Chapter 8 The eighth desert oasis

Hu Tiehua was even more baffled, and said: "Not bad, but..." Before he could finish his sentence, Ji Bingyan had already walked to a corpse—Peng Yihu's clothes had been removed, so how could there be any star of bliss on his naked body? But Ji Bingyan squatted down and stroked Peng Yihu's shoulder lightly with her finger. Under the flickering starlight, there was a flash of light on his shoulder. Then, a glistening gem the size of a pigeon egg fell into Ji Bingyan's hand from the open flesh on Peng Yihu's shoulder. It turned out that the star of bliss had been sewn into the flesh by Peng Yihu.

Everyone couldn't help but stare blankly. Although there are countless stars in the sky, the brilliance of this blissful star on the ground seems to overshadow all the stars in the sky. Even Ji Bingyan couldn't help being moved: "What a beautiful diamond, no wonder so many people are willing to work hard for you." The man in black rushed over like a hungry dog, and snatched the star of bliss from Ji Bingyan's hand—Ji Bingyan was like an idiot, watching others snatch things from him. People simply did not expect things to be so easy, and they were so happy that they could hardly close their mouths from ear to ear.

Hu Tiehua was strange and angry, but hadn't had an attack yet. I only heard Ji Bingyan say: "The star of bliss has been given to you, where is the water?" The man in black looked up to the sky and laughed wildly: "Masters come out to do business, where is there water? If you want water, you won't go find it by yourself. The gentlemen don't kill you now, they are very polite to you." While laughing and waving his hands, he led those big men, laughing wildly and roaring away, Hu Tiehua was so angry that his stomach burst. He wanted to attack, but was held back by Chu Liuxiang, wanted to chase, but was stopped by Ji Bingyan, he really didn't understand, how could his two old friends become so courageous?

Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan watched this group of people walk away, but they didn't even look angry at all. Hu Tiehua couldn't bear it anymore, and sneered loudly: "It's ridiculous! It's ridiculous! The majestic Chu Xiangshuai will become as cowardly as a mouse today. It's ridiculous! Ji Bingyan, who thinks he's smart, will be fooled by others today." .” Ji Bingyan said leisurely: "Who was fooled by others?" Hu Tiehua sneered: "Since you are so smart and know where Peng Yihu hid the Star of Bliss, why don't you know that those bastards won't give you water at all?"

Ji Bingyan smiled lightly, and said: "I have already seen that they don't have any water bladders on their bodies." Hu Tiehua said angrily: "Since you already knew that they had no water, why did you give them the Star of Bliss? What kind of afterthought are you?" Ji Bingyan ignored him, but said to Chu Liuxiang: "People who walk in the desert, there are only two things that are indispensable. The first is water, and the second is camels. Without these two, life will be difficult to preserve, right?" Chu Liuxiang smiled and said, "Not bad." Ji Bingyan said: "But not only do these people have no water on their bodies, but they also came here on foot. This means that the place where they live must not be far from here, right?"

Chu Liuxiang said: "Exactly." Ji Bingyan said: "After they get what they want, they must have no time to care about us, and they will go back to repay the credit in a hurry, right?" This time before Chu Liuxiang could speak, Hu Tiehua clapped his hands and laughed loudly: "That's right, as long as we follow them, we can go straight to their lair, instead of waiting for the devil to come to us, why don't we go to him first...isn't it? " Chu Liuxiang smiled and said, "Yes, this is called preemptive strike." Hu Tiehua jumped up and said, "Since that's the case, what are we waiting for here?"

Ji Bingyan said slowly: "In the desert, you can't follow too closely, they can't escape anyway." He listened to the wind, smiled slightly, and said: "If you are in a hurry, you can go now." It is only half an hour away from their starting point at this moment. There are several wooden houses. This was originally a watch fort for patrolling the border guards in the past, but now it has become a gathering place for the green forest and powerful. The wooden house is very old, a few windows are not closed, and there is already light in the house, presumably someone has been staying in the house all the time.

Chu Liuxiang and the others stopped behind three dead trees ten feet away from the wooden house, and saw those big men in black walking in with cheers and laughter. But as soon as they entered the house, their laughter stopped. From the open window, one could see that their expressions suddenly became very respectful, each of them lowered their heads, not even daring to speak. Hu Tiehua said happily: "Look at them, their leader is indeed in this room." Ji Bingyan said: "Yes." Hu Tiehua said: "Let's rush in now, we want to see what the devil has changed!"

