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Chapter 10 The Strange Mist of Ape Arm Mountain

Another day of trekking.

When it was approaching dusk, the surroundings were no longer full of monotonous withered yellow eyes.

A clear and bright river can be seen ahead, with gurgling water, winding eastward along the Gobi. On both sides of the river, tall and straight willows and poplars can be seen everywhere, with intertwined roots, and smoke from cooking has been rising in the distance of the river.

Reflecting the rays of the western sky and the birds dancing with the camel bells, Ran Er riding on the camel couldn't help sighing: "The water is rippling and the vegetation is verdant. It's a scene full of vitality after leaving the desert."

Xia Yun raised his head and looked longingly into the distance, and said cheerfully: "We have finally walked out of the desert. At this moment, I seem to have seen Luoyang's home, and we will be able to go home soon."

Xia He took a deep breath and said: Yes, we are going home! "

Xia Yun turned to look at Xia He in confusion, and said strangely: "Brother, your tone seems to be heavy, we are all out of the desert and will soon go home, do you have anything to worry about?"

"You, you are usually careless, but now you will sigh for my brother, but you have become sensitive?" Xia He couldn't help but smiled, and continued: "I have been away for almost a year, and there must be countless things waiting for me when I get home. , do you think I can relax?"

"Yes, brother, you will inherit the position of your father's Patriarch when you go back, and you will have to be with..." Xia Yun suddenly stopped and turned to look at Ran'er on the other side.

The sun was shining on Ran'er's body, with a faint golden light, and she was staring at the scenery outside the desert with her bright eyes wide open, not paying attention to what she was talking about at all.

Xia Yun turned his head to look at Xia He, and asked seriously: "Then what about Ran'er?"

Xia He understood Xia Yun's meaning, and the wedding with the eighth princess was bound to happen when he went back, but he was already deeply attached to Ran'er, and when he asked Ran'er what to do, he was actually asking "What should you do?"

Looking past Xia Yun to Ran'er, Ran'er just turned to look at herself.

Xia He couldn't help but said in his heart: "You are an accident in my plan, but I am very glad that you can come to my side, the road ahead is very long, no matter what, I will protect you from any grievances and injuries. "

"Brother! I want to ask you something!" Seeing that Xia He didn't answer, Xia Yun urged.

"You don't have to worry too much about Ran'er's injuries. Everything will be much easier when you enter the Central Plains. With me and Uncle Zhang here, I will be very busy when I go back. Just take care of Ran'er for me." Xia He answered irrelevantly. replied.

"Hmph!" Xia Yun was dissatisfied.

Xia He ignored Xia Yun, and said softly to Ran'er, "Ran'er, how do you feel today? As long as we persevere, we can go to the other courtyard before dark, and it won't be so hard in the future."

"Other courtyard?" Ran'er couldn't understand for a while.

"The other courtyard is just what we are used to say. In fact, it is a ranch built by our Xia family on the edge of the desert. This is an important base for our caravans to enter and leave the desert." Seeing that Ran'er still didn't quite understand, Xia Yun continued to explain : "Ordinary caravans use camels for the whole journey from departure to the countries of the Western Regions, but in fact, before entering the desert, the journey of camels is not as good as that of horses, so we built a ranch on the edge of the desert."

"Oh, I see. Is this pasture used to replace horses and camels?" Ran'er understood, "It's the caravans from the Central Plains who came here and went to the desert to go to the Western Regions with camels, and the caravans that came back from the Western Regions Come out of the desert and change into horses here to enter the Central Plains."

"Yes, that's what it means!"

"You guys are so smart!" Ran'er couldn't help admiring.

Xia Yun agreed: "This was Uncle Zhang's idea. At that time, I just wanted to facilitate my own caravan. I didn't expect other caravans to rent our horses and camels after seeing it. Haha, and then the ranch grew stronger and stronger. .”

"Uncle Zhang is really amazing?"

"That's not."

……

Seeing that the two were chatting vigorously, Xia He couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, listening to the two talking quietly, enjoying the rare relaxation at this moment, and finally walked out of the desert safely.

……

At night, the rain started to fall.

Ran'er was sitting by the window, looking at the drizzle like silk falling from the sky outside the window against the lights in the house, she couldn't help stretching out her hand out of the window, but only received drops of water falling along the eaves.

This is the first time Ran'er has seen this rain.

There is no rain, no snow, no change of seasons in the heaven, only clouds and mist will fall in front of the window from time to time in the eternally warm air, and the clouds and mist will disperse with the wind when a breeze blows over them.

skyline?

