Guardian of the Spirit

  The impression of Zhou Baihe is that he is a man who says one and does one, doing things cleanly and efficiently. In short, it is impossible to see such low emotions on this kind of person.

  Despair, desperation, giving up - that kind of helpless emotion, I don't know how to describe it. It's as if only someone who has reached the depths of despair would say something like that.

  My fist stopped in mid-air, unable to strike down, stuck there, unsure of what to do.

  I can't bear being slapped by others, but what I can bear even less is that someone who is good to me becomes so desperate, as if they've given up on life.

  It's clear in my heart that Zhou Baihe did this for my own good, not letting me get involved here. I also understand that here, at any time and place, there is a possibility of losing one's life, as long as one is slightly careless, I may not be able to return. Along the way, it was a narrow escape from death, if it weren't for the people by my side, I would have died many times already. But in my heart, I know even more clearly that if I didn't come, I would regret it, and it would stay in my mind forever.

  Because this is where I can find the answers I need, so even if it means risking my life, I have to follow them.

  I know that people around me advise me not to get involved every time we meet, but I have to do it because of Grandpa.

  I'm just an ordinary person, a very ordinary person. When I see beggars on the street, I'll throw some spare change their way. When I see others wearing nice clothes, I feel envious too. On the bus, sometimes I'll sneak glances at girls' chests, but I don't even dare to reach out with my hand.

  Very ordinary people, just want their grandfather to get out of danger, I just want to wake up every day and see my grandfather practicing Tai Chi in the yard, come home from school and see my grandfather sunbathing in the yard, I just want to see my grandfather, that's all, such a simple request, but it's so difficult.

  "You think I want to come to this godforsaken place? I'm tired of living too long. I also want to go home, but that's not what a man should do. Grandfather said, things you should take responsibility for, you should take responsibility for. Hiding and shrinking away is for cowards." I shouted louder and louder, my voice becoming hoarser, as if squeezed out from my throat.

  As soon as the voice fell, Qi Xie just slightly raised his eyes, glanced at me, lowered his head, and continued to wipe the dagger. The others were all agape, especially Xiao Shou Huan's mouth, which could fit two eggs with ease. They stared at me in a manner that suggested they had seen a monster from Mars, as if they had never laid eyes on me before.

  "Wipe it off, when did you become so nagging? Like a woman." Xiao Shou Hou was the first to react, and he jumped out with an uncomfortable sentence.

  Damn it, a dog's mouth can't spit out ivory, I really want to pinch him to death. The thought flashed through my mind, the thin monkey-like figure was about the same as mine, but thinner than me. I pounced on him directly, pressed him down to the ground firmly, and threatened: "You little brat, I've been wanting to beat you up for a long time. Let me tell you, you're a nagging wife, your whole family is a nagging wife. If you dare to expose my secrets again in the future, I'll never let you off."

  The small, thin monkey that I had pinned down turned pale, and before he could even curse at me, I heard Zhou Bai's hoarse voice rising up lowly: "Thin Uncle wants me to tell you, they're coming... they're coming..."

  As I heard this, my body suddenly stopped for a moment, and from the thin monkey's body, I got up and walked to Zhou Baihe's side. He was still in that appearance, with a slightly cold face, but revealing an expression of disappointment. What had happened after all?

  Who are they?

  "What's wrong with Qiu Bo?" I only felt that Zhou Baihe was about to say something that would put a lot of pressure on me. For a moment, I had an urge to turn around and run away.

  Isn't it a concern for Xiao Bo's safety? They all say that Xiao Bo's skills are among the best in this group, anyone can die, but he won't be harmed. It's not about worrying about their lives or deaths, but that kind of fearful feeling makes me unable to adapt, just like the map I picked up from the ghost market, it makes me want to run away directly.

  At this time, Zhou Baihe slowly raised his head, his eyes empty and emotionless, a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, smiling at me in a very strange way, that expression was extremely weird.

  "This guy, how come he's smiling so strangely, could he have gone mad?" Little Skinny Monkey said cautiously.

  "Shut your mouth." I glared at the small, thin monkey, and was about to ask Zhou Baihe some questions when suddenly, the ground beneath our feet began to slide rapidly downward. The bald man grabbed Zhou Baihe's hand with one hand and sank down. We were all pulled down together.

  Everything went black in front of me, and several people fell into the sand in a mess. I quickly turned on the flashlight in my hand and found that we had fallen from a very high distance. This space is not very large, it looks like a wide passage, giving me the feeling of being in a desert, very desolate.

