Daomu Biji

Chapter 9 The First Night: Bracelet

The two of us immediately moved our hands and feet and started climbing the tree.

The trees here are relatively easy to climb, and there are many footholds, but you need to be extra careful. The tree trunks are covered with plant mud such as moss, and it is easy for your feet to slip if your feet are not stable. Once you slip for the first time, you may fall all the way down.

We were careful, taking one step at a time, just like climbing a tree with mines buried in it, and finally climbed to Pan Zi's side.

The place where Pan Zi is located is under the top of the tree crown, where the branches are relatively sparse and the fog is lighter. This tree is very tall, and above the head is the hairy moon shining through the mist. Probably because this is a plateau, the moon is particularly bright, and it can shine so much light through the mist. However, the moonlight and the mist merge, and the moon shines brightly. It's a hairy feeling. Under the dim white light, I could see the surrounding trees, but I couldn't see them clearly. Everything was blurry in the mist.

We went up and asked Pan Zi softly what was going on. He said in a very low voice: "There seems to be someone on the tree over there."

"Which way?" Fatty asked softly. Pan Zi pointed in a direction and made a gesture: "About twenty meters, on a branch."

"How can you see it in such darkness? Is it that little brother?"

"I couldn't see it at first. I just noticed when he moved." Pan Zi frowned and made a gesture to ask the fat man to lower his voice. "It's not clear because of the leaves, but it shouldn't be that little brother." ." "You read that right, are you so anxious to see your third master that you fainted?"

Pan Zi didn't have time to pay attention to the fat man's squeezing, and waved: "I'm not sure, you can see for yourself!" After saying that, he pushed aside the dense branches and pointed to the distant tree crown for us to see.

At first glance, I only saw a large piece of dense tree crown. My eyes are a little short-sighted, which is fine under normal circumstances. It is easy to be dazzled in such ambiguous light. So I couldn't see anything after looking at it for a long time. The fat man's sharp eyes saw him immediately, and he said softly: "There really is a person."

Pan Zi handed me the telescope, and I looked in the direction of the fat man. Sure enough, I saw a figure similar to a human figure in the gap in the tree crown. It seemed to be peeping at something, with its body huddled within the tree crown. can not see clearly. But you can clearly see that the man's hands are covered with mud, and the misty fur looks like animal paws under the moonlight.

Who is it?

I asked: "Could it be the Wen Jin we saw in the swamp last night? I didn't catch her yesterday?"

Pan Zi nodded: "It's possible, that's why I asked you to keep your voice down, if it's really her. She ran away after hearing the sound."

I handed the binoculars to the fat man who was clamoring to see it, and said to Pan Zi: "What should we do? If she is really Wen Jin, we have to catch her."

Pan Zi looked at the terrain around him.

Nodding: "But it's a bit difficult. It's more than twenty meters from here to there. If she runs away when she hears the sound like last night, we can't catch up in this environment. She can't see anyone after running a few times. Well, the best way is to sneak under the tree and block her in the tree. Besides, we have to hurry up——" He looked at the sea of ​​trees on one side, "The fog is about to lift now. We also We can’t waste too much time. After catching her, we must rush to the third master’s place.”

I thought about it and said "ok". There is no time to hesitate, we can only do it first and then talk about it. I thought about patting the fat man and trying to pull him down from the tree.

The fat man waved his hands hurriedly: "Wait, wait, wait."

"Stop looking. Catch her and let you see her as much as you can." Pan Zi shouted softly.

The fat man kept looking and moving while looking. Pan Zi became impatient and went up to grab the fat man's binoculars, but he pushed him away. "Wait a minute! Something's wrong!"

We were stunned for a moment. We all knew that Fatty had sharp eyes. He suddenly said this and we couldn't take it seriously. Pan Zi and I exchanged glances. At this time, I heard the fat man take a breath of air, put down the telescope, cursed, and immediately gave me the telescope: "Sure enough, look carefully, look at that hand."

