Chapter 22
Recently, the situation in the village has deteriorated, and the villagers are becoming more and more anxious, living in dire straits.
The cheerful laughter that had filled the house disappeared as soon as I entered; it was replaced by the clanging sound of hoes being used to till the land.
Jia'er was currently digging in the ground with his sleeves rolled up and a shovel in hand. He was already in the pit, despite his small size, but he was still digging with great focus.
Dust was thrown outwards in splashes, and Xiaolong continued to move forward slowly with his head down.
Beside him was a group of strong and robust villagers from the Muyun tribe, who were also working hard and quickly, with the sound of shoveling soil rising and falling.
Jia'er integrated herself perfectly into the work and enjoyed it immensely.
As he tried to move forward a little, Jia'er accidentally stepped on someone's shovel. He quickly moved his foot away and apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Before he could finish speaking, some dust flew up and landed on his head.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
As they were talking, a pair of large hands patted Jia'er's head.
Oh, it turns out that when the uncle next to him was shoveling dirt out, some of it accidentally flew over his head, and now some fine dirt has gotten into his collar.
Jia'er tossed his hair, not caring at all. Because he was so short, he was easily lost in the crowd, so this happened often, and he was used to it.
"It's okay, it's okay." Jia'er licked her lips, preparing to change her perspective and continue working.
As he bent down to continue digging, Jia'er caught a glimpse of several figures out of the corner of his eye, and immediately looked up to see.
Not far away, Qingye and the others stood in front of the house, talking earnestly to their parents. After they finished, they each grabbed their small shovels and quickly left.
Upon seeing this, Jia'er quickly threw down the shovel, scrambled out of the pit with a "whoosh," and chased after them.
They truly embody the nature of a tagalong.
The remaining villagers were used to this scene and didn't even lift their eyelids, continuing to dig the soil with heavy breaths.
The reason for digging this soil is quite intriguing.
For days on end, the people of the tribe could not hold on any longer. Life was getting harder and harder, and every household was in dire straits. The lack of water was truly torturous, and a miserable expression gradually appeared on everyone's face.
The village became increasingly desolate; grass stopped growing, flowers stopped blooming, the waterwheel that used to turn day and night no longer turned, and half of the crops were left to lie fallow.
Everything exudes a sense of fleeting elegance and ephemeral beauty.
The clan chief was initially confident that he could withstand the pressure from the outside world and Yinglong, and at the same time appease the clansmen. However, the clansmen did not appreciate it. They complained bitterly and were filled with resentment. If they did not make a compromise, the sky in this village would be turned upside down.
Beset by internal and external troubles, the old patriarch pondered the matter repeatedly and finally decided to disobey the ancestral teachings and temporarily submit to Yinglong's oppressive power.
It agreed to her request to build a dam and dig a canal in their village. Let her dig, even if it creates a mighty river, it doesn't care. As long as she can thaw the river and leave quickly, they are willing to do anything she asks now.
Upon learning of this instruction, the people spontaneously and enthusiastically got to work without needing to be told.
Everyone was afraid that if they were a step too late, that witch would regret it.
Over there, the fully grown demon beasts were vigorously wielding their shovels, and over here, the little demon beasts were also ordered to keep busy.
Jia'er followed Qingye and the others all the way to the foot of the snow mountain. The snow mountain was majestic and towering, and at its foot was a wide river mouth that meandered into the distance, stretching all the way to the Muyun tribe village.
This is the "holy water" that the villagers rely on for survival.
The entire river had become abnormally frozen due to Yinglong's magic. Now that the magic has weakened slightly, the river water at the inlet is slowly thawing. Once the water source recovers, it will slowly flow downstream, and the river's volume will be restored to its original state.
When Koji ran over, Aono and the others were already inside the river mouth. The river water had soaked their clothes, and they were still digging for something.
"Aono, what are you doing?" Koji shouted loudly, his voice carried away by the wind.
The wind at the foot of the snow-capped mountain is much colder than in other places.
The five little friends were so busy at the river mouth that they were dizzy and disoriented. Hearing Jia'er's voice, they all turned around and said with a rather reverent air:
"Digging up our ancestors' remains!"
