White Bone Monkey King

Kunlun Mountains,

Also called Kunlun Xu,

The ancestor of all mountains,

The land of gods,

It is the ancestor and origin of the three major dragon veins.

There are many ancient myths here, such as the Queen Mother of the West, the lord of Yaochi, the Yuxu Palace of Yuanshi Tianzun, the leader of the Chan Cult, the Nine Heavens, the Nine Heavens Xuannv and many other epoch-making myths, all originated here, so it is called the hometown of gods. , is a Taoist holy land.

The Kunlun Mountains are towering mountains that are covered by heavy snow all year round. It is as difficult as climbing to the sky to enter the Kunlun Mountains. The most popular route is through the Ancient Tea Horse Road, passing through the ruins of the ancient Xiangxiong Kingdom, and then passing through desert areas, plateau snow-capped mountains, and mountains along the way. Cross the mountains to the Kunlun Mountains.

Another route is to enter Shugu from Xizhou Prefecture, enter Tubo, detour to the ruins of the ancient Zhangxiong Kingdom, and then pass through the desert uninhabited land and plateau snow-capped mountains to the Kunlun Mountains.

No matter which way you enter Tubo or the Kunlun Mountains, it is a journey that is difficult for ordinary people to complete.

Jin'an and his party headed west, from the Western Regions to Tubo, and they took exactly the most difficult road to heaven. This road not only leads to the highest heaven, but if you are not careful, you will fall into the abyss of hell that will never be recovered. They passed through deserts, snowy mountains, barren meadows, plateau deserts and Gobi deserts, and permafrost... They bypassed the desert basin, then headed west to Zhujubo, climbed over the snowy mountains with thin air, crossed the plateau desert Gobi ancient road, and officially entered the ancient elephant. Xiongguo ruins.

The ancient Zhangxiong Kingdom has a long history. It once gave birth to the glorious plateau snow-covered civilization and the plateau Gobi civilization. It used to have a large population and strong military power, and controlled a large territory. It was later destroyed by the Tibetans and became the land of the far west of Tibet. The terrain and environment here are complex, consisting of plateau desert Gobi, plateau snow-capped mountains, plateau meadows, and the largest number of lakes in the world. It is extremely hot during the day and extremely cold at night. The weather is more changeable than in the desert, with a large temperature difference between day and night. It is too close to paradise. Hell is also too close.

That's why this heavenly road into Tubo is called the most difficult heavenly road.

It was already several months later when Jin An, Young Master Yiyun, Qi Bo, and Shayang passed through the ancient Gobi desert road and successfully entered the territory of the ancient Zhangxiong Kingdom.

It is now April or May, and some places are slowly entering the rainy season.

But in the ancient Shangshung Kingdom, this is still the snow season.

Although it has the largest number of lakes in the world, the climate here is mainly arid Gobi, and most of the lakes here are pits and stagnant water formed by melting snow. Although the lake water here is as clear as blue and blue brocade, it is like coming to the Yaochi Holy Land where the Queen Mother of the West lives. It is as beautiful as a fairyland. However, most of these blue lakes are salt lakes, heavy with salt and alkali accumulated over thousands of years. People and animals are Undrinkable.

It is precisely because the living environment here is too harsh. With the demise of the ancient Xiangxiong Kingdom, this land in the far west of Tubo has become an uninhabited and barbaric place. It is no exaggeration to say that there are more Tibetan foxes living here than people. .

Those tea merchants who do business along the Ancient Tea Horse Road and merchants from the Western Regions all enter Tianzhu and Dashi directly after crossing the Kala Kunlun Pass and will not pass through the territory of the ancient Zhangxiong Kingdom where there is no water or food supply station.

…

…

This is an ancient city ruins surrounded by mountains on three sides. In this abandoned ruins, there are still a few earth and stone buildings scattered near the earth mountains that can block the wind and sand.

The ancient city ruins here are somewhat similar to the architectural style of the ancient Shang Shung Kingdom. Even if the town buildings are not left over from the ancient Shang Shung Kingdom, they are some small countries that were historically influenced by the culture of the ancient Shang Shung Kingdom.

Even in such a harsh place, the bustling sounds of people shouting and horses neighing can be heard from the ruins of the ancient city near the mountains.

This is the closest place to the Nine Heavens. The Milky Way hangs upside down above your head. The night sky is as clear as water, as if you can pick the stars and the moon with your tentacles. After nightfall, several blazing bonfires are lit in the ruins of the ancient city to drive away wild beasts from attacking horse teams and yak teams.

Although this plateau desert Gobi is an uninhabited land with harsh conditions, there is no shortage of wild animals such as wild donkeys, antelopes, brown bears, pikas, wild yaks, desert cats, and Tibetan foxes.

