Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 789 Going to the Grave
Meanwhile, Xiao Ran and her group had also arrived in Luodian City.

The city company's senior leaders had already arranged all the work immediately.

However, Xiao Ran simply changed to a driver who was more familiar with the local environment, and without even pausing for a second, the car drove directly out of the city and headed southeast of the city.

“It’s over there, in the direction of that mountain.” Lingxi stretched her hand out of the car window and saw two or three tracking Gu returning to her hand one after another.

Then he pointed to the forest in front of him and said.

"What is that place?"

Xiao Ran asked the driver.

The driver knew the local terrain like the back of his hand. He glanced up and said, "That's Langshan, but most of the time the locals call it 'Liangshan.' The name has been around for a long time. I heard it's because there used to be a huge rock on the mountain that looked like a rice jar, like a granary. So it got called 'Liangshan' over time."

Then he changed the subject: "However, whether it's on the map or in the county annals, it seems they prefer to call this place Langshan. I don't know the specific reason. We drivers only know the roads well."

Upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi, who was in the carriage, suddenly opened his slightly closed eyelids a crack and said, "Then it's most likely this is the place."

He peered through the car window at the distant rain and mist, carefully examining the mountain.

"The character 'Liang' means both grain and storage! Just as a granary stores grain, mountains and rivers can also be used to store wind and gather energy, concealing the universe. The ancients' naming contained hidden meanings. Liang Mountain means Cang Mountain, which clearly tells later generations that there are mysteries hidden in the belly of this mountain, making it an excellent place to build a tomb by storing wind."

Everyone immediately understood upon hearing this.

"Pull over, we'll walk the rest of the way."

Xiao Ran said to the driver.

"it is good!"

The driver was clearly instructed not to ask any questions and to just follow orders.

Hearing Xiao Ran's words, he casually turned on the turn signal and parked the car steadily by the side of the road.

"Gentlemen, the road over there is difficult to travel. There is a village ahead. It would be easier for you to go that way."

The driver opened the car door and reminded Xiao Ran and the others at the same time.

"Okay, thank you." Xiao Ran casually tossed a piece of ghost money to the driver. "Go back, don't wait for us."

The driver accepted the money, his face lighting up with joy, and he nodded repeatedly to show he understood.

Xiao Ran and the others got out of the car one after another, and the damp mountain wind carrying the scent of grass and trees rushed towards them. The muddy path after the rain meandered into the dense forest, and in the distance, Langshan Mountain was shrouded in mist, with only its dark outline showing.

Lingxi crouched down, lightly tapped the ground with her fingertips, and several dark blue beetles emerged from her sleeve. After their antennae trembled for a moment, they quickly crawled toward the riverbank.

The group walked along the riverbank, but the more they walked, the stranger it seemed. The path didn't lead directly into the mountains; instead, it led them around to the other side of Langshan.

This is clearly not a path for humans to walk on. Not only is the road slippery, but there are also some places that a normal person could not possibly walk through.

Xiao Ran noticed several footprints on the ground, and seeing these footprints put her mind at ease.

The footprints were clearly made not long ago, indicating that they must have been very close to the four old men.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran simply emptied his mental energy and quickly scanned the surrounding mountains and forests, trying to find the traces of the four old men.

To Xiao Ran's surprise, even when she covered a 30-mile radius with her mental energy, she was still able to find even their shadows.

Have they already found the tomb passage and entered the tomb?
However, Xiao Ran soon discovered another problem: in such a large mountain, she hadn't seen a single animal, let alone a bird.

Aside from that, I couldn't find anything else that seemed wrong.

Filled with doubt, the group continued along the river until evening before stopping. They found a sheltered spot, lit a campfire, cooked, and rested.

"Strange, it's one thing for my grandfather and Zhao Qingming to be fast, but Zhou Shang and Li Qing are only human, how can they walk so fast?"

Xiao Ran muttered to herself.

After thinking it over, I guessed that it was Grandpa Zhou who used some kind of magic to help him. Otherwise, let alone the two old men's health, even if it were a young man, it would be impossible for him to move so quickly.

"Don't worry, now that we're here, we're not afraid of not finding them."

Lu Cheng, on the other hand, was quite composed; seeing the bald-headed old man sooner or later made no difference to him.

After all, even if he had met the bald old man earlier, he couldn't stop them from going to find the Wind Hammer.

The sooner we find them, the better they can help us.

"Zizzi!!"

At this moment, Wu Man had already started preparing the meal.

