The next day, they left the empress's carriage and all the carriages in Ya City and set off again.
The fork-horned cows were also left behind in Ya City.
Other than the empress, who was riding the kirin Qi Shui, everyone else was riding jumping goats.
Many of the goats had large leather bags hanging on their sides.
In fact, these were the stomachs of strange beasts. They were extremely tough, could be enlarged, and could only fit a few people. When shrunk, they were only the size of a fist.
Ren Baqian had seen them in Lan City before, but there were very few of them.
These stomachs had always been very popular with caravans, but now that the merchants had all returned to their respective countries, they had accumulated more than 300 stomachs in Lan City over the past year. Now, Ren Baqian had bought all of them and equipped them for the winged cavalry to carry their supplies.
It took them half a day to get from Ya City to the entrance of the Sixty Thousand Mountains. The more than a hundred mountain peaks that looked like pillars supporting the sky finally revealed their complete appearance. The mountain peaks stood there, and there was almost no angle from top to bottom. It was as if they had been inserted there by someone.
Trees and vegetation grew from the cracks in the rocks from bottom to top. Birds flew around the peaks, and the cries of apes could be heard from time to time.
The overlapping mountain ranges that he saw in the distance were all behind the mountain peaks.
These peaks formed a fan shape and stood outside the Sixty Thousand Mountains like a barrier.
Ren Baqian had asked in the city before and found out that there were a total of 108 peaks, which were called the Forest Pillar Screens.
This number was very interesting to Ren Baqian.
108 represented a lot of things in China.
In Chinese culture, 108 represented perfection. Many buildings had the number 108 on them.
For example, the lowest level of the Temple of Heaven had 108 stone railings, and the Qinian Palace had 108 stone railings on each level.
In Buddhism, 108 represented 108 types of afflictions and were called the Hundred Defilements.
In Taoism, this number also represented the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends.
The most famous one was the 108 heroes in "Water Margin," which were the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends.
There were exactly one hundred and eight Forest Pillar Screens here.
This made it hard for Ren Baqian not to suspect that these Forest Pillar Screens were man-made. Otherwise, why were there 108 of them? Not one hundred and seven or one hundred and eighteen?
But how could these one hundred and eight towering mountains in the sky be created by a human?
If there was anyone who could create it, it would be the gods in the heavens.
If this was a creation of nature, then it could only be said that it was truly the work of the gods, and it would make people gasp in admiration.
Moreover, there was another strange thing about the Forest Pillar Screen.
This Forest Pillar Screen occupied a large area, tens of thousands of acres. It was covered with dense forests, birds and beasts, and it was close to the outside world. Logically speaking, it was a good place to build a village.
Unfortunately, there was not a single stockade in this forest of forest pillars.
It was said that there was once a stronghold that moved to this place, but within two or three years, it had fallen into ruin. There were all kinds of reasons, including natural and man-made disasters. In the end, the people in the stronghold either died or fled. After a long time, no one dared to build a stronghold here.
This bizarre number and this bizarre rumor made Ren Baqian feel a certain amount of reverence and curiosity toward this Forest of Pillar Screens.
Within the range of the Forest Pillar Screen, it was all dense jungle. There were trees that were more than ten meters tall and shrubbery all over the field of vision. It was almost impossible to see beyond five meters.
There were only extremely narrow paths in the forest.
The vegetation here grew extremely fast. After a path was cut, it would be covered with new vegetation in a few days. Only after a long period of time did a path gradually form in places where people passed by.
It seemed that the plants also knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
If the branches and leaves in one direction were always broken, then after a long time, that side would not grow again.
The group rested outside the forest. From time to time, Ren Baqian wanted to touch Qi Shui's belly. This wretched action made Qi Shui feel disgusted and immediately lay on the ground when it saw him.
Well, I can't touch it like this …
It had to be said that Qi Shui had a good temper.
If it were a cat, it would have scratched him.
After resting, the group plunged into this forest and soon approached a mountain peak. Ren Baqian specially greeted the empress and jumped onto a tree branch, wanting to cross over to take a look at the mountain.
Then, a snake that had its tail stepped on gave him a bite!
At that time, Ren Baqian cursed as if he had f * cked a dog.
After throwing the snake down the tree, Ren Baqian looked behind him for help and asked, "I was bitten by a snake. What should I do?"
"Sir Ren, this is a king snake. It's not venomous." The winged cavalry warrior who followed behind him laughed.
"The name sounds pretty powerful!" Ren Baqian smacked his lips and was relieved to hear that it wasn't venomous.
"This snake likes to eat other snakes, no matter how venomous they are. It feeds on snakes, so it's called a king snake." One of the winged cavalry warriors laughed.
"Sir Ren, are you going to see the mountain? I'll clear the way for you. " Another winged cavalry warrior took out his steel saber and jumped toward the tree trunk in front. A saber light flashed in mid-air, and half of the branch immediately fell.
The branch was still twisting in the air.
"That's a deadwood snake. It's very venomous. If you get bitten, you have to find fern bud grass nearby to detoxify it. Otherwise, the bite will swell like a water tank," another winged cavalry warrior said.
Ren Baqian nodded. It seemed that there were many kinds of venomous snakes in this forest, and he had better follow the winged cavalry.
