Chapter 64: Re-entering the Mysterious Cave

  Wu Lele saw that both I and Zhang Yunhao were in a bad mood, so she suggested we go out for some fresh air together.

  Troubles are like smoke; once blown away by the wind, they will naturally disappear.

  After getting on the car, Zhang Yunhao said he really wanted to find that old rascal and teach him a lesson to vent his anger. Wu Lele advised that it's better to let go of grievances than to dwell on them, it's just that he wasn't skilled enough, don't blame others. I found it strange, in the past when encountering such things, with Wu Lele's personality, she would definitely fan the flames for Zhang Yunhao, but this time she actually advised him, could it be that she also has some fear of that Fish Daoist?

  Zhang Yunhao ignored Wu Lele, driving recklessly with a heart full of hatred. Once the seeds of hatred were sown, it was not easy to eradicate them. What I urgently wanted to know now was what method Fish Daoist used to treat Mr. Qian's wife, especially that piece of rotten skin. Apart from using the yin-yang knife, was there another way to get rid of it?

  Suddenly, Wu Lele shouted: "How did you drive the car here?"

  I looked out of the window and found it very familiar. When I saw the towering mountain in front of me, I realized that we had actually arrived at Panlong Mountain.

  Zhang Yunhao said he didn't know what was going on either, anyway, seeing the road and walking, unknowingly arrived here.

  It seems he wanted to come here in his subconscious mind.

  I said since we've come all the way here, might as well go up and take a look, and with that I jumped off the bus.

  Zhang Yunhao looked up at the mountain and asked if I had brought the yin-yang knife. I said no. Zhang Yunhao asked, "How come you didn't bring it again?" He said that even if I didn't bring the yin-yang knife, we should have brought the Water Saint Child, otherwise how could we go into the water? I said that at first, I hadn't thought of coming here. Zhang Yunhao thought for a moment and said that since we didn't bring the yin-yang knife and it was almost dark, we shouldn't go up there today. He suggested going back tomorrow with the yin-yang knife. As he was about to turn the car around, Wu Lele immediately shouted: "Stop, stop, stop! We finally arrived here, how can we go back now? What's the big deal if we don't have the yin-yang knife and Water Saint Child? I'm not afraid as a girl, are you two men still scared?"

  Zhang Yunhao looked at me, seeking my opinion. I remembered the old man reminding me not to go into that cave again because it was very dangerous, so I told Zhang Yunhao about the old man coming to find me. Zhang Yunhao's face turned solemn and he hesitated. I felt this wasn't like Zhang Yunhao's personality; if it were in the past, he would have gone up the mountain without hesitation today, but now he was hesitant - what was going on?

  Wu Lele intentionally provoked Zhang Yunhao, saying "You're a dead mouse, what's wrong with you? Have you become a coward?" Zhang Yunhao said with a gloomy face that he had a very strange feeling in his heart, as if a powerful and mysterious force was attracting him here, like there was a voice telling him to come, come, come to me... He worried that this eerie power might not have good intentions, and if so, it would implicate both Wu Lele and himself. Moreover, Yu Daoist had told him that he would encounter bloodshed in the next few days and should not leave his house.

  I fell silent for a moment with Wu Lele, then I said, "Well, in that case, let's head back."

  At this moment, a young couple walked down from the mountain, like a pair of lovers. The man was holding a camera and asked me to take a photo for them. I agreed happily, took the camera and took two photos for them. They immediately ran over to see how the photos turned out. The man pressed the button to browse through the photos three times in a row. Unintentionally, I glanced at the third photo, and my eyes were instantly attracted to it.

  That was a solo photo of the man, but what caught my attention wasn't the man, it was the back view of a woman behind him. I asked Zhang Yunhao and Wu Lele if the girl looked like Zhong Ling'er? They both leaned in to take a look, and Zhang Yunhao said "Where does she look like Zhong Ling'er?" It's actually her!

  My heart suddenly became uneasy, and I quickly asked the man when this photo was taken. He said it was just taken on the mountain not long ago. I pointed to the back of Zhong Ling'er in the photo and asked if he had seen that girl. He said he had seen her, and at that time, he was very curious why they were still climbing the mountain so late.

  "Them?" I stammered: "Her with whom?"

