HLnovel Chapter 60 Bamboo Forest Abyss
Chapter 60 Bamboo Forest Abyss
Zhao Taohua had just finished breakfast and was sitting in the main room calculating the date of the heavy snowfall this year.
At the current rate at which villagers are building houses, it should be enough.
If everyone builds sturdy brick and tile houses, they won't have to worry about the heavy snow collapsing their houses.
Brick and tile houses are very good at keeping out the cold. When it snows heavily outside, they can stay inside and heat the kang (a traditional heated bed) without being afraid!
Zhao Taohua was happy just thinking about it~
Just then, she heard the village chief knocking on the door.
Qian was hanging clothes to dry in the yard when she opened the gate and saw the village chief. She called out towards the main room:
"Peach Blossom, the village chief is looking for you."
As Zhao Taohua stood up, she saw the village chief walk in with a worried look on his face. Her smile faltered, and she asked:
"Grandpa Village Chief, what's wrong?"
The village chief sighed first, and then told Zhao Taohua about all the houses in the village that had lost their roof beams.
"What? The Great Liang is gone?" Zhao Taohua was shocked.
If the main beam is gone, how can we install the beams and cover the house with blue tiles?
Without main beams, how can the roof be sturdy?
Zhao Taohua was both shocked and furious, never expecting such a problem to arise at this critical juncture.
She had just calculated that the heavy snow would be coming soon!
“Peach Blossom, the village was quiet last night. If someone stole the main beam of my house, why didn’t my dog bark?”
Not only my dog, but about ten households in the village keep dogs, and we haven't heard any dogs barking.
I don't believe anyone could steal the roof beams from every household in the village overnight. I suspect it's the work of evil spirits!
The village chief's tone was almost certain.
Zhao Taohua immediately went outside and discovered that the main beam of Aunt Zheng's house next door had also been stolen.
Aunt Zheng's courtyard wall was only ten meters away from her house. She went home to ask the four spirits, including the Menstrual Spirit:
Did you hear any noises last night? Or did you notice anything unusual?
"???"
The four spirits, including the Menstrual Spirit, stared at her with wide, bewildered eyes.
Zhao Taohua was surprised that the four of them hadn't noticed anything at all last night.
More than 500 main beams were lost in the village last night!
It takes three adults to move a single beam, let alone the fact that Aunt Zheng's house is so close to hers.
If none of the four spirits noticed anything amiss, then it can only mean that the other party's abilities are extraordinary.
Instantly, Zhao Taohua's expression turned serious. The village chief asked, "Taohua, is it the work of evil spirits?"
Zhao Taohua nodded and went to Aunt Zheng's house next door to check on the situation again.
When Aunt Zheng saw Zhao Taohua arrive, she asked Zhao Shengan to tell Zhao Taohua where the main beam of her house was located.
“Sister Peach Blossom, my family’s main beam was placed in the corner of the east wall in the yard yesterday.”
Zhao Shengan pointed to the corner of the wall.
Zhao Taohua squatted down, glancing past the location he mentioned. She walked along the corner of the wall from south to north, but did not detect any evil spirits.
Suddenly, she noticed that the soil under her feet was different from the rest of the ground; it wasn't compacted as much, as if it had just been loosened.
She asked Zhao Shengan, "Brother Shengan, did your family dig here today or yesterday?"
Zhao Shengan was taken aback at first, then shook his head.
“No, the soil in the yard has absolutely not been disturbed.” Zhao Shengan was very certain of this.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Taohua immediately squatted down. She dug away the soil and found that the soil underneath was also loose and had been disturbed. She easily dug a foot deep.
She immediately concluded, "This is how it stole the beam without anyone noticing."
"Drag it underground?" the village chief exclaimed in shock.
Zhao Taohua immediately took out a piece of yellow paper, quickly drew a talisman on it with a brush, and put it into the pit that had just been dug, which was one foot deep.
She gathered spiritual energy at her fingertips, pressed her fingers on the talisman, and released the spiritual energy through the talisman's opening, allowing it to find traces of evil spirits along the loose soil underground.
