Chapter 43: Traveling in the Snow and Wind

The next morning, Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu and their group took horses from the Taoist temple and continued to set off. After leaving Kunlun, they entered the Western Regions.

In the regional division of Taoism, Kunlun and the Western Regions each have a Taoist prefecture. The prefecture master of Kunlun Taoist Prefecture is a close confidant of the Grand Master. However, due to the existence of the Nine Halls and the Golden Palace, the position of Kunlun Taoist Prefecture is very awkward, far from being as comfortable as other local Taoist prefectures, and somewhat similar to Shuntian Prefecture of the imperial court.

In theory, the Western Region Taoist Prefecture should be named after the state like the Qizhou Taoist Prefecture, and called the Xizhou Taoist Prefecture. However, because there are still quite powerful Buddhist forces in the Western Regions, the two sides once broke out a war here, resulting in some counties and prefectures in Xizhou falling into the hands of Buddhism. Some areas seized by Taoism from Buddhism exceeded the boundaries of Xizhou, and even no longer belonged to the territory of the Great Xuan Court. The name of Xizhou Taoist Prefecture is no longer appropriate, so it was renamed the Western Region Taoist Prefecture.

After entering the Western Regions, the snow-white color gradually decreased, the scenery of the desert Gobi gradually increased, and the terrain was relatively flat. A group of people riding horses could travel about 300 miles a day. These horses are all improved by the Taoist sect, good at long-distance travel, cold-resistant and drought-resistant.

Only after entering the Western Regions, you will know what it means to have a vast land and sparse population. You often run for most of the day without seeing a single person. It is no wonder that Xizhou is the largest state under the jurisdiction of the court, but the number of registered citizens ranks last among all states. In such a place, fighting with people is secondary, and it is more about fighting with the sky.

This is not the first time Qi Xuansu has come to the Western Regions. He and his master were attacked in the Western Regions, and it was also in the Western Regions that they met Qi Niang, and their fate changed.

The Bishan Temple where the group was going to the incident was 800 miles away from the Taoist temple where they had stayed before, and it took three days to walk. Because it deviated from the main official road, so along the way, let alone Taoist temples, post stations, inns, even a village where they could stay might not be seen.

This is why the Taoists prepared "marching pills" in advance, so that they could eat and drink right away. At night, they set up camp in the leeward place and took turns to keep watch. They didn't dare to sleep soundly, and replaced sleep with meditation. Fortunately, they were all innate people with cultivation, so it wasn't a big deal.

It was just that some people who had been in Yujing for a long time were not used to it, and they couldn't help but complain that Zhang Yuelu didn't take the flying boat and had to ride a horse, which was really asking for trouble.

Qi Xuansu and Zhou Bai were both veterans, and they arranged everything in an orderly manner. The night watch was mostly done by the two of them, which made many people who were originally dissatisfied with Qi Xuansu as a deacon change their attitude again.

According to Zhou Bai, fortunately it didn't snow. If it snowed heavily, the subsequent journey would be more difficult.

As a result, I don't know whether I should say that Zhou Bai was a jinx, because the situation changed suddenly the next day. Although it is not winter yet, it is late autumn. September 22 is the beginning of winter. In addition, it is close to Kunlun and the Great Snow Mountain, with a high terrain and cold climate. It snows earlier than in the heart of the Central Plains. In the evening, it actually started to snow.

The next morning, the snow had stopped, and there was only a white expanse of snow between the sky and the earth. In addition, the Gobi Desert was originally empty, as if everything in the world had disappeared, and the road that was originally vague disappeared directly.

The sun fell on the white snow, which was particularly dazzling.

This is the purpose of preparing bright yarn or sunglasses in advance. In this environment, the white snow reflects the sunlight, which is bright and easy to hurt the eyes.

Everyone put on sunshade sunglasses, put on cloaks, and continued on the road. In the vast snowy sky and earth, the group of people seemed like a string of black dots, which was particularly small.

Because of the accumulation of snow, the horses had some difficulty running. They could originally travel 300 miles a day, but now they can only travel dozens of miles a day, and the three-day journey has become out of reach.

Moreover, the weather was gradually getting colder. Sitting on the horse for a long time inevitably made the hands and feet numb, so they had to circulate their Qi to dispel the cold. Fortunately, in addition to the water bag, everyone also brought wine. Occasionally drinking a sip of strong liquor could warm them up a lot.

Qi Xuansu saw Zhang Yuelu taking this opportunity to start drinking openly. In less than half a day, the wine bag was shriveled, but Zhang Yuelu still felt a little unsatisfied.

In addition, Qi Xuansu was also a little worried. The road on the Gobi Desert was already very blurry, and now a layer of snow had fallen, and it had completely disappeared without leaving any trace. Looking around, it was all white, without even a landmark. There were few people here, and no one could ask for directions. What if he got lost, what should he do?

What you fear will come true. According to the map, the group should have passed a dry river, but they walked for most of the day until dusk, and there was no trace of the river. It couldn't be that the river was filled up by the falling snow. It was only late autumn and there was no such heavy snow.

Zhang Yuelu was a little helpless. She was lost again. It seemed that she was always destined to get lost.

Last time was in Zifu, this time in the vast Gobi Desert.

Qi Xuansu looked up at the sky, and his face showed a bit of heaviness.

I don't know when the thick clouds rolled up in the night, covering the bright moon.

Then the wind started, getting stronger and stronger, and gradually became sharper, like a knife, as if it would cut a few pounds of flesh from people's faces.

Not long after, the wind began to mix with snow particles, hitting the face painfully.

