There is a trick

Chapter 142 Asking for a Pen for God (7K, 1/1)

The crowd dug up the tunnel that was sealed with earth and rocks again.

Xiao Zhenming took a rope, tied a candle to one end of the rope, and slowly inserted the lit candle into the dark tunnel.

The scene in the tomb below the tomb robber's hole was illuminated by the candlelight, making it even more mysterious.

As soon as the flame fell into the mausoleum, it went out in a few breaths.

The candle flame went out, indicating that there was no oxygen circulation inside the mausoleum.

In the view of the three experienced members of the Xiao family, the extinguishing of the candle was actually a good thing.

Xiao Dahu said: "The tomb has been sealed for too long, and there is no air circulation for a while. After the candlelight is re-lit, it will soon go out - this is a common thing. Wait for a while, wait for the air to circulate gradually, and then re-lit the light until the candlelight no longer goes out.

The most frightening thing is that situation -

The candle flame was not extinguished, but the color suddenly became colorful.

The thoughts emitted by the demon trapped in the mausoleum infected the candlelight.

If you encounter such a situation, you must run away without any hesitation."

So, everyone stood guard around the tunnel, waited for a while, and then lit the candles again.

The candlelight burned quietly in the tomb, never going out and never changing color.

People breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this.

Zhou Chang said: "I'd better go down first. If there are dangerous changes in the tomb, I have the most means to deal with it. I am also wearing this treasure that can resist the three plagues. I have a better chance of escaping than you.

If it is safe for me to go down, I will shake the rope three times quickly and then shake it four times slowly.

When you get the signal, send the second person down.

I will meet you below."

Zhou Chang helped everyone to pass through dangerous places, and he also made the greatest contribution to the Three Plagues Demon Den in the Black Desolate Mountain.

The three members of the Xiao family were able to connect with the Zhou family because of him.

Therefore, he has become the backbone of everyone at that moment.

When he spoke at this time, everyone present nodded in agreement and told him to be careful.

Zhou Chang responded to everyone's instructions one by one. He weaved a rope with silk threads and asked Bai Xiu'e and others to pull it.

Following the thread of thought, like a silk-spinning spider, he slowly dug down the hole until he entered the tomb chamber.

Another candle tied to a rope was burning faintly not far from Zhou Chang.

Zhou Chang squatted in the corner with the candle, took the lighter from his waist, and lit the fire with the help of the candlelight.

Brighter firelight spread in the tomb, and Zhou Chang saw some faint painted patterns on the walls on both sides of the tomb.

He scanned the patterns and looked around, and found that he was actually in the corridor leading to the tomb, not inside the tomb itself.

A cool breeze continued to blow from the front of the corridor.

The area in front where there is no light should be the location of the tomb chamber.

This corridor is narrow and cramped. Judging from the size of the corridor, the tomb chamber it leads to should not be large either.

There was nothing unusual in the current environment, but Zhou Chang was not in a hurry to order the second person to come down.

He held the fire and moved closer to the painted murals on the wall.

The paintings on the wall have faded so much that only some simple lines remain on the gray bricks.

Those simple lines are connected into shuttle-shaped objects.

These spindle-shaped objects flow along the walls of the corridor and converge into the tomb chamber at the end.

Zhou Chang carefully identified and found that the shuttle-shaped objects outlined by the white lines should represent small boats. These small boats without sails seemed to be flowing into the tomb along the invisible river.

It also seemed like it was swimming out of the tomb.

"boat?"

Unable to understand the true meaning of the mural, Zhou Chang first suppressed his confusion.

Only then did he grab the rope and, as he had agreed with his companions, he shook the rope quickly three times and then slowly four times.

Not long after this, the rope began to shake continuously.

As the rope swayed, Yang Rui carried Zhou Sanji down into the tomb first.

The two men exchanged a few simple words, and Yang Rui handed Zhou Sanji over to Zhou Chang's care. He followed the secret signal and ordered the third person to slide down along the thread of thought.

The third person, the fourth person, the fifth person followed in order...

Finally, everyone gathered in the tomb corridor.

Yang Rui checked the people one by one and his eyes became a little hesitant.

He looked at Zhou Chang beside him, then suddenly asked everyone, "Where is Shidanzi?"

"Stone egg?"

When Zhou Chang saw Yang Rui's expression, he was startled.

After hearing what he said, he immediately turned his head and looked in a certain direction of the corridor - he saw Shidanzi at a glance just now.

