Book 3: Chapter


    Fatty! I shouted as I looked at Ping Lians reflection. When I heard Fattys answering call, I said, "Theres a situation."


    "You can deal with it," Fattys voice said from further inside the tunnel. "I have something to do."


    I looked at the face in the water and saw those eyes looking at me coldly. "Cant you juste over here?" I called out again.


    "Mr. Nave, its time to grow up. Youll have to eat and shit by yourself sooner orter."


    "Please, Fatty." I was a little desperate because I felt that Ping Lian wasnt drinking as much water now and the face in the reflection was starting to show a vicious expression.


    Fatty finally came over but paused when he saw Ping Lian. I directed his attention to the reflection in the water.


    Fatty squinted at it and then immediately pulled me back. We were both feeling a little scared and held onto each other. "Why is your Uncle Twos face appearing on a dog?" Fatty asked.


    That face really did resemble my Uncle Two, but it definitely wasnt; otherwise, it could only be exined as another kind of metaphysics. Plus, there was no way that ferocious expression could be made by a humans facial muscles.


    Ping Lian slowly stopped drinking and looked up at me. At this time, the face in the waters reflection was showing an extremely ferocious expression. Then, I saw that face''s mouth move and form a word.


    Of course, Ping Lian by the waters edge didnt speak and just looked at us, but the face and mouth below were moving. We just couldnt hear any sound. Fatty reached for his knife at the same time that I started to reach for my own knife with my left hand.


    I used my right hand to grip Fatty as I stared at that face without showing any fear.


    Finally, after the face and I stared at each other for a few minutes, Ping Lian turned and left the pool. But when he ran directly out of the hole, I noticed a strange sightPing Lian had left, but the face in the waters reflection didnt move at all. In fact, it was still in the same position.


    It was at this time that I realized this thing wasnt a reflection but a human face in the water. It had just so happened to ovep with Ping Lians reflection.


    But before we could react, that face suddenly came out of the water. It had originally been facing the opposite way, but once it came out of the water, its head rotated 180 degrees.


    Its body didnte out of the water, but in the next second, that face retreated back into the pool. There seemed to be a hole under it, and when it retreated into the hole, a huge wave of water surged up.


    Fatty and I crouched there frozen in the same spot for a long time before we were sure that it wouldnt pop up again somewhere else. The scene just now was absolutely terrifying. It looked as if that face was attached to a very long neck, but I wasnt sure.


    "Do you think this thing is a different typepared to the one you saw before?" Fatty asked.


    I nodded. This face was very differentpared to the others I had seen. The first one I saw was a ck person who moved very fast. The other was a corpse wearing ancient clothes that was wrapped up in mercury-covered moss, which was an ancient burial method used to preserve corpses.


    It felt as if this was a rtionship between grazers and herders.


    Fatty asked if the fat corpses he had seen along the way were actually dead cows that could produce milk, but I remembered seeing both males and females among those corpses. Since they were so fat, they were probably meant to be eaten.


    Of course, this was all just spection since no one knew what was happening below this grasnd.


    But the face I saw just now was definitely different from the two I had seen before, which made it the third kind of thing that I had seen so far. The shape was simr to the others, but for some reason, I felt as if this face could think.


    As the surging water gradually calmed down, I saw the pebbles in the pool quickly fall back and fill in the ce where that head hade out of. The hole probably led to an underground area below the pool, but it was all covered by the pebbles now.


    That face had looked like it was saying a word to me just now. I knew it had to be anguage, but I really didnt understand Mongolian.


    I imitated the pronunciation of the words I thought that face had said and came up with the following words that sounded simr: broadcast, beat, kindness, and exterminate.⁽¹⁾


    Fatty asked me what it meant, but I just shook my head. The frustration in my heart had reached its limit: how many obstacles could be caused by not understanding a civilization and culture? I couldnt even conduct effective reasoning here.


    After that, I kept watch and thought about all of the clues as I waited for Poker-Face to return. Unfortunately, I didn''t make any progress and Poker-Face didn''t get anything, either. As it turned out, the gap led to a dead end. The rest of the gap had copsedpletely, so he didn''t dare go any further.


    After discussing it, we felt that theyers of soil here had been specially treated and were prone to copse. This was especially true for the excavated grave robbers'' tunnels, which could onlyst for a short time. If this mountain was really packed earth, then it was probably the most annoying situation we could encounter.


    There was a time limit when it came to the structural integrity of these grave robbers'' tunnels because the soil here was like sheep intestines. In other words, when the grave robbers'' tunnel was excavated halfway, the first excavated part would copse and the exit would be blocked. Your only option would be to continue digging down to reach the underground pce.


    After arriving at the underground pce, you could then use the air there and dig your way back. But it was still the same situation. The grave robbers'' tunnel would continue to copse, so youd have to keep moving forward without stopping.


    This was a very special craft, which enabled the underground pce to naturally be closed off after it was robbed. It was also extremely demanding for the craftsman making the holes, because there could be no mistakes when it came to physical strength or positioning ability.


    We had adequate experience, but I wasnt confident at all. I not only understood what thoserge grave robbers'' tunnels meant, but I also knew that there were a lot of corpses in those countless small grave robbers'' tunnels nearby. They were the bodies of those who didnt reach the underground pce and died halfway.


    I thought of Shen Qianjue again and began to realize what information she had been hiding from us.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) b ()=broadcast; d ()=hit; c ()=kindness; mi ()=exterminate