incomprehensible

Chapter 106

In the end, Bai Houhou still failed to overcome "human nature", and returned to Yunxi happily after struggling for a few days.

No one wants to take her into the imperial mausoleum. In such a dangerous place, no one is willing to take the risk if it is not about his own life. How can she be allowed to follow her just relying on some loyalty and sense of responsibility.When Dingnan Wang released her, he only said to let her "lead the way" to Luoxia Pass, but never agreed to let her follow the imperial tomb.

But she still did her best as a landlord, and took Ye Xuehuan and Mo Ran to the east mine for a while, and got acquainted with the frontier defense from east to west. It's none of her business.

It was mid-October at this time, the weather was getting cooler, the humidity was gradually receding, and the soil quality was basically stable. Lan Qi proposed to go to the West Hills for field investigation.

The ridges around the West Hills are connected, like a closed giant maze, with only a few passes for entry and exit, all of which are guarded by border guards.

In fact, no matter which pass you enter the West Hills from, the distance you can go back and forth is no more than fifty miles.According to early records, as long as you go in for about twenty miles, all the hounds and horses will start to become restless, not only will not obey orders, but will even violently hurt people; Yan Rui said before that horses cannot walk in the West Hills, most of the reasons are because of this.If you go deeper, the compass fails, the fog is shrouded, and you can't tell the direction, and you will soon get lost among the mountains.Fortunately, some came back alive, almost all of them were terribly frightened, and insisted that there were man-eating mountain spirits and wild monsters in the west hills, which was very terrifying, but no one could tell the specific situation.

There used to be a member of the Bai clan who didn't believe in evil and went deep into the West Hills personally. After coming out, they seemed to have lost their souls, panicked like a frightened bird, and ordered all the passes in the West Hills to be closed and no entry or exit was allowed.It's not so much to protect outsiders from going in and die in vain, but it's more to say that they are afraid that something will come out to harm people.

This kind of saying has been circulated for many years, but to this day, not to mention mountain spirits and wild monsters, even pheasants and rabbits have not been seen to come out of it.Most of the frontier soldiers did not believe in the legend of the "mountain spirit and wild monster", but they were still full of awe and fear for the West Hills.

Yan Ruichu received a copy of the map of the imperial mausoleum, and was frightened when he was asked to make a sand table according to the map. Later, he heard Ye Xuehuan say that it was because of the formation that made the west hills difficult to enter. At first, he thought it was more reliable. Wanting to go inside to investigate, a heart suddenly hangs up again.

Lan Qi was not in a hurry to enter, but the formation map in his hand was undoubtedly very different from the current terrain of the West Hills. He had to see it on the spot and recalculate the position in order to deduce the location of the formation hub.

Several passes are at the northern foot of the West Hill. They chose the widest one first, which is relatively easier to survey, and the position of the guard post is built high. At least you can see the general terrain, and you can even vaguely see the outline of the imperial mausoleum, which is surrounded by mist and mountains in the distance. If you didn't compare it with a map, no one would believe it. In the small hill, a peerless monarch and his funerary objects whose value cannot be measured by money are actually buried.

Lan Qi and Yu Tian stood together on the watchtower of the sentry post, and carefully revised the existing array according to the terrain.

The watchtower is high but small, usually there is only one person on duty, and it is difficult for two people to stand down. Ye Xuehuan and Mo Ran are waiting below, listening to Yan Rui's introduction of the few things that have been proven in the West Hills, occasionally looking up Taking a look at the progress on the observation deck, even Mo Ran was rare to be quiet and patient.

Proofreading the map is an extremely delicate and boring job. If it is not handled properly, they will not even be able to find the way into the imperial tomb.Although somewhat unwilling, Mo Ran also had to admit that he could not help at all in this matter, the only thing he could do was to wait honestly and not let any trifles distract the attention of the two above.

It was cool at the high place, and even though both of them were wearing thin cloaks, when they came down from the observation deck, their hair was messy and their hands and feet were cold.In order to recover, Lan Qi stopped the blood-enriching and nourishing medicine after returning to Danlu in April, and his cold was about to recover. From noon until the sun was near the west, his face was pale.On the contrary, Yu Tian was much better than him, with his natal Gu protecting his body, he didn't feel tired at all.

