Volume 5 Chapter 9 Wall string

“Turn off the flashlight?” I was stunned. There were already so many people missing, and now they were turning off the flashlights. What if there were even fewer people? This was asking for trouble. I looked at Hua and hoped that he would be more mature and see how he would react.

Hua was also very nervous. When he saw me looking at him, he even asked me, “Do you want to turn it off?”

The fat guy turned off the flashlight and said, “Listen to him. Turn it off and see!”

I immediately turned off the flashlight, and so did the monk and the others. Suddenly, we were plunged into absolute darkness. We quickly looked up at the ceiling. At first, it was still pitch black and we couldn’t see anything. The fat man was about to curse, but suddenly the light came on. We immediately saw countless green dots of light densely clustered on the ceiling. At first glance, it seemed as if we were seeing a sea of stars.

“It’s a fifty-star map.”

I heard Hua’s voice next to me, and when I looked up again, sure enough, the shape formed by the green light points above was vaguely like a fifty-star map, but it didn’t look very much like it, because the green light points were actually moving.

“We’re rich now, so many night pearls!” the fat man exclaimed in surprise.

“No, night pearls aren’t this small.” I was sweating: “It’s moving, it’s a bug!”

“A bug? What kind of bug?” The fat man was suddenly nervous, probably thinking of the corpse beetle: “Fireflies?”

“No, fireflies are flickering, I don’t have…” Before he could finish his sentence, I suddenly felt an itch in my neck, as if something had fallen into my collar. I quickly reached for it with my hand and felt a lump. I pinched it and it died.

At that time, I felt something was wrong just by the feel of it. It was an arthropod insect, and it seemed to have a lot of legs.

I pinched it out of my neck with my fingers. When I looked at it with a flashlight, I suddenly felt a chill, and I quickly threw it on the ground.

It was a palm-sized insect that looked very much like a centipede. It had long antennae at the front and back, and its body was long and slender, divided into nine segments. There was a green spot on the back of each segment, but the obvious difference between it and a centipede was that the insect’s legs were very long, almost as long as its body, and there were many of them, like many long hairs on both sides of the torso.

I knew that this kind of insect was called a “millipede.” In some places it is called “wall string” or “octopus”. I was very brave when I was young, but I was afraid to touch it. I always felt that this thing made people feel uncomfortable at first glance. According to the legend of our hometown, as long as this thing crawls over your body, everything it crawls over will rot. The most terrifying thing is that this thing will burrow into a person’s ear. Now that I see it, I suddenly feel numb all over.

The “wall string” is recorded in the Liaozhai, and it can grow up to three feet long. Like centipedes and spiders, it is a very evil creature.

When I saw this bug, my whole body tightened up, and suddenly my head itched again. I touched it and found that it was another one that had fallen from above.

I suddenly screamed, and hurriedly swatted it off. Then I put on my hiking hat and looked down. Holy shit, I didn’t realize when, but there were already several of these bugs crawling on the ground, and more kept falling from above.

The people below were inevitably infected. Hua monk didn’t react as quickly as I did, and he was already jumping up and down, swatting the thing in his neck out of his neck, but it was useless. The thing saw a gap and quickly got into his clothes. And the bugs on the ground didn’t know what was going on either, all of them swarming around us and crawling up our shoes.

The fat guy took out a basin and put it on his head, and with the other hand he kept hitting it with a shovel. I saw Ye Cheng holding his head, so I quickly went to help him. When I pulled his hand away, I saw that several of them had already crawled into his ears.

Some “wall-crawlers” are as poisonous as centipedes, or even more poisonous. I would rather have scorpions crawling all over me than these things. I told him to turn his head to the side and lower it, and I patted his head to get the bugs out.

We kept patting and running, but everywhere it was raining “wall string” and falling down. Just when we were about to go crazy, suddenly, with a pop, a light in the distance lit up.

I was wondering who would have the time to light a lamp at this time, but suddenly the “wall string” on the ground reacted and began to crawl towards the lamp slave.

From a distance came the voice of Shunzi: “Bosses, light a fire! These bugs will lay eggs on warm things, so don’t let your body become the warmest thing around.”

It turned out to be Shunzi, I thought, it seems that he woke up.

When I and Fatso heard this, we quickly climbed onto the lamp-servant on the side. This thing was carved from stone and was shaped like a person carrying a basin on his back. The lamp-servant was as tall as a person. When I climbed up and looked, the oil in the basin had frozen into soap and was crawling with bugs.