Several ancient city buildings near Tushan were brightly lit, especially in a tall building like a temple. There were a lot of people, the sound of clinking wine glasses, the sound of fisting and eating meat, and the loud noises of people, one after another, it was very lively.

This is an uninhabited land in the plateau desert, but now a tea merchant cavalry is passing by. This is not unusual, but it can be explained by accidentally getting lost. But looking at the excitement here, it seems that there is far more than just a team of tea merchants and horses settling here. There are at least dozens of people gathered here. Judging from the chatter and laughter of people drinking and eating meat, there is nothing like the depressed mood of a lost caravan.

Tea merchants who walk along the Tea Horse Road all year round often hear some weird legends.

Every year, many tea merchants freeze to death in the heavy snow, or fall off a cliff and die in the valley. Almost every tea merchant has experienced some strange things at one time or another.

For example, when driving at night, you will encounter some caravans that suddenly appear out of nowhere. If you look back, everyone in the caravan will disappear mysteriously at dawn the next day.

For example, when passing through some valleys, you will hear someone calling for help. At this time, the yaks in the team will panic and refuse to enter the valley no matter how much they are urged. The caravan must take a detour. If you insist on entering the valley, no one will come out. . The yak is the spiritual animal of the snow-capped mountains. It is the spirit of all things raised by the holy mountain and the holy lake. It can foresee some dangerous signs, and any place where the yak refuses to go is forbidden to the living.

Some people say that these tea merchants are unwilling to die in a foreign land, and are trying to find a substitute to leave the snowy mountains.

In addition to evil and strange things, there are also many living people who imitate ghosts and gods and play tricks on the Tea Horse Road. The most common ones are cannibal shops that engage in murder and smuggling.

In short, Tubo is a vast and sparsely populated area, and it is not peaceful at all, especially the Han people living here. In the eyes of the locals, they are just money bags. Many people disappear all year round. It is a matter of life and death. Corpses, the death rate of these tea merchants is higher than that of merchants in the Western Regions.

Tonight's weird things happened one after another. This place is too close to Jiutian. At night, the weather is cold, windy and snowy. If you rush in such weather, it is not only easy for people to die, but also more likely to lose your way. It's a rush. taboo.

It happened that in such a snowstorm, a yak team braved the cold wind and snow, lowering their heads and driving on the night road. The yak team trudged hard in the snow.

If it were not for the fact that at the front of this yak team, a goat as big as an ox and as strong as a goat was responsible for breaking the wind and wading through the snow, this yak team might have been buried in the plateau wind and snow.

Riding on the back of the goat is a Taoist priest wearing five-color robes.

The Taoist priest's robe was torn by the cold wind so much that he was sitting on the back of the goat as steady as a rock. Together with the goat, he stood in for the team behind him and acted as the vanguard of the wind.

"What!"

Looking at the vast white snow in front of me, the goat barked and breathed out hot air from its mouth and nose, as if it was dissatisfied with traveling at night.

Jin An patted the sheep's head, knowing that it was not easy for Shayang to survive the journey and that it would consume a lot of physical strength. Then he took out the elixir bottle from his arms, poured out a 300-year-old blood-tonifying elixir, and fed it to the goat.

The silly sheep swallowed a pill, and the rekindled strong energy and blood protected it from the cold wind of the outside world. It continued to carry the Taoist priest on its back and walked at night in the wind and snow with its head lowered.

Jin An looked back at the team behind him.

The yak behind them carried their survival supplies on the snowy field, but they must not lose anything.

Fortunately, Mr. Yiyun and Qi Bo, who were riding on the back of the yak, were in charge of taking care of them, so there was no trouble with the team behind them.

But even with him and the goats responsible for breaking the wind, those yaks were exhausted and moving slower and slower. The temperature difference between day and night here after nightfall is huge. April and May are still the snow season, so you have to drive through the night in the wind and snow. The road is still very difficult for these snow-covered spiritual beasts.

At this time, he could not speak in the wind and snow at all. The strong wind whistling in his ears could easily drown out the human voice, and the team could not stop. Stopping in such a heavy snowstorm would easily be buried in the snow. The team We can only continue to move forward silently.

After walking hard for about half an hour in the wind and snow, they finally arrived at the ruins of the ancient city they had seen on the top of the mountain before dark.

However, Jin An frowned when he saw the lights on in the ruins of the ancient city and heard many people talking and laughing loudly at night.

According to what he asked the locals for directions a month ago, except for a few ancient city ruins and some wild animals, this road should be uninhabited.

He was anxious to find a sheltered place to spend the night. Without thinking too much, he continued to lead the team towards the ruins of the ancient city.

…

…

In the ruins of the ancient city, the lights are still on, and in the largest temple, the bustle of people is still there.

