Chapter Seventeen: Mercury River

  At this time, since Zhang Qian led the troops of Haoziying to pass by the stone tablet and continue forward, they were still unimpeded in front of them.

  The more they thought about it, the more they felt uneasy in their hearts, because if they calculated from the outside, they had only just truly entered the ancient tomb.

  But it's too quiet here, so quiet that everyone seems to have heard the sound of running water, except for a dozen or so people who had never been in such a place before, including Pang San Ye, everyone else stopped in their tracks.

  Before long, the scouts sent by General Cha Qian returned and quickly reported the situation ahead to him. The people around couldn't see any change on General Cha Qian's face, nor did they know what the scouts had discovered about the enemy's camp.

  After the people from the Haozi camp finished speaking, they called over Zhou Futong and Peng Tianyang. The three of them whispered to each other for a while before stopping their murmurs.

  Zhou Futong made a fist at the crowd: "Everyone, according to the situation explored by our scouts in front of the enemy camp, there is indeed a river."

  One of the ten people invited by Pang San Ye asked: "Zhou San Ye, can you tell us what kind of 'river' is ahead?"

  "This is Mercury River."

  The person who asked Zhou Futong's eyes flashed with a look of horror and hastily said, "Zhou San Ye, is there 'mercury vapor' over there?"

  Zhou Futong nodded, and the man's face suddenly changed. Pang San Ye, who was beside him, looked puzzled and was about to ask when Jin Dou Zi quickly pulled him down.

  Pang San Ye turned his head towards Jin Dou Zi and asked, "Third Master, do you know what the 'Mercury River' is also called?"

  Listening to Jin Douzi's nonsensical question, Pang San could only shake his head. Then Jin Douzi said mysteriously: "This 'Mercury River' is a 'River of Wrongful Death' in an ancient tomb. To cross this 'river', one must die first."

  Pang San Ye frowned and said: "Jin Dou Zi, what do you mean by this?"

  "But, Master Pang, don't take it to heart. What I mean is that this 'Mercury River' is no ordinary place. If you want to cross it, you must first pass through the 'Mercury Aura' that surrounds it. Otherwise, forget about going any further."

  Pang San still looked confused, but Jin Douzi didn't say much more and instead became increasingly agitated in his heart. It seemed that this place was indeed just like what his master had predicted years ago, and it was possible that the matter could be accomplished here after all.

  They also discussed it thoroughly, this mercury river is not easy to cross, and for all the people who are going to fight against it, it's a great danger. The bigger danger is the mercury vapor that comes out of the mercury river, which is like fog, spreading around the mercury river. People who smell this mercury vapor won't have any problem in a short time, but once they stay in the mercury vapor for a long time, they will be poisoned to death!

  Under the repeated persuasion of Zha Qianzong and Zhou Futong, Peng Tianyang had to stay here with ten people from Haoziying. On the one hand, it was to leave a way out for Haoziying, and on the other hand, if something unexpected happened inside, Peng Tianyang's side might be able to respond accordingly.

  The ten people invited by Pang San also discussed it and finally decided to move forward, but whether they could cross the mercury river, they also wanted to try.

  As for Jīn Dōu Zi, even if someone didn't let him continue forward, he would still refuse. Just then, Péng Tiān Yàng spoke up and said: "Jīn Dōu Zi, are you really going to rebel against the rules? You should know that people like us aren't supposed to enter this kind of place. Now that we've both already broken the rules, we'll definitely be punished later. Are you still going to continue down this path?"

  Jin Douzi looked at Peng Tianyang, seemingly recalling something. After hesitating for a moment, he took out a yellowed scroll and handed it to Peng Tianyang with great care, saying: "I only ask one thing of you. If I truly meet with disaster, please continue to pass on this scroll written by my master. If I can emerge from within, then you must return this thing to me."

  Ke Peng Tianyang didn't take the scroll from Jin Douzi, but instead turned around and left to look at Jin Douzi. Jin Douzi put the scroll back into his own clothes, then picked up the "Dragon-Cutting Ruler" and followed the people in front of him, continuing towards the Mercury River.

  Peng Tianyang sighed, this time the Golden Helmet might really not come back, but he couldn't stop it, just like his own master couldn't stop the Golden Helmet's master back then.

  Jin Duzi and his master were generally of the same character, both being the kind of people who would stick to one path until the end. Therefore, Peng Tianyong also didn't think that a few words from him could make Jin Duzi turn back.

