Chapter 16: The Ghost Gate
Looking at the pitch-black hole, Qin Zhen couldn't help but muttered a little in his heart. So he asked Xiang Yudong, "Eh, I said young master?" Are you sure you can get in? We're all big men, and we're not weasels, this passage is so narrow, go by? β
Yu Dong frowned and glanced at Qin Zhen, not knowing if he thought he talked too much, or if he was not used to Qin Zhen's sudden title. In short, he glared at Qin Zhen with a little disgust, and then stopped talking. Qin Zhen looked at Gu Jie quite innocently, but Gu Jie pursed his lips and persuaded bitterly, "Shut up." What if that young master annoys you too much and leaves you as Aunt Weasel? β
Qin Zhen unceremoniously bumped Gu Jie with his elbow, and scolded hatefully, "Then I'll pull you down as the best man!" As he spoke, he snorted and walked into the city gate with Yudong.
The city is rectangular, although there are no traces of the glory of the past, but the majestic tower and the unique black jade clear glow on the top of the city are all expressing the prosperity of this Xiongguan outside the Saiwai once upon a time.
Perhaps because it has been buried under the yellow sand, the city wall is relatively well preserved. It's just that some of them are buried deep in the desert, and the exact height and length cannot be estimated. However, the area of Xiaofangpan City is 633 square meters, and this city pass can be several larger than Fangpan City! Although the erosion of wind and sand has worn away the edges and corners of the city pass, the towering city tower, the perfect corner tower, and the smooth city gate can all show the past majesty of this western pass!
When I first entered the city gate, I was fine, but after walking a little further, I found that there was almost no way out. For the sand had filled almost the entire city gate, and only the narrow passage did not know where it would lead to the darkness.
Yudong in front stopped and twisted a handful of sand with his hands. Then he said to the group, "These passages must have been caused by sand ferrets, and we must follow the passages to enter the city pass." Just in case, it's best to see the entire castle before sunset and go up to the top tower. β
Qin Zhen interjected a little nervously at this time and asked, "Before sunset??" "It's really not a lot of time. Unexpectedly, Yu Dong glanced at Qin Zhen and asked, "Do you want to spend the night here?" Qin Zhen glared at Yudong angrily, took a long breath, and did not speak again. Judging from Qin Zhen's own feelings, he seems to have become accustomed to Yu Dong's angry way of speaking.
Lao Shen bent down at this time and grabbed a handful of sand, looked at it and said, "The sand here is very loose, everyone must be more careful when walking." Who knows if there will be quicksand hidden here. Everyone nodded after hearing this, Jiang Qi planned to take the lead along the passage at this time, but was stopped by Yu Dong. Jiang Qi was slightly stunned, then saw Yu Dong sweep Qin Zhen with his eyes, and then said to Jiang Qi, "I'll just go, you take a good look at him." After saying that, he got into the dark passage, and the moment he entered, the passage also lit up with a flashlight.
Qin Zhen didn't even have a chance to theorize, was he so wasteful? Do you need him to send someone to protect you? But the people were kind, Qin Zhen couldn't say anything, so he could only stand in place and stare gloomily at the passage that Yu Dong walked into, secretly lucky.
Lao Shen patted Qin Zhen on the shoulder, and then also entered the passage. When Gu Jie came here, Gu Jie just wanted to open his mouth to tease Qin Zhen for a few words, but he was blocked back by Qin Zhen's murderous gaze, so he had to shut up and follow Lao Shen in.
At this time, Jiang Qi, who had never spoken on the side, spoke, "Dong Shao is worried that Gu Jie will not be able to protect you because he is too busy to take care of himself." He has good intentions, let's go. These words made Qin Zhen even more screwed! It's as if he is a person who does not distinguish between good and evil, and does not know good and evil! But the more he explained at the moment, the more hypocritical he became, so he simply turned his head and entered the passage in anger, and Jiang Qi was at the end of the line.
When I first entered the passage, my eyes were uncomfortable for a while, and I couldn't see anything at all. When the eyes get used to it a little, the nose starts to get used to it again. The smell of the sand, which has been deposited for thousands of years, is not so good, and it is full of decay. And the worst thing is that this claustrophobic and narrow space is filled with the smell of sand ferrets' feces, urine, and rancidity.
Qin Zhen's head buzzed with the peculiar stench of the animal. I finally managed to withstand the smell of here, and the passage suddenly became narrower! This made Yudong, who was at the front, also have to stop. This narrow road, which was originally only accessible to one adult, is now impossible for even people to pass. Gu Jie was stuck there, and couldn't help but scold: "I'll just say that the road dug by those beasts is unreliable!" It's all Da Luo Jin Immortal? Can you become soft and boneless? How did this pass! β
After sinking for a while, Yu Dong said, "Don't move yet, I'll go over and have a look first." If it's just narrow here, let's expand it ourselves. Jiang Qi and Lao Shen didn't have any expressions, but Qin Zhen and Gu Jie opened their mouths wide in shock! Past? How can this pass? No matter how thin he is, he can't squeeze through such a narrow gap! Just when Qin Zhen wanted to tell SΓΉ Yudong that it didn't work at all, the scene in front of him made Qin Zhen's jaw drop in complete shock.
