Silent mountains.
The shrill whistling sound of the wind, which used to sound like ghosts crying, suddenly stopped miraculously, and the entire canyon became quiet and silent.
Pang Jian, who had been here countless times, rode his horse into the canyon this time and suddenly felt inexplicably unfamiliar with this place.
He listened carefully and found that there was no sound of birds flapping their wings or insects humming in the mountains on both sides.
Even the irritable chestnut warhorse under him suddenly became quiet the moment he entered the canyon, as if it instinctively sensed that something was wrong.
Pang Jian, who was taught hunting knowledge by his father since childhood, is a mature hunter and knows that areas that are too peaceful are often accompanied by danger and crisis.
Keeping alert in secret, he took out the bow and arrow from his back, and rode his horse slowly forward while paying close attention to the movements around him.
The canyon is still the same canyon, and the mountains are still the same mountains.
But Pang Jian, who was walking in the middle, always felt that something had changed, but he couldn't tell why.
After a moment, the warhorse under Pang Jian suddenly stopped, and he saw several corpses behaving strangely in the pile of rocks in front of him.
All the corpses were wearing the same style of black clothes, with a scarlet crescent moon pattern on their chests. The crescent moon seemed to be floating in the depths of a mysterious dark world, full of evil and bloody beauty.
With just one glance, Pang Jian thought of the sailboat that fell from the upper realm a few days ago.
The crescent moon pattern on the chest of the corpse is exactly the same as the blood-red crescent moon on the black banner of the sailboat.
The few corpses among the rugged rocks all looked very young. Some of them were holding silver bells, some were holding white paper fans, some were clutching huge copper hammers, and all of them were as if running forward.
Some people even turned their heads to look back, as if there was a great terror following them, making them feel frightened and uneasy.
What was strange was that the bodies did not have any fatal wounds, nor did they show any signs of being hit by rocks.
The strange corpse in a running posture gave Pang Jian the feeling that it had died in an instant, and after death, it still maintained its original posture.
It was as if a gust of wind blew away their souls and froze them in place by some strange force that locked time.
However, the valley, which had been roaring with fierce winds all year round, was eerily quiet at this moment, without the raging evil wind that Pang Jian had imagined in his mind.
What was even more strange was that the corpses lying in the pile of rocks had not been torn apart and eaten in this canyon often frequented by wild beasts.
The scene before him was unreasonable in every way, so Pang Jian naturally would not rush forward.
He chose to stay where he was and wait for others.
“Bang, bang!”
Soon, the sound of horses' hooves hitting the ground was heard behind Pang Jian.
Pang Jian turned around and saw a heroic girl riding a snow-white warhorse. She seemed to be one with the horse beneath her, like a dazzling white rainbow of light shooting towards her.
Her skillful riding skills and exquisite control over the horse showed that she was by no means a rookie on the battlefield.
When she was about to rush in front of Pang Jian, the people and horses she had left behind began to appear one after another.
"This is?"
She pulled the reins suddenly, first stopping the snow-white warhorse under her, and then looked at the corpse in the pile of stones with bright eyes.
Her thick eyebrows, which were much thicker than those of ordinary women, became sharp when she slowly frowned, making her look both heroic and impressive.
"It's the Blood Moon people!"
Ning Yuanshan, who had a goatee, arrived shortly afterwards, his face full of gloom. He said in a deep voice, "Those guys from the Blood Moon in the upper realm are always cruel and bloodthirsty. What on earth happened to them in the pile of rocks? Their deaths were so bizarre!"
Ning Yuanshan did not see any fatal wounds on the body. He felt something was wrong and asked everyone to be careful.
"Let me check it out."
Liu Qi, who reluctantly handed over his own chestnut warhorse to Pang Jian, fell off his companion's horse.
Seeing Ning Yuanshan nod slightly, he walked towards the pile of rocks with permission. When he passed Pang Jian, he suddenly stopped, then pulled out a spear from under the belly of his warhorse, and then quickly entered the pile of rocks.
"The rest of you, don't go over there yet!" Ning Yuanshan looked back coldly.
Behind him, several people with glowing eyes, stimulated by the objects in the corpse's hands, tightened the reins angrily.
If it weren't for his scolding, these people would have planned to rush into the pile of rocks to investigate like Liu Qi did.
The cultivators of the Blood Moon in the upper realm must carry extraordinary artifacts with them. As long as they can obtain any one of them, their trip will be worthwhile, so they are all driven by greed and almost break in.
