There are high sand dunes near the stone tower, and there is no suitable place to stay overnight.
Finally, Jin An found a remote place to stay for the night. It was a sand pit where most of the buildings were buried by yellow sand, leaving only a narrow space exposed.
Crackling.
The firewood Jin An collected was dancing with red flames.
The climate in Guchi Country is very extreme. Standing under the sun for just a few breaths during the day can cause the skin of an ordinary person to become red and burn. It doesn’t take long for a person to suffer from heatstroke and dehydration and faint. At night, the wind is freezing and the climate drops rapidly. , can freeze people to death in the cold wind, and even a campfire cannot keep them warm.
If you can find a cool place during the day, you can still survive.
No matter how you hide at night, you will definitely die.
Jin An took out Qi and blood pills and gave them to a sheep and three camels, so that they could withstand the extreme low temperature at night.
The camels themselves can keep out the cold. In addition, after taking the Dingling Pill, they have made great progress in the past few days. The internal organs are always pregnant with vitality, and then there are Qi and Blood Pills to replenish blood and strengthen Qi, so the three camels can even water freeze. Bear the low temperature in the cold night.
As for Silly Sheep, after following Jin An for so long, he has been greedy for all kinds of tonics, even the longevity peach, and his life is very tough.
This desert can't do anything about this greedy and silly sheep for the time being.
Although the bonfire couldn't provide warmth, it could provide hot water, hot goat's milk wine, hot naan and dried meat. After having a full meal and wine, Jin An asked Old Sadiq and the others to stop running around and have a good rest, and let him keep watch.
"Since entering Guchi Country, I don't know if you have noticed that all kinds of poisonous snakes, scorpions, and poisonous insects have disappeared here. After walking for a day, I can't even see a scorpion. I suggest you stay here and don't run around. I’m afraid Guchi Country isn’t clean either.”
Jin An's words frightened Old Sadiq and the others, and they all promised that they would not run away anywhere.
Next, Jin An began to practice "Black Mountain Kung Fu". Now that he has a lot of Yin virtue, it is time to raise the level of other kung fu skills. Since he completed the seventh level of "Heavenly Demon Sacred Kung Fu", he is not in a hurry In addition to sealing off the eighth level of the realm, he cycled through it every day to stabilize the new realm. The rest of the time was spent practicing the "Secret Sutra of the Five Internal Organs", "Black Mountain Technique" and "Blood Knife Sutra".
Since the "Black Mountain Kung" was sealed into the level of secret martial arts secrets, the Yin De required for each "Black Mountain Kung" was sealed up to a thousand Yin De.
However, compared to spiritual martial arts, only one thousand yin virtues per level is considered a price of conscience. Therefore, his main focus now is to stabilize the realm of spiritual martial arts while quickly completing the "Black Mountain Kung" and "Blood Knife Sutra" Lift up.
Now, Jin An's "Black Mountain Kung Fu" has reached the tenth level.
The eighth level of "Black Mountain Kung Fu" came out of the Black Mountain to destroy the city, and added a unique martial skill "Shifting the Universe, Shifting the Stars". The ninth and tenth levels that were sealed after entering the desert did not add any new martial arts. It just strengthens the black mountain to destroy the city on the original basis. Jin'an temporarily calls it the one-pole black mountain to destroy the city, the second-pole black mountain to destroy the city, and the three-pole black mountain to destroy the city.
The tenth-level technique corresponds to the three-pole black mountain destroying the city.
He is now at the tenth level of "Black Mountain Kung".
On top of the martial arts skills are unparalleled magical skills.
Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder, if there is one more secret skill in the martial arts world, will there be one more combat skill and magical power in the level of unparalleled magical skills?
Even though Jin An's cultivation speed has slowed down a lot since he entered the desert, in fact, his speed of entry is not slow anymore. After all, since he arrived in Xizhou Mansion, the sun came out, and he entered the desert, it has been daytime all the way. I was in a hurry and had time to practice at night.
While one sheep and three camels huddled together to keep warm and gnawed hay, and Jin An was practicing and keeping vigil near the entrance of the cave, the night outside was getting darker.
Suddenly, in the freezing desert night, there was some movement.
The sound was not clear at first, just vaguely audible, but as time passed, the movement gradually became closer.
"Mr. Cen, your surname is quite rare. I heard that you were a mountain guard before following the prince?"
"Speaking of mountain guards, it reminds me that there was a line of very famous mountain guards in the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty. I heard that there were only a few mountain guards in the imperial tombs of the previous dynasty, and their ability to eliminate demons was comparable to that of the entire Northland Horse. On a par with each other, they were quite prestigious in the previous dynasty. However, as Emperor Taizu of the Kangding Kingdom conquered the country, established the Kangding Kingdom, and quelled rebellions in various places, the imperial mausoleum guardians who were remnants of the previous dynasty also disappeared. "
"They are all mountain guardians, so they are in the same circle. I wonder if Mr. Cen's mountain guardians have any connection with the mountain guardians of the previous imperial tombs?"