Sure enough, wherever his eyes went, Shidanzi raised his hand timidly: "Master, Master, I'm right here..."

"Um?

Why wasn't I watching you here just now?" Yang Rui looked towards Shi Danzi's position, frowning even more, "There was clearly no one at your position just now!"

When Shi Danzi heard this, his voice suddenly became tearful: "Master, you didn't drink today!
Can't you see me? I'm such a fool!

You are seeing things, Master!"

Following such a master, Shidanzi couldn't help but feel worried every day.

His reaction was all a stress response caused by Yang Rui.

"Is everyone here?
We are visiting a grave now, stop joking!

"Be careful, don't raise your head--" At this time, Xiao Daniu lowered his voice to remind him, and he looked at Zhou Chang, "My fellow buddy, please count the heads and see if there is any missing?

When we were at the top, no one was missing.

We all came down the same rope, and there was only one tomb below - there was no way a few of them would suddenly get lost and move to other places, right? "

Yang Rui's words really made everyone nervous.

The corridor that smelled moldy was filled with the heavy breathing of many people.

When Zhou Chang heard what Xiao Daniu said, his face suddenly froze!
——Just now, when he followed Uncle Yang to count heads, he did not see Xiao Daniu!
It was just that the situation at that time made him ignore the existence of this person for some reason!

It wasn't until Xiao Daniu spoke that he reacted!

He suddenly turned to look at Xiao Daniu, and saw Xiao Daniu's gloomy face and purple and black marks on his neck with layers of dead skin - Zhou Chang had glanced at the place where Xiao Daniu was currently standing, and clearly did not see any figure!

"Could it be that I have the same 'illusion' as Master Yang?!

Or is it that there is indeed a companion who is being silently "covered" by a "dirty thing" at this moment - when I called his name, that dirty thing appeared immediately? "

Zhou Chang's pupils constricted, but he remained expressionless.

He tugged at the thread on his wrist.

The thought of this woman is connected to Bai Xiu'e in the crowd.

Seeing Bai Xiu'e's gaze towards him, Zhou Chang's heart calmed down.

"Xiu'e, you and Uncle Bai come over to me."

Even if there is "dirty stuff" underneath, Zhou Chang believes that it is unlikely that the "dirty stuff" can suddenly transform into something like "Niansi Ousi".

Therefore, Bai Xiu'e, who is involved with Nian Si, should be a real person.

As for the others, even 'Yang Rui' - Zhou Chang didn't dare to believe it now!

He called Bai Xiu'e and Bai's father to his side and began to count the heads one by one: "Grandpa, Uncle Yang, Bai Xiu'e, Uncle Bai, Xiao Zhenming, Xiao Daniu, Xiao Dahu, Shi Danzi..."

After counting them once, Zhou Chang didn't feel that anyone was missing.

But he felt something was wrong.

He called everyone together and asked, "How many of us are there in total? Including my grandfather."

"Eight!"

"nine!"

"nine!"

"Eight!"

"..."

Everyone spoke up, but some said there were nine people, while others said there were eight people. There was no complete consensus!

Zhou Chang's eyes swept across the familiar faces at the moment.

These familiar faces now seemed strange to him.

He summoned the "Dapin Xindan Sutra", but the "Dapin Xindan Sutra" was indifferent and did not respond at all.

The more times Zhou Chang used this sutra, the more he was able to summarize certain rules.

When a situation strikes you as strange, and the Great Heart Pill Sutra has no reaction or can't give you any effective hints, there are generally only two possible outcomes:

First, there really was something strange happening around him, and observing this situation was beyond the capabilities of the Great Heart Pill Sutra;
Second, I was just being paranoid; actually everything was normal.

When the first situation occurs, it often indicates such a strange situation that Zhou Chang is helpless and unable to deal with it.

The current situation is obviously weird, and it is impossible for there to be no abnormalities.

There is still no reaction to this sutra.

That meant that the current situation was beyond the capabilities of the Great Heart Pill Sutra, and Zhou Chang was also helpless in the short term.

"Shall we climb up?
There’s something wrong with this place…” Yang Rui said in a low voice, looking at the colorful boats on the walls of the corridor.

The air in the corridor was musty and smelly, and because so many people were gathered there, it was even a little stuffy.

But when everyone looked at each other, they felt a cool wind circling behind their necks.

"It may not be safe if we climb up." Zhou Chang rejected Yang Rui's suggestion. He glanced at the sports watch on his wrist, and the three antibody numbers on the screen did not change at all.

