spring flowers

Chapter 11
Meilin felt very fortunate that her wounds had gradually healed in the past few days, otherwise it would be fatal to drag Murong Jing and her husband along, let alone bring other things with her.

Well, even if the wound is completely healed, dragging Murong Jinghe along is still a hard job.

"What on earth is such a road used for?" Mei Lin lay down, looking at the torches that she had inserted into the cracks in the passage wall in the distance, feeling as if she would never be able to reach them.

She originally wanted to make the bamboo cart narrower, but whoever wanted to use a knife accidentally cut the rattan rope into several pieces, causing the entire cart to fall apart and could no longer be used.So the current situation is that she first takes the torch and other things to the front, drives away the spider web insects and ants in Yanlu, and then turns back to move Murong Jinghe, and so on.

Damage to Murong Jinghe's meridians will not cause his body to lose weight, so with his slender body and tight muscles, he is really sinking to the extreme.Standing is okay, but crawling is not easy to do either on the back or in the arms.Meilin was grinding forward bit by bit, not only was she extremely tired, but Murong Jing and He were also feeling uncomfortable, but neither of them complained.

Hearing her talking to herself that she didn't really want an answer, Murong Jinghe, who was lying on her back, couldn't help but look forward.In the depths of the fire, the darkness continued, as if it would never end.The low space and endless darkness make people feel strongly depressed.If it wasn't for him and her, or if there was only one of them left, in such a place, I'm afraid it wouldn't be long before they would go crazy.

An indescribable feeling came to his mind, he suddenly lowered his head, rubbed against Meilin's ear, kissed her face, and then just stood next to her without moving.

Mei Lin was stunned for a moment, her face flushed red.Gritting her teeth, she stood up and continued to climb forward.Maybe it was too hard, maybe it was the sudden intimacy, her heart beat fast.

Murong Jinghe didn't tease her red ears, nor did she angrily scold him for being frivolous.In such a place, in this small space with no end in sight either in front or behind, they felt for the first time a sense of interdependence.Except for each other, there is no one else.Those so-called grievances and hatreds, those people and things that were once the most important in their hearts were separated by this passage, as far away as if they belonged to another world.

I don’t know if it’s because there’s an ambiguous or warm atmosphere between the two of them. The road ahead seems to be less unbearable. The occasional conversations while panting become Meilin’s smile after many years. Thinking about memories.

"That... God of War is the King of Tibet you once said?" She asked, her voice echoing in the passage, so her voice became softer as she went to the back.

"Hmm." Murong Jing replied softly, seeing Youhan sliding over the mole on her eyebrow, he couldn't help but stick out his tongue to lick it, just like he had longed for.

Meilin blushed even more, she couldn't help but move away slightly, shyly said: "Don't move around, Shen." She shouldn't be shy, they have even done more intimate things, there is no reason why because of him such a small Embarrassed by his actions.

Her rapid heartbeat seemed to infect Murong Jinghe through their close chests and backs. He felt as if something was about to jump out of his chest, and he couldn't help but cling to her even more.At that time, he thought that if he could move, he would definitely hug her and give her all the tenderness he could give.But that's just a matter of that moment, and it's just a matter of that moment.After leaving that weird place, none of them mentioned the feeling at that time again, maybe they had forgotten it, maybe they just buried it deep in their hearts and didn't want to think about it.

"You are the prince, why do you kneel down and worship him?" Mei Lin shook her head, trying to divert her attention away from his warm breath.

Murong Jinghe was silent for a moment, did not answer this question directly, but only expressed his conjecture selectively.

When the Murong family overthrew the rule of the Hu people, this stone forest was not a burning place, maybe it was covered with lush vegetation like other places.The remnants of the Hu clan hid here, and the king of Tibet led people to encircle and suppress them, and successfully crossed the stone forest with some sacrifices, and wiped out the enemies.But after the mantis stalked the cicada and the oriole, before the King of Tibet came out of the stone forest, it is also possible that when the two sides were fighting, someone ignited a highly poisonous substance on the periphery of the stone forest, burning the entire stone forest into a charred field.King Zangzhong and his two subordinates jumped into the deep pit dug by the enemy to escape, but they could not be spared after all because the poisonous gas had already entered the body.

