White Bone Monkey King

Crackling.

The bonfire burned, reflecting the faces of the bearded and prematurely aged Kremu people.

The vigil was very boring, and they passed the time by fidgeting with the bonfire with dry wood from time to time.

Without the miasma of the woods or the interference of fog, the night sky in the plateau desert should have been vast and majestic. However, the cumulus clouds tonight were very thick, making the night sky dim and gloomy, making it impossible to see the majestic stars in the past.

Uncle Keremu, who was boringly playing with the campfire, heard the sound of the tent curtain opening behind him and the sound of approaching footsteps. He turned around and saw Jin An coming, taking the jug from the campfire and pouring a cup of steaming koumiss. Passed it to Jin An: "It's cold now, take a sip of kumiss to warm yourself up."

Although Jin'an was not cold, he still took the kumiss and drank it and said thank you.

When the mare's milk wine was consumed, a ball of heat immediately rose in the stomach and spread to the internal organs and limbs. Jin An looked surprised and said: "This wine is so strong."

The bearded men, Kremu and others laughed and said with admiration: "I didn't expect that Taoist Priest Jin'an looks frail and fair, just like your scholar from Kangding Kingdom, but he has such a good drinking power."

"Have you ever heard of marching wine, Taoist Priest Jin'an? Kangding has its own marching wine, and our desert country also has our own marching wine. Kangding is rich in materials, and marching wine is brewed from various fine herbs, which can make People are full of energy and fire, and they can march dozens of miles at night without tiredness or lack of horses. Although the desert is barren, our desert people’s marching wine is also not weak. This horse’s milk wine is a recipe for marching wine found in the ruins of an ancient country that collapsed. , after improvement, it has become a more popular kumiss. It can resist the cold in the desert night and refresh the mind all night long. It is not comparable to ordinary kumiss. Taoist Jin'an is in for a treat tonight."

Jin An shamelessly asked for another glass of kumiss. This time he drank the kumiss slowly. The pureness of the mare's milk and the mellow aroma of the wheat wine brought an exotic taste, which was very novel.

"Kremu, I heard that drinking alcohol will cause hair loss. You, an alcoholic, don't need to drink. Why don't you let us share the root cause of your hair loss?" The bearded man joked.

Uncle Kremu, who had suffered premature baldness at the age of forty, smiled and scolded the bearded man: "Don't think I don't know that you are trying to get rid of my kumiss. My hair loss is a family inheritance. It has nothing to do with drinking."

"I saw that everyone was tired after traveling for two days in a row, so I kindly took out the wine to share with everyone. After a few sips per person, I didn't have much left in my pot of kumiss."

"We have to travel for several months, and I don't even have enough to drink for myself."

At this time, Jin An found a place to sit down with his wine glass in hand, warming himself around the campfire, tearing off a piece of dried meat from the campfire and chewing it.

The bearded man laughed and joked with Kremu a few more times, then turned to look at Jin An who was sitting next to him: "Taoist Master Jin An, why don't you get more sleep? You have to travel all day tomorrow to get to Yueqiang." If you don’t sleep well at night, you won’t have the energy to travel during the day.”

"The land in the desert is barren and medicinal herbs are precious. It can be fatal if you fall ill in the desert. We are not afraid of this. We have long been accustomed to the wind and sun in the desert."

He also munched on the dried meat.

"I can't sleep because I'm thinking about some Hamuti things. I want to go out for a walk and get some fresh air."

Jin An's answer made everyone in the night watchmen fall silent at the same time.

"Taoist Master Jin An, I see that you are not afraid of dead bodies at all. You are a Taoist priest. Have you ever encountered a devil who resurrected the dead before?" One of the other people watching the night looked at Jin An curiously.

"Isn't the devil scary?"

"Just like Hamuti, he can scare people to death..."

Speaking of the devil and Hamuti, everyone thought of the strange death of Hamuti they saw a few days ago, and their faces suddenly became ugly.

Except Jin'an.

Only he replied with a calm face: "In our place, it is not called a devil. It is called a zombie. It is also called a walking zombie, a zombie, and a zombie that is dead but not stiff."

Jin An gave a brief introduction. He felt that he was about to arrive at Yueqiang Kingdom, so there was no need to describe the details in detail and add unnecessary panic.

However, everyone is curious. The less Jin An wanted to talk about it in detail, the more curious people on the night watch became and asked. He had to pick out a few sentences that were not too scary.

After he finished speaking, he also asked about some things in the desert: "Big Beard, Uncle Kremu, are there many legends related to ghosts, gods and devils in the desert?"

Jin An was chewing the dried meat. He was also very curious about things in the desert: "I heard a legend in Xizhou Prefecture that a once-in-a-hundred-year sandstorm six months ago moved away several sand dunes and revealed a giant sandstorm from under the sand. A dead city full of demons, a dead city full of dead people whose skins have been flayed off?"

