Shine a torch around, the scenery in the cave is still complicated, look at it, still don't know the essentials, Jiang Sheng put out the torch again, he whispered: "Let's rest for a while, if there is an enemy, we are in the light, he is in the dark, it is very dangerous, let's first put the flag down, see if we can find the whereabouts of the enemy." ”

The three of them felt the darkness, exited the hall, found a corner, sat down, stopped talking, and listened quietly.

Inside the cave, the silence is abnormal, and the outside world, completely different, the absolute silence and darkness, making people inexplicably panic, the three of them can clearly hear each other's breathing, and even hear the sound of heartbeat, a feeling from the experience, permeate the whole body, Dafeng leaned on the body of the stone lock.

After a while, there was a sound in the ears, getting louder and louder, the spirits of the three people were shocked, there was a sound in the ears, this seemed to be normal, listen to it again, "stunned and stunned," the sound came from far and near, carefully distinguished, it was not a human voice, but like the sound of wings flapping. Dafeng shouted: "It's a bird, and the flock of birds is flying." ”

"It's a bat," Jiang Sheng said as he hurriedly lit his torch and said hurriedly, "The bat will fly out of the cave, find its location quickly." ”

In the cave, bats are often used as nests, Jiang Sheng knows that bats live in the cave, generally for a long time, and they naturally perceive the path without looking at it, which is much more effective than the human eye.

The torches were lit, and sure enough, I saw a group of bats, in the air a few feet in front of them, flying out in groups, Jiang Sheng shouted: "Catch one, Dafeng, quickly." ”

Dafeng took out the string, but the group of bats flew very fast, and when Dafeng threw the rope, it had already flown away, and the three people ran after the bats, and the road in the cave in front of them was not flat, it was a steep uphill, chasing a distance of dozens of meters, and the cave was forked again, and the bats had disappeared.

"It's a pity." Jiang Sheng stomped his feet.

I searched for a while, but I didn't see the shadow of a bat anymore. Jiang Sheng said: "This little thing has a natural instinct, it can recognize the road without light, if we catch it and tie it to its legs, maybe we can let it take it out of the hole, but unfortunately, it is still a step slower." ”

"I'll meet you again, I'll catch one."

Jiang Sheng nodded, "Okay, you are ready at any time." Bats usually go out at night to feed, and when they return before dawn, they will definitely come back. By the way, it shouldn't be time for them to go out to feed, let's sit quietly and rest, who alarmed them? ”

As soon as he said this, Shi Suo and Dafeng became nervous again, looking around left and right, as if the enemy's figure was hidden in the shadows, ready to pounce on and attack from the corner at any time.

"What is this?" Dafeng pointed to the cave wall and shouted.

This cave hall is also very wide, a layer of fine sand at the bottom of the hole, there seems to be traces of water flowing, the top of the cave is two or three zhang high, one side of the cave wall, it is very flat, just like a huge wall, under the illumination of the torch, the stone wall, there are pieces of colorful colors, there are strips, there are blocks, look closely, these strips and blocks, it is actually a picture.

Jiang Sheng walked over, holding a torch high, the picture on the wall, the scale is grand, more than ten zhang long wall, almost all of them are covered, probably because of the age, some places have peeled off, but most of them are still clearly recognizable, in the picture, there are cattle and sheep, there are fierce beasts, there are people wearing aprons, holding things like sticks, chasing beasts, there is a tall portrait, the head is full of feather-like ornaments, both hands are spread, head high, majestic momentum.

"Wow, that's good, this is a petroglyph of the ancients." Jiang Sheng exclaimed excitedly.

"Have you ever lived here?" Stone Lock asked.

"I must have lived, but looking at the appearance of these people, they should be primitive people, and they may be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years away from now," Jiang Sheng looked surprised and excited, "You see, how beautiful these paintings are, the lines are concise and rough and charming, every stroke is vivid and expressive, these beasts, cattle and sheep, running, as if they are alive, the art and wisdom of the ancients are really amazing." ”

Shi Suo and Da Feng didn't understand painting, and listening to Jiang Sheng's lively talk, Shi Suo pretended to be an expert and agreed, "Well, it's really like painting." ”

"If Brother Hu Xuan's time is here, he will definitely be able to understand it." Dafeng said.

