Black Earth City is a city beyond Yan Mo's expectations.
He thought he would see a castle, or an ancient city, but in fact, what he saw was a closed giant city that only appeared in the last era of movies.
There was no one patrolling and guarding the city walls, but there were four square and tall watchtowers in each of the four directions of the city, and there was a pointed building in the center of the city that was much taller than the four watchtowers.
The reason why she is said to be a giant city is because the height and thickness of its city walls far exceeds that of Jiuyuan City. She may not cover as much land as Jiuyuan City, but its density and sturdiness are definitely not inferior. Black, matte, like a whole.
"This is a very difficult city to take down." Standing on the sled, Yuan Zhan looked at Heitu City from a distance, and commented.
This is the highland closest to the Black Earth City, and it is also the place where the Da'ao people settled down before entering the Black Earth City.
The snowstorm has stopped, and the heavy snow has buried all the roads, but the beasts that are good at running in the snow can still be seen dragging the sleds on the road.
The warriors and their clansmen who came from various lower cities and tribes to participate in the selection were like black ants, converging into an intermittent black line on the road in front of the east side of the Black Soil City.
There is no need for a sled any further down, as Black Earth City has already cleared the only way into the East City.
Yan Mo got off the sled, moved his body, walked to the long-billed beast pulling the sled, and gently stroked its back.
The docile long-billed beast turned back and arched his hand.
Yan Mo smiled, and took out the fresh grass to feed it.
Although sleds and long-billed beasts are not special products of the Viser tribe, the best use of the sleds made by the Viser tribe and the long-billed beasts they trained is the common sense of nearby tribes.
The two sleds and long-billed beasts used by Yuan Zhan and Yan Mo today were traded from the Viser captives and the Viser tribe.
Compared with Jiuyuan's shoddy sleds and the lack of suitable sled labor, the Viser tribe's offer is obviously better. Yan Mo intends to bring the two sledges and the long-billed beast back to Jiuyuan.
Especially the long-billed beast. This animal is a bit like a wild donkey, but its temperament is like a mule. It is hardworking and only eats grass. It can pull carts in summer, pull sleds in winter, and can carry people and loads. It is simply the best labor animal.
For this reason, Yan Mo deliberately exchanged with the Da'ao tribe, ensuring that the eight long-billed beasts pulling the sled for them happened to be four males and four females, and they were all in their youth.
"Mo?" Yuan Zhan walked to his side.
Yan Mo touched the Long-billed Beast with one hand, and pointed to the Black Earth City with his free hand, "What do you think the Black Earth City looks like?"
"Huh?" Yuan Zhan looked carefully again.
Ding Ning, who was untying the long-billed beast's sleigh with the people from Da'ao, raised his head and asked first, "Like a basin?"
"No, it's like an urn, an urn with a round belly and a small mouth." Yuan Zhan affirmed.
"This is the first time I've seen someone make the city look like this. The lighting in this city must not be very good." Yan Mo couldn't figure it out.
Ziming, who was helping, took a peek at Ding Ning and coughed, "It is said that the Black Earth City was not built by their slaves and soldiers, but an artifact left by the gods for his blood."
"Sacred weapon?" Yan Mo heard this word for the first time when he came here.
"Yes, weapons and utensils made by gods. Mo Wu, haven't you heard of them?" Zi Ming was surprised.
"Of course Mo Wu has heard of it. It's just that our two sides may have different opinions. Can you tell us about the legend of the artifact in Black Soil City?" Ding Ning cut the conversation.
Ziming stammered instantly, "D-Of course, as long as the subordinate tribes of Heitu City and the people in the lower city know this legend."
Elder Hao laughed when he heard it. This kid didn't know what he had eaten wrong these days, and he couldn't speak when he saw these Jiuyuan people.
"Mo Wu, let me tell the story." Elder Hao took the opportunity of this break to popularize the legend about Black Earth City and the king Wu Shang's family who ruled her.
Da Da and Ding Fei, who like to listen to stories, surrounded him together, and Jiu Feng also jumped on Da Da's head curiously.
"It is said that near the Heishui River, it is the dark river we saw two days ago. Many tribes lived a long time ago, and everyone lived on this river, but one day the God of Heishui River got angry and sent those tribes All of them were swept into the river and ate them, and only one woman survived."
"It's so pitiful." Ding Fei, who was most sympathetic, sighed.
Elder Hao nodded and continued, "This woman has nothing to eat, so she has to pick up a kind of black stone washed ashore by the flood."
"It is said that the black stone is actually the blood dripping from the battle between the God of the Earth and the God of Wind." Ziming added stammeringly.
The god of the earth, huh? Yan Mo glanced at Yuan Zhan with a smile.
Yuan Zhan rubbed his stubble and didn't comment.
"Aw!" Answered a different opinion.
Ding Fei somehow understood, and helped Da Da translate: "Why doesn't she catch fish in the river to eat? Grass and fruits are fine, why do she eat stones?"
