Chapter 14, On the Tree of Resentment

Clor Desert, under the black wind city, the wind and sand are strong, and the sky is as blue as blood. The Western Expedition of the Great Western Empire just withdrew last night, and the next morning, many Semitic sentries and riders appeared under the Black Wind City.

"General Pallas, how long are we going to stay in this damn desert?" Several imperial jockey generals surrounded Paras and questioned him one after another. In this dangerous desert, 10,000 jockeys are like a drop in the ocean, which is not enough to resist the siege of the Sam's tribes. No wonder the jockey generals are worried and just want to withdraw to the empire as soon as possible.

Paras looked away in the direction of Montenegro and said coldly, "If we find the 'black totem', we can be a class teacher."

"Can't find it?" Several generals asked in one voice.

"Can't find it?" Pallas took a deep breath, "At least I will keep looking for it until the last moment of my life!"

The generals looked at each other in con'sant, and the general did not leave, which meant that the ten thousand jockeys would also follow him until the last person. Everyone's faces were full of resentment. Obviously, they were very dissatisfied with Pallas's decision, but they did not say it because of the strict military law of the empire. Parasi knew the dissatisfaction of the generals, but he had no better way. In order to find the "black totem", there were always people who had to make sacrifices, which was also helpless.

"How far are the Sam from us now?" Pallas unfolded the map and began his career as a military general.

"Since the left and right armies of the imperial army retreat, the Wind Department and the Heluo Department immediately rushed to the Black Wind City to rescue." A general pointed to two positions on the map. "Now they have probably arrived here. The 40,000 leading troops of the Wind Department are probably less than 100 miles away from the Black Wind City, and the 50,000 troops of the Heluo Department are only 130 miles away. Far away, the small troops of other small tribes have recently been forced to the Black Wind City, but they are deterr by the combat effectiveness of the imperial army, and they dare not attack rashly.

In this vast desert, there is no danger except for this black wind city within hundreds of miles. And this Black Wind City is full of Semen who hate the imperial army to the bone. The imperial army was short of food and grass, and was surrounded by enemies ten times more than itself. The right place and people were lost, and it was impossible to fight with the Sam people at all! At this moment, Pallas knew that he had estimated the difficulties too low, and he couldn't help but speak to the map for a long time.

"Let's abandon the city," a general whispered, "In the vast Kolor Desert, jockeys can show their mobility and flexibility, and it may not be a fall behind when they deal with more than 100,000 Sams. The Sam people are all rabbles, and there are many contradictions between the tribes. As long as we avoid their main force and wait for their internal changes, we may still defeat them.

"No!" Paras said decisively, "You stick to the Black Wind City, look to the east to break out three days later, and try to return to the empire."

"We?" A general noticed the special words of the new general, and his eyes couldn't help but wonder, "Your excellency"

"I will cross the Great Montenegro alone and pursue the whereabouts of the 'black totem'," Paras eyes crossed the Great Montenegro, and his eyebrows seemed quiet and distant. "You only need to block the Sam for me for three days. Even if you successfully complete the mission, you can break through and return to China, and leave the rest to me."

In the sound of the wind, the sunset sinks down the horizon little by little, a silver hook gradually rises to the sky, the heat in the daytime quickly fades, and the wind in the sand sea gradually becomes cold and piercing. Parath finally woke up from his sleep. After lying quietly for a few breaths, he jumped up from the ground and rubbed his cheeks and eyebrows. His fatigue suddenly swept away, and he was refreshed in an instant, like a cheetah about to attack in the night.

Jumping onto a high rock, Pallas pinched a strange seal in his hand and began to mutter to the void with a solemn expression. With his long and mysterious spell, several illusory figures faintly appeared in the depths of the sand sea, slowly floating towards him, looking very strange in the light moonlight.

The "Dead Summoning" bought at the "Real Fantasy" equipment auction really worked! Pallas's heart was wide. As long as the Corolla desert could still summon the undead, he would not worry about finding the two Black witches and warriors.

Seven or eight illusory undead silently gathered in front of Pallas under the call of spells, like a group of ethereal shadows. Seeing that there would be no new undead nearby, Palas put away the seal and asked the undeads in underworld: "A few days ago, a man and a woman came from the mountain and went deep into this big desert. Which direction did they go?"

The undead will not answer, but point to the depths of the sand sea. They are not real organisms, but they still have vague consciousness energy that can perceive what has happened around them. The summoning of the dead is the way to control and use this energy.

