Folk custom: At the beginning of the wedding, the bride takes off her painted skin

The ground is still full of gravel, with water dripping between the gravel, and no weeds growing.

In this empty corridor, only the flames on the torch held by Tan Xiao were beating, and they made a "crackling" sound from time to time.

He had already put away the thrown hemp rope and straddled it diagonally across his body.

As for Shi Ji's severed hand, he didn't pick it up and just left it on the ground of the shaft.

I don't know if Shi Ji is dead, but he can remove one of his arms so easily without making any sound from him.

With such a being, it is not difficult to kill him.

Therefore, no one is immune to death.

Undead ghosts can be immortal, but they can also be imprisoned forever. The Evil Suppression Tower... has this ability.

Tanxiao drew a few more runes on himself, and then he felt more at ease when he left.

If it was really an ordinary ancient tomb, that would be fine with him.

But after knowing that Lou Guguo came from the middle-nine-level world, he became much more cautious.

After all, I came from the previous world, and my methods are beyond comparison with this world.

He was walking through the corridor with a torch, but not long after walking, he suddenly stopped talking and laughing, and then stepped back one after another. Suddenly, a snake cub fell down where he had just stood.

The whole body was covered with spots, about the thickness of a finger. After landing on the ground, it quickly slipped out of the cracks in the rocks.

Tanxiao looked up.

I don't know where to start, but there are already tiny snake cubs crawling on the corridor.

They climb in the gaps between stones, and some are wrapped around stone pillars.

As the torch in Tanxiao's hand burned, several more fell down one after another and crawled away on the ground.

Tan Dao's face didn't change, he just reached into his bag and touched a handful of realgar powder, patted it on his shoulders, and finally sprinkled some on the top of his head.

People have three fires, and realgar powder is ignited on the three fires.

Naturally, these snakes did not dare to approach. In fact, this was indeed the case. After slapping realgar powder on their bodies, they started talking and laughing again. Wherever they passed, the small snakes above their heads disappeared into the crevices of the rocks, without daring at all. near.

They passed through this corridor without any danger, and came to an empty stone hall while chatting and laughing.

At this point, the ground was no longer gravel, but flat stone bricks, which meant that he had finally arrived inside the tomb.

The stone hall is spacious, with a stone door on the opposite side and on the left side.

The message delivered by the magic puppet that Tanxiao was tracking earlier ended here.

This means that at this point, Taoist Tan is not sure which way to go is the most correct.

He held the torch high and looked towards the top of the stone hall, but as soon as he raised his head, he was startled.

Because there was a corpse hanging above the stone hall.

To be precise, it was a mummy. There was no moisture on the body, but the body was not decomposed, and its hanging posture was also very abnormal.

The corpse was bound by its feet, which were tied with a hemp rope.

This is a [Hanged Man].

Tanxiao looked at it for a few times and didn't care anymore, because the corpse was normal... at least it looked like that, nothing weird appeared.

In this case, he didn't cause too many troubles.

For the current plan, it is better to find the main tomb chamber of this tomb as soon as possible and see what clues about the Loulan Kingdom are left here.

Of course, another main reason is that he is the only one left now.

If something happens, he won't be able to handle it alone. After all, Taoist priest Tan is not good at fighting.

He didn't worry too much about which of the two doors he should go to. Anyway, to him, they were all the same.

He went straight to the door of Shimen on the opposite side, and he had just arrived.

Taoist priest Tan frowned because he smelled a smell, an extremely pungent fishy smell, which was a bit familiar.

He looked up again and looked at the frame of the stone door.

It's very smooth, as if something has been polished here frequently.

It's a snake!

This is a snake path!
As the saying goes, snakes have their own ways, and rats have their own ways.

And this is a snake passage. The fishy smell that I smell is the same smell that I smelled in the water passage when I first entered the tomb.

So the conversation and laughter immediately came back to mind.

Just think of this stone door as a snake passage... how big must it be?
He is not afraid of ghosts when talking and laughing, but he is afraid of these real things, because this is something he cannot solve with the Taoist skills he currently knows.