The aroma of food wafted through the air, accompanied by a light drizzle and the sound of raindrops pattering on the leaves, creating a unique and delightful scene.

The food was simple, but Wu Man's superb cooking skills made even Lingxi, a girl, forget about being reserved and eat heartily with her bowl and chopsticks in hand.

Just as everyone was enjoying their food, an inconspicuous dark cloth bag tightly tied to Lingxi's waist suddenly began to shake and twist violently, as if it were filled with restless creatures struggling to break free.

"Ok?"

Lingxi's expression of enjoyment froze instantly. She abruptly raised her head, her sharp gaze sweeping across the dim jungle like a probe.

Almost simultaneously, Xiao Ran and Wu Man's hands, which were picking up food, froze in mid-air.

Xiao Ran turned his head slightly, his deep gaze falling on the dense forest behind Ling Xi.

After a moment, Xiao Ran asked Lingxi, who was standing beside her, "Can you handle the insects in the mountains?"

"insect?"

Lingxi immediately understood what Xiao Ran meant, nodded solemnly, and spoke with a hint of confidence and the professional air of a woman of the Five Poisons.
"Of course, it's a perfect match for my major."

But Xiao Ran's expression didn't relax, and she pressed on, "What I mean is, what if there are a lot of bugs?"

"a lot of?"

Lingxi's confidence was immediately overshadowed by a shadow, her brows furrowed involuntarily, and her fingers instinctively pressed against the cloth bag at her waist.

The worms inside the bag seemed even more agitated.

"How much is 'a lot'?" Lingxi already had a bad feeling.

Xiao Ran slowly withdrew her gaze and looked at Ling Xi: "I don't know. I can't count them all."

As soon as Xiao Ran finished speaking, as if to confirm his judgment, a chillingly dense rustling sound suddenly rang out in the area shrouded in darkness and trees!

That wasn't the sound of wind rustling through leaves, but the sound of thousands, even hundreds of thousands or millions of tiny claws or carapaces rubbing and crawling, like a surging tide rushing towards them!
The sound grew louder and louder as it approached, quickly becoming deafening and filling every crevice of hearing. Wu Man didn't even have time to pack up the kitchen utensils. She got up, grabbed Lu Cheng and Jin Chanzi, and her body rapidly expanded, transforming into the shape of a wild boar. She carried the two of them and ran westward.

Xiao Ran raised her hand and shot out two threads of fate, which landed on Wu Man's buttocks. With her other hand, she grabbed Ling Xi's arm, and with the support of her mental power, the two of them were instantly pulled into the air by Wu Man like kites.

"Swish..."

Only then did Lingxi realize that the surrounding mountains and forests were now teeming with insects, a dark sea of ​​insects rushing down from the mountainside.

Wherever they passed, it was as terrifying as a locust swarm passing through.

Now Xiao Ran understood why she hadn't seen any animals around her before; those animals had probably all been eaten by these insects long ago.

Lingxi's face turned extremely pale at this moment. Even she was afraid that she would not be able to withstand so many insects.

However, Lingxi soon discovered that although the number of these insects was terrifying, they all ran down the mountain in unison, as if they were hiding from something.

Thinking of this, Lingxi's eyes lit up: "It's the Gu Mother!!"

She turned to look at Xiao Ran: "Someone must be awakening the Gu Mother and driving these insects down from the mountain."

Upon hearing Lingxi's words, Xiao Ran immediately realized that this was the commotion caused by her grandfather and the others.

So Xiao Ran said to Wu Man on the ground, "Charge up the mountain!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Man did not hesitate at all and immediately changed direction, rushing straight towards the sea of ​​insects.

"Hold on tight!!" Wu Man shouted to Jin Chanzi and Lu Cheng on his back. Then, his body suddenly grew larger again, and crimson flames burst from his four pig hooves as he charged towards the dense sea of ​​insects!
Crimson flames surged forth, forming a roaring wall of fire.

The poisonous insects and ants that rushed towards Wu Man did not even get within ten feet of her before turning into wisps of smoke the moment they touched the blazing flames.

The smell of burning insects instantly filled the air, as if the sea of ​​insects had crashed into an invisible wall of flames, and a burning hole was forcibly torn open.

"This smell! It's suffocating me!"

Jin Chanzi, clinging to Wu Man's broad back, coughed from the thick smoke. He quickly drew a talisman with his fingers, creating a cleansing spell to protect himself and Lu Cheng behind him.