"You lead the way and take me to find them!" Parath issued a sharp order to the undead in quiet language. The undead had no independent consciousness. Under the tendency of summoning, he silently "walked" without regret. Pallas took two camels, stepped on the soft sand, followed seven or eight undead, and began to really set foot on the cold and empty Corolla desert.

Even in midsummer, the night in the desert is still cold and piercing. Along the way, undead continue to join the team driven by summoning, gradually converging into an army of dozens of undead, slowly drifting under the dim moonlight. It seems that there are many lives devoured by this desert. Pallas followed the undead closely and felt that the situation in front of him was really strange.

The night in the desert is short and the days are long. This night, the east began to turn white. When the first ray of sunshine appeared on the sky, the dead disappeared into the sand sea one after another. After all, they are ghosts who can't see the sun and can only appear in the cold night without sunshine.

Parath walked forward for several miles, and stopped at dawn and set up a small tent beside a sand dune. Without the undead leading the way, he dares not rush forward. Once he deviates from the right direction, he may not find the undead who have seen the Sam witches and warriors.

In this way, Pallas rests during the day and relies on the dead to lead the way at night. More than ten days later, one and two camels have penetrated into the depths of the uninhabited Corolla desert.

At the same time, in another corner of the continent of Addis, in the depths of the southern wilderness and dense forest that had not been marked on the military map of the Great Western Empire, Xia Feng stood on the top of a high mountain like others, stunned by what he saw in front of him.

A few miles away from the mountain, the guide Gu Feng insisted on not moving forward. No matter how much money Xia Feng gave him, it was useless, so he had to let him turn around alone. Everyone thought that there must be a greater danger ahead, far beyond the swamps of blind dragons and armored crocodiles and the primitive jungle of human wolves and tigers, so that even experienced guides dare not take half a step. Unexpectedly, after seeing the scene in front of them, everyone couldn't help wondering that this should be a paradise that only exists in the legend! Why is the guide so scared?

At the foot of the mountain is a sea of flowers, which spread colorfully to the end of the faraway valley. Those flowers are huge, and the small ones are also big, and the big ones are almost like a huge open umbrella! It looks extremely gorgeous and charming under the afterglow of the sunset.

"It's so beautiful!" Ji Xuanxuan took a deep breath and seemed to have smelled the intoxicating fragrance of flowers. She couldn't help opening her arms and couldn't wait to hold the scenery in front of her. Others were also intoxicated and shocked by the scenery in front of them. Only Yan Gonghai muttered to himself: "The most beautiful things are often the most poisonous, just like bright poisonous mushrooms and highly poisonous snakes."

"Yes!" Shen Dan also whispered, "I seem to smell blood from this sea of flowers"

"We have arrived here, of course, there is no reason to turn back," Xia Feng laughed and interrupted Shen Dan's words. "Everyone should be careful. People and wolves haven't done anything to us. They won't be scared by these bright flowers."

As he was about to go down the mountain, Alette next to him had stopped him and said, "I'll go and have a look first. You can wait for me here." With that, he spread his wings and swooped down the mountain like an eagle, and flew over the strange flowers in a moment. Then like an eagle foraging, sometimes hovered high in the sky, sometimes fell on top of the flowers, slowly skimming past the branches and leaves of the vines, flew straight out for a few miles before slowly folding back, and fell lightly to everyone and said, "Those flowers are bigger than other places except the branches and leaves. I don't find anything strange."

"Even if there is something strange, we don't have to break through," Xia Feng said and led the way down the mountain first, but did not forget to tell him, "Everyone has a distance, even if they encounter danger, they can take care of each other, so as not to be defeated by demons and monsters and lose a lot! Why do I suddenly feel like a Tang monk who went to the west to get scriptures? I don't know who is the Monkey King who protects me?

"Who is the Tang Monk? Who is the Great Sage of Qitian? Ji Xuanxuan caught up with Xia Feng and asked curiously. Xia Feng smiled and said, "Anyway, it's not you. At most, you are a female pig Bajie."

Although I don't know what Zhu Bajie is, looking at Xia Feng's expression, Ji Xuanxuan also guessed that it must not be a good thing, and couldn't help punching Xia Feng, "If you say these unclear words, I will ignore you." With that, he pouted and took two steps behind and no longer paid attention to the summer wind. Xia Feng had to stop and coaxed, "Okay, okay, I'll tell you the story of Tang Monk's scriptures and Zhu Bajie making trouble in the Heavenly Palace."

