Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Three-legged Toad

At this critical moment, when the Corpse Silkworm King was ready to attack, with a "wow", that huge tongue stuck out of the water again, and shot straight at the Corpse Silkworm King floating on the water, "Swish!" With a slam, there was a huge "sarcoma" on the front of the tongue, just like the climbing rope used by Chaozi. The sarcoid took the tongue behind it and threw it towards the corpse silkworm king, wrapping a whole circle around its body. The three of them stared dumbfounded on the raft, and forgot their fear for a while. After the corpse silkworm king was entangled, he turned his head, gave up the attack on Zhuo Xiong this time, and lowered his head, aiming a pair of black pincers at him. The tongue wrapped around his body bit down hard.

The tongue seemed to have known this result in advance, and it untied from the Corpse Silkworm King's body with another "swish", and returned to the bottom of the water, letting the pincers fly away. The Corpse Silkworm King was obviously very annoyed at the "tongue" that swept away his child, he kept swinging his body on the water surface, and the splash of water made Zhuo Xiong in front of him a drowned chicken. Seeing something entangled with it, Zha Wenbin hurriedly said: "I don't know if it's an enemy or a friend, let's go!" Chao Zi and Zhuo Xiong desperately paddled the wooden sticks in their hands forward, but the speed of the raft was really unsatisfactory. The Corpse Silkworm King vented for a while, seeing his enemy was about to run away, his head As soon as he lowered, he rushed towards them.

Seeing that there is really no place to hide at this moment, Zhuo Xiong simply closed his eyes, thinking that he will give me a quicker later. "Crash!" There was another loud noise, and Zhuo Xiong's heart was chilled by the icy cold water rushing towards his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the corpse silkworm king was being bitten by a huge mouth at the moment. Its pincers clamped down hard on the thing's back, too. All of a sudden, there were waves on the surface of the water, and a huge white belly kept rolling in the water. Only then did Cha Wenbin see clearly that it was a giant toad biting the Corpse Silkworm King.

This toad was huge in size, and compared to their small raft, it was almost the same. Apart from being very close to ordinary toads in appearance, it could only be said that it was a complete monster.The golden back is covered with seven bumps, which are completely arranged according to the Big Dipper. The pattern on the top of the head is also different from that of ordinary toads. It turns out to be a natural Tai Chi Liangyi, half black and half white, with a pair of green eyes It is as big as a copper bell, but it just sits on the Taiji diagram, becoming two points on the diagram!The wide mouth can swallow a living person in one gulp, and the patterns along its mouth correspond to strings of copper coins. What's more, this toad only has three legs!

Facing such a huge monster, Cha Wenbin exclaimed: "Three-legged toad!" Zhuo Xiong, who was already attracted by the scene of the two monsters fighting in front of him, didn't hear Cha Wenbin's exclamation at all, but Chao Zi, who was closest to him, asked, "What did you say?" Cha Wenbin excitedly pointed to the big toad on the water surface that was fighting the Corpse Silkworm King and said: "This is a three-legged toad, the legendary three-legged toad! It is recorded in an ancient book: 'It is said that the toad has three legs and lives in a cave. Fairies.' That's the kind of toad."

"Fairy? I think it's a monster! There are all these weird things out there, which one looks kind?" Chaozi looked at Zha Wenbin and said. "The places where the three-legged toad lives are all treasured places of geomantic omen, and there must be treasures to attract it. According to Taoist geomantic omens, it is believed that toads can gather wealth and protect houses so that money will not be lost. And this kind of three-legged toad It can also ward off evil spirits and has the effect of suppressing ghosts, which is why it is incompatible with the evil corpse silkworm. I guess the worm refused to enter the water just now because it knew its natural enemies existed in the water, and didn't want its own child to be bitten. Then he got angry and rushed down the river."