I hurriedly took it over and looked carefully. The fat man was standing next to me and said, "Look at your wrist, behind the leaves. Look carefully."

I squinted my eyes and looked at the man's wrist, exhausting my vision, and sure enough I saw something. The moment I saw it, I felt a thump in my heart, and I seemed to realize something. I understood it the next second.

That's Aning's copper coin bracelet!

Because of my previous experience in the Devil's City and that strange dream, I was extremely impressed by that copper coin bracelet, so even in this light, I was sure that I would not see it wrong.

"." I also took a breath of cold air.

So, the "person" on the tree in the distance turned out to be Aning's body. Did those snakes transport her body here?

Pan Zi saw the change in my expression and immediately took the binoculars over. He was not impressed by Aning. After I reminded him, he frowned and tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Drawing from the entrance through the dense forest and swamp, and then moving it to such a high tree, this is simply a snake zoning competition. These snakes are really strong." The fat man leaned against the branch on the side and chewed his mouth. He pondered, "Why do these snakes look like ants? Do you think they are social animals like ants? There is a snake queen hidden in their snake nest, and these corpses are transported to the snake queen to eat."

"What snake queen?" I didn't understand at first.

The fat man said: "Have you never dug out an ant nest? The queen in the ant is responsible for laying eggs, and the ants are responsible for feeding the queen. I'm right, it must be like this. The cockscomb snakes here may have the same society as ants and bees. Structure. There must be a snake queen in this forest, and these little snakes are its birthplace."

I became more and more confused: "It is true that the behavior of these snakes is incomprehensible, but your guess must be unreasonable. Snakes and insects are completely different species. This possibility is very small."

"I think this should be considered a good guess." Fatty said.

I was noncommittal and didn't want to continue discussing this issue. Seeing Aning's body again in such a scene made people very uncomfortable. I can't even imagine what the part hidden in the canopy looks like now. Although Fatty expressed his attitude towards life and death, what he said at this time still made me feel a little depressed.

The three of them were silent for a while. The fat man said: "What the hell are they doing here? Obviously the body is here. There must be a lot of snakes nearby. We'd better get out of here right away."

"Aren't you going to care about her?" I felt a little uncomfortable. "Now that the body has been found, either--"

The fat man shook his head. I didn't think about it anymore. This was really not a good idea. We can't afford to offend any of the snakes here. Besides, maybe Aning doesn’t want us to see her like she is now. So he sighed, stopped looking in that direction, and muttered softly: "Amitabha, yes, I shut up."

At this time I discovered that Pan Zi had not put down the telescope. I feel strange that I haven't seen it clearly after looking at it for so long. A closer look revealed that Pan Zi's hands were covered in sweat and his face was blue.

I was startled, walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"

Pan Zi put down the telescope, feeling a little strange, shook his head and said to me: "It's nothing."

But it was definitely not a "nothing" expression. I took the telescope and looked in that direction again, and there was indeed nothing strange. There was doubt in his heart, but the fat man had already started to get off the tree. I didn't have time to think about this anymore, so I took one last look in the distance and followed the fat man down.

Pan Zi went down to the tree and his face completely returned to normal. I didn’t know what was going on just now. But I found that Pan Zi always looked in that direction.

He didn't tell me, and I didn't want to ask. I guess he might not be sure, so instead of asking and making himself depressed, he might as well just leave it at that. The three people immediately packed their things. After putting on his backpack, Pan Zi corrected his direction and immediately prepared to leave.

Just as he was about to set off, Pan Zi looked in that direction again and suddenly stopped. At this time, the fat man also noticed something strange about him and asked him what was wrong. He raised his finger and pointed in that direction, making a silent gesture.

We all stopped, and in a daze we heard slight voices coming from the woods in a certain direction around us, as if someone was talking.

Because the forest was very quiet, these sounds seemed extremely abrupt, and the three of us were confused. I even broke out in a cold sweat. When I listened carefully, I felt that the intermittent voice sounded like a woman talking in a low voice.

