Chapter 25: The Eight Trigrams Lamp

  When I cried, the old Taoist of Zhushan Mountain began to comfort me.

  "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, it's all right," said Zhangshan Lao Dao.

  After comforting me, the old Taoist Bamboo Mountain told me that Zhang San's three souls must have run to Songlin Mountain, so we had to hurry to Songlin Mountain to find his soul.

  At this time, because of fear, I didn't want to go to Songlin Mountain anymore. But at this time, whether or not to go was no longer up to me, because the old Taoist from Zhushan had already dragged me forward by force.

  That night, the moon in the sky was hazy and not very bright, and there wasn't much moonlight on the ground. The small dirt road ahead of me, I could only vaguely see a shadow, and even the outline of the road couldn't be seen clearly. But the old bamboo mountain path was able to walk briskly, as if walking in broad daylight.

  Because I was still a little kid, my legs were very short compared to Master Bamboo Mountain's, and I definitely couldn't keep up with his pace. As a result, I felt like I was being dragged along by Master Bamboo Mountain.

  Suddenly, I felt something soft wrapped around my foot. At this time, Zhangshan Lao and I had already entered the territory of Songlin Mountain. There are many snakes on Songlin Mountain. Therefore, I dared to conclude that the thing wrapped around my foot was definitely a snake.

  "Snake!" I shouted loudly, then burst into tears.

  My cries and wails startled Master Bamboo Mountain. "Where?" Master Bamboo Mountain asked me hastily.

  "My feet are tied up." I replied with tears.

  As soon as I finished speaking, the old Taoist of Zhushan bent down immediately. After bending down, I felt that the old Taoist of Zhushan grabbed a handful at my feet, and then the thing wrapped around my foot disappeared.

  "It's the spirit of that five-step snake you killed during the day, brought here by Mie Men Po." After finishing speaking, Zhu Shan Lao Dao took a small jade pendant and hung it around my neck.

  "The soul of the five-step snake has recognized your scent and may follow you forever. Wear this small jade pendant, don't take it off, and the snake won't be able to harm you." Zhushan Old Dao said with a serious face.

  Of course, because the light was very poor at that time, I couldn't see his face clearly. So when I said he looked serious, it wasn't from his appearance, but from his tone of voice.

  "Hmm." I replied to Zhangshan Lao Dao with a sentence, and after finishing, I also nodded solemnly.

  Although I couldn't be certain whether Zhangshan Lao Dao saw me nodding, I was sure he felt my sincerity.

  At that time, I had already deeply believed in the words of Zhu Shan Lao Dao, and I also believed that he would never harm me. Therefore, since he didn't let me take off the small jade pendant, I absolutely wouldn't casually take it off either.

  "Let's keep going forward!" said Bamboo Mountain Old Dao.

  After finishing speaking, Zhu Shan Lao Dao pulled my hand and continued walking forward.

  This time, perhaps because they had already entered the territory of Songlin Mountain, the old bamboo mountain path walked not so fast, but slowly, step by step, moving forward.

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao's hand gripped mine tightly. I could feel that he was no longer as relaxed as before, and seemed to be worried about something.

  It was at this moment that a black shadow suddenly flashed in front of me and then disappeared.

  "Is that Zhang San?" I was very scared, but the fear did not completely swallow my curiosity, so I curiously asked Zhushan Laodao a sentence.

  "It seems so," said Zhangshan Old Dao. When Zhangshan Old Dao said this, his words were somewhat hesitant, and I could sense that he was also a bit uncertain.

  However, Zhushan Laodao soon regained his composure.

  "Go after him!" The old Taoist of Bamboo Mountain shouted loudly, then pulled me along as he chased after the dark figure.

  At this time, that black shadow had long since disappeared. Therefore, although the old Taoist of Bamboo Mountain pulled me to run very fast, he still couldn't catch up with that black shadow.

  Just then, the wind suddenly picked up on Songlin Mountain. It's common for it to be windy on the mountain, but this time the wind was particularly strong, and the treetops above my head were blown into a loud rustling noise.

