Chapter 117: Will-o'-the-wisps and dead elephant bones fill the sky
The silent and desolate underground.
It is like a place of eternal darkness where the golden crow falls from the west.
A group of five people were holding lamps, holding swords and guns in their hands, and their eyes were worried. From the beginning, their blood was boiling, but now they have felt unspeakable uneasiness in their hearts.
This place is really weird.
There was no light, no movement... not even signs of life.
Even Zhang Yunqiao, who was visiting the tomb for the first time, knew that although the ancient tomb was a place that isolated the yin and yang of heaven and man, it should not be so dead. Something was obviously not right.
However, I made a promise to the boss before coming down.
You can’t just leave empty-handed.
"Brothers, if you grit your teeth again, if you really go back like this, you will never be able to hold your heads up for the rest of your life."
Zhang Yunqiao walked in front with a spear on his back, glanced at several people and said in a deep voice.
“That’s right, damn it, there have never been any cowards among our bandits in Xiling. It’s a big deal if a person dies and a bird falls to the sky, and the eggs are thrown into the air.”
It seems that the four who are unable to lift their heads are Inspired by words.
The few people who were still a little anxious suddenly felt as if they had been beaten to death.
“Okay, I know that these brothers are all upright men.”
Feel the atmosphere being rekindled.
Zhang Yunqiao couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He has spent most of these years in the mountains and is not very proficient in fighting in the tomb.
But he knows one thing since he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child.
People have three fires of life.
It is difficult for ghosts and gods to invade.
However, once you are discouraged, panicked, and your life fire is weak, you will easily be haunted by evil spirits.
When the life fire is blown out, it will be a dead end.
Such a strange place is filled with gloomy energy, and it looks like a place where evil things are hiding.
Now that they have few people, the only way to break the situation is.
Just work together.
"Next, I'll take the lead. You guys should follow closely and don't get separated."
"Okay!"
The group gathered courage and continued to go deeper.
After walking for about half a quarter of an hour.
Suddenly, Zhang Yunqiao, who was leading the group, stopped and seemed to notice something.
Several people immediately stopped.
Look up and look around.
But the surroundings were still shrouded in darkness, and nothing could be seen.
Someone couldn’t help but ask.
"What love..."
"Shh, listen carefully!"
But before he could say a word, he was interrupted by Zhang Yunqiao's knife-like eyes, and he made a silent gesture .
Seeing this, several people looked at each other, but they did not dare to delay, and they all listened with their ears pricked up.
The silence around me was as quiet as death.
The only movement seemed to be the suppressed breathing of a few people.
But looking at Zhang Yunqiao's solemn expression, they did not dare to question it and could only suppress the distracting thoughts in their hearts.
Soon...
A strange rustling sound came.
The eyes of several people brightened and they continued to listen. The movement became more and more obvious, and it suddenly seemed like something... was crawling on the ground.
This thought together.
It was as if a basin of biting cold water was poured down on my head.
Their newly agitated minds instantly sank.
“Snake?”
“Insect?”
"Or... a ghost?"
Countless weird thoughts flashed through my mind.
“Get out of the way!”
A few people were still hesitating, but Zhang Yunqiao, who had been motionless, suddenly shouted angrily.
With a backhand motion, he pulled out the spear from behind.
Pierced fiercely into the darkness ahead.
Brush——
The red tassel trembled, and the cold light passed by.
A chirping sound suddenly sounded.
It sounded like a cowhide bag being pierced.
Before a few people had time to react, the next moment, a strong fishy smell hit their faces.
At the same time, rainy crashing sounds sounded one after another.
“What is it?”
“Fuck, so damn disgusting.”
“Still talking nonsense, form a formation!”
Dare to go to the tomb early and compete for the first place, more or less, you have strong confidence in your own skills.
It takes almost an instant.
The five men had already raised their long knives, loaded their box cannons, and strode out with lanterns in hand, forming a five-element mandarin duck formation to protect Zhang Yunqiao.
A pair of eyes swept around like swords.
It was not until dozens of breaths later that the surroundings fell into dead silence again, and the five of them turned back.
"Zhang Boutou, are you okay?"
Zhang Yunqiao's body was like a spear, and he shook his head with a stern face.
However, no one noticed that there was a hint of scarlet oozing out of the mouth of the spear he was holding.
Blood!
Only one shot was fired.
He didn't even see clearly what the hell was coming from the mist.
He was already injured.
But his tiger's mouth burst open, his energy and blood surged, and the other party felt uncomfortable.
"It should be okay for now, turn the light closer."
"Okay!"
Hearing what he said, the five of them didn't hesitate. They immediately raised their lanterns, endured the pungent stench, and quickly approached.
