#634 - The second hole

"Madam, watch your step."

The winding mountain cave was gloomy and dark. The flickering firelight cast the shadows of the two people onto the cave walls, like specters.

The passage inside the cave wasn't wide, so Lu Huang walked in front, and Yang Liushi followed behind. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the enclosed space, overlapping and reflecting, making it seem as if there were several more people present.

Yang Liushi observed her surroundings, her steps steady, but her expression was somewhat serious.

It was clear that this deep cave was not man-made but a natural formation.

It was only later discovered and had stone steps carved into it, serving as a secret treasure trove.

...

Following a few steps behind Lu Huang, Yang Liushi walked for about a few dozen breaths, but she didn't see the 'corpses scattered everywhere' that the former had mentioned.

She frowned, just about to ask.

But before she could speak, as the two rounded a corner, they saw the space ahead suddenly widen, revealing an open area at least several dozen feet in both length and width.

"This..."

Yang Liushi stopped abruptly, a hint of undisguised surprise flashing in her eyes.

Just as Lu Huang had said, there were indeed bones scattered all over the place.

Whitish skeletons and bones were scattered haphazardly, and at first glance, it was clear there were no fewer than a hundred.

And this meant that the owners of these bones had been dead for at least several years.

...

Moving her feet lightly, Yang Liushi didn't say anything immediately, but instead bent down next to a pile of bones and carefully observed them for a while.

After about half an incense stick's time, she softly asked Lu Huang.

"General Lu, don't you find it strange?"

"Strange?"

Lu Huang was taken aback. "What is Madam referring to?"

"Please look, General."

Yang Liushi pointed to the soil beneath the bones. "The color of this soil is darker than other places, and there are many scratch marks, indicating that these people and beasts were likely thrown in here alive."

"But where are their clothes?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Huang instantly realized and quickly turned his head to look around, and indeed, he didn't see any clothes, weapons, or anything of the sort.

He didn't even see small items like jade pendants or hairpins.

In the vast cave, besides the bones, there were only over a hundred large wooden boxes stacked to one side. Some of the boxes were open, revealing neatly stacked silver ingots and copper coins inside.

"Madam, perhaps these people were thrown in here naked?"

Lu Huang pondered for a moment and analyzed seriously, "Those wealthy families who renovated this temple must have had many enemies. Perhaps they used this cave as a place to dispose of bodies?"

"Dispose of bodies?"

Yang Liushi shook her head. "General, if they were disposing of bodies, why wouldn't they kill the people first, and instead throw living people in here?"

"Besides, even if they were afraid of official investigation and wanted to dispose of bodies in the wilderness, wouldn't it be simpler to just dump them anywhere else in the Tianshan Mountains? Why choose this busy Mountain God Temple?"

"This..."

Hearing Yang Liushi's series of questions, Lu Huang was immediately speechless.

Although he was a military man and a bit slow-witted, he had now realized the problem.

That's right, if these bones were really thrown in by those wealthy families who renovated the temple, then the questions Yang Liushi raised would be unexplainable.

So...

"Madam, but if it wasn't them, then who could it be?"

"I don't know."

Yang Liushi replied, her nostrils twitching slightly. Suddenly, she said again:

"General Lu, there's another matter that's quite strange."

"Although these bones have been here for many years, this cave has no other exit besides the entrance hidden under the statue."

"In such an enclosed place, even if the time is long, there should still be a fishy smell."

"But have you smelled any stench at all?"

"Hiss..."

Lu Huang gasped again upon hearing this, and only then did he realize that there was indeed no trace of the fishy odor of decaying corpses in the entire cave.

"Madam, could it be that there is another way in and out of this cave?"

"It should be."

Nodding, Yang Liushi got up and looked around, her gaze falling on the pile of large wooden boxes stacked on one side of the cave.

Lu Huang was now also suspicious of this pile of wooden boxes, and immediately drew his saber and walked closer, turning his head to look at Yang Liushi.

"Madam..."

"Yes, please do so, General."

"Yes!"

Responding, Lu Huang no longer hesitated and immediately began to check the boxes one by one.

