Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 529 Eyes in the Night Sky
Xingshan is a mountain range that stretches for hundreds of miles.

The Xingshan camp is located in the Xingshan military town on the west side of the mountain range.

From a distance, Shang Lu and his companions saw the Xingshan Military Town standing on the top of a mountain.

The military town has thick walls, with numerous watchtowers and all kinds of mysterious witchcraft spells, giving the town a mysterious aura.

"The camp is just ahead, everyone hurry up. Once we get to the camp, we can rest in peace!"

Shang Lu shouted in encouragement. With the help of his military skills and eloquence, his words rekindled the strength of the exhausted team.

But as they walked, everyone discovered something strange.

Zhu Quan rode his horse to Shang Lu's side and whispered, "Sima, something is wrong. We are clearly heading towards the military town, so why are we getting further and further away?"

Shang Lu also noticed this situation, and he even found more problems.

"Not only is it getting farther and farther away. If you look carefully, the military town has also changed its position. Two quarters of an hour ago, the military town was right in front of us. But now you see, it has secretly moved to our left front. But during this time, we have been walking on a straight road and have not deviated or turned."

"Why is this happening?"

Zhu Quan was filled with curiosity: "Is there something strange going on in this forest? Could it be that the military commander ran away?"

Zhuang Fan also came to Shang Lu's side with a solemn expression.

Although he had been in the army for a long time, he had always been in the county military system and had never been to the border areas. Naturally, he had never encountered such a situation. He guessed nervously, "Sima, are we ambushed again?"

Before Shang Lu could answer, Zhu Quan shook his head. "Are the Chu army so arrogant? They set a trap right under the nose of Xingshan Military Town? Are all the generals and wizards in the military town camp blind? They were touched right in front of their noses, but they didn't react at all?"

Shang Lu also didn't think this was an ambush by the Chu army.

Just as Zhu Quan said, if the Chu army were allowed to sneak here and set these traps, there would be no need for the Xingshan camp to exist.

By that moment, Xingshan would most likely have been lost, and Pakistan would have to organize a new line of defense.

“Maybe it’s not a trap, but a special defense mechanism here.” Shang Lu pondered.

Xingshan Military Town was clearly at the top of the mountain ahead, but it was getting farther and farther away, and further and further away...

This situation is like encountering a mirage in the desert.

Could it be that this place is also shrouded in a layer of mirage?
Shang Lu asked Zhu Quan to call Tu Bin, intending to ask this subordinate who came from the border army whether he knew the reason for this situation.

At the same time, he took out the Wind and Mist Bead from the Impermanence Order, put it in his mouth and blew a strong wind to see if he could blow away the mirage.

As soon as Shang Lu put the Wind Mist Pearl into his mouth, the veins on the trees beside the road began to twist and wriggle, soon turning into strange eyes.

Many people in the team saw this strange situation.

Although the laborers were frightened by the tree eyes, they did not panic because of their previous experience. Instead, they hid under the grain carts with their heads in their hands amid the shouts of Zhu Quan, Zhuang Fan and others.

The county soldiers quickly formed their battle lines amid exclamations.

The shield soldiers were in the front, the spear soldiers were in the middle, and the archers drew their arrows, forming a three-element battle formation.

Judging from his reaction and speed, he already has the demeanor of an elite soldier.

Shang Lu guessed that the "eyes" that appeared on the surrounding trees should be friends rather than enemies, but he did not stop the county soldiers from forming a battle line.

It is never wrong to be cautious in everything, and it can also help train the reaction speed of the county soldiers.

The "eyes" on the surrounding trees were somewhat surprised by the reaction of the county soldiers and murmured something. Unfortunately, it was not known whether it was due to witchcraft interference or some other reason, so it was difficult to hear what they were talking about.

The tree-patterned eye closest to Shang Lu and the others suddenly spoke in human language: "Come here, please identify yourself!"

"We are the grain transport team sent by Baiyi County."

Shang Lu loudly announced his identity, took out the token of the fake Sima, and the relevant documents issued by Baiyi County.

The tree pattern eyes twisted and transformed into a witchcraft spell, projecting a yellow light that covered the fake Sima token and the document. After a moment, the yellow light dissipated, and the witchcraft spell turned back into the tree pattern eyes.

"Your identity has been verified, and you are allowed to pass. Follow the direction indicated by the branch, and do not rush in, or you will lose your life!"

After saying this, without waiting for Shang Lu to reply, the strange eyes on the trees disappeared all at once, turning back into normal tree patterns.

But the branches of every tree turned together and pointed in the same direction.

However, this direction was not towards the military town on the top of the mountain, but pointed to the other side.

Zhu Quan, Zhuang Fan and others all looked at Shang Lu, waiting for him to make a decision.

Shang Lu did not hesitate and immediately gave the order, asking the team to move forward along the guidance of the branches.

If this was a trap set by the Chu army, they would have just executed it. Why would they have to come up with all these tricks?

During the march, Shang Lu called Uncle Huai to his side and asked in a low voice about the condition of the trees.

