Chapter 14: Huang Pizi Fights the Snake

  "Wu Lele looked at me and asked: 'That night? What happened?'"

  It seems that she really didn't remember what happened that night, I felt relieved, but then she asked again: "That night, did you do anything to me?"

  "There isn't one." I said hastily, feeling a burning sensation on my face.

  Wu Lele took a step forward and looked at my face left and right, saying: "Your face is red, you must have done something wrong to me, right?"

  "No!" I decided to die rather than admit it. To avoid causing others pain, lies had to be told when necessary.

  "If there's nothing, why is your face red?" Wu Lele obviously didn't believe it.

  She asked like this, I'm worried that I won't be able to hold on and will confess. Hurriedly shifting her gaze, I said: "Zhong Ling'er has been in there for so long, why hasn't she come out yet?" Wu Lele said: "Maybe she thinks it's fun inside and doesn't want to come out."

  Wu Lele's tone was strange, the more she spoke, the more worried I became, so I told her I'd go take a look and asked her to keep an eye on the kerosene lamp. I thought she wouldn't agree, but unexpectedly she agreed without hesitation. I was delighted, thanked her and turned around to head into the cave.

  "Hmm!" It seemed like a cold hum was heard, but the voice was too low and felt unreal.

  Because I was in a hurry, I didn't bring a flashlight and had to use the lighter to walk inside with its faint light.

  As I walked to where I came last time, I heard a snoring sound. I stopped involuntarily and listened carefully with my ears perked up, but there was no sound at all. The cave inside was too dark, and it was impossible to see how deep it was. Since I didn't hear the sound of Zhong Ling'er's footsteps, it meant that the road inside wouldn't be too short. I called out in a low voice: "Zhong Ling'er!"

  The echo was long, one after another, but there was no response from Jing Ling'er. I felt something was off and was about to take a step forward when suddenly a black shadow flashed by in front of me. I was startled and quickly stopped in my tracks. The speed of that black thing was too fast, I didn't even get a clear look at what it was. It looked like a black cat darting past.

  Is it a stray cat living here?

  I raised my hand high, trying to make the lighter's beam shine further. As I walked deeper, the ground and stone walls became drier, and the passage twisted and turned. I didn't expect this cave to be so deep, could it have been left behind by the devils from back then? The further in I went, the darker it got, and I really didn't want to go any further, but thinking of Zhong Ling'er and Da Hei's souls inside, I had no choice but to steel myself and continue on.

  I turned a corner, and suddenly a bright light appeared in front of me. My heart skipped a beat as I realized it was Zhong Ling'er's flashlight! And there she was, standing with her back to me. My heart leapt with joy, and I quickened my pace. Zhong Ling'er turned around and looked at me, then suddenly put her index finger to her lips and shushed me. I was taken aback, and Zhong Ling'er waved her hand at me again. I stopped in my tracks, staring at her in surprise. What was she trying to do? It all seemed so mysterious.

  What I didn't expect was that Zhong Ling'er saw me stop and beckoned to me again, indicating for me to go over.

  I walked past with great doubt, thinking that this little goddess wouldn't want to have a romantic affair with me here, would she?

  As I approached Zhong Ling'er, I was about to ask her what she was thinking when she shone the flashlight into the cave. Following the light, I took a look and was shocked to find that in front of me was a stone chamber!

  The stone room is about twenty square meters, filled with piles of rocks, big and small, in different shapes. It reminds me of the time when I climbed the rocky mountain with Dahei. My heart moved, and I asked Zhong Ling'er in a low voice: "Is Dahei's soul here?" But Zhong Ling'er whispered back: "Listen."

  I held my breath and concentrated, cocking my ear to listen carefully. Suddenly, a faint sound reached my ears. My heart skipped a beat - wasn't that the sound of snoring?

  The sound is very light, so light that if you don't listen carefully, it's almost inaudible. Moreover, the sound is intermittent and seems to be there but not quite.

  "What is it?" I asked Zhong Ling'er in a low voice.

  Jing Ling'er's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she slowly shook her head.

  "Is it a ghost?"

  Jing Ling'er shook her head again. I was puzzled, if it wasn't a ghost, what was it? Could it be human? But who would sleep in this dark and eerie place?

