C25

The branches and leaves of the large tree were incomparably lush. Only by walking under the tree could one truly experience what it meant to cover the sky and cover the sun. It was almost noon, but he couldn't find any sense of noontime when he was walking in the depths of the mountain.

The cicadas chirped in the deep light, as if to add to the quietness of the mountains the scent of living things. However, the more he listened, the more he felt that it was a bit boring and monotonous. He could not hear any vigor in it. Instead, it gave people a feeling of old age.

"I keep having the feeling that something is amiss." A weird feeling haunts me. Looking at the road ahead, I feel as though there is a haze shrouding everything in front of me. Once I walk in, I will be completely lost and unable to walk out.

Fan Cunlong looked ahead with a rarely seen grave expression on his face. "This is the thirty-six plates, the route to the sulcus basilaris is a must."

"thirty-six plates? "What does that mean?" I looked at Fan Cunlong as I asked this question.

The names of the places at the top of the mountain were very particular. Generally, one could tell the characteristics of that place from its name. Like the pigwoods, like the Sheep's Head Gully, they all had their own meanings. However, the name thirty-six plates made it hard for me to fathom.

Fan Cunlong explained: "thirty-six plates, this is thirty-six plates's chess game idea. Legend has it that a long time ago, there were two chess players playing here, but they were unable to determine a victor in the thirty-fifth game. It was only at the thirty-sixth game that they finally exhausted all their efforts and sat at opposite ends of the chessboard, turning into two mountains that were still staring at the chessboard beneath them. And the thirty-six plates chess that they used their great mana to seal in front of them has become the current thirty-six plates. "

"What a majestic legend!" Hearing Fan Cunlong's words, I couldn't help but exclaim in admiration before asking, "Is it dangerous inside?"

Fan Cunlong replied: "If you don't know the way, you'll definitely die." After pausing for a moment, he continued, "The thirty-six plates is very big, and even now, no one has dared to go inside. Because if we go wrong, that route, which is more complicated than a maze, can kill us. "

"Hiss!" Fan Cunlong's solemn words caused me to suck in a breath of cold air. "Well, are you sure about the past?" I asked Fan Cunlong, this is extremely important, only after asking did I feel that I was being a little foolish. If Fan Cunlong couldn't make it past here, would he be able to bring us here?

Sure enough, Fan Cunlong nodded and said: "I'll remember the way. However, it was very dangerous inside. Not only was there a problem with the path, there was also something like a wolf, a tiger, or a leopard. Furthermore, they are different from the beasts outside, the beasts in thirty-six plates are very fierce, even if a tiger is here, they will not be able to suppress them. "

"How far is it?" Fan Cunlong's words stunned me for a long time. This thirty-six plates was practically a dead end for me. Just as Fan Cunlong said, if one did not know the correct path, rushing in would most certainly cause one to die.

"We'll be there after the forest, not too far away." We were in a forest now, tall trees intersecting each other, except for a barely recognizable path that ran between tall trees and shrubs.

I looked ahead of me and then looked at the two Huang brothers who were sweating profusely but didn't say a word. "Let's take a rest here and eat some food and drink some water before we continue our journey."

Sitting under a large tree, Fan Cunlong vigilantly set up a cordon around ten meters around us. A few strands of rope passed through the bushes and weeds, and were tied to a few large trees. Each rope had a bell attached to its end near us, which would ring whenever anything touched it.

Seeing Fan Cunlong's vigilance, I felt ashamed in my heart. After entering this mountain, I didn't know what to guard against. I only knew that it was very dangerous, but I didn't know where the danger came from. It was actually no different from not knowing the danger.

Behind me, in a large bag, were two canteens. One of them contained milk for the little thing. After interacting with it for the past few days, I realised that it actually wasn't that every meal required milk, but rather, it was needed a little at a time. It seemed that to ingest some substance from the cow's milk for normal times, Xiao Ha's food was very miscellaneous, and the taste was no different from a human's. Biscuit, ham, roast lamb, these were his favorites.

Perhaps it was because it came out of the deep mountains, but it found out that besides cow's milk, there were so many other delicious things in the world. At first, it was still not willing to eat it. However, after being tempted by that fellow, Zhao QIu, to drink some wine and then eat a duck leg in a dazed state, Lil Thing's stomach and spleen were finally released.

"After we pass this forest, there is a spring at the entrance of the thirty-six plates, where we must fill it with water. I'll definitely have to spend the night inside, and I won't be able to leave for the rest of the afternoon. " Fan Cunlong said methodically, the things in front of him seemed to be extremely clear in his mind.

