This kind of black cloth bat never moves near crowded villages or towns. Most of their activity areas are in Gobi tidal flats and desert mountains far away from human habitation. During the day, they lurk in various postures where no living person can see them. place.
As soon as night comes, they will become active, especially after waiting for a living person to arrive. Their sense of taste and smell will quickly become very sensitive to the smell of prey.
Then, under the cover of night, these black cloth bats will follow the walking routes of living people in the air, flying slowly all the way until these living people rest, and then they will start to move.
After travelers rest at night, these black cloth bats will fly directly to their faces, spread their wings and completely cover the face of the living person. Afterwards, the smell remaining on the wings will directly make people faint, and the body will feel as if they have taken Mabo. Scattered, between coma and wakefulness.
At this time, they will use their sharp teeth to directly tear open the skin and brain bones, and begin to suck the brains of these living people. They will not leave until the brains are sucked dry.
If a person's brain is sucked dry, they will basically die immediately. This also means that as long as the black cloth bat is found to be sucking the brain, the life of this living person will probably not be saved.
Along the way, Xu Xiake followed the caravan while hiding in abandoned ancient cities and dense jungles. Nothing strange happened. However, when he was approaching Dunhuang, he encountered this strange creature.
At that time, the caravan was not far from Dunhuang. Seeing that it was getting late, they found an open space to camp. As they got closer and closer to their destination, the caravan's tense nerves relaxed. Many people started to light bonfires, drink and sing. , and it didn’t gradually die down until midnight.
Maybe these sounds and heat attracted some things in the desert. Just when they thought they were safe, they were actually targeted by some dirty things.
After midnight, lights and candles were turned off, and most businessmen began to rest. Some black cloth bats began to sneak into the tents under the cover of darkness and cover the businessmen's faces directly.
Their wings were filled with a confusing scent. After being covered, they quickly fell into coma, so fast that they didn't even have the chance to shout. Some people died directly like this, leaving their lives in the desert.
When someone in the caravan woke up the next day, they found that the people around them had been dead for a long time, and even their brains were empty. Then they screamed, shocking everyone.
According to the statistics of the caravan leader, there are about seven or eight businessmen whose brains were sucked out by the black cloth bat this time. All of them are without exception. The wounds are all concentrated between the eyebrows. It looks like someone is tearing the brains out. A "X" shaped gap was opened, and the bone hole inside was clearly visible.
When the black cloth bat sucked their brains dry, these people not only felt no pain, but also no fear. It was probably the confusing atmosphere that played a role. They kept an inexplicable smile on their faces until they died, and it looked like they died with a smile. .
This bloody wound was paired with a weird smile. Even if they didn't see the shadow of the black cloth bat, they knew that this wound was probably left by this beast!
When Xu Xiake said this, his face seemed to be very taboo about this journey: "In short, although I followed the caravan to Dunhuang, there were indeed quite a few strange things encountered along the way. If we go, we must be prepared to encounter many monsters. Be mentally prepared.”
"In fact, encountering these situations in the desert of the Western Region has made our fear even more serious."
The little Taoist paused for a moment and continued to explain: "Starting from the Hexi Corridor, the great rivers and mountains we saw basically no longer exist. Everything we can see is the desert Gobi, rocky tidal flats, and endless terraces caused by soil erosion. Most of all the cities are dead cities that have declined and been abandoned, until after walking through the Hexi Corridor, the cities that really have a population are the former four towns in Hexi."
"The desert is more desolate and desolate than what we see. When this desolation and desolation are boundless, danger will of course follow."
"When people walk in this kind of environment, they will become extremely lonely and depressed. It's okay if you are traveling with someone, but if you are traveling alone, it is easy for problems to occur while walking. Let's not mention the many strange things on the way. Just speaking from my heart The loneliness within the human heart is enough to drive people crazy.”
Xu Xiake mentioned this point and reminded: "It is precisely because of this that caravans going to the west for business often have dozens of people traveling together. In addition to taking care of each other, a large part of the reason is to Ease this feeling of loneliness in the wilderness.”
Song Siyuan carefully considered Xu Xiake's words and asked with curious eyes: "Let's not mention anything else, does the black cloth bat really have such a big appetite that it can suck up people's brains? With such a small size, combined with the wounds you mentioned, if It takes a long time to suck out the brain marrow. Could it be that no one would have discovered them in such a long time?"
Xu Xiake nodded: "I didn't really believe it when I heard about it. It wasn't until I saw the bodies of these people that I believed that there were indeed such creatures in the world. I had been meditating in the tent that night, and I didn't care about any of this. I know it very well. When I woke up the next day, this thing appeared in the tent where I was."
