Chapter Fifty-Three: The Snake on the Stele

  The surroundings were very quiet, without even the sound of insects. The air in Zhangjiajie always carried a sweet and intoxicating scent. Looking at Cao Kerui who was fast asleep, I thought that nothing should happen. I couldn't resist the overwhelming drowsiness anymore and fell into a deep sleep.

  I don't know how long I slept, but when I opened my eyes again, it was already broad daylight. The forest started to get foggy, with visibility of less than 100 meters. Now it's going to be even harder for us to find the campsite.

  I leaned against the tree and slept for a night with a posture, my neck was stiff and I didn't dare to move. I supported my neck and stretched my waist, but found that Cao Kerui, who had been sleeping opposite me before, was gone.

  'Cao Kerui, Cao Kerui!' I shouted twice but no one answered me.

  My two coats were thrown on the ground, and she just disappeared. So early in the morning, she didn't even know which way to go. Wouldn't she be like Zhang Yaoyang and get lost? In an instant, I thought of all the worst possibilities. Regretfully, I patted my head, if only I hadn't slept.

  I was anxiously turning around, when I suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes behind me. There have been rumors of wild men appearing in the forests of Zhangjiajie, but surely I wouldn't be so lucky as to run into one now.

  "Who's there?" I turned around cautiously, only to see two people slowly standing up from the bushes. It was Lao Da and Lu Huan.

  "It's you two, how did you find this place?" I asked.

  I saw the message sent by Kui yesterday, telling me your specific location. After I saw it and called you back, all of them were turned off.

  "How dare you say that, I tried calling you last night and you didn't even pick up"

  "Something urgent came up and nobody brought their phones with them." Lu Huan looked around and curiously asked, "Where's Ke Rui?"

  "It's gone," I said in a low voice.

  The old man's voice rose several pitches 'Where did he go?'

  I hung my head and said, "Yeah, we were resting here together just yesterday. Who knew that when I woke up this morning, she was gone, but her clothes were still here."

  Lu Huan said 'It's all over, in such a big forest, anything can happen. If we're really taken away by some savage, it'll be bad luck.'

  "It won't work, if something really took it away, I should have heard the sound. But I didn't hear any sound last night, it was especially quiet," I explained.

  Lu Huan continued, 'That's being kidnapped by some bad people after being stunned. Oh no, I hope it's not those tomb robbers.'

  "There are two of us in total, why didn't he get me lost?"

  "You old fool, what's wrong with you?"

  The more I listen, the more it doesn't sound right. How does Lu Huan seem to have confirmed that Cao Ke Rui has met with an accident? At this time, the boss couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, saying "Come out quickly, don't hide anymore. Looking at Sun Yi's foolish appearance, I can no longer continue acting."

  I looked up and Cao Ke Rui jumped out from behind the tree, laughing and saying 'Haha, gotcha! We were just teasing you!'

  I rolled my eyes, picked up the clothes on the ground and stuffed them into the box, and threw the suitcase at Lu Huan 'boring'

  The boss took me up the mountain, Lu Huan carried a box and Cao Ke Rui was making trouble behind.

  "How did you find this?" I asked Lao Da.

  The boss took a glance at Cao Kerui who was chatting and laughing behind him, and said in a low voice, 'Yesterday someone sent me a text message saying that they had already picked you up and told me not to worry.'

  Didn't you say you'd come pick us up?

  "She said so, but she asked me to come again this morning. After I came this morning and saw the situation, I understood why she didn't let me come last night." The boss sneered. I thought of the clothes scattered all over the floor this morning, and the used tissue paper on the ground, and hastily explained "Boss, no, listen to me..."

  The big boss patted me on the butt and said 'Don't explain, I don't believe it' with a sly smile.

  The words reached the tip of my tongue but I swallowed them back, also, it's not strange that Lao Da thought too much and made a big deal out of it.

  I give up explaining and ask another question instead.

  "I heard from Cao Ke Rui that the missing person is Zhang Yao Yang?"

  The old man sighed, lit a cigarette. "Just on the day you left, he didn't come back at night. We've been looking for him for more than half a month, and there's no news at all. It's also my fault, I brought him out and said he was gone, how can I explain it when I go back?" The old man's expression was somewhat despondent in the smoke. This person has always been decisive and responsible, and this time Yang Yang's disappearance must have put a lot of pressure on him too.

