After dealing with the old hunter Yang Dong, we took a brief rest and headed towards Snake Mountain.
It was already past three o'clock in the afternoon.
The mountain wind was a bit strong, whistling through the forest, shaking the trees, and the dense vegetation rustled in the wind.
There was no road in the forest, so the old hunter led the way, wielding a hunting knife. We followed behind him, moving forward cautiously.
We encountered a lot of snakes on the road, most of which were poisonous, but we avoided them, so no one was bitten.
The needle of the small compass in Wang Jiuyang's hand still pointed to the direction of the top of the mountain.
The closer you get to the top of the mountain, the more poisonous snakes there are.
Just now, the young monk Yuquan was almost bitten by a small green snake. Fortunately, Wang Jiuyang came to his aid and killed the poisonous snake in time.
However, even so, the way up the mountain still seems a bit difficult.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon, our group of nine people finally reached the halfway point of the mountain. Of course, there were still two zombies among them.
By this time the sky was slowly getting dark.
Following the advice of the old hunter Yang Dong, we found a vacant lot and decided to spend the night there.
In the evening, the seven of us sat around the fire.
The blazing fire made the dry wood crackle. Because realgar powder was scattered around, the snakes and rats did not dare to approach us.
Yuquan hunted for a pheasant and found one from nowhere.
The pheasant was quite fat, so we roasted it and ate it. The old hunter was even more domineering, and he actually caught a poisonous snake, removed the poison, and roasted it for food.
At first, none of us dared to eat the meat of that poisonous snake. But seeing the old hunter smacking his lips, we all became envious. Later, after I tasted the taste of that snake meat, the others also started to eat it.
Especially Yuquan, after eating all the snake meat, he still urged the old hunter to catch snakes.
For a time, snake meat became a delicacy.
Unfortunately, those poisonous snakes that tried to get close to us were caught by the old hunter.
It was almost ten o'clock in the evening before we rested together. I had planned to keep watch, but Fatty Li rushed to keep watch in order to show off in front of Lou Xiaoman. I had no objection to this.
Nothing happened overnight!
When the sun rose in the morning, we continued heading towards the mountain without eating.
I was extra careful and cautious on the road, which helped me avoid some unnecessary trouble.
Finally, near noon, we arrived at the place indicated by the small compass.
It was a cave, and the surrounding rocks were very loose and full of holes. The rocks seemed to be weathering.
The vegetation at the entrance of the cave showed signs of human destruction. My master Zhang Chu even found a woman's shoe at the entrance of the cave.
After Lou Xiaoman saw the women's shoes, she was very excited.
Lou Xiaoman said to us: "These are Xilan's shoes. I won't make a mistake! Xilan must be in this cave."
We were all very excited when we heard that Zhao Xilan was really in this cave. After all, we came here to find Zhao Xilan. If we could find her earlier, we wouldn't have to waste too much time.
Then, we walked into the cave while being cautious.
Of course, before entering the cave, we prepared torches and flashlights.
The cave is very humid, with many paths, most of which are separated by stone walls, forming small paths of varying widths.
road.
There were a lot of gravel scattered on the road, and even my shoes were worn out in many places.
Although the path was difficult to walk on and it was hard to tell the way with its twists and turns, we had Wang Jiuyang's small compass, so we followed the guidance of the small compass and soon arrived at a cave at the end of the cave.
The rocks surrounding the cave are all black in color, and there is a whistling sound of wind in the cave.
Shining the flashlight inside, it cannot illuminate the entire cave.
Lou Xiaoman was a little anxious, so she shouted into the cave, "Hey! Is there anyone there? Xilan, can you hear me?"
But inside the cave, apart from the whistling sound of the wind, there was no other sound at all.
No one answered Lou Xiaoman at all.
At this time, Wang Jiuyang said: "My small compass shows that Zhao Xilan should be inside this cave. I think we should just go in directly. There is no need to..."
But before Wang Jiuyang finished speaking, he was interrupted by the old hunter Yang Dong who was standing beside him. Yang Dong suddenly found a piece of soft leather in his hand.
The surface of the leather looks a bit like fish scales.
Yang Dong said: "Don't rush into this cave. Look at what I have in my hand. It is a piece of snake skin, shed by a python. So I suspect there may be a python in this cave."
When talking about pythons, everyone showed surprised expressions on their faces.
Lou Xiaoman's face turned pale, and she asked worriedly, "If there is a python, will my disciple Xilan be attacked by it? It's been so many days, so her life is in danger..."
The words stopped here and Lou Xiaoman choked and started crying.
