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墨書 Inktalez
Li Hao slid down, and Bai Yujing immediately grabbed the rope, pulling Li Hao tightly. After sliding down for about seven or eight miles, Li Hao suddenly stopped. Bai Yujing looked down and could only see Li Hao lying on the slope.
"How are you? Are you okay?"
Li Hao groaned a couple of times, estimating that he had bumped into a tree while sliding down, but his cries were strong, indicating he was likely fine. Bai Yujing quickly said, "If you're fine, I can pull you up!"
Li Hao shouted loudly, "Be gentle! No, wait a moment!"
"What’s wrong now?"
"It seems like there’s something down there; come down and take a look. It looks like there’s a house!"
Bai Yujing immediately loosened the rope. "A house? It can't be the little hut left by some hunter or herbalist, right? That would be great; we can rest there tonight!"
Having set out in the morning, crossed the mountains, traversed the Gorge, and walked such a long distance, even though it wasn't dark yet, the light was beginning to fade, especially in this thick fog where visibility had decreased even more. Bai Yujing had originally planned to walk a bit further to find a suitable camping spot before resting, but unexpectedly discovered a house here.
Hearing what Li Hao said, Bai Yujing and the others began to slide down the slope one after another. As they descended, they saw a gently flowing stream and could faintly hear the sound of water flowing. On the flat ground across the river, they could vaguely see a house.
Bai Yujing jumped down from the slope. Li Hao, who was below cleaning off the dirt from himself, pointed across the river and said, "Look, isn’t there a house over there?"
Bai Yujing nodded. "There really is! Let’s go check it out!"
One by one, Bai Yujing and the others made their way over. The stream was shallow, not deeper than their knees. They took off their shoes and waded through the water towards the opposite bank. However, halfway across, Bai Yujing looked down at the water and noticed a snake hidden among the large stones by the water's edge.
This strange snake looked somewhat unusual. Bai Yujing immediately poked it with his knife to try to catch it, but as soon as he moved, he found that the snake seemed startled and instantly split apart into countless smaller snakes that quickly spread throughout the entire river.
"Old Bai, what did you do?"
"What is this? A snake?"
The small snakes scattered, quickly slithering past Bai Yujing and the others, making everyone feel a chill as they watched the creatures disappear into the distance.
The four of them scrambled up onto the shore. "What on earth is going on?"
Bai Yujing immediately described the strange snake he had seen, and Lao Qi quickly replied, "That's a Thousand-Legged Snake; it really exists!"
Upon hearing Lao Qi's words, Bai Yujing recalled having heard about it before. It was a creature that was neither a worm nor a snake. When attacked, it would rapidly split into countless small insects or snakes and scatter to escape. Once in a safe place, it would regroup into the shape of a single snake. It was a very peculiar species; there had been research teams that ventured into Shennongjia specifically to search for this mysterious snake.
Li Hao remarked, "There really are all kinds of strange things in these mountains!"
After crossing the river, their focus shifted as they headed toward the shadow they had seen in the distance. They jogged over and arrived in front of a building but stopped once they got there.
This was not the outpost set up by hunters and herbalists that Bai Yujing had imagined; instead, it was a temple. Calling it a temple didn't quite fit either; it felt different from the temples they were used to seeing and had more of a shrine-like quality. The architectural style was somewhat bizarre, with the doors wide open, revealing statues inside.
"I didn't expect there to be a temple deep in the mountains. Lao Qi, do you know this place?" Bai Yujing asked.
Lao Qi walked over to examine the temple and then looked around. "I've never been here before, but I've walked around this area and have never heard of a temple being here."
In front of the temple stood two bronze beast statues. For modern craftsmanship, this wasn't particularly difficult, so Bai Yujing wasn't too surprised. What was strange was that there was a temple built in this core area of Shennongjia—who would come to visit?
The two bronze statues depicted a white deer and a white antelope, both considered divine creatures and symbols of good fortune in ancient times. Although they were already rusted, they were well-preserved and didn't seem too old.
Zhong Qiang followed behind Bai Yujing up the stairs toward the temple. After observing the overall structure of the building, Zhong Qiang said, "This style resembles that of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Look at these bronze dougong brackets, bronze ornaments, and the grayish-blue half tiles on the eaves; they all have characteristics typical of Eastern Zhou architecture."
Li Hao immediately praised him, saying, "Not bad, Qiangzi; you know quite a bit!"
Zhong Qiang smiled and said, "I usually enjoy collecting antiques and keeping up with information in this area, so I know a bit, but it's just a superficial understanding compared to real masters!"
As they entered the temple, the white mist dissipated, as if the entrance had completely blocked the pervasive strange white fog outside. The view was no longer blurry or shrouded in mist; the entire world seemed to become clean and pure all at once, as if cataracts and presbyopia had been instantly cured.
"Wow, this feels much better! If there's no mist, we should be able to take off our masks, right?" Li Hao, who had been wearing this thing and had to be careful even when drinking water, could no longer hold back. Upon entering the temple and seeing that there was no white mist, he immediately took it off.
"Don't!" Bai Yujing hadn't finished speaking when Li Hao had already removed it, breathing freely.
Bai Yujing observed for a moment and asked, "Is everything okay?"
Li Hao stretched his back and replied, "No problem at all. It's great here without the mist; let's take off our masks!"
After hesitating for a moment, Bai Yujing took off her mask and found that there really was no issue. She felt relieved and began to wander around the main hall. The entire hall still carried a faint fragrance, which Bai Yujing sniffed a couple of times.
"What is that smell? Do you guys smell it?" Bai Yujing asked the two people behind her.
Lao Qi sniffed a couple of times and said, "It seems like... it might be sandalwood. In this temple, if people often come to worship and burn incense, even if no one has been here for a long time, this kind of fragrance can linger for several years. This situation is quite normal."
"Is that really normal?" Bai Yujing pointed to the large statue in the center of the hall. They could see that in front of the statue was an incense burner with incense burning inside. A light smoke rose from it, causing Li Hao, who was wandering around, to suddenly stop his movements as Zhong Qiang was putting down his backpack. The four of them quickly gathered together, readying whatever they could use as if facing a great enemy!
At that moment, footsteps were heard coming from the stairs outside the temple. This made the four tense individuals turn their heads sharply towards the sound. Bai Yujing couldn't help but shout, "Who is it? Show yourself!"
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