Chapter 253: Hanging

"Thump, thump, thump..."

Every step the big bear took seemed to hammer against Xu Damao's heart.

Xu Damao wanted to run, but his legs felt as if they were filled with lead; he could not move at all.

He watched helplessly as the bear slowly closed in, eventually collapsing to the ground, closing his eyes to await death. Tears streamed down his face incessantly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Several gunshots pierced the deathly silence of the forest.

Xu Damao jerked his head up and saw Cui Dazhi and two Shanzhai brothers holding Box Cannons, firing at the black bear.

The black bear's body was covered in thick pine resin, as if it were wearing a natural suit of armor; the bullets hitting it had no effect, simply sticking to the big bear's body without causing any fatal wounds.

The pain, however, completely incited its ferocity; it let out a deafening "Awoo" roar, the sound waves causing the snow on the withered branches to rustle down.

It suddenly shifted its target and charged at the three men with astonishing speed—a speed so fast it was chilling.

The three men emptied their magazines, yet failed to slow its momentum in the slightest.

The tragedy unfolded in an instant.

Xu Damao watched helplessly as half of one brother's face was torn open by a bear paw, and then, with another heavy swipe, that brother was beaten into an unrecognizable state.

Cui Dazhi was so terrified he dropped his gun and turned to flee.

The other brother aimed at the bear's head and fired, hitting its ear, sending blood droplets splattering.

This further enraged the giant beast; it let out a series of furious roars and swiped its paw at the man.

Fortunately, the brother was agile, rolling to hide behind a large tree and using the thick trunk to circle around the black bear.

The giant bear kept swatting at the tree trunk, producing dull, booming sounds.

"Bang!" Another gunshot rang out.

This bullet struck the black bear right in the eye, burrowing into its brain and rolling around inside.

Its massive body trembled violently a few times, and finally, with a "thud," it collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

At this moment, an Old Hunter wearing an old sheepskin coat and a dog-fur hat emerged from the forest.

Behind him followed a girl of about fifteen or sixteen.

She was also wearing a thick little sheepskin coat and a fox-fur hat, her round little face frozen bright red.

Seeing the giant bear lying motionless, Xu Damao finally dared to run over to check on the injured brother.

He reached out to check his breath and felt his pulse, finally closing his eyes for him with a heavy heart.

The Old Hunter walked toward the shaken Cui Dazhi and asked, "Where are you brothers from?"

Cui Dazhi panted as he replied, "We came from Si Jiu Cheng, passing through here, and got trapped in the mountains when the fighting broke out."

The round-faced girl spoke up: "We set traps; was it you who took the things inside?"

Cui Dazhi looked ashamed: "Sorry, we were truly so hungry we had no other choice."

The Old Hunter waved his hand: "Yingzi, don't be so stingy."

Xu Damao hurriedly stepped forward and handed over a piece of gold: "Uncle, consider those rabbits bought by us. We owe our lives to your rescue today."

The Old Hunter took the gold, examined it carefully, and looked up to ask: "Are you here to pan for gold?"

Xu Damao was taken aback and gave an awkward laugh: "We only passed through here last night; how—how could we possibly know there was gold here!"

"But this gold of yours is from these parts," the Old Hunter said.

"I picked it up last night," Xu Damao said.

"I mean no offense, little brother, don't be afraid. Behind this mountain is called Lao Jin Gou. When the little devils were here, they captured many people to help them pan for gold, and many died," the Old Hunter sighed.

Cui Dazhi looked at the bear carcass on the ground and pleaded: "Uncle, could you share some of this bear meat with us? We haven't had a proper meal in several days."

The Old Hunter pondered for a moment: "You've had a hard time, and you even lost a man. I'll take the bear paws, the bear gallbladder, and the bear skin; you can take the rest of the meat."

Xu Damao and the other brother dragged their fallen companion's remains to a nearby bear den and carefully buried them with snow.

Before long, the Old Hunter had skillfully finished butchering the seven or eight-hundred-pound bear.

Cui Dazhi took the opportunity to ask: "Uncle, what is the name of this place?"

The Old Hunter said while packing up his knives: "We locals call this place Huang Pizi Fen. You must be staying in that temple, right? That place is very sinister; they say the Huang Daxian in the tomb has become a spirit."

"The Huang Daxian has become a spirit?" Xu Damao asked.

The Old Hunter's words stirred waves in Xu Damao's heart; he clearly remembered that the weasel could talk to him—could it be that the one he encountered last night was that Huang Daxian?