Murong Jinghe said that this was just his guess, but Mei Lin knew that it was probably close to ten.She thought that he even knew who the person who poisoned and burned the forest outside was or who instigated it, and who the thief the King of Tibet was referring to was, but he didn't say anything, he just didn't want to or couldn't, so she wouldn't ask .In fact, she didn't care.Whether it is the Murong clan, the Hu clan, or the king of Tibet, they are all too far away from her.

She likes to listen to him talk, he speaks slowly, and will pause for a while after speaking, as if he is considering what to say and what not to say.She had to admit that when he stopped talking sarcastically or speaking in a superior tone, it was really hard to hate.

She asked him what was wrong with his body, and he was unwilling to answer before, but now he actually said it honestly.Only then did she know that his meridians were split.Suddenly she couldn't answer any more conversations, she thought that the cracked meridians might be more difficult to heal than the poison in her body.She thought she might take care of him for the rest of her life.If that's the case, it doesn't matter, but I don't know if my body can last that long.If he can't make it through, what will he do?She began to worry.

"What's your name?" Murong Jinghe suddenly wanted to know the name of this woman who had been with him through thick and thin for a long time, who had a strong mouth, but never really left him behind no matter how difficult it was.Maybe someone had mentioned it in his ear before, but he never paid attention to it.

Meilin frowned, a little concerned that he still couldn't remember his name after being together for so long, but soon smiled again.

"Mei Lin." For those who don't care about her, what does it matter if they know her name?She would rather formally introduce herself to him at such a time, "But I don't like Meilin, I like spring flowers, the spring flowers that bloom all over the mountains and fields in February." She said.

"Meilin...Chunhua..." Murong Jinghe said both names, then called Chunhua several times with a smile, and then gnawed on Meilin's ear.

He gnawed until the eyebrows were itchy and crispy, he couldn't help laughing, his whole body became weak from laughing, and he fell to the ground with a "plop".

Walking and resting for a while, and occasionally saying a few irrelevant words, the passage that I thought would never end ended in a single crawl in Meilin.It was so sudden that she couldn't even recover for a moment.

She knelt and crawled there, staring blankly at the pitch-black space outside the corridor. Even if she took out the torch, she still couldn't see anything except a stone staircase leading down in front of her.

Still going down... She didn't dare to think about what the next step would be.

After inspecting the surroundings, he finally inserted the torch into the rock crevice at the entrance of the cave, and then turned around.However, halfway through the climb, the dim light of the fire suddenly went out, and the surroundings were instantly plunged into chaotic darkness.

Meilin froze for a moment, but she didn't go back and light the torch again, but continued to crawl towards Murong Jinghe's direction.When she touched that warm body, her slightly tense heart relaxed.

"Why did the torch go out?" Murong Jinghe asked when he felt her groping hand as he was sitting against the stone wall.At the moment when the fire light completely disappeared, inexplicable uneasiness instantly enveloped him.Knowing that she would not leave him alone and leave alone, but the boundless darkness couldn't help him not to think about it.

Perhaps it was because the darkness prolongs all the feelings, Mei Lin felt that this time he was more tired than any previous turning around, and after hearing his questioning voice, he felt relieved, so he was not in a hurry to leave, and just sat on the nearby stone wall to rest.

"Maybe it was blown out by the wind." She let out a breath, feeling her eyelids want to fight.

"It's the exit?" Murong Jinghe thought about the situation before hearing what she said.After all, the front and back of this tunnel are not connected, so how could there be wind?

"Hmm... it might be very big outside... I can't see... what kind of place it is... there is only one... ladder..." About to relax, Mei Lin felt more and more sleepy, and while he was confused, he continued Tell the situation clearly.

Sensing her tiredness, Murong Jing tilted her head, but because they were separated by shoulders, they couldn't touch her head, so they could only use the hand hanging by her side to grab her skirt that had been cut up and down. .

"Hey, don't sleep." If she fell asleep, he would feel that he was the only one left, and it would be extremely difficult in such darkness.

Meilin frowned, her body slid slightly, she leaned her head on his shoulder, and muttered indistinctly: "Let me... squint for a while... just for a while..."

