Jiang Xian looked deeply at the hole above his head. He didn't speak for a long time.

The cave is rugged around the cave, with a sheep's intestine trail winding down from the entrance and clover growing all around. A broken rope hung down like a dead snake, partially rolled up in the ground, and a broken kerosene lamp, buried in a clover.

He is about twenty-four years old, very handsome, and not a beautiful man who belongs to the Japanese and Korean families. Rather, it belongs to the masculine of men. The face line is sharp, the sword eyebrows are into the sideburns, and the nose is like a gall. Gently plucking a dice in his hand, a square dice. Not gold, not jade. About an inch in size.

Around him, a man with the rank of second-class police inspector stared at his every move, smoking a cigarette sullenly. As soon as Jiang Xian put down the rope, he immediately put out the cigarette butt anxiously and asked, "Xiao Jiang, how is the situation?" ”

The man was about fifty years old, with a square face and thick eyebrows and big eyes. Without waiting for Jiang Xian to speak, he immediately said: "You know, if it weren't for the fact that the case was too weird, I would definitely not be able to trouble you!" ”

"It happened suddenly. Deputy County Magistrate Li, who is in charge of policing, is expected to be promoted. Greetings have already been made, and all units must grasp it tightly before the end of the year, and no matter will happen. The eyes of the county magistrate and the secretary on me were staring. You Uncle Ma and I...... There's really no way around it! ”

"Uncle Ma, don't talk about that." Jiang Xian shook his head and said, "Our lineage will die at the age of twenty-five." I don't even know what my dad looks like. You can read the love affair with my dad back then, and I have been shushing and asking for warmth all these years, so we don't need to say so much. ”

He suddenly smiled: "A few years ago, I thought I was not ordinary, and I wanted to fight, but ......"

He smiled and shook his head, not going on.

"I'm tired, and I have the last few months left, and I'm ready to take a good rest." After a few seconds, he smiled in relief. Then his expression became solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "Uncle Ma, how did you decide this case?" ”

Director Ma gritted his teeth and said, "It should be a case of a beast hurting people." The families of the missing claimed that they wanted to see people alive and corpses when they died. But...... I can't report it at all! ”

Jiang Xian nodded: "It's right not to report rashly." ”

"This case...... It's not that simple. He squatted down, scooped up the rope, and shook it towards Director Ma: "I read the file, the missing person Liu Dazhu, nicknamed the second daring." Stuffy cattle village villagers. He disappeared here at about half past eight last night. According to the dossier, there should have been a large area of blood at the scene. ”

"Although last night a heavy rain washed away most of the traces. But...... Although it can wash away the bloodstains, there are some things, but it can't be washed off. ”

He pointed to the place where the end of the rope was broken, and said to Director Ma: "This is a brown rope, and the width of three fingers is already very thick. Its toughness is extremely strong, even fierce beasts such as tigers and wolves are extremely difficult to bite open. ”

"But...... First of all, according to the reports of the villagers. The rope broke after several pulls. This shows that it has not been supported for long, and it also shows that it ...... The creature at the other end of the rope has an amazing bite force. ”

"Second, look at the breach."

He faced the broken cut of the rope to Director Ma: "It's very smooth, with a slight curvature." It's completely different from beasts like tigers and wolves. This indicates that the other party has incisors. In biology, there is only one living thing that is this bite mark. ”

"What is it?" Director Ma wondered.

Jiang Xian's eyes narrowed slightly: "Primates." ”

Director Ma shook his head in disbelief: "You mean...... Did an orangutan or a monkey bite off the rope? This...... Impossible, right? ”

A rope that is difficult for tigers and wolves to bite off, and it is bitten by an orangutan or a monkey?

"If the orangutans and monkeys are big enough, it's not impossible. The incisors are better at biting through this type of rope than the staggered canines of the tiger wolf. Jiang Xian frowned slightly, looked at the hole above and said, "According to the villagers' reports, the creatures I saw are said to be covered in silver hairs - this is similar to primates that have not fully evolved. Let's not talk about whether there is such a coat color. However, according to the villagers' oral accounts, the opponent's body length was at least three meters or more. As far as I know, no primate can grow this big. Especially...... The other party also grows in the cave. ”

The sound of people and walking coming from the entrance of the cave makes the cave seem unusually quiet. Director Ma took his hands, paced quickly, gritted his teeth, and said, "All incidents of beasts hurting people must have a detailed report. That's why I can't escalate at all. It's just missing! There is no examination, there is no corpse, and it is a dereliction of duty for me to dare to report that the beast has injured people! ”

He rubbed his eyebrows with a headache, and suddenly said, "Could it be that he remembered wrong?" Yesterday's heavy rain, thunder and lightning...... There are many forests here. Maybe you saw some kind of tree projection? ”

"Hmmm!!" Before the words fell, at the entrance of the cave above, a face full of ravines poked out, and the other party seemed to be still immersed in last night's nightmare, gritting his teeth in half-baked Mandarin: "That's a mandrill...... Mandrill!! ”

As soon as he saw the rope in the hole, he retreated like an electric shock, and said in a trembling voice, "Here...... Ghosts...... There's a ghost! ”

"Who is he?" Jiang Xiandao.

