C19

"Don't! Can't I eat it! " Actually, I should have thought about it before, as long as Zhang Shan released this move, I wouldn't need to worry about being disobedient. He pinched off two leaves of the Judge's Grass and placed them before his nose. The stench was still very faint, but it was acceptable. He didn't know where this fellow got this from. He closed his eyes and put the leaf into his mouth. Zhang Shan cheerfully reminded me, "Remember to chew it till it is broken before swallowing it!"

When the judges' grass leaves were placed into their mouths, they didn't smell like they did before. Instead, it felt cool and refreshing, as if they were discussing something. Following Zhang Shan's instructions, I continuously chewed on these two leaves. The more I chewed, the stronger the cool feeling became. It wasn't the cool of mint, but rather like a mouthful of ice cubes, so cold that it wouldn't even dare to touch its tongue. After dozens of bites, the air coming out of my mouth was misty and my lips were numb from the cold.

"Alright, go ahead and swallow!" Zhang Shan looked at my expression and warned me at the right time.

I couldn't wait to swallow the leaf dregs mixed with saliva. The cold feeling slid down my esophagus all the way to my stomach. Soon, it radiated through every single blood vessel and pore in my body. I couldn't help but shiver.

Afterwards, I found out that the dark and gloomy place where the grass grew referred to by Zhang Shan was the city's sewers and manhole cover. No wonder there was a stench coming from it, causing me to feel disgusted for a long time.

"This is also for you. I traded this in the past. Although it wasn't anything valuable, it was still sharp. Grandfather said that it was stained with the blood of evil." "Perhaps it will be of unexpected use to you." Zhang Shan said as he handed me an exquisite dagger with a sheath.

By the light of the street lamp, I looked at the dagger in my hand. The dark brown leather sheath was not strange at all. He tried to draw the dagger out of its sheath without using much strength. There was no reflection in the dim light, no one knew what color or material it was made of, but the faint green glow on the edge of the blade was very conspicuous, and he used his thumb to scratch the edge of the blade.

"Let's go, preparing so much is useless. We don't know what will happen, so let's just play it by ear! " Zhang Shan put away his bag and strode along the river path into the darkness.

Along the river was a small path, with a lower terrain. On one side was the Golden River, and on the other was a slope several meters high. Although there were many people coming and going during the day, there were no street lamps. At night, people would rather take a detour around Jinshui Road or the city center than take this dark road. Moreover, the road was not very good, and the place was full of potholes. In the past, people on bicycles often fell or even fell into the river because of uneven roads. In the middle of the night, there were almost no pedestrians or vehicles.

After eating the Judge's Grass, I felt the air around me turn cold. It was a sunny and windless night, but now a cool breeze was blowing on the back of his neck from time to time. After walking along the road for a few hundred meters, I could only see Zhang Shan's black back from behind. There was always a trace of unease in my heart, as if something was always following behind me and I didn't dare to look back. He could only brace himself and continue forward.

As I was walking, I suddenly stopped and pulled Zhang Shan's sleeves. Listen, there's a voice! "

There was always the sound of parting around me, and suddenly I heard it, and before I could hear it clearly, it was gone again. In a flash, I was somewhere on the other side of the river, and I couldn't get a hold of it.

Zhang Shan pricked up his ears and looked at me strangely as he tried his best to listen. After a while, he said, "After you eat the Judge's Grass, you can indeed hear or see some things. However, as long as it doesn't affect our actions and goals, we won't care about anything else." With that, he continued to walk forward.

By the time we reached the culvert under the first railway bridge, the sounds had died away, but my back was already soaked with sweat.

The culvert was even darker, and the only moonlight was blocked. The feeling of being watched from behind only grew stronger. I had no choice but to quicken my pace, go forward and grab onto Zhang Shan's backpack belt, and find a good reason for myself: "Let me pull you, my eyes aren't good at night, I can't see clearly." Zhang Shan paused, and did not say anything.