Murong Jinghe hesitated for a moment, then tugged at the hem of her skirt, and said unwillingly: "Then...then you hug me." Only in this way can the panic swallowed by the darkness be driven away.When he felt her coming back before, he had this urge, but he couldn't bear to say it.

Mei Lin was very sleepy, and became impatient when she heard this, she decisively stretched out her arms to wrap his arms around his waist, almost slipped her body into his arms, and started snoring after a while.

Feeling her weight and body temperature, Murong Jinghe's heart immediately felt at ease, and he also felt drowsy, and fell into a rare slumber.

No one knows how long she slept this time, but Mei Lin woke up first and found herself on top of Murong Jing and the two of them slipped and fell to the ground at some point, so he didn't wake her up, it's really strange.

As soon as she moved, Murong Jinghe woke up, and he heard him ask in a daze: "What time is it..."

After the question, the person also woke up, looking at the darkness in front of his eyes, he felt a moment of confusion in his heart.

Mei Lin helped him to sit up, took out the torch and ignited it, looked at each other in the light of the flickering fire, waited for the beam of light to penetrate into people's hearts like vitality, and then extinguished it again.

"Maybe the sun is just right outside." She said, then put Murong Jinghe on her back and began to crawl towards the exit.The knees and elbows had already been worn out and scabbed with blood, and now they rubbed against each other until they immediately bled again, which was excruciatingly painful.She suddenly regretted stopping to rest. If she had crawled out when she was numb from the pain, she would not have suffered more.And the most troublesome thing is the lingering darkness.

Not to mention her, even Murong Jinghe, who was carried on her back all the time, had already worn off a layer of skin because his legs had been dragging on the ground, but he was already suffering from the pain of splitting his meridians, and he couldn't help it for a while. I never stopped, but I didn't take this little pain to heart.

After a lot of tossing, finally came to the entrance of the passage, Mei Lin lit the torch again.

The darkness was so thick that it was about to drown people, and seeing the light again, although it was only a shadowy mass, the two still had a feeling of being saved.

Meilin took out a bamboo tube from the bundle made of outer shirts, and the two drank water separately before sharing the roasted wild potatoes and yams.I can't tell the time, I can only rest when I am extremely tired, and eat when I am extremely hungry.

Murong Jinghe leaned against one side of the mountain wall, while swallowing hard the silty tubers that seemed a little choked by the cold, while staring at the unclear stone steps in front of him.The stone steps seem to be carved out of the mountain wall, narrow and steep, but after two or three steps, they are hidden in the darkness.What is below, and what is on the sides, is unpredictable.

What the hell kind of place is this?For the first time, he began to wonder.

If it was the place where the Hu people hid in the past, in the era of war and chaos, it was too late for them to escape, so where did they have the time to pave such an impractical passage with bricks?In other words, this was done in the prosperous times of the previous dynasty?It's just that this passage is blocked at one end, and it can neither be used to escape, nor can it be used to investigate the enemy's situation. It is really not practical...

Seeing him frowning, Meilin thought he was choking, and hurriedly handed him water.He didn't refuse, so he took two sips and said, "Light another torch, go down and have a look, don't go too far." After a pause, he reminded, "Be careful."

Mei Lin also had the same intention, if he didn't investigate the surrounding situation clearly, he would really have no idea.

She left a torch for Murong Jinghe, and she took the other.I looked at the two sides first, and found that the stone steps were only a little wider than the passage, and there were steep mountain walls on both sides, and the top and bottom were so dark that I couldn't see what was going on.Stretching his legs that were a little stiff from crawling, he walked down slowly.

Unexpectedly, it didn't take long to reach the bottom. Stepping on the flat ground, she raised her head to look at Murong Jinghe, and said with a smile, "How tall am I? It's a false alarm."

There are about eight steps, and because they are relatively steep, they seem a bit high.

Murong Jinghe sat at the entrance of the passage, looking down at her smiling face under the light of the torch, as if seeing a winter jasmine flower suddenly blooming in the cold spring night, her heart shuddered slightly, and the corners of her lips raised involuntarily.

Seeing such a pure smile from him for the first time, Mei Lin was stunned, feeling as if something warm and soft was slowly covering her heart, which had never been too warm.

