Fu Shifeng

Chapter 2
As far as the eye can see, the yellow sand stretches endlessly, and the undulating sand dunes seem to be frozen in a vast ocean, extending to the sky.

Under the scorching sun, the camel team slowly walked on the top of the sand dunes, leaving a line of footprints.Cheng Sanwu picked up the water bag and took a sip, he didn't gulp down the drink, but moistened his throat slightly.

Looking back, I saw Peng Ning riding on the camel's back, drowsy, swaying from side to side following the camel's pace, Cheng Sanwu asked, "The sun is too strong for the camel and horse, why don't we hide from the sun first?" , wait until it gets dark before leaving?"

Hearing this, Peng Ning forced his eyelids up, but nodded slightly.Cheng Sanwu dismounted and led the camel team, surrounded the camp and set up tents to shade them.

Cheng Sanwu took two pieces of Hubing and a pack of black bean sauce, handed them to Peng Ning and said at the same time: "Just now when I set up the tent, I found a lot of glassware in my luggage. Are these your goods?"

"That's right." Peng Ning didn't change his face, and didn't blame the other party for looking through the camel team's luggage. He saw that the mustard biscuits were dry and hard, like a stone. In addition, his injury had not healed and his appetite was poor, so he simply lay down in the shade to rest.

"Glass is not cheap, almost all of it comes from the western countries, and the firing method has always been kept secret." Cheng Sanwu gnawed with relish: "There are also people in the Central Plains who want to follow suit, but it is a pity that the burned glaze is muddy and rough, so it cannot be used. mesa."

Peng Ning took a few more glances at Cheng Sanwu: "You understand these too?"

"I used to have a friend who is a Taoist, and he liked to make such things as outer alchemy, fire, sulfur, lead and mercury." Cheng Sanwu said with a smile, "It's a pity that these things cost too much money, and even blasted the cauldron to the sky several times. So he planned to make colored glaze, hoping to gain some rewards by relying on this hand to cling to the powerful."

"And then?" Peng Ning asked curiously.

Cheng Sanwu raised his chin and gestured to the camels lying down and resting: "Businessmen from all walks of life continue to get high-quality colored glaze from the Western Regions, whether you are an alchemy Taoist who turns stone into gold or an experienced craftsman, you will all be beaten to the ground. Next. My Taoist friend lost all the property of the temple because of this, and a few years ago he had to make a living by drawing talismans to catch ghosts."

Peng Ning was stunned for a moment: "Do you think that the business traveler buys a lot of colored glaze from the Western Regions, which actually ruins other people's livelihood?"

Cheng Sanwu didn't turn his head around, he just happened to see the glass cup in the camel team's luggage, and he mentioned it casually, how could he expect the other party to ask such a question?

"It doesn't count, does it? Those who can afford colored glaze are mostly relatives of the emperor and high-ranking officials, and the livelihood of ordinary people doesn't depend on these." Cheng gnawed a piece of Hubing in a few mouthfuls: "Besides, people from the Central Plains Isn’t silk also popular in the Western Regions? It is said that even jute paper for wiping buttocks can be sold for a lot of money.”

Peng Ning's expression slowed down a little, and he asked instead: "I see that you are very skilled. The horizontal knife in your hand should be the money of Da Xia Longque. Why don't you serve in the army, but work for the trading company instead?"

Cheng Sanwu put the horizontal knife on his lap and pulled it out. The blade was straight, like a pool of silver snow, and there was no additional decoration on the ring at the end of the handle.

The so-called Daxia Dragon Sparrow is the treasured sword held by the Taizu of this dynasty. The handle is wrapped with a dragon and the bird is decorated with jewelry. It is said that when the Taizu set up troops to conquer the Quartet in the past, every time there was a fierce battle in front of the battle, the sound of the dragon chant from the sword turned into Rolling thunder passed by, invincible and victorious.