The battle on the water surface is going on fiercely, it seems that the back of the three-legged toad is also invulnerable, no matter how the corpse silkworm king bites with its pincers, it will always bite the corpse silkworm king's body and keep turning in the water Holding his body, his white belly kept rolling in the water.Black blood floated up again on the muddy river, needless to say, the Corpse Silkworm King was injured. Seeing that he had no effect on biting the pimple on the back, the Corpse Silkworm King raised his head again, spraying a ball of black silk thread from his mouth towards the three-legged toad's eyes!The eyes are usually the weakest part of the body, but the three-legged toad reacted badly, as soon as the eyes were closed, two balls of black threads shot onto the eyelids.

The Corpse Silkworm King saw that he was unable to hit him, so he raised his head again. His exposed body was already bent to the limit, and he slammed hard on the back of the three-legged toad. It can be seen that it used the greatest strength this time. . With a "bang", a pair of sharp pincers finally pierced the back of the three-legged toad, causing several people watching from a distance to exclaim, Zhuo Xiong shouted: "Ah! That toad was bitten!" A pipe-like thing protruded from the corpse silkworm king's mouth, and inserted into the back of the three-legged toad that was bitten open by it. Immediately afterwards, countless black silk threads began to spread across the three-legged toad's back.Chaozi was shocked. This should be the scene after the squad leader was bitten that day. This black silk thread was extremely poisonous. He thought in his heart: "It's over."

Sure enough, when the three-legged toad ate the pain, it shook its back vigorously, but at this moment the Corpse Silkworm King had already bit it tightly, no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't get rid of it, which made Cha Wenbin and the others ride The raft started to shake. At this moment, Chaozi really wanted to have one more bullet. If he added another shot at this time, the bug probably had no chance of winning. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help regretting why he didn’t bring more when he went out. . Seeing that he couldn't get rid of the corpse silkworm king and was in pain, the three-legged toad opened his mouth wide. Seeing that he could escape, the corpse silkworm king finally left the toad's mouth, but the middle half of his body was already a wound. It is densely covered, it seems that this three-legged toad has a mouthful of good teeth.The bug simply twisted, wrapped its whole body around the toad like a snake, and bit the three-legged toad's back firmly.

The black silk thread on the toad's body became more and more entangled, and if it continued like this, it would become a cocoon. Suddenly, the toad opened its big mouth again, and swung its huge tongue onto its back. The silk was brought into his mouth by it, and when he closed his eyes, Cha Wenbin clearly saw its throat tremble, this guy ate those black highly poisonous silk threads!As if it wasn't enough, the three-legged toad flicked out its tongue and continued to lick the silk threads on its body. After a while, all the silk threads that were still wrapped around its body entered its stomach.

