Chapter 36 second quarter

After going through untold hardships, Zhuo Zhending and Lan Zhenshu finally found this cave.Under the cover of the morning fog in the mountains, the entrance of the cave appears cloudy, with a sense of unfathomable mystery. "Is it really here? The old monk won't lie, right?" Zhuo Zhending looked at the gloomy cave in front of him, hesitant. "Road signs don't lie," Lan Zhenshu said. "What's more, this hole seems unusual at a glance. There should be no mistake. Maybe it's our turn to show our faces in front of the master this time." "As long as I can go back without being scolded, I will thank Laojun." Zhuo Zhending gave a wry smile.

Zhuo Zhending and Lan Zhenshu are two Taoist priests of the Orthodox School of Longhushan, who studied under the forty-eighth generation of heavenly master Zhang Yanyi.It was the Jiajing period at this time, and the Emperor Jiajing had always been the most enthusiastic about the alchemy of alchemy, so Zhang Yanfei followed suit and sent his disciples to Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in the southwest to search for treasures and secret books left by ancient alchemists. and so on, in order to offer to the emperor. Zhang Yanyi's order doesn't matter, it only hurts all the disciples under his sect, they have to go into deep mountains, old forests, wilderness and wilderness, sleep in the open like an explorer, and suffer all kinds of hardships.And this kind of hard work is hard to get any good results. You must know that the so-called ancient immortals and masters of the Tao often only exist in legends. How can it be so easy to find one?In the end, the disciples either returned empty-handed, or brought back a pile of worthless rags, which made Zhang Tianshi very depressed.

Zhuo Zhending and Lan Zhenshu, who ran in the Langzhong mountainous area in eastern Sichuan, should have returned with mosquito bites and bones that were about to fall apart, just like other disciples, and accepted Zhang Tianshi's reprimand.However, an unexpected coincidence gave the two of them a chance to make a fortune. It was a woodcutter who was chopping firewood accidentally fell from the cliff and broke his leg. He could only die in the mountain, but Zhuo Lan, who were hard for treasure, happened to pass by there and saved his life.The grateful woodcutter invited the two Taoist priests to his house as guests. Lan Zhenshu took the opportunity to ask him if there were any masters of Taoism in the nearby mountains and fields—or there were any masters of Taoism in the past.The woodcutter thought about it, and only remembered that there was an old monk who was alone on a nearby hill. He had lived there for decades and never had any contact with anyone.

It is very common for monks to live in seclusion alone in the mountains, but it is rare for monks to live in seclusion, not to mention staying for decades, which sounds a bit strange.The two of them were just trying their luck randomly, so they decided to go and have a look, maybe they could find some "Buddha treasures" and calm Master's anger a little bit. The two Taoist priests found the old monk's residence that day according to the woodcutter's instructions. They climbed to the top of the mountain with a lot of effort. They knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered. They looked at each other, pushed the door in, and immediately smelled A strong corpse smell.

The old monk was lying on the ground. He had been dead for an unknown amount of time, and his body was almost rotten.On the contrary, the two Taoists breathed a sigh of relief, and they could search for the old monk's relics without any scruples.However, after some searching, there was nothing of value in this rough hut except for the necessities of life, let alone the "treasure" that the two of them were thinking of. Such a thing was expected, and the two were not particularly disappointed. They just dug a pit hastily behind the house and buried the monk's body.Just as he was about to return to the mountain village where the woodcutter lived, the sharp-eyed Zhuo Zhending suddenly pointed out: "Look! There seems to be some kind of mark engraved on that bamboo."

Lan Zhenshu took a closer look, and sure enough, a green bamboo tree outside the house had obvious traces of knife carving, and the carving was a strange symbol, a bit like Sanskrit or other foreign languages.The two continued to search, and soon found several more places. These symbols were connected together, pointing to the west of the mountain. "This must be a road sign!" Zhuo Zhending said excitedly, "Let's follow the road signs and find something." "I think it's another bamboo basket to fetch water..." Lan Zhenshu muttered, not wanting to move, but still walked forward behind him.

Unexpectedly, the road was unexpectedly long and tortuous, and the marks carved on the bamboo seemed to extend endlessly into the distance.Fortunately, the two of them had enough dry food with them. After two days of walking, just when they were exhausted and wanted to give up, the road sign finally disappeared, and this weird cave appeared in front of them.The path leading to it is hidden behind a large dense bamboo forest, and it would be difficult for ordinary people to find it if they did not follow the marks carved by the old monk. Zhuo Zhending walked to the entrance of the cave first, and was about to go in, but suddenly stopped: "Come and see!"