"What?" Jia'er didn't understand a single word.
"Hey, it's just digging for bones," Honghong said, struggling to stand up from the water.
Digging for bones? There are bones in the water?
Jia'er heard a splash and jumped into the river mouth. The water wet his hair, but he swam across happily.
"Digging for bones? What kind of bones?"
Aono led everyone around and around, seemingly searching for the best spot to dig.
"We're digging up our ancestors' bones," Xiaomian said, wiping her face.
The little dragon swam over, splashing up a lot of water and wetting their faces.
"What are the remains of our ancestors?" Little Dragon had so many questions that he couldn't possibly ask them all.
"Oh dear, these are the bones of our ancestors..." Da Huang and the others got anxious and started explaining to Jia'er in a flurry of words.
It turns out that this Qingyaojin was once sealed by the ancestors of the Muyun tribe with their physical bodies. Now, if another river channel is to be dug out from here, the remains at the bottom of the river must be dug out. Only in this way can the river channel be dug down smoothly. Otherwise, it would be a great taboo of the tribe. If we act rashly, the younger generation of the tribe will probably suffer the backlash of fate.
Jia'er was dumbfounded, unsure whether he understood or not.
"The jade cong and bone bell buried together a hundred years ago also need to be dug out, otherwise the bone bell in the ancestral hall will keep ringing and disturb people's rest."
"Is that so?" Jia'er asked in surprise. In fact, he only understood half of it, but that didn't matter, as that wasn't his main focus.
His focus was on digging for bones, digging for bones, that sounds really fun.
"Then why did we ask you to dig?" Jia'er asked, puzzled. Her mother had told her that she couldn't start digging on her own; she had to follow the older monsters to dig, in case she was busy doing something in the wrong direction.
These were things that no one else knew, so Aono began to explain.
It turns out that Qingyaojin has been integrated with the bones of our ancestors for thousands of years. To dig up the bones now would be a great disrespect to our ancestors, and it cannot be done casually. In order to make things go smoothly, the old clan chief specially invited the clan priest to perform divination. The divination was performed on an auspicious day according to the Chinese almanac, with harmonious Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and auspicious Five Elements. The divination was performed again, and it was found that the matter of digging up the bones must be carried out by a person who has never been tainted by worldly thoughts and is pure and sincere, so as not to offend the gods. This way, we can continue to seek the protection and forgiveness of our ancestors in the future...
Such a mysterious task was passed around, but no one dared to take it on. After much deliberation, the old clan chief decided to give it to the younger generation of the clan. The older ones were not careful and might damage the remains if they dug too hard, which would bring annihilation to the village. It would be better to let the younger generation dig slowly with chisels. Although it was slow, it was safe.
So this task fell squarely on the shoulders of these five little ones.
This is no easy task.
Before leaving, Aono and the others' parents repeatedly warned them that this matter needed to be handled meticulously and steadily, and that they must not be careless in the slightest... If this mission was completed well, the whole family would be safe; if it was not completed well, all five families could be implicated...
So Aono continued to tell his younger siblings that they had to be extremely careful when digging, and that they could not damage even a single inch of their ancestors' remains.
The younger children nodded in agreement.
Everything is ready now, except for the final step: finding the correct direction to bury the remains and digging in that direction.
Qingye held the bone bell, trying to orient itself by sound. It listened very carefully, but there was one problem—a very active person was swimming around it, stirring up the water. His head kept looking around, and he seemed more enthusiastic than anyone else.
"Jia'er, why don't you go ashore and we'll dig for you?"
"No, no, I have to go with you."
This is not a good thing. If we don't dig it out or dig it out properly, we will be held responsible.
They cannot implicate him.
"But..." Aono was still trying to pinpoint the location of the bone bell underground, but he couldn't hear it no matter how hard he tried.
Perhaps it was buried too deep, or perhaps too long ago, that the bone bell, which was buried at the bottom of the river with our ancestors, no longer responds.
Seeing everyone's anxious expressions, Jia'er dived down to the deepest part of the river, where the light was dim, plankton filled the air, and the entire riverbed was shrouded in thick fog.