In the cold wind, a man's voice gradually came clearly.
At this time, another man's voice sounded in the cold wind: "I have heard about this, but the guardian of the imperial tomb in the previous dynasty was much higher than us in status. I just followed the prince and served him. They are just ordinary people who are looking after the prince, and they are no better than you monks who can make money by performing religious rituals for others."
At this time, a third person's voice came. This voice was full of unquestionable majesty. He said in a loud voice: "Okay, whether you are a mountain guard or a monk, since you are following the prince, you will all work for the prince. As long as we If you can really find the Kingdom of the Immortal God and get the water of immortality or the elixir of immortality and bring it back to the prince in the capital, that will be a great achievement and you will enjoy endless glory and wealth."
The voices of these people are getting closer and closer, and they have been walking towards the place where Jin'an rests. Recently, they stopped near the entrance of Jin'an cave and stopped talking. The only sound outside is the cold wind at night blowing the sand.
Suddenly, there was a loud shout outside the cave!
"Who is eavesdropping!"
"Who are you!"
After shouting, calm returned to the outside of the cave again. It was so quiet that Jin An, who was practicing with his legs crossed and eyes closed, closed his eyes.
He looked up at the dark night sky outside the cave.
It was so dark outside the cave that you couldn't even see the stars or the moon, only the fire crackling inside the cave.
"There is someone outside Taoist Cave of Jin'an!"
Old Sadiq and the others, who had woken up a long time ago, felt as if they had suddenly found their backbone when they saw Jin An wake up, and they lowered their voices nervously and said.
Jin An waved his hand, indicating that he already knew, and silenced several people.
Old Sadiq and the others shut up immediately.
Just when Jin An put down his hand, suddenly, a stranger's face thrust out of the dark hole. The face was pressed very low, like a person lying on the ground and reaching out. The face was under the firelight. Glowing with a ferocious evil light, he took a quick look at the person, one sheep and three camels in the cave, and then immediately retreated out of the cave. This unprepared scene frightened Old Sadiq and the others so much that their hearts almost stopped.
Jin An grabbed the Kunwu knife without hesitation and chased him out.
As a result, as soon as he chased him out, there was no one outside the cave. It was only dark, and no one was seen running away. Even the sand on the ground had no human footprints. Everything was as normal as possible.
"Did you see a ghost at night?"
Jin An was not joking when he said this, but was thinking about it very seriously.
"Could the faces just now be those of the people who were with the mountain guards?"
"Logically speaking, those people were standing outside the cave talking just now, and they also found me eavesdropping inside the cave. Now they should be crouching outside the cave with their swords at war, waiting for me to go out. How come I rushed out and there was no one there? See?"
Just as Jin An glanced around with sharp eyes, he, who was carrying the Five Thunder Evil-Slaying Talisman, sensed a pair of malicious and voyeuristic eyes beside him.
He immediately turned around and looked.
There are the ruins of badly weathered earthen houses.
That's where the peeking eyes just came from.
But when Jin An looked over, there was nothing there.
"Stay in the cave and don't come out!"
Jin An shouted to Old Sadiq and the others, then he jumped up and arrived at the ruins.
It's cloudy tonight, with dark clouds covering the moon, and not even a single star can be seen above. The desert night is especially dark, and it feels even darker than if I couldn't see my fingers.
Thanks to Jin An's strong eyesight, he followed the direction of the prying eyes in his memory, searched in the darkness, and finally found a small trace on a pile of sand.
"Um?"
This trace was somewhat beyond Jin An's expectations, and even he couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.
The sand piles were not human shoe prints, but the footprints of a three-toed bird.
The footprints were a bit strange. They were filled with black energy. Jin An touched them lightly with his fingertips and felt the Yin energy coming from them.
Yin bird?
Phoenix?
Jin An's eyes were thinking. Although he still couldn't figure out why he heard several people's voices and saw a stranger's face, he found no human figure outside the cave and only found a bird... But this time after he had a rough target, he Stop focusing only on the ground and start focusing on the sky or higher places.
The night is silent.
There was dead silence, quiet.
Jin'an was like a statue in the night, standing motionless, silently searching for the lurkers in the darkness. Finally, he felt that prying gaze again.
But this time he no longer turned around with a large movement, but quietly glanced sideways, narrowing his eyes slightly, and saw a bird on a stone pillar.
The bird's body was as black as ink, and the night was its best camouflage. The yin energy all over its body made it easier for it to hibernate in the darkness. No wonder it had escaped his search several times.
The bird was tilting its head to look at him, a living person who had broken into Guchi Country.