He went on to say, “If there really is something dirty, once you climb up, the dirt will probably follow.

Everyone, let me ask you again, how many people do you think we are in total?
Be sure to think it through before you speak.

Say each of our names one by one."

Under Zhou Chang's gaze, everyone's faces turned serious.

Zhou Chang first looked at Yang Rui, and Yang Rui began to call out names - he called out the names of the eight people present, but in the end Shi Danzi was still missing.

But Zhou Chang clearly saw Shidanzi and everyone else squatting around him, with sad faces!
Could it be that Shidanzi is a ghost?
Or has Uncle Yang turned into a ghost?
Or maybe neither of these happened...

I and others have fallen into some strange phenomenon and strange rules...

Zhou Chang felt heavy in his heart, and he looked at Bai Xiu'e beside him.

Bai Xiu'e called out her own name and the name of seven people present, but Zhou Chang was the only one missing!

"I'm right beside you, Xiu'e, can't you see me?!" Zhou Chang shook the thread on his wrist and looked at Bai Xiu'e in shock, wondering why Bai Xiu'e had forgotten her own 'name'? !

Xiu'e looked at Zhou Chang, her eyes suddenly filled with shame, and she stammered, "I, I saw you were beside me, and I ignored you for a moment.

I will report again..."

This time when she registered, she registered Zhou Chang's name, but missed Yang Rui's name!
Zhou Chang took a deep breath and asked Shi Danzi to sign up...

Shi Danzi previously said that there were nine people in the team, but today he still only reported the names of eight people, including his own, missing Zhou Sanji.

Following them came Xiao Zhenming, Bai's father, Xiao Daniu and others.

No matter how many people they had answered previously about the team, when everyone reported their names now, they would often miss one.

Even if Zhou Chang or other companions reminded the other party later, the other party remembered the name of the omitted person, but would quickly ignore the name of another person!
This time, as the "head count" came down, people's faces became even more gloomy.

Zhou Chang said: "Legend has it that in the tomb in the Black Wasteland Mountain, a 'Demon of Desire' is suppressed.

The "dirty stuff" that we are carrying now may be related to the "demon of thought" in the legend - it will make us always subconsciously miss a certain companion and forget his existence.

——What will happen in the end if you forget about this companion for too long?

Perhaps the demon of thought used this opportunity to "revive" in the body of its companion, or perhaps we violated the demon's killing rules and died.

Have you ever heard of the name of this 'Thinking Demon'? Have you ever heard of the legends related to it? "

Everyone shook their heads.

Xiao Dahu said: "I have heard that there is a demon buried in the tomb of Heihuang Mountain...but I have never heard of the name of this demon, nor the killing patterns related to it.

After all... not spreading the name of the Demon is a rule that has been agreed upon by everyone.

Even if someone knows about this evil thought, they will suppress it in their heart and deliberately forget it. "

"Deliberately forget..." Xiao Dahu's words touched Zhou Chang slightly.

Could it be that the demon sealed in the mausoleum is a 'forgotten ghost'?
"It is extremely abnormal that we always ignore the existence of a certain companion.

This kind of forgetfulness may be in line with the killing pattern of the demon.

So we must try our best to remember the people around us.”

Zhou Chang took a deep breath, took out a piece of paper, wrote his name on it, handed the paper to Bai Xiu'e, and said, "Everyone write your name on this piece of paper, and then everyone copy the words on the paper...

Hold it in your hand and take it out from time to time to memorize it. "

"I can't read..." At this time, Shidanzi raised his head and spoke blankly and fearfully.

The two old men, Xiao Dahu and Xiao Daniu, also shook their heads: "We don't know many words."

"How can you read the scriptures of the Duangong sect if you can't read?" Zhou Chang's mind was suddenly in a mess.

"These are all passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth from my father and brothers." Xiao Daniu said.

"Then draw some symbols on paper that you can remember.

Don't repeat the symbols!" Zhou Chang had no choice but to remind him.

Text can be converted into symbols, which may make it easier for those who are illiterate to remember.

But for a literate person like Zhou Chang, converting words into symbols undoubtedly adds an extra hurdle to his memory - even if he doesn't want to be lazy, his brain may skip over these symbols and regard them as invalid information!

Just a simple transformation brings about endless variables!
But Zhou Chang was unable to prevent this change from happening!

He asked everyone to write their names or draw symbols on a piece of paper, and then sent a copy of the paper to everyone. He then wrapped the thread of thought around everyone's wrists, and then stood up from the corridor: "Even if we crawl out of the tunnel now, the dirt on us cannot be wiped away just by crawling out of the tunnel.

