At dawn, Hong Jun opened his eyes again, fully recovered his strength, the bed was warm, as if someone had slept, the pillow still had the smell of Li Jinglong's body, and beside the pillow was a fragrant plum blossom.
"Zhao Zilong." Hong Jun sat up, holding plum blossoms, and asked, "Did you pick them for me?"
The basin is empty.
"Where's the fish?" Hong Jun stood up and looked around, but he heard Li Jinglong and Mo Rigen's excited voices not far away.
He put on his military uniform, fearing that the two of them would quarrel, but when he got into the hall, he yelled instantly.
Wearing a luxurious sable fur cloak and holding the blue Fengshen fan in his hand, Artest spoke to Li Jinglong and Mo Zhigen with a smile, while the carp demon jumped a few times on the table and was listening happily. Behind Artest in the hall stood a Turkic youth with dark skin, disheveled hair, leather armor and several throwing knives.
Hong Jun thought that Artest would yell "Hi Baa Houbi", but everyone was silent for a while.
"Artest!"
"Hong Jun." Uncharacteristically, Artest laughed, with the joy of reunion in his eyes.
After a few breaths, Fang Fang yelled "Hi Baa Houbi" and stepped forward to hug Hong Jun tightly.
Hong Jun didn't expect Artest to actually come. He was so excited that he didn't know what to say, and said, "You're here! You're really here!"
Artai smiled and said: "The Exorcist is in trouble, why not come? Hong Jun, this is my good buddy, Ashinaqiong, you two know each other, you both play throwing knives."
"Galasmi." The Turkic youth put one hand on his left chest and saluted Hong Jun, meaning "Hello", Hong Jun hurriedly clasped his fists in return.
Li Jinglong said: "Now there is still a lack of Yongsi, and everyone is here."
"It's too far away." Artest said, "I suggest we act first, don't wait for him, just leave a letter."
It turned out that more than a month ago, Artest brought the appointment documents and called the past tribes on the bank of the ancient Wusun Road, but just 20 days after he settled down, he received the news from the caravan entrusted by Li Jinglong, and immediately set off on the road. Hexi.
After counting, Qiu Yongsi sent the letter to the West Lake Villa. After the letter was delivered, it had to wait for delivery. Even if Qiu Yongsi flew over, it was impossible to arrive before the beginning of spring.
"One is coming." Li Jinglong said, "There are two new recruits, so I feel more at ease."
"Take a look." Artest replied, "I caught one of these when I passed Yadan."
Said that Bi Atai was so neat and tidy, waving his fan, he left the hall with them and came to the school grounds.
"Hey, Tochara girl." The carp demon said, "Aren't you still fanning in such a cold winter?"
"This is demeanor." Artest smiled reservedly, waved the Fengshen fan, the ring on his hand shimmered, the wind suddenly became warmer, and a thousand layers of snow rolled up for a while.
"If you were there that day." Mo Zhigen said, "you wouldn't have to fight Xuannv so tiredly."
When the heat of autumn was severe, a group of people sat and waited for Artai to fan the cool breeze. With such a reminder, Hong Jun immediately realized, yes! With Artest here, he is not afraid of the blizzard!
"The snow demon is second." Artest walked across the school grounds and came to a cage, inside which squatted a man in ragged clothes with a ferocious face and terrifyingly big eyes.
"We caught him while passing Yadan."
Hong Jun knew it was a monster at a glance, but he didn't know what kind of monster it was. When the carp demon saw it, he screamed in fright and shouted: "Snake!"
The monster was just a sand snake, looking straight at the crowd, spitting out the snake core from time to time, with a rather sleepy expression. After all, winter is the season of dormancy, but by accident, he was captured by Artest, and he didn't eat or drink for many days, looking exhausted.
Sand Snake replied in a deep and hoarse voice, "You promised not to kill me."
Artest said gracefully: "You also promised to be honest and tell them, what did you hear?"
