"Maybe the answer lies in the crack..." Uncle Long said, looking at the crack.
The crack was formed by the cracking and collapse of the ground. Although there were several thick vine branches growing inside, there was still a lot of space between the cracks, enough for a person to climb down.
"These vines must have grown out of it later. When the Japanese went down, there shouldn't be so many of them." Uncle Wang said.
"Why do I think it was crushed by these vines?" Haozi glanced at him and asked, seeing everyone looking at him, he raised his eyebrows and said, "What, haven't you heard that Xiaocao is powerful?"
"..."
"Get ready, let's go down." Uncle Long walked to the crack and looked at the dark crack.
"It's very strong. We can climb down these vines." The mountain ghost knocked on a thick vine branch.
While everyone was cleaning up, Chen Tao looked at the big crack, which looked like a grinning mouth in the darkness, waiting for everyone to fall into the trap.
"Maybe the things in front of you are too dazzling to take care of it, but the real secrets are always hidden in inconspicuous corners. The truth often confuses your eyes..." This is what Chen Tao's father often said to him. One sentence.
Solving the bloodthirsty black insects and resisting the attack of the soul-destroying rats, these are all visible dangers. However, under the cover of all this, there were countless Japanese casualties and the things they found below, the strange corpses, and...the black vines around them that didn't look dangerous. Perhaps, these That's the biggest danger...
"Then what will be waiting for us down there..."
Chapter 38, Underground River
Taking the backpack from Shangui, Chen Tao walked to Uncle Long's side.
"Hey, Uncle Long, don't you think it's strange?"
"What's so weird?" Uncle Long looked at him with his cigarette butt in his mouth, flashing red light in the darkness.
"Why did the Japanese seal this place? Also, the Japanese lying at the door died in a completely different manner from the one here. Don't you think it's a little strange?" Chen Tao looked at Uncle Long seriously.
Uncle Long took a deep breath, exhaled a large cloud of smoke, frowned slightly and said, "I've also noticed this problem, but I haven't been able to find any credible reason yet."
"That man was killed by a bloodthirsty black insect." Yang Lixuan walked to Chen Tao and others and sat down against a thick vine. He took out a small bottle from his pocket, poured out a brown pill and threw it in the mouth,
"He was eaten away by black insects, leaving only the outer skin."
"Did that person escape from below and be killed by black insects? Maybe that's why the Japanese sealed this place." Uncle Long put out the cigarette butt.
Chen Tao looked at Yang Lixuan chewing in his mouth and asked curiously: "Are you... sick?"
"No." Yang Lixuan looked at Chen Tao with some confusion, then as if he understood something, he raised his hand and threw the bottle of pills to him and said, "I made it myself. It can refresh you."
"Isn't this stuff poisonous?" Chen Tao unscrewed the cap of the bottle doubtfully, and a refreshing coolness filled his mouth and nose, lifting his whole spirit. He poured one out and stuffed it into his mouth, imitating Yang Lixuan's example and chewed it a few times. A cool feeling flowed down his throat and went straight to his forehead.
"Let me go...did you add mustard to it!"
"Mustard?" Yang Lixuan asked a little puzzled.
"You don't even know Wasabi?"
Yang Lixuan shook his head.
"What did you add to this?" Chen Tao felt a little uneasy.
"Silver grass, dipterocarp, yellow mustard, and some other things..."
"Forehead......"
"It's mint, borneol, and mustard grass. He used the old names." Haozi walked to Chen Tao and sat down, lighting a pipe.
"So that's what it's called now..." Yang Lixuan muttered to himself, then turned to look at Haozi: "Something has happened here. I want to visit Mr. Li."
"Why are you looking for my grandpa?" Haozi blew out a smoke ring and looked at Yang Lixuan with a defensive frown.
"There are some very important things." Yang Lixuan glanced at Haozi and closed his eyes against the vine branches behind him.
"When did you start studying medicine?" Haozi asked.
Yang Lixuan put his arms under his head and said without raising his eyes: "A friend taught me."
"Then what kind of corpse-hating Gu is that?" Chen Tao also interjected.
"Another friend taught me."