Everyone, just take the note and write down our names.

Let's keep moving forward.

See what's in the tomb at the end.

Maybe that clay statue of the 'God of Plague' will be our way out."

People nodded and followed Zhou Chang, walking along the corridor towards the deepest tomb chamber.

At one end of the corridor, the candlelight was still squatting in the corner, flickering slightly.

Zhou Chang extended a strand of thought along the rope hanging from the entrance of the tunnel to the outside and wrapped it around the grass and trees around the tunnel.

He led the crowd along the corridor, stopping from time to time to recite the names on the notes.

The further you go in, the brighter the colors of the painted boats on the corridor walls become.

When we reached the tomb chamber at the end of the corridor, the painted shuttle-shaped boats fully revealed their original appearance:

Those were paper boats painted on the walls of the corridor.

At the end of the corridor, there is a tomb chamber.

When the firelight came on, the situation in the tomb was illuminated.

In the tomb chamber, which is so low that people need to bend down to enter, there is a clay statue.

The clay statue sat on an altar about one foot high, with a tablet in front of it. The words "The Honorable Seat of the God of Plague and Death" on it were already blurred and required a certain amount of eyesight to make out.

Among them, the character "丧" in "闻丧神" has been mostly damaged.

Zhou Chang needed to connect the upper and lower parts before he could recognize this word.

There is a shadow like a stain on the word "丧".

At first glance, the shadow looked like a human handprint.

Zhou Chang fixed his gaze on the deity's tablet, then raised his eyes to look at the clay statue.

As soon as his eyes fell upon the face of the statue, he felt dizzy for a moment!
——There were three long black beards on the face of the clay statue, hanging down to the legs.

There are two pairs of eyes on a thin horse face.

The two pairs of eyes are parallel to each other, located on the long and thin face, which makes people feel dizzy at first glance!

"Is this the God of Plague?"

"There are four eyes..."

"Sure enough, it's not one of those common gods related to the plague that we are familiar with. It should be from the Yin Mine."

“This is the end of the tomb, there is no more road.

How do we get to the Yin Mine from here?"

Everyone spoke.

Zhou Chang looked around and saw two side chambers on both sides of the main tomb chamber.

The ear chamber was empty.

There was indeed nothing else in this tomb except this statue of the god of plague.

“From the outside, the tombs of Heihuang Mountain are huge, comparable to the tombs of the princes of the Qing Dynasty.

It's like a mountain." Zhou Chang frowned and said, "But when we walked in along the corridor, the tomb chamber we saw was only this big - this obviously does not conform to the regulations of the mausoleum.

Moreover, there are many rumors here that a demon is suppressed in the tomb of Heihuang Mountain.

We have come here, perhaps under the influence of the Devil of Thought, but the Devil's killing patterns have not yet fully manifested, and its form has not yet been revealed...

Therefore, I think there may be more than just the tomb of the 'God of Plague' here.

There may be another tomb chamber around it.

That tomb chamber might be a 'ghost tomb'.

Although we have never walked into the ghost tomb, we have been affected by the killing rules of the demon in the tomb of the Plague God, so we will constantly forget the name of someone around us, but this influence is not too great - it may be some kind of power of the Plague God that is still protecting us...

——Now that we are here, let’s count the heads again.

This may verify my speculations.”

"Ordinary gods only exploit and oppress living beings. How could they protect mortals?" Xiao Zhenming was a little skeptical.

Zhou Chang shook his head and said, “Perhaps the gods in the Yin Mine are different.

After all, it could be a god from another world, and perhaps he hasn’t learned to be as bad as the common gods.”

After he said this, everyone nodded in agreement.

According to Zhou Chang's instructions, everyone did not look at the note. After waiting for a moment, they read out their own names and those of their companions in turn.

This time, no one forgets the names of their companions!
Even Zhou Sanji, who had always been as indistinguishable as a clay sculpture or a wooden carving, was accurately called out by everyone's name, without missing a single one!

People looked surprised!

The situation was just as Zhou Chang had guessed!
Staying around the 'clay statue of the god of plague', they no longer have their previous 'amnesia'!
Zhou Chang's guess was verified and he was excited.

He searched around the tomb, but did not find any entrance that could lead to somewhere else, or even to the "yin mine".

Finally, his eyes fell on the tablet of the clay statue of the God of Plague.