Uncle Huai said: "They are not monsters, but some kind of witchcraft that turned them into puppet spies."

"Sure enough." Shang Lu nodded and said no more.

The grain transport team followed the guidance of the tree branches and encountered several identity checks along the way.

Some are soldiers on patrol and defense, while others are rocks that have been cast with spells.

Shanglu and his companions wandered around in the mountains as if they were walking in a maze.

Fortunately, along the way, the trees and rocks that guided the direction of progress all released magical powers, allowing everyone to walk on the rugged mountains as if it were flat ground, and also making it easy for the grain carts to move.

Otherwise, their journey will be extremely painful.

Two hours later, Shang Lu and his men finally passed through the mirage array in the mountains and arrived outside the Xingshan military town.

When you look from a distance, you can only see the general appearance of the military town. Only when you get closer and take a closer look can you see the detailed scene of this military town.

There are many military forts around Xingshan Military Town, which are in a jagged shape and protect each other.

In addition to the watchtowers, there are also huge crossbows on the town wall.

Each crossbow is engraved with witchcraft arrays and witchcraft characters, and you can tell at a glance that it is extremely powerful. However, the conditions for use are relatively harsh, and it requires the coordination of multiple people to fire.

In addition, there are several witchcraft formations and many strange witchcraft spells built inside and outside the military town.

These are just what is visible, and there are countless mechanisms and traps hidden in the dark.

As soon as Shang Lu arrived here, his intuition told him that this place was full of dangers and he must not make any mistakes.

Shang Lu also quickly reminded the civilians and county soldiers in the team.

However, Sanniang didn't care about these. She looked around curiously, and was particularly interested in the witch array mechanisms here, which scared Shang Lu.

But Shang Lu soon discovered that the traps here would not be activated by Sanniang, so he put his mind at ease and sighed, "My Sanniang is really amazing."

In addition to defensive facilities, border troops are often seen running around here.

Some of them were responsible for guard and patrol, some were rushing to the war zone, or withdrawing from the war zone - although Xingshan Military Town was on the front line, it was still some distance away from the war zone.

From time to time, wizards would fly across the sky, and even some strange-looking wizard beasts would pass by.

It presents a busy scene.

It is busy but not chaotic, nor noisy, giving people the feeling that it is a precision machine running.

This kind of scene is rarely seen even in the Witch Academy. After verifying their identities again, Shang Lu and his companions finally entered the Xingshan Military Town.

As soon as we entered the town, we saw a group of fully armed border troops, ready to leave in a menacing manner.

Upon seeing this, Shang Lu, Du Feng, Zhuang Fan and others hurriedly called on their county soldiers and civilians to move aside and clear the road.

The general leading this border army was riding a rhinoceros-like witch beast. It was black all over and gave off an oppressive chill.

When passing by Shang Lu and the others, the witch beast seemed to sense the aura of a "kind" from Heiyun. It glanced at it, puffing air from its nose, with a face full of contempt and provocation.

How could Heiyun have been so angry before? He immediately rushed forward to teach this witch beast a lesson for looking down on and provoking it.

Fortunately, Shang Lu reacted quickly and grabbed it, preventing it from getting into trouble.

Regardless of whether they can win the battle or not, it is obvious that this border army is heading to the war zone. If Hei Yun really rushes forward, he will inevitably be charged with obstructing military operations.

By then, even if Heiyun had the talent to be a dragon horse, he would probably be killed and made into horse meat. And this group of people would also be implicated.

The black cloud was suppressed, but the commander of the border troops also noticed it.

Instead of scolding it, he praised it, "Good horse! A warhorse should have such a stubborn temper!" Then he raised his hand and patted his rhino witch beast on the head, scolding it with a smile, "Use your violent temper on the battlefield and kill more foreign enemies!"

Then, the commander glanced at Shang Lu, nodded as a greeting, and pointed the way, saying, "Are you here to escort food and military supplies? Go to the east of the city, where the warehouse manager will take over with you."

"Thank you for telling me." Shang Lu bowed.

The military commander here said no more and led his knights out of the city gate.

Shang Lu and his companions set out again and soon arrived at the east of the city, where they indeed saw the military granary.

Hearing that the military supplies and fodder from Baiyi County had been delivered, the military warehouse officer brought several clerks to carefully check and inspect the supplies. After finishing, they signed and sealed the handover document.

"All the supplies have been delivered, thank you for your hard work, Sima Shang."

The warehouse officer handed the signed document to Shang Lu and said, "The general's office issued an order a few days ago, asking the people from each county to stay in the military town and wait for orders. Sima Shang, lead your county soldiers to the north of the city, and someone will arrange a place for you to stay and give you follow-up orders."

Shang Lu had already received the order from Zishu to stay at the Xingshan front line. He had been thinking about what excuse he could come up with to stay along the way, but he didn't expect that he didn't have to worry about it at all.

But the general wanted to keep the county soldiers who were escorting the grain and grass. Was it because the front line was short of manpower? Or was a war about to break out?
Shang Lu used his eloquence to ask a question in a roundabout way.