Aono shook the bone bell vigorously from above, and Koji, with the dragon race's uniquely keen hearing, discerned some faint, ancient murmurs coming from the bottom of the river.
The low murmurs were like human voices, yet also like animal roars, blending together in a mesmerizing way, drawing people uncontrollably into the abyss...
Jia'er's gaze was momentarily lost before he immediately regained his senses. He realized that no one had been able to enter this place for thousands of years, not only because of the ground barrier, but also because of the faint echo of the bone bells trembling at the bottom of the river.
Such a mind-bending technique can cause one to lose consciousness completely with the slightest carelessness, and then perish at the bottom of the river, becoming a sacrifice for the seal.
Jia'er splashed his body back onto the river surface, and when everyone saw him come up, they all swarmed around him.
"How is it going?"
Xiao Long first shook his head vigorously, splashing water droplets all over the other person's face.
No one had time to wipe their faces; they just gave them a quick wipe and then asked with concern:
"What's the matter?"
"I've found the location!"
"Really?!" Everyone exclaimed. Jia'er didn't say anything more and led his friends to swim underwater.
So the group set off, each carrying a small chisel.
Upon reaching the bottom of the river, the other five men did indeed look momentarily confused, but quickly regained their composure.
As a dragon, Jia'er was quite adept at swimming underwater. He went down and pointed in a direction, saying:
"This is it!"
It was next to a black rock, where the river sand was soft.
Qingye and the others couldn't speak, so they could only keep their eyes open. But when they heard Xiaolong say this, they didn't hesitate at all. They all surrounded him and the five of them began to slowly dig.
Moving underwater is not very convenient, and breathing is also a bit difficult. However, they were in a hurry, and in no time, the entire riverbed became murky, and they could hardly see their way.
Jia'er huddled nearby, looking around, wishing he could grab a chisel and chisel along with everyone else.
They would float up to breathe and then dive down to dig, and in the course of half a day, they had carved out a huge pit in the riverbed.
Jia'er estimated that the giant pit was about as deep as her own height.
During the lunch break, the group sat on the shore eating grass cakes that they had brought from their homes. Jia'er didn't have any, so everyone shared some with him. Xiao Long ate five different flavors in one meal.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, everyone sat on the riverbank and looked down. The river water at the mouth was clear, but the bottom was still invisible. Xiaomian looked at the unfathomable water with a puzzled expression:
"Can we dig it out today?"
If we can't dig it out today, the clan leader will likely hold us accountable.
Aono hesitated, as if considering the likelihood of finding something today.
To be fair, they dug quite fast. However, as monsters, they couldn't breathe as easily in the water as they could on land. Every half hour or so, they would surface to breathe.
"Let's put in a little more effort this afternoon and try to dig it out."
"good!"
Everyone responded in unison. Seeing everyone's reaction, Jia'er took a chisel and asked:
"Can I go down and dig first? I'll return it to you when you need it."
"No, you can't do that." Everyone shook their heads; it was dangerous.
“Sure,” Jia’er insisted.
Well, he didn't seem to listen to advice. Considering his small size, he couldn't dig much by himself, so everyone just let him be.
So Jia'er jumped in with a "plop," while the other five watched from the shore, preparing to go down in a little while.
After about fifteen minutes, everyone had rested. Qingye led her younger siblings to swim to the bottom of the water, but once they reached the bottom, they could hardly believe what they saw!
Jia'er was all alone! He had dug a pit over a hundred feet deep all by himself. What was just half a person's height a moment ago was now bottomless!
The sight terrified everyone. They immediately ran to the pit entrance and peered down into the ground!
The little dragon was nowhere to be seen in the dark pit!
These creatures were terrified; they didn't care that they were still underwater, and desperately shouted down into the abyss:
"Jia'er, are you there?"
Are you alright?
"Jia'er, come up here quickly!"
The sound was loud, but it seemed to be blocked by the water waves and could not reach the bottom of the pit, so everyone began to shout even more desperately.
Jia'er was digging away happily when he heard some noises above. He stopped digging and looked up, where he seemed to see some blurry lights.