Thinking of the heaven, Ran'er felt melancholy, could she go back?
Not to mention whether this injury can recover, even without this injury, I can't find the way back to the heaven, not to mention that I don't seem to want to go back very much.

In fact, it didn't take long to come to the human world, but Ran'er felt that she had been away from the heaven for a long time, so long that she even felt that the heaven was a bit illusory, except for the war.

The war should have ended long ago.

Raphael, who has been caring about him all the time, wonders if he is alright?
And Alves, he must be blaming himself for taking himself to the battlefield rashly!

Do they all think that they are dead, they must all think so.

Ran'er smiled bleakly, even she couldn't believe it, not only did she not die, but she even came to the mysterious east that she had been longing for in the book.

That's fine, no one in the heaven knows his existence, so he doesn't have to worry about it, and he can freely travel the mysterious eastern land.

It's just this injury...

"Ran'er, have you rested yet?" A knock on the door accompanied by Xia Yun's voice interrupted Ran'er's intricate thoughts.

Ran'er looked back and saw Xia Yun carrying a cup of stewed soup and pushing open the door to enter the room, she smiled and said to Xia Yun, "It's so late, why don't you rest?"

"As for me, you haven't rested yet." Xia Yun said as he put the stew pot on the table, "It's a good thing you haven't rested yet. Come and drink this sweet-scented osmanthus and lotus seed soup, it's still hot."

"Osmanthus and lotus seed soup?" Ran'er was confused again.

Xia Yun said proudly: "I knew you didn't know what this is. There is no such thing in the desert. The lotus seed soup clears the heart and smoothes the qi, nourishes yin and moistens the lungs and promotes fluid. This is the best drink just out of the desert. The point is that it is very delicious . Come and have a drink!"

"Here it is." Ran'er walked to the table, sat down, picked up a spoon and took a sip, and couldn't help but admire: "It's really delicious, sweet but not greasy, and the fragrance of flowers is still full of lips and teeth."

Xia Yun said with a smile: "The lotus seeds are more delicious, try it quickly. The lotus seeds are removed from the clothes and heart and steamed in water until they are soft, and then they are taken out of the stew. It melts in the mouth."

"Mmm, it's delicious!" Ran'er exclaimed while eating.

The dinner she ate when she arrived at the other courtyard earlier made Ran'er have a strong interest in food in the world.

In heaven, there is no such thing as three meals a day. With the blessing of divine power, angels do not need food to replenish their energy. In addition to drinking water, they also eat some plant fruits.

By the way, Raphael likes to drink tea, and it is said that the tea was brought back from the world.

Seeing Ran'er eating with gusto, Xia Yun couldn't help sighing: "You have lived in a herding tribe in the desert since you were young. Life must be very hard."

"Although it's bitter, it's also very happy." Ran'er said perfunctorily.Then he changed the subject and asked, "Oh, why do you just watch me eat? Why don't you eat?"

"I like to drink it cold, and my bowl is in the house. I'll go back and drink it later." Xia Yun explained, "I see that someone is going to bring it to you. I think you won't be able to drink it at this time." Rest, I'm not sleepy yet, so I'll bring it to you personally, and drop by to see you." Xia Yun giggled after finishing speaking.

"Is it delicious when it's cold?" Ran'er took another sip before raising her head and said, it's really delicious.

"Cold and hot are the same, personal preference. But you don't want to drink cold, you are weak and injured, it's better to drink hot." Seeing Ran'er eating with gusto, Xia Yun sincerely praised Said: "It turns out that watching beautiful women eat is also a kind of enjoyment. No wonder I stared at you in a daze several times during dinner tonight."

Ran'er said awkwardly: "That's because I'm not a pure Han Chinese, you just think I'm a little different."

Xia Yun shook his head and said solemnly: "That's not true, I have seen a lot of barbarians, Persians, Turkic people, and yellow-haired monsters, but I have never seen you look so beautiful."

"Yellow-haired monster!" Ran'er blushed for a while.

"Hehe!" Xia Yun said with a smile: "That was when I was ignorant when I was a child. The first time I saw a blond and blue-eyed barbarian was scared and cried, and then I kept calling them that. Everyone can see it, so it’s not surprising, it’s just that they are used to calling it this way.”

Raphael with blond hair and shawls could not help appearing in Ran'er's mind, and he also smiled and said, "Then they must not hear you calling them that!" But Xia Yun seemed to have thought of something suddenly, and looked out the window with his hands on his cheeks Yu Yu said sadly: "The yellow-haired monster is just a barbarian, and the ape arm mountain in front is a real monster."

"Monster?" Ran'er couldn't believe it.

"Although I haven't seen it with my own eyes, monsters definitely exist!" Xia Yun said seriously.

