《Daomu Biji: Restart》


 Book 1: Chapter 1: Nanjing Locker

    Book 1: Chapter 1: Nanjing Locker


    Let me start with something interesting.


    Tian Youjin was a pharmacist who dealt in caterpir fungus (1). He had a close rtionship with my elders and belonged to the e and give me a hug" category of uncles that I used to see when I was young.


    During the Cultural Revolution in thete 1970s, Tian Youjin had to live in a ruralmunity in the mountainous areas of Inner Mongolia. He always talked about how he got separated from the herding team one time and ended up wandering around the grasnds for two months. During that time, he led the flock and even escaped from a mountain wolf before finally being saved.


    Whenever he reunited with hisrades-in-arms and had too much to drink, he would start telling this story as if it was a part of his character development. In his ount, that time was a rare rainy season in Inner Mongolia. The torrential rain and lightning all over the sky was the most beautiful and frightening scenery he had ever seen.


    In 2013, Tian Youjin began to suffer from liver failure as a result of his alcoholism, which led to systemic organ failure. On his deathbed, hisrades came to see him. They pitied him and tried tofort him, but at that time, he told them a second version of what he had experienced.


    In the previous versions, he had experienced all this alone. But in the story he told before his death, there was one more person present. For decades, he never mentioned the existence of this person.


    Tian Youjin met this man at the beginning of the second month after he entered the depths of the grasnd. It was raining heavily that day. When he looked up at the valley, he saw a man standing on a ridge in no-mansnd, staring at the lightning in the sky.


    He couldn''t see the man clearly in the torrential rain. All he saw was the distant man pointing him in the right direction before he disappeared into the forest. There were no horses or herdsmen behind him. He was the only person.


    ording to Tian Youjin, this was a magical moment. The ce was nearly a month away from the nearest outpost. Without horses and supplies, it was absolutely impossible for anyone to walk that far in the old forest.


    A person suddenly appearing in such a ce was so suspicious that he almost thought the other person was lost. But the man didn''t ask him for help.


    He also thought that the other party might have been a spy who had entered through Mongolia and was exploring the terrain here. Or he had met a mountain ghost. He was so frightened that he dared not speak about it for a long time. After being seriously ill, the images in his brain became clearer and clearer, and he finally decided to speak about it.


    I had read this excerpt in my grandfather''s notes. At that time, my grandfather had wanted to buy some caterpir fungus from Tian Youjin. I didnt know from whom hed heard the story, but my grandfather''s evaluation was very simple. He thought that the man Tian Youjin had seen in the mountains was a grave robber.


    In Xu Ke''s Anthology of Petty Matters in the Qing Dynasty: Thieves (2), there was a story about Jiao Si, a big thief in Guangzhou. Jiao Si often stayed near Baiyun Mountain and engaged in grave robbing. He had dozens of disciples who had skills like listening to the rain, wind, and thunder, and looking at the grass color, mud tracks, and so on. One day, he was out on the northern outskirts of the city. It was around noon when thunder and lightning broke out across the sky. Jiao Si sent everyone in all four directions, telling them to listen and observe their surroundings. They must not hesitate even with the thunderstorm going on and shouldmit whatever they had seen to memory. Jiao Si stood tall at the top of the ridge in the midst of the thunderstorm. The rain gradually stopped after a while, at which point someone returned from the east. They said that when a loud p of thunder rang out, they felt a faint vibration under their feet and heard a sounding from the ground. Thats it! Jiao Si said happily.


    Any time thunder boomed across the sky, the hollow caves and tombs in the mountains would resonate, making it easier to find the locations of tombs in thoserge areas.


    Inner Mongolia having such a huge rainy season was something that was rarely seen for decades. It must have taken a lot of patience and two generations worth of nning over several decades to be able to appear at the scene at such a time. This individuals sudden appearance on the mountain wasnt for something simple. Instead, they were there for a big tomb buried deep under the mountain.


    But the way things developed wasnt so simple. In fact, the development of this story waspletely different from my previous experience.


    It all started with a text message from my Uncle Three.


    There had been many stories involving both me and my Uncle Three before. After he disappeared in the Tarim Basin, I always believed on the surface that he was gone, but in my heart, I always felt that he wouldnt die so easily. During the Chinese New Year this year, I received a short, cryptic message from a strange number.


    East Nanjing Drum Tower, Arctic Pavilion Weather Museum, locker 221. Happy New Year.


    I felt like the hesitant and roundabout style of this short message was odd, but that kind of style had frequently apanied me before ten years ago. Everything Uncle Three used to send me was usually easy to understand, so I didn''t know what he was trying to do.


    During all those years, I had been looking forward to the day when Uncle Three would tell me the secrets in his heart. I wanted to see what was so great that he felt the need to lie to me. When Iter found out that he might not be my real Uncle Three, I suddenly understood something. If a person had to bear too many lies, he might not be able to rify them even if he wanted to.


    I let go of my obsession at that time, because I was afraid that he was deceiving me about my own identity. Maybe I wasn''t me. Maybe I was born as a toad spirit, or I came from a three-thousand-year-old rock or something. Although I was confident that I had been an ordinary person since birth, I didn''t know how to face myself in case I was from an illogical or illustrious background like that.


    I didn''t go to Nanjing immediately, but went to Beijing first. My presence put a lot of pressure on things there, so Fatty and I eventually left for Nanjing. I had been reading that text message on the high-speed train over and over again. I didn''t try to call the number back like I would have done before. Instead, I had learned that hiding myself first was the best way to take the lead.


    Fatty asked me what I wanted to do.


    I had been doing some thinking and knew that things like lockers were usually cleaned out every night. If something had been ced inside the locker, then it wouldnt have made it through the night. If I went there, I wasnt expecting to see anything inside that locker. But even if someone had put something in there, then it must have been taken to the lost and found. Like this, they could ensure that the item wouldnt be taken away after it was left behind.


    Another possibility was that the information or item was stuck in a hidden part of the locker, or simply written in there with a ck light pen.


    But I didnt think it was possible. Based on my understanding of Uncle Three, the locker itself must have been tampered with.


    The Arctic Pavilion had a very long history. It had always been famous since the Observatory of Astronomy had been built in the Liu Song period of the Southern Dynasties (3). A huge observation tform was built there in the early Ming Dynasty, which made me wonder if Wang Zanghai had been involved at the time.


    All of this meant that the ce wasnt irrelevant.


    There werent many obstacles along the way. We found an employee, gave them the locker number, and then followed them the whole way.


    Locker 221 wasnt in use and happened to be open. I looked inside, but found that it was empty. Fatty helped block me from prying eyes as I felt around the inside to make sure there wasnt a hiddenpartment. When I still didnt find anything, I asked about the lost and found.


    Fatty looked at me, "So stupid. Isnt it just a spam message?"


    I shook my head and turned to look at the wall opposite locker 221 as I tried to think. The wall was full of guestbooks that people could look at. I pointed my hand straight across to where locker 221 would be on the opposite side and walked over, finding a guest book.


    There was a string that attached the book to a wooden nk that ran across the wall. I opened the book and began to skim it. As I flipped through a few pages, I came to one in particr that had the following passage written on it:


    <strong>Transfer Statement</strong>


    I hereby transfer Plot No.87 of Section A, Changping Road, Xiaosongshan to Wu Xie free of charge.


    Transferor: Wu Sanxing


    Transferee: _____________


    The transfer of rights will bepleted when this document is signed, without any other agreement.


    There was also a thumbprint on it. I froze for a moment and Fatty asked, "What''s wrong?"


    "My Uncle Three left me a piece ofnd," I said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) If you skipped the Zhang family extra, caterpir fungus (Cordyceps sinensis), is a fungus that grows on insects. Its mainly found in the Tibetan teau. It parasitizesrvae of ghost moths and produces a fruiting body thats valued as an herbal remedy and is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Its now considered an endangered species in China because of overharvesting and overexploitation. ording to this page, its taken as a generic immune booster, or to treat a growing list of conditions, including cancer. But its anti-tumor properties have never been tested in a clinical trial. More general info here.


    (2) Xu Ke (18691928)s Anthology of Petty Matters in the Qing Dynasty is considered an "unofficial" history of the Qing Dynasty that provides an encyclopedic coverage of life during that time. The content is extremely vast and includes all aspects of history, society, state, the arts, and human life. It''sposed of extracts and quotes from people without livelihoods, including scoundrels, thieves, opium addicts, etc. More info here.


    (3) The Liu Song period was around (420-479 CE)


    ****


    <strong><em>Like I said before, merry early Christmas darlings! lol. Wee aboard the Reboot/Restart train, it''s gonna be a long ride! (845 pages if you want to get technical) Hope you all are prepared, because I''ve been scrambling the past two days to get everything copied from the trantion sites and keep the updates going (my dumb ass thought I already did it, but I had only copied the raws. You should''ve seen my face lol). Anyways, thetter half of this chapter is from Reunion episode 1 (around 36:50) if you all care. I found a new book to read and Tiffany is taking a well-deserved night off, so no Southern Archives chapter tonight (and only 1 Reboot chapter). Until tomorrow~~~~ </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 2: Abandoned Weather Station

    Book 1: Chapter 2: Abandoned Weather Station


    I rolled up the whole guestbook, pulled it off the string with a hard tug, shoved it in my pocket, and then left the museum. Fatty followed me out, but he didn''t seem to understand what was going on. We squatted down in a corner and carefully read the transfer statement several times. I flipped back and forth through the guestbooks other pages and found that all the other messages were normal. This was the only page that had a problem.


    "Thisdoes this really count?" Fatty asked me.


    I nodded. Although I didnt know much about these kinds of things, all the other documents must have been prepared if Uncle Three really wanted to leave me something.


    Fatty immediately went back in, saying that he would go through all the other guestbooks on the wall since there might be other plots that were transferred like this.


    I sat on the steps and waited for him. I was in a daze for a long time before I finally recovered and checked the information on my phone. The plot at No.87, Section A, Changping Road, Xiaosongshan seemed to be arge area in Yeshan, Nanjing that used to be a weather station. Uncle Three bought the whole plot after the station was condemned. He had done it more than a decade ago whennd prices were very low. Although that plot wasnt very valuable now, it was still a huge sumpared to what it had been worth at the time.


    But this wasn''t the first time that Uncle Three had boughtnd. He ended up buying most of thend around his old house, but he certainly hadn''t done it for investment purposes.


    My initial reaction was, <em>what''s underground?</em>


    But in this day and age, it was a well-known fact that the things in tombs often werent as valuable as thend the tombs upied. With this particr plot ofnd, it didnt seem to matter what was underground.


    Fatty didnt find anything and came back out, but he didnt seem dejected at all. We got in the car and headed for Yeshan Town. Fatty cracked the window, took out a cigarette, and then shook his head, "Mr. Nave, your uncle is actually quite loyal. Why didnt I have such an uncle? It looks like weve found a career in the second half of our lives. If God wants you to be rich at midnight, who can make you poor just before the dawn (1)? This Fat Master should be the general manager, yeah?"


    I didn''t have time to talk nonsense with him. I felt my heart start churning as I looked at the simple deed in my hand and the thumbprint that was on it.


    Uncle Three might not really be dead.


    On the one hand, an unresolved stone in my heart had finally begun to shift in a direction that made me feel at ease. If he wasnt dead, then it wasnt any of my business how he stirred up trouble outside. But on the other hand, if he didn''t die and didn''t show up, did that mean that things werent over yet? It was a terrifying thought.


    Not only had the Wu family secretly dealt with things for three generations, but I had already used up all my strength. My mind and even the demons in my heart were too old to keep going now. Was it really not over?


    I didnt dare think about it.


    We asked the Didi driver a bunch of questions as we headed towards the weather station. Yeshan was a mining town full of mountains and valleys. There were even a variety of rolling hillsides and various geological protection areas around the town. I checked the county annals and found that the underground mines in this town were all tunnels from past dynasties. The earliest discovered tunnels were from the Western Zhou Dynasty, and they stretched several hundred meters below ground. I didnt know whether Uncle Three had bought this ce because of those mines or if there was something else here.


    When we turned off the main road and started down the vige road, the driver told us that the weather station was on the mountain behind the vige. We got out of the car and headed into the old, cramped vige. Old wooden houses and new concrete houses were all crowded together, and the path in between them was only three people wide. Many slogans from the Cultural Revolution were still there. The vegetation out here on the outskirts of the city was well protected, and the trees were towering. Although the vige road was only a few steps away, there was still a sinister feeling that came with walking in the mountains.


    Once we left the vige, we followed the barren mountain road up the back of the mountain. Fatty was frowning and started scolding, "This lot can only be used to build a graveyard. Thend we just walked past is so good, yet all your Uncle Three left you was a corner."


    "Tomb real estate is still real estate. Do one business, love one business (2)." Iughed at him.


    The weather station had to be located in a ce with minimal environmental interference, so we were heading in the right direction. At the top of the mountain, I saw an old sealed iron gate that had a decaying sign on it that read: Weather Station. Many sections of the yellow cement walls on both sides of the gate had copsed and weeds were sprouting from them. I could see moss and centipede vines overrunning other parts of the walls, practically engulfing them. I looked through the bars in the iron gate and saw the weather stations old building still standing there. The outer wall lookedpletely moldy and mottled, and was covered in more moss and vines. Rotten leaves littered the ground inyers so thick that I figured they would reach my ankles when I walked in.


    The mountain air was filled with the musty smell of soil, grass, and rotten leaves, as well as the rusty smell of the iron gate. It made my throat feel tight.


    Fatty''s eyes were looking straight ahead, "Shit, they didn''t tear it down? Well have to do it ourselves. And we cant get equipment up the road, either. It''s a fucking loss."


    When I looked at this oversized Golmud sanatorium look-alike, my first reaction was to turn my head and walk away. There was no doubt that something was going on here. I could even feel a huge pressureing out of the decaying ruins of the building. This was another huge Pandora''s box that Uncle Three had given me, and I shouldnt open it.


    But I didn''t turn back.


    I thought of my Uncle Three. If he had been tied up by a perverted savage in the wild, then the only person who could save him was me. If I turned my head and left, my heart would never be at peace.


    Even though Fatty was disappointed, he still climbed through one of the breaches in the wall. I moved to follow him, and the two of us waded through the weeds. As we approached the concrete building, I saw a square line of numbers graffitied on the outer wall of the doorway.


    1773xxx5034


    It was a cell phone number.


    I took out my phone and pulled up the text message. This was the number that had sent me the New Years blessing text. At that time, the phones software couldnt tell whether it was spam or harassment.


    Fatty and I looked at each other.


    I pulled my Kukri out of my backpack and put it on my hip while Fatty found a brick nearby. But just as we were about to walk into the ruins of the weather station, I suddenly heard someone talking. Fatty grabbed me and hid in a bush.


    At that moment, we saw two or three peopleing out of the ruins. "I, Wu Sanxing, have always been a man of my word, one of them was saying. If you want thisnd, now is the time to buy it. In less than three years, thend prices here will double. Ive talked with the vige. Half the money for the road will go to them and the other half will go to me. You only need to sign your name."


    The man who answered him spoke in the Nanjing dialect. I couldnt understand what he was saying, but he didn''t seem to be satisfied. But the first person who spoke said he was Wu Sanxing and his voice was very familiar.


    But even though it was familiar, it definitely wasnt my Uncle Threes voice. <em>Who is it?</em> I wondered to myself.


    When we looked up from the bushes, we saw an old acquaintance walking out. It was none other than Jin Wantang, our oldrade.


    He brought the people to the door and pointed to the vige at the foot of the mountain. "This is a vige that gives rise to brilliantly talented people. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been sixteen such people. I, Wu Sanxing, looked at the feng shui here and saw that it wasnt bad. You can go ask anyone. You could tear this weather station down and build a school. If you dont believe me, ask my nephew. I told him to stay in this vige before the college entrance examination. He didn''t believe me back then either, and only stayed here for half a month. He could''ve gone to MIT if he stayed here longer than that, but he got into Zhejiang University (3) instead. "


    Jin Wantang''s assistant started nodding beside him, "I was stupid back then. My uncle can''t be wrong in this regard."


    "Isnt this Big Gold Tooth? Why is he here? Fatty whispered. "What is he doing spouting such bullshit?"


    I frowned and listened for a while, suddenly realizing that these two guys were posing as me and my Uncle Three to sell thend.


    At this time, a hammering sound came from inside the ruins. There appeared to be some people working inside. When I nced at Fatty, he said, "Well this is awkward. How are you going to handle it?"


    "Damn it!" I quickly stood up and shouted, "Jin Wantang!"


    Said man had just sent the people away and immediately froze when he looked back and saw my unexpected appearance. Then, his whole body leaped up and he ran away with a "Wah!" Fatty and I moved to outnk him as his man came over to stop us. Fatty tripped the guy and pushed him directly to the ground. When the guynded, he didn''t dare get up again.


    Fatty continued giving chase.


    The three of us rushed into the vige, but Jin Wantang was too old to run. I kicked him into the courtyard of the viges ancestral hall and then went up and started cursing him, "Do you want to fucking die?" I took out my phone and pointed to the text message, "Are you fucking messing with me? Are you trying to trick me?"


    Jin Wantang looked at my phone, but didn''t respond. He could only point at me and say, "Little Master Three, Im still an elder. Even if I do something wrong, you can''t be so rough."


    I sneered, "You want me to pity you because youre old, right? If you dare say youre an elder one more time, Ill call Little Brother up and have him beat you to death."


    "I really wasnt messing with you. Your Uncle Three asked me to hand thend over to you, but I thought you would find it useless. I figured I could help you sell it first and then give it to you in cash. Im just providing a service. Jin Wantang looked at me seriously.


    "<em>Youre</em> helping <em>me</em> sell thend? You just want to take it for yourself!"


    "Why would I want this barren hill, Little Master Three? Thisnd is so strange, can''t you see it?" Jin Wantang said mysteriously. "Besides, do you know why your Uncle Three bought thisnd? Im doing it for your own good."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Basically, as long as you work hard, dont give up, and seize good opportunities, the God of Luck definitely wont pass you by.


    (2) Its basically an attitude that as long as you start doing a certain thing or working in a certain industry, then you should love it and continue to do it. Since theyre grave robbers, selling a plot ofnd to put graves in isnt that far off lol


    (3) If you couldnt tell, theyre super elite schools. MIT stands for Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is in the US. Zhejiang University is an elite Chinese university located in Hangzhou. Tiffany said Wu Xie actually studied at Zhejiang University, so he''s pretty smart (obviously lol).


    ****


    <strong><em>These are definitely long chapters lol. I think the short chapters from "10 Years Later" and the New Year''s Specials spoiled me. I''ll do the best I can with keeping updatesing this week, but my family has requested my presence for Christmas Eve/Day so I guess I''ll have to crawl out of my cave and be sociable for once lol. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 3: Uncle Threes Body

    Book 1: Chapter 3: Uncle Threes Body


    When Fatty finally found us, we were sitting on someones flower beds. I had taken off Jin Wantang''s shoes, tied the shoces together, and hung them around my neck. The old mans soles were so thin that he couldn''t run away barefoot. He scratched his feet sadly and said to me, "Little Master Three, how about it? Weve been friends for so many years that you could even say our friendship runs deep. It might not be equal to jade, but its as good as gold or a pleasant-sounding poem"


    "Fuck off! Do you think Im blind? This isnt the first time a white-eyed wolf has tried to act like a husky. Now, exin." I made Jin Wantang look at the transfer statement I took from the museum. "Why are you posing as my Uncle Three to sell mynd?"


    Jin Wantang''s eyes shifted and he was just about to speak, when Fatty spoke up from the side, "Old Jin, youre a real son-of-a-bitch. We already know that youre a bastard, but I always appreciate that you can clearly distinguish between the big and the small things. Let me tell you, when ites to this matter, cheating us out of money is a small thing. But if you dont clear things up, that dys Mr. Naves business, which is a big thing. Now, have you thought things through? After so many years of friendship, Id hate to have to beat the shit out of you.


    Jin Wantang nodded and gave a faint smile, "Fat Master, youve got a point. Let me think for a moment." He took some cigarettes out of his pocket and passed them to me and Fatty.


    When I looked at his expression, I could see that Fatty''s words were racing through his mind. By the time he lit the cigarettes for us, I figured he''d made up his mind. He looked up at the sky and said, "This was more than ten years ago."


    "Finish it in three sentences," I said, immediately annoyed. It was like I was in my twenties again, listening to him talk about his own old stories. I had too many of my own stories now, so although my heartcked a lot of things, this wasnt one of them.


    "Your uncle asked me to buy this piecend for him. He was particrly keen on weather at the time and said that there was something he wanted to check in this weather station," Jin Wantang said. When I asked him what it was, he shook his head. "Your uncle disappeared after the formalities werepleted. He didn''t even give me the money. Although it wasn''t expensive at the time, I still wasnt happy about giving up that much money. I wanted to sell it, but I wasnt the owner after the formalities were done. Since I couldn''t sell it, I hardened my heart and pretended to be your uncle."


    I turned my head and frowned at him. <em>What is this nonsense?</em>


    "This isnt the important part, He quickly said. This isnt the key point. Hear me out first. If you want to sellnd, you have to clear out any abandoned buildings on it. I brought some people here to clear the area and found that there was indeed something strange in that building. But I dont know if its what your uncle was looking for at the time."


    "What is it?"


    Jin Wantang was relieved to see that I was interested, "It''s too troublesome to say. But that thing is in those ruins. Why dont you go and see for yourself?"


    <em>Setting aside the issue of whether his story is true or not, theres no doubt that Uncle Three has asked people to do things without paying them before</em>. <em>And that didnt only apply to outsiders, either. I helped pay for us to go to the Seven Star Lu Pce</em>.


    But there was no point in worrying about it since Jin Wantang was really an old bastard who wanted to sell mynd.


    I returned his shoes to him and Fatty helped pull him up. As we walked back, he told us the details of the matter.


    The old building was actually the weather stations old archives. There were noputers in the 1980s and 90s, so many of the meteorological charts were on paper. Since most files were electronic now and this was a regional weather station that sent a summary of the data recordings to Nanjings weather station every year, the charts left here were actually just waste paper. Arge number of these files remained in the old buildings filing cabs, which had been covered in dust and moisture for decades. ording to Jin Wantang, they were basically covered in mushrooms.


    His first step to cleaning things up was to move all the filing cabs out. Since he was feeling a little guilty, he nned on getting it done as quickly as possible. But he didnt think that something unexpected would happen. On the first day of cleanup, the workers reported something strange.


    The building had a total of six floors. When they moved a row of cabs that were ced against the wall on the first floor, they found a strange door hidden behind them.


    Even though they said it was strange, it was actually just an ordinary wooden door that was painted a sky-blue color. The paint was peeling off badly, and the door frame had warped because of the moisture. They said it was strange because there wasnt a door like this on the other five floors and it had beenpletely blocked by the filing cabs.


    It was as if someone wanted to hide it.


    The workers pried open the door and found that it turned out to be a humble living space. There was a rotten and moldy desk, a single bed, and a thermos covered in cobwebs. The putty on the ceiling was damp and had fallen to the ground.


    When we came to the door, I had a clearer understanding of why it was so strange. I had studied architecture before and knew at a nce that the door wasnt actually a special design. It was really the door to the reception room.


    On the wall near the door, I could see traces of where bricks had beenid before. I immediately understood that someone had changed the position of this buildings entrance and the one we had juste through had been madeter. This was the buildings original entrance, and the hidden room had really just been an ordinary reception area before.


    Jin Wantang was very skilled in feng shui, so he shouldnt have missed something like this. If he said there was something strange here, then there had to be something other than the door hidden here.


    The inside of the building was very cold and I felt a little creeped out as I walked into the reception room. I hadnt been in this kind of environment for a long time. I used my phones shlight to look around and finally understood what Jin Wantang had been talking about.


    A dried corpse was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Its whole body had copsed into the chair and it was wearing a jacket that appeared to be stuck to its body.


    When I looked at the jacket, my head buzzed and my throat became numb. I recognized the style of this jacket.


    It was my Uncle Three''s jacket.


    My mind hadnt fully processed things yet, but my body had already started instinctively trembling. It was so sudden that I didnt dare take a step forward.


    When Fatty''s light shot over, I felt all the hair on my body stand on end. Even though the corpses face had rotted away, I had a strong feeling that this corpse was my Uncle Three.


    I nced back at Jin Wantang and found him looking at me silently. His expression wasnt as smooth as before, and he seemed to be waiting for me toe to a conclusion.


    Truthfully, I wasn''t ready to face my Uncle Three''s body so quickly. After forcing myself to face all those difficulties over the years, this was the first time I had actually fled.


    But at that moment, my phone alerted me that I had a text message.

 Book 1: Chapter 4: Thunder

    Book 1: Chapter 4: Thunder


    I took a deep breath and looked at my phone, only to find that there was no text message. There was only that New Year''s greeting text on the message preview screen.


    I paused. Fatty chased after me and asked, "What''s the matter, Mr. Nave? If this kind of thing can scare you, its like youve gone back to your old self."


    "Is it my Uncle Three?" I asked him. "Take a closer look for me."


    When Fatty saw my expression, he knew I wasn''t joking. His face sank and he patted me on the shoulder before going back into the room. I looked at my phone again and found that I really didnt get a text message. <em>Thats strange</em>, I thought to myself.


    Most of the windows in the ruins had rotted and copsed. The sun was shining outside and the light streaking into the room formed a bright rectangle, but the ce was still very cold. I looked around and noticed that arge number of filing cabs blocked the light from reaching this space. The message alert just now shouldnt have been an auditory hallucination and must''vee from somewhere nearby. But when I looked around, there wasnt anyone or anything suspicious.


    I didn''t have any confidence in my mental state right now, and slowly started to wonder if I was going crazy. After a few minutes, Fatty called from the room, "Mr. Nave, has your Uncle Three ever gone by the name Yang Daguang?


    "Not that I know of, I replied.


    "Then I dont think this is your Uncle Three," He said.


    When I walked back in, I saw that he had taken an old ID card from the corpses pants pocket and was looking at it under his phones shlight. I went over and saw that the name on the ID card really was Yang Daguang. He was born in 1948 and was from Luoyang.


    The ID card and a stack of other things in the pants pocket were tied together with a rubber band and ced inside a stic bag. There was a library card, a work permit, and a series of certificates inside. With the exception of being damp and yellow with age, they were actually pretty well preserved.


    Fatty flipped the photo over and I saw that it wasnt Uncle Three at all. This corpses face just seemed to resemble him. There was no doubt that this person must have been Yang Daguang.


    Fatty patted me and then put his forehead against mine, "Old foxes dont die so easily. Dont even fucking think about it."


    I was so relieved that I felt my legs go weak. I was just trying to calm myself down when Jin Wantang spoke up from the side, "Little Master Three, you look down on me too much. Did you really think I couldnt tell whether this was Master Threes body or not?"


    After taking a few deep breaths, I felt all my senses finally return to normal. There was a strong musty odor that was apanied by an underlying stench. I patted my face and looked down at the corpses jacket. It looked so simr to my Uncle Threes jacket that I didnt believe it was a mere coincidence.


    I soon discovered that the corpse wasnt actually wearing the jacket, but had it ced around its shoulders. Fatty coughed and I realized that he wasnt done speaking.


    When I looked at him, he continued, "Don''t be too happy. Even though this person isnt your Uncle Three, he may be your Uncle Three''s boyfriend." With that said, he handed me a photo.


    The old photo must have also been in that pile of documents just now. It was moldy and wrinkled, but I could still make out three peoples images in it. They were wearing engineering hats from the 1980s, carrying big bags, and there were mountains in the background. They must have been working on a construction project around the rivers and mountains. The photo was in color, and it showed both Uncle Three and Yang Daguang. The two men stood side by side, holding hands, and there was another person in the distance.


    It was Chen Wen-Jin.


    "This photo was with his work permit, Fatty said. Isnt it a little odd for a grown man to put a photo of your Uncle Three in with his work permit?"


    "He likes Chen Wen-Jin," I said. Even though Yang Daguang was facing the camera, his body was leaning towards Chen Wen-Jin''s direction. It looked like he and Uncle Three were holding hands, but Uncle Three was actually holding him tightly and Yang Daguang''s fingers werent closed. Uncle Three must have pulled him to take this photo, but all his thoughts were on Chen Wen-Jin. "What the hell did this person do?"


    Fatty handed me the work permit, which stated that Yang Daguang was an employee in the archives room. I looked between the photo and the work permit. It didnt make sense for Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin to be out in the wild with someone in charge of archives. This person mustve had an identity we hadnt discovered yet.


    Based on Uncle Three''s attitude towards him in the photo, they mustve been very good friends. Uncle Three didnt have many friends, and even if they were ordinary friends, they wouldnt go into the mountains together.


    Uncle Three put this jacket on Yang Daguang''s body after he died, which meant that he mustvee here, discovered that his friend had died, and then put the jacket on the body.


    Did Uncle Three lead me here so that I could collect his friend''s body? But how did his friend die in this secret room?


    As Fatty continued rummaging around the reception room, he said to me, "This old man mustve died suddenly. He probably came to this secret room to hide. The people in the weather station probably didnt even know that he died here. Look at his big mouth. He mustve hidden in this area to do something, and I bet it was strange. Hurry up and look around."


    I went through everything bit by bit, looking at it all patiently but quickly. There were meal tickets, newspaper clippings, and a lot of meteorological files. To be honest, I couldn''t understand the icons and data at all. Most of them were so moldy and decayed that they crumbled at the slightest touch. Fatty dropped to the ground, looked under the furniture, and let out an exmation.


    I also squatted down and saw a pile of boxes under the bed. They were all leather shoes boxes from the 1990s that had been ced inside stic bags. Fattyy down, pulled out a few, and opened them while praying, "Please bend deeds, please bend deeds."


    But when we opened them, we found that the shoe boxes were full of cassette tapes like the ones I used to listen to music to.


    Fatty and I looked at each other.


    He took out a tape and looked at it. There was a note written on it that said "Peony Pavilion". It looked like it was a recorded version of Yu Zhenfeis performance (1).


    "Kunqu Opera? Was the old man a fan of operas? Fatty was bewildered.


    I took all the shoe boxes out from underneath the bed, opened them all, and found that they were full of tapes of various operas. I was even more confused.


    Fatty rummaged through the rest of the room but found nothing. When we left the room to catch our breath, Jin Wantang wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed me a cigarette. He kept saying that he didn''t lie to me and that this ce was evil. He advised me to hurry up and sell it so that I could make some money and pay him back for all the money Uncle Three owed him. The money he had spent to buy this ce wasnt an investment but a loan.


    I looked at the tapes and ignored him. Jin Wantang definitely wanted to take thend for himself, but it was pointless to argue with him now. We had too much dirt on each other, so there was no reason to bother with it. It wasnt like I was in a hurry to deal with this piece ofnd anyways.


    My main focus right now was on figuring out why Uncle Three asked me to find this Yang Daguang, and why I had to find these tapes. Were they really just opera recordings?


    I left Fatty and Jin Wantang to deal with each other, called a cab, and then took to the streets to try and find a used cassette yer. It was difficult, but I finally found a specialty shop in Suzhou that had one in stock. I brought it back to the hotel that evening, plugged it in, and then put a tape in it.


    There was static for about thirty seconds, and then a series of strange sounds came from the yer. It was like drumming and someone whispering. The sounds were intermittent and apanied by a lot of white noise.


    I thought that the yer was broken or the tape had been demaized, but the tape spools were still rotating. I also tried switching out the tapes several more times, but they all had the same sound.


    I was depressed, but I couldnt shake the feeling that something was wrong. After listening carefully to more than a dozen tapes, I suddenly realized what I was hearing.


    It was thunder.


    All these tapes had recorded the sound of thunder.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Peony Pavilion is a romantic tragedy y written by dramatistTang Xianzuin 1598. The y was originally written for staging asKunquOpera, one of the genres of traditional Chinese theater arts like Flower Drum (Huaguxi) Opera and Peking Opera. More info on the y here. Yu Zhenfei was the 20th century''s most distinguished performer of Kunqu Opera. Here''s a small blurb with some info about him.

 Book 1: Chapter 5: Yang Daguang

    Book 1: Chapter 5: Yang Daguang


    We took everything from the reception room and brought it back to the shop, including the body.


    Fatty tied the body to the chair, hired a moving van, and drove all the way back to Hangzhou overnight. I piled all the things that were in my back room into the front room and stuffed them around Wang Meng''s station. After that was done, I put all the broken and rotten furniture that Fatty had brought back into the back room.


    Wang Meng was shocked. "Boss, didnt you retire? What kind of tomb is this from? Howe it looks even more worthless than the goods weve bought?"


    I put the corpse in front of my couch and then covered it with cloth before handing Wang Meng two hundred yuan and telling him to go away. Once he was finally gone, I started listening to the tapes one by one.


    There were far more tapes than I had originally thought and they both had A and B sides. Practically all of them had recordings of various operas and children''s songs, which made it obvious that Yang Daguang had transcribed over peoples old tapes.


    His life must have really been difficult.


    Based on this, I figured that he and my Uncle Threes rtionship must have been distant, because Uncle Three was rich very early and would have definitely helped him.


    It took me two months to listen to all the tapes. During this time, I would listen to them any time I got in the car, when I went to the toilet, and even when I was in the shower. Not only were the recordings different from any other sounds, but listening to thunder was very boring. I was still attentive and tried to remember all the details, but I always fell asleep before I knew it. I ended up having to listen to the tape again when I woke up. As a result, it was a very inefficient process.


    I didnt get any new text messages on my phone. As I listened to the tapes, I came to the conclusion that this Yang Daguang must''ve been a madman.


    All the tapes were full of all kinds of thunder, frequencies, and sounds, and many of them were apanied by the sound of heavy rainfall. The thunder in most of the tapes sounded like it was at the intensity of a thunderstorm.


    Since it was possible to figure out what era the cassettes had been sold in, and I knew Yang Daguang had gotten them some time after that, I made a preliminary calction. It didnt rain every day, so even if I calcted from the earliest sales date, the only way he could record so much thunder was if he chased after storm clouds.


    He would go wherever the storm clouds went, which meant he was a storm chaser.


    But storm clouds didnt exist all the time. For him to record so much thunder, he needed to keep chasing thunderstorms for a minimum of sixteen years.


    <em>Hes a fucking lunatic. Why did he do this? What''s the point of all this thunder?</em>


    Fatty had lost interest after the first month had passed, saying that this guy was the only one in the world who had a thunderstorm fetish. Believe it or not, he probably climaxed when he got struck by lightning. Whenever he heard thunder in the sky, he would take his little brother out and use it as a lightning rod.


    I didnt think that was the case. I looked at the other materials we had taken and found some new clues. In the photo of him, Uncle Three, and Wen-Jin, I saw that he was carrying a big machine. When I asked an expert about it, they said that it was a tape recorder (the first generation of tape recorders at that time were veryrge). This photo had been taken in the mountains, which meant that there was a time when Yang Daguang was recording thunderstorms with Uncle Three.


    Uncle Three had no interest in getting up early, and the only things that could make him do so at that age were Chen Wen-Jin and grave robbing.


    I touched my chin. I hadn''t shaved my beard for a long time, so I went to take care of it. As I was shaving, I began to feel conflicted.


    I looked at the Uncle Three in the photo. I didnt want to think of him as someone with deliberately bad intentions. He appeared to be a good friend or even a brother to this Yang Daguang, but my Uncle Three in fact, he was the kind of guy who would deliberately pretend to make friends with others for his own purposes.


    So, was he using Yang Daguang''s meteorological knowledge about thunder to search for ancient tombs for himself? When it came to my cruel and stubborn Uncle Three, it was absolutely possible. And with them chasing thunderstorms, it felt a lot like the ancient grave robbers way of listening to thunder to find tombs in Luoyang.


    Or maybe Yang Daguang was also in the business and Uncle Three hired him to go find a tomb?


    But finding a tomb was finding a tomb. Why were they recording thunder? Were this man''s ears so powerful that he could judge the location of an ancient tomb in the region just by listening to the tapes? No, based onmon sense, it was absolutely impossible. No matter how I listened, I could only hear the very vague sound of thunder.


    But this was definitely a clue. I had been listening to these tapes again and again, but my body soon began to reject it. I became very anxious and ufortable every time I heard the sound, and I even felt a little nauseous whenever I saw the tapes.


    I persisted in my investigation for a long time, but there were hardly any clues at all. Eventually, I slowly started to ck off.


    I began to ssify the tapes, examined the corpse again and again, and used my connections to find someone to cremate and bury the corpse while Fatty made all kinds of trouble.


    Summer was just around the corner, so our attention gradually began to shift towards the June crab season. As Hangzhou started warming up, Fatty wanted to go back to the mountains in Fujian. I told him we should do some work to make some money before going back, otherwise things would be bad during the New Year.


    We had spent so much money beforebuilding roads and investing in nightclubs in the viges and townsso we stayed in the shop and set up a business right outside.


    Fatty put five-spice tofu and Dutch roasted sausages in front of the shop, which basically became our main business. We sold tofu during the day, and drank wine and ate crabs at night. Wed asionally talk about this matter, but we became more and more desensitized to it. It seemed as if Uncle Three just wanted me to bury the body, which meant that I was done.


    I had also been wondering how to tell my grandmother about Uncle Three. I was afraid she wouldnt be able to stand the stimtion, so I figured it was better to postpone it. My dad started crying when he found out, using Uncle Three of being unfilial and unkind. But he was finally happy to know and asked me to text the number back, telling Uncle Three toe home. I told him we should wait in case he came back on his own.


    But Uncle Three didn''te back, of course.


    On this particr day, I stealthily went to Lou Wai Lou (1) to throw our garbage outtheir garbage was handled specially, so we secretly threw ours in with theirs when it suddenly became dark and started to rain. The downpour came so suddenly that I ran back to the shop, but before I entered the door, lightning shed across the sky and the deafening sound of thunder rang out.


    "Bring all the tofu in!" I shouted to Wang Meng.


    But right after I yelled, I suddenly had a strange feeling in my heart. I looked up at the dark clouds in the sky. The lightning shed and the thunder boomed again, sounding very clear.


    I broke out in a cold sweat in the heavy rain, suddenly realizing that I had recognized the thunder just now.


    For fifteen minutes, I stood in the rain, watched the sky, and listened until Fatty dragged me inside. He asked me what I was doing and if I was acting out a scene from "Romance in the Rain" (2). I rushed into my room, pulled out the tape recorder, and took out a cassette tape. I then ran back out into the rain in my raincoat, faced the sky, and started recording the thunder.


    The thunderstorm passed quickly, and I went back into the shop soaking wet. Fatty handed me a hammer, "Wee to the Avengers."


    I pushed him away and started rummaging through Yang Daguang''s tapes. I had a stunning premonition that was enough to make my blood run cold.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Lou Wai Lou is a famous traditional restaurant in Hangzhou.


    (2) It''s a famous Chinese TV period drama from 2001. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Merry Christmas!!!! Only 1 today dears. Between dogs barking, my mom putting on Gregorian chants, my bro and his fiance watching "Home Alone", and getting prepped for our "Die Hard" movie marathon, it''s a little hard to concentrate lol. Hope you all have a wonderful day full of love and happiness!!!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 6: Those Who Listen to Thunder

    Book 1: Chapter 6: Those Who Listen to Thunder


    During the process of listening to the tapes, I had recorded a lot of the sounds into theputer to prevent the tapes from demaizing. I rummaged through the tapes, found the box I had numbered, and then found the corresponding number files in theputer. As I yed the thunder I just recorded and the sound files in theputer, Ipared them bit by bit.


    Soon, the two thunder recordings started to synchronize, until the thunder I just recorded and the thunder in theputer ovepped perfectly.


    The frequency and state were almost exactly the same.


    I took two steps back and let the two recordings y repeatedly. I could tell that Fatty was puzzled, so I pointed to theputer and told him that this thunder was recorded more than ten years ago. I then pointed to the thunder ying on the tape recorder, which had been recorded during the thunderstorm just now.


    The two recordings were exactly the same.


    The fact that two thunderstorms separated by more than ten years were exactly the same was absolutely impossible. Even if we assumed this was a coincidence, the probability was infinitely close to zero.


    It was really creepy once I thought about it, and it stirred up my curiosity that had been calm for a long time. I realized that this was different from all the situations I had encountered before, but I couldnt figure out what was going onhow the fuck was this possible?


    Were the thunder gods copying each other?


    The two thunder recordings kept ying repeatedly, and my mind gradually entered an endless loop. A voice kept telling me that there had to be a reasonable exnation for this since all the unreasonable things I had encountered before had eventually been exined reasonably. But another voice kept telling me that the things I had encountered before werepletely different from what I was seeing now


    I even thought of the rain and thunder I had heard in that dark video tape so long ago, which was said to havee from behind the bronze door. The thought made my whole body break out in goosebumps and all my associative thoughts were in chaos.


    Fatty wanted to discuss some ideas, but he opened his mouth for a long time and couldn''t say a word. "This doesn''t make any sense. Does all thunder sound the same?" He eventually muttered.


    <em>No one actually knows</em>, I said to myself. Since ancient times, no one had ever tried to record thunder like this. If Yang Daguang was a meteorologist who was used by Uncle Three to find an ancient tomb, he was probably the first one to ever try and record thunder. Like this, he had a good chance of finding something if there was a lot of thunder. This would exin his behavior of chasing after thunderstorms and recording thunder for so many years.


    He was trying to figure out what the thunder was.


    But why did Uncle Three push me to find this?


    As Fatty and I sat down, I turned off the tape recorder andputer and said to him, "Come on, use your enumeration method to figure out all the possibilities."


    "Enumerate my ass. What do we need enumeration for?" Fatty retorted. "Maybe the thunder this guy recorded more than ten years ago wasnt thunder from that time. Maybe the ce where he recorded the thunder was tied to the future."


    I shook my head. "Even so, it''s too coincidental. I dont know where he recorded the thunder back then, but it doesn''t make sense that I would hear the exact same thunder a few months after I got the tapes more than a decadeter."


    Fatty nodded. "Well, theres only one more ridiculous possibility." He looked at me and continued, "If its not a coincidence, then theres only one possibilitythunder at this frequency often appears. Yang Daguang heard it once more than ten years ago and now youve heard it once more than ten years after that. There must have been countless other ps of thunder at this frequency in between these two points in time. But any sound that repeats at a fixed frequencyregardless of whether its a cry of ecstasy in bed or a p thunderhas one exnation."


    I looked at Fatty, and he looked back at me seriously before saying, "It means theres hidden information in it."


    After that, there was another sh of lightning outside the shop, thunder boomed, and it started to rain again. I looked at the pedestrians who were trying to take shelter from the rain again and asked him, "Who sent the message?"


    "Only God knows," Fatty said.


    I didnt sleep very well that night. For some reason, I kept dreaming about the bronze door, the video I saw before, that image of myself crawling on the ground, and countless lightning strikes streaking across the sky. I woke up at five in the morning. The rain was still falling intermittently and my scalp felt numb as I looked out the window at the dark clouds in the sky.


    I flipped through all of Yang Daguang''s things again and searched online for simr information, but still found nothing. I stared at his old ID card, looking at his face and the address on it. I finally realized that I needed to go to his hometown. It was the only ce where there might be clues.


    Before Fatty and I set off the next day, Wang Meng gave me a lonely look and asked, "Boss, why are you leaving as soon as youe back?" When I gave him another two hundred yuan, Fatty didn''t even object. I saw that he didn''t sleep well either, and had two huge ck circles under his eyes. He told me that he couldn''t figure it out. He didnt care that he had seen a lot of strange things over the past few decades, but he really couldn''t understand how thunder could have a hidden message.


    To make a long story short, we went to Yang Daguang''s hometown vige, showed his ID card and photos to people everywhere, and asked them some questions. To our surprise, Yang Daguang was very famous in his hometown, and almost all the old people knew him. They said that he was the only college student in the vige at that time andter went to work in a government agency. But he never came back.


    I asked if Yang Daguang had any rtives that were still alive. An old man told me that Yang Daguang didnt have any brothers and his father was his only rtive, but he had been shot many years ago. They heard that it was because he was grave robbing. Not only was Yang Daguang very poor, but he was all alone at a very early age, so he didn''t return to the vige after he was admitted to university.


    Fatty and I nced at each other, and I thought to myself, <em>theres a chance</em>. I asked the old man where Yang Daguang''s old house was. The old man shook his head and said that it was long gone, but the old grave was still there. The grave was a bit strange because no grass could grow there.

 Book 1: Chapter 7: Bare Grave

    Book 1: Chapter 7: Bare Grave


    We didnt find any clues the whole way, only that Yang Daguang''s father was a grave robber and there was no grass growing on the grave. But we still had to go and have a look.


    Many people in the vige were surnamed Huang, so there were Uncle Huangs everywhere. The old man had told us to find Uncle Huang to lead the way, but I figured he was just messing with us. I really couldnt figure out which one to ask, but no one seemed willing to show us the way for a long time. All they would do was tell us the general direction to go in.


    Speaking of Yang Daguang and grave robbing, it didnt seem like a huge deal in the viges around Funiu Mountain in Songxian County, Luoyang. In those days, grave robbers were taken in and shot by the truckload.


    This county was almost all mountains, so there was no tnd and driving almost killed us. I remembered that this was a branch of the Qinling Mountains, and there were many tombs of the Lu Hunguo people (1) from the Spring and Autumn Period here. And since there was a group of them here, if you found one, you could find a bunch of them.


    We decided to try our luck and walk to the barren mountain outside of the vige, which was a surprisingly difficult walk. After only a few steps, there was no road, but fortunately, there was a dry stream in the mountain. We followed alongside it as we climbed up the mountain.


    Yang Daguangs father was buried a long time ago, and the graveyard was far from the vige. We climbed all the way to the wild forest halfway up the mountain, only to find that the earliest burial site had beenpletely abandoned. The graveyard was set up inyers on the mountainside, with many big trees growing in the middle of it. Their canopies covered the sky, shading the round tombstones below. The tombstones looked to be about fifty or sixty years old, and were covered in severalyers of moss and coiled vines and weeds. The tombstones were basically gone by this point.


    Fatty looked at the mountain and said that something wasnt right. This wasnt a ce where ordinary people were buried. He felt as if the mountain looked familiar, like he had seen it in a dream or something.


    I didnt know what he was talking about, so I focused on looking at the graves instead. They all appeared to be old and ownerless, because the families still had descendants who moved the ancestral graves closer to the vige and the new graves. If these graves hadnt been moved, then that meant that their children may have lost touch with them or were dead.


    The tombstones were buried in the mud, but the edges and corners could still be seen through the grass and mud on the ground. The colors on them had long worn away, and many of the names were unrecognizable.


    One of the open spaces was very strange and small, only about the size of a bathtub. It waspletely bare without any grass on it and the mud looked old. Of course, the area around it wasntpletely bare, for there was some sparse grass growing. It was easy to guess that it used to be a burial mound that had been ttened at some point.


    "This is it, Fatty said. Theres cinnabar in the mud thats been lit, so no grass can grow. This is an ancient technique for preserving graves. This Yang Daguang must be one of us, and he had a solid education."


    "Why do you say that?" I asked, surprised.


    "He could get admitted to college while grave robbing, Fatty said. Unlike me, you could say he had a solid education. I can''t even distinguish between 2 and z clearly." As he touched the soil at the head of the grave, I started wondering if he was out of his mind.


    "What''s wrong with you?" I asked him.


    "Im fascinated by the great rivers and mountains in the Central ins." Fatty said.


    "Speak human," I said angrily.


    "Mr. Nave, can''t you see?" Fatty patted the ground. "Most of the people in this vige are surnamed Huang, yet Yang Daguang''s family was surnamed Yang. Theyre foreigners. Grave robbers are usually foreigners. There must be a big tomb nearby. You know, a tomb big enough to livefortably for three lifetimes. It must be in the mountains under our feet."


    I paused and said to myself, <em>what are you trying to do? Not only are we retired, but even if we want to do a brief stint like this, we dont have any equipment with us. Can we even find the entrance?</em>


    "You''re old and your brain is dying, Fatty continued. Dont you understand? On the one hand, the vigers here say that Yang Daguang has never been back to the vige; on the other hand, theyre sure that theres no grass on his father''s old grave. You know, once you burn the mud and cinnabar, itll soon oxidize. That means the grass will grow again in seven or eight years at most. Theres no grass on this grave, which means that Yang Daguang must have visited the vige many times. And he came back secretly.


    Yang Daguang may have secretlye back to visit the grave because he felt humiliated with how his father had died, but that was unlikely. Grave robbing was actuallymon in Luoyang, so there wasnt as much moral pressure. So, why couldnt he go back to the vige directly to visit the grave? It took a lot of money to chase thunder clouds all over the world back then, so he must havee back regrly to take things from the grave to sell.


    "What do you want to do?" I asked Fatty.


    When he pointed to the soil on the ground, I knew that there was a strong chance that the entrance was right below us. "You have to give me a reason, I said. Were here to investigate things, not to get rich."


    "Im not going to take anything, Mr. Nave, Fatty said. If I really wanted to, then there''s no way you can stop me. Ille here myself in the middle of the night and not tell you. But your Uncle Three must have been to this ce." He took out the photo of Yang Daguang and Uncle Three, pointed to the distant mountains in the photos background, and then pointed to the direction he thought he had seen in his dream. Ipared them and found that they were identical.


    The photo was taken in this area, which meant that Uncle Three had been to this vige. Fatty''s inferences were almost always correct.


    I frowned. Although I was annoyed, I was still persuaded in the end. We werent here to take other people''s things, but to find clues about a missing person. But Fatty and I both hesitated at the same time, feeling like something was missing.


    After a few seconds, Fatty tentatively said, "If you feel like somethings wrong, why dont you call Little Brother?"


    "Why?" I asked.


    "I''m afraid of your constitution, Fatty said. Who the fuck knows whats inside that tomb? Im not prepared at all. I didnt even bring a ck donkey hoof (2) with me."


    "ording to what you said, the grave robbing Yang family has been working here for at least two generations, so there shouldnt be anything inside," I said. I thought it over a little bit and felt that we shouldnt bother Little Brother for this kind of thing. "Im fine."


    "I dont have anything on me. If you open it and an Uncle Yang springs out at you, can you handle it?" Fatty asked me. "Don''t force yourself, Ill call him." With that said, Fatty dialed the number.


    As the dial tone sounded, he immediately looked at me and I said, "I bet you five yuan he doesnt answer."


    Before I finished speaking, Fatty said into the phone, "Hey, Little Brother. I have something to discuss with you. The two of us met with a deathly mishap, so you have toe quickly."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I wasnt having much luck English-wise, but Baidu seemed to say they were basically a nomadic tribe of the Rong people who got a name change in the Spring and Autumn period. They seemed to be established around 683 BC and were destroyed by the Jin State in 525 BC. The Rong were various people who lived in and around the extremities of ancient China.


    (2) Not sure if you''ve seen "Ghost Blows Out the Light", but its used to ward off jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires or hopping zombies), which are a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore.


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry for bailing for 2 days. I needed some merebear time lol. Wu Xie says he''s fine, but Fatty knows about his "constitution" lol. These two kill me.</em></strong>


    <strong><em>Anyone else a little upset on how they covered Vol 6 in the drama? I thought they did pretty good on following "Deadly Desert Winds" and "Graveyard of a Queen" considering their Xiao Hua/ck sses ship is sailing strong, but all their little tweaks to Vol 6 just kind of rubbed me the wrong way (even though I still enjoyed it weirdly enough lol). I feel like Uncle Two was super OOC. He feels like a more subtle "rip your throat out" kinda guy than the gangster in the drama lol. Still pretty cool how they got some of the actors from the other drams to reprise their roles.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 8: The Yang Familys Old Tomb

    Book 1: Chapter 8: The Yang Familys Old Tomb


    Fatty asked me for the money as soon as he finished speaking. I took out five yuan, but before I gave it to him, I heard a middle-aged woman speaking in a dialect over the phone.


    As Fatty paused, I took the money back. He then asked in the Fujian dialect, "Sister, why are you answering the phone in our house? What about our handsome brother?


    I didn''t have Fatty''s talent fornguage, so I couldn''t understand the other person''s answer, but the two people soon started to argue.


    For a period of time after we left, we always got a busy tone whenever we called the house. Fatty had said that Little Brother was putting on airs in front of us and was always on the phone after we left. Weter learned that as soon as we left, the aunts in the vige came to our house to make long-distance calls to their sons and grandchildren, whichsted for four or five hours.


    The weather was very hot and Fatty was being noisy as he argued on the phone. I was just starting to feel really irritated when I noticed that my body was soaked in sweat and my neck and ankles were starting to itch. I looked down and saw that a bunch of bugs the size of sesame seeds were sucking my blood.


    When I went to check Fatty, I found that the back of his neck and arms were full of those sesame-sized ck bugs. Amazingly enough, they were all on the back of his arms, behind his neck, and behind his ankles, which were hard for people to see. I rushed over and smacked them to death.


    Fatty was startled, but I quickly showed him the bug remnants that were on my hand. He jumped up in fright and started pping himself all over.


    But he and I were already covered in tiny red bumps that made us look like we had a skin disease. The itching was absolutely unbearable.


    Fatty suddenly became enraged and yelled into the phone, "You stupid bitch, put the phone down and tell our handsome brother to answer!"


    The two of us ran out of the woods and fled back to the vige. After he was done arguing, Fatty hung up the phone and said that Poker-Face wasnt there. He asked the aunt to wait for him toe back and tell him that we had called. Fatty looked at his hands and ankles and said, "I told you wed need him, but you didnt believe me."


    I figured he definitely wouldnt be able toe. It would take at least a day to get from Fujian to here, and if Poker-Face was absent, that meant he was in the mountains. It usually took him about a week to go into the mountains ande back, so by the time we finished, he might not have left the mountains yet. And even though I often joked about it, I really couldnt use him as a mosquito-repellent.


    So, I unhesitatingly went back to the vige wholesale station and bought shovels, ropes, candles, shlights, waist-high rubber pants, and rubber gloves.


    The jianbing (1) in the vige were good, but different from those I was familiar with. They were more like very thin dry cakes. I bought a big bag of them and wrapped them in stic bags and newspapers. Once all that was done, we carried everything back to the wild mountain slope full of graves.


    As we walked, I repeatedly cross-checked the photo with the mountains in the distance. Uncle Three was really young at that time, so it should have been before he went to Xisha. I was a little dazed when I thought of my current age.


    I felt like I was doing what Uncle Three had done my whole life, but with our equipment, we looked like a bunch of housewives cleaning toilets instead.


    It was dark, and the light from the setting sun was hidden behind the mountains. Only a halo of light like cotton wool was peeking out from behind the silhouette of the mountains. In the distance, we could see the lights in the vige were all on. It was only when we looked up that we could see the faint sky shimmering between the leaves in the forest. It was a little cooler at night, but that didnt stop all the bugs from assaulting our heads. We covered our faces in bug spray, but that just made it even hotter. The sweat dissolved the spray, causing it to drip straight down our bodies and make us look like melted wax figures.


    The shovel wasnt a specialized drilling shovel, so we sawed off the handle and used the short end to dig. After we dug three meters down, we found that there was a ready-made grave robbers tunnel below. It was covered in wooden nks and had been dug very skillfully. It was spacious, and there were many pit marks in it that were lined with brick.


    The tunnel had been dug diagonally so that it hit the mountain directly. Fatty tidied everything up, took out a bamboo que, and covered it with soil so that it looked like the ground. He then turned on the shlight and we climbed down, covering the hole with the bamboo que as we went. Within twenty meters, we saw the outer wall of the tomb. The opening was blocked with new bricks that hadnt copsed yet.


    Fatty nced at it. There was a small stove, some wine bottles, instant noodle packages, and many hot water kettles in the small grave robbers tunnel outside the tomb. "So fastidious, he said. You can tell that this was a multi-generational operation. Maybe theres even a ce to charge your phone in here."


    I tried to pry open the new bricks, but Fatty stopped me. "Wait, somethings wrong."


    He used a shlight to illuminate the space where the ground met the tomb entrance. There were a lot of traces of incense ash and paper debris, many of which hadnt been burned all the way through. He carefully looked around the tombs outer wall and saw some faded scarlet letters: "Tomb of loving father, Yang Gong Guilong".


    "What does that mean?" Fatty asked.


    "You''re right, I said. Mr. Yang really is inside, and" I immediately noticed some more strange things. I wiped the outer wall of the tomb with my hands, removing a thickyer of dust and revealing more inscriptions. They were all names that looked like they belonged on tombstones. There were about a dozen of them, and they were all surnamed Yang.


    "The whole Yang family is inside. They all made a living off this tomb and were buried in it after they died?"


    "Why?" Fatty asked. "Were they just being stingy?"


    "Theres always a reason. Well know once we open this tomb." I went up, paid my respects, and then broke the bricks apart to expose the hole. I took the lead and went in, looking around with my shlight.


    The tombs vault was very short, so I could only squat as I moved forward. My first reaction was surprise. I thought it was going to be a big, thousand-year-old tomb, but a single nce showed that it wasnt. This tomb was very recent, and I estimated that it was from the Qing Dynasty at the earliest. But as I looked at the chaoticyout, Western-style patterns, and the zed tiles that had been pressed out by high-tech machines, I felt that it may even be a tomb from the Republic.


    But strangely enough, this tomb had frescoes on the four walls. Because of their age, the frescoes were mottled but not yet oxidized. The frescoes were very exquisite, which was a stark contrast to the vaults simple structure. I used my shlight to illuminate the ground and saw a row of spirit tablets lying against the wall. There were rotten offerings and a lot of paper ashes in front of them, but I didn''t see any coffins or bones.


    "What about the goods?" Fatty asked. "Is this tomb that big?"


    I could tell that he was very disappointed, but I ignored him and stared at the murals instead. There were a lot of dark clouds and lightning strikes painted on them.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A savory Chinese crpe/pancake

 Book 1: Chapter 9: God of Thunder’s Coffin

    Book 1: Chapter 9: God of Thunder¡¯s Coffin


    The tomb was very hot, so I took off my rubber gloves and rubbed my face with a towel. I carefully examined the murals with my shlight and felt the coolness in my heart begin to spread. The murals were coated in something like egg whites, which would prevent their oxidation and enable them to be seen clearly.


    As I looked carefully, I saw that the old cracks on them were very obvious, meaning that these murals were much older than the tomb itself.


    It was too difficult to tell what style they were, but my intuition was telling me that these murals were from the Song Dynasty. The paintings were done very skillfully and a cursory nce showed that they all depicted dark clouds and lightning strikes. But if I looked very carefully, I could see all kinds of thunder gods painted on the clouds covering the walls.


    At the lower end of the mural, there were countless rocks, trees, and pavilions set up in the mountains. There were also a lot of little people in white robes who had their ears facing the pavilions in the mountains, as if they were listening to the thunder in the sky.


    Fatty looked at the spirit tablets one by one and read the names on them, seemingly at a total loss (1). "Mr. Nave, this tomb is too small and looks so new. How can there be such beautiful murals here?" He asked me.


    "If Ive guessed correctly, these murals were taken from other tombs." I said faintly. The world had changed so much during the Republic that it was impossible for skilled painters like this to paint such decorations in a tomb.


    Fatty had gotten it all wrong. This wasnt a big tomb, but the Yang family''s own ancestral grave that was built during the Republic. When the Yang family''s ancestors built this tomb, they cut the murals from other ancient tombs and stuck them in their own tomb for decoration.


    I had seen some township entrepreneurs'' aesthetics that were just like this. They wanted to express their own aesthetics, but the way they did it left people speechless.


    This wall covered in murals was very precious, and the thunder gods were painted vividly and full of verve. I had heard Uncle Three say before that some grave robbers in Luoyang were very skilled in painting and calligraphy even though they looked likemon vigers. They only washed their clothes once a year, but they knew how to read these kinds of paintings.


    The Yang family may have been one of them.


    I figured these murals were probably stolen from a Song Dynasty tomb, and the contents were actually rted to listening to thunder. Yang Daguang''s ancestors may have been exposed to listening to thunder very early, so Yang Daguang learned the mystery of thunder when he inherited the ancestral teachings. It was also possible that Yang Daguang saw these murals and discovered the mysteries in them when he was paying respects to his ancestors here, thus bing interested in listening to thunder.


    But why did these murals from a Song Dynasty tomb have contents rted to listening to thunder? Whose tomb were they originally from? Why was the owner so interested in thunder?


    I was finding it more and more interesting.


    When I told Fatty my thoughts, he refused to ept it, "It''s fucking impossible. If it''s the Yang familys ancestral grave, then where are the coffins? Where are Uncle Yang, Great-Uncle Yang, and Great-Great-Uncle Yang? Why are there only these spirit tablets? There can''t be so few fucking things here."


    <em>How would I know?</em> I said to myself. Maybe theyre buried elsewhere and this is just the ce to pay their respects. Maybe they all died in a tomb and their bones couldnt be found<em>.</em>


    Fatty kicked the rotten offerings and said, If thats the case, then why did Yang Daguange back to pay his respects so piously? If the bodies arent here, it doesn''t matter where you go to worship. You can just take the tablets with you.


    He had a point. If Yang Daguang often came back to pay his respects, then it meant that the bodies must be in the tomb.


    But there was nothing in the tomb except for these spirit tablets. Fatty went to check the murals out and knocked on all the walls, but they were all solid and firm. After searching for half a day and finding nothing, Fatty sat down on the ground with a curse and started smoking. "Let me tell you, we really cant go grave robbing without Little Brother. Whats this situation? This is a regression of historical proportions, an unforgivable defeat. Weve forgotten our roots."


    Iy down on the ground to see the connection point between the murals and the floor. I wanted to see how they could cut the murals from the Song Dynasty tomb sopletely. A long time ago, a group of missionaries used tape to pull off the murals on many historical sites in western China, causing extensive damage. But these murals were soplete that they almost looked like they were painted directly on the wall. After thinking about it, I grabbed Fatty''s cigarette and held it up to the joint between the wall and the floor. I saw that the smoke floating up had a very slight tilt to it.


    I moved the cigarette across the whole gap, noticing that the smoke tilted more in the middle part.


    There was airing out from behind the wall, the flow so subtle that people couldnt feel it. The wall was sturdy on both sides and lighter in the middle. There was a foreign material in the middle of the wall that was lighter than brick, so both sides of the wall sank while the middle was arched. That was why there was more airflowing from the middle.


    "Theres a space behind this wall," I said to Fatty. "This is a rotating door and the shaft is in the middle of the wall. The whole wall can rotate."


    "But how do we open it?" Fatty asked me. If it was Little Brother, he would have already found the way to open it, but I didn''t have that ability.


    Fatty pushed one side of it hard, but it didnt move. When he threw his body at both sides and it still didnt budge, he picked up a shovel and hit the brick floor without an ounce of hesitation. I understood his intention and immediately went to help.


    Just like a dog digging a hole, we smashed through the blue bricks on the ground, dug under the wall, and then dug through to the opposite side. Fatty had soon dug a sizeable hole, revealing that the area behind the wall really was empty.


    Once Fatty made the hole bigger, I moved to look into it and saw that it waspletely dark. I stuck my hand in, turned on my phones camera, took a few photos, and then retreated.


    When I pulled up the photos, I saw that the sh made everything look pale and frightening. We could make out several strange things standing on the wall opposite our wall that looked like a row of hanging corpses.


    A closer look showed that they were old coffins that were half-buried vertically in the wall. The rotten wood coffin nks were tied to nearby bamboo shelves, and they were so worn in many ces that we could see inside the coffins. These coffins had to belong to the Yang family. Fatty had finally found the dozen Uncle Yangs he had been dreaming of.


    When I look at the photo, I wondered why they had been buried like this. I scrolled to the second photo, which was of the whole space behind the wall. It was very vague, but I could clearly tell that the space behind the wall was arge rectangr tomb. There was an old sarcophagus in the middle of the tomb that was painted red. From a distance, it almost seemed to match the details in the murals outside. But strangely enough, there was a huge thing hanging above the sarcophagus that looked like a big upside-down bell.


    Fatty and I climbed in and turned our shlights on. He went to check out the Yang family''s coffins, while my attention was immediately drawn to the sarcophagus that was painted lipstick-red like the murals outside.


    As I looked closely at the decorative patterns, I noticed that the outer wall of the sarcophagus was covered in thunder gods, and it was muchrger than the photo. When the shlight shined upon it, I could see that the coffin lid was engraved with cloud patterns that were coiled to form what looked like ears. There were a lot of tricolor characters painted on the clouds that all had a strange featuretheir ears were particrlyrge.


    Half of the behemoth above the sarcophagus appeared to be embedded in the apex of the tomb. It looked like an inverted bell when seen up close. It was made of copper and covered in thousands ofyers of green and red rust. Based on the decorative patterns, it appeared to be some kind of sound amplifier that was integrated with the sarcophagus, and the body in the sarcophagus used this device to listen to certain sounds. If I included the murals outside, these three things didnt belong in this tomb. They must havee from other ces, and may have even been stolen at the same time.


    I looked at Fatty, whose attention was still on the Yang family. I poked my head under the "bell" and listened carefully. I could hear what sounded like a lot of watering from the surface, which seemed to be flowing groundwater.


    Fatty came over and also stuck his head under it to listen. "What''s that noise? Someone urinating on it? He asked curiously.


    This running water sound seemed to being from the whole dome. I thought for a while, but couldnt seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong. I immediately climbed out of the grave robbers tunnel and saw a bolt of lightning streak across the sky. I didnt know when it had started, but it was raining heavily outside. The thunder was rumbling and the rain had washed away our bamboo que. It was now pouring into the tunnel, so Fatty and I climbed out and built a higher mud pile outside the tunnel. We then put an umbre over the tunnel entrance and went back in.


    As I crawled back to the tomb, I could hear the thunder very clearly in the narrow underground space. In fact, it was even clearer than when I was outside just now. And strangely enough, the thunder reverberating through that strange bell sounded like whispering. It was as if there were countless people whispering at the same time, but I couldnt understand it even when I listened carefully. All these voices seemed to converge and point right to the sarcophagus.


    "This is a bit interesting." Fatty''s eyes began to shine and I could tell that his curiosity was piqued. He looked at the sarcophagus and asked, "Is the body in this coffin listening to thunder?"


    I handed him the crowbar and then held the shlight for him. He tacitly inserted it into the gap in the sarcophagus and pushed the lid until arger gap was formed. We both took a step back in case something came out of the coffin.


    After waiting for a while with nothing happening, Fatty breathed a sigh of relief. I wanted to go up and help him push the coffin lid offpletely but he pushed me away. "Safety first. You stay away. Let me do this kind of work." He pushed the lid at an oblique angle until the inside of the coffin waspletely exposed.


    After pushing, he carefully shined the shlight into the coffin. I had been watching him, so I immediately noticed when his face changed. I wanted to go over, but Fatty waved me to a stop. "Wait. Mentally prepare yourself beforeing over. Theres a monster inside."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I usually take the figurative route since its easier, but this one was too good lol. The literal trantion of the Chinese idiom in the raw is: "like a three-meter-high monk, you can''t rub his head".


    ****


    <em><strong>Oh Fatty, ye of so little faith hahahaha</strong></em>.

 Book 1: Chapter 10: My Name Is Zhang Qiling

    Book 1: Chapter 10: My Name Is Zhang Qiling


    I sighed and said to myself, <em>quit it. Why are you trying to scare me with these kinds of words now? I was a rookie ten years ago, but now I can jump into coffins directly without trembling.</em>


    That being said, I still couldnt help but feel a little nervous. How long had it been since Ist opened a coffin? I took a deep breath and walked over, immediately noticing that the inside of the sarcophagus was in a strange state. Generally, coffins either had rotten cotton wool or a pool of ck water with fungus in them. The inside of this sarcophagus, however, was like a reef parasitized by barnacles. Theyers of densely packed barnacles looked like calluses, and the corpse was lying on its side on top of them. All the exposed bones were also covered in barnacles, so it was impossible to see what the body looked like.


    I carefully examined it and found that it was an undecayed skeleton. The head looked like it had been mummified, the lower body had already turned to white bones, and the barnacles had flourished so much that they were even in its mouth. When I shined my shlight there, I could see that they had even grown all over its throat, which immediately made my own throat ache.


    Fatty tapped the corpse with the crowbar and found that the barnacles had formed a kind of husk in many ces. But the most bizarre thing was the corpses ear.


    We could see that on the side of the corpse facing us, there were seven ears. They were arranged in a particrly strange way and seemed to extend all the way to the neck and back of its head. I initially thought it was some kind of strange mushroom, but Fatty pried the corpses head up with a crowbar and looked at the other side, which turned out to be normal.


    The seven ears were facing the big sound amplifier above the coffin. There was the constant rumble of thunder outside and it sounded like countless people were talking all around us. Fatty swallowed and looked at me, at aplete loss for words.


    <em>This is really weird. No wonder Fatty said its a monster.</em>


    I looked down and found that each ear had a hole in it like a normal ear. But when I took a closer look with my shlight, I saw that these ears had been artificially made from the ear bones, mandible, and skull. The shape of the ears was really just skin that had been cut with a knife.


    This person didnt have a deformity. In fact, the seven ears seemed to be a special kind of decoration that was simr to a tattoo.


    Such a wild and ancient form of worship was rare in the Central ins, but everything seemed to indicate that this ethnic group worshiped sound.


    The tomb owner''s clothes had rotted away, but I could tell that this was a burial style of the Central ins. Fatty tapped on the bottom of the coffin with the crowbar to see if there were any funerary objects underneath. The barnacles broke apart as soon as he hit them, allowing him to reach the bottom of the coffin.


    But the bottom was empty.


    It wasnt umon for a coffin to be empty, but Fatty still seemed excited for some reason. He appeared to have found something and quickly shined his shlight on it. Generally, the space under coffins was used to hide gold and luminescent pearls. It was often only palm deep, and had buckets filled with pearls or gold dust. But the space under this coffin couldnt be illuminated with our shlights.


    "Its a fucking well," Fatty said. He used the crowbar to continue poking around the rest of the coffin bottom. We found that there was a deep, rectangr well under the coffin with a stone pir sticking up from the bottom. It was apparently the only thing holding the body up in the air since the whole area around it was empty.


    There also seemed to be something hanging on all the well walls.


    I didnt know if the stone pir supporting the corpse was strong or not, so I didnt dare step on the corpse. I grabbed Fattys belt as he ced two feet on the edge of the coffin and poked his head into the gap between the coffin and the corpse like he was doing push-ups. He used one hand to hold his shlight as he looked down. He was gasping for breath and trembling as he said, "It''s all bronze pieces of varying sizes. They look like scales." He handed me his shlight and then took a few pictures with his phone beforeing back up and showing me the photos.


    I pulled him up and started looking at the photos, which showed an amazing sight. Row upon row of countless bronze scales were neatly hung on the well walls below. Many of them had fallen to the bottom of the well, and some ces had been damaged enough to reveal the rock wall behind.


    Almost all the bronze scales had corroded into one solid piece, and thousands ofyers of rust bloomed everywhere.


    "It''s time to test your ability to talk nonsense after all these years, Mr. Nave. If you donte up with a theory today, Ill definitely lose sleep."


    Iy down on the edge of the coffin, trying to get into the same position as the corpse so I could listen to the thunder. At this time, the sound seemedpletely different. The thunder above reached my ear and mixed in with the echoes in the underground well. The whispers that were originally iprehensible seemed to be clearer, like people talking.


    Although I still couldnt hear them clearly, the talking sounded so very realistic that I broke out in a cold sweat. I realized that this thing might be a device for tranting thunder. By using this bell and the deep well below, we could trante thunder into sounds that could be understood.


    It was fucking nonsense, but it still felt amazing.


    I took Fatty''s crowbar and tried to knock off all barnacles on the body and inner walls of the coffin. Without these obstacles, the sound became clearer and even resonated throughout the ancient tomb. I actually felt that this wasnt thunder, but the mountain talking to me through the resonating thunder.


    And it seemed to be a human voice that was bing clearer and clearer. As I listened carefully, Fatty said, "Maybe the thunder here speaks in the Fujian dialect. Ill listen."


    Just as I got out of the way so that he could listen carefully, a loud p of thunder suddenly sounded outside, instantly echoing in the tomb. Even I heard it clearly this time.


    Wu ~ Xie ~ Wu ~ Xie ~ Wu ~ Xie ~


    The voice that was calling seemed to be saying "Wu Xie".


    Fatty and I looked at each other, and then he grabbed me and ran away. What are you doing?! I shouted.


    "You idiot, it must be haunted! Run!" Fatty said.


    He had a point. How was it possible that thunder was calling my name? If someone was calling my name in that tomb, then it really was haunted. When we rushed out of the grave robbers tunnel and into the rain, Fatty started cursing, "I fucking told you we can''te by ourselves! See?! We already ran into a problem! I dont even have any donkey hooves!!!


    We scrambled out, rolling and crawling as we rushed into the dark, wild forest. But before we had gone a few steps, lightning shed and we saw a man in a poncho standing with his head bowed in the rain.


    There was another sh of lightning right after that, and Fatty and I screamed in terror, "Uncle Yang!!!


    The two of us didnt bother stopping as we rushed past the man while protecting our heads. But the man caught the back of our cors at the same time, pulled us back, and dropped us to the ground.


    As it rained harder and another sh of lightning lit the area, he lifted the hood of his poncho. Poker-Face looked down at us with an expressionless face.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh my God, these two idiots. I love them so much hahahaha</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 11: Into the Tomb Again

    Book 1: Chapter 11: Into the Tomb Again


    The heavy rain was endless and Poker-Face''s dark green poncho reflected the light from the lightning strikes. It looked bulky, cold, and gloomy, and I couldnt help but think that all he was missing was a kitchen knife. After Fatty saw him clearly, he wiped his face and scolded, "You almost scared me to death, Little Brother. Can''t you buy something cute?"


    I pulled him off the ground and asked Poker-Face, "Why are you here?"


    Fatty tutted and said to me, "Because Im so wise. I called him up when we were in Nanjing. Im not unreasonable like you. I was putting on a show for you earlier, but I didn''t expect him toe so quickly."


    I red at Fatty while thinking to myself, <em>you''re such a loser</em>.


    Fatty turned to Poker-Face, "Damn it, this tomb is small and broken and theres still a ghost inside. It even knows Mr. Nave and keeps calling his name in a lewd manner. Little Brother, what do you say? Why dont we go back inside and shit on his head?"


    As soon as we finished speaking, we heard the sound of "Wu ~ Xie ~ Wu ~ Xie ~ Wu ~ Xie ~"ing from the nearby forest. Fatty looked at Poker-Face, "Fuck, it followed us out. Did Little Brother bring my stuff?"


    Poker-Face pulled his backpack off, unloaded our equipment, and then threw our things to us. Once Fatty got his hands on his stuff, he immediately became more spirited. He took out his old engineering shovel and went over to the bushes in the forest that were shaking. He was just about to start swinging when an old man came out of the forest.


    It was Old Jin.


    When he saw Fatty, he immediately shrank back and started scolding, "Shit, Fatty, are you crazy? Why do you always want to fight every time we see each other?"


    Fatty pulled him out of the bushes and started cursing him, "What the fuck are you doing here? I was wondering why that cry was so lewd, but it just turned out to be a bastard like you. Not to worry, there are many graves here. Itll be convenient to bury you."


    Jin Wantang wiped the water off his face and immediately smiled, "Fat Master, I have something to say. Not only did I never receive the money that Master Three owes me, but Little Master Three has now taken thend back. Ive lost on both counts. It looks like you all havee out of retirement, so you have to count me in. I want a share of whatever you find."


    "Who said we came out of retirement?" I looked at Jin Wantang, who immediately looked at Fatty.


    Fatty suddenly became embarrassed and scolded him angrily, "Shut the fuck up. Were good people now. Do you even know what it means to be good? It means we really care about our chastity!


    As I looked at Fatty''s expression and Jin Wantang''s appearance, I had a good idea of what had happened. I waved my hand, "Hey, you two idiots can stop acting now. Ill settle things with youter. Lets get down to business. It''s raining so hard that the tomb is flooding."


    Fatty and Jin Wantang mustve had a private exchange, which was how Poker-Face arrived here so quickly. He couldn''t have done it without Fatty and Jin Wantang exchanging information. Fatty must have told Jin Wantang that we were back in business and asked him to drop off the goods along our path, but he didn''t expect Jin Wantang to follow him. It wasnt the first time that Fatty was itching for something profitable. He didnt care about a thing like pride, nor did he care what others thought of him either.


    But there was no denying that this solved my problem. If Poker-Face hadnte, I wasnt sure what to do next.


    Our group went back to the grave robbers tunnel, climbed into the tomb that was already starting to umte water, and took off our raincoats. Poker-Face looked at the top of the tunnel and scratched it with his fingers, but it was very dry. It seemed that Yang Daguang''s family had waterproofed it.


    After wading into the tomb, Jin Wantang was also disappointed, "Little Master Three, this is a half-built nest. Even though youre an old hand in this business, it looks like you can also meet with unexpected failure. Why bothering to this tomb? It would be a blessing if the stuff here isnt made of paper, but you can''t take anything out and make a profit even if you wanted to."


    Fatty and I took off our wet clothes while we let Jin Wantang examine the murals.


    Half-built nest referred to the tombs of old rich families that were built more recently. The tombs were veryrge before and after liberation, but there was almost nothing of value in them. Most funerary objects were silverware, which was rtively new, so they could only be taken back, melted, and then sold to jewelry stores. This kind of tomb was considered a disgrace in this industry, and meant that you didnt have a discerning eye at all.


    Poker-Face looked around, saw the dog hole we had dug in the ground, and then nced at me.


    I nodded and admitted, "It was the only way."


    He looked up at the top of the tomb and swept his gaze around it before touching the brick seams with his fingers. He suddenly rammed his elbow into a brick, stretched his hand into the newly made hole, and pulled at something that was inside. We heard a series of noises in the wall that sounded like machine springs loosening. Fatty immediately went up and pushed the wall, rotating it until the secret room behind was revealed. Jin Wantang let out a surprised exmation.


    As we went in, Fatty looked at Poker-Face expectantly, hoping that he could find some new secret room. But Poker-Faces attention was immediately drawn to the deep well below the sarcophagus.


    We waited quietly for him to examine it as the thunder sounded outside. As the countless whispering voices echoed in the tomb again, he showed a strange expression. Fatty and I breathed a sigh of relief, happy to see that he was as dumbfounded as us.


    At this moment, Jin Wantang suddenly called us over. As I approached him, I saw that he was looking at the murals. "Guys, this is fucking amazing. These things dont belong here at all. They were moved from other tombs and all seem to be rted to the God of Thunder."


    "Any fool can see that," I said. "Tell me something I dont know."


    "Can you tell which tomb these murals are from? Or who the owner of the tomb is? Or how its connected to the God of Thunder?" Jin Wantang asked us disdainfully as he lit a cigarette. "Or do you know where this tomb is from?"


    Fatty and I looked at each other. With Jin Wantangs newfound arrogance, we immediately knew that he must have discovered something. "I may not know which tomb these muralse from, but if youre talking nonsense, I know where youll be buried," Fatty said.


    Jin Wantang smiled, "Let me tell you, these are really amazing. If Ive guessed correctly, these muralse from a very strange king''s tomb."


    I was stunned for a moment, but Jin Wantang continued, "Youve probably never heard of this king, because hes not in any history book. He was invented by a group of alchemists, and was rted to thunder." He blew out a mouthful of smoke. "An emperor rted to thunder do you know who it is?"


    "Hamlet?" Fatty asked.


    Jin Wantang ignored him and asked me, "Have you heard the legend of Tianmu chasing the clouds?"


    ****


    <strong><em>We''re partway through episode 3 of the drama if you all care for visuals.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 12: The West Sea’s Falling Cloud Country

    Book 1: Chapter 12: The West Sea¡¯s Falling Cloud Country


    We all sat down by the coffin and started eating bowls of instant noodles while listening to Jin Wantangs story. As he spoke confidently, he winked and touched his mouth, indicating that we could give our braised eggs to him if we didnt want them.


    The story he told was very unique because it had something to do with a legendary ancient king who waspletely fictional. There were only sporadic records of him in The West Sea Notes and Alchemical Commentaries.


    It was said that during the Eastern Han dynasty, there were a few alchemists who were looking out at the sea. They suddenly saw a mirage appear by the shore that was so vague, no one could see it clearly. Everyone immediately started guessing what it could be.


    One of the alchemists said that it was a building under the sea from a town that was previously submerged by seawater; another alchemist said that it was a fleet of huge ships from the overseas Wuchang Country; another one said it was the back of a sea beast that was basking in the warm sun. In short, there were all kinds of theories, but there was one alchemist named Tianmu who said nothing. Instead, he went back and packed his bags.


    When the other alchemists asked him what he was doing, he pointed to the distant cloud and said that the mirage was in the shadow of the cloud so he would follow it. When the cloud reachednd and the mirage appeared again, he would approach it and happily meet the celestial beings.


    Everyoneughed at him, but Tianmu didn''t care. He stood with his bags by the seaside and waited for the cloud to slowlye ashore. Of course, after floating tond, the mirage disappeared, but the cloud miraculously didn''t disperse. Instead, it drifted ind as if it had a life of its own.


    Tianmu followed the cloud and traveled all the way to western China. It was only when he stood in front of a big stretch of water that he finally saw the mirage again. He found a fisherman who was willing to let him on his boat and then sailed into the mirage. There he found a country that was called the West Seas Falling Cloud Country.


    The monarch of this country, called King Qin Huang, said that he was a prince of the State of Qin. After his death, he was named the West Seas Immortal King, so he established the Falling Cloud Country.


    When Jin Wantang said this, he lowered his voice, "Do you know what this legend has to do with this tomb? Hand over your braised eggs and Ill tell you."


    I didnt like the taste anyways, so I forked over my braised egg while Fatty poured him half a bowl of noodles. Old Jin took a bite of the egg and continued, "Don''t you think this legend is very simr to another legend?"


    "What do you mean? If the West Seas Falling Cloud Country is in western China, then are you talking about the Queen of the Wests Country? I asked him. "Did this alchemist arrive in the Queen of the Wests Country? Or is the West Seas Falling Cloud Country another name for the Queen of the Wests country? Or is there some other kind of rtionship between them?"


    As I thought about it, I didnt think that it was correct. The records surrounding the Queen of the Wests Country and all the other western countries around Kunlun at that time were basically myths. This story set in the Western Han Dynasty was probably just pieced together using other legends. On the whole, alchemists were liars who even deceived themselves.


    Jin Wantang nodded, "It''s true that this legend is probably fabricated, and I would have really thought so too if I hadn''t seen this tomb. Theres one particr detail in this legend thats interesting. When Tianmu was chasing the cloud one day, it turned ck and rushed into another dark cloud. Tianmu got lost, but there was thundering from the dark cloud that guided him forward. When he looked up, he saw that the God of Thunder had appeared on the cloud."


    Jin Wantang took out his phone and showed us the pictures of the murals he had taken. Among the countless people listening in the murals, there was a single alchemist. We could tell because he wasnt wearing official garb like the others, but the clothes of an alchemist. The depiction was very detailed despite being so small.


    "These murals either tell the story of the tomb owner''s life, or they tell a myth. But even if it is a myth, these murals will still have the tomb owners visage on them. Such beautiful murals are bound to be rted to the tomb owner, but theres no doubt that they seem to be depicting Tianmu chasing clouds. Since this Tianmu was painted so small, however, that shows that hes not the tomb owner. So, whos the tomb owner?"


    "Which figure is the biggest?" Fatty asked. We immediately got up and went to the outer tomb chamber to start examining the murals carefully. We soon found the biggest person. He was standing on a cloud, but he wasnt one of the thunder gods. He wore aplicated headdress and luxurious clothes, and there were a lot of ears painted on one side of his head.


    King Qin Huang? Based on the story, I secretly spected that the protagonist of these murals was this person standing on the cloud. Only a legendary figure could stand on a cloud like that and wear fancy clothes.


    In other words, the monster corpse in the coffin was the tomb owner, the legendary King Qin Huang?


    Did these murals and this corpsee from King Qin Huangs tomb? If the Yang family robbed graves by listening to thunder, did they also use that method to find the West Seas Falling Cloud Country?


    "Isnt this just bullshit? Fatty murmured. This king ispletely fabricated, and there arent any other historical records at all."


    "But these murals are evidence," Jin Wantang said. "Just think about it. If part of Tianmus legend is true, then why isnt there any record of King Qin Huang in history?"


    Fatty and I exchanged a look. "Those who told this legend hid the real information, Fatty said. King Qin Huang is a pseudonym." He looked at the sarcophagus. "Then who is this six-eared monkey?"


    Jin Wantang nodded. I was just about to speak, when I heard a few popping and clicking sounds. I looked up and saw Poker-Face rotating his shoulders and rxing his whole body. He was trying to adjust his body so that he could climb into the well under the sarcophagus.


    "Bone contraction?" Jin Wantang eximed.


    We watched Poker-Face get smaller and smaller until he could stuff himself into the gap using yoga-like movements.


    After entering, he kicked the stone pir and twisted his body to restore himself to his usual size. We continued watching as he shined his shlight on the area right under the body.


    "Mute Father (1), what are you looking for?" Jin Wantang asked.


    "Land deed (2)," Poker-Face answered him.


    I got excited as soon as I heard this and looked at Jin Wantang, realizing that our spection just now was ridiculous. If it really was rted to Tianmu, then the Eastern Han Dynasty already hadnd deeds at that time. We could find out who exactly was in the sarcophagus.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Yes, thats literally how it tranted. Remember, gotta show respect to your elders lol.


    (2) Could also be callednd coupon I guess. I was only finding results here on Baidu. They were originally used as invible proof that the deceased owned that spot ofnd (and the tomb) in the underworld. They have distinctive Taoist cultural characteristics and appeared in the middle andte Eastern Han Dynasty. (Its what Poker-face was looking at ~25:16 of episode 3 in the drama).


    ****


    <strong><em>Depending on where you are in the world, Happy New Year (or almost New Year)!!!!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 13: South Sea King’s Tomb

    Book 1: Chapter 13: South Sea King¡¯s Tomb


    To put it bluntly, and deed was something you asked for when you wanted to buynd in the underworld. It was simr to currentnd deeds, except that thend you bought wasnd in the underworld where you would live. At that time, writingnd deeds was basically trading with the underworld, so most of them were useless and considered a shady affair. Only those who had no descendants would make a living helping others write them.


    I once received rubbings of and deed that was unearthed in Yahong, Sichuan Province. I even remembered some of the contents, which read:


    Xu Guo died on the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Tiansheng, Bingyin Tai Sui (1), in Zhu Ming Town, Jiguo vige, Hongya County, Jia Province. Lord Xu spent ny-nine thousand nine hundred and ny-nine coins


    Since thend deeds contents focused on where the tomb was and information on the tomb owner, Poker-Faces idea was very urate.


    As we stood at the edge of the sarcophagus and looked down, we saw Poker-Face ce his feet on both sides of the well and carefully look at the area beneath the corpse. I handed him my cell phone and he took a picture before handing it back to me. There was a whole te beneath the body that was full of inscriptions, but they were hard to see because of all the barnacle-like things covering it. Fatty lowered a hammer down and Poker-Face began knocking the barnacles off. As the words were revealed, he slowly read them aloud for us: "Minyue (2) snakes, South Seas King Zhi."


    "What the hell? South Sea? Fatty asked. "Isn''t it the West Sea?"


    "Fat Master, you just said that even though the West Seas Falling Cloud Country is fictitious, there should be a foundation for it, Jin Wantang said. The South Seas King Zhi and the West Seas Falling Cloud changing a single word to fabricate a whole story is really ingenious. South Sea was it really a country in the South Sea?" His eyes suddenly gleamed and he jumped up.


    We all looked at Jin Wantang, who frowned and said, "Minyue snakes it was said that people in the seven ancient Fujian countries worshiped snakes. If its both Fujian and snakes, then that means that thend deeds were bought fornd in Fujians underworld and the people were from the Baiyue ethnic group. The ssic of Mountain and Sea said that Fujian was in the sea. In other words, this area was in the sea and separated from the maind a long time ago. That makes the story of Tianmu chasing a cloud all the way to the seaside more credible. He might not have gone west, but south. So, it wasnt the West Seas Falling Cloud Country, but the South Seas Falling Cloud Country. The West Seas Falling Cloud Country is in the South Sea!"


    He looked at the body and continued, "Is this corpse the monarch of a South Sea country? Was it an ancient country bordering Fujian and Jiangxi along the coast of China at that time that disappeared sometime during the Han Dynasty?"


    "What''s so special about this guy? What does it have to do with listening to thunder? I asked him as I looked at the corpses ears. It really didnt look like a custom of the Central ins people.


    "Since this South Sea country was very small and existed for a short period of time, there are very few records of it, Jin Wantang said. I only know that after the destruction of the country, the survivors all went out to sea. After the countless ships left, they never appeared again. Even the South Sea King was missing. I didn''t expect such a king to have such a luxurious tomb. They really spared no amount of effort in this regard. In addition, the only thing rted to listening to thunder was the legend of Tianmu chasing clouds."


    If it was a South Sea country, then that would exin these barnacles. Maybe the South Sea Kings tomb was flooded by sea water at one point, and the Yang family identally brought the barnacles back with them when they stole the coffin.


    Poker-Face whistled at me from below, so I handed my phone down again. Hended near the bottom of the well, took a photo, and threw the phone back up. When I looked at the photo, I saw dozens of decayed tapes that were stuck to the bottom of the te under the bronze scales at the bottom of the well.


    Poker-Face contracted his bones again and climbed back up. There were about forty decayed tapes that were all lined up and looked very old. The tapes inside had long been broken, and copious amounts of sludge were stuck in them, making it impossible to rewind them.


    "It seems that Comrade Yang Daguang once hid at the bottom of this well and recorded thunder," Fatty murmured. "Why didn''t he take these tapes away?"


    I could see if there were only one or two tapes, but he had prepared so many and didnt bother taking them with him. "Maybe he didn''t record what he wanted to hear," I said.


    Poker-Face suddenly shook his head and we all looked at him. "He didn''t record thunder in the well, he yed it in the well," he said.


    I paused before suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat, "What do you mean?"


    He took out a bronze scale and put it in my hand. "This is some kind of musical instrument for thunder."


    I frowned and suddenly understood what he was getting at. The thunder came down from the sky, passed through the amplifier above, and then resonated in the well below, stimting these bronze pieces into making special sounds. Did that mean it was a kind of trantor that could trante the information that was in the thunder?


    It was a bold spection, but the bronze pieces were all rotten now, so the sound we heard was too muddled to be sure.


    It wouldnt thunder every time Yang Daguang came here, so he would bring a tape recording of thunder whenever he dide. He would y it in the well in order to hear what information was in the thunder.


    If he was willing to abandon the tapes here, maybe they didnt have what he wanted. Or maybe he couldnt hear anything like us and he threw them away out of frustration. These bronze pieces seemed to have decayed a long time ago, after all. And that wasnt even mentioning the fact that he died in that secluded room without leaving any useful clues. He clearly didn''t learn much.


    But it wasnt like it was nothing since he had persisted for so long. He shouldve found somethingright?


    As I looked at the bronze piece very carefully, Fatty said to me in a grave voice, "We have to go to the ce where these murals came from if we want to know what happened."


    "You just want to fucking find something," I said angrily.


    Fatty didnt even bother denying it and simply nodded, "Do you remember those strange things we encountered in the Fujian mountains before? Dont you think they have some connection to this South Sea country?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) ording to Baidu, this is from a real Song Dynasty tomb discovered on 8/21/2009 in Sichuan Province. I think this person died around 1027 AD, since this says the Tiansheng era was 1023-1032. Bingyin is the 3<sup>rd</sup> year of the 60-year cycle. Tai Sui is the star god/deity presiding over the year, but can also be an ancient way of saying "year". Bingyin Tai Sui is the year of the tiger zodiac-wise (if that helps at all).


    (2) An ancient kingdom in what is now the Fujian province in southern China. It was a contemporary of the Han dynasty. Its inhabitants were groups of indigenous non-Chinese tribes called the Baiyue. More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 14: Baiyue People

    Book 1: Chapter 14: Baiyue People


    I carefully thought over everything while on the train. Yang Daguang''s ancestors must have been in the South Sea Kings tomb and stole the murals, sarcophagus, and bronze scales from it. They then came to Funiu Mountain, where they built this secret tomb and hid the stolen objects inside.


    This was a group of patient and experienced grave robbers, who were known as "Luoyang Weizi" (1) in the industry. It was a kind of honorary title. After they found a tomb, they often surrounded thend and dug slowly for generations, leaving nothing behind. This meant that they would definitely take more than a few things when they entered the South Sea Kings tomb. But now there was only a sarcophagus full of barnacles in this hidden tomb, which meant that the valuables had already been squandered through the generations.


    By the time Yang Daguang went to school, his father was shot and there were very few valuables left. Yang Daguang, who often returned to his hometown to take the treasures from the tomb to sell, slowly discovered that his livelihood was bing precarious. When he wanted to sell the murals, he somehow noticed the people in the murals listening to thunder and became interested in thunder. After going to Nanjing, he slowly studied thunder and discovered a shocking pattern.


    I didnt know when he and Uncle Three had met, but he mustve told Uncle Three about listening to thunder. Uncle Three went into the mountains with him to record thunder for a while, but he never bothered telling me about this experience.


    Time flew by. I didnt know what had happened between them, but Yang Daguang died in that secret room in the weather station. Uncle Threeter entrusted Jin Wantang to buy the weather station and indirectly told me Yang Daguangs story.


    If, as I inferred, he conveyed this man''s story to me, then for what purpose? To prove he wasnt dead? To collect Yang Daguangs body? These kinds of things could clearly be expressed in words, so there was no need to send such an ambiguous text. I was a little confused and had no idea what he wanted from me. Was I supposed to find the South Sea Kings tomb or explore the secrets of listening to thunder? It felt like even he didnt know what he needed me to do.


    But ording to Fatty, the two tasks were basically the same. There had to be secrets to listening to thunder in the South Sea Kings tomb. After Yang Daguang became interested in this matter, he mustve returned to the tomb and finally got the answer to the question: what''s in the thunder? Once he discovered what it was, he devoted himself to recording thunder, which showed that he fully understood its value.


    Fatty told me that he felt that Yang Daguang was either looking for a special kind of thunder in order to learn some secrets, or he was greedily collecting the information in the thunder to do something bigger.


    But a journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. We first had to follow Yang Daguang''s footsteps and return to the South Sea Kings tomb to find out what was in the thunder.


    The scale of the South Sea Kings tomb was unknown. Not only was there no historical data, but the Yang family mustve also deliberately hidden it. It would be very difficult to find, but we had locked on two directions: one was the seaside, where the sea water would submerge it all year round and allow people to pass by it without ever knowing; the other was where the Yang family had settled for generations. After looking at a map of Fujian, I suddenly realized that the ce where the South Sea Kings tomb was located was probably in a geographical state that we had never experienced before.


    The king''s tomb might be under a beach by the sea.


    After thousands of years of coastline evolution, the mountains and woonds of that year might now all be covered by tidal ts. And since the tide rose and fell, the water probably infiltrated deep under the tidal ts and into the ancient tomb. The area below would be a mixed environment of silt and sand. It was no longer a question of whether we could find it or not. Even if we could find it, how could we get down there? And if we did go down, what then? Was Uncle Three down there?


    The data on that South Sea country seemed to indicate that it was in present-day Wuping, which happened to be our territory (2).


    Once our ne from Xiamennded at Gaoqi Airport, we disembarked and hauled our aching bodies into my Jinbei. I suddenly didn''t want to go anywhere anymore. Fatty started talking as he drove us to Longyan, "Mr. Nave, weve encountered so many strange things in the mountains during this time and theyre all within the territory of this South Sea country. What is this country? Can you tell me about it?"


    The South Sea country was aplete mystery, but there was no denying the fact that we had found some strange things in various ces in the mountains during our stay in Fujian. I remembered the huge underground salt mine and the Stagnant Water Dragon King temple that was inside. If those were the remains of the South Sea country, then this country mustve had an unknown side to it.


    At that time, the Baiyue people interacted with those in the Central ins. It was called an uncivilized ce, but it was actually connected to seventy-six overseas countries. The history of this area could be brutally summarized in just a few simple words, so it was impossible to verify what had happened in these mountains over the past thousand years.


    I suddenly remembered that Poker-Face often ventured into the mountains and camped out there for a long time. I didnt know what he was looking for, but did he already find a clue a long time ago?


    I kept feeling like Uncle Three was trying to tell me something, and suddenly had an idea. Did he want to tell me what Poker-Face was doing behind my back?


    I narrowed my eyes and looked at Poker-Face, who had fallen asleep in the backseat. "What the hell does Little Brother normally do? I asked Fatty. Do you know?"


    "Has he ever told us whats going on in his life? Fatty answered me. Do you really think that highly of me to ask?"


    I looked at Poker-Face suspiciously. The more I thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. Uncle Three had given me a clue pointing to a strange ancient tomb, which just so happened to be rted to the ce where we lived and all the inexplicable things we had experienced before. And Poker-Face seemed to have discovered it a long time ago.


    It was no mere coincidence.


    I was just about to start thinking about it more carefully when a jeep in the otherne overtook us. Then, a hand suddenly stretched out of the window and motioned for us to pull over.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Luoyang is prefecture-level city in Henan. Weizi can mean to encircle or surround.


    (2) Wuping is a county level city in Longyan, Fujian. Theres also a Wuping Era (570576) that Gao Wei, emperor of Northern Qi, named.

 Book 1: Chapter 15: Wu Erbai

    Book 1: Chapter 15: Wu Erbai


    "What do you think, should we stop?" Fatty asked.


    I squinted at the license te and found that it was a local one. It definitely wasnt a big deal, since there was no reason for a jeep to rob a Jinbei.


    "Slow down," I said.


    As we slowly passed by the jeep, I saw the passenger side window lower. My Uncle Two had a cigarette in his mouth and shouted at us, "Stop the car!"


    Fatty sighed, and the Jinbei slowly came to a stop by the shoulder of the road. "Why is your Uncle Two here? Could it be a coincidence that hes traveling here?" He asked me.


    <em>How is that possible?</em> I said to myself. I would rather deal with ten Uncle Threes than one Uncle Two. If he wasnt so indifferent, there would probably only be two of the Nine Gates left in the circle.


    We got out of the car looking morose. I didn''t know what to do with my hands, so I asked Fatty for a cigarette while directing a question at Jin Wantang, "What the fuck did you tell him?"


    "I didn''t say anything. I just asked your Wu family for money," Jin Wantang said while refusing to look me in the eye. I immediately became angry. I knew this guy was bad news, but I didn''t expect him to be this bad.


    Uncle Two didn''t get out of the jeep, so I leaned against his window. He gave me aplicated look, "Driving so fast, where are you going?"


    "Uncle Two, what are you doing in Fujian? It''s such a coincidence that we met on this road. No wonder we''re rtives." I forced myself to make awkward conversation.


    "Your Jinbei has a 4.0 engine discement (1), but my jeep could barely keep up with you the whole way. Whats the rush? He looked at my shoes and then at my hand. I quickly hid it from view. I had been in a hurry toe back, so I couldn''t get rid of the earthy smell and there was still mud under my fingernails.


    Uncle Two looked like a stork as he narrowed his eyes and shouted at Fatty, "Get in the car and drive!"


    Fatty looked at me and I nodded. He quickly grabbed Jin Wantang and ran back to the Jinbei while saying, "I told you, its important to live independently. I dont have so many rtives."


    When I got into the passenger seat of Uncle Two''s jeep, he coldly told me to put out my cigarette as we started following Fatty.


    "Whats wrong?" I asked him.


    "I''ve been waiting for you at the train station, but a kid like you went as far as to change your mode of transportation. If I didn''t have so many eyes and ears, you wouldve really gotten away. If youre being so cautious, does that mean youre working again?"


    "It doesnt count." I knew it was useless to deny it. Uncle Two had always been very confident in his own assessments, so he was merely giving me face by asking me like this and letting me exin myself. "Im looking for something that just happens to be buried. Its not valuable."


    "Have you seen your Uncle Three?" He asked in a somber tone.


    My heart thumped, but he didn''t wait for me to answer, "Tell the truth."


    "No, no, I really havent." When I thought about it, I immediately knew what was going on. After Jin Wantang failed to sell thend, he definitely went to nag Uncle Two for money. But Uncle Two was the kind of guy who could figure things out just by giving you a once over. He could even pick up several clues just by listening. He definitely thought that Uncle Three hade to me and taken me to a tomb.


    As my elder and someone who had seen me experience so many things, he certainly wouldnt let what happened back then repeat itself.


    The warmth in my heart suddenly turned sour.


    Uncle Two immediately said, "Don''t think about it too much. Jin Wantang asked your father for money. Your father thought that Uncle Three had asked you to go grave robbing again and started crying. He called me up in a panic and asked me to persuade you. You''re not young anymore, so it doesn''t matter whether you live or not. If your Uncle Three wants to apany your grandfather a little earlier, I''m fine with that. I want to live to ny-nine, so I can''t do this kind of filial piety."


    I coughed to cover up my embarrassment and Uncle Two locked the doors, "Say it quickly or Ill turn around right now and go back to Hangzhou. This jeep has enough horsepower. Your Jinbei wont be able to catch up."


    I thought about it and decided that there was nothing to hide now, so I told him the whole story.


    After listening, Uncle Two murmured, "Yang Daguang?"


    "What, do you know him?"


    "Of course I know him," Uncle Two said. "Youre wrong. He wasnt a grave robber. He was a student. It''s your Uncle Three who made him like this."


    I was stunned for a moment. "If he wasnt a grave robber, then why did his father get shot for robbing a tomb? I went into his familys ancestral grave and there were a lot of old things there. At first nce, their family looks like Luoyang Weizi."


    Uncle Two sighed. "It wasn''t his father who shouldve been shot at that time, it was your Uncle Three. Your Uncle Three encouraged Daguang to go grave robbing, but they were discovered by the militia. The tomb was really big, so your Uncle Three managed to escape, but Yang Daguang got caught while he was keeping watch. At that time, the militia in the vige enforced thew. When Yang Daguangs father took his ce and said that he was the one whomitted the crime, they shot him directly."


    I frowned as Uncle Two continued, "They were ordinary people. Your Uncle Three let you know about this because he wanted you to atone for his sins. Whatever is in the South Sea Kings tomb is definitely different from what youre thinking. He looked at me and then at the rearview mirror. I suddenly noticed that something was wrong and looked behind us. I didnt know when they had appeared, but a convoy of ck jeeps was suddenly behind us. I turned to Uncle Two, who said, "Let''s go and have a look."


    <><><><>


    Authors note: Wu Xie was poor because of the Crescent Hotel incident. He waspensating for the ghost seal.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I know jack shit about cars but google-sensei said engine discement ismonly used as an expression of an engine''s size, and by extension as a loose indicator of the power an engine might be capable of producing and the amount of fuel it should be expected to consume. Uncle Two is saying Wu Xies Jinbei sucks lol.


    ****


    <strong><em>I don''t normally include the author''s notes, but I thought this one might exin why Wu Xie was so poor in the drama despite being rich in "Sand Sea" lol. Also, Wu Xie''s dad is so precious. I can just imagine him bawling his eyes out as he calls Uncle Two to go save his son from the evil Uncle Three lol.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 16

    Book 1: Chapter 16


    Old Jin couldn''t stay in our house because the cold made his hips hurt, so we got him a ce in the county town and went back to the vige first.


    Our house was now crowded with Wu guys. Uncle Two printed out the photos we took and spread them out on our desk while the three of us squeezed onto the sofa in the corner to watch them have a meeting. The rest of the house was full of equipment. Most of these guys were hired grave robbers who had regional ents, and each one was even uglier than thest.


    Uncle Two was very efficient and soon ordered some of the guys to start working. Everyone was smoking, which meant the whole room was filled with smoke as if it was on fire. Everyone eventually left to start working, leaving only one of Uncle Two''s guys to sweep all the cigarette butts off the floor and clean the table.


    As I opened the door to let out the smoke, Fatty said quietly, "Little Brother and I will sleep first. You two can catch up." Fatty went into the room and gave Uncle Two a smile, "Uncle, you guys keep talking. I have to get up early tomorrow, so Im going to bed first."


    Uncle Two grunted, looked at Poker-Face, and then said, "You stay." Poker-Face acted like he didn''t hear him and continued to his room. Uncle Two mmed his fist on the table, "I told you to stay!"


    I waspletely shocked. I had no idea why Uncle Two suddenly got so riled up. I immediately went over to Poker-Face, who paused and looked back at Uncle Two.


    "Uncle Two, what''s wrong?" I hurriedly asked.


    "I have something to ask him, Uncle Two said coldly. He must know where your Uncle Three is."


    Poker-Face shook his head, pushed the door to his room open, and went in. Uncle Two stood up, seemingly unwilling to drop it. I immediately grabbed him. "Thats just how he is, Uncle Two. Dont mind it. If you ask him again, hell knock you out."


    Uncle Two sat down and took a sip of tea. "Does he still refuse to talk?"


    "Even if he doesnt say anything, I can still figure it out." I sighed. "In fact, the one who lied to me the most was Uncle Three. I dont even know how many things he didnt tell me. But the price I paid for knowing those things is too much. If others dont want to talk, I wont make them."


    "Your Uncle Three owes a lot of debts. After things are over, hell have to pay them back one by one. I just dont know if hell be able to do it in this lifetime. We, the Wu family, will have to help him. Uncle Two suddenly sighed and held his forehead, "Ill have to make sure everythings bnced for when I reincarnate. Little Xie, let''s talk business."


    I nodded and sat down, my back ramrod straight. It was like I was suddenly a child again, unable to recite the Tang poetry Uncle Two was quizzing me on because Uncle Three and I had snuck out the previous night to catch grasshoppers in the field. When I fell asleep, Uncle Three carried me back and put me into my bed.


    That was why I hated Uncle Two as a child and absolutely adored Uncle Three. But now that I thought about it, this family probably would have copsed without Uncle Two.


    His hair was all white now, which was a stark contrast to my father''s appearance. In fact, my father was basically the Wu Xiubo (1) of the neighborhoodmittee. Uncle Two had always been so strong and spirited, but we could see the hidden tiredness and age creeping up on him.


    He pointed to the murals we had photographed and asked me, "Tell me, whats wrong with these murals?"


    "They look like theyre from the Song Dynasty, but the South Sea countries existed during the Han Dynasty. Murals from the Song Dynasty are veryplicated. The density of colors and lines far exceeds that of murals from the Han Dynasty. The drawings are smooth and theposition is rigorous, but theres nothing on the murals that could help us distinguish which dynasty theyre from. The content of the murals is rtively unknown, so its actually difficult to figure anything out without checking historical records first."


    "Youre right. Theres about a seven-hundred-year gap between the Han and Song Dynasties. These murals can''t be from the Han Dynasty, but the sarcophagus you photographed is. So, maybe these murals and this sarcophaguse from two different tombs. If you put the two things together and analyze them, youll see theres a problem, Uncle Two said. "The tomb you went to should be the ce where Uncle Three hoarded grave goods. He hid everything he stole there."


    "What do you mean?"


    "It''s just a spection for now. Your Uncle Three was very interested in listening to thunder and hid everything rted to it in one ce. Dont tell the others about this just yet and keep it between the two of us." He looked at me, "Let''s go to that South Sea country first. It was said to be in Wuping, which is now far away from the sea. Theres a saying: thunder suppresses the nine typhoons. As long as theres thunder, the typhoon wont makendfall. We need to look into the typhoons and thunderstorms along the coast here. The South Sea Kings tomb wont be found using our usual methods, so I found an expert in Beijing to help us."


    I paused. An expert?"


    Uncle Two nodded. "Hes someone who can listen to thunder to find tombs. Hell arrive tomorrow."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A Chinese actor, musician, and producer. Hes most widely known as Xinjie Liu, the protagonist in the television series Before the Dawn. Wu Xies dad is basically a silver fox hehehe

 Book 1: Chapter 17: Fan

    Book 1: Chapter 17: Fan


    I slept with Uncle Two that night. He slept like a zombie and didnt move at all. As Iy there, I couldnt help thinking to myself, <em>how many things does he have on his mind to be sleeping as straight as a ruler</em>?


    My nose was full of smoke and I couldnt sleepfortably, but fortunately, the mountain air in Fujian was good. I still felt refreshed even though I slept less than six hours. Uncle Two had gotten up early, and when I went out, I saw him chatting and giving red envelopes (1) to the neighbors.


    As soon as I came out, the aunt next door greeted me affectionately and brought us a breakfast that consisted of two eggs, a bowl of rice congee, and some pork chops. When I saw this treatment, I squatted down in the yard to have breakfast with Uncle Two. I didn''t know what he had said to her, but she was so happy that she looked like she was about to take flight.


    After cleaning up, we hit the road again and went to the seaside first. In town, we met the expert Uncle Two had mentioned, who had just arrived. He was wearing a suit and pulling a suitcase behind him, looking as if he had justnded for a business trip. The suit was very high-end and he was wearing ck-rimmed sses. His watch didnt have diamonds on it, but it was big and didnt look cheap at all. He was just starting to loosen his tie when he saw us. "I just came back from a business trip and didn''t have time to change," he said to Uncle Two.


    As Uncle Two introduced me and I nodded at him, Fatty whispered to me, "Be careful. I know this person. Hes not easy to mess with."


    <em>Who is this expert?</em> I wondered. <em>How can I not know someone in this industry that Uncle Two and Fatty know?</em><em>Ive never met an expert dressed like this. </em>When I asked Fatty for details, he said that this guy wasnt actually in the business. He did everything and understood everything, but always seemed very pessimistic. He was called Liu Sang.


    He was a talented neer who could handle any kind of underworld business (2). Although he seemed mature, it was said that he was born in the 90s. Even though he wasnt trained for it, he started dabbling in antiques and a grave robber in Xian took him in. People said his ears were particrly urate.


    Now that tombs were bing more and more difficult to find, all kinds of people wereing out of the woodwork, saying they knew special ways to find tombs. Many of them were liars, but this guy was said to have real skills at a reasonable price.


    As he took off his suit and put on a T-shirt and jeans, I suddenly found that he was simr to us. <em>Clothes really make the man</em>, I said to myself.


    When we got in the car, the man took out a bunch of phones from his backpack and lined them up on the dash one by one. There were more than a dozen of them, and they all had the weather forecasts of the coastal towns pulled up.


    "Is there any thunder?" Uncle Two asked.


    Liu Sang shook his head and swiped his fingers across every screen. When they all showed sunny forecasts, Liu Sang said, "Come on, Uncle Two. I cant take your money if its sunny. Im going back."


    "No," Uncle Two said. "The weather here changes fast. Even if we have to wait until thunderes, we will."


    Fatty whispered, "Grandson, you didnt bother checking before you took this job and waited until you came? You definitely have a n. Dont pretend to be the Big Bad Wolf. The old man doesn''t understand your routine, but I do."


    Liu Sang''s face changed when he finally noticed Fatty, "Why do you always appear everywhere, Fat Master?" As he spoke, he happened to see Poker-Face. His whole body suddenly trembled, his face turned red, and he swiftly turned around, looking embarrassed.


    I looked at Fatty and asked, "What''s wrong with him?"


    "Ignore him, Fatty said. Hes a fan of our Little Brother. I know him because he had someone ask me for Little Brother''s autograph before."


    Fan? Poker-Face was able to have fans even though he lived in the mountains? Just as I was telling myself how strange it was, I saw Liu Sang secretly take out his phone and snap a picture of the backseat.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mary gift which is given during holidays or special asions such as weddings, graduations, or birth of a baby. Its also gifted when a person is visiting as a gesture of kindness for visiting (which is what Uncle Two is doing). More info here.


    (2) It really said the eight outer professions, which was basically the eight professions in the underworld: grave robbers, fortune-tellers, bandits, pirates, thieves, beggars, etc. Liu Sang is basically a Renaissance man/jack-of-all-trades.

 Book 1: Chapter 18: Listen to Thunder by the Evening Sea

    Book 1: Chapter 18: Listen to Thunder by the Evening Sea


    Fatty immediately became angry when he saw Liu Sang secretly taking pictures. He pointed at him and scolded, "Hand it over, hand it over!"


    Liu Sang hid his phone in his arms and said coldly, "The person being photographed didn''t object, so it''s none of your business."


    Fatty tried to reach for it, but Uncle Two looked at him and scolded, "Get out if youre going to make trouble again!"


    Fatty shrank back and whispered in my ear, "This guy must be your Uncle Twos bastard son." Uncle Two nced at Fatty in the rearview mirror and Fatty quickly turned his head away.


    Liu Sang secretly nced at Poker-Face again, but Poker-Face was looking out the window. Fatty grabbed Poker-Face''s hood and put it on him, covering his face.


    When Liu Sang narrowed his eyes and red at Fatty, Fatty took off his shoes, propped his feet up on the back of Liu Sang''s seat, and made a fuck you gesture. Liu Sang sneered and turned back around.


    The atmosphere in the car was very awkward and no one spoke the entire way. That idiot kept taking pictures, which I could put up with at first, but I slowly became irritated. Any time he took a picture, I kicked the back of his seat. Later, he became more well-behaved when we made him drive.


    We drove for nearly seven hours to Pingtan County. This was our first stop, mainly because there was a local folk legend here that was very interesting. Uncle Two thought it might be rted to the South Sea country we were looking for.


    The legend was about a "mute emperor". It was said that Pingtan was called Haitan Ind a long time ago. It was made up of 126 small inds and had a very developed fishing industry. They had a mute on the ind, whom they called Mute Emperor. He usually liked to make paper men and horses to serve as his army.


    The real emperor killed all of the Mute Emperors rtives at that time, so he hated the emperor with a passion. But there was nothing he could do about it.


    Mute Emperor went out to sea to fish one day and almost died. While drifting there in the water, a strange man suddenly floated up from the sea and said that he was a celestial being from Peni (1). Seeing that the Mute Emperor was in such a pitiable state, he gave him three pieces of paper and told him that he could cut out a house on the first piece, a granary on the second, and some clothes on the third. If he did that, he could speak, take shelter from the wind and the rain, and eat his fill. But he couldnt be seen performing these spells or they wouldnt work.


    The Mute Emperor looked at the three pieces of paper and clenched his teeth as he thought of his dead rtives. In the end, he cut out a mountain on the first piece of paper to protect the vige from the wind and the sea waves. On the second piece of paper, he cut a big bow and magic arrow. He also created many paper soldiers and horses that were ready to deal with the emperor, but his hands were unsteady and he couldn''t cut the eyes for them. Instead, he used sesame seeds from his sister-inw''s pot to make the eyes. On the third piece of paper, he cut a mortar, basket, and mallet for his sister-inw to use while she worked.


    Before dawn the next day, the Mute Emperor drew the bow back and shot the magic arrow at the emperor''s golden phoenix hall. The emperor hadnt arrived at court yet, so the arrownded right on his throne. The emperor was shocked to see the arrow when he arrived at court and sent the prime minister to investigate. When it was soon discovered that Mute Emperor was the one who shot it, the emperor sent an army to encircle and suppress him. The Mute Emperor sent out his huge paper army, but the soldiers and horses were blind because his sister-inw''s sesame seeds were fried. In the end, they were defeated by the emperors army.


    The Mute Emperor had no choice. He asked his sister-inw to close her eyes while he threw the mortar, basket, and mallet into the sea and shouted, "The mortar bes a boat, the basket bes a sail, and the mallet bes pulp." The mortar, basket, and mallet turned into a boat. He pulled his sister-inw into the boat and told her not to open her eyes as they escaped to the sea. But the sea was too rough and his sister-inw was so frightened by the wind and the waves that she identally opened her eyes. The spell broke and the mortar, basket, and mallet changed back into paper. The Mute Emperor and sister-inw disappeared beneath the big waves.


    We stood on the beach, watching the sun set. The tidal ts were covered in orange and gold ripples and the sea surface looked like gold foil. There were countless fishing apparatus in the distance that looked like two sticks in the shape of a seven. They were used by fishermen to fish at high tide.


    We ate instant noodles and listened to Jin Wantang tell several different versions of this legend vividly. Fatty listened and then asked awkwardly, "Wait. Why is it him and his sister-inw? Wheres his brother?"


    "His brother mustve been killed by the emperor, I said. Cant you put your brain to use?" Uncle Two didnt like these kinds of jokes, so I gave Fatty a meaningful look.


    Fatty didnt seem to get it and continued, "Youre sure his brother didnt sell baked sesame seed cakes? If you ask around carefully, are you sure you wont discover that this Mute Emperor is surnamed Ximen?" (2)


    I ignored him and turned to Uncle Two, "You mean to say this Mute Emperor is the South Sea King?"


    "Dont you think its a bit simr to that South Sea King who was once overthrown after a rebellion, demoted to amoner, and then disappeared into the sea? The tidal ts here span arge area. If theres anything below, well have to depend on Liu Sangs hearing. Uncle Two finished speaking and looked at Liu Sang, who nced up at the sky.


    There wasnt a cloud in sight.


    If we did end up hearing a p of thunder, then it must be the work of ghosts. "I''ll buy some firecrackers and set them off, Fatty said to him. Do you want to listen to them instead?"


    Liu Sang looked at his watch and said to Fatty, "Time is money. If you want to save Uncle Two some money, youll cause less trouble. Fireworks arent enough, youll have to use detonators. I heard Fat Master is pretty adept at ying with explosives. Do you know how to make mud explode?"


    Fatty looked at Liu Sang and sneered, "This kid, looking down on people. Not only can I make mud explode, but I can earn a Grammy with the way I make shit explode."


    Liu Sang walked to the car, popped the trunk, opened a box of detonators, and threw them to me and Fatty. He also wanted to throw them to Poker-Face, but once he thought about it, he didn''t dare to. Fatty threw his detonators to Poker-Face and then caught the ones a blushing Liu Sang threw to him instead. The four of us stood there and looked at each other for a moment. Then, Liu Sang started to take off his clothes and the three of us immediately copied him.


    "Ill stand in the middle and listen while you detonate at the three corners. If theres something below, Ill be able to find it in forty minutes." As Liu Sang put on special headphones, I noticed that he was very thin under his clothes and he had an iplete Qilin tattooed on his body. It looked like an imitation of Poker-Faces, but it wasnt as elegant and didnt look finished yet.


    Liu Sangs face was flushed. Fatty was just about to speak up, but Liu Sang quickly interrupted him, "Shut up and go! He then turned and headed towards the beach.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Peni is one of three fabled inds in the Eastern sea. Its the abode of immortals (kind of like fairnd)


    (2) Fatty is basically hinting that the Mute Emperor and sister-inw were having an affair. I believe hes calling Mute Emperor Ximen Qing from the novel Plum in the Golden Vase. Ximen Qing is portrayed as ascivious and immoral man who starts a secret affair with a woman and helps her poison her husband, who makes a living by selling pancakes.


    ****


    <strong><em>First off, I love how Fatty switches between childish and mama bear in like 0.2 seconds </em></strong>()<strong><em>. Second off, I got to episode 34 of the Ultimate Note and I am not impressed with how the writers just tossed Vol 7 out the window and did whatever they wanted lol. And what''s with putting Vol 8 stuff in there? There''s an order to these things, dammit </em></strong>( ) <strong><em>. I did love Lieutenant Zhang''s cameos though lol. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 19: Exploding Mud

    Book 1: Chapter 19: Exploding Mud


    Liu Sang walked in the sea breeze, carrying severalrge porcin pots. They were shaped like ancient urinals, but the opening was in the middle. "Let me quiz you. What is that idiot carrying?" Fatty asked me.


    I secretly took a look at them and saw that they were typical old-style white porcin. The zed flower at the top of the opening was a lotus flower, and there were two peonies on both ends with an eight divinatory trigram pattern in the middle of them.


    I figured they were soul jars, which were often unearthed in ancient tombs in the south. They were sometimes called five-grain sacs. But most soul jars were long or looked like bamboo shoots, and were far more gorgeous than these things. The porcin patterns on the soul jars I had seen normally had three or fouryers. It was said that the moreyers there were, the higher the tomb owners status. If these were really soul jars, then they were really too humble.


    Fatty said to me, "You don''t know, right? They''re sex toys. This guy is a pervert, so hes carrying them around while he works."


    Liu Sang turned around and scolded him, "Are you fucking drunk? Ive been respectful since youre my senior, but dont bully me just because youre older. This is for listening. Youre so uncultured!"


    I was stunned for a moment. I had heard of this kind of thing before, but I didn''t expect it to look like this.


    These things were used by the ancients to guard cities from enemies who sought to dig tunnels from the outside. When buried under the city wall, they could amplify any digging sounds. And when there was no wind, you could cover them in leather so that you could hear more clearly.


    I took a closer look and found that they were all Liao (1) white porcin, which seemed to have been dug up from an ancient battlefield. I had heard that when you used them to listen, you could still hear the echoes of the battlefield at night. I didn''t expect Liu Sang to use such an old method, so I somewhat changed my opinion of him. It turned out that this guy did know what he was doing.


    It was very difficult to walk to the edge of the beach and reach the mudt, and we ended up having to take off our shoes since we kept getting sucked into the mud. We had hardly taken more than a dozen steps before we quickly found ourselves exhausted. The local people used something called a "haima" (2), which was a sled-like wooden nk you would stand on with one foot, but we didnt have that and could only walk.


    We trudged after him for a long time before he finally reached the center of the mudt. After he found the right position, it took the three of us fifteen minutes to get to the three directions he designated and bury the detonators.


    At this time, I didnt know how many times I had fallen. I waspletely covered in mud and the sea breeze was getting colder and colder. Fortunately, I had Fatty''s wine, so my body was warm all over.


    The setting sun gradually sank towards the horizon. There werent any fishing boats on the sea, nor was anyone on the beach. The only things I could see were the hazard lights from Uncle Twos cars that were far up on the shore. I took out the walkie-talkie and asked our lookout what the situation was. He said that there wasnt anyone on the beach for several miles.


    I looked at Liu Sang, who had buried the listening devices one by one in the mud in a very strange pattern. He put a copper coin in each one, bent down, and put his ears against the openings. When we detonated the explosives one by one, mud went flying in the air. The shock wave was so huge that I lost my bnce and fell into the mud again.


    Liu Sangy in the middle of it all, listening carefully. He told us to use our Luoyang shovels to bury the detonators even deeper. After burying them, the explosions were no longer like a geyser, but more like a fart. A bubble would rise up from the mud until it burst apart with a wretched sound, emitting the smell of sulfur.


    We started using our shlights once it waspletely dark, but our hearts werent in it. Not only were we numb all over after being buffeted by the sea breeze for so long, but the wine could no longerbat the cold. A bunch ofrge flying insects appeared and swarmed our shlights, while disgusting-looking sea cockroaches crawled all over the mudt.


    Liu Sang didnt hear anything at first, but as we set off more and more explosions, I started to notice that something was wrong. He was talking less and his expression started to look confused. We gathered around him during our break and asked him what was going on. It was a long time before he said, "Im only sure of two things right now. First, there are a lot of holes in the rocks below, which are connected to the rocky mountains on shore. Second, its not normal for so many sea cockroaches to appear on the mudts. Our explosions mustve shocked them out of those holes. But since there are holes in the rocks below, I can''t be sure if theres actually a tomb down there."


    I looked at his expression and knew something wasnt right. He wasnt telling us the truth. I patted him and said, "Little Brother is here so you have to be honest."


    "What the hell did you hear? If you tell me, I promise Ill onlyugh at you for two months, Fatty said to him.


    He looked at Poker-Face, hesitated for a moment, but still didn''t say anything. He nced at the listening devices with a puzzled expression on his face.


    While we were wheedling him, I suddenly felt as if the mud beneath my feet wasnt quite right and seemed to have loosened. It hadnt reached my ankles before, but now it had suddenly reached my knees. My feet felt itchy and I could feel countless bugs crawling out of the mud. I shined my shlight down and saw sea cockroaches crawling out of the muddy water at our feet.


    Fatty and I looked at each other and then turned to Poker-Face at the same time. He squatted down, caught one, and then threw it away after looking at it. Fatty took out the re gun and pointed it at the sky.


    As the red light exploded in the air, we werepletely stunned. Hundreds of thousands of sea cockroaches were pouring out of the mud all around us. Every inch of mud as far as the eye could see was squirming, and when we looked closely, it turned out to be these disgusting bugs.


    "We mustve blown up the cockroach nest," Fatty murmured.


    Liu Sang was expressionless as he looked around and listened, not caring about the bugs at all.


    I looked down at my feet. As the bugs came out, the mud beneath our feet became looser and looser. I was just about to make a suggestion when Poker-Face suddenly shouted, "Get ashore!"


    The three of us immediately ran for the shore, but Liu Sang didnt have this tacit understanding with us and stood there stunned for a moment. Suddenly, we heard a series of loud hup soundse from the ground, before a dozen massive bubbles appeared on the beach in the distance. The mud in that area began to sink as if it were melting. I had to shout at Liu Sang before he finally realized what was going on. As the four of us rushed for the shore, the re finished its descent and revealed all the bubbles spread across the mudt.


    It was like a giant pot of sea cockroach soup.


    It was so hard to walk on the mudt that I had to use all my strength just to run a dozen meters, but I still fell in the mud more than ten times and ended up covered in sea cockroaches.


    Poker-Face suddenly stopped, and I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong. I looked up and immediately knew what the problem was.


    The cars headlights were missing. The direction we were running in was pitch ck.


    "Did we get confused and run in the wrong direction?" I cursed and looked behind us, but it was also dark.


    Poker-Face pointed up ahead, and Fatty loaded another re and fired it. As the light soared into the distance, we saw that the mudt stretched out as far as the eye could see. Not only was there no sign of the shore, but Uncle Two''s cars were nowhere to be seen either.


    Fatty immediately fired another shot in the opposite direction. With both sides lit up at the same time, we found that it was all wrong. The shore wasnt in either direction. We were in the center of a huge mudt, which was much bigger than the one we had seen from the shore before.


    "Where is this?" Fatty asked. "What happened to the shore?"


    "This is bad. This is <em>so</em> bad." I took a deep breath. It appeared I had been right and something strange really was here. I kept looking in both directions, but there was nothing besides the endless mudt.


    Fatty wanted to send another signal re, but I stopped him. "Save it. We might need it if we run into trouble."


    Fatty grabbed Liu Sang, "What the fuck did you hear? Whats going on here?"


    Liu Sang was trembling as he looked at Poker-Face and said, "I heard someone talking below."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Short name for Liaoning province. Theres also a Liao or Khitan dynasty that existed from 907-1125.


    (2) It means seahorse.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh ho, ya''ll better be countin'' your lucky stars. I was so close to bailing tonight, but instead I leave you with this beautiful cliff-hanger </em></strong>()<strong><em> My 6th senses for a cliffie must''ve been tingling hehehe</em></strong><strong><em>(I also don''t rmend googling "sea cockroaches". The results are gross lol)</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 20: The Raksha Country and the Sea Market (1)

    Book 1: Chapter 20: The Raksha Country and the Sea Market (1)


    We kept sinking down into the mud and had to keep moving our feet in order to stay on top of the mudt. We were covered in sea cockroaches and many of them had climbed into our clothes. I kept shaking them off and pping them away, but I didnt have time to worry about them. Fortunately, they didnt hurt people even though they looked disgusting.


    Fatty grabbed Liu Sang and forcefully threw him into the mud. "What do you mean you heard someone talking? He asked him. Make it clear!"


    Liu Sang took a breath, but still couldn''t say it. The three of us stared at him until he finally cracked, "Theres someone talking under the mudt." He paused, and then said more seriously, "No, its not one person. Its countless people. Countless people are talking."


    As we nced at each other, he inhaled sharply and clenched his teeth. "It sounds really lively, but theyre saying something I can''t understand. There are definitely a lot of people, though."


    "Under this mudt?" I asked.


    Liu Sang nodded, and Fatty asked, "Can those listening devices pick up evil spirits? I''ve heard a lot of maic instruments can hear the sounds of ancient markets from long ago. Or maybe its just the sound of these bugs moving in the mud. Dont fucking talk nonsense."


    "I didn''t hear it at first, Liu Sang said, but it started to gradually appear once we started setting off the detonators." He looked off into the darkness on one side and suddenly lowered his voice before saying, "Theres something under this mudt. And we woke it up."


    The res on both sides fell, and the light gradually dimmed until only our shlights were left. At this time, I clearly felt that the sea breeze had stopped.


    As soon as it stopped, the dry cold on the mudt immediately turned into a damp cold. I broke out in a cold sweat and started shivering. I nced at Poker-Face and saw him looking in the same direction as Liu Sang.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked him. He didn''t answer me, but suddenly started heading back.


    We quickly followed him. As we ran through the mud, I saw Liu Sang and Poker-Face nce towards that same dark direction from time to time. Fatty lit a cigarette and then pulled a gun out of his backpack before throwing it to me. I loaded it and then put my Kukri on my waist. Fattys gun could hold seventeen rounds and I couldnt believe he ran red lights in the city when carrying such a thing.


    But there was no need to worry about that now.


    Our shlights quickly found the listening devices still stuck in the mud that we had been in too much of a hurry to grab before. Liu Sang took a few steps closer, but didnt dare approach them to listen. "Its getting closer," he said.


    "What is?"


    "I didn''t hear it this clearly before. You can listen for yourself," Liu Sang said. I went up to the closest listening device and listened very carefully. My ears werent as sensitive as Liu Sang''s, but I could vaguely hear the voices he had mentioned before. I originally thought it would be something that sounded like talking, but could be exined away as wind or water. But when I heard it myself, I found that I was wrong.


    This kind of noise sounded more like what you would hear in a huge market. Some people were shouting while others were talking, and it sounded like there were a lot of people.


    After thinking about it, I suddenly realized that I had read about this phenomenon before in some ancient books. In some of the old seaside county records, there was a legend about a "sea market". It was said that countless voices would asionally appear on the night sea, just like a huge market. If you followed these voices, you would eventually encounter the sea market. And Rakshasa were among those walking through the market.


    This legend waster adapted in many novels about strange tales (2).


    Were all these soundsing from beneath the mudt? Was it a natural phenomenon or something unexinable?


    Liu Sang was trembling all over andpletely petrified by the current situation. He kept mumbling, "Everyone said something would happen if you worked with Little Master Three. I thought it was just a rumor, a way for you to draw people in. I didn''t expect it to be so urate."


    Fatty moved to smack him, "What did you say, you little bastard? You have no manners!"


    Liu Sang used his elbow to block Fattys strike, while simultaneously tripping him. As Fatty fell forward, Liu Sang pushed him into the mud. Fatty was livid as he got up and swatted the sea cockroaches away. I moved to stop them, but saw that Liu Sang had suddenly calmed down. He nced at Little Brother, who nced back at him.


    Liu Sang pointed to a certain direction in the dark, "Guys, somethingsing."


    Fatty picked up his gun and pulled out the signal re, waiting as Liu Sang listened for a few seconds, "Two and a half kilometers, a little to the east." Fatty fired the signal re in that direction. As it shot into the sky and illuminated the area, we only took a single look before we all turned around and started running for our lives.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a short story by Pu Songling that was first published in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Told in two parts, the story follows the adventures of schr-merchant Ma Ji. More info here. For those curious, the characters for the chapter title are: . Luch ()= demon in Buddhism that likes to eat flesh, or a poltergeist in temples that ys tricks on monks and has a taste for their food. It trantes as Rakshasa for some reason. Hish ()= mirage (or if you break the characters up, they can mean Sea Market/City/Town).


    (2) Per Tiffany: Novels about strange tales, or Zhiguai xiaoshuo (Chinese: ), is also tranted as "tales of the miraculous", "tales of the strange", or "records of anomalies". It''s a type of Chinese literature which appeared in the Han dynasty. Wiki link here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ahahahahaha there it is you guys! Wu Xie''s "constitution" is infamous in the underworld. Poor Liu Sang was even willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and now he''s witnessing it first hand. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 21: Mud

    Book 1: Chapter 21: Mud


    Under the res light, we saw that the mud in the distance was arching up like a hill and rushing towards us. We couldn''t see what was under it, but it was growing so quickly that the churning mud was shooting out at a height that was as tall as a person.


    The four of us started running, but Fatty suddenly stopped after a few steps and cursed, "Fuck this shit. If theres something under the mud, what are we running for? Fuck it."


    I cursed. The mud here was extremely soft, so it was useless to run and hide no matter how good you were. Fatty had immediately understood this as soon as he ran those dozen steps. Our feet were simply too heavy to move.


    Poker-Face grabbed me and Fatty and pulled us forward. He could pull us out with one hand every time we got stuck since he was so strong, but he had no anchor and used up all his strength. In the end, we only managed to make it thirty or forty meters into the nearby darkness.


    We left Liu Sang behind. Almost half of his body was stuck in the mud and he was crying and shouting, "Idol, save me!"


    Poker-Face went back, grabbed him by the neck, and dragged him to us. He immediately kicked the back of our knees, knocked us down, and pressed us into the mud. "Don''t move," he said.


    He then picked up our shlights, drew his body back in a huge arc, and threw one of them. The shlight flipped in the air and thennded in the distant mud with its beam face up. When he threw the remaining three back-to-back, the light beams created a spiral band of light in the air. They eventuallynded in the distance, creating three more dots of light.


    As Poker-Face also squatted down in the mud with us, we immediately understood his intention. Fatty and I started smearing mud all over our faces, leaving only our eyes and nostrils exposed. I noticed that Fatty was still smoking his cigarette, so I smacked it out of his mouth and put it out.


    The mountain of mud arrived in an instant. We couldn''t see what was in the mud because it was so dark out, but we could definitely smell a horrible stench. One of the county records mentioned that the sea market was actually a huge sea monster that lured people to the seaside with words and then swallowed them whole. I wondered if it was true.


    At this time, I suddenly noticed that something was wrong. The mud we were lying on was actually starting to move. And it was flowing to the area right in front of us.


    We all rolled over and immediately started crawling in the opposite direction, but it was no use. We were still being pulled forward. Fatty cursed and started shooting in the direction we were being pulled in. The bullet streaked through the darkness, but there was no sound of impact.


    I reacted fairly quickly and rolled over to Fatty''s side, pulling out the re gun and firing it into the sky again.


    We finally saw what was in front of us, and it wasnt a giant creature hiding in the mud.


    There was a crack in the mud in front of us that wasnt wide, but it was very long and deep. The entire mudt had split open for several kilometers, looking more like a small chasm now.


    "I got it!" Fatty shouted.


    It was possible the rocks under the mudt had copsed and the mud mountain had formed from the gas below rushing up to the surface. Now all the mud was rushing towards this crack, forming a kind of mud waterfall.


    There was no use trying to crawl in the opposite direction.


    "Mr. Naive, Little Brother, Fatty shouted, if the three of us are going to die here, I have something to ask you!"


    "Listen, listen, listen!!! Liu Sang shouted over him.


    At this time, we all heard numerous voicesing from within the chasm. They sounded very close and very clear. Then, the ground fell out from beneath our feet and the mud swept us into the chasm. I fell for about ten seconds before Inded in the mire below. It felt like I was being assaulted by a ton of shit. Everything was dark and the air was filled with an unbearable stench.


    "This won''t kill us!" I yelled into the darkness.


    Mud started falling on my head and I quickly rolled to the side, struggling not to be buried alive. I noticed that our shlights had also been dragged down by the onught and were lying nearby. On the bright side, the mud in this area was thicker than I thought and the waterfall quickly stopped. On the down side, water was starting to umte. "Fatty, where are you?"


    He set off a cold firework, illuminating our surroundings. The mud had washed him more than a hundred meters away from me. When I looked at him, I saw that the bottom of this chasm was now a mud river and there were rocks on both sides of the ce where he stood. We had fallen at least sixty or seventy meters beneath the mudt and were now in the depths of the seabed. The rocks were covered in silt and I could vaguely see that thousands of jars were densely packed together in the rock walls.


    Now these jars were filled with mud.


    The mud river was still flowing, indicating that this underground chasm obviously went deeper. Liu Sang also set off a cold firework on the other side, and I saw countless decayed wooden boats near him. There wasyer uponyer of them embedded in the rock walls.


    ****


    <strong><em>"Idol! Save me!" Oh god, poor Liu Sang is so uncoolpared to the drama lol. And he called him an idol like a pop idol (not like a deity). Apparently the Zhangs teach their people to save others by grabbing them by the neck. First Little Brother Zhang and now Poker-Face. They might want to work on the their Rescue-The-Puny-Mortals curriculum in the future lol </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 22: Looking for the Tomb Entrance

    Book 1: Chapter 22: Looking for the Tomb Entrance


    [<strong><em>TN note: I made a boo-boost chapter. Those were jars and boats in the wall, not holes.</em></strong>]


    ****


    I was relieved when Poker-Faces cold firework went off in the distance. I looked at my watch and calcted our present situation.


    The downward flow of silt was obviously slowing down, but there was more and more water under our feet. When I looked up, I found that we were about sixty meters below the surface, which was almost a twenty-story drop. The distance from the bottom of the chasm to the surface was really huge.


    The mud that was still pouring down from both sides formed a V-shaped slope, which we were at the bottom of. I could see rock protrusions in the mud that were obviously part of the rock strata beneath the mudt.


    The chasm wasnt particrly wide and wouldve been about twenty-five meters wide without all the sludge. For some reason, the mud on the surface didnt immediately pour down and fill this chasm. I figured this V-shaped canyon was actually a huge tubr cave in the rock strata below the mudt. When we set off the detonators earlier, we blew the top of this cave to pieces. All the silt above poured into the cave below, and we just happened to get swept along with it.


    The jars and boats in the cave walls seemed to be burial pits. This cave was probably the outer part of the South Sea Kings tomb where the burial pits were located.


    But even though the mud was moving so slow that it didnt look like anything was happening on the surface, this chasm would definitely be filled within two hours. We couldnt waste a single minute.


    I shouted to Fatty, "Whats the n?"


    Liu Sang was already trying to climb back up the mud slope to the surface, but the downward flow was too strong. Every time he stepped on the slope, he was immediately pushed back down again. Fatty made the most urate decision at this time and shouted, "We can''t get up!" He pointed to the mud river at his feet, which was flowing in a single direction along the chasm bottom.


    "This was originally a cave, and part of it copsed. There must be space in the other caves. If we follow the mudflow, we should be able to find a safe ce to stay for a while. Fatty struggled to wade through the mud and pointed to an area by Liu Sang. "Theres a boat!"


    We pped away the sea cockroaches that were falling down and trudged toward Liu Sang. At this time, the mud almost reached my thighs and I knew it would be impossible to walk once it reached my crotch. Every step I took required a great deal of physical strength.


    Fatty and I finally reached Liu Sang, but Fatty didn''t pay any attention to him. He flung the mud off his hand, drew out his gun, and started shaking the mud out of the barrel. I quickly grabbed him, "Itll explode!"


    "A good quality gun might, but this one isnt that sophisticated. The bullet might fall out, but it won''t ever explode. You can bet on the dignity of Changpings Ergouhei (1)!" Fatty fired the gun and hit the wooden wedges that held one of the boats against the rock wall. Even though muddy water shot out of the gun along with the bullets, the wooden wedges were still smashed to pieces.


    He kept shooting until all the wooden wedges were broken, and then the two of us used the butts of our guns to pry the boat out of the cliff wall.


    The small wooden boat was covered in tung oil, so the hull was still intact even though the rest of it had rotted. We climbed up and Fatty shouted to Liu Sang, "Hey idiot! Youve got three seconds to get over here. We wont wait any longer than that."


    Liu Sang looked back and immediately threw himself on the boat. We knelt on the boat with one foot and used our other foot to paddle. We used the boat like a haima (2) and slid downstream, passing by Poker-Face. He was looking at something and hadnt noticed us yet, so Fatty shouted, "Little Brother!"


    Poker-Face turned around and jumped up, flinging mud in the air. When he finallynded in the bow of our boat, the increased weight caused us to speed up, just as the angle of the mud rivers slope increased. We pulled our legs into the boat as it suddenly dropped down, the hull spinning so wildly that it almost overturned.


    It wasn''t easy to try and stabilize the boat since it was spinning in circles. I noticed that Poker-Face was holding both mine and Fatty''s belts with one hand, while Liu Sang was clutching the side of the boat. At that moment, I realized that Poker-Faces eyes were searching for something. "What are you looking for? Fatty has sharp eyes, so let''s find it together! I yelled.


    Suddenly, the angle of the slope increased from about sixty degrees to almost forty-five degrees. The mud here hadntpletely covered the bottom of the chasm, so many sharp-edged rocks were still exposed. Although we werent going as fast in the mud as we would in water, hitting these rocks would still send the boat careening even more. Our cold fireworks had been scattered to who knew where and there was no time to try and look for them. Not only could we not see anything, but I was feeling dizzy, too. If Poker-Face hadn''t grabbed my belt, I wouldve been thrown off the boat.


    Liu Sang shouted from the darkness, "Guys, Im going to throw up!"


    "Swallow it!" I shouted at him.


    "Little Brother is looking for the tomb entrance! Fatty shouted. His hands are upied, so give him a light! With that said, a re suddenly shot up in the air, instantly lighting up the whole chasm. Fatty clenched his teeth. We were spinning rapidly and sliding into an abyss. There wasnt any mud on either side of the cliff wall, but there were countless eaves and stone terraces.


    I took a closer look and found that they were embossed pavilions (3) on the cliff walls that looked just like a huge bonsai. Among them, we could see that there was a huge hall iid on the cliff in front of us, which had to be the tomb entrance. I looked at it and thought, <em>oh no</em>. I saw Poker-Face looking at me, so I quickly shouted, "Don''t throw me! Fatty! The grappling hook!"


    Fatty threw me the grappling hook and I held it in my mouth as I pulled the gun out. I inserted the end of the grappling hook into the gun while Fatty pulled out the climbing rope. He tied the rope around his waist and then fastened the other end to the grappling hook. I tried to ignore my severe dizziness and shot at the cliff. The gun went off and the grappling hook immediately shot out. It hit the cliff and started pulling the rope tied around Fatty''s waist as it fell all the way down without snagging on anything. Fatty started scolding me loudly until the hook finally caught on something and pulled the rope taut. Fatty shouted and gripped me with one hand while holding the boat with the other. Poker-Face grabbed my belt. As the three of us were pulled forward, the boat came to an abrupt halt. Liu Sang flew out of the boat, but Poker-Face managed to grab him by the hair and throw him to the cliff. He smacked into the cliff wall and rolled a dozen times, only stopping when he finally caught a protrusion with one hand.


    Fatty startedughing, but at that moment, we suddenly heard a thunderous sounding from overhead. When we looked up, the re revealed the scene above us.


    Mud was pouring down from the sky like a tidal wave.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Not sure if Ergouhei is like some underworld gun dealer, but Changping is a district in Beijing.


    (2) Remember, its a sled-like wooden nk the locals use.


    (3) Basically, the pavilions have been sculpted in such a way that theyre raised above the rock wall. Imagine the pavilions sticking out like this:

 Book 1: Chapter 23

    Book 1: Chapter 23


    The stic climbing rope around Fattys waist suddenly tightened, digging into his flesh as it was pulled. Fatty looked at the mud overhead and cursed, "Its like diarrhea! Hurry and go!


    "Hold your hand out!" I shouted at Liu Sang.


    But he had vomited so much that he waspletely unconscious. He could hardly hold onto the rock wall, let alone reach out to help us.


    "Go!" Poker-Face whispered.


    I clenched my teeth and tried to gather my strength before stepping on Fatty''s shoulder and jumping onto the cliff. I grabbed onto one of the reliefs but hit my forehead and almost fell.


    Poker-Face jumped up, rotated a hundred-and-eighty degrees in the air, and thennded under me. Fatty threw out the other end of the rope to Poker-Face, who handed part of it to me. As the two of us gripped the rope tightly, Fatty jumped into the muddy water and the boat was washed away in an instant.


    The two of us held onto the rope and pulled him to shore. In less than three minutes, the re fell into the muddy water and plunged the surrounding area into darkness.


    Stick to the wall! Fatty shouted.


    I pressed myself hard against the cliff wall as a shower of mud came pouring down. The massive force came out of the darkness and mmed into the cliff wall, suddenly filling my mouth and nose with mud.


    I used all my strength to turn around, found a gap in the cliff behind me, and stuffed my face into it. I could take two or three breaths at first, but after that, my lungs were overwhelmed by the oppressive force behind me.


    I couldnt talk. I couldnt move.


    The mud pressing me against the rock wall was so much heavier than water, and my ribs were pressing my lungs so painfully that I couldnt even cry out. I felt as if all my internal organs were going to be squeezed out.


    Then, everything became very quiet.


    All I could hear was the sound of my bones grinding together, the beating of my heart, and the mud squeezing itself into my ears. I knew that the mud had breached my inner ear.


    My lungs kept twitching and my mind went nk. Endless panic suddenly erupted like a ck hole.


    This kind of vivid fear reced my previous calm. After going through so many adventures and experiencing so much by myself, I didnt know when I no longer felt afraid of these kinds of scenes. I could talk andugh and do what I needed to do in times of danger.


    But I remembered that my grandfather had written in his notes that this was probably abnormal.


    I had slowly forgotten what this line meant and thought that I could handle any kind of situation. But it wasnt until this moment that I suddenly realized what I was facing again. My head was suddenly full of images of when I first went down into a tomb, which I hadn''t thought about for a long time. Before the fear of death, there was no difference between a novice and a veteran.


    All this happened in about three or four seconds. Then, I suddenly felt the pressure loosen and the rock wall under my body crack open. The huge pressure behind me forced me and the mud into the new opening and I facented on the ground. It turned out that the rock wall was hollow and there was a steep slope inside. The mud didnt lose any momentum as it poured in and swept me end over end down the slope.


    I lifted my head and took a breath, but ended up getting a mouthful of mud in addition to the much-needed oxygen. As I coughed violently, the full-body spasms squeezed the mud out of my ears. I didnt know how long I was swept along by the raging river of mud, but I finally came to a stop. I immediately used all my strength to stand up and started vomiting. All that came out was mud.


    I patted my waist and found that I still had four cold fireworks on me. But I needed to save them, so I pulled my lighter out of my pocket and flicked it open. The faint light could only illuminate a tiny area, but I could see enough to tell that I was in a tomb passage, which was full of sea cockroaches. When the light appeared, they all frantically scurried away.


    I looked at my watch out of habit. Within thirty seconds, I quickly took stock of everything I had. There were four cold fireworks, seventeen glow sticks, four boxes of universal matches, and six packs of hardtack. Id lost my gun, but I still had more than thirty bullets and my Kukri with me. Everything else was lost, though.


    I looked behind me, but the passage waspletely blocked by mud. I unscrewed my Kukris handle and pulled out a whistle from the inside. I was just about to blow it when I heard a very clear and boisterous sounding from the depths of the tomb passage. It sounded just like an underground market, but the passage in front of me waspletely dark without a hint of light.


    I thought for a moment and then lowered my whistle.


    I took a few steps forward, but saw something standing in the middle of the tomb passage. It had a fixture on it that made the whole thing look very unusual.


    ****


    <strong><em>For those that care, we''re about halfway through episode 5</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 24: Thunder God Statue

    Book 1: Chapter 24: Thunder God Statue


    There was a strange statue in the middle of the tomb passage. The lighter cast a dim glow so I couldnt see the whole picture clearly, but I already knew that it was a statue of the Thunder God.


    The statues color hadpletely ked off, leaving only a few patches, and the ceramic surface was rough. The Thunder God held his left hand high while his right hand rested on his waist. His face had been destroyed, but I knew it was a thunder god statue because of the two drums around his waist.


    The statue looked very worn. It was possible the pottery had been heatedyer byyer, since the outermostyers were broken and peeling off like some kind of mummy. The reason I thought it was so unusual was because the statue was so clean. It was like it was emitting a magic power to keep all the sea cockroaches off of it.


    The wall of the tomb passage was practically covered in bugs, and they kept falling on me from time to time. As I gradually recovered, I could feel the barbs on their legs hooking into my skin.


    Actually, now that I noticed it, I was already covered in them.


    I kept pping them away, but I was too afraid to touch the statue. That strange, boisterous sound wasing from the darkness behind it.


    Poker-Face had been right below me, so it was no ident that the mud broke through the rock wall. When my body was pressed up against it earlier, I could feel that the reliefs were all made from pottery that had been stuck onto the cliff wall. If Fatty and Poker-Face hadnt choked to death, they probably broke the reliefs with a random bump from the hard parts of their body. And if there was also a tomb passage hidden in the wall behind them, then they shouldnt be that far below my feet.


    They wouldnt die from something like this.


    Although I was surprised that I had been a little afraid of death, I felt that this sudden fear probably only belonged to people with my character.


    I couldnt help but worry about Liu Sang. He had been in a very bad position just now, but we didnt have time to take care of him. If he had been buried in the mud, then he was probably in thest few minutes of his life right now.


    I set my lighter down and started knocking on the ground with the back of my Kukris de. The sound transmission here was very good, so the sound echoed clearly throughout the tomb passage.


    I didnt want to use my whistle because the sound was too sharp. I didnt know what was in the depths of the tomb passage and I was afraid too much noise might bring me danger.


    Soon, the sound of metal hitting the ground came from somewhere below my feet.


    Fatty and I had two special tappingmunication methods, but they werent Morse code because his English was so poor.


    I listened to the sounds, sure that it was Fatty because the tapping rhythm was very familiar. But I was confused as I listened carefully to what he had to say.


    The message was very strange. Fatty was saying, "Turn off the lights."


    <em>If I turn off the lights, I can''t see anything</em>, I said to myself. <em>Why turn them off?</em>

 Book 1: Chapter 25: Meet Up

    Book 1: Chapter 25: Meet Up


    I took a deep breath as Fatty continued to knock very fast. My nose was full of a damp, fishy smell and my throat was itchy. I suppressed my inner panic and slowly closed the lighters lid.


    The tomb passage returned to darkness.


    As I rubbed my upper arms to ward off the cold, I slowly heard the noisy market sounds in the depths of the tomb passage gradually be clearer. It seemed like arge group of people were headed in my direction.


    The voices that were bing clearer and clearer sounded like the local dialect, which I couldnt understand. There were arguments, shouting, and evenughter.


    I broke out in goosebumps, not sure if it was because I was cold or because I was scared. Fatty''s knocking was mixed in with those sounds and urged me to, "Go towards the sound. Dont turn on the lights."


    There was a distance of about three or four stories between us now, but the fact that he could also hear those voices indicated that the sources were connected.


    As he was knocking, I heard another tapping sounding from a deeper ce. It was disorganized but very calm, which meant it had to be Poker-Face responding to us.


    I listened to the two tapping sounds, certain that it was Poker-Face who was making them. As Fatty and I tapped back a reply, I hoped to hear the tapping of a fourth person. But Poker-face and Fattys sounds were the only thing I heard.


    I tapped out a question to Fatty, "Hows Liu Sang?"


    "I dont know, he replied. Let''s meet up first."


    I sighed in my heart, hoping that Liu Sang could handle himself. "Why can''t we turn the lights on?" I eventually tapped back.


    Knowing that they were both alive had me feeling a little relieved and I took a deep breath to calm my shaking hands. As I started to rx, I noticed that I was feeling colder and colder.


    It took a long time for Fatty to respond. It was obvious that his answer was tooplicated, so he had to think about how to word it. His knocking was very confusing, but I was able to guess what he was trying to say, "Theres something on the tomb passage wall. Itll see us."


    <em>The tomb passage wall?</em> I frowned. The wall was full of those sea cockroaches, so I hadn''t paid much attention to what was on it just now. "Itll see us" was there something under the sea cockroaches? After thinking about it, I didnt dare approach the walls. I had the sudden feeling that something was standing there in the darkness.


    Fatty continued to knock, "I still have eighteen detonators. If we can''t meet up, Ill find somewhere to set them off. Keep tapping so we know each others positions."


    I told myself this was the only way, so I stood up and warned Fatty, "Theres something wrong with the thunder god statues. Dont touch them and just keep moving.


    Fatty paused and tapped back, "Are you serious? I already took one. Its gold-ted."


    I secretly scolded the old bastard for not being afraid of death as he got older.


    I quietly moved forward in the dark, stopping every ten steps to knock on the ground and tell Fatty my position. Poker-Face would randomly join in whenever wemunicated. I slowly found that I was moving much faster than Fatty and I realized that he probably really was carrying a thunder god statue on his back. I held my forehead and sighed.


    As I moved further along the tomb passage, the noisy market sounds became clearer and clearer and Fatty''s knocking was getting closer and closer. I realized that the sound wasing from all directions because it was resonating in the tomb passage. I couldn''t tell which direction to go in at first, but I walked a certain distance and the sound was suddenly all too clear. It almost sounded like it was right beside me now and I was a little afraid to move forward.


    Fatty also stopped, so I tapped out to him, "The sound seems to be all around me. I have to figure out what it is before I go."


    Fatty didn''t reply back this time, so I knocked again slowly. He finally responded, each knock slowlying one at a time. After three minutes of this slow knocking, the following message was ryed:


    "Im among them," he said.


    Our knocking method was only focused on rying information in the simplest form possible. I couldnt talk to Fatty about stocks or Broadway, but we took into ount most of the situations that would happen in a tomb. The tapping sound for this "them" that he had mentioned was something we had carefully designed to mean that there was something non-human here. Whatever he had seen, it wasnt something he could describe.


    I broke out in a cold sweat and dropped to the ground. There didnt seem to be as many sea cockroaches here, so I put my ear to the ground and listened to what was going on below.


    A clear, market-like sound came from below, and it almost sounded like it was directly beneath me. I tapped very lightly, "What is it?"


    Fattys response came back slowly, "I-don''t-know-but-their-mother-wont-even-recognize-them-once-Im-done-blowing-them-up."


    I paused. At that moment, I heard Fatty knock a "three" and my sense of foreboding increased. Fatty then knocked a "two and I suddenly understood what was going on. I leaped towards the wall and starting running like crazy. There was a loud noise and then the ground exploded with a sh of light. The whole ground sank, the rock under my feet turned to gravel, and my head suddenly knocked against something sharp. I immediately turned over and tried to get up, but I was too dizzy and shaky, and my nose and mouth were full of blood.


    I touched my face and found that the blood was flowing from my head to my temples and down the bridge of my nose. My ears were ringing and I couldn''t hear anything at all.


    I dazedly watched as the second detonator went off less than two meters away from me. As the fire burst into the air, I finally saw what the situation was. All around me, the tomb passages walls were full of ceramic little people, each one about as high as my knee. They seemed to form a kind of sea market on the tomb passage wall. Fatty was far away from me, but I immediately noticed a "thing" on the back of his neck.


    It turned out to be a thunder god statue.


    It waspletely deformed and looked as if it were alive as it hid on his back and covered his ears.


    I paused before immediately touching the back of my own neck. I felt rough skin lying on my back.

 Book 1: Chapter 26: Block the Sound of Thunder

    Book 1: Chapter 26: Block the Sound of Thunder


    I knew it was the thunder god statue I saw before. It mustve quietly crept onto my back when I passed by it earlier.


    I reached behind me and grabbed it to try and tear it off, but its hand was as strong as a steel bar.


    My surroundings were dark and the ground copsed again in an instant. I was thrown about two or three meters and hit the wall as the entire tomb passage copsed. I scrabbled for purchase but couldnt catch anything and ended up falling deep into the tomb passage below. Inded sideways in the mud as gravel pummeled my face. When I got up, I found that there was ayer of mud at the bottom of the tomb passage that reached my thighs.


    I got up, spit out a mouthful of mud, and shouted, "Fatty, on your fucking back!"


    At that time, I heard a lot of noiseing from all around me. Although I couldn''t see anything, I felt as if I was in a huge market. I went to put my hands over my ears, only to find that the thing on my back was already covering my ears. I didnt know if these sounds were reallying from my surroundings or from the thing on my back.


    All my hair stood on end and I immediately used my Kukri to sh towards it. Sparks went flying everywhere.


    Fatty didn''t respond, and I wondered if he had fainted.


    During my crazy struggle, I stepped on empty air and suddenly found that the bottom of the tomb passage under the mud wasnt actually t. It seemed that there was a deep pit hidden there. When I stepped in it, I immediately began to sink into the mud.


    I couldnt resist at all. The muds suction was too strong to fight and I started to sink deeper as I struggled forward for a while. By the time my foot touched solid ground again, the mud had reached my chest. I reached behind me again, but found that the thing was gone.


    At that moment, the noise disappeared from around me and almost immediately started up again in the far depths of the tomb passage. This time, it sounded profound and ethereal.


    I breathed a sigh of relief. I didnt know what was going on, but it seemed as if the thunder god statue had been transmitting the sounds from the depths of the tomb passage directly into my ears just now.


    I shouted for Fatty, but still didnt receive a response. I did hear my cry echoing back, which meant that this ce was very big and definitely not the small tomb passage from before.


    I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm down, and pulled one of my cold fireworks out of the mud. I couldn''t obey Fatty''s order anymore, so I set the cold firework off.


    As the orange light illuminated my surroundings, I immediately found that I was no longer in a tomb passage. I was in a huge space where about eight liberation trucks could be arranged side by side. It was the main path they had used to transport stones and other materials to the tomb.


    The entire path had been buried under so much mud that it looked just like a mudt. The only thing left exposed was a row of figurine-like heads poking out of the mud.


    I couldnt see what they were, but these figures reminded me of the Terracotta Army (1). There was row after row of heads, and I was smack dab in the middle of them. I didnt know where Fatty was, but there definitely shouldve been a giant hole overhead. Did he not fall down?


    I couldnt move and could barely even lift my feet up. I needed to pull myself out of the mud first, so I looked around to see if there was anything I could use. I saw a figurine head close to me, so I reached out, grabbed it, and then pulled myself over.


    After pulling myself out, Iy on the mud and slowly started to sink again. I quickly mped my feet around the figurines body under the mud before I waspletely submerged.


    But when I did this, I found that something was wrong. It wasnt a burial figurine under the mud, but a strange thunder god statue that was holding something. I stuck the cold firework in the mud and stretched out my hand to touch whatever the thunder god was holding. It was a corpse.


    This was a burial pit, not the main path to the tomb.


    When I pulled my hand out of the mud, I saw some hair under my nails. The corpses hair hadnt rotted away since it had been protected by the mud.


    Just as I was wondering why Fatty told me not to turn any lights on earlier, I looked at the burial pits wall. It was covered in eye-patterned murals, and all the eyes seemed to be staring right at me.


    Poker-Face''s knock suddenly came from somewhere off to the side, sounding much closer than before.


    Fatty still didn''t respond.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Wiki link here

 Book 1: Chapter 27: Wall of Eyes

    Book 1: Chapter 27: Wall of Eyes


    The style of these murals waspletely different from those in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb. Just like Uncle Two had said before, the things in that ancestral tomb came from two ancient tombs from two different dynasties. But they were all rted to the ancient South Sea country that was known as the West Seas Falling Cloud Country. Most of the murals here were done in the southern style of the Han Dynasty and there were a lot of animal horn symbols that were made using simple lines. Because they were older, they had suffered a lot of oxidation. Red was the mostmon color that could be seen, but almost all the others had turned gray.


    I didnt know when the mud in this burial pit had settled here, but it was enough time for the surface to have solidified. This seemed to indicate that it hadnt been caused by us destroying the structure earlier. It was possible that arge part of the burial chamber here had long been submerged in mud.


    If the mud hadnt solidified, then the oxidation of the murals wouldve been more serious. But luckily, the water vapor had been trapped under the solidyer. Even so, the pupils of the eyes on the murals had all faded and the eyes themselves were all gray, making them look like they belonged to dead people.


    My previous experiences had me on high alert, and I remembered that burial pits were actually a way to dere ones own property. The murals in this burial pit had to be rted to this theme; otherwise, it didnt make sense to paint eyes while eulogizing the tomb owners wealth. Fatty had said earlier that the things on the wall would look at me, but as my cold firework shed across the wall, I didn''t see anything other than these eyes.


    I couldnt help feeling confused, but the eyes all over the wall still made me feel pretty ufortable.


    I touched my back again, unable to shake the lingering fear from before.


    Even though the Minyue participated in a lot of cultural exchanges during the Han Dynasty, many Xu people along the coast still believed in ghosts. These Xu people were also called barge people, water people, water immortals, water officials, water matrons, water moor people, Geng Dengzi, Lu Tingzi, etc. Most of them retained some aspects of the water god culture from their tribal days.


    They lived on the water, so their myths and beliefs in thews of nature were different. Since there were no written records of them, there was no evidence to test, but many of the strange legends were varied and unimaginable.


    I didnt know what that "Thunder God" was just now and couldnt even begin to think of what it might be, but I knew I didn''t kill it. It must still be somewhere in the mud.


    I called for Fatty twice more, but he still didn''t respond. I decided to go to the edge of the burial pit first, but it would be really annoying if I had to jump back into the mud again.


    I looked back and forth, wondering if I could step on the figurines one by one to get out. Under the cold fireworks light, these "Thunder Gods" looked like statues, but God knew what they were. Although I already had my legs wrapped around one, I hardly dared move. After thinking for a long time, I found myself trapped.


    I took a deep breath and pulled my cell phone out. We had agreed before that if we were in trouble, we would check each other''s positions using Bluetooth.


    I turned my Bluetooth on, clicked search, and found Poker-Face''s phone. Even though I didn''t see Fatty''s, I was still relieved to know that Poker-Face wasnt that far away from me. I immediately raised my phone, took a selfie with the whole burial pit behind me, and sent it to him.


    A few minutester, a photo of him and Liu Sang in a tomb passage came back. Liu Sang was standing behind him and holding his fingers up in a V-sign (1). The light in the photo came from the cameras sh and the uneven exposure indicated that they werent using other lighting.


    In their photo, I noticed that the murals in the tomb passage they were in were also full of eyes, but the eyes were all closed.


    I looked at the murals around me and found that something was off. I didnt know when the eyes had suddenly be colorful.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its called a ye sign in China. I call it a victory sign lol. Looks like this:

 Book 1: Chapter 28: Flash

    Book 1: Chapter 28: sh


    All the murals in the burial pit were bright.


    The eyes had turned red and the colors in other ces had somehow be iparably gorgeous. If it weren''t for the king paint, I wouldve thought the murals were done within the past few decades. I silently raised my phone, took a photo, and sent it to them. After a while, a text file was sent back. I could tell at a nce that Liu Sang had written it: "Idol said to stay still. Theres something hidden in the murals. And put out the cold firework!"


    I squinted at the murals on the wall, noticing that there were many more above my head. I lifted the cold firework up, but the eyes on the murals turned from red to ck as soon as it approached. I thought they were moths or something, but nothing flew away. On the contrary, I could see more clearly that this was definitely a mural, but there was something seeping out from behind the eyes.


    I quickly extinguished the cold firework in the mud, once more plunging my surroundings into darkness.


    I turned my phone light to its weakest setting and started to ask them "what''s in the mural?", but something suddenly dripped onto my phone screen from above.


    I immediately smelled a stench and looked up. I used the light from my phone screen to look at the eyes on the mural above my head and found that they were bulging outward. The surface had cracked and there was a lot of smelly liquid dripping out of it.


    When my phones light got closer, I was able to see that there was a space behind the cracks in the mural. I took a knife out and knocked on the mural several times until it fell off, revealing a big hole.


    <em>The back of the mural is hollow?</em> I wondered to myself.


    My phones light was very weak, so I couldnt see too far into the hole. I pointed my knife towards the opening for fear that something would suddenly rush out. I slowly approached it with my phone and pressed the sh. There was nothing in the hole, but I could definitely see a lot of other holes forking off from it. I also noticed something else in the wall.


    I carefully stood up, held the mural above with one hand to stabilize my body, and then reached into the hole with my other hand to photograph the inside of the holes that branched off.


    I took six or seven pictures, but didnt see anything. The holes ran too deep, so I couldnt tell where they led.


    I took a deep breath, turned on my phones voicemand, stuck my phone and knife as far into the closest forked hole as possible, and shouted, "Take a picture!"


    As soon as the sh went off, I immediately heard a scream and something grabbed my hand.


    I was so scared I almost peed my pants.


    I cried out and desperately tried to break free, but suddenly heard someone yell, "Who the fuck is blinding me with a sh?!"


    That familiar voice could only belong to Fatty. After listening very carefully, I knew right away that it was him.


    "Why the fuck are you in the wall?!" I yelled furiously.


    "Cut the crap, he shouted. Pull pull pull pull pull pull pull-me-"


    "Are you a small expert selling newspapers (1)?" I interrupted him as I moved to pull him out.


    A face emerged from the depths of the hole. Sure enough, it was Fatty. His face was covered in smelly water and he said weakly, "Fuck you, I didn''t have this much trouble getting out of my mother''s womb!"


    I grabbed his hand and tugged hard, pulling him out through the mural. After he fell past my head andnded in the mud, I pulled him to my position. As he hugged the Thunder God statue, he looked at its head and cursed. He then pulled my knife out and smashed the handle against the statues head until it was smashed to pieces.


    The statue really was made of pottery, and it was empty inside. Fatty used my phone to take a photo of it and then breathed a sigh of relief, "Its empty."


    When I asked him what was wrong, he looked around while panting and cursing, "Shit, this whole underground mountain is hollowed out and the rocks are full of holes. When they opened the passages to build the tomb and paint the murals here, they sealed all these holes with lime and then painted eyes on the walls to mark them. So basically, there are holes behind all the eyes that can be essed from anywhere. It''s a fucking roughshod project. But we can''t turn the lights on. Theres something in these holes that gather as soon as they see the light."


    "How do you know?" I asked him.


    Fatty spit out some of the smelly water that mustve gotten in his mouth, "Its one of my character strengths. I dont like other people staring at me seductively, so when I saw the eyes on the mural, I stabbed them. I didn''t expect to poke a hole in it. I thought it was grave robbers tunnel, so I climbed in to have a look."


    Fatty said that these holes were a unique seaside geological feature. They were eroded by water a long time ago and then buried under the mudt. When he climbed in, he found that it was full of crabs. He took a picture to see what it was, but something strange appeared in the photos sh.


    I asked him what it was, but he shook his head and said he couldnt describe it. Unfortunately, he had also left his phone inside the hole. He paused, and we suddenly heard Poker-Face knocking from somewhere close to us.


    I took a picture of Fatty to report that he was safe, but when I looked at the photo, I saw that the sh had caught something in the dark background. In the corner of the photo, something was hanging upside down from another eye-hole in the ceiling.


    It was very fuzzy and couldnt be seen clearly from a distance.


    Then, we suddenly heard something falling in the mud from that direction. I took another picture, but there was nothing there.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Wu Xie is referencing a 1930s children song called Selling Newspapers Song. Lyrics are here. Youtube link here. Its kind of a pun. The pinyin of the character for pull () is l. So Fattys sentence could also be read as La,-Im-


    ****


    <strong><em>I fucking cackled like a crazy person when Wu Xie took the photo and Fatty screamed lol. These two provide me with so much entertainment </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 29

    Book 1: Chapter 29


    "Stop taking pictures." Fatty was ufortable with the blinding sh, but I kept taking pictures anyways. But no matter how many I took, I still couldn''t see it.


    "Theres a problem. Get our equipment out!" I shouted at him.


    Fatty turned his head to the darkness behind him, listening attentively for a moment before he said to me, "Is it that thing that was on my back?"


    I looked at the photos on my phone, but they were too blurry. "Maybe it''s the one that was on my back," I said to him.


    Just now, we both had something on our backs, but the one on my back had fallen here and disappeared. It may have been hiding in the dark corner this whole time. I hadnt been under such pressure for a long time and didnt react in thesest few minutes. If it was the me from before, I might have died a long time ago.


    I thought of that lingering fear again and realized that I was in a state where I couldn''t defend myself at all. I saw Fatty pull out three homemade pistols and hand them to me, which made me feel a little more at ease.


    This kind of gun was a modified starter pistol (1), so the bullets had to be fired one by one. I opened it to see what the bullet looked like and found that it was a modified rifle casing. The bullet head was probably made from iron scraps. It was said that this kind of gun couldnt hit a target more than four meters away, but those within the four-meter range would be shredded like a cucumber. Since this was a rifle bullet, though, people with weak hand muscles might end up dislocating something.


    "What the hell is it?" I asked him as I held my phone in one hand and the gun in the other.


    Fatty spit, "Do you see these thunder god statues? Theyre all hollow. Look at them carefully, they werent fired in a kiln."


    "Howd you reach that conclusion?" I was back-to-back with him now, and his back was so thick that my sense of security immediately skyrocketed.


    Have you ever heard of corpse coral?" He asked me.


    Corpse coral was a kind of hollow coral that looked like a person. The shape was so different that it almost looked lifelike. Legend had it that there were ancient corpses inside them, because the coral had grown along the corpses to form a human shape. Since they had beenbeled exotic goods, they were brought to the brink of extinction and were very rare now. There was a saying among those who scoured the sea that corals produced corpses, and most of those corpses carried treasures. The sea god was afraid that the treasures would decay after the corpses were sunk, so he had the coral encase them. If you found this kind of coral, you would often find treasure inside.


    But I knew it was a lie, because I had made it up in order to sell a batch of coral beads when I was down on my luck before. But if there were too many false words, then we wouldnt be able to tell the truth from fiction. Fatty had also helped with theter part of this story, so I suddenly wondered if he had Parkinson''s disease (2).


    "It sounds like Old Jin''s nonsense," I subtly shifted the me.


    "Old Jins might be nonsense, but what Im talking about isnt," Fatty retorted. "It''s true that coral gives birth to corpses, but the most important thing is that these thunder god statues are really carved out of coral. And the coral is shaped like people."


    I looked at the smashed thunder god statue. I had originally thought it was made of pottery because the colors looked like heated y, but when I looked carefully, I saw that it was the texture of coral. I really had been negligent.


    "In the past, the people here collected these corals and carved them into the Thunder Gods likeness for this tomb. When you break them, you can see that there areyers of growth patterns inside," Fatty said. "I dont know if there were really bodies inside them, but dont you think these statues are like shells?"


    I understood what he meant, "You mean, there are living things in the statues? Someone carved the statues into the Thunder Gods likeness, which acted as a shell for these living things. As a result, it looked like the Thunder God was clinging to our backs?"


    Fatty nodded and said, "It''s hard to fucking talk to you, Mr. Nave. You should get your brain checked when you go back."


    "So, you mean to say were dealing with a giant oyster now? I teased him as I looked at the heads of the other thunder god statues with my phone light. <em>There are so many here</em>, I thought to myself. <em>The South Sea country really was a maritime country. All of these mustve been set up for tribute.</em>


    If they really were corpses, then many of them definitely werent natural. I thought of the thunder god statue I had seen before, with its twisted and abnormal posture. If there was a corpse inside, then it mustve died in extreme pain. Based on what I knew, these statues probably formed when the South Sea country killed a bunch of fish ves. After the corpses were specially treated and sunk into the sea, they were slowly covered in coral. Then, they were carved into these thunder god statues.


    I had initially wondered who would carve such strange gestures, but they probably had strange body shapes because rigor mortis set in after death.


    "Its retribution," Fatty murmured. We did eat a lot of oysters before. Fatty was suffering from a little hair loss and it was said that eating them could help with hair growth.


    Poker-Faces knocking was getting closer and there was no sign of any movement in the mud. I started to feel my stamina increase and thought to myself, <em>bring it on, oysters!</em> At that moment, I suddenly noticed that there was a message in Poker-Faces knocking.


    But Poker-Face didnt know the information contained within our secret code.


    This particr knocking sound had a message, and I realized as I listened to it that it was saying, Prepare for an explosion.


    I paused and looked at Fatty before knocking back, "Who are you?"


    "Im Liu Sang," the other party answered.


    "How do you know our code?" I knocked back.


    "It''s simple. I listened to it," Liu Sang replied.


    The ground below us suddenly shook and a big bubble of mud burst forth. Then, the mud sank down as if a hole in the ground had been blown open. As the mud began pouring into the next level, I heard Liu Sang shout from below, "Hurry down. Weve found the main tomb." As soon as he finished speaking, I saw a thing get swept along with the mud that was pouring down. Liu Sang shouted, "What the fuck is that thing?! Where did it go?!"


    Fatty and I jumped into the mud and slid down to the next level. When I turned on my phones light, I saw Liu Sang looking for something in the mud, "There was something here just now."


    At this time, we all saw something lying on his back. It was a long face with all kinds of facial features.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A nk handgun that is fired to start track and field races, as well aspetitive swimming races at some meets.


    (2) Parkinsons Disease can lead to dementia.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m sorry to do this to you all, but after extensively debating on it since "Ultimate Note" aired, I have decided to get myzy butt in gear and change all the "Yunyun" references to "Yun Cai". I think I caught them all, which means the pdfs for Vols 6 and 7 have also been updated. Just go to their pages if you want to re-download them. I''m sorry for always changing things </em></strong>()<strong><em> but I want to be as consistent as possible (Lord knows we''re confused enough when ites to the DMBJ universe lol). Thank you for putting up with my failings as your trantor and being so supportive. You all are seriously the best! </em></strong>(* *)

 Book 1: Chapter 30: Full Moon Sacrifice

    Book 1: Chapter 30: Full Moon Sacrifice


    At that time, the only thing illuminating the tomb passage was the cold light of my phone screen. It was hard to see anything clearly, but we all dazedly stared at the long face lying on the back of Liu Sang''s neck. At first nce, it looked like Liu Sang had two heads.


    After taking a closer look, we found that it was the head of the thunder god statue. It turned out that its half-broken head actually looked like a face.


    Fatty and I went up and kicked Liu Sang to the ground. He was scared half to death and started cursing us for hitting him. Fatty held him down so we could take a closer look. The thunder god''s head was hollow and we could see some kind of parasite inside of it. It was biting Liu Sang''s neck and he didn''t even know it.


    Fatty lit a cigarette and pressed his knee down on Liu Sang''s shoulder de before saying to him, "Don''t move. The Dragon King has ordered you to go to the pce to be a eunuch. Ill cut him off so we can go back to Mount Huaguo (1)."


    Liu Sang immediately understood and didnt dare move. Fatty gave me a look, silently telling me to catch the thunder god''s head, and then took out some liquor. He took a sip and sprayed it on the knife before lighting it and pressing the knife to the back of Liu Sangs neck.


    Liu Sangs neck was burning, but we couldn''t pull the long face off at all and now the air smelled like New Orleans chicken wings.


    Just as I was thinking of how strange it was, Fatty became angry and pulled out his gun. I immediately moved to stop him. At such close range, Liu Sang might also be hit by the bullet. Although I didnt like him, I couldnt disregard a human life. But instead of shooting, Fatty used the butt of his gun to tap on the thunder god''s head. He had to hit it more than ten times before it finally broke apart.


    We thought something terrible would be inside, so we immediately raised our guns and drew our knives. I took a picture with my phone and was absolutely floored.


    There was a mass of hair inside the thunder god''s shattered head.


    We took a step back and saw a face in the hair that looked like Liu Sang''s face.


    When Liu Sang sat up, he still had that face on the back of his neck.


    One was awake and looking at us, while the other one that had been busted out of the thunder god''s head looked as dull as a corpse.


    "Fatty, are we dreaming?" I asked him.


    When he didn''t answer me, I turned to look at him and found that he waspletely stunned. At this time, I noticed that his clothes were bulging.


    Fatty! I pointed to his clothes.


    He immediately turned sideways and covered it up. "What''s wrong?"


    "Theres something on your back, too," I said.


    "No." Fatty shook his head and turned around. "See? Theres nothing on my back."


    I stared at him for a second before secretly touching my own back. Thankfully, there was nothing there. Fattys face darkened as he looked at Liu Sang and said, "We have to cut one off."


    I looked back at Liu Sang and suddenly felt that his body was wrong. I had studied drawing for a long time and was especially focused on architecture and mechanics. After only a quick look, I found that the neck of the Liu Sang who was staring at us in horror wasnt at the right height. In fact, based on the curvature of his spine, the face on the back of his neck looked to be the correct one.


    His head had always leaned more to the side, which seemed very ufortable to me.


    Countless thoughts came rushing up in an instant and I suddenly remembered when I had dragged Fatty out of the wall. After I had done that, I kept feeling as if something was wrong. And Fatty had said a lot of obviously wrong things.


    Things just werent adding up.


    Moreover, I kept feeling a sense of dj vu as everything happened. It was like I had experienced it all before, whether it was the passageways behind these walls or the faces stuck on the backs of our necks.


    "Fatty, let me see your back." I gave him a cold look.


    He paused and then nced at me, "What for?"


    I cocked the gun and said, "I dont think our situation is right."


    Fatty''s expression slowly changed until he was looking at me coldly. Even Liu Sang''s frightened expression changed. His face became colder and colder until the two of them suddenly had the same expression. They both looked right at me.


    Sure enough, there was a problem.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and felt an extreme cold spread from the tips of my fingers. I tried to move my tongue, but found that my whole body was suddenly paralyzed.


    I used all my strength to control my tongue and then bit it with my teeth. As a sharp pain instantly spread from the tip of my tongue, Fatty and Liu Sang disappeared from right in front of me and I suddenly found myself in front of a huge eye.


    I was still in the burial pit and my cold firework was still burning. The eyes on the murals had be enormous and were looking right at me. I was in the same position as before.


    I knew right away that I had been hallucinating. I could clearly feel the light distortion in the air as the murals seemed to release a kind of gas under the lights glow.


    I sneered. The taste of blood in my mouth got thicker and my whole-body paralysis began to fade. I gradually found that I could move my neck, and when I looked down, I found that all the statues in the mud had somehow gathered around me, leaving a long trail in the mud.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a major area featured in the novel Journey to the West. Its known as the birthce of Sun Wukong (the Monkey King). More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>There it is ya''ll. The ruler of the Hallucination Victims Alliance is back at it again lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 31: Superfluous Tomb Passage

    Book 1: Chapter 31: Superfluous Tomb Passage


    We often called the thing I was holding in my hand cold fireworks, but that was actually wrong. This kind of thing was called a me rod in the military, but we usually bought it from railwaypanies. In the railway business, this kind of thing was called a signal torch and it was often bought together with detonators. It would burn for about ten minutes. We called it a cold firework because many signal torches were actually cold torches that wouldnt explode or catch fire. This batch Fatty bought was probably old railway goods.


    I noticed it had burned my hair, which meant it wasnt actually a cold firework. And if it wasnt cold, then it was probably an underwater me rod. The instantaneous maximum temperature it reached was 2600 degrees, so it wasnt surprising that the murals had burned like this.


    I figured the paint on these murals would vtilize when exposed to light, which could be rted to the special minerals here. Painters often used red stones found in the local area to prepare their pigments. I didnt know whether it was done intentionally or unintentionally, but the murals here definitely used this special red color.


    Although it was dangerous to use a me rod, the advantage was that it could be used as a weapon and a light. The entire mural was vaporizing right in front of me and I could clearly see the air distorting as the smell of the me rod filled the air. At this time, I also noticed that there was the strange smell of blood. The two smells kept putting me in a trance and I had to keep pping myself to stay awake. As I stood there in a daze, I felt as if my phone kept ringing with a new message alert, but when I looked down, I found that there was nothing there.


    I thought of the several text messages in my hallucination, as well the room we had found Yang Daguang''s mummified body in. I kept feeling like something was wrong. Was it possible that I had already been poisoned in those ruins?


    It wasnt easy to think anymore, so I quickly took off my underwear and thered it in mud before putting it over my mouth. Then, I buried me rod in the mud and plunged my surroundings into darkness.


    This kind of thing had its own oxidant, so it could continue to burn in both water and mud, but at least now the light couldnt be seen.


    I held the ancient statues head as I shakily climbed down. If I couldnt walk in the mud, then there had to be something strange inside these ancient statues. There was also a chance something was hiding under the mud, so I had no choice but to take some risks.


    I pulled out a detonator and hid behind the ancient statue I was holding onto. I then counted the distance and threw it out.


    After throwing it with all my strength, I shrank into the mud, curled up, and silently counted, <em>one, two</em> the detonator exploded before I reached three. I almost fainted as the shockwave mmed me into the mud. The left side of my body bore the brunt of it and I immediately threw up as soon as I climbed out of the mud.


    The me rod had been blown out of the mud by the explosion andnded about three or four meters away. It was still burning, but I couldn''t reach it at all. Under its light, I was able to see that another hole had been punched in the burial pits ceiling and gravel was raining down. I held my head, noticing that a big pit was now in the ce where I had thrown the detonator. The mud had been flung in the air andnded on the eyes in the murals.


    <em>Ha! Look at me again and Ill blow you up!</em> I nced at therge number of cracked murals on the ceiling, threw out three more detonators, and shrank into the mud again.


    One, two, there went the next explosion. This time, the shockwave was much bigger and the earth shook. The hole from before hadnt beenpletely covered by the mud before the second, third, and fourth explosions went off one right after the other. The mud was boiling hot. When the third explosion went off, I was directly thrown out of the mud by the shockwave. I rolled end over end before smacking into the mud. Then came an overwhelming flood of silt. The underwear on my face was long gone.


    The ceilingpletely caved in, the bottom of the burial pit copsed, and all the mud began to surge in one direction.


    There was only one sentence in my heart at this time, <em>youre a fucking dick</em>. I asked Fatty to add a detonation lead time of three seconds, but there were only two. He mustve been drunk when he did it. If it weren''t for me cherishing my life and immediately hiding after throwing that first one out, I wouldve gone bald when the detonator exploded.


    I started to sink in the mud again as soon as I climbed back up. The mud on my body was steaming and I sneered at my surroundings. No matter what was hidden in these statues or in the mud, even dinosaurs wouldnt be able to live after four detonators went off.


    I struggled to turn in the mud so I could search for my underwear, but I didnt see it at all. <em>Well, this is embarrassing</em>, I said to myself. I took a selfie with my cell phone and quickly checked it. I waspletely covered in mud, but I was little relieved when I didnt see anything else in the picture.


    The mud started to pull me towards the hole, its force so strong that no one could resist it. I looked at the statues from before and saw that they had all been blown to pieces. I was surprised that whatever was inside didn''te out and meet me after the statues were blown up like this. As I prepared to fall to the next floor, I gripped my knife in my teeth and got ready to fight.


    Before I could react, something suddenly hung upside down from the ceiling and grabbed my equipment belt. I was just about to cut it with my knife when I heard a familiar voice say, "Don''t move!"


    Then I heard Fatty call from the ceiling, "Coming up!"


    My whole body was yanked out of the mud and pulled to the next level through the gap in the ceiling.


    After I was thrown to the ground, the dim light of a phone screen approached me. I saw Poker-Face roll up, crouch on the ground, and look at me. Half of his tattoo was showing, which meant it mustve taken quite a lot of effort just now.


    Fatty held up his phone and asked, "Are you stupid? Were you trying to blow yourself up?"


    I wiped my face and flopped to the ground while saying, "I learned it from you."


    Fatty handed me a towel, which was the one he usually tied around his hand to wipe his sweat. That smell I reluctantly took it and asked Fatty and Poker-Face how they met up.


    In fact, the three of us had been washed into the tomb passage by the mud, so it was easy to know each other''s locations. I looked into the underground burial pit and saw the mud pouring into the next level. The me rod illuminated the whole scene in the pit, but it was soon swept down the hole. In those few minutes of light, I could see a bunch of bones buried under the mud. They werent human, but seemed to be the remains of horses and chariots. It turned out that this was a horse and chariot pit. When the mud level dropped, all the chariots below were exposed. It was no wonder there was such a huge drop in height just now.


    Under the muds protection, many of these decayed Han Dynasty chariots still had the paint on them, but the axles had rotted and copsed long ago. The whole burial pit was full of chariots and horse bones, which created a very spectacr sight. In the middle of these chariots were the thunder god statues, which looked like evil Minyue forest spirits as they were all swept away by the mud.


    Fatty sighed, and Poker-Face patted us. The situation right now was unknown. Although it felt as if we had been down here a long time, it had only been a short while. We couldnt afford to get dyed here.


    "These tomb passages are all connected, Poker-Face said. Based on my experience, this king''s tomb isnt that big. With the burial pit below and the drainage level below that, we know there are four levels. Based on our current location, we should be in the main tomb passage."


    I did some calctions and knew he was right. Fatty swiped some of the mud from my body and started drawing a picture on the ground. This tomb was different from Central ins Han tombs because it was more three-dimensional. The tomb passage was above the burial pit, which meant they might be connected by stone steps. But


    I looked above my head. There was also a tomb passage up there that I had fallen down from. What was going on with this tomb?


    Rules were very important in this line of work, so there had to be a special purpose for any unconventional tomb design.


    Fatty also noticed my doubts and looked at the picture he had drawn, "This tomb passage is superfluous. It''s the topmost floor of the tomb and runs parallel to the main tomb passage."


    "One is abandoned." Poker-Face looked into the depths of the tomb passage. "Maybe they dug something up and didn''t dare continue, so they readjusted the position of the tomb passage."

 Book 1: Chapter 32: Street Caller

    Book 1: Chapter 32: Street Caller


    The three of us were silent for a while until Fatty eventually said, "They were already building a tomb. Could they really dig up something more unlucky than that?"


    "It mightve been unlucky for the living, but lucky for the dead," I said.


    They had simply changed the position a little bit and continued building the tomb, after all. If it had been harmful to the feng shui here, they would have definitely changed to apletely different location. On the contrary, this thing may have been beneficial to the tombs feng shui.


    "Could it be they dug up some treasure? Fatty frowned. "Or maybe a giant m?"


    "Hasnt that stuff been sold by the catty (1) in recent years?" I asked. As one of the seven treasures of Buddhism (2), giant ms were once very precious. Peopleter began farming them and now a giant m weighing three or four pounds could grow in about four or five years. "Guess, is the tomb passage above us abandoned or are we standing in the abandoned one?"


    "Do you still have to guess?" Fatty asked back. "I took a look at the crappy thunder god statue in your tomb passage. It''s a fucking y pot. My tomb passage is gilded. Besides, have you ever seen an abandoned tomb passage in the middle of a tomb? Oh, this tomb passage has been built and scrapped, so lets dig a burial chamber up and down. The feng shui of this ancient tomb is only sacred as a whole, so it cant be modified. It cant just run any which way. The tomb passage above us is the abandoned one. If you dont believe me, let''s go and see what magical things they dug up back then"


    I stopped him, "Hold your horses. Remember the Stagnant Water Dragon King temple?"


    We had found a strange relic in an ancient underground salt mine in Fujian. At that time, we turned away and didn''t go in, so the name became a kind of representation of our determination to be good.


    Fatty gave me a thumbs up, "Amazing, Mr. Nave! Then let''s hurry up and find the main tomb so we can figure out whats going on with your Uncle Three."


    I lifted my towel and wiped the mud off before I pped Fatty''s hand away. We then followed Poker-Face to the other side of the tomb passage.


    As we walked down the long passage, I could see that the murals were full of eyes. I looked at them carefully, noticing that the murals wereyered and the eyelids were closed under the dim light. Fatty said that when there was light, the outeryers would vtilize bit by bit until the inneryers were revealed. The paint would be brighter and the eyes would be bigger with eachyer that was revealed.


    I whispered to him, "How did you know not to turn on the lights? Looks you havent lost your touch, after all."


    Fatty took out his phone, turned on the Bluetooth, and searched for Bluetooth devices around him. I saw it find a device that turned out to be Liu Sang''s phone. Its name was: "Be aware that you cant use lights around the muralsLiu Sang".


    Where is this kid? I asked him.


    "He won''t die. This kind of fool can live to a hundred and eight. Hes nearby, but he wont return any of my messages, Fatty said. "He must be pocketing all the good stuff for himself. When we get out of here, Ill make him empty his pockets. He wont be able to hide a single thing from me."


    I remembered the rumors Fatty had told me about Liu Sang and asked him how he knew him. Fatty sneered, "It''s a long story. Since youre in this business, you should know about Laitou Guzis death. Seventeen people from Xuanchengs old market entered Xiaomangshan and went into the Empress Dowager Chengtians tomb (3). He alone survived. Thirteen years ago, he was only a few years old and living as a street caller (4). Laitou Guzi picked him up because he had good hearing. After Laitou Guzi''s death, he found another master to apprentice under. This kid is clever, diligent, does a good job, and his hearing is really good. He''s be an expert in this business for some reason, but Ive heard all kinds of rumors, so I think its not that simple."


    I didnt know about Laitou Guzi since I was so young at the time, but I knew what Fatty meant. This kid was too smart. Something mustve happened underground at that time, and if a kid coulde out alive, then he mustvemitted murder.


    Street callers were beggars with disabilities. Beggars in Shandong, Henan, and other ces called themselves poor families, iming that they had been poor for thousands of years. Begging was a veryplicated business, and there were many different types. For example, there were hua quian (5) in Hubei Province, which was what Chen Pi Ah Si was back in the day. It was basically a beggar who was born tomit violent crimes. They were often fierce, cunning, spiteful, and persistent. Common beggars of poor families in the Shandong and Henan provinces were called "si nianzi", which could further be divided into three branches: hanmen, qimen and guomen. The poor families in Hebei also included Fanjiamen, Kangjiamen, Lijiamen and Gaojiamen.


    There were three kinds ofmon beggars: "entertainers", "fighters", and "street callers". Those beggars who strong-armed people into giving them money were the fighters, while those who had disabilities were the "street callers". The so-called "entertainers" asked for money by performing arts, such as singing folk songs (6), smashing cattle bones, and ying those bamboo pper boards that were used in folk theater.


    "Wheres he disabled?" I asked Fatty. Based on how he acted, I really couldnt tell at all.


    "Brain damage," Fatty said. "It''s definitely brain damage."


    With that said, we followed Poker-Face all the way to a stone gate at the end of the tomb passage. There was a veryplicated "caisson" (7) above the gate, with arge number of multiyer dougongs (8) and sharp flying eaves. This was the path to the second immortal gate. The dougongs were surrounded by wood carvings of immortals, but the wood had rotted and cracked. Poker-Face nced at us, "If you want to chat, finish it here. The tomb chamber is up ahead."


    Fatty looked at him, thought about it, and decided to keep talking. He stopped walking and said to me, "Theres one thing in particr Ive heard about Liu Sang. When I say it, you''ll know why I''m so cautious around him."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A catty is ~1.3 pounds or ~ 500 grams. Random tidbit of info: giant ms can live up to like 100 years and can weigh up to 400 pounds. Heres some more info.


    (2) Theres amon belief that wearing jewelry made from a giant m pearl can calm the spirit and remove negative energy. Some random info here.


    (3) Xiaomangshan= Little Python Mountain. Empress Dowager Chengtian was also known as Xiao Yanyan. She lived from 953-1009. She was a Khitan empress and military leader of imperial China''s Liao dynasty. More info here.


    (4) Its a type of beggar who shouted and begged in the streets (I guess they didn''t go up and beg people for food?).


    (5) Its mentioned in Chen Pis extra. Chapter 4.20.


    (6) Its really folk theater consisting of recitation apanied by pper board rhythm, but that doesnt flow lol.


    (7) A caisson, also referred to as a spider web ceiling, is an East Asian architectural feature typically found in the ceiling of temples and pces. They would look like this:


    (8) More traditional Chinese architectural stuff. Theyre interlocking wooden brackets between the top of a column and crossbeams. Look like this:


    ****


    <strong><em>Shew, I think I broke a sweat on this one lol. Just this 1 Reboot chapter tonight dears. I''m going to try and get Tiffany''s out and then work on fixing some Vol 8 chapters for those poor suckers that areing here after the Ultimate Note lol. So many pits to fall into, so little time. Until tomorrow~~~</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 33: Liu Sang the Psychopath

    Book 1: Chapter 33: Liu Sang the Psychopath


    Fatty kept it very brief, but my hair was standing on end by the time he was done. I had heard many strange ghost stories in recent years that left me unfazed, but the more I listened to people''s stories, the more horrifying they became. The things people could do in this world were really scary, especially in my line of work.


    Even though what happened to Liu Sang was still quite strange, Fatty thought that the story was truer than all the other rumors out there.


    Liu Sang wasnt an orphan. Although people said he was a street caller, he still had parents. Liu Sang''s dad fought in the counterattack against Vietnam. The Sino-Vietnamese conflictsted all the way up until 1989 and he was in one of thest squads sent out. When he arrived at the front line and saw the machine guns, he realized that he was really going to fight. He cried all night before going to the battlefield. At that time, his father''s squad leader was very proud and mobilized them at dawn, saying that he would definitely take them home.


    The squad leader was shot in the head less than ten minutes after going up the hill to the battlefield. The first battle took less than five minutes. The whole toon lost half its people and he was wounded by falling artillery shells. When he saw the squad leader again, his brain matter was already flowing out of the bullet wound. A person could live for ten minutes even if he was shot in the head. He saw that the squad leader had been crying before death and the tears were still flowing after he had died.


    After that, the two remaining squads merged and went to the jungle in Mengdong, where they were considered veterans even though they had only fought once. This time, they managed to fight for sixty hours and the whole mountain was blown bare. At that time, the Chinese were already very good at fighting and the Vietnamese veterans quickly learned the saying bloody mound (1).


    During the fighting, his father saw a hole in the mountain get blown up and bluestone went flying in the air. After more than ten hours of continuous bombing, a giant hole was blown through the bluestone. But the mountain turned out to be hollow.


    When his fathers squad charged for thest time, the Vietnamese retreated into the empty hole. They went in after them and found that there was an ancient tomb with jadeite, golden Buddhas, and Sri Lankan rubies lining both sides of the tomb passage. The tomb belonged to a South Vietnamese prime minister.


    The Vietnamese inside put up a fierce resistance. The Chinese fought more than a dozen times and sacrificed several people, but they couldn''t get in. When his fathers squad pulled out, they called for a tank to blow the hole and bury all the Vietnamese inside.


    In less than thirty minutes, the Vietnamese reinforcements drove them down the mountain again. At this time, the battle on the Eastern Front was over, so Hill 334 had the full support of all the surrounding artillery. They bombarded the nearby mountains to such an extent that the wholendscape had changed and his father couldnt even find the original mountain.


    After he recovered, he told severalrades-in-arms about it, one of whom was Pan Zi. At that time, Pan Zi didn''t know Uncle Three. He knew it was easy to get into this business and difficult to get out of it, so he didnt say anything in the end.


    Liu Sang was born after his father came back. When Liu Sang was a teenager, his father divorced his first wife and brought another woman home to marry. Liu Sang began to rebel and ran away from home twice. He ran away the second time because of what transpired after his father was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. He had been living alone with his stepmother, and she had sshed boiling water on him. As he walked to the city hospital to find his father, he begged for food on the streets. But by the time he arrived at the hospital, his father had already died. He never went home after that.


    He met Laitou Guzi when he was begging, but it wasnt because he had good ears. It was because he was talking about his fathers story.


    Three yearster, the house his father left to his stepmother caught on fire. His stepmother''s family had moved in during that time and everyoneincluding his stepmothers brotherended up burning to death. The police said that all the doors and windows were sealed shut with wire and the arsonist had been listening outside the door. A pair of footprints were left in the ash on the ground, along with a square mark that had to be a tape recorder. The arsonist had recorded all their screams.


    Listening to thunder was also called listening to the dead. There were rumors in the circle that the dead in underground tombs could be heard through yin ears (2). In order to hear the words of the dead, people would need to hear the words of their dying rtives and use sorcery to gradually enhance their ears. Of course, this was all false information because it really turned out to be resonating thunder.


    But since then, Liu Sang''s ears had be very good.


    Fatty had heard this from Pan Zi''s war buddies when they met at the memorial ceremony. Like suspecting someone of stealing an axe (3), those who had never heard this story would just think that Liu Sang looked like an asshole. But Fatty had heard this story, so he felt that Liu Sang''s aura was quite menacing whenever he saw him.


    People like me always wanted to find some good to bnce the bad, but the good couldnt withstand the scrutiny and the bad had a very solid foundation.


    After listening to this depressing story, I felt that my surroundings were dark and oppressive.


    But I also trusted my intuition, and I kept feeling that there was something else to this matter. In my opinion, Liu Sang didnt have that kind of evil character.


    As I was thinking things over, Poker-Face pulled out an L-shaped probe and got ready to stab it through the tomb gate.


    Someone mustve opened this tomb before, so the air shouldve been fine, but we werent wearing gas masks. It was possible those people had taken a different route and sealed the burial chamber, so we needed to be careful.


    The gap in the tomb gate was sealed with something like tung oil, so if there was arge amount ofbustible gas inside, it might explode or catch fire as soon as it encountered the oxygen from the opened gate. This was exactly how fire pits originated. Even if we werent burned to death, the oxygen here would be used up in an instant. There could also be poisonous gas sealed inside, so if you encountered a sealed tomb gate, you had to drill a small hole to release it. When a hole was opened at the Mawangdui site back then, fire burst out of it for three days (4).


    It was safest for Poker-Face to stick his back to the tomb gate, stab the probe into the gap behind him, and look at it through a mirror. I used a shlight to illuminate him, while Fatty fanned him, "Deep breaths, deep breaths. Itll be done soon."


    Poker-Face looked at him and then pulled the probe out. No fire or gas came out, which meant that the inside wasnt sealed. We used our phone lights to look at it and saw that the end of the probe had pulled something out of the gap.


    It was hair covered in mud.


    Fatty looked at me, but I shook my head. I wasn''t going to open the gate. Fatty sniffed the probe and suddenly said, "Do you remember the legend of the Mute Emperor?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Im sure you all know, but the Vietnamese were all about gueri tactics and using tunnels in the mountains and stuff so the Chinese would blow the tunnels up, hence bloody mounds (at least, thats how I took it). General info on the war here.


    (2) Yin in this context means the negative principle of Yin and Yang. Yin energy is passive/restive and could probably be associated with death since Yang energy is all about life and vitality and stuff.


    (3) This is a Chinese idiom thates from a fable (think along the lines of Aesops Fables). The idiom suspect people of stealing an axe is used to describe those who, ignoring facts, rely on subjective assumptions to make suspicious judgments of people or situations. The story is here.


    (4) Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan, is a recent (~1970s) Han dynasty archaeological site. The tomb belonged to a 2<sup>nd</sup>-century B.C. noblewoman known today as "Lady Dai," wife of Li Cang, the marquis of Dai. The background of how the fire started is here (basically some workers digging a bomb shelter stumbled across the tomb, took a break to light up, and BOOM lol)


    ****


    <strong><em>At this point, I''m just over here like "Drama, what drama?" Liu Sang''s background is SO DIFFERENT.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 34: Mute Emperor

    Book 1: Chapter 34: Mute Emperor


    Fatty continued, "In the legend of the Mute Emperor, when the expert gave him those spells, he said, Dont open your eyes. Weve already learned from the murals that youll die if the eyes open, so its not wrong topare them to the legend. These experts must have participated in the construction of this king''s tomb, so the legend of the Mute Emperor may not be groundless. The legend also mentioned a spell where paper men be soldiers, so we need to be on guard.


    I remembered that the legend had said these paper men and horses were blind, which was why they had lost to the real soldiers.


    "If there really are paper men, they wouldve been burned long ago, I said to him. But even if they didnt burn after all these years, paper can''t stand the test of time. It will definitely crumble to powder. Since there were ceramic statues in the other tomb passage, there should at least be golden nanmu (1) statues inside the tomb chamber."


    "Shit, you never thought the eyes from the legend would be the eyes painted on the mural, Fatty said. This paper may also be painted on the mural. Maybe there are other strange things, too. Are you going through menopause or something? You havent listened to a thing weve said."


    After thinking about it, I decided Fatty was right to call me out. I really hadnt been listening to people recently and I didnt know why.


    The tomb chamber behind the gate mustve been filled with mud, and considering how someones hair had been mixed in it, I was afraid a corpse was leaning against the gate.


    The South Sea King had limited financial resources, so it wouldnt have been easy to build this tomb. Based on the location and contents of the burial pit, we should expect to see a six- or seven-meter tomb chamber in front of us once the gate was opened. There should be side chambers on the left and right sides, along with a tomb corridor leading to a sealed gravestone. The main tomb should be behind this gravestone, with two side chambers and a back chamber situated around it.


    If my theory was correct, then the scale was much smaller than I had originally thought. Although this was a region where Han culture had mixed in, Minyues witchcraft customs were still the mainstream. In fact, it wasnt umon for their sacrificial grave goods to be full of all kinds of strange and mysterious things.


    At this time, I had two theories. One was that mud had poured into the tomb when Uncle Three had caused some damage while stealing the sarcophagus. If a lot of sacrificial victims had been buried in the tomb chamber, then they had probably been pushed to the gate by the influx of mud. If so, there might not be one corpse in front of the gate, but a lot.


    And this tomb gate was still sealed, indicating that Uncle Three had used a different entrance. Although none of us had said it aloud, we were trapped in this ancient tomb and surrounded by rocks and severalyers of mud. Where exactly did Uncle Threee down from? If we found it, maybe we could use it to escape this ce.


    Uncle Three had always preferred to drill holes directly into the back chamber because that was where therge and precious grave goods usually were. For a long time, the value ofrge grave goods reached a price that small pieces simply couldnt match. I remembered that for nearly fifteen years, bronze-inscribed pieces and other items that came from the back chambers of ordinary tombsi.e., those not belonging to royal or noble familieswere worth more than the funerary objects from the main coffin.


    Of course, this was because they were whole pieces. This happened because old grave robbers often only stole the main coffin, which resulted in it bing severely damaged. Another reason was that if it was arge, well-preserved tomb like a "huangchangticou" (2), it was considered a serious crime to take anything from the main coffin. It didnt matter how many people were involved. Anyone who bought or sold these items was considered an aplice and arrested on the spot. I remembered that a lot of people in Sichuan were getting arrested back in the day. Even though the items had only passed through their hands, they all had to serve more than two years.


    When I thought of this, I had a sudden sh of inspiration. I thought of how the burial pit had been sealed and wondered where the mud hade from.


    Did the burial pit have a grave robbers tunnel that led directly to the back chamber? Could the mud in the burial pit havee from the main tomb?


    If so, Uncle Three mustve destroyed the main tombs outer wall, which caused the mud to flow in. I couldnt even imagine how he did it in those days.


    As Fatty continued to draw on the floor, I saw him mark a certain section, "We came down from the mudt. When this tomb was built, it wasnt a mudt, but a stone mountain. There mustve been an underground river between the stone mountains here that connected ind. This is where the underground river flowed into the sea. Now that the water level is high and the sea wateres in with the tide, this underground river gets topped off with sea water and mud. To make a hole from the underground river to the South Sea Kings tomb, you need"


    "To dig a well shaped like a seven," I said. This was a huge project that would require a well to be dug above the underground rivers water level. The well would have to be dug horizontally and then vertically, which would also exin why the tomb hadntpletely flooded. This well mustve been dug rtively high, so even when the water level was at its highest, it may have just barely passed the wellhead. As a result, not much mud poured into the wellhead. This ancient tombs drainage system also seemed veryplicated, which helped it stay rtively dry up to this point.


    I touched the back of my neck. When the three of us were walking in the mountains in Fujian, I had a very interesting idea. I had the vague sense that there was a huge underground waterwork under all the mountains in southern Fujian. If there was an underground river here, did that mean I had guessed right? Was there something at the center of this waterwork?


    Fatty seemed to read my mind and asked me, "What are you thinking?"


    I was just about to answer him when Poker-Face covered my mouth and pulled me aside. I calmly looked at where I had been standing just now, only to see somethinging from the other side of the gap in the tomb gate. It had almost hit my ass just now. I thought it was the probe, but when I looked carefully, I realized that it was two long, sharp fingernails.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Nanmu is basically a Chinese cedar or Chinese giant redwood. Its a precious wood thats unique to China and South Asia, and was historically used for boat building, architectural woodworking, furniture, and sculptural carving in China. The highest grade of nanmu wood has a bright golden color. More info here


    (2) A Huangchangticou is a special type of ancient royal burial that emerged in the Spring and Autumn Period and took prevalence in the Han Dynasty. "Huangchang" refers to the yellow core of the cypress wood, while "ticou" refers to the structure of the tomb (mainly the heads of the wood facing the outer coffin). More info here (the pg. 614 one, paragraphs on the left side of the page).

 Book 1: Chapter 35

    Book 1: Chapter 35


    I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again. It was too dark for me to see clearly, but I was positive that there hadnt been any fingernails in the gap just now.


    These two fingernails were clearly very different from normal ones. Peoples nails could continue to grow a long time after death, which was why ancient corpses fingernails were curled. But if the nails continued to grow to a certain extent, the ends would be straight and sharp. Many people would resell this kind of fingernail as pendants and call them Heavenly Bone, but there were too few of them out there, so the price was very high. Fortunately, I had seen the whole thing before. The corpse had basically been standing there with its fingernails dragging on the ground.


    The owner of these two fingernails mustve also had long nails that went past their knees. But if it silently stabbed through the gap just now, did that mean that there was a zombie on the other side of this gate?


    I wanted to talk, but Poker-Face still had his hand over my mouth so I couldn''t. <em>Does he have to do that? Is it not over yet?</em> I wondered to myself. The gate was so thick that we were still rtively safe even if there was a zombie behind it, but at this time, I noticed two more fingernails slowly probe out of the gap.


    They moved very slowly, but I could clearly see the nails sticking out bit by bit. In the darkness, the group of old, mottled nails reached out strangely from the gap in the gate.


    "More than one?" Fatty mouthed.


    Poker-Face nodded. We stepped back slowly and saw more fingernailsing out of the gap. One, two, threenot only were theying out of the gap in the middle of the gate, but they were also starting to emerge from the gap in the gate shaft.


    Fatty pulled out my Kukri and mouthed, "Ill cut them all and give them a manicure," but Poker-Face shook his head.


    How much could we cut off? If the fingernails went past the knees, then it was useless for us to cut off two inches. The three of us continued to retreat until we couldnt see the gate anymore. "This gate can''t be opened," Poker-Face eventually whispered.


    "I still have a few detonators. If I blow the gate up, Ill blow those things up as well," Fatty said.


    Poker-Face finally let me go and I fully understood why he wanted to cover my mouth just now. "Theres no telling how many of them are behind the gate and we don''t have many passages to go through, I said to Fatty. We don''t have enough people here so we need to outwit them."


    The sound of our discussion mustve leaked into the tomb chamber and attracted all the zombies toe to the gate. God knew how many were in there. I didnt know what had happened in the tomb to cause this. We didn''t bring any heavy equipment when we entered the tomb, and Fatty had been the one who insisted on bringing everything we had with us now. I hadn''t wanted to be weighed down with too many things, but now I really wanted to thank him. It was too bad we didnt have any ck donkey hooves among all the things we brought with us. In Fatty''s words, opening a coffin with Wu Xie when you didnt have the three items to ward off evil spirits was tantamount to suicide.


    And right now, we didnt have any of those three items.


    After summing everything up, we figured that although the South Sea Kings tomb wasnt very big, it mustve been designed by an expert. Even if it wasnt any expert, this person was at least very familiar with Minyue sorcery. I had never seen murals that had eyes like this and it was also the first time I had encountered this kind of situation in a tomb chamber. We didnt have enough equipment on hand, so we needed to rest and figure out what to do next.


    We went back to the ce where Fatty and I had set off the detonators earlier. The explosions had blown holes in both the floor and ceiling, so Fatty set off a re and dropped it into the burial pit. We all looked at the situation below and froze.


    The mud in the horse and chariot pit had drained into the lower level, revealing more of those fingernails from before. Not only were they growing out of the cracks in the wreckage of the thunder god statues, but they were two feet long and reaching up towards us. It almost looked like the statues had germinated and were sprouting like nts.


    I suddenly had a feeling that this ancient tomb wasing back to life.


    "Weve got two options. One, go down to that drainageyer and hope its connected to the underground river or another burial pit. Or two, go up and walk through the abandoned tomb passage and hope we can find another way out, Fatty said.


    I narrowed my eyes as I went through everything from start to finish. Then, I took out my phone and refreshed my Bluetooth search.


    Liu Sang was below us, meaning he had also entered the tomb alive. He was probably a few floors below us in the drainage level, so if he was safe, it would be better to join him. I needed his ears, after all.


    The Bluetooth finally found Liu Sang''s device, but the signal was very weak.


    His device name now read: People everywhere, people everywhere, people everywhere.

 Book 1: Chapter 36: Sudden Epiphany

    Book 1: Chapter 36: Sudden Epiphany


    We didnt understand what Liu Sang meant by this. I figured that no matter what his situation might have been before, he had definitely descended into madness now. I fully understood how the stressful environment and depressing feeling of an ancient tomb could make people change. Ancient tombs were different from ordinary ces in that they could push people to their limits. In other words, no matter how strong your resolve or how well you did under pressure, an ancient tomb could directly push you over the edge. In the end, it was really just a matter of how long your bottom line couldst.


    I was more suitable for this line of work because my bottom line was strong enough. It probably had something to do with my dismal operation of Wushanju over the years. No matter how difficult or scary the tombs were, I could survive as long as I thought of all the times the shops utilities got cut off.


    To sum things up, Fatty thought that Liu Sang had gone crazy and he was saying there were people everywhere because he was scared stupid. We didnt know what was below, so we should just let him be. If he was a good man, God would bless him. If he was a psychopath, it was time for him to pay for his life.


    I always felt that the rumors in this business werent credible, but there was definitely a huge risk in going down to the drainage level without proper equipment. This clearly showed that Liu Sang wasnt experienced enough. If it were me, I would definitely change the name of my Bluetooth device to: The hot spring below has hot pot.


    My conscience was telling me to go down and save Liu Sang, but my reasoning was telling me that the South Sea Kings tomb was "waking up". The situation here waspletely different from the tomb we had been swept into before. Moreover, we were grave robbing this time to find answers, not to make money, so we werent ouws like before. My reasoning brought with it a hint of fear, which made me hesitant.


    Fatty and I looked to Poker-Face, and I said to him, Its possible Liu Sang said there are people everywhere because he doesnt have a light. Theres something in this tomb that makes a sound like a market. In the dark, its like being in a sea of people. With his good hearing, hell start to go mad if he stays in the dark for too long."


    I didnt know where this sound came from, but those thunder god statues seemed to resonate with it. As long as a statuey on the back of your neck, you would feel that the sound was both near and far, as if this "market" was in motion.


    Poker-Face''s attention wasnt on our discussion, but on both sides of the tomb passage wall. I didn''t know what he was thinking.


    The sounds had disappeared when Fatty set off the explosions at that time and I suddenly remembered that I had seen something under the mes. There had been a lot of small, ceramic figurines lining both sides of the tomb passage where we were standing. At that time, this was the ce where the market had sounded the loudest.


    I quickly went to fiddle with the gravel and tomb bricks, looking through them with the help of my phone light. I noticed that the walls in this section of the tomb passage were slightly different from those on either end. There were numerous porcin pavilions on the murals here and small people were sitting in them.


    These porcin iid relief patterns were on both sides of the tomb passage. Other than the Xianshan Peni (1) pavilions by the sea, there were countless ships filled with immortal stones. It looked as if the ship awnings were supported by dougong brackets. The ceramic little people were ying with shadow puppets, carrying things over their shoulders, or hoisting the sails on the ships. The whole scene was like a strange andplex immortal sea market.


    When I got to the ce where Fatty had set off the detonators, I saw that the whole relief had been blown up. The wall area behind the relief was hollow and there were a bunch of pipes that reminded me of organ pipes.


    "The sound ising from the walls," Poker-Face said. "Do you remember when we were at the Yang familys ancestral grave? Even though you were down in the tomb, you still heard me when I called to you from aboveground."


    I nodded and he said, "This is the same method."


    I felt a sudden burst of excitement in my heart. The more evidence there was, the better. This proved that not only had Uncle Three been here, but he also had a good understanding of the structure of this ce.


    "Why would a tomb chamber be structured like this?" Fatty asked.


    I thought for a moment, and suddenly had an epiphany, "Wait, wait, wait. Let me think, let me think. I probably know whats going on with this tomb."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Xianshan= mountain of Immortals. Peni= one of three fabled inds in Eastern sea, abode of immortals (i.e., fairnd)

 Book 1: Chapter 37

    Book 1: Chapter 37


    "We found that big amplifier in Yang Daguang''s ancestral grave, I said to Fatty. It was pointed at the South Sea Kings coffin, right? In that tomb, we could hear all the sounds on the mountain clearly. Fatty nodded and I continued, "I think the Yang familys tomb was built ording to this South Sea Kings tomb. This thing is a huge sound amplifier, which collects the surrounding sounds from the whole tomb."


    "Like thunder?" Fatty asked and looked at the ceiling. "The seaside isnt a good ce to listen to thunder."


    I shook my head. The South Sea King didn''t want to hear the decibels of thunder, he wanted to hear the frequency (1). And he could hear the frequency more clearly under this sea rock since it could also filter out all the echoes.


    The whole tomb was a huge "listening device". But it wasnt for listening to the sounds of the earth, it was for listening to the sounds of the heavens.


    Everything on the walls was specially designed for this purpose. But as time went on, the ancient tomb was covered by a thick mudt and the thunder was muffled.


    If people''s ears were covered, they would hear the internal sounds of their bodies, like their heartbeat and blood flow. In other words, after the outside noises were cut off, the pipes in this ancient tombs walls started to pick up the underground sounds.


    These sounds gathered and amplified in the ancient tomb through a huge sound collecting device. As the numerous sounds gathered together, it created a sound like a boisterous market.


    The sounds we had been hearing were the underground noises covered by the mudt. But where were the soundsing from? They sounded just like arge group of people talking.


    Were there a lot of people buried under this mudt? Or was this mudt very special?


    And why did South Sea King build an ancient tomb here? Couldnt he have done it somewhere else? If he was listening to thunder here even though there was something wrong with the underground area, was there a special reason?


    I looked up and thought of the abandoned tomb passage.


    If there was an answer, it was probably up there in the abandoned passage. Why did they abandon it?


    Fatty was thinking the same thing and nodded to me, "Go up and have a look?"


    I nodded. We couldnt get into the tomb chamber right now and Liu Sang''s situation was unknown, so it was better to find out what we could.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Decibels is like the intensity/loudness of sound. Frequency is like how often it urs (the number of cycles of a sound wave in one second). The higher the frequency, the more high-pitched a sound is perceived.

 Book 1: Chapter 38: In the Tomb Passage

    Book 1: Chapter 38: In the Tomb Passage


    Fatty patted his shoulder and Poker-Face used it to jump up to the tomb passage overhead. Once he threw the rope down, Fatty and I pulled ourselves up.


    This tomb passage really had been abandoned. Looking at it from above, it was easy to see that there were obvious differences between the upper and the lower passages. The murals in this passage clearly werent finished. The lines and color blocks in many ces werecking and there were even a bunch of spots on the walls that werent t.


    The murals were still full of eyes, but we could at least see the contours of the variousyers.


    Fatty leaned close to the mural, scratched it with a knife, and sniffed it before saying, "The murals here arent finished, so they should be safe." He told us to get out of the way and then snapped one of his glow sticks so it would light up.


    The yellow fluorescence was much brighter than our dim cell phone lights. You can never understand that feeling of suddenly going from a dark and oppressive environment to a bright and clear environment. In fact, the glow stick wasnt as good as a cold firework, but I still felt as if the whole space immediately became warm and open.


    We looked at the murals for a while, but didnt notice any changes in the eyes. It appeared the photosensitive pigment hadnt been applied here since the tomb passage had still been in its construction phase.


    We breathed a sigh of relief and then got out the rest of our glow sticks, snapping them one right after another. As the area all around us lit up, some of the oppressive atmosphere dispersed.


    I looked down at my phone, but couldn''t find Liu Sang''s Bluetooth device at this distance.


    I took this time to examine myself. I was covered in so much mud that it was even stuck to my hair and lips. And other than the towel tied around my crotch, I was practically naked.


    I looked like a fucking caveman.


    Poker-Face was better off, but he was still half-naked. His shirt was gone, but his sweatpants were still clinging tight to his lower body. The equipment bag at his waist was the mostplete, but it was also covered in mud.


    Fatty waspletely naked, which I hadn''t even noticed until now. I found that his equipment belt was slung over his shoulder and it was also missing some items. I had no idea when he stripped naked, but he didn''t seem to care at all as he mindlessly scratched his crotch. We decided to make aeback for the first time in years, but didn''t expect to find ourselves in such a difficult situation.


    The tomb passage on one side had been blocked by mud, so we decided to walk to the other side. After taking a few steps, I found that this abandoned tomb passage was very unusual. It was very long and had obviously taken a lot of manpower to build, so abandoning it must have been a huge waste.


    We walked cautiously, but there was nothing in the tomb passage except for some gravel falling from the ceiling. Soon, we reached the end of the passage.


    "What the hell?" Fatty was stunned when he saw it. There was a small hole at the end of the tomb passage that was only big enough for one person to crawl through.


    The three of us noticed a stone tablet standing by the edge of the small hole that had seal script (1) written on it.


    The stone tablet was actually a rock wall and many of the words had been smashed off. Since I was able to read seal script, I could roughly interpret it.


    "Those who go more than a hundred meters forward will never return or see the light of day again."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Small Seal Script is an archaic form of calligraphy. It was standardized by the Qin dynasty. More info here.


    *****


    <strong><em>I''m just sitting here wondering why the fuck they''re naked lol. Like, your clothes don''t just disappear like that. Poker-face is understandable because his shirt just seems to spontaneouslybust whenever Wu Xie is around, but I thought Wu Xie at least put his pants back on after he took his underwear off??? And what happened to his shirt???? Fatty is Fatty so he probably just felt like being naked, who knows lol. </em></strong>


    <strong><em>Anyways, we''re around minute 10 of episode 8 of the drama for those who care. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 39: Strange Hole

    Book 1: Chapter 39: Strange Hole


    The three of us stopped at the entrance of the hole and Fatty threw a glow stick into it. It rolled about four or five meters into the narrow hole, but we didnt see anything strange. "Is this a fucking grave robbers tunnel?" Fatty touched the edge of the hole and immediately answered his own question. He was very experienced and could tell how old something was and what tools were used just by touching it. "Gentlemen, this is a natural hole."


    Such a small hole inside a mountain wasnt unusual at all. It might have been a bubble in the magma when the rocks had formed, or it might have been a cavity formed after years of oxidation and dissolution of calcium carbonate.


    Did they really abandon this tomb passage just because they dug a small hole?


    Fatty looked at the words at the mouth of the cave and said, "Mr. Nave, is this one of your failed attempts to sound like a know-it-all? What''s so strange about this thing?"


    <em>Im not the one that proposed this theory</em>, I thought to myself. <em>It was Poker-Face</em>. But it was too difficult to shift the me to him.


    I told them what the words on the stone tablet said and then added, "Theres no denying that they dug up to this point and then abandoned the whole tomb passage. They must have encountered something strange or there was some kind of incident that urred. This carved stone tablet indicates that whatever it was must be rted to this hole."


    "But this is a fucking tomb. Who are these words engraved for, the dead? Did they know that this tomb would be robbed? Fatty scratched his crotch, "Mr. Nave, I think your theorys a bust. This tomb passage wasnt abandoned."


    Fatty had always been able to find the faults in my theories. I wanted to refute him, but when I thought about it, I knew that he was right. Fatty saw me hesitate and continued, "Think about it. You''re building an ancient tomb and discover a hole, which you decide to enter. Arent you pretty fucking stupid? Do you love to enter holes so much that you enter one you can''t get out of? And you even put up a sign outside saying you wont be able to get out if you enter it? If this South Sea country was full of shitty hooligans and idiots who loved to enter holes everywhere, then its not surprising it was destroyed.


    I secretly scolded him, <em>just a few words wouldve been enough! Dont you know youre refuting Poker-Face? Do you have the guts to say something even more offensive?</em>


    Poker-Face touched the engraved words and said, "These words werent engraved by the tomb builders."


    Fatty and I looked at each other, and I was the first to understand, "When they were building the tomb, they dug up this tablet. That''s why they abandoned this passage."


    Fuck, this was a closed rock stratum, not a cave. Hundreds of millions of years ago, the interior of the rock stratum waspletely sealed, so how could an engraved tablet be dug up from inside of it?


    Moreover, seal script waspletely standardized after the Qin Dynasty unified the country and was still widely used during the Han Dynasty (1). We knew that the South Sea Kings tomb was from the Han Dynasty, which meant that they had found the stone tablet in the middle of this mountain while they were digging. It was the equivalent of us trying to build something inside the mountain now and finding out there was a stone tablet that had existed for hundreds of millions of years. And on that stone tablet were words written in simplified Chinese that read: One world, one dream. (2)


    If this was the case, I would also abandon this passage. Hell, I''d even abandon the whole tomb itself.


    Poker-Face touched the inscriptions and said to me, "I have to go into the hole and have a look. You wait here."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) For those getting confused like me, the Qin Dynasty (from 221 to 206 BC) came before the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 220 A.D).


    (2) The system of simplified Chinese characters was established in the 1930s. Fun fact, "one world, one dream" was the slogan for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m sorry, I''m not feeling it today. I tried, but my motivation just disappeared like their clothes. One second it was there, the next it was gone. This is also Poker-face''s long-awaited chance to escape from the two naked weirdos lol. Hope he doesn''t lose his memory like he did in that <em>Tamutuo</em></em></strong><strong><em>meteor. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 40: Why Do You Want to Go into the Hole?

    Book 1: Chapter 40: Why Do You Want to Go into the Hole?


    Fatty grabbed Poker-Face and said, "Little Brother, weve been brothers for so many years and youve had to take care of us thousands of times. But now were all grown up, so you dont have to rush ahead all the time." He looked at his watch and added, "To tell you the truth, it hasn''t been that long since we came down here. Were not in a rush right now, so let''s take the chance to talk things through clearly. You might not know since youve been away for a while, but Mr. Nave has made a lot of progress. In fact, its to the point that you can''t help but listen to him now. Teemwok (1), do you understand?"


    Fatty winked at me as he said this. It was true that I had changed over the past few years. First, I had to learn to be responsible for myself, because I quickly realized that I wouldn''t get a second chance if I made a mistake. Second, I had to learn how to be responsible for others.


    But as I realized how much I had changed, I also understood that I hadnt changed much at all. That was just who I was. After Poker-Face left, there was no one to take responsibility for me, so I had to do it myself.


    Poker-Face had never been a reckless person, so I figured he had to know something we didnt if he was able toe to a decision so quickly.


    He mustve decided to take on some risks we didnt know about the moment he decided to go in this hole. But I was selfish and hoped that I could prove to him that I could take on more risks.


    "The stone tablet here serves as a warning that someone mustve gone in, but never came out, I said to him. Even if you can keep yourself safe after going in, we might make a wrong decision out here because we dont know what to do. So, we have to think of more possibilities."


    Poker-Face didn''t answer me, but I could tell that he was thinking about it. Then, he suddenly took off his equipment belt and handed it to me.


    I took it and nced at him, only to find that he was looking at me.


    I froze for a moment, <em>fuck, are you telling me to go in?!</em>


    But when I thought about it, Fatty was so fat that it would be very difficult for him to fit into the hole. If he encountered any danger, he would really be at a disadvantage, so it was more convenient for Little Brother to go in. But if Fatty didnt go in, that meant there were only two choices left: none of us went in or I went in.


    "Eh? I guess youre right. I took the equipment belt and looked at the entrance to the hole. It was only as big as a washbasin and would be very difficult to enter. And it was dark inside. I didnt know where it would lead or how long it would take to climb through. "Have you considered another possibility where the three of us go find Liu Sang together? I think hes in danger."


    Poker-Face continued to look at me.


    I suddenly realized what the problem was. I was used to giving orders during his absence. Except for when he had been off doing his own thing, Poker-Face had always listened to Uncle Three when he was working for him. And during the time I had spent with him, I had basically listened to him to survive. Now, at this critical time, I had to make a decision on whether people needed to listen to him or me.


    I looked at the hole again. It wasnt that I was afraid, it was just that I was the type of person who had to know more before I dared take any risks. "Youre so experienced, do you know what will happen after going in?" I asked him.


    Poker-Face took the equipment belt back, but didn''t say anything. It appeared he didn''t know how to say it.


    I looked at the stone tablet carefully and suddenly realized that there was something wrong with my logic.


    The stone wasnt carved by the ancients who built the tomb, because they only needed to fill the hole in instead of putting up a warning sign.


    Was it Uncle Three?


    What did this mean? Was it a prank? Did Uncle Three deliberately change the words to warn those who came behind him not to go in?


    Uncle Three wasnt so kind, unless he knew I woulde here and was warning me specifically.


    I felt that even if Uncle Three was wise, he would never expect his nephew toe to this tomb in the future. These words definitely werent for me.


    But then who were they written for? Who was he warning? He didnt use simplified Chinese, but seal script instead. Was he afraid his nephew was illiterate? Given the nature of our family, it was very likely. (2)


    So, what had been engraved on it?


    As countless questions kept popping into my head, Fatty said, "Don''t you find it strange? This sentence also has a big problem."


    "What do you mean?"


    "When you normally warn others, do you word it like this? For example, if theres an electric fence, you say, Dont touch it or youll be fried. No matter how you look at it, this isnt something the ancients would do. On the contrary, it''s an invitation. Its like its saying, Pleasee in and y. You''re bound to have fun. These are the kind of words that can only be found on an invitation."


    Go more than a hundred meters forward never return never see the light of day again


    Was it an invitation? Invitation to where?


    "It''s not an invitation. It''s someonesst words," Poker-Face said. "Someone carved them before they went in."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fatty was trying to say teamwork but his English sucks lol.


    (2) He''s talking about being illiterate when ites to grave robbing. Wu Xies family hadnt really cared about educating them on grave robbing, so Uncle Three wouldnt have known whether Wu Xie would know about it when Uncle Three visited this tomb.

 Book 1: Chapter 41: Rough Guess

    Book 1: Chapter 41: Rough Guess


    Last words?


    I frowned, thinking that it really did make sense.


    The overall tone of thesest words did seem to be kind of desperate. After careful consideration, it seemed that someone had made up his mind to enter this hole, even after knowing what would happen when he did.


    I tranted this seal script using the interpretations I was ustomed to. It got the general idea across, but ancient words often had different meaningspared to their modern counterparts. It suddenly dawned on me that I had forgotten to look at the grammar from an empiricist (1) perspective.


