Autumn nights always come earlier than summer nights. As the sun sets, the brightness of the sky has decreased a lot.
Xiahou carried his sword on his back and groped his way through the woods, waiting for the robbers who might jump out at any time.
However, since he came in until now, Xiahou has been wandering around for a long time, but he hasn't seen a single person. The silence in the forest is a little strange. In this environment, even the occasional chirping of insects sounds very lonely.
Looking up at the sky, Xiahou scratched his hair. It was already late.
'Where exactly is this Lanruo Temple? Why can't I find it?'
After walking a few steps forward again, Xiahou took a step forward, and the road under his feet suddenly changed from a dirt road to a gravel road. The view also became wider, and all the trees disappeared.
Looking up along the gravel road, at the end of the road is a solemn Buddhist temple with a pagoda next to it.
Xiahou shuddered, his nose moved in the air, and he turned around and was about to leave.
Do you really think he's stupid?!
How could there be an intact temple in a place where no one comes? There is not a single dirt on the gravel road. It rained some time ago, how could it be so clean!
When turning around, Xiahou discovered another problem. The trees on the roadside were arranged very neatly, giving people the feeling that they had been rested and clearly divided, like a battle formation.
clang!
Drawing out the sword, Xiahou stepped back into the woods very carefully.
A gust of wind blew, and the leaves made a rustling sound.
Night fell quickly. Not long after Xiahou entered the forest, it was completely dark.
Without the sun as a landmark, Xiahou completely lost his way. The light from the burning fire starter in his hand could not illuminate an area of only a few meters.
Whoosh~ A black shadow rushed through the woods.
Xiahou turned around suddenly and found nothing. His heart sank. He knew he might not be able to walk out safely this time.
After walking a few steps in a random direction, Xiahou found himself back on the gravel road, and a little closer to the temple.
The temple was brightly lit at night, and by the light, Xiahou saw several figures flash past the window.
I thought about it for a long time. Behind me was a dense forest that made it impossible to tell the direction, and in front of me was a temple that was 100% problematic. It was really difficult to make a choice.
It seems that the only way to survive is to risk one's life!
Xiahou gathered the energy in his body and walked towards the temple.
Reaching out to push open the door, Xiahou made direct eye contact with the Jinyiwei inside, and both of them froze in place.
"The group of hounds chasing the criminals? Why are they here?!"
Xiahou walked into the temple in a defensive posture.
The leader of the Jinyiwei stared at Xiahou but did not attack him directly. He knew Xiahou, a famous swordsman, and the Jinyiwei had once tried to recruit him.
The candles were burning on the candlesticks. Xiahou and the team of Jinyiwei were facing each other in the hall with the middle as the dividing line.
After a while, a Jinyiwei came out from the next room and whispered in the leader's ear.
"Sir, we have checked all the rooms, and there is no one there. However, the rooms are all very clean. There is something wrong with this place!"
The leader looked at his men speechlessly. He wondered if there was a problem here. Even a fool could see it.
The sound of Herod the Great reining in was heard outside the temple.
"Sir, we can't get through!" The Jinyiwei entered from the gate and reported while half-kneeling.
He rode his horse fast and galloped along the gravel road for a full hour. All he could see were trees, and he couldn't see anything else!
Moreover, it took an hour to run, but only five minutes to return.
The leader suddenly stood up at this time and walked towards Xiahou.
Xiahou held the hilt of the sword. It was meaningless to waste time on internal conflicts at this moment, but he also had to guard against the other party's irrational behavior.
"Brother, we are all trapped in this place. We hope we can share what we have and find a way to leave here." The leader had a good attitude when he spoke.
"That's as it should be, but I don't know much. I only know that this is the northern suburbs of Guobei County. According to the people in the county, this should be the territory of a group of bandits, but now it seems..." Xiahou shook his head, not knowing how to describe it.
The door suddenly opened, and everyone's eyes were focused there.
There were five people standing at the door, one man and four women, all wearing luxurious-looking clothes.
"My fellow brothers, we are on our way to visit relatives in Guobei County. It is getting dark, so we would like to rest here. Please forgive us if we have offended you in any way."
The man in the gown clasped his fists and said.
