After cleaning up the battlefield of Wuhuiguan, Xiao Shizhu led the Xiao family army all the way to the north, killing until he reached the south of Linglong City, the capital of the Ghost Kingdom.

And he didn't rush to attack, but after letting the Xiao family army set up camp ten miles outside Linglong City, he rode his Jianyue Shadow to stand outside the gate, opened the telescope in his hand and looked at the distant scenery, and observed the terrain around the capital of the ghost kingdom. After looking closely, he was speechless in surprise.

At this time he was in an open plain, with no mountains or hills within a radius of a hundred miles, and as far as the eye could see, the land was scorched black, and there were countless cracks on the ground arranged irregularly, of different sizes, lengths, widths, and depths, like cracks on the back of a turtle. Except for the Fuso sacred tree, which grows not afraid of high temperature and dryness, there is no other grass and trees, and it is simply a barren land.

In the distance in front of him, in the middle of this plain, there was a large lake with a radius of dozens of miles, and Xiao Shizhu was surprised that there was not the slightest lake of water in this lake, but it was filled with a whole lake of magma. The dark red magma gushed and tumbled in the billowing black smoke that rose from the lake. From time to time, red bubbles of different sizes will rise on the surface of the lake, which will continue to expand to the point where they will suddenly burst, and then turn into specks of magma and sputter in all directions.

When the breeze blows across the lake, the lava near the shore will tumble, slap the strange rocks that stand on the shore a few times, and quietly retreat back into the lake.

The heat rolled down, and bursts of scorching heat emanated from the lake, surging up into the air, making this wilderness land look like a sweltering steamer. Even if there is a gust of wind, it is also hot.

Unlike other lava-filled gullies on the island, this lake is also full of magma, but the temperature around the lake is much hotter than around those lava gullies, and there are many houses and courtyards on the shore, forming a city around the lake. But this city has no walls and no walls, and this is the capital of the ghost kingdom - Linglong City.

The buildings in the city are all wooden houses or wooden buildings made of Fuso sacred trees that are not afraid of flames and high temperatures, and do not burn in case of fire. From the flowing cornices to the cascading bucket arches, from the carved doors and windows to the heavy walls, this is the case.

In the middle of the lake, there is a circular island of about 100 acres floating, and a gorgeous palace can be seen on the island, and the golden roof and red gate with antique style can be seen everywhere.

The circular palace wall encloses the edge of the island, and only the southern wall has a gate open, which is the only way to enter and exit the island. Outside the gate, there is a huge arch bridge, also made of Fuso sacred wood, without piers and columns, across the lake, to the south shore of the lake, connecting the island with the shore.

Xiao Shizhu wondered in his heart, at this time, the place where he was, about ten miles away from the shore of the magma lake, was already so hot that he was sweating profusely, as if he had done a sweat. I really don't know how the people here have lived in such a hot condition for thousands of years?

In particular, the small island in the middle of the lake, standing in the midst of thousands of acres of magma waves, was not affected by the high temperature in the lake. The temple of the island is surrounded by greenery, the attic is full of birds and flowers, and the grass under the pavilion and the spring flows long, making the whole island look like a piece of jasper embedded in magma. Contrary to the barren plains around the lake and the scenery of the hot magma lake, there is some inexplicable and unexplained magic.

"Rikugo, Aoki. In addition to being stunned, Xiao Shizhu shrunk the telescope in his hand and said, "Lead two thousand sergeants to guard the water source in the south to provide water for our army." ”。

"No. Lu Wu and Aoki left in response.

"Wu Zhiqi. Xiao Shizhu pointed to the city in front of him and asked, "Why is it obviously the capital of the ghost kingdom, but it is so poor that it doesn't even have a city wall?" This is not like the style of the underworld city, but it has the appearance of a modern city in the world. ”。

Wu Zhiqi often mentioned that when he was still a Mo scholar, he went to the ghost kingdom and still knew the customs of this country very well. Therefore, Xiao Shizhu called him for questioning.

