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Are they going to meet them in the ghost cave?
The road they were taking now was exactly the same as the route to the Ghost Cave that Hu Bayi had described to him. He originally thought that the platform above the Ghost Cave was specially built to place the coffin of the Queen of Jingjue.
Hu Bayi and the others had also guessed this. Now it seems that the platform was the place where the Queen of Jingjue held sacrificial ceremonies and met with Jingjue ministers.
Hey, another historical mystery solved by me.
Hu Xiuwu amused himself in his heart.
He walked down the circular staircase along the stone wall and crossed the stone bridge. A strong wind with a strong yin energy blew towards Hu Xiuwu from the deep cave at the other end of the stone bridge.
Roar! !
There was a roar of a strange beast coming from the other end of the cave. There was anger hidden in the roar, which made the entire underground cave tremble. It seemed that something was extremely angry about Hu Xiuwu's arrival.
Chapter 153 The Queen of Jingjue
Hu Xiuwu was very familiar with the roar that sounded like a dragon or a tiger, as if it came from the endless underworld. It was the roar of the Snake God.
The damage caused by the ghost tomb to the snake god was not great, it was just like drawing a syringe of blood from a dying old man.
This "syringe" was the last straw that broke the camel's back. He died at the hands of a bug that he had never taken seriously. It was like getting a pentakill with great difficulty, but in the end not being killed by the enemy hero, but having his journey to godhood ended by a tiny soldier. One can imagine how frustrated he felt.
The damage was not great, but the hatred was so strong that the snake god died of anger due to excessive emotion.
The humiliation and resentment he felt before his death were like a surging river flowing backwards through time. Even the ghost cave, the remnant of him that he had long since shed, was tainted with his resentment towards Hu Xiuwu.
Even though Hu Xiuwu only appeared in the vicinity of the ghost cave, he seemed to roar at him.
Don't come over here!
The people of Jingjue Kingdom are all loyal believers of the Snake God, and are considered to be his followers. Even if the Snake God just shows a trace of his breath, the Jingjue guards guarding the entrance of the cave will involuntarily reveal their true forms, with black snake scales growing on their bodies and their eyes turning into snake pupils.
Bang!
The weapons in the hands of these inhuman guards fell, and fear filled their ferocious and hideous faces. They turned around and prostrated themselves towards the cave, kneeling on the ground and trembling, muttering to themselves.
Although Sudatta did not behave as badly as the guards, he also knelt down devoutly with his forehead touching the ground.
After a roar, Hu Xiuwu and Zhang Qian were the only ones left standing in front of the cave, looking somewhat out of place.
Zhang Qian wanted to wake up Suda.
At least take them in first, and then you can come back and kneel down. Otherwise, what's the point of them standing here?
"Suda, what are you doing! Hurry up and bring the criminal in!"
A cold female voice came from the cave, ordering Xuda to take Hu Xiuwu and the others in. The voice was majestic and dignified, but Hu Xiuwu always felt that there was a hint of anger hidden in it.
Suda woke up as if from a dream, stood up, gave Zhang Qian an apologetic smile, and without even wiping the dust off his knees and forehead, he hurriedly led them into the core and most important place of Jingjue City.
Ghost cave.
It seemed like an abyss leading directly to hell, emitting a chilling cold air and endless malice. Just one glance at it would make one's heart chill and give rise to boundless fear in one's mind.
Above the bottomless cave, there is a circular stone platform about ten feet wide, connected to the platform by only a narrow stone bridge that three people can walk side by side on.
Hu Xiuwu looked up and saw a tall woman wearing an elegant red robe inlaid with gold threads and a ferocious golden beast mask on her face that did not even reveal her eyes. She was standing in front of the throne.
Although her eyes were covered by a mask, Hu Xiuwu still felt that he was being watched by this woman, and could even sense the murderous intent in her eyes. He guessed the woman's identity, and Suda, who finally raised his head, confirmed his guess:
"Her Majesty the Queen!"
Suda shouted loudly, and without getting up, he rubbed his knees to the feet of the Queen of Jingjue, touched her toes with his forehead, and said respectfully:
"My queen, the messenger from the Han Dynasty has brought the sinner mentioned in the oracle."
The Queen of Jingjue ignored Zhang Qian's existence and only 'looked' at Hu Xiuwu.
Perhaps it was because she had held a high position for many years, or perhaps it was because of the exaggeration of Hadili and Zeluo before she came, but Hu Xiuwu felt that she naturally exuded a sense of majesty just by standing there, which made people unconsciously nervous.