"One of the informants." Director Ma breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "This pit is called Wowo Pit, and Wo Wo here means cotton shoes. It is named because the mouth of the pit resembles cotton shoes. According to local legend, the nest pit is also called the tiger's mouth, the hungry ghost's mouth. Because...... There has been more than one missing case of herding here. All happened around the pit. The villagers here have been taught not to go into the pit since they were young. ”

Jiang Xian's gaze swept over the ground. Gently bowed his head: "Sheep like to eat clover, it's not unusual to come here...... Haven't reported a crime before? ”

"Absolutely." Director Ma snorted: "I have specially checked, and since the 70s, there have been successive reports of crimes. But...... Xiaojiang, this is a branch of the Qinling Mountains. There are many tigers, leopards and bears, and even if you report the case, you can't find it. And...... It's the first time someone has gone missing! ”

Jiang Xian shook his head: "Uncle Ma, prepare for a comprehensive search." Has the approval for the use of firearms come down? The 24 hours of disappearance are the golden rescue period. The rest of your time...... Not much. ”

"!" Uncle Ma scolded in a low voice, took out a cigarette fiercely, and bit it in his mouth. But he didn't light it, his teeth almost flattened the cigarette holder, and he said in a deep voice: "Is there anything else to pay attention to?" This case is strange from the inside out, and I always feel that I have no bottom in my heart. ”

"Don't worry, I'll follow." Jiang Xian pondered for a few seconds and said, "In addition, prepare the reserve supplies for a three-day journey and a total of six days of round-trip." ”

Director Ma was stunned and said, "Need to go so far? ”

Jiang Xian's expression was extremely solemn: "Uncle Ma, this hole ...... It's not simple. ”

"First of all, there must be a built-in space in this, at least twenty or thirty meters or so. Hundreds of meters is also very likely. At the same time, it is likely that there will be other exports. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain the problem of living space for such a huge carnivorous beast. ”

"Second." Jiang Xian raised his second finger: "This should be a karst funnel-shaped landform." ”

"Karst funnel?"

"It's a sinkhole." Seeing him at a loss, Jiang Xian shook his head and said, "Uncle Ma, you are not in this area, you don't understand the magic of this landform." Don't underestimate any sinkholes. The reason why the funnel landform can be formed represents...... Perhaps, this neighborhood was once a volcanic crater with a violent eruption. Perhaps, there used to be an underground river down there. Either way, it means that the space inside is likely to be huge. Of course, it is possible. Most of the sinkholes aren't big inside, but we have to prepare for the worst. ”

Director Ma's face finally turned ugly.

He understood what Jiang Xian meant, what the Foping County Police Station was facing was an underground labyrinth that I don't know how big it was, and the terrain might be extremely complicated! There is also an unknown giant carnivorous beast that stays in this labyrinth. And they are responsible for bringing out a living person or a corpse from it...... It's so hard to think about it that makes your scalp tingle!

"Thief and horse!" After scolding, he turned around and walked to the cave wall, grabbed the rope, and let out a long sigh of relief: "Xiao Jiang, go up and rest for a while." Within half an hour, our police force was immediately on the move. ”

The 24 hours of disappearance are the golden rescue time, and they must race against time!

Jiang Xian shook his head: "It's been a long time since I've been to this kind of place. I'm familiar with it. Leave me a gun. Also, call two helpers and let them familiarize themselves with the situation together. ”

Director Ma nodded, and soon, he was pulled up by the rope. When the sun bathed himself again, he couldn't help but exhale heavily.

That pothole...... It gives people a feeling of panic.

It's like...... Something, quietly staring at itself in the depths of darkness. Makes his scalp tingle.

On the ground, the barrier was pulled up early. The direction of the pull is very wide, and outside the isolation zone, the villagers stand there sparsely. There were only two villagers standing in the isolation zone.

"There are ghosts...... There is a ghost ...... below" A middle-aged and elderly man in a short coat looked at the entrance of the cave and muttered to himself: "I want to die...... The devil is out...... They're coming out again......"

