Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Fox Fairy

"Could it be that the forest guard is back?" Zhu Yikai muttered to himself, turned his face to Qu Siqi and said, "You are here to protect the boat, I'll go over and have a look." Bai Xiaozhou grabbed his sleeve and said in a low voice: "Be careful." Zhu Yikai lowered his head, seeing her worried expression, his heart seemed to be filled with something, and he felt that there was something in those big and bright eyes. There are stars all over the sky. "Don't worry." He said in a very soft tone, "I have a measure." He took the stun gun, approached the hut, looked into the window vigilantly, and knocked on the door.

Sure enough, there were people in the house. The person who opened the door was a very old man with no beard and wrinkled face. Even from a long distance, Bai Xiaozhou could still see the age spots on his skin. Zhu Yikai talked to the old man for a while, then turned around and waved to the two of them, signaling them to go over. The deep mountains at night were soaked in coolness, entering the hut, Bai Xiaozhou felt a little cold.The old man smiled and looked very approachable, handing water and looking for food.Naturally, there is nothing good here, they are all instant noodles. Bai Xiaozhou took a closer look and found that the expiration date has not expired.

This old man is a forest guard in the mountains. His surname is Li. He has lived in the mountains all his life. After his wife passed away, his son wanted to take him to the city to enjoy the blessings, but he refused, saying that he could not leave the mountains.After the fire burned the mountain, he was moved out, but he was not used to living in the city. Seeing that the security in the mountain was not so strict, he came back secretly. "If I leave, there will be no one to do some things." He said meaningfully while drinking Laobaigan. Old man Li has a lot of stories. Zhu Yikai and the three said that they were donkey friends who went on a donkey trip in the mountains. With a serious expression, he persuaded the three to go back quickly, saying that the mountain is not safe.Bai Xiaozhou hurriedly asked why it was not safe, so he began to tell ghost stories in the mountains endlessly, about civet cats who used sorcery to make passers-by get lost and fell to their deaths;It's nothing more than word of mouth, rumors that can be heard everywhere.As we talked, we talked about the previous fire that burned the mountain and the corpses scattered all over the mountain.

"Those corpses must be people who have disappeared in the mountains these years." He took a sip of wine, his nose was red, and there seemed to be liquid surging in his cloudy old eyes, "I watched many people enter the mountain like this, They never came out again. They must have all been swallowed by the cave of no return, even my poor little son." "Your youngest son?" Bai Xiaozhou couldn't help asking.Old man Li didn't know if he drank too much, and he couldn't stop his chatterbox once he opened it: "Yes, my child was only sixteen years old at the time. It was me and my baby who got married and spoiled him since he was a child. But he strives for it. , the academic performance is very famous in the class, either the first or the second. I also told my wife that our family will rely on him in the future. But the child actually went to the mountain with his teacher and said that he wanted to find someone. How could I I didn’t listen to the persuasion, and said that I was a feudal superstition, and I never came back after I left. I have always regretted it, if I had tied him back by force, I wouldn’t have seen people alive and dead.” After all, use The old blue cloth clothes wiped away the tears.

Zhu Yikai is such a smart person, his heart was moved when he heard the words, and he hurriedly asked: "Who are they looking for in the mountains?" "It's an old friend of the teacher. The teacher was transferred not long ago. He said that he had an old classmate who stole his teacher's things. He heard that he finally entered our Lujing Mountain. He suspected that the old classmate was still in the mountain. He wants to find him and get back his teacher's things." "Did he say what it was?" "I asked, but he refused to tell. I told him that there is a cave in this mountain, and there is a dragon in the cave, which wants to eat people. His old classmate must have been eaten by the dragon, but he just didn't believe it. If the classmate is dead, you can’t lose that thing. You must find it. If you say he’s looking for it, just look for it. What’s the matter with taking my son. My son also worships him very much, treats him like a god, and volunteers to take him with him Go. Alas, it’s all fate, it’s fate.” As he spoke, he poured the glass wine bottle in his hand into his mouth and took a big gulp, “Young man, listen to me, go back, don’t miss it. It’s only when you die that you come to regret it.”