The Jinyiwei in the room all put their hands on the hilts of their swords. Does the mastermind behind this place think they are fools
For an ordinary person, seeing so many Jinyiwei, it would be considered brave if they didn't turn around and run, not to mention that how could a visiting team consist of one man and four women? Moreover, the bags these people carried were not very full, as if they didn't even have a few clothes stuffed in them.
Clang! A gold ingot fell out of the package of the newcomer.
The man's face changed and he quickly picked up the gold. With an embarrassed smile on his face, he took the woman into a room.
The leader of the Jinyiwei turned to look at Xiahou, "Are you moved?"
Xia Hou moved back and asked, "Do you think I'm a fool?"
The leader smiled slightly, "Let's try it out together?"
"No, I just want to wait until daytime comes and then leave this place." Xiahou shook his head and said.
After receiving the reply, the leader didn't say much, but just returned to his team.
No one in the hall was asleep. All of them had their eyes open, quietly waiting for the sun to rise.
After a while, a snoring sound like thunder came from the room next door.
Snore~Snore~Snore~
Listening to the sound beside his ear, Xiahou's eyelids began to twitch, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep with a blink.
"Everyone get up!"
A loud roar rang out in the hall.
Xiahou suddenly realized something and jumped up tensely. He almost fell asleep?!
With a glance, Xiahou discovered the problem. There was a shortage of people from the Jinyiwei! And there was more than one!
There are only eight left in the team of twelve!
Suddenly, a strong wind blew up, and all the doors of the rooms opened and closed. Between the opening and closing, human figures kept flashing.
"Liu Ye! What are you doing!" the leader shouted.
Xiahou's eyes turned and he saw in a room a topless woman had a man "growing" on her chest. It seemed to be Liu Ye.
"Sir... come in and play together..." Liu Ye raised his head, his face looked like he was fifty years older.
"Namo Amitabha..." The sound of scriptures rang out, the candles that were shaking in the strong wind stabilized, and all the doors were closed.
Xiahou subconsciously swung his sword, but when the blade was about to hit the wall, he pulled it back suddenly and stopped the movement.
There was a picture of an old monk on the wall, with his hands clasped together, his face expressionless, and his lips open, as if he was chanting some sutra.
Several other people also looked around the hall, and they discovered that various kinds of monks were carved on the walls of the hall!
Bits of Buddha's light seeped out from the wall, gathered at the door, and opened the door, on which Buddha's light shone brightly.
Bang! All the doors of the rooms next to the hall opened.
Twisted, evil, disgusting monsters walked out of the door little by little.
Under the pressure of danger, everyone subconsciously ran towards the door where the Buddha's light was shining.
Just as they were about to go out the door, Xiahou and the leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guards slammed on the brakes.
After stopping, they turned around tacitly.
The eagle strikes the sky! The deadly sword with split leaves!
Sword energy and sharp claws flashed in the hall.
The next second, Xiahou opened his eyes and rolled forward, and several thin branches were torn off.
After standing up, a horrifying scene came into view.
All the Jinyiwei had several branches inserted into their bodies, and their essence, blood, and internal energy were sucked out of their bodies bit by bit along the branches.
Xiahou reached back and touched a few branches that were wriggling. He gripped them tightly and pulled them hard. The broken branches burst out with blood!
Tear off the clothes on your body and tie the wound tightly.
"Help me! I can't get free!" The Jinyiwei leader's voice sounded nearby, and he was trying with all his strength to break free from the branches on his body.
Xiahou swung his sword and cut off the branches.
The leader rolled on the ground for a few times, stood up weakly, gritted his teeth, and like Xiahou, pulled out the branches in his body and dealt with them briefly.
"Killing people is not the right way to go! Why are you torturing us!" The leader gritted his teeth. The other Jinyiwei did not struggle at all. It seemed that there was no hope for them.
"Because, this is the only way to eat cleanly..." A voice that sounded neither male nor female, neither masculine nor feminine came from behind the two of them.
The two turned around together, and stood at the doorway, a monster made of branches and vines.
Xiahou raised the sword in his hand and a stream of sword energy shot out. After cutting off a branch, more branches came in.
