"It takes three years to grow a garden and ten years to grow a forest. It has been nearly twenty or thirty years, and sure enough, even the road has disappeared."
Wu Mifeng did not expect that the vegetation in Wushen Gorge seemed even stranger than he expected.
"Let's go to the watchtower and make sure where we are first."
After saying that, Yue Guanchao led them up to the abandoned watchtower. This watchtower has the same regulations as the watchtower at the foot of Wuhuang Mountain. It has stacked gray eaves, blue bricks, towering stone steps, tight barriers, and all garrison facilities such as crenels and gun towers. It was used in the past to encircle and suppress Dongjin and monitor the canyon.
Now, it is basically in a state of decline. The surrounding area is covered with flowers, plants and shrubs, and many ancient trees spread their crowns, almost completely surrounding it in green shade. If you don’t look carefully, you can’t tell that there is a watchtower hidden in this lush forest. If this thing was a wooden pavilion, it would probably have corroded to the point where it would collapse.
At this moment, Yue Guanchao looked at the "Zig" shaped stairs. The cracks between the bricks and stones were full of weeds, like bean sprouts and wheat seedlings settling in the gaps. He picked up a sharp machete and kept cutting off the side branches of the tree crown above his head, hard. Cut a way out of it.
Climbing up the steps and standing at the crenel, the watchtower was about forty or fifty meters high. Everyone went up to the adjacent tower one more floor, and finally the green barriers faded away before their eyes, and the panoramic view of the canyon began to appear.
There is no open space in the canyon. The lush forest is like the algae in the pond, completely filling the canyon. In the boundless green sea, you can see countless rivers and lakes twisting and turning, connecting each other, like gold and silver pearls and jade chains laid out in the canyon, dividing the canyon into Countless mottled forests.
The sky above is full of thick miasma that lingers for a long time. When the sun shines, the water vapor on the riverside and the miasma in the forest blend and overlap, reflecting a colorful and blurry halo. The brighter it is, the more poisonous it is. If an alien bird flies by, it will definitely be smoked. You have to fall downwards and never fly out again.
This place is like an extremely poisonous Gu altar. Most of the flying insects and beasts that can stay here have adapted to the toxicity. They have even become part of the poisonous forest in the canyon and have been cultivated by the evil Gu Wild Forest.
"These water networks are all river channels built in the past. They are laid out in the valleys in a network of river channels from the hills, and at the end they merge into the giant river to form a drainage channel. Over the past thousands of years, the forest has continued to grow and spread, and the river channels have turned into identifiable roads. In the past, when I entered the canyon, I usually walked around the river. As long as I followed the flow of the river, I would never get lost."
"Now, most of the marks I made have disappeared. We can only find our way back along the river. It's not easy, but it's the only safe way."
Before Wu Mifeng finished speaking, Song Siyuan picked up the telescope and looked around carefully. The smoke in the distance caught her attention.
"Uncle Wu, someone seems to be lighting a fire in the forest?"
These words made the people around him alert. Yue Guanchao took the telescope and looked in that direction carefully. There was indeed smoke hovering in the forest: "Is it possible that I saw it wrong? It is probably the fog in the river that has risen. Uncle Wu, what do you think?" "
Yue Guanchao then handed the binoculars to Wu Mifeng. He took the binoculars and looked at the source of the smoke, his pupils flashing: "That is indeed not fog. The fog is water droplets that easily float on the tree crowns. The white mist immediately disperses as soon as it reaches the tree crowns. It was probably smoke from a fire.”
Wu Mifeng's guess aroused everyone's curiosity. Song Siyuan asked: "There are indeed people in this canyon, but who is that person? Can he survive in the canyon for so long?"
"No matter who it is, the smoke came out of nowhere. I haven't seen it in the past few days. But when we entered the canyon, the smoke appeared immediately. What does this mean? It is probably some thoughtful people who deliberately attracted us there. .”
Wu Mifeng knew that things couldn't be such a coincidence. If someone was really lighting a fire for cooking, it was impossible for the patrolling guards not to notice it. These people had never been found in these years, which is enough to explain the problem. According to this logic, the smoke was obviously... The nature of the reminder is to deliberately let them see it in order to attract them.
"Is it possible that they are really the same group of people?"
Wu Xuanyu's words made everyone nervous. Yu Dongjin's ability to survive in the canyon for thirty years without being poisoned already showed that he was capable. The fireworks were so strange and extremely deliberate. They were obviously exposing him. When I thought about his whereabouts carefully, I still didn’t know what bad idea he was harboring.
"It's possible what you said, but we don't know everything at the moment. We can just continue on our way. Ignoring it is the safest way."
Wu Mi Feng knew that the smoke was probably a tool to attract their attention. They had not yet reached the Altar of the Witch God, so it was safest to remain unchanged in response to all changes, so as not to cause trouble for other people in the canyon.
Song Siyuan looked at the smoke, but she had a different opinion with Wu Mifeng: "Old man Wu, I think it may not be so easy for us to achieve our wish. Since the fireworks are all coming to us, we have to go and see it no matter what. It’s not Utochin, but at least he knows whether these things are humans or ghosts, so he feels more at ease when going near the altar, so as not to worry too much and be frightened by them instead.”