The corpse silkworm king on his back was still biting crazily, maybe the three-legged toad was no longer interested in playing with it, the back muscles contracted suddenly, and the originally bulging belly was also sunken in, Cha Wenbin saw After arriving, he quickly shouted: "Everyone, be careful, protect your eyes!" As soon as the words fell, the toad suddenly puffed up again, and the pimples on its back suddenly sprayed out a stream of snow-white paste. One of the pimples was exactly Where the Corpse Silkworm King was biting, the white pulp just happened to be forcefully shot into its mouth. When everyone opened their eyes again, the Corpse Silkworm King had already fallen to the surface of the water, floating there motionless. Cha Wenbin shouted: "What a fight with poison! It really deserves to be a legendary fairy!" The three-legged toad was obviously not interested in the few people on the raft, and slowly swam around the corpse of the corpse silkworm king. A pair of copper bell-like eyes glanced at the raft, and bit the corpse silkworm king with one bite. With a kick of his legs, he plunged towards the bottom of the water, leaving only a circle of gradually shrinking water marks... This time, several people narrowly escaped death.A few people stayed on the raft for a while, but they didn't see any corpse silkworms coming from behind, probably because they were also afraid of the natural enemies here, and the three-legged toad never surfaced again, and the water surface finally returned to calm. Chaozi looked helplessly at the bitten shotgun in his hand, and laughed at himself: "Unexpectedly, it was a toad that saved us in the end." He picked up the paddle and started paddling, and the raft floated upstream along the river. . The further the river goes, the more open the terrain is, and the cliffs and rocks on both sides grow in all kinds of strange ways. There are several huge stalactites hanging from the top to the ground, and the raft goes around in it like this. For such an inexplicable place , Cha Wenbin only wanted to get out quickly, and sending Lao Wang and Leng Yiran to the hospital was the most important thing at the moment. The raft carried five people upstream quietly, except for the sound of the oars touching the water, there was nothing else, but Cha Wenbin did not take it lightly. This lost place gave them too many unknown dangers and difficulties. Too much incredible.The spotlight in his hand is always swaying back and forth against the surrounding stone walls and water surface, because he knows that this legendary three-legged toad will only appear in geomantic treasures. According to ancient books, there must be something guarded by it thing. When the light swept over a stone wall, several lines appeared one by one, Cha Wenbin's eyes were immediately attracted. "Chaozi, stop for a moment and row over there." The raft moved slowly along the place where Cha Wenbin irradiated. As the distance continued to advance, a huge mural appeared in their eyes. To Cha Wenbin's ecstasy, this one was actually the same as the one in the well. Several frescoes tell the same thing, and they are the successor of the third one. The woman on the top of the mountain in this mural no longer exists, replaced by a simple dragon, although the depiction is very rough, but a pair of huge wings told him that this is Yinglong! Zhuo Xiong was also taken aback when he saw the mural, and exclaimed: "Ah, Chaozi, look, isn't the painting on that picture the same green dragon we saw flying up from the mouth of the well? It's exactly the same as the dragon in this painting , have a pair of big wings!" Chaozi saw it, hey, it really is the case, this dragon also has wings, and shouted: "Yes, brother Wenbin, when you just went down the well, the two of us waited for a long time, until The ground shakes behind, and then such a dragon emerges, the blind man is right, it is exactly the same as this one." "This is Ying Long. What you see is the pile of bones and ghosts. It seems that they have been imprisoned here for thousands of years. You also understand that only the power of a dragon can break through the restriction here. What I'm talking about here should be Ying Long. The story of Long Gaoshui, look, is that dragon spraying water down the mountain from its mouth?" Sure enough, several white lines started from the head of the dragon pattern and flowed down Qifeng Mountain. A leader-like figure led a group of animals to charge forward, and the eight-legged, three-headed and six-armed Chi You was captured The water rushed away and fled. "The Battle of Zhuolu?" Chaozi said. Zha Wenbin said: "Yes, I also found three pictures under the ancient well before, about the scene of the battle of Zhuolu, but I don't know why the background was chosen in Qifeng Mountain. Look at the one in the picture. A high mountain, if I read correctly, it should be Qifeng Mountain here. Qifeng Mountain is located in Sichuan, and it is hundreds of thousands of miles away from Zhuolu. There is no connection at all. Why does the information in this painting put Is the description of the battlefield here?" Looking at the shape of the mountain in the picture, Chao Zi also felt very familiar. After thinking for a long time, he slapped his head suddenly and said, "Brother Wen Bin, this picture may not describe Qifeng Mountain, but the ancient battlefield of the Battle of Zhuolu. I once went to play, in the southeast of Zhuo County, Hebei. There is also a mountain called Zhuolu Mountain. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou fought in the Zhuolu Field. The location of the "wild" is said to be at the foot of Zhuolu Mountain. That mountain is somewhat similar to this picture." Of course, Cha Wenbin has never been to Zhuolu Mountain, and he doesn't know what the mountain looks like, but after hearing what Chaozi said, he also feels that there is some truth to it. Those legends of the ancients are often moved here and there, but It is used to myth those in power, in order to let them control their people more firmly. Just as Zha Wenbin was about to tell him to go further, Chaozi said, "However, when we went down to the well in the morning, the clouds and mists on Qifeng Mountain cleared away completely. At a glance, there were still some auspicious clouds and flying cranes. Shuttle among them, there is an urge to kneel down and worship. Didn’t the blind man say that this mountain is covered by clouds and fog all year round, and no one has seen its true face? How come we saw it as soon as we came? I said Why am I so familiar with Qifeng Mountain when I see it? Not to mention, Qifeng Mountain and Zhuolu Mountain are really similar. No wonder you, Wen Bin, think that the painting on it is Qifeng Mountain. Blind man , go back and ask your father to ask clearly, the fog receded when you got up early in the morning, and you insisted on saying that there were poisonous snakes and miasma on the mountain, but you also saw the situation at that time. I only believe in the immortals above." Zhuo Xiong also felt strange, his father obviously said that his mother and sister were lost in the mountain together, why can he see it clearly outside today, and there are so many strange things here, he has never heard of them He mentioned that on the anniversary of his mother's death, he would never take himself there, and if he went out later, he had to ask him to understand. The clouds and mist in Qifeng Mountain have cleared up, combined with the third painting in front, the line in the woman's hand?Cha Wenbin suddenly figured it out, it wasn't a thread at all, what she was holding should be clouds! Cha Wenbin motioned them to sit down, and the three of them formed a circle on the raft, found a rope to tie the raft to the stalactite, stopped, and said: "Chaozi, Zhuo Xiong, I tell you two One thing is also my conjecture, the three of us analyze it together. You said that after I went down to the well, I saw the clouds and mist on Qifeng Mountain cleared up. I haven’t seen its true face on Mount Lu, so I think what he said should be true.” Chaozi felt that Zhuo Xiong's father had lied from the beginning, but he refused to tell the truth because of the blind man's affection. Now that Zha Wenbin picked his head, he can say it freely. "Is what he said true? Blind man, I'm not talking about you today. Think about the weird things we saw when we entered this village. Your father didn't mention it to us before he left, did he? As said He has lived in this village for so many years, does he know where to go and where not to go? But he didn't say anything except that he couldn't enter the mountain. He didn’t say anything about that coffin, or the ancient well that went to grandma’s house, and if we had said hello first, we might not have been tricked either!” Although Zhuo Xiong felt strange in his heart, he still refused to admit that his father would deceive people: "Chaozi, don't spout blood, I really want to deceive you, will I come down with you?" Chaozi waved his hand: "Blind man, I understand how you behave. We are definitely brothers, but don't you think this is strange? How much did your father tell you about this village?" "I... I... My father never told me about my hometown when I was young. I only know the general direction of this village, and I have never been here. I think he may be afraid that I will miss my mother. Said." Chaozi continued: "Don't you think he deliberately concealed some of the situation here from us, including you? The few of us who came here for the first time felt that this place is not simple. Could it be that he has lived here for so long? Found some clues, remind us?" When Zhuo Xiong was asked this question, his face turned red from holding back, indeed, even he himself was doubting, let alone Chaozi. Cha Wenbin interrupted the quarrel between the two, and said, "Chaozi, save me a few words and listen to me. Brother Zhuo Xiong, don't take offense, Chaozi