Chapter 40: White Fluorescent Sacred Beetle

  The underground water pool they were in was about two meters high from the ground, square and not very big. It was a white stone-built square pool with shallow water, only up to their waists. The water was very clear, so clear that there wasn't even a single fish. The stone room where the underground water pool was located had no lights, but it was incredibly bright.

  Luo Zonghan looked up at the glowing cave wall, only to see a large cluster of unknown insects attached to it. They were all white and emitted a fluorescent glow. Each insect was no bigger than two ordinary one-yuan coins, but there were countless numbers of them, illuminating the vast empty stone chamber like daylight. The glowing insects seemed to be sleeping, motionless, except for a few insomniacs that crawled around, disturbing their companions with their antennae.

  The sound of the crowd falling into the water startled these sleepless fireflies, and they began to stir restlessly as soon as they heard the sound. They touched each other with their antennae, and before long, many of them woke up. The light on their bodies began to flash on and off, looking very eerie.

  "What is this thing!" Malacca said in a low voice.

  Professor Zhou made a hushing gesture: "Never mind what these worms are, looking at their strange appearance, they're not good guys either. Let's get out of here quickly."

  The crowd said and quietly walked slowly from the water to the stone platform, although careful but also issued a " splash, la la" sound of crossing the water. They walked while staring at the glowing insects on the surrounding stone walls, fearing that these strange insects would attack them.

  Just out of the pool, only to hear Cork's voice in front of him, pointing at a white insect and exclaiming excitedly: "This is a White Stag Beetle!"

  Everyone listened and stood still, staring at the insect on the wall for a while. The insect had a hard white fluorescent shell, with a pair of not-too-long antennae on its head, which looked quite pretty.

  Professor Zhou said, "The sacred scarab is commonly known as the dung beetle! The Egyptians called it the sacred scarab, and there are two colors, one black and one white. The black one is generally used to curse the soul from being reborn, while the white one is used for praying for resurrection. This insect was revered in ancient Egypt, and often appears as a prop in some foreign adventure films. They were considered sacred insects, and the people of ancient Egypt took them as totems. When the pharaoh died, his heart would be dug out and replaced with a stone filled with white sacred scarabs. It is said that by doing so, the pharaoh will be reborn soon... But I don't know how this strange creature appeared in this place..."

  Malacca heard that it was a dung beetle, and unexpectedly didn't fear it either. Smiling slyly, he said: "Eh! Don't they eat that stuff? This place doesn't seem to have their food source!"

  Professor Zhou ignored his lowly humor, smiled slightly, and scared Ma Liuji: "These worms are not so easy to deal with, they like to devour people's hearts!"

  As soon as his voice fell, Kexi exclaimed excitedly: "Yes, this road is the right path. The place of worship for the antelope is not only where our people worship the sacred mother sun, but also a training ground for small shamans to become great shamans."

  "What is this place of trials?"

  Kekesi's face was still filled with excitement: "The twelve tribes of the ancient Qiang will become the small Bi compared to the great Bi, crossing the Death Valley, nine deaths and one life to arrive at the place of worship for the white goat, in the White Goat Temple, sincerely worshiping, those who are sincere will be sent to the underground White Goat Jade Palace, under the gaze of the white sacred beetle, enter the Bi Temple, advance in learning, learn in advancing, they achieve their goals through the difficult five-element trials, successfully arrive at the Holy Mother's retreat, can become the next great Bi. On the road, they keep falling down and getting up again. Even if someone dies, no one retreats. They will not give up on a person, even if it is a dead companion. They carry the bodies of their dead companions in the Red Water, closing their eyes to cross the knife mountain fire sea, crawling hard in the dark cave, under the guidance of a tree that pierces the sky, the living and dead Bi masters finally saw the light, came before the Holy Mother, knelt down by the pool, watched the Sun Mother revive the dead companions, and accepted the holy water given by the Holy Mother...

  He said it with great excitement, but the rest of the people listened with trepidation. According to his words, the road ahead seemed even more tortuous than the one they had taken before.

  Kuo said, "This is an ancient legend passed down from above. My father once told me that there are two ways for a young Bi to become the new Da Bi. One way is if the young Bi has a higher level of enlightenment than his teacher and can go to the Five Elements Training Grounds to cultivate himself. After completing his training, he can replace the original Da Bi as the new Da Bi. The second way is if the young Bi's level of enlightenment is lower than that of his master, then after learning all of his master's skills, he can become the new Da Bi only when the original Da Bi dies."

  Liu Yi asked: "Refining? Could it be that this place of the Five Elements' trials has the ancient Qiang tribe's remaining techniques?"

  Kokkosi nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, I'm sure of it. As long as I pass through here, even without my father's teachings, I will definitely become a great monk and revive the village of Koko!"

