Free Web NovelChapter 626: Chapter 596 Offering_1
"Snap!"
Mr. Zhao’s second slap hit Mr. Liu’s back, this time with much more force, as he glared with widened eyes.
"What in the world are you babbling about? Among us here, if not doctors, then police officers, forensic doctors, trace examiners, and scientific researchers and now you’re suggesting grave robbers? Like that Nine Dragons funeral procession? Cut down on those wild novels, will you? What are you even linking together, indulging in your fantasies non-stop, right? Chen Cheng, keep an eye on him. This kid is scared out of his wits, I’ll go inside with Zhou Xiaozhou."
As he spoke, Mr. Zhao took a military shovel from Chen Cheng, handed one to Zhou Ning, and the two cleared the loose stones at the cave entrance.
Just a few strikes down, they felt the stone wall that looked smooth and hard on the surface was actually quite loose inside, crumbling in large chunks upon touch, just like tofu.
Clearly, the spring water they had initially observed was causing significant damage here.
After making a passage, Zhou Ning was the first one to jump down into the breach, followed by a descent into the cave, where he immediately embraced a trembling Xia Momo and quickly tried to calm her.
"Don’t be scared, I’m here now."
Suddenly, Mr. Zhao, Zhu Xingxing, and Chen Cheng also leaped down, and of course, Mr. Liu didn’t move. Chen Cheng very bravely joined this time, which Mr. Zhao found surprising. But before he could say anything, shouts from the guide outside continued.
"Can’t you give some sign of life here? What’s going on inside, is everything okay?"
Standing at the damaged section, Mr. Zhao waved his hand towards Mr. Liu despite the fact that he could no longer see him, saying:
"Relax, we won’t die. We’re going in to have a look, if we’re not out in an hour, just call the police."
"No, no, no..."
Mr. Zhao ignored Mr. Liu’s cries and reached into his pocket to pull out a ring-shaped LED light similar to the one Zhou Ning had been using. Despite looking no larger than a fist, it was incredibly powerful when it came to illumination, able to light up an entire underground parking lot with its small size.
Turning on the light, everyone looked towards the interior of the cave.
The entrance was quite low, while the cave itself was an incline, but the slope was reasonably gentle, perhaps explaining why the spring water hadn’t been able to enter.
After a quick scan that didn’t reveal anything special, Mr. Zhao was confused.
"Mr. Xia, what did you see? I don’t see anything. Maybe next time we go out, we should carry a donkey’s hoof? Hahaha, Zhou Xiaozhou loves reading about tomb raiding, oh, and also about those ghostly tales, right?"
Xia Momo kicked Mr. Zhao’s leg, resisting the discussion of such topics, especially having been frightened just moments ago.
"Stop talking nonsense. Don’t you know your words have a way of coming true? Just now, Yufei and I were standing here, and when we turned around with the high-powered flashlight, we looked up slightly at the cave ceiling, and saw things hanging down inside, like cocoons."
Mr. Zhao shuddered, his feet planted firmly as he lifted the LED light and aimed it at the cave ceiling ahead.
As the light brightened and everyone’s gaze shifted upward, the things on the ceiling became visible, indeed appearing like cocoons hanging there, especially where the ceiling suddenly rose, three to four meters above the floor.
Zhou Ning took a few steps forward, with Xia Momo clinging to his arm, still shivering.
Upon closer inspection, these cocoons were quite large, each about fifty centimeters in diameter, shaped like elongated eggs, somewhat narrower on top and thicker at the bottom. The ’threads’ suspending these egg-like shapes were not at all fine, as thick as a child’s arm.
On the ’threads’ and the eggs themselves, dust had settled, barely revealing that they were actually white in color, which led Xia Momo to compare them to silk cocoons.
Mr. Zhao, holding a cane, stepped underneath one of the egg objects, raised it, and poked it. With a ’poof’, it punctured, causing Mr. Zhao to shudder, quickly tossing the cane aside and taking several swift steps back.
Papping his chest and recalling how it felt to poke the object, Mr. Zhao shivered.
"What is this thing? It felt like poking through a drumhead when I touched it, the surface seems brittle, and there seems to be something inside. I mean, Zhou Xiaozhou, this isn’t some kind of supernatural event, right?"
Mr. Zhao turned pale, and Zhou Ning didn’t tease him but shook his head urgently.
"From what I understand, in this region of Ganzhou, with its vast territory and various ethnic minorities, these things clearly have been here for many years. Not to mention, the wall built up at the cave entrance has trees growing out of it with diameters of twenty centimeters, suggesting this place must be at least several decades old.
Contact the local police, will you? Whatever this turns out to be, archaeological or otherwise, we definitely need to report it to them and they’ll have to send someone to take over. Let’s walk a bit further inside; it seems even larger in there."
Mr. Zhao nodded and warned Zhu Xingxing:
"Stay put with Mrs. Fei and Mr. Xia, don’t be in such a rush to go gawking. You know curiosity killed the cat, right?"
"Cut the crap and make the call." freewebnσvel.cøm
Mr. Zhao scurried out quickly, and their voices could be heard echoing back to Mr. Liu outside, a mix of excitement and relief, as standing watch alone on a big mountain was indeed scary.
By that time, Chen Cheng had picked up the high-powered flashlight Xia Momo had dropped. Its beam could reach much farther than the LED light Zhou Ning was holding, and even on a scatter setting, it resembled a spotlight, illuminating a small area in the distance.
