Chapter 55 Chapter 55 Ghost
Poison Lady couldn't bear it any longer. She snorted and laughed, "Embroidered Ghost, calm down. There's no ghost here. Don't fall for these three kids' tricks and scare yourself."
"But I just saw..."
Hua Xiugui lowered his head, only to find that the abnormality in his shadow had disappeared. Could it be that he had really seen it wrong just now?
Naturally, he would not blame himself, so he glared at Tan Xiaobai angrily.
Tan Xiaobai still looked in the direction of Hua Xiugui in panic: "I really saw it. A huge spider just crawled over there. You guys didn't see it!"
"spider?"
Hua Xiugui scoffed at this.
They had already spent several days in the secret realm searching for the entrance to this ancient ruin. Not only was the spiritual energy in this secret realm thin, but there was no living creature besides trees. Not to mention birds or animals, they hadn't even seen a single insect. Naturally, they didn't believe Tan Xiaobai's words at this moment.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Huo Xin suddenly gripped the hilt of the knife cautiously. Poison Lady also fixed her eyes: "It really is a spider."
The pale flames burned within the bronze lotus, casting their shadows as black as ink. And now, besides their figures, a large, bloated, and grotesque shadow appeared on the ground.
Hua Xiugui quickly turned around and looked upwards following everyone's gaze, and ended up almost coming face to face with a giant spider hanging upside down above the doorway, which was bigger than him. Because the distance was too close, he could clearly see the hairs on the spider's mouthparts and smell its cold, fishy stench.
The next moment, the giant spider's body suddenly leaned forward, and its ugly and ferocious mouthparts opened and closed rapidly.
Hua Xiugui did a backflip and jumped far away. He touched his neck with lingering fear, as he almost lost his head.
Seeing that its attack failed, the giant spider immediately crawled along the ceiling towards everyone's heads.
The demon cultivators looked up in astonishment and cried out, "Look at the patterns on its back. Is this a ghost-back spider?"
"I can't use my spiritual sense here, so I can't detect its specific level of cultivation. But judging from its aura, it seems to be only at the Golden Core stage."
"It doesn't matter what kind of spider it is, as long as it's not a ghost."
After Huaxiugui realized it was just a spider, he regained his previous ferocious appearance, leaped forward, and punched the ghost spider's back covered with strange patterns. But he missed.
phantom?
He immediately stepped back again to create some distance, and saw that the human figures on the ground whose limbs he had twisted off were strangely put together again and pounced towards him and others.
Squeak!
A stream of dark green venom shot out from an unknown direction, and Hua Xiugui narrowly avoided it. He glanced at the ground corroded by the venom and immediately reminded everyone that this was highly poisonous and they must be absolutely careful.
However, just as he finished speaking, a stream of venom brushed against the shoulder of a demon cultivator. Although he was wearing a protective robe, the fabric on his shoulder was still corroded by the horrible poison, leaving a small hole, and the venom seeped into his skin.
The demon cultivator fell to the ground, his pale face quickly covered with a layer of dark blue death. He hurriedly stuffed several fourth-grade detoxification pills into his mouth, and only then did he save his life.
Poison Lady squatted down, raised her hand, touched a little of the venom on the ground, and sniffed it. She said with certainty, "It's the poison of the Ghost Back Spider. But these human figurines and the giant spider are illusions, so don't pay any attention to them. You should avoid the venom and go find the real Ghost Back Spider."
Then she looked at Yun Miao and the other two, fearing that they would take the opportunity to escape. But when she turned around, she saw Yun Miao standing next to the human-shaped lamp again, holding the big spoon and digging wildly again.
The other two stared blankly at the spoon being stuffed into their hands, hesitated for a moment, and then started to help.
For some reason, the ghost spider did not attack them, and the three oil thieves lived peacefully in the corner.
Poison Lady: ...
How did the Xuantian Sect raise their children? Were they so poor? They were taking even the fat of the dead?
But as long as it doesn't run away, it will be fine. Poison Lady turned her head and scanned the surroundings carefully, trying to find any trace of the Ghost Back Spider.