Seeing Director Ma coming up from the pit, he raised his head tremblingly and said in a trembling voice: "Leader, what's the matter?" ”

"Don't worry, fellow." Director Ma said sincerely: "Half an hour later, we immediately launched a rescue. ”

"It's still half an hour?!" The man said in despair: "Report the case at eight o'clock at night!" It's been more than ten hours now! All of them said, that's a mandrill, a mandrill! Just take your guns and go straight to the hole! It's not difficult at all! What do you mean by gossip here?! ”

"Here's ...... There are evil spirits......"

"Every few years, it starves...... will climb up and eat people and ......"

His voice grew quieter and quieter, and finally he held his head and shook his body. Director Ma sighed and patted him on the shoulder. Walked among the policemen.

"Be prepared." He looked at everyone seriously and said in a deep voice: "As soon as the supplies arrive, prepare to go down the cave immediately!" Everyone records at Xiao Wang's place, and if there is no one or corpse, the team will never be closed! ”

"Yes!"

………………………………

The cave fell silent, and the two officers were lowering the ropes. Jiang Xian carefully examined the pit again and made sure that there was no other discovery. His eyes finally fell on the kerosene lamp that had fallen in the grass.

He picked it up lightly and looked at it carefully.

This is an old-fashioned kerosene lamp, which was widely used in rural areas without electricity in the early days of liberation and in the sixties and seventies.

However, it is now very rare. And the kerosene lamp in Jiang Xian's hand, which originally belonged to Er Dangzi, was an old-fashioned kerosene lamp.

It is in the shape of a gourd, the middle is thin and the two ends are thick, the lamp wall is full of cracks, it is obvious that the situation is critical at that time, the second dare is vigorously pulled, and there is no hand to hold the kerosene lamp, the lamp comes out of his hand, hits the stone wall, but is not damaged.

"Huh?" Just as his hand touched the lampholder, his brow suddenly furrowed.

The lampholder is not smooth, but covered with tiny bumps. When he looked closely, he was amazed to see that these bulges ...... It turned out to be a text!

After years of continuous friction, it is no longer clear to see. But you can vaguely recognize the appearance of the year.

"It's ...... Qin Xiaozhen? ”

He unexpectedly looked at the lamp in his hand, Qin Xiaozhen was the official text of the Qin Dynasty back then, which was very distinctive and very easy to recognize. It's just that...... He didn't expect that in a small mountain village that was almost secluded, the base of the old-fashioned kerosene lamp was engraved with Qin Xiaoseal!

"Whether it's Qin or Han, it's worth a good ......" he turned the entire lamp over with interest, revealing the bottom of the lampholder. However, before he could finish speaking, his voice suddenly stopped. Then he looked at the base in disbelief.

Right in the center of the pedestal, a lifelike butterfly is carved.

It's not a dark spot that outlines the shape of a butterfly. Instead, the shape of a hollow butterfly is outlined with lines, a total of two layers.

"It's ......" his mind buzzed, and he only felt his lips dry.

He lowered his head and quickly pulled open his camouflage uniform. On his chest, a patch identical to a butterfly's mark was incomparably clear!

"Black Death Butterfly Curse...... "He only felt his throat heat up, this moment came so suddenly that he even felt his brain go blank for a moment.

This is like the name of the maggot on the tarsal bone. For thousands of years, they have been by their side. Accompanied by the curse of the Black Death Butterfly is the terrible Hyperamnesia. Any one of them, all of them will inexplicably appear on the chest of black dead butterflies, more than 2,000 years, without exception!

No one knows why it appeared.

No one can solve its puzzles.

No matter where I went to the hospital, I was told that there was no abnormality in my body. But...... On the day of the twenty-fifth year, the one who bears this mark will surely die!

In order to untie this dead knot, his master, Taishi, and ancestor ...... Batches of ancestors traveled to all corners of the country and read all kinds of ancient books. But no one ever succeeded. I haven't even seen the same pattern.

He tried, too. I don't want to accept my fate. He has been to the best hospitals in China, and even went to southern Yunnan, Jianzhou, and Tubo many times to look for clues. But......

Useless.

He is 24 years old.

December 18 is his 25th birthday. He only has more than five months left to live.

He had thought that he had ended there.

However, when he let go of all his unwillingness, when he was ready to face this ending calmly, no one expected that this dead knot of more than 2,000 years would actually loosen here!

"This ...... Where does it lead? He put down the kerosene lamp in amazement and looked intently at the passage.

There, it was pitch black and bottomless.