"The dead ghost king has fallen into their hands." Sand Snake looked at Hongjun with fear in his eyes, and said, "They found the human body of the white deer, and the demon king asked the God of Plague to use the magic power of the white deer as soon as possible to gather Start a battle with the army of dead ghosts, ready to send troops at any time, to assist the heavenly demons in this world, and kill the emperor on earth, that's it."
"Wait!" Hong Jun was shocked, trembling, "Say it again?!"
Sand Snake raised his eyes and looked at Hong Jun.
It turned out that the Sand Snake's former residence was not far from Yadan's general's tomb. Twenty years ago, it had achieved success in cultivation. When Xuannv and the God of Plague arrived, it was brought under the command of the Demon King and became a messenger. Afterwards, from time to time, I would send a letter, and by the way, help Xuannv buy some sesame seed cakes and fruits from the Shazhou Night Market, and run errands for the two big monsters.
The God of Plague originated from it, and was sent here by the Demon King to stay permanently, while Xuannv was a native-born local monster.
"Wow." Hong Jun said, "So the monster still has a household registration?"
"Xuannv was not like this in the past." Sand Snake looked at Hongjun. Among the crowd, only Hongjun could feel a little kindness, but his body was very majestic. He guessed that he might have something to do with the demon, but he kept his mouth shut tactfully. Asked, and said, "Later, everyone heard that her temperament had changed drastically."
"Everyone?" Mo Zhigen frowned, "How many monsters do you have?"
"They were transferred away the year before last." Sand Snake said, "I know a lot of birds and beasts, those that fly in the sky, and those that swim in the water."
"Where did you go?" Li Jinglong suddenly felt troubled.
Sand Snake replied: "I don't know, they were all sent away by the demon king to be driven by the demon king?"
That day, Artest only briefly asked about the origin, but unexpectedly, Li Jinglong asked about the inside story intermittently.
"How did they get in touch?" Li Jinglong asked again.
"Passing through a painting wall of Mogao Grottoes." Sand Snake replied.
Everyone: "!!!"
Artai held his forehead and patted Li Jinglong's shoulder, meaning that I really can't do the job of extorting a confession, and you have to come.
Li Jinglong didn't care about other things anymore, and asked all the time, but Sand Snake was very cooperative, almost answering every question-on the painted wall, the shape of the demon king was the shadow of a dragon. This conspiracy started twenty years ago. Zhang Hao first came to Dunhuang and found Xuannv who lived in seclusion at the northern foot of Qilian Mountain. Eighteen years ago, the two demons worked together to catch a spirit beast. According to legend, this spirit beast lived in a mural in Mogao Grottoes. Every once in a while, they will come to the human world to reincarnate.
But God of Plague and Xuannv successfully intercepted it when it left Mogao Grottoes and was reincarnated into the world, and polluted it with devilish energy for continuous refinement.
"White Deer." Mo Rigen murmured, and exchanged a glance with Li Jinglong.
"Is that the beauty you're looking for?" Artest asked unexpectedly.
The carp demon reminded: "Now I've become a man."
"Don't mention it." Mo Zhigen put his hand on his forehead and said, "Lu Xu's life and death are unknown, how can he care about whether he is a man or a woman now?"
"I don't know what it is." Sand Snake replied, "But the God of Plague was beaten up that day, I remember it very clearly, he asked me to find help..."
While hunting the white deer, the God of Plague had obviously encountered a formidable opponent, who beat him hard enough. As for the white deer that was captured, there was also a small problem—the physical body was dissipated, only the pure spirit body. Mo Zhigen immediately said: "The white deer that has lost its physical body will soon return to Tianmai if it has no place to live."
"Later, the God of Plague and Xuannv took control of the white deer, corrupted its body with demon energy, and then used its mana to drive the dead ghosts one by one..."
However, it took an extremely long time to completely demonize the white deer. This process lasted for nearly ten years. After the white deer turned into a black deer, it took another eight years to assimilate the corpse kings of the ghouls who died in battle. In the end, it was confirmed that he was willing to come out of the coffin, and only Liu Fei and his subordinates were driven by two monsters.
The other king was still in a coma, but the demon king couldn't wait any longer, and ordered Xuannv and the God of Plague to recover Hexi as soon as possible, especially to get rid of the thorn in Geshuhan's side.
