night.

As black as ink.

The rain was pouring down, and the sky was dark. Low rumbles of thunder were heard from the clouds, and from time to time one or two arc-shaped thunderbolts flashed in the distance. The rainwater on the ground gathered into a slurry, mixed with yellow-brown muddy water, and flowed to the low places. Some soft hillsides could not withstand the pressure and collapsed, forming mudslides that rushed into the distance.

Two figures wearing straw raincoats were crawling in the mud ditch. The leaves on both sides were rustling in the rain. The rain and wind were raging, and the dark forest was waving in the distance like a demon.

"That damn Peng Laoshi sold us a fake location."

Zhang Qisen was wearing rough clothes, walking through the mud with one foot deep and one foot shallow, followed by his younger brother Zhang Qiyao. When the two brothers were born, one lacked wood and the other lacked earth, so their parents gave them these names.

When they grew up, the Zhang brothers were quite successful, and they supported their family with their family crafts. During the day, they were honest hunters in Lingjue Village, and at night, they were farmers digging for food in the fields.

In the past three years, livestock in the village have been dying. Some people rumored that it was a plague, and the wealthy families in the village all moved to the county.

The Zhang brothers also wanted to move to the county, but their savings were not enough, so they had no choice but to think of their old business and decided to do one last job before calling it a day. Unfortunately, the number of tombs was limited, and all the tombs that could be dug near the Lingxin Temple had already been dug by the brothers.

It’s not easy to find a big tomb.

The brothers bought the news of the old tomb from a news dealer in the city at a high price. The news dealer was well-known there, and the brothers had made many inquiries before choosing this person. Unexpectedly, they got off to a bad start and encountered a rainstorm as soon as they went out. The tomb they dug with great effort turned out to be a fake tomb. There was no body in it except a sarcophagus, let alone burial objects.

Even mice will cry when they enter!

This made the two brothers secretly resentful. They felt that they had been cheated by Peng Laoshi, and they decided to go back and settle the score with him.

"It's not so easy to take our brothers' money!"

Reaching out to wipe the water droplets off his face, a cold light flashed in Zhang Qisen's eyes.

Anyone who dares to do this business can't be a good person. When the two brothers were sixteen years old, they killed their colleague and dumped the body in the old tomb, and no one knows about it until now.

"Mr. Peng had a granddaughter. We captured her and sold her. It was just right to fill the account."

Zhang Qiyao, who had been silent, said something in a deep voice. The second son of the Zhang family was a typical ruthless man who didn't talk much. He was the first to kill someone. The Zhang brothers had all practiced martial arts, and ordinary tomb robbers would have little chance of survival if they met them.

Snap

Before the two brothers could react, they felt their feet loosen and vaguely seemed to hear the sound of branches breaking.

The dirt road beneath their feet collapsed instantly, and before the two could react, they were swept down by the road mixed with mud and water. The mud mixed with people collapsed from the original position of the mountain road, and there was rainwater, rocks, and broken branches in the sunken mud pit.

At the critical moment, Zhang Qisen instinctively tore the yellow talisman on his chest into pieces.

As soon as the talisman appeared, the two brothers were immediately wrapped in a layer of clear light, and then there was no trace of them.

The landslide slid all the way to the bottom of the valley, nearly 20 meters high, and the muddy soil mixed with water formed an angle on the edge, with broken wood and rubble piled up outside. The entire valley fell into silence, and the heavy rain continued to wash the earth, and the sound of rain hitting leaves echoed in the valley.

thunderbolt!

Thunder roared, lighting up the entire valley.

A hand full of green light stretched out from the mud, and a large amount of mud began to wriggle. Two figures struggled to crawl out of it. They were the Zhang brothers who were dragged down the valley by the mud earlier.

"Cough cough cough"

As soon as the two climbed out, they knelt down and started coughing violently.

Mud and water gushed out of their mouths and noses. It took a long time for the two men to come to their senses. The clear light surrounding them faded away, and the talisman paper that had been torn into pieces by Zhang Qisen turned into black ash as the clear light dissipated.

“What a huge loss!”

That life-saving talisman was a treasure that the brothers had obtained with great difficulty. They had originally hoped to keep it as a family heirloom, but they did not expect it to be used here.

"Go back first, we've wasted too long."

Zhang Qiyao took off his shoes and poured out the mud and water inside. On this kind of mountain road, if you don't clean your shoes, you can't move forward at all.

"Walk!"

Zhang Qisen also quickly cleared the burden on his body.

After a short rest, the two brothers continued on their journey. They had experienced too many scenes in tomb robbing over the years. The current situation could only be considered a nuisance. The real danger was the "mountain spirits" wandering around the mountains.

Zhang Qisen, who was leading the way, did not walk fast. He walked along the slope of the valley for a while and came to the area where the two brothers had slipped. Unfortunately, a large part of the mountain collapsed, and it was impossible to climb up with bare hands. The martial arts the two brothers had learned could only jump five or six meters at most. It was impossible to jump up to a height of more than 20 meters, plus the rain and soft soil.

The two could only walk along the stone wall of the valley, looking for low areas to see if they could find a way up.

The night is getting deeper.

The heavy rain was still falling, and it seemed as if it was going to drown the whole world. Zhang Qisen, who was walking in front, had a hint of fatigue in his eyes.