Is something wrong? So he prepared to go up and check, but as soon as he reached the edge of the pit, he was pulled up by someone.
Heaven knows how relieved Qingye and the others were to see him; if something had happened to the little dragon... the consequences were unimaginable.
"How did you get down here?" a booming voice demanded. As the youngest among them, he had been so frightened that he had almost burst into tears.
Jia'er looked completely innocent: "Hey, I didn't go down there, I was just digging in the dirt."
He unknowingly went underground while digging...
The tension in everyone's hearts eased instantly. It was good that he was alright; the five of them had almost scared the ghosts out of their wits!
but……
Ah, they forgot.
They forgot that this little dragon was a skilled worker, quick and efficient, finishing half a day's work in no time without even realizing it, and not tired at all...
What did they eat to grow up like this? They're so young but have so much strength!
What kind of dragons were his parents...?
Everyone was curious for a moment, but there were more important things to do at the moment, so they put aside their curiosity for the time being.
Aono led her younger siblings to the edge of the pit. They looked down and saw that it was pitch black and bottomless—the pit had been dug very deep by Koji.
If it's that deep...
"Jia'er, have you dug anything up?" Xiaomian asked anxiously, turning her head. They were already so deep; there was a high chance they had dug up the remains of their ancestors. If they did, there was a risk of damaging them.
"Hmm, no." Jia'er hesitated for a moment, recalling the feel of digging through the mud and sand underground. He didn't feel like he had dug up anything.
"Haven't you dug it out yet, it's this deep?" Xiaomian asked thoughtfully.
How deep must it have been buried?
"It seems this isn't something that can be done by digging; we need to search extensively down there."
Qingye pondered, for as the largest of them all, it had the obligation to ensure everyone's safety while also fulfilling the clan leader's mission.
But I don't know what dangers I might encounter down there.
It wanted to go down alone, leaving its younger siblings to wait for it upstairs.
But everyone saw through its intentions, and they all answered in unison:
"We'll go down together!"
They came together, so of course they should go down together. Otherwise, how would they explain it to their parents if something happened?
Moreover, looking down from the pit, it always feels like there's some kind of vortex below, making one feel a little dizzy.
"Alright, Jia'er, you wait for us here. We'll be right back. You stay here and provide backup."
Aono felt that, no matter what, he couldn't let this little dragon get involved; he absolutely couldn't let anything happen to him.
"No way!" Jia'er refused outright! Anyone else could stay here as backup, but he couldn't!
Xiaolong was always very stubborn, and Qingye didn't want to argue with him. He simply carried him to the muddy side of the pit where he had been sitting, made him sit down, and then walked away.
"You just wait for us here. Trust us, everything will be alright."
Jia'er sat on the soft riverbed, and with a casual wave of his hand, he could stir up a cloud of mud and sand, which immediately made his vision very blurry.
He neither spoke nor moved.
Aono thought he had finally agreed, so she confidently led her younger siblings down into the pit.
The five of them lined up and went down one after another. There was no sound as the water rippled. After the last figure of the booming one disappeared, Jia'er slid up and slid to the edge of the pit. His friends were no longer visible below.
"Hey~"
Jia'er shouted loudly towards the ground, but no one answered.
The air around him was empty, but after a short while, the ancient low murmur he had heard on the shore began to rise again. This time, the sound was noticeably louder than on the shore, and it carried a captivating and intimidating power. Even Jia'er, who was a dragon, was slightly taken aback when he heard it.
Oh no, Aono and the others will be in danger if they go down!
Jia'er didn't have time to think. He smoothly climbed up the edge of the pit and used both his hands and feet to quickly get himself to the bottom of the pit.
He dug the hole himself, and it wasn't very wide at the bottom, so as soon as he came down, he saw Aono and the others.
Aono and her younger siblings were scattered in five different directions, desperately searching for something. Although they were still wielding their chisels, they dared not use too much force, for fear of damaging something.
Jia'er stood in the center of the pit and couldn't help but swallow.
He didn't disturb anyone, just silently watched everyone. Slowly, Qingye and the others seemed to have heard something too. Their movements slowed down, and a look of shock gradually appeared on their faces.
