Urban Night Returner

The ship ran aground on the reef.The Copper Mountain Mountains stretch out and turn to both sides, like arms embracing, forming a natural harbor at the foot of the mountain. No matter how rough the waves are outside, the harbor is relatively calm.If it wasn't for the strong wind, Shen Gu wouldn't have hit the boat directly on the rocks.Anyway, they are safe now.

As soon as the boat stopped, Zhong Lecen hugged the mast and retched. Fortunately, he didn't eat a few mouthfuls of those raw fish and shrimps just now, and he vomited a few times but didn't spit out anything.Little Heizi was also lying on the deck in a daze, humming.Just now the wind was strong and the waves were high, everyone's lives were hanging on that line, but they didn't feel so uncomfortable, now they are safe for the time being, once the breath of hanging was let out, the dizziness came back.

Shen Gu was fine, he stood at the bow and looked ahead.On the surface, this copper mountain is a small island, but there is no grass growing, the rocks are all dark, and even the sea water at the foot of the mountain is also dark black. I don't know if it is the color of the sea water itself, or it is reflected by the mountain.Shen Gu tried his best to look forward, but the sky was cloudy and he couldn't see the sun. I don't know if it was covered by clouds or mist, or there was no sun in this kind of place. In short, his vision was limited, and as far as Shen Gu could see, he could only see what appeared to be a The valley, nothing else can be seen clearly.

Zhong Lecen retched a few mouthfuls, felt that the churning in his stomach was not so severe, he struggled and called to Shen Gu: "Untie the rope!"

Shen Gu went over and pulled the rope away: "How is it? Still dizzy-hey, where are you going?"

Zhong Lecen got up, but still felt the boat swaying like in the sea under his feet, and ran crookedly into the cabin, and when he reached the cabin door, he was dumbfounded, and there was a bit of crying in his voice: "Shen Gu--"

"What's the matter?" Shen Gu hurried over to support him, "This--"

The ship was pitching so violently just now, the box in the cabin was turned over, the lid was opened wide, and most of the jewels inside were like escaped prisoners, and most of them ran away without a trace.The pearls are round, so they were the first ones to be rolled away, and the gems and gold coins were not far behind. In short, the box fell on its side, and there was nothing inside.There is no hatch in the cabin. I ran for my life just now. It is estimated that all these treasures went out through the hatch and returned to the sea. They really came from and went back to where they came from. There are only a few gold coins and two or three precious stones in the corner of the cabin.

Zhong Lecen's mouth was so constricted that he had eaten three catties of Coptis chinensis, Shen Gu hurriedly picked up the poor few gold coins and precious stones and put them into his pocket: "It's all right, it's all right, if you lose it, don't you still have some points?"

Zhong Lecen looked at this small handful of gold and gemstones, and then at that huge box, feeling really sad.Shen Gu hugged him and kissed him again and again: "It's okay, it's okay, you can avoid disaster if you lose money. Besides, it's not easy to let go of such a big box. What if someone targets you?"

Zhong Lecen was holding his breath, angry and distressed, and it took him a long time to adjust his mentality, and handed the things to Shen Gu: "You take it, take it."

Shen Gu hurriedly found out the handkerchief, wrapped up this little treasure and tied it firmly on the belt: "Don't worry, I won't lose it."

Zhong Lecen pursed his lips, but his things had already been lost, so it was useless to talk, and he said listlessly: "What should we do now? Is that Tongshan in front?"

Xiao Heizi also regained his breath, suddenly remembered something important, and hurriedly asked: "Brother Shen, what about the baby? The baby won't be lost, right?"

Shen Gu took out the glass bottle from his pocket and shook it: "Don't worry, it's here." He kept this thing close to his body, and when he was thrown off the boat by a giant crab just now, he covered his pocket with one hand to prevent it from being lost. .If this thing is lost, little Heizi will definitely die.

As expected, Xiao Heizi breathed a sigh of relief, saw the empty box, was stunned for a few seconds, and then said, "Brother Zhong, I won't share with you anymore."

Zhong Lecen glanced at him very relieved, and then realized: "There is nothing good about it!"

Shen Gu hugged him: "Come on, don't think about it. Let's go ashore and have a look. I said, when will the wind outside stop?"

Zhong Lecen sighed: "Maybe it's better not to stop. I don't know where we are now. If we are still on the sea path of the sharks, then there will be no wind. The boat has no seals to pull it, and there is no wind. If we rely on us If you paddle, you probably won’t be able to go home for a year.”

