In the secret passage, as the flashlight illuminates the surroundings, the tunnel is not too narrow. The average tunnel is about five or six meters wide. If it hits a corner, it will be as wide as ten meters. In addition to being spacious, the stone walls are also very neatly carved. , every time you walk a section of the water, you can see beams like arches supporting the stone wall, built on the stone wall with an interlocking structure.
Every once in a while on the stone walls on both sides, you can see stone niches, which contain lamps and candlesticks. Most of them have no lamp oil, leaving only empty shells. m.
"Brother Zhu, are these secret passages built underwater?"
Song Siyuan asked when she saw that there was no sunlight around her.
"Miss Song, this secret passage has not yet left Junshan Island. It is indeed built in the mountains. After leaving Junshan Island, the secret passage will mostly use the natural caves between the islands as passages. It cannot be considered to be built underwater. It just uses the islands. The waterways between them are convenient for traveling, and there are many doors like the one we walked in just now, lying between the secret passages of various caves, but they are different in size, and you will know when the time comes."
Zhu Fushun kept shaking the oar, rowing the boat through the tunnel and floating on the water. About an hour later, chaotic skylight began to appear in front of everyone's eyes. As the ferry paddled out of the secret passage, they saw that it had passed through Junshan Island and arrived at The Broken Island area closest to Junshan Island.
After drawing out the tunnel, Yue Guanchao looked up at the sky. The setting sun was gradually disappearing, and the outline of the surrounding islands was gradually blurring. If he walked deep into the cave, it would be very dark.
"It was already afternoon when we came here, and after walking for such a long time it was almost dark. According to the distance on the map, if you want to take the shortest way to Yugou Island, this is it."
While talking, Zhu Fushun slid into the depths of the cave according to the signs on the map, opened the stone door and walked in. In the next two hours, they continued to slide the ferry between the island cave and the secret passage. When they approached Yugou Island, the sky turned brighter. The sunset has completely disappeared.
At this moment, the sky is filled with stars, the lake surface reflects the stars, and the boat floats on the water as if it is floating in mid-air. Unless the moonlight is sprinkled on it, the surrounding islands have completely merged into the darkness and cannot be traced. The only sounds in the ears are the chirping of insects and the rustling of grass and trees. , only then can people tell that it is near the island.
"Brother Fushun, there is a bandit village on Luwan Island near Yugou Island. Could you please stop the boat for a while? We want to see what that bandit village looks like?"
"Okay, yes."
Zhu Fushun looked at the map. Luwan Island was located on the right side of Yugou Island, just at the back of the crescent moon. There was indeed a bandit village hidden in the island. After seeing the situation clearly, they opened the last stone gate and entered the secret passage through the cave.
After about half an hour of drifting, the secret passage began to have wider and wider river banks. The corners suddenly became rounded, and a semicircle the size of a house was concave inward, just like a trestle in the tunnel. The stone steps were built upwards and blended into the darkness.
"This is it. These bandit villages are built in natural caves. You can see them as you walk up. I'll stop the boat first and take you up later."
Zhu Fushun stopped the oar, pulled up the rope and tied the ferry to the pillar next to the stone stack. Everyone climbed up the stairs with flashlights on the stack and arrived at the underground cave.
"This is the bandit stronghold marked on the map."
Song Siyuan spoke and illuminated the surroundings. Since these bandit villages were in caves, they could not be ordinary houses. They were mostly built according to the walls of the caves. They carved holes in the stone walls, inserted trees as platforms, and built Taoist paths. Open stacks, the second half of the house is mostly embedded in half the hole, leaving only the front half to build walls and cover it with tiles, as if an ordinary house is embedded in the stone wall. The front half of all houses are supported by the same stone platform , are connected to each other by plank roads, wooden bridges, and tunnels, and there are stairs connecting each level, just like a hanging temple built on a cliff, with five or six floors of courtyards built on the stone walls.
As far as the eye can see, the stone walls of this cave are all being used in this way. Countless ancient houses surround at least three stone walls, which appear to be extremely crowded. Between the stone walls, there are many hemp ropes and cables pulled out of the stone walls, covering the top of the head in various directions, and there are shabby clothes. Hanging on the cable, it has become weathered and rotten.
Looking down, you can see that the ground has been deliberately leveled and regular, with downward-facing stone wells built here and there. You can draw water directly from the wellhead, which is the ultimate use of the cave.
"Why are these houses embedded in stone caves?"
Song Siyuan became curious and asked Zhu Fushun.
Ma Yanghua interjected: "Sister, this is for the sake of the stability of the house. Think about it, there is no daylight in the cave and it is close to the tunnel. It is always wet. The wood will become rotten immediately when it encounters water. It will definitely collapse when it is in disrepair. It's not conducive to preservation. If you put the house into a cave, you can use the cave to hold the house in place. Even if the wood is really rotten, it can still be replaced and repaired."
"Three hundred years ago, the water bandits had the idea of setting up camp in the cave. There was no other way. Only in this way could the problem of the stability of the house be solved. In addition, there were many other changes in the cave. The air holes allow the wind to blow in from different directions, which also reduces the moisture a little. Those ventilation holes become lookout points when it comes to resisting the army."
