Tomb Raiders Codex

Chapter 290 Yellow Spring Tree

I threw the severed head aside, feeling disgusted in my heart, but I can't do it anymore, and said: "This place is too yin and evil, and corpses are the easiest to pick up. Let's be careful. Also, the dead are dead. Don’t mention these four words, have you forgotten what we do?” Tofu rubbed his nose awkwardly, and said Amitabha to Jie’an and his son’s headless corpse.

Everyone didn't want to stay here any longer, but everyone was injured, so they could only clean up the wounds on the spot.There is no water in this cave, after a lot of tossing, the clear water has been used for a long time, and my upper body was wrapped in bandages by the beautiful woman Gu, and I was almost wrapped up like a mummy.After everyone drank some water, they felt that the smell of blood in their mouths had subsided a lot. Then they turned on the lights and began to explore the environment of the cave.Looking at it, I found that the cave was rectangular and quite big. Above the cave was the blue floor tiles of Yashan Palace. Tofu said, "Could it be that the place below is the place where Master Wu Yan dug?"

Zhuan Rui said lukewarmly: "It's possible, look for it carefully, there must be clues around." We lit the lights all the way and walked forward along the trend of the cave. Obviously, about 200 meters away, the terrain gradually descends and becomes a little steeper.

Now Zhuan Rui is walking in the front, I used up too much physical strength before, and now I am too lazy to be the first bird, and Tofu and Gu Wenmin walked slowly behind.The terrain here is not very good, there are a lot of gravel under the feet, if you don't pay attention, you will slip and fall. As far as you can see, the terrain is gradually descending, and everyone seems to be walking into a bottomless ravine.

The blue bricks on top of our heads were gradually replaced by rocks. I understand that now we have really stepped out of the scope of the Yashan Palace. This cave was probably excavated by Master Wu Yan back then. The ghost tree, the road of the ancient country of Zimu.

While walking, Gu Wenmin said strangely: "Jie'an arranged the Jiuyin Soul Cultivation Bureau here, he must have visited this place, why didn't he try to find the seven lamps? The soul game is much simpler, right?"

Tofu speculated, "Perhaps he tried to search for it before, but failed? You think, even a group of people as awesome as Ghost King and the others never returned. The old man Jie'an is not stupid, so he must not have the guts."

It is useless to think too much at the moment, I did not join the topic of the two, but carefully observed everything around me, trying to find clues about Grandpa and his party, at this moment, the three of Zhuanrui who were walking in front suddenly stopped He stepped forward, and then stood there motionless, as if he had discovered something.

I couldn't help but quickly stepped forward, looked forward, and was stunned for a while.

In front of us, there is a huge tree root, which is deeply penetrated into the surrounding soil and rocks on all sides, and the root on the top grows directly into the stone wall above the head, just like a hollowed out ball stands before our eyes.And under the root of the tree, there is a huge black and shiny trunk, which is inserted straight into the ground. The branches on the trunk are horizontal, leaving a lot of hollow space. Looking down, the bottom is dark, and it is difficult to see to the bottom.

A word suddenly popped up in my mind: Ghost Tree in the Underworld!
that's it!
At this moment, everyone seems to be on the edge of a funnel, and in the center of the funnel is this weird giant tree, which is dark and glowing, and the roots are thicker than a human waist. We are in the tree The edge shrouded by roots is like a few bugs breaking into the tropical rain forest. The contrast between huge and small makes people feel shocked.

I was the first to come to my senses, because rather than being shocked by this weird giant tree, I would rather look for clues about Grandpa and his party. After scanning the surrounding huge tree roots, I suddenly found a familiar tree. The mark, a cross, and a deformed word inscribed below.

Gu Wenmin also found out, and said in a low voice: "It seems that Mr. Chen and the others should have gone down the tree back then."

Zhuanji hissed, looked down the trunk of the tree, and said to the bottomless 'funnel', "Do you know why this thing is called the ghost tree of the underworld? It is said that people in Zimu Kingdom are transformed by evil spirits. They rely on this ghost tree that grows into the underworld to travel between the underworld and the human world. Tell me, where is the bottom of this tree?"

Tofu was the least frightened, and stammered: "Could it be the earth, hell? Mom, I know why Mr. Chen and the others disappeared, and went to hell with them!"

I kicked him lightly and cursed: "Don't be cowardly, you have lost my face. I think this tree is probably an ancient tree. Due to geological movements, it was buried upside down. Look, it’s pitch black and looks neither rotten nor rotten, doesn’t it look like ebony?”

