When I opened my eyes again, I was awakened by the dazzling light above my head.
"Jisheng, Xiangyu," I tried to shout, because I felt like I was lying in the cave where I fell first. At this time, the sun was shining on my face through the entrance of the cave.
There is no relief.
Could it be that those things just now were my hallucinations again?
"Zhou Cang, what's up? Have you found Chen Mo?" Zhang Jisheng answered me immediately.
He lay down at the entrance of the cave, face down and shouted to me, blocking part of the sunlight.
This situation made me scared involuntarily.
The darkness, the menacing reliefs, and even the frightening feeling in the cave just now seemed to still be there, but why did it suddenly seem like they had never happened?
"Zhou Cang, are you okay?" Perhaps seeing that I didn't answer, Zhang Jisheng asked again.
"Jisheng, I'm fine. By the way, what time is it now?"
I almost blurt it out because subconsciously, whenever this happens, I will lose time.
"It's almost half past ten now," Zhang Jisheng said.
"How long have I been down?"
Not losing time, I breathed a sigh of relief and asked again.
"You've been down for less than five minutes, what's wrong?" Zhang Jisheng's tone was a little confused.
"It's okay, I just stayed alone in the cave and it seemed like a long time had passed." I explained casually.
"If you really feel that there is nothing in the cave, why not come up first and let's discuss what to do. Staying in there is not an option," Zhang Jisheng said.
"Jisheng, I'll take another look around. If there's really nothing, I'll go up." I said.
"Okay, then be careful."
It's only been five minutes, this is absolutely impossible.
I felt that the time between when the cave turned dark and when I lost consciousness was more than fifteen minutes, if not half an hour.
Could it be that this time, instead of losing time, I gained ten or twenty minutes?
I used such jokes to comfort myself, but my heart was already going crazy.
Is it possible that my whole life will be spent in a chaotic timeline?
At this moment, I suddenly remembered the professor's illness.
Zhang Jisheng once said that after he returned from Sichuan, he contracted a strange disease, and his whole body seemed to wither and age rapidly. However, there would always be times when he would suddenly get better, as if someone poured water on him.
Is there any similarity between his state and my chaotic timeline?
I also thought about Chen Mo saying that the truth in the ancient temple might be cruel. Did he already know something? What exactly did he mean by cruelty?
"Zhou Cang, Zhou Cang," Zhang Jisheng shouted from above.
"Hey." I responded and sorted out my emotions.
"Come up first. Brother Wang seems to have noticed something. Let's discuss it together." Zhang Jisheng said.
Hearing what Zhang Jisheng said, I tied the vine hanging in the cave around my waist again, and then let them pull me up.
No matter what, it's always good to see the sun. After all, whether it was an illusion or something that happened in real life, the scene that I was sealed in the cave just now still makes me feel frightened when I think about it now.
"Why do you look so ugly?" Xiangyu said as he helped me untie the vines around my waist.
"Maybe it's because the air in the cave is thinner." I smiled and said, "By the way, Professor Wang discovered something."
"Brother Wang drew a map. We feel that it is somewhat similar to the picture you took in the cave, so we asked you to come up and compare it." Zhang Jisheng said.
Wang Zhishui had already handed over the map he had drawn. I opened it and had a look. I really had to admire Wang Zhishui's ability to judge the direction. Even though he was still recovering after being poisoned, he was able to figure out the location in such a short period of time.
, depicting the mountains, lakes and rivers around us on a map similar to a satellite cloud map.
This picture does look partially similar to the one I took in the cave. Even the little figures on the mural seem to correspond to us on the gravel beach.
"Zhou Cang," Wang Zhishui looked at me and said, "the murals in the cave seem to be a true reflection of the environment we live in now."
As soon as these words came out, several of us had strange expressions on our faces.
It seems that our actions have been controlled by someone for a long time.
"These little people in the mural seem to have avoided the gravel beach and walked towards the mountain." Xiangyu said, pointing to the picture on his phone.
"I don't know if there is such a cave in this gravel beach. We can't be so lucky every time and climb out unscathed after falling. I also think we should avoid this gravel beach and take another road."