He stared at the word "丧" which seemed to be covered by a palm print and became dilapidated. He reached out to take out a brush, dipped it in cinnabar ink, and tried to outline the word "丧" on the shrine to make it bright and vivid again.

Under everyone's gaze——

The word "丧" was outlined smoothly.

As the word was successfully outlined, people breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed like doing this was a big thing that would benefit him.

However, after a few breaths——

The word "丧" outlined by the red pen was covered by the handprint again, becoming dilapidated!
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the shadow of the handprint suddenly became clear. It was smeared on the word "丧", causing it to quickly lose its bright color and become mottled and incomplete. In the end, only a few strokes were left, just like before!
"The Plague God is suppressing the evil in another ghost tomb that may exist here.

That ghost was also eroding the power left by the God of Plague.

Maybe it stayed here just to be infected with the power of the Plague God."

Zhou Chang's face was solemn. He highlighted all the words on the spirit tablet in red and re-arranged the word "sorrow".

After only a few breaths, the word "sorrow" became dim again.

"This clay statue, and the power of the Plague God that may have been left here, is our amulet for now. The word 'sorrow' on the tablet foreshadows our fate - if we sit back and watch this word being completely erased by the shadow of the hand, 'death' will be our fate!

We can't just sit there and wait for death." Xiao Daniu frowned.

Xiao Dahu's eyes sparkled, and he immediately said, "So why not let someone with a strong destiny use blood as ink to ask for a pen for the gods!"

“Even when offering sacrifices to secular gods, sometimes one needs to use one’s own blood to write a memorial.

Using blood as ink to write for the gods and glorify their names is not a bad idea." Yang Rui also agreed with the words of the two duangongs of the Xiao family. While he was talking, he looked at Zhou Chang.

Yang Rui had no idea what the fate of the others present was.

But he knew Zhou Chang's fate——

Kuigang is paired with killing, and disaster will follow.

Killing is inseparable from seal, seal is inseparable from killing, killing and seal are mutually beneficial!
According to legend, for people with this kind of Kuigang fate, a single stick of incense can reach the level of all gods and make all the gods listen.

As for today, if you burn only one incense stick, it may attract secular gods to fight for food.

But no matter what, the Kuigang fate is already the most powerful type of fate!
"Then I will use my blood to ask for a pen for the Plague God."

Zhou Chang smiled and shook the sports watch on his wrist: "I still benefited from it. I used my heart and soul to paint a portrait for it and make it look good. It's what I should do."

The tablet of the deity is where the face of the deity is located.

The words on the altar are painted in red, which is like drawing the face of the god, which is quite vivid and descriptive.

"it is good.

Then let Achang do it." Yang Rui nodded first.

Xiao Zhenming wanted to ask about Zhou Chang's fate, but when the words came to his lips, he stopped immediately - asking other people about their birth dates was a very taboo thing nowadays. After all, other people don't know what you will do with their fate and birth dates.

At that time, people liked to name their offspring by revealing the missing five elements in their fate, so as to complete it.

But people today would never do that.

This action exposes one's own taboos to outsiders. When encountering people with bad intentions, it is just a way to show weakness to the enemy, who will use it to suppress you and curse you.

Fortunately, Xiao Zhenming did not say anything, otherwise it would have broken the rules.

“Even if I use my blood to draw the tablet of the god, I still cannot leave any words on it.

Then it's your turn.

Perhaps you are more suitable than me to write for this "God of Plague and Death." Zhou Chang smiled and said when he saw Xiao Zhenming's hesitant expression.

Xiao Zhenming smiled and said, "Just seeing how our fellow brothers have led us through all the dangers, I know that your destiny must be strong.

If you ask God to write, it will surely work."

Zhou Chang shook his head, turned around, and took out ink, brush and other things.

He also knew that his destiny was strong.

But there are countless people with the same fate.

Maybe this fate was specially created by the 'Yin Shengmu'.

This fate is also a shackle for Zhou Chang.

Zhou Chang heated a knife over a candle flame until it turned red, and after it cooled down, he cut his middle finger, which is connected to his heart. The blood taken from this fingertip can be called "heart blood".

He dripped his "heart's blood" into the cinnabar ink and shook it evenly.

Then he dipped the brush in red ink and started to draw on the tablet of the deity.

He drew every stroke with extreme care.

After finishing drawing all the words on the tablet, Zhou Chang's forehead was already covered with sweat.

He looked up at the divine tablet, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity.

(End of this chapter)