Section 7: Rising Suspicions

After saying goodbye to loved ones.

The master and apprentice walked to the northwest, the land became more and more barren and barren, and it was already the new green that could be seen on the road in late spring, but Liao Liao had to go.

The newly extracted shoots of the tenacious weeds are only an inch long, and they are fluffy on the wind-eroded land, as if they have a green carpet.

Riding a horse is unrestrained and unrestrained, and it is a very free and uninhibited happy thing. But horsepower has a limit, and it's just a matter of letting go of the horse and running for a while, and the mount always needs to be cherished.

After running slowly and alternately, after traveling for about fifty miles, Song Tingyu signaled to stop and rest, so that the horses could rest.

"It is said that the land on this side of Yoshikawa has been eroded and deteriorated by wind and sand, and it has only started in the past ten years?" Song Tingyu squatted on one knee without any immortal demeanor, and grabbed a handful of the soil where some tender grass sprouts had grown and the dry sandy soil directly bordered with his hands.

He kneaded the soil in his hands, separating each grain of sand from the soil, crushing the aggregated clods.

"If you talk about drought, I heard the gentleman say that the diversion of the tributaries of the great river began more than 100 years ago. But desertification has become more serious in the past decade. Li Yuntao looked carefully at the sand in his master's hand, although he knew these things, it was the first time he knew about it in person.

"When I was a child, I remember that there was a forest outside the west of the city, much more lush than the one you burned down. In the summer, the cicadas are so loud that you can hear them even when you take a nap in the city. The thin fields in the west of the city can still have a harvest of 200 catties when they are harvested in autumn. ”

As he spoke, Li Yuntao also pinched the soil, which was pinched in his hand, although the part of the grass sprouts dried up due to lack of water, it felt slightly fluffy and soft, mixed with fine decaying leaf debris and granular soil particles, and in the adjacent sandy part, what he caught in his hand was dry and stiff solidified soil clods and countless fine pieces of sand.

This evolution is highly unusual.

After all these years of life, he first realized the anomaly that lurked under his feet. The pleasure of galloping horses in my heart was instantly replaced by black clouds. Although it is eye-catching, down-to-earth is the foundation of being a person and doing things.

"I haven't heard of any land that can be turned directly into sand. Did your husband say how much of the desert to the west of Xiaoji Town was originally there? Song Tingyu let go and threw the sand in his palm back to the ground.

"I really haven't heard this mentioned by Mr., but there is a book in the collection of books that has a hydrological examination of the Yoshikawa, and I turned a few pages when I had nothing to do." Li Yuntao replied while falling into memory.

"Oh? Your little town enlightenment school even has a collection of books on hydrology and geography, but you underestimate your husband. When I return from this expedition, I will definitely pay a visit. Song Tingyu clapped his hands, took off the gourd on his waist, unscrewed the gourd mouth and took a sip. Do you remember what the book says? ”

"I can't remember the original text, it's all the tone of some ancient words, and I'm not coming back to play farming, what to do here. I remember the general idea. Li Yuntao let go and threw the soil back to the ground, found a quick grass blanket and sat down, but it was soft and comfortable.

The jujube red horse that the dog egg was going to be used to break into the rivers and lakes was obediently bowing his head to graze not far behind him at this moment. The horse was already seven years old, which was the age of tame and sensible.

"What does farming flow?"

"Don't worry about the little things." Li Yuntao waved his hand and said with an embarrassed smile.

'I'll tell you that in this world, gunpowder recipes are not good at all?' I'll complain to you that I've searched all the shops in town, and no one knows about black oil or anything like that. Farming and climbing technology, gunpowder, weapons and oil are directly gone. I can't play anymore. ’

The book said that in this place of Jichuan along the direction of the river veins to build four cities in turn, this place because of the abundant water and fertile land, it got the reputation of the northwest Xiaoyunmeng, and because it is the trade route hub with the Western Empire, it is in the Donghuang Tianfeng period, the emperor decreed to name the four cities with auspicious characters, which has the large, medium, small, and last four auspicious towns. Thinking that it can be named the four words of Mizusawa Fengmei, more than 100 years ago, when the river was not diverted, there could not have been such a desert in the northwest of this Xiaoji Town. Li Yuntao said as he pondered the words.

