It was almost noon, and they had entered the edge of the Dark Forest, which still belonged to the territory of the ant clan, Xia Mei had been with her father many times when she was a child, but now it was a matter of fact. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info This is the first dilapidated huge castle found by Ban Hu and his party since they entered the forest eastward. Natsumi introduced that the Dark Forest is thousands of miles in circumference and has hundreds of castles. The exquisite relief bricks on the walls of this castle and the abandoned moat covered with duckweed tell of the glory of this place.

"This used to be the manor of an ant tribe leader." Natsumi said.

As the former royal family of the Dark Forest, the Natsumi family has a high prestige here, and even the ant tribes scattered on the western edge of the Dark Forest have great respect for them.

"Looks like there was a war here!" Duo Qian said worriedly, "The Dark Forest has become hell, what has the Dark Lord done?" ”

Natsumi also shook her head. The two walked to the moat and tried to wash their hands.

Ban Hu and Xiao Luo dismounted, also surprised by the decay of the scene here.

The eight Eagle's Nest killers followed the little one, and immediately took advantage of the favorable position around Duoqian with their swords, and conscientiously fulfilled their duty of guardianship, after all, this is the Dark Forest, the legendary place of death. Xiao Yi volunteered to take on the position of captain of the guard, which he was familiar with here. The two bears immediately circled around the perimeter, checking for any ambushes nearby, and went to explore the road by the way.

"The Dark Lord's mana is powerful, why not set up an enchantment here so that no one can enter so easily?" Natsumi said suspiciously.

"There's only one possibility! That is, the Dark Lord has left the Dark Forest, so his enchantment is temporarily invalid. Duo Qian reasoned, "This is a good thing for us, but those minions under him are also difficult to deal with, so we must be careful!" ”

"Well, let's rest in this castle!" Natsumi suggested, "After all, I've been on the road all morning!" ”

The little snail who was looking around hurriedly said, "Okay! Good! Good! I was hungry! With that, he went straight to the last few horses carrying dry food.

At this time, Ban Hu was silent, he led his horse to the moat and began to pay attention to the unusually lush water hyacinth in the moat.

The water hyacinth was also too big, the size of an adult's head. The green leaves of each water hyacinth were inexplicably broken in two.

Ban Hu felt that these water hyacinths seemed to have spirituality, and they were transmitting some human-like emotions to him.

Fear, pain, hopelessness, "Get out of here!" This is the last call that Ban Hu felt about the water hyacinth.

Ban Hu suddenly found that the water hyacinth was expanding sharply!

"Get down!" Ban Hu shouted, taking advantage of the situation to throw Duoqian and Xia Mei, who were closest to him, to the ground. A flash of light suddenly erupted on the horse that Ban Hu was leading. Ban Hu suddenly felt dizzy, and the violent explosion made him lose his sense of hearing and nausea.

……

"You've been eating our tofu long enough, right?" This was the first sentence Ban Hu heard after he woke up.

I felt soft and moist under my body, and the warm fragrance was like flower wine through my body. It was the water of the moat that soaked them all over. There are two delicate and soaked super beauties under him, Duoqian and Xia Mei, can Ban Hu not get drunk?

Ban Hu quickly got up embarrassed, shook the water on his body, and the other people around him also woke up one by one.

"What's going on?" Duoqian asked while twisting the water on her body.

"Mutation! That's all I can explain, it's like the zombie mutation in the world, but it's a plant mutation, and it's the first time I've seen it! Ban Hu replied seriously.

Ban Hu boasts that he has walked the Silk Road and is well-informed, but everything here has already subverted his own knowledge!

"What's that light?" Natsumi then asked.

Ban Hu thought of something, and didn't care about getting soaked all over, and immediately ran to the side of the fainted horse to find his ebony staff. The green leaves on the ebony staff had withered.

"It was your ebony staff that saved us, otherwise we would have been crushed!" Duo Qian saw the light from the ebony staff before being pounced on by Ban Hu.

The surrounding castles and city walls had long been blown to pieces, and shards of water hyacinth were splashed everywhere, and all the surrounding trees were uprooted.

"We are calculated!" Duo Qian said angrily.

