Seeing me lost in thought, the monkey nudged me: "Young Master Duan, we searched for you all over the mountains yesterday, and even called your name around here. Why didn't you respond?"
I initially thought it was a joke Monkey and the others were playing on me, but Qu Ruilin also looked at me with suspicion. I knew he would never get involved in such a thing, so I asked Monkey, "What happened to you last night after we got separated in the fog?"
"Mist? What mist?"
The monkey scratched his head: "Yesterday, we determined the location of the dragon's head. Didn't you say you needed to go into the valley to confirm the location and told me to wait for your news on the hillside? I waited for a long time but didn't hear from you, so I went down to look for you. Even when Third Master and the others arrived, I still didn't see you."
This response sent chills down my spine.
He's my best friend. Although he likes to joke around, he would never lie to me about something like this.
But as far as I remember, we were together the whole time until we met the Ghost Temple and then we separated.
In other words, the monkey and I saw different things.
Who was the person he was talking to? And who came into the valley with me?
Xu Hu then interjected, "By the way, Mr. Duan, we found a large amount of datura and cannabis in the valley where you went missing last night. These plants have been growing here for who knows how many years, and they have piled up on the ground in a thick layer. Some of the plants have even dried out."
I looked up: "Marijuana and datura?"
"Both of these plants have hallucinogenic effects, especially datura, which is also known as the 'bell of hell' because it is highly toxic. Under its effects, users will experience hallucinations and find it difficult to return to reality. After inhaling it, they will feel vivid hallucinations, such as being in a daze or talking to people who are not actually in front of them."
Wei Shengnan added, “Cannabis is also a traditional crop in India, and in Indian tradition, ascetics and wandering monks would smoke both of these crops together to relax their bodies during meditation and experience so-called ‘ascension to heaven’ illusions. We suspect that the reason you are in this state is because you inhaled the dust from these dried plants.”
The monkey disagreed with this explanation: "If there's something in that valley, why didn't I get lost when I went in to look for Young Master Duan?"
No one could answer this question, and in the end, Song Laosan gave a vague answer: "Perhaps it varies from person to person."
Hearing their analysis, I felt that I might be hallucinating, so I asked Wei Shengnan to turn around and prepare to put her clothes on.
But just as I was getting dressed, I discovered two rows of clear teeth marks on my arm.
These teeth marks don't look like those of a human, at least not an adult's.
It looks like it was left by a child.
The location of the teeth marks is exactly where "Wei Shengnan" bit me last night.
What does this tell us?
This proves that what happened to me last night was not something I imagined after being poisoned.
If the "person" I was intimate with wasn't Wei Shengnan, then what the hell slept with me?
Thinking about what happened last night, my body trembled involuntarily, and I broke out in a cold sweat.
If Wei Shengnan from last night wasn't a fake, then the monk wasn't a fake either.
That……
Hearing no sound behind her, Wei Shengnan urged, "Duan Shenxing, are you dressed yet?"
"immediately."
My thoughts were pulled back to reality, and I quickly got dressed.
Even though it was broad daylight, the eerie events of last night still made me feel that this valley was extremely terrifying, and even the sunlight shining on me felt sinister.
I really wanted to tell everyone that there was something unusual about this valley, but after thinking about it, I swallowed my words.
The four heirs present each had their own ideas.
Wei Shengnan was determined to find the immortal scripture at any cost to increase her chances of saving her grandmother.
Having suffered for so many years, Song Laosan desperately hopes that the four families can reconcile and rebuild their business.
As for Qu Ruilin, given his hatred for the Duan family, I'm afraid the more I try to leave, the more he'll want to stay.
After I finished dressing, Wei Shengnan turned around and asked, "The magnetic field of Hengji Mountain is very strange. The walkie-talkie signal is intermittent, and all the modern instruments we brought malfunctioned here! Last night, Brother Lin's side found nothing and did not find the Demon Monk's Tomb. Have you made any discoveries here?"
Qu Ruilin glanced at me, and although he didn't say anything, his eyes were full of emotion.
In their view, I wasn't looking for dragons at all; I just ran around the mountain naked all night. What could I possibly have found?
Knowing that no one would leave, I said, "Try connecting to my tracking device and see if you can reconnect. I found a place last night and left my backpack there."
Upon hearing this, Xu Hu picked up the Beidou handheld radio in his hand and searched for a signal: "There is indeed a signal, about 400 meters away from us in a straight line!"
Wei Shengnan hadn't had high hopes for me, but upon hearing Xu Hu's answer, she glanced at me in surprise: "Let's go, let's go take a look!"
We walked along and soon found the backpack I had abandoned the night before in a valley.
Seeing the terrain here, I swallowed hard, trying to suppress my emotions.
This place has the exact same terrain as the one I saw last night.
But the magnificent temple just a few dozen meters away had long since vanished without a trace.
Wei Shengnan saw my backpack and asked me, "Duan Shenxing, is this the place you mentioned?"
"Ah? Ah! This is it!"
I snapped out of my thoughts and picked up my backpack: "Come with me!"
As I spoke, I led everyone toward the general location of the temple.
Looking at the ground, there were only my footprints; there were no monkey footprints at all.
Just as I was forcing myself to believe that I had been poisoned last night, Xu Hu, who was walking ahead, broke a tree branch.
That tree branch was the lantern that the monk in my hand had transformed into after I killed him with my wooden sword last night.
"call!"
A gust of cold wind blew by, and dust rushed into our faces.
Seeing that I was distracted, the monkey nudged me with its elbow: "Young Master Duan, why is your face so sweaty? Did you sleep on the mountain all night and catch a cold?"
"fine!"
I bit my tongue hard to pull myself out of my dazed state, walked to the approximate location of the temple from last night, pointed to the ground and said, "The place I found is right under our feet!"
"here?"
Qu Ruilin frowned slightly: "Do not seek a burial site on a dragon vein with an empty sky, for even if there is a burial site, it will easily perish. This is the most unsuitable burial location on the entire mountain."
Actually, I had the same thought as Qu Ruilin. I also felt that the feng shui of this place was pitifully bad. But the ghost temple that appeared last night made me feel that there was something strange about this place. Even if I couldn't find the demon monk's tomb, I wanted to see what was buried underground. So I said in a deep voice, "We agreed to each find a place, and this is the place I found."
Seeing that we were about to start arguing again, Song Laosan quickly smoothed things over: "Since Shenxing is so sure that this is the location, digging a exploratory hole won't waste too much time. Why don't we trouble Brother Ruilin to put the shovel down and give it a try?"
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