So Xuannv asked Liu Fei to lead the army of dead ghosts to act alone, but Liu Fei was accidentally awakened by the wolf, and then, Xuannv was so angry that she personally summoned a cloud of black mist from the mural and vowed to Capture Liu Fei alive. Immediately afterwards, by accident on the road, I found the other half who was reincarnated by Bailu eighteen years ago!
"Where's Lu Xu?" Mo Rigen trembled.
"I... I don't know what method they used." Sand Snake replied, "In short, after she went back, she was injured, and you beat her, right?"
Sand Snake observed the crowd, but seeing no answer, he said, "Later when they went to Yadan, the spirit beast awakened the Ghost King, and they are gathering a hundred thousand war dead ghosts, preparing to send troops into Yumen Pass..."
"What?!" Everyone yelled.
Realizing the seriousness, Li Jinglong looked at Artest, Artest spread his hands helplessly, and said, "When I heard the news earlier, I came here in a hurry."
Hong Jun suddenly heard that the most troublesome dead ghost king left the coffin to go out to fight, and his ability was still higher than that of Liu Fei. He immediately thought of the ghost slaughtering the city, the guard in front of Yumen Pass, and his uncle! Immediately, my heart was full of fear, as if I had seen the tragic scene of wolves everywhere.
"What should I do?" Hong Jun trembled.
Li Jinglong said decisively: "When will the troops be sent?"
"The day after tomorrow? Yesterday? The day before yesterday?" The Sand Snake wrung his fingers, and said, "They asked me to report to the Demon King, because they found out..."
"Okay." Artest said, "That's it."
Li Jinglong was startled, and looked at Artest, but Artest said: "The surprise attack is coming."
Li Jinglong nodded, and immediately turned back to the hall, saying: "The battle meeting! Hurry up!"
Li Jinglong rushed into the hall and said to the guards: "Notify General Jia and all the lieutenants of an urgent military situation, immediately!"
The Turkic youth named Asinaqiong patted Hong Jun on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry."
As soon as Li Jinglong reacted, Hong Jun instantly felt the feeling he hadn't seen for a long time, and all his worries disappeared in an instant. He didn't even say "trust me" this time, and replaced comfort with action.
Hong Jun nodded, and then looked at the Sand Snake Demon in the cage.
"Let me go." Sand Snake said, "You promised to let me go!"
Ashina Qiong drew out the throwing knife, looked at the sand snake, Hong Jun hurriedly said: "Don't kill him."
Ashinaqiong took the flying knife back again, but Hong Jun didn't dare to make a decision, seeing the sand snake looking at him pitifully, he said, "I'll ask Chang Shi."
"Your Majesty," said the Sand Snake Demon, "I really didn't say anything in vain!"
"I'm not the king." Hong Jun replied, turned and went in to look for Li Jinglong. At that time, there were people coming and going in the mansion, and it was full of guards under the Yumen Gate. While putting on his armor, Li Jinglong explained to everyone what he had said from the captives, pointed out the marching route, and asked Jia Zhou to arrange guard posts to prevent surprise attacks.
"Impossible!" Jia Zhou said, "We have beacon towers, but there is no report, how could there be a surprise attack?"
"The opponent has monsters who can control the wind and snow." Li Jinglong said, "Your subordinates can't light the beacon at all."
Jia Zhou fell silent for a moment, Li Jinglong sat down, took the armor boots handed over by the soldiers and put them on, and said: "Send me two thousand people, ready to carry ropes and strong crossbows, to ambush on the main roads of the Qilian Valley. This and here." Li Jinglong freed his hand to point a few places, and said: "They are the only way they must pass."
Jia Zhou made a decisive decision and shouted: "Go! Everyone! Send Li Changshi five thousand elite soldiers!"
Draw a red line from Yadan on the map, go through the southwest to the northwest of Qilian Mountains, pass through Yumen Pass, and finally enter Yumen County.
Artest murmured: "They came from Yadan, let's rush there now, if there is no accident, we can get there first. But the 200,000 dead ghost cavalry, how do you deal with it?"