As soon as she heard that there was a story to hear, Ji Xuanxuan immediately broke her face and smiled. Xia Feng then talked about the Journey to the West that he had tampered with, moved Sun Wukong's deeds to Zhu Bajie and planted Zhu Bajie's scandal to Sun Wukong. In this way, Ji Xuanxuan was not so repulsive of the title of "Female Zhu Bajie". Unfortunately, no one in the group knew "Journey to the West" except Xia Feng himself, so the comedy effect that she happily agreed to call others "pig's head" was only appreciated by Xia Feng himself, and he had to bear to laugh and have fun in his stomach.

This story also fascinated everyone, temporarily forgot the danger of the journey, and unconsciously penetrated into the depths of the flower forest. Only then did I find that these flowers were actually taller than people. When people walked in the flower forest, those branches and vines also had the effect of covering the sky and the sun.

"Wow! What a beautiful flower!" The huge and beautiful strange flower made Ji Xuanxuan forget the story for a while. She stopped in front of a palm-sized bud and reached out to take it off, but heard Xia Feng shout in front of her: "Pig head! Go and see if there are monsters ahead!"

"Hey! Come on!" After a few folds and didn't break the flower stem, Ji Xuanxuan had to give up the flower to catch up with the summer wind in front of her. The people who followed her just observed the depths of the flowers with caution. No one noticed that the unbroken flower gave a painful trembling like a living thing. The unbroken flower stem quietly oozed a wisp of thick and rich red juice, which slowly flowed down the flower stem like blood.

The sky gradually darkened, and everyone walked in the flowers for half a day. Except for these various giant flowers, they did not encounter any abnormal situations. Everyone slowly relieved and began to prepare for camping in the flowers. Only Xia Feng's expression gradually became solemn, and he, who often took extreme adventures in the wild, noticed the aristocrats who had little survival experience in the wild, such as Yan Gonghai, Kunail, Ji Xuanxuan and other unnoticed abnormalities.

"What's wrong? Monkey head!" Ji Xuanxuan noticed the abnormal expression of Xia Feng and laughed and claimed Xia Feng with the nickname she had just learned from Journey to the West. But Xia Feng reluctantly smiled and said, "Nothing, just a little tired."

"You are lying! Your eyes are very nervous. You have never been so nervous when you meet a tiger or a wolf!"

"It's really nothing!" Xia Feng tried to pretend to be relaxed and pushed the girl to Kunel's side. "Go to bed early. Don't think nonsense. You have to go tomorrow."

and the two Imperial Guard warriors, Horry and Ron lay down beside him. Although the summer night was not cold at all, Xia Feng couldn't help wrapping his cloak tightly. He stared at the slight snoring of the two imperial warriors, but he was sleepless. The abnormality in this flower forest is something he has never encountered before in the wild, and he doesn't know how to tell others.

In the small tent not far from them, Shen Dan trembled in Yan Gonghai's arms and whispered, "Your Majesty, there is something strange in this flower forest!"

"These flowers are very strange in themselves!" Yan Gonghai hugged his beloved concubine worriedly, "How can such a bright and dazzling flower not be seen elsewhere? Why did the guide come here and resolutely stop moving forward? These are all weird!"

"I'm not talking about this!" Shen Dan's voice trembled a little, "I don't feel it in the daytime. At night, I found that the flowers were full of resentment. I have never felt such a strong and widespread resentment!"

"Resentment?" Yan Gonghai was stunned and couldn't help patting her beloved concubine's heart and whispering, "Don't mention this to anyone, otherwise it will shake the army's heart. These royal warriors followed me here, and their spirits were extremely nervous and could no longer be stimulated. If they run away out of fear, we won't be bellable to deal with those Westerners in the future.

"Does the prince want to deal with them? They are not"

"It's just a temporary partner," Yan Gonghai smiled coldly. "Those Westerners have strong martial arts, especially Xia Feng, who have so many strange skills, which is even more difficult to see through. They have come all the way to this remote southern wilderness. Obviously, they have a common purpose with us, and we can't live in harmony forever.

"We can help them get that thing, so that we can borrow troops from the West with this credit!"

"This is not enough for the West to borrow troops, and the status of those Westerners is not qualified to decide such a big thing." Yan Gonghai's eyes flashed, "We can only negotiate with the Western Country by holding the 'Maple Star' in our hands."

Shen Dan sighed and silently stopped talking. She was also completely aware of the stakes in the middle, but she was kind-hearted. She really couldn't bear to see her partner born and died together, and in a blink of an eye, she became an enemy of knives and soldiers.