"This is the genius of the ghost king. Wu Zhiqi stepped forward, stood side by side with him, looked ahead and said: "The people living in the city are the families of the forbidden army and the Heavenly Soul Army, once the capital is besieged, the forbidden army and the Heavenly Soul Army guarding the national capital, for the safety of their families, will fight to kill the enemy." Therefore, he had no intention of building the city walls at all. ”。

This trick is powerful, invisibly threatening the lives of the defenders' families, and forcing the defenders to fight with their lives when the enemy is attacking, which can greatly improve the combat effectiveness of the defenders. From this point of view, the ghost king is indeed not an idle person. No wonder he and the ghost mother are both princes of small countries, but they can stand alone in this underworld, which has been chaotic for thousands of years and unpredictable, and will not be swallowed up by a big country.

"Aren't they hot?" Xiao Shizhu wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, turned his head to look at Wu Zhiqi and asked.

"This is the magic of Fuso Shenmu. Wu Zhiqi smiled and said, "The branches and leaves of the Divine Tree can not only hinder the heat, but also dissipate cold and relieve the stuffiness around the Divine Tree. And in the house built with it, the interior can be kept cool all year round. ”。

After he reminded him, Xiao Shizhu also suddenly remembered that he had seen in the telescope that next to every house in the city, there were Fusang sacred trees with leaves like mulberry and purple and black skin planted in the courtyard;

"It's a good thing. Xiao Shizhu looked at the beads of sweat that kept coming out of his palms and thought for a while, and said: "I will take someone to dig some Fusang Divine Wood in Yuan, half of which will be planted in our army's camp, and half will be sawn into planks and spread on the ground in the tent." I don't want my soldiers to collapse from the heat before the war has even begun. ”。

"By the way, but what's going on with the island in the middle of the lake?" After Wu Zhiqi answered, Xiao Shizhu asked again: "How can there be such an oasis in the magma?

"That is the Linglong Land, it is said that it was built by the ancient gods on a whim, there are nine ice springs in the city, arranged in the island according to the direction of the nine palaces, even if this place has not rained or snowed since the beginning of the opening of the underworld, but the nine springs have never dried up. After thinking for a while, Wu Zhiqi said slowly: "The nine ice springs are connected by natural culverts buried more than ten zhang underground, and the culverts run through the four directions under the island and extend to every corner of the island, so that the spring water can nourish every inch of land on the island. Not only that, but the spring also emits a steady stream of cold air, which collects in mid-air and forms a natural barrier that is difficult to see to the naked eye, enveloping the island and preventing the heat of the magma lake from penetrating the island. And because the surrounding temperature is too high, although the spring water is cold all year round, it will never freeze into ice. ”。

After listening to these words patiently, Xiao Shizhu sighed secretly in his heart, he learned from Lu Wuying's recruitment that Fusang Shenmu is not afraid of the flames and high temperatures, but it is afraid of water, and it has the weakness of withering when it encounters water and then rotting. Ben was still thinking about waiting for a heavy rain to fall here and use the time to do something, but now it seems that this trick will not work.

"It's amazing, I want to see the nine ice springs. As soon as Xiao Shizhu's words fell, he saw that not far in front of him, many enemy troops rushed out of the city and hit this side.

It seems that the ghost king can't sit still.

"Prepare to defend against the enemy. Xiao Shizhu tightened the reins with one hand, kicked Jianyu in the abdomen with both feet, and drove his mount Yue Ying to turn around and go to the camp, and said: "Pass the order, the soldiers only need to resist the enemy, not pursue." Violators, behead!"......

Three days later, in the big tent of the Chinese army, except for Aoki and Lu Wu, who went to protect the water source, all the major households of the Xiao family army gathered in the tent. Except for Wu Zhiqi, who knew that this place was much calmer, the other thousands of households were all angry.

