"Someone's here?" I blinked and pouted, "Why don't you say there's gold and silver buried underground? Ghosts and accidents are more likely, but people? You must be joking!"
I didn't believe Huang San couldn't distinguish between a person and a ghost. If that were the case, I'd have to consider how to get rid of him once we got back. This guy ran at the first sign of danger, not at all like his previous attitude of growing stronger against stronger opponents. Perhaps it had something to do with his injuries.
Seeing my disbelief, Huang San anxiously paced in circles. When his gaze fell upon the Shadow Ghost lying on the ground, he suddenly froze. His little mustache twitched as he pointed at the Shadow Ghost and said, "That person looks a lot like him. He's in the cave below."
I frowned. Anything could happen in these desolate mountains. Perhaps it was a hermit who had specifically carved out his dwelling deep within the mountains?
"The passage is there. Take me to see it."
"My subordinates are searching, and we should have a clue soon… over there." Huang San pointed in a direction, and sure enough, a little yellow weasel poked its head out, looking around for something.
Upon seeing Huang San, it chirped excitedly, seeming very happy. It also repeatedly pointed towards the ground. However, I couldn't understand their communication at all, so I could only wait for them to finish before asking what it meant.
"Young Master Song, the entrance to the secret chamber is near the base of the mountain. I've heard the yin energy there is very heavy, and there might be powerful vengeful spirits lurking around."
Vengeful spirits? I curled my lips slightly. If I had encountered a vengeful spirit before, my first thought would be to run. Now, I wouldn't be afraid of it at all. I immediately had Huang San's subordinates lead the way.
As for the Shadow Ghost, it was simply left on the ground, with no one assigned to watch it. Since it was pinned down by the Heart-Piercing Nail, there was no need to worry about it escaping.
The entrance was behind a large rock. The yin energy was slightly heavier than elsewhere, but I didn't sense any evil presence. Looking at the collapsed opening and the severed large tree above, I already understood how this thing had appeared. Otherwise, entering would have required considerable effort.
For safety, I woke up Bai Ling'er, who was coiled around my head sleeping. It annoyed her greatly, but after signing two unequal treaties, she still burrowed in.
It wasn't that I didn't trust Huang San, but his cultivation and Bai Ling'er's were incomparable, let alone his subordinates. Even if there was danger inside, their eyes wouldn't be able to discern it. It was better to let Bai Ling'er explore first.
In the time it took to smoke half a cigarette, Bai Ling'er floated out from inside and said that there was only one person sitting on the stone bed. After that, she coiled around my head and fell asleep again. I didn't know how she managed it; no matter how I shook, I couldn't get rid of her.
Upon entering the stone chamber, I indeed saw a "person" sitting cross-legged on a stone bed. His hair had grown down to the ground, and his entire body was covered in dust, making it impossible to discern his original appearance. However, the clasped-hands gesture made me feel that he should be an enlightened "high monk."
Besides him, everything else in the stone chamber was clearly visible. Beside him was a stone table with several protrusions. I didn't know if they could prove this person's identity.
"Could this be that eminent Buddhist monk who established the town of Sha?" Zhang Dabiao concluded somewhat uncertainly after examining it for a while.
I thought about it and said it probably wasn't. I hadn't met any eminent Buddhist monks, but they were all bald with shining heads on TV! And they wore kasayas. Did he look like a high monk anywhere?
Zhang Dabiao rolled his eyes and said, "Don't you know that when people die, their bodies don't decay, and their hair can grow indefinitely? And look at him, sitting cross-legged on the bed with his hands clasped. If he's not a high monk, who could he be?"
I frowned and didn't retort because none of us had ever seen what a true eminent monk looked like. Most of the monks who shaved their heads nowadays were fake, trying to cheat ordinary people out of incense money. All I knew was what I had seen on television.
I brushed the dust off the stone table, revealing its contents: a smashed wooden fish, and no other items. I guessed that even if other things were left behind, they would have been crushed into powder by the passage of time. However, it confirmed Zhang Dabiao's guess that the person sitting on the stone bed before us was indeed an eminent monk.
Just as I was contemplating whether to look at the true face of the eminent monk before me, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew through the chamber, stirring up the dust on the ground to over half a foot high. Then, the entire stone chamber began to shake.
"Not good, it's going to collapse! Who touched something?" My face turned pale with fright. I saw Zhang Dabiao dusting off the eminent monk.
What a disaster!
Run quickly!
The moment the stone chamber vibrated, Huang San was the first to flee. He didn't care that his injuries hadn't healed yet. Zhang Dabiao and I followed closely. As soon as we ran out, the mountain cave behind us began to collapse. The powerful force directly threw me about a meter high, and then I rolled on the ground countless times before stopping.
I shook my head, trying to sit up, but felt dizzy. Helplessly, I could only lie on the ground and dry heave. Zhang Dabiao was not far from me, but because of his larger build and rolling more times than me, he was lying on the ground, vomiting. As for Huang San, who knew where he had been blown by the aftershocks of the collapse, but given his cunning nature, he should be fine.
"Are you guys bored? Why are you still in the mood to demolish mountains? Is there a way out inside?" Bai Ling'er yawned and looked down at me, her small eyes filled with confusion.
"Nonsense, have you ever seen anyone hide in the deep mountains? Huang San discovered someone inside, so we went in to check, and then… things went wrong." Although Zhang Dabiao caused this, it was almost as if I had caused it. If I hadn't agreed to go in, it probably wouldn't have caused such chaos.
The collapse of the mountain peak attracted the attention of many nearby vengeful spirits and ghost tribes. However, because of Bai Ling'er, they all hid in the distance, watching, as if waiting for something.
"Holy crap, where are the ghosts?" At this moment, Zhang Dabiao suddenly yelled, almost scaring my soul away.
"Brother Zhang, what are you yelling about…?" I turned back and roared, but the last two words were swallowed by me as I looked at the smooth ground before me, my heart pounding erratically.
The Shadow Ghost, which had just been fixed to the ground by Zhang Dabiao's Heart-Piercing Nail, had vanished into thin air. Moreover, the Heart-Piercing Nail still remained in its original position, not even budging.
I hurriedly got up and rushed to where the Shadow Ghost had been. I struck the spot with the Yin Iron Ruler, only to send up a pile of black soil. Ignoring my injured ghost eye, I forced back tears and searched everywhere, but there was no sign of the Shadow Ghost. It was as if it had simply disappeared into thin air. Su Dan Novel Network.
"No way? How did he escape?" Zhang Dabiao was somewhat annoyed, regretting not using his strongest Heart-Piercing Nail to pin him to the ground.
The loss of the Shadow Ghost made Zhang Dabiao and me seem a bit flustered, but Bai Ling'er remained silent. Instead, she stared intently at the collapsed mountainside, her forked tongue flicking out intermittently, as if something was about to emerge.
"What's wrong?"
"He's coming out."