We listened quietly, and the sound was high and low, erratic, and seemed to be the sound of wind blowing through the bushes. However, the branches and leaves all around were still, and there was no wind at all. The sound made us feel chilled all over. The direction is the direction of Aning's body. The fat man cursed softly: "What kind of show is this? Could it be that the stinky woman really faked the corpse and haunted us here?"

I said it was impossible, but when I looked around, I saw that the place was filled with evil mist and dark shadows. It would be a waste not to be haunted here.

The fat man said: "It's not a ghost, then who is talking?"

I thought again of the "Wen Jin" I saw last night, and thought that it might not be haunted, but that this woman might be nearby. However, she didn't make a sound last night, so I didn't know whether she was a boy or a girl.

There is another possibility, that is, the third uncle or his people are nearby, which would be very lucky. But this situation is really weird. Third Uncle and the others should not make such a sound. I have encountered too many bizarre things before. At this juncture, I naturally had an ominous premonition.

I didn't like this feeling, so I said to them: "The moonlight here is dim. I think something is definitely going to happen. Let's leave quickly. I'm afraid we will suffer disaster if we stay here."

After saying that, he asked Pan Zi: "You have been calculating for so long just now. Where should we go now?"

Pan Zi's face was livid, and he pointed to the direction from which the sound came: "The problem is, the direction we want to move forward is the direction of the tree."

I was stunned at that moment: "Over there? Are you right?"

Pan Zi cocked the gun and nodded: "It was my mistake, Sun Tzu. Before the fog started, the last time I saw smoke was there."

I felt weak at that moment and didn't know what to say. At this time, the fat man stood up and cursed: "His grandma's place is a blessing, not a curse. It's a curse that cannot be avoided. People blocked our road and deliberately made it difficult for us, but We are not someone to be trifled with, let’s go and find out what’s going on.” He stood up and was about to go over.

I cursed secretly and said, "Back off." Pan Zi immediately grabbed him, shook his head and said, "You must not go there. Listen carefully to what she is saying."

Chapter 10 The First Night: Ghost Sounds in the Jungle

"What else can a lonely wild ghost say, other than to give me my life?" said the fat man. Panzi told him to stop talking nonsense and listen carefully. He wasn't kidding.

I really didn't pay attention to what that voice was saying. The sound just sounded made the three of us go numb with fright, so we couldn't think of anything to listen to.

Moreover, the sound was not loud. If the forest was not unusually quiet, we might have ignored it. If we didn’t listen carefully now, we wouldn’t be able to hear it at all. I just feel like a woman. Using a very strange tone, I don't know what he is talking to himself.

When Pan Zi spoke, our attention focused on this aspect. Pan Zi motioned us to hold our breath and listen carefully.

The distance seemed too far. The voice was sticky and intermittent. Even if I listened to it like this, I felt like I was crying or reciting something, but I really couldn't tell the reason. The only biggest feeling was that the tone was ambiguous.

"Are you calling for spring?" the fat man frowned.

Pan Zi slapped him with the butt of his gun. I asked him not to talk nonsense, and I had a feeling at this time, "Wait, what, this voice... seems to be calling my name?"

"Call your name? Why can't I hear it?"

"You're not calling me by my real name. You're calling me Mistress. Listen carefully."

The fat man listened and shook his head, unable to tell. I listened more carefully, but couldn't hear clearly. But the sound was indeed something like that, like a ghost. "You are indeed calling my name. Even if you are not, it still seems like you are calling my name." I said firmly.

Pan Zi nodded: "Yes, how many women do you think know your name here? I think this is really haunted. That woman Aning may feel that she died unjustly, and she doesn't want to die here alone and wants to be buried with us." "

I shook my head, and then I thought of another possibility: "God, is it possible that she is still alive?"

"How is it possible to be alive? Boss, you didn't see that she was dead when you carried her to the mouth of the canyon." Fatty said.

