Ye Cong and Pan Ziming set out along the rugged canyon in the mountains, and encountered a stream during the process. When Pan Ziming was fetching water, he was suddenly attacked by an unknown monster that popped out of the mud. Fortunately, he was quick and threw the kettle over.

The monster who couldn't see his face clearly swallowed the kettle and dived into the mud to stop being a demon.

It doesn't look like a very powerful type.

But the two did not fetch any more water, but cautiously kept a certain distance from the river bank and continued to move forward.

The water will definitely flow into the river, and as long as you follow the water, you will always find a way out. But they continued on two hours later. The stream actually flowed into a deep pool in the mountains, and then it was never seen again.

According to the hydrological laws, there should be a dark river under this deep pool. The stream that flows into it will follow the dark river through the rocks and break out in another part of the mountain.

But for the two, it is clear that they do not have the ability or time to find the next exit of this stream. At this time, they had reached the end of the mountain, and it was getting late, and the grass around them was reckless, and they did not know what was hidden inside. Both of them had drawn their swords and were in despair.

While they were in a dilemma, they both smelled a hint of burning wood at the same time. Looking around, the sharp-eyed Pan Ziming found that there was curling smoke rising not far away. Because of the vegetation, they didn't even notice such a conspicuous sign just now.

If there is fire, there are people, and it may be a youkai who can make fire. But in any case, it is better than waiting to die in this barren mountain and wilderness.

The two of them brushed aside the wild grass, bypassed the deep pool, and felt towards the fireworks. I thought it would take a lot of time. But it was only a moment before the eyes suddenly opened up. The vegetation gradually thins out, and there are simple mountain stone steps at your feet.

The speed of the two of them suddenly increased, and finally in the last rays of the setting sun, they entered a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. A small village is located here, with about 30 families in the past.

I just saw the smoke rising from the evening. The red brick and gray tile houses are not exquisite, but they have a unique flavor of rural life. Although there are not many villagers, there are fruit trees planted in front of every house, bright red persimmons are hanging down the branches, and there seem to be chickens and ducks walking around in the yard.

Such a peaceful scene should have been quite a surprise to the two who were lost, but the two were actually dumbfounded. It must be known that after the revival of the aura, in order to facilitate the defense and management, almost all the people were evacuated to the nearest city.

And there are demons and monsters roaming everywhere outside the city, how can this small village survive to this day?

The two were very worried, but they were unwilling to give up and leave. Just like a traveler who sees an oasis in the desert, he can't stop drinking water because he is wary. They were on guard, one after the other, slowly approaching.

There is a low stone wall at the entrance to the village, and a dirt road passes through the middle. Pan Ziming bent down and tried to bypass from the flanks to provide cover for Ye Cong in front. But Ye Cong grabbed him with one hand and motioned to his feet.

Ye Cong looked down and saw that there was a large beast trap hidden in the dead grass. If you step on this foot, I'm afraid that one leg will be wasted.

In such a delay, four guns surrounded the front and rear from the concealment, forcing the two to back to back. In the twilight, Ye Cong saw clearly that the person who came was a human and not a monster, so he spread his hands:

"We came from the Marina and were trapped in the mountains because we were lost, and we had no ill will. ”

The four men with guns were unmoved, but Ye Cong noticed that the eyes of several people were not fierce, and they didn't seem to have any intention of hurting people. Sure enough, a fifth man in the shadows stepped out.

This man is in his twenties, and his eyebrows and eyes are not as beautiful as those in the mountains. The weapon in his hand was not a gun, but two red orbs that twinkled and swirled, indicating his identity as a cultivator.

"Marina, but the Coastal City guarded by the Oriental White Shield?" the man asked.

"Exactly, my name is Ye Cong, he is Pan Ziming, and we are the city defense army under the command of Lord Yu. ”

Ye Cong proudly identified himself. The reputation of their own coach is outside, and the soldiers are honored.

The young cultivator hesitated for a moment, then ordered the four of his men to lower their guns. He said that Ye Cong and the others could enter the village, but they had to hand over their guns to him for safekeeping.

"Most of the people in the village are ordinary people who don't have the ability to protect themselves, and I don't want anything unpleasant to happen. Of course, you will return it when you leave. The practitioner said the ugly things in front of him.

Of course, this was a reasonable request, and Ye Cong and Pan Ziming cooperated to take off their automatic rifles and hand them to one of them. Of course, the soldiers did not want to lose their weapons, but the two were outsiders, and of course the other party was wary. Second, the main combat force of the two is the divine light sword instead of the gun. It's just that this gray spirit sword is really inconspicuous, and even this unknown cultivator has ignored it.

The cooperation between the two was seen as a good start, and the cultivator nodded in satisfaction and led the two into the village. Four of his men did not enter the village together, but once again disappeared into the grass in silence. Ye Cong couldn't see them, and could only barely see the muzzle of the black hole pointed outside.

With such caution, it seems that this small mountain village is also facing some crisis.

Twilight had fallen, and the village had no electricity turned on, but torches were lit. The windows of every house flickered with fire, and the smell of food wafted in the air.

