Following the two ghost missionaries out of Fengdu City, Xiao Shizhu once again set foot on the Huangquan Road with flying loess and uneven roads.
A few days ago, he went to a bookstore in the ghost market and bought a book about the customs and customs of the underworld, called "The Chronicles of the Underworld". After reading this book, he realized that the current underworld is like the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in China.
After Emperor Fengdu successfully rebelled, he found that he was unable to rule the entire eight wastelands and ten continents of the underworld because the area of the underworld was too large.
So after thinking hard for several days and nights, he decided to implement the enfeoffment system, dividing eight of the ten continents into many small countries. Then he selected some ghosts from human souls and demon souls who were willing to be loyal to him.
Being granted the title of vassal made them the leaders of these small countries.
And today's Emperor of Beiyin Fengdu, just like the Emperor of Zhou, only the Xuanming Continent in the north and the Liutian Continent in the middle are directly under his rule. But what he has better than the Emperor of Zhou is that no matter how powerful the other vassal states are,
He didn't dare to challenge him, and paid him tribute on time and in quantity every year; this was probably because he was the last soul in the underworld.
The Ghost Mother Country that Xiao Shizhu is going to is a small country in Xuanyan Continent, which is thousands of miles away from Minghai in the south of Liutian Continent. It is said that it has an area of only five million hectares, which is about thirty
A small island country of 30,000 square kilometers.
It is recorded in "The Chronicles of the Underworld" that the island has crisscrossed rivers, many swamps, and tall trees. The capital, Xiaoyu Mountain, is located in the middle of the island. It is a small mountain city. In terms of environment, this kind of place should really be the air.
Refreshing. But this place is indeed a small island country with underdeveloped transportation and poverty and backwardness.
According to Mo Zhai, the leader of the Ghost Mother Kingdom, the Ghost Mother, was the one who assisted Emperor Fengdu of Beiyin to kill all the ancient gods who returned to the underworld, making Emperor Fengdu the biggest boss in the underworld.
However, judging from the Chronicles of the Underworld, the location of the Ghost Mother Country seems to be a poor county in the underworld. Xiao Shizhu estimated that the Ghost Mother did not expect that after the victory of the rebellion, when it came time to divide land and power based on merit, Beiyin
Emperor Fengdu gave this top hero such a small territory, but it was a damn place where birds couldn't lay eggs and rabbits couldn't poop.
Thinking about this, Xiao Shizhu felt that it was not worth it for the ghost mother, but at the same time he could not help but sigh in his heart: "This Northern Yin Fengdu Emperor is really worthy of the Yin character in his title." But at this time, how could he know that this
Everything is requested by the ghost mother herself.
Back then, the Ghost Mother knew that the Fengdu Emperor was extremely ambitious and suspicious, so after the victory of the rebellion, she took the initiative to ask to settle on a remote island in the south, far away from the center of power. This is one of the important reasons why she can survive to this day.
1. If she had dared to take the initiative to ask for the best fiefdom, she would never survive today.
Xiao Shizhu followed two ghost messengers to the Wangchuan River at the end of Huangquan Road, and boarded a ferry similar to the one he took when he first arrived in the underworld.
Then the ghost officers took him and drove the boat towards the south bank of the Wangchuan River. Only this time, the sampan's route always avoided the white fog floating on the river.
After burning incense, their ferry finally arrived at the south bank of the Wangchuan River. After getting off the boat, Xiao Shizhu looked back at the river that was so wide that it was difficult to see the other side, and then followed the two ghosts to the south.
Along the way, Xiao Shizhu gradually discovered that the farther south he went, the more rugged and rugged the surface became, and that there were mountains all around him, with overlapping peaks, high mountains, and lush forests. There were too many mountains to count.
You can see pearl jade trees, xuan trees, immortal trees and other strange trees recorded in ancient books everywhere on the roadside. There are countless Shatang and Langgan trees; there are countless crimson trees (red jade trees), green trees, and Yao trees. Even at night, they can shine in all directions.
The mysterious valley trees can be seen everywhere.