Lan Zhenshu hurriedly followed, and found that there were many spells densely pasted above the entrance of the cave. Judging from the shape of the runes, they seemed to belong to the Taoist school, but they did not belong to any kind of Taoist talisman he had seen before. "Don't you know? If I didn't happen to see it in an ancient book, I wouldn't recognize it," Zhuo Zhending said proudly. "These runes are the unique evil-suppressing spells of the Eastern Sichuan Ghost Dao Group in the Western Jin Dynasty. They are used to suppress evil spirits." It belongs to an evil spirit with powerful mana. The Ghost Dao Group existed for a short time, and many things have not been spread.”

"Suppressing evil spells? Demons with powerful magic power?" Lan Zhenshu frowned slightly, "So, this cave really has some evil ways." "It's not an ordinary evil sect," Zhuo Zhending said. "Under these Dao talismans, there is the Diamond Sutra in Sanskrit. That is to say, the person who arranged these talismans felt that the magic power of the Tao sect was not enough, and they had to rely on the help of the Buddhist sect. " "Playing the piano indiscriminately! It's just like the fools who do things in the folk. Monks and Taoists can do it all in one pot..." Lan Zhenshu shook his head, but he felt more and more afraid of this cave in his heart.He has been a Taoist priest for more than 20 years, and he has never seen any spells that really manifested their spirits. On the contrary, he knows some cases of other Taoist priests using mechanical props to play tricks, and he always feels that being a Taoist priest is nothing more than a fool In fact, it is not that important whether you can get Zhang Yankai's appreciation or not.Right now, he felt the sinister wind constantly blowing from the cave, and he really didn't want to take risks in it.

But Zhuo Zhending was eager to try: "Go! Go in and have a look! Maybe the old monk is a Taoist in disguise, maybe he is hiding something in the cave." Lan Zhenshu couldn't resist him, so he could only follow behind him.Contrary to the narrow entrance, the inside of the cave is quite wide, and not as dark and gloomy as imagined, but a few branch roads in the cave extend very deep, and I don't know where they lead. "Should we go back and prepare something like rope before we come back?" Lan Zhenshu said, "It's easiest to get lost in such a cave with intricate paths. Wouldn't that mean starving to death?"

