Chapter 3: The Underground Labyrinth
Cheng Zhong understood what the male wolf meant, and he wanted him to help send the cub home.
He had no choice but to reach out and pick up the wolf cub, still put it back in his school bag, and followed the male wolf.
The male wolf, who had lost one limb, became three legs. When it first got up and walked, it was a little lame, but its body's balance was unusually strong, and it quickly became smooth.
After running, speed and inertia compensate for the defects of the limbs, and at first glance, it does not seem to be much different from when the body is intact.
It is also understandable that a person can run on both legs in a balanced way, and now he has an extra leg compared to a person. ”
Cheng Zhong thought so in his heart, and was amused by his strange thoughts.
At first, Cheng Zhong could barely keep up, but was quickly distanced.
After a while, Cheng Zhong couldn't keep up at full speed.
The male wolf picks up no road to run, especially when going uphill, it is extremely easy to run, and it is several meters away from a run, how can Cheng Zhong compare with it.
Finally unable to run, he sat down on the ground, panting and sweating profusely.
The male wolf stood far ahead, somewhat proudly waiting for him to come over.
At this time, Cheng Zhong looked up and found that before he knew it, they had come to the Ranmiao Beach located at the northern foot of Tiemu Mountain.
Cheng Zhong listened to the adults and said that Tiemu Mountain began to build a temple at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, which belonged to the "Forty-eight Square Mountain Field" and enshrined the "Twelve Buddhas".
After the expansion of successive dynasties, the temple reached more than 20 at its peak.
Especially during the temple fair on June 18 every year, the pilgrims are crowded and lively.
But since Cheng Zhong can remember, he has never seen a complete palace.
After the liberation, feudal superstition was broken, temples were demolished to build schools, and the "Four Olds" and "Cultural Revolution" campaigns were all demolished, and there were ruins everywhere.
Without the temple, the remaining scenery is the famous "forced water droplet".
The one called the "Bead of Water" is a stone the size of a house, abruptly sandwiched between two mountain peaks close to each other, and flies from the sky.
Between the two peaks, under the "forced water droplets", several mountain springs flow out of the "booming lala", and after descending a few meters, they are injected into a deep pool.
In the thousands of miles of arid plateau, a primeval forest dense Tiemu Mountain has been erected, which is a miracle in the world.
And the legendary "forcing water droplets" is even more magical.
It is said that no matter how severe the drought and lack of rain are, the water in the spring will not dry up, and conversely, no matter how heavy the rainfall, the water level of the waterhole will not rise.
Under the "water beads", it is the main hall of the former "Twelve Buddhas", because of this "jewel forcing water", it ensures that the Buddha hall and the temple group will never be washed away by the flood.
Looking at the dilapidated temple, Cheng Zhong is not sad or happy.
Because the education he received was to eradicate feudal superstitions, therefore, in his thinking, everything should have been like this.
The male wolf led Cheng Zhong and climbed to a temple platform to the west.
Cheng Zhong remembered that the old people said that this was originally a temple dedicated to the "Ten Halls of Yama".
The male wolf scurried up the upside-down bushes behind the temple platform and disappeared in an instant.
Cheng Zhong bent down, used his hands and feet together, and slowly got under the bushes.
The male wolf stretched out his unique forelimbs, and Cheng Zhong reached out to grab them, and crawled into a cave with a rolling belt.
The entrance to the cave is small, but it gradually gets bigger as you enter, and after a few steps, you can walk upright.
At the beginning, the cave slopes upward, turns downward after about 10 meters, and begins to extend horizontally forward after 20 meters.
The light grew weaker and weaker, and soon it was pitch black.
The male wolf's eyes began to glow green, like two precious stones, and like two small lanterns.
Since he often walks at night, Cheng Zhong has a small flashlight in his schoolbag, which comes in handy after entering the cave.
By the time it reaches the horizontal extension, the cave is as wide as an ordinary cave in the house.
After walking for a while, forks began to appear on both sides of the hole.
And the further you go, the more forks you have, as if you have entered a large labyrinth.
Cheng Zhong observed as he walked, and felt that there were traces of manual excavation everywhere in this cave, and the doubts in his heart became stronger and stronger.
As the dragonfly meandered forward, a bright light appeared in front of it, which was an exit.
Cheng Zhong took a look and saw that the entrance of the cave was on the cliff behind the mountain, and it could not reach the sky or the ground.
Under Cheng Zhong's questioning gaze, the male wolf turned around and led him back.
Soon, another light came through, and the exit was at the root of a dead giant tree.
"This guy was showing me around its underground labyrinth.
With so many exits, it is not only possible to ventilate, but also to facilitate escape in case of danger, and it is too thoughtful, isn't this the wisdom that a wolf should have?"
Cheng Zhong thought to himself.
He felt like he was in a dream, a dream that was so unreal.
"Where do they live in such a big place?" Cheng Zhong wanted to ask.
The male wolf seemed to understand Cheng Zhong's thoughts, and stopped in an inconspicuous place.
It pounced on the ground, and soon revealed a thick plank, and under the pushing plank, a "rolling" sound was heard, revealing a new hole.
"There is still a mechanism in this wolf's den!" Rao is Cheng Zhong had some insight and was inexplicably shocked.
