C223: Sacred Grounds
As he galloped, Tang Zheng never thought that he would have such an experience. The Heavenly Horse moved as if it was flying, its four hooves soaring into the sky, as if it was riding on clouds. However, every time it landed on the ground, it was very stable, and Tang Zheng and Mu Hongyan did not feel the slightest bumps.
"It's more comfortable than riding a car." Mu Hongyan leaned into his embrace. Previously, she was a little awkward, but later on, she slowly became familiar. she was not awkward anymore, instead she felt glad fully and delightfully.
"This is the real roadster." Tang Zheng joked.
Mu Hongyan covered her mouth and laughed softly, but her eyes were exceptionally bright. She had never experienced such a feeling before, and it was extremely novel.
whoosh *
Suddenly, Ye Yuan, who was running in front, pulled the reins tightly, and the horse immediately stopped. The elder also pulled on his horse's head, causing it to become extremely tall, and the Pegasus Horse to stop steadily without Tang Zheng pulling the reins tightly.
"There's miasma ahead." Ye Yuan said in a deep voice, he was not nervous at all. Surviving in Ten Thousand Huge Mountains with the miasma following them around, they were not afraid at all.
The elder passed a porcelain bottle to Tang Zheng and said, "Sir Envoy, if you consume a detoxication pill, you will not be afraid of the miasma."
Tang Zheng poured it out and took one pellet from each of them. This small pellet was able to dissolve the poisonous miasma, causing Mu Hongyan to feel that it was hard to believe.
She had lived in the South Yunnan for more than twenty years and had experienced many things from a young age. However, she had never heard of a medicine that could completely neutralize this miasma's poison.
But when he thought about the mystical black jade dipsacus cream, it seemed like it was not hard for the detoxication pill to accept.
When the two of them consumed it, their bodies did not have any discomfort, so did the elder and Ye Yuan, and the elder explained: "Back then, our clan members were just imprisoned here, and many of them had died under the miasma. Only after an ancestor developed this detoxication pill did he manage to ensure that our clan members would not be harmed by the miasma."
"That ancestor must be a genius doctor." Mu Hongyan said.
The elder revealed a smile, "Of course, this ancestor's kindness saved many of our clansmen."
The Clan Elder and Ye Yuan then fed their respective mounts with a detoxication pill, and Tang Zheng followed suit and stuffed one of them into the mouth of the Heavenly Horse. Unexpectedly, after smelling it, the beast snorted, and immediately turned its head away, not eating it.
The elder said, "Sir Envoy, Pegasus's physique is unique and does not fear the miasma."
Tang Zheng's eyes lit up, and said: "It's immune to poisons."
The elder said, "Although it cannot be said that the miasma is immune to poisons, it is true that the miasma is not a threat to it."
Tang Zheng had no choice but to size it up again. This beast actually raised its head high up and even glanced at Tang Zheng, as if it was saying, "You little clay hat, you actually don't know my abilities."
Tang Zheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was actually looked down upon by a horse, if word of this were to spread, people would probably think that he had gone mad, but the look in his eyes just now was clearly an illusion. It was naked disdain.
Forget it, since he wasn't going to lower himself to the same level as a horse, Tang Zheng pretended not to see it.
Ride!
The three horses continued to gallop, and the surroundings were filled with a white fog, this was the miasma, it seemed like a white fog, but in reality it contained a strong poison, and an overdose of it would be fatal.
However, at this moment, they were safe and sound while shuttling through the miasma. It was truly magical.
Above him was a towering tree that blotted out the sky. There were only scattered rays of sunlight shining through the gaps between the trees. The only sounds that could be heard were the clatter of horse hooves on the ground.
After advancing for a long time, the miasma finally disappeared. The group of people stopped because in front of them was a large swampy area that ate people without spitting out their bones.
"The swamp is even more troublesome than the miasma." The elder frowned and said in a disgusted tone, "Whether it is a human or a wild beast, as long as they fall into the swamp, most of them will die." Back then, because Lord Envoy had a magic treasure protecting himself, he was able to hold on. "
Tang Zheng understood, but Mu Hongyan could not help but look at the War Soul Sword at his waist. This unassuming black sword was actually a treasure.
"Then how do we get there?" Tang Zheng asked.
"Lord, please be patient. We have a plan." The Clan Elder indicated to Ye Yuan, who immediately came to the edge of the swamp and jumped onto a pile of weeds.
Mu Hongyan opened his eyes wide in shock. That was a swamp, jumping in would mean death.
Tang Zheng wasn't worried at all. As expected, he saw that Ye Yuan didn't sink even after jumping into the weeds. A long bamboo pole appeared in his hands, he used his strength to push it and a huge wooden raft slid over.
"We'll use this to cross the swamp." The Elder easily led his mount onto the raft. The raft was large enough to accommodate three horses and four people.
The few of them got on the raft, and Mu Hongyan was obviously a little afraid. He stood closely beside Tang Zheng, as if he was deeply afraid that he would fall down.
Tang Zheng comforted her: "Don't be afraid."