Zhao Taohua felt the spiritual energy twist and turn underground for quite a while before finally reaching its destination.
Zhao Taohua retracted her fingers, frowned, and asked, "You went to the bamboo forest?"
There is a large bamboo forest in the south of the village. Sometimes people go there to cut bamboo to make baskets or dig up bamboo shoots to eat.
The evil spirit was very clean; Zhao Taohua didn't even detect its presence. She only found it and stole the beam into the bamboo forest.
"What bamboo forest? Peach blossoms, what are you talking about?" the village chief asked, puzzled.
Zhao Shengan, Aunt Zheng, and Zhao Guangkun also looked at Zhao Taohua in confusion.
Zhao Taohua explained, "To find Daliang, we must first go to the bamboo forest."
On the way there, other villagers heard that Da Liang might have been moved to the bamboo forest by evil spirits, so they all followed along, wanting to find out for themselves.
Grandma Sun finally let go of Zhao Shenglin's ear and went with him to find their own beam.
Zhao Shenglin muttered under his breath, "I already said I didn't steal it!"
How could someone with such a thin frame move it?
Even if you find someone to steal with you, where would you find so many people?
However, he was also curious about what had stolen the main beam that the whole village needed, so he went with the rest of the group to find out.
Before long, Zhao Taohua found the place she had marked with her spiritual energy, and the soil there was indeed loose.
However, there were no large beams piled up around here.
She stood up and looked around. There were no signs of the beams being dragged on the ground. So, where did those beams go?
"Little Peach Blossom, have you discovered something?"
Zhao Shengan followed behind Zhao Taohua, looking around with her gaze.
But the surrounding area is just bamboo, weeds, and stones.
It's so wide you can see right through it, you can't see a single beam.
Zhao Taohua shook her head and continued walking forward. Suddenly, she saw a small mound of earth in front of her.
The small mound glistened with a damp sheen under the sunlight, emitting an earthy smell that contrasted sharply with the surrounding dry land.
Immediately, Zhao Taohua sensed something was wrong and quickly dug away the small mound of earth.
Unexpectedly, the small mound was only scattered on top, but it was suspended in mid-air below, and Zhao Taohua immediately fell into it!
"Peach Blossom Sister!"
Zhao Taohua fell too suddenly and disappeared in an instant. Zhao Shengan could only shout at the dark cave entrance.
But a large hand quickly reached into the cave, and the whole body slid in halfway.
The moment Zhao Shengan saw the silver hair, he realized it was Shen Ming. He quickly joined in to help, grabbing Shen Ming's leg tightly.
The cave was pitch black, cold, and damp.
The moment Zhao Taohua fell, she felt as if she had fallen into an abyss.
That's high! I'm afraid it'll smash into a meat patty!
The moment the thought crossed her mind, someone grabbed her hand from above the black hole.
Although she couldn't see who it was by looking up, more and more spiritual energy flowed into her body through their touching hands.
Zhao Taohua's lips curled up slightly, and in an instant, she knew in her heart who had saved her!
"Brother Shen Ming?"
"Hold on."
After saying this, Shen Ming forcefully pulled Zhao Taohua out.
When Zhao Taohua reached the cave entrance, Zhao Shengan stepped forward to help: "Peach Blossom, give me your hand."
The moment Zhao Taohua returned to the ground, she turned back to look at the deep hole below with lingering fear.
"Peach Blossom Sister, are you alright?" Zhao Shengan asked with concern.
He noticed that Zhao Taohua was wet and had something sticky on her, so he quickly handed her a handkerchief to wipe herself off.
Shen Ming watched as Zhao Taohua accepted the handkerchief offered by Zhao Shengan, his lips pursed. He rummaged in his pocket and found a clean handkerchief as well.
Just as he was about to hand it to Zhao Taohua, he heard her ask Zhao Shengan in alarm:
"Brother Sheng'an, are you alright?"
He turned his head and saw that Zhao Shengan's face was blue on one side and purple on the other, which looked very creepy.