    Never see the light of day in modern Chinese, it meant that the present situation was hopeless and there was no chance of being saved. This idiom began to have symbolic meaning in the Song Dynasty, but if the words were carved before that, then it should be a literal trantion.


    Cant see the sky or the sun.


    I looked at Fatty, "Is itwill we go blind?"


    Fatty touched his chin, thinking that it was starting to make more sense now.


    If entering the hole was fatal, then doing so was tantamount to suicide. But why not use a simpler suicide method like beating your head in or something? Based on this stone tablets text, entering the hole was very dangerous. But the words on the suicide note were also full of despair, which indicated that the person who carved them was in a state of panic and couldnt do anything.


    Why?


    I thought about it from beginning to end. First, this was an abandoned tomb passage. When the ancient tomb was being built, someone dug a hole in the rock stratum.


    Generally, the construction workers would dig down directly and shovel the hole off, since holes were somon in rock strata.


    But for some unknown reason, these workers abandoned the tomb passage and resumed construction in another area.


    Because of that, we could be sure that something strange happened in the hole after it was dug. It was so strange, in fact, that all craftsmen didnt dare shovel it off and chose to avoid it instead.


    But they didnt leave the area. Instead, they started digging the tomb passage again under the abandoned passage.


    This behavior was really very strange. If there was something dangerous or taboo in the hole, then the tomb definitely wouldnt have been built here. But the craftsmen had just decided to dig a little lower instead.


    I told Fatty my theory that there was an expert among the craftsmen who knew what the hole was. When they dug it, the expert knew that it would be dangerous to continue digging, so he stopped the craftsmen. But the expert also knew that the hole wasnt dangerous so long as it remained unexcavated.


    After choosing another location for the tomb passage, the tomb was sessfullypleted and the burial proceeded as usual.


    Assuming that there were tribes in Minyue who still did burial sacrifices, was this person going to be sacrificed in the tomb? In order to escape, did he venture into the hole?


    I immediately rejected this theory. First, it was obvious that the person who left the words behind knew what would happen when he entered the hole. That was why he sounded so desperate. Second, ves who acted as burial sacrifices were usually poisoned first so that they wouldnt destroy the tomb. Moreover, seal script wasnt something that ves would know.


    The person most likely to leave this kind of writing was a grave robber who got trapped here. In order to find an exit, they let theirpanion enter the hole first. But then theirpanion had an ident. Under the crushing despair and loneliness, they also chose to enter the hole.


    Uncle Three and the others entered this ancient tomb, but Poker-Face said they probably stole the sarcophagus directly from the back chamber. That meant they had probably never entered the same area as us.


    So, it shouldnt be Uncle Three, but someone in the same situation as us.


    Fatty looked inside the hole and saw that the glow stick was getting dimmer. He took out a pack of cigarettes, but there was only one left. He tapped on it as he looked back and suddenly stood up.


    "Stop guessing."


    We followed his line of sight and saw that the hole in the floor where we hade up earlier was gone. At some point, a rock wall had magically appeared in its ce. It was blocking the view and the way out.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Empiricism is a philosophical theory that states that knowledgees only or primarily from sensory experience (like you learn stuff from sight, taste, touch, smell). More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 42

    Book 1: Chapter 42


    The three of us looked at each other for a long time, but there was no denying the fact that a wall had really appeared in that ce.


    "Whats your period (1) doing here?" Fatty asked me.


    "Its your fucking period," I retorted as I walked to the rock wall. I found that there was a continuity between the mural and the wall. It wasnt an extra wall that appeared out of thin air, but the wall of the tomb passage that had suddenly opened like a door. The opened "part" had just sealed the tomb passage, meaning this was a mechanism.


    It was just like walking down a corridor and a gust of wind suddenly mmed the door shut, locking you out. If the mechanism was good enough and the pivot point of this wall was in the right position, the tomb passage would be sealed without making a sound.


    "Is this the Five Ghosts Transportation ritual?" Fatty looked at me. We all remembered the things Qianjun Wanma had said to us. I patted the wall and found that the rock was very thick. If it was really carried by the five ghosts, then they must have graduated from Lanxiang (2).


    I took a deep breath, stepped back, and started kicking the wall. If it could open, then there had to be a structure like a door shaft that shouldnt be too strong. I kicked it a few more times, but the door still didnt budge.


    Fatty tried pushing it for a long time, but was a little depressed when it didnt move for him either. Now we werepletely trapped and the only way out was this hole.


    But I didnt panic because we already had a way to deal with this situation. There were cracks in the rock and we still had detonators, so this wall couldnt stop us. I was just a little upset that we had fallen for this kind of mechanism. Considering how this was the most obvious kind of mechanism, it seemed that our skills had really be a little rusty.


    "Do you think this hole is a trick to draw us in so were trapped to death by the mechanism?"


    I shook my head. This kind of tomb-sealing mechanism was verymon and had nothing to do with trapping people to death. It was mainly used to close the tomb passage whenever someone invaded. But there would be at least three such mechanisms in such a long tomb passage, so someone could be trapped to death if they ended up between two of them.


    We didnt care too much since we had enough experience and preparation, but Fatty knew something had gone wrong somewhere and was a little displeased. When we went back to the hole to discuss what to do next, Fatty said, "Theres no need to guess what''s going on. We''ll just go home if we can''t figure it out. I''ll blow the wall up.


    I touched the words on the stone tablet. Sure enough, I cherished my life too much to make this kind of decision. At this moment, I saw Poker-Face touch the ground. I looked back at the stone wall and suddenly found that it had moved. It was moving so much, in fact, that it looked just like it was sliding on a track. By the time I had looked back at it, it had already moved several feet towards us.


    The stone wall suddenly got stuck and I could hear the sound of it grinding against the outer walls of the tomb passage. Its movements gradually slowed until it finally stopped.


    We had just breathed a sigh of relief, when the portion of the wall that got stuck cracked violently and then the wall rushed towards us again. At a speed visible to the naked eye, it was slowly pressing towards us.


    "Well be squished in about three minutes," Fatty cursed.


    I couldnt understand how the stone wall was moving, but I figured this abandoned tomb passage had a slight incline to it. Fatty had just finished cursing when the stone wall suddenly sped up and came right towards us, as if it were coated in some kind of lubricant. Luckily, it got stuck again when it was only a meter away from us.


    Both sections of the walls that were stuck cracked violently and pieces of the mural went flying. Poker-Face grabbed me and said, "Go."


    Without an ounce of hesitation, I crouched down,y on my stomach, and started crawling into the hole. Poker-Facey down and kicked the stone wall with his feet, followed by Fatty.


    I kept crawling forward to make room for them, but I couldnt go any further after ten meters. "Fatty, are you in yet?" I asked loudly.


    "My detonators stuck," Fatty replied.


    Just as he said this, I heard a loud boom, as if the stone wall had pressed up against the entrance of the hole.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) He means like your menstrual period. First he said Wu Xie was going through menopause, now hes saying Wu Xies period is here lol.


    (2) Its a vocational and technical college in China that offers courses in subjects like cooking, auto repair, construction equipment operations (mainly excavators), andputer skills (some sayputer hacking). More info here but the Chinese version is more in depth.

 Book 1: Chapter 43

    Book 1: Chapter 43


    Fatty! I shouted.


    When there was no reply, I felt my heart drop and couldnt help thinking, <em>hes done for. This guys been eating and drinking nonstop over the past few years, and has long lost awareness of his waistline. His lower body mustve been squished to minced meat.</em> I tried to look back, but the small hole was so narrow that I didn''t even have room to. I had no choice but to call to Poker-face, "Little Brother, did Fatty get in?"


    Fatty finally shouted back at this time, "What kind of fucking stone is this? Shit, it hurts like a bitch!"


    His voice seemed somewhat distorted because of the narrow space. When I asked him what happened, he said, "I''m fine. My tooth broke."


    How the hell did you break your tooth? I asked him.


    I came in backwards and it smacked me in the face, Fatty said. This mechanism is really ruthless to have such settings.


    Without this small hole, the three of us wouldve really been inseparable. We wouldve been ttened into pancakes and rotted here together.


    "Do you think this is all a trap?" He asked me. "This mechanism forced us toe in here."


    I thought it unlikely since I couldnt figure what the motive would be.


    I flicked my lighter on and illuminated the dark hole in front of me. At this time, there was no other choice but to go forward, so I said to Fatty, "Do you have a weapon I can use to defend myself in this kind of environment? I want to crawl forward."


    If something crawled out from the opposite side, I would definitely suffer.


    "You can take the re gun, Fatty said. I loaded it earlier."


    I heard the sound of someone struggling to reach somethinge from behind me. Then, Little Brother handed me the gun. I struggled to reach back, snagged the gun, and then pulled it forward, aiming it at the darkness ahead. The action was really awkward, but I couldn''t do anything about it.


    "Climb slowly, Fatty said. I came in backwards, so my life is in your hands, Mr. Nave."


    I asked Fatty why he came in backwards and he said that if we crawled forward and encountered any problems, then it would be easier for him if we needed to retreat. If he had been facing the same way as us, it would be too inconvenient to crawl backwards.


    I crawled more than ten meters forward, but the small hole seemed incredibly long and didn''t look like it wasing to an end at all. I held the lighter in front of me and carefully looked around at the rock.


    This really was a naturally formed tunnel that probably went on for several hundred kilometers. You would definitely die halfway through if you tried to find the exit.


    After crawling more than twenty meters, the small hole sloped down a little. We tried to keep crawling forward, but I couldnt do it anymore. I could barely spread my hands and feet out and could only crawl like a worm now. It consumed ten times as much physical strength as ordinary crawling.


    "Fatty, we have to think long-term," I stopped and gasped out.


    "Mr. Nave, Little Brother, I have to pee really bad. Do you mind?" Fatty said from a distance.


    It was all downhill from here, so I told him to endure it and started crawling forward again.


    Under the imminent threat of Fatty''s urine, we climbed another three or four meters. The atmosphere was really depressing, but we finally began to go uphill and I heard Fatty let out a relieved noise. Then, the foul smell of urine immediately filled the tunnel. He mustve really been holding it in.


    I rxed and prayed that we wouldn''t have to crawl back at some point.


    At this time, I was embarrassed to find that I also needed to pee, but I thought of who was behind me and knew that I would be killed. As I tried to distract myself, I suddenly found some seal script on the rock wall beside me.


    Seven yin.


    Yin was an old unit of measurement, which was equivalent to about two hundred meters (1). So, the seven yin here was a distance of about fourteen hundred meters.


    This was a distance marker.


    "Mr. Nave, why arent you crawling? My urine reeks."


    "Those words on the stone tablet outside said that there would be an ident when you went in more than a hundred meters, right?"


    "Yes."


    "How many meters did we climb just now?"


    It was about forty meters, which was definitely short of the seven yin this marker was indicating. That meant that this unit of measurement was reversed. We were climbing from seven yin to one yin.


    <em>There must be something at one yin</em>, I said to myself. <em>And its more than fourteen hundred meters away from us.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) So, Im no expert, but my dictionary (and google-sensei) says yn () is equal to 10 zhng (), which is one-thirtieth of a km or 33.33 meters. Most definitely not 200 meters

 Book 1: Chapter 44

    Book 1: Chapter 44


    After I told the two behind me what was going on, I felt as if the urge to pee became more pressing. Fatty told me to stop thinking and keep moving forward. We had no other way out. Wed die if we died.


    I pressed on, suffering through the agony of holding my pee in. When I climbed to the fifth yin, my consciousness began to blur and all my attention became focused on my dder.


    The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was going to copse. It reminded me of that time I tried to hold it in after drinking beer on a long-distance bus ride. In the end, I had to be helped off the bus. It was a fate worse than death. I instinctively started analyzing the tunnel walls, hoping to find something that would help me solve my predicament without being killed. I even thought about using my towel to absorb it, but the cave walls didnt have any gaps and the towels absorption abilities werent that good.


    If I encountered any danger while crawling forward and shot the gun, Id definitely end up peeing. Maybe Poker-Face wouldnt be able to save me because of the sudden attack.


    As I crawled more and more slowly, Fatty noticed that something was wrong and asked me what was going on. I took a deep breath and tried to distract myself.


    These were the hardest fourteen hundred meters of my life. When I stopped to take a break, the time and my dder seemed to put me in a kind of trance. I almost felt as if I had been climbing in this hole for half my life. Fatty and I bantered back and forth at first, but then we were both too tired to make a sound.


    When I saw the one yin marker, I came out of my trance and touched my face. I was covered in sweat and countless ces on my body had been cut by the rock walls. In addition, my full dder now almost felt as if it were numb. For a few seconds, I thought that it wouldnt matter if I died.


    "This is it!" I couldn''t look back at them, so I shouted as loud as I could, "Are you both still there?"


    "Yes!" Fatty shouted back weakly. "Don''t go over there yet. I want to sleep first. I''m too tired."


    I knew he could really fall asleep here, but I couldnt hold it any longer. I kept praying that there would be a tomb chamber or a bigger hole at the end. Otherwise, I would have to make the difficult decision to try and get Poker-Face and Fatty to do nks (1) to make way for my urine.


    As I swiftly crawled through thest stretch of the tunnel, my expression became all twisted. If a ghost appeared in front of me and saw my expression, they would definitely regret not being reincarnated.


    After crawling the final distance, my lighter revealed something at the end of the tunnel.


    It was a bronze basin.


    There was ayer of white powder in it that had hardened and cracked. This thing had obviously been here for a long time, for the rust on it had adhered to the rock.


    "What is it?" Fatty asked from behind.


    As I approached, I saw that there was a mass of ck things in the basin. I poked them carefully with the gun barrel and found that they were all candles. Not only were these candles soft, but they were all a very strange, grayish-ck color.


    I took one out, carefully sniffed it, and recognized a strange yet familiar smell.


    The candles had been made with rhinoceros horns, and this basin was full of them.


    The Book of Jin (2) said the following: "Wen Jiao circled around Wuchang. At Niuzhuji, the waters were unfathomable and there were many monsters under the clouds. Wen Jiao thereupon burned a rhinoceros horn to light the way. In a sh, he saw grotesquely shaped aquatic creatures rushing at him from the water. That night, he dreamed that someone said to him, We are that which can and cannot be seen. Those on separate paths. It is only with this light that you can see us!" (3)


    In order meet ghosts and gods, ancient Chinese used rhinoceros horn candles, which weremonly known as rhinoceros lights.


    There were so many rhinoceros horn candles right here in this hole, but for what purpose?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a core strength exercise that involves maintaining a position simr to a push-up for the maximum possible time.


    (2) Its a history of the Jin Dynasty from 265 to 420. Its the 5<sup>th</sup> of the 24 dynastic histories,piled under Fang Xuanling in 648 during the Tang Dynasty. There are 130 scrolls (or volumes). More info here.


    (3) This is from Vol 67 of the Book of Jin. Its in Chinese, but more info here if you want to use google trante. Also found this snippet on Baidu.

 Book 1: Chapter 45

    Book 1: Chapter 45


    "Burn rhinoceros horn?" I wondered aloud. <em>Burning such a thing in an ancient tomb do you want to see ghosts? And why burn it in this exact spot?</em>


    An image suddenly popped into my head of a basin full of rhinoceros horn wax slowly burning in this lonely underground hole. No one could see the light from this position except for those who climbed into this passage.


    There were distance markers inside the hole and a warningorst wordsoutside of it. I took a deep breath and shouted, "Fatty, let me pick your brain."


    "Little Brother is closer to you, can''t you ask him first?" Fatty scolded back.


    I cursed, "Cut the crap. I have something to discuss with you. I see something now. I then proceeded to describe everything I saw.


    "Whats behind the bronze basin?" He asked.


    I took a look with my lighter, but it was just more of the dark hole without any noticeable differences.


    But it had to be different. This was the end of the yin markers and there was a bronze basin with rhinoceros horn candles in it. No matter how you looked at it, this ce was different and very special.


    When I told Fatty about the situation, he remained silent for a moment before leisurely saying, "Shall we enumerate? Think about it first, why would someone carve a distance marker in this tunnel?"


    It wasnt unusual to carve a marker like this, but it was normally carved in the opposite direction. "This reversed carving is like a countdown, I said to him. It means that whoever entered this hole only wanted to go as far as seven yin."


    "Then they shouldve carved it normally. Wouldnt carving it from one to seven be more convenient? Rather than saying they carved it in reverse, I think the only possibility is that they actually carved it the normal way."


    "What''s right and what''s wrong is all messed up here." I didn''t understand, so Fatty continued, "In other words, the engraver started to carve the distance markers from this position. Our entrance was his destination. This was his starting point. His trajectory was opposite ours."


    I thought there was some truth to this statement, but there were too many things that didnt make sense.


    "When do you use distance markers?" I took a deep breath, "Think about it. What do we draw distance markers for?"


    "Long jump?" Fatty replied.


    In fact, distance markers were used almost everywhere in building systems, but this hole was something that had formed naturally. The most likely reason to carve distance markers here was to measure the length of this tunnel.


    But the markers were reversed and didnt even measure the whole tunnel. They only went as far as seven yin, which meant that this theory wasnt valid either.


    "This is a warning," Poker-Face suddenly said.


    If he hadnt said something, I wouldve thought there was no one between me and Fatty.


    I had to pee so bad that my brain was out of sorts, but I managed to ask him, "What do you mean?"


    Fatty seemed to understand and shouted, "This is like marking an exit on the highway. It tells you there are still a hundred kilometers, then fifty, and so on. It tells you that youre gradually getting closer to an exit. If you miss it, you can''t get out."


    I was surprised, but quickly realized that they were right.


    But highways were set up like this because they only went one way and it was impossible to turn back. So, if you missed this exit, the next one would be hundreds of kilometers away.


    I broke out in a cold sweat and said to myself, <em>dont tell mefrom this point on, we can''t get out of this hole? Is there an exit right in front of us?</em>


    If the next exit was a hundred kilometers away, then we were basically dead. But I didnt see anything on the wall here besides this bronze basin.


    Since the exit behind us had been blocked and we couldnt get out, I had been crawling forward the whole time without ever thinking about going back.


    "Fatty, try and see if you can climb back!" I called to him.


    "Shit, have you been going the wrong way? Fatty asked. Cant you be fucking smarter?"


    "Just try crawling a few steps," I said.


    Fatty let out a curse and then I heard him panting before he suddenly shouted, "Fuck!"


    "What''s wrong?" I asked him.


    I became nervous after waiting for a while with no answer. I wanted to crawl back and shout louder, but Poker-Face caught my foot and stopped me. Then, I heard Fatty cry out, "There are people everywhere behind us!"

 Book 1: Chapter 46: People Everywhere

    Book 1: Chapter 46: People Everywhere


    I couldnt even begin to imagine what Fatty was talking about. After a short pause, I said to him, "Don''t give a half-assed exnation like that. What do you mean there are people everywhere?"


    Fatty paused, and I suddenly felt Poker-Face pushing me forward. Fatty was obviously retreating and forcing Poker-Face toe closer to me, but I didn''t dare go any further because of our assumption that this was like a highway. As I resisted, Fatty''s trembling voice reached my ears, "What kind of question is that? They''re all fucking people! Theyre blocking our way back. We kept crawling forward, but I didn''t see anything behind us at all. In fact, these things must have been following us the whole way. There are a lot of them."


    "Are they little porcin figures?" I remembered the little porcin figure I had seen in the tomb passage before and thought Fatty was talking about that.


    "Fuck, man! Theyre people! People!!! Fatty was getting more and more agitated. "Mr. Nave, keep going! Theyre crawling over!"


    "Theyre alive?" I was still confused and couldnt see anything from this angle. "Who is it?"


    "Their heads are down so I can''t see their faces, but their nails are long! Fatty sounded furious. "Hurry up and fucking crawl! Theyve almost reached me! I''m about to die!"


    I could basically picture what Fatty was seeing and knew it had to be creepy. A bunch of people in this dark hole were crawling towards him like centipedes. He couldnt see their faces clearly, but he could tell that their nails were very long. If it were me, I wouldve definitely peed.


    "Take a picture and send it to me." I didnt know why I suddenly blurted out this sentence. Fatty started cursing me out and pushed Poker-Face until he was up to my calves. I suddenly realized that Fatty was really going to die.


    I didnt know how he could see "people everywhere", because my lighter could only illuminate a distance of less than an arms length in front of me.


    I hesitated for a quarter of a second, debating on whether to continue crawling for my life or lighting the rhinoceros horn candle in front of me. At this time, my reflexes formed by many years of experience kicked in and I lit one of the rhinoceros horn candles. I figured these things had been put here by human beings, and humans definitely wouldnt put something here to hurt themselves.


    The rhinoceros horn candle had a green me that was surprisingly bright and shone quite a distance in the tunnel.


    Fatty yelled, "Mr. Nave, if you dont crawl, Ill blow us all up and well die together."


    At this time, I saw a stone door appear under the candles faint green light. It was set in the tunnels wall right in front of us and was engraved with a relief of horses and chariots riding on clouds. The door was so small that I immediately knew it was called an immortal gate. It was usually an opening left on coffins to enable the corpses soul to pass through.


    I couldnt see this door until the candle was lit, but I was willing to stake my reputation that there had been nothing on the wall before.


    I didnt hesitate and immediately crawled over, pushing on the door hard. It had been fastened shut, but finally opened after two more pushes. I immediately crawled through. It was very wet on the other side, but I continued crawling through the water until my whole body was through the door. I found myself in a tiny space that looked simr to the inside of a coffin, but it was much wider than the tunnel I had juste from. There were rotten wooden boards all around and ck things that looked as if they had been rotting for a millennium. I found that I couldnt stand upright and could only squat in the waist-deep water.


    Under the candles green light, I could see barnacles covering the wooden boards. Poker-Face crawled through the door at breakneck speed, quickly followed by Fatty who had obviously been caught by something.


    I shouted at him, "Don''t blow yourself up!"


    Poker-Face grabbed his feet and started dragging him out, but Fatty shouted, "My dick! My dick is stuck!"


    "Youre old, you dont need it!" I shouted back as I ignored his screams and helped drag him into this small space. At that moment, I suddenly caught a glimpse of the "people" outside.


    They really were human. I saw one of them was a naked "man" with his head lowered, as if his neck had been broken. But I couldn''t see any more than that because Poker-Face immediately blew out my candle.


    It was dark all around.


    I felt my way towards the door to close it, only to find that I couldn''t touch it at all.


    Fatty shouted beside me, "Light! Light the candle! This fat master will fight!"


    I pulled out my lighter and flicked it a few times, but nothing happened. <em>This is bad,</em> I thought to myself. I touched the lighter, only to find that the me was hot.


    At that moment, I didnt realize what was happening. I kept flicking the lighter and found that there wasnt even a spark appearing in the darkness around me. I touched it with my hand and found that it was extremely hot.


    My hands began to tremble violently as I immediately realized that the lighter had been lit, but I couldn''t see it.


    I was blind.


    At that moment, the pressure on my dder lifted and everything went silent.

 Book 1: Chapter 47

    Book 1: Chapter 47


    I didnt know if I was the only one who was blind or if the other two were just like me, but the strong smell whether they were blind or not, they had to know what I did.


    I rubbed my eyes, but everything was still dark when I opened them again. I had experienced this kind of situation before and tried to calm myself down. I stepped back so that I could find something to lean against while I focused all my attention on my ears.


    The whole space was very chaotic and Fatty kept telling me to turn on a light, "Light, light, light, Mr. Nave! Are you deaf?! Turn on a light quickly!"


    There seemed to be something wrong with our eyes.


    I reached out in the water, but the barnacles on the wooden boards were so sharp that I couldn''t lean on them. I decided to hold onto them instead as I shouted, "Fatty, Little Brother, can you see?"


    "Ill be able to see whenever you decide to turn a fucking light on! Whod be able to see when its so dark right now?! Fatty yelled. "All these glow sticks are fucking duds! If I get back alive, Im going to write a bad review!"


    "I''ve already turned on a fucking light!" I cried out. "The glow sticks arent broken. Theres something wrong with our eyes. Calm the fuck down!


    Fatty gave onest what the fuck but quickly quieted down. I reached out to try and feel my way around, but ended up touching his ass. He had good reflexes and immediately grabbed me and threw me into the water.


    The water was salty, which meant that it was sea water.


    I almost died when Fatty moved to sit on me, but fortunately, ck sses had taught me how to resist. Following Fatty''s strength, I lifted my lower body, locked my legs around his neck, and immediately pressed him into the water. Just like a seesaw, he entered the water and my head breached the surface. I gulped in a mouthful of air just as a green light suddenly appeared.


    Poker-Face had lit the rhinoceros horn candle again and our surroundings were once again illuminated. Fatty and I were naked and twisted together while Poker-Face was clinging to the door.


    At this time, I noticed that there was something right beside me. I turned my head and found that it was a person with their head lowered.


    The candle was immediately extinguished.


    I realized that Poker-Face was trying to tell me we werent blind, we just couldnt see ordinary light.


    I immediately released Fatty and moved to a different position. Fatty came out of the water cursing, "Be careful, everyone. This fucking zombie will go for your ass and knows how to use scissor feet'' (1)."


    The candle was lit again and I saw that I hadnt gotten rid of that person at all. They seemed to know what direction I was going in and followed me. Now, they were practically right in front of me.


    Before I could shout at Poker-Face to extinguish the light, I saw him turn in this extremely narrow space, prop himself up with one hand, and mp his knees around that things head. Then, he turned in the air and twisted that things neck sideways.


    I had never seen such a speedy attack at such close range before. The crisp sound of cracking bone echoed in my ears and the sshing water from Poker-Faces movements fell on my face. The things neck had been twisted at a 240-degree angle.


    Before hended, Poker-Face threw the bronze basin to Fatty. As Fatty quickly caught it, Poker-Face whispered, Knife!


    I threw my Kukri to him just as the immortal door was pushed open. Poker-Face caught the knife, jumped up, and mmed the door shut. He then stuffed my Kukri into the door bolt seam behind him and twisted it until the door bolt was jammed.


    The three of us stood back and watched as fingernails slowly started to appear in the door cracks before eventuallying to a stop. Poker-Faces expression became even more solemn than usual.


    "Where the fuck is this?" Fatty asked as he looked around.


    Poker-Face moved his fingers before leaning down and starting to grope for something in the water. Fatty and I nced at each other before squatting down and copying him. After a few moments, Poker-Face seemed to find something and pulled on it. A nk came out of the water and all the water around us rushed towards that area in an instant. The current was so strong that it almost pushed us down.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: It''s when someone wraps their legs around the opponents body parts (head/arms.), which is what Wu Xie did to Fatty. When they cross their legs, it looks like scissors. Think along the lines of ck Widow in the Marvel movies.

 Book 1: Chapter 48: Jump into the Waterway

    Book 1: Chapter 48: Jump into the Waterway


    The water drained away quickly, revealing that the floor of this strange room was full of barnacles. They were far thicker than those on the surrounding wooden boards and made the ground look like rotten coral.


    As I set the bronze basin aside, I noticed that we had all been cut several times, especially on the soles of our feet. It was only in that moment that I felt the severe pain as my blood flowed down the barnacles to the low-lying section of the floor.


    Poker-Face pulled up a bronze ring that was connected to a chain that seemed to drive the valve below. As the water continued to drain out, I looked carefully and saw that there were a lot of other objects among the barnacles. They seemed to be porcin and decaying bronze pieces that had been bound in the barnacle shells. I could even see a lot of bronze rings among them.


    They appeared to be funerary objects that also belonged to the South Sea Kings tomb, but I didnt know where in the tomb we were.


    We had climbed more than fourteen hundred meters just nowabout one and a half kilometers so it was reasonable to assume that we had already climbed out of the South Sea Kings tomb. The South Sea King was an ethnic minority king, so the ancient tomb couldnt be that big. But even if this ce was part of the South Sea Kings tomb, it was probably another burial pit.


    Under the candles green light, I patted the decaying wood around me. All the water had finally drained out, so I could finally see the "man" that Poker-Face had just killed. I wanted to get a closer look, but Poker-Face immediately kicked it down the drainage hole.


    "I just wanted a quick look at it." I didn''t even get the chance to stop him. "You should''ve let me study it."


    Poker-Face nced at me, "You can''t see the living things here."


    "Why?"


    He pointed to Fatty''s eyes.


    Under the green light, I could see that Poker-Face''s and Fatty''s irises were green, but they looked very bright. I thought something was wrong with them, but when I looked closely, I could see that there was something strange on their eyes.


    "What the hell?"


    "You hallucinated earlier, didn''t you?" Poker-Face asked me. I nodded.


    "Ill exin it to you when we get out. Were relying on you now. Youre the only one that can see the important things right now."


    I was confused, "Why?"


    "Because what we see is different from what you see. I already know who built this ce. We have to go back to the original tomb passage immediately."


    "Why?" I was even more confused now.


    "We wont be able to get out when the candle burns out. We have to find Liu Sang or we wont be able to find what you want."


    Although I still didnt understand, it was creeping me out to hear him say so many words in one breath. The fact that he did so showed that we were really going to die.


    Fatty said from off to the side, "What are you talking about?"


    Poker-Face ignored him and said, "Go!"


    Before I knew it, Poker-Face had jumped into the waterway and shouted, "Come down!"


    Fatty looked surprised, "What happened to Little Brother? Did he eat the wrong medicine?"


    I scratched my head and said to myself, <em>forget it, let''s go</em>. Then I jumped into the waterway. There was a deep well below with a diameter of more than five meters. I could see countless stone beams in the well, along with more barnacles that were covering both the wall and the beams. Poker-Face hadnded on a beam three meters below me, so he helped pull me down to his beam. After that, Fatty jumped down with the bronze basin in his arms. Poker-Face and I grabbed his armpits and dragged him to our beam.


    Our feet were already hurting a lot, but all the pain seemed toe back with this jump and I couldnt help but grimace. Before we had barely steadied ourselves, Poker-Face immediately jumped again. He took our physical capabilities into ount and only jumped one stone beam at a time. We followed him the whole way, jumping wildly in the green light until we saw a pool below. By this time, our feet were killing us. Poker-Face squatted down on thest beam and looked at the candles to ensure that we still had plenty left.


    He took a deep breath and jumped into the water, which reached all the way up to his neck. Fatty didn''t immediately follow, but carefully dropped the bronze basin to him. After Poker-Face caught it, Fatty and I both jumped.


    As the three of us stood in the water and looked around, I noticed that there were water channels on both sides of the pool. This was the main drainage channel, but the water wasnt flowing.


    I could tell at a nce that the drainage channel here was very simple and made of stone bricks.


    "Look carefully, Poker-Face said to me. What do you see?"


    "Can''t you see it?"


    "We can''t see it," Fatty said. "This is a drainage channel."


    I didnt understand what he meant, but I listened to Poker-Face and looked around. The surrounding area was very ordinary and didnt look any different from the many drainage channels we had been in before. Feeling the pressure, I looked around three more times, but still couldn''t see anything.


    "No, I can''t see it either."


    "You can," Poker-Face said.


    I took a deep breath and looked more carefully. Under the soft green light, I saw a single person standing there under the dark water.


    The persons head hadnt breached the surface, so I thought it was a corpse at first. But when I looked more carefully, I found that it wasn''t. Instead, the person waspletely ck.

 Book 1: Chapter 49

    Book 1: Chapter 49


    The other two immediately saw the change in my expression and Fatty asked, "What is it? What do you see?


    "Theres a shadow under the water." I looked carefully, but I didn''t dare approach it. Fatty followed my line of sight and squinted at it for a long time, "Wheres the shadow?"


    I pointed to where it was underwater, "Can''t you see it?"


    Fatty moved towards it, but I quickly grabbed him for fear that he would touch it. Its shape looked distortedalmost like a floating corpsebut I knew it wasnt going to be good whatever it was.


    "Look carefully," Poker-Face told me.


    I did as he said and found that there was more than one such shadow floating in the water. There was another shadow in front of the first one I had seen and it looked like a lump suspended in the water. All of them werepletely ck.


    If they were floating corpses that had rotted to the point of ckening, then not only would they have looked like giants by now, but they would''ve had Fatty''s physique no matter how fucking thin they were. But these ck things didn''t show any signs of rotting or bloating.


    "It''s ck. ck all over. More than one. Theres a line of them in the water."


    "ck? Like Kobe (1)? Fatty asked me. "Were there any cks in the Han Dynasty? Could it be a Kunlun ve (2)?"


    "This is a serious situation. Quit talking nonsense!" I said angrily.


    "Wheres it facing?" Poker-Face asked me.


    I pointed in a direction, which turned out to be a water outlet. Poker-Face said, "Don''t touch it. Well follow you. Go in the direction theyre facing." Then he said to Fatty, "Look at him, dont look at anything else."


    I nodded and then led the two of them forward. As I carefully bypassed the ck thing, I asked Poker-Face, What is it?


    He didn''t answer, but his intense gaze remained fixed on me and even Fatty had all of his attention on me. I was too embarrassed to ask any more questions, so I focused on steering us to the water outlet. We soon entered the outlets channel, which was as low as the waterway in the Seven Star Lu Pce. We even had to bow our heads in some ces, indicating that the water level here wasnt very high at ordinary times.


    It was probably high tide outside right now.


    I had to put out the candle every time we went underwater and then it took a long time to light it again. Each time, I was terrified that the candle would never be lit again.


    Those ck shadows were ced at random points in the water along the way. By this time, my hands and feet were numb, and I was so afraid that I couldnt even express my emotions directly. Every time I wanted to stop and take a closer look at the shadows, Poker-Face wouldnt allow it.


    We continued moving forward as fast as the water would allow, but we didn''t know how long we had been walking. Suddenly, the underwater terrain became higher and the water level dropped from my neck to my chest. That was when I saw it. There was a ck shadow in front of me with its head sticking out of the lowered water level.


    When I paused, Poker-Face looked at my expression and immediately said, "Tell me."


    "That thing is out of the water."


    "What is it?" Fatty couldn''t stand the fact that he still couldnt see it.


    The three of us moved forward until I could get a closer look at it. The ck head looked very strange and we could see that the skin was so thin that our green light could pass right through it.


    "That''s a leather paper doll (3)," Poker-Face said.


    I suddenly remembered the legend of the Mute Emperor and how it had said he liked to use paper soldiers and horses for his army. But the army had been blind because their eyes were made of fried sesame seeds.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Kobe Bryant. He was a famous American basketball yer. He diedst year.


    (2) ck ves from Southeast Asia in the Tang Dynasty. The majority of Kunlun ves were dark-colored people captured in Southeast Asia, and some of them were Africans bought from Arab merchants who captured them in Africa. More info here. Note, the Han Dynasty was like 3 dynasties before the Tang Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was from 206 BC to 220 AD, while the Tang Dynasty was from 618 to 907 AD.


    (3) Leather paper refers to paper made from bast fibers such as mulberry bark and mountain sap. Think of it as a mix of paper and fabric with a leather-like texture.

 Book 1: Chapter 50: Leather Figurine Woman

    Book 1: Chapter 50: Leather Figurine Woman


    The legend from that time had already disappeared from the primitive Minyue forests, so it was impossible to verify whether the mysterious legend of the South Sea King was really rted to the local Mute Emperor. But as we moved forward with our investigation, we found many signs that the local ethnic minoritys legend had subtle simrities to it.


    I took a moment to calm myself down. The "leather figurine" that was exposed above the waters surface looked as if it had been made from the yed skin of a servant. The skin was made into leather and then bamboo silk was used to keep its human shape. Since more than two thousand years had passed, the outsideyer of all these leather figurines had calcified. Even though the bamboo silk hadpletely rotted away, the leather still retained its human shape. Like the blind soldiers in the legend, they were guarding this strange kings tomb.


    But the strange thing was, I didnt know what secret treatment the ancients had used on this thousand-year-old leather. There werent any parasites growing on them, but they werepletely ck.


    Fatty and I both fell silent. We had never heard of this burial practice in Minyue before, but it was probably rted to the ethnic minorities legendary "immortal techniques" from that time. The eyes painted all over the walls had already given me some insights into the evil nature of this sorcery. I didnt know what special purpose these rhinoceros horn candles and leather figurines in the water served, but we didnt dare underestimate them.


    At this time, I had a bold theory that the strange legend may have been handed down to the local people by the craftsmen who built the South Sea Kings tomb. Because they couldnt say it directly for fear of revealing the tombs location, they made up a story of what they saw and heard while building the tomb.


    The Mute Emperor was the South Sea King, the spells that would fail when you opened your eyes were the eye murals all over the walls, and the Mute Emperors paper army ended up being the leather figurines buried with him. In this legend, there was also an incredible im that the Mute Emperor had a magic bow.


    Because most of the things in the legend were quite different from the situations we had encountered in the tomb so far, I didnt think the so-called "magic bow" was really a bow. But what was it?


    As we bypassed this leather figurine and continued wading through the waterway, the water level got lower and lower until we could finally see our waists again. Under the candles light, more and more leather figurines emerged from the water, leaving strange flickering shadows on the wall.


    I stopped. Based on Poker-Face''s previous instructions, I had been following the direction the figurines had been facing, but for some reason, a leather figurine up ahead was facing the opposite direction of all the others.


    Fatty and Poker-Face couldn''t see what I could see, so they stopped and asked me what was going on.


    "One is different from the others," I told them.


    "How is it different? Make it clear. Is it fat, thin, tall, or short?"


    I looked at the leather figurines that were all facing one direction. Their facial features had be blurred because of the calcification, but this particr figurine was different. Its facial features were very clear. If the leather figurines were an ancient art form, then the craftsman who created this one mustve been far superior to the others.


    Moreover, this leather figurines skin must havee from a woman.


    Although the weapons and armor should have rotted long ago, the stances of the other figurines indicated that they were all soldiers. This leather figurine woman, however, had a realistic shape and her hands were hanging down naturally. It was obvious that the craftsman had loved this figurine and put a lot of effort into it.


    As I approached slowly, a particrly ominous feeling rose up in my heart. Based on my intense experiences in the past, I was certain that this had to be a monster. This figurine definitely didnt belong here and must have been deliberately ced here by the ancients. Plus, it was hiding behind the other leather figurines. From my point of view, it looked like it was secretly watching me, which made my hair stand on end and nearly had me panicking.


    After thinking about how to bypass it and what precautions to take, we decided that Fatty would go first, Poker-Face would go second, and I would gost. That way, Poker-Face could take care of both sides in case something happened.


    We walked past the leather figurine woman like we were driving a train, but nothing happened. I felt relieved, but I couldnt shake the feeling that something was wrong. When I looked back, I couldnt see the leather figurine woman clearly anymore. I probably deserved a beating for being so reckless, but I couldn''t resist saying to Fatty, "I want to take another look back."


    Fatty didn''t know what I wanted to see, but he handed me the basin full of candles anyways. When I turned back to illuminate the area, I saw the leather figurine womans back. As I looked at it carefully, I felt like something was off, but I couldn''t figure out what it was.


    Just as I handed the basin back to Fatty, I suddenly realized what the problem was. The leather figurine womans position was slightly different from before.


    ****


    <strong><em>There she is!!!!! Wu Xie''s stalker wife!!!! Poker-face, you better be ready to fight for your man hahahaha. If you guys didn''t see the postst night, Yvette has joined the DMBJ tranting team. She''ll be helping Tiffany and I with the extras and Wu Xie''s Private Notes 2 and whatever else she wants to do. Give her lots of love!!!! Here''s the 2 she didst night if you''re interested:</em></strong><ul><li>Extra: Birthday</li><li>A Day in the Life of Xie Yuchen</li></ul>

 Book 1: Chapter 51

    Book 1: Chapter 51


    "It looks like shes turned around," I said after taking a deep breath.


    "Is it because the two of us arent wearing any clothes? This little girl must be in love. Quick, tell her that us two brothers don''t like someone who''s rotting like that," Fatty said. He then told me to keep walking and not make any trouble. He was certain I mustve been mistaken.


    <em>Im the one who can see it. You cant see shit</em>, I said to myself. <em>What right do you have to say this? </em>


    Even though I was still feeling apprehensive, I quickly moved to follow them. I took a few steps forward, but I couldnt resist the impulse to look back. When I did, I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.


    The leather figurine woman had turned again, and this time, I could basically confirm that it was moving.


    "Run quickly," I said to Fatty.


    The three of us got into running stances as we moved forward, but there really wasnt a difference in speed because of the water. We eventually got to a spot where I figured we would hardly see the leather figurine woman. I was just starting to calm down when I looked back again.


    It was dark behind me, so I moved the candle around to have a look. At that moment, I saw something standing so close behind me that the candle almost hit it.


    My whole body broke out in goosebumps when I realized it was the leather figurine woman. I didnt know when it hade up behind me.


    It was still in the same stance as before, but it was really close to me. Not to mention a rotting leather figurine, even a living person wouldve scared me to death at this distance.


    I quickly stepped back a few meters and ended up bumping into Fatty. At this time, I noticed that the leather figurine womans hands were different from what I had originally thought. The arms werent hanging down, but held aloft as if making an offering. The hands themselves were gone, and I figured they had probably rotted away or were broken off. I also noticed something hanging from the curvature of its elbow.


    I leaned closer to get a look at it and found that it was a pair of jade Azure Dragon annulus (1). Both of them had a white jade protectiveyer around them that had oxidized so badly, it was obvious they had been buried here a long time. I didnt know why they had appeared on this figurines arm.


    Fatty couldn''t see it and asked me, "What''s wrong?"


    "That leather figurine just now"I suddenly felt that I shouldnt say anything to irritate the thing in front of me, so I changed my tune and said"that beautiful woman figurine is following me for some reason. It has something on its arm."


    "Is it a love token? Does it want to give you something? Fatty asked me. "Don''t take it Mr. Nave. If you do, youll be responsible for it and have to buried here together."


    Poker-Face couldnt see it and couldnt help me, so all I could do was try and analyze it carefully. When I looked closely, I kept feeling that it wasnt ordinary jade, but more like a pair of ears.


    Was it for me? Was the ghost of this buried female figurine acting in good faith and giving us some clues? Or was this female ghost hoping to make some kind of contract with her belongings?


    Besides, neither Poker-Face or Fatty could see it. If I did take the proffered items, they might not be able to see what I did.


    As I examined the jade carefully, I kept thinking more and more that they really looked like a pair of ears. Maybe they really had something to do with listening to thunder? With the exception of the Thunder God worship, we hadnt seen anything rted to listening to thunder the entire way. This was the first clue I had seen that was actually rted to it.


    I believed that everything rted to listening to thunder was probably in the main tomb chamber, but it was obvious that no one had been there. Uncle Three and the others must have used a very special skill I had never learned to steal the main coffin.


    Were these things that looked like ears rted to the main tomb chamber?


    I looked at the maid who had been buried here and felt some sadness and pity in my heart. It was said that water was a barrier to the existence of the soul, and the reason why those who died in the water became water ghosts was because there was no way they could reincarnate through a medium like that.


    I didnt know whymaybe I was just being weird or it was my intuitionbut I couldnt shake the feeling that she wanted to get something in return for doing this.


    After thinking about it, I rubbed my face and gave up on this superstitious idea. My principle was only to apply the appropriate superstition when I couldnt figure something out. There were some parts in tombs that couldnt be exined, but most of them did have a usible exnation. I took a deep breath and said to the leather figurine woman, "I dont want this, I want something that can help me get out."


    With that said, the three of us walked on.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Azure Dragon is 1 of the 4 symbols of the Chinese constetions, also known as the Azure Dragon of the East. A jade annulus looks like this:


    ****


    <strong><em>Since I can''t get onto the stupid VDI at work, here''s the chapter I should''ve postedst night (sorry, I got caught up watching the precious cinnamon rolls in "My Roommate is a Detective" lol)</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 52

    Book 1: Chapter 52


    From Fatty''s point of view, I was definitely crazy. I still didnt understand why I could see what they couldnt see, but I was willing to believe that what I was seeing might not be real. Poker-Face had asked me if I had hallucinated, after all.


    Fatty looked in the direction I was speaking several times as the three of us continued moving forward. "Youre too forceful, he said after a while. Were in someone elses territory. Dont offend them." He then arched his hand in the air, "Well, this Mr. Nave has never been in love. He''s very straightforward, so I hope you dont mind what he says. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Im sure you can definitely find a better one, right? Anyway, youve been single for more than a thousand years, so you shouldnt sell yourself short. Let me tell you, he has athlete''s foot. You wont be able to stand it."


    After walking a few more steps, I found that all my hair was standing on end. The leather figurine womans appearance lingered in my mind, but I didn''t want to look back.


    We went more than a dozen meters before I dared look back again. I found that it hadnt followed me, which made me wonder if it was an illusion or some kind of special mechanism. I couldnt see the ground since it was underwater, but maybe there were some tracks and dark wheels under the waters surface.


    At this time, we finally saw an exit. We got closer to it and found that it was another deep well, which probably led to another tomb chamber.


    I looked in front of us, but found that the waterway didn''t extend any further and actually came to an end.


    As I nced at the countless stone beams above us, I suddenly remembered something. I went to check my cell phone and found that the battery was dying. Liu Sang''s Bluetooth device wasnt showing up, but I didnt know if that mean it wasnt nearby or if the structure here was tooplicated and the signal was blocked. As I calcted how long we had been walking, I realized that I didnt know where we were in the ancient tomb anymore. The South Sea Kings tomb looked small at first nce, but it turned out that there was such a huge drainage system below. It appeared the fucking budget had been spent on this.


    Those leather paper dolls were still appearing regrly, but I didnt see any other female ones facing in different directions.


    "This King Zhi of the South Sea seems to be a poor man, Fatty said. Except for those buried statues in the horse and chariot pit, all the other treasures in this ce are paper, which isnt worth much money. Your Uncle Three took the main coffin away, so it looks like wevee here for nothing."


    I emphasized yet again that we werent here to rob the tomb. Even if we deceived ourselves, we were here to find clues. Anything else in the tomb wasnt important.


    "Liu Sang said before that there were people everywhere down there, Fatty continued. Maybe he saw those paper dolls youve been seeing. If thats the case, then the female figurines are probably on another level. I bet theyre very special."


    As the three of us began climbing the stone beams, Fatty said in between gasping for breath, "The main tomb chamber may also be filled with these leather figurines. You said that one of them not only looked like a woman, but was also very delicate. I bet its a high-quality good from the main tomb chamber, but it somehow fell into the waterway. Moreover, when I think about those people we saw earlier, they seemed to be constructed of human skin. If the main tomb chamber is above, then I bet its full of those kinds of things."


    The leather figurine womans hands had been broken, so I couldnt see her fingernails. But if what Fatty said was true, then the skin of these figurines must have been yed off the servants together with their fingernails.


    If the nails of the dead could continue growing, did that mean the nails attached to these leather figurines could also keep growing? But how?


    Climbing up the beams was hard work, so the three of us stopped talking and focused on climbing all the way to the top of the well. A huge hole appeared above us and there were signs of sting damage around it. I looked at it and thought to myself, <em>based on this size, Uncle Three mustve taken the coffin out from here.</em>

 Book 1: Chapter 53

    Book 1: Chapter 53


    At first nce, the big hole had been made by directional sting with six detonators. In those days, it must have taken a mining expert to adjust the number of explosives to such an urate degree. Fatty told us that he missed seeing the amazing skills of craftsmen from that time. Even though they were all thieves,pared with the idiots who used excavators now, they always seemed to be like the old legends.


    I disagreed. Special historical periods gave rise to special legends, but the old grave robbing legends had alreadye to an end. History had chosen to abandon them, so after liberation, these kinds of things could only be read in books for fun.


    If this really was the main tomb chamber, then it must''ve been the gate with the fingernails where we were at before. I thought about it and couldnt help but feel that it was extremely dangerous. Fatty said that they were all leather figurines and probably blind if the legend was to be believed, so there was nothing to be afraid of. We just needed to be careful.


    <em>At that time, the Mute Emperor was defeated by the Han emperor and fled to the sea. He had thousands of troops, but there are only three of us here now</em>, I thought to myself


    Poker-Face turned on his phone camera and held it in his mouth while the two of us lifted him up to the hole. He reached up to grab a rock protruding from the side and clung to it with one hand. He then used both hands to climb up to the edge of the hole, which was the bottom of the tomb chamber. Since we werent sure if there were a lot of those figurines inside, he took a photo with his phone and sent it to me via Bluetooth.


    I nced at it. The phones camera sh was limited to a certain range, so only the tomb chambers floor was photographed. I could see square stone bricks that had a fish-shaped pattern on them, which replicated some of the characteristics of ancient ships from that time period. The cultural characteristics of the South Sea countrys Xu people were also very obvious.


    I didn''t see anything strange, but the phones sh could only illuminate so far. Poker-Face didn''t bother waiting for us and crawled out of the hole.


    We couldn''t climb up like him, so we had to wait until he came back and stretched out his hand to pull us naked guys up.


    Poker-Face was moving very cautiously after he dragged us into the tomb chamber above, so I knew it definitely wasnt safe.


    The room wasnt very big, but there was no doubt that it was definitely the main tomb chamber. Under the light of the rhinoceros horn candle, the first thing we saw was arge mural on the wall that was covered in eyes and boats. I was very experienced with this kind of thing, so I knew with a single nce that the chaotic mural was a narrative that seemed to tell the story of the South Sea countrys sea fleet.


    The mural here wasplete, and when I realized that all of the eyes were closed despite the light from the rhinoceros horn candle, I began to understand the logic behind it.


    In fact, one of the very simple reasons for using rhinoceros horn candles was that the green light wouldnt cause the toxic paint on the mural to vaporize.


    The ce where we hade up was right by the main coffin bed. Uncle Three was a skilled and daring expert, so he mustve urately guessed the location of the coffin and taken it out from the hole he had made below. I didn''t see any other grave robbers tunnels and the entire tomb chamber basically looked intact.


    The explosion had pushed the decayed coffin table that was originally in front of the coffin bed six or seven meters away. Under the green light, we also noticed a rare structure on the side of the tomb chamber.


    There was a stone boat in the middle of the tomb chamber, and on that boat were a lot of leather figurines. Their vivid shapes stood there with pale skin and magnificent clothes lined with gold silk. There were both men and women, and even though the oxidation had muted the color, it was easy to see that they were well preserved. Even the lines on their faces were easy to make out.


    They looked like real people since they were some distance away from us. I didn''t expect this South Sea country to have such technology, but it also felt extremely cruel. In order to ensure that these leather figurines wouldnt rot for thousands of years, they yed all the skin off peoples bodies and turned them into burial objects.


    These leather figurines nails were very long, and as we looked around under the candlelight, we noticed that there were several other stone boats in the tomb chamber.


    "Toy boat models." Fatty mouthed.


    I looked at the situation and was certain that the leather figurine woman from below had reallye from this main tomb chamber. The gold silk lining on her outfit wasnt easy to pull off, so someone on the team mustve taken her in order to pull the gold silk offter. I didnt know what went wrong, but she was eventually abandoned in the drainage channel. That meant her movements werent the result of a mechanism, which was a bit scary once I thought about it.


    I looked back at the ce we had climbed out of and then down at my phone again. There still wasnt any news from Liu Sang.


    At this distance, we couldnt see what was going on by the tomb gate. I nced around and found that many ces in the tomb had never been disturbed, which was very abnormal considering Uncle Three''s bad character. They either didnt dare to move anything or didnt have the time to.


    I was confident in my reasoning that there had to be something important in this tomb chamber that made Yang Daguang and Uncle Three obsessed with thunder.


    <em>I need to look for it.</em>


    Just as I was thinking this, Fatty patted me and pointed above my head. I looked up and saw a boat hanging overhead that looked as if it was covered in human skin.

 Book 1: Chapter 54

    Book 1: Chapter 54


    I squinted at it as I wondered what it was. The boat was located just above the coffin bed, but I couldnt tell if there was anything on it. "Could the gold and silver treasure be on top? This thing must be rted to the main coffin if its hanging right above it. But still, I dont get it. Fatty touched his chin. "Why dont I go up and have a look?"


    I bit my lip and said, "Fatty, youre quite sharp. We may really have to go up there, but its not for treasure. Remember, there was a giant upside-down bell above the coffin in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb. If the coffin was here, then it would be facing this human skin boat."


    "If the owner of the coffin was listening to thunder and wanted to get any information from it, then this boat Fatty smirked. "When you see whats in this boat, youll know whoor whathe was trying tomunicate with. But Fatty scratched his head. "This ship is hanging in the air, so is it a spaceship?"


    The Heavenly Pce had also been hanging in the air and I couldnt help thinking that this was an immortal boat. If people at that time found something strange with the thunder, their first reaction would be to im that it was immortals. So, we may only see the servants of ordinary immortals, but it was still necessary to go up and have a look.


    We looked around to try and find some ce to climb up, but there werent any beams that we could see. I was very familiar with my own abilities, so I piled some rocks together to step on. Fatty said we should make a human pyramid, with him and Little Brother lending me their shoulders so they could hoist me up.


    Once the two of them squatted down, I shakily climbed up. Then, they stood up and lifted me towards the immortal boat. I was still at least a person away from it, but as I examined it closely under the green light, I vaguely felt as if there was a cocoon inside of it.


    "No, we have to stack it up again," I said before climbing down and finding some more rocks to pile up. Then, Poker-Face stepped on Fatty and I climbed back up until I was stepping on his shoulders. Zhang Qiling''s hands were very strong as he held my calves in a firm grip. I stood up straight like I was doing extension training, my hand just flush with the immortal boat. I saw that the thing inside wasnt actually a cocoon, but a mummified person. And this person wasnt an ancient person, either. Based on his clothes, he was probably one of Uncle Threes people.


    I took a deep breath. This "person" could no longer be considered a person, but a piece of skin. It was the exact same as the servants here, but it wasnt propped up.

 Book 1: Chapter 55: Take a Vote

    Book 1: Chapter 55: Take a Vote


    "Lets take a vote," I whispered. "Theres skin up here. Do you want me to take it down so you can have a look?"


    "Is there a note on it that says: dont take it off?" Fatty asked me.


    When I said of course not, Fatty asked, "Are there any kinds of precious stones, gold, or silver jewelry on that skin?" When I said no, Fatty said, "Then it depends. If you like it, you can even use it as an apron."


    "But this skin looks like it doesnt want me to take it." It was covered in ayer of fine, moldy hair and looked very delicate to the touch. There were a lot of holes in it and I couldnt figure out where the face was. It was almost like the whole thing was covered in faces, and the expressions were very creepy. I didnt know if it was from the pain of death or from being skinned.


    I reached out for my Kukri, wanting Fatty to pass it to me so that I could poke the skin a few times. Fatty gave me a high five instead and I realized that my favorite knife had been sacrificed earlier. I poked the skin with my cell phone and found that it was as dry as dried tofu. Fatty lifted up the equipment belt at this time, so I threw it up, hooked a protrusion on the piece of skin, and pulled it out of the boat bit by bit.


    After moving the skin, I saw that there were a lot of ceramic little people under it, which must have been used as decorations for the boat.


    Human skin couldnt be preserved as well as stone, so there were many moth-eaten holes and traces of artificial damage to it. Despite all this, I could see that this human skin boat was very exquisite and must have been a rtivelyrge boat at the time. Many ces on it were decorated with shells, and there were clusters of gold thread, light pearls, corals, cinnabar sandstone, and fragments of blue ocean rocks. There were carvings on the boat''s railing and scull, and the ceramic little people appeared to be sailors.


    The keel of the ship under the skin was probably bronze, and there was a total of six bronze chains on both sides. At that time, this thing was definitely regarded as top-grade craftsmanship. It might havecked precious gems such as tourmaline, ruby, and jadeite, but it was priceless among the local Xu peoples culture.


    I climbed down and pulled the piece of human skin from above. As soon as it fell to the ground, we all took a step back. It was heavier than I had expected and broke apart when itnded.


    "You can''t make an apron now," Fatty said as he looked at my lower body.


    I ignored him as I took a closer look at the piece of skin. This man''s clothes must have been from the 1980s. "The biggest secret of the South Sea Kings tomb is here," I said to Fatty.


    "That''s right." Fatty touched his chin. "This South Sea King skinned people and turned them into these figurines before burying them. But what I dont understand is if your Uncle Three came in at that time, how could this person be skinned? Was the South Sea skinner still living in the tomb?"


    This man died on a human skin boat in mid-air, so he had to be hiding from something. Did the leather paper dolls do it? Did they resent their own deaths and skin those who came to rob the tomb?


    "No, it''s impossible for these leather figurines to move. But I did see a leather figurine and thunder god statue move earlier, so there must be something inside of them. There must be things in the South Sea Kings tomb that can move in all kinds of skins. This is clearly the skin of someone in your Uncle Threes team, but its presence here is so baffling. The coffin was taken out of here and there arent any traces of fierce fighting, which shows that your Uncle Three seeded. So, how could this person die alone here?" Fatty sounded horrified as he continued, Dont tell me"


    He then looked at me with a very solemn expression on his face, "Mr. Nave, have you ever thought that these leather figurines may not actually be leather figurines?"


    "If theyre not leather figurines, what are they? Your second uncle?" I asked him.


    "Theyre not my second uncle, but maybe clothes? Maybe theres a monster in this tomb that doesnt have any skin, so it has to wear these human skins before it can move around. And theres more than one of them. After someone in your Uncle Threes team entered the tomb, it got into his skin, followed your Uncle Three out, and left the old skin here. No, wait. Maybe it did it to your Uncle Three and thats why he couldnt tell you the truth. In fact, hes actually a zombie."


    "Go fuck yourself!" I was furious when I heard him spouting such crap. The logic didnt even make any sense. This lump of skin was wearing clothes from the 1980s, so the person it belonged to was obviously the one who had died. The skin was all here, so it was impossible to mix in with the team again.


    Fatty let out an exmation as if he had also discovered this.


    Poker-Face said from off to the side, "This isnt human skin, its a shuikao (1). It was probably up there because the tomb was flooded before. When they came in, this human skin boat was the only thing above the water. If the water level was high that year, maybe the entire drainage system and tomb chamber were filled with water."


    I thought about it and knew he was right. This was the only way they could have transported such arge stone coffin out. But that also meant they had been sting underwater. Such remarkable workmanship really needed to be recorded.


    Fatty stepped forward and took a closer look, "But theres a face on it. Are you trying to tell me shuikao also cover the face? Little Brother, youre bullying me because Im younger, right?"


    "Look carefully, it''s not like that," Poker-Face said. "Some of what you said just now may be correct." I looked carefully and saw that it really was a shuikao. It only looked like skin because white spots had appeared where the rubber had faded and rotted. But there really did seem to be something dead inside the shuikao.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mentioned in the Snake Ancestor extra ("Fantasy" Extra 2). Its a one-piece diving suit made by the ancients with fish skin, sea scorpion skin, or shark skin.

 Book 1: Chapter 56

    Book 1: Chapter 56


    If the tomb chamber was flooded at that time and only the human skin boat was above water, then it was impossible to verify why the diver took off the shuikao at that time. Maybe it was so they could be more flexible when operating underwater.


    But there was no denying that the leather figurines, shuikao, and thunder god statues in the tomb passage outside all had one thing inmonthey were hollow. And this hollowness made them especially suitable for hiding parasites.


    But all the other leather figurines below didnt have any traces of entering the water and were well preserved, so this statement was just a spection.


    I used my phone to fiddle with the fragile shuikao and found that the dead things inside of it hadpletely rotted into cotton wool. They felt like some kind of coral bug. It was possible that some kind of parasite had been breeding here for a long time and filled up all the cavities.


    After Fatty fiddled with it for a long time and found nothing, he turned his attention to the murals around him. "Don''t worry about it too much. Lets finish things quickly and leave, Fatty said to me. When the candles burn out and our cell phones dieter, well have to work in the dark."


    After thinking about it, I immediately started taking pictures of the murals with my phone. The green candlelight wasnt very bright, so I had no choice but to turn on the sh. All those eyes on the murals opened every time the sh went off, which was really creepy. I could only finish photographing all the murals as soon as possible.


    Poker-Face took one of the rhinoceros horn candles from the basin and told us not to go near the door, no matter how important the murals were. He then jumped back into the waterway to go find Liu Sang. Fatty continued to stare at the shuikao in a daze. I looked at his expression and figured he hade to his senses, or he at least knew that the shuikao might be very important.


    I also took some photos of the stone boats as I passed by them, but there wasnt enough battery power left and the phone shut off right when I was in the middle of shooting. I couldn''t see what I had photographed, so I could only remember it with my eyes.


    The murals were continuous, and interpreting them required patience, meticulous observation, and the ability to reason. The tomb chamber was very high, which made it difficult to see those parts of the murals clearly. I remembered what I could and then started trying to figure out what the contents of the murals meant.


    All the stories recorded in the murals were those of the South Seas King Zhi. The easiest one to understand was the story of his rebellion and defeat, which the mural depicted as a major opportunity for him to be immortal. The murals showed how he was first oppressed by the emperor and then how he met the alchemist who helped him resist the emperors final attack. They then went on to show how he became fascinated with immortals and went out to sea to find them.


    After this part, it was mostly stories about the sea. After King Zhi''s fleet left the maind and went out to sea, the apanying alchemist guided them to a strange ce. The murals depicted that ce as being simr to Peni, but the people wore immortal clothes and had a lot of ears.


    In this fairnd, all the immortals were standing on boats at sea and had their ears turned towards the sky. There was an immortal boat in the sky that looked like the human skin boat, which all the immortals down below seemed to be listening to. Surprisingly, the murals seemed to show that the people on the immortal boat were also listening to the immortals down below.


    As I was going over all the details carefully, I heard a sound and turned my head, thinking that Poker-Face was back. But when I looked, I saw that Fatty was putting on the shuikao we had left on the ground. His movements and state were very strange, just like an animal trying put its skin back on.


    He wasnt using any protective measures at all as he touched the shuikao with his bare fingers.


    "Fatty, are you crazy?!" I hissed at him. But by the time I ran over, he had already put his head in the shuikao. "What are you doing?!"


    Fatty didn''t listen to me at all as he continued trying to push the remaining half of his body into the shuikao.

 Book 1: Chapter 57: At Present

    Book 1: Chapter 57: At Present


    I tore off the towel around my waist, wrapped it around my hand, and went up to pull the shuikao off him. But before I could, Fatty pushed me down, stood up, and ran into the dark depths of the tomb chamber. After chasing him a few steps, I realized that he was running in the direction of the tomb gate, which Poker-Face had told me not to go near.


    I only hesitated for a moment. If it were the me from before, this kind of incident would have me on the brink of copse. Fatty was running into the darkness and acting strangely, while my only weapon was a sweat-stained towel. I only had the dim light of the rhinoceros horn candle to light my way and I was trapped in this burial chamber under the rock stratum, seemingly surrounded by mysterious creatures.


    But now I came to an immediate decision. Fatty was here because I was herealthough he had his own motivesso I had to save him. But with all those fingernails I had seen in front of the tomb gate, there had to be a lot of zombies where Fatty ran off to. I was sure to die without a weapon.


    <em>First priority, find a weapon.</em>


    I searched around, picked up a rock from the ground, and weighed it in my hand. I felt that it wasnt good enough, so I picked up another rock and weighed it again. This one was better, so I tied it to the equipment belt and made a meteor hammer. With the candle in one hand and the meteor hammer in the other, I quickly ran after Fatty.


    As the candle illuminated the ces we hadnt checked out before, I saw more stone boats of varying sizes, all with gorgeous leather figurines on them. When I only saw those three stone boats earlier, I didnt seem toprehend how terrifying these leather figurines were. But as I ran among them and saw them up close, I found that they all looked like living people, which made my hair stand on end.


    I took a deep breath and slowly moved forward, only to be met with an amazing sight. There were countless leather figurines practically stacked on the tomb chambers gate. They were the same as those figurines I had seen in the tunnel. Their heads were hanging down and it seemed like they wanted to rush out of the tomb chamber, but they had been blocked by the stone gate and died.


    Fatty was digging into this pile of leather figurines with the same kind of movements.


    I took a deep breath, cautiously went up, and grabbed his feet to start dragging him back. Hepletely ignored me as he tried desperately to join the pile of leather figurines.


    I put down my weapon and dragged Fatty out with both hands. He was very heavy, so it took me a long time before I finally pulled him out. But when I did, I noticed that I had dragged some other things out as well. Fatty''s hands were held by more than a dozen figurines with freakishly long fingernails.


    As soon as I saw them, I picked up my meteor hammer and began frantically smashing them. I was surprised to find that these hands almost looked as if they were fresh. It only took a few strokes to smash them to a pulp and then I quickly dragged Fatty out.


    Fatty''s head waspletely in the shuikao now and he kept trying to push me away. I went up, sat on his back, and used my towel-wrapped hand to tear the shuikao off with all my strength.


    The shuikao was already very brittle, so once I used all my strength, I was able to tear it off and see everything that was on its back.


    I saw that there were a lot of "little hands" with long fingernails attached to the back of the shuikao. They were densely packed together, just like a bunch of shellfish.


    I immediately understood that these leather figurines hadnte alive; it was their hands that were living!


    Their hands and fingernails were something else!


    It looked like some kind of shell, so maybe the person who had made these leather figurinesknowing that human hands were difficult to preservecreated the hands using this shellfish that looked simr to human hands.


    No wonder those leather figurines in the tunnel were crawling with their hands.


    At this time, I saw those human hand shellfish covering Fatty''s ears. His eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he started convulsing, so I threw the shuikao away and started smashing the shellfish with my meteor hammer. As I began tearing them off with my towel-covered hands, I found that their feet had prated deep into Fatty''s ears.


    Those hands had gathered around Fatty''s ears in such a way that it looked as if he had many strange ears. If the fingernails werent there, it would look very simr to the corpse of the South Seas King Zhi that we had seen in the Yang familys ancestral tomb before.


    ****


    () <strong><em>AHHHHH!!!! FATTY!!!!! Get them off of him, Wu Xie!!!! </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 58

    Book 1: Chapter 58


    I grabbed one of them and pulled it out of Fatty''s ear. The "shellfish" grabbed my finger like a little baby''s hand, but it was definitely much stronger. I held it over the candle and roasted it under the me for a little bit until it let go. I then dropped it on the ground and quickly stomped on it with my foot.


    I used the same movements to pull the other ones out one by one and then cleaned Fatty up. But he still didn''t wake up. The towel was covered in mucus from those little hands, so I couldn''t hide my shame anymore (1). I dragged Fatty back towards the entrance, nearly copsing from all the strain.


    As I passed the stone boats, I carefully looked at the leather figurines hands. They had all been made using those shellfish, but most of the shellfish had dried up.


    I was very anxious since Fatty was still in aa even though so much time had passed. I used a lot of resuscitation methods and pinched all the parts on his body that could be pinched, but he still didn''t wake up. Luckily, his breathing remained steady. I held his head, fearing that the fingernails had buried themselves in his brain, but he started snoring quickly, which made me feel relieved.


    I took the candle and returned to the murals, quickly looking for the contents I didnt have the chance to photograph so that I could leave as quickly as possible.


    Before King Zhi staged his rebellion, there was a long story about his achievements, which included teaching the Xu people how to fish, sail at sea, and develop ind rivers. What worried me here was that the murals clearly showed that these ind rivers were underground rivers. In other words, King Zhi used the ancient South Sea country to develop a huge underground river system.


    In fact, after we analyzed all the muralster, we were surprised by the conclusions that could be drawn. After the South Seas King Zhi was finally defeated, he first fled to the depths of the underground river. On the surface, the whole South Sea kingdom was only a small country in Minyues primitive forest, but it was actually a big country that ruled and explored the huge water system below.


    This also proved that my intuition about the mountains near Rain Vige was correct. I always felt that the underground water system there was tooplicated to have appeared naturally.


    I thought of the murals on both walls near the tomb gate and stopped, forgetting all about Fattys snoring and the kind of environment we were in. I had been so nervous before that I didn''t look at them closely. I could tell that they were three-dimensional like the "sea market" I had seen in the tomb passage before. In fact, it was really just abination of relief sculptures, bonsai, and murals. There were a lot of pavilions and terraces carved on it, among which were a lot of "ceramic people" who were telling stories of the South Sea King.


    For some unknown reason, Emperor Gaozu appointed a Minyue nobleman the title of South Sea King in 195 BCE. In the murals, the South Sea King vividly depicted the truth of this historical mystery.


    When this South Sea nobleman was developing the underground water system in Minyue, he discovered a strange ce while exploring. At the center of the underground river system, there was a strange giant coffin.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hes basicallypletely naked now lol. His junk is hanging out for the whole world to see.

 Book 1: Chapter 59

    Book 1: Chapter 59


    The giant coffin was half a foot high and one and a half feet long. It was made from a polished boulder that had been taken from the rocks in the underground river (some details are filled in using my imagination). This incident was regarded as a miracle and eventually presented to the Han Emperor. The emperor sent a minister to Minyue to follow the South Sea nobleman into the underground river. The minister saw a lot of post stations in the underground river, where the Xu people lived and fished. The cooking fires in this cave vige revealed a thriving scene, and he could even see that chimney holes had been dug into the ground everywhere. He sighed with emotion, as if he were witnessing an earthly marvel. Since many underground rivers had dense fog all year round that formed into rolling clouds, this minister called the underground basin in this South Sea country "Falling Cloud Country".


    He went deep into the underground river with the South Sea nobleman and found that the underground cave was endless. When he reached the area where the sarcophagus was located, he found that there were many strange words on it that no one could understand.


    The minister copied the words down and ordered the people to open the giant stone sarcophagus. When they did, they found that there was a coffin filled with golden liquid inside.


    This golden liquid was very strange, but ording to the legends, the corpse fluid of immortals was also golden. The minister marveled at what he was seeing and said that the golden liquid was what had been left after the person shed his earthly skin and became immortal.


    Other than the lone sarcophagus, there was nothing else further inside the cave. There weren''t even any traces of human activity.


    After returning home, the minister told the Han Emperor everything he had seen. In the middle of his journey through the wildnds of southern China, there was a mysterious entrance to an underground river that led to a ce called Falling Cloud Country. This secluded ce was just like a wondend, where magical people lived and practiced alchemy (1). Once these people became immortals, the earthly bodies that they had shed would turn into a mass of golden liquid.


    This description shocked the imperial court and the masses. The emperor was also obsessed with alchemy, so he asked the minister to find someone who could read the mysterious words on the sarcophagus. At that time, the nation was strong and prosperous, so information was easily essible. It didnt take him long to find someone who happened to be an alchemist. This person recognized that this kind of writing was called hao wen, which was a writing style that alchemists in the Shang Dynasty had used.


    I couldnt interpret the information the words contained, but it was clearly expressed in the murals. The first few words in the text were South Sea Country.


    As a result of this, the emperorplied with the will of heaven (2) and gave the South Sea nobleman the title of South Sea King. He also named thatnd South Sea Country and asked the new king to continue searching for immortals in the deep cave.


    It took them two years to figure out what the remaining hao wen text said, but when they did, the words were troubling: mute king rule.


    This was very mysterious.


    South Sea Country mute king rule was a troubling sentence. It was hard to say whether it was referring to a mute king ruling the South Sea Country, a mute king ruling the world, or just a king who happened to be a mute. It was also very possible that the word mute was wrong, but either way, the meaning was still very troubling. Moreover, they hadnt discovered anything else in that South Sea Country during those two years.


    At that time, life in Guangxi and Fujian wasnt very easy and the Baiyue people were rtively wild. After suffering oppression at the hands of the government officials for a long time, the South Sea King rebelled.


    Thest report the South Sea King presented to the throne at that time stated that he had found new clues in a deeper part of the underground river. But those who entered never came back and they feared it was the work of immortal spells. After the South Sea Country was defeated, the remnants fled into the depths of the underground river and put up a resistance for many years. Eventually, the country waspletely destroyed.


    After the countrys demise, the South Sea King disappeared into the depths of the underground river. His fleet continued moving underground until they finally reached another exit, which was a sea he didn''t recognize. From there, he took his fleet out to sea and met the immortal boat.


    I realized that there was a hidden message in the mural. I didnt know why it was expressed in a such an obscure way, but the message basically said: the South Sea King always thought that this unknown sea he had discovered was underground.


    He had followed the dark underground river behind the sarcophagus for more than a month before he saw the exit. But he didn''t actually think it was an exit. Instead, he thought that it was thend of immortals and that was why he saw the immortal boat.


    The things after that were rted to thunder, which was what I had photographed with my phone earlier.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) It didnt tantly say alchemist but its kind of close. You can think of it as supernatural arts like healing, divination, horoscope, etc. Note that Chinese alchemists research elixirs on how to attain immortality (not like Western alchemists who are known for trying to change stuff to gold). More info on the supernatural arts here


    (1) Fun fact: Will of Heaven can also be called Providence, which is probably why the drama is called Sound of the Providence.

 Book 1: Chapter 60

    Book 1: Chapter 60


    I didn''t see anything rted to Uncle Three except for the murals of the immortal boat. Back in those days, they did such a beautiful job robbing the tomb that they didn''t leave anything behind except for the shuikao. Not to mention the mural in the back of the chamber, just the content of the mural at the front of the chamber was enough to guess what Uncle Three''s reaction was. Based on his character, he probably knew that there was an underground ce in Fujian and he would definitely go explore it. But I remembered that Uncle Three wasnt someone who could hide things and he had never told me that he had gone through such an experience before. That probably meant he paid more attention to the contents of the mural in the back of the tomb chamber.


    I really wanted to see all the murals at once, but at this point, I was more concerned about the shuikao. Moreover, I couldnt waste any more time for Fattys sake.


    Poker-Face still hadn''te back yet, so I decided not to stay in the tomb chamber any longer. I went over to get Fatty, but when I looked down at the hole we hade through before, I knew it was unrealistic. Getting down from this height with an unconscious Fatty was absolutely impossible.


    I left three candles by the hole in case Poker-Face came back without a light and then wrote on the floor: Fatty fell into a trap; I''ll take the front door.


    I dragged him past the buried stone boats and returned to the gate. All the leather figurines that had been crowded around the door before were now surrounding the shuikao. Their shapes looked weird and their long fingernails were resting on top of the shuikao, as if they were sucking the body fluids of the shells I had crushed to death.


    Under the candles green light, these strange figurines that had been buried here almost looked like they were sucking the shuikaos skin dry with their fingernails. I was covered in a cold sweat and all my hair was standing on end.


    As I dragged Fatty all the way to the gate, I cheered myself up by silently thinking that if I stir-fried those shellfish with ginger and onion, I could eat two and a half catties worth.


    There were still a few of them leaning against the gate, but I could see a stone bar (1) propped up against one side of it. I leaned Fatty up against it and then pushed the tomb gate hard. The gate was extremely heavy, but I managed to push it open a gap.


    All the fingernails that had been stuck in the gate were crushed by the rotating shaft. Once I was done, I suddenly wanted to cry. I had always gone in from the tomb entrance and never thought that I would one daye out of the tomb like this.


    I held the basin full of candles out and found that it was really the ce where we had turned back earlier. I dragged Fatty out and then carefully imitated the leather figurines'' behavior. I crawled over until I was next to them, grabbed the shuikao, and then ran out.


    All the figurines hands immediately turned to me and started crawling towards me like spiders. As I ran out of the gate and quickly tried to close it, my instincts jumped. I picked up the meteor hammers stone and jammed it under the tomb gate.


    Countless hands instantly sprang out of the crack and tried to grab me, but the gap wasnt big enough and only the hands coulde out.


    The skin of these leather figurines was stic and the hands instantly became extremely slender. I put Fatty on my back, picked up the basin of candles, and headed towards the ce we had blown up before. When I got there, I picked up a brick and started tapping it on the ground.


    The stone didnt sound as crisp as my Kukri, but I still wanted to inform Poker-Face of my location. I knocked for a long time, but didnt receive a response.


    I propped Fatty up against the wall. There was no other lighting avable, so I had to use the rhinoceros horn candle to illuminate his ears. The candlelight wasnt a linear light source, so I couldn''t see the innermost part of his ear. After thinking about it, I went up and sucked at his ear hole.


    I immediately felt like something was wrong. Something had been sucked out of his ear and went straight into my mouth.


    I almost swallowed it, but immediately spit it out. I looked at the ce where itnded and saw that there was a "leg", which had still been alive even after it had broken off inside Fattys ear.


    I looked at Fatty, held back my nausea, and sucked his other ear. I was a little relieved when I found that there was nothing in there.


    I went over and carefully looked at the shuikao. I knew I was too concerned about it, but Uncle Three had always been so precise when working. So, why did he only leave a shuikao in such a strange ce?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Can also be called zishi () or a holding-stone I guess. Its stuck behind the door to prevent somebody from opening the door from outside. Think of it like a giant wedge.

 Book 1: Chapter 61: The Shuikao’s Owner

    Book 1: Chapter 61: The Shuikao¡¯s Owner


    I had never seen a real shuikao before. When Uncle Three showed me some old things in the past, there was an old shuikao included among them. My first impression was that the shuikao looked like a huge wine bag, but I didn''t unfold it or try to put it on. The best shuikao were made of fish skin. After the scales were scraped off, the fish skin was tanned into leather and then coated in tung oil. Like this, the fish skin became stic and very thin.


    Most people back in the day used fur seal (1) skins to make shuikao because there were so many fur seals living along the coast of China. This kind of skin was actually stronger and had a certain heat retention, but shuikao made of fur seal skins were difficult to preserve and very troublesome to maintain. They could crack as long as they became a little dry and they had to soak in oil for a long time before they could be used again.


    This shuikao looked rubbery since the skin waspletely ck, but when I looked at it closely, I found that it was a special kind of big fish skin. This kind of fish definitely came from the deep sea. Those who owned this kind of shuikao usually made a living by going underwater.


    This kind of shuikao was extremely precious to those who worked in the underworld, as well as those who bought from them. The ancient technique of making shuikao had been lost now, which wasnt a treasure that could be measured by money. Logically, it was absolutely impossible to easily discard it in a tomb, so there had to be a special reason for it.


    The first thing I thought of was whether this shuikaos owner had died here and they had left it as a kind of memorial. But I had never heard of such a thing. To Chinese people, putting clothes somewhere high up was more like sorcery. There was a legend in southern China that said when moving a grave, the clothes that apanied the body didnt rot, so they had to be taken out, washed, and ced on the beams of the descendant''s home. This indicated that when their ancestors were buried in the grave, other things had been buried as well. This was a kind of custom that usually happened in mountainous areas.


    The reason for this sounded creepy. The feng shui masters of old would tell you that this was because many old people living in the mountains were no longer human before they died. They had be possessed by mountain demons and the like, but they were too old to do evil and remained buried in the coffins.


    After the old bodies had rotted away, the mountain demons would leave. At this time, the descendants would take the clothes back to their home and ce them on the beams. It was only when this was done that the old peoples souls would return to their clothes and be buried again.


    When the clothes were put back in the coffin, a feng shui master was needed to burn a small part of them and look at the ashes. Sometimes, those clothes had to be ced on the beams of their home for more than ten years before they could be encoffined again. If some of the burned ashes looked red, then that indicated that the family may have serious problems in the future.


    <em>Was this fish skin shuikao left in this ancient tomb for the same reason?</em> I asked myself.


    <em>Did someone hope that something in this tomb would get attached to this shuikao?</em>


    Whatever the reason, this thing had to be rted to feng shui, and I suddenly realized that this shuikao was probably part of a feng shui array. If so, there should be other things set up in other ces here. It seemed that when Uncle Three came herest time, he was apanied by a very powerful feng shui master who set up an array here.


    I became worried when I thought of this, since I was the one who had destroyed the fish skin earlier. I couldnt figure out why Uncle Three had set up an array at that time.


    After examining it carefully and seeing the fine lines of fish scales, I realized that I really was looking at a shuikao. Once the skin had been processed, it took careful scrutiny to notice such things.


    At this time, I suddenly frowned. There was a name written on the shuikao.


    Qi Yu.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fur seals are more closely rted to sea lions than true seals. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Hope you got your reading pants on dears. Mama''s putting 6 Reboot chapters out tonight hahahahaha</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 62

    Book 1: Chapter 62


    I was stunned and looked at the name carefully to make sure there wasnt anything wrong with it. Indeed, it was Qi Yu.


    In the Xisha incident that Uncle Three had been involved in, there were countless imaginative clues about this person, but never any real information. All I knew was that the copybooks I had used to practice calligraphy were actually written by him (1). I spent more than ten years practicing calligraphy with his copybooks, which eventually led me to see the document he wrote. At that time, I thought I was the one who had written it.


    I also had some special doubts about this man because he had appeared in many clues I found, but there wasnt a particrly clear context to figure out what had happened to him. In the most critical Xisha incident of that year, he was always a huge blind spot.


    I also discovered that many of the habits and connections I had since I was a child were all rted to this Qi Yu. For a while, I suspected that he might have been my mother''s first love and she had trained me based on the man she had so admired.


    Among the Mystic Nine children who went to Xisha at that time, Qi Yu was undoubtedly a member of the Qi family. There weren''t many members of the Qi family. They were good at avoiding misfortune because they could do calctions using the eight Qimen trigrams.


    This shuikao belonged to Qi Yu, which was also in line with my previous reasoning. An expert had set up an array in this South Sea Kings tomb, which was probably the work of Qi Yu.


    Generally, people who were familiar with Qimens eight trigrams were good at finding tombs and setting up arrays. In other words, they either used feng shui to find the location of tombs and earn some money, or they identified things. If there was anything evil around, then they also had ways to deal with it.


    Setting up an array in this tomb was probably due to special circumstances at the time, which only someone from the Qi family could handle.


    But the presence of this shuikao meant that Uncle Three had interactions with Qi Yu very early on. In fact, it showed that they had worked together before the Xisha incident. But Qi Yu was a clerk of a state-owned organization at that time and had been a civil servant for a long time before that. Uncle Three had been hanging out with Aunt Chen Wen-Jin for a while, and since Chen Wen-Jin was the leader of their archaeological team at the time, that meant Qi Yu should be regarded as her subordinate.


    With things like this, they must have entered the South Sea Kings tomb after Uncle Three met Chen Wen-Jin but before they went to Xisha. It was when Uncle Three met this beauty that he had a big dream to join the archaeological team and turn over a new leaf so that he could return as the prodigal son.


    I smacked my forehead. In other words, Uncle Three came to the South Sea Kings tomb not to rob a grave, but to conduct an archaeological project? This might exin why only the main coffin disappeared and all the other funerary objects were safe and sound.


    But if it was an archaeological excavation, why didn''t it continue?


    Was Uncle Three secretly working with Qi Yu to make some money on the side, but didn''t let Aunt Chen Wen-Jin know?


    I remembered the picture of Uncle Three and Yang Daguang. They didnt look like grave robbers, but more like industrial workers doing scientific research.


    I quickly stopped myself. If I continued thinking like that, I would have to redo all the training I went through over the past ten years. But there was no denying that Qi Yu and I had a very strong connection. If the whole thing really was rted to him, then there was a logical reason for Uncle Three to give me these clues to check.


    I listened carefully to my surroundings but still didnt hear anything. I pushed Fatty, but he still didn''t wake up.


    I opened his nostrils and asked myself, <em>do I really have to do this?</em> I picked up the candle and prepared to look up Fatty''s nose, but once I picked it up, the range of light widened and I suddenly saw a person standing about four meters away in the middle of the tomb passage.


    I was taken aback, but as I stared at it, I realized that it was a ck leather figurine. It was standing there in the dark like some kind of creepy nightmare.


    All my hair immediately stood on end as I looked from the broken hands to the delicate face. It was the leather figurine woman from the waterway.


    For some reason, it had suddenly appeared in the tomb passage.


    Did it follow me from the waterway?


    I looked at it carefully and saw that it was holding something in its arms.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) This is referring back to Vol 8 Chapter 73.

 Book 1: Chapter 63

    Book 1: Chapter 63


    The basin of candles was too heavy so I slowly put it down. As the light moved down, the face of the leather figurine woman sank into darkness once more. The smell of the burning wax filled my nose and there was silence all around except for Fatty''s breathing.


    I slowly stood up and looked at the leather figurine womans wrist, which had originally held two jade ears. They were gone now, and in their ce was a brass metal strip that was already green with rust. I hadnt seen this kind of thing before.


    <em>This thing is really fucking haunted</em>, I said to myself. Was it true that the souls of people who drowned were trapped in water? Was there a ghost possessing this leather figurine woman?


    I remembered Poker-Face saying that only I could see this leather figurine woman and he couldnt see it at all. I thought of the rhinoceros horn legend again. Was the thing I was looking at now really something from theherworld? Did Poker-Face want me to follow the ghost out?


    I couldnt see the leather figurines feet when we were in the water before, and all the figurines in the main tomb chamber just now wore Chinese robes that covered their feet. Under the candlelight, I could clearly see that this leather figurine womans feet were covered in rotten gold silk satin boots. Heavy objects had been ced in the skin of both feet to prevent the leather figurine from falling over, but it was still just human skin. The supporting gold wire stretched inside was an inflexible structure, not a machine, so the knees couldnt bend. That meant it couldnt walk over here.


    And if it didnt walk here, then someone either moved it here or it floated over. If someone really did move it, then I didnt hear a thing at all. But if it floated here I couldnt even imagine what that would look like.


    I swallowed. The leather figurine still hadnt moved.


    This scene was really like a nightmare. The surrounding air became colder, but I didnt know if it was an illusion or a manifestation of the air from theherworld.


    The horse and chariot pit was down below, the main tomb chamber was further ahead, and up above me was a tomb passage with a strange little hole. All the other exits were buried under mud so I had nowhere to hide even if I wanted to.


    The expression on the leather figurine womans face was still the same as before without any changes. I focused my attention on the metal strip in its arms and found that it was a copper ruler.


    I paused. When we came out of the waterway earlier, thest thing I had said to it was, I dont want this, I want something that can help me get out. Then when it reappeared, the things in its arms had changed.


    Did it understand me and was giving me what I wanted? Could the thing in its arms help get me out?


    I thought about it and knew that it was impossible. This was an ancient tomb under Pingtan county. At that time, the Xu people in the South Sea country were all from Minyue and spoke the ancient Min dialect. I had studied it before and found that there were traces of the ancient Min dialect in the Wuchuan dialect in Guangzhou.


    So, this leather figurine woman should be from Fujian during the Han Dynasty.


    What I had said before was in Mandarin, so there was no way it would understand me if it really was possessed.


    I plucked up my courage. I still remembered some of the Southern Min dialect, but I really didnt know the difference between the ancient Min and modern Fujian dialects. Fujian''snguage family was soplicated that I had trouble understanding it even if I only went a mountain over. This was Pingtan county, so the dialect was somewhat different from the Fuzhou dialect. But the Fuzhou dialect and Southern Min dialect werepletely different (1).


    I got so confused that I didnt even know what dialect I used when I asked, "Did you understand what I said? Are you giving me that thing?"


    The leather figurine woman didn''t respond. I was just about to continue asking when the copper ruler suddenly fell off its wrist, dropped to the ground, and bounced into the basin.


    I looked at it for a moment before going up and taking the copper ruler out. It turned out to be a dinn ruler.


    Dinn rulers and luban rulers were collectively called yin and yang rulers. Luban rulers were considered yang rulers because they were used to build homes, while dinn rulers were considered yin rulers because they were used to build tombs. Any tomb or shrine being built had to be measured with this ruler because its size was quite different from luban rulers (2).


    Considering how this ruler was brass and dinn rulers first appeared in the Song and Yuan Dynasties (3), it didnt appear to be a burial object in this ancient tomb. Uncle Three must have brought it in, so it probably had something to do with the feng shui array Qi Yu had set up.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Heres a map if you were getting confused like me lol. Fujian is the whole province in Eastern China (so it epasses both Fuzhou and Pingtan County). Southern Min is a Sinitguage spoken in southern Fujian and surrounding areas.


    (2) Dinn ruler: pic and info here. Luban ruler: pic and info here.


    (3) Song dynasty (960-1279). Yuan or Mongol dynasty (1279-1368).

 Book 1: Chapter 64

    Book 1: Chapter 64


    I nced up at the leather figurine woman, looked down at the ruler in my hand, and took a deep breath.


    "Sister, what do you mean?" I asked cautiously.


    The leather figurine woman didnt respond at all.


    No matter how I looked at it, it was impossible for this thing to move. <em>Shit</em>, I suddenly thought<em>, is Liu Sang messing with me?</em>


    I looked behind the figurine but all I could see was darkness. I didnt see anyone hiding in the depths of the tomb passage, waiting to mock me.


    That Liu Sang guy had been in the waterway the whole time. Did that mean he was there when we were wading through the water, but didn''t show himself and chose to hide? After hearing Fatty make fun of me, did he move this leather figurine up here tough at me?


    But wasnt this something only I could see? Could Liu Sang see it, too?


    I figured this was the only possibility and felt my anger re up. First of all, if Liu Sang saw us and chose not to appear, then that meant he had his own purpose for being here. He didn''t want me to find out what it was, which was absolutely uneptable.


    Second, he wasted our time. There werent many rhinoceros horn candles left in the basin, Fatty was unconscious, and Poker-Face went to go find him, all of which could have been avoided.


    <em>This fucking guy is dead meat. How dare he try to y me like that!</em>


    I stepped forward, kicked the leather figurine woman over, and picked up the basin with the copper ruler in it. As I walked back, I shouted, "Liu Sang, get your ass out here! Ill shove this ruler down your throat!"


    I took more than a dozen steps, but no one showed up behind me. I didn''t dare move too far away from Fatty, so I stopped and shouted two more times. The sound of my voice echoed down the tomb passage.


    I looked back and was stunned to see that the leather figurine woman had somehow stood up again. And not only did it stand up, but it had also turned around. Now it was standing by Fatty''s side and looking straight at me.


    I had clearly kicked it down just now. How did it stand back up?


    As I cautiously walked towards it, its face became clearer under the candlelight. This leather figurine womans facial features were very exquisite, so I was certain that its expression had changed as I examined it again. It had been indifferent before I kicked it down, but now its face looked furious, as if a kind of evil spirit had appeared.


    My heart thumped, <em>what kind of trick is this? Is she unhappy now?</em>


    I looked carefully to make sure it wasnt all in my head.


    I nced into the depths of the tomb passage, but there still wasnt any sound and Liu Sang didnt seem to be there.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat as I told myself I was in trouble. I went up to the leather figurine woman, forced myself to calm down, and said to it, "Please dont mind it. It was an ident."


    The leather figurine womans expression was still terrifying and it seemed as if a mere apology wasnt going to work.


    <em>Its just a piece of human skin with no fingernails and no teeth. Whats it going to do, suffocate me?</em> I felt braver when I thought of this and said to it, "Well, let''s not waste time. Do you understand what I''m saying? If you can" I put the ruler back on its wrist, "just let the ruler fall. If you can''t, just keep holding the ruler."


    I had just finished speaking when the ruler fell to the ground again. It was apanied by a loud nging sound that echoed in the silent tomb passage.


    I picked the ruler up. I wasnt sure if it hadnt been steady just now, or if the female ghost really had understood me. I was just about to put the ruler back on her wrist and try again when I suddenly heard a metal tapping sounde from the depths of the tomb. It seemed to be responding to the nging sound just now.


    I looked between the dinn copper ruler in my hand and the leather figurine woman and suddenly understood. I quickly began tapping on the ground with the ruler.


    The metallic sound spread far and I soon heard an echo. Although Poker-Face wouldnt tap a message out, I figured he was still in the waterway and was heading my way.


    I breathed a sigh of relief. The rust on the ruler had fallen off as I was tapping on the ground just now, so I immediately noticed the scale markers on it. It appeared that these scale markers were different from the dinn ruler I was familiar with.


    I had never seen this ruler before, but it had some very strange characters engraved on the scale markers. The words were very small, so I had to examine them very carefully. Most of the words were in groups of seven, which was the same as the distance markers we had seen in that hole before. I looked at the leather figurine woman again and wondered, <em>whats the connection between these scale markers and that strange, deep hole? Is this leather figurine woman really giving me a way out?</em>


    While I stood there thinking, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Poker-Face came out of the dark tomb passage with Liu Sang on his back. Liu Sang was in the same condition as Fatty. Both of his ears were covered in those "little hands" and he was unconscious.

 Book 1: Chapter 65

    Book 1: Chapter 65


    Poker-Face walked towards me with Liu Sang on his back. He didn''t have any candles on him and his footsteps were light as he came out of the darkness.


    The leather figurine woman stood between me and him, and I narrowed my eyes as I suddenly came up with a strange idea. If he couldn''t see the leather figurine woman, would he pass right through it?


    That would definitely be an amazing sight, because this leather figurine woman was real to me and I could even touch it. But he couldnt see it at all. If it really was a ghost, then that meant the two of them would ovep when they came into contact with each other.


    If that was the case, then I was probably crazy and the dinn ruler in my hand was definitely a hallucination. Maybe even the Poker-Face summoned by the dinn ruler was also a figment of my imagination. If so, that meant Liu Sang was also fake and I could kill the bastard myself.


    Or maybe Poker-Face just couldnt see this leather figurine woman and would end up bumping into it when he came over. If he really couldnt see these things, then that meant there was a difference between our eyes.


    In fact, there was a more profound exnation. Some people would selectively ignore certain information when encountering severe trauma. When reading newspapers and chatting with others, that persons brain wouldnt recognize and process the traumatizing information.


    I remembered that there was an overseas case where a mentally ill patient never believed that she had a daughter. Although her daughter was always by her side, she never saw her. She couldn''t even see anything that was rted to her daughter. There was a documentary that recorded this process in detail and I remembered it was called "The Disappearing Apple" (1). The daughter conducted a very simple experiment where she would touch the apple her mother was eating. As a result of this, the apple disappeared from her mothers perception.


    The mother panicked all day, thinking that there was another person in the house. Since all kinds of things suddenly disappeared, she thought she was being haunted. But it was actually her brain blocking a specific message.


    But that kind of situation was often due to a traumatic fear of a specific concept in the subconscious, which caused the brain to take protective measures.


    Later, it was revealed that she had a trauma revolving around a liver transnt when her daughter fell ill. She had been too afraid to give her liver to her daughter at the time. Although her daughter was able to get another liver, the immense guilt caused her to suffer a mental illness where her brain blocked all information rted to her daughter.


    I didnt believe Poker-Face couldnt see these leather figurines because of guilt. If anything, I thought it was a problem that stemmed from poisoning.


    I was trapped in my own vicious circle of logic and couldnt seem to figure it out when I noticed Poker-Face suddenly stop right in front of the leather figurine woman and reach out. He then quickly went around it and came up to me before putting Liu Sang down by the tomb passage wall opposite Fatty.


    <em>Fuck me</em>, I said to myself. <em>Didn''t you say you couldn''t see it? Are you two messing with me?</em>


    "What''s there?" He immediately asked me.


    "Why are you avoiding it if you can''t even see what''s there?" I asked as I looked at Liu Sang. His fingernails were all torn. I didnt know where he had been trapped, but he must have been suffering a breakdown for a long time and had been scratching the stone wall with his hands.


    Poker-Face didn''t look at me, but went over to check Fatty''s pulse. "I can''t see it. I can only feel it," he said faintly.


    I was just about to ask him what was going on when I suddenly saw his eyes. They werepletely clouded and there was something covering the corneas.


    "Whats that?" I asked in horror. I wanted to tear it off, but he immediately avoided my outstretched hand.


    He usually reacted very fast, but the slowness just now immediately had meing to my senses. Just as I was about to start asking questions, I saw him approach Liu Sang''s ear with the rhinoceros horn candle. As the me got close, those little hands fell off one by one.


    Just like Fatty, Liu Sang didn''t respond. "It''s still deep in his ears, I said to him. You have to suck it out" Poker-Face nced at me.


    When I looked at him carefully, I found that the things covering his corneas were really a bunch of insects the size of sesame seeds.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think this is a fake documentary the author made up (or he remembered the name wrong lol). I wasnt finding anything.

 Book 1: Chapter 66

    Book 1: Chapter 66


    "What the hell?!" I almost leaped back.


    He closed his eyes and said, "This kind of bug, the rhinoceros horn candles, and the pigments on the murals alle from mineral deposits deep in the underground rivers. I saw the murals just now. They were made using an ancient Minyue technique that prevents us from seeing whats under them unless we have the rhinoceros horn candle."


    He gave me a brief ount of what he saw. The mural depicted life in the South Sea countrys underground vige and showed a section about the underground river. After going down, almost everyone died. They eventually discovered that there was a special mineral in the underground river that was actually the umtion of countless bugs. The bugs were very small and would fly up andtch onto peoples eyes whenever they saw light. They caused hallucinations and would form sesame-sized bug sacks on the corneas whenever they gathered together.


    The South Sea King thought it might be a spell the immortals had ced, so he sought guidance from an expert. This expert told him to use rhinoceros horn candles for illumination, because the light wouldnt wake the bugs up. After that, they mixed this mineral with pigment, smeared it on the murals, and applied severalyers of it. After the mural was illuminated, the small bugs would fly out like dust. Asyer afteryer of them flew away from the murals, there would be various changes.


    People in the South Sea country traded this kind of recement mineral to those who entered the Minyue forests. Just like opium, many nobles in the Central ins used this mineral for parties and the emperor at the time thought it was sorcery. People who used this kind of mineral entered a world where reality and illusion intertwined for a period of time.


    After using this mineral to induce hallucinations, people lost their eyesight and there were a lot of growths in the eyes that looked like sesame seeds. ording to the local legend, the eyes of the Mute Emperor''s army were made of sesame seeds, which was probably a result of this.


    But this bug had a strange characteristic where it was almost like a severe infection. Before blindness set in, all the bugs would enter the eyes. At this time, the hallucinations would disappear and the people would enter apletely conscious state. Even their eyesight would be better.


    After hearing all of this, I gave Poker-Face a puzzled look. I remembered what he had said to me earlier: it was up to me next.


    I thought I had some special abilities and others could finally rely on me, or my innate Wu family abilities had finally broken out. But as it turned out, I was just seriously fucking infected.


    God damn it. I was entrusted with a heavy responsibility because my illness was worse.


    I had used strong light to illuminate the murals earlier and arge number of bugs had seriously infected me. So the reason for my sudden recovery wasnt because I was strong, but because I had suddenly reached the severe stage. The hallucinations had only temporarily disappeared.


    <em>Am I going blind?</em> I touched my eyes, but I couldnt feel the sesame seeds. Humans'' eyes were usually very sensitive, so I still couldn''t feel anything with my hands.


    "We have to get out quickly." Poker-Face closed his eyes and touched Liu Sang''s ear.


    <em>It''s not that there arent enough candles, </em>I thought to myself,<em> its the fact that I''m going to be fucking blind! BLIND!</em>


    After he spoke, he suddenly pressed his fingers hard to the back of Liu Sang''s ear. As a stream of green liquid came flowing out of Liu Sang''s ear, Poker-Face immediately went back over to Fatty.


    "These things were all fished out from the underground river," he said faintly. He then picked the two people up and shook them a few times until all the liquid came out of their ears.


    Fatty slowly opened his eyes first and then looked at the two of us before saying weakly, "Who the fuck kissed me?"


    I secretly pointed to Poker-Face. Fatty looked at him and asked, "Was that really necessary? Were so familiar with each other. I cant believe you have it in you to kiss me. Its inhuman."


    Then he looked at Liu Sang on the opposite side and threw up. I patted him on the back until he was done. "Is he dead?" He asked. What happened? "


    "Why did you suddenly put the shuikao on?" I asked him.


    He looked at me, "Shuikao? Shit, take it out quickly. I have something to say."

 Book 1: Chapter 67

    Book 1: Chapter 67


    I pointed to where the shuikao wasying off to the side. Fatty vomited again and then crawled over, bumping into the leather figurine woman on his way. He felt in front of him and scolded me, "Mr. Nave, why didnt you tell me there was something here?"


    After I helped him up, he touched the shuikao and found that it had ripped.


    "Fuck me." He picked the shuikao up with a curse and pressed it against me, as if he wanted me to put it on. I immediately stopped him. "What are you doing? It''s full of parasites. Are you going to suck them out of me?"


    "This thing is the only way out," Fatty said. You have to wear it."


    "I''ll end up just like you if I wear this, fucking crazy," I scolded him.


    "I can''t fucking wear it, Fatty said. If I could, Id put it on and take you out. Let me tell you, this is part of a big array set up by an expert. This is a feng shui object called a guiyi (1). The expert left it here because he was afraid we wouldnt be able to get in and out in the future. This shuikao was left for us."


    I was baffled. His theory was exactly the same as mine. Fatty was cunning, but I still couldnt believe he had understood it before me. But what the fuck was this theory? Was this guiyi thing some kind of folk spell? Its wasnt anything I had heard of before.


    Moreover, this tomb wasnt the kind of feng shui tomb that was built like a maze. We were trapped because of our own stupid mistakes. Although we had narrowly avoided death by using our previous experience, there was no denying the fact that I had cked off when it came to feeling fear and staying vignt.


    I never thought that one day, I would ck off in such an extremely dangerous environment. I thought I was the type of person who would never ck off, but what our ancestors said really made sense.


    This introspection made my blood run cold.


    I looked up at the leather figurine woman and felt my hair stand on end. But it was just a visceral reaction; I didnt feel any fear at all. I suddenly realized that this carelessness would get me and those around me killed, but I couldn''t ovee myself.


    "Hey, Fatty said, I told you to read more books, but you wouldn''t listen to me. Dont underestimate this tomb just because it looks simple. It''s actually very unique. Think about it. If the three of us"he looked at Liu Sang"and this thing didnt set off those detonators up top, how could we get down here? Let''s not talk about people who were born way before us. Even Xie Xiao Huathat shameless, rich ingrate wouldnt have been able toe down, right? We''ve never been in a tomb under a mudt before. First, we have no experience; second, we have no equipment; and third, we have no logic. Even if it hadn''t caved in and we had managed to find the tomb''s location, what would we have done to get down here? Can you answer that?


    I thought about it and knew he was right. Diving suits couldnt get through a mudt and this was different from grave robbers tunnels that were dug in the mud. The tunnels could be dug down, but the mudt would immediately fill the holes in. It was like being in the desert. If the tomb was found, going down would be a big problem and would require arge engineering team to dig the mud up.


    "So, this tomb is a unique one. Its impossible for outsiders to get in. It could even be argued that its absolutely impossible to rob it. But your Uncle Three did it, which means he mustve used nefarious means, Fatty said. "At that time, there really was an expert here. If it werent for my love of science, I wouldve really thought that it was the Five Ghosts Transportation ritual. But when I saw this shuikao, I thought of another possibility."


    "Did they use an underground river toe in?" I asked him.


    Fatty shook his head, "This was an amazing expert. Give me a second and Ill tell you. After that, well use the shuikao to get out of here."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Trantes as something like return garment

 Book 1: Chapter 68

    Book 1: Chapter 68


    Since it was so simple, I immediately understood the logic after listening to what Fatty had to say.


    When we came in, we could see a huge, hollowed-outndscape full of embossed pavilions on the walls of the underground crevice. In the midst of thisndscape, skilled craftsmen had used the natural contours of the cliff walls to carve equally proportioned dragon towers and halls, among which the tomb door was hidden. Although many kings tombs wererge in scale, used exquisite materials, and conformed to rigorous feng shui patterns, these strange buildings in the South Sea Kings tomb were the most borate ones I had ever seen.


    From this, we could tell that after the South Sea King was defeated, the remnants of the country still remained rtively strong. This was probably due to therge underground area located beneath the South Sea country.


    Underground rivers were different from our understanding of cave systems. These water systems extended out in all directions, but few of them were exposed aboveground. Many underground rivers were connected to aboveground rivers by sand and small cave structures. Water could pass through these areas, but people couldnt.


    The underground rivers channels weren''t the smooth, normal ones that allowed for the water to flow gently and stably. The current also tended to be static in some areas and very swift in others, and there were more than a dozen continuous waterfalls. Some areas werepletely submerged, while the water in other areas flowed under the sand.


    The top part of the crevice where we had fallen down from had been sealed, but it was definitely a part of the underground canyon that was located in this rocky mountain by the sea. It probably used to be the entrance to the underground river. The South Sea country had been entrenched in this water system for many years, so the underground river leading to this area should have been dredged long ago. They must have used this river to transport the stones used to build this underground tomb.


    To find this South Sea Kings tomb, you would have to follow the underground riverIll call it "Huangling River" (1) for the time beingso Uncle Three and the others must have first entered the depths of the South Sea countrys underground water system. Then, out of a thousand underground rivers, they must have found the right one.


    But unless they had other information or tips, it was absolutely impossible for them to find it so easily.


    So, did Uncle Three and the others have this information? There was no way to know for the time being, but based on their behavior, we could do a reverse analysis and make an inference.


    There were many points about Uncle Three''s behavior that were difficult to exin:


    1. He didn''t enter the main tomb chamber through the tomb gate. Instead, he entered by blowing a hole in the floor separating the drainage system from the bottom of the tomb chamber. It was right below the coffin, which enabled him to take the coffin directly. In any case, it was very uneconomical to do this. It took more physical energy and was more likely to fail. Although it avoided some of the mechanisms in the tomb passage, the space in the main tomb chamber was smaller and it was also full of murals. They still had to face a lot of danger and didnt save themselves a lot of trouble.


    2. Uncle Three didn''t leave any traces in the ancient tomb, but a guiyi was left in the immortal boat above the coffin.


    Guiyi were also called fiyi, which were known as feiyi (2) in the burial system. After the Han Dynasty, this custom was simplified into soul banners. You could often see many people in TV dramas walking in front of the coffins with soul banners. ording to the ancient methods, these soul banners were made from the deceaseds clothes. Since the soul had left right after the person had died, they couldnt see their own body after it was buried and could only recognize their clothes. That was why there was a saying that hanging clothes inside the house would attract ghosts. The clothes were then ced over the body and put back into the coffin. It was considered a trick to get the soul to attach itself back to its body.


    If this shuikao really was a fiyi, then there must have been a special reason for it to have been put in the immortal boat. Fatty said that someone must have held incense and worshiped this shuikao. The owner must have put it here before he died to ensure that he could return here after death.


    Fatty pointed to some smoky, scar-like marks on the shuikao and said that they had been written in incense ash, but they were too illegible now. "If the expert died at that time, then his soul is now in this garment. Put it on and let the expert enter your body so you can take us out."


    "What do I do if this expert doesnt leave?" I asked Fatty. "And why do you believe in this feudal superstition? The expert isnt Lei Feng (3). Why would he want his soul to return to this tomb? Would he reallye here just to show us the way out?"


    "Put it on and I''ll ask him for you," Fatty said. "If you dont want to wear it, Ill just continue talking. Let me tell you, we have no other way right now. We can only rely on this expert to get us out of this unique tomb."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Emperors Tomb River.


    (2) Guiyi and fiyi trantes as something like return garment, just with different characters. Feiyi is something like flying garment. Its the banner carried in the funeral procession and then buried in the tomb for the purpose of calling back the spirit of the deceased. Example can be found here. I think The Untamed also had spirit banners if that helps.


    (3) Lei Feng (1940-1962), made into a model of selflessness, modesty, and dedication to the Party by propaganda from 1963 onwards.


    ****


    <strong><em>This is reminding me of that weasel spirit thing in Lieutenant and Ba Ye''s love adventure in the Mystic Nine lol.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 69

    Book 1: Chapter 69


    I was a little baffled since Fatty''s words just now were in nonsense. Uncle Three had sted a hole up from the drainage channel and stolen the coffin, so it was only natural that he would leave the same way he came in. No matter what reason he had for not wanting to enter the main tomb chamber from the gate, his logic was always sound.


    And the waterway in this tomb had to lead to an underground river, so Uncle Three would have definitelye in from there. Whatever method he used, Uncle Three must have found this king''s tomb from the underground river. For example, maybe he was able to find the Huangling River in such a vast water system using feng shui because he had an expert with him.


    As soon as I thought of this, I looked at Liu San and suddenly remembered something from before.


    Listening to thunder.


    The only method in which this ancient tomb below the mudt could be traced and located was by listening to thunder. Using ordinary grave robbing techniques were absolutely useless. I wondered if Uncle Three had started listening to thunder first and then found this tomb that could only be located using such a method. At the moment, it didnt seem likely.


    Uncle Three, Yang Daguang, and the others in their group didn''t know to listen to the thunder until they robbed this ancient tomb.


    Whether it was listening to thunder before or listening to thunder after, the meaning waspletely different.


    I told Fatty we didnt need to be possessed by that expert. Uncle Three''s method of robbing this tomb might have been strange and even a bit unreasonable, but he used special methods, which meant that he had information on the tomb. The fact that he went to so much trouble to use these special methods to rob the tomb indicated that he at least thought it would be dangerous otherwise. This made me certain that when he came here, he had detailed information we didn''t have.


    Uncle Three didnt know magic, so this was one of the biggest possibilities.


    Now we just needed to go back to the drainage channel, follow it for a while, and then we could get out.


    It was only when I thought of this that I realized Fatty that was right. Everything was a mess and my mind was moving way too slow, but he had thought of this conclusion in an instant.


    After leaving the waterway, we would enter the maze-like underground river system, which was the South Sea countrys buried territory. If my theory was correct, the expert was the one who led them through the underground water system, so he was the only one who could take us out.


    The reason for this was actually very simple. We couldnt go back through the mudt, so we could only leave from the ce where Uncle Three hade in. That ce was an underground world the size of arge, ancient country. Without a guide, we were as good as dead.


    Indeed, this really was a unique tomb.


    But would I really be possessed if I put this shuikao on?


    Many aspects of my life had been designed with reference to Qi Yu, a descendant of the Qi family. At the time, I had thought that Qi Yu was probably Uncle Three and Xie Lianhuans backup n. Uncle Three may have thought they could use another twin scam to confuse the Wang family if their generation had been unsessful.


    If I let Qi Yu borrow my body to resurrect his soul, all his habits would basically be the same as mine. Even his handwriting was the same. Fuck, this would be like those childhood friends who grew up and became a couple.


    But I found it really hard to believe that I could use my body to revive a soul. It was just too ridiculous. I looked at the shuikao and then touched it, feeling that it was definitely not what Fatty had said. I thought about it some more and then pulled it towards me.


    I nced at Poker-Face, but he was looking at the leather figurine woman coldly. I didn''t know what he was looking at, but he didn''t seem to want to stop me. I started to pull the shuikao on and found that it fit me quite well even though it was so badly damaged.


    Once it waspletely on, I thought to myself, <eme on,e on. Come alive quickly.</em>


    "How do you feel? Fatty asked me. Do you feel like something is entering your body?"


    I shook my head and moved my hands and feet, but didnt feel anything. At this time, Liu Sang woke up and looked at us, "Why is it so noisy?"


    He was staring right at the shuikao I was wearing.

 Book 1: Chapter 70

    Book 1: Chapter 70


    Liu Sang nced up and suddenly became silent as he stared at the shuikao.


    I looked at him and asked, "Are you alright?"


    He shivered, pressed himself against the wall, and moved further away while keeping his eyes fixed on me. "What''s that thing in your arms?" He asked.


    <em>What thing?</em> I looked down at my arms, but there was nothing there. Liu Sang covered his ears, "It''s so noisy. That thing is so noisy. Take it away, take it away."


    I looked down at my arms again. His eyes kept staring at my abdomen as he retreated further and further away.


    We all looked at each other in dismay. <em>Besides being blind, are we all deaf now, too? I cant hear a thing</em>, I said to myself.


    The tomb passage was very quiet and there werent any other sounds except for our breathing. I showed Fatty my abdomen and asked him to check and see if there was anything noisy hidden there. At that moment, Liu Sang suddenly got up and began crawling towards the depths of the tomb passage.


    We had spent too much energy looking for him before, so I couldnt let him run away now. But before I could even move, Little Brother pressed me and Fatty on the shoulder, jumped into the air, and stepped on one side of the wall. He then grabbed Liu Sang''s neck, twisted his body, and threw Liu Sang to the ground.


    "Let me go! Liu Sang began to shout. It''s too noisy! It''s so noisy that Im going to die!"


    Fatty immediately pped him three times on both cheeks and asked Poker-Face, "Did you break his ears? Your long fingers are so strong that people might as well get a concussion if you pick their nose."


    "This guys ears are his livelihood, Poker-Face said. I wont mess around."


    Fatty patted Liu Sang, "What noise are you talking about? What did you hear? I cant hear anything."


    Liu Sang looked at my arms, his fear seeming to reach new heights. "In his arms. There are a bunch of people screaming in his arms. Their voices are so loud and noisy."


    Fatty looked at me and then at Liu Sang before suddenly pulling me aside, "Mr. Nave, take off the shuikao and put it on him."


    "Why?" I asked, confused. Based on how he was acting with me wearing it, wouldnt he be scared to death if he wore it?


    "I may have made a mistake just now. The expert cant enter your body if youre wearing this shuikao," Fatty said. "It may be that you have a strange fate and the expert cant get in. He was hurt by your yang energy and is now in screaming in pain. This idiot may be able to hear theherworld. I heard that when people train their ears to listen to thunder, theyll hear the voices of the dead once they reach a certain point. The screams of this expert are too painful, which is why hes so scared. If you take the shuikao off, it should stop."


    I looked at Fatty and found that he was being serious. <em>What is this nonsense?</em> I asked myself. Even though nothing had happened, I felt both scared and rxed, and couldnt ignore the fact that wearing this shuikao was really ufortable.


    I quickly took it off and found that Liu Sang really did calm down. Fatty took the shuikao and held it out to the still terrified Liu Sang. "Brat, Fatty said to him in a stern voice, this is the only way for us to get out. Since you can hear it, you should listen carefully to what this shuikao has to say."


    As soon as he was finished speaking, he took the shuikao and went to put it on Liu Sang. Liu Sang quickly dodged and Fatty yelled for me to help. I was all too happy to go up and hold Liu Sang down so we could put the shuikao on him.


    He was scared at first, but then he suddenly seemed to hear something and looked in the direction of the leather figurine woman that was still standing there.


    "What''s the matter?" Fatty asked.


    "Shes talking." Liu Sang pointed in the direction of the leather figurine woman. "Is there a person standing there?"


    "Whats she saying?" I asked.


    "I dont know. I dont understand it." Liu Sang listened carefully and then repeated a sentence with a very strange pronunciation. I knew very well that this was an ancientnguage, but I couldnt understand it either. Although I had specialized in these kinds of things, I didn''t have time to learn all the ancient dialects.


    Poker-Face frowned and continued staring in the direction of the leather figurine woman. Then, he suddenly spoke the same sentence with the same pronunciation.


    We all stood there shocked for a moment before Poker-Face suddenly said, "Put that thing on your back. Lets go!"

 Book 1: Chapter 71

    Book 1: Chapter 71


    I tilted my head and looked at Poker-Face with an expression that seemed to say: are you serious?


    Poker-Face patted Liu Sang, What else did you hear?


    "Echoes, all kinds of echoes. There are people screaming everywhere, but some of them are talking." Liu Sang blinked his bug-infested eyes and looked down both sides of the dark tomb passage.


    Poker-Face turned to me, "Put that thing on your back and follow the noise."


    "Why?" I asked him. I had been asked to put the shuikao on and now I was being asked to carry a female corpse. I wouldnt do it. I wasnt some Swiss army knife that could cut apples and shovel shit.


    While we were all talking, I once again looked at the leather figurine woman and felt all my hair stand on end. There was something else standing behind the leather figurine woman. It was another leather figurine. But this figurine was one of the well-preserved ones from the main tomb chamber that was dressed in golden silk.


    It was standing in the shadows behind the leather figurine woman with its hands resting on the woman figurines shoulders. Its expression wasnt as calm as the womans and its white face made it look extremely sinister.


    Fatty noticed my expression and looked in that direction, "What''s wrong?"


    "Theres another one!" I cried out as I secretly wondered what was going on.


    "Theyll keeping," Poker-Face said.


    I clenched my teeth, unable to deny the fact that Poker-Face was always right. I stepped forward and broke the white-faced leather figurines hands before picking up the leather figurine woman and putting it on my back. I found that it was actually very light and hardly a burden at all, but since I was basically naked, the feeling of the leather figurine womans skin made my whole body break out in goosebumps.


    As Fatty put Liu Sang on his back, Poker-Face turned to Liu Sang and said, "Listen! A voice will tell us how to get out. Dont be influenced by any other sounds. If this thing makes any noise, tell me immediately."


    Liu Sang turned his head and listened with his eyes closed.


    "First go from the main tomb chamber to the drainage channel," I said.


    Liu Sang shook his head, "No! That ce is full of screams. He pointed above us, "Go up."


    Poker-Face looked at the leather figurine woman and nodded. After we all climbed back to the abandoned tomb passage, Liu Sang pointed to the hole where we saw the stone tablet before, "We have to go in."


    "No way," Fatty argued. "All those people are inside."


    "The voice ising from inside, Liu Sang said. We have to go in."


    At this time, Liu Sang suddenly looked at the leather figurine woman.

 Book 1: Chapter 72

    Book 1: Chapter 72


    That situation was so incredible that I still remember it to this day. After Liu Sang looked at the leather figurine woman, a series of peculiar-sounding words from that ancientnguage came out of his mouth.


    "Climb inside!" Poker-Face ordered us.


    I couldnt believe that a leather figurine woman was telling Liu Sang where to go and then Poker-Face was tranting an ancientnguage for us. It certainly seemed like a far-fetched theory, but that was how things were looking at the moment.


    Fatty thought about it and decided to let the leather figurine woman be the trailzer. He stuffed it into the hole and said, "Sister, youmunicate with them." Then, each of us took a rhinoceros horn candle and climbed into the hole.


    Fatty had learned his lessonst time and refused to be thest one in, so I brought up the rear. Liu Sang had also recovered a lot by this time.


    As we crawled forward, we found that those leather figurines that had blocked the tunnel before had all disappeared. We quickly crawled to the ce where the distance markers had appeared on the walls and kept moving forward. Fatty said to Liu Sang, "Brat, dont hold back if you hear something."


    Liu Sang scolded, "Fuck you and your bad luck. I want to get out of here quickly. I dont have time to joke with you."


    We soon passed the location of the immortal door from before. I had thought that everyone up front would go through it, but they didn''t. Instead, they climbed deeper into the hole.


    "Don''t look back." Poker-Faces reminder from up front made my blood run cold. This hole was like a highway; it was impossible to retreat. If we did, there would be countless leather figurines crawling towards us from behind. Although I didnt know if this time would be different from thest, Poker-Faces warning indicated that he had determined that something may have already appeared behind me. But he really didnt have to worry. I could only look back when I got to a ce that was a little more spacious. The farther I went in, the narrower this tunnel became.


    "You guys are so full of shit right now. You better not to drop the ball!" I said through clenched teeth as I kept crawling.


    I didnt know how long it took. Fatty''s candle burned out first, then mine, and then Liu Sang''s. Finally, all the candles burned out and we fell into absolute darkness.


    We still had lights on us, but our surroundings would remain dark even if we turned them on. We wouldnt be able to see any other sources of light besides the rhinoceros horn candles. Liu Sang eventually asked, "Do you feel like the darkness around us is alive?"


    I didnt know what he meant, so he went on to exin, "Theyre all bugs. These bugs are flying in dense clusters all around us. I can hear very subtle sounds. What were looking at isnt darkness, but a dense insect fog. We think theres no light, but its actually just being blocked by them. Only the rhinoceros horn candles can drive them away."


    I waved my hands, but it was useless. I couldn''t feel such tiny bugs hitting my hands at all. Or maybe I had already gone blind.


    We didn''t talk much after that. I was able to determine that Liu Sang was still crawling in front of me based on the sounds he was making. His breathing and heartbeat were the clearest sounds I could hear.


    I wasn''t very scared at first. In fact, I initially felt a sense of security in this ce where the rocks surrounded me. But after three or four hours of not being able to stretch out my hands and feet, my ustrophobia came back.


    The real fear started to set in after ten hours; not because of the external environment, but because of my own imagination.


    I had been crawling into the depths of this rock for seven hours and felt as if this tunnel would never end.


    We had already crawled past the area where Fatty had peed before. Having reached this point, there was no need to feel reserved; it didnt matter if everyone''s pee and poop piled up. At the end of the day, any urine had turned into sweat on our bodies.


    We probably wouldnt be able to go back, but I didnt dare look behind me anyways. Even if I could turn around, I would just end up back in the South Sea Kings tomb. In the dark, all we could eat were sea cockroaches and those shellfish that looked like hands. The only advantage was that those things wouldnt be finished off in a short amount of time. But the most likely possibility right now was that the four of us would be trapped in this silent passage and no one would know that we died here.


    After crawling forward for at least five hours, my sense of time and any sounds reaching my ears seemed to disappear. I could only continue crawling forward numbly. After moving like this for a long time, I found that I couldn''t feel anyone in front of me. The intense fear that surged up made me crawl forward crazily until I finally touched Liu Sang''s foot again.


    I didnt know how long it took before Fatty said, "Ive got it!"


    I thought there was an exit and asked, "You found a way out?"


    "Distance marker!" Fatty said. "I can feel a distance marker on the stone wall."


    I was surprised that there was a marker in such a deep ce. Fatty was silent for a moment as if he were trying to feel it out, and then he said, "I dont know this marker."


    I urged them to move forward so I could feel the surrounding rock walls. I quickly found what Fatty was talking about and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Although I didn''t know this distance marker, I knew it was a unit on the dinn ruler.


    Dinn rulers were tomb-building rulers that contained theherworlds units of measurement. The word that had been carved onto the wall here was "suffering".


    This was a Han Dynasty tomb, so the dinn ruler hadnt been invented yet. This word mustve been carved by an expert from the Qi family, but why use a dinn ruler?


    Was it a hint that we had reached theherworld?


    But the most important thing right now was that I had left that fucking ruler in the South Sea Kings tomb!

 Book 1: Chapter 73

    Book 1: Chapter 73


    After thinking about it, I decided not to tell the others the bad news so as not to make them lose hope. I just didnt expect that what the leather figurine woman had given me was so crucial. Was it really a ghost in this tomb that wanted out? Did it want my help?


    Fatty asked me what was going on and if I had found a way out, so I told them what I knew. Grandpa''s notes said that there was a motive for everything, and it was this that was giving me such a big headache in this tomb. All the motives I had thought up werent consistent with my worldview.


    I didnt know where my previous insight had gone. What puzzled me the most now was trying to figure out what this Qi familys expert really wanted to do.


    This expert had set up various feng shui arrays everywhere in the ancient tomb. But this was originally a unique tomb, so even if the kings corpse did be a zombie, it definitely wouldnt be able to get out. As a result, the feng shui arrays definitely werent designed to "trap" anything here.


    And if the feng shui arrays that these grave robbers set up in this tomb werent for trapping vengeful ghosts or for preventing harm, then it was possible that they were hate arrays. These kinds of arrays were full of negative energy that would harm the tomb owners descendants. But to be honest, the feng shui indicators for this tomb had been covered by mud and buried under the sea. Not to mention dragon veins, any other feng shui indicators werepletely out of the question. There was a saying among feng shui masters: when the front of the tomb was like a cow trough, broken seeds could not sprout.


    There was a huge ravine in front of this tomb that was big enough to fit a subway, so this tomb owner wouldnt have too many surviving descendants. As a result, there was no need to attack them again.


    But it was true that a very exquisite feng shui array had been set up byter generations. If this array wasnt used to calm the energy in this ancient tombbecause the tomb had beenpletely trapped by its own feng shui patternthen that left only one reason. And no matter how counterintuitive and bizarre this reason was, it should be correct.


    The purpose of these arrays was to break the tombs original feng shui "entrapment" pattern. But if they were breaking the entrapment pattern, was it to release something that had been trapped in the tomb?


    I turned andy down on my back so that I could rest and discuss my final theory with Fatty.


    "Just tell me if we have to go further to get out, Fatty said. If I have to keep crawling, my testicles'' wrinkles are all going to be smoothed out."


    "We can get out." After analyzing everything just now, I became substantially calm and returned to the state of mind I had a few years ago. It had been a long time since I had been calm enough to only trust myself to think about such problems.


    Although it was unbelievable, I suddenly realized that this ancient tomb was a trap.


    It was a sterile tomb where no one could get in or out. It actually took a great amount of skill and luck to enter this unique kind of tomb.


    The previous text message had led our group to this sterile tomb step by step. We were nning to look through a lot of ces and prepare for many days, but we managed to find the South Sea Kings tomb on the very first day. And Uncle Two was the one who had urately brought us to this mudt.


    It was as early as a few decades ago when the expert who set up the array here entered this tomb. He closed all the possible ways out except for one, which turned out to be rted to this feng shui array. He expected us to enter this tomb and have no other choice but to rely on the exit that he had left behind. There was no denying the fact that we were now following the path he had previously arranged.


    His purpose for doing this was that we could only leave by following the path he had designed. But the way he designed it hid his real purpose and forced us to take something from the tomb.


    If I had guessed correctly, that thing was the leather figurine woman. Although I didnt know why, I was certain that we wouldnt encounter anything good when we took this leather figurine woman out. Otherwise, he would have done it a long time ago.


    Why didn''t he take it with him? And why make us do it for him in such aplicated way after so many years?


    Maybe the leather figurine woman was brimming with evil spirits. Or maybe this Qi familys expert used this "tomb" to raise a zombie, but didnt dare take it out himself. Was he using us as guinea pigs to take it out?


    Since I was absolutely calm, I realized another point even if I didnt want to. Uncle Two was the only person who couldplete this n.


    I touched the word "suffering" on the wall while feeling bitter in my heart. Uncle Two never cared about these things, so why would he plot against me like this? Was he Qi Yu?


    <em>No</em>, I thought to myself as I rubbed my face.


    "Liu Sang, you must know something, I eventually said. You can either say it now or I''ll break your hamstring."


    Liu Sang was very calm as he answered weakly, "I can''t believe you didn''t realize it until now. Dont threaten me. I wouldve told you if only you had asked. But now we have to keep moving forward. Well reach a morefortable ce in another hour. Youll know when you get there."

 Book 1: Chapter 74: New Year’s Bonus

    Book 1: Chapter 74: New Year¡¯s Bonus


    My heart froze when I heard Liu Sang say this. It appeared that not only did he know, but he had been waiting for me to ask him.


    In other words, he always thought that I would figure out that something strange was going on a long time ago, but I never did.


    What made me feel even more strange was that Fatty didn''t speak up after he heard Liu Sang''s words. The four of us remained silent for a moment before the people up front began crawling forward again.


    At that moment, all my initial thoughts intertwined as if I were about to be enlightened. But even though an answer was starting to appear, I just couldnt seem to get it out.


    I couldn''t even challenge him under these circumstances. We continued crawling in silence for another hour before I suddenly heard an echoing from up front. There appeared to be an open space up ahead.


    I couldn''t suppress my inner ecstasy. I had entered a state of total numbness after crawling in the dark for so long, but when I suddenly heard the kind of sound that would only appear in arge space, I immediately felt the pressure on my heart ease. My blood pressure instantly rose and I began crawling forward desperately.


    It would probably only take a minute or two, but my senses had been stretched to their limits. I heard someone talking in front of me in what seemed to be Fatty''s voice, but it was so distorted that I couldn''t understand what he was saying at all. At this time, the intense difort in my heart and the ustrophobia pressing in around me made me fall into a trance. As I crawled forward, my elbow suddenly didn''t hit the rocky ground and my whole upper body almost pitched forward.


    I had crawled out, but the exit of this hole seemed to be in a very high position and I was about to face-nt.


    Then, someone grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me out of the cave like a midwife delivering a baby.


    After lying on my stomach for so long and suddenly standing upright, I was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness and copsed to the ground. Those distorted voices were all around me, as if there were a lot of people talking. It seemed as if there were countless people here, but it waspletely dark and there werent any lights.


    I waited for a while before a rhinoceros horn candle was lit and the darkness around me quickly receded. When I came back to my senses, I saw that I was sitting on a raised rock the size of an outdoor air conditioner. My feet were dangling over what turned out to be a vast abyss below.


    It appeared to be an underground cliff, the other side of which was about two arm''s length away from me. I knew I could easily jump over it. The abyss below seemed bottomless, as if an evil spirit were hiding in its serene depths. I could hear the sound of running watere from below, just like thousands of galloping horses. It was probably another underground river.


    I could also see countless honeb-like holes on both sides of the cliff that looked just like the hole we had crawled out of. Water was flowing out of some of the holes and rushing into the abyss below. Oddly enough, there was an engraving on every hole like they all had names.


    Countless bronze basins like the one we had found in the tunnel before had been regrly ced on some of the cliff protrusions in dense clusters.


    Everyone in Uncle Twos group was standing on all the protrusions around me and wearing gas masks. Uncle Two was beside me, soaking a towel in medicinal liquor. He then lit it on fire for a few seconds before putting the mes out and cing it over my face.


    In the few seconds before my eyes were covered, I saw Fatty and Poker-Face going through the same thing. Then, a warm current spread from my eyes to my whole body and a heavy, pungent smell filled my nostrils as my eyes became unbearably itchy.


    The towel was affixed to my eyes with a bandage. When I saw his actions, the answer that was about toe out before finally revealed itself.


    "Uncle Two, are you kidding me? I asked him. Youve already been in this tomb."


    "Ive been checking the whereabouts of your Uncle Three. I found this tomb two years ago," I heard Uncle Two''s voice say. The rest of the conversation was conducted in the dark.


    "Then why didn''t you tell me? Is this to make me look like a fool in front of everyone? I asked miserably. I wasnt miserable because Uncle Two had lied to mpared to Uncle Three, it wasnt surprising that Uncle Two would do such a thingI was miserable because I already knew Uncle Two''s intentions.


    There was a long silence where everyone, including Fatty, didnt speak. Finally, Uncle Two sighed, "Youre so smart, you should understand."


    I didn''t say anything else as I suddenly remembered what had happened during the New Year''s festivities and what Uncle Two had said to me when we were drinking.


    "Little Xie, this kind of thing when you go from a low position to a high position, from ignorance to wisdom, you can ovee and avoid any of the dangers you encounter. No matter how hard it is or how difficult it bes, the impossible things will soon pass. Because at that time, the timidness from those who are self-aware and know that theyre weak can save lives.


    I had been a little drunk at that time, so I could only listen silently as Uncle Two continued, "Many people reach a certain stage where they surpass their teachers. Even if you have an open mind and want to be taught and get advice from others, you cant. This is because youve gone too far and no one has the ability to guide you. Its a lonely and dangerous situation. Third Brother and I havee to this stage.


    The advantage of having a teacher is that someone can always remind you to be careful at critical times. They will tell you if your ability is equal to self-awareness and they wont shy away from telling you the truth about yourself. This is because they can see through you. But when ites to you, Little Xie, no one has the ability to tell you the truth about yourself. If you dont understand it yourself, youll not only get yourself killed, but those around you as well.


    I leaned my head back, feeling calm. I had enough experience to know that Uncle Two was right.


    "You wanted me to go through this tomb to let me know that I no longer had the ability to go down to tombs anymore, I said. Uncle Two, I"


    I suddenly realized that I didn''t have anything to say. Based on my present appearance and recalling everything I had done over the past thirty hours, I would have definitely died long ago if Uncle Two hadn''t cleaned out this tomb.


    But the most important thing was that this had all been nned and I didnt even notice it. Now that I was recalling things, there were countless details that I would have definitely noticed before. But this time, I didn''t notice them the entire way.


    "Uncle Two, even college entrance exams can be repeated. You can''t beat Mr. Nave to death with a stick," Fatty finally spoke up from the side. "Hes contributed to the Wu family and done so many meritorious deeds for the Nine Gates."


    Uncle Two ignored him and whispered to me, "Little Xie, I''ll keep looking into Third Brothers affairs. Ive confiscated your phone. Youre doing a job youre not trained for, so this is enough. You should focus on healing your eyes first. After this incident, I believe you also know that you can''t go grave robbing. Just let the professionals handle it. Your story ends here."


    *****


    () <strong><em>Uncle Two, you sexy calcting man. Wu Xie is like putty in his hands lol</em></strong>.<strong><em> I also feel like they''re being awfully hard on him. I''m like 90% sure he has a concussion from Fatty blowing him up so many chapters ago </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 75

    Book 1: Chapter 75


    I sat there blindfolded as I listened to Uncle Two and the others talking. I had a general idea of the situation. Uncle Two had already explored the core areas of the South Sea King''s tomb long ago and had also focused his attention on the feng shui array. But this feng shui array wasnt limited to this ancient tomb. Uncle Two believed that the expert who came down with Uncle Three back then had set up feng shui arrays everywhere.


    Uncle Two was different from me in that I could only specte while he and Uncle Three had actually lived in the same era. Uncle Two had seen the true colors of the legends I could only guess about. ording to Uncle Twos impression, that Qi Yu from the Qi family was a silent young man who was very weak, but very determined. He was the kind of person who would finish things quietly once he made up his mind to do so.


    This kind of person was very serious, which was a stark contrast to Uncle Three''s character. Uncle Three was the type of leader that did things on the spot, after all. In Uncle Twos words, Qi Yu and Uncle Three didnt get along well, but they also didnt outwardly quarrel. Qi Yu had his own ideas and methods for doing things, so it was difficult for others to convince him once his ideas werepleted.


    Uncle Two also let slip another piece of information that basically confirmed things. When this South Sea Kings tomb was being built, many strange holes were dug into the huge rock stratum and people who entered them basically disappeared.


    The people who entered many of these small holes disappeared shortly after they went in, but nobody knew where they went. Uncle Two believed that these small holes were rted to "sound and with the rock here full of so many of them, it made it particrly easy resonate with thunder. The South Sea King must have chosen this ce for that very reason.


    In addition, the whole tomb was created in the shape of a bow.


    Uncle Two had told me all this information before I entered the tomb, but I was too slow to realize what was wrong with the Mute Emperors legend.


    I had been struggling in the tomb nonstop for more than thirty hours. With the medicinal liquor applied to my eyes and Uncle Twos wordsing from the darkness, I felt my battered body rx. After listening to them for a while, I soon fell asleep.


    I woke up in a daze and remained that way as I was led to the cliff and climbed up step by step.


    I didnt know how long it took before I eventually smelled the long-lost sea breeze. I couldn''t see anything, but I could hear the sound of the waves. I was finally out. I wanted to remove the bandage from my eyes and see the sunshine outside, but Liu Sang quickly said to me, "Don''t use your eyes right now. Youll go blind if you see the sunshine."


    My hands were shaking as I tried to restrain my impulse to remove the towel. "Where''s Fatty? I asked. What about Little Brother?"


    Fatty patted me, "Little Brother is still down there. Uncle Two has something to say to him. He may not want you to hear it."


    I didn''t even have the strength to feel anything as I was helped to the car. Fatty continued, "Let''s talk about it after you get your eyes fixed. Ill watch over Little Brother. What your Uncle Two said dont take it to heart. Just listen to me. Recently, I only want to hold hands whenever I see a young girl. Its just a matter of reaching a certain stage in your life. It isn''t as terrifying as what your Uncle Two said."


    ording to Fatty, his and Poker-Faces eyes should be fine, but mine were more serious.


    I remained in that dazed, sleepy state as we drove away. It was very painful every time the dressing over my eyes was changed, so I kept popping pain killers. I slept every day, my head filled with endless nightmares. When I took off the gauze a few dayster, I somehow found myself in a hospital in Pingtan. The nurse showed me the dead bugs that had been in my eyes every time she changed the dressing. They looked just like sand.


    Fatty bought me a lot of canned food. The hospital wasnt that big, but I had yet to see Poker-Face. When I asked Fatty what was going on, he said that Poker-Face hadn''te out since we left. He assured me that everything was ok and Poker-Face was probably helping them out. After making some inquiries, he found that Uncle Two and Poker-Face shoulde up in three days.


    Then he handed me his phone and said, "Look, this is the mural from the back of the main tomb chamber."

 Book 1: Chapter 76

    Book 1: Chapter 76


    I moved around in the bed, turned on myptop, and sent the pictures in the phone to myputer.


    I had been in a hurry at that time, but the years I had spent on my Wechat business had cultivated my photography skills and ensured that I photographed the murals clearly. Moreover, I took the kind of pictures that made people want to buy them.


    After looking through some of the pictures, a negative feeling rose up in my heart. I shut myptop, closed my eyes, and leaned back against the bed.


    Physical aversion.


    Many years ago, I had a strong physiological aversion to this industry. After taking such a long break, I thought I had recovered. When I first entered the South Sea Kings tomb, the cold and ustrophobic environment made me feel creeped out again. But in just thirty hours, the tediousness I felt toward this kind of environment made aeback.


    I didnt know if Uncle Two''s words had provoked the disgust in my heart.


    Back then, I was able to brace myself a little bit. If I had held on the whole way, I might have been able to keep going. But after cking off for so long and suddenly starting back up again, I couldn''t help recalling the nausea I felt at that moment.


    I set theptop aside, tilted my head back, and looked at the ceiling. Fatty was smacking his lips as he ate dried shrimp in the next bed over.


    "If you give up, no one can force you to keep going," he said.


    "Im not giving up, I feel sick," I retorted as I continued looking at the ceiling. "Objectively speaking, Im still an able-bodied worker in the prime of my life." I nced at the muscles in my arm.


    "Youre really not giving up? Are you still that handsome young man whos full of resilience and never gives up?"


    "Out with it!" I looked at him. It was obvious he had something to say.


    Fatty pulled a folder out from behind him and threw it on my bed, "That''s good. Youre not afraid of getting hit hard again. I was worried youd rush out and jump into the sea when I told you. Your Uncle Two took Wushanju back."


    "Took it back? What do you mean he took it back? I sat up. "My shop, why did he take it back?"


    "In principle, its your father''s shop. Your grandfather left it to him. Your father asked your Uncle Two to tell you that hes shutting the shop down. Theyre going to sell it to your Uncle Two and use the cash to open a restaurant for you."


    "Bullshit!" I quickly opened the folder and found that it was full of property rights documents. <em>Open an unprofitable restaurant? Thest thing Hangzhou needs is another restaurant.</em> I thought about it and decided to call home, but nobody answered. My heart suddenly felt sour.


    Fatty sat down by my bed. "I advise you not to resist. You''ve done amazing things for half your life. It''s not easy for your parents to make this decision. It just shows that theyre really worried about you. Youre not like me. In fact, you have everything. You need to cherish it, you know. He handed me a shrimp, "Why dont you go to Beijing with me?"


    I leaned back in the bed as Fatty continued, "I heard that your Uncle Two hired ck sses. That guy is so poor that hes willing to take any job. You can leave it to a professional like him."


    "Isn''t he going blind?"


    "That''s why people are willing to pay him a high price. Let me tell you, the two most expensive things in this world are a womans first time and a mansst time."


    <em>This is all a hideous mess</em>, I said to myself. After thinking about it, I sent a short message to Xiao Hua, "Are you well off recently? I need the local boss to lend me some money."


    Xiao Hua didn''t respond.


    I pinched the bridge of my nose, but I wasnt worried yet. I decided to trymunicating with Uncle Two again. If it didnt work, I would go and hang myself at Xie Yuhua''s door if he didn''t let me borrow a start-up fund. Then I could go back and start up another shop. I knew Uncle Two was doing this for my own good, but I thought he was overdoing it. I knew he didnt want my family to worry about me and he wanted me to let go of my desires. I was okay doing that, but I wouldnt do it if someone was pressuring me like this.


    "Talk to your Uncle Two again." Fatty saw the head nurseing in and quietly stuffed the cigarette he was holding under my nket before taking out his cell phone, "I recently added a few sellers nearby, but they wonte out. Let''s go shopping by ourselves." I saw some pictures of old porcin on his phone. They were all sea porcin that fishermen had salvaged from the nearby coast. Some were actually well preserved.


    In other words, they were <em>too</em> well preserved. Fatty and I looked at each other, and he gave me a wink. He had already seen it.


    Sea porcin in random inte searches was mostly damaged, so a lot of intact pieces indicated that the whole batch of porcin came from a big sunken ship. This was a big deal. It also meant there might be something better in the seller''s hands.


    ****


    Mondays suck. Here''s a random funny video if you all need a pick-me-up lol

 Book 1: Chapter 77

    Book 1: Chapter 77


    Pingtan was a magical ce full of old, mottled houses with ck tiles and white walls. When we left the hospital, Fatty led the way. We took a ck motorcycle and went through one old vige after another. The motorcycle owner charged us a lot of money and Fatty felt that we were being defrauded. After arguing with the other party for a long time, the motorcycle owner said that he was already showing us consideration. We could take a taxi and see for ourselves. The taxis in this ce made the headlines once they started running the meter.


    I was wearing slippers as Izily wandered into the vige. I could hear the sound of the waves in the distance. The old houses here were densely packed together and many of the old walls were made of stone. There was a stark contrast between the white walls and ck tiles that made both appear especially vivid. After staring at them for a long time, I almost felt as if I was in an ink wash painting.


    Half of the vige was on t ground with the sea on the outskirts, while the other half was on the slope of the reef mountain. We walked up the steps to the vige. As Fatty looked at the house numbers one by one, I began to look over the house eaves at the distant sea. There were some terraces interspersed between the vige and the beach that were covered in dense vegetation. That, coupled with the blue sky and white clouds, made me feel particrly content.


    Fatty asked me why I was so rxed all of a sudden. I told him that I couldnt help rxing when I thought that this next thing had nothing to do with what I had done during the previous half of my life. The past decade was considered an amazing feat, so I had nothing to be dissatisfied with.


    Fatty said that I finally found a reason to forgive myself and that being terrified for my life was the greatest medicine. I cursed at him and asked what he wanted from me.


    Fatty turned his head to light his cigarette and catch his breath before saying to me, "It may have something to do with what happened to you before. Did you know that this ind wasnt called Pingtan Ind before? Do you know what it was called a long time ago?"


    "Haitan Ind. It was also called Zun Ind." I looked at him smugly, wanting to know what other garbage woulde out of his mouth.


    "Pingtan Ind used to be called Qilin Ind," he said faintly.


    I paused as Fatty took out his phone and brought up a picture. It was an aerial view of Pingtan Ind. "What does the ind look like? Do you see it?"


    I took the phone and almost dropped it when I saw the picture.


    The whole t surface of Pingtan Ind was shaped like a Qilin, and its shape was very simr to Poker-Faces tattoo.


    I rubbed my eyes and thought Fatty was lying to me for a moment. I nced at the watermark on the picture and saw that it definitely belonged to a specialized hydrological website. This was a satellite image from the national website.


    "Its a lie." My mind had gonepletely nk.


    Fatty handed me a cigarette and said, "Now you know why your Uncle Two wanted him to stay."


    "Why?"


    "You always suspected that his tattoo was a map. What do you think? Is it possible his tattoo is a map of the South Sea country? Was the South Sea countrys vast underground river territory something that could be managed by memory alone? Fatty asked sternly.


    I lit the cigarette, inhaled the smoke to calm myself down, and remembered that the map of Poker-Faces tattoo had nothing to do with the South Sea country. It was a pattern of another ce.


    Fatty continued, "Don''t forget that Little Brother went to Xisha with your Uncle Three and Qi Yu back then. So, Qi Yu wasn''t the only one who could take your Uncle Three into Falling Cloud Countrys underground territory. Its very likely Little Brother could, too."


    I narrowed my eyes and Fatty hooked his arm around my shoulder. "Little Brother goes roaming around the Fujian mountains and often stays out all night. Hes either sleeping his way through all the viges around us or hes looking for something."


    "What do you mean? Are you saying Little Brother is still hiding something from us? I asked.


    Fatty shook his head, "No, I think the biggest possibility is that he might have found some clues and remembered something when he was traveling in the mountains. Let me give you an example. Say youre walking along and you see a hair salon. You suddenly remember that you slept with a girl a few days ago and didn''t pay her, but you can''t remember who it is. It''s not a big deal, but you''ll think hard about it since it''s haunting you."


    I looked at Fatty''s cell phone and told myself that there was no way this could happen. I had found a ce to live in seclusion and ended up finding Little Brothers memory at the same time.


    But after living so long, he may have memories everywhere.


    There was no denying the fact that Pingtan Inds topography was really amazing. Although they werentpletely identical, the shapes of both Qilin were almost the same. Poker-Faces tattoo was very exaggerated and I had seen it countless times. The outline in my memory was suffocatingly simr to this satellite image.


    "Dont be so tense. Theres one thing you shouldnt forget. Many of your preferences were designed ording to Qi Yu. Think about it. When you chose Fujian, did it just so happen to coincide with Qi Yus habits? Think about it carefully. How did youe up with the idea to stay in Fujian?"


    I thought about it and said with certainty, "It''s because I love to eat ding bian hu (1)."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ding Bian Hu is a characteristic dish of Fuzhou cuisine, a branch of Fujian cuisine, consisting of a rice flour batter poured around the side of a cooking wok to form a thin noodle. Its then scraped into a stock to simmer and served in broth.

 Book 1: Chapter 78

    Book 1: Chapter 78


    "Forget about it. You can carefully recall the memories some other time." Fatty took a hard drag of his cigarette.


    I scratched my head, suddenly feeling that the scenery in front of me wasnt as beautiful as before. As we kept walking, I remembered how the tattoo was obviously a map of Banai. But why was it so simr to this ind?


    Wang Zanghai once built two identical cities. One was located in Yunnan and the other was on the coast. Compared to those two cities, this ind and Guangxi were in a symmetrical geographical location with simr terrain. Was this kind of terrain something God drew with a pen?


    "Is it a coincidence?" I asked Fatty.


    He smiled and said, "Its not like you''re busy. You can study and do some research to pass the time."


    "Don''t you have a preliminary conclusion or something?" I asked. "The fact that youre talking like this shows that youve been thinking about it for a long time. Or, do you have inside information?"


    "Thats not true." Fatty told me he was surprised when he found out. He nced at the address, continued looking at the house numbers, and kept talking, "Maybe you can think about it this way. The Zhang family may have studied this ind. The Zhang familys ancient building in Banai was builtter, but this ind has existed since ancient times. Maybe a Zhang family member had been to this ind and especially liked it here, so he stipted that every Zhang Qiling had to have it tattooed on his chest."


    I thought about it and realized that it was also possible. The Zhang family did have too many unsolved secrets, after all. Fatty arrived in front of a vige house and looked at the house number, "Found it." After he said this, he started knocking on the door while singing, "Im a little flower, Im a little apple (1)."


    After singing a few words, the door was opened and a fat, middle-aged woman with a big smile looked at us, "Did youe here for something?"


    Her Mandarin was fairly standard, so Fatty and I were both relieved. Fatty pulled up his WeChat and showed it to her. The middle-aged woman looked behind us before letting us in.


    There was a courtyard behind the house that was filled with all kinds of snakeskin belts and paper boxes. It seemed to be a ce that helped factories process sticky packaging for boxes. If there were some food factories or small light industrial products factories in the vige, the children and elderly from every household would pick up some work putting the sticky packaging on boxes and bags. A box usually cost anywhere from one to five mao (2), so someone with good skill could subsidize the household.


    I looked at the boxes and found that they seemed to be for some kind of cake. Across the courtyard was the house where the homeowners family slept. There were side rooms located on either side of a small living room in the middle where you could eat. There was no path in the back. Before my eyes could start looking for the goods, the middle-aged woman moved the old wooden cupboard near the inner wall of the small living room. There was a door behind it that was covered in a thick cloth. Once the cloth was pulled aside, we found that there was another courtyard in the back.


    To my surprise, the yard was full of people. Porcin was piled up everywhere except for the ces where people stood. Some people were washing the sea porcin, while the remaining number of people appeared to be customers. They were all very quiet as they ordered goods and watched the porcin washers work.


    "Ha! This shopfront is so big," Fatty winked at me. I had thought small-scale private business was conducted here, but I didn''t realize they had literally opened a wholesale market by the coast.


    The elder sister was particrly skilled as she took out a small notebook that looked like an order pad and wrote two 12s on the page. Then, she tore half of it off and handed it to me before cing the other half in a basket. She used a clip to mp it on the basket and said to us, "When you see a good one, put it in the basket and pay me the money. Well wash it for free."


    I was stunned and looked at Fatty, who muttered, "Why so condescending? She''s acting like she''s superior to others." The woman left without paying us any mind, so Fatty and I began to walk around the piles of barnacle-covered porcin. I wasn''t interested, so I told Fatty to pick them out while I went to see an old man who was washing some of the porcin. As I watched his technique, I realized that he must have made a living washing these kinds of things. He definitely must''ve been washing them for decades.


    At the seaside, everyone did part-time work. Most of those who devoted themselves to making a living like this were old grave robbers, so they had to know a lot about what went on around the ind. There werent many people in front of the old man, so I leaned over to watch him work. He looked at me and I looked back at him before asking, "This technique mustve been around for thirty years, right?"


    "Fifty years." The old man''s ent was very heavy, but I could still understand it. I continued to cozy up to him, "Have you passed it on? It''s a pity that this craft will be lost."


    The old man shook his head. "Unfortunately, the things in the sea are almost gone."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think its this weird one from Chopsticks Bros. It could also be Ha Jingjings song Im Your Little Apple but I couldnt find it.


    (2) One mao (aka jiao) is equal to 1/10 of a yuan or 10 fn


    ****


    <strong><em>I''ve been trying to get on the remote desktop for 2 hours so here''s a bonus chapter I got done in between all my raging lol.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 79

    Book 1: Chapter 79


    With that said, the old man looked at my pants. I was still wearing the pants the hospital had provided. He continued washing the porcin in silence. A lot of the grime had been washed out in the huge footbath before him and there was a basket set beside it.


    I didnt think the old man was very talkative. He was either an introverted person or a cautious one. I couldnt ask anything if it was thetter, but if he was just introverted, then I could make friends with him. I looked at all the porcin the old man had already washed and said to him, "Uncle, I think youre the best washer here. How about you wash my friends?"


    He shook his head, "No, its uniformly distributed."


    "But you wash so well," I said. "I''ll pay you more to wash it. I''ll talk with the boss. Which ones the boss?"


    He didn''t look up as he said leisurely, "No. If everyones like you, the others wont have food on the table and Ill work myself to death."


    "Then I won''t buy it," I said.


    The old man looked at me and then at the other people again before he startedughing, "I can''t force you to buy if you dont want to, now can I?"


    I looked at the people around me and then at the boss, suddenly realizing that I was wrong again. My heart suddenly felt very ufortable. If it was before, I could see most situations clearly at first nce, but now my eyes had be dull. At this time, I realized that it wasnt that I couldnt see it, but that I was toozy to look.


    This old man had a special bearing, he was the best porcin washer here, and one could tell at a nce that he was an old treasure hunter. The others werent as old as him and they werent acting as leisurely as he was.


    I had also asked who the boss was. The old man was actually the owner of this ce, hiding among the crowd and doing the lowest form of work. Those who washed porcin here probably didnt even know that the old man was their boss.


    The old treasure hunter hid among these people by the sea and used his knowledge to carefully select quality goods. It was no wonder nothing had happened for more than thirty years.


    I looked around, pulled a nearby chair over, and sat down. The old man was unmoved and concentrated on washing. I whispered to him, "How much is left in the sea? I''ll take it. Your boss has to give me some VIP treatment."


    The old man shook the water off the porcin andpletely ignored me. I put my hand on his thigh and squeezed, "I know the rules. Ill make an offer on WeChat."


    When the old man looked down at my hand, I quickly retracted it. "Do you love talking nonsense? He asked me. I just wash things. If you want to buy something, go look for the boss."


    I made an understanding expression and asked, "Speaking of which, do you know why this ind is called Qilin Ind? Do you know any of the legends? I pointed to Fatty, "My boss always wants to know these kinds of things."


    The old man wiped his hands on his apron and asked me, "Where are you from?"


    "Hangzhou."


    "Do you know why Hangzhou is called Hangzhou?"


    I was at a loss for words. Someone came over to get the baskets and the old man handed them out one by one before he turned to drive me away, "I can''t wash fast with you sitting here. Go away." With that said, he poured the dirty water out at my feet.


    I immediately jumped up and dodged it. Although the discussion seemed fruitless, I had actually determined that the old man wasnt introverted, but very cautious. Once I thought about it, it didnt make sense for a grave robbing veteran of more than thirty years to be introverted. I was clearly out of my mind.


    I went back to Fatty and saw that he had picked out seven or eight baskets of things. I looked at the price and realized that it was almost all the money he had on hand. I told him to take it easy since the market for porcin fished out from the sea had been uncertain recently. He might end up shooting himself in the foot. Fatty said it was fine and paid for it. When we got back to the hospital, we saw that Uncle Two''s people hade and were helping us with the discharge procedures.


    After that, I moved to a seaside guesthouse that only cost forty yuan a night. The inside had been converted into a mahjong room.


    That was where I saw Liu Sang again.


    He was leaning against the hotel lobbys balcony alone and looking out at the sea. I didnt see Uncle Two or Poker-Face, but ording to Uncle Twos men, they had alreadye up and were waiting for something at the beach.


    When Fatty and I walked over to Liu Sang, Fatty kicked him, "Cocky brat, how dare you show up."


    Liu Sang continued staring at the ck horizon without looking at us and said, "It''s going to thunder soon."

 Book 1: Chapter 80: Old Age

    Book 1: Chapter 80: Old Age


    I looked at the turbulent sea and couldnt help thinking that the storm clouds hovering just off shore were very scary. They still looked like a ck line now, but once they hit shore, they would look like huge, dark tsunami clouds. We could clearly see the clouds boundaries due to the rain and lightning hanging under them and the sunshine at the edge.


    Liu Sang looked at his watch and grabbed the air with his hand. "There are still ten minutes."


    "What the fuck are you trying to do? You want to lie to us again? Fatty asked angrily.


    Liu Sang didn''t look at him, but quietly continued, "Do you think I''d bothering if Wu Erbai only paid me to lie to you? You guys are really used to thinking you''re so special. Those thirty hours were merely dessert. I have serious things to do."


    Fatty looked at me and grinned, "This pretentious prick is definitely your Uncle Two''s son. Otherwise, he wouldn''t dare act like this in front of you."


    I looked at Liu Sang. He was sitting upright and still, his whole being exuding an extremely calm aura. I waved my hand. Liu Sang seemed to be in his element, so I wanted to see what he was up to.


    Fatty and I sat next to him, but Liu Sang never turned his attention to us again. He watched the storm clouds approach bit by bit and then slowly removed the tarp that was sitting off to the side. It had been covering a shrine with a god inside.


    Liu Sang stood up and put the shrine where he had been sitting just now. He then lit three short incense sticks and knelt down. Countless lighting strikes exploded from the dark clouds behind the shrine.


    "Little Brother kneels to the mountain and he kneels to the thunder. This is fucking giarism, Fatty started to whisper to me. But just before he finished, a loud crack of thunder drowned out his voice and the heavy rain came pouring down. The sound of the rain hitting the sea was so loud that it distorted any sounds that reached our ears.


    Liu Sang finished paying his respects and then took out a clipboard from under the shrine and walked to the beach. Oil paper (1) sat on top of the clipboard, which he used to shield his head.


    Fatty looked at me, but I shook my head. I wanted to stay here and keep out of the rain.


    As the dark clouds continued approaching, more loud thunderps soon began reaching us at the hotel. The clouds were hanging very low over the beach, the windows were shaking, and it felt so good to see the lightning like this. The thunder was rumbling in such a way that people needed to be in this kind of environment in order to fully understand what "rumble" actually meant. It waspletely dark now.


    I looked at the dark clouds and remembered the countless times when I had focused my attention on listening to thunder. Then I looked at Liu Sang in the heavy rain and suddenly felt a kind of empathy well up within me.


    Fatty was praying on the other side of me, "Strike this grandson to death, strike this grandson to death."


    I walked into the rain and headed for Liu Sang, which startled Fatty a little bit.


    The distance was only thirty steps, but the cold rain immediately soaked my neck as I rushed out into it. It was my first time seeing the dark clouds so low, and I almost felt as if I could reach out and touch the lightning. I looked up and let the heavy rain hit my face.


    The impact of the falling raindrops as they hit my face one by one was so heavy that it actually hurt. At that time, I suddenly understood something.


    I walked to Liu Sang''s side. Every time the thunder sounded, he tilted his right ear to the sky and then immediately turned and tilted his left ear up. His eyes were vacant, and when the lightning shed, I couldnt see a trace of spirit in them. His hand moved quickly over the oil paper, leaving a lot of marks that I couldn''t make sense of.


    I looked at him and also began listening to the thunder in the sky. The thunder sounded strange and waspletely unlike anything I had heard before.


    I continued to listen as I looked at Liu Sang standing amid the huge shes of lightning.


    I realized that it wasnt weariness that made me lose my original caution and fear, but an imperceptible conceit that made me look down on life and death. I could no longer feel thepassion and empathy from the old days. In fact, it was what I had been trying to find in recent years. Too many memories, too many experiences, and too many reincarnations made it easy for to me calm down in any situation.


    My grandfather said that wise men were always confident that mountains werent mountains and water wasnt water just because thats what they looked like. At that time, I just thought my grandfather was idolizing Zhang Qishan too much.


    Later, I realized that this was on a whole different level. It basically meant that people always resisted the bad things and tried to see through the truth. But some people said that mountains were mountains and water was water because thats what they saw.


    I suddenly hugged my head and fled back to Fatty''s side at the hotel. "What are you doing? He asked me. Whyd youe and go like that? Did you get scared?"


    "You have to take cover when it rains," I said.


    "Youre practically beaming. When you were listening to the thunder just now, did you hear a cry of ecstasy?" Fatty asked.


    "Wheres the nearest vegetable market?" I asked him. Fatty was bewildered for a moment, so I had to exin myself, "Well cook dinner for Uncle Two and the others."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Paper made translucent and waterproof by soaking in oil.

 Book 1: Chapter 81

    Book 1: Chapter 81


    Uncle Two really liked to eat lotus roots, but the vegetable market here was mostly seafood and many dishes werent good. Fortunately, Fatty and I were good at cooking. We bought a lot of things and brought them back to the guesthouse''s kitchen, cooking three tables worth of food. My arms were very strong, so I could use the big spat in the kitchen. Fatty was actually on the same level as a chef, so he ced the green onions, ginger, garlic, and taro (1) into the thick, sweet and sour fish head soup to simmer. Although the total amount of dishes wasnt much, the wine on the three tables made it look like there was.


    Fatty was smoking a cigarette while cutting vegetables, "You dont really want to go back to Hangzhou and open a restaurant, do you? I won''t go into business with you."


    I dried my hands on my apron and said to him, "I have to get my shop back. Ive already figured it out. I used to be soft and would beg for help, but now Im too hardened. I often thought there wasnt anything I couldnt do since I went to fucking pick up Poker-Face, but now I think that way of thinking is wrong."


    Fatty put down the kitchen knife and smiled, "Its good you know that now. We can always send Little Brother back to the bronze door, pick him up, and send him back again in the future. Now thats what I call an amazing feat."


    <em>Are you saying hes a fucking piston?</em> I thought to myself.


    At that moment, things outside started to get noisy. I walked out of the kitchen and saw Uncle Two and his people approaching. They were covered in mud and looked tired, but I could see that they were in a good mood. Many of the guys were even whistling and goofing off.


    The floor was soon covered in wet footprints. When Liu Sang came out of the shower, Uncle Two asked him, "Did you hear the thunder?"


    Liu Sang nced at Fatty, nodded, and then sneezed.


    I walked over to Uncle Two and said, "Uncle Two, I figured it out. Youre right. I cooked enough food for three tables. Consider it logistics tofort my brothers."


    I saw Poker-Face follow the group in. Fatty patted him and told him to take a quick shower. Uncle Two looked into the dining room, "Are your eyes alright?"


    "Everything''s fine. Anyways, I admit defeat. I figured it out, Uncle Two."


    "If everything''s fine, then whats with that mischievous look?" Uncle Two walked into the dining room, picked up two tes of vegetables and a bottle of wine from the table, and then headed for his room, "If you''ve really thought this through, we''ll talk again. Im tired and want to rest."


    I watched the other guys nod to me and then head into the dining room to grab the food and wine. Soon, only half of the three tables were left.


    Fatty became angry, "Let''s eat together! Why take the food away? Youre not giving me any face!"


    "Were going to rest," one of the guys said.


    Fatty tore off his apron. "What the hell does that mean? I''m not some delivery guy!"


    "Uncle Two doesn''t want them to talk in case they let slip some important clues. Hes afraid Ill overhear them, so they wont sit at the table if were here. I also tore off my apron. I had been thinking the exact same thing. I knew I could hear some clues once they got talking, but Uncle Two was very familiar with me. He would even know what I atest night as soon as I showed my butt.


    With half the table left, we decided to bring it back to our room. Little Brother took a shower and then the three of us ate in silence.


    Fatty was picking at his feet while drinking and looking out the window. The rain clouds were still outside and lightning shed from time to time, but the rain wasnt as heavy as before.


    "Little Brother, what did you do down there for so long?" He suddenly asked Poker-Face.


    Poker-Face took out his cell phone and put it in front of Fatty.


    Fatty turned it on and began looking through the photos. He seemed surprised by what he saw. Then he realized that I was still eating silently. "Don''t you want to have a look?"


    "Ill lookter." I nced out the window and noticed that something was wrong. I could see the beach outside from this angle, where a group of people had started gathering at some unknown point.


    I stood up and turned off the lights in the room. There were a lot of shadows standing on the beach and they were walking right towards our guesthouse. They all looked especially creepy in their ponchos.


    Fatty also saw them and asked me what was going on. I squinted and realized that the old man who had been washing porcin during the day was heading the group.


    "Did you pay for that sea porcin today?"


    "It should be paid up." Fatty also stood up.


    "Did you do anything that would make others want to seek revenge?" I asked him.


    Fatty touched his chin, "I don''t think so"


    I quickly looked around the room, kicked my stool until it broke apart, tossed part of it to Fatty, and kept the other part for myself. I then turned to Fatty and Poker-Face and said, "It doesnt look like theyre here to discuss business."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its basically a root vegetable. It apparently tastes much like a sweet potato, doesn''t fall apart when cooked, and soaks up vor like a sponge. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry dears, 1 tonight (and a cliffie too hehehehehe). I got sucked into watching "Ancient Detective" on Viki. It''s SO GOOD. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 82

    Book 1: Chapter 82


    Fatty looked out the window behind me and asked me how many people there were. I gave him a rough estimate of more than forty people. Fatty exhaled, looked at the stick in his hand, and said to me, "It''ll be a tough battle."


    I narrowed my eyes. Thest time I had the pleasure of fighting like this was at Crescent Hotel when I had to make a good escape. Fatty had been the meat shield and Poker-Faces output was very urate. That was when we were in the best condition. I remembered that there had been at least thirty people who were beaten down at the time. But the terrain back then wasplex, while the terrain here was so t you could gallop a horse across it. We would definitely be in trouble if we were surrounded.


    Fatty leaned against the window and said to me, "Go out and hold them off first. I''ll run to the kitchen where there are better weapons. Look, there must be something in their ponchos. Our flesh isnt made of iron. Ill bring the weapons and meet you on the road by the gate. Well run over and start fighting."


    I looked outside. We still had some time before they found us. Uncle Two was in another room and I didnt know if I should alert his people. Fatty waved his hand, "People will die."


    I thought so, too. Uncle Two''s guys were all ouws, so they might really end up killing those people if they went out to fight them. I nced at Poker-Face, who was looking at the door with his head tilted. I didnt know what he was looking at.


    I also nced at the door, but I still hadnt figured out the situation yet. At that moment, someone kicked down the door and two or three people rushed in. They had iron hooks in their hands that were as long as their arms.


    <em>Fuck me, its a diversion</em>, I secretly cursed. The people outside had attracted our attention while the others had already reached the door. Poker-Face grabbed an iron hook with one hand, moved forward, and pushed his elbow directly into the persons chest. The man made a muffled sound and tried to retreat, but Poker-Face smacked him in the head, causing him to immediately bump into one of the other people. Poker-Face then grabbed the hook and instantly used it to knock the third person to the ground before they even knew what was happening.


    In a short period of time, those three people fell to the ground and then five more people rushed in. But the room wasnt that big, so it was instantly packed. Poker-Face turned and threw the hook out, hitting one of them on the forehead. Two people went up and tried to grab him, but fell to the ground instantly, not knowing what happened.


    It was only in that moment that Fatty and I finally reacted. We went up and grabbed thest two people''s necks one by one. Fatty and I moved the heads towards each other until they collided. The two men immediately fell to the ground and clutched their heads, crying in pain.


    The people outside didn''t immediatelye in. Based on how ordinary people thought, they probably believed that the three of us had been killed when the eight people started fighting us in the narrow space.


    I saw the old man outside start to light a kerosenemp. It seemed he had something to say. He probably thought that he would gain victory and was confident that the people who came in could stop us.


    The three of us looked at each other. Fatty took a deep breath before picking up two of the men and tossing them over his shoulders. "Ah, its been a long time since I got to be so badass," he said.


    I lit a cigarette. Maybe it was the wine just now, but I also went up and slung two of them over my shoulders. Fatty turned to Poker-Face, "Little Brother, dont drop the ball. Stay in formation."


    Fatty pushed the door open, and under the watchful eyes of more than forty people, the two of us walked out with four stunned people over our shoulders. I was still smoking a cigarette and suddenly felt as if Dagger Society Suite (1) was ringing in my ears.


    I looked back at Poker-Face. He hadn''t listened at all and followed us out. Fatty sighed and threw his two people into the pools of rainwater on the beach. I also threw my people away and then the three of us walked side by side to the stunned old man.


    "Theyll definitely try to cate uster. Do you want to ept it?" Fatty quietly asked.


    "Ive been in a bad mood recently. I dont want to be cated." I rubbed my waistthose two men had been a little heavyand took a hard drag of my cigarette. Those forty people were slow to react and all leaned towards the old man.


    I was all too familiar with fighting. Those guys just now were the main force and were probably their best fighters. I figured that most of these forty-odd people were just here for show. I grinned and startedughing, feeling as if all the unease in my heart was finally being released.


    "Take the initiative to attack," I said quietly. At that moment, it felt as if I had returned to the desert. The three of us suddenly elerated and rushed to the front of those forty people.


    We must have looked like evil spirits at that time, because those forty people stepped back in an instant.


    After drinking that wine earlier and running the thirty steps to stand in front of those forty people, Fatty and I couldn''t breathe. We stopped and gasped for breath while those forty people stood there and watched us.


    Poker-Face stopped and handed me a bottle of water.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a song featured in Kung Fu Hustle but was actually written in 1959 for a historical dance-drama based on the Dagger Society, an anti-Qing secret society who mounted an unsessful rebellion in 1855. Youtube link here.

 Book 1: Chapter 83

    Book 1: Chapter 83


    After I finished drinking the water, I felt my lungs spasm. Drinking and smoking had really affected my endurance. After wiping the water from my mouth, I felt all my fierce strength disappear. Those forty-odd people continued looking at us, but still didn''t react. While I was trying to catch my breath and recover my strength, the old man pointed at Fatty and said something that I didn''t catch. It was only then that the forty people reacted and quickly surrounded us.


    I once again heard Dagger Society Suite ringing in my ears. I put down the water bottle and formed a triangle with Fatty and Poker-Face for an all-round defense.


    The people walking in front moved to pull us away from each other, but the three of us squatted in tacit understanding, stuck our hands in the sand, and threw fistfuls of sand out. While those people used their hands to protect their eyes, I rushed forward and hit one of them in the throat with the rod I had broken off the stool earlier. As I pushed the guy to the ground, the people nearby instantly grabbed my clothes and tried to hold me down. There was no way for ordinary people to resist under such circumstances, especially when they were outnumbered. People who were alone often ended up suppressed rather than defeated.


    But I was different. I knocked the hands off with my wooden rod and pushed one of the men who tried to grab me on his own. As the both of us fell to the ground, I elbowed him in the chin hard. He instantly bit his tongue and his mouth filled with blood. I rolled over and used my hand to grab more sand, quickly throwing it into the eyes of the two people who hade over to help him.


    It was toote for them to protect their eyes and they howled in pain when the sand hit. But more people immediately rushed up. I turned around and got ready to run, but someone hade up from behind to block me. I threw the rod in my hand. The man quickly dodged, so I took the chance to make my escape.


    As I moved forward, I could see that Fatty and the others had broken up long ago. If there were more people pitted against a smaller number of people, then it was necessary to engage in gueri warfare. Just now, those four people had basically lost the battle. Fatty could probably handle five or six and Poker-Face could handle ten at a time, so we could take care of half of them in an instant.


    But before I had ran a few steps, I tripped over something in the sand. As I stumbled and almost facented, the people behind me rushed over. I flicked my hand and pretended to toss more sand out, but the other side instantly threw their own sand at me. I immediately dodged and turned to continue running, thinking that they had really learned quickly. At that moment, something flew right at me and knocked me to the ground. When I got up, I found that it was a man Fatty had kicked. I looked around and realized that six or seven people had surrounded me. An iron hook flew right at me, but I dodged sideways and it ended up hooking my clothes instead. They wanted to drag me down again, so I conveniently dropped to the ground. But instead of pulling the iron hook off, I rolled over in the sand and instantly took off my clothes. I then grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and used this makeshift meteor hammer to hit the temple of the man who wanted to attack me again.


    The impact of the iron hook on his skull made a terrifying sound and the man crumpled to the ground with a thud. <em>Five</em>, I said to myself as I pulled the iron hook back into my hand. All the others who were rushing up immediately stopped.


    I was panting heavily and my physical strength was exhausted. This kind of fighting was the most intense exercise in the world. Fighting continuously for more than ten minutes was something that could only be done by film editing, after all.


    But I had managed to beat down five people in only twenty seconds. It was absolutely impossible for ordinary people withoutbat training not to be shocked by this. Their instincts were probably telling them that I was dangerous.


    Group fights were especially intense and those who came with a fighting mentality usually couldnt maintain it until the end.


    Sure enough, just as I expected, those people looked at each other and didnt daree near me again. I was finally able to catch my breath and stand up properly, only to find that they werent looking at me. I nced back and saw Fatty and Poker-Face carrying the old man behind me.


    The old man had a terrifyingly huge swollen lump on his head. I didn''t know what had happened, but it seemed that they had gotten straight to the point.


    Fatty dragged the old man over to me and wrapped his arm around the old man''s neck. Everyone around us immediately began to retreat.


    The three of us dragged the old man and slowly returned to our room.


    Those other people we had beaten down earlier had just woken up. Fatty threw them out one by one and then put the old man in front of the table. "What''s going on? I asked him. I''ll spare you if you make it clear."


    The old man looked at Fatty, unable to speak. Fatty was a little embarrassed. At that moment, I noticed that the old man seemed to be holding something in his hand.


    ****


    <strong><em>Meh, it''s Friday. I have no will to do anything after the week I''ve had lol. I might get more der, might not. But at least this should tide you over if I don''t </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 84

    Book 1: Chapter 84


    Fatty was sharp-eyed and also noticed that the old man had something in his hand. He moved to break the old man''s grip on it, but the old man was stubborn and refused to let go. He hadnt dared struggle before, but now he was putting up a fight. I pulled Fatty away and told him not to be so violent.


    The light in the corridor outside was streaming in and barely illuminating us. Those outside couldn''t clearly see what was going on inside. There were many people out there, but I had basically already figured out their skills. Based on their level, they wouldnt dare rush in.


    The old man seemed to wilt, as if he didn''t know what to do. When I looked at him, it was almost like I was looking at myself. The old grave robber mustve been awesome back in the day and it had probably been quite a long time since anyone had challenged him. The old man was as stubborn as an ox as he got older and was no longer aware of himself. But he didnt know it, so someone had to knock some sense into him before he would realize it.


    Now the old man was probably unable to mesh the reality with his self-awareness. I poured him some wine and asked again, "What''s going on? Come on, I''m here on travel and dont want to have any grudges. Lets make it clear, how did we offend you?"


    The old man looked between me and Fatty and asked me, "What did you do with the things in the boat?"


    I frowned. The old man took a sip of wine and bolstered his courage, "You two were at my ce this afternoon and kept asking about the boat. When we went into the water tonight, everything in the boat had disappeared. Did you do it?"


    Fatty nced at me. I thought for a moment and immediately understood what the old man was saying. I had seen so many of those sea porcin pieces earlier and suspected that the old man must have found a whole sunken ship in the sea. The porcin in the boat wouldnt be that valuable, so I wanted to buy it all up, exchange arge order for the old man''s trust, and get some information about Qilin Ind. As a result, the old man thought I didn''t know that he was the boss and was trying to sniff out the information on the boats location.


    I figured Fatty had done something simr, so the both of us asking about it really seemed suspicious. The old man went out to sea to salvage the goods after sunset, only to find that everything in the boat was gone. They thought we had been inquiring about it in order to screw them over.


    This seemed like a reasonable conclusion, but we had been buying food and cooking ever since we came back. Fatty clicked his tongue in sympathy and said, "Old man, do you think were the type of people to do such things? How much money could you get for this shipment? Brother, the three of us can even afford to keep buying everything from you for half a year. Just ask the boss here. Weve been cooking all night and never went out. To tell you the truth, were antique lovers and cooks. If you dont believe me, just smell my sleeves. Theyre covered in oil."


    The old man dodged Fatty''s sleeve and Fatty said to him, "Tell all your rotten sweet potatoes and smelly melons to go back first." With that said, he took out a business card and passed it to the old man.


    "Now, people who jie hu (1) others never give out business cards. Let''s make friends. You can take care of Beijings Fat King when there are good products in the future. Come on.


    The old man looked at us doubtfully and then nced at the business card, "Didn''t you do it?"


    The three of us gave him a sincere smile. "First, it''s not us. You can even ask the hotel owner. Second, you really can''t beat us. There are more than twenty guys like us in the rooms on the other side. You should leave as soon as possible, I said.


    The old man thought for a moment before he stood up and took a step towards the door. When he saw that we really didn''t want to stop him, he immediately ran to the door.


    The people outside gathered around him as soon as he came out. We followed him out to the corridor and I lit a cigarette and leaned against the door to watch them.


    "Shouldnt he pay for the door and clothes?" Fatty asked.


    "Forget about it, I whispered. Hell suffer when he goes back."


    After the old mans battle tonight, I was afraid his foundation here would be shaken. Too many people had seen his stupid and cowardly appearance.


    The old man looked at us and then his eyes suddenly moved. I turned and saw Uncle Two and his mening out. When I turned my head back again, the old man had withdrawn.


    Uncle Two came to stand beside me and I said to him, "Were not the only ones on the ind. There are also experts here. Is it a coincidence?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mahjong term meaning to win by priority. Basically, stealing a winning tile from another yer who also needs it to win due to rules of priority. I guess you could think of it as stealing it right out from underneath their noses.


    ****


    <strong><em>Surprise! You all can thank my mom for calling me and distracting me from "Mr. Queen". In the end, I got motivated to get this out lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 85

    Book 1: Chapter 85


    Uncle Two gave me a nk look, "Experts?"


    "The old mans a treasure hunter here, I whispered to him. His goods in the sea were intercepted tonight."


    "Why are you so interested in other people''s business? Did you do it? Uncle Two asked me.


    I gave a wry smile, "I''m not in the mood."


    Uncle Two patted me, "Come to my room."


    I looked back at Fatty and Poker-Face and said to them, "You guys can go to sleep first."


    I followed Uncle Two back to his room, which had two twin beds in it. He stayed with one of his old buddies all year round. This guys name was Er Jing and he had a speech impediment. Although he could talk, it was a veryborious process for him. He was a native of Gansu. Even though he was over forty years old, his whole body still looked very capable of giving out a beating.


    No one knew why Uncle Two always brought Er Jing with him. Many people said that Er Jing had studied martial arts. Although he wasn''t good at talking, he was good at fighting. Others said that Er Jings tongue got injured while he was helping my Uncle Two, and Uncle Two had taken care of him ever since.


    There werent any legends about Er Jing. In other words, no one had seen Er Jing fight and no one had heard Uncle Two mention him. All anyone knew was that Er Jing always stayed in the same room as Uncle Two.


    Uncle Two was an extremely cautious person, so I could only think that he trusted Er Jing a lot. When I entered Uncle Two''s room, Er Jing was dividing lots (1). This was Uncle Twos unique rule. He wasnt directly involved in any of these businesses. Uncle Two was a serious person who worked in both the light and the dark. The only thing he would get involved in was mediating between people. In fact, Uncle Two was one of the Nine Gates who still had actual power to hold mediations. If there was any dispute, Uncle Two would participate as a neutral third party. As a result, his prestige was very high among the so-called thorns in the business. Many people would find Uncle Two first for many particrly controversial issues. If Uncle Two already said something, then the others wouldnt dare challenge him. At the beginning of every year, Uncle Two would prepare thirty-two lots soaked in tung oil and let those in the Nine Gates buy them. These lots indicated that he would onlye out thirty-two times a year.


    As a result, Uncle Two''s lots were a specialmodity. If all thirty-two were sold and you still wanted Uncle Two toe out, you had to see if he wanted anything from you. Many people were willing to work for Uncle Two in order to get a lot.


    Er Jing pulled out seven or eight lots, which were probably for the people who went down to the South Sea Kings tomb this time. I touched my chin and wondered if I could turn my personal abilities into a currency-like equivalent that could be cashed out directly. Uncle Two''s brain was really amazing. Since Uncle Two may not actually have to go out thirty-two times a year and the signatures became invalid at the New Year, my dad said Uncle Two was actually an insurance salesman.


    We sat down and Uncle Two brought out a tea set. The tea had already been steeped several times, so when I took a sip of the proffered cup, I found that the taste was no longer strong.


    "What happened just now? He asked me. Tell me in detail."


    I knew Uncle Two had other things to tell me and was just using this method to ease us into the topic. I didn''t dare push him directly and recounted everything that had happened in the afternoon. Er Jing had been listening in and raised his head. Uncle Two nced at him. The both of them suddenly smiled, as if they had found it very interesting. Uncle Two took out a small notebook and wrote the incident down in it.


    It was all in a code Uncle Two had invented himself and no one could understand it. It was said the characters were based on "engraved mother coins" (2).


    When he was done, he closed the notebook and casually asked me, "You already know about the shop, dont you?"


    I nodded and sighed, "I wanted to discuss it with you. Ill listen to you, but can I at least have the shop back? After all those years, I also have feelings for it."


    "If I let you keep the shop, that means you get to keep your foundation. Your temperament is just like Third Brothers. You go back there to sleep for three days and thene up with another hairbrained idea. Your parents are getting older. You didnt get yourself killed when you were young, so now that you''re older, you''re being willful if you''re still trying to get yourself killed." Uncle Two looked at me, "You werent born to me, so I honestly don''t care what happens to you. But before my father died, he told me to take care of my brothers. I can''t control Third Brother, but I can at least take care of your father. Little Xie, those who live to a certain age and worry their parents dont do it out ofck of conscience, but out of ipetence."


    I knew what Uncle Two meant. He was closing the shop to reassure my parents.


    When I didnt say anything, Uncle Two continued, "No matter what lengths you go to, how many people call you Little Master Three, or how far you travel, its me and your grandmother who take care of your parents. Now that your shop is gone, consider it your retribution. Do you understand?


    I looked at Uncle Two and found that his eyes were very cold. I felt for my pack of cigarettes, took one out, and lit it. Even though more than a dozen years had passed, my parents didn''t interfere with my life very much. I always did whatever I wanted and my parents didn''t stop me. But they mustve been worried. Things had slowly umted to this point and I knew I wouldnt be able to get through Uncle Two and my grandma.


    I nodded, "I think so. Just do what you want."


    Uncle Two''s eyes softened a little, "I know you dont want to open a restaurant. What do you want to do?"


    "Write something. Take pictures," I said casually. "If things don''t work out, I''ll be a Didi driver. I hear it''s not bad."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Think along the lines of inscribed bamboo sticks


    (2) Also known as ancestor coins. They were hand-carved mother coins, which were used as a model to print money after they got approved. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Damn, Wu Xie. You need some ointment for that burn? lol. Uncle Two is straight up savage. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 86

    Book 1: Chapter 86


    Uncle Two smiled and took out a notebook from the bag beside him. I flipped through it and found that it was a handwritten copy of Grandpa''s notebook, but it was a lot thicker than the original.


    I had read Grandpa''s notes countless times. I didnt know what Uncle Twos intention was, but I read a few pages and found that he had made a lot of notes. There were also a lot of cheat sheets, pictures, and newspaper clippings of various ages stuck inside. Three new notebooks had been bound at the back with quilt stitches, just like how they used to bind old newspapers. The three notebooks contained all of Uncle Two''s notes over the past few years. It was voluminous and obviously contained all kinds of information from this field.


    The earliest copied book was at the front and was at least thirty years old. The paper was all yellow, but Uncle Two was so meticulous that every page in it was well preserved. There wasnt even a single crease.


    I swallowed, remembering that time during my childhood when I folded the cover of Uncle Twos magazine and was beaten by him.


    "The clues about Third Brother that Ive researched for so many years are recorded in here. You can have a look when youre free and let me know if you find something. As Uncle Two spoke, he took out a folder and threw it to me, "This is the report on the South Sea Kings tomb. If I find somethingter, Ill tell you first. I wont hide it from you."


    I didn''t open it. I had all kinds of mixed feelings in my heart as I thought to myself, <em>it wouldnt be surprising if you did hide it from me.</em> But I didn''t want to turn down this unexpected gift, so I said to him, "Your Majesty is so understanding."


    Uncle Twoughed. I remembered one thing and figured I might as well ask directly since I had alreadye to this point, "This ce is also called Qilin Ind. Does it have anything to do with the Zhang family?"


    Uncle Two shook his head, "It appears to be a coincidence. Even if it does have something to do with the Zhang family, it should be rted to the South Sea countrys underground water system. We don''t dare go too far this time. You can ask Li Cu and those two boys to help you check it out. We dont have time to be distracted."


    I took the notes and materials and moved to leave, but Uncle Two suddenly said from behind me, "Go back to Hangzhou tomorrow to see your parents and talk to them about this matter."


    I gave a nomittal hum and said, "Uncle Two, dont disappear." Then I walked out without looking back.


    When I got back to my room, I stayed silent all night. I didn''t even read the notebook or the information Uncle Two had given me. We left Pingtan the next day. I felt a little more rxed as we went on our way. Fatty and Poker-Face went back to Rain Vige while I went back to Hangzhou and told my parents about the shop, which made them very happy. Wang Meng helped me pack up the goods and move them out to my own small house. After operating in this business for so many years, it was already full of various sundries. Some of the goods went to Fattys shop in Panjiayuan to be sold, while others remained piled up with me. It made my small house seem even more cramped.


    When the door closed, Wang Meng cried a lot. Although Uncle Two had promised to let him continue working as the concierge after he took over and his sry had increased a lot, he said he couldn''t bear thinking of me as a former boss.


    After that, he went to Uncle Two for training. Based on his WeChat Moments, he was learning a lot.


    Iy in my humble abode for a while before deciding to gather all the information I had. I first read through the information on the South Sea Kings tomb that Uncle Two had given me.


    I flipped through a few pages and saw a very clear picture of the murals. I turned on myputer and looked at the murals I had photographed. Uncle Two had already photographed those murals, but it didnt seem like they had done it much earlier than us. When we arrived in Fujian and were intercepted by Uncle Two on the road, his men were already down in the South Sea Kings tomb. They must have taken the route Uncle Three took at that time.


    I was already very fast, but it appeared that Uncle Two was much faster. It was probably because Jin Wantang went to Uncle Two to get thend money and ended up spilling the whole story. In other words, Uncle Two wasnt much earlier than me, he just moved very fast.


    But where did Uncle Two get Uncle Three''s route into the South Sea country?


    I was certain Uncle Two hadnt been to Yang Daguang''s tomb, but we had wasted so much time there that he ended up leaving us behind.


    There were also a lot of pictures of the old weather station, which meant Uncle Two had gone there and taken a lot of photos. A few of the pictures had special marks on them, which were the walls of the secret reception room that Yang Daguang had died in.


    Uncle Two had shoveled away the putty on the walls, revealing several murals. It was clear at a nce that these murals also came from the South Sea Kings tomb. Yang Daguang had hidden these murals behind the reception room''s walls.


    I pped myself, <em>so careless!</em>


    I immediately leaned in to take a closer look.

 Book 1: Chapter 87

    Book 1: Chapter 87


    Theposition of those murals was very peculiar and I figured they had been painted on the ceiling of the South Sea Kings tomb. I hadnt paid any attention to them before. There were several silver rivers painted on the murals with ships sailing on them. From time to time, there were dragon towers and halls painted above the river, as well as wharf cargo stations. I covered my mouth. At that time, I had been shocked by Uncle Three''s reappearance and made a huge mistake in not noticing that there was something wrong with the walls.


    If I had noticed this at the time, I wouldn''t have gone to Yang Daguang''s ancestral grave and couldve gone directly to the South Sea King''s tomb. I wouldnt have had to blow the mud up or be beaten by Uncle Two.


    But after thinking about it, I realized it wasnt necessarily a bad thing. Iforted myself as I connected all the causes and effects. Uncle Two probably realized that I wasnt in a good state after I didn''t find something strange with the reception rooms walls. Then, I made at least ten wrong decisions right in front of him.


    I continued looking through the information. On the seashore by Pingtan Inds Liushui Town, Uncle Two and the others had found a hole near Xianren Well (1). The hole was the air outlet of an underground river, which led all the way into the underground river system.


    I picked up my e-cigarette and noticed that Liu Sang hadnt been in the team at that time. It seemed that his appearance was rted to Uncle Two''s next n. He probably only went down into the South Sea Kings tomb with us just to get close to his idol.


    Before entering the South Sea Kings tomb, Uncle Two had noticed that there was something wrong with the pigment on the reception rooms murals.


    The information that followed after that was Uncle Two''s detailed analysis of the murals in the main tomb chamber. His research was much more rigorous than mine and I felt a little ufortable when I saw the numerous annotations on the edge of the photos. Because the surrounding environment wasnt the shop I had been familiar with for so many years, I couldnt seem to focus enough to read. A strange, cold feeling seemed to prate deep into my bones from my little room.


    I hid in my bed and curled up in the corner where the bed met the wall like I used to do when I was reading novels as a child. I then stuffed a pillow behind my back and went on reading.


    I saw the mural depicting the construction of the South Sea Kings tomb. The mural was full of people in the sky, but Uncle Two had circled a strange figure among them. Not only was this figure different from the many figures in the series of murals, but it was even different from the immortals on the immortal boat in the sky. This person had been scalped and a bunch of holes were made in the exposed skull.


    This man wasnt dressed fancy, but wore ordinary clothes as he directed the workers to build. The immortals were beating drums above as dark clouds gathered. At that time, the South Seas King Zhi had obviously scalped his ministers or ves and done something to their skulls so that they could hear the thunder more clearly. The South Sea King was probably obsessed by that point.


    "This South Sea Kings tomb was built by listening to thunder," I muttered to myself as I looked out the window at the cloudy day outside. If there really was such specific information in the thunder, then what secret was the immortal boat passing down that day?


    It was definitely impossible, but I suddenly had an idea. Uncle Three and the others got inspiration from the South Sea Kings tomb. In the end, they listened to thunder everywhere. It wasnt like I wanted to work recently anyways, so could I also chase thunderclouds? Maybe there was something special there.


    Other than being struck by lightning, it wasnt like there was any special danger in chasing thunderstorms. And the cost was very low, so I could handle it myself.


    I suddenly thought of Liu Sang. In addition to listening to thunder and looking for underground tombs, Liu Sang also had a powerful ability: he could chase thunderclouds. Was it as I thought and Uncle Twos next job for him was to chase thunderclouds?


    When I thought of this, I decided to check the weather forecast. Unfortunately, it wasnt going to storm in Hangzhou any time soon. I decided to put the idea aside for now and continue looking through the information. Uncle Two had taken a lot of close-ups of the next mural. I looked carefully and found that I wasnt supposed to be looking at these close-up details of the mural, but at the numerous pencil marks that were there. These marks were the result of someone carelessly copying the mural.


    Uncle Two''s note read: This was the only mural copied back then.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Xianren= Daoist immortal/celestial being. Here are some pictures. Some other travelers posted reviews/pics here (ignore the weird close-up of that chicks butt and scroll down).

 Book 1: Chapter 88

    Book 1: Chapter 88


    The copied mural meant key information, so I immediately sat up straight to examine it.


    There were countless leather figurines painted on this mural and almost all the spaces were filled with them. The reason why I could tell they were leather figurines instead of living people was because their fingers were the same kind of shell as the leather figurines I saw before.


    Uncle Two made notes on the side and said that there was a total of 432 statues. Each had their own identity, ranging from musicians, soldiers, pce maids, warriors, and guardian deities. I squinted at all the neatly-arranged statues for a while. This murals focus was on the symbolic concept design of the South Sea Kings tomb.


    There was an area at the top that was surrounded by pce maids. The South Seas King Zhi sat on a throne, which was surrounded by a sea of clouds. The immortal boats were surrounded by pce maids, while ministers paid homage. It formed a beautiful world of ultimate bliss. This was the setup we had seen in the main tomb chamber.


    There were guardian deities around this world that looked like thunder gods. They were the thunder god statues we saw in the tomb passage.


    Under this most blissful world, there were countless chariots and horses. Those thunder god statues from just now were calling these strange chariots and mounting them to gallop under the blissful world. These were the horses and chariots that were in the burial pit below the tomb passage.


    Under the chariot and horse army was a group of soldiers and craftsmen who were worshiping. These soldiers and craftsmen were at the very bottom of the whole mural and worshiped upwards. These were the underwater leather figurines we found in the drainage channel.


    The overall structure of the South Sea Kings tomb was very simple. Uncle Two also marked the possible identities of every leather figurine ording to their different costumes. There was a leather figuring woman among them whose face was blurred on the mural. Uncle Two had ced a circle around it. This blurriness wasnt from the mural corroding, but from theck of rity when it was originally painted.


    Every part of the rest of the mural was very clear, and only this part was painted very hastily. As a result, this leather figurine woman''s face looked strange and sinister. This leather figurine woman was in the paradise among the sea of clouds at the top of the mural. Since it was painted by the South Sea Kings side, it was logically one of the most importantpositions.


    But why was it like this?


    Could it be <em>that</em> leather figurine woman?


    I picked up my cell phone and sent a short message to Poker-Face asking him where the leather figurine woman was.


    Poker-Faces short reply said: "Brought it out."


    I thought about it. Uncle Two couldnt carry this kind of thing around, so he must have returned to Hangzhou to put it in storage.


    I looked at Uncle Twos note on the margin, which read: There are many immortal boats in the main tomb chamber that are recorded in the mural. The indistinct leather figurine woman in this mural should be located on the first boat in the tomb chamber, but we havent found it. Based on the clothing, this leather figurine woman should be a sorceress who stuck close to the emperor."


    I looked between the photos of the first boat and mural andpared them. Sure enough, there was a leather figurine woman missing from the photo of the first boat.


    Uncle Two took a close-up photo of the ground in front of the first stone boat where clear traces of footprints could be seen. Hisment read: This leather figurine woman was obviously taken away by whoever came in before.


    But why?


    Uncle Two asked himself this question: Why did Third Brother take the leather figurine woman away?


    <em>It wasnt taken away</em>, I said to myself. If this leather figurine woman was the one we had found in the waterway, then it had just been left down there.


    Uncle Three had copied all the leather figurines in the mural, so from my point of view, this was done to record specific details. I shook my hands out and called Uncle Two.


    You could never tell what Uncle Two was doing from his voice alone. When he asked me what was wrong, I said, "You told me it was ok to provide you some information."


    Uncle Two told me to go ahead, so I continued, "Uncle Two, I have a farfetched idea. Do you think its possible that there are two South Sea Kings tombs?"


    Uncle Two paused. "Why do you say that?"


    I didnt really have a particr reason in mind, it was just a sudden thought. "I read through the information you gave me, I said. Uncle Three copied the mural to record the details, so there must be another thing'' that has to bepared with the copied details. Thats why I thought there might be anotherpletely identical mural, only with some small differences in detail. Uncle Three needed to copy it forparison. If there is an identical mural, then I wonder if it came from an identical ancient tomb. In other words, there are two South Sea King''s tombs."


    Uncle Two was silent for a while and then said, "It''s not like that, but it''s a bit simr to what you said. Theres another tomb with murals that are very simr to those of the South Sea Kings tomb, but there are several dynasties between this other tomb and the South Sea Kings tomb."


    "Song Dynasty," I said.


    Uncle Two paused, "How did you know?"

 Book 1: Chapter 89

    Book 1: Chapter 89


    After Uncle Two finished speaking, he immediately understood and said, "Oh, you told me."


    I sighed. Uncle Two seemed to be making tea on the other end and said, "Take a closer look and call me if you find anything new."


    I said ok and hung up the phone. As I spun the phone around in my hand, I couldnt help feeling ufortable. This matter was different from the things I had looked into in the past. With the incident ten years ago, I could clearly see the context, what was missing, and what others wanted to hide. Amidst the great mystery and confusion, I was at least able to see a rough outline.


    When I faced the events ten years ago, my biggest fear was that the mystery was so unimaginably huge. But in the process of moving forwardfrom the core events in Xisha to the various clues Poker-Face had intermittently left behindI could look at things one by one and clearly see the nodes.


    I had been weaving these nodes into aplete truth for an entire decade.


    I was used to thinking like this, but this time, it wasnt a clear node.


    All the traces and clues I found were irrelevant. If I wanted to write a novel, then Id have to write several prologues like some of the ancient novels used to do.


    I casually flipped through the material again. Some of the murals in the back were very important and yed a huge role in theter events, while others werepletely insignificant achievements of the South Sea King that the painters had depicted at that time. Some of these achievements included controlling the water in the underground rivers and catching huge mussels to collect pearls. But even though Uncle Two had made numerous annotations on almost every detail, my thoughts started to wander at this time.


    My first thought was, <em>how many people entered the South Sea Kings tomb?</em> Based on the current analysis, it was a team of at least thirty people. Otherwise, it wouldve been impossible to st in from the bottom of the tomb chamber. I called one of my previous buddies, who was a master. He said that he didn''t need thirty people. As long as he chose good spots to blow up and everyone understood basic mechanics, six people could do it.


    It was hard to say how many there were, but now I knew it was at least six people. In addition to the simple process of stealing the coffinIll call it the main eventthree other things happened.


    Event A urred when the descendant of the Qi family set up a feng shui array.


    I was almost certain that the "fiyi" (1) was used to make this feng shui array, but unless Qi Yu wanted his soul to return to this ancient tomb after death, then this feng shui pattern was too puzzling.


    Of course, when I thought about itter, I realized that there was another possibility. Although the shuikao had Qi Yus name written on it, he might not have actually worn it.


    If this was the case, then Qi Yu was a killer and it was a sinister feng shui array. It was possible for feng shui arrays to harm people, but they took effect very slowly. Who did he want to harm? Why not kill the other party when they were alive instead of harming them after death?


    Event B urred during the construction of this ancient tomb when they discovered a hole. There was a stone tablet in front of the hole that stated you wouldnt get out once you went in. There were many strange distance markers in this naturally-formed hole. But despite the tablet''s warning, we went in and came out at the other end (even though we had to crawl for a long time).


    Was it a false warning? I was thinking about it so much that I almost thought Id find myself back in that hole every time I woke up. Maybe we didn''t get out at all, but were trapped there and having a nervous breakdown.


    Whatever the case, this hole was very special. When the tomb was being built at that time, the South Sea countrys people even went so far as to abandon a tomb passage for it. Why?


    Event C urred when Uncle Three copied the mural in the South Sea Kings tomb. This mural had a strange leather figurine woman with a blurred face. Uncle Three took the leather figurine woman out of the main tomb chamber, but ended up dumping it in the drainage channel below. No matter how I thought about it, this leather figurine woman was really very strange. It almost seemed to be possessed by a ghost.


    After thinking over everything, I decided to meet the protagonist of Event C. I put on some clothes and headed to Uncle Two''s warehouse.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The shuikao. Remember, guiyi and fiyi trantes as something like return garment, just with different characters. Feiyi is something like flying garment. Its the banner carried in the funeral procession and then buried in the tomb for the purpose of calling back the spirit of the deceased.

 Book 1: Chapter 90

    Book 1: Chapter 90


    I got in the Jinbei. Uncle Two had several warehouses in Hangzhou: one at Genshanmen, one at Xixi, and one at Banshan. On the surface, theserge warehouses were part of Uncle Two''s stone business. They were full of low-cost jade, which included Kunlun jade, Russian jade, and Qinghai stones. When they were at their lowest value back then, they were brought in by the wagonload. Now they were worth some money, but the ess wasnt very good so they just stayed there.


    As a matter of fact, these warehouses had a lot to offer. The stones were just a cover-up.


    Because the warehouses were veryrge, all of Uncle Twos various sundries were also piled up inside. I didn''t bother calling him to get permission since I was afraid he''d be too sensitive about it. I would just look through the warehouses by myself. All the gatekeepers knew me anyways.


    When I arrived at the warehouse in Xixi, I saw a lot of equipment outside that hadnt been sorted and put into storage yet. It was everything Uncle Two had brought to Pingtan at that time, so I knew I had the right ce.


    The sky outside was very dark as I walked into the huge warehouse. The fluorescent lights were on, revealing that everything inside was tightly wrapped in white, non-woven fabric. Therge and small goods all neatly stacked together made my scalp tingle.


    I also noticed that there were ink lines under all the stones. I didnt know whether it was to ward off evil spirits or to make it easier to stack the goods more neatly.


    I walked through the gaps in the rows of the fabric-wrapped goods and saw that numbers and some unintelligible annotations had been written on the non-woven fabric with a brush. The calligraphy was very beautiful and was all done in slender gold script.


    Although I had been to these warehouses before, I had never paid attention to the slender gold script on the items. Since non-woven fabrics werent suitable for calligraphy, the characters created here were done in a rtively casual style. I examined the brush strokes very carefully. They were somewhat simr to mine, but there were some problems with the details.


    Some of these fabric-wrapped goods were stone, while arge part of them had some special markings on them. These special items were the things that Uncle Two was hiding here, and they all had stories. Many of them were grave goods that had been stored here since those in the Nine Gates couldnt handle them. Some of them were unimed bodies, most of which had died in vain. Since no one in this industry would uphold justice, Uncle Two would do the inspection on their behalf. Many people had died of unknown causes. If Uncle Two couldn''t figure out how they died, they would be cremated and dumped into the river after eleven years.


    As a result, people in the old Nine Gates used to collectively call these warehouses "Warehouse Eleven".


    Warehouse Eleven was huge and messy, and had all kinds of things from different ages. Before Uncle Two took over Warehouse Eleven, the predecessor was in Hunan, so there were some very old things in it that had been left by previous generations. Warehouse Eleven had its own unique storage management system, which made it impossible for outsiders to find specific things. Uncle Two''s unique aesthetics gave this warehousewhich was actually just a storage room full of old junka sense of ceremony and beauty. It was only here that I could feel the immense size and order of the Nine Gates.


    But there were fewer and fewer things in Warehouse Eleven. I looked at all the dust on the fabric-wrapped goods as I searched for the leather figurine woman. It took me at least three hours before I finally found the fabric bag I was looking for.


    This particr bag had the least amount of dust on it and the cloth was the same as all the other non-woven fabric bags, so it made it quite obvious.


    I cut the wire wrapped around it and opened the bag to reveal the leather figurine woman inside. I fell over in shock and crawled back a few steps before stopping myself.


    The leather figurine woman''s face had be extremely sinister at some point. I usually wouldnt be scared by something that was illuminated by light, but this face was just too frightening. The eyebrows and eyes made the whole face almost appear distorted like it was smiling, but the lower part of its face was sinister like a ghost.


    It didnt even seem close to the expression I saw in the tomb before.


    This expression appeared to be a result of shrinking, but that first nce had all the hair on my body standing on end.


    I really didn''t want to look at her closely, but I came here for a reason. There was nothing else I could do, so I got up and turned on my shlight to shine on her skin. The leather figurines skin was so worn through that I could see the gold threads inside. I also saw something hanging inside the leather figurine. I looked around, but didnt see any gaps. I was going to have to reach into the leather figurines mouth to get it out.


    ****


    <strong><em>Uhhhh wee to the Warehouse 11 arc? Maybe? lol. I hear it''s LOADS shorter than the drama (thank God)</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 91

    Book 1: Chapter 91


    I swallowed, looked at the leather figurine womans sinister mouth, and panicked. But there werent any teeth in that mouth, so physically putting my hand into it definitely wouldnt be dangerous. I stepped forward and quietly said, "I mean no offense, I mean no offense." I then put my hand in the leather figurine womans mouth bit by bit.


    I had half of my arm in there but still couldnt reach it. The hollowness inside the figurine felt just like a sheepskin raft. My cell phones light kept shining, which showed the shadow of my hand inside the leather figurine.


    I had to push my whole arm into it, which was a little disgusting. When I finally touched the object, I found that it felt like a cocoon. It seemed as if it had been hung by a lot of silk in the cavity of the leather figurine woman, but it dropped and fell into the hollow leg as soon as I touched it.


    I pulled my hand out, used my phone to illuminate it, and found that the cocoon was stuck in the figurines knee. I was certain I couldnt reach it by going through the mouth again, so I looked up to see if there was some other ce I could reach through.


    But I felt embarrassed as soon as I looked at it. I stood up and saw the expression on the leather figurine womans face. Its mouth now looked like Darren Wangs (1) and I couldn''t see the former sinisterness at all.


    I heaved a sigh and looked at the leather figurine womans lower body while thinking, <em>do I really have to do such a terrible thing?</em> But if I didnt do it, then I could only cut open this very rare figurine. It would be a pity to destroy it so hastily.


    I lifted my sleeves and squatted in front of the leather figurine woman while scoping out the various angles. I constantly changed the angles and gestures of my hands, making a series of movements like Wolverine and Spider-Man, but it was all to no avail.


    I was just at my wits end when I heard someone cough behind me.


    I looked back and saw a young man in the warehouse uniform standing behind me and pointing to the camera overhead.


    I blushed and immediately stood up straight. "It''s not what you think, I said to him. Dont get me wrong." I shined the shlight at the leather figurines knee and told him my intentions. The young man looked at me, turned the leather figurine woman upside down, and gave it two hard shakes. A cocoon-like fur ball fell all the way from the leather figurine womans knee to its throat.


    He gave it another hard shake and the ball fell out. The young man put the leather figurine woman back as I stared at him in amazement. I was most definitely an idiot. The young man then handed me a business card, put on his headphones, and went back to listening to his music.


    I looked at the card, which read: Bai Haotian, Duty Manager of Warehouse Eleven.


    Warehouse Elevens original manager was the great Chao Feng (2), whose surname was Bai. The Bai family was very prosperous and there were likely thousands of them now. It didnt matter whether it was the family nning era or the glorious mothers era (3), the Bai family always gave birth to at least seven or eight children. They were always a big family. Uncle Two said that Warehouse Elevens managers had umted good merit, so the Bai family would continue to prosper. I used to have a buddy from the Bai family, whose nickname was Baishe (4). People said that he lived very well and always hung out in bars when he wasnt going down in the tombs.


    Although there were many people in the Bai family, their quality varied. Some were especially high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen, while others helped put protective covers on cell phones. The ones sent to take charge of Warehouse Eleven were generally neen-year-olds from the Bai family who were going to college in Hangzhou. It was one crop after anotherjust like a bunch of leeksbut they never broke the cycle.


    The name Bai Haotian was domineering enough (5), so the fortune teller probably said he wouldnt die young. But I felt that his personality left something to be desired.


    I sighed and thought that it was sad enough that I was going to be looked down upon by a post-00 kid (6).


    I looked down at the thing that had been dumped out of the leather figurine and found that it was a moldy rag. The rag had rotted to the point that it looked like mud and was covered in various fungi. It was very old and must have been stuffed in there by Uncle Three. When I opened the rag, it broke apart to reveal the contents inside. It turned out to be a dry piece of wood, but when I looked carefully, I realized that it was a mummified tongue.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Taiwanese actor. Hes best known for his breakout role as Hsu Tai-Yu in the film, Our Times. More info here.


    (2) Chao Feng was a title given to the manager of wealthy pawn shops in ancient times.


    (3) Family nning=basically limiting poption growth by advocating dyed marriage and dyed child bearing. They want fewer and healthier births, and advocate one child per couple. More info here. I think the glorious mothers era is the opposite. Mao Zedong wanted more babies and glorified motherhood as helping the Communist cause.


    (4) Baishe= White Snake. (He''s the Suzhen guy from "Ten Years Later")


    (5) Bai Haotian= white/pure/bright clear sky


    (6) Refers to Chinese citizens born between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2009. We call them Gen Z in the US.

 Book 1: Chapter 92

    Book 1: Chapter 92


    The tongue was just like beef jerky. A person''s tongue was actually very long since arge part of it was in the throat. It would even look like a tenderloin if it was pulled out. I honestly wouldve thought this tongue was dried meat if it wasn''t for the head.


    Even a tongue mummified before the year 2000 wouldnt have been preserved so well. This tongue was wrapped in apletely moldy and rotting rag, which was also made of modern materials. It hadntpletely rotted through, which meant it wasnt that old. It had probably been left there when Uncle Three went in at that time. Moreover, the rag may have been specially preserved with alcohol.


    I looked between the leather figurine woman''s gaping mouth and the tongue in my hand before taking a deep breath. What did this mean?


    It seemed to indicate that Uncle Three pulled out a living persons tongue and stuffed it inside the leather figurine woman when he entered the tomb chamber.


    First, why do this? Second, whose tongue was it?


    This was beyond the scope of my understanding and I didnt have any clues at all. Why would a leather figurine woman be specially marked on the mural? Why would Uncle Three move it from the tomb chamber? Why did he discard it in the waterway? Why was there a fresh tongue in the figurines body? And why had a fiyi been ced above the coffin?


    I had never encountered a situation where there werent any clues or logical reasoning at all. Iy down on the ground and rubbed my hands through my hair to try and calm myself down.


    After doing this a few times, I suddenly heard another coughe from behind me. I looked up and saw Bai Haotian standing behind me. I immediately got up and saw him looking at me strangely. I smiled apologetically, "Im sorry. Some things just dont make sense."


    Bai Haotian looked at me and suddenly gave me a shy smile, "Are you Little Master Three?"


    <em>Obviously. If I''m not Wu Xie, then why did you let me in?</em>


    I nodded and he said, "I always thought you were some other rtive of Er Yes. I watched you for a long time before I found out that you were Wu Xie."


    "Oh," I said.


    He suddenly took out a duty book, "I really like you. Can you give me your signature?"


    I paused, "What am I signing?"


    "Autograph."


    "Autograph your dick," I said angrily.


    "If you dont sign, Ill call Er Ye." Bai Haotian wasnt angry at all. In fact, he was very sincere as he handed me the duty book.


    I took a deep breath and calmed down. When I thought about it, I realized that Uncle Two knowing I was here would cause all sorts ofplications. I bit back my anger and picked up the duty book. He immediately leaned over and said, "When you sign it, make it out to Bai Haotian and say I hope you find a boyfriend soon."


    It was only in this moment that I realized people who asked me for a signature almost always wanted me to sign IOUs. But this guy was asking me to sign because he liked me?


    I had never encountered this kind of situation before. After thinking about it, I crookedly wrote my signature on the duty book as he happily circled around me twice. I looked at him and then at the thing I had just signed and suddenly realized that something was wrong.


    This boy wasnt a man, but a woman!


    I thought she was a man because her hair was cut so short and she was wearing the warehouse uniform.


    I returned the duty book to her and watched as she carefully looked it over twice. "The characters look really good. Little Master Three, what are you doing here? Why were you lying on the ground?"


    It was always hard to be mean to those who liked you, so I couldn''t bring myself to be angry at her. I looked at her and suddenly came up with an idea.


    "You won''t tell my Uncle Two I''ve been here, will you?"


    "No, but the surveince cameras got it all."


    "That part doesn''t matter. Hes not diligent enough to check the cameras. Just dont tell him." As I spoke to her, I picked up the leather figurine woman.


    Bai Haotian suddenly eximed, "Little Master Three, what are you doing?! If something goes missing from the warehouse, Im screwed!"


    "Ill bring it back in three days. I guarantee itll be exactly the same."


    "How is that possible? Her mouth wasnt that big when she came in." The little girl was very frightened.


    I patted her, "This is the fee for my autograph. Keep it secret." I picked up the leather figurine woman and walked out. There were so many unrted clues that there was no way to join them. But my intuition said that this was a kind of sorcery, which no longer fell under the category of feng shui. I needed to find a master to ask. It was impossible to dictate everything, so it was better to take it all with me.


    ****


    <strong><em>Hmmm wonder if that tongue is Er Jin''s? This is also episode 18 of the drama at about 36:00 if you all want to watch Wu Xie being all adorable going "Xiao Ge, I have a fan" lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 93

    Book 1: Chapter 93


    I didn''t care about Bai Haotian''s attempts at blocking me and ran out with the leather figurine woman. She pulled and dragged at me from behind as I rushed to the door of Warehouse Eleven.


    The iron door at the entrance was closed. As long as the iron door of such arge warehouse was closed, it was very difficult to open even if it wasnt locked. I mmed the heavy iron door with one hand to try and open it, but I didnt have enough strength with just one hand. It cracked open very slowly, but Bai Haotian pressed her back against the door to prevent me from opening it and shouted, "No! No, you can''t!"


    I tugged a few more times but it didnt budge. I let go and looked at her. She was covering the door with her whole body, "No, you can''t leave. Things arent allowed out of Warehouse Eleven. If even one thing is gone, our Bai familys century-old reputation will be ruined."


    "The Bai family hasnt lost a single thing in a hundred years? I dont believe it. With your level of security here, I bet I could carry all the items out of this warehouse tonight. Dont believe me? I tried to mimic Fatty''s fierce way of speaking and grinned. "Well, whether you believe me or not, Ill carry you out tonight." As I spoke, I put in a lot of effort to try and look at her in ascivious manner.


    Bai Haotian reached up and bolted the door. As she continued to cling to it, she looked at me with a flushed face, "You can carry me out, but you cant take any of the items away!"


    "Wow, so shameless."


    <em>What the fuck? Are you here to guard the warehouse or find a date?</em> I cursed to myself before pointing at her nose, "Ill get rough."


    "You won''t." She looked at me confidently. "Youre Wu Xie, you won''t get rough."


    "Then give me my signature back if youre not going to help!"


    "No takebacks!"


    I wanted to cry. I looked around and saw that there werent any other ces to get out of the three-story warehouse besides the numerous air vents. I looked at the little girl. Was she really going to force me to climb the wall? I discarded the leather figurine woman and Bai Haotian breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that I had finally given up. But just as she moved forward to pick up the leather figurine woman, I stepped forward and lifted her up with one hand. I then tore off the non-woven fabric from a nearby stone and wrapped it around her several times before tying a knot.


    Once that was done, I immediately rushed back and picked up the leather figurine woman. I then opened the door behind her back and ran out while shouting, "Ill bring it back in three days!"


    I carried the leather figurine woman all the way to my car, put it in the passenger seat, and then stepped on the gas and drove out. After driving for several kilometers, I was certain she wouldnt catch up. I breathed a sigh of relief and then looked over at the leather figurine woman. Its posture had changed after I had lugged it around, and now it looked like it was cheering with its mouth open as it sat in my passenger seat.


    I picked up my e-cigarette and slowed down. There was a traffic cop in front of me, so I took a deep breath and slowly drove past. The officer looked at my passenger and I vaguely heard him ask, "Do they alsoe in this style?"


    I wasnt sure whether Bai Haotian would inform my Uncle Two, but I figured she would probably wait at least three days for me to return the item since the Bai family''s reputation was at stake. Still, it was best to be quick about it, so I drove straight to Hefang Street. There was an expert there that I knew. He was called "Ha Zong" because he looked like a Husky (1). This person specialized in researching various folk remedies and folk magic. There was even a folk remedy museum on Hefang Street that waster banned.


    I reached the parking lot and then ran down Hefang Street with the leather figurine woman in my arms. I ran all the way to Ha Zongs shop and found that he was ying mahjong with a few people from the next shop over. He was very happy to see mee in, but his expression immediately changed as soon as he caught sight of the leather figurine woman.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ha ()=husky and Zong ()=head/chief/general. So think of him as Boss Husky lol.

 Book 1: Chapter 94

    Book 1: Chapter 94


    Ha Zong called over a buddy to help him draw the tiles and then came up to me with a dark look on his face. He gave the leather figurine woman beside me a once over. I took a step closer to him, but he immediately took a step back. Little Master Three, he said with a little jerk. "What''s going on? New girlfriend?"


    "Fuck you. Lets hurry into the back room." I held the leather figurine woman and went straight to his back room. I kicked the door open, put the leather figurine woman on the bed in the room, and then wiped the sweat from my forehead.


    Ha Zong followed me in very cautiously. He looked at the leather figurine woman and then at me. "I heard you closed the shop. What are you doing? If you really can''t help yourself, I can make some good introductions. You dont have to look for thisthis" he looked at the leather figurine woman. "This kind of novelty."


    I put the tongue on his desk and pulled him over. "Please take a look at it for me. It''s urgent. I really have no clue this time."


    He slowly wandered over. His mouth twitched when he saw the tongue, but he still kept quite a bit of distance between us. He hadnt been like this before, so I found it pretty odd. I moved to catch him, but he quickly avoided me.


    He pointed at me, "Stop trying to grope me."


    "What''s wrong with you?" I asked him.


    "You dont fucking contact me for ten and a half months and now you want to kick my door down? What are you doing? He touched his chin. "I''ve heard everything about you, so dont even think about trying to pass on your filth to me."


    "What filth?" I became angry and mmed my hands down on the table. "Look at it quickly, Im in a hurry."


    He suddenly sneered, "Little Master Three, we had a good rtionship so I looked at whatever you brought before. Even though you didnt pay, I could still ask your Uncle Two to help settle the ount. But now your shop is gone and your Uncle Two told me that if you want me to look at something, you have to give" he made a gesture with his hands that meant I had to pay for it. "You used to be awesome, but now you can''t help but"


    I immediately moved forward, grabbed his fingers, and snapped them. He shouted in pain, but I went up and gave him two hard ps before knocking him to the ground. I then went over and closed the door before saying to him, "Ha Zong, everyone gave me this same attitude when my Uncle Three disappeared and now you dare do this to me? Who the fuck do you think I am now, huh? Even if I dont have a fucking shop or Uncle Two to cover for me, do you really think you can afford to provoke me?"


    "Wu Xie, you fucking son of a bitch" Ha Zong started to yell.


    I grabbed his other hand and bent it back so far that it was about to break. As he shouted in pain again, I quickly scolded him, "Think again. What should you be saying?"


    "Little Master Three, I''ll look at it right now," he shouted.


    I released his hand and he stood up with tears in his eyes, "You didnt even give me the chance to act tough."


    I rubbed my hands, went back over, and yanked his fingers back until he cried out again. "Don''t fucking try to bully me just because you think I lost power, I said coldly. Youre just a Husky pretending to be a big-tailed wolf. TV dramas dont even like to make these kinds of stories anymore."


    Ha Zong quickly nodded, "Yes, yes."


    He went over and looked at the leather figurine woman and the tongue. "Don''t say you dont know," I warned him.


    He examined it carefully and then asked me, "Little Master Three, this isnt human skin, is it?"


    "Don''t ask me, Im asking you." I red at him like Fatty would. "What happens if its human skin?"


    "If its human skin, youll die." Ha Zong looked at me and took a step back, afraid that I would hit him again. He immediately continued exining, "This is called pi tong, which is a very evil and sinister setup."

 Book 1: Chapter 95

    Book 1: Chapter 95


    "Evil and sinister?" I narrowed my eyes. "Am I going to die?"


    Ha Zong didnt dare nod and just gave me an aggrieved look. I sneered in my heart, not believing it at all. "Then why don''t you start crying for me?" I quietly asked him.


    Ha Zong froze for a moment and then tried to make a crying face, "Little Master Three I can''t bear to lose you"


    I pped him on the head. "Why don''t you save me if you can''t bear to lose me?"


    Ha Zong immediately nodded. "Little Master Three, you cant be saved from this thing. Its part of a pair. You know that pi tong is a very mysterious thing. You mustve seen it before, but it probably wasnt that big. An ordinary pi tong is only as big as the Oscar trophy. Ha Zong gestured, "Or the size of karaoke microphone. Theyre all made of human skin and are mainly used to raise insects."


    "What kind of bugs?" I asked him.


    "Little Master Three, have you heard of green water beetles?" Ha Zong asked.


    I recalled that Chen Zangqi had written about this kind of bug in "Supplements to Materia Medica" during the Tang Dynasty (1). Once the green water beetle gave birth, the mother and child would still gather together in one ce even after they were separated. People would coat their money in these beetles blood because it was said that the money coated in the mother''s blood would fly back to the money coated in the child''s blood (or vice versa) after it was used up. That was how the saying "green water beetles will bring your money back" came about (2).


    "Why would you raise this kind of bug?" I asked him. This bug seemed to be a legendary insect that may have gone extinct as early as the Ming Dynasty. If spreading a bugs blood on money enabled the money to fly back by itself, then it would definitely be strange if the bug didn''t be extinct.


    "The only reason you would raise these green water beetles was to find people, Ha Zong said. When exploring some wild areas in ancient times, there was a saying that white paper dolls were coated in the blood of these green beetles. If the person got lost, then the paper doll would show them the way back."


    <em>Oh</em>, I looked at the leather figurine woman. "Why does it have to be raised in human skin?"


    "The child bugs are raised in men''s skin, while the mother bugs are raised in women''s skin. The two are a pair. The blood of green water beetles that were raised in leather figurines is much stronger than the blood of wild green water beetles. They can even be separated by several kilometers." Ha Zong looked at me and continued, "Is this female figurine always following you, Little Master Three?"


    "How did you know?" I asked.


    "Have you been feeling unwell recently?" He asked.


    I thought about it. Except for being in a bad mood, I didnt feel sick or anything. Then, I suddenly understood what he meant, "Fuck me, what are you trying to say? Do you mean its in my body?"


    "Theres a bug in your body. It and the bug raised in this leather figurine woman are mother and child," Ha Zong said. "This is a message. Its really clever sorcery."


    "What information? When was the bug put in my body? Although I was often bitten by bugs, I made sure to take care of everything.


    "Thats something you have to recall. Its possible you got it from somewhere. Dont you often go to a bunch of different ces? But its also possible that you already had this bug in your body when you were a child. As soon as you came within the vicinity of this leather figurine woman, the mother bug sensed the child bug in your body and was attracted to you. This kind of thing is generally a message of some sort, because the mother and child bugs keep growing and multiplying endlessly. If theres a female bug in this leather figurine woman, there may not be only one child bug. In other words, there might be child bugs in other ces. Using this method, an expert might be helping you find the location of another child bug.


    "So, this leather figurine woman is apass."


    "You could say that. But Little Master Three, if you have green water beetles in your body, then your blood will be different from others. Mother bugs can make people live longer, while child bugs can elerate aging, he said seriously. "Do you really not feel unwell?"


    ****


    TN Notes


    (1) Chen Zangqi was an herbalist during the 8<sup>th</sup> century. Materia medica is justtin for medical book. It''s a book on Chinese (herbal) medicine. I only found stuff here on baidu so you can use google trante in chrome if you want to check it out. Theres a Compendium of Materia Medica written during the muchter Ming dynasty that has an English wiki page here if you want to look at it instead.


    (2) FYI, the character for water beetle () also means money.


    ****


    () <strong><em>Was the bug in the Qilin blood thingy Wu Xie ate in Vol 1?!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 96

    Book 1: Chapter 96


    I hooked my arm around Ha Zong''s shoulder, feeling that what he said just now was a bit too heavy. I could actually tell when he was bullshitting and when he was telling the truth. I had just told him that he couldn''t say he didn''t know, so he made up something to scare me.


    Lying on arge scale required either a very high level of intelligence or a very long time. The key to lying was to make sure that the logic was smooth and the description wasplex. It made people instinctively feel that this kind of correct and wless information had to be true. Ha Zong wasnt a very intelligent person, so I turned on my cell phone and pulled up the stopwatch app while saying, "I dont want to listen to a story. Ill give you three minutes to think about it. Then, youll have one minute to finish telling me about pi tong."


    "If I admit my mistakes, will you stop messing with me like this?" Ha Zong grabbed my hand, but I squeezed his fingers until he reflexively let go.


    The human body always learned pain quickly, after all.


    I pressed the start button on the stopwatch app. Ha Zong didn''t bother dying and started talking, "I already made it clear that this thinges in pairs. In the past, when people went to the wilderness or explored deep in caves, they were afraid that they wouldnt make it back, so they used paper to make zhi tong. But zhi tong broke easily, so they used pi tong (1) instead. But these are all just legends, which arent credible. I think these two bugs usually live in pairs and can smell each other from far away. But because theyre so rare, the legends passed down by those in this underworld have be more and more incredible.


    A minute had gone by. He immediately inhaled and continued, "Rumor had it that the pi tong used to raise these insects could still function after the insects had died. If a pair of pi tong had raised more than seven generations of insect, they could rece the insects. There was an ancient book from the Tang Dynasty that mentioned"


    I interrupted him and said, "If you can''t pronounce the name of the ancient book, then its definitely a lie."


    He immediately changed his tune, "I''m sorry, its habit. Im lying, theres no ancient book. But I have seen Taoist priests use pi tong to practice sorcery before. I just dont know how it works. All I know is that if theres one pi tong, then there should be another toplete the set. If you take this one, youll probably find the other one."


    Not only did Taoist priests use pi tong, but they could take one to find the other one?


    I suddenly remembered the murals in the South Sea Kings tomb and how Uncle Three had left this leather figurine woman in the waterway.


    For Uncle Three, that waterway was the only way for him to get out. He knew that if he left the female figurine there, it would be discovered by whoever cameter.


    But that wasnt necessarily the case in the main tomb chamber, where there were too many leather figurines.


    So, he threw the leather figurine woman into the waterway in order to let others find her and take her away.


    But that wasnt how it happened. I wasnt the one who took the leather figurine woman away, she was the one who was following me the whole time.


    Ha Zong stopped my stopwatch and I looked at him. He wiped the cold sweat off his face and said, "Take your time."


    "Are there really bugs in my body?" I asked him.


    After I spoke, I pressed the stopwatch again. Ha Zong took a deep breath, "That was me talking nonsense. Of course, it <em>is</em> possible that there are bugs in your body, but its more likely that you touched another pi tong at some point. Maybe thats why this pi tong was attracted to you."


    I frowned. Ha Zong immediately stopped the stopwatch again.


    I pressed it again and Ha Zong jumped up. "Little Master Three, this is just a kind of guide. I really dont know the rest. Youre so smart, you can figure it out yourself."


    After thinking about it, I remembered the Song Dynasty tomb murals in Yang Daguangs family tomb.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Zhi tong= paper bird. Pi tong=skin/leather bird


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok, this is really it tonight guys lol. I''m KO''d after my little spree</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 97

    Book 1: Chapter 97


    That Song Dynasty tomb was originally my second target, but I had failed at my first target, the South Sea country. I no longer had the face to continue checking.


    Could it be that the other pi tong in this set pointed to the Song Dynasty tomb? Did I touch something in Yang Daguang''s tomb that had the smell of another pi tong, which was what kept attracting the leather figurine woman?


    But after thinking about it, it seemed impossible. I didnt know where the Song Dynasty tomb was now, but since Uncle Three could steal the murals, there had to be other simpler ways to tell me how to get to the tomb. Using such a weird method was a bit like putting the cart before the horse.


    Unless the location of this Song Dynasty tomb was indescribable. Maybe it was constantly moving, so you needed something that could act like apass.


    But after listening to what Ha Zong had said, I didnt feel like he told many lies. He originally believed in folklore, although he hardly encountered any reliable methods when he was in the process of looking for folk remedies and various kinds of strange spells. It didnt matter whether he encountered magic or smoke screens, he always believed that there was some folk wisdom and divine power in the world. So, his idea was a little odd but eptable.


    The next step was to make my own judgment. I nced at him and realized that he never even looked at the tongue, but he was covered in a cold sweat. "This tongue was found in the pi tong. Is it rted to what you said?" I asked him.


    Ha Zong looked at the tongue and shook his head. "This this is nothing. Sometimes, in order to keep the shape of the chin when stripping the skin off, the skin on the chin will be removed along with the root of the tongue, which might fall off when it rots."


    "But this isnt the figurines tongue. Its the tongue of a grave robber from about forty years ago. It was put into the body of this leather figurine woman."


    Ha Zong gave a wry smile, "This this is a coincidence."


    "You mean to tell me that when a grave robber happened to pass by this leather figurine woman forty years ago, he suddenly didn''t want his tongue anymore and cut it off and threw it into the leather figurine woman''s mouth?" I asked as I stared into Ha Zongs eyes. "Are you kidding me?"


    I had a strange feeling that something was wrong.


    I had found this tongue, but he didn''t even look at it. In fact, he only looked at the leather figurine woman. He might have looked rxed, but he was showing an unprecedentedly ugly expression on his face.


    In my opinion, the most bizarre thing about this matter was the tongue, yet he didnt even want to talk about it. When answering my questions, he was nervous, unfocused, and seemed to have no interest in the tongue at all.


    Rationally speaking, this was wrong and didnt make any sense. Unless I was just a total noob and didnt understand how shocked the pi tong made him, he had to be hiding something from me.


    But I remembered he had blurted out a sentence in the beginning, "Youre dead."


    After that, he tried to retract the sentence. His exnation was that there were bugs in my body, butter, he said that I might have touched the bugs. These two exnations were utter nonsense. When I recalled everything that he had told me, my instincts seemed to say that the sentence youre dead came from the heart.


    Ha Zong didnt have any ws, but my gut was telling me that something was wrong. I could immediately tell when other people were lying to me, but in the antique industry, this kind of vague wrongness would definitely make me want to scrutinize it more carefully.


    I thought up several possibilities, looked at the tongue on the table, and then picked it up. I suddenly exerted my strength and leaned towards Ha Zongs face. No one could escape at this distance, but as soon as my hand started to move, Ha Zong immediately bounced up, rolled over the bed, and picked up the leather figurine woman, using it as a shield to block me and the tongue in my hand.


    I immediately understood what was going on. His attention had always been on the tongue, but he didn''t show it, which was quite an impressive feat for him.


    He had been afraid of the tongue from the very beginning, but this guy deliberately acted like he was afraid of the leather figurine woman and led all the topics to it instead.


    But why?


    "Don''te over! Donte over!" Ha Zong yelled.


    "Shout about something else!" I scolded him.


