Chapter 75 second quarter

When I woke up and went to look for the old chief with Ningxue nervously, he was sitting on the round platform in the stone house looking up at the snake head stone sculptures of different colors in the skylight. His body and face were completely motionless. The carved wrinkles on his face make him look more like a statue to me. I have already thought of a rhetoric, although I don't know if it can convince him, but I have to give it a try: "Chief." The old man turned his face slowly, his dull eyes flickered slowly, and the kind expression returned to his face: "How are you two resting?"

"Thank you for your kind hospitality. We ate well and slept very comfortably." I expressed my sincere thanks. The old man smiled slightly: "Being able to come here shows that you and our tribe are destined friends. For friends, we will treat them with the most sincere hearts." "We suddenly thought of something, and we would like to ask you for confirmation." I didn't want to go around the corner, and went directly to the topic. "Just say it." The old chief replied straightforwardly, "As long as I know, I will answer it truthfully."

I raised my voice and asked, "A thousand years ago, how did that Nautinor, who blasphemed the gods, fall from above?" The old chief frowned, and asked, "How do you think he should have fallen?" "At first I thought he climbed to the top of the tower and fell straight down from the tower. But now we don't think it's right, maybe he fell directly from another place." The old man slowly swept our faces back and forth twice, and finally said in a heavy voice: "Do you want to do that too? A servant of God cannot look down at the temple of God. This is also an ancient rule in our clan. !"

"But we are outsiders." I retorted, "And the envoy also handed over the key to open the Holy Gate to me. He wanted us to enter the Holy Tower." The chief's complexion became extremely solemn, his brows were tightly locked together, and he was caught in a dilemma. "Also, don't you think it's strange that Notinor dared to defy the family rules and do something that seems meaningless at all?" The old chief nodded slowly, and said: "This matter is indeed very strange. I have also thought about the possibility you mentioned, but even if you can find the location of the holy door, how can you insert the key into the lock? ? The stone surface is as smooth as a mirror, which we have seen just now."

I nodded in agreement, but still insisted: "Now we have no other way. I think there may be a way to open the holy door after determining the location of the Holy Gate, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that your envoy has already passed through the tower. He is also an ordinary person with great prestige in the outside world, if he can walk out of the tower, then you can too!" There was a look of excitement in the old chief's eyes, which was quickly replaced by panic.Yes, it is more fear than joy for a man who has been trapped underground and has never come out of the darkness to gain freedom and sunshine.

The old chief turned his head again, looking reluctantly at the snake head in the skylight for half a minute, and when he turned his head, his eyes were once again occupied by calmness and serenity: "I am yearning for the outside world, but I don't I will go out, this is my home, and there are things here that I cannot give up." "But what about your people? You also want them to live in this dark place forever, and even their descendants will live a half-human, half-ghost life forever?" I responded to him with a series of question marks.Although the cave where Danny and I came down has been re-filled with sand and sand, if you really want to get out from there, it may not be impossible.However, I'd like to hold off on telling him about it just to give us a chance to get that overlook.

The old chief seemed quite hesitant, holding the crutch with his right hand, one after another.After a minute or two, he seemed to have made up his mind, and finally stood up, saying: "This is a major event that determines the fate of our entire tribe. I can't make decisions for their fate. If everyone thinks it should be done, I won't." will block." After saying this, he walked out with big strides, Ningxue and I looked at each other, Ningxue smiled, and I nodded in response.But to be honest, I don’t have much confidence in my heart. It’s not easy for a group of people who believe in gods to do something blasphemous, and they haven’t seen the wonderful world outside. I don’t know how this temptation will work. How attractive.

The old chief had already stood outside the stone house, pursed his lips, and issued a long and sharp whistle, which was urgent and majestic, like the horn of an army gathering. Only four or five minutes later, a dark crowd had gathered in front of the stone house, and the bright eyes made people feel anxious. The anaconda that was circling on the roof also swam to the ground, slowly crawled between the old chief's legs, raised his head gently, put him on his head, held him in the air, and looked down at the old chief. crowd. The old chief waved the crutch in his hand and began to speak aloud in some languages ​​that I could not understand at all.

I asked Ningxue in a low voice: "What is he talking about?" "He was talking about our plea just now." Ningxue also replied in a low voice. The old chief spoke for a while, stretched out his crutches and pointed at Ningxue and me, hundreds of pairs of big bright eyes shot at us.I felt tense all over, as if I had become a prey being watched by a pack of ferocious wolves.Ningxue also took two steps back in fear and hid behind me.No wonder she was afraid, there wasn't even a hint of friendliness in the eyes of these underground strange people. Fortunately, they didn't pounce on us. They just stared at us for a while, and then devoted all their energy to listening to the old chief.

Ningxue whispered in my ear: "He is speaking good things for us, and he also mentioned things that can get out of the underground predicament." May this temptation reassure them of their enmity, and make them agree to our entreaties. "It's decided, the chief asked them to show their hands to vote." Ningxue explained again. I quickly turned my head to see what was going on on the field. Everyone was hesitating, but no one raised their hands readily.I began to worry, if this is the case, we will not be allowed at all. Half a minute later, a woman standing in the front row stroked the small head of the seven or eight-year-old child in front of her, and raised her hand hesitantly.A thick man standing next to her pulled her raised arm angrily and yelled loudly.The woman lowered her head and defended herself aggrievedly. Although her voice was not loud, I could still hear it clearly.

"What are they talking about?" I asked Ningxue in a low voice. "Her husband called her demon-possessed, and agreed to do so in order to destroy the whole family. The woman argued that she didn't want her son to live in the dark underground like herself." This is really a good sign. Mothers have always loved their children the most. For the future and destiny of their children, they would rather give up their lives.I think it wasn't just me who heard her words, but everyone else too, because a few more arms were raised slowly again. One, two... I counted the arms I kept raising, excited. After a while, Ningxue lay beside my ear and said joyfully: "It's more than half!" I never expected that in such a short period of time, she would be able to count the four to five hundred people one by one. If it were me, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do it in less than half an hour. When the old chief spoke again, most of his arms were raised. I think it was the woman's words that helped this group of people make a decision, making them determined to face the disaster again for the sake of future generations. Someone in the crowd was talking loudly, and the old chief looked down at me, nodded and said something. I could feel Ningxue trembling behind me, as if being bitten by something, I turned my head to stare at Ningxue's pale cheeks, and quickly asked: "What's wrong with you?" Ningxue rolled her eyes, glanced at me, and said fearfully: "The person said just now, we should let the holy snake decide our fate, and those who did not swallow the holy snake are not the incarnation of demons, and can climb to the top of the holy tower." .The old chief has agreed!" This is really a dumbfounding news, let a boa constrictor test our identities, how much hope do we have for surviving?