Shen Gu was stunned for a while, and then said: "There are no oars on the boat."

The three looked at each other, and finally Shen Gu made a decision: "Don't worry about so many, go ashore first! If this is really Tongshan, I have to look for the Kongqing anyway. As for how to go back, we will figure out a way at that time!"

The boat had run aground on the reef, and the three stepped on the reef and went ashore directly.After walking a few steps forward, Shen Gu could see clearly that the front was not a valley, but a relatively wide crack on the mountain wall, and it was pitch black inside, so he couldn't see anything.Shen Gu took out the miniature flashlight and shook it inside, and found that it was a passage, which might lead all the way to the mountainside, with no end in sight.

"Go in and have a look?" Zhong Lecen wanted to poke his head in, but Shen Gu grabbed him.

"Wait a while! Let's go to the mountain first to see if there is any movement, don't run into it rashly."

Copper Mountain is not high, at least the part exposed above the sea level is not high, and the area is not large, and because there is no grass growing, you can see everything at a glance when you climb to the top of the mountain-nothing.There are neither living creatures nor traces left by them.

"This place—" Xiao Heizi was puzzled, "is there anything?"

"Didn't the elder Yuren say that the sea water around the Copper Mountain is poisonous, and the sharks can't get close to it? I guess the same is true for other sea creatures?"

"Then, will there be copper essence in this place?"

"If you don't even dare to approach other sea objects, maybe there is something real."

"What will it be?" Shen Gu now feels that it is necessary to ask clearly. This little ancestor will give him some tricks from time to time. Mother Hurricane... In case this little ancestor said there was something here, he was actually talking about something that would kill everyone... Shen Gu felt that everyone was going to die.

Zhong Lecen scratched his head: "Well, I don't know..."

Shen Gu sighed, and pushed him behind: "I'll take the lead and go into the passage to have a look." I've come to this place, if I don't go in and look for Kong Qing, wouldn't it be a pity for the rest of my life?

Xiao Heizi didn't think much about it, as soon as Zhong Lecen said that there might be copper essence in this place, he started to look around, and when Shen Gu said that he wanted to enter the passage, he turned around and ran down the mountain first.But just halfway through his turn, he suddenly pointed to the ridge and shouted: "Horse!"

horse?Shen Gu almost couldn't believe his ears, but he turned his head and saw a horse suddenly appearing on the ridge.

This is really weird.Because they had clearly scanned that position just now, and there were no horses.The Copper Mountain is not high, and they can already see everything from their position. Moreover, the mountain is gentle and barren of grass. There is absolutely no place where a horse can hide.But now, a horse suddenly and silently appeared in the place they had just confirmed that there were no living things.Moreover, the horse's fur is yellow and bright, reflecting a dark golden luster under the faint skylight, which is really not something that ordinary horses can have.

Zhong Lecen suddenly said: "Bronze essence!"

Copper essence?Shen Gu was startled, and immediately remembered what Zhong Lecen said - the essence of copper is like a horse, like a child.It turns out that this horse is a copper essence?

Little Heizi didn't think much of it at all.At first he was surprised--how could a horse suddenly jump out?What's the matter, you have to be a little hooves too, right?Then as soon as Zhong Lecen said it was copper essence, he became excited and ran forward with his back bent.In fact, this action is a bit funny.In such a flat place, not a single blade of grass grows, not to mention the cat's waist, even crawling forward is equally conspicuous.Sure enough, he had only advanced about ten meters when the horse turned around and ran away with clattering hooves.Wherever the horseshoe passed, dazzling sparks splashed out.

Shen Gu and Xiao Heizi chased after him, but how could two legs outrun four?The horse easily left them behind, ran all the way down the mountain, and ran into the crack. Before entering, he turned his head and looked back, as if he was a little bit reluctant.Now Shen Gu and the others can't go in even if they don't want to go in, so everyone rushes in together!

The passage is very dark, and the miniature flashlight can only illuminate a distance of about ten meters. Shen Gu leads the way, Zhong Lecen is in the middle, and Xiao Heizi is cut off. They follow each other in the narrow passage.There is a damp atmosphere on both sides, but apart from their footsteps, there is no sound from any living creature.While Shen Gu felt relieved, he became worried again—if he couldn't go back for a while, there would be no living things in this copper mountain, what would they eat and drink?

