Chapter 19: Dry Well (I)
Time passed quickly and it was soon noon the next day.
Darong Village returned to peace again. No one knew what happened last night. The exploration team members lived and cooked in their own yards. The exploration materials were sufficient, including various meats, rice and noodles. Some kind-hearted team members asked the villagers if they wanted to join, but no one responded.
"It's really too much." A team member took a sip of soup and complained, "We invited the villagers out to eat but they didn't come together, and we didn't charge them. They didn't even open the door for us, and we haven't seen anyone in such a long time. Tsk."
The team member beside him ate a mouthful of noodles, looked around, and whispered: "You know what, this village is really weird. Wherever I go, I feel like someone is staring at me. Do you feel the same way?"
"It's true! I went to pee nearby, and I always felt something watching my back, which scared me." "Hey... do you think... could it be that these villagers are watching us in the room?" "They're not that perverted, are they? They would watch me peeing as a grown man?" "Haha, maybe it's some wife?"
Through the crack in the door, Jiang Xian withdrew his gaze and looked at his mobile phone. The time displayed on it was 11:50.
Everyone changed into camouflage. Jiang Xian put his hands in his trouser pockets, and the black umbrella leaned against his side. The second hand seemed to click in time. Just when twelve o'clock arrived, the five people opened their eyes at the same time and looked at Hong Si Niang.
Hong Si Niang raised her head and sniffed gently, then she said with a surprised "tsk" and sneered, "You really don't hide it."
After saying this, he walked straight into the hall and tilted his head towards the floor-to-ceiling wardrobe: "Old Chu, I remember that you Wudianmei are proficient in the division of gold and determination of acupuncture points, and it is said that there is no mechanism that cannot be found and opened. Want to try?"
The cooperation of the kings did not require any nonsense. Chu Ziyi squatted down without giving any explanation. In less than ten seconds, he pulled and lifted his hands, and with a low sound of the machine, the ground they were standing on shrank back. A passage about one meter in radius was revealed in front of them!
The passage was surrounded by yellow soil. However, the moment it was opened, a little light appeared in the depths of the dark passage!
It was as if... some unknown existence knew they were coming in. It had turned on the lights, waiting for them to enter.
Everyone looked at each other. Jiang Xian took a deep breath, pulled down his mask, put on his goggles, tied his sleeves and collar tightly, and said in a deep voice: "Ling Xiaozi and I will go in first. The others will keep watch outside. If they don't come back for more than an hour, Hong Si Niang and Eight-Armed Arhat will follow in."
"Walk!"
Boom—Jiang Xian jumped into the tunnel first, half squatting on the ground out of habit. His hands instinctively clenched the handle of the black umbrella. The cold light on the helmet illuminated the front palely, but the moment he saw clearly, Jiang Xian froze in place.
Ten seconds... twenty seconds... thirty seconds later, Ling Xiaozi's nervous voice came from above: "Mr. Jiang, are you okay? Did you die?"
Jiang Xian did not answer, but continued to walk forward. As he walked, he gently touched the wall with his hand. As he moved forward, a dark dust fell on the wall. Just after entering ten meters, he finally stopped, squatted down, turned on the flashlight, and turned off the cold light above his head.
Under the warm orange light, the passage ahead appeared to be a distorted color.
Red spots of varying sizes covered the ground and walls, as if the land here had a serious skin disease. And in front of him, there was a blood-red passage!
It's like the devil's mouth, leading to an endless hell.
"Fake Taoist priest." He took out his intercom and said in a deep voice, "Get down, there are some things here that you may be familiar with."
There was a sudden silence on the intercom.
Three seconds later, Ling Xiaozi appeared behind Jiang Xian with his hair standing on end, gritting his teeth and saying, "Mr. Jiang! I am once again warning you in all seriousness! I am a genuine important official of Tongtian Mansion! A direct descendant of Longhu Mountain! If you keep your mouth shut, I will break off my friendship with you!!"
"Yes, a former Tongtianfu official. Abandoned the direct line of Longhu Mountain." Jiang Xian spoke quietly, and before Ling Xiaozi's anger broke out, he put his finger in front of the other party: "Look at what this is."
Ling Xiaozi instinctively took two steps back, looked at the other person suspiciously, and finally managed to say, "MMP, did you just take the bird?"
Fuck you, immortal! Jiang Xian gritted his teeth and grabbed the other person, holding his head close to his fingers. Ling Xiaozi then discovered that there was a pinch of red powder on Jiang Xian's fingers.
"Huh?" After looking at it for three seconds, Ling Xiaozi's eyes lit up and he put the powder into his mouth. He closed his eyes and tasted it carefully. When he opened his eyes again, he was already surprised.
Swish - his body was like a breeze, passing by Jiang Xian, and the flashlight in Jiang Xian's hand fell into Ling Xiaozi's hand the moment he passed by. The other party shone the flashlight forward, snorted, walked three meters quickly, and actually made the same posture as Jiang Xian, squatting on the ground, gently touching the ground with his fingers, and looking around.
After a full minute, Ling Xiaozi stood up straight and looked into the depths of the passage with a complicated expression. His lips moved several times, but he said nothing.
Jiang Xian walked to the side and said softly: "Actually..."
"Cinnabar." Ling Xiaozi's eyes flashed like lightning, and he said firmly: "As a Taoist, I will never make a mistake in the taste of cinnabar! But..."
