Chapter 24: The shock of the hidden secret passage

Standing in front of the mountain wall, I looked at the mountain wall, which was covered with weeds and vines, and it seemed like a dead end, but I didn’t think so. Because I had seen it before, I knew that there might be unexpected changes, and I wasn’t too worried.

At this time, I could faintly hear the noise of people from the top of the valley. I thought that the pursuers were about to reach the top of the mountain, but I was too lazy to look back.

Xiao Ding stayed here with me and my master, smiled apologetically at me and my master, and then said, “It involves some secrets of my pulse, so please wait a little longer for Grandpa Jiang and Sanwa.”

He spoke in a serious manner, but he called me by my nickname. This was quite novel. I didn’t care, so I smiled at Xiaoding and said I didn’t care, and Master was even less likely to care.

Xiao Ding received the understanding of me and the master, and bowed to us, then walked alone to the mountain wall about ten meters ahead. Before that, he did not forget to tell us to stand still in the same place. Maybe this distance of about ten meters also involves some mechanisms.

If the pursuers get here, they will definitely suffer. I thought to myself that I would be happy.

But I saw Xiaoding standing in front of the mountain wall, holding a green, shiny bamboo flute to his lips. The breeze in the valley blew Xiaoding’s long, clean hair, and the sight of him playing the flute like this made me feel like I was traveling through time, as if I were seeing a handsome young man from ancient times.

But the difference is that the bamboo flute did not make any sound. It was like the first time I saw Xiaoding as a child. He was red-faced and neck-thick, playing a short bamboo flute, but there was no sound at all. I laughed at him in my heart. Pulling a leaf and making a bamboo whistle was louder than what he was playing.

The warm memories of my childhood made me smile, but I was distracted by the abnormal shaking of the mountain wall. In less than a few seconds, I saw a large snake similar to a silver-ringed snake crawling out of the weeds on the mountain wall.

The hideous look really scared me, because in my impression, poisonous snakes could not grow that big. However, the snake’s pattern was exactly the same as the silver-ringed snake, with a circle of silver alternating with a circle of black, and a triangular head. The difference was that this snake had a circle of colorful colors at the seven-inch mark, and a hump on the back of its head, but it had not yet formed a crown of flesh.

It was about 4 meters long and was a little thicker than my arm… In short, the cold and sinister aura made my skin crawl.

The snake swam lazily around Xiaoding before swimming away, raising its neck as if it were human. When it got closest to me and the master, I got goosebumps. I had a hunch that the snake was poisonous, extremely poisonous! Even if cultivators could use various powers to suppress the poison, they could not overcome this kind of extreme poison, which made people feel very dangerous.

But Xiaoding didn’t care about it, but walked up to the cliff and poked around… After a while, a dull sound came from the cliff, and it turned out that a gap had been opened that could accommodate two people.

“It’s done,” Xiaoding walked towards me and the master, smiling gently, and then he still led me and the master to follow in his footsteps and walked together to the front of the mountain wall.

Behind the mountain wall should be the secret passage. I was full of curiosity and wanted to go in, but Xiaoding stopped me. There were vines hanging from the entrance, but Xiaoding was not annoyed. He just gently reminded me, “Follow me in. Be careful.”

What should I be careful of? I saw Ding’s hand pointing at the vines. In the moonlight, I first saw a pair of bright, small eyes. When I looked closely, my cold sweat immediately covered my forehead. I saw that among the vines, there were about five small snakes that were only slightly thicker than chopsticks.

I don’t know what kind of species they are, but they are grayish green, with triangular heads like an awl… They are all looking at me with raised necks, and I don’t doubt that they will attack me without hesitation if I take another step forward.

I don’t recognize these snakes, but they don’t feel any safer than the big one that looked like a silver-ringed snake. In fact, they seem even more dangerous because they are so well hidden.

But Ding didn’t seem to care. He waved his hand and I don’t know what he did, but the snakes swam away. Ding led me and my master into the mountain wall.

It was dark behind the mountain wall, and I couldn’t see anything clearly. I could only see the cool moonlight outside the mountain wall… And Xiaoding still told me and my master to stay put, and then he messed around with something at the door, and the mountain wall completely closed.

At this time, the moonlight was also invisible, and it was completely dark behind the mountain wall.