Ye Xuehuan ordered someone to fetch refreshments, let the two rest for a while, and wiped Lan Qi's face with a handkerchief soaked in hot water.Lan Qi had a headache, closed his eyes and leaned on his shoulder to let him play.

Mo Ran has long since realized the strangeness, while Yu Tian sighed with a cup of hot tea, "My junior brother was a ghost-like figure back then, but was used to be such a delicate little baby by King Rong."

However, the two parties were not ashamed at all, and Yu Tian didn't care too much. After sitting for a while, he put down the teacup and said with a joke: "Don't think that you can be lazy if someone hurts you, go down and have a look."

After seeing the terrain from top to bottom, we also need to touch the environment from bottom to top.

The guard on duty is still very young, and when he has nowhere to spill his blood, he can only stay on guard in this uninhabited barren mountain day after day. He is already very irritable; People came to survey the West Hills, full of confidence and ready to go deep into it at any time. The leaders were actually a slender young man and a pregnant woman with a full belly. Even the prestige of Prince Rong and Prince Yanbei could not be suppressed. Hold the contempt in his heart.

The two occupied the observation deck for a long time, which already made him quite impatient. When he heard that he had to go down the mountain pass, he was even more reluctant, so he casually said: "The muddy road below is steep, and the two of you are delicate. If you get hurt, don't worry." good."

Yan Rui heard that his tone was wrong, and reprimanded with a sullen face: "You don't have the part to talk, just lead the way."

The guard didn't dare to contradict him, so he reluctantly led a few people down the mountain pass.

It is said to be a passage into the West Hills, but in fact it is a dead end. The defenders in the sentry post will never go down at all, and they are not familiar with the situation. They insist that it is dangerous within half a mile. No matter how you refuse to leave.And just such a small section, it has been extremely difficult, there are gravel and soft mud everywhere, mixed with thick green moss, wet and slippery, almost only one person can pass sideways at the narrowest point.

It was getting late, and if it was just a preliminary investigation, Ye Xuehuan felt that it was almost done, and there was no need to go deeper.

Lan Qi intentionally went a little further, hesitated for a while and didn't speak, then heard Yu Tian suddenly said: "Little Lan Qi, get that little flower down for me to see."

What she was referring to was a small white flower, but it was only the size of a fingernail. Six fusiform petals were arranged in a circle in a regular manner. Some came, but no one noticed.

She was bulky and couldn't bend over, so she just handed her handkerchief to Lan Qi.Yan Rui wanted to do it for him, but Yu Tian refused. He raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "My junior brother can resist poison, so General Yan shouldn't take this risk."

Yan Rui was surprised: "This flower is actually poisonous?"

"It's poisonous." Yu Tian was noncommittal, "You'll know it after you've seen it."

Lan Qi plucked a small white flower through the veil, tore off a piece of green moss, and handed it to Yu Tian together.Yu Tian fiddled with it and found that the root system of this little flower was tightly coiled in the green moss, so she felt a little relieved; she put it under her nose and smelled it, and finally tore off a petal and put it in her mouth.

Yan Rui turned pale with shock, he just said it was poisonous, so he turned around and ate it, otherwise he would die twice; however, the others were not worried and were all waiting for Yu Tian's conclusion.

Yu Tian smiled, turned his gaze, and handed the little flower to the sentry guard who brought them down, raised his chin frivolously and contemptuously, "Little general, do you dare to try it?"

She was pregnant for more than five months, but she didn't look bloated at all. She was wearing shorts and trousers, and her figure was smooth and graceful. This smile was even more charming and coquettish, and her voice was low and mellow, full of naked temptation and provocation.

How can a young guard who is full of vigor and blood show timidity in front of a woman, not to mention Yu Tian ate it all by himself, so he had nothing to fear, so he replied "Why don't you dare", grabbed it and ate the whole flower.

Yu Tian immediately showed a weird smile that succeeded in trickery, and sure enough, he saw that the little guard gradually began to look blurred, with a dazed expression, shaking his head, giggling, and drooling without knowing it.The two soldiers around hurriedly supported him, looked at each other in bewilderment, and when they looked at Yu Tian again, they looked like snakes, scorpions and ghosts.