"The ape arm mountain in front of us is not high, and the road is flat, it has always been the best route for caravans to travel.

When we set off from Luoyang last year, we took the road of Yuanbi Mountain. I still remember that when the caravan went deep into the dense forest at the mountainside, the originally sunny day suddenly turned foggy.

The fog was getting thicker and thicker. Seeing that the fog was so thick that it was almost impossible to see the people around him. Just as my brother was about to stop the caravan, all the horses suddenly seemed to be frightened by something, and ran around uncontrollably.

Fortunately, my brother grabbed me by my side and jumped onto the branch of a big tree next to me, otherwise I would have been thrown to the ground by the frightened horse and trampled into mud. "

Although it happened a year ago, Xia Yun still has lingering fears when he recalls it.

"Then what happened afterwards?" Ran'er was also full of curiosity.

"Later, my brother asked me to hug the trunk and wait for him on the tree, and he went down.

The fog was so thick that I couldn't see anything, but it sounded like they were all busy controlling the frightened horses. It should have been chaotic, and it took a while to calm down. "

Xia Yun paused, then emphasized: "Ran'er, do you know? The fog was very thick, and the surrounding area was filled with whiteness and blackness, and you couldn't even see your fingers when you stretched out your hand. Although it was noon at that time, I felt that It was already sunset and dusk. Moreover, after the surrounding quieted down, I suddenly felt as if I was the only one left in the entire dense forest, and that feeling was really scary."

"Then did you go down the tree without authorization?" Ran'er asked, based on what she knew about Xia Yun during this period, Ran'er thought it was very possible.

"I wanted to go down, but I couldn't let go of the hand holding the tree trunk. The tree trunk was the only thing I could rely on at that time."

Xia Yun scratched his head in embarrassment, and then recalled:
"Actually, the quiet time is not long, but I feel that it has been a long time.

Just when I couldn't hold on any longer and was about to slide down the tree trunk, Qiuyu suddenly let out a particularly miserable shrill laugh, which made me tremble and almost fell off the tree.

The laughter became more and more shrill, and the horses that had finally calmed down began to panic again, and the entire caravan became chaotic again, this time mixed with Qiuyu's continuous laughter, and then I heard someone screaming A cry of horror and pain.

How dare I go down the tree, hold the tree trunk and close my eyes tightly, afraid that Qiuyu will suddenly appear in front of me with a miserable smile. "

"Who is Qiuyu?" Ran'er couldn't help asking, it sounded like a demon was causing trouble.

Xia Yun explained: "Qiuyu is my maidservant. She has taken care of me for several years. I have always regarded her as my older sister. My brother brought me out with Qiuyu. I didn't expect to encounter such a situation not long after I traveled. Qiuyu went crazy.

"Crazy?" Ran'er asked in shock.

"Yes, crazy!"

Xia Yun had a headache and said regretfully:
"After we finally left Yuanbi Mountain, Qiuyu went crazy, didn't know anyone, just smirked and said, 'I'm coming, wait for me, wait for me'.

Uncle Zhang said that it must be due to excessive shock, and there is no way to heal it for a while. At that time, the time to do business cannot be delayed. After all, if the time to walk in the desert is missed, you can only wait for the next year.

Later, my elder brother left Qiuyu in another hospital, and arranged for manpower to send Qiuyu back to Luoyang to recuperate when the time came.

We have been back and forth for more than a year, and I haven't had time to inquire about her until tonight, and I haven't heard of her, so I should have sent her back long ago. "

Seeing Xia Yun's bewildered expression, Ran'er gently comforted her: "If it was because of excessive shock, it's been so long, maybe it's recovered now. Speaking of which, even if you haven't recovered, Uncle Zhang is still here. After returning home, Uncle Zhang will definitely heal Qiuyu."

As Ran'er said, she put her hand on Xia Yun's wrist, and said firmly, "Don't worry, it will be fine, Qiuyu will get better."

"Yeah." Xia Yun nodded, and said, "Qiuyu is not young anymore. My brother originally planned to wait for the merchant to come back to find a good family for her, but I didn't expect to encounter such a thing."

"How did you get out of the thick fog, and what happened at that time?" Ran'er asked.

Xia Yun shook his head and said, "I don't know either."

"I don't know?" Ran'er was so surprised that she unconsciously raised her voice.

"I really don't know!" Xia Yun said helplessly, "But I can be sure that this is definitely not a simple thick fog, there must be monsters at work."

"It's really strange that such a thing happened, so how did you get out of the thick fog?" Ran'er asked again.

Xia Yun replied: "This is thanks to Uncle Zhang's knowledge and experience!