Zhu Yikai asked again: "You said that your son was also killed by Jiaolong, did you recognize those bones at that time?" "Why didn't you recognize it? When I heard the news, those of us who were missing in our family all went, and several of us even recognized the body, but I looked for a long time, but I couldn't find my son." Zhu Yikai asked again: "Then do you remember what clothes your son was wearing at that time?" "Why don't you remember, he was wearing a blue tunic suit, it's still new." Zhu Yikai seemed to have realized something, so he didn't ask any more questions, but just comforted Old Man Li for a while.It was getting late, the three of them had been driving all day, and they were very sleepy. Old man Li found a few half-new quilts from the dirty cabinet, and the three of them made a bed on the floor for the night.

A piece of glass was broken, and there was some air leakage. Bai Xiaozhou was lying under the bed, and the wind whimpered in his ears. It sounded like a woman's whimper, low and melodious, and lingering.She gradually sank into sleep, the dream was blurred, she felt that she was being haunted, her consciousness was clear, but her body was heavy, her limbs were heavy, and she couldn't move. At this time, she suddenly felt that there was an extra person beside the broken window, with a white face staring at her.She wanted to see the man's face clearly, but struggled for a while, but couldn't open her eyes.There was a thumping sound at the door, as if someone was knocking on the door, someone got up in the room, opened the door on tiptoe, jumped out, and got out.

who is it?Who is it?What is he going to do? After an unknown amount of time, that face flickered and disappeared, and the person who had gone out returned to the house and lay down peacefully.Bai Xiaozhou suddenly felt that everything that was pressing on her body disappeared, and her body relaxed for a while. She sat upright and rushed to the window. Was everything just a nightmare? A pair of hands stretched out from behind and covered her mouth. She was startled, turned her head to the side, and saw Zhu Yikai making a silent gesture to herself. Bai Xiaozhou leaned close to his ear, and said in a barely audible voice: "Are you also having nightmares?"

Zhu Yikai nodded and said: "Just now I heard someone going out, I don't know what they did, let's go out and have a look." Bai Xiaozhou nodded: "Do you want to wake Siqi up?" The two looked at Qu Siqi who was sleeping beside him. It seems that he hasn't woken up from the nightmare, his eyes are closed, his brows are furrowed, and his hands are clenched into fists. "Don't call him, let's go and come back quickly." The two looked at old man Li on the canopy bed again, he was snoring lightly and soundly asleep.The two walked out of the door lightly, looking around, the forest was overgrown with weeds, Bai Xiaozhou squatted down and looked at it, pointed to a mass of fallen grass and said: "This is a footprint, let's follow it."

Zhu Yikai wondered, "Can you still recognize footprints on the grass?" "When I was young, I went hunting with my grandfather, and I learned a little. Fortunately, the footprints were left not long ago. If it takes a long time, there will be nothing to do." The two followed the barely discernible footprints and walked dozens of steps. Bai Xiaozhou said: "The footprints are not It's gone." Zhu Yikai squatted down and looked at it for a while: "The soil here is new." The two looked at each other, dug for a while with bare hands, and found a hard object, and dug further down, it turned out to be a wooden box, on which a talisman was sealed with red sealing mud.Zhu Yikai looked at it for a while, but couldn't figure out what it was for.