"There are rumors that the Dark Lord is colluding with a group of elven witch doctors and a group of rogue weaponists on the underworld, and it seems that the rumors are true!" Natsumi wiped the drops of water from her face and said angrily, "This is the result of their conspiracy, which almost killed us!" ”

Ban Hu gently stroked the ebony staff, he felt that the ebony staff had become a part of himself, and the withering of the leaves made him feel as if a piece of his soul was missing.

Duoqian saw Ban Hu's sad expression, and her heart was not happy.

"Don't worry, Banhu, we'll make the Dark Lord pay!"

Suddenly, Ban Hu felt that his eyes lit up, and it turned out that Duoqian turned into a golden eagle and flew straight into the sky! Duoqian turned out to be an eagle spirit!

"Princess, you can't do this, it's too dangerous!" Natsumi shouted.

But Duoqian was like an arrow from the string, soaring straight into the sky, but soon flew back to Banhu's side and kept coughing.

"Haze Enchantment! I couldn't see the ground clearly, and the haze was filled with obsidian dust from the volcano, making it impossible for me to use my spiritual powers to sustain my flight! Duo Qian coughed and said, "What the hell is the Dark Lord doing?" The Dark Forest was made to a miasma by him! But the strange thing is that Duo Qian looked up at the clear sky again, "but I don't feel it in the forest, the environment here is so quiet, it is completely different from the sky!" ”

"It seems that the Dark Lord deliberately blocked the sky, but the forest on the ground is full of traps, this is deliberately stopping us, this water hyacinth just now is proof!" Xia Mei said indignantly.

Duo Qian knew that this was because the Dark Lord had long realized that the royal family would definitely come to intervene, so he deliberately set up an enchantment. But now there is no one to stop her from continuing into the Dark Forest.

"You want to stop us, no way! Let's move on! Until I found my sister! Duoqian felt angry, she deliberately suppressed her anger, and said, "Let's rest for half an hour, and then let's go!" ”

Subsequently, Xia Mei, who knows a little bit of medical skills, checked everyone's injuries one by one, but fortunately, there was no major problem.

Xiao Luo was looking for food at the back of the horse team, and the explosion just now had no effect on him. He was full of interest in the forest, and after eating and drinking, he wandered around, and Ban Hu told him not to go far. The two bears, Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang, went to explore the way, but they still haven't come back yet. Duo Qian began to worry.

"This barrier in the air doesn't look like it was cast by the Dark Lord, as far as I know, he doesn't have such a great ability, maybe he has a stronger helper!" Duo Qian said as she changed clothes with Natsumi in a hidden place. And Ban Hu is on guard around to prevent others from peeping. Of course, Duoqian didn't forget to warn Ban Hu, "Don't peek, you will die if you peek!" ”

Duo Qian still knows a lot about the so-called brother-in-law of the Dark Lord. Although he used disgraceful means to separate his sister Duoxiu from the Dark Devil Wolf King, the Dark Lord was really infatuated with his sister. The Dark Lord has a special identity, with the most noble bloodline in the city of elves, although the mana is profound, but it can only be on the ground and underground, and casting enchantments in the air is not his specialty. Duo Qian had a hunch that there might be people from his own family to help him, and his mana was far beyond his own.

"Aerial enchantment, generally only flying spirits can be cast, is it ......" or Natsumi directly raised this question.

"No matter who it is, who is blocking me now, who I will destroy!"

Xia Mei knew that Duoqian was still angry about the explosion just now, so she comforted: "Princess, Banhu's mana is far beyond imagination, and he is a human being, so he may be able to help us!" ”

Duo Qian thought for a while, looked at the back of Ban Hu in the distance and muttered; "He doesn't belong to this world, and he will eventually leave ......"

After Duoqian and Xia Mei took a bath, they prepared to set off again. The sun has set in the west, but Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang still haven't returned.

"Shouldn't we go and see?" Duoqian asked anxiously.

"You stay here to watch our horses, I'll go with the snail!" Ban Hu asked, "I am a person who has walked the Silk Road, and I am experienced in field combat!" ”

Duoqian is still not at ease, the combat power of the double bears is not ordinary, if they really meet an opponent, it must be very strong. She walked gently to Ban Hu's side.

