Chapter Seventy-One Down into the Yellow Springs

  Whether or not it is acknowledged, humans are selfish animals that have evolved and increased in number to sit at the top of the food chain. For animals below humans, although there may be sympathy and pity, they are after all not human themselves.

  Just like what Tian Qi and Qiu Shen are seeing now, although they are all animal skulls, there is no human one, so the mood will not be too fearful and pessimistic.

  "Ah!" Tian Qi's neck suddenly felt a sharp pain, causing him to cry out involuntarily. He raised his hand to touch the painful spot.

  "Don't move, I've got it!" Qiu Shen stopped Tian Qi's movement because he was shining his flashlight on Tian Qi's neck and found an ant biting his neck.

  The ant was still alive, fortunately there was only one. Qiu Shen pinched the ant's body with her fingernail and pulled it down, but the ant's head remained stuck on Tian Qi's neck.

  "You should also know this ant, it's the one that just chased us from upstairs." Qiu Shen had half of the ant's body in his palm, with its head still on Tian Qi's neck.

  Upon seeing the purple ant, he thought of a treatment method in Africa where ants are used to suture wounds. During surgery, instead of using thread to close the wound, they use ants. Once these ants bite onto the wound, they won't let go, and then their bodies are cut off with scissors. After some time, the ants will naturally fall off, and the wound will heal very well.

  These ants are purple, but there seems to be some black mixed in with the purple, I don't know if it's because of the influence of the environment here.

  But there's no need to worry too much, if the impact is huge, it would have already caused mutations. If it were like those animals outside, with tens of thousands of giant ants, that would be a disaster. Animals, plants, even buildings would be gnawed into powder. At that time, to completely eliminate them, some top-notch weapons would be needed, such as biochemical or nuclear weapons.

  Ants secrete a substance similar to an anesthetic when they bite human skin, so Tianqi quickly lost the pain.

  "Those ants don't seem to be coming down, this should have fallen off, just crawled onto my neck." Tian Qi said, while also feeling fortunate in his heart. He didn't know why those ants wouldn't follow them down to chase after them, whether it was because there were more terrifying creatures here or some kind of taboo, anyway they had managed to escape another disaster.

  "Water is here!" Qiu Shen said.

  At this time, Tian Qi and Qiu Shen had been shining their flashlights here for about twenty minutes. The area was really large, estimated to be around 1,000 square meters, all of which were the skulls of various animals, probably numbering tens of thousands. Now, they finally found a different place.

  There should be a spring here, but the spring water does not form a flowing river, instead it forms a small lake. There are no plants in the water, at least nothing can be seen growing on the surface, and the water is very deep, with no visible bottom.

  "Is this really the exit?" Tian Qi and Qiu Shen examined it carefully, but all around were walls, and they didn't find any other caves or stone gates. Of course, there might be some kind of hidden door mechanism.

  Chou Shen gazed at the small lake formed underground and said, "Is this really the Yellow Spring of old?"

  "What's Huangquan?" Qiu Shen crouched down, carefully observing the color of the water. It was indeed a faint yellowish-brown color. No wonder Qiu Shen thought of this place.

  Eat the earth above, drink from the yellow spring below.

  The Yellow Springs, in ancient Chinese mythology, refers to the dwelling place of the dead, also known as the underworld. The Yellow Springs is one of the nine hells and nine springs. As for the Yellow Springs, when a well is dug deep enough, the water turns yellow, and since people are buried underground after death, the ancients considered the deepest part of the earth, the Yellow Springs region, to be the underground world where the dead reside.

  Yellow Springs Nine Springs, nine springs below, or said heaven has heaven, earth has nine heavy earth, indicating extreme depth, the deepest place underground is called Yellow Springs.

  "Perhaps this is indeed a passage, but it does not lead to the exit, but rather to the true burial chamber, where the coffin of the tomb owner lies." Qiu Shen said.

  Tian Qi understood the deep meaning of Chou's words. It was unlikely that they could leave from here, but now both Pao Zi and Ying Ying had gone missing, so they must go find them.

  But just how deep was the water, and what might be lurking in it that they couldn't know about, worried them, as did the animal skulls on this ground, and they didn't have any diving gear either.

  But plans didn't change quickly, and sometimes choices don't need to be made because there's only one, forced.

  Tian Qi and Qiu Shen were discussing how to investigate the situation in the water when the calm spring water suddenly changed, and surprisingly, like a geyser, there was a fountain of water surging up from the central position.

  Chou Shen suddenly felt a sense of danger, a strong sense of crisis, and he quickly pulled Tian Qi, who was standing by the water's edge, back several meters.

