It was still dark, so Xie Zhe was the first to wake up. The headache came back in the night. He got up and knocked on Jiao Mo and Wenying's room door. They simply tidied up and were ready to go. The few people didn't intend to disturb the old man, but they didn't expect him to wake up very early and happened to meet him. Perhaps this is because the older people get, the less sleepy they become. The old man never asked them where they came from, where they were going, or what they were going to do. He probably really didn't want to care. But he is a really good person. He boiled water for them, provided them with shelter, and even stuffed them with some dry food this morning—it was clear that he had very little firewood and rice to sustain himself.
They refused in every possible way, and finally pretended to take it down and went up the mountain. In the middle of the journey, Han Chang found an opportunity to sneak back, and when the old man wasn't paying attention, he secretly put it back on the window sill of the hut. The beige old dog looked a little wary when he saw him. The demon and the dog were in a stalemate for a long time. Finally, the old dog stopped barking and moved elsewhere to bask in the sun. There was thunder all night last night, but the intervals were very long. Every time, people would wake up just as they were about to fall asleep, which was very annoying.
When they were waiting for Han Chang to come back at the mountain pass, Xie Zhe said this:
"This old man is really pitiful. He has two sons, both of whom are married and have careers, but none of them took him away."
"That's not the case," Jiao Mo explained, "Wen Ying and I chatted with him for a while yesterday. It is said that both sons wanted to take him away to live in those glamorous cities. But he himself was unwilling... …Because this is the place where he grew up. When he was young, he made a living by collecting herbs in the mountains, and he was very fond of this place. He even said that he would not leave this place until Shiyue Mountain completely collapsed. His sons could not defeat him. , and I had to consider the future of my grandchildren, so I left."
"That's it..."
Wenying stood on the side of the road, not participating in the discussion, just waiting quietly for her brother to come back. It was completely bright. On this slightly higher ground, you could see smoke rising from one or two houses. There were probably some old people slowly starting to cook. After a while, Wenying turned to look at Xie Zhe and asked him:
"I heard my brother leaving the door last night. Do you know about this?"
Xie Zhe looked calm on the surface, but was startled in his heart when he realized that this girl's ears were really sharp. But if you think about it carefully, this is normal. After all, she is just as concerned about warming wine as Han Chang. This girl, Wenying, was not "impulsive" yet. At least she restrained her thoughts of taking risks in the middle of the night, which was not easy. It should be said that Han Sheng should be more daring because he has some abilities.
Xie Zhe quickly collected his thoughts and said to her: "I won't lie to you...there is such a thing. However, he still came back in the middle of the night. He told me that Shen Wujun deliberately got rid of him. Let him follow."
"Oh, I remember it too. After he went out, I didn't have a good rest, and I was half asleep. Later, I vaguely felt that he was back, so I dared to sleep. I don't know what happened, but it seemed like nothing happened. …”
Having said this, Han Chang came over from a distance, and several people who were sitting on the stones by the roadside to rest stood up one after another, patted the soil, and discussed going up the mountain. The sky has cleared up, the sun has reappeared, and there is a bit more of a summer feel. It's just that this Shiyue Mountain is too desolate, which makes people lose their spirits.
"You walked with Kanna-kun for so long yesterday, do you know the way?"
Xie Zhe asked him.
"You see for yourself, there is no road on this steep mountain. People just walk along the slightly gentler place for many years. Look at how rugged it is... Let's just follow this road first. I still feel the breath of last night. If you can find it, just follow the direction of Kanna-kun this time - unless he tricks us again."
"Probably not." Jiao Mo said with a smile, "Otherwise, there is no need for him to come to the South with you. Although he has always wanted to have everything done by himself... He would not let others do anything. Relieved."
"Hahaha, people who are too capable will be like this and look down on other people's work."
They walked and talked all the way, slowly heading up Shiyue Mountain. Gradually they stopped talking and concentrated on climbing. This slope is really steep. Perhaps the soil layer was very thin in the past, but now it has become even more barren through natural tempering. Many of the angular rocks were exposed and not rounded enough for them to reach out and climb on.
"When you walked yesterday, was the road so difficult?"
"To be honest... the principle is the same." Han Zhang replied to Jiao Mo, "It was probably at night and the road couldn't be seen clearly. I was still talking to Mr. Shen Wu, so I felt fearless when I went up the mountain. Now I can see Knowing how difficult this road is, it affects the pace. But this is not a problem for us fox demons. Can you ask Yingying?"
"Hoo, ho, ho...ah? Ah, yes. Huh..."
Wenying responded breathlessly, seriously not showing respect to her brother.
After crawling for a while, Han Chang's face became more solemn. He began to feel uneasy because he could no longer smell Kanna-kun's scent. There was no point in hiding it, so he told the others clearly about the situation. Everyone was a little discouraged and felt uneasy. Isn’t it strange that Kanna-kun was just doing reconnaissance information at night, and now there is still no news at noon? Shiyue Mountain was so quiet that they didn't hear anything, which made people even more worried.
