87. Corpse mud barrier

"Yes, not so, the old people say that this valley is very peculiar, the further you go, the higher and higher the cliffs on both sides are getting higher and more slippery, there are some hunters who are good at climbing from the outer mountains to the peak, looking at the situation in the valley, they say that it is lush and green, covered by a very thick forest, and there are flocks of birds flying over the forest, and the echo of the valley is full of pheasants, wild boars, deer and other cries. However, the cliffs were so steep that no one ever went down. ”

It seems that the so-called Taoyuan Township is still safe, and unlike the entrance, there is no trace of birds and beasts here.

"How credible do you think these statements, strong man?" Yan Zhenqing asked.

"Credible, credible, otherwise I wouldn't have thought of risking my life to take you into the mountains, which are indeed paradises. ”

"Why are you so sure?" Yan Zhenqing asked.

"Hehe, my lord, the little one has an uncle, born like a monkey, his arms and legs are particularly long, the fingers are more than twice as long as ordinary people, and the strength is very big, he has always been curious about the situation in the mountains, often go around the back mountain to climb up, trying to find a place to go down to the valley, once I begged him to take me with me, he took me there, at that time I was only eight or nine years old, he tied to the back, the scenery in the valley is so beautiful, so the little one has never forgotten. ”

"Then did your uncle find a way into Taoyuan Township later?"

"Nope. Orion shook his head helplessly, staring at everyone with blank eyes, and there was nothing more to say.

Yan Zhenqing listened to the bite and looked at the depths of the valley, pacing back and forth. Some mist had begun to rise in the valley.

"My lord, let the last general bring a team of men and horses in first, these gods and ghosts may not be credible. Ma Xiangru asked again.

Yan Zhenqing bit his lip and looked at Ma Xiangru, his resolute eyes were full of trust: "General Ma has followed this official for many years, and he knows that this official as a Confucian student does not like strange forces and chaos, but this valley has its differences, according to this official, there may not be any mountain gods and demons here, but these plants and trees are very peculiar, and they must not be reckless." ”

"Brother Yan thinks there is something strange about these plants and trees?" Dugu Huan asked.

"Well, it's just a guess from the official right now," Yan Zhenqing suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly ordered: "Go, bring two pack horses behind, unload the grain and grass, and then go to the walled city to drag two corpses and find a few discarded armor." ”

Several soldiers did as they were ordered and were quickly ready.

Two pack horses carried wattle baskets, each carrying a corpse and one or two pieces of armor.

Yan Zhenqing personally held the whip and twitched it steadily on the butt of the pack horse.

The pack horse trotted into the depths of the valley, and the thin mist grew thick, quickly overwhelming the horses.

After a while, the fog returned to its thin state, and there was no trace of the two pack horses in the valley.

When the horse saw it, he was afraid for a while, it was impossible for the two pack horses to run too far at this time, and they disappeared out of thin air?

"Brother Yan, look-" Dugu Huan was the first to discover something, and stretched out his hand to point in one direction.

There was an intricate patch of vines, intertwined into a green fence wall, and in the winding vines, two thorn baskets and a few pieces of armor sank deep into it.

The vines were wriggling strangely, not like the wind blowing, but as if they were chewing something.

"My lord—"

"My lord—"

"So, what's that?"

Orion, Ma Xiangru, and everyone around them all let out a cry of surprise and asked.

Yan Zhenqing also looked at it very carefully, and fixed his mind: "The official doesn't know very well, it seems that it is just an ordinary vine in the area of Taihang Yanshan, how could it become like this, but nine times out of ten, it was they who devoured those horses, as well as those missing people in the past, or they may be responsible." ”

"The two corpses are also gone, it seems that they not only eat living things, but even the dead will eat, oops, I really don't know how those people in An Lushan passed here. Ma Xiangru's voice trembled a little.

Dugu Huan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he pulled Orion over: "Strongman, you just said that there was a young descendant who escaped, and he was covered in mud at the time?"

"Yes, that's what the old people say by word of mouth. ”

"Is he hurt, is there any injury to his arms and legs?"

"It's not clear, the old people didn't mention it in their words, it should be nothing. ”

"Covered in mud, covered in mud, covered in mud—" Dugu Huan muttered, thoughtful.

"That's it, you see, sir, there are streams on both sides of this valley, and the water is not deep, but there seems to be a lot of silt in it. ”

Dugu Huan tried to take a few steps forward, and came to a stream, the stream was silent, and the clear bottom of the water was a thick layer of black silt.

"Well, that's right, there's a way. ”

Dugu Huan came to the stream, looked at the thick black mud at the bottom of the stream, couldn't help but dig out a piece, and picked it up to smell it.

The mud couldn't smell anything in the water, but at the moment when it came out of the water, a pungent stench suddenly came out, and Dugu Huan shook his hand and threw the mud back to the bottom of the stream.

Dugu Huan was unguarded, inhaled a lot at once, and vomited all the food he ate in the morning with a wow.

"Lord Dugu, are you alright?"