"In other words, this desert was still a flood more than 100 years ago?

There are many reasons for desertification, but the most fundamental reason is drought and lack of water, more than a hundred years ago it was still a rich and fertile land, who would have thought that in a hundred years, it would have changed into this endless desert today. ”

Song Tingyu stood up straight, lifted the curtain hanging from the edge of the hat, and looked to the northwest, and saw a barren area, with a few clumps of tender green weeds closer, and the farther he looked, it was gradually replaced by endless withered yellow.

However, the sun is basking on the sand, refracting the brilliance and dazzling, and it looks like a sea of gold and silver from a distance.

After letting the horse rest for a while, the master and apprentice took advantage of this moment to scrape the nearby grass blanket, collect some hay and hang it in bundles with hemp rope under the duffel bag behind the saddle, and leave it for the horse to eat for a few days later.

"Let's go, cherish the water in the water bladder and drink, who knows how long this trip will take." After packing up, Song Tingyu sent a message to let the two-person team hit the road again.

In this part of Yoshikawa, there are many plains and few mountains, and if you look at the undulating mountain shadows to the northwest, you don't know how far away, and no matter how you walk, you can't see how much closer. On the contrary, the sandy road underfoot is gradually replaced by soft sand as the horse's hooves kick down.

By noon, Green had been completely left behind by the master and apprentice. Fortunately, when entering the desert area, although the air was dry, it was not very hot, and even occasionally there was a strange chill coming out of his back, which made Li Yuntao can't help but be smart.

"It's good luck today, the wind stopped yesterday evening, and it hasn't blown again, so it's much easier to travel." The two of them climbed a low sand dune, and in the distance, there was a small patch of pleasant green in the gap between several hills.

"Let's eat there at noon today, I really don't know how such a small oasis survived in this desert." Song Tingyu pointed to the green nail in the distance with a horsewhip and made a decision.

Although it was only an hour, seeing green again still made Li Yuntao feel some joy in his heart for no reason.

The sand was soft, and the horses' hooves were weak to tread on, and the speed was much slower than expected, but it was easier than two men walking on their legs. By the time he arrived at his intended destination, noon had already passed, and Li Yuntao estimated that it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.

The Oasis was not the only one who had the master and apprentice, and it was clear that the early arrivals were not friendly, or to put it more bluntly, hostile.

"What the hell is this?" Li Yuntao turned over and dismounted, took off the crossbow machine on his back, and quickly assembled it in his hand.

The crossbow arm is a combination of finely forged steel parts that fold and fit on both sides of the crossbow body when not in use, with the back on the back. People who don't know it just think of it as a wooden box, and they will think that this is a murderous weapon with a novel shape.

The crossbow arms are put together and fixed with members. Because it can be folded in normal times, the crossbow string does not have to be removed at all. At this moment, after the crossbow arm is assembled, it only needs to be wound with the gear noose on the crossbow body, and it can be used directly.

The crossbow machine designed by Li Yuntao is a full-coverage construction, and the crossbow string works in a narrow guide, which greatly increases stability. There is a slot under the crossbow body, and the magazine can be snapped into it and manually pushed through the machine bracket on the magazine, and the loading operation can be completed inside the crossbow body.

The only fly in the ointment is that although he adopts a repeating crossbow design with magazines for arrows, each winding shot can only be completed by rotating the noose crank, and cannot shoot continuously.

But the most distinctive thing about Li Yuntao's crossbow machine is that he also installed a 'barrel' at the front end of the crossbow arm, and the barrel is connected to the internal guide rail of the crossbow machine, which further increases the accuracy of the crossbow after it is fired.

After completing the winding, Li Yuntao inserted the barrel into the card slot, and at this moment, the master Song Tingyu had already slapped his sword and rushed close to the oasis.

The monster entrenched in the shade of the oasis finally stopped holding back, and roared out from under the low trees of the oasis, and its six stubby legs ran on the sand with much more speed and might than a galloping horse.

Li Yuntao picked up the crossbow machine, which was taller than his own body after assembly, and pulled the trigger with a slight aim.

Sou~!

A crossbow with a faint blue cold glow was lost in the air, and a blue afterimage was pulled out in the air, almost hitting the two monsters rushing forward at the same time as the fireball formed by the talisman thrown by Song Tingyu.