Li Jinglong said: "The battle plan will be discussed soon."
"The snake demon..." Hong Jun asked, pointing to the outside.
"Let's play later." Li Jinglong put on the armor, stepped out of the hall quickly, and replied, "The Exorcist obeys the order!"
Artest and Mo Zhigen responded immediately, and Hong Jun replied: "Yes!"
Li Jinglong looked back at Hongjun and said, "Either you stay and accompany your uncle..."
"I have to go with Chang Shi." Hong Jun tidied up the flying knife, turned to Jia Zhou and said, "Uncle, don't worry."
Mo Zhigen and Li Jinglong looked at each other, and Li Jinglong nodded slightly imperceptibly.
Jia Zhou said: "Go, come back safely."
Li Jinglong, Hong Jun, Artai, Mo Zhigen and the Turkic youth came out of the mansion, and they got on their horses one after another, and each rode out of the city.
However, outside the city, Li Jinglong reined in the horse in the wilderness, as if meditating.
Hong Jun: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"Could it be a spy?" Artest seemed to take it for granted that there would be such a stop, so he turned his horse's head around, and everyone had a second meeting.
Hong Jun: "..."
Hong Jun had seen this scene a lot, and immediately learned without a teacher, and realized that Li Jinglong's appearance just now was for the Sand Snake Demon to see! I thought that one or two of you are too cunning!
"I don't think so." Li Jinglong replied.
Mo Zhigen said: "I don't think it looks like it either. When Chang Shi questioned it, it was very scared."
Artest murmured, "Mmm", and said, "I didn't expect it to be so scared."
"What are you afraid of?" Hong Jun asked, "I didn't find out at all."
"You." Ashina Qiong said suddenly.
Hong Jun: "???"
Artest immediately stopped him with a look, and said with a smile: "Hong Jun, you can call him Joan, he is very similar to you, and he likes to tell the truth."
"In your words, I have the heart of a child." Ashinaqiong said leisurely.
"Why are you afraid of me?" Hong Jun asked.
"Okay." Li Jinglong stopped the discussion and said, "Then, let's all act together and go explore first."
Everyone responded and set off on horseback.
The carp demon said again behind Hongjun's back: "It's afraid of you, just like I'm afraid of cats."
Hong Jun remembered that his father was a peacock and his adoptive father was a phoenix. The snake seemed to have a natural fear of powerful bird monsters, so he didn't ask any more questions.
With a whistle, Artest smiled at Hongjun, "Hongjun! Throw Zhao Zilong over."
The carp demon said: "Tochara motherfucker! What do you want to do?!"
Artest replied: "I haven't seen you for so long, I miss the boss's hairy legs. Come here and caress me."
Everyone laughed, Hong Jun guessed that Artest wanted to tease Zhao Zilong, so he threw the carp demon over, and Artest grabbed the carp demon and rode his horse to the front.
The wind gradually picked up, and all the riders left Yumen County and galloped on the plain. Hong Jun only felt that the horses he was riding were running very slowly, and they were far less handsome than the previous horses. However, when he was having nightmares, chopping, chopping, and killing everything, he couldn't help feeling guilty.
"Is it better?" Li Jinglong rode his horse and came to Hong Jun's side.
Hong Jun nodded, and Li Jinglong asked again: "Shall I take you?"
Hong Jun waved his hand to indicate that it’s okay. Mo Rigen’s words last night more or less untied his knots. Although the "devil seed" matter still made him doubtful, he still felt weird when he saw Li Jinglong. , but at least in the face of Li Jinglong's uneasiness, it has already eased a lot.
"Do you want to stay in Yumen?" Li Jinglong asked again.
Others speeded up intentionally or unintentionally, leaving the two of them at the end, as if they had made an agreement, and gave them a chance to speak.
Hong Jun turned his head, looked at Li Jinglong, and replied, "I don't want to."
"Why?" Li Jinglong asked again.
"I'm afraid to miss you." When Hong Jun saw Artest go and return today, he suddenly dismissed that idea. He used to think that their departure was a farewell, but those who left would always come back, bringing new friends .
