Chapter 1004 Reencounter with the Old Taoist in the Crane Cloak
Early morning in Qingliang Valley.
A pale golden ray of dawn fell upon the largest waterfall, turning the snow-white waves into a golden hue as they tumbled and swirled on the falls, creating a truly beautiful sight.
The white waterfall cascades down, crashing against the rocks and creating a misty spray that adds a touch of ethereal beauty to the cool valley in the morning.
As the sun slowly rises, the morning sunlight begins to dispel the shadows on the waterfall, driving it downhill until it completely suppresses the darkness beneath a rusty sword stuck in the cliff at the bottom of the waterfall. Only then does the speed slow down slightly due to the increasing slope.
Unlike the vibrant, sunlit world outside, beneath the waterfall lies a dark, damp water prison.
When Ouyang Rong opened his eyes again, there was still a solitary lamp, a table, and a Buddhist scripture in front of him.
Inside this room, which appears to be used as a guardhouse, the environment has remained unchanged for a long time. Being there, time can easily slip through your fingers.
Ouyang Rong hadn't originally planned to actually sleep.
I just want to close my eyes and pretend to sleep.
However, as I kept my head closed, my consciousness became hazy, and when I woke up again, I had no idea what time it was.
Ouyang Rong looked around and saw that the food box beside him was still in its original place, without any signs of being touched.
There was no sign of Yun Xiangyi returning from inside the house.
Ouyang Rong let out a long sigh.
I hope I didn't sleep for too long.
However, he is confident in his sleep patterns.
After pausing for a moment, he stood up unhurriedly, began to pack up the food box, and carried it towards the wooden gate inside.
Although he didn't know the time, Ouyang Rong didn't look up at the waterfall and prepared to go directly into the water prison.
Pushing open the wooden gate, I followed the unnatural staircase upwards, and soon arrived at the passageway lined with prison cells.
Inside the passageway, bright light shone from the ceiling above, illuminating the rock walls and filtering down, allowing a clear view of the cold, hard, grayish-brown rocks on either side.
The black color of the water curtain doors on both sides of the passageway has completely faded, leaving a hazy, dreamlike appearance, like a piece of glass covered with water mist.
However, compared to the water curtain door he saw when he came to deliver the vegetarian meal last night, it was slightly clearer and less blurry.
Ouyang Rong roughly understood the time.
It must have been past dawn, or even past morning; it was already late morning.
He slept longer and more vividly than the night before.
In addition, the changes that occurred at the water curtain prison gate during the day were just as he had imagined.
All we need to do now is wait patiently.
Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze and began to silently distribute the food boxes, skillfully pushing the vegetarian meals through the water curtain door.
The order was the same as always: walk along the passageway, first to room number Gui, then room number Ren... and finally room number Bing.
The cell owner pulled the food boxes into the cell one by one.
Ouyang Rong observed carefully and noticed that their movements were noticeably faster.
It seems that his "lateness" these past two nights must have been noticed by some of the prisoners, who are probably already quite annoyed.
After distributing the food boxes with his eyes downcast, Ouyang Rong silently muttered to himself, "If you need anything, go to Chen Jiaxin."
Clearly, the prisoners in the water dungeon couldn't hear what he was thinking, and they probably blamed the person who brought them food.
After delivering the food box, Ouyang Rong returned to the entrance of the passageway and waited at the door of room number Gui.
His eyes were constantly scanning the water curtain prison doors on both sides of the passageway.
In particular, the cells marked with the characters "丁", "戊", and "癸" that had already been identified in advance through hand scans.
However, the food boxes were pushed out one by one. Ouyang Rong collected the food boxes, but did not leave. He stopped at the entrance of the passageway.
Time passed second by second.
Ouyang Rong kept observing the condition of the water curtain prison door.
The "misty water" on the water curtain door seemed to be gradually wiped away by someone with a rag.
The hazy color gradually disappeared, and the scene inside began to be revealed.
The process was slow, but Ouyang Rong watched with great concentration.
He tilted his head and carefully observed the room next to him with the character "癸" on it.
After an unknown amount of time, the hazy color of the water curtain prison door faded most of the way, revealing the people inside.
Inside the cell marked "Gui" in front of me, the four walls were strangely formed by water curtains, similar to water curtain doors.
In the center of the cell sat a tall, robust old man, his long robe tattered. Though not quite naked, tattered cloth bags hung down his back, giving him a disheveled appearance.
He seemed to have finished eating and was now dozing off, with a bright green bamboo stick beside him.