    "Wu Xie, if you must die, dont drag me down with you! Take that thing away!" Ha Zong shouted.


    At this time, I saw the leather figurine womans head suddenly turn 180 degrees and look at Ha Zong.


    Ha Zong looked it in the eye and shouted, "Fuck!"


    *****

 Book 1: Chapter 98

    Book 1: Chapter 98


    I was also shocked. I could clearly see that the leather figurine womans head hadnt be loose or fallen off, but turned a sharp 180 degrees, as if there was a force affecting her neck.


    Ha Zong immediately threw the leather figurine woman away. When it fell to the ground, I saw the most incredible scene of my life. The leather figurine womans whole body twisted and stood up in a distorted form.


    Although it looked like a leather figurine, it appeared to be some kind of mollusk. The human skin all over its body twisted as it stood up.


    "What is this thing?!" I looked at the twisted skin in horror and saw that the face had beenpletely distorted into leech-like strips.


    "Its the green water beetle!" Ha Zong shouted.


    "Isnt the green water beetle a bug?! This fucking thing isnt a bug! I cursed at him. This iswhat is this thing?!"


    Ha Zong climbed to the door and tried to open it to make his escape, but I guess the lock got stuck when I closed it earlier. When he found he couldnt open it, he started yelling, "We''re screwed, we''re screwed! Youre going to get me killed, you idiot!"


    When I saw the human skin slowly twist and turn into a long strip, I grabbed a nearby stool, smacked the figurine so that it fell onto the bed, and then went up and wrapped it in a nket.


    The figurines skin looked as thin as a piece of paper, but it was actually quite strong. I tore off my belt while Ha Zong kept pulling on the door. As I wrapped my belt tightly around the nket, I saw that thing began to emerge from the gap. I could even see the expression on thepletely distorted face.


    "Is there any wine?" I asked Ha Zong.


    He cursed, "How are you still in the mood to drink?"


    I turned to look around the room and saw a washing machine in the corner. I picked up the nket, shoved it directly into the washing machine, and then turned it on the strongest cycle.


    The washing machine instantly started running and I yelled at Ha Zong to help. I shoved the nearby table directly on top of the washing machine and then sat on it.


    "Thats not going to do a damn thing! Ha Zong shouted.


    "You underestimate todays washing machines!" I yelled back.


    The thing suddenly mmed against the washing machines door and almost seeded in getting out. "Come here!" I shouted.


    Ha Zong tugged on the door one more time, looked at me again, and finally ran over and sat on the table with me.


    "What the hells going on?" I asked him.


    "This fucker is a green water beetle! Ha Zong said. The term green water beetle makes it sound like its a kind of flying insect. No one has ever seen them before, but theyre actually something like human skin. The ancients used them to copse into various forms to harm people."


    "Harm them how?"


    Ha Zong looked at the tongue in my hand, "It eats them. The only thing left over is in your hand!"


    I looked at the tongue in my hand and suddenly understood. I had a shocked expression on my face as I yelled, "You shouldve fucking told me earlier! Why were you messing around for so long? If you had said so earlier, I wouldve gotten rid of it!"


    Ha Zong looked at me, "You dont understand. This thing understands human words. It holds grudges!"


    "What kind of logic is that?!" I was furious. "Bugs understanding humannguage? You''re speaking Mandarin, so how the hell could it understand? Did it also go through nine years ofpulsory education?!"


    "It just fucking knows!" Ha Zong shouted.


    There was a violent shock underneath us, as if the thing was trying to knock the base of the washing machine apart. The washing machine fell over, taking the two of us to the ground with it. When we looked back, we saw a nket-wrapped behemoth rushing out of the washing machine along with a bunch of water. The leather figurine waspletely soaked and had be enormous.

 Book 1: Chapter 99

    Book 1: Chapter 99


    Ha Zong jumped up and hid behind me. I turned my head and asked him, "What are you doing? Nows the time for you to show your friendship."


    Ha Zong turned pale with fear. He had obviously never witnessed such a scene before. Although I wasnt very afraid, I also felt that things were getting worse and worse. I suddenly thought of what Ha Zong had told me about this thing understanding people''s words and said, "Excuse me, I have something to say."


    The thing twisted its body like some strange rocking toy, the vague shape of a person all that was left of the former leather figurine woman. When I spoke, it didn''t try to crawl over again, but stood swinging in ce.


    I was stunned and thought, <em>it really can understand people</em>. I looked at the dumbfounded Ha Zong and then said to the creature, "Weve gotten along well for a long time. You dont have any problems with me and want to eat him, right?"


    Ha Zong looked at me in horror and then at the leather figurine woman, "Little Master Three, you can''t sell me out like this. "


    I ignored him and looked at the leather figurine woman. "Then, you go ahead and eat slowly. I''ll head out first." Ha Zong immediately hugged me. "Let go," I said angrily.


    "If Im going to die, we die together, Ha Zong said. Were just like spring rolls. Youre the wrapper and Im the stuffing."


    I looked up and saw the leather figurine woman slowly approaching. The two of us desperately tried to retreat, but our backs soon hit the wall and we could do nothing but watch as the leather figurine womans sinister face slowly opened. After soaking in the water, the face had be so distorted that it was indescribable. Only the mouth that I had previously widened enabled me to tell which side of the face was the front.


    "How does it eat people?" I asked. "Does it use its mouth?" I had just finished speaking when the leather figurine womans mouth suddenly tore open, bing as wide as the mouth of a sack. It came at me, but I couldnt retreat anymore. Moreover, that idiot pushed me in front of him again. I could only use both hands to defend myself, so I grabbed the leather figurine womans face. But I forgot that it was soft and the whole leather figurine woman was wrapped up.


    It started to surround my whole body. Ha Zong was behind me and I was already pressed up against the wall, unable to move. I felt all that skin tightly enveloping my own skin and start to slowly expand. It stuck to my skin and slowly wrapped it up.


    <em>He really jinxed us</em>, I said to myself. <em>We really are going to be the stuffing and the wrapper. I dont want to turn into a spring roll with Ha Zong!</em> I started struggling with everything I had, but the human skin was so strong that we were soonpletely wrapped in it and couldnt breathe.


    Ha Zongs head was still exposed and he was yelling hysterically, "Help, help!" I couldnt even shout, because as soon as I opened my mouth, the human skin stretched into it and started crawling down my throat.


    I entered a trance-like state, but theck of oxygen soon made me pass out. Myst thought was: <em>what are people going to think when they see how we died?</em>


    ****


    <strong><em>Hehehehe what an excellent stopping point </em></strong>()<strong><em> Maybe I''ll do moreter, maybe I won''t. I guess you''ll find out~~~~</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 100

    Book 1: Chapter 100


    When I woke up, I was lying on a couch in the outer part of Ha Zongs shop. There was a barefoot man fanning me and watching videos on his cell phone. Hisughter from time to time was a stark contrast to his figure. I touched my face and looked around. The shop door leading outside was open and people wereing and going from Hefang Street. At first, I stared at it and thought that I was dreaming.


    I looked around and saw Poker-Face sitting about four or five meters away. Fatty was talking to Uncle Two in the corner on the opposite side, while Kan Jian and a group of people were squatting outside the shop.


    I frowned as I tried to figure out what was going on<em>. Oh no, Ive died and this is my life shing before my eyes</em>. The big fellow beside me noticed that I was awake and immediately said, "Little Master Three is awake."


    Everyone turned to look at me. As I sat up, the big fellow poured me some tea. A big, tall man appeared from outside, lugging in a big bag of takeout. It turned out to be Baishe. He immediately came over to me, set four or five boxes down, opened them, and then broke the chopsticks apart.


    Uncle Two and Fatty came over. "Shit, what happened to me?" I asked Fatty.


    "When I saw you, you and Ha Zong were in a huge condom. Let me tell you, the Wu family should do a better job with their sex education. Condoms arent supposed to be used like that." Fatty looked a little tired as he patted the back of my neck. "Are you ok?"


    "How did I survive?" I suddenly recalled what had happened just now. "Shit, I thought I was going to die."


    "You survived because a little girl chased you from Warehouse Eleven and found you here. She came in and saw you two ying in the condom and got you out. Ha Zong was sent to the hospital since his ribs were broken. Fortunately, you didnt seem as bad off."


    Fatty sat down in front of me and I looked around, "Why are so many people here?"


    "You werent breathing. That little girl was worried you needed a blood transfusion, so she called everyone. Shes your fan, so she asked people from various groups toe and save you. As a result, a lot of people showed up. Now that you''re awake, a lot of them will be leaving soon." Fatty touched his chin.


    Uncle Two came over, but before I could speak, he pped my face.


    He hit so hard that ck spots filled my vision and I almost fainted again. After I recovered, Uncle Two sat down beside Fatty, "That p was for your parents. I won''t tell them about this. These people all witnessed your stupidity today. Now, everyone in this room better listen to me. If you still want to work in this business and want your Little Master Three to live and prosper, you better not check anything for him in the future. If he dies because you helped him, youre asking for trouble."


    No one said a word. Uncle Two looked at me, Can you save me a bit of worry?"


    "I was negligent," I said. "You have to give me some time to slowly let it go."


    "How slow do you n on going?" Uncle Two broke his own chopsticks apart and let me eat.


    I was really hungry and wondered if I had been in aa for a long time. I took a bite and didn''t bother speaking. Uncle Two waved his hand and everyone started to disperse.


    "Stop staying at home. Ive arranged a job for you. You dont think about things when you have something to do, Uncle Two said.


    "Give me more time. I want to help you and check some things out," I replied. "I didn''t know this thing was so fierce."


    "Then how about going to Warehouse Eleven and handling things there?" Uncle Two asked.


    ****


    <strong><em>Me reading Uncle Two bitch-pping Wu Xie: </em></strong>


    <strong><em>Also, happy 100 chapters darlings!!!! We''re not quite half-way through just yet, but I''d say we''re making good progress since it''s only been like 1.5 months since we started on the Reboot train</em></strong> ()

 Book 1: Chapter 101

    Book 1: Chapter 101


    I thought of Warehouse Eleven and looked around, but didn''t see Bai Haotian anywhere. I didnt know how this little girl had saved us both considering we couldnt do anything at the time. But Bai Haotian didnt seem to be here anymore. Uncle Two interrupted my thoughts, "Thirty-five hundred a month."


    "Wait, the interns get paid more than that," I argued with him.


    Uncle Two ignored me, but Fatty winked at me, "Youre old and unemployed, so its especially suitable for you to look after the warehouse. Anyway, its not like youve got anything else to do. Take some night shifts and get overtime pay."


    I looked at Fatty''s expression and noticed that he seemed to have some special purpose in mind, so I stopped nagging and said to Uncle Two, "Give me gas allowance. My car goes through a lot of gas." Uncle Two nced at Er Jing, who was standing off to the side. Er Jing took out aputer and pressed a few buttons. After doing a few calctions, he said to me, "Little Master Three, you report your monthly gas expenses to me. Theres no precedent for gas allowance here."


    I heaved a long sigh and looked at Fatty, "Wheres the condom? Give it back to my Uncle Two. Otherwise, Ill lose the goods before I even start working. Uncle Two will definitely take it out of my sry."


    "It depends on whether the owner wants to hold you ountable," Er Jing said as he looked at Poker-Face.


    I breathed a sigh of relief.<em> Thank God, the owner of this thing is Poker-Face</em>. If he wanted to talk about owing money, then the two of us had a lot to discuss.


    Kan Jian called me over, so I grabbed my takeout box and went outside. I saw that the leather figurine woman had be something like stic film the color of oil paper. When I asked why it had been left on the street, Kan Jian said, "Its to dry it out so it can be taken back and studied."


    I squatted down and poked it with my chopsticks. There were several big holes in the leather figurine woman, which should have been the cuts Bai Haotian had made. "Don''t worry, it''s dead," Kan Jian whispered to me.


    How do you know its dead? When it suddenly came alive, there werent any signs at all, I said. I didnt know why this thing had behaved around me. It yed dead when I repeatedly tossed it around, but came alive as soon as Ha Zong touched it.


    "Ha Zong had a cut on his hand, Kan Jian said. Blood was smeared on the human skin, so it must havee alive after smelling the blood. But I dont know why his hands had such deep cuts. It looked like they came from fingernails."


    I frowned and then immediately sighed, "He tends to throw the tiles too much when ying mahjong. I figure he scratched himself on the mahjong table when he threw the tiles."


    Kan Jian looked at me, "Boss, didn''t you tell me before that people are lying when they reveal too many details?"


    I pped him on the back of the neck, "You traitor. You still have the nerve to use me of being a liar? My Uncle Twopletely won you and Wang Meng over because he pays you a lot of money. You guys are so embarrassing."


    Kan Jian looked back at where Uncle Two was eating, "I signed mybor contract with Wushanju. We must abide by thew."


    "Oh ho, this thankless wretch has learned a few things." I was furious and turned to look at Baishe, who wouldn''t look me in the eye at all.


    After a few mouthfuls of rice, I went back to the room and said to Uncle Two, "Ill go to work tomorrow. Uncle Two, do you have anything else you want to tell me? If not, I''ll head out first. I looked at Fatty and Poker-Face, "Where are you guys staying?"


    "Where do you live? Fatty asked. Well find a ce near you. Youre making thirty-five hundred now, so we have to adapt to the changes."


    I motioned for them to follow me, but Uncle Two suddenly said, "Don''t go yet. There are some things you need know. Uncle Two picked up the phone and called someone, "Where are you? The sooner you get here, the sooner we can finish things."


    I didnt know who it was, but after exchanging a few words with the other party, Uncle Two handed me the phone. When I put it to my ear, I heard Xiao Hua''s voice, "Please stay. I''ll be there in five minutes. I found something I think you should know about."


    My heart clenched, thinking that it was something to do with Uncle Three. Then I immediately felt guilty. Uncle Two still wanted me to participate even though I had made him look bad.


    Xiao Hua kept talking, "I know there are a lot of people there, so Ill tell you the big thing first. After everyone leaves, I have a private matter to discuss with you. Remember to make up some excuse so we can go out togetherter."


    I listened and wondered what he had to say, "What''s this private matter rted to? Don''t leave me hanging. Give me at least a little something. Otherwise, I can''t stand it."


    "Its rted to ck sses," Xiao Hua said.

 Book 1: Chapter 102

    Book 1: Chapter 102


    When I heard this, my heart thumped. After Xiao Hua hung up, I sat across from Uncle Two, who asked me, "Are you still leaving?"


    I shook my head, "No."


    I started one-handedly typing out a text message asking about ck sses, but decided against it when I was halfway through. I sighed, suddenly feeling very restless. I knew what ck sses problem was, but Xiao Huaing to talk to me about it meant that there was probably something he couldnt handle.


    I was already very skilled, but basically no one in this world could hide anything from Uncle Two. He immediately gave me a look, but didn''t ask any more questions.


    While we continued to eat, Fatty started asking Uncle Two what they had found out during this period. Uncle Two didn''t say much, just told Fatty to wait and that news was on the way.


    Xiao Hua arrived less than five minutester. He was wearing a gray T-shirt instead of his signature pink shirt and had a pink ring snugly wrapped around his finger. He had lost a lot of weight and looked younger than me. I sighed, <em>its good to have money</em>.


    Xiao Hua nodded to Uncle Two, "Uncle Two."


    Uncle Two looked at the ring on Xiao Huas finger and said quietly, "Wu Xie has something to do tonight, so keep it short."


    Xiao Hua gave me a meaningful look and then nced at Fatty and Poker-Face before saying to Uncle Two, "The investigation finally has some results. This thing was so deeply hidden that we wouldnt have found it if someone hadn''t sold it. Uncle Two, you guessed right. Someone wants us to investigate this matter."


    I didn''t understand at all. Uncle Two seemed to be thinking things over and then saw my confused look. "You tend to get obsessed with certain things, he said to me. Many people are also aware of it. Thats why, when I heard what you were up to, my first reaction was to think that someone was using you to check something for them."


    "Hmm." After thinking about it, it really did seem possible.


    Uncle Two continued, "At that time, I was very puzzled. For a while there, you could see through these kinds of little tricks in an instant. But this time, you didn''t react and even seemed to believe it. I initially felt that you hadnt been tricked for so long that you were no longer wary of such scams. Butter, I discovered that you <em>wanted</em> to be tricked."


    I was stunned. People like me didnt like to be tricked, so I didnt know why Uncle Two would say such a thing. Uncle Two continued, "Think about it. Its true, isn''t it?"


    "What you said is right." I didnt have the strength to argue and there wasnt any point in doing so, either.


    I looked at Xiao Hua and he continued, "I found someone to trace the text message that was sent to you. This kind of little trick generally isnt perfect and they usually don''t expect us to look into it seriously, so theres very detailed information when we do bother to check."


    Xiao Hua took a piece of scrap paper from the side and wrote a location on it. "The text was sent from this area." I looked at the name but didnt recognize it at all. It was called "Yabo" (1). Xiao Hua continued, "This is a mountain vige close to Fujians coast. The vigers there have a high probability of being mute. I think someone sent the information from there. Its the only vige in that area, after all.


    "And then what?" I didn''t know Xiao Hua could trace a text back without a source, but I felt that I really had wanted to be tricked at that time. In the past, my first reaction wouldve definitely been the same as Xiao Hua''s, but I didnt know why I had ignored this possibility at the time.


    "Then I hired ck sses and told him to go and take a look," Xiao Hua said.


    <em>Isn''t ck sses busy with his own affairs? </em>I asked myself. But after Xiao Hua''s previous phone call, I didn''t dare mention this information.


    Xiao Hua continued, "He sent back some photos and videos, saying that someone was staying in the vige to find out why all the vigers were mute. You can look at the videos yourself. Ill send them to you."


    I took out my phone and Xiao Hua sent me a video on WeChat. When I clicked on it, I saw an old man using signnguage, a girl with a ponytail on the side taking notes, and a strongly ented voice in the background tranting the signnguage, "The children here are normal at birth. They be mute after their first thunderstorm."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Yaba ()=mute. Lao()=flooded

 Book 1: Chapter 103

    Book 1: Chapter 103


    Fatty obviously had the same idea as me, but it wasnt good to refute Xiao Hua in front of so many people, so he winked at me, silently urging me to ask.


    Xiao Hua saw our exchange and patted Fatty''s thigh, "Finish watching."


    In the video, that voice continued asking the viger questions. Sure enough, it didnt take them long to ask the same question we were wondering, "Why not move?"


    The interviewee quickly answered in signnguage, while the voice stumbled to trante it, "If you leave here, your life will be very short. After many people left the vige and stayed away for more than three years, they quickly aged.


    The video shook and then I saw ck sses smugly looking at the camera, "Youve seen the situation here. Ill share some information with you so that you can analyze it. First, the signnguage used in this vige isnt standard signnguage, but an ancient signnguage. Signnguage appeared very early in ancient China and was called handnguage. The most famous deaf thinker was He Guanzi from the Warring States Period. If you know Huang-Lao, youll know this guys name (1). This person can use both hands to sign, but the signnguage here doesnt belong to the ancient hand system at all."


    After saying that, ck sses left the room, as if he didn''t want to be overheard. When he finally got outside, he continued, "Theres no signal here, so I''m recording this so as not to lose any details. People here think they go deaf when they hear thunder because theres a heavenly secret in the thunder. God doesn''t want them to tell the secret, so theyre not allowed to speak. I asked them if they knew what the secret was. Its pretty amazing. They told me directly that they could hear it, but there arent any words in their signnguage to express what it is. In other words, they know what God is saying, but they can''t express it."


    Everyone listening to the video looked at each other. "Since ancient times, its been difficult to distinguish between deaf and mute, ck sses suddenly said mysteriously. Do you remember how to write the Chinese character for deaf''?"


    I paused, but Fatty quickly answered, "Theres a dragon on ear (2)." After that, I realized it was a video and this guy was just messing around.


    ck sses continued, "The character for deaf is a dragon on ear. Why did the ancients structure the character for deaf like this?"


    We all took a deep breath, waiting for him to finish. ck sses had a despicable look on his face and I really wanted to say Fucking give it to us straight, but I realized that it was just a recorded video and not an actual video call.


    I suddenly felt a little knot in my heart, not knowing what had happened to ck sses. Logically, I shouldve called him directly and had him talk to us in person. I hadnt seen him for a long time and didnt know what he had going on, but Xiao Hua had brought me this video.


    ck sses took out another cell phone and began to read the contents to us. I didnt know where he got the information from:


    Phonogram (3). The character deaf came from the characters for ear and dragon. The character for dragon also sounded the same as the character for deaf. "Dragon" originally referred to the mythical creature that could bring rain, and by extension, referred to spring thunderstorms. "Ear" meant "hearing", so thebination of the "ear" and "dragon" characters could also mean "ears hear the sound of spring thunder".


    The original meaning of this character referred to old farmers who were hard of hearing and couldnt hold normal conversations with people. But at the spring equinox, they could hear the sound of thunder and knew it was time to sow the fields. This character also referred to the general problem of hearing loss. In other words, someone speaking at a normal volume behind you sounded inaudible or unintelligible, but you could hear them if they shouted loudly. "Deafness" didnt mean a hundred percent hearing loss, but more like a certain percentage of hearing loss.


    ck sses looked at us, "Deafness here refers to ears that can''t hear other sounds, but can definitely hear thunder."


    ording to the ancient descriptions, deaf people couldnt hear other sounds besides thunder. So, for deaf people, most of the sounds they could hear during their lifetime were thunder. As a result, their memories of sounds all featured thunder.


    "A lot of deaf and mute people be fortune-tellers. Why do you think that is? Think about it carefully."


    He looked at the sky and I saw a sh of lightning appear in the video. "It''s going to thunder, he said. "I want to continue observing. Bye-bye."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I wasnt finding much on the guy himself, only this unverified blurb in Chinese. But Heguanzi is a mixed collection of writings from the Chinese Hundred Schools of Thought. Huang-Lao is one of these schools of thought thats more politically driven. It looked for solutions to strengthen the feudal order as depicted in Zhou propaganda and was generally interpreted as a school of syncretism, developing into a major religionthe beginnings of religious Taoism.


    (2) =deaf (pinyin is lng), =dragon (pinyin is also lng), and =ear (pinying is r). If you squint,  looks like its stacked on top of  to form , the character for deaf. Deaf and dragon also sound the same in Chinese.


    (3) A symbol representing a vocal sound. One of the six methods of forming Chinese characters.

 Book 1: Chapter 104

    Book 1: Chapter 104


    Xiao Hua had been answering texts on his phone while we watched the video. After the video ended, he put his phone away and continued talking, "This vige has something to do with listening to thunder. The strange text message was also sent from there. Although theres no 4G in the vige, it still has cell coverage." He drew a few dots on the scrap paper.


    "This is the South Sea Kings tomb, this is Yang Daguang''s vige, and this is the mute vige. As you can see, the mute vige is very close to the South Sea Kings tomb, but far from Yang Daguang''s vige. Heres Rain Vige. Mute Vige and Rain Vige are also on the same mountain range. He crossed out Yang Daguangs vige, leaving only Rain Vige, Mute Vige, and the South Sea Kings tomb. "If your Uncle Three really did send that message, then he was probably very close to you for a long time. He might have even been secretly observing you."


    "Why would he do that? Why not juste to me? I couldnt understand it at all. "Its not like hes too embarrassed to approach me. He was shameless when he was young and middle-aged, so why would he change when he got older? I dont believe it. Didn''t you just say it wasn''t my Uncle Three? Is it someone else with ulterior motives?"


    "If its someone else, then we dont need to discuss it at all. We can only think that hes your Uncle Three at first and then do an analysis to determine otherwise," Xiao Hua said. "You know your Uncle Three very well, but even if I didnt know him personally, I know its not in his character to not contact you. So, there must be apelling reason for him to not contact you. But your Uncle Three isnt the type of person to give up easily. Even if it''s hisst resort, hell definitely want to contact you."


    Xiao Hua looked at me seriously, "Over this long period of time, did you ever feel that there was some hidden information around you?"


    I stared nkly for a moment, trying to recall my life over the past few years. Other than eating, sleeping, fighting with my neighbor next door, and arguing with Fatty on whether we should get back into the grave-robbing business, nothing came to mind.


    I suddenly felt an extreme sense of guilt and fear. If Uncle Three had really been by my side and couldntmunicate with me like normal, he wouldve definitely triedmunicating with me in various ways. But with the state I was in over the past few years, there was no way I would''ve noticed. If Uncle Three had really been near me and trying to tell me something but I didnt respond, what kind of despair did he feel?


    Xiao Hua continued, "Even if you didnt notice, there was still someone around you who would never be like you. He would notice everything and never rx."


    After he said that, he suddenly looked at Poker-Face, as if to make a point. Poker-Face was leaning against the wall and kept his eyes trained on Hefang Street outside. I didn''t know whether he was listening to us or not.


    I nced at Fatty, who looked back at me. I started trembling all over as I suddenly remembered that Poker-Face had been wandering around the mountains. Hadnt he been alone?


    Could it be he had been going to see my Uncle Three?


    As he was wandering through the mountains, did he discover the message my Uncle Three had sent and was doing something with him?


    I immediately stood up, but Fatty pulled me back down and said, "If I were your Uncle Three, I wouldn''t count on you at all. I would pass any news directly to Little Brother. Not only does it save a lot of trouble, but its more convenient than trying to get you to notice. Dont you know that its easier to raise a dog than a nephew? So even if that''s the case, your Uncle Three mustve said its something they cant tell you about."


    After thinking about it, I felt that I shouldn''t lose my temper. What Xiao Hua had said was a possibility. It was also possible that Poker-Face had been receiving information and looking for this person, but couldnt find them. Maybe he didnt understand what was going on, so he didn''t bother saying anything. I had been very rxed at that time, so it would''ve been normal for him not to tell me if Uncle Three had ordered him not to. I also wouldnt have told him if Uncle Three had asked me not to.


    I could tell with certainty that everything rted to me should have been over, so it was normal for others not to tell me about unrted things.


    Kan Jian muttered from off to the side, "At least tell Little Master Three that his Uncle Three isnt dead."


    Fatty pointed to my phone, "Didnt he tell him by text?"


    "That text was a fucking mystery. How am I supposed to know that from a mysterious text?" I was a little anxious when I thought of the text message. Why would he send me a text if he was in contact with Little Brother? If, ording to my analysis, he risked sending me a text because he couldnt get in contact with Little Brother, then that indicated that the situation had started to change and he couldnt wait any longer.


    "That text basically told you to collect Yang Daguang body. Your Uncle Three wanted you to know that he was still alive and also wanted to give you a piece ofnd. Who the fuck asked you to investigate things? Uncle Two asked angrily. "You''re the one who wanted to start an investigation!"


    Fatty motioned for us to calm down before standing up and walking over to Poker-Face, "Little Brother, do you know about Mr. Naves Uncle Three?"


    Poker-Face turned to look at Uncle Two. Xiao Hua also looked at Uncle Two and I suddenly understood something. If it had been the past, I would have known what was going on the instant I saw these looks. <em>Shit, everyone isnt gathered here today because of my ident. They must have important news to tell me. And its because this news is so important that everyone showed up.</em>


    Everything we had talked about before was just setting the groundwork for that important news.


    ****


    <strong><em>That''s all for today guys. I''ve gotta do my taxes (ugh, adulting). </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 105

    Book 1: Chapter 105


    I was silent for a few minutes as my eyes swept around the room. Everyone else also remained silent. I quickly began trying to figure out what was going on.


    My first reaction was that Uncle Three had been found, but may have passed away. Or he was in a very bad state and suffering from something like dementia, serious illness, or disability.


    I took a deep breath and asked myself if I could ept it.


    In fact, I could ept it because I had spent so many years mentally preparing myself for this kind of thing. Although the illusory news would give people a glimmer of hope, they could also have peace of mind once they knew.


    I took a deep breath and let myself ept it before starting to think about the second possibility.


    Maybe I was going to die.


    Ha Zong had said before that I was going to die, and I still believed that his expression had been genuine at the time. Even though everything he had said after that was illogical, that one sentence truly was frightening.


    After thinking about it, it made more sense that I was going to die rather than my Uncle Three being dead.


    But could I ept it?


    I looked at Fatty, Xiao Hua, Poker-Face, Uncle Two, Kan Jian, and Baishe.


    I realized that I couldn''t ept it, because I couldn''t believe that there was already no way out for me when I was still eating my takeout.


    I couldnt resist jokingly asking, "No way, am I going to die? Why are you all looking at me like that?"


    Kan Jian immediately burst into tears and ran out.


    Xiao Hua looked at me with aplicated expression on his face, and I was surprised to find that I might have guessed right.


    Iughed and suddenly felt a burning sensation in my nose. After touching it, I found that I had a nosebleed.


    ****


    <strong><em>Got done quicker than expected lol. In celebration of me getting some cash flow back, here''s this short but important chapter.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 106

    Book 1: Chapter 106


    I wiped my nose, looked at the blood on my fingers, and told myself that it was just a coincidence. Someone must have hit me hard when I was rescued earlier and my nose was injured. I pulled a napkin over to cover my nose and looked at Fatty, Uncle Two, and Xiao Hua again. I was just wondering whether there were any other possibilities for this kind of situation when Uncle Two said, "You wont die as long as youre obedient."


    "What''s going on?" I sighed, toozy to even bother guessing. Now that they were all here, they had to be trying to tell me something, so I figured Id wait for them toe out with it.


    Uncle Two nced at Poker-Face before looking at Xiao Hua again, "Little Brother goes, Xiao Hua and Fatty stay."


    Poker-Face stood up and silently walked out, with many people following behind him. Baishe came up and handed me a cigarette, but Ipletely ignored him.


    Everyone filed out to the street, the atmosphere so heavy that passers-by were a little scared and gave the shop strange looks. Er Jing silently closed the door.


    Uncle Two looked at me and immediately said, "Little Brother did receive news from Third Brother. Although he refused to tell me the specific details on how he received the news, he told me part of the content when we were in the South Sea Kings tomb."


    I smacked the table, "I always wondered why he liked to go fishing that much!" I reflexively reached out for the cigarette on the table, but Uncle Two swiped it from me and I ended up touching his hand instead.


    I was embarrassed for a moment, but Uncle Two continued talking, "Grave robbers live underground all year round. Many of the older ones die from corpse poisoning because theyve inhaled too much gas from the decaying corpses. It settles in their lungs and makes them miserable until death. Your situation is more serious than others. The bodies you have been exposed to were highly toxic and then youter took the initiative to drip snake venom into your nasal cavity. Grave robbing is usually passed from generation to generation, but you dont have a master and no one really taught you before. As a result, you didn''t take precautions when you entered these ces. After so many years, your body has be overwhelmed."


    I looked at Fatty. "Isn''t he the same as me?"


    "Hes not my nephew," Uncle Two said coldly. "Both your Uncle Three and Little Brother said that you came into contact with something in an ancient tomb a long time ago. They didn''t say which tomb it was, but that things effect will soon disappear. The reason why your body was fine until now was because of that thing. After its efficacy disappears, all the consequences of you ruining yourself over the years will be revealed."


    I tried to understand, "What will happen to me?"


    "You could aplish such difficult things over the years and your body could withstand so much all because of that thing. You look much younger than your actual age. If the effect of that thing disappears, I''m afraid youll age very quickly and be extremely weak. What you need to do now is take care of your health."


    I thought it over, but couldnt help feeling that it was wrong. My analysis wasnt like this before and now the topic had somehow turned to focusing on my health. If that was case, then why did Ha Zong say that I was going to die?


    "I''m fine." I blew my nose in the napkin. "Ive been getting up early and going to bed early every day for the past few years. I do morning exercises, run, and eat healthy foods. Ive already recovered."


    Uncle Two picked up his cell phone and pulled up a picture. "After you came out of the South Sea Kings tomb, I had them take a CT scan when you were unconscious. These are your lungs."


    When I picked it up and looked at it, I saw two lungs on the screen. But I wasnt a doctor, so I couldn''t understand it at all. Uncle Two pointed to tworge areas on the lungs, "These two things can''t get any bigger. Your lungs are different from other people''s lungs, so if you go into a tomb and inhale those poisonous gases again, you wont be able to bear it. That thing destroyed the original function of your lungs and reced their ability to filter out toxins with its own medicinal effects. Once the medicine disappears, even smoking will have fatal consequences."


    "You mean, I could turn into a ss lung at any time?" I asked.


    "You have to give your lungs time to recover. This illness isnt fatal, so there wont be any problems as long as you pay attention," Uncle Two said. "I''m not lying to you. Youll start to show symptoms soon."


    I narrowed my eyes. "You just said that I would grow old quickly." With so many people here, it shouldnt be as simple as letting my lungs heal.


    Uncle Two was silent for a few seconds, "Little Brother and your Uncle Three shouldve been secretly trying to find a way to help you. I honestly shouldnt be telling you about it, but Im not your Uncle Three. Im toozy to bother hiding it from you and I also believe you can handle it. If you dont want to die before me, work in Warehouse Eleven and wait to hear back from us."

 Book 1: Chapter 107

    Book 1: Chapter 107


    After Uncle Two finished speaking, everyone gradually dispersed. Many people hugged me, but I didn''t react. All I could think was, <em>is this really necessary? I feel like a seriously ill patient.</em>


    I had just learned that I was sick even though I felt like I was in good health. I had no idea what I would face in the future.


    There were several famous crawfish shops on Hefang Street. Xiao Hua pretended to leave first and didn''te back until Poker-Face, Fatty, and I were sitting down in one of the crawfish shops. Poker-Face and Xiao Hua didn''t normally eat this kind of food, so they ate some cucumbers instead. Fatty and I quickly ate a mountain of crawfish before we calmed down.


    We were all quiet about what had happened just now, but the thing that was bothering me was that Uncle Two was always a man who avoided the important things. I wasnt sure if he had told me the real severity of my situation. What he had said just now could have big and small parts. He had obviously told me the small part, but didnt mention anything about the big part at all.


    This was his style.


    After drinking a few beers, the boundaries and depression in my heart disappeared and I started to rx and joke. Fatty kept saying I might be cured after eating Poker-Face meat. In the future, wed have to keep Little Brother''s bath water to use as soup stock to prolong our lives.


    I told Xiao Hua to say what he needed to say. I had been ordered to stay healthy now and I had to get up early to go to work tomorrow. I wasnt familiar with the new work unit, so I had to be on my best behavior.


    Xiao Hua looked at the beer in his cup. The seats here were very crowded and he always looked a little ufortable on such asions.


    "ck sses situation isnt looking good," Xiao Hua said. "Based on what my men said, he waspletely blind on his way to Mute Vige."


    "Completely blind?" I asked. "Didn''t he say that he could see a little no matter what?"


    "Completely blind." Xiao Hua took a sip of beer and continued, "What difference does it make to him even if hes notpletely blind? You guys are all spread out in different ces and Im the only one in Beijing. I already have so many things to deal with. We need toe up with a n on how to deal with this matter. Xiao Hua nced at me, "He made many enemies when he helped you before. If he really can''t see, hell be dead within a month."


    "Who the fuck dares to kill him?!" Fatty was furious. "Who, who the fuck are his enemies? If pushes to shove, Ill kill them all first! Spread the word, whoever dares to fucking touch ck sses will be my enemy. Ill send their whole family to heaven!"


    Xiao Hua was still looking at me, "Its easier to dodge a spear in the open than it is to avoid a stab in the dark."


    I pulled Fatty back down, "It wont work for us to say these words now." I then looked at Xiao Hua, who was still watching me, "What''s your n? Just say it. What do you need me to do?"


    Xiao Hua looked at his beer and said, "He needs a ce like Rain Vige. If he wont go, someone has to convince him somehow."


    I shook my head. When ck sses set his mind to do something, he did it very obviously. Even if he wanted to die, he would do it in an easy and uplicated manner. I knew I could never convince him. If ck sses really had such severe symptoms, then the best way was to hide his whereabouts before he got treatment or found a better solution.


    I already knew that what Xiao Hua was saying wasnt meant for me.


    It was very dangerous to enter the blind tomb without Poker-Face. That ce was probably the most dangerous tomb in the world and there wasnt any information on it at all.


    ck sses was now helping Uncle Two investigate Uncle Three, but he couldnt afford to put off his own affairs.


    Poker-Face had to participate in everything, yet I couldnt get involved at all.


    I was a little dazed and didnt pay attention to what Xiao Hua said after that. When I walked out of the crawfish shop, a wave of tiredness washed over me. For the first time, I felt that our era might soon pass.


    I knew that this day woulde eventually, but I never understood why so many people were unwilling to quit. I wasnt the nostalgic type, but now that this day hade, the curtain call felt so ufortable.


    I slept in Fatty''s hotel room and then drove back to Warehouse Eleven at eight the next morning.


    When I walked in the door, I saw Bai Haotian standing there holding a bunch of flowers. "Little Master Three, hello!"


    I nodded and looked at my job title. I was a director, but Bai Haotian had a manager''s badge on her chest. I didn''t know which one had the higher authority here.


    Bai Haotian kept talking, "Theres no social insurance (1), wages are paid in cash, theres a gas allowance, and you get one day off a week. Sound good?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chinas social insurance consists of five different types of insurance, plus one mandatory housing fund. The five insurances are pension, medical, unemployment, work-rted injury, and maternity. More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 108

    Book 1: Chapter 108


    There were only two people in the office: me and Bai Haotian.


    Bai Haotian had looked like a tomboy when we met before, but when we met this time, she actually wore a little makeup. Her outfit still kind of made her look like a boy, though.


    Our two desks were facing each other and there was a thermos cup of brewed goji berry tea on the desk (1).


    When I sat down, she sat opposite me. I looked at her and she looked at me. It was so awkward.


    "What do you need me to do, Manager? I asked her.


    Bai Haotian was trembling a little and had to take a few deep breaths before she shook her head and said, "Just wait. We usually check the goods once a week and patrol the warehouse before getting off work."


    "What do you usually do?" I looked at the numerous documents hanging on the wall, many of which were old. I flipped through some of them and found that many had traditional Chinese characters written on them.


    Bai Haotian smiled and I quickly corrected my question, "What do you usually do here?"


    Bai Haotian''s face turned red and I sighed. I really wasnt good atmunicating with little girls. I was toozy to ask any more questions, so I turned on theputer in front of me which was very old. I didnt know who used it before, but the desktop background was a picture of me.


    I was toozy to pursue the matter, so I simply changed it and began the boring task of checking through the files on theputer. In addition to the numerous inventory documents, I saw a strange icon on the desktop. After clicking on it, I found that it was actually a storage system.


    Although Warehouse Elevens storage system was very old, it was still rtively easy to use. I began searching through the items inside. The codes, shelf numbers, and storage time of these items were all very clear, but I couldnt see the names of the items. When I clicked on the items, I could see very detailed records, but they were all encrypted.


    It seemed that the warehouse managers didnt have full ess to view specific information.


    I was a little interested in this since I had always been full of curiosity. At the end of these columns, I saw that the names of the people who entered these items into the warehouse were all coded.


    These coded names represented the big shots in the Nine Gates, but when I looked at them, I couldnt see any sort of pattern.


    "Youve been here for almost a year," I said to Bai Haotian. "Have you ever tried to figure out what these coded names stand for since you have so much downtime?"


    "The Bai family is only responsible for managing the warehouse. As for the details regarding the warehouse, we can''t ask questions."


    "My grandfather said that all rules were meant to be broken," I said to her. "Youre supposed to be curious at your age, yet youve been wasting your time here all year. Come on, dont tell me you really cant think of anything? Dont be afraid to share it. Even if you won''t tell me what you''ve figured out, Ill definitely be able to find out on my own after a long time, I said lightly as I looked at theputer.


    Bai Haotian looked at me and seemed to be debating with herself. I nced at the flowers she had given me earlier, "Tell me and Ill invite you to dinner tonight."


    "087323 is Zhang Da Fo Yes number," Bai Haotian whispered to me.


    I made a note of it on my cell phone and then opened the icon on theputer and searched for it. It turned out that Zhang Da Fo Ye really had a lot of things here.


    I scanned through everything carefully and noticed a strange mark on several files. Zhang Da Fo Ye''s storage directory had several items with a small * symbol on thebels.


    "What does this asterisk symbol mean?" I asked Bai Haotian.


    "This represents danger," Bai Haotian said. "These goods are very dangerous, so special people must be present when they enter or leave the warehouse."


    "Then what do we do when we patrol? Won''t we be in danger when we pass by? Or do the warehouse managers die often here and get reced at any time?"


    "The goods with asterisks arent on the ground level, theyre all underground," Bai Haotian said. "Ill show you what the real Warehouse Eleven looks like when we patrol the warehouse before getting off work."


    I frowned. "Underground?"


    Bai Haotian nodded. I looked at my watch. There were still fifteen minutes before I actually started work and I already wanted to run away.


    When I thought about it, Wang Meng really didnt have it easy. I touched my forehead and opened Minesweeper.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fun fact: in traditional Chinese medicine, goji berries are used specifically to support the liver, kidneys, eyes, and lungs.


    ****


    <strong><em>Xiao Bai folded so easy lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 109

    Book 1: Chapter 109


    After sweeping more than four hundred bombs, my spine almost felt like it was broken and I finally got off work.


    As I was ying Minesweeper, I had been trying to figure out those codes, hoping to use Zhang Da Fo Ye''s code to find out what the other codes might be.


    When I started my calctions, I found that all my mathematical abilities had returned to Brother Xiao Man. As Uncle Three used to say, the Wu family taught dogs other subjects, while dogs taught people math.


    I looked at Bai Haotian as I started packing things up. She also tidied up before grabbing the keys, turning off the lights, and obediently walking to my side.


    I followed after her as we moved to patrol the warehouse. I assumed that Bai Haotian was a Virgo since she exined each area to me in detail.


    When we were halfway through, I stopped and asked her, "How much longer are you going to work here?"


    Bai Haotian froze and then stammered, "Two, two years. Little Master Three, have I not done well?"


    "Then well be together for a long time. Theres no need to introduce everything all at once." I sighed and looked down at my feet. "Lets go and have a look below."


    Bai Haotian was still standing there frozen and looked so nervous that her lips had turned white. I looked at her looking at me and slowly exined, "It''s boring here, so lets save it forter. From now on, we can talk every day before we get off work. Otherwise, well be bored when we patrol tomorrow."


    Bai Haotian rxed and then led me all the way to the warehouses locker room, where she opened a particrly narrow locker door.


    The locker was empty, save for an iron sheet at the back.


    Bai Haotian pushed the iron sheet, pressing it a dozen times at a special frequency. When the iron sheet moved, Bai Haotian pushed it away and I asked her, "Whats the password?"


    "New employees have to wait a year before they can learn it."


    I sighed. There was a staircase behind, which was so narrow that only one person could go down at a time. Bai Haotian was in front and I was in the back. The lights were very dim.


    I touched the wall and found that it was made of cement that I was very familiar with, but was very rare in the market.


    I immediately knew that this ce had been built by Seven Fingers.


    After going down three or four floors, we came out of a particrly narrow door and into a huge, dark underground space.


    Even though the space was very dark, I could still see a lot of huge shadows that were spaced far apart from each other.


    When I walked in, I found that the warehouses underground area turned out to be a reservoir. We were on one of the many iron catwalks that had been built above a huge pool. The water was pitch ck, making it impossible to see how deep it was. I could see that all of the goods were immersed in the water, with only the top parts floating above the waters surface. All of thebels were written on these exposed tops.


    The catwalk was interspersed between the floating goods.


    I moved to the edge of the catwalk by the first huge good and found that thebel identified it as Zhang Da Fo Ye''s.


    "Most of the goods are underwater. The water here is special," Bai Haotian said.


    I turned on my phone light and found that the good in front of me was actually rotten wood. I paused and then immediately realized what type of good it was.


    This was everything from an ancient tomb. All the other goods and this square monstrosity in front of me made up an entire huangchangticoutomb (1).


    Zhang Da Fo Ye had stored an entire huge ancient tomb beneath Warehouse Eleven. I looked up and saw countless cubes in the water that were just like the huge one in front of me.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mentioned in Chapter 34. A Huangchangticou is a special type of ancient royal burial that emerged in the Spring and Autumn Period and took prevalence in the Han Dynasty. Huangchang refers to the yellow core of the cypress wood, while ticou refers to the structure of the tomb (mainly the heads of the wood facing the outer coffin). More info here (the pg. 614 one, paragraphs on the left side of the page).

 Book 1: Chapter 110

    Book 1: Chapter 110


    I looked back at the small gap we had juste through and asked Bai Haotian, "How were these things put in here?"


    "I dont know. They were already here when I started working here."


    I circled around the goods and then looked back at the gap, "So, if someonees to pick up the goods, how would they be shipped out?"


    "Legend has it that Zhang Da Fo Ye used the Five Ghosts Transportation ritual." Bai Haotian smiled. "Anyway, these things have been here for so many years and no one has ever bothered to pick them up."


    I took a deep breath and looked at this spectacr sche Mystic Nine in my mind was mostly just legendary stories you heard on the street. But after seeing this ce, I suddenly realized that I didn''t know how amazing the Mystic Nine really was back in the day.


    I went to move forward, but Bai Haotian suddenly took off her jacket and started to take off her pants. I was stunned for a moment before I realized that she wearing a close-fitting diving suit under her uniform. Her figure finally showed a trace of feminine curves.


    She opened her backpack, took out a pair of diving goggles, and put them on before looking at me with a little blush on her face.


    I was a little confused. I just wanted to check out the warehouse, so why did it suddenly turn into us swimming?


    "What are you doing?" I sighed and told myself that with this much drama, I probably wouldnt be bored during my time here.


    She handed me something. I took it and nced down, only to find that it was a pair of swim trunks. "I dont like this kind of sport and the water looks dirty," I said to her very slowly.


    "Don''t you want to go down and have a look?" She handed me another pair of goggles and then took out two underwater shlights.


    I saw her face get even redder.


    "The water"


    "Dont worry, the waters fine. Not only is the Bai family good at swimming, but were very familiar with water. She started to do some stretches and then jumped into the water. When her head surfaced again, she said, "Ill swim for a while. I wont look at you changing."


    I looked at the swim trunks and suddenly remembered something that Jin Wantang had said before. Was it the Bai family that Fo Ye and Ba Ye had met while salvaging a sunken ship in Dongting Lake? It was said that the sunken ship was under an ice cave at that time, so salvaging it was an extraordinary feat (1).


    I debated on whether I wanted to go down or not, but after thinking for a few minutes, I found that I couldnt not go down. Everything above was already so thrilling that I was sure whatever was below would be jaw-dropping.


    I took a few steps forward and moved to a dark spot. I took off my clothes and put on the swim trunks and goggles. I then carefully did some stretches and climbed into the water bit by bit by holding onto the railing.


    The water still had a trace of warmth to it, so it wasnt as cold as I had been expecting. Bai Haotian''s underwater shlight wasnt far from me, so I slowly swam towards her. The light rushed at me like an arrow in the water and then I saw her head poke out of the water right in front of me.


    I immediately understood why her hair was so short. This tomboy was obviously very good at swimming and probably spent most of her time in the water.


    With the light reflecting off the water, she looked like apletely different person. Her shyness onnd had been reced by an indescribable brilliance.


    "Well have to dive deep. How deep have you gone before?" She asked me.


    "The deepest ce Ive ever been was my Uncle Threes trap for me," I said.


    I wasnt afraid of diving. My fear of water had been reduced to the bare minimum when I went to the Zhang familys ancient building.


    She handed me an underwater shlight and then dove down. I quickly followed after her. The two of us went down bit by bit, gradually going deeper and deeper. The pool was about twenty-five meters deep, but the goods were huge. As soon as I went underwater, I saw even more goods floating at the bottom.


    The most striking thing was a group of colorful jellyfish-like things that were suspended in the water.


    Bai Haotian led me over to them and I found that they were actually a group of ancient female corpses. They were wearing western clothes and suspended in the water. I realized that I had seen this kind of thing before.


    Behind the female corpses were two huge coffins.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I believe this is VERY loosely portrayed in Episode 46 of the Mystic Nine.


    ****


    <strong><em>This is Episode 27 of the drama. Times are 28:30-29:13; 32:10-36:44; and 41:08-42:05. Also continues into Episode 28, around 2:00-3:35 (if you keep watching, it goes into the next chapter). Viki link to the episode list here.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 111

    Book 1: Chapter 111


    Bai Haotian swam over while I went up to get some air. After I caught my breath, I dove back down and saw Bai Haotian floating in front of the two coffins with her hands in front of her like she was praying. As I swam over, I noticed that her short hair was fluttering in the water, her eyes were closed, and her face looked very pious.


    I didnt know what she was doing, but I went back up for air again while she worshiped since it felt like my lungs couldnt take it anymore.


    When I dove into the water for the third time, Bai Haotian had finished worshiping and swam with me to the two coffins. These coffins also hadbels on them. One had Zhang Qishan''s serial number, while the other one had a serial number I had never seen before.


    I couldn''t ask anything since we were underwater, so I let Bai Haotian lead me forward, where I saw countless colored ze products piled up. As the shlight swept over them, the colored ze shone brightly under the refraction of water and light. When I approached one of them, I saw that these zed products were as thin as a piece of paper. These kinds of things were extremely difficult to preserve onnd.


    Those huge coffins were like giant pirs standing in the middle of these small goods. I could see a lot of nails stuck in the decayed wooden boards and there were a lot of old-looking leather bags hanging from them. I shined my shlight on one of them and saw Bai Haotian sign to me: there are bodies inside.


    As we swam forward, I saw piles of earthen jars. Each jar was as tall as three or four people and they had all been stacked into pyramid shapes. I felt my lungs spasm and had to float up.


    Bai Haotian had to practically push me up to the catwalk, where Iy on my back, gasping for breath. Bai Haotian climbed up and start apologizing in a panicked voice, "I''m sorry, I''m sorry! I forgot Uncle Two told me that your health isnt good."


    I gasped and felt my vision go dark for a moment. I hadnt even made it to the bottom just now. I only swam on the upper level and my lungs already felt like they were dying.


    I looked at my watch and found that it had been less than ten minutes. Although I still had physical strength, I couldn''t seem to breathe. I didnt know if it was a psychological effect or if what Uncle Two had said was true.


    "What were you worshiping just now?" I asked after recovering a little bit.


    "I heard a legend that theyre Fo Ye and Xinyues coffins, but no one has confirmed it, she said. Still, its customary to worship them when in this part of the warehouse in order to show your respect. There are many corpses below that Fo Ye watches over."


    I sat up and wiped the water from my face. Bai Haotian had to repeat what she just said before I understood it. When I did, all the hairs on my body stood on end. I had heard that Fo Ye was cremated, so why was there a coffin here? Was it a cenotaph (1)? There had to be another story here.


    Compared with the other people in the Mystic Nine that I had been in contact with when I was a child, Fo Ye was a legendary figure to me. I suddenly felt a little regretful that I didn''t worship with Bai Haotian just now.


    But it was impossible for me to go into the water again. I had toy there on the ground for a long time before I could get up.


    Bai Haotian felt very guilty and wanted to drive me home, but I refused. Iy in the car for a while before driving several hundred meters, but I couldn''t do it. I stopped on the side of the road and fell asleep. In my dream, I was in front of the two coffins. As I looked at them, a stream-like history seemed to sh before my eyes like a rotatingntern.


    I suddenly woke with a start, took out my phone, and looked at Zhang Qishan''s serial number. I then typed in Xinyues serial number that I saw on the other coffin.


    There was no rtionship between the two numbers. But I was college graduate, so although my math wasnt very good, I still knew that these two numbers had to be rted to Warehouse Elevens coding system. One number wasnt enough to crack the coding system, but it was possible to find a pattern if you had two numbers.


    I stared at the phone in my hand for a long time, but I still couldnt make sense of it. I suddenly remembered that Bai Haotian had guessed Zhang Qishan''s number, so I called her up and asked, "Are you interested ining out to talk?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) An empty tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere.


    ****


    <strong><em>Episode 28, around 2:00-4:35</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 112

    Book 1: Chapter 112


    I was surprised to find that Bai Haotian lived a block over from Hefang Street. This area in Hangzhou was full of antique shops and shops that sold strange stones. Bai Haotian lived on the second floor of a shop facing the street.


    She said that her family hoped that she would take over some of the family business in the future. Under the protection of the Nine Gates, many of those in the huge Bai family were engaged in the collection industry. Some shops had been operating well for many years, so in addition to working in Warehouse Eleven, she interned at this shop. That way, she could gain some contacts and get familiar with the rules of the business.


    I was surprised to discover that the name of this shop was Haoshanju. In other words, the Wu in Wushanju had a steel bar inserted through the top of it (1).


    Bai Haotian was a little shy and proud, so I couldn''t bring myself to ask her what was going through her head. When I arrived, she had already gone upstairs to wash up, so she came back down and turned on the lights to the shop''s first floor so that we could sit down there and talk.


    I looked around at all of the goods on the first floor. There was arge cab facing the door that disyed seeds for sale and all kinds of strange and cheap stones were piled together on either side of it. There was a problem with the arrangement and cement of the shelves. At first nce, it appeared to copy the disy of other shops, but Bai Haotian didn''t seem to understand the internal logic, so only part of it was copied without a true understanding of the inside.


    I figured the little girl was tidying up her face or something, so I reflexively rearranged the stones ording to my own understanding.


    When she finally sat down, I gave her the two codes and asked, "Why were you able to crack Zhang Da Fo Yes code? How did you figure it out?"


    Bai Haotian looked at me and thought for a long time, "How to say itI guessed it. Its not something I can exin in a day and a night."


    I wrote down Yin Xinyues name and number.


    "With these two, can you figure out the logic behind it? You know, to make an equation so that we can figure out the owners of all the goods in the warehouse."


    "But why should we know that?" Bai Haotian looked at me nervously, "Little Master Three, why are you trying to do such a big project on your first day of work? ording to the rules, we''re not allowed to know the specific details regarding the goods."


    "Didnt you figure out Zhang Qishans code?"


    "That''s because there was nothing to do. I was only entertaining myself. If anyone else but you had asked me, I wouldn''t have said anything." Bai Haotian flipped the paper with the two names on it over. "I wont do it, I wont do it."


    "Well, I dont need to know the equation. Just help me figure it out. You don''t have to tell anyone what the equation is. Just tell me one thing: what is Wu Sanxings serial number. I want to see what my Uncle Three put in the warehouse. He left everything to me, so theres no problem with me checking it out. Ill know sooner orter, anyway, I said to her.


    Bai Haotian flipped the paper over again and bit her lower lip. I looked at her expression and realized that something was wrong.


    Her expression wasnt that of someone who was debating on whether to help me figure it out, but of someone wondering if they should tell me something I didnt know. I thought of several possibilities and suddenly said, "Or, maybe youre so smart that youve already figured out the equation and know what my Uncle Threes number is. Come on, you can tell me directly."


    Bai Haotian''s face immediately turned pale and she almost looked like she wanted to escape. Her eyes were looking around everywhere, unable to stay in one ce for more than two or three seconds. Her hands clutched at her pajamas in a vice-like grip.


    I took a deep breath, "If you tell me this, Ill teach you how to run this shop well."


    Bai Haotian didn''t think I would say this and looked at me in surprise, "Really?"


    "Still hesitant?"


    "No!" Bai Haotian immediately flipped the paper over and quickly wrote down a number before handing it to me, "Keep your word!"


    I took the paper and looked at the number. <em>She really did figure it out</em>, I said to myself.


    But before I could give my answer, she grabbed my pinky finger and burst into tears, "I dream of being your boss, no, of being your shop assistant!"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hao= and Wu=. As you can see, the Wu character doesnt have that line going through it like the Hao character does.

 Book 1: Chapter 112.5: Drunken Gibberish

    Book 1: Chapter 112.5: Drunken Gibberish


    I drank a lot that night. When I first started drinking, I wanted to make my life better. But by the time I drank the fourth bottle of beer, my emotions came out.


    Before, I was concerned about most people. But when I was drinking with Bai Haotian, I was suddenly only concerned about myself. Everything I did in the past became clear and simple. I understood what I wanted for the first time. Before I lost consciousnesswhen it was only me and the alcohol leftI especially understood what I wanted.


    I drank heartily that night. When I was alone with my thoughts during the past ten or twenty years, I always felt panicked and weak. But at this moment, I finally understood something.


    "I always hope that I won''t let people down, I said to Bai Haotian. Although it''s very difficult, Ive finally lived to the point where I can be satisfied when only that one person isnt disappointed."


    Bai Haotian was terrified. I didn''t know what I said to her after drinking too much, or even how I got home.


    That night, I heard a lot of voices in my ear. They sounded like Uncle Three''s, Uncle Two''s, and my parents voices. I had always been clear-headed for so many years that it was rare for me to be so muddled for once. I knew that when I woke up, I would remember my thoughts when I was drunk. I saw how pure I was back in the day and felt like I wanted to cry.


    I dreamed of thema temple in Tibet and the ribbon floating in my dream. I dreamed of everythingfrom my sense of belonging, to where my life belonged in the grand scheme of thingsbut I dared not touch, stress, or solidify them. I was afraid I wasnt worthy of those memories and times. Even though I had done so many things and controlled so many other people, I still didnt dare say any beautiful words.


    This was the first time I didn''t want to sober up. I really didn''t want to. In my illusions, my emotions didnt need to be suppressed and rational. Everything about me was fixed at that first moment. I hoped to be strong and mature enough at that time.


    I fell into a deep sleep and realized at thest moment that dreaming was meaningless. I looked at Uncle Threes code and knew what I would think of tomorrow. That was what I had to do.


    ****


    <strong><em>They''re acting like we might lose power with all this snow and ice so if I go MIA for a few days, I''m not dead in a ditch or anything, just don''t have power lol. I think it''ll be fine, but who knows. I also went ahead and put "Ten Years Later" into a pdf yesterday since I felt like it didn''t really need any work (unlike the previous volumes I''m still slowly working on lol). Link is here. Ya''ll stay safe out there</em></strong>~~

 Book 1: Chapter 113

    Book 1: Chapter 113


    The next morning, I went to work with a hangover. Bai Haotian had already made hangover tea, so I took a sip of it. I patted her head and then pulled up all of Uncle Threes goods.


    Uncle Three didnt have many goods in the warehouse since he was always on the move. I honestly didnt think he liked antiques, because he kept his inventory rtively small. I only found three shipments in total.


    I looked through the information on the first shipment and found its location in the warehouse. It was a tortoise stele (1) that was wrapped in stic paper, but there was nothing on the stele. The second shipment was a batch of old equipment that appeared to be obsolete now. Uncle Three had either saved it because he didn''t want to lose any of it, or it was the equipment that important people around him had used. If those people had died, then their things couldnt be thrown away.


    I tore off the packaging of the second shipment and sat down on the ground. This was Pan Zi''s equipment. There were many different sets for all types of terrains, and I even recognized several of them that Pan Zi had worn before. When it came to exploringrge-scale tombs, most of the equipment was very old after only being used once. Pan Zi liked to modify this old equipment by himself, so most of it was very recognizable.


    After taking a few deep breaths, the throbbing in my heart finally calmed down.


    When I walked to the third shipment, my heart fell as soon as I saw it. It was an old coffin. Those in the country liked to buy their coffins in advance and this particr coffin was one that my grandpa had prepared at that time. But Grandpa wanted to be crematedter, so this coffin ended up being useless.


    The Wu family didnt care much about what happened after they died, so the coffin wasnt special. But it still belonged to Grandpa, so they couldnt just throw it away. In the end, they decided to stick it here.


    Most of Uncle Three''s memories were still here. I went back to the first shipment and examined the tortoise carefully. Although the item itself was special, there wasnt anything special about it as far as I could tell. It had clearly been in the warehouse for a long time, so maybe Uncle Three just forgot about it after he put it here.


    When I got back to the office, I sighed and looked at Bai Haotian who was calmly chatting on QQ (2). "You knew I wouldn''t find anything, I said to her. That''s why you told me so readily. You didnt say a word, so I bet you know this warehouse like the back of your hand."


    "Its because theres nothing to do here. You know, every one of these goods has a story." Bai Haotian said as she looked at the calendar beside her. "Did you know that the concierge at hotels know almost everything since its their job to look at the guests'' luggage? Even the luggage storage office is all about guessing the luggage passwords. As a result, theyre the only ones who know what the guests in the hotel look like on the surface and in reality."


    "Then do you have any suggestions? Look, I''ve been working so hard for so long and it''s all been in vain. If you dont feel sorry for me at all, then you must know that theres something valuable to me. I can definitely figure it out after a long time, but Ive already agreed to teach you how to work in this business, so you shouldnt hold back on me."


    Bai Haotian looked at me with a smile and then said slowly, "Let me think about whether I should tell you or not."


    I narrowed my eyes and tried to look at her with my most annoyed expression, but I didn''t expect her to blush. "Or, you could guess."


    <em>Guess?</em>


    My fingers twitched. If she was letting me guess, then that meant that the information I had now could be used to infer a result that was favorable to me.


    I only thought for a few seconds before I suddenly had an epiphany. "Come on, tell me. What''s the code for my name? I asked her. I want to see if I have any goods in Warehouse Eleven."


    I had never stored anything in Warehouse Eleven. I didnt handle many things that were qualified toe to this warehouse, nor did I have many storage needs. If I did actually have goods in Warehouse Eleven, then it definitely fit in line with Uncle Three''s usual routine.


    This was the way he would convey information to me, because as long as I kept working in this business, I would definitely go to Warehouse Eleven to store things once I reached a certain age. At that time, I would find that I already had a shipment of goods here.


    Bai Haotian looked at me with her cheeks cupped in her hands, "I won''t tell you unless you tell me why youre so curious."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Looks like this:


    (2) Its an instant messaging software service and web portal developed by the Chinese tech giant Tencent


    ****


    <strong><em>Uwah! Pan Zi!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 114

    Book 1: Chapter 114


    I really hadnt thought about this question since I thought everyone was curious. Human curiosity was all about the mystery of the riddle and the person who created the riddle. For example, there was a salon youd have to pass on Beishan Road to get to Wushanju, but it wasnt like I wanted to know the owners life story. First, there were only so many kinds of things you would experience in this life. But once you disassembled them, you would see that there were hundreds of possibilities. You would know, but at the same time, you wouldnt care.


    More importantly, I wasnt interested in the proprietress, but Fatty was. As a result, he was way more curious about this matter than I was. (1)


    I felt like the reason for my strong sense of curiosity was because the riddles Uncle Three gave me were too good. I took the first few steps and then kept going. After that, I met my friends and became interested in their origins.


    I couldnt let go of both.


    I slowly exined all of this to Bai Haotian, whose eyes suddenly became watery as I finished speaking. When I looked at her, she said, "It''s so deep. I dont think I can understand it."


    <em>How the hell is this deep?</em> I said to myself.


    Bai Haotian came over, typed in my code for me, and then hit enter.


    The code for my name was very strange, so Bai Haotian had to exin, "This numbering system isnt particrly scientific, so it doesnt work as well for your generation. The calcted number length exceeds the standard, so it wont work for the next generation after you. No one knows what will happen to Warehouse Eleven after that."


    Warehouse Eleven belonged to the Nine Gates as a whole, but now that they were long gone, no one was thinking about the future of this old warehouse. When the time came, I was afraid it would turn into a one-time distribution of spoils.


    After entering my number, a location popped up. It wasnt underwater, but in an inconspicuous spot on the warehouses ground floor. There was only one good.


    I silently walked over to it by myself and found that it was a mooncake box. When I opened it, I found a smart phone inside.


    The phone was an older model from the past few years. It was dead, but I noticed that it had an Android charging port. I took it back to the office, plugged it in, and waited for it to charge enough to turn on.


    After about five minutes, the phone finally lit up. I turned it on and found that it was password-protected.


    I entered my code without hesitation.


    The phone immediately unlocked.


    I first went to the photo album and scanned through countless photos. They all had the geographical location and time that the photo was taken. I looked at the total number and found that there were more than three thousand photos.


    All of them were various documents and records.


    I selected one of them and found that it was a 1963 thunderstorm report from Northeast China. The document photographed had "East 19" written on it in marker. When I looked at the photos before and after this document, I found that all of the thunderstorm reports in them also had this East 19bel on them. I scrolled through more than forty photos before thebel changed to West 11.


    I thought for a while and then opened the sound recording folder. There were countless recordings saved in it, all with names like East 19, West 11, and so on.


    I clicked on one, and sure enough, thunder started ying.


    If Uncle Three really was the owner of this phone, then he was the one who gave these thunder recordings different names. And based on the photos, the thunder was always moving.


    Iughed. <em>This really is interesting</em>. Now that I had this, I suddenly felt as if Uncle Three was afraid Id be bored and decided to y a game with me.


    I quickly flipped through the recordings and found that they were all thunder. I then flipped through the photo album. Most of the photos were documents, but there was one photo in particr that caught my eye.


    It was a scenic photo that had been taken in Rain Vige. It had been taken on the mountain overlooking the vige.


    I looked at the photo with bated breath and then nced at the time stamp. An indescribable feeling welled up in my heart.


    <em>So, youve been close to me this whole time, old man.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) This is a reference to that godawful Piao Piao/Fatty arc in the drama.

 Book 1: Chapter 115

    Book 1: Chapter 115


    At this time, I remained very calm and backed up all of the data on the phone. Other than the photos and recordings, I also found a lot of files in another folder. I took a preliminary look at them and found that many of them were short journal entries. Uncle Three had never been in the habit of keeping a journal, so there was a high probability that this information had been specially typed into the phone for me to read.


    After that, I went to check the monitoring system, but the footage of this good being entered into the warehouse had long been erased.


    After I finished backing up the files, I began to read the journal entries. By this time, almost a week had passed and I waspletely dumbfounded. The information in these journal entries was absolutely incredible. There seemed to be more information hidden in the sequence of events at that time than I originally thought.


    The journal started with Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin going on a meteorological expedition in the countryside. In Uncle Three''s words, people in the mountainous countryside at that time didnt see any distinction between archaeological teams, the agricultural college, and meteorological teams. They could only tell the difference between those who were there to film movies and those who werent.


    Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin were doing some fieldwork for their organization at that time, so the locals took them to the work site of the previous weather station. A temporary weather station had been set up in that ce, but there was no one there.


    The locals only took them there because they thought that Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin were members of the previous meteorological team.


    The locals told them that the meteorological team came there, set up the weather station, and then left. After that, they woulde by once a year, bringing some food coupons (1) to themune. The locals then asked Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin for food coupons.


    Uncle Three found it very strange at that time, because the meteorological team was conducting a country-wide climate survey, which was a national project that had been carried out since liberation. By that time, the geological survey and poption census were almostplete, so it was strange that a meteorological team would go to the countryside.


    And the fact that they came back every year showed that someone had been monitoring the climate in this area for a long time. If the weather station in this vige was already working, then why did a team have toe here?


    While Chen Wen-Jin was dealing with the vigers, Uncle Three opened the temporary weather stations air temperature box (2). He found that it didnt contain meteorological instruments, but a strange urn full of ashes.


    A strange little idol had been painted on the outside of the urn and there were traces of peopleing back to worship it every year.


    Uncle Three asked the vigers if there was anything special about the ce where the temporary weather station had been set up.


    This clearly wasnt a weather station, but a shrine to worship the ashes. And the ashes werent buried, but elevated in the air so that they could thrive in the rain and the dew. Whether it was sorcery or something else, he was certain that there was a motive for picking this ce.


    The vigers were also frightened when they saw this situation and said that this ce was often struck by lightning. That was why there werent any big trees in the area.


    Uncle Three took a closer look and found that there was a lightning rod at the top of the air temperature box, but it had been burned to a crisp. In other words, this box had been struck by lightning more than once.


    Uncle Three didnt understand it at all. The ashes were already ashes, so why would they have to be struck by lightning so frequently? What was the point? Was the owner of the ashes hated and resented so much that things hade to this?


    Uncle Three waspletely baffled. The vigers wanted to tear the weather station down, but Uncle Three stopped them. He decided to catch the meteorological team when they came to the vige again and ask them what they were doing. He was already certain that they must be kindred spirits; maybe not grave robbers, but something weird and crazy.


    Uncle Three returned to the vige half a yearter and got into position. At that time, the weather station had been demolished by the panicked vigers, but Uncle Three felt that the meteorological team didn''t know yet, so he stayed in the vige and waited for the strange team to arrive. Uncle Three recorded in the journal that when the team first entered the vige, they all gave off the feeling like they were attending a funeral. Every one of them was pale and walked like a ghost.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Coupons for food, grain, and other goods used in a PRC economic program c. 1955-1993. Also called liangpiao. I guess you can kind of equate it to modern-day food stamps. Brief article here.


    (2) Its also called a Stevenson screen or instrument shelter. Its a shelter or an enclosure to protect meteorological instruments against precipitation and direct heat radiation from outside sources, while still allowing air to circte freely around them. More info here but it looks something like this:


    ****


    <strong><em>I think this is super loosely based on Season 2 episode 2 around 30:28-40:45 (will probably go into the next chaptermaybe). Honestly, it''s so loosely based that I almost didn''t bother hunting through all the episodes for it lol</em>. </strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 116

    Book 1: Chapter 116


    After the group entered the vige, they gave the vigers food coupons as usual. But the vigers were too afraid to ept them, so the group immediately noticed that something was off. Uncle Three chose this moment to make his appearance. He identified himself and said that he was just curious and would never pursue the matter. He hoped to get to know these people and learn what they were doing.


    Uncle Three had a private chat with the leader of the meteorological team. Although the leader was very cautious and hardly revealed any information, Uncle Three immediately understood that they didn''t belong to the organizations official team. The im that they were meteorologists waspletely false. These people were very mysterious, but this mystery had nothing to do with the huge conspiracy that Uncle Three fell into at that time.


    This made him very afraid.


    For those in the Mystic Nine, the thousand-year-old struggle between the Wang and Zhang families was the biggest conspiracy that humans could imagine. But at that moment, Uncle Three saw those people and started to realize that there were "other" conspiracies in this world. These "others" werepletely outside of anything he had ever known, so Uncle Three was obviously full of curiosity.


    The leader of the meteorological team told him that they were chasing thunder. Over the past few years, the thunder that they worshiped had stopped in this mountainous area. They hoped that the ashes of theirpanions woulde into contact with the thunder, at which point their souls would merge with the thunder.


    When Uncle Three asked them why they did this, the team leader told him that they always wanted to find out what information was hidden in the thunder. Many of theirpanions had died during all those years of listening to thunder in the mountains, so in order tomemorate and remember them, they invented this strange ceremony in hopes that theirpanions could be with the thunder.


    At that time, Uncle Three believed that this group was simply engaged in feudal superstition, but when they left, they gave Uncle Three some parting words: well never see each other again, but there will be an opportunity in the future that will be rted to your nephew.


    Uncle Three had never mentioned me when he was talking to them, so this sentence immediately grabbed his attention. At first, he thought it mustve been some scheme between the Wang and Zhang families, but as time went by, he found that it was apletely separate matter.


    This was the origin of everything.


    After that, he began to focus on listening to thunder. He eventually found Yang Daguang, whom he tricked into studying the information in the thunder for him.


    I could clearly see many ambiguous statements in Uncle Three''s journal, all of which were rted to the meteorological teams parting words to him. This let me know that a key message had been deleted. I had dealt with grammar for a long time when writing, so I could figure out the possible direction of this key message.


    When those people left, they had probably mentioned my death.


    Was it true that my death was near?


    I took a deep breath, put my hand over my lungs, and pressed down. I still hadntpletely recovered from the previous dive and felt a slight stinging sensation.


    I continued reading. Uncle Three, Yang Daguang, and Chen Wen-Jin went on their first field investigation and tried to collect thunder. After this first investigation, Yang Daguang discovered the thunders pattern and became obsessed with researching it. As the research deepened, Uncle Three found that Yang Daguang began to change.


    In the beginning, Yang Daguang was following Uncle Threes lead. He was always very curious about Uncle Three and willing to listen to any of Uncle Three''smands. But after listening to thunder for a long time, Yang Daguang became another person.


    His behavior basically changed from that of a man to a woman.


    This kind of creepy change happened so slowly that Uncle Three only noticed a lot of strange details at first. It wasnt until there was a thunderstorm that Yang Daguangpletely became another person.


    ****


    <strong><em>Hmmmm interesting. I don''t remember this being in the drama but I feel like the exnation makes way more sense </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 117

    Book 1: Chapter 117


    I had heard of this kind of situation before. It was called thunder possession in the Northeast. It was said that when the thunder was especially loud, wandering ghosts couldnt stay outside and had to hide with people. There were many folk tales in the Northeast about parentsing home on the day it thundered and sitting motionless in their chairs. Once the thunder passed, they suddenly came to their senses. These were good spirits who weren''t willing to disturb the living, but the thunder outside was so loud and dangerous that they had to borrow those parents'' bodies to hide for a while.


    At that time, Uncle Three felt that Yang Daguang was suffering from thunder possession. But he had never been afraid of these kinds of things, so he tied Yang Daguang up and threw him back into the tent to y with the spirit.


    The thunder boomed for a long time, and Yang Daguang kept talking to Uncle Three in a woman''s voice. As Uncle Three listened, he slowly began to feel creeped out. Everything this woman said had all happened to him in that temporary weather station and the vige. The woman kept talking like she had witnessed it herself.


    After talking about all the things that Uncle Three had experienced, the woman then began talking about the things that happened after Uncle Three left. It turned out that after Uncle Three left, the vigers started to die every time it stormed. Later, the old people were so afraid that they moved out of the vige and basically abandoned it.


    Shortly after the thunder stopped, Yang Daguang came to his senses. Combined with some of the details he noticed before, Uncle Three realized that Yang Daguang hadnt been thunder possessed. Although Yang Daguang didn''t understand the information in the thunder, his spirit seemed to have been affected while listening to it.


    I touched my chin. There also seemed to be a missing sentence here. Uncle Three''s journal flowed very smoothly, so it didnt take a sensitive person to realize that a sentence was missing.


    The information just now didnt constitute a logical exnation for such a bizarre event. Uncle Three had even stated three times that he didnt feel like it was thunder possession. There just wasnt a sufficient reason for it.


    But the grammar didnt lie, so it was very possible that this sentence was deleted because Uncle Three didnt think thunder possession was a logical exnation.


    I tried to reason it out a little bit. If this incident was worth writing down and showing to me, then it was likely that the situation was as follows:


    The leader of the meteorological team was a woman.


    And among the words Yang Daguang said at that time, there mustve been some words that only he and the woman knew.


    So, was this thunder spirit a woman in the meteorological team?


    I didnt believe in things like thunder possession either, so that couldnt be it. This woman''s team had the intention and custom of connecting their ashes with lightning in order to merge themselves with thunder.


    So, was this woman dead? Her colleagues said she was.


    Moreover, she really had connected with the thunder.


    Her consciousness had evenmunicated with Uncle Three through Yang Daguang and the thunder.


    If that was the case, then this description could really be regarded as an unusual encounter; otherwise, why record it?


    But why delete the key information?


    Uncle Three wasnt good at texting, so I couldnt imagine him typing up so many journal entries himself. Someone mustve typed it out for him and Uncle Three was trying to prevent them from seeing these key messages.


    I scrubbed my face hard, feeling as if it was all oily. At that moment, I found that my old perception was starting return.


    The first possibility was that this information was very important, and Uncle Three didn''t want it to be revealed when he dictated it. As a result, he left out the key information.


    The second possibility was that the typist saw this piece of information and deliberately left it out. But if Uncle Three checked it afterwards, then he would definitely notice, so this one was unlikely.


    The third possibility really brought my perception back.


    It was a woman who was helping Uncle Three type the journal entries. Uncle Three was worried that she would be jealous when she heard of his previous love story with another woman.


    But the old guy was getting older, so even if he really did find a young girl willing to listen to his story, she probably wouldnt be jealous.


    Unless Chen Wen-Jin had also been there when Uncle Three was in the vige at that time. Even now, Chen Wen-Jin couldnt know what Uncle Three and the female leader of the meteorological team did together.


    So, Uncle Three was with Chen Wen-Jin when creating these journal entries.


    I cracked my neck and recalled my whole process of analysis just now. There was no evidence to support it, but why did I think that I was so urate?

 Book 1: Chapter 118

    Book 1: Chapter 118


    It was rare that I could infer some sweet parts from analyzing these things just now. But whether I had guessed correctly or not, if Uncle Three really was with Chen Wen-Jin, then I wouldnt forgive him even more. Human beings were soplicated, but still easy to figure out. How many people lived their lives in a state of mind where it was hard to forgive someone, but they still hoped that the other party was doing well? More than you would think.


    Whether a thunder spirit was seeking affection or merely passing by, Yang Daguang had be another person during that thunderstorm and mentioned something that Uncle Three hadnt been aware of.


    There was no special meaning to it, only a subtle and creepy hint. After Uncle Three and the others left the vige, there seemed to be a mysterious force rted to thunder and lightning that started to kill people. This seemed to be retaliation, or a warning.


    The woman who possessed Yang Daguang must have told him this. Was she implying that he shouldnt investigate anymore and his life might be in danger if he did?


    I looked at the journal entries after that. Luckily, I didnt have to guess what Uncle Three did after that. In my mind, Uncle Three took Yang Daguang''s hand, ran through the stormy grasnd, took off his sses, and then turned in a circle under the dark clouds while shouting, I miss you! After that, he looked at Yang Daguang''s blurred and unfocused eyes in the radiant streaks of lightning and asked, "Are you here?"


    Uncle Three was just that type of person. When he discovered a little bit, he always wanted to know more. Things like fear and danger couldnt affect him at all.


    Sure enough, the following journal entries were all about Uncle Three constantly trying to see that woman with the help of thunder and lightning. But the strange part was that Yang Daguang never admitted it. Even after Uncle Three kept insisting, he still didn''t believe that he had be another person.


    After being asked numerous illogical questions in the rolling thunder and shing lightning, the drenched and exhausted Yang Daguang put forth another proposition that had Uncle Three pondering deeply.


    Yang Daguang believed that it was Uncle Three who received the message from the thunder and was on the verge of madness.


    All the visions Uncle Three saw were his own illusions, and it was Uncle Three himself who went crazy when it thundered.


    In an unexpected turn of events, even Chen Wen-Jin supported this idea. She seemed to indicate that she hadnt noticed Yang Daguang''s anomalies that Uncle Three had mentioned before.


    Uncle Three was terrified. If that was the case, then this warning hadnt been sent from the sky in a ridiculous way like spirit possession, but had been directly conveyed into Uncle Three''s mind.


    Uncle Three then returned to that vige from before, which had beenpletely abandoned. When he went to the nearby town, he found several people from the vige and asked them about those who were killed during the thunderstorms. All of the stories were so incredible that they couldve been written into Contemporary Strange Tales (1). These people were healthy before the thunderstorm, and there wasnt any foul y regarding their deaths. Usually, when people talked about others being killed by thunderstorms, we''d think that the victims had been struck by lightning. But that wasnt the case here. Those people had opened their eyes and looked at the sky before suddenly dropping dead.


    Uncle Three saw some photos and couldn''t forget the expressions on those corpses faces as they looked up at the sky. It was extreme surprise. There was no fear, only extreme surprise.


    Uncle Three became even more terrified and wrote a conclusion at the end of his journal:


    <em>When you pry into the mysteries of heaven, conceal yourself from heavens eyes. The dark clouds can see everything.</em>


    <em>If you find out about this, Nephew, remember that the reason I didn''t show up was because I didnt know who was looking at me. When you read these words, be sure to remember the actions that follow. Its only while beingpletely concealed that you can continue to investigate.</em>


    I popped my back and kept reading. In the subsequent journal entry, Uncle Three reiterated his warning from before:


    <em>If youve been listening to thunder for a long time, you should set a reminder to check yourself three times a day to see if youre still normal.</em>


    <em>The sound of thunder can affect one''s mind.</em>


    <em>After listening for a long time, youll have some thoughts that arent yours. Eventually, everyone will have the same strange idea to go to a certain ce.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Book published in China in 2006. It was a selection of documentary works of various new cases concluded nationwide in a span of three years. The author shows the readers the process of investigating and dealing with shocking and terrifying cases in China. I only found info on Baidu. Kind of reminds me of Unsolved Mysteries (the old one from the 80s and 90s)


    ****


    <strong><em>Wu Xie imagining Uncle Three running in a field with Yang Danguang to get the spirit to show up had me rolling.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 119

    Book 1: Chapter 119


    In Uncle Three''s journal, he recorded an example of a poet with God-given talents. I didnt know how many times I had heard of this example before. It was difficult to confirm if these memories had long been in the heart of that poet, or if they had really been inserted into that person''s mind from the heavens on a destined day. This example proved that the heavens interacted with mankind.


    People bewitched by thunder would want to go to a certain ce as they grew older. This ce had no name, but Uncle Three called it Thunder City.


    ording to literal interpretations, Thunder City was incredible. It spanned an area of 1,150 kilometers and the walls were almost 270 meters tall. It was said that the immortal Yellow Emperor turned into a thunder spirit and built Thunder City, but these exnations were based on Taoism. For Uncle Three, Thunder City was just a name. This ce definitely wasnt a city, but no one actually knew whator whereit was.


    In other words, people would have a desire to go somewhere after listening to thunder, but no one knew where that ce was.


    Uncle Three thought up a lot of possibilities, which are discussed below.


    He put forward a hypothesis that several conditions had to be met in order to form such a strong desire. The first condition was chasing thunder.


    During your normal life, you wouldn''t be affected if you heard thunder every once in a while. But all the strange symptoms Uncle Three had noticed would start to appear while you were chasing thunder. It was a result of chasing thunder clouds and hearing a lot of thunder in a short amount of time.


    This situation would also ur when you repeatedly listened to thunder recordings. Of course, if you watched My Fair Princess (1) repeatedly in a short amount of time, it may also have the same effect.


    Uncle Three also wrote a lot of other theories. For example, the temple where the Tathagata Buddha devoted himself to spiritual development was called Leiyin Temple (2). Were there other people in other ancient countries who received information from thunder? No one knew.


    Second, although you would be bewitched by thunder, no one actually knew where Thunder City was. In other words, the thunder only nted a desire, but not the information on how to get there. If this desire couldnt be satisfied, then it would be more and more intense as you aged. That was why people would keep following the thunder in hopes of getting information from it.


    Uncle Three felt that Yang Daguang suddenly going crazy and starting to listen to thunder even more after they had separated was a result of this possibility.


    But despite making all of these assumptions, Uncle Three ultimately didnt have any proof. They sounded reasonable, but he actually just twisted the words to make them sound logical. Honestly speaking, it sounded like he was talking out of his ass.


    Yang Daguang was different from me; he and Uncle Three had experienced a lot. They hid everything they had collected about listening to thunder in the Yang familys ancestral grave, but it waster discovered and Yang Daguang''s father was shot. As a result, Yang Daguang and Uncle Threes friendship came to an end. Maybe Chen Wen-Jins rtionship with them also yed a role in this.


    Since ancient times, people had written and sung about right and wrong, love and passion. The more they spread it, the moreplicated and exciting it became, as if they had all experienced it themselves. History was like the weight of the world; it couldn''t be touched and couldnt be debated. When you saw it, you pretended like you didnt.


    I leaned back in my chair as it started to rain outside. I thought of the emotional entanglements that urred among that small group of people during that time. Uncle Three liked simplicity. He was born and raised in aplicated world, so he knew from an early age that people were walking a dead-end road. While walking from Lanzhou to Dunhuang, you could see the Great Wall standing there amid the yellow sand. If you looked carefully at the foot of the city, you could see a bunch of fragmented bones. Uncle Three handed me some and said, "There are only so many feelings in the end. Theres only so much love one can feel and so much heartlessness one can show, so dont me your Uncle Three for not loving you, and dont me your dad for loving you too much. In the end, theres only so much. Were lucky to get what we can. Nothing more, nothing less."


    Now that I thought about it, maybe those words were the best answer he woulde up with if I asked him, "How could you do such a thing to me?"


    But he still chased Chen Wen-Jin all that time and refused to give up. When I asked him why, he said that the fate of a person''s life was as thin as a string. When you put into a ss, the wine wouldnt overflow. That was it. If you could sort it out, then sort it out. If you couldnt, then there wouldnt be any more in the future. Uncle Three acted nonchnt on the surface and kept saying we should let go of things, but deep down, he never let go. Since there was nothing else that would upy him, why even bother letting it go?


    Yang Daguang was in a different position from Uncle Three when it came to this kind of thing. Uncle Three had been born with a burden of hatred and acted cautiously. If we think of it like pockets, he would pat his and say no more, no more, but Yang Daguang was born with an empty pocket that he always wanted to fill.


    Chen Wen-Jin was a very wonderful person and her rtionship with Uncle Three was very simple. She also had a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders. As a result, no one''s pocket was big enough for her. She only belonged to the world, so Uncle Three could only run around next to her, his eyes following her wherever she went. The same could be said for Yang Daguang. He probably kept his passionate eyes on her as well. Although he loved her deeply, it was difficult for him to understand her and get hold of her.


    I looked at the photos I had found on Yang Daguang''s body, which I had copied into my phone. His eyes seemed to show that he really liked her, but most men didn''t know that this kind of like was only good for them. Uncle Three''s like, on the other hand, was the kind that was good for Chen Wen-Jin.


    I thought hard about it, but there wasnt anywhere I wanted to go. I had heard a lot of thunder, but it didnt seem like it had made me crazy. In fact, my mind felt pretty peaceful.


    <em>Thunder City, what kind of ce is it?</em>


    I didnt know why, but I suddenly wanted to go there.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) 1998 Chinese period drama. Synopsis is here on Viki.


    (2) Leiyin means something like booming thunder. The important part is that lei=thunder. Here are some pics and stuff of the temple. Fun fact: Tathagata is Buddha''s name for himself and has manyyers of meaning.


    ****


    <strong><em>We are officially halfway through Reboot!!!! (all 3 parts I mean). Just448 more pages to go (326 more pages of Part 1)</em></strong> _:(` ):_

 Book 1: Chapter 120

    Book 1: Chapter 120


    Uncle Two and the others set off again, and Poker-Face went with them. Fatty and I leaned against the car next to the toll booth and watched them leave. At this time, I was in a very good state of mind. When I read m Dunk (1) as a child and got to thest chapter, I thought that the author was cruel for stopping the protagonist there. But now I could understand it very well.


    In order to y in the national league, I have to heal my spine first (2). It was just my luck that I wasnt taught how to be a grave robber when I was little.


    The following month could be divided into three parts. The first third was devoted to studying Uncle Three''s phone. I followed Uncle Three''s instructions and didnt tell anyone about it. I only took out the phone when I was standing under eaves and made sure to close the doors and windows if it was raining or thundering outside.


    For the first time, I felt like someone was spying on me during a thunderstorm. I kept feeling like an eye was looking at me through the window every time the lightning shed.


    I printed out all the information and kept it in various ces. The journal entries looked like they had a lot of text at first nce, but there werent that many words when they were printed out. Uncle Threeter went into hiding because of those things with the Nine Gates. For many years, he didn''t contact Yang Daguang. When he was at his most desperate and facing danger on all sides, he secretly looked to me. Based on his description, he mustve been in the snake marsh when he heard that familiar p of thunder (3).


    I couldnt say for sure if Uncle Threes judgement was correct, but looking at the records in his journal, he seemed to think that the thunder was familiar. And it was giving him a warning.


    After that day, A Ning died and Uncle Three hid in the depths of the snake marsh. It was the thunder we heard that day that changed his ns and let him know that there were other teams in the snake marsh besides our two teams.


    If Uncle Three heard the thunder and ran away, then it didnt matter whether there was information in the thunder or not. Just like that tiger in the movie Life of Pi (4), the thunder was constantly alerting him to danger. In a sense, it could even be said that he had been saved more than once. And he had heard that thunder again more recently. It reminded him of the leader of that meteorological team in the vige that year and what he had said about me.


    Although it sounds very far-fetched, it almost seemed like Uncle Three was in love with thunder and there was a witch in the dark clouds who loved him very deeply.


    These journal entries were all dark and mysterious fragments, but they were probably just Uncle Threes theories. It was still unclear what he was doing, but at least there was finally something to go off of.


    Time flew by and the second portion of the month passed by in a daze. I became good friends with Bai Haotian and waited for the moment she would be disillusioned with me. It was only a matter of time before her adoration for me would disappear and she would see me clearly. The beauty produced by the sense of distance was boring and clean, but it was never the truth. Nowadays, artwork produced by civilization was whitewashed to hide nothingness. It was painting and photography that truly reached the heart. This just showed that people saw more beauty in their hearts than reality could ever offer.


    The light in Bai Haotian''s eyes started to disappear around the fifteenth day. I continued to y Minesweeper as the time slowly passed, and it wasnt until the third week that I realized I never received any news from Uncle Two.


    I sent a message to Uncle Two and Poker-Face, praying that they would reply when they got a signal. But there was no news, so they had probably gone into the mountains.


    How fast could the rtionship between people wear away? I often thought about this question. Some people didnt contact each other for a long time and might not even say a word to each other when they met again, but they wouldn''t feel awkward at all. Others would spend a long time together, but acted like strangers if they had been separated for a month or two.


    Would seeing Uncle Three againif there was a chancebe the same as meeting Poker-Face again? Or would we act like strangers and have to rely on Fatty to find topics to discuss while eating? Poker-Face and I had Fatty between us, while Pan Zi was the one who had been between me and Uncle Three. But Pan Zi was gone now. Could I even mention that?


    I remained anxious as thest ten days passed, and then three more days passed after that. Uncle Two had always been punctual, so the fact that he was three dayste made me feel a little uneasy.


    I left Warehouse Eleven early and went to Uncle Twos ce. When I arrived at the entrance, I saw that the eaves were filled with incense. This usually meant that people had died. It had been a long time since I saw so much incense like this. Every time Uncle Three came back before, our clothes looked ragged and we had made a narrow escape. The dangerous adventures Uncle Three and I had been on were rare, but with so many serious casualties this time, I was afraid I would die if I went where they had gone.


    Luck was no longer on my side.


    I took a deep breath, entered Uncle Twos courtyard, and found that it was full of worn-out equipment. But as soon as I walked into the courtyard, everyone looked at me and froze.


    All those pitying stares were like evil spirits swirling the air. And at that moment, they all suddenly seemed to be directed at me.


    I ignored them and turned my head to look around. I didnt see Poker-Face anywhere, so I casually asked, "Where''s Little Brother?"


    "Little Brother is gone." Kan Jian burst into tears.


    I was stunned, but still managed to stay surprisingly calm, "What do you mean gone''?"


    Uncle Two came out of the inner room and everyone looked at him. His face appeared gloomy as he looked at me and said, "Come in."


    He had just finished speaking, when Baishe sat down heavily on the ground. I didn''t move but grabbed Kan Jian instead, "What do you mean gone?"


    "Little Brother and Master ck are gone. There was something in that tomb. That tomb Ive never seen anything like it before." Kan Jian was shaking all over.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Japanese sports manga/anime. It tells the story of a basketball team from Shhoku High School in the Shnan area of Japan. Info here.


    (2) This is referencing m Dunks ending where the protagonist, Hanamichi Sakuragi, suffers a spinal injury and has to go through physical therapy. He misses the national tournament.


    (3) Chapter 28 (pg 139) of Vol 5 Deadly Desert Winds.


    (4)Heres the plot.


    ****


    <strong><em>I should be in bed, but I couldn''t resist leaving you all on a cliffie. Call me ck sses, cuz I''m just evil like that mwahahahaha</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 121

    Book 1: Chapter 121


    "How could they be gone?" I looked at Uncle Two coldly. "Theyve been fine for so many years, so howe they get into your hands and you say theyre dead? What did you do? Tell me whats going on and dont talk nonsense."


    Uncle Two didn''t speak, but looked down at Kan Jian. I looked around at all the other people. It hadnt been long since they left me, but Uncle Two was very good at training people, so they wouldnt dare be presumptuous in front of him. I could only hold onto Kan Jian and ask, "Why are they gone? What happened?"


    Kan Jian looked at Uncle Two.


    Uncle Two had obviously told them to keep their mouths shut, so no one would talk. I released my hold on Kan Jian and walked over to Uncle Two. He let me into the room and then closed the door smoothly. I looked at him coldly and asked, "If theyre gone, where are their bodies?"


    "We couldnt bring them up." Uncle Two sat me down and poured me arge ss of white wine. "It''s just a theory right now. We didn''t see it with our own eyes."


    "Then why are you so sure?" I smacked the wine ss away. "If you didn''t see it with your own eyes, then why did youe back? Why didnt you save them? What was the situation?"


    Uncle Two looked at the wine I had just knocked over. "If they could be saved, then I would have saved them."


    I took a deep breath and felt the suffocation from just now ease a little bit. I looked back at the door and said to myself, <em>Kan Jian, Ill fucking beat you to death.</em> But as I calmed down, I felt another kind of panic surge up in my heart. Kan Jian wasnt the type of person to raise a fuss. He was honest, and I had also taught him to convey information urately. His breakdown just now was definitely real.


    Was Uncle Two trying to get me to gradually ept the reality that those people were really gone?


    When I was learning to drive, my teacher wanted me to calm down and gave me some Vitamin C. He pretended that it was a sedative, but I immediately saw through it. It was difficult to use words to trick me now.


    My hands started to tremble and I touched my pockets, but there werent any cigarettes. I never thought that something would happen to the two of them. In this business, there shouldnt be anyone more reliable than the two of them together. After so many years, I really didn''t think that these two people would fail.


    I hadnt been mentally prepared, so all my previous defense mechanisms couldnt be used here and I couldnt calm down.


    But I couldnt have an emotional outburst either because I didnt have enough time to get worked up. I came through that door to hear the news, so my emotions didnt have time to react at all.


    Under the strain of these two states, there was only anger in my heart, like an unnamed evil fire.


    I leaned back against the sofa, took a deep breath, and forced a thought through my mind, <em>if I dont calm down, things will get worse. I need to calm down in order to make things better.</em>


    This was what I had told myself countless times every day in that desert. But I never thought that I would have to bring it up again yearster.


    "Uncle Two, can you tell me in one sentence what happened?" I pinched my brows. "Why are the underlings outside like that, and why cant you, Wu Erbai, save those two from that ce?"


    "Saving them will get more people killed." Uncle Two looked at me. "A ce that those two cant handle is a ce that no one in this group can handle. Going to that ce to save them is just exchanging people''s lives for theirs. These guys'' lives arent mine. I can''t ask them to do such a thing."


    "What was the situation? Was it andslide or quicksand?" I asked. These were the only things that had the capacity to bury those people.


    "Those two went to a ce without oxygen. The time theyve been gone far exceeds the amount of oxygen they carried," Uncle Two said. "Unless they found a new source of oxygen somewhere, but thats impossible. If you fall into ake for two hours and don''te up, then its not a rescue effort, but body retrieval. I can''t sacrifice so many lives just to fish up a corpse."


    "They fell into ake? Youre telling me that the two most powerful grave robbers in the world fell into ake and drowned?"


    "It''s not an ordinaryke, it''s a callingke. Its basically a cavity in an underground river. If a sound is made in that cavity, arge volume of water will flow backwards and submerge the whole cavity. It takes about two months for the water to start receding. The locals call it Yanggong Spring, and theke is called Yangdu Lake. Those two went in to find an entrance, Uncle Two said. "I dont know why, but the river water suddenly started flowing backward inrge quantities. Theke is veryrge, so if you want to dive in to save anyone, you need a professional cave diving team. The river water flowed in and flooded the whole undergroundke. We couldnt rescue them, so we gave up."


    That''s it? You just left them there? I looked at Uncle Two''s expression. He didn''t have to lie to me, and I knew he didn''t want the people working under him to die. If he said that, then he must have tried everything. I wouldnt believe it if anyone else said that there was no way, but Uncle Two said it so bluntly that my back wentpletely cold.


    "Members of the Xie family have already gone. I know you definitely wont give up, but I''ve seen more dead people than you have. The probability of those two being alive is very low, unless theres some kind of miracle. But even if they are alive, itll take hundreds of people to save them. Our people came back to rest first, so you can ask the Xie family to give you any updates."


    I moved to stand up and Uncle Two immediately said, "Youre not allowed to go. If you go, youll die. Dont even try to think up any hairbrained schemes. Everyone knows your situation. You should just wait here for news."


    "Im not going." I nodded and stood up. As I walked out the door, I ran my tongue along my gums and thought to myself, <em>not going, my ass.</em>


    I grabbed Kan Jian and said, "I dont feel good. Help me get back."


    While Kan Jian stood there stunned, I clutched my chest, dragged him into the car, and took a pack of old cigarettes from the console. I knew I couldnt smoke anymore, but I lit up anyways. I was just about to start talking when Kan Jian suddenly got out of the car, "Little Master Three, I know what youre going to do, but you can''t go. You can scold me to death and say you dont need me, but I wont tell you anything. You can''t go there."


    "I haven''t asked anything yet." Iughed.


    Kan Jian looked at me, "I promised Little Brother and Master ck that you would live. Theyve lived long enough. You still have time."


    ****


    <strong><em>This is seriously such a painbing through episodes, so I hope you all appreciate it lol. Poker-Face''s side of things is loosely based on Season 2 Episode 4 around 10:27-16:33 and 19:34-22:45</em></strong>. <strong><em>I wanted to be productive yesterday but wasn''t in the mood to trante so I spent most of the day putting "The Southern Archives" and "Mystic Nine" into pdfs for you since I felt like they didn''t need any work. If you all don''t like how I do the TN notes as footnotes and want them at the end of the chapters instead, let me know and I''ll do it for any pdfs I make in the future. There''s no way in hell I''m going back and fixing what''s already done (footnotes and formatting are a bitch) but I''ll take suggestions into consideration for future pdfs. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 122

    Book 1: Chapter 122


    I didn''t persuade Kan Jian to get back in the car. When I drove away, I looked at his lonely expression in the rearview mirror and thought that he looked like an abandoned puppy.


    Uncle Twos arrangement was extremely brilliant. To help me was to kill me, but if they didnt help me, then that was basically marking me as an outsider.


    I hadnt smoked for a long time, so I felt a little dizzy as the smoke filled my lungs. The cigarette had a spicy vor to it that gave off a kind of northern air feeling.


    I was surprisingly calm as I drove through traffic. It was like all of my emotions had just disappeared. I called Xiao Hua''s phone, but it rang for a long time and he didn''t answer. I called Fatty and told him that something was wrong.


    We met at the hair salon by West Lake that he kept visiting. Fatty and I sat on some chairs by theke and drank beer while sighing and saying, "How did this happen?" I told Fatty that I needed him to make some inquiries about the incident so that we could make our own judgments. I also asked him to get some money ready.


    "With Uncle Two here, we cant hire grave robbers from our mutual contacts. Now we can only find people who only care about money. These people wont ask for a low price. My ie is small and my savings are almost the same. Its enough to get me through life, but its definitely not enough to go underground. Moreover, this ce isnt ordinary. Im afraid we need special talents, which means the price will be higher."


    I had thought Fatty would readily agree. Although he spent a lot of money, he usually had a little savings. But now he looked a little distressed.


    I frowned, "What''s the matter? What happened? Fatty wasnt a disloyal person, so something mustve happened to cause him to make this kind of expression. Fatty turned to look at the hair salon behind him, where the proprietress was inside washing someones hair. An ownership transfer note had been posted on the door of the salon.


    "My friend was in trouble, so I went to help." Fatty rubbed his neck. "I was determined to help."


    "You must have at least 1.8 million yuan on you, right? How much could a hair salon cost?" I asked him.


    Fatty sighed, "It''s a long story, so dont ask. In short, I can mobilize fifty thousand yuan. I gave the rest to the shop. I bet what you have definitely isnt enough, so let''s try to find a way."


    I checked my ount bnce on my phone. I still had a hundred and fifty thousand on my card, so with Fattys fifty thousand, that would add up to two hundred thousand. This was different from the past when more than ten thousand yuan could get you all the equipment you needed and get you to Shandong. But now even two hundred thousand yuan probably wouldnt be enough to gather a team. But Fatty, like me, didnt have the word dead in his dictionary and believed that ck sses and Poker-Face would never die.


    In the end, we decided that Fatty would make some inquiries first. Those working for the Wu family definitely wouldnt tell me anything, but they would tell Fatty. And this kind of thing would certainly be a rumor in a few days. I just didnt want to try figuring out the truth by myself, that was all. I stopped by Wushanju on my way back. Wang Meng mustve already known about it, because he didnt say a word when he saw meing. Or maybe he just didnt know what to say.


    "How much money is on the card?" I asked him directly.


    "Bo boss, what''s the matter?" Wang Meng asked me.


    Help me get the word out. Just say I want to borrow some money with eight fen (1) interest. I want to borrow as much as I can."


    "Uncle Two has already spoken. No one will lend you any money," Wang Meng said. "Boss, you know how much my sry is. Although Uncle Two gave me an increase, I havent been paid yet. If you had given me more before, I would definitely give it all to you now."


    I told him that even though Uncle Two had already spoken, they could still lend me some money as long as Wang Meng was acting as the middleman. Even though everyone in the business would know I was borrowing it, it wasnt like they were lending it to me directly. Besides, my reputation was still very high and an eight fen interest rate was a huge profit. Some people would definitely be willing to gamble.


    Wang Meng shook his head, "Uncle Two has already reported your situation to them. No one will believe that you can pay back the money. Boss, Master Hua is so rich. Just let him do this kind of thing. I heard that more than a hundred people went there."


    I patted him and said that I didnt know if anyone would still be willing to lend me some money, but it was still better to spread the word first. He eventually agreed. I sat on Wushanjus stairs and called Jin Wantang, but that bastard wouldnt answer.


    After trying for half an hour and still not getting an answer, I saw him post on WeChat Moments: Sometimes rejection is a kind of kindness.


    Uncle Two''s setup allowed everyone to ignore my calls while remaining on the moral high ground. They didnt even have to worry about not being able to face me in the future. I pinched my brows, lit another cigarette, and had only taken two puffs when I found that it was raining.


    I looked down and found that it wasn''t rain dripping on my arm, but blood from a nosebleed.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fen()= 0.01 yuan

 Book 1: Chapter 123

    Book 1: Chapter 123


    I stared nkly at the blood, not thinking about what it meant.


    I touched the cigarette I was smoking just now and silently wiped the blood off.


    People''s understanding of their own abilities was a gradual process. When I made more than a dozen phone calls and found that no one would answer, I realized that I understood my own abilities better.


    When I was able to aplish so many things before, Uncle Two had been backing me up. I was aware that he had contributed a lot before, but now it seemed that his power was beyond the scope of my imagination.


    But I didnt lose hope and spent the next day trying to contact all kinds of people. It didnt matter whether it was borrowing or deceiving, as long as people realized that it was rted to finances in any way, they would immediately reject me for various reasons.


    Talking about money was very tacky, but it was only at this time that I realized the power it had. This kind of universal equivalent actually represented an absolute resource.


    Fatty''s news after making some inquiries also had me extremely anxious. In fact, it was very simple. If there were pores or spaces in the ceiling of that undergroundke cave that contained some air, then the two of them might have survived. If not, then they would be dead ten times over.


    And if we didnt enter the cave within two months, the water would rush into the depths of the cave when it receded. At that time, it would be extremely difficult to save them even if they were alive.


    Fatty didn''t believe that I couldnt get any money and tried to do it himself for a long time. When he found that no one would pay attention to him, he started cussing up a storm.


    I asked an agent to evaluate my Jinbei. It had been modified and was worth some money on the ck market, so I could probably get a certain amount for it. I told Fatty that the Bai family were good swimmers, but they definitely wouldnt help us. There were still some good swimmers in the business, so no matter what their character was like, we should still call them. We would have to see how many we could get with the money from my Jinbei.


    Fatty looked at the numbers on the paper and said to me, No need to think about a few. With this price, we can only afford one person. I have a candidate in mind. This man has a strange personality. You have to personally go and ask him. If he likes you, the price isnt a huge problem.


    When I asked who it was, Fatty said, "Have you ever heard of Hong Ding Shuixian (1)?


    Why does it sound like a prostitute''s name? I asked.


    Hes a man, but he really is flirtatious, Fatty said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hong Ding Shuixian can trante as red-capped daffodil. The characters for shuixian () can mean daffodil or legendary water immortal. I think the drama just shortened it to Hong Ding but I can''t remember

 Book 1: Chapter 124

    Book 1: Chapter 124


    I had been in a high position in recent years and had been both respected and looked down upon. I had been called Little Master Three since Uncle Threes era, so it was regarded as a kind of moniker in the business. But the Nine Gates wasnt the only underground group in China. There were many families like the Nine Gates everywhere. The name Little Master Three worked in the Nine Gates system, but may not be recognized in other people''s systems.


    Moreover, these systems were so closed off that they were beyond the scope of ones imagination. Those in the Nine Gates had a long-standing reputation in their own system, but in some ces, they might just be a random name. Everyone was familiar with goods from the Nine Gates, but they probably didnt know who the specific people in the Nine Gates actually were.


    This Hong Ding Shuixian was also a nickname, but it was impossible for me to know how prestigious the nickname was in his system. I didnt know why, but for some reason, it sounded like delicious cuisine (1).


    In addition, it should be noted that there were certain rules when recruiting grave robbers in the Nine Gates system. No matter how unusual the recruiting process might be, the rules in this business were established by convention and Uncle Twos existence ensured that they were actually followed. But once you got out of the Nine Gates system, these rules were useless.


    I rarely dealt with people outside of the Nine Gates. First, there were enough people within the Nine Gates system, so the profit that could be made was more than sufficient. Second, these wild grave robbers were unfamiliar and the probability of idents was too high.


    Those outside of the Nine Gates didnt have any predecessors, territories, or rules. They might have some unique skills that others couldnt dream of, but they all had amon feature: they didnt trust people.


    Hong Ding Shuixian lived in Wuxi, so Fatty and I went to pay him visit. This guy lived in a dpidatedmunity that looked like it had been built in the 1990s. The faade on the houses looked very old after being drenched in the rain for so long. We could see all kinds of private balconies on each floor. The flowers and grapes growing in the sun rooms gave off a strange vitality.


    Hong Ding Shuixian lived on the sixth floor of a seven-story residential building that didnt have an elevator. When we climbed up the stairs, we saw that the door was open and the air was filled with smoke. There were big, rough-looking tattooed guys ying mahjong at about six or seven tables.


    I looked inside and saw that the room was only eighty square meters and appeared to have been converted into a mahjong room. There were cash and tiles on the tables, and it seemed as if the pools werent small.


    As Fatty and I nced at each other, several of those big men looked at us while rubbing their tiles. One of them said, "Someoneined again. Tell your leader that its useless. If you keep whining, well demolish your property."


    I did a rough visual inspection of their positions and then looked at the stairs behind me. It was true that fighting these hooligans in this kind of space might not end well. I wanted to ask which one was Hong Ding Shuixian, but Fatty elbowed me and pointed to the innermost table, where a shirtless young man with red hair was intently drawing tiles.


    Fatty winked at me, but I shook my head. If we fought at the door, we could handle all those people inside. But if we walked into this room and really fought, they would be able to spread out and overwhelm us.


    In the end, I knocked on the door, stood on the threshold, and shouted, "We''re looking for Hong Ding Shuixian."


    As I knocked, I looked at the red-haired young man, but he didnt move at all. Instead, I noticed a thin, small man came out from behind the door. He was only as tall as my chest and holding a kettle like he was pouring water for the tattooed guys. "Looking for me? He asked us. Whats going on?"


    Fatty and I exchanged another nce and I asked, "Are you Hong Ding Shuixian? Isnt it red-capped daffodil?"


    The little man scratched his crotch and then pointed at it. "Red-capped daffodil isnt my nickname, but the nickname of my second child. I usually dont show it to guests."


    I didn''t understand. He put down the hot kettle and whispered, "Who introduced you? I dont take male customers."


    I looked at Fatty as if to say: Are you sure this man can help us? Fatty narrowed his eyes and said to Hong Ding Shuixian, "Don''t you remember me? Im Pangpang (2)."


    I looked at Fatty with widened eyes, unable to believe my ears. Fatty said to me, "Don''t get me wrong, wereizens. Its my name, my name."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Many restaurants like toe up with fancy names for dishes. Thats why Wu Xie felt the name sounded like something delicious.


    (2) The pinyin of Fattys name is Pangzi. Pang ()=fat/plump. It seemed stupid to say Fatfat and since its an online nickname, I figured it was best to leave the pinyin.


    ****


    Season 2 Episode 4 around 38:50-40:55 (the setting and Wang Meng being there instead of Wu Xie is different. But the overall premise is the same). Also, reader Taomubiji has provided the link to the DMBJ discord here for those of you interested.

 Book 1: Chapter 125

    Book 1: Chapter 125


    I thought this expert lived in a house surrounded by water and we would use a boat to get to it. We would drink a pot of good tea and look at the blue sky as we started negotiating the price. But unexpectedly, we were smoking cigarettes on the stairs while negotiating the price.


    Hong Ding Shuixian listened to Fatty''s exnation and remained silent. Fatty looked at his crotch and asked, "Did you develop a side business recently?"


    "I needed money quick and my old partners were dead. Youre cultured and your ancestors left you something, but were all half-trained and in a hurry to make some money. If theres a quick and easy way to make money, then why not switch jobs?" His hair was very thin and greasy, and he scratched at it while refraining from answering Fattys proposal.


    "So you just set aside your craft?" Fatty asked


    Hong Ding Shuixianughed, "What I have in my pants is a real craft, but unfortunately, youre all men and can''t enjoy it. What I did before was too lively and exciting."


    Looking at him, I really couldn''t figure out why he got any business. Hong Ding Shuixian looked at me and knew what I was thinking. "Brother, it''s about doing it frequently. Do you understand?" (1)


    Fatty sighed, "We need to save some people in the business. Wevee to you for help."


    "If I help you, who will help me?" Hong Ding Shuixian retorted. I went to the mountains with you once and couldnt pick up clients for a month. I can make more than five hundred thousand in a single month."


    <em>If this trash can make five hundred thousand a month, then I just might enter heaven if I''m the one picking up clients </em>(2)<em>.</em> I was secretly fuming and wanted to speak up, but Fatty suddenly winked at me.


    I pulled Fatty aside, "He, he, what can he do?"


    Fatty patted me, "This guy is very good at swimming. Believe me, his cave diving skills are even better than a professionals. He just made an offer, so let''s take him up on it. There are absolutely no problems with his abilities. This guy is like a fairy in the water."


    "How can you tell?" I was furious. "Can his dick produce oxygen or something? How can you tell hes good at diving?"


    Fatty snorted and said angrily, "Would I make a mistake with this kind of thing? Were in a tough spot right now. I also feel bad for spending that much money. If he wasnt any good, I wouldnt introduce you to him. Just look at his legs."


    I nced at Hong Ding Shuixians short legs and found that the muscles were amazing. In fact, they looked like something ordinary people couldnt achieve.


    I rubbed the back of my head and paced back and forth three times. With ten thousand mmp in my heart (3), Fatty took the cash from my bag, "Brother, well give you five hundred thousand to work with us for a week. Two hundred up front, three hundred when wee back. Deal?"


    Hong Ding Shuixian looked at Fatty''s cash, but didnt take it. He clicked his tongue and said, "I want the whole five hundred up front. I have to exin to my clients and its always difficult to settle the final payment with you dirt prowlers."


    Fatty nodded, "No problem. Then, you take the two hundred first and I''ll bring the three hundred over to you in a week. We can meet up somewhere. That will also give you time to get your body ready."


    Hong Ding Shuixian took the money and twisted his waist, "How many times have I told you? It doesn''t depend on the body, but the frequency." With that said, he went back into the room.


    My heart was filled with resentment as Fatty dragged me away. "Go get his three hundred thousand," he said to me.


    "I dont even have the money to buy a ticket back! Where can I get that kind of money?!" I spat out angrily.


    Fatty became annoyed, "Hey, I say Mr. Nave, do you look down on prostitutes? You know, there are people in the underworld who are ranked above us. We can''t look down on prostitutes when were the ones that go underground. Do you think that money is easy to earn?"


    "It''s not like I would know if that money is easy to earn, but dont you think five hundred thousand in a single month is a bit ridiculous? He, he, hes not as good as you. At least a few young girls like you every once in a while. I guess he had to bribe people toe on to him."


    "Like youre one to fucking talk. Go and try it. Ill even give you a nickname: Fish in the Water (4). If you receive three hundred thousand in a month, Ill make two crutches and engrave Zhang Shengji (5) on them. Do you think the old duck soup is that easy to make?" Fatty hooked his arm around my neck, "Were here to get help, so calm down! Believe me, this man is as good as ten divers. Well pay him even if he asks for a hundred and fifty million!"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think he means he can go a few rounds without getting tired, but I''m not sure. Someone said this is a hrious interpretation of Man in the Wind by Tang Xiaosheng. I think it got taken down or something because I wasnt finding much background info on it. It might be a scandalous BL webnovel, might not. Who knows. The characters of the title () can also mean Male Prostitute or a male who has endured hardships. I did find the first chapter here.


    (2) Per Tiffany: Wu Xie didnt think Hong Ding was good looking. In Wu Xies opinion, he was definitely more handsome than Hong Ding. If Hong Ding could get 500,000 a month, then Wu Xie would get so many clients non-stop and make way more than that. Heaven is a euphemism.


    (3) Its a popr curse from Sichuan. MMP= Ma Mai Pi (sounds like ma my pee), which means motherfucker.


    (4) You know. his private part is the fish lol


    (5) Zhang Shengji is a famous restaurant in Hangzhou that has received a lot of awards and honors. It has different dishes for different seasons. Its "Old Duck Soup is a popr dish made from a secret recipe.

 Book 1: Chapter 126

    Book 1: Chapter 126


    I had been going through my WeChat contacts on the way back to see if there was anyone I could borrow money from. In addition, I just wanted to know if there was anyone who hadn''t paid me back before. At this juncture, I figured my previous good rtionships with people couldnt ovee Uncle Twos authority and I wouldnt be able to borrow anything. Fatty was pulling his inventory and trying to clear the contents of his warehouse. He scratched his head and med me for abandoning the business in recent years. Everything he had bought before was out of date now.


    In the antique industry, all the really valuable things were in auction houses. Generally, if the shop wasnt engaged in underground trading and sold goods on the surface, making money mainly depended on trends. The question was always: whats popr this year? If you chose right, you could sell the goods quickly. Fatty hadn''t touched the market for a long time, and all the old goods he had werent popr this year. It was worthless to put a price tag on them since no one would want them. After a long time, he eventually begged various friends and sold some things for more than ten thousand yuan.


    I thought Fatty had some more valuable things, but he said that all of the good things had been moved to Rain Vige. On that stormy night, all those things had been regarded as mine and Xiao Hua took them away to settle the ounts (1). Fatty seemed to have a lifetime of bad luck just for knowing me. He went from getting idental injuries to losing his whole fortune.


    I sighed, pinched my brows, and realized that I had to make some money.


    I had about ten thousand yuan in my WeChat ount that was enough for food and gas for a while. I had to take care of both Fatty and myself, so I told him not to live in the hotel. We could save some money if he just slept at my house. I didnt sell my Jinbei in the end. I had a lot of rubbings and old inkstones piled up at home, so I opened a Taobao shop (2). These old inkstones were still very valuable, so I figured we could get about seventy or eighty thousand yuan in cash. That could be used as the principal, but wed have to go to the countryside to collect the items first.


    Uncle Two could control the things taken from tombs, but he couldnt control what had been handed down. Moreover, many small-time thieves also stayed in the countryside and pretended to be fellow vigers. Those people also had good things, but the price was unstable and the negotiation cost was very high. These small-time thieves always cheated because they didnt know what would be in the next bag.


    I went back and set everything up, but only got thirty-four thousand after selling all of the old inkstones. That was usually the starting price for a special corbel (3) on old wooden furniture. It seemed that even this money-making scheme didnt pan out. All those other inherited items were only valued at twenty thousand.


    If I wasnt in a hurry to save those two, I was even willing to make ironware and beeswax. There had always been a steady market in these parts, but it had slowed down recently.


    <em>Why the fuck are you trying to die when Im so poor?</em> I stood there facing West Lake with a cold heart. I decided from that day on that I would care more about deposits and financial management.


    After getting a feel for the market, I found that it was impossible to make the money we needed like this. Fatty and I made up a n and decided to split up. Fatty would doggedly borrow as much as he could while I went and knocked on the door of Haoshanju.


    Bai Haotian was wearing pajamas and didnt appear to have slept well these days. She had dark circles under her eyes and her face looked a little swollen. As soon as she saw me, she covered her face to keep me from looking.


    What are you doing here? She asked. If you dont go to work, youll be fired.


    "Im here to show you how to operate Haoshanju, I said to her. Take out all of your ounts and well go to Shanxi tomorrow to look for goods."


    "Just you and me? What about the warehouse?"


    "Ask off."


    "You can only take two days off," Bai Haotian said in a panic.


    She went to take out her phoneprobably to call my Uncle Twobut I quickly snatched it away and looked at my watch. "Then well start now. Ill give you fifteen minutes to change clothes and grab all of your ounts and cards. Didnt you want to learn the craft? I''ll teach you."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Part 2 of Extra: Some of Wu Xies Thoughts.


    (2) Taobao, a Chinese online shopping website


    (3) A corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood, or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. Think of something like this:

 Book 1: Chapter 127

    Book 1: Chapter 127


    After an eleven-hour drive to Shanxi, I followed the familiar route straight to Qixian.


    On the way, I secretly added Bai Haotian to several groups that were full of culture and antique enthusiasts. Many people posted their collections every day, so the cirction was very fast.


    In today''s antique market, if you had money, you could buy eighty percent of the good products at the many small secondhand shops in the county. There was no need to go to the vige yourself. The locals had probably already swept through the vige and had a monopoly on the goods. It didnt matter whether it was from a "fellow viger" or something handed down through the ages, the locals had acquaintances who swept through the goods regrly. When my business started to improve back then, it was because I controlled this part. I cut out the antique dealers in the county and had the goods sent directly to the city.


    As a result, the antique dealers in Qixian County absolutely hated my guts. After I retired, they quickly blocked the hole I had created, so it would definitely be bad if I entered Qixian again on my own. That was why Bai Haotian was so crucial.


    I found a shabby hotel that cost fourteen yuan a day and rented two rooms. I then bought bedding, changed the sheets, and climbed up to the window. I pulled down the curtain rod, hollowed out the wall behind it, and then put the curtain rod back. This was a ce where we would hide the goods we bought. I knew from experience that once we bought any good products, anything could happen.


    After that, I dyed my hair yellow and put on round sses and a fake beard and sideburns. I also wore a special tight-fitting T-shirt. When my disguise wasplete, I looked like those gang members who parked their cars in rural KTV parking lots (1). Then I told Bai Haotian to put on a white shirt and booty shorts (2). When the two of us stood together, it looked like a little rich girl had fallen for an unconventional boyfriend and brought him to Qixian to travel.


    Bai Haotian also put on a lot of makeup. Her technique was so top-notch that she was basically unrecognizable when she was done. After that, we went to a small secondhand shop in a building materials market in the county suburbs.


    The best items in this shop were silver ingots and old saddles, which were ced inside ss cabs that lined the walls. The ss cabs were the old ones from department stores in the 90s. They were covered in rust and dust both inside and out. In addition to the old silver ingots that were piled up indiscriminately, there were many old house deeds and pieces of old furniture piled up.


    We went in and pretended to be interested in these old objects. The boss was a short old fat man who didn''t look up at us at all. Instead, he stayed focused on the TV show ying on his iPad.


    It was sunny outside, but the whole inside of the shop was very dark. After taking two steps in, it even felt colder, which was a feeling that I was quite familiar with.


    Bai Haotian asked me softly, "Even if we buy some things here, we can''t sell them when we get back. What are we doing?"


    "Taking pictures," I answered in the Changsha dialect.


    "Taking pictures?" Bai Haotian didn''t understand what I meant.


    "Antique trading is all about eyesight and information, I whispered. When theres money, its always more profitable to keep it than to sell it. When theres no money, its more important to know where the good products are rather than buying them." I went over to the old fat man and saw several strings of old beeswax hanging on the wall. Each string had more than seventy pieces. I leaned over to look at one and said, "Here we go."


    The old fat man gave a hum and looked at me while frowning. I immediately rubbed the beeswax with my hand and smelled it. He put down his iPad and stood up, fully alert now.


    I quickly stroked each piece with my hand and found that twenty-one of them were simr in size. I looked at the other string next to it and the boss immediately realized that I was an expert. He conveniently handed me the other string and I stroked it with my hand. It was about the same size as the twenty-one string just now, but this one had twelve.


    "These two strings for a hundred and sixty thousand." As I quoted the price, I seemingly unintentionally took out my phone and snapped some partial photos of the old beeswax. I made sure to get some of the good ones and some of the bad ones and sent them to Bai Haotian.


    The old fat mans voice was very faint as he said, "Two hundred. A hundred and sixty is too low."


    Bai Haotian was still looking at the photos I had sent, so I used her number to post the good ones in several of the groups with a direct price quote: "Old beeswax bracelet, thirty-three beads. Two hundred and sixty thousand. Each bead is the same diameter and top grade."


    I then turned my head and walked away while saying to the boss, "Ill take it at a hundred and sixty, but two hundred is too expensive."


    The fat boss ignored us and went back to his iPad. I walked out of the shop and used my own number to post a message in each group Bai Haotian had posted in just now: "I want this string. No one had better take it from me."


    Bai Haotian didn''t understand what I was doing, so I sat down with her at a yangzage shop (3) six hundred meters away and said to her, "Let the bullets fly for a while."


    After eating, we walked two kilometers and entered another shop in an old street alley. This shop mainly sold stone chopping blocks and various old water jars, as well as some silver ingots and old saddles. At this time, a few people started messaging Bai Haotian on WeChat.


    Bai Haotian showed me one persons profile picture, but I wasnt familiar with them. The stranger said to Bai Haotian: "Don''t sell it to him. Ill give you two hundred and ten thousand if you sell it to me."


    I used Bai Haotian''s phone to respond: "Boss Wu has already paid a thirty thousand deposit. Youll have to pay at least two hundred and forty thousand; otherwise, Ill lose the deposit and not make a profit."


    The other party said that it was no problem.


    I smiled gently. This was Uncle Two telling people to stop me from buying goods so I couldnt make any money. Uncle Two probably didnt know that I didnt even have the money to buy goods.


    Bai Haotian and I ran back to the previous shop and asked the old fat man to give us his Alipay (4) information. Once that was done, we reported it to the other party. Once the other party paid, I re-strung those thirty-three beeswax pieces into a beautiful bracelet and sent it to them. That left nearly ny old beeswax pieces of various sizes and appearances, so I put them away forter.


    Since the other party paid two hundred and forty thousand yuan, the old fat man found it very strange. With regards to the extra forty thousand yuan, I said to the old fat man, "I mustve told him the wrong number. Just forget it. What other good products do you have here. Ill buy some more."


    The old fat man looked at me before silently taking out an old newspaper from beneath the counter and spreading it out slowly.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) KVT is karaoke. China has KTV clubs, which have private rooms that you can book with your friends or colleagues for a few hours of fun.


    (2) Apparently the legit term for them is hot pants but theyre super short shorts, so Im dering them booty shorts. Fun fact, my mom calls them "band-aid shorts" lol


    (3) Basically sheep haslet put into a soup. Pic and some more info here.


    (4) Online payment tform. Think of it like paypal.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''ve got some stuff going on this week, so updates are going to be prettyme. I''ll try my best, but no promises. Apologies in advance</em></strong><strong><em>dears~~</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 128

    Book 1: Chapter 128


    It was an old Guangming Daily with a pictureying on top of it. I looked at the picture and realized that it was a Dai Jin (1) painting of a bird sitting on a pine branch. The Guangming Daily was torn on all four sides like it hade from one of those old houses that had newspapers stuck on all of its walls.


    We were in deep waters. I wasnt familiar with Dai Jins works, but the rice paper was very old. Someone may have found some old rice paper and asked an artist to paint on it using old ink. I remembered that some people forged fake certificates of authenticity in the past, and in order to find the paper at that time, they bought countless old books from that era and copied them. Nowadays, forgeries made using fine-painting technology looked almost identical to printed products. But Chinese paintings were very difficult to copy.


    I didn''t speak as I examined the newspaper carefully. All of the details told me a story.


    When it came to the old houses here, courtyard houses in particr were subletted by many people. Newspapers were usually posted on all of the walls. Someone found an old painting in an old house and wrapped it in the Guangming Daily. This painting waster discovered when the house-owner was moving and sold to the shop. When the boss saw it, he realized that it was a Dai Jin painting.


    I might have hesitated if the Guangming Daily hadnt been here, but this old newspaper was too deliberate. It naturally made me wary.


    I didn''t ask for the painting, but told the old fat man to keep the forty thousand yuan in the shop as credit. When he had any good products, he would send me photos and I woulde and give him the rest of the money.


    The old fat man was very happy and even walked me out of the shop with his iPad in hand. When I went out and exined everything to Bai Haotian, she scratched her head, "I thought you had to look at the things themselves to see whether they were real or fake."


    With todays technology, you often cant tell that somethings wrong with a single nce. For example, some people can create carvings on old mirrors that are almost undetectable."


    When I got back to the hotel, I began to fiddle with the remaining beeswax beads. I made two and a half strings: one was a hundred thousand yuan and the other was seventy thousand yuan. The remaining half string was given to Bai Haotian.


    Bai Haotian thought for a while and then said, "Didn''t we buy the goods for Haoshanju? Why did you take them for yourself?"


    I told her not to worry and that this was just practice; we hadn''t even entered the vige yet.


    In the evening, the old fat man sent me a lot of photos of various things. There were bronze swords, bronze knife money (2), and some Western Zhou agates. I was stunned when I saw a pair of jade earrings that were bright green.


    I saw the corpse residue on them and realized that they probably came out of a tomb. I found it very interesting, because green jadeite from the Qing Dynasty was very precious. There had been various ims over the past decade that such a bright green jadeite would sell for more than two hundred thousand yuan even now.


    All of these photos were sent from the dealers in the vige to the antique dealers in the whole county. The old fat man didnt actually have these items in his store, but would buy them if we wanted them. Of course, I also conveniently sent all of these photos to various groups using Bai Haotian''s number while praying in my heart, <em>let it work again. Please let it work again. That way, I can enter the vige.</em>


    There was nothing that night, so I hid the beeswax and forced myself to go to sleep while trying not to think about Poker-Face''s situation.


    In the end, I still ended up thinking about it for a few seconds. If they didn''t die, then I needed to calcte how much time they had left. If they did die, then I figured they were probably as soggy as fried dough sticks now. I didnt know how I would face those two if they really did look like fried dough sticks.


    After sleeping for a few hours, I heard someone knocking on the door. I turned over, but all I could hear was the very faint knocking sound. I wasn''t expecting anyone, so I had no idea know who it was.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Dai Jin (1388-1462) was a Chinese artist best known for being the founder of the Zhe School of Ming dynasty painting. More info here.


    (2) Knife money is the name ofrge, cast, bronze, knife-shapedmodity money produced by various governments and kingdoms in what is now China. Knife money circted in China between 600 and 200 B.C. during the Zhou dynasty. More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 129

    Book 1: Chapter 129


    I got up in a daze. I didnt sleep deeply in my early years, but that had changed in more recent years. I often slept so deeply now that it was difficult to wake me up. I rubbed my face and instantly went on the alert. I stood against the wall and listened to the knocking on the door.


    The sound was very slight and rhythmic, which I found odd. I turned on my phone and called Bai Haotian in the next room. Our two rooms were in the shape of a seven, so she could look through her doors peephole and see who was knocking on my door. I didnt dare go over and look myself because I was afraid that someone woulde in with a gun as soon as I did.


    The phone rang for a long time, but Bai Haotian didnt answer. I had a bad feeling, so I looked out the window, quickly put my clothes on, and carefully climbed out of the window.


    The hotels outer wall was right outside my window. We were on the third floor, but there was a telephone pole close to the building. I hung on the edge of the window with one hand while my feet dangled below. I let go and dropped to the second-floor window right below mine. I then stepped on the sill before jumping out and kicking the telephone pole, safelynding on the edge of the first floor window.


    This was a simple wall climbing technique Xiao Hua had taught me. There were six kinds of techniques, but I wasnt at the level where I could handle the different types of walls and cliffs. Otherwise, I would have climbed to the top of the building. With my current arm strength, I could only handle jumping off of something.


    Afternding on the ground, I re-entered the hotel. There was aputer at the front desk with split-screen monitoring. The front desk attendant was wrapped in a rotten quilt and had nodded off. I looked at the split screen monitoring, found my room, and saw a woman knocking on my door. The back of my neck went cold, because the woman''s face was pressed so close to the door that she almost looked like she was lying on it. What was she doing?


    This was definitely abnormal behavior. Was she drunk or was this hotel haunted?


    I called Bai Haotian again, but at this time, I suddenly saw my own door open and a hand stretched out from the inside, pulling the woman in.


    <em>Fuck me, somethings wrong!</em> I grabbed the shlight from the desk, woke up the front desk attendant, and told him that there was a thief. I pulled him up the stairs to my room, swiped the card key, immediately turned on the lights, and looked around. No one was there.


    The front desk attendant still wasnt fully awake and gave me an inexplicable look before telling me to check and see if anything was missing.


    I checked the room again, but there really wasnt anyone there. This hotel didnt have an elevator and there was only one set of stairs. The woman and the person who appeared in my room just now wouldve definitely ran into us if they wanted to go downstairs. The only way for them to avoid us was to run upstairs, but I was so fast that it was practically impossible for anyone to run up to the fourth floor before I rushed up here.


    My heart was beating fast as I wondered what was going on. I knocked on Bai Haotians door and then turned my head, only to find that the next door over was different from what I had previously remembered.


    It was a stone door. Although this hotel was very shabby, there was absolutely no way that it would have a stone door.


    I looked at the front desk attendant, but he didn''t seem to notice the door and was giving me a nk stare. When I went up and pushed the stone door open, I saw that the room behind it waspletely flooded.


    I walked through the stone door, reached out to touch the water on the ground, and found that the pool was as deep as an abyss. There were two bodies floating in the depths of this pool.


    I wanted to take a closer look at the bodies below, but the water in the pool suddenly leaped onto my face, bing so sticky that I couldn''t breathe. As soon as I tried to take a breath, the mucus-like substance got sucked into my lungs.


    I woke up during the struggle, turned my head, and started coughing violently. A big clump of blood came out of my nose as I continued coughing. My mouth and nose were full of blood, and my lungs hurt like a bomb had gone off in them.


    It was dawn. It was all just a fucking dream. I was curled up on the ground, unable to get up because of the pain. I tried to breath slowly and calmly, wanting to let my body rx so that the pain would pass. But the pain didn''t pass at all.


    In fact, it hurt more and more. I went to touch my phone, but couldn''t type a word. I saw a message from Bai Haotians phone that read: Someone wants the goods. What do we do next?


    I couldn''t speak, couldnt swipe the screen with my blood-covered hands. I couldn''t do anything.


    As my vision went dark, I thought to myself, <em>Im going to die</em>. <em>They were right</em>.


    Unlike before, this didn''t seem like something I could ovee.

 Book 1: Chapter 130

    Book 1: Chapter 130


    Iy curled up on the ground, buried in pain. It hurt so much that I couldnt even straighten my back. The passage of time was like a tangible presence in front of me. There was no relief. The pain was so severe that even my mind was nk. All of the distractions in my consciousness disappeared, leaving only time. But I didn''t know whether that time was going fast or slow.


    During those excruciating moments, I had numerous illusions that I was somewhere else: a cave, an ancient tomb, the Seven Star Lu Pce, deep in the mountain valleys of the Qinling Mountains, the snake marsh, the Zhang familys ancient building, or even that temple in Tibet. I had also had moments in those ces that made me curl up in pain. But this time, there was a strong difference. I didnt know why, but every time that happened in the past, I always had the conviction that it would all pass. This time, however, that conviction was gone.


    The intense pain sent a clear messagethis time, God wouldnt let me go. I didnt know if I felt this way because of what Uncle Two had said or if it was really different this time.


    I never actually passed out, because I clenched my blood-covered teeth and refused to let my consciousness slip away. I didnt know how long Iy curled up on the ground, but I eventually felt someone walk into the room. I felt their body heat and the surrounding air shift as they moved around. At that time, my consciousness began to slowly spread like spilled ink. I knew that I was lifted up and people were talking around me, but I couldn''t hear the details clearly.


    My consciousness was like an iron chain that I refused to let go of. The pain eventually started to dissipate and I knew that I must have been injected with an analgesic. After the pain faded, drowsiness washed over me like the tide.


    Logically, my consciousness should have also retreated into the darkness at this time, but I was still awake. I could even tell that I was in the ward of a county hospital. There were three other beds in the ward, but no one was lying on them.


    I couldn''t move, but at that time, I suddenly heard the sound of someone knocking on the door again. It was very gentle, just like a ghost.


    It was exactly the same as what I had heard in the hotel room before. I looked at the door and was overwhelmed with the sudden fear that it shouldnt be opened. <em>It cant be opened, </em>I thought to myself.<em> This door shouldnt be opened by any means.</em>


    As Iy there terrified, the door quietly opened and a man slowly walked in. I couldn''t hear any sounds as the man approached my bed.


    I looked at him and was surprised to find that it was a familiar face.


    It was Pan Zi.


    Pan Zi looked at me silently, his eyes full of helplessness. I tried to open my mouth and ask: Are you here to pick me up?


    But I couldnt speak.


    Pan Zi sat down on the edge of my bed with a smile on his face, put his hand on my chest, and began to talk but I couldn''t hear anything.


    I stared at his mouth and tried to read his lips, wanting to know what he was saying. But I couldn''t concentrate and felt annoyed and angry with myself. A kind of bitterness suddenly surged up from the bottom of my heart like the rising tide and I wondered, <em>was Pan Zi always by my side? Has he been following me this whole time?<em> Is this why he''s the first person I see as Im dying</em>?</em>


    <em>Have you been here the whole time?</em><em>As it turns out, the song wasnt finished.</em>(1)


    <em>You saved my life at that time. You dont want it to end like this, do you?</em>


    I looked at Pan Zi speaking to me, and then watched as he got up, slowly turned away, and went out the door. As this stream of consciousness slowly dissipated, I began to see the real world. I opened my eyes and found that I was lying in a bed with tears on my face.


    The ce where Pan Zi had been standing was empty. It wasnt the middle of the night, but already daytime.


    I tried to raise my hand to feel the empty space beside me and then touched my chest. It was all just a dream. What had Pan Zi been trying to tell me in my dream?


    I found myself remembering some of his lip movements. As I tried hard to recall them, I found that they were just a few words.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Pan Zi was singing Sister Go Boldly Forward from the popr Chinese movie The Red Sorghum when he died in Vol 8 Chapter 62.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh God, I''ll just be over here crying. I was NOT expecting to get sucker-punched in the feels like that. PAN ZI! </em></strong> *(><)*

 Book 1: Chapter 131

    Book 1: Chapter 131


    After I fell into a deepa, I dreamed of Pan Zi. He said a few words to me, but I couldn''t hear a sound. Despite this, I felt that those words were information that my subconscious mind had neglected and was now trying to remind me of.


    After waking up, I recalled it carefully, but the memory was so vague that I could only remember a few words.


    <em>What you do before is what you do after.</em>


    This was a sentence from my grandpa''s notes which meant that you would eventually have to bear the consequences of whatever you did.


    The things I did in the first half of my life had led to my present situation, which meant that I had been doomed for a long time. Even the things I did now would lead to different situations in the future. At this moment, people would normally try to address the consequences of their actions and start thinking about the future.


    Whening up with a n, you should think three steps ahead before you do something and then four steps ahead after you do it. But life was a series of tangled causes and effects, so it was useless to change anything from today onwards. Change was something that was constantly urring. The more you wanted to change, the more you had to take everything into consideration.


    I fell asleep again. When I woke up this time, a new patient was lying in the bed next to mine. There were fruits and a hot water kettle on my bedside table. Bai Haotian must have been here but was gone now. My cell phone had been fully charged and ced beside me on the bed, so I picked it up and opened it. There wasnt much news. The world would still run without me. I only had a few messages from Bai Haotian.


    The first was an X-ray of my lungs. I couldnt make sense of it, but I could see a lot of shadows. After that was a detailed diagnosis stating that my lungs were damaged and failing.


    Long-term inhtion of tomb gases andter taking snake venom had seriously damaged my lung function. Now my lungs only worked at a third of the capacity of ordinary peoples lungs. I didnt know whether the damage was reversible, but the doctor advised me to undergo surgery and have the damaged part removed. Once that was done, I should get a lungvage (1) and focus on recuperating.


    Their advice was simple: I absolutely could not overburden my lungs again. I should find a ce where the air was moist and clean and slowly get my lungs checked out while I thought about treatment ns.


    What you do before is what you do after.


    I was doomed from the beginning. Now, I slowly sat up and read the message Bai Haotian had sent while I was in mya. She had already fumbled around and worked on settling the order. She was worried about me, but she wasnt in the hospital. Instead, she had gone to the vige to receive the goods. She wrote at the end of her message: I thought for a long time that standing on Uncle Two''s side was best for you, but I still chose to help you anyways. I know now that this choice was absolutely wrong. No one should help you hurt yourself. So, in the end, I decided that I would do this wrong thing with you.


    I thought about this problem while you were in youra and made my own decision without your input. I know its very selfish of me, but I hope that when you see my decision, youll realize what youve done. Im hurting myself to help someone else hurt himself and youre the same.


    Because I know that my help will hurt you, I must also hurt myself. That way, everything will be bnced.


    My only response to that was: Absurd.


    No ones decision had hurt me. It was simply the result of everything that I had neglected, treated arbitrarily, and avoided all finallying together.


    Now it was impossible to go back to that time and get back the things that I had missed. I could only use what was left to solve the ensuing problems.


    It seemed as if the people around me wanted to freeze the causality of this moment by having me do nothing. But it was called cause and effect for a reason. At this moment, the only thing I was destined to do was to move forward.


    I closed my eyes and quickly focused on what I should do next. First, I called the doctor and asked about my condition. They prescribed me some medicine to dy my illness and allowed me to be discharged. I left the hospital wearing a mask and out-of-season clothes. I was warned to guard against bronchial infection every day, not smoke, not go to ces with heavy fireworks and smog, and take six different kinds of medicine on time every day. I also had to bring my own pillows and bedding if I went anywhere so as to avoid too much dust.


    It didnt take long to find Bai Haotian. She had just bought three fakes, so I stopped her and silently took her around the area. We eventually used the remaining money to buy a Song Dynasty Jian Zhan (2). After finally collecting three hundred thousand yuan, I asked Bai Haotian to stay in the vige and continue shopping for goods.


    When I quietly went back to Hangzhou and saw Fatty again, hisplexion didnt look good. I thought he hadnt been able to borrow any money, but all he said was, "That Hong Ding guy isnt reliable and raised the price. Now he needs a million before hes willing toe out. Im sorry, Mr. Nave."


    I looked at the calendar on my phone, my heart calmer than ever.


    Solve the problem.


    <em>We leave in three days</em>, I whispered to myself. <em>Think about what to do now.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Procedure that uses saline solution to wash out the lungs


    (2) Its basically a tea bowl/cup. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Happy 1 year tranting anniversary to me </em></strong>()<strong><em> (I really didn''t think I''d be doing it this long. I had no idea what I was getting myself into lol)</em></strong>. <strong><em>Shout-out to you darlings for putting up with my ramblings, shitty trantions (until Tiffany fixes them), and long-ass TN notes (what can I say, I get overzealous after researching and want to share my finding lol)</em></strong>. <strong><em>Hopefully we can wrap things up in this next year so I can get my life back, but who knows. The author still appears to be going strong with his unfinished extras *sigh*</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 132

    Book 1: Chapter 132


    Three dayster, Fatty and I got on the highway to Fujian. During those three days, I slept for eight hours each day and took my medicine on time. The rest of the time, I quietly visited those whom I thought might let me borrow some money. While I was begging one of those people, Fatty stole his antique in the toilet and got thirty thousand yuan for it. Other than that, we didnt get anything else.


    We couldnt get a million yuan, so Hong Ding Shuixian returned the two hundred thousand to Fatty. Bai Haotian had sold about two hundred thousand yuan of goods, so she returned from the vige. We took the seven hundred thousand yuan and hired three people.


    As Kan Jian had said, I didn''t have a chance in the Nine Gates. As a result, I used other methods to hire these three people. They werent insiders and had never been underground, but they all needed money. I found them through mutual acquaintances and clues from anecdotes I had collected before. These three people were all ex-prisoners, and almost all of the seven hundred thousand yuan was given to them.


    Of course, these people werent ordinary, but theyll be introducedter. Right now, all I can say is that the oldest one was called Jia Kezi. He had a stammer and used to be a railway maintenance worker. He was very silent and stuttered when he became anxious. There was also a young man in his early thirties who sold fried dough sticks. His nickname was You Erque. The youngest one was called Xiang Dun. He was a neen-year-old fat guy who stole memory cards from inte cafes.


    During those three days, I didn''t waste a single minute on fear, self-pity, feelings, or indecisions. Instead, I focused my attention on the task of making precise calctions.


    This was the best situation I could achieve. Three days was the longest I could afford to wait.


    Our equipment was taken from Pan Zis batch in Warehouse Eleven. Only the necessary and damaged parts were supplemented with other equipment, but the rest were all sets Pan Zi had used before. As our group crowded into my car, Fatty started driving. He looked at the group of dozing people in the back seat with a pale face. Bai Haotian was sandwiched between them, looking very small and pitiful.


    Because they were ex-convicts, all three people had a special temperament: silence. They were probably ustomed to social pressure and no longer felt ufortable in strange environments.


    Fatty kept wanting to discuss things with me in detail, but I only told him that I knew what I was doing.


    Our destination was a tulou (1) in Fujian that had been converted into a homestay run by the vige. All of the clues seemed to indicate that this had been Uncle Twos first stop after the South Sea Kings tomb.


    I was particrly surprised to find that his second destination was also in Fujian. In other words, the clues about Uncle Three listening to thunder came from Fujian.


    After driving for nearly twenty hoursmany of Fujians national highways had a very low speed limitwe entered the county seat, changed to a local car, and then drove into the mountains. We went all the way until we arrived outside of the vige where the tulou was located. The vige had built a dirt parking lot outside, which was full of cars from Beijing.


    They belonged to Xiao Hua''s rescue team. I had called ahead and found that this tulou had several floors that had already been booked. Now there were just a few tourist rooms left.


    It was already evening when we arrived. Based on Xiao Huas usual habit, someone was probably keeping watch nearby. Most of his men knew me, so I put on sses, looked in the mirror, and made myself slouch until my posture looked different from usual. I then took Bai Haotian and went to check in first.


    Fatty was wearing local clothes and mixed in with a few other people before checking in. The three of us got two private rooms on the third floor.


    Except for the fifth floor, the entire tulou was quiet and scary, and almost no one spoke. Fatty carefully looked through the gaps in the bedframe during the night. I had already informed the group of tomorrow''s affairs, so I quickly fell asleep.


    When I thought about it, it was very simple. Tomorrow morning, we would wait for Xiang Dun to go out and socialize. Once we knew what the general situation of this tulou was, we could start nning.


    In my sleep, I once again dreamed of someone knocking on the door. In my dream, I looked at the door calmly. No matter what was outside, I had already epted it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Traditional Hakkamunal residence in Fujian, typically arge multi-story circr structure built around a central shrine. Little more info here. The Hakka are Han Chinese people whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan and Guizhou. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>It''s a stretch, but Wu Xie and the gang arrive at the tulou in Season 2 Episode 9. Jia Kezi is canon with a different backstory I guess and I''m assuming Huo Dao Fu took You Erque''s ce in the drama. Jia Kezi is this dude if you kept getting him and the other Warehouse 11 guy mixed up like me lol:</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 133

    Book 1: Chapter 133


    I woke up early and found that Jia Kezi had brought everyone''s breakfast back from the dining room. There was steaming misua paste, popiah, man jian gao, peanut soup, beef soup, bowl cakes, and sesame balls (1). The lobby and dining room were located in the tulous courtyard. I had heard that many tourists would stay and volunteer for a period of time after they came, so the dishes here were very rich.


    The others hadnt woken up yet and Jia Kezi was staring at the table nkly as he ate silently.


    My father was also a quiet person. Every time I ate at home when I was a child, my father would stare at the table and eat silently, almost as if his mind was full of thoughts. As a result, I was very familiar with this kind of atmosphere.


    I sat down in front of Jia Kezi and he pushed a pot of misua paste towards me. "You Zhejiang people (2) should love this."


    I took a bite. I had been very familiar with Fujian breakfast food for a long time now. I didn''t like or dislike it, but I was toozy to exin it to him. I looked at my cell phone and realized that it would take another hour for the others to wake up. As Jia Kezi continued to mindlessly eat his breakfast, I looked at him without asking any questions.


    When I thought about it, ordinary peoples suffering was probably far inferior whenpared to my misery. But suffering could only truly be perceived by the individual, so I couldnt look down on anyone elses hardships. People''s hearts were different, and every person had their own way of suffering.


    After eating for a while, he suddenly looked up at me and asked, "Do you y chess?"


    I shook my head. If it had been before, I wouldve been curious about this proposal, but now I simply refused to do what I didnt want to do.


    Jia Kezi started shaving his beard silently. He didn''t stutter in the morning and spoke very slowly. <em>Hes the one who epted everything</em>, I thought to myself. When he promised toe, he had just sent his old father off. The father and son had been working on the railway their whole lives. The two of them had good ears and listened to the track, looking for breakpoints on the railway and determining the trains situations. As a result, Jia Kezi''s nickname was 1435, and even his WeChat username was 1435. (3)


    Two tracks could always see each other, but couldnt touch. They would always be together, but not.


    Jia Kezi deliberately hurt people and went to jail. I didnt know what had happened, but I usually stayed away from people who had stories. My own story hadnt yet ended after all.


    The others gradually woke up one right after another. Xiang Dun went out and wandered around. When he came back, he told us that the building was actually taller than when we came inst night. We had originally thought that the fourth floor was the fifth floor.


    There was an inessible half-storey between the fourth and fifth floors, but I didnt know whether it was a structural problem or merely decoration.


    It was easy to infer that the earliest people to arrive were on the fifth floor. In other words, Xiao Hua''s entire rescue team was on the fifth floor. But ording to the waiter, the team never left after entering the tulou and even the lights in their rooms hadnt been turned on. That was why we thought the fourth floor was the fifth floor yesterday.


    Based on my understanding, Xiao Hua was in the habit of covering all of the windows with ck cloth and had even been nicknamed ck Lantern when he was younger. That way, it was impossible for others to know what he was doing.


    The fourth floor waspletely different in that people came and went every day. It seemed that there was another group of people living there. They didn''t go up to the fifth floor, but it was obvious that they werent ordinary tourists based on their appearances. Xiang Dun showed me some photos he took with his cell phone. After looking at them, I knew that it was a big grave-robbing team full of experts from all fields. There appeared to be a big boss living on the fourth floor.


    At this time, I saw a photo of a person in the crowd. He had apparently seen Xiang Dun taking a sneak shot. He was an extremely handsome young man in his twenties who looked very familiar. I erged the photocell phone cameras were really powerful nowand saw a copper coin ne around the young man''s neck. (4)


    "Youve been discovered. Little Bai, it''s your turn." I handed the photo to Bai Haotian, "Pay attention to this person and go to the fourth floor to see who recruited these grave robbers and why theyre here."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Misua paste is a noodle dish. Pic and info here. Popiah is basically a spring roll. Pic and info here. Manjiangao is basically a pancake with brown sugar, sesame seeds, and crushed peanuts. Pick and info here. Bowl cakes are made by grinding rice into rice syrup, then adding white or brown sugar and yeast, stirring, fermenting, and finally steaming in a bowl. I found a 40 second video here. Sesame balls are pastries coated with sesame seeds. Pic and info here.


    (2) Zhejiang province (Chekiang) in east China. Hangzhou is the capital.


    (3) The standard railway track gauge is 1435 mm (4 ft 8  in).


    (4) Something like this (reminds me of Ah Nings bracelet in Ultimate Note and Chapter 26 of Deadly Desert Winds):

 Book 1: Chapter 134

    Book 1: Chapter 134


    I spent all morning checking the photos the others had secretly taken outside. I taped a newspaper to the wall and stuck the photos on it one by one to form a ring. I now knew all the details of the whole tulou. I found that many of those people were a little famous in the business, so the boss on the fourth floor had to be very rich.


    Bai Haotian took a lot of photos of the young man, which I lined up on the wall. After looking at them carefully, I really felt like I had seen him before.


    I squinted and then felt a little surprised. This person had been gone for a long time, so how could they suddenly appear now? At first, I thought the copper coins were giving me a hint. But after looking at them carefully for a long time, I found that it wasnt the case at all.


    I was pretty certain that the copper coins were the same ones that that person had brought with them before. This kind of copper coin was so rare that it couldnt be a coincidence.


    I looked at Bai Haotian. "Did you learn anything about this person?"


    Bai Haotian shook her head. "I suddenly went up to ask, but I didnt know what to say."


    Fatty also looked at the photo before ncing at me, "Is it?"


    Bai Haotian didnt understand what we were talking about. Fatty hooked his arm around her neck and said gravely, "Go change into a miniskirt, take your phone, and ask this guy take a picture of you. After that, thank him and get his WeChat info. You can chat with him in the middle of the night and find out who he is."


    Bai Haotian looked at her legs, "He wont add me on WeChat even if I change into a miniskirt."


    "Trust me, Fatty said. Just look at this guy. He usually has a lot of girlfriends, but now hes been stuck in the wilderness for a long time. Youre as beautiful as a fairy when you put on makeup."


    Bai Haotian looked at me and blushed. She hesitated for a long time before saying, "I can''t betray Little Master Three."


    Fatty looked at me and then pointed from me to her. I touched Bai Haotian''s head, "Speak properly. Use your words."


    Fatty said to Bai Haotian, "Legs are worthless. It''s not a betrayal to show them to others. Look at what any other girl wears out on the street. It''s called scenery."


    I told Fatty not to be so hard on her. Bai Haotian was a girl who didnt like to wear skirts. "What do you mean? Fatty asked. Youd let me wear a miniskirt, right? If you have one, I''ll try it on. But its not my fault if someone recognizes me."


    I touched my chin, but knew that it was useless. In every single photo, the young man looked straight at the camera. He was an extremely vignt person and definitely wasn''t a pushover.


    We all sat down to discuss our n of action. I pointed to the wall and said, "The information stated that the entrance to the tomb is a calling spring, which is usually dry. When you shout, spring water wille gushing out. It should be in the nearby mountains where theres no water. The entrance should be a small gap. Xiao Hua is definitely a nocturnal animal, so hell only go out in the middle of the night. Well sleep in the afternoon and follow them when they set off. Remember, Xiao Hua is very cautious, so we cant follow him straight from the tulou. At eight o''clock tonight, well scatter and go to the nearby farmhouses. When you see theming out, dont use your shlights. Just follow their lights. We just need to know which direction theyre going in. Well stop when we get to a certain area. Dont follow them to the spring; otherwise, youll definitely be discovered."


    Everyone nodded. "Theres no signal when you enter the mountains and Xiao Hua and the others dont use walkie-talkies since they can be hijacked. Theyll probably bemunicating with bat whistles. I heard that Liu Sang is also on the team and refusing to leave, so we can''tmunicate with each other. Everyone must pay attention to their safety. Its dangerous to climb mountains in the dark. If I had any money, Id get us a few night-vision goggles. But now we can only rely on our brains to make up for it. Come on, everyone."


    After the meeting was over, everyoney down and went to sleep. It was six o''clock when they woke up in a daze. Everyone scattered and left the hotel. I found a billiard hall nearby and yed billiards with the locals. Since I could speak a few words in the Fujian dialect, I tried to chat with the young men. But I find that what I knew wasnt Fujian, so I still couldnt understand what they were saying.


    I stayed until the billiard hall closed, at which point Fatty sent me a message. It was three o''clock in the morning and no one from Xiao Huas group had left the tulou.


    I waited until dawn, finding it all a little strange. After thinking about it, I felt that something was wrong. Was the fifth floor a cover and the people on the fourth floor were Xiao Hua''s people?


    But I had never seen those iconic figures working under Xiao Hua before.

 Book 1: Chapter 135

    Book 1: Chapter 135


    When we got back to the room, we all looked at each other. <em>Did Xiao Hua take the day off? </em>I wondered.


    Impossible. Every day was vital right now. They were the main rescue team, so they wouldnt be acting so casual. The only possibility was that this was a smoke screen. If I hadn''t seen those powerful figures on the fourth floor, I probably wouldve thought that the whole tulou was fake at this point.


    But no matter how much I thought about it, I just couldn''t figure it out.


    "Speaking of which, I heard that those people on the fourth floor often go out to the surrounding woods, Xiang Dun said. They also seem to be looking for something.


    I paced around the room, thinking that it didnt make any sense. What was the difference between the fourth and fifth floors? I really wanted to send a text message to Xiao Hua and ask him what he was doing.


    I didn''t sleep well that night. Jia Kezi kept watch and woke us up early in the morning. I opened the window and looked outside. A group of people from the fourth floor were going out early and carrying a bunch of equipment. Fatty yawned, looked at his watch, and scolded, "Well, it''s going to be a tough today. I didn''t sleep muchst night and now I have to follow these guys up the mountain."


    Tracking during the day was much safer than at night, but the probability of being discovered was also very high. After Fatty and I had tracked and followed this group of people the whole way, I was certain that they were looking for something. I figured it was probably the calling spring, but this group waspletely different from Xiao Hua''s usual style. I was about half a kilometer away from them but could still hear them talking about a calling spring. They werent vignt at all.


    The strangest thing was, we had followed them for a while, but found no signs of any sentries. These people were mindlessly searching the mountains, but their methods were professional.


    The trees in Fujian forests were strange and dense, with thin trunks that were covered in moss. Many of the trees also had vines wrapped around them. A lot of areas almost had a tropical jungle kind of feel to them, but the trunks werent as thick as those in tropical rain forests.


    The humidity in the forest was very high, and there was a faint fog in the air. I had heard that there were many snakes in Fujian, especially in the protected areas. You could see those long strips in the grass at any time. The locals here respected and feared snakes, but they also ate them. Whenever they encountered a snake, they wouldnt even call it by name. I heard the local guides in the group in front of us reminding them: there are long things, there are strips, and there are long, thin things. (1)


    After walking around all day, we didn''t find anything and this group of people didn''t notice us. Actually, there were a few times when we were so tired that we just sat on the ground. Those people walked right in front of us andpletely ignored our presence.


    This definitely wasnt Xiao Hua''s team. Or was Xiao Hua also poor and couldnt hire a good team? Was such a team even able to save people?


    A miasma of gas was filling the air, which made my breathing very ufortable. It felt as if I couldnt pull the oxygen from the air and I fell into a daze, watching the group of people go down into a deep valley. Fatty and I rested on a big stone in the mountainside forest as those people disappeared into the fog-covered valley below.


    We were five hours away from the tulou, which meant that we were in the hintend of the mountain forest. We were listening quietly to those peoples incessant chatteringing from the fog when the sky suddenly darkened.


    I looked up and saw that dark clouds were gathering and there was a brief sh of lightning. It seemed that there was going to be a thunderstorm.


    Fatty put on a poncho while quietly scolding that he would go down to the bottom of the valley. He was afraid that he would be struck by lightning if he stayed on the mountainside.


    It soon started raining hard, so I also put on my poncho and walked to the bottom of the valley. The sky became even darker as I quickly reached the bottom of the valley. I saw the group of people from before squatting on the ground, motionless.


    I found a rock to hide behind as the first sh of lightning lit up the sky. In the dim light, I saw them all tilt their heads up, the whites of their eyes showing.


    They were listening to the thunder.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) If you didnt get it, the locals wont say snake they just describe the snakes.

 Book 1: Chapter 136

    Book 1: Chapter 136


    Fatty and I got pelted by the rain as we hid behind the rock and watched those motionless people. Fatty also made a move to roll his eyes into the back of his head and listen to the thunder. After doing it for a few minutes, he shook his head at me to show that he couldn''t hear anything.


    This definitely wasnt a joke meant for me. No one would tease others using such a ridiculous performance. Moreover, this definitely wasnt Xiao Hua''s team. Everyone in Xiao Hua''s team had a certain characteristic: they were very strong-spirited. Such people were often bored, but they wouldnte up with such a bad idea at a critical time like this.


    I wiped the water from my face. After the heavy rain, the air in the valley felt more refreshing. The water might have absorbed the toxic substances in the fog. Now that I felt better, I cautiously came out from behind the rock and went over to those people.


    Fatty moved to pull me back, but I told him not to worry. I was sure that if these people werent possessed by evil spirits, then they were definitely idiots and there was nothing to be afraid of.


    When I walked over to those people, I leaned in close to get a look at one of them. This person waspletely stiff, the whites of his eyes were showing, and he appeared to be unconscious. The raindrops hit his scalp and slid down into his eyes. Even though it looked painful, he didnt seem to feel it.


    I didn''t touch any of them, remembering that trying to wake up someone who was sleepwalking would trigger unpredictable reactions. But I was certain that these people were all trapped in a nightmare of some sort.


    The first thing I noticed was their arrangement. Their positions definitely werent ordinary. I could see that they had followed some rule, but there didnt seem to be any order to it. After carefully going through my memories, I realized that these peoples squatting positions happened to be simr to the arrangement of the seven ears on that monster corpse in Yang Daguang''s family tomb.


    The heavy rain had drenched the mans hair, which enabled me to clearly see his scalp. I found that these people''s hair was very thin and there were some strange marks on their scalps.


    When the lightning shed again, I could see even more clearly. I took out my shlight, turned it on, and leaned in for a closer look. These people all had incision scars on their scalps like they had undergone craniotomies.


    The rain was getting heavier and heavier, which made it harder to hear the thunder. I started to move to the next person, but had only taken two steps when I suddenly found that the person I was just looking at had now turned around. I immediately stopped and watched as the man stood up, but all he did was look at me silently in the pouring rain.


    As we stared at each other, I noticed that his eyes were still white and his chin was slowly drooping down as if it were dislocated. His mouth widened in a way that I had never seen before.


    This was a bone hearing method, which used the mouth to collect sound. Other than vibrations in the eardrums, vibrations in the jaw could also transmit sounds into the nerves.


    But this guys expression was very exaggerated and unreasonable, almost like he was trying to demonstrate to me. When I looked at his widened mouth, I kept feeling that it was done intentionally. This was a special expression meant just for me.


    As he stood there silently, I stared at him carefully. Every time the lightning shed overhead, that sinister expression looked even more terrifying.


    I didnt know why, but I felt like it was very familiar. I had definitely seen this expression not too long ago. This kind of familiarity had me falling into a kind of trance in the heavy rain. I couldnt tell whether the thunder was familiar or the expression was familiar.


    Fatty suddenly dragged me back and pulled me behind the rock. I came back to my senses and wiped the water off of my face. Fatty started cursing, "Are you fucking stupid?! Were you listening to the thunder, too?!"


    I somehow stood up and looked back out. The man was still standing there, but he wasnt facing me and his hands were curled up now. I suddenly remembered where I had seen that expression before.


    It was the same expression the leather figurine woman had after I stuck my hand in her mouth.

 Book 1: Chapter 137

    Book 1: Chapter 137


    I had heard about descending thunder immortals before. The leather figurine woman had already been burned, so had her soul returned to the thunder ande down to see me again?


    Based on the previous situation, it wasnt infatuation, but a bug that had been ttened. Didn''t they say it wasn''t really human skin and had just been processed to look like a human?


    I looked up at the rain clouds in the sky and saw that they were getting smaller and smaller. I started pulling Fatty back up the mountainside as those people continued standing there motionless in the rain.


    After a while, the rain stopped and the thunder gradually faded away. Fatty and I were frozen, so I drank several mouthfuls of ginger ginseng wine to try and warm up while praying in my heart that I wouldnt catch a cold. When I swallowed the wine, I took some anti-inmmatory medicine as well. If I caught a cold now with my body like this, I would probably end up in the intensive care unit.


    The group of people slowly started to move and began talking andughing with each other. It almost seemed like they didn''t care about the state they were in just now. Some people even took out notes and wrote some things down. I could vaguely hear them asking each other how they were doing before they started walking back.


    Fatty and I shrank back and watched them climb up the mountainside in the distance. The man who had seemed to be possessed by the leather figurine womans soul suddenly looked in our direction.


    I shrank back in time and then followed them all the way back to the tulou. I immediately went back to my room and took a bath while pondering over everything. This group of people definitely wasnt working for Xiao Hua, so my theory about the fourth and fifth floors was incorrect. But where did theye from? These people acted strangely around thunder and seemed to have a deep connection to listening to it.


    Fatty was holding a cup of ginger tea as he stood in his underwear with the rest of his clothes slung over his shoulder. He wrote on the wall: reverse inference.


    "Come on,e on,e on. Let this Fat Master teach you idiots some logical thinking skills. First of all, we have to make sure that everything is normal and we havent been deceived by Big Hua. So, the reality right now is that Big Huas team on the fifth floor hasnt left their rooms and theres another team on the fourth floor with unknown origins. But, were acquainted with many of those people, all of whom are big hands in this business. This mysterious team is also looking for a calling spring, or at least looking for clues rted to a calling spring. Some of them can even listen to thunder."


    He annotated the photos on the wall.


    "At present, we know that the people on the fourth floor are very strong and lively, while the fifth floor is silent. But no one on the fourth floor interferes with the fifth floor, so this means several possibilities. Fatty started writing on the wall.


    1. The fourth and fifth floors were surreptitiously working against each other. But we didnt know whether there had been a conflict between the two sides. Was the current bnce between the fourth and fifth floors because Xiao Hua''s defense was so sharp? Did the fourth floor group try to enter the fifth floor several times, but got pushed back and eventually reached this bnced state? But the people on the fourth floor didnt act like it. In fact, their attention wasnt on the fifth floor at all.


    2. Or, the fifth floor was empty and the people on the fourth floor knew that. If Xiao Hua was no longer on the fifth floor, then that meant he and his team had found the calling spring and had entered the rescue stage of their operation. But if everyone on the fifth floor had left by the time the people on the fourth floor arrived, then all of the ck cloths on the fifth floor windows wouldve been taken down. Xiao Hua was a very careful person who wouldnt leave traces of his movements. So, that meant that the people on the fifth floor should still be there.


    3. Or, the people on the fourth floor knew who was on the fifth floor and dared not invade rashly. This seemed like the most likely possibility, which raised a new question: Why did Xiao Hua leave the people on the fourth floor alone?


    In the past, I would have definitely removed those people from the fourth floor. Leaving such a group of sketchy people downstairs made me feel very ufortable.


    Xiao Hua''s decisions were usually very simr to mine, so he certainly wouldve had the same idea as me. Fatty looked at me, "Mr. Nave, what do you think? See if your intelligence has recovered."


    I took a sip of hot tea, "There must be some people on the fourth floor who made Xiao Hua feel leery, so the two sides mustve reached a temporary agreement. Moreover, Xiao Hua mustve felt that those on the fourth floor would never be able to find the entrance to the calling spring. I put down the tea, opened my bag, and pulled out a makeup bag. I began applying the makeup until my skin was a different color, and then roughened my skin a bit.


    I then put on contact lenses and braces so that my face lookedpletely different. "I have to go and see for myself, I said to the Xiang Dun. It''s almost dinner, so you and I will go to the restaurant. Help cover for me."

 Book 1: Chapter 138

    Book 1: Chapter 138


    Xiang Dun and I went to the dining room, which was a chic, canteen-like restaurant located in the middle of the tulou. If you didnt order room service for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then this was the only ce to get food. Xiang Dun handed me a cigarette, which I took out of reflex. The waiter standing off to the side immediately came up and told us that this was a protected building and smoking wasnt allowed. I raised my hand to apologize, threw the cigarette into the trash can, and then looked around the tulou from my position on the patio.


    It really was big. I could only look around secretly before, since I didn''t dare make it obvious what I was doing. But now that I could get a full view of it, it was beyond my imagination.


    The huge circr sky was like an eye, so when you looked up, it almost felt as if you were being stared it. It was a little dizzying.


    At this time, I saw the young man who looked like A Ning leaning against the railing on the east side of the fourth floor, smoking.


    When I looked at him, he also looked down at me expressionlessly. I silently lowered my head and asked the waiter, "Howe the people above get to smoke?"


    "I can''t afford to provoke those people. Theyre on a different level." The waiter obviously wasnt a local and was probably a poor traveler who had stayed behind to work. I noticed that he had a Qinhuangdao ent. When I looked at the menu, I found that they were all familiar dishes, but there were also some northern dishes for tourists. I ordered a pot of daffodil tea and jiumentou (1). The waiter ced the order and then told me to find a seat. I asked him if the front desk could send express delivery.


    He nodded, so I told Xiang Dun to sit down while I wandered over to the front desk and asked them for four express envelopes. Then, I stuffed a piece of cotton soaked in red syrup up my nose and squeezed it hard until it looked like I had a nose bleed. I sighed as the front desk attendant immediately panicked and took a step back.


    "Tissue, give me some tissues." I put too much syrup in it, so now it looked like I was bleeding all over the ce when I squeezed it. As the young woman frantically went into the small preparation room behind the front desk, I instantly took out my phone and turned on the video app. I ced it on top of the big decorative cab behind the front desk with the camera exposed.


    Almost a secondter, the young woman came out and gave me a tissue. I took it and went to the bathroom, winking at Xiang Dun as I passed by.


    Xiang Dun immediately stood up. I went to the toilet and cleaned myself up, knowing that Xiang Dun was asking the woman to check Uncle Two''s name in their system. They must have also stayed here, so if we could find their names, we would also know which rooms they had stayed in. There was a chance they had left some clues behind.


    These kinds of ces had confidentiality uses, so the attendant wouldnt be able to tell us anything. But she would still check the name, so any information that popped up would be captured on my phone camera.


    I headed back out and saw that Xiang Dun had already sat back down. As I passed by him again, he made a subtle done gesture.


    I took the courier envelopes back to the front desk and thanked the young woman. When I asked her for some more tissues, she smiled at me. I figured my disguise must be much uglier than before since her smile was so fake. I thought about it and realized that my face may have helped me a lot in the past, but I just hadnt paid much attention to it before.


    I grabbed my cell phone the moment she went in to get the tissues. She came out and gave me a whole pack of them. I didnt know why, but I felt as if she looked a bit disgusted.


    I stuffed the tissues into the express envelope and then turned on my phone. I erged the video and immediately saw that Uncle Two had been in Room 219 on the third floor, which was empty now. I quickly wrote the tulous address and this room number down on the express envelope and then went back to my seat. I asked Xiang Dun for his phone, checked to see that it still had eighty percent battery power left, and then put it into the envelope. I stated on the express delivery slip that it had to be signed for by hand and then sent it directly to the front desk.


    Xiang Dun copsed back into his chair, "Big brother, I have a lot of selfies on that."


    "It doesn''t matter, it doesn''t matter. Its not like you rely on this to make money anyways." I lowered my head and started eating while giving him a pat, "I''ll buy you an iPhone X if you lose it."


    "What are you doing?" He didnt understand.


    "Just wait until tomorrow," I said.


    At that moment, four or five people came in and sat down beside us. They were all from the fourth floor and gave us curious looks. I immediately recognized one of them as Hong Ding Shuixian.


    He was squinting at me, so I spoke to Xiang Dun in the Longyan dialect. It wasnt standard, but outsiders really couldn''t understand it. At the same time, I noticed that a person behind Hong Ding Shuixian was also looking at me. It was a woman with short hair and a contemptuous look on her face.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a Fujian dish thats basically meat from 9 parts of a cow. I found some info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 139

    Book 1: Chapter 139


    At first nce, I thought that the woman was A Ning. I was so shocked that I felt as if my scalp had gone numb.


    For too many years, my memory was still stuck at the moment right before her death. Even though it had been more than ten years now, it felt as if my body had been run over by a high-speed train as soon as I thought I had recognized her.


    But I immediately found that I was wrong. Although this woman looked very simr, there was still a difference between her forehead and lips.


    As I breathed a sigh of relief, I found that my palms were sweaty and my heart was beating so fast that it sounded like thunder in my ears. Hong Ding Shuixian stood up and sat next to Xiang Dun, who was sitting across from me.


    "This is my friend. It''s a chance encounter." He said to the people at his previous table. He then looked at me and I quickly lowered my head to eat. I watched as he hooked his arm around Xiang Dun. "Boy, why are you here? Didn''t you have some good business a while ago?"


    Xiang Duns face turned red as he looked at me and pushed Hong Ding Shuixians arm off, "My bossboss is heredont talk about personal matters."


    Hong Ding Shuixian looked at me and called out a greeting, "Hes my colleague from another line of business. Chance encounter, chance encounter. I just want to chat with him a bit."


    With that said, he pulled Xiang Dun to his feet. Xiang Dun gave me an ambiguous look, his full face of embarrassment. I merely shrugged. I could guess why he took so many selfies on his cell phone. I sighed in my heart and thought, <em>God is fair</em>. I listened in as Hong Ding Shuixian asked him, "Didnt that sister want you? Did you two not mesh well?"


    "That woman doesn''t recognize anyone once she puts her pants on." Xiang Duns voice faded as he moved further away. I looked at the A Ning look-alike again. She didnt shy away, but looked me straight in the eye. My eyes involuntarily dropped and I turned my head, feeling like a wretched middle-aged man. <em>If this woman is sitting with Hong Ding Shuixian, is she a customer?</em>


    I didnt understand it at all.


    After taking a few more bites of my food, I decided not to wait for Xiang Dun. When I passed by him, I took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in my own pocket before leaving the dining room. The waiter who had stopped me from smoking before came back to take out the garbage. I took the cigarette out of my pocket and made sure he was looking at me before I hooked my arm around his shoulder and pointed to the door with my chin.


    When the two of us went out, I gave him the cigarette but didn''t smoke it myself. Instead, I just sniffed the smoke and started chatting with him.


    He was a chemical engineering student in a university in Cangzhou. He broke up with his girlfriend and ran here to find sce in the southernnds. He spent all of his money, so he came to work here. I could tell he didn''t find sce in the southernnds, only poverty. Moreover, I could tell that he was a person who didnt like working in hotels. People in the service industry needed patience after all. He had already spoken ill of the people on the fourth floor in front of me, which was a huge mistake because he didn''t even know which floor I was on. This clearly showed that he didnt care much about this job.


    Dissatisfied people often had big weaknesses, and the fact that he had easily noticed someone about to smoke meant that he was also in the habit of smoking.


    After chatting with him for a while, I told him that I came here to find a girl. I had been looking for her for several years and paid special attention to any news about her. She had stayed in this hotel before, so I wanted to stay in the room she had stayed in. She used to live on the fourth floor.


    He patted me, "Brother, emotionally speaking, there are only two kinds of people: those who are used to saying goodbye and those who arent. People who arent used to it will have more and more things weighing them down. Theyll just keep getting slower and slower."


    I snorted. "You didn''te up with that yourself, did you?"


    He shook his head. "A previous guest said it. He said that the road is very long and it takes a lot of knowledge to choose what you bring forward with you."


    I could probably guess who said it. <em>Youre almost blind, yet youre still sharing chicken soup for the soul </em>(1)<em>with others. Youre still so idle.</em>


    The waiter told me that two-thirds of the fourth floor was filled with members of that team. They were particrly strong and umunicative, but this hotel wouldnt offend them since there was such arge upancy rate and they were willing to pay such a high price for their rooms. Those people came from all over the country, so the hotels kitchen had been very busy recently. They even had to re-make several dishes for the fourth floor.


    The waiter took a hard drag of his cigarette and said, "Let me tell you, all those people on the fourth floor youre seeing are small fry. The big bosses on the fourth floor are in three rooms in the northeast corner. Those doors are never open and I havent seen those people since they came here. I only met them once when they checked in. I dont know what theyre here looking for. He looked at the mountains outside where the fog was starting to descend.


    It suddenly urred to me that when ck sses trained me, he had a unique way of conveying words that fit his style.


    "I am your father," I said to the waiter.


    He looked at me and I took out a thousand yuan. He was stunned for a moment and then took it. "Do you know him?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chicken soup for the soul is feel-good motivational stories (often used disparagingly because the stories don''t really effect change in people''s lives)

 Book 1: Chapter 140

    Book 1: Chapter 140


    "I am your father," I repeated.


    "You are, you are." The waiter nced at the money and then looked around, "Are you with Master ck?"


    I felt my heart thump. <em>ck sses, you really are the type of person to leave intelligence everywhere you go.</em>


    "Is there any news?" I asked the waiter softly.


    He took another drag of his cigarette and said in my ear, "Master ck asked me to tell you: Live well."


    Then he stepped back and made a gesture of cheering me on. I stared at him nkly for a few seconds and then grabbed his cor, "Just that one sentence?"


    The waiter nodded, "Just that one sentence. It seems that you love that woman very much. What happened to you? Although we men might find it emotionally unbearable, you dont have to kill yourself. Look at you. Youre a nice, mature man. Just start over again. I also n to go back to Cangzhou and live a good life."


    I thought about it for a moment and then hooked my arm around his shoulders, "It can''t just be that one sentence. You didnt do anything when you received the money, did you?"


    He shook his head and became angry. "Your business is none of my business! Why should I hide it from you?" As he spoke, he took out the money. "If you dont believe me, just take the money back."


    I looked into his eyes and knew that he wasnt lying to me. Unless they were an expert liar, ordinary people usually gave away their lies with their eyes. I bit my lower lip and pushed the money back towards him. "I believe you, but can you tell me why he asked you to pass on those words? It has nothing to do with my feelings. Im just worried about my friend. If hes sending me this kind of message, doesnt it seem like he has a problem?"


    The waiter paused, thought about it for a moment, and then took a deep breath, "Now that you mention it, I really think that guy was in a bad state when he said this. He was with a group of people. When they came back here, he said those words to me."


    "And then?"


    "They disappeared after that. The room rate was deducted from the deposit, so I guess they left without notice," the waiter said.


    I looked at him and suddenly felt a jolt go through my heart. Left without notice


    Why would they leave without notice?


    Before, I had countless uneasy thoughts and numerous theories that didnt pan out. But now I turned around, looked at the distant mountains, and quietly asked, "Do you know which direction they came back from?"


    "There." The waiter pointed to a hill in the distance.


    I stood up and ran more than a dozen steps before I had to stop and take a breather. I continued running and stopping to gasp for breath until I finally reached the top of the hill and looked back at the tulou.


    My heart was racing, I was sweating all over, and my lungs were spasming as I looked at the tulou from that hillside.


    The whole tulou looked exactly the same as that upside-down bell I saw in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb.


    This tulou was a giant sound-collecting device.


    I shouted and smacked my head, feeling that I was really stupid for wasting so much time in the tulou. I should have noticed this when I first saw it from the road.


    They didn''t check out, but still left without notice. But instead of leaving the tulou, they had actually entered its depths. The entrance to the calling spring was inside the tulou. That was why ck sses left that kind of message for me before returning to his room.


    So, Xiao Hua and the others really had stayed behind closed doors on the fifth floor with all the windows covered. I had made so many stupid predictions and thought I was so clever, but it was all wrong.


    The entrance of the calling spring was in the tulou. Xiao Hua and the others didnt have to go out at all! And he didnt need to be in any kind of conflict with the fourth floor because those people would never guess the truth.


    After such a big ident, Uncle Two and the others were injured and must have secretly withdrawn from the tulou. As a result, none of them settled the bill. If they had gotten into trouble in the forest, then they would''ve checked out of their rooms and left the tulou without leaving any messages.


    I stood there stunned as I looked at the shape of the tulou. If this was a huge sound-collecting device, then what was under the tulou?

 Book 1: Chapter 141

    Book 1: Chapter 141


    Back in the room, I sat at the window and looked at the mountains outside as the fog in my heart started to fade. The fog outside still lingered on the mountains, but I felt as if I could see every tree out there. A long-lost headache,bined with the unpredictable future that followed me like a shadow in those days, seemed to descend upon me again like falling dominoes.


    At that time, I was a person who could see the end at a nce. Despite the severe headaches, everything was like a myriad of countless possibilities that I could analyze at the same time. But the pressure of determining all of these possibilities at once was exhausting. After arriving in Rain Vige, the future I saw was singr and fixed. I thought it was because I had finally reduced my life to a simple and easy straight line, but at that moment, I realized that I had just lost the ability. The future was still infinitelyplex and irregr, but I couldnt see it anymore.


    Most people didnt need to see so many possibilities and would probably be happier if they didnt. But when you could see how the future branched out, you often saw all possibilities, which made it difficult to decide what you did and didnt want to see.


    Why did ck sses leave me that sentence? Those words were full of despair, which meant that whatever they discovered prompted ck sses to say goodbye.


    It almost sounded like they could achieve their goal, but they couldnte back.


    They werent afraid of death. In fact, I was almost positive that they would seek it to a certain extent. People who were ill or had lived a long life always tended to gravitate towards danger. As I recalled Uncle Two''s attitude, the pain in my heart made me feel as if I had been cut with a knife. Did Uncle Two sacrifice them to save me?


    If ck sses knew that there was a high chance of noting back, then Uncle Two must have known about it. And he had known for a long time. If their sacrifice was useless, then Uncle Two wouldnt have agreed to it. So, Uncle Two must have been certain that his goal would be achieved if he sacrificed them. He was trying to save me.


    Between the three of themno, it would be four if I included Uncle Threedid they reach some kind of cruel, tacit understanding while deciding to exclude me?


    What was so important about me? I was just one of the many people in Poker-Faces life who would say goodbye one day. I was a man who dyed Fatty''s wealth and marriage. I made Xiao Hua lose everything, alienated Xiuxiu from her family, and made my parents live in fear that I would follow Uncle Threes path. I wasnt worthy of the name my grandfather had given me. But in the first half of my confused life, I had seen countless wonders in the world. I had the most amazing and prolific partners in the world. We sang on cliffs, chanted on snow-capped mountains, drank wine in the desert, and watched the moon on the sea.


    I had experienced enough in my life.


    <em>I worked so hard in the hopes that you all would live well. Why dont you understand?</em>


    Fatty leaned over and looked at me. When I nced at him, he said, "Mr. Nave, why are you crying?"


    I looked at Fatty. In the first half of my life, everyone had lied to me for my own good. I couldnt believe that in the second half of my life, I still couldnt trust my close rtives and friends.


    I hugged Fatty and started bawling my eyes out, crying for my naivety. I knew that after crying, I could only believe in myself. I would be a calm, machine-like person once again.


    Life was really hard.


    <em>How strong do I have to be before God will let me go?</em>


    Fatty waspletely baffled, but my tears couldnt be controlled. I decided to give myself five minutes and looked at my watch. Four minutes and fifty-nine seconds, four minutes and fifty-eight seconds, four minutes and fifty-seven secondsthree minutesone minutezero.


    Restart.


    I stood up and patted my face with a towel. Bai Haotian waspletely shocked and didn''t know what to do, so I touched her head and then said to everyone, "Ill announce the next phase of the n. Ill only say it once, so dont miss a word."


    ****


    <strong><em>I don''t know about you guys, but I''m not ok after that lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 142

    Book 1: Chapter 142


    My n was very clear and simple. The entrance to the calling spring was inside the tulou, so based onmon sense, it should be under the tulou. People came and went in the lobby on the first floor, so I had never thought of the possibility before. As a result, I didn''t try and look for any special entrances or strange ces on the first floor.


    The most important person tonight was Jia Kezi. There were too many noises during the day, but Jia Kezi should be able to hear any underground noises in the dead of night.


    But the tulou covered arger area than I could have imagined. Unlike hearing ves (1), it was impossible for Jia Kezis hearing to pick up everything that was going on underground in one location. So, we had to divide the first floor up and have him listen in those different areas. Once he collected information from those ces, we could infer what the basic situation was underground.


    I divided the first floor of the tulou into twelve areas. The first floor mainly consisted of the warehouse, kitchen, and staffs dormitory. These areas were usually locked and inessible to guests, which was very troublesome. I needed a reason for Jia Kezi to enter every single area tonight, and I already had one in mind. I needed a power outage. The other floors couldnt be alerted and the power outage in each of the first-floor rooms needed to be controble.


    At this time, I wasnt afraid of being recognized since I knew that the information on the fourth floor wouldnt be transmitted to the fifth floor. And even if the people on the fifth floor knew that I wasing, Xiao Hua was so confident that he would just ignore me.


    Fatty and I went down to the first floor and started messing with all of the wires. As we were arranging them, Fatty said to me, "If there are so many people involved in this rescue effort, dont you think the people on the first floor would have noticed that much activity since this is such a public area? There are at least a hundred people on the fifth floor and we didnt see anyrge-scale activities when we were monitoring the whole building at night."


    Fatty''s statement was somewhat exaggerated, but I thought it was reasonable. However, the entrance definitely had to lead underground and I needed to know what the situation was down there before we could infer anything.


    To make a long story short, we used Xiang Duns tools to cut the wires on the first floor that night and Jia Kezis feedback proved my theory. There were a lot of spaces under the tulou. It was difficult to determine the rtionship between these spaces, but we could confirm that about three of them could amodate more than ten people. The most valuable thing Jia Kezi found was that there was a hidden staircase in the tulou.


    This staircase led to the fifth floor and Jia Kezi heard the clear sounds of people moving about. Moreover, someone went directly underground from the fifth floor.


    I sighed. Xiao Hua didnt have to go downstairs at all since they had a hidden staircase that could take them directly underground.


    The staircase didnt go straight up and down, but wound around the tulou like a snake. It probably wasnt a real staircase, but a secret passage made while the tulou was being built. When Jia Kezi listened in to those areas, the sounds of people walking were very strange. It wasnt the sound of someone walking on stairs, but the sound of someone stepping on nails in the wall.


    I couldnt go up to the fifth floor and use Xiao Huas entrance, but our room was too far away from the passage on our floor.


    The most bizarre thing was that this passage was on the first, second, and third floors. The sounds were very faint, so we couldnt determine where the passage was on the these three floors, but Jia Kezi was able to clearly locate it on the fourth floor.


    We stayed up until dawn to confirm which room on the fourth floor was nearest to the passage. I went back to my room and took a fifteen minute nap. After I got up, I moved right on to the next step. I had to go to the fourth floor, enter that room, enter the passage without anyone noticing, and then enter the calling spring.


    I asked Bai Haotian to go directly to the fourth floor and see who was staying in that room. After she came back, she pointed to the picture of the young man with the copper coin ne that I had stuck the wall. "It''s him."


    I looked at my watch. "We have to kidnap him."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) These are a reference to the hearing servants from the Mystic Nine drama. But the character the author used is , which means ve (not servant) so thats why I kept it as ve.

 Book 1: Chapter 143

    Book 1: Chapter 143


    I moved everything from the table onto the bed and then shoved the table aside, exposing the floor. I used ying cards to represent all the rooms on the fourth floor and ced them in a circle on the floor. After that, I pointed to three of the rooms and drew three wolves on the ying cards.


    "These three rooms arent simple. One of them must be the boss''s room. Hes unlikely to be staying with other people, but he probably has a bodyguard with him. He should be in the middle room. I wrote the word "king" next to the wolf on the ying card that represented that room. "Well call this middle room the Wolf King''s Den. With regards to the two rooms next to it, no one hase out since checking in. There must be experts staying inside. Each room can amodate three people, so well call these two rooms wolf dens and assume that there are three wolves in each one. No matter what we do, we must never disturb the people in these three rooms."


    Everyone nodded, but it was obvious that they didnt fully understand. I told Fatty about how Xiao Hua didn''t drive the fourth floor people away. Even if they were all rabble, they still needed to be cleared out, but Xiao Hua didn''t do it. This clearly showed that the people in these three rooms were very dangerous. We didnt have any weapons orbat effectiveness now, so we could only rely on our brains.


    Once Fatty agreed, I continued arranging the rooms. There were three or four rooms on the other side of these three rooms that Ibeled with the word shuixian (1). Shuixian are those people who are good at swimming and have special abilities. These people are very important since theyre needed for many critical operations. As a result, theyll also need protection and will be ced near the wolf dens. But there are three or four rooms between them and the wolf dens. The people staying in them are definitely more important than the shuixian, but not as important as the boss. The person we''re about to kidnap is staying in one of them, so well have to think hard to figure out what they do."


    "Are they family members?" Bai Haotian asked.


    I shook my head. <em>Who would bring their family to do such a thing?</em>


    "No, theyre consultants. This boss definitely isnt an insider, so hell need grave robbers familiar with the system to manage so many ouws. These people are officially called consultants. At least, thats what A Ning used to call them. These people help the boss manage the people below, so they have a certain degree of prestige. Thats why theyre staying in these three or four rooms. The grave robbers who got hired must be in the area where the shuixian are staying."


    I write the word fox on the ying cards representing these rooms. There were now three or four fox dens on both sides of the wolf dens.


    The shuixian area was crowded with people and there were at least a dozen rooms separating the stairs from the door to the head grave robbers room. The doors and windows to these rooms were usually left wide open and some people simply got drunk in the corridor at night. Some people gambled at night, while others simply slept during the day instead of sleeping at night. I wasnt sure that I could walk through this corridor without being discovered. Not to mention tying people up, our only possibility was to wait for the young man to leave his room and go outside.


    But I had never seen him stray too far from his room, so I had to draw him out first.


    This person had a very cautious nature and didnt like to leave his domain. The way he eyed people and his keen awareness of others eyes in the crowd all proved that he definitely wasnt an ordinary person.


    Theoretically, I had a hundred feasible ways to get him out of the room, but the only thing that would actually work was to get him to follow his own desires and think that he had the upper hand.


    I had to get him to notice me, realize who I was, and then let him think I knew where the calling spring was. If I did that, he would end up following me.


    At this time, Xiang Dun had juste back, so I said to him, "Help me make an appointment with your friend, Hong Ding Shuixian." Xiang Dun was dumbfounded, but I kept talking, "Well make him pick up male clients even if he doesnt want to."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) If you dont remember, the characters for shuixian () can mean daffodil orlegendary water immortal. Based on the context here, I decided to just go with the pinyin.

 Book 1: Chapter 144

    Book 1: Chapter 144


    The structure of all the rooms was basically the same. I looked at the nails in the room and then went to the hardware store in town to buy some materials. I got a nail puller, bought some nails that were the same size, and then ckened them with fire. Meanwhile, Bai Haotian and Xiang Dun made an appointment with Hong Ding Shuixian. They used the method I had taught them to reveal that they had some clues about the calling spring.


    We didnt know who Hong Ding Shuixians boss was, but Bai Haotian asked Hong Ding Shuixian to help her make an appointment with that young man. She told him that in order to find the entrance to the calling spring, she needed that person to get involved. In this way, an appointment was made. After getting everything together, Hong Ding Shuixian, the young man, Bai Haotian, and Xiang Dun would ask the boss on the fourth floor for money.


    The fourth floor was actually quite rxed. The young man didnt want to leave the fourth floor to meet them, so they faced each other in the corridor next to the stairs.


    I took off all my disguises and chatted with Fatty in the courtyard below, pretending to have an argument. Fatty pointed at me, "Ive been working so hard to find out about that ce, so there will definitely be newster. Why dont you just wait and quit being so impatient?"


    I turned my back to them and said to Fatty, "I am your father." (1)


    Fatty was very angry, but he was afraid that those people could read lips, so he had to keep acting. After our little performance was over, we went back to the room and I asked the others how things were going. At this time, I quickly discovered that Bai Haotian hadnte back yet.


    Xiang Dun told me that Bai Haotian and the young man went back to his room, saying they had something to do. I paused, feeling a little worried in my heart. Bai Haotian was a little girl, so she shouldnt be going behind enemy lines so hastily. But Xiang Dun told me that everything was fine. The fourth floor was much more rxed than we had initially thought. Even if they had been discovered, based on the atmosphere of their chat just now, those people wouldnty hands on anyone.


    I thought about it for a moment and had to agree. This was a rescue operation, after all. It wasnt impossible to do things like murder or arson before you reached the deep mountains, but it was certainly unnecessary.


    Xiang Dun said that they didn''t talk much about any substantive issues, just about the possibility of cooperating with each other. As expected, the young man recognized me at a nce. When Bai Haotian and Xiang Dun told him that they wanted to betray me for money, the young man''s reaction was very strange. He said to them, "Impossible. That person controls everyone around him. Theylle to a tragic ending eventually."


    I took a deep breath. My defensive instincts prevented these words from piercing my heart, but suddenly saying something like that still made my heart tremble.


    Xiang Dun asked me what these words meant, but I couldn''t answer him.


    Everyone was the protagonist of their own life, while all the other people were just mere passers-by. In my own dramas, I always ced myself in a supporting role in the beginning so that I could look at all of the problems. The protagonists around me were tempered by fate, while I was just a wandering poet watching and recording all that I had seen and heard. There were difficulties, along with life and death, but my brushwork was always steady.


    I eventually realized that this was wrong. No one should ever think that they were a supporting role. Instead, they should be the protagonist of their own life, while also understanding that they were always the supporting role in other people''s lives. If they kept their imaginary life out of other people''s lives, then it would make things a little easier.


    Bai Haotian seemed a little dazed when she returned to the room. I noticed that her expression looked a little confused as she walked up to me and spread her hands out, "He gave it to me and told me to show it to you."


    I picked it up and looked at it. It was half a copper coin, which looked like the one A Ning liked. "He also said that you owe his sister an exnation, Bai Haotian continued. He didn''te here for the calling spring. He came here for you."


    Fatty was puzzled, "Mr. Nave, what did you do to him?" As soon as he spoke, he also recognized the copper coin, Oh.


    My scheme had obviously been seen through, but it wasn''t my fault. Even if it was A Ning''s brother, my n was still the same. The only difference now was that I would be the bait instead of the money.


    "He also said that none of the people who follow youe to a good end." Bai Haotian said as she bit her lower lip. "I pped him. Hes looking for someone to hate, but what does that have to do with you? When his sister entered the business, you werent even in the business at all."


    After listening to this conclusion, it was obvious that the two of them had a deep discussion. Bai Haotian stared at me with trembling lips, so I asked slowly, "Is he going to see me in person?"


    Bai Haotian nodded, "Don''t go. I think hes going to do something bad to you."


    I didn''t say anything else and just patted Fatty before going out. Bai Haotian looked at us, but didn''t follow.


    "Little Bai was a little off just now," Fatty said to me.


    I could also tell that her heart had changed, and it was the young man''s words that had brought the impact. I didnt know whether this change was towards me or that young man, but Bai Haotian was a good girl. I didnt want to think the worst of her.


    "What does that guy want to do?"


    I looked across the corridor. As expected, that guy was on the fourth floor opposite us, looking down at me. This was the first time he and I had looked at each other like this.


    I watched as the guy lit a cigarette and made a gesture like he was sniping at me.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ok, I apparently missed thisst time but its kind of a joke made in poor taste? Tiffany and I think it''s a mix of the whole Star Wars Luke, I am your father thing and respecting your elders. Like, Wu Xie would be arguing that hes the father so he cant be refuted. We''ll just say Wu Xie is bad at improvising lines while Fatty is great at it lol

 Book 1: Chapter 145

    Book 1: Chapter 145


    I walked along the third floor and then went up the stairs. He also came over and the two of us looked at each other calmly. Upon closer inspection, his face really did resemble A Nings. It was a face that made people alert and gave off a sense of danger, which made people unable to look away. He looked veryfortable in a gray sweater and a cigarette in his mouth. His bangs were covering his eyes.


    His overall appearance looked like that of a leisurely tourist. When I looked closer, I found that he was taller than me.


    <em>This height isnt suitable for this line of work</em>, I said to myself. He motioned to his cigarette, but I shook my head and leaned against the railing. He opened his mouth and said, "Youre living very well."


    It was useless to exin anything to him. A Ning had really disappeared from this world. I looked at the sky over the courtyard. If A Ning hadnt died, many things might have subtly changed. But the memory of that day was there and couldnt be changed. I didnt want to relive the past now.


    "I remember your sister mentioned you before," I whispered. "Are you doing this for her? Youre not suitable for it."


    "Is that so? I took this job to find you." He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. "You know what? My sister never wanted to trust others, but she believed in youter on. Thest few times I spoke to her, she was always talking about you. Later, she didn''te back and they said that she was dead. I just want to know what kind of person you are since she had mentioned you thest few times."


    I looked down at his hand. His fingers were tapping the railing and he looked very rxed. I sighed, "Your sister was a veryplicated person. I''m sorry about what happened to her, but based on what you do for a living, you shouldnt care about death as much as ordinary people. Why did you say such scary things to my child?"


    He stopped tapping his fingers on the railing and tilted his head. I saw his eyes flick to the side for a moment, and when I looked, the door to one of the wolf dens had opened in the distance. But no one came out.


    "There are monsters staying in those two rooms," he said to me. "Are they looking at us?"


    I didnt understand his intentions. When he continued speaking, he gestured in that direction and the door of the wolf den closed, "Im notpletely on the same level as others on this floor. The reason I came here to help Boss Jiao was just to find a chance to kill you."


    I looked at his expression, but couldn''t tell if he was joking. I smiled bitterly, "Its illegal to kill people."


    "Not in the woods. I won''t do it here. But this group of people has been unable to find the entrance for a while now. This can''t continue. Didnt you say have information on the entrance? What are you trying to do by finding someone to tell me? Dont trick me. Just tell me directly and Ill cooperate with you. When he finished his cigarette, he pulled a cigarette case from his pocket and took out another one. He used the butt of his old cigarette to light it and then continued smoking. He looked up at me and said, "My sister didnt like people. She was a cold and aloof woman, so I dont think she would like any men. They all looked particrly stupid in her eyes. You know, when a smart woman sees a man, most of the time she feels that theyre amusing. But she was a little interested in you, which I find odd. What are you? What makes you so different from the others?"


    "No, she thought I was amusing, too." Iughed, "I may be more amusing than most people."


    When I recalled A Ning today, I could think of many things that I couldn''t see back in those days. Now, for me, people''s hearts were measurable. It was just like how A Ning looked at me at that time, as if she were looking through a clear piece of ss. For those who had correctly read too many people, it was like seeing too many ghosts and gods. Everything looked like demons and monsters to them. As a result, they always tried to see things that were amusing.


    "But you left her in that jungle." A Ning''s brother''s face darkened. "And just look at you now. Youvepletely forgotten her. She thought that you really had a chance to save everyone, but you didn''t even save her. I dont find you amusing at all."


    I looked into the distance. The woman I met in the dining room who looked like A Ning came out of the Wolf King''s Den and looked at us. "You werent there, I said quietly. You dont know anything. You hate me so muchI turned to look at him but youre just nave. How do you n to kill me?"


    ****


    <strong><em>Got a good chuckle out of Wu Xie calling Bai Haotian his child.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 146

    Book 1: Chapter 146


    A Ning''s brotherughed and took a hard drag of his cigarette, "Everyone knows some things. If you can''t get through it, you can''t get through it. I cant fall asleep at night because I keep seeing you every time I close my eyes. Im tired of it. Its alright if you think Im nave. If everyone knew the truth of life after they read the Buddhist scriptures, do you think there will still be that many fools? He narrowed his eyes. "Well, Ive told you everything without holding back. You dont have to set me up. You asked your men to do so many things, so what exactly do you want me to do? Its better for us to cooperate now and enter the woods sooner so that I can get this over with quicker."


    As he was speaking, the woman who looked very simr to A Ning came over to us. She gave us both a questioning look and asked, "Sasha, who is this man?"


    "Informant," A Ning''s brother said while touching the woman''s hair. "Behave. Dont disturb my work."


    The woman gave me a meaningful nce, took the cigarette out of his hand, and started smoking it as she walked away. "Is your nickname Sasha?" I asked him.


    The woman had used a Russian pronunciation, so this guys name was actually C in Russian. I had always thought that A Ning was a bit like a foreigner, so did that mean their family was mixed? When my father was still working, he used to talk to the Soviets in Russian, so I knew a little. If that was the case, then A Nings name in Russian was  (Lena), which was short for  (Elena). It meant bright light.


    But maybe that wasnt the case and it was just their code name. A Ning was the leader, so maybe she was the light leading the team.


    "I''m only called Sasha here," he said. The woman turned around, nced at him, and then made a hurry up gesture. He stood up, "If you dont tell me, Ill leave. Anyway, you know how to find me. When you want to talk, just let me know."


    I sighed. <em>Sure enough, hes still young. The best way to meet an enemy isnt to show your calmness and strength, but to show your own shorings.</em>


    Disadvantages would attract others to attack and make their direction of movement obvious. Losing on the surface was never really a loss. Most people wanted to save face, so I learned how to take advantage of that a long time ago. I raised my hand and looked at my cell phone. I had recorded the whole conversation just now and sent several instructions to Fatty to make preparations.


    But this man''s eyes were very good and he saw most of the movements around him just now. That meant he was always on guard.


    He definitely mustve had a bad childhood.


    But now he must be intoxicated by the oppressive nature of his back view and feel that he scored some points in the conversation just now. As a result, he wasn''t as vignt as he should be.


    I stepped forward and gave his ass a vicious kick when he wasn''t looking.


    He reacted quickly, but I was noyman either. When he tried to dodge my kick, he ended up staggering and almost falling down. I took a few steps back as he stared at me in amazement. He was apparently surprised at myck of manners.


    "If you want to kill me,e at me." I spit on the ground, "Both brother and sister want to trouble others with their own private interests." As I spoke, I raised the copper coin ne I had pulled off in that split second I kicked him and then turned and ran.


    Sasha immediately became furious and chased after me like crazy. I ran all the way to the second floor and rushed into the room where Uncle Two and Poker-Face had stayed before.


    Fatty and Jia Kezi were waiting behind the door. Sasha chased me in, raised his hand, and said, "Give it back!"


    Jia Kezi immediately closed the door while Fatty stepped forward and swung a pan directly at the back of Sashas head. Unexpectedly, the kid didn''t even look at it, but immediately dodged to the side and grabbed Fatty''s hand from behind. He jumped up, stepped on the wall with both feet, and then twisted Fatty''s arm back. Jia Kezi pounced on him at almost the exact same time. Sasha twisted Fatty''s hand so hard that Fatty dropped the pan. Sasha smoothly caught it with his other hand and used it to knock Jia Kezi over.


    He started to sneer, but before the corners of his mouth raised up, Fatty pushed something directly into his crotch with his other hand. The both of them jolted like they had been electrocuted and then bounced off of each other. At that time, I noticed that Fatty was holding a wire in his hand.


    I quickly pulled the wires off, but the both of them had been stunned by the electric shock. I threw the copper coins in front of Sasha and thought to myself, <em>A Ning, your familys education is really bad</em>. I then picked up the pan, knocked Sasha out, and dragged him over to the chair, letting his head hang forward.


    I lifted Fatty up and saw that he had wet himself after being shocked. He cursed, "You''re so tall, so I didn''t think you''d be able to do a somersault. Ive ordered you two tea eggs." (1)


    I took some flour out of my bag, added a special powder to it, and then began mixing it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Fatty was saying he didnt expect Sasha to be able to do a somersault. Fatty gave him "two tea eggs" the moment he attacked his crotch with the wire since tea eggs are kinda brown. In merebear terms: Fatty fried Sasha''s junk lol.


    ****


    <strong><em>I don''t know about you guys, but today was mentally exhausting. Thank fucking god it''s Friday lol. Yvette has a new chapter for "A Thousand Faces", but I''m down for the count so I''ll do it in the morning. I''ve been skimping on putting the episodes down since they haven''t really been meshing well with the novel, but this is towards the end of Season 2 Episode 10. You all can figure out the times yourselves, I don''t have the patience today</em>.</strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 147

    Book 1: Chapter 147


    In many cases, making human skin masks was simr to making wonton wrappers. Good human skin masks were very particr about the materials used, but I had learned some temporary techniques from the girl Xiao Hua used. Since the materials were so precious, they used flour and a special herbal fiber to practice making masks of each other during their training.


    At first nce, a mask created with this kind of material made you look like a ghost, but with the help of makeup, a hairstyle change, and the cover of darkness, you could get away with it for a short time.


    I quickly used my materials to make a mask of Sashas face, put makeup on the mask, and then stuffed heightening pads into my shoes. I grabbed the nail puller and then used an app on my phone to cut out all the useful words in the recording just now in case I needed to use them as backup.


    Then, I left the room without hesitation, went up to the fourth floor, and passed through the corridor full of people. Whenever someone greeted me, I nodded. I went straight to Sasha''s room and opened the door with the key I had taken from him.


    I was relieved to find that there was no one else in his room. If someone had been in there, then all I could do was leave. I drew all the curtains, dimmed the lights, and locked the door as fast as I could before going into the room and starting to pry the nails up. After I got to the fourth board, I found that there was soundproof cotton behind the board. I tore it away and saw an even thicker quilt.


    I slowly tore the quilt open and finally saw the secret passage behind. I listened carefully, but there was no one in the passage at this time.


    I tore a big hole in the quilt and climbed through. I was standing on a very simple staircase made of wooden pegs. The whole passage was like a chimney. Some ces had turns and some were horizontal, but the ce where I had entered was upright.


    There were no lights in the passage. Even though there were quilts firmly ced everywhere, Xiao Hua mustve been afraid of light leaking into other people''s rooms. Since it was so dark, I relied on my hearing and found that no one was in the passage.


    I climbed all the way down to the bottom and came out of the passage. I found a cave, which I figured had to be located right beneath the tulou. There was a very faint light here, so I could see that the cave was circr. It was also full of rescue, diving, and rock climbing equipment, but no one was there.


    In the center of the cave, I saw a well surrounded by stones. When I walked over to it, I found that it was a hole just big enough for one person to fit through. This had to be the entrance to the calling spring. I listened carefully and could hear voices beneath the sounds of the spring. Someone appeared to be working below.


    This was the legendary calling spring that was so small and hidden.


    I looked around, feeling ecstatic. At this time, I didnt know why no one was in this area or why Xiao Hua had sealed the whole passage with quilts, but I ignored it and focused on sorting through all the equipment. I picked out a few hiding ces and then called Fatty on my phone. I muted his side, plugged the phone into a portable charger, and then hid it in a piece of equipment.


    After that, I climbed back out. At first, I forgot which room I came in from, but I finally found Sashas room after feeling around. I quickly put the board back to cover the hole.


    Everything went so smoothly that I gave myself a thumbs up, feeling that my intelligence had really recovered. I looked at my watch. I wanted everyone to get ready to go as soon as possible. We would wait in Sasha''s room until the people below changed shifts, and then sneak into the calling spring. When I went down, I would have master control.


    I unlocked the door without any hesitation, but before I could leave, the woman who looked like A Ning instantly appeared. Before I could react, she entered the door and locked it behind her. She wrapped around me like a snake, pressed me up against the wall, and tried to kiss me.


    I instinctively avoided it. I happened to be in the shadows, so she couldn''t see me clearly, but I definitely saw her. She became angry and asked, "Why didnt you open the door?" I was just about to speak, but I immediately held back. I wanted to get my phone, but she would definitely notice since we were so close to each other. She suddenly took off her shirt and said to me, "Old Jiao is taking a nap. We have two hours. Havent you been holding back a lot?"


    She suddenly leaned in again, but I grabbed her head and reflexively knocked it against the wall.


    I didn''t end up knocking her out. Maybe I held back because she was a woman. She touched her head and looked at me in horror, "What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!"


    I pulled Sasha''s cigarettes out and put one in my mouth before saying, "Get lost, I''m sick of you." With the cigarette in my mouth, my voice sounded muffled.


    She looked at me and took two steps forward. I shrank back and she suddenly sneered, "Youve got guts. Just wait."


    I made a screw you gesture and she stormed out. I counted to three and then immediately left and rushed back to my room on the third floor. When I rushed into the room, I saw that everyone was ready. Fatty raised a washbasin in his hand, which was full of smoking objects.


    I was ready to wreak some havoc.

 Book 1: Chapter 148

    Book 1: Chapter 148


    As a huge cloud of smoke rose up from the basin, the fire rms started going off everywhere. The smoke from the third floor rose up to the fourth floor and our group rushed back to Sasha''s room in the chaos. We all had wet towels covering our mouths for fear of choking on the smoke. Except for Bai Haotian, who was guarding Sasha, everyone else was dispatched. Fatty''s cell phone was still connected to my phone, so he listened for any sounds. There was movement in the underground area and someone was talking. They appeared to being out of the calling spring.


    If we went directly into the passage at this time, we might collide with Xiao Hua''s people. We had no chance of winning if a fight broke out.


    We removed the panel and Fatty gestured at me. It was very dark inside, so we could ambush those people when they came up, but I shook my head. If those people were some of Xiao Huas more capable men, they might hit hard when they couldnt see who was attacking them and end up seriously injuring us. I had only ced my phone down there to ensure that the area below was empty.


    We heard someone climb up, and then the phone went silent again. Our group entered the passage and walked to the bottom. I grabbed my phone while Fatty went to the entrance of the calling spring and listened.


    There were still people in the spring below. Fatty made a gesture that seemed to say: You idiot, this n won''t work. Based on the sounds, there were quite a few people below.


    I didnt dare rashly attack the people down there. If they were carrying out rescue efforts, then this was a critical moment. If I went down to cause trouble, something would definitely happen. There wasnt any lighting from the entrance to the spring, which indicated that the path below had twists and turns, and the people were still far away from this hole.


    There werent any guards here, so the real outpost must be below. They probably had arge group of people, so we couldnt just rush in. Moreover, based on the diameter of the entrance, this was a one-way passage. People could only go in one at a time, so your direction was set from the start. If anyone else wanted toe in from the opposite direction, they would have to wait for you to pass through. Although the edges and sides of the hole had been rounded by water, they were still highly rugged and wouldnt be so easy to pass.


    In other words, if I went down and someone tried toe out, we would be blocked.


    I thought for a while and then pointed to some hiding ces I had made in advance when I arranged the equipment pile earlier. They would hide there while Xiang Dun went into the hole. I pulled out a sticky note that said Wu Xie wanted me to deliver a message and then stuck it on his forehead while saying to him, "This note can save your life. If someone wants to kill you, just say youre my man. Take this shlight and point it at this piece of paper on your forehead. If someone catches you after you go down, take them to our room. If you arent caught, then look at the situation and light a smoke cake (1). But only do it if it wont affect their rescue effort. I gave him half of the bag of smoke cakes.


    "Boss, youre sacrificing me," Xiang Dun said. "Where''s my cell phone? You havent given it back to me yet."


    I patted him, "If you get caught, you dont have to risk your life. Youll still get the full amount. Go, Pikachu, go!" (2)


    Xiang Dun thought about it and shook his head. "I wont do it. You say a notes going to save me, but I dont believe it."


    I looked at him, and he looked at me before slowly saying, "Worsees to worst, I''ll leave and go back to my old job."


    Jia Kezi suddenly spoke up from the side, "Go away. I''ll do it."


    He took the smoke cakes from my hand, stuck the note on his forehead, and crawled into the entrance. As we waited silently outside, we started to feel a little uneasy. I knew Xiao Hua was a sensible man, but there were definitely ouws under him. Would that note really be effective? I was so hot-headed just now that I didn''t see any problems with it. But after thinking about it, I wasnt as sharp as I had been back in the day. Would the note be useless?


    Before long, I was relieved to see smoke rising up from the hole. Jia Kezi hadnt been discovered. I immediately led all the others to the entrance. The smoke in the passage was very thick, so I crawled forward frantically. Once I was out of the passage, I found that I had arrived in a space that was full of smoke.


    There was a damp old well below the calling spring. The bricks were old and had been eroded to such an extent that there werent any edges or corners. The space was about ten square meters, and there was a gap in the well wall that went deep into the mountain rock. This was the real entrance to the calling spring. Now it was full of smoke, and there were people coughing and shouting inside. I crawled to a corner under the cover of smoke and hid, but was startled to see a man beside me.


    When I moved back, I saw that it wasn''t a man, but Jia Kezi''s head. I didnt know when it had been cut off. There was blood all over the ground and the note was still stuck to his forehead.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its basically a smoke bomb that looks like a Quaker rice cake. Some pics here.


    (2) Its the phrase Ash uses every time he calls out Pikachu. In the US, I think I remember them tranting it as Pikachu, I choose you! but it doesnt flow here so I went with the direct trantion. If you missed out on Pokmon growing up, I feel sorry for your childhood lol.


    ****


    <strong><em>I legit gasped. Poor Jia Kezi. I thought he would at least survive in the novel</em></strong> (-_-)

 Book 1: Chapter 149

    Book 1: Chapter 149


    I was stunned for a few seconds and then the overwhelming smell of blood instantly made my blood pressure soar to the highest point. My instincts that had been honed after countless dangerous situations were immediately turned on and the chaotic environment in front of me quieted down.


    I immediately discovered that those people werent panicking because of the smoke. Instead, they had gathered together to form a defensive circle. As the figures of these people moved in the smoke, I could see that they had long weapons.


    They were all experts who had attacked by default. In this situation, they wouldnt hesitate to kill people.


    My hands were shaking as I realized that my people were blindly walking in the smoke and could get close to this circle at any time. I knew how people with long weapons tended to fight. If they started something here, at the very least my people would be disabled. Moreover, people who had a lot of experience fighting could see others without even looking. They could follow up on their attacks as long as there was airflow.


    I didn''t expect Xiao Hua to use such a team. The rescue team didn''t need to fight, so how could they kill people so casually? And why were they using long weapons when they were trying to save people? Either the situation here waspletely different from what Uncle Two had said, or these people werent working for Xiao Hua.


    But there was no time to think right now, so I shouted, "Blow them up!" I rushed into the smoke, grabbed a man, and pushed him into the calling spring. It was Xiang Dun. He didn''t know what had happened to Jia Kezi or why I suddenly wanted to blow things up. After pushing him, I rushed in, grabbed You Erque (1), and also pushed him into the entrance of the calling spring. Then, the opponents knife arrived.


    At this time, an entrenching tool (2) stretched out from the smoke on the other side and blocked the knife that was going for the back of my neck. Fatty rushed out of the smoke and shouted, "Well all die if we set off explosives now!"


    As soon as he said that, two more knives came out of the smoke. Fatty pped one away while I dodged the other one and pulled a machete from Fatty''s bag. The two of us had a tacit understanding and went directly to the calling spring. I pulled out Fatty''s explosives, cut off two thirds with my knife, and lit them.


    As soon as the sparks appeared, everyone in the smoke retreated wildly. I threw out the explosives. At the exact moment they went off, the two of us retreated into the calling springs entrance.


    Since the hole waspletely irregr and there were broken stones everywhere, we could only squat. Wires had been strung up along the hole, with small lights ced at certain intervals. It turned out to be a mountain passage. After entering, I found that the ground under my feet felt wrong. I kept walking until I got to a ce where there wasn''t any smoke and looked down. I saw the pale face of a dead man.


    There were dead bodies spread out all along this rocky mountain passage. I instantly recognized several familiar faces, all of whom were Xiao Hua''s people. Their throats had been slit. I looked ahead and found that the whole passage was full of dead people. They had been neatly stacked in the gaps of this passage to create a smooth path.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat and my hands and feet started trembling.


    This was Xiao Hua''s rescue team. They were all dead.


    Hundreds of people were dead.


    Almost every single one of them had been killed by a single knife blow. Their eyes were murky, the blood had long dried, and many of the corpses were starting to rot.


    Fatty kept crawling forward and started to curse. My eyes became blurred as I also continued crawling forward.


    What was going on with the fifth floor?


    We crawled along until we finally saw Xiang Dun and You Erque, who had both copsed. I stopped and looked behind me. Someone was chasing us.


    The passage was very narrow, so we couldnt change positions. Fatty looked at me as I took the explosives off his waist. Both of our bodies were already covered in blood. "Keep moving forward."


    "What the fuck are you trying to do?" Fatty asked me. "Half of the best experts in Beijing have died here!"


    I have to see who they are, I said. Xiao Hua''s people are all dead. If we didn''te here, no one would ever know what happened to them. Dont worry, I won''t die with them. Ill blow up the tunnel and buy us some time. Theres no time to hesitate."


    Fatty cursed, pped Xiang Dun and You Erque back to their senses, and then the three of them continued crawling forward. I put the explosives in a nearby gap, flicked my lighter on, and looked at the person who was chasing us.


    This person was dressed in ck and had very long fingers. After so many years, I knew his identity as soon as I looked into his eyes and saw his clothes.


    This was a member of the Wang family.


    When he saw me, he froze for a moment, "Sasha?"


    I only now remembered that I still had a mask on my face.


    If he knew Sasha I broke out in a cold sweat as I realized that this man was from the fourth floor!


    I may have judged all the circumstances correctly, but I misjudged the timing. The people on the fourth floor had already discovered the calling spring and were using the fifth floor as a cover. By the time I had arrived, so many people had already died here!


    Sasha definitely wasnt the nave boy I thought he was. Bai Haotian was in danger!


    My makeshift mask was airtight, so the sweat began to gather at the edges. There was a war between man and nature going on in my mind, but I was very calm on the outside. This person was still a long way from me. If I set off the explosives, Fatty and I would be safe for the time being, but Bai Haotian would almost certainly die. There was no way she could cope with the next situation.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The raw said long chopsticks which didnt make sense to me so I think he means You Erque (the one who sells fried dough sticks and is like never mentioned). If thats wrong, Ill definitely fix it.


    (2) Also called a military engineer shovel. Its a small, foldable shovel that can be used for digging, shoveling, and chopping. More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 150

    Book 1: Chapter 150


    My thoughts had originally been so whimsical because I had never thought that things would be so tragic. There were so many people in this business who were lost and corrupt, and many of them did inhumane things. But even demons would be moved if they saw such a sight. The death of so many people was a manifestation of the objectification of people.


    These people treated human life like it was some kind of object.


    If I had known this was the case, I wouldn''t have led such a team to their deaths. Bai Haotian was still a little girl. Even if there were so many old enemies in my story, I shouldn''t have brought trouble to her.


    At that moment, countless possibilities shed through my mind. <em>What should I do?</em> My face was covered in blood and shouldnt be visible for the time being. The person chasing after us was obviously surprised that I was here. I instinctively muffled my voice and said, "What are you doing? I chased them all the way here and now you showed up? They got away. As soon as I finished speaking, I started coughing violently. I had been inhaling the smoke for too long and now my lungs were finally starting to hurt.


    The person pulled his knife out and pointed the long de at me. I knew this maneuver. I would have to go up and step on the knife to deal with him, but there were more peopleing from behind. Even if I stepped on the knife, there was no way I could deal with those people. But even if the other person didnt have a knife, it was impossible for me to win with my current physical condition.


    He looked at me. "It was too smoky just now. I thought you were one of those who broke in."


    I felt my heart move. He didn''t doubt it one bit. It seemed that my craftsmanship had really improved. He looked behind me and asked, "Where are they?"


    "They ran in," I said, pointing to the explosives in the gap in the stone. "They wanted to blow this passage up. I chased them away before they could ignite it."


    The man in ck looked at the explosives. "I just saw you insert it yourself and you have a lighter in your hand. It seems that youre the one who wants to blow this passage up."


    I looked at the lighter in my hand and blew out the me. "I didn''t know it was you. I thought you were all killed. I thought it was theirradesing in, so I was prepared to scare them."


    He seemed a little suspicious and looked behind me. "Maybe theylly some mines down further inside," I said.


    "Don''t worry about them. They can''t make it more than five hundred meters." The man in ck put his knife away. "Did you see who it was?" He kept his hand on the knife.


    "It''s Wu Xie," I said with a hoarse voice. The man in ck frowned and motioned for me to follow him out. When he turned around, I grabbed the two explosives and stuffed them into my underwear. I felt uneasy as I crawled after him. <em>Fuck, he cant even tell that Im wearing a human skin mask. Is it because its too dark here? If I go to a ce with more light, will I be killed right away?</em>


    My mask was already full of sweat, so would it start to expand since it was made of flour?


    I thought of the ground covered in blood and rubbed some of it onto me. A lot of the blood had dried and the rotting corpses were starting to stink, but I couldn''t worry about it now. I crawled out of the calling spring and saw several men in ck outside. I looked around and saw that there were five of them. The smoke outside was still heavy and I kept coughing. The man from just now said to me, "What the hell is going on? If Wu Xie appeared here, you have to exin it to Boss Jiao."


    I prayed in my heart that Fatty had heard those sentences: Don''t worry about them. They can''t make it more than five hundred meters.


    There had to be an unknown danger in the calling spring. They were fine letting people go in, which indicated that this danger was very hidden. But I had to focus on getting Bai Haotian out first.


    The man in ck who talked to me asked the others to stay and keep watch while he took me up. As I followed him all the way back to my room, I noticed that his hand remained glued to his knife. I was covered in a cold sweat. He didn''t think that I was an imposter, but he obviously thought that something was wrong with me and wanted to keep an eye on me.


    Once we were back in the room, the man in ck stood there and looked at me. I knew what he wanted to ask, so I immediately exined to him, "They broke in here and entered the secret passage. When I came back, I found that the wall had been pried open, so I followed after them."


    "Why didnt you give us a warning?" The man in ck looked at me, but before he could finish speaking, we heard someone kick the door outside. He went and opened it, only to be confronted by the woman who looked like A Ning and a group of people. She said to a slender middle-aged man behind her, "Master Jiao, this bastard lied to me to get me to sleep with him. Help me castrate him."


    Someone instantly came up, grabbed me, and lowered my pants. The thin middle-aged man pped the woman in the face, "Youre not without fault either." Then he looked at me and said, "You think you can sleep with my woman? Do it."


    My heart froze as another person approached me with a knife. <em>Its over</em>, I thought to myself.


    ****


    <strong><em>Chapter-wise, we''re 2/3 of the way through Part 1 (so about 230 pages to go). We''re getting there peeps!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 151

    Book 1: Chapter 151


    At this time, I had no other choice but to resist. I moved my shoulder like I had been trained so many times before. There was no way for anyone to hold me down like this, so I was able to break free as soon as he lost his grip on me. I headbutted the personing at me with a knife and he fell to the ground. My other arm was still being restrained, so I ripped my sleeve off, lifted my pants, and took out the two explosives.


    As the Wang guy drew his knife and bent down to attack me, I used all my strength to throw Boss Jiao down. As I hid directly behind him, I stretched out my hand and flicked my lighter on.


    The Wang guys knife almost shed my neck, but I managed to dodge and pull Boss Jiao against the wall. The Wang guy adjusted his grip on the knife and I immediately hid my head behind Boss Jiao. I knew that this was how long knife attacks were carried outby exerting all of your bodily strength from your feet, you could put all of your power into the knife blow. If you were trained well, the knife would be moving so fast that it would be invisible to the naked eye within half a meter. If this guy stabbed me in the forehead, I wouldnt have time to light the explosives at all.


    Experience yed a huge role at this time, so I hid directly behind Boss Jiao''s head.


    His hair had a strong perfume smell, which almost made me cough. I took the chance to light one of the explosives and tucked it into his cor.


    Boss Jiao screamed when the sparks burned his skin and tore his shirt off directly. As the explosives fell to the ground, I headbutted Sanye (1) and made a dash for the door.


    There were a bunch of people crowded around the door watching the show, so I shouted, "It''s going to explode!" Everyone immediately scattered. I had just taken a step forward when I saw someone ready to jump out of the window. I was ready to use all my strength to hit him and shove him directly back into the room.


    While Boss Jiao rushed out of the door, I lit the second explosive, grabbed his belt, and stuffed it into his pants.


    The lead time on Fatty''s explosives was always extremely fast, but this group of people had killed so many people that an evil thought sprang into my head and I shortened the lead time even more. Without giving any of them a second nce, I turned around and jumped over the railing.


    The first explosive went off, the shockwave forcing the air down from above. The explosives werent that strong, but it was enough to blow the furniture and floor up. The loud sound was apanied by countless pieces of wood thrown out in all directions. I grabbed the third-floor railing with one hand and looked up at the fourth floor. All the people and things up there had fallen down a level when the floor copsed. I immediately let go and fell to the second floor, grabbing the railing once again.


    I looked up and saw that many people had already gotten up and were shouting. The man in ck looked at me. I immediately dropped from the second floor to the first floor and found that all of the waiters hade out to see what themotion was. I shouted, "Theres a second one!" I had no sooner said the words than the third floor exploded. I covered my head and climbed the stairs back to my room as tiles and wood chips rained down everywhere.


    When I rushed in, my mind froze for a second. Bai Haotian wasnt there. Neither was A Ning''s brother, Sasha. There was only the rope we had used to tie him up lying on the ground. The room was aplete mess, which made me think that something had happened.


    My ears were filled with the sound of people running on the wooden floors, so I opened the rear window, climbed out directly, and jumped from the third floor. I pushed off from the second-floor window sill, rolled to the ground, and then ran into the mountains.


    I didnt know if the second explosion had killed the man in ck or Boss Jiao, but we had all obviously underestimated Boss Jiao''s power. Even though the Wang family had dispersed, Boss Jiao was still able to hire them. These people were determined to win and had deep reserves. A Ning''s younger brother must have run away. If he was working with such people, then he was probably treating Bai Haotian like a child. The only good news was that he couldnt return to Boss Jiao''s camp now.


    I had to focus on surviving right now. I ran wildly, following my memory all the way to the valley where I had heard the thunder before. Luckily, I was still familiar with the terrain.


    After running for a kilometer or two, my lungs went on strike and I rolled to the ground, panting like an exhaust fan. I looked back, but didnt see anyone chasing me. It was too difficult to chase people in the woods, even for those in the Wang and Zhang families.


    I touched my body to see what I had on me. I was probably going to have to survive in the wilderness for a bit. After feeling around, I pulled a piece of paper from my pants pocket. I took a look at it and found that it had strange lines drawn on it. The paper hadnt been in my pocket originally. I thought for a moment and suddenly realized that it might have been put there by the guy who was restraining me before.


    No wonder I had felt that the man was so weak. But why would he do this? Did he secretly want to cut me some ck? What did this note mean?


    As I was thinking over everything and looking at the surrounding mountains, I suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Sanye is the A Ning look-alike. Her name basically means "Three Leaves" in Chinese.

 Book 1: Chapter 152

    Book 1: Chapter 152


    I wiped the blood from my mouth and looked behind me. No one had followed me. I continued walking in the woods and looked at the note in my hand. After walking for more than ten minutes, I sat down and told myself to calm down first. This note was clearly very important, so I picked it up and began looking it over carefully.


    For the first few seconds, I was so confused that I couldn''t see anything clearly. I shook my head hard, took a deep breath, and looked at it again. At this time, I also saw the mountains in the distance. The lines on this paper appeared to be the outline of the mountains.


    But more specifically, the lines were the mountains on my left. I started running in that direction.


    There still werent any signs of pursuit. Maybe the two explosions had hurt the key figures of that group and I had run much faster than I thought. I ran in the dark and finally arrived at the foot of the mountain.


    I had to take several breaks along the way, during which time I couldnt help but wonder who the man was. But his actions seemed to indicate that he was going to let me go from the start.


    When I made it to the foot of the mountain, I found a rock and sat down. I coughed again, looked up at the mountain, and then looked back at the note in my hand. I was still feeling doubtful when countless figures suddenly appeared in the grass and woods around me.


    I turned around three times and saw several peopleing out of the woods. When I looked closer, I found that it was Kan Jian and Liu Sang. I raised my hand and called out to them, "Liu Sang."


    They were all armed and looking at me warily. I suddenly remembered that there was still a mask on my face, so I tore it off and looked at them as I gasped for breath.


    As we continued looking at each other, my vision suddenly went dark and I passed out.


    I didnt know how long it took, but when I woke up again, I started to vomit. Someone handed me some water. After taking a few sips, I saw Kan Jian sitting nearby. We were in a small mountain cave and Liu Sang was cutting bamboo sticks with a machete.


    "What are you doing here?" I asked Kan Jian.


    "Someone set us up." Liu Sang said.


    "What''s going on?" I sat up and turned my head, only to see more than a dozen people sitting in the cave behind me. "Fuck, are you shooting the Terminator or something? Why are you hiding in here?"


    As soon as I spoke, everyone looked up and got to their feet. "Little Master Three," everyone called.


    "That Boss Jiao is a monster," Kan Jian said to me. "He knows everything. Master Hua was defeated."


    "Wheres Xiao Hua?"


    "Master Hua mixed himself in with that group inside." Kan Jian took out the note. "Boss Jiao''s people are guarding the building now, so Master Hua snuck into their group to save people. He was afraid someone woulde into the building looking for us and get killed. Too many people have died already."


    "Why is he a monster?" I asked softly.


    "Boss Jiao is a monster," Kan Jian said in a trembling voice. "He can see everything. As long as it thunders, he knows everything."


    ****


    <strong><em>Sweet precious Kan Jian, oh how I''ve missed you. And Liu Sang''s surly self is back too! Yay!</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 153

    Book 1: Chapter 153


    The struggle between Xiao Hua and Boss Jiao in the tulou was just like a big drama. Xiao Hua''s arrangement went from being a habit of defense in the beginning to a final confrontation between the fourth and fifth floors. It would have made for a wonderfully written movie. During that time, there were arge number of skilled yers on both sides who swapped camps to found out more about each other. Xiao Hua negotiated with Boss Jiao at least four times, but there was a huge reversal every time because of the thunder that appeared near the tulou. No matter how Xiao Hua took the lead, it would be overturned that very same day.


    People on both sides kept dying until finally, Boss Jiaos people suddenly broke into the calling spring. There was a thunderstorm that night, and it almost seemed as if everyone had gone crazy.


    Liu Sang had brought this team out before then to look for the second entrance. After Xiao Hua and the others had explored the calling spring, Xiao Hua determined that there had to be a second entrance. As a result, Liu Sangs team had been looking for the second entrance in the mountains while Boss Jiao''s team entered the mountains to look for them. Based on this situation, the best course of action would be to call the police. But both sides had obviouslymitted serious crimes, so this matter could only be solved through practical methods.


    Xiao Hua was able to sneak into their group, but Kan Jian didn''t know the specifics. He only knew that someone suddenly sent them a message one day. There were two more people from Xiao Huas team mixed into Boss Jiaos team. With the exception of Xiao Hua himself, no one knew who the other two were.


