The neighing of horses and Zhao Han'er's warning woke everyone up, from Fu Jiezi to Ren Hong, the officials of the mission drilled out of the felt tent one after another, all holding weapons in their hands - out of the jade gate, it was no longer as safe as in the Han land, danger could come at any time, and everyone was waiting for it.

But when they rushed to the mound where the cattle were tied, there was no one except for the two officials who were in charge of the vigil and looked bewildered at this time.

Fu Jiezi asked with a calm face: "Najia, Ye Tingfeng, what's wrong?" ”

Naga is a Guiyi Qiang, who is responsible for taking care of the camels, and Ye Tingfeng is one of the chariot fathers, and it is their turn to keep vigil today.

"Fu Gong, we are guilty."

The two of them pleaded down with some trepidation, and they dozed off under the mound wrapped in blankets, until the horses suddenly neighed. When he opened his eyes, he only saw a dark figure outside the herd planning to steal the horse, and when he saw the defeat, he quickly ran into the night.

They hurriedly got up to chase after him, but they were a little slower, and they could only watch as the man disappeared into the dark shadows cast by the Yadan rock wall.

Zheng Ji came from the densely forested Jiangdong Water Town, and felt that no one could survive in this city: "There is not even a spring in this ghost place, there is no grass and trees, how can there be people!" Could it be that the Huns detected that we would go to Loulan and ambush here? ”

Ren Hong shook his head: "The Huns came from Pu Shihai and Horsehair Mountain, which is only far and not close to us, if there is really an ambush by the Huns, then they can directly take the night horse to attack, why not sneak and steal horses." ”

Han Dangdang said in a low voice: "If it's not a human, it's a ghost?" ”

He didn't know what he had experienced when he was a child, he was very afraid of ghosts, and he couldn't help but think of the strange legend of this city, and clenched the wood in his arms to ward off evil spirits.

Sun Shiwan was looking around with a torch, but he made a new discovery, pointed to the ground and said: "It must be a person, there are footprints on the ground, look at ......"

His words choked suddenly, and everyone gathered around to take a look, and they couldn't help but be terrified!

There are footprints, but they are definitely not human footprints and shoe prints, but claw marks left by animal feet stepping on sand!

If it was really a beast, it would be fine, but Zhao Han'er, who was the best at tracking and finding traces, took a look at it and predicted: "Although it is left by the claws of the beast, it is a ...... that walks on two legs."

After comparing it with his own footprints, he could even estimate that the cashier's thing weighed 200 Han Jin (Han Jin 250 grams).

Ren Hong asked Zhao Han'er: "Can you see the male and female?" ”

Zhao Han'er shook his head: "I can't see it this time." He stroked the beast's claw footprints with his hand, frowning, always feeling that it was too disagreeable.

"A two-legged beast, could it be a mandrill or a mountain spirit?"

"But my grandfather said that the mandrill is reversed, and it is not the same as the claws of this beast."

"Many Hu merchants in the Western Regions have said that there are ghosts and monsters in the ridge city, and they often take away people and animals at night, leaving only the footprints of beasts.

The officials of the mission speculated a lot, and they all talked about all kinds of ghost legends they had heard, but they were stopped by Fu Jiezi's reprimand.

"A footprint is scared like this, what else are you going to Loulan?"

Fu Jiezi glanced at everyone and ordered: "Quickly count the livestock and the number of people." ”

Ren Hong didn't find Lu Jiuyu when he looked left and right, and went over to report at this time: "Fu Gong, Lu Jiuyu just went out to the toilet, and he hasn't returned to ...... yet."

Sun Shiwan suddenly jumped to his feet: "Lu Jiuyu often complains about the miserable days in the mission, it won't be because he wants to run!" Could it be that the thief who stole the horse would be him? ”

Ren Hong shook his head: "I just checked, Lu Jiuyu didn't even bring water, food, money and silk, and went out with a toilet chip, this desolate desert, he is not good at martial arts, and there is no livestock to travel, how to escape?" ”

Everyone bowed their heads, Lu Jiuyu loves money the most, other things can be wanted, and money must not be lost.

And Zhao Han'er and Zheng Ji were ordered by Fu Jiezi to find a circle within a hundred steps around, but they only found a used toilet chip.

and a mess of footprints, like the ones on the side of the herd, like animal claws, except for one man's footprints that were dragged westward, and looked like he had struggled......

Now it is clear that Lu Jiuyu was probably abducted by the accomplices of the "monster" after going to the toilet, and he didn't even have time to shout.

Fortunately, there was no blood on the ground, which means that Lu Jiuyu may not be dead.

Deputy Envoy Wu Zongnian suddenly became anxious: "Without others, you can't miss Lu Jiuyu, he is a translator and a guide!" ”

Lu Jiuyu has been to Loulan many times, and although others can also speak a few words of Loulan, they are not as proficient as Lao Lu.

In a hurry, Wu Zongnian had to order everyone to go out to look for it.