Bang~! The orange flames burst, and the heat and shock wave tossed the two monsters that rushed at the front to the ground, and the one that was directly hit ignited with flames all over its body.

On the other hand, after falling to the ground, he struggled for a moment but never got up.

The monster that followed behind and Song Tingyu's galloping horse then collided head-on, and the war horses sent by the city guards were really well-trained, and the hooves under their feet stepped on the monster's head, and then carried Song Tingyu to jump up, as if performing a circus, jumping over the charging monster group, and the remaining three strange creatures staggered.

The monster that was trampled on the head by the war horse was loaded into the sand one end, and the other end was split by the sword qi thrown out by Song Tingyu when the war horse rushed over, and his body fell crookedly and rolled out in the sand for several meters.

Song Tingyu turned his horse and turned his sword to face the enemy, this little distance was no longer enough for the war horse to accelerate the charge, he decisively turned over and dismounted, and met the enemy with his best foot combat.

Sou~!

Another pale blue cold light pulled out an afterimage in the air, nailing it straight to the head of the monster that had been trampled on and had not yet gotten up.

"Squeak hiss~!"

The monster let out a cry of pain, and its nine limbs struggled and swayed blindly, but it was not able to get up again.

The remaining monsters were wounded and one was intact, Song Tingyu had already estimated the combat strength of the two sides in his heart, and he was not afraid to charge with great strides, talisman spells, and Qingfeng's long sword came out together.

When Li Yuntao loaded the third crossbow arrow, the battle was over, so fast that he didn't react.

So his third arrow could only be shot at the trunk of the oasis in the rear, which was another flaw of his crossbow, once it was wound, if he wanted to take the arrow down, he could only shoot it. Want to remove the full cover plate and take the arrows? It's better to shoot arrows and recycle them if you have that trouble.

"What the hell is this monster? I didn't expect it to appear in a hundred miles radius of Xiaoji Town. It's so ugly, if my dad had talked about it, I should have remembered. ”

Li Yuntao led the jujube red horse down from the top of the sand dune slope.

"This monster is called the Wet Evil in our door, and it is said that the Western Kingdom has its relatives, and it is called the Lion Scorpion." Song Tingyu patted the wet corpse at his feet with his sword, then returned the sword to the sheath, took out the hook dagger and began to disassemble the materials that could be used.

"Lion scorpion, wet evil? Isn't this just a homonym? Li Yuntao squatted down and stroked the wet skin, the rough skin grew sparsely long translucent hair, there were brown spots on the skin, which looked a little like the pattern of a sand scorpion, and a layer of naturally generated oil on the surface reflected the sunlight, exuding the unique smell of wild beasts.

The six legs are evenly distributed on both sides of the body, seemingly stubby but muscular, and the soles of the feet are broad and have four toes, and the toes are connected by flesh webs, and it is believed that the movements will be equally flexible when entering the water. At the tip of the shoulder, there are two chelicerae that are much thicker than the six legs under the abdomen, and the whole body is covered with hard, and you can't see the muscles, but you can tell from the hideous jagged chelica that it will never end well if you are caught by it.

At the back of the body, a scorpion's tail is also covered with horn, and the tail end has a sting that can be used to attack.

"Although it's just a homonym, these two guys can only say that they look alike, but in fact, the gap is quite big. The lion scorpion in the western kingdom is a flying monster with only four limbs under its abdomen and a poisonous pouch in its tail needle. And this wet evil is a semi-aquatic monster, don't look at this tail like a scorpion tail, but it is non-poisonous. Its ability is in hand-to-hand combat, this pair of pliers is infinitely powerful and has hard armor, the end is able to attack and defend, if you meet people who don't know it and their close combat, the iron shield in the ordinary military is also a pincer thing, no matter how thick you are, the man can't withstand it. Song Tingyu explained while tearing down the wet evil's head.

"If I hadn't made this stupid horse jump, it would have become lame by now. But your boy shot it from a distance with a crossbow, which is considered a crooked hit. The Phantom Night Demon Cat, which had been sleeping in the pocket on the side of the saddle, stepped on the head of the war horse at this time, wagging its tail proudly.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have dared to charge." Song Tingyu said, throwing a piece of meat cut from the chelicera to it.