The Queen of Jingjue was originally sitting peacefully on the throne, waiting for Suda to bring the Han envoys to meet her, but she did not expect that something strange happened in the ghost cave first. The snake god suddenly became angry, and she was accidentally injured by the indiscriminate roar while connecting to the ghost cave with her boundless demon pupil.
Her soul was almost shattered, and when she regained consciousness from the state of loss of her spirit, she immediately felt the source of the snake god's anger.
Her boundless demon pupils could use the power of the ghost cave to see every corner of Jingjue City. The Queen of Jingjue easily saw Hu Xiuwu who was being escorted. She was overjoyed and sat upright on the throne, waiting for an audience with Suda and others.
Unexpectedly, Suda and the others knelt on the ground and kept nagging, leaving her alone on the throne. Finally, she could no longer endure it and sent a message to Suda in a rage.
"Suda brought him here and offered him as a sacrifice to the gods to appease their anger."
"Yes."
Although the Queen of Jingjue did not mention any names, Xuda knew who the 'he' she was referring to. If Hu Xiuwu was not there, the Queen of Jingjue would probably be interested in chatting with Zhang Qian and the others.
But at the moment, her mind was full of sacrificing Hu Xiuwu to her god so that the snake god would calm his anger. There was no trace of Zhang Qian and the others in her eyes. After all, the Queen of Jingjue was the most devout believer of the Snake God in the Kingdom of Jingjue.
That’s great, I don’t want to waste any more time.
Hu Xiuwu secretly forced out the Guiyuan needle in the Du Meridian, and then immediately sent Zhang Qian into Luofengtian and sent Hadili out.
He turned around and took out Zhegui. The surging sword energy gathered on the sword like a whirlwind, and the whirlwind became stronger and stronger, and finally condensed into a small tornado on the sword, cutting the air around Zhegui and making a shrill whistling sound.
What he held in his hand was no longer a slender Tang sword, but a powerful, majestic and heavy divine axe that could split Mount Hua in half.
Hu Xiuwu suddenly swung downwards, and a powerful tornado of sword energy followed the sword and hit the stone bridge in front of Hu Xiuwu.
Phantom Moon Sword Technique: Clear Void Slash,
bump!
The sword energy hit the stone bridge, causing a roar like a gunpowder explosion. The stone walls of the cave acted like an echo wall, gathering the roar louder.
The heavy stone bridge, which was more than ten meters long, was easily cut off like a child's toy. The aftermath of the Qingxu Slash shattered the entire bridge deck into several pieces. The remaining bridge fell into the endless abyss below without any sound of it hitting the ground.
But this platform did not give Newton any face at all. It did not shake at all and remained suspended steadily above the ghost cave, as if the stone bridge was just a decoration.
The place where Hu Xiuwu and his companions were briefly became an isolated island. When Hu Xiuwu turned around with his sword in hand, he saw that Tang Yi Fu had already dealt with the guards beside the ghost cave, and Hadili kicked Sudatta down from the ghost cave.
Although the Queen of Jingjue was the only one left on the Jingjue side, she showed no sign of panic and still stood there calmly, as if the person in front of her was not a murderous assassin but a child playing house.
Her confidence comes from the ghost cave and from the boundless demon eyes under the golden mask. Near the ghost cave, she can borrow the power of the snake god, just like the former King Xian.
But then, she suddenly trembled. Although her face could not be seen due to the mask, she could no longer maintain her aloof attitude. Instead, she said in some pain:
"You, what did you do!"
Originally, under the connection of the Boundless Demon Pupil, she could be said to be one with the Ghost Cave, but just now she felt that there was something foreign attached to the Ghost Cave, like a blood-sucking leech, absorbing the power of God. And that feeling was also transmitted to her body along the connection line of the Boundless Demon Pupil.
Although Ghost Tomb was upgraded to Luo Fengtian, his ability to devour the Snake God was still there, and it seemed to be even stronger.
Even though there were only the incarnations of the snake god in the ghost cave, it would still take time to absorb them all. Hu Xiuwu took out Tang Yi Fu's bow and arrow from Luo Fengtian and threw it to him.
Tang Yifu caught it, his golden eyes shining brightly in the dark cave. He stood guard on one side of the broken bridge and shot an arrow towards the dark opposite side. Then he heard a cry of pain from the opposite side.
The rest of the guards in the Jingjue Palace arrived.
Tang Yi Fu guarded behind him, while Hadili faced the Queen of Jingjue head-on. He slowly drew out his double swords from behind, and rubbed them crosswise in front of him. Sparks flew from the blades, and in an instant the sparks suddenly grew into a blazing red lotus fire, dyeing the double swords red.
