The interior of the grotto was unexpectedly deep. There were stone staircases spiraling down at his feet. With the dim light, he could also see multiple slide rails embedded in the rock walls on both sides, which were probably used to place movable gates. However, due to years of disrepair, these grooves have been blocked by moss, and the stone slabs used as gates are broken everywhere.
Obviously, this place is definitely not a facility like an ancient tomb or mausoleum. Not only did people come in and out of it, but they also had permanent guards.
After walking about twenty or thirty meters, Xia Fan suddenly heard a strange sound.
It's kind of like the background noise a radio makes when there's no signal, a rustling sound.
It made goosebumps appear on his back.
The radio is a product of the electronic age and would never have appeared in this period. Because of this, it seems particularly scary!
Someone behind him pulled the corner of his clothes.
"What, what is this sound?"
He originally thought it was Wei Wushuang, but when the other party opened his mouth, he realized it was Shangguan Cai, and there was a rare fluctuation in her voice.
"I don't know." Xia Fan looked back at her in surprise, "You're not afraid, are you?"
"Isn't it human nature to be afraid of unknown things?" Shangguan Cai gritted his teeth and replied.
"But you're not afraid of the ghost before."
"That's just a physical object. What's there to be afraid of? You can destroy it if you touch it. It's completely different from the situation here, okay?"
It seems to make sense.
"Brother Xia, I'm a little scared too..." Wei Wushuang couldn't help but echoed, "This place always feels so evil..."
The rustling sound at this time was getting louder and louder, from being vague to being everywhere, and the more it sounded, the more it sounded like electromagnetic noise.
This made Xia Fan feel a little worried.
But when he thought that the answer was close at hand, he still took the step forward.
"Look further down. If we still can't find anyone, we will return to the entrance."
Fortunately, they didn't walk long this time before they reached the bottom of the grotto. There was also a thick stone door at the end, but on the other side of the door, he saw a flickering light of fire.
This means that the Du brothers are not far away.
They finally caught each other's tail!
Xia Fan put out the oil lamp, made a "prepare to engage the enemy" gesture behind him, and then pulled out the mahogany sword from his waist.
This also calmed the minds of the other three people.
Although the weird sounds are still there, now that the people from Hu Zhi County have been discovered, it proves that this place is not as dangerous as expected.
When everyone ducked through the second stone door and walked a few more steps, the target's figure finally came into view.
It was a cave-like grotto with torches hanging around it. I don't know if it was there originally or was added later. There are several openings around the grotto, but they are not deep and you can see to the end at a glance. Judging from the fence at the door, those small holes are probably used as prisons.
The Du brothers were busy picking up a pile of clothes, seemingly intending to burn them on the spot, and did not notice anyone sneaking in at the door.
There will never be a better opportunity than now.
Xia Fan stretched out his hand and made three, two, and one gestures in sequence.
"action!"
Four people swarmed up from four directions and rushed towards the two brothers.
The distance of less than ten meters was no more than the blink of an eye for the opponent, and the huge background noise covered up the sound of sprinting footsteps. The moment the opponent heard the sound, Xia Fan and others were already in front of him.
The two brothers may have learned a little martial arts, but in the face of the overwhelming speed advantage, they didn't even have a chance to fight back. One of them was knocked to the ground in an instant, while the other rolled on the spot and tried to escape, but was hit in the ankle by Shangguan Cai's accurate shot and fell down.
A horrifying thing happened. The person who was shot in the foot disappeared instantly as if he had melted.
"No, Silver Brother!"
The other person screamed miserably. He twisted and tried to go to the location where the other person disappeared, but Wei Wushuang was sitting firmly under him, unable to move even an inch.
How can such a big living person just say that he is gone
Xia Fan quickly took two steps forward, but stopped suddenly.
He couldn't help but take a deep breath and uttered the word "fuck" almost subconsciously.
What suddenly appeared before our eyes was a huge bronze disc!
It is almost five meters wide and lies horizontally in the center of the cave. Because it is located on a low ground, it was not seen by everyone at first. Inside it, there are about twenty hexagonal openings, each with a diameter of nearly fifty centimeters, enough to fit an adult. These openings are neatly placed together, like a honeycomb made of metal!
In Xia Fan's impression, the largest bronze artifact discovered by archeology, the "Houmuwu Ding", was only over one meter long, but the bronze creation in front of him was already five times as long as the former, and the internal complexity was not at the same level.
More importantly, why is it necessary to cast such a huge bronze disc in this dark cave
Xia Fan carefully followed the edge to search, and soon found the trace of the fallen person in an opening.
Since the man called him Brother Yin, it must have been Du Mingyin who fell.
He seemed to have temporarily fallen into a coma due to the impact. His whole body was stuck about half a meter above the ground, and only his head could be seen from above.
However, Xia Fan soon discovered that there were barbs protruding from the inside of the small bronze wall above Du Mingyin's head, which was obviously designed to prevent people who had fallen from climbing out. At the same time, he also noticed that the entire casting "hive" was covered with brown scabs, especially inside the openings. Some of the scabs were relatively new, showing a dim blood red color under the light of the torch.
This was a mixture of blood and bronze. He realized that the bronze had been oxidized over the years, and the surface gradually peeled off. When these raised surfaces were soaked in blood, they would form scab-like agglomerates.
He suppressed the chill in his heart and quickly returned to Du Mingjin, "What on earth is going on!?"
"My brother...can you save my brother first!"
Du Mingjin looked at the position where his brother had fallen with a look of despair.
"There are metal barbs on top. Without the tools at hand, it would be impossible to get him out. If you tell me everything you know, I might even consider saving his life."
"No...it's too late. That thing is about to shrink."
"What does shrinking mean?" Xia Fan grabbed his collar and shouted, "What is that thing for?"
Du Mingjin was shaken back and forth, his eyes a little dazed.
"You've never interrogated anyone, have you?" Shangguan Cai came over and said.
"Could it be that you have experience?"
"I haven't done it myself, but I've seen it many times." She didn't know when she had picked up half of the spear. "You can't ask anything with such gentle questions like yours."
Xia Fan consciously gave up his position.
Shangguan Cai knelt down and motioned to Wei Wushuang to lift him up and sit face to face, then waved his hand and slapped him away -
"Snapped!"
The force was so strong that blood immediately flowed from the corner of Du Mingjin's mouth.
"look at me."
Shangguan Cai picked up the tip of the spear and waved it in front of him, then stabbed it hard.
“Ahhhh——!”
A piercing scream suddenly drowned out the rustling noise in the grotto.