As soon as Jin An finished speaking, the faces of the big men like Big Beard changed drastically.

This matter had already spread in the desert, otherwise how could even a small and remote village in Xizhou Prefecture know about it.

So Big Beard and the others had nothing to hide, and told more details that the old herdsman Sun Tugen didn't know.

First, it is not actually an ancient city, but an ancient country with several earthen towns and an earthen city.

Second, that ancient country is called Black Rain Country.

The bearded man shredding dried meat talked about the story of Black Rain Country: "Actually, the legend of Black Rain Country is not a secret in the desert. We grew up listening to the story of Black Rain Country when we were young. If any child cries at night and is disobedient, The adults will scare the children with the story of the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom and make them behave."

"The Black Rain Country is just like its name. It is a rare oasis with abundant rain in the desert. It is a land of gods. It is a sacred place opened by the gods in the desert for animals to live and reproduce. It is protected by the desert gods."

"Black Rain Country relies on oasis and has a large population and camels, so it can conquer and fight well. After annexing several small countries, the population is about to exceed 100,000 or has already exceeded 100,000."

"However, no matter what country's leaders in history, they all have one thing in common in their later years, that is, the older they get, the more they fear death, the less they want to leave their glory and wealth, and they want to keep holding on to the power in their hands."

"That year, the fourth king of the Black Rain Kingdom began to send out warriors to find a way to live forever after reaching an advanced age. Then, some strange people and strangers defected to the Black Rain Kingdom one after another. Four of them were the most notorious. They were a group of like-minded people. , are people who are looking for immortality. Because their methods are too extreme and they are wanted in their respective countries, they choose to defect to the Black Rain Kingdom. The leader of the Black Rain Kingdom is too old. He knows that his time is running out, so he knows These people had evil intentions and were willing to accept these sinful people who had been abandoned and cursed by the desert gods. They eventually brought destruction and disaster to the Black Rain Kingdom. The gods sent down very large and terrifying sandstorms, burying all the main cities and oasis of the Black Rain Kingdom in one night. Under the sand, you can never see the sun.”

The bearded man chewed the dried meat and continued: "There are four devils gathered around the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom, and there is a crazy woman who thinks that eating young men and women can delay aging."

"An old madman who made himself into a mummy, thinking that the mummy is the immortal body in the desert, but the mummy is a dead person abandoned by the water god. The old madman can't drink water, so he drinks blood."

"A schizophrenic devil who thinks he is a god and believes that people can live forever by abandoning their bodies. What he likes to do most is to defraud children's souls from their parents, saying that children's souls are the purest and cleanest and can Make your soul stronger."

Jin An rubbed his chin.

Each of these three people is crazier than the last. No wonder they are wanted by their respective countries. Looking at it this way, the crazy woman who likes to eat young men and women is the more normal one.

This story of the Black Rain Country is similar to the folk tale of letting the cat-faced old lady snatch you away if you disobey. The real history is mixed with some personal imaginary content of gods and monsters, and the use of fiction and reality is used to enhance credibility. , and can even scare children who disobey their parents.

"There are four devils around the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom. We just talked about three devils, but where is the other devil?" Jin An looked at the bearded man.

The bearded man continued: "The last big devil is the most trusted advisor to the leader of Black Rain Country. The advisor is the last devil to defect to the leader of Black Rain Country, but the fastest to gain the trust of the leader of Black Rain Country." The big devil. The national preceptor claimed to be from the most mysterious Kingdom of the Immortal God in the desert. He was deeply trusted by the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom. Within a few years, he became the national preceptor of the Black Rain Kingdom and became one person below ten thousand people. As the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom became increasingly weak and rarely showed up, the national master became the most powerful person in the Black Rain Kingdom and helped the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom refine the elixir of life. The national master watched helplessly as he said that life was alive. If one's entire skin is peeled off, the most sacred soul can be sealed in the skin forever. The more painful the death, the more intense the struggle of the soul, and the more complete the soul is when it is separated from the body. If you get the soul, you can get the life span of that person. , there are no hangings, burnings, or stonings in the death penalty in Black Rain Country, all the prisoners on death row who have committed crimes are only sentenced to death by skinning."

When he said this, the look on the bearded face became ugly, and he couldn't even eat the dried meat in his hand: "No matter whether the legend of the four devils around the leader of the Black Rain Kingdom is true or false, fortunately, the Black Rain Kingdom has been The desert is forever sealed under the sand, and the Black Rain Kingdom has been destroyed for hundreds of years. Even if there are really four devils, they have been dead for hundreds of years. The gods will not let the cursed people leave the land that has been cursed by Him."

Jin An can understand the physiological reaction of the bearded man very well. This is the reaction of normal people. Who would have thought that the horror stories he had heard since childhood would one day come true. A big sandstorm hundreds of years later revealed how many people were buried in the desert. In the Black Rain Kingdom for hundreds of years, the Black Rain Kingdom was filled with dead people who were skinned alive, just like the scene in the horror story.