Tan Xiaobai watched the fight not far away, his voice low and tinged with excitement. "Boss, you're right. The venom really can't reach this side. But why is that?"
Yun Miao's gaze swept across the top of the tomb's doorway. Although she couldn't see the monster there, she could see a blood bar with a red glow constantly shaking.
In the corner farthest from them, there were several red-named figures with blood bars floating in the air, swaying and gradually approaching the girl-shaped lamp in the corner.
"Because they have limited range."
Tan Xiaobai seemed to understand, but Huo Xin followed Yun Miao's gaze and looked towards the two places. Although she didn't see anything, she knew that there must be something there because she had witnessed Yun Miao killing the ghost-back spider in the ruined temple.
*
"Embroidered ghost, there!"
As the Poison Lady's voice sounded, Hua Xiugui waved her hand, and a sea of fire immediately ignited at the exit pointed out by the Poison Lady.
"I've already told you, I'm an embroidery ghost. Pah, pah, I'm an embroidery ghost."
A palm-sized black spider fell from above the exit in panic, trying to escape from the sea of fire. However, it was pierced by a golden needle from another demon cultivator and was stuck in place. It could only kick around with its eight legs and was completely burned into a pile of black ash by the fire.
The illusion it created disappeared, and without interference, the strange movements in the corner were highlighted.
Hua Xiugui and others looked towards the corner keenly, and saw that the girl-shaped lamp in the corner seemed to have grown legs and was moving outwards, and was about to leave the tomb.
It has a rosy face, curved eyebrows, and a lively and cute smile. At first glance, it looks like a child holding a lotus lantern and can't wait to go out to the lantern festival.
This scene was so bizarre that it made people's scalps tingle. Hua Xiugui retreated in fear: "There really is a ghost!"
Poison Lady growled, "Where did this ghost come from? Look at its feet, it's a ghost spider."
Hua Xiugui and the others looked closely and noticed that there were several little ghost spiders as big as baby fists under the human-shaped lamp. They were the ones carrying the human-shaped lamp out.
The little spiders noticed the humans' gazes, and realizing their actions had been discovered, they quickly turned their heads, sprayed streams of thick green venom at everyone, and then ran out at a faster speed while carrying the human-shaped lights.
The Poison Lady did not move, but a green light came from her body and shot towards that direction.
A jade scorpion in the Foundation Establishment stage stood in front of the group of spiders. It was not afraid of the venom of these little spiders at all, and the illusions created by the Qi Refining stage spiders could hardly affect its mind, so it was quickly eaten clean by it.
Hua Xiugui walked over suspiciously to check: "What do they want with this human-shaped lantern?"
Poison Lady touched the Jade Scorpion that had crawled back, and then explained, "I guess these ghost spiders are probably raised by the owner of this place. Mermaid oil is a delicious delicacy for many carnivorous monsters. As long as someone lights a lamp, the smell of mermaid oil will spread, attracting the ghost spiders to attack."
A demon cultivator cursed, "Insidious!"
Poison Lady frowned for the first time and said, "Those spiders must have been trying to take the human-shaped lamp back to their nest to enjoy. This means there's probably a nest of ghost spiders hidden underground. No one knows how many ghost spiders the owner of this place has bred. We must act quickly."
The other demon cultivators' expressions changed when they heard this. They were all cultivators in the Jindan stage. Although Hua Xiugui and Du Niangzi were masters in the Shenhua stage, their cultivation was suppressed to the Jindan stage due to the characteristics of this secret realm.
Now it is not a problem for them to deal with one or two Jindan-stage ghost spiders, but if there are a few more highly poisonous Jindan-stage ghost spiders plus a swarm of overwhelming small ghost spiders, it will definitely be a disaster for them!
Poison Lady immediately led the demon cultivators out of the tomb, but soon stopped and turned to look at Yun Miao and the other two who were still digging in the small lantern.
Hua Xiugui had been holding a grudge for a long time, and upon seeing this, he walked over and kicked the boy-shaped lantern in front of Yun Miao away.
"Stop digging! Digging, digging, digging! Look at what you look like now. Is this the behavior of a righteous monk who exploits the people's wealth? I think you look like a corrupt official with a fat stomach!"