Xiao Ding took out a flashlight from somewhere and lit it up, illuminating the inside of the mountain wall… I started to feel uncomfortable and subconsciously covered my eyes. My master did the same, but at this time, Xiao Ding, who had suddenly walked over, slipped a flashlight into his hand.

I squinted and turned on the flashlight, and after a few seconds of adjusting to the light, I opened my eyes and was surprised to see a magical world.

I never imagined that this so-called secret passage would actually be inside a stalactite cave. Under the light of the flashlight, the white stalactites and the water droplets on the stalactites reflected a psychedelic light, so beautiful that it made people sigh. In between these strangely shaped stalactites, a neat stone-paved path was laid.

The surprise was not only the stalactites, but also the underground river in the cave. The river was not wide and the water flow was not great, flowing gently past. No wonder I didn’t hear any sound just now.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Ding’s voice was gentle, but still a little proud. After all, this is the place he has guarded all his life, and it’s only natural to be proud of it.

“Hmmm!” I nodded eagerly, realizing that surprises can happen at any time in life. Maybe the last second you felt like you were in a dead end, but you persisted and didn’t give up, and the next second you saw a different landscape.

I never thought that in such a place, in the middle of a mountain range, in the middle of a wilderness, there would be such a hidden landscape.

“Let’s go, but stay close to me. After all, there are formations protecting it, and there are many ancestors inside!” Xiaoding said with a smile.

I found that although this Ding was shy, he really liked to laugh. I suddenly found that I liked this person a little bit, because people who can often show a smile in the loneliness of the wilderness are always optimistic and warm. Who doesn’t like such people?

Thinking about this, I had a better impression of Xiaoding, because his straightforward nature made me feel less inhibited when asking questions. I said, “Are the ancestors?” It’s not that the Snake Gate people are thin, Xiaoding has become the only mountain guard, so how can there still be ancestors?

Facing my question, Xiaoding smiled and didn’t answer. Suddenly, he winked mysteriously at me and said to me, “Do you want to see the ancestor?”

See the ancestor? I was puzzled, but the master was unperturbed and once again took up his pipe. This time he was smoking real tobacco… Looking at him, I could tell that he had seen the so-called ancestor before.

Before I could ask anything, Xiaoding had already led me to the side of the underground river, gesturing for me to put away my flashlight, while he gently shone it into the river. I followed the light of the flashlight and almost exclaimed in surprise.

I saw a huge snake lying in the underground river, with most of its body in the water, and its head and the other half of its body lazily resting on the other side of the riverbank. The head alone was even bigger than the heads of the several giant snakes I had just seen fighting.

If I had to describe it, it was about half the size of the large water tanks commonly used in the countryside. It didn’t have a crown of flesh on its head, but instead had a small bulge in the middle (which was relatively small compared to the large head). Unlike the bulge of the dangerous ‘silver-ringed snake’ outside, which was soft and dangled, the bulge of this ancient ancestor appeared to be unusually hard.

It is white, but not dazzling white, but a kind of dull grayish white, similar to the color of stalactites. No wonder I didn’t see it at first glance.

Xiao Ding retracted the flashlight and continued walking with me on the trail. I was shocked. I was just following Xiao Ding numbly, but I was thinking to myself, do the Chinese people know that this kind of existence is hidden in this uninhabited area?

Xiao Ding said to me in my ear, “This is the oldest snake in the cave, and it has the best temper. Did you see the look in its eyes just now? It was so gentle and warm.”

How could I dare to look into the eyes of this big snake? Just looking at its size was already shocking. I have seen many big snakes and snake spirits, but none of them gave me the same feeling as the snakes Ding showed me.

“Are you wondering about the snakes at the entrance?” Xiaoding always talks about snakes endlessly.

“Well, I’ve never seen them before.” I was of course curious.

“Haha, the snakes that can guard the secret passage and guard the door for the ancestors are not ordinary things. They are mutant snakes… and they have practiced in the mountains, so they are extraordinary. You have to know that mutant snakes are born with a spirit, and they are much stronger than ordinary snakes when it comes to practicing.” Xiaoding laughed as he spoke.

Then he looked at the master and asked, “Grandpa Jiang, how did you think of coming here to escape?”

Yes, how did Master Jiang calculate that these people would come to this mountain range? This is a question!