He wanted to ask something else, but seeing that Yang Lixuan didn't seem to want to talk anymore, he gave up the idea. Looking at the bottle in his hand, he said: "Haozi, do you know what the flower language of peppermint is?"
"I don't pick up girls, I know what these are for."
"Hey, it's not sentimental. Listen up, Brother Tao, I'll teach you once. The flower language of peppermint is, I hope to meet you again!"
Yang Lixuan on the side moved slightly and opened his eyes. Seeing that he woke up, Chen Tao returned the vial to him. Yang Lixuan took it, stood up and walked towards the big crack.
"Boring..." Haozi curled his lips, pinched his cigarette butt and got up to go find Uncle Long and the others.
"Two straight men with zero emotional intelligence!" Chen Tao complained. He grabbed the backpack on the ground and stepped behind him. Unexpectedly, he used too much force and pulled the injury on his right shoulder. The pain made him grin. Gritting his teeth, he put on another strap and walked to the crack.
The gap between the cracks isn't huge, but it's enough for one person. Those black vines grew diagonally from below. The mountain ghost climbed up one of the thick vines and used a shovel to cut off several vine branches as thick as arms. The vine branches hung down like ropes.
Holding a flashlight and shining it through the crack, nothing could be seen in the pitch black darkness below. There seemed to be a faint sound of running water coming up. Yan pulled out a cold firework and was about to ignite it, but was stopped by Uncle Long.
"The situation down there is unknown. If the rats are disturbed again, we will be in trouble."
After that, Uncle Long took out a long match, lit it and probed into the crack. The match burned flickeringly, and the flames jumped out slightly.
"There is wind down there, the air is circulating, the matches can burn, and the oxygen content should be good."
"Master Long, I'll go down and take a look first, wait for my signal." The mountain ghost climbed down the vine branch first. After a few minutes, several flashlights flashed across the crack.
"It's safe down there, let's go down!"
Everyone climbed up the thick vine one after another. The vine branches were very strong. With so many people stepping on them, some sagging and shaking were eliminated, and there was no sign of breakage. Several people climbed down from the crack one after another, each holding on to the thin vines.
The space under the crack was unexpectedly empty, and it was many times larger than the eggshell factory building when we came here. There are black stalactites all around, stalagmites, stone platforms, and stone pillars of different shapes, which are dazzling when illuminated by a flashlight. Compared with the surroundings, the few people climbing on the vine branches looked so small.
In this vast deep mountain, who would have thought that there is such a majestic and spectacular underground wonder hidden under the mountain! Slender stalagmites hang down from the top of the rock, blooming like magnificent stone flowers.
There are several strange-shaped stone pillars standing in front, the largest one is more than ten meters high. The stone pillars are tightly connected up and down, and the lava flowing down the pillar body is like waterfalls condensed in mid-air, and they are closely clustered.
Many semicircular stone platforms are naturally formed on the stone pillars and surrounding rock walls, just like black ganoderma growing on dead trees.
Under the stone platform, lava flows diagonally onto the stone pillars. It is difficult to imagine how this fantasy was formed.
Countless black vines are wrapped around stalagmite pillars, climbing on rock walls and stone platforms, like swimming dragons or spiritual pythons. Looking around, the endless black is shocking, as if you are in ancient times, mysterious and solemn, and you can't help but marvel at the miraculous craftsmanship of nature.
There is a wide underground river beneath him. The person is in mid-air and cannot see clearly with the flashlight. Looking from a distance, the river water is black and not flowing very fast.
Water droplets fell from time to time on the stalactites on all sides, dripping into the dark river below, and was instantly swallowed up by the darkness and disappeared.
The rock walls on the left and right are covered with vines of different thicknesses, one by one growing vertically, and some are even soaked in the river water. At this time, they were above the underground river, with rivers flowing on both sides.
Chen Tao held up his flashlight and looked forward. The river was very long and there was no end in sight.
Due to the humidity, the vines here were very slippery, with a layer of sticky stuff growing on the surface. Chen Tao grabbed the vines with both hands and clamped his legs hard, trying not to let himself slip down.
Sometimes, life is really a fragile thing.