  "Is there a problem?" Since the spring water is below the spring eye, it may be customized to surge up, and has something to do with gravity. That's a deep but tense look.

  "Something is coming up, be careful." Qiu Shen said, his eyes fixed firmly on the lake water.

  The deep-seated conjecture was soon confirmed, first from the water emerged a dark grey head.

  Tian Qi and Qiu Shen's flashlights were both shining on the center of the lake, not very far away, so they could still see relatively clearly.

  "This head looks a bit familiar," Tian Qi said. "Right, it's a bit like the head of a yellow weasel, only the color is not quite the same."

  The head was very similar to a yellow weasel, and had already completely emerged from the water. However, the body that followed looked like an alligator, with thick skin and scales, and was followed by a tail.

  What is this? Tian Qi was shocked in his heart.

  The head of a yellow weasel, the body and tail of an alligator, feet and hands similar to those of humans, standing on two legs, with a height of over 2 meters.

  What kind of existence is this?

  Tian Qi and Qiu Shen stood there motionless, although both of them were holding powerful artifacts in their hands, ready to fight against those mutated animals if necessary.

  But at this moment, facing such a strange existence, a strong sense of oppression made them somewhat breathless, as if there was no need to fight at all, because the gap in strength was too great.

  An imposing manner can be intimidating. If this is still not enough, ordinary people also have such abilities, to subdue the enemy without fighting.

  But what happened next left Tian Qi's mouth agape, and even Qiu Shen looked incredulous.

  The animal actually spoke!

  "Human?" The massive being's mouth emitted a voice, though somewhat hoarse and unclear, Tian Qi and Qiu Shen heard it very clearly. He was speaking, speaking human language!

  "Who are you?" Chou Shen's reaction came over, after all, even Ma Wen didn't have a heart, non-human and non-ghostly existence, and it was still on the periphery. There were more bizarre existences here, which was also reasonable. Since they could speak human language, maybe they used to be humans too, but due to some unknown reasons, they became what they are now. If they could help them or provide some useful information, that would be best.

  However, his deep words did not get any response, he stared at the two of them, his eyes as if sizing something up.

  "Not bad, young and still quite robust. Wang will be very happy, it's been too long since he came to the human world. Alright, alright!"

  An existence with a yellow mongoose head and mouth saying this series of words seems too strange.

  Tian Qi knew that many places in the folk worshipped Huang Da Xian, who was actually a refined yellow mouse. It, along with foxes and snakes, often served as a guardian deity for homes.

  They are all spiritual things, it's just that this body in front of me seems to be pieced together.

  "Since you've made it here, that means you're no ordinary people. Otherwise, Ma Wen wouldn't have sent you out of the maze." It seemed to have seen through Tian Qi and Qiu Shen's thoughts.

  Tian Qi heard it clearly, what does it mean? Ma Wen sent them out of the maze. Did they all get cheated by Ma Wen because they thought they had the ability to be sent out of the maze?

  Was he deceived? Tian Qi's heart suddenly felt stuffy, although he hadn't spent much time with Ma Wen, they had formed a fraternal bond. He had risked danger and his life several times to help them, was it all just to test whether they were qualified to come out of the maze and arrive here?

  "Tian Qi, don't think too much, don't distract yourself, whatever it is we can talk about when we get out, now this is our biggest threat." Chou Shen saw Tian Qi fall into sorrow, if he didn't wake up soon, the enemy would rush over and he wouldn't even have time to react.

  The deep hatred in this sentence suddenly awakened Tian Qi. He looked at the existence opposite him, regardless of whether it was human or animal, and its intelligence was indeed very high, actually taking advantage of their minds.

  Tian Qi has been like this since he was a child. He is a person who values emotions and righteousness, and his payback is genuine. He also hopes to get genuine feelings in return. This is both good and bad.

  Those who are too heavy with emotional baggage are easily taken advantage of and restricted at critical moments, but Tian Qi also knows that he can't change. His personality is like this, if he doesn't experience the world, he's afraid he won't be able to see through it clearly.

  The mentor once told him that in China, no matter which school or sect, the emphasis is on cultivating one's mind, only the methods are different. Some emphasize avoiding the world and secluded cultivation, while others practice cultivating their minds in the midst of worldly affairs, but ultimately it all leads to the same goal.

  "Are you following me or should I follow you?" He said again, as if the two in front of him were already his captives.

  Chou Shen looked at Tian Qi with a deep grudge, raised his hand holding the black stick slightly, and his eyes fell on the yin-yang mirror in his hand again.

  Next, Qiu Shen moved quickly and rushed towards the yellow weasel!

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