Phantom Night made a light leap, somersaulting in mid-air, and when it landed back on the horse's head, it already had the freshly cut meat in its mouth.

provoked the war horse Herod to shake his head for a while.

"Idiot, if you don't be honest and steady, be careful uncle, I eat you." The cat demon neighed, and Li Yuntao only saw that a layer of faint black gas around it was put away, and the horse was really much more honest, but he was still kicking his hooves uneasily.

"There should be a litter of damp demons here, two big ones with three small heads. How could this aquatic hybrid monster appear in the desert? Even this small oasis can't support their family. The five-headed wet evil took apart his head, Song Tingyu failed to harvest a bead, and could only sigh with bad luck, carrying a big claw that had been removed, leading the horse and leading the apprentice into the oasis.

The oasis is very small, a few dwarf trees, plus shrubs and weeds cover the area is less than 20 zhang in radius, and the water pool in the center is a square square circle, and the color is dark green.

"No wonder it can survive in this desert, it turns out to be a pool of living water. If you look at the surface of the water, the layers of ripples spread out from the center to the surrounding areas, proving that there is a spring below that is sending out water. Song Tingyu observed that he circled around the oasis, and then pointed to the center of the waterhole and said.

"This oasis is safe for the time being, let's take a rest here, eat something, and wait for our strength to recover before we leave."

When he had finished speaking, he crouched down to the edge of the pool and took out a talisman and dipped it in the water. When he took it out again, except that it was soaked, even the words on it did not change at all.

"The water is clean, you can fill the water bladder, and we'll freshen up when we're done." After checking the water source, Song Tingyu did not stop, but cut and inspected each plant in the small oasis to make sure that everything was safe before relaxing.

At this time, Li Yuntao had already dug a stove pit in the sand, cleaned up some dead grass and dry branches and prepared to make a fire.

"Stop. This desert is full of weirdness, don't make a fire, this wet and evil front chela can be eaten raw, sprinkle with a little salt. If you start a fire and smoke, it may attract danger. Don't forget what our purpose is here. ”

"Oh." Li Yuntao reluctantly responded, he was busy working for a long time and did useless work, feeling that he followed Song Tingyu out, seeing that he was busy fighting monsters before and after, except for the two arrows he shot before, the others were a burden that would not know anything.

"Why, I feel that I can't do anything, and I feel very aggrieved when I do it wrong. If you know everything, why should I take you as an apprentice? Song Tingyu saw Li Yuntao like this, but laughed first, he cut out a fist-sized piece of chela and prepared to sprinkle salt.

"Use mine." Li Yuntao took out a white ceramic bottle from his waist, whether the traditional art of the foodie empire could be lost, it seemed that this face could only be recovered from here.

"Yo, why do you still have green salt? That's a big thing. Song Tingyu didn't want to discourage his apprentice's enthusiasm, so he took it with a smile, pulled the cork, and a strange mixed fragrance came out of his nose.

"Good thing, what kind of spice is this." He hurriedly sprinkled some, and the fine brown powder, mixed with pure white grains finer than the finest gravel, fell on the pieces of flesh and soon melted and soaked into the cracks of the flesh's texture.

He cut a slice with a knife, put it in his mouth, closed his eyes, and began to chew slowly.

"Pepper and salt are mixed with cumin powder, but unfortunately there is no chili, otherwise it will be more exciting." Li Yuntao cut a piece of chela meat for himself, sprinkled some seasonings, closed his eyes and opened his mouth to take a big bite.

The chela is slightly sweet in the mouth, and the slightest fishy smell is covered by the seasoning, and there is not much notice on the taste buds. The texture of the meat is tender and delicate, full of elasticity but not difficult to chew. I don't see it at all, it's from a damp pre-chela known for its infinite strength.

"If you don't follow me, you can be a good cook and spend your life in peace." Song Tingyu swallowed the chela meat in his mouth and commented. "But you can't eat this kind of delicacy often, it will make people lazy and yearn for comfort."

After all, he ate the spiced meat in two bites, and then cut off a larger piece and sprinkled it with spices again.

"Old Song, you don't pay attention to it, don't call me if you have delicious food." The black cat meows and joins in.

"What's so delicious, it's this chela, didn't I give you a piece just now?" Song Tingyu hurriedly protected the meat pieces he had mixed well.

