Chapter 18 2
"I...I...ok, I'll risk my life to accompany you..." Gao Hongjin hesitated for a few words and finally agreed reluctantly.
Mu Linfeng walked to the other side of the wellhead, where there was a wooden platform that extended from the ground more than three meters into the wellhead. There were fences on both sides of the platform, and a passage slanting downward on the other side.
The entire passage is made of wood, supported by three wooden poles in a triangle. One end of a horizontal wooden pole is inserted into the well wall, and the other end is connected to an oblique wooden pole. The other end of the wooden pole is also inserted into the cliff. There is another wooden pole near the well wall connecting the two wooden poles, forming a stable triangle. It is conceivable how huge a project it is to build this aerial plank road.
Mu Linfeng guessed that the reason for building such a sturdy passage was to transport the heavy coffin to the cave below.
The passage was more than two meters wide, with wooden boards in the middle and wooden steps on both sides. Perhaps because it was very old, there was a creaking sound under my feet when I first stepped onto the platform.
Gao Hongjin said nervously: "Lin Feng, I think we should just forget it. These passages don't seem to be very reliable. If we fall in, we won't be able to find our bodies..."
Mu Linfeng smiled at him and said, "Relax, I'm exploring the way ahead, stay away from me. If I fall, you can run up."
As he spoke, Mu Linfeng tentatively stepped onto the downward steps. He tried to get as close to the rock wall as possible, so as to reduce the pressure on the bridge surface. At first, Mu Linfeng used his left hand to support the rock wall and walked slowly. Soon he found that the trestle on the well wall was still very solid and could support several people without any problem. So he boldly went down...
As the two men walked downwards, the ghost fire floating in the vertical shaft had almost risen to the top, and the sparks that had not gathered together at the bottom were extinguished. The entire space fell into pitch darkness again, and Mu Linfeng could only rely on the headlight to go down.
There is a drop of about twenty meters between the first cave and the wellhead above. There is also a platform extending from the cave into the vertical shaft. Mu Linfeng entered the cave along the platform.
After seeing Mu Linfeng disappear, Gao Hongjin involuntarily quickened his pace. He felt as if something was staring at him in the darkness. He was so scared that he hurriedly shouted, "Lin Feng, wait for me..."
Hearing Gao Hongjin's call, Mu Linfeng stopped and used the light from the overhead lamp to observe the situation inside the cave.
This cave was smaller than the one above, but there were many more buildings inside. This was the third cave they had entered since entering the Hengwang Mausoleum. The three caves were getting smaller and smaller, but there were more and more buildings inside . The first cave only had one hall, the cave above had three palaces, and this cave had a whole row of buildings, but the buildings were much smaller.
Because the cave is slightly curved, you can't see the end from this position, so you can't tell how many buildings there are. It is obvious that each building is a palace of the underworld.
Gao Hong came in and said in surprise: "Damn, why are there so many houses here!"
Mu Linfeng waved at him without saying anything, then walked cautiously into the depths of the cave. After entering, Mu Linfeng noticed that these buildings were all independent, with low walls in front of them, just like the courtyards of farmhouses, with not only walls but also gatehouses, and even stone lions on both sides of the door. However, the number of houses in each courtyard was not the same, some had three rooms, and some had five rooms. Seeing this, Mu Linfeng suddenly understood, and he turned around and said to Gao Hongjin: "This is where the descendants of King Heng, the county princes, are buried. Each courtyard is the underworld palace of a county prince and his queen."
"This cave is like a big cemetery. How come King Heng has so many sons?" Gao Hongjin asked curiously.
"They may not all be the sons of Prince Heng. There may be other relatives. Of course, they may also be important figures in Prince Heng's palace, such as the housekeepers and stewards. In ancient times, it was an honor for these servants to be buried with their masters."
The two continued to go deeper into the cave while talking. After turning a corner, they found that the space inside was larger. The cave was more than twice as wide as the front, about 30 to 40 meters wide, and there were buildings along both sides of the cave. Under the illumination of the lights, the buildings continued to extend inward. This place was like an underground royal city. Looking over it was indeed shocking. From here, one could imagine how powerful the Hengwang Mansion was at that time.
At this moment, suddenly there was a flickering ghost fire in the darkness. Blue sparks slowly floated up from behind the low wall and drifted in the pitch-black air, like eyes flashing with murderous light, which instantly made the cave become much more eerie and terrifying.
A spark slowly floated to Gao Hongjin's side. Gao Hongjin found that this blue firefly was similar to the fireflies in the summer night. He couldn't help but reach out to catch one to have a look.
Mu Linfeng, who was walking in front, just turned around. He had seen enough of the scene in this cave, and wanted to go back and look at other caves below. When he turned around, he happened to see Gao Hongjin reaching out to grab the glowing firefly.
