The hand on my shoulder grabbed me forcefully, and with a reflex action, I immediately turned around to free myself from the unknown hand, but the other person's strength was clearly stronger than mine, and they didn't let go of my shoulder.
"What the heck is going on!"
I cursed, but I was also exerting force; I pulled out the triangular thorn from behind. If it really was a ghost, then the triangular thorn probably wouldn't be of any use, but at least having something in my hand made me feel more secure.
Unable to break free from the pressure, I had no choice but to raise my foot and kick forward in a hurry, as if I could feel something soft and squishy, but there was no noise. The big hand was thus shaken off by me, and I tightlу gripped the triangular thorn and pounced. As I was about to strike, the bell on my finger suddenly shook, emitting a flash of golden light. In that golden light, I seemed to see Fatty's face!
"Fatty, is that you? Fatty!"
I exclaimed in astonishment. But I heard no answer from the other party, and darkness covered the surroundings once again.
Could it be that I was mistaken? This place was too bizarre; what I saw might not necessarily be real. I shook the bell again, but no golden light appeared again. The previous golden light was likely the manifestation of righteousness from the bell, dispelling the resentment around it. Thus, what I saw should be Fatty!
I stood up from the ground, but crouched low, looking around with my eyes, shaking the bell incessantly, hoping for another glimmer of golden light. But at that moment, all the hair on the side of my face stood up, and I instinctively dodged backward. It was a pure instinctual reaction to the immense danger I felt, even though I still couldn't see or hear anything.
"Fatty!"
I shook the bell again and tried to call out, but suddenly, a hand grabbed the collar of my shirt from behind, pulling me backward. I immediately turned over and shook the bell - it could well be Fatty, who might have mistaken me for a monster. I was dragged back five or six meters and finally saw light, feeling a little uneasy at first. I rubbed my eyes and saw Wei Changping standing in front of me, with a mocking smile, saying, "Not dead, huh?"
"Did you pull me out?"
I asked doubtfully.
"Are those celestial beings in the sky?" Wei Changping said, and I caught a glimpse of Daian pulling the fat man out of the golden thread, holding a three-edged spike in his hand, sweating profusely and panting heavily, lying on the ground like an exhausted bear.
"I've had enough fun. If it wasn't for your little use, I would've let you kill each other in my golden thread. I actually wanted to see you stab each other to death, quite exciting," Gu Yu said contemptuously, hands in his pockets.
"Did you set Fatso to attack me?" I felt anger rising inside me as I spoke. Not only was I being treated like a monkey, but I also nearly died at the hands of my own brother, which was extremely embarrassing.
Gu Yu didn't respond but threw a small bag, about the size of half a palm, made of yellow silk, and said, "Take this bag with you, otherwise, you won't be able to see anything. Anzi, get ready, we should go in to explore the treasure too."
I sat on the ground, and after a while, I opened the bag and found a few pieces of what looked like broken wood inside, very light, I didn't know what kind of treasure it was.
"Xiaoshan, now is not the time to be angry. If we are not as skilled as others, we can only swallow our pride. The road ahead is long, and you will surely have your day," Zhu Zi comforted me, patting my shoulder.
I'm not a particularly bad person; if someone steps on me on the road, I won't curse them. But I must admit, I hold grudges, just like my stubbornness, it's in my nature! Gu Yu had crossed me; what "swallowing our pride," when we get under Xuanming Temple later, there would be plenty of opportunities for revenge. Today, if I don't break his arms and legs, my name isn't Ba!
After resting for a while, the four of us followed Gu Yu's footsteps, and entering the golden thread was indeed a different sight. We saw Xuanming Temple's gates, but with poor lighting and a strong wind, it was apparently heavily affected by resentment.
Gu Yu and the others were setting up ladders and ropes at the well. I pulled Fatso aside and whispered, "Fatso, do you remember the tactics we used when we fought in junior high school?"
Fatso paused, then immediately nodded.
"When I signal you, let's make sure to teach them a lesson when we get down there."
The group entered the well along the ladder, with Zhu Zi leading and Gu Yu at the rear, and entered the underground river without any incidents along the way.
We reached the place where we had previously killed the pale-face monster, and further ahead was the position of the short monster that I had activated.
"According to our investigation, this should be a stronghold of the witch doctors within the Middle Heaven Gate. Xuanming Temple was built during the Qing Dynasty, specifically during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. It belonged to the most prosperous period of the Qing Dynasty. Xuanming Temple was just a facade, and no one knows what these witch doctors were doing underground. But one thing is certain even after three hundred years, many treasures and monsters are still left here. We catch what we can catch of the monsters and take the treasures we can. The goal of exploration is simple to save our lives," Gu Yu said, using a flashlight to survey the surroundings.
"Xiaoshan, did you accidentally activate the mechanism last time?" Gu Yu suddenly asked me.
After I nodded, he pointed ahead and said, "There are no other paths nearby, so we still need you to open the mechanism for us."
I was taken aback. Fatso immediately cursed, "Damn, why should we go?"
"Why? You guys are responsible for luring out the monsters, and the three of us will deal with them. That's the only way we can explore for treasure. Otherwise, why did I ask you to come down?" Gu Yu's words made Fatso and Luoyang eager to act, but I stopped them.
"We can't beat them yet, but it's okay, I know what to do. I'll go and activate the mechanism!"
It was clear that Gu Yu intended to use us as cannon fodder, but it was not yet time to part ways with them. I had to endure it for now!
I held the flashlight in my hand and tiptoed forward. The short monster I had seen last time must have a high status, as the white-faced monster was kneeling in front of it. As I reached the edge of the wall, I used the flashlight to search for a while before finding the mechanism. I forcefully pulled the mechanism and suddenly the entire underground river shook. I hurried back, and with the shaking of the underground river, the wall in front of me slowly opened, as if the gate to hell was opening!
"Changping, be ready, act quickly later!" Gu Yu looked calm, with a confident look.
I had already retreated to the rear, standing next to the fat man. Behind the opened barrier, in the darkness, was a huge stone coffin. It seemed different from last time, there was a strong feeling in my head, but I couldn't pinpoint it.
The stone coffin slowly opened, the friction sound made my ears numb, and something gradually crawled out from the stone coffin. It seemed all the same as last time, but I just felt something was off.
Then, what was inside the stone coffin stood up in the dark, swaying towards us. It got closer and closer, the surroundings were particularly quiet, as if you could hear the footsteps of that monster.
"Here it comes!" Zhu Zi said solemnly.
"Turn on the light!" As the dark figure approached the barrier, Gu Yu suddenly shouted, and Wei Changping immediately turned on a large lamp, which was very bright and immediately illuminated the creature in front of the barrier.
At that moment, I finally understood why I felt something off in my heart! Because, the creature in front of the barrier was not the short monster I had seen last time, but another white-faced monster!
"What's going on?" Gu Yu turned and asked Zhu Zi, "Why is it different from what you said?"
Zhu Zi also couldn't answer, and at that moment, the white-faced monster illuminated by the strong light began to roar, covering its eyes with claw-like hands, curling up slowly, looking very painful!
"He's afraid of the light, boss, what should we do?" Wei Changping asked.
"Doesn't matter, let's deal with this first, catch it alive if we can. I want to see what the hell this monster is!" The disgruntled Gu Yu gave the order to take action!