What he didn't expect was that he could hear news from the Kingdom of the Immortal God here.

Jin An continued to bite the tough meat in his hands, pretending to be surprised: "What is the Kingdom of the Immortal God?"

The bearded man curled his lips indifferently and said: "That's just a legend that doesn't exist. There are legends about it in the desert, but no one has ever really found it."

"In the legend, the Kingdom of the Immortal God is filled with gold, and even the sand is golden sand. There is also an Eternal River in the Kingdom of the Immortal God, which is the source of all water sources in the desert. This legend has been circulated in the desert for thousands of years and has grown in the desert. Everyone in the world knows that this legend is false, only the people from the Central Plains are still looking for it without giving up."

"I think the legend of the Kingdom of the Immortal God is not necessarily all false." It was Uncle Kremu who spoke.

"Just like the story of Black Rain Country, when we were children, we all thought that the four demons around the leader of Black Rain Country were all fake, used to trick us into obedience. Little did we know that just half a year ago, after a sandstorm, the black rain demons were revealed. The ancient city of Rain Kingdom is full of skinned dead people, and those skinned people are really related to the Black Rain Kingdom’s national master.”

Uncle Kremu said mysteriously: "When I was young, I worked as a guide for a group of Central Plains people who spent a lot of money, so I became successful and had my own small caravan."

"I was sleeping in a tent once, and I overheard the voices of those Central Plains people talking in the tent. They mentioned the Holy Mountain of Huahai and the Guchi Kingdom, saying that if they found the Guchi Kingdom, which had disappeared for more than a thousand years, they would be able to find the way. On the way to the Kingdom of the Immortal God, just keep walking to the south of the desert, and you will find the Guchi Kingdom..."

Uncle Kremu had just mentioned the tent when suddenly, the screams of several people rang out from the tent on the side. Three people who had been sleeping in the tent ran out in panic, crying for their father and mother, in the dark night. The shrill scream woke up everyone in the caravan.

As soon as Jin An heard the clues about the Guchi Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Immortal God, he was entranced when his chat was interrupted by screams from the tent next door. He, the bearded man, and Uncle Kremu hurried over with their expressions changing.

"what happened?"

"What happened?"

Several people grabbed the three people who ran out in fear and asked in a deep voice.

"Dead people, dead people, there are dead people in the tent!"

"Dead people!"

The few people who were caught were frightened and shouted incoherently with pale faces.

Snapped.

The bearded man slapped him in the face and finally brought one man back to his senses. The man shouted in panic: "Here, there is a dead man buried under the desert where we sleep!"

Jin An followed Big Beard and the others into the tent. At first sight, he saw a dead body dug out from under the sand of the tent. The dead body was dug up halfway, but before it was fully dug out, the three people living in the tent were One person was so frightened that he ran out.

At this time, the rest of the caravan who had been awakened had already gathered around the tent where the dead man was found. When they heard that the dead body was dug out from the sleeping tent, they all changed their colors. In the dark and cold desert night, they were frightened. My legs and feet trembled, and the hair on my scalp stood up.

The bearded man saw that more and more people were gathering around him and the noise was noisy. After he shouted and told everyone to shut up, he grabbed a few people living in the tent and asked what was going on and who dug up the dead people under the sand. ?

Sleeping next to a dead body at night, the three of them almost collapsed from fear. They asked several times before they finally understood what was going on.

There were three people living in that tent, one of whom was named Alexa. When sleeping at night, he always felt that the blanket under him was uncomfortable, as if the blanket was rough and had burrs, and his back felt like needles pricking him. It was a little itchy, as if he was pressed against the thorns of the blanket or like a desert scorpion crawled on his body. He scratched it several times, but his body was still itchy. But when he woke up several times, he didn't find any scorpions or bugs. Instead, the more he slept, the more itchy his back became, like pinpricks, and he couldn't sleep at all.

His continuous tossing also woke up other people in the same tent. Without mentioning it, Aliza asked the others if they felt itchy or bugs crawling on their bodies.

After running around all day, everyone was already exhausted. They said they didn't feel anything, so they told Aliza to go to bed quickly and not to disturb them, otherwise they would not have the energy to continue on the road tomorrow.

However, despite enduring it several times, Alexa still couldn't fall asleep. He felt that there were no scorpions or bugs on the blanket, maybe they were hidden in the sand?

So I dug the sand with my hands.

The dig turned out to be something.

He kept digging.

Then he dug out a dead man's neck and half of his dead face, and frightened Alexa and the other two people who had been awakened by him on the spot, crying for their fathers and running out.

"Is this a coincidence? We were stationed here for the night, and there was a dead body buried under the desert?" After understanding the situation, the bearded man became more and more uneasy. He calmly asked someone to dismantle the tent, and then used his hands to Machete himself went to exhume the dead bodies.