The few people who stopped helplessly finally looked at Liu Qi with envy as he watched him arrive in front of the first corpse.
He was a short young man with a bun on his head and a white paper fan held high in his left hand.
His right hand was still making hand gestures, as if he was trying to activate some life-saving secret technique to escape from the terrifying pile of rocks.
On the open white paper fan, there were a few green bamboos painted, and a line of poetry was signed.
"The pines and bamboos are green and the vines are cold, the sun sets on the mountains and rivers."
Liu Qi came closer, silently reciting the signed poem, and used the tip of his gun to tear open the dead young man's clothes, wanting to see if there were any fatal wounds hidden underneath his clothes.
Suddenly, a few green bamboos on the white paper fan held high by the dead young man were gradually surrounded by blood.
A blood-red bamboo painted on the fan suddenly flew out and pierced Liu Qi's forehead directly.
Liu Qi fell to the ground with his back to the sky, blood gushing out from his eyebrows, and he died.
Pang Jian was startled and subconsciously clenched his usual long sword, preparing to deal with unknown changes.
The strange white paper fan and the murderous blood bamboo were anomalies that he would never have encountered in the Cenji Mountains before.
After the blood bamboo stabbed Liu Qi, it shrank back into the white paper fan and dyed the rest of the green bamboo red.
Inside the gray stone pile, on the white fan-shaped surface, a few bright red bamboos were emitting bright red light, which changed everyone's expression.
Ning Yuanshan's face was as gloomy as water, and he snorted, "You almost died too."
The few people behind him who wanted to break in were secretly afraid and lowered their heads in shame when they heard what he said.
Zhang Heng, who rode on the same horse as Liu Qi, held the reins tightly, fearing that the horse would lose control and rush forward. He cried out in a strange voice, "This is really weird!"
No one dared to take another step forward.
In their eyes, the corpses with blood-red crescent moons painted on their chests in the rubble all turned into bloodthirsty monsters.
"Boy, go and get me that white paper fan."
He Ziren, whose white robe seemed spotless, suddenly had bright eyes. He was not sad about Liu Qi's death, but raised his hand and pointed at Pang Jian.
Ning Yuanshan frowned slightly, but since he knew He Ziren's identity, he did not say anything to dissuade him.
"If you want to die, go there by yourself and don't harm others."
She was quite calm, having obviously experienced strong storms before, and was not frightened or confused by the strangeness in the pile of rocks.
"I was just talking casually." He Ziren shook his head and laughed, not arguing with her seriously.
"You take money from people and help them get rid of disasters. Can you tell me how this canyon is different from the previous ones?" Ning Yao still looked at Pang Jian, waiting for him to tell her about the strangeness of this place.
"It has become quieter. The wind used to whistle harshly, but now it is silent. Also, there used to be birds on the two peaks and animals in the dark canyon, but now they are all gone." Pang Jian answered truthfully.
"An Jing..." Ning Yao seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked, "What else?"
Pang Jian shook his head.
Ning Yao stopped asking questions and asked everyone to set up camp in front of the pile of rocks. She said, "There are more people from our Ning family who came to explore the Ceji Mountains. We arrived first because we are the closest."
"Everyone, don't rush to go deeper. Let's first pay attention to the abnormalities of the corpses and wait for other teams to come."
As soon as she entered the canyon, she saw a pile of rocks and one of her capable subordinates was killed, so she did not dare to act rashly.
"People from the other six major families will definitely come after hearing the news. They shouldn't keep us waiting too long." Ning Yuanshan agreed and said, "First, keep an eye on the corpses of the Blood Moons. When the other parties arrive, we will decide how to act."
The pile of stones was right in front of them, and the blood moon bell, the treasure fan, and the bronze hammer were also within reach, but no one dared to covet them.
After settling the horses, they quickly set up camp and began to get busy.
Pang Jian had a blank expression on his face, and only occasionally glanced at He Ziren, who had previously planned to sacrifice him.
He Ziren quickly noticed his gaze, grinned silently, and raised his hand as if to touch his eyes.
"Uncle Yuanshan, we've all traveled a long way here and we all need to stop and take a breath. I'd like to trouble you to keep an eye on us outside for now." Ning Yao said with a slightly tired look.
"Um."
Ning Yuanshan had just this idea, so he waved his hand and asked everyone to go to the tent to rest, while he and Pang Jian stayed outside.
