Xiong Bailing looked around and said in a deep voice: "The old man has heard that in the vast sea or in the desert, there is a so-called 'mirage', people can see the illusory fairyland in the distance, and they will disappear before they get close. The palace scene we saw just now must be this kind of illusion!"

Regarding the "mirage", Cao Duyun had also heard of it, and it was a strange celestial phenomenon that only appeared under extremely rare conditions. And this is almost a legend, many people don't believe it, and even fewer have actually seen it, and it's too much of a coincidence to appear here tonight.

But at this moment, I suddenly heard someone shouting, "Oh, where is the valley mouth we just came in!"

Hearing this, everyone looked back, but they saw that there was a dark stone forest in all directions in this valley, and there was not a single gap in sight, and they really couldn't find the way into the valley!

If the palace disappeared just now, it can be explained by a "mirage", and this time the valley mouth dozens of zhang wide also disappeared, but it is by no means a natural phenomenon that can be explained.

Cao Duyun shouted: "All the soldiers are here! The rear team has become the front team, let's go back!"

This valley located in the crater was obviously strange, especially in the dark night, and Cao Duyun already regretted that he had not listened to Hua Bushi's advice before, and would come in to investigate at dawn tomorrow.

However, this blackstone forest is easy to enter, but it is not so easy to exit safely.

The team just wanted to turn around and retreat, but they only heard the sound of drums, and countless shouts and kills came from the stone forest, mixed with a burst of flying arrows and hidden weapons, and more than ten sailors were shot down in an instant!

The nearby soldiers were about to come forward to meet them, but the opponent only fired a flurry of arrows, and then retreated without a trace, and there was another surprise attack from another direction.

All of a sudden, it seemed that there were enemies everywhere, and 3,000 soldiers were attacked in many ways, and they were embarrassed.

Walking into this stone forest, the formation of the soldiers is already very loose, once attacked, it will be even more chaotic, and the opposing pirates, whether they are sneaking or retreating, the dense forest of rocks is the most haode cover, so that the officers and soldiers are unable to guard against it, and it is not easy to pursue.

Xiong Bailing snorted angrily and shouted, "Da Zhenbu, follow me to attack!" rushed out to meet the enemy with a giant palm, but suddenly a person flew to his side and reached out to grab his arm, it was Cao Duyun.

"Mr. Xiong, slow down!" Cao Duyun said: "Listen to my orders, gather the team, and line up to defend!"

After a period of disappointment and anger just now, this "Dusk Cloud Prince" had regained his composure, and he realized that in this black stone forest, the terrain was complex, and if he attacked rashly, he would definitely suffer a big loss.

Judging by the voices coming from all directions, the enemy was now only harassing with dark arrows, and had not really rushed towards him. After all, the soldiers of the 3,000 sailors are numerous, as long as they are not attacked by a large number of pirates, there is no need to be afraid.

"Don't run around!"

"Gather in formation and defend in a circle!"

"Raise your shield and beware of hidden arrows!"

Several commanders and thousands of generals in the official army shouted orders, and the soldiers finally calmed down a little, and they all set up shields to defend according to the order, and formed a defensive formation in the center of the black stone forest.

Cao Duyun jumped onto the top of a boulder again, and looked around, but there was only a whole stone forest with black dogs' teeth in all directions, and the mist shrouded the sky over the stone forest, not only could he no longer find the valley mouth that he had entered before, but he couldn't even make out the direction.

"Mr. Qiu, do you know what's going on?" Cao Duyun asked.

Qiu Hengbo followed behind Cao Duyun like a shadow, and his already expressionless face was even more chilly at this time, and he said slowly: "If Hengbo is not mistaken, in this stone forest, someone has laid out a strange gate formation. ”

"You mean the Qimen Dunjia Formation?" Cao Duyun's eyes flashed, and he said with a frown.

The so-called Qimen Dunjia formation is something that only exists in legends, and it is different from the military formation on the battlefield and the sword formation formed by the masters of the Jianghu sect, and it is more related to demon law and Taoism. The most famous Qimen formation in the world is the eight formations that Zhuge Wuhou laid out with stones during the Three Kingdoms period that can block an army of 100,000 troops.

Although Cao Duyun is also well-informed, he has only heard a little about the formation of Qimen Dunjia, but he doesn't know what this legendary formation looks like. At this moment, after listening to Qiu Hengbo's words, he couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart and asked, "How can you see it?"

Qiu Hengbo said: "Ordinary ambush is just taking advantage of the terrain, but Qimen Dunjia can use Dao magic to transform heaven and earth, Childe, please look at this compass." ”

He reached out from the sleeve of his robe and handed a palm-sized compass to Cao Duyun.

The compass is a thing that indicates the direction, and it can be used to distinguish north and south in the vast sea, and in this small black stone forest, it is not too big to have this thing to lose its way. Cao Duyun took the compass in his hand, but saw that the pointer in it kept spinning, as if it was constantly being pulled by an invisible finger.