Jiang Sheng admired the petroglyphs for a while, extinguished the torches, and the three of them sat at the bottom of the cave to rest, the fine sand was soft, and it was very comfortable to sit on, Jiang Sheng said confidently: "Bats do not live in deep caves, because they have to go out to forage for food, and it is inconvenient to live far away." This is the place where the ancients lived, and it will not be too far from the entrance of the cave, which shows that the direction we are walking is not a big deviation, and we will explore a few more times, and we will definitely find the entrance to the cave. ”

Shi Suo said suspiciously: "When we came in, that small hole was blocked with stones, can bats fly out?" ”

"There may be other exits," Jiang Sheng said, "There are often several exits in karst caves, some of which are formed by ground movement, and some of which are formed by weathering and erosion over thousands of years. ”

"Brother Jiang, you know so much." Dafeng said admiringly.

"What am I," Jiang Sheng said with a smile: "I heard Lao Zhuang say, here in Changsha, the popular movement is in full swing, civil ministers and military generals, and talents are gathered, take the two of you as an example, although you don't have much book knowledge, but your martial arts are very good, and it is more useful when fighting with warlords and bullies." ”

"There are indeed a lot of talents," Shi Suo said, "However, Dafeng and I are not. ”

Dafeng laughed and said, "What you said is not bad. These days, I am with Professor Wan and Teacher He, only to know that I don't understand anything, listening to their reasoning, it is like a blind man seeing the light, not only them, Hu Xuan, Xiaoyue, Ah Rong, Xiaojuan, and even Duan Laosan, they are all full of knowledge, heaven and earth, China and foreign countries, know everything, and with them, you can't finish learning. The two of us are really like big fools. ”

"This is called each has its own strengths," Jiang Sheng corrected Dafeng and said: "Talents, including all aspects, you have little reading, but you can use martial arts to fight warlords, you are very useful talents." I have already told Lao Zhuang that I will often go to Changsha in the future, and join you in the popular movement. After we go back, I'll go and report to Professor Wan and them. ”

"Great." Shi Suo and Dafeng said at the same time.

After sitting and resting for a while, the three of them lit torches and continued on the road, walked out of the hall with petroglyphs, and entered a place full of stalagmites, only to see stalagmites everywhere, one by one, like a forest, walking through it, you have to go around one by one, the ground is very smooth, you will fall if you are not careful, and the road is difficult to distinguish, it seems that all four are exits, stalagmites, blocking the view, I don't know where the road is. Shi Suo carefully climbed to the top of a stalagmite and commanded condescendingly, only then did he see the whole picture of this "stalagmite forest", and the three of them passed safely.

"On these stalagmites, there are bat droppings, and they fly over here." Jiang Sheng said.

"Ding-dong, scare-dong," came the sound of dripping water in my ears.

The three of them held their breath, this water dropping sounded so pleasant, so familiar, wasn't this the dripping sound of the small waterhole that had been there? The heartbeats of the three people accelerated, and Dafeng said excitedly: "That small pool, this is the voice, it will never be wrong." ”

Looking around, the road is still reaching in all directions, Jiang Sheng is careful, in every place he passes, he draws a charcoal rod mark, and then looks for the sound of dripping water, slowly looking forward, the sound of dripping water, like a beautiful piano sound, attracts three lost people.

An arc-shaped arch, with countless white stone flowers, as if built by workers, sparkled under the light of torches, crystal bright, Dafeng stroked those stone flowers with his hand, "Wow, it's so beautiful." ”

Through the arch, in a long cave hall, the ground is full of fine sand, and the pleasant sound of water droplets comes from here, in front, a small pool, the stalactites on the top of the cave, are still dripping, Dafeng shouted excitedly: "This is here, let's finally go around, this is the small pool, I know, you see, the big stalactite, we are back again." ”

Indeed, this is the cave hall that they encountered when they first entered, and the three of them finally found their way back.

Shi Suo breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, "I knew I could come out." ”

Jiang Sheng carefully shone with a torch at the four corners and several exits of this cave hall, and Shi Suo suddenly remembered, "Do you still have those bark markers you put on?" ”

Jiang Sheng shook his head, he remembered clearly, at every turn or fork in the road, bark markers were placed, but now he couldn't find any of them, there was no doubt that someone had removed them.

"Silk-" A very small voice came from the side. The sound was so small that it would not have been audible if it weren't for the silence in the cave. Dafeng flashed suddenly, and an arrow flew past her ear.