The Queen of Jingjue recognized Hadili's identity and asked, "Are you the assassin from last time?"
This was the first time in so many years that someone had sneaked up on her. She still had some impression of Hadili, but precisely because of that, she didn't take Hadili seriously at all. After all, Hadili didn't break her defense at all last time, and at most he just scared her.
The Queen of Jingjue looked at Hadili with disdain and said disdainfully: "Do you think that you can stand in front of me just because you have learned some fancy skills?"
"Out of control."
Hadili posed: "Whether I am overestimating my own abilities or not, I won't know until I try it."
Chapter 154 Ancient Wizard
Jingjue City, inside the warehouse,
Ze Luo was escorting a convoy carrying military equipment to the door of the warehouse to hand over the weapons to the people of Jingjue. Their convoy contained not only weapons, but also wine and gifts brought by Zhang Qian. They had to be counted first, and then decide whether to distribute them or store them.
The warehouse is a forbidden area and is naturally heavily guarded. The camp of the Jingjue army is right next to the warehouse.
Five thousand soldiers and carriages formed a long team. After a long time of hard work, the whole team finally entered the warehouse. The people from Qiuci had not left because they were still responsible for moving the weapons into the warehouse.
There is no way. The old soldiers in Jingjue City can only supervise at most. There is no way they can do such rough work as unloading.
Ze Luo led his men to stand in the hot sun for a long time before the clerk in charge of warehouse management in Jingjue City came over slowly and leisurely.
As soon as he arrived, he actually complained that there were too many people from Kucha and the place was full of sweat smell.
The warehouse clerk covered his nose, took a quick look at the convoy brought by Ze Luo, and frowned.
There was something wrong with the caravan of Kucha. The annual tribute of Kucha was a fixed quota, so he found out at a glance that the number was wrong and far from meeting the standard, otherwise there would not be so few carriages.
If only a few hundred swords and arrows were missing, he would be very happy because he could take the opportunity to blackmail Ze Luo. However, if the military equipment he delivered was missing by nearly 20% or 30%, he would not be able to afford it.
The young storekeeper pointed at Zhe Luo's nose and said arrogantly, "Zhe Luo! What's wrong with you? The weapons you brought are far less than this year's quota!"
"Do you think that because you have done a great service in escorting the Han envoys, you can reduce the annual tribute without the Queen's permission?"
The young warehouse clerk glared at Zhe Luo with a pair of snake-like pupils, and stood next to him cursing him, spitting on his body. If it were under normal circumstances, under the tyranny of the Queen of Jingjue, Zhe Luo might have just smiled and endured it.
But given the situation today, how could Luo tolerate him?
Having said that, Ze Luo did not yell at the clerk, but smiled calmly and said:
"It's right that the number is wrong. This was not originally given to you."
"What! What are you talking about?"
The warehouse clerk had not yet figured out the situation. The last thing he saw was Ze Luo reaching out and tapping him on the forehead. His thoughts then fell into darkness.
"Comfortable."
Seeing the warehouse clerk with his eyes rolled back and falling to the ground without a word, Ze Luo looked satisfied, just like returning home under the scorching sun on a summer day and opening the refrigerator.
These little Jingjue devils, relying on the intimidation of the Jingjue Queen, showed no mercy to the Western Regions kings, ordering them around rudely and using the Jingjue Queen to pressure them at every turn.
Ze Luo had long been filled with hatred for them, so without further ado, he simply struck a sound on the head of the warehouse clerk, which triggered an undercurrent in his head, forming a small vortex, and turning his solid brain into liquid "soy milk".
The foreigner in charge of the warehouse was easily dealt with by Ze Luo, so he didn't need to take any action against the remaining guards.
The 5,000 people from Kucha led by Zeluo were not there for show. In addition to Zumureti who was only there to assist, the team also included people from the Gao family and followers who had traveled to the Western Regions with Zhang Qian.
In order to lift the curse, the Gao family trained hard day and night, honing their bodies and their martial arts. Although they could not become extraordinary people, they were still the best among mortals. The entourage that accompanied Zhang Qian on his mission to the Western Regions, in addition to the well-trained Han army, also included some knights recruited by Zhang Qian himself from Chang'an who had some confidence in their skills.
These people were simply a waste of talent when they got together to deal with some warehouse soldiers, and they hardly encountered any decent resistance.
The only thing to worry about was to be careful not to alarm the nearby military camps and draw attention in advance, but with Ze Luo there, the Five Sounds of Kucha directly enveloped the warehouse, and not a single sound could be heard.