It was almost the fourth watch at this time, and it was snowing outside again. Since we couldn't go to Heishigou now, everyone stayed here and sent Zhang Zhong back, and came back with the government servants after dawn.
Taoist monks are skilled in medicine. Taoist Tianmu was determined to help the young man who was talking nonsense to detoxify and cure his illness. Seeing that Monk Wu Zhen was chanting sutras and praying, he stopped and died.
Nanfeng watched clearly from the side and vaguely guessed what Tianmu was thinking. It was Tianmu who helped save people. If he was cured, others would say that his talisman water and Wuzhen prayer worked together, and he was killed for no reason. The monks who chanted sutras shared the credit.
Although he didn't say anything, Nan Feng was vaguely worried. If he had known earlier, he should have invited one of them, along with the Taoist monk and the Taoist monks. By then, the two of them might have passed the blame and not contributed much, let alone expected them to work together.
The young man lying on the bed had a sister who couldn't go to sleep while serving the soup, so the fat man talked to her and comforted her. The woman spoke of her as a master, which made the fat man feel more and more like a master, and he spoke to her in a serious and thoughtful manner.
Of course, the fat man's thoughts couldn't be hidden from Nan Feng. During this period, the two of them have been eating Qi-tonifying herbs. He is proficient in Qi training and guidance, and can disperse the medicinal power of the herbs, refine them and store them, but the Fat man is unfamiliar with Qi training and cannot suppress the medicinal power. , even though it is winter, my face is red every day. The two elderly aunts have been looking at each other in the past few days. It seems that the time has really come. If I don't get married with him, this guy will do something dirty. .
There were still two hours before dawn, so Nanfeng went to the inner room, sat cross-legged and meditated, channeling and refining the spiritual energy generated by the decoction he had taken during the day.
The surviving man was so frightened that he kept talking incoherently after he came back. Although the people who were traveling with him were all dead, their relatives did not believe it and wanted to see it with their own eyes, so they gathered spontaneously and waited until dawn to meet Nanfeng and others. Let’s go into the mountains together to find someone.
The weather was not good, and the snow did not stop after dawn. At Mao hour, Zhang Zhong brought his servants over, met Nanfeng and others, and set off together.
This matter was too dangerous, and Nanfeng didn't want the villagers to go with him, but the fat man was "considerate" of the people and allowed everyone to go into the mountain together. In front of everyone, he couldn't help but refute the fat man's face, so he took the villagers with him into the mountain.
More than a dozen government officials, more than thirty villagers, and a group of more than fifty people braved the snow to enter the mountains.
A few villagers who knew the location of Heishigou led the way, and everyone walked behind. Since it was early winter, although it had been raining for a long time, the snow was not thick, and walking was not difficult, but it was a little slippery.
It was probably impossible to expect Tianmu and Wu Zhen to cooperate. To prepare for a rainy day, Nanfeng made an agreement with the two of them in advance. If there were monsters, Tianmu would surrender them. If there is a ghost, Wuzhen will take action.
The errands must be divided up in advance, so that at the critical moment, the two of them will "give in to each other" and not take action.
While walking, Nanfeng chatted with several elderly villagers and asked about the situation of the Black Rock Valley. According to the villagers, the Black Rock Valley was dozens of miles away from the village. The terrain was dangerous. There was mist lingering in the ditch all year round and there were many poisonous insects. The villagers had always kept away from it. .
In addition, people may have lived in Heishigou in the early years. It is not known who lived there or when. The villagers only guessed that someone had lived there based on the remaining house foundations in the ditch.
The mountain road was difficult to travel, so the group of people stopped on the way, and finally arrived at Heishigou deep in the mountains before sunset.
Villagers are not allowed to subdivide ravines and valleys. Black Rock Valley is actually a valley scattered with a large number of black stones. It is located between two peaks. There may be a hot spring in the valley, and the mist emitted lingers above the valley. Affected by the fog, the situation in the valley It's not very clear.
However, there is no snow in the valley. Standing at the mouth of the valley, you can vaguely see the stone house foundations in the grass in the valley. Judging from the damage to the house foundations, it seems that it has been abandoned for at least a hundred years.
