Seeing Hang Han's eagerness to give it a try, Jiang Shuo had no choice but to agree and said to Hang Han, "Brother Hang Han, you can go with me, but you have to stay by my side for a moment."
Hanghan was not much older than Jiang Shuo, less than twenty years old, so Jiang Shuo called him little brother. The two of them have been hanging out together for the past few days, and they can understand each other's words, but they can't speak each other's language. Therefore, the two of them have this unique way of communication. Jiang Shuo speaks Chinese and Hang Han speaks Khitan. The language seems to be spoken like a chicken and a duck, but even with gestures and guessing, one can actually understand it to a minimum of 70%. Hang Han knew that Jiang Shuo asked him to follow him closely to avoid being left alone, so he nodded immediately.
Dugu Xiang also clamored to go with her, but Jiang Shuo was not worried about her safety. First of all, Xiang'er's martial arts was very high, so he could protect himself. In addition, Jiang Shuo knew that Dugu Wen was nearby. If Xiang'er was in danger, the old man would know it. Help, so he nodded in agreement.
The three of them packed up their clothes, brought some dry food, packed their weapons and were about to set off. Hanghan himself brought a long bow and two bags of arrows, and handed Jiang Shuo a bow and a bag of arrows. Jiang Shuo didn't have any He used a bow, but he was new to the art of bowing, and it was when his skills were freshest that he gladly took the bow and hung it on his waist.
After packing up, he set off westward, making an agreement with Tarigu to follow him at a distance of ten miles, and use the mark on the tree as a mark to deliver the message.
To avoid revealing their secrets, the three of them did not ride horses but moved forward on foot. Jiang Shuo and Dugu Xiang were so good at light kung fu that they could gallop through the forest as fast as a galloping horse. Hang Han could not keep up with them despite his lack of light kung fu. Jiang Shuo was portable. Holding his hand and lifting the air up, Hanghan suddenly felt that his body was more than half lighter, and his feet jumped more than a foot like a cloud and mist before landing on his toes. He couldn't help being shocked, and his body tightened and he sank.
Jiang Shuo quickly held his elbow and said, "Don't use force."
When Hang Han taught Jiang Shuo archery, the words "don't" and "use force" were commonly used, so he could understand what Jiang Shuo meant, but letting Jiang Shuo carry him forward was easier said than done. Shuo was half dragged and half dragged for several miles before he slowly relaxed. Hanghan felt the wind blowing on his sleeves, and the trees on both sides receded like the tide. It was a strange sight that he had never encountered before. He only learned about Jiang Shuo's kung fu today. He is so strong that he is as powerful as a god.
The thirty-mile mountain road passed by suddenly, and Jiang Shuo suddenly stopped. When Hanghan kept his feet on the ground, he secretly hated his heavy body. Looking at Xiang'er beside him, although she looked like a weak woman, she was not pulled down by Jiang Shuo. After galloping for thirty miles, his face remained as usual and he didn't even take a breath. He was shocked and respectful, and secretly determined that one day he would go to Han to learn this magical Kungfu from his master.
Jiang Shuo patted him on the shoulder, and Hanghan was shocked to realize that the scenery in front of him had changed. The front was dark and densely covered with tall pitch pines. These pitch pines were wide enough for two people to surround them. They were tall and green, pointing straight to the sky. They were completely different from the previously sparse pine forest. Very different, knowing that we have arrived at the land of "Black Forest".
Jiang Shuo pointed forward with his fingers. Hanghan was not as strong as Jiang Shuo, but he was born to be an excellent hunter, and his eyes and ears were extremely sensitive. When he looked closely, he could see the faint flickering of fire deep in the pine forest. , the fire was far away, but it was dark inside the pine forest, so it was vaguely visible.
Hanghan knew in his heart that this fire was definitely not the campfire of the Chute tribe. This Chute tribe hid in the dark forest to avoid the pursuit of the Yan army, so how could they raise a fire to indicate their location? Moreover, the three of them saw no trace of the Yan army along the way, so they thought that the Yan army chasing them was searching the forest with fire.
At this time, Dugu Xiang also saw the fire in the forest and whispered: "Brother Shuo, it may be Yan Jun."
Jiang Shuo nodded and said, "Let's approach slowly, be careful not to let them discover us."
Hanghan's footsteps were heavy. Jiang Shuo was afraid that his footsteps would be heard by Yan Jun in front, so he still put his hands under his elbows. He took away most of his weight while walking, and Hanghan's footsteps suddenly became lighter. Okay, he thought to himself: This skill is so light, it would be great for hunting, and he made up his mind to one day learn from his master.
The three of them sneaked into the forest quietly, but they saw that the fire was becoming more and more visible, and it would not move. It seemed to be a campfire, but except for the flickering fire, there was no sound. Jiang Shuo had excellent internal strength, but he also I can't feel anyone's presence. The three of them became more and more curious. They stepped up and walked three hundred steps deep into the black forest. When they got closer, they saw that it was indeed a campfire. This campfire was constructed quite carefully. They first dug a shallow pit in the ground and surrounded it with piles of rocks. It forms a fire pit, with firewood stacked on top of each other to form a very neat cone shape.
The campfire was burning brightly, and it looked like it would last a few more hours without going out.
The campfire was made very neatly, but there were no traces of use. Not to mention there were no signs of cooking utensils being set up. There were no traces of people sitting or lying around. The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion. Jiang Shuo Pointing to the campfire, he asked Hanghan: "Is this the campfire built by Chu Te's tribe?"
Hanghan understood the word "Chu Te" and shook his head to express that it was not the Khitan people's fault. Jiang Shuo had also seen the Khitan people making campfires in the past few days. They were all very casual and not as neat as this. He thought to himself : It seems that only well-trained troops would start such campfires.