"Lookout? Can you see outside?"
When Yue Guanchao heard Ma Yanghua mention this, a gleam flashed in his eyes. There was only less than a few hundred meters away from Yugou Island. If there was a lookout here, Yugou Island could be seen directly through a telescope, so there would be no need. Stay close to Yugou Island to avoid alerting others.
"Brother Yue, of course, the largest lookout point is at the highest point of the cave. I can take you to see it. Although I am not familiar with the map, I did live in a bandit village when I was a child. I can probably help you find the lookout point based on my childhood memories. .”
Zhu Fushun's words made everyone happy, and they followed him up to the Hanging Bandits' Stronghold, walking upward among the stone walls, tunnels, and plank roads. When they reached the highest point of the cave, they saw an upward passage hidden behind the stone wall.
After walking quickly up the passage, they came to a hollowed-out ball room. There were only a few rotten tables, chairs and benches in it, and a row of lookout holes were cut into the wall.
Most of the lookout openings were the size of copper basins. They were covered tightly with wooden boards and were closed tightly like windows. Yue Guanchao opened one of the window panels and saw the wind blowing from outside. The cold wind at night flowed into the stone chamber along with the smell of vegetation, which made people feel astonished. Feeling refreshed and no longer feeling depressed.
"Most of these lookout points are built on the top of the mountain or on the mountainside, and are protected by caves. They are easily undetected and can provide ventilation and observation. You can just see Yugou Island from this location."
Yue Guanchao listened to Zhu Fushun's words and stretched his neck to look outside carefully. After adapting to the darkness of the outside world, he could clearly see the outline of Yugou Island and even the glazed tile roof of Shuxian Temple through the silvery white moonlight of the full moon. .
"Yue Guanchao, let's just observe here tonight. It's better not to alert the snake. It's time for me to see the full moon, but I don't see any movement in the Rat Immortal Temple."
Song Siyuan opened another lookout window and stared outside carefully. Yugou Island was quiet.
"Wait a minute, the worst is to stay here all night. You can always see mice worshiping the moon on a full moon night. If you don't see them, it means the people of Junshan Town are lying."
In order to hide their eyes and ears, they could only extinguish their flashlights and turn off all light sources so that they could blend into the ink. In this way, the cave became extremely dark, and the only light source was the moonlight coming from the two observation windows. It makes people panic.
About half an hour later, the clouds and fog around the moon gradually dispersed, completely revealing the bright moon wheel.
There was finally movement on Yugou Island.
"Hey, it seems like something has landed on the island and set up a lantern."
When the lights were turned off, the situation of Yugou Island came into view. In the dark island, the bright yellow lights could not be clearer.
Everyone guarded the lookout and looked into the distance, and sure enough they saw bright yellow lanterns coming up from the bottom of the island and walking towards the Rat Fairy Temple.
Yue Guanchao picked up the telescope and stared at the Shuxian Temple carefully. As the lanterns approached the temple, the dark Shuxian Temple lanterns were gradually lit. After that, the incense candles and lamps in the temple were also lit, making the Shuxian Temple brightly lit. , like a golden light shining brightly, especially clear in the dark night.
With these candles, even if there is no need for lights, you can still see the movement around the Rat Immortal Temple at a glance.
"Wait, these shadows are big rats?"
After the lights of the Rat Fairy Temple were brightened, the dark figures were lit up from their shadowy state. It was clear that they were not living people, but big sneaky rats.
If you look closely, you can see that these mice are about the size of a poodle and look like ordinary mice. They have pointed heads and big ears, a fat body, a slender tail, and thin and sharp limbs. Their upper and lower teeth are clearly visible. They all hold lanterns in their hands and walk on two feet. As they walked around, they caught a glimpse of their respective furs, and that streak of white and golden backline was particularly beautiful.
"The white-haired mice still have golden back lines. These are all gray fairies who have become spirits."
Sun Daqiao leaned against the lookout and looked carefully at the many mice holding lanterns. They had snow-white hair from head to toe and a golden thread on their backs. They had been there for hundreds of years.
"Is there really a rat fairy?"
Before Yue Guanchao finished speaking, the rats suddenly stood outside the Rat Immortal Temple, like a line of welcome, and spread out to both sides, squeaking and squeaking non-stop.
Although they couldn't hear the noise, they could still feel the joy of the rats. In less than a moment, they saw a big rat as big as a wolfdog crawling out of the bushes.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, this big mouse is twice as big as these white mice. It has a pointed head and fat belly, a slender tail, sharp claws, and bright black eyes. Its fangs protrude like a crescent moon, and its two wind-catching ears tremble slightly. The beard was trembling back and forth, and it looked similar to these mice. The only difference was that there was almost no white hair on the body, and it was all shiny golden hair.
Only on the forehead, a bunch of white hair that resembled flames could be seen, which looked very strange.
In the commotion, the golden mouse stood in front of the Rat Fairy Temple, and other white mice gradually surrounded it, forming a circle in front of the temple.
Then, all the mice knelt down with a pop, and gathered around the golden mouse in the middle, seemingly performing some kind of ritual.
Some people died, but not completely...