"Open it and have a look?" Bai Xiaozhou said uncertainly.Zhu Yikai pulled out a knife from his boots, and was about to pick off the charm when he heard a voice behind him say: "Don't touch it." The scalps of the two went numb, and they quickly turned around, the guns in their hands were already aimed at the visitor.The moonlight was bright, shining on the man's bark-like old face.Zhu Yikai frowned and said: "What is this?" Old man Li said with a smile: "You are not some donkey friends, are you? It's my fault that I didn't tell you clearly, come in." The two hesitated, but they heard a loud cry from inside the room. "Siqi!" The two rushed into the room, and Qu Siqi sat on the floor, drenched in cold sweat, panting heavily.The two hurriedly asked what happened, his face was pale, he looked up at Bai Xiaozhou, then at Zhu Yikai, there seemed to be something unknown in his eyes: "There are unclean things here. I seem to be haunted I can't wake up anyway." "Young students, for those things you don't know, it's better to speak in awe." Old man Li took out his old white dry again, sat cross-legged on the ground, took a sip, and hiccupped, "Didn't you ask me about that? Is there something in the box? It's the corpse of Great Immortal Hu." Hu Daxian?The three thought of the white fox they met when they came, and looked at each other in blank dismay. "The Great Fox Immortals have lived in this mountain since ancient times. At that time, the surrounding villagers respected them very much and often worshiped them. Later, Jiaolong came to the cave of no return, and even the Great Fox Immortals were affected by the disaster, so they went deeper into the mountain. , seldom come out. However, they still need someone to help them funeral." "Funeral?" The three of them didn't understand, so the old man continued: "This is a custom handed down from ancient times. After the death of the Great Fox Immortal, mortals are needed to help them enter the coffin, recite the mantra of passing away, and then seal their coffins with the spell of transcendence." Get up, so they are said to be reincarnated as humans." Bai Xiaozhou vaguely remembers that when she was a child, her grandfather once told her that human beings are the primates of all things. From ancient times to the present, spirits and monsters all hope to become human beings, so there are so many stories of cultivating human beings and experiencing love in the world. Among them, the fox is especially victorious. "After my youngest son passed away, the forest guards of the previous generation passed on this task to me. Great Immortal Hu can bring wealth to people, and I have only one son now, so I have to make him live better." He added After taking a sip of wine, his eyes were a little lonely.Bai Xiaozhou thought to himself, it's not that he is not used to life in the city, but that he has no other way. "I don't know who you are, and I don't want to know." Old man Li said, "Since you must go to the mountain, I have something for you." He dipped his index finger in the wine and drew a picture on the concrete floor. The figure, the three of them were secretly startled, it turned out to be the word "it" in seal script. "Remember." Old man Li looked cautious, his eyes slowly swept across the faces of the three people, as if he had a little deep meaning, "Be careful of the third person." The three of them felt chills down their backs when he saw them. This word again, does the third person it refers to mean Sima Fanti who is controlled by the centipede? Thinking of the two people who were still trapped in the cave, their hearts tightened for a while. Old man Li seemed a little sleepy, and yawned: "It's not yet dawn, you should sleep a little longer. Sigh, don't listen to the old man." Say, you are at a disadvantage!" He muttered, got back on the bed, and snored not long after. I was speechless for a while. The three of them fell asleep again, and Bai Xiaozhou looked up at the bright moon hanging outside the window, feeling entangled with emotions in her heart, but she didn't notice that Qu Siqi who was sleeping in the corner also opened his eyes wide, sharp as a knife. This is bound to be a sleepless night. When I got up the next morning, old man Li was gone, and he left a note saying he was going to patrol the mountains.The three left some money for board and lodging, released the talisman, and continued their journey. Shiratori took the three of them around the mountain for a few more times, and finally arrived at a mountain top. At the foot of the mountain was a cliff, which looked like a magic axe. Shiratori flapped its wings and flew straight down the cliff. The three of them looked at each other, speechless for a long time. Come. "Siqi, are you kidding us?" Bai Xiaozhou said, "I was so exhausted that I brought us up, but the cave entrance is at the bottom of the cliff?" Qu Siqi blushed and said: "Maybe...there is no