The scorching sun hung slanting overhead, and the sand on the ground was tinged with a layer of gold. Looking from a distance, a few small black dots on the desert were heading towards an endless dense forest. They looked like a group of people on the sand. ants.
Chen Tao looked at the changes in the sand and soil under his feet. The humidity here was obviously much higher than in other places. Some desert plants gradually appeared around him, although most of them were dead.
Balohad said that there used to be a huge freshwater lake here. The water was clear and moving, and it was surrounded by vegetation. There was a large underground river under the lake. In wet years, the underground river water rose, the lake surface expanded, and the water in the lake expanded. The water will flow over the dunes and in all directions. At that time, the place was covered with tall poplar euphratica, tamarisk, Haloxylon ammodendron trees, and cistanche deserticola, as well as many magical desert plants and animals.
The Guards have been guarding Tatunaan for a very long time. They are like white ghosts in the dark night, living quietly in this vast desert that no one cares about. They occasionally enter the surrounding villages and towns for supplies. But more often than not, it’s patrolling in the desert.
After talking to Balohard, I found out that they were not the only ones in the guard army. For thousands of years, the former army was all scattered, each living in a certain area, guarding the disappeared Tatunaan together.
Chen Tao put his hand on his forehead to block the sun and looked at the dark forest of the undead in front of him.
The name of this weird forest alone made people think of something bad. As they got closer and closer, the inexplicable depression became more and more obvious.
After walking for less than ten minutes, the group had reached the edge of the so-called Forest of the Dead.
As he got closer, Chen Tao discovered that the trees in this forest had blackened skin and were all dead. Only bare trunks and dead branches were left, growing staggeringly on the sand. Chen Tao didn't believe that this forest was really transformed by the hair of Nakala, the god of the underworld, but these blackened tree trunks and branches looked a bit weird, as if they had been burned by fire, and the branches also grew in strange shapes, with the ends of the branches looking weird. It turned out to be curled and twisted together one by one, just like a ball of steel wire. It didn't look like a tree at all.
It is said that Populus euphratica in the desert will not die for a thousand years, will not fall down for a thousand years after death, and will not rot after falling for a thousand years. But this kind of tree is not Populus euphratica or tamarisk. I have seen so many along the way. There are no dead trees or broken branches that are the same as this tree.
Looking at these strange woods, Chen Tao was a little stunned. Could it be that the hair of Nakala, the god of the underworld, really changed?
Balohad said: "This is also the first time I have seen these trees in the Forest of the Undead. After Tatunaan disappeared, this Forest of the Undead was also buried in the desert. What we see now It's not all of the Forest of the Dead, but the branches of the forest that are exposed outside the sand. When we came here, there was still an endless sea of sand, with only a few remaining branches exposed. If it weren't for That big sandstorm before, you won’t see this at all now.”
Chen Tao was a little surprised. Looking at it now, the exposed parts of these trees are already three or four meters high. Is it just the crown?
How high was it here thousands of years ago?
"Then, is there any danger here?" Ye Rong asked.
"I don't know either..." Unexpectedly, Qian Shu Hongde shook his head, "At that time, I was injured. It was my father who carried me through here. I didn't know they What happened here, when I woke up, I was already in the Holy City!"
"Then you should have known it when you came out, right?" Haozi walked beside Chen Tao. He had recovered a lot and his face was not that ugly. However, the injuries on his body healed in a while. Don't go.
The woman didn't kill him, but fed a strange insect to Haozi. Although it seemed like nothing was wrong now, Chen Tao always felt a little uneasy.
The Oulanke gang are not good birds. They are all desperadoes who lick blood from their knives. Although they wear the hat of a religious organization, their behavior is really heinous.
How could such a group of people let Hao Zi go so easily?
There is no doubt about the answer.
That woman must have done something to Haozi, but they haven't discovered it yet.
What's more, Chen Tao and the others are currently in a life-and-death situation with Oulenke's gang, and they won't be so kind!
Although Chen Tao's blood could briefly wake them up from the illusion, it might not be able to deal with the woman's actions on Hao Zi.
Hearing Haozi's question, Balohard suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and said awkwardly: "When I came out, I was rescued by senior Chen You. When the great wizard was released, I was rescued by Bruno's men. Knocked out."
"Emotions, you go in and come out lying down. As soon as you close your eyes and open them, you'll be walking around the holy city of Tatunaan."
Balohad smiled and didn't care about Haozi's teasing. Anyway, he said seriously to several people: "Although I don't know what happened to them in the Forest of the Dead, I know that it must be a very terrible thing. "
"Why do you say that?" Seeing Balohad's serious expression, Chen Tao also stopped smiling.
Balohad glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice: "After coming out of the Forest of the Dead, our number was reduced by half! There were many more people who went in that time than we have now."
"What!" Everyone's expressions changed.
"Half of the people are dead..." Balohad's words were like a heavy hammer hitting everyone's heart. There was also a hint of fear in the eyes looking at the Forest of the Undead. .
This place is scarier than Maka's Lost City!
