "How long has it been?"

"It's been almost an hour." Zhan Zhao replied, while the fourth son was yawning.

"So deep?" Ouyang was surprised, "Where did they dig?"

"Little Sizi." Gongsun patted the little Sizi, "Let the stones come up!"

"Oh." Little Sizimao shouted towards the cave, "Rock! Scissors!"

……

But after shouting for a long time, there was no movement.

Everyone looked at each other.

Bai Yutang squatted down, took a Moyu locust rock and threw it into the cave.

Ziying lay on the mud floor at the entrance of the cave and listened. After a long time, there was a "click".

"Eh?" Ziying raised her head abruptly, "Hard ground!"

Zhao Pu frowned, "What?"

"It's like the sound of a stone hitting a bluestone slab, and it has been bounced twice." Ziying looked puzzled.

"I'll go down and have a look." Ouyang was about to jump down, but Luo San quickly stopped him, "Wait, who knows what's down there? After a while, the sand will jump and bury you alive!"

"Stone!" Xiaosi yelled at the hole until his voice became hoarse. Stone and scissors had never been silent for so long, and Xiaosi was a little panicked.

However, the clawed civets are born to move in the sandy soil, even if the sand and rocks collapse, it will not trouble them. Where did they go?

When the fourth son was in a hurry, he felt his buttocks being arched by something. Looking back, Shi Shi was sitting behind him wagging his tail, and the scissors were also there, as if he had just run over.

Everyone was stunned.

The fourth son looked at the hole, then at the two of them, holding his big head of the stone, "Where did you come up from?"

The stone wagged its tail, turned and walked towards the height of the basin.Everyone followed...

The stone and the scissors led the crowd all the way to the high slope at the edge of the sea of ​​bones, and saw a crack there, it seems that they came out from here.

"Did they dig it through, or..." Zhan Zhao turned his head to look at the direction of the cave, and then calculated the height to the ground, raised his face and thought—it can't be so fast, right?Could it be that the bottom is connected?

Zhe Ying and Zi Ying dug open the gap with a shovel, three times and two times, the sand around the crack slid down, revealing a silver-white stone slab, and digging a little further... a silver-white step appeared.

"It's a stone gate!" Gongsun touched the stone gate, "There are carvings on it."

"This pattern..." Zhan Zhao swept away the floating dirt blocking the stone gate, revealing the carved stone carvings on it. The silver-white city wall is very similar to the silver city suspended in the clouds that he saw in the mirage before.

Everyone opened their mouths wide, strange and evil.

After a long silence, Zhao Pu said to Zhe Ying, "Bring out all the diggers, light a bonfire, and dig up all the sand and soil here. I want to see what's down there!"

"Yes." Zhe Ying immediately went back to the city to call for someone.

Not long after, bonfires were lit around the sea, and the whole basin was as bright as day. Thousands of diggers took tools, and with the help of stones and scissors, began to dig along the stone gate to both sides.

As the soil was carried out one by one, everyone finally saw what was buried under the sea.

Zhao Pu looked at the golden token in his hand—without this thing, it would be impossible to discover this ancient city. Who buried this token here, is it just a coincidence or intentional?

Although Ouyang is reckless, he is not stupid. He was squatting by the sandpit, playing with the dart used for marking in his hand, and asked Luo San who was also puzzled beside him, "San, did I insert the dart diagonally or vertically?" plugged in?"

Luo San replied calmly, "Upright."

"And when we get back?"

"Slanted."

"Dried by the wind and sand?"

"The wind and sand probably can't do this."

……

Behind everyone, Zhan Zhao, who had been watching silently, suddenly asked Bai Yutang, "Yutang."

"Ok?"

"When will the fish come?"

Zhan Zhao said something unexpectedly, Bai Yutang looked at him speechlessly.

Zhan Zhao smiled, his eyes were extremely bright under the huge bright moon in the desert, and he said slowly, "There are also fish here."

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows slightly, and before he understood what Zhan Zhao meant, he heard the fourth son suddenly shout, "Wow! What a big fish!"