But retreating was not an option now, they had to move forward. At least go to the top of the mountain and see the legendary rift valley. The day had been sunny just now, but now it suddenly became dark again, but it didn't look like it was going to rain, it just seemed like it was approaching dusk. How is this possible? Thinking about it, there was just too much dust in the sky, which blocked the sun and created the illusion that it was approaching evening. All this should also be caused by the chaotic flow of spiritual power here.
"...I'm a little dizzy."
"What's going on? Your physical strength seems to be getting worse and worse. Didn't you even exercise in the snowy mountains?"
Han Chang frowned and looked at his sister half reproachfully and half worriedly. Jiao Mo supported her, frowned and said:
"Don't blame her, she has worked very hard...she felt uncomfortable halfway through, and she kept gritting her teeth and persisting."
"She was gasping for air at that time. Sigh..."
Han Zhang and Xie Zhe stopped and found a relatively flat stone, letting Wenying sit on it and rest against the bright foam. Judging from her expression, she seemed a little unwilling and wanted to talk back to her brother, but in the end she said nothing. It's probably too uncomfortable.
"It's not too high here, why do you look like you're lacking oxygen?"
"To be honest, even if she is like this, I don't feel good either." Jiao Mo said to Han Shan, "Don't you think that if you walk here for a long time, you will feel dizzy like drunkenness? I have A bad idea…”
Xie Zhe and Han Chang looked at each other, vaguely feeling that the situation was more serious than they thought. Han Zhang reached out and touched Wenying's head. It wasn't a fever, but it was still hotter than usual. Her face was also red, as if she had heat stroke. But in the current weather, the sun is not very bright and the air is not very hot. After all...
"You have lived in the waters of the southern country, so you must know something about this place." Xie Zhe looked at Jiao Mo, "What are your bad thoughts...? It doesn't matter, just tell us so that we can be prepared. "
"This is just a guess. In the past, there was indeed a special barrier on the top of Shiyue Mountain, which could create a dilemma for people. However, that was not naturally formed by Shiyue Mountain. It seemed... What did the singer Kinnara do? To be honest, I can’t remember it clearly, but there have been such strange things since that time. Although we have not encountered ghosts trying to break the wall now, I can also relate to it. Otherwise, There is no way to explain the chaotic spiritual power here. Your demonic power is strong and stable, and Mr. Xie is an ordinary human being, so he probably wasn’t affected much. It’s just a pain for Miss Wenying, who has never suffered such a crime.”
"You mean..." Xie Zhe thought of something.
"It's also a man-made reason, right?" Han Zhang took the lead, "Could it be the Wuyong clan's fault... After all, it is said that Chen was the person who went to the Tengu Tomb, took away the shikigami's corpse, and survived. So. There may be a barrier they set up here to resolve the curse, or a barrier to prevent outsiders from entering, or a barrier to resist the counterattack of the undead Tengu..."
"Anyway, there are probably remnants of their magic. Besides, I heard from the old man at the foot of the mountain that they were here just a few days ago."
Xie Zhe frowned, his expression ugly. They are not yet close to the edge of Tengu Tomb, but they have already been greatly affected by a series of events. I don’t know if they can get close to the top of the mountain if this continues.
Han Zhang wanted to give Wenying a drink of water, but she stretched out her hand and gently pushed open the water bag.
"I'm fine." She no longer leaned on Jiao Mo, but slowly sat up straight, "Don't worry about me, business is more important. I'm fine, really! Let's hurry up and hurry up..."
As she said that, she stood up staggeringly. After she stabilized herself, she jumped twice, trying to explain to Hanshang that she was fine.
"Why don't you go down the mountain..." Han Chang was not optimistic.
"no!"
"Don't be so stubborn - I'm actually a little worried about you." Han Chang turned to look at Jiao Mo next to Wenying, "That bastard Chen said something very offensive to you, a member of the Shark clan, last time. Who? I don’t know if he really has any evil plans.”
"Is this... not bad?" Xie Zhe recalled, "We have inquired along the way, and no one seems to have said that the Wuyong clan has come in great numbers. In such a short period of time, even if they dispersed their forces and landed from different places , there should be rumors. Since no one has discovered anything, maybe there are not enough Wuyong family members in the southern country to pose a threat to the Shark clan. And he alone has no reason to take action against the madam."
Han Chang glared at him.
Xie Zhe felt baffled, but he soon realized that this was just rhetoric. In fact, Han Zhang wanted to use the opportunity to persuade Wenying to let Mrs. Jiaomo take her down the mountain, so that the two people in worse situations would not take risks. Of course Mrs. Jiaomo heard the implication, but she herself was a little hesitant. Firstly, she was indeed worried about Wenying's condition; secondly, she was not at ease with Xie Zhehanshang. If there is a third point, it is Kanna-kun who has no news...
"Let me be blunt with you, personally... I will not choose to go down the mountain. If you think it is better to ask Miss Ying to go down the mountain, it's not that I can't take her down. It's just——"
As they were talking, they all realized an important problem: they couldn't go back. For some reason, thick white fog suddenly surged around, making everything everywhere hazy. No matter whether it is morning mist or mountain mist, there are no conditions for it to form here. It seemed that the chaotic spiritual power was deliberately playing tricks on them again.
All this happened without warning, catching them off guard.