other way at the bottom of this cliff, we can only go down the cliff." Before they finished speaking, both of them turned their eyes to him, and he felt ashamed, his eyes fixed on the cliff Suddenly, he opened his eyes and said joyfully, "Look." Surrounded by clouds and mist, the white bird flew freely for a while, then suddenly folded its body and flew into a cave on the cliff.The cave is not far from the top of the cliff, about five or six meters long. There is a big tree growing at the mouth of the cliff, with luxuriant branches and leaves, covering the entrance of the cave, so it is not easy to be found. Qu Siqi was a little proud: "Let me tell you, there must be no other way, otherwise how could my baby bird be so stupid?" There is ambiguity in these words, the speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional, Bai Xiaozhou blushed, Zhu Yikai lowered his head and snickered: "How do you plan to get down?" Qu Siqi was startled, yes, how to get down?He doesn't have Ye Buer's unarmed rock climbing skills. "I knew you were unreliable. Fortunately, I was prepared." Zhu Yikai simply took pleasure in hurting him, opened his backpack, took out a climbing rope, and tied it skillfully to the big tree on the edge of the cliff. Xiao Zhou wondered: "You can also climb rocks?" "I used to go mountaineering in high school, but now it's deserted." Zhu Yikai was rarely humble, but he was extremely surprised to hear that he could climb mountains and dive, what else could he not know?Seeing the trace of admiration and admiration in her eyes, Qu Siqi couldn't feel any comfort in his body, and said with a stiff neck, "What is this? I can do it too. Come, tie me up, and I'll be the first to go down." "Don't be brave." Zhu Yikai said slowly, "If you fall, there will be no bones left." Qu Siqi couldn't see him looking down on him the most, his face flushed red, and he insisted: "Tie you up if you are told, what are you doing with so much nonsense?" Zhu Yikai laughed secretly in his heart, and came over carefully tied the rope around his waist as he said, and told him : "Be careful, don't be impulsive." "Is it up to you to say that?" Qu Siqi snorted coldly, and went down the cliff once his mind got hot. After leaving the solid ground, fear finally arose in Qu Siqi's heart.In fact, he has never climbed a mountain before, he only saw it on TV, but those climbers looked extremely easy, but he really had to try it himself, only to find that walking was difficult, his feet stepped on the cliff, no matter how hard he stepped on it Unreliable, every possible place to stay seems to collapse at any time.He turned his head and glanced down secretly. The bottom of the cliff was deep and invisible, and he was dizzy for a while, and the fear in his heart was even worse. "Siqi, are you okay?" Bai Xiaozhou asked worriedly on the top of the cliff. "It's okay!" Qu Siqi said bravely, "It's such a small matter, it's so rare for me." After finishing speaking, he gritted his teeth, said "I'm not afraid" silently in his heart, and continued.Although it was his first time to climb a mountain, after all, he was protected by ropes, and it went smoothly. After finally stepping on the big tree with both feet, his heart relaxed, and he sat down on the trunk, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and panted heavily. gas. Qu Siqi raised his head, looked proudly at the two people on the top of the cliff, and flaunted: "How about it, let me say it's okay. I'm not talking about it, let alone the few meters, even tens of meters, hundreds of meters, I don't care Down." Before they finished speaking, they saw their faces change, and Bai Xiaozhou's voice trembled a little: "Siqi, hurry up, go into the cave." Qu Siqi wondered, "What's wrong?" "It's nothing." Bai Xiaozhou tried his best to keep his voice steady, and squeezed out a smile, "Don't waste time, go in quickly, we have to come down." Qu Siqi didn't think much about it, and responded, hugged the trunk, tentatively stepped on the depression near the entrance of the cave, and then jumped towards the entrance of the cave with the help of the inertia of the rope. After falling heavily on the solid ground, all the bones in his body were hurting, but Qu Siqi felt that he had never been so relaxed, and it was more at ease to step on the ground. The two on the top of the cliff also breathed a sigh of relief, and Zhu Yikai said to Qu Siqi who was resting at the entrance of the cave, "Siqi, look up." Qu Siqi was puzzled, and when he looked up, his legs gave way in fright, and he almost sat on the ground. The big tree above his head was covered with scars, and in each scar, there were strips as thick as a thumb. centipede.Those centipedes were covered in black and blue, but their feet were red. They seemed to have emptied the whole tree. They shuttled back and forth in the tree, getting in from one scar and coming out from another, and