Ye Cong looked in at an open window without a trace, and met a big fat boy. The child looked like he was five or six years old, white and chubby, very cute, and had a braided with a red rope on his head.

Seeing Ye Cong, the doll shouted: "Mother, there are people!"

A woman in a padded jacket carried him off the windowsill, she looked at Ye Cong cautiously a few times, and then snapped the window shut.

Ye Cong shook his head and followed the cultivator on.

chatting along the way, I learned that this cultivator's name was Shu Ziqian, and he was the leader of this Ningquan Village. Compared to most of the cultivators Ye Cong had seen, Shu Ziqian's speech and demeanor could be described as approachable. Facing ordinary people Ye Cong and Pan Ziming, he did not have a trace of the domineering spirit of a cultivator, but gave people a feeling like a spring breeze.

Pan Ziming looked at Shu Ziqian's Yushu Linfeng figure, and then looked at his shaking belly, and sighed in his heart: This is probably a humble gentleman.

Shu Ziqian told the two that two monsters had recently appeared on the mountain, often sneaking into the village to harass them, and one villager had been killed. Because of this, the atmosphere in the village is now a little depressing, and everyone is reluctant to come out. Although Shu Ziqian has organized people to strengthen their vigilance, the monsters are unpredictable.

When he said this, Shu Ziqian frowned, ashamed that he couldn't protect everyone.

As for why more than 30 families in Ningquan Village did not choose to live in a relatively safe city, but stayed in this wilderness. Shu Ziqian refused to answer, and finally only said four words meaningfully: Everyone has their own ambitions!

I'm afraid there is some inside information here, Ye Cong did not continue to ask. He knew that there were also civilians in the waterfront who left the city because they couldn't stand the class gap, but they usually didn't live long.

It's not that ordinary people who leave the protected area of the city will be killed by demons immediately. But when you are alone in the wild, the demons in the neighborhood will come to you with a smell, and then there will be no more. It's just a matter of time.

The more than 30 households in Ningquan Village have been able to live in this barren mountain and wilderness for so long, and the biggest reliance is probably this cultivator Shu Ziqian. Cultivators are the most effective means of fighting demons, but I have never heard of a practitioner leaving the city to protect civilians in the wilderness.

He's such an anomaly.

The village is not very large, but in a few minutes the group stopped at the door of a two-story house. This is a typical village house in Huaguo, with several rooms on the upper and lower floors. Next to it is the kitchen with a big stove, behind it is the toilet, and in front is a large yard where you can park your car. However, there were no cars, only ropes propped up by bamboo poles, on which some dried vegetables were dried, and some grain was dried on the ground. The outside of the house is surrounded by a fence more than two meters high, which is inlaid with some glass shards to prevent thieves from climbing the wall.

This is Shu Ziqian's home, because of the recent monsters, he couldn't arrange the two strangers in the villagers' homes, so he had to bring the two to his home.

Surprisingly, this practitioner did not live alone.

"Xiaoqin, there are guests, open the door. Shu Ziqian shouted through the iron door, his voice had an indescribable tenderness.

A head poked out of the kitchen, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl, whose eyebrows and eyes looked similar to Shu Ziqian. Because she was cooking the pot just now, her face was stained with a little black ash, but it was difficult to hide her beauty.

"Brother!" the girl ran over and pulled the latch to welcome the group into the house.

"It's so strange that there will be guests. Shu Xiaoqin was a little crazy, and took the initiative to talk to Ye Cong, "Hello!"

"Hello. ”

"The two of them got lost. I'll stay here tonight, and I'll find time to get them out tomorrow. Shu Ziqian hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there enough food?"

"Not enough, I'm going to add some potato cakes now. ”

Shu Xiaoqin only cooked food for her and her brother, who knew that there would be four people to eat. It's so remote and there have never been guests. She poured a glass of water for the three of them and went back to her work.

"I'm sorry. After sitting down, Shu Ziqian apologized slightly, "There are really no good things here in Ningquan, I hope you two don't mind the coarse tea and light rice." ”

Pan Ziming hurriedly bowed his hand to express his gratitude. The dignified cultivator not only rescued the two of them, but also entertained them personally, to be honest, he was a little flattered. Two hours ago, he and Ye Cong were still waiting for death in despair, and now they have a place to eat, drink and sleep. If there is dissatisfaction, it is really ignorant of elevation.

Taking advantage of the fact that the meal had not yet come up, Shu Ziqian asked the two of them some things. He seemed to know that Binhai was building the Pingchun Fortress, and he wanted to know the purpose of Binhai's construction of this fortress.

It's just that he doesn't seem to be good at this kind of scheming conversation, and he doesn't have a few words of temptation, but he keeps drinking water in embarrassment. It seems that he is indeed a modest but somewhat wooden person.

Ye Cong couldn't help laughing, so he told him directly.

"The Pingchun Fortress was built to defend against the attacks of the Demon Clan and to create a strategic buffer zone for the coastal areas in the rear. ”

It's something anyone can see, so there's no harm in revealing it. If Shu Ziqian asked about the firepower configuration of the fortress, then Ye Congke would have to turn his face.

"Oh, that's why. ”

Shu Ziqian drank another bowl of water.