Just as he was thinking, there was a little light in front of his eyes, and he could vaguely see the outline of the passage without using a flashlight.After walking a few more steps, the narrow passage suddenly opened up, and there was a huge cave in front of it. A long gap was cracked in the stone wall above the head, and a few rays of skylight leaked out.In the cave, there are many stone pillars, and the dome is so high that it looks like a palace, and this palace is all made of malachite!

All sides are covered with malachite, the top of the head, under the feet, including those stone pillars, in various shades of blue-green, it seems that the sea has been moved into the mountainside, and the sea waves have solidified into a wall.Looking carefully, the pattern on the wall looks like water waves and water plants, and there seem to be various fish images between the water waves, which really makes people feel like they are in the bottom of the sea.The three of Shen Gu were a little stunned, and for a while they forgot about the copper essence.Zhong Lecen murmured: "It really is Tongshan..."

Little Heizi blinked, and couldn't believe his eyes: "It's all--this, is this malachite?"

"It was called 'Lvlanggan' in ancient China..." Zhong Lecen whispered dreamily, "But there are so many... Even in Barov's fairy tales, the palace of the Tongshan Empress is nothing more than that..."

Shen Gu asked casually: "Who is Ba Ruofu?"

Zhong Lecen's eyes are still firmly glued to the malachite walls: "A former Soviet fairy tale writer. He wrote stories and legends about the ancient Ural industrial and mining areas. It is an ore related to copper. Malachite is used as a decorative gemstone, and it is considered the most precious one. I guess, Tongshan Empress is the copper essence of 'Rutong', but it is only used by the local people according to their own ideas. Apotheosis."

"Do you still read fairy tales?"

"Do you think that myths and fairy tales have nothing in common? Especially folk fairy tales, in fact, there is no essential difference from myths, but the writing techniques and reading objects are different. Isn't "The Daughter of the Sea" a fairy tale? But if you use another It’s okay to say that it’s a myth.”

"Hmm... ah." Shen Gu didn't expect to receive a class of literary education here, and he had nothing to say.Little Heizi was thinking about Kong Qing, and couldn't help but ask, "Will there be Kong Qing here?"

Zhong Lecen came back to his senses: "Kongqing? Even if there is, do you know where to dig it out?"

Little Heizi silently scanned the entire cave, squatted down and curled himself into a ball.Zhong Lecen looked around: "We need to find the copper essence. Where the copper essence often enters and exits the surface, there may be kongqing."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Gu pointed to the depths of the cave: "There!"

Sure enough, it was still the same horse, but I don't know if it was reflected by the malachite on the four walls, and the originally bright yellow fur also turned into a bronze color, which was very inconspicuous in the blue.If it weren't for Shen Gu's good eyesight, he might not be able to see it when he walked up to his eyes.Shen Gu stared at Tong Jing, and said in a low voice: "Le Cen stands here and does not move, blocking the exit. Heizi, you go from there, and I will go from here, outflank. Move slowly, don't be alarmed, if you run again There may not be a place to find it.”

Zhong Lecen looked around: "I am afraid that wherever there is malachite, the copper essence can drill into the stone and disappear."

Shen Gu squinted his eyes and looked around: "There is a place without malachite over there." Indeed, in the second half of the cave, there is a protruding rock, which is not covered with malachite, but gray-black stone.

"Understood." Xiao Heizi stooped down again, gently groping to the left.Shen Gu gently shook Zhong Lecen's hand, and outflanked him from the right.

Tong Jing was hiding behind a huge stone pillar, she seemed to be a little curious when she saw Zhong Lecen standing still, so she leaned out a little.From the corner of Zhong Lecen's eyes, he glanced to both sides, and saw Shen Gu and Xiao Heizi moving forward quietly against the stone wall.He touched all over his body, but found nothing, so he gave a dry cough in extreme embarrassment, and waved to the copper spirit: "Hello."

Shen Gu almost fell to the ground.Ha, ha, hello?I rely on!Zhong Lecen is getting more and more unreliable, right?

Zhong Lecen continued to greet Tong Jing enthusiastically: "Come here, come here, don't be afraid."

Shen Gu's mouth twitched.Although he knew that Zhong Lecen was trying to attract Tong Jing's attention, which would be beneficial for him and Xiao Heizi to outflank, but this move...won't he suddenly dance suddenly?