I picked up a lighter and burned the wick. The flame was very small at first, but as the oil in the basin melted, it slowly grew stronger. The “wall strings” of the oil basin saw the flame and immediately surrounded it without hesitation. Several “wall strings” were intertwined and were crackling from the fire.

I turned on the flashlight again and shone it at the roof. The painted beams had changed, and it seemed that the pattern had been arranged by these bugs. At this time, the lanterns were lit up in other places. The light was very dim through the darkness, and I still couldn’t see the people on the side, but I already knew their location. It seems that the darkness here is not something that light cannot penetrate, but that our light is not strong enough.

There were still sporadic bugs falling from the ceiling, but most of them fell in the direction of the lantern slaves. We ran with our heads protected, toward the light on the side. After running a few steps, we saw Langfeng and Shunzi. Langfeng was lying on the ground, twitching non-stop. Shunzi was touching the back of his head while beating the bugs off his body.

I ran up to him and asked him what was wrong. He said, “It’s over. The bug got into my brain. It went in too deep. I can’t get it out.”

The fat guy let out a cry and couldn’t help but scratch his ear, muttering to himself, “Luckily I have a lot of earwax.”

I asked Shunzi, “Is there any hope?”

Shunzi shook his head and said, “I don’t know. In our village, once you get bitten by this snow moth, your life or death is up to fate.”

I looked at Langfeng’s eyes, and they were already numb. It was really bad, but this was actually a good thing. Because this guy was one of Chen Pi’s men, if we ever had to fight Chen Pi—which was only a matter of time—he would be very difficult to deal with. Now that he had been hit, we had a better chance of winning.

Pan Zi called out from a distance, and we all gathered around. I said to Shunzi, “Let’s not worry about it for now. Let’s gather everyone together and talk about it. Is your head okay?”

Shunzi nodded and wondered, “How did I suddenly faint? I remember—you were going to blow up the mountain! What is this place?”

I couldn’t react in time, and the fat man immediately said, “You’re really confused. We just wanted to set off a salute. We didn’t expect an avalanche, and rocks fell and hit your head, knocking you unconscious. We were wrapped in snow and brought here, it seems to be a temple, and we don’t know what happened.”

Shunzi thought for a moment and said, “I don’t remember anything, but how could you blow up something on a snowy mountain? It’s too chaotic… No, you have to pay me more when you go back. This deal is not profitable.”

The fat man wanted to say something else, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t know where he was going. I patted him on the back and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Let’s talk about this later. Hurry up and go over there.”

Then the two of us lifted Langfeng and tried to carry him to Pan Zi. Lang Feng was too big, and it took all our strength to barely get him to sit up.

Lang Feng was twitching, and his head was already crooked, dragging behind. I thought about how to get him to stand up. At this time, the fat man suddenly frowned.

I looked along with his gaze and found that there was a clear mark on the back of Lang Feng’s head, although it was not very obvious, but a closer look could be found.

I felt a chill in my heart. This meant that Langfeng had not been poisoned, but had been knocked unconscious. I glanced at Shunzi, who was carrying Langfeng’s backpack, and just wanted to ask him what was going on, but the fat man gave me a shush, indicating that I should not speak.

I looked at the fat man’s eyes and did not know what he was up to, so I just gave him a look back, then lifted Langfeng, laboriously put him over my shoulder, and walked towards Pan Zi.

After a period of darkness, we arrived at the lamp slave in front of Pan Zi. Chen Pi A Si and Pan Zi were both waiting there, but there was no sign of the oil bottle. I asked Pan Zi, “Where is the little brother?”

Pan Zi said, “Isn’t he with you? I haven’t seen him.”

I looked around, and apart from the lanterns we had lit and the lantern lit by Shunzi, there was no fourth lantern lit. In the distance, there were only two dim, lifeless flames standing there.

In that environment, hearing Shunzi’s cry, he should have lit the lantern on the side anyway, otherwise he would definitely be surrounded by these wall strings and die. If he didn’t light it, was he unconscious like Langfeng before hearing Shunzi’s cry?

It’s impossible. With a body like his, he should be afraid of any bugs.

The fat guy yelled out in the darkness, and his voice echoed around the empty temple for a long time, but no one answered, as if the oil lamp had never entered. When I listened quietly, there was no breathing or footsteps.

I knew in my heart that with this guy’s skills, nothing should be able to restrain him without making a sound. If he disappeared without a sound, it must be that he had some special reason or found something and left the team on his own. Even if we kneel down and kowtow to him now, he won’t appear.