"Isn't it good to enjoy yourself before you die? Why are you resisting?" The tree demon stretched out his hand and waved it gently, and a Jinyiwei surrounded by branches fell into his hand.
Snap!
The tree demon bent the man's head and turned it 180 degrees.
"Look, how happily he is smiling. It's a good dream, how wonderful." The tree demon stuck out his tongue and licked the man's face, as if he was eating the most delicious thing.
Finally, it couldn't bear it anymore, and pushed its head forward, pierced the Jinyiwei's head with its tongue, and then sucked hard.
The body of the Jinyiwei visibly deflated, the branches loosened, and the remaining residue fell to the ground.
"See, it's not very clean to eat like this. Come, have a good dream." The tree demon opened his hands, and countless branches rushed over from all directions.
"Are you going to dream?" Xiahou asked with a sneer.
"Sorry, I don't like dreaming." The leader rubbed his wrist and said.
"Then go ahead!" Xiahou roared. He would rather die on the way to charge.
The overlapping branches formed one barrier after another in front of them.
'I can! It's just a monster!'
Xiahou squeezed the energy in his body, launched a frantic attack, and advanced towards the tree demon little by little.
The leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guards followed him and rushed from above, but the eagle got stuck in the spider web and could no longer fly.
The leader's blood, energy and strength were consumed rapidly, and soon his eyes became blurry and he could not see clearly what was ahead.
Eagle soars into the sky!
He swung his claws down, using his last move to break through several obstacles for Xiahou.
"Come on... Kill that monster..."
"Ahhh!!!" Xiahou went into a state of madness. The sword, which was no longer sharp, could no longer cut through the branches, but he had already reached the position.
"Go to hell!" Xiahou swung his sword hard at the tree monster.
At this moment, Xiahou felt that all the strength in his body disappeared at once.
With a snap, Xiahou knelt down, the sword in his hand fell to the side, and he gasped heavily.
"You know what?" The tree demon gently lifted Xiahou's chin with a branch, "The energy after exercise is the most delicious, and it can also be eaten cleanly."
Xiahou opened his mouth, and the slight pain in his back told him that all this was an illusion.
From the moment the tree demon appeared, the branches that had been torn off grew again and pierced into the bodies of the two people.
All the desperate efforts and all the exploitation were just to add a little seasoning to the tree demon's food.
Looking at Xiahou who understood everything, the tree demon was very satisfied. Despair is also a very good seasoning.
Pooh!
Xiahou finally spat at the tree demon. Although the saliva was blocked by the branches that stretched out, it was enough.
Crack! The tree demon suddenly became unhappy and crushed Xiahou's head.
Looking at the splattered brain matter and blood, the tree demon felt deeply regretful.
What a great dish, it was only half-cooked, what a pity, the other dishes were not as tasty.
The night passed quickly, the sun rose, and its rays shone on the earth.
In a distant village, Precia got up and stretched. There was a gang of bandits nearby, and she came here specifically to scout the area.
I opened the detector as usual and took a look, and found that my points had increased by two points.
This made Precia feel a little puzzled. Even if the liar and the captain of the police were interrogated overnight, they should not be executed so quickly.
Could it be the subsequent impact of the settlement? But the settlement is not so exaggerated. It has increased by two points, and this number is not a linear growth.
Precia, who couldn't figure it out, could only put the matter aside and act according to the plan down to earth.
At the foot of the mountain where Lanruo Temple is located, Luo Xiang stayed here for a whole night. His stealth skills were first-rate.
He saw the Jinyiwei who entered yesterday and Xiahou who entered later. It was only one night and there was no additional movement.
Even if Xiahou went down the mountain from the other side, that team of Jinyiwei should not have left like that.
The monster in the court regarded Zhuge Liang as a thorn in his side, and all the orders he issued were death orders. Senior Liu had already sacrificed himself, and without anyone to resist, it was impossible for the Jinyiwei to give up like that.
Thinking of this, Luo Xiang felt a little cold. Fortunately, Zhuge Wulong had given him a hint, otherwise he might have been one of the missing people.
After confirming that the danger was beyond imagination, Luo Xiang turned and headed for Guobei County to report to Zhuge Wulong.