Chapter 293 Taoist ribbon, boundless darkness
The two returned to the lobby, looking left and right for possible keys.
Zhuo Cuo searched extremely carefully, almost inch by inch. This matter involved his own fortune and life. Even the most reckless and careless person would definitely become extremely careful now.
When Zhuo Cuo and Zhang Ling met, there was still no trace of the key.
Zhang Ling pointed to Zhuo Cuo.
Zhuocuo understood, climbed up to the beam along a wooden pillar, and bent over to search on it.
You can see the dead faces of your comrades on the rafters. The dead faces that have been dried and blackened are so sinister that Zhuo Cuo always feels like he is staring at him, which makes him feel uncomfortable all over.
As Zhuo Cuo moved on the beam, a large amount of dust kept falling down. Zhuo Cuo searched around on it. Just when he thought he still found nothing, he suddenly found a dark one in the corner of the beam. thing.
I looked over with my flashlight and found a worn-out cloth bag.
Zhuocuo felt happy and wanted to turn over. He hung his hand on the wooden beam and swung over. When he got close, he reached out and grabbed the cloth bag.
Then it fell to the ground.
Zhang Ling saw Zhuo Cuo holding something in his hand and immediately stepped forward, "Did you find it?"
"This thing was probably found on the rafters!"
Zhuocuo put the cloth bag on the ground, asked Zhang Ling to hold the flashlight, and went to untie it himself.
The color of the cloth bag is bright red. Due to time, the red color has faded a lot and turned a little white. After unwrapping it, a wooden box is revealed inside.
When the two saw the box again, their eyes lit up, but when Zhuocuo opened it, what appeared in front of them was not the key he thought, but a yellow ribbon.
"What is this?"
Zhuocuo grabbed the ribbon, his tone revealing disappointment.
The ribbon is bright yellow, probably because it has been well kept. The color of the ribbon is still very bright, with red text on it.
"I don't understand the things here in the Central Plains. Come and take a look."
Zhuo Cuo couldn't see the famous thing, but he knew that this thing was placed on the beam, so it was definitely not an ordinary thing.
Zhang Ling took the ribbon, unfolded it, and found that the writing on it was in traditional Chinese regular script, and the paint should be cinnabar.
She struggled to identify the handwriting on it, and roughly judged that it should be a Taoist practice, but as for what aspect of practice it was, it was not something she could tell at her level.
"It should be a training book!"
Both of them felt a certain degree of frustration when they arrived here. If they could get a Taoist practice method in another place, they would be extremely happy, but at this time of danger, even if the peerless method is placed in front of them, what's the use? ?
The most urgent thing now is to find the key that can open the wooden door.
"What should I do now? I've searched all over here, but I still haven't found the key. You said the key isn't here at all."
"No, there's still one place we haven't found yet!"
"You said that's where it is?"
The two of them looked in the direction of Lao Dao's body. Yes, since there is no key anywhere else, if there is indeed a key here, then the only place is on Lao Dao's body.
As the two of them turned their heads, they suddenly discovered that the old man who had been sitting cross-legged on the futon had disappeared at some point!
Only one futon remained in place.
Zhuocuo's pupils were shocked, "He's gone. Where did he go? You were down there just now, didn't you notice?"
"I was looking up and paying attention to your movements just now! Did you disappear at that time?"
"Where can I run to? In a coffin?"
The two walked to the vermilion coffin. Zhuo Cuo glanced at Zhang Ling. Zhang Ling pulled out a dagger from her trouser leg and held it tightly in her hand. She pointed the sharp blade at the coffin and nodded to Zhuo Cuo.
Zhuo Cuo took a deep breath and pushed open the coffin lid with both hands.
"empty!"
There was a sudden silence in the lobby.
Now the corpse of Lao Dao, who was most likely holding the key, has disappeared, and the two of them are suddenly in trouble. This situation is worse than the resurrection of Lao Dao's corpse.
The corpse was revived. No matter what, there was always a glimmer of hope. Now they had no hope at all.
Zhang Ling clenched her teeth tightly, the chill in her eyes became even worse, and she squeezed out one word, "Find!"
The two of them immediately walked out of the lobby and each took charge of a corridor to look for Lao Dao's body.
It's interesting to say that the two of them were afraid of Lao Dao's corpse before. Even when they were looking for the key in the lobby, they even avoided Lao Dao's eyes intentionally or unintentionally.
The reason why Lao Dao's corpse could disappear so quietly has a lot to do with this.
A monster that can eat people at any time is just sitting there obediently, but its existence puts great pressure on the two of them.
But now, they were extremely eager to see that terrifying face covered with corpses.
Zhuocuo was walking in the corridor, his mind in a state of confusion. He didn't know now that he would really find Lao Dao's body in a moment. Would he really rush to fight and find the key?
