There is no way I can leave.
There's no point hiding on the edge. There's nowhere to hide in this passage, so why not just go back and take a look?
Sister Xu took the lead and the three of them returned to the cave they had been in. Across the shallows, they looked at the woman who was sitting with her legs bent backwards and her head lowered.
I don’t know if the woman had just woken up and hadn’t fully recovered her strength yet, or if her body was stiff and she had difficulty moving freely. In any case, she maintained one posture for a long time before moving again.
Unable to leave, yet daring not to move too far forward, the three men simply stood on the shore, watching from across the water. They stood there for a long time, watching the woman move slowly.
By the time she turned sideways and looked up at the three people on the other side, the hands on her watch had already passed six o'clock.
Although the light was dim, Lin Fan could clearly see that there was light reflection in the woman's eyes, which meant that she must have opened her eyes.
After Sister Xu knew that she had opened her eyes, she didn't want to continue this meaningless wait and took the initiative to speak, "Sir, the three of us accidentally entered your cave and disturbed your meditation. We meant no harm. Please forgive us for any offense."
If we can communicate, that's the best. If we can't communicate...
Lin Fan and the other two followed Sister Xu in bowing, but they didn't dare to bow too deeply. They kept their heads slightly raised and watched the black shadow with their peripheral vision.
The woman didn't reply, but the island began to emit a shimmering green light.
The light was much brighter than the cold light lamps they held. At first, it was just a few dots, like fireflies, but then it became more and more, and began to connect into one.
The green light reflected in the water, creating a large area of reflection, lighting up the entire cave. Although not as bright as daylight, the illumination was enough to clearly see the pits and dents on the cave wall.
After getting out of bed, it was the first time I could see so clearly.
This woman is not ordinary...
Lin Fan was daydreaming when he heard a voice coming from somewhere.
It did not come from the mouth of the woman in front, but floated in the cave, coming from all directions.
Her voice was rough and hoarse, with a strange accent. It took me a while to figure out that she might have said "say".
Is this to keep them talking? It seems like they can communicate.
Sister Xu thought so too, so she continued.
"Xianjia, the three of us came here to investigate a problem. We accidentally discovered an underground passage, followed it in, and found you lying here."
"Thinking you'd met with some kind of accident, we approached to investigate. Unable to do so, we touched your body, causing you to awaken from your slumber. We are to blame. Please forgive us, Immortal, and give us a chance to make amends."
When Sister Xu spoke, she deliberately added a bit of an old-fashioned tone, considering the era in which this person lived, which didn't sound very pleasant.
But she wasn't sure how people in the pre-Qin period spoke, so she tried her best.
The three men hunched their backs, none daring to raise their heads. The one with lowered eyebrows and submissive eyes only dared to glance ahead.
The bright light and the ethereal voice confirmed that this woman was no ordinary person. It was always right to respect her.
"Underground?" Perhaps because she had regained some strength, her voice wasn't as hoarse this time. While her accent was still odd, it was relatively easy to discern what she was saying.
"Yes, we are underground now..." Sister Xu hadn't finished her words when she felt the atmosphere suddenly become oppressive. Knowing that the topic was wrong, she quickly shut up.
Fortunately, it only took a moment, and he quickly recovered. However, the pressure just now made the three of them realize more intuitively that this person in front of them must not be offended.
After a long while, so long that Lin Fan felt his waist was a little sore, the ethereal voice came again.
"look up."
This time, the voice was much warmer.
Lin Fan and the other two quickly took the opportunity to straighten up. When they looked up, the first thing that caught their eyes was a sea of green.
The withered trees from a moment ago had grown larger, covered in a shimmering green… I wasn't sure if it was leaves or light. A vast, lush canopy of trees covered the entire island, rising directly to the top of the dome.
It looks like the top of the cave is filled with white lights with a greenish tint, no wonder it is so bright.
The second glance naturally saw the woman sitting under the tree.
She sat sideways, gently combing her long hair with her hands, pushing it in front of her little by little.
The fluorescent light from the green leaves shone on her, making her originally plain clothes emit a hazy glow.
Although her face was pale, it was not lacking in color, and was even more rosy than Sister Xu's.
The oval face and the not-so-sharp facial features give the whole person a gentle and soft feeling.
Compared to others, Lin Fan saw it more clearly.
The woman's eyes were light brown, somewhat like amber. Perhaps due to the reflection of the water, her eyes were filled with a deep and light green light.
She just looked at the three people calmly, as if they were old friends reminiscing about the past.
She is not a stunning beauty, but she looks comfortable no matter how you look at her.
Lin Fan looked at her, and four words emerged in his mind - "Mother Earth".
No, no, no, Mother Earth is Nüwa, a giant figure with a human body and a snake tail. This is what is recorded in murals and legends.
But thinking about it again, in terms of age... it seems close, right?
Legend has it that during the Shang Dynasty, Nuwa was still around and could even send Daji to harm King Zhou...
Lin Fan involuntarily shifted his gaze to her legs. He hadn't looked closely before, but it wasn't impossible for her to transform into a tail...
While they were each thinking about their own things, the women on the island were quietly observing them.
They were dressed strangely, holding strange objects in their hands. Apart from the two men and one woman, whose genders were easy to identify, everything else seemed unfamiliar.
"Name." She uttered the word lightly and continued to stroke her hair slowly.
Lin Fan noticed that her hair had all gathered in front of her and was now submerged in the water. He didn't know if it was just a psychological effect, but it seemed to be getting slicker and slicker.
Sister Xu knew they were being asked to report their names. Although names sometimes had special restrictions and couldn't be casually disclosed, they didn't seem to have the right to choose now.
As for just saying a name to deceive the boss, I would never dare to do that.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he decisively announced his name and introduced the other two.
Lin Fan didn't know why, but he suddenly remembered the scene in Journey to the West about the purple gold gourd. If you called someone's name, they would be sucked into the gourd...
Fortunately, what she worried about did not happen.
"My name is Nuchou." The woman lowered her eyes to look at the shimmering water and actually said her own name.
This boss is very polite, Lin Fan thought.
Sister Xu was not as calm as her. Her usually cold face changed, her eyes widened, and her voice broke with surprise.
"Ugly female?!"
Lin Fan didn't understand why, so he leaned closer to Wu Yusen and asked quietly, "Who?"
It took John Woo a while to realize who the ugly woman was. He couldn't hide his surprise and replied.
"Nu Chou was an ancient sorceress recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Legend has it that she possessed such profound magical powers that she could subdue sea monsters thousands of miles across. Later, when ten suns appeared simultaneously, people asked her to pray for rain, but Nu Chou's magical powers were insufficient, and she was sunburned to death."
Lin Fan had heard of "Classic of Mountains and Seas", a wonderful book that described ancient myths and strange stories.
But she had never seen it. She only knew that it contained Nuwa, a white fox, and some strange mythical animals, but she really didn't know what else there was.
But since this ugly woman is a person in the book, she is equivalent to a deity from the same period as Nuwa.
Oh my god, that level is so high!
But wasn't she sunburned to death? Is she... alive again?
I thought about this for a long time before I came up with the idea of writing about her. It was really difficult.