"It's okay, this flower is not poisonous, it's just hallucinogenic." Yu Tian met Yan Rui's complicated eyes that hesitated to speak, and explained with a chuckle, "Go back and give him more water, and he will recover in a day or two at most. gone."

She turned around and began to walk back, saying, "This little flower looks ordinary, but the flower juice contains extremely strong hallucinogenic ingredients. I just tasted it and felt the tip of my tongue tingling; After eating all of them, I'm afraid I'm going to be drunk tonight."

It is clear that she intentionally provoked others to eat it, but she can still say it so gloatingly.

Yan Rui had no choice but to slander these nobles for being so vengeful, but it was true that his subordinates were disrespectful first, and were used by Yu Tian as a test subject, and a small punishment was given, which can only be said to be self-inflicted.Immediately, he could only ask someone to help the young guard who was already immersed in what kind of hallucination, followed Yu Tian, ​​and asked her for specific information.

"I have never seen this kind of flower before, but its root system grows in the green moss rather than in the soil, which shows that it is a very aggressive parasitic plant. Only the green moss is so vigorous and grows in a large area. Plants can provide enough growth environment for it, and the rest of the plants have probably been sucked up by them and withered."

"The fragrance of this flower is light, and there should be no problem if you inhale it for a short time, but after a long time, you will be in a trance, have hallucinations, and even become insane, sensitive and irritable, and jittery. Most of the rumors about mountain spirits and wild monsters in the past came from this. Come, but I haven't heard that the people who came out of the West Hills went mad, which means that this thing doesn't seem to cause irreversible permanent damage, Xingzu is still merciful."

Yan Rui tremblingly said: "So, this is also one of the mazes of the imperial mausoleum. It was specially planted in the west hills back then to prevent anyone from entering?"

Yu Tian nodded: "Looking from the formation map, the Imperial Mausoleum formation does not actually cover the entire West Hill, but no one has been able to go deep into it, and they can't even enter the formation. Now it seems that the key is here. With Xianghua As a peripheral labyrinth, it really resembles the style of that old ancestor."

Yan Rui shuddered. The Bai family had never given up on surveying the West Hills for at least the first 50 years when they took control of Nanqiu County. Countless talented people were lost, and none of them had even touched the core of the West Hills. , and may not even die from some unknown beast mechanism, but get lost in it because of insanity, and be trapped to death; or they mistake their companions for enemies and kill each other until the entire army is wiped out.

It is such a weak little white flower that can kill people invisible; even though Yu Tian said that this hallucinogenic effect is temporary, those who survived and came back slowly woke up later, but they obviously did not recover their original state. The reality in the West Hills is still mixed with the illusion, so that it finally becomes an increasingly mysterious rumor like the mountain spirit and wild monster.

Yan Rui took a deep breath, and said in a bitter voice: "Such a harmful thing must be destroyed!"

Yu Tian burst out laughing, "General Yan, with all due respect, how do you want to destroy it? Burn it or let people pull it out slowly?"

Yan Rui was stunned for a moment, and then heard Yu Tian say: "The green moss is wet, it can't be burned, and it's even more impossible for people to pull it out. This thing may grow faster than you can pull it out, not to mention you don't dare to let ordinary people People get in close contact, otherwise everyone will be stupid."

She looked back at the poor little guard, and finally said seriously: "This is the entrance to the West Hills. I am afraid that the deeper you go, the denser the flowers will grow, and the stronger the hallucinogenic effect. I can assure you, In the entire West Hills, as long as this kind of flower grows, there will be no second living thing except for the green moss that it can parasitize."

Yan Rui swallowed involuntarily, "Then... how to solve it?"

"There is nothing to solve." Yu Tian shrugged, "For so many years, this little flower has only grown in the West Hills, which means that only the damp environment in the mountains can support its growth. As long as you don't want to enter it, it won't hinder anyone. Take ten thousand steps back, even if there is a way to eradicate it, the ecology inside will recover naturally, and some ferocious birds and beasts will come out from time to time, or there will be desolate people mixed in, wouldn't it be more troublesome for General Yan?"

Yan Rui was speechless, but he still thought it made sense; but when he thought about it carefully, he found that Yu Tian was simply telling him not to think about Xiqiu Ling, so he could only smile wryly for a while.

