Chapter 36 Chapter 35 The Way Out

Li Yuanfang nodded, but said: "It's just that after so many years, the dark river has most likely changed its course. I don't know if the invasion route is still intact. We have to be careful." Di Chun worried: "If we really have to walk for nine days, we will starve to death if we are not exhausted." Di Renjie smiled and said: "I'm just guessing about the nine sun-like patterns, and since ancient times, 'nine' has been used to indicate the number of the most yang, it may not be a real number, it may mean many, no matter what, invade The road only gave us a general hint, and it also verified my previous thinking: the dark river leads to the outside of the mountain. But how to go next depends on ourselves.”

After finishing speaking, he took out the map that Ayu brought from his bosom, unfolded it on the stone and said, "Look, Duan Jiu, the valley where the entrance is located just now, has been marked, which is the place where Ayu came down. On the water side, it can be seen that the bottom of the valley goes deep into the ground, which is most likely lower than the water level of Yishui. From the direction of the moon's movement, the entrance of the turtle head is located in the south of the valley." Di Renjie pointed to the picture and said: "Then where we are The location is about here, that is, under the canyon close to the east and west mountains, and the huge cave hall is full of lava. From this, we guess that we may be under the Yishui at this moment, and the top of the head may be the middle of the two mountains, and the Yihe River runs through it. of the river."

Di Renjie talked eloquently, apparently after a lot of thought: "From the picture, looking northeast from here, crossing the narrow shoal where the two mountains connect, is Xiangshan in the east. You see, Duan Jiu just marked a The mouth of the dark river. If this dark river connects with this place, we may go out along the water. The distance does not seem to be long, but it is estimated that the river is tortuous and will not lead directly to the exit. If we can find traces of the invasion along the way , it can be more mutually verified.” Ayu thought for a while and asked, "Sir, if you don't see the sun in the belly of the mountain, how can you know which side is northeast? Wouldn't it be bad if there were many forks in the dark river?"

Di Renjie chuckled and said, "Di Chun, did you bring the bowl I asked you to prepare?" "I'm carrying it, but fortunately it's not broken." Di Chun took out a bowl from the burden on his back. When everyone looked at it, it was just an ordinary tea bowl. Hu Lv wondered, "What's the use of the bowl?" Di Renjie smiled but didn't answer, he just told Di Chun to scoop up half a bowl of clear water from the river, and took out a small box from his side, Ayu thought to himself: My lord is confused, why did you take out a box of rouge from my daughter's house?But seeing Di Renjie put the water bowl on the ground, he turned his head and said, "Brother Hulu, let go of the Yuejing Knife far away." Hu Lvchong obeyed the order to take down the machete and put it on a distant stone.

After the water surface remained still, Di Renjie opened the porcelain box, took out a small fish, and gently put it into the bowl. When Li Yuanfang, Hu Luchong and Ayu looked at it, it turned out to be a small fish cut from a thin iron leaf, about two inches long and five minutes wide, with a slightly concave belly, floating on the water like a small boat. Li Yuanfang said happily : "My lord brought a guide fish." "As the saying goes, you have your own tasks before departure, so I naturally can't be idle." Di Renjie smiled, pointing to the small fish in the water bowl, and said: "The head of the fish faces south, the tail of the fish faces north, and the northeast direction is at Over there." The direction he pointed was close to the hole behind the shell, and seeing this, everyone gained a bit of confidence, and at the same time asked Di Chun to put it away for future use on the road.

Hu Luchong retrieved the Yuejing Knife, picked up a bow and crossbow from the box Gao Changgong left behind, and Ayu followed Li Yuanfang up the four-walled rock to collect some luminous pearls for lighting.Because Hu Luchong had never seen a guide fish before, he couldn't help being very curious. Seeing that he was eager to learn, Di Renjie patiently explained to him how the fish was made: first cut out the shape of the fish with a thin iron leaf, with a slight concave in the middle, and then Put it in the charcoal fire until it turns red, clamp one end of the fish head with an iron clip, take it out from the fire, the tail of the fish is facing the position, slightly inclined downward, gently dip it into the water basin, wait until the fish tail is submerged in the water for a few minutes. Immerse the whole thing, then take it out, store it in a secret container, and put it in a water bowl in a windless place as before. When the fish floats on the water, its head is pointing to the meridian, that is, the south.