"No matter what, I have to go in. Even if it's a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, I have to break into him. Bruno must be stopped, and Uncle Long must be rescued!" Chen Tao secretly gave himself a breath in his heart. Now that he has arrived, Here, there is no turning back.
He won't back down!
"If my guess is correct, Orenc and Bruno should have entered the depths of the Forest of the Dead. They will not stop and will definitely enter the Holy City before sunrise tomorrow. We have no time. "Ballohard looked at the Forest of the Undead ahead with a worried expression.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Chen Tao nodded. No one wanted to give up. Everyone had a reason to enter Tatunaan.
At this time, the sun was gradually setting in the west, and dusk was approaching.
Just in case, everyone planned to cut down some dead branches and make a few torches in advance.
Although these branches are long and crooked, it is more than enough to make a torch with some branches.
I don’t know how long these trees have been growing here, and how long they have been buried in the sand in the wind and sun. Several guards held long knives as axes and chopped off many branches from the trees.
Chen Tao looked at these strange dead trees, and a strange thought came to his heart. It seemed like he had seen these trees somewhere before.
Chen Tao hesitantly walked to the crown of a tree more than two meters high.
The trunk of the tree is half as thick as an arm and is mostly buried in sand. The upper part of the crown is very large, and the branches extend in all directions, and curl back at the ends, intertwined with the crowns of several other trees nearby, like several large flowers stuck together.
Chen Tao raised his hand and broke off a small section from the nearest branch, and looked at the branch carefully. The bark on the outside of the branch is gray-black, and the inside is a withered yellow heart. What is strange is that the end of this branch is a black tumor as big as a hawthorn, and you can clearly see many small bumps on it. , seems to be a lot of tree sprouts that have died before they have even sprouted.
After looking at it for a long time, Chen Tao didn't recognize what kind of tree it was, but there was always a familiar feeling in his heart, which made him feel a little strange.
After thinking about it, Chen Tao asked Haozi who was standing aside.
"Haozi, do you recognize what kind of tree this is?"
Mr. Li's shop is engaged in woodware business. Haozi follows Mr. Li and often deals with wood. Despite his young age, when it comes to identifying the types and characteristics of wood, no one present can know better than him.
Haozi took the small branch, frowned and pondered for a long time, and his face suddenly changed.
"Tao...Taozi, you may not believe it, but this is no ordinary tree."
"Why, did you recognize it? What kind of tree is this? Why is it so unusual?" Chen Tao asked curiously.
"Not only is it unusual, we have seen it before! However, the one we have seen is much bigger than this thing..."
Seeing the strange expression on Haozi's face, Chen Tao couldn't help but wonder. It seemed that his feeling was correct. He had really seen these trees before, but what kind of trees were they?
"Oh, Haozi, it's already this time, so don't show off to me. Tell me, what kind of tree is this?"
Haozi held the branch tightly, his expression turned ugly.
"Taozi, do you still remember that strange tree in Heizigou Cannibal Valley that was surprisingly big and could control dead bodies?"
"I remember it. Of course I remember it. That thing almost killed me. What happened?"
"What happened? What did you say happened!"
"Do you mean..." Chen Tao was stunned for a moment. He looked at the branch in Haozi's hand, and then at the endless forest of the dead behind him. A cold air rushed straight to his forehead. My tongue felt like it was tied up, and it took me a long time to squeeze out a few words.
"You...you, you, you...you mean, these trees are the kind of ghost trees that eat people?"
"Yes! It's that thing!" Haozi's face turned pale and he said gloomily: "I deliberately left a small piece behind. After coming out of Heizigou, I searched everywhere for information and asked my grandfather about this thing. It’s not called a ghost tree, it’s called a devil’s map ghost willow!”
"Demon map and ghost willow?" Chen Tao was surprised.
He was no stranger to the Devil's Map and Ghost Willow. When he was young, he mentioned in a story told by Mr. Li that a group of tomb robbers broke into an ancient tomb and planted this kind of ghost willow in it. This kind of tree likes to eat flesh and blood. It can also move, and can penetrate the bodies of people and animals in an instant, and then slowly decompose the bodies.
It turns out that the strange tree in Heizigou is actually the legendary Devil's Map and Ghost Willow! No wonder there are so many big willow trees in the ravine. The feng shui in Heizigou was so evil that a devilish willow tree actually spread to the entire Man-Eating Valley. At that time, it was the first time that I followed Uncle Long into the cave. So many things had happened, and I was already deceived. I didn't expect that the thing turned out to be the Devil's Map and the Ghost Willow.
This so-called Forest of the Dead is actually filled with ghost trees that can eat people. No wonder it has such a terrifying name.
Now that I think about it, the tree in Heizigou is probably the one Qianshu Hongde brought back from here and planted in it!
Thinking of all the thrills he had in the Cannibal Valley, Chen Tao's heart couldn't help but beat wildly.
That tree had nearly killed them there, but now there was a whole forest here!
Looking at the endless forest of the dead in front of him, Chen Tao couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
"I hope these trees are completely dead, otherwise, if we go in this time, it will really be no different from entering the ghost gate!"