    I asked them what the rescue situation was like. It was unclear whether Little Brother and ck sses were alive or dead, but the good news was that Liu Sang said he was seventy percent sure that there was a cavity they had made it to. Although I didnt discount the fact that he might not be facing reality, it finally gave me a little confidence.


    When I told them that Fatty and the others had entered the calling spring, Kan Jian and Liu Sang remained silent. The calling spring was veryplicated and they had set up a lot of mechanisms when they evacuated. Fatty would be fine as long as he remained alert, but if he was even a little careless, then the inside of the calling spring would be very dangerous. Moreover, the local people had a legend that there was a Yang Gong (flood dragon) in the calling spring (1). Many strange things happened to them when they were exploring, and when they were digging, everyone suddenly started shouting like they had been possessed.


    But I believed in Fatty. He was a well-traveled person who should be able to deal with this properly.


    Bai Haotian had to be in Sashas hands right now. Liu Sang said that he knew him. This man was actually called Jiang Zi Suan. He did things in a strange way, but he wasnt crazy. If he wanted to kill Bai Haotian, then he would have left her body behind. The fact that he had taken her away meant that he wanted me to save her. Maybe he thought she was a good bargaining chip to lure me out.


    Now that the various forces were intertwined, they just didnt know what to do. But now that I was here, Kan Jian asked me what my n was.


    Xiao Hua didnt disclose everything to the people below him. I looked at the people in this team and realized that they were all good grave robbers. They werent good at fighting, but it was still clear to see that Xiao Hua attached great importance to this second entrance. It was probably more important than exploring the calling spring. That, coupled with the rescue difficulties Uncle Two had mentioned, made me think that the calling spring was a dead end and Xiao Hua couldn''t find a way.


    Since we didnt have any cards in our hands, our options right now were very limited. If Poker-Face and ck sses were here, I would definitely storm in. It didnt matter if it was the Wang or Zhang family, they would all be dead to me. But now we were mere rabble, so we would definitely have an ident when we met those four Wang family members I saw before.


    We needed to get some cards in our hands now. These cards could be people, time, or even familiarity with the terrain. "We have to find the second entrance, I said to them. Just think, Master Hua left the big troops in the calling spring and sent the elites out. He must have set it up this way so that once the second entrance was found, it would be possible to drain the water earlier. Once the water was down, it would be more convenient for the big troops to go in and continue the rescue efforts through the calling springs opening. Once we find the second entrance and withdraw the water, arge number of Boss Jiao''s team would enter the calling spring. At this time, the rest of us would take the tulou back, seal the entrance, and force them into our trap."


    Everyone listened to me intently, but it didn''t seem like theypletely understood what I had said. Kan Jian said to them, "Ok! Lets follow Little Master Three!"


    Liu Sang suddenly spoke up, "The big troops didn''t stay there because of Master Huas n. They died there. It just so happened to be our teams turn to find the second entrance. If it hadnt been our turn, wed be dead now. Master Hua isnt even sure of his own theory, so dont order us around so blindly. My n is to catch the king first. He looked at me, "I want to hand you over to them and then I''m going to find a chance to catch Boss Jiao."


    "Why are you so sure?" I asked.


    Liu Sang tilted his head as if he were listening to something outside, "It''s going to thunderstorm soon. When this group of people listens to thunder, they all be like blocks of wood. I can''t predict the future, but I can take action when it starts to thunder."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A flood dragon is also called a jiao or Jiaolong. Its a legendary dragon with the ability to control rain and floods. More info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 154

    Book 1: Chapter 154


    Liu Sang sat down next to me, pulled Kan Jian aside, and then said to me, "Based on my experience, the next thunderstorm should be two days from now. Were ready for it. Before it thunders, Ill pretend to surrender and hand you over to Boss Jiao. Itll start to thunder right as I cause trouble." Liu Sang pointed to his head. "You guys dont understand. Boss Jiao''s people have drilled holes into their skulls. Its a way for man to interact with the heavens. When theres thunder, theyll experience a nightmare. This is an ancient method. My master also made several holes in his skull to listen to things. Since the location of the holes is different, the things heard are also different."


    "So, the head became something like a musical instrument?" Kan Jian asked faintly.


    "I get what youre saying, but not everyone will be stunned when it starts to thunder, I said to Liu Sang. Those Wang family members definitely wont. I also think there are still many others who wont. Our odds of winning arent good."


    Having said that, I suddenly remembered that when I followed those people before, there was a man who acted like that leather figurine woman as he listened to the thunder. I suddenly got excited: was this one of Xiao Hua''s people? Or maybe it was Xiao Hua himself and he acted like that to let me know it was him.


    At that time, everyone was experiencing a thunder nightmare and he was the only one who moved like that. But why didn''t he talk to me directly? Why warn me by acting like the leather figurine woman?


    "You dont understand, Liu Sang said to me. Boss Jiao is the one paying them. As long as Boss Jiao dies, they wont have a boss or anyone to pay them and their team will naturally break up." Liu Sang looked at me coldly, "It''s time to resort to killing. Theyve already killed so many of us, after all. This man deserves to die and Little Brother doesn''t have much time left. We dont have time to hesitate."


    Liu Sang''s method was undeniably feasible, but it was a method that left no room for escape. My sess had always been based on precise calctions and the courage to execute them to the end. But this method was based on the fact that Liu Sang''s ears could hear a lot of information that we couldnt. It was just like seeing things. We couldnt get this information at the same time as him, so the sess he was imagining was almost impossible.


    The only advantage I could use now was that Boss Jiao listened to thunder. If he could really get information from listening to thunder and fight back against Xiao Hua, then he had to be very confident about the information he heard.


    But Boss Jiao didn''t know that Xiao Hua was mixed in among them, so that left two possibilities:


    1. It was only when a crisis reached a certain level that Boss Jiao would get the key information when listening to the thunder;


    2. Xiao Hua and the other twos existence might be exposed with the next thunderstorm.


    But one thing was for certain: the thunder didn''t tell Boss Jiao about this hiding ce, so it was still a secret.


    The key was what Boss Jiao could hear in the thunder. "Since theres really no time, Ill agree to your approach if my n doesnt work, I said to Liu Sang. But before I do, can you tell me what happened every time there was a reversal between Master Hua and Boss Jiao?"


    Liu Sang frowned, "These things have already happened. What''s the point in exining them to you?"


    I looked at Kan Jian, but felt that he wouldnt be able to exin it clearly, so I said to Liu Sang, "The person you admire so much trusts me a lot. Havent you wondered why that is? If Im as useless as you said, could I have lived this long?"


    Liu Sang looked at me with raised brows. "Are you trying to say that you want us to unite? Trust each other? Havent you seen what happens to people who trust you? If not for you, would they have even needed to do this?"


    I stared into Liu Sang''s eyes. "Thats my business with them. It has nothing to do with you. I see you dont want to answer any of my questions. Have you ever thought that I might find a way with what youve said? It''s not like it''s going to take that long for you to tell me about it. Do you want to save people, or do you just want to prove that it wasnt your fault and Im the one to me?"

 Book 1: Chapter 155

    Book 1: Chapter 155


    I used a lot of logic to put pressure on Liu Sang, but I didn''t say it very seriously. He remained silent for a while until reason finally overcame emotion. He started talking about some of the things that had happened after they took over here.


    Liu Sang had stayed in the tulou the whole time, so after Uncle Two left and Xiao Hua''s rescue team took over, he was in charge of the handover process. When the ident happened, Uncle Two''s team had been divided into two groups. One stayed positive and thought that Poker-Face and ck sses had a good chance of survival, but rescuing them would be very difficult. The other group thought that there was only a small probability that the two of them would survive the resurgence. At that time, Liu Sang was in the positive group. He had heard countless echoes in the underground river cavity, which indicated that there were countless air pockets inside. If these pockets could be fully utilized, their chances of survival were very high.


    Iter learned that Liu Sang heard a very specific number of cavities at that time, which totaled a hundred and seventy-five. He had even calcted how long the air in each cavity couldst. When he added all of the cavities up, he found that the air could sustain them for more than a month. His emotions were running high and he was getting desperate right now because that deadline was quickly approaching. But there was nothing he could do.


    Based on Liu Sang''s assessment, if ck sses and Poker-Face were still alive, then they mustve been moving from one cavity to another as soon as the oxygen ran out.


    Xiao Hua''s whole rescue n was made in ordance with Liu Sang''s theory. There were also some cavities at the top, so they used physics to pump a lot of air into the underground river''s backflow hole. They hoped that the air would refill those cavities and help extend the possible time for those two to survive.


    When Boss Jiao and his team suddenly appeared, Xiao Hua''s first theory was that theirrge-scale rescue operation made some people think that there was a big tomb herethis theory was correct no matter what the circumstances wereso they had formed a group to go rob it. These people said that they came to help save people, but they really just wanted to find the tomb.


    Xiao Hua was very frank and told them about the ident. First, the ce where the ident urred was far from the location of the tomb, so Boss Jiaos team could go to the mountains to look for it themselves. Second, they were urgently trying to save people, so they couldnt be disturbed. Otherwise, Xiao Hua''s team would have to kill them.


    But Boss Jiao and his team didn''t believe it. As expected, Xiao Hua used the ck cloth to hide all the information from those outside and formed a confrontational rtionship with Boss Jiao and his team. After three days, Xiao Hua decided to state his position and sent his own experts to catch Boss Jiao directly. But their three bodies were sent back up to the fifth floor the very next day.


    Xiao Hua realized at this time that Boss Jiao''s team was full of very capable people. They definitely werent random grave robbers and their purpose definitely wasnt as simple as robbing a tomb. They had to be after something more desirable.


    Xiao Hua decided on a n very quickly. At this time, Boss Jiao had already started buying some of the people on the fifth floor with a lot of money, and the situation behind the ck cloth was gradually revealed. Xiao Hua only told a few people about his n. He used those who had been bought on the fifth floor to spread a false clue to the fourth floor that the entrance to the calling spring was in the mountains.


    The people on the fourth floor had really been deceived since Xiao Hua had found a very well-hidden cave in the mountains. They explored the cave at that time and even brought some of those people who had been bought by the fourth floor. Xiao Hua then changed his appearance and went back to Boss Jiao to ry the information. After that, Boss Jiao led his team out secretively. I didnt know if Xiao Hua had also set off with the team, but he came to the conclusion that Boss Jiao had been fooled. As a result, he was going to seal the cave after Boss Jiao went in and try to negotiate again.


    At that time, however, there was thunder in the sky and Boss Jiao didn''t enter the cave. When he returned, he brought more than a dozen corpses back with him. They were all people Xiao Hua had tasked with sealing the cave.


    There was a very borate scheme, which I only learned aboutter. All the team members who were supposed to seal the cave were actually people from the fourth floor who had been bought. Xiao Hua''s n was very clever, since it showed off his muscles and intelligence to the fourth floor. From the beginning, he thought that the n to seal the cave wasnt foolproof, but he didnt expect that the fourth floor would kill his spies. This made him wary of the fourth floors perception, and he felt that there was something wrong with Boss Jiao and his teams behavior. He couldnt use ordinary logic tomunicate andpete with those people.


    Because of the previous strategy, Xiao Huas next move was very powerful. He took his whole team and snuck into the fake entrance, which emptied out the fifth floor. This made Boss Jiao skeptical: was this entrance the real entrance and Xiao Hua deliberately made him think that it was fake?

 Book 1: Chapter 156

    Book 1: Chapter 156


    Xiao Hua''s all-in-all-out style of y was easy to see through for those who were familiar with it. He often used such tactics whenever we yed mahjong, but we were usually ying for one or two hundred yuan (of course, were goodw-abiding citizens who only y for one or two yuan now) (1). If it was really a fight for survival, then even the smallest tactics would interfere with the enemy''s ns. Based on my understanding, Xiao Hua''s first tactic was to muddy the waters. In other words, everything was a false move.


    When Xiao Hua implemented these two tactics, he was already prepared tounch a full attack. He was just using strategy as a cover. It looked like he was signaling to everyone that he wanted to outwit the opponent this time, but in fact, he was only covering up his true intentions.


    Xiao Hua was used to doing things in a big way, unlike me, who preferred causing a fuss in a low-key manner. Of course, there was no real right or wrong way when it came to our two methods.


    So, when everyone in Xiao Huas team entered the fake entrance, Xiao Hua''s core team didnt need to lie in ambush in the cave. After this move was made, Xiao Hua''s core team in the building should have taken advantage of Boss Jiaos momentary hesitation and directly attacked.


    From what I knew of him, I could guess who the attackers were. I watched Liu Sang quietly, wanting to know how the all-out attack had been defeated this time.


    I had participated in Xiao Hua''s all-out attack on the Wang family, and even several of their family members couldnt resist his tactics. Anyone who has ever been in a fight knows that you can gain an absolute advantage by covering the opponents eyes before you start. The blind zone formed by this half-second advantage was the exact trick Xiao Hua had used before.


    Liu Sang and the others fell silent. It took him a long time to tell me Xiao Hua''s real n, which was exactly what I had expected. Then, Liu Sang made a conclusion that surprised me.


    There werent many people in their main force, but all of them were good yers. While theyunched an all-out assault on the fourth floor, Boss Jiao alsounched an attack.


    The two groups shed. Boss Jiao hadnt been confused by any of Xiao Huas tactics, which made Liu Sang suspect that they had nned it for a long time. They had probably even nned it at the same time Xiao Hua was making his own ns.


    Xiao Hua also had a very clear backup n whenever he went all out. If the general attack failed, he would sneak into Boss Jiao''s team in the chaos while the others immediately retreated into the calling springs entrance. Boss Jiao''s n decided Xiao Huas defeat this time, because Xiao Hua didn''t know a key piece of information.


    Xiao Hua immediately carried out the backup n after Boss Jiao''s attack and most of his people retreated to the calling spring to hide. But at this time, the calling spring erupted.


    It wasnt water that came spraying out of the calling spring, but poisonous gas.


    When I heard this, I thought of the quilts on both sides of the secret passage and felt my heart stir.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fun fact from Tiffany: Wu Xie had to mention this because it was illegal if they yed for one or two hundred yuan. It would be considered private gambling, which isnt allowed in China. (Not like they''re grave robbers or anything lol)

 Book 1: Chapter 157

    Book 1: Chapter 157


    My first thought was that it was dangerous. I didnt really care what the calling spring tended to spray out since it wasnt something I could handle anyways. But ording to Liu Sang, the poisonous gas came out of the calling spring a few days after it thundered. If Boss Jiao didnt learn about it by listening to the thunder and just knew that it would happen a few days after it thundered, then Xiao Hua and his men entering the calling springwhether the entrance was real or fakewould still be a great victory to him. As a result, Boss Jiao''s tactics were very clear.


    It had just thundered a few days ago, so Fatty and the others were in a very dangerous situation right now.


    My second thought was: What happened to Poker-Face and ck sses? Did Uncle Two and Xiao Hua know anything about the calling spring spraying out poisonous gas? My hands were shaking a little. Uncle Two always had a very clear attitude and was very pessimistic, so I didnt think he needed to lie to me about such a major event. But after carefully thinking about it, I realized that he really would have a reason to lie to me if he was sure that those two couldnt survive.


    And he would do it so that I could gradually ept the reality of the situation.


    In other words, his statement that the water wouldnt recede was false. The truth was that the calling spring probably contained extremely poisonous gas and the two of them would die.


    But the premise and implications revolving around this theory were terrible.


    Uncle Two knew that those two people were dead. Not only did he not tell me, but he also didn''t tell Xiao Hua, the one staging the rescue operation. He shouldve at least told Xiao Hua about the poisonous gas since Xiao Hua would bring a lot of people and resources with him.


    If Uncle Two didn''t say it then he either didn''t know about it or he wanted to kill Xiao Hua.


    My hands were shaking very badly now. I was certain that Uncle Two didnt know about the poisonous gas, but for some reason, I felt a trace of uneasiness in my heart.


    Something was wrong. The way Uncle Two and Xiao Hua had been acting during this whole thing gave rise to a vague feeling that made me very ufortable. I just couldnt seem to put my finger on it.


    Liu Sang continued talking, but I motioned for him to stop for a second so that I could calm down. Although my mind seemed to balk at it, I still wanted to push in that terrifying direction. If there was even a one in ten thousand chance that Uncle Two wanted to kill Xiao Hua, then what was the motive?


    But I only thought as far as one step in that direction before I suddenly remembered a previous question I had: Why would experts like ck sses and Poker-Face have an ident?


    I stood up and began recalling the source of the whole thing: a text message that pointed to Uncle Three.


    After that, my prestige was gone, I became useless, Wushanju was taken away, and Poker-Face and ck sses were said to be dead. Xiao Hua almost died, half of the best people in Beijing had died underground, and now Fatty was in the calling spring. If I didnt tell him about the poisonous gas, he''d fucking die.


    Who took my prestige and Wushanju? Who made me useless? Who told me about what happened to Poker-Face and ck sses? And who concealed the information about the poisonous gas?


    I suddenly understood what that wrong feeling was.


    The driving force behind all of these events was Uncle Two. He was the only information outlet at all key information points.


    I looked at Kan Jian and asked him softly, "Were you there when Little Brother and ck sses had their ident?"


    Kan Jian nodded. "Think about it carefully," I said. "Im asking if you saw them get trapped with your own eyes."


    Liu Sang spoke up from the side, "Impossible. The ce where they had their ident was far away from us. Er Jing was the only one who was closest to them. But they didnte out, so we went in to save them. Unfortunately, the whole ce was already flooded."


    I touched my chin and took a deep breath as a string of fucks began appearing in my mind one by one.


    Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!


    This was the big picture.


    When did it start? Was it oneyer of logic or twoyers?


    Did Uncle Two want to destroy all the people around me, or was he protecting them?


    I took a deep breath and arranged all of the details in my mind until they were separated into two stories.


    The first story:


    Uncle Twos motive was unknown, but he took advantage of Uncle Three''s information, my personality, and my friends'' trust in me to convince them to listen to thunder and help me investigate. Then, he took advantage of my friends'' concern for me and pulled me out of this incident bit by bit. After that, he killed Poker-Face and ck sses and was now ready to kill Xiao Hua. But Xiao Hua was regarded as the Xie familys number one genius, so Uncle Two didnt fully seed.


    From beginning to end, this whole thing was a lie.


    The second story:


    You could really get information by listening to thunder. Uncle Three was investigating the secret to listening to thunder, but was facing a huge threat. This threat was so huge that Uncle Two couldnt confront him head-on and had to hide Poker-Face and ck sses first. He then spread the news of their fake deaths and used the rescue efforts as a way to block the entrance to Thunder City. Xiao Hua was just a piece on the game board, while ck sses and Poker-Face may have already entered Thunder City.


    Uncle Two gave me a chance to participate in the whole n, but I didn''t seize the opportunity. I was only paying attention to the firstyer of information during the whole process and didn''t see the secondyer behind it. As a result, I was out.


    Whatever the reason, I was more inclined to believe thetter possibility. This was because I started to recall a lot of incredible detailsall of which were hints Uncle Two had given meand realized that he had been waiting for me to understand.


    My expression must have been very ugly, because Kan Jian gave me a look.


    My eyes kept twitching and my mind couldnt stop at all as several faces began to appear in my mind. There had to be some problems somewhere among them:


    Hong Ding Shuixian.


    That message ck sses gave to the tulou waiter.


    There was also that time when I bought the sea porcin. They had said that the sunken ship off the coast waspletely salvaged overnight.


    Uncle Two was the only one who could do it on the ind.


    Moreover, the Bai family who worked in Warehouse Eleven were all excellent swimmers.


    The South Sea Kings tomb, the underground water system stretching all across China, the legendary Falling Cloud Country, listening to thunder, the offshore shipwreck, and the Bai family of Warehouse Eleven.


    It was all part of a huge game, and I had been left far behind on the periphery.

 Book 1: Chapter 158

    Book 1: Chapter 158


    I became even more convinced when I went back to the beginning. But my ability to reason was interfering again and all the possibilities were getting jumbled up. But my instincts kept pointing towards the second story.


    I also had to admit that I was deceiving myself into thinking that Poker-Face and ck sses were just hidden by Uncle Two. At the very least, it was just a theory. But it also gave me a little hope even though it wouldnt change anything.


    At least the difort in my lungs was definitely real. This difort had me suspecting that all of my thoughts were just conspiracy theories.


    The biggest possibility right now was that Uncle Two didnt know that the calling spring would emit poisonous gas and this was the worst-case scenario.


    I needed to do two things. First, I wanted to make sure that Uncle Two had been acting in good faith. I whole-heartedly believed that Uncle Two would make an extremelyplicated decision for Uncle Three. The Wu family was in a tough spot after all, and Uncle Three and I were the ones responsible for most of these ups and downs. I figured it was also the reason why Uncle Two didnt put me in the game.


    But there was still another possibility: this was all part of Uncle Twos n. I never really understood Uncle Two, but even if he did these things with malicious intent, it was obvious that he was acting on the spur of the moment. The n had been carried out too fast, which made me suddenly notice that something was off. It would''ve been better if this exact n had been spread out over a year.


    It was also possible that Uncle Two was being coerced.


    The second thing I needed to do was to figure out what my next course of action was going to be.


    So many of Xiao Huas people had been killed here, which was something that couldn''t be faked. Boss Jiao clearly wasnt an ordinary person. There was also the fact that Fatty had entered the calling spring, so my first priority was to tell him what would happen after it thundered.


    Xiao Hua, who was mixed in with Boss Jiaos team, also knew about this matter, so he was probably trying to find a way. Would my rash actions disrupt his n? Should I trust him or trust myself?


    And, would Xiao Hua give up Fatty for the sake of the overall situation?


    I knew that Xiao Hua might have done it in the past. But I believed that he would save Fatty now, just as Fatty would save him.


    The things I had been thinking of were stuck in my mind and my intuition was telling me that my suspicions were correct. At this time, I should make a special decision that wouldy out the doubts in my heart and nail the key part of the overall situation that I couldnt see. That way, I could catch up with everyone''s progress.


    Liu Sang obviously thought that I was acting strange and patted me. I touched the back of my neck, knowing that I could only figure this out by myself.


    "Do you still want to listen?" Liu Sang asked me at the same time I asked him, "Do you have any explosives?"


    Everyone looked at each other and some nodded. "What are you going to do?" Liu Sang asked me.


    I told them to give me all the explosives they had and slung them over my shoulder. "I''m going to vent," I said to them before turning to Liu Sang and adding, "Come with me."


    I took Liu Sang all the way to the cliff by the tulou and used a Luoyang shovel to make more than a dozen holes in the ground. After that, I cut the fuses on the explosives and put the explosives in the ground. Liu Sang asked me what I was doing while keeping an eye on our surroundings.


    "You know, us three friends have a special way ofmunicating with each other," I said to Liu Sang.


    I was going to knock out a message using the explosives. This area was surrounded by mountains, so the explosions would create a huge echo. This was a secret code that the three of us would understand. I was going to use all of the explosives to set off a total of three explosions. With Fatty''s IQ, he should be able to notice.


    Fatty still had a lot of explosives on hand, so if there was a chance, maybe he could set off the explosives inside the calling spring so that the sound would echo. That was why I needed Liu Sang to help me listen to the underground noises.


    Liu Sang looked at me with aplicated expression on his face. I still had Sashasor Jiang Zi Suancigarettes in my clothes, so I took one out, stuffed it into his mouth, and lit it for him.


    "Get to work."

 Book 1: Chapter 159

    Book 1: Chapter 159


    Loud explosions echoed throughout the valley, knocking out my message that said: theres poisonous gas in the spring. Send a message if alive.


    This knocking method was a code without any of the normal coding logic. It could only be aplished by experiencing countless details of our daily life, so it was basically impossible to learn. The only real way to learn it was by living with us. I was very interested in coding, so I had studied it for a long time. The sourcey in the Zhang family''s secret code system. Having said that, the Zhang family''s set of codes came from a lost ancient Chinesenguage. Since Poker-Face didnt experience a formal inheritance, he could only use a few of these symbols. When we looked at the parchment we had found in the Zhang family''s ancient building, we saw that countless areas in China had different symbols. Up to now, I still didnt know what those special symbols meant.


    So, I wasnt worried that someone would understand my secret code. I set off the explosives three times in a row and then stood on the edge of the cliff. I listened to theyers of echoes as I looked out over the entire valley, waiting until all the noise had died down.


    This was the only thing I could do.


    Off to the side, I dug to the bottom rockyer with the Luoyang shovel and then had Liu Sang stick his ear to the shovels steel pipes. If there was any echo underground, he would hear it.


    I sat down and looked at the nearby tulou. The sounds of the explosions must have shocked everyone there. Some of them shouldve been able to hear which direction the explosions came from and would send someone to check soon. But it was like the horse dying as it ran towards the mountain (1), or someone trying to ascend to the heavens. After the sounds disappeared, it would be too difficult for them to find us.


    I opened Liu Sang''s backpack and found a folding recurve bow inside. I took it out, surprised that he would use this kind of weapon.


    "I dont like loud noises," Liu Sang said quietly from behind me. "I like to hear other people''s voices clearly, so I hide myself and use soundless weapons."


    "Are you a good shot?" I asked him.


    "I took my first lesson right beforeing here, he said. I haven''t been able to shoot the target yet. When he saw me silently looking at him, he exined, "I rely on my ears to make money. I just brought this thing to practice."


    I pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocked it, and then pulled the string back with all my might. The bows resistance was much greater than I was expecting and I let go halfway through. The arrow shot out crookedly andnded in the grass not far away. I threw the bow back into his bag, took out some choctes, and ate them quickly.


    "What are you thinking?" He asked me.


    "Boss Jiao''s people areing over. Itll be very difficult for them to find us, so theyll be anxious after looking for a while. We still have some explosives on hand, so when they be anxious, well detonate a few and lead them in the right direction little by little. That way, theyll they find us."


    "And then what?" Liu Sang was horrified. "If those men in cke out, were both dead. You dont even have any weapons."


    I finished the chocte and then looked at my hands. I was very experienced when it came to wooded areas. In the woods, there was no light at night and their shlights could only light linearly. Even if they were lured in by the explosives and came within a few hundred meters of us, they still might not be able to find us. That was why fugitives always fled into the mountains and their pursuers had to rely on crowd tactics to catch them. Boss Jiao''s men might try to catch us, but there was no way they actually could.


    But it was much easier for us to catch one of them in the chaos.


    As I was thinking this, Liu Sang suddenly raised his hand and told me not to talk. I frowned and started to walk over, but he also told me not to move. Then, he put his ear close to the steel pipe and asked me to stretch my hand out. He started gently tapping out a rhythm on the back of my hand.


    I knew he had heard a sounde from underground.


    The rhythm was code for: "Saw Little Brothers mark. The mark means farewell."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) When a horse looks at the mountain, it thinks its close. But when it starts running towards it, the distance is so far that the horse might as well die while running. Basically, its used to say that you think something is close, but its actually far away.

 Book 1: Chapter 160

    Book 1: Chapter 160


    Here, I''d like to exin a little bit about the rtionship between my knocking code and the Zhang family''s marks.


    In fact, the Zhang familys code was a very simplenguage, just like annotations. They would use simple symbols to annotate ancient tombs: there are secret doors here, there are mechanisms here, the mechanisms have been cracked, the Zhang family has been here andpleted the work. These annotations were simplified into marks using a very strange ancient text and carved in all the inconspicuous ces in ancient tombs.


    Many annotations were disguised as cracks and stains. This was a basic skill of the Zhang family, so Poker-Face would obviously know more than we would after entering some areas.


    We tried to deduce all of the Zhang familys codes, but ultimately failed. However, we did manage to use all sorts of methods to turn the codes we did know into sounds so as to facilitatemunication.


    With this inspiration, Iplied a whole set of knocking words that could be used tomunicate almost any piece of information. Other inspiration came from bat whistles and all kinds of confusing codes, but they were all mixed together and couldnt be deciphered. The whole thing relied on rote memorization, so it was basically impossible to learn.


    But there was one meaning in my knocking code that wasnt there: "farewell".


    My idea was very simple. If you really thought that the time hade, then there was no need to be so honest. So, "farewell" = silence. When there was a long silence in a sentence, it defaulted to farewell.


    For Poker-Face, life was always full of goodbyes. Just like how people were used to not saying fat in front of fat people orme in front ofme people, I didnt want to say goodbye to Poker-Face. Whether he felt indifference or grief, it still made me very sad to know whatever he felt. But for many things, it was hard to go through the motions. At this time, I suddenly felt lucky that I would die someday. Those who got to experience life and death were the ones who felt satisfied in the end.


    But lets get back to Fatty''s message.


    When the Zhang family entered some areas they werent certain about, they would engrave a mark on the entrance. If they came out safely, they would erase the mark. We had studied this mark before. It was said that the blind tomb had been engraved with these marks and none of them had been chiseled away. Fatty must have seen this mark somewhere in the calling spring.


    There were no other Zhang family members here and we were his only family. It wasnt like this mark would be used as some kind of plot against us. It was for us to see, and showed that he wasnt sure about the situation inside.


    But this mark wasnt serious enough to warrant saying goodbye. Fatty knew what my intentions were, so if he used "farewell", then it had to be very serious.


    Liu Sang was still tapping on my hand, so I could sense the second message as the rhythm changed.


    "There are bloody marks the whole way. Theres another entrance. Donte down. Ill find a way out."


    I looked at Liu Sang''s cigarette, wanting to smoke it myself.


    Bloody marks Poker-Face hadn''t done anything with his own blood for a long time. In all of our previous adventures, he would only use his blood to get out of a situation if there was a huge crisis. His blood was very special and the wounds were hard to heal.


    I didnt know how Fatty knew there was another entrance, but he came to the same conclusion as Xiao Hua. Whether he hooked up with Xiao Hua or he saw the same clue, I still felt a little relieved. Fatty seemed to be alive and well, but there was no other knocking response from the valley. Poker-Face was outside of the range of my knocking.


    A third message came through: "One of Little Brother''s signs is in the mountain marking the second entrance. I''ll meet you there. Pay attention to the royal poinciana trees (1)."


    I looked around and asked Liu Sang, "Do you recognize trees and know what royal poinciana looks like?"


    "Royal poinciana is a foreign tree. How could it be growing in a wild ce like this?" Liu Sang asked me.


    I asked if you could recognize it, not if you knew what it was, I said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Tree native to Madagascar. It is noted for its fern-like leaves and mboyant disy of orange-red flowers over summer. Info here. If you trante straight from Chinese, it could be called phoenix tree but I wasnt getting results for it in English so you get royal poinciana lol

 Book 1: Chapter 161

    Book 1: Chapter 161


    We reorganized the equipment and collected some other things from the rest of the group, such as climbing ropes, shlights, batteries, crank generators, and some dry food. I borrowed a machete and stuck it on the back of my belt. Kan Jian also had three long-range slingshots, so he picked up some pebbles and dipped them in mud to make them ball-shaped until he had about seven or eight hundred of them. He even had a slingshot that could shoot short arrows, so he made about thirty or forty arrows out of bamboo stalks. The arrowheads had all been heated in the fire and were very sharp.


    Kan Jian, Liu Sang, and Baishe followed me. I roughly exined my n for the tulou to them so that the rest of the guys could execute it when they had the chance. The four of us set out for the fog-covered mountain.


    The clouds were hanging very low. After spending a long time in Fujian, I knew that this meant it might rain again in a few days. The trees in the mountains were so huge that their branches were intertwined with each other. The mountains here werent very tall, but the trees were very dense. Even the gaps were covered in shrubs. When I first came here, I remembered that there was a sign that seemed to say this was a protected area.


    Finding a specific tree in such arge forest was too difficult, but fortunately, royal poincianas were a different kind of tree. We climbed up the mountainside and used binocrs to search carefully in the valley below. The wet fog made me feel like I had returned to the past, but there was also a faint ache in my knees. My father had developed rheumatism after walking in the mountains for so many years, so I figured it was something I couldn''t avoid. At this time, I couldnt smoke and even had to cover my nose and mouth so that the air in the woods wouldnt hurt my lungs. It was exhausting.


    We soon saw the crown of a huge royal poinciana.


    Liu Sang seemed a little skeptical, "Don''t you find it strange? This kind of tree only entered China in the neenth century. Many of them are nted in the houses of Fujian maritime merchants in urban areas. How could this kind of tree exist out here in the wilderness?"


    "It was specially nted by someone. Look at the canopy. Its been here at least a hundred years. Someone chose this ce in the mountains a hundred years ago and nted this tree. The flowers are red when they bloom, so its probably used to guide the way. I said quietly. "Just think. This tulou is like the Yong Longchang Building that was constructed using sand. It took them around twenty-five years to build it (1). The people who built this tulou and the people who nted the royal poinciana here are probably the same."


    I had developed the habit of solving problems without asking what the purpose behind them was, so I didn''t carefully analyze the details. It was said that arge number of tulous had been built here since the Yuan and Song Dynasties. Did these circr tulous evolve from the custom of listening to thunder at that time? Did the tulou we were at just happen to be built over the calling spring, or was it deliberately covering it up? These were the big questions.


    When we arrived in front of the huge royal poinciana at dusk, we were all covered in sweat. The sweat in our bodies couldn''t get out and the moisture in the air couldn''t dry it, so we were all very ufortable. I carefully looked around the royal poinciana, trying to find even the smallest mark on the bark, but I didn''t see anything. <em>Is this not the one?</em> I asked myself.


    Kan Jian looked up at the canopy and I suddenly remembered that Poker-Face always slept in trees. I told Kan Jian to go up and take a look. He had just barely reached the canopy when he nced at the trunk and said, "Found something!"


    When we all went up one right after another, we saw a wonderful view from the tee canopy. We looked out at the valley and saw that the tree canopies were painted a golden yellow in the sunset. It had been many years since I got to see such a view. Kan Jian pointed to a branch in the canopy that had a mass of ck and white things hanging on it. When I went over to get a look at it, I found that it was dried snakeskin. Someone had killed snakes here and there were hundreds of them.


    This particr snakeskin was very big, so I went in for a closer look at it. It was the skin of a cobra, but that didnt mean anything since it was a tradition to eat snakes here. I looked up at the canopy and saw a bunch of leftover snake bones.


    Even if Poker-Face and the others were just passing by here, they didnt have to eat so many snakes. These snakeskins must have been processed here by the local snake wranglers. It looked like hundreds of them had been hung up over the years, which showed that this ce wasnt a deep mountain.


    "Is this the mark?" Kan Jian asked. I shook my head and looked around. There were snakeskins littering the ground around the other tree trunks and hanging from their branches. I slowly looked around, carefully examining everything. There were thousands of snakeskins hanging in the tree canopies here.


    I felt like something was off, so I said to the others, "Be careful. There may be something here."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its thergest and tallest tulou in Yongding District, covering an area of more than 10,000 square meters. The main building is 6 stories tall. It was built between 1851-1874. More info is on slide 19 here (scroll down a bit for the full paragraph) or the middle of footnote 19 at the bottom of the webpage (you can ctrl+f "Yong Longchang").

 Book 1: Chapter 162

    Book 1: Chapter 162


    I looked at Liu Sang, who was listening with his eyes closed. After listening for a long time, he shook his head.


    Although his ears werent as sensitive as hearing ves, he could still hear enough information from any kind of sound. I breathed a sigh of relief. Fujians nature reserves were surrounded by various cities and counties, so although the area was veryrge, there would still be local legends and records if there were any beasts in the mountains.


    "But its very strange," Liu Sang said.


    "What do you mean?"


    "The entire way here, did you hear any birds? The natural environment here is well protected, so why aren''t there any bird calls? Moreover, I dont hear anything else around us besides the sound of the wind. When he said this, I looked around. Sure enough, the whole forest was very quiet in the setting sun. Liu Sang frowned as if he were trying to recall something, "After entering this valley and getting close to the royal poinciana, there gradually havent been any birds singing."


    <em>Werent they all fucking scared away by the explosions earlier?</em> I said to myself.


    Liu Sang patted the branch next to me and said, Youre so fucking reliable. Didn''t you say that there would be a mark? Did you misinterpret the message? There arent any fucking birds calling. It''s just too fucking strange."


    I was a little embarrassed. There was more than one royal poinciana on the mountain, but I couldnt see them anymore when I looked through my binocrs. I had assumed that the blooming flowers on this kind of tree acted like a road sign, but after the flowers wilted, this tree would blend in with the other trees, making it almost impossible to find.


    I didnt believe I was wrong. This particr royal poinciana could clearly be seen when you looked down from the mountainside, so Poker-Face mustve also been attracted by it. I was almost positive that the so-called mark was either on this tree or near it.


    I figured Uncle Two had also been there when they camest time, so Poker-Face would be somewhat cautious. Moreover, it wasnt his style to tantly mark trees. In the more than ten years that we had known him, when did we see Poker-Face leave a mark? I thought of the ces he had marked before and then climbed down the tree and explored around the royal poinciana.


    At this time, the tree canopies were covered in shadows and the whole sky turned a dark gray. Kan Jian stayed in the tree canopy, following our progress with a shlight and keeping his slingshot at the ready in case we needed cover. Baishe also stayed in the tree to cover him. This three-way formation showed that we didnt trust the environment. Liu Sang had followed me through the dense bushes and suddenly had a look of disdain on his face, "I thought you knew each other well, but you don''t know him at all."


    I turned my head and saw him standing by a tree, shining his shlight at the base of the trunk where the ground was covered in moss. When I walked over, he pointed to the base and said, "See? What''s wrong here?"


    The tree didnt appear to have any roots and seemed to grow directly from the soil. But the surrounding bushes were so dense that you wouldnt notice if you didnt look carefully.


    "You mean to say the roots here are covered in soil," I said coldly, while thinking to myself, <em>this isnt a mark</em>.


    Liu Sang squatted down. "Don''t you think the trees here are shorter than the ones we saw before? The lower half of these trees are all covered in soil."


    I whistled and a folding shovel was tossed down from the tree. I caught it and looked at Liu Sang. He didn''t say anything at all, so I had to dig by myself.


    After digging for less than half of a meter, the shovel head hit something. I pushed the mud aside and saw several old tiles. I dug all the way around until I had made a pit that was about three meters wide. The ground under our feet was covered in neatlyid old tiles. I dug all the way under the tree and saw that it was actually growing out of a hole in the middle of the tiles.


    I wanted to get a rope and go down. The tiles were very strong, but I managed to pull up a few and saw even more tiles below. After removing more than a dozenyers, I finally came upon an empty space. I used my shlight to look around and found that there was a cavity below.


    After looking around, I suddenly realized that the ground here had been raised a level. The people here had raised the ground by about a meter. After it was covered in soil, the bushes here had filled in the area for hundreds of years.


    "Go down," Liu Sang said to me. "Theres no living thing inside." He listened carefully and then added, "Theres something in the southeast corner."


    I looked at him and he looked at me before shaking his head, "You didn''t hire me. Go down by yourself."

 Book 1: Chapter 163

    Book 1: Chapter 163


    I had to go down. The space below was neither tall nor short, so I could stand up as long as my head was bowed. The space was less than a hundred square meters and the trunks of those trees were all below, supporting a beam in the middle. The forest was damp and the dark underground area was full of various kinds of bugs that were disturbed when Inded. I swept my shlight around. At first nce, there was a strange shrine-like thing piled up with tiles in the southeast corner. When I looked at it a second time, I saw that there was something on the back of the tiles and the roof was covered in all kinds of crawling insects.


    Other than that, there was nothing in the rest of the space.


    <em>Liu Sang really is urate</em>, I said to myself. <em>He only had to listen to get a clear idea of the situation down here</em>. I carefully moved to the southeast corner and asked him toe down and help.


    Liu Sang jumped down, saw the bugs, and reared his head back in disgust. After carefully observing the whole way, I saw an area on the roof tiles that seemed a little strange. In other ces, there were many tiny bug fists (1) or dirt clumps on the back of the tiles that looked like they would fall to the ground after a little pat. But in the strange area, I saw a circle of bug fists that were already on the ground. If I had guessed correctly, someone had cut them down before and then covered the hole with tiles again.


    I came to the southeast corner and found that this thing really was a shrine that had been temporarily built with broken tiles. The inside of the shrine was full of bug fists, as well as many strange things that looked like spider webs. When I shined my shlight on them, I found that they went very deep inside. I figured there were offerings here before, so countless bugs had gathered here and made it so dirty. I shook my head and asked Liu Sang toe over while I reached my hand in and felt around.


    Liu Sang stood far away and sneered, "The mark wont be in there. My idol isnt that stupid." He then turned around and went to look elsewhere.


    I cursed in my heart, flicked my lighter on, and burned the bugs off before slowly putting my hand into the shrine. Liu Sang spoke up from behind me, "Considering how the tiles have grown into the trees, this ce has a long history. It may be a ce where snake catchers temporarily store snakes."


    "It hasnt been that long since this ce was established as a nature reserve. Before that, snakes were caught casually. Theres no need to make it soplicated. My attention was fixed on the shrine, so I immediately saw something unexpected. It was an old machine that looked like a radio but was much bigger. In fact, it was three times bigger than those tape recorders I remembered from the 1980s.


    This machine was very old and covered in bug fists. I carefully pulled it out and found that it was an old transceiver.


    My hands were sweaty and covered in fists and bugs so I wiped them off on my clothes and looked around. I knew what this ce is. It was an old spy station.


    At that time, after the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan (2), many of the troops who were left behind turned to underground activities. I remembered that ording to the historical records, six teams entered the mountains of Fujian, and countless spy stations were hidden there. This was one of those stations.


    At that time, this ce was deep in the mountains, so there was no need to hide the transceiver. The spies must have lived here for so many years by eating snakes, but I didn''t know whether they had withdrawn or died somewhere outside.


    This kind of hand-cranked transceiver could generate electricity by itself, but the handle was all rotted now. I broke off the transceivers rotten iron box and saw that the copper wires inside were all green and rusty.


    Indeed, the mark wasnt inside. I carefully looked at the shrine one more time and then went back to Liu Sang, who had dug up the ground again. I saw that there were more tiles hidden under the mud at our feet. He lifted the tiles, but this time, he didn''t wait for me and jumped down first. When I followed after him, I saw that there was a warehouse below that was full of rotten wooden boxes. I used my shlight to take a look at the wooden boxes and found that other than some rotten military equipment, they were filled with silver dors wrapped in oiled paper.


    I waspletely stunned. This was either the armys military expenditure before they retreated into the mountains, or it was spy expenses that had been airdropped into the mountains before or after liberation. This was a huge sum of money. When the Silver Dor War in Shanghai (3) was finished, the use of non-government sanctioned silver dors continued for many years. I didnt know how long it took before the renminbi finally came to this kind of valley.


    When we bypassed the boxes, we saw that ayer of wooden boards on the edge of this space had been raised. There were more than a dozen rotten straw mats on them, upon which were a lot of bones. All of the flesh had been eaten by bugs and what was left of the corpses was covered in thick fists. Liu Sang squatted down, scratched a skull with his shlight, and then motioned for me to look at it. There were a lot of holes in the skull that appeared to have been artificially made.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Fists are abnormal connections between organs. They could also be called ulcerations. An ulcer is a sore on the skin or a mucous membrane. (I don''t really agree with the author''s word choice here but whatev)


    (2) The Kuomintang (aka the Nationalist Party of China or the Chinese Nationalist Party) is a major political party in the Republic of China throughout its historical periods in both the Chinese maind as well as Taiwan. The Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan in December 1949, fleeing the Communist Peoples Liberation Army. Info here.


    (3) Not getting English results, so heres a long note. The Silver Dor War was a financial turmoil that urred in the early days when Shanghai was taken over by the Chinese Communist Party (around May 1949). As some businessmen withrge assets hoped to use silver dor transactions to prevent the renminbi (official currency of China, aka RMB) from entering the Shanghai market and maintain the economy before the takeover, the incident evolved into a confrontation between the Chinese Communist regime and the local national bourgeoisie in Shanghai. In the end, the Chinese Communist regime won and controlled Shanghai''s financial market through tough administrative measures. Link to the Chinese wiki is here.

 Book 1: Chapter 164

    Book 1: Chapter 164


    The skull was yellowed and oxidized, and some parts had fallen off after the cartge had rotted away, but the round holes on the bone fragments could still be seen clearly. Each hole was as big as a penny and went all the way up alongside the ear. Some skulls had seven holes at most, while some only had two. They were exactly the same as the corpse we had seen in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb. These holes were very neat and almost made the whole skull look like a musical instrument.


    Based on the yellow color of the bones and the clothing on the corpses, they must have been the spy force here at that time. Since they had been here less than sixty years, they were fairly well preserved. Since the oxidation of the holes was consistent with that of the skull, it indicated that the holes had been made before these people had died.


    I was so stunned that I looked at Liu Sang and then touched his skull, but he ducked away, "Fuck off. Are you insane?"


    <em>Can you really hear better if you make a hole in your skull?</em> I secretly wondered. <em>Why do these people from sixty years ago have holes in their skulls? Arent spies supposed to focus on subverting the regime? Were these spies here to listen to thunder?</em>


    At this time, Liu Sang suddenly saw something and climbed onto the wooden bed that was nearby. The wood had long since decayed, so it started to crumble as soon as he stepped on the boards. After a few steps, the wooden bedpletely disintegrated. He moved all of the bones in the corner aside, revealing a mark on the wall.


    I went over and determined that it was the Zhang familys mark. It still looked very new, so it should have been engraved within the past half month. This particr mark was used to indicate direction, and I saw that it was pointing in a certain direction. I took out my cell phone and silently took a photo. Liu Sang murmured, "Idol has a really weird temperament. Who the fuck would find this?"


    I had to agree with Liu Sang this time, but I couldnt resist saying, "Isn''t it found now?"


    "What does this symbol mean?"


    "I won''t tell you." I looked around. Why did Poker-Face leave his mark in such a secret ce? Although I knew that his marks were always very well hidden, if this particr mark was meant for Fatty and me, it was still a bit too much.


    But this mark mustve been left for us, so I tried to think about the reasons for it. The only possibility was that he had also made a warning mark to let us know that there was something under the trees. But that warning may have been destroyed by someone.


    Liu Sang didn''t ask any more questions and took a few steps forward to smash the wood scraps apart. When his shlight shone down, he gave a hum. I also looked down and saw that there was a metallic luster under the wooden boards. Liu Sang picked a piece up and found that it was an old gold bar.


    We removed the wood fragments and saw that the whole area beneath the boards was full of old gold bars. Liu Sang''s eyes zeroed in on them.


    I took a few, climbed back up to the surface, and threw them to Kan Jian. In a wild ce like this, gold was the most useless thing we could find. Liu Sang also took a few and tapped them against each other. Kan Jian and Baishe were about to climb down, but I stopped them. I told them that the pit was all theirs after we finished our rescue efforts, but they wouldnt even be able to walk if they took the gold now.


    Poker-Face''s location was very clear, so I marked it on thepass and had our group set off again. We couldn''t really walk in the middle section of this forest since the ground was covered in leaves and mud. It was abination that made the ground soft, which soon caused our knees to be weak. We eventually sat down to rest for an hour.


    Kan Jian and Baishe immediately dozed off, but I was able to endure it. I looked up at the sky and found that it was almostpletely dark out. The moon was very bright, and its frosty glow made the valley appear as white as jade. The miasma finally returned to the soil, but the cold was enough to make my bones ache.


    Liu Sang wasnt sleeping either. There still werent any sounds in the whole valley, and the silence was just too strange. He had nothing to listen to, but he still seemed a little overwhelmed.


    "Is it interesting for you to chase your idol like this?" I asked him.


    Liu Sang was a little surprised that I was suddenly chatting with him and nced at me, "When you dont know how to live and find that theres someone like you who knows more than you, then you must follow them. I think that Im very simr to him, so I can only live in this world by following his example."


    <em>Oh, youre like a fartpared to him</em>. I spoke freely in my heart but didn''t say it aloud. I didn''t think it was necessary to start arguing when everyone was so tired, so I reined myself in and said, "Youre still a lot different than him. Do you want to rethink it? You may find that following his example isnt something you can bear. Many things cant be seen from the surface."


    "Don''t you worship him? Dont you want to be like him? Liu Sang looked at the old gold in his hand and sighed, "Of course I know you can''t do it. Youre just a mortal."


    I smiled bitterly and scolded in my heart, <em>you dumbass. I''ll bury you in the woods and take a piss on your grave once I have some free time.</em>


    At this time, Liu Sang suddenly sat up. I was about to argue with him, but he waved his hand and mouthed, "Theres something out there."


    ****


    <strong><em>So it''se to my attention that someone has uploaded stuff from the site to wattpad without my permission (dick move btw). But it''s the inte, so not like there''s a point in doing anything about it. If you all prefer wattpad''s format, you can read there but it''s not fully up to date and the links to all the refs I make aren''t included. My salty ass is taking the rest of the day off, so until tomorrow dears~~</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 165: Raining Snakes

    Book 1: Chapter 165: Raining Snakes


    I held my breath and listened. Sure enough, I heard the rustling sound of branches moving. In Liu Sang''s words, what his ears heard was almost the same thing as what our eyes would see. He pointed to the ce where the sounds wereing from and mouthed, "Grab your weapons."


    I silently touched my knife while Kan Jian carefully put the rubber bands on his slingshot. The way he used his slingshot was very systematic. In case of poor lighting at night, his slingshot would have three rubber bands on it so that dozens of marbles could be shot out in an umbre shape. He argued that at night, the eyes of wild animals would shine when they were illuminated by a shlight. No matter how big the beast was, their weakest point was revealed in the darkness.


    When I thought of this, I realized that we were all holding shlights in our hands. We turned them off one by one until only the frosty moonlight was left illuminating our surroundings. Liu Sang silently felt behind me. I listened to the noises in the forest, but it didnt sound like people walking. It was more like something was falling from a tree, going through the canopy, and falling into a bush.


    The sound gradually came towards us, and I soon felt something brush past my bangs and fall right in front of me. Then, more things began falling all around me.


    There were more and more sounds, just like rain. After that thing fell to the ground, I had a bad feeling and wanted to move, but Liu Sang pressed me down. I made a quick decision and turned my shlight on.


    When I looked around the woods, I waspletely stunned. I happened to see something falling from the tree canopy and realized that it was a snake. Then I looked around some more and saw that a lot of snakes were falling from the tree canopies.


    But after the snakes fell, their movements were very rxed. I looked up and saw a huge slender shadow floating above the canopy. When it touched the canopy, more snakes fell down.


    "What is it?" Kan Jian cried out in surprise. "UFO?"


    That slender thing changed into a ball again and again, just like a jellyfish. Liu Sang was also stunned and wanted to study it, but I grabbed him and started running. That thing looked like a mass of extremely dense flying insects. If we hesitated any longer and encountered this kind of thing, we would definitely suffer a lot of damage. As a result, the best thing to do right now was to run.


    As I ran, I took off my coat. Dozens of snakes fell, one of whichnded on my head. I immediately flung my head back and the snake fell onto my hand. I shook my hand and the snake fell to the ground. I used my knife to cut off the snakes head and then wrapped the snake''s body in my coat to take along with us.


    I ran for a long time, but the shadow didn''t catch up. We stopped to catch our breath and I opened my coat, only to find that the snake had shrunk. I threw it away quickly. There appeared to be something inside the skin that was eating the snake''s flesh quickly.


    Kan Jian pointed his slingshot at the snakes corpse but I told him that it was useless. I then took out a fire stick (1), uncapped it, and told Baishe to give me his hair spray. Baishe wondered how I knew he had it. I told him that he was the kind of guy who showed off his good looks so shamelessly and his hair was styled every day so he had to have hair spray with him. When the two things were put together, they became a methrower. I told Kan Jian to get ready and then cut the snake''s body open with my knife.


    There was nothing there, but Liu Sang immediately took a step back. Kan Jian was so frightened that he used our homemade methrower to instantly burn the whole snake to a crisp.


    My coat was a goner, so I left it and stood up to look in the distance. The silent shadow in the moonlight was no longer visible, but the tree canopies all around it had the same silhouette so it was impossible to find it. If it was a swarm of insects, then it wasnt surprising that there werent any birds here.


    When I voiced my thoughts to the others, Liu Sang shook his head, "It''s not a bug. I can hear the movements as long as its a bug, but there was no sound when that thing flew. It''s definitely not a bug."


    "Then what is it?" Kan Jian was angry at Liu Sang for always contradicting me.


    Liu Sang didn''t speak, but suddenly started walking back. I quickly caught him, What are you doing?


    "Its condensed poisonous gas, he said. The water vapor rises during the day, so this thing should be at a high altitude during that time. Thats why the birds died out. The atmosphere then drops at night, but some snakes are on the ground and some are in trees, so they dont die. The spies built the bunker underground because this thing probably drops to a very low height when the temperature is at its lowest before dawn. If thats the case, well all die here. We have to find a ce to dig a hole and bury ourselves right now. Lets go back and get the equipment."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Not a good English equivalent but its kind of like an ancient Chinese car cigarette lighter. Its a tight paper roll made of very rough earthen paper thats ignited and then blown out. Although theres not a me, you can see the red highlights burning faintly, just like in the ashes. There are phosphorus and some oxygen-prone substances in the fire stick. When the temperature is high and you blow on it with your mouth or quickly shake it, it wille in contact with the oxygen and react violently and burn. Info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>I love you guys, so you''re in for a treat. I got through ~20 pages today but don''t get used to it lol. I also decided to see what all the fuss was about with "Word of Honor" yesterday and let''s just say that I''m already caught up with the english subs</em></strong> (_) <strong><em>Waiting is hard, but at least they sub 4 episodes a week lol </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 166

    Book 1: Chapter 166


    We rushed back, ran through the snake rain again, grabbed our backpacks, and then rushed out again. I looked back and saw that the shadow above the canopy was spread out like a ck umbre in the moonlight. As we were rushing back to a ce where snakes werent raining down from the trees, Liu Sang found an open space, looked at his watch, and said to us, "We only have four hours to dig holes."


    We had reached the bottom of the valley, so it was impossible to find a new direction to run back to the mountainside or climb the cliff. I couldnt help thinking that Liu Sangs mind worked fast and the safest way really was to dig a hole. We took out our shovels and started digging at a distance of three or four meters from each other, but the tree roots here were all tangled together. As soon as our shovels went down, we hit nothing but roots and couldn''t dig at all. I figured that four hours wouldnt be enough to dig a hole deep enough to bury one person.


    But after four hours, that ck thing may fall to our level, and it would be very dangerous for us to act again.


    After digging for ten minutes, Kan Jian suddenly ran over and took a look. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I was wondering if you were burying yourself horizontally or vertically?"


    "Is there a difference?" I nced at him. I wanted to dig a pit that I could squat in and use leaves to make a lid, so it would be in the shape of a rice cooker. I figured I probably wanted to squat because I didnt have a sense of security here. If I were to just lie down or be stuck in the ground like a stick, I would die if there were any changes.


    In other words, I always encountered sudden changes, so I always had to give myself a way out.


    Kan Jian looked at my pit, gestured at it, and then asked me, "Boss, do you want to wrap yourself in a circle?"


    I went to see what he had dug. It was a slot in the ground that would have him lying on his back. <em>Everyone has his own aspirations</em>, I thought to myself. <em>I just wont demand too much of him</em>.


    "It doesn''t look very lucky," was all I said.


    "Boss, what should I do? When he became nervous, his Mandarin was no longer standard.


    I patted him, "Nothing, nothing. Meditating on ones life can be enlightening."


    Liu Sang rushed over, furious. "You guys are still digging your own damn private rooms? Dig together! Dig a big pit and we''ll hide inside! Otherwise, we wont make it in time!"


    As soon as I heard him say that, I realized that he was right. Everyone gathered together and dug indiscriminately. After three hours, I was weak, my back was aching, and we had managed to dig a decent-sized hole. After that, two people continued digging while the rest of us grabbed some leaves to make a lid. Liu Sang kept looking around as he dug, so I asked him what he was doing.


    "It''s getting lower and lower, he said. Hurry up, hurry up. He had just finished speaking when we saw a cloud of mist-like ck shadows hovering over our heads. Liu Sang cursed and hugged his head as everyone else immediately tried to shrink in on themselves.


    I looked at the cloud with my shlight, but I still couldn''t tell whether it was fog or flying insects.


    Everyone picked up their pace, jumped into the pit, and then put the mud-covered lid on. We dug into the pit wall and used the mud to seal all the cracks in the lid. We were all covered in mud and looked battered and exhausted. Liu Sang told us not to talk so that he could listen to what was going on above us.


    Time passed by and everyone gradually started to rx. "So, by doing this, we dont know when we can get out, right?" I asked Liu Sang.


    The gas hovering in the air will move further up in the atmosphere when the sunes out, Liu Sang said. We can get out of this pit in the morning. Id say around eleven or twelve."


    He had just finished speaking when everyone heard a deafening sound. I was stunned for a moment. Hearing something so unreal in this small space was a little overwhelming, so it took me a second to realize that it was thunder.


    <em>We''re screwed</em>, I thought to myself. <em>Why is it suddenly thundering when we had such a clear view of the moon and stars just now. Where are the cloudsing from?</em>


    Liu Sang frowned, "It''s not thunder. Someone''s shooting artillery. Mortars, to be more specific."


    "Shooting artillery? (1) Who''s shooting artillery? Kan Jian asked. As soon as the words fell, there was a loud bang right by us and a gust of air instantly blew our lid off.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Liu Sang used the words  (shoot artillery), which in Chinese can be an idiom that means to have sex. Our precious Kan Jian had apparently lost the ability to think about what he was saying and his remark became an innuendo: Having sex? Whos having sex?

 Book 1: Chapter 167

    Book 1: Chapter 167


    A whistling sound suddenly came and the four of us covered our heads right as a mortar shell exploded beside us. After so many years, this wasnt the firstor even secondtime that I had been bombed, but it was definitely the first time that I had been bombarded by mortars. Not to mention the ringing in my ears, dead leaves and mud were falling all over the sky and I spat out a mouthful of ck gunk.


    Kan Jian looked at me in horror and stuttered, "Bo- Bo- Boss, why is there a war here?"


    I climbed to the edge of the pit and picked up my binocrs, but I couldn''t see anything because of the tree canopies. I heard another whistle and knew another mortar wasing in. But as I listened, my instincts told me that something was wrong. Before I could speak, Liu Sangsplexion drastically changed.


    "Run!" He shouted.


    We all rolled out of the pit and ran more than a dozen steps just as the shell hit our pit. We fell to the ground and Liu Sang shouted, "Turn off the shlights, turn off the shlights!"


    "Don''t turn them off, I shouted, Throw them away!"


    Kan Jian pulled his big white arm back in a big arc, bulged his muscles, and threw the shlight directly into the air. It slowly fell down andnded firmly at his feet. I looked at him and he looked at me before he made a move like he was going to stretch.


    I went up with a flying kick, "Throw it <em>out</em>! Dont throw it up!


    I picked up the shlight and threw it into the distance. Liu Sang used a kick-off action to kick his own shlight more than ten meters away.


    Wolf-Eye shlights were very heavy and could even be used as weapons, so Liu Sang hurt his foot with that kick. But there was another whistle in the air, so I quickly grabbed Liu Sang and Kan Jian and ran into the darkness. The shell exploded right where we had been standing just now. We instinctively ducked our heads and looked back. Liu Sang, who was leaning against a tree, started cursing, "You motherfucker! Whats wrong with your men? He was basically setting off a signal re to the others!"


    I looked at his foot and thought to myself, <em>youre not that fucking smart, either</em>.


    I started wiping the ck mud on my face and figured that this was probably what it was like during the war. Liu Sang pointed in a certain direction: it was where the shells wereing from. The beams of our shlights were so bright in the surrounding darkness that the other party could easily determine our location. It was obvious that they were trying to kill us and I figured they wereunching their attack from the mountainside.


    It was dark all around, so our shlights were a glimmer of light that was easily spotted in the distance. Then, there was a whistling sound and a loud noise. The light was immediately blown up.


    I couldn''t even see Liu Sang''s face as he leaned against the tree trunk, but another shot quickly destroyed the shlight that he had kicked far away. Then, the whole area became quiet again.


    "Is it Boss Jiao''s team?" I reached for my knife. The powerlessness that I felt at this time was beyond words. It would be nice to have a 98K (1) right now.


    Liu Sang started cursing, "Fuck, do you have other enemies besides Jiao? Did you send them invitations or something? Why dont you ask? As he spoke, he looked at the surrounding darkness and then nced at his watch. "Were dead meat. The poisonous gas should be descending right now."


    That thing didnt cover the whole valley bottom, so there was a chance we wouldnt be so unlucky. When I saw it just now, it looked like it only spanned the canopies of six or seven trees.


    Liu Sang suddenly shouted to the sky, "Kong San, we know each other. Show some mercy. How much money did that man surnamed Jiao give you to blow us up? We''re all fucking human beings here! Youre just an artillery expert, so do you need to be that serious?"


    I was surprised and asked, "Do you know this man?"


    Liu Sang scolded, "I saw him on the fourth floor. Hes really skilled at artillery. His name is Kong San and hes from Yinchuan. Weve also yed mahjong together. That bastard definitely doesnt want to pay back the money." After he said that, he shouted, "I dont need the mahjong money!"


    A strong northwest ent soon came from the mountainside and echoed throughout the valley, "Im not here to negotiate that with you. Just hand over Wu Xie and you can go. I dont want you."


    Liu Sang yelled back, "They have three people and I''m here alone. I going to fucking lose if I fight them." Then he said to me, "Why dont you sacrifice yourself?"


    I scolded him for being so nervous about the poisonous gas. If we hid here, it didnt necessarily mean that we would die. In fact, if Boss Jiao''s people came down to the bottom of this valley, it might save us some trouble. Moreover, we didnt know whether it was actually poisonous gas or not.


    Liu Sang looked at me and said, "Wu Xie, do you think I''m being dramatic? If I''m not being dramatic, then do you think I''m acting so scared just to mess with you? Let me fuckingy it out for you. I know what I''m talking about. I''m in this team because my ears can extend your range of perception from a hundred meters up to two kilometers. Im telling you that within two kilometers of this area, I can hear more than two hundred clusters of poisonous gas. More than two hundred! Get that into that thick skull of yours! The number of clusters is more than the number of your stupid brain cellsbined! We have to bury ourselves!


    When he was finished screaming at me, I looked at him coldly. "You want a pit?" I snapped on my shlight, threw it six or seven meters away from us, and then hid behind the tree. A mortar shell arrived the very next instant. With a loud bong, dead leaves and mud rained down from the sky. Before everything had finished falling, I grabbed Liu Sang and rushed to where the shell hadnded. There was now a big crater in the ground, so I quickly kicked him into it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think hes talking about the Karabiner 98k rifle.

 Book 1: Chapter 168

    Book 1: Chapter 168


    The rest of us jumped down. The pit blown out by the mortar was shallower than the one we had dug, but it was bigger like a pan. After Liu Sang was kicked in, he felt around and theny down on the ground while shouting at us, "Come on! Come on! We suddenly heard a lot of strange crackling soundsing from the forest around us. I felt frightened when I thought of what Liu Sang had said just now. <em>Maybe I should believe him in times like these!</em> As I thought this, I also knelt down andy next to him. Then, I saw Baishe quickly follow until the four us were lying in a row.


    The pit was about arm deep, so it felt very weird as wey inside of it. If someone were to take a picture of us from outside of the pit, we would definitely look like fried dumplings.


    "Are you sure this will work?" I asked Liu Sang.


    "Stop talking nonsense. If we make it out of this alive, call me Dad." Liu Sang didn''t even want to look at me. As soon as he finished speaking, I felt as if that darkness was passing over us.


    Let me exin this feeling in detail.


    Since we were lying t on our backs, we could see the moonlight prating through the tree canopies and lightening the sky. Although it was very dark out, we could still see a little. When that thing floated above us, all the moonlight was blocked in an instant.


    I could feel a very slight airflow moving my hair. That thing mustve been very light, so only a little airflow was needed to change the direction it moved in. After about fifteen minutes, that thing obscuring our sight finally drifted away, revealing the moonlight again. But within a few minutes, another mass blocked our sight again.


    When these two things passed by, I felt an obvious difference in the way my hair moved. The first thing felt as if the airflow passed about two arm-lengths away from me, while the next thing was almost at the upper edge of the pit. Liu Sang covered his nose and mouth. My nose instantly felt itchy and I felt like I needed to cough.


    Then I heardno, not heard; it was more like feltmy own body making a crackling sound. It was my hair being corroded away. In the next second, I felt a sharp pain on my skin.


    <em>Damn, these fog clouds are corrosive.</em>


    Liu Sang started picking up the mud next to him and smearing it on himself. I already had a lot of dried mud on my body, but I quickly copied him anyways.


    The four of us smeared so much mud on ourselves that we looked like mud monkeys. The ck clouds continued to pass by in front of us. Some took thirty minutes to pass, while others only took three minutes. It didnt take me long to realize that there had to be a wind gap in one direction of this forest, which was where the poisonous fog wasing from. But it was too dark for us to figure out which direction the wind was blowing in.


    In the end, all the poisonous fog was practically stuck to the surface of the pit. My face and hands were all corroded and leaking fluidjust like those snakes from beforeand I could barely breathe. Just taking a single breath was like inhaling pepper, which made my lungs ache terribly. Liu Sang carefully piled mud all around him and never stopped.


    As I copied him, I found that continuously putting the mud on my skin could help relieve the sharp pain. So, the two of us kept thering mud on our bodies, just like dying fish in the mud.


    You know, it''s very difficult pouring mud on yourself when you''re stuck in a pit, but it''s easy to pour mud on other people. We tried to ther ourselves in mud for a long time to no avail, so I eventually clenched my teeth and started pouring mud on Liu Sang. Soon, there was a lot more mud on him than before. He was slow to react, but he immediately started pouring mud on me when he saw what I was doing.


    As the two of us continued throwing mud at each other, I turned my head to look at him and he turned to look at me. We couldn''t actually see anything in the dim moonlight, so it probably just felt like the two of us were staring at each other.


    The poisonous fog slowly got farther and farther away from us and the sky gradually began to lighten. By this point, my hands were reflexively throwing mud, my body was freezing, and my skin felt like it had been turned into swollen tofu skin.


    When we finally rolled out of the pit, a mouthful of blood came gushing out of my nose and mouth and I immediately fell to the ground. Liu Sang tried to help me up, but his hands had no strength after throwing mud all night. He used his back to support me and keep me from falling back down. When Kan Jian came over and held me up, I saw everyone''s skin in the dim light. It was all corroded and covered in blisters.


    "Disfigured," Kan Jian said quietly. "Boss, can we recover from this?"


    I touched my face. It hurt like hell and there was still blood dripping out of the corners of my mouth. I tried to stand up again, but found that I couldn''t.

 Book 1: Chapter 169

    Book 1: Chapter 169


    It was getting colder and colder, but the gas in the air finally started to rise up. In the sunlight, those strange masses of air almost seemed invisible. The shade from the trees canopies was very thick, so the people shooting mortars shouldnt be able to see us. Today was ourst chance. If this happened again tonight, we would definitely die.


    After gasping for breath for a while, I couldn''t help but sigh at the fact that the human body really was exquisite. I felt as if my lungs had been burned from the inside out, but I could still recover. With Kan Jian supporting me, we walked on.


    It wasnt long after that when we heard screams in the distance. The poisonous gas had risen to the ce where they had been shooting mortars at us. Many things in the world were like this. If that guy had been magnanimousst night, then I wouldve definitely warned him of the danger. But now we were barely hanging on. I figured that they would be in an even more miserable state than us, so that meant that neither side had won.


    At this time, Liu Sang said, "I heard that based on your previous temperament, you would inform those on the mountainside to watch out for the poisonous gas, even if they were trying to kill us."


    "Thats pure fiction. In real life, no matter what stage Im at, I only care about my friends," I said quietly. "Nave doesn''t mean stupid."


    After walking for more than half an hour, the sky was bright and the sunlight prated through the canopies. It was exactly how I pictured a forest in Grimms Fairy Tales to look. Nature really was the best liar.


    Baishe, who was exploring the road ahead, suddenly motioned to us. We stopped and waited for him toe back to us. Royal poinciana," he said.


    Baishe''s eyesight was very good, so we picked up the binocrs and followed his direction until we saw the tree in front of us. Truthfully, from this distance, I couldn''t tell whether it was a royal poinciana or not. But I had to admit that Baishes skills went way beyond the standard.


    As I looked through the binocrs for a long time, I figured out why Baishe could see so keenly. The situation under that tree was very special. The forest here was full of ferns that had green, centipede-like branches and broken leaves. They were mixed in with some thorny shrubs I couldnt namejust thinking of how these things would scratch our festering skin made my heart hurtbut no matter what kind of vegetation, it all just looked like a mass of green from a distance. This forest was full of varying shades of green, but among the shrubs under the royal poinciana, there were many bright colors such as purple, blue, and yellow.


    From a distance, the flowers on the bushes under the tree looked as if they had been painted, but when you looked carefully, you could see that they werent actually flowers.


    As we approached, we gradually saw that they were all fungi. Most of them were only as big as the fingernail of a pinky finger, but there were a few of them that were bigger. The various kinds of fungi were open like umbres, but some of them werent. These umbre-like fungi were at the base of the trees and hidden in the crevices of the stones under the bushes. There were countless numbers of them hidden in the crevices, and they all looked like abscesses of varying sizes. There was also a lot of colored moss that wasnt green or yellow, but more of a dark blue.


    When I looked up ahead, I noticed that the forest canopy suddenly became higher and denser, and less sunlight came through. We could see that the forest in the distance was surrounded by vines that were full of small yellow flowers and there were colorful fungi under each huge tree.


    It was like this part of the forest was the dividing line between two worlds. We were in the outside world, while the world inside was dark and cold, but colorful.


    What was even more amazing was that in the gap between the rocks and roots where these umbre-like fungi grew, Liu Sang pushed aside the moss to reveal countless broken bones. I didnt know if they were human or animal.


    "Last night''s wind carried the spores of these fungi out from the depths of this forest." Liu Sang and I said at the same time. We both looked at each other.


    "How do we get in?" Kan Jian asked. "There are mushrooms all over the ce."


    I shook my head. These colorful fungi were only a small part of the fungi in this forest. I could see countless umbre-like fungi that looked simr to ear-shaped lingzhi (1) almost everywhere on the chapped bark of these trees. They were covered by arge number of ferns, which seemed to indicate that this part of the forest was very suitable for fungal growth. Liu Sang listened to the area around us and then pointed in a direction, "Theres a stream there."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Lingzhi (aka Ganoderma lingzhi) is also known as reishi. Its a polypore fungus thats red-varnished and has a kidney-shaped cap. The peripherally inserted stem gives it a distinct fan-like (or ear-like) appearance. Here are a few pics:

 Book 1: Chapter 170

    Book 1: Chapter 170


    Following Liu Sang''s guidance, we walked along this hidden fungal line in the forest until we came across a stream. There had been plenty of rain recently, so the streams current was moving very fast. The water was clear enough that we could see a lot of fish swimming in it.


    "There are fish, so the water should be clean," Kan Jian said.


    I understood what Liu Sang meant. This forest wasnt normal to the naked eye, so it was probably safer to enter by following alongside the stream. It was running water, after all.


    This stream went all the way down to the mouth of the valley. I had drunk from it once before, so it should be rtively clean. I put my hand in it and found that the water was clear and bitterly cold. It mustvee from a cave in the nearby mountains. At this time, I didnt care that much about it and just went into the water to start washing the blisters and mud on my body. By the time I was done washing away the mud, my knees began to ache. The water temperature was too low to stay in for a long time. The blisters under my skin were terrible and much of my skin was red and festering. Our wounds werent as itchy after washing in the ice water, but at this time, we saw a lot of tiny maggot-sized leeches on our bodies that almost looked like moles. They had already eaten their fill.


    Back on the shore, the four of us burned each other with our lighters. But there were too many moles, so we couldn''t burn them all off. From a distance, we almost looked like we were covered in sesame seeds. Liu Sang eventually took out a stack of things from his bag, which turned out to be instant noodle bags. When eating hardtack in the jungle, it was best to use delicious seasoning since the biscuits would turn into a big mushy pot after being boiled in water.


    "I heard that leeches are most afraid of salt. These are salt and pepper packs, so well apply them to our bodies. Otherwise, well definitely get infected," Liu Sang said.


    I looked at the wounds covering all of our bodies and thought, <em>if you fucking force us to burn ourselves again, well basically be barbecued skewers</em>. Liu Sang had already opened one of the bags, poured the salt and pepper into his hand, and rubbed it on his armpit where the leeches were the most densely packed. We soon heard him scream and I got a whiff of the spices in the bag.


    The leeches under his armpit quickly melted off and fell into the water. Liu Sang clenched his teeth, but didn''t wash the wound. Instead, he fell next to a nearby stone in pain,cking the strength to continue wiping the salt and pepper on his body. His distorted expression made him look like some kind of evil spirit.


    Baishe sighed and said to me, "Boss, is this bro doing a live-stream or something? I want to double-click 666 (1). Charcoal-grilling yourself would definitely be a hot topic on the tform. As he spoke, he took out a small pot from his backpack that was about the size of roomba. All of our frying and cooking depended on this one pot. He lit the alcohol burner and fished out some water to start boiling, "We grew up in the water, so weve seen a lot of leeches. If the water is heated to more than forty degrees Celsius, the steam willpletely drive the leeches away."


    He heated the water for a while and then put his hand into the pot. The leeches quickly fell off, writhing wildly in the water as they tried to escape the pot. But if they climbed up the side of the pot, they would be burnt dry by the high temperature.


    We dealt with the whole thing very carefully and quickly finished removing all of the leeches from our bodies. The most terrible thing was handling our sensitive parts. It was absolutely terrifying putting them into the pot.


    The leeches were very small, so although the wounds were bleeding, they werent that serious. After we were done with our treatment, I went to help Liu Sang get the leeches off of his body. "You see? I said to him. This is what partners do. You have to trust others."


    "Cooking something like xxx, arent you afraid of other people''s jokes?" Liu Sang still wanted to look back. I nced at his bag full of spices and thought that it was better cooking xxx than putting salt and pepper on it.


    After I was finished, I heated more water and then put mud into the pot and boiled it. Once all the leeches were boiled out, I put the disinfected blob of mud into my Hundred Treasures Bag (2), thered it on again, and then walked back into the forest. When I arrived at the colorful second royal poinciana, I had Kan Jian climb up the tree like usual. It didnt take him long to shout, "Shit, this tree also has skin hanging on it. But its not snake skin."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chinese inte ng used a lot in gaming. Basically means you really like something and think its amazing. The termes from the Kuaishou tform (a short videomunity). Its #2 here but I think the baidu exnation was better/more in depth.


    (2) Think this is a Doraemon reference. He has a fourth-dimensional pouch (or pocket) on his stomach that he stores food, money, medicine, desserts, and weapons in.

 Book 1: Chapter 171

    Book 1: Chapter 171


    Before I could even ask, Kan Jian dropped a mass of things from above. They fell at our feet and kicked up a cloud of dust that was full of fungal spores. My throat immediately felt itchy and I yelled, "Behave yourself! Dont be so rash! Youll kill people!" Kan Jian was startled by my sudden scolding.


    We stepped backed a little and waited for the dust to slowly disperse before approaching again. That mass of things turned out to be the skin of wild animals, probably a Siberian roe deer or something simr to it. Kan Jian said that there were still many more up there, and they were all well preserved. They were probably the skins of beasts from around the area.


    This ce was full of poisonous fungi and it was so dangerous at night that it shouldn''t be the masterpiece of hunters or snake catchers. The locals in this valley should rarely get involved here, and the surrounding viges probably had various legends that had been passed down.


    But it appeared that both the snakeskins from before and the animal skins now seemed to follow the royal poinciana. The snakeskins and animal skins hadntpletely rotted in the valley despite the heavy amount of rainfall Fujian usually got. Moreover, they were even well preserved and mustve been processed in thest three to five years.


    In other words, these things should have been left here by someone three to five years ago.


    But why? If it was to make money, then these skins were definitely worth more than the meat itself. But if it was for the purpose of eating meat, then the risk was too high since it came from a forest full of poisonous fungi.


    As I was thinking all of this, I came to a sudden realization and told Kan Jian to help pull me up the tree. When I climbed to the top of the canopy, the sunshine was exceptionally bright. I saw countless skins drying in the tree canopy, all fixed to the trees branches. But they werent only on the royal poinciana; they were also in the trees all around us.


    "This is a marker," I murmured.


    "What?" Kan Jian asked.


    This tree stood between the poisonous forest and the outside forest. There was also a stream beside it, which meant that it was a very important geographical indicator. Since it was easy to get lost when walking under the trees canopies, this royal poinciana was an important marker. And it was marking this dividing line between the two parts of the forest. If that were the case, then the royal poinciana before was also one of these markers. We didn''t observe that area very carefully at the time, but it was definitely very important. Maybe that royal poinciana was marking the location of the secret underground space.


    "But what about these skins? The markers dont need to be so exaggerated. Isn''t it just wasteful? Kan Jian asked.


    I had a sudden sh of inspiration and said to Kan Jian, "It''s the smell. These skins are here to emit a smell. Snakeskin and animal skins have different smells. All the tree canopies here are intertwined, so youre supposed to move between them. And you find the route by smell. Someone designed a path here that we wouldnt be able to see or recognize using ordinary means."


    The different key points here were marked with different strong smells. This was because there was a difference in how the fat of various creatures smelled.


    But my sense of smell was probably my weakest bodily function right now.


    I called Liu Sang and Baishe up and asked them to smell the skins. "What are you doing?" Liu Sang asked me.


    I touched his head and said, Smell it carefully. Is there any special scent around here? That should be the direction we need to go in. Good boy. (1)


    Liu Sang pped my hand away but also agreed with my idea. "I think what youve said is reasonable, but we can take it a step further than that. If the tree with animal skins represents danger, then the tree with snakeskins represents refuge. As long as you bring a well-trained dog with you, even the blind could survive out here."


    I sighed, and Kan Jian said, "Doesnt this sound like the Wu family''s technique?"


    I thought about it. It was true that the Wu family had specially trained fox-shaped dogs that were very dexterous and could move among branches, but it was useless to guess now. We had to find Poker-Face''s mark; otherwise, it would be really hard for us to keep moving.


    Not only were these skins very old and probably didnt have a smell, but I didn''t have a dog with me, which was a mistake.


    We were right back at square one.


    The four of us began looking for Poker-Faces mark. We first checked to see if there was an underground space under this tree. When we didnt fine one, we began to circle around. After looking around for a while and not seeing any marks, Liu Sang said, "If we can''t find it, then lets just follow the stream. Otherwise, well waste another day."


    I was feeling a little irritable. If this dragged on, I wouldnt be able to save anyone, let alone collect their corpses. The most I would be able to do was pick up their bones. Kan Jian suddenly snapped his fingers and told us to look into the depths of the forest. When I looked over there, I saw something standing in the shade of the trees. It appeared to be white, very dirty, and very tall. I figured it had to be at least four meters tall.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) lol Wu Xie. The good boy bit was in English in the raw if you all care. Not sure why he''s so obsessed with touching people''s heads

 Book 1: Chapter 172

    Book 1: Chapter 172


    We squinted at it for a long time, and I found that it was a "dumped good. In the logistics industry, dumped goods wererge-volume, lightweight objects.


    There was still a slight breeze in the air that was making the thing shake slightly. I found that this thing also looked very familiar. I must have seen it somewhere before, but I couldnt remember what it was.


    Liu Sang and I exchanged a nce, and I said to him, "Go and take a look."


    Liu Sang looked at it and then shook his head. "I think it''s more appropriate for you to go over and take a look. Your health isnt that good after all, and Im in good fighting condition right now. Go on. See what it is. If youre in danger, shout before you die and tell us what it is. Youll be able to die in peace."


    "Why should I die in peace? I''m still in my fucking prime. I gave Kan Jian a look and he immediately shot three marbles in two seconds, hitting that object three times with a bang, bang, bang sound. Once the three ripples spread out, Liu Sang and I suddenly realized what it was.


    It appeared to be a parachute.


    I looked at the sky, <em>people go skydiving here?</em> This parachute was definitely a modern parachute. Although it seemed to be a few years old, it definitely wasnt from World War II.


    I turned to look around. There were cliffs at the edge of the valley, so was someone doing extreme sports here? I had heard that there was an extreme gliding sport with a very high mortality rate, so was someone doing that here?


    Liu Sang touched his chin and said to me, "Wu Xie, you said you think theres a path through the tree canopies. Would someone think that the canopies werent that high and try to take an aerial route? Maybe four or five years ago, someone wanted to use a paraglider here to cross the whole forest and avoid the dangers under these trees."


    <em>The person must have died under the parachute</em>, I said to myself before turning to Kan Jian, "Take out your slingshot and arrows. I want you to make a hook on your arrow, attach a rope to the back, and hook that thing on it so that we can bring it over here."


    Kan Jian stood up and said, "Boss, I''ll just go and get it. What are you afraid of? Its only three or four steps."


    I quickly grabbed him, "Don''t talk nonsense." When Kan Jian nodded, I turned my attention to Baishe and Liu Sang and said, "Let''s keep looking for marks. We can''t waste time."


    "Boss, look at what''s on that parachute, Baishe said to me.


    ****


    <strong><em>We''re a rowdy bunch in the merebear household lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 173

    Book 1: Chapter 173


    I nced at it. The white thing was very dirty, but some dust fell off when Kan Jian''s marbles hit it, revealing a bit of hidden color below. It appeared to be a logo, which was probably the brand of the paraglider. It was in German and looked a little familiar. I thought it over carefully and realized that the words were actually a German name. I had been in contact with thispany before.


    When I was in Tibet, I had profound dealings with the employees of thispany. Thepany had actually acquired Qiu Dekao''spany and inherited many of his projects.


    I was kind of surprised that thispany was so interested in the Wu family. In fact, I appeared so frequently in Qiu Dekaospanys data that they even joked that there was a department dedicated to researching me. They interviewed me many times and offered me great terms, but I couldnt say too many things or make money off of the things I did in the past.


    However, thepany''s previous research direction had something to do with Qiu Dekao''s n in China. Uncle Three and the whole listening to thunder thing had nothing to do with them, so why did they suddenly appear here?


    A lot of veryplicated things must have happened in this forest back then. The scent markers for this path seemed to point to the Wu familys special skills, and there was also that space under the tree and this parachute in the woods. Everything happened over a very long time span. The royal poinciana and tulou mustve been built and nted at the same time (probably around 1890), the space under the tree was excavated after liberation, the skins on these trees may have been set up as path markers nearly five years ago, and then the parachute must havended here around three years ago.


    There were at least four groups of people who had explored or messed around in this forest for more than a hundred years. I decided to call the royal poinciana nters and tulou builders the "path marker expedition team", because they nted the royal poinciana as path markers through the forest and then built a tulou over the entrance to the calling spring. They were actually marking the route to Thunder City.


    When it came to this team, I could only make blind guesses. First of all, they did things on arge scale and had a lot of patience. It was extremely prudent, intelligent, and extremely patient of them to nt trees to mark the path. They wanted to hide Thunder City, but also leave some information for future generations.


    In any case, they mustve known that it would take fifty or sixty years before the next batch of people entered here with clues to find Thunder City. That was three generations. This "path marker expedition team" either had magnificent minds or an extreme purpose.


    The second team was the Kuomintang spy troops who retreated into the mountains.


    Because of the unique poisonous gas in the forest, this team hid underground and built a perfect underground bunker. Based on the amount of silver dors we had seen, this team mustve been quiterge at that time. But we didnt know what had happened to them. In addition, there were clear traces of holes being drilled into the team members heads. Did this spy force enter the forest at that time just to listen to the information in the thunder? Or were they influenced by the nearby Thunder City while being stationed here and drilled holes into their own skulls?


    The third team seemed to be people from the Wu family, and there was a good chance that it was Uncle Three. There were those in the Wu family who were good at raising dogs, so they mustve moved through the forest canopy and marked the key points with animal skins.


    The fourth team was a German team who wanted to use paragliders to pass over the whole forest from the air. This German team obviously didnt know about the third teams path and could only take risks.


    I came up with a simple story in my head. Back then, an expert team from thete Qing or early Republic era discovered the secret of Thunder City. They didn''t want to let other people know about it, but they also needed their descendants to find Thunder City in sixty years time. As a result, they set up the royal poinciana trees. Sixty yearster, high-level Kuomintang officials discovered this clue (maybe they were the descendants), so they sent a team into the forest to follow the signs and try to find Thunder City. But the team disappeared after they entered Thunder City. Uncle Three, who was investigating thunder, discovered what they did in this valley after conducting his field investigation. So, Uncle Three went into this forest to investigate and found the instations (the secret rooms under the trees) that this spy unit had set up in those days. But the forest was very dangerous. On the one hand, Uncle Three probably wanted to make use of the instations. On the other hand, he wanted to move around more freely and conveniently, so he used dogs and scent markers to find the path. The Germanpany wanted to buy information on this route from Uncle Three, but he refused, so they had to take a risk and use paragliders.


    Poker-Face and ck sses were the fifth wave of people.


    It actually sounded quite reasonable.


    Kan Jian figured out a way to bring the paraglider over to us, while the rest of us continued looking for marks around the royal poinciana.


    To my surprise, no matter how much we searched this time, we couldn''t find Poker-Faces mark at all. As time went by, we became more and more anxious, but we really couldn''t find it.


    In fact, this was a very normal thing. People who hid things had a much higher advantage than those who were looking for them. But the other three people kept looking at me. It made feel ufortable, as if I had made some sort of mistake. I couldnt help thinking, <em>maybe we wont find it. Maybe its not here because Poker-Face finally decided to go to the calling spring.</em> In other words, he gave up on this route. Maybe when he got here, he gave up and chose to go to the calling spring instead.


    Off to the side, Kan Jian quickly pulled the paraglider over. We found that there werent any bones wrapped up in the fabric. A lot of people crashed into trees or cliffs while gliding, and many people fell to their deaths before opening the paragliders sail. If the sail was opened, then the person was probably alive, so it was normal for there not to be a body.


    We climbed back up the tree trunk again and Liu Sang asked, "Do you have any idea which direction to go in?"


    "I have to rely on your ears for that," I replied.

 Book 1: Chapter 174

    Book 1: Chapter 174


    I told Liu Sang that the sound of the wind blowing through the snakeskins was definitely different from how it blew through the animal skins. Although it was almost unnoticeable, his ears were so good that he should be able to hear the sound of snakeskins or animal skins in the distance.


    Liu Sang looked at me like I was an idiot, but I merely looked back at him and said, This is the only way.


    He sighed, I can''t hear it. I can only gather information thates from the sounds I hear. When theres no sound, I''m just like you.


    "Try harder." I patted him. "The world is most afraid of those who are serious." (1) Then I started shaking the nearby branches so that the animal skins sounded like they were blowing in the wind. "Come on, listen carefully."


    Liu Sang rolled his eyes at me. I kept shaking the skins every which way, but hepletely ignored me.


    When I finally stopped, he said to me, "Can you be more serious? I already told you that I can''t hear it. Theres no wind here. I could try it if there was wind."


    I looked at his expression and realized that he really couldn''t hear it. I sighed and looked at Kan Jian, who took out a mud ball from his pocket and knocked it against the tree until it broke into fragments. He then shot them directly at the animal skins.


    These mud fragments hit the animal skins with a very dull sound before rolling down.


    "You just need to remember this sound," I said as I patted him.


    Our group of four set out and started walking through the tree canopies. Kan Jian thought the paraglider might still be useful, so he packed it away. Liu Sang sighed again. He obviously still didnt agree with my methods.


    There were two things to pay attention to when walking through the canopies: one was the thickness of the branches, while the other one was the degree of entanglement between the branches. The branches here were very densely packed together, so we had to climb over them one by one. It was slow going, but at least it wasnt difficult.


    There were arge number of camphor, banyan, fairy (2), and cypress trees here. We walked for about a kilometer, and I realized that my reasoning was correct because I could see traces of fixed wires in some of the ces where the tree branches were connected.


    But these traces didnt just lead in one direction. Sometimes there were three or four paths in a tree that led in different directions. Kan Jian took a few steps on each path and shot those mud fragments all over the sky. Liu Sang looked pained as he listened, but he didnt have a better way.


    After a while, Liu Sang stopped in a big tree and said that he had heard a strange noise in one of the directions Kan Jian had just shot in. Kan Jian made a few more shots to help determine the direction and then we went over. As we approached, we saw the third royal poinciana.


    There were snakeskins on this royal poinciana, so I cautiously went down. With just a single nce, I realized that it was same situation as that first royal poinciana.


    I shoveled away the fallen leaves on the ground and revealed the hidden tiles. Sure enough, there was a room below.


    I touched the back of my head as Liu Sang looked at me with aplicated expression on his face. Three things. I only needed to calcte three things correctly before people who looked down on me would change their view of me. (3)


    The trees with snakeskins hanging on them were refuges.


    We removed the tiles again and revealed a hole. As the shlight shone down into the darkness, it swept past many sealed boxes. We marked this spot on our GPS and then moved on.


    At dusk, we came to the fourth royal poinciana. At this time, we were already deep in the hintend of the forest. There were a lot of fish skins and bones hanging from this royal poinciana. When we got to the tree and looked up ahead, we saw an exquisitely amazing sight.


    This trees location marked the starting point where the valley floor sank down like a staircase for dozens of meters.


    There was a cliff just two meters away from the tree, and under the cliff was even more dense forest that was full of miasma.


    It was a valley within a valley.


    No wonder someone wanted to paraglide down.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its apparently the first part of a quote from Mao Zedongs 1957 speech to students at Moscow University. ording to baidu, the full quote is something like: the world is afraid of those who are serious, and the Communist Party is the most serious."


    (2) I think fairy trees () are hawthorn or ash trees. Or they might be part of the mint family? Science is not my forte lol.


    (3) Wu Xie''s over here like:


    ****


    <strong><em>So, episode-wise, this is the best I can do: Episode 15 18:43-21:00. Instead of them finding it themselves, sexy man spills the beans to Wu Xie. Our chapters-long adventure was reduced to like 3 minutes in the drama</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 175

    Book 1: Chapter 175


    Now I understood why Poker-Face was looking for the second route here. But he eventually returned to the calling spring or chose to enter Thunder City from the calling spring.


    This cliff was almostpletely vertical and looked like the gods had cut it with a sword. When I looked down from the edge, I knew that our ropes definitely werent long enough to drop down. Moreover, there were colorful fungi everywhere on the cliff and other ces were full of moss. The fog in the forest below moved slowly, and we could see some ces above the cliff where the mist flowed down like a waterfall. The poisonous spores in the forest where we were at fell into the forest at the bottom of the cliff every day. The fog below was probably thousands of times more toxic than the fog above.


    "Is Thunder City down there?" Kan Jian asked.


    I figured it was pretty close. But there wasnt enough light in this small valley within a valley, so it was hard to see any clues on the satellite map we had. If there were any buildings below, they were hidden by the trees shade.


    "Do you think somethings off?" Liu Sang asked after listening to our surroundings. "The stream where we washed our bodies just now came from here. I thought there would be a waterfall on a high slope or cliff at the end of this forest, but it turned out to be a cliff. Where did the streame from? Is there a waterfall in the valley below that flows upward? That would really be a fantastic sight."


    <em>The stream mustvee from an underground river</em>, I said to myself. <em>The water pressure probably causes it to gush out from the rock.</em> This underground river had to be connected to the calling spring. We were taking the surface route, while Poker-Face and Fatty took the underground route. There had to be a water system in the forest below, which was connected to the calling springs exit. The water system itself was safe, so I figured we had made a narrow escape by taking thisnd route.


    Liu Sang looked at me. Rationally, we knew that we had gone all this way for nothing and just wasted time since the path stopped here, but neither of us was willing to ept the reality.


    "Climb down or go back."


    Those were our two choices. The dusk was already very heavy and there was no sound in the entire valley. It was almost as if everything was on mute. Based on my original temperament, it was absolutely impossible to take risks.


    I picked up my binocrs and looked down into the valley, but I couldn''t see anything. I could only make an assumption that there was a water system below based on the different directions of some of the tree canopies. The stream below was also covered by the tree canopies, and the sunlight couldnt shine through all year round. I cursed in my heart. This ce shouldve been developed into a tourist attraction long ago. Why didnt anyone care about it? Among all the wonderful things I had seen before, this was quite special. If it were me, I could sell rafting tickets for three hundred yuan a piece.


    "Climb down," I said faintly. "Tomorrow morning. Well prepare well tonight. I took a picture of the valley bottom with my cell phone.


    We walked back to the snakeskin tree and entered the space below, which was full of various things wrapped in oil paper. They were probably artillery pieces, but they werent assembled. I counted them and found that there were about three artillery pieces and hundreds of shells. They were probably used for subversive activities and could be taken out to town before being assembled. They were all rusty now even with the oil paper, but based on my understanding of American artillery at that time, they could probably still be used once they were assembled. I was kind of hoping that the artillery king from before would hit us again tonight so that we could reciprocate, but he was probably dead.


    After Liu Sang inspected the shells, however, he found that they were all empty. They seemed to be filled with other things and werent used for sting.


    There were a lot of white sacks of powder below these shells that seemed to be lime. I thought there might be dead people inside, so I didn''t go down to investigate.


    In the evening, we discussed our n for the next day and drew lots. Baishe and Kan Jian would stay here to meet the others while Liu Sang and I would go down. Baishe breathed a sigh of relief, while Kan Jian seemed a little puzzled. I told him that the rope wasnt long enough, so we needed to use it twice. If we wanted to go back the same way we came, wed need someone on the cliff. Kan Jian would take a fishing line and shoot it down so that we could tie our rope to it and have him pull it up. Then, Baishe would take the rope down to the middle part of the cliff and tie it. Wed climb up to the middle and then have Kan Jian shoot his fishing line down again so that we could climb the second section. This was the only way that we could go back the same way we came.


    As a result, we needed two people to help us.


    The next day, the four of us set off and returned to the edge of the cliff. I had made two sets of sealed clothes overnight with the oil paper that had been wrapped around the artillery shells. I was ready to start the first round of our descent, but before I could tie the rope, Liu Sang frowned and said to me, "Wait, theres something nearby." Before he had even finished speaking, there was the sudden sound of something flying through the air, and Liu Sang instantly blocked my chest with his hand. A crossbow bolt shot through his palm and pierced my chest.


    I immediately looked in the direction the arrow hade from, but sharp-eyed Baishe pushed us all behind some tree branches to hide. I could vaguely make out a man leaning against a tree in the distance, smoking a cigarette and leisurely setting up a second bolt.


    Liu Sang was shouting in pain as Baishe whispered to us, "Fuck, its Jiang Zi Suan." My clothes were smeared with the blood that was pouring out of my chest, so I nced down at my heart. It took two or three seconds before all my hair stood on end. I frantically tore open my clothes and saw that the arrow was finger-deep in my chest and appeared to be stuck on my ribs. Liu Sangs hand had slowed the arrow down; otherwise, my heart wouldve definitely been pierced.


    I pulled the arrow out and Kan Jian looked at my chest while asking me, "Boss, should we kill him?"


    I thought of Bai Haotian and shook my head. Kan Jian poked his head out from our hiding spot to take a look, but the second bolt immediately came flying over. He shrank back right as the bolt stabbed the tree behind him. Kan Jian pulled out a red rubber band from his belt, slowly buckled it on the slingshot, and then pulled out more than a dozen irregr mud balls. "Then Ill blind him." With that said, he suddenly stretched to the side and flicked the rubber band with his fingers like he was ying the piano. Those dozen mud balls were all shot out in an instant.


    As they circled through the air and turned in a perfect short arc, there immediately came a series of dodging sounds. Kan Jian drew his crossbow slingshot from his waist and tore off the bolt that had been shot into the tree just now. But just as he pulled it all the way back and was ready to shoot, he stuck his head out to take a look and was suddenly hit by something. The arrow shot out crookedly and fell into the valley below. Then, Jiang Zi Suan jumped out from behind the tree and kicked Kan Jian towards the cliff.


    He had apparently rushed over directly after his sniper attack, not intending on a sniper battle at all. He was definitely a master who was willing to take risks.


    Kan Jian grabbed a branch on the side to prevent himself from falling. Jiang Zi Suan was holding his crossbow in one hand and wanted to fire a bolt into Kan Jian''s throat, but I immediately kicked the crossbow. The bolt shot past Kan Jian''s neck. Kan Jian rolled away and moved to grab him by the balls, but missed. Jiang Zi Suan grabbed me directly and the two of us tumbled into the bushes under the tree.


    ****


    <strong><em>We were robbed in the drama I tell you! Robbed! First it was Xiao Hua being all calcting in the tulou and now it''s sweet Kan Jian being badass.</em></strong> o(TT)o


    <strong><em>On another note, my sister has requested my presence at theke this weekend (and I need to steal some ground beef from my parents lol), so there probably won''t be another update til Monday. I feel the teeniest, tiniest bit bad leaving you on such a cliffhanger so I might try to do the next chapterter, might not. Depends on how things go. Til next time~ </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 176

    Book 1: Chapter 176


    Countless spores rushed up in an instant. I held my breath, kicked Jiang Zi Suan away, and climbed up the tree again. I hadnt climbed more than two steps before he grabbed me by the waist and shoved me to the ground again.


    Fortunately, the fungi under this tree werent very denseprobably because of the strong sunshine near the cliffbut Jiang Zi Suan wrapped his arm around my neck, grabbed a handful of them, and moved to stuff them into my mouth.


    I was evenly covered in mud, so everything was fine except for the burning pain in my lungs and eyes. Upon seeing him getting ready to stuff the fungi into my mouth, I turned my head with all of my strength and swallowed a mouthful of mud. The p caught me on my ear instead. I turned my head and spat the mouthful of mud right into his face like a fountain.


    He immediately blocked it with his hand, so I quickly grabbed him by the balls and pinched and twisted with all my strength. Jiang Zi Suan screamed and rolled away, constantly rubbing his mud-covered eyes.


    I picked up another handful of mud from the ground and threw it directly into his face again. My mouth felt like it was burning, which meant that the spores were probably on the muds surface and were starting to burn my oral mucosa.


    "Water!" I yelled at Baishe. He threw me the canteen and I immediately rinsed my mouth out. Kang Jian was in the tree and sent a slingshot full of mud balls straight at Jiang Zi Suan. I thought Jiang Zi Suan would be hit for sureKan Jian''s slingshot could crack his skull at this distancebut I didn''t expect Jiang Zi Suan to directly catch the mud balls with his hands and rush to the edge of the cliff.


    "Hit his legs!" I cried out. The air under the tree felt like it had been soaked in chili peppers, and my lungs burned with every breath I took. I held my breath and watched Kan Jian shoot three mud balls in a row, but Jiang Zi Suan dodged them all. This guy was still wiping his eyes, but there were no obstacles to block his sprint through the forest and he soon climbed a tree.


    I stretched my hand out and Baishe helped pull me up the tree. Kan Jian had already snagged the crossbow and put a bolt on it, but I stopped him.


    "Itll probably take his eyes a while to recover. He still has Bai Haotian, so itll be problematic if hes killed here. As I was speaking, that Jiang Zi Suan soon ran away and disappeared. I looked at Liu Sang, "Are you all right?"


    Liu Sang looked at his hand, grimaced in pain, and then said stiffly, "Youll have to pay more for fucking injuries. Wounds from this kind of work are bound to leave scars. You fucking owe me your life now. Ill definitely publicize it when I get out of here."


    <em>I owe my life to a lot of people</em>, I said to myself. I washed the mud off of my hands with the water in the canteen, took out the boiled mud from my Hundred Treasures Bag, and reapplied it to my body as Baishe got ready to dress Liu Sangs wound.


    Liu Sang sneered at me, "You bastard, there are even people ambushing you in this kind of ce. Do you think its good for people to be with you?"


    I took the bandage from Baishe''s hand, grabbed Liu Sang''s hand, and squeezed it hard. His wound immediately started bleeding heavily. I washed it with the canteen water, but still didn''t bandage it. "You''re hiding something from me, I said to him. Hurry up and say it."


    Liu Sang screamed in pain and tried to p my hand away, "You fucking ingrate! I saved you!"


    "You and this Jiang Zi Suan seem to have an unusual rtionship," I said coldly. "He couldnt see when he was running just now, but he could still hear. This guys ears are as good as your ears, right? It definitely isnt a coincidence."


    Liu Sang twisted his hand, grabbed the bandage from my hand, and dressed the wound himself. I gave Kan Jian a look, and he pulled his slingshot out.


    "Wevee to this point. What can''t be said? I asked. "You didn''t just save me earlier. You also led this man here. You dont want me to die, but what exactly do you have nned? As I spoke, I looked at Liu Sang''s pocket. His hand was often in his pocket, so I suspected that there was a sound-making device or something in it that always kept Jiang Zi Suan informed of our position.


    I had realized that something was wrong with Liu Sang''s actions just now. Based on the distance between the crossbow and bolt, there was no way to prevent it at all. Not to mention there was no way to know that the bolt was aimed at my heart, but there wouldnt be enough time to raise your hand to block it.


    Liu Sang knew what the other party was going to do in an instant, which showed that he knew the others habits.


    In addition, Liu Sang''s ears were so good that he mustve known Jiang Zi Suan was there before he drew his bow. But when he warned us, Jiang Zi Suan was already too close.


    Liu Sang hurriedly wrapped his wound and looked up at me. "Maybe I thought youre not as hateful as before. Youre still alive, so youve clearly won me over. But youre right. I have a rtionship with this person, but the rtionship has nothing to do with you.


    Kan Jian went up and wanted to hit Liu Sang, but I suddenly heard Jiang Zi Suan shouting in the distance, "Wu Xie,e out and have a look!"


    I immediately searched for the sound and saw Jiang Zi Suan carrying Bai Haotian to the cliff in the distance.


    "Where the fuck are you?!" I immediately replied while gesturing to Kan Jian behind me. Kan Jian instantly went down the tree, making his way over secretly without an ounce of hesitation.


    Jiang Zi Suan scolded, "You blinded me, Wu Xie. I didn''t want to do this, but you have to learn a lesson." With that said, he instantly threw Bai Haotian off of the cliff.


    Bai Haotian shouted, "Little Master Three!"


    As she fell straight down into the valley, my mind buzzed and all the blood rushed up to my head.


    ****


    <strong><em>I swear to God I''m not doing this on purpose lol. I left you at one cliffhanger Thursday, only to leave you at an even bigger one today. I''ll see if I can get another one out tomorrow. Today''s no good since we''re going to fish and shoot guns. Happy Saturday! </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 177

    Book 1: Chapter 177


    At that moment, time moved so slow that I couldn''t understand what was happening even as Kan Jian jumped off of the cliff.


    I really wanted to kill Jiang Zi Suan from the bottom of my heart. In retrospect, if I had a way to kill him from this distance, I wouldve really done it.


    Jiang Zi Suan wasnt crazy and instantly returned to the forest and disappeared. As we slid down the tree, it was like my brain wasnt registering my emotions. I couldnt feel anything. I wasnt afraid, I didnt panic, nor did I copse. But my mind wasnt clear, either. Instead of immediately rushing over, we carefully but quickly walked past tree by tree.


    I was confident that Jiang Zi Suan''s eyes would never recover, but I was afraid that his ears were strong enough topensate for the loss. After taking a few steps, Liu Sang began to run, but I quickly grabbed him.


    "He ran away, he said to me. He just used this to dy us. Take a look. Liu Sang could tell that I didnt believe him and added, "Then just use me as a shield, ok?"


    I didnt have any objections to this, so I picked him up and dragged him all the way to the edge of the cliff. After looking down, I realized why Kan Jian had jumped after Bai Haotian.


    He had put the paraglider in his bag earlier and pulled it out at this time. He hadnt been able to fold the paragliders sail earlier, so it didn''t openpletely, but when he jumped down from the cliff, the rope and sail hed pulled out hung directly on the edge of the rock. Liu Sang wanted to shout, but I stopped him. I had already seen Kan Jian below. He had actually fallen quite far, but I could still make him out from this distance. He was holding something in his hand that looked to be a person.


    I still didnt dare rx. The edges of the cliff protrusions here were very sharp, so even if Bai Haotian had been caught, she might have still been killed long ago.


    Kan Jian didn''t say a word. <em>This boy may look silly, but in fact, his mind is clear. He doesn''t know what the situation above is like, so hed rather keep quiet</em>, I thought to myself.


    I whispered to Baishe, "The n remains unchanged. Well go down now."


    I tied the rope to a nearby tree, threw it down, and then pushed Liu Sang, who raised his hands and said, "I can''t climb ropes."


    "You dont need to climb when youre going down," I said as I fastened the safety buckle for him, did it for myself, and then dragged him over and slid down the rope.


    We quietly slid towards the paragliders position on the cliff. I whistled a few times and saw Kan Jian move below, so I slid to his position and saw him holding Bai Haotian with one hand. She wasnt moving, and I didn''t know whether she was alive or dead.


    I looked at Kan Jian and noticed that his face was full of tears, his mouth was set in a crooked line, and his nose was runny. He mustve been so terrified that he started crying. "Boss, I can''t do this job. Its too fucking scary. I promised my aunt that Id get a girlfriend this year."


    "You did better than me. Ill find you a girlfriend. I saw that half of Kan Jian''s body was covered in blood, which was a result of all of his festering wounds from before getting scraped open on the cliff when he jumped down. The cliff was covered in fungi, so foam started appearing on his wounds.


    I went down and tied a safety rope to Bai Haotian before buckling it to my own safety rope and then going up again. I then took out the clean mud and re-applied it to Kan Jians skin. He clenched his jaw in pain and his whole body twitched. He immediately let go of Bai Haotian and the three of us hung on the rope, which caused it to tighten instantaneously.


    I took Bai Haotian''s pulse and was relieved to find that she was still alive.


    I also put mud on her, by which time the mud in my bag was almost depleted. Kan Jian said, "Boss, who are you kidding? Youre still a bachelor."


    I asked him to find a foothold so Baishe could drop the rope down as nned.


    After a short two-minute rest, I took Liu Sang and Bai Haotian and continued down. The rope wasnt long enough, so I found a few footholds and put Bai Haotian on my back. I then unfastened my safety buckle, jumped quickly with my bare hands, and fell to the bottom of the valley. As soon as Inded, I immediately felt suffocated.


    I tried to slow my breathing down, but found that I couldnt. My throat hurt so much that it felt like it was on fire.


    Liu Sang followed me down and instantly choked as well.


    Then, I found that it was hard to open my eyes and I couldnt see anything at all. Even my eyes felt like they were in severe pain.


    At this time, my mind seemed to stutter as a thought immediately popped into my head.


    I had originally thought that the poisonous gas below was strong, but we could at least climb a tree within a minute or two. What I didn''t realize was that the poisonous gas below was directly fatal. We fell to the ground as soon as wended.


    This was a huge miscalction. I clenched my teeth, got up, and took two steps towards the nearest tree. My nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and lips all felt like they were beginning to melt. I wanted tough bitterly, but my mouth was full of blood.


    At the moment my vision started to go dark, I saw two wild men covered in fur rushing out of the fog. They were carrying something like sacks, which they used to cover us.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh ho, I think we all know who these mysterious men are. Here are some pics of cute, baby Max and theke to tide you over until tomorrow (Sidenote, I suck at fishing. I literally caught everything but fish. Rocks, trees, twigs, you name it. What can I say? It''s a gift ahahahaha)</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 178

    Book 1: Chapter 178


    I was in a daze as we were dragged away. When the "sack" was eventually torn off, I felt my clothes quickly get cut off, and then a warm liquid was poured over my face and body.


    My whole body was covered in wounds, so it was reasonable to say that I would start convulsing when a strange liquid was poured on them. But after the liquid was poured on, it actually felt warm and itchy. Then my eyes were openedeverything was blurry and I couldn''t see anything clearly and the liquid was poured directly onto them.


    I couldnt hear any sounds except for the violent beating of my heart, and even my nose had no sense of smell. When the liquid was poured onto my face, I felt it entering my mouth and found that it was very salty.


    This warm feeling was sofortable that I slowly lost consciousness and passed out.


    When I woke up again, the first thing I felt was that my whole body was covered in a film, and my skin seemed to be so dry and cracked that it felt taut. My eyes werepletely sealed shut and I couldnt open them no matter how hard I tried. I tried to lift my hands, but found that I couldnt. I gradually realized that there were a lot of heavy objects on my body that were pressing against my joints and keeping me immobile. I wanted to talk, but found that my lips were covered as well. But I could hear some noises in my ears.


    I was wrapped so heavily that I couldn''t move even if I wanted to cough. At this time, I heard a voice say, "Don''t move."


    I was stunned. I couldn''t hear the two words clearly because they were said too fast, but it seemed to be Poker-Faces voice. I immediately became excited, but the other person pressed their hand on my neck for a few seconds. With the blood flow to my brain blocked, I quickly fell into aa again.


    <em>Fuck, it''s Poker-Face. Hes the only one who likes to use this technique.</em> I didn''t even get to finish that thought before I fell into darkness again.


    When I woke up again, I was still in the same situation. I still couldn''t move, but I had learned my lesson this time. After waking up a little bit, I didn''t make any drastic moves for fear that I would be knocked out again. I could only move one finger, so I used it to tap a short message in our secret code.


    "Poker-Face, is that you?"


    There was no sound around me. I knocked for a long time, but no one answered me. Instead, I heard someone singing in the distance, "Let''s pucker those red lips andugh giddily as we fuck. We''ll attack the brothel owners all over the world." (1)


    I took a deep breath and found that all the tension in my body seemed to rx a little. I tried hard to open my mouth, but at this time, I heard someone humming a little song as they came over. After listening for a long time, I found that the person was singing a song from My Fair Princess. Based on the sounds, it was no doubt ck sses. He was eating something, so his words sounded distorted whenever he sang.


    I used all of my strength to raise my finger, at which point he hummed and came over, "Apprentice, are you awake?"


    I lifted it even harder and ck sses patted me, "Don''t move, dont move. You''re not well. Do you want to take a shit? Go ahead, theres a hole under your ass."


    <em>Fucking hell</em>(2)<em>, this is so shameful and humiliating</em>. I felt around for a moment and sure enough, there was a hole under my ass. This was the same fucking thing ve ships did back in the day.


    When I got agitated, ck sses shouted, "Calm down, calm down! If you dont want your wounds to open again, just calm down! Otherwise, I''ll hit your balls!"


    I immediately stopped moving and listened to what ck sses had to say. "Now, all the wounds on your body are coated with something. If you keep it on for a few more days, Ill let you out. Let me tell you, if we didnt handle it in time, your body would be covered in fungi. You have to keep your eyes and mouth shut right now and let your wounds heal. Since the new flesh hasnt grown well, youll be covered in scars if we take the coating off now. You wont be called one of the four beauties of Wushanju anymore." (3)


    <em>Youre an idiot</em>, I said to myself. <em>Who are the three <em>other</em></em><em>beauties, and why dont I know about it?</em>


    ck sses continued, "Youre covered in Little Brother''s blood. He doesn''t have that much blood to give you, so please stop." I heard the sound of crackling wood and realized that there was probably a bonfire nearby. "You still have good ideas and were able to find a way, but I didn''t expect you to bring these two losers. Theres not enough food."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: ck sses made a parody of the theme song from the 1998 Chinese drama My Fair Princess. The song is called When (). It was a famous song since the drama was extremely popr. ck sses changed the chorus while the original lyrics of the chorus were, Lets apany each other and live freely. Lets run wildly and enjoy all the beautiful things in the world. Link to the song here (the chorus starts at 1:28).


    (2) Wu Xie really used the transcribed version of a Korean swearword that Chineseizens havemonly used. Its axiba () for those of you that care.


    (3) Apparently the Chinese fans have decided the four beauties are Wu Xie, Xiao Hua, ck sses, and Poker-face. (I was going off of this).


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry, I was shooting for 2 chapters tonight but got bogged down trying to find that stupid fucking song. On the bright side, I got Tiffany''s 2 extras and Yvette''s "Thousand Faces" chapter out earlier so I''m all caught up now (they were productive this weekend while I was getting sunburned. My nose looks like Rudolph and I have coon eyes from my sses lol) </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 179

    Book 1: Chapter 179


    Five days passed by in a daze. Many things happened during this time, but I dont want to mention them again. When I sat by the campfire and looked at the people in front of me, I experienced an inexplicable mix of feelings. When people get older, they always say its difficult to make new friends. They me it on getting old, but this isnt actually the case. People have the ability tomunicate at any time, but their energy is limited. When youre in your thirties, you have enough friends. Any more than that and it really bes unbearable. Old friends know your bottom line, what youll say next, and what youll sing when youre drunk, so theres always azy and rxed feeling when you''re around them.


    I thought this was what my so-called mixed feelings were like.


    The bonfire was very warm. We were in an underground space simr to the ones we had seen before. Even though the bonfire was warm, it didnt smell good at all. We were on the second floor of this underground bunker, and it was clear to see why there was a need for two floors.


    You would have to put on protective clothing made from dry, leafy branches and mud before leaving this floor, going up to the next floor, and then going outside. When the entrance was opened, an influx of poisonous gas would enter the first floor and a small amount would mix into the soil there.


    Every random detail made sense now, and I realized that what Grandpa had said before was right. Even though things seemed superfluous, there was actually a motive behind them.


    Poker-Face was very weak and had been leaning against the wall for a while now. I looked at him, but he was looking at the ground, almost motionless. I wanted to talk to him, but ck sses stopped me and said, "Let him sleep. He wont be able to recover in such a short amount of time."


    Liu Sang recovered two days after me but still couldn''t speak for a while. As it turned out, using the blood and mud scraped from my body wasn''t as effective as Poker-Face''s fresh blood. Bai Haotian had only been exposed to the poisonous gas for a short time, so she woke up quickly. The feeling when we finally met again was too indescribable, but I knew one thing: all my impatience and anxiety had disappeared.


    When ck sses told me everything that had happened to them, I sighed in my heart. If you traveled a certain distance in the calling spring, your skin would start to burn. Poisonous gas filled the narrow calling spring, and many people soon began to lose their sight. The countless bloody marks were left by Poker-Face when he put his own blood in the others eyes. He was hoping to at least keep them from going blind, but almost all of them died in the end.


    ck sses carried goggles with him because of his special circumstances, so he dodged a bullet.


    They tried to dive to the bottom of the calling spring, but encountered the underground rivers backflow. At that time, they were faced with the situation that they would be poisoned if they entered the thunder valley, drowned if they stayed in the calling spring, and suffocated if they didn''t move.


    I didn''t expect Poker-Faces blood to have this kind of function. After the blood and mud was peeled off, my skin actually started to recover pretty well. Almost my whole outeryer of skin fell off and the new tender flesh was like healed skin after a sunburn. Even though it was inevitable that some scars would be left on my neck, I just didnt care anymore.


    In addition, arge amount of hair fell off and left different degrees of bald spots on my head, so I shaved it. I had dyed my hair ck when I pretended to be Jiang Zi Suan before, so it would be good to let it grow out again.


    Liu Sang and Bai Haotian also shaved their heads. Poker-Face and ck sses mustve shaved their hair before, but it had grown out now. I had never seen their hair so short before, and now they looked like two college students.


    We exchanged information, but the things they had experienced were veryplicated, so we couldn''t finish discussing everything here. ck sses kept sighing regretfully. They knew that there were two roads leading to Thunder City, so they left marks because they were afraid that something would happen if I followed after them. In the end, they chose the entrance to the calling spring.


    "It''s great that youre here," ck sses said. "The two of us have been to many evil and sinister ces before, but this is the strangest of them all." He nced at Poker-Face, "Since youvee, our n can be implemented now. Originally, the two of us couldnt do anything at all."


    "Wheres Thunder City? Does such a ce really exist?" Bai Haotian quietly asked.


    ck sses pointed above his head, "Its in the poisonous fog. We went to see it once."


    "What''s it like?"


    "I can''t say. You have to see it with your own eyes. I''ve never seen anything like it."


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m not done for the day, but this poll was at the end of the raws so I thought it might be fun to see what everyone thinks.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 180

    Book 1: Chapter 180


    Bai Haotian and I tidied up the cramped underground space a little bit. When it came to mud, the most important thing was to dry the ground. Drying was equal to twice thefort, after all. Once that was done, I crouched by the bonfire with ck sses and looked over my wounds very carefully. I also told him about the previous events and introduced him to Bai Haotian and Liu Sang.


    Liu Sang seemed to know a lot about ck sses. I overheard him say that ck sses and Poker-Face had been working together for a while before I ever met Poker-Face. It seemed that they were both working under Chen Pi Ah Si at the time, and since one was blind and one was mute, there were many stories.


    Sometimes when I saw ck sses and Poker-Face together, I felt kind of envious and couldnt help thinking that they were the same type of people. I figured ck sses definitely knew how to get along with Poker-Face better than I did.


    ck sses quietly listened as I told him everything that had happened. When I was done, he remained silent and Poker-Face opened his eyes. None of us took the lead in discussing this matter, so ck sses turned the discussion to Thunder City instead.


    "In this environment, have you ever gone out to see it?" Liu Sang suddenly asked.


    ck sses ignored him and kind of half-smiled. He had just told me that Id have to see it with my own eyes.


    I didn''t know what to say, and Liu Sang didn''t speak either. After watching the bonfire for a few minutes, I finally worked up the courage to break the stalemate and asked, "Do you think theres a problem? Like with the whole thing?"


    "Of course theres a problem." ck sses looked at me with that faint smile on his face. "At present, this whole thing seems to be designed to kill us all." He put a stone on the ground. "In fact, if you didnt know the situation in this valley and tried to parachute down, climb down, ore in through the calling spring, youd definitely die. No one can endure for more than fifteen minutes, and the two paths leading here are dead ends. In other words, from the very beginning, the people who left these two paths wanted those who came in to die."


    He wrote an exnation under the stone, "Xie Yuhua didn''t stay outside, but hid in the so-called Jiao family''s team, which shows that he realized the great danger. His brain is clearly better than ours. He would rather hide in Jiao''s team than stay in his own team, which indicates that the dangeres from outside of Jiaos team."


    I touched my chin. I had never thought about this possibility.


    He put down three more stones and wrote the words "Xie, ck, and Zhang" below before saying, "Were basically dead. The only chance we can get out of here is when it rains, because the rain causes the poisonous fog to disperse. We can move then, but after the rain stops, the poisonous gas willpletely diffuse and permeate the whole valley. Unless we can fly, well have no time to escape. We need to focus on saving ourselves now. After that, we can make use of our only advantagetimeand see if we can minimize the loss."


    He ced another stone down and wrote the word Wang. "Fatty is our key now. Hes the only free agent, but his life and death are uncertain right now. Based on the whole situation, the core members of the strongest generation of the Mystic Nines system are all here. There are four people whose life and death are uncertain, and one of them is the smartest and also very passive. Tell me, when we were having the most difficult time back then, did we ever get pressured like this?"


    "Theres definitely a master pulling the strings from behind the scenes." ck sses continued to look at me, "But were in luck. Mr. Zhang here knows how to deal with this poisonous gas. Otherwise, everyone in this room wouldve been dead long ago."


    I took a deep breath and thought, <em>if what ck sses said is true, then why didn''t any of us prodigies notice a w? Even if I didn''t find it, Xiao Hua shouldve been able to.</em>


    During the whole process, what kept us from thinking in that direction?


    Uncle Two.


    ck sses flipped the burned logs in the bonfire, making the light reflected in his sunsses flicker. I shook my head. "You doubt my Uncle Two, but whats his motive?"


    "He tried desperately to stop you froming, but I dont think he took extreme measures."


    The mes burned up a piece of wood and it snapped with a shower of sparks. "Someones watching him do this, ck sses said. Your Uncle Two may have been coerced into ying this game."

 Book 1: Chapter 181

    Book 1: Chapter 181


    In the past ten years or so, there was a question lingering in my heart that wasnt all that important. Well, it wasnt important enough to talk about, but I always thought that there was something fishy about it.


    Uncle Two''s position in the Nine Gates system was very strange. He had a great amount of power, but he didnt appear in the core interests. I always thought that this was the smartest ce for him. He managed Warehouse Eleven and the ounts, but he never got involved in the real business. As a result, he retained a lot of power but didnt make people jealous.


    To a certain extent, Uncle Two helped people. Although he was very expensive, using money to solve things in the Nine Gates was already considered a kind of merit.


    Throughout my childhood, I always heard bad things about Uncle Three and good things about Uncle Two. I rarely saw Uncle Two fail. He ran the family steadily, and even with the major instabilities Uncle Three had caused, Uncle Two could still make the Wu family live peacefully with the other eight families. I had also heard people say that all of the Nine Gates declining branches and institutions eventually became Uncle Twos people, much like the Bai family.


    It was hard to say whether Uncle Two was taking advantage of the decline, or if he was making the Nine Gates die slowly and giving everyone a chance to turn around.


    But either way, such a person should be the master nner of the huge vortex from before. In terms of power and strategy, Uncle Two was unparalleled in the Nine Gates.


    But this wasnt actually the case. The person who really walked in the middle of the vortex was Uncle Three.


    I had thought this way before. Uncle Two was a wise man from the very beginning, and there wasn''t anyone who thought he wasnt smart. From this point of view, he lost the possibility of being a master nner. For example, the second male lead in a mystery novel couldnt be the murderer, because if the readers were familiar with the routine, then they would suspect him first.


    Therefore, Uncle Three, who looked the least intelligent and had the most problems, was the most suitable candidate.


    But who could threaten Uncle Two?


    In addition, Uncle Two didnt need such aplicated situation to move us, right? With his position and abilities, he could quietly kill these people little by little without batting an eye.


    Although this game was very tough, there was a chance that it would work. But it was still a little toorge-scale.


    I looked at Poker-Face, and he looked at me.


    <em>Did you really find out by chance that your blood can resist the poison here? Did Uncle Two know and thats why you were included in his scheme? Or, did he tell you beforehand? There were two paths, but you just happened to be right under the cliff. Is it really a coincidence?</em>


    I looked at Liu Sang again, <em>and what about you? Your appearance here is very strange. Do you know something?</em>


    <em>Its only us here now, so it should be rtively private. Why arent you talking?</em>


    I didnt want to think of Uncle Two as a bad person. In fact, I was always reluctant to. If he really was a bad person, then I figured this situation was a little too big to handle.


    But if Uncle Two was coerced and couldnt tell us clearly what he wanted to do when he nned to fight back, then he would warn us with all kinds of details. He would go to extremes to give us details warning us that the game was set up to kill us, and to let us know what had happened. That way, we could cooperate with his n.


    He wanted to use this n meant to kill us tomunicate with us and let us cooperate with him to fight back.


    I looked at Liu Sang, ck sses, and Poker-Face, suddenly feeling a little touched. <em>Shit, is it possible that you understood and rized it long ago? You just couldnt say anything because you didnt know what tasks Uncle Two assigned to you or what the others details were.</em>


    Uncle Two asked each of us to do what we should do. Poker-Face was responsible for keeping us alive, but what was ck sses responsible for? And Liu Sang? Xiao Hua? Me? Bai Haotian?


    I felt goose bumps break out all over my body and said, "I think we should die a good death. We have to die."

 Book 1: Chapter 182

    Book 1: Chapter 182


    There was silence in this small space for a while and the atmosphere became very subtle.


    No one raised any objections, was surprised, or wondered what I was talking about. Everyone was silent after they heard me speak.


    It showed that they understood, but I couldnt figure out what they were thinking. Did they think I didnt believe that Uncle Two was running things behind the scenes, so I came up with a flimsy excuse for him? Or did they have the same idea as me, but couldnt discuss it directly in such a crowded environment for fear of destroying Uncle Two''s n?


    This silence made my heart beat very fast, but it wasnt out of nervousness. It was an indescribable excitement. This was the subtlety of Uncle Twos game. The key point of the game was that a possibility existed without any theoretical support, but our intuition still started to lean towards it anyways.


    Everyone had their own ulterior motives for being here, but Bai Haotian was the only one who looked a little panicked and awkward. She suddenly went from being an outsider to someone who was squeezed into a small space with so many legendary characters. Shortly before that, she lost her job, fought a battle, got kidnapped, and was then thrown off of a cliff that was highly toxic. She was definitely in the same state of mind I was in so very long ago: life was like a roller coaster that had done more than twenty loops. People were bound to throw up no matter how calm they were.


    The Scarsong apaniment (1) seemed to be ringing in my ears, and everyone''s eyes looked erratic as the music yed.


    At this time, Uncle Two was very close to how the old Mystic Nine was back in the old days. Indeed, exploiting human nature to such an extent was utterly indescribable.


    I asked myself several timeseven I didn''t even believe myselfif I was making up excuses for Uncle Two, but I finally came to a conclusion. I also knew that no one else coulde to this conclusion, either. I believed that Uncle Two was protecting us, because I knew him better and I also knew that this terrible situation wasnt in line with his minimalist style.


    And such a strange game couldnt only rely on guesses. When Uncle Two wanted to kill us, he would secretly give us a clue that had insights into his real thoughts. This clue would be very well hidden, so it wouldnt be any kind of secret code. But it would have to be something that many people who knew him well would know that he would never do.


    For example, in my eyes, this veryplicated game was effective butcked Uncle Twos typical style. He could obviously kill us more easily, but he didn''t. It was like insisting on driving in a zigzag when you were on a straight track. People who didnt know Uncle Two wouldnt be able to find it.


    In that case, I needed to look back over everything that had happened before. What was his purpose in sending me to Warehouse Eleven? What was Bai Haotians purpose? Uncle Two kept stopping me froming, but I ended uping anyways. And his resistance changed my team''sposition.


    I looked at Bai Haotian. Was this girl a key? I then looked at Liu Sang again. In fact, from a variety of logical standpoints, was it inevitable that all of these people would appear at the bottom of this valley? We couldn''t enter the calling spring, and finally entered the valley from here. Moreover, ck sses and Poker-Face just so happened to be at the bottom of the valley. Was it also inevitable?


    Based on this theory, some things had be clearer and Xiao Hua should be in the safest position. He had probably discovered Uncle Twos clues and sorted them out earlier than me. He was a yer who was aware of the situation, so I needed to study his actions very carefully. That way, I might be able to deduce a lot of possibilities.


    Fatty was in a very dangerous situation right now, because he had deviated from Uncle Two''s n. ck sses and Poker-Face were here, probably to save us. This meant that the second path was the one Uncle Two wanted us to take, but Fatty had taken the first path, so it would be very dangerous.


    All of us here should be on the right track. Jiang Zi Suans appearance mustve been a bug in the whole process. It was something Uncle Two didn''t expect, but if I were in his shoes, I would also try to get rid of Jiang Zi Suan and see how things were going.


    I looked at Bai Haotian again. My instincts were telling me that my role was to bring her here.


    I still didnt see anyone talking, so I asked ck sses, "By the way, how did you know that we woulde down from the cliff?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think its this one. Its apparently adapted from the theme song to the 1978 movie Halloween

 Book 1: Chapter 183

    Book 1: Chapter 183


    ck sses said slowly, "With the second route, the royal poinciana is just above the cliff. If you look carefully, the cliff at this position isnt as high as other areas. Moreover, people arent in the habit of looking around again, so theyd start climbing near the bottom of the royal poinciana."


    It didnt sound like an inevitable choice, but I felt that ck sses answer was a little perfunctory. This wasnt the real reason.


    So, was ck sses "role" to wait for us at this position?


    Leaving aside all the unexpected events, I figured Uncle Two wanted me to bring as many people down as possible. Jiang Zi Suan and Xiao Hua meeting Boss Jiao may all be considered unexpected events, so only our ragtag group made it down here in the end. But at this time, we had no other choice but to continue.


    I didn''t ask any more questions, because I knew that if everyone had the same mentality as me, then we couldnt talk about Uncle Two''s scheme. That way, it eliminated the possibility that it would be revealed. In the end, we could only cooperate by tacit understanding. At this time, we had to discuss the topic directly and test each other before we couldmunicate.


    ck sses handed me a cup of hot water, and I said firmly, "No matter what, we have to save Fatty first. Then we can lead Boss Jiaos people here. Since theres poisonous gas in the calling spring and they also have to enter from there, they probably brought protective equipment. We have to use our advantages here to snatch the equipment."


    "They have protective equipment and were running around naked in poisonous gas. What are our advantages? Liu Sang asked weakly. Is it low IQ, so its not as painful to die?"


    "What about your fur clothes? I asked. They can resist gas, right?"


    ck sses shook his head andughed, "Nope! Sorry, they can onlyst for five minutes. We got all the food here when it rained. See? He moved one of the grass coverings aside, revealing a pile of fishying behind it. Hundreds of them had been strung on branches and preserved using smoke. "We dig a few holes in the ground when it rains heavily. The fishe in when the stream rises, and after the water recedes, the fish are easy to catch. The fish are delicious. Would you like some?"


    "So doesn''t this mean we''re trapped? What did you mean when you said that the n can be implemented now that Im here?" I asked him.


    ck sses looked at Bai Haotian, "Youre from the Bai family, correct? How long can you hold your breath?"


    Bai Haotian looked at him in horror and didn''t answer. "Just tell the truth, were not bad guys," ck sses said.


    "Not for a minute. I didn''t bring my bathing suit," Bai Haotian eventually replied.


    I interrupted ck sses, "Exin it clearly."


    ck sses used a stick to draw lines in the mud, "This is our position, this is the cliff, and this is the stream. We can reach the stream in five minutes. Theres an underground rest station fifteen hundred meters away from this stream. This rest station has a narrow underwater passage leading to it. I used ash from the fire to make a gas mask. That, added with my goggles, allows me to breathe in the water three times without dying. Since its a distance of fifteen hundred meters, you can only breath three times. You definitely cant breathe a fourth time with this kind of gas mask.


    "Can''t you make more?" I asked.


    "The problem is that you dont have time to rece it. You only have three chances to breathe. What I want to do is make a mud sack and put you in it. Well rush to the stream and throw you into the water. Then youll use those three breaths to swim to the next rest station, which is only three hundred meters away from the calling springs exit. Well teach you how to make these fur clothes so you can make them yourself and enter the calling spring. Theres a cement room in that ce that mustve been built by the spies back then. When we get there, Ill tell you the next phase of the n.


    I was a little baffled as I listened, but ck sses suddenly looked at me, "You also have something to do. If you two cooperate, we can get out of this predicament." He then looked at Liu Sang and added, "You only need to do one thing to cooperate with us: tell us when itll rain."


    ****


    <strong><em>So it looks like we agree with the Chinese fans that the four beauties are Poker-face, Wu Xie, Xiao Hua, and ck sses (in that order). I find it hrious that Brother Xiao Man is 2 votes away from knocking ck sses out of the top 4. I think some of you cheated and picked more than four. You know who you are </em></strong>( )

 Book 1: Chapter 184

    Book 1: Chapter 184


    After ck sses finished, the three of us looked at each other. None of us knew what he was talking about. After waiting for a while, Bai Haotian quietly said, "Ill never go into the water without a swimsuit."


    "My shorts are pretty big. I can cut a three-point style for you," ck sses said. "Ive lived alone for a long time and my hands are very skillful. What style do you want? Victoria''s Secret is more popr recently. I can even sew a hem for you."


    Bai Haotian shook her head firmly, "No!"


    ck sses looked at me and asked, "Who is this? She has no manners at all. My underwear was limited edition back in the day."


    <em>Have you ever been poor enough to sell in underwear?</em> I asked myself. <em>What was is called? ck sses Original Brand?</em>


    "Can you be more specific about what I need to do? I asked him. And what does Liu Sang need to do?"


    ck sses shook his head. "I can''t say what you have to do now, but I can guarantee that my n has a high sess rate."


    Bai Haotian grabbed my hand and said to ck sses, "If you dont make it clear, our Little Master Three won''t do it."


    We couldnt see ck sses eyes because of his sunsses, but he looked at Bai Haotian''s hand andughed. Poker-Face on the side suddenly sat up straight and ck sses looked back at him, a little dumbfounded.


    Liu Sang finally spoke up, "Master ck, the three of you have gone through so many life and death situations over the years that you all have a tacit understanding. Do you mean to say you dont think the two of us can be trusted?"


    Bai Haotian looked at Liu Sang, "You definitely cant be trusted. That guy told me when I was kidnapped that you were telling him Little Master Threes position the whole time." She then looked at ck sses, "The Bai family has been good friends with the Wu family for generations. Im now Little Master Threes apprentice, so hes recognized me. You can trust me."


    ck sses smiled and looked back at Poker-Face. "Just knock them both out, I said to ck sses. Fattys almost pickled cabbage by now. We dont have time to be sentimental."


    Actually, I already knew what trick ck sses was ying since he had taught me this skill before. He felt that something was off with one of these two people. Although Liu Sang''s previous actions were reasonable, they were still malicious. And what Bai Haotian said just now didnt sound problematic, but I didnt know what ck sses had discovered when we were unconscious.


    ck sses sighed and then suddenly rushed over and grabbed my neck. As he pretended to press on the back of it, I immediately acted like I had fainted. I heard Bai Haotian exim and ck sses immediately said, "Don''t panic. Hes not Wu Xie."


    ****


    <strong><em> Poker-Face over here about to smack Xiao Bai and be like "Hands off. That''s MY man" lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 185

    Book 1: Chapter 185


    As Iy on the dry ground, I heard Bai Haotian let out an exmation and ck sses say, "Don''t panic. Its normal that you wouldnt be able to tell."


    I listened to Bai Haotian move as if she were cowering in the cornershe must have been very confusedand Liu Sang cried out, "What are you doing?"


    ck sses said, "You all have probably heard some things about Wu Xie back in the day. In fact, when he came back that year, the Wu family always suspected that the one who returned wasnt really Wu Xie. They believe he was switched with a fake."


    "Does the Wu family eat shit? How could they possibly get this wrong?" Liu Sang asked. "But even if the Wu family made such a mistake, Little Brother is a member of the Zhang family. Hes very familiar with bone contraction, so do you honestly think he would make such a mistake? What kind of trick are you trying to pull? Stop messing around."


    ck sses paused for a few minutes and then said, "Well, you''re right. I''ll tell you the truth. The two of us are being coerced. We''re blocking people froming into this valley and killing however many show up. We must kill everyone except for Wu Xie."


    <em>ck sses is really good at bullshitting</em>, I thought to myself. <em>Since he uses the same tone when hes telling the truth and lying, it really makes people second-guess themselves.</em>


    But Liu Sang didn''t seem to believe him at all. "Then why bother saving us? If you had just left us alone, we wouldve died faster."


    "The person threatening us hasn''t contacted us for a long time. We dont know whats going on and are just waiting for his next instructions. I need to know if he sent you here to give us some news," ck sses said very sternly. Now, we need to check our code phrases to see if they match. If they do, you''ll know what Ive said isnt a lie and you can tell us what our next instructions are. If the codes dont match, then I''ll take care of you right away. You two are no match for me, so sorry in advance.


    Liu Sang didn''t answer. I couldn''t see his expression, but I figured he had to have a puzzled expression on his face.


    Then, ck sses suddenly said, "She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet (1). Please give the counter verse."


    Liu Sang still remained silent, so ck sses turned to face Bai Haotian in the corner, "Friends in the corner are also allowed to answer first. Our secret code has a total of eleven verses, so any one of them can be used for authentication."


    Still silence.


    ck sses said quietly, "Ill count down from three. Threewhen I reach one, Ill start killing so dont me me if youre innocenttwo"


    At this time, I didnt believe that ck sses'' words would actually work. First, I still trusted these two people a lot. Although they both had problems, it wasnt like they were big problems. Second, ck sses tone wasn''t serious at all, so no normal person would fall for it.


    But before ck sses said the next word, Liu Sang unexpectedly said in English, "But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears."


    ck sses pped his hands together, "Sure enough, why didn''t you say it from the start? Whats the situation right now? Weve been guarding this ce for so long. Why did it take you such a long time toe here?"


    "I wasnt aware that you two were also pieces in the game, Liu Sang said. But I didn''t expect you to be able to say the code phrase."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) This was spoken in English and taken from the poem Down By the Salley Gardens. Link here.

 Book 1: Chapter 186: Start Again

    Book 1: Chapter 186: Start Again


    Author''s shameless statement:


    Because I was drunk one day, I woke up the next day and found that I had deviated too far from the previous plot. I originally wanted to force it back on track, but a few dayster, I found that the plot was too far from the main setting. That meant that there were some irreversible changes to the plot, which changed the main action line of the story. When the plot progressed yesterday, it was impossible to turn back to the main story line and adhere to the consistent spirit of prioritizing quality. So with todays update, Ill jump back to the main story line directly. People may not understand it, but that doesn''t matter. You probably wouldnt have understood it anyways.


    In addition, I would like to tell everyone that because of the limited time and difficulty with editing thework serialization, the restart of this edition will definitely be revised into the second edition in the future. Old readers who are familiar with me know that the firstwork serialization of my novels is very different from the second refined edition, and even the second edition can be different from the final version of the physical book. Even good poems need to be proofread, and good texts need to be edited. I hope everyone can continue to have fun while reading repeatedly.


    Todays chapter is the beginning of the return to the main story line. Some of the interrupted parts will be deleted directly, and some will have to be supplemented with your own mind.


    <><><><><>


    Heavy rain fell in the valley, finally dispersing the poisonous gas. We all came out from the bunker, only to find that the air felt abnormally stuffy. There werent any birds in the woods, the wind blowing through the trees was missing, and everything looked a bit strange.


    As we continued moving forward, Fatty kept talking nonstop, wondering why such a ce hadnt been discovered until now. No matter where you went in the world, any so-called no-man''snd" deep in the mountains and forests was all fake. Travelers and backpackers had walked through them thousands of times. But this ce was full of poisonous gas, so if some people came here by mistake and died directly in the woods, then all kinds of rescue teams woulde and it would make headlines a hundred times over.


    I was also puzzled by this matter. The only exnation I coulde up with was that this ce wasnt usually like this.


    When we were in the west, Tamu-Tuo was called a city of rain because it would only appear when it rained. But that turned out to be utter nonsense. It didnt matter whether it rained or not, that thing was still there.


    But all the mysteries should be solved today. This valley wasnt that big and Thunder City should definitely be here.


    When we were in the bunker before, I saw countless bodies that belonged to the people who had listened to thunder in the past. People who seemed able to hear the secrets in the thunder would eventually be driven by the strange desire toe here. But when they got here, they all died. Was this ce a death trap? For example, God didnt want us to understand thunder, so he added a safety device in our brains. If anyone understood the secrets in the thunder, this device would be activated and people would automaticallye here to die.


    Then what about our group of people? We didn''t understand the thunder, but still came here to die. Did that mean we were eagerly helping to test whether the trap worked? Were we like a warranty?


    "Thunder City" was so mysterious that my heart beat wildly as I walked forward. I was especially afraid that there was nothing in the depths of the forest., but if there was something, what would it be? This excitement of the unknown made me breathless.


    We trudged through the woods for two hours and got soaked in the rain. Finally, I found that the trees in front of us had changed.


    These trees were tilted at varying degrees as if they had been hit by something, but they werent broken.


    As we passed through the area, I looked towards the middle of the forest first. There was a huge open space there that had a ten-meter-high mound of dirt piled on it. There were about six or seven of these mounds, and some sparse trees were growing on them.


    "Grave mound?" Fatty murmured. "This This It''s a big tomb. He looked at me, "Mr. Nave, it looks veryplete. This isnt Thunder City, this is Leigudun (1). Your Uncle Three wants us to inherit these graves." As he said that, he started to walk towards them.


    I frowned. I had never seen such aplete mound of soil before. Based on how the trees were growing on the graves, these mounds must have been here for quite a few years. There was so much rain here that the soil shouldve been washed away, but these mounds were veryplete.


    Fatty hit the mound with a shovel and it made a loud noise. After digging for a bit, I saw that there was bronze inside.


    "Whats this?" Fatty squatted down.


    ck sses went over, "This is the top of a tower. There are many towers buried under here." As he looked up at the mountains around us, I nced at Poker-Face and found that he was also looking at the mountains. ck sses looked at Poker-Face and then at me, "There are words written here. Come and take a look. If it is what I think it is, then this ce is really incredible."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Thank God for Tiffany lol. She said: In 1978, archeologists found Marquis Yi of Zeng''s tomb in Leigudun Community. A lot of artifacts were found (Wiki Link here). Fatty was making a joke because the lei in Leigudun is pronounced the same as thunder (lei) in Chinese.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok, so things have definitely taken a weird turn with the authors decision to just change things up. He didnt even re-write it like he did with the Southern Archives. And Fatty is magically out of the calling spring. I guess our imaginations are going to have to work overtime for a bit lol </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 187

    Book 1: Chapter 187


    I squatted down and saw a line engraved on the piece of bronze that read: Eastern Mahayana Golden Banner Ancestral Tower (1). It seemed to be rted to Buddhism, but I hadnt studied it all that deeply.


    I was waiting to hear what ck sses had to say, but Fatty spoke up before he could say anything, "Is this an ancestral tower of Eastern Mahayana?"


    "Do you know something about it?" I asked him.


    "Whats it say?" Fatty got excited and turned to ck sses, "Do you think this Eastern Mahayana is <em>that</em> Eastern Mahayana?"


    ck sses nodded, "It should be. Who would create such a fake?"


    Seeing my confused look, Fatty exined to me, "This was a huge cult during the Ming Dynasty. At that time, it was called the Eastern Mahayana Sect throughout the whole country. In Fujian, it was called the Jin Chuang Sect or Jin Tong Sect (2). In the very beginning, this cult was focused on alchemy and set up elixir towers deep in the mountains all over the country. During the Qing Dynasty and Republic period, it began to collect money and participate in politics. Later, most of them were wiped out, but the sect still exists in many ces."


    "In its heyday, the Jin Tong Sect conducted a lot of activities across the country and would set up headquarters that they called immortal mountains. Since Ancestral Tower is written here, it mustve been a veryrge venue for their activities. It looks like there are some towers and immortal pce halls buried underground here, ck sses added.


    "But what does that have to do with listening to thunder? I asked. Why do peoplee here after hearing thunder?"


    Everyone was silent, which made it obvious that they didn''t know. ck sses suddenlyughed, "Youre quite studious."


    "The Jin Tong Sect focused on alchemy and spells, with their ultimate goal being immortality, Fatty said. But the modern Jin Tong Sect seems to be doing cash loans." He seemed to realize that he had said something he shouldn''t, so he immediately changed the subject, "If you want to be immortal, you have to be struck by lightning and ovee the catastrophe. Look at the top of this bronze tower. Its probably meant to attract thunder."


    I sighed in my heart. <em>Fatty mustve borrowed from a loan shark recently</em>. Fortunately, I didnt have to worry about someone forcing him to pay back the money. As for the Jin Tong Sect, I also remembered some things at this time. I still had somemon sense, so I knew that the Jin Tong Sect was around during the Wanli period (3) of the Ming Dynasty when the smelting technology was very developed. The bronze on top of this tower was obviously not the bronze used at that time, but shouldve been from an earlier period.


    If Uncle Three and Yang Daguang had also been here, then it was very likely that the Song Dynasty murals in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb hade from here. Were these bronze towers from the Song Dynasty? If I remembered correctly, the Jin Tong Sect had been inextricably linked with the Luo and Mahayana Sects during the Northern Wei Dynasty. In particr, the Mahayana Sect in the Northern Wei Dynasty continued on until the Northern Song Dynasty (4), where it reached its peak. This sect had a few sayings about the Barren Ghost Mother that basically became the model forter cults.


    At this time, I had a sh of inspiration, but I didn''t say it aloud. During the Ming Dynasty, there was a Taoist priest named Dai Mingshuo (5) who wrote a strange book that seemed to be a mix between a novel and a record. In that book, he wrote about a ce called Wusheng Temple, which was said to be the ancestral home of the Barren Ghost Mother (6). It could only be seen when there was thunder in the sky. In other words, it only appeared when there was a p of thunder.


    The cults ancestral halls were always ratified, since it was impossible to build one directly. They would find some clues from legends that matched with some of the ancient temples, and if they could make reasonable stories out of them, they would repair the temples before publicizing them. The bronze here was very old, so were they ancient towers from the Song Dynasty that were discovered by the Jin Tong Sectter and renovated into ancestral towers where alchemy was performed?


    If so, then why did they choose this ce to renovate the ancestral towers? Did these ancient towers corrte with the natural phenomenon that urred when the poisonous fog dispersed after the thunderstorms here? Or did they have something to do with the legends of the Barren Ghost Mother?


    We would only know once we went in.


    Our group started looking around for any grave robbers tunnels. Fatty warned us that if there really were bronze towers underneath, then the structure under our feet was actually very fragile and we couldnt just blow it up randomly. I told him that he was the only one who would randomly throw explosives here, so he should just worry about himself.


    We were all experts, so it didnt take long to find the grave robbers tunnel. It was covered in woven cattail mats and hidden under some weeds. Fatty wanted to shove the mats aside, but ck sses suddenly said, "Wait, let''s discuss it first."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mahyna is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Its considered one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and was developed in India. Info here.


    (2) The pinyin stands for Golden Banner and Golden Child, respectively. I was only finding info on the Chinese Wikipedia page here. ording to this, its a sect that departed from the eastern "Great Vehicle" proliferation of Luoism in the 16th century and adopted features of the White Lotus tradition.


    (3) Wanli is the reign name of Ming emperor (1573-1619)


    (4) Northern Wei Dynasty was from 386-534 and the Northern Song Dynasty was from 960-1127


    (5) Idk about a Taoist priest, but I found this painter guy here that seems to fit the Ming Dynasty timeline. One of his paintings is on the rted objects tab if you want to check it out.


    (6) Wusheng () can mean barren or unborn.


    ****


    <strong><em>Tiffany''s starting on the "Mystic Nine 2" for us (all 14 chapters of it lol). The page is here if you''re interested and I went ahead and added it to the chart on the homepage. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 188

    Book 1: Chapter 188


    This team was full of problem children. Since we were friends, I was very familiar with their routines, but their behaviors and habits were all varied.


    Fatty was a naturalist and often said that he was a cat man. Iughed at him and said that if he was a cat, then he would be Garfield (1). But he actually was very simr to a cat. He wanted to eat whenever he saw food and escape whenever he saw danger. If he saw food and danger at the same time, he would see which one was the closest to him and deal with it first.


    But ck sses was a snake man. Even though he liked to mess around, you couldnt treat him like a fool. Whenever snakes are in danger, theyll spit out the food they just ate in order to stay at peak condition. In other words, cats like to mess around when theres danger because their reaction speed is fast enough. But snakes ce top priority on anything that registers as danger. ck sses definitely paid more attention than Fatty.


    Liu Sang was a meerkat, since staying alive and watching Poker-Face were his only life goals.


    So, when ck sses said that we should discuss it first, I could easily understand what everyone''s thoughts were. Fatty was already thinking about going down, while ck sses probably wanted to ask us to take some measures that Fatty thought were unnecessary. By the time ck sses looked up, Fatty was already untying the rope and saying to him, "Let''s hear what you have to say." But his hands were already reaching out for the grass cover.


    ck sses held his hand down. "This whole time, we havent been able to figure out what the historical system behind listening to thunder is. In fact, it''s hard for this group to hide these kinds of clues. The words Jin Tong Sect have never appeared before, but theyve suddenly appeared here now. I figure all those corpses we saw before were Jin Tong Sect disciples, but it''s hard to believe that no texts or rumors have been leaked out. Wu Xie, your Uncle Three experienced so many things in the past, and even you were able to find so many things about the Wang and Zhang families. But youve never heard your Uncle Three mention this kind of thing before. Dont you think its a bit odd?"


    Fatty nodded. "Thats why we should go down right now. Based on our experience, its better to just go down and take a look. Well be able toe up with more ideas. Of course, Im not saying we should be reckless."


    "Actually, beforeing here, Uncle Two asked me to check out a nearby vige, ck sses said to him. People in this vige have been mute for generations. I stayed there for a while, and I think I discovered something about the vige. Many generations ago, people in this vige thought that they had the ability to listen to thunder. They could talk when they were born, but after the baby heard thunder for the first time, they all became mute. The vigers thought it was God punishing them for being able to understand the thunder."


    Fatty pulled his hand free and looked up at the sky. "You mean to say that if you know the secret after listening to thunder, youll be mute?"


    "The situation in that vige is moreplicated than you can imagine, ck sses replied. But what I wanted to mention was that people in that vige will die suddenly if they go more than ten miles from the vige. Theyre trapped in that ce and be mute when they hear thunder. If the thunder itself has a protection mechanism that we dont know about, then we may be hurt if we learn the secrets in the thunder. So, if we go down now, we need to discuss it carefully. It wont be worth it if we all be mute."


    People couldn''t escape thunder. In fact, everyone would experience thunder some time in their life. I looked at Fatty. It was rare for him to be scared after hearing what ck sses had to say.


    "Why didn''t you say anything about that vige before?" I asked ck sses.


    He grinned and suddenly looked a little embarrassed, "Hey, it involves a private matter."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Garfield is an orange tabby from the famous Americanic strip. Info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 189

    Book 1: Chapter 189


    Under my questioning, ck sses reluctantly talked about what had happened in that vige. There hadnt been a chance to talk with him about Uncle Twos ns, so we exchanged a few sentences.


    Time was short and Fatty kept scratching his head the whole time, so the chat wasnt very detailed. Basically, when Uncle Two investigated the local folk customs, he found a vige in southern Fujian where the vigers had a disability that ran for several generations. They checked the water and soil, but couldnt figure out what the cause was. Even the local government''s attempt to relocate them was fruitless. Since the vige was located at several possible centers of the South Sea king''s tomb that Uncle Two had investigated, he hired ck sses to go there and investigate.


    When ck sses went there, he met a team who was filming a TV documentary. He had a few conflicts with them, but I didnt know the specifics since he didnt borate on this part. All he would say was that the leader of the documentary team was a woman who didnt like him very much. ck sses found a lot of traces of the South Sea Kings tomb there, which was very simr to what we had seen before. For example, there were totems of the eyes we had seen in the murals and thunder god statues scattered in the viges ancestral halls, stables, and along some stone walls.


    ck sses thought that people in this vige either participated in the construction of the South Sea Kings tomb, or were the remnants of the West Seas Falling Cloud Country. The signnguage and writing system the vigers used were different from those outside, so they could hardlymunicate with outsiders. The stone mortar in this vige was very old, and was probably left over from when the tomb was built.


    Either the people here had entered the underground river system of the West Seas Falling Cloud Country, or these things had been moved out of there a long time ago. ck sses believed that there had to be some clues in the vige, but the most important question was whether these peoples muteness was rted to their ancestors entering the West Seas Falling Cloud Country.


    Based on what I had heard, the second possibility seemed more likely.


    After some investigation, he found that there was a special ceremony in the vige. Since it was inevitable that the babies would be mute after they heard their first thunderstorm, every newborn underwent a special ceremony in the vige on the night that it thundered. ck sses wanted to attend the ceremony and film it for information, but was ultimately denied.


    He tried every means to get into the ceremony, and found that its real purpose was to put a silver ring into a gap on the baby''s head. This way, the baby''s skull couldnt be closed and a cavity would eventually form. ording to the locals, the children couldnt leave the vige if they didnt do this. Only people with this skull cavity could leave.


    ck sses also found that when it started to thunder that day, it was like the vigers were experiencing a nightmare. Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened to the thunder.


    This was exactly what had happened when I saw Boss Jiao''s team in the woods before.


    The documentary teams leader thought that it was a foolish old custom, but ck sses felt that there had to be a reason for it. After all, no one could leave even though the natural environment of the vige was so bad. They checked through countless resources and found the only exception in the viges posterity examination. There was a girl who was born when the vige was suffering from a three-year drought. By the time the first thunderstorm came, she had already grown up and her skull had closed, so they could no longer imnt the silver ring.


    When she was three years old, she encountered the first thunderstorm of her life on the way to herding cattle. Not only did the thunderstorm not render her mute, but it also made her see a strange sight, thus revealing the mysterious centuries-long truth behind Mute Vige.

 Book 1: Chapter 190

    Book 1: Chapter 190


    ording to the girl, when she first heard the thunder at that time, she actually saw the thunder.


    This description was very interesting. Seeing thunder no one had ever described it in this way. Fatty asked if she saw lightning and wondered if she wasnt all that skilled innguage and literature.


    ck sses told us that in the girl''s description, she saw the thunder rushing towards her like a bunch of waves. The only thing she could do was escape, but the waves swallowed her again and again, driving her to a valley. In that valley, she saw all the waves rushing towards a crevice in the mountains. With nowhere left to run, she eventually rushed into the crevice.


    When she went in, she saw that it was a site where ancient alchemy had been practiced. There was the cast-off skin of a Daoist immortal in the cave, along with murals that depicted the immortal carving mountains and opening holes in the local people''s skulls to teach them.


    She spent the night in the cave. When she woke up the next day, she didn''t be mute and she wouldn''t die if she left the vige. ck sses believed that this vige had such a stubborn disease because it was the deliberate act of this immortal. This person set up a trap to keep people in this vige until they died so that he could cultivate.


    ck sses went into the depths of the cave and found that there were a lot of bronze reeds attached to the cave walls, which went deep into the mountain. He also found that in the murals depicting the immortal carving the mountains, there were also many excavated caves that had a lot of reeds in them. They were exactly the same as the ones we saw in Yang Daguang''s ancestral tomb.


    So, ck sses took the vigers to blow up several of the surrounding caves. Amazingly enough, when it thundered again, the vigers no longer looked at the sky or entered a nightmarish state.


    We sat down and Fatty touched his chin, "In other words, the vigers situation was caused when the thunder resonated with the mountains."


    "If bronze reeds are imnted in the mountain and thunder resonates with them, a specific sound wave will form. So, this kind of thunder resonates with people who have holes in certain parts of their skulls and makes them confused?" I wondered, feeling like something was wrong.


    ording to this theory, Boss Jiao''s people who went into the mountains to listen to thunder werent actually looking for thunder, but using the thunder to look for a mountain with bronze reeds in it.


    There mustve been reeds buried in the mountains around the valley, so when thunder sounded at that time, those people in the valley would be caught up in a nightmare.


    That immortal mustve been one of the Jin Tong Sects leaders, but I didnt know which faction he was from. So, did that mean Boss Jiao wasnt aiming for information in the thunder, but looking for the Jin Tong Sects ancestral hall? Did this ancient cult leave all of its treasures in the ancestral hall? If so, then Uncle Three''s text message and Yang Daguang listening to thunder back then were all done for these treasures.


    It fit with Uncle Three''s usual routine, but I didnt think it was right because the thunder on the tape was exactly the same as the thunder I had heard in Hangzhou. Logically speaking, the probability of such a coincidence hardly needed to be calcted, but it did happen.


    Thunder was definitely problematic. Otherwise, Uncle Three wouldnt have needed to go to the South Sea Kings tomb to find information about listening to it.


    Fatty saw that ck sses was done talking, so he said, "ck sses, you said so much but all it really boils down to is that we might have a nightmare and be mute if we go down. What''s your conclusion?"


    "Look at the sky. It may thunderter. Were now in Thunder City, so I dont know what will happen after it thunders. But whatever happens, it must be rted to the bronze tower under our feet," I helped ck sses ry his conclusion. "The top of this tower is made of bronze, which is very suitable for sound transmission and attracting thunder. If it does start thundering after we enter, we may encounter unspeakable danger so we need someone to stay up top in case we need to be rescued. As for the ones to go down, I think it should be me and Fatty. You and Little Brother have already been pioneers once. It''s our turn."


    "I think it should be Fatty and Mute (1), ck sses said. He doesn''t need to talk anyway. Fatty, youve talked so much in the first half of your life that it should be good to talk less in the second half of it."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Yes, ck sses called Poker-Face Mute lol.

 Book 1: Chapter 191

    Book 1: Chapter 191


    In the end, Fatty and Poker-Face took the lead. As it turned out, we were just easily scared because of what had happened before we got here. Fifteen minutes after they had gone down, they signaled that it was safe. If Poker-Face said it was safe, then it was absolutely safe, so we went down the rope.


    There was aplete ancient pagoda (1) inside the earthen mound. The interior was well preserved because all of the tiles and wooden structures were covered in ayer of bronze. There were only a few small clusters of fungi in several ces, indicating that the humidity still leaked in. The whole ancient pagoda was made of wood, which was only covered in ayer of varnish. It was almost oxidized now, so the old wood color was showing through. We dropped down to the top floor of the ancient pagoda, where there was a small room with three statues enshrined inside. I didnt know what material the statues were made of, but it had to be organic since the statues were covered in mushrooms. Fatty said that they might be decayed human remains, but we couldnt tell by their shapes.


    Poker-Face jumped on the crossbeam and sealed the entrance we had juste through, plunging the area into darkness. As we all turned on our shlights, we could smell sulfur in the air. I wondered if the bottom of the tower ran deep underground and connected with the crevices deep in the earth. Was this smell the earths gas rising up from deep in the rock stratum?


    There was ayer of moss-like things on the floor that were dark green and slippery, but they wouldnt pose any danger since we could see them with our shlights.


    As I looked around carefully, my shlight swept past theyer of moss-like things and illuminated a que hanging on one of the pagodas horizontal beams. The gold paint on it was peeling off and the words "Qingyang Cmity" were written on it.


    Everyone else in the group was puzzled, but I was secretly ted. I finally knew something they didnt. I was a little surprised to find that everyone observed it for a while, but no one was asking any questions.


    Upon seeing that they were about to go down, I coughed and said loudly, "Wonderful! Oh wise brothers, please take a look at this que. This Qingyang Cmity is one of the Jin Tong Sects three cmities that mark the end of times. Its part of their basic teachings. They divided the end of the world into three phases: the Qingyang Cmity, the Hongyang Cmity, and the Baiyang Cmity. The first phase started with Fuxi andsted for one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six years before it ended during the Zhou Dynasty. This was called the Qingyang Cmity. (2)


    Chinese people often said that any event that urred on the ninth would be chaotic, and this started with the Qingyang Cmity. At that time, they determined that there would be nine cmities, which were called the "Dragon-Han Water Cmities". A flood was sent out every nine years, and ording to the basic doctrines, this was in line with the Ghost Mothers nature. In my opinion, this was merely something that waspiled from Chinese mythology and some Indian scriptures.


    But based on this, the three rotten statues probably represented themp-bearing Buddha, Fuxi, and the Golden Mother of Jade Lake (3).


    These were the Three Gods of Salvation that the Jin Tong Sect believed would save them during the Qingyang Cmity. Although in todays time, they would be more like the Avengers. But back then, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism werent separated, and ordinary people didn''t understand.


    I did a rough analysis and figured that the main structure of this pagoda was divided into three levels. The level below us should be the Hongyang Cmity with three of its own salvation gods, and at the very bottom should be the Baiyang Cmity.


    I was hoping that everyone would give me approving looks, but theypletely ignored me and walked down the decaying stairs very carefully.


    The structure of the second floor was very strange. It was much higher than the top floor we were just on, and actually looked to be twice as high. Fatty went down and searched unscrupulously. The que on this floor was in the same position as the other one, but it was too high for me to see clearly. When I shined my shlight at it, I initially thought that I was right, but after I looked, I saw that the words werent Hongyang Cmity.


    Rather, it was three words: Qian Dashu Cmity.


    "What you''ve said is wrong, Fatty said. Let me tell you. This next floor isnt Hongyang Cmity, either."


    At this time, I saw that ck sses'' face wasnt quite right. I looked him in the eye and realized that he also knew what these three words meant.


    Qian Dashu was a unit of measurement in ancient China. In essence, it was an iparablyrge unit of measurement that was approximately 10<sup>524291</sup> (long scale) and 10<sup>75</sup> (mid-scale). (4)


    With me being a college graduate and ck sses being a returnee, we beat the other two in this field.


    Heres a list of China''s measurement system, which might make it clearer (5):


    10<sup>524291</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>75</sup> (mid-scale): Qian Dashu [, thousands ofrge numbers, quattuorvigintillion]


    10<sup>524288</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>72</sup> (mid-scale): Dashu [,rge numbers, trevigintillion]


    10<sup>262144</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>68</sup> (mid-scale): Wuliang [, immeasurable, one hundred unvigintillion]


    10<sup>131072</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>64</sup> (mid-scale): Bukesiyi [, unfathomable, ten vigintillion]


    10<sup>65536</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>60</sup> (mid-scale): Nayuta [, myriad, novemdecillion]


    10<sup>32768</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>56</sup> (mid-scale): Asengi [, incalcble, one hundred septendecillion]


    10<sup>16384 </sup>(long scale) 10<sup>52</sup> (mid-scale): Henghe Sha [, Sands of the Ganges River, ten sexdecillion]


    10<sup>8192</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>48</sup> (mid-scale): Ji [, extreme, quindecillion]


    10<sup>4096</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>44</sup> (mid-scale): Zai [, to carry, one hundred tredecillion]


    10<sup>2048</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>40</sup> (mid-scale): Zheng [, positive, ten duodecillion]


    10<sup>1024</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>36</sup> (mid-scale): Jian [, mountain stream, undecillion]


    10<sup>512</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>32</sup> (mid-scale): Gou [, ditch, one hundred nonillion]


    10<sup>256</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>28</sup> (mid-scale): Rang [, abundant, ten octillion]


    10<sup>128</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>24</sup> (mid-scale): Zi [, billion, septillion]


    10<sup>67</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>23</sup> (mid-scale): Qian Gai [, thousand boundaries, one hundred sextillion]


    10<sup>66</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>22</sup> (mid-scale): Bai Gai [, hundred boundaries, ten sextillion]


    10<sup>65</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>21</sup> (mid-scale): Shi Gai [, ten boundaries, sextillion]


    10<sup>64</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>20</sup> (mid-scale): Gai [, boundary, one hundred quintillion]


    10<sup>35</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>19</sup> (mid-scale): Qian Jing [, thousands, ten quintillion]


    10<sup>34</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>18</sup> (mid-scale): Bai Jing (E) [E), hundreds, quintillion]


    10<sup>33</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>17</sup> (mid-scale): Shi Jing [, tens, one hundred quadrillion]


    10<sup>32</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>16</sup> (mid-scale): Jing [,rge numbers, ten quadrillion]


    10<sup>19</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>15</sup> (mid-scale): Qianzhao (P) [ (P)", quadrillion]


    10<sup>18</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>14</sup> (mid-scale): Bai Zhao [, one hundred trillion]


    10<sup>17</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>13</sup> (mid-scale): Shi Zhao [, ten trillion]


    10<sup>16</sup> (long scale) 10<sup>12</sup> (mid-scale): Zhao [, trillion]


    10<sup>11</sup>: Qianyi [, one hundred billion]


    10<sup>10</sup>: Baiyi [, ten billion]


    10<sup>9</sup>: Shiyi (G) [ (G)", one billion]


    10<sup>8</sup>: Yi [, one hundred million]


    10<sup>7</sup>: Qianwan [, ten million]


    10<sup>6</sup>: Baiwan (M) [ (M), one million]


    10<sup>5</sup>: Shiwan [, one hundred thousand]


    10<sup>4</sup>: Wan [, ten thousand]


    10<sup>3</sup>: Qian (K) [ (K), one thousand]


    10<sup>2</sup>: Bai [, one hundred]


    10<sup>1</sup>: Shi [, ten]


    10<sup>0</sup>: Yi [, one]


    10<sup>-1</sup>: Fen (d) [ (d), one tenth]


    10<sup>-2</sup>: Li (c) [ (c), one hundredth]


    10<sup>-3</sup>: Hao (m) [ (m), one thousandth]


    10<sup>-4</sup>: Si [, silk/thread/trace/iota, ten thousandth]


    10<sup>-5</sup>: Hu [, neglect/overlook/ignore/suddenly, one hundred thousandth]


    10<sup>-6</sup>: Wei () [ (), one millionth]


    10<sup>-7</sup>: Xian [, minute/delicate/fine, ten millionth]


    10<sup>-8</sup>: Sha [, sand/powder/granule, one hundred millionth]


    10<sup>-9</sup>: Chen (n) [ (n), dust/dirt/earth, one billionth]


    10<sup>-10</sup>: Ai [, dust/dirt/angstrom, ten billionth]


    10<sup>-11</sup>: Miao [, vast/distant and distinct/tiny or insignificant, one hundred billionth]


    10<sup>-12</sup>: Mo (p) [ (p), desert/unconcerned, one trillionth]


    10<sup>-13</sup>: Mohu [, vague/distinct/fuzzy, ten trillionth]


    10<sup>-14</sup>: Qunxun [, to draw back/to hesitate, one hundred trillionth]


    10<sup>-15</sup>: Xuyu [, in an instant, quadrillionth]


    10<sup>-16</sup>: Shunxi [, in an instant/twinkling/ephemeral, ten quadrillionth]


    10<sup>-17</sup>: Tanzhi [, a snap of the fingers/short moment/in a sh, one hundred quadrillionth]


    10<sup>-18</sup>: Chana (a) [ (a), brevity/in an instant, quintillionth]


    10<sup>-19</sup>: Liu de [, Six Virtues, ten quintillion]


    10<sup>-20</sup>: Xukong [, void/hollow/empty, one hundred quintillionth]


    10<sup>-21</sup>: Qingjing (z) [ (z), peaceful/quiet/tranquil/purified of defiling illusions (Buddhism), sextillionth]


    10<sup>-24</sup>: Niepan Jijing [, Nirvanas Tranquility, septillionth]


    In ancient China, the smallest unit was called Nirvanas Tranquility, while Qian Dashu represented a huge number. If this floor wasnt Hongyang Cmity, then was it a Dashu Cmity?


    If this was the case, then each floor of the pagoda represented a cmity that was arranged in ancient Chinese units of measurement.


    ck sses and I immediately went to the next floor, which was one level higher than the previous floor. The que said: Dashu Hong Cmity (6).


    ck sses and I looked at each other. <em>Based on this arrangement, how many floors does this tower have?</em> I wondered to myself.


    If this was the case, then this setting illustrated the infinite expansion of the three traditional cmity phases. In other words, the people who built this pagoda believed that there were still thousands of cmities that took ce in the world before the earliest Qingyang Cmity. And they listed every cmity floor by floor here.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ive been using tower the past few chapters, but the character  can mean pagoda/tower/minaret. Since a pagoda is technically a tiered tower with multiple eaves, Im not going to go back and change it, but just wanted to warn you that Im using pagoda and tower interchangeably. A few pics of what some might look like:


    (2) This whole paragraph is based on the Three Suns Doctrine which is basically a doctrine talking about the end of the world. Its found in some Chinese salvationist religions and schools of Confucianism. A higher being divides the end of time into 3 stages, each of which is governed by a different Buddha sent by the Mother to save humanity: the "Green Sun" (<em>qingyang</em>) governed by Dpankara Buddha (akamp-bearing Buddha), the "Red Sun" (<em>hongyang</em>) by Gautama Buddha, and the current "White Sun" (<em>baiyang</em>) by Maitreya. Fuxi is a legendary Chinese emperor (trad. 2852-2738 BC) and mythical creator of fishing, trapping, and writing.


    (3) Basically a fancy name for Queen of the West. I think its her goddess name or something. Info here.


    (4) I left the pinyin Qian Dashu because Thousandrge numbers sounds stupid in this context lol. Characters are . Therge and mid-scale thing is basically different naming systems for integral powers of ten which use some of the same terms for different magnitudes. Example: "one billion" means one thousand millions in the short scale, while it means one million millions in the long scale. Info on the scales thing here.


    (5) The whole thing is basically Chinas system of using Chinese characters to represent numbers. Kind of like spelling out numbers in English (e.g., "one thousand nine hundred forty-five"). There are characters representing the numbers zero through nine, and other characters representingrger numbers such as tens, hundreds, thousands and so on. Wiki link to better exin it is here (were in therge numbers part of the article). Baidu says the system can also be called Ganges Sand, because its a Buddhist expression used to indicate an incalcblyrge number. I think the author copied/pasted the list of numbers from the Baidu article here. <strong>Im not really sure how to transcribe it in English, so after the mid-scale part, I put the pinyin, Chinese character, direct English trantion of the Chinese character, and then what I think the actual number is in English based on this.</strong> Those single letters in the parentheses on some of them are SI prefixes symbols (you know, like how "K" means thousand). Hope that helps.


    (6) Again, Dashu () meansrge number. Hong () means great/magnificent/macro puting)/macro-. I dont know what number thats supposed to be though.


    ****


    <strong><em>Jesus fucking Christ. After spending 5+ hours on this stupid chapter, I need a drink lol. I''m still not even happy with it (Tiffany, I''m sorry in advance). Yvette has a chapter of "A Thousand Faces" but I think my brain is melted after working all day and then dealing with these chapters. I will try to post it in the morning if I have the will to even look at DMBJ lol </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 192

    Book 1: Chapter 192


    ck sses'' shlight swept across this levels wooden walls, revealing a bunch of slippery-looking things. When we walked over, the people above came down. I told them our thoughts while ck sses used his hand to scrape away theyer of things on the wall, revealing the mural behind. "The style of this mural is the same as the ones I saw in Mute Vige, he said to us. The corpse of that immortal that was found in the cave in Mute Vige really belonged to the Jin Tong Sect. That vige also started to be mute during the Ming Dynasty. The cult at that time really did unscrupulous things to be immortal.


    There werent many details on the Jin Tong Sects esoteric teachings in the historical records, but if we looked at it like this, things gradually became clearer.


    If the Jin Tong Sects method to bing immortal was to listen to thunder, then one of their leaders may havee to Mute Vige at that time to find a way to enter the South Sea countrys underground river system. Many of the vigers used to fish in the underground river in the past, so they knew all about the water system. That was why the cult leader chose this vige and controlled the vigers by drilling holes into their skulls. Maybe he was trying to get help as he searched for the secrets that could be heard in the South Sea countrys thunder, so he created such a strange custom in the vige.


    If that was the case, then this ce should be the Jin Tong Sects ancestral hall and everything they had found and learned about listening to thunder should be in these towers.


    My cursory analysis indicated that the Jin Tong Sect''s leaders may have discovered that there were secrets in the thunder and learned about the legend of the West Seas Falling Cloud Country by consulting ancient texts. They thought that this was a shortcut to bing immortal, so they came to Fujian and preached on the side while searching for the West Seas Falling Cloud Country. The leader that stayed in Mute Vige was one of these people. Eventually, one of them finally entered the West Seas Falling Cloud Country and got the secret to listening to thunder.


    It was possible that these ancestral towers were built as part of the West Seas Falling Cloud Country at that time, or they were built by the Jin Tong Sects disciples themselves. Were Boss Jiao''s people who had holes in their skulls and listened to thunder part of the modern Jin Tong Sect? Was Boss Jiao rted to this cult?


    The reason why we were so confused this time was because we kept feeling like we didnt know where to check. In other words, we didnt know the history behind listening to thunder.


    I took a deep breath.


    Fatty calcted the height of the tower on one side based on my earlier statement. He did it more than a dozen times, but he couldn''t do it in the middle. "Based on what youve said, we have to hurry up, he said to me. The tower appears to go deep below the rock stratum. It may take half a month for us to reach the bottom since we''re asionally stopping and looking around. And as you can see, when you go to the next level, the Buddha statues form arger circle and the floor is a little higher. The bottom level might as well be a hundred meters high. How can we get down when we reach it?"


    "There was no such thing in the ancient Chinese institutional system. China was very particr about their standards, so only local cults could do this kind of thing without following proper specifications," I said.


    "This is a sky tower," Poker-Face suddenly said. We all looked at him.


    <em>Have you seen something like this before?</em> I thought to myself. It suddenly urred to me that when I expressed my knowledge before, no one responded at all. Why did everyone instantly turn to look at him as soon as he said something?


    Maybe fewer words had more of an impact.


    We waited for Poker-Face to exin, but all he said to us was: "Everyone, walk in my footsteps." With that said, he ignored us and went down.


    ck sses nced at me and made a "let''s go" gesture. I sighed. As our group followed after Poker-Face and started to move down quickly, Fatty shouted from the back, "Say a few more words, Little Brother. I''m still a child and can''t stand the suspense. What exactly is a sky tower?"

 Book 1: Chapter 193

    Book 1: Chapter 193


    ck sses turned and whispered in Fatty''s ear. Fatty was shocked, "Tianjin custard tart? Who the fuck are you kidding? Even if Tianjin custard tarts are considered a specialty, they should still be called Jinta." (1)


    In the dark further ahead, Poker-Face knocked twice on the wooden wall with his hand, which was the knocking code for "be quiet". Fatty immediately shut up and red at ck sses, who grinned.


    The stairs appeared one right after another, and many parts had rotted and copsed, revealing the stone beams below. Well, I say we were walking on stairs, but we were actually walking down these stone beams. There wasnt a railing, so we could only lean towards the wall.


    After going down a few floors, we were in a position where the smell of sulfur was stronger. I was very familiar with this kind of smell, but Fatty had probably never been to a ce like this. We all started to slow down, but Poker-Face was very fast and nimbly went down like a cat, leaving a footprint on every step. None of us dared to even go half a step outside of his footprints.


    As we moved past the floors, I found that the height of each floor was three or four meters higher than that of the previous floor. After going down about ten floors, not only wasnt there any light, but we couldnt even hear the rain above. Moreover, the sulfur smell in the air was so strong that we couldnt detect any other smells. There were more and more turns on the stairs, so it would definitely take us a long time to reach the bottom floor.


    The ques on each floor were exactly what we had expected. Every floor represented a cmity.


    The statues on each floor were also getting bigger and bigger. Since they were further down, they had less contact with the fungal spores outside and appeared less corroded. When Poker-Face stopped again, we were on the stairs in the middle of a thirty-meter-high floor. We pointed our shlights below, but the bottom was still very deep. When we moved our lights to the side, we saw a tall statue on this floor.


    The statue on this level had hardly decayed, and it only took one look before we realized why the ones on the upper levels were so corroded.


    They were made using human skin. It was the exact same technology that was used to make the leather figurine woman. The statue on this floor was about half a story high, so I didnt know how many peoples skins were used to create it. Since the statues features were faded, we couldnt see what kind of god it personified. Now it just looked like a nk piece ceramic before the color had been added.


    There was only one statue on this floor, which seemed to indicate that the financial resources were insufficient at the time.


    The temperature on this level had increased a lot, and the humidity was also very high. We saw ayer of yellow scabs all over the walls, so I knocked some off and found that it was sulfur.


    "Well rest here." Poker-Face said.


    When he looked down, Fatty said, "Little Brother is ensuring that earthquakes havent damaged the structure."


    As Poker-Face illuminated the area below with his shlight, we could see that the bottom of this level was somewhat unusual. "What is it? I asked him. Why are we resting in mid-air like this? These stairs are very weak. Although there are stone beams fixed inside them, wont there be problems since theyre so old?"


    Poker-Face pulled out a cold firework and threw it down. As the light fell to the bottom, a strange ripple suddenly appeared and we all heard a ssh.


    It was water.


    The cold firework slowly sank into the water until it was finally submerged.


    We looked at each other. Fatty touched the sulfur on the wall with his hand and murmured, "Hot spring?"


    He looked at us and then started to slowly take off his clothes. I knew what he wanted to do; he wanted to jump directly into the water. I immediately grabbed him. Although the water was deep, we didnt know how hot it was. <em>If Fatty is instantly cooked after he jumps down, should we eat him or not?</em>


    "Look carefully." Poker-Face drew our attention, and our eyes immediately looked down again. After the cold firework sank deep into the water, it revealed a circr ck shadow. There was something at the bottom of the spring.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The pinyin for Sky tower () is Tianta. Tianjin () is a municipality in northeast China. Jinta () is known as Jin Tower, the Tianjin World Financial Center skyscraper (a.k.a. the Tianjin Tower)


    ****


    <strong><em>After a crappy night''s sleep, I have rallied to give you 2 chapters and Yvette''s Thousand Faces chapter as promised lol. I''m kind of missing the spy storyline right now. I feel like it was more interesting. I''m off to read some Teen Wolf fanfics to recover. I need some fluffy Sterek in my life lol. Until tomorrow~~ </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 194

    Book 1: Chapter 194


    "What the fuck is that?" Fatty asked softly. "A tortoise?" I watched silently as the cold firework fell on the shadow. But it was too far away and separated by water, so the light was very dim and I couldn''t see it clearly. From this angle, the spring and the ck shadow under the water formed the shape of an eye.


    It was probably just a stone in the spring, but Fatty had sharp eyes and was squinting at it. "Can you see the edge? He asked. This thing isnt a whole piece, but seems to be many things stacked on top of each other."


    None of us could see it.


    "The exciting moment ising again, my friends, ck sses suddenly said. Take out your weapons."


    We opened our backpacks and pulled out our weapons, which consisted of hastily-made maces and spikes made of sharpened branches. We were just like a bunch of primitive people, but it was much better than going in naked. We all looked at each other, a little dispirited. In this state, we wouldnt even necessarily win a campus fight. If there were zombies down there, they would think we didnt respect them.


    But the temptation of the hot spring was too great, and it was so hard to get here that it made it even more impossible to give up. Poker-Face took the lead and we continued down, slowly getting closer and closer to the bottom of this floor.


    The temperature was higher and the air was more humid. To be honest, after living such a harsh period as a savage, this hot spring was just like a five-star hotel suite. It suddenly made me feel tired.


    As Poker-Face looked around for a while, I noticed that the floor beneath us waspletely rock. Those who built this ce back then may have really wanted to create an architectural wonder where each floor was higher than the previous one, but this required a huge amount of manpower and material resources. By the time they got here, I figured they had given up.


    Everything here was covered in a thickyer of sulfur. Poker-Face slowly straightened up, which made us think that he was rxing his guard a little, but he just waved his hand and we went down again.


    ck sses mouthed at me, "He''s showing off. Dont disturb him."


    When Poker-Face looked back at him, he gave a thumbs up and made a finger gun gesture. Poker-Face pulled another cold firework out, threw into the water, and then leaned over the edge to get a look.


    The rest of us leaned over as well, finally able to see clearly. As the cold firework sank and slowly illuminated the shadow below, we saw that the bodies of countless children were submerged in the water.


    These children were all dressed in ancient clothes, their faces were blue and yellow, and there wasnt any sign of bloating on them. They were just like statues. There wasyer uponyer of them, which made it impossible to count how many there were.


    "This cult was crazy." Fatty mouthed as he shook his head.


    I sighed in my heart. These childrens corpses ranged from three or four years old to six or seven years old. They had obviously been processed, but some of them hadnt been done well. We could see that they had shrunk into an empty and strange animal-like skin sac. I looked at the children''s clothes and realized that this pool may be a pill furnace. I didnt know what kind of insidious spells were used, but pills were probably refined here. (1)


    At this time, we also noticed that there were strange white ribbons on these childrens bodies. They had beenpletely stained yellow by the sulfur and went into the deepest part of the spring.


    "What are those?" Fatty asked.


    ck sses mouthed, "Those may be tails."


    "Tails?" Fattys mouth widened in surprise.


    ck sses said, "Jin Tong Sect was also called Wenxiang Sect (2). It was said that Wenxiang Sect was founded by Wang Sen of Shifokou, Luanzhou, Hebei Province. When he saved a fox, it cut its tail off and gave it to him. The tail had a strange scent."


    Poker-Face turned his head, "No. They were using the children to fish in this pool."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Western alchemy is different from Chinese alchemy so heres a Wikipedia article on Chinese alchemy. Pill furnaces are like old-timey ovens to create pills and elixirs. They fall under outer alchemy (Waidan) on the Wiki article. Some pics are here.


    (2) Wenxiang can mean incense smelling. The only good info I could find is here.

 Book 1: Chapter 195

    Book 1: Chapter 195


    Fatty couldn''t hide his shocked expression, "Fishing? Fishing with children? What were they fishing for?


    As the cold firework went out slowly, the children below disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the light from our shlights. I pointed my shlight at the pool, but I couldnt see clearly since the water was too deep for the light to prate.


    I sighed, scratched my head, and looked at Poker-Face, who was still looking at the water. "Is there really something in the water that would eat children? But the children are still there, so is it just a cult superstition?"


    Poker-Face started another cold firework and Fatty immediately said, "Little Brother, take it easy. Were on an entrepreneurial venture this time. There arent that many cold fireworks. I still have three here and Wu Xie still has two, but that''s all weve got."


    Poker-Face obviously had a purpose this time. He waited, pointed the cold firework at a certain position, and then threw it down.


    This time, the cold firework slowly sank against the edge of the spring and fell to a deeper ce next to one of the child corpses. We could see that there was something on the wall of the spring below the child corpse. It was a huge arch that stretched across the bottom of the spring and appeared to have been carved from stone. Poker-Face said, "These children''s corpses were soaked in something while they were in immense pain. These people were using the childrens corpses to catch that thing and poison it."


    ck sses touched the water with his hand. "The water temperature here is fine. Could it be some kind of fish?"


    "These child corpses are still here, which shows that the thing is very smart," I said. "But why use children? If it was an animal, couldnt they just use pork?"


    ording to the ancient legends, virgins or women were used as sacrifices to worship Hebo (1), while men were used as sacrifices to worship the gods of war and agriculture. But offering sacrifices was usually done in fear and awe of the gods. The sacrifices here were meant to poison the thing below, so it might not have anything to do with ordinary sacrifices.


    "Wait a minute," Fatty said. "In my hometown, I heard several Taoist priests say that when bridges were built in the pastespeciallyrge bridgeschildren were used as sacrifices. There are very few rituals that require child sacrifices, so do you think that thing under this spring is a bridge?"


    We took a closer look at the arch and found that it really was a bit like a stone bridge. There were dark shadows on both sides, which seemed to be caves.


    "Can the bridge god even be poisoned and killed?" Fatty asked Poker-Face. Did you remember wrong? Your memory isnt good after all.


    Poker-Face nced at Fatty, and I thought he meant to say: You can go down. But Fatty didn''t understand at all and pulled out a detonator, "There are many things that can''t die from poison, but I haven''t seen anything that can''t be blown up yet. If you think theres something below, let''s fish it up again. But this time, well use the detonator to get rid of it. Even if there is something below, it shouldve died long ago since its been so many years."


    "You just said that youre still a child, so well leave it up to you," I said to him.


    ck sses looked up, "When they were building this tower, they mustvee upon the spring water here. They wouldnt have stopped and would have certainly continued building, but the rockyers would make it very difficult to excavate. Its possible they used the stone bridge below to continue digging in another direction. We haven''t found anything yet, but there were more earthen mounds earlier. Should we go up and switch to another one?"


    The cold fireworks light gradually faded.


    At this time, all of us suddenly saw that there was a ssh in the water and ripples appeared. Something seemed to have fallen from the beams higher up andnded in the pool.


    Then, there were two or three more drip, drip, drip sounds and three more ripples appeared. When we moved our shlights and looked up, we saw a huge thing hanging on the ceiling.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hebo is a river God associated with the Yellow river

 Book 1: Chapter 196

    Book 1: Chapter 196


    When we came down just now, we stopped looking at the ques and thus didn''t pay any attention to the beams. We didn''t realize that there was such a big thing hanging there, but now that we had looked up and seen it, we were covered in a cold sweat.


    This floor was too high, so when we pointed our shlights up, we could only tell that the thing looked like a big bell with a lot of things stuck on it. They seemed to be spells and paper money. I was amazed at how those paper-like things didn''t rot after so many years, but after careful observation, I felt that they seemed to be made of silks and satins. If they had silver and gold threads woven into them, they could be preserved for a long time.


    "What the hell? Whos going to ring such a high bell? Fatty touched the back of the head. We saw something fall from inside the bell and hit the surface of the hot spring, sending out ripples. "It''s too hot. Is this bell melting?"


    I squinted. The cold firework had gone outpletely by now, so the waters surface was out of sight. I swept my shlight over the ceiling, thinking that it was quite normal to have a bell in a tower. ck sses whispered from the side, "The twenty-fourth volume of Ekottara gama (1) says: Prince nanda flicked his fingers from side to side and immediately went up to the lecture hall. He was holding a hammer and saying: Ill hit this faith-instilling drum today, and all of Tathagatas disciples shall gather." (2)


    "What do you mean flicked his fingers from side to side?"


    When I asked this, ck sses said, "I can''t remember the middle part, but this is a Brahma bell (3). There seems to be something inside of it."


    Looking at the spells above, it didnt seem particrly auspicious. It actually looked more like a kind of burial system, but I had never heard of a hanging bell burial. Fatty said, "In feng shui, the bell represents termination. Is this thest level? Are we at the end?"


    I gave a nomittal hum and suddenly thought of something. After Poker-Face came out of the bronze door, he told me that he had seen the Ultimate. Did I hear wrong at that time? Did he actually see a bell back then and was anxious after seeing one here now?


    I thought about it and felt that it shouldnt be the case. But he had never said this conclusion, and I was toozy to ask.


    After hesitating on whether to go up and have a look, Poker-Face eventually said, "There are three statues on each floor, but theres only one on this floor. Its not normal."


    I nodded, "This towers designer revealed a special kind of fastidiousness. I think that the bell hanging above, the underwater thing, and this statue are the three gods of this level. But these three gods may be different from the ones above. Two of the gods were probably zombies at the time."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) An early Indian Buddhist text, of which currently only a Chinese trantion is extant (Taish Tripiaka 125). The title Ekottara gama literally means "Numbered Discourses". Its one of the four gamas of the Stra Piaka located in the Chinese Buddhist Canon. English wiki here (limited info). Chinese wiki here (lots of info).


    (2) Prince nanda was Buddhas cousin and his closest disciple. Wiki link here. Tathagata is Buddha''s name for himself. It has manyyers of meaning  Sanskrit: thus gone, having been Brahman, gone to the absolute, etc.


    (3) Braham bells can also be called Sanskrit bells. Its said that by hearing the sound of the bell, people can open their minds and break free from their worries. Brahman means purity. Can look something like this:

 Book 1: Chapter 197

    Book 1: Chapter 197


    The logic was very simple. Every level of this tower so far had been all about idol worship, and gods from various religious myths were used to create Bodhimaa (1). But themon people had a low level of education when the Bodhimaa was made here, so they couldnt distinguish between the religious attributes clearly. But it didnt matter because they would worship whoever was best. This was also the reason why cults had prevailed for thousands of years. In essence, it was the inability to control one''s own life. Countless natural and man-made disasters made people turn to believing in the power of nothingness.


    At least this power wouldnt turn its back on you. If you had it, you had it. If you didnt, you didnt. With the three pirs of incense (2), you could rest easy, which was extremely cost-effective.


    But when we got here, two strange things suddenly appeared: one was sealed in the bell that was hanging in mid-air, and the other had sank into the water below. There was a threatening aura of wickedness as all the evil and sinister ghosts of the Jin Tong Sect manifested in an instant. Based on my past experiences, it had to be a corpse that changed into a zombie.


    They were all fake y idols before, but now there were actual dry and wet things here, so I was afraid this floor was more important. It was possible that the floor below this one contained something extraordinary, so that was why there were "things" here.


    And this underwater thing may be uncontroble, so the Jin Tong Sect taught people to use this poisoned bait method to get rid of it. But it appeared to be unsessful in the end.


    My analysis was perfect, and everyone was deep in thought. If that was the case, then how could we get into the water? It was one thing to have so many dead children soaking in the water, but now we were even more afraid of going down. We couldn''t see clearly underwater, so it wasnt like we coulde up with countermeasures.


    After thinking for a long time, Fatty said, "Why dont we try another tower?"


    No one responded. It wasnt that we were unwilling to go back, it was just that the appearance of this level actually showed that we were going in the right direction. These two things were meant to prevent us from going down, and they might not even be in the other towers. At least we still had some time now. If we went back and forth between the towers, the poisonous fog above might gather again, and I was afraid wed have to wait half a month for the next rain.


    Time waits for no man.


    Fatty saw that no one was responding, so he said, "Then I have a bad idea. Look, theres one hanging above and one hiding below. Why hang them so far apart from each other? I think these two things can''t be put together; otherwise, those people wouldve hung them next to each other. Do you think its possible for us to knock that thing down and let it fall into the water? Then we can take a closer look to see whether its a dragon fighting a tiger, or the Old ck Mountain Demon fighting the Xiangxi Corpse King (3).


    Everyone was still silent.


    Like usual, a bad idea appeared in my mind. Not only was it bad, but it was worse than Fatty''s previous ideas. I started to say that we should change to a different tower, but Fatty told me not to talk and went on, "Let me analyze it first. If we can''t go down, well have to go to another tower anyways. What if the next tower is the same? We wont be able to do anything, so its better to see whats going on here. If the thing above is Sun Wukong and the thing below is the Bull Demon King, let''s withdraw (4). No more listening to fucking thunder. We should just go home and sing karaoke."


    I looked at Poker-Face, but he didn''t say anything. ck sses suddenlyughed, "This is good, this is good. You can do it, friend."


    "Then let''s go up and stand on the top part of this floor, Fatty said. Well remove the spells, break the chains, and then watch the show. If the situation doesnt look good, well run up and withdraw. Hurry up. Little Brother will help. This is a rare life experience, after all."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Bodhimaa is a term used in Buddhism meaning the "position of awakening". ording to Haribhadra, it is "a ce used as a seat, where the essence of enlightenment is present". Bodhimaas are regrly visited by Buddhist pilgrims, and some have gone on to be popr secr tourist destinations as well. In many forms of Buddhism, it is believed that bodhimaas are spiritually pure ces, or otherwise conducive to meditation and enlightenment.


    (2) Three-pir incense is used to worship Buddha. There are three incense sticks, which mean: precept, concentration, and wisdom. They can also be considered as offerings to "Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha". This person exins in more detail on Baidu.


    (3) Old ck Mountain Demon is a character from the 1987 movie A Chinese Ghost Story. Hes a ck mountain in the underworld that cultivated into a spirit after tens of thousands of years. He was so powerful that he was both the king of monsters and the king of ghosts. He also appeared in Journey to the West. Baidu link here. The Xiangxi Corpse King was a Yuan Dynasty general that appeared as an overpowered zombie in Ghost Blows Out the Light. Baidu link here.


    (4)Sun Wukong is the Monkey King from Journey to the West. Bull Demon King is a major antagonist of Journey to the West.

 Book 1: Chapter 198

    Book 1: Chapter 198


    We climbed all the way up to the top of the stairs and used our shlights to illuminate the huge bell. When we looked closer, it was even more frightening and huge. There were too many rotten yellow satin strips wrapped around the bell to count, and they were all covered in spells. The top of the bell was covered in sulfur that had formed from the sulfur vapor on this floor.


    The bell was so far away from us that we didnt even have to try at all. It waspletely out of reach. If we had a gun, we could try to shoot the copper chain off of it, but I looked at the structure with my shlight and saw that the copper chain was as thick as my thigh and was hanging on an arched beam. There was no way ordinary guns would break it. Based on my understanding of the structure, it was impossible to break the copper chain, but wed still have a chance if we focused our efforts on the beam.


    Fatty turned to ck sses, "ck sses, youve got good skills. Take the detonator to the beam, blow the beam up, and then jump back."


    ck sses made a gesture, "If you blow this beam up, an ident might happen. Its a copper beam with a stoneyer on the outer ends and copper on the inside. And this beam" I looked at both sides, which were holding up heavy rock formations. This beam was very important in keeping the structure of this towerplete. If it was blown up, the rock formations on both sides would probably copse.


    Fatty nodded, "Ok, I''ll go up and take a look." With that said, he stood up and tried to hook the crossbeam, but he had gotten a little fatter recently and his hands couldn''t reach it. He started to say to Poker-Face and ck sses, "You guys areme. We have a division ofbor here. My upation is a tank (1). You cant umte this kind of"


    But before he finished speaking, ck sses and Poker-Face jumped up at almost the same time, stepped on Fatty''s shoulders, and then jumped onto the beam.


    It wasnt a distance ordinary people could jump. The two of them hung on the beam with their fingers and then pulled themselves up.


    Fatty fell over, rolled down three steps, and started cursing, "You bastards! You always do this kind of thing to me!"


    "Fatty, if something happenster, youll take full responsibility, ck sses said. Do you ept it?"


    Fatty got up, "After looking at your smile, I can tell youve been thinking about it more than I fucking have. Quit messing around and take a look."


    Poker-Face and ck sses exchanged a look before carefully walking across the beam. When they reached the top of the bell, ck sses said, "The copper chain is welded into the copper beam. The beam may not break even if the tower copses." He looked at the copper chain before carefully climbing along it to the bell.


    "There must be a slipknot somewhere, I said. Otherwise, it would be impossible to assemble such a heavy thing at once. Look at where the bell and chain are connected."


    ck sses shook his head and said to me, "Even if there is a slipknot, it has to be inside the bell."


    After he finished talking, he hung there one-handed so that Poker-Face could grab his other hand and use him as a rope to hang down the beam and stick to the big bell. Their movements were so slow and effortless that it was easy to see that they were very skilled and had a good understanding of each other.


    Then, Poker-Face turned and held his hand out to me.


    I stared nkly for a moment, taking a second to realize that the bell was too big. Even with both of their heightsbined, the two of them couldnt reach the bottom of the bell. He was asking me to jump over.


    I looked at the distance and said to Poker-Face, "If you want me to die, you can juste over and kill me directly. How the fuck do you expect me to jump over?"


    Fatty said to me, "I''ll throw you over. There''s water below, so even if you fall, you won''t die. Youll just have to climb up again. Dont worry, it''s not your first time."


    I looked down at the bottomit was pitch ckand said to Fatty, "How about this? I''ll throw you over."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think he means tank as in the gaming terminology. Tanks are basically like meat shields in multiyer games because they distract the enemys attention and draw attacks towards themselves so the other yers can attack. Info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 199

    Book 1: Chapter 199


    Fatty looked at the distance, looked at his stomach, and then looked at me very seriously, "Mr. Nave, we have to take it seriously this time. If I fall, do you still need to blow up this bell? I''ll settle this all by myself. Not only will the thing below be obedient, but I''ll have two children with it and make them call you Uncle'' when youe to see me next year."


    This had gotten so ridiculous that I didnt even want to talk anymore. I told him that it was the same if I fell down because Id probably give birth to four fucking babies.


    Poker-Face lowered his hand and looked at us helplessly while ck sses smiled and scolded us, "Dont mind us, you two just keep messing around. Mute, let''s go back up and crack some melon seeds first (1). Wu Xie, if you couldnt do it, you shouldve said so earlier. Were going back."


    I looked at the distance and then looked at Fatty before cursing in my heart. I pped myself twice and said, "Come on. You better fucking throw urately."


    Fattyughed mischievously and told me that it would be fine. The water below was deep enough and he had jumped from this height at the swimming pool every day. When he said that, he told me to stick my butt out, grabbed the back of my waistband with one hand, and pulled my cor with the other. I told him to let me take a deep breath first, but before I finished speaking, Fatty shouted, Lets go!


    As my whole body was lifted up and tossed directly into the air, I heard the sound of my belt breaking. I clenched my teeth and stretched my hand out. Poker-Face grabbed me and I hit the bell directly with a loud noise.


    At that time, my whole body was shaking and I felt as if my brain and the bell had resonatedpletely.


    Poker-Face was holding onto my wrist so tightly that I felt as if my hand was going to die.


    It took me a second or two toe to my senses, and when I did, I found that my lower body felt chilly. I looked down and saw that my belt was broken and my pants had fallen to my thighs. I immediately went to pull them up with my other hand, but Fatty shouted, "Don''t worry about it! Its not like everyone here doesnt have it! Hurry up!"


    I mped my pants between my thighs to prevent them from falling any further. At this time, my body was hanging just below the bell and I could see inside of it when I looked up. I pointed my shlight up and saw that there was a huge earthen clump wrapped in satin strips inside the bell. The strips were woven with gold silk and had spells on them, just like the ones outside.


    There were some raised patterns on the inner walls of the bell that were the reverse of the patterns on the outside. I grabbed them with my hands and found that they were quite sturdy. I held my shlight in my mouth and told Poker-Face to let go. I hung on with one hand and grabbed them with my other hand, which caused my pants to fall to my ankles.


    I was cursing in my heart as I heard Fattyughing. <em>When we get back, Im mixing dog shit in with those yellow mud snails you like to eat. Ill make sure you eat your fill.</em>


    I climbed into the bell and found that the earthen clump was only about a person away from the bells inner walls. I climbed to a position where I could ce my feet, my whole body inside the bell now. I looked at the clump and then yanked off a strip of that gold silk satin andced it through my belt loops bit by bit.


    I was holding my pants up with one hand and sweating all over as I took my shlight out of my mouth and went to check out the earthen clump. It felt like brown sugar, which made me wonder if there was a cup of coffee below. As I examined it, I found that there were many shell-like fragments in the mud.


    "What''s inside? Is it a big, gorgeous thousand-year-old zongzi with two fillings (2)? Fatty asked.


    I cursed, "If you want to see for yourself, jump over here. There are lots of treasures inside. You can consider giving them to your lover below."


    Fattys scolding voice came from outside the bell, You''re the one with a lover who eats children.


    I examined the earthen clump. Under my shlights glow, it lookedpact and had an oppressive air about it. I subconsciously held my breath. No matter what was inside, I wasnt going to give it any of my yang energy (3).


    I climbed all the way to the top of the bell and saw the copper chains rivets. Sure enough, it was a slipknot. As long as it was untied, the bell would fall, but I certainly wouldnt have enough time to get out. I had to think of another way.


    I looked around and saw that the dirt clump was supported by some copper poles, which prated into the clump and were fixed to the sides of the bell. I looked at my shlight. It was very sturdy and could even be used to beat the shit out of people. I lifted it up and hit it against one of the copper poles. There was a loud ng, the copper pole broke, and a crack appeared in the earthen clump, releasing a foul odor.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Cracking melon seeds is the equivalent of getting popcorn ready. Basically, theyre ready to watch a show lol.


    (2) I think this is a pun. Zongzi is ng for zombie. Its also a traditional Chinese rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves. In the West, theyre called rice dumplings. If its not a pun on food, then it might be a pun about porn or prostitutes. I got some uhinteresting google results lol


    (3) Yang energy is apparently masculine because its very active and energetic. I think it can help turn corpses into zombies or something.


    ****


    <strong><em>The image of Wu Xie smacking into the bell that popped into my head lol:</em></strong>


    <strong><em>I''m also convinced the man doesn''t wear underwear. How has he lived this long? lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 200

    Book 1: Chapter 200


    The stench made me cough almost immediately. It wasnt the rancid smell of fresh corpses, but more like the huge stink caused by old mold. Fatty smelled it from outside at almost the exact same moment and started cursing, "Shit, is this zombies sweaty foot sticking out?!" I wanted to retort, but I couldn''t even open my mouth. My eyes began to ache and I had to squint as I looked at the earthen clump with my shlight.


    There seemed to be a mass of tanned leather inside the clump, but I didnt know what it was. The skin was dull and covered in short, moldy hairs.


    I still wanted to take a closer look, but the smell was so horrendous that I could only use my shlight to quickly continue smashing those copper poles.


    Every time I hit them, the clump would continue cracking and fragments would keep falling down. It mustve been these dirt fragments that were falling into the water earlier and made us look up. Fatty reminded me to get rid of the spells first; otherwise, it would limit the yer''s performance. If the thing couldnt beat whatever was in the water, then the show wouldnt be as good.


    I didnt believe in spells at all, but I still loosened the silk satin and kept smashing. The stench inside was getting stronger and stronger, and I almost vomited. It really was like sweaty feet, but more like those sweaty feet were stuck inside my mouth. I was so dizzy that I couldn''t see anything inside the dirt clump clearly. Fatty shouted from outside, "Mr. Nave! Its a biochemical weapon! A biochemical weapon! Come out quickly, we can''t do it!"


    I clenched my teeth and persisted until finally with the help of thebined weight of the clump and supporting copper rods the whole clump began to crack a lot. As chunks of the earthen clump kept falling, the leather inside was exposed more and more, revealing a strange animal carcass encased in dirt.


    I tried to identify it carefully, but I couldn''t tell what it was. There was a lot of dirt on its head, but I could see that it was a huge thing that had been dead for a long time. Its skin had turned to leather and many ces had rotted and worn away, leaving a lot of big holes. There was ayer of ck mold on it that made it look like a giant ck-haired zombie, but I knew it wasnt.


    This thing definitely wasnt a zombie. Although it smelled terrible, it would never be a revived corpse. I rxed and examined it some more. If things were like this, then it showed that the people who designed this ce were actually just average, and the underwater thing may also be a fake ghost.


    As I continued to knock on the bronze poles, I could finally see that they were actually stuck in this dead animals skin. But this thing was very heavy, so as long as I continued breaking some of the poles, gravity would take effect and the skin would eventually tear. At that point, the thing would fall down.


    I clenched my teeth as snot and tears were running down my face. But at this time, I suddenly heard Poker-Face shouting from outside, "Wait a minute!"


    <em>It doesnt matter if you can''t stand it anymore. Just bear with it</em>, I thought to myself. Poker-Face lit a cold firework outside and threw it down.


    When I looked through the gap, I saw the cold firework fall into the pool and sink into the water. At this time, I suddenly noticed that the water wasnt the same as before.


    I didnt know when it had happened, but all the child corpses had floated up to the waters surface. There were many strange bumps on them that were constantly increasing.


    "Whats going on?" I heard Fatty ask.


    "Theres something in the dirt, Poker-Face said. The dirt dissolved when it fell into the water, and that thing came alive. Its drilling into the bodies and eating these childrens flesh."


    I really couldnt see clearly from this distance, so I looked up at the remaining dirt. The only thing I saw was those white shell-like things. My heart thumped and I asked myself, <em>so this huge smelly corpse isnt the key? Its actually the white shells in the dirt clump?</em>


    Poker-Faces quiet voice came from just outside, "We were wrong, let''s go!" But before he had even finished speaking, the bell suddenly shuddered. The earthen clump in the middle couldnt hold up under its own weight and finally tore off and fell, causing the whole bell to tremble. I gripped the edge hard, but at that moment, I found that the gold silk satin strip I had pulled off to make my belt hadnt actually been torn offpletely.


    And it was still attached to my pants.


    I was dragged into the air in an instant. Before I even had time to think, I had fallen into the water and smashed into those childrens corpses.


    ****


    <strong><em>Happy 200 chapters darlings! I was going to stop for the day on thest chapter but felt bad since that was a cliffhanger. Boy was I wrong lol. My cliffhanger senses must''ve honed in on this one instead hehehe. We''ve got about 200 pages to go overall and about 77 pages of Part 1 left (in case you guys were curious). </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 201: A Task Is Not Done Until Its Done

    Book 1: Chapter 201: A Task Is Not Done Until Its Done


    It wasnt that I had never fallen into water from a high ce before, but this time, I fell directly on the child corpses. Although it was better than falling on cement or rocks, it still felt like I was hit head-on by a car. Fortunately, the tanned animal carcass dropped before me and pushed the child corpses away. I didn''tnd headfirst in the water; otherwise, my facial bones wouldve definitely been shattered.


    I didnt know where my shlight had gone when I fell into the water, but Poker-Face''s cold firework was almost right in front of my eyes. I grabbed it and found that there were lumps on the skins of the child corpses that were all around me. There seemed to be something inside the skin that was constantly gnawing on the flesh. I immediately used the cold firework to check my hands and found that they were fine.


    While I was still in a state of shock, I found that the dirt was disintegrating rapidly in the hot springs water, and there were many small things that looked like cocoons or shells inside. Once they were freed from the dirt, they instantly swarmed the child corpses.


    The corpses shrank rapidly as the flesh was eaten up, leaving only ayer of skin. At this time, I saw a giant corpse wearing golden armor at the core of these child corpses. It was about two meters tall and was floating in the water. When I looked closely, I saw that all of the silk and satin strips that were tied to the child corpses actually led to the giant golden armored corpses navel. They almost looked like hundreds of umbilical cords. I also saw two words on the giant corpses golden breastte: Daolu General (1).


    The child corpses all around me were shrinking rapidly,pletely revealing the face of that giant golden armored corpse. I could see clearly now that the huge animal carcass from above was actually a horse.


    So, these were the corpses of a Jin Tong Sect general and his horse. The horse was ced in the bell above, while the general was sunk into the pool below.


    I didn''t know where I got the couragemaybe my brain broke when I fell into the waterbut I moved the cold firework towards the giant golden armored corpses face, wanting to see what it looked like. At this time, someone suddenly fell into the water, grabbed my neck, and started swimming to shore. I was so frightened that I identally dropped the cold firework.


    As I was pulled to shore, I noticed that the giant corpses golden armor quickly oxidized under the cold firework and turned the dull color of tile.


    Poker-Face was the one who had grabbed me, and as he dragged me up out of the water, ck sses jumped down andnded on the shore. He was just about to say something to me when a huge ck w suddenly stretched out from the pool and dragged him into the water.


    As his sses flew up andnded at my feet, Poker-Face said in my ear, "Go up!"


    He then drew his knife and rushed into the water, but it was so muddy that I couldn''t see what was going on clearly. I hesitated for a moment, feeling like this wasnt a fight middle-aged people could participate in. I figured it was useless for me to try and persuade them to stop fighting, so I started to make my escape. But just after I got up, ck sses was directly thrown out of the water and suddenly hit me. He and I smacked into the tower wall together, the impact enough to leave us dazed for a moment.


    He pulled me up. At this time, there were only shlights and the cold firework in the water, and his eyes couldnt see clearly because of the mixture of strong and weak light.


    He covered his eyes with his arm and shouted at me, "Get all the cold fireworks out!


    I knew he wanted to give Poker-Face enough light, so I immediately pulled out all the cold fireworks he and I were carrying. Once they were lit, I threw them into the hot spring. As all four fell in a row, I realized that that the water was too turbulent to see what was going on below. At this time, something suddenly came flying out of the water andtched onto me.


    When I looked at it, I saw that it was a child corpse. It was hugging me like it was alive, and then it dragged me into the water.


    I swallowed two mouthfuls of hot spring child corpse soup before I was able to surface again. When I did, I suddenly saw the golden armored generals huge face right in front of me. His facial features had been painted on with bright colors, which I hadnt been able to see clearly under his helmet before. This giant corpses face started to lean towards me, but at this time, Fatty suddenly fell from the sky and sat on him.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I left the pinyin for the 1<sup>st</sup> word since Road General sounds kind of dumb lol.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m over here like:</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 202

    Book 1: Chapter 202


    The world''s first atomic bomb was called Fatty. This high-altitude butt directly pushed the golden armored corpse into the water and flung me more than two meters away. Fatty emerged from the water with a dagger in his hand and several child corpses clinging to his body. It was as if the bodies of these children were alive, because they started to make gurgling sounds. But Fatty ignored them and used a wrestling move to grab the golden armored corpses neck and shove it into the water.


    One of the umbilical-like strips pulled me straight into the water and Inded with a hard flop. "What the fuck are you doing?" I asked him.


    Fatty cursed, "Im drowning it."


    <em>Its been soaking in water for at least a thousand years</em>, I said to myself. <em>Why the fuck are you drowning it? It''s more likely to drown you!</em> Sure enough, the giant corpse sank deep into the water and Fatty couldnt be seen anymore.


    Water was sloshing everywhere, and then there was suddenly two or three seconds of silence. It was chaotic under the waters surface, so only a group of ck, octopus-like things could be seen hovering in the light of the cold fireworks.


    I reached behind me, wanting to grab my knife, but I couldn''t find it for a long time. I tried to swim back to shore, but the child corpse on my back was still holding me tightly. I couldn''t swim and I didn''t know what the situation was, but the corpses skin felt like a wet, sticky dumpling wrapper. I was just starting to feel annoyed when a man suddenly rushed out of the water. It was Poker-Face. Before I could even say anything, he grabbed my shoulder and jumped out of the water while shouting, "Blind!" (1)


    ck sses coughed on the shore and replied, "Coming!"


    At this time, Fatty jumped out of the water, riding the golden armored corpse. He and the corpse were definitely in a very ambiguous position. Poker-Face stepped on my back, leaped into the air, and yelled at Fatty, "Neck!"


    ck sses jumped to three ces around the pool and then leaped into the air, almost causing him to collide with Poker-Face. Poker-Face turned and stepped on ck sses back, stretching out as he jumped further into the air. ck sses shouted, "Go!" Flexing hard, Poker-Face leaped with all his strength and jumped more than three meters high while twisting his waist.


    In the pool, Fatty let go of the golden armored corpse, but his legs were still straddling its butt. He pulled his whole body back until the corpses neck was revealed and shouted, "Hallelujah!" Poker-Facended directly on the golden armored corpses shoulders, instantly locked his knees around its neck, and twisted his waist to the limit.


    Everyone heard a loud crunch as the golden armored corpses neck twisted 180 degrees. At this time, ck sses fell into the water, Fatty rolled over, and all the water droplets that had been thrown into the air by Poker-Faces ascent fell down at the same time.


    As everyone fell into the water and quickly surfaced again, I saw that the golden armored corpse had stopped moving. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when Poker-Face suddenly came up from behind me and dragged me to shore.


    As I was being dragged, I realized that the child corpse was still holding onto me tightly. On the other side, ck sses was also dragging Fatty back to shore and I heard Fatty saying, "Just fucking wait a minute. I want to take a selfie first."


    I saw that there were three child corpses holding onto him now. ck ssesughed, "It can wait! Things arent over yet!"


    When the four of us returned to shore, we saw that all of the child corpseswith the exception of the ones currently on ushad gathered around the giant golden armored corpse and seemed to be eating it. I shook the child corpse on my back vigorously and turned to look at it, only to find that it had practically melted onto my back. Poker-Face scraped it off with a knife and threw it back into the water. Fatty was also in the same state. When we were finally free, we all sat down by the spring and tried to catch our breath.


    All the cold fireworks had gone out by now, plunging our surroundings into darkness once more. Only my shlight at the bottom of the pool was still on. We could see countless shadows swimming above the light, their shapes blocking it one right after another.


    "Lets go." I looked up at the stairs, telling myself that I really wanted to retire this time. I definitely couldnt do this kind of work anymore. In any case, everyone was saved, so it was best if we left quickly. We didnt want to worry those who were waiting for us, after all. When we got back, I was going to eat hot pot and go to the salon to get my hair washed and get a nice shave.


    At this time, however, a huge bubble suddenly appeared on the waters surface and we saw two whirlpools appear. Then, the water started to recede.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A, Poker-face calls ck sses Blind and ck sses calls Poker-face Mute. Arent they adorable with how unoriginal they are? lol


    ****


    o()o <strong><em>God I love Fatty. Have I mentioned that before? lol </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 203

    Book 1: Chapter 203


    We got up, carefully poked our heads over the side, and saw that the water in the spring had dropped to the bottom. I turned over andy down, cursing in my heart.


    After living for so many years, I finally had the idea of giving up just now. It wasnt the kind of indifference that came from staying in Rain Vige, but the real urge to escape after encountering so many difficulties. I just wanted to close my eyes and endure the humiliation, but as soon as I stopped moving forward, the path suddenly opened by itself.


    <em>You''ve got to be kidding me.</em>


    At that moment, I almost wanted to cry. It was impossible to escape. Sometimes I couldn''t let go, while other times I wanted to, but the universe wouldnt let me. I looked up at the darkness overhead and wondered if I could turn a blind eye. The top of the tower was all ck. I couldnt see anything at all.


    Fatty was quickly taking stock of what equipment we had left. "Fatty, can you stop for a moment and let me catch my breath?" I yelled at him.


    "Whenever you do something, you obviously have to do it in one go without stopping," Fatty said from the side. "If you keep trying, itll pay off when things reach a critical point. But if you stop trying, then there''s a chance there won''t be any more progress."


    Of course, I knew he was right.


    When I pulled myself up, I saw that ck sses and Poker-Face were already ready. I waved my hand at them. At this time, my lungs which hadnt been bothering me for a while nowsuddenly began to spasm hard. Then, I started coughing violently.


    I coughed so hard that I thought my eyeballs were going to pop out. After a full ten minutes of nonstop coughing, my exhausted body could only twitch.


    As Fatty pped me wildly on the back, I started to cough up something from my lungs. I didnt know what it was, but it felt just like cotton wool.


    I kept coughing.


    Once my spasming lungs had calmed down, I sat practically limp on the ground. I looked at the cotton wool thing and touched it with my hand. "What is it? My arra (1)?"


    "Its a Qilin blood clot," Poker-Face said from the side. "You ingested it many years ago."


    All three of them looked at me like they were looking at a dying man. I waved my hand, smiled bitterly in my heart, and focused on breathing, only to find that the humid air entering my lungs felt very painful and it hurt any time I took a breath. <em>Itll be fine if I give it a minute</em>, I said to myself. But even though I tried to breathe carefully, it still felt very painful.


    Fatty wanted to help me up, but I couldn''t get up anymore.


    At this time, I looked at their eyes and knew that something was wrong.


    For a moment, I even felt that this whole thing was a hoax. They were so anxious to move on. Was it because I was going to die and they actually wanted to save me?


    Was Thunder City actually the key to saving me?


    Were they afraid that I wouldn''t seek medical treatment, so they used this method to lure me to Thunder City? After all, when youe to Thunder City, youll encounter great dangers and make those around you suffer.


    <em>No, thats not right. It doesn''t make sense. But why are they in such a hurry? Theyre more anxious than me</em>. Sure enough, many things could only be seen clearly after you slowed down. You had to look behind others to see the whole picture.


    At this time, I felt as if I had too many thoughts flying through my head. I wanted to stand up, but found that I really couldnt. Fatty moved to pull me up, "Come on, Mr. Nave! There must be a good ending!"


    I waved my hand and then grabbed Fatty''s hand. "Wait a minute, Fatty. I have to say something first."


    "What?"


    "Just trust me. I have something to say," I said to him. "You have to say something, too. We all have to pour our hearts out here."


    Fatty shouted, "Theres no time! Little Brothers seen"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Generic term referring to Buddhist relics, although inmon usage it usually refers to pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. Info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 204

    Book 1: Chapter 204


    Poker-Face stopped Fatty from continuing and looked at me. I ignored Fatty''s expression and continued, "I dont want to say anything bad; I just want to say a few words. I''ll ask each of you a question and you all have to answer. Then, well set off again and you all can also ask me questions."


    "Ask, my ass. What do you know that I dont?" Fatty patted his thighs anxiously, but my mood was very calm.


    ck sses was off to the side looking for his sunsses. When he finally found them, he said, "My apprentice is right. Dont worry about it. Things won''t be easy after we go down there, so listening to his thoughts might actually be valuable."


    I actually didnt have any ideas at this time. When people were clear-headed, all problems were problems. But when people were seriously ill, the only problem they cared about was where the pain was. Any other problems were too far gone to take care of.


    I didnt know whymaybe it was really like the legends said and you would have a hunch before you diedbut I was suddenly very afraid. I was afraid that I would really die if I went down in my current physical state.


    It was a kind of long-forgotten fear.


    I looked at the spring. It could be said that my previous experiences made up for myck of physical strength in the past. I felt that the empty spring looked very dark and strange all of a sudden, but that was probably just because my body was failing me.


    <em>It seems that my luck is really running out. My instincts are telling me to say myst words.</em>


    Fatty thought about it for a moment, sat down, and then heaved a big sigh, "Weve gone through so much over the years. Its not like weve always done things in a normal fashion have we? I haven''t seen you leave anything, so I thought you were ready."


    "At that time, we were barefoot. But now that weve been around for so long, weve got a bit of inheritance. Im not talking about money; Im talking about friendship. Dont you have anything to say to me? If I really die down there, are you just going to let me go without saying anything?" I questioned him.


    Fattyy down. The hot springs water was all over the ground, but we were already wet anyways. "Unlike you, I dont want to know most things, he said to me. But after thinking about it, you''re right. Everyone listen to me. That includes you, Little Brother. I know it''s difficult for you. If I end up dead after we go down there, you only have to do one thing for me: tell the proprietress of the hair salon next to Wushanju that my death wasnt painful. Tell her to stop thinking about me when Im gone."


    Iughed and said to myself, <em>does she even know you? Why are you so certain that she likes you back?</em> I had seen that proprietress before and knew that she would never like someone like Fatty.


    Fatty became angry, "What are youughing at? I know what youre thinking! Yes, I know she doesn''t like me, but that doesnt mean she''ll never like me. Youve misunderstood feelings for a long time. In fact, feelings are the same as making money. Its like how people who lose money in business will go bankrupt. Peoples feelings will go bankrupt, too. Those who have felt more will be unable to share their feelings in the future because theyve already given so much away in the past. Why, you ask? Its not that theyre mature and cautious, theyve just lost too much emotionally and gone bankrupt. People from our generation dont have rich rtionships. Werepletely different from the French and Italians who have umted that kind of wealth over the centuries. Our foundation just isnt that strong. So, by the time someone reaches their forties, their feelings have gone bankrupt. Do you understand how many bad things happened to the proprietress over the past ten years? Shes long been exhausted, and no ones there to help fill in the emotional pit. But I can. After I fill the pit in, she can start loving again. Fatty became agitated, "If she can like me by the time that happens, then doesn''t it mean we like each other? It''s a rare thing in this day and age."


    I didn''t expect Fatty to get so stirred up. But just as I was about to agree with him, he immediately interrupted me and continued, "Let me finish. Say you meet someone in your life. You like her and you know what she wants. If you have what she wants, are you willing to give it to her? If you''re not willing and you want to keep it for yourself, then doesn''t that mean you like yourself? You have to understand what it means to like someone. Its simr to a ghost. Since a ghost ispletely silent, you cant see it when ites or goes. Even if it wanders around for a while, it just something that doesnt make any sense. All you fucking know is that youre being haunted. You can''t control your feelings at will, either. It''s like asking whether the ghost will leave you alone. If it doesn''t go, youll have to light the three pirs of incense and treat the ghost properly. If it does go, then you wont be able to find a trace of it even if you burn your house down. If you still dont understand, let me tell you a story. When a man went to hell, Death greeted him and said, Congrattions on being the ten billionth deceased. You won a special prize that can prevent someone from dying. Right now, you have two choices: you can choose to let the person you love the most die; or, you can choose to let yourself die. Which one do you choose?


    The man said without hesitation: I hope the person I love the most will die for me. As a result, the man died when he finished speaking.


    As he fell into hell and shouted about the injustice of it all, Death said to him: Theres no doubt that youre the person you love the most.


    Fatty was on a roll, "So, when you meet someone you like in your life, youre willing to give her whatever she wants as long as its within your power. If youre not willing, then youll have to admit that you love yourself more. Its just a fact of life, no need to be ashamed. But dont think that something cute like this is the only type of human nature out there. Theres another kind thats a lot like me. Your fucking luck is bankrupt, Mr. Nave. Your Wu family owes too much. Ever since I met you, Ive fucking treated you like a brother, so I''ll help you fill this pit. Dont you fucking dare talk nonsense anymore. You two must think the same as me, so let''s hurry up and go. Come on!"


    Fatty lifted me up and helped me move forward as ck sses started apuding behind us, "Your statement doesn''t have a main point at all, but you''ve managed to make your arguments sound reasonable. Bravo, bravo."


    I grabbed Fatty and said, "I haven''t gotten to say anything yet. I have something to tell you. Its super touching. But before I had finished speaking, Poker-Face suddenly came up from behind me and squeezed the back of my neck, causing me to faint.

 Book 1: Chapter 205

    Book 1: Chapter 205


    I woke up when Fatty sshed water on my face and found that I was on some stone steps, darkness a mere breath away.


    The stone steps were exactly the same as the ones on the upper floors. They shouldve been covered in wooden stairs like the ones before, but they had decayed until only the stone beams were left. There was no railing and the space between the beams was very wide, which made every stride very painful. If you made even the slightest mistake, you would fall down.


    They were charging the shlights with a hand-cranked generator since all of the cold fireworks mustve been used up earlier. Everyone was sweating profusely, and I found that even I was sweating. This ce was very warmno, I should say that it was very hot.


    I looked up. It waspletely dark overhead and I couldn''t see the top at all. I looked down. It was alsopletely dark below and I couldn''t see the bottom.


    "What floor are we on?" After waking up from my deepa, my body felt well rested and my lungs didn''t feel as painful as before. But it seemed as if a few pieces of my lungs were missing, which wasnt particrlyfortable.


    I havent been able to figure it out, Fatty replied. We''ve been walking on this floor for seven hours, but haven''t reached the bottom yet. We really can''t carry you anymore."


    I looked at Poker-Face and asked him, "What did you mean by that? Why didnt you let me say what I wanted to say?"


    I was feeling a little angry, but Poker-Face suddenly said very quietly, "I''ve heard too many simr words before."


    I was stunned, but then I suddenly realized that things likest words were meaningless to someone who was practically immortal. Throughout his long life, he mustve heard countlessst words. For people like us, ourst words were actually a summary of our life, so they were very important and sacred. But for him, they were merely thest words of people he had some experiences with, and whose lives were too short.


    In fact, there werent that many different types of people in the world. After experiencing so many things, I found that there were about a dozen different types out there. Even in ordinary social rtionships, it was very difficult to find someone who shared the same birthday as you. In a multinationalpany that employed twenty thousand people, the president would issue greeting cards to hundreds of people in the system every day. It was true that people didnt fit into just one type of group, but it wasnt like they were infinitelyplex, either. If you lived long enough, you would see people with the same character appear again and again in your life. If you didnt want to be bored, you would have to constantly change yourself.


    So, were there categories ofst words just like there were categories of people? Even if myst words were meaningful to me, were they just something that fell into amon category? Was that why Poker-Face chose not to listen to them at that time?


    It was such a tragedy.


    ck ssesughed on the side, gave the generators hand-crank a hard shake, and then said to me, "Do you know what the final oue is of those greatst words?"


    I shook my head, and ck sses said, "Theyre forgotten."


    I wanted to refute, but ck sses continued, "You havent seen that many dying people, but I have. Those who are dying should strive to live well in the present. Healthy people like to sacrifice today in hopes that there will be a better tomorrow, but in fact, every day is unique. You have to take it seriously."


    "Why do you all have the same mindset?" I covered my face and cursed in my heart, knowing that what I wanted to say meant nothing to them. Although it didnt sit well with me, I also knew that they were right.


    They were all saying that there was nothing significant about death.


    I got up and followed them down. "This level is ridiculously high, Fatty said. We dont have any cold fireworks, so we can''t measure the distance now. But if it goes on like this, my heads going to be spinning and I wont be able to walk to the end. If we continue, we''re going to fall down eventually."


    "Is it thundering above?" I asked.


    No one answered at first, but Fatty eventually said, "Even if it was, were so deep that we can''t hear it."


    I asked Fatty to exin in detail. All three of them were smart, but when it came to knowledge and memorization, ck sses wasnt as good as me. Fatty said that when they went down to the pool, they saw that the small, shell-like bugs in those childrens corpses had eaten the Daolu Generals body until only ayer of skin was left. They explored the passages on both sides of the bridge and found that there were bronze reeds covering both passages like snake scales. These bronze pieces were very sharp, and seemed fill the passages that split off from the main ones in all directions like a maze.


    They got lost and eventually came to this tower. Even though this tower wasnt the same as the one before, it picked up counting where thest tower left off. Fatty guessed that this tower was segmented. After we reached the lower section, wed have to pass through variousplicated tunnels filled with bronze reeds until we entered another section that was buried deep underground. This section of the tower was many times longer than the previous levels, and this particr level seemed to be infinitely long. I wondered if there really was a "bottom".


    My feelings were indescribable, but after thinking about it, I said, "It doesn''t sound like the typical structure of a tower."


    "Youre the one who said it was a tower," Fatty argued back.


    "ck sses, you should be able to figure out what kind of structure this is," I said to him.


    ck sses looked at me and suddenly raised his brows, "You mean to say that this tower"


    "It''s a huge musical instrument," I said. "This is a huge sounding device."


    ****


    <strong><em>I was bored, so here''s an extra chapter lol. I''m such a dork. I should get a hobby (but that means you all would be screwed over hehehe). This chapter seems kind of fitting with that short extra I didst night if you all haven''t read it yet, "RemembranceZhang Qiling". </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 206

    Book 1: Chapter 206


    Well, calling it a musical instrument mightve been a bit much, but the top of the metal tower, coupled with the different floor heights, was definitely a deliberate and costly project. Now it seemed that there was a good reason for it.


    I couldnt help but find myself admiring their faith. Although the Jin Tong Sect once had its own capitalit was said that the garden pavilions and kiosks were built just like those in Peni (1), they practiced alchemy for such a long time that smoke lingered in the valley, and it was one of the few cults whose leaders built their tombs with the same specifications of imperial tombsthis kind of building couldnt be built without theplementary geographical characteristics and the support of national power. It was incredible that they could do it.


    Based on the freewheeling architecture, it was a far cry from amon religious symbol. It appeared that expending every effort to achieve this level actually had a practical use.


    As we continued to go down, it seemed that I had inspired ck sses with what I had said just now. He had obviously thought of something, but wasnt sure of it yet. He just kept knocking and tapping on the wall, so I asked him what he was doing. "If it really is rted to sound transmission, then this structure is insufficient, he said. The thunder above enters the middle part and causes the reeds to vibrate. After that, the sound of all the reeds will weakly be transmitted down. If the structure below is too long, then we basically wont hear anything when it reaches our position. At this distance, the sound must be transmitted through metal. In other words, if the sound of all the reeds above is to be transmitted to the bottom of this level, it cant only rely on this cavity. It should also rely on"


    He looked at the stone wall. "There must be crevices behind these walls that the metal reeds are covering. They probably go round and round"he used his fingers to make a circle and then used his other finger to circled around it"in a giant circle around this tower. That way, not only will the sound be transmitted, but the resonance will be transmitted as well."


    He looked below, "If Ive guessed correctly, there should be a ce to listen to the thunder. This is aplete thunder-listening device. The four towers above will eventually converge into this main tower, allowing all the thunder sounds to gather here."


    I swallowed. Had Uncle Three been here, too? He had asked me to check the secrets in the thunder, which seemed to be just around the corner.


    The further down we went, the more gaps appeared in the middle of the stone beams. Sometimes there were six or seven stairs with gaps in the middle of them, so wed have to take a leap of faith. Every time was extremely thrilling, but the three of them almost always caught me.


    My lungs were bing more and more painful, but I tried hard to focus on the present. I was still scared and felt that my life was passing quickly, but my attention returned to my feet.


    After walking down for more than three hours, we still didnt see the bottom of this huge pagoda cavity. It almost felt as if this huge abyss was staring right at me. When we were hesitating on whether to continue or not, we suddenly heard some dull soundsing from up above. It was like a swarm of flying insects was rushing down in the wall.