Wherever the flames passed, the corpses of insects piled up like mountains, only to be ignited by the swarms that followed, creating a brief trail of fire that illuminated the increasingly dark and eerie forest ahead. They were like fiery boats sailing against the current.

The firelight flickered along the foot of the mountain, reaching the mountainside ahead.

It's fortunate that it's raining a lot right now, otherwise it might have caused a wildfire, which would have been a real problem.

Once they reached the mountainside, the insects vanished without a trace.

Wu Man also regained her form at this moment. When Xiao Ran and Ling Xi fell from mid-air, they saw a dug hole not far away.

The hole was very obvious; the wooden beams above it formed a well-like structure that even a blind person could see.

Seeing this, the group went over to take a look and found that the tunnel went all the way down and seemed to have no bottom.

"We've finally found it!"

Looking at the tunnel in front of him, Xiao Ran sighed. Although he still hadn't caught up with his grandfather and the others, they shouldn't be far behind.

"Come on, go down and have a look."

Jin Chanzi looked at the tomb raiding hole in front of him with great curiosity, after all, this was the first time he had ever done such a thing in his life.

However, Jin Chanzi soon regretted it. He really didn't expect the environment inside the tomb to be so harsh. Even with his small stature, he could only crawl and slowly move down the tomb.

On the contrary, Wu Man was the most relaxed. This shameless woman actually transformed into the appearance of a rat and leisurely walked in front.

After the group slid down the tunnel for about five minutes, a dark rock appeared in front of them, blocking the tunnel.

"Huh?" Jin Chanzi looked at the large rock in front of him, somewhat surprised. He took out a flashlight and carefully examined the rock for a while: "This is the Severing Fate Stone, how did it get here?"

He tapped his fingers on the cold, hard rock surface, producing a dull sound.

This caused Jin Chanzi to look puzzled: "How could there be such a thing here?"

"What? Is this stone special?"

Wu Man, who had turned into a rat, came closer and asked.

Jin Chanzi nodded: "This kind of stone is indeed rare here. It is said to be artificially mixed from volcanic ash. Some Taoist elders would look for this kind of thing before they passed away, and then seal themselves in a cave to signify that they had severed the cause and effect of this world and were ready to ascend to immortality."

Upon hearing this, Wu Man immediately said dismissively, "Then it makes sense. Isn't this the tomb of Gu Xuan? Gu Xuan was a Taoist priest."

However, upon hearing this, Jin Chanzi immediately rolled his eyes at Wu Man: "What do you know?"

Toad continued, “This stuff isn’t cement. Do you know how complicated the process is? To make this thing, you have to mix volcanic ash with cinnabar and lead, and then carve it all over with talismans from the ‘Salvation Sutra.’ Finally, you have to burn it with Samadhi Fire for seven days and seven nights. The probability of getting the final product is only one-third.”

The golden toad continued to explore the stone wall for a while, only to find that the stone wall was ridiculously large, as if it completely blocked the entire tomb.

This caused Jin Chanzi's expression to gradually become shocked.

He couldn't help but wonder what kind of background this Gu Xuan had, that he could make so many Severance Stones.
Xiao Ran also climbed over at this time, knocked on the stones, and found that the stones were indestructible and could even block her mental power probing.

Xiao Ran tried to fire a Yin Sha Arrow at it, but with a loud "bang," it didn't leave a single mark.

"No wonder!"

Xiao Ran nodded. No wonder her grandfather and the others didn't directly use the Yin-Yang Misalignment technique to forcibly enter the tomb.

But how did they manage to escape back then?
Filled with doubt, the group continued climbing down.

This tunnel wasn't straight; it kept changing direction as it was dug downwards.

I have to say, the tomb raiders my grandfather and his group hired did a pretty good job digging the tunnel; they even cleared out a large space every so often for people to rest.

After crawling through the dimly lit tunnel for a full half hour, the group was suddenly greeted by a bright light.

"bright!"

The group quickened their pace, and the tunnel in front of them suddenly became smooth and wide.

"This part..."

Looking at the rubble and traces of the tomb raider's hole on the ground, Xiao Ran said, "This wasn't dug by my grandfather and his family; someone else dug it beforehand."

"Ok!"

Jin Chanzi picked up the broken fragments of the Broken Edge Stone from the ground and examined them carefully. He was also surprised, wondering what methods the other party had used to shatter the indestructible Broken Edge Stone and forcefully create a path here.

(End of this chapter)