Zhou Ning kept climbing upward for a distance and was now standing directly below the cocoons. Mr. Zhao’s cane lay on the ground. The terrain here was higher than at the entrance, and one could feel the cocoons above swaying with every gust of wind.
"There’s a breeze, so this opening doesn’t seem to be the sole exit."
Chen Cheng also walked over, lifting a lighter, and igniting it. Indeed, the flame flickered in the direction of the cave entrance. Liu Yufei had also gotten past her initial period of fear—after all, the claustrophobic environment, paired with a person more terrified than herself, only amplified her own dread exponentially.
"There really is a draft. Is this a naturally formed cave, then?"
Zhou Ning looked up, observing the surroundings, then noticed a couple of small holes in the depths of the cave floor.
"The entrance and the top might be naturally formed, but it seems there has been some artificial excavation and cleaning inside. Look at the round stone disks on the ground, like plates with curled edges, perfectly aligned with the cocoons above.
It’s just that I can’t tell what’s inside these cocoons. I haven’t discerned any pattern in the way they’re hung, not the Big Dipper nor any Bagua diagrams. It seems quite haphazard, and moreover... the cocoons are of varying sizes.
Look at those two small holes over there; I think the breeze is coming from that direction. Standing here, I can feel a stronger draft. We’re going to have to wait for the locals to come, which will take time. How about the three of you wait at the exit while Chen Cheng and I go take a look?"
Chen Cheng wore an expression of refusal, and just as Liu Yufei stepped forward, he bravely blocked her.
"Your husband’s here; how could I let you go? Just protect the two of them, we’ll have a look and come straight back."
"You two be careful," she said.
Without wasting words, Zhou Ning and Chen Cheng quickly headed towards the two inner holes, with Chen Cheng following behind, swallowing nervously.
"I never imagined that a trip out could turn into such an adventure. We’ve started opening up tourist sites on our own. Director Zhou, do you think this place could be some sort of sacrificial site for the gods worshipped by ethnic minorities?
Before I came here, I thoroughly researched Ganzhou City’s natural and cultural attractions. Among them was the Matisi Thirty-Three Sky Caves, not far from here. I guess it’s part of this same mountain range.
I watched a video about it, and it was absolutely stunning. The topmost part is the Salvation of Buddha Mother Cave, enshrined with the Green Tara Buddha statue. It’s that one with a green face, which looks quite exaggerated; I can’t explain it very well."
Zhou Ning didn’t reply, and Chen Cheng kept talking.
Actually, he wasn’t particularly talkative, but at this moment, such behavior indicated his nervousness—and it was intense. Naturally, Zhou Ning wouldn’t call him out on it.
As they talked, the two had reached the small holes, and upon closer inspection, they found a different world inside, especially the one on the left—vast inside.
Zhou Ning held his breath and tiptoed in, looking around carefully.
After all, the difference between the inside and the outside was immense. One might say it was as if heaven itself had crafted it. The cave walls all around were carved with Buddha statues and through-the-top murals, each vividly lifelike, with incredibly brilliant colors, and heavy ink—a stark contrast to the Buddhas from the Central Plains.
To the right stood a Buddha statue draped in a red cloak, which was now tattered and worn.
And to the left, opposing the standing Buddha statue, was a green-faced Buddha statue. Remembering the Thirty-Three Skies Grottoes Chen Cheng had mentioned earlier, Zhou Ning turned sharply back at him.
"Doctor Chen, you searched for photos and videos. Does this resemble what you saw of the Thirty-Three Skies Grottoes?"
Chen Cheng nodded.
"My phone is in the car; I downloaded some pictures, but I can’t compare them right now. What about Mr. Zhao? He has a camera on him, doesn’t he? Let’s take pictures now and compare them later. None of us are believers in this stuff, but regardless of that, the colors do look similar—those emerald green faces."
As he was talking, Mr. Zhao squeezed his way in and flashed a toothy smile, illuminated eerily by the LED light.
Chen Cheng clutched his chest, lifting his leg as if to kick him.
"You little rascal, you nearly scared me to death; my heart rate must be at 150 right now."
"Look at you, so faint-hearted. Alright, quit being scared. I’ve gotten in touch with the Ganzhou City Public Security Bureau, disclosed our identities, and informed them that this might be an ancient site. They’ve asked for our location and said they could be here in about an hour and a half. I didn’t notice just now, but what’s with the greenish tinge on the face?"
Chen Cheng gave Mr. Zhao a disdainful look and quickly went through the explanation again, while Mr. Zhao caught on.
"So you mean to say, there’s a statue of Green Tara hidden here. It doesn’t seem too ancient, at least this cloak is made of red velvet, which you can tell is a modern fabric. This material was considered very fashionable in the ’70s and ’80s—much more luxurious than ordinary red silk at first glance. Okay, let’s go check out the neighboring cave quickly."
The two stepped out but found that Zhou Ning hadn’t moved. Mr. Zhao looked puzzled.
"What’s wrong, Zhou Xiaozhou? I’ve already taken the pictures. Are you still researching this thing?"
Zhou Ning didn’t turn around but merely held up a hand and gestured with his fingers.
"Come here, take photographs of this spot. Do you have a bag on you? These need to be sampled."
Mr. Zhao’s eyes bulged as he hurried over. When he got close, he saw several offerings laid out below the Green Tara statue—dark stuff filled four tall porcelain bowls, unclear what it was. However, as he drew nearer, Mr. Zhao caught a faint stench, making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Fuck, what is this stuff being offered? Is that the smell of a corpse?"
