070 Found the cave entrance

There's a type of person, he's from the Western Capital City, where he owns the place. These kinds of people are found all over the country, and they're particularly annoying.

When Sniffer cursed the city, Ironball wasn't pleased.

"The city's no good, then why don't you leave? You've got some nerve."

Sniffer stretched his neck out, like a cock ready to fight. "You're full of crap. Don't talk about three generations, even just one generation above you, your ancestors were just like me. Don't get too cocky, kid."

"You motherf*cker, you're cursing again. Today I'm gonna skin you alive." Ironball grabbed Sniffer's collar, but unexpectedly, Sniffer struck first with a punch to Ironball's stomach.

The two immediately started wrestling, like mating dogs barking at each other.

Suddenly, I remembered something. Bats usually live in damp caves, so if there are bats here, there might be a cave nearby.

"Ironball, is there a cave nearby?"

Ironball thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, there shouldn't be. There's no path leading out of here. If Sniffer hadn't fallen into the ravine, we wouldn't even be here."

Stonemaiden added, "Yeah, Guangting, why are you asking about this?"

Before I could respond, Snow spoke up, "The lazy one grinds the most sh*t. It's not even dark yet, and you're already thinking about finding a place to rest."

"Wait a minute, I suddenly remembered something. A few years ago, some people from the south came here to scout for a tourist attraction..."

As he spoke, Ironball seemed to remember something and suddenly swallowed hard, becoming visibly nervous.

"What happened next?" I asked.

Ironball shook his head. "I don't know."

Snow interjected, "Are you saying they might all be dead?"

Ironball shook his head again. "I don't know."

Sniffer chimed in, "What's so strange about that? Maybe they thought it wasn't worth developing and just left."

I asked Ironball, "Can you imitate the sound of bats?"

Ironball was still mad at me, but he didn't want to disrespect Snow, so he reluctantly nodded.

"Bats are rare. I'll give it a try. Should work."

With that, Ironball grinned, showing his teeth, and made some adjustments to his mouth shape. He made some strange sounds, similar to the sound of sweaty hands rubbing a blackboard, which sent shivers down everyone's spine.

Sniffer exclaimed, "That's incredible!"

After a while, several bats flew over from a distance, gradually growing larger. 

"Everyone, be careful."

I immediately hugged Stonemaiden to my chest. As the bats flew overhead, we could even see their facial features and teeth.

After circling for a few times, the black stream narrowed and elongated, curling towards the dense forest, disappearing from sight.

"The entrance to the cave must be right ahead, hurry!"

We hurriedly chased after them, disturbing the thorny bushes along the way. When we cleared them aside, we were shocked to find a cave entrance.

From the scene, the entrance should have been decently sized, enough for a person to walk through without any problem. But over the centuries, erosion from wind and rain had caused the entrance to collapse, sealing off most of it.

We gathered around the entrance, shining our flashlights inside. It was pitch black, and a chill emanated from within, sending shivers down our spines.

"Have we found the entrance to hell? If I knew, I would've brought billions of dollars with me, just to send those corrupt officials straight there," Sniffer remarked.

Half of his voice remained outside, while the other half seemed to be sucked in.

Ironball sarcastically said, "Those who earn ten thousand a month worry about refining strategies, those who earn a thousand a month worry about uniting the team, those who earn three hundred a month worry about finding another job. People who can't make ends meet all day long talk about international situations or throw around big words."

Sniffer retorted, "Mind your own business, you can't control others' bowel movements and farts."

"Yeah, what you said," Ironball agreed.

Stonemaiden, with an injury on her foot, stood to the side after taking a glance at the collapsed dirt mound at the entrance.

She pointed at the collapsed dirt mound and asked, "What's this?"

Looking closely, we saw many special soil chunks on the ground, though they were broken and difficult to recognize. However, we could still vaguely see some curves, like broken tiles, showing clear signs of human craftsmanship. We also found traces similar to those left by a tamper.

"This is definitely Hu Ji," Sun Tiedan said.

Most people born in the 90s and 2000s probably don't know what Hu Ji is. When I was a kid, Hu Ji was an essential building material for rural houses. It was made by pouring wet soil into a wooden mold sprinkled with grass and wood ash, then compacting it with a stone hammer. After drying, it could be used to build houses.

Because of the compacting with a stone hammer, there would be marks left on it.

"In front of Ironball is correct, this is indeed Hu Ji."

The appearance of Hu Ji indicates that there may have been long-term human habitation here during the Western Zhou period. But a new problem arose: in the 1970s, archaeologists successively discovered the Zhouyuan ruins in Fufeng and Qishan, now in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province. This indicates that Zhou culture developed around here, which is the central core of the story in "Fengshen Yanyi," known as the Western Qi's main base.

However, this area is in Yijun County, Tongchuan City, and Baishui County, Weinan City, hundreds of kilometers away from the Zhouyuan ruins. Moreover, in agricultural societies, people mainly lived in plains. How could there be people living in the Yanmen Mountains?

As I was thinking, Snow couldn't wait and was ready to go in to explore.

"Guangting, lead the way."

Stonemaiden said, "White surname, you're despicable. You want Guangting to lead the way so you can stab him in the back from behind, right?"

"Your appearance reflects your inner ugliness and evil intentions, and that's you," Snow retorted.

"Get lost, demoness."

Sun Tiedan cleared the entrance and said to everyone, "Shall I lead the way?"

We followed one after another.

Inside were descending steps, hardened by stone hammering, with clear tamper marks.

As we descended, the light transitioned from bright to dark, and soon everything was enveloped in darkness.

Snow pinched her nose and muttered, "Why does it smell so bad, like a toilet."