Dafeng's right hand shook, the rope had been thrown out in the direction of the arrow, but it was thrown into the air, and at the entrance of a branch hole next to it, there was a sound of hurried footsteps, and it was obvious that someone was running away.

Shi Suo shouted, and chased after Dafeng, the branch hole was very narrow, zigzag into the distance, because the torch was held in Jiang Sheng's hand, the hole was so dark that nothing could be seen, the terrain of the two was unknown, they didn't dare to run fiercely, and when Jiang Sheng ran over with the torch, the enemy had long disappeared.

"Let's not chase," Jiang Sheng shook his head, "The situation ahead is unknown, the pursuit is useless, besides, we have found the original way, there is no need to entangle with the enemy, hurry out of the hole, it is serious." ”

"There are people here," said Shi Suo, and ran under a stalagmite, and sure enough, there was a man lying there, face down, motionless, and stocky, who was the man who caught the mastiff, with his shotgun tossed aside, and a bamboo arrow stuck in his back, and blood oozing from his clothes. Jiang Sheng pulled him and tried to breathe, but he was already out of breath.

The three of them originally thought that nine times out of ten, they were the mastiff catcher who plotted against their enemies, but seeing this person die here, they naturally ruled out suspicion. So, who is this invisible enemy? One ran away just now, is there anyone else? Why do you want to poison yourself?

There are no answers to these questions, the three of them picked up the shotgun, returned to the dripping cave hall, Dafeng picked up the arrow that shot at him from the waterhole, the arrow and the back of the mastiff catcher, exactly the same, no arrow feathers, no arrow, just cut with bamboo, the front is sharpened, the back is cut into a swallowtail, very primitive. Even the ancient ancestors rarely used such simple bamboo arrows.

Jiang Sheng shook his head, "If this arrow shoots at me, I don't have the ability of Dafeng to dodge it." ”

"Wang, Wang."

The mastiff's cry suddenly came, and the sound was nearby, and the cry was urgent, as if they had met the enemy, the three of them all ran towards the scream, turned a corner, and entered a hall, only to see the big mastiff's figure flashing, and was running forward, shouting while running, Jiang Sheng shouted: "Come back." ”

When the big mastiff heard Jiang Sheng's shout, he made two noises, stopped his steps, turned around and ran back, arched Jiang Sheng's trouser legs affectionately with his head, and turned around and shouted a few times. Ran a few steps and then ran back again.

"It must have wanted to tell us something, but unfortunately it won't speak." Dafeng said.

"I can guess it's saying that there's an enemy over there." Stone Lock picked up his shotgun.

Jiang Sheng shone forward with a torch, this hall is the cave hall that he saw when he first came in, it looks like a crystal palace, everyone has the impression that this is close to the entrance of the cave. Jiang Sheng said: "Whether there is an enemy or not, let's get out of the hole first, and don't entangle with the enemy here." ”

This decision is undoubtedly very correct, after the stone lock was broken with a shotgun, the big mastiff seemed to understand Jiang Sheng's use, shook his tail, ran in front, and soon arrived at the entrance of the cave, found the passage that was oblique upward, Jiang Sheng let the dog go first, the big mastiff scurried a few steps, rushed out, and then, Jiang Sheng, Dafeng, and Shi Suo climbed up in turn.

Drill out of that narrow opening, a piece of sunshine, shine into the hole, make people feel particularly kind, a feeling of the rest of the life, permeated in the heart, although here is still a cave, but this is a "clear hole", the entrance of the cave is more than ten zhang away, the sunlight obliquely comes in from there, the birdsong outside the cave blows, rings in the ears, than the dark and silent mysterious cave house underground, it is two worlds.

The stone lock blocked the big rock at the entrance of the cave again, "I blocked that guy inside." Dafeng said: "It's useless, there must be other exits to this hole." “

Jiang Sheng stroked the mastiff's head, "The secret in this, maybe the dog knows more than us, it can't be found after it enters the hole, what is it going to do?" Did it see the enemy? Did it find out that someone was trying to harm us, and went to fight the enemy? Unfortunately, it can't speak, and can't tell us these secrets. ”

The big mastiff shook its head, and Shi Suo and Da Feng also tried to touch its head, but the big mastiff did not resist, and also arched Shi Suo's leg with his head affectionately, it seems that this fierce and intelligent beast has taken them as mature people.