It's going to snow again.

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but sigh, pulled up the one-piece hood on the cloak, and covered his head.

He had only lived in Yujing for less than two months and he already felt a little uncomfortable. Those who had lived in Yujing for a long time would probably be cursing him in their hearts.

As expected, many people's faces were not very good-looking, but they were afraid of Zhang Yuelu's power and did not dare to show it. If Qi Xuansu was the one who made the decision at this time, many people would have started to mock him in a weird way.

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment and said loudly to Zhang Yuelu: "Deputy Hall Master, the first priority is to find a place leeward to hide from the snow. Brothers are all innate and will not freeze to death in a snowstorm. The key is the horse."

Qi Xuansu followed Qiniang in the rivers and lakes for a long time, and absorbed many habits of the rivers and lakes, and accidentally used the usual names in the rivers and lakes.

Zhang Yuelu didn't care about these minutiae at this time and pointed forward: "Go to the back of the hillside."

Behind the hillside is a shallow ditch half a person's height, which can indeed provide shelter from the wind.

Just spent the night like this, just as Qi Xuansu said, everyone is a person born with innate nature. A little wind and snow may not kill him, but suffering is unavoidable. After all, the biggest difference between people born with nature and people born after tomorrow is that they cannot be human beings. Being harmed by diseases and epidemics, rather than being immune to cold and heat, is what Zhang Yuelu can achieve.

It’s just that everything is difficult at the beginning. After the initial period, everyone gradually got used to it and soon found the right path. They walked in the wind and snow for about ten days, and finally arrived at the "Bishan Temple" in early September. Taoist temple.

Because of its remote location, Bishan Temple is quite simple. It is just a courtyard with two entrances. In the front is the main hall, dedicated to the Supreme Taoist ancestor, and in the back is the living area. There are a row of houses, with a total of less than thirty rooms. They are usually stationed there. There are more than ten Taoist priests from the Western Region Taoist House, which can be regarded as a "post" set up by the Taoist sect here.

As a result, the whole family was slaughtered overnight.

After the incident, the Taoist Government of the Western Regions sent people to check. However, due to the shortage of manpower, after forming a file and reporting it to the ancestral court, they did not continue the in-depth investigation. They only sent two people to guard the body here and wait for the people of Tiangang Hall. .

Seeing that the large team of people from Tiangang Hall finally arrived, the two people who had been worried about it all breathed a sigh of relief.

Although you can't freeze or starve in a Taoist temple, it's really hard to stay with more than a dozen corpses all day long and worry about whether those monsters will leave and come back again.

Zhang Yuelu didn't waste any time and asked the two of them to lead the way to check on the body.

The corpse was parked in the main hall, covered with white cloth under the gaze of the statue of Taishang Daozu.

Starting from the far left, Zhang Yuelu lifted up the white cloth, revealing a pale corpse. Although it had been dead for a long time, it had not yet decomposed due to the cold weather.

Zhang Yuelu did not show disgust like ordinary women, but calmly reached out and turned the corpse's chin.

However, Qi Xuansu carefully discovered that Zhang Yuelu still used "Five Qi Yanluo" to wrap a thin layer of zhenqi on his hand. It seemed that she was not completely unconcerned.

Zhang Yuelu asked: "What do you think?"

Xu Zhen, who had always been taciturn, said: "He lost too much blood and there are tooth-like bite marks on his neck. They should be fangs, but it looks like he died from a zombie."

"Zombies will not attack the caravan." Lingquanzi said.

Lingquanzi is an alchemist who is in the stage of returning to his true form. The alchemist is also good at raising ghost zombies and is most familiar with zombies.

Lingquanzi continued: "After death, the soul returns to heaven, the soul returns to the earth, and the three corpses turn into ghosts. The corpse is buried in the geomantic treasure land and is nourished by the earth's energy before it turns into a zombie. Zombies are extremely yin things. Because there is no soul and three corpses, there is no memory of his life and he only acts on instinct."

Xu Zhen said: "Could it be that someone who is good at raising corpses drives zombies to commit crimes?"

Lingquanzi pondered: "It's not impossible, but the Taoist sect has very strict control over the method of raising corpses and ghosts. It's extremely difficult for Taoist disciples to practice it. How can those foreign monsters master it?"

While talking, Zhang Yuelu came to the second corpse and lifted up the white cloth. It was a seventh-grade Taoist priest. He saw that the death of this corpse was quite miserable, and his expression was ferocious. It seemed that he had seen something extremely terrifying. There are five blood holes, located between the eyebrows, between the eyes, and on both cheeks.

Zhang Yuelu's five fingers were like hooks, and he made a gesture, which happened to correspond to the five holes.

Qi Xuansu's heart moved and he said: "This seems to be somewhat similar to the 'Xuanyin Slaughter'."

"Xuanyin Slaughter" is a magical power of the Taoist sect. After being practiced, the nails can be made to be more than a foot long, like a short sword, indestructible. Qiniang is good at this method.

Zhang Yuelu nodded and said, "They are very similar."

Then she opened the white cloth of the third corpse. The wound on the neck was clearly visible, and the face was pale and even more weird.

The one with a smile on his face seemed to have died in a state of ecstasy.

Zhang Yuelu said softly: "Zombies have no such ability."

Lingquanzi nodded in agreement and said: "This person seems to be under an illusion. Zombies have no souls and no thoughts. No matter how powerful a zombie is, they cannot use illusions."

Zhang Yuelu signaled everyone to take off all the white cloth covering the remaining corpses.