The male wolf reburied the planks with earth before leading the bell into the newly opened cavern.
It was like a room, with a large wooden board piled high with broken wool felt and various animal skins under the light of a flashlight, and faience pots filled with water were placed on the floor.
Seeing this, Cheng Zhong was completely speechless.
"It seems that human beings still have too superficial understanding of wolves, or this is really a wolf that has become a spirit!" Cheng Zhong said in his heart.
The male wolf took out some tender meat prepared for the cub and put it in front of the cub, and the wolf cub "swallowed" it.
After it had eaten its fill, it climbed onto the plank, leaned on the soft wool felt, and fell asleep "whirring".
Cheng Zhong's flashlight dimmed, and the power was already insufficient, so in order to prevent unforeseen needs, Cheng Zhong simply turned off the flashlight.
When the wolf's house was plunged into complete darkness, the smell of the fish became even stronger, and he was dizzy for hours, and he could not stay any longer.
He stood up and walked out.
When the male wolf saw that he was leaving, he rushed in front of him, took the initiative to lean over and let him grab his tail, and led him out of the labyrinth of nine twists and eighteen bends.
Cheng Zhong had 100,000 reasons to ask, but he couldn't communicate well, so he had to endure them all in his stomach.
I finally left the underground labyrinth and breathed in the refreshing air.
Cheng Zhong let out a long "ah-" and exhaled the turbid air in his lungs.
It's time to get out of school, Cheng Zhong wants to hurry home, and the male wolf once again grabs the corner of his clothes with his mouth, it seems that this guy has something else to explain.
"Oh yes, Ngawang woo woo ......"
After finding a place to carry the man, the male wolf began to speak, and Cheng Zhong began to listen to the wolf again in pain.
The male wolf pointed to the bell, which was a squeak and a gesture.
Cheng Zhong also began to learn the male wolf to communicate, like a pair of deaf and mute people.
What I didn't expect was that after both sides used lame "dumb language", the communication became much easier.
Cheng Zhong barely understood what the male wolf meant, and he said that he was too thin and weak, and he should eat more good and meat.
"My family is so poor that I can't even eat enough, how can I have meat to eat?" Cheng Zhong shook his head helplessly and muttered.
The male wolf cracked his mouth, which meant to laugh, a very confident kind of smile, as if he could understand Cheng Zhong's words.
The male wolf disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It came back a few minutes later with a large, worn cloth bag in its mouth.
Cheng Zhong took it and opened it, and stayed there for a while.
Stacks of neatly bundled renminbi "great unity" appeared in front of his eyes.
Cheng Zhong is so big, how can he see so much money.
And he believes that his grandparents, parents, and everyone in the family have never seen so much money.
The little heart beat uncontrollably, sweating like rain, his body collapsed, and Cheng Zhong fell to the ground softly......
Once upon a time, Cheng Zhong kept dreaming, dreaming that one day he would become a big official and earn a lot of money, so that his family could live a good life.
Once upon a time, Cheng Zhong fantasized that he would dig up a treasure in the mountains in exchange for a lot of money, which relieved his grandmother's endless fatigue and sorrow.
Although today's bizarre experience has numbed Cheng Zhong's heart, so much money in front of him still makes him seriously lose his temper.
"It's too embarrassing, isn't it?" Cheng Zhong cursed himself fiercely in his heart.
But it's no wonder he's not.
"Seeing money and opening your eyes" may be a despicable virtue for those who have no worries about food and clothing, but it is a completely understandable reaction to those who are hungry and cold.
"God has finally opened his eyes, has the hard life of our family come to an end?" Cheng Zhong pinched his thigh over and over again, letting himself know that this was not a dream.
The corners of the male wolf's mouth drooped, and with a disapproving face, he watched Cheng Zhong's reaction.
"If you take all this money home, it will definitely bring a huge panic to the family, and maybe it will even cause disaster!" After calming down for a while, Cheng Zhong's thoughts gradually returned to reality.
He hesitated, but only took out one of the wades of money and stuffed it into his school bag, and put the rest back in the cloth bag, signaling that the male wolf was still stored in its original place.
The male wolf seemed to understand him, and left in a whirlwind with the money bag in his hand, and quickly returned.
The male wolf continued to talk to Cheng Zhong.
It pointed to the sky, to itself, and to whine.
It seems that it has changed the subject and started to introduce itself.
"You came down from heaven?" Cheng Zhong asked according to his own understanding.
The male wolf shook his head. It seems to understand simple human speech.
Cheng Zhong was overjoyed, if the male wolf could understand human speech, it seemed to be much easier to communicate.
"Do you know the gods in the sky?" Cheng Zhong guessed again.
The male wolf thought about it, hesitated a little, and finally shook his head.
Seeing the male wolf's hesitation, Cheng Zhong believed that his guess was already a little reliable.
"So...... You are a descendant of the heavenly immortals?"
Hearing this, the male wolf's eyes lit up instantly, nodded again and again, and excitedly arched his head into a bell's belly.
"It seems that it is really after the 'wolf god'!" Cheng Zhong said with a sigh.
This time, he seems to have broken into a world that was completely unimaginable before.
Since the male wolf is the offspring of the "wolf god", there seems to be a reasonable explanation for all the strange phenomena encountered before.