The shadow flashed like a ghost, and if the other three hadn't seen it all, I would have almost thought I had been blinded by a mistake.

"Who is it?!"

The old knife shouted, and he was about to catch up, so I quickly grabbed this guy and said in a low voice: "Old knife, brother knife!" I'm going to call you my fucking brother, can you not be surprised? When you first came in, you howled out a large group of black ruba snakes, in the ice cave down there—well, you didn't speak that time, yes, yes, yes you found out first, count your merits...... Anyway, can you be careful? Who knows what the hell is still hidden in this place, don't provoke me. ”

The old knife rolled his eyelids: "Look at your guts, now you are smaller than the stinky fish guy!" ”

"Am I cowardly?"

"Okay, okay, I know, I don't shout nonsense, right? It's not that I'm talking about you, why are you nagging like an old woman......"

Shen Tangzhi put a finger to his lips and "shh

Old Knife and I rolled our eyes at each other, closed our mouths, and listened intently into the depths of the cave in front of us, and sure enough, we heard a strange sound, like the sound of rats eating wooden planks.

We followed the source of the sound, and the four of us tiptoed into the depths of the cavern.

On the white ice of the rock wall, there were more and more blood stains, in the shape of band-like drag marks, judging by the size of the blood stains, it is likely that the human corpse was dragged.

A little further on, we found a blood-stained carbine on the ground, and at the same time, a new fork in the cave appeared, and the blood continued into the depths of one of the forked holes, and the sound similar to that of rats gnawing wood came from this hole.

The boss's eyes lit up: "It's the American M4 carbine used by Tenzin Kava's guards." ”

He picked up the gun, unloaded the magazine and looked at it, grinning: "I found a treasure, almost full!" ”

Shen Tangzhi and Hyde also found some pieces of clothing for mountaineering clothes nearby, all of which were soaked in blood and had frozen into hard ice cubes.

I took the fragment of the mountaineering suit in Shen Tangzhi's hand, put it on the tip of my nose and smelled it, although the blood stains on it were frozen, they were still very fresh.

I said, "It seems that Tenzin Kawa and his party are also in extreme danger here, otherwise they would never have given up their firearms, and the only explanation is that the situation was so urgent that it was too late to recover the weapons...... The original owner of this carbine is likely to have been left behind. ”

The old knife "clicked" the cartine magazine back on, and walked towards the bloody hole with a lot of pride: "What are you afraid of, buddy has a gun now, gun in hand, follow me." ”

I stopped him: "I suggest not to go this way, all the blood stains are clearly indicated, and the source of danger is in this forked hole." I suspect that the group of Black Ruba snakes we encountered also came out of this hole, and Tenzin Kawa must have chosen another path. ”

But at this moment, we clearly heard a voice from the depths of the cave: "Help...... Life! ”

The cry for help was a little choppy, but as soon as we heard this voice, we did tremble, because we were all too familiar with this voice!

That's Larry's voice!

Larry was one of the few Sherpa guides who walked close to us along the way, and none of us could mishear his voice.

After a quick exchange, we both decided to save Larry immediately - since we heard Larry's cry for help, there was no reason not to save him, regardless of whether there was danger ahead.

Another reason is that we need a guide who is familiar with the adventures of the snowy mountains, otherwise it will be difficult to escape from the danger no matter what.

For the sake of insurance, only me and Lao Dao went to save people, the two of us took off our backpacks and handed them over to Hyde and Shen Tangzhi for safekeeping, I held a strong flashlight in one hand and an ice axe in the other, and Lao Dao held an M4 carbine in both hands, and drilled into the bloodstained cave in front of me.

About twenty meters later, there was another corner, probably seeing the light of our bright flashlight, and the cry for help was louder:

"Help—"

The old knife responded, "Is it Larry?" ”

The voice became excited: "Yes! You are...... Old knives! Quick, help me! ”

We turned the corner and saw a man covered in blood, limping towards us, clinging to the cave wall.

It really was Larry.

Lao Dao and I did not suspect him, and immediately went up to support him and asked; "Larry, what's going on? What about the others? ”

Larry's face was covered with blood, and he said anxiously: "First, run away first!" That strange snake is coming! ”

The "strange snake" in Larry's mouth must be the black giant snake we once saw, and when we think of the terrifying appearance of that giant snake, we and Lao Dao are constantly beating drums in our hearts.

But we saw that there was another person lying on the ground not far from the ground, and the old knife was about to step forward to check, but was pulled by Larry: "Don't go to see, let's go quickly!" ”

"Don't worry, isn't that snake still moving? Even if the dead snake dares to come, we will definitely not leave you. The old knife shook his hand away.

Larry shook his head anxiously: "He was bitten by the Black Ruba snake!" ”

The old knife raised the M4 carbine in his hand, and didn't care: "It's not that I haven't seen it." ”

As he spoke, the old knife had already stepped forward and carefully turned over the person lying on the ground with the pistol of the M4 carbine, a Sherpa alpine collaborator in our team, who seemed to be named Kasan, but this person's face had turned purple and black, and he looked out of breath.