"Don't touch it..." Mu Linfeng shouted hurriedly.
Mu Linfeng's reminder was too late. Gao Hongjin's palm had already touched the fire. At the moment when his palm touched the fire, the fire suddenly turned into a fist-sized fireball...
Gao Hongjin's palm was instantly wrapped in fire. He felt his nerves go numb all of a sudden, without even feeling any pain, and he screamed in horror.
As Gao Hongjin screamed, Mu Linfeng's kick came and knocked Gao Hongjin to the ground.
Mu Linfeng's reaction was completely instinctive. After seeing Gao Hongjin's hand burning, he was worried that he would slap his palm on his body, which would set his whole body on fire. So Mu Linfeng was as fast as lightning, and he was next to Gao Hongjin in a flash. Then he kicked Gao Hongjin in the knee pit, and Gao Hongjin lost his balance and fell to the ground...
As Gao Hongjin fell face forward, he instinctively stretched out his hands to support the ground, avoiding pulling his hands back and igniting his body.
As Gao Hongjin lay prone, Mu Linfeng grabbed his clothes from behind, pulled them off his head, and then covered his burning palms with his hands, putting out the flames in an instant...
After the fire on his hand was put out, Gao Hongjin lay on the ground for several seconds without moving. He seemed to have not yet woken up from the great fear. Mu Linfeng gently patted his shoulder and said with concern: "Brother, get up quickly and check if you are burned?"
Gao Hongjin suddenly got up from the ground, took off his clothes from his arms, and anxiously put his hands under the light beam. He turned his palms over and over for a long time and said in surprise: "Strange, why don't I feel any pain?"
Mu Linfeng noticed that there were no signs of burns on Gao Hongjin's hands. He suddenly understood what was going on, so he smiled and said to Gao Hongjin: "It must be the ghost fire that burned your nerves. If you don't believe me, put your finger in your mouth and bite it to see if it hurts."
With a puzzled expression on his face, Gao Hongjin slowly put his finger into his mouth and bit it hard. The pain made him jump up suddenly, shouting as he jumped. He shook his hands and cursed: "Oh... It hurts so much... Mu Linfeng, you are fucking teasing me..."
"Haha..." Mu Linfeng couldn't help laughing, "How did I tease you? It was you who said you couldn't feel the pain..."
Gao Hongjin put his hand under the light and examined it carefully. Apart from the teeth marks, there was no scar on his palm. He said in astonishment, "Strange, do I have some special ability? I clearly saw a ball of fire burning on my hand just now, how come nothing happened to it!"
"What a bullshit supernatural power. What was burning on your hand just now was phosphorous fire. The ignition point of phosphorous fire is very low. It can spontaneously ignite at room temperature. It looks like your hand is burned, but in fact, nothing has happened. There are people in the underworld who use this little trick to deceive people..."
Gao Hongjin suddenly got angry when he heard this, and said angrily: "Since you knew that phosphorus fire can't hurt me, why did you kick me and make my whole body hurt? I might even have a bruised knee..."
Mu Linfeng pointed at Gao Hongjin and said, "You are really ungrateful. If I don't kick you down, you will definitely slap your burning hands on your body. Although the phosphorus fire will not burn you in a short period of time, it can ignite your clothes. Most clothes nowadays contain chemical fiber components. Once the clothes catch fire, even if they don't kill you, they will cripple you..."
Gao Hongjin immediately said with a playful smile: "Hehe... so I have to thank you very much. I will treat you to the best Dahongpao after we get out."
Mu Linfeng was too lazy to say more and waved his hand at Gao Hongjin: "Okay, let's check the cave below."
The two returned to the shaft and followed the plank path on the shaft wall down to another cave. This cave was similar to the one above, with a series of underworld palaces. The two looked down into another cave, which was basically the same. In addition, the overhead lights were beginning to dim, and the batteries were running out, so they decided to go back up.
Mu Linfeng and Gao Hongjin came out of the shaft and came to the place where their great-grandfather's remains were found. Mu Linfeng was thinking about how to take his great-grandfather's remains out, so he didn't look anywhere else and just squatted down beside his great-grandfather's remains.
Gao Hongjin suddenly realized that there was no one in the pavilion not far away, and hurriedly said to Mu Linfeng: "Where did Xiaowen go? Why didn't he wait for us here?"
Mu Linfeng stood up from his great-grandfather's remains and looked back into the pavilion. As expected, there was no one in the pavilion, and the Hengwangqin on the stone table was gone. Without thinking too much, Mu Linfeng said to Gao Hongjin, "She may have taken the Hengwangqin to a place with light. You go find her while I sort out my great-grandfather's remains."
