Lingxi felt a little uneasy in her heart. Thick dark clouds obscured the moon, and inexplicable sounds came from the dark forest from time to time. These all stimulated her nerves. After just experiencing a near-death experience, she really didn't have the courage to be alone.
She suppressed her inner uneasiness and used Linglong Jade to send a message to Qian Meier. She waited for a while but did not receive any reply. Anxiety surged in her heart, and she stood up and checked around but found no trace of the enemy, let alone any signs of force. She really didn't believe that the enemy could take both Qian and Huan away silently, let alone that the enemy would leave her alone. It was obvious that they must not have encountered an enemy.
So, will they abandon themselves and leave alone?
No, no, definitely not!
Deep down in her heart, she couldn't believe that her friend who had lived and died together would abandon her here for no reason. Maybe the two of them just left temporarily for some reason, and maybe they found traces of the enemy and went to investigate.
Lingxi took a deep breath to stabilize her mind. She was already sure that Qian Meier and Fan Ji were nearby and wouldn't be too far away. So, should we continue to wait here or look around? Although waiting where she was was the best option, she really didn't want to be alone here, so she had to make up her mind to look for their traces around here as the center.
It was already early autumn, and the nights were still very hot. Coupled with a fire in the city last night, the moisture in the air seemed to have been dried out. She checked around and found no trace of the two of them, feeling a burst of annoyance in her heart unconsciously.
At this moment, there was a faint sound in the forest on the right. Her heart moved and she quickly followed the sound. She didn't care if the sound was an enemy or a friend. Now she just wanted to see a living person as soon as possible.
Passing through the dense trees, there is a small lake in front of you. On a moonless night, the lake is lifeless like a puddle of dark ink. At this time, there was another burst of laughter from a woman. The sound was very clear and it was obvious that she was nearby.
Lingxi jumped tens of meters in the direction of the sound, and finally found a figure dancing and playing by the lake. There were many fireflies gathered in a large reed by the lake, and the man seemed to be chasing fireflies.
It's really surprising that there are people playing alone by the lake in this dark night. She took a few more steps forward, and with the help of the dim light of the fireflies, she finally saw the person's true face. She turned out to be Fan Ji!
At this moment, Fan Ji was like a six or seven-year-old child, laughing and chasing fireflies. No, not fireflies! She just happened to be surrounded by fireflies, but she was not chasing those fireflies. Instead, she seemed to be chasing someone.
"Hehe, don't run! I've caught you! Hehe, don't run, I know where you are!"
Seeing her child-like behavior, Lingxi took a deep breath. She originally thought that Fan Ji was bewitched by something, but she seemed to be the only one around, and there was nothing unusual about her. Moreover, her eyes were open, not like she was sleepwalking. The golden pupil of her right eye emitted a little golden light, seeming to lead her in an empty game.
Lingxi was upset for a moment. She stood up suddenly and wanted to go up and question him directly, but before she could take a step, she was pulled back into the bushes by someone! She was startled, but the man whispered a few words in her ear, and she finally let go of her hanging heart.
"Don't go there! If you wake her up, I'm afraid she will be in danger!" The voice was none other than Qian Mei'er!
"Mei'er, it's you! What...what is going on?" Lingxi asked in a low voice impatiently.
"I don't know. When I woke up, I found that Fan Ji had disappeared. I saw that you were sleeping soundly and I didn't disturb you. I just quietly searched around and finally found her here. I have been watching for a while. She must be sleepwalking. !”
"Sleepwalking? But...but why is her eyes open? And she really doesn't look like she is sleepwalking!"
"Although I have never seen sleepwalking, I heard people say that sleepwalkers usually open their eyes, and they will also do some normal actions. There is no difference from waking up, but..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that sleepwalkers generally have empty eyes, and the sleepwalking time is no more than a cup of tea, but she sleepwalked for a long time..."
"There are many vixens in the mountains. She might be possessed. No, I have to wake her up!"
"Wait! Look at her right eye..."
"Right eye?" Lingxi noticed the golden light in her right eye and couldn't help but said, "Is her pupil technique... working?"
"Yes, her right eye seems to be very special, it should be some kind of pupil technique. I guess her mental power may be exhausted due to the fierce battle, so the pupil technique operates uncontrollably. If we go up and forcefully wake it up, I'm afraid she will suffer the backlash from the pupil technique."