  "Lucky it's not a rock down there, or I'd be dead for sure." Little Skinny Monkey grumbled for a bit, then gloated some more.

  "Not good, look over there." The bald man was somewhat tense. Upon hearing his shout, I raised my eyes and quickly scanned around. A huge black shadow was slowly swaying in front of the bronze gate and moving towards us.

  "Turn off the lights and don't make a sound." Qi Xie said in a low voice, immediately becoming vigilant.

  We suddenly fell silent, and the black shadow also stopped moving.

  In the darkness, my clothes were pulled and it seemed to be a signal for me to move over there. As soon as I lifted my foot and stepped on the ground, it made a "shhh" sound. The huge black shadow immediately sensed it, shook slightly, and then we didn't even dare breathe loudly. Suddenly, I understood that the black shadow was extremely sensitive to sounds, probably relying on its ears to survive, and most likely its eyes were blind.

  At this time, the black shadow moved its body and walked away. Just as I was about to let out a breath of relief, the little thin monkey beside me suddenly coughed violently, and that black mass jumped towards us in an instant.

  In the midst of panic, I hastily opened the flashlight in my hand and quickly threw it forward. The flashlight made a loud "bang" as it smashed onto the ground several meters away.

  That black shadow followed the light emitted by the flashlight and the sound of something crashing to the ground, and suddenly pounced over, relying on the light emitted by the flashlight to see what it looked like.

  A four-faced monster, it's normal to call it a monster, because its four parts resemble four animals, like deer, camel, cow and horse, but its whole body is emitting light. Upon closer inspection, damn, it's actually made of piece by piece jade stones. The monster kicked the flashlight with its hind legs, then raised its head and let out a long cry.

  Hei Shu looked and shook his head, saying: "It's just a deer after all."

  Elaphure, with a head like that of a horse, antlers on its forehead like those of a deer, and a tail 70cm long, similar to that of a donkey. Its four hooves are like those of an ox. Generally, people call this creature "four non-likes". In my life, I have never seen a "four non-likes".

  Normal elk, the body is also relatively large, height 140cm, body length 170cm, tail 70cm, weight at most about 400 catties, this one in front of me, my god, at least six hundred catties, I wonder if it's genetic mutation.

  Hei Shu whispered beside my ear, "This deer has been extinct in China for over a hundred years since the Qing Dynasty. We shouldn't have entered the wrong tomb, should we? It's very likely to be a Qing Dynasty tomb, but I can confirm that this is a tomb from before the Qing Dynasty."

  "This deer, although not a carnivore, I've never seen one so big before. Is it a genetic mutation? Who knows if it'll eat humans or not. But you be careful." Hei Shu warned me, his face somewhat tense.

  My gaze fell heavily in the direction of that somewhat bright mass, and then Black Uncle's voice sounded again. He said, "Zhou Baihe seems to have gone mad already, you'd better prepare yourself mentally."

  Upon hearing this, my body stiffened and I subconsciously looked towards the crowd. The light wasn't very sufficient, I searched around, and suddenly felt a pang in my heart - Zhou Baihe's figure was nowhere to be seen around me.

  Seeing such a scene, I panicked and my mind started guessing wildly. Zhou Baihe was with us when we fell down, and he was right next to me at the time. How could he disappear in the blink of an eye? None of us noticed this, and it was Hei Shu who first discovered it. He told me that Zhou Baihe probably wouldn't last much longer.

  He said this with a tone of helplessness, yet very determined. I don't know why Hei Shu would say that, Zhou Baihe has already met us, and we have enough food, water, and resources on us, so we won't starve to death.

  There is only one explanation, something big must have happened to Zhou Baihe before, and that thing is the reason why Shou Bo wants to enter this mausoleum, and also the purpose of our team coming here. Why doesn't Zhou Baihe say it?

  Is it coming?

  It's just like Grandpa's letter, unclear and ambiguous, but in short, there is a clue left behind, what about the clue?

  At first, we should have followed the clues left by Grandpa and gone on, but now that we've come to this place, whether or not we can get out is still an unknown.

  Grandpa's clue, there are only some paragraph symbols, but only I know that answer.

  As I thought of these things, my whole mind suddenly became a little clearer, but at this time the deer shook its head and body slightly, and the white light around it emitted a faint glow under the weak lamp light.

  The thin monkey shouted at the elk: "Quickly, quickly, we must work together to kill it."

  Beat it to death? I opened my eyes wide and stared at the six-hundred-plus-pound elk. How could this possibly be beaten to death?