C17

I squinted.

Pupae hung upside down, one end tied with a rope, the other all pulled into a corner, each with a thread attached to it, sloping up to the invisible end that led to the black. Some of the pupa shells scattered on the ground had already been shattered into two.

We made sure there was no danger for the time being, and why we went to that dark corner. The corner was covered again with the black material, including the other end of the rope, which was caught in the mouth of a black animal of the same material.

The animal was carved very meticulously. Three eyes on the head, a total of eight unrestrained beards, four claws on the ground, one claw in the air, carrying fire, the entire sculpture's dragon and phoenix dance. His mouth was open and two pairs of canine teeth were biting something. The ropes were tied to that thing.

"This is going to be interesting." What is the meaning of this, "Have you ever seen this animal before? "I don't remember." "No." I shook my head.

"This is interesting," he murmured. "What are these shells wrapped in? "If this line breaks …" He rubbed his chin.

"These shells are all made of wood," I said. "What was inside? A butterfly? When the time comes, we will fly away? " I'm kidding.

I was thinking the same thing when he didn't answer me. Something wooden that can be hung upside down.

"Puppet?" I was stunned for a moment.

"What do you mean by suddenly turning around?" Huang Xiaolong's eyes lit up as he flipped his bag open and said, "Let me see if there's a blade." "I don't need a knife." When I was thinking, I had a look around

Each rope was tied separately to the animal's mouth, and the distance between each rope was not small. In the middle of each rope hung a ball, two of them sucked together, the one on the far right drooped, dragging a long length to the ground — that was all I could see on the surface.

I walked over and pulled on the rope with one hand, letting him dodge towards me. Then, I reached out my hand and pulled --

Boom!" The wooden shell exploded and split in half before falling to the ground like a peanut shell that had been peeled off.

With a thump, the object inside the dust from the wooden shell shook a little.

"Damn," I thought, "it really is this thing."

It was a puppet, with the same weird mouth as we had seen before.

The puppet began to move. It moved along the tracks it had hidden before and slowly walked past them.

"..." "Well," I said, "this is getting yourself into trouble." "I smirked." How do we get out? " "This road is for puppets, not for humans."

"Who do you think built this?" "Craftsmen."

"Let's keep searching," I assured him. "Wei Yuting is outside, at most, we'll have to trouble her …"

Why was there a frown on his face? My mood wasn't any better.

"Actually," I said, "there's one thing I'm more interested in." "What?" What is the Dao?

"Do you think we can get out by hanging on top of that?"

"Are you crazy?" What do you mean by surprised?

"I just touched that shell," I said. If the puppet was hollow, it wouldn't be able to support itself — gravity would make it fall. It should be solid. So far, there have been fewer puppets here. Let's go up one by one, and we should be able to support ourselves. "

I looked at the line. The puppets didn't hang very high. With my height and what it means to be two people, just a little jump is enough.

"I should be heavier than you. I'll go up and try. If not, then I'll just fall down. Anyway, this height won't kill you." I said.

It was true that his arm was painful from being cut open, but it was also true that he could not use too much strength. He could only grit his teeth and fight with all his might.

"Then I'll take the rope and tie the duffel bag to the rope and pull it up."

"I'll go first." "You shouldn't be that much heavier than me."

"Alright."

I untied my end of the rope and hung a tassel so that I could "try it out."

What do you mean? I'm not as tall as you, but my jumping ability is good. Squatting and jumping, his hands gripped the rope tightly like a pair of bars. The rope shook violently a few times, but it was still as strong as before.

I was relieved. It was a good start.

He put his foot on the wall and used his hands as a point of force to push himself up. The unknown black material helped increase the friction. I heard him go up almost one step at a time.

His body was on the wall in an "L" shape. I thought he was going to walk across the bar as I had intended, but instead he jumped and was wrapped in rope. It was like a koala hugging a tree.

He let out a long breath, and I watched from below, worried and wanting to laugh.

"Not bad," he said. "I can feel it. The rope is very strong, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to come up later." He paused for a moment and asked while climbing up, "Are you fat?"

"Fuck you," I joked. "I ate pretty much the same in the past few days, so you'll definitely be even fatter if I get fat."

"The basis is different," he said. "Mathematics is obvious from a glance …" His movements were extremely fast. He was about to reach the top when he suddenly stopped, swaying slightly like a corpse hanging from a tree branch.

"What's wrong? He was almost there! Do you have no more strength? " I shouted.

After pausing for another second, he heard the words, "Nothing." His voice was very strange, as if he was trying to hold back something.

Just as I was worrying, I saw his two legs firmly coiled around the rope, slowly moving towards the finish line.

"We're here." His voice came from the top, so dark I couldn't see his face. His voice seemed to carry an echo, sounding extremely strange.

"Just put the rope down and I'll tie the luggage to it."

After a while, nothing happened. Only dead silence answered me.

"What is it?" I asked tentatively.

"What is it? What is this? "What do you mean!?" I sensed something was wrong and shouted.