Later, when Taizu ascended the throne, in order to promote Wude, he ordered the military supervisor to forge horizontal knives in the same way as Daxia Longque, so that the soldiers in front of the battle had a handle, and even a large number of them flowed into the people.

Of course, the horizontal sword in the hands of ordinary soldiers does not have the miraculous power of the dragon bird sword in the hands of the Great Xia Taizu.

Cheng Sanwu took out a whetstone, sharpened the blade carefully, and said: "There are rules in the army, and I'm used to being loose. What's more, they are all father and son brothers, and relatives and friends from the village party. I am alone. I am afraid that I will give I can't stand being a handyman."

"Is this too much?" Peng Ning asked.

Cheng Sanwu put the knife back into its sheath, but did not answer. He gave Peng Ning the hulu for storing arrow branches, and stood up with a smile: "Lie on it to rest, if a horse thief comes, you can hear the sound of horseshoes and footsteps from afar." .If it is a monster that is burrowing around in the ground, it can be detected in advance."

"What about you?" Penning asked.

"I'm not tired yet, and someone has to watch." Cheng Sanwu said and left the tent.

Peng Ning originally wanted to say something, but unfortunately he was powerless to ask, he just touched the things in his arms, and then fell into a drowsy sleep.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, Peng Ning suddenly heard Cheng Sanwu's loud call: "It's not good, get up quickly! A monster is coming!"

Peng Ning woke up suddenly, he instinctively stretched his hand into his arms, before asking about the situation, Cheng Sanwu pulled Hu Lu away, then turned his head and rushed out of the tent.

"What's going on? Where did the monster come from?" Peng Ning stepped out with his sword and looked around in a daze. He saw the camels panicking outside. If they weren't connected by ropes, they would probably have been frightened and scattered.

At this moment, a shadow crossed the ground, and Peng Ning looked up, and was surprised to see a strange bird flying over his head.

The wings of this strange bird are five or six feet wide. Its big head looks like an eagle or a lion, its face is ferocious, and its feathers are sparse. mark.

The strange bird swooped towards the ground, with its two scarlet claws stretching forward, trying to catch the camel.Cheng Sanwu hurriedly bent his bow and set up an arrow, and shot the strange bird's eyeball with one arrow.

However, the arrow missed, and only hit the strange bird's forehead, but it was also frightened, and immediately flapped its wings and flew high, bringing a gust of wind across the ground and overturning the tent.

Cheng Sanwu and Peng Ning were blinded by the flying sand brought up by the gust of wind, and they had to hurriedly pull the frightened camel and horse.

"Then, what is that?!" Peng Ning asked loudly, still wondering.

"Bah, bah!" Cheng Sanwu spat two mouthfuls of sand: "Corpse vulture! A monster bird that haunts Yingsuo River all the year round! Damn it, it's the first time I've seen such a big corpse vulture!"

"Corpse vulture? Could it be the falcon-headed god worshiped by the Tule Shunishi tribe?" Peng Ning asked again.

"I don't understand these gods and ghosts...that guy is coming again!" Cheng Sanwu raised his head when the smoke cleared, and saw the strange bird circling half a circle in the distant sky, turning around and approaching again, obviously unwilling to retreat.

"Ordinary bows and arrows can't hurt this kind of monster." Cheng Sanwu gritted his teeth, lowered his head and looked around, then swung a knife and cut off the cable on a camel, unloading all the cargo.

"What are you going to do?" Peng Ning asked anxiously.

Cheng Sanwu made a decisive decision, got on his horse, and led the camel away at the same time: "You can't run away, just kill it here!"

It was the first time for Peng Ning to face such monsters, and he was flustered: "We can throw a few camels to it, and then run away alone!"

"Corpse vultures not only eat meat, but also devour souls. I'm afraid these dozen or so camels won't be able to feed this guy. You're injured, leave it to me!" Cheng Sanwu galloped his horse, leaving Peng Ning alone in a daze in place.