"Then...what should we do?"
Qianmeier pondered for a moment, "Just wait and see what happens. Fortunately, the enemy won't appear here at night..."
…
Fan Ji opened her eyes and found that she was in a small village. Every household was a hut made of yellow soil mixed with straw. Simple fences made of dry branches were surrounded by small yards. It's summer, the cicadas are chirping desperately, the sky is blue, without any clouds, and the green vegetation climbs up the fence, like a stall made of green grass draped on the fence. The colorful morning glories are like a flower decoration on the stall, which is very pleasing to the eye. A towering tree covered half of the yard with shade, spreading a cool air.
She looked down at her little hands, which were as fleshy as a five- or six-year-old child, and couldn't help but see confusion in her eyes.
"here it is……"
"Woof woof!"
A little yellow dog ran towards her, wagging its tail around her and sniffing her body, as if it was trying to please her and seek caress.
She unconsciously reached out and touched the furry head of the little yellow dog. She could feel the warmth of the tentacles and smell the wild scent of it, and a familiar and peaceful feeling came to her heart.
"Lan'er! What are you doing here? Everyone is waiting for you! Why don't you come and play together?"
A girl who was half a head taller than her appeared in front of her. Although she was wearing coarse linen clothes, she was quite good-looking, especially her two small dimples that gave people a warm feeling like a spring breeze when she smiled.
"I……"
"What am I? Why don't you come quickly!"
The little girl couldn't help but take her little hand and turned around to run. The little yellow dog also ran out of the yard with them. It ran and barked, and seemed to want to play with them.
They walked through the village and came to the stream, where many children from the village had gathered, and everyone was waiting for them. Seeing them coming, the leading boy shouted loudly: "You are late, so you are going to be ghosts! Everyone, run away! Whoever is caught is a ghost!"
"Run! Run!"
"Come and catch us! Hee hee!"
The children dispersed in a hurry, and the little girl pushed Lan'er, who was in a daze, and said, "Lan'er, don't be stunned, go and arrest someone!"
"Lan'er" seemed to have calmed down, she nodded heavily and finally joined the children's game. They chased and laughed, and the little yellow dog ran with them. At this moment, everyone's heart was filled with joy.
"I...I caught you!" "Lan'er" grabbed the sleeve of the little boy at the head and said with a smile.
The little boy turned around and smiled: "Yes, you caught me! Then it's my turn to catch you!"
The boy's body was suddenly stretched, his face and body were changing rapidly, and at the same time everything around him was swallowed up by darkness! When she came back to her senses, her arm had been firmly grasped, and in front of her was a strong man as big as a hill, staring at her fiercely. A bolt of lightning flashed across, and she could clearly see the bloody long knife coming towards her!
"Ah!" "Lan'er" covered her head and screamed!
"Woof woof!" A little yellow dog suddenly pounced up and bit the strong man's calf desperately. With the man's loud curse, the little yellow dog's body was chopped into two pieces. Hot blood splashed on her face, but she could only scream, but her scream was drowned in the rolling thunder.
"Hey, don't be afraid, little girl, you are next!"
"No...don't...don't!"
"Lan'er" hid frantically towards the corner, but to no avail. She could only watch helplessly as the enemy approached little by little. For a five or six-year-old child, there was nothing she could do.
Another bolt of lightning flashed across, and the flash of lightning illuminated the face of a little corpse in the corner. It was the girl who had played with her during the day. Her eyes widened, only half of her head was left, and her brain mixed with blood flowed all over the floor. The remaining eye was staring at her, as if saying: "Come on, come on! You will be next!"
"ah!"
"Lan'er"'s voice has become hoarse. She can't scream, but she still screams desperately. She doesn't want to die! She wants to live!
The long sword was raised high, just as it was about to fall! Golden light suddenly appeared and filled the entire room! After the golden light, the knife-wielding murderer showed an expression of disbelief on his face, and then collapsed to the ground and turned into a lifeless corpse.
And "Lan'er" was huddled in the corner, her nose and tears mixed together. Her whole body was twitching unconsciously, but the golden light in her right eye was very dazzling.
