Chapter Eleven: Re-encountering Xi Bei's Corpse

  At more than four o'clock, our group really arrived at the mountain road of Er Long Mountain. Looking up from below, almost all the distant places that can be seen by the eyes are connected in green. In front of us, there is a mountain road that was trampled out by people who went up the mountain to cut firewood and hunt, which is not very wide, only enough for two people to walk side by side. As far as I know, this mountain road does not exist in the depths of Er Long Mountain, because the dark and dense forest in the depths of Er Long Mountain is full of unknowns everywhere, even the excellent old hunters in the mountains rarely set foot there.

  When I was a kid, if there were grandpas and grandmas around, they would often ask us about some mysterious things. I once heard my uncle tell a story about the legend of Er Long Shan, which wasn't as absurd as the tale of the Oil Bottle Gourd's treasure of the Demon King!

  It is said that more than 2,000 years ago in the southwest of the mainland, namely within the borders of Guangxi, on Mount Erlong, two Jiaolong snakes successfully transformed their snake bodies into dragons! The four Dragon Kings of the heavenly realm's southeast, northwest, and other directions heard this news and became restless, fearing that their positions would be taken over by these two Jiaolong.

  After discussion, it was decided that the two black dragons in the lower realm could not be allowed to develop freely. So they jointly petitioned the Jade Emperor, saying that the two dragons in the lower realm were born in the southwestern land where evil spirits and monsters roamed, and their demonic nature had not been eliminated, so they could not be allowed to successfully cross the calamity and come to the heavenly realm.

  The Electric Mother increased the intensity of thunder during the Black Dragon's tribulation, causing it to fail twice. After two days, the Black Dragon died and its body entwined with that of another dragon, forming these Two Dragons Mountains. From a distance, the mountains still resemble two dragons coiled together. The dense forest appears as scales on the dragons' bodies, while the distant mountain ranges look like the dragons' heads, gazing up at the sky as if rebuking something from thousands of years ago.

  We walked along the mountain road, and since this was the outer edge of Er Long Mountain, the trees were not very dense. In winter, Er Long Mountain is most commonly seen with withered branches and rotten leaves. Occasionally, a few thorny vines would block our path, and if we weren't careful, they would scratch us. I knew that these things were common in the mountains, so from time to time, I would squat down and use my dagger to cut them away. These thorns, locals here call them "刺花" (thorn flowers). It's said that in summer, these vines will bloom with very beautiful flowers, and when women see these flowers, they'll get itchy hands but won't know there are thorns inside, often scratching their skin, so naturally, they're called "刺花".

  Afternoon at five o'clock, I thought that the oil-water belly would have been tired and panting with a pale face after walking for so long. As I walked, I turned my head to take a glance, only to find that this guy was actually taking pictures with his Samsung phone with Da Fugui, even Hei Zi joined in. I felt they were not searching for treasure but sightseeing. My forehead was covered with black lines. No! According to normal circumstances, an ordinary fatso would definitely be exhausted, the oil-water belly stuck out like a big belly, just like a pregnant woman who hasn't given birth to a child in ten months should be exhausted... But now he seems to have been injected with chicken blood or something...

  It was just an instant, and my face regained its calm expression. No one knew what I was thinking about. I continued to squat down and cut off the thorny flowers that occasionally stretched out on the road.

  How can there still be thorny flowers here! This question suddenly flooded my mind! Right! How is it that these things are still here, Old Man Liu led a group of people into Er Long Mountain two days ago, logically speaking, someone should have cut or broken the thorny flowers, and this mountain road is very obvious, everything looks brand new. Could it be that Old Man Liu took another route, then where was his destination? Or is this another trap he's set for me?

  It was already late afternoon when the sun's last rays were about to be swallowed up. At this time, we had already walked deep into Er Long Mountain, and the small road we were on had completely stopped here, with nothing to guide us forward. I called for everyone to set up camp on the spot, and no one objected, probably also knowing that it was not safe at night. I ordered Da Fu and Da Gui to set up camp on the spot, and I told Hei Zi to set up his own tent as well. I used the excuse of finding firewood to walk into the depths of the dense forest. My purpose was simple: first, to find any traces of Liu Lao Tou or others; second, to see if there were any large wild beasts in the area and drive them away, otherwise we wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night. I jumped onto a tree and gazed out at the dense forest from above, but didn't see any signs of human footprints in the tall grass. After changing positions several times and looking for a long time, I still didn't find anything. With a leap, I jumped down from the tree and casually gathered some firewood before returning to camp.

