Because I was injured, I knew that the next three levels might become more and more difficult to pass. It would probably be very dangerous for Qin Bukong and Songzi to go alone, so we had to rest for a few days. Fortunately, I didn't suffer any injuries. It was some external injury, but no muscles or bones were injured. Four days later, he was almost recovered. In the past few days, Songzi continued to collect some information and materials that we might use. Qin Bukong also completely trusted Songzi because of the previous four levels. Unless the mistake was ridiculous, he would no longer question Songzi. Speculating and judging.
On the night of the fourth day, we decided to set off to Boya Terrace to explore the next day. The night before departure, Songzi reviewed the clues he had found over the past few days and his own judgment with all of us. Because Boya Taiwan is just a small place, so the area we need to search is actually not very large. There is only a pavilion and a stone tablet left there, which are also left over from the Qing Dynasty. Except for some sentimental people, Apart from the ancient customs, basically no one else comes here, and there are no dedicated people to manage and improve this place. Relatively speaking, it is relatively desolate. But this gives us a better opportunity. At least we won't encounter interference from others during the search.
According to the passage left by Lu Zu, if we want to break through the "mandrill", we need to be good at using the five elements to create and restrain. "Mandrill" falling in Jingmen belongs to Li Gua, and Li Gua belongs to fire, and the conflict with it is water. The only door among the eight gates that belongs to water is Xiumen, and the hexagram position is Kan Gua, so we took the Vajra Prong we found when we were in Xiumen with us. Although Qin Bukong is very capable, his tricks may not be effective when facing these ghosts and monsters that are still unfamiliar to him, so we have been groping before, taking one step at a time.
And I have the Six Directions Seal, the Master Order, the Iron Scissors and the Miao Wu Scimitar on my body. These weapons have been proven to be lethal to ghosts and monsters in previous actual combats. The difference is only in size, but they must be useful. Not to mention that I still have enough magic tricks to protect myself, so I asked Qin Bukong to carry the Vajra Prong as a self-defense weapon. Song Zi is much simpler. His main role in the team is to make suggestions for us and detect dangers. Now that we have Lu Zu's guidance, although the later levels will be more difficult, we have found a shortcut. Maybe we won't notice much, and it may even feel easier.
Songzi said that the "mandrill" recorded in ancient books was a ghost that would only appear in the mountains and woods. In ancient times, roads were inconvenient, and many times it was necessary to walk on mountain roads. However, there are many trees on the mountain. If you are not a person who often walks this road, you may get lost on the mountain. And "mandrill" is a ghost who specially selects these lost people to attack. They will make various sounds to attract lost people to find out what is going on, and then kill them after catching them. The "drill" uses this method to transcend, and the person it kills becomes the next "drill" until it kills others again.
There are different descriptions of "mandrill" in ancient books. Some people say that it is a one-legged child more than two feet long. It has only one big eye, no nose and ears, and a huge mouth. When it smiles, its lips It can be turned up and down to cover the entire face. It is particularly good at imitating the curious sounds of lost people and using it to confuse living people. Although it only has one foot, it can run extremely fast, walking on flat ground in the mountains and forests. Once it targets people, they should never expect to escape.
But some people say that Mandrill was raised by wolves, tigers and leopards in the mountains. It has a fierce temperament, a long and black body, and great strength. It can transform into various appearances. Everyone sees it differently at first glance. After it has direct contact with a living person, it will treat the person as a plaything and play with it to death. There are even stories of "mandrills" eating human flesh in some places.
Although there are different theories, and none of us have ever seen such a ghost in person, we can't tell which one is the most true and appropriate. It seems that we can only know everything if we take the initiative to face it. However, no matter what version of the legend, they all mention one thing in common, that is, "mandrills" are good at imitating, using their voices or shapes to attract others to be fooled, and then harm them.
That means that we may encounter some illusions in front of us just like we did when we broke through the Eight Gate Formation. These illusions come from the demonic obstacles deep in our hearts that we cannot overcome.