The bronze flower basket smashed to the ground with a resounding thud, sending up a few sparks. Tongnandeng's skin was shattered, its jade-like skeleton shattered to the ground. Yunmiao had dug out the mermaid oil, leaving only the bottom.
A spark splashed onto the milky white oil and it immediately caught fire. The pale light caused the temperature in the tomb to drop again.
Yun Miao said faintly, "Aren't you afraid they'll get angry if you do this?"
Hua Xiugui was so angry that his face was ferocious: "You little devil, how dare you scare me? Believe it or not, if you say another word, I will pull out your tongue!"
Yun Miao was silent for a second, then said sincerely, "I believe it."
Flower Embroidered Ghost: ...
He was so angry that his liver ached, but due to the order of the Poison Lady, he did not dare to attack Yun Miao. He could only roughly stompling the legs of a terracotta warrior at his feet and threatening her sinisterly.
"Hurry up and leave, or I'll break your legs and make your two friends carry you!"
Yun Miao looked at the red blood bar above his head that kept flashing on and off, and responded calmly: "Oh."
This indifferent attitude made Hua Xiugui feel like he had punched cotton. He cursed the disgusting Xuantian Sect loudly, then turned around and walked forward angrily.
Yun Miao put away the three spoons and followed Huo Xin and Tan Xiaobai. As she passed the corpses of the little ghost spiders, she stole a glance at Du Niang and the others, then quickly put the corpses into her storage bag.
One of the things players like most is having NPCs help fight monsters, hehe~
Poison Lady saw all her moves and suddenly began to doubt her previous guess. Is this really the disciple taught by Che Ruojin?
Or is it that Yun Miao is usually very good at pretending, and his true nature is revealed now that he is drunk?
After entering the corridor, Yun Miao looked back at the tomb chamber, wondering where the bodies of the three people from the Yun family had gone.
She clearly saw it fall down here. Could it be that it was carried away by those ghost-back spiders?
*
There are tombs on both sides of the corridor. The first few chambers that Yun Miao and others encountered had the same layout as the previous tomb. The walls were covered with murals about heavenly immortals and immortal palaces, and were filled with human figurines that were 70% similar to the immortals in the murals. In the corners were four lanterns in the shape of boys and girls holding lotus flowers.
They didn't know how long they had been walking quickly before they finally saw a different tomb chamber. The mural on it depicted a golden light descending from the clouds, and a woman bathing in the golden light and ascending to heaven on the spot.
In the open space in the middle stood three three-legged black-gold tripods, one large and two small. The largest tripod was filled with thick ashes, piled high up on the surface. Yun Miao was standing at the doorway, a bit far away, so he couldn't clearly see what was inside the other two smaller tripods.
Yun Miao had another bad guess in his mind: "What is this?"
"That's a sacrifice."
Huo Xin: "They burned people alive to ashes in a raging fire as a sacrifice to heaven and earth. The other two small tripods should contain the blood and flesh of those burned to death. Many of these things are found in the cave ruins left behind by ancient masters. They seem to believe that sacrificing the flesh and blood of mortals without spiritual roots to heaven and earth can lead to ascension and immortality."
Tan Xiaobai exclaimed, "Are these ancient masters crazy? If it's so easy to ascend to heaven, why are they still cultivating immortality?"
Let's take a step back. Isn't it said that cultivators with spiritual roots are favored by heaven, while mortals without spiritual roots are despised by heaven and earth? According to this theory, even if sacrifices are necessary, they should be made on powerful cultivators. Why torture mortals who are powerless like this?
Finally, he came to the conclusion that this group of ancient powerful beings must have gone crazy with their desire to ascend to heaven and had lost their brains.
Huo Xin nodded: "Many people speculate that those ancient powers were frightened and driven mad by the ancient catastrophe, so they tried all kinds of desperate measures and did these irrational things."
Yun Miao stroked his chin and followed the footsteps of Du Niangzi and the others again: "It's impossible for everyone to be completely crazy. I don't think this matter should be that simple."
Maybe there is some hidden plot.
Poison Lady glanced sideways: "Oh, how do you see that?"