Dugu Xiang suddenly tugged on Jiang Shuo's sleeve and pointed forward. Jiang Shuo looked forward and saw another faint light of fire about three hundred steps away. He and Dugu Xiang looked at each other and said, "Let's go. Take a look."
When he took a closer look, he saw an identical campfire with no signs of use. Jiang Shuo said, "This is strange. The campfire that took so much effort to build is not used. I don't know why."
But Dugu Xiang pointed forward and said, "Look, there's another one ahead." Sure enough, there was another light of fire three hundred steps away. It looked like the same campfire again. Jiang Shuo said to Dugu Xiang: "I only know that during the battle of Yiling, the leader of Shu Liu Bei built forts thousands of miles away. Does the Yan army also have rules for setting up campfires along the way?"
Dugu Xiang said: "You ask me, who should I ask? I am not a marching commander in Anlu Mountain, how can I know the rules of the Yan army?"
Jiang Shuo thought to himself: It would be great if sister Zhuer was here. She would definitely know what weird things Yan Jun did.
Hang Han asked what to do in Khitan, and Jiang Shuo said, "If you are surprised, you will be embarrassed. Let's just go forward and see if there is anything strange. We just have to be careful of hidden arrows." Dugu Xiang nodded, but Hang Han didn't understand. He knew from his tone that Jiang Shuo was determined to move forward, so he nodded, drew out his long bow, and put an arrow on the string, ready to be fired.
After walking another three hundred steps, it turned out to be the same campfire again, but there was no campfire in front of it. Duguxiang walked a few steps left and right, but found another campfire. It turned out that the pine forest was getting denser here, and the campfire in front was blocked by the pine trees, so Out of sight, I walked a few steps left and right and saw a campfire 300 steps ahead.
Jiang Shuo became a little impatient and said, "No matter what weirdness he has, we just run down. We want to see how many campfires there are. Is it really possible to build a campfire for thousands of miles?"
Immediately he took Hanghan with him, and together with Xiang'er, he raised his energy and moved quickly. He performed the Qinggong of walking through the stars, and he was there in three hundred steps. When he arrived, he saw the same campfire as before, and there was indeed a fire in front of him. People continued to move forward, still as before, passing through countless campfires, still arriving at one place, and then the next, and each campfire looked the same.
At this time, Dugu Xiang was a little scared. Although her martial arts skills were high, she was still a girl after all. Seeing this scene, she couldn't help but think of the countless spooky stories her grandfather had told her. She licked Jiang Shuo's sleeves and said, "Brother Shuo, we Did you encounter a ghost and hit the wall? I heard that the thousand-year-old trees in the deep mountains and forests will become spirits and mischief after absorbing the essence of the sun and the moon, teasing travelers. Could it be that we have encountered some kind of spirit?"
As soon as the words came out, Dugu Xiang looked at the surrounding pine forest illuminated by the firelight, but felt that countless faces were faintly emerging among the folds of the bark, and there seemed to be countless large and small spirits hidden behind the curved branches. The pine forest was dense. , the branches overlapped each other, and the wind couldn't blow in. The occasional swaying was not like the clearness of the mountain pines, but like a deep laughter. She couldn't help but become more frightened, and hugged Jiang Shuo's arms with her hands.
Jiang Shuo comforted her and said, "There are no weird things in the world. Xiang'er, don't scare yourself."
Dugu Xiang said: "But we have talked about thirty campfires at least, and we have traveled ten miles. If these campfires are built by people, how can we build so many campfires but not use them?"
Jiang Shuo raised his eyes and looked around. At this moment, the three of them had gone deep into the dark forest. The pine trees were thick. Not to mention that there was no starlight when they looked up. Looking around, there was no light between the tree trunks, only two places three hundred steps away. The campfire gave off a faint light, and the scene was really weird. Although Jiang Shuo didn't believe in ghosts and spirits in the world, he was still confused.
Jiang Shuo pointed at Heilin, then compared the size with his hand, and asked Hanghan, "Brother Hanghan, how big is this Heilin?"
Hang Han compared his hands and found that they were much larger than what Jiang Shuo had just compared. He said in jerky Chinese: "A hundred miles, more than one hundred miles."
Jiang Shuo thought,
It seems that it is impossible to get out of the black forest for a while, and it will not be good to go deeper into the black forest. It is better to exit the black forest first, think about it before entering, and say: "Let's turn around and go back."
Dugu Xiang was already a little scared, so of course he agreed. In Khitan legends, forest spirits and tree monsters were no less common than Han people. Hanghan had already been worried about it, but as a man, he was too embarrassed to say anything about stage fright. Hearing what Jiang Shuo said, he didn't want to go back. If they objected, the three of them turned back.
However, after walking back for twenty miles, there was still no daylight, the surroundings were dark, and there was no way out. Now Jiang Shuo had no idea, and wondered, could there really be monsters in the world? Otherwise, they would only have passed thirty campfires forward, and more than forty when they turned back. Ordinarily, they should have walked out of the pine forest by now.
Xiang'er became more and more frightened and said: "Brother Shuo, you still said there are no ghosts, but the way back is longer than the way here, right? You must have encountered a ghost and hit the wall!"
Hanghan also remembered the Khitan legend about wandering into the sacred forest by mistake and wandering around until his hair turned gray. He was also a little scared and yelled at Jiang Shuo. However, when he told these legends in Khitan language, Jiang Shuo could He couldn't understand it at all, so he could only comfort him with words, but Hanghan couldn't understand what he said. Seeing that Jiang Shuo didn't understand what he meant, he became more and more excited. The rocks in the pond and the firewood rack collapsed, and the burning firewood was scattered on the ground. The fire suddenly decreased, and the surrounding area became darker and darker.
