In winter, there is usually a northwest wind, so traveling westward is considered to be traveling against the wind. After two hours of rapid travel, the three of them arrived at their destination.
Jihari is an abandoned city in the desert. Due to the invasion of wind and sand, most of the buildings in the city have collapsed, and the rammed earth walls are also riddled with holes and dilapidated.
It was early morning when the three of them arrived, but there was no sun in the sky because it was windy and snowy. The snow was not heavy and the wind was not strong, but the temperature was very low and extremely cold.
The wind and snow blocked the sight of the three people, and they found nothing from the air, so the three people landed in the city. Fatty and Zhuge Chanjuan looked for a place to stay, while Nanfeng went back and forth everywhere, looking for the legendary mysterious escort.
After searching everywhere but finding nothing, Nanfeng returned to the earthen tower building in the middle of the abandoned city. This three-story earthen tower was originally supposed to be the residence of the nobles in the city. Although it was dilapidated, it was still intact. It was one of the few buildings in the city. There are many places where you can get shelter from the wind.
When they returned, they were chopping firewood. In fact, they were not chopping firewood, because there was no firewood to chop here. There were some worn-out furniture in the earthen tower, and they were unpacking cabinets and kicking boxes.
"Didn't find it?" Fatty asked.
Nanfeng nodded, "It seems like he's not here."
The fat man said, "Didn't you say that caravans only pass by here in summer? No one should ask him to escort him in this damn weather."
Nanfeng didn't answer, because the fat man's question was also his question.
"Look again, don't waste so much time, don't go in vain." The fat man said again.
"I searched with my spiritual energy, but there are no living things in the city." Nanfeng raised his hand and ignited the firewood piled by the two.
The bonfire was lit, Nanfeng went out and called Ba Ye and Lao Bai in.
Seeing Master Ba tilting his head and looking up after entering the door, Nanfeng asked the fat man, "What's upstairs?"
"I don't know, I haven't had time to go up yet." The fat man said casually.
Nanfeng didn't ask any more questions. He walked to the corner and followed the steps to the second floor. The reason why this city was deserted was probably due to the war. There were still many living utensils left on the second floor, and some wooden utensils still had arrows stuck on them. arrow.
There was a thick layer of dust on the ground, and there was a series of vague footprints on the ground leading from the second floor to the third floor. The footprints never returned. Needless to say, someone had gone up but not come down, at least not by the stairs. Come down.
Climbing the stairs to the third floor, I immediately verified my guess. There was someone on the third floor.
There is only one east window on the third floor. The window paper has fallen off a long time ago, but the window is still there. A thin man stands in front of the window, facing the east.
Before seeing this person, Nanfeng was sure that this person was dead, because before that he had extended his spiritual energy to sense the nearby aura and confirmed that there were no living things in the city.
However, after seeing this person, Nanfeng began to suspect that this person was not dead, because a dead person could not stand so straight, nor could he hold a three-foot long sword tightly in his hand. The most important thing was that a dead person could not have spiritual energy cultivation. Because, after careful inspection with the Longmu Celestial Eye, I could not see this person's natal soul, but I was able to determine that this person was a Dongxuan practitioner, but his spiritual energy was withdrawn, almost hidden.
But doubts are just doubts. This person is really a dead man, standing stiffly, not breathing. His shabby clothes are covered with thick sand. Judging from his clothes, body shape and weapons, this person is undoubtedly the person mentioned by the warriors. Said the mysterious escort.
The most accurate way to determine whether a person is really dead is to see if his soul has left his body. Just when Nanfeng extended his spiritual energy and prepared to sense it carefully, the man standing in front of the window suddenly turned his head.
As soon as the man turned his head, Nanfeng suddenly frowned. It wasn't that he didn't expect this man to make a sudden move, but his eyes were actually black, and his eyes were as big as copper bells.
After calming down and looking carefully, I realized that the two round things were not the person's eyes, but two black crystals. The person's eyes were hidden in these two pieces of black crystal. After the blindfold is completed, the crystal reflects light, making it difficult to see the details.
Not only were the eyes hidden behind black crystals, but the man's face was also wrapped in thick linen, completely covering his facial features.
Nanfeng looked at the thin man, and the thin man looked at him.
Nanfeng didn't speak, and neither did the thin man.
"Hey, what's up there?" Fatty shouted from below.
Nanfeng didn't answer.
When there was no answer, the fat man shouted from below again, but Nanfeng still didn't answer.
The fat man noticed something was wrong and ran up from below. He was startled by the thin man's crystal eyepatch, "What is this?"
When the fat man spoke, the thin man shifted his gaze from Nanfeng to him.
"We had a hard time looking for him," the fat man approached curiously, "So you are hiding here."
The thin man tilted his head and looked at the fat man, but did not answer.
"May I ask what your brother's name is?" The fat man looked at the black crystal goggles on the thin man's eyes.
The thin man did not answer, but raised his hand and took out a wooden sign from his arms and handed it to the fat man.
The fat man reached out and took it, looked at it for a few times, and then handed it to Nanfeng with his backhand.
Nanfeng took it and read it. There were two columns of writing engraved on the wooden sign, "Guide the way to Lecade, and the salary is five hundred coins." '
While Nanfeng was reading the wooden sign, the fat man said to the thin man, "We are not merchants. We came here specifically to find you. Can you speak?"