At that time, I didn't know what to do anymore, Qiuyu's miserable laughter hit my heart one after another, mixed with the neighing of horses and the screams of injured people.

I can't see anything and don't know what to do, I'm in despair.

Suddenly I heard Uncle Zhang yelling, "Everyone, calm down, bite the tip of the middle finger, use blood on your Yintang, and then bite the tip of your tongue and spray the blood around yourself!" '.

Then I heard Uncle Zhang ordering everyone to find Qiuyu quickly and dot her seal with blood from his fingertips.

It didn't take long before Qiuyu's laughter turned into a scream, and she yelled 'Let me go, let me go! ', called a few times, Qiuyu lost her voice.

It was really strange to say that after Qiuyu made no sound, the thick fog began to dissipate, and after a while I could vaguely see the surrounding environment. "

Ran'er pondered and said: "I have read in the book that the middle finger refers to the blood of the pericardium meridian, the blood of pure yang, and the dirty things are afraid of the pure yang. When you feel that evil spirits are infiltrated, you can use the blood of the middle finger to spot the Yintang to cleanse yourself." Bao; and the blood on the tip of the tongue is connected to the heart, so using the blood on the tip of the tongue is also very effective in dispelling evil spirits. In this way, you have indeed encountered something evil."

"Wow, Ran'er, you are really amazing!" Xia Yun admired: "You can analyze the reason after hearing me say that. I never understood why Uncle Zhang asked him to do that. Later, Uncle Zhang I didn’t know until I explained it, but my brother didn’t think so, he thought it was a coincidence that the fog started to clear up afterward, because he thought that doing so was actually reducing the fear in everyone’s hearts.”

"Hey, I also read it from the book, but I can't tell if it's true or not." Ran'er said indifferently.

Xia Yun, however, admired it from the bottom of his heart: "I didn't expect you to read such a book in your tribe in the desert. Your tribe is amazing."

"Uh..." Ran'er was tongue-tied, it's really easy to go wrong with words.

He quickly prevaricated: "That's Mr.'s book, I just read some in my spare time."

Then he quickly changed the subject: "Then did the thick fog dissipate and you left smoothly, so you don't know exactly what happened at that time, but you can only deduce that it should be a monster?"

In my heart, I couldn't help but think of the library temple in the heaven, and think of Raphael's smile like letting himself bathe in the sun...

Xia Yun nodded and said: "That's right, we really don't know what's going on. But you're wrong about one thing, the thick fog didn't dissipate, it just dissipated and became thinner, but as long as It’s easy to see the surroundings, my brother brought me down from the tree, and the caravan of about a hundred people left the dense forest at a fast speed, after I left, I looked back, and the dense forest was still shrouded in fog.”

"Then do we have to go back that way this time?" Ran'er asked.

"I don't know, but if you don't take this route, it will take a long time to detour, and I heard that the detour is not very easy." Xia Yun replied with some worry.

After thinking about it, he comforted himself: "Maybe that time was just a coincidence, it was just a monster crossing the border, and it's all right now. Oh, we don't need to worry about these things. With my brother and Uncle Zhang here, they will make arrangements. With so many people and so many goods in the caravan, it must be safe, we just follow along."

Ran'er echoed: "Yes, with Uncle Zhang and your brother here, they will definitely make proper arrangements for which way to go, and what happened a year ago should not have any impact."

As she spoke, she raised her head and looked out of the window, the rain was still falling continuously, Ran'er always felt that things were not that simple.

But at this time, Xia He was worrying about the rain outside the window in his study in the other courtyard.

"Uncle Zhang, do we really have to choose to take a detour?" After listening to the other courtyard steward's report on the current situation of the Yuanbi Mountain, Xia He also became a little uneasy.

According to the steward, the dense fog that the caravan encountered has not dissipated since now, sometimes thin and sometimes thick, it has always covered the dense forest of Yuanbi Mountain.

And since then, strange incidents have happened frequently on the Ape Arm Mountain, and the caravans on many routes have suffered heavy losses. People passing by have been killed, injured, and crazy.

Later, the government also intervened to investigate the cause, but the final result was to issue a notice saying, 'Due to the weather, dense fog has blocked the forest, please detour. '

"From the perspective of safety, choosing a detour is the safest way at present." Uncle Zhang pondered.

Xia He was still a little hesitant, pondering: "Doesn't it mean that there are occasional caravans that can pass through the dense forest without any damage, it seems to depend on luck?"

Uncle Zhang looked at Xia He with his sharp eyes and asked, "After what happened last time, do you still dare to take this risk this time?"

(End of this chapter)