  This is in the summer, according to common sense, a strong wind means that it will soon rain heavily, and often accompanied by thunder and lightning. But I only felt the wind blowing, without seeing any signs of thunder and lightning.

  At this time, Zhangshan Old Dao suddenly sat cross-legged on the ground and started chanting scriptures. As soon as Zhangshan Old Dao chanted the scriptures, the wind seemed to become much smaller immediately.

  Slowly, the wind stopped, and the surrounding trees also stopped creaking.

  This little kid doesn't understand anything, of course he can't judge whether the wind stopped by itself or was stopped by the old Taoist priest from Bamboo Mountain.

  After the wind stopped, the old Taoist of Bamboo Mountain pulled me up and we continued on our way.

  As I walked, I faintly heard the woman's moaning voice, and it seemed that Zhangshan Lao Dao also heard that sound.

  "It's Zhang Xiaolan's soul, her corpse is nearby." Bamboo Mountain Old Dao whispered to me, then handed me an octagonal object and asked me to hold it.

  "This is the Bagua lamp, you must hold it steady. In a moment I will light it, you must protect it well and not let it go out." Zhushan Lao Dao reminded me of this, then struck a match and lit the Bagua lamp in my hand.

  After the Bagua lamp was lit, I found that its structure is similar to that of a kerosene lamp, except that the oil container is not a glass bottle, but an iron box with a Bagua pattern printed on it. Also, I vaguely smelled that the oil in this Bagua lamp has a somewhat pungent smell, which doesn't seem like the smell of kerosene.

  "What kind of oil is this?" The little kid's curiosity has always been unstoppable, and now I'm curious about this smelly oil, so I have to ask.

  "Corpse oil." Bamboo Mountain Taoist didn't think much of it and casually replied with a sentence.

  "Ah!" I shrieked, and with a trembling hand, I heard a "crack" sound. The Bagua lamp in my hands was smashed to the ground.

  The eight trigrams lamp fell to the ground, and the corpse oil inside spilled all over the place. The burning wick was also extinguished.

  "What are you doing?!" Zhang Shan Lao Dao's temper was good, but now he should be angry.

  "I'm scared." I replied with a tremble.

  After finishing answering, I squatted on the ground and burst into tears.

  As soon as I let out a cry, the strong wind started blowing again. This time, it was obviously stronger than before.

  "The Eight Trigrams lantern is destroyed, they can't be held back anymore!" The old Taoist from Bamboo Mountain yelled at me, then put me on his back and took off running.

  This old Taoist of Bamboo Mountain still had some conscience, at this critical moment, he didn't abandon me and run away alone, but instead put me on his back and ran with me together. At that time, I was quite touched by this.

  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was really scared." I apologized to Zhangshan Lao with a very embarrassed tone.

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao didn't care about me, he just carried me on his back and ran wildly back and forth.

  As I ran back, all sorts of chaotic sounds kept coming to my ears. There were women's lewd cries, men's roaring voices, and even the sound of a five-step snake spitting out its tongue.

  These sounds keep swirling around my ears.

  Just as I was terrified, a loud "bang" suddenly came, and the old Taoist's foot kicked against a large stone. He fell to the ground with a thud, like a mad dog eating shit.

  I was on Pak Shan Old Tao's back, and when he fell, I naturally flew out and landed on the ground.

  Luckily, I didn't have any injuries on my hands, so I quickly got up and ran back to the side of Bamboo Mountain Taoist. At this time, Bamboo Mountain Taoist was motionless on the ground, I desperately shook him and shouted at him, but he just wouldn't wake up.

  Just then, I felt something soft and cool wrapped around my foot.

  "Ah!"

  I guessed what that thing was, so I shouted loudly. However, this is on Songlin Mountain, and the only person who can help me is Zhu Shan Lao Dao, but he has already fainted and can't even protect himself.

  That thing was just wrapped around me and didn't bite me. I was afraid to touch it with my hand because I was afraid that if I reached out, it would bite me.

  Now, I can only pray that the guy will roll away quickly and not entangle me again. The more I think about it, the more afraid I become, probably due to excessive fear, my mind slowly loses consciousness.