Nine Chapters of Strange Cases

Chapter 277 Encountering Danger Again
Zhou Zhao's gaze immediately fell on Su Changying, who was standing to the side.

When she looked over, Su Changying also happened to look over, and there was no surprise in his eyes.

Zhou Zhao's mind raced, and she looked at Jing Yi, "What are you doing here?"

Jingyi stepped forward somewhat embarrassedly, which aggravated the wound he had inflicted with the dagger, causing him to hiss.

"I was ordered to investigate Young Master Yu, and I found out that there was a blind boy in this Cloud Temple. He was a remnant of the previous dynasty, so I came here to find out. I was originally hiding on the roof beam, but I was suddenly affected by the sound and fell down from the beam."

Then the scene changed, and I was in a cage.

As Jingyi spoke, his eyes held a meaningful look, "I had long heard that the Marquis of Lu, Lord Zhou, and His Highness the Prince of Chu had an extraordinary tacit understanding, and today I have witnessed it firsthand."

He almost lost his life at the hands of these three!

but……

Jingyi thought about Zhou Zhao's performance just now, and his bleeding hand trembled with excitement.

Zhou Zhao is very competitive, even more so than he imagined.

In terms of martial arts, she was no match for Su Changying, but even in a one-on-one fight, he was confident he could fight Zhou Zhao for three hundred rounds. Yet, under such circumstances, she was still able to remain calm and use her brain.

Over the years, the only trick he could come up with to deal with his godfather's control was self-harm.

Zhou Zhao looked at Jing Yi's expression, his gaze sweeping lightly across Jing Yi and Su Changying's faces.

Upon entering the illusion, both she and Ah Huang looked around to observe the situation, while Su Changying and Jing Yi immediately chose the important imprint they had etched in their hearts. Su Changying resisted the sound of the flute by repeatedly tracing her name.

Jingyi, without even hesitating, stabbed himself with the dagger, not even realizing that he was being controlled.

The fact that he subconsciously started making this gesture indicates what? It indicates that, like Su Changying, he was his adoptive father's subordinate, and that he had long harbored rebellious intentions, which is why he resisted being controlled.

Su Changying was not surprised when he saw Jing Yi, as he knew his identity.

It seems that Jingyi, though a spy, has been turned by Su Changying.

Zhou Zhao quickly made a preliminary assessment of the situation.

Just then, the soldiers of the Northern Army fully regained their senses. Han Ze ran over, looking terrified. "Brother Changying, Sister Zhao, I was so scared! Are you all alright? We all felt like we were possessed."

Earlier, Sister Zhao, you said that the little girl from the Fan family who died young was frightened into illness here. Not to mention her, we were all almost scared out of our wits!
Look at this slap mark on my face! I don't know which beast gave me that hard slap!

As Han Ze spoke, he extended his right cheek, and sure enough, there was a clear five-finger handprint on his face, showing how ferocious the ghost the person who slapped him must have seen.

"When you came up, did you see a blind man dressed in red wielding a peach wood sword?"

Han Ze nodded. "Yes! We tried to rush in, but we were stopped by eight Taoist priests. After a few moves, everything changed. Good heavens, it was like a hundred ghosts walking at night! There were evil ghosts with blue faces and fangs everywhere. I just kept fighting and fighting..."

As Changying instructed, I brought one-third of the brothers up the mountain, assigned another third to guard the only path down the mountain, and left the remaining third at the foot of the mountain. We still haven't received any news.

I've already sent a few of my brothers down the mountain to inquire whether that young Taoist priest has escaped.

As Han Ze spoke, he kept patting his chest to calm himself down.

Looking at the person in front of him, Zhou Zhao thought that apart from his mouth, Han Ze had really improved a lot since he joined the Northern Army with Su Changying. "Let's spread out and search the temple to see if there are any clues. If they haven't come down the mountain, then they are still hiding in the temple."

What Zhou Zhao didn't say was that she was certain that Gongzi Yu had a backup plan. After all, the death prophecy in the "Letter to My Deceased Wife" hadn't come true yet, and the illusion that she had just broken so easily was hardly a life-or-death situation for her.

Then there is still a problem with this mountain temple.

Zhou Zhao was calculating in her mind, her brain working quickly. She walked to the shattered screen wall and pulled out her Green Fish Dagger from it.

This dagger was a gift from the emperor and was no ordinary item. Even though it was completely submerged in the screen wall, it did not leave any gaps and remained a bright green, like an ancient bronze artifact.

The wailing and howling did not stop, and the wind continued to howl.

Zhou Zhao thought for a moment, then walked through the back door of the Taoist temple and went directly to the strange mountainside covered with holes.

The mountain is mottled and rugged, like an ugly face corroded by poison. The wind blows from the front door through the temple, through the main hall, through the back door, and all the way here, as if an invisible mouth is playing a strange flute.

Zhou Zhao thought to himself, then turned to look at Su Changying, who had followed him.

"It's likely that long before the Shanming Changyang case, someone in this Taoist temple had tried to control people with their voices. Fan Ruoxi must have hallucinated at that time and witnessed a terrifying scene, which is why she fell seriously ill and later died."

Such a coincidence is unlikely; this thing is more likely man-made than naturally occurring.

As Zhou Zhao pondered, she leaned closer to one of the pits in the mountain and looked inside. She reached out to touch the inner wall of one of the pits, but at that moment, she suddenly felt a tightness in her wrist as a tremendous force struck her from the front.

Zhou Zhao's heart skipped a beat. They're here!

A dark, tangled thing wrapped around her wrist and pulled her toward the mountainside. The thing was furry and wet, and looked like a woman's long, freshly washed hair.

With a flick of her wrist, Zhou Zhao placed the Green Fish Dagger on the strand of black hair. The dagger, which could usually cut a hair with a single blow, seemed to have become dull and had no effect on the hair at all. Zhou Zhao sensed something was wrong. She stepped on the stone wall with one foot and tried to pull the strand of black hair out.

But the instant her foot touched the ground, Zhou Zhao felt her foot slip and was pulled into darkness by a powerful force.

"Zhao Zhao!"

Zhou Zhao felt a warmth behind him as Su Changying's familiar aura enveloped him.

He pressed himself against her back and held her tightly in his arms.

"Zhaozhao, don't be afraid."

Before Zhou Zhao could think, their bodies plummeted rapidly. The chilling hair on her wrist loosened and vanished without a trace the moment she entered the mountain. The mountain was hollow, but she didn't feel it was empty; it was as if someone had dug a deep well into it.

As Zhou Zhao pondered this, he thrust the green fish dagger in his hand toward the mountainside beside him. The dagger missed, scraping against the rock face with a screeching sound.

They were descending faster and faster, and the wind was so strong that she could barely open her eyes.

Could there be a giant python or some kind of ferocious beast hiding down there, with its mouth open, waiting to devour these two snacks?

How could Zhou Zhao die in such a dark underground place, dragging Su Changying down with her?
As Zhou Zhao was thinking, he suddenly felt Su Changying behind him move.

Zhou Zhao felt his arm tighten, like he was holding a child, one hand wrapped around her waist, the other hand protecting her head. He moved his foot and stepped directly onto the stone wall, a loud scraping sound rang out.

Zhou Zhao sensed that the two of them had slowed down a bit. Su Changying pushed off with her feet and leaped up in front of the mountain wall like a ibex.