Mo Ran listened patiently for a long time, and finally heard such a conclusion, and asked irritably: "According to what you said, wouldn't we have to become idiots when we go in? How can this not be resolved?"

Yu Tian smiled and said: "Go back to Luoxia Pass first, I need some medicinal materials, and some things to cleanse the heart and detoxify. It will not be a problem to persist for a few days in the maze. It just so happens that Xiao Lanqi also needs to recalculate the position of the 'door', After some time, wait for the weather to be colder, and then come in and look for the 'door'."

Both Ye Xuehuan and Lan Qi agreed with her arrangement and nodded.Yu Tian asked Lan Qi to pick more flowers for her along the way, wrapped them in a handkerchief, and studied them in detail when she went back.

It was the first time that Mo Ran heard the details about the grand array of the imperial mausoleum, and asked with interest: "What gate? Mausoleum gate?"

Lan Qi glanced at him sympathetically, shook his head and said, "That's all for later, the first thing to look for is the gate."

He paused, as if he was trying to organize a statement that was as easy to understand as possible, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Just now, Senior Sister said, the imperial mausoleum formation did not cover the entire West Hill, but was wrapped in this fragrant flower. You can only enter the formation if you go inward forty or fifty li. This formation is called 'Inviting Gate', which was created by Xingzu himself. Only by entering through one of these sixteen gates can we find the way to the mausoleum gate."

Mo Ran was confused when he heard it, and said in a daze, "Don't you have a formation diagram? You still want to find the formation door?"

Lan Qi sighed and said, "The so-called formation map is just a schematic diagram, the key is the calculation of the position of the formation gate. The terrain of the western hills is changeable. Thousands of years have passed, and the formation gate has long been displaced. I am looking at the mountain topography today to compare According to the formation map, calculate the possible positions of the formation gates, and then please go to at least one formation gate, and then calculate the location of the mausoleum gate according to the position of the formation gates."

When Mo Ran heard his statement, which was obviously avoiding the important, he suddenly felt ominous, "What is the position of 'possible'?"

When mentioning this point, Lan Qi also had a headache, "There are four entrances in the West Hills, and the part of the formation map I just compared alone can calculate the positions of at least a dozen formation gates. There may be a formation gate, or it is possible that all the ten or so points will fail, and another entrance must be used to recalculate."

Mo Ran was shocked and said, "How do I find this?!"

"... Hard to find."

Lan Qi sighed heavily again, "The essence of this formation lies in randomness. For thousands of years, the formation has been constantly disrupted and reorganized. In addition to complicated and precise calculations, you also need to gamble on luck. If you are lucky, you can hit it in one shot." If you are unlucky, you will find a needle in a haystack. The so-called 'inviting the door' is such a method of asking, you can only go to the door to see if there is a door."

Mo Ran looked at him in disbelief, and managed to squeeze out a few words: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Lan Qi also seemed a little self-defeating, "I can't make fun of this. But don't worry, even if we are so unlucky that we need to visit all the four entrances, two months is enough to invite a door."

Mo Ran really wanted to beat him up to vent his anger, and seeing that Ye Xuehuan beside him was not surprised at all, obviously already aware of the situation, he gritted his teeth and said, "Did you fucking know this would happen? Didn't you tell me earlier?"

Ye Xuehuan replied swishingly: "So what if I told you, can you help Lan'er calculate the location or can you do it to protect us in the first shot? If Xingzu Emperor's Mausoleum is so easy to enter, I don't know if it will be opened How many times has it passed before it's your turn?"

Mo Ran: "..."

Even though he had already made up his mind to overcome all difficulties and dangers, he couldn't help being a little discouraged at this time.Up to now, he is indeed the most helpless one, and he has no right to question Lan Qi's judgment.In fact, he didn't care about the hard work of searching, but he was very afraid of the disappointment that his hopes failed again and again, and this big array of invitations was obviously designed to make people experience this disgusting feeling again and again.

Coupled with the hallucinogenic fragrance of flowers, it would be impossible to find the entrance of the imperial tomb unless someone is determined and invulnerable to all poisons.

He suddenly had an unbelievable thought. Rather than saying that the two major formations inside and outside were used to keep people out of the mausoleum gate, it was better to say that they were screening qualified people to enter.