Ji Bingyan frowned and said, "Wait a little longer." Hu Tiehua said: "What are you waiting for?" Ji Bingyan said in a deep voice: "There is something wrong with this situation." Hu Tiehua said: "You came up with this idea, why do you think it's wrong now?" Ji Bingyan said slowly: "When I saw this wooden house, I felt something was wrong... Do you think that with the power of that demon, would he live in such a dilapidated wooden house?" Hu Tiehua was stunned for a moment, but before he could speak, a low-pitched music sounded from the wooden house, mellow and ecstasy, almost wanting to die.

As soon as the music started, the big men who stood with their heads bowed suddenly twisted, as if they were about to dance to the ecstasy beat. But suddenly, they all fell down. The ecstasy of music is still going on, but the sound is lower. The person who fell did not stand up for a long time. Hu Tiehua's heart beat hot when he heard it, but he was surprised and amazed when he saw it, and said in a low voice: "What's going on here?" Ji Bingyan's face was cold and she didn't speak. Chu Liuxiang's face suddenly changed color, and he lost his voice: "Not good!"

Before he finished drinking, he already flew towards the wooden house. Where is Hu Tiehua willing to wait any longer, she also flew over, Chu Liuxiang was still looking at the window, but Hu Tiehua kicked the door open, and shouted: "Don't even think about it..." He only uttered three words, and his voice froze in his throat. There is no one in the house anymore. Strictly speaking, there was no living person in the house. The twenty or so black-clothed big men just now have all fallen to the ground at this moment. Their bodies were twisted, but their faces had an indescribably strange brilliance. They died painlessly, and they seemed to be very happy. Hu Tiehua was stunned for a long time before he let out a long sigh and said, "Crazy...these people are also crazy." Chu Liuxiang stumbled and said, "I should have thought that they would commit suicide." There is almost nothing in the dilapidated house, but there is a large shrine with a Buddha statue in it, which makes the house look even more mysterious. The wind blew up the yellow curtain of the shrine, Hu Tiehua couldn't help shivering, and said in a broken voice, "But why did they commit suicide?" Chu Liuxiang sighed: "The devil must have guessed that we have followed their whereabouts. In order to prevent us from following them any further, he had no choice but to force them to die." Hu Tiehua said: "Since they were forced to commit suicide, why did they die so happily?" There seemed to be fear in Chu Liuxiang's eyes, and he murmured: "There must be a mysterious reason for this, the ecstasy of death music, maybe..." Before he could say anything, Xiao Pan suddenly heard hissing wildly outside the house: "The stone camel has gone crazy... The stone camel has gone crazy..." The voice was full of fear. In this merciless desert, in the isolated and dilapidated wooden house, among the corpses, it was really creepy to hear such a voice suddenly. Hu Tiehua was shocked again, Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan rushed out together, only to see Xiao Pan's face twisted, sweating profusely, and he couldn't stop shouting: "The stone camel has gone crazy." Ji Bingyan slapped her backhand, and said sharply: "Don't go crazy, tell me, what's going on?" Xiao Pan was stunned by a slap in the face, and then he came to his senses, and said in a trembling voice: "After you enter the house, I can't help but want to come over and have a look, and I'm afraid that I will leave Shi Tuo there alone. If you're a little worried, just pull him along." Ji Bingyan sneered and said: "You don't trust him, you just want to pull him to strengthen your courage, right?" Xiao Pan lowered his head, and continued in a low voice: "Who knows... who knows that Shi Tuo just walked in front of this room, as if he saw a ghost, turned around and ran away, he didn't know how scary he was, although I didn't know anything. I didn't see it, but I was so scared that I couldn't help crying." No one with eyes can see, so what terrible things can the blind see? But at this moment, Chu Liuxiang and the others had no time to delve into this issue, and they had already chased the stone camel before Xiao Pan finished speaking. The wind is howling, and the sand is flying. The night in the desert has begun to show its terrifying power. They finally saw the figure of the stone camel running wildly. A man who can't hear and see nothing, is running desperately in this merciless wind and sand, in the terrible night, what a sad and mysterious sight. Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan both flew over and grabbed him, but he broke free like a wounded beast and ran forward. With his crazy strength, even Chu Liuxiang couldn't grasp it. Hu Tiehua had rushed over from behind and hugged him by the waist, the two of them fell to the ground together, Ji Bingyan rushed over and held his shoulder. The stone camel was still struggling, until Ji Bingyan firmly held his hand, he gradually calmed down, but he was still panting like a wild animal. Hu Tiehua said loudly: "Quickly ask him, what did he find?" Under the starlight, I saw a stone-like face covered with sweat and extreme fear. Not to mention that Xiao Pan was afraid when he saw this face, even Hu Tiehua didn't feel a chill in his heart when he saw it. After a while, Ji Bingyan raised his head and said, "I have asked him, but he refused to say anything." Chu Liuxiang stared at the dark distance, and said slowly: "Could it be that he has a strange sense of touch, and has already felt that the devil who killed him is in the wooden house?" Hu Tiehua said: "But there is no living person in the wooden house at all... There is almost nothing in the wooden house, even if the devil can hide." Chu Liuxiang said word by word: "Is there really nothing in the wooden house?" Hu Tiehua said: "Except for a few broken tables and chairs, there is only the shrine." Chu Liuxiang said: "Can you see what is enshrined in that shrine?" Hu Tiehua said: "It seems to be a huge stone statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva." His voice suddenly froze again, and his whole body seemed to have been whipped suddenly. Then, like crazy, he ran back to the cabin. The situation in the wooden house remained the same, and the wind was still blowing the faded yellow curtains. But the shrine was empty. The stone Buddha statue has disappeared. Beads of sweat, bigger than soybeans, dripped from Hu Tiehua's head one by one. He was stunned for a long time before he realized that there was an extra iron pot on the wooden house. The pot was still steaming, emitting bursts of meaty aroma. There was a note under the pot: The person in the niche? Who is the person in this niche? Hu Tiehua turned her head, and saw the four eyes of Chu Liuxiang and Ji Bingyan, also staring at the piece of paper in his hand, as if they had seen the gods. After a while, Chu Liuxiang finally smiled wryly and said, "You and I have been seen through by others." Hu Tiehua sighed: "But we don't even know who the person in the niche is." Chu Liuxiang fixed his eyes on the empty shrine, and said in a deep voice, "It's Shi Guanyin." Hu Tiehua lost her voice and said, "Shi Guanyin? Are you talking about the woman who was recognized as the most beautiful, the most vicious, the most ruthless, and the most martial arts woman in the world?" Chu Liuxiang smiled bitterly and said, "Apart from her, who else can make such an exquisite hidden weapon? Who else has such a clever disguise technique? Who else can come up with such a clever poisonous plan?" Ji Bingyan slowly continued: "Aside from her, who else can condense energy, turn into wood and stone, pretend to be a stone Buddha statue, and hide it from your eyes?" Hu Tiehua was stunned. Although he had never met Shi Guanyin, the various legends about her in the world almost made him feel cold from his heels to his neck.The aroma in the pot was stronger, and a layer of pearly halo floated on the thick broth, which was what they needed most. Hu Tiehua burst out laughing suddenly, and said: "The rumors in the world are indeed true, this Shi Guanyin is indeed a villain, she doesn't keep anything, but leaves a pot of meat soup, so we can only watch and drool, but dare not move .” Suddenly, a yellow dog came in from outside the house, jumped onto the table, stretched out its head to lick the pot, and then bit a big rib. Hu Tiehua scolded with a smile: "Are you hungry? Aren't you afraid of being poisoned to death?" He picked up the dog from the table, but the dog had already bit and gnawed and swallowed a piece of steak. Hu Tiehua, Chu Liuxiang, and Ji Bingyan all stared at the dog with six eyes. After three cups of tea, Ji Bingyan looked at the dog's eyelids, then at its tongue, and said slowly: "The soup is not poisonous." Hu Tiehua slapped the table vigorously, and shouted: "This evil actuary is sure that we dare not drink this soup, and even got a dog to annoy us, she actually wanted us to eat the dog's leftover soup." Ji Bingyan said indifferently: "Can't people drink the soup that dogs have drunk?" He glanced at Chu Liuxiang, but Chu Liuxiang still didn't speak. Hu Tiehua had already picked up the iron pot and threw it out of the window, yelling: "We must never drink the soup left by the dog. Even if we starve to death, we can't be ashamed like this." Ji Bingyan sighed, and said with a sneer: "If I can go back alive, I will definitely build a memorial archway for you, with eight