He stretched out his hand to indicate the height and width of the stone door, and then stepped forward to pass through the stone door. Just when he wanted to take a look, he discovered that there was a fallen snake scale behind the stone door.

It was gray and hemp-colored. When he picked it up, it was about the size of his palm, and he thought of the size of this stone gate.

Hmm... I estimated my size to be the size of a bite from that snake.

After thinking of this, Tanxiao put away the snake scales and carried this thing with him. In critical moments, this thing can also be used to save his life.

Others may not be able to do it, but a good talker can.

Not far into the cave, there were forks again. Judging from the traces on the cave passage, it can be seen that one is a snake passage, while the other has no traces. The cave walls are also covered with moss.

Tanxiao chose the one that was not the snake path. He was worried that if he continued along that path, he would happen to encounter the tomb-guarding snake.

That's it.

After walking about ten meters, a ray of light suddenly appeared in front of him.

Light blue, a little far apart.

Is this... a will-o'-the-wisp?
Seeing this thing, Tanxiao immediately let out a sigh of relief. At least it was a familiar thing.

He held up the torch and hurriedly followed, but the faster he walked, the faster the will-o'-the-wisps floated.

Always in a position where you can see it but cannot catch up.

No...the chatting and laughing slowly slowed down, and then the will-o'-the-wisps in front also slowed down a bit.

But still in front of him.

After the conversation and laughter stopped, he took out a palm-sized porcelain bottle from the pocket on his back. He squatted down slightly and sprinkled it around him.

What was poured out of this porcelain bottle was extremely black blood.

Rooster blood, or rooster comb blood.

The most yang and the most strong thing, as the blood was shed, the situation in Tanxiao's eyes gradually changed.

It's like the world is spinning.

When he saw clearly again, there was no longer a tomb passage in front of him, nor any will-o'-the-wisps.

He was still in the spacious stone hall he had just entered, and he still kept his head raised, but what he saw was no longer the mummy before.

But a snake, a huge snake!
The snake had a ferocious head, a wide grin, and a huge body. It just snaked down from the top of the stone hall and pointed the snake's head at Tanxiao.

He subconsciously took a step back, and then he saw clearly that the snake was not real, but a stone sculpture.

Just like the gargoyles encountered outside the ancient tombs.

But despite this, what still makes Tan Xiao feel his heart tremble is the appearance of this giant snake.

This snake has one eye, only one vertical eye!
Other snakes have two eyes on the left and right, but this snake has only one vertical eye.

Tanxiao immediately remembered what was going on with this snake.

When he was still in the middle-nine-level world, he had read the description of Lou Gu Kingdom. What was described in the book at that time was...

The totem worshiped by the Lougu Kingdom is a snake with erect eyes.

The name is: Zhu Jiuyin.

"The face of a human is like that of a snake, and the body is red. With straight eyes, it is dark. His eyesight is bright. If he does not eat, sleep, or rest, the wind and rain will be his farewell. This is called the nine yin candles."

This is recorded in historical materials, but the book describes Zhu Jiuyin as having a human face and a snake body.

But here there is no human face, the same vertical eyes are still there.

The reason why I fell into an illusion just now was because I looked at the snake eagle's vertical eyes, so just a vertical eye has such an effect?
Tanxiao didn't raise his head again, but he could feel the vertical eyes still staring at him.

He felt like his soul was on pins and needles.

Just when he was about to pass through here quickly, he heard a "rustling" sound.

As if his scales were rubbing against the stone wall, he subconsciously looked up at the stone door on the opposite side without any hesitation. He immediately chose to retreat and retreated back into the stone path from whence he came.

He threw the torch far away, let it burn, and sprinkled some realgar powder on himself, and then he dared to stick his head out a little and look at what was going on on the other side.

Soon, as the sound became louder and louder, with a faint light, he gradually saw the situation on the other side clearly.

