What Xin Wu was thinking about was going back to see the "master" again. After all, he was their real savior. How could he just leave without leaving a word of "thank you"?
"Grandmaster?"
Entering the cave again, the darkness inside the cave was in sharp contrast with the light outside, which made Xinwu unable to adapt to it for a long time. So while calling, he stood at the intersection of darkness and light, so that his eyes could see clearly inside as quickly as possible.
At this time, what he was stepping on was the joint work of last night's strong wind and the children's survival: chains, broken wooden shackles, door panels, broken wood with burrs, debris, gravel, fine sand... all mixed together Together, they formed a mess on the ground.
There is still a choking smell in the air: there is the smell of sand in it, and the sand that is visible under the sunlight is dancing lightly in the cave. There is a doorway through which one person can enter and exit; in addition, from deep inside the cave, there is a faint stream of cold air blowing out from time to time, with a strong "human" smell mixed with the body temperature of the mountain - this is a kind of cold air that is composed of human body's epidermal cells. Under the influence, the body fluids are mixed, and the complex smell accumulated after many years of not taking a bath is disgusting.
Xin Wu couldn't help but cover his nose. At this time, his bare upper body was still sticky and wet where it was stained by the fat guard's blood. It was not completely dry. It made him feel chilly to the bone, and he couldn't help but shrink back. Chest, ignoring the pungent smell, he wrapped his arms around himself to preserve his core body temperature.
"Master! Master!"
This time the call came from the other five eldest children. It turned out that they did not leave, but followed Xin Wu and entered the cave where they were originally imprisoned.
The ashes in front of him "smoke out". It turned out that these children were blocking the entrance of the cave, blocking most of the light. Xinwu felt that it was not so cold anymore, so he couldn't help but smile and lowered his arms.
He knew what was happening without turning around to look.
The children who squeezed in again looked up and formally observed the inside of this tall cave: inside this four or five-story scaffolding, it turned out to be a huge lotus-seating Buddha that was being carved. The rough outline of the Buddha statue had already been revealed. In the shape of the Buddha, the ears are over the shoulders, the arms are folded in front, and the position of the hands making the Buddha's seal gesture has been left, but there has not been time to carve it in detail. The surrounding circle is decorated with stone caves with small sitting Buddhas. , forming a halo that spreads out. These small sitting Buddhas are carved relatively deeply, with a space reserved in front for the candlelight of the lampstand.
The fact is, these are not only reserved. In fact, there is already a circle of small oil lamps filled with oil arranged inside! Whether it is to pay tribute to the Buddha or to carve and illuminate the Buddha, these are precious materials now.
Facing the Buddha statue, the height of these children was not as high as the lotus throne. Looking up, although the Buddha's body had not yet been finished, it already revealed a solemn and sacred power, which made the children hold their breath and close their mouths. , dare not speak loudly.
To the left and right of this huge seated Buddha statue facing the doorway are the entrances to two low corridors: the one on the left is all too familiar to the children, as it was the one that trapped them last night; and the one on the right , but I don’t know what the situation is.
"Grandmaster?"
Xinwu decided to go in from the corridor entrance on the right to see if he could find the master.
"Get out of the way of the hole and don't block the light!"
The children immediately ducked away and huddled in the shadows, preparing to follow Xin Wu further inside.
Looking inside from the entrance of the cave, Xin Wu felt that it was unfathomable, so he squatted down, picked up a broken piece of wood, and used it as a blind stick to explore the way. He scanned left and right while walking inside.
Based on the space where the wooden strips touched, Xin Wu judged that the width on the left and right sides was only about 1.7 or 8 meters; the top was still a dome, about 1.6 or 7 meters wide.
After walking forward for about a few meters in the dark, the right side of the wooden bar was cleared. It was obvious that there was a doorway here, which should be the entrance to a new space.
"It's so dark! Master, it can't be in here, right? Why don't we retreat!"
There was a child starting to mutter in the back, but he was afraid that he would be left behind by everyone, so he had to talk to embolden himself and hope to attract the attention of other companions so as not to lose him.
No, we have to solve the lighting problem first! Xin Wu led the team back to the Buddha statue in the hall.
Xinwu thought of the circle of lampstands around the Buddha statue he had just discovered, and asked everyone: "Look, there is an oil lamp in each of the small holes around the Buddha statue. Can any of you climb up and help get one?" Come down?"
"I come!"
The skinniest child here, unexpectedly, was a good climber. He climbed up very neatly and took down an oil lamp at the lowest point.
"Who has fire?"
The children shook their heads.
"Who is the strongest?"
The big kid who looked the strongest here raised his hand and said, "Me."
Xinwu found a stick from the ground, a dry split single-sided stick, sprinkled some sawdust on the surface, and then made an example: "drill wood to make fire."
The strong boy quickly understood the technique, so he took the rotating wooden bar and started to twist it with both hands quickly and vigorously. After a while, smoke came out and the wood chips were ignited!
Xin Wu carefully led this precious fire to the small oil lamp, and finally lit their "guiding light". Then he did not forget to stamp out the lit debris and remnants one by one with his feet, and confirmed that there was no more fire. Then he raised his small oil lamp and prepared to explore the cave again.
With the guidance of the small oil lamp, you can see the end of the right dome corridor with a total length of fifteen or six meters. Near the end, on the right hand side, there is a small doorway, which is about the same size as the main entrance and is only for one entrance and exit. size.
"There is a room on the right here, go in and take a look."
Xin Wu held up a small oil lamp in one hand and looked up, and used the other hand to explore the way forward with a wooden stick, paying attention to his feet, and then walked in cautiously.
There is light inside! When he lowered his head and got in, he found that inside was a nearly square room, about 2 meters high. Facing the doorway was a hard bed made of stone and soil; opposite the head of the bed was another wall. On the top, there is a small hole as big as a palm, letting in a little light. It can be regarded as the "window" of this house! Opposite the bed, to the right of the doorway, there is a fire wall, which is full of burnt charcoal ash and cinders. After looking around, the rest of the place was filled with closed stone walls. This was a sealed death chamber.
There was no one on the bed. Xinwu held up the oil lamp and checked carefully several times, but could not find the "Master".
"Let's go out, this is an empty room."
The children, like an "eagle catching a chicken", did not dare to "change from the tail of the team to the leader" and let the last child who came in go out first. They still let Xinwu lead the way, taking the lead in holding up a lantern to explore the way. Lead everyone forward.
After exiting the dimly lit inner room, Xinwu did not return to the corridor he originally entered. Instead, he continued from another unknown dark corridor facing the side door of the inner room without a trace of light. Explore forward.
The wooden bar was swept up, down, left and right again. Suddenly when the wooden bar was swept to the right, the wooden bar seemed to be stuck by something and could not be pulled back.
