"What is this?"
Xu Chuxiang couldn't help but exclaimed.
"I don't know what it is. I can only judge by the shape of its bones that it should be a bird creature with nine heads."
"Nine-headed bird? Is there such a strange bird in the world?"
"I haven't seen it either. But in my forty years of exploration, I have seen some equally strange creatures... For example, when I led a team to climb Zhumulangma'alin Peak ten years ago, I saw it A very strange and scary snow monkey.”
Holt's eyes flashed with palpitations, as if recalling it after many years still frightened him.
"We were about to succeed when we climbed Zhumu Langma'alin Peak that time. I could already see the peak when I looked up."
"At that time, another team member and I were climbing in front, and the others were five or six hundred meters below. You know, an adventure like this that challenges the limits does not require everyone to climb to the top, as long as If one person climbs up, it means we have succeeded.”
"The other team member and I were the ones selected by everyone to make the final sprint. At that time, we were only 300 meters away from the peak, and my companion was more than five meters in front of me."
"At that moment, a monkey suddenly jumped out of the snow, a snow-white monkey... No, it was not a monkey... It just looked a bit like a monkey, because it had a pair of wings on its back."
"The monkey with wings suddenly emerged from the snow, flew to my companion's side like lightning, and then... then tore my companion's body to pieces."
"My companion was wearing a heavy mountain suit. Even if he was slashed with a knife, he might not be able to be easily injured. However, under the claws of the monkey who was only three feet tall, he was torn like a piece of paper. ”
"I was so frightened that I didn't even dare to run away. I just stood there stiffly. The strange and terrifying monkey was standing five or six meters in front of me, standing on the broken body of my companion. Stare at me coldly with a pair of blood-red eyes."
"I don't know why it didn't kill me, but I could see from its eyes that if I dared to walk forward again, I would end up like my companions."
"So I escaped. Although climbing to the top of Zhumulangma'alin Peak was my biggest dream in my life, and I once thought I would pay any price for this dream, but when I really faced death, I still I chose to run away.”
"I returned to the team members below who were waiting for our victory to reach the summit, and told them about the monkey."
"But no one believed me. They thought I had snow blindness, and the other team member died in an accident. At that time, no one had the ability to climb up to verify my words."
"In the end, our challenge failed, and the other team members did not tell them what I told them in order to protect my reputation. I am very grateful to them, but actually I would rather they believe me."
An indifferent and sarcastic smile slowly appeared on the corner of Professor Holt's mouth.
Xu Chuxiang looked at the old white man with some sympathy.
She believed that Professor Holt did not lie to her, but Xu Chuxiang was not sure whether the monkeys with wings that Professor Holt just mentioned were real, because Xu Chuxiang knew that if a person stayed in the monotonous snow for a long time, it would indeed It’s easy to hallucinate.
After being silent for a while, Professor Holt began to continue speaking.
"My friend at the Imperial Museum is responsible for the regular sorting and sorting of the museum's collections. When he was sorting out some long-standing collections, he discovered the long scroll painting."
"He actually didn't realize the value of this long scroll painting. He just found that the appearance of some biological fossils in the painting was very novel. Because he knew that I was very interested in these things, he specially took photos to show me."
“When I saw that photo, I knew that the creature that left behind this fossilized skeleton was the same as the snow monkey I saw at the top of Zhumulangma’alin Peak ten years ago. Strange creatures that have existed or still exist, but few people know about them.”
"Then Professor, how do you determine that the place in the painting is in the Shennongjia Mountains of Chuzhou based on a painting?"
Xu Chuxiang asked puzzledly.
"No, it's not just this painting. When I saw the photo, I rushed to the Imperial Museum immediately, and in the collection room, I found that in addition to the long scroll painting, there was also a manuscript note by Shi Zibin .”
"There are not many people in the museum who know the Chinese language, let alone the fact that Shi Zibin recorded it in the obscure ancient Chinese language of your country hundreds of years ago. Even fewer people can understand it, and so do I. It took nearly two months to fully understand the manuscript."
"What happened in that manuscript?"
"It records Shi Zibin's experience of encountering immortals, and it is also the reason why he left that long scroll painting."
"Shi Zibin said in that manuscript that when he was over forty years old, he was struggling to make ends meet by painting for others in Jingcheng, so he came up with the idea of going to the mountains to escape from the world and practice practice, and then wandered among the famous mountains and rivers of Chuzhou. After walking around for a while, he didn’t expect that he actually met an immortal in Shennongjia.”
"The immortal took him back to his fairy mansion. They spent a day together and had a pleasant conversation. Although the immortal did not agree to accept Shi Zibin as his disciple, he expressed his willingness to enlighten Shi Zibin and help him improve his painting skills. However, he wanted Shi Zibin to help him. He does something."
"Do immortals still want ordinary people to do things for them?"
"I think those extraordinary people are not omnipotent. Otherwise, there might be no ordinary people in this world."
"What does that immortal want Shi Zibin to do for him?"
"A very strange thing is that after Shi Zibin returns, he recruits unemployed refugees or villagers from remote areas, regardless of the number of people, and sends them all to the edge of the Shennongjia primeval forest."
"...This is really a strange request..."
"Yes, it's strange. Shi Zibin never knew why the immortal asked him to do this. However, the immortal promised him to help him improve his painting skills, but he fulfilled his promise. After returning to Jingcheng, Shi Zibin's paintings His skills have indeed improved greatly, from a mediocre street painter to a royal painter favored by the king of Chuzhou."
"After becoming a painter in the palace, Shi Zibin used the power of the palace to recruit many refugees and sent them to the place designated by the immortal somewhere on the edge of Shennongjia."
"Shi Zibin didn't know that the people he sent would end up like this, because every time he sent someone new, the original ones were gone."
"Shi Zibin sent a total of nearly a thousand refugees before and after, but they were all missing in the end."
"As for Shi Zibin himself, something strange happened to him, that is, when he first returned to Jingcheng, his painting skills had indeed reached an extraordinary state as if they had been reborn, but after a few years, they slowly began to decline. Slowly regressed and returned to its original mediocrity.”
"And his long scroll painting was painted when he first returned to Jingcheng. It was the peak of his painting skills at that time. The things he painted were as real as photos, which allowed us to see the strangeness of the cave."
"According to the records in the manuscript, the cave is located in a valley surrounded by mountains deep in the Shennongjia Mountains. There is a large peach forest in the valley, covered with a kind of beautiful colorful grass. Through the cave, it is the residence of the immortal."
"I came to Chuzhou this time just to find that mysterious place."
"And to find it, I need your help, Miss Xu."