Following the route of the winged cavalry warriors, they arrived in front of a mountain after half an hour. Ren Baqian then carefully sized it up.
This mountain was mainly made of a kind of gray rock. Its surface was rugged and had very small angles. However, from a distance, it looked like a pillar that pierced the sky.
The most interesting thing was that there was a platform at the bottom of this mountain that was made of the same material as the mountain. It was roughly oval in shape, and there were all kinds of miscellaneous trees growing on it.
"This Forest Pillar Barrier is also called the Forest Sword Barrier because of this. The circle of rocks below is like the handguard of a sword, and every mountain peak has one," the winged cavalry warrior explained to Ren Baqian.
"The aboriginals don't use swords, right? Where did this name come from? "Ren Baqian asked. The winged cavalry warrior's explanation made him feel that this mountain peak was more and more interesting.
"They don't use swords. This name is said to have been passed down from a long time ago. In the past, there were many foreigners who entered the Sixty Thousand Mountains to look for herbs. It might have been left behind by people from that time, "the winged cavalry warrior guessed.
"No one comes in anymore?"
"Yes, but those who are found have turned into corpses. Back then, it was because he had let them go that the salt mountain in the mountains was poisoned. Now, every village will send experts to kill any outsiders they encounter! "the winged cavalry warrior said with a face full of resentment.
It was said that before the uprising of the late emperor, the emperor of the Hao Nation ordered people to poison the salt mountain in the mountains. Many people from the various villages were poisoned to death, and most of the villages died because of this. In the end, the aboriginals overturned the Hao Nation in a rage.
This was considered a classic example of reaping what one had sown.
Ren Baqian waved his hand, and a golden spear appeared in his hand. He held it with one hand and flicked it toward the mountain peak. He wanted to see if there were any secrets on this mountain peak.
"Sir Ren, you can't touch this mountain peak!" The other two winged cavalry warriors were shocked by Ren Baqian's action and hurriedly tried to stop him.
"Sir, if you touch the rocks on this mountain peak, you will meet with misfortune!" one of the winged cavalry warriors quickly said.
"What about God?"
"It's very powerful! In the past, there were people who smashed rocks and died not long after. They even implicated the entire village. In less than half a month, hundreds of people died, causing panic. Later, someone found the rock that was brought back and brought it back. The rest of the people were safe and sound, "the winged cavalry warrior quickly said, sweating profusely.
Looking at his expression, it was obvious that he was shocked. Although these aboriginals were rough, they were still very respectful of certain things. In particular, they had lived here for generations in the Sixty Thousand Mountains and knew that there were many things in the mountains that couldn't be touched.
Ren Baqian was also shocked by his reaction. If this was the case, then he really couldn't touch it. There were still many strange things in this world.
For example, the bichi.
For example, this mountain peak in front of him.
He immediately put away his spear, cupped his hands toward the mountain peak, and said, "I'm new here and ignorant. Please forgive me if I offended you!"
After cupping his hands, Ren Baqian felt a gust of wind above his head and quickly took a step back.
A rock that was half the size of a person fell from the mountain peak, smashed on the ground, and rolled twice.
"It's over! This mountain peak is angry! " The faces of the two winged cavalry warriors turned pale. It seemed like this mountain peak had a very important place in their hearts.
With an innocent look on his face, Ren Baqian said, "It was the one who attacked first … It has nothing to do with me, right?"
"It's better to go back and tell Her Majesty," the two winged cavalry warriors said.
Ren Baqian felt perturbed when he saw the two of them like this. He stopped looking at the mountain peak and followed them back to see the empress.
However, the three of them didn't see that somewhere on the mountain peak, a red fox with fleshy wings was clutching its heart.
It had only crawled for a bit, but the stone suddenly fell down, giving it a fright.
The three of them went back and explained the situation.
The empress immediately frowned, thought for a while, and said, "Since you didn't bring that rock back, it should be fine. For safety's sake, I'll go with you to take a look. Men, go and hunt some prey as a blood sacrifice. "
A moment later, the group brought a flower eagle, a black gentleman, and an ape to the mountain peak.
The empress ordered someone to place the prey on the mountain peak, asked the winged cavalry warriors about it, and said some sincere words to the mountain peak. She only left after seeing that nothing else happened.
After this incident, Ren Baqian gave up on the idea of sightseeing and followed the empress step by step.
Fortunately, nothing much happened the following day, and everyone's hearts were finally at ease.
Because of the bichi, there were many twists and turns along the way. Broken axles weren't a problem, but all kinds of natural disasters and beasts happened from time to time. Fortunately, everyone was very strong, and nothing serious happened along the way. However, there were a few winged cavalry warriors who were injured and recuperating.
At this time, everyone finally arrived at the first resting point — Ping Village on Mount Pingliang.
At this time … the bichi was arching its body and gritting its teeth at a golden-feathered eagle that was circling in the sky.
For the past two days, whenever it reached a high altitude, this golden-feathered eagle would appear, causing it to be annoyed and itch to immediately bite and eat that fellow in the sky.
However, even though it had wings, it couldn't fly. Over the past two days, it had been harassed by this golden-feathered eagle many times.
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