The warehouse officer just said he didn't know.

I just don't know if he really doesn't know, or if he is cautious enough and doesn't want to disclose the secret.

Seeing this, Shang Lu did not ask too many questions, for fear of being mistaken as a spy from the enemy country.

He just asked with concern: "Where are the civilians I brought with me? How are they arranged?"

The warehouse manager knew: "Someone will escort them back to the rear later, Shang Sima doesn't need to worry."

Shang Lu nodded, put away the handover document, and put it into the Impermanence Order. Then he returned to the team and told the county soldiers and civilians about the arrangement.

Although the people were reluctant to leave Shanglu, they did not want to stay in Xingshan even more. They were all ordinary people and there was no point in them staying here.

As for the county soldiers, their reaction was beyond Shang Lu's expectations.

I thought they would be afraid or even resist, but except for a few people with bitter looks on their faces, the rest of them looked eager to try.

Although the front line is dangerous, the merits are great and the rewards are high.

The so-called wealth is found in danger!

The county soldiers also wanted to take a chance.

In the previous few incidents, Shang Lu's performance won the unanimous trust of the county soldiers.

In addition, Zhu Quan, Du Feng, Tu Bin and other old subordinates of the bandit Cao's office had been promoting Shang Lu's good fortune and generosity in the team, making the two hundred or so county soldiers believe that following Shang Lu would not only allow them to make meritorious deeds, but also they would not have to worry about their credit being withheld.

Under such circumstances, they would naturally be willing to stay in Xingshan and follow Shanglu to fight for a rich and prosperous future.

This saved Shanglu a lot of trouble.

He had prepared a lot of speeches to boost the morale of the county soldiers, but now they are completely useless.

The warehouse department arranged for several military officers to take the civilians away and place them together with civilians from several other counties, waiting for the general's office to send troops to transport them and the wounded to the rear.

Shang Lu and his men left the military warehouse and went to the east of the city on their own.

After checking in, we were quickly arranged into a camp.

The camp is not big, but it is enough to accommodate more than two hundred county soldiers.

There is also a training ground in the center of the camp, which is convenient for daily training.

This camp was occupied not long ago, and bedding and other items were still there. When Shang Lu and his companions arrived, they only needed to do a simple cleanup before they could move in.

While they were busy, a quartermaster came with his men and brought medicine and rewards to Shang Lu and his men, and also brought an order from the General's Mansion:
"Sima Shang, you have worked hard all the way and fought a fierce battle with the Chu army. You should rest here for a few days and wait for follow-up orders. These money, silver and spiritual liquid are rewards from the General's Mansion."

Shang Lu was very considerate. After thanking the quartermaster, he stuffed a silver cake and a box of spiritual liquid into his sleeve.

The quartermaster secretly weighed the amount, a hint of joy flashed across his brows, and his attitude changed from being businesslike to becoming much more enthusiastic.

"As soon as I saw Sima Shang, I felt close to him. If you need help with anything in the future, as long as it is not against any rules or disciplines, feel free to come to me."

"I also feel that we are close, and we will definitely have more contact in the future."

Shang Lu smiled and cupped his hands, not taking the quartermaster's promise seriously. He gave him these benefits just in the hope that he would not embarrass them when distributing military supplies.

After seeing off the quartermaster, Shang Lu distributed all the rewards sent from the General's Mansion to the county soldiers.

Those who performed well in the battle with the Chu army's Shen Shi and the county soldiers who were injured were rewarded with a portion of spiritual liquid.

This also made the county soldiers more and more convinced that even if they could not embark on the path of cultivation by following Shang Lu, they could still get enough reward money and return to become rich men.

The morale of the county soldiers became increasingly high.

Even after cleaning the camp, they did not rest but started training spontaneously.

When the two military commanders Zhu Quan and Zhuang Fan saw this, they thought that the army's morale could be restored, so they quickly summoned the generals and squad leaders under their command and asked them to organize the soldiers to conduct battle formation drills.

It was night in a blink of an eye.

The county soldiers had worked hard along the way and their spirits were extremely tense.

When we arrived at Xingshan Military Town, we relaxed all of a sudden, and then we trained hard for a while. Not long after dinner, we felt sleepy and fell into a deep sleep in the barracks.

As Sima, Shang Lu had a separate room in the camp and did not have to squeeze into a large dormitory with the county soldiers.

Because of the need to practice, and with Sanniang around, Shang Lu had no choice but to eat and live with the county soldiers. As long as he did a good job of rewarding and punishing, he could keep the county soldiers' morale high.

That night, Shang Lu practiced until midnight.

After completing the absorption of the Yin energy of the midnight hour with the Dragon and Tiger Elixir Qi, Shang Lu took out the soul altar and prepared to offer sacrifices to Tu Bo and the pig-bodied, eight-legged, snake-tailed god to thank them for their help and protection along the way.

However, just as Shang Lu lit the incense and offered it, an eye suddenly appeared in the night sky.

Shang Lu was instantly horrified.

He knew that he was being targeted by a powerful being!

(End of this chapter)