Yue Guanchao nodded: "I also think we should go and have a look. They have all come to our door. We have to go and meet them. If they are really coming for us, even if we don't go to them, they will definitely have to go to us." It’s troublesome, it won’t be easy to deal with then.”
Wu Mifeng originally did not want to start another dispute in the canyon, but when Yue Guanchao and the others insisted on going, they had no choice but to follow their ideas and go to find out where the smoke came from.
After getting off the city tower and walking along the river, Yue Guanchao and his group of nearly twenty people, led by Wu Mifeng, walked along the river. Although the jungles were dense, there were no trees anywhere near the river. They cut through thorns and thorns along the way. The machete cuts a path.
After walking for about an hour, everyone finally arrived at the source of the smoke. There were few trees near the river. A wooden building on stilts two meters above the ground appeared on the Asakusa river beach. It was surrounded by fences. There was a hoe and rake on the shelf beside the vegetable garden. The courtyard There was a stove built under the eaves, and dry wood was burning inside, emitting thick white smoke.
The white smoke they saw was obviously coming from here!
"anyone there?"
Yue Guanchao signaled those around him to wait outside, opened the fence door, walked into the courtyard, and walked up the stairs to the wooden building. During this period, apart from his own walking, the only sound was the sound of firewood burning. When the thunderbolt crackled in his ears, more The surroundings seemed extremely empty.
With a creak, Yue Guanchao pushed open the door of the wooden house at the end of the stairs. There was only a living room and a sleeping place inside. Other than that, there were just some simple furniture made of wood.
no one?
Yue Guanchao realized something was wrong, picked up the shotgun behind him and became alert. He gradually slowed down his steps, lowered his voice and approached the bedroom door. He kicked the door open with his feet first, and when there was no movement, he picked up the shotgun and walked into the bedroom.
Looking around, I saw that there was only one bed in the bedroom, with a seat counter standing by the window. There was a layer of oil on the bedding and pillows. It was probably because someone slept here often.
Yue Guanchao opened the cabinet. There were only a few changes of clothes made of coarse cloth, as well as hunting boots, grappling hooks, ropes and other items. They looked often used and dilapidated. When he saw no one inside, he stepped back on his heels and kept exiting the door. .
The moment he turned his head, a dirty old man suddenly stood in front of him like a wooden stake.
His eyes were bloodshot, his eyes were cloudy, his hair was gray, his back was stooped, and his black cloth cloak and rough, dark skin made him look like an evil ghost in the deep mountains and old forests. His sly eyes looked around with malicious intent, adding to the sense of horror.
At one glance, Yue Guanchao turned outwards like a frightened bird. The old man seemed to be frightened and screamed out, his voice as high-pitched as a castrated old eunuch.
"Hey, whose dead child is this? He just rushed in with a gun. Get out of here quickly. Who are you?"
Realizing the danger, everyone immediately climbed over the fence and walked in, all surrounding the small courtyard. Yue Guanchao picked up the barrel of a gun and pointed it at the old man who came out, looking at him warily.
Wu Mifeng was very afraid that this man was Ren Dongjin, so he stepped forward and carefully observed the dirty old man. He found that he was indeed not his former enemy, and then he felt relieved. Then, he shook his head at everyone, indicating that they don't need to be so nervous. .
Yue Guanchao sensed Wu Mifeng's intention and already knew that this was not Ren Dongjin. He breathed a sigh of relief, put away his vigilant eyes, and asked: "Old man, this place is full of poisonous miasma. Why do you build a house in a place like this?"
"This is my home. If I don't build a house here, where do you want me to go?"
The old man seemed to be a little excited. He was talking and pointing at everyone, almost madness and madness. Even though he looked thin, people were not sure of his subsequent movements and could only be half-vigilant and half-relaxed.
"This is your home? Have you always lived here?"
Song Siyuan became curious. If this place was just his temporary residence, she might choose to believe the old man's words. It was more or less strange for a person to settle down in a poisonous forest. She had to brace herself and deal with it carefully.
"Yes, my family's tablets are all here, how can I still tell lies?"
The old man groped inside for a moment and took out a tablet with strange totems written in shaman characters. Wu Mifeng read the words carefully and nodded to everyone: "The meaning of these words records his family ancestors. According to the According to the records of the Moh clan, it is probably the Gu people living in the hilly areas.”
Even though she knew his identity, Song Siyuan was still curious about how the old man had lived in the poisonous wild forest for so long, and asked curiously: "Old man, since you are a resident of the hilly areas? How did you survive in the jungle?"
"What else could it be? That coward who kills a thousand swords in Higashion?"
These words stirred up a thousand waves, and everyone became vigilant.
"He, wasn't he burned to death in the imperial city long ago?"
Seeing that his guess came true, Wu Mi Feng's eyes became extremely concerned. Of course, this concern was not that he wanted him to live, but that he wanted to find him and kill his enemy.
Some people died, but not completely...