Murong Jinghe looked at Meilin walking forward holding the torch. Wherever he passed, he could see the smooth road paved with blue bricks and stone beasts with bird heads and leopard bodies squatting on both sides of the road. Beyond the beast is an impenetrable darkness.That road stretches forward, and it seems to extend to the end of the universe.

He felt a little uneasy.Then, Meilin stopped, and in front of her were two white square stones, as tall as a person, standing there like a door.Between the square stones is a stone ladder going up.Not green bricks, but white stones, glowing faintly under the flames.

Mei Lin stood there for a while, but instead of moving forward, he put the torch in the mouth of a stone beast, and then fell back.

Murong Jinghe breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's full of stones, like... like the stone forest outside, I dare not go in." Mei Lin who came back said while packing her things.

Murong Jinghe's heart moved, but he couldn't move, otherwise, with his heart, he might have to study this place thoroughly.

Although the stone ladder was not high, it was too steep, and Murong Jinghe's legs were too long, so Mei Lin took great effort to get him safely onto the flat ground. Once they touched the ground, the two collapsed into a pile. I broke out in a cold sweat.

"It seems to be a tomb." Murong Jing and his head were resting on Meilin's soft belly, and he looked up at the dark sky with half-closed eyes, and said slowly.His expression slowly became serious because of this guess.

Not to mention which dynasty the tomb belonged to, just looking at the ostentation, one would know that there must be many traps inside and extremely dangerous.The reason why they arrived here safely was probably due to a bit of luck.

Meilin thought for a while, moved him to the ground with both hands, got up and went back to the upper passageway, picked up the burden and the torch stuck on it and walked down, and then did something that surprised Murong Jinghe.She threw the torch vigorously into the air, watched the torch twirling in the air, and fell out of the stone path, and hurriedly leaned forward to look down.

In fact, she just wanted to see what was in the sky and what was on the bottom of her feet, just like Murong Jing and her unspoken thoughts.Murong Jinghe felt that her actions were too reckless, but it was too late to stop her.Then there was a "boom", a column of flames shot up into the sky, and then spread to both sides like sea water at high tide.Even though Meilin dodged quickly, a little forehead hair and eyebrows were still burnt.

She stepped back to Murong Jinghe's side, looking at the sea of ​​flames in front of her in shock, looking a little at a loss.

The flames shone brightly, illuminating the entire space they were in, but also brought a scorching heat.

Murong Jing and Ben Ben were also taken aback, but were immediately amused by her reaction and couldn't help laughing.He squinted his eyes while laughing, and only after his eyes got used to the sudden bright light did he start to slowly look at everything around him.

This is a huge cave, and judging from the stalactites hanging overhead, it is obviously naturally generated.But that's limited to the top of the head.Because he was lying down, he couldn't see what it looked like except the top of his head and the two ends of the passage.

One end of the passage is connected to the low passage they came from, and the other end is the place where the torches are placed in Meilin.He had only vaguely seen two white stones and a stone step there before, but only now did he realize that there were not only two white stones, but also densely packed stones, really like the stone forest above his head.The only difference is that the stones here are only as tall as a person, and as thick as a person's arms, it's like shrinking the giant stone forest and placing it here.

Is it really man-made?His doubts were getting deeper and deeper. He didn't understand who wanted to build such a huge project here. It was many times more grand and complicated than the tombs of the emperors of the Murong family. But there was no dragon and phoenix totem, so it was obviously not the tomb of an emperor.And if it is not an emperor, how can such a mausoleum be built?
Just when he was thinking, Mei Lin had come to his senses, picked up his upper body and wanted to drag him to the corridor above.

"Go to the middle." He hurriedly said, his gaze fell to the other end of the stone path.Under the light of the fire, the snow-white stone forest was like Iceland in the sea of ​​fire, cold and solemn, unaffected in the slightest, but reflecting the light of the fire, there was faintly rose-colored brilliance flowing, which was shockingly beautiful.

Although Meilin felt that it was like an isolated island, he was afraid that he would not be able to get off if he went up, but he never made a mistake along the way, so although he had doubts in his heart, he was forced by the scorching temperature to think too much, so he really went to the middle quickly .

