I plant love Gu for Xianjun

On the second day of walking alone, Lian Zhuxian discovered a small-scale relic in the depths of the vast desert.

It may be an abandoned ancient village, or the remains of a military town.The colors of the past years have been polished by the yellow sand, leaving only the ruins of the walls, and a few camel thorns and azaleas growing tenaciously from the low-lying areas.

Even though he wrapped himself tightly with a cloth towel, the scorching sun in the afternoon was still so scorching that Lian Zhu Xian couldn't open his eyes.

He led the camel and hid in the shade of a half-collapsed earth wall, took out the live water bag to quench the thirst of himself and the camel, wiped his sweaty cheeks and neck, and began to observe the surrounding environment to pass the time.

It happened that not far from his feet, there was a broken but conspicuous large clay pot.

If it were any other place, Lian Zhu Xian probably wouldn't even take a second look.However, right now, this is the first "human-related" object he encountered in two full days after entering the desert.

With an indescribably strange sense of intimacy, he took a while to dig the clay pot out of the yellow sand, drove away the few sand scorpions hidden in the pot, and then emptied the yellow sand in the pot, Finally, several small fishes that had already turned into mummies were found at the bottom of the pot.

In the desert, there are fish?

Lian Zhuxian froze for a moment, then slowly put the pot on the ground, and then saw the inscription engraved on the bottom of the altar - "Wish like a palace".

Could this be the former Yiru Palace?

"...Impossible, what a joke."

In the past two days, Lian Zhu Xian has developed the habit of talking to himself.

No matter in terms of the scale of the ruins or the height of the remaining walls, it is impossible for this low and shabby place to be the remains of Yiru Palace back then.Rather, it might be a small temporary resting village on the ancient road leading to Yiru Palace—perhaps just downstream of the river originating from the oasis where Yiru Palace is located.

According to the records in ancient books, the Yiru Palace was located in the middle of an oasis deep in the vast sea desert, sitting on a large lake and seasonal rivers formed by nine hole springs.The inside and outside of the palace are shaded by green trees and green grass.There are flocks of flying birds on the lake, green dragonflies fluttering in the water, and schools of fish swimming leisurely.The towns outside the palace are large in scale, with pearls listed in the city and Luoqi in households.And the ancient road in the lower reaches of the river is the only way for business travelers to supply and rest.

The splendor of the past was infinitely fascinating, and Lian Zhu Xian squinted his eyes to look at the ruins that were extremely pale and dazzling under the scorching sun.

The lakes and rivers have long since disappeared, and the greenery has withered.The birds never come back, Yirugong hides in the world, and the caravans have been diverted for hundreds of years.Only these dry fish, even if they die here, still have to leave their bodies behind as a mark of immortality for thousands of years.

Perhaps this is the fate that these little fish have been doomed since they were born.

Thinking of this, Lian Zhu Xian suddenly had an inexplicable bad intention - he picked up the mummies of these fish, wrapped them in oil paper and put them in the Qiankun bag.Once he walked out of the desert, or found a place with abundant water and grass, he buried the fish carcasses.

Does this count as a change of fate for these little fishes?Even he himself felt a little ridiculous.

Unknowingly, the sun crossed the residual wall and shot down the vicious rocket.The temporary resting place is no longer shady.Lian Zhuxian took up the camel again, followed the directions of the tracing compass, and continued to move in the direction of Yirugong.

Not long after, a collapsed rammed-earth pagoda appeared in front of it. The slender pagoda was inserted obliquely into the thick sand dunes, like a rusty ancient giant sword.

Lian Zhuxian stepped on the eaves of the tower lightly and went up to the top of the tower in one breath.Looking around, I can see that the surrounding sand dunes are low and as flat as the sea.Coupled with the clear sky in the afternoon, you can easily see the scenery for several miles or even further away.

He took out the crystal telescope from his arms, lifted it up and looked in the direction of Yiru Palace.I saw the yellow sand rolling in and out, vague and indistinct.And in the place close to the horizon, the air twisted and danced like half a flame.Looking up slowly, some images of pavilions and towers appeared in the midair.

"Is that...a mirage?"

Lian Zhu Xian muttered, somewhat unsure.

After all, he has never seen a mirage with his own eyes. It is said that it is a wonderful landscape that only appears on the edge of deserts and oceans. It is the sunlight that transports the virtual images of distant scenery to the nearby clouds.

However, Lian Zhuxian has also heard of another kind of existence similar to mirages—they are a paradise like Xixianyuan, which do not belong to the human world, but will appear at certain moments or under certain weather conditions. Now in front of everyone.Because it needs to enter the vast world through the narrow entrance of the world, it is also called "pot heaven".

Right now, Lian Zhu Xian is in the hinterland of the vast sea desert, and there is no one in the vicinity for tens of miles, let alone such rows of buildings.

Could it be that there is really the destination of this trip - Yiru Palace?

Thinking of this, practicing Zhu Xian couldn't help but feel a little excited.But soon, this excitement was disturbed by another extremely complicated emotion.

Where exactly is Feng Zhangjun now, what is he doing, has he received the paper bird he sent, and why hasn't he replied for so long?

If you continue to go deeper, it is almost equivalent to confessing the location of Yiru Palace to Feng Zhangjun, and even further confessing the existence of Nuosoma and Gu King.But if you don't move on, what should you do - stay in this barren land with nothing?Or is he temporarily giving up his mission and aimlessly searching for Feng Zhangjun's whereabouts all over the world?

