This is a graveyard for all sorts of animals, at least so far they haven't seen any human remains, which makes them feel somewhat better.

  It's true that the weather here is changeable. By around dusk, large patches of dark clouds began to gather, and what was originally a line of sky became a black dragon.

  Cha Wenbin looked up at the clouds that were constantly surging and said, "These clouds have a tendency to press down, we need to make preparations to deal with it. I estimate that there will be a big snowfall soon. Once the cloud layer completely covers the sky, there is no difference between day and night here. It's best to clear out a place first, and we'll spend the night here tonight."

  Lao Dao gave a loud order, and several of his subordinates immediately began to move the scattered bones. Chao Zi and Zhuo Xiong were also busy, while Heng Roulian Da Shan proved to these newcomers what true strength looked like!

  They chose a spot under an overhanging stone wall, and to be on the safe side, Old Knife arranged some large bones, like yak ribs, in a circle around the outside. This way, even if there were any fierce beasts, they wouldn't be able to charge in all at once. Heaven knows whether this place was not only an animal graveyard but also a den of wolves, for these carcasses could feed dozens of wolf packs.

  There was no firewood available for living, they all brought smokeless coal, and pulled out some dry grass moss in the canyon, lit up a few small coal stoves, this group of people divided into two groups and sat around separately.

  Chaozi suggested going to the deer that had just jumped down and getting some meat to roast, but was repeatedly stopped by Xiao Zhe Luo: "No way, it can't be done, this is food offered to the mountain god, how can you eat it? If the mountain god gets angry, none of us can leave."

  Zha Wenbin told Zhe Luo to ignore him, this kid was never telling the truth.

  After dinner, Lao Dao came over to discuss something with Cha Wenbin. Based on his judgment, at the current speed, they would be able to leave the Wild Ox Gorge by tomorrow evening. So he told them to rest and sleep well that night, and his men would take care of the night watch. Chaozi had wanted to share some of the workload, but seeing Lao Dao's cold face, he thought: Fine, you guys are so capable, I'll just go to bed then.

  When they came out, they brought a total of four military tents. The two outside were Old Knife and his five men, with one on guard duty and the other four taking turns resting. Cha Wenbin and his group were assigned to the innermost tent, which was also a way of protecting them.

  The heavens were gracious and didn't snow, but on the plateau at night, apart from sleeping, there was nothing else to do for entertainment, so everyone got into their sleeping bags early, after walking all day, Xiao Zhe Luo fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

  Zha Wenbin slept in the middle, with Heng Roulian and Xiang Dao on either side. The snoring of these two people, one big and one small, was like a large and small violin playing a nasal symphony that made Zha Wenbin feel like he was about to collapse. He couldn't sleep anymore, so he got up to take a look at what was different about the Wild Cow Gorge tonight.

  Mr. Cha just came out and someone asked: "Can't Mr. Cha sleep?"

  He looked up to see Old Knife sitting beside the smokeless coal, holding a rifle and occasionally flipping his palms, perhaps the low temperature at night was indeed a kind of torture for the sentry.

  Cha Wenbin looked at this man who was not talkative, and suddenly had some interest in his heart. He walked up to roast the fire together and said: "The snoring is too loud, can't sleep, come out and see what's different about this ferocious dragon that eats people."

  "Ah?" Lao Dao turned his face to look at the person who had been repeatedly asked to protect. Lao Dao had met countless people in his life, but he couldn't see through this person in front of him. The lines on his face were not etched by years, but by the worries of life and death. He understood that only those who had experienced the edge of death like him would understand this feeling, but he found that Cha Wenbin didn't seem like someone who had been through a battlefield at all.

  Cha Wenbin pulled out a talisman from his sleeve, walked to the front of the skeleton and stuck it on, then came back to Lao Dao and said: "The one over there is for standing guard against visible things, but this one guards against invisible things."

  The old blade blinked his eyes and looked at that ordinary yellow paper. He was a bit unbelievable and said: "Things that can't be seen?"

  Zha Wenbin knew he couldn't accept it, a warrior would only use strength and weapons and blood to defend safety, how could he look up to such a piece of paper: "I am a Taoist, I don't know how they looked at me, this is already the third time I've done things for them. Yes, a Taoist who in many people's eyes is just pretending to be mysterious and deceiving people to get food and drink, mixed with you professional soldiers, it's indeed a bit incongruous."

  Zha Wenbin pointed to the tent inside and said, "My two brothers, like you, were also soldiers. They didn't believe in things they couldn't see either, until they saw it with their own eyes."

  "I don't believe, I only believe in the gun in my hand. Without a gun, I would have died in Vietnam at the age of 18. Ghosts are not as scary to me as those ten-year-old Vietnamese kids." As he said this, a hint of ripples appeared in Lao Dao's eyes, and although it was fleeting, Cha Wenbin caught it.

