The environment in the deep valley was gloomy, and the flickering volcanoes in the distance added a bit of terror to the road ahead. The grim-faced Taoist priest raised his head thoughtfully, quietly took out the Long Ming Dao and copied it in his hand, and then He said: "Let's go!" Then he walked towards the depths of the stone bridge first.
The statues of crickets on both sides of the stone bridge still appear constantly, and the distances between them are basically the same. They are obviously specially designed.
The grim-faced Taoist priest said as he walked: "This stone bridge is very straight. We walked half the way without any detours. In addition, there are stone statues that appear on both sides from time to time. Do you think this feels like walking on Tiaoling?" On the Shinto Road?"
"Not to mention, the old man feels the same way." Xia Houyun said: "'Open a path in front of the tomb and build a stone pillar as a mark, which is called the Shinto.' These unknown statues similar to Xuntan may actually be some kind of stone statues." Not allowed."
"Is it possible that there is an ancient tomb at the bottom of this valley?"
"It doesn't look like it, does it?" He Siniang said: "We looked at it when we were on the platform. The architectural pattern in the stone mountain in the distance vaguely resembled a city. I wonder if this stone bridge is more like a stone bridge outside the city. Is it the main road or the galloping road, and the stone statues on both sides are totem beasts guarding the road?"
"Eh? Siniang's theory is very possible. Pindao remembers that Li Gouzhi is going to find something in the cave country. So, could the city in the stone mountain be the 'cave country' he said?"
"The Cave Country...is it a country underground?" Xia Houxiang slowed down a bit and said with a hint of surprise, "Who would go underground to build a city and a country?!"
"Who knows, we don't even know what the stone statues are carved on, let alone the history of this place, but I have always had a vague feeling that the things carved on these stone statues really existed and were built here. People use it as a totem."
The Taoist Priest with a grimace nodded and agreed: "This place has a long history. It is not surprising that there have been some rare and strange beasts. For example, the beast at the stone gate. If Senior Xiahou hadn't seen it in the book, who would know about it? What it is."
"The world is full of wonders. I am afraid that the number of strange things that we and our gang can encounter are more than those in other theft professions combined."
"What the old man said is true. The Sa family has been a bandit for so many years, but they don't have as many evil things as the two Yue Jian."
"Similarly, I have never encountered such bizarre encounters when I stayed at Orchid Gate." He Siniang paused, and then said in a low tone: "I just hope that this time it will be safer than King Hui's Tomb, and don't encounter it again. A fatal thing."
While they were talking, everyone had walked through most of the stone bridge, and the stone mountain in the center of the deep valley finally appeared in the smoke-filled darkness.
Seeing that the finish line was approaching, the grimace Taoist couldn't help but speed up his steps.
After walking another fifty or sixty steps, the end of the stone bridge was in sight. At this time, the bridge began to suddenly widen, almost ten steps away, and the bridge body had basically merged with the mountain below the stone mountain.
"Damn it, we've got it." The grim-faced Taoist priest walked to the stone statue at the end, raised his head slightly and said: "The two statues of crickets are several times larger than the previous ones, and the upper ends are drawn inward, like an arch. , it seems that this place is similar to what Siniang said, it is the entrance to the city."
"But where is the door?" He Siniang asked doubtfully: "There is a mountain behind the statue, and there is no road in sight?"
Hearing this, the grim-faced Taoist priest approached the others. Behind the two statues of the crickets, there was indeed a rugged stone mountain wall. The stone bridge had reached the end. If he wanted to go forward, he would have to face a cliff more than ten feet high. .
Everyone looked puzzled, and Luo Laoqi even shouted: "This bird bridge is so lively, but in the end it is a dead end? The mountain wall in front looks so steep, is it possible that those dogs still want Grandpa?" Climb up?!"
Xia Houyun also said at the side: "Logically speaking, whether this stone bridge is a Shinto road or a main road, there is no reason to make it look like such a joke. We have encountered many secret passages along the way. Is it possible that this rock wall Is there one hidden in the middle too?"
"You'll know if you look for it." The Taoist priest with a grimace responded, and then said helplessly: "I'm afraid that if we follow Li Gouzhi, even if there is a secret passage, we won't be able to find it smoothly."
Even so, everyone immediately started searching separately.
Taoist Ghostface and Xia Houyun walked straight to the bottom of the rock wall. As they got closer and closer to the mountain, they gradually spotted some Ni Duanlai in front.
The short distance between the Xuntan statue and the mountain is actually a downhill road, but the slope is gentle, so it is not easy to detect. However, after walking to the end, the changes brought about by this slope are obvious.
The most obvious thing is that about ten feet away from the rock wall, the bridge body is submerged by the river. The stone bridge itself is not much above the water, and the downhill road at the end makes the stone bridge and the mountain even more distant. The connecting parts are hidden under the river water.
This brings up a question, is there a road at the end of the stone bridge, but this road is hidden in the water?
The Taoist priest with a grimace told Xia Houyun what he was thinking. Xia Houyun nodded and said: "The water-logged bridge is only more than ten feet away from the rock wall. Normally the water will not be very deep in such a short distance, but it is old and old." I held a torch and looked for a long time, but I still couldn't see the bottom. Maybe there really is a sunken secret passage in the shape of a tunnel below."
"So we have to find a way to investigate."
The grim-faced Taoist priest looked at the stone mountain wall in front of him. This stone mountain in the middle of the deep valley was so huge that it was difficult to see the end of it even from afar.
The structure of the stone mountain also looks very interesting at this time, because it can be seen from the cross-section of the side rock wall that the entire stone mountain is not seamless. There is an obvious stone dividing line up and down, which is almost located above the head of the ghost-faced Taoist priest. Position, downward from this line, the stone mountains are all black, which is rhyolite after the volcanic magma has cooled; above the boundary, the stone mountains turn into harder granite, which is similar to the surrounding mountains after going down the tunnel. The stones are of the same type. It may be precisely because of these granites as mountain supports that the huge deep valley cavity will not collapse easily. Otherwise, if they were all made of sand and slate like the top of the mountain, the area around Panlong Temple of the Protector of the Country would have been long gone. The ground has sunk into a sinkhole.
What the Grimace Taoist is most curious about now is the structure of the stone mountain in front of him. The rhyolite at the base of the mountain must be the product of long-term contact between magma and water. It is normal for it to accumulate higher and higher, but to say that it can accumulate into a The stone mountain that is more than ten feet high is somewhat nonsense, especially the stone quality in the upper part of the mountain has changed. This is absolutely impossible in natural phenomena, so there is only one explanation - that is This stone mountain was built by man! Someone piled a huge amount of granite on the rhyolite base at the bottom of this dark valley, thus forming this huge and magnificent stone mountain.
