Chapter 212: Reappearance of the Rib-Born Eight Arms
"I don't know, I just chopped it casually."
Du Ruo just smiled and didn't explain too much to Xiang Yuanyuan, mainly because he thought she wouldn't understand even if he explained.
"Pay attention to the ground. Be careful of any thorns that are not cleaned up. We are almost there. I can feel the wind."
Du Ruo smiled and cleared the thorns on the ground. At this time, he could feel the wind blowing in from the gap that had just been split, and the front was no longer covered with thorns like before.
"Wow, really."
Xiang Yuanyuan's eyes lit up immediately when she heard this. She was really suffocated in the jungle. It was stuffy, hot, and airless, with occasional rotten leaves appearing.
"Wow, so beautiful."
Xiang Yuanyuan hurriedly took a few steps forward, followed by a cry of surprise, but she was very sensible and did not move forward. She just stood in front of the patch of thorns that Du Ruo had chopped out and looked outside.
After leaving the thorn forest, there was a small meadow in front of them, and ahead of that was sparkling water, and a lake appeared in front of them.
The lake does not look big because there are dense aquatic plants around it, which occupy a large area, making the lake look not that big, but it is sparkling. From here, you can see many water birds playing in groups on the lake.
Plus, surrounded by mountains, this lake is like a pearl among the green mountains, so shining and eye-catching.
Du Ruo cleaned up the surroundings, then took Xiang Yuanyuan for a walk around the area to get a general look at the Fairy Lake.
I don’t know why it is called Fairy Lake. Maybe there is a good love story in it, but it is indeed very beautiful.
The only bad thing is that the grass here is too soft. Xiang Yuanyuan can barely stand on it, stepping on the soft and lush grass, but Du Ruo can't do that. He is too heavy and will sink into the grass after standing for a while, so it is not convenient for him to get too close.
I could only take Xiang Yuanyuan around carefully.
The entire Fairy Lake is not completely surrounded by mountains. There is a small path next to the mountain road opened up by Du Ruo and his team. There is a place like a valley there, and the water in the lake flows down all the time. It is a man-made road, which should be the road leading up to the nearby village or villagers.
There is a reason why Xiaoliang said that a large number of snakes can be seen near this lake.
Even Du Ruo felt that the nickname of this place, Snake Lake, made sense.
When Du Ruo took Xiang Yuanyuan to see it, they found that there were many stone statues lying on the lakeside, and on these stone statues, there were a large number of snakes coiled on them, basking in the sun.
The presence of snakes is not scary, what is scary is that these snakes are so densely packed together that even Yuanyuan, who is not afraid of snakes, feels her scalp tingling when she sees them.
In addition to the stones, there are also many snakes coiled on the branches with their heads sticking out. In addition to these, there are more snakes hiding in the water plants.
Occasionally, you can see a snake suddenly jump out from the water plants and bite the chirping bird on the water plants.
It can be said that the entire lake looks peaceful and beautiful at first glance, but if you look closely, you can see snakes of various colors moving around.
"This is really a paradise for snakes and water birds. Are we really going to spend the night here?"
Xiang Yuanyuan was originally very excited, but after taking a short walk around, she couldn't help swallowing her saliva. She swore that she had never seen so many kinds of snakes in her life, and most of the snakes here seemed to be poisonous.
"What? Are you scared? If you're scared, then don't stay here overnight. I'll try to stay during the day..."
Du Ruo felt a little bit reluctant when he saw Xiang Yuanyuan's look, and thought about coming over during the day, at least Xiang Yuanyuan wouldn't have to suffer with him. However, before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Forget it, now that we're here, let's not waste time. Anyway, I don't have to worry about safety issues with you around."
Xiang Yuanyuan didn't let Du Ruo continue speaking. This is how it is in China. Just saying "you're here" can solve many problems.
"Okay, I'll cut down a few trees nearby and build a place to stay. We'll go down the mountain when we're done. We'll come back tomorrow morning with some food."
Seeing this, Du Ruo stopped trying to persuade her, mainly because he was worried about leaving Xiang Yuanyuan alone in the village.
In Du Ruo's hands, the Miao Dao completely turned into a magical weapon.
Chopping down trees was as easy as chopping melons and vegetables. After that, the chopped trees were trimmed and simply built. A simple wooden house for people to rest was built very quickly.
For others, this is a huge project, but for Du Ruo, everything is as easy as building blocks.
Du Ruo even flattened the grass near the woods so that Xiang Yuanyuan could come out and move around a little.
"Phew, you're feeling much better now. Bring a mat tomorrow so you can rest on it. It's a pity that we didn't buy a tent. It's very humid here. There might be dew in the morning."
Du Ruo looked around. It took a lot of time to build the simple wooden house from the time he arrived here to now. At least now it looked like the sun was about to set.