"Don't worry, it's not necessary. I won't hurt their lives." Yan Gonghai hugged Shen Dan tightly and involuntarily comforted his beloved concubine. His eyes fell on the virtual place, but there was a faint murderous intention.

Xia Feng, who was sleeping in the flower forest, was suddenly awakened by a slight sound. He couldn't help turning over and whispering, "Who?"

"It's me!" In the dark, Cunel quietly came to him and sat down, staring at him with blazing eyes, "I know you found this flower forest strange during the day. What on earth is strange?"

Seeing Xia Feng looking behind him worriedly, Kunail whispered, "Don't worry, Miss Ji has fallen asleep. Tell me the truth, I'm not as easy to deceive as her.

Xia Feng hesitated for a moment and secretly wanted to make Cunel take precautions in advance, so he smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, this strangeness is too obvious, but it is easy to be ignored. Haven't you noticed that we haven't met an animal on the way since we entered the flower forest?

Kunair's face gradually turned white, and he suddenly remembered that he had never heard the sound of birds and insects singing along the way. Except for flowers and trees or flowers and trees, this was a completely unimaginable situation. I only guarded against the sudden appearance of fierce beasts along the way, but I didn't notice such an obvious abnormality. I couldn't help muttering, "How could this happen?"

Xia Feng shook his head with a wry smile, "Don't say that you don't understand, even I, an adventurer who has been in and out of the most desolate and dangerous primitive jungle, has never encountered such a situation. This is a fucking abnormal setting!"

The two are relatively silent, and the danger beyond their own cognitive scope is undoubtedly the most frightening danger, which gives people a sense of defenselessness. The night wind slowly blew through the flower forest, blowing the flowers and trees. In their ears, it was like thousands of dead flying in the mountain forest.

No! There is no wind in the forest! However, the flowers and vines were still talking. The two looked around in awe and saw the flower stems and vines shaking slightly like living creatures. A huge bud slowly bloomed in front of them. As the petals opened silently, a messy white sparkling object in the stamen fell to the ground and made the sound of dead branches falling to the ground. In the dim moonlight, the two immediately saw what it was.

"It's a white bone!" Even if she was as bold as Kunel, her voice couldn't help trembling, and a messy dead bone actually spit out of a newly blooming stamen, which was far beyond her boldest imagination.

"Go!" Xia Feng pulled her up and jumped up. She happened to see a trumpet-shaped flower hanging down her and wrapped Cunel like a living thing. Suddenly, she let out a creepy scream like any woman in danger! The cry shocked the two warriors and winged princes beside Xia Feng. The three were about to jump up, but they found that countless vines had grown in the grass, tightly entangling their bodies. The three of them couldn't help struggling, but they could not break free from the shackles of the vines. Xia Feng was about to pull Kunell, who was wrapped in giant flowers, but he felt that his feet were tight, his ankles had been entangled by a vine, and he also fell to the ground.

Xia Feng cut off the vines with a knife, and the red juice like blood immediately splashed from the fracture. A few drops just fell on Xia Feng's face. The familiar smell immediately made him sure that this was blood! It's as salty as the blood of any animal!

Regardless of these bleeding vines, Xia Feng had already cut off the flower stem with a knife. The flower wrapped around Kuner immediately fell to the ground. Xia Feng quickly peeled off the tightly wrapped petals and let Kunel drill out. She was already pale with fear. As soon as she came out of the petal package, she suddenly rushed to Xia Feng's arms and cried.

"Help! Help me!" There came one after another call for help, and Ji Xuanxuan's voice was also mixed with it. Xia Feng hurriedly patted Cunel's back, "Go and save others!" With that, he gave up Kunel and rushed to Ji Xuanxuan, who was entangled in vines. Just as she was about to cut off the vines on her feet with a knife, she was wrapped around her arms by a vine hanging down above, and she was wrapped in a firm knot in a blink of an eye.

"It's a resentment flower!" Hearing the call for help coming out of the tent, Shen Dan suddenly saw the situation outside and couldn't help trembling, "How can there be so many resentment flowers?" With that, he quickly pinched the seal and recited the spell and sprinkled a circle of magic fire around the tent. The vine flowers were illuminated by the magic fire and immediately shrank back. They also seemed to be afraid of light like beasts.

Shen Dan's behavior reminded Ji Xuanxuan that she immediately pulled out the sword of light in her waist, and a bright light immediately lit up a foot in front of her. The vines and flowers hanging from above immediately avoided the light, and the vines on Ji Xuanxuan's feet quietly shrank back.