I am carrying my mother on my back, and she looks incredibly weak, exhausted, and on the brink of unconsciousness.
Lao Gong stopped at my right shoulder and guided me with directions.
It was dark and windy, and with the Lo family's house ablaze in fierce flames, no one came to chase us.
The lake outside the Luo family's compound is a deep blue during the day, and at night, it resembles a black ink plate. Further in the distance, there stands a towering mountain that stretches into the clouds, and even in the dead of night, you can still see its snow-capped summit.
We had been running for a long time, and only when I turned back and couldn't see the Luo family's compound any longer did I slow my pace slightly. But Lao Gong showed no sign of stopping me.
After a few hours, I realized that he was guiding me around the base of that mountain, as if he wanted to go to the other side of the mountain.
In the latter half of the night, the silence of the night was even more profound, and one could even hear the howling wails. In such remote places, wolves are just common wildlife.
When Lao Gong called for me to stop, the sight in front of me shook me to my core. I wasn't sure if we had reached the other side of the mountain, whether we had gone too far or not enough. In any case, before my eyes was a vast and flat expanse, with only one area where hills rose continuously; it wasn't a single hill, but a series of them.
Various buildings of different heights and layouts were constructed on the mountain. A tall tower stood in front of the rising hills.
A little farther away, towards our direction, the ground was dotted with many tall black shadows that looked like haystacks. On closer inspection, they were actually dark brown yaks resting.
The plain is the earth, the earth element moves, close to the ox, resembling a tower!
Lao Gong's words were entirely in line with what I had said!
My dad is here?
What puzzles me is, what kind of place is this supposed to be?
The Luo family is already quite unique, with plenty of secrets hidden within their houses. Everyone is cunning, and if it weren't for Lao Gong's skills, I wouldn't have been able to find my mother or even escape from that room.
The building complex before my eyes was so grandiose that it was not a place that a single family could have occupied.
Mountain gate?
No, even the four-rule mountain wouldn't be this big! Although the four-rule mountain is high, the Daoist temple on top doesn't take up much space. However, these hills may be shorter, but the dense layers of buildings are eye-catching, and one can't help but wonder how many people they can accommodate - it looks more like a city than a mountain!
"Tower," Lao Gong's eyes rolled around.
Suddenly, he said, "Grandpa, to the left, quickly!"
I shivered slightly in my heart and immediately dashed to the left. Lao Gong pointed out a few more directions for me, and I didn't dare to delay. Soon, I arrived at a slightly elevated spot, where there was a black, cave-like hole in the ground.
The hole is just enough for a slender person to crawl into, but for me, it's quite challenging, let alone with my mother, which makes it even more inconvenient.
"Push the lady inside, and you too, crawl in quickly!" Lao Gong immediately urged.
I squinted slightly, but dared not hesitate. I pushed my mom into the hole first. She had been tortured so thin and weak that she easily slipped into the hole.
Lao Gong rolled his head into the hole, and I felt a pulling force, which was him helping me.
Later, I also crawled into the hole.
My nostrils could smell a pungent odor that I couldn't describe. This should be a rat hole? However, it's a bit too large.
Lao Gong's head reached the edge of the hole, and thin gray smoke spread out, which was an aura of ghosts.
In the pitch-black and spacious grassland, I saw two ghostly figures, like phantoms, moving from the place where we had stopped earlier, towards the spot where we were now.
Lao Gong licked his lips and muttered, "It's late at night, and they can't sleep? Fortunately, I reacted in time. Grandpa, don't worry so much. We came here by following the directions, and they can only see the silhouettes of us from before. After that, they wouldn't have seen anything else."
I nodded slightly, but my doubts deepened even more.
What kind of existence is this place?
I saw that the two men had indeed reached the place where I had previously stopped. After finding nothing, they returned along the same path.
Suddenly, a pair of dark, staring eyes peered at me from the side.
My eyelids twitched. It was a particularly large mouse, about the size of a one-year-old child. It was lying on the ground, looking even fatter, with its fur a mix of brown and black, and its wrinkled skin giving it an oily, sleek appearance.
It made a strange gurgling noise, as if I had taken over its nest...
"Huh..." Lao Gong clicked his tongue and muttered, "People here are tall and muscular, which is understandable. Even the rats are huge and terrifying. I wonder if they have any big beauties as well."
"I know, it's a marmot," I calm down and explain to Lao Gong.
Lao Gong let out a loud grunt, spat out a blob of phlegm, and the marmot scurried away quickly.
"Traveling alone is troublesome," Lao Gong seems to be a bit gloomy, saying quietly, "If we save your father, who will take care of the lady?"
I frowned, looking equally moody.
How are we supposed to save your father in this situation?
It's impossible to leave my mother here alone, her condition is too poor.
If we leave, it won't be possible to return for a short time, and with the misfortune that befell the Luo family, and my escape, they are bound to know that I rescued my mother. Once they figure things out, they might come to the place where my father is being held.
It's a Catch-22 situation, and I can't decide between the two...
"I'm... okay..." A weak voice from deep within the hole.
"Display your prowess... You're stronger and more capable than Mom thought, and with Master Wu by your side, you must have a way to get Dad out... I'll wait for you here..."
My mother's exhaustion made me feel heartache in my heart, and I didn't answer her immediately. Instead, I quickly took out some vials of medication from my body.
Lao Gong was initially surprised, but soon became disappointed.
I also felt a weight in my heart. There were over twenty vials, but here, all of them contained poison.
In the beginning, when we searched Jia Can, Xu Shengbao came to ask for a cure. There were indeed three useful pill capsules left. But I gave them all to Si Yan and kept the poisonous ones...
Habitually, I thought I could do anything, saving the good medicine for others would be more useful.
"Grandpa, too clever by half," Lao Gong muttered softly.
I was speechless.
I glanced at the outside, and the two men from before were nowhere to be seen. I crawled out of this mouse hole, and Lao Gong did not hinder me.
My mother poked her head out a bit, at the mouth of the hole, I stopped her from coming out.
"Mom, can you use dismembering objects?" I asked with a slight smile.
"Well..." My mother seemed slightly uneasy, but did not shake her head.
I immediately took out a piece of bone and handed it to her.
Only then did I say, "This is a piece of bone I got from Luo Kuang. Keep it for defense, and also, the vials in here are all poisonous drugs. Keep them for defense as well."
I also took out some simple food from the backpack, such as beef jerky and compression biscuits.
I packed those things away with me, leaving the entire backpack for my mother. Then I took out a small bottle, drank all the water inside, and cut my palm to let the blood drip into it.