dropping a few from time to time, along the way. Crawl around the hole.It looks particularly terrifying. Qu Siqi was startled to feel some itching on his back, took off his shirt like crazy, shook off the two centipedes a few times, and then stepped on them hard until they were crushed into meat paste. Qu Siqi's heart turned cold, no wonder Bai Xiaozhou's face was so ugly just now, not to mention whether these centipedes are poisonous or not, and not to mention whether they are the same kind as the one manipulating the boss, only the big tree that was eaten away by moths , How can it bear the weight of an adult? Qu Siqi realized that he really walked through the gate of hell just now. Anxious, angry and frightened, he took down the broken bronze sword from his back and held it in his hand. Light condensed from the break, and he made up for the long sword. It broke, making a dull sound, and fell towards the cliff.The entrance of the cave was not covered by a big tree, and it was exposed to the sun for a while, which made him feel a little dazzling, and he seemed a little dizzy for a while. Zhu Yikai's exasperated voice came from above his head: "Who asked you to cut it?" "If you don't cut it, why don't you leave the centipede to bite you?" Qu Siqi said angrily, and Zhu Yikai was even more angry: "Take a good look for yourself." Qu Siqi felt that something was wrong, and when he looked up, his scalp felt numb.The roots of the big tree were also hollowed out, and dense centipedes sprang out from the cracks in the trunk, and they climbed all over the cliff for a while. Qu Siqi grimaced, this is the punishment of impulsiveness. Bai Xiaozhou's face was full of black lines, and he held his forehead and said, "Kaizi, let's go down together." I don't know if it's because of her grandfather's medicinal baths when she was a child, or it has something to do with her hands. Suffering from mosquito bites, after joining the research institute and going through many cases, she gradually discovered that the poisonous insects dare not approach her.She didn't know whether it was luck or misfortune. But if you think about it carefully, it is not bad to be able to "bring your own" mosquito coils in summer. The two tied up the straps and descended slowly. As soon as Bai Xiaozhou's feet stepped on the cliff, the surrounding centipedes retreated automatically. Zhu Yikai smiled and said, "It's very easy to use." Bai Xiaozhou rolled his eyes, suddenly feeling a little melancholy. The last time he climbed the cliff was in the mountains of Province S. That time was even more dangerous than this time, but Ye Buer was there at that time. As a mandrill, rock climbing was no problem. He walked up and down the cliff easily with her on his back, and he didn't know how he was doing now, did he wake up?Did you let go? She smiled wryly in her heart, it was really not that easy to let go. "Xiao Zhou." She suddenly heard Zhu Yikai whisper in her ear behind her, "Si Qi likes you very much." Bai Xiaozhou was taken aback, and turned his face strangely: "Why did you suddenly think of saying this?" Zhu Yikai paused, and said with a smile: "Otherwise, why does he always look down on me?" Bai Xiaozhou said very seriously: "Siqi is very affectionate, and so are you. Although you always bicker, in your hearts, you are both very important brothers." Zhu Yikai looked at her for a while: "You really look more and more like Teacher Long." During the conversation, the two had successfully descended to the entrance of the cave. Qu Siqi hurriedly helped them into the cave, and then stared at Zhu Yikai's hand holding Bai Xiaozhou with displeasure: "Why are you hugging so tightly? Can't bear to let go?" Bai Xiaozhou gave him a blank look: "There is no danger in the cave, right?" Qu Siqi was taken aback, and then remembered that he should investigate the situation in the cave carefully, and he was so focused on the safety of the two of them just now that he forgot about it. Zhu Yikai smiled and said, "It's really unreliable, I'll take the lead." After finishing speaking, he took out a special highlighter from his bag, bit off the cap of the pen, and made a mark on the cave wall.The imprint left by this pen will not disappear within a week, and it can be clearly seen in the dark, which is very suitable for use in labyrinthine caves. Qu Siqi was so angry that his teeth itch. After walking dozens of steps, the light gradually dimmed. Zhu Yikai, who was holding a flashlight, suddenly paused: "There is someone in front."Bai Xiaozhou looked as far as the eye could see, in the darkness, there was indeed a thin and thin person sitting in the cave, motionless. "Who is it?" Zhu Yikai asked loudly, but the man didn't answer. When they got close, Zhu Yikai pointed a gun at him with one hand, and shone a flashlight on his face with the other, Bai Xiaozhou almost cried out, and quickly reached out to cover his mouth.