The lights disperse the darkness little by little.
Finally...
The figure of the thing gradually appeared.
It turned out to be a toad with a red back and a body covered with poisonous sores!
The spear passed through its abdomen.
Nail it to the ground.
The key is...
The toad is more than half a man tall, with thick limbs, and it looks like a calf when it falls on the spear.
“Hey, this damn toad has become a spirit?”
"Why is it so big!"
Not only the five guys, but also Zhang Yunqiao looked shocked.
Originally, I just noticed the rustling crawling sound coming from far away, and that shot was all based on instinct.
But he never expected it.
The person who was stabbed to death by a gun turned out to be a toad.
Judging from the force returned by the spear before, it would be an exaggeration to say it was a tiger or leopard.
At this moment, I don’t know whether the toad is not dead or what.
My limbs were still moving unconsciously in mid-air, and black blood was seeping out from the hole in my abdomen.
What I heard before was like the sound of rain.
It was caused by spilled blood.
"Zhang Bantou...what should I do?"
The five guys looked scared and subconsciously looked at Zhang Yunqiao.
If it weren’t for his sharp spear.
They all dare not imagine whether they still have a chance to survive now.
That time, the general manager personally selected the gun and stick master for the Kunlun commander, and Zhang Yunqiao stood out from the crowd.
Afterwards, word of his superb marksmanship spread throughout Changsheng Mountain.
After all these years.
He is also the first person to be able to be a master of Kunlun.
But...
There are also people who are not convinced.
After all, since ancient times, there has been no first in literature and no second in martial arts.
A few of them had secretly questioned it.
But now I saw the toad pierced by a spear.
That doubt has long since disappeared, and all that remains is conviction.
“Cut off the head and take it back.”
"Please always make your decision!"
Zhang Yunqiao secretly took a breath.
I just feel that this trip has really enriched my experience.
Although they did not see the Water Dragon King they encountered on the Nanpan River in the cabin, they were shocked for several days when they heard about it from the guys running the boat afterwards.
And the big snake in the lake yesterday.
Toad was assassinated by his own hands today.
This territory in southern Yunnan is really evil.
He is just a martial artist. In terms of knowledge, he is not as good as the general leader, and in terms of kung fu, he is not as good as Yang Kuishou.
Is this ghost a water demon or a mountain spirit?
It was also difficult for him to tell.
It would be best to take it back and ask the boss for instructions.
The most important thing is. Zhang Yunqiao was also worried in his heart. Toads always live in groups, and one person may have countless others.
Beheading one of them is already a fluke.
If another group comes, their lives will definitely be spared.
"Okay, just listen to Leader Zhang."
"I'll do it!"
Hearing this, the five guys' hearts suddenly dropped.
Immediately responded.
I was even afraid that he would hesitate, so I immediately pulled out my knife and chopped off the toad's head fiercely.
Tsk-
A sharp sword flashed past.
The long-dead toad was immediately dismembered.
A few people ignored the foul smell and took out the corpse-binding rope, passed it through the toad's mouth, and carried it in their hands.
Looking from a distance.
It's like a pig's head carried during festivals.
“Let’s go!”
Seeing them move so fiercely.
Zhang Yunqiao didn't say much. He drew out his spear and shouted at several people in a low voice.
“Let’s go.”
"Lao Qi will take the lead. I will come to the rear. Zhang, take the lead and rest."
"No need."
Zhang Yunqiao held the spear in one hand and shook his head at the man, speaking calmly. But it has a somewhat unquestionable meaning.
The guy was startled.
There was no argument.
The shot just now had already convinced them all.
Since Zhang Baotou took the initiative to come to the rear, they naturally did not dare to have any objections.
The group quickly returned along the way they came.
Because this place was so dark and they were worried about losing their way, they left a lot of marks when they came down.
It only took a few minutes.
The anxious group of people saw the stone steps that were opened between the cliffs.
“Let’s go, don’t look back!”
Watching the group of people climbing up the stairs, Zhang Yunqiao, who was at the end, reminded them in a deep voice.
This journey is less than two miles.
But he felt that it was as difficult as two hundred years.
Especially the toad's head on the rope kept shaking back and forth, and the blood dripping down was like a whistle in the already silent night.
But we can still see it.
Real fear exists in the unknown and imagination.
He wanted to look back countless times.
I always feel like there is something following me closely behind me, like a maggot attached to my bones. ,
But Zhang Yunqiao didn't dare.
He was afraid that if it was true, the faith of everyone who was already in panic would be shattered.
But at this moment...
Looking at the group of people going up the stone steps.
He couldn't hold it back anymore and glanced back quickly.
Suddenly, his pupils dilated rapidly, as if he had seen a ghost.
