Chapter 30: The snake gradually loses its way

The power that had finally made me fall into the water had dissipated, and I stopped sinking, which felt like an eternity.

After regaining control of my body, I almost instinctively and without thinking desperately swam upwards. With a ‘splash’, I finally surfaced.

The temporary deafness and silence that came with falling into the water had disappeared as I rose to the surface. Xiao Chengqian’s anxious chatter sounded in my ears again: “Chengyi, are you okay? Are you stupid? How did you fall in? What happened? I’m worried about you.”

I shook my head in silence. This young master Xiao, before we got to know each other, he was pretty cool and aloof. But now that we’ve gotten to know each other better, I feel like there’s a lingering sense of “chatterbox” in his personality. It’s like an old lady in the northeast sitting on a big bed, waiting for someone to chat with.

I didn’t want to explain too much to Xiao Chengqian, so I said in a low voice, “This pool is very deep. I think part of the mountain is hollow, and it leads directly to the X pool through this pool. If that’s the case…” I actually wanted to say that if that’s the case, you said that such a monster might really exist in this pool, but I didn’t say it. At this moment, my heart was filled with an inexplicable sense of crisis. If I mentioned it again, I was afraid that I would not be able to withstand the pressure in my heart and would run away to the shore. So, I said to Xiao Chengqian, who was still digesting my words and looked a little dazed, “You stay here and remember to turn on the flashlight.” After that, I swam towards the water.

The whole cave was quiet, and only the sound of my “splashing” arms splashing the water remained. The stone pillar was in the middle of the deepest part of the pool. According to the strange shape of the pool, no matter where I entered the water, the distance I had to swim was more or less the same. This distance was nothing to me, but I don’t know why, in this water, I always felt a sense of being “spied on,” and that feeling made me gasp for breath. During the swimming process, I felt my feet tighten, and I swam more and more slowly.

Xiao Chengqian’s flashlight was also shining on me. At this moment, he was also silent. I think he had seen the so-called monster water monster, so he was also as nervous as I was. This atmosphere was too depressing. Every time I moved, I felt relieved because the distance was closer, but at the same time, my heart was once again taut because I was afraid that the water would suddenly make a loud sound and break out, or that I would be dragged down by something underwater.

In my life, I have walked or swum through countless 30-meter distances, but none of them have ever made me so nervous and scared. The feeling was not much different from walking through a sea of fire and swords.

Time passed slowly and painfully, minute after minute… Finally, the stone pillar was right in front of me, and behind me came the voice of Xiao Chengqian cheering, “Chengyi, hurry, you’re almost there.”

His sudden shout startled me, and I almost sank into the water with my hands and feet out of sync. But could I blame Xiao Chengqian? Obviously not. He was also happy for me. Finally, I was almost there… I calmed down a bit, took a deep breath, and then began sprinting the last distance. Finally, my hand touched the stone pillar, and a sense of security returned to me. It was similar to climbing a tree when I was a child, except that it was in the water rather than on land. There was a good place to put my feet, so the first time I climbed up the pillar, it was very difficult, but I still managed to climb up the pillar.

Holding the stone pillar and stepping on a pit in the stone pillar, I realized that I was exhausted from swimming the few dozen meters. After taking a breath, I started to climb up non-stop. Xiao Chengqian was very responsible for following my every step.

The more I was afraid, the more I felt something was wrong, because during the climb, I always felt a little tired, but this feeling was so familiar.

I didn’t think this tiredness was because I wanted to sleep. According to the understanding of the cultivator, there are generally only three situations in which this inexplicable tiredness appears. The first is when ghosts want people to fall into a state of illusion. The second is when the illusionary formation begins to take effect. The third possibility, which can almost be ruled out nowadays, is when demons want to confuse people. No matter which of these three situations it is, it is worth being vigilant. I had climbed less than five meters, so naturally I was also vigilant.