The old man had white hair and was over eight feet tall. Even though his skin had become somewhat withered with age, he still looked like a small hill when he sat there, making the water prison in front of him seem very small.
He was facing sideways towards the door, so Ouyang Rong could only see part of his profile. His skin was dark, as if it had been exposed to the elements for a long time, making him look like someone who did hard labor. However, his white beard was very long, as if it hadn't been groomed in a long time.
At that moment, the tall old man's eyes were closed, as if he were asleep, and he did not move.
Ouyang Rong glanced at it twice, then looked at the emerald green bamboo stick lying on the ground beside him. It looked like a hiking stick, carved from emerald green bamboo. He didn't know what kind of special bamboo it was made of. The stick was emerald green as spring, and it shimmered in the dim prison cell. It didn't look like an ordinary object at all.
Ouyang Rong glanced at it a few more times.
Because it was the first cell, he was a little excited and looked at it more carefully.
Coming to his senses, he turned around and walked towards the cell next door, this time quickening his pace.
The taciturn young man strolled along the passageway, taking a cursory look around.
Inside cell number Ren, in the center of the room, sat a figure who appeared to be a young man. He wore a gray robe, and his exposed skin was deathly pale, devoid of color, just like that of a dead man.
Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered the pale, slender hand he had seen when he delivered the vegetarian meal yesterday.
This person must be the owner of that hand.
However, the pale-faced young man had his back to the water curtain prison, so his face was not visible.
Ouyang Rong's arrival did not make him turn back.
As if ignoring everything, the pale-faced young man's back remained silent.
For some reason, the moment Ouyang Rong saw this person, his demeanor gave him a vague sense of familiarity.
It was a pale and eerie atmosphere.
Ouyang Rong seemed to have seen this in a certain type of group.
Without thinking too much, he had already walked to the next cell.
This is cell number "Xin," the same cell where the woman's hand was extended yesterday.
Upon closer inspection, a woman stood inside the water dungeon. Her face was alluring and beautiful, like a vixen, and her figure was full and curvaceous, even more mature than Madam Li and Boss Yu, whom Ouyang Rong had recently met. Only a beautiful woman like Pei Shisan Niang could compare to her devilish figure.
This is a beautiful woman. Note that she is a woman, not a girl. It's a difference of one word, but the difference is worlds apart.
The meanings of "woman" and "woman" are quite different. The word "woman" is a polite term used in writing, referring to someone who has been guided by sages, has put on clothes, and observes etiquette.
The word "woman" carries raw, primal desire, stripping away all pretense and dignity, representing a naked, unclothed person.
The beautiful woman in the cell was even more so; her appearance and figure exuded a charming and seductive aura, like a jar of delicious poison buried in the ground and brewing for a long time.
Even though it looks, smells, and even the label says something is wrong and that it might be poisonous, those with weak willpower, or those who crave alcohol, can't help but approach it and take a bite.
This is a violent desire rooted in the deepest part of a man's heart, and also a self-destructive tendency to give up on himself. And this beautiful woman's every smile and frown seems to be able to draw it out.
In short, she's the kind of woman that most men would want to curse at in private.
Even saints are probably no exception, though they might be criticized in a more refined way.
Ouyang Rong saw this and became even more direct. He frowned for a moment, then relaxed his brow, ignored it, and moved on to the next person.
He turned and walked toward the next cell, completely ignoring the beautiful woman in cell number Xin who noticed him and made a beckoning gesture with a smile.
Ouyang Rong didn't want to use vulgar language, so he chose not to look at what he shouldn't see.
However, he felt that Wang Caozhi should like it quite a bit, so those two glances he gave just now were also for his brother-in-law's sake, and he didn't need to thank him.
Ouyang Rong arrived in front of cell number Geng.
Behind the water curtain door, a middle-aged man sat cross-legged in the left corner, closing his eyes to rest.
He was tall and imposing, and looked no shorter than the tall old man in the first cell.
The middle-aged man had a square face, but his appearance was extremely ugly. His face was covered with scars, including blunt force wounds, bite marks, and scratches. Strangely, he was wearing an animal skin, and one of his shoulders was exposed. His skin was wheat-colored and covered with scars.
Ouyang Rong remembered seeing the outstretched hand of the man yesterday, which also bore the scars of some kind of wild animal bite.
This person doesn't look like someone from the Great Zhou Dynasty; he looks more like a foreigner from a northern nomadic tribe.