He looked thoughtfully at Yu Tian and Lan Qi in front of him, one was the descendants of Feng's bloodline, Xing Zu's direct line, and the other possessed deed Gu, holding secrets related to the world.

——Who is it that is being screened and waiting in this thousand-year-quiet royal tomb?

…………

Seven days later, everyone came to the entrance of the mountain pass again, trying to enter and invite the door.

Time and materials were limited, Yu Tian only made eight refreshment sachets, and she and Lan Qi couldn't use them, so only ten people could go in.Mo Ran left Mo Yangui on the Qiongzui Peak, and now he picked three of the strongest and calmest personal soldiers, while Lan Qi picked two Xuan Xuan soldiers who had practiced lightness with him and had keen senses. bee guard.Of course, Yu Tian didn't have the spare time to make sachets for the animals, so he could only walk in. Fortunately, he was not too delicate, so it would not be a problem to sleep in the mountains for a few days.

The group brought enough water and equipment, and Yu Tian distributed the sachets for everyone to hang on their chests.

The sachet exudes a cool fragrance of pure heart and tranquility. Lan Qi sniffed it on Ye Xuehuan's chest, and was keenly aware of some unnatural smell in it. He asked Yu Tian softly, "Did you bleed?"

There was not much surprise in his tone, it was obvious that he had already expected it.

"The scented flowers that Xingzu planted in front of his mausoleum can be countered by ordinary medicine?" Yu Tian sneered, "I am not so self-sacrificing, so I just put a small cup in it. I have tried the effect of the sachet, You should be able to persist for seven or eight days. Excluding the return journey, if you can’t find the gate within five days, you must withdraw and enter after a rest. Of course, if you insist on not retreating, then you will bleed yourself.”

Before Lan Qi could answer, Ye Xuehuan said, "There's still enough time, so there's no need to take any risks. It's limited to five days."

Yu Tian nodded and said no more.

The guards on the sentry saw that the group of nobles were about to enter the mountain calmly, and they felt admiration, but no one dared to approach, and they piled up to watch from a distance.The little guard who was teased by Yu Tian before is said to have recovered, but he learned his wisdom from a fall, and he didn't show up at all today.Yan Rui wanted to follow, but Yutian didn't have any extra sachets for him, so he could only stuff more than a dozen tubes of signal cigarettes for Tong Xuan, asking him to release the signal smoke every morning and evening to report safety, and someone on the observation deck would pay attention at any time; He also told him not to go too far, or he would get lost if the compass fails.

Lan Qi had an array map to guide the way, and didn't need a compass, but Ye Xuehuan still calmed down the frightened border general with kind words, and then entered the West Hills.

The overall terrain of the West Hills is like a big pocket, narrow on the outside and wide on the inside.After walking inward for more than ten miles, the ridges gradually staggered, and the feet naturally became much smoother and wider.The rainy season is early, and although the ground is covered with wet and slippery green moss, the land is hard and the mountain walls are stable. I don’t worry about mountain disasters, and I don’t worry that the road notes left along the way will shift or become invalid in a short time.

The interior of the hill was exactly as Yu Tian expected, except for the small white flower she tentatively named "Mixiang Flower", there were no other birds, beasts, and caterpillars. If no one spoke, there were only the sound of footsteps and breathing in the hills. The sound was so quiet that it seemed to be isolated from the world, leaving only a barren silence.

After staying in such an environment for a long time, even without the hallucinogenic effect of the scented flower, I am afraid that I will go crazy.Fortunately, there were so many of them, Mo Ran and Ye Xuehuan chatted one after another, and teased each other endlessly, so they didn't get too flustered after all.

Lan Qi carried a copper scroll tube with the formation diagram on his waist, but he had already memorized the entire formation diagram by heart, so he didn't even need to look at it, leading everyone to walk among the rocks.

The deeper you go, the more luxuriant the scented flowers grow. What's strange is that the flower stems are all lying down in one direction, like a believer on a pilgrimage; Lan Qi roughly calculated that it should be in the direction of the imperial mausoleum.

Mo Ran spat: "Damn it, there are already ready-made guides, but you have to go around like this."