But what was that familiar feeling? I suddenly thought of a possibility and shouted to Xiao Chengqian, “Xiao Chengqian, shine your flashlight around me, especially those pits, carefully.” Xiao Chengqian also didn’t ask why, just said “oh,” and the light of the flashlight shone around me. I carefully observed it, and suddenly discovered that one of the pits was inlaid with something that looked like a bone. The color was too similar to the stone pillar, so at first glance, or if you passed by without thinking, you might not be able to find it.

It turns out that it really is like that. I said to Xiao Chengqian, “Okay, Lao Xiao, do you remember the snake-like maze in the illusionary array?”

“What old Xiao? I’m still young…” Xiao Chengqian was originally unhappy with me calling him old Xiao, but when he heard me mention this, his voice suddenly became angry and he shouted, “How could I not remember? When I was a child, I had no shortage of suffering from it. My grandfather set up a formation on a special pillar and then let me go up the stone steps next to the pillar. I was not allowed to break the formation, just go up like that. He said it was to train my mood. I’m fucked! I don’t know how many times I fell. The thing I hate most in my life is this formation!”

I smiled wryly. The experience of this young master Xiao is surprisingly similar to mine, except that I’m not as high-end as him, and I don’t have any special pillars. My master just picked a big tree in the mountains and set up this Snake Gradual Confusion Array, and then told me to climb the tree. Then I don’t know how many times I fell. Of course, the reason is the same as Grandpa Xiao Chengqian’s reason, to exercise the mind! Because the Snake Gradual Maze is a unique formation of our Li family (now it should be counted as the Xiao family), it is said to be a formation that can almost perfectly imitate the confusion of ghosts and demons. In order to train us not to be confused, and to always keep a clear mind, this Snake Gradual Maze has to be climbed almost every week. It is a “required course.” It is said that after climbing for ten years, the firmness of the mind will naturally improve a lot.

At that time, it was also very effective. Otherwise, in the Hungry Ghost Tomb, I would not have been able to calmly determine the existence of the blocking ghost in an instant. However, this formation is quite strange to break. Thinking of this, I said to Xiao Chengqian, “Lao Xiao, I know why only our two lines can get close to and obtain this purple plant. There is a snake-snake maze on this pillar.”

“What did you say?” Xiao Chengqian was stunned at first, his voice full of surprise. Then he said in a “painful” tone, “Buddy, then you’d better be tough on yourself.” I was speechless. I could only be tough on myself. Thinking about it, I held the stone pillar tightly in my left hand, moved my right hand to my mouth, and then bit down hard on my middle finger! The Pan Snake Gradual Confusion Array is a phantom array. At first glance, it is just an array that exercises the mind and does not cause any actual harm. But if you think it is a low-level array that can be easily broken by a powerful person and has little power, you are wrong.

Let me draw an analogy. You can imagine the Pan Snake Gradual Maze as a poisonous snake that can only move its head, but not its body, perched on a tree. When you pass by its body, you will naturally only feel the coldness of the snake’s body, but it will not cause any actual harm. But when you get to the head of the snake, that is the fatal place… How fatal it is, the master did not tell me in detail, but only told me that this formation is the master’s most powerful formation, and it is the most powerful to guard something. At least in this world, someone more powerful than my master can break the formation!

Well, when my master set up the formation on the tree, the eye of the formation was protecting a bird’s nest. I once thought to myself, if my master knew about this, would he come back immediately to beat my master up, and ruin the bottom-of-the-box formation like this!

This is the real “Snake-and-Ladder” maze. I’ve been climbing it for so many years, and I have a feeling of familiarity! Knowing that it is it, it is convenient to break the maze. Maybe for others, this “Snake-and-Ladder” maze is difficult to break, but for us descendants, this “Snake-and-Ladder” maze only requires us to add a “maze eye” to three positions in the maze and smear our middle finger blood.

The reason? My master once told me that the reason is unknown! However, biting through your own middle finger is always painful, so Master Xiao told me in a very ‘painful’ way that I should be more ruthless with myself… Climbing all the way, breaking the formation all the way, this Snake Gradual Maze is almost the same as nothing to me. This made me feel much more relaxed. I still had the foundation of climbing trees from when I was a child, and this high stone pillar couldn’t stop me. Soon, I reached the top of the pillar… and the water was still dark and quiet.