  He continued, "My duty is to protect you, whether you are a Taoist or a Buddhist, it has nothing to do with me. I also believe that even if there are invisible things, they wouldn't dare to grasp how to deal with me. Because the corpses that have fallen into my hands are countless, if there really is such a thing as ghosts, I would rather hope that they come to take revenge on me, so that I can kill them again and comfort the spirits of those brothers who fought alongside me!"

  "I don't force you to believe, actually I don't want to believe either. If there weren't these things, I wouldn't be so tired."

  Yes, if this world really didn't have those things, how would he become a Taoist? Then his daughter wouldn't be dead and his son wouldn't be blown up. If possible, he'd rather not choose to take the position of sect leader, he's willing to be an ordinary farmer, but now even this wish is a luxury.

  "Huh?" Zhang Wenbin suddenly found something wrong in the sky, stood up, Lao Dao thought he had discovered enemy situation, also cautiously holding his gun and standing up, asked in a low voice: "What's going on?"

  "Something big is going to happen!" Cha Wenbin said with a serious face, Lao Dao knew that the person he was willing to take out and protect must be either a dragon or phoenix among men, or a genius born of heaven. The last time they went on a mission together was still escorting an old man who often appeared on TV for inspection.

  Lao Dao put away his gun and was about to go shout for his brothers, but he was caught by the shoulder by Cha Wenbin, who said: "Don't, this has nothing to do with things that can be seen. This is about those things that cannot be seen."

  As he spoke, Cha Wenbin took out the compass from his pocket and began to walk back and forth within the campsite, occasionally measuring the distance with his feet and hands. After a while, he closed his eyes, pinched his fingers, and started calculating.

  "Hey Lao Dao, do you think we can make it out of here before nightfall tomorrow?" asked Cha Wenbin, gazing up at the sky.

  "Although this area is blank, according to the straight-line distance calculation, we should be able to cross the entire Buffalo Gorge by tomorrow's sunset, even if it's curved, it won't deviate too much."

  "If we can't get out by a certain time, we will be buried here forever."

  "What's wrong, Mr. Cha is afraid?" Old Knife knew that this kind of person wouldn't be afraid of death, he must have found out something.

  Zha Wenbin pointed at the sky and said, "I know you don't believe in that stuff, but I think a field soldier should recognize which star is the reddest."

  "Of course!" Almost all field soldiers have to tell directions by the season and stars, it's a basic survival skill. "That's Mars, which is brightest in this season of the year."

  "Don't you think it's brighter tonight than usual?" Chat Manbin threw out a sentence.

  Although this old knife is not an astronomer, he also found that the Mars tonight seems to be particularly bright, no, it should be said that it's particularly red!

  "Seems like it's a bit, is this what you mean by 'having a situation'?"

  "If you believe it, listen; if not, just consider it a story to pass the time while standing guard." Cha Wenbin glanced at Lao Dao, who was also looking at him. "Mars, in our mouths is also called 'Huo Xing', 'Xuan Xi' or 'Fa Xing' and 'Chi Xing'. But when it appears in the west like today, it's called 'Tian Li'. It's the essence of fire, the son of Chi Di. It's the symbol of Fang Bo, governing the success or failure of the year, controlling the evil spirits, governing the etiquette of the Son of Heaven, and governing the great calamities, death, mourning, and disasters in the destiny. In the eyes of the ancients, it was almost a '妖星' (calamitous star), governing the mistakes of the people under heaven, also governing droughts, famines, wars, deaths, evil spirits, etc. Mars is the etiquette among the Five Constants, and the distinction among the Five Affairs."

  "If that's what you say, doesn't Mars hang in the sky every day? Wouldn't it be a disaster every day?" Old Knife asked with narrowed eyes.

  "No, you see, the reason Mars is so red tonight is that there's another star behind it that's been obscured by half. That star is also red and is known as 'Xin Xiu' or 'Heart Constellation', one of the 28 constellations. It's also called 'Da Huo' (Great Fire), belonging to the seven constellations of the Eastern Blue Dragon, and it represents the supreme imperial power, which is the highest power in human world. When two "fires" meet, they will flash brightly, with one evil and one good engaging in a fierce battle, but the dragon's heart can never defeat the fire spirit. When this fire star completely covers the dragon's heart behind it tomorrow night, it will be the legendary 'Huang Hua Shou Xin' (Mars Guarding the Heart), which occurs only once in a thousand years!"

  It is said that a meteorite fell in Dongjun, and after landing it turned into a stone. Some people carved on the stone "The First Emperor died and the land was divided." When Qin Shi Huang heard about this, he sent an imperial historian to investigate door-to-door, but no one confessed. As a result, all the people living around the stone were arrested and killed, and the meteorite was burned. Soon after, he himself passed away. This ominous sign from heaven is certainly not a good omen.

  "If we consider the Wild Bull Gorge as a dragon, then the dragon's heart will be completely blocked tonight, and we'll be traversing inside a dead dragon. Whether we can get out or not depends on our luck."

  read3;