"Wang Shan ran to death, how could it be so simple." Ye Xuehuan mocked, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and leave."

Several people traveled quickly, and Yu Tian was not affected by her pregnancy. She set off early in the morning and found the first location in the evening. As expected, there was only a bare mountain wall.

No one expected to hit the first shot, so it wasn't too disappointing.Lan Qi took out the formation map, dipped a thin bamboo stick into the red mud, crossed the first point, and said calmly, "The other point is not far away. After reading it, camp near there."

Sure enough, the second location was also lost, and the sky was almost completely dark. Ye Xuehuan ordered people to find a flat leeward side and set up camp on the spot.Several personal soldiers shoveled away the fragrant flowers around the camp, set up tents, and lit a fire to make food.

After all, Yu Tian was in a special situation. After the meal, he checked everyone's sachets and rested alone. Lan Qi planned the next day's route against the battle map in front of the fire.

The map he compared on the observatory accounted for only one-third of the entire invitation array, but there were nearly thirty positions in this part. The probability of returning without success is very high.He must take care of Yutian's physical condition, and must not be greedy for meritorious deeds. He must use the most efficient way to see as many as possible.

For the next two days, nothing was found.

The atmosphere in the team became more and more oppressive, everyone became more and more silent, and no longer had the intention of making fun at the beginning.Mo Ran was obviously irritable, but he couldn't blame Lan Qi; Lan Qi still led the way calmly every day, but when he camped at night, he couldn't help but sigh.

On the night of the fourth day, Lan Qi finally couldn't hold back anymore.A dense row of forks had already been drawn on the formation map. He held up a bamboo stick and gestured in the air, intending to detect all three nearby points within the next day, but found it too reluctant, so he bit the end of the stick in his mouth in distress Here, use the cusp to grind to release the pressure.The last time Ye Xuehuan saw him like this was when You Ling was deciphering Zhao Ying's accounts, that's what happens to people who are too conceited, and they can't allow themselves to be stumped by anything.

He stepped forward to pick up the man and put him on his lap, took away the bamboo stick full of tooth marks, stuffed a slightly sour candied fruit into his mouth, and comforted him in a low voice: "Don't worry, there is still time." .”

Lan Qi took a last look at the formation map, carefully rolled it up and put it into the scroll tube, turned around and curled herself into Ye Xuehuan's arms, and murmured in front of his chest: "I know."

It was already midnight, Mo Ran and Yu Tian were resting in their tents, and Ye Xuehuan led two guards to watch the night in turn.Apart from them, there were no other living creatures in the entire West Hills, and the night watch was just in case. Two Xuanfeng guards were dozing off while standing guard on the outskirts of the camp.

It was a cold night in the mountains, and Lan Qi sat in front of the fire for half the night, his face was burning hot, but his hands and feet were still cold.Ye Xuehuan wrapped him in a cloak, covered his eyes with one hand, and said softly: "Hey, go to sleep. This trip is endless anyway. If you can't get invited tomorrow, you should leave early. Come back in a few days."

The palms covering the eyes were warm and thick, and Lan Qi saw his side face from between his fingers, and the usually calm and resolute face was also full of tiredness.

It was exhaustion both physically and mentally. Everyone in the team was probably in this state. They were indeed reaching the limit and could not be forced.

The candied fruit in his mouth was swallowed, Lan Qi got some comfort, and the boredom in his heart subsided a little, he gave a low hum, and stretched out his hand to hook Ye Xuehuan's neck.Ye Xuehuan only thought that he was asking for a kiss, so he kissed him, but there was a sweet drop of blood on the tip of his tongue, and when it slipped into his throat, his chest and lungs became refreshed and his mind became clear.

He knew what Lan Qi wanted, and he didn't refuse. He sucked the tip of his tongue, which still had a sweet and sour taste, and then let it go, patted his buttocks, and scolded with a smile: "You are disobedient again."

Lan Qi's face was slightly red, and he couldn't help but glanced at the two guards not far away. After confirming that no one noticed their intimate behavior, he pulled up the hood behind the cloak to cover his face, humming and cheating: "No, I'm very obedient, I'm going to sleep now."

"I really can't do anything about you." Ye Xuehuan laughed, lowered her head and kissed the tip of his nose, "Go to sleep, sweetie."