The crevice we fell into was narrow and deep, and it was pitch black beyond the range of the flashlight, limited by visibility, and we didn't know what terrain was in the distance.

The big man probed Liu Gong's snort with his hand, shook his hand and said, "It's over, it's over, it's all gone." ”

I crawled over and touched Liu Gong's carotid artery, it was indeed dead, and my heartbeat was gone, so I sighed and said to the big man, "Let's bury Liu Gong." ”

I took out the sapper shovel and tried to dig a pit, but Gava stopped me and pointed to the ground: "Bugs, fire." ”

Gava's reminder, I just remembered that in the valley, because I wanted to dig a pit to bury the engineer who fell to death, I ended up digging up a devil-like ladybug, the team of fourteen people, and ten died in that thrilling few minutes, it seems that the land here can't be dug casually, God knows what the hell is down there.

I have a gut feeling that that weird bug is not as simple as some mysterious creature, and after it burns two people, it splits from one to three, is it just a coincidence? I can't figure it out.

But you can't just leave the corpse of your companion outside, and you have to take a compromise approach. I used a flashlight to illuminate it, and Gava and the big man picked up some rubble nearby and put it on Liu Gong's body, which was kind of a simple stone grave for him.

In this process, Luo Ning always sat motionless on the ground, quietly staring at Liu Gong's stone tomb, and finally couldn't bear it anymore, and cried out, and the sorrow suppressed in his heart was released like a tidal wave.

I wanted to persuade her, but I really didn't know what to say, I was touched by her crying, my nose was sour, my heart was like a knife, I remembered that last night, the team was still singing military songs in front of the campfire, and the loud singing seemed to be echoing in my ears, but today most of my comrades-in-arms are forever and forever sleeping under the big glacier in Kunlun Mountain.

I helped Luo Ning to stand up and mourned together for Liu Gong and other comrades-in-arms. At that time, no matter what the occasion, Mao Xuan had to be quoted, and I took the lead in reading: "The sky is white, and the military situation in the snow is even more urgent." ”

The other three people also echoed in unison: "Head up and down the mountain, the wind spreads the red flag and crosses the mark." Only by sacrificing more ambitions dare to change the sun and the moon into a new sky. ”

Then everyone raised their right fists and swore an oath: "I wish the great leader Chairman Mao a long and boundless life, and I wish Chairman Mao's close comrade-in-arms, Comrade Lin Biao, good health and eternal health." Comrades-in-arms, comrades, please rest assured, some people's deaths are lighter than feathers, some people's deaths are as heavy as Mount Tai, and the death for the interests of the people is heavier than Mount Tai, and you are sacrificing for the interests of the people. We must inherit the legacy of the revolutionary martyrs, follow in the footsteps of your blood-stained footsteps, carry out the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution to the end, and the final victory will always belong to our workers, peasants and soldiers. ”

At that time, I was still a rookie, and I had never attended the memorial service of my comrades-in-arms, so I didn't know what to say, but I remember that others said this when they held meetings, and in that case, there was nothing suitable or inappropriate.

After a long time, everyone calmed down from the pain and treated the wounds on their bodies, but fortunately, they were all minor injuries and did not affect their movements. After a few bites of compressed biscuits, I gathered together to discuss what to do next, it was impossible to get out of the valley that was crushed by snowboards, and I estimated that the entire valley might have been filled by avalanches, and now I had to find another exit.

Gava patted the empty bullet bag on her body, indicating that there were not many bullets, because we had to carry a lot of equipment when we entered the mountain, so the ammunition was the minimum, and there were only three rifle magazines per person, after all, it was not a combat mission, and there were no bandits in this area, so it was a little careless to think about it in advance. Some of the ammunition was thrown away during the avalanche, and now there are only an average of about twenty rounds of ammunition left per person, and a total of two grenades. There should be no beasts underground, and it's useless if there are too many bullets, just enough for self-defense.

