Chapter 74: Razorfin Viperfish In The Northwest Cave, The Old Shopkeeper’s Immortality Technique
Su Mo naturally didn’t need to carry a rifle, still carrying his own Frost Moon Sword on his back, while Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pang Zi felt much more at ease touching their rifles.
Da Jin Ya and Chen Xia Zi were both smooth talkers, but they didn’t have much real skill, and one was blind and the other had asthma, so they simply couldn’t go down.
But the militia platoon leader, who had been terrified before, now wanted to go down with them.
This guy was also quite smart, realizing that Su Mo and the other two definitely had skills, and as the local militia platoon leader, if these three went in and something happened, he would definitely be held accountable; but if nothing happened and they rescued Professor Sun and the others, it would be a great achievement for him.
With no other choice, Su Mo and the other two could only bring the militia platoon leader and two brave militiamen, then slowly descended into the cave.
They saw that below the entrance was a slope, with no stairs or anything like that; it looked like a structure built along a natural underground fissure, and at the end of the slope was a stone house, entirely built from round stones, and inside the stone house there was nothing but a stone bed.
In the middle of the stone house was another square opening, and shining the Wolf Eye Flashlight down revealed a staircase at a forty-five-degree angle, with bottomless depths below.
Su Mo and the others then walked down the stairs, seeing below them a huge artificially carved cave with a pool inside; the pool water was pitch black and bottomless, and above it hung several iron chains as thick as a child’s arm, seeming to lock something inside.
“This… wouldn’t be locking a dragon, would it!”
Seeing the iron chains as thick as a child’s arm, the militia platoon leader couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
He often heard legends about things like dragon-locking wells, and now seeing this bottomless pool with such thick iron chains inside, he thought there was an evil dragon locked in the pool.
No sooner had he spoken than the iron chains suddenly shook, as if the thing locked inside had heard people talking and suddenly struggled.
The militiamen all turned pale with fright, and Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pang Zi quickly aimed their rifles at the pool.
Using the Great Yin Meditation Technique, Su Mo saw an extremely dark energy surging in the pool water, clearly indicating that the thing locked in the pool was no ordinary object, so he said gravely:
“You all watch, I’ll pull up the chain!”
The militia platoon leader was startled upon hearing this:
“Comrade cadre, don’t just randomly touch it; I’ve often heard the elders say that these underground pools lock either the Dragon King Lord or some monster—if you pull it out and it hurts people, we’re done for!”
“Where are there so many monsters? You all just watch from the side!”
Su Mo didn’t bother listening to his nagging, then drew the Frost Moon Sword with one hand and grabbed an iron chain with the other.
Clang clang clang!
Amid the sound of the iron chain dragging, this iron chain as thick as a child’s arm and weighing several hundred pounds was dragged out single-handedly by Su Mo, and huge water splashes immediately rose from below the surface, as if some huge monster was about to appear!
The militia platoon leader and the militiamen all turned pale, their legs trembling uncontrollably; although they held rifles, in their current state, it would be a miracle if they didn’t accidentally shoot their comrades.
Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pang Zi were also quite shocked at heart but could still stay calm, gripping their rifles tightly with both hands, muzzles aimed at the water splashes in the pool.
Su Mo continued dragging the iron chain with one arm, water splashes surging nonstop on the surface, and soon a dark, massive object was dragged out of the water by him.
Seeing it, the militia platoon leader couldn’t help but shout in alarm:
“Oh my! Could this be Lord Taishang Laojun’s alchemy furnace?”
The object dragged out was pitch black all over, shaped like a large water vat but not quite; everyone who saw it was filled with doubt—could the blind man have been right, and this really be a place where ancients refined pills?
Seeing that the chain locked not some monster or evil dragon, the militia platoon leader’s courage grew much greater, and he led the militiamen with torches to approach.
Under the illumination of several torches, the thing became much clearer; it very much resembled a water vat, but it had countless round holes and was engraved with many strange patterns, its mouth sealed shut with a pointed lid locked by six bolts.
As this thing was pulled out of the water, the accumulated water inside all flowed out through the round holes, then the vat body suddenly shook, as if something was still locked inside!
The militia platoon leader was peering into the vat when this movement scared him into a shudder, but one militiaman nearby was bolder and, raising his rifle, fired a shot at the water vat.
Bang!
The water vat shattered, and many pale, glowing strange fish immediately swam out from inside, along with several human skeletons that scattered down.
Though these strange fish were only two or three feet long, they were very strong, bouncing nonstop after landing on the ground, with huge mouths full of saw-toothed sharp teeth!
【Razorfin Viperfish, a carnivorous fish species living in dark rivers!】
Seeing the names of these fish through the Great Yin Meditation Technique, Su Mo couldn’t help but be stunned.
These Razorfin Viperfish were originally supposed to live in underground dark rivers in the southwest, yet somehow they appeared in the pool inside a cave in Shaanxi!
At this moment, the militia platoon leader saw silver ornaments on a human skeleton scattered on the ground and exclaimed in shock:
“Isn’t this that someone’s daughter-in-law? She disappeared after returning to her parents’ home the year before last; everyone said she was abducted or murdered—how did she die here!”
As he spoke, footsteps came from deep in the cave.
It was Professor Sun and the archaeological team who, hearing the gunshots above, hurried over.
It turned out that Professor Sun had not met with any mishap; he had discovered many ancient stone tablets below and, being obsessed with archaeology his whole life, couldn’t move upon seeing so many and stayed inside studying them for half a day without coming out, leading the militia platoon leader to think something had happened to him.
And this black large water vat belonged to the old shopkeeper of the coffin shop who had died before.
This old shopkeeper had come from Yunnan, and these Razorfin Viperfish were exactly what he had brought from waterways near the Ancient Dian Kingdom.
The Ancient Dian Kingdom had an evil technique of raising these Razorfin Viperfish in pools, feeding them with the flesh and blood of living people to grow them large, then people eating the fish meat could achieve immortality, be free of all diseases, and even become strong and swift-footed.
This old shopkeeper had come from Yunnan, perhaps a descendant of the Xian Wang’s Ancient Dian Kingdom people, thus learning this secret technique; he used the water vat below this cave to raise many Razorfin Viperfish, feeding them human flesh.
Because he feared others discovering his evil deeds, he deliberately spread rumors that nailing a coffin would cause someone nearby to die, making people in the area too afraid to approach the coffin shop under normal circumstances.
With the truth revealed here, Professor Sun saw Su Mo and the others and couldn’t help but be surprised:
“Who are you people?”
Seeing that the two didn’t know each other at all, the militia platoon leader was immediately very puzzled:
“Huh! Didn’t this cadre comrade say he knew Professor Sun? Could he have been deceiving us?”