"Sir, those bones are from wild beasts in the mountains, and there are no human bones among them." Zhang Zhong pointed to the bones in the valley. He was in charge of the prison and often followed the men for autopsy, and he could recognize human bones and animal bones.
Nanfeng nodded. There were a large number of eerie white bones scattered at the entrance of the valley. It was really terrifying at first glance.
"Go in and look for someone early while it's daylight." Fatty ordered.
"Sir, please wait for a moment and allow Pindao to observe and test." Old Taoist Tianmu said.
"Okay, you go in and take a look first." Fatty agreed.
Unexpectedly, Tianmu Laodao did not enter the valley, but jumped up and swept towards the peaks outside the valley.
"Where did he go?" the fat man asked Nanfeng.
"Let's set up the formation." Nanfeng said. The mist was condensed by water and blocked by the mist. Practitioners could not see the abnormal smell in the valley. However, Taiqing Sect has a magic that can be used to observe the formation through the formation. The strength of the hidden object cannot actually determine the opponent's exact strength. It can only roughly judge whether the opponent is stronger or weaker than itself.
"Amitabha, sir, are you also proficient in mystical arts?" Monk Wu Zhen asked doubtfully.
Nan Feng thought he was too talkative, so he pursed his lips towards the valley and said, "If you have nothing to do, you can go in and explore."
"Don't listen to him," the fat man interrupted and turned to look at Nanfeng, "Why don't you let the Taoist priest in?"
Nanfeng smiled and did not answer. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. The fat man is a monk, so he naturally prefers monks. And since he is a Taoist, he will be more considerate to Taoists.
After half a stick of incense, Tianmu Taoist returned and drew a Tai Chi pattern with cinnabar from the mouth of the valley. He also used two willow branches, rolled a piece of talisman paper on each side, and inserted the lunar fish eyes first, and then the sun fish eyes.
The two talisman paper flags swayed slightly after being inserted. After a moment, the Taiyin fish-eye flag slowly tilted.
Seeing this situation, the old Taoist Tianmu felt relieved, "There may be some wild animals, but there is no way to enter."
Seeing what he said, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone likes to pinch persimmons, but no one likes to pinch hedgehogs.
Fatty gave the order, Tianmu and Wu Zhen went first, Zhang Zhong and other government officials followed, Fatty and Nanfeng followed, and the villagers came last.
Not far ahead, the remains of a house appeared in the valley. Due to years of neglect, all the walls had collapsed, leaving only the stone base.
"Who would build a house here?" The fat man was very confused.
Nanfeng was also confused. The terrain here was dangerous and not suitable for long-term living. However, it was very secluded. The people who lived here might have done it for the purpose of evasion. From the Qin and Han Dynasties, punishments have been very harsh, and people were often implicated. People often avoided it to save their lives. The mountains and wilderness.
However, these people who avoid the mountains usually do not have a good end. First, there are wild beasts in the mountains. Second, there are bandits in the mountains. Furthermore, the court will also hunt for them.
The valley is very deep, there is fog above, and there are cliffs on the left and right. Walking in it is very depressing. In addition, it is late and the light is unclear, making everyone nervous.
There are many black stones in the valley. Not far away, a handful of knives appeared on the ground. The yamen servant picked them up and gave them away. Nanfeng looked at them and handed them to the fat man with his backhand. These knives must have been left here by the villagers who entered the valley earlier. .
"There!" Zhang Zhong pointed to the stone wall on the north side and shouted loudly.
Everyone turned to look north after hearing the sound, and saw a large vertical crack in the steep stone wall. A cluster of bright red ginseng seeds poked out from the crack three feet above the ground.
The place is warm and humid, making it easy for vegetation to grow. Judging by the size of the ginseng seeds, you can tell that the wild ginseng must be very large.
However, what Zhang Zhong was referring to was not the mountain ginseng growing in the cracks of the stone, but a multi-legged poisonous insect above the mountain ginseng. At this time, the poisonous insect was half hidden in the stone wall. Judging from its shape, it looked like a huge The black centipede has a wide body, probably about one foot long.