The key is with the old Taoist, it's just their guess, what if it doesn't exist? What should I do at that time? Even if the key is not in this Taoist temple at all, what should I do then?
Soon, Zhuocuo reached the end of the corridor and found nothing. He just smelled a strong smell of corpses in his nose, coming from the black coffin. When he came out in the morning, there was no smell. Now this What's going on?
Could it be related to the missing veteran?
Last night I hid in the closet and smelled this smell. Now that this smell is coming out during the day, does it mean that the prison guard in the coffin is about to get up?
Thinking of this, his heart trembled. He couldn't delay it any longer. It might not be safe during the day now.
He looked at the room where he hid last night, and suddenly found that there was an extra lock on the wooden door.
It's exactly the same as the lock here.
"Locked!"
Zhuo Cuo quickly raised his hand to push the door open, but his hand retracted as fast as lightning.
At this time, Zhang Ling also came out from the other side, looked at the black coffin fearfully, and then walked to Zhuo Cuo.
"Found something!"
"The room I hid in last night was locked!"
Zhang Ling opened her mouth and wanted to speak, but her throat felt dry.
"Is it the old man who locked it?"
"have no idea."
"What now?"
"Let's go back first."
The two returned to the lobby and turned the place upside down. Zhang Ling even wanted to pry up the green bricks on the ground.
But the green brick seemed unusual. She tried it a few times and then put it up.
"Let's go through our thoughts again. Our initial judgment that the key was in the lobby was just a guess, right? Now that we have eliminated this guess, where else might the key appear?"
Zhang Ling was talking when suddenly an idea flashed in Zhuo Cuo's mind, interrupting Zhang Ling's words, "Let me confirm, you were hung from the beam before, are you still conscious? No, I'm asking, are you still aware of what's going on in the lobby?" Any movement?"
Although Zhang Ling didn't know why Zhuo Cuo suddenly asked this, she still cooperated with him, "I was in a near-death state at the time, and my ability to perceive the outside world was still weak!"
"So, have you smelled the corpse odor that came out of the black coffin just now? Once a person smells that smell, he will never forget it!"
Speaking of this, Zhang Ling said categorically: "No, this was the first time I smelled that smell just now."
"This means that the prison guard in the black coffin did not enter here last night."
"Prison officer?"
"Well, the thing in the black coffin last night got up and walked along the corridor, just like the prison guard inspecting the cells, so I called him the prison guard."
"You mean" Zhang Ling already understood something at this point, "this Taoist temple is a prison cell, and the things in the black coffin are prison guards. I inspected the cell last night, and there was no reason to only inspect half of it. And the reason why it is The reason why I didn’t enter the lobby last night was because the old Taoist’s body was there. This obstruction makes no sense, which means that the old Taoist should not be the same as the things in the black coffin. In other words, the old Taoist entered this Taoist temple like us before he died. He is not the owner of this place at all."
Zhuo Cuo didn't think as deeply as Zhang Ling thought. What he wanted to say was only the first half of Zhang Ling's words, but after hearing what Zhang Ling said, he agreed.
"And now Lao Dao's body is missing, which means that tonight, the prison guard will enter this lobby, but there is nothing in this lobby. What will it do?"
"It will walk through the lobby, pick the lock on the wooden door, and go in for inspection!"
"good!"
The two of them changed their minds and no longer thought that the old Taoist wearing Taoist robes must be a Taoist priest in the Taoist temple. If the old Taoist is also an outsider, then of course he does not have the key. If he wants to open the door, he still has to fall into the dark. On the body of the coffin prisoner.
"In that case, where should we hide tonight? My room was locked last night!"
"Didn't you say that before? When you were in the closet, the prison guard didn't take action against you, and the wooden door blocked anything that knocked on the door at night. The wardrobe, wooden door, and black coffin are all made of the same material, which means that this kind of wood It can block the weirdness here, and have you noticed that our smells are somewhat similar?"
"smell?"
Zhuocuo smelled himself, "The smell of blood?"
"No, please smell it carefully."
Zhang Ling took the initiative to step forward. Seeing that she didn't care, Zhuo Cuo sniffed hard in front of her.
"The smell of rotten wood!"
"Yes, I woke up from this red coffin. Although this red coffin is covered with thick vermilion paint, it should be made of the same material as the black coffin, and this coffin should be next to the old Taoist body. The old Taoist entered this place and prepared a hiding place for himself!"
"Now that we have everything, we will hide in the red coffin tonight, wait for the prison guards to come in, open the door, and then we can go in at dawn."
"No, the prison guard will probably lock the door when he comes out again. We will follow the prison guard in tonight."
"Okay, it's up to you."
While the two were talking, there was some movement outside the Taoist temple. It was the sound of the wind blowing and the rustling of the woods.
The wind is gradually getting stronger.