is very straightforward." Zhuo Xiong lowered his head and fiddled with the oar in his hand and said "hmm", which was his agreement.At this moment, he also had many questions in his mind, and he wanted to ask the old man Zhuo to clarify them. After mediating the dispute between the two, Zha Wenbin continued: "Don't you think that the situation described in this painting is very similar to some of the situations we are encountering now?" Zhuo Xiong still hung his head there, bowed his head and said nothing, it seems that some words of Chaozi really hurt him, and Cha Wenbin is also very helpless, everyone has countless questions about everything here, and the only clue is probably There is only old man Zhuo. Chaozi said disapprovingly: "The Battle of Zhuolu mentioned in this painting is just a legend, what does it have to do with us now?" Cha Wenbin glanced at Zhuo Xiong, deliberately raised his voice a little, and said, "If I say that old man Zhuo is not lying?" Zhuo Xiong raised his head that was originally lowered, and looked straight at Zha Wenbin. Chao Zi regained his energy and squeezed into the crowd again. "The day before they went down to the well, that is, before they disappeared, we checked the village, including the ancient well, and it seemed that there was nothing unusual, and those righteous villages were also locked up. According to the layout of the village and the entire large For the arrangement of the array, I will definitely tell them that these righteous villages are restricted areas of the village, and ordinary people will definitely not be able to enter, so it is understandable that the old man Zhuo did not know the conditions inside, so four fierce beasts were used there. Deter the villagers from entering." After a pause, Zhuo Xiong's face looked much better than before, and Cha Wenbin gradually relaxed. At this time, if there is internal strife, it is definitely not a good thing.He went on to say: "Qifeng Mountain is really covered by clouds and mist all year round, as Zhuo old man said. It is quite normal for people to go in and get lost. That's why Zhuo Xiong's mother and sister disappeared. This is the same as the description of the first mural I saw earlier. The information is basically the same. The mountain in that painting only shows a peak, and the rest is under a white wavy line. Now I can understand that the whole mountain cannot be seen clearly all year round. Now we don’t care about this painting. Whether the mountain in the painting is Zhuolu Mountain or Qifeng Mountain, it is assumed that it is Qifeng Mountain.” Zhuo Xiong said: "Brother Wen Bin, if you say this, my father is not lying. When we first came to Qifeng Mountain, we saw it with our own eyes. It is indeed hidden in the clouds." Cha Wenbin nodded and said, "That's right. I once saw two groups of troops in the second painting. Among them, the Yellow Emperor's team was trapped on the mountain, and Chi You's army was surrounded outside. According to the legend of the Battle of Zhuolu, the Yellow Emperor did indeed It is trapped by dense fog, which also deals with the natural conditions here." He went on to say: "In the third painting, a woman appeared, standing on the top of the mountain, holding a white thread in her hand. I can already understand the whole picture of Mount Qifeng that I have seen. In the third painting, it should be said that the woman took away all the fog on the mountain, so that the Yellow Emperor’s army was able to escape. In the fourth painting, Ying Long Water was sprayed from the top of the mountain and hit Chi You's army." "Don't you two feel that this is consistent with what we have encountered?" Chaozi was full of doubts at this moment, and said eagerly: "You continue to talk." "We heard movement in the ancient well, and then you went down the well, Chaozi, and then, the well water began to spray out, until the next morning, we found that there was no water in such a deep ancient well, and then I went down the well, and then At dawn, you found that there were no clouds and mists on Qifeng Mountain. Then what if I told you that the clouds and mists on Qifeng Mountain dissipated before the well water overflowed? It’s just that we didn’t notice it because it was dark. Clouds and mists are just the gaseous state of water It’s all about the situation, and it’s still water in the final analysis. The thick clouds and mists on the mountain condensed into water because of something, and then rushed down the mountain, gushing out from the ancient well. Is this the same as the information described in the fourth mural? Consistent! As for this kind of vision, the old man Zhuo didn't mention it to us, does that also mean that it really happened for the first time?" After these words were finished, the three of them made some speculations in their minds. Yes, because of the darkness, no one had noticed the changes in Qifeng Mountain. What if the clouds receded before the ancient well sprayed water?That