Songzi told us that during the past four days, he had been running around exploring. He had also gone to Naboyatai to explore the road, and found that there was indeed a large forest on the road up the mountain to the pavilion and stone monument. Farmers at the foot of the mountain said that those woods were as dense as they are now when they were young. They were not artificially planted, but a completely wild forest. In the summer, people often go inside to catch snakes and rabbits. Most of the trees are camphor wood. Since it is a sunny slope, when the temperature changes in the morning and evening every day, fog will form in the forest. Songzi also said that in order to know more about this place, he also specifically inquired whether there were any wild beasts in the forest, but the farmer said that there were no big wild beasts, except hares, snakes, and weasels. Pass. Songzi asked if anyone had ever died or disappeared in the forest, but the old farmer said that this had indeed happened. Decades ago, a hunter went into the mountains to hunt hares, encountered thick fog, and disappeared. When everyone finally found him, they found that he had been dead for many days. Apart from some scars from a fall, there were no more external injuries on his body, so everyone thought that he might have stepped on loose soil and fell down the slope. He came down and hit his head and died.
As for whether the person who died was because of encountering the "mandrill", we don't know, because that incident happened decades ago, and no one had touched the seal of the Witch King's soul at that time. In other words, , no one came to activate the "mandrill" in the woods, and it is well known that if a mandrill appears on a mountain, there will only be one mandrill. It is said that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and it seems that one mountain cannot accommodate two mandrills.
However, the old farmer's words gave us a new signal, indicating that few people go to that forest, and even those who do go are people who are familiar with the terrain nearby, and tourists don't have the guts to get in. Then the soil there will be in danger of loosening, and people who step forward may fall and roll directly down the hillside.
Songzi said that there is only one path up the mountain, but there are several paths on the mountainside. If you walk along one of the paths for a few hundred meters, you will see the forest, but the path ends when you get there, and this path It's just a trail that has been trampled by people all year round. Songzi said, I used the compass to calculate the direction. According to the rules of comparing the north and south meridian, the area where this forest is located happens to fall on Li Gua, and the cliff directly above the forest is the location of Boya Terrace.
Songzi said while drawing pictures for us on the paper. After looking at the sketch he drew, although Qin Bukong and I had never been to that place, we had a general sense of direction. In other words, Boyatai is just a place, but the place where you will really encounter the "mandrill" must be in the only forest. The pavilion and stone monument are not from thousands of years ago, which means that the stone box we are looking for , it is very likely that it is buried somewhere in the woods. This forest has existed for thousands of years.
Because the current season has entered summer, Boyatai is located on a mountain, and it is adjacent to the Yangtze River. The temperature difference between morning and evening is actually very large. According to the old farmer Songzi asked about earlier, there will be thick fog here morning and evening. So everyone unanimously decided to go into the forest at noon when the temperature is the highest. Although you will still encounter dangers, it is better than getting lost in the fog and dying because of stupidity.
Songzi said that he only looked at the woods from a distance and did not dare to go in. From his perspective, the woods were not very dense. This seemed to be a bit different from what the old farmer said. After some discussion, we prepared all the tools that might come in handy. Qin Bukong even said to bring Gan Mu with us. After all, the mountain forest is a paradise for snakes. Gan Mutong is spiritual and will only help but not cause trouble.
We all went to bed early that night, but I tossed and turned in bed unable to fall asleep. I kept thinking about the descriptions of mandrills I had seen in the past. Since the founding of New China, many theists no longer believe that there are mandrills in the world. Things like ghosts and monsters exist, and under the leadership of this group of people, many people across the country have begun to participate in refuting rumors. Some are too absurd, such as solar and lunar eclipses, which are said to be Tengu eating the sun or eating the moon. , this kind of rumor is naturally self-defeating, but for the mysterious Chinese ghosts, it seems that it has been difficult to find a reasonable explanation.
Perhaps to appease everyone, this group of people even directly regarded the mandrill as an animal, a primate like a baboon or a monkey. It is indeed ferocious and has a bad temper, which is also similar to the "drill" recorded in ancient books. There are many similarities. In this way, it does not deny the content of the cultural legend, but also gives a conclusion that everyone can recognize, and everyone is happy.
In my wild thoughts, it was already two o'clock in the morning when I fell asleep that night. Fortunately, we didn't have to rush there very early the next day, so after Qin Bukong and Songzi got up in the morning, they deliberately let me sleep a little longer. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning, and the sun was already a little fierce, so we went out.
