Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
"Daylight has arrived, get up quickly, get up quickly!" Lao Qi shouted, and everyone immediately scrambled to their feet in a panic.
Bai Yujing looked at the thick fog around them and immediately said, "Quickly put on the masks!"
Li Hao quickly replied to Bai Yujing, "The masks are still in the temple!"
Xu Lei curiously glanced at Bai Yujing and asked, "What masks? I came in just like this. Nothing happened!"
Zhong Qiang extinguished the campfire in front of him, ensuring all the embers were snuffed out, then turned around and said, "This fog shouldn't be toxic, nor is it smoke; our previous assumptions might have been wrong!"
Bai Yujing nodded, stood up, and looked around. He realized that everything had completely returned to its original state. Yesterday, they had been on a slope halfway up the mountain, but now they were all in the Mountain Valley. The large boulders they had seen before had also vanished, as if everything they witnessed yesterday had just been a dream.
"Let's go check over there, where we saw that town yesterday!" Bai Yujing pointed in that direction. Everyone moved quickly, following Bai Yujing as they headed toward it.
Li Hao recalled the scene from yesterday and felt a chill run down his spine. "We won't run into those things again, will we?"
Bai Yujing replied irritably, "Nothing happened yesterday; what are you afraid of? Did just a distant glance scare you silly?"
Li Hao immediately retorted, "It wasn't just a distant glance; there were four of them that brushed past us!"
Hearing their exchange made several people uneasy. They passed through the jungle and fog, took a long detour, but upon reaching their destination, all they saw was a dense thicket with layers of wild grass underfoot.
"There's nothing here; after so many years, it must have long since vanished into the ground!" Zhong Qiang remarked after taking a look around.
As Bai Yujing walked along, he kicked against a protruding tree root. Looking down, he noticed an object tangled among the roots that was covered in dirt. Bai Yujing reached out and tried to pry it loose but couldn't get it out.
He quickly took out his knife and chopped through the tree root before digging down. Finally, he unearthed the object. Everyone immediately gathered around Bai Yujing with curiosity, examining what he held in his hands. "Old Bai, what good thing have you found this time? You always seem to have an eye for treasures; your eyes light up whenever you spot something valuable!"
Bai Yujing said impatiently, "You're so talkative. Whether it's a treasure or not is still uncertain. Just rinse it with water for me!"
Bai Yujing carefully rinsed the object several times, and after quickly cleaning it, the true form finally emerged. It was an Azure Copper Gourd, simple and ancient in design, but the material looked extraordinary. It had been buried in this place for who knows how long, and after rinsing, it was smooth as if freshly washed, giving it a special texture when touched.
Bai Yujing held it in hand, turning it over: "A gourd? What is this used for?"
After examining it a few times, Bai Yujing found that the lid couldn't be opened; it seemed to have fused together over an unknown period of time. Li Hao couldn't help but exclaim, "Let me see, let me see!"
After putting down the gourd, Bai Yujing looked around again and dug up a few small tiles from the ground, but there were no other findings.
"It seems this really is an old site from the Eastern Zhou period of the Ancient Mi Kingdom. However, the problem isn't with this old site but with this fog. No matter how much we look around, we won't find anything!" Bai Yujing glanced behind and noticed someone was missing. He immediately asked, "Where did Qiangzi go?"
At that moment, Zhong Qiang emerged from the mist: "I'm here. Follow me; there's something ahead!"
Seeing Zhong Qiang's pale face and serious expression, Bai Yujing followed him forward. The further they went, the stronger a foul smell became, as if something was rotting.
"This stinks! What’s ahead?" Xu Lei covered his nose, unable to tolerate it.
Bai Yujing immediately said, "Don't talk!"
When they reached the front, Bai Yujing saw what Zhong Qiang had discovered. As he suspected, there were four corpses. However, the manner of their deaths was extremely bizarre; all four were kneeling on the ground. Although they weren't bound, their hands were naturally restrained behind them, tightly clasped together as they crawled forward. Their heads had all been severed and lay on the ground.
"Ah!"
Xu Lei was startled and immediately took a few steps back to hide behind. Li Hao had seen many dead bodies in Neon’s Eight Hundred Nun Cave before; although he usually acted surprised, his composure was far beyond that of ordinary people. At this moment, he calmly stepped forward to cover his nose and took a look.
"What are you afraid of? It's just a corpse. It looks disgusting but poses no danger. It's much safer than this strange fog and the ghosts. But my goodness, this person died so tragically. Beheaded? Why were they beheaded here? Who did it?" Li Hao found it hard to believe.
Lao Qi immediately said, "Who else could it be? It must have been that group of evil spirits we encountered yesterday!"
Bai Yujing observed carefully, "It is indeed quite tragic. Look at this person; it seems the one who beheaded them was somewhat inexperienced. The first strike got stuck and didn't cut through completely. After a few more strikes, they finally severed the head!"
Upon hearing Bai Yujing's words, the others felt a chill run down their necks, imagining the pain. These unfortunate souls had entered the mountains over ten days before them and met such a grim fate. If they hadn't been cautious yesterday, would there have been five more corpses added to this scene today?
After scanning the surroundings again and finding nothing else, the group felt a heavy weight in their hearts. It was clear that these ghosts could kill, and they could conclude that the journey ahead would become even more perilous.
Back inside the temple, they began to carefully tidy up their belongings. However, Bai Yujing noticed that among several packages, two had been opened and their positions shifted, causing her brow to furrow.
"There really is something in this temple!" Li Hao leaned closer to Bai Yujing and said cautiously.
Bai Yujing immediately asked, "Did you discover something?"
Li Hao pointed to the incense burner beneath the statue. The incense from yesterday had burned out, but today a new stick had been inserted, with wisps of blue smoke rising and filling the air with fragrance.
Bai Yujing took a deep breath. "Let's pack our things and leave quickly!"
After dawn, the forest returned to its normal state. Lao Qi found the correct path and headed toward their originally planned destination. Bai Yujing wanted to turn back immediately but couldn't since Lin Ruoqiao was still missing; they had no choice but to press on. The others followed Bai Yujing, each with their own thoughts as they walked forward along the uneven mountain path, which was quite exhausting. However, even Xu Lei, who was physically weaker, managed to keep up easily.
Comment 0 Comment Count