    This sound really was rushing down, because I could clearly feel the exact moment when it passed by us and rushed towards the bottom of the tower.


    The sound was just like dominoes cking together. As a bunch of echoes spread throughout the tower cavity, I realized that someone was talking.


    I thought it was the thunder at first, but as the sounds came in waves, we listened carefully and found that someone was speaking. And this speaker was calling my name.


    Wu XieWu Xie


    As we all looked at each other, ck sses frowned and listened very carefully before saying, "It''s Boss Jiao. His men have arrived. Theyre up top."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) One of three fabled inds in Eastern sea, abode of immortals (i.e., fairnd)

 Book 1: Chapter 207

    Book 1: Chapter 207


    They had finally caught up to us. The time we had gambled for was reduced to a mere five-hour advantage in the face of their strength. Only five hours. I didnt know which tower they came down from, but all four towers would eventually lead here.


    Moreover, I had no idea if the people waiting above had been discovered.


    I knew this moment would eventuallye, but I actually felt a little relieved now that Boss Jiao had caught up. I couldnt help thinking that this ce was suddenly popr, and I had the sudden urge to open a bottle of beer and wait for them toe for a barbeque.


    Fatty looked up and whispered to me, "They won''t be able to catch up with us for a while. Is there any way to know if Big Hua came down together with them?"


    "With his personality, if he has key information in his hand that he knows is dangerous for us, then helle down. But if he thinks that Boss Jiao is just a weakling who''s waiting to be ughtered by us, then he must be ying on his phone up top," I said.


    Xiao Hua didnt know our secret code, which had me feeling a little regretful. But it wasnt like our code had a system. Even if I wanted to teach him, I could only do it by hand. But with how busy he was, it would be strange if he had time to learn it.


    I looked around. It was obvious that Boss Jiao had a master in his team and they were all well-equipped. And the fact that he could tease me from up above meant that his team was in good condition. Based on my previous estimate, in addition to the ordinary guns they were carrying, he may have several automatic weapons at hand. No matter how powerful and amazing we were, thirty bullets shot from an AK above us would definitely kill us in an instant. Probably the only way to survive was to jump from here and hope that there was another hot spring below.


    There was absolutely no possibility of a big ambush here, so these five hours would be a timed race between life and death.


    Fatty looked at my expression and reminded me, "Mr. Nave, they have enough ropes, so theyll probably descend quickly. We only have thirty minutes at most. Let''s go quickly. Theres still a glimmer of hope in the end."


    I cursed in my heart, <em>thats the gap between rich and poor. I didn''t know that being poor was such a terrifying thing. It turns out that you still need to have some money when someone wants to fight you.</em>


    I looked down below, but couldn''t fool myself. Even if we reached the bottom by the time those thirty minutes were up, we didn''t stand a chance of winning. I looked up above. At the fifteen minute mark, their cold fireworks would probably fall and it would be time for us to run for our lives. At this time, I noticed the back of the stone beams.


    If Boss Jiaos team descended quickly, they definitely wouldnte down step by step. If we could somehow affix ourselves to the back of the stone beams, they might just pass by us in an instant (unless they looked at the beams one by one). That way, we would fall behind them and gain a huge advantage. If we were truly despicable, we could even cut their ropes.


    When I told Fatty what I thought, ck sses looked at the stone beams and said happily. "You and I will be fine, but Fatty can''t hide like this."


    Fatty looked at the opposite side, pointed his shlight over there, and then said to us, "I can go to the other side." Based on our previous analysis, there should be a huge Buddha statue on the opposite stone wall. The Buddha statue on this level probably had a structure simr to the ones on the outer pagoda, but it might not necessarily be Buddhist. The shlight only illuminated one part of it, revealing a bit of decorative pattern that I wasnt familiar with. It appeared to be made of human skin. "Do you think it''s possible for us to hide inside of these statues. Wouldn''t that also be a great approach?"


    "The question is: How do you get over there?"


    Fatty patted his bag, I have Kan Jian''s parachute. There are some big holes in it, but its enough to get me over there.


    "Then how do you n on getting back?"


    Fatty patted his safety hook, "We dont have a rope, but we still have hooks. When they descend quickly, Ill jump on one of their ropes. The tower isnt that wide, so no matter where theye down from, I should be able to glide over and reach it."


    ****


    <strong><em>Hmmm if Fatty has the parachute, seems like this "restart" didn''t go as far back as some of us were thinking. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 208

    Book 1: Chapter 208


    I was convinced by Fatty''s words, so I helped him get the paragliders sail ready. When he took that leap of faith, I thought I would see an angel with folded wings flying to the opposite side crookedly, but what I really saw was a weight falling straight down with a g streaming behind it.


    Fatty screamed and instantly fell into darkness. I cursed in my heart, <em>that idiot fell to his death</em>. As the glow from his shlight disappeared, the sail finally opened and plunged him into the darkness.


    We all looked at each other.


    ck sses shined his shlight at the ce where Fattys light had disappeared into the darkness. Visually, the distance was very far. We had originally thought that the ce Fatty was aiming for should be the ground, but Fatty''s trajectory just now was obviously headed for more empty space below.


    We were silent for a while until we heard Fatty''s quiet call from below, "One of my teeth got knocked out and the opposite side is full of leather figurines. I kicked one down, so does that make me a Maitreya (1)?"


    We all breathed a sigh of relief and I called back to him, "Can you be more reliable? If you fall and die here, we can''t collect your ashes."


    Fattys only reply was, "Hurry up! Let''s fight back here."


    When we shined our shlights down, we couldn''t see Fatty at all. Poker-Face frowned and I immediately knew that it was bad. He obviously didnt realize that this ce was so deep.


    I now knew whether Poker-Face had control over the surrounding situation just by looking at the slightest change in his expression. It waspletely different from the past when he had to push me to run away before I even realized that I was going to die. I had been rtively calm the whole way here, thinking that he wasnt particrly nervous about the surrounding situation. But at this time, I found that his facial expression seemed a bit off.


    "What did the que on this floor say?" I asked, looking past Poker-Face at the abyss below.


    "Tranquil Cmity (2)," ck sses answered.


    I calcted it with my fingers and found that it was a very deep level. In fact, it was only a few levels above the smallest unit on the Buddhist measurement system, which was called Nirvanas Tranquility. ording to ancient people, Nirvanas Tranquility was basically equal to negative infinity. In other words, the further down this level went, the closer you were to reaching eternal infinity.


    I touched the back of my neck, wondering how long I had been unconscious and how long they had been running during that time. An image of them silently running with my passed-out body slung on their backs suddenly popped into my head, making me feel a little ashamed. I wondered if I had said too much.


    While ck sses and I looked at the stone beams, I found that the measurements werent as urate as a real imperial tomb. The stone beams that were inserted into the wall were bothrge and small. ck sses threw the only safety rope he had on his body around a thick stone beam in the middle of the z-shaped steps and then tied himself underneath. To make a long story short, we all decided to try it out. When we finally chose our hiding ces, we turned off our shlights.


    It was pitch ck all around. Of course, we couldnt hang like this for long. There was still some time before Boss Jiaos team showed up, so we were lying on the stone beams while we waited. When there were any signs of movement from up above, we would immediately roll under the stone beams and shrink our bodies so that we blended in.


    I felt as if I was a bit like that bug that looked like a twig, which was kind of funny. When I noticed that everyone had stopped talking, I asked, "Can I say something now?"


    "I didn''t think you were that talkative before," ck sses whispered.


    "I just want to know what''s behind the bronze door. I figure if I''m going to die, you can just whisper it in my ear, right?" I said in the direction I hadst seen Poker-Face.


    There was no response, so I continued, "If Im going to die, you can just say whatever. That way, Ill at least have peace of mind when I go. Otherwise, even the three pirs of incense wont be enough to send me away."


    There was still no reply over there, which I found strange. After listening for a while, I noticed that there was no movement over there. I turned on my shlight to take a look and found that Poker-Face wasnt where I hadst seen him.


    I felt my heart jolt, <em>where is he? Did he fall? Or maybe he ran away under the cover of darkness? </em>At this time, I suddenly saw a spot of light falling down like a meteor.


    Sure enough, it was a cold firework.


    ck sses scolded me softly, "Turn off the shlight!"


    All I could do was turn it off immediately, while cursing in my heart. <em>Great, just great. Where''s Poker-Face?</em>


    There was a bang from above, and then a re flew down and exploded at a point slightly above our position. <em>Indeed, they really are well-equipped.</em>


    Under the huge bright light, I was able to get a full view of the opposite wall for the first time. I saw countless leather figurines stacked upyer byyer. Their skin was covered in sulfur husks and had ckened to such an extent that almost all of the colors had been worn away. There were also various kinds of musical instruments on these leather figurines. Even through the decay, it looked like most of the figurines were ced in one position.


    This was a concert hall.


    When I looked behind the leather figurines, I saw a huge mountain crevice that extended from above like a lightning strike. It was full of those bronze, scale-like reeds.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Maitreya is a bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieveplete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. ording to scriptures, Maitreya will be a sessor to the present Buddha, Gautama Buddha (also known as kyamuni Buddha). More info here.


    (2) Remember that god-awful chapter 191? Tranquil Cmity is 10<sup>-21</sup>. In English, its basically a sextillionth (aka a really freaking tiny number).


    ****


    <strong><em>Count yourselves lucky. I was so close to posting an unedited chapter as an April Fool''s joke, but thought that would be too mean/confusing for some people lol. </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 209: Sad End to the Year

    Book 1: Chapter 209: Sad End to the Year


    ck sses'' theory was correct, but the architects at that time didn''t consider aesthetics and just used the most barbaric method. The crevice on the opposite side mustve been a natural gap in the mountain, which the architects used to set up bronze reeds to conduct thunder and resonance. In order to ensure that these reeds would have enough resonance, they dug out this huge cavity and built a tower.


    We could clearly see the statues on the opposite side now, and the decorative carvings in the crevice looked both exquisite andplicated. On our side, there were only the stone beams, which acted like a nk road.


    But you could only choose our location if you wanted to go down further, because no matter how long their ropes were, they still needed a continuation point.


    As the re went out slowly, the air was filled with a strong smell of burning aluminum and magnesium powder. Then, an electroluminescentmp fell down like a meteor. This was an expensive piece of equipment that was used forrge-scale exploration. It was a modified miner''smp that was connected to a braided line and dropped down from above. As more and more of thesemps appeared above us, almost the whole area was illuminated.


    We were right below this lighting zone, so the shadow of the stone beams covered us. At this time, I couldnt worry about where Poker-Face had gone. I could only roll under my stone beam and shrink my body, hoping that the other party couldnt see us from above.


    Then, we heard someone rapidly descending and a voice spoke into a walkie-talkie, "Its clear, let the goods go." We heard a lot of ropes being thrown down, and then countless packages were sent down the ropes.


    I secretly took a look, but because I couldn''t see clearly with the backlight, I only caught a glimpse of countless ropes and miner''smps hanging in the air. It almost looked like they were creating a rest stop, because some people quickly started setting up safetys and tents in mid-air.


    <em>They''re wealthy. I admit defeat</em>, I thought to myself. <em>Ill never look down on money again. But Ive acquired ck sses bad habits, so I must at least live like Jin Wantang.</em>


    More people slowly started to appear, which made me so nervous that I was covered in a cold sweat. They were less than twenty meters above us, after all. As many people began talking, I realized that all of their elites were right above us. It didnt take long before I heard Boss Jiaos voice and saw all of the electroluminescentmps slowly begin moving down. They passed by us ever so slowly before continuing downward.


    Then, I saw something covered in blood get lowered down among themps, but I couldnt tell what it was.


    When it got about ten meters below us, I heard Boss Jiao shouting, "Wu Xie, let me give you something. See if it looks familiar."


    I looked down carefully. From this angle, I could see that it was a bloody man whose hair style looked familiar.


    It was Xiao Hua.


    The electroluminescentmps looked like colorful stars set against the backdrop of the darkness below. As Xiao Hua sank lower and lower into this darkness, he didn''t look up at all. I didn''t know whether he was dead or unconscious, but I felt as if my heart almost stopped.


    Boss Jiao continued to shout, "This is what your Wu family owes me. Do you think God wouldnt tell me? Wu Sanxing, I made it here without you. Your Wu family might be awesome, but you dont have any luck. Im the one with all the luck here. As long as I listen to the thunder again, I can find you wherever you try to hide."


    My voice was practically trembling as I asked ck sses, "What should I do?" It sounded like Boss Jiao and my Uncle Three had some grievances with each other, but my Uncle Three wasnt the type to let a grudge fester for so long. I would know something about this kind of deep hatred. <em>Uncle Three, how much trouble have you caused the Wu family?</em>


    At this time, the blood-covered Xiao Hua was the only thing on my mind. My hands and feet were shaking, and a murderous intent rose up in my heart. On the one hand, I was extremely nervous because I didn''t know whether Xiao Hua was alive or dead. On the other hand, all my pity and understanding for Boss Jiaopletely disappeared.


    <em>I dont care what this man is here for. He''d better die here.</em>


    ck sses didn''t answer me. I held my breath right as I saw someone rappelling past me. Men in ck whom I had never seen before started rappelling down one by one. They mustve been the experts who were hiding in that tulou room with the door closed the whole time. All of these people were carrying 86s, which was a type of non-automatic gun that was very stable. When I entrapped the Wang family before, they used this type of gun. I took a deep breath, fully realizing where Boss Jiaos capital had gone.


    He hired a group of Wang family members?


    <em>This is so fucking troublesome. We dont have anything. How are we supposed to fight?</em>


    ****


    <strong><em>Me over here like: "XIAO HUA!!! NOOOOOOOOO! (cue music ying from this scene) </em></strong>


    <strong><em>Sidenote: one of my favorite scenes is this one lol</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 210

    Book 1: Chapter 210


    I had never been in such a hard-pressed situation before. I used to think that everything had a solution, but now my mind was a mess. It wasnt that I had be pessimistic, I was just feeling too pressured at this time. When we were at Changbai Mountain, we at least had washbasins and sanitary napkins as weapons, but I didnt have anything on hand right now.


    Could I just wait it out?


    I knew that ck sses wouldnt wait. Even Poker-Face might have immediately realized something was up and decided to move before notifying us. I imagined myself jumping onto one of their safety ropes, sliding down to a Wang killer, knocking him out with a kick, and then shooting at the crowd with his gun. After throwing them into the abyss like grapes, I would then knock out all the lights above and drag them into the darkness to fight.


    We had ck sses, after all. Even Poker-Face might not be able to beat him in the dark.


    No, this was only something fucking Schwarzenegger could do. The bullets wouldnt pass by me or hit my muscles and only leave a small bloody hole. This kind of gun would definitely leave a substantial hole in your body. Without modern medicine here to save me, I only had to be shot twice before I would die. The most likely possibility was that I would jump on the safety rope, slide down, fall into the arms of a Wang family member, get my jaw pulled off by him, and then kicked directly into the abyss.


    <em>Wait a minute, what did I just think of?</em>


    <em>Lights?</em>


    I secretly poked my head out and looked at the hanging lights, wondering if there was any way to put them out.


    <em>If only Kan Jian were here!</em> His slingshot was silent, ammo was avable everywhere, and it was more appropriate for him to shoot the lights with his slingshot. But unfortunately, he didn''te down with us. Just as I was at my wits'' end, I heard Boss Jiao to shout, "Wu Xie,e out. It''s a dead end. Ill find you sooner orter. I wouldnt even be bothering with you, but I dont want you to disturb my final ns. I know youre hiding. Fine, then. I''ll cut the rope holding Xie Yuchen in five minutes. If youe out, I''ll let you live long enough for me to finish my work. It''s going to thunder soon. There are still twenty minutes left, so dont bother me."


    Boss Jiao was so excited that he was almost incoherent. I looked at my phone. Five minutes I believed he would really do it. Many people had already died for this matter and Xiao Hua wasnt very special to him.


    The falling lights stopped moving, and I noticed that all of the Wang family members were on high alert. That was the direction where Fatty had disappeared just now. Maybe they saw his parachute hanging on the tower wall. I did some quick calctions in my mind. If it was anyone else, it might be fine. But this was the Wang family. They made almost no mistakes. Fatty''s attempt to look like a naked statue would definitely be seen through.


    Sure enough, the Wang family started shooting indiscriminately at the Buddha statues on the tower wall. At this time, my brain was working at top speed. I would be shot directly if I went out right now, but the manic Boss Jiao had snapped now that he was close to reaching his destination. Twenty minutes wait a minute! If he couldnt reach the bottom of the tower within twenty minutes, what would happen to him?


    I didnt know what was at the bottom of this tower, but my instincts were telling me that this twenty-minute deadline was important. Boss Jiao continued shouting to me, "Its been two minutes. There are still three minutes left before I let Xie Yuchen fall directly to his death. Wu Xie, didnt you im that you can always get out of a predicament? Give it a try this time."


    I was sweating all over. In reality, I only had one minute, because I knew that Poker-Face and ck sses would definitely make a risky attack in thest two minutes. I was too familiar with their routine, so I knew that ck sses definitely wasnt in his original position anymore. Since their physical strength was so amazing, they always chose to take the initiative to attack.


    As I calcted the time in my heart, I had a big hunch that we were going to lose this time. Boss Jiao started to say, "There are still two minutes left", but I suddenly rolled to the top of the stone beam, got up, and shouted at the ce that was hidden by the backlight overhead, "Im here! Let me tell you, without me, you can''t get down to the bottom in twenty minutes"


    But before I had finished speaking, a gunshot rang out from above and hit me directly in the heart. When I was hit by the force of the bullet, I immediately fell off of the stone beam.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok ok. I''m really done this time lol. I watched Indiana Jones and got inspired to get another chapter out</em> (I really just wanted to know what happened to Xiao Hua but now we''ve got this cliffie. Ha ahahaha. I swear I don''t do it on purpose) (_</strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 211

    Book 1: Chapter 211


    I actually didnt expect this kind of thing to happen. The other party didn''t care what I had to say, nor did they give me a chance to dy the time. The bullet was shot out directly and pushed me into the abyss.


    Boss Jiao was really a mans man. He just wanted me to die and wasnt even thinking of humiliating me. My grandfather said that the only ones in this world who could live a long life were those who were extremely selfless, or those who were extremely selfish. Most peoples lives were worn down because of their own conscience. You could either hold everything in your hands tightly and be satisfied with what you had, or you could open your hands to the whole world and let it possess you. All you got in exchange for worrying about gains and losses was meaningless waste. Boss Jiao appeared to be the kind of person who was extremely selfish and got impatient when he wanted something.


    When I felt the pain in my heart, I realized that it was almost as if I had been waiting for this moment. Maybe I should have experienced this moment when I was in the Seven Star Lu Pce, but because of various reasons, I had lived to the present, which was longer than many of those who should have lived for a long time. When many people died, I often asked myself why it wasnt me. I always thought that I shouldve been the one to die. I never really thought about it until now, but what exactly gave me so many opportunities?


    <em>I don''t have to think about it now.</em>


    The safety ropes rushed past as I fell through the air. But just when I thought I would pass by Xiao Hua and the Wang family members and fall into the abyss, someone suddenly reached out and grabbed me.


    It was Xiao Hua. He stretched out his blood-covered hand and grabbed me, his blood dripping down onto my face. I couldn''t see his facial expression clearly because of the backlight, but his hands grabbed me in a vice-like grip.


    There was an echo in my ear that seemed toe from the halo of light overhead, and I heard Boss Jiao shout, "Cut the rope! These people are useless! Hurry down!"


    I heard a Wang family member shout, "There are still three killers nearby! You shot too early!"


    "I dont care! Why are you so scared? As long as Wu Xie is dead, what are you afraid of?" Boss Jiao continued to shout from above.


    I heard one of the Wang family members mutter from nearby, If Wu Xie dies, were likely to have an ident.


    At this time, I felt Xiao Huas hand that was holding onto me start to tremble. "Let go," I said to him. "Its hopeless for me, but they can still save you."


    Xiao Hua didn''t speak, but I felt something in his hand squeezing into my palm. I tried to look at his face, but I couldn''t see it clearly because of the backlight. Then, he suddenly turned his body, let go, and kicked me in my chest. I immediately felt a sharp pain. From this position, he kicked me directly to the opposite side of the tower wall, which was full of those leather figurines.


    I flew halfway across the tower, fell on the wall, and scrambled to grab onto something. But the only things I managed to grab were those leather figurines. I rolled down four or five stories, causing all of them to fall down with me. My hands eventually caught on a niche, stopping my descent.


    I went to check my heart.


    <em>I was shot in the heart, so I definitely wouldnt be able to move now if theres a hole</em>. I looked down at my chest. For some reason, the bullet got stuck on my ribs, but didnt prate. I touched the hard lump of the bullet, pulled on it hard, and yanked it out.


    It was still very painful, but it was basically just a scratch. I figured that the rib that had been hit was probably cracked since it hurt every time I took a deep breath.


    I was still illuminated by the light above, but none of Wang family members shot at me. All I could hear was Boss Jiao shouting, "Why didn''t he die?! Kill him!"


    None of the Wang family members shot, and we continued to face off like this. I didn''t know why at first, but when I looked carefully, I found that there was a huge depression in the tower wall behind the niche I had caught just now. Inside, there was a giant golden armored corpse wrapped in gold silk.


    Another Daolu General.


    I raised my hand and looked at it. When Xiao Hua had grabbed me just now, he handed me something. I looked at it and found that it was a copper coin.


    **


    <strong>Authors note:</strong> Today, I drank a little too much and my writing started to drift a bit. Forgive me if there are any problems with the logic.


    ****


    <strong><em>I left the authors note to exin how Wu Xie went from getting shot in the heart to only having his rib get grazed by the bullet.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 212

    Book 1: Chapter 212


    I didnt understand the meaning of this copper coin, but I didnt have any time to think about it right now. I could be shot into Swiss cheese at any moment, but I didnt know why the Wang family wasnt taking the chance to finish me off. I had a feeling that it was rted to the golden armored corpse behind me. I didnt dare cling to it, but I maintained my position in front of the giant corpse.


    Boss Jiao was still shouting from above, so one of the Wang family members shouted up, "We can''t! There will be blood!"


    I immediately understood what was going on now. They were afraid that after killing me, my blood would disturb the giant corpse.


    But after this person finished speaking, several Wang family members slid down the rope and began swinging back and forth, trying to swing onto the wall.


    I immediately pressed the wound on my chest and smeared the blood on my palms before facing the giant corpse behind me. Several of the Wang family members jumped onto the wall like Spider-Man, but didnt dare rush over in the face of my threat. A bunch of leather figurines were knocked down into the abyss when theynded on the wall, revealing more golden armored corpses behind. As it turned out, there were Daolu Generals resting one by one in the mountain under the cover of the leather figurines. The corpses of these Jin Tong Sect leaders were all wearing rotting armor. Some were strong, and some were thin and white-haired, but all of them had be mummies.


    Buried in a tower this was the first time I had seen this kind of burial method.


    A very thin Wang slowly put a rope in front of me, letting it hang about six or seven arm-lengths away from me. He then pointed a gun at me and shouted above, "Boss Jiao, this ce is full of zombies. Youll have toe to an agreement. I can''t let blood flow here; otherwise, you definitely wont be able to get out."


    Boss Jiao was silent for a while and then shouted, "I dont have time! Just ensure that he doesnt bother me!" With that said, he finally went silent. I saw more people start to slide down the ropes and set up a temporary tform on this section. I immediately understood their routine. They used safetys to build a mid-air tform level by level so as to save their rope.


    There was nothing I could do but watch as most of the Wang family members continued to go down. Xiao Hua was still hanging there, motionless. After about two cigarettes time, a middle-aged man dropped down from above, stood on the safety in front of me, and then looked at me from behind the Wang family.


    He was a white-faced, clean, and unremarkable middle-aged man; someone you would easily forget even if you passed him two or three times on the street. He was also very tall, but I couldnt determine his exact height. Sanye had followed him down.


    He looked at the hanging Xiao Hua and said to me, "Wu Xie, you have to remember that your Wu family is dishonest." With that said, he grabbed Xiao Hua''s chin, lifted Xiao Hua''s face up, and pinched Xiao Hua''s mouth open.


    Boss Jiao coughed up a mouthful of phlegm and was just about to spit it in Xiao Hua''s mouth when suddenly, there was a slight tremor, all the reeds in the mountain began to vibrate, and it thundered.

 Book 1: Chapter 213: Thunder

    Book 1: Chapter 213: Thunder


    This was the first time I had seen the shape of sound. Usually, when they wanted to show the sound waves in movies, they would make the air fluctuations into water instead. This was because particles were needed to show air movement. But here, I could see all the reeds moving with the sound. The resonance was transmitted like falling dominoes, creating the illusion that the sound had shape.


    Well, I know that words can''t truly describe this feeling.


    As the sound wave passed through all of us, I felt a shock in my brain. Then, it passed by us and rushed to the bottom of the tower.


    Everyone paused, and the Wang family looked up. I knew it must be thundering outside.


    I saw Boss Jiaos face be a very ugly color, "No! Why is it early?! This must be a fucking mistake! He released Xiao Hua and looked at the Wang familys leader who was confronting me, "Go! Send me down quickly or Ill be toote!"


    The Wang family leader looked at me and then motioned with his hands. The rest of the Wangs continued to descend quickly, taking Boss Jiao and his party down one by one. "There are still three people hiding, he said to them coldly. Dont make mistakes just because youre in a hurry."


    A second p of thunder didnte down, which meant that the one we had heard just now seemed to be an ident or some other sound. But Boss Jiao seemed abnormally panicked. It was obvious that he had calcted the exact time that it would thunder and came here to listen to it.


    Strange as it was, it seemed to be the only exnation at this time.


    When the others in Boss Jiaos team passed by us, they looked very nervous and kept ncing at the top of the tower. Just like that time I saw them in the valley, I suddenly saw a turning point. If it kept thundering, then many of Boss Jiaos cronies would enter a nightmare state and be at their weakest. If there was a way to kill these Wang family members in front of us, then we might be able to turn the tables when Boss Jiao was disconnected from reality.


    The Wang family''s leader didn''t go down and continued to confront me. "Aren''t you in a hurry?" I asked him.


    "What do you think the oue of this matter will be?" He looked at me.


    "Usually, only a few good results wille out of this kind of thing," I said. Whether you would get good results from doing something wrong all depended on fate. Some people were born with this fate, like my Uncle Three. But I didnt know if Boss Jiao was one of these people.


    "Boss Jiao has sessfully heard thunder before, the Wang family''s leader said. He ims that his sess was entirely due to thunder, but the final part was interrupted by your Uncle Three. As a result, he didn''t finish listening to the information hidden in the thunder. He must listen to thunder, but it has to be the same thunder as the one he heard before. That thunder will sound here today, in fifteen minutes. He must finish listening to it."


    "Do you really believe in something like that?" I asked him.


    He approached me, "I believe that theres a god who created and is controlling the world from the dark. Were just not aware of it."


    This was the Wangs familys persistent worldview. After he finished speaking, he got even closer to me, "But I dont think God will choose him, so Ive decided to stay here with you. That way, I can guarantee my own safety." He looked into the darkness and added, "Zhang Qiling is nearby. If Im by your side, I may see him. I want to see this person."


    "And then what?" My hands were getting a little tired and I thought to myself, <em>what do you want? To trap me here and keep me from acting?</em>


    The Wang familys leader looked back at Xiao Hua, "I don''t hate you. When the thunder sounds and these people be fools, Ill let him go. Then, we can make a deal." He pointed to my chest, "Im being very sincere here. We took all the gunpowder out of the bullets, so you dont have to doubt us. My deal is quite fair."


    ****


    <strong><em>Ummm, so I googled this to see if its legit because I got curious. I got mixed results after looking at some hunting forums. Some said the bullets got stuck in the guns barrel when they took the gunpowder out; some said the bullets did fire, but didn''t have as much impact (like what happened in these chapters). I know the Wangs are supposed to be badass experts, but they really shouldnt rely on such a finicky method. What if their guns blow up in their faces? Anyways, this is fiction so well just roll with it I guess.</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 214: Hahaha

    Book 1: Chapter 214: Hahaha


    I was a little confused about the Wang familys motives, but it was definitely a deal that appealed to me. I nodded and asked softly, "What do you want to do?"


    "This Boss Jiao''s so-called listening to thunder is definitely problematic," the Wang familys leader said to me. "But I believe that its a real thing; otherwise, Wu Sanxing wouldnt have been so persistent back then. I believe that listening to thunder was rted to your Wu family''s n for our Wang family. It''s possible that Wu Sanxing knew a lot of information because he listened to thunder."


    I was stunned for a moment as I realized that he was saying that he felt that the Wu family had destroyed the Wang family all because Uncle Three had heard some clues when he listened to thunder back then. The Wang family couldnt understand why they had been destroyed and thought that God had plotted against them.


    <em>What do you want to do? Kill the God of Thunder for revenge?</em>


    "But weve followed Boss Jiao for a long time. We didnt think that listening to thunder would be so simple and reckless. But I find that his mindset when ites to listening to thunder is very strange. He believes that the secrets in the thunder are just to make people like him seed in life, which I think is ridiculous. The Wang familys leader looked at me, "You must know the real secrets in the thunder, dont you? I dont think it will end well for Boss Jiao after he listens to the thunder, but I hope that youll show us the real secrets in the thunder."


    I tilted my head back, revealing an expression that meant "I see".


    In the Wang family members minds, I was an unpredictable existence. They just couldnt understand how I was able to breach their secure system before. To tell you the truth, how I did what I did at that time is also very vague, even when I recalled it now. I only remember that I had a strong obsession and focus at that time. This kind of tremendous power born from the heart could only be exerted for one thing. It made me realize that this was what made human hearts so terrible and great.


    At this time, I absolutely couldnt tell him, I''m sorry, Uncle. I actually dont know the secrets in the thunder at all. All I could do was try my best to control my facial expression, revealing a cold smirk like that of a ck boxer about to fight in the ring. This unscrupulous smile seemed to say: Buddy, you should know whats good for you.


    "Why dont you switch sides now and I''ll take you down?" I said to him.


    "Were employed now," the Wang family''s leader said. "But we can''t stop employers from doing stupid things."


    I looked at the darkness below while the Wang familys leader looked up above and said to me, "All you have to do now is wait."


    I looked at Xiao Hua, but he didn''t look up at all. "Is he ok? I asked the leader. If you give me a dead man, it doesn''t mean anything to me. You have to put him down first."


    The Wang leader shook his head. "Were still on opposite sides right now. You can only wait."


    <em>Oh, that right there is the reason for your Wang family''s demise. Youre all a group of idiots. It doesnt matter whether its the Zhang family or the Wang family, youre all idiots. What the hell have I done in my life to provoke these powerhouses?</em> Just as I was cursing in my heart, a rumbling suddenly came from above. Everyone immediately looked up, only to see that the reeds began to shake violently and another sound rushed down. As it passed by us quickly and rushed to the bottom of the tower, I suddenly heard something behind me.


    I turned to look and saw that at some point, the mummy behind me unexpectedly leaned towards my neck, its mouth almost at the back of my head.


    I turned to re at the Wang familys leader, who looked at me wryly. He must have seen the body leaning towards me, but used what he said just now to distract me.


    "Are you kidding me?"


    "I made a bet that you''ll die before we every hands on you. If I kill you myself, then I lose." The Wang familys leaderughed, "Are you really Wu Xie? You trust people so easily. What will you do now? The blood on your body has begun to attract the Daolu Generals here. Take a closer look."


    I looked around. Sure enough, all of the Daolu Generals around me were leaning towards me, their faces pointed in my direction.

 Book 1: Chapter 215: Hehehe

    Book 1: Chapter 215: Hehehe


    The number of Daolu Generals here was incalcble. Just now, even with the four of us acting in syncBlind in the south, Mute in the north, me in the east, and Fatty in the westwe had used up all of our skills just to take out one of them. But if there were two of them, we would definitely be seriously injured. I did a quick scan and saw that there were six or seven here, all different types. They appeared to be suitable forbat in various terrains.


    I saw that the Wang family members expressions were rxed, as if this situation had nothing to do with them. If these things revive, youll have to bear the consequences," I said to them.


    The Wang familys leader looked at me and smiled, "This is your choice. Our Wang family hasnt had a choice for a long time now."


    <em>Shit, he turned out to be an optimist. I really have no way to deal with optimistic viins!</em>


    "Are you not afraid of death?" I asked him. Those in the Wang family who came out to work should obviously be utilitarian and afraid of death.


    The Wang familys leader readily nodded, "Were afraid, but weve reached a state of equilibrium now. Theres no need for us to surrender right now. We dont even know if these things will really revive. At this time, emotions are useless."


    His words echoed in my ears, suddenly breaking through my will. This was the sentence they had often said before I ttened the whole Wang family. I didnt know if he said it to me intentionally, or if it was just an ident.


    In the face of fate, emotions were just the feeling of adrenal hormone secretion. You shouldnt care about emotions, but about the uracy of your actions after the adrenal hormone secretion kicked in.


    That was the moment your life and death would be determined.


    To put it simply, when people attacked others, they would get excited, their focus would be more intense, and they would often feel angry at the same time. The key was to practice turning off your anger while leaving the intense focus generated by the excitement.


    I was only able to do it at that time because I didn''t care about my life or death at all and just wanted to finish things.


    This state was usually reserved for situations that couldnt be solved normally, like now. It was a way of life that would break the bnce. I only had one advantage right now: I knew what would happen in the next second faster than everyone else.


    As the Wang family''s leader continued to look at me cheerfully, I suddenly understood what I needed to do now. If I wanted to live, I couldnt regard my life as an important condition of my n. It was only by not considering whether I could live or not that I could get the upper hand.


    "If Im still alive at thest moment and you still dont know the secrets in the thunder, remember that it was only by helping me that you couldve finally learned what was in the thunder."


    When I said this, the Wang familys leader didnt seem to understand and asked, "What do you mean?"


    <em>Just keep guessing</em>, I said to myself. I opened my hand and looked at the copper coin, which was covered in blood.


    I still didnt understand the meaning of this coin. For me, if I didnt know its significance and Xiao Hua couldnt tell me now, then this copper coin was useless.


    I turned around and stuffed it into the mouth of the Daolu General behind me, causing the Wang family to immediately panic. Almost at the same time, I leaped over, hugged the Wang familys leader, pulled out the dagger at his waist with my left hand, and cut the rope holding Xiao Hua, causing him to fall in an instant.


    The Wang family''s leader was about to grab me, but I let go at almost the exact same time and fell towards the abyss.


    I shouted in the air, "We fell! Xiao Hua at three o''clock, three meters away from the wall! Im at two o''clock, two point four meters away from the wall. Were separated by two seconds! Fatty, Little Brother, ck sses! Our lives depend on your eyes!"


    As I spoke, I opened my arms and legs, the wind roaring in my ears as I fell deeper into the abyss. I prayed in my heart that someone would leap out of the darkness and catch us.


    <em>Tacit understanding, brothers! Tell me we have a tacit understanding!</em>

 Book 1: Chapter 216: Alive

    Book 1: Chapter 216: Alive


    In the process of falling down into the darkness, there were only two possibilities waiting for me: one was that my skull would hit a rock and fracture, causing my brains to burst out; the other was that someone would catch me, causing the joints in my arm to be in severe pain. There were a few seconds where I was just waiting for the moment my skull would crack open.


    I quickly fell into the darkness, but it hadnt even been ten seconds after I finished shouting that I felt my arm immediately get grabbed by someone. The man''s hand was so strong that I immediately felt all my skin get torn and pain shot up to my shoulder from where he had grabbed me. At the moment I was finally grabbed, I felt as if my shoulder was going to break.


    I didnt know what Xiao Huas situation was at this time. All I knew was that after I was stopped, I was swung to the tower wall and crashed into it. Fortunately, I hit my chin first instead of my nose; otherwise, my nose that had finally started to heal would''ve been broken and I probably wouldve needed a prosthesis just to show my face out in public.


    Then, I was quickly dragged up and pulled into a niche on the tower wall. I immediately knew from the disy of strength that this man was Poker-Face.


    "Bro, 666 (1)," I blurted out as I tried to slow my racing heart.


    I couldnt see Poker-Face clearly in the dark, but at this time, I heard someone tapping slightly below: "I caught Xiao Hua."


    I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that my intuition was correct and they had already been prepared. If I had been shot down just now, they probably wouldve caught me as well.


    Poker-Face didnt wait for my brain to catch up and whispered to me, "Come with me." I saw an orange glow stick suddenly appear in the darkness, illuminating his face and revealing a passage behind this niche.


    The opening was blocked with leather figurines and the glow stick was very dim, so this light probably wouldnt be visible outside. As he quickly receded into the darkness, I followed after him. There was a very narrow crevice in the niche, which led to the depths of that huge, top-to-bottom crevice I had seen before. The cave walls inside were covered inyer uponyer of those bronze reeds. It was just like the scale effect formed by those small grottoes all over the mountains and ins around the Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas (2).


    "What is this ce?" I asked softly. But as soon as I spoke, I found that my voice was instantly transmitted through these reeds, and they all began to resonate and transmit one by one. These reeds were as thin as silkworm wings, but sharp enough to scratch your arm with the slightest touch.


    Poker-Face motioned for me not to talk, so I moved to cover my mouth. At this time, I saw that there were several bloody wounds on my hand, but I couldnt remember when I had been cut.


    When we started walking on these reeds, I noticed that the holes werent parallel and there were many slopes and turns. We had no choice but to crouch down as we moved forward, and I knew I had to walk very carefully. If I fell down and encountered a steep slope, I would end up rolling three or four meters out. There wouldnt be a bit of good flesh left on my body after that.


    I followed Poker-Face all the way into the crevice, but as it started to go downhill, the reeds became too sharp and we couldn''t go down with our bare hands. I heard Poker-Face tap his shoe lightly by one of the holes, the sound resonating slightly with the reed and passing down.


    Fatty replied not far below: "Come down. Boss Jiao will start soon."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its Chinese inte ng used a lot in gaming. Wu Xie is basically saying Poker-face is awesome/amazing.


    (2) The Cave of Ten Thousand Buddhas (aka Wanfo Cave) is in the Longmen Grottoes and is the mostplete cave there. It was built in 680 by Gaozong and Wu Zetian. It houses 15,000 Buddhas carved in small niches. Theyre all different from each other, with the smallest Buddha being 2 centimeters (0.79 in) in height. Here are some tourist pics and reviews.

 Book 1: Chapter 217: Ear Coffin

    Book 1: Chapter 217: Ear Coffin


    Before I could react, I heard Poker-Face continue to tap with his shoe. It hadnt taken them long to invent a code using shoes. There mustve been rumors in the industry that people in Wushanju invented their ownnguage called the Xie Code because they worshiped Wu Xie (1).


    Before I could figure out what Poker-Face had said in response, I was picked up and flung into the darkness.


    I flew into the air again, but it was less than a second before I was grabbed by a hand and pulled directly into another dark hole.


    As I fell into Fatty''s arms, he grabbed me by my armpits to keep me from falling down. If I did fall, my feet would definitely be sliced into sashimi.


    Once I got my legs under me, Fatty dragged me back a few steps and Poker-Face jumped down with a cold firework in his mouth. I wanted to ask them what they were nning. Why did Poker-Face suddenly disappear earlier? Where was ck sses?


    I didn''t see Xiao Hua next to Fatty, so who caught him? Was it ck sses?


    But they didn''t give me a chance to ask questions before they jumped down into the huge crevice. There appeared to be many holes in this crevice, so if you knew their positions and just jumped into them, you could avoid being hurt.


    We continued jumping down in the dark. The whole process was no longer a mind game, but two people ying with my life. If any one of us stepped on a ce and slipped, or scraped against the cave wall even a little bit, our bones would be the only thing left. But the other two didn''t hesitate at all. Every time I was dragged and turned around, the rubber on the soles of my shoes would be cut. After fourteen or fifteen times of this, I felt that my soles were almost as thin as paper and would be cut through at any moment.


    Every time I jumped, I made it about seven meters before I was dragged into the darkness like a marite. We rushed down to the light below and finally stopped. At this time, I clearly felt that one of my soles was broken and a sharp reed had directly pierced my foot.


    I immediately felt a wetness start to spread from the area. I didn''t know how deep the reed had gone, but I didn''t dare call out to the others. When we looked down, we finally saw the bottom of this floor.


    Atst! After jumping more than a hundred meters, the depth of this ce far exceeded anything I could imagine. I could see that there were more bronze reeds extending from the crevices at the bottom of this floor. They were just like the tentacles of an octopus, sticking out from the crevices and surrounding the space at the bottom of the toweryer byyer. The whole bottom was just like a thousand-petaled lotus flower in full bloom, or a sunflower seed te.


    There was a huge, ear-shaped sarcophagus among all of these lotus petals or melon seeds.


    Everyone in Boss Jiaos team had descended into this space but were still hanging in the air. Boss Jiao seemed to be a bit dazed as he stared at the sarcophagus.


    I watched as he slowly climbed down, stepped into the stone coffin, and theny down.


    I forgot the pain in my foot as I watched it all very carefully, the hanging lights enabling us to see everything clearly. Should we stop him?" I mouthed at Fatty.


    Fatty pointed to the opposite side, where I saw someone standing in a hole simr to ours. It was ck sses, and he had Xie Yuhua on his back. ck sses was signing at us: "Do it when it thunders again."


    <em>Do it? Do what?</em> I asked myself. I saw Poker-Face quickly sign a response and thought to myself, <em>so you can do it, too. You really do have a gift fornguages.</em> It really wasnt appropriate to think more at this time. I only needed to focus on what they were really trying to do.


    The next p of thunder came in an instant.


    The Wang family above was signaling down, but the people below werepletely ignoring them. Boss Jiao was still lying curled up in the ear-shaped stone coffin. Then, Fatty suddenly came up behind me and started to take off my pants.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Shoe is pronounced as Xie in Chinese. It''s a stupid pun lol.


    ****


    <strong><em>Uhhhhh what? lol (Not gonna lie, I''m low-key surprised he actually had his pants on this whole time. We know his track record. I thought they were lonnnnggggggg gone with that first zombie general hahahahaha). 38 pages to go *breathes heavily*</em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 218: Amazing

    Book 1: Chapter 218: Amazing


    I looked back at Fatty and thought to myself, <em>what are you doing? Why do you have to act like a hooligan every time its a critical moment?</em> Fatty immediately tore off the silk strip I was using as a belt, which caused my pants to fall down. Almost at the same time, the thunder shook the whole space and all of Boss Jiaos team members looked up, the whites of their eyes showing. Off to the side, Boss Jiao stripped naked andy back down.


    "Lets go!" Fatty picked me up, Poker-Face tore off my pants, and then Fatty rushed out of the hole.


    As he made his way down the bronze reeds coiled around the wall, the Wang family members saw him and immediately took out their guns. ck ssescarrying Xiao Hua on his backrushed down from the other side, the weight of two people directly mming into the Wang family. The Wangs were instantly knocked to the ground, but the moment they tried to use their hands to turn over, all of their fingers were cut off by the reeds. Blood spurted out in an instant.


    Several other Wangs raised their guns and aimed at ck sses, but I saw Poker-Face appear directly behind one of them. His hand stretched out from under the mans armpit and hit him directly on the chin. As the man instantly fainted, his gun went off and a shower of sparks hit the bronze reeds. The Wangs on the side bowed their heads to avoid the idental gunfire and then rushed at Poker-Face, using the butts of their guns as weapons.


    I couldn''t see any more after that, because Fatty rushed directly to the ear-shaped sarcophagus. "What are you doing?!" I shouted at him.


    Fatty threw me into the sarcophagus, tearing off the rest of my clothes at the same time. I found that the sarcophagus was full of a golden liquid. Fatty knocked on my knees until I knelt down in the sarcophagus and then pressed me into it.


    Boss Jiao was lying in the sarcophagus, the whites of his eyes showing. I didn''t know what Fatty was trying to do, but he suddenly shouted at me, "Cover the hole in his head!"


    I didnt know what his intentions were, but I had no other choice but to do it. It seemed that he, ck sses, and Poker-Face had already discussed it. I touched Boss Jiao''s head and broke out in a cold sweat. His skull was full of holes like coal briquette (1), and there were so many that I couldnt cover them all with my hands. The man was so obsessed with listening to thunder that there was no telling how many times he had operated on himself.


    "Clothes!" I yelled at Fatty.


    He was already fighting with the Wang family and shouted back, "You cant wear clothes!"


    I really didnt understand.


    As I looked around, the sounds of thunder from above would pass down from time to time. I noticed that the golden coffin liquid was decreasing like it was being absorbed by Boss Jiao.


    "Don''t let him take all the liquid! Lie down!" Fatty shouted.


    I had to lie down and try to cover Boss Jiao''s head as much as possible. The golden coffin liquid was very cold, and I felt as if countless tiny bugs were drilling into my skin, which was surprisinglyfortable. When Iy down on my back, I found that I could float on the coffin liquid and look up at the darkness above, where a huge ck eye seemed to be staring at me.


    I slowly descended into a nightmare state, all of my attention focused on that huge ck thing. All of the sounds around me disappeared, leaving only a burst of thunder. I was surprised to find that I had a memory of this thunder.


    It was the thunder I heard in Hangzhou before.


    As the bronze reeds conducted the thunders sound, it seemed as if there were whispers hidden deep in the thunder.


    The ckness in front of me was getting deeper and deeper, and I found that the people and tower walls around me were gone. I was suddenly surrounded by fog. I sat up and saw that the fog was full of lightning, as if I had entered the dark clouds. I turned my head and saw Boss Jiao starting to sit up.


    Hepletely ignored me, his expression full of excitement.


    "I''m back again."


    "Back where?" I asked him.


    "When I listened to the thunder a few decades ago, I ended up here. At that time, I came together with your Uncle Three," Boss Jiao said as he fully sat up.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Used for cooking and home heating. Info here. Pic here:

 Book 1: Chapter 219: Countdown to the Finale

    Book 1: Chapter 219: Countdown to the Finale


    I knew that I was in an illusion, because this feeling was very simr to when I had ingested snake pheromones before. Everything seemed so real in these illusions because it was real information that was instilled into my brain through the snake pheromones or thunder. It seemed like I could interact with the surrounding environment, but that actually wasnt the case.


    Even Boss Jiao on the side wasnt real.


    I was definitely an expert when it came to hallucinations. I had experienced all kinds more than a dozen times, with the most profound one being in the Qinling Mountains with Lao Yang (1). I really didnt know whether that one was my personal experience or the whole thing had been an illusion. I only remembered that I was unconscious twice: once by the riverbank and once after rushing out of the riverbank.


    I ignored Boss Jiao, knowing that everything around me was just my reaction to hearing the thunder. I just needed to wait for more information toe in.


    After I quieted down, the whispers around me became clearer and clearer. Every time lightning shed, I could hear countless voicesing out of the thunder.


    I happened to look at Boss Jiao and suddenly found that he was getting younger. No, he wasnt actually getting younger, he was just a younger version of himself. His eyes were full of doubts as he looked at the thunder around him.


    I suddenly realized that this Boss Jiao wasnt the Boss Jiao who was currently lying in the coffin with me. He mustve been the Boss Jiao who listened to thunder for the first time so many years ago. I saw this Boss Jiao shouting everywhere, "Wu Sanxing! Wu Sanxing!


    I paused. He was looking for my Uncle Three?


    I saw Boss Jiao''s lips turn pale and his whole body tensed up. I approached him and heard him muttering to himself, "Dont be afraid, Tian Youjin. Dont be afraid, Tian Youjin."


    Tian Youjin?


    I looked at Boss Jiao and suddenly realized what was going on. Boss Jiao was really Tian Youjin?


    I watched his trembling body walk into the fog. As he slowly reached its depths, a huge streak of lightning appeared up ahead, constantly flickering. He looked at the lightning, his eyes slowly turning white as he entered a nightmare state. I heard him mutter to himself, "What? What did you say? Youre asking what I want to know? I want to know where Wu Sanxing is. I want to go back."


    "What? Hes not here? Where is this?"


    "This is Thunder City?"


    "Wheres Thunder City? Who are you?"


    I couldnt hear any replies. All I saw was the young Boss Jiao talking to himself.


    After a while, Boss Jiao suddenly began to speak a differentnguage. I knew that it was a specialnguage, but I couldnt understand it at all.


    While I was trying to understand what was going on, Boss Jiao suddenly turned to look at me. His white eyes moved past me and looked into the distance. I began to see all kinds of strange shadows in the fog, so I carefully looked at them. There was a huge ship floating on the sea and many people marching in the fog.


    My surroundings became something like that Qingming Shanghe Tu painting (2). There were countless shadows and voices, which all seemed to be fragments that I had or hadnt experienced in my lifetime.


    When I looked at these shadows, I suddenly realized that they seemed to be the answers to the puzzles I always sought.


    The answers to all the puzzles I had encountered in my life were actually in this fog. I walked in one direction, the shadows gradually bing clearer. It was a group of people trekking through the rainforest. I realized that it was Uncle Three''s team when he was in the snake marsh ghost town, and I was being shown what he did after he disappeared. The farther I went, the better I was able to see what the team looked like.


    I turned and looked around. Were all the shadows in the fog the answers I wanted to know but never got to experience?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Pretty much everything that happened in Vol 3 Bronze Tree of Death


    (2) Its a painting by the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan, called Along the River During the Qingming Festival. It captures the daily life of people and thendscape of the capital, Bianjing, during the Northern Song. More info here. Qingming Festival is known as Tomb-Sweeping Day. Info here.

 Book 1: Chapter 220: Countdown to the Finale 2

    Book 1: Chapter 220: Countdown to the Finale 2


    For me, this was a hard choice. There were many things in my life that were umon, but puzzles definitely didnt fall into this category. There were too many things I wanted to know back then, but after time had passed, I didn''t want to know anymore. In the ensuing years, when I encountered and possibly touched upon these puzzles countless times, I chose to give up. I had learned to choose to be safe in this world instead of pursuing the so-called truth.


    I never thought that God would put all the information in front of me one day and let me choose for myself.


    You didnt want to know, did you? But now I''ll tell you everything. Do you have the courage to step back?


    It was a matter of facing your inner desiresdo you want to know it or not? It was only when the truth was right in front of you that you could really think about it.


    Of course, this could all just be my nightmare. Maybe I could never get close to these shadows and the truth, or maybe this information was just some memories in my head. When I absorbed the memories from the snake pheromones, they had already existed after all. So maybe my memories were just getting decoded by the thunder so that I could see them more clearly.


    At this time, I suddenly felt afraid. I knew very well that I wouldn''t see what I wanted to seehow Uncle Three had disappeared from the snake marsh, where he had been for so many years, and whether my judgment back then was correct or not.


    But there was a chance I might learn everything I wanted to know.


    The fear was real, but I couldnt stop myself from moving forward step by step. My heart wanted to know; I wanted to know everything.


    As the fog cleared away, I saw the snake marsh gradually appear. Uncle Three was trekking through the rainforest with his team. I saw that they were heading for a cave in the near distance. ck sses was also among the team. Uncle Three suddenly looked back at him and said, "You dont have to go in with us. Please give this thing to Wu Xie for me."


    "What''s inside?" ck sses asked him. I saw that it was a bamboo tube. It contained the snake that ck sses had trekked through the desert to bring me. This was the snake that had opened up a whole new world for me.


    "It''s my message to Wu Xie." With that said, Uncle Three went into the cave. I saw this scene in the snake''s memory before, but after that, I never saw Uncle Three again.


    I followed Uncle Three into the cave. They walked a long distance and many people diedI won''t tell that story here; otherwise, it would be too longbefore Uncle Three eventually led the rest of his team into a small cave.


    I saw Chen Wen-Jin standing at the end of the cave.


    Uncle Three didn''t walk over. He and Chen Wen-Jin just stood face to face, separated by a long distance.


    In Uncle Three''s narrative, he and Chen Wen-Jin always had constant affection for each other. In my memory, Aunt Chen Wen-Jin and Uncle Three were very interesting lovers, but when I saw this reunion scene, the feelings I had imagined were no longer there.


    They looked at each other like two strangers. Uncle Three didn''t hesitate, as if he knew that she had been waiting here for a while.


    But they remained silent for a long time, because they used to like each other so much after all.


    "I''m here." Uncle Three eventually said to her. "You guys"


    "There are no more of us, Chen Wen-Jin replied. Im the only one here." Her voice was so hoarse that she didnt sound like a woman at all, but more like an elderly person.


    "Your nephew is here, too. As well as Zhang Qiling," Chen Wen-Jin said. "They all came earlier than you."


    "You know I dont agree with your approach. I didn''t agree with it before, and I dont agree with it now," Uncle Three said. "You can go back with me now. Are you willing?"


    "I can only stay here," Chen Wen-Jin said. "Come alone and I''ll show you the results of your choice back then.

 Book 1: Chapter 221: Countdown to the Finale 3

    Book 1: Chapter 221: Countdown to the Finale 3


    I followed as Uncle Three followed Chen Wen-Jin''s directions into the depths of the cave, where I saw the huge meteorite I had seen back then. The meteorite full of holes was embedded in the bottom of the underground cave, and the Queen of the Wests sacrificial altar was still there. I followed as they climbed into the meteorite.


    The meteorite seemed to be made of bronze and extended out in all directions. When we climbed into arger cavity, I saw a lot of gravel burial mounds covered in bronze fragments. There was a lot of equipment around, but it was so old and rotten that I couldnt tell what it was anymore.


    "In order to get out of that ancient undersea tomb back then, we all took those pills and let ourselves enter a corpse-like state. After we came out, we thought that everything was fine. It wasnt until Huo Ling started to transform that we realized that people who ate that kind of pill had to wrap their whole body in jade armor made of this bronze meteorite. Otherwise, they would be poisoned. Even if they survived, they would gradually be monsters like sea monkeys or forbidden women," Chen Wen-Jin said to Uncle Three. "The principle of these pills is very simple. They contain dormant corpse-eater kings and are made from the powder of the bronze meteorite. After taking the pill, the meteorite powder limits the toxicity of the corpse-eater kings in the blood, so that the bugs can drill into people''s brains and secrete a toxin. The corpse-eater kings are influenced by the jade armor, so if you wrap it around your body, the toxin secretion slows. This way, the toxins slowly change the human body. ording to the legends, after the corpse-eater king dies in two thousand years, you can leave the jade armor. The toxins that are left in the blood can repel insects and enable people to live a long time.


    If the person was dragged out of the jade armor before the two thousand years were up and the corpse-eater king wasnt dead, then the bug would wake up and all the toxins would be released at once. The persons skin would instantly be covered in blisters and they would be a blood zombie.


    Chen Wen-Jin and the others conducted research in Golmud, trying to find a way to relieve the toxins. They eventually decided to go to Tamu-Tuo to look for the bronze meteorite and make jade armor to keep themselves alive.


    After untold hardships, they found the meteorite and entered it. They went into a dormant state one by one, but she suddenly woke up decadester. She didn''t turn into a blood zombie, but she didn''t dare open the others burial mounds either. In the end, she lived alone in the snake marsh.


    Sadly, she couldnt leave the area. The farther away from this meteorite she got, the more her body resembled a blood zombie. So, she could only live in this swamp. At that time, she firmly believed that Uncle Three would appear one day and take her out of this ce.


    But when Uncle Three finally appeared, Chen Wen-Jin had given up hope. She had be one with the swamp.


    Under the gravel burial mounds, the others from the Xisha Archaeological Team might not wake up until two thousand years had passed.


    Uncle Three squatted on the edge of these gravel mounds, remaining silent for a long time. I didnt know what he was thinking. There was a moment where I saw that he wanted to hold Chen Wen-Jin''s hand, but he just clenched his hand into a fist instead. Chen Wen-Jin''s fingernails were as long as a zombies, so her hands no longer looked like those of a girl. When Uncle Three leaned forward, I seemed to see that young man who used to reach out naturally to hold his beloved girl''s hand. The conditioned reflex was still there even after decades had passed, but it was abruptly stopped. I didnt know if it was because of the terrible appearance of her hands, or if his heart had already cooled down despite being so persistent all those years.


    <em>If it were me, I would hold it anyway</em>. This was what I initially thought, butter, I wasnt so sure.


    My description is quick and simple, because I dont want to describe things that are irrelevant to the information here. But for Uncle Three, his goodbye to Chen Wen-Jin was longer and more obscure than that promise I made to Poker-Face so long ago. Uncle Three was more persistent than me, and Chen Wen-Jin had been waiting in the same ce. Their stubbornness wasnt like that of ordinary people, but the end result was still the same.


    Uncle Three stood up and Chen Wen-Jin took him to climb into the center of the meteorite. I followed behind them. They eventually came to the center of the meteorite, which shouldve been where Zhang Qiling went back then. I saw apletely dried corpse wearing majestic clothes sitting in the center of the cave. I recognized that outfitit was the body of the Queen of the West. Her corpse was surrounded by broken pieces of meteorite, and her lower body was adorned in something that looked like a whole piece of snakeskin. At first nce, she seemed to be half-human, half-snake.


    There was a strange thing in front of the corpse that attracted Uncle Three''s attention.

 Book 1: Chapter 222: Countdown to the Finale 4

    Book 1: Chapter 222: Countdown to the Finale 4


    When Uncle Three squatted in front of that thing, I copied him. I found that it was a strange mound, which was made up of countless skin fragments. Uncle Three touched these fragments and looked up. I also nced up and found that there was a huge cocoon hanging at the top of the cave.


    There wereyers of skin-like things on the outside of this cocoon, but I couldnt tell what was inside.


    "What is that?" Uncle Three asked Chen Wen-Jin.


    "Thats the first person to enter this meteorite. This person spent two thousand years in it, but he didn''t wake up. Our preliminary guess is that hes slept in the meteorite for four thousand years. This cast-off skin has been piling up over the Queen of the West''s chest. Chen Wen-Jin looked at Uncle Three, who pulled out a dagger as if he wanted to cut open the cocoon. She stopped him, "Do you know what that person will look like after four thousand years?"


    In the Seven Star Lu Pce, there had also been a thickyer of cast-off skin in King Lushangs coffin (1). It seemed that the corpse shed its skin constantly as it slept. After two thousand years, the corpse-eater king was dead, but the immortal man slept for another twenty centuries.


    No one knew what was inside the cocoon now, but no one dared to open it either.


    "The year that this cocoon was created is the same year that the bronze door was created." Chen Wen-Jin took Uncle Three to looked at the cave walls around the Queen of the Wests corpse. There were a lot of pictures painted there that looked just like bronze doors. "I think the person in this cocoon is part of a group of people who made the giant bronze door. That person is the only one who really knows what happened back then."


    "That man named Zhang Qiling when he came here, did hemunicate with the person in this cocoon?" Uncle Three asked.


    "He did, Chen Wen-Jin said. Hemunicated using that specialnguage, but then he lost his memory."


    "Its said that the Zhang family have been looking for long-lived people everywhere. And theyve even been looking for jade armors that are more than two thousand years old. What do they want to know?" Uncle Three asked.


    "They want to know who is in their heads, making them do those things."


    "Do you believe what he said?"


    "Those in the Zhang family are said to be born as poets with God-given talent. But one day, during their childhood, an idea suddenly appears in their mind. This idea has nothing to do with their lives, but they have a strong desire toplete it. These things are spread all over history like fragments, changing the course of history in very fine detail."


    This kind of description seemed to say that with regards to history, the Zhang family members were a kind of intervention mechanism of the gods.


    "One might even say its a curse. No matter how sad your life is, it''s always your own life. Its better than suddenly taking on another person''s life and doing things that have nothing to do with yourself. They find themselves bing marites, but theres nothing they can do. Everyone in the Zhang family is waiting for this moment when they be another person and do something that has nothing to do with themselves. For Zhang Qiling, his life is too long, and such heavenly gifts keep happening. Every time it happens, he loses his memory. Hes lost his memory countless times, his life divided into countless years with no beginning or end. He doesn''t know who hes loved or who has loved him. All of his experiences are meaningless."


    <em>I am a person with no past or future. In the course of my long life, no one will notice if I disappear.</em>(2)


    I touched my chest, the pain enough to leave me a little out of breath.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Remember, King Lushang is the Ruler of Dead Soldiers in Vol 1 Cavern of Blood Zombies. He was just referred to as King Shang in Vol 10 Sand Sea.


    (2) Those iconic words from Chapter 21 of Vol 5 Deadly Desert Winds.

 Book 1: Chapter 223: Countdown to the Finale 5

    Book 1: Chapter 223: Countdown to the Finale 5


    As I sat in the center of the huge bronze meteorite beneath Tamu-Tuo, looking at the Queen of the Wests corpse in front of me and thinking about what I had seen, I had to admit that how to spend ones life was an interesting question. At that moment, I saw how a lot of people ended up spending their lives.


    Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin continued to move forward, so I followed them. I was confused, so I made sure to listen to everything they said. The people who built the bronze door in the beginning were probably sleeping in this huge meteorite and came earlier than the Queen of the West. The Queen of the West founded her country here sometimeter, using the technology left by these people to establish a huge ancient country that became a mysterious civilization on the Silk Road.


    After a huge meteorite entered the atmosphere, the mother meteorite fell here, while many fragments fell across the country. King Mu of Zhou and Wang Zanghai entered the western regions twice, bringing the technology of processing this kind of meteorite back to the Central ins, along with the legend of immortality.


    I followed Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin until they separated. They must have discussed a lot of things between them earlier, but I hadnt been listening too clearly because of the severe pain in my lungs. The final result appeared to be another separation.


    The two people stood at both ends of the cave for a long time, just looking at each other. Then, Chen Wen-Jin turned and left, leaving Uncle Three to stand there silently for a long time.


    I stood in between them, but it wasnt like they could see me.


    I had been wondering if there was a possibility that Uncle Three had been looking at the night sky alone in the attic over those long years, a ss of beer beside him and a fake Chen Wen-Jin across from him, a lingering fragrance on her body and her voice like silver bells as she looked at him. For countless days and nights, this Chen Wen-Jin apanied him. His endless longing for her condensed into his lover''s appearance, which gradually deviated from the real Chen Wen-Jin who was in muddy Tamu-Tuo thousands of miles away.


    That Chen Wen-Jin created from obsession had supported him up to this moment, but when he saw his true lover, he found that she didn''t need him. Years of wishful thinking had dissolved his faith, and he finally saw how ridiculous he had been over the years.


    Uncle Three didn''t spend his whole life saving Chen Wen-Jin. Chen Wen-Jin had saved herself.


    I would like to believe that Uncle Three had always loved Chen Wen-Jin, because when he left, I saw tears in his eyes. But he smiled.


    And it wasnt a wry smile, either.


    <em>Nothing makes me happier than seeing that youre doing fine and staying strong. Although I know what Ive done is useless, you no longer belong to me or love me. But its really good that youre doing fine.</em>


    Uncle Three said that no matter how powerful a person was, they should always be ordinary in the face of love. This should also be the case when loving someone. He was very grateful to Chen Wen-Jin. When he fell in love back then, Uncle Threes love was very humble. But Chen Wen-Jin told him that a lover who made you feel humble must not love you very much. You should neither worship or admire them, since you were both the others treasure.


    To evaluate whether two people in love had a good rtionship, you only needed to look at whether both of them became better after they fell in love. When people give to each other, theyll surely make the other a better person. Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin achieved a lot with each other back then, so I figured they had a good love.


    I really wanted to walk out of that cave with Uncle Three and give him a hug under the sun, but I couldn''t do it. All I could do was watch him standing there alone. When I looked back, I saw Chen Wen-Jin standing in the depths of the cave, watching him.


    I stood in between them.


    Everything around me slowly started to blur until it was hidden in the fog again. I saw all kinds of figures appear in the fog again, so I headed towards them.


    There was a shadow of a huge bronze door just behind me. If I turned and walked towards it, it would only take about a dozen steps.


    Whatever was behind the bronze door had to be rted to Poker-Face''s heavenly gift. Did he enter the bronze door to get rid of the Zhang familys curse? Or was there some other purpose I didnt know about?


    What was behind the door?


    I turned to walk towards it, but suddenly stopped. I saw that there was another shadow much closer to me, which attracted my attention far more than the giant bronze door did.


    ****


    <strong><em>ONE MORE, PEOPLE! (and then a postcript lol)</em></strong>. <strong><em>I needed a tissue for this chapter. Poor Uncle Three and Chen Wen-Jin. That was sad</em></strong> ?

 Book 1: Chapter 224: The Finale

    Book 1: Chapter 224: The Finale


    I slowly walked towards the shadow.


    Why was I interested in this particr shadow, you ask? Because it was a shadow of me.


    People were very familiar with themselves, so when I saw the shadow in the fog, I knew that it was me. But when I looked closer, I found that I was crawling on the ground.


    In the past, I conducted a lot of research to find out some information. There was a time in my life when many people who looked like me appeared in the world. They used an irreversible disguising method that involved surgery to take on my appearance forever. So far, I hadnt been able to discover what the purpose of this was. I didnt even know where these Wu Xies came from.


    Zhang Haike had been hunting these people down. He had even collected a lot of my heads and soaked them in formalin. When he saw me for the first time, he almost cut off my head to make sure I was real.


    After a little analysis, I knew that someone was using my face to do something. I initially spected that it might be the Wang family snooping around for information on Uncle Three and Xie Lianhuan''s overall n. But this irreversible disguising method was actually modern cosmetic surgery. Moreover, I never realized that someone was pretending to be me in order to do something. I just happened to find a photo and videotape during my investigations that had someone who looked exactly like me doing strange things.


    Among the various puzzles I had dealt with over the years, there had always been a barely discernible string hovering in the background. It wasnt as interesting as the mysteries surrounding Poker-Face, the Zhang family, and the bronze door, but I still remembered it very deeply.


    The calligraphic style I had learned from childhood was Shou Jin Ti (1). But unlike other people who copied calligraphy from ancient books, I had been copying the calligraphic style of a person named Qi Yu.


    This was a detail deliberately designed by either Uncle Three or Grandpa, but I always wondered why they would want me to copy someone else''s handwriting. I figured the only possibility was that they hoped someone would think that I was Qi Yu instead of Wu Xie.


    And there appeared to be a lot of people in the world who were pretending to be me.


    Combined with the events in the South Sea Kings tomb, there seemed to be some kind of special connection between Uncle Three and Qi Yu.


    But what was it?


    I slowly walked towards the fog and came to a narrow room. I saw an unkempt man crawling on the ground and an old-fashioned video camera on one side of the room.


    I had seen this scene before. This was the image in the videotape that Chen Wen-Jin had sent me.


    There was no one behind the camera, but there was a window. I went up to the window and saw a group of people standing behind it. They were looking very seriously at the me crawling in the room, but I couldnt see their faces clearly.


    I had always thought that this ce was the sanatorium, but I was surprised to find that when I carefully looked through the window at the texture of the wall, I found that this ce wasnt the sanatorium at all.


    This was a warehouse in Warehouse Eleven.


    I turned to look at the me on the ground and saw a line of words on my arm. That line of code looked very familiarit was Warehouse Elevens code.


    Only the "goods" in Warehouse Eleven would have this kind of code.


    I broke out in goosebumps as I looked at this man, suddenly realizing that this "me" turned out to be a good in Warehouse Eleven. He was stored in an unknown location in Warehouse Elevens huge underground warehouse.


    I carefully examined the code on his arm and found that it matched Uncle Threes code that I had discovered at that time.


    Uncle Three put this "me" in Warehouse Eleven?


    Was he still there now?


    I looked down at him. His eyes were blurred and unfocused and he seemed to be mumbling something.


    I bowed my head to listen carefully and suddenly heard himugh. He quickly turned to look at me, almost as if he could see me. I waspletely shocked. <em>Impossible! These are just my memories. He can''t see me at all.</em>


    His murmuring suddenly became clear, "Were all here. After listening to the thunder,e and try to find us."


    Everything around me instantly became like an air current and started to dissipate. After it disappeared, I immediately felt cold, and the sensation of the coffin liquid and coffin wall around me instantly returned. I started coughing violently.


    I noticed that it was bright all around me as I sat up from the coffin. I immediately felt nauseous and began to cough up countless red pulp-like things. I coughed these chunks up for more than ten minutes before I finally stopped.


    I turned and looked around, only to find that all of Boss Jiaos people hade down, the Wang familys leader was standing off to the side, and Fatty, Poker-Face, and ck sses were standing beside me. The coffin was surrounded by explosives, which was probably why they werent fighting.


    I turned to look at Boss Jiao and saw him slowly stand up. When he turned to look at me, his eyes were calm but fanatical. They were definitelypletely different from before.


    "Two bosses, how was your honeymoon?" The Wang familys leader asked from a distance. "Do you have answers to all of your questions?"


    I looked at Poker-Face. He handed me my pants and shoes, so I put them on before climbing out of the coffin. Boss Jiao continued to stand there because no one dared to approach him. "Where I want to go is under our feet?" He suddenly said.


    Everyone looked at each other while Boss Jiao looked at his feet. In our earlier analysis, the level under our feet was thest floor of this huge tower. In the cults measurement system, thisyer was an infinitely deepyer with no end. It was called Nirvanas Tranquility, and was said to be the end of everything.


    "You all follow me," Boss Jiao said as he turned his focus to his team. "I already know everything."


    After he said that, Boss Jiao looked at me and said, "You asked the wrong question, just like I did my first time. Youlle back again, Wu Xie, but theres no hope. I wont give you the chance to listen to the thunder again. Youre worthless to me, you can leave." He looked at the remnants of filth on my lips. "The only luck youve got going for you right now is that you probably won''t die. But you''re not done yet. The thunder has taken away your illness."


    I touched my chest, but it didnt feel special or anything.


    Boss Jiao looked at the Wang family, "After we go down, you have to blow this ce up. I dont want anyone to listen to the thunder except for me."


    "How do you know well do it?"


    "Come here."


    The Wang familys leader frowned, paused for a moment, and then walked over to him. Boss Jiao whispered a few words in his ear. The Wang family''s leader looked at him and then backed away in surprise.


    Boss Jiao continued to look at me. He was just about to speak again, but Fatty suddenly headbutted him. Boss Jiao screamed and covered his head while Fatty yelled at him, "You say you know everything, but you know nothing!" While Boss Jiao was holding his head in pain, Fatty looked up, grabbed him, and then said to everyone, "Let me tell you something. It wouldve been fine if you were honest, but you beat our Master Hua like this, killed so many members of the Mystic Nine outside, and now youre pretending to be some grand master. Im onto you."


    Boss Jiao suddenly patted Fatty''s stomach with a special frequency. Fatty immediately let go and looked at Boss Jiao in horror. He suddenly became enraged and moved to punch Boss Jiao, but I looked up and stopped him. I knew that Boss Jiao''s action just now was a little move Yun Cai used to pull when she and Fatty were ying around so long ago.


    Boss Jiao straightened up and looked at me before slowly climbing out of the coffin. He walked barefoot to where his clothes were lying on the ground, his feet covered in blood. He put on his clothes and shoes and whistled a few times until all of the reeds around him shook. Then, a tunnel entrance appeared on one side of the cave wall.


    He walked in without the slightest bit of hesitation.


    The Jiao team followed him in quick session, leaving only us and the Wang family members behind in this space.


    All of the Wang family members looked at each other and then passed by us, following them to thest floor. I looked at the tunnel entrance, but none of us moved.


    "Did you find out what you wanted to know?" Fatty whispered in my ear. "Did you find out where your Uncle Three is?"


    I already knew where Uncle Three was, so I nodded and looked up while hooking my arm around Fatty''s shoulder. "I''ll tell you when we get out."


    I looked at Poker-Face and saw that he was putting on his equipment. He wasnt looking at me at all, so I nced at ck sses. I didn''t know whether Xiao Hua was alive or dead, but I knew that we couldn''t dy.


    I knew a lot of things now, but nothing seemed to have changed.


    "It''s not over." I thought of that code, but I decided to take a break first.


    We went all the way up and started heading for home.


    To make a long story short, I walked for such a long time that time and space seemed to ovep and my mind went nk. I didn''t realize that I hade back to the real world until I got into the car.


    I seldome back from an adventure so sober. The journey back was very difficult, and I was even more tired than when I had firste here, but I was very sober the whole way. Xiao Hua lost a lot of blood and was in aa the whole time. Fatty kept saying that we should just set off the explosives and kill all those people directly, but I was too tired to say anything.


    After Xiao Hua woke up, I talked with him a lot and learned more details about what had happened. But its not easy to exin them here.


    I didn''t go back to Hangzhou because I didn''t want to face my Uncle Two. I just wanted some peace and quiet as I dazedly thought about everything that had happened during this time.


    The series of events that arose from Uncle Three''s text message werent thatplicatedpared to the events I had experienced in the past.


    Boss Jiao didn''t want others to hear the thunder like him, so he pulled a lot of strings from behind the scenes. But I wasnt interested in the information he had heard at all. In short, the people we wanted to save were saved, and I knew where Uncle Three was going.


    ording to ck sses investigation, the so-called thunder containing the voice of heaven may be an exinable phenomenon. He found that any sounds of thunder reflected by Mute Viges special terrain could form simr sounds. It was just that the question of whether the familiar thunder I heard in Hangzhou was also an illusion caused by the mountains in Hangzhou is a mystery.


    I didnt know whether all the things I saw were things from my memory or were actually given by the thunder, but I did know that the puzzle wasnt somewhere else. It was in Warehouse Eleven.


    Ill just take a break before I set off again.


    **


    [Afterward: The Sound of the Providence]


    Thank you all for your support. I know it ended in a hurry, but Ill be able to revise it as soon as possible.


    I''m sorry for using an old pit, but if we ended with a new pit, it seemed as if it would be the start of another ten years. Were all exhausted.


    As I fill in one pit, there''s one less old pit to fill, which somehow makes me feel sad.


    Restart is like a draft, but the first part is finally finished. The prototype is there, the clues are clear, and there are many shorings and mistakes.


    Generally speaking, I''m really not suitable for serialization since its of this quality.


    I''m still a traditional person who ponders over every word in the room, so it may be better to take out of my hands.


    But the advantage of serialization is that its fun. When the physical book is published, theres a second round of fun because the plot is more rigorous and clear.


    I''m a little tired, so the formal ending will be left for tomorrow.


    Any dissatisfaction or regret will be left to the physical book.


    Many people ask if theres a New Year''s extra, but I wont answer today. People who have already eaten have no appetite, so today''s answer wont be urate. Ill have to think about it after a few days'' rest.


    Anyway, thank you for your understanding, and thank you for yourpany.


    Please continue to pay attention to my WeChat official ount, Im only 35 years old and still have a lot to write.


    There are two more parts to Restart and "World" isnt finished yet.


    Since I''m in Xiamen, I can have two drinks tonight as I sit by the sea and enjoy the breeze.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Slender Gold Script


    ****


    <strong><em>I just</em></strong>.o(TTo) <strong><em>I''m so happy lol. After an arduous 3+ month adventure, we''re finally done with Part 1!!! (Yes, I know. We still have the postscript but merebear has to work tomorrow and should be in bed lol). After the postscript is part II which is actually 2 chapters and some random extra. Part III is the ck sses Mute Vige adventure (I keep getting them mixed up, sorry!). After that will be the Reboot "trial reading" chapters that the author has made. Theydon''t fit in with the plot like you would think so I will put them on their own page under the "Restart" tab when I get there. Thanks for sticking with me this far you lovely souls! I love yourments and feedback!!! </em></strong>

 Book 1: Chapter 225: Postscript

    Book 1: Chapter 225: Postscript


    I was lying on the couch in Rain Vige as it rained outside, a basin at my feet. Fatty was off to the side, enjoying his own footbath. Poker-Face was leaning against the window ledge, looking outside. ck sses was cooking in the kitchen. Xiao Hua''s injury hadnt healed yet, so he was checking the ounts in the back room. There were a lot of expenses and bills for this activity, so he was being very meticulous.


    Xiuxiu was on her way over. They probably had no intention ofing here to celebrate New Year''s next time, so they might as well stay here longer to make up for it.


    I spent nearly six days writing an ount at the end of my grandpas notes of everything that had happened. This notebook had been written by three generations of the Wu family, so it was almost as thick as Das Kapital (1). Sometimes I wanted to start a blog and write these stories on the inte under an alias. It would be nice if I could write the real hardships into words, but in fact, I really just wanted to resist the nothingness that came from the passage of time. But Fatty said that blogs were outdated, so I should just write it all down on paper and read it for myself. That way, I wont be disturbed by the cops and spend the rest of my life in misery.


    One thing that surprised me and made me feel that things were very normal was that my lung disease wasnt getting better.


    When I saw the X-rays, I knew that Boss Jiao had been talking nonsense. I didnt know if it was because he wanted to get out of trouble or if he was really hallucinating after hearing the thunder, but my condition had stabilized a lot. This meant that in the future, Id still have to carry these rotten lungs for life. The doctor said that he didnt know when it would get worse, so I decided to start looking forward to the rest of my life.


    It did teach me at least one thing. The consequences of everything I didwhether positive or negativewouldnt disappear so easily. This is a truth that must be known in ones life. When we were children, there was always a fantasy that all the bad things would one day be forgotten and disappear from our lives. As long as we moved forward and ate and slept well, everything would get better. But those pains would always appear suddenly at some point, and youd know that they would always be there. They were a part of you, after all.


    But you can''t do anything, whether its ignoring them or attaching importance to them. Like this, life just bes more and moreplicated.


    The amazing thing is that when lifees to an end, all the pains seem to be irrelevant in an instant. Eternal life brings eternal nothingness, but limited life brings splendor. And diseases that can take you away at any moment can push people to spend their lives better.


    Isn''t it funny?


    At the end of your life, when you finally want to say goodbye to yourself, you find that your favorite self is an inhuman figure thats been tortured by you.


    Don''t disservice the you that your mom and dad raised with their hearts, and dont disservice your beautiful self. Believe that your beauty makes you worthy of everything. There is only one protagonist in everyone''s life, and that is yourself.


    But whats the proper way to spend this life?


    I couldnt help asking myself this very question. I began to calmly think about the problems I didn''t want to think about before: Poker-Faces inevitable departure, the crisis of my aging body, Uncle Twos way of protecting me, the things I did wrong to my parents, the ups-and-downs of all the idiots and opponents in my life, and all the things I obtained, lost, and regretted. My friends did things for me and I did things for them.


    I just dont know.


    Maybe its doing good deeds without asking for a reward.


    I could smell ck sses'' meal burning, so I heaved a big sigh and stood up with a curse.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Das Kapital (1867) by Karl Marx is ~ 2156 pages.

 Book 2: Chapter 1

    Book 2: Chapter 1


    Xie Yuchen and I were at the rock climbing gym because my back hadnt been doing very well recently. Maybe it was because of all the shop inventory and ounting I had to do. He massaged it for me when he came to Hangzhou this time, and I found that his technique was very good. He said that if it was a chronic problem, then rock climbing two hours a day might help it.


    He stood very tall and straight, and was in really good condition. I envied him a lot. I figured I was more like the general public, an ordinary person among ordinary people who would grow old. My body would wear out, my spine would curve forward, and my hair would definitely encounter some problems one day. But Xie Yuchen always seemed to be a little younger than his actual age.


    Even though it was my first time climbing indoors, I still had the basics down. But Xie Yuchen chose to climb the most difficult route, so a crowd quickly gathered to watch. I was alone in the corner, pitifully climbing up and down more than thirty times before my spine finally rxed.


    When I came down and sat down to drink some water, he was still working his way up the most difficult route. When he got to the counterclockwise-angled rockthe ce where the rock protrudedhe hung in the air with one arm and answered the phone.


    If I answered the phone like that, my arm would detach from my body and still be hanging on the rock, blood spraying wildly from the arteries as the rest of my body fell to the ground. But he could still concentrate on the phone call without a problem. After the call ended, he let go, slid down the safety rope to the ground, unlocked the safety buckle with one hand, and waved to me.


    I threw an energy drink to him and he took a sip before leading me outside, "It''s going to rain heavily soon and there will be a traffic jam. Let''s head to the restaurant early."


    Every time our Beijing buddies came to Hangzhou, or we went to Beijing, there would be a dinner party. Li Cu said that it was a symbol of our old age. Every time he said this, I regretted that I didn''t kill the hostage back then.


    Sure enough, it was raining heavily by the time we got on the road. When we finally reached the restaurant, I knocked on the door of the private room and went in. Just as I sat down, Bai Haotian, Liu Sang, and the others arrived. Li Cu, Su Wan, and Yang Hao were smoking downstairs when Ah Tou showed up. Fatty booked a KTV by phone (1). Wang Meng was driving Little Brother and ck sses, but they were stuck in traffic. Kan Jian was still far away, so I did a video call with him so that he could say hello to everyone.


    While we were sitting on the sofa and chatting with each other, Fatty suddenly said, "Little Brother''s fan is here, Wu Xie''s fan is here, and Master Hua''s fan is here."


    Ah Tou lit a cigarette, "I''m not his fan."


    "I didn''t say you were. You just assumed that I was talking about you," Fatty said. "Look at you, why are you blushing? Who are you showing those big tatted arms to? You can''t smoke here.


    Ah Tou looked at Fatty and exhaled a smoke ring, "My sister opened this shop."


    Fatty immediately lit a cigarette after hearing this, but Bai Haotian said, "Little Master Three has bad lungs. You should pay attention to secondhand smoke. Look, those three kids have all gone down to smoke. Can''t you learn from the younger generation? Little Master Three, let''s go outside. You shouldnt stay here. When Little Brotheres, hell put all your cigarettes in your nostrils."


    Fatty hooked his arm around my shoulders, "Don''t talk about your Little Master Three like hes pregnant." He gave me a look, "Did you secretly smoke one yesterday?"


    Yesterday, I stayed up all night working on the ounts, so I did actually smoke one. Bai Haotian gave me a furious look, but I just nced at her and said, "Be closer to the idol''s work, but stay away from the idol''s life."


    At this time, Liu Sang suddenly said, "I found a strange phenomenon. Why doesnt Master ck have a fan? If he does, well have enough people to y mahjong (2).


    "He does. Its Su Wan," I said.


    Liu Sang shook his head. "Su Wans an apprentice. Fans are like us. He and Bai Haotian looked at each other, but Bai Haotian ignored him.


    I touched my chin. ck sses had always been a loner and I had never seen him with any followers.


    But he didnt give off a sense of loneliness. If anything, it was like he was loneliness itself. But he was also happy and content at the same time.


    "He does," Xiao Hua suddenly said. He took Ah Tou''s cigarette, put it out, and then reached out to Fatty. Fatty had no choice but to hand over his own cigarette. "He has a fan. If you stop smoking now, Ill tell you his scandal."


    "Is it a male fan or a female fan?" Fatty asked.


    "It''s obviously a female fan, Xiao Hua said. Do you really think hed have a male fan?"


    Fatty nodded, and at the same time, Ah Tou took out her pack of cigarettes and put them on the table. "Go ahead."


    Xiao Hua looked at his watch. "We have to finish quickly. When he gets here, he won''t let me talk about it. This all started with Wu Xie and that incident with listening to thunder. When ites to this matter, theres still a small tragedy."


    <Table of Contents><Chapter 2>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) KVT is karaoke. China has KTV clubs, which have private rooms that you can book with your friends or colleagues for a few hours of fun. Theres a tablet for picking songs, loud speakers,fortable sofas, and mood lighting.


    (2) Mahjong is always yed with four yers seated around a table.


    ****


    <strong><em>If you all haven''t gotten there, Ah Tou is the protagonist of the side story "A Thousand Faces", which Yvette is currently tranting. Not sure if you saw the note in my other post today, but ck sses'' adventure is "Part III" in the Chinese version and the two chapters I did today involving Jin Wantang going to see Wu Xie are "Part II". Since Jin Wantang''s story is currently 58 chapters and getting updated almost daily, and ck sses'' story is like 20 chapters andpleted, I''m switching them (Tiffany said it also flows better this way). Henceforth, ck sses'' story is Part II and Jin Wantang''s story will be Part III. I spent the evening scrambling to copy everything over so we should be good to go once I''m done with ck sses'' 20 chapters. If you all want to wait a few days for me to work the organizational kinks out before you bother reading, I totally understand lol (and sorry if it caused confusion) </em></strong>

 Book 2: Chapter 2: Mute Village

    Book 2: Chapter 2: Mute Vige


    After the heavy rain in Myanmar, the humidity was staggering and the road was very muddy, but ck sses knew that he should be thankful there was a road at all.


    This heavy rain meant that the rainy season wasing soon, and it may continue to rain nonstop in the uing month. The sun was very bright as it shone through the dense forest canopy and made little rainbows everywhere. He knew that he could see it because there was something wrong with his eyes.


    The driver was a thirteen-year-old girl who was chewing on something as she drove. <em>She probably doesnt have a driver''s license</em>, ck sses thought to himself. The little girl didn''t seem to like him very much and hardly looked at him.


    The vehicle was an off-road pickup truck that belonged to his godson, a Sichuanese native. After Chen Pi Ah Si disappeared, this guy came to Myanmar to do business. ck sses didnt know what he sold, but this guys business was prosperous and he made a lot of money. This time, if it werent for him, ck sses wouldn''t have been able to enter this ce.


    Although the little girl had dark skin, she was surprisingly beautiful. ck sses leaned back in the passenger seat with his arms crossed over his chest and looked at her a few more times. Was she his godsons daughter? But wouldn''t that make her his god-granddaughter? If this god-granddaughter of his looked like this, hed have to keep an eye on her. In another five or six years, she might be old enough for Su Wan. Well, Su Wan was a good boy, but a girl that looked like this wouldnt be easy to handle. The little girl noticed ck sses looking at her and spit a mouthful of phlegm out the window before rolling her eyes at him.


    ck sses ignored her and looked out the window. The ce he was headed to was a very special vige that was located deep in the dense forests of Myanmar. It used to be a ce where the local armed guerris fought. This vige was very strange, because all of the vigers were mute.


    There was a very strange legend in this vige. It was said that the vigers could understand the sounds of the thunder. In order to prevent the secrets of heaven from leaking out, all of the vige children would suddenly be mute after hearing thunder for the first time. It was different from the strange legends you would usually hear in ordinary small viges. This vige had arge poption, but it was true that everyone was mute, which was very unusual. It would be reasonable to say that there should at least be some exceptions, but there werent any. In fact, there wasnt a single exception at all!


    ck sses just so happened to be short of money, and the Wu familys Uncle Two was anxiously looking into this matter. Moreover, ck sses had a godson here and he was just starting to miss the days when he would hang out in Southeast Asia, so he decided toe.


    Although the vigers were mute, they were very tough and almost everyone carried a gun. His godson thought for a long time and eventually decided to have the thirteen-year-old girl take him there, saying that there was nothing she couldnt handle. If that was the case, then this little girl shouldnt be his god-granddaughter; otherwise, she wouldnt be acting so arrogantly in the local area. ck sses touched his chin and saw the little girl roll her eyes again. Feeling a little frustrated, he decided to concentrate on thinking about the vige.


    Thunder, the secrets of heaven, bing mute, and Wu Xies investigation all seemed to be connected somehow. But Wu Xie was in Fujian, and this was Myanmar. Was listening to thunder a universal thing? Did different people everywhere discover and form different cultures around it? If this was the case, then Wu Erbai should increase the price by another twenty percent.


    The truck came to an abrupt stop, which almost caused ck sses to hit the windshield. When he recovered, he found that there was a suspension bridge in front of him.


    This suspension bridge was hidden among the extremely lush tropical foliage. If not for the fact that his eyes were very sensitive in the dark, it wouldve been very difficult to see.


    Mute Vige was on the other side of this suspension bridge.


    There was probably a mountain gap under the bridge, so if the little girl hadnt braked in time, they wouldve rushed down into it. No one would be staging any rescue efforts here, and the car would definitely be useless once it fell down.


    ck sses nced at the little girl. She told him to get out of the truck, so he put his luggage on his back and took a deep breath. He was just about to turn back and tease the little girl, but the truck suddenly backed up at full speed and drove away. A huge wave of mud sshed all over him.


    "Damn it." ck ssesughed and patted himself off before walking into the bushes and onto the suspension bridge. There were a bunch of signs on the bridge in English, Myanmar, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, all saying the same thing: theres a minefield nearby. Dont stray from the dirt road.


    There had been armed conflicts here for decades, so mines were everywhere. But ck sses was a little surprised. With signs in so manynguages, that meant that there should be some tourists here. Nowadays, tourists were very fierce and went wherever it was dangerous.


    He didnt see any guards, but there were some strange rhythmic soundsing from the vige that didnt sound like people talking. ck sses thought for a while. <em>Mute Vige these shouldnt be the sounds of human voices.</em> He walked to the other side of the suspension bridge, where he could see a towering tree. He soon passed by the big tree and entered the vige. There was a viger smoking at the entrance. He was dressed in local traditional clothes but holding an AK47 in his hands. As he looked at ck sses very indifferently, ck sses greeted him. The other party didnt respond. At first, he thought that there were only some old people and children left in the vige, just like a typical working vige. But when he turned to a diaojiao (1) at the entrance, he immediately saw signs of life. Clothes and fish were hanging on the doors of every household to dry and some women were walking in front of him, looking at him curiously. The strange sounds wereing from the vige square.


    He was very tallmuch taller than the people here so he stood out. At the same time, he immediately noticed that a ceremony seemed to be taking ce in the vige square. Many people were gathered and those sounds seemed to being from them.


    <em>So, it turns out that they can make some sounds after all</em>, he thought to himself.


    He had spent a long time in Southeast Asia, so when he saw some cloth hanging on a tree beside the square, he immediately realized that they were holding a funeral in the vige. At this time, the dark clouds in the sky began to gather again, as if it was going to rain heavily. Then, there was a sudden p of thunder and a sh of lightning streaked across the sky. At this time, all of the vigers suddenly looked up at the sky.


    It was a very strange sight, because everyone instantly stopped moving and looked up at the dark clouds. It almost seemed as if all of time and space had suddenly stagnated.


    He conveniently lifted his cell phone up and took a few photos. The phone was equipped with satellite transmission peripherals, so there were almost no dead spots on the GPS now. As he sent the photos to Uncle Two, he looked at them and noticed that there was a person on the roof of a house on the other side. He didnt know what they were doing, but he could see that they were wearing a thatched cover for camouge.


    <em>Voldemort?</em> ck sses thought.


    He wanted to walk over for a closer look, but was immediately stopped by a nearby viger. ck sses raised his hands to show that he meant no harm and then took out some money to indicate that he was willing to negotiate. But the other party was very determined and pushed him back. Since the viger was also holding an AK47, ck sses decided to pretend to be cowed.


    He made a particrly friendly gesture before bypassing the vigers and going to the back of a nearby diaojiao. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching and then climbed up to the roof, slowly approaching Voldemort.


    When he looked at the person, he found that it was a woman holding a video camera. She was attentively recording the ceremony in the vige square. Was she Chinese? Shanxi? Anthropologically speaking, she appeared to have the Shanxi genes. She definitely looked like a tourist. He watched her for a while, but the woman didn''t notice him at all. In the end, he also turned his attention to the square.


    The scene in the square was very shocking. There were six or seven bodies in the middle of the square and blood was everywhere on the ground. There was an old woman in sacrificial garb who seemed to be cutting the scalps of these corpses. The others, who were looking at the dark clouds in the sky, seemed to be waiting for the second p of thunder.


    At this time, the woman suddenly realized that there was one more person on the roof with her. She turned to look, jumped in fright, and fell off the roof.


    Everyone in the square immediately turned their heads and looked at the two of them at the same time. ck sses stood up and said to the woman below, "Apologize quickly. Otherwise, itll be a diplomatic incident."


    But the woman got up, fled into the alley between the buildings, and disappeared. ck sses stared for a moment, and then noticed several mature men with automatic rifles in their hands start to rush over.


    ck sses, naturally understanding what this meant, jumped to the thatched roof of another diaojiao, leaped to the ground, and then ran after the girl. He was very fast, so after listening for the girl''s footsteps, he was able to follow her route and catch up.


    He didnt know anything about the vige at all, so if he wanted to escape, it would certainly be better to follow her. After turning a corner, he saw the girl rush into a diaojiao. ck sses elerated and followed her in, but as soon as he did, he saw a big shirtless guy shaving his beard. The woman flew up to the second floor of the diaojiao, leaving ck sses and the big guy to stare at each other.


    ck sses suddenly felt a little confused. At this time, the big guy silently pulled a nearby T-shirt to his chest and covered his chest hair. "Dude, whats going on?" The big guy was also a Chinese and spoke in the Nanjing dialect. "Are you also a tourist? But the rainy season ising. You wont be able to get out next month. Did your tour guide trick you?


    "The woman just now seems to be in trouble." ck sses pointed to the second floor. "I have something to discuss with her." He started to walk to the second floor, but the big guy suddenly dropped his T-shirt to the ground and stood in front of the stairs. "<em>My</em> sister is causing trouble? You say youre looking for her because shes in trouble, but I think <em>youre</em> the one causing trouble. As he spoke, he grabbed ck sses by the cor.


    ck sses flicked the guys belly button, causing him to let go with a bashful "ah!". ck sses wanted to continue up to the second floor immediately, but at this time, he saw the light outside the window flicker out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed the big guy and rolled to the side.


    Almost at the same time, a few local youths rushed into the house and started firing.


    The sound of AK47s going off was very loud and powerful, and the ce where they had just been standing was quickly turned to dust. After they were done shooting, a young man in the front immediately fired his gun at the ceiling until all of his bullets were spent.


    The floor and ceiling of the diaojiao were made up of wooden pirs and boards, which were now riddled with holes. ck sses heard a crye from upstairs, and thought to himself, <em>its over. Theres no way she survived that.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Diajiao are basically stilted buildings in Miao viges. Because they are built with joints instead of nails, nearly the entire building can be disassembled to be moved, or to recycle its materials into new structures. Pics and info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>This is kind of Season 1 Episode 6 26:08-32:52 and Episode 7 8:29-20:17 and 41:10-42:20. Viki link here if you''re not an iQiyi VIP member. </em></strong>

 Book 2: Chapter 3: Thunder

    Book 2: Chapter 3: Thunder


    When Xie Yuchen got to this point, he suddenly bowed his head to reply to a text and didnt immediately continue with the story.


    The whole room was very quiet.


    Xie Yuchen was answering his texts very seriously, so everyone waited for him. Fatty wasnt very discreet and said, "It''s a real tragedy. It''s so pitiful to be shot to death like this."


    Xie Yuchen was still responding to texts, so Fatty looked at us and said, "Lets eat. Dont you understand? Its the end of the y. Master cks fan was killed."


    I was just about to say something when Xie Yuchen put his phone away, smiled, and started talking again.


    "The excitements just begun."


    When the woman was dragged down from the second floor, she waspletely unscathed.


    One of the locals was dragging her by her hair, but she kept struggling and kicking. The local was particrly strong and seemed to be the leader here.


    ck sses and the strong Nanjing guy raised their hands, both surrendering.


    There was a local man standing very close to ck sses who had an old M16. He was looking at the girl''s torn clothes in a lecherous manner. Her skin was very white, so it was obvious that she didn''t go to Southeast Asia very often. Her clothes were torn in such a way that a lot of the snow-white skin on her belly and hips was showing.


    ck sses could snap the man''s neck in a second, steal his gun, and then kill the other vigers directly.


    But he didn''t do it.


    He had noticed that when a few of the vigers had fired just now, they had pointed their muzzles up. Although their attack was fierce, they didn''t want to kill them.


    The girl was pushed in front of them, and then the leader made a gesture at the three people.


    The strong Nanjing guy had a puzzled expression on his face as he lifted his sister up. "Sister, what do they mean?"


    ck sses saw the girl start rapidly signing at the vige leader. The two people''s hand movements were just like ninjas casting spells, so it was too difficult to tell what was being said.


    ck sses knew signnguage, but this obviously wasnt international signnguageit was a special signnguage.


    It didnt take long before the girl turned to her brother, took out her phone, and typed something in it. Then, SIRIs voice said: "They want what I just recorded."


    "Why don''t you give it to them?"


    "No, the funeral is the most important part of our film project. I can''t hand over the master tape before I back it up," SIRI said after the girl finished typing.


    ck sses looked at the girl curiously, wondering why she didn''t speak and was using SIRI to talk. Then, he suddenly understood and asked the girl, "Are you deaf?"


    The strong Nanjing guy immediately said, "No, my sisters vocal cords dont work. But after we make this film, well have enough money for her to get an operation."


    At this time, a huge p of thunder suddenly sounded outside, much louder than the ones from before. The vigers immediately looked out of the window, all of their expressions terrified. The leader turned his head and put the gun directly to the girl''s throat.


    The barrel was still very hot, so the girl''s skin immediately started to smoke. She took a step back.


    ck sses noticed that the leaders expression became very ferocious, as if there was a great pressure in the thunder just now that was forcing his hand. A viger on the side gestured quickly. The vigers were so frightened that their hands began to tremble and their voices became hysterical.


    ck sses immediately realized that they were afraid of the thunder. Even though they were looking at them grimly, these vigers were terrified of the thunder.


    <em>Fuck me</em>, ck sses looked at the dark clouds outside the window. That loud p of thunder just now was like something was berating these vigers and forcing them to end things quickly. <em>Whats going on here? Is someone in the sky, ordering them to do these things?</em>


    ****


    <strong><em>Kind of Season 1 Episode 8 1:47-6:33 (goes past this chapter, obviously)</em></strong>

 Book 2: Chapter 4

    Book 2: Chapter 4


    The girl was squatting on the ground and crying, while the big Nanjing guy sat on the ground with an expressionless face. The ground was covered in beer foam and broken ss, but he didn''t seem to notice it. Both of them were badly battered.


    The whole room had been rifled through and almost no corner was left untouched. ck sses sat on the edge of the table, opened a bottle of beer, and started drinking. "Don''t cry," he said. "Its already happened. We have to face reality."


    "All of our materials and equipment have been taken away. Weve been shooting here for three months, but now everything is gone." The big Nanjing guy looked at the door, still expressionless.


    ck sses pointed to his neck, "Look on the bright side, weve still got our heads.


    "We got approval from the Myanmar government to shoot here. They have no right to take away my materials," the big Nanjing guy said.


    "Can''t you see that theyll shoot you? Theyre not just trying to scare you," ck sses said. "If youre thrown into the minefield, youll be killed."


    "I know its a possibility." The big Nanjing guy turned his head and looked at ck sses. "You didnt have to help them beat us." He started sobbing as soon as he spoke.


    ck sses looked at the mute girl, who was staring at him with eyes full of extreme hatred. ck ssesughed, "Your sister''s quite the character. How was she raised, to go up and grab someone''s AK47 like that?"


    "So you mean to say we have to thank you? What about our project? My sisters been waiting for the money to treat her throat."


    ck sses looked at the door and saw that all of the armed vigers had left. He turned and moved to leave, but the girl suddenly got up and grabbed his hair from behind. ck sses reached behind, grabbed the girl''s hand, and threw her over his shoulder. She flew through the door andnded on her stomach.


    The big Nanjing guy immediately got up and rushed over, "Sister!" ck sses smoothly followed the guy''s movements and threw him out as well. The two peoplended on top of each other, unable to get up because of the hard fall.


    ck sses squatted by the door and looked at them, "I am <em>not </em>a good person. But were all fellow citizens here, so I saved your lives. You shouldnt be so ungrateful." The big Nanjing guy protected his sister as they both huddled there in despair. ck sses stepped over them.


    Just now, he thought that he wouldn''t be able to stay in the vige, but he was relieved to see that things had been resolved. He wanted to go find a viger who would be willing to let him stay with them, but he suddenly thought of something and turned to look at the two siblings.


    When the big Nanjing guy was begging for mercy as ck sses hit him earlier, he said that they were filming a documentary on a few disorders rted to dysphonia (1) for National Geographic. There was a total of three people in their teamone assistant in another house and the two of them in this house.


    It suddenly urred to him that the signnguage here wasnt standard international signnguage, so he couldntmunicate with the vigers. But that girl seemed to know the signnguage here. He went back over to the girl and squatted down next to her with a smile on his face, "The materials are very important to you, yes?"


    The big Nanjing guy nodded like he was pounding garlic, while the girl looked at ck sses with red-rimmed eyes, as if she wanted to eat him. ck sses said, "Lets make a deal. One, add another bed in the assistant''s room so that I can stay here with you guys. Two, Ill help you get the materials back so long as you help me with day-to-day trantions until I leave here."


    "Can you really get it back?" The big Nanjing guy didnt believe him.


    "You must have filmed something at the funeral that they don''t want revealed, ck sses said. Ill talk it over with them and delete that segment. Everyone will still be good friends. Plus, I''m good at fighting and I have a lot of money.


    "Then how long will you be staying? We can''t live here for a year."


    "Rest assured. One month at most. And you wont be working for nothing. Ill give you a hundred thousand yuan."


    The big Nanjing guy''s eyes lit up and he looked at the girl, who was still very angry. "Sister, since this elder brother wants to make up for it, it''s better to"


    The girl was very stubborn and didn''t answer. ck sses sighed, <em>with this character, she probably wouldnt live long in turbulent times since her brother spoils her too much.</em>


    The big Nanjing guy saw that his sister didn''t respond and immediately said, "I can persuade her, I can persuade her."


    ck sses sat down on the threshold and said, "Ok, now tell me what you know about this vige."


    The big Nanjing guy sat on the ground and told ck sses a lot of things. During that time, his sister got up and went upstairs. The stairs creaked as she stomped her way up, but he didnt know what she was protesting.


    Mute Vige was surrounded by minefields, with only one dirt road leading in or out. Luckily, the road had already been demined. The vigers made a living by hunting and fishing, and hardly left here because they were mute. Since their signnguage was so unique, they couldntmunicate with the outside world, and it was extremely difficult to marry outside of the vige.


    However, some vigers could understand Chinese, because Mute Vige was very close to the Chinese border. But the Chinese they could understand was a nativenguage unique to the border region.


    The surrounding area was all primitive jungle, so it made sense that they relied on hunting. But fishing was very strange. ck sses remembered that when he first entered the vige, he really did see a lot of fish drying outside. The big Nanjing guy told him that the fish here came from an underground river.


    The people here had the ability to fish in underground rivers. It was said that there was a huge cave under Mute Vige that had a big river full of fish running through it. All of the fish were caught in this underground river. Moreover, it was said that this underground river flowed from China and was very long. But the cave entrance to this underground river was a secret hidden deep in the vige, and outsiders werent allowed to know about it.


    After listening, ck sses fell deep in thought. ording to the data Wu Erbai had sent, the South Sea country he was looking for was in an underground river. But the underground river here was too far away from Wu Xie''s location. Were the underground river systems all over China connected?


    After that, ck sses really gave the two siblings a hundred thousand yuan. When Xiao Hua got to this part, he fell silent again and nced at me.


    This look was enough to make my back tingle. I looked at Fatty, who said, "Master Hua, you didn''t lend this hundred thousand yuan to him, did you? Youre a living bodhisattva, a real blessing to this world. Were all your children."


    Xiao Hua ignored him and continued, "Wu Xie, do you still remember the map your Uncle Three mentioned in that listening-to-thunder incident?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Dysphonia is any impairment in the ability to speak normally, like from a spasm or strain of the vocal cords.

 Book 2: Chapter 5: The Strange Case of the Burning Corpse

    Book 2: Chapter 5: The Strange Case of the Burning Corpse


    Xiao Hua asked me that, not because he thought I didn''t know, but because he wanted me to help with the story. We had all experienced these things, but the information each of us knew wasnt veryplete.


    The map was said to have been created by tranting the sound of thunder. It pointed to a strange ce called Thunder City, which was said to be the ce where immortals lived. Uncle Three was obsessed with finding this Thunder City, but we couldnt find the map in the end. Later, after a series of investigations, we discovered that the map wasnt a topographic map, but a map of the underground rivers.


    Xiao Hua paused again. We already knew all of this information, but I knew that his goal wasnt to talk about it, but to gives us time to think. I was used to his style of storytelling, so I let my thoughts roam for a while.


    I touched my chin as I thought it over. Then, I started to realize what Xiao Hua was saying and why it was best not to mention this matter in front of ck sses.


    ck sses fan was the girl who couldnt speak.


    As we all knew, ck sses actually wasnt that young. ording to him, all the young girls he used to know were now grandmas.


    Back when Granny Huo was alive, ck sses took on amission from the Huo family that involved a strange case of a burning corpse (1). An ident urred in a school, and there was a young girl who was trapped in the resulting fire. When ck sses finally managed to rescue her, her throat was damaged and she couldnt speak.


    In the end, the case went unsolved, but the scene was definitely very strange. I recorded part of the story in my other writings.


    Of all the strange things I had experienced or read about, this case was definitely the most frightening. I was a brave person, but the case file, the strange phenomenon ck sses discovered, and the reasons for not continuing the investigation were all extremely chilling.


    At that time, the girl was pretty young. After doing some calctions, I realized that the mute girl in Myanmar mustve been the girl from the fire. In order to keep the events of that year a secret, the girl may not have received any real information. As a result, she thought she was mute because of a childhood disability.


    When I first heard about that case, I just saw it as an anecdote. But when I thought about it now, I suddenly realized that it seemed to be rted to thunder. If that were true, then I figured ck sses didnt ept Uncle Two''s job just for the money. But whether the case at that time was rted to thunder or not, ck sses wasnt happy with theck of results and ended up in Mute Vige, where he met that girl from before.


    Was it a coincidence?


    I nodded to Xiao Hua, and he continued, "As you all know, that map is very old, but must have been drawn by someone. When I was discussing all the data you investigated with Uncle Two before, a question was raised. A group of craftsmen who heard the thunder in the South Sea Kings tomb drew a map and finally escaped from the tomb. After they disappeared, their whereabouts were unknown. I think these people are the ancestors of Mute Vige, and the underground river below Mute Vige is really a path leading to Thunder City.


    "After that, I made a bigger inference. I started to assume that if God had a chance to leak information to the world at that time, then he mustve had hundreds of other opportunities. But why didn''t anyone discover it again after all these years? Its not like it just stopped thundering. So, why did it only happen at that time?


    "Why?" Fatty asked.


    "No, thats actually not the right question. Based on my hypothesis, its reasonable to assume that countless people have discovered this matter. Its appeared in every era, but those people chose to keep it a secret without exception. Why is that?"


    When I thought of this, I suddenly looked at Xiao Hua, feeling cold all over.


    "Because they found that anything rted to this matter"


    "Will lead to death if its disclosed. And the deaths are all mysterious cases that cant be exined.


    In the whole listening-to-thunder incident, there were countless rough threads that I had been unable to connect so far. It was just like how I didn''t realize until now that ck sses may have gone to Mute Vige because of the corpse burning case.


    The underground well in the corpse burning case, the body discovered in the well, and the strange ritual of transporting the corpses to the northeast triggered a series of events afterwards. There were countless details, but they were too incredible and difficult to connect.


    There were only some small details that had something to do with listening to thunder. I had forgotten them long ago, but Xiao Hua mustve been able to see the association between them right away. He was just that kind of a person. He hardly forgot anything, like when someone owed him money.


    Then the girl who can''t speak appeared in Mute Vige


    Xiao Hua followed my line of thinking and said, "It''s no coincidence that she appeared there. It has something to do with the ceremony at that time."


    "This"


    "This is a case within a case. I didn''t tell you all the truth, because I was afraid it would interfere with your investigation of the main incident. But the ancient well that ck sses found, the female corpse inside, the strange fire in the school, his eye disease suddenly worsening, the girl identally appearing in Mute Vige, and listening to thunder are all rted."


    "So, you checked into this matter?"


    "It wasnt just checking," Xiao Hua said. "Ill tell you another thing. After listening, youll realize how scary it is."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chapters 112-115 of Sand Sea

 Book 2: Chapter 6

    Book 2: Chapter 6


    The case is very old, so let''s review it first.


    First, there was a strange fire in an empty building in Beijing. I won''t go into the details, but the building was empty and there was only one guard who escaped after the fire. After the firemen put out the fire, it was reasonable to believe that there wouldnt be any victims. But as it turned out, fourteen bodies were found while cleaning up the ruins.


    With the exception of one on the rooftopa charred female corpsethe other thirteen bodies were all drowned.


    And these thirteen bodies were all arranged on the buildings middle floors in the shape of a fish. No one knew how they got into the building.


    The identities of these bodies were unknown, but they didnt appear to be locals at first nce. Moreover, all thirteen people had varying degrees of eye diseases.


    This was the first strange point. The second point was that the female corpse on the rooftop was burned to death while standing up. The temperature on her body was so high that all of the asphalt on the roof melted. After looking at the footprints on the asphalt, ck sses came to a conclusionthis female corpse weighed a lot. If the woman wasnt a sumo wrestler, then she mustve been carrying another person or carrying something equal to a person''s weight.


    But there werent any additional remains or other burnt things at the scene.


    This was the second doubtful point.


    ck sses first step in the investigation was to find a ce in the building where people could drown. Based on all of the trace evidence, these people entered the building alive, so they must have drowned in the building.


    But there was no ce in the building where people could drown. Moreover, the water in the building had been shut off since no one was living there.


    After conducting a relentless search, ck sses eventually tore up the concrete in the buildings parking garage and found an ancient well that appeared to be bottomless.


    The wellhead was sealed with quick-drying cement. The traces of cement were hard to notice after the fire, but it was obvious that these people had drowned in the ancient well under the garage. When the bottom of the well was salvaged, a fifteenth corpse was found. But this corpse was the strangest one yet.


    It was an ancient female corpse whose head was pointed towards the bottom of the well. The bones inside had all melted away, making it look more like a skin bag. A mirror had been inserted into the female corpses corbone, making it so that she could only see herself in the mirror when she bowed her head to look at her toes.


    I won''t describe the specific details, but this ancient corpse must have been dumped after going through some kind of ritual.


    With the ancient female corpse at the bottom of the garage, thirteen bodies drowned in the middle floors, and the burnt corpse on the rooftop, the whole case was extremelyplicated. Logically speaking, it seemed to form an extremelyplex ritual, which was much moreplicated than Taoist rituals. In fact, it seemed to lean more towards the so-called "feng shui" arrays, which could be extremely difficult to set up.


    To be more specific, there wasnt a record of Taoist orthodoxy. The "sorcery" discovered during the development and formation of primitive Taoism absorbed a lot of things from ethnic minorities and local sorcery, which werent incorporated into ancient books. Some were considered lost because they were too obscure and cruel, but there were still many things passed down to modern times via word of mouth or excerpts from scattered records that were written by feng shui masters.


    Later, Granny Huo discovered that these thirteen people were loggers from Liaobian. They found the female corpse in a swamp when they were logging. After stealing the gold and silver ornaments from the corpse, they all developed eye diseases. They went to the hospital to get treatment, but there was no cure. As a result, they had no choice but to turn to a local sorceress for help.


    The sorceress took them to this building in Beijing and asked them to put the female corpse into the deep well below. It was the only way they could be healed.


    But they all died in the end, and their deaths were very strange.


    Id like to mention here that ck sses has a very detailed understanding of folk customs. He first realized that most of the so-called abilities of the Northeastern sorceresses came from the so-called Bao Jiaxian (1), which usually referred to animal spirits or ghosts. When the sorceress died, Bao Jiaxian would go to the descendants of the deceased and continue to protect them. No one knew whether this was true or not, but like the Taoist system, Bao Jiaxian and ghosts all fed on fireworks.


    The main feature of those skilled in the old ways of the business is that a cigarette never leaves their hands. Theyll keep smoking one right after another, because there are too many "things" around them that need to be fed. And when you asked the old Northeastern women about the cigarettes, theyd show you that the cigarettes burned out quickly, as if there were ghosts smoking them.


    I always thought it was a ruse, but now I didnt know what to believe.


    The sorceresss daughter was studying in the Northeast, so ck sses went to see her. He knew that there had been an ident in this strange feng shui array, which led to arge number of deaths. There mustve been something at work there, and the only thing that knew the truth and could still talk was the so-called "Bao Jiaxian".


    ck sses went to the northeast and met with the sorceresss daughter. When he first saw the young girl, he immediately noticed that there was an imperceptible thing behind her. Moreover, that thing knew that he could see it.


    But his eyesight was different from normal people, so this was more of a feeling. He couldnt describe the world he saw, so he couldnt really describe this "different" feeling either.


    The young girl promised ck sses to ask Bao Jiaxian about the situation at that time. They would hold the ceremony at her school when she was done with sses. But at that time, ck sses found that the daughter seemed very hesitant as she spoke.


    He didnt know what secrets she was hiding.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: The Chinese characters of Bao Jiaxian can be interpreted as the immortal that protects the family. Of course, the idea of this is that the immortals are animal spirits or ghosts.

 Book 2: Chapter 7

    Book 2: Chapter 7


    The following content may be a hoax or false information.


    The ceremony was done in the ssroom after school. No one else was around and the school was very empty after everyone had left. The ssroom lights were gradually turned off as people left for the day, and the whole school building was dark. Only this one ssroom was still lit. They were on a tight schedule, because someone woulde by on patrol after a period of time and drive them away.


    The sorceresss daughter was in the ssroom, setting up the Chuma array.


    These details alle from a chumaxians narrative (1). As a matter of fact, the information provided by a chumaxian was only epted as court testimony once. Any other information was only valid among the masses, since there had never been any science to back it up.


    In the Northeast, chumaxian were generally considered to be strange life forms that were formed from animals and couldnt be seen by human eyes. Some Taoists said that they were the souls of certain things.


    As ordinary people, its difficult to understand how these supernatural forces exist andmunicate in ways that we can''t see.


    In the Beijing fifteen corpse case, this chumaxian was a powerful being that apanied the sorceress. Through the sorceresss daughter, the chumaxian disclosed some details about the scene of death at that time. It was hard to believe that this thing couldmunicate in such detail.


    Chumaxian couldnt activelymunicate with you, so you had to provide questions that were carefully worded.


    ck sses'' first question was, Did someonemit a crime or was there a ghost?


    The chumaxian''s answer was very strange, It''s not anything you would think of.


    "And what would that be?" ck sses asked.


    The Chumaxian replied, "I dont know. It''s not good. It doesn''t talk."


    "Can it be seen?"


    "You all can''t see it."


    In other words, only the chumaxian could see that thing that had killed people. ck sses was about to ask another question, when the chumaxian suddenly said, "You might be able see it."


    The chumaxian said that neither a person or ghostmitted the crime. In other words, it wasnt something that belonged to the Chuma system. There were very few things that chumaxian didnt recognize, so ck sses found it very interesting.


    "What was its purpose?" ck sses asked. "What was the ritual for?"


    "To go back," the chumaxian said. "It wants to go back."


    "Where does it want to go back to?"


    Here, the chumaxian paused for a while before saying, "It wants to go back below."


    ck sses asked for rification several times, but the chumaxian didnt answer.


    The young girl told him that the chumaxian probably didnt answer because it didn''t know.


    But ck sses didnt give up and asked several more questions, changing the wording each time. Eventually, the chumaxian said, "Below is the original one. It needs to revert back to the original one."


    It made even less sense now.


    "Then why kill people?" ck sses asked.


    The young girl''s eyes suddenly started flicking back and forth and her eyelids seemed to droop down.


    ck sses found that the movement of the girl''s eyes was very different from that of human beings. It almost seemed to mimic an animals way of looking at people.


    Her eyes seemed to be half-hidden behind her eyelids, flicking back and forth as she looked at him. He didnt know if it was some kind of technique she had learned since childhood to scare people.


    Then, the chumaxian said, "It doesn''t want people to know that its been here."


    "Is it gone now?" ck sses asked.


    The chumaxian shook its head.


    "There was a sixteenth person," the chumaxian suddenly said. "It didn''t finish killing. There was one person it didn''t kill."


    "There were only fifteen bodies at the scene."


    "It''s in the water. It was transported to the well from a distance, so it could have gone back. But there was one person who didnt die."


    "The sorceress took them to Beijing to set up this array. Did you teach her?"


    "Yes."


    "So, you designed this array to send it back, but it failed. And that thing didn''t go back because there was one person at the scene who didn''t die. It caused the array to fail, right?"


    "Yes."


    "If it was going to kill everyone, did you warn the sorceress?" ck sses asked.


    The chumaxian stopped talking, but ck sses continued asking questions, "Do you have to listen to it?"


    "Ites from below."


    The chumaxian didn''t answer directly, its eyes constantly moving back and forth as if it was trying to look at ck sses. Whatever happened at that time prevented the chumaxian from saving his divinepanion.


    "Did it tell you how to set up the array?" ck sses asked.


    "The array is a bridge." The chumaxian seemed to be a little unstable at this time. "It wants to go back to the bridge below. When it thunders, it can go back."


    "That thing since it hasnt gone back, where is it now?" ck sses asked.


    "The sixteenth person isnt dead," the chumaxian said. "Its on their neck."


    ck sses looked at the young girl. At this time, the girl''s movements were so exaggerated that she lookedpletely like an animal. In Chuma, people''s body movements generally didn''t change so much, but the young girl was practically crawling onto the table and her whole body was distorted.


    "You dont have to be like this," ck sses said after looking at the monster-like body.


    The chumaxian stared at ck sses before saying, "Be careful."


    "Are you saying that thing wille after me?"


    "Be careful. If you see a white house and children ying with red balls near you, dont go into that house. Especially if its a white house with a dome."


    ck sses narrowed his eyes and saw that the young girl''s eyes had started to bleed as they flicked back and forth.


    "That''s enough!" He said in a deep voice.


    This was ck sses first time asking a chumaxian for information, and it ended shortly after that. It took a lot of physical strength to summon a chumaxian, and the young girl couldn''t bear it anymore.


    Aftering back to her senses, the young girl exined a few things to ck sses.


    The chumaxians exnation was much clearer than usual, but the dialogues between the two worlds were very different, so the little girl suggested that ck sses choose to listen to what he believed in. Chumaxians eyes were different from those of humans, so the things they saw might not be clear or might only be one side of the story.


    The information ck sses had gained from those questions was so obscure that he didn''t even know whether it should be used or not. But the chumaxian did mention that another person had been at the scene and didn''t die. It was just extremely difficult to investigate because there hadnt been any surveince equipment around the building.


    But if he was being honest with himself, he knew that there was evidence of the sorceresss footprints at the scene showing that she may have been carrying a person.


    But wouldnt that person have been covered in mes when he left?


    If there really was another person who had made it out alive, then they could have only flown away.


    In addition, the young girl carefully reminded ck sses of the chumaxians warning towards the end.


    "Its because the chumaxian became very interested in you after seeing your past. You should listen to it and try to avoid that kind of house."


    When ck sses got ready to leave, he thought about whether he had seen that kind of house before. He hadnt. White houses were something you would see in the Middle East, and he wasnt nning on going there any time soon.


    He wasnt going to worry about it, but the young girl told him that it might not actually be a house, so he had to be careful and keep an eye out for anything simr. If he did see something, he had to be sure to avoid it.


    As ck sses was saying goodbye to her, he suddenly asked, "Can chumaxian lie?"


    The young girl stared at him, not knowing what he meant. When ck sses smiled, the young girl shook her head, "A chumaxian can''t lie. It will only remain silent. "


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Chumaxian is basically the practice of shamanism in Northeastern China. They worship animals like foxes, snakes, weasels, etc. Chumaxian (), which means "the gods who take action" or more literally "riding for the immortals", is a definition which implies that the gods and their disciples act as an organic whole rather than mere channels ofmunication. Northeastern Chinese shamans are predominantly women. More info here. Per Tiffany: Chumaxian can be seen as both a verb and a noun in Chinese. The word can mean someone who chuma" (is being possessed by spirits). Xian means immortal, which might be a respectful way to call the spirits that appear in the ritual. In some cases, it might refer to someone who performs the ritual.

 Book 2: Chapter 8

    Book 2: Chapter 8


    Did ck sses believe in things like chumaxian? No.


    As he spoke with the sorceress''s daughter, he looked at her eyes and was almost certain that she was messing with him. But he could tell that there was something wrong with her.


    When ck sses was leaving the school, he met a little girl who looked to be in the second grade. She appeared to be standing in the hallway as some kind of punishment.


    He thought about what the chumaxian had said just now. It seemed to be implying that there was something out there that wasnt a ghost. And in order for that thing to go back to a certain ce, it needed that ritual to act as a bridge.


    Ghost wasnt a strong term. In fact, ghost could refer to the consciousness after death, or any consciousness from an unknown origin. But the fact that the chumaxian had emphasized that it wasnt a ghost was rather odd. The daughter of this sorceress was lying, but what purpose did she have in telling this story?


    ck sses was different from me. Unless I had a very strong hunch, I usually felt as if I had made a mistake most of the time, and there was a fifty-fifty chance that the other party didn''t lie to me.


    I also felt that I would rather have that thing be a ghost. I was the type who believed that my friends and rtives received my thoughts every year during the Qingming Festival. But people like ck sses, who were sure that the other party was lying to them, could hardly make mistakes. When he taught me, he also talked about these kinds of skills. As long as people lived to a certain age, they would see through lies.


    ck sses left the school and went to a restaurant nearby. But as he was eating, he suddenly heard someone cry out. When he went out to look, he saw that a huge ck cloud of smoke wasing from the school. He rushed back to the school, only to find that the whole building was on fire. He thought of the little girl who had been standing in the hallway as punishment. Worried that there were still students in detention, he rushed in and carried the remaining children out on his back one by one. But by the time he got to thest childthat little girl who had been standing in the hallway as punishmenther throat had be disabled.


    When he came out with the little girl on his back, the sky was overcast and it began to rain heavily. It was very rare for it to suddenly rain so heavily in the Northeast during that season. The little girl tried desperately to cover her ears as she tried to shout something.


    ck sses felt that the little girl had heard something from the thunder at that time, but she couldn''t speak.


    Later, a burnt corpse was found on top of theboratory building. It was the sorceress''s daughter. She was the one who had started the fire. At that time, the school had a surveince system that captured the sorceress''s daughter walking to the rooftop. After a huge disturbance, the girl turned into a burnt corpse and the wholeboratory building started to burn everywhere.


    ck sses began to suspect that all of those people on the roof were killed by lightning. But as he watched the surveince video, he found that there wasnt a huge streak of lightning falling from the sky.


    "Theres a religion that believes the body will be annihted after being struck by lightning, but the consciousness will enter the sky," Bai Haotian said. "Little Master Three, is it possible that the chumaxian wanted to ovee the cmity and gain special abilities? Dont they say that they can have someone else ovee the cmity for them so that they dont have to suffer themselves? (1)


    "Read less novels." Fatty touched Little Bai''s head, but she smacked his hand away.


    "The cameras were very clear," Xiao Hua continued. ck sses always felt that this case was man-made. Although he didnt know why it felt like a feng shui array, there had to be a conspiracy behind it. And this conspiracy didnt have anything to do with ghosts or gods.


    But the surveince cameras were so clear that there was no reasonable exnation for how someone on the rooftop suddenly burned like that. Moreover, the high temperature was instantaneous. The person was carbonized within a quarter of a second, which was something that only lightning could do.


    And based on the camera angle, when the sorceress''s daughter went up to the rooftop, her mouth kept moving as if she were talking to something. Her expression even seemed a little confused and panicked. From the camera screen, it almost looked like the chumaxian made her go to the roof. ck sses still thought that the sorceress''s daughter was lying, but she ended up dying just like that. For a brief moment, he had a faint doubt that he had misjudged things.


    ck sses carefully looked at the recording of the sorceress''s daughter on the rooftop. Based on the movements of her mouth, the Northeastern dialect was quite clear. He looked at her lips very carefully and found that one of the sentences she was saying was: "If what you say is true, will going to that ce really alleviate all regrets?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: When ites to oveing cmity, people have to suffer in order to gain special abilities and be immortals, so gaining special abilities is their main goal. Its like how you need to defeat monsters before you can level up in a video game.

 Book 2: Chapter 9

    Book 2: Chapter 9


    I was very familiar with this sentence. Uncle Threeor someone elseleft it for me at the bottom of Warehouse Eleven.


    The so-called Thunder City was said to be the ce where Lei Zu (1) lived. Lei Zu was also known by two other names: the Heavenly Lord of Universal Transformation Whose Voice of Thunder Resonates from the Origin of the Nine Heavens and the Perfect King of Universal Transformation Whose Voice of Thunder Resonates with the Origin of the Nine Heavens.


    In Taoism, Chen Wenyuthe governor of Leizhou in the Tang Dynastywas regarded as Lei Zu inter generations. Chen Wenyu was the child of a hunter from a tribe of ethnic minorities that had gathered at the edge of the South Sea during the Sui Dynasty. The hunter''s name was Chen You. One day, he found a huge egg among a cluster of thorns. When a thunderstorm broke out, the egg cracked opened to reveal Chen Wenyu inside. Later, Chen Wenyu became the governor of Leizhou. He then went on to be an immortal in hister years. He was the only recorded Lei Zu in history.


    Lei Zu was said to be the top-ranked god among those in the Thunder Department (2). It was also said in Chinese mythology that he was an extremely urate "yer" god.


    The map in the South Sea Kings tomb indicated that the thunder contained some information that pointed to Thunder Citys location, but I didnt think the Thunder City there was the real Thunder City in the traditional sense. The people at that time probably got information from the thunder and thought that the ce this map pointed to was Lei Zus immortal city.


    In Taoism, thunder was the key to bing immortal, so the alchemists all thought that it was an immortalnd. Believing it to be a shortcut to bing immortal, they flocked to it.


    Coincidentally, the names Chen Wen-Jin and Chen Wenyu were very simr. And when Uncle Three was listening to thunder in the mountains, Chen Wen-Jin was among those in his group. For me, it was impossible to solve the mystery of Yang Daguang''s family''s origin of thunder, whether Chen Wen-Jin was rted to the legendary Chen Wenyu, or whether it was all just coincidence.


    But if we simply took it at face value, then the information appearing in the thunder may not have anything to do with the myth at all. It was a little too far-fetched for future generations to insist on associating Thunder City with a myth.


    Uncle Three''s so-called alleviating all regrets had nothing to do with yer God Lei Zu.


    On the surveince monitor, the sorceresss daughters mouth formed ten sentences in total. In fact, the amount of information was very sufficient, and ck sses only had trouble figuring out one sentence.


    Ill write the information contained in these nine sentences below:


    1. Going to Thunder City can alleviate all regrets.


    2. Your mother is waiting for you there.


    3. The people who go to Thunder City are actually chosen by heaven. Its not a spontaneous idea, you just dont realize it.


    4. Only those who have huge regrets can feel the thunders message.


    5. The people whoe back from Thunder City arent humans, but immortals.


    6. Immortals arent gods, but other things.


    7. These things are produced by people who go to Thunder City, hoping that the dead will be revived.


    8. Immortals cant leave Thunder City or theyll harm people.


    9. Your mother wanted to take that thing back to Thunder City, but it didn''t leave.


    I touched my chin. ording to this, the thing wasnt a ghost or a monster, but an "immortal thing".


    If the immortal thing wasnt actually an immortal, then what was it?


    ording to these words, the sorceresss daughter and the sorceress herself went to Thunder City in this way.


    So, the story should be like this: the ancient female corpse found in Liaobian mustve been to Thunder City and brought back an immortal from there.


    This woman mustve had a huge regret. Then, one day, she suddenly received a signal from above and went to Thunder City. But she didnt go of her own volition; it was more like something was secretly influencing her. That regret mustve been a lost rtive. So, the woman alleviated all of her regrets in Thunder City and recalled her lost loved one. But ording to the chumaxian, what was recalled wasnt a person, but an immortal thing.


    She wasnt supposed to take this immortal thing out of Thunder City, but things like this happen in this world and she eventually brought it out of Thunder City. After that, the immortal thing began to harm people and the woman also died in the end. Maybe too many strange things had happened before her death, so she sealed her face with a bronze mirror. (I made this up.)


    At the same time, the immortal thing mustve also been buried with this woman. It was trapped on her corpse, where it remained invisible and unseen.


    Time passed and then the loggers found the female corpse. When they were stealing the funerary objects from her body, the immortal thing started to influence them. As a result, they looked for the sorceress. The chumaxian told the sorceress about the immortal thing, and then the sorceress killed all the loggers and cast spells, intending to set up the fish-corpse array and send the immortal thing back to a certain ce.


    The sorceress and chumaxian forced out the immortal thing, and when ittched onto the sorceresss back, she brought it to the rooftop. Then, the sorceress was instantly burned to a crisp by "some kind of lightning" and the whole building caught fire.


    But the immortal didnt return, the n failed, and the sorceresss sacrifice was wasted.


    This is the general truth of the whole story, but there are some details that are still unclear. I could write this story with terrifying words because it really is creepy, but I figure it''s not necessary since its just a record.


    But there was a lingering question: why did the chumaxian also let the sorceresss daughter go to Thunder City?


    Here, I have a theory. First of all, was there really a chumaxian?


    Based on my knowledge, many of these sorceresses were just feng shui masters with considerable knowledge. So, this sorceress didnt need a chumaxian. She could infer the situation of Thunder City and the immortal thing from the female corpses situation and also make the fish-corpse array and send the immortal thing back.


    So, there was no chumaxian.


    Then what exactly was the chumaxian that came back to the sorceresss daughter?


    Could it be that immortal thing?


    Did it make the sorceresss daughter directly flick her eyes back and forth like that so that it could look at people? Was the consciousness that twisted her limbs the same "thing" that came out of Thunder City?


    If so, then did it kill the sorceresss daughter? In other words, it had been on the girls body and ck sses arrival suddenly motivated it to kill her.


    This theory waster verified by ck sses, because after returning from the Northeast, he started to notice that something was riding on the back of his neck. That thing was a strange power that prevented him from looking up. Not only could he only look at his own feet, but his eyes began to rapidly deteriorate.


    That immortal thing had finallye after him.


    "But," Xie Yuchen said, "this time, it encountered a hard bone to swallow."


    How did ck sses avoid the same end as the sorceress and the sorceresss daughter? How did he fight against this non-human, non-ghost thing and finally win? Thats a story for another time; a story thats rted to a tall "living immortal". Its not convenient to discuss more here, but the final result was that the immortal thing suddenly disappeared and no one knew where it went.


    Lets return to the jungles of Myanmar.


    ck sses got rid of the so-called immortal thing andter thought that it was just a rare eye disease. Then, he met a woman who couldnt speak in Mute Vige. After doing some calctions, he found that the womans age matched that of the little girl he had saved from the fire.


    He saw that there was a strange thing behind the woman that looked like the thing he saw when he was doing the Chuma ritual with the sorceresss daughter.


    This brought back his memories.


    <em>Long time no see</em>, he thought to himself as he looked at that thing that was entangled around the girl''s throat. ck sses smiled, <em>its time for a showdown.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Lei Zu is the highest ranked thunder god in Pure Taoist Religion ording to this site. Lei Zu () can mean Thunder Patriarch or Thunder Ancestor. Fun fact: Lei Zu has a 3<sup>rd</sup> eye, which can see all things in the world and is in charge of yin and yang, good and evil, the Thunder Department, five elements, descendants, etc.


    (2) Lei Bu (), or Thunder Department/Agency is a fourteen-member department that Lei Zu oversees. They deal with the functions of thunder, from providing rain to announcing fortune or misfortune, and even to conferring life or death after the inspection and evaluation of people.

 Book 2: Chapter 10

    Book 2: Chapter 10


    Tony, an affectionate man, watched shyly as ck sses unpacked his luggage. He didnt know what to say. He had originally thought that it would be absolutely impossible to meet "good-looking" Chinese men here in the tropical jungles of Myanmar. He was ready to watch the heavy rains, diaojiaos, and field work for half a year.


    He just didn''t expect to suddenly meet such a man before the rainy season. Was this a blessing from the heavens?


    Tony stayed huddled in the corner as he watched ck sses make the bed opposite him and then take off his jacket, exposing his biceps. ck sses looked at him, smiled, and then walked out. Tony immediately pressed up against the door, peeked at him carefully, and watched him walk towards the bathroom. The rainy season in Tony''s heart was over and spring wasing. But he was still a little concerned about why there had been such loud firecrackers in the diaojiao building next door just now. Regardless, Tony decided that his spring was here.


    ck sses went to the bathroom. There were awnings behind some of the diaojiaos in the vige, and there were outdoor bathrooms beside these awnings. The water was pumped-up well water that was still rtively clean. The humid rainy season and high temperatures made him sweat, so he took off his sses, closed his eyes, and started to bathe.


    It was still thundering in the sky, but at this time, he suddenly seemed to hear someone talking in his ear.


    The way of speaking was very simr to the frequency of thunder, but it seemed to be a strange whisper. People in this industry knew ancient pronunciations to some extent, and this strange sound was like someone speaking an ancientnguage in his ear. ck sses turned to listen carefully, but the strange sound disappeared.


    He reached for his sunsses, only to find that they were gone. He couldn''t see anything when he opened his eyes, but he still struggled to look anyways.


    He heard footsteps outside and knew that it was the woman. It looked like she was the one who had taken his sunsses just now. ck sses threw out his arm like he was performing a magic trick and a new pair of sunsses appeared out of nowhere.


    He put them on and got dressed. When he walked out of the shower, he saw the woman sitting off to the side, holding a washbasin with a very embarrassed expression on her face. Upon seeing hime out, she signed at him: "Are you a disabled person, too?"


    ck sses ignored her and looked at the strange thing behind her. Just now, when the woman stole his sunsses to y a trick on him, the "immortal thing" was talking to him. Unfortunately, he didnt know what it was saying.


    This immortal thing must have jumped from him andtched onto the girl. ck sses left the shadow of the awning and began to think as he walked. <em>I didn''t solve this problem back then. This immortal thing seems to be able to transfer among the people who are involved in that incident. It didnt transfer to strangers, only to thest person who was at the scene at that time.</em>


    Based on its method for solving the problemst time, he had to find a way to prevent it from escaping again.


    As he was walking around the vige, he saw one of the vigers who had taken the equipment before. The man was holding a gun and watching ck sses warily. ck sses walked towards him, but the other party raised his gun and pointed it at ck sses head. A wad of money in ck sses'' pocket suddenly fell to the ground. ck sses looked at the other party, but they didn''t rx their guard. He let out a cry and then another wad of money fell out of his pocket. The other party paused, as if suddenly understanding something. ck sses cried out two more times and three or four more wads of money fell out.


    Ten minutester, he was at the viger''s house and the mans wife began to serve him food and drink. ck sses didnt understand the other party''s signnguage, and was wondering what to do. Although the people here could speak some Chinese since they were close to the border, he couldn''t understand the other partys reply at all. At this time, he saw the wife bring over some paper, indicating that she could write some Chinese.


    ck sses told them that he wanted to get the equipment back. The taboo things could be deleted, but he needed to get the other things back. The price was negotiable.


    The other party showed an embarrassed look.


    The vigers wife drew a picture on the paper, which turned out to be a map of the whole vige. ck sses immediately recognized it. But the woman drew a strange building far away from the vige and told ck sses that all of the equipment had been transported to that ce. Once it was there, only the vige sorceress could get it back.


    ck sses knew he could steal it himself since the sorceress wasnt very familiar with video cameras.


    ck sses gestured. There was a minefield in that part of the vige that was thergest minefield in the area. There were more than a dozen mountains, and mines were everywhere. The building was in a mountain depression deep in the minefield.


    Some vigers could enter and leave the minefield without any problems. Most of them were hunters who had safe routes through the minefield, but they were the only ones who knew the route markers, which became a kind of protection. Now, only the sorceress and her family knew the route clearly. The sorceress was an olddy in her seventies. She had been the one who was cutting the corpses scalps at the funeral. She only had two apprentices, and her husband and children were dead.


    ck sses thought for a long time and eventually asked if there was any way for the sorceress to take him in. The viger told him that he had to be a part of the sorceresss family.


    When ck sses returned to the siblings diaojiao, the two came up and asked him, How did it go?


    The mute girl''s attitude was obviously much better, probably sympathizing with him now that she knew that his eyes were bad.


    ck sses said to them, "I need your help to get the cameras and tapes back."


    "How can we help? How can we help?" The big Nanjing guy asked eagerly.


    "I want to pursue a sorceress, ck sses said. I''m in love with her."

 Book 2: Chapter 11

    Book 2: Chapter 11


    Everyone in the audience was silent. When we heard this kind of plot device, we had to think about its authenticity.


    When it came to storytelling, there was a situation where you probably knew what the context of the story was, but you didnt know what the main plot was. As a result, you made up the plot yourself. But Xiao Hua''s expression didnt seem like he was joking.


    My mind was filled with images of when ck sses had sent me to Crocodile Ind (1). I felt that it wasnt that he couldn''t woo the sorceress, it was just that he was someone who would take people in as godsons at most. Still, such an exaggerated statement really surprised us.


    I watched Su Wane in through the door and knew who had spread this kind of thing. Su Wan looked into my eyes and seemed to sense my ill-intentions, for he immediately stepped back warily.


    This was ridiculous. It didnt change the actual situation. I didnt believe the sorceress would ept ck sses and let things be sorted out so easily. ck sses was probably teasing the amateurs.


    If the person with him wasnt an insider, then he would often joke around and make light of dangerous situations. He told me that this was because having a nervous and jumpypanion around you was more dangerous than facing a bear.


    The three brats smelled of cigarette smoke, and I knew there was no way we could get them to stop. When I was smoking back in the day, did I listen to anyones advice? I knew the answer very well, so I didnt bother saying anything to them. When they started gasping for breath any time they went up stairs in the future, they would realize how terrible it was. Human beings always repeated the same fate, which was why some people could write a novel for more than ten years.


    Xiao Hua continued the story. Su Wan tried to leave when he heard that we were talking about ck sses, but Fatty caught him. "Im not getting involved in this matter, Su Wan said. He won''t beat you guys, but hell definitely beat me. I''d better help wee the guests.


    "Youre going to rat us out, you coward. Do you think I dont know what youre about to do? Fatty said to him. Stay. I have to listen to this story. Su Wan couldnt leave, so Xiao Hua continued.


    ck sses told the little mute girlwhose name was Chuchuabout his n. That was when the siblings learned that only the sorceresss family could pass through the minefield, enter the building outside the vige, and get the equipment back. Chuchu realized she had to get serious. In this matter, what she needed to do was to be the trantor. Theoretically, sorceresses were more difficult to bribe with money, so they could only be outwitted.


    In any case, there werent any skills that would make others ept you as their son, so the only possibility was courtship. Of course, it was ridiculous, butpared to being someones son, courtship was at least logical. But this logic was stillpletely useless.


    Sure enough, Xiao Hua changed his style of storytelling and looked at Su Wan, "Unfortunately, the sorceress didn''t like him, so this person became angry and kidnapped her."


    Fatty and I looked at each other, feeling a little relieved. Sure enough, this was ck sses.


    ck sses tied the sorceress up and put her on the edge of the minefield before looking at Chuchu and saying, "You go with me."


    Chuchu was a little surprised and asked in standard signnguage: "ording to the TV dramas, shouldn''t people like you tell me to go back and wait for news at this time?"


    ck sses looked at her: "Would you really go back and wait for news?"


    Chuchu sneered: "No." (This was all done in signnguage)


    ck sses looked at the minefield in front of him and saw that it was gettingte. "The location of this minefield isnt quite right, he said. The ce were going to is in the center of the minefield. This minefield almost seems like its protecting that ce. I dont know whether its to prevent people from getting in or to keep something from getting out.


    "Did the army set it up?"


    "Yeah. It mustve been done during the Myanmar-Vietnam War. ck sses looked at the sorceress and asked Chuchu to trante for him: "I''ll walk there with you on my back. You tell me how to get through, or we''ll both go to heaven together."


    The sorceress looked at ck sses in horror, pointed to the sun that had almostpletely set, and then pointed to his sunsses. Chuchu tranted: "She said that youre blind and she can''t speak. How is she supposed to tell you how to get there?"


    ck sses asked Chuchu to gesture back: "I can see. I can see everything."


    He looked at the strange shadow behind Chuchu, and the shadow looked back at himhe didn''t expect there to be such a good ce near Mute Vige where he could confront this immortal thing. Since this ce was surrounded by mines and there were only three people in the whole area, it couldnt escape.


    The three of them cautiously walked into the minefield.


    At this time, Liu Sang suddenly turned his head, looked at the door, and made a wait-and-see expression at us. We all settled down and saw ck sses, Wang Meng, and Poker-Face walk in.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) From "Master ck sses Sequel: Wu Xies Ind Adventure". It''s on the Misc Extras Tab.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok guys, here''s the game n after we''re done with ck sses'' adventure in 9 chapters (~37 more pages):</em></strong><ol><li><strong><em>Reboot Trial Reading (21 chapters, ~98 pages)</em></strong></li><li><strong><em>ck sses and Xiao Hua''s Adventure in Russia (8 chapters, ~46 pages)</em></strong></li><li><strong><em>Notes in Rain Vige (30 chapters, ~118 pages)</em></strong></li><li><strong><em>Reboot Part 3: Looking for the Dead in the Sea of Lights (63 chapters, ~294 pages and counting)</em></strong></li></ol>


    <strong><em>There will be a few short extras tossed in here or there. I think I gave myself carpal tunnel, but the raws have been copied and ran through the trantion sites so we should be raring to go without pause. </em></strong>

 Book 2: Chapter 12

    Book 2: Chapter 12


    Now that everyone was present, we all started to sit down. We had been adhering to the policy of talking ill of someone who wasnt present, so now we couldnt really do that anymore.


    Well, we could talk ill of Kan Jian since he was out of town.


    I nced at my phone, which kept dinging as Kan Jian sent text after text: It''s a pity that I havent returned yet. Will you be angry, Boss? Dont be angry with me. I''ll try to make up for it.


    I really couldn''t talk ill of him.


    After everyone was seated, ck sses asked, "What were you all talking about just now? Youre being quiet. Youre not quiet people."


    Nobody answered. Poker-Face watched the heavy rain outside, the raindrops hitting the ss one by one. It was raining heavily south of the Yangtze River and I didnt know what would happen to the houses in Rain Vige.


    Although the world was difficult, every once in a while, people would inevitably want to leave their original environment. After everyone around them was well, every day would pass by in a haze, which would eventually make ones skin itch. They would either want to leave the inherent environment or spend a long time recalling the things of the past. But when I saw Poker-Face''s eyes watching the rain, I didn''t know what he was thinking about, let alone which year or century he was recalling.


    It was annoying to be buddies with a near-immortal.


    Fatty really wasnt used to the silence, and immediately said, "Telling a story. It was fucking interesting, too. If you hadn''te in just now, we wouldve reached the climax."


    "Fat Master, you can do that just by listening?" Wang Meng was surprised. "You''ve got a supernatural ability!"


    ck sses said, "Oh? What story is so good? Whos telling it?"


    Everyone clearly had no backbone and instinctively looked at Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua was the only one who looked at me, "Wu Xie, of course. He owes so much money, so I made him tell a story as punishment."


    Everyone immediately looked at me, not even putting up a fight. I cursed in my heart, <em>shit, is money so effective in times of peace?</em> ck sses tilted his head, smiled, and looked at me, Go on."


    "Don''t you guys want to eat first? I asked. "I''m hungry. I''m suddenly very hungry. And lets drink. How long has it been since Ive seen you? Why are we even talking? Let''s sing some karaoke after drinking."


    The waiter immediately came over, "Would everyone like to order?"


    ck sses raised his hand, "Were not in any hurry, lets get some tea first."


    The waiter nced at me. I was just about to speak, but Li Cu suddenly stood up, hooked his arm around the waiter, and showed him out.


    <em>Shitty brat!</em> I felt as if old blood was stuck in my throat.


    ck sses obviously noticed that something was up, so he looked at me with a smile. I nced at Fatty, who said, "What you were talking about just now was quite good. Go on."


    I turned my head and saw that Poker-Face had turned back to look at me.


    "It was fifty years ago at Changsha Dart Summit"


    "Bullshit. The story you were just telling must be rted to me." ck sses nced at Xiao Hua, "Say it well. If what you say isnt good, then youll have to drinkter."


    I rubbed my face and saw Liu Sang pointing to my heart, secretly hinting that it was beating too fast. Bai Haotian made a gesture at me that meant: You can do it!


    Since I used to tell stories to fool her, she thought that I was particrly good at storytelling.


    <em>Ok</em>, I thought as I calmed myself down. <em>Im also a person who can write to a certain degree</em>. Although I didnt know what happened after that, ck sses was alive now, wasnt he? In that case, Id just make up the rest by following that general direction.


    I nced at Xiao Hua. <em>Xie Yuchen, you wont get away with this.</em>


    Then, I started making up the story, "Its said that at that time"


    ck sses and Chuchu took a sorceress deep into the minefield. Since there mightve been unexploded engineering mines below them, the two carefully stepped on the soft fallen leaves.


    But ck sses was confident. Several generations had been walking this path, which showed that the way should be clear even though it was difficult to recognize.


    <em>Theres no need to be urate to the point that every footfall is right</em>, ck sses thought to himself. But when he looked at Chuchu, he actually felt a little guilty in his heart.


    Although he wasnt the type to be troubled by emotions, ck sses still felt a little conflicted when it came to idental injuries. This Northeastern girl was too young at that time, and seeing that she hadn''t recovered even up to now, ck sses mustve been showing a different kind of emotion behind those sunsses.


    When I said this, I nced at ck sses. He looked at me without admitting or denying anything, so I continued with my sappy story.


    But just when I was about to speak, I suddenly thought of another possibility, "Shit, don''t tell me you wanted to kill all three of you in that minefield?"


    ck sses grinned, "You made it up very well just now, but you wont be able toter. Keep going. If youre wrong, Ill correct you."

 Book 2: Chapter 13

    Book 2: Chapter 13


    They were extremely cautious the whole way, and finally made it to the front of the building without any mishaps.


    ck sses only knew that there was a building in the center of the minefield outside of the vige. But when he saw it, it was still an unbelievable sight.


    It was a Chinese-style temple.


    Although there were many architectural styles in Southeast Asia, ck sses was surprised to find that this was definitely a Chinese-style temple. And it was too old to determine its exact age.


    He stood there stunned for a while. But when he looked at the surrounding environment, he was a little confused.


    He knew the characteristics of Chinese temples all too well. This temple should have appeared in China around the Fujian or Zhejiang provinces. It had the typical characteristics of fishermen''s temples by the sea, and although the age couldnt be verified, it was almost certainly at least a thousand years old.


    Chuchu looked at ck sses. She was obviously a little puzzled and signed at him: "What''s the matter?"


    ck sses was thinking about what it looked like a thousand years ago. It mustve been during the Hung Sawadi period, but this ce wasnt covered by the capital city or any city at all. It was probably just a giant area of primitive jungle.


    But this primitive jungle wasnt the primitive jungle in the modern sense. At that time, there were very few human gathering ces, and most of the world belonged to jungles and animals.


    At that time, did the Chinesee here and build a temple?


    But what were they doing here?


    Moreover, there had been so many armed conflicts and wars in the area, but the temple was still here. And there were minefields around it, indicating that armed forces fought small-scale battles here. But why wasnt the temple destroyed?


    In order for anything in the worldespecially a man-made buildingto survive in such a tropical humid environment for a thousand years, someone had to maintain it for generations.


    He asked Chuchu and the sorceress to wait at the door while he cautiously walked into the temple alone.


    The temple wasnt big and only had one building, but when he walked in, he smelled incense. At that moment, he even felt that it hade from a thousand years ago. Then, he saw the tributes and candles, which were all new.


    On the shrine, there was a Thunder God statue.


    No, he could see directly from the details that it wasnt the Thunder God, but Lei Zu, the supreme god of the Thunder Department.


    When he walked around the temple, he found that people had been lighting incense all year round. The temple was still running, but he didnt see any monks.


    Where were the monks?


    When he returned to the door, he asked Chuchu to ask the sorceress, "What is this ce? Whats going on in this vige?"


    When the sorceress kept shaking her head, ck sses tilted his own head and looked at her. Based on his analysis, the people in this vige came from the South Sea country and the entrance to the South Sea country should be near this temple.


    When ck sses looked at Chuchu, he saw that the shadow behind her looked very distorted. He suddenly realized that he had seen the girl hiding in the grass from a distance before.


    It wasnt because of his special vision, but because the thing behind her was too easy find.


    "Are you a little scared?" ck sses asked her.


    Chuchu waved her hand and shook her head: "No."


    ck sses wasnt asking her, he was asking it.


    He looked at the shadow gripping Chuchu''s neck and felt that the girl had been treated unfairly. He could no longer let her suffer as a sacrifice because of him.


    He gave up the idea of confronting the shadow here and asked Chuchu, "Do you want to speak again? I have a friend I can introduce to you. He can cure you."


    Chuchu didnt seem to believe him and stood there a little dazed. ck sses continued, "Listen to me and I''ll introduce him to you. He has some very powerful skills."

 Book 2: Chapter 14

    Book 2: Chapter 14


    "There are only a few special operations that can cure my throat," Chuchu signed to ck sses. "Its very expensive and I dont have the money to do it. My brother said that after finishing this project, Ill have the money to cure this disease, but I know hes lying to me."


    Chuchu''s signnguage was so fast that ck sses was a little dazzled. He grabbed her hands, secretly wondering if she was doing the Northern Praying Mantis style of martial arts (1). "Expense is never a problem for my friend, he said. And he doesn''t necessarily use modern methods."


    "I dont believe it." Chuchu gave a wry smile and pointed to the ancient temple, You should deal with this matter first. Have you found my equipment?


    "No. It''s not inside. But the person who gave us the info was very sincere. He wasnt lying. He looked at the sorceress, "Please help me ask this sorceress where the stuff is."


    Chuchu proceeded to ask, but the sorceress wouldnt look her in the eye. ck sses knew that the sorceress was lying, but he noticed that her eyes kept looking down.


    He also looked down. The thing the sorceress wanted to hide turned out to be the foundation of this ancient temple.


    There was something under the temple.


    He looked at the vegetation around him. If there was a hollow space under the ground, the vegetation would grow differently from other ces because of the limited root space and difference in temperature.


    But the vegetation growing around the temple waspletely different from what ck sses had been expecting. He thought that there would be more shrubs here, but there were towering trees around the temple that were actually bigger than the other ces.


    Whatever was underground seemed to provide a lot of nutrients to the nts in this area.


    He suddenly smiled at the sorceress. She looked at him in horror, but he quickly squeezed her neck, caused her to faint, and then put her on his back. He turned to look at Chuchu and saw that she had a frightened expression on her face.


    "Don''t worry. If youpress the blood vessels and nerves for a short time, youll immediately faint. You won''t die, ck sses said.


    "What are you doing?" Chuchu immediately asked him.


    "Are you scared of the fact that I can stun others in an instant? Do you think Im a bad person?"


    "What do you mean?" Chuchu took a panicked step back and made a defensive move. But because she had to sign while defending, she just looked ridiculous.


    ck sses stretched his fingers out in front of Chuchu, "I have a reasonable exnation. Look at my situation. I have this understanding of nerves and blood vessels because Im a blind masseuse."


    Chuchu paused for a moment, but maintained her defensive position, not believing him at all.


    ck sses pointed to her raised hand, "When defending, you should tense up your chest, twist your waist, and then throw your punch. Otherwise, its useless. You also have to stay focused."


    Chuchu waspletely blindsided, but as ck sses put the sorceress back on the steps of the temple, she suddenly felt that he looked a little familiar.


    She looked at ck sses, "You"


    Her mind suddenly shed back to the fire. She was screaming and coughing when someone rushed in to save her. He put her on his back, but she was so frightened that she put up a desperate struggle. Then, the man squeezed the back of her neck and she immediately fell half unconscious. There was only the feeling of being carried,ing out of the fire, the sound of fire engines, and the bubbles from the fire-fighting foam flying everywhere.


    She was standing there in a daze when ck sses suddenly threw a punch, instantly stopping right before he hit her face. He took a look at her raised fists and saw that she didnt tense her chest up at all. He sighed, "No talent."


    Chuchu waspletely stunned and continued to stand there dumbfounded. Just now, her hair had blown back by the force of his punch.


    By the time she finally reacted, ck sses had already walked straight into the ancient temple.


    Chuchu waited at the door for a while. As she nced around, she noticed that the primitive jungle looked especially gloomy now that ck sses was gone. There was a strange ancient temple in front of her, while the three other sides were primitive jungle full of miasma and pythons.


    She shuddered and immediately went into the temple, nning to look for ck sses everywhere.


    But just as soon as she entered, she didn''t even get to turn her head to look around before she was lifted up and shoved behind a pir. Pressed up against the post, she was just about to start struggling when she heard ck sses whisper, "The Lei Zu statue here is alive." He turned his head to let Chuchu get a look at the shrine.


    There werent any statues on the shrine at all.


    She couldn''t figure out the situation, but she felt ck sses grab her hand and push her down slowly until they were squatting on the ground together. ck sses poked his head out from behind the post to try and find the statues location.


    When he came in just now, he immediately noticed that the statue was gone. He quickly took cover, but he couldn''t hear anything in the room besides the sound of insects and birds in the woods outside.


    Either someone moved the statue or it moved by itself, but neither possibility was good.


    Chuchu wanted to sign and ask ck sses what was going on, but he grabbed her hands and indicated that she should look in a certain direction. When she did, she saw a face on the ground, sticking out from below the altar.


    It was the face of the statue. It was moving very slowly, which was a technique the special forces used in the jungle. It took a lot of patience, but any sounds would bepletely buried in the jungle noises.


    Chuchu was so petrified that she kept clutching ck sses, but it only took him a quarter of a second to react. He immediately grabbed her and jumped out.


    He saw the statue suddenly roll out from under the altar. It turned out to be a thin man with a shotgun in his hand. He fired at them directly.


    Iron pellets hit the ce where they had just been standing with a loud "bang!", immediately turning the pir to sawdust.


    Chuchu covered her ears as ck sses lifted her up and ran out of the ancient temple at breakneck speed.


    The statue chased them out and fired another shot, but ck sses speed far exceeded the shooting speed of their opponent. ck sses instantly dragged Chuchu into the minefield and hid behind a tree.


    "There are guards." ck sses found it a little funny. <em>Of course. Since this temple is so important to the locals, its obvious that itll be guarded.</em>


    The statue fired two more shots at the jungle, and ck sses suddenly had an idea. He grabbed Chuchu and ran wildly around the minefield.


    <em>This is a minefield!!!</em> Chuchu was having a mental breakdown.


    ck sses directly rushed three or four steps away from the statue. When it raised its gun, ck sses used Chuchu as a weapon and threw her directly at it. As soon as the statue was knocked to the ground, ck sses stepped forward and bent the barrel of the shotgun.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its an aggressive style of martial arts that focuses on striking. It mimics the praying mantiss fighting style, which involves the use of whip-like/circr motions to deflect direct attacks, and then precise attacks to the opponent''s vital spots as a follow up. Info here.

 Book 2: Chapter 15

    Book 2: Chapter 15


    As Chuchu rubbed her waist and pushed the hair out of her face, she saw ck sses pull the statues head off. If she had been able to make a normal sound, she wouldve definitely screamed.


    But when she took a closer look, she found that ck sses had actually pulled off a mask. The statue turned out to be a very thin man who wasnt all that young. In addition to a lot of silver jewelry, he was wearing clothes and a mask that made him look like the statue. ck sses broke off the guns trigger, threw it aside, directly lifted the "statue" up, and dragged it all the way to the sorceress.


    Chuchu went over while continuing to rub her waist and asked in signnguage, "Why did you run into the minefield?"


    "The minefield here may be fake," ck sses said.


    "Why?"


    "If theres a minefield, then why do you still need a guard? This is to deceive outsiders. There may actually bendmines nearby, but the number isnt as exaggerated as they say." ck sses took out two lollipops from his pocket and stuffed them directly into the two people''s mouths.


    Chuchu couldn''t understand ck sses behavior at all. "Theres anesthetic in it, ck sses said. This teaches people not to eat things given by strangers. After that, he went into the temple and blew out all the candles as quickly as possible.


    The whole temple instantly became dark, leaving only the moonlight outside. Chuchu wanted to turn on her shlight, but ck sses said from inside the temple, "I don''t need any light." Chuchu didnt understand, but she already knew at this time that ck sses wasnt an ordinary person. After thinking for a while, she put down the shlight and waited at the door.


    Soon, ck sses shlight came on. She didn''t know what he had done inside, but when she took a look, she saw that the altar had been overturned. She ran in and came up beside him, noticing that there was a hidden entrance below the altar. There was a simple stone staircase, which led all the way down.


    "How did you find it?" She signed at him. His behavior just now didnt seem like he was looking for something.


    "Women''s thinking is really different from men''s," ck sses said. Chuchu was so stunned that it took her a long time to realize that ck sses had avoided answering her question. He continued, "If its a man, hell ask whats below."


    Then, he took out his cell phone, made sure he had a signal, pulled up the WeChat app, and quickly typed something.


    "What are you doing?"


    "When you enter an unknown area, you need to write a suicide note." ck sses quickly sent the text and then looked at Chuchu, "You wait for me here."


    His eyes were locked on the ck shadow behind Chuchu. At this time, the shadow became veryrge, almost like it was going to pounce.


    "I wont," Chuchu signed. "I want to go down and have a look. I didn''t expect to get the opportunity to enter the underground river."


    "I broke in illegally. Anything you film will be condemned by humanitarians, ck sses said. "You wont win a prize."


    "You and I are not in the same group. I was merely passing by. Chuchu went directly into the passage and turned on her shlight.


    ck sses shook his head, <em>there''s something wrong with this girls character</em>. He followed her in and saw her start signing in the shlights glow: "Hey, have I seen you before?"


    "Yes, I used to be an advertising model. You may have seen me at the movies," ck sses said. The passage was very narrow and made from worn stone bs. The stairs were very uneven and varied in size. Chuchu was still persistent: "No, I think Ive met you before."


    ck sses looked back at her and moved to put his hand on the back of her neck. But Chuchu was very vignt and pressed up against the passage wall, protecting the back of her neck. "Your movements are the same as Funny Uncles. He did that to me, too." After Chuchu finished signing, she quickly put her hand over her neck and red at ck sses.


    "Come on! Its just a quick squeeze and then youll wake up and everything will be settled. You can go home with your videos.


    ck sses beckoned to her, but Chuchu quickly signed back: "Are you Funny Uncles friend? Or his son?"


    ck sses looked at her and sighed.


    Funny Uncle how long had it been since he heard that name? At that time, he stayed in the same ward with the little girl for a long time in order to monitor her. The little girl didn''t say a word or cry out in pain or sadness. She just stubbornly held it all back. He didn''t know whether she was refusing to ept her fate or if it was something else.


    In order to get her to say something, ck sses went to all kinds of trouble and used every method he could think of. Later, because of his strange behavior, the little girl took a liking to him and gave him a nickname: Funny Uncle. Did children remember their childhood so well?


    ck sses looked at Chuchu and was just about to strong-arm her, when she suddenly ran down the stairs with her hand covering her neck. Then, he heard the sound of her falling. When ck sses walked down and shined his shlight around, he saw that she had bumped into a wall.


    He looked closer with his shlight and found that it wasn''t a wall, but a monument ced at the bottom of the stairs. At this time, he heard the sound of surging watering from behind it.


    Two words had been engraved on the stone monument: Extreme Sea.


    The monument looked very old, but because there was only water vapor here, there were no signs of weathering. The engraved words were still quite clear and there were smaller ones carved on the side. ck sses wasn''t interested in reading them, so he bypassed the monument directly and found a huge cliff in the space behind it. If the stone monument hadnt been here, Chuchu wouldve gone down directly.


    This underground cliff was a big crack about the width of three liberation trucks and was too deep for the shlights to illuminate clearly. The running water sound wasing from below, meaning that there really was an underground river underneath. ording to Wu Erbai''s data, the Extreme Sea was the longest underground river in China, and also the mother river of the South Seas Falling Cloud Country. It was said that there were more than three hundred tributaries, and all of the South Seas Falling Cloud Countrys borders were attached to these rivers.


    There were Extreme Sea monuments erected by the South Sea countrys people near every entrance and exit of these underground rivers. These monuments were all in secret ces, and most of them had pools of water nearby. That was why most people who found them thought that Extreme Sea was the name of these underground pools. They didnt realize that it actually referred to this connected underground water system. Unexpectedly, the Extreme Sea became so long that even Burma had an entrance. It wasnt surprising that the legend of the South Sea country ced the country in both the east and the west. This ancient underground countrywhich existed in the underground river basinhad a vast territory and could be isted from the world for a long time. This was also the only way to reach Thunder City, because there were too many forks in the underground river.


    Thunder City was in a certain section of this Extreme Sea.


    Chuchu asked him toe back, so ck sses went over to her. She told him to look at the small words engraved on the Extreme Sea monument. When he shined his shlight on it, the line of words appeared more clearly. They seemed very chaotic, as if the person who had carved them had been in a state of madness.


    The words read: Wu Sanxing entered Thunder City from this point to alleviate all regrets.

 Book 2: Chapter 16: Go Home—Funny Uncle

    Book 2: Chapter 16: Go Home¡ªFunny Uncle


    I looked at ck sses, because there was a reason for my analysis.


    This happened during the time I went to Thunder City. After ck sses was hired by Uncle Two, his initial whereabouts became a mystery. But it was obviously a very important part of Uncle Two''s n. This whole Thunder City affair was extremely difficult, especially when it came to the information Uncle Three left us there. That information revealed that there was ayer of events buried under the superficial logic.


    While investigating this matter, we found that regrets were almost always the source of motivation for people. And among the people Uncle Two had hired, I found that he specially selected people with huge regrets in their hearts. Of course, I wondered who in this world didn''t have regrets, but not everyone was obsessed with them. Fatty wasnt, so it was hard for him to be driven by obsession.


    What was ck sses regret? Did he even have a huge obsession? What kind of existence was his eye disease in his heart? I didnt think a man would let himself go blind, even if he had already prepared himself for it. ck sses told me that if he becamepletely blind, his situation would be very difficult. This kind of hardship was beyond my imagination.


    "I did it for the money, not to cure my eyes. ck sses denied my theory. "Alleviating regrets is your Wu familys trademark. Dont lump me in with you."


    "Just tell me if Im right," I said as I looked at ck sses. I had seen the Extreme Sea monument for the first time in the Taoist temple in Yangjia Vige. Later, I learned about the Extreme Seas underground river from the murals in the South Sea Kings tomb. If the area beneath Mute Vige was connected with the Extreme Sea, then there would be traces of the Extreme Sea monument there.


    He nodded. "What you said is generally urate.


    Then, ording to my understanding of your character, youll start working on the thing on Chuchu''s back."


    "You know what Ill do?"


    "I have a general idea," I said.


    ck sses silently looked at the words on the stone monument. The territory of this South Sea country waspletely different from any territory aboveground. The underground city that developed along the tributaries may even show up as a huge feather-like figure throughout all of Asias underground. Without a map, Wu Erbai couldnt find anything in the underground river system, even if they did find more entrances and more Extreme Sea monuments.


    But why would a vige be guarding the Extreme Sea monument in this ce? Based on our previous analysis of the information, when the ancestors of the vige arrived here, it was still a primitive jungle. Whether they were troops of the South Sea country or rebels, they fled here along the underground river, found an exit leading aboveground, and then flourished here. But that wasnt right. If that were the case, then this exit shouldve been destroyed instead of erecting a monument and temple over it. There werent enough clues.


    ck sses pulled himself from his thoughts and looked around to see how the vigers went down the cliff to fish. He went over to the edge of the cliff and looked down, wondering whether there were stairs or lifting ropes somewhere. Chuchu also cautiously walked overshe seemed a little afraid of heightsand signed at him: "Are you going down?"


    ck sses looked at Chuchu and the ck shadow behind her before suddenly asking, "Do you have anything else to say?" Chuchu stared nkly for a moment and ck sses realized that this sentence was a bit wrong. He smiled, grabbed Chuchu''s neck, pulled her directly to the edge of the cliff, and pushed her down.


    As Chuchu fell into the darkness below, ck sses took off his sunsses. All of the structures in the darkness below instantly appeared as clear as day in his eyes. There were sun-dried fishings down there, but Chuchu couldnt see them. Could the thing on her back see them?


    As he watched Chuchu about to fall into a fishingshe had fallen nearly thirty meters by this pointhe suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back and a pressure on his neck. That familiar feeling from so many years ago hade back. This immortal thing couldnt see anything in the dark and had returned to him when it thought that Chuchu was going to die.


    A sense of relief floated up from the bottom of ck sses'' heart. He took off his clothes, bringing only a dagger and a shlight with him. There was a piece of cosmetic rubber on his lower back that looked like skin, but actually contained a thin pair of spare sunsses and some des. He tore it off and stuck it on his thigh.


    He couldnt escape the rules of physics, so when it came to total darkness, he couldnt see anything and still needed a dim light. He tore off the pendant he was carrying on his body and broke it. The substance inside produced a chemical reaction, which produced a weak phosphorescent light. He liked underground environments, because with his eyes, it was bright and everything was clear at a nce. This phosphorescence was enough.


    On the ground in front of the Extreme Sea monument, he carved the following words: Go homeFunny Uncle.


    Then, he took out a business card from his pocket. ck sses had printed business cards for all of us, which had something to do with hisst investigation. If he wanted to send us any special message, he would cause trouble and leave a business card on purpose. Of course, most of the information on the business cards was fake.


    He took Xie Yuhua''s business card and put it beside the engraved words. Then, he went to the edge of the cliff, chose a tiny gap between the fishings, and jumped down.


    He skimmed past all of the fishings and fell directly into the underground river.


    He was able to tell the depth of the river from the sounds of the water, but since it depended on the geographical environment, this wasnt always this case. Despite the risk, he really didnt care all that much.


    Luckily, this wasnt one of the exceptions and he fell into the cold underground river and surfaced. The thing on his back didnt leave him, so the two of them followed the surging current into the depths of the underground river.


    "Its just us now," ck sses said to the thing on the back of his neck.


    In his eyes, the underground river scenery began to appear. He saw that the river was very deep and the volume of water was particrlyrge. He could even vaguely see underwater. There were the ruins of a lot of huge buildings on both sides of the riverbed and the water level here wasnt that high.


    He dove into the water, took out a capsule from the cosmetic rubber on his leg, and crushed it. Fluorescent powder entered the water and moved along the current with him. In his eyes, it was like countless fluorescent creatures were shining all at once, making the remains of the ancient buildings below very clear.


    His irises reflected these lights like small gxies


    "Stop," ck sses turned his head and said to me. "It''s too cheesy."


    I ignored him and continued, "Then you saw the key result of this investigation: a statue in the water. Right?"


    ck sses shook his head. "First of all, I secretly tied a rope around her before pushing her down. There werent any fishings below. Second of all, what I saw in the water was a row of figurines. They were weighed down with rocks and sunk into the water."

 Book 2: Chapter 17: Ruined My Big Event

    Book 2: Chapter 17: Ruined My Big Event


    The leather figurine women were suspended below the water. They were pulled aside by the current, but not washed away because of the bronze chains around their feet. ck sses dove down, grabbed a bronze chain, and lowered himself towards their feet. As soon as he stopped, the fluorescent substance around him was washed away and his surroundings became dark.


    ck sses slowly crawled along the bronze chain and swam under one of the leather figurines.


    The corpse had been processed into leather a long time ago, and there appeared to be something inside of it. ck sses didnt know what it was, but the corpse was still in the shape of a human instead of just a lump of leather. He let go and surfaced, but when he dove down again, he couldn''t see the leather figurines anymore.


    When I heard this, I figured it was also a project to make leather figurines.


    The human hand shellfish had the physiological characteristics of secreting liquid while eating the flesh, and the body fluids could leatherize the corpses skin. So, the South Sea country sank those corpses to the bottom of the river and fed the human hand shellfish, thus obtaining leatherized human skin.


    ck sses didnt know how long he floated down the river, but the current gradually began to slow down, the river became wider, and embankments began to appear on both sides. Aftering all this way, he mustve been in a section of the river that was deep underground.


    But this wasnt a no-man''snd. On the contrary, there were many boats and fishings on the riverbank.


    ck sses swam to shore and climbed up. In the darkness, he could see that there was a very simple altar by the riverbank.


    There was a skull on the altar that was covered in gold and jade. The bones were yellow and had been covered in hundreds ofyers of paint, probably to prevent them from weathering. The paint had oxidized in such a way that a thousandyers had formed and lifted up like scales.


    ck sses saw that there was a smooth-edged hole on the skulls forehead. He could tell that it had been artificially made when the person was alive, because the bone had regrown. He looked around to make sure no one was nearby and then pulled a fishing over. He cut it with his knife to make a bag, broke off the skull, put it directly into the bag, and then slung it on his back.


    If he got out alive, he could take this thing to Wu Erbai.


    Then, he found a ce to sit down and rest.


    There was only the sound of running water. With so many boats here, this ce had to be like a fishing port during the fishing season. But now it was the rainy season, and since it rained every day, the water level was very high. The big fish in the underground river would definitely end up in this part of the river. When it wasnt the rainy season, the water level would be much lower and the underwater ruins would be exposed to the surface.


    "Its only the two of us here now," ck sses said to the thing on his back. "Either you go back by yourself now and we part on good terms, or Ill kill you."


    The pressure behind him was still there. <em>This thing is still quite nostalgic for the world</em>, he thought to himself. <em>If Thunder City can alleviate all regrets, then it must be something like a wondend among individuals. Why dont you want to go back?</em>


    "Then Ill kill you." ck sses stood up. <em>What did I dost time?</em> He wondered.


    At this time, a bright dot of light suddenly appeared in the underground river.


    He wasnt wearing sunsses and the light was brighter than the phosphorescent light from earlier, so it looked as dazzling as the sun to him.


    He quickly took out his spare sunsses and put them on as a person struggling with a shlight in the underground river quickly passed in front of him.


    It was Chuchu. Not only did she not climb back up the cliff, but seemed to have fallen into the underground river.


    <em>Just let her rush to the center of the earth</em>, ck sses thought to himself, feeling a headacheing on. But there was no way he could really do that, so he jumped into the underground river and fished her out.


    Chuchu, who was shivering from the cold, was lifted up and thrown onto the riverbank.


    "You ruined my big event," ck sses said to her.


    "Funny Uncle?" Chuchu looked at him and signed shakily. "I finally found you."


    "What are you doing looking for me? Shouldn''t children find new ymates and forget the old ones soon enough? ck sses said to her. "Are you going to cry now? Ill knock you out if you cry."


    Chuchu looked at Funny Uncle, wanting to cry but not daring to. ck sses took a deep breath and recalled all the tragic situations that had happened whenever he brought children with him in the past.


    He didnt know why, but in recent years, he had been having a hard time with these children. He had trouble handling Wu Xie, Li Cu, and Su Wan, and now there was this girl.


    "But I missed you so much," Chuchu signed. "Why didnt youe and see me at all?"


    "I needed to make a living." ck sses looked at the girl.


    "Why arent you old at all?" Chuchu asked. "If you didn''t speak in a different tone, I wouldve recognized you as soon as I saw you."


    ck sses couldnt answer her question, so he justughed and stretched out his hand. Chuchu immediately protected her neck and took about a dozen steps back. ck sses followed her, "Be good."


    "I wont!" Chuchu shook her head desperately.


    ck sses tried to force her to faint, but at this time, he saw a person standing in the water behind her.


    This mysterious person was a dark shadow that was just standing there, doing nothing.


    "Who?" ck sses rolled, grabbed onto Chuchus shlight, and quickly turned it off. He then took off his sunsses and saw a woman standing in the water behind them.


    It was another Chuchu.


    He paused and then looked back at the person who was still holding onto the shlight. He saw that Chuchu, who had been crying just now, had somehow be a soaking wet leather figurine.


    When he turned his head again, he saw more than a dozen leather figurines standing up in the water on the riverbank. In the dark light, they were all half in and half out of the water.


    And they were looking right at him.

 Book 2: Chapter 18

    Book 2: Chapter 18


    ck sses moved his neck, which had be very stiff. It had only been a short while, but he already felt his eyesight starting to decline.


    If that thing could be seen clearly, it was probably riding on the back of his neck and covering his eyes.


    And it was affecting his brain.


    Chuchus sudden appearance just now was that thing affecting him. He had also suffered thest time this thing attached itself to him. It could definitely drive one mad. ck sses didnt know if it had a real consciousness, but it clearly had a strong tendency to make people go crazy.


    It would quickly exhaust and take what you needed most. For example, your vision.


    It had been a long time since he had fallen into real darkness. He remembered that when this happened before, his eyesight would decline rapidly as long as he did strenuous activities.


    This thing didnt like to ride on lively people, so it would trap them in one ce and keep them from moving.


    Anyone in a simr situation could only sit on the bed and look down at the ground. This was the inevitable oue for almost anyone who wanted to bring back the dead from Thunder City.


    As long as the so-called alleviation of all regrets were rted to the dead, only their own demons would be recalled.


    People could neither turn back time, nor make up for their past mistakes. All they could do was move forward and forget. He felt that Wu Erbai should be able to understand this point, but for some reason, when he got hired, he didn''t think this was the case. What was in Wu Erbai''s heart? Well, whatever it was, it seemed to be heavier than Wu Xie''s obsession.


    How long did it take before he waspletely blindst time? Neen days. As a matter of fact, ever since that time, his vision would go blurry half of every day. His sunsses no longer yed such a big role anymore, but this time, he was afraid that he would bepletely blind after being parasitized again.


    The leather figurine women were still floating underwater, but a bunch of them had appeared on the riverbank. There were standing silently in the water with smiling expressions on their faces. Except for the one beside him, the others hadnt moved for the time being.


    ck sses grabbed the one that suddenly wrapped itself around him, stepped on its foot, pulled its hair, and twisted it until it was wrung out like a sheet.


    There had to be something inside the figurines skin, but he wouldnt let ite out. He quickly tied the figurines arms, neck, and ankles together.


    The contents had no choice but to surge towards the genitals, where they started trying to bite through the figurines skin. The whole leather figurine lost its human shape, looking more like a bunch of crabs caught in a. He picked up a nearby rock and beat the contents more than a dozen times before the leather figurine finally stopped moving. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head, only to find that all of the leather figurines on the riverbank were lying in the water. Their hair was the only thing left floating on the waters surface. More than a dozen of the things inside of them seemed to have followed the sound and climbed up to the drynd on the riverbank.


    They were as densely packed as a private push-up ss in a gym. He saw that the whole head of the nearest leather figurine had cracked open, revealing that it was full of tentacles which looked like withered hands.


    How did the vigers fish here? Wouldnt they die?


    He gave a wry smile. It was useless to cut the figurines'' skins with his knife since it would be more difficult to deal with the contents leaking out of them. He tried to think of a n. If he suddenly wentpletely blind during the battle, then it was all over.


    But it didnt matter. Someone would surely bring back news of his death. As long as that woman didnt fall to her death while climbing back up the cliff.


    Speaking of mute people, he wished there was another mute person here with him.


    <em>What should I do?</em> At this time, he saw the boats sitting off to one side of the riverbank. As soon as he turned around and rushed towards them, the leather figurines also elerated and crawled towards him.


    Their speed was beyond anything he had expected. At most, he thought that these things would climb up like zombies, but they ended up crawling towards him at an extremely fast speed. The first one arrived in an instant. He kicked it in the head and the human hand shellfish that was inside immediately shot out. It was like kicking some kind of egg sac.


    ck sses did a backflip andnded on the ground directly beside one of the boats. He pulled out a wooden oar, swung it around, and sent the second head flying like a golf ball.


    As a result, all of the human hand shellfish inside rushed towards him like the tide.


    ck sses did another backflip,nded on the end of the boat, and kicked it up. Three, four, five, and then six flying shellfish were instantly knocked down.


    At this time, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back and fell to the ground.


    As the darkness quickly closed in, he felt the pain of the human hand shellfish crawling on him. Their sharp tentacles like fingernails pierced his skin at the same time his field of vision became increasingly narrow. There was only a small area he could see now.


    "Hey, if I die, you won''t get to go back." ck ssesughed as he felt himself quickly being overwhelmed by the shellfish. He stood up and shook his body wildly, but the shellfish seemed to have barbs and began to drill into his skin.


    His field of vision was still shrinking, which was a little surprising since that meant that the thing on his back wanted him dead. If he died, things probably wouldn''t end well for it, so why was it acting like this?


    ck sses was quick-witted and immediately understood.


    <em>Shit, it saw someone else. There are other people here. It''s going to kill me and then go to them.</em>


    <em>Who is it? Chuchu?</em>


    Could that girl dive here like him? Impossible. The current was so fast that she would drown in the first three minutes.


    Then who was it?


    At the moment when ck sses field of visionpletely shrank to the smallest area, that area became the brightest point of light in his eyes. It seemed as if all of his photoreceptor cells were putting up onest struggle.


    He saw a man with a hood jump out of the water, draw a de from behind his back, turn the de in a circle, and cut his own palm. He then jumped directly over ck sses, spilling his blood on him.


    <em>Oh, this isn''t a human.</em>


    ck sses smiled and stood up, letting the blood spill directly on him.


    In an instant, all of the human hand shellfish dispersed like the tide.


    The man in the hood threw his backpack to ck sses, pulled out an incendiary bomb from the side pocket, and threw it out quickly. mes burst out in an instant and the whole riverbank burned up.


    "Sunsses."


    "No need. My disease has worsened." ck sses wasnt wearing sunsses as he looked at the mes. "Do you smell it? Its the smell of Typhoon Shelter Fried ms (1)."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I think it''s just a special way of preparing ms or just a fancy name. I was getting results for like Typhoon Shelter Fried Shrimp or crabs, or prawns, etc. Here''s some info on how the name might havee about.

 Book 2: Chapter 19

    Book 2: Chapter 19


    The dinner table was silent. I looked at Poker-Face. The rain outside had stopped, so he withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at us.


    To be honest, I was a little hungry.


    I didn''t think they had interacted before going to Thunder City. But I had also never asked and they didn''t mention it. I couldnt help wondering if they didn''t find anything useful in the end, so the both of them were too embarrassed to mention it.


    The younger ones were already hungry and their eyes were looking around greedily. This was fate. If you wanted to embarrass anyone in this world, there would be some things that woulde back to bite you in the ass. Xiao Hua waved his hand for the food to finally be served. I figured a lot of dishes had been cooked and were being kept warm, so they would be served one by one shortly.


    We all looked at ck sses. Before he continued speaking, he opened a bottle of beer and poured it for himself, "The two of us went a little deeper. I wont talk about the specific process, but he helped me get the thing off of my back."


    "How?" I asked.


    "By listening to thunder." ck sses nced at Poker-Face, as if asking for his permission to continue.


    When Poker-Face nodded, I immediately frowned. <em>Hmm, thats interesting. The two of them have to get permission from each other to talk about these things.</em>


    ck sses took a sip of beer and kept talking.


    The two of them stayed on the riverbank for a long time. ck sses was almostpletely blind by this point and only had a little bit of light perception left.


    Poker-Face was sitting opposite him, surrounded by the smell of fried shellfish.


    "If you leave, be sure to squeak." ck sses said to the darkness in front of him.


    "Will your eyesight recover?"


    "I dont know. Based on past experience, if I keep my head down and stay still, my eyesight may be able to slowly recover," ck sses said. "Can you swim against the current here?"


    Poker-Face didn''t answer him, but ck sses felt as if he came to stand in front of him and put his hand on his neck.


    Warmno, it was hotblood ran down his neck. This was the residual blood from Poker-Face''s hand wound just now. He knew that it was harder for this man''s blood to coagtepared to normal people.


    "Can you also cure cervical spondylosis? Youre stealing this blind mans job." (1)


    "No."


    "Can you see whats behind me?"


    "I can feel it."


    ck sses sighed, "Do you think its afraid of you?"


    There was a moment of silence, and then Poker-Face said, "Its not afraid."


    "Then go, ck sses said. This is between me and it."


    No sooner had he spoken than a strange sound came from the depths of the underground river.


    ck sses concentrated on the sound, which came in bursts one right after another. He realized that it was thunder. It was raining again.


    How could they hear thunder when they were in an underground river?


    "Mute.." his voice trailed off as he heard the sound of someone entering the water. The words, go and take a look" got stuck in his throat. Heughed and felt around him. Food and weapons were all within easy reach, and there was also a can of beer.


    He picked it up, opened it, and took a sip.


    To make a long story short, ck sses mustve felt veryfortable now that he had beer in the underground river. But that isnt important. Poker-Face soon swam back, came out of the water, and grabbed ck sses.


    "What''s going on?" ck sses asked. He couldn''t see anything, so he didnt know what the current situation was.


    "Its thundering. Everything in the water hase out, and theres a riverbed downstream with bronze devices for listening to the thunder," Poker-Face said in his heart. In fact, Poker-Face didnt say anything at all and just dragged him into the water so that they could float downstream. But for the convenience of understanding, ck sses told us what he thought Poker-Face was thinking "in his heart" at that time.


    The two people drifted down along the current and soon came to the next beach. At the moment they came out of the water, a huge p of thunder just so happened to sound.


    Thunder in the underground river definitely couldnt described as thunder. If anything, it was more like an earthquake. The whole ground was shaking and ck sses felt a rush of air billow out.


    In an instant, his eyes could see things again. The immortal thing on his back appeared to have been shaken off by the loud sound.


    But as soon as the noise stopped, he was blind again.


    Then, there was another p of thunder and he could see things before his eyes. This time, it was like he could see the sounding towards him with the naked eye. He also saw a huge bronze implement hanging upside down in the rock stratum above the underground river.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Cervical spondylosis is a general term for age-rted wear and tear affecting the spinal disks in your neck. In some Asian countries, massage therapy is a natural career path for visually impaired people, so thats why ck sses said Poker-Face would steal his job.

 Book 2: Chapter 20: The End

    Book 2: Chapter 20: The End


    ck sses looked at the bronze amplifier overhead that went deep into the rock stratum and wondered just how deep it had been embedded.


    When he looked through Wu Erbais data before, he couldnt help but ask a question: Why listen to thunder in an enclosed space?


    No matter how enclosed the space was, surely it wasnt better than listening to it from the top of a mountain?


    But now that he thought about it, both the sorceress and her daughter from Liaobian were listening to thunder on the roof and were killed directly. Maybe these bronze devices werent only used for ceremony, but were also as a protective measure.


    He still didnt know how exactly he got rid of this immortal thingst time. All he remembered was that he was in a cave and saw a deformed hand rising out of the darkness.


    At that time, he was in a very simr state to his current situation. He was almostpletely blind, with only a very small field of view left. All he could see were the outlines of things in front of him. But when that hand pressed on his neck, he felt a force that instantly made all of his muscles feel as if they were reborn. The thing that had been weighing his neck down had no resistance in front of that force.


    When that hand let go of his neck, his eyesight slowly began to recover. He was on the outskirts of a city and there was an extremely deep hole in the dirt in front of him. He knew what was living in the depths of this hole and whose hand it was, so he felt a bit sad.


    It used to be a person. The owner of this hand well, if the world had a dispute with a good person, then the result should be the thing in this hole. It looked like it could only live in this kind of ce, but that wasnt necessarily the case.


    That person had basically told him that when you were able to read people clearlywhether it was someone in a crowd or someone who lived deep in the dirt mounds outside the cityit was difficult to distinguish who was actually happy and free.


    It was only after giving up your identity that you might find real happiness.


    "Mute, help me." ck sses looked overhead. Since the thing on his back was afraid of the noise here, it was better to go to the center of it.


    At this time, ck sses vision would intermittentlye back, so he could see some things.


    When Poker-Face started looking around, ck sses pointed to the darkness on one side, "If you go in this direction, you can climb from the cave wall to the area above this underground river. But the noise is too loud up there and I may not be able to bear it. I want you to temporarily make me deaf."


    Poker-Face turned to look at him, suddenly shot his arm out, and was caught by ck sses. ck sses immediately let go, "At least give me a warning before"


    Poker-Face''s other hand shot out, the web between his thumb and forefinger hitting right below ck sses ear.


    ck sses tilted his head and found that he could no longer hear any sounds in that ear. He shook his head and then turned his other ear towards Poker-Face. After the move was repeated, all external sounds disappeared in an instant, leaving only a vague buzzing sound.


    Poker-Faces skills could temporarily paralyze the ears. The eardrums would still technically be damaged by the sound waves, but you wouldnt fall off the cave wall due to the pain.


    ck sses stretched his neck and then started running into the darkness. It didnt take long to climb up the wall and reach the top of the underground river. It was a karstndform, but the rock structure wasntpletely limestone, so the stctites werent prominent. A lot of cracks had formed in the cave ceiling since the bronze devices were embedded in the rock stratum. But these cracks werent wide enough for him to climb closer.


    He reached out several times, but couldn''t find a point to hang from.


    When the thunder died down, his eyesight began to fade again.


    He could see that the riverbed below was crowded with leather figurines. The thunder mustve startled them out of the water, but they didn''t go up to drynd. Instead, they were all piled on the riverbed in a surging wave. Based on the movements, they seemed to be mating. The figurines and shellfish were all mixed together, just like a big pot of food.


    As another series of thunderps sounded, he saw Poker-Face had climbed up next to him and was pointing to a stctite in front of them.


    This stctite stood between them and the bronze device. Poker-Face leaped, mmed his de into the stctite, let go, and started falling. ck sses had jumped at the same time, so when Zhang Qiling twisted in the air, ck sses kicked off from his shoulders and reached his hands up.


    As Poker-Face fell to the ground and rolled, ck sses jumped up directly and grabbed the de that was inserted into the stctite. Then, he used the inertia to swing again and inserted his hand into a crack on the ceiling. With his fingers stuck in the gap, he could hang from the cave ceiling.


    He was now very close to the bronze device and could feel the whole rock stratum shaking. His limbs felt a little limp and numb, but heughed and began swinging forward from gap to gap like Tarzan.


    As another burst of thunder rushed out, he leaped at thest moment and caught the edge of the bronze device. Now that he was in the center of the sound waves, the thing on his back suddenly became frantic.


    ck sses clung to the edge of the bronze device that looked like an inverted bell and nced inside.


    There was a bronze mirror inside that looked just like the mirror he had seen hanging around that female corpse''s neck.


    Half of the bronze mirror waspletely rusted, but the other side was still usable. When he looked at the mirror, he could see a monkey-like thing hanging on his back and struggling like crazy.


    <em>Is that the immortal thing? Its not very good-looking.</em>


    ck ssesughed when he saw that the immortal thing was in pain. Although his nails were all cracked and he felt like his brains wereing out of his ears from the shaking, it was totally worth it to see this thing being tortured.


    In the mirror, the immortal thing began to change into what looked like a woman''s face from ancient times. Then it turned into a mass of ck fog before turning into that monkey-like thing again. ck sses leaned his upper body into the bronze bell and saw that the ck shadow detached itself from his shoulders and fell down.


    "Be careful!" ck sses shouted at Poker-Face as he turned around, finally able to see everything clearly.


    Poker-Face watched the shadowing towards him, his tattoo appearing on his body in an instant. ck sses stuck his hand into the bell, grabbed the bronze mirror, and forcefully yanked it out. As he fell towards the ground, he turned and threw the mirror to Poker-Face.


    Poker-Face dodged the ck shadow, caught the bronze mirror, and backhanded the shadow with the mirror like he was swatting a fly. After ck ssesnded, he went over and stepped on it. As the two of them pressed the bronze mirror into the ground, they saw that the shadow was trying to squirm out of the gap. They exerted more force and firmly pressed the bronze mirror into the gravel on the riverbank.


    Finally, the power surging under the bronze mirror disappeared. They didnt know if this thing was dead, had returned to Thunder City, or disappearedpletely.


    ck sses moved his neckno longer feeling the pressure from beforeand then looked at Poker-Face. There was nothing behind him, but a heat wave was radiating from him.


    "You were nervous just now." ck sses smiled. "So rare, so rare."


    "Look behind you."


    ck sses froze for a moment and then turned around.


    There was a monster climbing out of the underground river that was about six or seven meters high. It was a very strange giant leather figurine


    "Ok, stop." I finally spoke up.


    I didnt know how true some of their final statements were, but there was no denying that this was definitely a wonderful story. But if they kept talking like this, we wouldnt be able to eat.


    If the story continued any further, it would go against the original intention of this dinner.


    ck ssesughed. He had turned the tide and steered the story in such a way that nobody would be embarrassed now.


    Even though there was a giant leather figurine, they still had a dozen incendiary bombs at their disposal. I also knew what this things attack power would be like. When Poker-Face and ck sses were in peak condition, the leather figurines werent a threat at all. Besides, the human hand shellfish were afraid of Poker-Face''s blood.


    There was no need to listen anymore, but I did want to know what happened to Chuchu.


    "When we came out, she was still hanging on the rope," ck sses smiled and then startedughing.


    Aftering out of the underground river, he and Chuchu sat on the balcony of their diaojiao in Mute Vige. ck sses didn''t feel embarrassed at all. Now that the haze behind Chuchu had been removed, it seemed as if a faint sense of suffocation that had been lingering there before had finally disappeared.


    For a long time, he had been avoiding contact with people who might be able to remember him. But the ident with this little girl had really been unexpected. At that time, he had encountered one of his strongest opponents and even went blind for a bit. Moreover, this little girl was one of the parties involved at that time.


    For many years, he didn''t think that he would fall into any sort of crisis that could be called a quagmire. Dangerall kinds of danger, reallywas something he had already experienced.


    In this world, smart people were probably in their thirties when they could start ssifying people. Although humans wereplicated, it was easy to figure out what category they fell into. And even though they might go through big changes, these changes ultimately amounted to just one big idea.


    Me, ck sses, Fatty, Xiao Hua, Uncle Two, Uncle Three, and so many others were all smart and cunning people who could see others ultimate thoughts. Poker-Face could too, but he was probably just toozy to look.


    A persons turning point, which direction hell finally turn to, and his thoughts at that moment are the true mysteries of the ages. No matter how smart people were, it was just too difficult to understand. The direction at which you could turn was limited, but that could also be used as a strategy or a way to fight against danger.


    Only emotions could upset one''s heart. It was one thing to understand the world, but once you did, it became an issue of whether you could do it ording to your own consciousness. The two concepts of knowing and doing were hard to unite.


    ck sses still had some lingering feelings for the little girl he had spent a few months getting along with back then, so even his actions today had been a little distorted. The immortal thing left the girl andtched onto him, which made ck sses feel a sense of relief. It was finally over. If rtionships in this world were connected by cause and effect, then this causality had almost disappeared.


    He felt as if he had returned to the time when his heart was like a desert.


    Just like the tall immortal who could only live underground like an earthworm, he could only walk in the desert. It didnt matter whether it was the snake marsh or Gutong Jing, he felt that this was his own world.


    That was why he felt so calm.


    The little girl his godson had originally sent to drive him to Mute Vige suddenly drove up to the vige gate. He didnt know why, but this time, she was carrying a Remington 700, which was the best gun Canadians used to teach their children to hunt. The little girl had a solemn expression on her face and seemed very nervous as she chewed on betel nuts.


    ck sses nced at Chuchu. He needed a formal farewell to put an end to this cause and effect. It was better for the girl to return to a normal life, after all.


    Everyone had their own different opinions on the value of a period of time. The name Funny Uncle had great significance to a fire when she was a child and an adventure when she was an adult, so she might not forget them. If she was lucky, her life should be smooth sailing after these two events as long as she suppressed her curiosity.


    "I have something to do. If you want to find meter or treat your throat, you can find the person on that business card. If you have any questions about me, you can also ask him. Hell tell you who I am, ck sses said as Chuchu looked at him a little awkwardly.


    The dark clouds in the sky still hadnt cleared yet as Poker-Face prepared their equipment off to the side. The two of them were going deep into the underground river for a week. This time, they were going down by boat before the vigers noticed that the temple keeper and sorceress were missing. This was theirst chance for a deep exploration.


    Why did the South Sea countrys people build a temple here thousands of years ago?


    In addition to the South Sea Kings tomb that we had found, was there a huge underground pce below the South Sea country? Or maybe there was a big tomb here? But if so, then whose tomb was it? They wouldnt know until they went down.


    (End of the Southeast Asia Adventure)


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry guys, only 1 tonight. It was a long one and the author tried to get all philosophical (I always struggle with it). Next up is the Trial Reading, so be prepared to probably be confused lol. I don''t think a lot of chapters have continuity like you would think but I figured you all might be interested in reading them nheless </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 0: Celebrating Another New Year

    Book 3: Chapter 0: Celebrating Another New Year


    Time flies, yin and yang change, and its time to celebrate the new year again.


    A task for the new year has actually been ced on my desk at this time.


    This years New Year''s celebration is particrly special. If it wasst years celebration, I would simply feel nervous and unsure about the future, but theres always hope, so I feel that everything will pass. This year''s New Years celebration is full of more confusion as people begin to discuss real human issues. Disasters may be eternal, but there must be a way to coexist with them.


    In this era, willfulness has be a luxury. I don''t know why, but when I genuinely reflect over the past thirty years, I have a hunch that the things I thought should rightfully be mine start to be marked with a price. For example, the freedom to breathe, the belief that I should have a wonderful life, the joy of traveling and experiencing different things, exploring the boundaries of my own life, the pleasure of making quick decisions, and even the sense of control of choosing my own death have all disappeared this year.


    From the start of this year, Ive roughly understood that I have no control over where I die, how I die, or what the state of my death will be like. The so-called wonderful life and different experiences are all just benefits given to you by the previous era. They have little to do with your own awareness of your abilities. If theyre not given to you, then you wont have them.


    These are all just titudes, so people with even a little bit of awareness should be able to perceive it this year. But like the blue sky after a hundred days of haze and strong winds, I also know that humans will eventually be able to go out and enjoy that pleasant breath of fresh air again. As our memory will slowly start to fade, well go back to that arrogant state of being, thinking that the world should treat us favorably. All that needs to be done is to endure it and move forward.


    But it won''t be that fast. The quality of perseverance requires us to continue gathering more skill points. Starting this year, there will be some hardships that maye in waves. But for now, just be sure to take care of your next meal.


    The so-called New Years Special this time is more of a thought. I hope that I, and those who read the novel, can reach that world and get a sense offort from the words.


    The New Years Special this year will be very long, and since this year''s theme is writing, I may have to keep writing it down. This length makes me hesitant to start rashly, so before the New Year is up, Ill write a couple of chapters to see if I can get a sense of the text.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok guys, we''re back to "Restart Part 3: Looking for the Dead in the Sea of Lights". It turns out that it''s also the 2021 New Year''s Special (which is a new record for him since it''s apparently 87 chapters as of today). The next 2 chapters were posted over a month ago, so you can either read over them again or just skip them and head straight to chapter 3 whenever I get around to it. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 1: Looking for Things

    Book 3: Chapter 1: Looking for Things


    The art of divination not only has a long history, but is also mysterious and strange.


    When ites to divination, if we jump out of the realm of witchcraft and rituals and look at its essence, its really just one person asking questions while another person answers. Its a very simple encyclopedic system, it''s just that this encyclopedia can answer almost all questions, and can even tell you the answers to things that haven''t happened yet.


    I came into contact with a branch of divination before thats called Qimen Dunjia. Its what I want to talk about here.


    Qimen Dunjia uses a very small but very practical rotating board to find things. You take the board and meditate on what youve lost. Then, you can look at the board and figure out the location, distance, and whether the thing can be recovered or not.


    Its impossible to give a full logical analysis of the Qimen Dunjia''s board with a few words, but I can exin it symbolically. Qimen Dunjia''s system gives you a feeling that not only one person is answering your question. After you ask the question, where is this thing, a department will answer on whether it can be retrieved, another department will answer on how far or near it is, and the third department will give the location. Then, the answers from all three departments will be put in a form and sent back to you.


    This form is the rotating board, but its encrypted so that ordinary people can''t understand it. Just like the 0 and 1 characters inputer coding, it needs to be tranted by people skilled in divination. This is probably what Qimen Dunjia feels like.


    I have tried to find things with Qimen Dunjia several times, and the atmosphere was very delicate each time. As a matter of fact, there are very few records on the actual effects of this branch of divination, so I dont know whether its real or not. But when things are really missing, we might as well use it so that we don''t waste time worrying like headless flies. It can be said that Qimen Dunjia is actually a way to give you an exnation for something when you dont have one. Whether its mostly a psychological effect or whether theres really such a system in the world that can answer any questions you might ask, we just dont know.


    There are many stories about divination, but what Im going to talk about here is only a short story about finding things with Qimen Dunjia. This story warns us not to look for things randomly.


    Jin Wantang became obsessed with Qimen Dunjia the year beforest. He had devoted his whole life to Taiji (1), which meant that he easily became addicted to metaphysics. He specialized in finding things using the rotating board, so his reputation in the business had also risen in recent years. He was said to be extremely urate and could find anything that was missing. He enjoyed this kind of hollow fame again and no one had seen him for a whole year. He went everywhere in search of a richdy willing to hire such a master.


    So, when he suddenly came to my shop to find me, I had a bad feeling as soon as I saw his face.


    His face didnt look flushed with sess, but actually looked gloomy, as if he was worried about something.


    When I asked him what was wrong, he finished off four or five snacks before saying in an embarrassed tone, "Little Master Three, Im too arrogant and curious. Something has finally happened."


    I asked him what happened.


    "My master told me that when using Qimen Dunjia to look for something, there are three things youre not supposed to look for, he said. You dont look for no-trace corpses, yinshen ghosts, or immeasurable cmities."


    No-trace corpses referred to missing corpses, such as those who drowned in the Yellow River or those who were dumped in a murder case. It was obvious why you shouldnt look for these things for no reasonit was easy to bring about misfortune.


    Yinshen ghosts referred to those who had died. Even if you managed to find them, they were no longer alive and had be ghosts. They were in the underworld, while those alive were in the living world. These worlds were separated, so it was best not to disturb the ghosts (2).


    The most mysterious one in that group was immeasurable cmities, because it referred to looking for something that was particrly vague in concept. For example, I wanted to find someone who would affect my life in the future.


    When you ask Qimen Dunjia these vague questions, the answers will usually lead you to finding things that are very strange. Since its connected with numerology, it will change a lot of things and even cause major disasters.


    I looked at Jin Wantang and asked him, "What did you find?"


    "No, I wasnt looking for these three things, Jin Wantang said. I was looking for something not of this world."


    There was a special board for finding things that werent avable in this world. In fact, it wasnt a particrly terrible thing, it just meant that the search engine was telling you that there werent any results.


    "I checked my past life," Jin Wantang said.


    I looked up at him as our surroundings seemed to quiet down. It was just me and him in the room. One was a little creeped out, while the other was a little embarrassed.


    If anyone else came in and said that, I would think it was all nonsense. But Jin Wantang had a certain degree of discretion whenever he did things. Since he came to talk to me about these things, he mustve had some real gains. So, I didn''tugh at him.


    "Did you find it?"


    "I found something amazing." Jin Wantang looked at me. "That''s why I came to you for help."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Absolute or Supreme Ultimate, the source of all things ording to some interpretations of Chinese mythology. Yin and Yang originate from it. Info here.


    (2) Per Tiffany: In Chinese, Yin is often thought of as something like darkness/cold, and Yang is something that is alive and bright. In Chinese culture, people who passed away are in the underworld, and its best not to bother them.

 Book 3: Chapter 2: Snakeskin Bag

    Book 3: Chapter 2: Snakeskin Bag


    Jin Wantang, a Beijinger, naturally thought that his past life should also be in Beijing. But his investigation led him to northern Inner Mongolia, so he traveled day and night to get there. During this period, he had to rotate the board three times in order to correct the direction.


    In fact, he honestly didn''t think that he would find anything, so he was surprised when the board told him that he had reached the ce. Before that, he had been walking on the grasnd for at least three days without seeing any special sights.


    But on the day when Qimen Dunjia told him to stop, something that hadnt been on that grasnd before really appeared.


    It was a small forest.


    There were often small forests on the grasnds, but at this critical time, Jin Wantang felt that its appearance was a little strange. He went into the small forest to investigate.


    When he entered one end of this small forest, he could see the sunshine from the other end. Although the trees were tall, they were sparse and their canopies didnt block the sky. There were also some shrubs on the ground. In autumn, some of the leaves turned yellow, and the alternating green and yellow made for a beautifulifmonsight.


    What was a bit strange was that grass covered the whole forest floor. The grass here wasnt knee-deep like the grass outside, but actually reached up to ones waist. I had heard that the grass in the grasnd was so high in the old days that you would only see the cattle and sheep when the wind blew the grass. I didnt know whether it was Inner Mongolias climate or desertification, but now it seemed like such grasnds were rare.


    Why did the grass grow so luxuriously in this small forest? Jin Wantang found it more and more suspicious, so he asked some nearby herdsmen to help him dig.


    I dont know how Jin Wantang found the location. Although the forest wasnt big, it would be a century-long project just to dig it all up. At that time, he felt that it was a little absurd. He came to find out about his past life and ended up digging in a forest. It was almost as if the information about his past life was buried beneath this small forest. What kind of person was he before? Was he a man or a woman?


    If he couldnt dig anything up, then he decided to stop his metaphysical research.


    When he dug to a depth of six or seven meters, he thought that he must have found nothing. But when he reached a depth of ten meters, he really dug something up.


    At this point in the story, Jin Wantang took a sip of tea. I knew that he was a grave robber who had a ir for theatrics and liked to be an annoying troublemaker. Normally, hed only tell you the answer after you prodded him three, four, five, six, or seven times. But today, he was very frank, which was a breath of fresh air. He seemed to really be anxious, so I didnt rush him.


    After drinking the tea, his hands trembled a little and he said, "Little Master Three, when I dug up that thing, I knew that I had encountered a big disaster. I really didn''t think <em>that </em>was my previous life."


    <em>Is it a dog?</em> I wondered. People said that there were countless connections between this life and your past life. In this life, Jin Wantang could neither love nor hate. He only lived in his own antique hall, reminiscing over the ancients charms. In his past life, he mustve been a historian, or at least a blind Hanlin (1) who made the memorials to the emperor. Since he was so shocked, was it a dog?


    By this point, I really became curious and asked, "Why dont you just say what it is?"


    "Theres no need, Jin Wantang said. Ive brought it with me. Little Master Three, you have to help me out and look at it. This thing is very unlucky."


    With that said, he pointed to the front yard. I stood up and looked, only to find that there was a big snakeskin bag in the yard. It looked exactly the same as the bag that Fatty had bought dried bamboo shoots in. Since it was thrown in among the pile of dried bamboo shoots, I didn''t notice it in the yard just now.


    All my hair stood on end and I said to myself, <em>Jin Wantang, what did you do?</em>


    He and I walked over to the bag, which was bulging. "This is your past life?" I asked him.


    "Yes." Jin Wantang nodded.


    "Oh." I was a little confused, so I thought it over for a while. "Then, please proceed."


    Jin Wantang picked up the snakeskin bag, went to the middle of the yard, and untied it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hanlin refers to academics employed as imperial secretaries from the Tang onwards, forming the Hanlin Imperial Academy.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m sticking the Mid-Autumn Festival Extra in the Misc. Extras tab, but the link is here. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 3: Legendary Corpse

    Book 3: Chapter 3: Legendary Corpse


    Jin Wantang talked about his past life in such a mysterious way that I was really starting to have some expectations.


    There werent many things in the world that I would find strange anymore, and Jin Wantang knew this. Since he dared to speak so mysteriously, he mustve had some confidence. At that time, I was thinking, <em>if whatever is in this sackwhether it be an animal carcass, human corpse, or even a monsters bodyisnt exciting enoughmaybe it''s not a living thing but some kind of artifact. For example, maybe its a huge piece of jade or some strange fossil, which made him think that hes the reincarnation of a stone monkey.</em>


    After Jin Wantang spread out the snakeskin bag, I was a little disappointed. It was clearly a human skeleton. The person had been small-statured and was nowpletely reduced to bones, so Jin Wantang could easily carry them around. Fatty was even more disappointed. He had been idle during this period of time and had nothing else to do, so he started teasing Jin Wantang, "So you were also a person in your previous life. Congrattions! I thought you were a cultivating donkey that had umted good merits in your previous life so that was why you became such a talented person in this life. Your face is a bit long and you do look like a donkey, after all."


    Jin Wantang didn''t bother responding to him and just stared at me, "Little Master Three, take a closer look. This is no ordinary person. I wouldn''t have bothered you if I had just found some random corpse in the wild."


    I figured as much. Since he was so emotional when he spoke just now, it definitely wasnt as simple as a pile of bones. Moreover, he had transported human bonesbased on the color, they didnt seem that old and definitely couldnt be ssified as ancientfrom Inner Mongolia to Hangzhou. This wasnt something you could do just by transferring them from one car to another car. It required countless channels to be opened up, which cost a lot of money. Jin Wantang was so stingy that he wouldnt ever pay a generous sum just to make a joke. So, I squatted down and took a closer look.


    The skeleton was that of a man who appeared to have been about one and a half meters tall. The flesh had melted off the bones quickly. In a ce like Inner Mongolia, there were many insects in the soil that would eat up the flesh before it could rot. Logically, the bones should have fallen apart at that point. With most corpses, the bones were still connected together after ossification, mainly because the skin and flesh had rotted, liquefied, and then dried up and stuck to bones, forming something like a fascia. If it had rotted very cleanly, then the bones should have scattered, but these bones were connected together in many ces, which was strange. After examining it very carefully, I immediately noticed that there were small holes in the bones where the joints were connected together. I could also see copper wires running through these holes. The copper wires were about as thick as a ballpoint pens ink chamber and were badly rusted, but it was obvious that they were very tough and of good quality.


    I knew of a certain kind of operation where copper wire was used for joint fixation, but almost all of this corpses major joints had copper wire connecting them together.


    "Does Little Master Three see now?" Jin Wantang asked.


    As far as I could remember, there was only one type of person who would do this. This kind of person needed to dislocate his joints for a long time in order to crawl in narrow tomb passages in such a state. But all of his joints would be calcified in hister years, so almost all of them needed this kind of operation.


    As long as the operation was done after the founding of the People''s Republic, then steel wire would have been used, but this corpse had copper wire. Moreover, the nails used to affix the copper wire to the bones were made in the shape of a lotus flower and had very small traditional Chinese characters engraved on them: Teng Wang is very particr about connecting the bones of respected immortals to bind and exorcise evil spirits.


    This wasnt an operation performed in a regr hospital, but a folk operation that used Taoist medical techniques. These bone nails were used by Taoists to drive away evil spirits. I had read a particrly detailed record in my grandfather''s notes when he went to a Taoist temple that specialized in treating bone defects. This kind of operation looked very big, but in fact, the Taoist priest used an iron rod as a thick as a finger to pierce the body. He would then put an iron tube in and start the operation.


    Fatty also knew about this information since I had chatted with him about it. As a result, the both of us looked up at Jin Wantang.


    "This is a big grave robber. The operation should have been done before the founding of the People''s Republic. At that time, his joints should have been broken. He was probably around fifty years old when he had the surgery and was just over sixty when he died. He may have died right after the founding of the People''s Republic. The wounds on the bones look very old, so they probably healed over a ten-year-period," I said. "This is a top expert, so how exactly did he die in Inner Mongolias wilderness?"


    "Look again. Thats not the important issue," Jin Wantang said.


    I frowned and thought to myself, <em>youre still so enthusiastic</em>. Jin Wantang couldnt wait any longer and directed my attention to the corpses thoracic vertebrae. I let out an exmation as soon as I looked. Indeed, it was really strange. This guy had less than half the ribs of a normal person. Fatty rummaged around in the sack to see if they had fallen off, but I already knew as soon as I looked at the bone seamsthis guy had been born with deformed ribs.


    I thought about it and suddenly felt my hands and feet go numb. I immediately grabbed Fatty. I understood now why Jin Wantang had been so excited, and I even knew who these bones belonged to.


    There was a great grave robber with deformed ribs who became famous during the Republic Era. In Grandpa''s notes, there was only one person who fit this description. This person didnt remain in the shadows, so almost everyone in the business knew about him. Nobody knew his real name, but he went by the nickname "Guotang Feng" (1). He was the biggest grave robber under Dang Yukun, one of the three head thieves in Shaanxi. In those days, Dang Yukun was a local warlord in Shaanxi. He had been a famous swordsman in his early years, but after bing sessful, he took in many grave robbers as his subordinates, all of whom were ouws. This Guotang Feng was one of the most powerful ones. Not to mention hating home and country, but when it came to grave robbing, this guy really robbed all of the Qin and Han tombs in the Fengxiang area that fell within Dang Yukuns territory. When Dang Yukun was defeated, hundreds of boxes of antiques were seized, all of which were bronze items and carriages from the Qin and Han Dynasties. In order to prepare for the war, Dang Yukun had sold almost all of the antiques for arms. But since there had still been hundreds of boxes left, it gave people an idea of how much they had stolen at that time.


    It was said that Guotang Feng was such a powerful grave robber because he didnt have any ribs. His ribs had been shorter than others since childhood and he had less than halfpared to normal people, so his body couldnt stand up without the help of bamboo crutches. But this body was very useful in tomb passages, especially when it came to the drainage channels in tomb passages. Legend had it that he could walk in any space where a tabby cat could walk.


    Fatty scratched his head, knelt down, and kowtowed while saying, "This is the great ancestor of the Northern School. Although he behaved badly, we still need to pay our respects." After he was done, he went to close the door, asked Jin Wantang to sit down, and then bowed to him.


    Jin Wantang had never seen Fatty being so hospitable before, so he immediately jumped up and said, "Don''t, Fat Master. You want to mess with me again? No, no. Im not in the mood today. Let''s just get down to business."


    "These bones came to our Wushanju, which is a great blend between the Northern and Southern Schools. This is a century of prosperity. I really have to thank you." As Fatty said this, he took the bones to the backyard.


    "Fat Master, what are you doing?" Jin Wantang asked.


    "This is an ancestor of the Northern School. I have to wrap him up."


    "This is my past life, why are you wrapping it up?"


    "Is it written anywhere on here that its your past life?"


    "Fuck, Fat Master, what you said just now is nonsense. How can you just rob people of their past lives?"


    "This is called robbing the rich and helping the poor."


    "How am I rich? It was only in my past life" Jin Wantang threw himself at Fatty and snatched the body back. I stopped Fatty and told him to quit causing trouble. This time, it seemed that Old Jin wasnt here to fool us. His expression was distorted and he seemed very emotional, so it wasnt good to mess around.


    "Even if this is Guotang Feng, its still a major event that needs to be reported, I said. Why did youe to us? We cant perform an autopsy, nor can we give you a letter of approval."


    "I didnt just find this body in that ce, Jin Wantang said. I also found six or seven objects held in the bodys arms. Those six or seven objects were all grave goods."


    "Oh?" Fatty said. "It''s normal for such a big grave robber to have a few grave goods on him."


    "The grave goods buried with this body were veryrge. Theyre not the old golden seals or ornamental thumb rings that are usually buried with a body. At first nce, they look like theyve been taken out of a tomb." Jin Wantang took out an iPad and handed it to me. The pictures were already pulled up, so I started looking through them. I was immediately stunned when I saw what he was talking about.


    The item in the first picture was very special. For starters, it was so big that it would be impossible to carry it with you even if it was disguised as luggage. Jin Wantang was right. This thing had definitely been dug up from a tomb. But the most shocking thing was that the money on this thing looked like it was royal money from the Yuan Dynasty.


    I frowned and nced at Jin Wantang, giving him a look that said he needed to exin what was going on. "Do you know which ancient tomb these grave goods came from? Jin Wantang asked me. Do you know that in my past life, I died in that small forest after stealing from that ancient tomb?"


    "Which tomb was it?"


    "Look carefully at some of those Mongolian characters. Do you really not recognize them?"


    I did as he said, but I wasnt very familiar with Mongolian characters. After looking a little closer, however, I knew whose signature it was. I couldn''t help staring at Jin Wantang, "Are you messing with me?"


    "It''s true! This is a funerary object from that unspeakable tomb. Little Master Three, I believe that this Guotang Fengmy past life and the ancestor of the Northern Schoolfound the worlds second most valuable tomb before he died."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Can mean passing winds or draught (of air)

 Book 3: Chapter 4: Who Is Number One

    Book 3: Chapter 4: Who Is Number One


    Fatty and I looked at each other; his expression was hard to describe.


    Did I believe in these things that Jin Wantang was talking about? Not at all. Using Qimen Dunjia to look for his past life, which just so happened to be a grave robber? Based on his tendency to bullshit and talk a big game, I figured he made it all up on the spot right before entering the door.


    But this bodyI was certain that it was real and that it was Guotang Fengs corpse. Regardless of its origin, the identity of this body was pretty obvious.


    If this was the case, then I could guess the purpose of Jin Wantang''s visit this timehe wanted to lure us back into the business. Among all the ancient tombs Guotang Feng had robbed in the past, this one was definitely worth visiting. Jin Wantang hadn''t made a name for himself in this business for a long time, but now that he had this body, he had to be looking for the most reliable team.


    But why did Fatty and I look at each other? It was because the world''s second most valuable tomb was unheard of. It was almost equivalent to a myth or legend. In our line of work, only extremely amateur liars would spout this kind of nonsense.


    Jin Wantang looked at us and knew we had some doubts, so he quickly said, "Fat Master, let me put it this way. I won''t argue with you about the authenticity of this matter, but I swear to God that I didn''te here to mess around. I came here to do business. Take it as me being genuine. <em>If</em> this whole thing is real, then you can go together and do the big job I didnt manage to finish in my past life. Ok?"


    "There are no marks on the ground indicating that theres an ancient tomb under the grasnd. But if we assume that what you said is true, then Guotang Feng was injured in the tomb, moved his injured body to the grove, and died there. So, the tomb is probably nearby. But if its not there, then he was injured for some other reason and died long after he left the tomb, which means there wont be any clues. Dont be too optimistic, Master Jin."


    "When ites to supernatural things, Little Master Three tries to abide by the three noes first and the four dontster (1). But as long as its something that Little Master Three wants to investigate, its never impossible to find, right?" Jin Wantang gave a sly smile. "This is my unfulfilled, long-cherished wish from my previous life. I know Ill definitely dream of returning to that green grasnd. I have an authorization letter here. If the two of you participate, in ordance with international conventions, you can directly exchange the discovered items for the appropriate cash equivalent with relevant divisions."


    As Jin Wantang spoke, he took out two A4 papers from his bag.


    I picked them up and took a look. The first one was a permit and a reward promise given to Jin Wantang by the relevant department. There didnt appear to be a cap on the reward. This kind of thing wasnt easy to get, but it seemed that Jin Wantang had been very close to the relevant departments recently.


    The second one was a contract, which stated that Jin Wantang had provided the key clue. If the executive team managed to find the ancient tomb based on the clue, then there would be a bonus that would be split fifty-fifty between the parties.


    I was confused and nced at Fatty, who took a look at the documents and said to Jin Wantang, "I kind of believe you now. Youre definitely not the type to joke when ites to money."


    At this time, I saw that there was actually a small note attached to the back of the second A4 paper. I tore it off and saw that it was a two-digit number: 44.


    "Whats this?"


    Jin Wantang smiled, "This is the ranking.


    "What do you mean?" Fatty gave him a nk look.


    "Well, this is the second most valuable tomb in the world. Its extremely dangerous. Even my past self, the legendary grave robber Guotang Feng, came out seriously injured. So, I learned a lesson from the past and didnt put all of my eggs in one basket. This time, I went all the way south and visited forty-four groups. You guys are thest one. So, I''m sorry to say that your number is forty-three."


    Fatty immediately became furious, "This is fucking ridiculous! Youre using the Northern Schools ancestor as venture capital! Leave the ancestor here and hurry up and get out! Although this ancestor was also a bastard, he shouldnt stay in the hands of a profiteer like you!"


    "You two won''t go?"


    "Get out! Whoever wants to go can go!" Fatty was about toy hands on him, but I stopped him. I had noticed that Jin Wantang seemed very confident, so he mustve been absolutely certain that wed give in.


    "Master Jin, let''s not talk about whats true and whats false. Since youve contacted forty-forty groups, let me be so bold as to ask you who ranks number one?" I asked.


    "You don''t need to be so polite about this kind of thing. I''ll directly tell you who it is. Group One is already on the road. They''re not strangers. In fact, you should know them."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The three noes are: no contact, no negotiation and nopromise. More info here. Im probably wrong, but I think the four donts is a principle applied to ident management: the cause of the ident hasnt been discovered, the responsible personnel wont be free to go, the rectification measures wont be ignored, and the relevant personnel wont be free to go if they havent been educated. I only found info on Baidu.

 Book 3: Chapter 5: The World’s Second Most Valuable Tomb is a Tomb That Destroys Households

    Book 3: Chapter 5: The World¡¯s Second Most Valuable Tomb is a Tomb That Destroys Households


    I saw a photo of him and Xiao Hua on his cell phone, so I knew that Jin Wantang had really pulled out all the stops this time. I could even see the real grave goods in the photo. It seemed that colleagues in this business really were treated differently from one another. He came to dupe me into going with these A4 papers, photocopies, and photos, but when it came to Xiao Hua, he had to actually bring the grave goods with him.


    Moreover, with Xiao Hua''s character, if he epted Jin Wantangsmission and took the number one spot, it meant that the Xie family had investigated and recognized this matter. This would have a huge persuasive effect on the subsequent groups of people Jin Wantang went to hire.


    Of course, I was a little upset when I saw this because it was basically a zongheng (1) maniption technique. And seeing it used on me made me feel like I''d been cheated.


    I still had the backbone to just stand by and watch, but I couldnt decide on this matter myself so I looked to Fatty.


    At this time, I suddenly found that the atmosphere in the room seemed off. I turned my head and found that Poker-Face hade out of the back room at some point and was squatting on the ground, looking at the skeleton.


    <em>I swear, this guy is bing more and more silent whenever he moves</em>, I thought to myself. I noticed that his hair was a little messy and figured he had just woken up.


    "Little Brother, don''t look at it. This Jin Wantang is using it to tempt us. This is his fish food and were the grass carp in the pond. Its always like this. I don''t want to be a grass carp anymore."


    "Fat Master, this is a society run by business. Cant you show a little respect?"


    I snorted. The two of them were just on the verge of arguing when Poker-Face said, "I know him."


    We all immediately became quiet.


    No matter how many times this happened, I always found the feeling very strange. It was a feeling like your friend saying they knew you in a past life.


    "Did you find him in Inner Mongolia?" Poker-Face looked up and asked Jin Wantang.


    Although there werent any fluctuations in Poker-Face''s eyes, Jin Wantangs knees still went soft and he had to hold onto the nearby table, "Yes!"


    Poker-Face turned his head and touched the seams on the skeletons skull. "Alright. Those who seek benevolence shall gain benevolence."


    "What do you mean? Jin Wantang leaned over.


    Poker-Face looked at me, "I have to save them."


    Fatty and I still didn''t react, but based on what I had learned over the years, there was a huge amount of information behind Poker-Faces words. I instantly broke out in a cold sweat. The front and back halls of our house werent very soundproof, so he must have woken up when I was talking with Jin Wantang earlier. He definitely knew the purpose of Jin Wantang''s visit today.


    In that case, the meaning behind the words "save them" was very clear.


    "Huh? Little Brother, can you rify?" Jin Wantang was even more confused.


    "You mean, the tomb in Inner Mongolia can''t be entered?" I asked.


    "It cant be entered. Its extremely dangerous. If forty-three teams go down, forty-three teams will die."


    "Have you been there before?"


    Poker-Face didnt say anything but just went into the back room. I nced at Fatty and saw that he was looking at me. The two of us were very excited.


    Jin Wantang was still standing there. His previous cockiness was gone and had been reced by apletely stupefied expression on his face. "Ill pack the equipment, Fatty said to me. You take care of Old Jin."


    As Fatty went inside to help, my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my throat. This was the first time in recent years that Poker-Face had taken the initiative to do something. Plus, he needed our help to do it. <em>Finally, Im not the one pushing us to do something. Instead, I get to y a supporting role this time.</em>


    But I still couldnt take it too easy because Poker-Face had said that it was extremely dangerous. But what did that entail? I had experienced what Uncle Two and Uncle Three considered extremely dangerous, which was, in fact, extremely dangerous. None of those words had been exaggerated at all.


    So if Poker-Face said that it was extremely dangerous, did that mean that it was EXTREMELY dangerous for normal people like us? What kind of tomb was it? Was it really the worlds second most valuable tomb? I couldnt even begin to imagine it.


    Before I had time to figure it out, Poker-Face and Fatty had alreadye out with big bags slung over their shoulders. Fatty pushed Jin Wantang, "Walk."


    "Im an investor. Ill just sit on the sidelines this time."


    "Get moving. Fucking investor, my ass. This time youve dragged those in the Central ins industry to a dead end," Fatty scolded him. "Little Brother just said that all of these people will die. This is a tomb that destroys households (2)."


    We went over to our Jinbei that was parked in the yard. Fatty pulled the shade cloth off of it while saying to Jin Wantang, "After we get in the car, youll tell me the truth. I dont want to hear any shit about a past life." He suddenly seemed to remember something and took the piece of paper with the 44 written on it out of his pocket (I had no idea when he even put it in his pocket). He smeared his saliva on it and then stuck it on the cars windshield.


    "Can you persuade them toe back? Just swallow your pride and tell them the job is canceled. If you do it early, maybe a few will be persuaded toe back." I got into the driver''s seat.


    Jin Wantang showed an extremely embarrassed expression, "These people are all desperadoes and the information I gave is legit. This is the worlds second most valuable tomb. Do you honestly think theyre afraid of death? Let me tell you right now. As soon as those people enter that grasnd, theyll all jam the satellite signals so as not to give others the opportunity to track them."


    "Call Master Hua," Fatty said. "Hes reasonable."


    "Master Hua entered the grasnd half a month ago and hasnt been in touch," Jin Wantang said. "The signal on the grasnd is particrly poor. Theres only one chance a day to contact people."


    The engine groaned as I started the Jinbei. I shifted the clutch and nced at Poker-Face, who was in his familiar position in the back seat.


    "Go," he said to me.


    <em>Ok, boss</em>, I said in my heart.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I had to use the pinyin, it didnt trante over well and I couldnt think of an English equivalent at the moment. Its where you get a strong person on board so that everyone will follow. And when other people see that everyone else is going along with it, they jump on the bandwagon as well.


    (2) The characters  really mean something like no offspring or no descendants. Fatty is basically saying this tomb is going to kill all those people, which will end their families bloodlines if they dont already have kids.

 Book 3: Chapter 6: Mandula Town’s No Mans Land

    Book 3: Chapter 6: Mand Town¡¯s No Mans Land


    It took about twenty hours to drive from Hangzhou to Inner Mongolia. We went from Yulin to Ordos and then all the way to Baotou, where we switched vehicles and left for Mand Town.


    Alxa League was next to us, and after passing severalndforms, I seemed to recall the sand sea incident. My whole body was breaking out in goosebumps and I had to keep looking back to see if Poker-Face was really asleep in the back seat. I was afraid that I was still in the middle of the sand sea incident, just rushing to the next location to set up the next trap. Maybe the memories of those years were all just a dream and I''d wake up once the car stopped to find that the back seat was empty and it wasnt over yet.


    I smoked a cigarette silently on the balcony of our hotel in the middle of the night. Although I was afraid when I saw the cigarettes, I had to have one as I tried to calm myself down in Baotou''s dry air. At this time, there was only emotion left in my heart but I wasnt in the mood to yell at the night.


    The Jinbei got smoother and smoother as we drove since it was the kind of vehicle meant for long distances. If you drove well, it would even get faster. Fatty''s body was also doing better and better, which was quite gratifying, but we still changed to a jeep in Baotou.


    Poker-Face went to the hotels rooftop where we were staying and stood on the abyss at the foot of the rooftop to watch the sunset. The city here wasnt developed, but it was beautiful. I didnt know what Poker-Face was thinking as he stood under the setting sun, but his long shadow seemed particrly lonely, which made me uneasy.


    In Baotou, we had a meeting with the experts from the relevant departments and talked about some policy issues. I felt that they were thinking this would only be an experimental investigation this time and that it would be impossible to find the worlds second most valuable tomb. In other words, I keenly felt that they actually knew where the worlds second most valuable tomb was and that we were going in the wrong direction.


    But based on Poker-Face''s attitude, I figured he obviously knew more, and I definitely believed him over them.


    The experts repeatedly stressed that it was very dangerous to cross the border into Mongolia because of the illegal armed forces there, but Fatty didn''t care and just kept asking if he could have a gun.


    Of course the answer was no.


    As we continued our journey, we did several things. First, we looked at the list of forty-three teams.


    The number one team was Xiao Hua and ck sses. When I saw ck sses name, I honestly felt a little relieved. These two people together really made a good team, but Xiao Hua had turned off his GPS. This obviously meant that there were opponents among the forty-three teams that he recognized.


    This whole thing was essentially a grave-robbing battle royale on the grasnds, so he definitely wouldnt reveal his location.


    I didnt know many of the other teams. There were eleven that went through intermediaries, so we didnt even have any basic information on them. I was familiar with a team belonging to Liuli Sun and another team made up of Chen Pi Ah Si''s old group, but the older generation had basically retired so they were all young people.


    It was almost pure how this group of gangsters was running around rampant. There were many rising stars in the business and our experience had clearly begun to fail.


    The second thing we did was make Poker-Face tell us about the tomb.


    First of all, Poker-Face hadnt been down himself, but this tomb was in the area monitored by the Zhang family and also appeared in their records.


    The Zhang family had set up a special organization to monitor certain special areas, including a cave in the Daxing''anling prefecture area and a jungle at the border of Yunnan and Myanmar. There were others. In some of these ces, it was very obvious that there was something underground. Some ces simply had nothing at all and the areas were very small. I remembered that when I was doing my research, I noticed that they were monitoring an old house from the Qing Dynasty that was even under a provincial-level cultural relics protection unit. There was nothing unusual about it, but it was still under surveince.


    If the Zhang family attached so much importance to it, then something must have obviously happened at these geographical locations. It was either that, or something strange was going to happen there soon. But I couldnt take the initiative to explore because Id definitely die quickly if I tried.


    The Zhang family had some clues about the rtionship between Guotang Feng and this tomb. They had previously contacted him and stopped him from going down, but he secretly snuck down after the Zhang family fell apart. It was only now that Poker-Face had figured out what became of him.


    But since the tomb was monitored by the Zhang family, the degree of danger really couldnt be expressed in wordseven those with the Zhangs abilities couldnt make it out alive. As a result, the Zhang family could only monitor it instead of robbing it.