The culvert behind the train was not very deep, only twenty or thirty meters deep. I had barely taken two steps when I reached the entrance.

Right at this moment, Zhang Shan suddenly turned around and walked towards the left. As I was pulling his backpack, I naturally followed him and walked towards the left. In that split-second, I suddenly realized that something was wrong, and immediately let go of Zhang Shan's hand.

Zhang Shan had explained this before he got on the road. We had to travel far away from the river at night, so we always walked along the slope at the left side. It would be the same even if we entered the culvert. However, there were only two possibilities for Zhang Shan to turn left: he could either pass through the wall or crash into the wall.

Zhang Shan obviously wouldn't go through the wall. The moment I let go of his hand, a "pa" sound rang out as I crashed into the wall. I remember that it was indeed a solid wall on the left side. I felt as though my nose had been knocked askew as tears flowed uncontrollably out of my eyes. There was even a hint of blood in my mouth.

He quickly checked it with his tongue. Luckily, he didn't lose his teeth. But the thought that followed made me forget my soreness. Did Zhang Shan really go through the wall? Right on the wall in front of me, Zhang Shan disappeared into it! If I hadn't let go, what would have happened to me? I stood there, clutching my nose and staring at the wall, not knowing what to do.

"Hey, where are you standing?" A familiar voice sounded from afar. I turned my head to see Zhang Shan looking at me from the moonlight outside the culvert with his arms crossed. Before I could figure out how he had gotten there, I saw a man in a white baseball cap standing on the right side of the road. He was wearing a dark Chinese tunic and a pair of sneakers that had almost lost their original color. But judging from the curvature of his spine and the shape of his clothes, he must be an old man.

Behind him, against the wall, was a broken bicycle. In front of him, on the floor, there was a white cloth with twenty or thirty black balls neatly placed on top of it. They were as big as a fist and were round, so he couldn't see what they were. From the way he was dressed, he seemed more like the person who set up those stalls during the day.

As the person wearing a baseball cap was standing in front of Zhang Shan, the two of them were very close. As long as Zhang Shan raised his arm, he would be able to touch the person in front of him. In my opinion, he and Zhang Shan should be acquainted. Even if I didn't know him, I had at least communicated with him before Zhang Shan had called for me. Otherwise, logically speaking, two people who didn't know each other normally wouldn't be looking at me in such a manner.

"How did you get out?" I asked Zhang Shan as I walked towards them. I couldn't figure out how he had turned left into the wall and then suddenly appeared in front of me. Because of the series of actions, from grabbing the backpack belt to suddenly turning a corner, to me realizing that the problem had occurred. I released my hand and crashed into the wall, and only after four or five seconds did Zhang Shan call for me.

In these four to five seconds, Zhang Shan wanted to quietly run to the mouth of the culvert that was more than ten meters away. Even if I had my eyes closed, it would be hard for him to not be discovered. After all, running makes a noise, and that's the strangest thing about me.

"How did what come out? Come out! " Zhang Shan looked at me and felt that my question was extremely boring.

"I mean, how did you get through the wall and come here?" I corrected my question.

"I'm not a Maoshan Taoist, how would I dare to pass through walls!" After Zhang Shan finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something and asked me to explain in detail the situation from before.

I told him again how I had dragged him, and how I had turned left and slammed against the wall until I heard him calling for me. The man in the baseball cap next to us raised his head and looked at us with interest. I also looked at his face. But his eyes remained hidden in the shadow of the brim of his hat, and I could not see them.

After listening to my narration, Zhang Shan held his head and thought for a long time, then said: "I heard you say that, but I didn't even feel you pulling me. Walking out of the culvert, I didn't hear your footsteps, so I looked back to find you, only to see you touching your nose facing the wall. In short, I'm afraid the one you were holding back earlier wasn't me. "

"Not you? Then who could it be? " I was confused, too.