Chapter Thirty-Four: Poisonous Caterpillar

  I and Marx Zhe saw in the darkroom, there is a story about that witch, which obviously took place during the Western Han Dynasty. From the Western Han to the Eastern Han, from the Eastern Han to the Warring States, this is not only a historical problem but also a mathematical problem.

  The two of us listened with full hearts of doubt as Uncle Cheng continued speaking.

  That white-bearded old man told Yong Bo his own identity, Gu Dian Guo's abacus master.

  "What's an abacus?"

  A position for divination for the emperor, refining elixirs and making medicine, in short, doing similar things.

  Yong Bo was secretly delighted, never expecting that his small act of devotion would lead to him becoming an imperial attendant after five hundred years of reincarnation.

  "What is Nanguo Dian again?" Yong Bo thought for a moment, but found that he had never heard of such a country.

  "About two hundred years later, there will be a country called Han. The ancient Dian Kingdom was a small country that appeared in the early Han Dynasty, and I am the seventh abacus master of this country."

  "Two hundred years, then why do you say you are from five hundred years later?"

  The old man didn't answer. "This you don't need to know. The only thing I can tell you is that I was once ordered to complete a task related to the survival of ancient Dian, but in the end, it failed. I lost the most critical part of this plan, which is that silver turtle. Although I failed, this plan has not stopped, so finding that silver turtle again is crucial."

  "Since your plan has already failed, it means that everything is already settled. Even if I help you find the Silver Turtle again, the outcome is already predetermined."

  The person in front of him shook his head. "The silver turtle you found today is not the same as the one I lost that day. I've said it before, this plan isn't over yet. My mistake was just a tiny existence, and there are countless ways to make up for it. I can't reveal too much to you, because even if you knew all of this, it wouldn't change anything."

  The old man muttered a sentence before leaving: "It won't end, I've been waiting for 300 years and it still hasn't ended."

  Another crow of the rooster, Yong Bo woke up from his dream, got out of bed, but couldn't find any trace of the silver turtle. It seemed that it was taken away by the old man, Yong Bo lay back on the bed, not knowing whether it was a dream or reality.

  The story came to an abrupt end, leaving behind a seemingly ambiguous conclusion.

  So, the white-bearded old corpse that Ma Si Zhe and I saw in the secret room just now should be that witch. Why would he become like this after a thousand years? What is the plan that will never end from his mouth?

  Cheng Shu finished speaking and the few people were all bewildered. "Who is that Yong Bo?" asked Jiang Liu, "And who is that abacus expert? I feel like it doesn't make sense."

  Cheng Shu Deng looked at those few pieces of stone and said, 'These stones must be more than just these few, there must be others elsewhere.'

  Cheng Shu and the others didn't understand the cause, but Ma Si Zhe and I could hear it clearly. Moreover, we can completely connect the two stories together. It's just that even if they are connected, the doubts in my heart are more than Cheng Shu's, not less.

  "We just went up once and didn't gain anything except this box, it's not necessary to stay here any longer" It seems that Huo Ying means to leave first.

  But Cheng Shu thought for a moment and still didn't give up. "We just found this box at the waist of the coral, and everyone was a bit exhausted and didn't continue climbing up. This time we might as well make an effort to climb to the very top and see if there are any more discoveries."

  "This old man, over 50 years old and still so energetic. It's true that money can make a ghost grind a mill, I reckon as long as the money is prepared sufficiently, Uncle Cheng would be able to excavate Hat Mountain empty." Ma Si Zhe muttered on the side.

  Huo Ying and Jiang Liu neither of them objected, which is equivalent to approving Cheng Shu's proposal.

  Three people gathered their belongings and prepared to go up again. Seeing them get up, Ma Si Zhe and I quickly hid in the cave, afraid of being discovered.

  Huo Ying walked in the front, Jiang Liu followed at the end. Cheng Shu that old fox naturally walked in the middle. The coral branches were numerous, so it was easy to climb up, and after a few strokes, several people had already left the ground far away. After making sure they all went up, Ma Si Zhe and I dared to speak out loud.

  "It seems they haven't found anything useful either." Ma Si Zhe stretched his head out to take a look.

  "Are we going to keep following like this?"

  "For now, let's just follow and save some energy. At least we don't have to waste our strength climbing up," said Ma Si Zhe as he lay down comfortably on the ground.

  A long time had passed, and there was still no sound from above. I had a bad premonition. I hurriedly pushed Ma Si-zhe, who was almost asleep, "Hey, Uncle Cheng and the others won't have disappeared again, will they?"

  Ma Si Zhe sat up: 'No way, we two are staring at them below, where can they go'

  "But it's been so long and still no one has come down, not even a sound. The silence is making me anxious."

  Suddenly, I heard a sound like something cracking, slowly, like peeling eggshells. 'What's that noise?' Ma Si Zhe listened carefully after I finished speaking 'It seems to be coming from the coral over there'

  The two of us hid in the cave and looked up at the coral. All we saw was a layer of something attached to the surface of the coral, which slowly rose up at this moment. It turned out that the thing attached to the surface was actually a moth with brown wings. They covered the entire coral, piling up like a thick layer of clouds.