I took the long snake skin from the hunter Yang Dong and took a look. It was indeed the skin of a python. I had seen pythons shed their skin in "Animal World".
For a moment, no one paid attention.
But we still have to go into the cave. After all, Zhao Xilan is inside the cave.
But if there really is a python in the cave, we might be attacked.
So after discussing for a while, we decided to enter the cave.
However, before entering the cave, each of us carried a life-saving talisman.
The life-saving talisman was taken out from Wang Jiuyang's pocket. This surprised me.
You know, the life-saving talisman is a good thing, definitely more precious than the talismans I have seen before. Even the life-saving talisman in the Yin-Yang Soul Crossing Notes is just a simple introduction, without any specific pictures or texts.
So, I don’t know how to draw a life-saving talisman.
But Wang Jiuyang took out a life-saving talisman from his body, which was a bit scary. And there was not just one life-saving talisman, but seven.
It seems that Wang Jiuyang must have had another opportunity. Otherwise, he would not have been able to take out seven life-saving talismans at once.
In my opinion, even if there are senior masters who are much more advanced than me, there are definitely not many people who can take out the life-saving talisman.
With the life-saving talisman, we formed a defensive formation and slowly moved into the cave.
It was even more humid inside the cave, and there was no light at all.
The wind, however, blows from inside the cave, which means that the inside of the cave may be connected to somewhere outside, so that the wind can blow in.
The space inside the cave is very large, half the size of a football field. There are many stalagmites on the top of the cave, and water keeps dripping down from the stalagmites. Of course, not all stalagmites drip water.
This is why Stone
That's why it's so humid inside the cave.
However, what we didn't expect was that in the middle of the cave, where the flashlight beam could reach, we actually found a coffin.
That’s right, it’s a coffin!
It was a blackened coffin, the boards of which had rotted away and were broken in many places. There was nothing around the coffin, just the coffin lying there.
This took us all by surprise.
For a moment, we stood still and didn't dare to move.
Wang Jiuyang looked at the small compass in his hand and said to us: "According to the guidance of the compass, Zhao Xilan should be inside the coffin."
What? Zhao Xilan is inside the coffin? Doesn't that mean Zhao Xilan is dead!
Unable to accept this reality, Lou Xiaoman's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground.
"How could this happen? How could this happen? ... How could Xilan die out of the blue? No, it can't happen. Xilan won't die!"
Lou Xiaoman screamed hysterically. She couldn't accept this fact.
I stood aside and comforted her, "Master Lou, since things have developed to this point, you should just accept the reality. Although we don't want to see Zhao Xilan die, this is fate and there is nothing we can do about it. Please accept my condolences."
But Lou Xiaoman still yelled, "No, it can't be! It's fake, it must be fake, just like what happened at the Longtan Inn, it's all fake."
There is nothing we can do about Lou Xiaoman’s stubbornness.
After Lou Xiaoman was helped up by Fatty Li, she rushed directly towards the coffin.
We wanted to stop them, but it was impossible in the dark.
And the inside of the cave is a bit slippery.
"Master Lou, don't go over there yet!"
I reminded him solemnly.
But Lou Xiaoman didn't care at all.
Soon Lou Xiaoman grabbed the torch and rushed to the black coffin.
With a "bang", Lou Xiaoman pushed open the lid of the black coffin.
With the help of the torchlight, Lou Xiaoman leaned over and looked over.
But after seeing what was inside the coffin, Lou Xiaoman was stunned.
Then, a complicated expression appeared on Lou Xiaoman's face.
"Master Lou, how is it, is it Xilan?"
I asked.
Lou Xiaoman looked a little dull, and slowly shook her head, saying, "No...it's not Xilan, it's a straw man!"
What, it’s not Zhao Xilan, but a straw man!
We were all quite surprised when we heard this.
I hurried over with my master Zhang Chu.
When they walked in, they saw that there was indeed a straw man inside the broken coffin. There was also a birth date and time stamped on the straw man's body. The birth date and time stamp was also Zhao Xilan's birth date and time.
The same bloody symbol also appeared at the bottom of the coffin.
That kind of symbol is called a "stand-in symbol," Wang Jiuyang told me about it before.
Soon we all gathered in front of the black coffin.
In order to prevent there from being any poisonous insects under the birth chart, we did not remove the birth chart but directly burned the scarecrow in the coffin with torches.
However, no poisonous insect appeared in the firelight.
But why does the straw man appear
Who is playing tricks on us
I really can't understand it.
Just when the flames had engulfed most of the straw man in the rotten coffin, suddenly, a melodious flute sound came from the entrance of the cave.
(to be continued)
(End of this chapter) (End of this chapter)