The fine grass and water chestnuts were carefully parted underfoot, making a rustling sound.
Xiao Nanhui was not sure whether this method was feasible at all, so he could only try his best to distinguish the light in the darkness.
The increasingly dense fireflies were like a natural barrier, separating a winding road. She and Zhongli actually walked forward on this muddy road, taking one deep step and one shallow step. After about half an hour, they felt that their vision gradually widened, and the ground under their feet began to have more gravel and became hard.
After passing the last wetland, a huge cave entrance appeared in front. It seemed to be opened on a slope of white stones. The cave extended underground. It was pitch black and there was no end in sight, like the mouth of a giant beast.
"This is..." Xiao Nanhui carefully distinguished the ancient characters on the stone tablet at the entrance of the cave.
"Bai Yaoguan."
Zhongli actually looked at the stone tablet and said calmly: "This is Baiyao Pass, which has been abandoned for hundreds of years."
Sparks floated into the air with the scorching air. Zhongli and Xiao Nanhui were sitting cross-legged on the gravel beach at the entrance of the cave, with their backs to the pitch-black Baiyao Pass and facing the empty swamp land where the night was falling.
Xiao Nanhui put his wet boots by the fire to dry. A faint bitter smell wafted into his nose, diluting the damp smell from the swamp, and surprisingly gave him a soothing feeling.
Xiao Nan turned back and stared at the man sitting a few steps away for a long time, feeling a little curious. What kind of incense could be so long-lasting that the scent remained even after the coat had faded?
"Hey, what's that smell on you? I can smell it everywhere I go."
Under the night sky, Zhongli's motionless profile looked like a statue enshrined in a temple. The mud brought from the swamp had not been wiped off in time, and the scattered hair had not been tidied up, but it finally made the statue somewhat popular.
"The smell of dead bones."
"Dead bones?"
Who are you trying to scare? Xiao Nanhui looked around. Zhongli had actually lifted his left sleeve a little, revealing the Buddhist beads on his wrist.
Xiao Nanhui saw this, and it took him a while to realize what he meant. Could it be that the Buddha bone relic given to Hao Bai as a medicine guide was actually this Buddhist bead? But a single Buddha bone relic is rare enough, so how could this person have so many? What was this? A show of wealth?
As if he knew what Xiao Nanhui was thinking, Zhongli looked at her as if it was a matter of course: "I am a person with a connection to Buddhism. Don't be jealous, and don't think I am worldly."
What? Does she look like a vulgar person?
Okay, it's pretty vulgar, but how advanced are you?
The warm bonfire illuminated the stone tablet that had not been spoken of for hundreds of years, making the words on it clearly visible.
Xiao Nanhui looked up at the words on the stele and tried to ask, "What's written on it?"
Zhongli was actually leaning on a rock beside the fire, like an old monk in meditation. He slowly opened his eyes when he heard the sound and glanced in the direction of the stone tablet.
"On a clear night, you can't go beyond Baiyao Pass; at dawn, you can go through black, not white."
Although he didn't know whether the other party really knew him or was just talking nonsense, Xiao Nanhui was still a little surprised.
Each place in Chizhou has its own dialect, but it is said that the writing and language were unified in ancient times. Until now, the ancient sounds have been lost because they cannot be traced, but there are still people who can recognize the ancient characters. However, there are not many people who can understand them, and most of them are scholars over fifty years old or former aristocrats. Young people are very rare.
If there were such a person, he would never be unknown in Chizhou.
"I've seen you in Yongye Temple. Are you from Quecheng?" Xiao Nanhui finally asked the question in her heart. She vaguely felt that this person's identity was not simple.
But she didn't expect Zhongli to actually answer her: "I guess so. I'm just a retainer of the Prime Minister's Mansion."
The Prime Minister's Mansion? Isn't that just across the street from Yukun Street?
Xiao Nanhui became suspicious and asked, "But why have I never seen you near the Prime Minister's Mansion before?"
"I'm not in good health, so I always go out by car. You don't spend much time in the Marquis' Mansion, so naturally I haven't seen you."
Xiao Nanhui felt that this statement lacked conviction, but he couldn't find any words to refute it for a moment. But then he remembered that the other party had already known that he was from Qinghuai Hou Mansion.
The other party must have heard what she said when she was praying at Yongye Temple.
Thanks to him, Xiao Nan got the first bad luck in his life.
"You pretended to be a monk from a temple and eavesdropped on others praying."
Zhongli seemed to be deaf to the accusation and closed his eyes again.
Xiao Nanhui hated people pretending to be stupid the most. If it were in the past, she might have jumped up and kicked that person hard, but when she thought about how the other person had just saved her life not long ago, she gave up and lowered her head to concentrate on roasting the fire.
Time passed quietly, but this night seemed particularly long.
Nothing can be heard here except the sound of the wind.
After a long time, if no one talks, you will think you have become deaf and cannot tell whether it is the sound of the wind outside or the sound of blood flowing in your body.
The air rushed from the swamp towards the cave, bringing with it a desolate smell. It was the scent of decaying vegetation over thousands of years, mixed with the fishy smell of water, filling my nostrils and every pore.
Xiao Nanhui didn't like this feeling. The little insects flying among the water plants struggled to break out of their cocoons, then scrambled for food. The male insects exhausted themselves in searching for females, trying their best to breed the next generation, and finally met death. The cycle of life and death day by day made people think of the brevity and premature aging of life for no reason.
Xiao Nanhui took a deep breath, put on his dry boots, and hummed a little tune while putting them on, trying to dilute the depressing atmosphere.
It was a tune she had heard the local mountain folk sing when she was stationed in the Xuanmenling area a few years ago. It was originally a very long song, but now she only remembered a small part of it and hummed it over and over again.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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