商队短暂休息了一会儿,吃了一些干粮,然后继续上路.
穿过蜿蜒的山路,他们继续前进,直到黑夜.
没有人知道这些人到底在保护什么,也不知道他们为什么这么着急.但陈洛并不在乎这些.他仍然专心研究玉卷.在他们到达目的地之前,他没有停下来的打算.
就在刚才的那一瞬间,他已经设定了三个'brain'来领悟它.然而,除了皇室的大脑之外,其他人都没有回应.看来他的猜测是对的——玉卷中的修炼方法带有先天的限制.
而那个限制...极有可能是精神根源!
在商队的保护下,驾车的老田明显放松了下来.一路上,他甚至开始哼唱一首曲子,显然很享受.
"前方是燕子岭.它后面有一片古老的森林——大家保持警惕.
声音从商队的前面传来——是老田的侄子田大牛.
警告声响起,每个人都变得警觉起来,双手紧握着武器.只要稍有干扰,这些人就准备毫不犹豫地发动攻击.
"如果不是商队的保护,你觉得我们会这么轻松吗?"
老田跟在后面,显然对自己很满意.
前方的古老森林漆黑一片,寂静得像死了一样.
"有时,仅靠数字并不能保证安全."
没有人注意到陈洛什么时候坐起来了.他一直默默地躺在马车里.
他突如其来的声音吓了老天一跳.
但陈洛并不在意他.他的目光盯着前方的黑暗森林.
在达到第三境并磨炼了他的骨骼之后,这种增强不仅仅是原始的力量——而是整个身体的炼化.
就在片刻之前,他捕捉到了风中携带的刀刃的微弱碰撞.虽然微妙,但并没有逃过他高度的感官.
而现在,随着商队向前移动,声音在这一刻变得更加清晰.不仅如此——空气中还有一丝血迹,随着每一次呼吸而变得更强烈.
有人在前方打架.
但他们的目标是谁呢?
是这支神秘移动的大篷车吗?
陈洛思绪飞速运转,小心翼翼地将玉卷安全地塞进胸口,紧紧地固定在身边.
"什么...你什么意思?
生性胆小的老田,听到这句话,声音里的颤抖掩饰不住.
"小心."
一跃,陈洛就从商队的队伍中消失了.
在武术界,关键永远是谨慎.商队的规模使其成为一个显眼的目标,很难隐藏一个人的存在.但是一旦他溜进了周围的环境,事情就会容易得多.黑色不仅仅是敌人的掩护——它对己方也同样有效.
在他明白前方人的意图之前,最明智的做法是保持隐藏.
"英雄?!"
老田的声音语气变了.但当他回头看时,车上并没有陈洛的踪影.他的心突然跳动了一拍.
"牛瓦子!牛瓦子!!
这一刻,老田不再顾及侄子的尊严,大声喊出了他的绰号.
"怎么了,五叔?"
听到老田的声音,一直处于高度戒备状态的田大牛赶紧赶了过来.
过程中他往后面的马车看了一眼.一看之下心中顿时一突,五叔的那个年轻客人不见了?难不成这小子有问题.
"有危险!"
老田也不蠢,把侄子拉到边上,确定没人偷听以后才压低声音说道.
"五叔,您是不是发现了什么?莫非是您那客人."
Tian Daniu's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at the other men and, seeing no one was paying attention, lowered his voice to ask.
"No, my guest is an expert. He warned me of danger, then disappeared into the forest." As he spoke, Old Tian grabbed his nephew and was about to make a run for it. He had seen Chen Luo's abilities on the road and trusted his words without question. Knowing this, he couldn't just stand by and watch his nephew walk to his death.
"Come with me and hide. We'll wait until things settle down before we come out."
"Fifth Uncle!"
Tian Daniu grabbed his uncle's arm tightly.
As the captain of the guards, he couldn't just run off because of Old Tian's words. If he did, he might as well quit his job right then and there. More importantly, unlike Old Tian, he didn't place his full trust in that young man.
"If there's real danger, then we should stay and face it. The caravan has experts protecting us. It's pitch black outside, and fleeing would only put us at a disadvantage, throwing ourselves into even greater peril."
Tian Daniu's reasoning was sound, and it made Old Tian hesitate.
He glanced around at the pitch-black forest, and a sense of fear washed over him. The young man was a martial expert and could hide in the darkness, but he was no such figure. In the depths of the forest, even a single venomous snake could take his life.
"Let's stay for now. Once we get past the forest, we'll decide what to do."
With that, he managed to calm Old Tian down. Tian Daniu then resumed his patrol up ahead.
Old Tian glanced back at the pitch-black forest once more, and his courage completely faltered. He hadn't felt anything amiss earlier, but after his nephew's reminder, the outside world now seemed far more dangerous.
In the shadows,
Chen Luo, having left the caravan, was already one step into the forest.
The spiritual mine was something he would definitely seize.
This matter was crucial to his future path. Striking before the Prince Ning's reinforcements arrived was the best solution. If he waited for the main forces to catch up, the special mine would no longer be of any use to him.
The Bone Tempering Realm was not invincible. The imperial court also had experts at the Bone Tempering level, and there were quite a few of them. Above the Bone Tempering Realm, the court had grandmasters as well. It was nearly impossible for an individual to contend with the power of the state at such a low level of martial prowess.
Never underestimate the resources of a nation's machinery. As a high-ranking figure in the state's apparatus, Prince Ning certainly had abundant resources at his disposal.
It was precisely because of this that Chen Luo needed the spiritual mine to break the deadlock. Moreover, deep in his heart, he had a certain suspicion.
That mine in Qingya County might very well be an immortal mine! A spiritual mine that cultivators need. Only then could it explain why Prince Ning would go so far as to risk assassinating the royal family and slaughtering civilians. When the stakes are high enough, these people would sell out their ancestors, let alone kill a few.
After traveling through the old forest for some time, the path ahead split into two.
Chen Luo stopped, his gaze sharpening as he observed the fork in the road.
To the left was a dry, cracked dirt path, while the right was a damp, watery route, where faint sounds of flowing water could be heard. The sound of clashing weapons he had heard earlier had come from the right.
'The bloodlust is carried by the water wind. The right side.'
A voice from one of his brains gave the suggestion.
With the same knowledge, different brains provided different feedback. Chen Luo glanced at the left path, then, with a flash of movement, he headed towards the right.
The further he went, the muddier the path became.
The damp mist clung to the earth, mixing with fallen leaves, and each step he took on the ground made a faint sound.
After walking a short distance, Chen Luo suddenly halted.
Because he had spotted a corpse.
His choice had been the right one; this was indeed the place where the battle had taken place earlier. At first, he had assumed it was an ambush targeting the caravan, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. It appeared more like a feud between martial artists, a type of grudge killing he had witnessed many times when he and his third uncle buried the dead.
The initial batch of "brains" he had acquired to start his rise had been provided by these kinds of people.
"Dead by a heavy blade, what a pity."
Chen Luo skillfully took out his deerskin gloves and turned the body lying in the mud over. The man looked very thin, and his finger joints were slightly rough. From this point of view, he should be a master of claw skills. However, this guy died miserably. His head was chopped through, and his face was split into two halves, separated from the nose, like a gourd with its head opened, one on the left and one on the right. The white brain matter mixed with the surrounding mud, looking very miserable.
'Contact with the deceased's brain, damage level 100%, unable to read.'
This was the first time Chen Luo had encountered a brain he couldn't read at all. He guessed that the person hadn't been much of a strong fighter in life; otherwise, there should have been at least 1% readable data.