"The wind has picked up, is it going to rain?"
At this time, the skylight was slowly dimming, and there was a scene of heavy rain coming.
Inside the Taoist temple, there was the sound of wind blowing through the cracks in the building, causing the white cloth in the lobby and the mummy hanging on it to sway from side to side.
And the whining sound of the wind turned into a strange cry without realizing it.
"Why is this wind sounding more and more like crying!"
Zhuocuo was disturbed by this sudden change.
"In a place like this, nothing is unexpected."
"The black coffin was already smelling like a corpse just now. I think the prison guard might be revived before midnight today. This is also happening now. To be on the safe side, I think we should hide in the coffin first! "
"good!"
The two of them walked to the coffin, and Zhuocuo suddenly felt a little embarrassed. The coffin was meant for one person to lie in. Now that two people were to enter, it must be very crowded. Since he and a woman were squeezed together, some parts of the coffin would inevitably come into contact.
Zhang Ling seemed to have read through Zhuo Cuo's thoughts, "Okay, what time is it now? I still have my mind to think about this."
She entered the coffin first, "Come in quickly!"
"oh!"
Zhuo Cuo put the coffin board on the ground on the coffin first, got in himself, and lay down with his head in the direction of Zhang Ling's feet. Then close the coffin lid little by little inside.
As the coffin lid closed tightly, the inside of the coffin became pitch black. It was also the first time that Zhuo Cuo knew that a woman's body was so soft.
"Hurry up and regain your strength now!"
Zhang Ling's voice came from the darkness.
"Um!"
Zhuo Cuo smelled the decaying smell in the coffin, but felt that the smell brought him an indescribable sense of security.
As the two of them entered the coffin, they heard the noise outside getting louder and louder, and 'crying' could be heard everywhere.
As a Tibetan, Zhuocuo didn't feel much, but Zhang Ling felt as if she was attending a funeral.
A funeral of his own, with a circle of people outside crying in front of him.
"Even if you are really crying, the people around you are not people!"
Zhang Ling forced herself to stop thinking and try to keep her mind as calm as possible.
I don't know how long it took, but suddenly the coffin lid shuddered with a "pop!", which made the two people inside tremble instantly.
Then the slapping sound continued.
"Here we go again. I knocked on the door last night and it was okay. Why are you taking photos of the coffin now!"
Zhuo Cuo guessed that the thing outside should be the same as the one who knocked on the door last night. It was definitely not midnight now. It was just as he had guessed. This thing would run out as soon as it gets dark.
The two of them let things outside hit the coffin. After a while, the sound disappeared. There was another long wait, and Zhuo Cuo couldn't help but feel sleepy.
This time is different from when I entered the Taoist temple. I haven't had a good rest in the past two days. I am always on tenterhooks and on alert at all times, which consumes a lot of my mind. Now I am finally in a relatively safe space. In addition, as time goes by, my eyelids become heavier and heavier.
Zhuocuo didn't know whether he was asleep or not. He seemed to be in a state of half-asleep and half-awake. In his daze, there seemed to be footsteps coming.
Getting closer and closer, until suddenly there was the sound of nails scratching on the coffin lid, and Zhuo Cuo woke up with a start.
"Coming? No, there's no corpse smell!"
Zhuo Cuo was wondering when he suddenly felt something outside start to push the coffin lid open, trying to push it away.
"not good!"
Zhuocuo reacted suddenly and heard the coffin lid sliding, and a cool breeze blew in through the opening.
He quickly pressed his hand against the board. Zhang Ling also reacted and raised her hand to stop the coffin lid from being pushed open.
The gap that appeared was on Zhuocuo's side. Through the gap, he saw a human face emerging from the darkness outside. The moment the face appeared, a golden light suddenly emitted from the coffin. The source of the golden light was temporarily contained in Zhang Ling's arms. The ribbon that came up.
As the golden light emitted, Zhuo Cuo also saw clearly that the face in front of him was not the old Taoist who suddenly disappeared after searching for a long time.
The veteran's face covered with corpse spots was cold and stiff, as if he wanted to drive them out because they had occupied his position.
"Why can't this coffin stop this old man!"
Zhuo Cuo shouted in his heart. Because they were inside, they couldn't exert any strength and could not stop the old Tao's movements. They saw the gap in front of them getting wider and wider, and the old Tao also leaned down, as if he wanted to stick his head in.
At this time, Zhang Ling suddenly retracted her hand, took out the ribbon in her arms, and pressed it towards the coffin board.
As expected, this press had an effect. Zhuo Cuo felt the force on the board suddenly loosen, and then he took this opportunity to rub the board back with all his strength. Zhang Ling also unfolded the ribbon and handed it to Zhuo Cuo. The ribbons they unfolded were pressed against the coffin board.
Then I heard footsteps circling the coffin outside. It must be that the old corpse had nothing to do with the ribbon and was unwilling to leave.