A head the size of a millstone squeezed out from the stone door on the opposite side, followed by a snake body. To say the thickness of a bucket, the bucket was overestimated.

There was a sarcoma on the snake's head, as if it was about to grow legs.

Seeing this situation, Tanxiao couldn't help but want to curse.

If this is really a dream controlled by this weapon spirit, in this world of mortals, if you create such a thing, don't you mean to kill everyone!
Even if this thing is placed outside, it will quickly turn into a dragon.

Now put it here.

Tanxiao had no choice but to wait silently. He had thrown so much realgar powder at him now. If the giant snake still dared to charge at him, it was basically certain that the weapon spirit was up to something.

If that were the case, Tanxiao would immediately choose to use Broken Tower's heart to leave this hellish place.

He had no idea of ​​burying himself here. But fortunately, the giant snake seemed to be passing by and did not stay here. After passing through the empty stone hall, it disappeared into the stone door on the left.

Tanxiao waited for a while to make sure there was no other movement, then picked up the torch and went to the stone gate on the opposite side.

After entering, he went to look behind the stone door.

It's a pity that I didn't see the snake scales this time. It was indeed an illusion.

Otherwise, with the snake scales in hand, you can control the giant snake with a little bit of skill.

After all, to snakes, this thing is just like a person's birth date and hair. Once it is in the hands of a knowledgeable person, it is like being held in their fate. (So ​​I would like to advise all readers, really don’t tell others your birth date and horoscope casually)

Holding the torch, the Taoist priest continued to go deeper. As the fire flickered, he disappeared into the depths of the tomb passage.

……

"You didn't let Mr. Qi come down with us, why did you let him come here together?"

"Is it just because we want him to lead the way?" Zhou Yaya grabbed the hemp rope, swung in from outside the cave, and landed firmly next to Li Daoxuan.

"Yes, otherwise why are you trying to get him? Are you trying to get him old?"

Li Daoxuan said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Zhou Yaya, who was wearing tight-fitting clothes, gave him a thumbs up, "As expected of you."

Admittedly, Li Daoxuan admitted that Mr. Qi led the way the last time he went to the tomb, and he did intend to learn from him.

But in fact?
Don't you scold the tomb owner when you enter the tomb?
What kind of rules are these? How can I not criticize them?
Since you can't scold him, just come back to life. Li Daoxuan stabbed him with a few knives, and maybe he could make some copper coins.

Also, at that time, when we had to cross a bridge inside the tomb, Mr. Qi actually burned incense and paper.

Where is Li Daoxuan?

He hugged Zhou Yaya with one hand and passed by in a single jump.

The result was uneventful and nothing dangerous happened.

Therefore, there are not so many rules for going down to the tomb. As long as you are strong enough, you can start from going down to the tomb and cut all the way to the main tomb chamber.

If you're lucky, you can pick up the owner of the tomb and chop it down again.

After clarifying this point, Li Daoxuan let go.

Returning to that no-taboos attitude again, going to the grave?

Just cut it and that's it.

"Walk."

Li Daoxuan pulled the hemp rope and signaled Mr. Qi to wait above, and he led Zhou Yaya into the cave.

"Someone should have lived here before."

After walking a few steps, Zhou Yaya looked at the traces on the ground and said, "That should be a pool for water storage, and that is a small stove built up."

"What you are stepping on is a pile of broken bones, still human."

Li Daoxuan came first and had already found out the surrounding situation clearly.

"what?"

Zhou Yaya quickly moved forward to avoid it, and when she looked back, she found that the place where she had just stepped was a pile of bones, including a skull.

"What the hell is this place? How come there are people living here?"

"Maybe it's a bandit, maybe it's a former refugee, maybe it's even our seniors, it's all possible, who knows."

"Let's go."

Li Daoxuan strode forward, while Zhou Yaya lit the torch with a flint and trotted after him.

Going further, you can still see burnt charcoal under the rocks next to it.

Li Daoxuan picked it up with a knife and looked at it, "It's still good quality green charcoal. I don't know what these people are doing here."