Although he had practiced martial arts, he did not have unlimited physical strength. It took a lot of effort to rob the tomb, and then he had to walk for a while in the heavy rain. In addition, he fell into the valley. After a series of things, without any food, they could hold on until now. It was already a solid martial arts for the two brothers.

The same goes for Zhang Qiyao who comes later, except that he has a tough personality and doesn’t like to show things on his face.

"Second brother, did you hear any noise?"

Zhang Qisen, who was walking in front, suddenly turned around and asked, his expression a little unnatural.

"sound?"

Zhang Qiyao was stunned for a moment, he held his breath and listened carefully.

All around there was the sound of rain hitting leaves, and other than that, the only other sound was the occasional thunder coming from the distance.

"No."

Zhang Qiyao shook his head.

"Did I hear it wrongly?"

After taking a look at the dark mountain road ahead, Zhang Qisen turned back in confusion and continued moving forward.

Staying here is waiting for death. There are mountain spirits wandering in the mountains at night. It's okay to go out for a short time, but if you stay out for too long, the wandering mountain spirits will smell their scent and gather at their location. At that time, unless you meet a god, the only result is death.

After walking for a while, Zhang Qisen stopped again and looked at Zhang Qiyao behind him seriously.

"Second brother, listen again, there really is a sound! It sounds like someone is drinking and playing finger-guessing games!"

"How could there be anyone in this desolate mountain?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Qiyao's expression changed, because this time it was not only Zhang Qisen who heard it. The noisy and noisy sound was very obvious, and even the sound of rain around could not cover it up.

thunderbolt!!

Just at this moment, a flash of thunder appeared, and the arc-shaped lightning hook struck the crooked tree on the sloping wall in the distance, bringing a burst of lightning and fire.

The trees struck by lightning were charred black, and flaming branches slid down from above, helping the two brothers illuminate the mountain road ahead.

There is an inn ahead.

The red lanterns emit a dark red light.

"Go to the inn?"

Looking at the bright red words, the two brothers had a bad feeling in their hearts. When they were tomb robbers, their predecessors had taught them that encountering strange things was unlucky and would lead to great misfortune!

"Who would open an inn in a place like this?"

Zhang Qiyao swallowed.

There was no village or shop in the valley, and most importantly, there was not even a road. If the brothers had not been swept away by the mudslide, they would not have come here, let alone seen this inn. The only explanation was that this inn was not for ordinary people like them.

"Go back!"

Although he was physically and mentally exhausted and wanted to rest very much, Zhang Qisen still decided to take a detour.

Zhang Qiyao at the back also nodded, and the two brothers turned around and walked in the opposite direction without hesitation. During the process, Zhang Qiyao couldn't help but look back.

The inn behind me was bathed in light, and the diners inside were drinking and eating meat. The rain outside was separated by the roof, forming two starkly contrasting worlds. A man sitting by the window was holding a shiny chicken drumstick in one hand, and playing finger-guessing games with a diner at the same table with the other hand.

"Stop looking, go!"

Zhang Qisen scolded and quickened his pace.

Zhang Qiyao's heart trembled, and he immediately followed. The two brothers walked very fast. Half an hour later, the sound gradually faded away, and the two returned to the previously collapsed area again.

If going forward doesn't work, the only option is to go back.

After wasting so much time, I just hope those mountain elves don’t smell their scent.

After all the hard work, the two brothers were even more exhausted, their stomachs growling. Their feet felt like they were filled with lead as they stepped on the muddy water, and every step was extremely difficult.

After walking a little further, the noisy sound was heard again.

This time the two brothers heard it at the same time, and a hint of uneasiness appeared on their faces at the same time.

As if in response to the fear in their hearts, a flash of thunder flashed across the sky again.

The same thunder and fire, the same bright light.

The same inn.

"Future Inn?"

Zhang Qiyao saw the words on the lantern and found that it was different from the previous inn. When they got here, the two brothers were exhausted and had no strength to escape. The most important thing was that there was no way to escape from this valley.

Going forward is the Past Inn, going backward is the Future Inn.

"Go in and take a look!"

Zhang Qisen gritted his teeth and walked towards the Future Inn with the steel fork in his hand. Soon they arrived outside the inn, and the rain stopped as soon as they entered.

The lights in the inn can even drive away the rain.

This scene made the two brothers even more uneasy, but they had no choice but to walk to the lobby door, push it open and walk in.

As the wooden door opened, a warm feeling spread throughout my body.

All the fatigue I had felt outside disappeared as soon as it was washed away by this warmth.

The two stood at the door of the inn and looked around.

They did not find anything unusual. It was just an ordinary inn. The diners inside were all people of the world like them. There were no "immortals" like temple keeper. This discovery made the two brothers feel relieved.

'Perhaps this is a place where some great master practices.'

A flash of inspiration flashed through Zhang Qisen's mind, and so did Zhang Qiyao behind him. The two brothers were both speculators, and down-to-earth people would not come here to rob tombs. Although this place looked strange, it was probably the dojo of a master. If they were lucky enough to catch the master's eye, they might be able to soar to the sky and become big figures like the temple priests of Lingxin Temple.

It's no wonder that the two brothers are so useless. In the circle they come into contact with, the temple keeper is the top figure. (End of this chapter)