  He went to persuade Jintouzi, just to let his own conscience go through, and also to live up to the entrustment of his master in those years.

  He thought of his own master and felt that the old man was too kind, being deceived by Jin Douzi's master to the point of losing his life, yet his own master still cared about Jin Douzi and his lineage.

  Peng Tianyang shook his head with a hint of amusement, silently wondering why he was being so sentimental today, always thinking about these old things.

  At this time, Zha Qian and his men were not far from the Mercury River. From a distance, they could see a thin layer of misty substance appearing in front of them, which was actually the mercury vapor emanating from within the river.

  The mercury vapor completely enveloped the mercury river, making it seem as if it was hiding and revealing itself at the same time, giving off an extremely mysterious aura.

  One of the ten people invited by Pang San Ye took out a special "medicine mask" and tied it to his mouth and nose, then changed color with the person next to him before rushing into the mercury gas.

  Everyone in Zha Qian's camp was watching this man. If he could return safely, he would bring some news about the situation inside the Mercury River.

  However, as time passed, the person who entered the mercury vapor unexpectedly fell silent, which made the leader of the remaining nine people uncertain and unsure whether to take someone in to take a look.

  Just as the leader was hesitating, a burst of mercury vapor suddenly appeared and surged forward. Then, a figure flashed out from inside - it was the person who had entered earlier.

  This person stood in the mercury vapor, waving at the crowd, but did not leave the range of the mercury vapor. Everyone dared not to really move forward, because they all saw that something was wrong.

  Another of the nine people, Xu, seemed to have a bad relationship with the person in charge and was saying something dissatisfied to the leader, but the leader just remained silent.

  That person saw that the leader didn't pay attention, so he took out the "medicine bag" from the bag tied to his waist, tied it up in the same way, and went straight into the mercury gas. The leader didn't even have time to pull him back.

  When this person reached a step away from the person who had entered the mercury vapor earlier, he didn't move another step, his body just started to tremble slightly.

  Watching this strange scene, no one dared to make a move again. The people of Zha Qian's camp were also secretly observing.

  Because they also couldn't figure out what happened, because this tomb was really different from the past, without those "jade coffins" or any "corpse seals".

  They now carry the "black dog blood" and "rooster crown", which are also useless, and it is no longer possible to speculate about the situation of those tombs that were entered in the past.

  The current situation in this place is not much better than the tomb that Jiang Jing and his brothers entered back then, so Cha Qian and others also dare not to risk their lives as Haoziying brothers.

  At this moment, the person standing in front of him inside the mercury finally moved, but his gait was really strange, just like a puppet being pulled slowly into the mercury.

  The leader of the two had already turned gloomy, he hadn't expected that just by arriving at this place, there would be two people who were mysterious and suspicious.

  They are like a group of ten people who can't be underestimated, although they can't compare to the scale of the Haozi Camp. Generally speaking, having fewer people makes it easier to take action. It's not that the people from the Haozi Camp would swarm in as soon as they found a place, there are still many subtleties involved. However, after that incident, the Haozi Camp also suffered heavy losses, so nowadays they don't pay much attention to details, and they go out and come back together.

  The leader now has to say that he does not regret it, which is impossible. He watched with his own eyes as the two brothers who followed him through thick and thin ended up like that, but he couldn't even muster up the strength to help or intervene.

  Pang San Ye was also staring with wide eyes, and the dozen or so people who followed him into this place were all quite skilled, but this place was just too eerie and terrifying.

  It was just a series of encounters with things they couldn't handle, and now they've run into this kind of thing. If it weren't for having to take care of their family, wife, children, and elderly at home, who knows when they would have abandoned this burden and escaped.

  Among the people like Pang San, the two most calm ones are Jin Douzi and Du Zhong. Jin Douzi looked at the situation in the mercury area, but his mouth was muttering something unknown, and his eyes were secretly excited.

  Looking back, Du Zhong seemed a bit off after escaping from Ningbo Road. Now, seeing these things, he didn't even bat an eyelid, not even bothering to raise his eyebrows slightly.

  The mercury gas finally changed again, and the person who walked into the mercury gas turned around and waved at the people on this side with the person who had entered earlier.

  Everyone saw that these two people were acting strangely, and they seemed to have lost their souls, their movements were also very stiff, completely unlike a living person moving.

  Pang San Ye invited the leader of that group to look at Cha Qian and his men, now they can only pin their hopes on Hao Zi Ying's side.