Chapter Fifty-Three is a madman

  It's really cold!

  When I got up in the morning, I found it was snowing lightly outside the window.

  "Lao Yu, why don't you take a rest today?" Jin Gang Pao lay there and didn't want to get up.

  "The longer we wait, the colder it gets. This is just a light snowfall; if it were a heavy snow that blocked off the mountain, we'd be done for." I threw off the covers and got dressed.

  "Then I'll sleep a bit more, it's only six o'clock, what are you doing getting up so early?" Jin Gang cannon was lazy in bed.

  "Ah~" I suddenly remembered that our current schedule is no longer so regular, from the time in the army when we had to get up at 6 o'clock every day, so now it's already 6 o'clock and I naturally woke up.

  I lay on the bed with my upper body propped up, smoking a cigarette, and my thoughts drifted back to the troops far away.

  "Old cow, you sleep a bit longer, I heard the mutton soup here is not bad, I'll go down and eat something first." I extinguished the cigarette and put on my pants.

  "Wait for me, I'm going too." Hearing that there's something delicious, Jin Gang Pao also woke up and quickly got up.

  "Old cow, soon we'll have to part ways." The mutton soup was indeed good, three yuan for a large bowl, with big pieces of mutton and blood, served in a piping hot broth, just right for warming up on a cold day.

  "What's wrong? Boss, add some soup." King Kong Cannon was sweating profusely on his forehead.

  "I'm going to buy a hand-cranked simple generator, otherwise our phones won't last for a few more days. You go buy some incense paper money and stuff, and also help me buy a yellow big coat."

  "Why buy incense and blankets, we already have enough heavy stuff." We each had a large mountaineering backpack, Jincheng mainly carried equipment and tools, while I carried supplies and medicine.

  "Ghosts and whatnot, we can come softly or not at all, after all it's someone else's territory. I originally wanted to buy a Taoist robe, but I guess they don't have any here, buying a yellow greatcoat is key to scaring off ghosts at critical moments."

  "Go on, boss, have another bowl!"

  At noon, Jin Gang Cannon finally came back.

  "Let's go, while there is still sunshine." Jin Gang cannon threw me a package of things and put on the backpack.

  "Too few incense sticks, damn it! Is this paper money?" The firecracker bought paper money similar in size to RMB, and on it was actually printed "Underworld Bank", with a denomination of several hundred million.

  "There's nothing else. Just make do with it." Jin Gang Cannon tightened his backpack.

  "Is this the yellow coat you bought for me?" I shook out the coat that Jin Gang had bought for me, and almost choked to death - this guy had actually bought a funeral suit for me!

  "It's fine as long as it's a bit bigger overall." Jin Gang Pao had an innocent face.

  "My god, if I wear this, it won't be scaring ghosts but scaring people instead." I threw the yellow mourning dress onto the bed and slung my backpack over my shoulder "Let's go!"

  "Are you two going mountain climbing? Do you need a guide?" The hotel owner became enthusiastic after saying "no need to look anymore" in Jinggangshan.

  "No need, thank you." To be honest, we really did need a guide, but the places we went to were not where ordinary guides dared to go.

  "Only twenty yuan, very cheap, from here to Huai Shu Gou just ten yuan." The hotel owner strongly recommended.

  "Come on, where's the person? Let's take a look." Jin Gang threw over a 10-yuan note. Turning around, "Old Yu, with 10 yuan, wherever you can get to is fine. If not, we'll let them come back."

  I nodded, it's good to have someone familiar with the environment lead the way in an unfamiliar place.

  "Hei Fēngzi, stop loafing around, go out and get some work done!" The boss yelled from inside the room.

  In an instant, a person came out from the inner room. He was short and thin, wearing a worn-out cotton-padded jacket with the filling exposed, his hair was dirty and messy, covering half of his face, and the other half that was visible was indeed very dark. "Uncle, give me some money today?" His voice sounded like he wasn't very old.

  "Three bucks, here you go." The inn owner said, handing him a few one-yuan bills. "Just take these two guests to Huai Tree Gorge and that's it."

  "You're really cruel, bullying people like that." Jin Gang Paohad no qualms about scolding him because his two older brothers were both thugs, so he was very sympathetic to people with intellectual disabilities.

  "Brother, you don't know, he's a vagrant. If I didn't take pity on him and let him work here, he would have starved to death long ago." The inn owner muttered in defense.

  "Come on, little brother." I said to "Hei Fēngzi" who was standing stupidly beside me.

  Hei Fengzi didn't respond and turned around to leave. I pulled Jin Gang Pao, who was about to argue with the hotel owner, and followed him.

  In the afternoon, it started to get windy.