The first few boxes were normal, all containing silver ingots without official seals, which looked quite old.

But when Lu Huang opened the fourteenth box, his expression suddenly changed for a moment.

He was stunned for a moment, then slowly lifted the box in the direction of Yang Liushi.

The scene of silver ingots and copper coins spilling all over the ground did not appear. The box was actually empty.

Hmm?

Yang Liushi's embroidered eyebrows furrowed, and she immediately shouted softly:

"Check the others!"

"Understood."

Throwing the empty box aside, Lu Huang turned his head and continued to check.

And after this, the next twenty or thirty boxes he opened were all empty.

Of the hundred-plus large boxes, only the outermost layer contained wealth, and the rest were all empty boxes.

This was definitely not because the wealth had been stolen, but clearly someone was deliberately using this pile of boxes to hide something.

"General Lu, move all the boxes away."

Yang Liushi had now also walked closer. Her sixth sense told her that the strange white light and the little fox's whereabouts might be related to this place.

She instructed and then stopped speaking, only staring intently as Lu Huang moved the wooden boxes one by one, her breathing gradually becoming rapid.

Then, just as Lu Huang threw another wooden box aside, both of their eyes suddenly froze...

In their sight, another cave entrance had appeared.

...

Lu Huang turned his head, his expression somewhat admiring.

It could be said that the discovery of this cave within a cave was entirely due to Yang Liushi, and if there were no accidents, the true secret of this cave should lie within this second entrance.

"Madam, I will go in and take a look first."

Casually smashing the other wooden boxes blocking the entrance, Lu Huang raised the torch and was about to enter the cave again to scout the way.

However, Yang Liushi's reaction was completely different from when she had just discovered the entrance under the statue.

"General, hold on!"

She shouted softly, stopping Lu Huang, who was only one step away from the entrance, her face extremely serious.

Although, from Lu Huang's point of view, the current situation was not much different from before.

But from Yang Liushi's perspective, the hundred-plus bones in the cave made this second entrance unpredictable and dangerous.

So, even if it was just Lu Huang, she was unwilling to let him take this risk.

"General Lu, let's go back to Liangzhou City and ask for more people before coming back."

After thinking for a moment, Yang Liushi slowly said, "Anyway, no one will come to this Mountain God Temple now, and we don't have to worry about others getting here first."

"Hmm, that's fine too."

Lu Huang didn't refuse, but held the torch and probed the entrance again, wanting to roughly see the situation inside from the outside.

This was actually a perfectly normal action.

However, it was this simple action that triggered an astonishing scene.

Just as Lu Huang reached into the cave with the torch in his hand, the originally dark cave entrance suddenly rippled like the surface of water, and immediately burst out with a huge suction force.

This suction force was extremely strong, dragging Lu Huang's left arm towards the cave like a giant hand.

However, the latter was, after all, a veteran general who had been through many battles, and his reaction speed was extremely fast, making a decision almost the first moment the anomaly occurred.

"Ah!!!"

His eyes widened sharply, the veins on his forehead bulging, and after a violent roar, he unhesitatingly raised the long saber in his right hand and slashed fiercely at his left arm, which had been dragged into the cave.

"Puchi!"

Blood splattered everywhere, the severed part a bloody mess.

After severing his arm, the suction force naturally disappeared along with the severed arm. Lu Huang, who had escaped, also fell backward violently, his body crashing and smashing several empty boxes.

Pain mixed with fear caused him, slumped in the broken wood, to be instantly soaked in cold sweat.

However, before Lu Huang could recover, his eyes widened sharply again in the next second.

"Madam!!!"

In a flash, he only had time to let out a cry of alarm, and Yang Liushi's figure had completely disappeared into the dark cave entrance, leaving only a long skirt and a white robe slowly falling from mid-air.

...

Looking at this scene of 'the person gone, leaving only clothes behind', Lu Huang opened his mouth blankly, but couldn't suck in any air.

At this moment, he had even forgotten the pain of losing his left arm.

What exactly was this cave entrance??

Yang Liushi clearly didn't touch the entrance, so why was she also sucked into the cave???

Could it be that... she went in on her own accord??!