"Don't worry, you are so stupid that you can easily get lost, and the old monk wants it even more," Zhuo Zhen said with confidence, "Look carefully, there are also marks on the cave wall." Sure enough, similar road signs can also be found on the cave wall.Lan Zhenshu sighed, and had no choice but to follow Zhuo Zhending into the cave, the two of them lit the candles they had prepared in advance, and walked out along the signs for nearly half an hour, but they still found nothing.Except for the jagged rocks, dripping water and humid air, not even a bug can be seen here. "It's not quite right," Lan Zhenshu said, "There should be a lot of bugs in such a damp and dark cave, but why didn't we see even a single mosquito after we walked for so long." "You're right, it's not just bugs, the cave walls here are smooth everywhere, and even moss doesn't grow, it's too abnormal." Zhuo Zhending said. The two looked at each other, pulled out their swords, and walked more carefully.The cave marked by the old monk took another fork and finally came to an end.The two of them were at a loss as they looked at the dark scene illuminated by candlelight.Along the way, they imagined many possibilities hidden at the end of the cave, maybe gold and jewelry, maybe Buddhist and Taoist classics, maybe some ferocious beasts, maybe just empty and nothing.But what appeared in front of the two of them now was far beyond their imagination. — They saw a flower.An unimaginably huge flower. The diameter of this flower is almost three feet, and it is composed of thirty or forty huge petals, forming a nearly round disk. The flower stem below is thick and long like a tree trunk.The flowers generally have a dark red hue, but if you look closely, you can see that the color of the petals is not a pure color, the part near the stamen is more red, and the part near the periphery is more black. In addition, this giant flower exudes a strange fragrance, which is not a normal fragrant flower fragrance, but it is by no means a stinky smell, but another kind of fragrance, which makes people swallow their saliva when they smell it aroma. "Why is there a smell of meat?" Lan Zhenshu was very puzzled. "Maybe it's because... the food of this flower is meat." Zhuo Zhending said in a deep voice. Lan Zhenshu shivered, and stepped back quietly.Zhuo Zhending was not afraid, although he was careful not to get close to the strange flower, but he checked everything around the cave carefully. "I finally understand why we can't see a bug in this cave," Zhuo Zhending pointed to the ground, "Come and see." Lan Zhenshu looked down and saw a long centipede crawling quickly on the ground, slowly crawling towards the giant flower.It climbed up the stem, until it reached the petal, and then the petal trembled at a rapid speed, and the centipede disappeared.He immediately guessed that the giant flower must have used some special method to attract the insects in the cave, turning them into food and devouring them all. Since he can eat centipedes, can he... Lan Zhenshu's heart trembled suddenly, and he turned his head to look driven by a strange intuition. This look almost scared him out of his wits: the ground behind him got out at some point. A red vine twisted its body like a giant snake and approached him quietly.He instinctively rolled on the spot, avoiding the vine, but the vine passed him and rolled towards Zhuo Zhending who was concentrating on observing the giant flower. "Be careful!" Lan Zhenshu yelled. But this cry was too late.Zhuo Zhending's attention was always attracted by that giant flower, and when he heard Lan Zhenshu's warning, it was too late to dodge.The red vines wrapped around his ankles, pulling his body weighing hundreds of catties with a huge force, as if weightless, it was pulled to the petals of the giant flower.The moment Zhuo Zhending's body touched the giant flower, the petals tightened suddenly, like a rolled up blanket, wrapping Zhuo Zhending's whole body in it.Zhuo Zhending's body struggled desperately in the petals, followed by a series of screams of extreme pain, the voices were miserable and sharp, it was hardly like a human throat could utter. "Save me! Save me!" Zhuo Zhending shouted hoarsely, "Brother Lan! Save me!" Lan Zhenshu felt his legs go weak just hearing Zhuo Zhending's shout.He wanted to turn around and run away, but he couldn't bear to just leave his fellow disciples alone.After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth, raised the sword he had already drawn, and slashed at the petals of the giant black flower. The texture of the petals is thick and tough, but it is not invulnerable. When the sword is cut down, a crack can barely be cut. It feels like cutting on thick cloth. The flower juice looks a little disgusting.Lan Zhenshu made up his mind to cut several times along the crack, and finally cut off a part of the petals, exposing Zhuo Zhending's body that was wrapped in it. Lan Zhenshu took a closer look, and yelled "Ah", and was frightened out of his wits for a moment.After half of the petals were cut off, Zhuo Zhending's lower body wrapped in it was exposed—but half of his body had already turned into bones!Zhuo Zhending's body from the waist down has been completely corroded by the juice of the giant black flower! This scene made Lan Zhenshu almost faint in fright.He expected that the lower body was already like this, and the upper body must be almost the same, no wonder Zhuo Zhending's cry for help had not been heard for a long time.His body turned into bones, of course he would surely die. Lan Zhenshu could no longer save his junior brother, so he had no choice but to find a way to save himself at the moment.He turned around, no longer caring about Juhua and Zhuo Zhending behind him, he spread his legs and ran away. He ran wildly on the winding mountain road for a while, only to find a very bad thing: he got lost.Because he ran too hastily, he didn't pay attention to follow the road signs left by the old monk. Now, he has completely lost his way, and there are no signs on the surrounding cave walls.However, it was a blessing in misfortune that there were no pursuers behind him. Lan Zhenshu had no choice but to grope forward in fear.He knew that the paths of many caves were very complicated, and he might even be trapped to death if he was not careful, but at this moment he had no choice but to bite the bullet and try his luck.In the panic just now, he didn't know where to throw the candle. He didn't want to waste the precious fire pocket, so he simply explored in the dark. Fortunately, luck did not end badly. After exploring for more than an hour, a light appeared in front of his eyes.Lan Zhenshu thought he had bumped into the exit, and felt agitated, but after scrambling and