  Hei Fengzi didn't walk fast, and I followed him easily with Jin Gang Pao. The happiest one was Bai Lang, who returned to the mountains and wilds, excitedly barking and calling out, turned around in a circle and came back, with a big fat wild rabbit already in his mouth.

  Jin Gang saw the rabbit in Bai Lang's mouth and shouted "Dinner is settled!" He went up to try to snatch it from Bai Lang's mouth, but Bai Lang hadn't eaten bloody food for a long time and wasn't willing to let go. The two of them were tangled together, one person and one dog, struggling and biting each other.

  "Little brother, what's your name?" I quickened my pace and caught up with the black-haired boy in front of me.

  "I don't remember, people just call me Hei Fēngzi." Looks like Hei Fēngzi is indeed a madman.

  "Are you cold? Here, take this." I found that Hei Feng Zi's body was actually trembling when he spoke to me. So I took off my scarf and put it around his neck.

  Hei Fengzi didn't say anything either and quickened his pace as he walked forward.

  "Haha, old man, you've got six or seven catties, and with your dog following us, our food is guaranteed." Jin Gang pao excitedly ran over, dragging a still twitching wild rabbit by the ears, followed by a wronged white wolf, which barked at Jin Gang pao in discontent.

  "You're really shameless, competing with my dog for food." I scolded with a smile, snatching the rabbit from Jin Gang Pao's hand and throwing it to Bai Lang. Bai Lang quickly picked it up in his mouth, glanced at Jin Gang Pao, and ran away swiftly.

  "What's for dinner tonight? I don't want to eat instant noodles... Old Yu, look!" The shouting Jin Gang Pao suddenly stopped, pointing at the black madman walking in front.

  "I saw it a long time ago, how pitiful." The black-haired girl walking in front of him was now facing the afternoon sun, and the main aura on top of her head turned out to be Kun aura, which means that the black-haired girl was actually a female.

  "It's a pity for a woman to work like this. We'll arrive soon, let's give her some more money." Jin Gang Pao still had sympathy.

  I nodded, a madwoman's fate is bound to be miserable, giving her some money can't change her fate, but it's better than nothing.

  Following the black madman to climb over a mountain ridge, in front of us is a small stream. The black madman led us to bypass from the upstream narrow place, and a bare pagoda tree forest appeared before our eyes.

  "Old Cow, that black air is just ahead, let her go back." I pinched the key and looked at it, then turned my head to say to Jin Gang Cannon.

  Jin Gangpa quickly caught up with Hei Fengzi, who was still walking ahead, and took out a few 100-yuan bills. "Go back, it's okay to come here."

  He glanced at the banknotes in Jin Gang's hand and then turned around to look at me. He didn't take the money from Jin Gang, but instead turned around and left.

  "Lao Yu, look at their professional ethics, and they don't even want a tip." Jin Gang exclaimed sincerely.

  "Let's go and see what lies ahead."

  The sun has almost set, and in winter it gets dark especially early.

  "Lao Yu, why don't we rest here for a while and continue on our way when the sky brightens up tomorrow?" suggested Jin Gang Pao.

  "Hmm, the pagoda tree is a ghostly wood, and among all trees, it has the heaviest yin energy. You'd be in greater danger if you rest here at night." I half-jokingly scared him.

  "That's right, there isn't even a place to take shelter from the wind here, let's go!" Jin Gang Pao said as he led the way, rushing towards the woods.

  Through the dense pagoda forest, the sky was completely dark. A deep and bottomless mountain stream appeared before our eyes. Jin Gang picked up a stone and threw it down. Half a day later, we faintly heard the echo, which even came with the sound of water.

  "It's really deep, let's see if we can get around it." Jin Gang Pao said as he walked upwards.

  I followed up afterwards, and just now I took a closer look at the trick. The thick black air was indeed emanating from the bottom of the mountain stream. It's best to take a detour if possible, rather than trying to force your way through.

  Two hours later we returned to our starting point, the mountain stream above was wider and the terrain even more precipitous, so we had no choice but to turn back.

  "Come on, day and night are no different for us." I threw the dry gun to Jin Gang Pao, held the floating dust in my hand and walked down to the mountain stream, Bai Lang followed closely behind me.

  "Maybe we're just overthinking, this place isn't far from the small town outside, if there really was something strange going on, people outside wouldn't possibly not know." Jin Gang muttered as he followed along.

  "Heh heh, don't comfort yourself like that. Why did they only send us to Huai Tree Gorge and not go any further?" I'm not as optimistic as him.

  I and Jin Gang Cannon groped our way down to the bottom of the ravine, and indeed there was water! The intense black soul energy was coming from the dead pond in front of us that emitted a blue glow.

  "Lao Yu, there must be something in this water!" Jin Gang cannon pointed at the soulful and dense water surface in front of him.