Jia'er knew immediately what had happened.
"Aono, did you hear something?"
Upon hearing Jia'er's voice, the five friends all turned around to look.
"Why did you come down?" Qingye was alarmed. Wasn't he supposed to stay obediently up there? What if he encountered danger after coming down? It was worried about the little dragon's safety.
Jia'er ignored its questioning and simply repeated:
"Did you hear something? It's so loud!"
Was it that loud? Aono and the others only heard a faint sound, as if it were covered by something, yet it lingered in their ears almost imperceptibly.
But even this faint, lingering sound was enough to terrify and drive these little monsters mad.
This is the suppression from the bloodline of our ancient ancestors, the dissatisfaction of our ancestors with their descendants for disobeying their teachings, and the sudden anger of being disturbed after sleeping for thousands of years!
The water at the bottom of the pit suddenly froze, as if gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand. The five junior members of the Muyun Clan standing at the bottom of the pit felt a muffled roar erupt from the depths of their marrow—it was the ultimate judgment that transcended the torrent of time and space and reached their very souls! Their bodies were no longer their own containers; they had become the resonating chambers of their ancestors' discontent.
The five people were almost frozen, unable to make any further movements.
"Aono, boom boom... What's wrong with you guys?" Kouji had a bad feeling and went up to grab one hand after another.
His sudden pull seemed to bring them back to their senses—they looked at each other, then at the chisels in their hands. Everything that had just happened felt like a dream, a terrifying dream from which they could never wake up…
The sounds continued.
"Shall we continue digging?" Little Cotton asked, trembling. Although it was scared, it still forced itself to speak.
"Dig!" If we don't dig, we can't return to our clan today, we can't face our parents, and we can't face the clan chief.
So everyone started chiseling mechanically again, but this time the movements were obviously much slower, and as they chiseled, they couldn't dig any further down.
"Huh? What happened?" Everyone was surprised.
It looks like they've dug up something.
Aono put down his tools and began to sift through the mud and sand with his hands. After only a few strokes, a black, cold, and hard object appeared before his eyes.
This thing is as hard as a stone wall, and it feels cold to the touch, but you can't really see what it is.
As Aono touched it, he felt his breathing become heavy, and it felt as if something was suddenly falling from his heart.
He was brushing away in a bit of a hurry, and the little cotton cats beside him saw this and came over to help.
Everyone had a vague suspicion, but no one dared to actually believe it.
The crowd was too afraid to utter a sound, but they were anxious and their digging became faster and faster.
The low murmurs lingering in their ears almost swallowed them up. Jia'er stood to the side, covering her ears, unable to speak.
The sound was so loud it almost deafened him; it was more than ten times louder than it had been on the shore.
But strangely, Aono and the others only heard a faint sound...
Suddenly, Xiaolong understood!
The low murmur was a warning, a warning to this group of people not to trespass here without permission and not to disturb the peace that has been preserved for thousands of years!
As descendants of the Muyun Clan, Qingye and the others share the same bloodline as the demonic beast buried deep in the riverbed, and are not permitted to enter. Therefore, they came to the bottom of the river, and they also heard this ancient murmur... As an outsider, Jia'er received a thousand times more severe warnings for trespassing here, which is why the sound he heard at the bottom of the river was so loud...
Jia'er gritted his teeth and persevered, while Qingye and the others dug out the original appearance of the hard object.
It was a piece of mahogany with intricate patterns and beautiful colors, its surface area extending for several meters.
You can vaguely make out that it is a piece of mahogany, although it has been corroded to the point of turning black and its original state is almost unrecognizable.
There must be some kind of magic here, otherwise this redwood wouldn't have been able to withstand being underwater for so many centuries...
As Jia'er watched Qingye and the others tremblingly lift the redwood, suddenly, a strange fragrance wafted over. This smell was fierce, strong, and heavy with decay, capable of instantly assaulting the brain, seizing one's thoughts, and leaving no time to react...
Koji watched helplessly as Aono and the others fell one by one, and then something gushed out from under the red wooden board...
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