rushing towards him, he suddenly stopped and covered his mouth and nose with his hand to avoid making a sound. ——The front is not the entrance of the cave, but another cave in the cave. The light comes from the cave, which seems to be candlelight.After seeing the terrifying man-eating giant flower just now, Lan Zhenshu didn't dare to startle other monsters hastily. He leaned his body against the cave wall and looked around quietly. He almost cried out when he saw it, but luckily his palms were still tightly covered.He saw a large lump of flesh, a strange creature like a mountain of meat, emitting white light from its body.This is undoubtedly not any ordinary animal that can be seen in the world, revealing a kind of extreme weirdness and evil. Lan Zhenshu silently recited the names of the gods of the Three Qings and Six Imperials in his heart, and begged the ancestors of the gods to bless him, not to let himself be hurt by the evil things in front of him.He slowly noticed that there was a reason for the monster to glow, and those lights seemed to be a symbol of its power to fight against the enemies on the opposite side. But that enemy was neither human nor monster, not even a living thing, but... a small statue that looked like it was carved out of jade.This small statue is at most half the size of a palm, and the size difference between the monsters like Roshan is more than a hundred times, but it can be seen that the two sides are evenly matched, because the fiery red light is emitting from the statue, and the white light of the monster is squeezing each other Pressing and colliding, no one can overwhelm anyone. Lan Zhenshu widened his eyes and carefully identified it, and found that the small statue was carved in the shape of an insect, a bit like a dung beetle.It's really strange, Lan Zhenshu thought, aren't jade carvings generally very delicate and beautiful things, why would someone carve a dung beetle? Before he could figure this out, he discovered that there was actually a person sitting behind the huge body of that monster like a meat mountain.The man didn't know if he was sick or what was going on, his whole body was tightly wrapped in a robe, his face was completely covered by a black cloth, and his body seemed to be shaking constantly.Lan Zhenshu realized in a daze that the troll was actually protecting the person behind him, and it was the masked man and the jade carving that were really fighting. The light of the two sides was basically evenly matched, and they were in a stalemate for a while.Lan Zhenshu felt that it was better for him not to get involved in such a dangerous and weird fight, and was about to tiptoe away to find a new way out, when the voice of someone talking suddenly sounded in his ear.It was the masked man who finally spoke to the jade carving. "Four thousand years, four thousand years." The masked man panted slightly, "You and I haven't seen each other for more than four thousand years. I really didn't expect that it would be like this when we meet again. Can you still talk?" Four thousand years?These few words scared Lan Zhenshu to feel his legs go weak again.Could it be that this person and that jade carving are old monsters who have lived for four thousand years?Even if Laojun came, he might not be able to bless himself.What kind of thing am I involved in?He thought, if he had known earlier, he would not have come here to look for some precious treasures. The jade carving didn't make any sound, and he didn't know if it was unable to speak or unwilling to speak.The masked man didn't care whether the other party was willing to talk to him or not, and continued on his own: "Four thousand years ago, you and I broke up and parted ways, but we never expected that we would still be living together like this when we met again. Now, you Still think you're right and I'm wrong?" The jade carving still did not make a sound.The masked man sighed: "I know, you still hate me. In your mind, I am a betrayer, the one who ruined all your plans. But you have your beliefs, and I also have my own Yes, I don't think my original choice was wrong. Since neither of us can convince the other, let's fight to the death." After this sentence was finished, he stopped making a sound.The white light on the giant monster became more and more intense, and the red light on the jade carving became more and more dazzling. Lan Zhenshu felt a compelling heat rushing towards his face.He wanted to run away, but for some reason, under the cover of that heat, he only felt that his legs couldn't move, and he couldn't even move his fingers. Hell, I will die in the hands of these two thousand-year-old monsters.Lan Zhenshu regretted that he shouldn't be here to peek at this rare scene out of curiosity, but there was nothing he could do.Just when he thought he could only close his eyes and wait for death, he heard a sudden loud noise, and then a huge impact force sent his whole body out.He flew in mid-air like a stone, his eyes darkened, and he passed out. When he woke up, Lan Zhenshu found himself lying on the mountainside. Looking up, there is still a long distance from the cave. If he was blown here by the explosion, all his bones would probably fall off. broken.But after touching the whole body, except for some scratches, there is no serious problem, and he can stand up and walk. It seemed that there was some special power that "sent" me here all of a sudden.Lan Zhenshu smiled wryly, knowing that with his own wisdom and insight, he couldn't explain what happened just now, so he simply stopped thinking about it. In any case, being able to save his life was considered a blessing in misfortune.It's better to go down the mountain quickly, find a place to rest and recuperate, and return to Longhu Mountain when you feel refreshed. It took Lan Zhenshu a lot of effort to stand up little by little, but he felt that his legs were still trembling. He tried to take two steps forward, but he tripped over something under his feet and fell to the ground again.Lan Zhenshu scolded something harshly, looked down, and found that it was none other than that strange jade carving that tripped him.However, at this moment, the jade carving no longer had the dazzling brilliance it had before, and it looked like an ordinary carving. Lan Zhenshu's first reaction was to turn around and leave, not to provoke the plague god, but for some reason, that small jade carving seemed to have an infinite attraction to him.After taking a few steps, he thought about it, gritted his teeth, and walked back to the jade carving again, bent down to pick it up, and put it in his arms. "Finally it's a treasure..." Lan Zhenshu said to himself, "Bringing it back to Longhu Mountain and handing it over to Master is considered a errand."