Li Jinglong said again: "But here is your uncle."
Hong Jun slowed down, and Li Jinglong and Li Jinglong crossed the creek, then speeded up, thought for a while, and replied: "The northwest is too cold, I can't get used to it."
Li Jinglong laughed and said, "Then you can say it yourself, I won't say it, otherwise your uncle will hate me and recruit another enemy."
Hong Jun also laughed when he thought of Chongming.
"Come here." Li Jinglong stretched out his hand to Hongjun again, and said, "I'll take you."
A dream suddenly appeared in Hong Jun's mind, the moment when nine-year-old Li Jinglong was waiting in the alley, reaching out to him, and leading him into the Exorcist Department.
He held his hand tightly, as if he was afraid of losing him, but he was brought into the magic circle that could never be restored, and finally made him lose everything he once had...
Hong Jun: "Drive!"
Li Jinglong shouted from behind and said, "Wait!"
Li Jinglong shook the reins and followed closely.
Ahead, Artest rode a horse, along with Mo Zhigen and Ashina Qiong, galloped along the foot of the mountain to the northwest of Qilian Mountain.
Ashina Qiong looked back from time to time, only to see Hong Jun and Li Jinglong one behind the other on the wasteland, becoming two small black spots between the sky and the earth.
"Don't look at it." Artest laughed, "There is an owner."
Ashinaqiong immediately replied casually: "You Central Plains people have this rule? Whoever sees it first gets it?"
Mo Zhigen was taken aback for a moment, and then realized that he couldn't help but laugh.
Artai said to Mo Rigen: "Don't laugh, Mo Rigen, I haven't laughed at your predestined son-in-law yet."
Mo Zhigen's smile stopped abruptly, his face flushed, and then his brows frowned again.
"In your exorcism department, it seems that everyone has their own troubles." Ashinaqiong said.
Artest said casually: "Isn't it? Now I'm going to save Mo Zhigen's lover."
"Not yet." Mo Zhigen replied, "Don't talk nonsense."
Ashinaqiong said again: "The 'devil seed' you are talking about is on the child playing with the throwing knife in the back?"
"Don't tease him." Artest's expression became serious, and he replied, "Joan, I don't care what you want to do on weekdays, don't touch Hongjun."
Ashinaqiong smiled indifferently and said, "If he is willing to follow me, why is there any need to find someone else?"
Mo Zhigen replied: "Do you have Changshi's heart lamp? You can't restrain the devilish energy in Hongjun's body."
Artai pondered, and said, "Mo Zhigen, the matter is very important, are you sure that Hong Jun is really the person that snake demon said?"
The carp demon exposed half of its fish head from Artai's arms, and kept looking at Ashinaqiong helplessly, listening to everyone's conversation.
"Before you arrived, we had already fought hard once." Mo Zhigen replied, "Hong Jun saw the death of his parents in his nightmare, and the demon seeds were aroused."
The carp demon suddenly said: "Does the heart lamp really have the ability to disperse demonic energy? Oh, why is our family Hongjun so pitiful?"
"Leave it to Chang Shi." Mo Zhigen said helplessly, "It depends on his luck."
The carp demon said again: "Look at his luck? Are you serious? This is not a good thing!"
Everyone: "..."
"Why do you say that?" Ashinaqiong didn't quite understand, so he asked.
Artest became impatient with the question, and simply explained: "Maybe only the heart lamp in Li Jinglong's body can dispel the 'demon seed' in Hongjun's body. Today we are discussing this. After this battle, Li Jinglong will go to Taihang Mountain Yaojin Palace, let’s see if there is a solution.”
Ashinaqiong thought for a while, and sang: "In the dark grassland, my beloved girl, light a lamp for me, so that the dawn can be summoned—drive!"
It is a Turkic ballad, and the meaning of Ashinaqiong is obvious. When there is love, darkness can be dispelled.
Artest didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he shook his head and said, "He doesn't understand."