There was a roar of people inside the house, but outside the house, the pounding wind and snow continued to hit the door and the earthen wall violently. Suddenly, there were several strange noises among the sounds of the wind and snow.

knock.

Knock knock.

The people in the room suddenly became alert. They huffed and drew their weapons, and the swords and swords flashed all over the place. They all stared at the door with vigilance.

"What was that sound just now?" A big man put down his wine bowl and stared towards the door with a stern expression on his face.

"It seems like there's someone knocking on the door?" A tea merchant at the next table, whose skin has been roughened and tanned by the plateau sun all year round, and has a big belly, said with a hesitant look on his face.

Suddenly, the lively atmosphere in the building was extinguished like a basin of ice water. Everyone held their breath, tensed their body muscles, and stared at the door with unblinking vigilance.

At this time, the wind and snow outside were still there, banging and banging on the door, but to the ears of the people in the room, there was an extremely quiet sound under the extreme movement, as if they had not heard anything, and they were all focused on staring in the direction of the door.

It is rare to encounter someone traveling at night in the uninhabited land of the plateau, not to mention traveling at night in such windy and snowy weather. Almost everyone thinks of the legend about the snowman in the snowy mountains.

knock.

Knock knock.

There was another rhythmic sound outside the door, and this time everyone heard clearly that someone was knocking on the door.

The knocking on the door was still ringing in the wind and snow. Finally, a few brave people walked towards the door cautiously, holding swords and axes in their hands.

As they carefully opened the door, whoosh, the wind and snow suddenly poured in outside the door. The torch in the room shook violently, and the fire was dim and almost extinguished several times.

boom.

With the slamming of the door, the wind and snow disappeared, and the torches in the house rekindled their bright flames.

Just about a stick of incense passed, there was another knock on the door. When the door opened again, this time there was a Taoist priest standing outside. Behind the Taoist priest stood an old man and a young man. The old man looked like a servant, standing respectfully. Behind a sword-wielding Confucian scholar with red lips and white teeth, the hair and clothes of the three people were covered with snow.

Behind the three people, there is also a snowy mountain yak team.

The few people who opened the door were all attracted by a white yak in the yak team. Their eyes showed surprise and astonishment at first, and then a well-covered greed.

"The white yak, the mythical beast of the snow mountain!"

Snow mountain yaks are divided into two types, one is ordinary yaks, and the other is white yaks.

In the eyes of the Tubo and Tianzhu people, this white yak is a sacred beast that the gods ride on. It is rare and precious. In order to protect the sacred beast in their eyes, the Tubo and Tianzhu people are willing to spend a lot of money to buy the sacred beast and keep it in palaces or temples. Here, it not only protects the mythical beast but also serves as a status symbol.

Especially the most valuable ones in Tianzhu!

However, when they looked at the snow-capped mythical beast in front of them, they always felt that something was wrong. This white yak looked like a goat in the Central Plains?

What a white yak that looks like a Central Plains goat!

They must have seen it wrong!

No sheep is as strong as a cow!

"What? There's a white yak?"

“Where are the white yaks?”

"Where is the mythical beast? This is a rare thing!"

The other people sitting on the seats gathered around to watch the fun when they heard that there was a rare snow-capped mountain beast outside the door.

"It's indeed a white yak!"

"Is this the white yak? This is the first time I have seen a snow-capped mountain beast, but why does this snow-capped mountain beast look so much like... a sheep?"

Someone said hesitantly.

"Nonsense, what does it mean to look like a sheep? This is a cow! I was lucky enough to see a mythical beast in the snowy mountains twenty years ago. Although that time I saw a white yak wrapped in a hada from a long distance, carrying a Juemu over the mountain. Dumb mouth, it has been a long time since I remembered it, but I am absolutely not wrong, this is what the mythical beast of the snow mountain looks like." A middle-aged Han man with a plateau red cheek retorted loudly, speaking with a nose and eyes, and a candid oath.

Juemu means female venerable.

Tubo Buddhism belongs to the lineage of Tantric Buddhism. Tantric monks are divided into men and women. The male monks are honored as Lama, and the female monks are called Juemu. Juemu has another meaning, which refers to the superior person among women.

As soon as the words fell, ah!

A sheep brayed, drowning out the noise in the whole room, and everyone's eyes were dull!

The sheep's voice seemed very dissatisfied, and it puffed out white air from its nostrils, as if complaining that you are a cow and your whole family is a cow!

The middle-aged Han man from the plateau who had sworn frankly that he had seen Juem riding a white bull, stammered as if he had seen a ghost: "Really... really... a sheep?"

This goat looks like a white yak!

Everyone was in a mess in the wind and snow. What happened to the world? Even sheep can grow as strong as yaks. Only then did they turn their attention to the gentle-faced young Han Taoist priest standing at the door.