The so-called ebony, also known as gloomy wood, is formed by the carbonization process of nanmu, red toon, hemp willow and other trees buried in mud due to natural disasters, under the condition of hypoxia and high pressure, after tens of thousands of years. Dark wood has always been more expensive than gold, and it is often used to make furniture decorations.Of course, only emperors and generals can afford such a precious ornament. In addition, the gloomy wood is also the best coffin material, which is insect-proof, moisture-proof and anti-corrosion. Therefore, in the common saying of digging mushrooms, there is another saying: Life and death are nothing more than Kunlun wood, and ten thousand years is a gloomy coffin.

I don't believe in the theory of the ghost tree in the underworld. Looking at the shape of this tree, it looks a bit like a carbonized gloomy wood, but it is so huge and intact, and it can be inserted into the ground in such a strange posture. It is really unheard of and unseen. Only nature The uncanny workmanship can be cast, and it cannot be created by manpower.

Zhuan Rui nodded slightly when he heard the words, expressing his agreement with my statement.

Gu Wenmin has always maintained a neutral attitude towards science and feudalism. He heard the words and said: "Such a large ancient tree may be a relic tens of thousands of years ago. It can no longer be regarded as a gloomy wood. It should belong to the ranks of fossils. The ancients could not understand this kind of tree. It is not impossible to mistake this strange sight for the traces of ghosts and gods, and crown it with all kinds of fabricated legends, and I also think that the theory of the ghost tree in the underworld is not credible." After a pause, she looked down and said: " Although there are no ghosts, but the space below is self-contained, and I am afraid that some underground creatures will build their nests, so we might as well set up some torches to avoid trouble."

She has quick thinking and has the delicateness unique to women. This thought is very thoughtful, and everyone has no objection. Dang even decided to throw a few torches.We carry solid fuel on us, and things are easy to handle. Take off the blood-stained coat, wrap fuel inside, wrap it on the handle of the shovel, and the torch will be supported. During the burning process, the fuel will stick to the handle. Together, it will not fall.

We were divided into two groups, still according to the previous team formation method, with Gu Wenmin and Zhong Gong who are good at marksmanship at the back, Tofu and Zhuanji in the middle, and Zhuanrui and I took the lead. Each group held a torch. Walking and jumping between the huge branches of the ten-thousand-year-old tree, everyone has gone deep into the funnel.

The lower you go, the colder the surrounding air becomes. In the darkness, some light spots will flash from time to time, maybe the eyes of some crypt creatures, but they often flash when they see us, or see the torches in our hands. But Guo hid.Thanks to Miss Gu’s reminder, we have saved us a lot of trouble. In this environment, advanced headlights cannot replace primitive torches. In the dancing flames, I suddenly saw that on one of the branches below, there was Something shiny.

The thing reflected red light and was inserted into the body of the old tree. Tofu said in surprise: "The flying knife, the red flying knife belongs to Mr. Chen." As he spoke, he immediately jumped down to the branch below. , reaching out to get the flying knife down.I hastened to stop him and told him not to touch it. There was poison on the throwing knife, and there were more or less small wounds on everyone's hands that were not bandaged. It would be bad if they were poisoned.

I went down to the branch and saw that the red flying knife was halfway into the tree. I was overjoyed. It seemed that our route was correct. Grandpa and the others went down the old tree.

What's next?
The ruins of Zimu?

Or the seven precious lamps of the Earth Ghost King?
The atmosphere under the ground gradually became dignified, and even the tofu became silent. This tree is deeper than we imagined. I estimate that it has walked down nearly [-] meters at least. This is a rather terrifying depth. , Tofu became a little nervous, and said, "Why haven't we finished yet, I feel like I'm about to be buried alive."

As soon as he talked about burying alive, I thought of Xiao Jing for some reason, and felt a little uneasy, so I said in a low voice, "Ask me, I'll ask someone, don't be crow's mouth." Tofu probably remembered his too effective crow's mouth, and immediately He covered his mouth and remained silent. At this moment, the fuel of the torch was supported to the end, and the flame gradually dimmed.

The ground is full of earthy smell, the surrounding soil is tightly blackened, and the branches of ancient trees are inserted horizontally into the soil, forming bridges.At this moment, I discovered that the 'bridge' below us was gone for some reason.

I adjusted the angle of the headlight, looked at the trunk, and suddenly found that there were no branches under the ancient tree, but its branches, which were cut off artificially when they were here.On the ancient tree, there are copper needles as thick as little fingers inserted, which reflect blue light under the light.

Zhuan Rui narrowed his eyes and said, "The needle is poisonous."

This ancient tree suddenly turned into a tree full of poisonous needles.

Tofu said: "It's a good tree, how did it become like this, could it be done by people from the Zimu country?"

My grandfather wouldn't do such a thankless thing. Besides the people from the Zimu country, who else could it be?
Tofu asked: "They did this, are they trying to prevent us from going down?" These poisonous needles were very long, and they were all inserted into the surrounding soil. There were countless needles like embroidery needles all over the poisonous needles, intertwined together, holding us together. The space under his feet was tightly blocked.

(End of this chapter)