It was a deep night, and even with two moons hanging high in the sky, it was still impossible to see anything in the sinkhole.
On the nearly vertical wall of the pit, a simple wooden plank road spirals down, no more than an arm's length wide. Sometimes it encounters protruding rocks blocking the road, and there are only a few pieces of wooden planks left in the air. You have to climb sideways to pass. .
Countless El Niño people walked down the stairs along the plank road, each holding a short stick with some kind of huge "firefly" tied to the top. The insect's body exuded a pale blue light, illuminating their solemn expressions. face.
As he walked, Li Liang looked around and saw thousands of glimmers of light moving in the darkness, like a winding galaxy flowing toward the abyss.
At first, he could only hear the sounds of chaotic footsteps, the creaking of pallets, and the hissing of human respirators. However, as the altitude dropped, a faint wheezing murmur began to appear in his ears.
He glanced back, and Cain clearly noticed something strange. From time to time, he poked his head to look for the source of the sound. The commanders of the advance army following him also looked wary, but the floating Tlipoca, who fell far behind the team, was nothing. Special reaction.
Continuing downward, the canopy of the giant tree growing at the bottom of the pit gradually obscures the top of the head, and the plank road is also entangled with vines, making it difficult to walk in a rugged area.
Soon, the strange sound became clearer, more rapid and dense, and mixed with the echoes, like countless monks chanting sutras.
Until a figure walking in front twitched unnaturally, and Li Liang discovered that the voice came from the Enino people.
As soon as the thought came together, he immediately heard a hint of madness in the murmurs coming from all directions.
Is the air at the bottom of the pit poisonous?
At this time, Colac's voice sounded in the earphones: "Father, there is something wrong with these Enino people."
The scientific officer of the advance army hesitated and said: "Since 20 minutes ago, we have monitored that the air pressure and oxygen content in the air have continued to drop. Currently, the air pressure has dropped to about 103Kpa, and the oxygen content has dropped to 28%."
Cain: "What do you mean?"
"The Enino people...are starved of oxygen."
Hypoxia?
Li Liang was stunned for a moment. The oxygen content of 24% was indeed too low for the Enino people. Could it be that they were hallucinating in a state of near suffocation?
Next, the scientific officer in the team kept reporting changes in the oxygen content of the air, which dropped steadily from 28%. At the same time, all the El Niño people behaved more or less strangely, some stumbled, and some twitched unnaturally. , more often than not, they lowered their heads and muttered to themselves, but still did not stop.
By the time we stepped onto the bottom of the pit, the oxygen content had dropped to 24%.
Shadows are scattered in the dense forest, and the Enino people advancing in groups have become walking corpses. Their expressions are distorted and their eyes are blurred, as if they only have the instinct to walk.
Li Liang was very puzzled. How could these El Niño people, who usually live in an environment with an oxygen content of 35%, still be breathing at this moment?
When confused, the biological expert of the advance army in the team explained: "We conducted vivisection on the Enino people and found that their lungs have two special air sacs, which can carry out gas exchange. This structure greatly improves the efficiency of gas exchange." Respiratory efficiency allows them to survive in low-oxygen environments for periods of time."
I see.
Li Liang remembered that this expert had mentioned this before on the Nautilus. However, judging from the performance of the Enino people, the special lung structure only allowed them to barely survive, and their brains were still in a state of hypoxia.
He continued to walk forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow. He suddenly heard Cain ask: "Who is that? What is the oxygen content we humans need?"
"19.5% to 23.5%," the science officer answered truthfully.
"Then we won't need a respirator, right?"
Li Liang suddenly felt something was wrong, and turned around suddenly, only to see Cain pulling off the mask-type respirator, putting his hands on his waist and taking a deep breath.
"you……"
"Huh~" Cain breathed a long sigh of relief and slapped the sweat off his face with his hand, "It's so hot."
The science officer walking behind did not see this scene, and said in the communication: "General, judging from the monitoring data, it is indeed possible, but the vegetation here is dense, and there may be..."
Cain casually took off his headphones, sniffed nonchalantly, frowned and said, "What does it smell like?"
"..."
Li Liang shook his head and took off the heavy respirator. He indeed felt much more relaxed.
A fresh and moist earthy smell rushed straight into the nose, mixed with some weird fragrance, a bit like the fragrance of lilies.
This was the first time he smelled the smell of the planet Enino.
Taking another breath, he smelled another smell.
Ling Ye, who quickly followed, took off his mask, took a breath and said, "There seems to be a large animal's nest nearby."
Li Liang nodded.
The smell reminded him of the smell he smelled while riding camels in the scenic spot a thousand years ago.
As they continued to march in the darkness, the fishy smell became stronger and stronger. Half an hour later, when the entire sacrificial team passed through the jungle at the bottom of the pit and entered a cave, the smell was already so strong that it stung the eyes, like a horse pen that had not been cleaned.
This cave is like a gourd, with a narrow mouth and a large belly. The interior space is extremely open. The top of the cave is hundreds of meters high and dozens of meters wide. It is unfathomable.
A few hundred meters inside the cave, all the Enino people gathered in front of a huge rock that was higher than the ground. They raised the "fireflies" in their hands, and the blue light connected into one, illuminating the surroundings.