While driving the camel, Cheng Sanwu turned his head and fired his bow. The sharp arrows pierced the sky like stars and flew away, hitting the vultures one after another.

Although the arrow didn't cause much damage to the corpse vulture, it really aroused the demon's anger. Seeing that Cheng Sanwu was alone, it didn't hesitate much, assumed a swooping posture, and rushed straight down from above.

"Sure enough it's here!" Cheng Sanwu was overjoyed inwardly, and even more eager to fight.

Seeing the vulture approaching like a black cloud, Cheng Sanwu shook off the camel's leash, ordered the horse under his crotch to turn aside sharply, cleverly avoiding the sharp claws.

The corpse vulture is heavy, and once it lands, it is often unable to take off quickly. When it grabs the camel, it directly presses it to the ground due to its own weight. The camel only had time to make a half-wailing sound before being dragged to death by the corpse vulture on the spot.

This was the countermeasure that Cheng Sanwu came up with hastily. He turned around on his horse, drew his knife out of its sheath immediately, and rushed towards the corpse vulture.

The corpse vulture was aware of it, its wings spread wide, and a large cloud of dark green smoke was emitted from its body.

The big bay red horse couldn't stand such a demonic atmosphere, so it immediately raised its front hooves and neighed. Cheng Sanwu reacted accordingly, slapped the saddle, jumped into the air, flew up, and landed on the back of the corpse vulture.

How could the vulture allow someone to fall on its back, it shook its back vigorously, trying to throw Cheng Sanwu off.

Cheng Sanwu was not polite, he raised his inner strength and pierced the corpse vulture's back with a horizontal knife.The strange bird uttered an ear-piercing hiss in pain, and then ran frantically along the ground while constantly flapping its wings.

"Oops!" Cheng Sanwu guessed that the strange bird wanted to take off, so as to throw himself off the air.

Not only did Cheng Sanwu have no intention of retreating, on the contrary, he showed a lot of vigor and plunged the horizontal knife deep into the corpse vulture's body. He also took out a short dagger from his boot and inserted it into the back of the strange bird.

The corpse vulture galloped for hundreds of feet, rolled up a large cloud of dust, and managed to fly up. Cheng Sanwu was also taken to the sky. He could only hold the knife handle tightly to avoid being thrown to the ground.

Standing on the ground, Peng Ning watched the vulture flying up with a face full of shock. Cheng Sanwu struggled like a little puppet hanging on his back.

Seeing that he was getting farther and farther away from the ground, Cheng Sanwu became more and more interested in fighting. He felt that it was not enough to insert two weapons into the vulture's back. , A bloody mess was stirred up, and foul-smelling pus and blood splashed out.

Although the corpse vulture is a monster, it still has a flesh and blood body, and it needs to move its muscles and bones to fly smoothly. Right now, its back has been severely injured, even if it is a tyrant in the desert, it has to break its wings and fall.

Fortunately, the corpse vulture's instinct to survive was not to fall straight into the sand sea, but to spread its wings, glide unsteadily for several hundred feet, and then hit its head on the protruding sand dunes, kicking up a large cloud of sand and dust.

Cheng Sanwu and the corpse vulture fell to the ground together, and were thrown out, rolling dozens of times on the ground.Although he survived, he was still thrown into a mess, and the stench of pus and blood from the corpse vulture made his stomach churn, and he vomited profusely as soon as he got up.

"Bah! It's really killing me!" Cheng Sanwu was covered in dust, and before he could take care of it, he heard the scream of a corpse vulture coming from the smoke.

"Evil animal, still not dead?!"

Although the corpse vulture also suffered heavy injuries when it fell to the ground, it still had some energy left. It was played by Cheng Sanwu many times, and its ferociousness was so fierce that it vowed to eat its flesh and soul.

Seeing the strange bird crawling on the ground with its wings and claws, its posture is strange, but its speed is not much inferior to that of a galloping horse. The black eagle's beak and feet can easily tear through the iron armor.