"Yeah, it's okay to get wet. I haven't experienced spending the night outside yet. Hehe, I'm looking forward to it." Xiang Yuanyuan never spoils the fun. It seems that as long as Du Ruo is there, she will be very happy no matter what they do, and will always support them.
After Du Ruo finished all this, he took Xiang Yuanyuan and quickly rushed into the village.
This time, Du Ruo carried Xiang Yuanyuan on his back while traveling, which saved Xiang Yuanyuan the trouble of walking again.
It was a very quick return trip, and it only took about fifteen minutes to reach the place where Xiaoliang had brought them into the mountains.
While on the journey, Du Ruo unexpectedly discovered that he encountered many snakes on the way back, which shows how densely there are snakes in this place.
After returning to Xiaoliang's home in the village, the old lady and Xiaoliang just asked casually, and Du Ruo did not say much, but just said that they found the Fairy Lake very smoothly, and told the two that they might stay in the mountains for a few days.
Although the old lady was worried about this, she stopped trying to persuade Du Ruo when she saw his indifferent expression.
After dinner, Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan returned to the second floor. Du Ruo found that the mark he made had not been touched, which meant that no one had entered their room during the time they were away.
After washing up, seeing that it was still early and the sky was not completely dark, Xiang Yuanyuan and Du Ruo walked around the village.
It's true, walking around the village at night, the eerie feeling is quite strong. There are many buildings from the late Qing Dynasty in the village. Although they have been maintained and many of them are still inhabited, the dim lights, especially the red lanterns hung in front of many doors, make the atmosphere more like the ones I watched on TV when I was a child.
However, when Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan were walking in the village, many villagers who were eating outside with their bowls and chopsticks in their hands greeted them with smiles when they saw them.
Moreover, many children were surrounding the two of them, and the gloomy atmosphere was diluted by the atmosphere of joy and enthusiasm.
After a quick walk, Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan returned to Xiaoliang's home. An old color TV was playing a TV series. Xiaoliang was watching it with great interest, while the old lady was fiddling with some dried medicinal herbs.
"You are back. You are going to the mountain tomorrow. I have prepared some dry food for you to eat in the mountain tomorrow."
Seeing the two men coming back, the old lady put down the dried centipedes in her hand, walked to the eight-immortals table, and handed an oil paper bag and a small can of chili sauce to Du Ruo.
"Okay, thank you grandma."
Xiang Yuanyuan happily took it and did not refuse.
"Well, you should also take this wine with you. The mountain is very humid. Drinking a little at night will help you sleep more comfortably. The mountain is not like home, so you still need to be more careful about poisonous insects and snakes."
The old lady was like her grandson was going on a long journey, patiently explaining the precautions.
Xiang Yuanyuan also found a bench and sat down, listening to the old lady's nagging.
Her grandmother passed away early, and she hasn't felt this way for many years. This long-lost warmth makes her feel very comfortable.
It was not until after nine o'clock that Xiang Yuanyuan went upstairs and began her evening meditation practice.
Now Xiang Yuanyuan no longer needs Du Ruo to use Qi to guide her into a state of meditation. She can enter the state quickly by herself, and it has become a habit now. Before going to bed and after getting up, both of them will meditate for an hour. It has become a daily routine.
Although Xiang Yuanyuan has not yet experienced the benefits of this, Du Ruo used his "spirit" to observe Xiang Yuanyuan and found that the beating of the "essence" fire outside her body was becoming calmer and more condensed. In fact, this was progress, but Xiang Yuanyuan herself could not feel it.
The next morning, the two had breakfast and then, without Xiaoliang leading the way, they reached the foot of the mountain. Du Ruo carried Xiang Yuanyuan on his back and walked as fast as he could until they reached the simple wooden house.
"Just stand still and don't move."
Du Ruo stood on the wooden boards made from the trees that had been cut down last night and asked Xiang Yuanyuan to stand still.
Du Ruo narrowed his eyes slightly, let his hands hang slightly at his waist, and then a large amount of "qi" poured into his ears, pushing his hearing to the limit.
Xiang Yuanyuan stood quietly not far from Du Ruo, looking at him curiously as he stood with his back to the sun, not understanding what he was going to do.
But soon, she found that Du Ruo moved.
“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~~”
First, there was a gust of wind, and then Xiang Yuanyuan saw Du Ruo open his eyes, and then his whole body looked like a blooming flower, or like the Thousand-Armed Guanyin spreading her arms.
As Du Ruo moved, Xiang Yuanyuan couldn't help but open her mouth wide. Just at that moment, a light red light flashed around Du Ruo, as if he had eight arms. Combined with the rising sun behind him, the halo above Du Ruo's head at this moment made him look like a god descending to the earth.
She didn't even notice the steel needles shot out from Du Ruo's hands. Her eyes were only filled with the look on Du Ruo's face when he grew eight arms.
(End of this chapter)
