No wonder the mouse would retreat, the python in the coffin was much thicker than an adult's waist, and it took two people for a child to hold it, it was very long, and it had to bend its body to fit it in the coffin.

The dress was a long dress of a special style, with a small pillow wrapped around the corners of the snake's head, all coiled under the clothes, and a short tail was exposed at the end.

Over time, the python dried hard and became a fossil-like thing, the blood in the flesh was lost clean, the skin was wrinkled, and the dried meat was tightly wrapped.

It still looks big, which shows what it must be like to be alive.

The coffin was spacious, covered with soft bedding, and surrounded by funerary goods, the materials in the coffin were more valuable than those placed outside, and a small amount of gold and silver appeared, all bracelets and earrings, and small ones were placed on either side of the snake's head.

There was a necklace hanging from the snake's head, and I slowly reached out to untie the rope, and on it was a string of different beads, a total of twelve, each of which was carved with different kinds of insects, and in the middle was a pattern similar to that carved behind the mirror, entrenched on the surface of the whole bead, and the difference was in the hideous expression.

"Is this big meat bug a cockpit?" Tang Jiao licked his dry lips and pointed his finger in the direction of the head on the beads, "Is the monster destroying the bugs, or are the bugs attacking the monsters?" ”

"The former is more likely." I said, "It's the same pattern I saw on the bronze mirror just now, and this thing should be their patron saint." ”

"Patronus? Do you mean monsters or pythons? ”

"Both."

Tang Jia didn't understand, and Ziwei explained: "The animals that make up the pattern are very common in Muzhang County, and the residents here respect them very much. Muzhang County, as we know it, is a matriarchal society, the two generations of leaders are women, the phoenix symbolizes the power and status of the leader, and the leader is the guardian of the place, the meaning of creating this image is probably that the sphere of influence is as wide as these animals, where there are them, there will be the protection of the leader. It is rare for this python to grow so big, and the thick burial that they attach so much importance to is also the ritual of the chief, and the burial here may be the embodiment of a legendary creature, taking it as an envoy sent by the guardian spirit. ”

Tang Jiao looked disgusted and smacked his mouth twice.

I played with the beads in my hand and thought the chamber was weird.

They went to great lengths to build such a tomb just to bury this python?

The leader is still there, and there is only a slight difference between the status of the guardian god and her, one is the spiritual king, and the other is the king in reality, which is theoretically equivalent, but people will have a sense of mystery about things they have not seen, and distance will deepen their worship and faith, so the "god" becomes higher than the human emperor.

But no matter what, this giant python was buried with such a battle, which is a bit too much.

I secretly wonder if there will be something else here.

I asked Tang Jiao, "Have you ever been to the grave before?" ”

"I've been down a few, but they've all been stolen, and I've gone into the thief hole, there's no thing, just look at the structure, we all told the locals that we were engaged in archaeology, and we never took anything out, really!"

"Compared to what you've seen before, do you think there's anything wrong with this tomb?"

Tang Jiao looked left and right, "I can't tell, I'm not a tomb robber, or an antique dealer." Let me tell you, it's a little scary deep, and a well was built, and it came down without even a little buffer, and I don't know how it was dug in the first place. It's good to say that digging is good, but the key is that after the hole is dug and repaired, how can people get out and climb out? ”

"Perhaps, there is another way?"

He reminds us that if there is such a hole, how did the people who built the tomb leave?

The hole above is very small, and if you want to take a rope to climb up, people are okay, but how to bring the tools used for construction, and how these brick and tile burial vessels come in, they can't stuff this coffin in.

Tang Jiao was talking about the coffin and the giant python, his eyes glanced over there, his face was stagnant, he took two steps back, swallowed his saliva and asked me: "This python has grown so big, it must be a sperm, right?" ”

Ziwei was inspecting the other burial items in the coffin, and I shook my head and replied to him: "No, it takes chance, the right time, place, and the right people to practice and practice and do things, all of which are indispensable, not everything has a chance to become refined, it just lives a long life." ”

Becoming a spirit is becoming a demon, and there will be a unique aura, but you can't feel it here, only a rancid smell that is so faint that you can ignore it and the yin qi that will be found in the tomb.

Tang Ka asked again uneasily: "So, this python must be dead, and it is impossible for him to come back to life?" ”

I looked up at him, "What do you think, the snakeskin is dry, of course it can't be." ”

"But...... Shopkeeper Shen, look at its belly for yourself! Tang Jiao shouted all of a sudden, his face was tossed and he wanted to cry without tears, "It's still panting!" ”

Zi Wei and I were very close to the coffin, and when we heard this, we reflexively stepped back, and our eyes looked at the giant python, and sure enough, the place where the snake's belly was covered by clothes was slowly squirming and undulating.

Ziwei frowned, snatched the dagger I was carrying, I was stunned for a moment before I realized that he was going to strike first, and hurriedly stopped him, "We haven't figured out the situation yet!" Don't move yet! ”

Zi didn't hesitate, Tang Jiao said: "What do you still figure out, let's see it move, first give it a knife according to the head, if it is still alive, it is too late to make up for it, otherwise this beast will not be merciful to us if he slows down." ”

"Master." Ziwei didn't agree with him, and looked at me inquiringly.