I saw that the stomach of the corpse on the ground was bulging high, and something seemed to be squirming inside, so I told the old knife to hurry away, but before the words fell, from the neckline of the mountaineering suit on the corpse, several black ruba snakes suddenly drilled out, jumped up towards the old knife, and opened his mouth to bite!

The old knife said "wo grass", and the muzzle of the gun was raised-

Larry and I shouted at the same time, and what Larry said was "Don't shoot!" I said, "Be careful!" ”

"Da Da Da!"

The old knife skillfully shot a point shot, and smashed several black ruba snakes in the air!

But before we could breathe a sigh of relief, we could only hear a rumbling sound in the depths of the cave, and the whole cave shook slightly!

This time, not only Larry, but also me and Lao Dao changed color at the same time.

Larry's eyes widened suddenly, and he almost screamed in fright: "It's over! It's coming! ”

As he spoke, Larry's body was weak and he almost fell, and the old knife and I quickly helped Larry steady, and the two of them carried one of his arms, directly put Larry in the air, and ran back with his legs!

But the thing chasing behind us was obviously faster than us, and the rumbling sound was soon close to a large section, and the vibration of the hole ** was also more intense.

When we turned the second corner and saw Shen Tangzhi and Hyde waiting at the entrance of the forked hole, a loud scream sounded behind us, and at the same time, a fierce fishy smell like the rotting of a dead fish came to our noses, and we didn't need to look back, we also knew that the terrible black giant snake had chased behind our butts.

At this moment, neither Lao Dao nor I dared to look back, so we could only grit our teeth and run forward desperately.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the old knife's face showing a look of wanting to fight the giant snake, and quickly stopped him with his eyes - the firepower of the carbine is okay for the black ruba snake, but against the huge black snake, it may not be able to kill with one hit, and every bullet we have is extremely precious, so unless there is really no way back, I don't want to fight against the water.

Shen Tangzhi and Haide, who were waiting at the fork in the road, had obviously seen the black giant snake chasing behind us, but the two of them were not in a hurry, knowing that it was useless to be in a hurry, they quickly picked up all their backpacks and ran towards the other forked cave.

When we finally escaped into another forked hole, the giant snake behind us was probably less than a meter away from us, and I could already smell the incomparably foul and bloody smell in the snake's mouth, but the whole cave shook violently, and we heard the familiar sound of gold and iron again!

Thankfully, the chains that held the giant snake tightened at last!

We ran a few more steps, and when we looked back, the black serpent suddenly pounced on us, and the whole cavern vibrated so much that we almost made us stand a little unsteadily, but the serpent could not move an inch, and could only roar at us with its mouth wide open.

"Chase, you keep chasing! I want your head to bloom now-" The old knife spat on the ground, and aimed his M4 carbine at the serpent's head.

I quickly pressed the muzzle of his gun: "Don't-"

"You're an animal protection society? It's not just to give it to Lao Tzu, this dog day thing chased Lao Tzu twice, I have to peel off its skin to make a pair of leather shoes! ”

The run just now made me almost lose my breath, and my heart in my chest was still beating wildly at this time, panting, and said to the old knife: "It's meaningless, don't waste bullets." ”

"How is it pointless? This giant snake is obviously locked by some kind of ghostly thing, maybe it is protecting some treasure, killing it, taking the treasure, isn't it beautiful? It was not in vain that Lao Tzu was chased twice, and he was almost not eaten. ”

"Haven't you already seen the treasure it guards?"

Hearing me say this, the old knife showed a stunned expression, not only him, but also Hyde on the side, only Shen Tangzhi showed a sudden expression.

I explained that the cave we entered just now must lead to the ice cave where the corpses of countless children were frozen, and the black giant snake in front of me was guarding those children's corpses.

As we spoke, the serpent had shrunk back into the cavern, and in a few moments, it had disappeared around the corner.

The old knife still didn't believe my words, and at this time, he was a little annoyed when he saw the giant snake retreating.

I told Larry how we found the ice cave full of frozen corpses.

After hearing this, Larry's voice trembled: "That legend, is it true?" Tenzin Kava didn't lie to us! ”

He repeated it several times, and even became agitated, and I quickly held him down, and after calming down a little, he told us that among their Sherpas, there has always been a mysterious legend -

The ancestors of the Sherpas were actually descendants of the Tangut royal family. When the Western Xia was destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty, the whole country was slaughtered, the Western Xia royal family was divided into two branches, fled to the west and the north respectively, this branch of the westward migration, once settled in the north of the Himalayas in southern Tibet for a short time, but the Mongols still chased after it, so they had to cross the Himalayas, and settled in its southern foothills, which formed the current Sherpa tribe.

The reason why this descendant of the Tangut royal family was able to climb over the terrible Himalayan moat was because of the help of the ancient kingdom of Somol.

In the Sherpa language, "Somol" means "Divine Star Ziqi", which represents the Sherpa people's reverence and worship for this mysterious country built deep in the rugged Himalayas.

