svetikya Page 143
Page 143
Then 21 said, "That's Dou Su!"
"In Taoist teachings..."
"The Dipper constellation, the head of the Northern Black Tortoise, consists of six stars, shaped like a dipper, hence it is called the Southern Dipper; the Southern Dipper and the Northern Dipper together hold the power of life and death, and are also known as the Heavenly Temple!"
"The Big Dipper symbolizes death, while the Southern Dipper symbolizes life!"
“That’s right!” Jin Suanpan exclaimed excitedly, “It’s Nan Dou!”
He then personally took charge and aligned the celestial globe with the six stars of the Southern Dipper.
"Bang! Bang!..."
The tomb chamber emanated a series of sounds once again.
Li Xiaohu and Partridge Whistle looked in the direction of the sound.
One of the eight tomb doors was discovered to be slowly opening!
Li Xiaohu smirked and said, "That's it!"
"Come on!"
After saying this, he led everyone down from the high platform and they all rushed into the opened tomb door.
The group had only been inside the tomb for a short time.
The tomb door behind them slowly descended again, completely blocking their escape route once more.
“Heh…” Partridge Whistle smiled helplessly and said, “It seems so.”
"Li Chunfeng wants us to go down a dead-end path."
Several people held torches and began to observe the situation on the ground.
It is a deep and narrow tomb passage.
Follow Li Xiaohu as they slowly walk deeper into the tomb.
After walking about half a mile.
Suddenly, a downward stone staircase appeared at the end of the tomb passage.
Only seven or eight steps are visible, and then the rest is not.
Both sides were pitch black, making it impossible to see anything at all.
No one knew if there was a bottomless abyss below, and no one dared to approach.
"Be careful." Li Xiaohu gestured for everyone to stand still.
He slowly stepped onto the stone steps, holding the torch.
Then Partridge Whistle and his companions discovered a very bizarre scene!
Li Xiaohu approached the stone steps, holding a torch.
But it can't capture the surrounding environment at all!
The darkness surrounding the stone steps seemed to engulf the firelight in his hand; the firelight not only couldn't spread out, but the area it illuminated was actually smaller.
Only by pressing the torch against the stone steps could one see a little bit of the situation.
Li Xiaohu clung to the edge of the stone steps, extending his torch into the darkness.
However, the firelight in his hand still couldn't illuminate the area, and he couldn't see anything clearly.
Jin Suanpan and Partridge Whistle had never seen anything like this before, and they couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"This place is so strange..."
Li Xiaohu stood up and suddenly shouted loudly.
"what!"
An echo came from the darkness.
"Ah...ah...ah......"
Li Xiaohu returned and explained, "Judging from the echo, this should be a cave."
"The surrounding cliffs are likely a rare type of light-absorbing stone, within which the light would be noticeably dimmed."
Li Xiaohu knew it in his heart.
This must be the strange "Suspended Staircase".
In essence, it's just a mechanism.
He then began to ponder a solution in his mind.
"Brother Partridge Whistle," Li Xiaohu said to the three Partridge Whistle brothers, "please bring out the rope."
"The light here is dim, and the stone steps lead to unknown darkness on both sides."
"in case."
"It would be better if we tied them together with a rope."
Partridge Whistle affirmed his method, and together with Old Man Hua Ling, they took out ropes, tied them around their waists, and then connected them together.
Li Xiaohu didn't forget to borrow another rope and tie up the cats and Little Wukong as well.
"Meow!"
Jin Yunu disliked the feeling of her neck being bound and shook her head uncomfortably.
"Please bear with it for now," Li Xiaohu said with a smile, trying to comfort the cats.
He then led the way down the stone steps.
"Try to walk in the middle of the stone steps."
Li Xiaohu led the way with his head down, stopping and starting, while holding a group of cats on a leash.
Yin Xinyue followed behind him, followed by Hong Guniang, Jin Suanpan, and others, with Partridge Whistle bringing up the rear.
The group didn't know how long they walked on the stone steps.
Time itself becomes meaningless in this dark place.
It wasn't until Yin Xinyue's legs ached and she was completely exhausted that she finally spoke up, "Wait, let's wait a bit."
"How long have we been walking? Why haven't we reached the end yet?"
Seeing that Yin Xinyue had already started panting with her hands on her hips, Hong Guniang said, "Yes, let's rest for a while."
To everyone's surprise, Li Xiaohu rejected the suggestion outright, saying, "Let's hold on a little longer."
"We'll finish the second lap soon."
"The second lap?" The astute Jin Suanpan and Partridge Whistle grasped the key point.
Jin Suanpan said irritably, "Little Tiger."
"You mean we've encountered another 'ghost wall'?"
Upon hearing this, Yin Xinyue felt a chill run down her spine.
Although she knew this might just be another trap, they didn't know how much longer they would have to keep going until they cracked it.
Even an ox would be exhausted to death!
Partridge Whistle was also a little annoyed and cursed, "This Li Chunfeng is really something else."
"Instead of setting up traps or mechanisms in the tomb to kill you directly, they just come up with these torturous things!"
Li Xiaohu suddenly stopped walking, turned around and said to the crowd, "Don't panic."
"I think I know how to crack it."
He certainly knew how to break the Suspended Staircase.
But the prerequisite is that he has to find clues to crack it.
I had been walking with my head down the whole time, trying to spot any differences on the stone steps.
Walking around twice is also to double-check that there are no mistakes.
"Really 097?" Upon hearing this, Yin Xinyue's face instantly turned from worry to joy.
Li Xiaohu nodded confidently, then squatted down, placed the torch on the stone steps, pointed upwards and said, "Look here."
The group of people crowded around to take a look.
A crescent moon pattern was found carved on one of the stone steps.
"What is this?" Yin Xinyue asked curiously.
Jin Suanpan said uncertainly, "It looks like some kind of counting symbol?"
Li Xiaohu nodded affirmatively and said, "Senior brother is right."
"This crescent moon is used for counting."
He then stood up, looked around, and continued, "I just walked all the way here."
"A total of sixteen crescent moons were discovered."