The moment Ouyang Rong appeared at the entrance of the water curtain, the burly, ugly middle-aged man who had been meditating with his eyes closed slowly opened his eyes and exchanged a glance with Ouyang Rong across the water curtain.
Just one glance, literally one glance.
The burly middle-aged man glanced at it, then closed his eyes again; he seemed rather sullen.
Although he has an ugly and frightening face, once you meet him face to face and look into his eyes, you will gradually find that this man is not as scary as he looks. On the contrary, he seems to have a kind of honest and simple nature.
Just like Ouyang Rong's fake body, he had a somewhat dull and sullen temperament.
Ouyang Rong sized up the strange man, then walked to the next room.
We finally arrived at cell number F.
This is also the water dungeon where the vegetarian meals are usually delivered most quickly.
Through the water curtain door, Ouyang Rong saw a burly man with a large bald head, muscular limbs, and bare arms, looking like a farmer.
He was lying on the ground, his hands behind his head, his legs crossed, looking like a lazy, good-for-nothing.
This shirtless farmer, with sharp eyes and a glint of shrewdness in them, just like the taciturn middle-aged man in the next cell, immediately noticed the dull young man who had suddenly appeared outside the water curtain door.
"What are you looking at? Look at me again and I'll gouge out your eyes!"
The shirtless farmer pointed at Ouyang Rong, swearing and cursing, looking like no good person.
Ouyang Rong walked away silently.
Behind him, the shirtless farmer sprang up from the ground and walked to the door of the water curtain prison, seemingly watching his movements.
However, Ouyang Rong had already moved on to the next cell and didn't pay him any more attention.
Based on yesterday's observation of the "eight hands", cells D, E, and G are the key targets for investigation, because the occupants of these cells are all elderly people.
However, Ouyang Rong had already seen cell number Gui; the tall old man inside was not Master Sun. He had the wrong person.
Currently, only cells numbered D and E remain.
As Ouyang Rong continued, his attention became more and more focused.
We finally arrived at cell number E.
But as soon as he reached the water curtain door of the cell, he saw a chubby face with a bright smile.
He was missing a front tooth when he smiled, making his smile look a bit scary, the kind that would frighten even a child. Although Ouyang Rong was an adult, he still frowned as he looked at him.
The owner of cell number E stood directly at the entrance of the water curtain, very close, and smiled at Ouyang Rong who appeared outside.
They must have sensed the commotion in the passageway beforehand and been drawn to it.
Ouyang Rong frowned and watched silently.
The person in front of him was still not Master Sun.
Although he was an old man, he was a chubby monk. Yes, a monk. He wore dirty monk's robes, and it was impossible to tell which Buddhist sect he belonged to. He had a fat head and big ears, just like the pig's head that was offered as sacrifice in the ancestral hall during the New Year in the village. When he smiled, he looked a lot like the Maitreya Buddha statue in the temple, provided that he didn't lose his front teeth.
The two looked at each other for a while.
The chubby old monk smiled broadly and looked Ouyang Rong up and down, as if he were very interested.
His mouthful of yellow teeth was revealed when he smiled, with a few pieces of black pickled cabbage stuck in them.
As Ouyang Rong withdrew his gaze and prepared to turn and leave, the chubby old monk suddenly raised his hand and made a gesture.
He stared at Ouyang Rong, but raised his right hand and rubbed his own earlobe.
The old monk had very long earlobes, longer than most people's, like those of a Buddha statue in a temple. It was unclear whether he had rubbed them so often that they were long.
However, his action at this moment seemed to be a prompt to Ouyang Rong.
It's a bit odd.
Ouyang Rong shook his head inwardly, unable to figure it out, and ignored the strange old monk.
This time, he went straight to cell number "D" without hesitation.
With two target cells already ruled out, the truth is self-evident.
On the passageway, Ouyang Rong took a deep breath and then took that step.
He walked to the door of cell number T and looked inside.
A dark figure was sitting in the southeast corner of the cell. It was an old man, still leaning against the wall, sitting on the ground with his legs spread apart like a dustpan.
The slumped old man was thin and bony, like a withered branch on the beach. He seemed to be afraid of the cold, hugging his arms tightly and wrapping himself in the crane-feather cloak that Ouyang Rong recognized.
He resembled a water monkey, huddled inside a large black fur coat, with only his pointed head showing. He had a youthful face and white hair, with his head full of silver hair wrapped in a shawl.
It was the long-lost Taoist priest, Sun Laodao.
(End of this chapter)
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