Sometimes you can see the macaque-like Jufu and the unicorn swinging around in the woods, emitting clear and loud ape cries. Phoenix, Qu Ru and other strange birds are circling in the sky. The mythical beasts such as the phoenix and the unicorn are in the mountains and forests.
They were running and jumping happily. Xiao Shizhu was dazzled by all this, and felt as if he was in a zoo of beasts.
The three ghosts sometimes trekked through the mountains and rivers, and sometimes followed the pipelines through cities and towns. They walked for more than twenty days, but they still could not reach the ghost motherland.
At dusk on the thirtieth day, the three ghosts came to a high mountain running east-west.
The mountain is steep, low in the middle, high from east to west, and gentle in the south and steep in the north. The valleys in the mountain are narrow, the surface is broken, and there are many rain-cracked gullies. It is called Baodu Mountain. In the middle of the mountain, there is a majestic and spectacular pass.
City. Bursts of salty sea breeze, carrying the sound of waves, blew from outside the pass towards the inside of the pass.
The city wall is square in plan, with a perimeter of eight miles, one hundred and thirty-seven steps and four feet; a moat of five feet wide and two feet and five feet deep surrounds the outside. The exterior of the city wall is built with green bricks and filled with rammed earth.
It is about fourteen meters high and seven meters wide. There are two gates in the north and south. There is a stone plaque on the north gate with three official script characters "Baoduguan" engraved on it. Long wall defensive buildings extend on both sides of the city gate, like a
The long dragon stretches infinitely at both ends of the city gate, winding along the mountains on the east and west sides of the city gate, heading further into the distance. It looks very much like the Great Wall of China.
Xiao Shizhu vaguely remembered that the author of "The Chronicles of the Underworld" called the pass on the south side of the sea as the first pass in the underworld, claiming that it was the strongest defensive building in the underworld.
He stood outside the city gate and looked at the Guancheng Fortress. He saw that the city was indeed well-deserved. It was high in the north and low in the south, and was surrounded by cliffs on the east and west sides. The steepness of the mountain and the majesty of the Guan were integrated here, forming a
The situation is dangerous and the place is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
There is a tower on the top of the city gate platform, with a height of 15 meters, a width of about 10 meters from east to west, and a length of 19 meters from north to south. The tower is divided into two floors, covered with gray tiles and a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain.
, there are sixty-eight arrow windows on the three south sides. Although they are closed at this time, they can be opened at any time when needed.
And in the middle of the eaves on the north side of the tower hangs a huge plaque with black characters and a white background, which reads "The First Pass of the Underworld" in five large characters. The handwriting is vigorous, majestic, and exuding a sense of domineering!
Xiao Shizhu looked up at the cannons mounted on the city wall. After a rough count of the number of cannons, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "It is indeed the first pass in the underworld. It is indeed majestic. Even the cannons are higher than those on the top of Fengdu City."
Much.”.
After a while, he put aside his curiosity and followed the two ghost servants, slowly walking into the city. Tonight, they were going to spend the night in this city.
After passing the city tomorrow, we will leave the boundary of Liutian Continent. Then we will take a boat across the Minghai Sea and arrive at the Ghost Mother Kingdom on the boundary of Xuanyan Continent.
After entering the city, I saw that this military fortress really looked like a military fortress. In addition to countless military camps and soldiers, there were granaries and stables. Apart from this, there was not a single private house or a single citizen.
Xiao Shizhu followed the ghost messengers to the door of the only post station in the city. The tall and fat ghost messenger took out the document from his arms and showed it to Yi Cheng, who then took them into the inn and opened a room.
Let them stay.
After a while, Yi Cheng went out to find some food and drink to bring to them, and then left silently again.
Xiao Shizhu ate a few hasty bites, drank a sip of wine to moisten his throat, then went to the kang in the corner of the room, lay down and leaned against the wall to take a nap.
In the past thirty days, he and these two ghosts had not spoken much. Firstly, the two ghosts were just busy on their way and were too lazy to talk to him; secondly, Xiao Shizhu was very wary of them.