There is no dry food at all, everything that can be eaten has just been eaten, and we must find a way to find an exit within two days, otherwise we will starve to death in the ground. The fortunate thing in the misfortune is that Luo Ning actually has a compass on his body.

The depth of the mountain gap was beyond imagination, and after walking south for a while, it came to an end, and the crack in the earth turned north, and it felt like you were walking under a great glacier.

We walked forward in the dark for more than ten hours, the lower the terrain became, and the underground space became larger and larger, Luo Ning measured it with a barometer, and the data of air pressure was converted into an altitude of only more than 400 meters, which was about the same as Sichuan, far lower than the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters.

At last the terrain finally calmed down, and the sound of rushing water was heard, and it seemed that there was a large underground river not far away. When I saw that there was no longer any downhill road, I searched around with my flashlight to see if there was any way up, and suddenly I noticed that the light from the flashlight produced many faint reflections on the rock wall, as if shining on the fragments of countless mirrors.

Luo Ning exclaimed: "It's mica!" ”

The other three listened to what she said about mica, and they didn't know what it was, but they were very frightened when they heard his tone, thinking that something was urgent, so they hurriedly blocked Luo Ning behind him, took off the five or six semi-automatic rifles from his back as quickly as possible, pulled the bolt with a few clicks, and prepared to shoot.

Luo Ningqi said: "What do you do? ”

While holding a gun on guard, I asked Luo Ning, "What mother's male?" Where is it? ”

Luo Ning said: "It's not an animal, I mean it's all crystals all around here, mica and crystals usually grow in the same formation, ah, there are crystals too." ”

Although Luo Ning is mainly responsible for the mapping work, but often work with the geological exploration team, and also know a lot about geology and mineral knowledge, the crystals like glass flakes that appear around us are a kind of monoclinic crystals, which can only appear in the Archean double rock formation, and the underground reserves of Hebei are very large, but the mica here is extremely dark in color, and it is a large hexagonal column. The quality far exceeds that produced in Lingshou County, Hebei Province, and from the depth of mica color, our position is unimaginable.

Luo Ning was attracted by the rare mica around, looking at this piece and looking at that piece, I picked up a small piece and looked at it, but I couldn't see anything to be surprised about.

At this time, I suddenly heard the big man shouting to Gava: "What are you doing in Lamtso?" Hurry up. ”

I shone it with a flashlight, and saw that Gawa was kowtowing to the ground in the way of Tibetans, and her whole body was lying on the ground, what is this kid doing? To whom to kowtow? I looked in front of him again and gasped.

In the ground actually stands a "gold" shaped wooden tower made of thousands of giant trees, there are countless red flashes dotted on the tower body, through those faint flashes of light, the base of the wooden tower is nearly two hundred meters wide, rammed with mud and stone, the thousand-year-old cypress wood is built into the tower body, it is divided into nine layers, each layer is full of dry bones wearing peculiar ancient costumes, men, women and children have it, the wooden body of each big tree is engraved with the secret text of the Tibetan people, is this a tomb? On such a huge scale, who built it underground?

I went over and pulled up the Gawa, who was kowtowing on the ground: "Although our party and our army respect the ethnic policy, and you are also a Tibetan, when you are wearing a military uniform, you are a member of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. ”

The big man smiled next to him: "Okay, Lao Hu, this little word is neat, and it has the potential to be an instructor." ”

Luo Ning had been watching the mica, and when he heard the three of us arguing, he also came over to watch closer.

I waved my hand at the big man and told him not to interrupt him, and continued to ask Gawa, "What kind of tower is this?" Do you recognize the words written on it? ”

Gava shook her head vigorously.

I said, "This baby, I don't know what you're kowtowing, and seeing so many bones scares you stupid?" ”

Gava's face was full of panic, and she said in Chinese, which was not very fluent: "Hu this Ga Xiong, oh let you tell Oh, let you pull Oh, Larrados, nine...... Nine-story demon tower. ”

I didn't understand the first half of his sentence, but I could hear the last four words clearly, what nine-story demon building? What is it for? Isn't it just burying the dead?