  I returned to the camp, and You Shui Guo and Hei Zi had already set up their tents. I threw some firewood on the ground and lit a fire, and everyone gathered around to warm themselves up. You Shui Guo handed me a piece of dried beef and a compressed biscuit, but I pushed the beef away and took the biscuit instead, slowly chewing and swallowing it. Da Fu Da Gui and Hei Zi also pulled out compressed biscuits from their equipment bags and started eating them. You Shui Guo was eating beside me with great relish when suddenly he thought of something and asked me a question: "Lu brother, I have a question for you!"

  I didn't say anything, I just nodded.

  You Shui Du said without thinking: "There must be someone keeping watch at night in this mountain, otherwise if some wild beasts eat us all while we are sleeping, it won't be good."

  I looked at the fire, thought for a moment and said: "Heizi and Dafu will take the first half of the night, I and Dagui will take the second half of the night, you can just sleep." As for why we divided it this way, it's because I was worried that if Dafu and Dagui were on duty together at night, who knows what they would do.

  Unexpectedly, the oily face suddenly burst into bloom, and he said I was his confidant, understanding the habits of fat people, saying that fat people should sleep well, otherwise high blood pressure is not good for low. I didn't respond to him, staring blankly at the fire in a daze.

  The atmosphere was dull, so Da Gui took out a deck of cards from his equipment bag and handed out several hundred yuan to Da Fu and Da Gui as capital. The three of them started playing a game of "Fight the Landlord".

  Hei Zi walked up beside me and glanced at the oil lamp before saying in a low voice, "Young Master, don't you feel like someone is following us?"

  "Huh?" I asked in confusion.

  "Heizi added some firewood to the fire and said solemnly, 'I think those extravagant corpses from Pingpo Village have followed us here!'"

  "How is this possible? With 50 or 60 Chi Bei corpses following us to Er Long Mountain, it will definitely cause a huge commotion. Not to mention that the Chi Bei corpses are extremely ferocious and who knows how many people will be harmed along the way. I find it unbelievable, but still spoke in a calm tone: 'Have you discovered something?'"

  Hei Zi lit a cigarette and muttered, "Do you still remember when I lured Xie Bi into finding that stone with Ke Zhi?"

  I nodded in remembrance.

  Hei Zi continued: "At that time, there were two Shibi corpses attacking me and I dodged them. Then they spat out a white ** from their mouths, which emitted a strange fragrance, somewhat like the scent of floral water. The thing evaporated quickly after landing on the ground. Now, take a closer sniff, doesn't the mud here emit some kind of strange smell, similar to floral water?"

  I didn't doubt what Hei Zi said, I knew the severity of the situation and wouldn't joke about it. I lowered my head to sniff the ground, and suddenly I was stunned. A faint scent was slowly rising from the mud into the air, not easily noticeable if you weren't careful! These Corpse Eaters were underground! But how did they track us down? And why did they track us down? Could it be that stone? But that stone had been stolen by someone, and neither of these two should have followed me. What could it be?

  I simply told Hei Zi that the white stone had been stolen, of course without mentioning the skinning incident. If I had said it out loud, I'm afraid Hei Zi would never be able to look at me with a normal gaze again.

  Hei Zi was shocked after hearing that, but You Shui Du was playing cards on the side and held back a low voice to say to me: "Aren't we finished? Ah! Inheritor, I said how could you lose something so important? Let's hurry up and pack our things and run away! Who knows when these guys will jump out and skin us alive!" I think Hei Zi made sense, walked to You Shui Du's side and said: "There's a situation, call your men to pack their things, we're leaving now!"

  Oil Water Belly held the poker cards in his hand, yawning and playing until halfway through, when he suddenly heard my words and was startled. The cards in his hand fell to the ground as he patted his belly, looking around frantically for a few moments before taking a deep breath and saying: "Lu brother, take a look, it's so quiet here, how could there be any situation? Don't scare me, you know that we fat people can't withstand being startled. If I'm not careful, my blood pressure will rise and I'll die of a cerebral hemorrhage."

  I frowned coldly at the oily water belly and said, "If you don't leave, I can leave first. This isn't because I'm not righteous, it's just that I think my life is very valuable and shouldn't be lost for such a small amount of money!"

  As soon as I said I was going to leave by myself, he hastily helped me pack up and wished me great wealth and prosperity.

  About ten minutes later, I saw that the oil-water belly had packed up their things and Da Fu Da Gui was already carrying them on his back. Hei Zi had also finished packing. As soon as I went down, leading everyone to run deep into the mountain forest, a extremely thin hand with white fine hair suddenly stretched out from the ground, blocking our way. My brain "boomed" and flashed a word - Corpse!!