I pulled him back and said, "No matter what's buried inside, it's disrespectful enough for us to break into its grave and open its coffin, we are in death now, but we must guard the bottom line at all times." ”

I walked past him back to the coffin, looked at the python inside, and said, "Do things with a long brain, don't be blind and reckless when you are afraid, after studying for eight years, you don't even have your own judgment, and you will deal with corpses in the future." ”

After speaking, his hand reached out to the neckline of the skirt on the python's body, and he grabbed it with one hand, and pulled it in the direction of the snake's head.

The dress was one-piece, and the workmanship was complicated, and my tearing fabric was pressed by the python's body and cracked in the middle, and at the same time I saw a shadow come out of the coffin, and the speed was surprisingly fast.

I was still holding the broken half of the clothes in my hand, and quickly dodged to the side, Ziwei guarded against it, but I didn't expect it to come out of such a small thing, I didn't catch it at once, I only injured it, and let it run along the pillar next to the coffin towards the pile of burial vessels.

When I looked at it, the belly of the giant python in the coffin had already been hollowed out, and the place that was originally covered by the clothes was eaten clean, leaving only a layer of tattered skin.

Turning around, a litter of rats gathered together, sitting on bronze utensils, bared their sharp teeth at us, three in all, two large and one small, looking like a family.

"Dead pythons will never come back to life, ever since we heard the sound in the coffin, these rats have been playing tricks, they are what you call the breath of the python."

There is a plague of rats here, and the snake is the nemesis of the rats, but these rats are so hungry that they eat everything, and even the python has a mouth, but they are afraid that they still have the fear of natural enemies, so they don't move its head and tail, and eat up its invisible body.

"For half a day, we were terrified because of these three mice." Tang Jiao was angry, "I have to kill them today!" ”

After saying that, he picked up the bronze utensils he was going to take away and threw them at the mouse.

The eldest one had just been injured, and he was protecting the mother mouse and the child next to him, and he jumped up without dodging, trying to attack again.

As soon as Tang Jiao knew that there was no ghost, he would come to the ability, I stood still and didn't move, knowing that he couldn't catch it, so he chased the mouse Hu.

Unexpectedly, the mouse was forced back to the coffin, I don't know how to run, the three reunited together, and were about to jump back into the coffin, Tang Jiao screamed, kicked on the coffin board, and slammed the frightened mouse's head with the porcelain bowl in his hand.

The other was too close, stabbed by the splashed porcelain shard, staggered a few steps, and also collapsed and died next to it.

"Tang Kar, you ......"

I couldn't say anything, and Tang Jiao didn't expect him to be able to smash it so accurately, so he was stunned, and rubbed the blood on his hand on the torn piece of clothing that was on the side of the coffin.

I said, "These three are just a litter, and the two you killed occupy the best position in the tomb, and they are the rat king queen here, and the smell of blood spreads, and it won't be long before we will be eaten by the other rats who have arrived." ”

"Shopkeeper Shen, why didn't you say it earlier?" Tang Jiao was shocked and hurriedly looked into the coffin, "What about the small one?" Did you go to your own kind for revenge? I don't blame it, they ...... first."

Tang Jiao said half a sentence, paused, and after a few seconds, pointed to the coffin and said, "Come on, see where that mouse has gone?" ”

Zi and I didn't look at each other, but walked over to see that the cushion inside the coffin had been bitten a few times, and it was dragged away from its original position, a little off, enough for a young mouse to squeeze in.

"There's definitely a passage down there."

I didn't answer, I looked at the remains of the python and took a breath, and together with Ziwei, I carefully lifted the bedding inside in half.

A small, rudimentary staircase appeared in front of him, leading diagonally into the deep darkness below, without any light.

Tang Jiao showed joy and said, "Let's leave here quickly, Shopkeeper Shen, you pick up a few more pieces of Night Pearl and go first, and Brother Shen and I will go and carry the coffin back and cover it, so that the rats won't be able to get in after we go down." ”

"You let my master be in front, what should I do if there is danger?" Ziwei disagreed, "Who knows if there will be more rats down there, those three just now came up from below." ”

I said, "Okay, if there's danger, I can't deal with it, and you two are choking enough, so it's better for me to be in front." Listen to him, go and bring up the lid of the coffin. ”

Ziwei choked back without saying a word, and was unconvinced by Tang Jiao to carry the coffin lid.

I stepped into the coffin first, shining the light with the fragments in my hand, and walked down step by step.

There are not many steps, but the first step is very high, and it is a little difficult to walk, and it takes a few steps to reach the bottom, and there is only room for two people on the left and right in the narrow space.

I held my breath, and before I could take a few steps forward, I kicked something under my feet, and when I shone it with light, I felt a chill.

The lid of the coffin on top was closed, Ziwei and Tang Jiao also walked below, I looked at the dark ahead, took out a handful of picked up pieces from my pocket, and threw them out on the road ahead, and the fluorescence slowly illuminated the situation in front of me.

On both sides of the road, there were dried corpses and mutilated skeletons hanging from a few rags.