The river we were traveling through was a man-made tributary, designed to connect the cave containing the Skull Wall to the underground river.
After rounding the corner, our view suddenly opened up, revealing a huge cave. However, the rocks inside gradually lost their sharp edges and became a flesh-colored stone full of wrinkles. Walking inside felt like being in a large, uncensored place.
Looking at the wrinkled stone, Song Laosan had a complicated expression: "Damn it, what kind of terrain is this? I feel like I've turned into a cell again, ready to be reincarnated."
Lin Que grinned from the side: "You can't say that. Back then, you were racing against thousands of troops, but today you're all alone. How can that be the same!"
The rest of us laughed when we heard Lin Que say that, which lightened the atmosphere a bit.
"Ring ring ring!"
Just then, the eight-treasure jewel hanging at the bow of the boat suddenly vibrated and made a clear, ringing sound.
"Holy crap, this thing is electric?"
Lin Que blinked and looked at the Eight Treasures Exquisite: "I thought this thing was a solid weight!"
"Grab your weapons!"
I had no desire to play with Lin Que at that moment, and I pulled out the peach wood sword from my travel bag.
According to legend, the Eight Treasures Exquisite Array gathers the emperor's fortune and can suppress all evil spirits in the world, possessing an extremely strong ability to sense evil spirits.
Although this is the first time I've ever seen the Eight Treasures Exquisite Treasure, there must be a reason why it can be used as a family heirloom of the Wei family and have the same status as the Judge's Record.
Previously, we hung the Eight Treasures Ornament on the bow of the boat. No matter how the boat rocked with the waves, it made no sound. But now that the water flow has calmed down, it suddenly made a sound, which felt very strange.
When Qu Ruilin and Song Laosan saw me draw my peach wood sword, they also took out two longswords made of copper coins from their travel bags, then took out a small porcelain bottle and poured the liquid inside onto the swords.
I smelled the blood in the air and asked, glancing sideways, "Is it rooster blood or black dog blood?"
In folk legends, both rooster blood and black dog blood are believed to ward off evil spirits, but their effects are not entirely the same.
Black dog blood can not only be used to ward off evil spirits, but also to break some forms of witchcraft. Furthermore, the so-called "black dog" must indeed be a black male dog; it has no effect on a female dog.
Black dog blood is a purely yang and dry substance, while ghosts are yin. Furthermore, dog blood is the most bloody, and bloodiness belongs to the lungs, which belong to the metal element. The soul of a ghost belongs to the wood element, and metal controls wood. Therefore, ghosts are afraid of the blood of black male dogs.
Another theory is that Erlang Shen's celestial dog is black, and since dogs are considered to be gods descended to earth, ghosts are afraid of black dogs.
As for rooster blood, it's easy to understand why. When a rooster crows, it signifies the rise of yang energy. The word "rooster" sounds like "auspicious" and is associated with yang, so chicken blood is generally used to ward off evil spirits.
However, these two things are not applicable in all situations. For example, in our current situation, we are on a boat, and the surrounding element is water. Water nourishes wood, which will increase the evil energy. If we use black dog blood to ward off evil, the metal element of the black dog blood will cancel out the water element. In this feng shui situation, the yang element of the dog blood will become extremely yin. That is why the phrase "dog blood poured on the head" is used to describe bad luck.
Therefore, in such a dark environment, rooster blood, which can enhance yang energy, is the most appropriate choice.
Qu Ruilin's response to me was even more unexpected: "The blood of a convict!"
The so-called "criminal blood" refers to the blood of death row inmates.
In feudal society, people's level of knowledge was generally low. In the old days, there was a superstition that human blood could cure "incurable diseases" such as wind, tuberculosis, ascites, and diaphragm. Therefore, whenever a prisoner was beheaded in the market, someone would spend a lot of money to bribe the executioner and buy the prisoner's blood to dip steamed buns for the sick to eat.
This method is recorded in the book "Supplement to the Compendium of Materia Medica" compiled by Chen Zangqi in the Tang Dynasty and "What the Master Does Not Say" by Yuan Mei in the Qing Dynasty.
However, not everyone who buys convict blood does so for medical treatment; there is another group of people who do so: tomb raiders.
Tomb raiders believed that the beheaded prisoners were all wicked and filled with resentment. As the old saying goes, ghosts fear evil people, and the blood of such wicked people, filled with resentment, has a strong suppressive effect on evil spirits. Legend has it that this blood has no taboos, and unless the tomb owner is a king or general, ordinary wandering ghosts will flee in panic when they smell this blood.
However, the blood of convicts must be from male prisoners, and cannot be the blood of rapists, thieves, human traffickers, or embezzlers, because these types of prisoners are despicable and will go to the eighteen levels of hell after death. Not only will it not have the effect of warding off evil, but it will also attract evil spirits.
There is an even more dangerous situation: if the owner of this convict's blood was wrongfully killed, then the tomb raider who takes this blood into the tomb is essentially carrying a soul-summoning incense, deliberately seeking death.
Although ancient times were feudal and corrupt, except for a few turbulent periods, most dynasties still guaranteed the basic human rights of criminals. Even in ancient times, it was difficult to obtain the blood of convicts, let alone in modern times.
This is why I was surprised to hear that Qu Ruilin and his group were able to obtain convict blood.
Seeing me draw my peach wood sword, Lin Que followed suit and pulled out a peach wood axe from his travel bag, pointing ahead and saying, "Big brother, look over there!"
I looked in the direction Lin Que was pointing and subconsciously gripped the peach wood sword in my hand.
The riverbed widened to about six meters away, and the sides of the river were no longer cave walls, but rocky beaches.
The mudflats on the right look like a large cave. Because we are on the side, we can't see the whole thing from this angle, only a corner.
The riverbank in my line of sight was covered with a pile of white bones, while there were many skeletons hanging in mid-air from the cave ceiling.
Judging from the broken ropes in the air, these skeletons must have been hanging in the air, but they fell down because of the decaying flesh and the rotting ropes.
"There are footprints on the shore!"
Qu Ruilin leaned over the side of the boat and shone his flashlight on a spot: "There are signs that the bones here have been trampled on. Someone must have come ashore."
"Manjing, pull in the rope, let's go take a look!"
I shouted something to the boat behind me, then picked up the oar at my feet and began to maneuver the hovercraft toward the riverbank.
"Splash!"
As my oars propelled the water, the water beside our boat seemed to boil, churning violently.
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