"In this case, I will arrange for four more Eagle's Nest Killer Guards to go with you, and we will wait for you in the abandoned castle!" Duo Qian gently stroked the ebony staff held in Ban Hu's hand, and then said gently, "You must be careful yourself and bring them back safely!" ”

"Then I'll go too! Not at high altitude, I can do some low-altitude reconnaissance! Natsumi said.

"Okay then, but you must come back when it's dark, even if you can't find Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei!"

Ban Hu held an ebony staff and took the lead in the direction where Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei left. As the sun set, the dark forest began to darken. From time to time, Natsumi flies in a sparsely populated area, and the height of the flight cannot be a few feet higher than the treetops. If you fly too high, you will be disturbed by the barrier in the air, and you will not be able to see the ground clearly. Ban Hu could only rely on his strong sense of smell and hearing to search, but all he heard was the rustle of leaves and the suppressed, convulsed, birdsong of birds.

Xiao Luo was surprisingly quiet, and he tightly grabbed the corner of Ban Hu's clothes and followed behind him. The four guards, as the elite of the fowl clan, can actually fly, but once they fly, they can't fight, so they are just armed with heavy swords, ready to deal with unexpected situations at any time.

"Wait! A smell of blood! Ban Hu's keen sense of smell caught this message in the breeze passing through the trees, "Everyone be on guard! ”

Ban Hu was the first to rush in the direction where the smell of blood wafted from with his ebony staff, and he didn't go far before he heard a moan again.

"Little Yellow, Little Black!" Natsumi, who was following behind, immediately heard the familiar voice.

"Stop!" Ban Hu raised his hand to signal, and there was a cliff in front of him.

The cliff is longitudinally split from north to south, and it is extremely deep, and the cliff is covered with dense wild vines and various shrubs. Behind it, the setting sun shone on the cliff face opposite, gilded with a layer of gold. Between the cliffs, there is a suspension bridge formed by green vines intertwined with each other. In the middle of the bridge, there are two huge green vine balls - it is Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei who are firmly entangled in the green vine knots!

Seeing this, Xia Mei was about to rush over, but was pulled back by Ban Hu, and Xiao Luo was just about to deform, and was slapped back by Ban Hu.

"Why don't you go up?" Xiao Luo asked hurriedly.

Because Ban Hu found that his ebony staff had grown another green leaf!

"Shh......h Don't talk! Ban Hu said softly.

The ebony staff began to break free from Ban Hu's grasp, and slowly flew towards the green vine bridge. The green leaf on the ebony staff was rhythmically moving, as if to say hello.

To the surprise of Ban Hu and his party, all the green vines and green leaves on the bridge are also following the rhythm! The different rhythms of the rhythm represent different messages. The green leaves on the ebony staff were like a speaker, explaining something to the green vine, and soon an agreement seemed to be reached, because the green vine that bound Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei slowly loosened, and gradually turned into a human form.

At Ban Hudi's signal, the four guards quickly carried Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang back. Natsumi immediately checked the physical condition of the two, but fortunately, they just passed out and were fine.

Banhu's ebony staff was back in his hand. Ban Hu tried to communicate with his ebony staff, but to no avail, as if the ebony staff had fallen asleep again.

Ban Hu and his entourage took advantage of the fact that it was still dark, and hurriedly sent Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang to the abandoned manor. Duo Qian was not idle, she, Xiao Yi and four guards hurriedly set up tents and made up the defenses around them, because an even more terrible night was coming. Although there was an explosion in the manor, it seems that the bombed manor is indeed the safest place now.

Xiao Yi had already found a drinkable mountain spring near the manor and solved the problem of water use. They gathered a lot of dry wood and started a bonfire.

Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang came to their senses under the careful care of everyone and recounted their suffering.

It turned out that the two searched along a mountain road that had been abandoned for many years, but when they passed the bridge, they were tightly entangled by the green vines. Even their mouths were gagged by green vines, and they couldn't shout for help, if Ban Hu hadn't appeared, the two of them would have died a long time ago!