Tianmu was the first to bear the brunt. He drew out his long sword, jumped up, stepped on the stone wall and used his strength to rise a few feet higher. When he got close, he swung his long sword and chopped off the centipede.
The centipede had matured over the years and had developed a spiritual path. When it saw the sky tree attacking, it tilted its head and spit out a cloud of blue poisonous mist.
Tianmu spun around to avoid it, climbed onto the stone wall to use his arms for strength, turned back and chopped off the centipede again.
Seeing that the poisonous mist could not hurt Tianmu, the centipede hurriedly hid in the crevices of the rocks.
Handing the Tianmu Sword to his left hand, he took out a paper talisman from his sleeve with his right hand, placed it on the palm of his hand, and struck it against the stone wall.
This talisman seems to have the effect of boosting strength, and the stone wall trembles after being struck.
Tianmu used three paper talismans in a row, and finally forced the centipede out of the crack in the stone. Tianmu saw this and used his sword again, but the centipede's carapace was so hard that the long sword could not hurt it, but only knocked it to the ground.
Zhang Zhong shouted loudly and led his officers to rush forward, stabbing at random with spears.
The centipede panicked, rushed out, and fled deep into the valley.
How could Tianmu and the others let it escape? They all grabbed their belongings and shouted to catch up.
"What are you still doing? Go over and help." The fat man shouted to the villagers.
Only then did the villagers react, rush forward with farm tools in hand.
After the villagers ran away, the fat man pointed to the stone wall and said to the south wind, "Quickly go up and dig up the ginseng."
Just as Nanfeng was about to answer, he found that Zhang Zhong and others who were running in front turned around and ran back in panic. Even Tianmu Laodao and Monk Wu Zhen were also running away. Judging from their frightened expressions, they must have encountered something terrible. thing.
Before Nanfeng could see the truth, a deafening roar came from the valley. The roar was rich and deep, shocking the heart. It must have come from the mouth of a beast, but it was not like the sound of a tiger or a leopard.
"What?" Nanfeng shouted.
"If there is a lingering yin energy, it must be a ghost." Tianmu responded.
"It's sharp teeth, it's a monster." Wu Zhen was also running away.
Nanfeng didn't ask any more questions, because he had already seen the monster chasing everyone. It was the size of three tigers, with white fur all over its body, red eyes, a broad face, a long snout, and downward-pointing fangs. Its shape was three-quarters like a tiger. Seven points like a wolf, a strange creature that he has never seen before.
The monster seemed to be extremely angry. It jumped several feet and caught up with Zhang Zhong and others. It hit several people with its claws and flew away. Then it rushed to catch up with Tianmu, knocked Tianmu away again, and jumped down. With a rush, the villagers were scattered again.
At the critical moment, Wu Zhen showed his cultivation, but instead of resisting the enemy bravely, he ran away for his life. However, he was unable to outpace the white-haired monster and was caught up by the monster and pinned to the ground.
The monster's fingers and claws were very flexible. After catching Wu Zhen in his hand, he lowered his head and threw it out with his backhand.
At the critical moment, Nanfeng didn't think much and hurriedly reached into his arms to get the Nine-turn Lotus. He never thought that the fat man had already thrown the sky-shattering copper thunder one step ahead of him.
However, the fat man was too nervous and forgot to turn on the machine spring before throwing it. The copper thunder did not explode after being thrown.
Seeing the monster rushing towards him, Nanfeng hurriedly pushed the fat man away, jumped up, and wanted to attack the monster's eyes.
But as soon as he jumped up, he was knocked away by the monster's claws, hit the stone wall, and fell to the ground.
Although he fell badly, Nanfeng didn't bother to check his injuries and got up eagerly to rescue the fat man.
Seeing the monster rushing toward him, the fat man was so frightened that he thought it was impossible to save his life, so he said Amitabha and closed his eyes to wait for death.
Unexpectedly, when the monster heard the fat man's voice, it suddenly stopped its movement, landed in front of the fat man, and tilted its head to look at him.
After waiting for a while, no monster came to bite him. The fat man opened his eyes. When he saw the monster right in front of him, he turned around and ran away in fear.
The monster jumped up, landed ten feet away, stopped the fat man, and then tilted its head to look at him...