When I thought about it, my heart became cold again. Indeed, Aning's death was very certain, and there was no possibility of any detours. It was inspected very carefully.

Pan Zi said: "I think this dead woman wants to lure us there. We must not be fooled. You follow me and we will find a way to go there. The situation there is unknown. There may be many poisonous snakes. Moreover, the situation is weird and abnormal. There is no way to get rid of it. good."

I looked at the fat man and asked his opinion.

On the one hand, there are undecided factors, on the other hand, life and death, high and low, the fat man also muttered. After thinking about it, he had to restrain his curiosity, paused, and said: "You fat man, I am not going back on my word, but Da Pan is right, we can do it." There are too few guys here, so I’d better take it easy this time. When fighting ghosts, it depends on who the ghost is. If it’s really Aning, I won’t be able to do it!”

I was relieved. I didn't want to see any female ghosts in the first place, and I didn't know what the fat man was thinking. It would be better if there was nothing. If there was something, how could we get away? Thinking of answering immediately.

The three people turned around and ignored the weird sound. Pan Zi set a direction, and we cautiously continued on our way, trying to go around the place where the sound came from. You can also come closer and listen to what is going on. If it's really Uncle San's person who is talking, then we have enough distance to remedy the situation.

We covered the lamp head with a cloth and did not dare to turn on the miner's lamp too brightly. We relied on the dim light to walk through the gaps in the trees with difficulty.

We said we were going around the tree, but in fact it was not that far away. The weird sound kept lingering in our ears. We were holding our hands in sweat as we walked, not even daring to say a word.

As the distance got closer, we got closer and closer to the sound. The more I listened, the less it sounded like a voice. The sound was very crisp and kept repeating a rhythm, and I couldn't tell what was coming from it. However, the place where the sound was definitely coming was in a nearby direction. My psychology was hindering me, and I felt that it was full of ghosts in any direction I looked at.

As I walked, I paid attention to this sound. I was fascinated by it. As I listened, I felt like I had heard this sound somewhere before. It had some impression in my mind, and it was still fresh.

I immediately asked them to stop and listen for a while. Suddenly, I thought of what it was: "Oops, is this the walkie-talkie on Aning's body ringing?"

"Walkie-talkie?"

I know that Aning's standard equipment includes a walkie-talkie, but I didn't see her take it out of her pocket. This walkie-talkie is waterproof, fireproof, and drop-proof. Unless you're serious about dealing with it, it doesn't break easily and can be used for three weeks without recharging. Aning was probably left on. "Cover the microphone mouth of the walkie-talkie with a wet cloth. If there is static noise, will it sound similar to this sound to you?"

The fat man had no experience, but Pan Zi obviously knew it, so he nodded sharply: "The mistress is right, they are really alike."

"Then who is calling her now?" the fat man asked. "Radio signals in the jungle are weak. They can't travel very far."

"But she is in the canopy. If the other party is also in the canopy, or in the outer reaches of the canyon, then the signal is likely to be received. And the sound you hear is intermittent. It means that the walkie-talkie is on the automatic search frequency function. On the machine, it cycles through sounds in all frequencies. Obviously there is a radio frequency here that is being used. Pan Zi, did my third uncle bring something like a walkie-talkie this time?" Because he was deeply impressed by walkie-talkies in the Devil's City. So I know these functions by heart.

"Third Master will never use this kind of thing, because there will never be a situation where several groups disperse when going to the sand. Usually there is only one. It's good to go down. Damn it, but there is a radio in the car. Is it in the Gobi? Are the people with the caboose on board using this frequency to talk? I..." Pan Zi suddenly thought of something, "I understand, they also saw the red smoke. Maybe the third uncle has some agreement with them. They are making arrangements. ."

I said: "We have to get that walkie-talkie so that we can talk to the people in the Gobi. We can know their travel plan and why Uncle San entered the center of the swamp before us. And when we left, We can also ask them to provide support, maybe we can go up directly from the cliff."

