Chapter 65: Qingfeng Speaks of Ghosts and Spirits

  Xue Xiangqiang endured the headache and searched around, finally grabbing the bag in front of his chest. He ripped open the zipper, reached inside, and pulled out a high-intensity flashlight. With a "click", the flashlight turned on, instantly illuminating the dark cave. The interior was empty, with gray-brown rock layers on the walls that were uneven and rough. The cave was extremely shallow, only about three meters from the entrance to the end, and less than one person's height. Although it was as he had expected, the granite layer was incredibly hard, and the cave had not collapsed, but the small entrance had been blocked by a massive boulder that had fallen from the top of the cave. He inserted the flashlight into a small hole in the wall, struggled to get up, bent over, carefully picked up Liu Ying'er who was lying on the ground, and sat back down against the wall.

  "Does your leg hurt badly?" Xue asked in a gentle voice, their clothes were already dry, and Liu Ying'er's soft body was embracing him very comfortably, although there was no fragrance, it was exceptionally warm.

  "It's much better now. Where are we? Have we left the Qin Tang?" Liu Ying'er buried her face in Xue Xiang's chest, her jade-like complexion flushing with shame, not daring to look at him.

  "We're not far from Qin Tang, don't worry, we'll get out of here. Are you hungry? Eat something." Xue stroked her soft black hair, pulled out a backpack from behind her back, grabbed a handful of colorful chocolates and sugar beans, tore open the packaging bag, and suddenly, the fragrance filled the air, and the musty smell in the cave was greatly reduced.

  Xue Xiang took out the food and fed it to her mouth. Liu Ying'er's heart was anxious: you won't let me eat by myself, my leg is injured, but my hand isn't. She couldn't reject Xue Xiang's kindness, so she opened her mouth and took a bite, her bright red tongue accidentally licking his fingers, making her cough in embarrassment. Xue Xiang quickly poured water from the jug and handed it to her, letting her take a sip to clear her throat, and didn't dare to play any ambiguous games anymore.

  "Turn off the light and save some electricity." Liu Ying'er advised, fearing that he would see her disheveled appearance.

  "It's okay, the battery is sufficient and should last for a long time. Maybe before long we can get out." Xue didn't guess Jiaren's thoughts, looked at his watch, and suddenly exclaimed: "It's already past three o'clock, and it's still dark outside. Could it be that it's already early morning of the second day? We slept for a whole day!" He looked towards the entrance of the cave, the huge boulder outside had not completely sealed the entrance, leaving a small hole about the size of a copper coin in the middle. If not for this air vent, the two would have died from lack of oxygen long ago.

  As Liu Ying'er regained her vitality, Xue Xiang's suspended heart finally put down. He placed Liu Ying'er against the wall and stood up, walking to the entrance of the cave with his waist bent. With a casual push, he tried to move the giant boulder, but it didn't budge. Xue Xiang dared not be careless, so he squatted in a horse stance, circulated his breath to his dantian, raised both arms, and pressed his large hands firmly on the boulder. He strained with a loud "hng" sound, his face turning red, his ears burning, and his muscles bulging as if they were about to burst.

  With a sigh, Xue Xianglong let out a breath, retracted his arms and leaned against the wall, panting slightly. He was disappointed, the situation was much worse than he had imagined. Since he started practicing martial arts, his arms seemed to have supernatural strength, not to mention having the strength of a thousand jin, eight hundred jin was more than enough. Who knew that this stone was so heavy, even if it were a giant stone of over a thousand jin, with 800 jin of strength, he couldn't lift it, but he should be able to push it open?

  Xue Xiang took a deep breath and looked out of the hole, but all he saw was a black expanse with nothing discernible. He turned back to take a high-powered flashlight and made a reassuring gesture to Liu Ying'er before returning to the entrance of the hole. With the light from the flashlight, he could finally see the scene outside the hole. The original towering trees and lush green grass had been transformed into a fish and crab habitat, with river water flooding everywhere and mud all over the place. Tall trees were uprooted and scattered all over the ground, his motorcycle was completely destroyed, crushed by a fallen tree trunk. The flat grassland looked like it had been trampled by a giant beast from the flood, presenting a huge deep pit, with gurgling water flowing into it. He figured out why he couldn't push away the not-so-large boulder - it was because the rock was stuck under the root of a fallen white poplar tree that was about as thick as a single person could hug, and the trunk of the white poplar tree was also pressed down by a water fir tree. In this case, even if he had ten times more strength, he would probably still be powerless to move it.

  Liu Ying'er peeked at Xue Xiang's expression and knew that things might not be harmonious, so she said softly: "Come over and rest for a while, someone will come to rescue us."

  Xue Xiang couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart. After all the twists and turns, he had escaped to a dead end. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have bothered searching for an open space on the outskirts of town. At least then he wouldn't be trapped here. This place was quite far from the epicenter, so even if people came to rescue him, it would probably take some time. The only consolation was that Qin Tang wasn't as severely affected as before, so the rescue team's arrival would likely be much sooner.

  "Of course, someone will come to us, don't worry, just think of it as a picnic." Xue pretended to be calm and smiled, sitting back beside Liu Yinger and casually turning off the lamp.