The thin man didn't answer or move, he just stood there numbly.
"What's going on?" The fat man looked back at Nanfeng.
"He is not alive." Nanfeng handed the wooden sign to the thin man, who reached out to take it and put it in his arms.
While the thin man was picking up the wooden sign, Nanfeng took the opportunity to observe his right hand. The man's palm was also wrapped in worn linen, and even the nails were not exposed.
"Who are you?" The fat man was confused and reached out to grab the thin man's eyepatch.
As soon as the fat man made a move, the thin man also made a move. He raised his right hand and held the fat man's arm.
Although this person stopped the fat man from taking his blindfold, he did not fight back. Seeing him like this, the fat man did not continue to try. Instead, he retracted his hand and turned to look at Nanfeng.
The condition of this emaciated man was strange and special, something he had never seen before. Nanfeng was suspicious, so he stretched out his spiritual energy to immobilize him. At the same time, the spiritual energy invaded and he sensed and discerned.
After a moment, Nanfeng frowned and lowered his hands, "His flesh and blood have dried up, and there are no three souls in his body, only seven souls left."
"With all three souls gone, can you still escort the escort?" the fat man asked.
"It stands to reason that it is impossible. The three souls govern the consciousness, and the seven souls govern the instincts. The human body can survive without the three souls, but only the instincts are left." Nanfeng changed the topic at this point, "But there are exceptions to everything. , if a person has been repeating the same thing during his life, and his wish is not fulfilled after death, it is the three souls leaving the body, and the seven souls may still support him to continue doing it, but there are two prerequisites for this situation, one is that he does it This matter is very important to him, and secondly, he has done the same thing countless times, and it has become so familiar that he can no longer be familiar with it."
"He was here as a bodyguard during his lifetime?" Zhuge Chanjuan said from the bottom of the steps.
"It's possible." As Nanfeng spoke, he extended his spiritual energy to remove the linen on the emaciated man's right hand, revealing a withered palm.
The emaciated man did not struggle to resist after being immobilized by the south wind, and even his right hand was exposed without any change. This shows that this man wrapped himself just because he did not want to scare others, and was not afraid of the sun.
After observing, Nanfeng withdrew his spiritual energy and let the emaciated man free. The emaciated man raised his right hand and looked at it, then turned and walked to the west area. There was a bed in the west area of the third floor, and some old clothes were piled up. The thin man walked to the bed, took a rag, tore it open, and wrapped it around his right hand.
While the emaciated man was wrapping his right hand, Nanfeng took the opportunity to look at the area on the west side. In addition to a bed made of mud, there were also some wood piled up there. The ground was covered with sawdust. There were some wooden inscriptions with writings placed on the mud. Card.
After wrapping his right hand, the thin man walked to the window again and stood still.
Nanfeng and Zhuge Chanjuan walked to the bed and looked at everything on the bed. This mud bed was not a place for the thin man to lie down, but was just used to place sundries. The shabby clothes on the bed were no longer wearable. It must have been picked up.
Looking at the wooden signs again, they are divided into two types, one is the one shown before, and the other is a wooden sign requesting the eastbound caravan to carry silver taels to a certain house in Luoyang, China.
"If a person dies, the three souls and seven souls will leave the body together, why not him?" Zhuge Chanjuan asked.
Nanfeng thought for a while and said, "There are two possibilities, both of which are caused by humans. One is that the souls were separated by Taoist methods, three souls were taken away, and the seven souls were sealed in the body. The other possibility is that there was an accident after death. There was a mistake when capturing the souls, only three souls were taken away, not seven souls."
"In your opinion, what is his condition?" Zhuge Chanjuan asked.
Nanfeng pointed at the black eyepatch of the thin man, "There is no black crystal in the world. This object is not affected by the five elements of spiritual energy. It should be something from the underworld. If nothing else, his current appearance should be related to the underworld. As for the details, It’s unknown.”
After Zhuge Chanjuan nodded, she asked again, "What kind of cultivation level does this person have?"
"Light Blue Dongxuan." Nanfeng said.
"Since his flesh and blood have dried up, he must not be able to practice Qi. He doesn't drink or eat. Where does he get the strength to move around, and where does he get the spiritual energy guard to use force?" Zhuge Chanjuan asked again.
"I don't know." Nanfeng shook his head. Everything in the world is composed of breath. Ordinary people replenish their breath through food. After practicing Qi successfully, they can eat wind and drink dew. But no matter what the situation is, they are all responsible for their own breath. In addition, this person does not eat or drink, nor can he practice Qi. Walking around and using force require consuming his own Qi, which is contrary to common sense.
"How does he know who is the robber and who is the merchant?" The fat man observed the thin man closely, almost touching his face, but the thin man did not move.
"It may be out of instinct, or it may be out of years of experience, or he may be able to make a simple judgment. Although he cannot speak, he can hear and see." Nanfeng said.
"You can't even tell the difference between money and sand, so how can you judge?" The fat man reached out to poke the thin man's black eyepatch. Half a foot away from the eyepatch, the thin man raised his hand again and pushed him away.
"Where did this person come from?" Zhuge Chanjuan looked around, trying to find clues.
Nanfeng picked up a wooden sign with writing on it and said, "He is not conscious right now and can't ask any questions. You stay here while I go to Luoyang to see if I can find the information written on the wooden sign." Every family…”