There was darkness again before her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she was back in the small village. The sky was blue and the surroundings were lush. At this time, the little girl came again, as if nothing had happened, and said to her with a smile: "Lan'er! What are you doing here? Everyone is waiting for you! Why don't you come and play together?"
The little yellow dog was still jumping around her side happily, as if he wanted to play with her as soon as possible.
Looking at the little girl's face, "Lan'er" was stunned. She remembered that she was "Lan'er" and also "Fantasy Girl". As for the little girl in front of her - she is her biological sister.
"Why... why won't you let me go..." She looked at her sister's face blankly and murmured to herself.
"Lan'er? What's wrong with you? Why don't you play with your sister?"
"Why... why don't you let me go..." She continued talking to herself as if she didn't hear anything.
The little girl stopped smiling, stared at her, and said word by word: "Why, you are alive!"
"Me? Why are you alive?"
"Everyone is dead, why don't you die?"
"I...why don't I die?"
"You should die too, with everyone, so that everyone can play together forever."
"I... I should die too... Yes, I should die too! I should die too! Hahahahaha!" She looked up to the sky and laughed like crazy, then stretched out her finger and inserted it into her right eye without hesitation! Those shining golden pupils!
"Pa!" Her hand stopped and was held tightly by someone, and then a familiar voice came from her ears: "Wake up! Fan Ji, wake up!"
The little girl smiled playfully at her, as if to say, "You're lucky!" Then, her eyes fell into darkness again. When she came back to her senses, what caught her eyes were the anxious faces of Qian and Ling.
"Mei'er...Lingxi..."
Seeing that she finally woke up, the two women let out a long sigh of relief. Her act of self-mutilation just now frightened them. Fortunately, they were relatively close and could quickly stop her behavior.
"You...you have sleepwalking? Why didn't you tell me earlier? This is too scary!" Lingxi was still frightened.
"Lie down first. Did you dream about something? Is there anything uncomfortable?" Qian Meier laid her body down and asked with concern.
Fan Ji took a few deep breaths and shook her head. She looked at the dark sky without saying a word, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Would you like some water?" Qianmeier handed her the kettle. She sat up and took several sips from "Gulu Gulu".
"Have you recovered?"
Fan Ji nodded.
"What did you dream about?"
Fan Ji sighed and said, "No...it's nothing."
"You don't look like you're nothing."
Fan Ji opened her mouth to say something, but in the end she sighed: "It's just hell..."
"Hell? What kind of hell?" Lingxi couldn't help but ask this time.
"What kind of hell?" Fan Ji unconsciously repeated the question, "That is my own hell."
Qian and Ling looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
"If you are willing, why not tell us?" Qianmeier asked tentatively.
Fan Ji shook her head, "It's nothing special, it's just some... shadows from childhood, so don't mention it."
Seeing that she still refused to reveal anything, Qian and Ling couldn't say anything more, so they could only close their eyes and adjust their breathing with her.
A gust of wind blew, and Fan Ji felt a chill on her back, and then she realized that her back was soaked with sweat. She grew up in the fairy dust continent. Because of the shadow of her childhood, she never trusted anyone and was unwilling to reveal her heart to anyone. Even the master who raised her did not know this dark memory in her heart. .
She would never forget the three days she spent in a room with piles of corpses. The stench of corpses attracted swarms of flies, and the buzzing sound echoed in her ears countless times in the quiet night. She could not forget the look in her sister's eyes before she died, nor could she forget the scene when her parents' corpses were disemboweled by wild dogs. She wanted to die, but she still didn't.
On the fourth day, she was discovered by a passing monk...
If Qian and Ling hadn't existed today, I'm afraid she would have dug out her right eye by now. But maybe doing this would also be a relief for her...
Ling Ning and Xia Shiqing followed the big snake as they continued to explore the depths of the cave. The deeper they went, the lower the terrain became, and the moist atmosphere gradually became heavier. After about an hour, they were already in the underground where no sunlight could be seen, and everything around them was pitch black.
Xia Shiqing used the "fluorescence technique", and a luminous sphere was suspended in front of the wooden figure for illumination.