"We are the Ning family. Have you ever heard of the Ning family?"
When Ning Yao and others entered their tents, either sitting in meditation to regulate their breathing or closing their eyes to take a nap, Ning Yuanshan pulled Pang Jian aside and took the initiative to ask him questions.
Compared to when we first met, his attitude had obviously become much more polite and he no longer acted superior.
"The Ning family among the seven major families?" Pang Jian was stunned.
"It seems that you are not completely ignorant." Ning Yuanshan said proudly.
Next, he discussed the anomalies in the Cenji Mountains with Pang Jian in a casual tone.
He learned from Pang Jian that not long ago, a golden chariot, a huge sailing ship, and a white tower fell one after another.
"The gilded chariot of the Galaxy Alliance, the Wuding ferry of the Blood Moon, and the Tianling Pagoda of the Yinling Temple."
Ning Yuanshan stroked his beard, frowned, and murmured softly. Through Pang Jian's description, he quickly confirmed the origin of the object that landed, and then asked: "Did you see anyone come out?"
Pang Jian shook his head: "No."
"Okay, you take a rest too." Ning Yuanshan stopped asking.
After a while, he asked Pang Jian to help keep an eye on the surroundings, and he went to Ning Yao's tent.
He asked quietly in front of the tent, and after getting Ning Yao's permission, he went in to discuss important matters with Ning Yao.
…
Night falls.
Because the sun, moon and stars are not visible all year round, the sky in the fourth realm is extremely dim at night.
For ordinary mortals who have not embarked on the path of cultivation, it is difficult to see the surrounding scenery clearly at night in the fourth realm.
In the tent next to Pang Jian, the people from the Ning family were taking the time to regulate their breathing so that they could deal with the next situation with full energy.
Pang Jian could not see the corpses of the Blood Moon practitioners in the night, but objects such as white paper fans, bells and copper hammers glowed faintly in the dim light.
The light shone on the bodies and faces of the dead, making them look extremely eerie and terrifying, causing Pang Jian to frown secretly.
He observed silently and found that there was nothing unusual about the corpse. The white paper fan, bell, and copper hammer remained in their original state. Only then did he gradually feel relieved.
But every time he couldn't help but look, he always felt that those dead Blood Moon practitioners seemed to continue rushing forward at some point.
Pang Jian, feeling a little uneasy in his heart, couldn't calm down. In desperation, he quietly left the tent of the Ning family and others and found a secluded place to practice the "Hutian Yangqi Jue".
Pang Jian finally succeeded in meditating and was able to keep his mind clear. While contemplating the wonders within himself, he quickly entered the so-called "awakening" state.
Almost at the moment he entered into a state of meditation and "awoke", he sensed the existence of "Qi" and felt a gentle and neutral strange aura around him.
“Aura.”
He suddenly realized that the reason why he practiced diligently at home but still could not feel the spiritual energy was not because there was something wrong with his practice method.
It was because his home was located in the wilderness and the spiritual energy was too thin, making it difficult for him to perceive it keenly.
The quiet mountains only about ten miles away from his home had spiritual energy several times richer, and he could feel it immediately.
Pang Jian, secretly surprised, hurriedly tried to guide the so-called spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body and sink it into his Dantian spiritual sea using the method described in "Hutian Yangqi Jue".
In his visualization, his Dantian spiritual sea turned into a "spiritual pot". As he breathed in and out, the external spiritual energy of heaven and earth was sucked into the "spiritual pot".
Gradually, Pang Jian not only felt the existence of spiritual energy, but also discovered that the spiritual energy did not sink into his dantian with his breathing.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him was attracted by the "spiritual pot" he visualized, and directly entered his body through the Dantian acupoint next to his navel.
—Not breathing in and out through the mouth and nose.
After a while, Pang Jian, who was practicing in silence, suddenly felt another force from the pile of rocks.
This power was different from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. It was filled with madness and evil, and was actually attracted to his "Spirit Pot".
In the pile of rocks, the white paper fans, bells, and copper hammers held by the corpses of the Blood Moon practitioners all shone with a striking brilliance.
"Hoo-hoo! Woo-hoo!"
The familiar sound of wind whistling like a ghost's cry suddenly came from the pile of rocks.
It seemed as if some evil ghosts and demons buried deep in the earth were suddenly awakened by some force, and they were wailing and screaming in the Netherworld.
…
You can comment in the book review area, because there are few people now, Lao Ni will go to read it~
(End of this chapter)