Zhang Jisheng said.
"But there are steep cliffs on both sides. It is very difficult to walk along the hillside. We don't have much time." Wang Zhishui said, "Besides, when walking in the mountains, with dense forests covering the sky, it is easy to get lost."
"Do you think this mural is a bit strange? I wonder if it is because of the ants forming the painting, so some parts are not very clear. You see, when the river reaches here, the river seems to suddenly turn around, changing from north to south to south to north.
." Xiangyu said.
Although Xiangyu usually looks lively and cute, and seems a bit careless, once she calms down, her observation ability is amazing and she can always find some tiny details.
"Rivers are all developed on geological rift zones. If this photo shows the orientation map of this river," Xiangyu continued, clicking on the bend of the river in the photo, "This
The place will form a big bay."
Zhang Jisheng stared at the mural for a long time, frowning, "Do you mean, is it possible that the ancient temple was built on this big bay?"
"The old gentleman said that the ancient temple was built in the river. I think the most likely place is here." Xiangyu said.
"We'll find out if we ask the old gentleman," Wang Zhishui said.
"Sir, sir," Zhang Jisheng turned his head and shouted in the direction of the old man.
The old man stood up slowly. He was probably afraid that he would accidentally fall into an unknown cave like me, so he just stood up to express that he heard it, but did not move his feet.
Seeing this, we walked over helplessly.
"Sir, you said that the ancient temple was built in the river. Did you stand on the top of a mountain and look down?" Zhang Jisheng asked.
"At that time, I wandered around the Ecstasy for several days. One night, I suddenly found a light far ahead. In this deep mountain, if there is light, there may be someone there, so I followed the light.
Walking in the direction, finally at dawn, I saw an ancient temple from a distance. That ancient temple was very big, with a circle of waterfalls surrounding it. The scenery was very shocking." The old man said,
It seems that I am still immersed in the feeling of seeing the ancient temple.
"According to Xiang Yu, he should have been on the mountain on the outer beach where the river turns, so he saw the ancient temple from a distance across the river," Zhang Jisheng said.
"Then are we now on the outer or inner perimeter of the river's bend? If we are on the outer perimeter, then even if we find the location of the ancient temple, we must have a boat to cross the river. Otherwise, we can only look across the river.
Seeing an ingot of gold, I want to get it because the shore is wide and the water is deep," Xiangyu said.
"According to the appearance of this mural, the gravel beach should be on the inside of the bend in the river, and we are not far from the bend," Wang Zhishui said.
"Let's have fun, but for safety reasons, we should walk north along the mountainside. Although it will take longer, there will be no threat of the cave. Do you think it is feasible?" Zhang Jisheng asked.
"It's okay, but what should Chen Mo do?" I said hurriedly with Chen Mo in mind.
When I said this, everyone seemed to suddenly remember that there was another Chen Mo who was missing.
Zhang Jisheng seemed to think for a moment, and then said to me: "Zhou Cang, let's wait for Chen Mo for another hour. If he hasn't come out after an hour, we will put a note at the entrance of the cave and leave the information about the ancient temple.
Him, then we will go look for the ancient temple first, and we can also leave a mark for him along the way."
I was a little hesitant, because I really couldn't bear to leave Chen Mo here alone. However, I also felt that Chen Mo seemed to know the structure of the entire Wawu Mountain and even the unknown dangers he would encounter. This kind of worry of mine seemed a bit
Groundless worries.
After all, I still trust Chen Mo more. With him by my side, I feel more at ease.
"Zhou Cang, Chen Mo actually never said he wanted to act with us from the beginning. He may have his own plan." Xiang Yu said.
The old man also said that if we continue to delay like this, even going out will be a problem, let alone looking for the ancient temple.
Neither Xiangyu nor Zhang Jisheng wanted to wait for Chen Mo, let alone the old man and Wang Zhishui. I reluctantly agreed with Zhang Jisheng.
While waiting for Chen Mo on the gravel beach, we ate some compressed biscuits and boiled water to fill the kettle.
An hour passed quickly. We left a note for Chen Mo and walked towards the mountain on the right.