"I think I'm really a bit worried. With such a complicated place in the middle, how many people can go?" "Alright, let's continue on our way." I watched as Fan Cunlong removed the security guard and called out to them. By this time, it was already close to two o'clock. From the gaps between the leaves, he could see that the sun had already moved two hours away from the center.

He passed through the large trees and followed the faintly discernable path forward. Not long after, he arrived at the spring where Fan Cunlong had told him about.

The water gurgled at the mouth of the spring, gushing out a natural waterway that flowed deeper into the mountain. Within a few meters, it was covered by vines that extended from the ground, as if it had entered a dark and gloomy place.

Looking ahead, there was a very narrow crevice. Of course, being narrow was only relative to the mountain. If a person walked in, they would probably be able to accommodate three people walking in parallel. However, there was still no path here. The ground was overgrown with weeds, and other than the grass growing and the flowers growing in the grass, there was nothing else that could be seen.

Other than the sparse shrubs growing on the mountain where sunlight could be seen, the rest of the mountain was covered in green moss, as if it had been steamed away by the gloomy humidity all year round.

"Plop!" Xiao Ha jumped down from my shoulder into a pond that was naturally formed under the spring. He didn't care whether or not the underwear on its body was wet, and directly showered in the water, while muttering some unknown words. No one knew who this little thing learned how to play with water. Its body was as sturdy as a rock, yet it did not sink into the water. Instead, it floated leisurely on the surface of the water, enjoying the cool.

Perhaps the little thing had had enough of the mountain soil, so after I took it out, it developed a habit of bathing every day. And like a big girl, she had to be washed with milk every day, which left me speechless.

The more I looked at it, the more I felt that this little thing was not a wild boar but a pig spirit. The more I looked at it, the more it seemed like it was about to turn into a spirit. I remembered what Fan Cunlong's uncle from another clan had told me. Thinking about how the little thing would slowly approach me and turn red when it came back, I felt that this little guy was extremely mysterious.

"Alright, alright, stop playing and hurry up and leave." We refilled our canteens separately, and I scooped up the little thing from the water and took off its underpants and wrung them dry. I wiped it again before placing it on my shoulder.

As I followed Fan Cunlong into the crevice of the mountain, I could feel the temperature plummet. The distance of one step was like two different worlds. One was hot, the other was cold and gloomy. I think if someone were to walk here at night and feel the sudden, eerie cold, they would be scared out of their wits.

"Follow behind me and follow my footsteps. Don't be careless." Fan Cunlong turned around and reminded us repeatedly that he had picked up a long tree branch. Before he walked even a single step, he would definitely use the tree branch to scout first, and then miserably stride forward.

We tread over the wild flowers and weeds he has trampled, moving slowly and carefully. At this time, I finally understood why Fan Cunlong said that he couldn't leave the thirty-six plates in the entire afternoon.

If the situation in front of them was like this, then only a ghost would be able to walk out. I thought to myself as I followed him, not daring to be the least bit careless.

"There's a jar of cold water half a step to the left. Do not step into it." Fan Cunlong pulled the branch from the ground. I followed closely behind him to see the situation. A long section of the branch was clearly submerged, and most importantly, it had a few blood-sucking water bugs stuck to it.

This was the kind of place that was mentioned by Yin Water jars. It was a place where one could not see the sun in the sky all year round. The water that was covered by all sorts of weeds and was not flowing would often produce all kinds of deadly things. In comparison, these Vampiric Water Insects that could enter into a person's body through the skin were probably the most common type. It destroys the body's immune system, but as long as you don't let it get into you in time, it's not too dangerous.

I remember when I was a kid I played in a river by a reservoir and came home with two of these things stuck between my toes. Fortunately, Mom found it and beat it down in time. Otherwise, I would have been seriously ill from the torture of such a thing. Ever since then, I've had a full-body checkup every time I go home.

Fan Cunlong's hand shook, and a few Vampiric Water Insects that were stuck to the tree branches smashed into the ground to dodge, picking up quite a bit of blood. I don't know what they sucked in the blood, but they didn't have time to digest it.

Huang San and Huang Si were already sweating non-stop on their way to the cool crevice in the mountain. However, this brother of his was able to hold on. Even now, he hadn't said a word. He just didn't say much, as if he was afraid that he would lose the courage in his heart if he said it out loud.

I secretly praised them, thinking that the two of them weren't completely lacking. Just their endurance was something that many people couldn't hope to achieve.

"Stop!" Don't move! " Fan Cunlong who was walking in front suddenly stopped, if it wasn't for us consciously taking a big step forward, I would have already crashed into him.