  "Niu Zhenren, you're too formidable, to have even noticed this." I lit a cigarette and teased him. Let alone the two of us who understand Taoist principles, even ordinary people who don't know anything about Taoism would feel a chill down their spine when they see this dead water shrouded in black air.

  "Let's just wait till dawn, it'll be better once the sun comes out." Jin Gang also lit a cigarette.

  "Do you think the sun can shine here?" I pointed to the top of my head for him to see. This mountain stream is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, in a figure-eight shape, and this dead water pond is located below the lower stroke of the eight, where the sun cannot reach.

  "What's to be done?" Jin Gang Pao puffed heavily on his cigarette a few times.

  "The location is correct, the dark abyss on the road sign should be referring to this dead pond. The lack of sunlight here can also be explained." I analyzed.

  "This can also be called a deep pool?" Jin Gang pointed at the narrow pond in front of us.

  "After so many years, the terrain can't have remained unchanged, and besides, the water level varies throughout the year. I chose to enter the mountain in winter because I thought that snakes, insects, rats, and other animals would be fewer, making it relatively safer. Moreover, all animals have finished breeding in winter, so we don't need to worry about hunting them, otherwise, catching a rabbit and finding out it's pregnant with a belly full of cubs would be heartbreaking. Unexpectedly, the rain is scarce in winter, so the surface of this stagnant pond should also be at its narrowest point throughout the year."

  "If it weren't for me and your dog, you should be able to cross over with one move of your Wind Movement Technique." Jin Gang Cannon gazed out at the water surface in front of him, which was about 100 meters long and seven zhang wide.

  "Never mind the nonsense, have you seen that protruding rock in the middle of the water surface?" I looked far away and found a circular stone exposed on the water surface in the middle position of the stagnant pond surrounded by soul energy.

  Jin Gang cannon pinched a look, squatted down to pick up a small stone and threw it over, making a crisp sound.

  "It's a rock, old man, are you thinking..." The Diamond Cannon seemed to have guessed what I was thinking.

  "There must be some kind of hidden danger in this stagnant pond, it's really too dangerous to dive in." Earlier, I observed that amidst the thick black air above this stagnant pond, there was actually a strand of dark red spiritual energy mixed in, which shouldn't be the case for a soul.

  "Enough! My Wind Blade Technique may not land that accurately, especially with something on my back."

  "It's almost midnight, when the time comes and the yin soul appears, it will be troublesome. Give me everything, I'll go first!" I said, calling over the white wolf that was sniffing around the edge of the pond.

  "Grass, I'll go first. On a cold day like this, I don't want to get in the water." Jin Gang Pao also didn't hesitate, shrugging off his backpack.

  "Go! Remember, when starting the Wind Movement Technique, the spiritual energy sinks and exerts force. After taking off, quickly withdraw the spiritual energy back to the dantian, otherwise the downward force will be too great and the body will feel heavy!" I handed over the Golden Cannon backpack and reminded him of a few key points about the Wind Movement Technique.

  "Grass, grandfather is coming." As soon as my voice fell, Jin Gang Pao didn't hesitate, and with a loud shout, he gathered his energy in both feet, bent his knees and jumped out. Halfway through, when the spiritual energy was about to run out, that round stone protruding from the water surface happened to be under his foot. Jin Gang Pao's right foot suddenly pushed off, and again gathering energy to borrow strength, he loudly shouted and fell onto a pile of rocks on the opposite bank, lying there crying "Ah, ah".

  "Old cow, nothing wrong?" I shouted loudly.

  "Something's wrong with your butt!" Jin Gang Pao shouted at the top of his lungs. I felt relieved, as Jin Gang Pao often used the Wind Movement Technique to land on his butt. As long as he didn't hurt his arms or legs, his large and sturdy butt should have enough cushioning effect.

  I took a step back, my right hand grasped two heavy backpacks, and my left arm hugged the white wolf.

  "Be careful, Lao Yu, that rock doesn't seem very stable." Jin Gang panted and climbed up.

  I took a few steps back, gathered my spiritual energy in my feet, and then sprinted forward, using the Wind Movement Technique to jump out.

  "Be careful, old chap, the anchor's gone down." Suddenly, Jin Gang Pao shouted this out.

  "Ah?" My heart suddenly felt a chill!

  I was suspended in mid-air, and when I looked down, the rocks that had just been exposed above the water's surface had vanished. With over a hundred kilograms of weight on my back, it was impossible to jump to the other side without using any force. In a moment of crisis, I let out a loud shout and threw the two backpacks in my right hand towards the opposite bank. Originally, I also wanted to throw White Wolf away, but there was no time left. In the blink of an eye, White Wolf and I plunged into the icy, bone-chilling waters...