Pan Zi and the fat man called out a few more times, making sure there was no response, then they turned on their flashlights and prepared to go look for him. I stopped them and said, “Don’t get separated at this time. Let’s take care of the wounded first. Then we’ll go together.”

Everyone thought it was right, and immediately surrounded Lang Feng. Chen Pi A Si checked Lang Feng’s injuries. With his character as an old fox, I saw that he almost immediately discovered Lang Feng’s wound on the back of his head, but he didn’t show any surprise at all. Instead, he looked at me and I don’t know what he was thinking.

I suddenly felt something was wrong. It didn’t make sense. The people who had just returned with Langfeng were the fat man and I. According to the general logic, Chen Pi Ashi would not suspect Shunzi, who was temporarily found in the mountain village.

Then what strategy would he take against us in the future? It’s hard to say. This is really pulling the gun on yourself.

On the other hand, Shunzi was a veteran soldier, and was a regular soldier on the front line of the border. It should not be difficult for him to knock out Langfeng. He might be afraid of us. After all, our identities were unknown, and we were obviously not good people, so he was temporarily pretending to be stupid to confuse us. I couldn’t expose him either. The environment here was so complicated, and having one more friend was better than having one more enemy.

I shouldn’t have found a soldier to be a guide at the time, I thought to myself. I felt that the relationship was in a mess. I didn’t know what to do.

Shunzi on one side knocked Langfeng down, then took out two toothpicks from his pocket, spread his ears apart, and picked out the “wall string” inside, then smashed it to the ground, where the fat man immediately stepped on it and killed it.

Shunzi told us that this kind of bug they called “snow hair” is a very rare Chinese medicine. The bugs usually live below the snow line, and I have never seen them above the snow line. I don’t know how there could be so many here. Lang Feng has bugs in his brain, and I don’t think he can hold on much longer.

Generally speaking, the bugs enter the brain through the ears, but that’s nonsense. I touched Lang Feng’s jaw and found it swollen and red. It must have been the “wall string” that bit him in the ear and poisoned him. It’s not as serious as Shunzi said. But where did these bugs come from? It’s really hard to understand.

The fat man looked at the ceiling and said, “It must be hidden in the roof tiles. When it was smoked by the insect-repellent jade, it woke up. This trick is really ruthless. But did the old Wang know that we would burn the magnetic turtle?

I thought to myself that it was certain. Since the magnetic turtle was buried at the bottom of the tombstone, it must have been hoped that tomb robbers would find it and then destroy it. Whether it was burned or smashed, it was estimated that it would cause the volatile insect-scented jade to awaken the centipedes hidden on the roof of the palace. However, if someone who respected the spirit palace did not destroy it, then the magnetic turtle would be here to protect the safety of the Yunding Palace forever.

The monk had brought some medicine, and he injected a dose into Langfeng, saying that it would temporarily save his life. After the injection, we took off Langfeng’s coat and patted the bugs curled up inside the clothes off, cleaning them up. Pan Zi said to Chen Pi A Si, “Grandpa Si, this bug is very poisonous. We’d better leave here quickly. If someone else stings us, there won’t be enough medicine.”

Chen Pi A Si looked around, frowned, and Ye Cheng sighed, telling Pan Zi about the incident where we found ourselves trapped. Pan Zi was also extremely puzzled when he heard this: “Are you sure we didn’t take a wrong turn?”

Ye Cheng just wanted to say something, but Shunzi said, “Hmm, strange.” I looked back and saw that it was the light of the first lamp that he had just lit that had disappeared in the darkness in the distance.

The lamp oil inside the lamp had not been used for hundreds of years, and it was already a blessing that it could be lit now. I told him that there was nothing strange about it, but Shunzi still frowned and patted me again, asking me to look again.

I was a little impatient. At this time, I saw the second flame of the lamp I lit flickering, as if someone had walked past it, causing the wind to move the flame.

There was definitely no wind in the hall, and if nothing had passed by, this would never have happened.

I thought it was the oil bottle coming back, so I wanted to call out, but the fat man covered my mouth. I saw the light and shadow of the flame, faintly revealing the outline of a person, but it definitely wasn’t the oil bottle, because the shadow was too tall and big.

I felt a little bit wrong, but the shadow was too blurry, and it was really unclear even the outline. Chen Pi A Si looked at it for a few times, and suddenly raised his hand and shot an iron bullet, which flew past the flame of the lamp slave. The strong wind brought the flame, which suddenly brightened, and we immediately saw a figure with a slightly strange neck standing next to the lamp slave.