"We locals don't dare call the weasels by their name here; we have to call them 'Yuan Pizi'. They say the Yuan Pizi here use Illusion, and those who have had designs on this tomb in the past never walked out," the Old Hunter lowered his voice. "Ancestors said there is a bronze treasure chest in this tomb, filled with fine jade and gold."

Xu Damao's heart tightened; he quickly leaned toward Cui Dazhi and said: "Brother Cui, hearing what the uncle said, I'm a bit worried about Siqiang and the others. I want to go back and check on them immediately."

"Hurry back then!" Cui Dazhi urged.

Just half an hour ago, Hu Yunbin, relying on the Compass, finally found the entrance to the tomb passage. No one expected the entrance to be hidden inside that Po Miao.

Hu Yunbin pried open the stone slab at the entrance and led Lin Nan and four Shanzhai brothers down one after another.

The tomb passage was cold and damp, the chill biting to the bone. After walking about four hundred meters, a heavy stone door blocked their path.

As an old hand, Hu Yunbin quickly used a Rope loop to cleverly pull down the door-locking stone. The six entered the tomb chamber, and a foul, musky odor rushed toward them.

Hu Yunbin was drawn to the murals on the wall and held up a torch to examine them closely.

The content of the murals was eerie, depicting a scene of a weasel wedding: in the sedan chair sat a weasel wearing Ming Dynasty attire and a Phoenix Coronet; those carrying the sedan, those holding flags, and those watching the excitement on the street were all weasels dressed in various clothes.

He followed the murals forward, and the space ahead suddenly opened up; a common residential house actually appeared.

Walking inside, one could see roof beams and a heated brick bed, all complete with tables, chairs, cabinets, and stools, only the coffin was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, a small weasel darted down from the roof beam.

Hu Yunbin was quick-witted and grabbed it in one go.

The little thing let out a stinky fart with a "poof," dizzying him with the stench.

Hu Yunbin endured the nausea and tied it up with a Rope.

He walked over to the heated brick bed and found the surface had collapsed somewhat, so he used a pickaxe to dig it open, revealing two mummified corpses.

The heads fell off at the slightest touch; Hu Yunbin picked one up and discovered the inside of the skull was hollow, containing the mummified corpse of a small yellow weasel.

His scalp tingled with terror. At this moment, the rustling sound of running footsteps came from overhead.

He took out the Compass to determine the direction, only then realizing that directly above was that large burial mound, which also solved the mystery of the yellow weasel crawling into the mound last night.

Suddenly, he realized that Lin Nan and the four brothers from the Shanzhai were nowhere to be seen.

He hurried out and finally discovered a deep niche in the middle of the passageway.

Approaching the niche, he discovered a secret door on the side wall; walking inside, he found it was a residential room identical to the one he had just entered.

Only then did Hu Yunbin realize that the seemingly ordinary niche was actually a lure; if one were attracted by the objects within, they would end up on this side.

And it was precisely because he had been attracted by the murals that he had taken a different path.

When he walked into this symmetrical room, the scene before his eyes made his soul scatter in terror—Lin Nan and the four brothers were hanging side by side from the rafters, with a yellow weasel hanging beside each of them.

He hurriedly took Lin Nan down and desperately slapped his cheeks, but Lin Nan's body was ice-cold and he had long since ceased to breathe.

At this moment, the bound small yellow weasel seemed to speak: "Hang yourself up! That feeling is extremely comfortable, happy as an immortal!"

Hu Yunbin was initially able to maintain his composure, but before he knew it, as if possessed, he followed the small yellow weasel's suggestion and looped a rope around his own neck.

Xu Damao hurried back to the vicinity of the large earthen mound, searching everywhere but seeing no sign of Siqiang.

He rushed back to the temple and, seeing Hei San changing his dressing, asked urgently: "Hei San, where is my Siqiang?"

Hei San pointed to the deep, dark hole inside the temple: "Your Siqiang took Lin Nan and the four brothers down there quite a while ago."

Xu Damao lit a torch and quickly jumped into the hole, running and shouting: "Siqiang! Siqiang, where are you?"

After running for a long time in the cold, gloomy passageway, he was suddenly tripped by something.

He shone his torch on it and saw it was a dead yellow weasel.

He looked left and right and saw a ceramic jar placed on a niche; just as he was about to step forward to examine it, he unexpectedly discovered a door hidden on the side of the niche.

Pushing open the secret door, he rushed in and saw a residential room, where he was shocked to see five figures hanging from the rafters.

"Siqiang!" Xu Damao recognized one of them as Hu Yunbin at a glance and cried out in shock.