Mu Hongyan forced out a smile, his face pale white. He was obviously still afraid, but he didn't dare to grab onto Tang Zheng openly, so he could only get closer to him.
There was a terrible stench in the swamp, along with the corpses of beasts that had not completely rotted away.
Tang Zheng, the elder and Ye Yuan all looked as normal. Only Mu Hongyan kept his mouth covered as he got closer and closer to Tang Zheng. In the end, he simply leaned his entire body on.
She had been sitting in her office all year round, but when had she ever been in such a harsh environment? It was natural for her to feel fear.
Seeing her trembling, face turning paler and paler, Tang Zheng laughed bitterly to himself, Why did you have to suffer so much, but you can't go on like this, what if you really become scared out of your wits?
Thus, he took the opportunity to embrace her shoulders. Mu Hongyan's entire body tensed up, and then, she leaned into his embrace. An intense sense of security filled her heart, and dispersed the fear in her heart.
She raised her eyes and glanced at him. She noticed that he was looking straight ahead, his eyes were deep and calm, he didn't look that frivolous. When she saw him looking away, she quickly lowered her head, afraid to look at him, but she didn't have the courage to leave his embrace.
As for the elders and Ye Yuan, they pretended not to see anything. Ye Yuan was focused on supporting the raft while the elders were focused on staring at a mountain peak that protruded out from the distance.
The mountain was not very tall, but it was fiery red. The leaves were like burning flames, and even the tree trunks were fiery red in color. Moreover, the different types of trees were the same color — fiery red, an enchanting red.
Tang Zheng also saw the flaming mountain peak and asked curiously: "Could it be the Sacred Grounds?"
The elder retracted his gaze, nodded, and said, "Yes, Sacred Grounds are like flames, capable of burning away all evil in the world."
"Why is it all fiery red?"
The elder shook his head. "This is the magic of the Sacred Grounds. Ever since I was born, the Sacred Grounds have always been like this, not changing at all throughout the year."
Tang Zheng was extremely curious. The color of the leaves should have changed along with the changing seasons, but the trees in the Sacred Grounds didn't.
However, since it is the holy land of the Shamans, there will naturally be many miraculous things about it.
The raft finally stopped, and the group reached the edge of the swamp. They got off the raft and rode on horseback.
Although the Sacred Land was within their line of sight, it still took them nearly an hour to reach the edge of the Sacred Land and the foot of the fiery red mountain.
Mu Hongyan was completely shocked by the mountain, he stared dumbfoundedly at the mountain peak, and even Tang Zheng found it difficult to hide his astonishment.
The mountain was over a thousand meters tall. Not only were the trees red, even the weeds, soil and stones on the ground were red.
"This... It's too amazing! " Mu Hongyan could be considered to be experienced and knowledgeable, he had visited many places in the world but had never seen such a magical scene.
"Sir Envoy, we need to eat some rations first before we have the strength to climb the mountain. This is a holy land, one cannot ride horses, only on foot. This is a sign of respect towards the holy land." the Elder said gravely.
After lunch, the group led their horses up the mountain. The mountain was not steep, and after some effort, they finally reached the top. It gave off an illusion that they were in fire, and all the evil thoughts in their hearts were being refined by this red light.
At the peak of the mountain, a huge cave appeared in front of him. A wave of heat emitted from the cave.
"Sir Envoy, we can only accompany you here. Next up, we'll have to rely on you to walk down. This is the core of the holy land, and the Witch clan has been forbidden from entering for generations. Only you have the right to enter." The elder said solemnly.
Tang Zheng was puzzled and asked: "Since you always said that the method to remove the restriction is inside this cave, then why did you all not think of going in to investigate?"
The elder quickly shook his head like a rattle, and said forcefully, "The Witch clan will not violate the rules set by our ancestors. Moreover, since the legend says that only you can find a way to break the seal, then it's useless even if we go in."
Tang Zheng couldn't help but want to roll his eyes. The Witch Clan members were really stubborn, being trapped in there for so many years and the legendary method of breaking the restriction was inside the cave, yet they didn't take even half a step outside.
Mu Hongyan really wanted to follow along and see what was going on, but since the elder said that Tang Zheng could only go down by himself, then she tactfully decided not to follow, and nodded towards Tang Zheng, encouraging him.
Tang Zheng laughed in his heart, and joked: "Then I will go in alone, there won't be man-eating beasts inside right?"
The elder said with a blank face, "We don't know either, Sir Envoy, we will depend on you for the hope of our Witch clan."
Tang Zheng felt the burden on his shoulders become heavier, he stopped smiling and nodded seriously, then walked into the cave.
A scorching wave of heat hit his face, and the temperature suddenly rose. The cave was also a mass of red. The cave was glowing with a strange red light, illuminating his path forward.
He strutted a few hundred meters forward, and the scene outside the cave could no longer be seen. His surroundings were completely silent, without the slightest movement.
He suddenly remembered that there was no movement when he climbed the mountain. The mountain was like a dead mountain. Besides the plants, there were no animals or even insects. It was so strange that it made one's heart palpitate.