As soon as Duo Qian saw Ban Hu bring Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang back, she couldn't help but say, and directly gave Ban Hu a kiss, which made Ban Hu blush. Ban Hu didn't know that the "Princess's Kiss" he won was the highest honor in the Great West Country - he became an Eagle's Nest Knight who could pursue the princess - an honor that hundreds of knights in this country wanted to obtain for the rest of their lives!

Natsumi also gets a kiss, which means that she will be the most popular person in the royal family in the future.

The importance of Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei to Duoqian is self-evident. The two of them have grown up with Duoqian since they were children, and they have already become a part of Duoqian's life!

Seven tents have been erected, and there are three tents in the ruins of the manor. Duoqian left her tent to Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei, and went to sleep in Natsumi's tent by herself; Ban Hu and Xiao Luo were together, sleeping in a nearby tent. Xiao Yi and the guards took turns sleeping in tents on the periphery of the other four manors, guarding the surroundings.

But all night, no one really fell asleep. No one knows what to expect the next day, because the Dark Forest is full of dangers!

The next day, Ban Hu and Duoqian continued along another trail deep into the dark forest. As for the strange suspension bridge, Natsumi suggested not to disturb them again, and Ban Hu also felt that the green vines that formed the suspension bridge were very resentful. So, it was agreed to continue along another remote road.

After a long journey of about thirty miles along this relatively remote path, they found that the trees of various colors had become sparse, even revealing mottled black soil and rocks.

Half-dried wooden piles and broken branches on both sides of the road prove that the area has recently undergone large-scale logging.

Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei, who have fully recovered, turned into bears and probed along both sides of the trail, but did not find any suspicious traces.

But along the way, Ban Hu always felt that something was following them behind him, but every time he looked back, he couldn't find anything suspicious.

"Maybe I'm too suspicious!" Thinking of all the peculiarities of this world, Ban Hu also began to disagree.

It's almost noon, the grass is sparse, and the sun is particularly scorching. Xia Mei saw that the surrounding trees were sparse and her field of vision was relatively broad, so she conducted several flight reconnaissances, although there were restrictions on the air barrier, she could only fly a few feet high, but Xia Mei still had a general understanding of the situation within a radius of dozens of miles.

It was a gentle slope that stretched for dozens of miles to the east, and what should have been a dense forest was now almost cut down.

At the end of the slope is a small river that flows from south to north, but after felling, the severed branches have filled the channel. The leaves began to rot, and the river began to stink and turn black.

Fortunately, there is a single-hole stone arch bridge not far from the downstream of the river, and the bridge hole has long been filled with broken branches and fallen leaves, and the carved stone railings on the bridge have long been dilapidated.

Everything in front of him made everyone feel indignant, especially Natsumi, whose hometown was ruined like this by the Dark Lord, and she couldn't help but be angry!

After passing a small bridge, the path turns north towards the upper reaches of the river. Duoqian, Ban Hu and their entourage decided to take a break at the bend by the bridge.

Looking to the east, you will find the famous "Forest of Death"! It seems that even the Dark Lord is very jealous of this dark forest, and almost all the trees on the opposite slope have been cut down, except for the Forest of Death, not a single grass or tree is missing!

Upstream of the river, that is, to the north, is the dark shadow of the misty distant mountains. There were several mills built along the river, which were in dilapidation, but strangely there was not a single figure along the way, as if they had suddenly disappeared out of thin air.

When everyone got off the horse and was about to have a full meal, Banhu, who had a keen sense of smell, suddenly smelled a fishy smell, like the smell of rotting fish in the sea. The little snail behind him also became alert, because he also felt the aura of his own kind.

Ban Hu quickly judged that the pungent fishy smell came from the mill by the river. So, Ban Hu asked the others to be on guard and go to the mill to investigate.

Duoqian knows that Ban Hu is a person who has walked the Silk Road, has experienced countless storms, and is the most emergency person in the group; In fact, Princess Duoqian has regarded Ban Hu as the soul of the group.

The oak door of the mill had begun to rot, and Banhu gave it a gentle push, and the door creaked open. A strong fishy smell came to his face, and everything in front of him still made Ban Hu almost vomit, but the sound of vomiting was already ringing behind him!

It turned out that Xiao Luo was eager to see the inside of the mill and had already followed Ban Hu.

The roof of the mill was covered with dried baby corpses!