I saw Yu Dong turn to the side, first stretched out his arm, and then cautiously poked his head over. Qin Zhen was shocked when he saw it, the rough sand and gravel scraped on his face was a bloody hole, and he really sweated for Yudong's 'flower-like jade' face.
When Yudong poked his head over successfully, a strange scene appeared! He took a deep breath, and then with a soft force, he moved his waist, and squeezed through the narrow gap as if he really had no bones!! Qin Zhen couldn't help but exhale softly, and Gu Jie in front of him also blinked vigorously, as if he couldn't believe it at all, the tall and tall old man just now passed through such a narrow aisle!
Rubbing his sour chin, Qin Zhen looked at Jiang Qi behind him with surprise. And Jiang Qi just nodded, not as surprised by Yu Dong's special function just now. Qin Zhen wanted to ask Lao Shen again, but at this moment, Yu Dong's voice came, "Well, this side is very wide, it seems that only the front section is narrow." You can already see the whole appearance of Chengguan here. β
Qin Zhen listened with a burst of joy, and finally didn't have to suffer in this claustrophobic and narrow gravel road anymore. So he replied to Yudong, "Hey! Don't study it yet, you'll get us over! We're not you! As soon as the words fell, I heard the sound of Yu Dong smashing the stone face with the butt of a gun or something. The people on Qin Zhen's side were all stuck, and they really couldn't use their hands and feet, so the work of expanding the road could only be handed over to Yudong himself.
It's strange to say, I don't know what he changed to as a prop halfway, anyway, it didn't take long to open up a distance for everyone to even knock and smash. Qin Zhen felt that Yudong's actions were by no means ruthless, because this thousand-year-old city was already in danger, and if the action was too big, it would be easy to collapse. Therefore, this technical work can be regarded as relatively hard and arduous. When Qin Zhen and the others finally barely passed through the narrowest passage and arrived at Yu Dong's side, they could already faintly see the sweat running down his cheeks.
Taking a breath, Qin Zhen observed his surroundings. Yudong was right, it was really spacious when he got here. The appearance of Chengguan also became clear and clear. It's just that this place is both like a city pass and a treasure trove. Those human spirit-like sand weasels have brought all the big and small 'treasures' here. There are goods and treasures buried by the wind and sand on the Silk Road, as well as large and small coins left by merchants, as well as various dried plants and animals. Qin Zhen smiled secretly in his heart, this sand ferret really has spirituality. Human greed, it has almost learned. Whatever it is, take it for yourself.
Gu Jie looked at the 'treasure' of the sand weasel and sighed with a sad emotion: "Hey! What's the point of living? A group of weasels can monopolize a city pass and have so much wealth. It's a pity that my life is so miserable, I can't compare to these beasts! As he spoke, he pretended to look up and sigh.
Qin Zhen interrupted him impatiently, saying, "Shut up, you!" And not every weasel has this fate! This weasel is also divided into three, six, nine and so on, just like people. It's probably a rich area."
While talking and laughing, everyone hurried together to find valuable clues here. A large part of this city has been occupied by yellow sand, and the remaining area is not big, but it is not small. Let Qin Zhen rummage clues in the pile of sand weasels, he really felt disgusted. So, Qin Zhen assigned himself a second task--- looking for a way up the city tower.
"The sunset sets Loulan, and the west goes out of Yumen Pass." It is impossible to see the sunset in this sand weasel's nest, let alone Loulan! So, let's wait to go up to the castle tower to see if there are any clues.
But the passages and front porches around here seemed to be buried in sand. Qin Zhen spotted a corner and walked there, intending to try his luck to see if he could go up to the city tower. But with such a focus, Qin Zhen was a little far away from everyone unconsciously. Just as he was thinking about telling everyone in his direction, Qin Zhen was attracted by the corner of a passage! There seems to be a man there!
My heart began to pound and beat harder, and there was a slight blank in my head. Qin Zhen swallowed his saliva, and didn't even react that he should go back to call someone, but walked straight to the corner.
Qin Zhen put his steps very lightly, there was no movement around him, and the flashlight was also swallowed by the darkness in an extremely dim and demonic way, and he felt like a ghost gate here.
The figure in front of him always kept a certain distance, always so blurry. Qin Zhen felt that he could see clearly as long as he took a few steps forward, but he couldn't see clearly. Just when Qin Zhen focused all his attention on the shadow in front of him, a pair of hands suddenly clamped him from behind! Without waiting for Qin to cry out in shock, he was taken to the earthen wall by that power! As soon as Qin Zhen was about to rise up and resist, Yu Dong's lowered voice came from his ears, "It's me!" β
Qin Zhen was stunned for a moment, and when he realized that he was in a harmless situation at the moment, he sighed with relief and complained, "You want to scare me to death?" Yu Dong still held Qin Zhen against the wall at this time, and when he heard this, he snorted coldly and said, "If it wasn't for me just now, you wouldn't even have a chance to be scared to death." As he spoke, he pointed in the direction that Qin Zhen had been walking just now. At this look, Qin Zhen instantly gasped! A layer of cold sweat broke out all over my body! The place where he saw a figure just now turned out to be a sand pit, with sharp blades stuck in it, like a trap set by hunters in the mountains to hunt their prey.