Before I could move, a rope had been lowered, and I carried the two bags directly beneath the Cave. He raised his head to look …

That weird smiling face looked at me. The entire puppet stretched out its body. What do you mean by that it is hanging upside down above the puppet?!

the form, looking at me expressionlessly.

My head exploded.

What the hell?!

"Wait," I panicked for a moment, and started to react, "What do you mean by appearing with the puppet at the same time? The puppet's body cannot bend, and it is impossible for anyone to turn it in a circle and put it down. That's what happened again. " What do you mean, 'puppet' is exchanged with 'puppet' in my eyes!

I felt a wave of terror rush through me, but luckily there was a rope. Otherwise, I don't know which direction I would be heading in.

I broke out in a cold sweat. He took a few steps back. He could not see the two 'exchange' figures, so he slightly heaved a sigh of relief.

I slowed down, walked over, tied my bag to the rope, and pulled it down.

There was a "Hah!" from above and the rope slowly moved upwards.

I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to where I had just climbed. The rope was still shaking, making me feel a little scared.

She had to go up while gritting her teeth, no? My arm ached as I consoled myself.

What the f * ck!" I dropped one hand and felt a tearing pain in my shoulder and arm, the faint blood from the gaping wound.

I tried my best to resist the pain and raised both of my hands up in the air. Then, I used all of my strength to firmly hold onto the rope. "Damn!" The wound hurt and his fingers went numb. He grabbed one hand and held the other hand there.

Suspend my whole body with one good hand? Impossible!

I almost reflexively retracted my hand, "Hiss …" "Look down, there's another patch of red on the gauze." Don't move, "said the voice." Wait a minute, I'll put down the rope and after a bit longer, you can tie the rope around your waist. I've seen it before. This place is a place for hanging ropes, and there's something similar to a stone grinder. If I pull it again, nothing bad will happen. "

Perhaps it was due to the fact that neither the puppet nor the reason why it hadn't appeared in front of me that my voice wasn't interrupted but instead, steadily transmitted into my ears.

"Alright." I said.

I walked over again, and this time I didn't look up. A moment later, a slender black shadow appeared before my eyes.

The rope jiggled a few times, and I held the rope in one hand, feeling a little awkward.

After all, it was no different from the method he used to tie up his luggage. But now, his left arm was numb, and he couldn't even lift his fingers, let alone tie them together.

What's even more frightening is that if I don't die and fall down halfway, then I really don't have to think about anything else.

I thought about it, and then I began to explain. His brain reacted a little faster than mine, so he said, "You can tie the knot however you want, pull the rope up before talking. You don't need to tie it anymore, just use the long enough one."

I carried the rope up, and a moment later I heard him say, "All right."

The rope was lowered. This time, it fell to the ground, revealing a large section of it.

I took a deep breath and wrapped the extra rope around my waist. It looked a little like a turtle's shell around my waist. Not only my stomach, but my chest and limbs were also bound.

Most of the time, I used one hand and two legs to push against the wall, which meant that the "stone grinder" held me in place to reduce the danger. He used all his strength to pull me up.

I pushed up with my feet, so that there was a big angle between the rope and the wall.

"At least put in some effort!" As I neared the end, I heard the sound of grinding teeth.

I chuckled, not wanting to speak.

"It's so damn heavy," he said. "Really... "Hai." He sat on the ground, panting.

"Don't, look." I said, "Really... "Ah …" "What are you sighing for," he complained, "you are not light at all."

"It wouldn't be so light as to let you pull it," I said.

I looked at it and still felt speechless. "Although I've watched it so many times, I'm still not used to it." She was facing a weird smiling face, which sounded even more terrifying.

I didn't look at what it was and the puppet. I'm panicking now, no matter who's face I see.

"This place should be accessible from all directions," he said, "and its height should not be low, so we are sure to be able to get out."

I nodded, then remembered that he couldn't see it, and said yes again.

I lay down for a while, waiting for the physical and mental fatigue to wear off, and then I pushed myself up on my arms.

Why did you help me change the gauze again? His face was even paler than mine, and that was why he had been taking turns to wear out his strength. I think again now of the sudden silence of his piece, presumably because of the upside-down puppet.

"This technique is really amazing." I looked up, not looking at the puppet or what it was, only hearing him exclaim, "I don't know how I did it, even if it was hanging upside down or if I could push the puppet up. "It also has a hallucinogenic effect." Do you remember the crazy compass and the order of the grass before we came in? I think it's a matter of magnetism. "

"It should be more than that," said one of them. "If it's that powerful, it should be able to affect the environment around this mountain." After saying that, both of us fell silent for a moment. I stood up and looked at the stone platform.

What was the meaning of the statement? That thing was similar to a stone grinder. However, to be honest, it was more like a stone board than a stone grinder. The top was thick and thin, and the place where the rope was tied was at the bottom, not the middle. On it was carved the face of a puppet.

I looked down at the rope.

The puppet was hanging upside down, but the rope was not. It was very thick and very hard. It was as thick as my fist and covered in red, the color of a hand.

When I stood up, the puppet didn't move. It just stayed there. After discussing with me for a while, I prepared to continue walking inside.