  At this time, the wind blows away the clouds, and the bright moon is half-hidden. The stars twinkle in the night sky. Suddenly, a slanting moonbeam shines through the round hole, casting down a patch of moonlight. This copper coin-sized hole seems to have become the rhythm hole of nature's grand symphony. The wind blows like waves, entering and exiting, sounding like the blowing of a sheng or a flute. This small cave has become a self-contained world. The girl is as lovely as a painting, the boy is handsome and tall. They sit together in the stone room, the wind blows, and the moon surges in, as if it were an immortal world, with gods and immortals among humans.

  Are you afraid?

  "It's not scary, I think it's beautiful. I really want to stay here for the rest of my life." As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Yinger covered her mouth, blushing bright red all over her face, fortunately the moonlight was under her feet and couldn't shine on her face. She accidentally revealed her true feelings, feeling shy and embarrassed, at this moment it felt like there was a little deer of joy in her heart, jumping around wildly.

  "Here, eat up, it's cold on the ground, and replenish some heat." Xue smiled brightly at Ran Yan, feeling sweet in his heart. He turned on the lamp and handed over the bag beside him. Hmm, why was the bag so much lighter? Earlier, they had been fleeing and searching for a place to settle down, and later they were in a hurry to find a way out, and didn't have the mind to notice the weight of the bag. His heart suddenly dropped as he remembered that Ma Tiechui had used up some food. No wonder Liu Yinger didn't want to eat much, it turned out she knew there wasn't much food left and was worried about him going hungry.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  "Sure enough, a clear voice came from the darkness: 'I'm full, the chocolate was sweet and had enough calories. You eat now.'"

  Xue Xiang stopped talking, opened his backpack, carefully counted again, and found that there were only five pieces of chocolate left, seven or eight sugar beans, a pack of crackers. No matter what, it would not last for several days. It had been a whole day since the earthquake broke out, and the rescue operation should have started by now, hopefully it was still in time.

  "Go ahead and eat, it should be enough to hold you over until we're rescued." Xue handed her a piece of chocolate and the last package of crackers. He decided to speak openly, knowing the girl's temperament, that if he tried to deceive her, it would only backfire.

  Liu Ying'er took over the food, opened the packaging bag, "Eat together, you don't eat and I won't eat either." The voice was crisp, the tone resolute.

  Xue Xiang stopped being polite and took out a cookie, opening his mouth to eat it.

  Xue Xiang listened to the words, and Liu Ying'er's face lit up with a smile. In an instant, the spring breeze swept across her face, and peach blossoms bloomed in profusion. Even though he had seen Liu Ying'er's smile before, at this moment he couldn't help but fall into it, mechanically chewing on his biscuit, crumbs falling down, completely unaware.

  Liu Ying'er furrowed her eyebrows, stretched out her hand to catch the falling fragments, pulled over his thick palm, and poured them in, "Don't waste it."

  Xue Xiang smiled awkwardly and poured the crumbs into his mouth, "You eat too, I'll tell you a story after we finish." The long night was slowly passing, and it was necessary to find a way to alleviate the boredom. This situation, this scene, at this moment, wasn't it a great opportunity to tell stories?

  Liu Ying'er took out a piece of biscuit, carefully placed it on the edge of her mouth, her vermilion lips slightly opened, her pearly teeth moved slightly, biting off a corner, and slowly chewing, "You say, I listen, is it a love story?"

  "I suppose so." Who would have thought that little girl had a soft spot for sappy love stories?

  Xue Xiangzheng changed his tactics to trick her into eating more, seeing that the plan was working, he didn't waste any more words and started speaking: "To tell you the truth, this world originally doesn't have any gods or immortals. But since ancient times, humans have seen all sorts of strange things in the world around them - lightning flashing, thunder booming, fierce winds, heavy rains, and disasters that bring harm to people, causing countless deaths and injuries, filling the fields with mournful cries...

  Yes, Xue Xiang's work is the famous "Zhu Xian" that shocked the internet world. This piece has a grand scale and a tortuous storyline, but what makes it most memorable is the entangled and bitter love story within, which is full of twists and turns of life and death.

  "What's this, a ghost story like 'Liaozhai'?" Lianying couldn't help but ask as soon as she heard the beginning. She thought it was going to be a story similar to those about fox spirits and scholars. Although literature was scarce and many books were banned at that time, these ancient, passed-down stories about gods and ghosts were impossible to ban. Among them, 'Liaozhai' was the most famous, known by people of all ages.

  "No, listen down, it's ten times better than chatting with a fool, I guarantee." Xue smiled slightly and made a fist gesture, then began to speak: "...... Lu Xueqi's face was as cold as frost, her hand grasped the sword, and she actually stepped on the seven-star position in mid-air, taking seven steps in a row, her long sword suddenly stabbing into the sky. Her jade-like face instantly lost all its blood color, and she chanted: Nine Heavens Xuansha, transform into divine lightning. Brilliant heavenly power, with the sword to guide it..."

  "Ah!" With a cry, Liu Ying'er covered her mouth with her hand, and the food in her mouth almost fell out. Such a thrilling and intricate story, how could she resist it? She listened with rapt attention, sometimes clapping her hands in praise, sometimes bowing her head in sighs, and before she knew it, she had devoured an entire package of cookies and even finished off the chocolate. Just like girls of later generations who love to snack while watching Korean dramas, whether they're hungry or just want to eat. When all the food was gone, she was still entranced by the story, reaching out to grab more cookies, but her hand closed on empty air. She let out a loud "Ah!" and tears began to roll down her cheeks, her heart filled with regret: she had eaten an entire package of cookies by herself!