Because of the distance between the two and the poor vision at night, Jin An could not fully see the appearance of the crooked-headed bird.
After Jin An thought for a while, he came up with a countermeasure.
He pretended not to notice the strange bird with a crooked head, turned around and left the place, walking towards the entrance of the cave where the light was shining.
Hearing Jin An's footsteps coming back, Old Sadiq and the others who were hiding behind the bonfire shouted nervously: "Yes, is Taoist Priest Jin An back?"
"Well, I'm back." Jin An responded standing at the entrance of the cave.
Hearing Jin An's voice, Old Sadiq and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked curiously: "Taoist Master Jin An, have you caught anyone?"
"No."
"ah?"
"He must have run far away. We don't need to worry about him. We will leave the Guchi Kingdom ruins after we find traces of the ancient river course tomorrow."
Although Jin An was speaking with his back to the desert behind him and his face to the cave, his keen five senses were always paying attention to what was going on behind him.
The little beast behind him really believed his words of deceiving ghosts. There was a soft sound in the dark night, like the sound of flapping wings. The sound was very slight, and with the help of the whistling of the winter night wind, it was very deceptive.
That bird is very vicious.
He attacked Jin An as soon as he arrived.
Just when Jin An showed his "relaxation of guard", the bird hit Jin An directly on the back of the head. The speed was very fast. In the blink of an eye, it was already within ten feet of Jin An. It was about to smash through the back of Jin An's skull. , Jin An turned around fiercely, his shooting speed was faster than the speed of the little beast behind him, his fingers spread out, and the tiger claws wrapped around the strange bird.
Then the figure flashed.
The person has already ducked into the cave.
Using the firelight in the cave, he looked carefully at the bird in his hand.
"Ah! What kind of bird is this!"
Before Jin An could take a closer look, the three camels in the cave were already screaming in fear.
This bird is not an ordinary bird, it is actually a bird with a human face. Its facial features are as vivid as a human being, with a nose and eyes. This human face is the evil human face that suddenly stuck its head into the hole just now.
No wonder it scared old Sadiq and the others.
The human-faced bird fluttered and struggled in Jin An's hand, speaking human words.
"Anyone."
"Help."
"Help me, I'm freezing to death."
…
Then the conversation changed and it turned into another person's majestic shouting!
"Who is eavesdropping!"
"Who are you!"
When they heard this sound, Old Sadiq and the other three were stunned again, and then chills surged in their hearts, and they exclaimed in horror: "This, this sound... It was this strange bird that was imitating people outside the cave just now... It can learn It’s too human-like!”
"How many kinds of monsters are there in this Guchi country!"
The three of them felt their scalps explode at this moment. They felt that the scene in front of them was too absurd and terrifying. The more they looked at the human face, the more terrifying they felt.
Looking at the human-faced bird in his hand, even Jin An was surprised: "I have seen many kinds of mockingbirds, but even the sounds can be learned so vividly that they can be mistaken for real mockingbirds. I This is the first time I’ve seen it, chewing tongue is the perfect word to describe this bird.”
This human-faced bird was very vicious. It kept struggling in Jin An's hand, trying to bite Jin An. The bird's saliva contained poison, and green smoke rose from the black shirt surface of Jin An's palm.
After a while of panic, Old Sadiq and the others finally accepted the human-faced bird. They accepted it, but they still didn't dare to look directly at the lifelike human face.
Whenever I stare at that face, I always feel horrified.
"Fourth uncle, could this strange bird be the phoenix, the sacred bird that protects the country of Guchi?" Little Sahafu said in surprise.
Old Sadiq's brow muscles were twitching wildly and he said in horror: "No wonder the temple murals say that the phoenix only appears at night. It belongs to living people during the day and to the phoenix at night. This phoenix looks so scary and ferocious that it attacks people when it sees it. Damn it, who still has the courage to travel at night! Even if the enemy comes to attack the Guchi Kingdom, they will be scared away. How can you still have the courage to attack the Guchi Kingdom!"
Ilham's neck felt cold. He couldn't help shrinking his neck and said in fear: "Master Jin'an, is this really a phoenix? Although the phoenix on the mural does not have a front face, it seems to be similar to the phoenix. Taoist Priest Jin'an, there is a big discrepancy between the immortal phoenix and the suzaku you described..."
Jin An observed the human-faced bird in his hand and pondered: "I somewhat understand why the Guchi Kingdom calls this bird a phoenix. I sensed the breath of the human soul in this human-faced bird. I'm afraid that The Guchi Kingdom is using this method to keep their souls alive, so that they can resurrect themselves in disguise and become another immortal existence..."
"However, the human soul sealed in the body of the human-faced bird is now incomplete, completely insane, and turned into a strange bird that eats people in sight."
Because Jin An thought of the wild monkey possessed by the ferryman from the underworld that he had encountered.
