The bearded man looked solemn. They did get a lot of news during the day.
 A few days ago, there was another skinning case in the desert. A caravan was skinned. No one, including the camels and the people, was spared. They all died in the skinning.
The scene was as bloody as a butcher slaughtering a sheep and taking off the skin.
Those dead people are still in the desert, and there is no one to help bury them. They can only let the wind and sand bury those people and camels who were skinned to death.
Rumors are now spreading in the desert, saying that the four devils of the Black Rain Kingdom are not dead at all. They have successfully refined the elixir of immortality and have survived for hundreds of years in the Black Rain Kingdom buried under the sand. Now they are all from the Black Rain Country.
The Rain Country has escaped and is eating young men and women everywhere in the desert, drinking human blood, defrauding children's souls from their parents, and skinning people to refine the elixir of life.
Therefore, no one dared to approach those people and camels who were skinned to death, and no one dared to help them collect their bodies, for fear that they would be targeted by the four devils of the Black Rain Kingdom.
 …
The second major event is that with the reappearance of the Black Rain Kingdom in the desert half a year ago, several groups of Central Plains people have come to the desert, all looking for the Black Rain Kingdom, looking for the legendary elixir of life and clues to the Kingdom of the Immortal God, because Black Rain
The National Master is someone who claims to be from the Kingdom of the Immortal God.
There are also rumors that the Black Rain Kingdom was buried in the sand for hundreds of years and suddenly reappeared in the world. It was the fault of the Central Plains people, because for thousands of years, only the Central Plains people have refused to give up and have been looking for clues to the Kingdom of the Immortal God.
 …
The third major event is that many ancient city ruins have been excavated in the desert. Each ancient city ruins has been completely destroyed. Many large holes have been dug into the ancient city. It looks like treasure thieves looking for treasure in the desert.
 Almost every ancient city in the desert has its own story.
Those treasure thieves destroyed the ancient city so much that they even exposed the exhumed corpses in the wilderness, disturbing the rest of the dead, and by the way, they also released many sleeping devils.
When talking about this, Big Beard and Uncle Kremu looked at each other with very solemn expressions on their faces. Finally, Big Beard looked at Jin An and said: "Taoist Master Jin An, do you still remember when we found Kazakhstan in the sunken ship?"
When you were picking up the body, was that what you said? You said that if these people were not being chased by something and running back all the way, they were looking for something and were not in a hurry..."
“When we heard about this strange thing today, Kremu and I almost immediately thought of those people in Hamuti! The treasure thieves who have frequently destroyed the ancient city in the desert recently must be related to those people in Hamuti.”
Jin An became interested and exclaimed, "Why do you say that?"
“Did you find any evidence?”
 Next, Big Beard told the reason.
It turned out that half a day's walk east of the ancient river where the shipwreck was located, there was the ruins of an ancient city built on a tributary of the ancient river. However, they did not take that road at the beginning, so Jin'an did not see that ancient city.
When Big Beard took people out to look for clues, because the ancient city ruins were too far away and it would take a day to go back and forth, so he did not go to the ancient city ruins.
Thinking back now, with so many coincidences coming together, the people in Hamuti are most likely treasure thieves. They usually pretend to be businessmen from the Western Regions, and they can use this identity to steal treasures in the desert openly.
Hamuti and the others must have stolen treasure in the ancient city that day, but this time they provoked a terrible devil.
But these things are all private conjectures of a few people, so they are only private discussions between Jin An and a few people. Not many people know about it, and they don't go around talking nonsense to others.
 Until there is definite evidence, a guess is just a guess.
 …
The fourth major event is that in the depths of the desert, someone discovered the mummy of a giant corpse with a human face, which was larger than an adult camel. That place was close to the deepest part of the desert, close to Guchi, which had disappeared for more than a thousand years.
country.
 Some people speculated that the corpse cricket with a human face must have escaped from the legendary Guchi Kingdom.
Because Huahai Holy Mountain is the name of the Guchi people. In fact, it is a mountain used for burying clan members. In the records of ancient books of some ancient countries, it is also called Corpse Hiding Ridge.
  Means that many people are buried.
So it’s not unusual at all for a corpse frog king to grow in Zangzhi Ridge, but it’s just that it’s bigger than an adult camel, which is a bit too shocking.
“A giant corpse cricket with a human face?” Jin An was really surprised this time.
 This thing may be scary to others, but it is good news to him!
 with his journey into the desert going quite smoothly. He only entered the desert for half a month and found a lot of clues about the location of Guchi Country.
The approximate location of Guchi Country is in the deepest south of the desert. In fact, this location information is still very large in the vast sea of ​​sand, but now he has clues about the corpse with a human face, which helps him a lot. It is a road sign.
Guiding the direction of Zangzhi Ridge.
Uncle Kremu said with lingering fear: "Not many people know corpse crickets in the desert. If we hadn't just escaped from death from a group of corpse crickets not long ago, we had just seen what corpse crickets look like. We were listening to
It’s impossible to recognize the corpse of a human-faced monster immediately when you see it.”