The look of horror and horror on his face was much stronger than before when he saw the toad on the head of the gun clearly.
“What is that?”
Zhang Yunqiao gritted his teeth and murmured in a low voice.
I saw a very far distance behind me.
I don't know when countless stars appeared, like will-o'-the-wisps all over the sky, finally dispersing the thick black mist like ink.
It is a vast expanse of water.
White shadows float on the water.
The most terrifying thing is.
In the direction they left before, there stood black shadows as high as mountains, maintaining a strange posture.
He looked at it for a while.
I barely recognized it.
That mountain of bones turned out to be elephants one after another.
This is due to the fact that on the way here, every time when we disembarked from the boat and passed those piers, we could often see those barbarians riding on the backs of elephants swaggering through the market.
But at this moment, on the stone beach beside the big lake, there is a mountain forest made of elephant bones.
How many elephants are there?
Moreover, looking at the direction and calculating silently, if they had not been stopped by the toad before, if they walked forward for a few minutes, they would have bumped into the mountain of bones.
"Grass..."
Zhang Yunqiao, who had always been dull, couldn't help but cursed.
What the hell is this place?
Even the Strange Tales from the Chinese Storyteller's novel seems to be less than one-tenth as scary as this one.
Crash——
At the moment when he lost his mind.
The strange fire came and went quietly.
It seems like there is a pair of invisible hands in the dark.
Fiddle controls it all.
Picked out the fire wick in the lamp.
Then... the distance fell into deathly silence again.
Zhang Yunqiao's heart skipped a beat, he took a few deep breaths, and without daring to delay any longer, he ran up the stone steps as hard as he could.
After two or three minutes.
In the dark fog ahead, a light finally appeared again.
Just like the scene I saw yesterday when I passed through the underground river.
"Here we are..."
When he crossed the last stone step, the light in front of him had turned into a scorching sun. He felt a buzzing in his ears and people fell like a mountain. Jump straight forward.
“Master Zhang?”
"Zhang's head!"
"Oh my god, is that a toad head?"
The sharp buzzing in my mind was quickly suppressed by a burst of exclamation.
Zhang Yunqiao struggled to open his eyes.
Familiar faces appeared one after another, and the nearest ones were Kunlun and the boss.
"Don't talk yet. You are exhausted. Take a good rest."
He subconsciously wanted to speak and tell everything he saw at the foot of the mountain.
But it’s not too late.
The gentle voice of the boss has already come.
“Hel the person to a ventilated place and get water!”
Chen Yulou frowned.
Although I expected that this trip might not go well.
But the reactions of Zhang Yunqiao and others were somewhat beyond his expectations.
Everything he knew came from what Hu Bayi and the others saw when they went underground decades later.
But now, time has been advanced by several decades.
Even he couldn't guess what changes there were.
A group of waiters hurriedly carried the person under the shade of a tree and gave him water to drink.
Took a long rest.
Zhang Yunqiao and the other six gradually recovered.
“Don’t be in a hurry, speak slowly!”
Glancing at the toad head on the ground with a ferocious face that looked like a demon, Chen Yulou said in a deep voice with a solemn expression.
“Yes, the boss...”
Zhang Yunqiao organized his words slightly.
Afterwards, with everyone’s complicated expressions, they recounted everything they saw along the way.
When he said that.
The five guys added a few words from time to time.
When he heard him stabbing a calf-sized toad to death with one shot, there was a burst of exclamation from the surroundings.
Until Zhang Yunqiao, talking about the last sight he saw after leaving the underground.
At this time, not only the people who stayed outside, but also the five guys who went down with him, all looked horrified.
They were all trying to escape at that moment.
I just want to leave as soon as possible.
In addition, Zhang Yunqiao kept reminding them not to look back.
Who would have thought that he couldn't hold it back.
For a moment, despite being frightened, the five of them couldn't help but feel a little lucky in their hearts.
Fortunately, I didn’t look back.
Otherwise, just describing it in words would make them feel breathless and depressed.
"Big lake, toads, dead drifts, will-o'-wisps, burial pits..."
It is different from everyone's frightened and complicated reactions.
Chen Yulou’s expression remained calm.
In my mind, I kept silently counting what Zhang Yunqiao and the others saw.
Whether it's toads or burial pits, these are to be expected.
The only change.
Appear on the will-o'-the-wisp.
So, what exactly was the will-o’-the-wisp that Zhang Yunqiao saw?
Will it become a fixed variable?
"You guys, let's take a rest first."
"Qi Hu, there are bamboo forests nearby. You can put up as many Kongming lanterns as possible. There is no need to carry weight this time. The only requirement is that the longer they float in the air, the better they will be." OK! ”
(End of this chapter)