Chapter 3 (Part 1) Cave

  "It's very simple." Sanzang pointed to a distant conical mountain and said, "At the foot of that mountain, there is a cave. In the deepest part of the cave, there is an extinguished oil lamp. As long as you enter the cave within the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn, light up the lamp, then you win."

  "I hummed: 'Entering the cave and lighting a lamp? It won't be as simple as you said, will it?'"

  "The expression on Sanzang's face looked mysterious: 'It's easy to say it's easy, and it's hard to say it's hard. I can guarantee that during this period, I won't launch any attacks on you. When you enter the cave and light a lamp, the only enemy you'll encounter is yourself.'"

  I was stunned: "I don't understand what you mean."

  Wan Sanlang smiled: "To light up that lamp, it doesn't depend on the strength or weakness of your demonic powers, but rather on your heart. So this matter is still fair to you, little brother."

  A spark of curiosity arose in my heart, and I really wanted to try it out. However, on the surface, I pretended to be dissatisfied: "This is too difficult, you'd better secretly make some moves, or else I'll be played to death by you."

  "I, Shan Sanlang, have always been a man of my word and would never cheat. Whether you light the oil lamp or not, I will let you return unharmed, without hurting you."

  "It's hard to say, anyway bragging doesn't cost money, even if you say you're a fairy, we can't take off your pants to verify it."

  "Ha ha ha! Little brother, ask Jiu Yan Yao, has Wan Meng Lou ever gone back on his word?"

  Ji Dan smiled and said: "If we don't agree, what will you do, Zhu Meng Lou?"

  Sanlang's face sank, his hair standing on end, like a widow ready to die with her husband: "Then I'll have no choice but to destroy my inner elixir and we can all perish together."

  Three beauties exchanged a glance, and Ji Danmei said: "We need to discuss something."

  "As you wish." Sanlang chuckled and turned into a wisp of white smoke that dispersed.

  Jū Dan Mei said to Gān Níng Zhēn, "The map of the Heavenly Sky is yours, so you should make the decision. However, judging from Huī Sān Láng's tone, he won't back down. Either we agree to his terms or find an exit now and take Xiǎo Sè Láng out of the mural."

  Gan Ning slightly shook his head: "Just now I used the lotus heart eye to take a look, and it won't take a few days to find the exit of the mural. Perhaps we can only agree to Hu Sanlang's conditions, otherwise he will destroy the inner elixir without regard for anything, and Lin Fei will surely die. And even if we are lucky enough not to die, our many years of cultivation will still be severely damaged."

  Haixi said anxiously: "Since Sanlang let the little scoundrel go light the lamp, he must have calculated that he won't succeed. In my opinion, there must be many strange things in that cave, and the little scoundrel's demon power is so weak, I'm afraid he will fall into Sanlang's calculation."

  "It's not necessarily so." Gan Ningzhen looked at me and said in a low voice, "Wan Sanlang chose Lin Fei because he thought his strength was the weakest. But he didn't know about Lin Fei's past life or that he possessed the Meiwu technique. It can be said that he actually underestimated Lin Fei. As long as Lin Fei can bring out a bit of his past potential, there is a possibility of success."

  I smiled slyly: "Gan Ning, you really have that much confidence in me? If we fail, the map of Tian will be gone."

  Gan Ning stared at me for a long time before speaking, "Do you want to always hide behind our backs? Do you want to be a low-level demon for the rest of your life?"

  "Hai Ji said discontentedly: 'Gan Ning, what are you talking about? It was you who made the vow of reincarnation in the first place! Xiao Wu's demonic powers were almost depleted, and we protected him - what's wrong with that?'"

  "Get used to a crutch and he won't be able to walk on his own. And must a man always have a woman fight for him?"

  When I heard Gan Ning's words, I immediately got hot-blooded and shouted: "Damn it! I won't let you look down on me! I'll do it! Sanlang, hurry up and get out!"

  After a while, smoke rose and the figure of Shansan Lang slowly emerged. He smiled slightly at me: "Have you decided?"

  I nodded: "If I were to turn on the lights, you wouldn't count as speaking, would you? At that time, come up with a sentence or two of nonsense, and we can only stare blankly."

  "I can make a vow of reincarnation poison," he said in a serious tone. He raised his hand, and his middle finger pressed against his forehead, a drop of fresh blood seeping out from the tip of his finger, imprinting on his brow. He recited a string of incantations, then continued, "I, Shan Meng Lou, with the spiritual blood, plant this vow, connecting it to my soul and bloodline. If I were to go back on my word, both body and spirit would be destroyed, falling into reincarnation, never to be reborn." As he made his vow, the fresh blood on his brow grew brighter, like a ripple, rapidly spreading across his face. In an instant, the blood markings had spread throughout his entire body, as if covered by a crimson fishing net.

  "Now you should believe it." Sanzaburou said calmly, after a moment, he suddenly shuddered violently, and the blood vessels all over his body gradually disappeared.

  I took a look at the three beauties and nodded: "The lamp in the cave won't be impossible to light, will it?"

