A small village chief actually dares to disobey the king-like existence of Western Xinjiang and the Protector of the Xinjiang Army, Mr. Li Jiangyao? The local official of Yanqi State was frightened and sweated on the spot, and he quickly kicked the old village chief in the butt.
I said it wrong, say it again!
Li Jiangyao quickly stopped him, and then asked the village chief with a smile: "Old man, don't be afraid, tell me why you can't go?"
As the leader of the tribe, the village chief is one of the few people in the village who has been to the outside world and is used to seeing the world. Therefore, he also knows that these are great people in front of him, and even His Highness the King cannot afford to offend him. , not to mention his small mountain village, he replied on the spot in a tone that was almost begging for mercy: "Sir, that place... is full of evil spirits."
After listening to the guide's translation, Li Jiangyao asked curiously: "Evil? What exactly does it mean? Monster?"
The village chief nodded in horror: "I'm not sure. Before, there were a few young men in our village who dug up silkworm souls, and then carried them out of the mountains to sell. Sometimes they caught up with businessmen from the Western Continent, and they could really give them to them. The price was pretty good. But just six years ago, when the chaos in Western Xinjiang started, strange things happened frequently in the mines."
Xiahou Ninghan asked: "What strange thing happened?"
"At first, someone saw a strange light in the mine," the village chief responded: "Then people died one after another. They were all digging for silkworms in the hole. Two of them were lucky enough not to die, but they were also seriously injured. He was so scared that he went crazy and talked nonsense. So no one dared to go in after that."
"So... the mine has been closed for six years?" Dong Tianxing also asked.
The old village chief nodded: "More than five years, almost six years. In addition, there are wars outside the mountain every day, and the merchants from all over the country have also disappeared. When everyone thought about it, they might as well stop mining and selling silkworm souls to avoid further trouble."
Li Jiangyao asked the key question: "How did those people die? Are there any wounds on their bodies? What were the injuries of the two seriously injured people? Where are they now?"
The village chief replied without thinking: "There were no obvious injuries, including the two who survived. When they crawled out of the hole, they kept vomiting blood, but no skin damage could be seen."
"Internal injuries?" Xiahou Ninghan asked doubtfully.
Li Jiangyao nodded without comment and asked: "What about the strange light? What exactly does it look like?"
"To be honest, sir," the village chief said, "I didn't see that light with my own eyes, but it didn't just appear now."
Dong Tianxing was very curious: "Old man, do you mean that such strange things have happened before?"
The village chief nodded: "Every few decades, a strange thing happens in that mine. This happened to me when I was a child, and my grandfather was the clan leader here at that time. It was a commotion for a long time. , and then slowly subsided. I remember my grandfather said that similar things happened to him when he was a child."
Li Jiangyao immediately understood the clue: the mine was weird and there was an obvious periodicity.
If there really is a portal to another world, now is the opening period!
Thinking of this, he was about to speak, but Lian Ji spoke first: "Is it because the toxin of the silkworm soul suddenly broke out?"
"It's very possible." Amonta nodded: "Poisons, like everything in the world, also have their own rhythm of prosperity and decline, just like trees growing and changing, going through cycles. Over decades, the toxins in the mines condensed, It suddenly breaks out once, and when it is completely released, it will return to its original state."
As a person of this era, Xiahou Ninghan naturally recognized his statement more and nodded slightly: "It has been nearly six years since the strange incident happened. The danger there must not be as serious as before. Protector, do you want to go and explore it? Check it out?"
Of course Li Jiangyao wanted to check it out, but he was also a little worried: "What if there are still toxins left in the cave?"
Wu Rong said: "How about we go explore the road first? Miao Jiang and Nanzhao are good at using poison. Firstly, they have their own defense methods. Secondly, their bodies are more resistant to poison than ordinary people."
Dong Tianxing nodded and said to Li Jiangyao: "Dadu Protector, Wu Rong's words make sense. We might as well ask the masters from Miao and Yunnan to help us set up a front line."
Li Jiangyao thought for a moment and agreed: "Well, there are seniors Lao Wurong and senior Amenta. You choose a few men with good skills to go to the mine and have a look. If there is no serious problem, let's go in together; if The situation inside is not good, don’t hesitate and evacuate immediately.”
Wu Rong agreed, and he and Amenta made a plan, and then they each took two capable men, holding torches, and entered the mine.
When the old village chief saw that they were determined to do this, he wanted to persuade but didn't dare to, and wanted to help but didn't dare to help. He could only sigh helplessly secretly.
Seeing that Wu Rong and the others had been in for a long time, but there had been no movement, Li Jiangyao and others were not sure what was going on in the cave, and couldn't help but secretly worry.
Just when Li Jiangyao was hesitating whether to send more people in to see if Wu Rong and the others were in any danger, there was suddenly a rush of footsteps in the cave. Immediately afterwards, several people responsible for exploring the cave ran out of it in a hurry.