    Fatty became very angry after he heard this and spit betel nuts at Jin Wantang, asking him why he thought even the intermediaries ranked higher than us. He wanted to know why Old Jin thought us three legends only ranked forty-fourth and whether he thought we were old now.


    Jin Wantang said that it was rumored that Wu Xie was the embodiment of continental tes, which would cause geological disasters everywhere. You wouldnt get anything if you cooperated with him. Moreover, if people knew that Little Brother was participating in thepetition, theyd all quit and Id end up winning in the end. The end result would be a wasted effort.


    I became very angry when I heard that. Jin Wantang wanted to get out of the vehicle multiple times the whole journey, but I pressed him down hard to keep him from moving. First, I needed him to meet the teams and announce that the event was canceled. Otherwise, who would believe it when a team ranked forty-fourth said such a thing? Secondly, I just wanted to torture him.


    We drove from Baotou to Mand Town. When Jin Wantang was driving, he took us directly along the border for more than a hundred kilometers without any hesitation. Then the barbed wire fences disappeared and we entered no man''snd. My instincts were telling me that we had illegally entered Mongolia, but I couldn''t be sure since there wasn''t a boundary marker. The only thing I was sure of was that tall grass half a man''s height was starting to appear in the no man''snd. It looked very primitive.


    We camped out on the grasnd that night, the setting sun an absolutely beautiful sight to behold. The wind was blowing and pressing the grass down, which made me realize what it meant when people said that youd only see the cattle and sheep when the wind blew. This was the moment I finally knew what the grass in no man''snd looked like.


    That night, the three of us looked up at the bright Milky Way. Little Brother was lying on the roof of the jeep, Fatty was stomping out the campfire, and I was sitting in front of the jeep. The three of us were very quiet.


    "If only Old Jin wasnt here, Fatty said to me. This moment belongs to the three of us."


    "Don''t be so harsh. Its perfect as long as we get to have this. In this world, you cant have everything exactly as you want it."


    "Can''t I have it just this once?"


    "Its often impossible for it to happen like you want. Sometimes it doesn''t even happen once." I sighed with emotion and watched a meteor passing through the sky overhead.


    <em>What more do you want?</em> I said to myself. <em>Is this moment not enough?</em>


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry not sorry for going MIA for a few days. Mama needed a break (which probably seems dumb since I''ll be going on vacay next week and won''t be lugging myptop with me but oh well). You know Wu Xie has his constitution with tomb-rted disasters and I have my cliff-hanger constitution, so you all might wanna pick this chapter to stop and wait til Ie back. Updates might be sporadic this week as well because they''ve got me on a mentally exhausting project at work and I''ve got to get all my stuff together for my trip (and get Yvette''s chapters out.sometime soon). So yeah, happy Monday darlings </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 7: Ghost in the Woods

    Book 3: Chapter 7: Ghost in the Woods


    That night in the tent, I slept soundly.


    A long time ago, on my first night in a no man''snd, I was so excited that I couldn''t sleep. I thought that Id sleep well when I was tired, but in fact, the first night in the no man''snd was usually myst chance to get a good nights sleep. So now that I had learned my lesson, I knew I had to sleep tonight with no distractions.


    When I woke up the next day, I saw Jin Wantang had two huge bags under his eyes. He was using a satellite phone and constantly flipping between the channels.


    No one responded to himwhich was a little ominousso his expression started to turn grim.


    We set off right away and finally reached the first herders station at four o''clock in the afternoon the next dayin fact, it was just an area where more than a dozen tents were set up. We abandoned the jeep and switched to horses. Mongolian horses were short and looked silly. My horse was called Meng He, which meant eternal. Meng He was apparently a blood colt. I heard that when the mother gave birth to the second foal ten days after giving birth to the first foal, this second foal was called a blood colt.


    The station was full of old people, four or five of whom could speak broken Chinese. Some of the others could speak English and Russian. Every time I encountered this kind of situation, I always remembered how I failed the Spanish CET6 exam (1). Language wasnt based on educational resources at all, but mainly on talent. That was why I didn''t get to go to Antoni Gauds city in the end (2).


    I heard from an old herdsman that all the tour guides had been busy recently because the number of tourists was more than ever before. He didnt know why there were suddenly so many tourists, but there werent any guides currently avable because of it. He couldnt help us because he had to keep an eye on his sheep, but he was willing to give us his dog. It was more expensive than hiring a person, but the dog was better than people. It was called Bankhar, which meant "t face". If there was any danger, Bankhar could go to the nearest herders station and bring people to help us.


    I looked at Jin Wantang and said, Havent you been here before? In that case, you can be the guide and the dog can be responsible for saving lives. Its perfect.


    Jin Wantang said that he hired a guide when he came here before. There was no difference betweening here once anding here a hundred times. It was impossible to figure out which direction was north, but he could use the GPS to take us to the grove where he had found the body.


    We had nothing to say all night. We rested at the herders station and then set off early the next day. At noon, four people and a dog arrived in the grove.


    From a distance, this was an extremely ordinary and unremarkable small forest on the Mongolian grasnd. It was the kind that often appeared suddenly, and each one was almost the exact same as the others. The appearance of this forest actually meant that we were at a higher altitude, and if we went further, the altitude would continue to increase until even mountains would start to appear.


    These trees appearing on the endless grasnd actually painted a vivid picture. We didnt even have to dismount when we rode the horses in because the forest wasnt dense, the shrubs inside were sparse, and the distance between the trees was veryrge.


    I had been keeping an eye on Jin Wantang''s expression to see if he had really been here before. Even if people could hide it for a while, they wouldnt be able to do it the whole time. But as I continued to look, I found that Jin Wantang had really been here before. He had the look of someone who was revisiting an old ce.


    The sun was dim in the woods and the temperature was low, which made the atmosphere very cold and gloomy. There was still a lot of stagnant water on the ground, just like a small haizi. The horses continued walking further in like they were wading through a swamp, but their reflections in the water were still very clear.


    The hole Jin Wantang had dug at that time was still there, sitting on a piece of drynd with a lot of rubbish beside it. It must have been the things he had left behind at that time. To my surprise, this hole was much deeper than I had originally expected. It looked to be about four meters deep and six or seven meters wide, and there was a pool of stagnant water in it.


    I squeezed Jin Wantang''s arm. He didnt really have that much muscle and some of his muscles were actually kind of shriveled up. Sometimes if you knew a person''s muscle content, you could estimate how much strength they could use. Based on Jin Wantang''s physical strength, he probably wouldnt even be able to get up out of bed after digging a hole for one day. Hed probably lose all the strength in his body and would barely feel better even after three days had passed. If he did this three more time and didnt give himself nutrients during that time, hed develop a fever. Plus, he also wouldve had to take enough protein every day or hed quickly lose muscle mass.


    Jin Wantang could never dig that deep, which meant that he hade here with other people. Maybe it was the guide he had hired, but I didn''t bother asking any questions.


    At this time Fatty came over and patted me, silently telling me to look to the side. I turned my head and saw Poker-Face looking at Bankhar. The dog was about ten meters away from us and constantly digging up the ground.


    He wasnt barking or anything, just focused on digging. Fatty and I looked at each other, grabbed the shovels from our bags, and rushed over to help the dog.


    We were both quite strong, so it didnt take long before the end of Fattys shovel hit something soft. It seemed to be a mass of cloth. After we cleared the soil away, we found that it was a personno, it was actually a corpse.


    It wasnt a skeleton, but the body of a modern man who was still wearing a jacket. We wiped more of the soil off and saw that it was a middle-aged man in his sixties. There were already some signs that the body was starting to decay. As soon as the face appeared, Jin Wantang sat down on the ground hard.


    We dragged the body out and saw that it was clinging to a ceramic jar with a strange expression on its face.


    This was the kind of expression that meant the man didn''t realize he was going to die even right up until his death. He had clearly died instantly, so he didn''t even have time to change his expression. He almost looked like he was trying to say something.


    After we dragged the body out, we found that something had been buried underneath it. We dug for about an hour and discovered three more bodies, all in the same state.


    Each corpse had a lot of porcin on them, and there were no obvious signs of trauma. Poker-Face even brushed his fingers over them but didnt find any fatal fractures or injuries to their internal organs. I noticed that Jin Wantangs face was pale, so I asked him what was wrong. He opened his mouth to speak but seemed to have trouble getting the words out.


    "Thisthisthis is the sixteenth team, he finally stammered out. Its Liuli Sun''s team. Why are they buried here?"


    I forced the middle-aged man''s hands open, took the porcin out, and gave it a hasty look. It was very strange at first nce, but my intuition and Jin Wantang''s previous brainwashing immediately made me realize that it was blue and white porcin from the Song Dynasty.


    I turned it over and looked at the signature,pletely amazed.


    Many schrs believed that blue and white porcin started in the Southern Song Dynasty, but it was an unsolved mystery on whether there had beenrge-scale blue and white porcin during that time period. At first nce, the jar in the corpse''s hand was blue and white porcin, and the signature on the bottom contained the royal seal that should only be found on items from the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    As Poker-Face picked up the corpses hand, I realized that all of the fingernails were cracked and its fingers were covered in bloody wounds. Mud was embedded very deep under the nails.


    "You two, give me some hints," Jin Wantang said.


    "They dug the holes themselves. They drilled into the soil like groundhogs and then suffocated to death inside."


    In other words, these people discovered the worlds second most valuable tomb and went in. But aftering out with the funerary objects, they came to this small forest, dug holes in the soil with their fingers, and buried themselves alive.


    But why?


    As I was thinking this, I noticed that Ping Lian (3) had started digging in another ce twenty meters away.


    This wasnt a good sign.


    As Fatty and I headed over, I couldnt help thinking, <em>don''t tell me theres more</em>.


    By the time it started getting dark out, we had dug up twelve teams and thirty bodies, all in the same state. The ground was littered with all kinds of porcin jars and tes that the corpses had been clutching in their hands.


    From what we could gather from the documents in their clothes and Jin Wantang''s memory, we had a general idea of which rank these teams belonged to and what their origins were. Their causes of death were all the samethey suffocated to death in the soil.


    Fatty looked at the porcin on the ground and said to me, "Mr. Nave, look at this porcin. Theyre all different in style, but theyre basically justrge tableware items and wine vessels. Why does it seem like these people traveled through time and space, attended an ancient banquet, and then were killed after they came back?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I was only finding that CET= College English Test. Its a national English-as-a-foreignnguage test in China. There are 2 levels: CET4 and CET6. Info here. China''s National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) has a foreignnguage test and students can choose from English, French, Japanese, Russian, German, and Spanish (though it seems like most pick English so maybe they just call the test CET in general).


    (2) Antoni Gaud (1852-1926) was a Catn architect. Most of his works are in Barcelona. Surprisingly enough, Ive actually been there. Some of his works are trippy but pretty cool lol. More info on him here.


    (3) Uh yeah. So Wu Xie has decided Bankhar the dog is now Ping Lian, which means t face. Dont know why the author couldnt just use the original name


    ****


    <strong><em>Forgot to mention yesterday, but Anna put "Wu Xie''s Private Notes" into a pdf for youst week (she''s an angel *sob*). Link is here if you want to download it. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 8: Ghost Banquet

    Book 3: Chapter 8: Ghost Banquet


    Fatty sometimes said some absolutely crazy things, but there had been a few times when he was very urate. I was right in the middle of thinking that this scene was a little strange, so when he said that, I suddenly realized why.


    As I had pried all the porcin items from the corpses hands and put them in one ce, I had a momentary impression of their quantity and style. It really was like a banquet configuration.


    I went over to the ce where the porcin was piled up and started grouping them ording to the ancient dining etiquette. By the time I was done, I had separated them into ten whole sets and three iplete sets, bringing the total to thirteen sets.


    In other words, there were tenplete sets of tableware consisting of wine vessels, utensils, andrge and small tes. This banquet set had four or five dishes and two wine vessels, which indicated that it had been for a big, joyous feast.


    All the tableware was made in the same style, which really showed that they came from the same banquet. But there wasnt any food residue on the tableware; they were all just standard funerary objects that hadnt been used. The whole situation was really very strange.


    "Its weird, Mr. Nave," Fatty said to me. "Its like a huge make-believe event where anyone who yed all became possessed. Then, they came to this grove and buried themselves in the holes they dug in the ground."


    I didnt know what the specific situation was yet, nor did I know what had happened to these grave robbers. Maybe there was a banquet-like burial chamber in the worlds second most valuable tomb that they had ransacked. But why did they only steal the banquet porcin? Did that tomb only have one dining-themed burial chamber?


    I continued arranging the porcin sets into groups and ced them in a circle until it seemed like there was a banquet being held on the forest floor. Only three sets were iplete, which meant that either some people hadnt been dug up yet or they werent dead.


    I nced at Ping Lian. The dog was exhausted andying off to the side in a daze, so I knew that it would be impossible to force him to continue.


    But why this forest? What was so special about this ce? Why did all these people choose to die here?


    I looked at the sky. The light was dimming quickly and it was getting darker out, which made the fear in my heart increase.


    Jin Wantang came up to me and asked in a trembling voice, "Little Master Three, am I in trouble?"


    "Don''t panic, you only lost a quarter of the people you hired. It''s not the time to give up." I was a little relieved that Xiao Hua wasnt among them, but this was already a high-casualty incident. Jin Wantang''s savings would have to act as pensions and be used topensate these peoples families, so hed basically lose his whole fortune.


    "What do we do now?" Fatty asked me.


    I nced at Poker-Face, who pointed to the area outside the forest. I knew that we couldn''t set up camp among the trees and had to leave before it waspletely dark, so our group got on our horses and temporarily withdrew.


    In order to continue the investigation, Fatty carried one of the corpses out. We set up camp a hundred meters away from the forest and lit a fire. I continued studying the corpse with the help of a shlight and the firelight.


    This was the first body we had dug up. I stripped its clothes off and saw some crappy tattoos, but I still couldn''t find any signs of trauma. I pressed my hand against its stomach and found that it was bulging.


    It seemed that this person had ate his fill before he died, which I found surprising. Generally, we didnt eat very much when we were out in the wild.


    The degree of satiety of this corpses stomach was that of someone who had eaten at a banquet. In fact, the whole stomach was erged.


    When I turned my head and saw Fatty cooking, I hesitated on whether to cut the corpses stomach open to see what was inside. I briefly wondered if this person just happened to be full and the others stomachs were normal. It still wasntpletely dark yet, so I called Poker-Face over and went back to the grove to check the other bodies.


    If it was before, I would have called Jin Wantang to go with me. But now I definitely only did side tasks with Poker-Face.


    The two of us walked back to the forest again and found that it was already very dark inside. In fact, I was a little regretful. It got dark too fast here and now there was a huge dark pressure that had been generated.


    We turned on our shlights and walked quickly until we had returned to the ce where we had stacked the bodies earlier. At this time, all my hair suddenly stood on end.


    The bodies were gone. The ce where we had left them waspletely bare.


    Under my shlights glow, I saw that all of the bodies werent in their original positions and the ce was empty. I swept my shlight around to look for them and immediately found them all in another ce.


    Somehow, they had all moved to the ce where I had set up the banquet tableware and were now sitting around it.


    I froze and immediately realized that the banquet was still going on!


    But they all kept their heads down and remained silent in the darkness.


    I hadnt been that scared for a long time and all the hair on my body was standing on end, but it was mainly because I had been caught off guard.


    <em>Damn it, I broke my past record. This time Ive revived a dozen zombies at once. </em>I cursed inwardly and tried to pull Poker-Face back, but he grabbed my hand and stopped me. Before I could react, I noticed that he had a solemn expression on his face. He looked around and then turned off his shlight.


    I was just about to ask him what was going on, but he hushed me and turned off my shlight before saying, "Hide."


    "Huh?" I was taken aback for a moment


    He very carefully dragged me through the trees and walked around the outer edge of the corpse banquet. Then, he did something that really creeped me outhe found a small table with few people and made me sit down.

 Book 3: Chapter 9: Wine for the Dead

    Book 3: Chapter 9: Wine for the Dead


    At that time, my mind was racing. First of all, Poker-Face had pulled me to sit down. The fact that he was the one to make the decision meant that it should be the safest course of action at the moment.


    If it were me, I''d definitely run away instead of putting up a fight. Of course, that might not be the same for someone who was a bold and skilled master. I had heard that people who threw short punches liked to fight up close and personal with others. Did that mean that people like Poker-Face liked to mix in with groups of ghosts in order to drive the other ghosts out? Well in any case, he didn''t let me go, which seemed to indicate that he had the situation under control.


    Secondly, although I had all kinds of doubts, I knew I shouldnt speak at this time. Id just have to wait and see what would happen.


    After I sat down, I lowered my head and peeked out of the corner of my eye at the corpse next to me. I hadnt noticed immediately when we first came up, but at this distance, I saw that the corpses murky eyes were also ncing at me. (Maybe that was just how they looked when the person died)


    The corpses eyes had started to rot, so only the shape left over by the dissolved pupils could be seen. It was very strange to be ncing at each other, so I suppressed my heartbeat and slowly withdrew my gaze. <em>I''m sorry, </em>I thought to myself. <em>I was wrong</em>.


    With the way I was sitting, the corpse was almost touching my knees. The distance was already too close, but when I realized that it was looking at me, the back of my neck began to itch.


    Poker-Face didn''t react, as if he thought the body beside him wasnt important. I secretly looked at him and found that his eyes were focused in a certain directionthere was something wrong with the corpse over there.


    I followed his gaze. The twilight was already fading, leaving only extremely dim visibility. The "corpse" that Poker-Face was looking at also had its head lowered and remained motionless like the others. In fact, arge part of it was hidden in the darkness so we hadnt been able to see its outline clearly before we sat down.


    But it was clearly very special.


    I immediately started to feel my hands and feet go numb because this corpse was sitting with its back to everyone. And even though "it" was sitting, the height of its upper body was beyond that of a normal person. It was unbelievably tall.


    This definitely wasnt one of the bodies we had dug up earlier. But what was it? It appeared that something foreign had showed up at this banquet.


    <em>Did Yao Ming </em>(1)<em> sneak in?</em> I wondered.


    Soon, the twilight disappeared, and with the exception of some moonlight filtering in through the tree canopies, the bottom of the whole grove fell into absolute darkness. I was a little confused at this time. Based on the height of that things upper body, I spected that it was more than two meters tall overall. People this tall couldnt be grave robbers; theyd probably end up with a herniated disc.


    At this time, I suddenly felt Poker-Face move. When I touched the area beside me and found that he was gone, I secretly cursed in my heart, <em>what the fuck?!</em> But I immediately felt him lift me up by the back of my shirt cor and pull me forward through the darkness.


    I felt overjoyed because I thought that we were going to withdraw, but then I realized what direction we were moving in and realized that it wasnt the case at all. He was leading me right to Yao Ming. When we finally stopped, I immediately knew that the behemoth was sitting only an arms length away from me in the darkness.


    <em>Shit, is he going to propose a toast?</em> I wondered.


    I was feeling really conflicted. First, he didnt leave me where I was; second, he didnt leave me where I was. But before I could react, he wrote on my back: "Turn on the shlight."


    I looked at the darkness in front of me and froze for a second.


    But then I felt him take a breath and I realized that all of his muscles were beginning to tense up. This was him starting to regte his breathing so that he could prepare to do something.


    I didnt know what exactly he was nning on doing, but at such a close distance, it felt like a sneak attack.


    <em>In that case, I can''t be in a daze</em>. I also tensed up, took a deep breath, and then turned on my shlight. I had already prepared myself to see anything and shouted in my heart, "Huzzah!"


    When a light is suddenly turned on in a dark space, theres a brief moment where youre blinded and cant see the details in front of your clearly. But this didnt stop Poker-Face, for he almost instantly flew past. By the time I reacted, he had already flipped over the things back and spun his whole body around.


    Then, I suddenly received a heavy blow to my temple that sent me flying. I didnt know who had kicked or elbowed me, but I instantly recovered my posture and knelt down on one knee, continuing to help illuminate the scene. At this time, I suddenly heard a snap and looked at the behemoth. It really seemed to be dead now.


    I immediately looked at Poker-Face and saw himnd on the ground. He was carrying whatever he had broken off from the behemoth in his hands. He didn''t continue to attack but turned on his shlight and looked at my temple.


    I covered my eyes and asked, "What is it?"


    "I don''t know, but it was brought up from the tomb."


    As he swept his shlight over the "tall man, I started to walk over with a puzzled expression on my face. I couldn''t help feeling sick and a strange feeling emerged in my heart, <em>what is this?</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Yao Ming (1980-), retired Chinese basketball yer, yed for CBA Shanghai Sharks 1997-2002 and for NBA Houston Rockets 2002-2011

 Book 3: Chapter 10: Clothes-Seizing Figurine

    Book 3: Chapter 10: Clothes-Seizing Figurine


    It was a ceramic figurine that was usually buried with the dead. Poker-Face hadnt quite managed to rip its head off, but he had a strange hat in his hand that officials used to wear. The hat was made of wood and had been glued to this ceramic figurines head. When Poker-Face had wrapped his legs around the figure just now and twisted, he ended up breaking the hat off.


    I had seen many burial figurines before, so even if the style was different, I knew by its skin characteristics that it came from a sealed underground environment. The color had almost faded, which seemed to indicate that the stage of rapid oxidation after being unearthed had already passed. But it only took a single nce to know that this burial figurine was very special.


    This was because it was dressed in modern clothes and even its facial features had been repainted clearly. It was almost like someone was pulling a prank.


    I was certain that someone had put this outfit on it and the paint on its face must have been done pretty recently, so the culprits mustve been the people in these teams. But the color of the paint was strange and I didnt know where it hade from.


    The burial figurine was very tall, so after wearing these modern clothes, it looked just like a two-meter-tall man who was deliberately exposing his navel. But what made me feel sick was that his pockets were full of food that had already begun to mildew and rot.


    <em>What the hell is this?</em> There was a strong sense of strangeness in my heart and my instincts were telling me that this matter wasnt all that simple.


    The fact that this ceramic figurine had suddenly appeared here was particrly strange. The amount of difort I felt right now far exceeded the difort I felt during all the strange events I had experienced before. I figured this was my intuition kicking in, which had been honed from many years of conducting expeditions.


    My subconscious must have found something but my brain couldnt process it.


    I took a few steps back, not even willing to observe it carefully, and said to Poker-Face, "Wait for dawn."


    The corpses had suddenly moved by themselves and this ceramic figurine appeared out of nowhere. This forest was unremarkable but there was obviously something here. Such a dark environment obviously wasnt suitable for further exploration, so it would be better if we left first.


    Poker-Face nced at me, his expression proving that my intuition was correct. It was obvious that he also cared quite a bit. When he swept his shlight over the corpses, we could see that all of them still had their heads lowered and were sitting there motionless. He hesitated before saying, "It''s not over yet."


    "What''s the matter?" I immediately looked around, sweeping my shlight all over the area but not seeing anything.


    "Get the wine."


    "What?"


    Poker-Face looked at the ceramic figurine, "Wine. For ignition. Get it quickly."


    Immediately understanding, I nced at the dark forest and took a deep breath, <em>alright</em>.


    I hadnt been afraid of the dark for a long time now, so I didnt hesitate before starting my mad dash through the woods. It really was dark here. <em>Dear friends, don''t force me to be serious, </em>I silently thought to the darkness<em>. It will be you who suffers when the timees.</em>


    This time, I smoothly rushed out of the woods and saw that Fatty was almost done cooking the food. "Mr. Nave, tell Little Brother toe out for dinner, he said to me. Don''t always make me coax and beg."


    He usually drank while cooking, so when I saw that he was holding half a bottle of wine in his hand, I quickly snatched it and then lifted his wine bag up. He cursed me out for stealing, but I just turned and ran back into the woods. But I immediately became confused as soon as I entered because Poker-Face''s shlight wasnt on. It was pitch ck in front of me and I had lost my sense of direction so I didn''t know where he was.


    If he had turned the shlight off, then that meant something must have happened. I thought about it for a moment and then calmed myself down. With a self-deprecating smile, I also turned off my shlight and started walking in the dark woods. At the same time, I intentionally amplified my hearing and concentrated on my surroundings.


    It was safer to imitate his actions; plus, I could also hide myself.


    The forest was dark all around, but I soon heard movementing from all directions. After walking for six or seven minutes, I reached the depths of the forest and ran into something. When I reached out and touched it, I found that the shape of the thing I had bumped into was actually simr to the ceramic figurine from earlier. But after touching it a few more times, I realized that it actually was the ceramic figurine. The area in front of me was dark, so how did I just so happen to bump into it?


    But it was different from before. When I touched it, I immediately found that the clothes it was wearing were the same as the hoodie Poker-Face had been wearing just now.


    I froze for a moment. I was very familiar with the texture of Poker-Faces clothes since they were different from ordinary jackets. But why did Poker-Face put his clothes on this ceramic figurine? Did something unexpected happen?


    I took a few steps back and hesitated for a second before turning on my shlight. I had to know what happened.


    But just as soon as the light came on, a person rushed out of the nearby trees, swiftly turned off my shlight, and dragged me into the darkness on the side. The two of us ended up rolling, and when I was finally lifted up, I heard Poker-Face ask, "Wine?"


    I immediately handed him Fatty''s wine bottle. It sounded like he broke off the lid with his bare hands and took a big mouthful, so I flicked my lighter on in a fancy way out of habit and held it out in front of him right as he spit the wine out.


    He had arge lung capacity, so a huge me rushed out. In the bright sh of light, I saw that the ceramic figurine''s head had rushed right in front of us. I didnt know what it was, but something like a cobra''s hood seemed to be ring out behind it, expanding into a thin film that looked like a fin.

 Book 3: Chapter 11: Dead Things that Can Move

    Book 3: Chapter 11: Dead Things that Can Move


    The me hit its face in an instant, and with the amount of strength Poker-Face used, I wouldnt be surprised if he could cave my face in if he decided to spit on me. The thing immediately caught fire, but stayed where it was. At this time, I suddenly realized that Poker-Face mustve been the one to put his clothes on it, because the hoodie would absorb the alcohol, which would make it easier to ignite.


    Almost within a quarter of a second after spraying the fire, Poker-Face dragged me back and hoisted me up. I reached behind me and pulled out my Kukri right as he pulled the wine bag from around my waist. He then easily lifted me up so that I could step on the nearby tree trunk, jump into the air, and sh at the ceramic figurines head.


    I knew that there had to be something wrong with the fin behind it, so I only focused on cutting that part of it, but it was like it was made from bricks. Sparks went flying everywhere, and by the time I could get a closer look at it, the fin was suddenly gone. Almost at the same time, Poker-Face stepped on a tree that was almost twice as high as the one he had helped me jump on, leaped into the air, and then threw the wine on the figurine, which caused the fire to burn even stronger than before.


    The two of usnded on both sides of the ceramic figurine. I knew that there would never be a break in Poker-Face''s flurry of movements, and sure enough, when hended, he raised his hand and tossed the wine bag to me. I caught it and then rolled behind the ceramic figurine, throwing more wine on it so that its back caught on fire.


    The whole ceramic figurine had now turned into a ming man. I stretched my hand back and threw the wine bag back over to Poker-Face in a particrly cool manner. <em>Perfect</em>, I said to myself. But as it turned out, my eyes were ying tricks on me. When I had looked out of the corner of my eye just now, I saw Poker-Face on the left. But when I tossed the wine bag to him, I found that he was actually on the right. As a result, the wine bagnded in the grass far away from him.


    I was a little embarrassed, but he obviously wasnt counting on me for much. When I saw him just standing there and looking at the burning ceramic figurine without moving, I also stood up and watched.


    Poker-Face hadn''t brought a knife with him this time so I didnt know what his n was. But without a knife, it would be really difficult to make a fatal blow. I tried to give him my Kukri but he didn''t take it.


    As the ceramic figurine continued to burn, I went to look for the fin on its head but still couldn''t see it. My knife had already cut into its head and some wine had flowed into the cracks and caught fire. It was probably very hot inside, but it still remained motionless.


    After burning for six or seven minutes, the ceramic figurine still didn''t move. Poker-Face walked to the side of a nearby puddle and kicked the water onto the figurine. The mix of hot and cold instantly caused cracks to appear everywhere on the ceramic figurine and a popping sound could also be heard. Then, the figurines left hand fell off.


    "Is it over?" I asked tentatively.


    He didn''t answer but turned on his shlight and pointed it at the nearby puddle.


    I realized that this ceramic figurine may not have been the key and that something might have been controlling it. But now that thing had escaped into the puddle of water. I asked Poker-Face what it was but he just shook his head and said, "I don''t know. This time its very different."


    "Whats the situation?"


    Poker-Face frowned slightlyhe rarely looked like thisand then nced up, "This is a dead thing."


    Dead things, in our vocabry, had a very precise meaningthat is, they shouldnt move.


    In the past, almost all of the enemies and dangers we had encountered were caused by living creatures or their corpses. Dead things referred to objects, such as a brick, which couldnt move by themselves.


    Since Poker-Face was pointing his shlight into the water, did he subconsciously feel that there was a parasitic thing in this ceramic figurine?


    But it had to be a subconscious feeling, because his eyes were so fast that if something really was there, hed definitely be able to see it. That was probably why he was hesitating. In his mind, he must not have found anything.


    "You didn''t see that fin?" I made an action that was simr to jug ears in hopes that he would understand what I was talking about. But to be honest, I wasnt even sure it was a fin.


    He looked at me and shook his head.


    I paused, recalled thest few minutes, and then started to doubt myself. My eyes definitely couldnt be faster than Poker-Faces, so if he didn''t see it, then did that mean I was wrong?


    Everything had been moving so fast at that time that it was really vague now that I was trying to recall it. Could it have been the hood of Poker-Faces hoodie? When I thought about it, I couldnt be sure of anything.


    The two of us approached the ceramic figurine. The fire had gradually gone out, so I used the back of my knife to knock off the head and break the figurine in half. There was nothing inside, which meant the ceramic figurine really was dead.


    I looked around the forest with my shlight. From this position, the corpse banquet couldnt be seen now. This ceramic figurine really must have moved, so did that mean that a dead thing had really moved it this time?


    Poker-Face picked up a piece of the ceramic figurine and handed it to me. I looked at him to see what he was going to do next and saw him quickly start walking in a certain direction. I followed after him, and the two of us quickly returned to the corpse banquet where all of the corpses were still sitting.


    Poker-Face went straight up to a corpse, lifted it up by its hair, leaned it against his body, and then twisted its skull off. I trembled when I heard the click of snapping bones. Then, he dragged the corpse behind him, pointed his shlight in the direction of retreat, and quickly left the forest.


    I immediately understood that he had decided to withdraw. I ran wildly behind him while clutching the ceramic piece he had handed me just now. We rushed out of the woods smoothly and only slowed down when we saw the smoke from Fatty''s cooking fire. The atmosphere waspletely different outside the woods, and I couldnt help taking a deep breath when I came out. At this time, I discovered that Poker-Face was actually wearing the clothes the ceramic figurine had been wearing before.


    For a moment, I immediately became wary and looked into his eyes, thinking that something evil had reced him. He put the corpse down and turned to look at me. I stared into his eyes, feeling relieved when I was certain that they were very familiar.


    "Where''s my wine?" Fatty asked us.


    "Ask Little Brother," I said.


    I ignored him and dragged the corpse over to where the previous one was. With the two bodies arranged parallel to each other, I whispered, "Brothers, since were in the same profession, Ill definitely find an exnation for whatever happened to you. If we offend you, please forgive us." I then stretched out my hand to the new corpses stomach and touched it.


    After the corpse began to rot, it felt sticky and nasty, just like a catfish. I pressed it seven or eight times and found that the new corpses stomach was also bulging, just like the one before. There was obviously something inside of it.


    <em>They really died after eating their fill, but what did they eat? Looks like well have to cut them open.</em>


    With the degree of decay like this, vultures woulde as soon as the corpse''s stomach was cut open. And vultures on the grasnd werent easy to deal with or drive away. Youd have to start a fire and hope the smoke got rid of the smell, which was a lot of work.


    I turned to look at the ck grove behind us. <em>This forest is too strange</em>. <em>The corpse banquet, the bodies with bulging stomachs, the funerary wine vessels, the strange ceramic figurine dressed in the clothes of grave robbers, and the moving dead thing.</em>


    Everything seemed illogical, but I was starting to understand what Poker-Face had meant when he said it was extremely dangerous. I figured wed conduct a very detailed investigation tomorrow to see if there were any clues.


    It was definitely inappropriate to do it now, though. I was hungry after all the trouble we had just gone through, so it was better to eat first.


    I washed my hands and listened to Fatty continue asking about the wine as he served us each a bowl of pot noodles. I told him the story of what had happened to the wine. Poker-Face focused on eating and only interrupted to add that the ceramic figurine moved in the dark.


    In the absence of a light source, this ceramic figurine seemed to be some other kind of thing, but he really had a strange feeling this time. He had never encountered a simr situation like this before.


    In fact, I felt the same way.


    Fatty had added dried shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, eggs, chopped green onions, shredded pork, and peanuts to the noodles he had cooked. I was so hungry that I found it very delicious.


    After eating, I nned to go to bed immediately. But before I did, I tied the hands and feet of those two corpses and then went some distance away to pee.


    Poker-Face was also standing there, which made me think that he had a special skill where he could pee for almost ten minutes straight. I went about three or four meters away from him and was just about to relieve myself when I saw something in the moonlight up ahead. I didnt know when it had happened, but all of the bodies at the corpse banquet hade out from behind the trees at the edge of the forest and were standing there stiffly.


    They were right at the junction where the forest met the grasnd, standing there motionless with all of their heads lowered. In the moonlight, they looked deathly pale and extremely gloomy.


    And behind all of their heads seemed to be something like fins spreading out.


    ****


    () <strong><em>ha hahaha, I did warn youI guess it''s not the worst cliffhanger to leave you guys on. I will be back in a week (probably sunburnt based on my track record) so you all take care til then. Toodles~~~ </em></strong>(^)

 Book 3: Chapter 12: Putizhang and Banquet Attendees

    Book 3: Chapter 12: Putizhang and Banquet Attendees


    My whole body went cold as I looked at the corpses, zipped my pants up, and walked over to Poker-Face.


    This time, the feeling was too strange. Throughout all my past experiences, I had never encountered such arge-scale strange situation aboveground. But this time, I could see the fins very clearly, so I immediately asked Poker-Face, "Do you see those fins? What are those things near their ears?"


    Poker-Face thought for a while and then turned to look at me, "I can''t see them."


    I nced at himhe wasnt the type to jokeand then turned to look at the corpses again. Sure enough, I could clearly see that there was something in their ears.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat, but this time, the cold sweat was very specialI could smell death in the sweat.


    This was the first time that I had seen more information than Poker-Face. I didnt know what was so special about me, but if Poker-Face couldnt see it and I could, it meant that Poker-Face''s vision was limited. If a problem arose and my judgment on the situation was unclear, it might cause him trouble.


    Poker-Face would hardly let anyone get hurt if he could control the whole situation but I couldnt do it. In fact, I had never done it. People around me kept having idents, and this time, there was also Jin Wantang, who was our core weak link. Although this guy was a bastard, I didnt want anyone around me to die.


    I turned around and called Fatty and Jin Wantang over to see the situation for themselves. When Fatty brought the binocrs over, the both of them looked pale. We really hadn''t encountered this kind of situation before. It was just like a confrontation. I asked Fatty if he could see those fins.


    Fatty also found it strange, "Fins? What fins?"


    I looked at the corpses and strange things in their ears and felt my hands start to go numb. <em>Fatty can''t see them either</em>, I thought to myself. <em>Its over this time.</em>


    "Little Master Three, have you recently opened your heavenly eye and can see people''s putizhang?" Jin Wantang asked.


    I gave him a look that seemed to say, I really don''t know what putizhang is.


    "Its just that some people can see strange things that other people are carrying on their bodies. These things are rted to a persons fate. Some are inscriptions, some are tes, and some are dead pieces of wood. This is called putizhang. People who can see putizhang are the ones whose head sutures don''t close (1). You know that a person has two heavenly eyes, one of which is on top of your head. Once this heavenly eye is opened, you can see spirits. People usually cultivate this eye to see things that are outside of the five elements. There is also a heavenly eye near the temple, but it can be on the left or right side. This eye lets you see putizhang."


    "Do you understand this?"


    "I understand a little," he said.


    I looked at the fins on those corpses and suddenly thought to myself, <em>my temple was kicked earlier. Was Poker-Face the one who kicked me, which caused my heavenly eye to open by ident?</em> It did hurt a little bit when I pressed it, but it wasn''t a fracture or anything.


    I made an action that was simr to jug ears and asked Jin Wantang, "You know those dinosaurs that have two crests on their necks that can be opened like an umbre? Thats what those fins look like. Whats that symbolize?"


    Jin Wantang was puzzled and obviously didn''t know what a Dilophosaurus was. "Little Master Three, no one understands putizhang."


    "Should we pitch camp a little further back?" Fatty asked me.


    I looked at Poker-Face and found that he was looking up at the moon. It was very bright tonightalthough you couldnt really tell in the woodsbut there were clouds in the sky.


    If these things moved in the dark, then by the time the moonlight reappeared after being obscured by the clouds, these corpses may already be beside our sleeping bags.


    Of course, it was also possible that they couldnt leave the small forest. But we couldnt take any risks, so the four of us finished eating dinner and withdrew the camp about a kilometer away. Now, we couldnt see the corpses at the edge of the woods.


    Jin Wantang asked us what we had found, so I hastily exined it to him. Since I was on first watch tonight, the others went to sleep quickly.


    Chinas rule ofw was very good now, so Fatty didnt get to bring a gun with him. I was able to bring a controlled knife with me, but our main weapon now was actually Ping Lian, the big dog. This dog was very arrogant and apathetic. It went to bed earlier than all of us, so all I could do was look at the grasnd and keep the bonfire going strong.


    Seeing that everyone was asleep, I took advantage of the silent night and went up to the two bodies to observe them carefully. I was extremely curious and my experience over the past ten years ensured that I was confident enough. I hesitated for a second and then sharpened my knife and cut the stomach of the first middle-aged corpse open.


    The smell was extremely strong. I lit a kind of smoked tobo but it was still difficult to cover the smell. I couldn''t help but miss the time when my nose didnt work very well. I put my hand into the incision I had made in the corpses stomach and then took the contents out.


    Strangely enough, all I could feel were round beads that were about the size of grapes and had an irregr surface to them. I took one of them out and held it under the shlight. I found that his stomach was full of these beads, which were made of a strange ck stone that I wasnt familiar with.


    I pulled a lot of these beads out, taking out more than half of them. I counted them and found that there were more than forty. This many beads already filled up the stomach a lot, but there were still more in there.


    This kind of thing was absolutely impossible to digest, and it was so heavy that it definitely would be hard to eat.


    I cut the other corpses stomach open and found the same thing. <em>Were all these stones eaten at the banquet?</em> I wondered. I took one and stepped aside to clean it.


    The moon was still high in the sky and the clouds seemed to be dense. I put the stone grapes next to that ceramic figurine piece, which happened to be a part of the face. The paint on it had been ckened by the fire earlier. Just as I was carefully thinking about it, Ping Lian suddenly stood up and began growling at something in the distance.


    I stood up and looked at the moon again but found that it was still there. <em>Thats odd</em>, I thought to myself. I took a few steps and suddenly saw several lights appear on the grasnd, passing by us slowly.


    <em>Herders?</em>


    I grabbed Fatty''s binocrs from off to the side and saw that it was a group of people. I knew at a nce that it was one of Jin Wantang''s teams. There were about five unkempt people sitting on horses and heading in the direction of the woods. I couldnt see their ages but their rucksacks were bulging.


    They all had lights on their shoulders, and one of them was probably a local guide.


    The bonfire in our camp was very big, but they didnt seem to have any interest in it. Instead, they just continued in the direction of the grove. When I adjusted the magnification on the binocrs and zoomed in, I saw that they were all holding the banquet porcin that the other corpses had been holding before.


    <em>Are these thest two tables for the banquet?</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: The spaces between a typical babys skull bones are filled with flexible material and called sutures. These sutures allow the skull to grow as the babys brain grows. Around two years of age, a childs skull bones begin to join together because the sutures be bone. In Chinese culture, some people say that babies can see paranormal beings because the bones of their skulls havent joined together. That is how one of the heavenly eyes is considered to be on the top of the head. Once the bones join, the babies will stop seeing paranormal beings. Heavenly eyes can also be called "inner eyes" in some cultures.


    ****


    <strong><em>After driving 10+ hours and listening to my sister bitch about my driving the whole time (I swear, you''d think I drive blindfolded with my feet or something), all I have to offer you are 2 chapters. I might get something out tomorrow or I might sleep like the dead. We''ll see. Til next time darlings~</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 13: Southern Grave Robbers

    Book 3: Chapter 13: Southern Grave Robbers


    I turned my head to look at the sleeping Poker-Face but found that his eyes were already open.


    He got up, walked over to me, and also took a look. He then pointed to Fatty on the other side, so I went over to wake Fatty and Jin Wantang up. They had both just fallen asleep and woke up in a daze. Jin Wantang was having a breakdown after not sleeping well for several days. "Guys, whats wrong?"


    I handed him the binocrs and asked if he recognized those people. He nodded. "Hey, theyre the twenty-first and thirty-second groups. Theyre the first and second most skilled among the southern grave robbers. I heard that they don''t get along with each other so why are they traveling together now?"


    They were walking with their lights on and one of them was still smoking a pipe, so they at least had to be living people. But there was definitely something off about them, because we clearly had a bonfire over here so they should havee over to check it out. But not only did they not see us, they were also headed directly for the grove. Were they bewitched?


    I quickly got on my horse. Poker-Face went to the left, I went to the right, and Fatty grabbed Jin Wantang and went to the middle. We all turned on our shlights and waved them around. Now that we had met an acquaintance, Jin Wantang''s role should be brought into full y and he should persuade them to quit and leave.


    I was also worried that the other party would shoot first, so I asked Jin Wantang to yell at them. Since the leaders name was Ding Jingen, Jin Wantang shouted: "Jingen, Jingen! Its Old Jin! Don''t shoot! Were on the same side!"


    As it turned out, the other party didn''t even have the intention of raising their guns. It didnt take us long to approach and surround them like bandits. When Ding Jingen and his group finally stopped, they all looked at us coldly but werent nervous.


    I felt relieved when I looked into their eyes and saw that they were really living people. <em>We finally stopped a team</em>. Jin Wantang said to them, "Ding Jingen, it''s canceled. This operation has been canceled. Theres something wrong with the intelligence. The worlds second most valuable tomb isnt here. Illpensate you for any losses you incurred."


    When Ding Jingen turned to look at Old Jin, I found that he was really a model of the phrase nothing special to look at. I sighed in my heart, <em>if I looked like this, I wouldnt be able to retain my fame no matter how legendary I am.</em>


    "Youve got to be fucking kidding me, Ding Jingen said. Old Jin, is it fun to bring this up now? Weve all gone down and now you say that the tomb isnt here? Then what did we enter?"


    "Did you find it?" Jin Wantang was happy, but after seeing my expression, he immediately became serious again.


    "Of course we found it." Several of them looked at each other and smiled meaningfully.


    Ding Jingen''s expression was the strangest. It suddenly nked out, as if he was recalling his previous experience, and then he said, "Old Jin, that ce is amazing. I''ll give you your share. You guys"he looked at Poker-Facedon''t worry so much."


    I rode forward, pointed to the porcin at his waist, and didnt bother being polite as I looked at their sacks. "It''s not like the southern grave robbers to enter such a big tomb and only bring up so many small things," I said directly.


    Ding Jingen subconsciously put his hand on the porcin at his waist and said to me, "Uncle, you don''t know anything."


    "And what do you n on doing when you reach that grove?" I asked coldly. I started to recall what he had just said. <em>Uncle? Are you calling me an uncle?</em>


    I looked at his old, dark face and said to myself, <em><em>Im not willing to let you call me Uncle</em></em>.


    Ding Jingen stopped talking and showed an extremely strange expression. After looking at the people next to him, he said to me, "Go away."


    I obviously wasnt going to leave and gripped my Kukri''s hilt in my hand. "You know, the woods are full of dead people who are all holding the same porcin youve brought with you. What have you all encountered?"


    Ding Jingenughed a very uglyugh and looked at meor at something behind my headand suddenly said, "Why are you pretending? Didn''t you also go down there?"


    "What?" I was taken aback for a moment.


    He stared at the back of my head. "You''ve been down there so you should know everything." He looked at Jin Wantang again and said, "Old Jin, your friend has been lying to you."


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat, because the ce he had been staring at was almost exactly the same as where I had seen those fins on the corpses.


    I immediately touched the back of my head with my hand, thinking that I had fins there, but I didn''t feel anything.


    "What do you see?" I asked angrily. "What''s behind my head?"


    It appeared that Ding Jingen was toozy to deal with me, for he rode forward and kept heading directly to the grove. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and said to Fatty, "Take them all."


    Wed just tie them up first and slowly torture them to figure out what was going on.


    Fatty roared, immediately rushed forward, and threw himself at Ding Jingen, pushing the other man off his horse. I also rushed over to the person behind him. The man wasnt afraid at all and simply steered his horse to the side to avoid me. I jumped to his horse directly, grabbed the back of his neck, and the two of us fell off the horse together.


    The horse was startled by our movements and stomped its hooves right next to us, so I hugged my head and tried to avoid them. The man got up and moved to hit me, but I caught his fist and twisted his arm back with one hand, kicking the back of his joint until it dislocated.


    He screamed, but I quickly lifted my foot again and kicked his carotid sinus so that he passed out.


    On the other side, Fatty had knocked Ding Jingen out by headbutting him and Poker-Face had used his whip to directly pull the two people on his side under their horses. He then circled around, suddenly went up, and bent slightly upwards to raise his whip, giving each of them a fierce whipping to the triangr area near their chins. Saliva exploded from their mouths and they immediately fainted.


    But Jin Wantang didn''t do anything, so one of them took advantage of the opportunity and urged their horse to speed up. They bypassed Jin Wantang and rushed to the small forest.


    Fatty tied the men up while Poker-Face and I mounted our horses, took out our whips, and started chasing the man who had escaped. Our speed was very fast, and as the two of us quickly began to approachone from the left and one from the rightI stood up in my stirrups. Soon, all three horses were close to the grove.


    The other partys horse was obviously tired and didn''t run as fast as ours, so Poker-Face and I were able to catch up on his left and right nks. At this time, we obviously felt the light dim. I looked up and found that the dark clouds were covering the moon and the sky was gone in an instant. I lit thentern hanging on my saddle so that there would at least be a diffused light source. Soon, it was dark all around us.


    Thentern illuminated an area that was about six or seven meters wide, but visibility was still very poor. At this time, the person in front of us suddenly stopped his horse. He also had a light on his body, so when the light stopped moving, Poker-Face and I both slowed down. Then, the mans light in front of us suddenly went out and he and the horse disappeared into the darkness.


    I moved my horse closer to Poker-Face, two people and two horses standing in the huge, dark area. The only light source left was thentern on my saddle. I nced out of the corner of my eye at the darkness all around me and suddenly felt that thisplete darkness was very unlucky, so I raised my hand and shot a re out.


    The green light was very bleak but illuminated arge area. We immediately noticed that there were several strange, pale things right outside the area myntern illuminated and they were very, very close to us.

 Book 3: Chapter 14: The Ancient Tomb’s Huge Stone Tablets

    Book 3: Chapter 14: The Ancient Tomb¡¯s Huge Stone Tablets


    Those pale things turned out to be three huge white stone tablets, each of which was as tall as three people. They stood there like a wall and were covered in Huihu Mongolian script (1). The stone tablets were very badly weathered.


    When we were near this ce earlier, we never saw these three huge tablets. It was almost like they had appeared out of thin air, and they were so big that it was quite shocking.


    I nced at Poker-Face, relieved when I found that he could also see them. Then, the re went out and our surroundings plunged intoplete darkness again.


    When I lit another one, the three huge stone tablets were gone and the person wed been chasing had already rushed into the woods. Our pursuit had failed.


    Those three huge stone tablets had appeared so suddenly that I immediately felt a jolt go through me. I could tell at a nce that they were arranged in the same way as the stone tablets in the Imperial Pce Square. White stone had been used, but it definitely wasnt white marble. Even though there werent any textured decorations carved on them, they were still very domineering.


    As a matter of fact, I had also seen some shadows further behind the stone tablets that appeared to be some huge buildings.


    These buildings werepletely different from those in the Central ins, but they were about a kilometer away so the re could only reveal their dim outline, which looked like the shape of the ground covered in fog. If I hadn''t doubted myself so many times before, I wouldve still suspected that I was wrong this time.


    Now all of these things had disappeared, leaving only my shock.


    My first instinct was that this was a huge imperial tomb that had suddenly appeared and disappeared right in front of me. But when it appeared just now, it was so real that I felt as if I was almost at the entrance of the imperial tomb.


    <em>Whats going on here? Is it a mirage?</em> There were also rumors that this imperial tomb appeared and disappeared randomly on the grasnds. That was why no traces had been found even though so many years had passed.


    <em>How does it work? Did it be a spirit?</em>


    The re disappeared again, plunging our surroundings into darkness once more. I was eager to see those stone tablets again and wanted to light another re but Poker-Face stopped me. I came back to my senses and found that the moon was no longer hidden behind the clouds. Our surroundings were brighter now but there was nothing there.


    As I looked at the small grove in front of us, the reality of the situation gradually hit me. Poker-Face was wanting me to regain my senses and deal with the immediate problem first.


    The person we had been chasing had already entered the forest, and if my guess was correct, he would find a way to bury himself in the soil until he suffocated to death.


    Were we still going to save him?


    The grove was dark and the situation inside was very dangerous so the thought of backing down had already rushed to the forefront of my mind. That grave robber was bewitched and anxious to die, plus the situation was so dangerous that it was probably better to give up for the sake of my own teams integrity.


    Moreover, our chances of finding this person after entering the dark forest werent high.


    I was sleepy and tired and had already saved four of those grave robbers so my conscience was clear.


    But after thinking about it, I let out a sigh. This time, I didnt juste here to go grave robbing but to save people. We had to continue.


    After ncing at Poker-Face, the two of us rode our horses towards the grove.


    The corpses that had been standing at the edge of tree line were no longer there.


    We used ournterns and shlights to light the way, but we didn''t encounter any problems this time. There werent any traces of the man we were chasing, almost as if he had disappeared into thin air. We didn''t even see the corpses again, which had me thinking that maybe they had all gone back into the soil.


    As we continued moving through the woods, we found the area from before. It was surrounded by porcin and Fatty''s wine bags but everything else was gone.


    After searching inside the forest for more than an hour, we finally withdrew.


    When we went back to our campsite, we saw Fatty standing far away waiting for us. He was obviously very worried. I gave a brief ount of the situation, but Fatty didn''t understand it for a while. I got off my horse, wanting to find a ce to rest, but suddenly noticed that a lot of living people had been tied up by the corpses near the tent.


    For some reason, I was very tired. I wanted to hold on for a little longer, but I somehow fell asleep after drinking a cup of hot tea. I didnt know how the others would handle those peopleter.


    When I finally woke up, it was four o''clock in the morning and Poker-Face was sitting together with the dog, watching the sunrise. I had actually only slept about two hours, but I felt as if I had slept all night long. Even though my back was sore, therge amount of oxygen on the grasnd and the clean air made me feel refreshed.


    Everything was silent as I looked at the magnificent scene formed by the sun rising over the grasnds. I also sat down beside the dog and watched the morning glow shift between dozens of colors. We were on the high ground, so we could see the mist flowing in the distance. It was an indescribably beautiful sight.


    When I was in Badain Jaran, the sunrise in the desert was also very beautiful, but I couldnt remember it.


    After that, Poker-Face went to rest. He wrapped himself in a sleeping bag and fell asleep directly on a lounge chair. The dog liked him a lot and huddled in next to him. I knew it was because the dog had fleas, which all fled when he leaned in close to Poker-Face. I found two or three on my body, so I sprayed some medicine and nned to shave all my hair and body hair offter. Otherwise, Id keep going through the same thing over and over again as long as we were on the grasnd.


    After catching those three fleas, I decided to wake up our four captives and put our loot fromst night in front of them. Iid out the ceramic figurines face fragment, some of those ck stone grapes, and the three fleas one by one. Then, I was ready to start extracting confessions.


    I won''t talk about the detailed process, but I couldnt help thinking that there was something wrong with Ding Jingen''s mental state. It was almost like he had been bewitched by something. As long as I asked about key things, he would immediately nk out and stop answering my questions.


    Jin Wantang helped me interrogate them after he woke up, but he soon let out a gasp.


    When I asked him what was wrong, he said to me, "I know Jingen to some extent. You know that Im someone who knows a lot about human nature."


    "Hmm." I gave him a look that said he needed to speak quickly.


    "I think this person isnt Jingen," he said.


    I paused. I didnt recognize Jingen''s face either, but Jin Wantangs words were so convincing. <em>Are you admitting that you made a mistake?</em> I wondered. <em>Jin Wantang, youre too unreliable</em>.


    "No, no, Jin Wantang immediately said. Im not saying that I made a mistake. This person has Jingen''s face, but hes not Jingen."


    "Why do you say that?"


    "If Little Brother and Fat Master were reced, you would immediately feel it, right?"


    Understanding what he meant, I fell into deep thought.


    Jin Wantang went up and pulled at Jingen''s face, but the other man wasnt wearing a human skin mask.


    "This person doesnt feel like Jingen." When Jin Wantang said it again, Jingen suddenly fell silent.


    I stared at him, and he suddenly showed a strange smile.


    I was taken aback for a moment. Why did that smile look the same as the expression on the ceramic figurines facest night?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Huihu is the Tang Dynasty name of an ethnic group corresponding to modern Uighurs. Uighurs are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. More info here.

 Book 3: Chapter 15: Summary of the Frightening Night

    Book 3: Chapter 15: Summary of the Frightening Night


    If it was the old me, I would definitely think that Old Jin was feeling disoriented and imagining things. But now I understood that this kind of thing could really happen. You just had to trust your senses.


    Was this some kind of evil or was it something else? I looked at Ding Jingens eyes and knew that something had to be wrong with him. But I had never encountered this kind of situation before and couldnt find the right adjectives to describe it.


    His state made me feel that there was some unknown thing hiding behind his soul that wasing out from time to time. It not only prevented Ding Jingen from answering key questions, but also suddenly came out to control his actions.


    "Who the hell are you?" I asked him coldly. When Ding Jingen just looked at me and smiled, I turned to Old Jin and asked, "Can you speak Mongolian?"


    "I can speak two phrases in the eastern dialect."


    "What do you mean?"


    "How much is it? I love you!" Jin Wantang said these two phrases in Chinese and then said them again in Mongolian.


    I narrowed my eyes and looked at him. <em>What were you nning to do after learning these two sentences?</em> I thought to myself, but I still motioned for Old Jin to speak Mongolian to Ding Jingen.


    I figured Ding Jingen''s strange situation must have been a result of getting possessed by something in the worlds second most valuable tomb. So, no matter what had attached itself to him, it probably only understood Mongolian. Although these two sentences had no practical meaning here, maybe hearing Mongolian would make that thing in his body react a little.


    Jin Wantang said to Ding Jingen first, "How much is it?" Then he said, "I love you."


    Ding Jingen didnt react and just continued to look at us with that smile on his face. At this time, a big cloud covered the sun and the whole grasnd darkened a little bit. Ding Jingen''s eyes began to look in the direction of the small forest in the distance.


    I realized that he thought it was going to get dark again.


    "Lets talk about conditions," I said to him (or maybe it was to the imaginary thing behind him). "I can let you go to that grove, but you have to tell me what youve experienced."


    He turned his head to look at me and suddenly said a few words in Mongolian.


    I obviously couldn''t understand it, but I saw Jin Wantang''s expression change.


    When he saw me looking at him, he said, "I don''t understand."


    "Bullshit."


    Jin Wantang hesitated for a moment before saying, "I didn''t lie to you. I really don''t understand it, but I know the meaning of some pronunciations. This sentence ishe saidhe said theyre just on their way to their destination."


    I was puzzled and looked at Jin Wantang again. "This is a Mongolian proverb, he exined. It means that you think youve reached the ce where the sheep are herded, but youre really just on the way to your destination."


    This exined the nomadic state of the Mongols and just meant that they were always on the road. But at this point in time, I believed it meant something different.


    After thinking about it, I took a deep breath. Could it be that we thought they hade out of the worlds second most valuable tomb and were cursed to die, but it was actually the opposite? Maybe subjecting themselves to this curse was the key to entering the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    So had they never reached that tomb and were burying themselves alive in order to enter it?


    Ding Jingen looked at me and said one final sentence in Mongolian, which nobody understood. I threatened Old Jin into tranting those words but found that he really didnt understand them this time.


    Then, Ding Jingen fellpletely silent and didn''t say anything else.


    To make a long story short, we were at a stalemate for a long time. I was skilled in intimidation, but it was ineffective on a person who was in a trance. In the end, I had no choice but to temporarily give up. Of course, I didn''t let him go either. It wasn''t that I didnt intend to honor my promise, it was just that he didn''t give me any satisfactory information.


    When I gave up, I pressed Ding Jingen''s stomach and found that it was bulging. It mustve also been full of those stone grapes, so I was worried that he might have a perforated stomach or something.


    Fatty woke up at this time, so I told him to make those people vomit the stone grapes up. While preparing breakfast, I began to think about our current problems. I spread the tbread out on one side and began recordingst nights harvest in my notebook.


    1. First of all, it was obvious that everything in the woodsincluding dead thingscould move in the dark.


    2. The bodies dug out from beneath the grove carried porcin pieces. Based on their behavior, Ding Jingen and the others were going to the grove to bury themselves alive. It seemed to be some kind of curse.


    It looked like Guotang Feng had died the same way back then.


    3. The moving ceramic figurine had an unknown origin, but it seemed to be a kind of evil thing that would attack people.


    4. The curse was rted to the ceramic figurine and porcin. The porcin items consisted of wine vessels and tableware for a huge banquet. The ceramic figurine also appeared at the banquet, wearing a corpses clothes and seeming to be a key member of the banquet.


    It was a very strange feeling because the ceramic figurine at that time was in the hosts position. In other words, the ceramic figurine may have yed the role of the banquet host and the corpses were all guests.


    It was really weird and gave off an evil aura.


    5. Their stomachs were full of grape-like stones.


    The ancients used to swallow stones to fight off hunger during famine. Many people who died of famine had simr stones in their stomachs when their bones were found. There were also many animals that swallowed stones to help digestion. I didnt know what kind of situation this incident fell under: were they preparing to digest some kind of special food or were the stones the food itself?


    6. All the participants had strange fins growing around their ears, which seemed to be a sign of attending the banquet. And this thing was currently only visible to me.


    It suddenly urred to me that Ding Jingen kept looking at my ears earlier.


    I unscrewed the gas stove, found Fattys small shaving mirror, and took a look at myself. I held the mirror the same way Joker from A Chinese Odyssey did (1) and felt relieved when I didn''t see anything in my ears.


    I had been thinking that all of these abnormalities only appeared after you came out from the worlds second most valuable tomb, but now I was starting to think that it was more likely that they hadnt entered the tomb yet. But if that were true, where did they go before and where did they get the porcin from? And what did they experience?


    Which was the correct answer?


    7. There were also those huge stone tablets I saw during that brief moment.


    I didnt know whether it was the worlds second most valuable tomb or not, but at that time, it had really been shocking.


    The clouds retreated again, letting the sun shine brightly once more. Jin Wantang had been fiddling with the satellite phone for a long time. The white noise had been going on for a while, so I didn''t expect him to get in contact with anyone. But at this time, I suddenly heard a voice on the other end of the line.


    I was particrly familiar with that voice and jumped up when I heard it. It was Xie Yuchen''s voice. I rushed over and asked Jin Wantang to turn up the volume. Xie Yuchen''s voice sounded very faint as he said, "Weve arrived. This is a one-waymunication that broadcasts once every satellite cycle. Its not a real person. Listen to the following content."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: A Chinese Odyssey is a two-part 1995 Hong Kong fantasyedy film starring Stephen Chow. The protagonist is named Joker (Zhizunbao). Joker was the reincarnation of the Monkey King fromJourney to the West. Basically, there was this scene where Joker looked at the mirror and saw that he was a monkey instead of a man. So, Wu Xie looked at the mirror like this:

 Book 3: Chapter 16: The Final Broadcast Cycle

    Book 3: Chapter 16: The Final Broadcast Cycle


    I practically pressed the satellite phone up against my ear and focused all of my energy on listening.


    The broadcast paused and then continued, "This broadcast is meant for only one person. His name is Zhang Qiling. Please pass the following information to Zhang Qiling by any means necessary."


    The broadcast paused again before continuing, "Zhang Qiling, you can''t enter here. You definitely can''t enter here."


    I stared nkly for a moment and Jin Wantang''s face changed drastically. The broadcast made a series of white noises that was followed by a long speech, but I couldn''t hear it clearly.


    After that, it returned to the start of the broadcast and repeated again.


    I thought it was a problem with the cloud coverage just now, but after the first part of the message was finished, that loud white noise appeared again and the rest of the message was still inaudible.


    After repeating this three times, I realized that it was a problem with the sound source. I didnt know why, but thest part of Xie Yuchens messagethatst long sentenceseemed to be damaged.


    The satellite passed over the grasnd once a day, so that was the only time when all of the teams with satellite phones couldmunicate with the outside world. Xie Yuchen used his satellite phone to record a message and broadcast it regrly, so the message only yed in a loop during that time frame.


    My face had turned pale as I tried to figure out what the indistinguishable part of the message was from his tone of voice.


    But soon, the satellite phone went silent. I looked up at the sky and realized that the satellite had already passed over us.


    "Why don''t you rent a synchronous satellite wave band next time," I said to Jin Wantang.


    "Synchronous satellites involve the military, he replied. This is the border. Those kinds of satellites will expose all of the teams positions and may even attract border defense."


    I sighed, feeling very uneasy. This kind of thing had never happened before. All of the warnings in the past had been sent to me, but this time, the warning was sent to Poker-Face.


    Poker-Face couldnt enter that ce, but why? Was there some kind of connection between him and this tomb?


    The Zhang family had been monitoring this ce back then, so was there a deep-seated secret or something?


    Xiao Hua''s work was always airtight, so why did the message be so indistinguishable? Did he not check it? Or, did someonee by after they left the satellite phone and destroy the message? If they were warning Poker-Face not to enter that ce, what was their situation like?


    I turned to look at Poker-Face but he was still fast asleep. <em>Ill just tell himter, but will he ept the warning?</em>


    Fatty seeded in making our captives vomit, leaving several of them half-dead in the process. They didnt tell him anything useful even though he had used his underworld methods, so he came to ask for breakfast. When he saw Old Jin and I holding the satellite phone with pale faces, he asked what was wrong.


    After I told him the situation, he looked at me with a very confused expression on his face and said, "Xiao Hua''s warning can''t be ignored."


    I nodded and he continued, "Or, should we have Little Brother wait for us here? Let''s figure out what''s going on first."


    I took another look at Poker-Face.


    <em>Will he ept it?</em>


    If it was an extremely dangerous area monitored by the Zhang family, would he let me and Fatty take the risk? He wouldnt.


    I didnt know why, but I suddenly felt as if this whole thing was a hopeless situation directly aimed at him. It made me feel very ufortable.


    <em>Should I lie to him? I can make up a lie and use false information to distract him. Then Fatty and I can look into this matter and leave him with enough clues.</em>


    When I thought of this idea, I suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.


    I suddenly realized that my thoughts just now were the same as what Uncle Three used to do to me.

 Book 3: Chapter 17: Strange Hole

    Book 3: Chapter 17: Strange Hole


    There was no use thinking about it. I also knew that I could never follow in Uncle Threes footsteps. Of course, it was a very heavy sacrifice to bear someone elses fate without being able to tell them about it, but I had never seen the concerned party actually escape because of it. In most cases, it was just like what I had gone throughescape was unsessful, the situation was unclear, and too many emotions and years had been wasted.


    I didnt want to deny this kind of sacrifice and love, but as a concerned party, I had to show myself and say that at this time, the most correct choice was to tell the truth and then face the problem together.


    So, I looked at Fatty and then woke Poker-Face up. After hearing the whole story, he looked up at me but didn''t give any other reaction. All he said was, "Understood."


    "Do you have any warnings?" I asked him. <em>Since its so dangerous, can you tell us more? </em>He shook his head and made a gesture that the three of us had to act in unison. I nodded and nced at Fatty, who saluted the sky, "May Tengri (1) bless us."


    Since Poker-Face felt that we had to be extremely careful in that ce, we wouldnt get to show off how clever and resourceful we were. In short, we had to make sure that we were fully prepared.


    After Fatty finished paying his respects, he looked at my determined eyes andughed, "Is Mr. Nave getting all motivated by himself again? Let me ask you a question: wheres the worlds second most valuable tomb? Have you found it?"


    I told him that although it didnt seem like I had made much progress, I should be close. Fatty was surprised, You were staring at the tbread in a daze. I didn''t see you doing any constructive work at all. How are you suddenly so confident? Are you really as enlightened as Old Jin said you were?


    I looked at the fragment of the ceramic figurines face and asked Jin Wantang, "Is there a woman in any of the teams you recruited?"


    Fatty thought it was a strange question to ask. "Mr. Nave, you have to concentrate. Now is not the time to think about this."


    I pointed to the paint on the fragment, which actually looked like it had been made with lipstick. The bodies we had found at the scene were all rough men, so the origin of this lipstick was a mystery. Unless one of them had a hidden hobby, there mustve been a woman involved in this incident who got away without being possessed by that evil thing.


    Jin Wantang nodded, "Little Master Three, youre still amazing. There are two women. The one who contacted me is called Shen Qianjue but I haven''t seen the other one. These two women are very amazing and are rising stars in the industry, but they already contacted me before we entered the grasnd and said that they wanted to withdraw. They should have left the grasnd by now."


    I told him to give me their contact information. These two women had to know what happened here. We were saving lives, and since they had already withdrawn, they should give us any information they had.


    But the satellite had already passed over us by this time so we couldnt contact the outside world until the same time tomorrow. As a result, our main job today was to thoroughly investigate the grove.


    I stopped eating, got on my horse again, and went to that strange ce with Poker-Face and Fatty.


    The forest was still dark and cool. We brought Ping Lian with us and searched the whole area, surprised to find that all of the pits we had dug up yesterday were filled back in. Ping Lian kept digging up the soil in those areas, which made it obvious that all of the bodies must have returned underground. And the man we didn''t catchst nightwell, we searched for a long time without finding any traces so he must have buried himself alive.


    This time, we didn''t dig them out again. First, we didnt want to waste our physical strength since our energy had to be used on the living. Second, what was the point of digging them out again? Not only could we not go anywhere with so many corpses, but they were more likely to cause trouble for us in the end.


    So, we stopped our horses in that area, burned incense to pay our respects, and made a mark to inform any teams that came afterwards. The three of us took some time to rest in the forest, and every time the dark clouds covered the sun, I felt as if I could hear the sounds of intive wailing surging up from beneath the ground.


    Nothing happened that night. Jin Wantang was able to contact another team toe and collect the corpses and people we had captured. It was inconvenient for him to join us, so he decided to do logistics work here.


    We got through to Shen Qianjue''s phone the next day. I thought that a rising starmoreover, a girlin this industry would be somewhat arrogant. Or, based on my past experiences, maybe I would be talking to someone who had lost their mind after experiencing such an event. But I was surprised to find that she was actually ok. In fact, she was easy to talk to and readily agreed to answer all of my questions. I was a little embarrassed, but she was still amazingly patient.


    "Service personality," I mouthed at Fatty.


    Fatty nodded and mouthed back, "This is a clear break in the industry. If your Uncle Three was like this, I''m afraid you wouldve never ended up like this. Youd have finished your journal in three pages."


    With the help of Shen Qianjue''s extremely detailed exnation, we finally knew what exactly had happened before we arrived here. It was as clear as the sound of a silver bell, but it still seemed more and more strange to us.


    "Youre right, we didn''t find the worlds second most valuable tomb, she said to us. Theres something very wrong with that grasnd. The key is the third night. The third night after you arrive in the woods is the most terrible night."


    "What did you see?"


    "A hole. A burial hole. Everything happened in that hole."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Tengri is one of the names for the primary chief deity of the early Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Since they were in the Mongolia area, Fatty prayed to a Mongolian deity. Wiki link here.

 Book 3: Chapter 18: Double Tomb Hiding a Fierce Corpse

    Book 3: Chapter 18: Double Tomb Hiding a Fierce Corpse


    We reminded Shen Qianjue to be as clear and brief as possible because we were worried that the satellite phonesmunication time wouldnt be enough for her to finish the whole story. She was very cooperative and took a brief moment to organize her thoughts before starting to narrate methodically.


    Shen Qianjue and her partner were twenty-five and twenty-six years old, respectively. They epted Jin Wantang''s job purely to experience the atmosphere of working with old grave robbers. Since they didn''t want to win at all, they constantly focused on observing everything once they entered the grasnd. They chose to observe Liuli Suns team and followed them at a distance of two or three kilometers. At night, the two girls took advantage of the darkness and walked close to the other teams camp so that they could eavesdrop on their conversations.


    I used to do this all the time, so I couldn''t help but feel a little emotional after hearing this. I felt that I had to take good care of this younger generation and pass on my cunning way of doing things so that there would be fewer unnecessary fights in the business in the future.


    The goal of the two teams in the beginning was very clearuse the coordinates that Jin Wantang had provided to reach the grove. After Liuli Suns team arrived there, they didnt obtain any more useful information, so they began searching the grasnds around the grove. They were full of confidence, determined to win, and their logic was very simple. After Guotang Feng came out of the worlds second most valuable tomb, he was carrying valuable funerary objects on his body so he must have headed straight back. The border management at that time was much simpler than it was now, so it should have been safer to return to China from any location. But why did he go to this grove?


    There were two possibilities. One was that the grove just happened to be there as he was heading back to the border. Maybe it was windy when he arrived here, so he went into the woods to take shelter from the wind and ended up dying for some reason. The second possibility was that this grove was andmark in this area. GPS didnt exist at that time and it was easy to make errors on cloudy days when you were depending on your eyesight to figure out which direction to go in. A forest on the grasnd was the only way for herders to know which direction to go, so Guotang Feng probably had no choice but to return here first and then move on to the nextndmark.


    The only difference between these two possibilities was whether Guotang Feng had a Mongolian guide at the time. Every Mongolian herder had about a hundred different ways to figure out directions. Even I knew that there was a type of wild lettuce on the grasndcalled Guide Grasswhich had leaves that grew in a north-south direction. So, if Guotang Feng hired a Mongolian guide and didnt need to look for anyndmarks himself, then it was definitely the first possibility.


    If he didnt have a Mongolian guide and entered the grasnd solely based on some clue in a legend or map, then it may be the second possibility. But Guotang Feng died in that small forest, which is a detail that gives rise to an obvious thought. After they arrived in the forest, did the Mongolian guide murder him that night, bury his body together with the porcin that he thought was worthless, and then take the gold, silver, and agate away?


    Now it seemed very clear that it should be the second possibility. But the first male corpse we had dug up from Liuli Suns teamhe was called Old Bingwas a Henan "ankle" (grave robbers in Henan had different nicknames ording to their rank in the gang. There were heads, legs, and ankles. Ankles were the lowest workers with no skills and most of them were desperadoes). For those who were originally at the bottom of the totem pole, it would seem very reasonable for a Mongolian guide to murder someone for treasure. So, there was no need for me to guess anymore. Liuli Suns team definitely based their decisions on the first possibility.


    There was something metaphysical here, which had been recorded in my grandpa''s notes. As long as there wasnt a huge disparity between the team members strength, there was a high probability that they would turn on each other the first night after leaving the tomb. ording to my grandpa, such thoughts would start to form when the coffin was opened. Most of them would still need to keep cooperating when in the tomb, but after getting out and starting to rx that first night, there would be an uneven distribution of spoils. At that time, anything from suspicion, greed, and murder could happen.


    When I was a child, I was still very curious, so I asked my grandpa, "Why do that? Why not just divide the spoils better?"


    My grandpa said something that I still find sad even to this day.


    "Thats just how people are. Theyll always divide the spoils unevenly."


    So, Old Bing and the others came up with a n that seemedpletely wrong now. They drew a circle on the grasnd, keeping the grove at the center and making the radius a distance of a days ride away. In that circle, they conducted their first nket search of the area.


    Of course, they didn''t find anything, but they didn''te uppletely empty either. They found a lot of "sky iron" in the area.


    Sky iron was a very magical item. It was said that when there werent any clouds in the sky, iron objects would asionally fall from the sky. When people looked up, there was no wind or shadow, so they couldnt figure out where these objects had fallen from.


    Many people said that it was just iron from meteorites. It was undeniable that some sky iron really dide from meteorites, but there were also many examples of sky iron that were clearly unfinished handicrafts. Some of them even had obvious patterns on them.


    In ancient times, it was said that craftsmen in the sky didnt want these unfinished defective products and discarded them. After theynded on the grasnd, the herders eventually found them and strung them together with their agate turquoise to make jewelry.


    Sky iron had another very interesting feature; that is, many of them could be dug up from lightning strike pits. If you went to a certain ce on the grasnd that had been struck by lightning and dug for about one or two meters, you could basically dig up some sky iron. Sometimes it would be a piece of iron, sometimes it would be an iron rod as thick as a finger, and sometimes it would be a strange object that was simr to a horseshoe or a ring. Because of this, there was a time when those female bosses in the collectors circles who were having marital problems would send their husbands sky iron to buy insurance and then let them go to Inner Mongolia to rx.


    Of course, sky iron wasnt necessarily iron. In ancient times, any kind of metal was called "iron". In the Tibetannguage it was called tuojia and in Mongolian it was called (1). For a time, sky iron drove up the price of Himyan art, but it was worthless in Mongolia because the Mongolians believed that they were just the remnants of ancient arrows and soldiers'' armor.


    Old Bing and the others discovered the sky iron using metal detectors, and the overwhelming amount quickly attracted their attention. The distribution of these metal pieces was very strange, almost like a river flowing right beneath the surface of the grasnd. Old Bing followed the distribution of these sky iron pieces for a while and soon realized that they seemed to be marking a path through the grasnd.


    This path went past the circle they had marked and stretched out across the distant grasnd. They followed this sky iron road for thirteen days. After leaving the small forest far behind, they came to an old river valley called Zhdi.


    Zhdi wasnt even a ce name but a general name for the few hundred kilometers around this area. Kind of like the Tamakan Desert, it was just a name people used to describe such a huge region. The meaning behind the name Zhdi was something like Sea of ck Lights, but the etymology was said to have existed since the Turkic era so its specific meaning wasnt clear.


    Having said that, I could practically feel the details in Shen Qianjue''s narratione to life. She was actually very organized as she narrated and she spoke very fast so it wasn''t very difficult to listen.


    After arriving in Zhdi, they still had to follow the sky iron road for three more days. These three days were what Shen Qianjue had been talking about before: they were terrible, especially after night fell.


    In Shen Qianjues words, after entering that ce, you could immediately feel that something strange. And this was especially true at night.


    Because there was no time to exin in detail what happened during those three days, Shen Qianjue directly started talking about the third night. They continued to follow Old Bings team at that time. It was at dusk on the third day when they came to a hill with a rtively lush forest on it. They could see more than one such ce on their way to the hill, but the two girls didnt care too much and just followed the other team into the forest. Like usual, they went to eavesdrop on the other team during the middle of the night.


    But this time, before they arrived at Old Bings camp, they found that something was wrong. First, they could tell from a distance that Old Bing and the others were looking up at the sky. Second, the night here was so cold that they could see their breath. It almost felt as if they had skipped a season. They looked up through the gap in the tree canopy and saw an incredible sightthere were three Big Dippers in the sky.


    When I heard this, my whole body quivered.


    First-ss experts looked at the stars, second-ss experts looked at water, and third-ss experts walked all over the mountains. Looking at the stars to find tombs was a very mysterious skill. Although the Big Dipper in the sky wasnt something that could be hidden, even underground mountain trends couldnt be hidden from the eyes of the most powerful feng shui master. But I heard Grandpa say that there was a type of feng shui acupoint (2) that would affect astronomical phenomena and make starlight refract because of the earths special qi. This kind of refraction would form a phenomenon called the "Double Big Dipper". The most exaggerated refraction would even produce three Big Dippers. At that time, anyone who tried to find a tomb by looking at the stars would fail.


    This situation didnt mean that it was a great feng shui acupoint, but rather an extremely dangerous one. This was the "Double Tomb Hiding a Fierce Corpse" acupoint that had been written about in feng shui books. Extremely prominent people were often buried in this kind of acupoint in order to shock the earths qi, but they definitely werent emperors.


    So whatever was hidden under this hill wasnt the worlds second most valuable tomb, but was there still a tomb under it? And if so, whose tomb was it? What did it have to do with the worlds second most valuable tomb?


    That night, Old Bing and his team started digging under the three Big Dippers and soon discovered an ancient tomb. This tomb was a huge lotus-shaped pce hidden underground. They dug a grave robbers'' tunnel overnight, but at this time, Shen Qianjue and herpanion started to disagree on whether they should continue to follow Old Bings team into the underground pce.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The pinyin of iron in Chinese is ti


    (2) The character  can mean cave, hole, or acupuncture point. Considering how theyre discussing feng shui stuff, I felt that going with acupoint was better than cave/hole (Im kind of going off what Ba Ye said in the Mystic Nine drama about that mountain the mine was in that had like life/death acupoints or whatever if I remembered right lol).

 Book 3: Chapter 19: Octagonal Sandalwood Coffin

    Book 3: Chapter 19: Octagonal Sandalwood Coffin


    Based on her way of speaking, I could guess that Shen Qianjue was a girl who came from an educated background and went to a decent university. It was absolutely impossible that someone with this kind of experience would put lipstick on cultural relics. No matter what she was doing now, this kind of educational experience would definitely leave her with a strong sense of awe as soon as she saw such relics.


    But her partner was different. Shen Qianjue didn''t disclose the name of her partner, but it was easy to guess from her narrative that this person was the one who had used lipstick to y a prank. At that time, this partner put forward a suggestion to Shen Qianjuewhen Old Bing and the others were focused on digging the grave robbers'' tunnel, they should directly poison their drinking water. You needed to be hydrated when doing a lot of physical activity, so Old Bing and his team could be poisoned within two hours.


    The poison theyd use would take effect after dawn, at which point the grave robbers'' tunnel should beplete. Shen Qianjue and her partner could step over the bodies, go down into the tomb, take whatever they wanted, and then leave.


    Shen Qianjue strongly disagreed, but at this time, her partner showed a particrly distressed expression. Shen Qianjue immediately had a bad feeling. Sure enough, her partner looked at her and said, "Oh, I didn''t think youd disagree. I gave them the medicine a few days ago."


    Shen Qianjue flew into a rage. It turned out that every time her partner went to eavesdrop on Old Bings team, she secretly put slow-acting poison into their water without telling her.


    "But you don''t have to worry. My poison gives you a quickif very painfuldeath," her partnerforted her while painting her nails.


    <em>Im just here to learn</em>, Shen Qianjue thought to herself. <em>I dont want to bear the weight of someones death for the rest of my life</em>. At this time, shepletely broke down and urged her partner to save those people. Her partner told her that the detoxification method for this kind of poison required a few treatment courses, which were veryplicated. It was impossible to produce a passive detoxification effect in their drinking water. The only thing they could do now was pretend to be doctors and treat them whenever they showed signs of being poisoned.


    Of course, it wouldnt take a fool to know what was going on if two female doctors suddenly appeared out of thin air when Old Bing and his team were poisoned and said that they were very familiar with these mysterious poisoning symptoms and just happened to have medicine.


    Shen Qianjue debated with herself at that time, but in the end, her integrity overcame all evil thoughts and she made a decision: she would take her partner to apologize and find a reason for Old Bing and his team to cooperate so that they could detoxify first. Her female partner was silent for a while before saying, "Fine, Ill do as you say."


    When I heard this, I knew that Shen Qianjue was just like me and mustve been the more responsible one of the two when it came to administrative functions. Her partner, who had poisoned others and dared apany her crazy partner to go and apologize, had to be a very capable fighter.


    So, the two women went over to the grave robbers'' tunnel that Old Bing and his team had dug. At this time, Old Bing and his team had already gone down, so the two women quickly went in after them. To make a long story short, it was a very standard grave robbers'' tunnel. It took the two women about thirty minutes to crawl to the end, and when they reached the exit, they saw the Diamond Wall (1).


    Old Bing and his team didnt have any skills, so they couldnt find the front hall directly. As a result, they ended up entering directly from the Diamond Wall.


    In fact, I had never seen a lotus-shaped underground pce before, so even I might not be able to locate the front hall. Since this underground pce had such a special shape, it was probably a burial system that was different from that of the Central ins.


    After Shen Qianjue and her partner passed through the Diamond Wall, they found themselves in the main hall. This underground pce was very strange. Not only was it not designed like abyrinth, but almost the whole tomb was a huge open space. The two women couldn''t see Old Bing and his team since it was so dark inside, so they lit a cold firework. They were immediately shocked by what they saw.


    Just as we suspected, this space was the scene of a huge banquet. There were thousands of stone tables of varying sizes, each with aplete set of colorful porcin wine vessels. There were also a bunch of huge bronze containers that were used to chill the wine. Although these things were covered in an extremely thickyer of dust, they were stacked on top of each other and piled up like mountains. The scale of this banquet was simply staggering.


    No matter what dynasty it was, this kind of banquet definitely belonged on an extremely luxurious level. The wine vessels, wine jars, stoves for warming the wine, and even the fruits and food on the stage were very practically piled on top of each other in aplicated manner. All the meat had been balmed (2), but it was gradually ckening now that air wasing into the hall. Despite this, they could still see the bright red gem-like texture of the marinated meat. The most amazing thing, however, was that all of the fruits were made of precious stones. Under the light of the cold fireworks, they looked radiant and gorgeous.


    The whole banquet was divided into three levels, much like a huge staircase. The bottom level had the most tables while the top level only had a coffin bed. A giant ck octagonal sandalwood coffin had been ced on the coffin bed and was surrounded by funerary objects. They couldnt see it clearly since they were so far away, but they could tell that there were a bunch of stone pagodas ced all around it.


    What made them both terrified was that ceramic figurines had been ced around every table like they were eating. These figurines had been made in such a way that they looked like they were participating in the banquet. Each one was different and very lifelike. Their clothes, postures, headdresses, and even their expressions were just like living people. The color on them was fading, but it was obvious that the previous colors had been very bright and gorgeous. Shen Qianjue immediately understood that the most valuable things here were these figurines. Their artistic value alone couldnt be estimated.


    Her partner sighed, "Ah, I poisoned them too early. We can''t move these things by ourselves."


    Shen Qianjue came back to her senses at this time. She thought of how Old Bing and his team had disappeared and became very worried that they had all sumbed to the poison and died. She immediately asked her partner to apany her to find them, but the other woman turned on a shlight and pointed it at one of the tables on the second level. "Look. Theyre over there."


    When Shen Qianjue followed the source of light, she saw Old Bing and his team sitting awkwardly in front of a stone table in the dark. None of them had turned on their lights, no one was speaking, and their bodies were as stiff as the ceramic figurines. <em>Its over</em>, she thought to herself. <em>Theyre all dead</em>. But at this time, they smelled a strange scent that was filling the air around Old Bing.


    The two women leaned over cautiously. Shen Qianjue found that there werent any gems in the dishes on Old Bings table but strange ck stones that looked just like ck saas. The whole table was covered in them. There was also a sign next to it that had the name of this food written on it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Not actually a wall made of diamonds. Its a vertical, reinforced load-bearing wall in a tomb. Some people call it an impregnable wall. Its made from a special, man-made soil. I was only finding some limited info on baidu but someone wrote an article about tombs here and it mentions a Diamond Wall.


    (2) The raw said wax but I thought balm was better (I was thinking of the Egyptians embalming meat using a special balm/resin from this article here).


    ****


    <strong><em>FYI, there won''t be an update tomorrow or Sunday. We''re throwing my mom a birthday party down at theke and we all pitched in for a margarita machine for her present so I may not be sober the entire weekend lol. </em></strong>


    <strong><em>On a more serious note, I know we''re 1300+ posts in (wow) but do you want me to change all the "Little Brother" references to "Xiaoge"? Nobody''sined so far (thank you), but I was reading some DMBJ fanfiction and everyone uses Xiaoge. It would obviously take me a while to implement it on the site but I don''t think it would be too hard to fix it on the pdfs since I can just use the "rece all" function. Just let me know what you all think. If you don''t care, awesome. If you do want it changed, god help me hahahaha. (Sidenote, you fanfiction writers are AWESOME. I''m one of the jerks that don''tment but I love your works anyways)</em></strong> (  `) <strong><em>Til next week~~</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 20: Shigong’s Mole

    Book 3: Chapter 20: Shigong¡¯s Mole


    The stone table that Old Bing and his team were sitting around resembled a private booth. The area was enclosed by a white stone railing that had a gap in it and a group of ceramic figurines were standing nearby. The sign stood on the table next to those "ck saas". It was about the size of a modern fast food box, made of wood, and its edges were rotten. The ancient Mongolian written on it in ck ink was faintly discernible.


    A column ofrge characters about eight centimeters high was on the top part of the wooden sign while four columns of small characters the size of fingernails were on the bottom part. The big characters could be seen clearly but the small characters couldnt.


    Shen Qianjue knew some ancient Mongolian because she had studied it before joining this operation and even brought some information with her. She carefully looked at the characters on the sign and figured out that the big ones said: Shigongs mole.


    When I heard this, I had to repeatedly confirm with her: was it really a mole?


    If the characters had said roasted or baked, I would have thought that it was normal. But I didn''t think that they would stand for mole (1). My throat tightened at the somewhat disgusting image.


    The literal meaning was easy to understand. Shen Qianjue told us that Shigong Mountain was the name of a sacred mountain in Mongolian mythology. Shigong was the mountain god and these ck saas were literally his moles.


    I looked at the ck stone saas I had ced on the lounge chair and suddenly realized that the texture really did resemble a mole on the human body. Plus, they were the huge kind where you could see the blood vessels. Were the moles on this mountain god a delicacy or something? What was the logic behind their symbolic meaning? I didnt know much about the secret history of Mongolian shamanism. In fact, I really didnt have a clue. All I knew was that I felt a little disgusted so I couldnt even look at those ck stones directly.


    When Shen Qianjue and her partner got close to Old Bing and his team, they found that everyone was still alive, but they were sitting there motionless and breathing very slowly.


    At this time, the moles on the table were exuding a strange fragrance. Shen Qianjue still felt that things were strange, but she suddenly found that there was drool at the corners of her mouth.


    Her revulsion was very strong since the huge moles looked disgustingespecially since they were all piled upbut for some reason, she found herself wanting to eat them. In fact, the desire was difficult to contain for a while, which made all of her hair stand on end.


    She nced at her partner, who was looking at one of the mens mouth. Old Bings team member had apparently swallowed something so huge that it strained both sides of his mouth.


    The two women looked at each other silently when suddenly, Shen Qianjues partner picked up a "mole" and put it into her mouth without an ounce of hesitation.


    We all felt nauseous when we heard this on the satellite phone. Shen Qianjues tone was very hesitant as she spoke, making it obvious that she was unwilling to recall that moment. She was shocked at that time and immediately went over to make her partner vomit the mole up.


    As her partner began retching, Shen Qianjue pulled her further and further away from the table. When the fragrance wasnt so strong, her partner vomited even more. Then, Shen Qianjue started arguing with her.


    But after exchanging less than six or seven sentences, her partner suddenly covered her mouth and pushed her into the darkness. As it turned out, everyone at Old Bings table had suddenly stood up.


    They were still silent at first and didnt even react to Shen Qianjue''s shlight, but slowly, they began moving around again.


    In Shen Qianjue''s narrative, Old Bing and his team gradually returned to normal after being in aplete trance-like state. But when the two womens shlights first illuminated them, they still looked like corpses that were moving very strangely.


    Shen Qianjue didn''t insist on detoxifying them anymore since it was obvious that Old Bing and his team had been bewitched. Her partner told her to turn off the shlight and hide in the dark. Aftering out of their trance-like state, Old Bing and his team turned on their shlights and started talking to each other. Based on their conversation, Shen Qianjue was certain that they had no idea what had happened just now.


    The two women hid in the dark until Old Bing and his team left. The whole tomb fell into absolute darkness but they still waited for a while.


    It was probably around the twenty minute mark when Shen Qianjue turned on her shlight again. At that time, they saw that they were surrounded by a bunch of pale-faced people. They didnt know when it had happened, but those people were all standing very close to the two of them. They were so close, in fact, that they were almost half an arms length away.


    This feeling of terror was so intense that Shen Qianjue immediately screamed.


    It turned out that Old Bing and his menwho they thought had leftnot only didnt leave but had also surrounded them in the dark. They were all deathly pale and were looking at Shen Qianjue and her partner with wooden expressions on their faces.


    At that time, Shen Qianjue immediately realized that there was something wrong with these people, but her partner had already jumped into action and started fighting them.


    Her shlight was knocked down in the chaos and her partner told her to hide, so Shen Qianjue ran into the dark at that time. By the time she came back to her senses, she had already fled to the edge of the giant octagonal coffin. She used the spare light source she carried with hera glow stickto illuminate her surroundings. There was a relief on the giant coffin that depicted a strange group of people with fins on the sides of their heads. The title of the tomb owner was written on the front of the coffin.


    Shen Qianjue turned pale with fright when she saw it. This title made it very clear that no person was buried in this coffin.


    Shen Qianjues voice was full of emotion as she spoke, but I felt cold all over as soon as I heard it. At this time, however, the satellite phone was suddenly full of white noise and her voice became distorted a few times. Gradually, we couldnt even hear her at all. We all looked at each other as we realized that the satellite was crossing the border and the signal was interrupted.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Mole and roast have simr pronunciations in Chinese. Birthmark/Mole= zh (). Broil/roast= zh


    ****


    <strong><em>H guys! So a reader made a good point that pdfs don''t always work great across different e-readers and rmended epubs. I had time to get Volumes 6-8 into the epub version but ran into a footnote snag on Tibetan Sea Flower. So, whenever I get around to it, the epub versions will be here (I had to put it in google drive since you apparently can''t load epubs to wordpress. Who knew?). I''m also putting the epub and pdf links on the volume pages if you prefer to check that periodically. I know for a fact that 1 chapter in the vol 8 epub had a weird format but I couldn''t fix it no matter what I tried so whatever. It''s 1 short chapter, it won''t kill you </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 21: Ghost Satellite

    Book 3: Chapter 21: Ghost Satellite


    We all continued to look at each other. It was just like watching thest scene of a movie at the cinema. Youre all tensed up, your nails are digging into your thighs, and then suddenly, the movie screen gets lifted up.


    At this time, our souls were still beside the octagonal coffin but only the wind on the grasnd was left in our ears.


    After a long time, I slowly cursed, "Fuck.


    "You should have given some guidance just now. This girl was too detailed. Now where are we at? What was the point? Shit, its worse than reading a novel." Fattyined to me while frantically scratching his hair. Then he looked at Jin Wantang, "Were leaving today. Will we be able to get the satellite signal tomorrow?"


    I rubbed my face, "Basically, just dont eat indiscriminately when you go in." We definitely couldnt wait any longer. Shen Qianjue''s details worked just fine for me. After all, I was the type of person who thought about problems from the details. The information she had provided was very precious to me. Even though we hadnt finished talking, we still had more than ten days to go after we set off. We could just continue tomunicate at this time tomorrow. I believed that someone with her character would definitely keep their phone close tomorrow if they didnt finish speaking the first time.


    "Do I look like the kind of person who licks peoples moles? That''s too unhygienic," Fatty said angrily.


    "Look at these corpses. They ate these moles until their stomachs were filled. There must be a reason why this thing is called a delicacy. You may end up bewitched, and afterwards, you might even eat something more disgusting than moles."


    Fatty touched his chin and looked at the pile of Shigong''s moles on the lounge chair. I didnt know why, but now they looked extremely repulsive. Although everyone had something like moles on their bodies, they seemed like some kind of very evil spirit now that we had heard this story. Fatty picked one up, held it up to his cheek, and put on a charming expression, "Master,e and kiss your humble servants mole."


    My whole body broke out in goosebumps. I immediately turned my head, threw a backpack to him, and told him to pack everything up quickly.


    Our lounge chairs were made of threaded steel pipes, so we dismantled them and packed them back up. Each person had a re gun and six res and the dry food was still in the Hundred Treasures Bag (1) we had brought. Since we hade out more often, we would reform the types of dry food we brought every time. Now the food wasnt as monotonous as it used to be.


    Then there were ropes, miner''smps, and two types of shlightsone with high power and one with low power. We also had a bunch of cold fireworks, glow sticks, and even special buttons I had bought that could shine for three hours when I pressed them. The miner''smps required you to hand-crank them to generate electricity.


    When it came to weapons, I had my Kukri while Fatty and Poker-Face both had those threaded steel pipes. In terms of tools, we had folding shovels, Luoyang shovel heads, binocrs, and a satellite phone. Now we were bringing along Shigongs moles and a piece of that ceramic figurine.


    After inspecting everything, we filled up three waterskins and distributed all of the materials across six horses. Then, each of us mounted a horse, took the lead reins of the remaining three horses, and hit the road, heading towards the coordinates Shen Qianjue had given us.


    It was a journey that relied almost entirely on GPS navigation. There werent anyndmarks along the wayonly endless grasndsbut the scenery was particrly beautiful. Poker-Face was in the front, I was in the middle, and Fatty was at the end. The three of us still had a few conversations in the beginning, but the wind soon got stronger and we got tired of talking, so we started walking silently. I began to think carefully about the n.


    Xiao Hua and the others definitely didn''t enter the ce that Shen Qianjue had mentioned. Shen Qianjue and the others had escaped unscathed, which indicated that there wasnt much danger in that ce so there wasnt a need to warn Poker-Face. Moreover, Xiao Hua didn''t know that Poker-Face would be here. When they first set off, Jin Wantang hadnte to us yet, so Xiao Hua must have known the overall situation on the grasnd and knew that Poker-Face might appear in this situation. That was why he issued that warning.


    This showed that Xiao Hua was already aware that the situation on the grasnd was abnormal. So, all of his actions would be geared towards seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.


    I felt a little relieved, but I was afraid wed need more clues to infer where they had gone, where we were going, and what the connection between them was. The only thing we could do now was go to the coordinates Shen Qianjue had given us.


    There was nothing to say the whole way, and we camped that night. After being buffeted by the wind all day, my face felt a little hot and painful. I was also a little exhausted physically, so I didnt want to talk.


    Poker-Face, as always, didnt talk but his expression seemed to be a little more serious than usual. I figured he was thinking about something. I no longer insisted on people telling me everything, but I was still worried when I saw his expression.


    He hadn''t had this kind of expression for a long time: he knew something, but he couldn''t figure out what was going on.


    He was on guard duty all night so that we could rest seriously, but it just gave me an ominous feeling. <em>What will happen tonight?</em> He was silently grooming his horse, but his attention was always on the darkness around us.


    "What kind of ce is Shigong Mountain?" Fatty suddenly asked me.


    I wasnt familiar with Mongolias mountains, so I shook my head and told him that I didn''t know. "I just thought about it, Fatty said. Shigong Mountain is a big mountain, but its very white and covered in ck spots. These ck spots are all Shigongs moles. They have a strange fragrance when theyre dug up, which makes people want to eat them."


    I looked at Fatty and sneered, "Its also possible that Shigong is a type of person who has this kind of mole on his body. Maybe they seize this type of person, tie them up, and let people rub their moles every day until theyre big, dark, and hard. Then they cut them off and eat them." I was just in an anxious mood, so if he wanted to say disgusting things, then I definitely wouldnt lose.


    "So youre saying that theres only one mole in these people''s stomachs, and when its eaten, the mole will infect them and cause others to grow in the stomach?" Fatty countered.


    I thought for a while, eventuallying up with an idea that was enough to make me shudder. But I didnt say it in the end. Fatty continued, "Why is this kind of mountain mole called Shigongs mole instead of mountain mole? I think there has to be a reason for it that we just don''t know about."


    I sighed. <em>Mountain mole? Are we going to the Grand Line?</em>(2)


    After telling Fatty to stop chattering away and go to bed early, something in the backpack at my feet suddenly made a "beep" sound.


    The sound was so short that it startled me.


    Fatty and I exchanged a nce. I quickly grabbed the bag and unzipped it, only to find that it was the satellite phone.


    I immediately felt nervous. <em>It''s over. Did it just short-circuit and burn the speaker?</em>


    Just as I was thinking this, the satellite phone suddenly made another noise and a sound came out. This string of sounds was very long and rhythmic.


    I stared at it nkly for a moment. Scientifically speaking, this satellite phone would never ring at this time unless we were in a thunderstorm.


    Fatty also found it very strange. After he picked it up and adjusted the frequency, I suddenly heard a Chinese sentencee from the satellite phone. There was a lot of white noise, but that sentence had probably been: It''s so dark, it''s so dark here.


    The voice was very cold, hoarse, and quiet, as if the speaker was in an extremely weak condition.


    "Who is this?" Fatty immediately asked.


    The other party seemed unable to hear him and continued, "It''s too dark to see."


    Fatty wanted to ask again, but Poker-Facewho was cating the horses on the sideimmediately waved his hand and told Fatty not to speak.


    I understood this gesture and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. This action wasnt to tell Fatty not to make any noise so that he could hear clearly; it was to tell Fatty not to expose himself.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A pocket/bag used by ancient warriors to hold various necessary utensils for work.


    (2) The Grand Line is an ocean current in the manga/anime One Piece where the majority of the plot takes ce. Info here.

 Book 3: Chapter 22: Obituary

    Book 3: Chapter 22: Obituary


    Fatty dared not speak any more. The three of us stopped moving and listened carefully to the voice on the satellite phone.


    After saying "its too dark", the voice paused for a moment and a bunch of rhythmic white noise could be heard, as if the speaker was moving. Soon, I heard the white noise stop and then there was a string of strange sounds.


    These sounds were very simr to the sound of the wind or the sound of a door being bolted shut, but I thought that they sounded kind of like a human whimper. Or maybe it was the stretched-out sound of someone weeping.


    The soundsted for about three minutes before the white noise started up again. But it was shorter this time, and then the voice spoke again.


    This time, he began to say several names: "Bai Jinyou, Laxi Dongribu, Wang Shixi, Li Xiangdong."


    I frowned. I didnt know if these four names were actually right since I was just going off of what I could hear, but I made sure to remember them anyways since he had started to list them off.


    Hearing the names of these strangers on the satellite phone was almost like we were listening to someone reading an obituary. It was very strange and terrifying.


    After saying those four names, the satellite phone went silent. Fatty couldnt wait any longer and gestured at me, telling me to hurry up and analyze the situation.


    First of all, I was sure that this was a man, but I couldnt tell whether he was talking to himself or other people.


    But if he was talking to other people around him, then they werent responding to him.


    Why would he want to recite peoples names? Was he sane? I didnt think so.


    There was another long string of white noise, followed by a long silence. The only sound we could hear now was the wind blowing through the air. Fatty was just about to speak when the voice suddenly appeared again.


    The voice continued to say even more names, but there were so many of them that I couldnt remember them all.


    He didn''t repeat them, so these voices went in one ear and out the other. He probably listed out six or seven more names before his voice disappeared again.


    Fatty was getting a little impatient, but Poker-Face had alreadye over and forced him to put the satellite phone down. As a result, he had to try his best to endure not answering.


    Fatty made a few gestures, which meant that if there was a chance tomunicate now and we didnt take it, then we may not have the opportunityter. It would just be better to ask this person directly.


    Poker-Face shook his head. I actually wanted to respond as well since the words were so distorted now that I couldn''t make any sense of them, but Poker-Face was very determined.


    Then, we heard the sound of a whimper mixed in with the white noise. At this time, I was almost certain that someone was crying.


    After that, the person started talking again, but he was still just listing names.


    Only this time, he said one name in particr.


    Wu Xie.


    I stared nkly for a moment, but at this time, I suddenly saw that there was a fourth person among us. He appeared behind Fatty and was looking at me from over Fatty''s shoulder.


    I swear up and down that he was squatting in a strange position. His face was very darkabnormally soand his two eyes were bright, just like an animals eyes at night.


    I was so scared that I fell backwards, but when I looked up again, the man was gone. Fatty was startled by my sudden movement and wanted to ask what I was doing, but I quickly stood up, picked up my knife from the side, and inserted it into the belt at my waist. Then I started looking everywhere for that person.


    But within the halo of light cast by the bonfire, there wasnt a single person to be found.


    I was panicked, full of doubt, and gasping for breath as I recalled thest few minutes. I was absolutely certain that a man had suddenly appeared at that time. But in the few seconds when I had panicked and fell, he disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived. It was so fast, in fact, that I didn''t even see his face clearly. All I saw was that he was abnormally dark.


    Fatty wanted to ask me what was going on, but Poker-Face put his hand on his arm to stop him, silently asking him not to make a sound. I saw that Poker-Face''s expression was very serious, so I tried my best to calm myself down.


    <em>What was that just now? If it appeared like that, is it a ghost?</em>


    I had heard that it was very easy to encounter paranormal phenomena on the grasnds. In fact, one of my friends had gone to the grasnds to take photos for a research project. One night, seven people were ying Zha Jin Hua in the yurt (1) to pass the time. But as they were ying, the dealer couldnt shake the feeling that the number of cards left over was wrong. After the game was over, everyone returned the cards to him so that he could reshuffle them. As he did so, he suddenly realized that he had dealt out eight hands just now.


    But there were only seven people ying, so why did he deal for eight? After thinking about it carefully, he remembered that there had always been an inconspicuous local who yed together with them. But as he looked for this person now, he couldn''t find them at all.


    What I found most strange at this time was that things were seriously wrong on this grasnd. It was only our first day since we had set off and we had already encountered something strange again.


    I looked at the darkness around me and suddenly felt that the grasnd was alive. No, it wasnt the grasnd that was alive, but the darkness. It was looking at me, ready to tease us.


    It was a very strange feeling. I couldnt sense anything in the darkness around me, but I felt that something was wrong with the darkness as a whole.


    The satellite phone was silent for a while and then the white noise appeared again. The same man came on again and said the same words from before, "It''s so dark." This time, his tone had changed and suddenly became a little more fierce.


    Poker-Face immediately turned the satellite phone off. Fatty was twice as confused as before, but at this time, I heard a voicee from the darkness outside of our bonfires light, "It''s too dark here."


    It wasnt from the satellite phone, but from the darkness nearby. Then we heard the white noise again. It was alsoing from the darkness, as if a satellite phone was over there.


    All three of us immediately looked in that direction. I didnt even have time to react before Poker-Face was already walking over there.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Zha Jin Hua is a card game. Kind of sounds like poker to me. Info here. A yurt is a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt. Info here, but if youve seen Long Bad, its what the Ashile tribe lives in.


    ****


    <strong><em>Probably my top reaction meme for DMBJ:</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 23: See Out of the Corner of Your Eye

    Book 3: Chapter 23: See Out of the Corner of Your Eye


    Fatty and I didnt dare speak as we followed Poker-Face into the darkness. <em>This situation is really abnormal. I guess I wont be getting any sleep tonight.</em>


    Poker-Face made a gesture when we reached the boundary between the firelight and the darkness. Fatty and I both nodded in understanding.


    The white noise was probably about ten meters away from us in the darkness, but we couldnt see anything there. Poker-Face wasnt ready to use a shlight just yet, which meant that he wanted to sneak up on whatever was there. He suddenly changed his gesture, and the three of us moved at the same time, rushing into the darkness as fast as possible.


    As soon as we entered that dark area, we all crouched in the grass as we continued moving forward.


    The white noise continued on in front of us for a while, and then that male voice appeared again.


    But this time, the voice sounded so strange that I couldn''t understand what he was saying.


    I paused. The tone sounded very urgent now.


    I came to aplete stop as I heard the voice in the grass up ahead say something else, but I still couldnt hear it clearly.


    In the dark, I could see that Poker-Face had alsoe to a stop and was now crouching on my left. I couldnt actually see him clearly, but I could tell from his body shape.


    I continued creeping forward and soon saw something up ahead. There was a small red dot shing about seven or eight meters away from usit was the indicator light on a satellite phone. The red dot would sh a few times every time there was static, but it wasn''t very bright at all. It seemed that the phone just had this indicator light and didnt actually have a lighting function.


    When I looked at that little red dot, I immediately felt that something was wrong. The dot wasnt in the grass, but up in the air. In other words, something was holding this satellite phone up.


    I looked at Poker-Face next to me and found that he hadnt moved from his previous position. As it turned out, I had identally taken the lead. Now I was only three or four meters away from that little red dot.


    I felt a little flustered.


    I strained my eyes and was finally able to make out a vague figure squatting behind the little red dot. It was too dark for me to see clearly, but he seemed to be holding a satellite phone and making a gesture like he wanted to hand it to me.


    I looked back at Poker-Face to see when he woulde up so that we could rush over together, but Poker-Faces shadow just continued to squat there,pletely motionless.


    I didnt know what was going on, so I could only stay still. At this time, however, the red dot in front of me dimmed and my eyes lost focus. The white noise also temporarily disappeared.


    I started to break out in a cold sweat and looked back at Poker-Face again. This time, I found that he was finally crawling towards me.


    I breathed a sigh of relief and turned my attention back to the darkness in front of me. The red dot didn''t appear again.


    It was in this moment that I suddenly felt that something was wrong. The way that Poker-Face was crawling just now was so uncoordinated that it wasnt like him at all.


    I turned my head and looked out of the corner of my eye. Poker-Faces shadow was slowly crawling towards me in the dark, but I really couldnt see it clearly. All I could see was a ck patch of color.


    I didnt know why, but I instinctively felt that it was wrong.


    As I looked at that vague shape out of the corner of my eye, I couldnt help but feel that the way it was crawling was different from how Poker-Face would usually move.


    It took me a while to figure it out, so by the time Ipletely turned around, the shadow had already crawled to my feet and was moving into a crouch.


    In an instant, all my hair stood on end and I broke out in a cold sweat. I immediately decided that this wasn''t Poker-Face, because the shadow that was crouching in front of me had a big head.


    I took a step back and pulled out my shlightI couldn''t adhere to Poker-Face''s instructions at this time. I turned on my shlight and pointed it at the shadow.


    But as soon as I looked, I was surprised to find that nothing was there. I didnt see anything illuminated in the shlights beam at all.


    I swept my shlight around but still didnt see anything. Even Poker-Face and Fatty werent around. <em>Whats going on?</em> I immediately stood up and looked in the direction of the bonfire. <em>Ill just run back</em>, I said to myself.


    I started running towards the bonfire, moving so fast that it didnt take me long to reach the boundary between firelight and darkness. But when I was near the bonfire, I suddenly heard my own satellite phonewhich I had ced by the firestart making noises again.


    The voice waspletely iprehensible, but it seemed to be saying a long sentence.


    I went up and picked up the satellite phone, recalling that Poker-Face had turned it off earlier. I looked around with my shlight again, but Poker-Face and Fatty were nowhere to be seen. I wondered if they were still lying in the grass.


    I shined my shlight on the ce where I was just now, but there was nothing there.


    I broke out in a cold sweat as I had a strange sh of inspiration. I turned my head and looked out of the corner of my eye at the direction my shlight was shining in. I knew that there were some things I could only see if I used my peripheral vision.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I vaguely saw a person standing on the dark grasnd, right at the edge of the circle of light cast by the bonfire. Based on their posture, they seemed to be trying to walk into the range of the bonfires mes.


    As the night wind blew and the mes flickered, that vague persons hand reached out and actually touched my hair.

 Book 3: Chapter 24: Stampede of Wild Horses

    Book 3: Chapter 24: Stampede of Wild Horses


    I turned around to see where that thing was standing, but I couldn''t see anything at all.


    I immediately took a step back. At that moment, I had actually felt something touch my hair.


    Although the shadow in my peripheral vision was very vague, I knew for sure that I had seen two fins around its ears. My mind was buzzing as I thought to myself, <em>did those corpses with fins start movingst night because this strange thing was causing mischief?</em>


    Maybe something like this had been standing behind those corpses, but ordinary people couldnt see it. And maybe the reason I had identally seen it was because my eyes had be farsighted as I got older. But could ordinary people also see these fins out of the corner of their eyes?


    My mind was aplete mess at this time. I looked at the empty grasnd, turned my eyes away, and peeked out of the corner of my eye again.


    That thing was still there.


    It was slowly walking around the halo of light cast by the bonfire, as if it were looking for a ce where the light was weak. This thing wasnt afraid of shlights, but it seemed to be afraid of going near the bonfire.


    I slowly retreated until I reached the edge of the bonfire. Then, I began adding coal and grass to it. The bonfire actually wasnt very strong anymore, so the mes almost died down whenever the wind blew. When this happened, the light was instantly swallowed by the darkness.


    Since the mes were already weak, they basically disappeared as soon as I put the coal and grass on them. I cursed in my heart and immediately squatted down to blow the mes back to life, trying to make the fire flourish again. At this time, however, I suddenly felt a finger poke my hair.


    I stopped, looked out of the corner of my eye, and found that something was wrong. My shlight was shining in the other direction and I was facing the bonfire, so there was an elongated shadow behind me. When the bonfire went dark, my shadow became thicker and the darkness outside immediatelytched onto it.


    That thing stepped onto my shadow, avoided the firelight, and started crawling towards me.


    I immediately stepped aside so that the bonfire could directly illuminate the area. That fuzzy human figure in my peripheral vision disappeared in an instant, but I still pointed my shlight at my shadow to dilute the darkness just in case.


    At this time, the bonfire slowly began to flourish. I took the "eternal" feed from the side and threw it directly onto the bonfire. The mes were even stronger now, and I couldnt see that thing when I looked out of the corner of my eye.


    But as the fire became stronger, my shadow grew longer. I found that the bonfire was located at a very low position, so my shadow would connect to the darkness outside. Fortunately, the shadow was very weak whenever the bonfire was flourishing.


    But what creeped me out the most was that when I saw that thing at a close distance just now, I discovered that it actually had facial features. Even though I was looking out of the corner of my eye, I could definitely tell that it was a human face.


    I started pping. This was a signal the three of us had agreed on that meant: if youre not dealing with a highly urgent situation right now, give up the original n and immediately reunite.


    I wanted them both toe back right now.


    After pping a few more times, I swept my shlight over the grasnd but still didnt see anything. I started to get nervous, <em>please don''t leave me alone</em>. My instincts were telling me that the situation this time waspletely different from our previous grave-robbing experiences. This wasnt something we had experienced before, nor did it evene close to anything we had experienced.


    At this time, I suddenly saw a re shoot out of the grass and soar into the sky, illuminating the surrounding grasnd.


    When I looked in front of me, I found that a small forest had appeared.


    I swear to God, we had traveled all day and didnt see a trace of any forests along the way.


    I knew for a fact that I hadnt seen a second forest on the grasnd. <em>Is this the grove we camped at before?</em> I wondered.<em> Are we back?</em>


    It was too dark for me to recognize it, but what if we had really gone back?


    <em>How did that happen?</em>


    I felt like I was going crazy.


    Then I saw Fatty stand up from a pile of grass. He was also clutching his hair and had a look of disbelief on his face.


    I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him. <em>At least Im not alone.</em>


    Fatty also turned and started to run back to me. He was very far away from where I had been before, which made it obvious that we had quickly gotten separated after we entered the darkness. I didnt know what had happened at that time.


    Fatty was rushing right towards me, but then he suddenly stopped after a few steps.


    I waved at himsilently telling him not to hesitatebut he pointed at something behind me, suddenly took out his cell phone, and started taking pictures.


    Completely baffled, I looked back but didnt see anything behind me. I did, however, hear a deafening sound in the darkness behind me, which almost sounded like an earthquake.


    I didnt know what was going on, but Fatty''s behavior instantly made my blood run cold. I immediately started running towards him. <em>Is it possible that the thing didn''t leave just now? Is it on my shoulders or something?</em>


    As soon as I left the bonfires circle of light, Poker-Face rushed out of the darkness on the other side of the camp and jumped onto one of the horses. When it leaped over the bonfire and rushed up behind me, Poker-Face lifted me onto the horse with one hand. Then, two men and one horse rushed towards Fatty.


    As soon as Fatty saw us get on the horse, he immediately turned around and ran into the woods. I looked back and saw dozens of wild horses suddenly rushing out of the darkness. They ran straight through our tents, trampling everything including the bonfire.


    <em>Is this a stampede of wild horses?</em>


    There were wild horses on the Mongolian grasnds, and I had heard that wild horses in general were very easily frightened. But this was too exaggerated. This kind of situation was something that only appeared in documentaries.


    We came all this way without seeing a single wild horse, so why were there suddenly so many of them on this dark night?


    We arrived at Fattys position in an instant, and Poker-Face shouted, "Go left!"


    Fatty immediately turned and Poker-Face said to me, "Hold on. We''ll lead the horses to the edge of the forest." He pulled on the reins and urged the horse into the woods, leading the other horses away from Fatty.


    The forest was dark, so I immediately lit a cold firework as soon as we rushed in. All the wild horses followed us in, so we found a huge tree to hide behind and let the stampede rush past us.


    In that brief moment that they ran past, I noticed that a group of them had a lot of scars that looked like words. But all too soon, they disappeared into the woods.

 Book 3: Chapter 25: Chasing Horses

    Book 3: Chapter 25: Chasing Horses


    While I was frozen in shock, Poker-Face urged our horse on without an ounce of hesitation. I thought that he was going to rush out of the woods again, but as it turned out, he started chasing those wild horses instead.


    Chasing a herd of stampeding horses in the woods was extremely exciting. We almost crashed into all kinds of branches and tree trunks in our mad dash, but our horse quickly avoided them all.


    Even though the cold firework could only illuminate a limited area around us, it was still indispensable. I handed it to Poker-Face, turned on my shlight, and pointed it in front of us.


    We could see the wild horses in the distance, but they were very fast and our horse was carrying two people. It wouldnt take long before we wouldnt even be able to see those horses hindquarters. In the end, Poker-Face had no choice but to give up the chase.


    As the sound of stampeding hooves quickly disappeared, extreme quiet was restored all around. I wanted to look out of the corner of my eye to see if there was anything around us, but Poker-Face didn''t even give me the chance. He pulled on the reins, turned the horse around, and rushed out of the woods.


    As we quickly made it out, the re fell to the grasnd,pletely extinguished. There was the lingering smell of something burning hanging in the air. Poker-Face rode more than a hundred meters away from the forest before turning the horse around. My cold firework illuminated the area around us, but neither the trees nor our tents could be seen.


    "Fatty!" I shouted.


    We heard someone pping in the distance, so Poker-Face urged the horse over there. Soon, we saw Fatty crouching in the grass.


    After Poker-Face and I dismounted, I immediately asked him what was going on. He motioned for me not to ask and then said, "Put your clothes on backwards."


    I knew this saying. The Lamaism and Shamanism legends said that if you encountered malicious spirits on the grasnds, you should wear your clothes backwards so that they couldnt figure out where your front was. But in the Lamaism legends, this practice taughtmas how to catch ghosts.


    It wasnt surprising that Poker-Face knew this, but did that mean that he wanted to catch ghosts? I was feeling a little uneasy, but I stillplied anyways. The three of us quickly took off our clothes, put them on backwards, and stood up awkwardly.


    "Lets go," Poker-Face said.


    As it turned out, he wanted us to make a run for it. I immediately breathed a sigh of relief and helped Fatty up. Fattys face was pale, and he waved his hand but couldn''t speak. He seemed to be out of breath after all that running. Poker-Face fired another re and we rushed back to the tents. We found that everything had been trampled and the bonfire was very dim. With the help of the res light, we started to clean everything up.


    "If its not convenient to borate, just give me a simple hint," I said to Poker-Face as I cleaned up.


    He nced around before pointing in a certain direction, "If you can see things, look at that spot."


    I peeked out of the corner of my eye and immediately saw the shadow of a man standing there. He was facing us coldly, but he appeared to be very far away from us.


    "What are they?"


    "I don''t know, but theyre driving the horses." Poker-Face told us that these horses were gradually being driven to gather into arge group nearby and then made to run here. He pointed to a certain spot, "Theyre driving the horses in that direction."


    I felt a chill in my heart and nced at the small forest. At this time, we felt the ground vibrate again and all three of us looked back at the darkness on the other side.


    <em>Here we go again.</em>


    "Lets go!" Fatty shouted. All three of us jumped onto our horses and turned on ournterns. At this time, I saw our satellite phone.


    I no longer cared about figuring out what the strange satellite phone sounds on the grasnd were. It was our own satellite phone, but there was a brief moment where I didnt want to take it with us. After thinking about it, though, I bent down and picked it up. Then, I waved to the other two and we quickly set off.


    Soon, another group of wild horses rushed past the ce where we had just been standing. But this time, there were even more of them. We reached a high slope and fired off another re, revealing a shocking sighttens of thousands of horses were galloping past.


    There were probably less than ten thousand of them, but we couldnt even see their heads since there were so many of them.


    This scene was too unreal. Were there really that many wild horses on the grasnds?


    When I used my peripheral vision to look at these wild horses, I could see that there were figures riding on the backs of many of them. They really did seem to be driving these horses towards the forest.


    The horses ran past quickly and then it became silent all around again. But the sounds of the stampeding horses had disappeared too quickly, so I was certain that something was wrong.


    Since our clothes were on backwards, it almost looked like we were riding our horses backwards, which was a very funny sight. "Are we pretending to be Zhang Guo (1)? Fatty asked. Isnt that a bit much if all three of us are doing it?"


    I took out the satellite phones battery and put it away. The phone didnt ring again, so our surroundings were even more quiet.


    Do you think those horses are alive? Or are they ghosts?" I asked Fatty and Poker-Face. The two of them looked at me, so I added, "I don''t believe there are <em>that</em> many wild horses in Mongolia."


    I had a very vague impression of Mongolian wild horses in my memory and seemed to remember that they should be endangered. Of course, there were millions of wild horses on the grasnds back then, but that must have been thousands of years ago.


    It was said that the tombs of nobles in the Yuan Dynasty were leveled with thousands of horses. People used to herd wild horses from nearby areas and then keep driving them until they scattered across the grasnds. Wasnt the scene just now like a scene from that time?


    The three of us remained silent. To be honest, there was no easy way to draw conclusions from everything that had happened tonight.


    But in any case, this was apparently a road for stampeding horses, which was very unsafe. Poker-Face signaled for us to leave, so the three of us turned on the GPS, identified the direction we wanted to go in, and slowly led the horses into the darkness.


    After taking a few steps, I used my peripheral vision to look back at the darkness behind me. When we were in the Seven Star Lu Pce so many years ago, Pan Zi had told me not to look back (2). I couldnt resist the temptation back then and I still couldnt resist it now. When I peeked out of the corner of my eye, I saw the same thing from before. It was even repeating the same action. What was so special about this humanoid figure that I could only see it out of the corner of my eye? I didnt see any traces of people over there, and even the darkness in that area seemed to have returned to normal.


    I suddenly had a strange idea about what had happened just now. Did those "people" want us to leave the road that the horses ran on? Were they warning us?


    Truthfully, we wouldve already been ck and blue if we encountered such a situation in a tomb in the past. And although we had been scared to death just now, we werent injured at all.


    I didn''t think about it any further, because acts of kindness at this time were very dangerous.


    We continued to walk on in a daze, not stopping until dawn broke.


    As the haze on the grasnd revealed by the morning light started to dissipate, we finally dismounted. The horses were so tired that they were swaying, and even Ping Lian fell to the ground and started snoring. When we looked around, we couldnt see the forest from yesterday, nor those wild horses. Everything was as beautiful as when we had first arrived in the grasnd.


    <em>Its all lies</em>, I said to myself. <em>This ce is crazy at night and causes all sorts of trouble. Last nights situation was just a ghost hitting a wall</em>(3).


    I sat down on the grasnd, feeling sleepy. God, I had never felt so sleepy before. Last night, there was even a period of time where I felt as if I was too old to endure it. Now I was starting to feel like something was wrongthis grasnd was sucking my energy away.


    It was only a few hourster when we talked to Shen Qianjue on the satellite phone again that we finally learned what had happenedst night.


    Indeed, it was a change I could never imagine.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon (he was actually a real historical figure). He was said to be very entric. In art pieces, hes typically shown riding his white mule, usually seated facing backwards. Info here.


    (2) I have no recollection of this. Pretty sure Poker-Face was the one who told him not to look back in that cave when they were on the boat in the beginning. You all have better memories than me, though.


    (3) Ghost hitting a wall is a Chinese folk phrase that describes a situation where you get lost and end up going in circles. The idea is that when traveling in remote areas, a person is obstructed by walls that ghosts have ced in front of them, thus forcing that person to wander in endless circles. People also use this term to describe problems with no real solution (I feel like Wu Xie was using it in this sense just based on the context).


    ****


    <strong><em>It''s a miracle! I actually got 2 chapters out and didn''t leave you on a cliffhanger this time! </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 26: Ravine Full of Ten Thousand Horses

    Book 3: Chapter 26: Ravine Full of Ten Thousand Horses


    We lost most of our water in yesterday''s horse stampede so Fatty collected the morning dew with stic wrap and used it to boil tea with a small gas stove.


    I felt a little better after drinking the tea, but I couldnt shake the very rare sense of anxiety in my heart as I looked at the grass all around me. I felt as if my physical strength was being sucked out of my body by these nts. It was a strange feeling, like all of the des of grass touching my body were syringes and my blood was constantly being sucked away by all kinds of things.


    This anxiety began to ease after I spread the remaining tent cloth out on the grass. We sat on it and then carefully started to discuss what had happenedst night.


    Fatty said to me, "First of all, it waste when we set up campst night. Let''s recall whether that small forest was already there and we just didnt see it when we arrived because it waspletely dark."


    "Are you losing confidence in yourself as you get older? I retorted. That forest might be called a small forest but it was still a few fucking kilometers long. Theres no shelter on the grasnd, so you should be able to see it from a distance even when the sun is setting. I have a very clear memory of it. That grove fromst night must have suddenly appeared."


    Fatty clicked his tongue, "Then it''s definitely fucking haunted. We encountered the biggest ghost-hitting-a-wall in history yesterday. No, with this kind of scale, it should be called ghost hitting the Great Wall."


    I didnt understand the joke, but he continued anyways, "Beforeing here, I asked some old Mongolian men for some information. They secretly told me that its very normal to encounter paranormal phenomenon on the grasnds. Mongolian legends even say that the ghosts here like to walk in ravines; that is, the ravines between the sloping hills on the grasnds. We camped in such a ce yesterday. Youre sozy, Mr. Nave. You werent even willing to take a few more steps up the slope yesterday."


    The legend of ghosts walking in ravines existed all over Mongolia, because most of the Mongolian tombs were in ravines.


    In order to avoid resting on the tombs of their ancestors, the Mongolians had a legend that ghosts would walk in the ravines at night. That was why Mongolians were generally afraid of any obvious signs of ravines on the terrain.


    It was true. I really didn''t want to move any more yesterday, because the wind on the grasnd was too strong and I wanted to take shelter in a low-lying area. I said to Fatty, "Don''t dwell on whos right and whos wrong, just pay attention to the results. If what you said is right, then there should be a lot of ancient tombs buried under the ravine from yesterday. We camped on it and disturbed those predecessorswhich was wrong of usbut the first problem is the satellite phone. The predecessors here must have diligently and eagerly studied at the University of the Underworld. They not onlypleted animal husbandry courses, but also learned about satellitemunication hardware."


    "I think youre just biased," Fatty said. "Who says that ancient ghosts can''t use modern technology? ording to you, the ghosts in Henan still have to speak the Henan dialect. If thats the case, then how can they be scary?" After saying this, Fatty used the Henan dialect to imitate the words and white noise we had heard over the satellite phone yesterday, "Zizibastard~"


    I was amused. Fatty wanted to pour tea for Poker-Face and ask him what he thought, but we found that he seemed to be thinking about something. Then, he suddenly got up and started rearranging the equipment on the horses. He lightened the load on two of them and then pulled out a folding shovel and hung it on his back.


    We looked at him strangely. After he finished packing a bag, he threw it to Fatty and said, Wu Xie rests. The two of us will go back."


    <em>What''s going on?</em> I wondered as Poker-Face mounted the horse and took off in the direction we had juste from. I nced at Fatty, who immediately mounted the other horse, "Stay here. Don''t move around. Just go to sleep for a while. Little Brother heard you say that there are ancient tombs under the ravine and got antsy. He wants to go back and touch the gold, so Ill go and help him."


    I thought about it for a moment. There was no fucking way I was going to sit here and wait, so I set the GPS coordinates of this ce and told Ping Lian to look after the other horses. Then, I also got on a horse and chased after Poker-Face.


    We had kept the heavily-loaded horses at a steady trotst night, but we had actually only ridden for three or four hours before dawn broke. Now that the horses were galloping and all of the equipment had been taken off of their backs, it only took about an hour for the three of us to return to the ravine where we had campedst night. That small forest was still there. <em>Were we really bewitched yesterday?</em> After dismounting, all three of us pulled out folding shovels and started digging.


    Three shovels flew up and down, and within half an hour, we managed to dig out three pits. What we saw below left us stunned.


    There were horse bones only two or three meters below the soil in the ravine where we had campedst night. We moved to a different spot and dug again, only to find that these bones were everywhere.


    "They killed all these horses?" My whole body was covered in a cold sweat, "Is this a herd of horses that was used to level a tomb?"


    So instead of wild horses, they were actually herded horses. How many horses were buried here? Tens of thousands? This was a mass grave for horses.


    The tombs of nobles had to leveled with at least ten thousand horses, so were the horses driven to this ravine and then killed and buried here? And the soldiers who drove the horses waited until the next year when all the grass grew and then silentlymitted suicide?


    "This is one of the greatest discoveries of the century. It seems that the worlds second most valuable tomb really is in this area," Fatty said.


    So did that mean we had seen the ghosts of ten thousand horsesst night?


    Poker-Face took out the satellite phone, put the battery back in it, and then turned it on.


    The satellite phone was very quiet during the day. He took the phone and began walking into the ravine. We didn''t understand what he was doing, so we just silently followed him. After walking for ten minutes, Fatty was just about to speak up when we suddenly heard the very slight sound of white noiseing from the satellite phone.


    Poker-Face stopped, and we found that we were back near the ce where the bonfire had beenst night. The things we hadnt had time to take with us were still lying off to the side. This was the area where the paranormal phenomenon first urred.


    Poker-Face slowly moved the satellite phone around, and the noise became louder and louder. As he took small steps forward and looked for the source of the sound, Fatty and I didn''t dare make any noises.


    He eventually seemed to pick a spot and started digging, at which point we went over to help. After clearing a few shovelfuls of soil away, we found more horse bones. But this time, we also saw a corpse under the horse bones.


    It was the corpse of a modern man.


    We dragged the corpse out and found that it had almost beenpletely trampled by horse hooves. He was a young man in his twenties whose hands were so deformed that they almost looked like they had been stomped into his chest. Even his eyes looked like they had been stomped deep into his eye sockets. Fatty pulled the corpses hands apart and found that he was clutching a satellite phone, which was the same model as ours.


    He was a member of one of Jin Wantang''s teams, but I didnt know which team he belonged to. Fatty and I looked at each other and both shuddered.


    "Mr. Nave, I wanted to ask you this yesterday. When we encountered paranormal phenomenon before, it was almost always a psychological thing. As long as we broke through the illusion, wed be fine. But this time, why does it seem like people can really be trampled to death? Even our camp waspletely trampled."


    I shook my head. Was this person really trampled to death by a ghost horse? There had to be another exnation.


    "If someone wanted to warn us to leave here, it must have been him. The voice on the satellite phone must have been his," Fatty said to me. "No wonder he said it was dark. His eyes have been stomped into his head."


    I looked at the corpse. <em>Ah, such a tragic sight. If we fell asleepst night, wed have suffered the same fate.</em>


    Was that why he warned us? I put my hands together to express my gratitude, <em>I dont know whats really going on, but thank you, brother. I''ll bring you back.</em>


    "There are vultures here and this body has quickly started to rot. We can''t take it with us, so we have to deal with it here," Fatty said to me. I nodded and looked at the grove again. Wed have to cut down a tree and burn the body.


    I nced at Poker-Facewanting to see what his n wasbut saw that he was still at the ce where the body had been found. It looked like he was still digging.


    I went over and found that he had dug up another body. But this one was an ancient corpse that looked both human and inhuman. I recalled what I had seen out of the corner of my eyest night and squatted down to examine it carefully.


    ****


    <strong><em>I am currently in the middle of binging "Strangers from Hell" so this is the only tribute I can offer right now lol. They also have me full-time on a project at work that I hate, so I need some merebear time to rx. These chapters kind of seem longer than usual anyways, so that''s why I don''t seem as productive as usual. I''m sorry but just bear with me</em></strong> o(TTo). <strong><em>We''re still making good progress anyways, I promise. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 27: Ancient Python Corpse

    Book 3: Chapter 27: Ancient Python Corpse


    We pulled the skeleton out, put it next to the mound of dirt we had dug up, and then looked at it.


    This skeleton was very strange. First of all, it must have been wearing armor before. It was probably a soldier, but based on the remaining fragments that had be iron lumps on its body, this piece of armor was very small. In other words, this corpse was very thin during its lifetime.


    In fact, after nearly a thousand years of decay, only some fragments could be identified. But the ring-shaped arm guard formed by these fragments seemed to indicate that this persons arm had only been half as thick as my arm. They had definitely been pretty thin.


    The strangest thing, however, was its skull. I couldnt describe it at first nce, so I asked Fatty, "Do you feel like this was a human?"


    Fatty touched his chin, "This is a monster."


    "What makes you say that?


    "This head is at least half the size of a normal persons head," Fatty said. "Look at its cervical vertebrae again."


    When I squatted down and looked at it carefully, I found that this corpses cervical vertebrae seemed to have hypersia (1). A lot of bifurcations had grown from its cervical vertebrae, much like horns.


    "This person mustve had a very strong neck. There are nine cervical vertebrae (2)," I said.


    "This man used to have nine heads," Fatty said. "But all of them were chopped off so he was left with only one head. His head was very small so that all nine of them could grow around his neck at the same time."


    Fatty pointed to a "horn" and added, "Look. Its obvious that there was something on this bone spur that was cut off."


    I touched it. Indeed, it was just as Fatty had said, but it wasnt necessarily a head. I thought about it some more and suddenly remembered what it was called.


    "An ancient python corpse?" I asked Fatty. "You mean to say that this is the corpse of an ancient python?"


    On the Mongolian grasnds, there was a kind of monster engraved on the ethnic groups markers here that was called an ancient python corpse. It appeared in arge number of myths and legends from various tribes in Mongolia, but no one really knew what it looked like. Only one characteristic was very clear: it had many heads.


    Fatty nodded. "This is the ancient corpse of a tamed python. Didnt you say that the things you saw had fins around their ears?"


    When I nodded, Fatty pointed to the corpses cervical spine, where thergest hyperstic bone spurs could be seen on the left and right sides. "If there were still heads on these two bones, wouldnt it look like someone has fins?"


    After looking at them, I suddenly felt a chill. "You mean, I didnt see fins, but two extra faces?" I asked him.


    "The other bone spurs are very small, so even if heads had grown on them, they would only be the size of a newborn baby. But if heads had grown on these two, then theyd be about the same size as the main head."


    I nced at Poker-Facehe didn''t say anythingand then carefully looked at the bone spurs again. They definitely werent normal cervical vertebrae, but more like hypersia. It was impossible for a human head to be on a bone spur, but I could tell that there had to be something else on it which had been cut off.


    I had already made some assumptions, but there was a subtle feeling in my heart that this thing might have been man-made. Although I didnt know how someone could produce such bone spurs, a deformed soldier reminiscent of an ancient python corpse would be very advantageous in inter-tribal wars.


    The corpses here,bined with the scene I had witnessedst night, had me asking myself one question: <em>Were those strange ghosts who herded the horsesst night the ghosts of "ancient python corpses"?</em>


    <em>So you can only see the ancient python corpse out of the corner of your eye, but you can see the horses directly? Is there any kind of difference between the two ghosts?</em>


    I couldnt draw any conclusions and I noticed that the other two didnt look like they wanted to continue the discussion, so I figured it would be better to send a messageter and ask some experts outside the grasnd for their opinion. I took out my cell phone and started taking a few photos.


    Fatty looked at his watch and said to Poker-Face, "Little Brother, the satellite will be here soon. If you have anything you need to do, now is the time to do it."


    Poker-Face stepped forward, directly broke off the ancient corpses cervical vertebra, put it on his horses backthis meant that he wanted to study it carefullyterand then nced at the grave robbers corpse.


    We took our folding shovels and went to the edge of the forest to start chopping wood. Now that we were looking at it during the day, we knew that this forest wasnt the previous one, but a new one that was actually bigger. I was feeling a little rattled and couldnt help but think that it was really possible that we just didn''t see it when we got herest night.


    After burning the corpse to ashes, we took some with us, mounted our horses, and started heading back. As we reached the high slope again, I suddenly saw a man wearing a jacket standing in the ce where we had just burned the body. But the smoke hadn''t dispersed yet, so I couldnt see clearly.


    My first reaction was that the mans soul hade to watch us, but before I could get a good look at it, a change suddenly urred. At that time, I suddenly saw another figure appear behind the mans shadow. It was very thin and strange and immediately dragged the man into the smoke.


    Even though I waspletely terrified, I tried to get a closer look but couldnt see anything.


    It felt like a really bad omen.


    A strong sense of despair surged up in my heart as Fatty asked me what was wrong. I couldnt shake the feeling that the people who died on this grasnd would never be able to return to their hometowns. Instead, they would fall into a more terrible state than death.


    "Let''s go, I said to Fatty. First of all, we must not die here. Secondly, we must try our best to save as many people as possible. In short, death is not so terrible, but just don''t die here."


    **


    We rode back slowly. The satellite wasing soon, but at the rate we were going, we wouldnt be able to get back to camp in time. It appeared we could only listen on the road, but there wasnt anything to worry about.


    There was a particrly high hill on the way back that overlooked the whole horse graveyard we had camped on before. Everything that had happened so far was so strange that everyone was in a delicate mood and didn''t bother speaking for a while.


    Fatty looked at the shape of the ravine and eventually asked me, "Do Mongolians practice feng shui?"


    "Yes," I said.


    Most people''s impressions of Mongolian nobles tombs were that they were more in line with the worship of Tengri (3). They thought that burying corpses didnt seem to be important to the Mongolians, so there didnt appear to be too many burials with physical bodies. Instead, the burials seemed to focus more on burying cenotaphs and the belief in souls.


    But this actually wasnt the case. The Turkic, Khitan, and Mongolian ethnic groups had three types of tombs. One was the ancient tombs of the nobles, which were built very deep in the no-mansnds of the mountains. That was why, when you went off the beaten track, youd feel as if you were the first human being in three thousand years to arrive there. But in reality, there might be a Khitan king''s tomb under the mountain rock beneath your feet.


    The second type of tomb was the ancient tombs in the ravines. Although they were all earthen pit tombs, most of the burial objects consisted of gilded horse harnesses, ornaments, and a lot of gold. As a result, Mongolia''s earthen tombs were seriously damaged by grave robbers in the 1980s, and arge number of them were robbed.


    In fact, the horse graveyard in this ravine belonged to this second type of tomb.


    The third type of tomb was imperial tombs, which had been leveled by ten thousand horses. In fact, these tombs were more of a legend since no one had ever actually excavated one. Modern remote sensing technology had swept the grasnd several times, but nothing had ever been found. The only possibility was that this kind of imperial tomb was buried much deeper than people thought.


    When ites to the first type of tomb, its necessary to talk about feng shui. In fact, the two cultures were mutuallypatible, and ethnic groups that had some rtions with the Central ins would incorporate some feng shui into their customs.


    The second type of tomb was rtively simple. The earthen pit tombs were all tombs that were clustered together in what seemed to be a customary practice. But the selection of these locations also had very detailed rules that needed to be abided by.


    Thest type of tombwell, I had actually heard a master I wasnt quite familiar with say it before, so I didnt know whether it was right or not. This master said that the Mongolian nomads and other wanderers werent involved with feng shui, but their natural instincts conformed with feng shuis principles. Their logic was actually very simple in that they followed the grasss growth and the river trends.


    But once death was fixed, the Mongolians actually talked about "ground wind. This so-called wind was underground wind. Some local legends believed that the changes aboveground actually came from the underground wind, and the direction of this wind came from the stars in the sky. It was basically the same logic as that of the Central ins feng shui.


    I didnt know how to look at the feng shui of ground wind, but when I looked at the horse graveyard below, I could tell that the shape of this ravine was very simr to a lotus petal.


    Shen Qianjue had said before that the underground pce was in the shape of a lotus flower, which meant that these two areas had to be rted. This was clearly a burial pit, so what did that make the strange banquet in the underground pce where they had gone down? Was it another kind of burial pit, or did it serve some other purpose? I didnt know, but both of these ces mustve had something to do with the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    The huge setting of an imperial tomb was clearly used to tell a "story", so what story was the architect at that time telling us?


    There was a strange banquet, a bone pit where horses had been buried, and a lotus flower. We hade to this grasnd in a hurry and still hadnt figured out the theme, but we were already very exhausted.


    I nced at Poker-Face, who suddenly looked at me as if he had understood something. "You have to be mentally prepared," he said to me.


    That sounded pretty ominous to me, but at this time, the satellite phone rang.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hypersia is an increase in the amount of organic tissue that results from cell proliferation. In this case, more bone grew.


    (2) FYI: Humans have 7 cervical vertebrae.


    (1) Per Tiffany: Tengri is one of the names for the primary chief deity of the early Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Wiki link here.

 Book 3: Chapter 28: Beginning to Understand

    Book 3: Chapter 28: Beginning to Understand


    I didnt know what Poker-Face meant by that sentence, but I didnt have time to ponder it as I reflexively answered the phone.


    "Sorry," I said to the person on the opposite end, "We didn''t get to finish our conversation yesterday. Im afraid Ill have to trouble you again."


    But as it turned out, I didn''t hear the words I had been expecting to hear. Shen Qianjue was a very polite person, so she should have immediately said that it didnt matter. But I didn''t hear those words at all. Instead, I heard the sound of someone taking a deep breath and then she said, "Oh my God, its finally a person talking."


    I was stunned for a moment before I managed to ask, "What''s wrong?"


    <em>Its true that I didn''t get to finish talking to you yesterday, but do you really have to go so far as to scold me for not being human?</em>


    "What happened to you?" Shen Qianjue asked. At the same time, I heard another woman''s voice behind her say, "Don''t ask any more questions. It has nothing to do with you."


    "Its a senior. You have to be a little more polite," I heard Shen Qianjue say to the woman behind her.


    "I didn''t get to finish hearing your story yesterday, I replied. Thats why I wanted to call you back today. Nothing happened." I didnt want to tell her about everything that had happenedst night.


    "Between yesterdays phone call and when you picked up just now, your satellite phone called us more than sixty times," Shen Qianjue said. "Every time we answered, there was a terrible voice that kept talking on the other end."


    I paused, "Someone called you back?"


    "There was no satellite, so I don''t know how they managed to call us. It''s too scary. Plus, what the voice was saying was also very strange."


    I looked at the two beside me and asked, "What did it say? Whose voice was it?"


    "I couldnt tell, but it definitely wasnt you. It also ignored what I had to say and just kept talking." Shen Qianjue took a deep breath, "He kept telling us to go back to the grasnd. I recorded it. Ill y it for you now."


    I heard the sounds of Shen Qianjue turning around, and after a short pause, she seemed to start ying the recording with her cell phone.


    I heard a very low, hoarse man''s voicee through the satellite phones speaker. He seemed to be talking to himself and was saying, "Come back. Come to the Sea of ck Lights." He just kept repeating those words over and over without any changes.


    I turned the volume up and looked at Fatty in disbelief. After listening for a few minutes, Fatty immediately understood and said, "This grasnd is evil. It seduces people intoing here and then fucking eats them."


    "Is it the same man fromst night?" I asked him.


    Fatty shook his head, "It''s another one. How many people have died here?" He looked around, almost as if he felt like countless souls were wandering the area.


    Shen Qianjue turned off the recording and said, "Senior, there must be something going on with you there. You should juste back like we did."


    I sighed. <em>If we go back, then what about Xiao Hua? </em>


    "To be on the safe side, block this number after today''s call is finished, I said to her. Don''t answer such calls again. Can you y that recording one more time so that I can record it?"


    Shen Qianjue yed it again and I recorded it on my cell phone before handing it to Fatty. Shen Qianjue once again suggested that Ie back.


    I looked at the grasnd all around me. The sun was shining, but I was feeling so much fear in broad daylight that it began to make me breathless. I had never felt such a strong sense of strangeness before. It was almost as if all of the grass here wasughing at me.


    "Let''s continue with what we were talking about yesterday, I said to Shen Qianjue. If you can tell us the rest of what happened, it will be a huge help."


    Shen Qianjue sighed, and I heard the woman behind her say, "I told you. All of these people will die on that grasnd, so whats the point in talking to the dead?"


    "Im sorry, Shen Qianjue said to me. My friend isnt very normal. Ill tell you all the details."


    I turned the volume up and listened to Shen Qianjue continue yesterday''s narrative as our horses walked on.


    After she retreated to the edge of the coffin and saw the information on it, she immediately knew that there wasn''t a human inside of it.


    After grave-robbing for so long, we hade across a lot of so-called monster coffins. The ones buried in these coffins werent people, but animals. There were also many strange things that we had never seen before. All of these things were collectively called monsters. But as it turned out, none of these things were in this coffin. Instead, the thing in it was even more bizarre and strange.


    When she looked at what was written on the coffin, she waspletely blindsided and didn''t believe it at all.


    The thing buried in this coffin turned out to be a dish, but the ingredients in this dish were very special. As soon as Shen Qianjue saw it, she immediately wanted to vomit.


    She began to realize that this octagonal coffin wasnt actually a coffin, but a food box that was meant to preserve an extremelyplex and cruel dish.


    The information said that this dish was called "Wanshi Liuxia (1) and it needed to be stored underground for thousands of years before achieving its best vor. The food box was full of children and a type of strange bird. The picture was indescribable, but when this food box was opened, the contents would surely be horrible.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Can mean something like Rose-tinted clouds at sunrise/sunset drifting through the ages.


    ****


    <strong><em>Not sure if you all saw or would be interested in it, but there''s a Pingxie exchange on twitter that some fans have set up. The link is here. Looks like you can sign up until the 28th. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 29: Demon Monk

    Book 3: Chapter 29: Demon Monk


    I had actually heard of this dish before, but I didnt know the specific details. I had only heard Uncle Three say that there was a dish called "Wanshi Meat" (1). First of all, it could only be eaten after it was buried in the ground for a long time. As a result, only one generation could eat it after several generations had passed. Not only was it extremely delicious, but it was also very good for the body and could treat some diseases, which was amazing. Secondly, you would know just by hearing the name that it was a meat dish.


    While Shen Qianjue was hiding by the food box, her partner was engaging in a chaotic fight with Old Bing and his team.


    Her partner was extremely flexible and lightweight, so from Shen Qianjues point of view, it almost appeared as if she were floating. Old Bing and his team had been flipped around several times, but there were still of few of them that had some skills.


    Shen Qianjue couldn''t open the food box by herself, so she pointed her shlight at her partner and started to run over to her. But in the chaos, she ended up tripping and falling t on her back. At this time, she saw a statue hanging directly above the food box.


    The statue was attached to the top of the underground pce and looked to be carved from one giant piece of wood. It was about as tall as two people, and the surface was now cracked and ckened. It was obviously a Tibetan Buddhist statue, but the Buddhas head looked very realistic. It must have been carved in the image of a certain senior monk. This Buddha statue overlooked the entire banquet area.


    Beside the Buddha statue, there were bas-reliefs of seven or eight nude maidens that had been carved around the statues dome. They appeared to be offering flowers to the Buddha statue.


    This wooden Buddha statue was definitely done in the artistic style of Tibetan Buddhism, but Shen Qianjue felt extremely ufortable whenever she looked at its expression. The Buddha statues face was just like a real person, so its expression looked very realistic. When looking at the banquet below, the Buddha statues eyes werent calm and desireless, but actually looked very sinister.


    Based on how this Buddha statue was positioned in regards to the food box, it was obvious that the food box belonged to it. Moreover, this statue mustve been the host of the banquet. But with the way the statue was overlooking the whole banquet, Shen Qianjue didnt believe that the special Wanshi Liuxia dish was its only food item. In fact, it almost seemed as if the whole banquet was its food.


    This whole situation was enough to make people feel very ufortable.


    Shen Qianjue believed that this Buddha statue was the statue of the person who had built this underground pce. But a monk being served by naked women and setting up such a luxurious banquet in the underground pce was very perverted.


    She asked me to believe her story and said that she had both expertise and authority in this field.


    <em>So, this lotus-shaped underground pce was built by a monk. Naked womenflowersdemon monkYuan Dynasty</em>.. I took a deep breath. <em>Is it him? Why is the worlds second most valuable tomb rted to him?</em>


    But if it really did have something to do with him, then everything we had encountered along the way could finally be exined.


    Fatty had obviouslye to the same conclusion as me and opened his mouth to ask a question, but I stopped him and told him to wait until Shen Qianjue was finished. I was afraid that if we interrupted her, the satellite would leave again before we finished hearing the whole story.


    What Shen Qianjue said after that was rtively simple. Her partner finally rushed to her side, led her out of the tight encirclement, and took advantage of the darkness to leave the underground pce.


    Old Bing and his team chased them out, so they hid on a hillside. Its worth noting that Old Bing and his team finally turned on their shlights at this time, almost as they didnt need them when they were in the tomb before.


    Old Bing and his men searched for Shen Qianjue and her partner very persistently, but the two girls cleverly used the terrain to hide from them. In the end, the group of men were finally forced to give up the search. When Old Bing and his team gathered together again, the two girls actually weren''t that far from them. That was thest time they eavesdropped on the group of men and it was also the time when they decided to leave the grasnd.


    Its not necessary to record the whole dialogue, but I got the gist of it with a few key phrases.


    First, Old Bing asked the others in his team, "You all saw it, right?"


    Yes, we saw it, everyone replied. We saw it after eating that thing.


    "Are you willing to go?" Old Bing asked them.


    Some of the people hesitated, but others nodded, "Were going!"


    One person suddenly spoke up, "There arent enough people. How can we all get there?"


    "Find someone and go together, Old Bing said.


    One man seemed to be rtively timid and asked, "What if we can''te back?"


    "When we get there, well try to find a way. Someone had toe back to write that paragraph, so well definitely make it back," Old Bing said.


    Everyone remained silent.


    "There are still a lot of people missing," one person said very calmly. "The number of people is very important."


    "It''s a pity those two women ran away. Old Bing said. Tomorrow, well broadcast the news about the underground pce here. When peoplee and eat that thing, someone will surely have the same idea as us."


    After that, they discussed some information, which seemed to have something to do with where they were going.


    It was too difficult for Shen Qianjue and her partner to hear clearly, but Shen Qianjue did catch what sounded like "Gbu". She thought that it was the name of the ce they were headed to.


    The exnation of Gbu in Mongolian mythology was soplicated that Shen Qianjue couldnt exin it to us clearly, but my attention was focused on the logic that after eat that thing, you could see it and decide whether you wanted to go somewhere. I nced at Fatty, who pointed to a mole on his neck as if to ask whether it was Shigongs mole.


    Would you see something after eating Shigongs mole? Was it "Gbu"? But what the hell was that?


    I asked Shen Qianjue onest question: ording to her friend, when would the poison kill Old Bing and his team?


    Shen Qianjue told me that it shouldve been within two days, but that couldnt be right. Old Bings corpse had been found in the first groveIll just call it Past Life Forest (2)which would take at least two weeks to get back to if they wereing from the Sea of ck Lights Valley. Old Bing and his team wouldnt have been able to arrive at the grove if they were poisoned. In other words, the day after they started heading to the grove, they would have all been dead. So how exactly did theyplete the subsequent journey?


    Of course, there were enough strange things going on here without taking this one incident into consideration.


    We thanked Shen Qianjue and agreed not to contact her unless absolutely necessary. Things on the grasnd were very strange, and now that they had left, they should at least be able to go with peace of mind.


    Before hanging up, Shen Qianjue suddenly hesitated as if she wanted to say something. But she didn''t end up saying it in the end.


    I hung up the phone as our horses continued moving forward. I nced at Poker-Face and felt my heart settle a little when I saw that his gaze was fixed firmly in the distance. He didn''t refute or add anything to the information we had just heard, which showed that he either noticed it long ago or wasnt worried about it. But he had just told me to mentally prepare myself, so I couldnt help but feel a little worried. I didnt even know what he had been referring to.


    Was it possible that one day, in the future, wed have to swallow Shigongs mole in order to truly understand what Old Bing and his team had been talking about?


    I was just about to ask him when Fatty suddenly said, "Mr. Nave, if this ce has something to do with that monster, then we have toe up with a long-term n."


    I nodded. There was only one monk in the Yuan Dynasty who would dare use naked women to offer flowers to a statue. If this ce really was rted to him, then it wasnt surprising that the atmosphere seemed so sinister. He was a Xixia native (3) who became a disciple of Basiba (4), a national teacher of the Yuan Dynasty. He was the first demon monk in Chinese history, and one of the royal feng shui masters of the Yuan Dynasty.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: "Wanshi" means "tens of thousands of generations"


    (2) Wu Xie called it Past Life because that was where Old Jin discovered the bones of his past life.


    (3) Western Xia dynasty (1038-1227) of Tangut people upying modern Ningxia and parts of Gansu and Shaanxi. They were overthrown by Mongols.


    (4) I wasnt getting results in English, but when I put the characters () into google, Drogn Chogyal Phagpa pops up. That guy was one of the Five Sakya patriarchs, the first Imperial Preceptor of the Yuan dynasty, and vice-ruler of Tibet. He lived from 1235-1280 (the Yuan Dynasty was from 12791368).

 Book 3: Chapter 30: Yanglian Zhenjia

    Book 3: Chapter 30: Yanglian Zhenjia


    Yanglian Zhenjia, a demon monk in the Yuan Dynasty, was a figure simr to Rasputin in the Tsarist era<sup>(1)</sup>. He was a well-known demon monk in history who would lie with zombies,mit adultery, rob imperial tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty, and drink wine out of a drinking vessel he had made from the bones of a Southern Song Dynasty emperor.


    His main purpose was to destroy the feng shui of the Southern Song Dynasty in order to consolidate the Yuan Dynastys rule. But his practices were very abnormal, so it was undeniable that he was mentally ill.


    There were also legends in the Yuan Dynasty that Yanglian Zhenjia wasnt human at all, but an ancient python corpse. That was why he not only liked female corpses, but he also liked to desecrate corpses, too.


    Of course, that book was just a dime novel filled with a collection of folk tales written by old Mongolians, so I didnt know whether it could be trusted or not. ording to the book, anyone whose life span exceeded the normal limitsay, for example, 120 yearscould be called an ancient python corpse. Many people had even said that based on the demon monk''s behavior, Grandpa Four was probably Yanglian Zhenjia''s reincarnation. But Grandpa Four would like to rify that he wouldnt touch a female corpse.


    Yanglian Zhenjia''s master was the first national teacher in the Yuan Dynasty. Not only was he proficient in astrology, but he was also very proficient when it came to the Manchu, Tibetan, and Han cultures.


    Yanglian Zhenjia was talented in feng shui and refined the secret techniques of Tantric Buddhism<sup>(2)</sup>. When he was in Jiangnan, he also learned the feng shui theory of the Central ins, which helped him excel as he learned from his master. But his master was somehow poisoned when he was in his forties.


    After that, Yanglian Zhenjia dug up the six great imperial tombs of the Southern Song Dynasty, which provoked the emperor at the time. Everyone thought that he was going to die, but then he suddenly disappeared.


    And now traces of him had appeared in the Sea of ck Lights.


    Did the emperor secretly choose not to execute him, but to send him to guard the tomb?


    At that time, many Han people and schrs in Jiangnan left behind information saying that they believed Yanglian Zhenjia had really robbed the imperial tombs for two reasons: one was to destroy the Southern Song Dynastys national support and the other was to find something. Since he had hung the Southern Song emperors corpses up and drained the mercury from them, some said that he was just trying to collect money. But in fact, the treasures in the Southern Song Dynastys imperial tombs were very exaggerated and mercury wasnt really valuable enough, so there was no need to make it soplicated.


    That was why they all believed that he was looking for something that could only be in the emperors bodies.


    As a matter of fact, I had heard my grandpa chatting with his friends about these things before. They all believed that Basibas poisoning and Yanglian Zhenjia wantonly excavating the Southern Song Dynastys imperial tombs and searching for something in those emperors bodies were all rted.


    They also felt that Yanglian Zhenjia must have been ordered by someone to rob the Southern Song Dynastys imperial tombs, but it was his own choice to loot them so savagely.


    I couldnt help but find it all very interesting. When the worlds second most valuable tomb was built, Yanglian Zhenjia and the emperor at that time were already alive. This meant that these two periods in history ovepped.


    I couldnt help feeling as if there was some huge hidden secret here that caused Yanglian Zhenjia to appear in this ce.


    Back in those days, Yanglian Zhenjia and the Central ins grave robbers once fought a secret battle to destroy each other''s feng shui. But because ground wind feng shui was extremely difficult to understand, it was said that the Han people couldnt figure it out. As a result, the Central ins grave robbers didn''t manage to find their opponents dragons veins at that time.


    When I told Fatty my thoughts, he said to me, "Wait, Mr. Nave. I think Ive got an idea."


    "Go ahead."


    "The tombs of the Yuan Dynasty emperors are very mysterious and have hardly been discovered. Thats why the worlds second most valuable tomb is called as such. But don''t forget that Yanglian Zhenjia''s boss<sup>(3)</sup>, the great emperor, was the most mysterious among all the Yuan Dynasty emperors. There are at least two sentences in the history books and some misceneous notes discussing the worlds second most valuable tomb, but theres nothing at all when ites to Yanglian Zhenjias boss."


    I thought about it and realized that he was right. Since there were no records, it almost felt as if the emperor hadnt been buried.


    I nced at Fatty, who continued, "Yanglian Zhenjia didn''te here to guard a tomb, he came here to build one. There may be two emperors in the worlds second most valuable tomb or there may be two tombs here that are both called the worlds second most valuable tomb."


    I touched my chin. Fatty''s theory was really feasible, but if that were the case, did whatever Yanglian Zhenjia was looking for in the Southern Song Dynastys imperial tombs have something to do with this ce? Did that mean he had robbed those imperial tombs in order to learn how to create a tomb?


    At this time, I felt as if this journey was just beginning and we had just touched the doorway. Moreover, we all knew that Yanglian Zhenjias boss was an emperor who really liked to eat a lot. Before he died, he was said to have weighed more than 150 kilograms<sup>(4)</sup>.


    It looked like we suddenly had an exnation for the huge banquet.


    Yanglian Zhenjia had an extremely abnormal psyche and his heart was unbearably cruel. If he had set up a mechanism on the grasnd, I figured that death wasnt necessarily the end. He wanted to ensure that wed never be able to reincarnate.


    I suddenly felt rmed. If this was the case, then Xiao Hua was in even more danger than I had originally thought. He had said in that broadcast that they had arrived, but Old Bing said that you had to eat Shigongs mole in order to go to that ce.


    Were they talking about the same ce? If so, then did Xiao Hua and ck sses already eat?


    I asked Poker-Face if this was what he had been talking about when he told me to be mentally prepared. Should we be prepared to stay here forever, or should we be prepared to swallow those moles?


    "Be prepared that no one can be saved this time," Poker-Face said.


    While we were talking, we finally returned to our camp. I felt a little suffocated as we stopped, packed up our things, and set off once more.


    I still hadnt collected my thoughts yet, so I remained silent for a while.


    I knew that there was no time to rest and that I had to move on right away. "No matter how powerful Yanglian Zhenjia was, he shouldnt be considered a worthy opponent of the Zhang family, right? I asked him. Why does the Zhang family consider this ce so taboo? Is he better than you guys?"


    Poker-Face looked at me and said, "Shen Qianjue concealed something. Last night was especially crucial. Our bodies are already going through changes."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916) was a Russian mystic and self-proimed holy man who befriended the family of Nichs II, thest emperor of Russia, and gained considerable influence inte Imperial Russia. He was assassinated by a group of conservative noblemen who thought he had too much influence. More info here. Theres a song about him. Wish I had as much energy as that dude in the video lol.


    (2) Tantric Buddhism is aplex and understudied part of the Buddhist tradition that is of considerable importance to the history of Buddhism and Indo-Tibetan cultural rtions. Info here.


    (3) The raw really had master (like servant/master rtionship) but I didnt want you all to get confused with his monk master (sometimes called shifu in the historical novels) so I just said boss. Hope you dont mind.


    (4) About 330 pounds


    ****


    <strong><em>Fun fact, Yanglian Zenjia was a real guy. Info here and here. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 31: The Zhang Family’s Magical Domain

    Book 3: Chapter 31: The Zhang Family¡¯s Magical Domain


    I had a hunch just based on the general clues we had seen so far, but when Poker-Face put it into words, I suddenly felt my heart clench.


    Fatty and I looked at Poker-Face and I asked, "What changes do you mean?"


    "Tired," he said as he nced down at my shadow, which lookedpletely worn out and exhausted.


    I nced at Fatty, who nodded, "Of course Im tired. Why, I just thought that I was the only one who felt this way."


    "But why didn''t I notice?" I asked him.


    "I thought that I was just getting old, so I had to try and hide it, Fatty said. But if you felt the same way, Little Brother, then I guess Im not getting old after all.


    Poker-Face nodded and Fatty and I exchanged a look before giving each other a high-five. <em>Great, its not a problem with us. But is it really a problem with this grasnd? Is this grasnd really sucking our spirits away?</em>


    Poker-Face shook his head and then pointed to his watch.


    "What do you mean?"


    "When the satellite phone rang and we went into the darkness to find the sound, about one night passed before we got back on our horses and left the area." Poker-Face phrased this as a statement, but he seemed to be asking me a question as he looked up ahead.


    I nodded, but at this time, I suddenly realized something and immediately looked at my watch.


    In fact, we usually didnt pay any attention to the date and just looked at the time.


    I looked at the date and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. "When did we enter the grasnd?" I asked Fatty.


    "On the third, he said. So it should be the seventh. Right?"


    Fatty finally seemed to understand and looked at his watch.


    "Shit!" He swore so loudly that it startled the horses.


    Today should have been the seventh, but the time on my watch showed that it was already the tenth.


    I looked at Poker-Face and he nodded.


    "When we camped yesterday, it was the sixth. So today should be the seventh, right?" Fatty looked at me. "Why is it suddenly the tenth?"


    I checked Fatty''s watch against mine and found that they were both working just fine. I was always quick to ept whatever strange incidents urred, so I turned my focus on analyzing what might have happened. I thought of all kinds of possibilities, which had me breaking out in a cold sweat.


    At first, I couldn''t believe it. Was it possible thatst night, the time we had experienced was different from what we had originally thought? So instead of twelve hours, it had actually been three whole days? That was seventy-two hours.


    <em>So that''s why I''m so tired today! The three of us haven''t slept for seventy-two hours!</em>


    But was this theory correct? I tried hard not to believe it, but I could tell just by looking at Fatty''s expression that this was the most likely possibility.


    But as far as I could remember, only one night had passed.


    After thinking about it, I immediately turned on the GPS and began observing the map very carefully. I soon discovered that we were very far away from Jin Wantang''s camp. ording to how far we had traveled yesterday, we shouldve only been a days ride away from Jin Wantangs camp. But now that wasnt the case. This definitely wasnt a distance you could walk in a day.


    I suddenly thought of the small grove that had magically appearedst night.


    "That grove didn''t suddenly appear," I said to Fatty. "When we camped and suddenly heard the satellite phone ring, a whole day had passed."


    "So when we rushed into the grasnd, shot the res, and saw the grove, another day had already passed!" Fatty buried his face in his hands, "Fuck! Fuck!"


    "As it turns out, weve been on the road the whole time but have no memory of the middle part of the journey. So when we set up camp, we were actually already by the edge of that forest. We thought that only one day had passed, but it was actually three days." I suddenly had some doubts and said, "Wait a minute. Lets not jump to conclusions. Let me see if I can figure it out."


    "Dont worry about it. What you said is right," Fatty said. "Thats probably exactly what happened." He then looked at Poker-Face, "Little Brother, is this how you felt before? Like your time has been stolen? You woke up and thought that it was still the same day, but in fact, a long time had passed."


    Poker-Face didn''t answer. I patted Fatty and sighed in my heart. I honestly never imagined that we would be able to feel the same as Poker-Face. Of course, our situation couldntpare to his since the time he had lost was calcted in years. But I never thought that losing time would feel so creepy.


    We had lost that huge chunk of time in the middle of our journey. What did we do during that time? Did we simply keep moving? Were we being controlled or were our memories erased along the way?


    My whole body was covered in a cold sweat, <em>this whole thing is really strange.</em>


    "Shen Qianjue knows," Poker-Face said.


    Of course she knew. She had contacted us from outside the grasnd, after all. She must have been unable to contact us and waited for several days. When I thought of this, I suddenly had a sh of inspiration and turned on my cell phone to listen to the recording from earlier. I listened carefully to the strange voice and realized that I couldnt me them for having reservations. I couldnt even me her partner for thinking that I was dead.


    That was my fucking voice!


    I hadnt noticed before because the voice was so hoarse that the tone was no longer audible. Moreover, that voices pronunciation waspletely different from mine. Although it sounded like my voice, that persons pronunciation habits werent the same as mine.


    During those days that we had lost, I had apparently been hoarsely telling Shen Qianjue to go back to the grasnd. But the thing was, the speaker wasnt me.


    "Weve been possessed," Fatty said. "Damn it, someones possessed us."


    I nced at Poker-Face. <em>He can get possessed?</em>


    I suddenly understood why the Zhang family had considered this area so taboo. The things that had happened here werepletely different from what we had encountered before. Not only was this a magical domain, but it also had something to do with memory.


    Just as I was thinking this, a river valley appeared right in front of us. It appeared that we were starting to enter the area where the Sea of ck Lights was.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''m over here like "Time Warp!!" </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 32: Nameless Snowy Mountain

    Book 3: Chapter 32: Nameless Snowy Mountain


    At this time, my mind waspletely chaotic as I looked at the valley in front of me and recalled all of the weak moments I had experienced before.


    To be honest, I wasnt the kind of person who always had a solution to everything. In fact, there were many times in the past where I had felt powerless. But perseverance was my strength. The flood of fatewhich I remembered very clearly even nowhadnt been erased just by living afortable life.


    But the sense of powerlessness I felt at this time was very special. In our previous adventures, we had rarely faced such strange unknowns.


    Had we really been possessed? And after being possessed, did we unknowingly continue moving forward for two days and kept using the radio to call Shen Qianjue and her partner back to the grasnd? This reminded me of those stories youd hear about "evil ces", which were certain areas that seemed to be sentient. They would constantly lure people to visit and then kill those who entered.


    Of course, I used to think that these stories were just pure fiction, but this grasnd was giving me the same feeling.


    At this time, I didnt know what to do or who to turn to for help.


    I was debating on whether I should keep moving forward or not, but Poker-Face suddenly rode forward without an ounce of hesitation. Fattys face was pale as he and I exchanged a look.


    "Little Brother isnt afraid. It''s alright as long as Little Brother isnt afraid," Fatty said.


    I went up and asked Poker-Face what he thought. He looked at the area in front of us and said, "If we go back, well die."


    I immediately understood. There was no point in thinking too much at this time. We had to leave the grasnd first before we talked about what to do since the situation might get better once we got away from it.


    The grasnd valleys terrain was slightly different from that of the grasnd itself. From here, we could see hills in the distance and trees starting to appear sporadically. They stood on the hills in clusters of seven or eight. Every time we rode to the top of these hills, it became more and more obvious that we were entering a more mountainous area.


    The horses were panting for breath, so we dismounted in order to let them and the dog rest for a bit. When we looked ahead, the first thing we saw were a bunch of hills. The trees were bing more and more lush and the words small forest could no longer be used to describe it. This was a forested area on the grasnd that could be ssified as a vast primitive forest. And off in the distance, we could see a snow line appear at the edge of our field of vision.


    This seemed to indicate that behind the hill, there was a very high mountain range that had snow on its peak that never melted.


    I didnt see a name for this mountain on the GPS, which meant that it had to be a nameless snowy mountain.


    The river valley only contained sporadic pools of water, which dotted the grasnd all the way up into the hills. The furthest part of the valley seemed to stretch deep into the forest.


    When I looked at that forest, I felt a chill in my heart. The trees were exactly the same as the ones I had seen before. I didn''t know what was in this forest or what was buried underneath, but if that huge underground banquet pce was in these woods, then it mustve been built along the mountain. It appeared wed have to take a look at the feng shui here.


    The pools of water probably came from snowmelt that flowed down from the mountains. They were all connected underground, but there wasnt enough water for them to appear aboveground. That was why there were only small pools in this valley. It was easy to imagine a big river flowing quietly in this ce when there was enough snow.


    I continued examining the topography and figured that there were about six or seven simr-sized river valleys stationed along the road to the snow-capped mountains.


    Maybe this was why it was called the Sea of ck Lights.


    As we continued looking at our surroundings, we saw a lot of small, colorful flowers growing between the mountains. It was very beautiful.


    The source of a river was generally called the dragons mouth<sup>(1)</sup>, and since there were a lot of valleys here, that meant that there were multiple dragon mouths. This feng shui was actually veryplicated, but the superficial knowledge I had learned wasnt enough to make any clear judgements on it. But based on how there were only a few pools of waterwhich looked like a dragon vomiting bloodthis dragon was obviously very sick.


    But what did the words ck and light mean here? They obviously had opposite meanings, but they essentially gave people the impression that the valley was shrouded in darkness to such an extent that even lights couldnt illuminate it.


    "Something is obviously pressing on this dragon vein, Fatty said. It cut off the water''s qi and caused the river in this valley to turn into spit."


    "Are you talking about the underground lotus pce?" I asked him. I couldnt help but think that it was impossible.


    "Of course its not that little underground pce, Fatty replied. You need a huge thing to crush a whole dragon vein. It must be in that snow-capped mountain."


    He started drawing a picture on the ground, "Suppose this is our present valley and theres an underground pce beside it, which is in the shape of a lotus flower. I guess the feng shui array here is called "water''s qi produces a lotus". In every river valley, there will be a small underground pce with burial pits or pits full of grave goods. It represents a lotus flower, each of which converges along the final water vein that leads to the huge thing in the snow-capped mountain. That thing is the lotus flowers'' root system."


    I looked into the distance and realized that Fatty was right. Even though what he had just said should be pure nonsense, there mustve been a behemoth in the mountain that was crushing the whole dragon vein.


    Fatty continued, "Wait and see. I''m sure that I''m right this time. I''ll even call you Dad when that happens. Care to take that bet?"


    I suddenly realized that he was sleepy and delirious. We needed to hurry and find a safe ce to recover our strength before we headed deep into the Sea of ck Lights.


    When we re-entered the river valley, the air was fresh. We were used to seeing the t grasnd, so now that we had entered the hilly area, thendscape was moreplicated and our moods were a little calmer. We stopped beside a random pool and the dog immediately fell asleep again. Even the horses couldnt stand any longer.


    The bags under both mine and Fattys eyes were so big that we could practically touch them. As soon as I realized that the situation wasnt good, I proposed that we rest here. It was still early, but neither the horses nor the dog could walk anymore. Plus, Fatty and I had actually endured for too long. We were almost in a deranged state and would soon get sick if this kept up.


    We decided to set up camp at the mouth of the valley. I had originally nned on having a detailed discussion before going to bed since I didn''t know what would happen after night fell, but I fell asleep before I knew it.


    I didn''t wake up until I had physically slept for at least twenty hours.<sup>(2)</sup> I looked around in a daze and saw Poker-Face leaning by the horses, keeping watch for us. I moved and suddenly found that there was a rope tied to my leg. When I pulled on it, I saw that the other end was tied to a threaded steel pipe that was deeply embedded in the ground.


    I got up and stretched a bit before turning to see that Fatty had the same setup on his side. He was still sleeping like a log.


    My mind was very stable at this time, but when I got up and washed my face at the edge of the pool, the sense of crisis began to return. As it turned out, people who were too tired would deceive themselves.


    When I checked our surroundings and didnt see any changes, I breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, this was still the same ce where we had set up camp yesterday.


    When I came back, Poker-Face was already asleep and Fatty still hadnt woken up yet.


    It waste by the time we all woke up and set off again, but we couldnt push it off any longer. After venturing further into the valley, it was some time after midnight when we saw a stone tablet lying at the bottom of a pool (Fatty had actually seen it when he was peeing).


    The stone tablet was as tall as three horses, made of white marble, and engraved with Mongolian characters. There also appeared to be countless marks randomly engraved on the side.


    It was the mark of the Zhang family, which indicated that this was the boundary of a dangerous area. And the ce up ahead was the area where the Zhang family felt that there was the most danger. We wanted to enter without any hesitation, but Ping Lian and the horses suddenly refused to move. Instead, they just stared at the darkness up ahead.


    I followed their line of sight and saw what appeared to be a group of people sitting in a circle in the dark. This seemed to be the same situation we had encountered in that first grove.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1)  directly trantes as dragon mouth saliva, but that sounds stupid and the pinyin wont work here, so you get dragon''s mouth. Just imagine that a river is dragon drool I guess.


    (2) I know that sounds weird, but he means his internal clock woke him up after 20 normal hours, not time warp hours.

 Book 3: Chapter 33: Sea of Black Lights

    Book 3: Chapter 33: Sea of ck Lights


    We tugged on the horses reins, but they refused to move. And when Ping Lian saw that Fatty wanted to throw him in, he immediately dodged and started running in circles. Fatty cursed, "Damn dog! You have no spirit of exploration at all!"


    Based on their expressions, there had to be something in front of them that they could see but we couldnt.


    I tried to look out of the corner of my eye, but the light in front was so dim that I couldn''t see clearly. Fatty turned his shlight up to the brightest setting so as to illuminate the maximum distance, but only a few very vague outlines could be seen. That ce appeared to be some distance from the stone tablet.


    We all nced at each other, gave up on the dog and the horses, and walked forward. After about two or three hundred steps, we could smell a particrly disgusting burnt odor in front of us. At this time, Fatty saw a circle of corpses sitting around a pool of water.


    Every single one of them had been burnt to ashes.


    There was porcinid out in front of them, and the ceramic figurine of a maid in the middle of the pool. This figurine was half in and half out of the pool, and the part that was out seemed to have been covered in oil and burned.


    This kind of burned state was something that we were very familiar with since we had seen it a few days ago. And now, it seemed that the same thing had happened here. Someone had set fire to all of these bodies and burned them to ashes.


    When we squatted down to get a closer look, we found that the air was filled with the smell of carbon and grease. The fire had caused the corpses torsos to twist and their mouths to open, which made them look especially terrifying.


    "This is another group of people, Fatty said. Is this self-immtion<sup>(1)</sup> or did someone burn them?"


    I shook my head. I didnt know. It was possible that the corpses had been sitting in their encirclement in the dark and someone stumbled across them. This person might have been so terrified at the time that they set the corpses on fire. But it was also possible that someone discovered that he was bewitched and used whatever free will he had left to burn the people around him before setting fire to himself. It appeared that even after Old Bing and his team had died, there were still teams finding and entering this ce.


    "There arent many people left for us to find now," Fatty said. "The people Jin Wantang hired are slowly dying off."


    I sighed and looked back at Ping Lian. It suddenly urred to me that he had dug up those bodies in the grove before. At that time, Ping Lian hadnt been afraid of those bodies, and neither had the horses. So why wouldnt they daree over now? It almost seemed like Ping Lian and the horses werent afraid of these corpses but of something else.


    Was it the ceramic figurine? I used my peripheral vision to look at it, but it seemed fine. I even looked straight at it under the shlights glow, but nothing seemed to be wrong with it. Fatty said that we should catch the dog and bring it over. When I told him to stop being so cruel, he said that he would protect it.


    After thinking about it, I didnt believe that the ceramic figurine was the problem. Well, at least not all of it. After all, I had been carrying a piece of that other ceramic figurine with me this whole time and Ping Lian had been friendly towards me.


    We went back to where the horses were and tried to pull them forward again, but they resisted with everything they had. In the end, we were left tired and sweaty. It was obviously impossible to force the horses to move forward the whole way, so we had to unload the equipment, divvy up the loads so that they were lighter, and leave any unnecessary food and water behind. We cut open the canned food and gave it to Ping Lian so that he could eat his fill first. Then, we ordered him to keep an eye on the horses and walked inside.


    When we passed by those charred bodies again, Fatty smashed the ceramic figurine to pieces to ay some of our fears. But I couldnt help sighing as I wondered if there were any more corpses further inside.


    We continued walking. The path leading to this ce was very long, but the terrain gradually began to rise. I looked up and finally saw the three Big Dippers clearly.


    This was a natural phenomenon caused by the refraction of ice crystals in the air and seemed to indicate that the terrain here was very special. This kind of situation generally urred with the sun and the moon, and was called mock sun or mock moon.<sup>(2)</sup>


    One of the three Big Dippers was clear while the two on the side were fuzzy.


    "Mr. Nave, Fatty said, do you think the ancient craftsmen who built these tombs used the buildings to tell a story? Do you have any insights?"


    I shook my head. At this time, I was thinking that it had something to do with lotus flowers and leaveswhich generally referred to paradisebut I hadnt actually seen the shape of the underground pce myself. It was only when I saw it that I could really determine what it looked like.


    Fatty had another question, "Then what else will we encounter before we enter the underground pce? List some possibilities. That way, I can mentally prepare myself."


    "We wont encounter anything, I said. The journey will be very smooth." Based on Shen Qianjues narrative, there werent too many obstacles along the way.


    There appeared to be some kind of presence here that wanted us to get so far from the boundary of safety that we couldnt return. And in order to do that, it wouldnt ce obstacles in front of us.


    I remembered that there had been a simr long journey to the Snake Marsh, and that many people were killed along the way. Even to this day, I still remembered it all vividly.


    Our journey that night went very smoothly. There were more and more trees, the water was clear, and our five senses gradually became clearer. Fatty used his shlight to illuminate the bottom of every pool, but we didnt see any more stone tablets. We did, however, see a lot of agate fragments beneath the waters surface.


    Fatty fished up several pieces, each of which was worth at least tens of thousands of yuan in the outside world. Moreover, the quality was particrly good, so he started bagging them.


    Agate was a kind of chalcedony<sup>(3)</sup>, so it wasnt unusual to find it in water. But the agate here was very good. Fatty sifted through the water and said to us, "This river is awesome! I bet well find more when the sunes out tomorrow."


    Sure enough, when the sun came out the next day and we continued moving forward, we found that the whole riverbed was full of agates. These agates must have been deliberately ced here, for the sheer number of them was astounding. Now that the water flow had been cut off and the river had dried up, there was just one pool after another. The agates on the dry part of the riverbed in the middle had oxidized and were covered in moss and grass, but the agates at the bottom of the pools were reflecting the sunlight like crazy. The mottled array of colors was just like a huge opal.


    At first, I was rendered speechless by the sheer beauty of it, but by the time afternoon came, I felt like I was going blind. Even wearing sunsses didnt help much. I felt like I was going to have a seizure if it continued, but fortunately, this agate river recovered its mild brilliance when dusk came.


    <em>I bet ck sses mustve been in a lot of pain when he was walking through here.</em>


    Later that night, Fatty was still determined to stick with his habit of checking every pool of water and eventually found more traces of humans.


    It wasnt a stone tablet in the bottom of a pool this time, but a stonentern<sup>(4)</sup>.


    This stonentern was actually just a statue of a strange animal holding a bowl full ofntern oil. It kind of reminded me of those kiln monsternterns from the north<sup>(5)</sup>. It was half a person tallmaybe higher because the lower half was buried in the sond the exposed part was severely weathered.


    When Fatty pointed his shlight at it, we saw that Mongolian characters had been engraved on it. I was really starting to regret the fact that I didn''t study hard before I came here; I couldnt even understand these important clues at all.


    The stone monster''s mouth was open, the inside seemingly hollow and dark. Fatty looked inside, but couldn''t seem to figure anything out even after a long time had passed.


    At this time, I was shocked to see Fatty suddenly put his head inside the monsters mouth. Hey! Are you a dick? Why are you sticking yourself into any hole?" I immediately asked him.


    "Shit, I know why this ce is called the Sea of ck Lights, Fatty said. Quick, stick your head inside and see for yourself."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The act of setting fire to oneself with a mmable liquid and willingly burning to death.


    (2) Can also be called sun dog or moon dog. Its an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the sun or moon.


    (3) Chalcedony is a generic name given to materials that areposed of microcrystalline quartz. Agate and jasper are both varieties of chalcedony. Agate is any type of chalcedony which is translucent, while jasper is any type of chalcedony which is opaque. Info here.


    (4) Theyre called tr in Japan. More info here but heres a pic of one


    (5) Looks like this:

 Book 3: Chapter 34: Monster Stone Lantern

    Book 3: Chapter 34: Monster Stone Lantern


    I watched as Fatty stuck practically his whole head inside the monsters mouth. The fact that we had been possessed for a few days and weren''t able to eat or drink anything during that time was probably why Fattys chin was slightly smaller. Otherwise, his head definitely wouldnt have been able to fit.


    When he kept urging me to stick my head in, I became angry. "Although I have a small face, Im not a finger! Do you think youre picking a nose or something? Come out first!"


    Fatty came out and rubbed his face. His hair was all messed up and his face was flushed as he said, "Well, I was trying to make out with you. Just hurry up ande over here."


    I looked at the hole and wondered if he was messing with me. But when I thought about the atmosphere of the past few days, I felt that Fatty wouldnt go that far. If he was messing with me right now, then he definitely had to be possessed.


    At that moment, I suddenly felt my body break out in a cold sweat. I looked at Fatty carefully, worried that something was controlling him. Maybe this thing hade here to make me do something dangerous, such as sticking my head inside a thousand-year-old stone monsters mouth.


    Fatty looked at me as I walked over to him. "Give me a quick answer: which of your feet has athlete''s foot?"


    Fatty looked at my expression. We had been together for so long that it only took him a few seconds to understand my intentions. "I only have athlete''s foot when I wear Martin boots, but I don''t usually have it. Mr. Nave, answer quickly: what do you eat to make you fart easily?"


    There was no such thing since my whole family had good stomachs and intestines. Heughed at the indignant noise I made and then we both nced at Poker-Face. We had never dared to involve him in this kind of game before, so after thinking about it, we decided to just forget about it. If Poker-Face was possessed, then there were only two oues: one would be like what happened with the "heavenly gift" and he would just leave silently; the other was that he would lure us into doing something, which we would discover immediately as soon he spoke more than two sentences.


    I put my head into the stone monsters mouth and found that the whole thing was actually hollow. It appeared to be the top of a particrly long pir, and when I stuck my head further in, I could see that the area underground was pitch ck.


    "Fatty, when you say you know why this ce is called the Sea of ck Lights, is it because it''s pitch-ck inside?" I asked angrily.


    "Your eyes arent good. Come here." With that said, he pulled me out, grabbed a glow stick, and stuck it into my mouth. Then he put my head back inside the stone monster''s mouth and I saw a bronzemp at the bottom of this pipe, which was at least twenty meters below ground.


    I''ll describe it again. The exposed part of the monster stonentern was just amp holder, the rest of the stonentern that was stuck into the soil was hollow, this hollow pipe went at least twenty meters into the soil, and at the bottom of this hollow pipe was a bronzemp.


    The sheer depth alone was amazing. I knew that it was impossible to see the bottom of this narrow, twenty-meter-long passage with just a glow stick, but I could see that the walls of this stone pipe had a few particrly smooth surfaces that had been skillfully polished. I could tell just by the light of my glow stick that these surfaces seemed to reflect off of each other like mirrors.


    But even so, the light was obviously very weak, so I could only see an unlitmp deep underground.


    "Thismp was ced twenty meters underground, which doesn''t make any sense. First of all, what would thismp illuminate? Even if the light could prate from deep underground, it would be extremely weak. It wouldnt be able to illuminate anything at all. Moreover, itll automatically extinguish as soon as carbon dioxide umtes," I said as I pulled my head out of the stone monsters mouth.


    "If its twenty meters below ground, its obviously used to illuminate the underground area. Or maybe its a feng shui practice? Is that undergroundmp meant to warm the earth?" Fatty asked.


    As soon as he said that, his expression changed and he said to me, "Do you remember that when we saw Old Bing and the others bodies, they were all stuck in the soil? And based on what happened afterwards, we inferred that they had done it themselves?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Look at how dark it is below. Isnt thismp showing them the way? It guides the souls of the dead into King Yamas underground pce."


    "If King Yamas underground pce is twenty meters below ground, then you might as well say its in our viges septic tank," I retorted. But Fatty said that those people had dug their way underground and this light was also ced underground. Maybe they were connected after all.


    Fatty had asked me earlier what kind of "story" the ancient architects were trying to tell. I didn''t have a clue at the time, but now, I suddenly had a bit of inspiration. Unfortunately, it wasnt clear enough yet.


    But everything seemed to be rted to the undergroundthe banquet was underground, people were digging underground, and thismp illuminated the underground. It all seemed to indicate something, but what was it?


    I put my head into the stone monsters mouth again and came up with another question: what about the carbon dioxide in this structure? There was no way to light themp, so was there a tool to light it from above? But that felt a little strange. There definitely had to be more than onemp in this ce. Plus, lights were usually ced alongside roads, so did that mean


    At the time when the body was to be interred in the coffin, the demon monk used some kind of sorcery. There were dead people crawling underground, and the people aboveground went to light these undergroundmps in order to guide the underground corpses as they dug through the soil.


    The speed at which these corpses crawled underground was very slowjust like earthwormsbut there must have been a lot of them.


    This kind of scene was just too strange to imagine.


    I didn''t find any more evidence, so I pulled my head out of the stone monsters mouth. After looking at Fatty and then at Poker-Face, I asked, "Little Brother, is this something we learned about before?"


    Poker-Face''s attention had been focused in the direction we were headed in, but he turned his head and nodded.


    What, do you know something that I don''t? Fatty asked.


    "In the past, there was talk amongst the eldersespecially Changshas Huangtudian<sup>(1)</sup> areaabout local grave robbers who used special techniques to lead zombies out of the tombs and aboveground, I said. Some of them would dig a fire pit a hundred meters away and cover it with an iron top. Theyd lure the zombie aboveground and directly lead it into the fire pit. Some were just directly led away. It was a very long process since it would take two or three days just to move one meter. After the zombie was lured away, these grave robbers would go down and rob the tomb. They said that they were taught by Taoist priests."


    "So youre telling me that these lights really lead underground corpses all the way here? But why?"


    "If we could read Mongolian characters, we might be able to find out. But for now, we can only move on and ask a more important question: where are these bodies being led to? Are they being led out of the valley or did theye from outside and are being led deeper into the valley towards that behemoth?" As I spoke, I couldnt help thinking to myself, <em>even though Mongolians are nomads, is it possible that they were also able to herd corpses?</em>


    This ce was called the Sea of ck Lights, so in other words, all the lights were there, they just illuminated an underground area. So, even if there was a sea of lights, the night here would still be pitch ck.


    After that, I put the glow stick in my mouth and stuck my head back into the stone monsters mouth again. But I got distracted and ended up dropping the glow stick. I watched as it fell all the way down to the bottom of the stone pipe and hit the bronzemp.


    I pulled my head out and rubbed my cheeks. <em>Its fine</em>, I said to myself. <em>Now I can take a closer look.</em>


    I stuck my head back in, wanting to take a closer look at what was going on below and see if I could figure out how the structure dealt with the carbon dioxide. But as soon as I stuck my head in, I found that the glow stick was gone and the underground area waspletely dark.


    I felt my heart tense up and immediately knew that something was wrong. <em>This kind of thing won''t go out so quickly. Why is it suddenly gone?</em>


    I pulled my head out once more and looked at Fatty, who said, "Try again."


    I took another glow stick, gripped it in my teeth, and moved my head towards the stone monsters mouth again. But as soon as I straightened my head, I saw a ck face in the pipe in front of me. It was a palms width away and seemed to havee up from the depths of the pipe.


    This pipe was twenty meters high, so it was impossible for a human body to get in it. How did this facee up?! Did it have a twenty-meter-long neck?! And where on earth did ite from?!


    That face had an extremely cold expression as it looked at me.


    I was so scared that I shouted and immediately tried to pull my head out, but unfortunately, it got stuck.


    At this time, that dark face was almost pressed up against my face.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Huangtu means loess (the yellow sandy soil typical of north China) and dian means inn/shop/store.


    ****


    <strong><em>If you all couldn''t tell, after reading this chapter, I decided to change all the "ck Sea of Lights" references to "Sea of ck Lights". It just seems to make more sense. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 35: Roman Holiday

    Book 3: Chapter 35: Roman Holiday


    Desperate, I wanted to pull my head out like crazy. It could be argued that my face was much smaller than Fattys, so there shouldnt have been any problems. But at this time, I couldnt figure out where exactly my head was stuck. After shouting, the glow stick fell out of my mouth again and hit the face below. The ck face rushed towards me without an ounce of hesitation, but at this time, a hand reached around my neck and stretched inside the stone monsters mouth. The hand lifted my chin as someone grabbed my cor and pulled me out.


    I fell to the ground but immediately got up to look into the stone monsters mouth. I saw half a face looking at me coldly from inside that dark hole. The glow stick, which had been squeezed out by this face, rolled out of the stone monsters mouth andnded on the ground outside.


    Then, the face quickly shrank back into the darkness.


    I patted my chest to make my heart beat at a morefortable rhythm and then turned to see that Poker-Face was the one who had pulled me out. Fatty, who was standing next to him, thought that I was messing around, "Is this the grasnd version of Roman Holiday?"<sup>(1)</sup><sup></sup>


    "Fuck off! Theres something underground!" I yelled. If I had a knife in my hand, I probably wouldnt have been so afraid. But I only had one face, so all I could use to fight back was my tongue and saliva. It was enough to scare me to death.


    "Youve seen the world. What exactly could be underground to scare you like this?" Fatty continued to doubt. "Youre such a brat. Is this your revenge for me flirting with you earlier?"


    The reason why I had been so afraid was because that face had suddenly appeared and I waspletely unprepared. All I had was that stupid glow stick in my mouth.


    Fatty still didnt believe it at all and stretched his fingers out to the stone monsters mouth like he wanted to put his head in again. But Poker-Face immediately gestured at him, silently telling him to keep away from the stonentern. That was when Fatty finally understood.


    Poker-Face and I exined that it was a corpse. It had begun to rot and the vitreous fluid in its eyes was already cloudy.


    If the corpse had climbed up that twenty-meter pipe, then its torso must have been shattered into meaty lumps. Or, it had no torso at all and was pushed up by something simr to a neck. Whatever the case, it was terrifying to imagine.


    I had a faint hunch that our theory was correct and the ground under our feet was probably full of dead people. It seemed that anything buried on this grasnd became evil.


    "If what you said is true, then we have to catch it," Fatty said. "Instead of going into the underground pce and encountering this kind of thing, you might as well use your constitution to catch one, Mr. Nave. That way, well be prepared and know what were dealing with."


    "How am I supposed to catch it?" I asked.


    "Come now, all you have to do is repeat what you just did. But pull your head out a little slower this time. When you draw it out, well grab it from both sides and hold it down. Then youll know what it is."


    I immediately became furious. <em>Like Id ever dare stick my head in again!</em>


    While we were talking, Poker-Face raised the threaded steel pipe, inserted it directly into the stone monsters mouth, folded it in half with one hand, and then twisted the other end directly into the monsters mouth. In this way, the threaded steel pipe was stuck in the stone monsters mouth, forming an iron fence that would block anything from getting out.


    As I breathed a sigh of relief, I heard Fatty say that he wanted to dig. "Digging is fine, I said. But our weapons arent sophisticated enough, mainly because Little Brother doesnt have a knife. Maybe we can update our weapons before proceeding."


    Fatty thought for a while and then looked at the steel pipe in his hand. Its true that were really short of weapons this time, he muttered. I nced at Poker-Face, wanting to know what his thoughts were, but at this time, I found that he was looking at the other side of the hill. Then, he suddenly dragged me and Fatty to lie down in the grass behind the stonentern, which was just big enough to block us.


    I was surprised and followed his gaze, only to see a group of people appear on one side of the hill. There were about three or four of them, and they were all looking around. Then, they began tomunicate on their walkie-talkies.


    "Its one of Old Jin''s teams," Fatty said after taking a quick look. "Well, lets go persuade them. Lets persuade them to go back."


    <em>How exactly are we supposed to persuade a bunch of desperadoes to go back?</em> I asked myself. But after giving it some thought, I said, "Lets just knock them out, tie them up, and have Old Jin send someone here to drag them back."


    Fatty nodded. "I see three, maybe four. Well creep up on them from the shadow of the hillside. Little Brother gets two. You and I get one each. This is it; were officially starting to save people."


    I nodded and was just about to move, but at this time, Poker-Face held the both of us down. Then, we saw those three or four people start waving their hands, much like a parking lot attendant directing people to reverse their cars. Right after that, a line of jeeps came up from the shady side of the hill. We counted them and found that there were at least two Cruisers and four Jeep Grand Cherokee.


    Then we saw even more peopleing up from behind the vehicles. After counting them, I found that there were at least seventeen or eighteen people.


    We all looked at each other. "Didn''t Old Jin say that there were only about forty teams?" Fatty asked.


    "Maybe some teams have twenty people," I said. "Or some teams merged."


    "Isnt that cheating?" Fatty asked. "How are we supposed to save them now? Maybe there are more than a hundred people in these teams, and the three of us will only be able to perform a crosstalk and return unsessfully."


    "We can only save those who want to be saved." I was no longer worried about it.


    I poked my head out again and took another look. I had already locked on the person who seemed to be their leader, so I picked up the binocrs and carefully observed that person.


    I recognized him with just one nce and turned back to Fatty and said, "It''s over."


    "Don''t worry, theres a solution for everything, Fatty said. Is your Wu family here or something?"


    "No, you don''t know this person," I said. After hesitating a bit, I added, "This man is an old enemy of my Uncle Three. Hes an extremely weird person. If Jin Wantang was even willing to invite this person, then its definitely an act of betrayal."


    Fatty didnt know who this man was, so he was very confused. I had a very deep memory of this man, but I hadnt seen him since I was eighteen years old. I didnt know why I was meeting him again in this kind of ce.


    After thinking about it, I eventually said, "I want to run. I don''t want to save this man. It''s best if he dies."


    With that said, I came up with a n. I would hide in the grass, crawl to the shadow of the other side of the hill, and then squat in the shadows until there was a chance of escape. But as soon as I turned my head and started toy down on my stomach again, I saw that there was something more than six or seven steps away from us.


    It was squatting there and looking at us.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Roman Holiday is a 1935 movie where a princess (Audrey Hepburn) sneaks out to go visit Rome. She meets an American reporter and spends the day with him. They visit the Mouth of Truth, where the reporter tricks her into thinking that his hand has been bitten off.

 Book 3: Chapter 36: Kill the Dog

    Book 3: Chapter 36: Kill the Dog


    When we turned around, we found a dark mass crouching in front of us. I felt my heart jolt, but then I quickly realized that it was Ping Lian. Did he find this ce by following our scent?


    But wasn''t this disloyal dog unwilling toe in with us? Why did he appear again now?


    Are you hungry? Fatty asked. "Shit, youre not afraid to die if youre hungry?"


    I looked at Ping Lian. I didnt know why, but I suddenly felt that he didn''t look right. He just continued to squat there and look at us.


    I couldnt exactly tell what was wrong since this dog wasnt affectionate with us in the first cewe werent familiar enough with him, after allbut he was putting us in a very awkward position. His location meant that the people on the hillside could easily see him, so I waved to him and tried to get him toe a few more steps in our direction.


    But Ping Lian remained motionless and just continued to look at us like a statue.


    I wanted to take a look at the hillside, but Fatty held me down. If the dog had been seen, then the attention on the hillside would surely be focused here and wed be discovered as soon as we stuck our heads out. Fatty started trying to shoo Ping Lian away.


    "Go y by yourself! Go and y by yourself!" Fatty hissed.


    But Ping Lian still remained motionless.


    "It''s over. Is this dog stupid?" Fatty asked.


    I felt that something wasnt quite right, but at this time, my heart was anxious and my mind was buzzing. So, I took out a piece of dehydrated chicken from my pocketPing Lian was close to me before because he really liked chickenand swayed it back and forth in front of the dogs eyes. Sure enough, Ping Lians eyes tracked the movement.


    <em>Damn it, you still want food after all! Why are you acting so stoic, you stupid dog?! </em>As I cursed in my heart, I located the shadow of a tree in the distance. The sun was so bright right now that the people on the hillside shouldnt be able to see if anything was in the shadow. I turned to Fatty and said, "When I throw the chicken over there, the dog will run into the trees shadow. Itll only take him about thirty seconds to eat the piece of chicken, so when he moves, we need to quickly follow and run into the shadow as well."


    Fatty nodded. I took a deep breath, aimed at the shadow of the tree, and then handed the chicken to Poker-Face, "You do it."


    But before Poker-Face could grab it, Ping Lian rushed over and aggressively went for the chicken.


    Ping Lian was normally very well-behaved, so none of us had been expecting it. But Poker-Face caught Ping Lians neck in mid-air and mmed him to the ground.


    Ping Lian was a big dog, but he seemed more like a weightless butterfly the instant Poker-Face caught him.


    Ping Lian struggled desperately, but his vocal cords were gripped in such a way that he couldnt make any sound. Poker-Face nced at me. I knew that the dog would die as soon as he exerted any force, so I shook my head. Fatty went up and held the dog''s hind legs down. The dog immediately recognized the absolute power gap and stopped moving.


    But at this time, I heard the sound of an engineing up from behind us. I sighed in my heart as two vehicles rushed out of the grass on both sides of our hiding ce andpletely surrounded us.


    We had been discovered.


    The people who had been on the hillside jumped out of the vehicles one right after another. They were all Mongolians who were tanned, very strong, and appeared to be well-trained at first sight. The person I didn''t want to save also jumped out of one of the vehicles. He wore an expensive ethnic jacket of the Mongolian aristocrats that had a satin belt wrapped around it. This belt was about three or four meters long and had a knife, a fire striker, a snuffbox, and other essories hanging from it<sup>(1)</sup>. Even though he was wearing jeans, his shoes were high-quality Mongolian satin boots. And to top it all off, he wore a Mongolian felt hat that looked very strange.


    The man was so tall that he looked like a tower when he got out of the vehicle. The reason why I had been able to recognize him at a nce was because he looked like Bateer<sup>(2)</sup>. Fatty seemed to think the same thing and let out an exmation.


    I couldn''t hide, so I took a deep breath and looked at him with a smile.


    The other party looked at me with a serious expression on his face. When he got out of the vehicle, he inhaled some snuff, and said to the people around him, "Kill the dog." His voice sounded very dull and was tinged with an extremely heavy local ent.


    The people on the side immediately came towards us, and I saw that one of them pulled out a shotgunthese people were armed to the teeth. He went up to Fatty and said in blunt Chinese, "Hold it down. Ill take it out with one shot so it wont feel any pain. It will return to Tengri."


    I immediately got up and stood in front of the man, "Wait a minute. I borrowed this dog. Uncle Jiang, it''s not your style to kill someones dog as soon as you show up."


    The man was surprised when he heard me call him uncle. He hadn''t seen me for a long time and obviously didn''t recognize me anymore. As he looked me up and down, I also gave him a quick once-over.


    My Uncle Three''s rival, called Jiang Siwang, shouldve been past sixty by now, but he obviously took good care of himself since he looked to be in his early forties. Before I turned eighteen, he and my Uncle Three directlypeted against each other in the business. When they first started out, one was in the north and one was in the south, so their nicknames were South Wu and North Jiang. But when Jiang Siwang came to the south to visit my uncle, he was immediately pressured by Uncle Three.


    He was of Mongolian-Chinese descent and should be regarded as a noble in Mongolia. He was always very ambitious, but Uncle Three obviously didnt care about that. Afterpeting with Uncle Three a few times, he found it difficult to go south, so he simply went back to Inner Mongolias border area. As a result, I hadnt seen him since I was eighteen.


    I remembered him so well because he used to give me a lot of money at New Years.


    He had a bit of a special past and his personality was a little suffocating, which was why I felt that it was unlucky to meet him now. The tomb we were going to was very dangerous, after all, and this person was extremely unsuitable for it. Moreover, the future we were facing was so dangerous that even I couldnt figure it out.


    He immediately recognized me once he got a good look at my face. I was certain that facial features like mine were something that were deeply embedded in his memory.


    "Ive heard of you. Are you Wu Sanxing''s son?"


    "Im his nephew."


    "Yes, people like him shouldn''t have any offspring." Jiang Siwang looked at me and then looked at the dog. "There can be no animals in the Sea of ck Lights. If these thingse in, something happens to them. You have to kill it. If you dont do it now, youll have to eventually."


    I looked at Ping Lianthe Wu family couldn''t kill a dog for this kind of reasonand said, "No, this dog isnt mine. I can''t dispose of it."


    "The dogs we brought have all been killed," he said.


    "Then they followed the wrong person," I shot back.


    Jiang Siwang looked at Ping Lian, exchanged nces with the people around him, and then said, "Fine, its your choice. Just don''t let it near our tents."


    I felt like there was some hidden meaning in their eyes, so I looked at Ping Lian again. His eyes were moving back and forth, almost like he was listening to us.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A fire striker is a piece of carbon steel from which sparks are struck by the sharp edge of flint, chert or simr rock. Its a specific tool used in making a fire. A snuffbox is a decorative box used to hold snuff (a scented, powdered tobo that you sniff or inhale).


    (2) Mengke Bateer,monly referred to simply as Bateer in China, is a Chinese-Inner Mongolian former professional basketball yer. Wiki link here.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''ve got a doctors appointment tomorrow after work, so there probably won''t be an update. Also, Anna put the New Year''s Specials and extras into a pdf doc if you want to download it (it''s in the Misc Extras Tab). I was wondering if you all wanted me to add them to the main book pdfs as well? Like put the first New Year''s Special after Vol 8, the Sand Sea extras after Sand Sea Part IV in the pdf, etc. It''s probably important to note that we''ve skipped quite a few extras while trying to get the main stuff out for you so the pdfs would eventually be updated after we get a batch of them donesome time (I''ve been putting a st updated" note next to the pdf/epub links to help you guys out). Just let me know what you all prefer.</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 37: Jiang Siwang Hesitates to Talk

    Book 3: Chapter 37: Jiang Siwang Hesitates to Talk


    Jiang Siwang''s ancestors had a very prestigious history. It was said that they once led the "Thirteenth Army of the Prince''s Mansion", a special army in the Northern Song Dynasty that only did two things: gold panning and grave robbing. Among the thirteen armies, eleven were gold seekers and two were grave robbers. Jiang Siwangs ancestors were said to be from one of these grave robbing armies. At that time, it was said that the cavalry was a mix of Mongolian and Han Chinese. You could even tell what this divisions style was from its name. In other words, there were a lot of people.


    After my Uncle Three disappeared, as the only remaining veteran of that generation at that time, Jiang Siwang began to infiltrate the south from Inner Mongolia. But right after he passed through Hebei, he met Xiao Huas group, who used all of their strength to stop him. In the end, he was beaten back to Inner Mongolia.


    Truthfully, Jiang Siwang was very a good businessman. He was genuine, straightforward, and surprisingly honest. After I heard the story of him and my Uncle Three, I personally believed that my Uncle Three was the one in the wrong. Uncle Three had promised to give Jiang Siwang some goods, but he ultimately forgot and ended up giving them to other families. He didn''t sign a contract and had only made a verbal promise, but Jiang Siwang also had a problematic character. My Uncle Three finally admitted his mistake andpensated Jiang Siwang multiple times, but because Uncle Three had broken his trust once, Jiang Siwang was unwilling to forgive him. He insisted on targeting our Wu family and said that our whole family wasnt good.


    My Uncle Two said that Jiang Siwang was very honest and opinionated, and the reason why he had such a strong opinion of my Uncle Three after the incident was because he actually admired him a little bit. He had been determined to work with my Uncle Three, but he didn''t think or expect that Uncle Three would be so sloppy at that time. Uncle Three had been shooting his mouth off and didnt take the promise seriously, which caused Jiang Siwang to suffer a loss.


    It really wasnt a big deal, but he just couldnt understand it. Even after my Uncle Three made up for the apologyter and my grandma went to apologize, Jiang Siwang still wouldn''t ept it. So, in the end, he began to hate the Wu family. And after that, he was convinced that all of his losses were because of the Wu family secretly working against him. It turned into a Wu family persecution delusion, and he started to harass our family like crazy. I wasnt at home during that time, but I knew that Uncle Two was the one who dealt with it. In fact, Jiang Siwangs harassment had gone so far that even Uncle Two became angry.


    Jiang Siwang really liked to make money, so although he only had a profitable area in Inner Mongolia, his worth was still amazing. In any case, he was much richer than us. I had also heard that to this day, he had a considerable desire to make money, so it could be said that he was the kind of person who only liked to make money.


    But the things he did were so bothersome that my grandmother had to be taken to the hospital several times. Even if this guy was an honest person, he was so extremely stubborn and determined that it would be impossible for us to persuade him to go back. I really didnt want to try that hard anyways.


    Jiang Siwang inhaled some more snuff as he looked around. Then, he waved his hand and his subordinates all stepped back. He looked around at the forest in front of him and said, "That thing is inside. Do you want to get it, too?"


    This was a dangerous question, so after thinking about it, I decided to avoid it.


    "Were here to save people," I said. "If you go in, youll all die. Theres something wrong with Jin Wantang''s intelligence."


    "Stop spewing nonsense, Jiang Siwang said. Then he looked at Poker-Face and spoke to the people around him in Mongolian. After that, he said to me, "Let''s go. You cane to my tent and eat something. Wu Sanxing should be nearby. Is it time for me to meet him?"


    "Hes missing. Hehe should be dead."


    Jiang Siwang looked around, sneered, and gave a particrly low but foolish-soundingugh. His voice didn''t sound very intelligent as he said, "Come on."


    I sighed, but knew that we couldn''t refuse his invitation at this time. Fatty let Ping Lians hindlegs go and Poker-Face released his grip, so Ping Lian quickly ran off. I threw the chicken off into the distance and watched as Ping Lian ran over to it.


    He had been too scared toe in yesterday, so I didnt know why he had suddenly appeared here now. I figured there was something going on here, but I didnt have time to delve into it.


    "Be clear-headed," I said to him. "Just stay here."


    Ping Lian ran to the chicken and nced back at me. I didnt know why, but I couldnt shake the feeling that he didn''t seem to be a dog anymore. If I had to put my finger on it, Id say that he almost seemed to be something else.


    The three of us got into the jeep and rode all the way up to the hill where the people in Jiang Siwangs group were setting up tents. His position was very high, so his tent had been set up first. As soon as we walked in, we found that it smelled like suutei tsai<sup>(1)</sup> and someone was waiting inside to give Jiang Siwang a new belt. When he wrapped it around himself, I saw that there were nine bronze mirrors hanging from it. They were all about the size of a bowl and looked to be antiques.


    These bronze mirrors had some age on them, so there was a very good coating of patina<sup>(2)</sup> on them. Most of the patterns seemed to indicate that they were shamanistic instruments, but there were also two or three Central ins patterns.


    Speaking of which, those Mongolians outside were also wearing bronze mirrors on their belts.


    "Theyre used to ward off evil. They were all given to me after the old shamans death. Theyre very powerful," Jiang Siwang said. "For us Horqin<sup>(3)</sup>, these are our Xutegen. They can protect us from the Ghost Lords harmful tricks here."


    I didnt understand the term Xutegen, but I had heard that the Ghost Lord was a kind of evil spirit that possessed people and caused diseases. It especially liked to target women and caused them to develop mental illnesses. But in reality, the term Ghost Lord really just referred to the unclean things on the grasnd.


    "Since you have nine, you can sell us a few," Fatty said.


    "You don''t need it. You have your own Xutegen." Jiang Siwang nced at Poker-Face and then poured him some tea. "Ive seen a temple in the south. The god inside is very simr to you."<sup>(4)</sup>


    Poker-Face took the tea but didn''t drink it.


    Jiang Siwang continued, "We can see the dirt on the grasnd through the bronze mirror. Thats why every single one of us is carrying one. When we go down into the tomb, we put a mirror on our chests and shoulders, so that if something appears around us, well be able to see it immediately. In my group, people who make special contributions will be awarded bronze mirrors. I have nine and the people below me also have a lot. Most of them are officers."


    "Do you know that almost half of Jin Wantang''s teams have died along the way?" I was toozy to listen to his nonsense.


    "Thats because you people are from the Central ins. Weve been making a living on this grasnd for many years and know many things that you don''t know."


    I thought about it. Indeed, there was thenguage barrier we had encountered along the way and our knowledge was very limited. If they were so experienced, then I should at least ask what the local people knew about the things we had encountered so far.


    But when I asked, Jiang Siwang didnt say anything. Instead, he merely said in an indifferent voice, "The Central ins people think that Tibet is mysterious, the rainforests in Yunnan are mysterious, and Xiangxi is mysterious. When ites to the grasnds, however, they think thats its vast and clean but monotonous. But in fact, the real mystery is that you don''t understand. The Central ins people are extremely ignorant when ites to Mongolia, so that makes Mongolia the real mystery. Up to now, eighty percent of the country is no man''snd."


    I had to admit that he was right; otherwise, we wouldn''t have been in such a mess the whole way here. He stopped me from asking any more questions and said, "Can''t you have some self-awareness? I asked you toe in for tea because I wanted to talk about what I should do with you, not to answer your questions."


    I looked at him. I wasnt worried that Jiang Siwang would kill uswith Poker-Face around, he couldn''t kill anyone at this distancebut I was really worried that he wanted to pester me like he used to do with Uncle Three.


    I decided to y nice and said, "Please speak.


    "Get out of here." He looked outside the tent. I could detect a trace of regret in his expression, but I didnt know why he had such a regretful expression. "If you walk inside for two more days, it really will be toote, he continued. Ill find someone to take you guys out of here."


    "But we want to save people. Our friends have already gone in."


    "Theyll never get out," he said. "This grasndthis ceif you die here, your soul will never leave."


    "And you still want to go in?" Fatty taunted him.


    Jiang Siwang''s expression was full of endless regrets. I felt a little touched by his expression and asked, "Uncle Jiang, what are you trying to say?"


    "Go back. The sun will soon set behind the mountain and the sky will get dark. How many nights have you been here?" He asked. "This is yourst chance."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) It''s a Mongolian tea with salt, milk, tea leaves, and water. Info here.


    (2) A green or brown film on the surface of bronze or simr metals, produced by oxidation over a long period.


    (3) Horqin (or Xorchin) is a district in Inner Mongolia.


    (4) I see Zhang Haiyan has been hard at work building those Poker-Face temples lol


    ****


    <strong><em>Surprise! My A1C was 6.7 so I''m in a good mood (I also got back quicker than I thought. Afternoon appointments are the way to go, I tell you)</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 38: Strange Ping Lian

    Book 3: Chapter 38: Strange Ping Lian


    It would be very difficult to understand my mood unless you were there at that time, because Jiang Siwangs expression was hard to describe.


    His tone was very light, but his words were very heavy. It had started out with me wanting to try and persuade them to leave this ce, but somehow, it turned into <em>them</em> advising <em>me</em> to leave.


    But in this case, one thing was for certainlike us, he thought that the road ahead was extremely dangerous. But he didnt seem to want to leave, so this was a bit of a contradiction which made his words sound unconvincing.


    "Can you tell me why we wont have a chance to leave after the sun sets? And you asked us how many days weve been here. Does that mean that after a certain number of days have passed, youll find some special changes here?" I asked him. "Your rtionship with my family isnt good and you know that we came here to save people. If you dont give me a convincing reason, I can hardly believe you."


    Jiang Siwang sighed but didnt say anything else.


    "If it''s so dangerous, why dont you leave?" I continued asking him.


    His expression suddenly became even more strange, and when he looked at me, I couldnt help but think that he seemed kind of gloomy. But he soon turned his head to look at the sunlight outside the tent and said, "We have a special reason."


    I wanted to keep asking questions, but he shook his head and then turned to look at Poker-Face. When he saw that Poker-Face was looking back at him, Jiang Siwang removed a mirror from his belt and handed it to him.


    After Poker-Face took it, Jiang Siwang turned to me again, "I can''t stop you from doing what you insist on doing, but let me tell you something. This is the wrong decision."


    "Some people we know have already left this ce and gone out of the grasnd," I said. "How do you exin that?"


    He looked at me without giving an answer, but there was a very strange smile on his face. This smile made me feel particrly ufortable and gave off the sense that something wasnt quite right.


    I didnt think he had lied to mehe just told us what he knew of this grasndbut his expression also showed that he had a huge secret that he couldn''t tell.


    The conversation couldn''t continue, so we left the tent. But aftering out, I couldnt resist saying, "Were trying to save people and youre here to make a profit. Theres no conflict. If you meet any other teams, can you at least use your satellite phone to inform us of their positions? We have to go down into the underground pce because I have to know where the people were trying to save are going. I don''t think youre willing to share this kind of information with us, so well just do it ourselves. But if you meet us in the underground pce, please be courteous."


    I was worried that once we separated from him, it would be apetitive rtionship where every minute counted. They had vehicles and a bunch of people, so they would definitely find the underground pce before us. And when that happened, they might start to destroy any clues, which would be very troublesome. Further ahead in front of this underground pce was the behemoth in the mountain, which was probably the worlds second most valuable tomb. Erasing any clues would at least ensure that no other teams could follow after them, but that also meant that we couldnt get in either.


    If we coulde to an agreement or at least be on good terms, then maybe theyd at least be willing to help out a little bit. But Jiang Siwangs face didnt show any emotion as he ignored me and turned to enter the tent again.


    The three of us left the camp under everyones watchful eyes. Fatty called Ping Lian over and then led us forward. "What do you think is wrong with Jiang Siwang?" I asked Fatty. Somethings not right with him.


    Fatty looked back at the hillside, and I realized that his face was pale. He pulled us forward and said, "Go. Don''t talk. Lets get away from them."


    I wanted to keep asking questions, but Fatty wouldnt have any of it and kept pulling me forward. As we walked, he looked at Poker-Face''s waist and said to him, "Lose that mirror. Get rid of it quick."


    I had hardly ever seen Fatty so nervous, so I quietly followed behind him for a while. But when we got to a spot where I couldn''t see the camp on the hillside anymore, I grabbed him and told him to exin it clearly.


    Fatty was still very nervous and kept looking back as he said, "Didnt you notice? Those people dont have shadows."


    I paused. Although I hadnt really paid much attention earlier, I didn''t really notice anything strange like that. And when I tried to recall it now, I couldnt really remember anything. But when Fatty suddenly mentioned it, it seemed kind of abrupt to me.


    "You mean, theyre not real people?" I felt a little guilty asking, because at this stage, I didnt know whether I should believe it or not.


    "I don''t know if theyre ghosts or not, but theyre definitely not human. Little Brother, we shouldn''t keep that mirror. There must be something wrong with it. Quickly get rid of it."


    Poker-Face pulled out the bronze mirror, which was the best-looking one among all of the shamans bronze mirrors. It was said that this kind of mirror was used in massages and could inject divine power and dispel pain.


    Ping Lian suddenly looked at this mirror nervously.


    All three of us found that it had beenpletely destroyed by fire and there were numerous traces of ash on it. Poker-Face wiped it and found that there was some kind of special grease on it. I couldnt remember if the mirror had been in this state when he received it just now.


    Fatty motioned for Poker-Face to ditch it, but Poker-Face shook his head, tied the mirror to a rope, and hung it on my backpack. When that was done, he signaled for us to keep moving.


    As I continued walking along, I couldnt help but feel a little confused. If Jiang Siwang wasnt human, then no matter what he was, he should know more about this ce than us. He had asked us to go back, so should we listen? And why were there traces of a fire on that mirror? I suddenly thought of the circle of burnt corpses we had stumbled across when we first entered this ce.


    At this time, Ping Lian suddenly looked behind us. But when I turned my head and looked back, there was nothing there.


    "Should we listen to him and get out of here?" I asked Poker-Face.


    He looked in the mirror and said, "Maybe they need us to help them get out of here. Maybe they can''t leave on their own."


    I immediately understood and felt my whole back go cold.


    Poker-Face also looked behind us, as if there was something there chasing after us.


    "Then what danger were they referring to?"


    "Well know tonight," Fatty said. "Those two girls made it out, so we can''t be worse off than them."


    This was the only way tofort ourselves now.


    So, we continued hurrying along with Ping Lian following close behind. Shitty dog, why are you suddenly so loyal now? Fatty asked several times. Of course, Ping Lian couldn''t answer.


    As the sun slowly set, a gloomy haze seemed to rise up from the ground. The temperature was particrly low, and the sky was getting darker and darker. None of us talked as we continued our serious march forward.


    <em>We should be able to reach the entrance to the underground pce tomorrow, but what will happen tonight?</em>


    As I was thinking this, Fatty suddenly looked at Ping Lian and called out to me, "Theres something wrong with this dog! Look!"

 Book 3: Chapter 39: Night Comes

    Book 3: Chapter 39: Night Comes


    At this time, there were already a lot of trees near us, so it could be said that we were almost in the forest. And although the sky was bright, our surroundings were already very dark after the setting sun went behind the mountain.


    It would be impossible to sleep tonight, so our best bet was to keep moving forward. At least, I was nning on doing that, but Fattys sudden shout immediately made me nervous.


    I could see the outline of Ping Lians body, but I couldnt see the specific details very clearly. Fattys eyes were special, but mine werent as good as his so I turned on my shlight and pointed it at Ping Lian.


    I immediately saw Ping Lian sitting there, but his back was ramrod straight. In fact, I couldnt help but think that he was sitting <em>too</em> straight, just like a person.


    And his eyes werepletely white like they had rolled into the back of his head.


    He just continued to sit there, looking like a serious old man sitting ramrod straight. It reminded me of those very serious portraits of emperors youd see in textbooks.


    "Ping Lian, what are you doing?! Fatty shouted. Who are you trying to scare?"


    Ping Lian didnt move.


    I had my own way of dealing with dogs and was just about to go over to him when Poker-Face suddenly stopped me.


    "Is something wrong?" Fatty asked us.


    I also looked at Poker-Face, "Did something happen?"


    Poker-Face nodded, took the bronze mirror off of my backpack, and pointed it towards Ping Lian.


    I immediately understood and moved to look at Ping Lian out of the corner of my eye (after everything we had experienced before, this had basically be a conditioned reflex by now).


    But I didn''t see anything.


    There was nothing reflected in Poker-Face''s bronze mirror, but as soon as he moved it, Ping Lian stood up and retreated far away.


    It seemed that no matter what it had been used for previously, this bronze mirror really was kind of useful.


    At almost the exact same time Ping Lian reacted, Poker-Face suddenlyunched into motion. He put his other hand to the ground, leaned his body forward, and then quickly elerated, rushing at Ping Lian like an arrow shot straight from the bolt.


    Dogs reacted faster than humans, and even if they werent prepared for an attack, they could still escape from this distance. I definitely wouldnt give chase, but Poker-Face was just too fast. The moment Ping Lian reacted and jumped up, Poker-Face moved like a cat and grabbed the fur on his back.


    Ping Lian struggled like crazy, but nothing could ever escape from Poker-Face''s hold if he refused to let go.


    Poker-Face held the bronze mirror up in front of Ping Lian and the dog immediately quieted down, his eyes now fixed on the bronze mirror. There was still no trace of his pupils, just the whites of his eyes. After a brief moment, he began to twitch. Fatty and I rushed over to help hold down his neck and hind legs as he began to vomit countless ck things that gave off a foul odor.


    When I illuminated them with my shlight, I saw that Ping Lian had vomited what appeared to be charred meat. It waspletely undigested.


    Fattys face was pale, "It ate those charred corpses."


    I never imagined that someones dog would actually eat this kind of thing. Then, Ping Lian began projectile vomiting what appeared to be fresh meat and skin that was covered in brown hair.


    Fatty lifted up a piece of skin with his dagger and looked at me.


    I couldnt believe it, but I still had enoughmon sense to immediately recognize it.


    This was horse skin.


    I felt my body go cold all over. As Fatty continued to use his dagger to poke through therge pool of things that Ping Lian had spit out, I saw brown horse hair on a lot of the meat.


    "Ping Lian, what in the world did you do to them?" Fatty asked him. "We told you to watch the horses. Did you eat them all?"


    Poker-Face motioned for me to take over, so I put my shlight in my mouth, moved over, and held the dog with both hands. Poker-Face moved his hands up to Ping Lians face and stuck the bronze mirror closer.


    Ping Lian suddenly put up a fierce struggle and broke free from my hold. The fur I had been gripping was ripped out, leaving me with a clump of bloody fur in one hand. Almost at the same time, he twisted his head and moved to bite my neck.


    It was a very close call, but luckily, I reacted quickly and fell backwards. Poker-Face also moved fast and immediately raised his hand and grabbed Ping Lians mouth. But before the dog could bite down, Poker-Face suddenly exerted his strength and dislocated his jaw.


    Ping Lian let out a series of loud whines, ran about three or four meters away, and then looked back at us.


    His jaw was hanging down from where it was dislocated, but he became desperate when he saw Poker-Face arrive behind him and hold him down again.


    I tossed the bloody fur from my hand and turned back to exchange a nce with Fatty, noticing in my peripheral vision that Poker-Face suddenly released his hold on Ping Lian.


    I was just thinking that it was a little odd when Poker-Face suddenly started rushing right towards me. I quickly turned my head and looked at Fatty.


    Fatty was standing just a few centimeters behind mealmost touching meand his eyes had gonepletely white.


    At this time, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and saw that there was a ck human head behind his head, but it was only showing half of its face.


    The distance was so close this time that I could see everything clearly. That thing was wearing the same kind of hat that the ceramic figurine from before had been wearing but the silk on it waspletely rotten.


    Poker-Face arrived in an instant and pulled me away, his strength causing me to fall to the ground and roll. When I got up, I found that the bronze mirror had been stuffed into my clothes and Poker-Face and Fatty were no longer there. I swept my shlight around and saw Ping Lian.


    I reflexively looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and this time, I finally saw the problemthere was something like a ck child hanging from his belly. Its position had made it really hard to find.


    Ping Lian was about to rush at me again, but then he stopped after only one movement and turned and fled into the darkness.


    I turned my head and saw Poker-Face walking over. He was supporting Fatty with one hand and holding a ck head in the other.


    "You killed one? Great! What is it?" I was just starting to feel overjoyed when my shlight suddenly went out. But instead of instantly being shrouded in darkness, it was more like the darkness rushed up from behind Poker-Face and enveloped us all at once.


    I couldnt see anything at all.

 Book 3: Chapter 40: Black Python Lotus

    Book 3: Chapter 40: ck Python Lotus


    The next thing I knew, I felt a pain in my eyes that prated deep into my brain. It was just like someone had directly grabbed the nerves in my eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut and rushed towards the ce where Poker-Face had been standing just now.


    I had to reach him quickly because this darkness was the worst state for the three of us to be in.


    But when I rushed over and stretched my hands out, all I caught was air. As I immediately started to lose consciousness, thest thing I could feel was my whole body falling into a sea of ck cotton.


    It was so overpowering that I was barely conscious before I knew it. Then, Ipletely cked out.


    When I woke up again, the sky was already bright. I got up and found that I wasnt in the same ce I had been atst night. Instead, I appeared to be in a forest on top of a hill.


    Honestly, this hill could be regarded as a mountain. It looked to be about two or three hundred meters tall and waspletely covered in forest. The trees werent tall, but most of them were European red pines and Mongolian oaks. Sunshine filtered down through the tops of the tree canopies, and as I looked between the gaps in the trees, I could see low mountains in the distance. I could even see the grasnd at the foot of the mountain stretching out as far as the eye could see. The mountain was very steep, and when I stood up, I found that there was only a narrow space to ce my feet. Moreover, the ground at the top of the mountain was sloped, so it would be easy to slide down if I wasn''t careful.


    This was verymon terrain at thistitude.


    I turned my head and saw Fatty lying on a bunch of fallen leaves beside me. Poker-Face was leaning against a tree on the side, quietly resting.


    <em>It''s dawn?</em>


    <em>We''re ok?</em>


    I cautiously stood up, grabbing the roots of a nearby tree since the ground was sloped and covered in fallen leaves and mud. Fatty and Poker-Face both opened their eyes.


    "Whats going on? What happened to mest night?"


    Fatty took out his cell phone and showed me some photos. I saw that the whites of my eyes were showing and I had been tied up.


    I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my eyes. As it turned out, the darkness that had suddenly rushed over me at that time was just my own eyeballs rolling into the back of my head.


    I rubbed my eyes and found that Poker-Face was covered in mud. "You and I were infectedst night, Fatty said. Little Brother saved me, but it was toote to save you. So, we carried you all the way here."


    "Whats the situation?" I asked Fatty.


    I wanted him to describe what had happenedst night, but his face turned pale and he shook his head. It seemed like he couldn''t even muster up the will to shoot off witty remarks like usual. "You''re better off not knowing," he said.


    "Youre no fun. Uncle Three was like this and now you are, too." I was fuming, but Fatty suddenly got up, grabbed me, and walked to the other side of the mountain.


    We had been sitting close to the top of the eastern slope of the mountain so it only took a few steps to reach the ridge. In fact, the western slope was only about three steps away.


    The trees were sparse on the western slope, so we could easily see the mountain on the opposite side. Even though that mountain was a dirt mound about the same height as the mountain we were currently on, it was very special because there was an amazing spectacle on the side of it.


    This spectacle turned out to be a giant hole in the dirt that was about four or five stories high and surrounded by trees.


    "What do you think of this grave robbers'' tunnel?" Fatty asked me.


    I could tell at a nce that this was a grave robbers'' tunnel, but it was just too big. Godzi mustve been the one to dig it. But the most amazing thing was that there were countless small holes all around this huge hole. There were so many of these small holes, in fact, that they formed a huge "holey" mountain.


    I didnt have trypophobia<sup>(1)</sup>, but I still shuddered when I saw it. There were a lot of trees on the opposite side, but the holes we could see were already very big. I was certain that if we went over there, wed find a lot of smaller holes hidden under the tree canopies. <em>Did this mountain be a ho''s nest?</em>


    As I continued to look, I realized that all of the holes formed a clear image of a lotus.


    <em>Shen Qianjues description wasnt very good</em>, I thought to myself. <em>This thing is different from what she said. Its certainly uglier and more shocking. How many people havee here in hopes of stealing from this underground pce? What''s going on with this huge grave robbers'' tunnel?</em>


    "Were in front of the underground pce," Fatty said. "Don''t worry aboutst night. Lets just get down to business."


    I looked at him. Although I was really intrigued by this holey mountain, Fatty''s words still upset me. "Are you going to tell me or not? I asked him. If you dont tell me, I won''t support you in the future."


    Fatty continued to hold on to me as he told me to look behind the holey mountain.


    When I did, I saw the snow-capped mountain we had seen when we first arrived here. Now that it was much closer, its magnitude was even more spectacr. The snow-capped peaks formed from the central axis behind this earthen "lotus" mountain were all ckI only discovered this now because the mountain had been so far away beforeand the mountains ridges were very special. One of them looked like a ck python that pierced right into the lotus.


    This wasnt something that had been carved out; it was just andform that had coincidentally taken that shape after it had been eroded by water.


    "In your opinion, what would make the snow on that mountain turn ck?" When Fatty asked me this, I immediately knew what he meant.


    Almost every single strange thing we had encountered along the way had been "ck", which meant that there had to be something very strange under that ck mountain.


    And whatever that strange thing was, everything that had happened here should be rted to it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Trypophobia is a fear or disgust of closely-packed holes.


    ****


    <strong><em>FYI, there won''t be an update this weekend. On the bright side, Anna has put "Notes in Rain Vige" and "A Thousand Faces" into pdfs for you. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 41: Last Night

    Book 3: Chapter 41: Last Night


    My eyes returned back to the holey mountain in front of me. It really did look ugly.


    The holes must have been grave robbers'' tunnels that had been dug during the previous dynasties, but I didnt understand why there were so many of them. If a grave robbers tunnel had already been dug, then most people would have just used it instead of digging another one. Moreover, the grave robbers'' tunnels here were so big that ox carts could fit through many of them.


    I nced at Poker-Facehe was still resting with his eyes closedand then said to Fatty, "Tell me about your analysis."


    Fatty looked at the holes and said, "If the leader wants to know, then I wont hold back. These Mongolian grave robbers are short-sighted."


    I gave him a light smack and he said, Ok, ok. Jokes aside, I think theres something wrong with the soil here. These grave robbers'' tunnels probably copse right after theyre dug."


    "Theres another possibility, I said. There might not be a tunnel connecting the tombs below."


    Fatty touched his chin and looked at me. "Isn''t this a pile of lunch boxes stacked together? What kind of burial method is this?"


    After thinking about it, I felt that there wasnt a basis for our inference, but these holes could at least prove one thingthis underground pce should be so different from what we were used to that our previous experiences may be useless.


    But why didn''t Shen Qianjue mention this?


    I knew at the time that she was hiding something, but now I was certain that she had intentionally withheld information. But was there really anything here worth hiding?


    Generally, people withheld information for two reasons: it would either hurt them or make things messy. I just didnt know which one applied here.


    "Up to this point, we know that Shen Qianjue and her partner are the only ones who went to this underground pce and made it out of the grasnd, I said to Fatty. So, it must be very dangerous. If I go in and have an ident, Ill never know what happenedst night. Do you have the heart to let me die not knowing that secret?"