large characters engraved on it: Starving to death is a small matter, but shame is a big one." Hu Tiehua laughed and said: "If I can go back alive, I will... I will..." He also wanted to find two words to repay Ji Bingyan, but he couldn't think of them for a while. Ji Bingyan said coldly: "It's hard to go back alive with a bear like you." Hu Tiehua smiled and said: "That's true..." Before they could say anything, they suddenly heard a miserable cry from outside the wooden house, and the three of them rushed out together, only to see Xiao Pan, who was guarding the stone camel outside, had rolled to the ground at this moment. The meat pot was right beside him, the corner of his mouth was still stained with minced meat, but his white face was already purple and distorted, his mouth couldn't help howling, "Meat...poison..." It turned out that he heard that the soup was non-toxic outside and saw the meat pot flying out, so he drank the half pot of soup that hadn't been spilled in one gulp. Chu Liuxiang rushed to his side, just about to see his poisonous power, but Xiao Pan's body convulsed, and he ruined his life on the half pot of broth. In this merciless desert, human life is so despicable. Chu Liuxiang gently closed his eyelids, and said sadly, "It's such a powerful poison, so poisonous that it's hopeless." Ji Bingyan pondered and said: "What a powerful person, he actually hid the poison pill in the dog's mouth, when the dog drank the soup, the poison pill fell into the soup pot, the wax seal outside was melted by heat, and the non-toxic soup became poisonous. " Hu Tiehua said in amazement: "Is that dog also trained by her?" Ji Bingyan said: "Yes!" Chu Liuxiang smiled wryly and said: "It seems that you and I have not had Zhongshi Guanyin's poisonous plan thanks to Hu Tiehua's bear temper." The three of them thought of the ingenuity of this series of poisonous tricks, and it was really a matter of life and death just now, and there was no time... The three of them felt cold sweat on their palms. The next day, still no water. They dare not let the remaining water in their bodies be evaporated into sweat by the sun, and they don't start to act until the sun is about to set. The stone camel, this mysterious and poor man, has recovered his inexhaustible divine power at this moment, while Hu Tiehua and others seem to be shrinking. No matter how high the martial arts in the world are, they can't compete with the power of nature. As the sun set, the stone camel lay down from time to time, sniffing the sand on the ground with its nose, and crawling like a fox. Hu Tiehua licked his chapped lips, and couldn't help asking: "What is he doing?" Ji Bingyan said: "He is looking for underground water sources." Hu Tiehua said: "Can he smell it?" Ji Bingyan said: "Where there is water, there is temperature, and you can smell it." Hu Tiehua still wanted to talk, but no one paid any attention to him. Because talking not only wastes energy, but also wastes saliva. These two things are almost as precious as life in their eyes. At night, the stone camel suddenly dug in the sand frantically. Hu Tiehua said ecstatically, "There is water." Together they dismounted from their camels, and dug with every implement they could find, but after working hard for more than an hour, they were disappointed. no water. Hu Tiehua smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid his nose is not very good?" Ji Bingyan had a sullen face and didn't speak. Only the stone camel did not give up and was still digging. Suddenly, he jumped up, took a handful of sand, and gave it to Ji Bingyan. Ji Bingyan put the sand into his mouth, and his face showed joy. The sand is warm. They put the sand in their mouths, sucking the moisture of the sand desperately. The water, though pitifully scarce, was enough to save a man who was dying of thirst, and they dug hard and sucked desperately. At night, they sleep in this slightly damp sandpit. Hu Tiehua's tongue became numb from sucking, and she couldn't help cursing: "I have used up all my strength to feed, but I still can't suck out a drop of water from this ghost sand. This sucking method is not a sudden death. people?" Ji Bingyan said: "In the desert, it is luck to find some warm sand every day. Although the sand has little water, you cannot live without it." He was right. On the third day, they couldn't even find the wet sand, and they could hardly walk on the road. Fortunately, in the early morning of the fourth day, the stone camel found another place. The sand here has more moisture, Ji Bingyan said: "The stone camel came here along a water vein. Looking at the situation here, there must be a bigger water source not far from here." So they cheered up and moved on. Suddenly, they saw a piece of green in the distance, and there was an oasis.