The knife in his hand has a long and narrow blade, and the handle is large enough to be held with both hands.

It was very similar to Li Daoxuan's Tang Dao in his previous life, and this was also the reason why he chose this sword.

The further you go in, the narrower the cave becomes.

In some places you even have to bend down to get through.

"Is this really the passage into the tomb? Why does it look so wrong?" Zhou Yaya asked doubtfully.

"Yes, the ones you see are all blocked intentionally."

As if to match what Li Daoxuan said, the two took a few steps forward and turned a corner.

Then I realized... there was no way.

The road in front of me was blocked by several huge rocks, and there was no place to go.

Li Daoxuan stepped forward and pushed tentatively, but the boulder did not move at all.

"This is the sealing stone."

"Sealing Stone? What is a Sealing Stone?" Zhou Yaya had never experienced this, so naturally she didn't know.

"Generally, there will be a sealing stone inside a large tomb." Li Daoxuan explained: "After the construction of the large tomb is completed, after sending the deceased in, a way out must be left. After everyone has exited, the sealing stone will be put down and the The tomb is completely blocked.”

"This is the door-sealing stone? What should we do?" Zhou Yaya had already begun to think about countermeasures.

Li Dao

"But I don't believe this."

As Li Daoxuan spoke, his eyes moved around these boulders, and finally he spotted a piece on the upper right that was slightly protruding, as if it was forcibly stuffed inside.

He jumped up, held his hands and started to exert force.

As he exerted his strength, the clothes on his body suddenly bulged up, and his whole body seemed to turn into a humanoid beast.

"Since there is no way ahead, then rely on your own fists to find a way!"

Li Daoxuan gritted his teeth and spoke word by word. As he exerted more force, the stone he pushed finally began to move slowly.

With a "boom" sound, the stone fell back, revealing a dark hole.

With the gap, other boulders began to loosen.

Li Daoxuan pushed again, the sealing stone collapsed, and a hole appeared in front of Zhou Yaya.

"Let's go."

He shrugged and reached out to Zhou Yaya.

The latter naturally stretched out his hand, but Li Daoxuan slapped her little hand away, "I mean, give me the knife."

Zhou Yaya: "..."

After passing through the blocked hole, the ground is no longer gravel, but hard and flat hard rock ground.

"Have you noticed that the door-sealing stones just now were blocked from the inside?"

"What? Blocked from the inside?"

"Then how did they get out? Did they die here? Or is there another exit?"

"I don't know."

Li Daoxuan was holding the knife, and through the light from Zhou Yaya's torch, he could see clearly that the corridor in front of him was going straight down.

There was a stone staircase going down ahead.

When he first stepped on the stone steps, he seemed to see some black shadow flashing away and going deeper.

There was also the sound of collision with the stone steps.

He didn't say hello to Zhou Yaya, and he didn't show any caution. He just rushed up, jumped up, stepped on the stone steps twice, and arrived at the place where the black shadow was entrenched just now.

He looked at the traces of moisture left on the ground and sniffed with his nose, capturing the remaining scent in the air.

Zhou Yaya also walked down from the top quickly. As soon as she got here, she frowned and said, "Snake!"

"That was a big snake here just now."

She said looking at the marks under her feet.

"indeed."

Li Daoxuan was still wondering what the smell was at first, but as soon as Zhou Yaya woke up, he knew that it was indeed a snake.

"Generally, there are big pythons in big tombs. This is a good place to live. There are no natural enemies and there is food."

"It's just that this python... seems to react a little too quickly."

Li Daoxuan always felt that something was not quite right.

"Let's go down and have a look."

The two of them walked down for more than 20 meters when Li Daoxuan heard something strange.

"The sound of water."

"There's an underground river down there!"

The two of them quickened their pace. The further they went down, the more obvious the sound of water became. When they walked out from the end of the stone steps, they saw an extremely wide underground river in front of them.

Just when he arrived, Li Daoxuan saw a huge and ferocious snake head disappearing into the water from the water and disappearing. (End of chapter)