Cheng Sanwu retreated sharply, but it was a pity that the horizontal knife and dagger were stuck in the back of the vulture. At this moment, he was empty-handed, unable to fight head-on.

"If you give me a big gun, won't you pierce your throat?"

Cheng Sanwu cursed secretly, and jumped back one after another, but in a moment of anxiety, he forgot to pay attention to his feet, and happened to trip over a stone.

The body was overturned, and the corpse vulture took advantage of the situation and rushed forward.Cheng Sanwu saw the eagle beak shoveling the sand in front of him, and immediately curled up and ducked into it, and then summoned all his strength to forcefully open the steel pincer-like eagle beak.

The corpse vulture didn't seem to have expected Cheng Sanwu's move. It bit the eagle's beak several times, but it was always pushed back by the opponent.The strange bird frantically flicked its head and tail, as if its throat was blocked by a stone.

"Come on! Let's see who can't hold it up first!" Cheng Sanwu stretched his muscles and gritted his teeth to persist. At this moment, he was so obsessed with fighting, he wished that his body could grow to two or three feet, and directly burst the stinky mouth of this strange bird!
One person and one bird fell into a stalemate like this, and wrestled with each other for a short while, just as the corpse vulture was briefly tired from struggling frantically, a rush of hoofbeats came from not far away.

Then there were a few shouts and sharp blades piercing through the air. Cheng Sanwu noticed that the corpse vulture was injured and screamed, its huge body immediately collapsed, and the upper and lower eagle beaks no longer occluded.

Difficult to crawl out of the strange bird's mouth, Cheng Sanwu turned around and saw Peng Ning standing on the back of the vulture, panting heavily, the long sword in his hand was pulled out from the back of the vulture's neck, and it was stained with blood, obviously he took the opportunity to cast a fatal blow hit.

"Thank you." Cheng Sanwu was also so tired that he sat down on the ground, and the red horse came to his side, Xiang sniffed, obviously it was the one who brought Peng Ning.

"It's okay, I can't die." Cheng Sanwu patted the horse's face, gasping for breath.

"Is this how you usually serve as a caravan guard?" After a while, Peng Ning threw the horizontal knife and dagger at Cheng Sanwu's feet, with doubts and reproaches in his tone.

Cheng Sanwu heard the words and explained: "The vultures I dealt with in the past can be driven away with a few arrows. I have never seen such a big guy."

"Such a monster, I'm afraid it has been a disaster for the Western Regions for many years, why didn't you send troops to exterminate it in the past?" Peng Ning was puzzled.

Cheng Sanwu put away the weapon, and patted the dust on his body: "I have already suppressed it more than once, and invited monks and Taoists. They chanted scriptures and practiced it. I heard that they found several lairs. It took a lot of effort." smash."

Peng Ning looked at the dead demon beside him, and there were strands of dark green smoke wafting from the strange bird's corpse. He frowned and said, "A corpse vulture with such a huge body will devour the flesh and blood of living beings. How could it appear here?"

"The devil knows." Cheng Sanwu didn't care about it: "Hurry up, the vulture will emit poisonous smoke after death, and if you smoke too much, you will get sick."

Peng Ning stared at the corpse of the strange bird for a long time, then put his hand into his arms, with a solemn expression, he turned his head to look at Cheng Sanwu who was leading the horse away, and said loudly, "Thank you!"

"Thank you for what?" Cheng Sanwu looked puzzled.

"You saved me again." Although it was Peng Ning who killed the corpse vulture in the end, if Cheng Sanwu hadn't fought for his life first, he might have already become the prey of the demon.

Peng Ning vaguely guessed that this corpse vulture might have come for him, and Cheng Sanwu was involved for no reason, but when facing the monster, he was still reckless, and his courage and bravery made him greatly admired.

Cheng Sanwu didn't care, and said with a smile: "Walking in the desert of the Western Regions, we rely on mutual help. How can there be so many thanks?"

(End of this chapter)