After walking around for several times, suddenly a strong smell of corpses came over. This smell had appeared, and the lingering footsteps outside immediately disappeared, replaced by the distinctive heavy footsteps of the prison guards.
"Now the real owner has arrived!"
Zhuocuo didn't dare to relax yet, knowing that now was the critical moment.
The footsteps walked all the way to the coffin, and he walked straight over without stopping, and then heard a crisp sound of metal colliding.
After hearing this voice, both of them felt happy, knowing that they had made the right bet, and the key was indeed with the prison guard.
The two waited for a while, and Zhang Ling pushed Zhuo Cuo with her knee to give him a signal. Zhuo Cuo no longer hesitated, raised his hand and opened the coffin lid. The man jumped out, glanced left and right, and found the lobby. There was no change in the room. After Zhang Ling came out, the two of them hurried to the small courtyard at the back and saw that the wooden door had indeed been opened, revealing a dark green brick road behind.
"Walk!"
The two of them had no choice at this time. Whether they lived or died depended on whether there was a way out from behind!
After entering the wooden door, they found that there was a dense darkness in front of them. The light of the tactical flashlight in Zhuocuo's hand was also swallowed by this darkness. Except for the blue brick road under his feet and the three feet in front of him, nothing else None can be seen.
They took a few steps forward and found that there was still nothing around them. It was like a void, with nothing but darkness.
"Something's wrong, we can't leave anymore!"
Zhang Ling stopped immediately and said.
Entering the darkness, there is no direction. Once you have gone too far, it is probably a luxury to return the same way.
At this moment, the ribbon in Zhang Ling's hand emitted golden light again, but this time the golden light was very dim.
"Did the old Taoist corpse also come in?"
After the encounter just now, the two of them concluded that the ribbon could restrain the corpse of the old man to a certain extent, and the glowing light meant that the corpse of the old man should appear nearby.
Soon, the two of them saw a green candle light not far away on the left. Under the candle light, they reflected the corpse of the old man holding a black candle, heading towards the depths of darkness.
Although they were not very far apart, the darkness seemed to be able to block the perception of Lao Dao's corpse from them. They saw that it disappeared into the depths of darkness without even looking here.
"That candle looks familiar!"
"It's the candle on the altar in front of the statue!"
Zhang Ling recognized it immediately. She was hiding behind the statue and looked at the candle a few more times. She was still thinking about how there were black candles, so she was very impressed.
"I understand, to get out of this darkness, you must get a candle for lighting! Go back and get the candle!"
The two blocked it and returned immediately. Fortunately, they didn't go far and quickly walked out of the wooden door.
Now that the old corpse and the black coffin prison guard are gone, this is the best opportunity.
The two of them ran forward quickly. When they entered the corridor, they saw the beam of light from the flashlight flash, and a black figure flew towards the two of them.
Zhuo Cuo was walking at the front. When he saw this, he punched the black figure. Who knew that his fist actually passed through and hit nothing.
The black figure ignored Zhuo Cuo and headed directly towards Zhang Ling behind him.
Zhang Ling stabbed forward with the dagger in her hand, but it still had no effect, and the black shadow went straight towards Zhang Ling's abdomen.
Zhang Ling was shocked. This black shadow was trying to take her womb and be reincarnated. Zhang Ling shuddered at the thought of a ghost baby being born in her belly.
At this time, the ribbon on her left hand also glowed golden, but the golden light came too slowly, and the black shadow had already penetrated, and Zhang Ling suddenly felt a chill and cramping pain in her lower abdomen.
A fierce look appeared in her eyes. With a turn of her wrist, the dagger was inserted into her stomach, and then she pulled hard. Then she wrapped a ribbon around her left hand and went deep into the wound. A baby's scream came from her stomach. , then Zhang Ling felt something caught in her hand, and then she pulled it out fiercely. A gray-white baby was pulled out, and a section of her intestines came out at the same time.
When Zhuo Cuo saw this scene, he took a deep breath and thought that this woman was really a cruel person. She was like this to herself as well as to her enemies.
Zhang Ling's face turned pale as she cut off that section of intestine, and then quickly wrapped the baby with a ribbon with both hands.
The baby kept screaming in the ribbon, and after a while, it turned into a burst of black smoke and disappeared.
As it dissipated, Zhang Ling also received the sequence kill prompt, and at the same time, a warm current came from her body.
At this time, Zhuocuo had already pulled off the vest he was wearing, which was not as dirty as his coat, and immediately tied it to Zhang Ling's wound.
Zhang Ling still wanted to hold on, but as soon as she moved, her whole body went weak, and she was about to fall over, but Zhuo Cuo held her up.
"Come on! Get the candle!"
Zhuocuo supported Zhang Ling and walked all the way towards the main hall.