His heart sank, and he said: "The compass is out of order, maybe it's just an accident, we can also use the stars and celestial phenomena to identify the direction." ”

Qiu Hengbo said: "Childe, please carefully observe the stars in the sky, can they be used to identify the direction?"

I know a little about the astrological Cao Duyun, at this time, it is at the time of the dusk, as long as you find the position of the Big Dipper, you can identify the direction. He stared at the sky, but could scarcely believe his eyes.

Just because above the sky, four groups of Big Dipper stars can be seen, located in four different directions!

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※ after Cao Duyun led 3,000 soldiers into the valley from the entrance of the stone wall, Hua Bushi did not stop in front of the stone wall for long, and immediately turned around and walked out of the Sea God Temple.

The 200 Tiger Thorns and the 200 archers left behind by Cao Duyun stood in a line outside the hall.

Hu Jing, the general manager, stepped forward and hugged his fists and said, "The last general, Hu Jing, obey the orders of Young Master Hua." ”

This Hu Jing is about thirty years old, with a long face and short beard, a strong body, and looks very shrewd and capable, and the two hundred archers are lined up, but they are indeed the elite soldiers of the Guangdong Realm Naval Division.

Hua Bushi bowed his hand slightly, and said: "Mr. Hu is invited! Now that time is pressing, I will no longer be more polite, please lead his soldiers and do what Young Master Ben instructs!"

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and pointed to a house next to the Sea God Temple, and said, "Tell the soldiers to demolish that house!"

Hu Jing was stunned when he heard this. Now that he has just captured the Black Dragon City, Cao Duyun led a large group of men and horses into the valley, they just left the guards behind, why is the time pressing? And this Young Master Hua wants to demolish the house, and I don't know what the intention is.

He was about to open his mouth to ask, but Hua Bushi looked at him and said, "Hurry up and do it, don't delay!"

"Yes. Hu Jing had no choice but to reply. Anyway, when Cao Duyun was leaving, he had already ordered him and the two hundred archers to obey Hua Bushi's command, and if the eldest young master wanted to demolish the house, then they would do it.

Hua Bushi said again: "Zhu Hong, you take the Thorn Tiger to demolish the house, and demolish this, this, and the other one, and the two-story stone building behind you will be demolished on the west side!"

Zhu Hong didn't say much, and took the order to leave.

Hua Bushi turned to Sima Rulan and said, "Miss Lan'er, please send your disciples to the city wall, pay attention to the outside of the city, and come back as soon as there is a situation." ”

The three hundred troops of the "Wanjin Hall" had already gone with Cao Duyun into the valley, and Sima Rulan only had more than ten city lord's guards around him. She didn't hesitate, and immediately followed what the eldest young master said.

In the Black Dragon City, except for the Sea God Temple, the other houses are not high, most of them only have one floor, and only a few are two-story small buildings, arranged squarely, very dense and neat, all of them are made of stone.

Of course, it is not easy to demolish such a stone house.

Hu Jing led 200 soldiers to find a few logs, and several people carried them together to hit the wall of the house, and finally demolished the house with great effort. In the same time, the two hundred thorny tigers had demolished five houses.

These aborigines, whose clothes and skin were darkened, did not use tools at all to dismantle the house, but only hit it with their shoulders, and the force of the collision was no smaller than the big log hugged by many of Hu Jing's soldiers, and no matter how thick the stone wall was, two or three tiger thorns only needed to hit it a few times, and it collapsed immediately.

Hu Jing, who commanded the soldiers to demolish the house, stole a few glances at the group of tiger thorns, and was so surprised that his tongue staggered. None of these natives were tall and strong, and he didn't expect that they had such strength, and he expected that even the three hundred giants under Xiong Bailing's command who were as strong as Xiong Bai Ling probably didn't have such skills.

Of course, Hu Jing didn't know that these two hundred thorny tiger warriors were the ones with the best physical fitness selected by Hua Bushi from tens of thousands of indigenous people on Okura Island, and they came from the survival of the fittest, not only did they practice superior martial arts, but they also spent hundreds of thousands of silver taels on the precious medicinal materials used to forge tendons and hammer bones for several months.

In terms of the strength of the body and the strength of the muscles and bones, these Thorny Tiger Warriors are no less than the descendants of the famous sects who have practiced internal strength for many years, and they are not comparable to the great sect that only relies on their strong physique and only uses conventional methods to train.

Hua Bushi walked around the street outside the Sea God Temple, constantly stretching out his hand to point, and pointed out more than ten houses to be demolished.

The fact that the Thorn Tigers demolished the houses was astonishing, and they quickly demolished all the houses that were set to rest. Hua Bushi ordered the dismantled stones and wood to be moved to several intersections and piled up.

During the whole process, Yang Jiangyi and Sima Rulan followed Hua Bushi's side. Although they felt quite strange in their hearts, they also knew that this eldest young master had always been scheming and resourceful, and at this time, seeing that he had been busy calculating and commanding, they did not ask out loud.