Chapter 27: Qiankun Jade
"Chase!"
The leading policeman, upon seeing the secret passage, didn't think twice and immediately yelled out before rushing in. The several policemen beside him also followed suit and rushed in.
The passage was quite narrow, and one person could barely pass through. The leading police officer held a torch and walked about twenty or thirty meters in the passage before finding a small wooden door blocking his way. The leading police officer tried to push the small wooden door but couldn't open it, apparently, the small wooden door was locked.
However, for the police, this small wooden door could not stop them. But it is undeniable that this small wooden door can indeed delay their time a little bit.
By the time the police opened that small wooden door and continued to chase forward, Liu had long since escaped. The exit of this secret passage was a cave in the back mountain.
When the police arrived at the cave, they found that the stones and weeds at the entrance of the cave had been disturbed by someone, and it was obvious that they had just been disturbed.
The cave was overgrown with weeds and desolate, and no one would normally go there. Moreover, the entrance to the secret passage was blocked by a pile of rocks, so for many years, no one knew that there was a secret passage there.
The woods behind the mountain are quite dense, and Liu Renqing has already escaped for a while. Therefore, it is unlikely that these few police officers will be able to find him in the woods behind the mountain.
In the back mountain, there are wolves, wild boars and many venomous snakes. Therefore, Wang Wu told the police that Liu Renqing would definitely not hide in the back mountain, he must go to Li Tianzhen's mother's house, Extinction Mother's place to hide.
The villagers present all agreed with Wang Wu's insight, but the police did not respond. The notorious name of Mie Men Po, the town's police must have known, and without ironclad evidence, they still dared not to search Mie Men Po's house rashly.
"If there is any news about Liu Renqing, you must come and report to us." The leading policeman said a sentence, then took the policemen away.
After the police left, the villagers also slowly dispersed.
After the villagers dispersed, I didn't go home but ran to the riverbank with a group of little friends to catch crabs.
It was just after two o'clock in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day. My friends and I caught crabs by the river for a while, feeling hot, so we decided to take off our clothes and jump into the small river to swim.
At that time, the water of the small river was extremely clear and had not been polluted at all. It could be drunk by scooping it up. Therefore, swimming in it was a very lively thing to do.
After I finished undressing, I remembered the piece of jade hanging from my neck. I was afraid that it would fall off in the water after I went into the river, so I took it off and put it with my clothes on the riverbank.
In my opinion, those so-called dirty things only appear at night. Now it's broad daylight and the sun is shining brightly, even if there are any dirty things, they wouldn't dare to come out. Therefore, even if I pick that Dry Kun Jade, there shouldn't be any problem.
After putting away the clothes and the jade pendant, I jumped into the river with a splash along with my other companions. The water in this small river was shallow enough to only cover our ankles in the shallower parts, and even for an adult, it wouldn't reach their waist in the deeper parts.
However, my friends and I can all swim, so although the river is quite deep in some places, it's not particularly dangerous for us.
After playing in the shallow water area for a while, I swam to the middle of the small river with my companions. The middle of the small river is the deepest place, and no one knows how deep it is, but it's definitely over ten meters deep. Because someone once used a bamboo pole over ten meters long to probe there, but couldn't reach the bottom at that time.
As I waded into the middle of the small river, I suddenly felt a cool sensation spreading up my legs. That coolness was not the refreshing coolness of the water, but an icy chill. Gradually, I felt that something had wrapped itself around my feet. The more I struggled to free myself, the tighter it wrapped around me. In the end, my feet were completely immobilized.
I wanted to open my mouth and shout for help, but I found that somehow, I couldn't make any sound at all.
No way, I won't give up like this. Now it's too late to shout for help, and my companions have already swum to the other side of the small river, which is quite far from me. If I want to get rid of that thing, I can only rely on myself.
I have to swim back to the riverbank and retrieve the Qian Kun jade, so this thing won't be able to entangle me.
As I thought about it, I turned my head and floated on the water surface with my back up. This way, I only needed to use my hands to gently paddle the water, even if my feet didn't move, I wouldn't sink and could slowly swim towards the shore, although very slowly.
After swimming back and forth for about five or six meters, that thing probably guessed my thoughts. Not only did it bind my feet tightly, but also slowly wrapped my hands with its cool and soft texture.
Slowly, my hands also couldn't move anymore.
My hands and feet couldn't move, of course I couldn't float up, my body slowly sank down. In the moment that I was sinking, I choked on a mouthful of water.
After I choked on that mouthful of water, I struggled desperately. But no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't free my hands and feet.
Just as I was about to give up hope, a large hand suddenly supported me and lifted me out of the water.
After being rescued and brought ashore, I found out that the one who saved me was actually Lao Dao of Bamboo Mountain. At this time, my hands and feet were all wrapped with green vines, which were actually water grass from the small river.
They say this water grass is a plant, not an animal, it's impossible to proactively entangle people. However, it has wrapped itself around my feet and hands in the middle of the river.
Bamboo Mountain Taoist recited scriptures while using his hands to untie the rattans on my feet and hands. After untying those rattans, Bamboo Mountain Taoist put me ashore and brought over the clothes and Qiankun Jade.
"I told you, the Qian Kun Jade cannot be removed." As he spoke, Zhu Shan Lao Dao put the Qian Kun Jade back around my neck.
"If I hadn't passed by here, you would have lost your life today!" Zhushan Lao Dao said, and then pinched my ear hard.
"You didn't listen." Zhushan Lao Dao scolded me again.
At this time, I was already trembling with fear. Therefore, I didn't say a word to Zhu Shan Lao Dao.
Guessing that I was already frightened, Master Zhushan stopped scolding me after these few sentences.
"Next time you must behave, don't take down the Qiankun Jade again. Actually, I decided to accept you as my apprentice after hearing that you killed the Wumu Snake of the Exterminating Sect."
Zhu Shan Lao Dao waved the duster in his hand and continued to speak to me with a bitter tone: "You little brat, you have a righteous aura on your body. It's precisely because of this righteous aura that the exterminating witch didn't dare to move against you that day. However, that exterminating witch is a sinister and poisonous person, just because she didn't make a move against you that day doesn't mean she won't do so in the future. Today's events are exactly her doing."
"But the exterminator isn't here, is she?" My fear hadn't completely dissipated when my curiosity arose again.
"The exterminator doesn't need to be present on the scene." The old Taoist pointed at the water grasses by my feet and said, "The exterminator is driving the soul of that five-step snake you killed, attaching it to these water grasses, controlling them, and using them to bind your legs and hands."
The more the old man spoke, the more frightened I became. If this snake spirit could attach itself to the water grass, then it must also be able to attach itself to other things. Wouldn't that mean that the exterminating witch would never let me go and could take my life at any moment?
"What's going to happen now?" I scared old Daoist Zhushan into tears and asked him in a sobbing tone.
"You just keep the Qiankun jade with you and don't take it off, that snake spirit won't be able to hurt you," said Zhu Shan Lao Dao.
The snake spirit can't be hurt, what about other spirits? In the rumors, that exterminating grandma actually raised a lot of ghost spirits. If just one snake spirit is so hard to deal with, wouldn't it be even more tragic if we encounter others?
"What about the other soul?" I asked.
"As long as you learn from me properly, not only can you save yourself, but also the entire Shima Village. You go back home first, I'll come to your house on July 10th to pick you up." After saying this, the old Taoist Bamboo Mountain left.