Hu Lvchong heard it interestingly, and after telling the truth, he also went to get a note to try. Seeing that the entrance of the cave behind the stone was too small, Li Yuanfang thought about it, rushed to Hulu to get the Yuejing knife, and made a hole in the rock on the side of the cave entrance. Ayu had seen the sharpness of this knife before, and it was as sharp as an arm The thick copper strips of lava were still broken in response to the situation, at this moment Li Yuanfang turned the saber in his hand, and a few small holes had been unscrewed as he passed by. Li Yuanfang pointed to the 'processed' rock wall and said, "Brother Hulu, help me."

Hu Lvchong nodded yes, the two of them shouted together, and slammed their palms against the rock wall. With a bang, the rock shattered inward, opening the hole even wider. Ayu supported Di Renjie, shrank her head and said, "It's amazing." Li Yuanfang let Hu Lvchong, Di Renjie, Di Chun and others go first, and walked last by himself. Hearing this, he said with a smile: "I have checked just now, and this rock wall is relatively thin. Man, if he hadn't worked hard, how could I have this ability." Di Renjie smiled and said, "Yuan Fang doesn't have to be too modest."

Everyone took out the night pearl, and the faint radiance illuminated the land in front of Zhangxu. Sure enough, among the strange rocks, there seemed to be a space, leading to the distance along the river, and the river was straight, not as winding as imagined; It is not as wide as the cave hall, and there are no decent roads along the banks of the river. Suddenly, a stone curtain hangs from the top, and suddenly a large rock protrudes from the slope, without any rules, like a monster hiding in the dark, waiting for you to avoid it. When a stalagmite suddenly appeared in front of them, everyone had to watch their feet and keep an eye on the top of their heads. They squatted for a while and squeezed sideways for a while.

Li Yuanfang told Di Chun and A Yu to take good care of Di Renjie. He and Hu Lu rushed forward while paying attention to the surrounding terrain. The puppy was not afraid of the complicated mountains and terrain, so he ran backwards and caused roads to come. He barked softly from time to time, as if urging everyone to hurry up. Row. After walking like this for about half an hour, I only heard Li Yuanfang say: "My lord, look up." Di Renjie and others stopped and looked up at the rock on the top. There was a circular pattern on the flat rock in front of him. Di Chun held up the Ye Mingzhu to take a picture. Because the ceiling of this cave is not high, one can see it under the light. It is made of a dark red mineral coated on the stone, it is as big as a disc, and it also emits sparkling phosphorescence, like a mark.

Di Renjie said: "Yes, this should be left by those who invaded back then." Everyone was cheered up, and Hu Lu smiled and said: "It seems that we have gone the right way. I said this ghostly place is so difficult to walk, but after thinking about it, I realized that they came in by boat back then, no wonder this way." Everyone laughed, feeling a little more hopeful. Going forward again, I found a circular mark on the rock on the top of the cave. Suddenly heard the sound of the water behind, getting closer and closer, the sound echoed among the chaotic rocks, it was very clear, everyone didn't know what happened, they stood on the higher stone slope on the shore, when they looked back, they saw the people passing by when they came. The surface of the river was silver and white, and it was those small silver fishes that covered the surface of the water, swimming towards this side, Ayu glanced at Di Renjie, his face was full of surprise, and seemed a little bit happy: "Is the mermaid coming? " Li Yuanfang, Hu Luchong, and Di Chunning were in the water, and sure enough, small silver fish swam to the front, stopped, and separated in line. At this moment, the surroundings of the river were dark, unlike the bright light in the cave hall, but the silver light of the small fish was overflowing, like a piece of flowing water. Nebula sprinkled on the surface of the river, making the surrounding splendor, I saw the mermaid slowly ascending from the depths, the beautiful fins caressed the water waves, and then swung the long fish tail, circling half a circle in the water, as if recognizing After getting out of Ayu, he swam to her body and surfaced, his beautiful eyes condensed in the waves, as if affectionate, Ayu walked to the edge of the water and stretched out his arms to her, but the mermaid jumped up from the water and touched Ayu's cheek lightly. After a kiss, he returned to the water, and the water sprayed up, Ayu didn't notice it, he was surprised and happy, until the mermaid turned his head and swam back, and the groups of small fish also gradually moved away, still dazed, like clay sculptures and wood carvings Standing blankly on the shore. Li Yuanfang said from the side: "Yu'er, she feels that you destroyed the cage and set her free. This is to send you off." Ayu touched her cheek, and after a while, she seemed to wake up, then shook her head and said, "Then why did she go back?" "The mermaid is quite human, and very kind," Di Renjie sighed, "Maybe she knew earlier that the outside is full of dangers, and it is no longer suitable for her life. Why not go back, that cave is her home." In the distance, there sounded the cries of a mermaid baby.