The fat man became excited. It seemed that he was really tired of walking in the woods. He said: "Then what are you waiting for? Since his mother is not a ghost, we don't have to be polite."

Pan Zi shook his head and said: "You have to think carefully about this matter. There are no ghosts and snakes. There are branches all around. If a snake suddenly comes out of the darkness and bites you, then you will really become a ghost."

This snake actually gave me a headache worse than a ghost. The fat man was so anxious that he wished he had a flamethrower: "It would be great if I brought snake medicine. It seems I will really bring enough for everything in the future. Who knew that the ancient city in the Gobi was like this?" Looks like that.”

"Is this kind of snake afraid of snake medicine? I'm very doubtful." Pan Zi said, "In my opinion, these things may not be snakes at all."

"What's it if it's not a snake? An eel?"

"We say over there that things can become charms if they live for a long time. These may be snake charms that confuse people's hearts. This ancient city was built with these things." Pan Zidao said, "Specially designed to lure people in and eat them. This is a trap if it is not kept intact. , let’s not go there.”

The fat man patted him and said: "You have read too many books on feudal superstition and have been poisoned too much. A snake is a snake. Even if it has a high IQ, it is just a snake. It is just an animal after all." We are the spirits of all things, why are we afraid of these helpless people?" At this point, he rolled his eyes and thought about it, and said, "Hey, what do you think of this? Animals are afraid of fire. I took off all my clothes. I used your clothes to cover all parts of my body. After I got wet, I poured some soju on it. I lit it up and rushed over. These snakes would definitely not dare to bite a Pyroman. I took the walkie-talkie. , and then come back and jump into the swamp, it won’t take more than two minutes.”

"Then what? Are we going to run around naked here with a walkie-talkie?" I said angrily, "Can you use your brain? And this is too difficult to control. The alcohol we use is extremely pure. If you are burned to death, What should I do? We still need you to transport equipment."

"How can it be so easy to be burned to death?" said the fat man. Pan Zi then continued: "We are wearing waterproof and breathable fiber clothes. They will dry out as soon as they are baked. You can burn yourself into a fire without pouring alcohol on them. This will definitely not work."

The fat man cursed and suddenly thought of something: "Hey, maybe we just set a fire under the tree, pile wet wood on it, burn the smoke, and smoke out all the snakes."

As soon as I heard that this method was feasible, I couldn't confront this kind of thing head-on. I had to adopt this method. In the past, smoke was often used to kill mice in the countryside.

So he nodded in agreement and immediately started to collect wet firewood. The fat man asked Pan Zi to help, but Pan Zi grabbed us again and refused to let me move. His face was very ugly, and he felt a little guilty.

I looked at Pan Zi's face and thought of his expression on the tree. I suddenly realized something and asked, "Pan Zi, did you see something just now?"

Pan Zi nodded, hesitating for a moment, paused and said: "I didn't want to say it at first, for fear of scaring you, but I'd better say it now. There is definitely something wrong with that body, and we can't get past it even if we kill it."

"No wonder I feel like you're so fucking timid." Fatty said, "What on earth did you see?"

"I saw it, damn I don't know what to say-just now, I saw it in the tree, I saw-"

Pan Zi's speaking skills are very poor. What he can say in dialect is difficult to express in Mandarin. He spoke for a long time and didn't know how to describe it. "Did you see Aning peeking out from the canopy of the tree like a snake and looking at us?" the fat man said suddenly.

Pan Zi nodded quickly: "Yes, that's it, huh? How do you know?"

The fat man pointed behind us with a livid face. I saw something was wrong with the fat man's expression, and suddenly my scalp went numb, and I immediately turned around with Pan Zi.

Suddenly we saw a shadow that looked like both a snake and a human standing behind the bushes in the shadow of the tree next to us. It squatted there quietly, only five or six meters away from us, and the slight sound of the walkie-talkie was coming from this thing.