Heart.
It wasn't that the two ghosts gave him a hard time on the road, but that day in the Ghost Judge's Hall, King Qin Guang's impatience made him cautious. King Qin Guang didn't give him a chance to say a few words that day.
He hurriedly asked him to escort him on the road.
He was just going to be a ghost slave, not rushing to have a banquet or reincarnate. Why was King Qin Guang so anxious? This question had been lingering in Xiao Shizhu's mind for the past few days.
After thinking about it, he discovered that although King Qin Guang was smiling that day, there was a hint of greed hidden deep in his eyes. There was only one thing that connected him with King Qin Guang, and that was money. So Xiao Shizhu
I came to a conclusion in my mind: all the words and deeds of King Qin Guang that day were probably aimed at his money.
The other party rushed him on the road in a hurry for two reasons; one was to let Xiao Shizhu leave Fengdu quickly, so that King Qin Guang's plan of killing people and stealing goods could be implemented quickly, and at the same time, his death should be carried out in Qin Dynasty.
Outside the territory directly under the jurisdiction of King Guang, in this way, Xiao Shizhu's death has nothing to do with King Qin Guang. Secondly, after the plan is successful, his money can be placed in front of King Qin Guang earlier.
And if he wants to die, these two ghosts must take action before he reaches the ghost motherland.
After thinking about these points, Xiao Shizhu became more wary of these two ghosts. He slept half-asleep and half-awake every day, and did not dare to be too careless. At the same time, he blamed himself in his heart for believing that someone with money can do something.
Despite all the odds, I didn't expect that this underworld is just like the human world, and there are no absolutes in the world. And I didn't discuss it with Yingzhao and the others in advance to prepare something.
At this time, Xiao Shizhu, who was sleeping against the wall, quietly opened his eyes a little. Seeing that the two ghosts were still drinking and eating meat, he slowly closed his eyes and gently put his right hand along the front of his robe.
Put it in my arms.
He hadn't had much rest in the past few days, and he fell asleep in a daze after a while.
I don’t know how long I slept for, but Xiao Shizhu woke up suddenly and found that the room was extremely quiet at this time. The previous sounds of the two ghosts chewing food and clinking bowls while drinking were gone.
Xiao Shizhu suddenly became alert, and the remaining bit of sleepiness disappeared in an instant.
Just when he wanted to open his eyes to see what was going on, he suddenly felt someone grabbing his collar and pulling him forward. The force was so strong that he immediately sat up from the bed.
He quickly opened his eyes and saw the tall, fat ghost standing in front of him, holding his collar in one hand and holding a dagger in the other, with the tip pointed directly at his heart.
Although Guizhao was stunned when he thought that he was awake, the tip of the dagger was only a foot or two away from his heart at this moment. And another Guizhao had been drunk by this damn fat man and was lying on the opposite side of the bed.
He was fast asleep on the table, completely unaware that the fat ghost was going to kill Xiao Shizhu.
He looked at the dagger in the ghost's hand, and then at the evil smile on the ghost's face, and his heart suddenly trembled. Xiao Shizhu had been hanging out with Yingzhao and the others a few days ago, and Xiao Shizhu also knew that ghosts can also grow old, sick, and die, and their souls are gone.
What is different from the human world is that after death, a body will be left behind, while the soul will only leave dust after death. At this time, the ghost's dagger will mainly penetrate into his heart, and he will probably die.
But he quickly calmed down; although his life in the world was short, he also experienced a lot of storms and waves, and he developed another advantage, which is that he is not alarmed by changes and is not afraid of danger.
Without waiting for the fat ghost to make any move, he quickly pulled out his right hand from his arms, and at the same time brought out something from his arms. The thing was none other than a blunderbuss. The next second later
, before the ghost could recover from his shock, he had already put the gun directly between the ghost's eyebrows.
"Come on." Xiao Shizhu gritted his teeth, gently pressed his index finger on the trigger of the gun, and said in a deep voice: "Bibi, is your knife faster, or my gun?".