Before Gawa could speak, Luo Ning ran back from the side of the tower, making a silent gesture to us, pointing to the tower behind her and whispering to us, don't alarm them.

I saw her solemn expression and knew that there might be trouble, but I didn't know what she was referring to, so I lowered my voice and asked, "What is alarmed?" Dead people in the tower? ”

Luo Ning said extremely nervously: "No, it's the kind of ladybug with fire, they all sleep on the dead corpses, there are too many to count." ”

After listening to Luo Ning's words, I realized that the dense red flashes on the wooden tower turned out to be from the transparent ladybug.

Although I have some of the fearless spirit of a revolutionary soldier, I feel panic when I think of that strange ladybug. This creature beyond common sense is too difficult to deal with, and the horror of the tragic scene in the valley is probably too strong for me.

I gestured, and the four of them quietly retreated back the way they came. Before he could take a few steps, Gava suddenly stepped into the air and fell into a ditch.

The ditch was hidden and parallel to the route we were traveling, so we didn't notice it when we came. Although the ditch was only more than a meter deep, Gava was still snorted by the fall, I quickly jumped down to help him, and saw that Gava was covering her feet, with a painful expression on her face.

At this time, Luo Ning and the big man also went down to the ditch separately, and took a flashlight to shine it, and found that Ga Wa's cry was hit by a sharp white bone spur, and even the shoelaces and feet were strung with a transparent hole, and the blood flowed like an infusion. The ditch is full of layers of white bones of various animals, and the number is too large to estimate. It seems that this ditch should be a burial pit for cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and other animals.

In order not to alarm the ladybugs in the nearby wooden tower, the big man covered Gava's mouth with his hand to prevent him from screaming, I pulled out the white bone inserted in his foot, Luo Ning sprinkled his wound with Yunnan Baiyao in his portable first-aid kit, and took out a white bandage to help him bandage it to stop the bleeding.

My hands were stained with the blood on Gava's legs, and I wiped a few handfuls on my military uniform, and a thought suddenly flashed through my mind, this burial pit for cattle and horses was dug so strangely, not in a square circle, but in the shape of a long ditch, which led to the wooden tower where the corpses were placed, this shape happened to be similar to the layout called "deterrence" mentioned in the "Feng Shui Secret Art", if it was really exactly the same, then there should be a burial ditch of the same size in the parallel position.

The two burial ditches are parallel to each other and clamp the tomb of the wooden tower structure, forming the trend of two dragons absorbing pearls, and it is inferred that the ditch next to it should be some utensils used by the owner of the tomb during his lifetime. It's just that it is not known whether these two burial ditches are artificial or naturally formed, and it seems that the latter is more likely.

Judging from the sound of the river torrent, there is an underground river in the northwest, that is, behind the nine-story demon tower, because dragons can't do without water.

If that's what I expected, then the map of the underworld is already in my head, and I just need to find another burial ditch to confirm my inference.

The big man pushed my shoulder: "Old Hu, what's going on?". ”

I just thought about it, and I came back to my senses after being pushed by him, and I asked Luo Ning: "Luo Gong, can you estimate our current position?" Probably where on the map? ”

Luo Ning used the compass to calculate with reference to the map, and said after a moment of silence: "We have been walking north for more than ten hours underground, and according to our speed, the big glacier that has already passed the head should be about to leave Kunlun Mountain." ”

I told me what I had just thought, if we go back at this time, we can only go back to the avalanche-covered crevice, and if my estimate is correct, we should be able to walk along the underground river, and there should be a way out. But to do so would be to risk passing under the nine-story demon tower, which is a plan to survive in death.

The four of them put it together, and felt that it was worth the risk, although it was fraught with danger, but I decided to find another burial ditch next to it first.

Before the operation, I asked Gava, what exactly is the nine-story demon tower?