  "Fairness demands that I let them see your every move." With a sweep of his hand, he drew a circle on the ground, and instantly a well sprang up, its waters crystal clear, reflecting my image.

  "Everything that happens to you, we will see in the well water. With Gan Xianzi, Hai Wushen and Jiu Yanxiao on the spot supervising, are you still worried that I'll play tricks?"

  I glared at him, and a heroic spirit suddenly arose: "What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"

  A three-foot-long purple sandalwood stick is inserted into the ground.

  The sandalwood incense stick is straight and slender, the head of the incense is slightly thicker, and the body of the incense is carved with intricate floral patterns. Even before it's lit, the fragrance is already very rich and intense.

  "Take this incense as a fire starter. As long as the incense doesn't burn out, you'll definitely be able to light the oil lamp. If the incense burns out and you still haven't lit the lamp, then you lose." With a flick of his finger, the incense head immediately ignited with a faint red glow, and purple smoke wafted out.

  Hai Ji carefully observed the sandalwood, then leaned in close to my ear and whispered: "Since Jin Sanlang promised not to harm you, his methods will only be to create illusions, confusing your mind and preventing you from lighting the lamp smoothly. Lin Fei, you must remember that no matter what happens, it's all fake, just a mirage."

  I nodded and asked Kitsune with a hint of suspicion: "You won't cast some kind of spell on this incense stick, making it burn out all at once, will you?"

  "Do you have plenty of time to idle away?" Sanzaburou asked with a smile.

  To hell with it, I'm done talking nonsense, I grabbed the sandalwood and ran towards that mountain.

  All around me rose a white mist, like ghosts, floating and fluttering about, uttering frightful cries. I remembered the words of the mermaid, took them for phantoms, and looked through them as if they were not there. In a little while I reached the foot of the mountain.

  A deep cave entrance appeared before me, the edges of which were jagged like a monster's open mouth. I didn't hesitate at all and rushed in.

  The cave is dark and gloomy, with a winding path that stretches far into the distance. Many stone statues stand around, with strange and varied shapes, each with its own unique posture. Some resemble humans, while others look like monsters. Cold water droplets seep from the walls, dripping onto the statues and making a mournful sound, as if the statues are crying.

  I steeled myself and walked past those stone statues, ahead of me were layers of stone steps, high and thick, with moss growing out of the cracks. A long, thin thing slid down the stairs with a "whoosh" sound, disappearing into the darkness, like a snake with claws. I plucked up my courage and stepped onto the first step.

  Just as I stepped on it, a deafening sound came from behind. Turning back, oh my god, the stone statue is moving!

  They rolled their eyeballs, puffed out white mist from their mouths, and stepped forward. All the stone statues came to life! They rushed over, running past me, along the stone steps, and up towards the top. As far as the eye could see, fluffy tails and sharp claws waved in front, sending shivers down one's spine.

  Illusions, all of them are fake. I remind myself not to care about them. But their roars, the body odor emitted from their skin, and the scratch marks left by their claws on the stone steps, don't seem like illusions either.

  At this time, several stone statues turned into beautiful women with vibrant colors and fragrance, wearing nothing, shiny and smooth, twisting their **plump buttocks, rushing towards me. I took a few fierce glances, growing up like this, it was the first time I had such good fortune to see this. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't right for me, I turned my head and continued to rush up the stone steps.

  The beauties followed again, passionately surrounding me. Since when did I become so popular? "Sorry, I'm busy!" I pushed away a beauty who hugged me, but unexpectedly, her face suddenly turned into a green-faced ogre, ferociously roaring: "Get out, or I'll eat you up!"

  I was startled, and in the blink of an eye, the beauties had transformed into terrifying monsters, their mouths open wide with bloodlust. I didn't have time to think, and I launched into a charming dance, my legs kicking out in rapid succession. "Bang bang", the monsters fell down left and right, turning into stone statues that didn't move at all.

  I took a deep breath and ran forward a few steps, "clink", something shiny fell from the sky and rolled to my feet. Upon closer inspection, it was a night pearl as big as a goose egg, with a pale blue glow that made my clothes appear transparent green. Immediately after, pearls, agate, and precious stones kept falling from above, densely packed, just like rain.

  I widened my eyes, in Luoyang, I had always dreamed of having treasures falling from the sky, and now it has come true. Many running monsters stopped to scramble for the strange treasures on the ground. I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, treasures are what I want, oil lamps are also what I want, things have their priorities, I'll go light the oil lamp first, then come back to pick up the treasures.

  I won't look at those treasures anymore. I'll continue to climb up the stone steps, lower my head and take a glance at the sandalwood in my hand. Only one-tenth of it has been burned so far, and there's still plenty of time left.

  As they looked up again, those monsters that had picked up the treasure suddenly stopped on the stone steps, maintaining their posture, stiff and motionless. They turned back into stone statues!

  I secretly called out in surprise, if I hadn't restrained my greed just now, I might have also become a stone statue like them. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel a movement in my heart, the beauty and treasure were obviously traps set by the Sea King. As soon as I had the thought, I would be in big trouble.