Under the moonlight,
Two fine horses galloped, their riders, He Li and Kuer. He Li, with his right hand on the reins, opened the cover of his watch with his left, snapping a photo of the giant eagle soaring overhead and sending it back to the Lingguan Association in Binjiang City.
As the giant eagle flew further away, the horses began to fall behind.
"Xiao Lan, keep up with him!" He Li shouted to Xiao Lan, while simultaneously pulling a tracker from the bag hanging on his saddle and tossing it out.
Xiao Lan leaped up, caught the tracker in its mouth, and as it landed, it shot forward like a blue lightning bolt.
"Your companion is amazing!" Kuer exclaimed in admiration.
He Li made a gesture to Kuer, smiling proudly.
Not long after,
The tracker on his watch indicated Xiao Lan had stopped.
He Li's heart skipped a beat, wondering if something had happened to Xiao Lan. With this unease, he urged his horse forward.
The signal source was getting closer.
He Li and Kuer stopped at the foot of the mountain. In the distance, on the slope, Xiao Lan stood quietly. The moon hung high in the sky, and Xiao Lan, bathed in its light, truly resembled a painting of a wolf king howling at the moon.
He Li and Kuer exchanged a glance, dismounted simultaneously, grabbed their weapons, and ran up the slope.
"Xiao Lan! Why did you stop?"
Xiao Lan turned to look at He Li, then gestured towards the opposite side, indicating a situation ahead.
He Li and Kuer stood on the slope. Below them was a rocky valley, more like a dried-up riverbed, filled with loose stones. The mountain walls on either side were sheer and steep. In the center of the valley stood a giant poplar tree, and the giant eagle perched atop its highest branches, its emerald eyes fixed on the two humans and one dog on the slope.
"That's the Mother of Poplars," Kuer said in a low voice.
He Li turned to look at Kuer and asked, "The Mother of Poplars? Then what was that Poplar King we blew up during the day?"
Kuer shook his head. "It's different. This Mother of Poplars is over 3,600 years old and is the mother of the vast poplar forest in the lower reaches of the Yarkand River."
He Li nodded, then paused, quickly asking, "You said how old this tree is?"
"Over 3,600 years old," Kuer replied.
He Li's gaze returned to the Mother of Poplars. A poplar tree over 3,600 years old.
Kuer added, "There's a saying about poplars: 'Three thousand years of life, three thousand years of not falling after death, and three thousand years of not decaying after falling.'"
He Li narrowed his eyes and murmured softly, "That's truly remarkable."
Suddenly,
The giant eagle atop the Mother of Poplars spread its wings and let out a series of piercing cries. Unlike the earth-shattering screeches from their previous encounter, these cries were filled with a sense of grief and indignation, like the unwilling roars of a defeated beast.
The giant eagle's eyes were fixed on He Li, as if trying to convey something.
Then, the giant eagle spread its wings and soared into the sky, stirring up a gale.
The giant eagle spread its wings in the air, positioning itself before the full moon.
"Caw!!!"
Another piercing cry.
The next moment,
Bang!
The giant eagle exploded in mid-air, turning into a shower of blood that rained down into the valley. The blood splattered onto the Mother of Poplars, staining it and the surrounding rocks with the giant eagle's essence.
He Li was stunned. He stared blankly at the scene before him. It seemed the giant eagle had intended for He Li to witness this moment all along,
Leading him here, only to explode into blood, nourishing the Mother of Poplars.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
He Li felt each heartbeat resonating with a heavy, powerful rhythm, like thunderous drums. He could clearly feel the minute friction of his cells with every breath, with strands of spiritual energy flowing through the microscopic gaps between them.
Hoo... Hoo... Hoo...
Ha...
He Li took a few deep breaths, then exhaled slowly. He turned to look at Kuer, whose expression was still one of stunned disbelief, and said, "Let's go down and take a look, and perhaps test your Mother of Poplars."
Kuer snapped out of his shock and nodded. "Alright."
As the two were about to descend,
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed through the entire valley and mountains.
The entire valley began to tremble, rocks tumbled down, and the river water in the valley surged, then exploded upwards, forming a curtain of water.
Immediately after,
The Mother of Poplars, over 3,600 years old and still glistening with the giant eagle's blood, uprooted itself and shot towards the sky, flying towards the southwest.
After the Mother of Poplars departed, the water curtain fell, and the earth's tremors ceased.
He Li, who had fallen to the ground, looked at the deep pit left in the valley by the departed Mother of Poplars. He turned to Kuer and said,
"Explain this to me, Mr. Tian Shan Snow Lotus. How did your Mother of Poplars just fly away after taking a bath?"
Kuer rolled his eyes at He Li. "How should I know?"
Kuer gazed in the direction the Mother of Poplars had flown, then fell silent. "That's West Kunlun, the Father of Glaciers, Muztagh Ata."
He Li checked the time. It was 4:27 AM. He turned and looked into the distance. The first rays of dawn had broken through the clouds. Then, more and more golden beams rose from the horizon, and countless rays of golden light pierced through the sky, shining upon the distant snow-capped mountains.
The snow-white turned golden, the clouds and mist transformed into rosy clouds, a dazzling golden hue, radiating immense light, magnificent and grand, forming the breathtaking spectacle of "Golden Mountain in the Sun."
A beauty that was beyond words, touching the soul.
He Li murmured, "Golden Mountain in the Sun, it's truly indescribably magnificent."
Kuer's expression was calm. "Beautiful? I find it ordinary. Oh... perhaps I've seen it too much, so I'm used to it."
He Li lowered his eyelids and spat at Kuer. A show-offy snow lotus? He took out his phone and frantically took photos of the "Golden Mountain in the Sun," sending them to the group.
Then,
The two descended the mountain, rested briefly, took out their supplies, and ate something.
He Li also received a reply from Sister Jiang. The result was that the Hu Yang Ghost Wood roots in Binjiang were not from the Poplar King.
"It seems then that the Hu Yang Ghost Wood must be that departed Mother of Poplars," He Li said.
Kuer took a bite of jerky. "When the data was sent from your Binjiang branch, our Tarim branch immediately detected the Mother of Poplars, and there were no fluctuations of demonic energy.
However, now that the Mother of Poplars has flown away and possesses such immense demonic power,
It's likely related to the blood of that giant eagle."
He Li asked, "You mean the blood of the giant eagle demon awakened the Mother of Poplars?"
Kuer nodded. "Exactly. The demonic energy of the Hu Yang Ghost Wood is extremely difficult to detect. For the Mother of Poplars, the mother of the poplar forest in the lower reaches of the Yarkand River, to be like a dead tree with no demonic energy is understandable."
...