Because the body was raised, Murong Jinghe could finally see the situation beyond the stone path where they were in the leisure time of being dragged.

There is a sea of ​​flames on both sides, and then there are two stone paths separated by a short distance. Only the stone carvings on them are different, but they are also strange beasts that have never been seen before.In addition to those two stone paths, there are two more stone paths separated by about the same distance. By analogy, it can be known that there is the same stone path on the other side of the middle stone forest.At the end of each stone path, there is a corridor, which may be tall or short, or separated by stone gates, or guarded by monster statues.

The scorching hot air rushes towards the face one after another, making even the inside of the throat seem to burn.Murong Jinghe withdrew his gaze, glanced at the bird-headed monster beside him, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Cough... stupid woman!" He sighed helplessly.

Meilin was dragging him to run in a hurry. Although walking was more appropriate, she was indeed running towards the small stone forest in the middle, but the object she was dragging was too heavy, which seriously affected her speed.Hearing his words, she was no longer unhappy, but asked strangely: "What's wrong with me?"

Murong Jinghe sighed again, and wanted to raise his hand, but he could only think about it, so he became even more depressed.

"The beast bodies on both sides are lamps. Why do you have to do the stupid thing of throwing the torch?" Although they could see it more clearly, it also cut off their escape route.

There is a slit in the body of the beast, and the wick can be seen. Looking at the fire, maybe the lamp oil supply is located below.

Mei Lin glanced hastily, and was a little speechless, she kept on stepping, her forehead and the tip of her nose were covered with sweat due to the high heat.

"Throw it all away, what's the use of talking now?" She was a little depressed, and only now did she realize that she would be reckless sometimes.

Murong Jing laughed with a "chi", shook his head, and was about to say something more when he paused and was put down.He took a closer look and found that he had already arrived at the place.

Surprisingly, within the two stone pillars, as if there was something separating them, the temperature was not as high as outside, but not as cold as in the previous corridor, which was just right and comfortable.

What a strange place!This idea popped up in the minds of both of them at the same time, both surprised and awed.

White air began to rise on the stone path, Mei Lin stretched out her hand to probe upwards, couldn't help but gasped, then quickly retracted it, hurriedly dragging Murong Jinghe up a few steps.

"It's too bad, we may not be able to get out until the fire is out..." She whispered, with a hint of guilt in her voice.

If they wanted to wait until such a big fire was extinguished, they would either be roasted to death or smothered to death.

Murong Jinghe was not as pessimistic as she was. He looked away from the blazing flames and said, "Help me up." The smell produced by the flames was not like tung oil or kerosene, so what could it be? Produce such a fierce flame?

While thinking, the man was helped up, Mei Lin stood in front of him, supporting him with his back.

Murong Jinghe is quite tall, and his chin is just right on Mei Lin's head. From this angle, he can take a full view of the surrounding situation.It was actually a bit wronged to put it on her shoulders before.

"Look at the passage on the left." He said to Mei Lin, but his eyes looked in other directions.

Mei Lin followed the directions, and felt goosebumps all over her body.I saw a dense mass of things being forced by the heat, or attracted by the fire, crawling out of the tall corridor, covering the stone path on the left, and many fell into the flames, making a buzzing sound of burning.She shivered, and quickly looked across the corridor where they came from, to make sure that nothing crawled out, and then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Murong Jinghe asked her to look to the right again.Nothing strange crawled out of the passage on the right, but flames and black sand spewed out, echoing the flames outside.

"It seems that our luck is not bad. We hit a dead end, but it's not a dead end." He smiled, turned his head to look at the rosy white stone forest behind him, and secretly judged whether the inside was as dangerous as those passages.

Of course, regardless of whether it is dangerous or not, they can only go forward and cannot retreat.So, without thinking about it, he said lightly, "Let's go."

Mei Lin cheered up a little, the torch was obviously no longer needed, so she was much more relaxed, and now she carried the burden on one shoulder and the weight of the man on the other, and began to climb up the stone steps passing through the stone forest.

To their surprise again, the small stone forest is not as invisible as the outside, but has a clear path through it.The two walked slowly along the road paved with white stones. Although they seemed to be going around east and west, they could still be sure that they were going up.