  "Could it be that Dahei's soul is playing a trick?" I thought of Dahei, who sometimes liked to play pranks, and couldn't help but ask. Zhong Ling'er looked at me and asked back, "How did you get in? Weren't you supposed to be guarding the coal oil lamp at the entrance?" I said I was worried about her being in danger, so I came in to take a look, and Wu Lele is watching the coal oil lamp.

  Jing Ling'er didn't say anything else, and walked towards the stone room. I followed closely behind her. We walked very slowly and quietly, but as we moved forward, the snoring sound grew louder. Suddenly, my pant leg moved, and I felt something brush against my leg and scurry past. I let out a startled cry, and Jing Ling'er immediately shone her flashlight on me, asking what was wrong. I said there was something underfoot. Jing Ling'er's expression changed slightly, and she quickly shone the light on the ground. The dry ground only had a few broken stones, nothing else.

  I also lit the lighter and looked around vigilantly. What happened just now was not an illusion, something really touched my leg, and judging from the feeling, that thing was not small at all, at least as big as a cat - I suddenly thought of the black shadow that flashed by outside just now, could it be the same kind of creature?

  Suddenly, a hissing sound came from the front, Zhong Ling'er immediately shone her flashlight over, and a black stripe suddenly appeared in sight. My heart sank, it was a snake!

  That snake was as thick as a fist, five or six meters long. Perhaps due to the dim light, it looked pitch black all over its body, with obvious diamond-shaped dark brown spots on its back. At three meters away from us, its head was raised high, its eyes gleaming with a faint glow, constantly spitting out apricot pits, looking ferocious and terrifying.

  "Ding Ling'er, ah, a sudden sound, subconsciously took a step back. I quickly walked to her front and said in a low voice: 'Be careful, this seems to be a rattlesnake, it's very painful when bitten.'"

  "Hmm." Zhong Ling'er responded lightly and continued to shine her light on the black snake.

  A strange noise came from its body, and the sound was very similar to snoring. I suddenly realized that the snoring sound was coming from this snake!

  But how can I put it? Rather than encountering such an ugly snake, I would rather meet a ghost.

  The black snake confronted us for about half a minute, slowly swimming towards us. I hastily stretched out my hand to block in front of Zhong Ling'er and slowly backed away with her. At this time, except for a lighter and a flashlight on our bodies, there was nothing else, and it was clear that this was the black snake's territory. If it were to cause trouble, Zhong Ling'er and I would be at a disadvantage.

  I think even the stupidest soul wouldn't come to such a desolate and dark place, so I told Zhong Ling'er let's retreat, and quickly picked up a sharp stone from the ground. The black snake immediately raised its head again, staring at me with a pair of venomous eyes, raising its head high, continuously spitting out apricot pits, shaking back and forth, and slowly curling up its body. I knew it was concentrating energy to attack me.

  Suddenly, a black shadow darted towards the black snake and made a crisp cracking sound. The black snake had already entwined itself with the black object. I quickly took the flashlight from Zhong Ling'er's hand and shone it on the black object, only to discover that it was actually a yellow weasel!

  At this time, Huang Pizi bit down on the black snake's body and rolled around on the ground, making hissing sounds and squeaking noises that didn't stop. The black snake shook its head violently and sent Huang Pizi flying out. But Huang Pizi bounced back like a rubber ball, circled around the black snake, urinated, and seemed to be "drawing a boundary". I've heard that snakes are most afraid of Huang Pizi's urine. At this time, the black snake was surrounded in the middle and couldn't escape. It raised its head, stared tightly at Huang Pizi with both eyes, and made a move. Huang Pizi jumped into the circle, relying on his cleverness and agility, advancing and retreating, left and right, launching lightning-fast attacks on the black snake. The black snake's movements were slower, defending left and right, being made dizzy. Before long, Huang Pizi bit down on the black snake's seven inches. The black snake used its most powerful move: wrapping around from left to right. Huang Pizi puffed out his belly, waited for the black snake to wrap around, then shrunk his body and drilled out, and then bit down again on the black snake's body... It was truly magnificent and thrilling, and I and Zhong Ling'er watched with our eyes wide open and our mouths agape.

  I finally understand that the creature that flashed before us and bumped into my leg earlier was a Huang Pizi, and judging from the situation just now, it seems like the Huang Pizi is helping us.

  But why would it help us?