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墨書 Inktalez
After a few days, my hand had completely healed, much to my father's relief, who had been worried sick.
During the nights of these past few days, aside from meditating and practicing, the situation of the hundred ghosts parade had not recurred. However, I could still faintly see that the black mist was gathering around the cave.
Just last night, I heard that a cow from a family in the neighboring village had gone missing again—no sign of it alive or dead. It was quite strange, which led me to seek out Ling Er Xiezi for a divination.
To my surprise, Ling Er Xiezi said that all life forces were tied to me, Ling Feng.
I couldn't help but feel that trouble was coming my way. Thinking about those eyeless monsters in the cave made me feel a wave of nausea.
Unfortunately, others were seeking my help. Moreover, I had intended to eliminate this hidden danger in the cave completely; otherwise, I wouldn't feel at ease going to H City.
Fo Zhang woke up after three days of sleep, its eyes brighter than before. As soon as it woke up, it started chirping while patting its belly. I piled some fruits and nuts in front of it.
Despite Fo Zhang's small size, its appetite was astonishing. This made me feel a sense of urgency; while it was fine in the mountains, there would be no wild game in the big city. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that making money was an urgent matter.
One day, the weather was particularly nice with warm sunlight shining down on me. I hummed a tune as I headed towards the mountaintop cave with Fo Zhang. However, as soon as I started singing, Fo Zhang covered its ears and squeaked a few times before darting off into the woods.
I thought to myself that Fo Zhang might be too young to appreciate the charm of music; it would understand better once it grew up.
Arriving at the cave entrance again, I noticed that the black mist had thinned considerably, now just a light layer.
I confidently stepped inside. Fo Zhang seemed to sense danger and stopped chirping; it perched cautiously on my shoulder, its eyes darting around alertly.
As soon as I entered the cave, a foul wind rushed past me, causing me to lean back instinctively. The beam from my flashlight illuminated a pale humanoid monster on the cave wall, its densely packed teeth dripping with dark yellow mucus while its tail swayed incessantly behind it.
Fo Zhang bared its teeth at the monster and let out a low growl.
I patted Fo Zhang's head and asked, "Is this monster what injured you before?"
Fo Zhang shook his head, his body curling up before shooting out like a sharp arrow.
The creature seemed somewhat afraid of Fo Zhang, retreating into the shadows with its webbed limbs tightly gripping the rocks, shrinking back into the cave.
Fo Zhang squeaked excitedly, chasing after the creature as it disappeared inside.
I hurried my pace to follow, concerned that despite Fo Zhang's cleverness, there might be dangers lurking within the cave.
The sound of falling stones echoed in the darkness, resonating far in the empty cavern.
"Fo Zhang..." I called out, a hint of worry creeping into my voice.
"Chirp chirp..." Fo Zhang responded cheerfully. I walked down a slope and soon spotted Fo Zhang crouched on the ground, while the creature lay motionless beside him—presumably dead.
Fo Zhang had his back to me, his body slightly moving. I held my breath and approached him playfully.
"Hiss..."
I gasped as I realized Fo Zhang was perched atop the creature's head. A milky, viscous substance extended like a straw from the creature's forehead to Fo Zhang's mouth.
I quickly pulled Fo Zhang away, who was quite displeased and flailed his limbs in my grasp, exhaling through his nostrils in protest.
"What are you eating?" I asked, poking Fo Zhang gently on the forehead with my finger.
Fo Zhang licked his lips, casting a reluctant glance at the creature's lifeless body before settling down on my shoulder with a look of grievance.
I sighed heavily, feeling as if I were raising a foolish child. I admonished him again, "You really shouldn't eat just anything. Who knows if these underground creatures carry any viruses? Aren't you afraid of getting sick?"
Fo Zhang sensed my displeasure and, with a huff, ignored me completely, covering its ears and turning its back like a sulking child.
As I walked further in, I could hear the sound of flowing water from the Dark River.
Fo Zhang darted to the riverbank, and I watched as it fished something out of the water. The sound of its munching echoed in the air. I shone my flashlight in that direction and discovered that Fo Zhang had pulled out a completely transparent Xiaomi shrimp, which it was happily devouring. When it saw me approach, it offered me two of the shrimp, urging me to eat as well.
It seemed that Fo Zhang thought I had scolded it earlier for hogging the food, so it was trying to appease me by sharing the shrimp.
Looking at the wriggling shrimp in my hand reminded me of the creature at the cave entrance, and I tossed them back into the river. Ignoring Fo Zhang's frantic protests, I grabbed it and headed toward the waterfall.
Following the narrow staircase, I made my way down to the base of the waterfall. I looked up at the dark night sky where water cascaded down like a silver ribbon into a deep pool below, splashing countless droplets into the air.
At that moment, I had no concept of tourism; otherwise, I might have thought about how establishing a tourist attraction could boost the village's economy.
While I was lost in thought, Fo Zhang had slipped away. Just as I was about to call out for it, I noticed Fo Zhang tugging at my robe, pulling me in a particular direction.
"Are you asking me to follow you?" I asked Fo Zhang.
It nodded eagerly and pointed at a moss-covered stone wall by the pool.
I looked at the wall and saw nothing unusual. Why did Fo Zhang want me to go there?
"There's no path there; we shouldn't go..." I waved my hand in explanation.
Fo Zhang became anxious and started to fidget around, scratching its head in a comically frantic manner.
"Alright... alright... I'll go! But if you keep pulling on my robe like this, it's going to tear..." I followed behind Fo Zhang as we made our way toward that spot.
Suddenly, the figure of Fo Zhang vanished before my eyes, as if he had disappeared into thin air. I cautiously held the Ruyi Stick in my hand and softly called out Fo Zhang's name.
"Chirp, chirp..." Fo Zhang's voice seemed to echo right beside me, yet I looked around and couldn't see him anywhere.
Just then, my foot slipped, and I fell against the moss-covered stone wall. Instinctively, I reached out to steady myself against the wall, but to my surprise, I grasped nothing but air. I tumbled down completely.
It felt like I had fallen into a hidden cave. Fo Zhang jumped onto my chest, chirping excitedly. Rubbing my back, I got up and noticed that the cave entrance was shrouded in a curtain of water.
Following Fo Zhang deeper inside, I finally got a clear view of the entire cave. It was about twenty square meters in size, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Fo Zhang ran to the center of the cave and squatted in front of a flower, drooling as he eagerly watched it.
The flower had a straight stem with no leaves, only a vibrant red bloom that was in full blossom, its curled petals resembling outstretched claws.
"You brought me here just to see this Big Red Flower?" I asked, somewhat speechless.
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