The human team stayed at the entrance of the cave, and the Marines spread their guard. Cain pulled Li Liang up the cave wall and found a position with a good view.
The "Atonement Sacrifice" begins.
Accompanied by the frenzied murmurs and unconscious shouts of countless tribesmen, six clan leaders, including Wuqisai, emerged from the crowd, gathered around a cone-shaped firewood pile, and danced some kind of sacrificial dance inherited from ancient times.
The "demigod" Pan Yarum staggered up the rock step by step, opened his arms towards the tribe, and shouted in a distant and powerful voice:
"Na - Panya - Pa - Su - Na - Rum -"
The next moment, six clan leaders stepped forward at the same time, knocking with stones on their left and right hands, causing sparks to fly.
The pile of firewood burst into flames with a roar, and the flames shot straight to the roof of the cave, then spread out in all directions, igniting the roots of plants between the cracks in the rocks. In an instant, fire flowed like rain.
The air was hot and the light flickered and dim.
Pan Yalum slowly turned around and knelt down facing the depths of the cave, whimpering like a cornered beast. At the same time, six clan leaders stepped onto the high platform, came behind her, and took off the fur covering her body.
Her skinny and dry back was deformed and bulged, her skin was covered with pus-filled malignant sores, her right shoulder blade was folded toward her chest, and there were three horrific scars on the bare back of her head.
The leader of the Halmei clan picked up a handful of white powder and blew it hard on her back.
The powder covered the sores and scars, but Pan Yarum seemed to be in great pain, trembling all over and wailing at the top of his lungs:
"Woo——Pasuwu——Rumhu——"
At this time, three members of the Pasu clan in costume solemnly climbed onto the rock, sat down facing the depths of the cave, and raised their heads high.
The leader of the Chalum clan walked behind one of them, holding a sharp stone in his left hand, and suddenly slit the man's throat.
Blood spurts.
At this moment, all the Enino people fell to the ground and stretched out their hands with all their strength. Their crazy shouts gradually converged into a low roar that was almost like a herd.
Li Liang and Cain looked at each other and realized at the same time that the Enino people were summoning some kind of existence with high temperature and the smell of blood.
really.
A few minutes later, a shrill beast roar came from the depths of the cave, which was deafening.
The moment they received the "response", the Enino people extinguished the "fireflies" in their hands, put out the bonfire, and gradually became quiet.
As the roots at the top of the cave burned away, darkness returned.
"Here it comes!" Cain's voice couldn't contain his excitement.
Li Liang put on his mask and turned on night vision.
Soon, a strange jellyfish-like creature appeared in the field of vision. The huge "head" was dilapidated and was a decayed gray-brown color. There was pus flowing from the breach, and several tentacles extended from below and were constantly squirming.
Yawenba
It staggered from the depths of the cave to the three "tributes". Its "head" expanded and contracted, making a whirring sound like a bellows. Then, its tentacles stretched out and stuffed a corpse with blood still spurting from its neck into the " head".
Gra~Gela~chi~chi~
The sound of chewing bones and flesh echoed in the darkness, sending chills all over the body. However, the Enino people who presented the sacrifices felt like hearing the sounds of nature. Countless people cried with joy, and some even reached the peak of their bodies and souls, sobbing low. groan.
"This is a 'Sadai' that has just grown up," said the biological expert of the advance army in the communication. "A cave-dwelling animal rarely moves on the ground. Reconnaissance satellites have found traces of it near volcanoes thousands of kilometers away. There are no traces of it." Come to think of it, there are some here too.”
The language expert added: "'Sadai' is the highest status among the seven sacred animals. It is said to be the first life created by the Great Mother Goddess."
Hearing this, Li Liang closed his eyes.
In Ling's field of vision, "Sadai" is indeed more special than the "Wuqi" he saw before. There are actually strands of spirit flowing around the torso and tentacles, and they intersect in three places, which looks very much like Taoism.
If nothing else, "Pasu's Secret" should be related to this animal.
More than ten minutes later, "Sadai" finally finished chewing the three corpses. The round "head" visibly enlarged twice, and as it squirmed, light pink mist continued to spray out of the breach.
It seemed uninterested in living creatures and ignored the nearby Enino people. It wriggled its tentacles and quickly retreated deeper into the cave.
The “sin offering” is clearly coming to an end.
As soon as Li Liang climbed down from the height, Wu Qisai hurriedly approached and said quickly in Elf language: "Sadai Panasu, please go to the altar. Pan Yalum wants to show you the secret of Panasu."
"good."
Noticing that all the humans present were about to move, Uqisai spread his arms to block the way: "No, the crowd will disturb Sudai. Pan Yalum only shows Sudai Panasu the secret of Pasu."
"Father God..." Korak looked worried.
"It's okay," Li Liang waved his hand, indicating that everyone didn't need to worry, "You guys wait here."
He followed Uchisai, passed through the crowd of Enino who had not yet awakened from their madness, and climbed onto the ledge.
At this moment, Pan Yalum had covered himself with fur again and stood alone in a pool of blood.
The tribal leader who described Ku Gao uttered a few ambiguous words, and Uqisai translated: "Sadai Panasu, please come with me."