"It was winter, and the river was raging. She didn't know how to swim, and she didn't have a harpoon to catch fish." Zizhen, one of the fighters selected for the Olympiad, interjected.
Elder Hao laughed, "It's a legend, maybe that woman really didn't have anything to eat at that time. In short, she ate a lot of that kind of black stone, which is the blood of the God of the Earth. Seven days later, she gave birth to a baby with great strength. Infinity children…”
"Aw!"
"Jie!"
"impossible!"
Lian Bing said: "It is impossible for a woman to give birth to a child in seven days, unless she is a clan witch."
Yan Mo glanced at the group of furry children who were uneasy to listen to the story, "Shut up all of them, and spank whoever interrupts!"
Ding Ning covered his brother's mouth.
Ding Fei covered Da Da, Da Da raised his hand to cover Jiu Feng, but Jiu Feng pecked him.
Elder Hao chuckled, "This child who inherited the blood of the God of the Earth is not only strong, but he can also transform himself into a huge rock man. This rock man is the ancestor of King Wu Shang."
"Where is the artifact? Where is the artifact?" Yuan Zhan asked.
The hairy kids squinted at him together, Mo Da, he interrupted and spanked him!
"I was about to talk about it. Because the rock man is very powerful, the tribes living near the Blackwater River could not beat him, so he gradually subdued these tribes and became their leader. The rock man married his mother and gave birth to There are two children, a boy and a girl. The boy has only a lot of strength, but the girl can become a rock man just like her father. For this reason, the rock man's mother doesn't like her second son, but only likes her daughter. She wants to Let the Rockmen pass the title of chief to their daughter, but their other son would not."
Yuan Zhan, "I still haven't mentioned the artifact."
Hairy children: Mo Da!
Yan Mo looked back and pinched his mouth.
Elder Hao then finally talked about the artifact: "My brother wanted to kill my sister, but he couldn't beat her, so he traded with the son of the poisonous snake and exchanged his eternal life for a poison. This poison can make his The younger sister couldn't turn into a rock man, but when he killed his sister, his father, the rock man, found him and threw him into the flames in a rage. Later, the rock man put his daughter's body into the flames too, without Thinking of the brothers and sisters being burned for seven days and seven nights and turned into a giant black urn."
Yan Mo, "The giant urn is an artifact, and the Black Earth City is that giant urn?"
Elder Hao nodded, "The rock man was very sad when he saw the two children turned into giant urns, so he left and never came back. It is said that he was taken back to the world of the god by the god of the earth. The eldest son of the rock man left no descendants , but his daughter left two children, who are also the ancestors of King Wu Shang. The giant urn formed by the older brother and sister became a magic weapon to protect the younger sister's offspring. No matter what danger they encountered, as long as they hid in the giant urn, they would be fine. Later they simply lived in that giant urn, and the giant urn followed. The number of people increased and increased."
"Is this true? The people of Black Soil City live in a giant urn that can grow in size?" Bing didn't believe it.
"It's true!" Seeing that some people didn't believe the legend of the artifact in Heitu City, Zizhen said angrily, "And every thirty years, the two oldest brothers and sisters of Wu Shang's bloodline will throw themselves into the fire and burn themselves. Smear their ashes on the city walls, so that the Black Soil City will be indestructible forever!"
Yan Mo grasped the key point, "That is to say, neither the eldest son nor the eldest daughter of Wu Shang's blood can live to be thirty years old?"
"Uh, Mo Da, they are so pitiful." Ding Fei expressed his sympathy again.
Zizhen said naturally: "What's so pitiful, this is their fate, only in this way can we ensure that the blood of the gods of King Wu Shang's family will not be cut off, and can also ensure the strength of Black Earth City."
Yan Mo has not yet entered the Black Earth City, but the Black Earth City has left him with a mysterious and cruel impression.
After a short break, Yan Mo put the two sleds into his pocket, and the people of Da'ao saw them. They were surprised, but they didn't feel surprised—the clan witches and priests are the most mysterious group of people.
Everyone mounted the long-billed beast, including Da Da.
Bing is a bit disgusted that the long-billed beasts are not powerful enough, and they don't run fast enough. They don't have as many wildebeest partners as they do.
At the same time, they also changed their clothes and shoes to look similar to those of the locals, but Yuan Zhan refused to agree with Yan Mo's change of clothes.
"It's getting old, can you pay attention to your body? You feel cold in this kind of clothes, and if you change these rough leather cloths, is it to make you sicker? Don't change them!"
Yan Mo didn't want to change either, but: "Hey, don't forget the identities we are playing now, we are now ordinary small tribes who come here from afar and want to benefit our own tribe, only in this way, we will not cause trouble in Heitu City. Note that only in this way can we enter Tucheng smoothly and safely."
"Dirty, as long as it doesn't look too big." He can wear whatever he wants, but he really doesn't want to wrong his priest, especially for him.
Bing and Ding Ning Ding Fei both said the same thing, none of them wanted their own priest to suffer.
"If it doesn't work, you don't want to go in. In fact, I can go in alone, and I will come to you when the result comes out."