Fortunately, Zhong Lecen didn't make such a convulsive move.However, Copper Spirit seemed to be quite interested in him, and really took two steps forward, revealing his whole body from behind the stone pillar.At this time, everyone could clearly see that the bright yellow fur of the copper spirit had indeed turned into a bronze color, and it looked very much like the unearthed bronze horse.

Shen Gu quietly tried to go around behind the stone pillar.He hasn't figured out how to catch the copper essence, let alone how to get the sky blue from it even if he catches the copper essence, but he just feels that he must get closer.He almost succeeded, but the Copper Spirit was startled suddenly at the last moment and sprinted.Shen Gu took a step back, reaching out and grabbing only the ponytail.The seemingly soft ponytail was as cold as metal in his hand, and when the ponytail was pulled out of his palm, Shen Gu felt a pain in his palm. When he turned his hand, he found a few copper wires left in his hand, but the palm of his hand was crushed. Pull out more than a dozen bloody holes, and blood seeps out immediately.

Tong Jing went straight to Xiao Heizi, when he got close, he suddenly found that his way was also blocked, he stepped out a trail of sparks, and turned halfway.Although Xiao Heizi was injured when he saw Shen Gu pulling the ponytail, but he had nothing to worry about, so he threw himself at Tong Jing.He was standing on a relatively high ground, unbiased, and he just threw himself on the back of Tongjing.

With a bang, Xiao Heizi gasped -- his knee hit the side of the horse's belly, as if hitting a stone, and the pain made him wonder if the bone was broken.But it hurts, he didn't let go, he hugged the horse's neck tightly, and he just rolled onto the horse's back.

The copper spirit suddenly stood up, and the horse's hoof smashed the malachite under its feet, and raised its head and let out a long cry, like metal colliding.Little Heizi hugged the cold and hard horse's neck tightly, grabbed the mane on the neck with one hand, and planned to not let go even if his hand was strangled in half.But the copper spirit couldn't shake him off immediately, so he stopped tossing around, spread his hooves, and rushed towards the rock wall.Zhong Lecen yelled: "Heizi let go, the copper essence is going to hit the rock!" The copper essence can disappear from the malachite rock wall without hindrance, but little Heizi does not have the wall-penetrating technique of Laoshan Taoist priests, and most likely he will be smashed to pieces blood flow.

Xiao Heizi naturally heard Zhong Lecen's shout, but he couldn't be reconciled, he pulled the horse's neck back desperately, seeing that the blue stone wall was close in front of him, he just closed his eyes and opened his eyes. !

There was a crisp sound.Xiao Heizi felt the cold and hard texture under his body suddenly disappear, and fell to the ground with a bang.He opened his eyes and saw that the back half of the copper essence disappeared in the malachite wall, the solid gold and iron hero was nailed to the place where it disappeared, and a copper wire ponytail was dangling on the blade.

Shen Gu rushed over angrily and picked up Xiao Heizi: "Why are you so bold! Do you want to kill him?" What a fool!

Little Heizi was very disappointed: "Run away?"

Shen Gu was speechless.Stretching out a hand, Jin Tiezhiying flew back automatically, leaving a crack on the rock wall.Zhong Lecen ran over: "Heizi, did you fall—Kongqing!"

In fact, Xiao Heizi fell from head to toe without pain anywhere, but when he heard the word Kong Qing, his spirit suddenly lifted: "Where? Where!"

Zhong Lecen pointed to the crack where Jin Tiezhiying inserted, which is where the copper essence disappeared.In the black gap, there is a green stone-like thing, oval, born in the gap.Jin Tiezhiying just inserted in from the side of it, breaking a crack in the stone and exposing it.

Little Heizi let out a loud cry, and rushed over to dig.Malachite is not very hard, and it shattered piece by piece as soon as he dug it.Shen Gu suddenly felt something was wrong: "The crack is expanding!"

Indeed, the fissure is widening, and it is widening at an extremely abnormal rate.No, it should be said that the entire stone wall is cracking rapidly, the cracks climb up the dome like snakes, and the malachite fragments rain down one after another.Shen Gu pulled Zhong Lecen with one hand, turned around and ran, shouting: "Heizi, go, it's about to collapse!"

Xiao Heizi was still holding the piece of blue sky in the crevice of the stone with one hand: "Immediately—" Before I could say the last good word, there was a crash, and the dome collapsed...