Gava spoke Chinese very hard, I finally understood part of it after speaking for a long time, in his hometown of Xuewei, there is also a nine-story demon building exactly the same ruins, according to legend, this "nine-story demon building" is the funeral form of the ancient demon kingdom kings and a family of tombs, when the demon kingdom perished, the tomb has been destroyed by the hero king King Gesar, only a pile of rotten wood shelves are left in the Tibetan plateau, and the narrative poems passed down from the herdsmen's mouths are sung for generations to praise King Gesar like the sun as unparalleled martial arts.

When Tibetan herdsmen pass by these relics, they bow and sing epics. This is not to fear the tomb of the Demon King, but to express respect for King Gesar. Gava also said something religious, but I couldn't understand it, and I don't know if the ghostly insects were the resting spirits of the dead in the tomb.

I left Luo Ning and the other three people in the same place, and marched forward by myself, and at a place separated from the burial ditch of cattle and horses by more than 100 meters, there was indeed another burial ditch, which was full of ancient leather boots, ancient Tibetan wood chips, ancient Mongolian wooden tablets, painted wood chips and gold ornaments, wooden plates, wooden wings, wooden birds and beasts, bronze ware, grain and a large number of silk and other burial items.

It seems that my inference is correct, the underground river behind the nine-story demon tower must be connected to the outside world, so I sneaked back to the animal burial ditch to beckon the other three to act.

I opened the way first, and the big man with the gun behind me, followed by Gawa, who had a thorn in his foot, and Luo Ning helped him walk behind.

The scale of the nine-story demon tower was very large, and the underground cavern was originally extremely vast, but the tower and the large mica on both sides almost blocked the road to the north, and only a very narrow place on both sides was barely passable.

We passed under the wooden tower with trepidation, and when we saw the ladybugs in the tower that flickered with the breath of fire, we felt that our hearts were about to jump out of our throats, and in the distance of two hundred meters under the tower, the distance of each step seemed so far away.

Finally rubbed through the nine-story demon building, walked forward less than two hundred steps, suddenly the feet were soft, as if stepping on some huge animal, I used a flashlight to shine, under my feet is a huge reptile that I have never seen, it spits out a long tongue, the color of the skin is very close to the color of the ground, it looks a bit like a monitor lizard, and the appearance is very similar to a crocodile, but there is no so rough epidermis, and the front kiss is not as sharp as a lizard, it looks relatively round, the tongue is like a snake, red and long, the front is forked, and the skin of the whole body is black, It is covered with large white round scabs, and in terms of appearance alone, it can basically be described as a super-large frog with a long tail.

I've never been afraid of anything in my life, but I'm more afraid of this disgusting thing, so scared that I shrank behind the big man, and the big man also saw this strange animal, and he probably felt the same as me, and was also startled, maybe the only partner that the soldier could rely on was the rifle, and he instinctively raised the gun to shoot, snapped a point shot, and the reptile writhed a few times, and died.

At this time, Luo Ning, who was walking at the end, walked over, looked at the dead bodies of animals on the ground, and said to us with a sigh: "This is a salamander that lives underground, eating insects and mayflies for a living, and does not hurt people. ”

I don't feel sorry for killing an animal, what I'm worried about is that the big man recklessly shoots, will it wake up the insects in the tower, damn it, if people are unlucky, they will stuff their teeth when they drink cold water, and the ladybugs in the "Nine-Story Demon Tower" are obviously alarmed by the gunshots, and countless blue fireballs like bright lights light up.

The entire underground space was reflected in the blue of the firelight, and the wooden tower was also ignited, and the fire grew bigger and bigger, hundreds of fireballs rushed towards us, such a big fire, but we didn't feel a trace of heat, but felt the cold and the teeth trembled.

Seeing that this was not good, the big man took out the two grenades inserted in his armed belt and was about to pull the string and throw them to explode those fireballs, I quickly pressed his hand: "Throw one, leave us a glorious bullet, I don't want that ghost fire to burn to death." ”