"Can it be the same flavor with and without spices? If you say this, people don't need to cook all kinds of food, just eat it raw. "Phantom Night dismantled the stage mercilessly.

Li Yuntao hurriedly put a piece of chela sprinkled with seasoning and sent it to the cat demon with leaves.

"Meow~ It's still your apprentice who is on the road."

The episode of eating passed quickly, and this meal two people and a cat killed a pair of front chelas. Song Tingyu unloaded the front claw of another mature body damp evil, and then asked Li Yuntao to bury all the beast corpses.

"Why don't you dismantle the small front chela as well?" Li Yuntao asked while digging a pit.

"Greed is not enough to swallow elephants, you see that this chela meat is delicious, so you should stock up more, right? You didn't think that this thing can't be stored, and it stinks after a few days of carrying it? Moreover, the flesh of this juvenile body is far inferior to that of a mature body, not only containing trace amounts of toxins, but also emitting a special taste, attracting similar mature bodies to retaliate. Song Tingyu looked at Li Yuntao like a rookie, and the sense of superiority was almost overflowing.

"Taught." Li Yuntao saw Song Tingyu's proud appearance, but he didn't want to satisfy his sense of superiority, so he responded without being salty, lowered his head and dug a pit, hiding all the emotions on his face.

If it weren't for Song Tingyu's explanation, Li Yuntao would probably not have been able to access this knowledge in his life.

"And there is another benefit to the chela of the mature body, do you feel that your abdomen is warm now, and your strength has become stronger?" Song Tingyu saw that his reaction was indifferent, so he increased his weight. I can't believe you little.

Listening to Song Tingyu's words, Li Yuntao noticed that he had indeed become more energetic and energetic just now, and he really wanted to let go of his feet and rush around in the desert a few times. I don't feel tired at all when digging holes.

And there is indeed a warm feeling under the abdomen, as if a warm baby is applied in winter.

He looked up sharply, "You gave me an aphrodisiac?" ”

Song Tingyu almost didn't get into the pit dug by Li Yuntao, he never thought that this half-grown son would come out with such a sentence.

Coughing up the saliva choked in his throat, Song Tingyu scolded angrily: "Get out!" Where did you learn all this? Shouldn't all the teenagers in the border town be pure teenagers? ”

The young masters of those high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the prosperous cities often come into contact with these things much earlier than their peers, and as for the private lives of those dignitaries, Song Tingyu is too lazy to care.

"The former chela of this damp evil is infinite, and it naturally contains its essence energy, I wanted to teach you to meditate and feel the aura of heaven and earth, and use this essence energy to lead you to get started, since you are thinking about such a thing, then wait for the heart to calm down in a few days." Song Tingyu flicked his sleeves and turned around to leave.

I saw an afterimage rush over in an instant, and before Song Tingyu could react, he held his thigh and knelt on the ground.

"Master! My admiration for you is like the endless flow of pure water, and like the overflow of a great river that is out of control! How can you understand the brilliance and majesty of your bright moon hanging in the sky? Please forgive the apprentice for being a humble and weak worm and being short-sighted. In vain, I promise to wait for your old man before and after the saddle and the ......horse to the earth," Li Yuntao blurted out a large number of confessional words in an operatic aria.

"Stop, stop, what kind of mess are you doing?" Song Tingyu hurriedly interrupted him, looked down, good guy, just this paragraph, Li Yuntao was already crying with snot and tears all over his face, just see him crying while wiping his nose with his pants.

Hey~ I'm sick to death. He couldn't wait to kick the goods out with one kick, but Li Yuntao grabbed it too tightly and couldn't kick his legs.

"You know it's wrong?"

"The apprentice knows the mistake, the apprentice knows the mistake, do you want to write a review?"

"What is the review? Write a copy and look at it first. ”

"No pen and paper."

"Forget it, you bury these quickly, remember to sprinkle some of this powder and bury it again. Once you're buried, I'll teach you to meditate. As he spoke, the helpless Song Tingyu took out a porcelain bottle and handed it to Li Yuntao, and then let go of the hand holding his thigh.

"Okay, make sure you get the job done." Li Yuntao stood up and saluted (Young Pioneers salute)

"Don't overdo it."

"Oh."