"It's really weird!" Wu Rongren shouted anxiously before he could stand still.
Dong Tianxing took a step forward: "What's wrong? What did you see?"
Amonta, who was following Wu Rong, panted and said, "Light! I saw the light."
Wu Rong explained to everyone: "There is definitely no poisonous gas or poison in the cave, and there is no problem with breathing normally. The reserves of silkworm souls are also quite large. The more you go in, the more they will become. The quality is quite good."
"Who asked you this?" Dong Tianxing asked anxiously: "What's going on with that light?"
Wu Rong nodded: "I was about to say this. Deeper, there is a fork in the road, and the light comes from there. There were flickers and vibrations. Brother Tusi and I didn't dare to be careless, so we didn't take a closer look. Just come out and report it to the Protector first to see what to do next."
After hearing that there was no threat of poisonous gas or poison in the cave, Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "Go in and take a look!"
Xiahou Ninghan grabbed him and said, "General, don't let too many people go in, otherwise it will be difficult for us to move."
Li Jiangyao agreed and ordered: "You come with me, plus Wu Rong and Amenta, it's enough. If the guards all stay, if there is really any danger, with the martial arts of Xiahou Sect Master and I, we don't need additional protection." , having too many people is a burden.”
"Let me go too." Lian Ji and Dong Tianxing said in unison.
Li Jiangyao was stunned, and then looked at Xiahou Ninghan, as if asking for her opinion. Xiahou Ninghan glanced at Lianji and nodded: "Lianji's kung fu is not bad, we can go together, but Mr. Dong..."
Dong Tianxing said quickly: "Although I don't know martial arts, I have read a few books and have some knowledge. Maybe I can be of some help."
Li Jiangyao thought: This is indeed true. Although Dong Tianxing is not a high-ranking official, the old man has read poetry and books and is rich in knowledge. I don't know what is in that weird mine. Maybe he can be used by then.
So he agreed: "Okay, Mr. Dong, come with us. I will protect you if anything happens."
After the arrangements were made, Wu Rong took the lead, and several people entered the lead mine cave again.
For the sake of safety, Amenta also specially gave each of Li Jiangyao and the others a light yellow pill to hold in their mouths in advance, which can effectively resist the attack of poisons.
The crowd groped forward by the light of torches. This lead mine seems to have been formed naturally. Apart from the ax and hammer marks left when the lead was extracted, there are few signs of other artificially dug mine tunnels.
The first section of the mine tunnel is relatively flat, and before going very far, it obviously extends downward. Although the slope is not too steep, it is getting further and further away from the ground because it is deep and long.
In the process of exploring downward, several forks appeared from time to time. Because the openings in the forked roads were very narrow, Li Jiangyao and others did not pay too much attention and just walked along the main mine road.
After about a meal, everyone walked out two or three miles away. Wu Rong at the front suddenly stopped, raised his hand and pointed to a slightly wider fork on the left, and said, "That's it!"
Li Jiangyao looked carefully and saw a piece of blue light looming deep in the fork in the road. It was as strange as the village chief said.
He pulled Dong Tianxing behind him and took a few steps forward. While observing, he asked, "What is the light that comes from that thing? Have any of you seen it before?"
Everyone behind them shook their heads, not being able to explain clearly.
Li Jiangyao was worried and was about to walk into the fork in the road to see what was going on. At this moment, Xiahou Ninghan suddenly said: "That blue light seems to have strong energy, which makes my innate energy sense. General careful."
energy? Li Jiangyao was stunned for a moment, then took out the Xingluo Knife and carefully touched it inside.
Xiahou Ninghan, Lian Ji, Wu Rong, Dong Tianxing and others followed closely behind him and also entered the fork in the road one by one.
After walking about two or three hundred steps, everyone stopped at the end of the fork in the road with expressions of extreme surprise.
The mountain wall in front of them was not a black rock, but like blue water, sparkling and constantly flowing.
Behind the fluid mountain wall, there seems to be an extremely vast space, but it is not clearly visible because of the blocking of the waves.
Wu Rong was so fascinated that he couldn't help but try to touch the wall of Guangbo Mountain. Unexpectedly, he suddenly heard a muffled sound and a huge force was transmitted from the mountain wall to Wu Rong's arm, shaking him. He screamed and stumbled.
Amenta was startled, stepped forward to support Wu Rong, and carefully inspected his injuries.
Wu Rong covered his chest and trembled: "I may have suffered internal injuries." Before he could finish his words, a small mouthful of blood spurted out.
Seeing this, Xiahou Ninghan quickly raised his hand to place a seal on Wu Rong's vest. While infusing him with innate Qi to treat his internal injuries, he frowned and said: "Liuguang Mountain Wall is indeed very powerful. It should not be some mechanism, but pure Aura barrier.”
Li Jiangyao nodded, then held up a torch and looked around. He was suddenly shocked: "That village chief just lied! Go and arrest him!"