Yun Miao's expression was grave: "Intuition."
Poison Lady chuckled and said nothing more.
In the next half hour, the group did not encounter any danger except that they accidentally went back because the underground tunnel was too winding, and encountered a few sneak attacks from the little ghost spiders.
As they went deeper into the core of this ancient ruins, the surrounding layout changed quietly. The corridors were no longer lined with simple and dark tombs, but proper rooms with doors and windows.
Some rooms were filled with ancient books, others with all sorts of women's clothes and gowns. Some were filled with cute little ceramic animals, quite delightful. Then there was the study, with its brushes, inkstones, and paper, and the women's boudoir, lined with curtains.
These rooms themselves were not dangerous, but Poison Lady and the others walked slower and slower, and finally stopped... because they could not find a way to move forward.
"It's a trap."
"I didn't see the young master along the way. He must be deeper inside."
"There must be an exit. Let's look for it."
Worried that breaking the formation by force would trigger other traps, a dozen demon cultivators scattered throughout the seven rooms and began searching for clues, turning the previously neatly arranged items in the rooms into a mess.
Yun Miao and the other two had nothing to do, and their attention was gradually drawn to a room full of portraits.
The portraits on the wall all depicted the same woman. She would sit at the table reading a book, drink tea and play chess with people in the woods, admire her collection of ceramic animal ornaments indoors, and hold a spear while fighting with the enemy, smiling confidently and ostentatiously.
These rooms, filled with the atmosphere of everyday life, diluted the eerie feeling of the underground, so this place no longer looked like a tomb, but rather like an ordinary cave.
Everything here still retains the look of its owner when she was alive. It's as if... their owner has only just left for a moment, and she will soon be back to continue living a leisurely and carefree life.
Yun Miao and the other two stood in front of the largest portrait and examined it carefully. It depicted an ancient tree so huge that it almost blocked out the sky. The tree did not have a single green leaf, but was covered with strange flowers.
The flowers resembled white Epiphyllums, but their pure white petals were covered with strands of pale golden veins. They bloomed in clusters, pressing against the branches so tightly that they bent them.
Under the tree, the woman and a man were drinking together. Petals fell like rain, and one petal landed in the woman's wine glass.
The two looked at each other and smiled. The woman laughed heartily, while the man just smiled slightly, his golden eyes looking at the woman's profile with tenderness.
The time tens of thousands of years ago was forever frozen in this small painting, but even after so many years, the painter's unconcealable love for the woman is still as vivid as if it were yesterday.
Huo Xin stared at the portrait and murmured, "It seems I was wrong before. It's not that the tomb owner herself was afraid of death and desperately sought medical treatment, but that another person didn't want her to die, so she did this crazy thing after her death."
Yun Miao continued, "The woman in the portrait is probably buried here, but she wasn't the one who built this place. It was the man who painted these portraits, the man in the portraits. He loved her very much, and perhaps she loved him too. They were a couple in ancient times." Tan Xiaobai also covered the lower half of his face with a folding fan, his expression grave. "Not only that, I also see that the woman in the painting is named Xinyi, and the man is named Futu."
Huo Xin and Yun Miao looked at him with disdain: "We can see that."
After all, the painter's inscription is in the upper right corner of the painting: Xinyi gave me Xinyi wine, and Futu gave her Futu flowers.
Below the inscription is a red seal with the words "Futu" (Floating Figure) on it.
Compared to the leisurely and carefree Yun Miao and the other two, the demon cultivators were much busier, searching in every room.
Yun Miao walked over to Hua Xiugui curiously and asked, "What are you looking for?"
This doesn't look like an exit. Who would hide an exit in a palm-sized vase?
Hua Xiugui and the other three demons were taking down the portraits in the room and examining them carefully from front to back and left to right. They just snorted coldly when they heard this.
"Get lost."
Yun Miao said softly, "Hua Xiugui, Xinyi and Futu are lying on your back, can't you feel it?"
Hua Xiugui shuddered and quickly turned his head to look behind him. After looking, he realized that he had been deceived by this little ghost again, and immediately glared at him fiercely.