He looked ahead with emotion and shock, muttering, "Cinnabar is a compound of sulfur and mercury. Although cinnabar mines exist in nature, they can only appear in the form of crystals or minerals. There is no such thing as it is now, where the entire passage is stained!"
He turned around, put his hands behind his back and paced quickly. After a few seconds, he suddenly stopped and said in a deep voice: "Unless there is a sulfur mine underneath!"
"And...someone poured a large amount of mercury on the sulfur mine. This produced a large amount of powdered cinnabar! The cinnabar can penetrate the ground, which means it is not far from the bottom of the passage!"
"Man-made?" Jiang Xian raised his eyebrows.
Ling Xiaozi said with certainty: "It's man-made! Because there is no liquid mercury in nature! Don't deny it, I am a Taoist priest, but I am the ancestor of playing with mercury."
Jiang Xian was silent for two seconds. Just as he was about to speak, Ling Xiaozi's eyes flashed fiercely: "If you dare to say that about the former Taoist priest, only one of us will be able to walk out today!"
Jiang Xian sighed as if with regret, and was about to speak again. Ling Xiaozi used his interruption skill for the second time: "If you dare to call me a fake Taoist, I will run away from this exploration!"
Jiang Xian shut up quietly.
Comfortable... Ling Xiaozi took a long breath and smiled: " So , what do you want to say?"
Jiang Xian glanced at him and said calmly, "I just passed the bird."
Quiet.
Jiang Xian tried to remedy the situation: "I didn't expect you to eat it directly."
Dead silence.
Three seconds later, a muffled shout rang out through the passage: "...Wulian Tianzun... take this poor Taoist's sword! I, an old man, will exorcise the devil and defend the Way today!!"
After a round of punches, the two men panted and leaned against the sides of the passage. Jiang Xian straightened his clothes and raised a finger: "These cinnabars have solved two mysteries for us."
"Hmph!" Ling Xiaozi rolled his eyes arrogantly and didn't bother to pay attention to him.
Jiang Xian didn't care and continued, "When I first came down, I was a little confused when I saw this dark passage."
"Why?" Ling Xiaozi straightened his robe and sneered, "Afraid of the dark? Claustrophobia..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something, blinked, and his expression immediately became serious: "Luminous plants?"
Jiang Xian nodded and said slowly: "If there is a mother luminous plant in that dry well, this road should not be so dark."
The luminous plants need nutrients to survive. In the Wowo Pit, there is limestone everywhere, because of the law of evolution of natural selection. So it needs bat corpses as nutrients. But this passage is full of mud, so it should not need it.
but none.
"Now my doubts have been solved. That's because this place is covered with cinnabar and no plants can grow." He raised his second finger: "Second... do you remember the villagers of Darong Village?"
Ling Xiaozi narrowed his eyes and said after a long while: "Mercury poisoning."
Living on land irrigated with mercury for a long time, the inheritance from generation to generation eventually accumulated and formed this deformed village.
These two inferences point to the same problem.
"What is hidden underneath?" Ling Xiaozi looked at the ground in a complicated manner. Such a large area must be several tons. Moreover, mercury... even Sangong couldn't get much at that time!
The mercury that dyed the entire passage red... No, maybe the mercury that dyed the entire Darong Village red, at least tons! Is this the authority that a person of the Third Duke level can have?
"Qin Shi Huang was a great believer in alchemists. It was extremely difficult to extract liquid mercury with the refining technology at that time. I'm afraid only the emperor was qualified to handle so much mercury..." He swallowed his saliva and quietly retreated back the way he came. Just when he retreated halfway, Jiang Xian grabbed his whisk and said, "Are you going to run away?"
"Yes, sir. Is there anything else I can help you with? This service ends here..." "Get lost."
"Man, don't test my patience! Do you know you are playing with fire?!" "Crawl."
"Mr. Jiang... you don't want to drink the wine, right? Do you believe that I will hit you with a lightning from my palm and your hair will be all messed up?! Wait... why are you holding an umbrella? Stop! Let's talk it over... Let's talk it over..."
The tip of the umbrella wrapped in white cloth pressed against Ling Xiaozi's throat, and he immediately wisely changed his words. Jiang Xian sighed, "Why?"
The muscles on Ling Xiaozi's face were twitching. You... always use weapons. If you give me a fair duel, I will definitely let you know what Thor is!
"Master, what should we do next?"
Ling Xiaozi rubbed his hands and smiled flatteringly. Jiang Xian glanced at him and said, "Go on, but we have to speed up. If we stay here too long, we will also get mercury poisoning."
Ling Xiaozi nodded, and the two of them tied a towel behind their heads at the same time. Then they kicked their legs and ran quickly in the passage.
The passage was built under the village, and the entire village was only a few hundred meters in radius. The dry well was located in the center. Such a short distance would not cause the two masters to lose their sense of direction.
Three minutes... five minutes... seven minutes later, the two stopped at the same time.
Right in front of them, a big door suddenly appeared.
No... it's not quite right to call it a gate. It's a stone slab, or a stone door.
It just happened to be stuck in the middle of the road.
Jiang Xian and Ling Xiaozi looked at each other and said in unison: "Dragon-breaking Stone?!"
The Dragon-Breaking Stone represents the last passage of a cemetery. Once it falls, the Yin and Yang will be separated. At this moment, on the stone door in front of them, a dim oil lamp is shining like the eyes of the tomb owner thousands of years ago, staring at them intently.
Are you the new challengers?