The military doctor hurriedly threw the fire chief aside and came over to help Dugu Huan.

Dugu Huan couldn't stop for a while, the things in his stomach were vomited, and he was still retching, the green tendons on his neck flared up, and his face was red and purple.

After coming over for a while, Dugu Huan came to his senses, took the kettle handed by the military doctor, drank a few sips, vomited for a while, drank a few sips and vomited for a while, and it took a quarter of an hour before he finally calmed down.

Dugu Huan stretched out his hand far away and looked at it carefully: "It's the smell of corpses." ”

"What is going on?" Yan Zhenqing stepped forward and asked.

"If those legends are true, then it is likely that there are so many corpses and human blood deposited in the mud at the bottom of these streams, that they have been piled up here for years, so they stink so much that they almost disgust me. ”

"What about these corpses?"

"Brother Yan, as you can see, the grass and trees in this valley are indeed common in the north, but the stream here is underground hot spring water, and the water is warm, so these plants and trees can be lush and green in winter, which is one of them.

Second, the younger brother guessed that because of the massacre that year, too many carrion corpses and blood were mixed into the strata here, causing these plants and trees to undergo abnormal changes and become man-eating vines. ”

Yan Zhenqing nodded and motioned for Dugu Huan to continue.

"Think about it, maybe the boy who escaped at the beginning was because he was covered in foul-smelling mud, and those man-eating vines mistook him for just mud at the bottom of the stream, so they didn't entangle him and let him escape. ”

"I understand, Brother Dugu's inferences are very reasonable, but these mud are too fishy, you just smelled it, and then vomited wildly, if you plop all over your body, but-"

"Don't worry, there will be a way, for now, I have to verify my guess first. ”

First he found a pack horse, covered it with mud, tied it to a rope dozens of zhang long, and drove the pack horse into the valley.

As Fang Cai, the pack horse entered the valley, and the fog soon became thicker. However, the rope attached to the pack horse continued to pull forward. Until all the ropes are released, you can still feel the force of the pack horse moving forward.

Dugu Huan ordered people to pull the pack horse back, and tried back and forth several times to determine that the mud was effective for man-eating vines, and immediately ordered people to find all the oilcloths, cloths, quilts, wooden boards, bamboo poles, as well as brooms, brushes, wine, etc. in the walled city.

A rag soaked in wine made a mask to protect the mouth and nose.

Bamboo poles and planks were built into square shelves, wrapped in cloth, quilts, etc., tightly enclosed, and the outside was brushed with thick silt - like a mud tent that could be moved. People hid in mud tents and marched in unison, which greatly reduced the impact of the stench on people.

All the tents were connected by two long ropes, and the soldiers in the mud tents clung to the ropes. Dugu Huan unfolded the Taiyi Xuanjia to protect himself, walked in the front, and pulled the two ropes to guide everyone forward.

The pack horses, covered in mud, followed in two teams.

"When we go inside, no matter what happens, don't panic, don't run, move steadily, once the tent is lifted, those man-eating vines will find our traces. ”

Dugu Huan and Yan Zhenqing instructed several times, and then walked slowly.

A large group of people entered, and the sound of trampling made the grass and trees in the valley suddenly agitated, and they seemed to be able to feel the movements of people.

This time Dugu Huan could see very clearly, the dense fog was spit out from a huge yellow trumpet flower, and streams of mist gushed out, filling the valley, getting thicker and thicker.

Naturally, the mist can't pass through the Taiyi Xuanjia, so it is unknown whether these mist have any special flavor or special function, such as making people anesthetized or confused.

Dugu Huan carefully felt the force coming from the rope, the soldiers in the mud tent were not affected by the fog, and everyone's movements were still stable and powerful.

As the fog became thicker and thicker, the man-eating vines began to slowly squirm, at first just a few long vines the thickness of an arm, like a python winding and writhing among the grass and trees, and there were a cluster of slender tentacles on the long vines every other section, stretching and twitching like a snail's tentacles, slowly feeling the vibration of the earth, looking for a target to devour.

Finally a long vine felt the movement of the tent and, like a snake, climbed up the edge of the tent.

Although these horrible and bloodthirsty vines were born in the mud of corpses, they didn't seem to be very interested in these foul-smelling things, and as soon as the tentacles touched the foul-smelling mud brushed on the tent, they avoided it with some impatience.

More and more vines felt the direction of the earth's shaking, and the sinuous branches kept touching, probing, and dodging on the mud tent.

Although the soldiers inside could not see anything, they could still feel a pair of hands, flapping their tents.

It's like walking in hell, the sky is full of floating ghosts, around a tent, ready to lift this vulnerable disguise, catch and tear the creatures inside.

Occasionally, the vines slammed against the tent—snapped—snapped, and at the same time pressed a terrible indentation on the roof of the tent, and the timid soldier screamed in a shrill cry that caused a stirring in the air, causing a commotion throughout the man-eating vines, with the eerie creaking sound of the beasts sharpening their fangs. It will take a long time to calm down.