"Later, the caravan buried their bones and set up monuments in nearby villages. When the people in the village saw this wound, they knew that their brains had been sucked dry by the black cloth bat. The local villagers called this kind of bat the black cloth bag, which means eating When a person's brain is empty, it's like a black cloth bag is covering his head."
Mentioning this point, the little Taoist priest's eyes lit up: "According to local villagers, black cloth bags are specially used to forage at night. If a person sleeps on his back, there is a high chance that the black cloth bag will be directly covering his face."
"There is a liquid accumulated under the wings of these black cloth bags over many years. When people inhale it, it will make people drowsy and fall into a state of half-dream and half-awake. In many cases, it is not that people don't know how to resist, but they don't feel the black cloth on their faces at all. Pockets, as the smell under the wings gets deeper and deeper, they won’t be able to wake up.”
"Having a black cloth bag lying on your head doesn't mean you will definitely die." Xu Xiake changed the topic and continued: "If you can find the black cloth bag, these things are still easy to deal with. This kind of thing can kill people. , It’s not that it’s cruel, it’s just taking advantage of people’s weaknesses while they’re sleeping.”
He paused, as if remembering something, and said with blank eyes: "When we were in the village, one of the villagers was attacked by a black bag while sleeping in the wild. Originally, he would not have survived. Fortunately, his companions We found him quickly and beat Hei Bag to death, barely saving his life."
"It's just that when this man was found, his eyebrows had been bitten open by a black bag, and some of his brain had been sucked out, which was equivalent to a head injury. From now on, this villager seemed to be stupid, his speech and actions were all out of control, and the villagers were all confused. Some people say that his brain was eaten, and some people say that he was poisoned by a black bag that made him look like this."
When Xu Xiake said this, he returned to seriousness: "When I went to Dunhuang, I encountered too many strange situations with the caravan. If you want to go, I don't recommend taking my old path."
Song Siyuan nodded: "I thought the northwest would be very desolate and rough, but I didn't expect that these weird and strange things with strange powers and derangements would be more common than those in Han Dynasty."
Yue Qingshan smoked a dry cigarette and said with furrowed brows: "The northwest is just desolate, but it does not mean that these places are peaceful. From these abandoned cities, it can be seen that this place has been war-torn. At the same time, because it is close to the desert and desert, many things are far away from people. It will become active, and it is not surprising that monsters like Black Bag will appear. I am afraid that we will encounter many strange monsters by then."
"This time, everyone, cheer up. It's normal to spend more time walking in an unfamiliar place."
Song Siyuan picked up the railway access map, studied it for a moment and said: "It's okay to take the train from our location. There are not many railway routes in the northwest. The nearest railway line to the Hexi Corridor is Lancheng, Gansu. My suggestion is that we Take the train and get off at Lancheng, then rent a local freight car to walk through the Hexi Corridor and finally reach Dunhuang City."
"Why!"
Xu Xiake obviously sighed, and Song Siyuan asked: "What's wrong? Do you have any other ideas?"
The little Taoist priest teased: "There is no way, but there is a situation I have to remind you first. I think you have no idea about the backwardness of the northwest region."
Xu Xiake coughed a few times and cleared his throat: "The Xijing we have seen has been built with a lot of money because it is intended to accompany the capital. It looks decent. If you leave Xijing and continue to the northwest, you will not only fall behind but also fall behind."
"Not to mention desert towns like Dunhuang, even Lancheng, which has a railway, only looks respectable. In fact, there are still no modern buildings inside. It is no different from the last years of the previous dynasty. It is dilapidated and backward. What kind of trucks are you talking about? The common people have no idea. I’ve never seen it.”
The little Taoist priest raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you know what their daily means of transportation are?"
"Carriage?" Song Siyuan guessed.
"Donkey cart!" Xu Xiake raised his eyebrows: "There are also mule carts and ox carts. Anyway, even horses are rare items here. They are high-end livestock. They use mules and donkeys the most. Poor people live in The river is supported by sheepskin rafts, which cannot even be used to sit on the boat.”
"Think about how backward the Northwest region as a whole is."
He paused and said decisively: "After we arrive in Lancheng, my suggestion is to either rent a horse team and move forward, or we can only continue to enter the Hexi Corridor with the caravan."
Song Siyuan estimated the distance of the Hexi Corridor and shook her head: "We could have reached Lanzhou the fastest by taking the train. If we continued to use the horse-drawn carriage, the time wasted and the time originally saved by taking the train would be wasted. I'll look at it again." Is there any other way? At least, find a car that can drink gasoline. The horse-drawn donkey will not only be slow along the way, but also may get sick."