There were occasional side roads, but Murong Jinghe was able to hold on to the main road tightly. Several times when Mei Lin thought they were taking a detour, she would see the shortcut she thought they were going down to other places.So he couldn't help wiping off his sweat secretly, thankful that he believed what he said.

"This is just a simple puzzle, much simpler than the serial games outside." Murong Jing agreed, smiling, but his expression was not relaxed, "But there are eight gates outside the puzzle,' Xiu Sheng hurt Du , Jing Shi Jing Kai', these eight gates are lucky or not, and if you take a wrong step, you will never be able to recover. I really don't know whether the people who built this place wanted to prevent outsiders from breaking in, or to prevent people inside from going out."

Meilin couldn't understand what he was saying at all, but she was still aroused curiously.

"What door did we come from?"

The two had reached the top of the stone forest, and a huge coffin appeared in front of them. The coffin seemed to be carved from a whole piece of white jade, with exquisite totems carved on it, reflecting the firelight outside, and it was extremely gorgeous.

Murong Jing and his attention were attracted, and it took a while before he said lightly: "Du Men. It's a blockage. There is no way out. It's just a waste of effort, but it's not dangerous." Speaking of this, he seemed to think of something, and he couldn't help laughing He got up, "I think the person who built this place must have never thought that someone would dig a big hole just a stone away from Dumen, and this block would become open."

Meilin thought to himself, if it doesn't work, it's fine, maybe the two of them will find a way to crawl out of the big pit, and then leave safely from other places, so that they won't fall into this strange place, where life and death are unpredictable.But she didn't know that in a place like this, if it wasn't for Murong Jing and her presence, let alone fall into the big pit, she might have been trapped to death in the stone formation outside.As for this small and seemingly simple stone forest, it is not safe for ordinary people to pass through.

"That's the owner of this place." Murong Jinghe continued, "Let's go and see who it is, it's so powerful."

Mei Lin also noticed the gorgeous coffin, but she was not so curious. At this moment, what she cared most about was not the person who had been dead for so many years, but how to get out of this strange place.

Seeing that she was not moved, Murong Jinghe added: "Maybe there is a way to escape inside."

Therefore, Mei Lin took him quickly to the jade coffin without hesitation.

"Wait a minute." A layer of sweat broke out on Murong Jinghe's back, because of the reckless nature of this woman's decisiveness, although her recklessness is not common.But every time a crime is committed, it will cause extremely serious consequences.

Meilin retracted her protruding foot, and looked suspiciously at the man lying on her shoulder.

"Look at the ground." Murong Jing gestured.

At first glance, the ground is clearly paved with white stones, but if you look more carefully, you will find that some of the whiteness is shiny with jade, while others appear cold and dry.

Meilin saw it, but didn't understand the meaning, and asked a little blankly: "How do I get there?" She also knew that some traps were set up under the floor tiles, but she hadn't done any research on it. There is only a hard way.

Murong Jing smiled, "You are getting more and more stupid." He naturally remembered the methods she used to evade pursuit, which impressed him deeply, but since entering this stone forest, she has become less and less fond of using her brain.

Mei Lin sighed, wanted to explain, but paused again.It was really hard for her to admit it, it was because he knew too many things, so much that she didn't want to be ugly without self-knowledge in this completely unfamiliar field.She also had to admit that after walking this way, she had involuntarily formed a dependence on him, and only then could she reveal the recklessness that had been carefully suppressed.

"Tap lightly on the stone surface with the dagger." Seeing her helpless expression, Murong Jinghe was in a happy mood, and specifically told her, "Don't use too much force."

Meilin helped him to sit down, and then pointed the dagger handle at the stone surface according to the words. There was no response to the first and second pieces, but there was a slight floating feeling on the third piece. It's off.

However, there is a distance of nearly ten feet from here to the jade coffin. Could it be possible to go there one by one like this?What's more, even if she really did this, how would she take him there?
She was in trouble, but Murong Jinghe was still smiling, as if she hadn't realized that she might not be able to make it through.

Mei Lin saw it from the side, and his heart moved, and he immediately decided to leave the problem to him to solve.

(End of this chapter)