Snow started to fall again, and everyone gathered at the foot of Qilian Mountain. Mo Zhigen threw Hong Jun a leather armor, and Hong Jun put it on and moved his arms. Artest waved his fan, and the wind blew up, sending the five of them up to a cliff on the top of the mountain. There was a small wooden house on the cliff to monitor the military situation. Standing here and looking out, one could see the end of the Great Wall under the afterglow of the setting sun.
From the beginning of Liaodong, the Great Wall meanders through Bohai Sea, Lukou, Hebei, Jinyang, and Guanzhong... It is mighty and mighty, passing through nearly a hundred counties, connecting the Qin Shimingyue and Han Shiguan, and connecting the ancient times. The immortal feats of the emperors who appeared on the stage connected the ballads of Wuhu traveling outside the Great Wall, connected time and connected the vast land of China. When they arrived here, they extended to the vast land in the harsh winter and finally returned to nothingness. .
There was a pungent corpse smell in the wind, even Hong Jun could smell it, it was already very obvious.
"Where is the ambush?" Artest asked.
As the sun sets, it shines across the Great Wall from the northwest and toward the mountains. Holding the Wisdom Sword and wearing armor, Li Jinglong pointed towards the distance, signaling for everyone to look.
There are disused ancient beacon towers on both sides of the mountains. The soldiers sent by Jiazhou are faster than them. They have already hung hooks from high places, ambushed on both sides of the mountains, and shot more than ten tough ropes, falling towards everyone. on the cliff.
Mo Zhigen transformed into a wolf, biting the rope, entangled with the big rock, and said in a low voice: "The army of dead ghouls is approaching here. Where did Liu Fei go?"
In fact, after solving the day when Hong Jun fell into a demon, Liu Fei said goodbye to them and left. Li Jinglong didn't care about finding his whereabouts, but guessed that he was probably ambushing nearby. Or follow the army of dead ghouls and wait for the opportunity to act.
"It's up to you later." Li Jinglong said, "Hong Jun, as soon as the army of dead ghouls passes here, you can use a flying knife to cut off the snow peaks on both sides."
Standing in front of the cliff, Hong Jun opened his palms, and the four immortal-killing flying knives merged into one, revealing Mo Dao, and nodded.
Ashinaqiong was very surprised and looked at Hongjun.
"Can you use mana?" Canglang asked worriedly.
Hong Jun replied: "It has fully recovered, so you don't have to worry."
Li Jinglong observed the nearby terrain for a while, and said: "There are several places on the cliff where you can use your strength to settle down. I will trouble you later."
Everyone nodded, looking into the distance, the setting sun was like blood, gradually sinking towards the horizon little by little. A black wave appeared in the sky, and it seemed that there were thousands of troops coming towards the end of the Great Wall.
An army of 200,000 dead ghouls! On the desolate Gobi, the army rushed towards the Great Wall like a tide, and crashed into it with a shocking effect!
Artai was dumbfounded, but Ashinaqiong laughed and said, "These monsters don't intend to hide from people at all."
"A 200,000 army." Mo Zhigen said, "No matter what county it is, as soon as the iron hooves arrive, they will be crushed to death."
Li Jinglong suddenly said: "Hongjun."
Hong Jun turned his head to look at Li Jinglong.
The rays of the setting sun shone in front of the two of them, and on Li Jinglong's handsome side face, he seemed to have something to say, and looked at Hongjun.
"They're here!" Mo Zhigen interrupted Li Jinglong's unspoken words.
Hong Jun immediately looked towards the valley, and saw that the army of dead ghouls knocked down a large section of the Great Wall, and swarmed in from the gap. Accompanied by the strong wind, there was an overwhelming blizzard!
"Not yet!" Li Jinglong tightly grasped Hong Jun's hand, and the ground couldn't stop shaking for a moment. More and more cavalry poured into the valley, and everyone on the cliff held their breath.
The wolf growled suddenly, and his pupils shrank instantly. With the last ray of dim sunlight, he saw the two horses in the main army crossing the Great Wall.
On one of the horses rode a tall warrior, his face masked in iron armor. On another horse, a thin young man in a black scout uniform was riding on it. It was Lu Xu!