 …
The fifth major event is that there seems to be a problem with the underground well water in the Yueqiang Kingdom. Recently, there has been severe control over clean water and a lot of water taxes have been added. They drove hard for three days in a row and consumed a lot of water. They almost drank it all, resulting in
The water gap was huge, and this time it was impossible to fill up the water before setting off on the road as usual.
 For the next section of the journey, they drank more water sparingly than before.
 There is no water in the desert, and people will soon die of thirst.
 It is estimated that several people in the caravan will die of thirst during the next journey.
Now there seems to be a problem with the water source of the Yueqiang Kingdom. The water supply is limited to the outside world, and only the people of the country are given priority. Therefore, Big Beard and the others decided to change the rest of the original three or four days to two days. After waiting in line to buy water, they will leave immediately.
Yue Qiang Country, Yue Qiang Country looks a little unsafe this time.
At the end of the sentence, the bearded man said with a serious tone: "If there is really a problem with the water source of Yueqiang Country, hey, it seems that another small country in the desert will disappear."
 …
 The sixth major thing is that the desert has indeed not been peaceful recently. There have been many more demons killing people and cannibalizing people. The specific reasons are not yet known.
Compared to the first five things, although the sixth thing has the least content, it is the most dangerous.
 …
 The time has come to Haishi.
The sky in the desert has darkened. In Yueqiang City, which has been bustling for a day, the lights of hundreds of houses are gradually extinguished and everyone falls asleep.
 Jin An has been back in his small courtyard for some time, and dinner has already been finished.
The dark night enveloped Yueqiang City. Only the torches in the direction of the city wall burned the night sky red, illuminating the city wall and the area a few feet away from the city wall. Yueqiang soldiers were dutifully standing guard on the city wall, patrolling the city with the help of firelight.
The dark desert world of ripples and flowing water, the silent world outside the city with concentration and tense vigilance.
At night, the desert is as dead as a cemetery, and the temperature drops horribly.
 Crackling.
The huge bonfire outside the city wall was burning the trees violently. The crystal white salt scattered around the city wall was illuminated red under the light of the fire, which was used to drive away the invisible devils hiding in the darkness.
 Jin'an's residence.
 Bang!Bang!Bang!
In the courtyard with the gate tightly closed, it seemed like a dragon and tiger were fighting, the roar of wind and thunder was beating, and the blood was boiling.
Jin An just slept all day during the day, and did not continue to sleep at night. Instead, he played "Twelve Extremes Xingyi Quan" from the beginning, and then started to practice the tenth form of Tai Shi.
 This 鍍-style hard qigong is practiced on the neck area of ​​the body.
        In ancient mythology, also known as Pig Dragon Po, it is actually a type of crocodile.
The body of the cat is covered with scales and is as hard as black iron. Its body is thick and strong, and its strength is endless. This tenth pose of the cat is to train the neck like a cat, making the skin, muscles and bones as tough as dragon meat, which cannot even be cut through by a sword.
Just as the wind and thunder were beating like wind and thunder while practicing martial arts in the yard, suddenly, the movement in the yard suddenly stopped. Jin An, who was practicing martial arts with his upper body naked, pushed the door and walked out calmly. When he saw the inn owner Kuturuk and his son-in-law
, one person is holding a jar filled with salt, and the other person is bending over to grab salt and scatter it in front of each household's door.
Seeing that it was the boss Kuturuk and his son-in-law standing outside the door, the gloom on Jin An's face instantly disappeared, and he said in surprise: "It turns out to be you bosses. I thought it was who was standing outside the courtyard gate all the time."
“Boss, are you spreading white salt to ward off evil spirits?”
To be honest, the innkeeper Kuturuk and his son-in-law were also startled by Jin An who suddenly and quietly opened the door. They both smiled bitterly and said: "Taoist Jin An, you walked without making a sound, which scared us."
Then the boss Kuturuk sighed and explained: "There has been some instability in the desert recently. The salt can drive away unclean things. As long as you sprinkle salt on the door and window sill, no devil can enter the house."
"Boss, you are really thoughtful and thoughtful. No wonder the business of the inn is so good. No matter who stays at your inn, they will definitely look back on them." Jin An did not hesitate to praise.
People like to hear good words when they are old, especially this inn which he has devoted his whole life to running. The inn owner Kuturuk smiled when Jin An said it.
“You Kangding people are indeed people who have seen the world, and you are always nice to talk to. Last time, a pair of masters and servants stayed in the hotel, and they were just as nice to talk to as you, Taoist Priest Jin’an.”
Perhaps because Jin An’s words touched the boss’s heart, he sprinkled a circle of salt inside and outside the courtyard where Jin An was staying, even more than other guests.
Although the salt in the desert is not as expensive as in Kangding, you still have to spend money to buy it. The innkeeper sprinkled so much white salt in Jin'an's courtyard because he really liked Jin'an and was very welcoming.
To be continued...