  Everyone was infected by his firm conviction, and they all made up their minds to protect him on the road ahead, never abandoning or giving up as they went through the five trials of the front.

  Although there are many dangers ahead, everyone here has their own mission and will definitely not retreat.

  "Ah, mom, don't say that, let's run quickly! The White Sacred Beetle has moved, even the Bi Shi masters have to go through his test. I reckon these guys aren't easy to deal with!"

  Liu Yi heard the words and looked to his left, only to see that several white sacred beetles had already flown up, shaking their wings in mid-air and making a strange "zizi" sound with their mouths. At this moment, he suddenly realized that the flying insects he saw on the island when he was hallucinated by the black-bodied white-eyed sheep must have been these bugs, but he didn't know why they hadn't attacked him. Although he was puzzled in his heart, it wasn't a time for careful consideration. The crowd quickly ran towards the corner of the stone chamber, estimating that there should be a passageway leading to the next location.

  "The thud, thud, thud" of footsteps suddenly echoed through the underground stone chamber. Their running stirred up even more insects, and all the white bugs that were sleeping on both sides of the wall woke up, flapping their wings in mid-air, calling out in extreme discontent. One or two white bugs calling out wouldn't be so bad, but with over a thousand insects crying out together, it was almost unbearable. Furthermore, the cave's emptiness and quietness made the sound bounce off the walls, ultimately reaching Liu Yi and his companions' ears, making their eardrums buzz with pain.

  Malacca ran out first, only to see him turn into the exit first, followed by Lu Zonghan. The others hadn't even run past yet when they saw the two of them come back again!

  Liu Yi cursed loudly: "Damn it, you bunch of idiots, run quickly!"

  As soon as the words fell, more white sacred beetles flew out of the corridor, they danced wildly in the air, constantly forming different shapes. At this time, the sacred beetles in the stone room were also awakened, flying in the air and watching these uninvited guests.

  The crowd quickly formed a circle, naturally with Ma Liu, Liu Yi and Lu Zonghan on the outer ring protecting Professor Zhou Tao and Ke Kexi. This arrangement, in the entire process of moving forward, unconsciously formed a habit that well carried forward the spirit of respecting the elderly and loving the young.

  All the insects, in the air, were shouting and dancing, some died, some shone, alternating with each other, looking beautiful and magnificent. These insects shouted loudly, but none of them attacked them.

  Liu Yi felt very strange and muttered: "Why don't these guys attack us?"

  Keksi looked thoughtfully at the waistband made of woven "Quyucuo" grass wrapped around Liu Yi's waist and said, "I see. It is said that in the place of sacrifice, there is a plant called Quyucuo grass that can make the white sacred beetle retreat three houses."

  Liu Yi took the whip from his waist and swung it in the air, discovering that wherever the whip went, the white sacred beetles retreated. He wondered, "What is the reason for this?"

  Kokoro said, "It's said that the sacred beetle lives on filthy things. Although it has a selfless spirit of 'who will go to hell if not me', having eaten filth for so long, its body can't help but carry some foul air, which is why it fears going to the impure grass!"

  Professor Zhou sighed and said: "Everything has a cause and effect, what kind of cause you plant, what kind of fruit you get, it's really true!"

  Now that they knew the white sacred beetles were harmless, everyone looked around and proceeded slowly, walking into the long corridor. They were amazed to find that the walls of the entire underground stone chamber were carved out of a kind of ash-gray stone, which resembled Kunlun jade.

  Liu Yi asked Keke Xi: "Is it really as you said that this underground palace is entirely made of jade?"

  Kekexi Road: "Legend has it that this was originally a huge Kunlun jade mine, the Holy Mother discovered this place, built a palace here, devoted herself to cultivation, and finally achieved enlightenment and ascension..."

  "Oh..." The crowd didn't respond, continuing to move forward. On the wall, white sacred beetles were stuck, still not awakened by the crowd. These insects were strange, they even left their lights on while sleeping, which actually lit up the path for them. After walking for about half an hour, they turned right and found that this road was pitch black, but suddenly, about 150 meters ahead, it flashed brightly and then went out.

  In the flash of light, Liu Yi saw what seemed to be a person covered in white fluorescent paint standing there, everyone stopped in their tracks, and Ma Li Ka was already holding a rifle in a shooting stance.

  Before he could fire, the glowing man went out for a second before lighting up again. It was then that they discovered the person was made of giant sacred beetles, each one as large as a fist, forming an inflated humanoid monster ten times larger than any white sacred beetle they had seen before.

  "My god!" Malacca screamed and pulled the trigger.

  "Bang!" The bullet roared towards that "fluorescent freak corpse" composed of fist-sized white sacred beetles...