  "You should find a police officer for this matter, it's not a solution for a whole team of people to be stuck here"

  "How can it be that no one looks for the police, the police have been here and there's no result. Everyone in their heart knows that Zhang Yaoyang is probably doomed, but no one says anything." The big brother spat out a mouthful of smoke "I'm staying here not because of him"

  "What? Is there something wrong with that grave again?"

  "Not everything" Lao Da looked at me "I found some strange things around that tomb"

  The tomb we excavated earlier is a Warring States tomb. After identifying the burial objects in the tomb and recording the ancient books, it was confirmed as a Chu State tomb of the Warring States period.

  The result of identification is within everyone's expectation, the ancient Xiang was now Hunan Province, which belonged to Chu State in Warring States Period, thus there was the culture of Xiang and Chu.

  After rushing to the scene, based on the information provided by everyone, we conducted emergency excavation after determining that the tomb had been severely damaged. The overall structure of the tomb is very regular and is a common vertical pit tomb in the Warring States period. The unearthed objects are nothing more than some bronze burial objects with characteristics of that era.

  In short, it is not a particularly large tomb and there are no significant discoveries worth studying.

  "When Zhang Yaoyang first went missing, less than 24 hours had passed, and the police station at the foot of the mountain did not file a case. I took Lu Huan and two other people from the team to look for him."

  When we first knew that Zhang Yaoyang was missing, everyone didn't feel particularly anxious, thinking that a big man should be fine. It wasn't until 3 or 4 in the morning when Zhang Yaoyang had not returned all night that Lao Da felt something was wrong. He quickly woke up two people and brought them to search for him on the mountain together.

  A few people gathered together to find it too slow, and in the mountains at night, they still couldn't tell the direction. These four people didn't walk too close, nor did they dare to walk far.

  The boss held the flashlight and shouted while shining it, but there was no response. The boss rushed out in a hurry, wearing very little clothing, and shivered with cold as the wind blew. Looking around again, the other three people had disappeared without knowing where they went. The boss didn't care and continued to search.

  Just as I took a step forward, I suddenly felt empty underfoot and slid down from the slope.

  The big brother dragged the weeds and tree roots on the ground all the way, with a bloody mark on his hand. Then it seemed like something was stuck to his foot, he fell down, and the flashlight dropped in front of him.

  The big brother picked up the flashlight, took a look at the wound, and it was about ten centimeters long. It should have been scratched on the tree root. Fortunately, it wasn't scratched too deeply, and blood beads were seeping out at this moment. Cover it with his sleeve again, and deal with it when he returns to the campsite. Just as he was about to stand up and prepare to leave, he felt that something seemed to be blocking his way forward.

  The big brother picked up the flashlight and shone it, scaring him back onto the ground in an instant.

  A snake as thick as an arm was curled up on a stone tablet. Lao Da vaguely saw that there seemed to be some words written on the stone tablet, but due to the obstruction of the snake, Lao Da couldn't see clearly.

  It's still the senior's psychological quality that is hard, if it were me, I would have run away with a bad temper long ago, and there wouldn't be any mood to care about what was written on his tomb.

  At this time, the snake had been disturbed by the flashlight in Lao Da's hand and was spitting its tongue at him non-stop. A drop of cold sweat trickled down Lao Da's forehead as he slowly backed away.

  Who knew that snake suddenly stretched its neck and stood up half of its body?

  The big brother borrowed the flashlight and finally saw the snake's appearance.

  This snake has black and yellow stripes, because it is coiled on the stone tablet, its length is not easy to estimate. But it looks absolutely over one meter long. This size should be a python.

  Fortunately, most snakes with a larger volume are not venomous. Their hunting method is to tightly wrap the prey, strangle it to suffocation and then swallow it whole.

  The boss now needs to quietly leave and try not to attract the attention of this snake.

  The boss took a look at the stone tablet under the snake's body, guessing that it might not be easy to see what was written on it. Preserving his life was more important for now. He could always bring people back during the day to take another look later. Thinking this way, the boss slowly backed away.

  The sound of his feet rubbing against the ground seemed to have startled the snake, which shook its body and suddenly stretched out its head in front of Lao Da.