Fu Jiezi said: "No one is allowed to leave the camp!" Wait until dawn! ”

This may be a ploy of the enemy, in order to divert the tiger from the mountain, or to lure the envoys to disperse and defeat each one, and they cannot be fooled.

Ren Hong agrees with this, Yadan Devil City is originally a labyrinth, he heard the mission say, almost every group of missions and businessmen passing by, one or two people will be lost, one or two horses will be lost, in the dark night, in the devil's city, it is strange not to get lost.

Fu Jiezi ordered Ren Hong and ten other people to stand guard outside and keep vigil, and put the saber back to the sheath: "The rest of the people will go back to the felt tent to rest!" ”

He himself took the lead and went inside, and after a while, the snoring sounded.

Everyone looked at each other, Ren Hong knew that this was Fu Jiezi's deliberate doing, so he pretended to be calm, so that everyone should not panic.

It's really useful, and when the officials saw that Fu Jiezi was not panicking, they also stabilized their hearts and performed their duties.

Only Han Dangdang, who was keeping vigil with Ren Hong and others, was still a little panicked, pinching the wood he bought from Lu Jiuyu's 100 yuan to ward off evil spirits and said: "Lu Jiuyu himself has suffered, is this evil spirit?" ”

Ren Hong asked puzzledly, "Old Han, why are you so afraid of ghosts?" ”

"When I was young, when the elders of the family died, I went up the mountain with me, I was greedy for fun and ran away, and that night in the cemetery, I encountered some things......"

Han Dangdang shuddered as he spoke, and he didn't want to say more, but it could be seen that that incident had left a shadow on this iron-blooded man's childhood.

"You're afraid of invisible ghosts."

Ren Hong said with a smile: "But no matter what this thing is, man or beast, since he has left footprints, it is tangible, and it is flesh and blood like us, with swords, spears, swords, and halberds, there is always a way to kill him!" ”

"Actually, there is something strange about the footprints of this beast's claws."

Zhao Han'er kept silent wrapped in a felt blanket, as if thinking about things, and finally told Ren Hong at this moment: "Even the footprints of wolves and jackals are textured, but those 'beast claws' are too smooth, this shouldn't be......"

"You're right, maybe it's not a ghost at all."

Ren Hong was even more determined, and as he spoke, he took a piece of wooden slip for writing, cut it with a knife, cut it into the shape of a beast's claws, tied it to his shoes, stood up and stepped on the ground!

It really left a footprint like a beast's claw!

……

"If it's a real mandrill monster, I'll roast it and eat it."

"If it's a fake beast, hey, I'm going to beat him to death!"

After Ren Hong and Zhao Han'er cracked the mystery of this "beast claw", Han Dangdang, who was still afraid of ghosts the night before, set off at dawn the next day, with a shield on his back, a hook inlay and a ring knife in hand, and set off violently.

"We must find out the group of thieves who pretend to be ghosts!"

Ren Hong had already told Fu Jiezi about the "beast claw", and now the fear of the envoys and officials disappeared, and only the annoyance of being played was left.

"This city is a place where the mission merchants must pass, and there has always been a legend that ghosts and monsters take away people and animals at night, and those lone travelers who are separated from the mission caravan are most likely to encounter accidents, and even the bones cannot be found."

"In that case, I'm afraid we're going to solve this mystery this time."

But because the thief who stole the horse and the thief who kidnapped Lu Jiuyu left the direction more than once, Fu Jiezi asked them to divide into two teams, a group of ten, to search in two directions, and the others stayed in the camp to watch the cattle and baggage.

Ren Hong and their group are naturally led by Zhao Han'er, last night's wind and sand covered most of the footprints, so the information is intermittent, fortunately, Zhao Han'er's tracking skills are max, and when they are desperate, they can always find a trace of scales and half claws.

By the time the sun rose high, a group of ten of them had really gone deep into the Yadan Devil City, where there was not a single tree, not a single grass, not a trace of green, last night's cold wind, but now it was like a blazing sun, the hot wind mixed with gravel hit the face and hurt, the shape of the mounds is different, but there are similar, it is easy to get lost, spinning in place.

So Ren Hong redrew an arrow with a ring knife at every corner, or piled up a pile of pebbles on the road as a marker.

By the time the sun was rising, the beast's claw footprints had completely disappeared, but Zhao Han'er found a new clue in the ravine under the mound......

There was a pile of bones thrown here, as if they were dumped in the garbage heap, and among them were the skulls of several people, the flesh on them was completely gone, and only empty eyes were left looking at Ren Hong and them, I don't know how long they had been exposed to the sun in this desert.

Zhao Han'er used the scabbard to beat and beat to scare away the snakes, insects and lizards that might exist, and then picked and picked, picked out a thigh bone, glanced at it, and silently handed it to Ren Hong.

The man's leg bones were apparently burned, and then stoned open, sucking out the marrow, leaving a row of tooth marks on it, different from the "claws" on the ground, which cannot be faked......

"You were right."

"I'm afraid it's not ghosts and beasts that are haunting in the ridge city, but people!"