    Fatty looked at me, looked at Poker-Face again, and then shoved some nearby dead leaves aside. I immediately found that there was a hole under the pile of dead leaves.


    When I squatted down to the entrance of this hole and looked at it, I smelled a horrible stench. "Last night, a lot of things happened, Fatty said. Ill have to tell you the story in several parts. The first part was when we were carrying you away. As we were running, something was chasing us underground. We were pretty sure those things were going to pop up out of the ground, so when we saw a tree, Little Brother carried you over to it."


    And then? I looked at him and asked.


    "Then, those things began climbing the trees. My eyes kept wanting to roll into the back of my head, so I had to keep pping myself to stay awake," Fatty said. "Thats why I didn''t exactly see what those things were. But they definitely seemed humanoid.


    "I was climbing slower than Little Brother, so when I saw that you had lost consciousness and I felt like I couldnt do it anymore, I decided to sacrifice myself to save you, Mr. Nave. So, I jumped."


    I looked at Fatty. He was making a particrly majestic expression as he looked at the snow-capped mountain in the distance, "Thats what brothers do."


    "Why didn''t you die?"


    "Little Brother jumped down, too. But I didn''t make a smoothnding and ended up falling through a hole as soon as I hit the ground. After falling straight down, I found that the ground here was all hollowed out and Inded on a bunch of things." Fatty continued, "I turned on my shlight and God, what a sight. I had fallen amongst countless bodies wearing ancient clothes. They were all a little fat andpletely wrapped up in moss that was covered in mercury."


    "Was it a burial pit?" I asked. "Bodies that have been embalmed using mercury are usually in such ces."


    "No! These bodies were all crawling! They were moving very slowly, but I could definitely tell that they were crawling like insects! Those deathly pale bodies and flesh squeezing against flesh were especially strange," Fatty said. "Then, just as I was trying to observe everything carefully and gather intelligence, Little Brother jumped down, grabbed me, and ran away. But the hole was very deep, so Little Brother couldn''t drag me all the way up and ended up having to drag me deeper into the hole."


    When Poker-Face was dragging Fatty further into the hole, something suddenly rushed down from above. Fatty looked back. At this time, his shlight was pointing to the area behind him, so when he looked back, he saw all those ancient bodies avoiding a bunch of ck figures that had just jumped down.


    Those ck figures obviously moved much faster and started chasing after them, incessantly following them through various passages. Fatty was confused and disoriented so he couldnt remember how many of them Poker-Face had killed. He only said that when he finally came out, he was on top of the mountain.


    After that, Poker-Face went back, pulled me off of the tree, and dragged me here.


    "But this little scene doesnt seem like such a big deal," I said to him.


    Fatty sniffed his body and told me to take a whiff. When I did, I suddenly smelled a strange scent.


    "All the soil in the hole has this strange scent, Fatty said. I think it may be"


    My eyes widened and I looked back at Poker-Face. He had opened his eyes and was looking at Fatty, who immediately said, "Anyways, we spent half the night in that smelly mud because of you."


    I felt sad for a while, but for Poker-Faces sake, it was really best to just let it go.


    On the one hand, I felt very apologetic, but on the other hand, I kind of wanted tough.


    "But we still learned something, Fatty said. I think those ck things are like sheepdogs. Theyre underground and are herding those fat bodies in ancient clothes."


    "Theyre really herding corpses?"


    Fatty nodded. "Basically, these fat bodies were buried here like some kind of livestock. They must have some uses, but I don''t know what those ck humanoid things are." He threw my backpack to me, "Don''t worry about it for now. When it gets dark again, let''s go into the underground pce."


    ****


    <strong><em>*Rattles cage* Wu Xie! Did you or did you not jump Poker-facest night?! Tell us, Fatty!</em></strong> ()

 Book 3: Chapter 42: Graffitied Warning

    Book 3: Chapter 42: Graffitied Warning


    We set off about twenty minutester. The mountain opposite us looked very close, but it actually took us an hour to reach the foot of that huge holey slope.


    During that time, there was a thought lingering in my heart that was difficult to get rid ofPoker-Face must have only rested for two hours so would he be able to endure it?


    I didnt see any traces of tiredness on his face, but he definitely had to be tired since he kept taking naps all the time. I just didnt know if I should ask.


    When we were halfway through our journey, he still looked perfectly fine while Fatty and I were panting like dogs. As a result, there really wasnt a need to ask him if he needed a rest. Moreover, wed have to rest when we arrived at our destination anyways.


    At this time, looking up at the mountain was even more frightening, and I couldnt help thinking that it wasnt a lotus flower at all but a huge ho''s nest. It almost seemed as if countless hos woulde flying out of these holes at any moment.


    We went from the foot of the mountain to the huge grave robbers'' tunnel on the mountainside. Fatty looked at the dark hole and said to us, "Comrade Nave, it''s time to use your talents. The choice is yours now: should we find a hole and go in, or should we dig one ourselves?"


    "Go in and have a look." After saying this, I took the lead.


    The grave robbers'' tunnel was so big that Godzi was the only one who could have dug it. The inside sloped downward, so it became very dim after about six or seven meters. When I turned on my shlight and continued walking further inside, I found that there was water on the ground. This stagnant water was very clear, so it must have been umted rainwater that had filtered down from above. After passing the pool of water, I saw a dirt hole that was very dark inside. When I swept my shlight over it, all I could make out were hard clods of dirt inside.


    This didnt seem to be a stone mountain but a dirt mountain.


    Poker-Face quickly cleaned himself without an ounce of hesitation. Our clothes were waterproof, so he washed off the stains on the outside and then neatly took off his clothes. After setting them aside, he quickly got into the pool of water and wiped himself clean. Fatty only took off his jacket and wiped his body with a towel.


    The water was extremely cold, so I wasnt brave enough to copy them.


    I moved to take a few more steps inside the tunnel, but Fatty told me not to move rashly.


    As it turned out, I couldnt actually move because I found that the path ahead was blocked. The hard soil inside had copsed in such a way that the hole was a dead end.


    By this point, Fatty and Poker-Face had already caught up to me. The whole bathing process shouldnt have taken more than two minutes, but Poker-Face had even washed his hair. I figured that his hands had moved so fast when he was washing up that they left afterimages.


    "Sure enough, as I said, the soil here may be quite special and the grave robbers'' tunnels won''tst long," Fatty said.


    I squatted down, touched the copsed dirt pile, and found that there was a lot of coke<sup>(1)</sup> in the soil.


    When I picked one out and illuminated it with my shlight, I saw that there were some metal things stuck inside. They were very smalmost like sandbut seemed to have rusted after going through oxidation.


    "What''s the matter?"


    I shook my head, but at this time, Fatty''s shlight swept over the tunnel wall on our left. We all saw that some graffiti had been painted there.


    I was pretty knowledgeable when it came to murals, but this wasnt a mural at all. Instead, it was more like a child had graffitied something on the wall. This person had obviously engraved it with a knife, and made sure the cuts were very deep.


    Examining graffiti was one of Fattys many talents.


    Based on how the paint was peeling off of the wall, the graffiti mustve been very old. And even some of the lines were so faint that they couldnt be seen at all. But fortunately, the painter had applied toner to these lines so that they could be preserved up until this point.


    The graffiti showed an image of a ck stick figure, which gave off the impression that it was a mural from the Stone Ages. But part of the mural had been crushed by the hard mud that had copsed.


    "Is this a remnant of the ancient Mongolians?" After Fatty asked this, he suddenly felt that the pronunciation of the words ancient Mongolians was very funny and emphasized, "Ancciiiient Mongolians."<sup>(2)</sup>


    "This is the information left by the predecessors who dug these grave robbers tunnels, I said. "Grave robbers generally don''t take the initiative to leave messages for others. Can you decipher it?"


    "The illiterate understand the illiterate, Fatty said. Let me have a closer look. You should go study something else with Little Brother first."


    It took a long time to examine something like this graffiti, so I followed Poker-Face to the other side.


    At the intersection between the copsed soil block and the tunnel wall on the other side, we found a very thin essible gap where the soil hadntpletely copsed.


    Of course, this gap was very long, and when we pointed our shlights at it, we estimated that it was about seventeen or eighteen meters deep.


    Poker-Face started stretching his shoulders and I immediately knew that he was about to do bone contraction. I couldn''t bear to watch him do it, so I turned my head away.


    But when I did this, I saw Fatty looking at us with a pale face.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked him.


    "The information on this is a little scary."


    "Dont be afraid, Daddys here," I teased him. "Just tell me what it says."


    Fatty turned back towards the graffiti and said, "The meaning of the first few pictures is very clear. These are a few people performing Qimen Dunjia."


    He used his shlight to illuminate several figures on the cave wall, but I couldn''t make anything of them. Fatty continued, "The guy who drew this picture should be illiterate, but if you look here, this little man is holding a g up. This is the warning sign of the Mongolian cavalry and I think it means that these pictures are all warnings. And look at the movements of these people. There are seven graffiti figures here all performing Qimen Dunjia, but the seasons of the trees behind them are different. Theres also a figure here, which is a strange thing thats clearly not human. But this thing is also performing Qimen Dunjia, just like those people."


    I looked at the figure and also agreed that it looked very strange. It wasnt in the shape of a person at all, but it had eyes and appeared to be in the shape of this underground pce.


    "I think what this person is trying to tell us is that all of use here because this underground pce attracts us. This underground pce uses Qimen Dunjia to seduce groups of people toe here at regr intervals," Fatty said.


    "What the hell?"


    "That''s just my interpretation of it."


    I looked at those pictures but still couldnt understand how they expressed suchplicated meanings.


    "How is this possible? Its not like the underground pce is a person."


    "Weve just been assuming that its an underground pce, but maybe the things below arent actually underground pces," Fatty said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) FYI, not cocaine. In this context, coke is a grey, hard, and porous fuel with a high carbon content and few impurities, made by heating coal or oil in the absence of aira destructive distition process. It is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stoves and forges when air pollution is a concern.


    (2) Doesnt trante well. The pinyin for ancient Mongolians is Mngg grn, so when Fatty repeated it, he said Mngg g g grn.

 Book 3: Chapter 43: Living Inanimate Object

    Book 3: Chapter 43: Living Inanimate Object


    I didnt understand what Fatty meant, so he continued exining, "Look at the simple strokes of this pattern. The underground pce has eyes. In fact, it has a lot of eyes." He pointed his shlight at the pattern, and when I looked carefully, I saw that it was true. There were so many eyes painted on the lotus-shaped underground pce that it almost looked like some kind of creature.


    When I saw that ceramic figurine before, I was surprised that an inanimate object could move like that. But now, seeing how this underground pce was painted, it almost seemed like it was a living thing, too.


    "Have you ever encountered a situation wheremon sense dictates that something is an inanimate object, but it doesnt actually seem to be inanimate?" Fatty asked me. "In ancient times, there were many legends where objects had been imbued with some kind of feng shui qi and turned into spirits, right?"


    I touched my chin, "Is the underground pce a spirit?"


    <em>If thats the case, then why the hell can the underground pce turn into a spirit?</em><em>If I fill in all of these holes and restore the underground pce, will this spirit appear in my tent when Im dreaming and say, "After a hundred years of cultivating, Im finally fated to meet you. I havee to repay the favor."</em>


    In the past, people usually met spirits like snail girls<sup>(1)</sup>, but the spirit I ended up meeting turned out to be an underground pce. Andpared to the size of the underground pce, I was the "snail" in this scenario. I couldnt even ask a Taoist priest to reveal her original form because the Taoist priest and I would both be crushed to death.


    "Why are you smirking?" Fatty thought I was acting strange because I was amused all by myself. "You can even smile like a fool thinking about the idea of an underground pce turning into a spirit. As expected of an architect, what you find sexy differs from us mortals."


    I quickly apologized and began thinking about the problem seriously.


    An inanimate object seemed to be alive.


    I soon realized that I had actually heard of something like this before. And not only had I heard of it, but it was also quite important.


    "Scorpion tomb."


    When Poker-Face was released into the wild as a child, he went into a tomb that resembled a scorpion. A man named Ma Pingchuan uncovered and tried to excavate the tomb sometimeter, but it wasnt found in the end. All that remained was a two-foot-long iron scorpion.


    The tomb ate the coffins of the nearby tombs and then suddenly disappeared. Although it was only a legend, it sounded like a living creature.


    Fatty pped his thigh. We had heard the story so long ago that we had both forgotten it, but once I told him, he quickly remembered it. He immediately looked back and said, Lets ask Little Brother to tell us what happened at that time. How could we forget about this?"


    Indeed, too many things had happened before and there were so many mysteriesespecially dispensable onesthat we had all forgotten.


    But when I looked back, Poker-Face was gone. I looked at the gap in the wall but couldn''t see what was inside, so I figured he had already entered the gap to look around.


    I didnt understand what it felt like to contract your bones. It had to be very ufortable, but I knew that he woulde out soon and help us find a way in. He wouldnt let us wander around this ce on our own and would definitelye out to save us when we were in trouble.


    I turned my head and continued to look at the many-eyed lotus pce, but it waspletely impossible for me to determine whether Fatty''s inference was correct or not. I just couldn''t understand what these lines meant. He was saying that this underground pce was a living thing that was using Qimen Dunjia to attract people to this valley.


    It was a bit nonsensical but I still found it a little scary.


    "Lotus and scorpion" I scratched my head. Lotus flowers and scorpions had very concrete meanings in Tibet, so there were some ideas floating around in my head that were itching to be connected (I may have also just been infested with Ping Lians fleas).


    Scorpions had two meanings in Tibet. The first was to exorcise evil spirits. Scorpions, especially iron scorpions, were Guru Rinpoches<sup>(2)</sup> magical weapon. The angry Guru Rinpoche would use iron scorpions to exorcise demons and ghosts. The second meaning was "Lu", which meant dragon. Dragons had very strong protective instincts, and since scorpions were a type of dragon, they were also used to represent this.


    Lotus flowers also had two meanings in Tibet. One was qualification, which was the qualification to start cultivating. The other was that of the end, which was the end point of cultivation when you achieved enlightenment.


    Tibetan Buddhism prevailed in Mongolia at that time, but I didnt know whether this was far-fetched thinking on my part or if it was really rted to these two underground pces.


    Poker-Face''s journey at that time had started from the scorpion tomb and now we were facing a lotus tomb. It was giving me an uneasy feeling.


    I didnt know what his specific situation had been like in the scorpion tomb, but now he was facing an underground pce that represented an end pointI didnt like the associations it brought to mind.


    There was more information behind the pile of copsed mud so Fatty tried to pull some of it away, but I quickly stopped him. I had a hunch about the mechanics of this structure and knew that the mud here couldnt move. Poker-Face was walking through the gap, so if the mud moved and ended up blocking it, he may be trapped to death.


    So, the two of us had nothing to do. I listened to Xiao Hua''s broadcast again on the satellite phone, but there werent any changes. In fact, the hidden anxiety in my heart had reached a critical level. Although I hadnt said anything along the way, I knew in my heart that it had taken us too long to get here because we had encountered too many obstacles. Now I could only pray that ck sses and Xiao Hua were still acting normally.


    Fatty and I didn''t dare leave either since crevice exploration was more dangerous than cave diving. I asked him to keep watch while I went to the pool outside to clean myself up.


    The water was so cold that I was shivering as I hurriedly washed up, but at this time, I suddenly looked up and saw Ping Lian appear above me at the mouth of the hole.


    His jaw was still hanging down, which looked very painful, but he seemed to be all right. He rushed at me and shook his jaw, almost like he was asking me for help.


    His eyes were normal, and when I looked at his belly, I found that there was nothing there. I petted him and said to myself, <em>youre lucky</em>. I took a sip of water, grabbed his jaw, and fiercely sprayed the water on his face. As soon as he shrank back, I pressed his jaw back in ce.


    He shook fiercely and whimpered a few times, but when he found that he was healed, he immediately ran away and began drinking some water.


    I sat by the water''s edge and pointed my shlight at him, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the water. Since it was facing me, I could see in the ripples that what was actually reflected back was a human face. It wasnt drinking the water at all and was just looking at me coldly.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Theres a legend about a snail girl here. In China today, people used the words snail girl for people who take care of cooking and other household chores.


    (2) Legendary Indian Buddhist mystic who introduced Tantric Buddhism to Tibet and who is credited with establishing the first Buddhist monastery there. Info here and pic here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Looks like the "Heavenly Pce" drama is gonna drop soon (about time). Considering I saw Xiuxiu and Xiao Hua on the character list, it''s probably going to wildly diverge from the books like all the others the author had a hand in *sigh* but hey, at least we get the same Fatty from Season 2 (my personal fave). </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter

    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.<sup>(1)</sup>


    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

 Book 3: Chapter 45: Corpse Country Boundary Marker

    Book 3: Chapter 45: Corpse Country Boundary Marker


    I originally suspected that we werent following the same route that Shen Qianjue had taken. This doubt still existed since there were so many river valleys here, and I couldnt help wondering if we had taken the wrong entrance when we came to this ce.


    But if we had been walking in the same valley that Shen Qianjue had gone through, then her journey with Old Bing definitely wouldnt have been as smooth as she had said.


    This meant that she must have concealed the difficulties they went through, as well as their strength.


    But why? I could understand hiding their strength. Her partner sounded very powerful, so maybe they didnt want to get involved in too many worldly affairs and decided that it was best not to attract our attention. But why conceal the difficulties they went through?


    Logically speaking, the reasons for concealing the difficulties they had gone through could be enumerated:


    1. She didn''t want me to know what difficulties and dangersy on the road so that we would underestimate the enemy. (I didnt think this was a usible reason because she actually gave us a slight hint of the danger we could expect. In essence, Shen Qianjue wanted us to leave the grasnd.)


    2. She didnt dare say it.


    I was leaning more towards the second one, because in that brief moment before she hung up the phone, she seemed like she wanted to say something but hesitated.


    I no longer failed to tell the difference between good and bad people, so there was no doubt in my mind that Shen Qianjue was a good person. She wanted to speak up but didn''t say anything in the end, which meant that she was afraid to say it.


    If so many things hadn''t happened before, I wouldn''t feel so afraid, but now I actually felt really scared as I thought about what she was afraid of. But she was out of the grasnd now and should absolutely be safe.


    There were two possibilities for why she might have been so hesitant to talk. First, there was a dangerous thing that could hear us talking. This kind of thing could threaten them even if they had made it out of the grasnd, so she could only provide us with very limited information.


    Or, they didn''t leave the grasnd at all. Maybe they had died here and we were talking to a pair of ghosts.


    If that was the case, then they were probably under the control of some kind of force that was making them tell us all that information. But they couldnt tell us the truth, so that was why she said the journey was so uneventful.


    As I thought about it, I began to realize how ridiculous it was that I was seriously entertaining the idea that there were ghosts here. Admittedly, I did recognize the possibility that ghosts existed, but it was basically impossible for ghosts tomunicate so freely with people.


    It was more likely to be the first situation, but that just creeped me out even more. If Shen Qianjue was still afraid of that force after leaving the grasnd, then what was it? And why couldnt she tell us everything that had happened on the road?


    Of course, I would know the answer soon enough.


    When we went back to the tunnel, I told Poker-Face about the face in the pool. He checked the bottom of the pool and told us that it was very soft and there were a lot of holes so wed have to be very careful. I looked everywhere for Ping Lian, but didn''t know where he went. The sun was starting to set, and I knew that when that happened, this ce would quickly be dark.


    And once night fell, there was a chance wed face another unknown situation. The night here was strange and unusual, so it was time to make a quick decision.


    After the three of us discussed it, we decided to find the strongest grave robbers'' tunnel in this ce. We would then dig out the copsedyer, cut some branches from the trees outside to make a support structure, and move forward carefully.


    We didnt dare dig another grave robbers'' tunnel like the others because I felt that there were too many holes here. The entire structural integrity of the soil had beenpletelypromised, so if we dug any more holes, the whole mountain might copse.


    So, we found a grave robbers'' tunnel that all three of us felt was the sturdiest. The hole was about half a persons height, so we crawled in, reached the copsed section of the tunnel, and then started digging.


    The three of us took turns digging, managing to shovel the soil out quickly since we were all veterans. Fatty cut branches outside for our support structure, so the tunnel didn''t copse again.


    We soon dug up a stone b, so I knew that the grave robbers'' tunnel turned here. I couldnt tell what the external structure of the underground pce was from this stone b, but it didnt have a breach, so we couldnt go any further.


    We explored up, down, left, and right before we figured out that the tunnel turned to the right. After that, we continued digging to the right for a while before we finally bypassed the stone b.


    It was at this time that I suddenly realized that it wasnt a stone b but a stone tablet. Moreover, there were Chinese characters on this stone tablet.


    I immediately stopped and took a closer look with my shlight.


    Because we didnt dare clear out the soil around the top and bottom of the stone tablet, we could only see a small bit of text in the space that had already been cleared out. The text had been carved vertically, so the sentences were cut off pretty badly. As a result, we could only read it section by section and guess the meaning of the top and bottom parts. Fatty looked at it and said, "This is a boundary marker. It says that people will reach Corpse Country after they go past this boundary marker."

 Book 3: Chapter 46: Corpse Country’s Underground Banquet

    Book 3: Chapter 46: Corpse Country¡¯s Underground Banquet


    The four words Corpse Country boundary marker were actually in two different columns, but Fatty forced them together when he read them aloud so they sounded a little childish.


    The two Chinese characters for Corpse Country had obviously been engraved on the stone b, and the sentences before and after them were: dig an opening to the east and lead the corpses to surround it so that it bes the Corpse Country''s city".


    ording to my understanding of ancient Chinese writing styles, this word was almost never used, so it must not be a specific noun but more of an adjective. The former corpse character referred to real corpses, while there was a certain possibility that thetter corpse character meant something like "existing but not ying a role". So, Corpse Country was a country that existed but didnt have any practical significance.


    But there had been cases where epitaphs sometimes referred to tombs as countries. I vaguely remembered that there had been a tomb owner who had the opportunity to be the leader of a vassal state, but his ambition wasnt realized in the end. So, he imed that the area where his tomb was located was a country, which he would enjoy after death. We had seen some miniature y sculptures of a city in that tomb, along with y figurines ofmon people that were only the size of a thumb. The figures in the murals were also very small so that he could paint a vast territory on the walls of his small tomb.


    There was a very big secret in that tomb. I had gone down with an archaeological team, but I didn''t look inside the coffin when it was opened, so I didnt know who the tomb owner was or what the secret was.


    But in any case, a miniature world with a vast territory was just sad.


    Aftering all this way, we had <em>finally</em> encountered some Chinese characters, so I figured we should continue digging the stone tablet out. Our predecessors may have been obsessed with money, but we were more concerned with gathering intelligence and saving our own lives. I tried to dig the stone tablet out, but found that the soilyers above and below were in a very critical state. As a result, I had no choice but to give up.


    We continued moving forward, the process almost the same as mine clearance. We could fling the soil out whenever we encountered a rtively solid ce, but when we encountered a ce with particrly soft soil, we had to gently dig like we were cleaning out the mountains ears. As soon as we managed to create a passable space, we started reinforcing the tunnel with tree branches.


    My attention was so extremely focused at this time that it was like I had the professional brilliance of a construction worker. Although my knowledge of mechanics could be considered average, when it came to simple reinforcements, I could quickly figure out whether our safety was guaranteed or not.


    Finally, at around three o''clock in the morning, the entrance to the underground pce appeared in front of us.


    The entrance turned out to be a rock wall that had been destroyed at some point. We were probably at the core of the mountain, and the underground pce was an artificial cave that had been dug out of the rock. Now there was a dog hole leading into this cave that was filled with soft soil. After we cleared it away, the entrance was fully revealed. It was dark inside and the temperature was very low.


    No matter how many times I had gone through this, I still got goosebumps. It didnt even matter that I knew a bunch of people had already been in this underground pce before.


    From behind me, Poker-Face lit a re and tossed it through the entrance. The re ended up falling, which meant that there was a bit of a drop from the entrance to the floor of this underground pce. I listened to the sound of itnding and figured that it was about six or seven meters, which wasnt a huge problem. I threw one end of the rope to Fatty, watched him tie it around his waist, and then poked my head through the hole.


    The first thing I did was look around with my shlight. This underground pce was very big, and I could see a lot of things illuminated in my shlights glow. Sure enough, there really were tables full of people, just like a banquet. The re below was still burning, so I could see that the ground was made up of te.


    This was definitely the underground pce that Shen Qianjue had mentioned.


    I used the rope to lower myself down. The ce where I settled was full of murals, so I tried to step on the spots where the murals had already fallen off. When Inded on the ground, I immediately turned my shlight to its highest setting and looked around. I saw a very tall structure that looked like an archway or hengmen<sup>(1)</sup> standing on the central axis of the whole hall.


    The banquet was taking ce behind this archway, the scale sorge that my shlights beam was filled with countless ceramic figurines.


    Even the square area outside the archway was filled with all kinds of ceramic maids, dancers, attendants, and hundreds of opera figurines in strange outfits. They seemed to be resting as they waited to receive orders, which created an extremely vivid scene. If all of these people were really living, I was certain that Id also like to drink in such a good atmosphere.


    There was a huge que on the archway that had three words carved on it: Corpse Country Banquet.


    Fatty copied me and also came down cautiously while Poker-Face just jumped down directly. Hended without a sound, so I wasnt even aware that he hade down yet when he suddenly appeared in my shlights glow and scared me.


    This underground pce had a very high ceiling and was surrounded by extremely exquisite murals. And just as Shen Qianjue had said, there werent any other rooms. This entire underground pce was just one huge wide-open space.


    I noticed that the murals were well preserved, so I figured they had to contain a lot of hidden information. I believed from the bottom of my heart that everything we had experienced so far would be unveiled in this underground pce.


    We didnt dare rush to the other side of the archway because I clearly sensed a special feelinging from the other side. Moreover, the visibility over there seemed to be slightly lower than where we were currently standing.


    I wanted to turn around and look at the murals on our side first, but Fatty tapped me on the shoulder and showed me some of the figurines. I pointed my shlight at them and saw that some of those figurines had been marked with lipstick.


    The lipstick marks I had seen on that figurine in the grove were iplete, but they should have been the work of Shen Qianjue and her partner. And now that the ones I was looking at wereplete, I could tell that they seemed somewhat simr to the pattern formed by sliding three fingers through sand at the same time.


    This appeared to be their own symbol. I didnt know what it meant, but it was probably something simple like "this is valuable".


    "This is the end point," I said to Fatty. "All of our clues led to this underground pce. So, where did those who are still alive go after they entered this underground pce? Whether we can find the clue pointing to this information depends on how meticulous we are."


    Xiao Hua and the others must have been here already. Some moved on while most of them died here.


    I began using my peripheral vision to look at the darkness nearby. When I found that it was fine and surprisingly clean, I turned to look at the murals I wanted to check out just now.


    I still looked straight at it the first time, but then I immediately looked at it out of the corner of my eye. This was an unconscious move on my part, but I took a deep breath when I realized that the two images I saw before and after I used my peripheral vision had definitely changed.


    Assuming that there were twelve people depicted on the mural when you looked straight at it, there appeared to be thirteen when you used your peripheral vision. This extra person couldnt be seen when you looked straight at the mural, but his appearance made the meaning of the whole thingpletely different.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Architectural style from early in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC). Its basically two vertical pirs supporting one horizontal beam or b. Just think of it like a gate:

 Book 3: Chapter 47: Imperial Tomb Dancers

    Book 3: Chapter 47: Imperial Tomb Dancers


    The wall where we came down was six meters high, extended out on both sides, and was nearly thirty meters wide. Except for the entrance blocked by the Diamond Wall that was as big as a giant lunch box, the rest of the wall was covered in murals. There wasnt even an inch of nk space on it.


    The oxidation on the murals had stopped, so the colors were still very vibrant. And based on the hues, it could be inferred that the colors used back then were extremely bold. The painters had picked absolutely gorgeous colors and knew how to contrast them well despite the fact that huge murals could really put people under a lot of pressure.


    But the paint on murals would always ke off with the passage of time. Of course, there were some holes in them that had been made by grave robbers who came here in the past.


    The content of the murals could be described in one word: party. There was aplete state of revelry all around this huge Corpse Country banquet. Unlike the Han peoples Confucian code of ethics, Mongolian banquets didnt have a serious and restrained atmosphere to them. Instead, it was more of a frantic state of fully pursuing the senses. In the murals, I could see the maids andmon people who hade to watch, the envoys of various countries who had brought treasures and delicacies with them, and all kinds of dancers and musicians. All of these people were walking towards the gate that led to this banquet.


    Of course, the murals were divided into sections, so I could see that each section had its own theme and there were even some minor scenarios taking ce in them. Each section had been painted by different craftsmen, so some were almost master works of art while others were extremely unimaginative.


    When viewed from the front, the mural in front of me had a total of twelve figures, eleven of whom were watching a dancer in the middle. The dancer was pitch-ck all over and her head was drooping as if she was extremely drunk. The eleven people around her were throwing wine on her. This wine turned into a rainbow as it fell all around her.


    But when I looked at the mural again using my peripheral vision, I could see a thirteenth person.


    This person wasnt like the things youd usually see in traditional myths where something would be hiding behind the dancer and dancing with her. Instead, his existence was very creepy.


    He didnt even show himself in the crowd, but mixed in among the people. His image didnt have any details and only appeared as a shadow, but when I looked at that outline, I realized that this person must have been the thing I saw out of the corner of my eye when we were on the grasnd. I didnt know how the painters could paint something like this.


    When I looked at the mural directly, everyones expressions were in a state of pure bliss, but when I looked out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the dancer''s expression had changed. She was secretly looking at that extra figure in fear.


    She could see it.


    But the most frightening thing was that there were people like this everywhere on all of the murals, looking at all the people in various inconspicuous corners. On some of the murals, there were some people who could see, but on other sections of the murals, no one could see at all.


    In this way, the general atmosphere of the whole picture had changed. This wasnt a state of pure bliss but more of a feeling like: I can see ghosts in the crowd, but I dare not let them discover it.


    The reason why I described this strange mural in detail is because its extremely important for what happenster.


    Fatty still couldn''t see it and pulled the corners of his eyes back. He thought that his eyelids were too fat so they were blocking his "psychic eyes".


    As I continued examining the murals, I found that almost all of the people who could see these "supernatural beings" were dancers. I had a puzzled expression on my face as I thought to myself, <em>what does this mean? Do the dancers and I have a simr constitution thats special or something?</em>


    Fatty looked at my constipated-like expression and asked me what was wrong. I told him my suspicions, knowing that he would mock me for ages, but he suddenly hissed and pointed his shlight at the figurines on the side. I also looked over and immediately understood what he meant.


    All of the figurines marked with lipstick were dancing girlssomeone had noticed the same thing I did.


    "At least one of the people in Shen Qianjue''s group is like you and can see those things," Fatty said.


    Just as I started to think about it, Poker-Face in the distance shed his shlight twice, telling us toe over. When we looked back, we found that he had already passed the archway and entered the banquet.


    Only the unorganized and undisciplined Poker-Face could make me feel relieved in this kind of environment. When we walked over, Poker-Face was about two or three steps past the archway, but didnt go any further. There was an open space in front of him.


    In fact, the whole banquet was on both sides of the steps and the whole underground pce was on an incline, just like a huge staircase. Each step of the staircase was more than ten meters wide and could hold thirty or forty banquet tables. The middle part of the step was used for walking while the banquet tables sat on both sides. These steps were probably only a palms width in height, so the slope was very gentle.


    The open space in front of Poker-Face was actually the first steps walkway. The dustyer on the ground of this underground pce was very thick, so we could see a bunch of footprints. We hadnt started exploring this area yet so we werent in a hurry, but Poker-Face was already staying vignt.


    In this open space, we could see two areas with a dense cluster of footprints. The footprints formed aplex pattern, as if the owners had circled around in a small area.


    "Hey, were these people acting like they were a donkey pulling a millstone?" Fatty asked.<sup>(1)</sup>


    I squatted down, "This was someone dancing. These are dance steps. Besides, these footprints belong to two girls. It should be Shen Qianjue and her partner."


    The owners of these footprints had been barefoot and had small feet. One set of dance steps looked very clearthe owner obviously had strong control over their bodywhile the other set was sloppy.


    <em>Why would they dance here? Does it have something to do with the dancing girls?</em>


    I looked up towards the end of the walkway and could vaguely see a huge coffin lying at the top.


    I had a very bad feeling and my mood wasplicated.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Like this:

 Book 3: Chapter 48: Living Dancers

    Book 3: Chapter 48: Living Dancers


    Before I got too absorbed in this bad feeling, Fatty asked me where we should go next. The pitifulness of human beings would strongly manifest at a certain moment. In a small enclosed tomb, almost everyone had a clear mind. Even those who were extremely unwise could tell you what to do first and what to do afterwards. This was because there was a narrow wall around you forcibly regting your range of sight. The smaller your choices, the more stable you were.


    But in a huge open areathat is, when things became macroscopicyour eyes wouldnt have anywhere to settle on and your mind would be confused. Many people would get lost in the vast space, lose their sense of security, and keep trying to return to the trapped environment. That was why some prisoners who had been in prison for a long time would try to return after they were released.


    At this point, I had to admire Poker-Face. There was no ce in the world where he couldnt go, and there was no moment in time when he couldnt leave. He lived in a world of extreme macro freedom.


    If I were him, Id be absolutely terrified.


    If you wanted to feel confident and at ease while not feeling lost, you needed to have a firm heart, be satisfied with what you had, and never ask for anything more. Or you simply needed to have the attitude of not caring about anything, going with the flow, and leaving it all to fate.


    And now I was encountering this problem. This ce was too big. Fatty probably wanted to go up and check out the coffin first. Since Shen Qianjue didn''t open it at that time, God had given him an opportunity which he couldnt ignore.


    I, on the other hand, wanted to check all of the surrounding areas first, explore all the murals, and find the area where Old Bing and his team had sat around Shigongs mole. After studying it carefully, <em>then</em> I would go and see where the coffin was.


    It essentially boiled down to whether you liked eating delicious food before the bad food, or whether you liked to save the delicious food forst.


    But in the end, the final decision was to follow Poker-Face. Wherever he went, we would definitely follow. Fatty and I made a face at each other and then moved to follow him.


    When we saw Poker-Face walking towards the coffin, Fatty had a smug expression on his face and gestured as if to say, Little Brother hasn''t opened a coffin for a long time. Were clearly thinking the same thing.


    I noticed that Poker-Face had been paying attention to the footprints, so I knew that he was definitely thinking of something else.


    Soon, Poker-Face had reached the halfway point up the stairs and stopped. He directed our attention to the ground, where we saw a third set of flower-like footprints. But these looked very specialpared to the others because they had a wider range and looked very atmospheric. Fatty took a moment to imitate the dance steps and found that the direction of these footprints was very unusual. "Is it an ethnic dance?" He asked,pletely baffled.


    I shook my head and nced at Poker-Face before saying, "These are steps from a y."


    "What y?"


    "Whats it matter?"


    I hadnt smoked for a long time now, but I subconsciously touched my pocket as my whole body broke out in a cold sweat. This was a conditioned reflex when I became extremely anxious.


    These were Xiao Hua''s footprints. The steps he had taken here were those used in a y, which was essentially the same as dancing.


    All three of us remained silent. Fatty looked at the numerous figurines around us, but they were all hidden in the darkness. If you danced in this underground pce, then youd bepletely integrated into this banquet. It was a really ghostly feeling, but it also had a special sense of beauty to it as well.


    "So they all danced here, Fatty said. Do you think it was impromptu?"


    Fatty saw that I was still touching my pocket and grabbed my hand.


    I took a deep breath and said, "Do you suddenly have the urge to dance?"


    Fatty shook his head. "I dont. Do you?"


    "No." As I said this, Fatty looked at Poker-Face, who was already shining his shlight in another direction.


    "Little Brother probably doesn''t have the urge either," Fatty said. "But this dancing thing must definitely be a key. If they werent suddenly affected by the atmosphere of the banquet here, then dancing must have a practical use."


    I thought about the mural and asked myself, <em>were they forced to dance? Can Xiao Hua see what I see?</em>


    I noticed that Fatty was still looking at me, so I asked him what he was doing.


    "I suddenly have the urge to watch you dance," he said.


    This was one of the reasons for my difort. Although some of those dancing girl figurines I had seen were actually male, I already had a feeling that I might have to danceter.


    I used to dance when I was a child, and when I was in kindergarten, I put sequins on my body and acted as one of the girls'' backup dancers. I was probably one of the seven Cbash Brothers.<sup>(1)</sup> I still got goosebumps whenever I saw the photos.


    If Fatty wanted me to dance, then I could only perform the kindergarten dance, which seemed to be called Radish Pulling. But was it even possible to perform "Radish Pulling" in the worlds second most valuable tomb? All of the demons and ghosts would cringe so hard that they''d shake their coffin lids.


    Poker-Face tapped his shlight with his finger, signaling for us to concentrate. He was going to the mural on the left, which meant that he had to pass by a lot of banquet tables. After he finished tapping, I saw him walk over there and untie an ancient sword from a military officer figurines waist. The ancient swords sheath had disintegrated, revealing the de inside. It was a Mongolian sword called a tuushin ild.<sup>(2)</sup>


    The de had arge area of rust on it but the middle section still looked fine, so he broke off the end of the sword and turned it into a short knife. He then flipped the knife over and found a grindstone on the handle. He took it off and started sharpening the de as he walked.


    <em>This must be serious</em>, I said to myself as I gripped my own small Kukri in hand.


    He was very strong and fast, so sparks were flying everywhere. After he roughly sharpened the de, he hooked it to his belt on his lower back. All of his belts had buckles in that spot so he could ce a knife there horizontally.


    As we walked, Fatty and I started to smell a strange fragrance. I felt puzzled because the smell wasnting from the environment but from my own bag.


    When I opened it, I saw that Shigongs mole that I had put there days ago. I took it out and found that this originally odorless mole was now exuding a strange fragrance, which was making my mouth water.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Cartoon characters from the Chinese animation TV series, Cbash Brothers. There are seven of them in the animation, and they were born from cbashes (aka bottle gourds).


    (2) Trantes as straight de. Looks like this:

 Book 3: Chapter 49: Corpse Herding Drawing

    Book 3: Chapter 49: Corpse Herding Drawing


    Fatty smelled it, too. We hadnt eaten for a long time, so the smell was enough to make our stomach muscles contract. When he looked at me, I handed him Shigongs mole.


    Fatty took it and sniffed it. At this time, the mole no longer looked as disgusting as it did before. Fatty was looking at me as he sniffed it hard, almost like he would eat it when I wasn''t paying attention.


    "What are you ying at?" I asked him. "Eat it if you want to. I won''t stop you."


    "It smells like you."


    "Shit, don''t be so disgusting." I felt a little creeped out. Fatty''s degree of disgusting behavior had really plummeted in recent years. Since we were so familiar with each other, it would just make things awkward if we got all mushy with each other.


    "No, it''s definitely your scent," Fatty said. I reached over to take the mole back, but he wouldnt let me, "You certainly wouldnt notice it, but we outsiders can definitely smell it. Of course, the smelling from this mole is very strongactually, its much stronger than the smelling from your body."


    I thought he was joking, but then I wasnt sure if he actually was. Fatty threw the Shigongs mole to Poker-Face, who sniffed it and then looked at me.


    They looked so sure of themselves that it almost seemed as if I was the carrier of some strange body odor.


    "Do you know Xiang Fei?" Fatty made an Er Kang expression.<sup>(1)</sup>


    "First it was about dancing girls and now you''re talking about Xiang Fei,<sup>(2)</sup><sup></sup>I said. What are you up to? You want to see me dance? Ill dance for you when we get out of here."


    "This Shigongs mole is covered in your scent and its even stronger than your own," Fatty said. "You cook less than I do so you probably don''t know what it means."


    At this time, I was sure that Fatty was being serious, so I took the mole and smelled it myself. I only felt hungry.


    "You put this mole in your bag and its been absorbing your smell, Fatty said. This is a way to make spices. In other words, you take a big pot of flowers or herbs, boil them in water, and then put a hollow stone inside. By the time its done boiling, the scent will be absorbed into the stone. Then you can use this stone to cook a vorful soup."


    "But I usually only smell sweat on my body, I argued. Ive never felt like Ive smelled fragrant."


    "This kind of stone can only absorb fine molecules, so the sweaty smell was probably filtered out, leaving your original scent." Fatty took the mole again, smelled it, and added, "This smells like meat." He suddenly took a deep breath and said to Poker-Face, "Little Brother, youre experienced and knowledgeable. In ancient times, people used to eat human flesh, right? Was the flesh divided into different grades since the taste differs from person to person?"


    Poker-Face looked at me and nodded.


    I shuddered at the look in his eyes as Fatty continued talking, "I heard a friend say that eating people is different from eating animals. Animals eat grass, so if you eat a bunch of them, the taste wont be all that different. But people eat a mixed variety of things, so each person tastes very different. Thats why you need a professional who can smell and figure out who will be delicious and who will be unptable before you eat them. If theyre not delicious, theyll be killed, air-dried, and then used as firewood. I think this Shigong''s mole is used for this purpose." He smelled the mole again and said, "Mr. Nave, you should be grade A5."<sup>(3)</sup>


    I rolled my eyes at Fatty, but in my heart, I was already convinced. At this Corpse Country banquet, it was apparently normal to eat human flesh. The ancients were definitely crazy, after all.


    When I thought of the amazing sight of underground corpse herding and the Shigongs moles in Old Bing and his teams stomachs, I realized that this really did have something to do with meat. <em>Ah, Old Bing and his team stuffed their stomachs with spices and then buried themselves in the ground. Isnt this called beggars chicken? Damn, I probably ruined the dish by digging the corpses out.</em>


    "Then why didn''t it smell before? I asked Fatty. Why did it suddenly start to smell when I arrived in the underground pce?"


    "When we were on the road before, the wind was blowing. And when you were sleeping, the bag was far away from you. But after spending so long in that narrow grave robbers'' tunnel and sweating a lot, the smell became stronger, Fatty said. "But don''t panic, Fat Master will keep it close and cover it for a while. Maybe my scent is better than yours. Let''s conduct an experiment."


    I sighed but didnt say anything else. I was still hungry, so I took out the hardtack in my bag and threw some to Fatty and Poker-Face. After eating them quickly, my hunger had somewhat abated a little. <em>It''s really shameful to be feeling hungry after smelling my own body odor</em>, I thought to myself.


    As we continued moving forward, I kept shining my shlight all around. I didnt know why, but those figurines had me feeling very stressed out. I felt like I was a delicious piece of food walking in the midst of gluttony and they were all turning their faces towards me.


    But it had to be an illusion because I couldnt actually see them clearly.


    We soon arrived at the mural on this side, which was moreplete than the previous one.


    Fatty looked at the picture, nced at me, and then said to me, "So this is what herding corpses is." I looked up and saw that the entire mural was a huge picture depicting corpse herding. Both horse and human corpses were all lumped together like a flock of sheep, which seemed to indicate that there was some kind of religious significance to it.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hes a character from My Fair Princess. This is probably the face Fatty is making:


    (2) Xiang Fei was a concubine in the Qing Dynasty, who was said to have an extraordinary fragrance because she had been brought up in flower petals and other spices since she was a child. The Chinese characters for "Xiang Fei" mean "Fragrant Concubine".


    (3) If you cant tell, thats like top grade meat. Wu Xies a handsome hunk of beefcake hehehehehe


    ****


    <strong><em>This might be it today and there might not be anything tomorrow. My friend ising into town and I haven''t seen her in like a year and a half so we''re gonna live it up</em></strong> () <strong><em>Til next time darlings~~~</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 50: Dark Spot

    Book 3: Chapter 50: Dark Spot


    In terms of cultural symbols, this underground pce was really interesting. The mural we saw when we first came down was an extension of the whole scene and represented the crowds gathering in this ce. The mural we were looking at now had the same theme, but it wasnt showing a crowd gathering. Instead, it was showing a crowd leaving.


    We could see a lot of people on the mural. They were walking into the distance and all had their backs to us.


    It was a long line, but if you looked at what was in the distance, you would see that these people and some horse bones were starting to flock like sheep on the grasnd. These peoplesplexions looked blue and many of them were iplete, making it obvious that they were corpses. And when we used our peripheral vision to look at the mural, we could see human figures on the outskirts of the crowd. They were riding around on horses and driving these corpses in one direction.


    The painting was very good, so the meaning could be recognized at a nce.


    But what interested me the most was the top part of the mural, which showed that these corpses started to dig into the soil after some kind of ritual took ce. And the things that were driving the corpses also entered the soil. They were all dressed up, and after entering the soil, they crawled into a circle and surrounded a hole.


    Well, it wasnt a hole but more of a dark spot. But either way, I didnt know what it was referring to.


    "In the mural from before, all the people were alive. But in this mural, all the people are dead. It looks like this is a Hongmen banquet<sup>(1)</sup>," Fatty said.


    I touched my chin and thought to myself, <em>this is obviously a view of life and death, but I just dont understand what its supposed to mean</em>.


    And I was pretty sure that this huge dark spot definitely existed, because I had seen those horse bones and the invisible ancient python corpse that kept appearing and disappearing on the grasnd.


    This may be the scene depicting when these people were buried. After eating the delicious food here, maybe they all died of poisoning and became strange corpses to be used as burial objects.


    I believed that anyone familiar with Mongolian historical mythology could make very detailed inferences after seeing these murals, but I was still confused because I hardly had any knowledge of Mongolian culture. The anxiety was making me feel nauseous, but it also represented the fear that I had been suppressing in my heart finally starting to manifest itself.


    I couldnt think logically, didnt know anything, and didnt understand anything. Even though these murals were so detailed, I still couldnt make sense of anything.


    Poker-Face squeezed my shoulder, his strength so powerful that I was immediately pulled out of my anxious thoughts. He was now facing the opposite side, where there was another mural on the wall.


    I followed closely behind, but I got a little light-headed because my brain was running at full speed without getting any results. Veins had already popped out on my forehead, so I smacked my head a few times in order to get my blood pressure to drop.


    We soon reached the opposite side and raised our shlights up to take a look at the wall. I immediately froze.


    The mural on this wall depicted only one thing.


    It was a huge dark spot that covered almost the whole wall. In fact, the dark spot here was a dark red color that had many ck patterns inside of it.


    I was so shocked by this thing that I almost tripped. The dark spot looked like an extremely evil spirit that had manifested from a soul. I didnt know how the craftsmen could make a color look so evil.


    There were a bunch of kneeling ceramic figurines in front of this mural who all seemed to be worshipping this dark spot.


    I patted my face and then pped myself, which gave Fatty a fright.


    When he asked me what was wrong, I grabbed my hair and said, "I regret it. I knew that we wereing to Inner Mongolia but I didnt study up on it. I dont care about the worlds second most valuable tomb at all. I underestimated the enemy and now people will die because of my inted ego."


    "You really havent offered up any useful assumptions, Mr. Nave. This isnt like you."


    I looked at Poker-Face. I had never been so insecure in terms of intelligence before, so I ended up looking at him out of reflex.


    Poker-Face walked up to the big dark spot, touched the mural with his strangely long fingers, and then stared at it nkly for a while. Just when I thought all three of us had really been struck dumb this time, Poker-Face said to me, "I know what this is."


    I was moved to tears as the words my benefactor! got stuck in my throat.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest. It also refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu. Story of that event is here.

 Book 3: Chapter 51: Great Demon Black Pool

    Book 3: Chapter 51: Great Demon ck Pool


    Poker-Face looked at the dark spot and said, "This thing is called the Great Demon ck Pool."


    I had never heard of this thingthe four Chinese characters were all in my knowledge blind spotbut I still paused before asking, "Which four characters are they?"


    After Poker-Face exined it to me, I nced at Fatty and asked why this name sounded a bit like a name from Journey to the West.


    Poker-Face certainly wouldnt exin it to mehe was earnestly examining the dark spot on the mural as if there was a pattern on itso Fatty said, "Why does Mongolian culture make people feel that its magnanimous and brave rather than mysterious? Its because the pronunciation of their names is done in a rtively unrestrained manner. For example, Bateer and Hudeer make you feel that people with these names are tall and strong, but King Wannu sounds very evil. Thats why Mongolian cultures naming conventions hardly make you think that this ce is evil. The Great Demon ck Pool is already a very evil name."


    "What the hell is this, a ck pool?" I asked Poker-Face.


    He nodded and gave a brief exnation, "In Mongolian culture, this demon is an ancient female python corpse."


    As the name suggested, the Great Demon ck Pool was the pool where the giant ancient female python corpse was located. The Mongolians believed that the ancient python corpse lived in a ck pool of water.


    The ancient python corpse was the only Mongolian symbol that I was familiar with, and in the earliest days, it was said to be a multi-headed python spirit. The ancient python corpse not only appeared in arge number of Mongolian legends, but also in the stories of the Tu ethnic group and other nationalities.


    The biggest feature of the ancient python corpse was that unlike most snake spirits in other cultures, it basically appeared as a male. And the ancient female python corpse was originally called the Demon Mother Corpse.


    "Is this a kind of worship of ancient python corpses?" Fatty asked. He was about to keep going, but I quickly stopped him. I actually knew this. Mongolians absolutely did not worship ancient python corpses.


    But what did this ck pool on the wall mean? Wasnt this an imperial tomb? Why was there a ck pool here?


    "Its said that the ck pool can cure diseases and prevent food from rotting," Poker-Face said. "If you kill the ancient python corpse that dwells in it, you can use the ck pool to benefit the people."


    I looked at him and sighed to myself. <em>You and I are both illiterate, Fatty. Now it looks like weve forced Zhang Qiling to open a school.</em>


    "So, this imperial tomb was either built over a certain ck pool or theres a ck pool near this imperial tomb, right?" Fatty asked.


    Poker-Face shook his head and touched the dark spot with his hand again, looking very puzzled. The worshipping ceramic figurines all around this mural made it very obvious that they regarded this ck pool as a sacred existence.


    And judging from the mural on the opposite side, it seemed that the corpses were circling around this ck pool.


    But I still had no idea what it all meant.


    Fatty and I continued to look at Poker-Face like two fools. Once upon a time, I thought everyone in the world would look at me like this.


    But now I could actually start to think logically.


    In this whole underground pce, the first unreasonable ce had already been identified.


    The mural we saw when we first came down was that of a crowd walking into the Corpse Countrys banquet venue while the second mural we saw was that of people leaving after death. They had turned into corpses and began circting the grasnd like animals. Logically speaking, these murals were all extended scenes of the venue itself.


    So the mural on this side should be an extension of the Corpse Countrys banquet venue.


    The worship of this "ck pool" should be ced on the wall behind the coffin as the coffins background wall so that it would be symmetrical. It also represented the central position between the coffin owner and the gods.


    But that wasnt the case here. Instead, the ck pool appeared on the side.


    This kind of godly worship should be very important, but it was only ced on the side. So in that case, what was the mural on the wall behind the coffin? Did Shen Qianjue describe it to me?


    I couldnt seem to remember, but my curiosity was piqued. Was it something more important than the ck pool?


    This asymmetrical setup actually wasnt veryfortable in terms of aesthetics, so what was the reason for it? Did this happen because this ethnic group wasnt very particr about art? Or was it because of some profound meaning that I didnt know about?


    Poker-Face was still staring at the dark spot, so I motioned to him to ask if we could go to the coffin. The time hade.


    But Poker-Face shook his head and suddenly pulled me and Fatty back a step so that we were further away from the dark spot.


    "What''s the matter?" The atmosphere had suddenly turned very bad.


    "Use your peripheral vision to take a look," he ordered me.


    I turned my head and looked at the dark spot out of the corner of my eye. At this time, I almost peed my pants.


    ****


    <strong><em>My friend is like 4 hourste so I had nothing else to do but leave you on a cliffhanger. You can just me her lol </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 52: Dancing Together

    Book 3: Chapter 52: Dancing Together


    I could see out of the corner of my eye that the dark spot had somehow be reflective and that smooth ck surface was reflecting the three of us.


    If it werent for my confidence in my ability to visually discern things, I wouldve thought that it was something else when I first saw the three shadows reflected in the dark spot. But I was all too familiar with the silhouettes of these three people, so I knew that it was a reflection of the three of us.


    The reflection wasnt as clear as a mirror, however, because that dark, uneven surface made it somewhat blurry. And since our three silhouettes looked very strange, I just assumed it was caused by a funhouse mirror effect.


    But the reason I was scared enough to almost leap up was because at some unknown point, an extremely huge monster had appeared behind the three of us.


    It was very tallprobably about two meters highand had a humanoid shape. But nothing had been behind us before, so I was shocked when I suddenly saw it.


    Poker-Face must have felt all of my muscles tense up, for he immediately grabbed Fatty and I and started retreating, causing the three of us to almost fall over. He thought that I had seen some kind of monster in the dark spot and immediately dragged us back.


    <em>Its behind us!</em> I shouted in my heart, but it was already toote. There was a loud nging sound as we crashed into a pile of ceramic figurines.


    I immediately got up and looked back, but like usual, there was nothing there.


    I wasnt using my peripheral vision when I looked back, so the whole banquet area still looked like the quiet and cold underground pce.


    I immediately used my peripheral vision to look at the dark spot and saw that there was nothing there this time.


    "Is something there?" Fatty asked me. "What is it?"


    I shook my head, thinking that I had imagined it all. As Fatty swept his shlight around, we briefly saw the huge coffin at the highest point of the tomb. He had swept over it quickly, but he immediately pointed the shlight back at it.


    "Hey, how did the coffin open?" He immediately asked.


    I followed the direction of his shlight and saw that the coffins lid really was open. I didn''t know when it had happened, but now it was tilted to one side.


    We looked at each other and then Fatty asked me, "What did you see just now?"


    "I didn''t see it clearly," I said.


    "Did you activate your passive skills again?" Fatty took a closer look at the coffin, clearly wanting to go over and check it out.


    <em>That''s unlikely</em>, I said in my heart. <em>Didnt they say this wasnt a coffin but a food box? Can this food box transform corpses?</em>


    Based on the size of that thing just now, this corpse was no ordinary corpse but a giant creature.

 Book 3: Chapter 53: Wanshi Meat

    Book 3: Chapter 53: Wanshi Meat


    We searched the underground pce using our shlights as searchlights, looking for the whereabouts of that huge shadow. When we came up empty, Fatty asked me to continue using my peripheral vision to look for it again as we walked around.


    Everything was really blurred when I looked out of the corner of my eyes. I couldnt see clearly, my eyes were hurting, and I still didnt find anything after looking. But the light here was so dim that if something stuck close to the ground between the ceramic figurines and the banquet tables, it would be very difficult to find it without looking right at it.


    I wanted to go and check that dark spot again with my peripheral vision.


    "Do you want to find that thing and kill it first before we look for clues?" Fatty asked.


    That thing just now was so big and the coffin had clearly been opened, so I assumed that some transformed thing inside had arisen. But when this kind of thing happened in the past, the opponent wouldve already attacked, not appeared and then disappeared right away.


    That was why Fatty asked that question. In the past, we never had time to think about whether we should find that thing, kill it, and then continue to look for clues, or whether we should ignore it, continue to look for clues, and then fight it again when we encountered it.


    I looked at the darkness around me and then at Fatty and Poker-Face. The three of us barely needed tomunicate. Poker-Face bent down, so Fatty and I immediately did the same. While I kept a grip on the knife at my waist and Fatty did the same with the rod at his waist, we began to quietly make our way towards the big coffin at the end of the steps.


    Our movements were almost synchronous with Poker-Face, which was the optimal state we had achieved after imitating and learning from him for so many years. Of course, he was so much faster than us that it often created a kind of illusion. For example, if he went behind a wall, youd think that it would take at least four seconds for him toe out on the other side, but he may appear after only one second. Poker-Face was very good at using this kind of illusion to solve problems quickly.


    Currently, he was on the left, Fatty was on the right, and I was in the middle. They needed to bypass a lot of ceramic figurines and step on a lot of jade banquet tables while I could just go straight up the steps. This was our default formation because I wasnt very skilled at jumping. Within four minutes, the three of us had arrived in front of the huge coffin.


    The lid of the coffin waspletely open and had been thrown to the side. We all paused as we saw the scene Shen Qianjue had described. There was a huge Buddha statue hanging there, watching the whole banquet. The face of this Buddha statue must have been made in the likeness of a real person, but once it was carved, it looked like it had a strange evil nature to it. It was enough to make people shudder.


    Now that the lid of the coffin had been opened, it felt more like the Buddha statue was looking inside the coffin. Fatty signaled to me with his eyes, so I climbed up to the edge of the coffin and supported him as he jumped directly to the edge of the coffin.


    The coffin was so high that it almost reached my chest. I watched him go up and said to myself, <em>were well-coordinated, just like moving clouds and flowing water</em>. When I nced back at Poker-Face, I found that he was kneeling on one knee and looking down at the whole banquet hall. He didnt bother looking at us at all.


    At this time, I suddenly heard a faint aiyae from behind me. When I looked back, I saw that Fatty had fallen into the coffin.


    I secretly cursed in my heart before immediately rushing over and climbing up with my shlight to take a look. I saw that Fatty had fallen inside with all four limbs raised in the air. The inside of this "coffin" really didn''t look like a normal coffin but more like a banquet configuration. There were arge number of bronze wine vessels inside that were ced on the four sides of the coffin and the bottom was filled with red coffin liquid. When I pointed my shlight at this liquid, I could see all kinds of ck dregs floating in it.


    I could tell from the shape that they were allpletely oxidized spices that had been piled upyer byyer.


    Fatty had fallen to the bottom of the coffin, but he didn''t actually fall into the liquid because there were piles of things beneath him. These objects resembled beggars chicken since they seemed to be wrapped in sackcloth that hadpletely ckened and oxidized. They were also half-submerged in the liquid, so they were surrounded by the spices.


    When I saw that whatever was wrapped in that sackcloth was in the shape of a child, my whole body started to go numb.


    Fatty looked at me and cursed under his breath, "Shit, are you shooting for the basket? You used so much strength that you directly pushed me into the coffin. Fortunately, this coffin liquid isnt poisonous." As he struggled to get up, I stretched out my hand and pulled him out. Once he sat down on the edge of the coffin, I was finally able to see that all of the sackcloth bags wereid out like a fish.


    I could imagine what this coffin had looked like when it was just buried: the spices inside were colorful like gems, the sackcloth bags were dyed in a variety of colors, and the dishes were very beautiful and gorgeous in their fish-like arrangement.


    "A food arrangement?" Fatty asked. "It''s so strange; this really is a dish. Mr. Nave, what kind of perversion would you call this?"


    "Where''s the head of this fish?" I found it odd that I didnt see a fish head on this fish arrangement.


    <em>When Fatty fell down just now, did he press the sackcloth where the fish head should have been down into the coffin liquid?</em> I asked myself.


    Fatty used his shlight to illuminate the ce where the fish head should have been, but we found that something was wrong. There were obvious signs that a sackcloth had been at the spot where the fish head had been, but it appeared to have been bitten off by something. It was like the sackcloth bags had been stuck together and were torn off abruptly.


    I looked at Fatty, who immediately became angry, "It wasnt me! I''m not hungry."


    I gestured at it. "I didn''t say it was you. Is your mouth that big?" The only thing that could make a big bite like that was probably a zombie T-Rex.


    By the time I finished speaking, Poker-Face had already climbed to the other side of the coffin and turned on his shlight. He took a quick look and then immediately nced up at the mural behind the coffin.


    I suddenly remembered that I also wanted to know what mural was on this wall. But when I looked up, I saw that there was a huge, gaping hole on the back wall.


    Fatty frowned and almost fell down again. The mural on the wall became difficult to interpret because of this hole. Fatty thought for a while and then said to me, "Uh-oh. Looks we made a mistake, Mr. Nave. This isnt a wall or a mural. Most of what we saw just now werent murals, either."


    "Then what are they?"


    "This is a coffin. What were seeing now is one side of a huge coffin. These are the patterns painted on the coffin."


    Because this coffin was too big, we thought it was a wall when we first came here.

 Book 3: Chapter 54: Into the Coffin?

    Book 3: Chapter 54: Into the Coffin?


    Naturally, it was because of Shen Qianjue''s narrative that we thought this Corpse Countrys banquet hall was the underground pce itself. Plus, it was very normal to have murals on every wall of this underground pce.


    But Fatty was saying that this was all an illusion and we werent actually in the underground pce at all. In fact, three of the four walls around us werent walls but the sides of three huge outer coffins.


    It was because these outer coffins were too big that they looked like walls. The three coffins were ced ording to the positional rtionship of the "goods" and the edges were joined together seamlessly to create an enclosed space, which was the Corpse Countrys banquet hall where we were currently located.


    And at the apex of these goods was the area where we and this food box coffin were located. There was a mural behind us, or rather, a huge outer coffin wall with a big hole in it. We could even see rubble on the ground from where it had fallen out from the inside. It was obvious that something hade out of the outer coffin.


    "Whats your theory?" I asked Fatty. Truthfully, when I looked at the murals here, I couldnt tell that the walls were actually the sides of huge painted coffins.


    "You know that some of the outer coffins inrge tombs can weigh up to a thousand tons, right? Although these outer coffins are big, its not unusual," Fatty said. "And something obviously crawled out from the inside and took a bite of this Wanshi Meat. Have you ever heard of a wall burial? As far as I know, theres no such burial system. So, the only reasonable exnation I can think of is that this wall is actually a coffin and a transformed corpse came from inside of it."


    I looked at the hole and then up at the height of this banquet hall. If this really was an outer coffin, then it mustve beenposed of severalyers of wood and mud.


    When did this holee into being? Was it after Shen Qianjue left or after we entered this ce?


    I couldnt tell because Shen Qianjue didn''t say too much at that time.


    Fatty looked at the hole and then turned around and asked me, What should we do? Do you think A Hua is inside?"


    <em>Definitely not</em>, I said to myself. <em>I doubt even Xiao Hua knew that this underground pce is actually made from three giant coffins</em>. But at this time, there werent any clues as to why there were three huge outer coffins in this mountain. Who was buried here?


    I had always secretly thought that there would be a demon monk''s corpse in this underground pce. But these outer coffin walls seemed to indicate that this wasnt the case at all. It would be impossible for a demon monk to be interred in such arge outer coffin.


    "Is anyone there?" Fatty yelled at the hole. He illuminated it with his shlight and then lit a re and threw it inside.


    We could see that this outer coffin had been built usingyer afteryer of wooden frames, which had all been ripped apart. It clearly wasnt easy for the thing inside toe out.


    "I know its a bad idea, but I still have to go in and have a look," Fatty turned back and said to us. Such a big coffin was usually filled with funerary objects, so I knew he couldnt resist taking a peek.


    "I think there may be another one inside. Maybe youll be forced to marry it when you go in, I said, not wanting to rock the boat. If we didnt find any clues, I was going to try and dance like the others to see what would happen.


    But at this time, I suddenly noticed that the soles of my shoes were wet.


    I looked down with my shlight and saw that the ground was covered in water. Fatty sighed, The food box is leaking. It''s a pity to see this Wanshi Soup go to waste.


    But I didnt think that was right, because the volume of the coffin liquid in the food box didn''t drop and there was also a ripple.


    The three of us immediately realized that there was water falling from the ceiling and looked up.


    The first thing I saw was that the giant Buddha statuewhich had been hanging high in the airhade down. Its mouth was wide open and it was looking at me with a strange smile while drooling.


    No, it wasnt a Buddha statue at all but a humanoid thing crawling on the Buddha statue. That thing was dressed very simr to the Buddha statue, but its ancient clothes were rotten and ckened and its face was covered in white hair.


    It was drooling so much that there was no doubt that the water on the ground was its saliva. Fatty looked between it and me and mouthed, Mr. Nave, you smell so good that it''sing for you.


    "Do something!" I mouthed back.


    At this time, the thing suddenly opened its mouth, revealing a row of teeth that had bits of cloth and hair stuck in them.


    <em>So, you really did eat the fish head.</em>


    As I backed away from the mouth, I saw that there were two human heads near this things ears.


    They looked just like two fins.

 Book 3: Chapter 55

    Book 3: Chapter 55


    The corpse was like a giant stick insect crawling on the Buddha statue above, and it looked just like the Samantabhadri<sup>(1)</sup> statue in Tibetan Buddhism since its ornaments and clothing were simr to the Buddha statue. I was just wondering why it didn''t continuously attack when it suddenly let go and fell off the Buddha statue.


    This corpse was so hugeprobably more than two meters highthat it must have been a giant before it died. It fell directly into the food box coffin, causing all of the coffin liquid to ssh into the air and fall like rain. The moment I raised my hand to block it, that corpse appeared in front of me and directly lunged for my neck.


    I used all of my strength to turn and avoid it, managing to roll to a safe position. But it was such a close call this time that I could see one of the faces on the side of its head. Shit, this was too scary! As it turned out, the faces didnt naturally grow like this but were the air-dried faces of other corpses. They were worn on either side of this things head just like armor.


    <em>So, they turned out to be ornaments.</em>


    This time, the giant corpse didn''t pause again but immediately followed after me. I saw Poker-Faceing over out of the corner of my eye, so Iy directly on the ground and let the giant corpse throw itself into the air. After it sailed over me, it was now face-to-face with Poker-Face.


    But it didnt seem to have any interest in Poker-Face at all and immediately turned around to chase me. But Poker-Face didn''t give it the chance to as he got up close to it and leaped onto its body. He then turned so that his knees were resting on the corpses shoulders.


    By this point, he and the corpse werent vertical but were almost at a right angle to the ground. But once Poker-Face got his knees up, he dropped his upper body, put one hand to the ground to keep his bnce, and then twisted his whole body. After exerting the strength in his waist, he was able to twist the giant corpse''s head 180 degrees.


    Afternding, Poker-Face immediately rolled over to me. I was just about to say that the opponent was useless despite looking so impressive when Poker-Face suddenly said, "Retreat."


    At this time, I saw that the giant corpse hadnt stopped moving at all. Its head was twisted at a huge angle, which meant that one of the other faces was now facing us.


    The whole giant corpse looked like onepletely intact corpse.


    I was just starting to have a bad feeling when that second face suddenly opened its eyes and smiled at me.


    <em>Fuck, are you changing shifts or something?</em>


    Then, the giant corpse started quickly crawling towards me like a lizard. I swear, you have no idea how fast this thing was crawling. Fatty instantly pounced on the giant corpse from behind, raised the threaded steel pipe in his hand, and strangled the giant corpse from behind.


    But the giant corpse didn''t feel suffocated at all and just paused.


    I changed the grip on my Kukri so that the de was now facing forward and then jumped up. But just as I was about to stab down, Poker-Face grabbed my cor and yanked me through the air, changing my trajectory so that I ended up falling into the food box.


    When I got up, I found the giant corpse lying on the edge of the coffin. The face I was looking at waspletely different from the one I had seen just now and looked even more sinister. Fatty had disappeared at some point and was no longer hanging on that things back.


    At this time, a question shed through my mind, <em>is this a zombie? Ive never seen a zombie like this before</em>.


    But then, that face suddenly trembled and started vomiting.


    A sackcloth, hair, and even the stumps of a few small hands all came gushing out of its mouth. There was no doubt that this was the fish head it had just eaten. As a horrible stench reached my nose, that thing rushed at me yet again.


    But it only acted like it was rushing at me and didn''t actuallye too close. I stood up and saw Fatty pulling on it from behind while Poker-Face was squatting on the ground on the other side.


    "Get down!" He said to me.


    I found it a little strange because even though that thing was fast and didnt seem like it could be killed in one blow, it still wasnt strong enough to warrant me hiding the whole time. Did Poker-Face not have confidence in me?


    "Im not hiding, lets get it!" With that said, I pulled out my knife and moved to cut off that face. But at this time, Poker-Face pushed the coffin lid up and put it back on the coffin. I was startled by this sudden movement and instinctively shrank my neck in and crouched down.


    The lid was almostpletely covering the food box now, but the giant corpse''s head was still stuck in the gap. As a result, the lid couldn''t be closed all the way. I instinctively shed at that face while I squatted there, but it was just like cutting bulletproof rubber. Then, Fatty managed to drag it away from the edge of the coffin, causing the coffin lid to close with a loud bang.


    Everything around me instantly became dark and quiet and I couldn''t hear anything at all. In this enclosed space, the vomit smelled strongly of corpse, which almost had me puking.


    I still found this whole situation weird. Poker-Face seemed to be trying to protect me, but why? I was now a seasoned fighter so there wasn''t a need for me to hide.


    But I still didn''t go out immediately.


    I pushed at the coffin lid. It was very heavy, but it wasn''t like I couldnt open it by myself. But Poker-Face wasnt the type of person who would despise my strength. He was basically assured that I could handle myself after the recent fights we had been through. But why didnt he feel assured this time?


    I stuck close to the coffin wall and listened to the sounds outside. But at this time, I suddenly heard the sound of childrensughtering from the darkness around me.


    I was stunned for a moment, but then I immediately pulled out my windproof lighter, flicked it on, and looked behind me.


    I saw six or seven children squatting in the coffin liquid behind me. They were boys and girls dressed in virgin clothes, their hands were sped tightly, and they were all staring at me and drooling.


    <em>Ah, this is bad,</em> I said to myself. <em>This is a fuckingrge-scale haunting.</em>


    <em>But why? I''ve never encountered this kind of situation before. Have I gone crazy?</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Can also be called Wisdom Queens. Theyre the female counterparts of Wisdome Kings. Samantabhadri is white (the primary symbol of the wisdom aspect of mind) while her consort is sky blue (represents limitlessness and formlessness). Info here.

 Book 3: Chapter 56

    Book 3: Chapter 56


    This didnt make any sense.


    My brain couldntprehend what was going on but my hand was still holding the lighter up to the group of children.


    Other than drooling, they didnt move at all, but their faces were all dark and ashen and they were clearly looking at me with ill intentions.


    I had been so confused ever since I set foot on this grasnd. Over the past few decades, I had encountered many strange things, but they had never been as strange as what I was seeing now.


    I had also encountered paranormal situations, but most of the monsters didn''t harass us like this. The final oue was ambiguous and I couldnt tell what was going on, but at this time, I was definitely certain that these children werent in the food box just now. If they werent ghosts, then what were they?


    I suddenly thought of the Wanshi Meat wrapped in those sackcloth bags. They had all been in the shape of children, so was it possible that these children were made into dishes, their souls were trapped in this box, and now they had manifested?


    I stared at the kids as they stared right back at me. <em>Did Poker-Face know what Id face when he locked me in here? </em>I asked myself. <em>Lets just focus on figuring out whether its more dangerous inside or outside this food box</em>. But when I looked carefully, I found that something was wrong.


    The childrens drool turned out to be coffin liquid. It was hard to see clearly with the lighters dim light, but I plucked up the courage to look closer and then heaved a sigh of relief.


    These children were actually stone statues hanging down from the coffin lid. As it turned out, a group of these statues had been carved on the underside of the coffin lid. The childrens heads were on the coffin lid, so when it was closed, their feet would press down on the Wanshi Meat below.


    It almost looked like a bunch of children sitting on a pile of meat. These children might have been carved from stone, but they were wearing clothes and appeared so lifelike that it was really scary.


    This whole setup ensured that the meat would be immersed in the spice-infused coffin liquid as much as possible. Sure enough, this was definitely a food box and not a coffin. But Id probably still call it a coffin because it had be habit by now.


    I moved closer and carefully looked to see whether these children were really stone statues. After touching one, I realized that I was right. I was certain that these corpse statues had originally been colored, but there must have been a chemical reaction in the coffin to make them look like corpses.


    I sent up a silent thank you for this blessing. <em>Its good that its not a ghost</em>.


    At this time, I noticed that the eyes of these sculpted meat-stepping children were all looking in different directions.


    When I saw them from a distance, I thought that they were all looking at me, but when I approached, I found that they werent. They had eyeballs that must have been painted on, but now these eyeballs could only be faintly seen upon closer inspection. They were all looking around in different directions.


    I was very familiar with this vividness because it was a concept the Han and Western craftsmen used at the time. In Mongolian social division ofbor, most craftsmen''s artistic styles didnt have such "small" concepts. At that time, Mongolia was fighting two fronts in Europe, so the army would take away all the best craftsmen in the region.


    The whole Corpse Country banquet outside was very bold and unconstrained, and although the work was exquisite, the content was very realistic. It showed that when building this ce, the craftsmen werent ordered to make quick work of it. But why was so much effort and careful thinking put into this stone box?


    Did the stonemason who made this coffin want to further express his artistic skills or something?


    Over the years, I had developed an intuition that came out of working in this industry all year round, as well as the so-called principle of antique identification. I followed the direction a boy statue''s eyes were looking in and pointed my shlight at the coffin wall.


    I went over to it but didnt find anything there, so I returned to look at the boy''s eyes again. I then looked at the stone on the coffin wall and scratched it with my fingernails.


    Sure enough, I scraped ayer of lime off with my nails. I flicked my lighter off, pulled out the nail clippers I usually carried with me, and then scraped hard, only to find that something was engraved under the lime.


    It was a very simple line with very small Chinese characters engraved on it.


    Ignoring the stench, I used my fingers to try and clean the words off.


    I won''t talk about ancient Chinese here, but Ill tell you what the meaning of these words was. It was very clear and simple: I was captured and ordered to build this ce. There are terrible secrets here. Anyone whoes here must take the secrets out.


    The rest was cut off, so I immediately went to see where the second child''s eyes were looking at. I found another lime-covered coffin wall and scraped it clean, revealing the next paragraph of text.


    All the ces where this craftsman had recorded information were in the exact same spots where the statues were looking. So, as long as the statues looked different, that meant that this person had designed them. Plus, there was information hidden in their eyes.


    I followed them one by one and counted six paragraphs in total, with four paragraphs like this.


    The third paragraph said: There is a thing buried here that can''t be disclosed. I don''t know what it is but it doesn''t feel like a human being. Before it was buried, it still lived for a while. It just couldn''t move. After the corpse was buried, it affected the atmosphere of this ce and strange things started to happen.


    ****


    <strong><em>I don''t know about you guys, but this was basically my face watching the first 2 episodes of Heavenly Pce:</em></strong>


    <strong><em>The guy ying Poker-Face looks like he''s about to burst into tears any second. I think he''s trying to go for indifferent but he just looks like a kicked puppy (poor guy). And he''s like weirdly chatty? Wu Xie''s being a dick to Fatty for some reason and I just don''t understand what''s going on. Honestly, Fatty''s actor is the only thing motivating me to keep going because the script writing sure as hell isn''t lol. Hope you all enjoy it more than I am so far</em>~~</strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 57: Finally Have a Clue

    Book 3: Chapter 57: Finally Have a Clue


    There was no doubt that these words were secretly carved by a craftsman who recorded what he saw and heard. This craftsman was a Han who had been captured and forced to build this tomb.


    It was a bit like what happened to Wang Zanghai, but Wang Zanghai was more capable. And based on how this craftsmans words were messy andcked focus, he seemed to be an ordinary person.


    I had seen a lot of messages left by craftsmen in many ancient tombs. Some were those just saying they missed their families, some wanted to settle ounts, and some wrote poems. But all of them were engraved in inconspicuous corners next to the tomb owners, left as proof of these ordinary peoples vitality. They were all like us, with blood flowing through their veins and hearts beating in their chests.


    When you were in a dangerous ancient tomb, you had to remember that it was also built by people back in the day. They ate steamed buns and drank wine here while also talking about their families and children. Youd start to understand why knowing an ancient tomb was equivalent to knowing a person. If you could see them, then you could solve the traps they had set and also find the escape route they had left for themselves.


    There were three more paragraphs of text on the wall, as follows:


    The fourth paragraph said: When the atmosphere here changed, something very strange happened. After a long time, the Mongols seemed to go crazy. I think they knew something terrible that we didn''t, so they went crazy.


    The fifth paragraph said: The Mongolster died. A Tangut person was sent here to be the leader, so we continued to build. I find it strange that the Mongols knew they would die. Why were they so afraid? Is there something more terrible than death here? But the secret is in the innermost part of this tomb. Its said that if you want to see it, you can buy off the Tangut.


    The sixth paragraph said: I secretly went to that ce to see it. <em>I</em> understand what the Mongols were afraid of now and Im also very afraid. Whoever you are, if you see this record here, you have to repay me. You have to save me. You must save me. I will


    The rest was cut off.


    Thisst bit of text was very strange. It seemed to be addressed to this persons contemporaries, but all the craftsmen who built tombs should have known that their contemporaries at the time werent allowed to enter the tombs. I didnt think this craftsman was a particrly smart person. Or he was scared senseless at that time.


    I carefully examined the stone children and found that the air inside the sackcloth bags had been pushed out after the stone children pressed the Wanshi Meat down into the coffin liquid. It appeared this was the cause of the childrensughter I had heard just now. I didnt know if there was anything strange in the coffin liquid, so I reached my hand down and felt around. I touched a lot of hair and meat scraps (all of which had been vomited by the giant corpse just now) but didn''t feel anything else.


    I sighed and looked at the engravings again; the descriptions were giving me a bad feeling. These words werent carved at the same time, but were carved bit by bit in batches. And the fonts were different, which showed that this guy investigated a little bit and then recorded it here.


    Moreover, thatst sentence gave me the sense that he wasnt unable to write what he saw directly, but that he was just unwillinghe wanted to make a deal first. He wanted to be saved before he revealed what the secret was.


    That was troublesome, because based on the current situation, he must have died and was probably even among the pieces of rotten flesh in this coffin liquid. It was definitely impossible for a transaction to proceed.


    But I was thankful that I was able to find such clues. If it had been in Mongolian again, I could only beat myself to death in this coffin. If that happened, at least my body would already be interred.


    But who was this guy? I found it very interesting since this person seemed kind of simr to me. But feeling sympathy for a cunning craftsman from a thousand years ago I couldnt help but think that it was fate.


    I was certain that there were a lot of clues outside, because he said that if there were any statues with strange eyes, then he was the one who had carved them. And just like in this coffin, there were hidden clues where the statues were looking. That seemed to indicate that this matter wasnt over, but I had to get out of this coffin first.


    When my hands came out of the coffin liquid, they smelled like rot and were slick with oil, which was a little sickening. I couldnt do much now since the oil on my hands meant that I couldnt even hold onto my shlight, so I wiped my hands on the coffin wall until my palms felt a little morefortable.


    I didnt know what was going on outside, but since Poker-Face locked me in here, I wouldnt go out and cause any trouble. I pressed my ear up against the coffin wall, but it was quiet outside.


    <em>Is it over or is the giant corpse still ying chase with them? Poker-Faces skills are getting rusty. He used to only have to do it once, so is he in bad shape today? Ah, maybe its because Fatty and I usually mess around too much and dy his training.</em>


    I thought of how that giant corpse''s head could rotate and shuddered.


    At this time, I suddenly heard a child''sughtere from behind me again. But this sound was especially likeughter.


    I immediately looked back and thought to myself, <em>the air hasnt been exhausted yet</em>. But under my shlights glow, I saw something swimming in the coffin liquid. It left ripples in its wake but then immediately disappeared.


    <em>Is it a fish?</em>


    I suddenly realized why the giant corpse had vomited into the coffin and cursed in my heart, <em>shit! Was there something in its belly that it spit into the coffin to deal with me?!</em>

 Book 3: Chapter 58: Sadness

    Book 3: Chapter 58: Sadness


    My mind was racing. First of all, this thing was moving in the coffin liquid, which only reached my calf. But I was squatting and my ass was immersed in the coffin liquid. This meant that my ass was my weakest point, so I should stick it against the coffin wall to protect it. If this thing could swim in such shallow liquid and barely left a ripple, then it should either be something like an eel or something the size of an arm.


    This things method of attack was probably to go for my legs after circling underwater or to suddenly leap out of the water and rush towards my face.


    I clung to the coffin wall, protecting my face with one hand and preparing myself to be bitten on my feet or butt.


    <em>Don''t be poisonous, don''t be poisonous</em>, I thought to myself. <em>If this thing is poisonous, I can hardly do anything about it in this situation.</em>


    <em>Wait, there is a way</em>.


    I suddenly saw the childrens statues, which were pressing on the Wanshi Meat. I immediately rushed over without an ounce of hesitation and climbed onto the pile of Wanshi Meat, gripping the statues so as to prevent myself from slipping down.


    That meaty sensation, the thick feeling of grease, and the bubbles that appeared as soon as I waded through the coffin liquid had my whole body breaking out in goosebumps.


    If it were the old me, I wouldn''t dare risk taking these two or three steps for fear of stepping on that monster. But now, I knew very well that the biggest risk was inaction.


    Once I was clinging to the statues, I started to quickly sweep the water with my shlight. It was impossible for this thing to attack me from under the liquid now, which meant that it could only rush out of the liquid. If this thing wasnt able to jump out of the liquid, then I was safe for the time being. If it could jump, however, then I could at least hide behind these statues.


    There were still ripples on the surface of the coffin liquid from where I had just rushed over, but I didn''t see any other signs of movement.


    I thought about tapping out a message on the child statue, but then I thought about Poker-Face and Fatty still fighting the zombie outside. If they suddenly heard me tapping from inside the coffin, would they think I was in danger and get distracted? So, I held back. But after carefully thinking about it, I reached into the coffin liquid with one hand and started sshing water around.


    <em>Come on, little one,</em> I said in my heart. <em>This grandpa will show you a good time. Ill even give you a finger;e and bite it.</em>


    I was sshing all around the child statue when I suddenly heard anotherughe from behind me. I immediately looked back and saw a ripple in the coffin liquid disappear behind me.


    I suddenly had a bad feeling and immediately retreated in the other direction so that the statue was in front of me.


    Just now, I wasnt really thinking about why it wasughing if it was an eel, but it definitely seemed to be deliberately circling around me. This thing shouldnt have a high IQ.


    Just as I thought this, I saw something float out of the coffin liquid where the ripple had just appeared.


    It wasnt an eel or a fish but some strange thing. It didnt have any skin whatsoever, but its flesh was a dark red. When it sat up from the coffin liquid, I found that its movements were very familiar.


    I squinted at it. That thing''s eyes werepletely white and its "face" looked like a monkey without skin.


    I immediately remembered those monkeys that the human-faced birds had spat out in the Heavenly Pce.


    This thing, which had alsoe out of the mouth of a bigger thing, was somewhat simr to those monkeys. I had to admit, I felt a little sense of familiarity when I saw that big thing open its mouth earlier.


    <em>Wait, that cant be right.</em> As I watched this things movements, I immediately realized that it wasnt a monkey. Then, my scalp suddenly went numb as I realized what it was.


    <em>Its Ping Lian!</em>


    This skinless thing was a dog whose skin had been stripped off! But based on the way it was sitting, it was definitely Ping Lian.


    Then I saw the skinless Ping Lian grin and let out a clearugh.


    Was Ping Lian eaten by that thing? What happened? Did he transform after being skinned and eaten? Now he could evenugh.


    Ping Lians current condition wasnt like that of a dog but more like a dog that was gradually bing human. It really was like those skinless monkeys.


    My back broke out in a cold sweat as I came down from the Wanshi Meat pile, pulled out my Kukri, and said to Ping Lian, "Don''t be afraid. Ill do it quick. You''ll be free soon."


    Ping Lians skinless face gradually became sinister, which was an expression that was absolutely impossible for dogs to make. This was no longer a dog but some unknown thing.


    I held my knife in front of me, took a deep breath, and began reciting the Great Compassion Mantra<sup>(1)</sup>. The horror in my heart instantly calmed down, leaving only pity.


    At the moment Ping Lian rushed towards me, my whole body was highly focused. I turned so that my upper body was close to the coffin liquids surface, gripped Ping Lian''s neck with one hand, and then shoved him into the coffin liquid. I then stabbed my Kukri into his neck until I hit bone and gave it a hard yank.


    Ping Lian''s legs iled desperately, but I remained steadfast until he finally went limp thirty secondster. I released the hold on my knife and then twisted Ping Lians head until it was separated from his body.


    <em>Om, may these prayers be sessful.</em><sup>(2)</sup><em> It''s not your fault, Ping Lian. Go back to your master.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The most popr Mahayana Buddhist mantra (aka dhra) associated with the bodhisattva Avalokitevara. Info here.


    (2) This is thest line of the Great Compassion Mantra. I just copied it from the Wikipedia article in Note 1.


    ****


    <strong><em>Ok guys, Anna got the rest of the Mystic Nine stuff into a pdf so I justbined it with the other Mystic Nine stuff. The links to the updated pdf and epub are on either of the Mystic Nine tabs (I just stuck them on both). I also copied the raws up to chapter 50 of Restart 4 (at least, that''s what I''m calling it) and ran them through the trantion sites. We''ve got about 24 chapters (~102 pages) of Restart 3 left so we''re basically good to go for a while and everything on the site should have pdfs (minus a few extras and Restart Part 3 obviously). </em></strong>(^)


    <em><strong>And finally, </strong></em><strong><em>Poor Ping Lian. RIP lil puppy </em></strong>(_)

 Book 3: Chapter 59: Poisoning

    Book 3: Chapter 59: Poisoning


    I threw Ping Lians head into the coffin liquid and breathed a sigh of relief. Ping Lians eyes slowly returned to normal as his head sank to the bottom of the coffin liquid.


    My hands and armpits were covered in mucus, and a pure ck blood was gushing out from Ping Lians wound. It was giving off an indescribable stench as it dyed the coffin liquid a strange ck color.


    I sighed. There was no ce on my body that was clean now that everything was stained with these disgusting things.


    At this time, however, I found that Ping Lians blood was <em>too</em> smelly. It was so smelly, in fact, that I couldn''t even open my eyes. The whole space was filled with an extremely strong ammonia-like smell, so I tried to take smaller breaths. But I found that the smell made the air be almost like a tangible thing. As it was sucked into my lungs, I could feel my nose hairs being corroded.


    I found a corner and squatted down. I wanted to continue holding out for as long as I could, but I found that my eyes were starting to blur. <em>Not good</em>, I said to myself. <em>This smell is probably poisonous</em>.


    There wasnt enough time to waste checking on the situation outside, so I tilted my head, put my shoulders against the coffin lid, and tried lifting it up.


    The lid was very heavyin fact, it was difficult for a single person to open itbut I had done special training and knew the secret to uniting the strength in your waist and legs so that you could exert more force.


    Face turning red with the effort, I pushed hard on the coffin lid until a gap was revealed bit by bit. I immediately put my nose to it and took a deep breath of the air outside. But the coffin was so smelly that my skin started to itch. I immediately exerted my strength and lifted the coffin lid until I could get out. Then, I quickly used one hand to raise my shlight to my cheek and looked around.


    Fatty, Poker-Face, and the giant corpse were gone. It was quiet all around.


    I couldnt think too much about what was going on and just focused on getting out of the coffin first. Then, I immediately pushed the lid back on the coffin again.


    The smell faded and the irritating sensation on my body immediately began to ease. As expected, there was a problem with the smell.


    I sniffed myself. Although I didnt feel itchy anymore, I still smelled terrible. I figured I was probably covered in a mixture of about seven or eight kinds of disgusting things.


    I gripped the knife at my back as I stuck close to the edge of the coffin and listened to my surroundings. They might have taken the fight somewhere else but I couldn''t hear any sounds. And I couldnt see anything even after sweeping my shlight around the area.


    <em>Fuck me, what am I supposed to do now?</em> I asked myself. At this time, I saw a huge mark on the coffin tform where we had all been standing before that giant corpse showed up.


    That thing wasnt here before and I didnt know what it was, but the mark it left in the dust was almost like a snake had moved through the messy pile of footprints.


    Not only was the mark about as thick as an oil drum, but it was so huge that I wondered if that was why Poker-Face had ordered me to hide in the coffin.


    My whole body suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. This thing was more than four times bigger than the giant corpse, and it had crawled here. What could it be?


    Well, whatever it was, I was certain that something big had happened outside just now. But just as I was starting to worry, I suddenly saw a mark on the ground next to the snake mark.


    It was Poker-Faces symbol, which meant: hide yourself and follow slowly.


    There was also another mark on the side, which was a nose with an X drawn on it. Fatty was the one who drew this mark.


    I breathed a sigh of relief and then examined Fatty''s mark again. I immediately understood that it was referring to smell and that Fatty wanted me to cover up my own scent.


    I sniffed myself again, <em>ghosts can''t smell me now</em>. I was originally looking for something to wipe all this gunk off, but now I had no choice but to keep it on.


    It seemed that Poker-Face didn''t lock me in to protect me, but because my scent would cause him trouble.


    I thought about it, opened the coffin lid again, and then fished out some of the dog blood-infused coffin liquid from inside. After smearing a little on my knees and shoulders, I couldnt keep my eyes open because of the terrible smell.


    Once I was done with that, I closed the coffin lid again, pointed my shlight at the darkest area, and secretly looked at the huge snake mark.


    I had seen countless snake marks before, so when I saw what direction that thing was moving in, I knew it wasnt a snake at all. It was something very simr to a snake, but its movements were different. I didnt know what it was, but it was useless to guess now. Poker-Face and Fatty''s footprints seemed to be following this thing, which meant that they were probably tracking it.


    I quietly followed the mark and soon saw that it led to the front of the mural with the dark spot on it.


    The mark disappeared in front of the mural.


    I stared nkly for a moment and then looked down at Poker-Face and Fatty''s footprints. Sure enough, their footprints also disappeared.


    <em>Fuck me.</em>


    <em>Well, I guess its kind of interesting</em>, I said to myself. <em>Did they go into the wall? Is this not a dark spot but a ck hole?</em>


    I touched it with my hand and found that it was absolutely impossible to get in. Then I looked at it with my peripheral vision and found that I couldn''t see anything at all. This time, there was nothing in the dark spot.


    The underground pce was very quiet. I looked back and saw that there were a lot of figurines, but I couldnt see everything clearly. Without Fatty talking, the surrounding coldness seemed to rush right at me.


    Then my eyes started to hurt and I found that things became blurred. I also noticed a coppery taste in my mouth. When I wiped at it, I found that I had a nosebleed.


    I kept wiping it with my hands but the bleeding wouldnt stop. Then I saw that my nails had turned ck. I touched them and found that they seemed to be falling off.


    Poisoned.


    I cursed in my heart as I immediately returned to the coffin. <em>Its corpse poisoning</em>. I took off my clothes as I walked, returning to the edge of the coffinpletely naked. I dropped to the ground, immediately gathered all the dust around me, and then started rubbing it on my body.


    ****


    <strong><em>Yep, there it is. One named Wu Xie simply cannot go into a tomb without getting naked (sucks he''s poisoned, though)</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 60: Variant

    Book 3: Chapter 60: Variant


    I leaned against the coffin and put my shlight aside so that it would illuminate my body. Then, I rubbed more dust all over me. There wasnt any water here, so all I could do was cover my body in the dust and then rub it off.


    This wasnt a method of my own making but a technique that had been handed down since ancient times. In fact, when I was in the desert so long ago, I also had to take a sand bath.


    After the slimy liquid on my body was rubbed off, I began to feel severely nauseous. I grabbed my discarded pants, took out some Chinese medicine from the back of my beltit was wrapped in tinfoil and looked a bit like donkey-hide gtinand started chewing it furiously.


    It was a detoxifier that had a lot of wine and sugar in it so it could replenish ones energy. I kept six of them in a pouch on my belt.


    After everything was done, I waspletely exhausted. The air in this ce was very cold and felt like it was piercing right into my bones now that I was naked. Plus, my heart couldnt handle my rapid movements and was beating extremely fast. I didnt know whether I would live or die, but now all I could do was wait.


    I soon lost consciousness, but I eventually woke up again because of the cold. I was shivering and had apparently fallen to the ground at some point.


    I raised my hands and looked at my nails. The base of my nails were all ckened, which meant that they were dead. Id have to pull them out at some point so that they could regrow, but they were still good for now since they werent directly falling off. I pressed them a few times and figured that I could still use them.


    Fingernails were very important to human beings, especially because most hand movements required them. At the very least, I couldnt live without nails right now.


    I moved around a little bit and found that the medicine had worked. My nausea and dizziness had eased and my nosebleed that had flowed all over my chest had finally stopped. But I still couldnt get up. I could onlyy there and start reying everything that had happened just now.


    When did Ping Liane in? When was he swallowed by that giant corpse?


    Was it Ping Lians blood that had poisoned me? What happened to him? Not only did he be like that, but his blood was full of that stinking poisonous fluid.


    At this time, an image popped into my head. When he couldnt find us outside, he must have followed our scents into the grave robbers'' tunnel. After entering, he saw a giant corpse standing in the dark like a ceramic figurine. Tail wagging, he curiously went over to check it out but was bitten and swallowed as soon as he walked over.


    Or, maybe he had already been possessed long ago and came in here to be swallowed? Didnt Jiang Siwang say that dogs and cats had to be killed when they came to this ce?


    <em>Dont tell meif you dont kill them, theyll be possessed and climb into the mouth of that giant corpse all by themselves?</em>


    But then what? Would they shed their skin and turn into some kind of evil thing like the one I saw just now?


    I figured that Ping Lians skinned state, coupled with that giant corpse, was very simr to the Heavenly Pce. It was even a bit like a variant. But I had no evidence, so I didnt dare jump to conclusions.


    Poker-Face and Fatty definitely didn''t fight that snake-like creature, so they must have avoided it. Otherwise, their marks wouldn''t have been so neat. Based on the current situation, there appeared to be a big opponent here that was definitely after my scent.


    But I wasnt panicking since there were marks here telling me to meet up with the two of them. Now I was just worried about whether I could wear my clothes or not.


    As Iy there thinking about these problems, I stared at the ceiling and slowly started to rx. But as I was looking, I noticed that human-faced Buddha statue was above my head. And there appeared to be a fairy above its head. This little fairy was a decoration, but her eyes were looking at an oblique angle.


    I quickly got up and followed the direction of her eyes until I reached the mural behind the coffin.


    I immediately used my fingernails to scrape the mural away, but my nails ended up cracking open during the process. I hit my head against the mural to try and suppress the pain.


    At this point, all I could do was take the broken brick fragments on the side and use them to scrape away the mural at that spot. Soon, a small bit of text appeared.


    It was just a simple hint: The corpse in this outer coffin is a woman. Her identity is unknown. She must have been a good dancer before her death. There are many reliefs of dancers on the outer coffin. She has been dead for a long time before being transported here. The Tangut calls her Cai Gudong.


    That giant corpse just now was so big. Didn''t ite out of this coffin? Why are dancers being brought up again? Was this a two-meter-tall dancer?


    I felt that it was strange, but at this time, I finally noticed the content of the mural and paused.


    Even though there was a giant hole in it, I found that I could still understand this mural.


    It was rted to feng shui, but it had especially in-depth feng shui content. How could it appear in a non-Central ins area?


    There were five ck objects painted on the mural, but few people actually knew what they were now. Fortunately, it was recorded in Grandpa''s notes.


    I pondered over it for a while and then suddenly had an epiphany. I looked back at this underground pce and immediately understood everything.


    ****


    <strong><em> So I did a thing</em></strong> o()o


    <strong><em>There are apparently websites where you can get stuff printed into book format for personal use (I guess like for unpublished authors and stuff). I personally like holding a book in my hand so I decided to try it out and went a little wild </em></strong>(_;)<strong><em>. I had to pick random pictures for the covers because I obviously don''t hold the copyright to the legit book photos but I still think they turned out well. I''ve been geeking out for like the past 30 minutes lol </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 61: The Five Mountain Dragon Gods

    Book 3: Chapter 61: The Five Mountain Dragon Gods


    In my grandfather''s notes, there were a lot of technical terms and rhetoric that gave it the air of a Chinese folktale. I couldnt understand them at all and Grandpa wasnt willing to exin them to me. All he would say was that the Chinese nowadays basically didnt know about the gods in Chinese folktales. When people back then talked about feng shui, their perceptions were quite different from ours. Our generation always felt that learning feng shui was like learning a superpower but they just saw the true image of Chinasndforms.


    The blood of these cultural systems was in their blood, so even illiterate people could quickly understand something like feng shui. But nowadays, if you didn''t study Taoism for more than three or four years, you wouldnt even have the chance to get started.


    There was nothing to exin if you didnt even know the gods in Chinese folklore, which was a very sad thing if you thought about it. Most of the time, when you read stories about Chinese folk gods in ancient books, youd feel like you were reading the ssics of Mountains and Seas. I''m not exaggerating. You basically couldnt understand anyof the terms at all.


    But in fact, all of these gods were really just the greater gods of China<sup>(1)</sup>. In those days, the olddies who sold onions on the side of the road knew where these gods came from, what they were, and what their status was.


    Among the ancient Chinese gods, these five ck patterns on the mural were actually the Five Mountain Dragon Gods, who were in charge of the mountains. China was a feudal society when religious culture was forming, so thend was extremely important. The Five Mountain Dragon Gods were five earth dragons that held a very high status, but after being personified, everyone thought that they were just a single old man with a white beard. Their true appearance, however, was so far from amiable that it was enough to make you pee your pants.


    All the ancient Chinese gods were from primitive times, so the Chinese people named them as they saw them. As a result, these gods names were basically equated to their image.


    My grandpa said that if you entered the depths of a big mountain, you would sometimes see the so-called dragon veins, which were ck rock bands that were extremely hard. When he was following a group of Taoist priests to a big, six-story tomb, one of them showed him a dragon vein when they got deeper in the mountain. At that time, he saw the ck rock band, which turned out to be a residual vein of the Qinling Mountains. It was said to be in a deep cave in Mount Mang.


    At that time, they stopped for three days to do the ritual, but the Taoist priests refused to go any further.


    Needless to say, Mount Mang held a high status in Chinese tomb culture. It was everyones dream to be born in Suzhou and Hangzhou and be buried in Mount Mang.


    As soon as I looked at this mural, I knew that the person who designed this tomb definitely wasnt a normal person.


    Those five ck dragons wereing from five different directions on the mural, and that hole in the brick was smack dab in the middle of them. I didnt know what had been painted there, so I tried to put the bricks back together one by one. I split two more fingernails in the process, but I was so excited that I didn''t even feel the pain.


    After I was finished arranging everything, I figured out what it is.


    It was the snow-capped mountain we saw outside earlier.


    There were a lot of ck things on the snow-capped mountain, which ordinary people wouldnt know what they were. I honestly didn''t know what they were before, but I did now!


    The Five Mountain Dragon Gods were moving, and their movements were causing dragon veins to grow and deplete. In ancient China, there were people who could influence the trajectory of the Five Mountain Dragon Gods movements. In Taoism, this method was called moving mountains.


    Many people thought that the term moving mountains meant that mountains were being moved around, but that wasnt the case at all. The thing that was moved was the dragon vein, which was the representative of the Five Mountain Dragon Gods. But the moving mountains technique required an extremely special feng shui array called: Five Dragons Dismembering a Corpse.


    If what I was seeing wasnt mere superstition, then this snow-capped mountain wasnt here before. This had all originally been grasnd, and the mountain grew here because of the Five Dragons Dismembering a Corpse array formed by the underground pcesyout. Numerous geological changes must have taken ce here over the past thousand years.


    And every corpse in these giant outer coffins probably werent ordinary corpses, either. That dog-eater corpse definitely wasnt a dancer, but I still didnt know what it was.


    Not counting the three corpses here, there was also the one in the snow-capped mountain. It was the fiercest and probably not even human at all.


    Of course, this was only a part of the dragon god myths in Chinese folktales, so it wasnt like I could prove anything. But there was one thing that made me think that I was right.


    That dark spot.


    Was it possible that the huge dark spot was the body of the "dragon"? It was proof that dragon veins led here, after all.


    The dark spot on the mural we saw wasnt painted on, but looked like something came up from the ground, grew into the outer coffin over there, and then came out from the mural. But there was only one spot, which also showed that the corpse dismemberment array here wasntplete.


    No, it wasnt just one ce. The whole snow-capped mountain outside was dark. Shit, I knew what was under that heavy snow. A huge ck spot had corroded the whole mountain.


    I was scratching my head in excitement, because this kind of knowledge was so rare that I really wanted to show off. If I could show off at this time, then there was no way Fatty could surpass me in this years show-offpetition.


    But what was the purpose? Why move a mountain here? Did that demon monk do it? Was he trying to create a dragon vein?


    I didnt believe in using feng shui to build mountains, but I did believe that there were crazy people who believed in this kind of feng shui array.


    <><><><>


    Authors note: The knowledge rted to ancient Chinese gods has been changed to avoid any taboos. If there are any simrities, its purely coincidental.<sup>(2)</sup>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Examples include: the Jade Emperor, the Queen of the West, the direct ancestors of feudal monarchs, such as the Haotian God and the Eastern Emperor Taiyi.


    (2) Im gonna go out on a limb and say this is probably a censorship thing.

 Book 3: Chapter 62

    Book 3: Chapter 62


    I went back to that huge dark spot. I didnt know if my guess was correct, but if it was, then the thing that I was seeing in front of me was what my grandfather saw deep in that Mount Mang cave.


    But what about the huge mark on the ground?


    Did the Five Mountain Dragon Gods pass by outside the coffin I was in earlier?


    The ancient Chinese gods didnt really have a likeness, and most of them only had an abstract state. Take, for example, the ck rock band. After the ancients saw it, they called it a dragon and named it the "Five Mountain Dragon Gods" (of course, the full name was much longer). After that, the name of this god began to represent a higher power and all of the offered sacrifices were just sacrifices in name only.


    It was muchter when idol worship began to prevail, and many statues of ancient gods began to appear. But this was basically caused bypetition with foreign religions.


    Based on all of the information I had, this power didn''t have a form, so this mark couldnt be the trace of a giant snake or a dragon god. But I still didnt know what it was. Maybewas it possible that the qi in the dragon vein had passed through this underground pce?


    I used my peripheral vision to take a look at it. I was afraid Id end up seeing a dragonif that actually happened, it probably meant that I waspletely schizophrenicbut I was relieved to find nothing at all.


    After moving around like this, the poison in my body began to attack again, so Iy down and dug out more of that Chinese medicine to eat. My throat started to burn since there was too much sugar, but I knew that I wouldnt die.


    I fell asleep again, and when I woke up this time, I felt much better. I moved my shoulders and found that the pain I always felt in my deltoid muscles had disappeared. This made it abundantly clear that the poison made one lethargic and uninhibited.


    I cleaned myself up and then wrapped band-aids around my remaining fingernails to keep them in ce. After that, I found a bronze wine vessel with half a pot of wine in it and immersed my clothes in it to clean them.


    The wine smell was overwhelming for a while, but I ignored it as I wrung my clothes out and hung them up to dry. Then, I tore off a cotton cloth bag, immersed it in the wine, and lit it. This makeshift alcohol stove not only warmed me up but also provided some lighting.


    Now I could start looking around the snake trail for more of Poker-Face and Fattys marks.


    Fatty''s footprints were easy to recognize, so even though I couldnt see more of his marks, I could still tell which way he went. Sure enough, he really did go to the front of that dark spot before his footprints disappeared.


    There was no logical exnation for this unless something lifted him to the ceiling. I looked up, but there was nothing there. I even looked out of the corner of my eye but still didnt see anything.


    I couldnt find Poker-Face''s footprints, but that wasnt surprising since he had the skills to move around without leaving a trace.


    I sat in front of the dark spot and tried to imagine the situation they had encountered. At this time, I suddenly smacked myself, got up, and went back to the coffin to see the big hole in the outer coffins mural.


    It was so obvious! The two of them couldnt go into the dark spot, so they must have gone into the outer coffin. No matter what the footprints seemed to indicate, the logic wouldnt fail.


    My clothes were almost dry by this time, so I put them back on and warmed my body in front of the makeshift alcohol stove. After checking my shlight and Kukri, I went over to the hole in the outer coffin to take a look. Sure enough, Poker-Faces mark was engraved on the side of a brick.


    <em>But how did Fatty teleport from there to here?</em>


    I stared nkly for a moment but then it hit me. That giant, dragon-like mark was formed by something dragging Fatty.


    Fatty mustve fled to the dark spot but was dragged here directly.


    I couldnt help feeling amused and slightly worried. <em>So if Poker-Face didnt leave any footprints, did that mean he was riding on it?</em>


    When I pointed my shlight into the hole, I could see that it was very narrow inside and the wood and brick structures intersected. The outer coffins wall was too thick to see what was at the center of it.


    After climbing in about three or four meters, I saw five of Poker-Faces marks.


    The first three meant:


    Fatty was caught.


    This is that things nest.


    Highly toxic.


    Thest two marks, however, left me confused for a moment.


    I didnt know thesest two marks, but they seemed easy enough to understand. I figured they must have been newly created.


    The first mark was five ck strips with dragon horns on the heads.


    Was this warning me about the Five Mountain Dragon Gods? Sure enough, he had also discovered this.


    The second mark was the Chinese character for door<sup>(1)</sup>.


    What did this mean?


    The first three marks and these two marks were engraved in different positions. If I wasnt certain that I was the only one in this underground pce, I wouldve thought they were marks for two different people.


    The first three marks were made very clearly. Fatty must have been bitten and dragged into the outer coffin, so Poker-Face gave chase and left me a mark. The giant corpse was also very poisonous, which I had already learned.


    There was also thatst mark that told me to hide my scent. I figured that I was now enveloped in the smell of wine and dead things, so I should be ok.


    I kept crawling inside and soon saw a lot of tiny teeth embedded everywhere on the wooden frame. They must have gotten stuck when that giant corpse came out earlier. When I found a space that was a little wider, I stopped to take a break and looked back at the entrance.


    I swept my shlight over, just wanting to confirm the path behind me in order to reassure myself. But at this time, I suddenly saw Ping Lians "skinless" dog head appear. I didnt know who put it in the hole I had just crawled through, but it was an extremely frightening sight in the shlights glow.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1)  (can also mean gate).

 Book 3: Chapter 63: Ghostly Prank

    Book 3: Chapter 63: Ghostly Prank


    I looked back at the dog''s head. The skinned shape of it truly was a horrible sight, but its symbolic meaning had my hair standing on end even more.


    I stared at the entrance to the hole for about four or five minutes, trying to figure out what was going on.


    Ping Lian had to be dead. His head had been cut off, after all. When I had used my knife earlier, I directly cut into his cervical vertebra and then broke the joint off. This was because all transformed corpses would stop moving after the head was removed.


    Plus, he only had one head, which I had thrown into the coffin. I clearly remembered closing the coffin lid, so how did his head open the coffin and climb to the entrance of this hole?


    This wasn''t Ping Lians doingin fact, I was almost certain that it was done by something else that had the ability to move the coffin lid. And if that were true, then there was a "person" or "thing" here in this underground pce with me.


    But its behavior was very strange. By putting the dog''s head behind me like this, it didnt seem like it wanted to take my life but was ying a prank.


    Truthfully, I was feeling really creeped out.


    I suddenly recalled the series of events that happened to us on the grasnd before. Now that I thought about it, it all seemed to have the air of a prank. The satellite phone and even Jiang Siwangs sudden appearance all had a strong feeling of mischief to them.


    There was also that night when we were running from the horses and I saw a man with a ck face appear behind Fatty. Then there were the things in the stonentern and the underground corpse herding area that also had ck faces.


    I suddenly thought of that ck face that appeared in the pool. I didnt know why, but at this time, I began to think of that thing. Why did it suddenly appear in the water? I figured that maybe it wanted to see me from a close distance. At that time, not only was I certain that it was interested in me as I looked at its expression, but it also seemed to say something to me.


    This kind of ck thing seemed to appear everywhere in this ce, so if it was ying a prank, was it rted to <em>them</em>?<sup>(1)</sup>


    There was no basis for this, but my intuition kept pushing me to think in that direction.


    My back was soon covered in a cold sweat as I came to a realization in my heart: these pranks would only get scarier and more malicious. There were many pranks in this world that were executed to hurt people while still staying within the moral code.


    Using a skinned dog''s head to y a prank showed that the implementer had no concept of cruelty at all and could do horrible things beyond your imagination. To it, I was actually more like an animal it was teasing.


    At this time, I suddenly thought of the herding corpses scene from the murals. If those corpses were herded, then did that make me wild? Was this thing teasing me?


    I heard that headhunters in the past used to tease their prey because they thought that the meat would taste more delicious if they had scared their prey to a state of extreme fear.


    I quickly reined in these paranoid thoughts.


    At this time, I had two choices: I could either go back and find that thing in the underground pce or I could continue moving forward and meet up with Poker-Face.


    I thought about it for a second and decided to join up with Poker-Face.


    I took onest look at the dog''s head before pulling a gadget out of my belt. It was a whistle, which had a very thin wire that could be pulled out of it. I strung this wire up in the passage behind me.


    As long as something passed by, it would definitely touch this wire, which would immediately pull the whistle and make a sound.


    This wire was particrly inconspicuous, but extremely sensitive. And even if you barely blew into the whistle, it would immediately make a sound.


    I felt more at ease after setting it up, so I began moving forward again. But things developedpletely beyond my expectations.


    I had only crawled six or seven steps when I immediately heard the sound of a whistlee from behind me.


    I really didn''t expect it to be like this.


    I immediately jumped in fright and spun around with my shlight in hand. The whistles wire had been broken and Ping Lians head was about two or three steps behind me.


    I had no idea how it had moved to this spot.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat as I realized that it had only taken a brief moment for Ping Lians head to move from the entrance to the position right by my feet.


    From this distance, the head looked even more sinister and had a strong smell to it.


    It had been ced very neatly in the passage, so I could tell at a nce that it wasnt thrown in. Something had clearly crawled in and put it right behind me. That thing was obviously very fast and had to be close by, but there was nothing behind the dog''s head.


    After thinking about it, I looked at the dog''s head using my peripheral vision, but I still didnt see anything.


    I knew that something terrible would happen if I continued to crawl forward now. This prank was still progressing, so Ping Lians head would probably end up biting my ankle next. I took a deep breath and looked back in front of me to see if I could clench my teeth and quickly crawl forward. Maybe I could find a spacious ce where I coulde up with a n.


    Unfortunately, the tunnel in front of me was still very narrow.


    At this time, I looked back behind me and suddenly saw a ck, expressionless face appear behind Ping Lians head. It crawled over Ping Lians head as fast as lightning until it was face to face with me.


    This ce was too narrow for me to do anything, so that face was almost half a palms width away from me in an instant.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) He used the characters  which is they for inanimate objects. So I think hes talking about ghosts (just a wild guess on my part, though)


    ****

 Book 3: Chapter 64

    Book 3: Chapter 64


    I had no way to hide, so I reflexively stretched out my hand to push it away. But that ck face evaded my hand and met me face to face. That actionno creature except a snake could do it.


    I noticed that this ck thing had a very long neck, which was very simr to a snake.


    But not only its neck, its hands and feet were very long, too. The proportions of this things limbs were extremely deformed.


    Moreover, the ck color on its body wasnt from paint but appeared to be the natural color of its skin.


    It had a human face, but it wasnt very normal since it was a bit too small and narrow. From the front, it looked like it probably had a small brain capacity since there wasnt a forehead above its eyebrows.


    I looked at it and it looked at me, the distance so close that I could see that its eyes were asymmetrical.


    My knife was stuck in my belt at my lower back. This ce was too narrow, so before I initially crawled in, I calcted whether I could pull it out as quickly as possible. I had determined that it would be fine for either the front or the back, but I just didn''t expect to find myself in this position. The opponent came at me too fast, so I really couldn''t pull it out.


    The only thing I could do now was to grip the opponents neck with one hand, but if I did that, Id have to drop my shlight. It was very difficult to strangle a person with one hand, so it would be better to hold onto my shlight and use it as a hammer.


    But that thing didn''t attack me and just continued to look at me like this.


    I gradually recovered from my extreme panic and slowly withdrew, trying to give myself room to draw my knife. But at this time, that thing opened its mouth and repeated the phrase it had said at the pool.


    Well, it just sounded like gibberish to me, but I thought that it was talking to me. Then, it pushed its whole body towards me. <em>This thing is like a mollusk</em>, I thought to myself as I immediately moved back. That thing squeezed its whole body through the extremely narrow gap between me and the tunnel wall.


    No one could physically squeeze through that gap, but that thing managed to squeeze through like it didnt have any bones.


    When it arrived right in front of me, it turned its head, looked back at me, and then looked at Poker-Faces mark.


    I was surprised to find that the way it looked at the mark was almost the exact same way I looked at the mark. Even the small details were very simr.


    <em>What''s this thing doing? First, why is it looking at the marks? Second, why is it trying to be like me?</em>


    Then, I saw a particrly frightening schat things facial features suddenly twisted and it instantly took on my appearance.


    Although that face had changed immediately, I could tell right away that this thing was learning from me.


    The two of us continued to stare at each other. "What the hell are you?" I eventually asked it.


    It just smiled at me, which caused all of my hair to stand on end. This smile was very true to my essence and looked just like me.


    Then, as if it had melted, it squeezed directly into the gap between the outer coffins timber on the side and disappeared.


    I sat therepletely stupefied for a moment, but after thinking about it, I took my shlight and looked into the gap. <em>Fuck, this thing doesn''t follow the rules at all!</em><em>If its in the gap like this, then it must not have a single bone in its whole body!</em>


    When I looked into the gap, I found that the things head was stretched into a slender strip and only one eye could face the outside. This eye was still looking at me from inside the gap.


    <em>ording to physics, this things brain must be in the shape of a cucumber right now.</em>


    I finally pulled my knife out, but slowly pointed my shlight at another gap on a whim.


    After a quick nce, I felt all my hair stand on end.


    In this other gap, there was also a "person" who had their whole body squeezed into the gap, just like a rag. When I saw it, it rolled its eye at me.


    I continued to look around, feeling cold all over as I realized that all of the gaps in this outer coffins wooden structure were crowded with ck people. These gaps were only about as thick as a palm, but these people were curled up inside of them. And every single one of them had an eye squeezed out from the gap, looking right at me.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''ll say it again:</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 65: Peel the Skin off the Bone

    Book 3: Chapter 65: Peel the Skin off the Bone


    At this time, I wasn''t scared.


    Granted, if it was the old me, Id definitely get down on all fours and start crawling forward like crazy. I was the kind of person who was either in an extremely safe environment or fighting for my life, so this kind of situation used to be unbearable for me. This was especially the case when I was in close proximity to such a horrible thing while also remaining in a stalemate with it.


    I wouldve definitely gone crazy before, but I wasnt going crazy now. If anything, I just felt ufortable.


    The environment here was so quiet that if you listened very carefully, you could hear all of the grinding sounds from the wood on the outer coffins frame rubbing together. It was very simr to the sound of someone grinding their teeth.


    I analyzed everything in a rational manner as I continued crawling forward. At this point, I had almost reached a dead end. For some reason, those people didnt attack me, but I knew that I had absolutely no chance of surviving as long as a single one of them changed their mind.


    Every time I took a step, I could hear the swelling sound of the wood in the gap that the ck thing had entered just now. I didnt dare take a look with my shlight, but I knew that it had to be following me.


    After crawling more than a dozen steps, a hole suddenly appeared in front of me. This had to be the inner coffin wall since I was currently in the outer coffin. The outer coffin was thickly wrapped around the inner coffin, so seeing the coffin wall meant that I was seeing the core position of the outer coffin. There was a hole in the coffin wall, through which I could see the space inside the coffin.


    There wasnt any umted water, so I could immediately see everything. The coffin wasnt veryrge, but there were many reflective objects inside, which seemed to be funerary objects. They were probably gold and precious stones.


    I calmed down and took a look around. If these ck people were ced here to protect the outer coffin, then me entering the coffin would essentially signal them to attack. I couldnt take the risk.


    I hesitated for about two or three seconds before I suddenly saw Poker-Faces mark by the hole in the coffin wall. It was very simple: go straight in.


    There was another mark beside it, but I couldnt understand it. It was painted in a pattern simr to the gatehouse of an ancient building.


    I wondered why there was another mark beside the one Poker-Face had left for me. Could someone else have followed him in?


    Did Poker-Face secretly arrange a helper to follow us the whole way?


    I looked back again to see if someone was following me. At this time, I couldnt help thinking that Poker-Face was still leaving marks behind because he might not trust me and Fatty. I wasn''t even mad about it as I thought to myself, <em>you''re absolutely right not to trust us!</em><em>Come on, it''s time for the helper to show up so that we can face this together!</em>


    When I turned my head to look back, I saw that the ck face had appeared at my heels. It was lying there looking at me and mimicking my current expression. At this point, its face was already very simr to mine.


    My mind buzzed, even more nk than the first time.


    The only times I had encountered this kind of continuous shock were in my nightmares. Sometimes Id see monsters whenever I looked back in my dreams, but sometimes I wouldnt see them at all. The fear was like chewing gum stuck to the soles of my feet.


    That ck face still didn''t attack me, nor did ite face to face with me this time. It just continued to look at me. But no matter what expression it had on its face, I was convinced that it was filled with sinister intentions. I kept feeling like it was plotting something.


    I faced forward again and then crawled into the coffin without an ounce of hesitation.


    There was a thickyer of cobwebs in the coffin, which was probably carbonized cotton. There were generally a lot of quilt or silkyers in coffins, and the Mongolians would spread out horse skins as well. I could see a lot of funerary objects inside this coffin, among which were many precious stones. They were reflecting various colors, but I didnt have the time to look at them carefully.


    I nced back and saw that the ck face had followed me to the mouth of the hole in the coffin wall. But instead ofing in, it just looked at me coldly. The expression on its face began to change so drastically that it almost looked like it was melting, and it became so malevolent that it didnt look like my face anymore.


    This face also slowly started to grow longer, which had me wondering what was going on. Maybe it was no longer satisfied with imitation and started to process itself? But this process was way too ugly.


    I looked at this particrly long and sinister face and said to myself, <em>it doesn''t make any sense</em>. But then I suddenly realized that it wasnt mimicking me.


    I immediately turned my head and saw a huge corpse lying among the funerary objects beside me. It was the exact same one that had attacked us earlier. The white hair that had been covering its face was gone, revealing a strangely long and sinister-looking corpse face.


    The corpses whole face was purple, and there was a bronze mirror sitting on top of its head. The ck person was able to see the corpses face because of the mirror, so it had started imitating it.


    This corpse''s eyes were so murky that it almost looked like the pupils and whites had melted together. But those eyes were still visible and they had turned to me.


    <em>It''s looking at me!</em>


    Iy down silently and used my peripheral vision to look at the corpse on the side. At this time, it suddenly turned its head and asked, "Why do you smell like wine?"

 Book 3: Chapter 66: Slave Tube

    Book 3: Chapter 66: ve Tube


    As I stared at the giant corpses face, I found that the other two faces on the side of its head were all withered now, just like apples that had been left out for many days. It also looked like the giant corpses neck had been broken.


    The corpse waspletely dead now and I could see a trace of Fatty''s face peeking out from the funerary objects beneath its bodyit was only at this time that I realized that there were a lot of copper coins here.


    I knew Fatty all too well, so I knew that it was his face as soon as I saw it. He appeared to be hiding under the giant corpse for some reason.


    I didn''t bother responding to him since I was feeling a mix of anger and relief when I saw that he wasn''t dead. Instead, I looked up at the hole in the coffin wall and found that the strange face formed by that ck person was still there. At this time, it remained therepletely motionless. It seemed that because the giant corpse was motionless, this ck person was also remaining motionless.


    But that motionless face was even more frightening.


    "Don''t worry, Fatty whispered to me. They won''te in. As long as theres nothing wrong with this giant corpse, they wonte in."


    "What''s the matter with you? What are you doing lying down there? What about Little Brother?" I asked him.


    "Little Brother is under you," Fatty said.<sup>(1)</sup>


    I hummed and felt around for a moment. Sure enough, there seemed to be something under the copper coins beneath my body.


    "Sorry," I whispered to the copper coins under my body.


    "Dont worry about it, Fatty responded. He said that theres a mechanism under this coffin. It goes down very deep and the funerary objects below are more than two meters thick. Just don''t fart. But why does your body smell like wine? You stink. What exactly did you eat just now?"


    "Is it okay for us to talk like this?" I looked up at the dark face again, wondering if it was really ok to ignore it and just chat directly like this.


    "Its fine. You still haven''t figured out what happened?"


    "Have you fucking figured it out?"


    "Of course," he said. "They forced you in here to feed this giant corpse; otherwise, do you really think you could make it in here alive? These ck things are taking care of the corpses here, so that one will keep watching until youve been eaten. If the giant corpse doesn''t eat you, it won''t leave."


    "What kind of things do zombies even eat?" Werent zombies just corpses that never dposed all the way?


    "I''m afraid the corpse here isnt a zombie," Fatty said. "But I can''t borate right now. The situation here is beyond your expectations. Don''t worry about the ck thing for now. As long as it doesn''t discover that Little Brother and I twisted the corpse Im hiding under into a pretzel, it won''te in. It already thinks Ive been eaten, so you just lie down and wait to be eaten as well. When Little Brother is done with whatever hes doing below, well run away."


    <em>Can we even run away at this point?</em> I asked myself. All the crevices here were full of these things, and they moved very fast. But I trusted Poker-Face.


    I looked up at the ck face again and found that it was still the same. It didnt even move after I pointed my shlight at it several times. That sinister face was exactly the same as the giant corpses face and looked so terrifying that my heart immediately felt ufortable every time I saw it.


    Iy down again and listened as Fatty continued, "Ok, calm down. Now look at the coffin lid up there."


    I pointed my shlight at it and sawcquer paintings on the coffin lid that had been done in a veryplicated pattern. I took one look and realized what Fatty meant by telling me to calm down. There was a reason for his strange behavior just now.


    This wasnt a joke; he knew that my mood would be veryplicated.


    There was a ck male ve on thecquer paintings. He was surrounded by schrs who were using a tool to remove all of his bones. Once that was done, they smashed his skull to pieces.


    But the man didnt die.


    Instead, he became a mollusk-like thing. I didnt know what kind of technique they used to keep him from dying, but with the exception of his spine, all of the bones used to support the shape of his body were basically broken. Some were taken out while some were still left in his body.


    Once the whole process was done, they put the ve into a bamboo tube until even his whole face was distorted.


    It was obvious from the paintings that the ve was in extreme pain.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) ( ) *cue perverted old man smirk*


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry, this is it for tonight. I thought I could get the next chapter out but I spent like an hour researching the chapter title and now I''m over it. Til next time~</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 67: In the Great Wilderness, There is a Mountain Called Great Wilderness Mountain

    Book 3: Chapter 67: In the Great Wilderness, There is a Mountain Called Great Wilderness Mountain


    Was this the truth behind the ck people outside?


    "Look at the ve who was deboned, Fatty said from the side. He appears to be very dark. Do you think hes a Kunlun ve?"


    Kunlun ves were mainly Southeast Asian inders who had brownish-ck skin, and only a few of them were actually Africans who came over with the Arabians. Since the Tang Dynasty, nobles widely used them as servants and guards. This ce was built during the Yuan Dynasty, which was a time when such dark-colored people were verymon.


    But that wasnt what I was focused on right now. First of all, I couldnt help wondering why such contents were depicted on this coffin lid.


    This was the coffin of this giant corpse, so its contents should be rted to this giant corpse''s life.


    I moved my shlight and looked at the patterns on the side, discovering that it was only a small part of a hugecquer painting. There was a full picture painted on the back of the coffin, but I dont even know how to begin to describe it.


    To be honest, Im very good at describing things, but I really cant do it in regards to this image. Out of all the coffins I had viewed in the past, this position on the coffin always depicted the tomb owners life in the immortal realm. I was quite certain that this coffin wasnt depicting the immortal realm, but it wasnt apletely fictional world, either. I even had the sense that the elements within this panting were familiar to me.


    This was the first time I had seen such a wonderful and clear depiction of the three-faced weirdo that I could only see with my peripheral vision before. The person was in the middle of thecquer painting and was wearing an official uniform from ancient times. He appeared to have three faces looking in three different directions.


    It was probably the giant corpse himself.


    Each of these three faces had three different expressions, and one of the faces was facing a banquet. This banquet was just like a fairnd, with cranes and phoenixes depicted in it. I could tell from the decorations that it was the banquet outside.


    The expression on this face was very indifferent, just like the Buddha statue I saw earlier that was hanging on the ceiling and watching the whole banquet.


    The ve I just saw being tortured, deboned, and stuffed into the bamboo tube was in front of another face. This was apparently documenting how the funerary objects were made. I looked around and saw many funerary objects such as livestock, sacrificial maids, and numerous horses being prepared.


    The expression on this particr face was very sinister, just like the expression this giant corpse was wearing now.


    I was surprised when I saw what was in front of thest face.


    It was a magnificent building, in front of which were three stone tablets.


    The style of this ancient building was like that of aplex full of stone houses. Some of them even appeared to have been cut right out of the mountain. It definitely wasnt done in the style of imperial tombs from the Central ins, but the scale was veryrge. In the middle of this ancient buildingplex, I saw something like a ck spot.


    Thisst face had its eyes closed and its head lowered, as if it were respectfully listening to something.


    Murals sometimes required you to make far-fetched guesses, but I felt as if these three faces divided thecquer painting into three areas.


    One was the area for funerary objects, the other was the area for sacrificesi.e., the banquetand thest was the area where the worlds second most valuable tomb was.


    The three stone tablets had me feeling very concerned, because I seemed to have seen them in some kind of hallucination before.


    To be honest, I was even more confused after examining thecquer painting, because it didnt seem to follow any rules.


    If you were a painter from the Central ins, then a verticalposition should have the funerary object and sacrificial areas on both sides while the face in the middle was looking at the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    But that wasnt the case here. The worlds second most valuable tomb was on the left, the funerary object area was seen from the front, and the sacrificial area was on the right.


    Based on that faces solemn expression, it was obvious that the worlds second most valuable tomb was the most important and should be on the central axis of thispositionit was simple human aesthetics, after allbut it wasnt.


    This was causing my obsessivepulsive mind to constantly churn.


    Although the content of thiscquer painting was very serious, it almost seemed as if was randomly created without any sort of design. I didnt know why that would be, unless there was some kind of hidden logic within the painting that I hadnt discovered yet.


    But the three-faced person had really been painted very well, which reminded me of an excerpt from The ssic of Mountains and Seas:


    In the great wilderness, there is a mountain called Great Wilderness Mountain, where the sun and the moon fall. There are some people there who have three faces. They are the children of Zhuanxu and have three faces and one arm. These three-faced people do not die. This ce is the so-called Great Wilderness.<sup>(1)</sup>


    I needed to study this corpse very carefully if I had the chance.


    I took a moment to think about it before asking Fatty, "Do you have any clues? I dont understand this thing. Maybe youll be able to resonate with it since youre so poorly educated."


    "Its actually hard for people to pick out the details in thiscquer painting, Fatty said. You have to look very carefully. There are some things in it, which are very amazing. In fact, the whole thing is absolutely symmetrical. Those three faces are actually looking at three things, which are all hidden in theposition."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Out of the 18 chapters of The ssic of Mountains and Seas, I believe this excerpt is from Chapter 16ssic of the Great Wilderness: West. Zhuanxu is one of the Five Legendary Emperors and the grandson of the Yellow Emperor (reigned 2513-2435 BC).

 Book 3: Chapter 68: Decrypt

    Book 3: Chapter 68: Decrypt


    I looked up at the hole in the coffin wall again and found that the ck person was still there, just like a statue.


    I silentlyy down again and asked myself, <em>what''s Poker-Face doing right now? Since thisyer of copper coins is so thick and heavy, will he encounter any problems down there?</em>


    I looked at thecquer painting in front of me again. Fatty had asked me to look at theposition very carefully, but my eyes werent as good as his in this kind of environment. I didnt understand why his eyesight was so good even though he was so old. I squinted at the strange picture on the coffin but couldn''t see what he was talking about.


    "Shocking, isnt it?" Fatty was fanning the mes on the side.


    I looked up at the ck person again and whispered to him, "Don''t keep me in suspense. Just fucking tell me what the hell it is."


    "You have to use your imagination, Fatty said. First, use your mind to erase the three-faced thing in the middle."


    I immediately understood and squinted at the painting again, letting the three-faced weirdo gradually disappear from theposition.


    I dabbled in photography so it was very easy for me to understand Fatty''s statement and act ordingly.


    When the three-faced weirdo disappeared from the middle of theposition, the three areas were connected together and I could even see some lines. I had originally thought that they were meaningless, but now I found that they all extended to the nk area in the middle.


    If I followed the trajectory of these lines, it seemed that they could be linked.


    I zoned out for a second, and when I saw the three-faced weirdo again, I discovered that it was no longer a three-faced weirdo but more of a pattern. I found that the lines of this three-sidedposition were all connected with the pattern of this three-faced figure.


    It''s hard to describe it clearly, but I can say that this painted three-faced weirdo wasnt actually a painting. It had a line in it that connected the threepositions. If I was guessing correctly, then it was a road.


    In other words, there was a line hidden inside theposition part full of funerary objects. This line could clearly be seen leading from a small forest, through the sacrificial horses and maids, and into the ve tube area. After that, it connected to the pattern that made up the three-faced weirdo and became a part of the weirdosposition. The line then wrapped around the three-faced weirdo and came out again on the sacrificial banquet side. After it connected to a part of the banquet, it went back to the weirdos body and then headed for the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    This line kept going until it reached the ck spot in the center of the buildingplex.


    This was how we would get to the worlds second most valuable tomb from that small grove.


    "This is a map," I said to Fatty.


    He didn''t answer me, but it seemed that he was quite proud of himself. I looked at the three faces again and found that this line passed through their eyes many times.


    This wasnt done illogically, but for an extremely clever purpose. I carefully looked at the banquet part of theposition to see what direction this line was going in. The line bypassed all the patterns and entered the body of a single dancer.


    The line was well hidden, so it was extremely difficult to find it if you didnt use Fattys method.


    <em>This should be a dancing girl figurine</em>, I said to myself. <em>There must be a tunnel under her.</em>


    "Ah, its just the usual routine, I whispered. You see here? It seems like the passage under that stone beastntern we saw on the grasnd leads to this underground pce banquet. And then theres another secret passage in this underground pce where you can enter the worlds second most valuable tomb." I touched thecquer painting with my hand. This underground pce was too big, so it would really be too difficult for us to find the secret passage. If it was a small underground pce, then Poker-Face would know where the opening was just by touching it.


    Fatty still didn''t answer me, which I found a little surprising. I looked under the giant corpse and saw that he had shrunk under the copper coins and wasnt moving.


    At this time, I found that the giant corpses head didn''t seem to be in the same position it was in just now. I had apparently been too excited and bumped it with my elbow.


    I reflexively looked up at the hole and found that the ck person was no longer there.


    I suddenly had a bad feeling and immediately turned my head, only to find that the ck person had crawled behind me, climbed over my chest, and squeezed on top of the giant corpse to check its head.


    It must have immediately noticed that the giant corpses head and torso were no longer connected, for it let out a very slight wail and began to tremble all over.


    Then, it turned its head and looked at me directly as its face immediately distorted and turned into Ping Lians skinned face. Then, it rushed right at me.


    I didnt know how it was going to attack, but I figured it was going for my mouth, so I immediately shrank my neck back and sealed my lips. At this time, Fatty suddenly leaped up from copper coins and kicked me directly in the face.


    ****


    <strong><em> Lawd Jesus, we can''t take you anywhere Wu Xie. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 69: Decrypt 2

    Book 3: Chapter 69: Decrypt 2


    Fatty''s kick was the true unity of waist and leg strength, as the power from his waist was exerted directly to the sole of his foot. This kick knocked me over, enabling me to avoid that ck face which had been rushing towards me. But the ck face immediately discovered Fatty after its failed attack and made a noise that sounded like it was cursing.


    Fatty held the giant corpses head up as a shield and said to me, "Mr. Nave, don''t be fooled by the fact that this thing doesnt have any bones. When I kicked it just now, I found that its body is very hard. You have to be careful."


    I got up, felt my swollen cheek, and then rolled my eyes as I thought to myself, <em>that''s because I was the one you kicked.</em> But I had no time to argue with him as that ck face raised its neck up and looked at Fatty coldly with that skinned dog''s face. Fatty motioned for me toe over to his side.


    This coffin was so small that the three of us were almost on top of each other, so I secretly protected my face with my knife and crawled until I reached Fatty''s back.


    Almost at the same time, we watched as that things face began to change yet again. That skinned dog''s face had now turned into a stranger''s face.


    I had never seen this face before and didnt know who it was, but it looked very simr to the ceramic figurines outside.


    ****


    <strong><em>Hell yeah, now this is my kind of chapter. Short, sweet, and to the point lol. But in all seriousness, the author wasn''t feeling good so that''s why it''s short. </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 70: Return

    Book 3: Chapter 70: Return


    Fatty and I werepletely puzzled. <em>What kind of conjuring is this?</em>


    "It''s better to attack first, Fatty said. Ill go up and grab his head and you can cut it."


    I was just about to tell him to wait, but Fatty had already thrown the giant corpses head over and hit that ck person directly in the face. Then, he immediately rushed over.


    What I had wanted to say was, You have to tell me what its method of attack is first, but it was toote now, so I could only follow after him. As Fatty bear-hugged the ck face and then pushed it into the copper coins, I rushed forward and used the Tibetans knife-cutting method, which was to press the de on the opponents neck and then press down hard. This kind of precision could prevent me from identally hurting Fatty since I didn''t swing the knife at all.


    At this time, I could fully analyze the details of this creature, so I was certain that it was definitely a zombie. It had white eyes, very long nails, and was probably the corpse of a foreign ve that had been processed. I could even see that a lot of copper coins and patterned ironwork had been sewn onto its skin.


    This was a coffin-padding corpse. In other words,yer uponyer of sacrificial ves were ced into the gaps of the outer coffin. These things would eventually be crushed by the mounds of dirt that were used to seal the coffin and outer coffin, so there shouldnt have been the possibility of them transforming. But how was this corpse able to change? Moreover, it looked like it still had some intelligence.


    At this time, I pressed my knife down to cut the ck things neck and found that my knife had encountered a hard object. I could feel that copper coins had been embedded in its skin, so I couldn''t cut it. Then, the ck thing began to tremble violently. Fatty exerted more force, but I suddenly felt its throat bulge and then it began to vomit violently from its mouth. The ejected liquid smelled exactly the same as Ping Lians blood had smelled.


    That stuff was poisonous, so I immediately told Fatty to be careful. Fatty let go and turned around, only to be sprayed on his back. The ck thing then turned around and tried to scrape me with its nails, but I held it back with my knife and shouted at Fatty to take his clothes off. Fatty turned back around and covered the ck thing''s face with his clothes while yelling at me, "Use some strength!"


    At this time, that thing used its nails to put pressure on my knife and actually ended up lifting my whole body up. I hit the coffin te directly and felt my internal organs shift. Then, my knife got stuck in its nails. As it moved to swing me around, I had no other choice but to let go of my knife and let my body hit the other side of the coffin.


    <em>This isnt the order of magnitude</em>, I said to myself. I had thought it looked like a mollusk just now, but its strength basically made it the Schwarzenegger among snails.


    I fell on the giant corpses body and immediately got up, only to hear Fatty shout, "Take the corpse and put it at the entrance up top!"


    My shlight was in the corner, but we had been able to use its dim reflection off of the coffin wall to see as we fought. I picked it up, pointed it towards the breach in the coffin wall, and saw a bunch of those ck people crawling out of the passage one by one. These people were more obviously zombies than the one we had been facing so far, and many of them even had hair. Their hair was styled in top buns that were covered in Mongolian headdresses.


    I rolled over and dragged the giant corpses body to block the hole in the coffin wall, but it wasnt like the corpse was a pile of bricks. A hand suddenly reached into the gap that hadnt been sealed, its curled nails looking like snakes because it didnt have any bones.


    That thing almost immediately grabbed my junk, so I put my back against the giant corpse to block the breach and mped my legs shut while saying to myself, <em>I''m this old yet I still have to y this kind of game?!</em>


    I used my shlight to look at Fatty again and saw him kneeling there, his eyes already starting to turn white.


    The ck thing was hiding behind Fatty and I didnt know what had happened, but I assumed that Fatty had been defeated.


    But Fatty''s eyes hadntpletely rolled into the back of his head and his eyelids were trembling like crazy.


    The ck zombie''s face was indescribable now, but it definitely didnt look human anymore. At this time, it suddenly began to stretch one of its hands towards my mouth.


    That hand could stretch very long, just like a tentacle.


    My mind was spinning fast<em>what to do, what to do</em>when the copper coins under Fatty''s body suddenly loosened and he fell down directly.


    Then, the copper coins under my feet also loosened and everything instantly fell down like we were in a funnel. The area below us appeared to be a secret vertical tunnel, and once the secret door was opened, the whole bottom section of the coffin fell down.


    I didnt have time to respond at all and just waved my hands around, trying to grab onto something. The whole area around me was empty, but at this time, something suddenly grabbed my cuff.


    I hit the edge of a hard wall and thought to myself, <em>Poker-Face! Wait, thats not right! What about Fatty?!</em>


    But when I looked up, what I saw wasnt Poker-Face. My shlight was falling, but when it was spinning in the air, the beam illuminated my rescuer several times. As a result, I was able to see that it was the ck zombie who was pulling me. This thing had apparently reacted fast enough to hang onto the side of the wall in an instant.


    But with this reaction speed, it was unlikely to be a zombie. <em>What is this thing?</em> I asked myself, feeling more and more confused.


    It was dark all around, but I already knew that this tunnel wasnt spacious and was probably just a vertical well. I found that I could ce both feet on either side of the wall, so I immediately did so and tried to break free from the zombies hold.


    At this time, I suddenly heard Poker-Faces voicee from the darkness. He instantly appeared behind me, his entire body hot all over as he put his hands under my armpits and said, "Jump!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, he pulled me back hard, almost like he was trying to use our body weight as leverage to break free. I immediately dropped my feet from the sides of the wall, and as the weight of two people fell, my cuff split and we fell down directly.


    After falling for only two or three seconds, Inded on what turned out to be sand. Poker-Face immediately pushed me about two or three meters away, causing me to eat a mouthful of sand.


    I turned around, not even trying to spit it out as I immediately set off the cold firework that was tied to my leg.


    As the pink light instantly lit up the space, I saw that the ck zombie had also fallen down with us. But I also noticed that all of the tattoos on Poker-Face''s body were showing.


    The moment the zombiended, Poker-Face immediately flipped behind it, leaped up, and cut its neck from behind.


    The speed at which he moved was definitely at his limits, so I barely even saw how he aplished it. I couldn''t even see his shadow. But there had to be copper coins or armor under the zombie''s skin, because there was a loud nking sound and sparks flew as the knife connected with the zombie''s neck.


    Now that the zombies head was cut half off, I found that it was looking at me askew. But at this time, I saw an amazing scenea red tattoo appeared on the ck zombies body. It was very simr to the position of Poker-Faces tattoo and was slowly being revealed all over its body.


    But the pattern of this tattoo was so strange that I couldnt tell whether it was actually a pattern or just some random lines.

 Book 3: Chapter 71: Old Friend

    Book 3: Chapter 71: Old Friend


    It was an amazing sight, but in the next second, Poker-Face jumped out from behind it, put his knees on its shoulders, and then stuck two fingers into the half-sliced neck wound. With his fingers acting as the center of gravity, he then used his weight to twist his body.


    This time, instead of using the strength in his waist like usual, he used the inertia to throw himself to one side of the wall. He then stepped on the wall, leaped up, and turned 360 degrees while pulling at the wound. When he returned back to that ck-faced things shoulders, he gave a hard yank and separated the head from its neck.


    This all happened very quickly, and Poker-Face didn''t hesitate at all. After hended, I pointed to the skin that was still crawling with that tattoo and was just about to speak, but Poker-Face raised the head directly and walked to the middle of the well.


    I noticed that the head was dripping a ck, blood-like substance. If it had been a human head, the blood would have sprayed everywhere, but this head just dripped. Poker-Face looked up at the top of the well and then used the bloody head to draw a circle on the copper coins and funerary objects that had fallen to the bottom of the well. Once that was done, he put the head in the middle of the circle.


    I walked over and held the cold firework up. The well was already full of those ck weirdos, but now they were slowly retreating.


    Poker-Face reached into the pile of copper coins below, pushed them aside, and then lifted Fatty to his feet. Truthfully, Fatty didnt fall at a good angle, but the wellhead at least had a little slope to it. Otherwise, he wouldve definitely died. Poker-Face handed me one of Fatty''s arms, so I took the chance to check on Fatty''s breathing as I helped hold him up.


    "Little Brother helped me in the middle of all of that, Fatty said weakly. Im fine."


    I felt the weight of the stone in my heart lift. Poker-Face nced at me and then immediately started to move. I put out the cold firework, dug out my shlight, and then the two of us supported Fatty on both sides as we continued moving deeper into this underground passage.


    This was a stone tunnel that didnt have any relief murals. There were some ces where we could stand up straight and some ces where we had to walk with our heads bowed. We walked for half an hour without saying a word before we finally stopped. The tunnel ahead and behind us was very quiet the whole time. Ipletely forgot which direction we were going in just now and my waist was hurting a little bit, so I stopped and signaled to Poker-Face that we should rest against the wall for a while.


    Poker-Face looked down the tunnel behind us. The temperature here was so low that I was already starting to get goosebumps. He looked at the darkness for a long time before eventually nodding.


    I put Fatty down and saw that his eyes hadpletely rolled into the back of his head. I touched his neck and realized that he had been poisoned, so I immediately gave him the Chinese medicine I kept in my belt. I pped him until he woke up dazed and said to me, "Brother Li, I must apologize to you. Sister-inw didn''t say that she was married. Let this flower act as my apology for noting to the wedding."


    "Old Wang, Old Wang." I pressed on his philtrum so hard that his nostrils were almost squeezed.<sup>(1)</sup> Then, he was fully awake.


    "Fuck me, I just dreamed that Sister-in-Law Li kissed me. As we kept kissing, she turned into an eel that bit me on the philtrum. It was so strange. Now, hurry up and leave me alone. I have to continue sleeping for a while so I can finish my dream."


    "Then Sister-in-Law Li is just ying with your feelings, I said. Did you forget? She and Brother Li were married for almost fifty years. Did you really believe her when she told you that she had been single since she was born?" <sup>(2)</sup>


    "Where are we?" Fatty looked at our surroundings and finally came back to his senses.


    At this time, I found that there was a bronzemp on the wall beside us and there was a passage above the bronzemp. It seemed to be a flue pipe<sup>(3)</sup>.


    I looked up at it and realized that this was probably the bottom of the stone beastntern that I had seen on the grasnd before. We had reached the underground part.


    I nced at Poker-Face, who was looking at his fingers. They still had some of that ck-faced weirdos blood on them.


    "Do you have any ideas on what that thing was? I saw that it had a tattoo pattern that looked simr to the one on your body"


    Poker-Face shook his head and didn''t answer me, but I felt like he had already made some inferences so I didn''t bother asking anymore. It had already be a habit by now.


    I actually wanted to keep resting for a while, but after about thirty seconds, we set off again. After walking in the darkness, we soon reached the end of the passage and saw some steps leading up. We followed them all the way up and then pushed open a secret door. After peeking through it, I found that the three of us had returned to the underground pce banquet from before.


    We all climbed out and looked at each other. The secret door we had opened just so happened to be in front of Shen Qianjue and the others dancing footprints. When the three of us closed the door, we found that it had really been set up very well since it was especially difficult to find.


    Fatty and I sat down,pletely exhausted. Poker-Face nced up and looked in the direction of the sarcophagus in the distance.


    "Remember those dancing figurines we saw that had lipstick on them? Fatty asked. I know what happened in this underground pce before."


    I didnt bother answering him as I thought to myself,<em> what''s the big deal?</em><em>I also know</em>.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: "Old Wang" in Chinese can also mean "male homewrecker". The philtrum, or medial cleft, is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip. Wiki link here. In Chinese medicine, pressing peoples philtrum can save those who have passed out. Dont think its scientifically proven, though.


    (2) Brother Li and Sister-in-Law Li are from "Golden Marriage", a 2010 TV Show that was 51 episodes. Its about the lives of an ordinary Beijing couple. It starts when they get married and goes to their Golden Wedding (50 year anniversary). Each episode covers a year in their lives. Chinese wiki page here. Fun fact, the husband is yed by the guy that yed Uncle Two in Sound of the Providence.


    (3) A duct, pipe, or opening in a chimney for conveying exhaust gases from a firece, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to the outdoors.

 Book 3: Chapter 72: Inferences

    Book 3: Chapter 72: Inferences


    We made some casual inferences by throwing out some details that werent imperative to our investigation.


    First, there was thecquer painting on the back of the coffin lid that drew a very exquisite map. Among the patterns, a secret path leading to the worlds second most valuable tomb was clearly marked out. And in that ce, there were two dancing girl figurines that acted as markers.


    I remembered the poses that these two dancing girls were in very clearly.


    Shen Qianjue and her partner had marked all of the male and female dancing figurines in this underground pce with lipstick. Was this a coincidence? I didnt think so. They must have also learned this information and were looking for the dancing girls as well.


    Whenever they found a dancing figurine, they must have looked to see if there was a tunnel under its feet. If there wasnt one, then they would mark it off. That was what these marks were for.


    So, did they really leave here and give up on continuing forward? Or maybe they failed to find the dancing girl figurines and returned empty handed? Or maybe there was something else they didnt mention to us? When we were talking on the satellite phone, were they really thousands of kilometers away in an apartment in the city? Or was there something else going on?


    Speaking of which, marks were actually really amazing. These kinds of small notches sometimes contained a lot of information, but they could still urately be delivered to a certain person.


    To the one who knew the mark.


    I suddenly remembered something and asked Poker-Face, "Those marks I dont understand, who are they for?"


    Poker-Face, who was still looking in the direction of the coffin, turned his head slightly when he heard my question but didnt answer me.


    I stared nkly for a moment. "If someone from the Zhang family is following us, they can juste out and join us. I know this trip is very dangerous, so I can ept this arrangement."


    Poker-Face fully turned to look at me this time and shook his head.


    Then what does this mark mean? I asked.


    I thought that I had learned to recognize all of the Zhang familys marks.


    Poker-Face zipped his jacket all the way up to his neck, flipped his knife over, and then sharpened the de with the grindstone several times. He then hooked it to his belt on his lower back and said indifferently, "This is a mark left for future generations of my n exining my whereabouts."


    <em>This is a symbol rying onesst words?!</em> I cried out in my heart. <em>Then it''s no surprise that I really haven''t learned it. I don''t have any messages that I want to leave behind for the Zhang family.</em>


    <em>Is this all because he thinks he might not be able to make it back?</em>


    Our surroundings remained deathly quiet as Poker-Face continued to look at the darkness over by the coffin. At this time, I suddenly found that his expression was different from before.


    It wasnt fearthe indifference was still there, after allbut there was something more difficult to describe in his eyes.


    The only time I had seen those kinds of eyes was on the stone statue in Motuo.


    I wanted to keep pestering him a bit, but he suddenly walked over to the two pairs of dancing footprints and squatted down.


    These footprints were very strange. If they had searched all of the dancing figurines, then they must have found the entrance. So why dance here? What was the point?


    I felt as if there was a very logical exnation for thisin other words, there werent any secret passages under any of the dancers, but two people were dancing on the map, so they had both danced as well.


    And Xiao Hua had also danced in another spot.


    Dancing was obviously a clue, so ording to the general situation, wed have to dance and see what happened next.


    Poker-Face looked at me and I immediately knew what he meant. "If someone has to dance, then the three of us should do it together," I said to him while thinking to myself, <em>you can cut ghosts, cant you dance?</em>


    Fatty suddenly spoke up from the side, "No, I can''t dance without a pole."


    At this time, Poker-Face stood up, moved to Shen Qianjues footprints, and squatted down again.


    I stared nkly for a moment, <em>seriously?</em> Then I made a move like I was pulling radishes.


    After I was finished, I was very surprised at the fact that I still remembered the move. I must have taken kindergarten <em>very</em> seriously back in the day.


    ****


    <em><strong>Ha, wonder what Fatty''s stripper name would be? </strong></em>

 Book 3: Chapter 73: Inferences 2

    Book 3: Chapter 73: Inferences 2


    Poker-Face squatted and watched me do the initial move. Later, I remembered that I was too tired and my self-control had declined, so I thought that I had only done the initial move when I was actually already dancing. I personally felt that the essence of this dance was the action of the old man struggling to pull out the radish while breaking a sweat. When I first performed this dance, I was three years old and wearing a beard, which must have been very cute. As a result, my family wanted me to perform every holiday, which ensured that this move was deeply engraved in my DNA.


    Of course, I stopped once I came to my senses. When I saw that Poker-Face didn''t want to dance at all, I coughed and said, "Waistmy waist hurts. Im just moving around a bit."


    At this time, Fatty stood up. He was looking much better than before and also stretched his waist a little beforeing up behind us. "So, your conclusion is that the hint on the map isnt to find the tunnel under the dancing girl figurines, but to be the dancing figurines yourself?"


    After speaking, he suddenly twisted his hips enchantingly, made a samba shuffle, and circled around three times.


    He looked down at his feet, but there werent any changes nor any hidden tunnels revealed.


    "You guys are fucking crazy. Theres absolutely no logic to this. The entrance is drawn on the map. Its under the dancing girl figurines. Lets look again, he said.


    "No one would dance in the underground pce on a whim. There must be a special reason for these footprints. It''s very critical," I argued. We had all looked very carefully just now, so it must not be down below.


    "I don''t think so. They were probably just in a hurry to pee. I bet they were stamping their feet while trying to dig wet wipes out of their bags."


    "Then what about Xiao Hua dancing?"


    "Can''t Xiao Hua have the urge to pee? Or are you trying to say good-looking people dont go to the bathroom?"


    "Who the fuck performs opera when they have to pee urgently?" I scolded him.


    These footprints were definitely formed by someone dancing, and Xiao Hua''s footprints gave off the sense that they had a strong foundation. One of the owners of these two sets of footprints could definitely dance, and Xiao Hua had very strong control over his body.


    So, this dance was definitely done with serious intentions.


    Xiao Hua sometimes joked, but his jokes were very logical and not whimsical at all. Not only did this not seem like a joke, but I had never seen Xiao Hua use elements rted to opera singing to make a joke.


    All of these thoughts were giving me a headache, so I made a determined effort and did the Radish Pulling dance a few more times. Unfortunately, nothing happened.


    I sat down again, feeling cold, hungry, and tired. It seemed I had really reached my limit. Fatty told me not to worry and that we would go out first. Once we were back aboveground, we could take a break before we continued our discussion.


    I shook my head. The Sea of ck Lights aboveground was even scarier after dark. The ck things in the ground came out from below as soon as it was dark and I didn''t know what they would do under the cover of darkness. On the contrary, we already had control of the situation in this underground pce (rtively speaking). Those ck things should be in the outer coffin above, so as long as we didnt disturb them, we could stay here for a while.


    I thought we could move on quickly, but I didn''t expect to get stuck again. I even felt that Shen Qianjue and the others had seen both Xiao Hua''s footprints and the murals when they came here. By putting the two clues together, they probably theorized that dancing was the key. So, they danced in the underground pce to see if any mechanism would be activated.


    In this way, they also found nothing, so it was reasonable to believe that they had headed back.


    I carefully walked up to Xiao Hua''s footprints and squatted down to examine them carefully. That was when I suddenly found some problems.


    I was probably the only one who would notice this kind of problem, because whenever I cleaned the shop, I often saw peoples bare footprints tracking through the dustyyer on the masonry floor.


    Wang Meng and Fatty would often take naps in the shop, but they always took their shoes off because they both liked to be barefoot. Whenever they got up and went to the toilet, they never bothered to put their shoes back on since they just went back to sleep again when they were done. As a result, the soles of their feet would bepletely ck, which ended up dirtying my nkets. I repeatedly told them to put their shoes on, but I kept finding that nothing had changed.


    Sometimes, I couldnt catch them in the act, so all I could do was look at the footprints on the ground to see who did it.


    Fatty was heavier and Wang Meng was lighter, so their footprints were different. This difference mainly depended on the small traces left around the footprints in the dust.


    I looked at Xiao Hua''s footprints and came to the conclusion that he weighed a lot, but Xiao Hua was actually very light. So, this meant that when he was dancing, he was carrying something heavy on his back!

 Book 3: Chapter 74: Why?

    Book 3: Chapter 74: Why?


    At my current age, I always seemed to have some inauspicious instincts.


    I sat down next to the footprints and carefully examined the details I had noticed just now. I once again confirmed that when Xiao Hua took these steps, he weighed so much that the dust spread out from each step more than usual. In this way, a circle of dust marks simr to ripples appeared on the edge of his footprints.


    Xiao Hua wasnt good at carrying weight. First of all, it definitely wasnt the weight from equipment because he was used to traveling lightly. I intuitively felt that he was carrying someone on his back, so the first person who came to mind was obviously ck sses.


    If they were partners and Xiao Hua had to carry someone on his back in order to do something, then the person should be ck sses. But the question was: why was ck sses on Xiao Hua''s back? The theories I came up with by following this line of thinking were a bit ominous.


    Fatty patted me, "Even though Xiao Hua isnt good at carrying weight, it doesnt mean that he can''t do it. Don''t worry."


    He knew how I could detect footprints, so he probably knew what I was doing.


    "If Xiao Hua doesn''t want Little Brother to enter the worlds second most valuable tomb, then he definitely wont leave us any effective clues. If we keep wandering around here like this, Im afraid we wont be able to do anything." I took a deep breath and continued, "With his brain, he wont necessarily leave traces behind for us to draw inferences from, so its possible that these footprints are irrelevant."


    "If they arent important, then would Xiao Hua leave them here? Is he really that kind of a person?" Fatty asked.


    I pouted. <em>Yes, thats right. If he left traces behind, then it probably meant that he didnt have time to take care of them.</em>


    "Youre looking for a secret passage now, but to be honest, the things that happened in this ce arepletely illogical. So, these dancing footprints probably have nothing to do with the secret passage at all."


    I gave a wry smile and sighed. It was true that I had been thinking that there was a connection between dancing and the secret passage, but there were just too many threads to this matter. I was used to gathering all of the threads in one direction, because based on my past experiences, strange things happening in one ce were always connected. And at some point, all of the details would form a whole, enabling you to start seeing who the creator was.


    The creators thoughts formed an extremely concentrated and meticulous n that ultimately gave rise to a lot of scattered details. When we first entered the mausoleum and saw these details, it was actually the beginning of uspeting against the creator.


    This time, there were numerous instances where I thought that I had found a pattern and could do some in-depth reasoning, but every time I reached this point, there would always be a lot of isted details that made my previous reasoning seem a bit problematic.


    "What if they really do matter?" I still didnt give up.


    "If we follow your line of thinking, then it may be a problem of weight and Xiao Hua''s weight wasnt enough to dance here, Fatty said. Maybe a heavier weight is needed to activate the mechanism or something."


    If that was the case, then ck sses mustve been the one below since he was better at bearing weight.


    But looking back, all of these spections were groundless and I felt ridiculous.


    Iy down directly on the steps, but they werent that big so I had to hug my shoulders while lying down.


    To be honest, I started to let my mind wander at this time. After thinking about it, I suddenly turned over, sat up, and asked Poker-Face, "I used to be so intelligent when we went to tombs in the past, so why do I seem so dumb now?" Even in the beginning, I wasnt as helpless as I was now. I couldnt evene up with any theories at the moment. In a physical sense, as long as I could reason, I would instinctively realize that all of these things were groundless.


    I could form a logical connection between the things that had happened here, but I instinctively knew that I was wrong. This made me feel more anxious than all of those times in the past where I just made wild guesses. Was it possible to create such a dilemma just by not knowing the background culture?


    Fatty looked at me, then at Poker-Face, and stopped talking. At this time, I suddenly felt like something was wrong.


    <em>What secrets are you two hiding?</em>


    I looked at Fatty and made an expression as if to say, What else are you going to do?


    Fatty said to me, "Mr. Nave, you were taught by your Uncle Three since you were young. Plus, the things in your grandpas notes all trained you to go in that direction. As a result, you thought that you were a neer when you went to those tombs back then, but in fact, you knew a lot more than others. Have you ever thought about how many years and lives your Uncle Three and the whole Nine Gatesincluding the Zhang familydevoted to that problem before you solved it?"


    When I looked at him, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, "This was the situation your grandfather and the others encountered when they first came into contact with that mystery. Now, this is our first time encountering a new mysterypletely naked."


    "You mean, I used to be a rich second-generation and now Im starting a new business from scratch?"


    "Youre a second-generation mystery," Fatty said. "There will be a single, unified exnation for whatever happened here. I believe you can feel it, but we havent found the main clue yet."


    I looked at Fatty and made one of our unique gestures at him: Don''t pretend. He gestured back at me before saying earnestly, "Mr. Nave, let''s go over it again. There must be some key piece of information missing, and it must have been missing from the very beginning."


    I nodded, suddenly realizing that I was anxious, but I had probably been like this for a while now. So, I took a deep breath and thought back to the start of all of this.


    In the beginning, Jin Wantang came to us.

 Book 3: Chapter 75: Dragon Vein Swallows the Corpse

    Book 3: Chapter 75: Dragon Vein Swallows the Corpse


    The atmosphere was very solemn as I pinched my brow and tried to recall everything. Even though it wasnt that long ago, the memory was a little fuzzy. I couldnt help but wonder if my memory was deteriorating.


    In fact, the whole process could be divided into three stages. In the first stage, we realized that this incident was a simple rescue mission. Not only was Jin Wantang''s goal very big and dangerous this time, but Poker-Face thought that it might involve the Zhang familys restricted area. So, we started a rescue mission.


    The end of the first stage was in that small grove where we found that a bunch of people in Jin Wantang''s team had died. But the way they had died was very strange. It seemed as if they had arrived at this small grove alive, buried themselves alive, and then died. But after they died, their bodies changed.


    This mutation was very strange since they all sat around in a circle at a so-called banquet and used the wine cups and tableware they had brought out from this Corpse Country banquet. Then, the host of this banquet turned out to be a ceramic figurine.


    In other words, this whole scene seemed to indicate that these people were controlled by the ceramic figurine after they died. It was almost like they were continuing the banquet.


    Moreover, there was a strange stone in these corpses stomachs that was called Shigongs mole.


    I already knew that this stones function was to absorb the scent of human flesh since such a scent was usually very weak. And once the smell of human flesh was absorbed into this stone, it would then be highly concentrated.


    Based on this, I also knew that I had a very fragrant scent, but I didnt know if I should feel happy about it.


    That small grove was also the first time I saw something that seemed to have either fins or two faces on the side of its head. But I was the only one who could see it.


    What I could basically infer from this first stage was that the moving corpses and ceramic figurine were the work of a kind of strange figure that only I could see with my peripheral vision.


    At this point, things were actually very simple. In other words, these invisible thingsI didnt know what they were, so let''s just call them ghosts for the time beingliked ying with corpses and ceramic figurines and setting them up like they were enjoying a banquet. If we take that theory one step further, it was possible to believe that when these corpses entered the grove and buried themselves alive, they were already possessed.


    This theory had no basis, but it could help fill in a big gap and enable us to simte what had happened during that period of time.


    First of all, we didn''t see the peripheral vision monsters in the Corpse Country banquets underground pce.


    But on the night we discovered the horse burial pit, we saw them driving things that appeared to be horse spirits. So, that kind of monster should exist on the grasnd, especially in the area between the small grove and the Sea of ck Lights.


    This brings up a very interesting idea.


    When Old Bing and his team came out of the Corpse Country banquet with the things they had stolen and passed through the grasnd, they were discovered by the monsters on the grasnd. These monsters took control of them, ordered them toe to the grove, and then made them bury themselves aliveor at least go underground.


    After they were dug up again, the monsters set them up like they were participating in a banquet.


    Maybe it went like this:


    Under the grove, there was an underground passage that led back to the Corpse Country banquets underground pce. Those monsters roamed the grasnds, looking for people carrying funerary objects. Once they found them, they would control them and order them toe to the grove. After the people went underground, the monsters would carry them back to the underground pce and arrange them at the banquet.


    But there was an ident in the middle of this processwe dug up the bodies during the day. This seemed to cause a program error in which the monsters still arranged the bodies into a banquet setting.


    If that were the case, then the monster''s IQ was pretty low.


    I touched my chin. I felt that my logic was reasonable, but there were still many problematic points considering how many other strange things we had encountered after entering the grasnd.


    But these strange things belonged to the second stage because they werepletely different from the previous things.


    Fatty suddenly spoke up at this time, "I would like to add that when we were walking on the grasnd, you took that Shigongs mole with you. Is this the reason why we were bewitched so many times?"


    I nodded. <em>That might be the case. Maybe the monsters recognized both Shigongs mole and that fragment of the ceramic figurines face.</em>


    Fatty continued, "I would like to also add that its not the peripheral vision monsters that transported the corpses underground but those ck people. Think about it. When we fell into that underground tunnel, those ck people were the ones driving the corpses inside. We were in such a hurry when we fell down and it was too dark down there, so we thought that those bodies were moving by themselves. But maybe it was those ck people who were moving them."


    We also didnt know whether they were messing around with the satellite phones on the grasnd. Was there something out there with the power to control a living person? If so, it was definitely teasing us.


    So, there were two kinds of monsters: one was the monster I could see with my peripheral vision and the other was the ck people underground. Was the former responsible for things aboveground while thetter was responsible for underground transportation?


    This was what made me the most ufortable, because neither of these two monsters could be exined. What were they? Was the thing underground really a zombie and the thing aboveground a ghost? Were there two things trying to eat one corpse?


    When I thought of this, I suddenly shivered.


    Then, I had an idea.


    Two things trying to eat one corpse was ridiculous.


    But was it possible that what I saw out of the corner of my eye and the ck people underground werent two kinds of monsters but the same thing?


    Maybe they manifested differently in different ces, just like in Journey to the West. In the novel, ghosts were invisible, but you could see them clearly when you reached the underworld.


    Although I still didnt know what these things were, I suddenly had a long-lost feeling of empowerment. <em>So, do they transport the corpses back to protect the funerary objects?</em>


    <em>No</em>,<em> that cant be it.</em> I rubbed my face and then stated my conclusion, "Fatty, the worlds second most valuable tomb is a cover. All the grave robbers whoe to steal will be killed in the end and then theyll be transported back by these things through the underground passage. But did you see the bodies? No, we didn''t see the bodies here at all. So where exactly did those bodies go?"


    "Where do you think they went?" Fatty asked me.


    "They went to feed the dragon vein, I said. In other words, the Five Mountain Dragon Gods use corpses to create dragon veins. They attract grave robbers here and then feed them to the dragon veins. Thats the overall situation."


    "But werent there some burnt ones outside?"


    "Those are people who know whats going on. They don''t want their bodies to be fed to the dragon vein so they burn themselves," I said.


    Fatty looked at me, "Are you serious?"


    "Yes."


    "Then let me tell you a little bug in your theory, see if you can circle back around." Fatty spit. "If the bodies are transported back, then why was Jin Wantang able to dig up Guotang Fengs body? Did they forget to deliver the food that time?"


    After thinking about it, I remembered one of my earliest doubts.


    I felt that Jin Wantangs story was all nonsense, but I didnt think that he was someone who could set up such a scheme. So, he probably wasnt the one who came up with this idea.


    There had to be another person who created this story and used Jin Wantang to attract so many people to the grasnd to feed this dragon vein. But for what purpose?


    If this dragon vein matured, what would happen?


    I looked at Poker-Face and found that he still hadnt moved. At this time, I suddenly felt cold all over. Xiao Hua wouldn''t let Poker-Face enter the worlds second most valuable tomb and this was the Zhang familys forbidden area. What would happen if Poker-Face died inside and was fed to this dragon vein?


    Was this all a scheme to kill those in the Zhang family, or was it just a case of the Zhang family making up for a deficient and the dragon vein would change as soon as they entered?


    Also, who was behind this? Was my reasoning even correct?

 Book 3: Chapter 76: Entrance

    Book 3: Chapter 76: Entrance


    While I was thinking, Poker-Face tapped his shlight twice to tell me toe over. I nced at him and found that he must have discovered a clue.


    "Have you found the trick?" I asked as I walked over to him. When he nodded, I asked, "How?"


    Poker-Face used his shlight to illuminate a nearby dancing girl figurines foot, which was poised in the middle of a dance move. Then, he pointed to another dancing girl figurine.


    These figurines all had Shen Qianjues mark on them. When I followed the shlight and looked at the seventh one, I realized that these figurines dance steps had a continuous flow to them.


    This was a kind of dance.


    I tried to imitate these dancers footwork and found that their movements were very precise. Although I didnt know what kind of dance it was, it had to be a fusion of at least two or three kinds of ethnic dances.


    Poker-Face used his fingers to tap the floor hard a few times and then asked me to listen. I put my ear to the ground, but I couldn''t hear anything at first. I kept listening until I became so absorbed that I was almost in a trance-like state. That was when I finally heard the sound of a ball moving under the floor every time he knocked.


    It was extremely slightlike the flick of a fingernailbut it went on for a very long time.


    "Eighteen Bridge Lotus Frame," he said to me.


    I touched my face. I had heard some of the old men in the industry talk about this before. It was an extremely sensitive mechanism that would start to rotate as long as the stone b or secret door where it was located vibrated slightly. You could make the gold beads fall by tapping out a pattern, and every time you tapped, one gold bead would drop.


    But the whole lotus frame was always rotating, so the gold beads would fall in different positions. As a result, the rhythm of your tapping had to be very urate.


    As long as all eighteen gold beads fell into different positions ording to the correct rhythm, then the mechanism below would be activated. It would then hook the mechanisms counterweight and open the secret door or release the trap.


    If your rhythm was wrong, then the gold beads would circle back around after the lotus frame slowly stopped rotating. This way, the mechanism could still be used continuously.


    This kind of thing was essentially just a folk trick; in other words, it was a mechanism used to do magic tricks. It was basically the exam question carpenters faced when they entered the imperial pce. It was rarely used in real projects, mainly because gold beads had to be used. This was because gold beads were heavy and corrosion resistant.


    This mechanism was very sensitive, so logically speaking, dancing anywhere in this underground pce could activate it.


    I looked at the dancers and immediately understood why Shen Qianjue and the others had failed while Xiao Hua had seeded. Xiao Hua had studied dance. The order of the dancers here was very chaotic, but Xiao Hua sang opera. He knew the logic of going from one move to the next, as well as the ancient intention behind it. As a result, he knew the correct sequence to these dancing figurines.


    But Shen Qianjue and the others didnt know, so they marked all of the dancing figurines ording to their own understanding. And that wasnt even mentioning the fact that Old Bing had taken some of the figurines away, so even their order might not have been correct.


    Shen Qianjues partner could force herself to move even with the wrong dance steps since she was so strong, but Shen Qianjue couldn''t do a lot of the moves because of the mistakes in her logic. This in turn led to very sloppy dance steps.


    Xiao Hua had stepped down very hard in order to determine the rhythm, which created the illusion that he was carrying someone on his back. Well, I at least hoped so.


    At most, there were only eighteen gold balls on the Eighteen Bridge Lotus Frame, so only eighteen dance moves were needed. Butpared to Shen Qianjue, my dancing abilities were so abysmal that they were probablyherworldly. I rubbed my face and said to Fatty, "Fatty, have you done any research on folk dancing? I feel like youre usually watching dance videos when youre scrolling on your phone."


    Fatty, who was lying on the ground, grinned at me and said in an extremely bored tone, "Forget about it. The three of us know jack shit about dancing. We just have to go out, get the equipment, and blow it up."


    But before he had finished speaking, Poker-Face moved the shlight away from the dancing girl figurines, pointed it towards the ground, and suddenly tapped on the ground with his fingers eighteen times.


    That sense of rhythm sounded just like a drum melody. Plus, he was tapping the ground so hard that I knew Id probably vomit blood if he hit me.


    At this time, I suddenly heard a series of nging soundsing from under my feetit appeared the mechanism had finally activated. As the nging sound continued for another minute, it began to move more than ten meters away to the stairs in front of us. Then, we saw that the lower steps turned over to reveal a huge entrance.


    <em>This method works too?</em> I looked at Poker-Face but he didn''t look at me.


    When we went up, Poker-Face illuminated the entrance with his shlight. We saw a staircase made of ck stone leading straight underground.


    Fatty didn''t even stand up and just looked at it from the side with a little despair on his face. In the past, he always used to be the first to jump up and look, but now he was obviously really tired.


    The ck stone stairs were t and exquisitely made, which was a stark contrast to the stone bs outside. I sighed in my heart, <em>the entrance to the worlds second most valuable tomb has finally appeared.</em>


    ****


    <strong><em>I have a doctor''s appointment tomorrow after work so there might not be an update. You know how it goes, keeping you all in suspense is what gives me life </em></strong>() <strong><em>Hahaha just kidding, I''m not that mean. Til next time dears~</em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 77: Door to the Worlds Second Most Valuable Tomb

    Book 3: Chapter 77: Door to the Worlds Second Most Valuable Tomb


    After hesitating at the entrance for about ten minutes, Fatty finally stood up.


    He was physically exhausted and limped a little when he walked, but after he got up, he pped himself hard three times and then came up behind us and patted me, "Lets go. Its time to save those people."


    Those three ps sounded very hard, so I knew that he was <em>very</em> tired. In fact, my willpower was the only thing keeping me going at this point. If we hadn''t been so focused oning up with a logical theory just now, Fatty and I wouldve definitely been unable to lift our feet.


    I followed Fatty inside, but Poker-Face quickly bypassed us and moved to take the lead. Fatty shivered as he lit another cigarette, but he was so exhausted that he didnt have the energy to exhale the smoke and ended up coughing.


    We had only been walking for about a minute before I started wondering if Poker-Face shouldnt be the first to go in. I was worried that it would be harmful to him if we rushed in, but I no longer had the luxury of acting pretentious. Well, I actually didnt have any strength left to act pretentious anymore. I knew that he wouldnt let the two of us explore the path up ahead, and I also knew that wed follow close behind him even if we were exhausted.


    We walked silently through the very long passage until it became wider and taller. Then, a huge white stone door appeared in front of us. The stone was made of a snow white material that contrasted starkly with the ck passage all around us.


    The door had been carved from a single piece of stone and had Mongolian patterns on it, but its shape had been done in the Han style. The door was very hugeabout six stories highand had a que at the top with ancient Mongolian characters on it. I couldnt understand what the characters said, though.


    The stone door had already been opened and there were a bunch of messy footprints on the ground. I estimated that in addition to Xiao Hua and the others, several other teams had also gone in. We shined the shlight into the stone door and found another tunnel inside that continued all the way down. It was very wide and had figurines on both sides of the tunnel. The style of these ceramic figurines were simr to the ones outside, but the ones here were all warriors. All of them looked very majestic with their glowering eyes and bowed heads.


    But the things that attracted our attention the most were the guardian deity statues on both sides of the door. They each had three faces, but I recognized them at a ncethey looked like the huge corpse that had attacked us before.


    They had been carved out of wood, which was still well preserved. Although the color had faded, you could still see the differences between the different shades that had originally been used. From where they stood on both sides of the door, we could see that they were three stories high and looked like they had been carved out of whole pieces of wood. But the weirdest thing was, I could see a face in each of the guardian deities mouths that was looking at us gloomily.


    Fatty pointed his shlight at one of the statues and made a face before saying to me, "Mr. Nave, don''t you think it looks like those human-faced birds from the Heavenly Pce?"


    I nodded. In fact, when that giant corpse had vomited Ping Lian into the coffin, Ping Lian didnt have any skin, which was very simr to those monkeys that were in the human-faced birds mouths. Those skinless monkeys needed to live in the birds mouths in order to avoid infection. At that time, I had theorized that the birds saliva probably had a strong antibacterial agent, which created a harsh symbiotic rtionship between the birds and the monkeys.


    I didnt know whether Jiang Siwang was a person or a ghost, but he wouldnt allow cats or dogs to enter here. Did this kind of corpse eat cats and dogs and turn them into puppets in its mouth?


    "I think this giant corpse is even more evil than those birds from the Heavenly Pce," I said as I looked at the statues. "Or, its more primitive."


    There wasnt a realistic basis for this statement, but it was what I instinctively felt: the things in the Heavenly Pce had an evil aura around them, but they still gave off the feeling that they were from the Bronze Age and their overall setup wasplete.


    This giant corpse''s outfit and state gave off a strong sense that it was from the tribal period. And based on how heavily witchcraft seemed to factor in, I believed that the giant corpse was more primitive, almost along the lines of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period.<sup>(1)</sup>


    But it was just a feeling, and I was too embarrassed to discuss it further, so I nned on entering the huge door without saying anything else. The tunnel behind the door already looked like the main tomb passage, so the worlds second most valuable tomb should be at the end of it.


    The three of us went in and found that the tunnel was about three hundred meters long. When we reached the end, we came to arge circr tomb chamber. It had a huge spirit screen<sup>(2)</sup> in the middle of it that was blocking the back exit.


    A very exquisite relief sculpture had been carved out of the brick above the spirit screen, and when I illuminated it with my shlight, I found that it was actually a group of relief sculptures created with a Tibetan Buddhist theme. There was either a god or a Buddha statue set up in the middle upper part while countless guardian deities and other figures were on the sides.


    These extraneous figures were so densely packed together that we couldnt even begin to count them, but the three of us were very familiar with Tibetan Buddhism (for special reasons of course). I could tell at a nce that the idol in the middle wasnt any Buddha or god in existence. It waspletely made up, almost like someone had assembled a bunch of different characters into one statue. Its face was very simr to the Buddha statue outside, which made me think that this was the tomb owner.


    In Tibetan Buddhism, there were so manyplex gods and Buddhas that people who didnt know the tricks wouldnt be able to recognize them all. But I happened to know the trick.


    I continued examining the relief sculpture and noticed that there were a lot of ck figures among the middle idols entourage. I touched my chin and fell deep in thought.


    Along the way, I always felt that what happened in this ce was very chaotic, but when I saw this relief sculpture, I suddenly realized that it wasnt chaotic at all. This relief sculpture was actually the answer.


    The idea behind the ancient tomb architects design had finally appeared: it simted the state of the tomb owner after he became a Buddha.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Bronze Age is approximately 3300 BC to 1200 BC while the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period is from 2852 BC to 2205 BC. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were mythological rulers of China. The Three Sovereigns were: Fuxi, Nwa, and Shennong. The Five Emperors were: The Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, and Emperor Shun. More info here.


    (2) Also called a spirit wall or screen wall. Its used to prevent spirits from entering the entrance gate in traditional Chinese architecture. Spirit screens can either be positioned on the outside or inside of the gate they are protecting, but this one is a zhaobi () which is only on the outside. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Man, I said it once but I''ll say it again: afternoon appointments are the way to go. I was in and out in less than an hour. As such, I present this chapter as tribute~~ </em></strong>

 Book 3: Chapter 78: Treasure God

    Book 3: Chapter 78: Treasure God


    I took a few steps back, unscrewed the shlight to erge the aperture, and looked at the whole relief sculpture on the spirit screen.


    Among the various depictions of gods and Buddhas in Tibet, thangkas<sup>(1)</sup> were the most ssic. The creative contents of thangka came from strict religious ssics, which had very detailed records of the deities. Some of these gods and Buddhas came from religions in Nepal and India, some were mountain gods native to Tibet, and arge number of gods came from a culture that we were all unfamiliar with.


    Bonism.<sup>(2)</sup>


    This kind of culture originated from the Stone Age. Arge number of rituals involving killing and offering sacrifices spread in the primitive Bon religion, which had a profound impact on the secret practices of using flesh, blood, and human bones.


    I wont give an in-depth introduction to Bonism here, but just know that it began to emerge in the Stone Age. While the ancient Xiangxiong Kingdom developed here, countless branches of the Bon religion were evolving in Tibet. Before the emergence of New Bon, the primitive Bon religion embraced the various primitive tribes customs of killing and offering sacrifices and worshiping countless ancient gods. There were so many kinds of ancient gods that aplex system was formed, which resulted in a full range of pan-god worship such as the sky, the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, thunder and lightning, hail, mountains and rivers, soil and rocks, vegetation, animals, etc. And since the primitive people believed so strongly in witchcraft, Bonism had extremely mysterious rituals and secret techniques. You could still see some of the most primitive Bon murals on the rock walls in many caves in Tibet today. The ancient Bon texts were called "A Hundred Thousand Dragon Scriptures", which were very amazing.


    Later, these ancient gods were mixed in with various religions, and many of them appeared in thangka patterns and murals. But the Bon gods werent solitary gods, and each of the main ones had a huge system of apanying gods that included concubines, guardians, and servants, all of whom numbered in the tens of thousands.


    Id probably need around thirty thousand words to exin the logic behind it, so Ill just stop here and focus on talking about the relief sculpture.


    First of all, I had never seen this particr deity before so I didnt know whether it was a god or a Buddha statue. All of the gods and Buddhas wereter integrated into one being, but the one here was clearly fictitious. The owner of the tomb put his own visage on the head gods face, which symbolized that he had be a god.<sup>(3)</sup>


    But the design of this head god was very interesting. Many Tibetan deities rode lions, elephants, and malevolent spirits, but the most impressive one I had seen so far was King Yama riding a female corpse.


    This god, however, had an ugly expression on its face that was full of anger. It also had three faces and a ck Qilin under its feet.


    In fact, this god wasnt riding the Qilin, but trampling it into submission. It was the exact same logic as stepping on a malevolent spirit. The head god was usually in one of two positions: trampling things in conquest or riding. Based on what I was seeing here, this one had to be conquering.


    From a detailed perspective, it seemed as if the details in this relief sculpture all came from the Tibetan Treasure God (there''s no need for you to understand). The Treasure God usually rode a lion, but the one here was reced with a Qilin.


    There was another clear feature next to this head god that could prove my theory. There were eight people herding horses, all of whom were three-faced weirdos. This was also a characteristic feature of the Treasure God. This showed the famous eight horse owners evolution to the eightpanion gods of the head god.


    There were a lot of corpses eating human flesh on the portion of the relief sculpture under the Qilin. The whole scene was a huge human flesh banquet. I could also see three skeletons sitting in three different directions. They all had fins in their ears and were watching the whole banquet.


    This was a prototype of the Tibetan tomb god "Lord Shituolin".<sup>(4)</sup> Although the image was terrifying, it was considered a great god, but the one here had changed from two to three. It was obvious from this relief sculpture that they had been portrayed as evil gods.


    Traditionally, the Tibetan people called the celestial burial site Corpse Country, Corpse City, or Corpse Forest. So, the ce where the corpses were densely located was called the nd of practicing Dharma, which was also the ce where the head god lived.


    This all meant that the Corpse Country banquet we were in just now had no ce in the Taoist system, but the relief was alluding to a primitive concept of "Corpse Forest". It was the habitat of the gods and the ce where mortals went after they shed their impure flesh after death. In order to understand that the human body was only a material thing, the ancients expressed their inner essence by eating human flesh.


    There were also countless ck servants behind thesepanion gods, which was verymon to see in Tibetan murals. They were servants of the head god, and usually numbered around twenty to thirty thousand people.


    Fatty and I exchanged a look. In the ancient Bon books andplicated religious archives, all of the gods had detailed records that recorded the configuration of their whole system. When I first saw it, I felt that the ancients were casual in their estimates. And since there were a billion servants of many great gods, I basically thought that they were just boasting.


    But for believers, these numbers couldnt be lost, and it was obvious that this fictional god had clearly inherited this style.


    But the most frightening thing was that this wasnt just a symbol on the relief sculpture. I believed that the designer of this mausoleum had designed the representation on this relief to match that of reality.


    The three-faced corpse and the shadow with fins in its ears were two different kinds of things, which was something that I really hadnt expected. But at this time, the confusion in my heart had finally cleared away.


    I couldn''t help but yawn as I said to Fatty, "You know that theres definitely one more thing in the next part of the process. Do you know what it is?"


    "What is it?


    "Corpses," I said. "This is primitive Bonism worship. Corpses are used as raw materials for all the secret methods, so the next thing well be seeing is countless corpses."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting on cotton, silk appliqu, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mand. Info here.


    (2) Bon, also spelled Bn is considered to be the native pre-Buddhist religious tradition of Tibet. It consisted of shamanistic and animistic practices performed by priests called shen. Info here.


    (3) The main god (or head god) is also known as the king of the gods. As polytheistic systems evolved, there was a tendency for one deity to achieve preeminence as king of the gods. There was also a tendency for the kings of the gods to assume more and more importance, syncretistically assuming the attributes and functions of lesser divinities, whoe to be seen as aspects of the single supreme deity. Info here. This is basically what Wu Xie was talking about when he said the Bon gods/Buddhas merged into one.


    (4) Shituolin () is also known as Cool Grove. Its a forest burial method that leaves the corpse exposed on like a steep bank in the woods (I think).


    ****


    <strong><em>This was an information heavy chapter so I hope it made sense. I did the best I could</em></strong> _(:3 )_

 Book 3: Chapter 79: Vast as the Open Sea

    Book 3: Chapter 79: Vast as the Open Sea


    There was no simple way for us to understand the cultural system formed by thebination of Bonism and many foreign religions. It was difficult to standardize it for every region, every period, and every key religious figure, especially the primitive Bon religion which had a history of nearly eight thousand years.


    This was the ultimate collision of primitive beliefs and culture, which created a cultural system so vast that it couldnt even be verified.


    I took out my cell phoneit was almost dead, but I could charge it using the electricity generated by shaking the z-shaped handle of my shlightand then took a picture of the relief sculpture.


    I was especially grateful to this relief sculpture for enabling me to finally feel relieved. The fact that it was here meant that neither the designer nor the tomb owner wanted to hide anything. Indeed, we hade to a ce that couldnt be explored deeply at all.


    After bypassing the spirit screen, we continued moving forward. There were ceramic figurines on both sides of the tunnel and various small niches full of human bones began to appear on the walls. But the most amazing thing was that there were clothes fragments on these things, which all had ancient Mongolian writing on them.


    If you looked closely, you could see that many of these corpses were unusual and came from various ethnic groups. There was arge number of them, but I could tell at a nce that many of them were zombies that had decayed into bones. Some were simply zombies that had been stuck in a niche when they were in a half-transformed state while others werent even human. Thesest ones only looked like humans, but I didnt know what they were.


    "What are these things? Are they the scraps from the food that was used as material for sacrifices?" Fatty asked. "Is this an ancient supermarket where you can get fresh human meat?"


    I shook my head and pointed my shlight forward, but I couldn''t see the end of the tunnel at all. There seemed to be tens of thousands of corpses here, each one covered in those scraps of cloth with the writing on it. I couldnt help but take a deep breath. This kind of setup was obviously very simr to a museum. Not only did each of the ceramic figurines and bones in the wall have a name and history, but they were even arranged ording to their size and rank.


    I assumed that these corpses had all been dug up from various ces. And based on the clothing, they were bestowed the status of gods to act as the head godspanions and protectors since they had inhuman features. It really wasnt easy to collect tens of thousands of human bodies, so I could tell by looking at the bones that they had made up the numbers by using baboons.


    It seemed that someone was helping the tomb owner fully realize thepanion system of the ancient gods in the Bon religion. To put it bluntly, someone drew a picture of himself bing a Buddha, and then people began to use various techniques to make this picture a reality.


    "Weve all seen the ck people and some of the god''spanions on that relief sculpture, so does this mean that the Bon gods are real? Fatty asked me. You said that there are five earth dragon gods here, but does this Bon religion really have anything to do with our ancient feng shui gods?"


    Of course it was rted. One of the most important texts in the Bon religion was called A Hundred Thousand Dragon Scriptures. We lived on a continent, so our ancestors earliest forms of worship were actually rted. Whether it was Taoism or Bonism, the whole system basically stemmed from the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, which was our ancestor dragon.


    It was said that dragons were a kind of creature that didnt exist in reality outside of the zodiac, but my grandfather said that they did exist and they had a certain breath of life to them. But what we could see was actually the ck rock bands in the veins of the earth.


    It was just that this rtionship could no longer be verified.


    I didnt know what those strange ck people we saw along the way were or what the three-faced giant corpse was, but there were so many strange corpses collected here that they had to be connected somehow. It almost felt like these various zombies were made in response to this fictional head god, but truthfully, whenparing these things with the relief sculpture, they just looked simr rather than godlike.


    "Then this ancient goddoes it also exist? Will it pop out like the previous ones?"


    I sighed. I didnt know and we shouldnt specte on how the original Bon system would achieve this. Our imaginations definitely werent good enough.


    Primitive religion was closer to the essence of religion, but that was the essence at the beginning of the Stone Age. I couldnt guess what people were thinking at that time, so I didnt know what would happen in the future.


    But that Qilin


    I nced at Poker-Face, who had stopped in front of us. There was a big ceramic figurine blocking the middle of the tunnel. At first nce, it looked like it had King Yamas face, but when we walked over, we saw that it was actually covered in human skin and had a Qilin tattooed on it.


    Thispanion god was clearly no ordinarypanion god considering how it was bigger and ced in the middle of the tunnel like this. It looked more like an official with King Yamas identity.


    There was no doubt. This was the skin from a Zhang family member.


    Even in this system, the Zhang family were still a rare breed set apart from the others.


    Poker-Face went up behind the ceramic figurine, where I saw a ck knife hanging on its back. He took the ck knife, pulled it out of its sheath, and examined it. It turned out to be a ck Tibetan knife. He discarded his broken knife and stuck the Tibetan knife on the belt at his lower back.


    It was obvious to see that he had finally found some peace of mind.


    At this time, he touched the human skin on the ceramic figurine. I didn''t know if he had done something to it or if it had just oxidized, but I saw that Qilin tattoo begin to fade from the skin.

 Book 3: Chapter 80: Long-Faced, Thousand-Handed Corpse

    Book 3: Chapter 80: Long-Faced, Thousand-Handed Corpse


    There was an indescribable smell in the air that had a bit of a salty voring to it. Fatty said that this ce was a bit like a dried ham cer. I didnt know if the ancients used salt when processing corpses, but I only felt a little physical difort.


    All three of us had already adapted to the shlights dim glow, but it was very quiet here. Whenever we walked, the sound of rustling clothes and footsteps produced a faint echo that was a bit ethereal.


    As we continued moving forward for another two kilometers, we were shocked by what we saw. Many of the niches up ahead were empty, so Fatty said that the zombies in them didn''t decaypletely and climbed out of the niches. They were probably still moving here and wede across themter.


    All along the way, I had seen just how diverse the corpses here were. I really hadnt imagined that so many different kinds of things were buried underground. People thought that after a corpse was buried in the ground, it had reached its end and all changes had stopped, but that didnt seem to be the case at all.


    I decided to give this tunnel a name and went with Corpse God Way since these strange corpses were already gods ording to the original deifying customs. Plus, they were under the tomb owners control.


    Before we knew it, we finally reached the end of Corpse God Way and were met with an even bigger tomb door than the previous one. Fatty was surprised that not a single zombie had popped out like he originally predicted. I said that maybe the bodies in those niches had simply turned to dust. These bodies were all strange corpses that had been dug up from all over the world and they all had very different ages. It was possible that some of them were already close to turning into dust when they were moved here, and when the humidity and temperature changed, they disappearedpletely in two or three years.


    If the tomb door we saw before was the entrance to the tomb, then this door here should be the entrance to the tomb chamber itself. So, did that mean that the tomb chamber was right behind this door? I thought the worlds second most valuable tomb would have many levels to it, but after entering through the back, the scale seemed much smaller than I was expecting.


    Even though my thinking had been wrong, it definitely wasnt smaller than the previous Corpse Country banquet. This tomb door was about twenty meters high, which was as tall as a seven-story building. But only the middle part was actually the door, while the rest was just carved to look like a door. It was obvious to see that only this six- or seven-meter-high door in the middle could be opened and the rest had just been carved out of a stone b. But on the whole, it looked like a big door.


    This door was also full of niches, but the bodies in these were very ornately dressed. They were covered in gold ornaments and tourmaline gems, which made it obvious at a nce that their identities were very special. I knew after looking around that these were all normal female corpses that must have been concubines who were burial sacrifices.


    The reason I noticed them was because there was a huge niche on the door, the contents of which were just too eye-catching.


    There was a human skeleton in that niche that was at least three meters tall. It was sitting in the niche, wearing colorful armor. Although the oxidation had dimmed the colors somewhat and there were many things like cobwebs coiled around it, it was still particrly elegant at first nce. This skeletons skull was very long, so it clearly wasnt normal at first sight, but it also had a lot of hands like a spider.


    It was also decorated with a lot of human skulls. If you had ever read any information on the Indian god system, you would probably know what kind ofplicated aesthetic corpse this was.


    At this time, Fatty said weakly from the side, "Mr. Nave, if Im not mistaken, isnt that King Wannu?"


    I shook my head. This thing was very simr to King Wannu, but it was different. I used my shlight to take a look at it. Truthfully, I could feel that this skeleton had long been fossilized. In fact, this multi-handed corpse was so old that I couldnt even being to imagine its age.


    I didnt believe that this thing had nothing to do with King Wannu, but it definitely wasnt the kind of thing we had seen before. I felt like this long-faced, thousand-handed corpse was more primitive than King Wannu, and the fact that it was sitting in front of the tomb seemed to indicate that it was of a higher rank than the Zhang family.


    The whole door had a wild, unruly nature of primitive worship about it.


    I took a look at Fatty. Normally, hed be starry-eyed and forget all of his pain as soon as he saw precious stones and gold. But this time, he seemed quite serious. I nced at his face and found that he looked extremely tired and haggard.


    "Are you sure it''s not?" His nose was running, but it was like he couldnt feel it.


    "What''s wrong with you?"


    He looked at me for a long time before saying, "Mr. Nave, I can''t see anything clearly. The time here must be messed up again. I feel too tired. Its like I haven''t slept for three days."


    I looked at my fingernails and saw that they were getting better, which made me think that what Fatty was saying was usible.


    While we were talking, Poker-Face jumped to the middle of the door, reached the long-faced skeleton, and put his strangely long fingers into its mouth. After groping around for a while, he twisted his wrist hard. I didnt know what he did, but that long-faced, thousand-handed corpses bones sank down into the door panel. Then, the real door in the middle slowly opened, revealing an entrance


    At this time, Fatty suddenly fell to the ground. I quickly grabbed him and tried to pull him up, but I found that he was too sleepy to move anymore. I pressed his philtrum and heard him murmur, "Save people"


    I continued to press on his philtrum and smacked him a few times, but he fell into such a deep sleep that he immediately started to snore. I dragged him over to the side, leaned him up against the wall, and then looked at Poker-Face. Instead of entering the real door right away, he jumped down and walked back over to us.


    "This ce is fascinating," I said to him. I couldnt shake the feeling that everything here seemed to have something to do with the Heavenly Pce, but it was much older and more primitive than that ce. I even felt that we might be able to find the origin of those monsters we saw in the Heavenly Pce. But I couldnt let Fatty sleep here by himself. Even if I wanted to know, I had to stop and take care of him first.


    "I know youre in a hurry, so you can go in first and have a look. Ill take care of him here," I said.


    He looked at me, "No. I''ll stay with you."


    I didnt see a trace of eagerness in his expression, which made me feel more at ease.


    I couldn''t help but smile as he also leaned against the wall. Now all three of us were leaning in a row. I handed him some dry food and he handed me some water.


    We didn''t say much. I wrapped my clothes tightly around Fatty while Poker-Face put his hoodie on.


    "You should also get some sleep," I said to him. "This time, Ill keep watch for a while." He had been on high alert for a long time, but he shouldnt keep going like this even though he was practically immortal.


    I didnt know whymaybe it was because I actually slept for a long time when I was poisoned and unconscious earlierbut I was actually in good spirits.


    He didnt object and I soon felt his breath even out as he fell sleep.


    I looked at the dark hole on the other side of the recently opened door. I had originally thought that the worlds second most valuable tomb was a huge buildingplex with rigorous standards and a mixture of skills from craftsmen of various civilizations. But now it seemed that this was a very primitive mausoleum, which was something I couldnt understand.


    I stared at the doorway and slowly got a little distracted. I suddenly wanted to smoke, but I didn''t have any cigarettes on me. As I sat there in a daze, I saw Jiang Siwang suddenly appear in front of me. He was standing upright, but the strange thing was, he didn''t have a lower body this time. His lower body had been reced with a strange, intestine-like thing that was supporting him like a snake.

 Book 3: Chapter 81: Black Pool

    Book 3: Chapter 81: ck Pool


    I was in a daze as I watched him slowly approach me. At that time, I must have fallen into a state simr to dozing off for a few seconds while driving, so I didn''t give an immediate warning.


    As he gradually approached me, he slowly pointed to his intestines and I felt as if I could smell their fishy odor. At this time, a very weak instinct in my heart shouted: Don''t sleep!


    I immediately woke up and looked directly in front of me, only to find that Jiang Siwang was gone.


    Just like dozing off for a few seconds while driving, I first felt a huge sense of panic. But I wasn''t fully awake yet, so I looked around with my shlight. Without Jiang Siwang standing there, it was just an open space in front of the tomb door. But for some reason, I found my whole body covered in sweat.


    Was it a dream?


    I looked at my watch (it showed a normal time, so there shouldnt have been a time skip like before; Fatty was just really tired) and found that I had just dozed off for about a second. I wiped my face and looked around again.


    At this time, I was still ayer away from reality and felt that kind of daze you normally feel just after waking up. But the constant psychological hints instantly woke me up and I found that there was really nothing there.


    I dared not be negligent in this ce and figured Id have to be at least a little superstitious. I started to wonder if this was my subconscious mind reacting to this ce. Was Jiang Siwang warning me about something? He was pointing to his intestines, but what did that mean?


    His upper body was human while his lower body was intestines. I kept feeling like I had heard this story somewhere before.


    This one-second nap had me feeling more energetic, so I stood up and thought about where I had seen this symbol before. But at this age, the more I felt that I knew it, the more I couldn''t remember it. I kept thinking about itsometimes sitting, sometimes doing push-ups, sometimes lying t on my backbut I just couldn''t seem to remember it. Fatty and Poker-Face slept very soundly, and before I knew it, more than an hour had passed.


    When I got bored, I watched the door. To be honest, this observation habit came from my fear of the door, because I was worried that something woulde out of it. But after watching it more than a dozen times, nothing came out.


    After a while, the more I looked at it, the less I paid attention to it. At least, that was the case until thest time I looked at it. I didnt see anything in the doorway this time, but after a quick nce I suddenly felt that something was wrong. I turned to look at it carefully and found that there was nothing in the doorway, but it still seemed different from before.


    I couldnt figure out what exactly was different, but I instinctively felt that it was. It was like the darkness in the doorway had be deeper, but my shlight couldnt reach it since it was at a higher spot. After thinking about it, I stepped on the niches in the fake door and began to climb up.


    It didnt take me long to climb to the ce where Poker-Face had been at before. Since the darkness was so strange, I leaned in the doorway, held my shlight up, and shined it inside.


    A strange wind blew out from the doorway. It was very weakalmost like a breathand had a musty smell that was mixed in with the cough-inducing stench of rotting viscera. It was very dark inside, but unusually so. I climbed up, squatted down at the entrance, and touched the wall of the tunnel. I found that the stone had been soaked in a ck substance, which meant that it must have been specially treated.


    This ck substance seemed to absorb light, making it impossible for my shlight to shine as far as before. But to be honest, when I saw this doorway earlier, I didn''t think that it was like this. After touching the tunnel wall, I found that this ck substance came from a bunch of ck spots on the stone.


    Were these ck spots that came out of the stone the same as the ck spot we had seen before?


    I looked into the depths of the doorway and found that it was another deep tunnel, but the deepest part was a dark, primal chaos.


    I stared at this chaos carefully, hoping to see a clue, but there werent any details at all. The end was just like a void in the universe. I didnt know why, but as I watched it, I suddenly found that I wanted to go in.


    This kind of desire was so strong that it surged up from my heart and I almost immediately moved forward a few steps. But I quickly held onto the tunnel wall to prevent myself from moving.


    The rational part of my mind knew that this was bad, so I tried to turn my face away from the front. But at this time, I found that I couldnt turn my neck or eyes away. The void was like a huge vacuum, and my consciousness began to wander.


    For about two or three seconds, I realized that I hadnt been cking off when I dozed off before. Since I was in the same situation now, I knew that it had all been because of this hole. But this reasoning only supported me for two or three seconds before I began to lose my sense of autonomy.


    I dont have any memory of what happened next; I only felt that the darkness in front of me was endlessly deep, but at the same time, it was like a kaleidoscope.


    When I came back to my senses, I didn''t know how far I had gone. It was actually the extreme cold that woke me up. I found that I hade to a very dark space that was surrounded by endless darkness on all sides, but there were three huge stone tablets in front of me.


    There was ancient Mongolian script on the middle stone tablet, but Chinese on the left stone tablet. I illuminated it with my shlight and found that there were several veryrge Chinese characters on it: Shilongyishan Heichitian.<sup>(1)</sup>


    This should be the self-proimed name of the god who was buried here.


    My toes were numb, so I pointed my shlight at my feet and touched them. I found that the ground under my feet was covered in ice and I could even see my breath when I exhaled.


    I looked around with my shlight and found that it didnt reflect off of anything, which meant that this space was huge.


    I then looked behind me but didnt see any footprints; I had no idea which direction I hade from.


    I nced at my watch and felt my heart freezeI had been walking for almost three hours. Those two would surely be frantic when they woke up and found that I had disappeared. I wanted to go back immediately, but after thinking about it, I realized that I might get lost. I hesitated again and then looked back at the three stone tablets in front of me.


    I took out my res and shot one into the air.


    The light catapulted into the sky and lit up the surrounding area. The light wasnt that strong, but it still showed a vague outline of the area I was in. I found that this was a cave hall, at least the size of a stadium. There were countless stone houses behind the three stone tablets that looked very primitive, but all of them were built like temples. They were so densely packed into the cave walls that the walls were almostpletely covered. These stone houses surrounded a huge stone building that looked kind of like a stone temple without any doors or windows.


    It really was a stone mountain. This scene was about ten times the size of the Corpse Country banquet. The huge stone building was something that humans couldnt build from scratch, so they had chosen a natural cave to use. But the most shocking thing was that there was a huge mountain wall behind the whole tomb chamber.


    And on that mountain wall, there was a huge ck spot like some kind of ancient virus that had infected the cave wall hundreds of meters up. Its tentacles extended all around like some kind of creature, forming one mark after another on the cave wall.


    ck sun. This was a ck sun.


    I took a deep breath. This was the ck pool that had been painted on the mural, so did that mean that this was a dragon vein?


    <em>My God, the worlds second most valuable tomb was built directly inside of a dragon vein. This is as pure as you can get it.</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Characters are . I think it can mean something like ck pool corpse dragon moves the mountains under heaven.

 Book 3: Chapter 82: I am Special

    Book 3: Chapter 82: I am Special


    This was undoubtedly an extremely primitive mausoleum, but the craftsmanship was extremely civilized and one could see that it had been deliberately built like this.


    Each of these stone houses probably acted as a sort of shrine and contained a special corpse while the huge, temple-like stone building in the middle probably contained the tomb owner.


    There was a clear saying in the Bon religion that corpses be gods. Taoism had simr concepts, which showed that these kinds of concepts definitely came from the earliest primitive religions in thisnd. To tell you the truth, although I was very surprised that this ce was a relic of the primitive Bon religion, I could also understand the charm of such a religion.


    All primitive religions were very direct in that they all pointed to a specific force, which was really a specific god. When the ancients started to build civilizations here with stone tools, they explored all the mountains and abysses. At that time, they saw magical phenomena, which eventually turned into the worship of ancient gods in primitive religions.


    Even now, upon seeing such a huge ck spot, I knew that it was growing from the rock strata like a living ore vein. I really wanted to know why the earliest people called it a dragon. How did they know that these ck veins were all connected and led to the source of ten thousand mountains?


    And what was at the end of the dragon vein?


    At this time, I was trembling from the cold since I was hardly wearing anything and the only things I could see were the three stone tablets in front of me. But I couldn''t understand the words on the tablets at all.


    After a few breaths, I turned my head and thought about how I got here. When I looked down, I noticed a thin ck vein in the ice under my feet. I looked along the vein and figured that I might have followed it here.


    I thought of the ck stuff that suddenly appeared in the tunnel and started to break out in a cold sweat. It was a huge leap in logic, but for some reason, I felt as if this ck thing had brought me here.


    Just like an invitation, it brought me here while Poker-Face and Fatty were asleep.


    This wasnt the first time during this adventure that I felt like I was special.


    But why?


    My cold sweat was pouring out like crazy as I looked back at the darkness behind the stone tablets. Was it possible that this dragon vein wanted to see me?


    With this kind of thinking, the darkness behind the stone tablets suddenly looked terrifying. I even felt like that ck spot in the darkness stuck out from the walls surface and pressed up against me.


    I immediately fired another re into the sky.


    Fortunately, that ck spot hadnt moved. As the space was illuminated once more, I looked at the huge ck spot and feared the gods for the first time in my life. I had this strong sense that it was alive, and when I stared at it, I began to feel a great pull.


    I felt like it was calling me.


    At that moment, my sense of wariness disappeared and I began to walk towards the huge ck spot. By the time the re fell and went out, I had already entered the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    It was very difficult to walk since the ground was covered in blocks of ice that were full of skeletons, bones, and corpses.


    It was obvious that life and death were meaningless in this ce since almost all of the bodies were rammed into the soil and used as building materials here.


    When I came under the shadow of the huge stone temple, I saw a row of corpses lying in a tangled mess. Among these corpses, I could see many people from Jin Wantang''s team, along with Old Bings body.


    I put the shlight in my mouth and started climbing the huge stone temple. It took me about six hours to climb to the top, at which point I stood up and lit a cold firework.


    I couldn''t control my actions at all.


    The ck spot looked very fuzzy since the light of the cold firework barely illuminated it, but I felt as if it was looking right at me. But the thing that really made my hair stand on end was that I felt like this ck spot was getting closer to the stone temple.


    It was like the ck spot was surging out of the mountain and approaching me.


    "Y-y-you, h-hello, G-Grandpa Dragon Vein," I stammered.

 Book 3: Chapter 83: Signal Flare

    Book 3: Chapter 83: Signal re


    The light of my cold firework was too weak, which caused my sense of distance to be distorted. I didnt know if that ck spot was actually moving closer to me, but if it was, then it was moving very slowly.


    My witty remark didn''t get a response, but I gradually saw a mirror image of myself appear in the dark spot.


    Just like the one at the Corpse Country banquet, this ck spot also had a mirror effect.


    Because I was too smallpared to that huge spot, my mirror image was just a small spot of light in the darkness. I was just like a little match boy, waiting to be swallowed up by the darkness that covered the whole sky.


    I had never been so scared in my life. Well, it wasnt fear exactly. I had faced death countless times beforeeven the absolute unknownso I was used to this kind of situation.


    This was an emotion I had never experienced before. It was so strong that I was trembling all over and felt as if my internal organs were about to tear my body apartthe thing in front of me, this huge darkness, was something older than any civilization I knew. I didnt know what it was, what its purpose was, or whether it had intelligence and purpose.


    I felt this strange emotion from the depths of my soul. It was like the ancestors of the earliest generation with intelligence had written this emotion into my very genes, but it took thousands of years before I could feel it again.


    At this time, I saw the light from a re reflect in the ck spot as it soared into the air behind me.


    One, two, three.


    Now that the whole space was illuminated brightly, I found that the ck spot really did seem to be approaching me, along with the cliff.


    I had be so close to it.


    Then, four, five, six more res shot up into the air.


    I knew that this was Fatty''s style. He was clearly anxious, but I couldn''t look back at all. That ck spot wouldn''t let me turn back, so I could only continue to stare at it. I thought it was spinning, and I even started to feel like it would swallow me up quickly. It seemed like it had something to tell me, and I could even hear all kinds of voicesing from it that sounded natural and human. Some were crying while some wereughing.


    But I didn''t look back, so Fatty was anxious.


    He must have seen me up here, but why did he shoot so many res?


    He wasnt stingy with shbangs anymore even if the ammunition was precious, so maybe he had found more res on Old Bing and his teams bodies. But still, he didnt have to fire so many off at once. Was he really that frantic? But why?


    No, something must have happened behind me to make him so nervous. Fatty wasnt the impulsive type, so there had to be some inevitable reason for him to act like this.


    I suddenly felt that something major had happened behind me, or


    Ah, he was opening the way. He was showing Poker-Face a clear picture of the surroundings.


    The six res were like six suns, and under their dazzling light, that ck spot pressed towards me like a gaping mouth.


    During those few minutes, I felt as if time became extremely slow and I seemed to hear music like you would in the movies. I could also see someone running towards me in the ck spots reflection.


    At this time, I suddenly felt a gust of winde up behind me and someone squeezed my shoulder.


    As soon as it happened, I found that I was suddenly able to move. I immediately turned my head and saw that it was Poker-Face. He quickly moved in front of me and faced that big ck spot.


    As if it could sense him, that ck, mirror-like surface suddenly became turbid and the huge oppressive aura paused. In that brief moment when it was still a reflective surface, I saw that countless shadows had followed Poker-Face up to the top of the stone temple.


    ****


    <strong><em>Well, Part 3 anyways </em></strong>()<strong><em>. Thank you everyone for bearing with the slow updates once I got put on that stupid project at work. I know the new status quo sucks, but slowly slogging away still gets it done in the end </em></strong>(*)b<strong><em> Restart Part 4 has about 65 chapters right now and the author is still updating like daily, but I will start on that tomorrow. 6 chapters in 2 days has wiped me out this time. Guess I''m getting old lol. Til next time~ </em></strong>

 Introduction 1: Notes on Ten Thousand Mountains in the Extreme Night

    Introduction 1: Notes on Ten Thousand Mountains in the Extreme Night


    The so-called Ten Thousand Mountains in the Extreme Night is to trace the source in the underground rock strata along the dragon vein to find the secret at the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains. It requires an extremely long cave exploration expedition, and with the exception of a few special areas close to the surface, the whole process is done in darkness most of the time.


    The long dark nightsts so long that it became known as extreme night. Its said that the only rays of sunshine seen during the whole journey are basically only as wide as a bowl, and they shine down from the top of the ck cave like a ray of light shooting into the darkness. If its nighttime when you arrive at such a spot during your journey, you should leave immediately, because those ces are said to be even more dangerous to enter at nightfall.


    Therefore, arriving on time can be regarded as a kind of relief for people in the extreme night. If you miss it, you can only continue to suffer in endless darkness.


    Theres an ancient legend on Mt. Gangdis thates from a very ancient custom in which people who chose to be sacrifices voluntarily entered the crevices at the bottom of the mountain and explored all the way to the end of the ck vein in the rock stratum.


    Its said that you have to pass through the bottom of ten thousand mountains to reach the source of the Kunlun Mountains. Its also said that the crevices at the bottom of the mountain can lead to another world, where there are ten thousand giant mountains underground.


    So, this is bound to be a depressing story.


    Social rtionships in the world give people a lot of thoughts and opportunities to be enlightened, but this seemingly eternal darkness and loneliness will remove all traces of humanity and leave you to truly face yourself.


    Poker-Face said that such a trip can make people understand rocks and light, as well as see the true nature of time.


    I dont know or understand it, but I think I''ll be enlightened eventually.


    This is a journey to the end of everything, and I look forward to seeing whats at the end.


    <Restart Part III: Chapter 83><Table of Contents><Introduction 2>

 Introduction 2

    Introduction 2


    In 1935, in the mountains of Man, Guizhou, a Russian geological survey team took a photo in the depths of a karst cave.


    The photo showed the fossil of a huge ck tree that was embedded in the cave floor. It was about two kilometers long and looked very threatening.


    The karst cave had a very high ceiling, so there was a ce where the team could take a panoramic view of the whole fossilized tree. But since the photographic pixel technology was inferior at that time, it looked like only a huge pattern simr to ck rock paintings showed up on the photo. They almost looked like Nazca Lines.<sup>(1)</sup>


    The shamans of the Yi people called this tree the Ancestor of Trees. The location of the cave waster lost, and its not known whether it even still exists today. This matter was recorded on the tusis grass scrolls in the local tusi museum.


    The veins in the ck rock were just like dragon veins, which had me wondering if dragon veins were also fossilized things.


    There was also a strange incident recorded on the grass scrolls. It was said that the shape of the huge fossilized tree was very special, and after the shaman came back, he could see the shadow of the tree outside of his window suddenly take on this giants trees shape in the long night.


    But every time he opened the window, he found that there wasnt a single big tree outside that could form this kind of shadow. It was like the giant tree was sentient and had been peeping on him ever since he came out of the cave.


    One time, he didnt immediately push the window open after he saw the shadow of that tree appear. Instead, he looked at it directly and found that the shadow of the tree would twist slightly, almost like an animal.


    The shaman was so frightened that he took the people from his tribe and went back to the cave to worship it. It was already spring at this time, and the shaman discovered that there were many small ck protrusions on the giant ck fossilized tree that looked simr to fossilized buds.


    These things definitely werent there before, so it seemed that this dead, stone-like tree could still send out fossilized buds.


    The shaman killed ten sheep there as a sacrifice, butter, when he returned to the vige, he saw the shadow of the tree appear again at night. This time, the tree seemed to be very close. The shaman pushed open the window without catching sight of the tree, but he found that all of his sheep were dead. He realized that the number of sacrifices seemed insufficient, so he joined with other tribes and went to offer sacrifices again.


    At this time, a feng shui master was passing by the area and happened to hear about the incident. After following the tribes over to take a look, he said that it wasnt a tree, but a big fossilized bug from ancient times. So, he put a spirit tablet in the cave that stated that it was a god.


    That night, the shadow appeared outside of the window again, but this time, it was in the shape of a person. This person, however, looked very strange because they had a big head, a long slender neck, and a huge beard.


    The shaman still didnt dare to go out, but he saw that the shadow was very close to the window this time. It even reached its hand out and started to open the window. As the shaman huddled in the corner with fright, he saw that the window was opened by a hand that seemed to have a lot of fingers and no bones. In fact, it almost looked like it had at least a dozen fingers.


    The shaman only saw the person''s face when the window was opened all the way. The person''s face wasnt human at all, but the shaman didn''t know what it was. Then, the person began to crawl into the room. At this time, the shaman saw that the person''s face was actually covered in that feng shui master''s skin.


    Later, it was said that because that big bug was originally a god, it felt offended by the feng shui master''s tablet and killed him. But the reason why it kepting to the shaman was because it wasnt a male god, but a female god. And this female god was looking for the shaman for a special purpose.


    <Introduction 1><Table of Contents><Chapter 1>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Nazca Lines in southern Peru are a group of pre-Columbian geoglyphs etched into desert sands. They were created between 500 BC and AD 500. Covering an area of nearly 1,000 sq. kilometers, there are about 300 different figures, including animals and nts. Composed of over 10,000 lines, some of which measure 30 meters wide and stretch more than 9 kilometers, the figures are most visible from the air or nearby hilltops. More info here.

 Book 4: Chapter 1: Night Rush

    Book 4: Chapter 1: Night Rush


    I was confused for about a minute and just looked at him, but Poker-Face didnt stop at all. He grabbed my neck, pushed me to the side to avoid a w, and then used the knife in his other hand to sh at the things behind him.


    Whenpared to an ordinary knife, that ck-gold knife was like apletely different weapon in his hands. I saw a ck person get their entire shoulder cut off, the stench of blood instantly exploding in the air. But more ck figures immediately surged up and I woke up from my confused state. The ck figures were rushing up from under the stone temple like a ck tide, and the first batch was already piling up in front of me like ck waves. A dozen ws with long nails reached up to scratch my face.


    Since the light was dim and they were very dark, it was hard to make out their human-like forms. But their ws were white, so at first nce, it seemed as if countless ws were scrambling to grab me.


    But I had finallye to my senses at this time, so I quickly retreated backwards. This retreat was basically done by leaning back and twisting from side to side, but the ck tide rushed to the top of the temple like countless exploding ws. I used up all of my strength to avoid them, but they were barely a millimeter away from me. I turned to the edge of the temples rooftop right as that ck tide surged over it.


    Poker-Face pulled me over, and the two of us leaped into the air. As we jumped from the top of the temple, we ended up jumping right towards that ck spot and the void.


    Fatty''s res were still high up in the air, and it was in that moment that I knew why he had set so many of them off.


    It seemed that everything in the worlds second most valuable tomb had woken up, including the corpses. Poker-Face must have rushed to my side through the gaps in these surging ck waves and countless ws. There was absolutely no room for mistakes, and even a moments hesitation would have found him swallowed up by the ck tide. It didnt matter whether he was highly skilled or the best of the best, with such arge number of opponents, hed absolutely end up dead.<sup>(1)</sup>


    That was why there was a need for so much light.


    This temple was so tall that I couldnt see the bottom of it, but I could sense that the darkness below was full of those figures and ws. ck sses had told me that when people were extremely nervous, time seemed to slow down, and that was exactly what was happening to me right now.


    I looked at Poker-Face with what I knew was a crazy expression on my face, but he was still indifferent and focused despite being so high up in the air. All he did was look at that giant ck spot in front of him.


    In that slowed-down situation, the ck spot was particrly clear, and I found that we were very close to it.


    But even though it was close, it wasnt enough to jump over and grab onto anything, and I quickly felt myself starting to fall. I didnt know about Poker-Face, but if I fell here, Id probably end up seriously injured and paralyzed.


    At this time, Poker-Face gave me a really hard push from behind, whichunched me directly towards the ck spot. Everything sped back up again as I rushed towards the ck spot at a very fast speed. Then, I hit it.


    My hands and feet scrambled for purchase as I fell down six or seven meters, but in the end, I finally managed to grab hold of a gap. The cost of this great perseverance, however, was that I dislocated my wrist.


    I immediately looked back at Poker-Face and saw a ming man rushing through the darkness below us. It was Fatty. I didn''t know what that ming thing tied to his body was, but I saw him break away from those human figures and rush to meet Poker-Face.


    <em>Yes! Theyve nned everything out.</em>


    Since the light enabled me to better perceive how high up we were, I felt that Poker-Face should be able tond safely. Feeling a little relieved now, I turned my head to look at my own situation and suddenly felt a sharp pain. I looked at the ck spots dark surface and found that I was so close to it that there wasnt any distance at all.


    I looked at that ck surface reflecting my face and suddenly saw my expression twist.


    At this time, I heard some strange soundsing from the dark spot, as if someone was muttering to himself.


    <Introduction 2><Table of Contents><Chapter 2>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I had to take some liberties with this one because Wu Xie makes a pun on Poker-Faces nickname. The raw said something like whether he was a stuffy oil bottle or a top grade stuffy oil bottle, so I used whether he was highly skilled or the best of the best instead. Its my fault for calling him Poker-Face instead of Stuffy Oil Bottle (aka menyouping), but I will go down with this ship because Stuffy Oil Bottle sounds stupid in English lol.

 Book 4: Chapter 2: Ghost Satellite 2

    Book 4: Chapter 2: Ghost Satellite 2


    I tried to find protrusions on the rock wall with my feet, but the ck spot seemed to have seeped out from the natural rock wall, which caused the rocks surface to be smooth. There were still many cracks in the rock despite this, so I was able to stabilize my feet and reluctantly squat there. Fortunately, my hands were sticky from sweating so much, so I was able to use the palm of my free hand to make a suction cup on the smooth rock wall to maintain my bnce.


    At this time, all of the res finally fell to the ground and plunged our surroundings into darkness once more.


    In the dark, I could tell that the gap my foot was in was only about a centimeter wide, so Id probably slip down again if I so much as hupped. And the main thing keeping me stable right now was my dislocated wrist that was stuck in the big gap.


    At this time, I heard the sound of someone mutteringing from inside the rock wall. In fact, many strange voices had started to filter in through my ears when I first saw this ck spot, but I couldnt hear anything even if I listened very carefully. It was almost like the voices wereing from inside my head.


    But what I was hearing now was definitely different from those earlier voices because it was a precise human voice. I put my ear up to the ck spot and heard someone talking inside. It took me a second before I realized that it was a voice I was familiar with.


    This was Xiao Hua''s external broadcast that he had sent via satellite phone. But why was iting from inside the ck spot?


    This kind of external broadcast was a special function that was only avable on very expensive satellite equipment. It not only had a long battery life, but it could continuously broadcast three bands of satellite voice and radio to the outside world. It was a distress module that could be used during wilderness exploration.


    But I couldnt get to it at this time, so I looked down below. It was pitch ck; Fatty''s me had beenpletely extinguished. <em>Crap</em>, I said to myself. <em>Were they overwhelmed by that tide?</em>


    <em>If thats the case, then Ill just have to cut off my hand and go down to die with them. At least that way, well start on the path to the underworld at the same time.</em>


    But just as I was thinking this, another re suddenly shot up right next to me.


    As I flinched back from that hot wave of air, I saw that my surroundings were illuminated once more. I nced down and saw that both Fatty and Poker-Face had already started climbing up the rock wall. That dark tide seemed unable to get close to the ck spot, so it gathered below, trying to stack itself up in order to reach Fatty and Poker-Face.


    In addition to a lot of ck corpses, I noticed that there were countless strange things inside. I didnt know what they were, but Fatty and Poker-Face had climbed high enough that they shouldnt be able to catch them.


    As I breathed a sigh of relief, I suddenly felt the pain in my wrist again. I hissed through clenched teeth before shouting, "Whats the situation?"


    "What''s <em>your</em> situation?! You were supposed to fucking keep watch! A fucking donkey can do better than you!" Fatty yelled back. I noticed that he had a gun on his back, and I wondered if he had found it on one of the bodies below.


    "I was led here by this ck spot, I immediately exined. Do you really fucking think Im so unreliable?"


    "The older you fucking get, the more you start acting like Wu Sanxing! I think your family has character problems; ones that re up as you age! Im so goddamn pissed right now! Fuck your uncle! Youre such a fucking bastard, Mr. Nave! I''ll be a two-headed bird if I''m ever stupid enough to let you keep watch in the future!"


    I immediately became hungry when he said that, but the rock wall was so steep and the ck spot so smooth that they couldn''t climb up. There was a brief moment where Fatty was almost caught by that surging wave of things, but he quickly shot them back down.


    I secretly cursed in my heart, <em>it looks like I''m going to be stuck up here for a while. Luckily, this ck spot isnt that scary when looking at it from this position.</em>


    As I took a few deep breaths to try and fight off the pain in my wrist, I heard Xiao Hua''s voicee from inside the rock wall again.


    I tried to look into the ck spot and thought I saw a huge piece of amber for a brief momentmaybe Xiao Hua and the others were sealed insidebut it really was just a b of stone in the end.


    I knocked on it and then pressed my ear up against it to listen. I was certain that it was the message Xiao Huas satellite equipment had broadcast when we were on the grasnd. Xiao Hua had originally nned to give me a set for my birthday next year (my return gift had been three hundred sheets of calligraphy) but now I didnt even know if Id live to see my next birthday.


    At this time, an extreme sense of insecurity emerged in my heart as I wondered if the ck spot ate corpses. Was it possible that Xiao Hua and the others were alreadydid Xiao Hua turn on the equipment when he was at deaths door? But we were inside a cave, so it should be impossible for satellite signals to transmit. What was the point of turning the equipment on?


    <em>No, no. Theyre tough. Im sure theyre fine</em>, I said to myself. At this time, I suddenly heard Fatty call out from below, "Mr. Nave, look!"


    I looked down and saw Fatty pointing to the top of the stone temple where I had originally jumped from. When I looked up at it, I saw that a huge ck iron-d cow horn sarcophagus had appeared up there at some point. It must have been pushed up from the bottom of the stone temple by a mechanism.

 Book 4: Chapter 3: Strange Corpse 1

    Book 4: Chapter 3: Strange Corpse 1


    Although it had always been called the worlds second most valuable tomb, it was still inconclusive as to who was actually buried in it. I only knew that it was an emperor from the Yuan Dynasty, but I hade up with a very bold theory during our journey here. If this ck spot was the Five Mountain Dragon Gods and the ck lines in the rock were dragon veins that stemmed from the Kunlun Mountains, then the mountains here must not have existed before. The person who built this tomb must have used special corpses to attract the dragon veins to this ce.


    The oldest techniques used strange corpses to lure dragons to a ce, and then groups of corpses were used to raise the dragons. Although we had seen too many strange corpses along the way, those things had basically just been cheap decorations that were used to build this tomb as a dwelling ce for the gods. At best, it could be considered self-entertainment.


    None of those corpses could attract this dragon vein, and it wasnt like an emperor''s body could be regarded as a strange corpse. Otherwise, there would always be tall mountains wherever they were buried, which would negate the need to search for the dragon vein. So, there had to be a special corpse that was used to lure the dragon.


    At present, a giant coffin had risen up from the bottom of the stone temple and appeared before the ck spot. In such a strange and frantic situation, I couldnt help but wonder if this was where the strange corpse was. <em>Did we trigger something? Whats going to happen next?</em>


    At this time, Fatty suddenly shouted from below, "Mr. Nave, pop quiz: What the hell is up with the corpse in there? This ck spot is standing here and looking at it, so is the corpse really attractive?"


    "Dragon veins tend to have some rtion to the stars, I shouted back. Is it a star?"


    I was considered highly educated, so even I couldnt believe the words that had juste out of my mouth. If a star fell out of the sky, then the earth would be wiped out.


    "You said that dragons follow pearls, so maybe its a dragon pearl?"


    The dragon pearl was actually the moon, and the double dragons ying with the pearl was really just a single evolution of the movingary chart in Chinese astronomy.<sup>(1)</sup>


    Just as I was thinking this, Fatty suddenly shouted, "Look, look, look! Here ites!"


    I nced up and saw that the coffins lid had moved an inch.


    At this time, the re went out again, and I shouted to Fatty, "Fire another one!"


    "Shit, do you think Im a wholesaler? Fatty shot back. There arent any more."


    With that said, a shlight suddenly appeared from Fattys position and pointed towards the top of the sarcophagus on the stone temple. From this angle, the light just barely revealed the vague outline of it, but I could see that a slender object appeared to be sticking out of the huge sarcophagus. I didnt know if it was an arm, or if the corpse itself was elongated like that.


    But Fatty didnt give up at all. Just like those jerks who catcalled and pointed their shlights at couples making out in the bushes at school, his shlight didn''t waver and just kept pointing in that direction.


    Unfortunately, the light was really weak. I watched the thinging out of the coffin grow longer and longer and realized that the corpse wasnt human at all. But what exactly was it?


    At this time, my hand was aching badly from the severe pain and a huge burning sensation was spreading from the joints to my forearm. I adjusted my posture and told myself that I had to find a way to pull my hand out. But at this time, I suddenly heard a human voiceing from the coffin across the way.


    I was stunned for a moment. The voice wasnt quiet, and as I listened attentively, I found that it was Xiao Huas satellite recording again.


    I put my ear up against the ck spot again and found that the sound was no longering from inside.


    <em>Whats going on?</em>


    After thinking about it, I felt that the satellite recording equipment had been taken out from inside the ck spot and ced in front of the coffin.


    Could the underside of the coffin be connected to the inside of the ck spot?


    I stared at the coffin and found that the thing sticking out seemed to be an especially slender, strange corpse that stood at least four meters high. The sound from Xiao Hua''s satellite recording seemed to being from its body. As Fatty''s shlight swept past, I noticed that the strange corpse seemed to be following the movement of the light.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The pearl (or ball) you often see Chinese dragons with is said to be associated with spiritual energy, wisdom, prosperity, power, immortality, thunder, or the moon. The double dragons ying with the pearl is a manifestation of two dragons ying (or snatching) a fire ball/pearl. Its origines from theary diagram in Chinese astronomy, and the fire ball is said to have evolved from the moon. I only found stuff on baidu because I kept getting the Dragon Ball manga/anime when I tried searching in English.


    ****


    <strong><em>Omg you guys! Mo Xiang Tong Xiu''s works are getting officially published in English! *super high pitched fangirl squealing* I never preorder shit, but I preordered all 3</em></strong> *:..o()o..:* <strong><em>Here''s the link if anybody''s interested. Maybe one day (i.e., never) some publisher will pick up the rest of DMBJ and give us what we deserve. Anyways, when Tiffany is done checking through Restart Part 3''s chapters, do you want me to add it on to the other Restart pdf (the one that''s 900 pages) or just make it a whole pdf on its own?</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 4: Schemer

    Book 4: Chapter 4: Schemer


    I was above Fatty, so I had a clear view as that thing stretched towards us and then its head suddenly lit up.


    I froze for a moment, thinking that the zombie was like a fucking anglerfish that was sticking itsntern out. But then I realized that it was actually amp that was shining.


    It appeared to be an electrtern that was tied to something like a bamboo pole. There were a lot of ribbons tied around the pole, which made it look like a corpse''s neck in the dim light.


    Thentern slowly moved towards Fatty as if to illuminate his face. At this time, I suddenly realized that this was a scene I had witnessed at Crescent Hotel so many years ago when the servant had hung up the skyntern. But thentern pole back then wasnt like this one. This pole had countless colored strips of cloth on it like gs.


    Then, the pole was lifted up and the electrtern slid back down it, rolled over the colored cloth strips, and fell back to the base of the pole. Even though the light wasnt very strong, it was still enough to illuminate the top of the stone temple.


    I saw that a very young man was standing on the big coffin. He appeared to be alone and was carrying an electrtern in one hand and a bamboo pole in the other. The long bamboo pole was slung over his shoulder like a fishing rod, which caused the colored ribbons on it to gradually spread out until they looked like the kind of gs shepherds used. There was also a huqin<sup>(1)</sup> slung over his other shoulder.


    He was wearing a white T-shirt and Mongolian breeches, and I could even see that he had earrings in his ears. He had painted something like a totem on his face and was looking at us with a smile.


    He clearly hadn''t cut his hair for a long time since it seemed a little long, but overall, he didnt look wild at all. He was also extremely white, which made me think that he had lived underground for a long time.


    "Ill be damned, Fatty said. Brother, who are you?"


    The other party just looked at me, so I stared back at him as well. Then, he pulled something out from behind him and put it on the coffinit was Xiao Hua''s satellite phone.


    After that was done, he made three gestures at me. They seemed to be a kind of religious gesture, but I didnt know what they meant.


    Then, thentern was turned off and hepletely disappeared into the darkness. Fatty''s shlight swept over that area again, but there was no one there.