Larry believes that the corpses we see cannot be Sherpas, but people from the ancient kingdom of Somole, because the traditional clothing of the Sherpas is likely to be modeled after the inhabitants of the "Kingdom of God" and evolved.

Among other things, the sherpa population and the danger of reaching the mountainside of Dhaulagiri put an end to the possibility of the Sherpas once again building a large frozen tomb.

I know a little about the history of the Western Xia Kingdom.

Western Xia refers to the dynasty established by the Dangxiang clan in the Helan Mountain area. In the later period of the Western Xia, the unstoppable Mongolian iron cavalry had attacked Xia 6 times, including Genghis Khan 4 times in person, but in front of the gate of the Western Xia Kingdom, he encountered unprecedented stubborn resistance, and Genghis Khan was also killed by the poisonous arrow of the party members.

Later, the Western Xia finally surrendered due to the exhaustion of ammunition and food, and the Mongolian army washed the Western Xia in blood, burning the Western Xia palace and annals. The Western Xia Dynasty, which had been a powerful force in Chinese history, suffered a catastrophe.

There is also some basis for Larry's statement that the Western Xia royal family was divided into two branches, the western and the northern, and fled for their lives respectively.

After Xingqingfu, the capital of the Western Xia Kingdom, was broken by the Mongol army, the old capital of the Western Xia Kingdom, Heishui City (called "Yiji Nai" in the party language) in the north, had not yet been lost, and one of them to the north was indeed likely to defect to Heishui City. And in 1886, the Russian scholar Potanin rediscovered the city of Blackwater and unearthed countless treasures.

As for the westward migration, it is also recorded in some wild histories about southern Tibet.

The Sherpa language "Somol" is the meaning of "Shenxing Ziqi", which is also in line with the star worship of the Zhenghe Dangxiang clan.

Because in the star worship of the Dangxiang people, there are 11 stars worshipped: the god of the sun, the god of the moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and the god of Ziqi (qì), the god of the moon, the god of Luoyu, and the god of Jidu.

Among them, the Ziqi star is considered a lucky star, which will bring auspiciousness and happiness when it appears.

Larry said: "Those frozen corpses must be the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Somer, they are waiting for rebirth, and the huge black ruba snake must be the tomb beast of the ancient kingdom of Somol, which guards these residents of the Divine Star Ziqi who are waiting for rebirth." ”

As he said these words, his face was full of longing, as if he was looking forward to becoming a frozen corpse and waiting for "rebirth".

I said to the old knife: "What Larry said is basically the same as my previous speculation, anyway, the treasure guarded by the giant snake is those frozen corpses, why don't you go back and dig one out as a souvenir?" ”

Shen Tangzhi checked for Larry, this kid was covered in blood, and he looked terrifying, but he didn't expect Shen Tang to check it, but found that he was just some skin trauma, the most serious injury was to sprain the ankle of his right foot, resulting in dislocation, Shen Tang's one action, "cluck", Larry's ankle has been successfully aligned.

Without waiting for us to ask questions, Larry recounted to us a few of the events of the previous night.

Last night's blizzard was very violent, but at about three o'clock in the morning, Tenzin Kava suddenly sent someone to inform Larry and ask them to immediately pack their equipment and set off in the snowstorm.

Under the guns of the guard gate, everyone did not dare to have any objections, braved the wind and snow, and followed the team.

Not long after, the former convenience said that a cave had been discovered, and after Larry's team entered the cave, they found that there were no four of us in the team, and when they asked the others, they all said they didn't know.

The commander of this operation, of course, was Tenzin Kawa, but the people who gave the advice were the two white men, and it is said that the location of the cave was discovered by the two white men.

Inside the cave, they encountered the giant black ruba snake.

At that time, it was the tail of the team that was attacked, and in addition to Larry, one of Tenzin Kava's guards and another Alpine collaborator and a porter were attacked by the giant snake, but except for Larry and another Alpine collaborator who played dead and escaped, the other two were bitten to death on the spot.

The giant snake dragged the four of them into the depths of the cave, where there were countless small black ruba snakes, crawling all over Larry and the others, the other pretending to be dead couldn't help it and was bitten to death by the snakes, while Larry continued to pretend to be dead, at this time, for some reason, those little black ruba snakes suddenly all rushed towards the outside of the cave.

Only the giant snake was left to devour the corpses one by one, and after eating the two corpses, the giant snake suddenly retreated into the depths of the cave, and only at this time did Larry try to call for help and escape, and then met several of us.

Several of us nodded secretly, and what he said was basically the same as what happened to us, it was we who first encountered the small black ruba snake group, and then the giant snake in the ice cave.

I asked Larry why didn't Tenzin Kava take us with him?

Larry shook his head and said he didn't know, he had asked, but no one answered him.

Still, the clues provided by Larry solved several of our questions.

At least, we now know clearly that Tenzin Kawa is right in front of us, in the depths of the cave we are walking on.