really confirms what the murals here tell, but there are two less fighting armies. Chaozi sighed: "My God, what kind of place is this!" Zha Wenbin went on to say: "The Yinglong in this painting should be exactly a dragon that turns gas into a dragon. A water dragon flies down the mountain and spews out from the mouth of the ancient well. The location of the ancient well should be the dragon's head! The water dragon sucks The moon absorbs the essence of the sun and the moon and complements the existence of this large formation. According to this trend, the upper reaches of this river may be Mount Qifeng! As long as we continue to move forward, we will definitely find the exit!" Zha Wenbin's words stimulated everyone as if they had beaten chicken blood. Everyone immediately untied the ropes, and the raft moved forward again along the current. After passing the mural, the entrance of the cave began to shrink gradually. If you had to keep your head down, the narrow place was just enough for a raft to pass through. The three of them hurried on their way cautiously, but they didn't find any other murals, which made Cha Wenbin somewhat disappointed. The raft was meant to go upstream, and it was difficult for many people to travel, so the forward speed was not very fast. Fortunately, except for the occasional fish or two swimming by the side, there was nothing else. Just as he was walking, Chaozi in front of him threw his stick on the nearby stone wall, and brought the raft to a sudden stop. Cha Wenbin asked, "What's wrong?" Chaozi tried his best to keep the raft steady and kept from going backwards. He pouted: "There are two forks ahead, what should I do?" Zha Wenbin hurried to the bow of the boat. Under the illumination of spotlights, it turned out that this is a "Y"-shaped waterway fork. . Which way to go? This is a difficult problem. These two caves seem to be formed naturally, without any traces of artificial excavation.Cha Wenbin looked at the two dark holes, like a pair of deep eyes, which made him feel very uncomfortable. After thinking for a while, he decided to make a divination here.Taking out the tortoise shell, Zha Wenbin took a drop of water from the river, and it dripped from the top of the tortoise shell. Wherever the water flows, it means which way to go. "Tick tock!" A drop of water fell from his finger and landed on the shell of the turtle. Cha Wenbin opened his eyes wide and watched, but the drop of water went backwards. This is to tell them to go back!But there was no way back. Tried again, the water drop still went back.Looking at the fork ahead, Zha Wenbin had a bad premonition, and said: "If we are really destined to get here, the left side is yin and the right side is yang, according to numerology, the left side is the gate of death, and the right side is the gate of life. But there will be a living position in the dead gate on the left, and a dead position in the living gate on the right. If we go to the left, we may encounter danger. If we go through it, we will be fine; If you break into that dead position, you should be able to get out smoothly, judging from the hexagram, it seems that either way is dangerous, so you two decide." Chao Zi and Zhuo Xiong said in unison: "We listen to you!" "Okay, since the two brothers trust me so much, I will choose to go to the left." Chaozi pulled out the dagger in his hand and said: "Brother Wenbin, then go to the left, I don't believe in evil, who is going to stop the young master from going out today, people will block and kill people, Buddha will block and kill Buddha, and defeat all ghosts and snakes!" Zhuo Xiong also said: "Anyway, if you get stuck here, you will die, it doesn't matter which way you go." Cha Wenbin looked at the cave on the right. He didn't know what his decision meant. For Chaozi, Zhuo Xiong, and even the comatose Lao Wang and Leng Yiran, if the left side was really dangerous, he could bear the responsibility up?Don't you mean providence?I just don't listen to God's will. There is a saying "put it to death and live later", as long as our lives are hard enough, we can survive it! Taking advantage of this gap, Cha Wenbin asked Chaozi to take out the climbing rope, and tied the unconscious Lao Wang and Leng Yiran to the raft, so as to ensure that the two of them would not fall into the water in case of danger.The shotgun was out of bullets now, and it was no different from a firestick. The two took off their respective daggers and tied them to the front of the barrel, using them as bayonets. They also ate some food to replenish their strength.Antibiotics were injected to the unconscious two people, and some dry food was fed with water. Cha Wenbin made a forward gesture, and the raft slowly moved towards the cave on the left.Cha Wenbin looked back and saw that the fork was getting farther and farther away. He no longer struggled in his heart and turned his head to stare at the front.As for what awaits them ahead?We'll talk about that next time.