Another hour passed, and the stench in the air became stronger. Animal carcasses of various sizes began to appear in the quagmire, all of which had turned into withered bones. The snakes around were several times larger in size, but their number was reduced by half. Obviously these Compared to the previous ones, Snake is considered "elite". But these snakes also raised their heads towards the depths of the cave, as if they were possessed.
Just when Ling Ning was impatiently tortured by the endless darkness, he suddenly discovered that murals began to appear on the rock wall. Xia Shiqing also noticed it. When the two of them looked closely, they found that these murals were all painted with red lines. Yes, because over time most of it has fallen off, and the rest is dark red.
The mural seems to depict some kind of ceremony. A woman in feathered clothing stands on a high platform and is receiving worship from thousands of people. This woman has the body of a snake and the tail of a snake. Although her face can no longer be seen clearly, just by looking at her appearance, we can tell that she is the legendary ancient god—Nuwa Empress.
The subsequent murals also verified their conjecture, which was a story of "Nuwa patching up the sky". These murals are obviously very old, and it can be vaguely seen that the Empress Nuwa ascended to the upper world, but before her ascension, she appointed another woman with the body of a snake and a tail to stay in the human world. She seemed to be the descendant of Nuwa, and everyone worshiped her again.
Just as the two of them were fascinated, a light suddenly lit up in front of them. However, the light became brighter and brighter for a while until they suddenly became enlightened. A huge cave appeared in front of them. The stone walls around the cave were inlaid with countless luminous pearls, and the cave seemed to have turned into an emerald green ocean.
There are countless big snakes coiled in the cave. Big snakes like the ones they encountered today that are about 20 meters long and more than one meter wide can be seen everywhere. The heads and tails of larger ones can't be seen at all! These big snakes all looked up at the center of the cave, which was a high platform more than twenty meters high and five meters wide. The entire high platform was actually made of bronze and was already stained with patina. There was a giant snake hovering on the high platform, which was as thick as a person. When it was circling, only the head of the snake was visible, but the tail was not visible. What's even more surprising is that it has double horns on its head, and the scales on its body glow faintly with gold, which is obviously extremely extraordinary.
"This...is this the Snake King?" It was the first time for Ling Ning to see such a big snake, and her surprise was palpable.
"Since this is the 'Blessed Land of Earth Dragon', maybe this is the true face of Earth Dragon." Xia Shiqing seemed much calmer.
"Earth dragon?" Ling Ning looked at the horns on its forehead, "But no matter how it looks, it looks like a giant python. It has horns on its head. Could it be that it has transformed into a dragon?"
Before the two of them could investigate further, the huge body of the earth dragon twisted for a while, and then let out a roar like a dragon's roar. The sound was deafening and full of pain. All the snakes around were shocked and looked very panicked. The big transparent snake that led them here was even more irritable and restless. It kept spinning on the ground, as if it wanted to come forward to help, but it didn't dare to approach.
"What the hell are these snakes doing?"
Ling Ning was confused for a moment. Xia Shiqing looked at it quietly for a moment and suddenly said: "Look, there is someone there!"
"Human?" Ling Ning followed the direction of her finger and saw that there was actually a person on the high platform! It's just that this person is probably sitting cross-legged on a high platform, leaving only a small part of his head illuminated. The light in the cave is unclear, so it is really difficult to find if you don't pay attention.
"Bald head...could he be a monk?"
"Whoever it is, he should know what happened here. Why don't we go over and ask."
Ling Ning nodded, and the two of them flew towards the high platform. If an ordinary person would not dare to follow this transparent snake, they would be frightened and leave quietly when they see this cave full of giant pythons. But Ling Ning and Xia Shiqing struggled on the line of life and death many times, and their hearts had been tempered for a long time. Although they were still a little nervous, they were not timid. Instead, they were eager to try and find out.
The two climbed up to the high platform and saw a man sitting in front of the earth dragon. He muttered words, and golden threads floated out of his mouth, wrapping around the earth dragon and becoming transparent and disappearing. The earth dragon looked very painful, his red eyes bursting with anger, staring at the person sitting cross-legged in front of him, but he was unable to resist.
Who on earth has such great ability to subdue such a strange beast? It's really surprising.
"Brother Taoist, what are you doing?" Ling Ning stepped forward and saw the man's face, which instantly shocked him!
This person is none other than the demon monk Yi Nian who has disappeared for a long time!