Gao Hongjin agreed and turned to look for Wen Yinqiu.
Mu Linfeng put his backpack on the ground and took out a large red cloth and a cloth belt several meters long. Before coming here, Mu Linfeng had considered that if he found his great-grandfather's remains in the Hengwang Mausoleum, he must bring them out and bury them in his great-grandfather's grave. Now he has found them.
Mu Linfeng wrapped his great-grandfather's remains tightly with red cloth, and then tied them tightly with cloth strips so that he could carry the remains on his back.
Mu Linfeng was thinking about waiting for Gao Hongjin to come back and let him hold the backpack for him, and then he would carry his great-grandfather away from here. At this moment, Gao Hongjin came running back in a panic.
"Lin Feng, something seems wrong, something might have happened..." Gao Hongjin said anxiously and loudly from a distance, his voice revealing fear and anxiety.
Mu Linfeng's first reaction was that something had happened to Wen Yinqiu, so he hurried over to ask, "What happened? Didn't you see Xiaowen?"
"Xiao...Xiaowen...is missing..." Gao Hongjin said with his mouth open, and it was obvious that he seemed very nervous.
Mu Linfeng quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, tell me slowly, did you not find Xiaowen?"
Gao Hongjin nodded vigorously and said anxiously, "And... and... the climbing rope we used when we came down... is also gone..."
Mu Linfeng felt a shock in his heart. He knew very well what it meant that the climbing rope was missing. Mu Linfeng grabbed Gao Hongjin's wrist and asked nervously: "What did you say! The climbing rope is also missing?"
"Yes!" Gao Hongjin agreed, "I didn't find Xiaowen in the houses over there, so I went to the cave up there to look for him. Not only did I not see Xiaowen, but even the rope hanging in the airway was gone..."
"Let's go!" Mu Linfeng's face turned grim as he squeezed out a word from between his teeth, then he hurriedly ran towards the cave exit...
The two men quickly arrived at the cave they had come down from first. They first ran to the open space in front of the hall and came to the place where they came down from. As expected, there was nothing there.
Mu Linfeng raised his head and used the light on his head to illuminate the airway opening on the top of the cave. Because there were many luminous pearls hanging on the top of the cave, it was easy to see the condition of the airway opening clearly. There was no trace of rope on it at all.
Mu Linfeng said nothing. He lowered his head and focused the light beam on the ground, carefully examining the footprints left on the ground.
Gao Hongjin looked at Mu Linfeng in confusion, not knowing what he was looking for on the ground. Gao Hongjin said to himself, "Is Xiaowen playing a joke on us and hiding? I'll look for him somewhere else..."
Before Gao Hongjin left, Mu Linfeng whispered, "No need to look for him. Wen Yinqiu left through the airway alone..."
"What! She really crawled out of the airway by herself?" Gao Hongjin asked in astonishment.
Mu Linfeng pointed at the ground and said coldly: "From the footprints left on the ground, it can be seen that Wen Yinqiu came back here alone, and then the footprints disappeared."
"Then...then...why did she bring the climbing rope with her?"
Mu Linfeng said with a gloomy face: "She must be afraid that I would not let her take the Hengwangqin out, so she secretly took theqin out."
"This stinky woman, I'll call her..." Gao Hongjin cursed as he took out his cell phone from his pocket.
"Don't bother. There's no signal here."
Gao Hongjin glanced at the screen of his mobile phone and found that there was no signal at all. He immediately panicked and murmured, "What should I do... What should I do... Lin Feng, are we trapped... here..."
Gao Hongjin originally wanted to say that he was "trapped to death" here, but the word "death" came to his lips but he swallowed it back. It was better not to say this word at this time.
Mu Linfeng shook his head and said in confusion, "This shouldn't be the case. Are they going to trap two people here to death just for Heng Wangqin? Wen Yinqiu doesn't seem like that kind of person."
"Who knows, she might have other purposes..." Gao Hongjin suddenly said.
Mu Linfeng asked in confusion: "What's her purpose? What purpose can a girl have?"
Gao Hongjin replied in a panic, "I...how do I know what her purpose is? Lin Feng, I think we should not discuss this issue for now, and quickly find out if there is any other way out."
Mu Linfeng pondered for a moment and said slowly: "There must be other exits, but I'm worried that the exits were blocked by my great-grandfather, otherwise those little devils would not be trapped here."
"That's not necessarily true. Let's look for it first." Gao Hongjin said in a pleading tone.
Mu Linfeng nodded, looked around, and said to himself: "The entrance to the mausoleum from the outside should be in this cave."
Gao Hongjin hurriedly urged: "Then hurry up and find it, what are you waiting for..."