  Look at the size of the coral, if all these moths fly up, the scale will not be small. I wonder what those things attached to the coral are, it turns out they are all the wings of these moths. But why did they move? Did Uncle Cheng and his friends touch something they shouldn't have touched on top?

  Those moths slowly woke up, their wings gradually unfolding, and gently shaking on the coral. The entire coral seemed to come alive, as if it were swaying in the water.

  I and Ma Si Zhe were shocked by the scene in front of us, squatting on the ground speechless. After a while, Ma Si Zhe poked me "Camera?" I also stared blankly saying "It's flooded" The scene at this moment really should be recorded with a camera, it's simply a wonder. The tomb owner had indeed gone to great lengths to simulate an underwater world in the tomb, and it was so realistic.

  Those moths flapped their wings and slowly left their positions, flying upwards. It seems that it was indeed Uncle Cheng and the others who triggered some mechanism, startling these creatures.

  I looked at Ma Si Zhe and asked 'what to do?'

  "Don't move for now, maybe they'll resolve it themselves"

  The voice had just fallen. Accompanied by a loud shout from above, something fell down. I took a closer look and it was Jiang Liu.

  Jiang Liu was surrounded by a group of moths, and no matter how hard he tried to shoo them away with his hands, they wouldn't leave. He had no choice but to roll around on the ground nonstop. However, the moths didn't seem to decrease in number at all, and they continued to stubbornly land on Jiang Liu's body.

  I and Ma Si Zhe hurried out, took off the backpack to help Jiang Liu Quan, but it had no effect. There were also a few moths that fell on my body, and the powder on the moth's body seemed to be toxic, and the skin I came into contact with started itching.

  I took a look at the situation and my mind suddenly thought of something. It was the water that I and Ma Si-ze had previously installed in the Shui Tang. Since the things in the cave were afraid of this water, it might also be effective against these moths. I quickly took out the water bottle from my bag, poured some on myself, and those moths immediately dispersed.

  I saw that this method was effective, and I also poured some on Jiang Liu and Ma Si Zhe. The moths all dispersed. Ma Si Zhe was fine, but Jiang Liu's whole body began to turn red and swell up terribly.

  I poured some more water on his reddened skin, I don't know when the swelling will subside. Jiang Liu looked up at me and hesitated for a while before saying "thank you".

  I didn't say anything, but in my heart I always felt that seeing someone die without helping was no different from killing them myself. My biggest flaw is that I couldn't convince this damned sympathetic heart of mine.

  At this time, Cheng Shu and Huo Ying also fell from the coral. At this time, I couldn't care about being discovered, and Ma Si Zhe and I used the same method to pour the remaining water in the pot on Cheng Shu and Huo Ying's bodies. My canteen was empty, but Ma Si Zhe's canteen still had full water, without letting Cheng Shu notice, secretly stuffed it back into the bag. Cheng Shu only saw clearly when the moths dispersed, and when he saw that it was us two, he was obviously stunned for a moment, then remembered to say "You two have finally caught up, if I left you here, how would I explain it to your uncle?"

  Ma Si Zhe cooperated and said along with him 'Let's trouble Uncle Cheng'

  Cheng Shu laughed and patted Ma Si Zhe's shoulder: "It's okay, just keep up."

  Ma Si Zhe took advantage of the situation to get close to Cheng Shu, and whispered a sentence in his ear: "Everyone has their own desires, Uncle Cheng can rest assured that we will take care of ourselves."

  Cheng Shu smiled awkwardly and said, "No wonder your uncle always praises you for being clever. Indeed, indeed." Ma Si Zhe also smiled along with him.

  Those who have ears to hear can hear the words in this sentence. Ma Si Zhe has now made his position clear, meaning that you, Uncle Cheng, are an old hand and I am not a fool either. Although everyone's goals are different, the road we need to take is ultimately the same, so let's not hinder each other.

  Ma Si Zhe made a comfortable step, and Cheng Shu naturally followed. In this way, the five of us were reunited once again. Each person had their own thoughts, but they didn't pierce each other's hearts, which was also a reconciliation.

  Ma Si Zhe later told me that if at the time when Cheng Shu and them were chatting, they had shown a hint of wanting to silence us, he wouldn't have wasted so many words and would have directly taken down Cheng Shu to avoid leaving future troubles. It was precisely because he heard Cheng Shu's intention that he only wanted to seek wealth and didn't want to harm us. Ma Si Zhe felt that things weren't that thorny yet, so before Cheng Shu turned murderous, he quickly made his stance clear, and Cheng Shu also took the opportunity to back down.

  A few people leaned against the coral reef to rest for a while, and that water was indeed magical. Before long, the redness on their bodies had subsided. Cheng Shu asked Ma Si Zhe where the water came from, and this time Ma Si Zhe told him the truth. Cheng Shu nodded after listening "So that's how it is".

  Ma Si Zhe said: 'Since that's the case, I'd like to ask you a question. The first time we scattered and ran away, what exactly happened?'

  Cheng Shu thought for a moment and spoke out the true version.