Yan Mo held him back, "Such a good opportunity to visit a midtown or the legendary city of artifacts, do you want me to let it go?"
In the end, Yan Mo changed into a long padded coat that usually boiled herbs, and then covered it with a piece of animal skin that had not been sewn or cut. In order to facilitate walking in the snow, he made a bone stick to lean on. Still hanging the bone finger that can increase his spiritual power and shield him from other people's spiritual power detection.
And Yan Mo's disguise, coupled with his silver hair that was deliberately messed up, let alone, he looked more like a tribal witch.
Yuan Zhan and the others have also finished their disguises. The simple leather boots, rough burlap clothes, low-quality fur, not very clean face, neck and hands, and the stone ax stuck in their waists. He looked no different from a Da'ao person.
Bing's bows and arrows were not put away, because the Da'ao people said that there were also several warriors in the lower cities who were particularly good at using bows and arrows.
An hour later, Yan Mo and his group rode on the long-billed beast together with the Da'ao people, and arrived at the gate of the east side of the Black Earth City, waiting to line up to enter the city.
The Da'ao people and his party were very inconspicuous, and Yan Mo and others who mixed in with the Da'ao people tried to reduce their presence as much as possible, and even Jiu Feng cleverly got into Yan Mo's arms.
Few people in the team spoke, mainly because it was too cold, and no one was in the mood to speak.
There are two teams, and the right side is obviously the VIP road. From time to time, some teams riding various domineering beasts will quickly pass in front of them.
Elder Hao whispered to Yan Mo: "Those are selected fighters from the lower city. I thought they would come later, but I didn't expect them to be slow. I know the adults are very powerful, but it's best if nothing happens. Don't provoke them, the weakest city fighters who can be sent for selection are at level six."
"Zizhen is not yet level five, so you are not afraid that he will not go back when you send him here?" Yan Mo wanted to ask this question a long time ago.
"It's possible, but as long as he survives, even if he can't enter the Black Earth City Temple or become a city guard, he can at least enter the Black Earth Warrior Training Camp, so that he can become stronger in the future. If he is lucky, if someone in the city It is also a good thing for an adult to take a fancy to him and let him follow."
Elder Hao sighed, "We have too few blood warriors, and the strongest one is only at the fifth level of blood. Because of him, the Viser tribe dare not aggressively invade us, but he is already old. The most hopeful person in the tribe is Zizhen, and there are two children who have already entered the training camp."
In fact, Jiuyuan also has the same problem, which is the lack of middle and high-level fighters, but fortunately, they have quite a large number of blood fighters, and they are all young. Coupled with the elementary training method, the future is bright, and they will not struggle and work hard like Da Ao.
"By the way, during the selection period, do all the fighters participating in the selection have a place to live?"
"Yes, but the others who came in have to find their own place to live. Mo Wu, you don't have to worry about this. Although our Da'ao is a little weaker, we still have a fixed place to stay in Black Earth City, which is pretty safe."
"I'm not worried about this, I just want to ask, are those of us who follow up free to move, can we make deals with others?"
"Of course you can. There is a market in Black Earth City for outsiders to trade. You only need to pay a few Yuanjing coins to enter. If you are rich, you can also rent a fixed booth."
Yan Mo asked several more questions one after another, and finally it was their turn.
The soldiers defending the city seemed to know the Da'ao people, but they still checked very carefully.
"Who are you?" The guarding soldiers looked at the tattoos representing the tribe on the faces of Yuan Zhan and the others, who were very unfamiliar.
This tattoo is different from the mark expressing the rank of warrior, but the mark given by each tribe itself.
Yuan Zhan had a way to cover up the tribal mark, but they didn't.
"We are members of the Jiuyuan tribe who live at the end of the Heishui River. We heard from guests from afar that Heitu City is selecting temple fighters. We want to try it." Yuan Zhan raised his head and said slowly.
The soldier looked him up and down, then looked at Yan Mo, who was leaning on a bone stick, wrapped in a cloth towel, and lowered his head, "Who is he?"
Yuan Zhan drank lightly: "Soldier, respect him! He is our clan witch."
The soldier's face changed slightly, his spear straightened, and he saluted Yan Mo, and then he asked Yuan Zhan coldly: "This is the selection of soldiers, why did you bring your clan witches here? Your clan witches are not allowed to use witches on the battlefield. If you are found, you will be killed by the temple!"
"Because you will be injured in battle, our clan witches don't want us to be injured without anyone to heal."
"He must come with us. Every witch who enters Black Earth City must visit the temple. Only those who are allowed to stay in Black Earth City."
Yuan Zhan frowned subconsciously, blocking Yan Mo, and Bing and others moved slightly.
The soldier immediately became nervous, and other soldiers around him also quickly moved closer.
The Da'ao people who had already entered stayed where they were, looking anxiously at Yuan Zhan and the others.
Yan Mo gently pushed Yuan Zhan away, pulled down the cloth towel, and smiled at the soldier, "Don't be nervous, child. They are just too worried about me. Where is the temple? Take me there."