  The man said he was with another man, who looked over 40 years old.

  I exchanged a glance with Zhang Yunhao and said, "Let's go up," and then walked towards the mountain. Wu Lele hummed and looked unhappy.

  Zhang Yunhao followed up and said that it's so late, if the sky gets dark, we can't move an inch on the mountain, we need to prepare some lighting things. I looked at a store not far in front of me and said let's go buy a few flashlights.

  I bought three flashlights and also asked the boss to send a lighter.

  I hurriedly rushed up the mountain, Wu Lele called out behind me in a huff: "Why are you in such a hurry?" I didn't answer her. The girl I liked was going up the mountain with a big man at dusk, what do you think I'm in a hurry for?

  Zhang Yunhao caught up and asked, "What's going on with your goddess?" I spat out a sentence: "Who knows." Zhang Yunhao said again, "I think she came here for a reason, it's just that I don't understand why she brought a man along."

  After about half an hour, we arrived at the entrance of the cave we had been to before. By now it was getting dark, and the entrance was pitch black, like a devil's mouth waiting for us to enter.

  We continued to climb up, turned on the flashlight, and I was about to step forward when Zhang Junhao suddenly blocked me. I asked him what's wrong, he asked: "Are you sure Zhong Ling'er came here instead of going somewhere else?" I said if she comes to Panlong Mountain, she must come here, where else would she go? Zhang Junhao said that it can't be so certain, we need to understand her purpose for coming here first. Wu Lele was impatient and said: "Are you two going in or not? So annoying!" She then took the lead and walked into the cave.

  We entered the cave and it was pitch black inside. We shone our flashlights around, but there was no one there, and we couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

  Zhang Yunhao said, "The goddess is not here." Wu Lele chimed in, "Of course she's not. If she were, she would have hidden as soon as she heard us coming." I said there was nowhere to hide except in the water. Wu Lele shone her flashlight across the waterway and said, "Look, what's that?"

  Zhang Yunhao and I simultaneously shone our lights on the past, and my heart couldn't help but skip a beat. There was someone in front of us!

  No, this time we won't be deceived. That's not a person, but a stone statue. It has appeared again. I said let's go take a look, and Zhang Yunhao and Wu Lele were also curious, so they couldn't wait to walk in that direction before I even finished speaking.

  By the water's edge, we all stopped and shone our flashlights into the water. The water was crystal clear, and the flashlight could see about one or two meters below. It was just that the water was very deep, and there seemed to be nothing in it. Zhang Yunhao said to me, "You should bring the Water Saint Child." Wu Lele also said, "Yes, you must carry your yin-yang knife with you." I said I knew, next time the knife would not leave my body, and the ghost would not leave the knife. After finishing speaking, I stepped onto the rocks that protruded from the water.

  We passed through the waterway smoothly and arrived in front of the stone statue. The three of us tacitly formed a triangular formation to surround the statue, all shining our flashlights on it. We found that it was indeed the same statue we saw last time. Zhang Yunhao praised it repeatedly, saying that this statue is really young and beautiful, just like a 15 or 16-year-old flower girl.

  I stood facing the stone statue and found a yellow talisman stuck to its forehead. Zhang Yunhao came over and shone his flashlight on it, asking what it was. I saw that the talisman looked very familiar, similar to the evil-warding charm that Zhong Ling'er gave me last time, and wondered if she could have been the one who put it there.

  Wu Lele reached out to tear it off, and Zhang Yunhao and I simultaneously blocked her. Wu Lele asked, "What are you doing?" I said that the charm cannot be torn off, maybe it is used to calm down this stone statue. Zhang Yunhao thought for a moment and said that this doesn't make sense either, this charm is used to calm ghosts, how can it be used to calm this stone statue? Is this stone statue a ghost? Wu Lele said that even if it's not a ghost, it's almost like one, last time I saw it turn into a palm-sized little man and fly away.

  I walked around the stone statue again and found that her hands were placed on both sides of her waist, with a posture as if she was about to take a step, that is, she was just about to leave, but suddenly froze.

  Was it really subdued by this yellow charm?

  I curiously touched her hand, hard and stiff, just like a stone. Zhang Yunhao asked: "I don't know if it's afraid of pain, or should we burn it with fire?" He said as he took out his lighter.