Xiao Shizhu paced past them, his eyes swept over their faces one by one, and said lightly: "I said brothers, if you come here today to ask for orders to lead the team to attack, it will be spared, right? ”。

In the past three days, the Xiao family army has fought more than ten battles with the enemy army guarding the enemy's capital, and each time it ended in the victory of the Xiao family army with no casualties, but Xiao Shizhu ordered that he was not allowed to take advantage of the victory to pursue the fleeing enemy army, which made the thousands of households very aggrieved.

"General, what are you waiting for?" Xuanshui Qianhu, who had big shoulders and round waist, and had a hot temper and a good fight, stood up with his voice, and after bowing to him, he shouted unconvincedly: "The enemy army is always retreating, but they want us not to pursue, what is the reason?", when he finished speaking, his expression was a little more excited than before.

"Xuanshui, Xuanshui, do you eat too much roast pig brains on weekdays?" Xiao Shizhu scolded angrily, and said earnestly: "Don't you see that every defeat of the enemy is a fraud? Every time they break and flee, how many dead people are left behind? It has never been more than a hundred, right? With such an obvious fraud, you still have to chase it?"

He didn't want to attack quickly and make a quick decision. But not to mention the high temperature here, the ghost king has already laid a lot of bed crossbows made of Fusang sacred wood in the city, so that as soon as his Xiao family army arrives here, all the previous advantages have turned into nothingness, and they are overstretched;

"Didn't you teach us on weekdays that fraud is not a big deal, just stay vigilant and chase after it?" Xuanshui was even more unconvinced when he heard this. actually used Xiao Shizhu's usual remarks to them to refute Xiao Shizhu.

"It depends. Xiao Shizhu smacked his lips and gasped, then scolded: "The closer you are to the lake, the higher the temperature will be." In high temperatures, our guns will explode, our shells will explode, even our guns will do, and any closer will be self-digging. ”。

Since following Xiao Shizhu, he Xuanshui has fought such a passive and fiery battle; the more Xuanshui thinks about it, the more aggrieved he becomes, and finally he can't help but quarrel with Xiao Shizhu regardless of the concept of superiors and subordinates.

"We can fight hand-to-hand. Without firearms, the combat effectiveness of our army is not weak, and it may not be inferior to the Ghost King Army. Xuanshui's eyes were as big as copper bells, and he stared at Xiao Shizhu with an expectant gaze.

Xiao Shizhu was also aggrieved, he was unwilling, and he had nowhere to vent the fire in his belly. But what can he do, this time he is on the side of the ghost king. Hand-to-hand combat is certainly possible, but Xiao Jiajun is not the aborigines of this place, and after leaving the military camp sheltered by Fusang Shenmu, he will be very uncomfortable with the local environment, and hand-to-hand combat is not only a technical job that requires fast and accurate ruthlessness whether it is dodging or making moves, but also a very physically demanding job. If you want to rely on hand-to-hand combat to kill the enemy, the casualties of the Xiao family's army will be very large, and as the commander-in-chief, he is not willing to trade the lives of soldiers to lose money.

At this time, he was quarreled with by his subordinates, and he was about to scold Xuanshui, when he saw a herald who had already entered the door without informing, trotted all the way to him and knelt down, and then said in a loud voice: "Report to the general! The main army led by Lord Xia Xing has returned to our army, and her lord has passed the gate and is coming from the big tent." ”。

Suddenly, Xiao Shizhu's anger disappeared, and his still gloomy face turned into joy, laughed out loud, and said, "Please!"

A moment later, Xia Xing, led by the herald, came to the big tent. Xiao Shizhu greeted him with a smile, and before he could speak, he saw the face of the horse pulled by Xia Xing, and then saw the other party asking him in a deep voice: "General Xiao, how did you fight this battle?" Three days ago, the old minister received a contact, saying that you and your Xiao family army are only ten miles away from the capital of the Ghost Kingdom. But now that your troops have been in the city for three days, the Xiao family's army has only advanced two miles?"