When he arrived in Misty Lake, Lu Mingshu didn't do anything, he just played around every day accompanied by this little local girl.
This little girl has a very strange surname, Xiao. Common people don't pay much attention to naming, her brother's name is Xiaoda, she is called Xiaoxiao, and everyone else calls her Xiaoxiao.
"Girl, what are you doing?" After spending seven or eight days with Lu Mingshu, Xiao Xiao was extremely curious.
The girl said it was for fun, but she was completely different from those tourists. One place a day, first look around, then draw after reading, like now.
Lu Mingshu replied, "Draw a map."
Xiao Xiaoqi said: "But isn't there a map for sale?" The terrain of Nanze is complicated, and the first thing many people do when they come here is to buy a map.
"Their map is too crude and useless." Lu Mingshu said so, and his subordinates kept working.
The Misty Lake is not big, but the key is that it is foggy all the year round, making it difficult to understand the terrain. What she wants is a detailed model that can be completely simulated, not a simple map with a line representing a road and a circle representing a lake.
Gao Xiang disappeared here, there must be something unusual. An Tongchen couldn't squat, but she could find clues from the details.
Finally, she finished drawing the map, took out all the drawings she had drawn a few days ago, and laid them out one by one on the grass.
"Wow!" I didn't feel it a few days ago, when I spread out several maps together, Xiao Xiao discovered how detailed this map is.
Bazaars, lakes, hills, and trees are all clearly marked, and even the larger stones are marked.
She said sincerely: "The girl is amazing."
Lu Mingshu didn't draw this picture to make her boast. It is too difficult to construct a real world in her mind, but if there is a map as an introduction, it will be much easier. She only needs to remember the key points.
Lu Mingshu looked at the pictures one by one, recalling the terrain of the Misty Marsh while looking at them, wondering if there was anything unusual, and finally stopped at the top.
"Little."
"exist."
"Haven't we been here?"
Xiao Xiao looked at where she was pointing: "Is the girl talking about the big black tree?"
"Big black tree?"
Xiao Xiao nodded: "Yes. There are big black trees growing here, and there are dead places all around. There is nothing to see."
Lu Mingshu narrowed his eyes: "Tell me, what does this big black tree look like? What does it mean when there are dead places around?"
"Oh." Xiao Xiao said, "The big black tree is a very big tree, and it has grown there for many years. When people from Misty Swamp die, they will be buried there in the end."
"cemetery?"
"Well, the big black tree is our cemetery. The old people said that because it is a dead place, nothing grows around it, not even grass."
Lu Mingshu quickly put away the map on the ground: "Come on, let's go and have a look."
Xiao Xiao was stunned: "Where are you going? There's nothing to see!"
"Go and see."
"Oh."
To collect money to do business, Xiao Xiao conscientiously led her to the big black tree.
This big black tree grows above Misty Marsh, surrounded by lakes, away from the market.
The two walked more and more desolate, Xiao Xiao was a little scared: "Girl, there is really nothing to see there, shall we go back?"
Lu Mingshu shook his head: "You can go back first."
Xiao Xiao hesitated for a moment, then puffed out her chest: "No, I took the money."
After walking not far, Lu Mingshu saw the big black tree. As its name suggests, the tree is black all over, standing there quietly, like a quiet shadow.
This tree is very tall, about thirty feet high, with many branches. It's just that it looks dead, without leaves, and without any life.
Xiaoxiao pointed to a small hole at the bottom: "That's where we'll be buried..." She followed the funeral procession once.
Lu Mingshu circled the big black tree, looking carefully at it, front and back, left and right.
Xiao Xiao couldn't help it, and said: "Girl, you have to be careful, they say there are ghosts here."
"ghost?"
"Yeah. I heard people say that the big black tree sometimes has a figure..."
Lu Mingshu nodded: "Let's go back."
Xiao Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. It was so gloomy here, and she was terrified.
At night, Lu Mingshu carefully drew the picture under the oil lamp of the inn.
If Xiaoxiao were here, she would find that what she painted was the big black tree she had seen during the day. Every branch is detailed.
An Tongchen has lived here for half a year. Given the importance he attaches to Gao Xiang, he must have scoured the suspicious places around Misty Lake. It is impossible for him not to have seen this big black tree.
However, he didn't mention the big black tree at all, which meant that no abnormality was found.
Was it really all right, or did An Tongchen not notice
In fact, she didn't have any definite evidence, but she just felt that the big black tree was a bit weird.
Tree burials are not uncommon. It is said that the barbarians have tribes that are popular for tree burials, but why is that tree like that? That feeling is a bit like Yinshan...
The next day, Lu Mingshu didn't bring Xiaoxiao along, and went to the big black tree by himself.
What is the truth, you can only find out after exploring.
She took out the luminous pearl to illuminate, and went in through the hole of the tree burial.
A burst of coolness hit, gloomy.
There are many branches in this tree, and each branch is a family graveyard.
Those who were buried here were all wrapped in white cloth, exuding the unique smell of tree sap in Nanze, which is said to be antiseptic.
However, no matter how embalmed, these corpses will still rot, and when they go deep, many of them will be rotten until only bones remain.
After spending a few days, Lu Mingshu searched the big black tree up and down, and found nothing abnormal. This is an ordinary dead tree used as a grave.
But she still didn't give up.
After sitting outside the big black tree for two days, she suddenly understood.
Even if the big black tree was just an ordinary dead tree, what happened to the dead places around it? Human bones are good fertilizers. If those cemeteries are not cleared, weeds will grow in a year. Why is the big black tree the opposite
Not only is it itself a dead tree, but even its surroundings have become dead.
She thought of Yinshan. Yinshan is also full of corpses, so only a few weeds grow around it. That's because too many people died in the Yin Mountain, and these bones brought Yin Qi, which directly prevented normal species from surviving. Or, adapt to the environment, like those monsters in Yinshan. Or, you can't live.
What about the big black tree? The bones buried there are not even a ten-thousandth of that in the Yinshan Mountain, so it is just an ordinary cemetery. If this can cause the effect of death, wouldn't the entire ancient Xia be a place of death everywhere
There must be other reasons, but I can't find it for a while.
She took a twig from the big black tree and put a reward on the sky wheel to see if anyone could recognize it.
She couldn't figure it out, there were so many capable people in Tianlun, there was always someone who could figure it out.