Both of these are clearly impractical options.

Lian Zhuxian lowered his head, pulled down his wide sleeves, and stared at the thin red rope on his wrist.After entering the desert of the vast sea, he has flicked the little green clam money more than once.However, I don't know if it's because Mr. Fengzhang is too far away, or because of some other problems, the copper coins still don't respond.

In the past few days, what happened...

For the first time in his life, Lian Zhu Xian felt a strong powerlessness.It was as if he was just an ordinary lost person, lost in this vast sea of ​​sand without bounds, at a loss.

"I... think I should keep going."

I don't know how long it took, he who has been used to muttering to himself these days finally made a sound again.

"I should believe in Feng Zhang-jun, and I should also believe in myself. If I made a mistake... I will try my best to make up for it. But if you can't even trust, then why did you become a Taoist partner with him in the first place? "

After the words fell, he seemed to have the courage all of a sudden, spread his arms and took a deep breath of the hot afternoon air, and then jumped down the tower again with light movements.

"Brother, let's go."

He patted the camel's head, "When we arrive at Yiru Palace, I invite you to eat the fattest fodder."

-

According to Lian Zhuxian's visual inspection just now, the mirage appeared in the desert area about [-] to [-] miles away from the ruins.With a camel's footsteps, it should take at least two hours to arrive before dark.

However, he soon realized that there seemed to be a certain degree of deviation between his thoughts and reality.

The track of the sun slowly moved across the air, and the clear blue sky gradually became rich orange.But when the golden-red sun began to be swallowed by the sand dunes on the horizon, the seemingly magnificent city still stayed in the mid-air in the distance, not near or far.

In the end, even Lian Zhuxian had to correct his judgment with a wry smile: "Maybe it's really a mirage..."

Although the real Yiru Palace is still far away, but after all, his general direction is still correct.Taking Xuantong's estimate of ten days as a reference, it should arrive tomorrow at the earliest.

Thinking of this, Lian Zhuxian calmed down his lost emotions a little, and began to look for a leeward flat place nearby where he could settle down, so as to spend another long, quiet and lonely cold night.

Unfortunately, the surrounding area is full of rolling sand dunes, and the wind is strong at night, and there is a danger of being buried by the wind and sand at any time, or even falling into the quicksand.Lian Zhuxian led the camel to climb up a large sand dune, and then explored along the sand ridge.

He didn't know how far he had gone, but he suddenly discovered that the world around him was no longer just dead silence.

Even the last slant of the setting sun has disappeared on the horizon, and the process of the sky from purple red to black is only a moment.The air above is rapidly cooling and falling, while the dunes begin to release the heat accumulated during the day.

After two days of trekking, Lian Zhu Xian already knew that now is the time of day in the desert when the wind is strongest.

But the wind in the desert is often very quiet, sometimes even so quiet that when the dust all over the sky raids from behind, people can feel its existence in astonishment.

However, at this moment, what Lian Zhu Xian felt was another kind of wind—strong, public, and noisy.That kind of sound is sometimes like ten thousand horses galloping, sometimes like the sound of horns, sometimes like countless ghosts crying and groaning, and there are also the desolate whimpers of Qiang pipes or even 筚篥.

Reason told Lian Zhuxian that all these movements were just the most common wind sounds between heaven and earth, but the eardrums, which had been lonely for a long time, did not listen to reason's persuasion, but beat suddenly because of the hustle and bustle that resembled the world.

He followed the direction of the wind, and after stubbornly turning over two towering sand dunes, he suddenly became enlightened.

In front of the eyes, a "city" appeared.

The soft and undulating sand dunes disappeared, and the bright and cold moonlight fell on the vast and endless Gobi desert in front of him, like thin frost falling all over the ground.

And on the flat and hard sandy ground, rows of huge black shadows stood silently.

It seems to be the wreckage of some ancient buildings, severely weathered and broken walls; but if you look more closely, it is just some high and strange rocks, which have been cut into coincident shapes by the strong wind for thousands of years.

No, it should be more like a city—— Lian Zhuxian made this judgment wishfully.He continued to step on the soft sand dunes and approached the weird desert beach.

Every time he took a step forward, he was able to discover a little more incredible things——

Roads of different widths and widths are outlined between those black shadows that are as tall as city walls; and the roads are criss-crossed, and the intricate and tortuous paths are spliced ​​together, just like a maze.

By the way... this is simply a maze!Lian Zhu Xian quickly confirmed this point of view for no reason.

But in the depths of the vast sea desert, in the desolate and desolate situation, why is there a maze?And is there anything unusual at the end of the maze?

Will it be the entrance of Yiru City?

With a thought in mind, Lian Zhuxian let go of the rein in his hand, patted the camel's hind legs and let it walk towards the maze under the sand dunes.And he jumped up, stepped lightly on the saddle, and the whole person jumped high into the air.

Although the time to look down from the sky was short, he saw it at a glance—in the depths of the dark and weird maze, there was a big tree shining with golden light!

The author has something to say: Lian Zhu Xian: No one spoke for two days, suffocating me to death!

Camel: I am A-Ting's bosom brother!

Feng Zhangjun: Don't be complacent, I will appear in the next chapter! !