"Why are you so annoying, little brat? Believe it or not, I'll kick you!"
Yun Miao nodded: "I believe it."
Hua Xiugui choked and angrily raised his foot to kick, but Yun Miao took a step back to avoid it. Fortunately, he was just trying to scare Yun Miao and did not continue to pursue him.
"Who are Xinyi and Futu?"
Yun Miao turned his head and pointed: "The person in the portrait."
Hua Xiugui immediately walked quickly towards the largest portrait, but after checking for a long time, he still didn't find any clues. He threw the portrait on the ground in annoyance.
Yun Miao then discovered that there were words on the back of the portrait. Compared to the neat handwriting on the front, these words were messy and revealed pain: "Through life and death, I will be with you. I will hold your hand and grow old with you..." Xinyi, you never break your promise to anyone else, why did you break it to me?
Seeing that Hua Xiugui was about to step on the painting, Yun Miao immediately picked up the painting and put it into the storage bag.
Hua Xiugui was stunned: "You want this too? It has no spiritual energy, it's just a piece of torn paper."
"vulgar."
Yun Miao said disdainfully, "How can such a beautiful painting be measured by the amount of spiritual energy it possesses? This is beauty, this is art. I plan to keep it and hang it on my wall later."
Hua Xiugui: "...You actually like such an unlucky painting. I think you are mentally ill."
He rolled his eyes and stalked away.
Yun Miao followed and said, "You haven't told me yet, what are you looking for?"
Hua Xiugui felt like she was just an annoying follower and immediately threatened her sinisterly, "Why are you asking so many questions? Don't you know that sometimes the more you ask, the faster you die?"
"oh."
Yun Miao asked curiously, "So what are you looking for?"
Flower Embroidered Ghost: ...
He gritted his teeth and yelled towards the other room: "Poison Lady, I really can't bear it anymore. Can't you really, really, really let me strangle this annoying brat to death?"
The Poison Lady in that room didn't say anything, but the Jade Scorpion lying on Hua Xiu Gui's shoulder stood up, and its cold tail needle gently scratched Hua Xiu Gui's neck.
Hua Xiugui's chest heaved violently twice, murderous intent surged in his eyes, and he wished he could kill everyone.
"We are here to find something, something very rare and precious..."
Before he could finish his words, he felt the jade scorpion's tail stinger piercing his neck, as if it would release deadly poison in the next second.
Hua Xiugui sneered and looked down at Yun Miao.
"Of course, I can't tell you what this thing is, but I can tell you that we are looking for someone now."
Yun Miao: "Who is it?"
"Our young master was the one who first discovered this ancient ruins and then sent a message for us to come and find that thing. So he must be here now and he may have left a secret code to guide us."
Hua Xiugui looked at Huo Xin and Tan Xiaobai and said, "If you find it, tell me. Then, when this is over, I can let you two die more quickly."
Yun Miao: "Why are there only two people?"
The Flower Embroidered Ghost grinned at her and said, "Because I won't let you go. I'm going to pull out your tongue, break your legs, and chop you into pulp."
Yun Miao narrowed his eyes: "You hate me so much, it seems that Hua Xiugui is really afraid of ghosts."
Hua Xiugui put away his smile and said, "Shut up!"
*
Suddenly, a demon cultivator exclaimed in surprise, "We found it. Look, this is the Young Master's handwriting."
The demon cultivators immediately surrounded them. Yun Miao and the other two stood on tiptoe at the back and saw that they were carefully examining a piece of white cloth covered in bloody words. Because it had been so long, the blood had dried and turned black.
The three of them were surprised. It was indeed the secret code of the Demon Cult. It was obviously different from the secret code used by normal people and was very evil.
But soon their eyes became strange, because those blood words were not some special codes that people could not understand, but just ugly handwriting.
Because it is so ugly that it looks like a dead body that has been cut in half and is crawling on the ground with its upper body supported, it looks so miserable and terrifying at first glance.
The handwriting of the young master of the Demon Sect is so ugly?
They say that a person's handwriting reflects his character, so how ugly must he be?
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The author has something to say: Hua Xiugui: You say you don’t believe it!
Yun Miao: I believe it!
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