    "Mr. Nave, do you know each other? Fatty shouted to me. Is this white face in your gigolo circle or something?"


    "Hes much younger than me," I said. This man was twenty years old at most, so I couldnt help but feel utterly shocked. <em>Who is this man?</em> I asked myself. <em>He doesnt seem afraid of this situation at all.</em>


    I didnt know why, but at this time, a thought suddenly popped into my head.


    It wasnt apletely intuitive thought, but his smile had seemed almost mocking, which gave me some inspiration.


    I had always felt that Jin Wantang didn''t have the energy and courage to organize this whole affair, so there had to be someone behind him pulling the strings.


    Could it be that this person


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) A family of Chinese two-stringed fiddles, with snakeskin covered wooden soundbox and bamboo bow with horsehair bowstring.


    ****


    <strong><em>Good news for all you guys that have been waiting. Tiffany is done going through Restart Part 3, and wonderful reader Laireshi has done the arduous task of putting it all into a pdf for you. Yay and many thanks! It''s on the Restart 3 & 4 tab if you want to download it. Hope you all enjoy the frankenstein cover I concocted. The thumbnail pictures from WeChat were too blurry when I tried to pull them up and I couldn''t find a full blown version so you get that. If you guys are absolutely horrified looking at it, just let me know and I''ll delete it and re-upload the files. </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 5: Ebb Tide

    Book 4: Chapter 5: Ebb Tide


    This man had integrated with the darkness here. He obviously wasnt a Mongolian herder who had strayed here by mistake, nor was he a member of an expedition team that Jin Wantang had found. The reason I say this is because neither of these two people could smile in a ce like this.


    That was the kind of smile that only people who had everything under control would disy.


    Could this man be the one behind Jin Wantang? Was he the one who set up this scheme to lure us here?


    But this person was quite young. Now, I wasnt the kind of person who judged someones intelligence based on their ageI was quite smart when I was younger, after allbut young people often didnt have such big obsessions where they wanted to destroy so many things at once.


    I heard Fatty keep calling out to me, so I looked down at the tide of corpses below. They had started to recede, and it wasnt long before the corpses hadpletely retreated into the darkness.


    Did that person leave and drive the corpses away at the same time? Was there any connection between them?


    Fatty and Poker-Face made it back down to the ground first, at which point I saw Poker-Face light a temporary stove that could be used for lighting. Then, he climbed back up again and carried me down.


    The whole process was very difficult since you needed to be very familiar with the distribution of cracks. Plus, my hand waspletely swollen and I couldnt help at all, so I had topletely rely on him.


    When we finally made it back to the ground, I found that the gravel below the ck spot was covered in body parts from where Fatty had shot the corpses earlier. We cleared away a small area and then Iy down on a huge rock. My whole body was weak and I was extremely tired as I dazedly stared at the ck spot above.


    I could see that there was actually a crack in the center of the ck spot. It was very wideprobably big enough to fly an airne throughbut it was hard to see clearly because it was also ck.


    At this time, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my handPoker-Face was resetting my wrist. My back arched and then I curled in on myself for a long time as I tried to suppress the pain. Fatty had already snagged Xiao Hua''s satellite phone from the coffin and brought it over.


    When I sat up, Fatty looked at Poker-Face and asked, "Who the hell was that man, Little Brother? Mr. Nave doesn''t know him, but he looked so awesome. Is he a Zhang family member?"


    Poker-Face shook his head and then looked up at the crack in the ck spot. When I told them my doubts, Fatty handed me Xiao Hua''s satellite phone and said, "I saw those three gestures. I can repeat them for you."


    When Fatty did those three movements, I couldnt help but think that they really were religious gestures since they were so simr to some religious gestures I had seen before.


    "Do these movements mean: I love you?" Fatty asked me.


    I shook my head. This was obviously a blessing since there werent any curses in religious gestures. Or it was a spell. But that man had looked at me and made this gesture, so what did it mean?


    I was so tired that I couldnt think. I looked at Xiao Hua''s satellite phone and then nced at the sky. This was most definitely a cave, so the signal couldnt get out. But how was the satellite signal reaching the grasnd? This phone clearly had a top grade battery since it was repeatedly sending messages out after such a long time had passed.


    I turned off the phones automatic broadcasting function and then pressed the receive button. This phone was very expensive andfortable to hold in my hand, so I couldn''t help but look around for a moment and want to keep it for ourselves.


    But as soon as I clicked ept, I heard someone talking.


    Fatty almost sat up in shock. We both exchanged a look before I pressed the receive button again and tuned the frequency. I heard someones voiceing from the satellite phone, "People in the mountains pay attention. Those ck rock veins can transmit signals without having to pass through satellites. Just use wireless frequencies."


    I knew as soon as I heard it that it was ck sses voice. I was so overjoyed that I ended up high-fiving Fatty with my injured hand.


    I curled up again because of the pain, but Fatty ignored me and said into the satellite phone, "ck sses, where are you?!"

 Book 4: Chapter 6: Riddles

    Book 4: Chapter 6: Riddles


    As Fatty and I looked at each other again, I found that Poker-Face didn''t seem surprised at all. He just continued to look up at the ck gap.


    Where are you? Fatty asked again.


    "It''s dark here, ck sses said. We don''t know how far weve gone. But even if we did, its not like youd know the location. But youwhere are you?"


    Fatty looked up at the huge ck spot and said, "In front of the ck spot."


    The satellite phone was silent for a while, which I found a bit strange. For ck sses, this darkness was actually an advantage. As long as he had a match, it was just like he was living somewhere near the equator on a summer morning


    I heard ck sses sigh, "Wheres Mute?"


    "Right next to us," Fatty responded.


    "Do you two have the confidence to knock him out and drag him out of this ce right now?" ck sses asked.


    Fatty looked at me, then at Little Brother, touched the gun in his handthis gun looked a little strange; it seemed that the herdsmen here had modified it many timesand then said, "I can''t bear to hit my darling."


    ck sses chuckled and said, "Apprentice, why don''t you listen to your childhood friend?"


    "Why? I asked. Where the hell are you guys? What''s the danger to Little Brother here? Cant you share any information with us?"


    ck sses was silent for a while, but I could hear the sound of a chocte bar wrapper being peeled off and then something was put in his mouth, "You see that gap? Were inside of it. But we should be more than a hundred kilometers away from you. The gap and the ck spot seem to follow the same path. Weve been moving forward for a long time."


    "What exactly did Xiao Huae here to do? He has enough money, so did Jin Wantang drug him or something?" Iined. "And why are <em>you</em> here? What are you doing in that gap? You guys arent me."


    "Aw, would you look at that? My apprentice is all grown up. I wanted to tell you this before." ck sses took another bite of the chocte bar, "This gap follows the dragon veins to the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains. The whole route is spread out across the rock stratum in such a way that it passes under ten thousand mountains. Aren''t you interested?"


    "If I had so much money, I definitely wouldnt be interested."


    "Yes, but he also has his own obsession. It''s not my ce to tell you what it is, but you should know."


    <em>I don''t know</em>, I said in my heart. <em>Only old gangsters tell their childhood friends about their obsessions. What kind of decent person talks about their obsessions?</em>


    "Now, listen to me. When you enter this gap in a few minutes, there are a few points you must pay attention to. First, you must protect Mute. The gap is a dragons mouth. After Mutees in, you guys should find a safe ce to rest fully. But don''t go deep into the gap. Second, theres nothing in this gap, so you need to move as fast as possible and collect as much food and equipment outside as you can. Third, your satellite phone can be used wherever theres a dragon vein. This ck part can transmit signals, but if you leave the dragon vein, youll end uppletely lost. The structure inside this gap is veryplicated."


    Fatty looked at me and then asked ck sses, "Why are we going in just like that? Cant we go out and call for a rescue team to send ten thousand people over?"


    "Youre in front of the ck spot, correct? Then you can''t get out," ck sses said. "If the ck spot didnt want it, then you wouldn''t have seen it. One of you must have been invited."


    "Me."


    ck ssesughed, "I know."


    "Why can''t we get out? Have you tried?"


    "Look at that gap. After looking at it carefully, don''t you find that you <em>really</em> want to go in?" ck sses asked.


    I looked up at the gap. It was so huge and deep that it reminded me of the darkness I saw in the tomb door when I was lured here earlier.


    I didn''t dare look at it anymore as I asked myself, <em>will we all feel a huge impulse to enter this gap after a while?</em>


    "ck sses, we saw a young man just now who was as white as an ox aorta<sup>(1)</sup> and holding something like a spirit g. Do you know him?" Fatty asked.


    ck sses let out an exmation, "So you saw him. We saw him, too. But it was only a quick nce."


    I wanted to keep asking questions, but Poker-Face suddenly came over, took the satellite phone, and asked, "Who are you?"


    I heard ck ssesugh on the other end of the line, which left me stunned for a moment. I was familiar with ck sses''ugh. When I spoke with him just now, it was his normalughter, but when Poker-Face asked, it wasnt normal at all.


    But this really was ck sses voice, so what did Poker-Face mean by asking that?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ox aorta is a popr hotpot ingredient in Sichuan cuisine. It looks like a piece of smooth white jade.

 Book 4: Chapter 7: Riddle 2

    Book 4: Chapter 7: Riddle 2


    We were all sitting there, waiting to see how things would develop, but the ck sses on the satellite phone justughed andughed. Afterughing for a few minutes, he hung up.


    There was silence all around.


    As we all looked at each other, Fatty asked me, "So that wasnt ck sses? But I was listening. It had to be him."


    I was familiar with ck sses, so I had a sense of his typical vocabry and the rhythm of his speech. The person on the phone had to be ck sses, but why did Poker-Face question him? And why did he hang up?


    I asked Poker-Face what was going, but Poker-Face just looked at the ck gap and said, "It''s not him."


    "This is there any basis for this?" Although I absolutely believed in Poker-Face, I also believed in my own senses.


    Poker-Face looked at me. "He was talking, but the one talking wasnt him."


    Fatty and I both frowned and looked at each other. Both of our brows were scrunched up as we tried hard to understand what he was talking about. "Has Little Brother been learning rap recently?" Fatty whispered.


    I thought about it. Poker-Face and ck sses had done a lot of things together, so if he thought that this ck sses was a fake, then I should believe it. He said that ck sses was talking, but the one talking wasn''t him. This was actually very urate; there was only one meaning in Chinese.


    "You mean, he was being controlled by something?" I bit my lip. When Shen Qianjue was talking to us before, I also felt the same way. It was almost like she was being controlled by some kind of power.


    I had a strong feeling that if I died here on the grasnd, even my soul wouldnt be able to escape.


    Was there some kind of power or sentient thing that was leading us here by using other people''s voices on the satellite phones?


    I raised my head and also looked up at the dragon vein. It looked like an inanimate object, but maybe it actually wasnt?


    Maybe anyone who entered it would be swallowed up by it and be a part of it that would be used. But if that was the case, then what state were Shen Qianjue, ck sses, and Xiao Hua in?


    I dared not think about it anymore.


    At this time, Poker-Face suddenly stood up and walked to the area behind us. Fatty and I immediately followed and found him near the pile of corpses in front of the stone temple. He had already started rifling through the corpses backpacks.


    The bodies here were all fresh and all belonged to Jin Wantang''s team. I honestly didn''t expect that they would be reunited here in the end.


    Fatty and I exchanged a nce before we also started collecting the items, and it wasnt long before we had collected a hefty pile of dry food and equipment. There were many people among the pile of corpses who had guns, which meant that Fatty really had taken his gun from one of them. I picked out a short submachine gun and prepared thirteen magazines full of bullets while Fatty focused on gathering the detonators and res.


    "So, if this ck sses is a fake, then why should we listen to him and collect these things? Fatty asked. Why don''t we just leave now?"


    I had a very bad feeling, and sure enough, the satellite phone rang again when we were taking our gathered items back to the ck spot.


    It was Xiao Hua''s voice this time, but instead of a real person, it was the broadcast loop we had heard before. But the section being broadcast was the one warning Poker-Face not to enter.


    It was full of white noise and the voice was much sharper than before, which gave it the air of a provocation. I was a little startled since the sound was so harsh in the quiet environment.


    I turned off the satellite phone and found that my palms had started to sweat. "It''sing," Poker-Face said to me.


    <em>What?</em>


    I looked up at the gap and found that it had suddenly be very deep. I didnt know why, but I felt a strong desire to enter it.

 Book 4: Chapter 8: Riddle 3

    Book 4: Chapter 8: Riddle 3


    It''s hard for me to describe the feeling at that time. If I had to say it, then a more urate description would be that when we were resting and discussing things just now, this ck spot was just a ck rock. But now, it was like I could see more things, more details.


    When I could only see a ck rock wall, it was just a formless mass with nothing strange about it. But now, it was like I could see the whole ck spot spreading out in front of me. This kind of panoramic vision was actually an illusionI think it was all in my headbut it produced a huge irresistible attraction.


    None of us raised any rational doubts. Instead, we just picked up our equipment without saying anything to each other and began climbing towards that gap. The voice in the satellite phone reappeared after a while, disappeared, and then reappeared again but we just ignored it.


    The gap was at the very center of the ck spot, but I didnt find it peculiar at all and just endured the pain in my wrist as I climbed up.


    When we reached the opening and looked in, we found that the gap was actually very tall. It was at least several stories high and the ck rock inside was the ckest color I had ever seen. As we pointed our shlights inside, it almost seemed as if the darkness inside was spinning.


    "Whatever happens here should surpass everything weve experienced before," I said. But I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. I couldnt say for sure whether it would surpass Poker-Faces experience behind the bronze door.


    This was different from when I was walking down the underground river before. At that time, I had predicted that the end of the underground river should be an extremely magical ce, a space that was inessible to humans. But I could still guess what would be there: a temple, an ancient tomb, an underground city where people lived, or unspeakable relics. Or maybe even a magnificent crystal quartzite cave.


    But this time, I honestly didnt know what I would see. I didnt have any knowledge of this civilization to support my theories.


    I looked back at the gap we had just entered and saw a lot of those ck corpses looking at us from the top of the stone temple across the way. But they didn''t seem willing to approach this ck spot at all.


    Poker-Face walked further inside the gap, which was littered with gravel that made it very difficult to walk. I swept my shlight over the ck rocks and said to him, "Get behind me. This time, youre the special one. Fatty and I will protect you."


    Poker-Face looked at me and then started carving a mark on the stone wall. That mark wasnt for me but for the Zhang family.

 Book 4: Chapter 9: A Brief Account of Moving Forward

    Book 4: Chapter 9: A Brief ount of Moving Forward


    Instead of moving forward immediately, we decided to rest where Poker-Face had engraved his mark.


    At this time, Fatty put forward a valid question: if this dragon vein went straight to the dragon ancestor, then would bad things happen if we went to the bathroom inside of it?


    <em>That shouldnt be the case</em>, I said to myself. <em>With such a huge amount energy, do you really think you can destroy it with just a small pile of poop?</em> But it really did feel weird. Fortunately, I ate and drank very little along the way.


    As I looked around at the darkness, I found that the huge impulse I felt to enter it had weakened yet again. The three of us ate something quickly and then prepared to doze off without hesitation. I wanted to volunteer for first watch again, but Poker-Face patted me and climbed onto a big rock, indicating that I should get some sleep.


    I sighed heavily in my heart. I knew that I had lost their confidence, but I couldn''t argue. So, I wrapped myself in a sleeping bag I had taken from one of the corpses backpacks and prepared to take a quick nap. But before I knew it, I was sleeping like the dead.


    People never seem to realize how tired they truly are. I woke up twice in the middle of the night but only stayed awake for about three seconds each time before I fell asleep again. When I woke up again, I found that the corners of my mouth were covered in drool.


    I turned to look around and saw that Fatty was keeping watch and Poker-Face was sleeping next to me.


    I didn''t dare wake him up, so I got up carefully and then went to Fattys side. I found that Fatty was staring at the depths of the gap.


    "My dear friend, you shouldn''t keep watching that," I said to him.


    Fatty nced at me and asked, "Do you know what I saw just now?"


    When I shook my head, Fatty said, "Something bad is definitely going to happen when we go in."


    "What did you see?"


    "I saw Yun Cai." Fatty lit a cigarette and motioned for me to go away. I stared nkly for a moment before I also looked at the darkness in front of me.


    "Is it a hallucination?"


    "Ive never hallucinated Yun Cai before. This is the usual part of the movie where something is trying to tempt us."


    "What did Yun Cai do?" I asked. "Did she wave at you or something?"


    Fatty didn''t speak, but his face twitched and he opened his hand to show me something.


    There was a rusty bullet in the palm of his hand.


    I looked at him and felt my throat tighten as I realized that Fatty might not just be seeing things.


    "She came to me and handed me this." Fattys face was pale as he spoke. "Then she walked into the darkness and disappeared."


    I took the bullet and found that it really was a bullet. <em>What does this mean?</em>


    Fatty looked at me and said, "Despite all of this, I didn''t follow. You see, Mr. Nave? This is what it means to keep watch."


    I looked at him. He was obviously in a bad mood and trying to suppress it, so I went over and gave him a hug.


    "Can this dragon vein resurrect people?" I didnt believe so since all of the simr situations we had encountered in the past ended up being illusions or conspiracies.


    Or some other kind of nonsense. But I couldnt remember it clearly.


    Fatty took a hard drag of his cigarette and said to me, "Yun Cai is dead. Even if a vivid image of her walks in front of me, its definitely not her. You have a special constitution, so I hope you can understand that you may encounter the same situation in the future. Don''t get emotional."


    I looked into the depths of the gap and then at Fatty''s expression. I knew that he was hiding something and that he had definitely seen more than what he had just told me.

 Book 4: Chapter 10: A Brief Account of Moving Forward 2

    Book 4: Chapter 10: A Brief ount of Moving Forward 2


    Fatty wasnt the type of person who could hide things, so if he wasnt willing to tell me now, he must have something on his mind. I didn''t pursue the matter any further and just continued to look ahead.


    Fatty''s eyes never left the darkness in front of him, and I even felt his hands shaking slightly until Poker-Face woke up.


    I didn''t even notice him waking up and moving around. He was still sleeping there thest time I saw him, but when I looked again, he was already dressed and ready to go. I went over and hastily packed my backpack. When that was done, I nced at my watch and felt my jaw drop.


    It seemed that I had slept for two whole days. Was there a problem with the time again? When I checked my watch against Fattys, he patted me with an ashen face and said, "At least we got enough sleep."


    We took onest look at the space outside the gap. Although it was dark, I at least knew that there was a way to get back aboveground from there. If we continued walking into the gap, I was afraid I wouldnt be able to see the sky for a long time.


    But at this time, I didn''t think of turning back at all and just continued walking further inside. I found that Fatty was obviously in a bad state. He was very nervous and didn''t lower his gun at all. I also saw that he had made the bullet into a pendant and hung it around his neck. Poker-Face also seemed very focused. In fact, both of them kept looking into the depths of the gap from time to time, which was very abnormal. I couldnt help but wonder if Poker-Face had also seen something when he was keeping watch.


    The path was very difficult to walk, so I didn''t bother saying anything as I continued to move forward. That first day and night were peaceful and there werent any idents.


    We had already entered the middle of nowhere by this point, so the three of us stopped by a pile of rocks to rest. We found that there were various stacks ofrge and small stones here, which created gaps everywhere. Some of the stacked shapes could even be used as recliners. I took out the satellite phone again, but there wasnt any sounding from it at this time.


    When I suggested that I should take the first watch tonight, Poker-Face and Fatty just looked at me. Then, Fatty threw me a hand-crank charger and told me to fully charge all of my electrical devices such as my shlight and cell phone and then go to sleep. From now on, I wasnt allowed to keep watch at night.


    Unwilling to ept it, I narrowed my eyes at him and said, "It was an ident before."


    Fatty didnt argue with me at all and just stood up and went to a high ce to smoke. Poker-Face, who was still looking at the depths in the gap and seemed to be thinking about something,pletely ignored me.


    We were so familiar with each other that we didnt talk at this time. I already knew in my heart that whatever happened during their watch tonight, they wouldnt tell me about it.


    I charged all of the shlights fully, which wasnt an easy job. I soon got tired and felt my shoulders start to ache. I thought about secretly sneaking over and taking a look in the middle of the night, so I decided toy down first and take a nap. That night, I had a dream that I slept for a whole year.


    I was also worried that I wouldnt be able to wake up, so I came up with an idea to keep an eye on things. I put my cell phone in the crevice of a stone pile on the side and secretly took a few photos of myself. The angle was just right to capture a video of the ce where Fatty was keeping watch.


    As it turned out, I really didn''t wake up in the middle of the night, but I did feel refreshed when I got up. When I was trying to clear my foggy mind, I saw Poker-Face keeping watch and Fatty sleeping next to me, so I took out my cell phone and opened the video file fromst night.


    Nothing happened at first. I just saw myself snoring in the dim light with a stupid expression on my face. I pulled up the videos progress bar and skipped past the first three hours. When I hit y again, Fatty was motionless and Poker-Face was sleeping beside me.


    I was just about to skip ahead when I noticed that Poker-Face suddenly woke up and Fatty had climbed down from where he was keeping watch. But instead of changing shifts, both of them went up to me and stared straight at me. Then, I also opened my eyes and sat up.


    But the thing was, I didnt remember waking up in the middle of the night at all.

 Book 4: Chapter 11: Peach Banquet

    Book 4: Chapter 11: Peach Banquet


    I couldnt help but duck my head and narrow my eyes as I kept watching myself. It almost felt like I was watching an illicit film or something.


    In the video, I sat up silently, but the light was so dim that I couldn''t see my expression clearly. The three of us looked at each other for a while without speaking.


    Then, I stood up and the three of us left the screen.


    I leaned back against a stone, took a deep breath, and pinched my brow as I tried to recall if such a thing had really happenedst night. Did I wake upst night to pee and the three of us just went together?


    But I had no memory of it at all. Granted, it wasnt umon since I often didnt remember what happened when I was half awake in the middle of the night.


    I continued to stare at the screen and found that it took about an hour before I came back to lie down. Now I waspletely puzzled. I could understand if it was just a muddleheaded pee break, but that kind of thing wouldnt take an hour. Plus, there was no way I would forget about it.


    I looked at the sleeping Fatty beside me, feeling at a total loss.


    The rest of the video waspletely normal. I soon fell asleep and then Fatty came back after a while. He cleaned himself up and fell asleep while Poker-Face moved to keep watch.


    In the middle of the night, it took the three of us about an hour to do something, which I didnt remember at all.


    Was this a fucking fit of hysteria or something?


    I got up carefully without waking Fatty up, climbed to the edge of the boulder where Poker-Face was keeping watch, and sat opposite him. There were three electro-luminescentmps sitting on the side, their light almost making him look like a stone statue. I could also see a pile of stones in front of him that looked like a mani stone pile. People who didnt know him would think that he got bored and started ying with the stones here, but only I knew that these were actually deadly weapons.


    I unwrapped a chocte bar, broke a piece off, and asked him where we wentst night as I ate it.


    Poker-Face looked at me like he didn''t know what I was talking about. I handed him my cell phone and let him watch the video. He was a little surprised and watched it several more times. At this time, Fatty got up and asked what was going on (as it turned out, I had actually woken him up earlier). I handed him my phone and he fell silent after watching it for a while.


    "Don''t you remember?" I asked.


    Looking at how agile they were in the video, they definitely werent sleepwalking at the time.


    "Did you edit the video?" Fatty wondered. "This absolutely did not happenst night."


    I shook my head. Fatty scratched his scalp, looking very confused. I nced at Poker-Face, who was looking at himself on the screen thoughtfully.


    I watched the video again and made the screen brighter. I was almost certain that all three of us were awake.


    "Were we possessed?" Fatty asked.<sup>(1)</sup>


    I nced at the darkness around me as Poker-Face shook his head. He looked at the darkness deep in the gap and asked, "Sound?"


    I immediately came back to my senses. I had definitely recorded the video with soundst night, but I was afraid of waking Fatty up and had turned it off. I quickly turned it back on and pulled the videos progress bar to that particr section.


    I heard the three of us talking.


    There were a few words I couldnt hear very clearly, but I definitely heard Fatty say, "Hurry up. Were going to bete and miss our turn."


    <em>What do you mean? Are we going to the Peach Banquet?</em><sup>(2)</sup>


    I turned to look at Fatty, but he immediately shook his head, "I didnt say this. We were definitely possessed."


    Poker-Face stopped the phone at this time and zoomed in on the screen. We saw that Fatty was carrying an empty backpack with him when he left. Poker-Face quickly skipped to the part of the video when Fatty came back, and we found that the backpack was full and very heavy.


    We immediately turned our heads and looked at Fatty''s backpack. I remembered that there originally hadnt been much in it, but now it was bulging. I didnt know what it contained.


    "Smartphones were designed for long fingers, Fatty murmured. Youve adapted well."


    "Quit joking, I said. What did you bring back?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The actual term used is walk-in, which is a New Age concept of a person whose original soul has departed their body and has been reced with a new, different soul. Info here.


    (2) The Peach Banquet was a yearly banquet the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperors wife) held in Journey to the West. The peaches were consumed by immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. Info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>6 chapters in 1 day? I''ve done my duty. Til next time darlings!</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 12: It’s Over

    Book 4: Chapter 12: It¡¯s Over


    I looked at the backpack and then at Poker-Face. I couldnt believe that he didnt seem to have any knowledge here. "Youare you sure you''re like us and don''t know anything?" I asked him.


    Poker-Face nced into the depths of the gap again as Fatty looked at him. Their eye contact made me narrow my eyes in suspicion. <em>Damn it, I think Poker-Face knows more information than I do.</em>


    But there was also doubt in his eyes, which meant that he probably wasnt lying to me. The information he knew had something to do with the strange things happening to us, but this connection made him feel confused.


    I turned to Fatty and said, "Don''t hide it from me. Weve been wearing the same underwear for so many years."


    "If it was rted to you, Id definitely tell you." With that said, Fatty jumped over to the backpack and kicked it.


    I grabbed my gun and took aim as Fatty bent down, untied the backpack, and poured the contents out.


    In an instant, countless mummified severed hands poured out from the inside and fell all over the floor. Startled, Fatty threw the backpack away and retreated to the other side of a nearby stone.


    I took a deep breath as the musty smell of corpses permeated the air.


    When Poker-Face squatted down and picked one up, I could see that most of these hands had very long fingers.


    These were the hands of Zhang family members.


    After death, the Zhang family tended to bring their hands back to the Zhang familys ancient building for burial. On the one hand, it could prevent such corpse characteristics from appearing in the world too much; on the other hand, it also had the meaning of returning. No matter how thest generation of the Zhang family copsed or how chaotic the ideological trend was, the Zhang family''s huge drive to keep moving forward was a habit that still affected all of the Zhang family members. It was very simr to how we always put up red paper during the Chinese New Year. No one forced us to do this, but we couldnt resist the inertia ourselves.


    After looking at the hands, I found that they all appeared to have been cut off. This was because someone was unable to bring all of the corpses back after arge number of Zhang family members had died, so they cut off their hands instead.


    Off to the side, Fatty paid his respects and said, "Little Brother, this bag is your ancestral grave."


    So what did this mean? Last night, the three of us sleepwalked to a ce where there were a bunch of Zhang family members'' hands? Or were there a bunch of Zhang family members bodies and we were the ones to chop the hands off?


    We had been away for an hour, but the path here wasnt easy to walk so we couldnt have gone far in that time. In fact, it was actually half an hour''s journey both ways. Both sides of this passage were very narrow and we hadnt seen anything strange along the way. The only possibility was that we had continued walking further into the gap and then turned back after walking for half an hour.


    So, these hands were cut off somewhere in the passage up ahead.


    But this was illogical. I picked up my phone and looked at the video again, feeling a little creeped out as I watched our smooth movements. Those little actions of ours actually proved that we werent possessed but were moving of our own volition. It was exactly how we moved when woke up clear-headed in the middle of the night.


    But why didnt I have any memory of it at all?


    No memory, no memory, possessed, no memory


    I nced at Poker-Face, looked into his eyes, and broke out in a cold sweat as I had a sudden epiphany. This cold sweat surpassed all of the horror I had felt the whole way here.


    I suddenly realized what Poker-Face''s meaningful expression meant and why he didnt seem so superior in this ce. Even with his god-like physique, he was the same as a mortal here.


    I wanted to say something, but I was so scared that I finally just yelled to calm myself down.


    "Heavenly gift." I was shaking all over as I looked at Fatty, who was startled by my sudden shout. "We were bestowed a heavenly giftst night!"


    "What do you mean?" Fatty waspletely baffled. "Prolonged life? Little Brother doesn''t need it."<sup>(1)</sup>


    I looked at Poker-Face, "Am I right?!"


    As Poker-Face nodded, there was a very faint but uneasy emotion in his eyes. He didn''t say it directly because he was so surprised that that familiar terrible feeling had reappeared.


    I couldnt seem to stop my trembling at all. Poker-Face had been tortured by his memory being split into countless fragments during those years that stretched on like a river. It was something we outsiders only felt a kind of empathy for after seeing it in literature and art. You felt a great sadness, but it was all just arrogance and grandeur. This time, however, I had experienced this feeling for myself. The sense of fear and despair waspletely different from what I had previously imagined.


    In fact, we had already experienced it once on the grasnd, it was just that I didn''t think in this direction at the time. It appeared our sudden advance in those few days was also because of this heavenly gift.


    <em>So this is how it feels. This is what Poker-Face was feeling all those times before. I was myselfst night, but he was another person. In other words, the horror of this heavenly gift is that my life bes that of countless independent people.</em>


    "Go!" I picked up my backpack and looked at Poker-Face, "Lets go! Come with me! Were all leaving!"


    <em>Fuck! I shouldve listened to Xiao Hua, I shouldve listened to Xiao Hua! Poker-Face can never receive another heavenly gift again!</em>


    <em><em>This definitely has to end! Its over! Dont give me any more drama!</em></em>


    Poker-Face grabbed me. My hands were trembling uncontrobly as I shouted at him, "Go! Get out of here! Ill cover you, just go!"


    <em>You can''t forget everything youve experienced these past few years.</em>


    If he moved at full speed, he could get out of here quickly.


    Fatty also reacted at the same time and started cursing as he looked around at the tunnel walls, "Fuck you! So youre not done with your evil tricks?!"


    Then he turned to me and asked, "Is this because Little Brother got away from the heavenly gift, so some higher power used you as a guide to bring him back? Fuck, what power is that? Is it at the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains? Can it not work without Little Brother or something?"


    I didnt know, but what did it matter? I knew I wasnt a key person.


    Poker-Face looked at me and shook his head, "It''s toote."


    "Theres still time!" I argued back. "I have logic and a lot of details about the grasnd. Plus, we havent gone that far in. We still have time."


    Poker-Face held up my digital watch and pressed the interface that disyed the month. I took a look and found that the time had changed.


    I rubbed my eyes, unable to believe it at first. I looked at the time carefully and then checked Fatty''s watch to make sure.


    Our watches showed that we had been in here for a month. I felt cold all over as I took out my cell phone again. I had definitely confirmed the time before going to bedst night. Didn''t I even make a video? <em>Wait, don''t tell me!</em>


    I watched the video carefully and was horrified to find that my video file folder on my phone was full of videos from the same angleI had filmed the three of us almost every night. That other me had recorded videos every single night for a month.


    So what I saw just now wasnt actually the first recording like I had originally thought. There were simr videos on my phone for every single night spanning a whole month. I wanted to see the video from thirty days ago but ended up watching the one fromst night.


    I couldnt describe the logic and my mind was a mess, but that wasnt important right now.


    So basically, after I fell asleepst night and woke up, a whole month had passed instead of a single night. But I had no idea what I did during this month at all.


    I didnt even know how far we had gone.


    But there was no doubt that we had gone deep, which would exin why Poker-Face had been looking at the darkness deep in the gap.


    He had discovered at that time that the darkness was different from the darkness we saw before going to bed, and even our resting ce had changed.


    Fatty lit a cold firework to illuminate our surroundings. The environment here was very simr, so I couldnt tell a difference from where we werest night. Fatty climbed to a spot high up and threw the cold firework into the darkness ahead. I saw that there were countless mummified corpses without hands in this ce. And in the middle of these corpses was a very small earthen temple with a mummy''s head on it. It almost seemed to be mocking us.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: Heavenly gift  and prolonged life  sound exactly the same in Chinese. They are both pronounced as Tian Shou. Thats why Fatty was confused at first.


    ****


    <strong><em>Wu Xie''s panic attack had me like "I''m with you, Wu Xie. Let''s tie his ass up and get him the fuck out of there! Kicking and screaming if we have to!"</em> Just like so:</strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 13: Want to smoke

    Book 4: Chapter 13: Want to smoke


    We walked over to the small earthen temple and found that it was a small building the size of a dresser. It was made of packed loess and appeared to be very old based on the patterns on the eaves tiles.<sup>(1)</sup>


    "This thing at least goes as far back as the Warring States period." In a sense, Fatty was considered an expert on eaves tiles, so he only needed a quick nce to know.


    A shriveled human head had been ced on top of the roof tiles of this small earthen temple. But the roof was covered with herringbone eaves, so the head couldnt beid t. It was ced very casually, almost like a joke.


    There werent any statues in the small earthen temple, and it appeared to be empty. Fatty''s shlight scanned our surroundings, but we didnt find any Tudiye <sup>(2)</sup> remnants.


    "These corpses are from the Zhang family. I don''t know if they were a team that came in together and all died here, or if they came in one by one and all died when they arrived here." Fatty looked at the severed hands and asked, "Is this a provocation? If its really the heavenly gift, then why did it let us wake up at this time?"


    I looked at the corpses empty eye sockets, slowly sat down on a nearby rock, and started tough.


    I couldnt control thisughter at all. <em>It''s been a month. Fuck, its actually been a month. What should we do? Are we even able to make it back? But what happened on the way here? What if there was a fork in the path?</em>


    I didnt know why, but I thought my line of thinking was particrly funny. And the more Iughed, the harder it was to restrain myself.


    My subconscious mind was very shrewd. My brain wasnt actively thinking carefully about everything that had happened, but my subconscious mind was already feeling despair. This was my subconsciousughing at me.


    <em>A heavenly gift will be bestowed right here, brother. There''s no point in thinking about it.</em>


    The so-called heavenly gift urred when people received thoughts that werent their own. But the most terrible thing was when they were given desires that didnt belong to them. I wanted to send Poker-Face out of here; he <em>needed </em>to get out of here. In fact, he needed to be millions of miles away from this ce. Wed go to America, Mauritius, d, just anywhere away from here! This was my desire at this very moment. Maybe it would disappear after a few minutes and be reced with a desire to send him to the source of the ancient Kunlun Mountains. At that time, the two of us will probably be very happy, just like we''re going on a spring outing.


    Could I resist this heavenly gift? I had to. But could I actually resist it?


    Iughed even harder. When it came to desires, people were incredibly flimsy. Whether you had countless thoughts full of hate, want, or love, you never really thought about where these thoughts came from.


    In fact, most of your thoughts were given to you by others through various details. In the end, people were a species that were very easy to "grant desires" to. How many people in this world actually took the time to think about the origin of their desires? Very few, because it was too troublesome. This was especially the case when it came to strong desires like love and hate. Once it surged up, humans would go straight to the result.


    The heavenly gift here was truly devastating. If we were bestowed heavenly gifts at any time, then it was equivalent to my current stateany ns made or wisdom gained were absolutely meaningless. In the next second, I may not even be me.


    It was only at this time that I truly understood why even the word meaning was meaningless.


    But I only remained in this confused state for a few minutes before I raised my head and suddenly calmed down. I patted my clothes, looking for cigarettes, but remembered that I had quit smoking.


    This wasnt me rallying my strength but the calm that came from utter despair. But I was thankful for the keen rationality I had developed when dealing with the Wang family back then.


    I looked at Poker-Face, "Whats the mostmon urrence when a heavenly gift is bestowed? Do you have to be asleep or can it happen at any time?"


    "Any time." Poker-Face didnt look at me as he answered. Instead, he just continued to look at that shriveled head.


    "After receiving a heavenly gift, youll find that you have another purpose in mind, right? People who are given heavenly gifts will do something, and when that thing is done, all memories will disappear. You start from scratch, no matter what youve experienced. So many moving stories and magnificent experiences are all just directly erased like a scrapped manuscript." I looked at him. "Is that correct?"


    Poker-Face finally turned his head and met my gaze before saying, "There will be some left, but very few."


    This was the state he was in when I first met him. But when he went to a ce he had been to before, he would gradually recall something.


    The things you had done in the past all became a huge mystery. What would your frame of mind even be like after this?


    I pretended to light a cigarette andughed again. Even my heart was stillughing at my persistence and rationality.


    I was going to tell them my conclusions, but I looked at Poker-Face for a long time before I spoke. I couldnt help but wonder if all three of us would be other people in addition to our selves the second I opened my mouth.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Also known as wadang, it refers to the round tile at the front of the eaves, located in front of the tube tile. Its mainly used to protect the wooden cornice (by draining water away from it) and beautify the roof porch. Info here (lots of pics) and here.


    (2) Tudiye (also known as Tudigong) is the Lord of the Soil and the Ground. Hes a righteous god who is in charge ofnd in ancient Chinese legends. He lives underground, relies on incense from worshippers, and absorbs energy. Hes the lowest level among the gods. Info here.

 Book 4: Chapter 14: Suicide Temple

    Book 4: Chapter 14: Suicide Temple


    After waiting for a while and confirming that we were still us, I said to them, "Lets analyze it. Why did the heavenly gift bring us here and let us wake up? Over the past month, the three of us obviously did a lot of things and walked a lot. If theres a sentient beingwhich well call it for nowthat wants us to go deep into this gap and reach the end of the dragon vein, then it couldve kept us under control with the heavenly gift and done it all in one go. So why did the heavenly gift suddenly disappear when we got here? Moreover, the heavenly gift this time is different from Little Brother''s since none of us have amnesia."


    Fatty, who didnt appear to be as shocked as I was, also sat down. He looked at my hands and then at Poker-Face again.


    My hands were still shaking.


    "To answer your question, he said, you need to answer a preliminary question: Is this a normal sentient being? That is to say, is this thing a person or something thats simr to a person? If its thetter, then its purpose is understandable. At present, it seems that it wants to lead us to the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains." He stacked some small stones on the ground into a pile, "This is Shen Qianjue." Another pile of stones was stacked right next to it, "This is ck sses. If the two of them were being controlled when they were talking to us, then those conversations were actually fake. In other words, we were constantly being led to the ck spot."


    I remained silent as Fatty continued, "Let''s go in and meet ck sses and Xiao Hua. But we need to be careful. They may not be them."


    "Theyll have to be careful with us, too," I interrupted him.


    "If its not a person, then I don''t know, Fatty continued. I think its behavior is unpredictable. It may just be a coincidence that it led us here." He lit a cigarette, "First, let''s start with the question of whether its a sentient being or not. If it is, then I think this thing is worth pondering over. You said that its a dragon veinan ancient dragon godthats very cunning. But dont you think the crafty plots, machinations, and step-by-step process in which the ancient god has entrenched itself are all a bit humble for an ancient god?"


    "What do you mean?" I asked.


    "Youre the five fucking mountain dragon gods, Fatty said. One of the ancient gods of China. And yet you''re doing things in a Jin Wantang-like manner? Why don''t you just work some magic ande to us in a dream? But instead, you have to go through so many steps, which is a very humble approach. I think this conspirator can win a model worker medal."


    "Maybe its a god of mischief?" I mocked him in my heart but didn''t say it aloud. But after hearing what Fatty said, I suddenly felt a little better. He was right. We hade all this way, but that thing didn''t show any overwhelming power at all.


    Could it be that young man from before? Was he a dragon vein that had transformed into a human?


    If it was that kid, then I would skin him alive. But if he had the ability to bestow a heavenly gift, then he would be like Professor X<sup>(1)</sup> and my whole worldview would copse.


    "We also suffered from a heavenly gift on the grasnd, but eventually came back to our senses. And neither of these two heavenly gifts robbed us of our memories. We also havent gotten to our destination in one go. Either it doesn''t want us to be disabled, or it can''t do it." Fatty took a puff of his cigarette, "I think its probably thetter. It can only bestow the heavenly gift on us in a fixed area."


    Fatty looked at our surroundings, which were full of those Zhang corpses. "This ceit''s very special. But as for how special it is, well have to ask Little Brother. Based on your expression, you should already have an answer. Isnt that, Little Brother?"


    Poker-Face was still looking at that shriveled head, but when I nced at him, he turned to look at me, "They allmitted suicide. They died here voluntarily."


    Fatty and I exchanged a look as Poker-Face continued, "They sacrificed themselves and made a partition here. There should be a very crucial thing in this small shrine that canpete against the power here."


    "But it''s empty now. Wheres the thing?


    "It must be nearby. If thats not the case, then the effectiveness of this ce will disappear. This thing and these corpses must have interacted with each other, which enabled us to recover."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Professor X is a character from the super famousics The X-Men. Hes a mutant whos an exceptionally-powerful telepath. He can read and control the minds of others. More info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Heads up, they said we can get overtime at work if we want and considering how I had to suffer a 10% cut to my sryst year cuz of covid, mama wants that $$$$$ (I''ve got student loans, a mortgage, and medical bills to pay. Adultingugh). I will try to keep up with my minimum 1 chapter a day, but if I''m exhausted after work, it''s just not going to happen. Just know that I''m not dead in a ditch or anything if I go MIA for a few days.</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 15: Transformed Backpack

    Book 4: Chapter 15: Transformed Backpack


    I walked over and squatted in front of the Tudigong-like shrine while holding my chin.


    You know, theres a moment when youre overwhelmed by absolute despair that you suddenly see a glimmer of hope and light. Although its just a glimmer, all the logic and rationality in your heart begins to return based on this tiny base point.


    In other words, it was safe here. Although this was a cemetery of the Zhang family and smelled strange, it was probably safe right?


    Actually, I didnt dare say it aloud since I didnt know what the basis for Poker-Faces determination was. But the anxiety-like convulsions and contractions in my heart faded a little and my hands had finally stopped shaking.


    "In other words, this gives off the feeling of a miniature Zhang familys ancient building," I said. Did these Zhang family members pile their corpses up and put them in the building in order to have a temporary shelter under the great shadow of the heavenly gift? Could these umted corpses even resist the heavenly gift?


    I never figured out what was hidden at the core of the Zhang familys ancient building since there were too many things inside of it.


    What was the logic behind it? So far, these ideas were just pure spection.


    Poker-Face didn''t continue to exin, but at this time, I suddenly thought of something. The food we had prepared before we came in wasn''t enough tost that long, so what were we eating for so many days? It wasnt like there was anything here in this passage.


    "Lets check the supplies," I said to Fatty.


    "Didnt we just check them?"


    "My dear friend, did we not just receive a heavenly gift?" I tried to inhale Fatty''s second-hand smoke but he wouldnt let me. He quickly dispersed the smoke, put the cigarette butt in front of the shrine as incense, and then began to count our supplies.


    As soon as he was done, hey there and couldn''t get up. There were a few detonators and bullets, but all of the food was gone. Not only did I not see any substitutes like game or wild vegetables, but there wasnt even enough toilet paper. But the most important thing was that there wasnt any water. Fatty was like a nouveau riche who suddenly discovered that his home had been emptied by a nanny. He clutched his chest and said, "Were screwed."


    Other than that, everything else was still rtivelyplete. Even the hand-cranked chargers had developed a patina.<sup>(1)</sup> It seemed that my heavenly gift persona also had a cautious personality.


    I felt my muscles and found that I had lost a lot of weight, but I wasnt on the brink of copse. Confused, I couldnt help but ask myself, <em>our supplies were enough tost for twenty days, so does that mean we just finished them off? Did we wake up from the heavenly gift because we were hungry?</em>


    <em>Amazing! How much do I love to eat that I can resist a gods power?</em>


    Fatty and I suddenly looked behind us at the same time to where the bag of mummified hands was.


    Fuck, what did this mean? When we came out herest night to chop those hands off, was it because we werent respecting the Zhang family ancestors but looking for food?!


    "Can those things also be eaten like bear paws? Sure enough, northerners probably lick their hands while they sleep." Fatty looked at Poker-Face, "Are hands with long fingers nutritious?"


    After he said that, he walked to the corner and tried to make himself vomit. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he wanted to see if he had gone crazy under the influence of the heavenly gift and already ate some.


    With Fatty, not only had the atmosphere improved a lot, but our judgment of the situation was starting to be clearer. I turned to Poker-Face and said, "Then we can''t leave this ce for the time being. After leaving here, is it right to assume that well be given the heavenly gift again?"


    When Poker-Face nodded, I looked deep into the darkness. To be honest, I was a little confused about where we hade from. Xiao Hua and ck sses were probably in a deeper ce, but were they awake or being controlled? There were too many things to think about carefully.


    Grandpa said that any and all attributes should be attributed to people''s motives, but how could we determine the motives of this unknown force?


    What exactly did it want?


    "The Zhang family finds unexined areas and explores them. There are so many Zhang family members here, which means that they should have worked hard here for a long time," Poker-Face said faintly. "But they all failed and couldn''t leave, so they did this here."


    <em>So that''s why this area is forbidden. If the Zhang family doesnt understand it, theyll just mark it out. And this isnt the only ce. Without a doubt, there are so many secrets hidden beneath the earth.</em>


    I took a deep breath, feelingpletely free from anxiety at this time. It wasnt because I was feeling energetic, but because I felt ready to copse.


    I looked at the darkness on both sides, spread the equipment out on the floor, and told myself that the dire straits we were in now were as bad as it got. The only thing that made me feel like I needed to put some serious thought into it was the question of why the three of us didnt lose our memories. Was it because the heavenly gift was forcibly interrupted, or was it because the force that gave us the heavenly gift had other ns for us?


    Just as I was thinking this, Poker-Face turned on his shlight and started searching through the cracks in the stones. I knew he was looking for that thing that was supposed to be in the shrine, so I also turned on my shlight and joined him.


    "Stop looking," Fatty called out to us.


    When we looked back, we saw that the bag we had dumped out before was now standing on the stone behind us. There appeared to be something in it, and this thing seemed to be alive.


    "What brand is this bag? If its transformed, I want to return it," Fatty said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Per Tiffany: It means that Wu Xie used the chargers a lot during those 30 days

 Book 4: Chapter 16: Sneer

    Book 4: Chapter 16: Sneer


    Before Fatty had finished speaking, Poker-Face had already rushed over. I didn''t even have time to react at all as he instantly arrived in front of the backpack, grabbed its strap, and yanked it hard. The contents fell out, rolled all the way down the stones, andnded at our feet. Fatty and I immediately jumped back and picked up our guns.


    Fatty stepped on that thing and tried to smash it with the butt of his gun, but I quickly stopped him. At this time, I could see clearly that it was a simple piece of metal that was the color of rusted bronze. I didnt know what kind of household utensil it came from, but it was covered in detailed andplex patterns.


    Just now, the bag had suddenly moved by itself and stood up. I thought there was a living thing inside of it, so I honestly didn''t expect to find a piece of metal.


    Poker-Face directly held the backpack down in case there was something inside of it, but after pressing on it, he shook his head at us. This meant that the bag was empty.


    I wondered what exactly was going on with this bag. It wasn''t there just now, so how did it move? Fatty looked at the bronze piece and asked, "What is this thing?"


    When I pointed my shlight at it, I couldnt help but gasp.


    Whether it was the material or patterns on it, I knew this thing like the back of my hand. I was certain that it hade from the bronze meteorite I had seen before.


    I picked it up and rushed back over to the shrine. There was a mark at the bottom of the shrine that had been left by something sitting there for a long time. When I ced this bronze piece on it, I could see that the mark was consistent with the bottom of the bronze piece.


    This meteorite fragment had originally been ced in the shrine.


    I threw the fragment to Poker-Face, who caught it with one hand and started examining it.


    I nced at my watch. Poker-Face had moved so fast just now that even if there was a living thing in the bag, it couldn''t have run away. But there wasnt a living thing inside the bag at all. Still, the fact that the bag had suddenly moved was very strange.


    I looked at the time on my watch and broke out in a cold sweat.


    It seemed that we were missing a few minutes. Were we bestowed a heavenly gift again? But the time was so short. In these few minutes when we had been heavenly gifted, one of us had taken this bag and put it on the stone.


    But I couldnt remember the exact timeit was hard to understand the difference in a few minutesso I couldnt be sure if my guess was correct.


    In any case, this didnt alleviate my apprehension. If my theory was correct, then that meant that it absolutely wasnt safe here. The mysterious force here was still trying to bestow that heavenly gift on us, but its energy was intermittent in this area, which made it difficult to have any effect. In fact, just a few minutes ago, it was interrupted again.


    But even so, it was too hard to defend against. After thinking about it, I immediately said to Fatty, "Put all the hands back."


    "What''s wrong? Im thinking about making some sauce and dipping the Zhang familys treasured palms into it tonight before eating them."


    "When we were under the influence of the heavenly gift, we took both the hands and this bronze piece. This is because that force wanted us to destroy this ce. But the heavenly gift was interrupted before the destruction wasplete. We have to restore everything here. I think the protection here seems to be weakening."


    "Are you making up stories now?"


    "In any case, its unlikely that something bad will happen if we restore it, I said. I really was making up stories, but the logic was definitely sound.


    Fatty didn''t understand it the first time, so I repeated it again until he finally got it. After that, the two of us quickly began to put the hands back in ce.


    Since the corpses were mummified, we could put their hands back in ce with a toothpick, so it wasnt long before all of the hands were reset.


    <em>Is this a spell or some kind of array?</em> I asked myself. <em>Is it a feng shui array?</em> I didnt quite understand why these corpses and meteorite were able to ward off the heavenly gift.


    I straightened the meteorite in the shrine, let go of these stray thoughts, and patted my clothes again for cigarettes.


    I was a little startled by this behavior. I sniffed my fingers and realized that I had been smoking while under the influence of the heavenly gift.


    It seemed that over this past month, I had picked up my smoking habit again, which hadnt disappeared even though the heavenly gift had been lifted.


    Not only did this habit not disappear, but it even passed on to me.


    I had a special dent in my hand, a callus formed by smoking too many cigarettes over the course of my life. But after not smoking for so many years, there was only a vague outline now. I was now staring at that callus in a daze.


    During those extremely difficult years, I always felt that I was fighting against the gods. In those long days and nights when there was no chance of winning at all and I didn''t even know if the other party saw through my tricks, the only thing I could do most of the time was to look at this callus. This was also a very strong habit of mine.


    At this time, I suddenly saw a possibility of winning and sneered.


    ****


    <strong><em>Bad heavenly gift! Bad! How dare you let Wu Xie smoke when his lungs are terrible! Take it down Iron Triangle! Burn that heavenly gift to the ground!</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 17: The Present Comes First

    Book 4: Chapter 17: The Present Comes First


    That night, I used all of the stic film from our equipment to set up a water collecting device to collect water vapor from the air.


    Back when I was in Alxa Leauge, I became quite skillful at guessing how much water we could collect the next day just from the feel of the air around me. At this time, I reached out and touched the air. It was still quite humid here, so I wasnt worried about our water supply.


    The three of us huddled in front of that little shrine, hungry. The food problem could only be solved tomorrow, so it was best that we have a good nights sleep tonight.


    Poker-Face decided to take the first watch. I saw Fatty looking at the top of the crevice in the rock with a thoughtful expression on his face. I couldn''t guess what he was thinking, but his hand kept touching the bullet around his neck.


    I leaned against the shrine and nced at the bronze meteorite fragment. I used to find this thing absolutely terrifying before, but now it seemed to be the key to solving the heavenly gift problem.


    To be honest, when I looked at it carefully now, I couldnt help but think that the shape of this bronze piece was a bit like that god I saw in the Heavenly Pce that looked like a wooden club youd use to beat clothes while washing.<sup>(1)</sup> This shape wasnt formed naturally and had been carved, which meant that this bronze piece may really be an idol.


    At that time, I thought it was an ancient god, but as I looked at the extent of the twisting patterns on the bronze, I couldnt help but think that it was evil. I was hoping that this evil aura was more powerful than the heavenly gift and could protect us from it.


    This kind of mood was veryplicated. The mystery here ran very deep, so I dared not think too deeply about it before I had enough information. I could only vaguely feel that this was a kind of contradiction between something that came from the sky and something that was buried deep underground.


    Now that I was rxed, I turned on my cell phone and started watching the other thirty videos from the past month. The sh of inspiration I just had came from a theory.


    Maybe this battle was hard to win with the three of us alone, but if my reflexive smoking habit could continue, then it meant that no matter how powerful the heavenly gift was, there was still a strong link between me and my heavenly gifted self. In other words, even if I received a heavenly gift, my body still had Wu Xies characteristics.


    If that were true, then could I trick the "me" who was heavenly gifted into seeing a mystery? Based on my nature, would I go back to the source? During this process, I had toe up with a subtle n to let me discover my existence so as to help myself.


    The key to this idea was that I needed to know what kind of person "I" was.


    Those thirty videos were like a nightmare to me, because I could clearly see in the videos that there was a certain tacit understanding between the three "people". Compared to now, "I" seemed to be livelier and a little more nave. Although we didntmunicate much in the video clips taken before we went to sleep, I could sense a rxed and curious atmosphere around us.


    At that time, they must have felt that their journey would continue on brilliantly instead of stopping abruptly in front of a small shrine.


    I looked at the me in the video with his clear, bright eyes and felt such a chill in my heart that it made my hair stand on end.


    I even felt a little envious of the me in the video.


    But what I wanted to do now was to plot against him, have him follow my n step by step until he came to a crossroads, and then let him know that all of his memories were false. At that time, he would have to face a choice: ept the heavenly gift and live ording to the desire given to him so that he and his friends would still go along ording to the rtionship they understood, or destroy everything and deny all of his memories so as to help me seed.


    This seemed to require my cooperation in two different times and spacesI didnt expect there to be the possibility of parallel versions of myself actually interacting.


    Of course, this all relied on the premise that I would receive the heavenly gift when we left here and turn back into the person in the video.


    But if this thing was crazy and I was given a third personality after leaving herelike Kim Kardashian<sup>(2)</sup>then the game was over. The actual operation was very risky, so this idea only remained an idea.


    I ran through it all twice but finally gave up in the end. I nced at Poker-Face, who was keeping watch, and Fatty, who was sleeping soundly. I found that I couldn''t bear to take the risk. I had be a man who couldn''t put all of his eggs in one basket.


    So, I emptied my mind, said a quick prayer for tomorrow, and tried to fall asleep.


    Afterying there for about four minutes, however, I suddenly sat up and pulled the video up on my phone again. When I was on the brink of sleep, I suddenly remembered the details I had seen when watching the video just now.


    I was wrong. In the video just now, I seemed to have seen an additional person. I opened the video and quickly searched for the right clip. Sure enough, I saw a hand shing at the edge of the screen, and Fatty also seemed to be saying a few words in that direction.


    <em>Fuck me. The team in this video isnt three people but four!</em>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) In Pce of Doom, it was said to be a spiral that looked like a worm. Tiffany said Wu Xie made thisparison because both things stood tall and looked like a stick.


    (2) An American media personality, socialite, model, businesswoman, producer, and actress. Info here.

 Book 4: Chapter 18: Trap

    Book 4: Chapter 18: Trap


    Even though Fatty had just gone to sleep, I woke him up again. He never had any problems sleeping and had actually managed to fall asleep after only a few seconds just now. When he woke up, he shouted in a daze, "Fuck, is it the heavenly gift again? Have we received the heavenly gift again?


    I asked him to watch the video on my phone, but he ended up falling asleep in the middle of it. I had to shake him awake again before he fully woke up. After watching the clip, he remained very silent for a while. I also showed it to Poker-Face again, just like an elementary schooler showing their ssmate a goodic they saw.


    After watching it, we were all very quiet. Fatty looked at me, but I noticed that something in his gaze was off. "What''s wrong? I asked him. Don''t you find it strange?"


    "I don''t think it''s strange," Fatty said. "There were four of us from the beginning. Mr. Nave, did something happen to you?"


    I gave Fatty a questioning look while saying to myself, <em>what? Have you been heavenly gifted? Only three of us came in here.</em>


    "Are you still half-asleep? He asked. Its been the four of us this whole time. Look!" He tilted his chin in a certain direction.


    I turned my head and suddenly found that there was a person sleeping by the pile of corpses on the other side.


    I instantly broke out in a cold sweat and nced at Poker-Face, but he didnt seem to care at all. It appeared I really was making a fuss over nothing. I crawled over to see who the person in the sleeping bag was, but at this time, I found that the person had a skinless dog face. Startled by my actions, they sat up and said, "You forgot me again!"


    I woke up with a start. I was still watching the videos on my phone, Fatty was fast asleep beside me, and Poker-Face was sitting up on a high rock. It was all just a nightmare.


    I raised my hand and looked at my phone. The video clip with that fourth suspected person was still there. I remembered that I had shown it to Fatty and Poker-Facest night, but we couldnte up with any conclusions. This whole heavenly gift incident had a great impact on us, and we were all exhausted. I kept watching that video clip over and over again and must have fallen asleep before I knew it.


    It had been a long time since I had this kind of strange dream. Was it the remnants of my consciousness from when I had been under the heavenly gifts influence? I looked at Poker-Face and wondered if he ever dreamed of those bits of memory from the countless heavenly gifts he had received before.


    I rubbed my eyes and found that I couldn''t sleep anymore, so I stood up and found a stone to sit down on.


    The person in that video wasnt actually in the frame, and all I could see was their shadow. Was it possible that this person was the young man in the strange Mongolian outfit?


    If there really was a fourth person, did they leave as soon as the heavenly gift controlling us was interrupted? We didnt have this guys equipment here, so he must have taken it with him. And if that were the case, then he should still be near us.


    Following that train of thought, if he left because of the heavenly gift getting interrupted, then it meant that he knew what state we were in. So, he was deliberately staying with our heavenly gifted selves but unwilling to meet with us now. At this time, his best choice was to wait nearby for us to receive the heavenly gift again.


    I was almost certain that this person was the young man from before since there wasnt another living person around. But this persons appearance was originally very bizarre. If it weren''t for him, there would be a lot of people hiding here. I looked at the darkness on both sides and silently asked myself, <em>where is he?</em>


    I found a high ce, stood up, and shouted into the darkness, "Come out!"


    The sound echoed in this space, the words e out" reverberating for a long time before they finally disappeared. I decided to bluff and said, "I know everything about you and Jin Wantang. What do you want to do? You can juste out and talk directly."


    There was no response from the darkness, so I thought for a moment and then said, "Are your mom and dad close rtives? I bet your eyes are spaced quite far apart. Did your mother eat too many crabs when she gave birth to you?"<sup>(1)</sup>


    Insulting ones parents was the easiest way to get a rise out of someone, but there was still no response.


    I sighed, but at this time, the satellite phone next to Fatty suddenly made a harsh beep. Then, it forcibly came on and I heard a strange, ented voice start talking. I didnt know what it was saying, but it seemed to be a kind of chant.


    After listening carefully, I realized that it was Jin Wantang''s voice. He seemed to be chanting in anguage I didnt understand, but his tone sounded very scared.


    "Tang Tang?"<sup>(2)</sup> I asked.


    The chanting on the other end of the line instantly stopped, as if the person were shocked. Then, he immediately shouted, "Little Master Three! Save me, save me!"


    "Where are you, Tang Tang? Shouldn''t you be eating mutton on the grasnd and watching over the destruction youve caused?" Fatty, who had also woken up, started scolding him.


    "I don''t know where I am. It''s very dark here." Jin Wantang''s voice sounded like he was on the verge of tears, and even his fear could be heard over the satellite phone, which made the whole situation seem less funny. "Im crushed under a stone. My ribs are broken.


    "Then do you have anyst words to say? Give me your bank card password and your mistresss phone number. This Fat Master will live for a hundred years, so you can feel at ease leaving them to me."


    "Fat Master, are you Oboi trying to ransack my home?<sup>(3)</sup> Ill give it all to you, just save me! Save me quickly!"


    "Where the hell are you?" Fatty rubbed his stomach. "Is there any food around you?"


    "I don''t know. I just woke up here. Its dark and I cant see anything. All I have is this satellite phone. But I heard you call me just now, so I prayed that the heavens would drop Zhang Qiling down here to save me."


    <em>Why do you hear my voice and pray for Zhang Qiling? Its not like Im some useless chess piece</em>, I said to myself. But still, my heart was a little moved. I did call his name just now, so was he near us?


    I looked at the rocks on the side. It was impossible for us to receive any satellite signals here, but Jin Wantang could still contact us, which meant that he must be somewhere in this ck rock vein. How did he get in?


    "Turn off the satellite phone first and then knock on the stone next to you," I said to him.


    "Why?"


    "If you ask again, then consider this goodbye," I replied. "Just do it."


    Jin Wantang obediently turned the satellite phone off, so I told Fatty not to talk and just listen carefully. Sure enough, I heard the sound of something tapping on a stoneing from a gap about a hundred meters away from us.


    Fatty nced at me with a puzzled expression on his face, "How did he get in there?"


    The satellite phone rang again, and Jin Wantangs voice cried out, "Blood! Shit, I lost a lot of blood! Fat Master, Ill be your servant. Is Little Brother there? Ill build a temple for you! Ill be your servant, too! Just save me!"


    I looked at the distance, shined my shlight over there, and saw a messy pile of stones. I cleared my throat and said, "This is to lead us away from here."


    Then I heard the sound of coughing. Jin Wantang must have coughed up a lot of blood, for this coughing almost sounded like he was on the verge of death. I didnt know if Jin Wantang had also received the heavenly gift, but he was definitely there and he most definitely had internal bleeding.


    Fatty was a little anxioushe still had some warm feelings for Jin Wantangso he pulled out the rope and tied it around his waist while saying to me, "Mr. Nave, I''ll go. If I wind up getting the heavenly gift, then you''ll have to pull me back. Don''t worry about anything I might say. Ill tie a knot so that you can pull me back."


    I moved to stop him, but Fatty acted so fast that he rushed out before I could do anything. I looked at my hand and found that it was empty. That fucking bastard had taken the other end of the rope and ran away!


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Hes pretty much just insulting this person by saying theyre inbred.


    (2) Tang Tang is Jin Wantangs nickname.


    (3)Oboi was a prominent Manchu militarymander and courtier who served in various military and administrative posts under three sessive emperors of the early Qing dynasty. In the wuxia novel, The Deer and the Cauldron, he was a cruel and power-hungry aristocrat who plotted to usurp the Kangxi Emperor''s throne.

 Book 4: Chapter 19: Just One Smoke

    Book 4: Chapter 19: Just One Smoke


    Poker-Face and I took off almost at the same time and tackled him to the ground, which was covered in very sharp rocks. We had pressed Fatty down so suddenly that he probably ended up with a lot of cuts. But Poker-Face and I hade to the same determination it was useless to leave here now.


    Fatty''s whole face was covered in blood and he was irritated now that we had injured him. As we started dragging him back, he cursed at us, "Was it really necessary for the two of you to fucking gang up on me at the same time?"


    I bandaged him to stop the bleeding and said, "Old Jin is different from you. Do you want to increase the opponents bargaining chip?"


    "Mr. Nave, are you giving up on Old Jin?" Fatty looked at me in shock. "I can''t give up on him. He still fucking owes me sixty thousand yuan!"


    Jin Wantang had lost sixty thousand yuan ying mahjong one night and never transferred the money. Although we were just ying for fun, Fatty still felt highly aggrieved over it.


    I sighed heavily. If Jin Wantang knew that he was finally saved because of his shamelessness, it would be even harder to cooperate with him in the future. I looked at my watch and then patted Fatty, "Sincest night, Im not your Mr. Nave anymore. Ill find a way, so don''t be impulsive. Well have to push ourselves to the limit this time."


    As I spoke, I looked at Poker-Face. During those long, painful years, there were many times where I thought about how much trouble couldve been saved if only I had been able toplete those ns with him. Maybe I wouldnt have needed so many expendable worker ants to carry out the minute details.


    <em>Thank God, now I can realize my dream.</em>


    At this time, I pulled a cigarette out of Fatty''s pocket. He looked at me in surprise but I just stood up, looked at the darkness in the distance, and covered the lighter with my hand to light the cigarette. Although I knew it might kill me, it was so damnforting when the smoke filled my lungs.


    I hadn''t smoked for a long time, so the nicotine quickly rushed to my head. If I didnt have this thing, I really wouldnt be able to pull my thoughts back from that time.


    "Just one." Fatty calmed down andughed when he saw me smoking. "Little Brother can testify that Mr. Nave is only allowed to smoke one during this extraordinary period."


    I turned back with a smile on my face and nced at Poker-Face. He threw me the satellite phone and then looked into the darkness, very focused.


    What should I do? Was there really no way to prevent Jin Wantang from drawing hisst breath here? I inhaled a mouthful of smoke and slowly released it, feeling a little more rity now. "Are you still alive?" I asked Jin Wantang.


    "Theres still a little breath left in me, Little Master Three. That sixty thousand yuanIll pay it as soon as I get out of here. Ill even add fifty percent interest. Ouch!" He hissed in pain, "Ive spit up a lot of blood."


    His voice was clear, but it was already very weak.


    "What part of your body is stuck?"


    "My legs and a lot of my ribs are broken. I can''t use any strength."


    "That''s because your ribs pierced your lungs, but it''s not deep. You wont die as long as you don''t cause your lungs to copse."


    "How do I prevent that from happening?"


    "Can you find a gap to stick your hand out of?" I asked him,pletely ignoring his inquiry as I beckoned Fatty and Poker-Face over.


    "I''ll try," he said. "I, I can''t see a gap."


    Fatty took out a signal re as I spoke into the satellite phone, "In a few seconds, a light will shoot down from the gap. You have to hold out your hand so that we can correctly determine your location."


    "What are you nning?" Fatty asked me.


    I took a pair of binocrs out of my backpack and asked Fatty, "Do you know Hooke''s Law?"


    "I know Hook and Vegeta. Theyre two mice."


    "That''s Shuke and Beita,"<sup>(1)</sup> I said. "You only need to know the basics of Hookes Law. As long as you conform to thews of physics, you can drill holes in solid materials in order to quickly reduce their load-bearing capacity. The rocks here can be destroyed using Hooke''sw. Let''s take a closer look at those rocks holding him down and find a weak one so that we can perforate it and destroy it in order to free his feet."


    "How are we supposed to make a hole? Do you have a hundred-meter drill bit with you?"


    I looked at Fatty''s gun, took a puff of my cigarette, and looked at my hand that was holding the cigarette. This gun probably had a range of more than a hundred meters, so the question was: could I keep my hand steady or not?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The characters sound the same. Hook () sounds like Huke, which sounds like Shuke (). Vegeta () sounds like Beijita, which sounds like Beita (). Shuke and Beita are two mice from the popr Chinese childrens tale The Adventures of Shuke and Beita. They don''t want to steal food like the others, so the two friends co-found the Shuke & Beita Airlines to help other animals.

 Book 4: Chapter 20: Run, Tang Tang!

    Book 4: Chapter 20: Run, Tang Tang!


    Fatty lit the signal re and calcted the angle so that the whole top of the mountain gap was illuminated like there was a small sun. I continued smoking my cigarette as I used the binocrs to look down. Soon, I saw Jin Wantang''s blood-covered hand sticking out of the gap.


    He was under severalrge rocks with a big one pinning his legs down.


    As soon as I saw this, I already knew in my heart that his legs werentpletely crushed. The rocks didnt look particrly heavy, so with the three of us using our strength, we could actually free him.


    Jin Wantang couldn''t move because of his ribs, and he was in so much pain that he couldnt muster up the strength to push hard against the rocks pinning him down.


    If the heavenly gift had the power to move the human body and spur the rocks to copse, then there would be no need for the Zhang family to travel around the world and interfere with its development. The heavenly gift was a very passive force, so there was absolutely no way that it magically moved Jin Wantang here and moved the stones from a distance to hold him down.


    This was a man-made trap, and human strength was limited. This meant that all of the rocks where Jin Wantang was located could be moved by one person. Someone had obviously broken Jin Wantang''s ribs and made him unable to move, because he could have actually broken free on his own if he was in good condition.


    The person who set this trap up had to be nearby. I cleared my throat and began to speak to Jin Wantang in English. He was used to fooling foreigners in Beijing all day, so his English should at least be adequate.


    I kept the exnation very brief just in case, but Jin Wantang was so weak that all he could do was hum. I didnt know if he understood me or not.


    "Why did you start speaking in a foreignnguage?" Fatty asked me.


    I made a gesture to indicate that the walls had ears. The signal re went out at this time, so I said to Poker-Face, "I need a cold firework tond under the pile of stones pinning Tang Tang down."


    A hundred meters was close to the farthest record a human had thrown something, so Poker-Face would probably need to calcte the bounce if he wanted the cold firework tond urately.


    But as soon as Fatty set off another signal re and the area around us lit up again, Poker-Face lit a cold firework and threw it out.


    I was familiar with his uracy. The cold firework hit a rock about eighty meters away, directly bounced off of it, flew for more than twenty meters, and thennded directly under Jin Wantang''s hand.


    Now that the area was very bright, I could see that a few rocks had been stacked into a triangr shape. The purpose of this was to prevent him from seeing the outside situation clearly. After looking at those rocks and determining the basic mechanics, I instinctively felt that the basic structure wouldnt copse no matter which stones were broken.


    But there was also a lot of risk here. On the off chance that the vibration caused any unexpected changes, then the rocks wouldpletely fall. Although ordinary people wouldnt die, Jin Wantangs ribs would skewer his lungs.


    "Do you have anything else to say? I asked Jin Wantang. Whates next is very risky. Ill try my best, but you have to be prepared."


    "Sorry, Little Master Three, Jin Wantang said weakly. I shouldn''t have brought that paper copy to you."


    "Isnt it a bitte to apologize now?" I began to check the bullets, looking for the extremely standard ones that could be shot urately. When it came to shooting, my hands were more steady than Fattys now.


    Jin Wantangughed, "Even if Im old, I have to be sensational at thest moment."


    I had burned through a third of my cigarette by this point. I took a puff, feeling a bit emotional. "Tell me the truth."


    "Really? If I don''t die this time, Little Master Three, Ill definitely tell you a secret. It will subvert some of your previous judgments, hahaha." Jin Wantangughed.


    My face instantly changed and I was just about to ask him what he meant, but Jin Wantang suddenly began to cough violently. Fatty gripped my hand holding the satellite phone; there was no time to ask questions.


    I was cold all over and my hands were shaking before I finally managed to pull myself together. I took a look at Poker-Face. Per my instructions just now, he had used a rope to make a sling that could easily send a round stone flying more than a hundred meters out. We pulled some nylon strips from our clothes and tied them around the rough stone in the sling.


    I held my breath, took aim, and picked out a rock as my target. I figured it was the least likely to be a weight-bearing stone, so I started shooting at it steadily. Although it was impossible for me to hit the same bullet hole with every shot, I could still concentrate the bullet holes in as tight a cluster as possible.


    From that first shot, my attention wasnt on Jin Wantang''s safety, only on my own breathing. I shot a row of holes ording to Hooke''s Law and then took out a bullet, made a cut in the top of it<sup>(1)</sup>, and shot it towards the middle of these clustered holes.


    The whole rock copsedpletely, just like a house that was demolished using directional sting.


    At this time, I came back to my senses. I felt a little nervous, but the rubble didn''t copse onto Jin Wantangpletely and just fell a little inside.


    I immediately saw Jin Wantang''s face and realized that the opening was only big enough for one person. It was obvious that Jin Wantang''s consciousness was already a little fuzzy, so I said into the satellite phone, "It''s up to you now."


    It took Jin Wantang forty seconds to stick his hand out of the hole.


    Poker-Face threw a lot of debris over at first in order to find the perfect trajectory, but when he confirmed the right one, he quickly threw a rock out.


    That rock urately shot into Jin Wantang''s hole, which gave Jin Wantang a small burst of energy. He touched the nylon strip on the rock and began to pull on it.


    The other end of the nylon strip was connected to a hundred-meter-long standard rescue rope that had a knotted loop on it. It took him fifteen minutes to pull the rope over and put the knotted loop around his hand.


    Everything went well and he remained conscious as we started to carefully pull him over. After a little cooperation, we finally managed to pull himpletely out of the pile of rocks.


    Just as I had expected, his feet werent crushed at all.


    Hey on his back as we gradually pulled him towards us bit by bit. There was a lot of gravel in the middle, each piece enough to burst his internal organs if they managed to hit a vulnerable spot. As a result, we could only rely on his will.


    After pulling him about ten meters out, another person suddenly crawled out of the stone cave where Jin Wantang had been lying just now. The person quickly went over to Jin Wantang, lifted him up, and put a Mongolian knife against his neck.


    It was the young man with the white T-shirt.


    He and I looked at each other and smiled. Seeing that he was about to slide the Mongolian knife across Jin Wantang''s throatthe trap had failed, so he didn''t hesitate to dispose of the baitI immediately lifted my gun up. But when I did, I found that he waspletely blocked by Jin Wantangs body. The knife pierced Jin Wantang''s neck, but before it could actually slit his throat, Jin Wantang suddenly took something out and sprayed it in the man''s face.


    The man immediately turned and covered his eyes, dropping Jin Wantang to the ground in the process. I didn''t hesitate and quickly shot the guy in the head with a "bang". Fatty immediately quickened his pace to pull Jin Wantang over to us.


    This was what I had said in English before. Poker-Face didnt actually need to measure the distance at all, so his test throws were really just a cover for him to urately throw something into Jin Wantang''s hand. It was a can of pepper spray. This kind of bait trap was obviously a traditional hunter''s trick. They stayed on the other side, so if the prey didnt take the bait, they wouldnt let the bait go at all.


    The man fell into the stone crevice and disappeared. At this distance, I clearly felt that the other person had turned his head just now, which meant that I had missed the shot.


    This kind of reaction speed wasnt umon among ethnic minorities.


    I didnt know where he found the strength, but Jin Wantang suddenly stood up and stumbled over while gripping his neck. As he rushed towards us, we finally managed to drag him over at an extremely fast speed.


    He started to fall down, but Poker-Face grabbed the back of his shirt cor to keep him from colliding with the rocks. Fatty and I immediately went up to stop the bleeding while Poker-Face looked at the cold firework in the distance. I also turned my head to take a look.


    Sure enough, that man wasnt dead.


    I saw his hand suddenlye out of the gap, grab the cold firework, and drag it into the gap.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Cutting an X into the top of a bullet guarantees that itll fragment upon striking the body, thereby creating more severe wounds. Wu Xie wanted to shatter the rock so that''s why he cut the top of the bullet.

 Book 4: Chapter 21: Hes Gone

    Book 4: Chapter 21: Hes Gone


    At that moment, I felt as if I were a rescue team member. After saving someone from the rubble, I had to give them first aid immediately.


    As it turned out, Jin Wantang''s neck was fine. The wound was bleeding, but fortunately, his artery hadnt been nicked.


    We cut his clothes off and saw that his ribs were dented on both sides and there were ck bruises under his skin. His lungs must have been bleeding, which was why he had been coughing and spitting up blood. He eventually lost consciousness, so I had to keep pping him to stay awake as I tried to ask him about his breathing. If he was suffering from lung contusions and bleeding, then I needed to fix his ribs. But if his lungs had copsed, then we could only leave him lying here without moving him. But no matter how many times I asked, he was unable to answer me.


    Poker-Face came over and used both hands to feel Jin Wantang''s ribs one by one. There were probably arge number of fractured ribs on both sides, which meant that the thing stuck in his lungs wasnt the end of a broken rib but a section of his fractured ribs. Poker-Face nced at me and then used a standard rope to tie one of the severed Zhang family members hands against Jin Wantangs chest to act as a brace.


    This was something we couldnt deal with, so we could only do the best we could to maintain the status quo and hope that the internal bleeding wasnt too serious.


    I turned to look at the darkness in the distance. The cold firework over there had been extinguished once it waspletely out of sight, so that guy was probably either looking at us from the darkness or had run away directly.


    As I flicked my cigarette butt into the darkness, it emitted a small spark. But at this time, I was shocked to find that the spark had actually hit something. I quickly took out my shlight and turned it on, only to see that young man from before. He was crouched down about six or seven meters in front of me and holding a knife in his hand.


    This guy was actually using the cover of darkness to move right towards us, which showed that he was definitely a ruthless character.


    "Sneak attack!" I immediately shouted.


    As Fatty and I dropped down and raised our guns up to defend ourselves, we saw that the young man no longer bothered hiding and just rushed over directly. He threw the knife in his hand straight at Jin Wantang, aiming to kill.


    That knife throw had been done without an ounce of hesitation, indicating that it was a skill that had been learned since childhood. But Fatty fired his gun at almost the exact same time that the knife flew out. He was holding a submachine gun, so the kid dodged to the side, rolled into a nearby gap, and disappeared. As a result, Fatty''s bullets all missed their target.


    In the ensuing rain of fire, the knife went straight towards Jin Wantang. Poker-Face pulled Jin Wantang about half a palms distance to the side so that he just barely avoided the de. The knife hit the stone in a shower of sparks and then bounced into the nearby gap.


    "Brother!" Fatty shouted, "Is there some kind of misunderstanding here?"


    Seeing that there was no movement in the gap, Fatty pulled a glow stick out, but I immediately stopped him. We couldnt abuse our lighting resources any more. At this time, however, a face suddenly appeared in the stone gap behind Fatty and smiled at me. Then, he stretched out a hand and grabbed the pin on one of the tactical detonators hanging from Fattys body. After quickly grabbing three more, he immediately pulled the pins.


    Fatty was shocked when the detonator fuses suddenly started smoking, and shouted, "Fuck, he''s in a crack in the rock!" At the same time, he tried to unhook the belt that the detonators were hanging on, but he wasnt wearing the belt like normal so he couldnt figure it out.


    The leads on these detonators were all short, so when we usually used them, we had to calcte the time before connecting them to a longer lead. These short ones would explode in less than six or seven seconds.


    Fatty and I looked at each other.


    I knew that he was about to run away, so I rushed over, held him down, and pulled the three detonators from his belt. I held two of them in my mouth so that I could suck out the ignition while I pulled the fuse out of thest one.


    The fuse burned out directly in my hand, but I didnt feel the burning sensation through my cold sweat.


    Fatty and I immediately moved away from the gap. All of these gaps seemed to be connected, and the kid was able to move around inside of them.


    I spit out a mouthful of gunpowder-coated saliva and said to Fatty, "In the future, put the detonators upside down." Fatty nodded, his eyes a little red as he stared at the gap and aimed at it with his gun. He was obviously very angry.


    "He''s gone," Poker-Face said. Sure enough, we heard someone gasping for breath in the darkness outside. Then, the young man seemed to start ying the morin khuur<sup>(1)</sup> in the dark, the sounds bing more and more distant.


    I slowly rxed, but felt a lingering fear in my heart. If I hadn''t flicked my cigarette butt just now, the consequences wouldve been unimaginable.


    Whoever this man was, his mobility was amazing.


    About half an hourter, a star-like dot of light appeared in the darkness far away from us. When I looked up, I saw that young man standing on a tall ck stone hundreds of meters away. There was a sun-wheel behind him made of woven branches that was covered in ribbons, just like a Buddha statue. He was carrying amp and had a morin khuur on his back.


    The knife had also returned to him. I used the binocrs to look at his expression and found that he didnt seem to regret his failure. Instead, he seemed extremelyposed, as if everything was going ording to his n.


    But the most frightening thing was what I saw behind him. There was a huge outline, which seemed to be a huge stone building. But the light was very weak, so I couldn''t see it clearly.


    At this time, Jin Wantang let out a moan and finally woke up.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Its a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument also known as the horsehead fiddle. It looks like that one picture I posted a lot of chapters ago.


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry, 3 chapters is the only "spree" I can do today. I have to go out and be social on my precious day off. Ugh. </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 22: Past Events

    Book 4: Chapter 22: Past Events


    Fatty continued looking over towards the young man, whosemp remained on this time. It seemed he had sat down over there.


    We all remained silent, and even the whole gap was very quiet.


    I sat down opposite Jin Wantang, looked at him, and asked how he was doing.


    After a long time, he barely nodded his head. He seemed to have recovered a little bit, but he was obviously confused when he looked down at himself.


    "You may have to wear this brace for the next several months," I said to him.


    "Whats your n, Little Master Three? Ill cooperate," he said faintly.


    "I have to at least save Master Hua and ck sses, I responded. Then well head back together."


    This was a particrly fierce battle, so I immediately saw Jin Wantangs face turn pale. But after a long time, he seemed to ept the reality of the situation and nodded.


    "How did you get down here?" I asked him.


    He shook his head weakly and said he didn''t know, "Thest time I was conscious, I was still on the grasnd, getting ready to go to bed. I was holding that Shigongs mole to study it and then I woke up here."


    I sighed, looked at the stone beside me, and suddenly wondered if those Shigongs moles were like the ck stone here. When ordinary rocks were first eroded by the dragon vein, were the small ck spots that formed actually Shigongs moles?


    Was this the reason why we were heavenly gifted? After all, only Zhang family members were bestowed the heavenly gift before.


    We brought it with us the whole way, so wed definitely have to ditch itter.


    I thought that there seemed to be four people in our group as we journeyed through this passage, but I didnt know if the fourth person was Jin Wantang or not. If he was, then he shouldnt have any memory right now.


    "You just said that you have a secret to tell me if you didnt die." I looked at him, "Can you tell me now?"


    Jin Wantang smiled and said, "Little Master Three, I just said that because I wanted you to save me. There is no secret."


    I looked into Jin Wantang''s eyes and knew that this old guy was trying to retract his words right now. But what he said before had to be true, so all I said was, "You know, the probability of you living isnt that high. If you have something to tell me, you''d better say it now."


    Jin Wantang looked at me, thought for a while, and finally said, "Do you still remember that no matter how you asked your Uncle Three for answers, hed never tell you the truth and would always lie to you in various ways? Have you ever wondered why he refused to tell you the truth even though he was so good to you?"


    "It was because the only way I could stir up the waters was to enter the npletely unaware," I said. "The Wang family had to think that I was innocent."


    Jin Wantang looked at me, "Little Master Three, the truth doesn''t stop there. But it doesn''t matter anymore since it''s over. It has nothing to do with you and Little Brother. Youve won. Theres only one thing I can tell you now."


    I looked at Jin Wantang and saw him pat his chest and make a special gesture.


    This gesture was very simr to the one that youth had made before, so I was a little puzzled. Jin Wantang continued to look at me, "There should be several times throughout your past experiences that you did something when you passed out that you still can''t exin."


    I looked at Jin Wantang. I didnt know why, but I suddenly felt as if I could see a huge emotion in his eyes. If it was before, I would have definitely beat him, but now I couldnt do anything since he was gasping for breath as he talked.


    Jin Wantang was right. I dreamed of Qi Yu and wrote some strange numbers underground, but I never really understood why I dreamed of such things.


    "I know why," Jin Wantang said.


    ****


    <strong><em>Me: Shedding a single tear as I check the raws on WeChat and realize that the author is still updating this story. As of this chapter, we are 55 chapters behind. Will we get there eventually? Only time will tell</em></strong> _(:3 )_

 Book 4: Chapter 23: Qi Yu

    Book 4: Chapter 23: Qi Yu


    I had my own theories about those things. At the time, I thought that some Wang family members had tested whether I was sensitive to snake venom when I was in aa. And for a while, I even doubted whether everything I had experienced at the Qinling Mountains was real.


    Jin Wantang was a little excited, as if he was about to tell some great secret. He calmed himself down before saying, "One dayI remember it was a rainy dayMaster Hua came to me. He imitated someones posture in front of me and asked me to investigate who in the old Mystic Nines circle was like this."


    I watched Jin Wantang quietly. His condition was bad right now, so I knew it would probably increase his fatigue if I interrupted him and asked some questions. As a result, I nned to wait for him to finish.


    "Many people in that circle had moved to Taiwan and the United States, but most of them had already passed away by this point. When they left China at that time, they all took antiques with them. After their descendants gradually declined, these antiques flowed into the market. Since there were arge number of overseas sellers, I bought most of them and ended up meeting with a lot of the old bigwigs children, who were all grown up now. I was looking for them to see if any of them remembered seeing someone with this posture back when they interacted with the Mystic Nine."


    Because Xiao Hua offered a high price, Jin Wantang actually found the key person very quickly. The woman was probably in her seventies, and when she saw Xiao Hua''s posture, she immediately recalled who the person was.


    The person with that posture was named Qi Yu, and he was a descendant of the Qi family.


    There was very little information about this person. Jin Wantang kept asking Xiao Hua why he wanted to find information on this person, but Xiao Hua wouldnt tell him. He just made a gesture at Jin Wantang and said, "Ill give you enough of a budget to check. No matter what you find out, as long as you see this gesture, youll tell him the information."


    That gesture was the very same gesture he showed me just now.


    Later, Jin Wantang gradually realized that many people in the industry were checking Qi Yu''s affairs for Xiao Hua, but none of them knew each other. The only thing they had inmon was this gesture.


    The only remaining clues about Qi Yu were rted to Xisha and my Uncle Three. But after Xisha, there were very few clues about Qi Yu, and even photos couldnt be found. But even if there were photos, they were all side profiles. Then, Jin Wantang heard a bit of gossip that Qi Yu was very resistant to having his photo taken most of the time.


    As it turned out, Jin Wantang wasnt so idle while we experienced so many adventures. He also had his own life. He worked tirelessly for Xiao Hua''s bonus and slowly began to discover a strange setup.


    Itll take a long time to list out the specific evidentiary details here, so Ill just give a simple conclusion.


    Jin Wantangter discovered that no one knew what Qi Yu was like, and after a certain point in time, all the clues about Qi Yus existence seemed to have problems.


    In other words, after a certain year, all traces of Qi Yu''s life seemed to be artificially forged.


    In other words, there was a high probability that Qi Yu had died, but some people didnt want the world to think that, so they kept creating evidence to show that he was alive.


    There were several possibilities for this. One possibility was that someone hoped that the situation would be sufficientlyplicated. Another possibility was that Qi Yu was very powerful and could act as a strong deterrent, so the signs that he was still alive could increase a certain party''s false strength.


    Jin Wantang looked at me and said, "During the whole investigation process, I found a clue that didnt seem to be tied to anything. I found that someone had bought an empty tomb at a high price, but it wasnt a cover to bury mines. Instead, it was to restore the inside of an ancient underwater tomb. This happened when you were a child. The person who made the fake tomb chamber was your Uncle Three, and you followed him to the tomb to y."


    I frowned as Jin Wantang continued, "You may have forgotten, but you yed a game while you were in that tomb. At that time, you yed as an archaeological team member whose name was Qi Yu."

 Book 4: Chapter 24: Gushan Road’s Famous Detective

    Book 4: Chapter 24: Gushan Road¡¯s Famous Detective


    I had no memory of this at all. Of course, the bond between me and my Uncle Three was veryplicated. He took me to do too many strange things, so not only did I not have any memory of this matter, but I also only had a general theme in my memories of many other things that had happened. For example, those many summers of catching all kinds of bugs was eventually unified into catching crickets in my mind.


    As Jin Wantang spoke, I didn''t interrupt and just looked at him quietly. To be honest, I had trained myself to maintain an indifferent attitude towards such secrets and clues because I dared not cling to them so easily.


    He went on talking about what happened back then.


    At that time, the game was very simr to ying house. Everyone pretended to be an archaeological team member, just like those kids who picked their favorite One Piece character to y fight. But because I was too young back then, I had little memory of it.


    Jin Wantang believed that Uncle Three was trying to recreate what really happened at the Xisha underwater tomb at that time. Qi Yu wasnt important to the whole story, so Uncle Three took me to make up the numbers.


    When they reyed the series of events that time, they actually discovered a very important clue. It was because I had participated in the whole process that I was able to stir up some of their fragmented memories.


    That important clue was rted to Qi Yuthe person I was yingand all of my Qi Yu-rted training started after that game.


    Jin Wantang''s reasoning process wasnt rigorous, so theres no need to repeat it here. Ill only record what his conclusions were.


    First, some people had hoped that Qi Yu was still alive, so they trained me to learn his handwriting. In essence, did these people want to believe that Qi Yu was me?


    But I was a child, so even if the handwriting was the same, why would they push themselves to believe that Qi Yu was me?


    Unless it was possible that others might believe it. In other words, did many people think that Qi Yu might be a child?


    But why would anyone believe that a person could be a child?


    Considering the experiments they did at that time, I couldnt discount the possibility that in addition to immortality, they might have desired to regain their youth.


    In other words, did theye up with a ridiculous n at that time? Uncle Three might have lied to others by saying that Qi Yu had taken too much medicine and rejuvenated himself. Since he couldn''t reveal the fact that he had lied, he began to secretly train me to have traces of Qi Yus characteristics so as to make others think that I might be a childlike Qi Yu.


    Fatty looked at me and said, "Mr. Nave, I can''t believe youre Edogawa Conan. You look like a child, but youre actually a famous detective on Gushan Road."<sup>(1)</sup>


    I thought this statement was pretty funny, but it seemed to be possible. "In this case, Qi Yu should have died, I said to Jin Wantang. Why would Xiao Hua look for him?"


    "The key question is: where did Qi Yu really go? Xiao Hua definitely wasnt looking for you, the person acting as a scapegoat. What he was looking for was the real Qi Yu. So does this mean that Master Hua believed that Qi Yu wasnt actually dead?"


    <em>What does that mean?</em>


    I couldnt seem to find any logic to it, but Jin Wantang continued talking, "I don''t know if Master Hua finally found the answer in the end, but there is a problem that we can think about."


    He coughed a few times, leaving some traces of blood on his mouth that gave me a bad feeling.


    He didn''t seem to notice and just kept talking, "Did those individuals your Uncle Three wanted to lie to actually believe in this?"


    "Only a fool would believe it," Fatty said.


    I didnt think so. First of all, there was a period of time when I had wondered why I had some strange memories and why my handwriting was the same as that of my predecessor. If this kind of thing wasnt directly exined by the person involved, then all the secrecy was actually quite scary and convincing.


    This matter had always existed in Jin Wantang''s heart, but it was only recently that a man came to him and told him that he was very good at Qimen Dunjia. As that man had stood in Jin Wantang''s shop at the time, Jin Wantang felt that his posture was very familiar.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The main character in Detective Conan is Kudo Shinichi. He gets turned into a child after ingesting some lethal poison, so he adopts the pseudonym Edogawa Conan to hide from those who poisoned him. (Fun fact, family names traditionallye first in Japanese so I just stuck with it here). Gushan Road is in Hangzhou where Wu Xie lived (lives? Not sure if Rain Vige is their permanent residence now).

 Book 4: Chapter 25: Future Self

    Book 4: Chapter 25: Future Self


    There was no doubt that Jin Wantang believed this person to be Qi Yu. Moreover, this person was simr in age to my Uncle Two, it was just that there was ack of information regarding Qi Yu''s appearance, so it wasnt easy to determine right away.


    Jin Wantang didn''t have time to immediately report this matter to Xiao Hua because this Qi Yuwell call him Qi Yu for the time being even though the name he gave Jin Wantang was Xia Wenhad brought several grave goods with him that all had amazing origins. Jin Wantang was shocked to find that among these grave goods were two bronze swords that were of very high quality.


    This Xia Wen told him that he was a master of Qimen Dunjia and he had done a prediction for himself using the Qimen Dunjia board to see what he was going to do in hister years. But the board had suddenly told him toe to Jin Wantang.


    He lived in Mysia and didnt have much contact with China, but the board gave him the feeling that something big was going to happen. As a result, he came here. But he himself didn''t have a clue, so he asked Jin Wantang for his thoughts on the matter. These bronze swordsboth of which had been painted withcquerwere just a meeting gift he gave to Jin Wantang.


    The man spoke very sincerely, and the two soon began to talk about Qimen Dunjia. After that, Jin Wantang asked Xia Wen to use his Qimen Dunjia board to figure out which of his goods was actually undervalued.


    Xia Wen used his board and picked out a few "Tianjuan Tongbao folded two regr script coins from the Jin Dynasty <sup>(1)</sup>. Out of a pile of ancient rotten coins, he managed to pick out seven that were worth more than two million yuan. If it werent for that, Jin Wantang would have directly sold the sack to the insects at Panjiayuan Antique Market for fifty-six yuan a catty.


    Needless to say, Jin Wantang waspletely impressed. After Xia Wen left, Jin Wantang thought about the other mans posture and fell into a huge ideological struggle as he looked at those Jin Dynasty coins.


    First, he knew that when it came to the Qi Yu incident, the water on the other end was extremely deep. Second, determining whether someone was a specific person by their posture was a very subtle process. Jin Wantang looked at the ancient coins, his mentality obviously affected. The more he recalled it, the more he felt that there were some differences in Xia Wens posture. He thought that he should get a good, nonarbitrary look tomorrow. Otherwise, hed miss the God of Wealth.


    The next day, he took Xia Wen to Panjiayuan. ording to the Qimen Dunjia boards calction, Xia Wen found an ivory Buddha in a pile of fake ivory products in the northeast corner. Although it wasnt very valuable, it wasnt easy to buy this kind of product in Panjiayuan now.


    At this time, Jin Wantang also knew that there were some things that couldnt be calcted using Qimen Dunjia. Somehow, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the two of them started talking about past lives.


    Xia Wen was having a drink with Jin Wantang that evening, and ended up talking about it. Despite his ancestors'' dissuasion, he used his Qimen Dunjia board to look at his past life and was surprised to find that he might have been a particrly famous feng shui master during the Ming Dynasty.


    He didn''t believe it at first, so he began to investigate. And the more he looked into it, the more urate he felt it was. Moreover, he suddenly realized that this past version of himself wasnt ordinary and seemed to have done their own calction, which stated that a day woulde when his reincarnation would connect with his past life.


    At that time, Xia Wen had believed there wouldnt be an answer at all and the board would just be stuck.


    If that were to happen, he was ready to just forget all about it. But if his past life knew that he would be reincarnated, did that person leave any information for his future self?


    As it turned out, the result wasnt a stuck board but an extremely urate direction.


    Xia Wen followed the direction of the board all the way to arge mountain tomb in Jilin. There he found an empty tomb with nothing inside of it. It had been robbed as early as the Ming Dynasty, but during that time, someone had left a long passage on the curtain wall of the tomb chamber.


    "If my future selfes here, then you should be familiar with Qimen. I have reached the end of my years, yet my long-cherished wish has not been fulfilled. There are treasures and money seventeen feet underground, which I have left for my future self. Among these items is a gold board on which my eternal n has been engraved."


    In other words, his previous self knew that he would find this ce after being reborn, so he left behind a lot of treasures and a n. He then asked his future self to continue carrying out this n after seeing it, and to be sure toplete it.


    Xia Wen thought it was amazing and started digging down, eventually digging up a gold board. After hearing what the contents engraved on this gold board were, Jin Wantang felt cold all over and was so scared that he almost passed out.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Tianjuan Tongbao can mean treasures of heaven. Regr script is a Chinese calligraphic style. The bronze coins might look like this:


    ****


    <strong><em>Heads up, the author has started working on "Notes in Rain Vige Part 2". Yvette has volunteered to work on that, so expect it some time in the future. I will try to get her "Sand Sea Intro 4" chapter out some time this week but I''ve been working 10+ hours a day and I''m exhausted (how do people do this on the reg?). So, it might be the weekend before you all see it (if you even care). </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 26: What Will You Say to Your Future Self?

    Book 4: Chapter 26: What Will You Say to Your Future Self?


    What kind of n took two lifetimes to carry out?


    A chisel had been used to engrave the words that had been densely written on that gold board stroke by stroke.


    First of all, the person who left these things behind wasnt certain that he would be reincarnated at all and even had doubts about the concept of a next life. As a result, he actually had more sophisticated and effective alternative methods to ensure that his n waspleted.


    This gift package for his future self was just a joke. But this person was proficient in arithmancy, so when he saw this result, he decided to make some preparations.


    This whole matter came about because he experienced quite the adventure during the current dynasty and ended up learning a method as a result of it.


    His original intention, in modern terms, was that if you had an enemy powerful enough to be stronger than a country, then you needed enough time to win the final victory.


    And this kind of time was often much longer than a single lifetime.


    It was extremely difficult for human beings to do things when they couldnt see the results. For example, if you needed several hundred years toplete something, youd finally be able to see the results after a few thousand years.


    But there were countless possibilities that might crop up during those centuries that could ruin your ns. Under such circumstances, youd have to rely on humans unchanging qualities as the cornerstone of all your ns.


    And the one quality that human beings had that would never change with the passage of time was their voracious greed.


    This person had that kind of an enemy, who would take a very long time to defeat. So, he came up with a n to fight against this enemy by taking advantage of human greed. When this gold board was discovered, maybe his n would have already seeded or maybe it was still progressing.


    But now that Xia Wen was here, it would take just one simple thing to tell you which step the n was currently at.


    This thing was to spread a message to the world.


    And that message was about the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    If there was no response to this message being spread, then it meant that the worlds second most valuable tomb had already appeared and his n had beenpletely sessful.


    If the worlds second most valuable tomb hadnt appeared, then his n was still in progress.


    Jin Wantang knew my story, so when he heard this, he felt his blood run cold. This was because in my story, it was all over.


    Xia Wen was obviously implying that he was Wang Zanghai''s future self.


    The worlds second most valuable tomb had not appeared in my story, but ording to Xia Wen, if this was the case, then it meant that Wang Zanghai''s n had note to fruition and things were still ongoing.


    When ites to such an extremelyplicated conspiracy, such a situation often means that the previous logic may have beenpletely wrong.


    The logic in the past may have just been superficial while the real logic was still incessantly going on in secret.


    I was so astonished when I heard this that the fear had me breaking out in a cold sweat.


    But my reasoning for why this matter had been concluded wasnt some impetuous superficial thing that I had glossed over. I had spent more than ten years working on it and had even exhausted my brain trying toe up with a solution. In fact, I was so rigorous that I even reviewed everything I had done not that long ago and firmly believed that I had wonpletely. This was because at the end of that difficult and remarkable decade, there was a short period of time when I had gained the advantage. Once that happened, I didn''t leave any possibility for them to make aeback.


    So, the only way I would believe it was if I was told that the battlefield I was facing wasnt a frontal battlefield but just a part of countless skirmishes. If I didnt even see all the mysteries, then I really couldnt perceive all of Wang Zanghais magnificent work.


    But even so, I had won all the battles on my battlefield and wasnt going to fight any others. I didnt have the time or ability to face a struggle of that level again.


    I also didnt believe that there would be moreplicated conspiracies like that, so I just ignored those two or three sentences from Jin Wantang that tried to overthrow my past.


    I had experienced the real world, so at this stage, my experiences couldnt be overthrown just like that.


    But there was just one problem during this whole incident that I was never able to solvewhether my Uncle Three was alive or dead. If he had died, then this whole affair should be closed. But if he didnt die, then what exactly was he doing? This was a problem that had secretly gued my heart for years.


    Did he have a reason for not reuniting with me?


    Jin Wantang wasnt a fool either. After listening to Xia Wens words, he immediately realized that this story about a past life had to be a pretext, since it was too fantastical andcked details. This person must have used this story as a pretext forying the groundwork for his clever scheme. What he really wanted to talk about was the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    But this man dared to say that Wang Zanghai''s n wasnt finished, which wasnt something that ordinary people would dare say.


    So what did this Qi Yu want to do? Why did Uncle Three start training me to act like Qi Yu after he made that deduction about Xisha? Who did Uncle Three want to lie to? Did he want them to think that Qi Yu wasnt dead? Why did Qi Yu suddenly appear again and tell Jin Wantang about the worlds second most valuable tomb?


    After their talk, Jin Wantang couldn''t help himself and sent the news of Qi Yu''s appearance directly to Xiao Hua. Then, he asked Xia Wen directly in person, "Do you know a person named Qi Yu? You two have a very simr posture."


    Instead of acting surprised, Xia Wen just said, "Ah, I know him. Theres a reason we have the same posture. In fact, hes not a real person, just like me."


    When Xia Wen said this, he nced at Jin Wantang with a coy look in his eyes. As Jin Wantang broke out in a cold sweat, he suddenly felt that this Xia Wen was strange and abnormal. If he wasnt a real person, then what was he?

 Book 4: Chapter 27: Human

    Book 4: Chapter 27: Human


    Seeing Jin Wantang''s face pale, Xia Wen immediately waved his hand and exined, "Don''t be afraid, dont be afraid. Although I say Im not a real person, Im not some monster either."


    The atmosphere had been rxed as they talked about metaphysics the whole time, so when it got to this point, Jin Wantang should have found such words funny and ridiculous. But now, they actually sounded very real. And this Xia Wen didnt seem like the joking type at all.


    "Were different from you people, he said to Jin Wantang, so the way we walk looks somewhat peculiar."


    "Then, if I may ask are you an immortal?" Jin Wantang couldn''t understand what was going on. Maybe it was all just in his head, but when he looked into Xia Wen''s eyes, it almost seemed as if the other mans pupils were getting smaller and smaller and the scleras were getting bigger and bigger. He immediately wanted to run away.


    These were clearly the eyes of some kind of animal.


    Xia Wen approached him at this time and said, "We are a kind of thing called shigou diao, but theres really nothing special to it. People are normally born with seven souls, but sometimes there are those who are born without all seven. The second of these seven souls is called the shigou soul. I was born without this soul, so I can''t be ssified as a human being."<sup>(1)</sup>


    Jin Wantang froze for a moment and then breathed a sigh of relief. "If the seven souls are iplete," Xia Wen continued, "it inconveniences our movements and we can''t walk like normal people. We have to concentrate when we walk, because the shigou soul is located in the ear, which contains organs that help us maintain our bnce. The organs themselves are fine, its just that theyre useless. As a result, we can only rely on our eyes to maintain our bnce."


    <em>If youre disabled, juste out and say that youre disabled</em>, Jin Wantang thought to himself. <em>Why are you making up names? Why cant you be counted as a human being just because youre missing a piece of your soul? <em>You look like an ordinary man, dont you?</em></em>


    But Xia Wen''s eyes that were looking at Jin Wantang really did seem to be different from how they looked during the day, which made Jin Wantang feel very ufortable. "Is there anything special about these shigou diao''?" He asked Xia Wen.


    "Theyre very different, Xia Wen replied. Theres an upper limit to learning anything, but were not human, so theres no such thing. But I can''t tell you the specifics. You only need to know one thing: my body iscking something, so I have to fill it with other things. As for what to fill it with, I absolutely cant say."


    When Jin Wantang looked at Xia Wen, he couldnt help thinking that the other man looked more and more like an animal. But he calmed himself down and started to rx after seeing Xia Wens reaction, because he really felt that the other man wasnt Qi Yu.


    But if he wasnt Qi Yu, then he must be the God of Wealth.


    Just to be sure, Jin Wantang asked, "Then is Qi Yu also one of these shigou diao''?"


    "Hes more than that. When he was born, he wascking many things," Xia Wen said. "When people like us die and get cremated, we cant let other people watch. This is because the contents of our bodies are different from other people. If you see the skin burn away, something big will happen in the future. Moreover, if we have any children, only one of them will be like us.


    Jin Wantang wanted to keep asking questions, but Xia Wen waved his hand and suddenly lost his temper, "Brother Jin, I think you don''t believe what Ive said at all."


    Jin Wantang had already thrown caution to the wind at this point and said to him, "You suddenly appear, toss out all kinds of rhetoric, and then say youre Wang Zanghais reincarnation. And to top it all off, you say youre not human and that you have information on the worlds second most valuable tomb. You obviously have a purpose, so how can I believe you?"


    Xia Wen, who was feeling particrly aggrieved at this time, said to him, "I was sent here by fate; my motives are pure. I thought you would believe me, so I told you the truth, but I didn''t expect you to be so guarded. My family is rich beyond belief and has unique knowledge, so what good is it for me to lie to you? Since you don''t believe me, I''ll take my leave now."


    With that said, Xia Wen turned and walked away. But the way his body moved was very strange. His body turned first while his head seemed to be half a beat behind. As a result, his head didn''t fully turn until his body was already facing the other way.


    But there was no way Jin Wantang would let him go. At this time, another God of Wealth popped into his head. He thought thatsince he couldnt take advantage of this God of Wealth right in front of him, he definitely couldnt lose out on Xie Yuhuas financial offer. So, he quickly moved forward to stop him. "In fact, I don''t <empletely</em> disbelieve you," he said. "Can you wait and tell me your information on the gold board? I don''t want to lie to you. I also have something in my hand thats rted to your experience!"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Shigou diao can mean something like "dead dog hanging", "hanged dead dog", or "hanged dog corpse". Take your pick. Shigou specifically means "dead dog" or "dog corpse". ording to Daoism, a persons soul isprised of seven mortal souls (known as po <strong></strong>) and three immortal souls (known as hun <strong></strong>). The seven mortal souls represent carnal life and desires while the three immortal souls represent spirit and intellect. ording to this website here, the seven mortal souls are: stinking lung, remover of filth, flying poison, thief swallower, yin sparrow, hidden arrow, and dead dog.


    ****


    <strong><em>Shew, almost didn''t get this out. Question for you guys: do you want the pinyin for "dead dog hanging" instead or are you fine with what I''ve got? (I always have trouble deciding) The pinyin for "dead dog hanging" is "shigou diao". It''s going to be mentioned quite a few more times so figured I''d better ask now. If you do want the pinyin, I''ll also be changing the "dead dog soul" stuff to "shigou soul". Just let me know what you guys want and I''ll fix it after work tomorrow</em></strong><em><strong>(merebear needs to go to bed lol)</strong></em>(*^^*)


    <strong><em>Update: I changed it. Hope it flows better.</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 29: Doll

    Book 4: Chapter 29: Doll


    Fatty checked to see if Jin Wantang was still breathing and then asked me, "Didn''t you say you were lured here? Whats the connection between this Xia Wen and the dragon vein?"


    I didnt know, but now that we had already fallen this far into the trap, there was no way to go out and check it.


    That young man was still far away from us, the building behind him like a beacon tower on the Great Wall of China. It seemed to be a checkpoint of some sort, but I didnt know what for.


    Although we had sessfully rescued Jin Wantang, we were still at an impasse. We had to move on, but now it seemed unlikely that we could. At present, I could infer the following oue: Jin Wantang would die of infection and wed receive the heavenly gift again after we left this area in search of food.


    By the time the three of us regained consciousness again, I wouldnt know how much time had passed.


    In fact, there might be a way to try to move forward. Like a snail, we could move this whole area by shifting the shrine and corpses bit by bit so that the conditions here remained unchanged.


    But there were only three of us, so the traveling speed would be very slow and these corpses were already very fragile and easily damaged.


    <em>There must be a way</em>, I thought to myself.


    We settled down to rest for a bit, so I leaned up against a stone to meditate. Among the things Jin Wantang had mentioned, I always felt that there was a secret he wanted to say, but he stopped himself. He had said so much but he didnt dare talk about the most crucial step.


    In this context, he told me that Uncle Three took me to a fake Xisha tomb when I was a child and asked me to y Qi Yu.


    But when I thought about it, this kind of incident wasnt logical at all. What kind of performance could I put on at such a young age? Moreover, Uncle Three had so many friends, so couldnt he find someone else to fill that role?


    The only way it made sense was if I had to be the one to act.


    I didnt have any memory of this incident, but I assumed that what Jin Wantang said was true because he really didnt have to mention it at all.


    He mustve had a momentary re-up of kindness if he was willing to talk about it.


    If this were true, there mustve been something meaningful about me ying as Qi Yu. Yet for some reason, I didnt have any memory of it?


    Was it possible that at that time, I entered a situation simr to when I was under the influence of the heavenly gift? In other words, was I possessed by Qi Yu at the time?


    But I was certain that it had happened in a very short period of time and I soon returned to normal.


    Because if I wasnt the original me<sup>(1)</sup>, then that meant that I wasnt the only one God wanted to bestow the heavenly gift upon. This seemed to indicate that it was a huge system. For so many years, it had to bestow the heavenly gift upon so many people to keep me in the dark. But if its power was so great, then why did it need the Zhang family? All it had to do was change the memories of anyone from The Hundred Family Surnames.<sup>(2)</sup>


    The original me could be recognized as long as there were enough people in the address book.


    As soon I thought this, I shook my head. No, this wasnt right either. It was only at this time that I discovered that ordinary people could be heavenly gifted. This must be a very special situation that couldnt happen outside the grasnd. Based on our present situation, it should happen in the area where the dragon vein was located.


    At this time, I thought of another possibilitythink about it in reverse.


    I had no memory of that incident, so maybe I didn''t actually go there. But Uncle Three was seen with a child, so maybe he lied and said that it was me.


    But who was that child?


    As I thought through the above analysis, I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.


    <em>Fuck, is that kid really Qi Yu?</em>


    At this time, I suddenly remembered a distant memory. When I was very young, I saw a strange doll in Uncle Three''s room. The doll could move and its head looked absolutely terrifying, just like a monster. I was so scared that I started crying, but Uncle Three said that it was just a prank to scare me.


    Later, I never saw that thing again, so I just assumed that it was lost.


    The memory was very vague, but I remember telling my mother with certainty that the doll''s eyes could move.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The author used  which means id/the self. Since the id is the personalityponent made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires, I was super confused about the author using it in this context. So, I chose to go with original me and Tiffany agrees.


    (2) The Hundred Family Surnames is an official record of themon Chinese surnames and prefectures of all the noble families. It lists 438 surnames. Each noble family had the names, official positions, and blood rtions of its members listed in detail. ording to that Wikepedia article, Zhang () and Wu () are in there. Sidenote from Tiffany: Wu Xie was thinking about the possibility of his memory being altered, but if it was so powerful, it could just change anyones memories, and they didnt necessarily have to be someone from the Zhang family.

 Book 4: Chapter 30: Feathered Ghost Doll

    Book 4: Chapter 30: Feathered Ghost Doll


    It was so scary that I couldnt help but shiver. I rubbed my face and then tried to recall the situation at that time.


    My memory was too vague since I was so young, but I did remember feeling wronged at the time. I definitely remembered that the doll was moving, but my family insisted that I was wrong. But at that age, I forgot all about it after taking a nap.


    <em>Dont tell mewas that doll what happened to Qi Yu in Xisha? Did he also take the pill but suffer some side effects?</em>


    <em>Did he be a small monster that was dressed like a doll and living in Uncle Three''s room?</em>


    The more I thought about it, the more terrible things started toe to mind. I remembered that there had been a bulging sackcloth outside my study that was very strange. It appeared for a while and then disappeared for a while, but when it was there, it had been just outside the window, facing my desk.


    At that time, I always felt that this sackcloth was very strange. When I was doing my homework at the desk that was ced against the window, this sackcloth would be right outside the window. There were even times when I would smell a strange scent.


    I also remembered that because there were lights in the corridor outside, I could see the sackcloths shadow on my window when I went to sleep at night. I always felt that there was something inside that bulging sackcloth.


    Maybe my intuition was correct and Qi Yu was in that sackcloth?


    I couldnt remember whether I was in middle school, high school, or just elementary school at the time, but what was he doing outside my window?


    Fatty looked at my pale face and asked me what was wrong, so I told him my thoughts.


    "You should probably draw a picture of it, Fatty said. You remember it now, but you probably wont when you fall asleep. These kinds of memories are very fragile.


    I took out my notebook and began to doodle on it. My memory was extremely abstract, so when I drew the picture, I found that I had drawn a strange thing.


    The doll had been terrifying, but once I drew it, I realized that I had also drawn a morin khuur behind him.


    I couldnt figure out what had happened. Was I confusing what I saw earlier with what I saw in the past? Or, when I saw the doll in the past, was there actually a morin khuur behind it?


    I immediately closed my notebook and looked at where the young man was. The light was still there.


    Fatty was baffled by my behavior, "What''s wrong with you?"


    I shook my head and took a deep breath right as Poker-Face looked back at me. "I think Im going crazy," I said to them.


    I couldnt think about it anymore, so I stood up, took out my binocrs, and looked at the young man over there.


    I adjusted the focus to the max, but all I could see was the vague outline of a person. Fatty became more and more confused, but I just carefully looked at the young man to see if there was anything about him that looked like that doll.


    As I looked, however, I suddenly found that the young man sitting there seemed a bit strange. It was like his body had actually shriveled up.


    Only a dead man would sit like that.


    <em>Dead? Did my shot just now actually hit an artery in his brain?</em>


    I wiped my eyes and kept looking. Indeed, this seemed to be the case.


    At this time, I suddenly heard Fatty shout, "Tang Tang, what''s that thing on you?!"


    I immediately turned my head and saw a very small figure slip off of Jin Wantangs body.


    Blood was pouring out of Jin Wantang''s neck, but when I went up and pressed on it to stop the flow, I knew right away that the artery had been cut.


    As the shadow instantly entered the gap in the stone behind us, a strange feeling flooded my body. "Little Brother! The statue!" I shouted to Poker-Face.


    I thought it was going to steal the statue, but that was impossible. If the statue could be stolen, this checkpoint wouldve been destroyed long ago. Sure enough, the little ck shadow sounded like it was crawling in the opposite direction. Poker-Face didn''t move and just listened to the direction it was moving in the gap.


    It was a very small shadowjust like a dollso the sounds it made were also very quiet.


    Fatty came over to help me press down on Jin Wantang''s artery, but the blood couldn''t be stopped.


    I looked at the gap in the nearby stone, then at the youth in the distance, and then at the ck sky above. I entered a kind of possessed state as a series of thoughts suddenly shed through my head.


    Strange posture?


    Was it possible that Xia Wen was just an empty shell and someone was hiding in that empty shell? If so, that would exin why his movements and posture were so strange.


    Was that young man also an empty shell? He was sitting there like he was.


    But what was that little ck shadow?


    "Ive been thinking in leaps and bounds, I said to the ck stone above, and I suddenly recalled a memory from a long time ago. Ive had a sudden sh of inspiration. Do you have something to do with this?"


    <em>You cant do anything about the heavenly gift, so you''re giving me a hint? You''re in my head, giving me inspiration? What do you want me to know?</em>


    "Qi Yu!" I shouted at the stone crack. "Come out!"


    At this time, a deformed face faintly poked its head out of the gap in the stone in front of me. It looked just like a strange doll and it was giving me a vicious re.


    I took a deep breath. That was definitely the thing I saw when I was a child.


    This couldnt be a coincidence; there was no way I would remember such a thing by ident. This was something the force here reminded me of.


    But why?


    "Tang Tangs dying!" Fatty shouted.


    I nced at Poker-Face, who had alreadye up beside Jin Wantang and was also pressing down on the artery.


    The little doll disappeared from the shadows. It wanted to kill Jin Wantang, and it would stop at nothing to do it.

 Book 4: Chapter 31: Goodbye

    Book 4: Chapter 31: Goodbye


    I rushed to check on Jin Wantangs condition.


    Poker-Face and Fatty had blood all over their hands, and as I looked at the amount of blood, I knew right away that it was over.


    Even if we were in the ICU, they may not be able to save him.


    Jin Wantang looked at me with his eyes wide open,pletely speechless.


    My mind was spinning fast as I wondered if there was any way to boost morale, any glimmer of hope. But no, there wasnt.


    At this time, Jin Wantang smiled, grabbed Fatty, and pointed to his crotch.


    "Tang Tang! Fatty cried. This isnt the time for any of your shenanigans!"


    Jin Wantang reached into his crotch himself, pulled out a string of Buddhist prayer beads, and then handed them to me.


    As I took the prayer beads, I noticed that they were very expensive, probably valued at more than three hundred thousand yuan. Jin Wantang must''ve usually worn them, but after being tied up, he secretly tucked them into his crotch to hide them.


    I knew he wasnt giving me an inheritance.


    "Little Master Three, send me off." The light in Jin Wantang''s eyes was fading. He knew that I had studied this kind of thing in Tibet, and we even used to joke that when any of us were about to depart this world, I could use this to collect thest fee.


    I took his hand and began to chant a Buddhist scripture.


    I had learned a lot of scriptures when I was in Tibet, including some that were used when someone was on their deathbed. I waspletely focused as I chanted, watching as the light in his eyes slowly dimmed and thenpletely disappeared.


    He kept whispering these words, "I am not content."


    After three minutes, hepletely lost consciousness, and I knew that in another three or four minutes, he would be brain dead. But in those few seconds, he suddenly came to his senses, sat up, and then gave the shrine a fierce look.


    Jin Wantang''s revival onlysted a few seconds, but his expression was extremely confused during that time. Based on the way he was looking at the shrine, he seemed to notice something appear in the direction of the shrine.


    Eventually, hey back down and soon stopped breathing altogether.


    I ignored his strange behavior and just kept chanting the scripture before letting go. Fattys face was ashen as he wiped the blood off of his hands and lit himself a cigarette.


    I nced at Poker-Face. He neatly arranged Jin Wantang''s hands and feet and then closed his eyes.


    At this time, I began to smell the pungent scent of blood hanging in the air. Poker-Face looked back at the gap in the stone below and said, "Retreat to the edge of the shrine."


    The three of us dragged Jin Wantangs body to the edge of the shrine and then Poker-Face squatted down to look at the gap with his shlight. Fatty finally spoke up at this time, "Little Brother couldnt even hear this personing, which means that this person is very powerful."


    "Its not a person." When I said this, Poker-Face nodded and then continued looking into the gap.


    At this time, he suddenly made a series of strange noises that were simr to the sounds bugs made. The sound prated deep into the gap and resonated within.


    After doing this a few more times, we heard a responsee from deep within the gap.


    Gegegegegege.


    Fatty rolled over and sat up but Poker-Face raised his hand in a silent gesture for him not to move.


    He was testing to see whether there was a corpse-eater king inside the bodies.


    The response came a few more times and then slowly faded away.


    "Stay within three feet of me," he said. "This thing is very powerful."


    As Fatty and I exchanged a nce, I couldnt help wondering if this was what Qi Yu was. Poker-Face looked at me and said, "It''s very simr to me."


    I looked at him and suddenly realized what he meant.


    Qi Yu had the characteristics of someone who had undergone too many experiments back then. Did he withstand all those experiments only to fail right before achieving sess? So, although he had be a monster, he was very simr to Poker-Face.


    "But this things still not as good as you, right?" I asked.


    Poker-Face looked at the gap and stopped answering me, but I noticed that his expression had a kind of gravity to it that I hadnt seen for a long time. "Don''t worry, Fatty said from the side. At most, this little monster can be regarded as an original knock-off while Little Brother is the tinum name brand."


    I went over to keep watch with Poker-Face, but he immediately shook his head and told me to rest.


    I leaned back against a stone and looked at him. I didn''t know what he was looking at, but he seemed very concerned about the gap.


    I still couldnt seem toe to terms with the fact that Jin Wantang was really gone. There were many people in our lives whom we couldnt really determine just how important they were to us, but they were likendmarks in our life, ones that had huge significance. When they left, it felt like you had lost a huge piece of your life.


    I nced at Old Jin''s corpse and said to him, "You go find the way first. You know Ill alwayse in the end."


    Fatty also looked over at him, the corners of his lips curling up a bit. Hemunicated with Jin Wantang more than I did, so I figured he was feeling a little ufortable right now.


    At this time, Poker-Face suddenly raised his hand.


    We all straightened up and held our breath.


    We couldn''t hear anything, but Poker-Face obviously heard something that required him to focus all of his attention. He looked at the gap and pointed to the gun beside him.


    Fatty and I both grabbed our guns in unison, Fatty settling himself into a standard wide stance while holding the gun level with both hands. This was a posture used when you were preparing to shoot for more than a minute.

 Book 4: Chapter 32: Take A Risk Out of Desperation

    Book 4: Chapter 32: Take A Risk Out of Desperation


    Without any hesitation, Poker-Face suddenly dropped his hand and instructed us to shoot. Fatty and I fired at the same time, quickly emptying two magazines.


    A tongue of me spewed out of each muzzle as we shot into the gap. If there was something in there, it definitely would''ve been hit.


    When we were in the middle of reloading, Poker-Face raised his hand again. As a result, we didn''t continue shooting after we reloaded but just stayed on the alert. He looked into the gap and stood at a stalemate for a long time before he suddenly heard something else and jumped onto a tall rock.


    Fatty and I also climbed up and saw a small figure crawling out of a stone crevice in the distance. It had obviously been shot but was moving very quickly to the ce where the young man looked like he was meditating.


    Fatty lifted his head and shot at it again. He definitely hit it, but that thing stood up and went behind a big rock until it was out of sight.


    "As long as its a living thing, it definitely wont live for long," Fatty said.


    That thing definitely wasnt a living thing considering how it didnt slow down even though it had obviously been hit, but I didnt know what it was.


    One thing I did know, however, was that it was <em>very</em> vengeful. If we hit it, it would definitely cause trouble for us, just like how it was so persistent in killing Jin Wantang.


    When I was in Hainan before, I shed with a monkey on Monkey Ind. I still remember the look in that monkey''s eyes. After that, it followed me the whole time and suddenly attacked me when I wasn''t looking. Later, I got angry and chased it for four hours with a stick, but I ended up getting lectured by the security guards.


    I turned to Fatty and Poker-Face and said, "Ive noticed a little problem here. To be honest, I originally couldnt remember Qi Yu at all since it was so long ago, but I suddenly remembered just now and then this Qi Yu suddenly appeared. I think the stones here are warning me of something."


    "What do you mean?"


    "The stones know that Qi Yu is here, hiding somewhere close by, so they warned me. If I had realized it earlier, Jin Wantang wouldnt have died," I exined to them. "It can''t give us the heavenly gift so its giving me inspiration."


    Fatty looked at the surrounding rocks and squinted at me. "You mean to say that these stones are warning you? But wait, arent these stones supposed to be the viin here?"


    I was puzzled. Indeed, this was all very confusing.


    I had always thought that the heavenly gift was very evil, but if the stones here were warning me of the impending disaster, was my understanding of the heavenly gift too one-sided? Maybe there was actually a good side to this heavenly gift?


    I looked at the sky and thought to myself, <em>if theres anything else you want to warn me about, now is the time to tell me. Any other insights? How about what the hell is going on here? Just give me a hint!</em>


    After thinking about it, I said to Fatty, "Were trapped here and Jin Wantang wasnt saved. Theres still some food, but we can''t wait around here and only take action once the food runs out. If we want to take action, we have to do it now."


    I picked up the rope from where it wasying off to one side. When Fatty asked me what I was doing, I said to him, "Little Brother can''t receive any more heavenly gifts, so I have no choice but to take some risks. If these stones are really trying to warn me of something, then I want to go to the edge of this area where the signal is strong. I want to see if there can be more exchanges or maybe we can negotiate."


    Since the light barely reached the edge of the area, it looked very hazy over there. I would have to walk forward very slowly so that the two of them could pull me back quickly if I carelessly went too far.


    Poker-Face looked at me, "The heavenly gift did not warn you."


    "But the inspiration just now was so sudden."


    I had suddenly remembered Qi Yu and then that thing appeared. Moreover, the whole process was very jumpy as my mind leaped from one thought to another. If it werent for something guiding me, I wouldve never connected the doll from that time to Qi Yu.


    "Mr. Nave, don''t mistakenly ce your bets on the enemy," Fatty said. "If Little Brother said no, then thats that. If you want to talk about inspiration, then I had a sh of inspiration just now. Maybe the thing inspiring you was this stone here?"


    "Which stone?"


    "It''s this stone here." He pointed to the shrine and continued, "Maybe this thing was warning you. After all, its protecting us, so it should be decent."


    I looked at the shrine and walked over to it.


    When Jin Wantang was dying just now, didnt it seem like he saw something in this direction? I thought about it and realized that it had been a long time since I had used my peripheral vision to look at things. So, I turned my head and looked at the bronze piece out of the corner of my eye.


    ****


    <strong><em>I''ve gotten some ktely that I''m preventing skilled trantors from working on DMBJ with my "terrible MTL" (downside of a contact form since everyone thatments is so nice lol). Is that true? I haven''t seen any other serious attempts besides like one or two random posts or stuff that''s years old. I will totally step aside if someone skilled wanted to take over, but nobody has personallye up and been like "I want to take over, I think I can do better". When I started thisst year, I just saw that nobody was working on it for ages and thought an edited MTL could at least get the general idea across (and then the lovely Tiffany and Yvette came along to help with things). If you all know of someone who legit wanted to do all of this, feel free to let me know. I''d love to have my free time back lol. If not, I guess I''ll keep trucking with my "terrible MTL" (yes, I''m salty about that phrasing since my shit is at least readablepared to some tranted stuff hahaha) </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 33: Radiation Range

    Book 4: Chapter 33: Radiation Range


    I didnt know whether this idea of looking at things out of the corner of my eye was also inspiration given to me by someone else, but when I looked, I didnt see anything in the shrine. I did, however, notice that something was wrong with the area around us.


    I stood up and used my peripheral vision to scan our surroundings, finding that a lot of dark, ck things had vaguely gathered in the darkness around us. I couldnt see the edges of these ck things with my peripheral vision, but I could sense their existence. In fact, the densest cluster of them was in the direction of Jin Wantang''s body.


    In the darkness, something seemed to be coveting his corpse.


    I remembered that strange idea I had before where I felt as if the people who died in this ce couldnt leave, even as souls.


    But I could see that these ck things surrounded us very neatly, with the bronze piece clearly in the center of their encirclement.


    When I picked up the bronze piece and took a few steps forward, I found that the ck things over there also retreated a few steps back.


    As I walked left and right, I became almost certain that this bronze piece had the power to disperse these ck things and keep a ten-meter-wide buffer around it.


    But this power seemed to diminish the farther the bronze piece moved away from the corpses on one side.


    In other words, when I moved the bronze to one side of the area where the corpses were, the power it held on the other side weakened. These corpses were like amplifiers.


    Once I told the other two what I had discovered, the three of us approached each other and tried to leave while carrying the bronze piece. But as it turned out, its powers became weaker and weaker, and I found that it weighed almost nothing when I moved it. It was only when Poker-Face held the bronze piece that the dispelling force worked a little bit, but the area was only a little more than two meters wide.


    In other words, the radiation range of this stone may be as wide as ten meters so long as it remained in the center of this geometric area that the corpses had formed. But if we held onto it, the range would be reduced to about two meters.


    "What the hell are those ck things youre seeing?" Fatty asked me.


    I shook my head. I didnt know, but they were definitely real. I just wasnt sure if they were a physical manifestation of the heavenly gift.


    Or maybe they were all just an illusion. After all, we had been under a lot of pressure in such a dark environment for too long.


    The three of us were silent as we looked at the darkness hovering on the periphery. At present, we couldnt move forward or backward, so I knew in my heart that there was only one choice now.


    "Let me try it," I said again.


    "Why don''t I try it?" Fatty argued.


    "Youre too heavy. If you receive the heavenly gift and Little Brother knocks you out, I wont be able to drag you back."


    Poker-Face was an even worse option, so that left only me.


    I looked at the bronze piece. I didnt know if it gave me that burst of inspiration just now, but if it really was warning me, then I figured it might be trying to save us.


    If it didnt give me that burst of inspiration, however, then that meant that the heavenly gift gave it to me. And if that were true, then maybe there really was something good about the heavenly gift. Either way, it wouldnt hurt to test it out.


    "Mr. Nave, Fatty said to me, this is actually the only way. If this method doesn''t work, well just have to go out and automatically receive the heavenly gift. When that happens, all we can do is hope that well break free again in the future. In short, we can''t starve to death here, so its better to have the three of us go together."


    In this case, the three of us may be strangers who will never know each other again in this lifetime.


    I normally wouldnt agree based on our previous experienceI figured that three people meant that there were at least three opportunities, which shouldnt be used all at oncebut when Fatty said this, I quickly nodded in agreement.


    This was because I had found a bugif I moved the bronze piece away, the two of them would be screwed. So, this so-called "experiment" only meant that my thoughts were a little confused under such extreme anxiety.


    As the three of us packed our things, Fatty nced at Jin Wantang and then put the corpse on his back.


    I felt that something here was interested in his corpse, so we should take it with us.


    "Old Jin, let''s keep going, Fatty said. Be sure not to start smelling too quickly."


    The three of us looked at each other again. I gave the bronze piece to Poker-Face and then we huddled together and began walking out of the area.


    I was using my peripheral vision to keep a lookout as we left without any hesitation or sentimentality. I immediately felt the darkness around me closing in only one meter away.


    One step, two steps, three steps.


    We had gone about sixty or seventy meters, but it was like our shlight beams were tightlypressed as they tried to illuminate the area in front of us. There was a ck fog all around us, but we hadnt received the heavenly gift yet. At least, I didnt think so.


    But many details around me began to disappear, and I slowly felt as if the three of us were walking in a pure ck one-dimensional world.


    ****


    <strong><em>First of all, THANK YOU for the outpouring of love and support despite what the dickwad said. Im d everyones been enjoying the DMBJ rollercoaster weve been on </em></strong>?<strong><em>. Since no one is banging down the door to take this project over, I''ll keep on trucking. Can''t abandon you lovely darlings</em></strong> (  `). <strong><em>Second of all, Yvette has tranted the WaEr Rice Fest Vlog for you all here (it seemed kind of weird to make a whole post for 1 youtube link so I just stuck it here. Idk how she worked such sorcery, but its alllllll her work so give her lots of love as always). </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 34: Denser Darkness

    Book 4: Chapter 34: Denser Darkness


    I didnt know how long I had been walking before Fatty asked me softly, "Mr. Nave, how do you feel?"


    Numbed by the darkness, I said to him, "I feel like were walking in a ck hole. How do you feel?"


    "I feel like a sperm thats heading towards a deep and mysterious destination," Fatty said.


    I found it a bit funny. This metaphor wasnt considered obscene in today''s society, but Fatty''s tone definitely made it sound obscene.


    While talking, we arrived at the ce where Jin Wantang had been crushed by the rocks. We found his backpack there, which contained a lot of food, so Fatty took all of it and patted Old Jin on the shoulder to express his gratitude. I felt a twinge of sadness in my heart when I thought of Old Jin lying here before. He must have been quite desperate since the possibility of being rescued was very low, but at least he was saved in the end.


    Even though things had turned out like this.


    Poker-Face was very careful as we stopped to reorganize our equipment, making sure that the little monster wasnt nearby before moving on.


    I was already well aware of the fact that our food wasnt enough to survive here and that the journey would be extremely difficult, but we would surely die if we tried to go back now. I knew I had to think of a way to replenish our food stores before they ran out. I at least didnt have to worry about water, but there probably wouldnt be any food here at all.


    By this time, the light that had been shining from the ce where the young man had been sitting was extinguished and the only light sources were our shlights. Even though they were illuminating the path in front of us, it was still extremely dark all around.


    After walking for a while, we finally arrived in front of the building I had vaguely seen just now. It was a rough-hewn stone wall that had a doorway carved out of it.


    This wall was so tall that it almost blocked the gap. I couldnt even see the top of it so I couldnt tell if it was sealed or not. I had no idea who might have built this thing, but there wasnt a door in the doorway, so the area behind it was just a gaping ck hole.


    "Is this the gate to hell?" Fatty asked.


    I used my peripheral vision to look inside the door and felt as if the darkness inside was denser than the darkness surrounding us. Fatty was sweaty and exhausted after carrying Jin Wantangs corpse on his back the whole time, so we put our things down at the door and observed.


    The young man was no longer here, but the gaps in the surrounding stones were very small and felt safer, so I was a little relieved.


    After resting for a while, the three of us walked through the doorway. I could tell right away that the bronze pieces energy had obviously diminished since the surrounding darkness seemed to be hovering right over my skin. I felt like we were simr to those very affectionate elementary school girls who would always cling together.


    The darkness inside the doorway was so deep that our shlights couldnt seem to prate it. We couldnt see any details no matter where we shined them and all we saw was nothingness. I felt like I was floating all alone in this ce, as if I were floating in the deep sea. I wouldn''t be surprised if a huge fish eye suddenly opened somewhere in the darkness around us.


    It was a very strange feeling because it was like there was a strong sense of magic in the air, but also a huge fear simr to a fear of the deep sea. I could feel my whole body breaking out in goose bumps as I asked myself, <em>what will happen next? Whats at the end of this road? Is that little thing dead? What''s Xiao Hua and the others current situation like now?</em>


    We moved forward very carefully in this dense darkness, starting a blind journey through the extreme night. I waited for any new idents, sneak attacks, monsters, or strange events every day, but after passing through that door, everything was calm and nothing happened.


    We had less and less food as the days went by, the weight in our backpacks almost reduced by half after about two weeks. The thing I gradually came to fear the most was that such a journey would never end.


    Jin Wantang soon started to smell strongly, but Fatty didn''t want to leave him so we wrapped him tightly in the sleeping bags and tarps from our equipment. But I soon discovered that Jin Wantang''s body had quickly stopped decaying.

 Book 4: Chapter 35: Saved

    Book 4: Chapter 35: Saved


    His body was starting to dry out and became lighter and lighter.


    Fatty didnt ask me what was going on since we barely spoke to each other at this point. I did, however, have a hunch that bacteria couldnt multiply on arge scale in this dragon vein, so living creatures probably always became mummified corpses when they died here.


    Two weekster, we finally came to a ce full of rubbish.


    Among the piles of stones in this area were all kinds of bones, rubbish, sky iron<sup>(1)</sup>, and ribbons that had all been piled into a mound. We had been moving along mindlessly for a long time now, but it wasnt like I ever understood why this was happening anyways.


    After resting for a few hours, a light suddenly appeared above our heads.


    It was sunlight.


    When we looked up, we saw that there was a hole to the outside world set at an extremely high ce. The sunlight was shining down from that hole, creating a Tyndall effect.


    As a beam of light enveloped the three of us, I realized that I hadnt seen the sun for a long time now. We all remained silent, but Fatty held up his hands and knelt deeply.


    This was what so-called miracles were like, when people felt that there was a god. In other words, they were suddenly saved from the burden of that extreme pain they had experienced.


    The sunlight was really restrained in this cethere was only a small sliver of itbut if it werent for my firm heart, I might have started crying immediately.


    As the sunshine swept away the surrounding darkness, I found that this ce appeared to be a kind of living area. These bones seemed to be leftovers, so someone probably lived here. I could even see a small area on a t stone that was draped in human skin, which seemed to be a bed.


    Not only did we see a lot of ckened blood nearby, but Fatty noticed a lot of bullets mixed in with the blood that was by the bedside. The bullets had probably been dug out of that things body, which meant that it was badly injured but didn''t die.


    This was where Qi Yu lived, but he wasnt here.


    "Where did this foode from?" Fatty asked while looking up above his head. I figured he really wanted to go outside.


    I looked down at the bones on the ground, many of which were human bones. I picked one up and found that it had knife marks on it. After looking closely, I noticed that almost every bone had these kinds of marks on them.


    "There may be a sky burial tform on the other side of this hole," I said to them. "The bodies probably roll down asionally." This kind of knife mark had been made with a sky burial knife.


    Since this was an iconic area and I was familiar with Xiao Hua''s usual thought process, I knew he''d definitely leave us a message here.


    I told Fatty and Poker-Face to look for any hints Xiao Hua might have left for us. After searching carefully in the crevices of the surrounding rocks, Fatty soon found something and pulled me towards him.


    The three of us had been staying very close to each otherit had be habit by nowso he easily pulled me over. As soon as he did, a mass of things fell directly from above, hitting the ce where I had been standing just seconds before.


    I turned my head and saw that it was a fresh corpse. We looked up and immediately began to dodge as more body parts fell from the sky.


    As these corpses tumbled all around us, I quickly noticed that the ones stuck to the rocks quickly dried out. I immediately used my peripheral vision to see what was going on.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Sky iron was mentioned back in Part 3: Looking for the Dead in the Sea of Lights chapter 18. Old Bing and the gang dug some up and followed a sky iron road to that lotus tomb.

 Book 4: Chapter 36: That Inch of Sunlight

    Book 4: Chapter 36: That Inch of Sunlight


    The surrounding darkness enveloped these broken bodies almost like it was alive. I know it''s ridiculous to say this, but the darkness really seemed like it was a tangible, living thing.


    And it was sucking the essence out of these bodies.


    I looked above my head. If there really was a sky burial tform up there, then corpses would be falling down every day. There was barely any rest for people who practiced a burial method like shituolin<sup>(1)</sup>, but it seemed that the bodies here were pushed directly into the cave instead of being fed to the vultures.


    Had this shituolin been supporting the dragon vein here the whole time?


    Fatty nced at me, "Mr. Nave, if we pass this opportunity up, we definitely wont have anything to eatter."


    This corpse was a middle-aged woman with arge body. I squatted down and rubbed my face, "Are you serious?"


    "Do we have any other choice?"


    I actually hesitated for a whilethe darkness here had forced me into a situation where I no longer resembled a humanbefore shouting to the top, "Is anyone there?"


    The light hole in the sky was very high and my voice echoed, so I wondered if the person at the top could even hear it.


    "Were hungry, throw some food down!" After I shouted this, Fatty fired a shot at the sky.


    There was no response from above.


    I nced at Poker-Face. At this height, we could parachute down, so maybe we could climb up now, go out for some supplies, and thene back down again? I also really wanted to bathe my whole body in sunlight.


    Poker-Face took his shlight and went around to check for a climbing route, but the more I watched him, the more heartbroken I felt.


    Not only was this a free solo climbing<sup>(2)</sup> route without any insurance measures, but when you climbed more than ten meters up, youd start to see an inverted angle. If you weren''t a professional climber, then climbing up would basically be suicide.


    But Poker-Face soon discovered a safety anchor in the crevice of a rock.


    Xiao Hua, I said.


    Xiao Hua had climbed here. He was the cautious type, so he would''ve definitely climbed here and tried to set up an outpost.


    But the question was, did he seed?


    I had seen Xiao Hua''s rock-climbing skills many times before, so I knew he wouldnt have failed unless there was some kind of special danger.


    He wouldnt even use these safety anchors, so they must have been used by his teammates after he paved the way. In other words, Xiao Hua must have set up safety anchors all the way up to the hole.


    We immediately went to find our own standard rope. I nced at Poker-Face before handing him the carabiner on the other end of my rope.


    He buckled it onto his mountaineering belt so that he and I became grasshoppers on the same rope. Then, he attached Fattys rope to his belt as well.


    He was the only one who could hold the bronze piece, so he had to stay in between Fatty and me. If not for that, he wouldve been the one leading.


    Jin Wantang''s body was very light now, so Fatty also buckled him with a safety rope and dragged him behind us. With that done, we started climbing using Xiao Hua''s safety anchors.


    The three of us could only stick very close to each other, so we often needed to add safety anchors to ensure that the three of us had enough pivot room. The three of us hardly spoke, but the only thing in my heart at this time was that one inch of light overhead.


    The process was very difficult, but the narration of such a cumbersome activity would be too boring so Ill skip over it. It took us five hours to climb only a tenth of the way, but I was already sweating all over. I looked down but couldnt see anything besidesplete darkness. When I looked up, however, I saw a dead body buckled to a safety anchor about six or seven meters away.


    The body hung there, wearing a modern jacket. I didn''t know how this person had died, but I was shocked by the sight and thought to myself, <em>please, please, please dont be an acquaintance</em>.


    That inch of sunlight was still out of reach and didnt seem close at all. When we climbed up, I shined my shlight on the corpses face.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Shituolin () is also known as Cool Grove. Its a forest burial method that leaves the corpse exposed on like a steep bank in the woods. It can also be called shmashana or mana in Hindu.


    (2) I used the rock-climbing term free solo climbing since they wouldn''t be using any ropes or protective equipment. Its just them climbing the rock with their hands and feet. Info on different rock-climbing terms here.

 Book 4: Chapter 37: Strange Situation

    Book 4: Chapter 37: Strange Situation


    With the three of us dragging Jin Wantang''s body behind us, we approached the hanging corpse. This corpse was also severely dehydrated and light, but I felt a little calmer when I didn''t see any pink on it. It did have Xiao Huaspany logo on its clothes, however.


    When I climbed up next to the body, I saw that it was a withered female corpse hanging there with a rope around her neck. She appeared to be Mongolian, so she was probably a local guide.


    Fatty, seeing that I was silent, also remained silent. He probably didn''t want to hear the bad news. "Its a stranger. A woman, I said. She was in Xiao Hua''s team."


    I climbed up so that they coulde up and see for themselves. The safety anchor here was upied by the corpse, so I found a gap and made a temporary movable anchor.


    Fatty quickly passed the corpse and said, "This was a suicide."


    The probability was high, because if it was an ident, the rope would have been around her waist instead of her neck.


    There was a question lingering in my heart: What happened? But I no longer had the energy to ask. The three of us were silent for a while as Poker-Face searched the body. He ended up finding a notebook, a cell phone, a shlight, ammunition, and a pack of high-calorie hardtack. Then, he used his knife to cut the rope off of the corpse.


    When the body fell, he buckled his own carabiner on the anchor the corpse had just been upying.


    "Signal re." When he said this, he threw the re he had found on the body to Fatty.


    "Don''t you want to save it?" Fatty asked.


    Poker-Face looked up. He must have seen something, and I only hoped that we could see it too.


    Fatty set the re off and illuminated the area above us. We could see that there were a lot of anchors on the cave wall above, but there were six or seven bodies hanging from the ones further ahead.


    There was a particrly ominous feeling in my heart as I realized that these bodies looked the same as the one we saw just nowthey had all hanged themselves.


    Why did theymit suicide while climbing?


    What was going to happen next?


    But a momentter, I saw a strange situation. The signal re kept going up and then slowly fell back down. I looked down and saw the re kept falling and falling until it eventually disappeared into the darkness.


    "Mr. Nave, have we really climbed that high?" Fatty asked.


    I picked up a glow stick and threw it down. I had a general idea of how high we had climbed, so we should have definitely been able to see the glow sticknd on the ground. But the glow stick also fellpletely into the darkness and then disappeared without a trace.


    I looked up again and saw that that inch of sunshine was still out of reach. It was like we werent any closer to it at all.


    "Somethings wrong," I said faintly and looked at Poker-Face.


    "Check all the bodies first," he said to me. I nodded.


    We continued climbing up and quickly checked all the hanging bodies. They were all members of Xiao Huas team, but I didnt see ck sses or Xiao Hua among them.


    Every time I looked at a face, my poor heart felt like it was gutted.


    Fatty emptied their pockets while chanting some prayers and it wasnt long before we saw a hanging tent bed beside the topmost body.


    The bed was very professional and sturdy, so I climbed onto it. There were also a lot of hanging chairs beside the bed so that I could rest for a bit.


    The three of us looked forfortable positions. I felt a terrible pain in my back when I sat down, but Fatty found a chair and fell asleep immediately.


    The journey up here had been exhausting.


    Poker-Face came over to me and handed me the notebook.


    I took it, turned on the light that came with the tent, and nced at the huge ck nothingness in front of me. As I began reading the notes, Poker-Facey down and began to doze. The atmosphere was very silent.


    In fact, there was more than one notebook since Xiao Hua''s team were all well trained and everyone carried a notebook with them. But this girl''s notes were a little more detailed.


    When I opened it and flipped to the first page, I saw a sketch of Xiao Hua, along with some words written in the margins: The boss is really good-looking.


    The second page was a sketch of ck sses, along with the words: The second boss is also good-looking.


    I smiled bitterly. They were all lovely people, but all of them had died after encountering a desperate situation in this God-forsaken ce. This business was so cruel.


    It took me an hour to read through this notebook, which recorded in detail everything Xiao Hua''s team had experienced. After reading it, I had a somewhat confused understanding of the whole thing.

 Book 4: Chapter 38: Master Hua

    Book 4: Chapter 38: Master Hua


    The woman was a Mongolian citizen, but she was born in Inner Mongolia. She was educated in Inner Mongolia before the age of twelve and spoke very good Chinese. She was probably married to someone in Mongolia and became the teams guide because her Chinese was good.


    Based on a photo I saw in the notebook, she must have been a very fit woman before she died and became a dehydrated corpse. I figured she couldve easily incapacitated me by putting me in a chokehold.


    When she applied for the job, Xiao Hua and the others flew directly to anbaatar to meet her, and Xiao Hua talked with her seriously for several hours.


    The pay was very high and she had rich experience in cave exploration since she had taken people to explore several caves in the Tavan Bogd Mountains in the Mongolia-Altai region.


    In her notes, she kept marveling at the fact that the pay was so high. Her contract should have ended when she brought them to the Sea of ck Lights, so I didnt know why she had followed Xiao Hua and the others so far.


    After entering the grasnd, most of the pages were dedicated to the two bosses, whose physical fitness was quite amazing. It was because of this that I was able to get a general understanding of Xiao Hua''s state.


    Xiao Hua was very reticent during the whole journey, which was very abnormal considering how he usually got along with people on the surface and rarely gave people such a gloomy feeling. Moreover, he had been using a kind of Chinese divination tool known as Qimen Dunjia, but the woman didnt know what he was looking for.


    Secondly, there was a subgroup in Xiao Huas team that had been carrying an iron cage the whole way. This cage wasnt very tall and waspletely wrapped in ck cloth, but this Mongolian woman knew that there had to be a living thing in it. She thought that it was a big dog.


    The second boss had constantly been trying to get the big boss to rx a bit, and the Mongolian woman kept hearing the following sentencese up in their conversation: What was predicted at that time may not have necessarily happened. After all, we havent seen it with our own eyes.


    I couldnt even begin to guess what these sentences meant now, but it didnt sound particrly good.


    When they arrived at that first grove, the other teams hadnt arrived yet, but their goal was very clear so they moved on without hesitation. But in the few days before and after Past Life Forest, Xiao Hua had been directing his people to use Luoyang shovels to dig holes in the grasnd. It seemed like he was persistently looking for something underground.


    These were just details in a notebook, so I needed to use them to piece together Xiao Hua''s thought process in the future.


    The Mongolian woman once talked with Xiao Hua and asked him what he was looking for when he entered the grasnd, but Xiao Hua just gave her a vague answer:


    A long time ago, his master predicted the possibility of something happening, but it didnt ur even after many years had passed. He originally thought that it wouldn''t happen, but just a few weeks ago, he met someone whose appearance meant that the possibility his master had predicted actually did happen.


    Since that was the case, he had to handle this matter properly ording to his master''sst wishes. That was why he came here.


    Xiao Hua''s master was Er Yuehong, one of the core figures of the Nine Gates.


    Er Yuehong had predicted the possibility of something happening, but what exactly was it? My grandpas records of Er Ye were far less than those of Fo Ye, so I had no way of figuring it out.


    Moreover, was the person Xiao Hua met a few weeks ago Xia Wen?


    Was Xia Wen also just a sack of skin that Qi Yu was hiding in?


    And the iron cage? I found it strange. What was in the iron cage? Was it Qi Yu?


    Did Xiao Hua bring Qi Yu here?


    But why put him in an iron cage? Did they catch Qi Yu or was the iron cage originally empty and they brought it here in order to catch Qi Yu and bring him back?


    It seemed that Jin Wantang really did introduce Xia Wen to Xiao Hua at that time, but what happened afterwards was beyond anything I could imagine.


    I flipped a page of notes over and saw a sketch on the back of it. It was Xiao Hua wearing Peking Opera clothes and dancing at the Corpse Countrys underground banquet.


    He was all alone and wearing a strange crown on his head, which I had never seen before.


    His whole costume looked like it was very heavy, but I just couldnt seem to figure out which role he was ying. He was probably either ying a new role or a self-created one.


    Everyone else was watching from a distance and I could even see the cage that was covered with a ck cloth.


    This scene surprised me, because based on my previous analysis of Xiao Hua''s footprints, I knew that he had been carrying a heavy load. I just thought that he was dancing with ck sses on his back, but as it turned out, he was wearing arge set of equipment.


    This was a very unusual thing to bring on an expedition, so I couldnt help but think that Xiao Hua knew early on that there was such a connection and prepared ordingly.


    Bringing such troublesome clothes could only be an orthodox ritual to entertain the gods.


    When I turned to the next page, I saw the corridor we had walked down before, which contained tens of thousands of strange corpses that were bestowed the status of gods. The Mongolian woman had sketched many of the bodies, but the focus of the drawing on this page was a particr body in one of the niches.


    It was a well-preserved ancient corpse of a young man with earrings. All of his limbs were fixed in a cocoon-like shape with a hemp rope and there was a big, empty hole in his chest. There was also a ring-shaped sun-wheel decoration on his back, which must have been a special decoration signifying his rank.


    I was a little shocked when I saw this, because I remembered that some of the niches in that corridor had been empty. Was something like this sitting in those niches before? Were they taken away by Qi Yu?


    It was impossible for this corpse to transform since the chest was hollowed out, but did that mean Qi Yu had burrowed into it?


    Since this was an ancient corpse, there wouldnt be any mechanisms inside of it, so if Qi Yu was a monster wearing a human shell, how did he do it? Either he made the mechanisms himself and controlled it all on his ownmaybe as long as there was human skin, he could make a skin suit out of itor we just didnt know what his real physiological structure was.


    In the margins of these sketches, the Mongolian woman wrote: That subgroups iron cage got stuck at the entrance of the corridor, making it difficult to enter. She didnt see the cage after that, so it appeared that they had left it outside.


    This seemed to indicate that they werent here to catch Qi Yu. In fact, it looked like Xiao Hua may have actually brought Qi Yu here, because there was no way he could abandon the cage if he wanted to catch something.


    So did this mean that after entering this corridor, Qi Yu was free? Did he escape and find himself a new body?


    Was he a hermit crab?


    <em>Where is he now?</em> I asked myself. I couldn''t shake the feeling that he wouldn''t be too far away from us.


    The records became more and more illegible after that, and when I saw Xiao Hua''s sketch before the big ck spot, I suddenly felt like this was a send-off procession.


    It was just too simr.


    This was a team sending off a sacrifice to marry an ancient god; it was just that the bride in this case was a man. There were still many desperadoes in the team, and I finally saw a lot of weapons in the sketch.


    <em>Are you going to kill Yamata no Orochi?</em><sup>(1)</sup> I asked in my heart. <em>Then what are we? Dessert?</em>


    I checked to make sure that Fatty and Poker-Face had both fallen asleep before I secretly pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a few puffs. Then, Iy down and switched positions so that my head was by Poker-Faces feet before using my peripheral vision to look at the darkness around us.


    A splendidly dressed bride acted as a sacrifice, brought along an armed team and a monster, and went deep into the realm of the ancient gods. They must be doing this to kill a god.


    What did Er Yuehong predict? What vengeance did he seek against the ancient gods?


    As I continued to read the notebook, I saw the following text: "I insisted oning in. I couldn''t resist my curiosity. Aftering in, the boss told us the truth about this expedition."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Yamata no Orochi, or simply Orochi, is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent. Info here.

 Book 4: Chapter 39: The Nine Gates and the Zhang family

    Book 4: Chapter 39: The Nine Gates and the Zhang family


    Here is a figurative discussion of Er Yuehongs prediction from that time. If you dont understand it, you can skip this section directly since not all situations need to be understood in order to make sense of this matter.


    Poker-Face and the Nine Gates came to an agreement back then, but in the end, the Nine Gates didnt abide by this agreement and Poker-Face did. This breach of trust eventually led Poker-Face to entering the bronze door. I always felt that if I hadn''t used the remaining power of the Nine Gates over the past ten years to finally honor this agreement in another way, Poker-Face might have been forced to serve as a gatekeeper for generations.


    With his character, he might have really borne that burden for eternity.


    In the Nine Gates, Er Ye was a rtively soft person while the women were very tough. In fact, Er Ye''s character was far different from others. Even Xiao Hua had been influenced when he studied under Er Ye, because his style was also geared more towards self-sacrifice and heavymitment.


    Er Ye''s heavymitment was an excellent story, so during those ten years, I wasn''t the only one who worked hard. Its very difficult for me to describe exactly how much Xiao Hua had helped me during that time, but he never hesitated even though he always had a pessimistic attitude during the whole process. This was all because Xiao Hua also acknowledged the promise made with the Zhang family at that time.


    But I didnt me the other families, either. The rtionship between the previous generation of the Mystic Nine and the Zhang family brought about a nightmarish experience. Zhang Qiling''s great power didn''t protect them, so it was understandable that they felt differently than I did and came to a different decision than I did.


    At that time, it was spected that the Zhang family maintained the world order through some strange mechanism, and the Wang Family destroyed the Zhang family through artificial means so as to return free will to the world.


    After that, people from the Wang family tried to rece the Zhang family, but they didnt achieve great sess. I felt like thest thing the Wang family did was more like ying house. They deceived themselves into thinking that they were interfering with everyone''s fate, but in fact, I personally felt that a sense of freedom had returned to the world.


    But no one had ever addressed a certain question: if, like elementary particles<sup>(1)</sup> being destroyed, both the Wang and Zhang families disappeared and Wang Zanghai''s dream came true, what would happen next?


    To put it simply, what would happen when no one guarded the door anymore?


    At that time, I honestly never thought about the problem of what came next; I only focused my attention on that first level. After all, the biggest problem was obviously the Wang family, so after they were taken care of, Poker-Face didn''t have to go inside the door.


    In any case, Poker-Faces attitude seemed to be the same and I hadnt noticed anything strange happen after so many years had passed.


    But Er Yuehong believed that there must be a huge and unknown mechanism behind the rtionship between the Zhang family''s magical mechanism and the bronze door.


    This was also the reason why the Zhang familys archives mechanism was so strong back then. The Southern and Western Archives, along with the overseas Zhang family system, still operated for many years even after the main branch of the Zhang family disappearedpletely. Even Zhang Da Fo Ye, who originally left the Zhang family, assumed responsibility for his lineage and took over the Central Archives, which showed that the Zhang family members knew in their hearts that something would happen.


    The mission of these Archives was to indiscriminately wipe out all the bizarre events in the world, which was obviously an attempt to prevent something from happening.


    As a result, Er Yuehong believed that there might be one final event.


    Not only did this whole matter have something to do with the Zhang familys origins, but it also had something to do with the bronze door. But it happened so long agoprobably at least 3,500 years agothat no one could describe it clearly.


    It could be said that the whole story had an absolute cause, and when everything fell silent, this cause would slowly appear. In fact, the first signs of it could appear in any situation. Every single one of the Zhang familys Archives were still operating during that period of time when the Wang familypletely destroyed them because they were monitoring any situation in the world that might be a sign of this cause.


    As a matter of fact, it should have already begun by now.


    Xiao Hua told the Mongolian woman that he had been using Qimen Dunjia to look for the "location of the cause" and discovered that it was in the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    At that time, three of the nine families thought that the Nine Gates should set up an early warning system for this matter, and the key yer would be the Qi family. But the situation was extremely confusing at that time, the Zhang family seemed invincible, and the Wang family was only a concept. As a result, this matter wasnt discussed too much.


    Those three familiesled by Er Ye, Ba Ye, and Jiuyewere the gentlest families in the Mystic Nine. As a matter of fact, only Jiuye and Xiao Hua were the talents of their generation and thest person in Ba Yes family line had long lived overseas, so this alliance should exist in name only.


    But did the alliance from that time still y a role today? Was this the reason why Qi Yu came back? What did they foresee?


    I figured Qi Yu was the one who knew the most, so did hee back to solve this problem? Or, did he want to use this problem to achieve his own goals?


    What was the final event? Why did Xiao Hua have to wear gorgeous clothes like he was in a bridal procession or about to be interred? And why did he use a primitive religious ritual for sacrificing to the gods in order to send himself to the depths of the mountain? The primitive Bon religion entertained gods in an extremely bloody wayinternal organs and human heads were the main sacrificesso was that gorgeous costume what the shaman used to wear?


    If we followed the ssification of the primitive Bon religion, this ancient god rted to mountains was called Nyian in Tibet.


    For example, Nyainqentanglha Shan.<sup>(2)</sup>


    Was sacrificing yourself the only way toe face-to-face with this Nyian god?


    What about the three of us?


    There were many questions floating around in my head, but in the end, this Mongolian woman who was just an outsider to this whole thing clearly wrote the answers in her notes, which made me feel very at ease.


    If it were my Uncle Three, I figured Id be even more confused after reading it.


    Anyway, I really hoped that my friends would turn out to be fine. I actually felt a little relieved since Xiao Hua and the others were so well prepared, but with such a direct way of offering sacrifices to the head god, I couldnt help but think that Xiao Hua had made a desperate move. <em>ck sses,</em><em>this is your absolute domain. ording to you, your ability surpasses Poker-Face in this kind of ce. I hope you werent lying.</em>


    Then, Xiao Hua and his team went deep into the gap and began to move forward in the dark. Xiao Hua left that walkie-talkie behind with the recording on it, but the woman didn''t know why. Shortly after that, they entered the dragon vein and encountered something extremely strange.


    When the woman was keeping watch, she always saw her feet hanging in the air, floating in one ce.


    It seemed as if the darkness under her feet was a deep abyss.


    She would find herself in this state when she was absent-minded, but she would quickly recover when she came back to her senses.


    She thought that it was too dark here, which made her feel like she was flying.


    Only someone who read this notebook now would know that that wasnt the case. In fact, I believed that what she was seeing was the situation that would happen after she was hanged.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Ugh, science. In particle physics, an elementary particle is a subatomic particle with no substructure, i.e. its notposed of other particles. Its as basic as you get.


    (2) What I have is the Chinese spelling for it but it can also be Nyenchen Tanglha Shan. In the Tibetannguage, Nyenchen means big god and Tanglha means mountain on the hignd. Shan in Chinese just means mountain by the way.

 Book 4: Chapter 40: Cant Go Up or Down

    Book 4: Chapter 40: Cant Go Up or Down


    They continued moving forward, but I was surprised to find that they split into two teams during the subsequent journey. Xiao Hua, ck sses, and their team continued to move forward while their second team was responsible for setting up outposts.


    Some of Xiao Huas men were waiting aboveground, so Xiao Hua said that if he found any chance to reach the surface, he would use any means necessary to leave this world below the mountain, even if it was in the middle of the journey. Then, he would use his GPS to notify the team on the surface. After that, arge reserve team would gather from all over the country and enter from the middle entrance instead of entering through the worlds second most valuable tomb.


    This was also Xiao Huas backup n since he knew from the very beginning that there would be a shortage of supplies in the middle of this adventure.


    I looked at the light above my head. It was already starting to fade, which meant that the sun was going down.


    This was the spot. This was where Xiao Hua had to get out by any means necessary.


    But it had been a long time since Xiao Hua had entered and they hadnt received any GPS signals. This either meant that there wasnt a way aboveground or an ident had urred.


    As they waited outside, they received a satellite call from ck sses, just like we did. They also thought it was amazing, but they didn''t have my natural awareness of strange things. That call immediately prompted them to enter the depths of the dragon vein to support Xiao Hua.


    So, they set out immediately and traveled the whole way. But after going so far, almost everyone began to have visions of being suspended in the air. They quickly reached the spot below, but by that timewith the exception of the Mongolian womaneveryones mental fortitude had copsed.


    They all had the skills to climb, so everyone was determined to return to the surface from here. And just like us, they all began to climb up.


    The first five hours of climbing were fine, but after they stopped to rest for the first time, they also discovered that it seemed as if they werent any closer to the sunlight even though they had climbed for so long.


    At this time, a very strange thing happened between them.


    The Mongolian girl was essentially the only one to discover it while the others didnt notice at all, which was also the weirdest part of it.


    I need to take some time to exin this weirdness.


    First of all, when they took a break from climbing for the first time, the Mongolian girl drew a group portrait of all the team members. It was a sketch of about seven people hanging on the cliff, and each person''s name was urately marked below the sketch. Based on this, we could rule out any possibility that there were more than seven people in this team.


    There were four simr group sketches behind this first sketch, but if you looked carefully from the second one on, you would find that there were now eight people in the group portrait.


    If there wasnt a final record in the notebook, I would have simply thought that someone was missing from thest sketch. But in thest passage, the Mongolian girl suddenly discovered the problem herself and wrote a few words in her notes.


    "I think there seems to be one more person in our team. Im fully aware of this person and know everything about him, but I can''t find him in my previous sketches nor can I find him in the photos we took along the way. Its as if he joined us after we climbed the cliff, but how is that possible? Where did hee from? Did hee out of the stone crevices in the cliff?"


    "I asked the others, but no one else found it odd. I was the only one who found it odd."


    "I keep feeling like this person wasnt in our team before we climbed the cliff, and the feeling is only increasing. I feel like I didnt know him at all before our team climbed up. He definitely wasnt in the team, but now Im very familiar with him. Why is this happening? When did he appear?"


    "I remember that theres a type of bee that can mix in with other species of bees. It secretes a hormone that makes the other bees think its the same species as them and then it feeds on them. It kills the original queen bee, reces the queen, and begins to destroy the whole bee colony little by little from the inside out."


    "I told Old Liu that I thought this person wasnt a member of our team, but he just made fun of me. Before we took a break today, I saw this person secretly giving me a vicious look."


    After this sentence, there was a sketch of an extremely inconspicuous manthe resentment on his face could almost be felt through the pagesalong with the words: bee man.


    I touched my chin. The Mongolian womans writing style was very clear. In fact, most people wouldnt understand it, but she enabled me to understand it very simply.


    I looked at the crevices in the nearby stone. I had thought that the climb here was a vertical ghost hitting the wall at most, but I didn''t expect it to be so bizarre.


    As I flipped through the rest of the notebook, I didnt see any more notes. The rest of the pages were all nk, as if the Mongolian woman had stopped writing from that night on. Thest bit of information was that sketch of a strange man with an average face.

 Book 4: Chapter 41: Keep Going Up

    Book 4: Chapter 41: Keep Going Up


    I spent some time reading several other people''s notebooks, which contained some photos and professional data records. There were geologists and folklore researchers among the team members, so there was a lot of data and theories about the worlds second most valuable tomb and the strange ck rocks here. But since they were too technical, I won''t repeat them here.


    I could see the bee man in the photos, all of which had been taken when the team was on the cliff. And sure enough, this man couldnt be seen in any of the photos taken before they had started climbing.


    In the photo, this person looked a little dark, was very unremarkable, had some Mongolian traits, and wasnt very tall. But he looked as if he had an unspeakable cunningness about him.


    Under such circumstances, I had to fully believe the Mongolian womans words in the notebook. We didnt know what had happened after her notes suddenly stopped, but I did know that all of them were hanged here.


    After Fatty woke up, I asked him and Poker-Face to study this notebook carefully while I slept for a while. After waking up, I found that the spot of light in the sky hadpletely disappeared and it was now night outside.


    Fatty came up with a n and asked me, "Should we set up a mechanism? For example, we give ourselves a note with the following guidelines written on it: if we meet any strangers while climbing, well shoot them directly, regardless of whether were familiar with them or not. In this way, if the other party really is a bee man, its useless to confuse us because well just kill it when we see the note."


    "What should we do if there are people in Xiao Hua''s team on the cliff? I countered. Well end up killing good people by mistake."


    "Isn''t there a photo? Can the photo help us?"


    I shook my head. My instincts were telling me that the bee man in the photo should have a different face every time it appeared.


    If its face was the same, then it would be easy to use Fatty''s method. All wed have to do is carry a picture of it on our bodies with the following words written on the margins: Kill if you see it.


    Since the three of us had such a tacit understanding, wed be likely to kill it as soon as we encountered it, but if it had a different face, then that meant that there were many other possibilities.


    "Then what can we do to determine whether hes Xiao Hua''s man or the bee man?" Fatty asked.


    "The notebook says that the bee man makes people feel that it was originally among them, I said. So, is it more likely to be a fourth person whos been following us instead of bing a member of Xiao Huas team?"


    Fatty thought about it for a while and then looked at Poker-Face, "Little Brother, what do you think?"


    Poker-Face just sniffed the notebook and handed it to Fatty, who also sniffed it and looked at me, "Did you smoke?"


    I sighed and raised my hands in surrender. Fortunately, Fatty didnt pursue the matter any further and just heaved a big sigh.


    In the end, Fatty wrote on our faces: It''s just the three of us. If a fourth person appears, its a monster whos mixed in among us. Kill the bastard.


    We looked absolutely ridiculous since there were so many words, but once that was done, the three of us kept climbing. Fatty still didnt think it was any good since it looked like a joke, so he wiped the word bastard off and wrote on his neck: This is not a joke.


    After thinking about it, I secretly set an rm on my phone for two hourster and even wrote a special reminder on the rm.


    As we continued to climb up, nobody spoke the whole way. The area above us was dark and it was impossible to judge the distance, so I just kept climbing while periodically looking up and down to see if any strange people had appeared.


    After about an hour, our strength was exhausted again so we stopped to rest. I counted the number of people and found that it was still just the three of us. I couldnt help but wonder if nothing strange had happened because there were too few of us.


    ****


    <strong><em>It''s that wonderful time of year againFOOTBALL TIME BABY!!! Needless to say, Saturday updates may or may not happen depending on game time/how sober I am hahaha. Also had a good chuckle at Poker-Face ratting Wu Xie out like that. Til next time lovelies~~ </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 42: Third Installment

    Book 4: Chapter 42: Third Installment


    None of us spoke as we rested there, but after a while, Fatty eventually asked, "Where''s the little bee?"


    I wiped the sweat off of my face and found that the ink on Fatty''s face was soaked with sweat and had smeared into a big mess that made it look like his face was painted. I figured I was probably in the same situation, so I took out my pen and tried to write the words again. But when I did, I found that the oil-based pen couldnt write on my greasy face.


    "Is it possible that were too greasy, so it doesn''t want to mess with us?" I asked Fatty.


    "I don''t think so. I think its more likely that our specs are high, so theyll want to dispatch their queen bee," Fatty responded.


    Rationally speaking, I didnt think it was possible.


    "Maybe bringing that bronze piece with us is keeping this strange situation in check? Fatty continued. I think this whole thing is just a massive hallucination. And in the hallucination, I came to this dragon vein and endured many experiences."


    We were in a very tense situation right now, so emotionally speaking, I figured that it was possible. But in many stories, this kind of thing was usually


    the embodiment of some ancient powers consciousness. I forgot which movie I saw it in, though.


    This kind of power would make people hang themselves, so it was probably extremely evil.


    As we were talking, Poker-Face suddenly made a pi" sound and directed our attention to the ce he was looking at. When we turned to look, we saw that a row of shlight beams had appeared above us.


    "It''s here!" Fatty said. "The little bee is here." As he spoke, he grabbed his gun. "Fat daddy is here to collect some honey."


    I held his gun down and carefully looked up.


    I was amazingly familiar with Xiao Hua and the others, so just by looking at the arrangement of those shlights, I could tell right away that this should be his team.


    Xie Yuhua! I yelled while waving my shlight in the air. "It''s me!"


    But as soon as my voice fell, a bullet came flying down from above and scraped the side of my neck. I immediately shrank my neck back as Poker-Face pulled on my safety rope and lifted me up. "Turn off the shlight and move!" He whispered.


    We immediately turned off our shlights, let go of the rock wall, and let ourselves swing down. Each of our safety buckles pulled taut and ground us to an abrupt halt just as the firepower from above let fly and a dense cluster of bullets rained down on our previous position.


    When we looked up, we found that all of the shlights had been turned off. "Mr. Nave, do you see their tacit understanding?!" Fatty said.


    "I told you that something would happen!" I said to him before shouting above, "Xie Yuhua, don''t you want the third installment?!


    There were some things that only he and I would know. The firepower from above immediately stopped and I heard Xiao Huas voice say, "Why are you pretending to be Wu Xie? Weve already joined up with Wu Xie."


    I was stunned for a moment, and then I heard a strange, hoarse voice<sup>(1)</sup> with an ent shout from above, "I''m Little Master Three. I already joined up with them a long time ago, so save it! Youre just a mountain spirit that transformed into a monster."


    Stunned yet again, all I could think was, <em>where the fuck did you get this hoarse voice from? Why are you pretending to be me?</em>


    Poker-Face and I looked at each other, and then I said, "Xie Yuhua, what the fuck? Did you forget what your childhood friend looks like?"


    "Then turn on your shlight and let me have a look," Xiao Hua said.


    I looked at Poker-Face again and saw that he was already making a gesture which meant that we should follow him up andunch a sneak attack. Wed have to take the initiative first; otherwise, I was afraid that wed be stuck in a stalemate for a long time and it would be easy for the other party toe down and attack us.


    The other party could divide themselves up, but we could only act together because of the bronze piece, so we began to climb up slowly.


    Xiao Hua, seeing that we didn''t say anything, continued talking, "Don''t y any more tricks; it doesn''t work on us anymore. Our team won''t be parasitized again."


    We climbed up quickly, but since it was almost pitch ck here, we could only find the drop point and position of the safety anchors ording to Poker-Face''s quiet prompts.


    But as we closed the distance and I began to hear the breathing sounds of their team, I realized that there were many people.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I used hoarse, but the direct trantion is drake throat. Its a derogatory description of a low-pitched, husky voice that sounds like a quacking duck.

 Book 4: Chapter 43: Parasites

    Book 4: Chapter 43: Parasites


    My mind was racing, because the scent of gunpowder in the air was so heavy. It was obvious that these guys had brought a lot of weapons with them, so how could wemunicate with them peacefully? They were now like a group of frightened birds who wanted to destroy anyone who stirred up trouble.


    Moreover, there was this hoarse voice in Xiao Huas team who was calling himself Wu Xie. If they had been parasitized and already acknowledged that this person was Wu Xie, then my identity and social status were clearly in a terrible state.


    <em>What should I do?</em>


    In my mind, I tried toe up with a realistic n. Xiao Hua had very high academic qualifications, although I didnt know whether he went to school formally or did it by other means. In any case, he could remember most of the things he had learned, unlike me.


    Did he remember calculus?


    Assuming an extra person suddenly showed up for some unknown reason, what was his origin? Did the dragon vein conjure him up? If so, would he know how to do calculus?


    It didnt matter whether this was an illusion, a human conspiracy, or a freak born out of the treasures of heaven and earth. There was no way it could do calculus.


    As a college graduate, you should apply what you learned.


    I slowly retreated to one side, found the curvature of the mountain, and hid myself. Fatty pressed my hand with his hand as if to say, What are you doing?


    We stopped here because we were afraid that the other party wouldunch a sneak attack against us. At present, the other party didnt seem to have this n, but it would be dangerous if we got any closer. As a result, it was better for us to carry out any activities at this distance.


    At this time, I suddenly said, "Xie Yuhua! If you think Im a fucking fake, then answer one of my questions first. You can make a decision after that."


    The other side waspletely shocked when they suddenly heard my voiceing from so close, but I immediately threw my question out, "Can you tell me about the concept and nature of the infinite series of constant terms?"


    The other party was silent, so I shouted, "You said I was a fake! In that case, you have to first prove that youre real!"


    The risk was very high if both sides fired directly at this distance, so the other side also hesitated and didnt dare move rashly.


    After a while, Xiao Huas voice floated through the darkness, "Then recite Green''s theorem."<sup>(1)</sup>


    <em>Who can recite that thing?</em> I only had a vague shape of it in my mind, so I said, "There are two symbols in front of it that look like a ruyi scepter<sup>(2)</sup> and the back is very thick and solid."


    As soon as I said this, I heard the other side stand down and assumed Xiao Hua must have given them instructions. Then he said, "Although what you said is nonsense, you give a very vivid description." Then the shlight on his side turned on.


    I carefully poked my head out to take a look and immediately shrank back. In that brief moment, I saw Xiao Hua and his team, all of whom were half-hanging on the cave wall.


    I then stuck my head out again and took a careful look at Xiao Hua. He wore a tight mountaineering suit and his coat was tied around his waist. He didnt have any safety equipment, his hair was very long, and his beard had grown out. He was holding onto a crevice with one hand and using his other hand to hold his shlight.


    It was him alright.


    Xiao Hua also looked at me and said, "The addition of all items in the infinite series bes the infinite series of constant terms. The sum of the first n terms of the infinite series of constant terms is called the partial sum. Whether the nth term in a partial sum sequence has a limit when it approaches infinity or not can be determined by whether the infinite series converges or not. In other words, if the limit of the partial sum sequence exists, the series is said to converge. Otherwise, it diverges."<sup>(3)</sup>


    I gave a thumbs up and finally rxed before sweeping my gaze over his team, looking for the Wu Xie with the hoarse voice.


    "Hes not here, Xiao Hua said. It was just someone from our team disguised as you to confuse whatevers here."


    A little man behind him finally spoke up, "Little Master Three, Im sorry. We found that as long as we have a real and a fake identity, the probability of strange phenomena urring here is small. As a result, we have people here with two sets of identities."


    I didnt understand the logic and couldnt make sense of what I was hearing but decided to just forget about it. Xiao Hua was here, so what more could I ask for?


    We climbed over, but I noticed that Xiao Hua''s face changed as soon as Poker-Face appeared. "Don''t get angry, I said to him. This at least shows that were loyal enough."


    I discovered that ck sses wasnt in their team and asked, "Wheres ck sses?"


    Xiao Hua looked at Poker-Face with a veryplicated expression on his face and said to me, "Let''s talk about itter. We need to count the number of people first."


    As someone in their team started counting, he asked me, "How many people are in your group?"


    "Three," I said.


    "Are you sure it''s three people?" He looked at me with piercing eyes.


    "Its always been the three of us," I said to him.


    "Master Hua, theres no problem with the number of people, one of his subordinates said. But theyre carrying a body."


    Before he finished speaking, everyone suddenly became nervous. Fatty, who was still behind me, hid Jin Wantang''s body behind his back, "Dont worry. Tang Tang wont transform into a zombie."


    "Its not a matter of turning into a zombie," Xiao Hua said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Info on the theorem is here. Heres a pic of the form:


    (2) The ruyi scepter is a Chinese curved decorative object that serves as either a ceremonial scepter in Chinese Buddhism or a talisman symbolizing power and good fortune in Chinese folklore. A traditional ruyi has a long S-shaped handle and a head fashioned like a fist, cloud, or lingzhi mushroom. Info here.


    (3) Last time I took calculus was 11 years ago so I probably butchered this. Just look at this pdf doc if you need to.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh ho, I wonder if ck sses is leading the other team and they have a fake Poker-Face with them. But at least Xiao Hua''s safe now! </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 44: Strange Thing About Corpses

    Book 4: Chapter 44: Strange Thing About Corpses


    I asked Xiao Hua what he meant as Fatty protected Jin Wantang''s corpse for fear of it being taken from him.


    "Have you opened it?" Xiao Hua asked me.


    Generally speaking, after a body is wrapped up, it wont be opened for viewing and will be cremated as soon as you could make it outside. And judging from the weight of the dehydrated corpse right now, it was almost mummified and should look rtively scary.


    When I shook my head, Xiao Hua said, "I know you dont want to ept it, but if the body stays in this ce for a long time, strange things will happen. I hope youll get rid of it."


    I nced at Fatty, who shook his head. "Tell me about the situation and Ill consider it at my own discretion, I said. Generally, I wont consider discarding the body of one of mypanions."


    Xiao Hua used his shlight to take a look at the body on Fatty''s back. "I can''t tell what the situation is. The corpses here change without any rhyme or reason." He looked at the surrounding rocks and added, "This is where the dragon vein is located. ording to ancient theories, different dragon veins will cause corpses to change in different ways. This is something you ought to be aware of."


    When I nodded, he continued, "This is because the energy and surrounding mountains change as you move along the dragon vein. There are good and bad areas along the dragon, but youre now in the dragon vein itself. Theres no way to know the shape of the feng shui array for each area like you can if youre up top. Plus, the energy below is very chaotic so the changes in the corpses here are totally iprehensible."


    He leveled me with a look, "The bodies of those who came before us were opened for some reason and they turned into a lot of strange things that are very dangerous."


    I looked at Fatty again, but he just shook his head. "A Hua, I know youre the level-headed type, but if I abandon Tang Tang in this ce, I don''t think he can make it back."


    Xiao Hua sighed, "Then I suggest you open it and make your own decision after taking a look. If the corpse has dried up, you can take it with you. But if the body has changed, you have to make a choice."


    Xiao Hua''s people didn''t lower their guard at all, so I knew they must have suffered a loss before. I gave Fatty a look and he made an OK sign, which meant that he would checkter.


    Xiao Hua continued to look at Poker-Face as he said to me, "You all made a huge mistake ining here. The final oue is that youll receive the heavenly gift."


    "Weve found a solution," I said.


    "Thats what you think, Xiao Hua said. Do you really believe your enemy is as logical as you?"


    Xiao Hua and I were both very intelligent, but we did things in very different ways. I looked at him and signaled that I was willing to listen to him. He looked at Poker-Face''s bag and asked me, "Did you bring that stone in?"


    When I nodded, he said, "We also brought two in. At that time, there were a total of six stones in there. Did you give it much thought? These stones should have been something the Zhang family members brought with them to help themselves. They knew that they could only walk inside with this thing, but did you ever wonder why theymitted suicide in that ce?"


    "Why?" I asked.


    "I don''t know, either. Didnt you investigate when you came across this doubt?"


    At that time, I thought it was for the purpose of setting up a magical array or something, but now that I thought about it, the idea seemed a little stupid.


    Xiao Hua looked at the people in his team, "I have a theory. I don''t know what these stones are, but I dont think the Zhang family brought them in from the outside. Instead, I think they brought them out from the deepest part of this dragon vein." Xiao Hua turned and looked me in the eye, "When they were returning from inside the dragon vein, they suddenly decided not to take the stones out, but they chose tomit suicide."


    They didn''t abandon these stones because they knew that theyd be heavenly gifted without them, but they also didnt dare to take the stones outside.


    If that were true, then they could only live in endless darkness for the rest of their lives. Maybe they struggled for a long time before deciding to end this never-ending torture at that spot.


    But why didn''t they dare take the stones out?


    ording to Xiao Hua''s theory, these stones had their own terrible problems.


    I knew Xiao Hua wouldnt tell me just one of his theories, so I asked him What''s your conclusion?


    "My conclusion is that this is something only the Zhang family member behind you knows." Xiao Hua looked at Poker-Face, "I don''t know why, but you have a very deep rtionship with the bronze door. This whole incidentthis ceis full of a primitive atmosphere, but many of the details are rted to the Heavenly Pce. Does what happened here have anything to do with the bronze door?"


    Poker-Face looked at Xiao Hua and remained silent. "Is that huge ck spot the same thing as the huge bronze door?" Xiao Hua continued to ask.

 Book 4: Chapter 45: Answer

    Book 4: Chapter 45: Answer


    Xiao Hua had always been a very gentle person, so even though this question was asked very calmly, I was a little surprised to find that it seemed a bit aggressive. My emotions were veryplicated as I turned to look at Poker-Face. I didn''t like him being questioned, but what Xiao Hua said really was something I cared about.


    Anyone who entered this ce should be full of doubts, so if Poker-Face could give an exnation and clear up these doubts, it would undoubtedly be like suddenly throwing a ray of sunlight in this ce.


    Poker-Face looked at Xiao Hua and still didn''t answer.


    It seemed like he never had any intentions of mentioning this issue. Xiao Hua had probably figured it out at an earlier time and just sighed.


    Eventually, Poker-Face said, "It''s different from what you think."


    "But does this have anything to do with what you said about the Ultimate?" Xiao Hua continued to ask.


    When Poker-Face nodded, Fatty and I both froze in shock and then looked at each other in dismay.


    <em>Fuck me, theyre really rted?</em>


    Poker-Face didn''t exin any further, but he also had a doubtful expression on his face.


    What I was wondering was, if the ck spot and the bronze door were the same thing, then was it possible that an ancient civilization built a giant door over the ck spot in order to cut off its growth and prevent it from advancing any further?


    Was there also a crevice behind the bronze door that led to the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains?


    So what did Poker-Face do when he entered the bronze door? Was there anything at the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains? I had already prepared myself to never know what was behind that bronze door, but who would have thought Id get a clue now.


    "Is there anyone in front of you?" Poker-Face asked.


    He was asking Xiao Hua if there was an advance team that had gone deeper into this ce.


    "ck sses is still up ahead," Xiao Hua answered.


    "You go out first. The three of us will find him," Poker-Face said.


    "Hes already having problems," Xiao Hua said. "Its obvious his behavior isnt under his control." Xiao Hua looked around. "The stones here seem to be controlling him. You wont be able to find him and I can''t find him either. If theres no way to figure out whats going on here, Im afraid we may not even be able to get down from this cliff."


    "What the hell is going on? Why did you evene here? " I asked him.


    Xiao Hua looked at meI had never seen a sign of him hiding something from me before, but I saw it on his face just nowbefore turning to his team and saying, "Bring me one of the bronze pieces. You should clean up first and watch closely as Fat Master examines the corpse."


    Someone handed a bag to Xiao Hua, who immediately threw it to me, "You take it. Lets go up so we can chat privately."


    I took the bag and nced at Poker-Face. When he nodded at me, I began climbing up after Xiao Hua.


    We climbed all the way up to a spot three stories higher than our previous position and found a gap to ce a safety anchor in. Xiao Hua then hung the bag on another safety anchor before heaving a big sigh.


    The lights below were very hazy, almost like a dream.


    "Go ahead," I said to him.


    Xiao Hua silently made a gesture at me, which was the exact same gesture Jin Wantang had showed me before. I didnt know what it meant, but it seemed to represent something: the breaking of a pledge of confidentiality.


    "When your grandfather was cremated, you should remember very clearly that no one was allowed to watch or be near the incinerator," Xiao Hua said. "Your grandfather''s cremation took three times longer than ordinary cremations."


    Well, I knew that, but I didnt know what Xiao Hua was getting at by mentioning it.


    "Shigou Diao is an organization. When they die, they follow these rules. But not every family will abide by it. I bought a video of a Shigou Diao cremation. Do you want to see it? After you do, you can empathize with what Im going to sayter."

 Book 4: Chapter 46: Cremation Video

    Book 4: Chapter 46: Cremation Video


    Xiao Hua took out his cell phone and pulled up a video to show me.


    It was a video of an old man''s cremation. There were a lot of wreaths with inscribed streamers<sup>(1)</sup> on them that could be seen at the beginning of the video. Based on the text inscribed on those streamers, it appeared to be a memorial service for an old man who had simply died of old age. I could hear people in the background speaking in a dialect I wasnt familiar with. I could only guess the meaning of their words asionally, so I won''t emphasize the contents of these background noises in the following narrative.


    I didnt know the context behind the filming of this video; maybe naughty children and grandchildren were hunting for strange things, or maybe it was some kind of bizarre local custom. The reason I say this is because this memorial services setup was very chaotic and everyone mostly spoke in a dialect, which gave off the feeling that it was in a county town. After all, some funeral homes in county towns offered many strange funeral services in order to charge more.


    But when old people in the county passed away and held a memorial service, their descendants should belong to the more well-off or bureaucratic local families.


    And based on the different camera angles and the way it was filmed, I felt that this may have been a kind of service the funeral home provided. It was very simr to when amusement parks took your photos and then tried to get you to buy them at the exit. They filmed first without getting the consent of the ones being recorded.


    The video had been edited, so it was soon time for the cremation. The old man''s body looked normal, except for the extremely dense cluster of age spots on his face.


    In fact, these age spots gave me the sense that something was wrong, because there were just too many of them.


    The body was pushed into the incineratorit was a new one with a small window through which you could see the cremation processand then the rtives all retreated (not many people liked to watch corpses burn, after all). Then, someone started filming the little window.


    I watched attentively as the mes rose up. The video definition wasnt high, so it must have been taken with an older cell phone. The temperature was very hot, so the body began to burn all at once and the clothes also burned away.


    But at this time, I saw an amazing scene.


    The corpse quickly and suddenly turned around until it was half-lying up on its stomach and then looked through the small window.


    At that moment, I could see clearly that this corpses eyes were opened, but there wasnt any sign of its pupils. All I could see were the whites of its eyes. That face wasnt the face of a living personit was obviously a dead thingbut its movements were very swift and violent, as if it were stimted by something.


    But its facial expression was extremely cold and detached. Anyone who had ever seen a zombie would have a deep impression of its expression, because the expression on the face of a corpse was what one would call extremely lifeless.


    That was why I was so shocked, because this corpse suddenly got up on its stomach and moved way too fast.


    Its outeryer of skinpletely burnt up, quickly followed by the inneryer, which caused the flesh in many ces to be exposed.


    Most people have seen the anatomical map of the human body and know what a person looks like without their skin, so although it was scary, it honestly didnt give off a sinister feeling because it was something everyone had seen too often.


    But after the old mans skin was scorched off, his muscles were exposed, which was extremely scary.


    The facial features formed by the muscles under the old mans skin were all out of proportion, which definitely wasnt the kind of face youd see on an anatomical map. In the light of the fire, it was like I was seeing some other creature wearing human skin, but the human skin had been burned off at this time, revealing this creatures true face. I can''t describe it, but it definitely wasnt a human face. If I had to say it, though, I thought it looked a bit like an animals face. But it was some kind of extremely evil animal.


    This part of the recording all happened very fast, because the temperature of the mes was very high and all of the muscles were burnt ck and became indistinguishable.


    The cameraman finally reacted and started screaming loudly, but at this time, a voice spoke in Mandarin, "Dont panic. Its normal for it to move. The muscles arent dead yet, so theyll curl up naturally when its hot."


    At this time, the camera happened to be pointing directly at the incinerator and recorded a ckened mass hitting the small window.


    The cameraman was truly frightened this time and immediately moved away.


    The recording stopped here because the camera started to shake, indicating that the cameraman was obviously frightened. The background sounds were very chaotic.


    Xiao Hua rewound the video and showed me the burnt face. After looking at it carefully, there was no doubt that it was extremely scary. The uncanny valley effect had really reached its peak.<sup>(2)</sup>


    The face looked human for the most part, but there was something about it that looked almost animalistic. Since I had studied drawing and painting, however, I could directly figure out the logic behind it. Just like a babys forehead, if you were to draw a persons forehead wider, it would give off a cute feeling. The principle behind this was that the proportions were close to the baby.


    So the reason why this face looked like an animal''s face was because the position of the eye sockets had obviously moved up and the face had elongated. After the old man''s skin was burned off, it seemed like the muscles that controlled his facial features had all been dislocated by the abnormally long skull.


    It was obvious that the old mans body had started a strange metamorphosis before he died.


    I looked at Xiao Hua and asked myself, <em>did this also happen to my grandfather?</em>


    Xiao Hua said, "Shigou Diao was a special group of grave robbers at first. In order not to disturb the dead, they would eat the flesh of corpses before excavating a tomb in hopes of concealing their vital energy. Your grandfather was able to make a quick start in the Mystic Nine at a young age because he walked a crooked path. This strange energy was discoveredter and had a magical effect."


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Pinyin is wanlian (). Its a pair of parallel verses inscribed on streamers, used as funeral decoration. Looks like this:


    (2) The uncanny valley is a hypothesized rtion between an object''s degree of resemnce to a human being and the emotional response to the object. The concept suggests that humanoid objects that imperfectly resemble actual human beings provoke uncanny or strangely familiar feelings of eeriness and revulsion in observers. Info here. Heres a chart (were in the zombie level lol)


    ****


    <strong><em>Sorry this is sote today (and for bailing yesterday). I''ve been working 11 hour days and frankly, I''m exhausted. My optional overtime became mandatory and I want my freedom back </em></strong>o(TTo)<strong><em>. I can''t promise there will be updates tomorrow or Friday but I''ll certainly try. It depends on whether shit hits the fan right before I get off workagain. Hope everyone else''s week is going better than mine</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 47

    Book 4: Chapter 47


    The practice of eating ancient corpses to cover up one''s vital energy could currently be attributed to mere superstitionat least, there wasnt anything to support it theoreticallybut it was said that grave robbers back in the day really believed in it. In fact, the survival rate of Shigou Diao grave robbers was much higher than that of ordinary treasure hunters.


    Out of those in the Mystic Nine who could be verified as having been a member of Shigou Diao, there was no doubt that Chen Pi Ah Si should be one of them. He specialized in robbing fierce tombs and wasn''t the type to be deterred by such behavior. The controversial one, however, was Huo Xiangu. There were many people who believed that this was just a rumor spread to discredit her.


    Many people believed that smearing a womans reputation would do more harm to her than it would to a man. This came from the stereotype that women were bound to be easily hurt by rumors. But Huo Xiangu didnt care about this rumor and never paid attention to it, so there wasnt any information to prove whether it was true or not.


    After liberation happened and life became better, the number of Shigou Diao members became less and less and tomb-robbing gradually decreased. At that time, a rumor began to spread among the Shigou Diao members.


    This rumor was about living flesh, which was an urrence where you felt as if your flesh was alive and out of your control. After you fell asleep or lost consciousness, you would experience a situation simr to sleepwalking. But you would also have a very strange expression on your face.


    In fact, sleepwalking itself wasnt scary, but it definitely was if you unconsciously made some strange expression while you were doing it.


    Say, for example, after falling asleep, a mans wife notices him sit up in the middle of the night and make a strange expression. This expression looks very vivid, almost like the little mans expression on a Wangzai milk can.<sup>(1)</sup>


    The cartoon character looks cute, but if a real person were to do this in the middle of the night, it would definitely be terrifying.


    This phenomenon had been studied by many intelligent people who eventually came to the conclusion that the flesh was alive.


    In other words, these peoples flesh seemed to have be another creature.


    This conclusion was definitely inurate, but the emergence of such a disease spurred the Shigou Diao members to gather. Throughmunication, these old desperadoes not only hoped to find what caused this disease, but also to see if there was a cure for it. But after operating for so many years, the gap between people had be veryrge and several groups throughout the whole country were dealing with this matter. For some high-ranking people, the Health Bureau contacted experts from all across the country for consultations, but the local people could only find their own solutions.


    In the end, the rules they set were nothing more than the ones our family followed. The most important thing was that they had to be cremated and no one could watch.


    Among these various organizations, there was one that my grandfather joined. They created some code words and secret hand signs, including the gestures that Xiao Hua and Jin Wantang had shown me before. But don''t get me wrong, it didnt mean that they also ate human flesh.


    In the second generation of the Mystic Nine, there was a man named Qi Yu who was the only Shigou Diao member among his peers.


    The reason for this is unknown, but it was said that Qi Yu was very proficient in a number of skills, so no one knew whether he was merely experimenting or not. After Qi Yu took that pill in the Xisha undersea tomb, his bodys special physique seemed to show signs of a sessful experiment at first.


    Although it failed in the end, Qi Yus efforts led future experiments to focus in a certain direction.


    The Shigou Diao organization immediately ushered in a disaster, but these old dogs were very cunning and instantly disappeared among the masses without a trace. The only sign they left was that kind of gesture.


    But that gesture was also based on a special rule, which changed every year based on the special arrangement of the Twelve Sovereign Hexagrams.<sup>(2)</sup> They continued to search for a way to cure themselves, but they remainedpletely hidden while doing it. And the most amazing thing was that no one could seem to find them after they hid.


    It seemed that eating ancient corpses really did give them a special buff. These peoples disappearance wasnt a true disappearance, it was just that they had be extremely difficult to notice.


    First, I want to exin that theres no theoretical basis for this; its almost all just superstition.


    But this strange bodily sensation was indeed very obvious, so my grandpa was able to figure out that only those who were in Shigou Diao could be contacted by Shigou Diao. These people were the real "living dead" and the real invisible power.


    In many schemes after liberation, people who were in Shigou Diao yed a key role. It was a little overrated to say that Shigou Diao was an organization since it was actually just a group of old grave robbers. In order to connect with this organization, you needed to know the right gestures at that time.


    Of course, inter years, some people joined them who werent in Shigou Diao. No one knew what the Shigou Diao organization was like after the Mystic Nine declined, but their basic functions still existed, the most important of which was passing on messages.


    They had a very amazing service that involved many missing people. As long as it was rted to the Mystic Nine, if you believed that someone wasnt dead but you couldnt find them no matter what you tried, then you could try to find a Shigou Diao member and give them a letter to bring to the missing person.


    After that, you would almost certainly receive a reply from the missing person. For the Mystic Nine, missing often just meant that you had be a Shigou Diao and were hiding.


    The rtionship between Xiao Hua and this organization started when he deliberately contacted a member of Shigou Diao and sent a letter to Xie Lianhuan at that time.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Here''s a pic:


    (2) From the Book of Changes (aka The I Ching). More info on the Twelve Sovereign Hexagrams here.


    ****


    <strong><em>Yvette got the subs for the 2021 The Written World 817 Rice Music Festival. Link is here for anyone interested. It''s like 3 hours long so give her lots of love for ving over that bad boy. I would''ve just given up lol.</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 48: The Impossible Thing Happened

    Book 4: Chapter 48: The Impossible Thing Happened


    Its not important whether this Xie Lianhuan was the real Xie Lianhuan or Schrodinger''s Wu Sanxing, but since it was Xiao Hua''s narrative, Ill just refer to him as Xie Lianhuan.


    There was no clear evidence of what happened to him before, but I still recognized him as a "person".


    Of course, Xiao Hua used Shigou Diao many times before but well be focusing on this time in particr. Initially, he simply felt that it was strange: if the incident had been resolved and Xie Lianhuan was still alive, then why didn''t he show up? I was also very concerned about this problem. It was also the reason I had set up a memorial shrine for Uncle Three at home, because if there really wasnt a reason for him to not show up, then there was a high probability that he was already dead. It was a consequence I was willing to face.


    The way I saw it, it was better to light some incense first in case he really was dead. That way, he at least wouldnt go hungry.


    Xiao Hua was very clever, so he spent a long time thinking about how to write this letter in a way that would make the other party reply to him. I don''t know what kind of mental journey he went through to get there, but his letter didn''t mention anything about wanting to meet or wanting to know the truth. All he did was express his own doubts and talk about the changes that had taken ce in the external environment. He was, however, very casual and made an offhand remark in the text: If you need me to do anything else, just let me know.


    This was a very clever move. He was betting that the reason the other party didn''t show themselves for a long time was because there were still events that needed to be resolved. If someone was under pressure, there was a chance that theyd encounter urgent difficulties. And if Xiao Huas letter was delivered at such a time, the other party might be willing to turn to just about anyone for help.


    After all, humans were known for doing this kind of thing. In an emergency situation, the people around you who usually didnt look promising now looked capable and the people you didnt trust were now trusted.


    About half a yearter, he really did receive a reply. ording to him, he took several Valium before opening the letter. But after opening it, he found that the particrly thick letter actually didn''t contain a single word. Instead, there was a piece of dried flesh wrapped in the paper that had been sealed in the envelope.


    The meaning was very clear: If you want to help, be one of us.


    Xiao Hua was very cautious by nature while I was more impulsive about such things. If it were me, Id just rinse it off, boil it in some water, dip it in soy sauce, and then eat it. I didnt believe that it would taste that bad anyway.


    Xiao Hua, on the other hand, thought about it for a long time. He looked up some information and then called ck sses to discuss it. Im not exactly sure what happened, but in the end, ck sses ate it while Xiao Hua wasn''t paying attention.


    An image suddenly popped into my head of the two of them researching. Xiao Hua probably went to get some information, and when he looked back, he saw that there was nothing left. ck sses looked at him and hupped.


    Xiao Hua quickly skipped over the ensuing events, but the matter came to an end when the Shigou Diao members whoter joined up with him only recognized him as one of their own. Xiao Hua was very upset, but ck sses had his own considerations. Soon, ck sses disappeared.


    He seemed to have disappeared for about four months, but when he appeared again, he said to Xiao Hua, That thing your master told you aboutthat impossible thingmay have already happened.


    The ns those three families made back then needed to be put in action. There was no way for Xiao Hua to tell what exactly Shigou Diao was doing, but soon, those three families who had disappeared would appear again. You had to pay attention to anyone who made that gesture, as they could blend into the crowd to help you.


    When I heard this, I suddenly made a strange association.


    Qi Yu appeared and enticed Jin Wantang to start this expedition to the worlds second most valuable tomb and Xiao Hua went on this adventure without an ounce of hesitation because he knew what it meant.


    But the Hong family had normally stayed far away from these dubious affairs, so were they actually participating?


    Or, was ck sses actually a member of the Hong family? Then why did people call him Mr. Qi instead of Mr. Hong?


    Maybe the character for Qi was different than the one I was thinking of? Maybe he came up with the pseudonym by thinking along the lines of Hongqi? <sup>(1)</sup> Was he bullshitting us when he said he was a bannerman?<sup>(2)</sup>


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Qi Wu Xie was originally thinking of was  which can mean neat/even/level with/identical/simultaneous/all together. Now hes wondering if its  which can mean banner/g. Hong () can mean red so Hongqi () means red banner.


    (2) Per Tiffany:  means Bannerman. In China, this refers to a man who belonged to the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. The Eight Banners were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin and the Qing dynasty of China into which all Manchu households were ced. In war, the Eight Banners functioned as armies, but the banner system was also the basic organizational framework of all of Manchu society. Wiki Link here.

 Book 4: Chapter 49: What is the Impossible Thing that Happened

    Book 4: Chapter 49: What is the Impossible Thing that Happened


    Of course, these were all just my own subjective thoughts. In fact, even though Qi Yu had appeared, ck sses should also represent the Qi family, even though I didnt know what the real rtionship between him and the Qi family was.<sup>(1)</sup> Moreover, Xiao Hua actually represented both the Hong and the Xie families.


    Qi Yu, who provoked Jin Wantang into action, had no feelings for this industry, so he was able to take advantage of Jin Wantangs high prestige and lure many teams in. A lot of Shigou Diao members snuck into these teams and went to the worlds second most valuable tomb in order to resolve the matter of the impossible thing that had happened.


    When Qi Yu and Xiao Hua met, Qi Yu certainly encouraged Xiao Hua toplete the "n" the elders hade up with at that time so that they could resolve the "strange thing" that would happen after Zhang Qiling stopped guarding the bronze door. This so-called impossible thing was considered impossible because it was believed that no one could defeat the Wang family.


    When I heard this, I wanted to sigh and say, I''m really sorry, but I still couldnt help feeling a little proud of myself.


    Pitifully speaking, between what I was given and what Xiao Hua was given, I couldnt figure out which was more ridiculous: the mission to defeat the Wang family or the mission to destroy the unknown disaster that might happen in the post-Zhang Qiling era. I couldnt help but want to cry with him.


    Xiao Hua looked at Qi Yu at that time. Since he couldn''t understand Qi Yu''s true thoughts from his facial expressions, Xiao Hua took more than ten minutes to carefully listen to what Qi Yu had to say. That was when he realized that the other man had lied.


    Xiao Hua immediately felt that if the so-called impossible thing had happened, then it was all a scheme created by Qi Yuthis was just a big scam and he needed to use them for something.


    Or maybe this thing was real and Qi Yu had his own goal to aplish which was mixed in with everything.


    At this time, the hearing ve next to Xiao Hua discovered that the person in front of him had two heartbeats, one of which was very special. While Xia Wen was still talking, Xiao Hua suddenly ripped the other mans clothes and found that Xia Wen was extremely thin and hiding a strange little monster in his arms.


    Because of time constraints, lets briefly talk about the rtionship between Xia Wen and the little monster.


    First of all, it was clear that the little monster was Qi Yu and Xia Wen was actually the one who initiated the expedition to the worlds second most valuable tomb. How Xia Wen discovered Qi Yu and raised him is another story that wont be told here. All you need to know is that there was a problem with Qi Yu''s mind. He was very sensitive, narrow-minded, and showed a kind of shrewdness simr to that of a beast.


    Qi Yu would asionally talk, so Xia Wen heard a lot of information during their association with each other. As it turned out, Xia Wen initiated this adventure to the worlds second most valuable tomb for personal gain.


    He usually put Qi Yu on his body, but that made his body look deformed. If Qi Yu hugged him, however, then his body would look normal. His strange movements were actually a result of him carrying this little monster.


    He and Qi Yu were both Shigou Diao members, so it was easy to gain each others trust.


    Xiao Hua immediately caught Xia Wen, but in order to save his own life, Xia Wen warned Xiao Hua that the impossible thing had really happened.


    Logically speaking, Xiao Hua knew that it was impossible for Xia Wen to know if that thing had really happened. So, the reason why he kept calling it "that thing" was because even if many things had happened, you wouldn''t think it was rted to Zhang Qiling''s failure to guard the bronze door.


    There was no way to know which "thing" was being referred to.


    But Xia Wen used Qimen Dunjia in front of Xiao Hua to make a prediction, the result of which made Xiao Hua''s hair stand on end.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Just FYI, Wu Xies back to using the  Qi character.


    ****


    <strong><em>Thisis getting convoluted. I feel like I don''t know what''s going on anymore lol. Maybe it''s because so much time has psed between my uploads. I might need to go back and read thest 5 chapters in one go once Tiffany fixes them. Maybe it''ll make more sense then</em></strong> (())

 Book 4: Chapter 50: Qimen Eight Calculations Method

    Book 4: Chapter 50: Qimen Eight Calctions Method


    Interpreting divinatory diagrams was a very abstract concept since they wouldnt directly give you a readable answer like search engines would. As a result, there were many possible interpretations for the results youd end up getting.


    But because the abstract interpretation here was rted to the things we had experienced before, it may seem abstract to Xia Wen but very specific to Xiao Hua.


    The divinatory diagrams meaning was very clear: something came out of the door, but this thing was neither dead nor alive. Something extremely bad was going to happen.


    I didnt think it was necessary to guess too much about what kind of door this divinatory diagram was talking about; Id bet my life it was the bronze door. Legend had it that King Wannu came out of the bronze door, but we had already killed one Wannu so I figured it wouldn''t be that big of a deal if another monster hade out.


    In fact, there could have been another interpretation of what this thing the divinatory diagram was referring to was. Divination didnt only focus on real things, so it was possible for anything to show up while you were doing your calctions. This even included things like pieces of information or secrets, which were all things that could be ssified as neither living nor dead.


    I asked Xiao Hua for more details about this point.


    The so-called Qimen Dunjia that Xia Wen used wasnt the traditional divination method. I only realized now that the Qimen Dunjia they had been talking about was actually a special divination method of the Qi family called the Qimen Eight Calctions Method.


    Qi Tiezui had been living in seclusion in the mountains after experiencing all those events at that time. When he was feeling down, he decided to calcte the future, but what he saw must have been terrible. Reeling with the shock of it, he broke the rules set by his ancestors and passed on all of his crafts to a child who wasnt rted to him by blood.


    It was impossible to determine what exactly he saw, but on that day, Qi Tiezui had already seen the whole thing clearly.


    Although Er Yuehong didnt have any divination skills, he had also foreseen a certain possibility. Those two people, together with the Xie family, came up with a n, arge part of which was said to have been determined using the Qimen Eight Calctions Method.


    This n urately pointed out that the worlds second most valuable tomb was the key. Xiao Hua believed that the "thing" that came out of the bronze door was probably a monster, a piece of information, or a secret, any of which would be found in the worlds second most valuable tomb. Otherwise, the n those three came up with at that time wouldnt point to this tomb.


    There was also a very precise rule stipted in the n at that time: when implementing the n, all three familiesthe Qi, Hong, and Xie familieshad to be present. Such a strange rule was probably also set by the divinatory diagram.


    Xiao Hua put Xia Wen under house arrest and brought Qi Yu with him on this adventure, but he didn''t know if he counted as a Hong family member. The rtionship between the Hong and Xie families was actually very strange. The Hong familys elders still had a good rtionship with Xiao Hua, and they could even be seen as equals if we wanted to get specificafter all, Xiao Hua was Er Yesst disciplebut there was almost nomunication with the younger generation.


    It was said that the Hong family member in our generation was a girl, but no other information could be found. Xiao Hua passed the news on to the Hong family, but they didn''t respond so he figured that they no longer cared about these kinds of things.


    Now that I finally understood the whole story, there was only one question lingering in my mind. Jin Wantang had shown me a gesture before he died. I didnt know whether he had been a member of Shigou Diao, whether he had been bewitched by Xia Wen, or whether this gesture was to make hismunication with me seem more meaningful.


    Whatever the case, I didnt want to delve into these details now; Xiao Hua''s purpose was very clear. Back in those days, Ba Yes divination was considered nothing more than feudal superstition and Er Yes worries were regarded as an event with a very small probability of happening. But all of these things seemed to havee true, so now I was really curious as to what the Qimen Eight Calctions Method came up with back then. Was itpletely urate or was it just a mere coincidence or even a hoax?


    ck sses started having problems after they came in to this ce, but I told Xiao Hua to give me the detailster. Right now, I wanted to discuss with him what to do next.


    "Let me tell you whats going on with this cliff first," Xiao Hua said.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh sweet baby Jesus. Atst! Something finally makes sense! If I''ve calcted it right, we''ve got about 31 chapters to go til we''re caught up (unless the authores back from his break and starts whipping out chapters again)</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 51: There is No Retreat

    Book 4: Chapter 51: There is No Retreat


    In order to try and get to the exit where that tiny sliver of light was shining through, Xiao Hua''s group had divided into two teams and climbed up the cliff from two different directions. All of the members in one of the teams had died, and Xiao Hua had also encountered the same situation as themone extra person somehow appeared in the team without anyone noticing.


    They had been trapped on the cliff for more than a week. They continued climbing up during those first three days, but they never managed to reach the top. Based on how long they had been climbing, the height of this cliff definitely exceeded the height of a normal cliff. They had also spent two days trying to climb back to the ground, but as long as they tried that, some people in their team would end up dying. It seemed as if this cliff was forcing them to climb to the top, and in the end, they had to stop.


    "Could it be some kind of vertical ghost hitting a wall?" I asked him.


    He shook his head and then tilted it back to look up before saying to me, "If that were the case, wed keep passing by the same rocks on this cliff. But we could clearly see the changes in the rock strata at different heights as we continued climbing. We werent going around in circles, so its obvious that this cliff is just that high."


    "So if this cliff is really high, have we still not reached the top yet?"


    Xiao Hua, who was still looking at the pitch-ck area above his head, nodded at me.


    "But if its so high, we shouldnt be able to see any sunlight from below," I argued.


    "This will only work if it''s truly sunlight up there," Xiao Hua said. "But I think the light above us isnt sunlight."


    Xiao Hua believed that there was an opening at the top because the sky burial corpses had fallen down, but this light may not necessarily be sunlight.


    For people in the dark, this light was like a deadly trap.


    "If its not the sun, then is it an anglerfish?"


    Anglerfish were a kind of deep-sea fish that had amp in front of its head. They would hunt by using the light from thismp to attract and lure small fish that were swimming in the deep sea. Was it possible that the light above was a trap used by monsters to lure us in?


    "I don''t know what it is. I only know that the only way to go down now is to jump. Otherwise, youll either die on the way down or be trapped here."


    As he silently looked at the darkness under his feet, I noticed that his eyes were calm and there were no signs of fanaticism; he would never jump down in a fit of madness. I was certain that whatever evil thing was in this abyss would also have a headache when facing such a person.


    "I dont believe the dragon vein would trap me in this ce since it was the one who invited me here," I said, and then proceeded to exin why I thought so.


    He leaned back against the cliff wall and sighed, "I wasn''t invited, and neither was ck sses."


    "Well, maybe I can go down."


    Xiao Hua looked at me but didn''t answer. After a while, he said, "I need to rest for a bit. Can you do two things for me?"


    When I looked at him, I couldn''t tell that he was tired at all. It appeared that even though I was a very perceptive person, I couldn''t tell what his real condition was.


    Once I nodded, he continued, "Please help me ask Little Brother some questions. He should at least disclose some clues about the bronze door. Hes the only one among us who has been in there. I don''t know why he can''t say it, but I need these answers. Otherwise, well be stuck acting passively like this."


    I didn''t promise him immediately, but he continued anyways, "Theres a problem with my team. Help me figure out what it is."


    "What''s the problem?"


    Xiao Hua looked at me and shook his head before saying, "I don''t know; I just think theres something wrong."


    He handed me a copy of their team manual. I wanted to keep asking questions, but he suddenly said to me again, "Thank you foring to save me."


    After that, I saw him fall asleep in almost a second.


    His face was buried in his long hair and it was only at this time that I saw a wave of exhaustion seem to spread out from his whole body.


    I sighed.


    At this moment, a shlight suddenly shed from below. I knew right away that Fatty was calling me down. I didnt know if something unexpected had happened while he was examining the body, but the shlight seemed frantic so he was obviously hoping that I could hurry down and help him.


    But Xiao Hua couldnt sleep here alone, so I used my shlight to signal the people down below toe up. Not long after, a short man came up. He and I looked at each other. I didnt know why, but I suddenly felt very uneasy, so I told him to go down again and signaled for Poker-Face toe up.


    Poker-Face looked at me and then looked at Xiao Hua. He signaled me to go down and conveyed that he would keep an eye on Xiao Hua.


    ________________________


    Authors note: Ive been traveling on business recently and the traffic situation in Beijing is tooplicated. These three or four chapters were all updated in a hurry, which caused some problems with the writing. You may feel a little confused when reading them, but these issues will be resolved when theyre published.

 Book 4: Chapter 52: Open the Sleeping Bag

    Book 4: Chapter 52: Open the Sleeping Bag


    Before going down, I especially looked for Fatty''s position. I didn''t want to pass by any member of Xiao Hua''s team, so I climbed straight down towards Fatty.


    Once I reached him, he asked me how my chat with Xiao Hua went. When I told him that Xiao Hua fell asleep while talking, Fatty sighed deeply and said to me, "It''s not easy. Do you think theres an easy mode for life?"<sup>(1)</sup>


    I experienced it once before, but I didnt regret losing it. In any case, it wasnt like there was a regret option in life, so there was no point in thinking about it. "Hows Tang Tang?" I asked him.


    "There really are changes. Take a look at them." He pointed to Xiao Hua''s team members on the sideeveryone looked like they were facing a big enemyand then pointed his shlight at the body.


    I really wasn''t ready to see what Jin Wantang looked like now, but I could see his severely dehydrated and shriveled hands exposed by the half-opened sleeping bag.


    I first checked to see if his nails had grown longer, but Fatty just shook his head and held Jin Wantang''s withered hand up for me to see. I found that on some parts of his hand, the muscles looked like they were pulsating. These pulsations were very strange, almost like bugs were moving through his veins.


    If this were a fresh corpse, it wouldnt be surprising to see such a neurological reflex, but Jin Wantangs body was almost mummified. The cells should almost be dead, so why were his muscles still pulsating?


    "We have to look at the face. Are you ready?" Fatty asked me.


    I nodded and took a deep breath just as Fatty pulled the rest of the sleeping bag away, revealing Jin Wantang''s face.


    In an instant, all my hair stood on end. Jin Wantang''s face waspletely shriveled up and his hair was almost falling out, but his skull had somehow be very elongated. It distorted his facial features by pulling his eyes all the way up to where his forehead was supposed to be.


    But his eyes were still looking down, as if he was looking down at us. It would have been reasonable to assume that his eyeballs had shrunk into his eye sockets by now, but instead, they were still there. Plus, they had turned a grayish-green color.


    It was too scary. I had never seen this kind of facelift affect someones facial features so much before.


    I was so dizzy from the sudden shock of it that I had to take a deep breath. A member of Xiao Hua''s team suddenly spoke up at this time, "His body has already started to change."


    I looked at Jin Wantang''s face and realized that this might also be what a Shigou Diaos corpse would look like. But I didnt quite believe that Old Jin was a Shigou Diao member. <em>Theres no way this extravagant guy would ever eat corpse flesh.</em>


    <em>Old Jin, ah, Old Jin, what happened to you? Do you have secrets, too? Or were you coerced?</em>


    "What''s your name?" I asked the speaker.


    "Little Master Three, my name is Jin Xingsan." The other man immediately nodded and bowed. He seemed like the type of person who knew how to get around.


    "Korean?"


    "Yes."


    I looked him in the eye. "What will happen if this corpse isnt disposed of?"


    Jin Xingsan hesitated for a moment before looking at the others around him. "What? Do you still engage in mysticism even at this time?" I asked him.


    "The head will be longer and the skin will tear from the upper lip, revealing another face," he responded.


    "What do you mean?"


    "Little Master Three, every corpse here is different. But in this situation, the skin on this corpses face will definitely tear all the way up to the head during the corpse transformation process. The skin can be lifted away from the upper lip to reveal the whole skinless face belowits actually how many cosmetic surgeries are doneand then the corpse wille alive."


    "What should I do?"


    "People can''t be resurrected after death. You have to throw it down."


    I looked at Jin Wantang, but I didn''t recognize him anymore. My fingers were shaking as I asked Fatty to close the sleeping bag back up. I wasnt a man who couldnt make a decision about this kind of thing, but if Old Jin''s body was thrown down the cliff, would he be trapped here forever?


    I knew that it had all been in my head, but I couldnt brush off that scene I had witnessed on the grasnd before.


    "How long do we have?"


    "There should still be a few days left," he said.


    I breathed a sigh of relief, but at this time, I suddenly saw Poker-Face resting behind Fatty with his eyes closed.


    I stared nkly for a moment. <em>Shit, isn''t Poker-Face keeping an eye on Xiao Hua above us?</em> But after looking at Poker-Face, it seemed that he had never moved from his position.


    Little Brother? I called out. He opened his eyes and gave me a questioning look.


    I thought about it for a moment and then broke out in a cold sweat. <em>This is bad</em>, I said to myself before I immediately started climbing up.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) He means like a game. Easy mode, normal mode, hard mode.

 Book 4: Chapter 53: Shoot

    Book 4: Chapter 53: Shoot


    After climbing a few steps, I frowned and quickly asked myself a question.


    Although it had all happened very fast just now, would I really mistake someone else for Poker-Face?


    I had absolute confidence in my reaction speedafter so many years, I had beast-like instincts when it came to abnormal situationsbut I was familiar with the Poker-Face who came up just now and didn''t notice any abnormalities at all.


    Fatty was following behind me, with the Poker-Face below trailing behind him. I turned my head to look at Fatty, but I was actually watching Poker-Face.


    Based on what I had read in the notebook before, I knew that if something had mixed in among our team, no one would notice it. The Mongolian woman only discovered the abnormality because she was in the habit of drawing sketches. Then, she realized what the problem was by doing a logical analysis.


    This seemed to indicate that there there was a situation in which the bee man who appeared had the ability to confuse people. The whole bee man phenomenon was like a mystery wrapped up in another mystery. To be honest, I didn''t believe that this kind of thing could happen even just a few minutes ago. But now, not only did it seem to have happened, but a new situation had arisen at this time.


    I stared at the Poker-Face below and immediately found that something was wronghe didn''t look at me.


    I called out to him, "Little Brother?"


    He looked at me again and I saw that his eyes were as indifferent as usual, but I realized that it wasn''t him.


    I couldnt exin this kind of gut feeling at all. This Zhang QilingI thought that he was almost exactly the same as the real one. There were no problems that I could see, but I just knew right away that this guy wasn''t him.


    I wasnt the only one, either. Fatty also noticed it immediately. He nced at me and looked back at Poker-Face.


    This Poker-Face didn''t ask us what was wrong but just looked at us.


    "Can you only imitate to this extent?" I asked him.


    He didn''t answer, which meant that this was the correct response. I figured there was some kind of power at work here, but it couldnt read our minds to learn how to deceive us. If it pretended to be Poker-Face, then it was probably making our brains immune to any strange feelings we had and making us extremely insensitive to lies. No matter what the other person said, our brains would just automatically believe it.


    So maybe every single one of this Poker-Faces actions wasnt normal, but we all seemed to think that they were.


    I actually didnt believe that this Poker-Face was a fake. In fact, I figured he was totally real, but I just thought that he wasnt our Poker-Face.


    This determination was almost pure intuition and came from the part of my brain that was far beyond rational thought.


    We looked at each other for a while before he finally answered me, "What do you mean" But before the words fell, I raised my hand and fired my gun one shot at a time.


    The bullet grazed Fatty''s ear as it headed for the imposter behind him, but that guy dodged it and then slipped behind a rock.


    I grabbed the climbing rope directly in one hand, swung past Fatty, and shined my shlight behind the rock. It waspletely empty. No one was there.


    I bumped into the cliff and took a closer look. It was true. I couldn''t help but frown as I kicked off the cliff and swung back to my original spot. When Fatty looked at me with questioning eyes, I shook my head and said, "It''s gone."


    That person had either fallen down the cliff or gone into the rock. I had definitely moved fast, so it wasnt like he could climb away leisurely.


    All of Xiao Hua''s people had picked up their guns and pointed them at me, but I ignored them. I asked Fatty to carry both Jin Wantang and the stone, and then we started climbing in the direction where Xiao Hua and I had been talking before.


    "Little Master Three, why are you guys fighting each other?" Jin Xingsan suddenly asked.


    Fatty also spoke up, "You moved too fast. I was still hesitating when you fired. So, is Little Brother a fake?"


    "Yes," I said to him.


    When I climbed up, I found that Xiao Hua and Poker-Face were no longer there.

 Book 4: Chapter 54: Mental Defense

    Book 4: Chapter 54: Mental Defense


    I looked at the empty cliff and saw some lingering fire. Fortunately, I was immediately able to recover my calm since I was quite experienced.


    The people in Xiao Hua''s team had all followed behind us, so I waved them back while saying to them, "Everythings fine. They''ve gone somewhere else to implement the n."


    "What n?" Jin Xingsan asked.


    <em>How should I know?</em> I asked myself. I was just saying those words on a whim to stabilize the troops morale, but I also knew that it wouldnt work if I didnt do a good job lying, so I said to them, "If you want to get out of here, don''t ask any questions. The stones here can understand peoples words."


    This sentence was alsoplete nonsense, so Jin Xingsan and the others all looked at each other. Xiao Hua''s people were not idiots and were clearly skeptical, but they were helpless in the face of my great reputation. When I looked back at Jin Xingsan, he didnt dare ask any more questions.


    I turned and pointed my shlight at the cliff where Xiao Hua had been resting just now and discovered that the bronze piece had also been taken away. I felt a little relieved since this indicated that they had left voluntarily. Or it meant that Poker-Face at least had time to take the bronze piece with them when they left. I just didn''t know what exactly had happened.


    As long as they hadnt received the heavenly gift, then it should be the opponents bad luck with these two people together. The only thing was, they hadnt worked together before, so I didnt know what the situation would be like.


    I checked up and down carefully, but didn''t see them around. Fatty also climbed up and looked everywhere, but there was nothing at all.


    I recalled that it took no more than ten minutes from the time Xiao Hua fell asleep to the time I went down to see Fatty and then discovered that something was wrong and shot the imposter, only to climb back up here.


    When it came to climbing in this ce, you couldnt go very far in ten minutes so youd definitely appear in our shlights glow. Unless the two of them had also jumped or were eaten by the rocks here.


    We would have definitely felt it if they had jumped, so did that mean that they were eaten by the rocks?


    It was only when I asked everyone to go back below that I finally understood the setup here. This appeared to be a vertical campsite that Xiao Hua had carefully designed. There was no need forplicated hanging beds and tents; everyone simply found a rock protrusion and rested on it. The rock crevices were filled with safety buckles, snack wrappers, and portable mountaineeringmpsthis kind ofmp had a mp on the bottom so that it could be inserted into the rock crevices and be a kind of streetmp.


    There were a lot of bags hanging up around the area, all of which contained bronze pieces that had been taken from the Zhang familys suicide temple.


    These bronze pieces must have formed a maic field that protected everyone in this area.


    "Little Master Three, what should we do next? Jin Xingsan asked me. What part do we y in your n?"


    I told him not to talk and then swept my eyes over everyone''s faces, my mind calcting quickly.


    Honestly, my way of thinking was very simple because what was happening here was just so strange. A person would suddenlye out of the darkness around the cliff and make us feel as if he had been with us the whole time.


    Based on what had happened just now, he could even take on any appearance, including ours.


    So, the first thing I needed to be sure of was who was my enemy.


    If this bee man was just an illusion, then that meant that my enemy was myself. If there was a power here that was affecting my mind, then I had to ovee it by myself. But if this bee man was really a person, then I just couldnt understand what was going on. But if it was human, it also meant that we should be able to kill it.


    There were some details I wanted to verify, so I asked Jin Xingsan, "How do you know about the bee man?"


    He gave me a nk look, "What bee man?"


    "When we first appeared, didnt you fire at us directly to keep us from approaching? Someone was even pretending to be me. Who was it? Didn''t you fire because of the bee man?" I looked at everyone in the group.


    Jin Xingsan gave me a puzzled look. He obviously didnt know what a bee man was, so I had to exin it to him, "Have you never experienced an extra person suddenly appearing in your team? You all feel like you know each other, but in fact, this person suddenly mixed into the team while you were on the cliff? You dont know where they came from and its like they appeared out of thin air?


    Jin Xingsan was still very confused, so I continued, "Master Hua and I only recognized each other when we mentioned the calculus problem. Dont you remember?"


    Jin Xingsan nodded and said, "Everything we do is by Master Huas orders. We don''t know the logic behind it, we just do it. We don''t know what a bee man is, but Master Hua said that we must have two sets of identities in order to keep the strange phenomenon from happening here. In fact, we don''t even know what the phenomenon is."


    "So Master Hua told you that something strange will happen here and ordered you to do this?"


    Jin Xingsan nodded again. "We each have two identities: one is our own and the other is fictitious. We use celebrities from the business that weve encountered in our day-to-day lives. For example, this guy is you, Little Master Three."


    He pointed to a person in the team, who greeted me and nodded.


    I thought about it and realized that Xiao Hua''s method was called information blocking.


    "If Ive guessed it right, Xiao Hua is the one who gave all of you your second celebrity names, right?" I asked him.


    When Jin Xingsan nodded, I looked at Fatty. Fatty''s mind also worked very fast, so he immediately winked at me to show that he understood.


    There had to be some hidden logic to the way Xiao Hua chose their names, but this logic was only known to him and would be something very insignificant. As long as the power here was unable to read his mind, it wouldnt know what logic he used.


    Xiao Hua had taught me this mental defense exercise, which was used to fight against hallucinations, so I knew that there was a limit to the number of celebrity names you could utilize with this logic.


    So, if something showed up and this thing needed two identities, then it must also have a celebrity nickname.


    Suppose the initial logic behind the nicknames was: all twelve people owe me money.


    He lent money to twelve people in total, so he used all the names of people who owed him money. If that weirdo wanted to mix in with the group, then he needed to create a person and make Xiao Hua think that this person owed him money.


    This could hardly be done, because if the weirdo had that kind of ability, then it could prevent us from finding its words suspicious.


    But I knew that the logic behind Xiao Hua''s actions would be veryplicated, with more than one level. For example, the second level might be: people who owe me money who I met before 2007, went to Hangzhou together in 2012 and 2013, and paid back some of the money in 2015 and 2016.


    The third level might arrange these people by taking their age differences from youngest to oldest and then subtracting the number of the youngest from the oldest. This would be consistent with the unpopr finite mathematical sequence.


    The fourth level.


    When this weirdo wanted Xiao Hua to believe that he had been with the team from the start, hed have to create an extremely detailed lie. Every level of this logic-based blockade had a special direction at which the blockade was set up so Xiao Hua''s illusion maker would need to be widely read and study both the arts and sciences.


    For example, with the third level, there was a special number sequence. You couldnt insert another number in the middle, so all you could do was put one more in the front or one more in the back.


    But because the number sequence had its own logic to it, if you put one in front, then the number would have to be very small. You couldnt say that you were three years old, so you could only put this other number at the back. But that meant that the number would be veryrge, and youd probably end up admitting that you were over two hundred years old.


    Im not sure if Im making much sense, but in short, many hallucinations in horror films could be ruined through the use of psychological traps.


    Mathematics could destroy any dramas plot device.


    Moreover, Xiao Hua could quicklye up with a bunch of these things in no time at all.


    So, after utilizing such aplicated method, they didn''t encounter the bee man here.


    There was no way for the bee man to show up. Xiao Hua may not have found it strange initially if some dumbass reported an age that didnt conform to the sequence when everyone was reporting the age of their second celebrity persona every time before going to bed, but he would realize that this person didnt conform to the sequence and would wonder why he didn''t put this person in the sequence.


    As long as he thought like this from the beginning, then the weirdo couldnt run away. Plus, even if the opponent really was so powerful that he could give an age that was in line with the sequencewhether it was three years old or two hundred years oldhe would still immediately expose himself.


    At this time, we could all determine that the other party was incapable of directly confusing us into forgetting our own ns, so Xiao Huas mental trap was clearly a great deterrent.


    But now Xiao Hua was missing, and as I looked at his team, I couldnt help but feel that the number of people had been wrong since just a moment ago.


    The bee man had appeared.

 Book 4: Chapter 55: A Puzzle

    Book 4: Chapter 55: A Puzzle


    My eyes swept over everyone''s faces; they were all very inconspicuous. Without knowing Xiao Hua''s logic, I knew that I would never figure out if there was an extra person or not.


    Jin Xingsan was still looking at me eagerly, so I asked him softly, "Did you take a group photo before you set off?"


    Jin Xingsan took out his cell phone and showed it to me. I saw that they did have a group photo, but there were too many people in the team and their heads were densely packed together. Moreover, these people had changed after experiencing so many hardships, so I asked Jin Xingsan to mark where everyone was in the group photo.


    As he went to do this andmunicate with his men, Fatty squatted down next to me and looked at my cigarettes. I pulled one out for him and watched as he lit it, took a puff, and exhaled the smoke into the void, "Mr. Nave, if I was reced, would you be able to tell right away?"


    Instead of answering him, I just gave him a pat. "What the hell is going on here? He continued to ask. What''s this bee mans purpose? Is this thing a ghost or an evil spirit?"


    "Fatty, you can''t automatically assume that the Little Brother who just appeared is the bee man," I said to him. "What the Mongolian sister wrote in her notes is different from what happened just now."


    "You mean, that fake Little Brother wasnt a bee man?"


    I wasnt sure, but my intuition seemed to think so. I honestly didnt believe that things here were so simple. As I looked at the void in front of me, there seemed to be some power in the darkness that was making me feel cold all over.


    When Jin Xingsan handed me the marked photo and Ipared the faces in front of me with those in the photo, I knew that it was useless. Everyone had identified themselves, but the corrtion between the people in the photo and those in front of me wasnt so absolute. The number of people in the team here was only a fraction of the people in the group photo. If the bee man found someone with a rtively simr appearance to himself, then it would be difficult for me to see through it.


    I asked some basic questions, such as how many people were in the team, and they all stuck out their arms, revealing a number "13" that had been written on them. Obviously, Xiao Hua''s measures were veryprehensive, so I was a little relieved.


    I looked up again, but still didnt see any signs of anyoneing back. At this time, Jin Xingsan handed me a radio, which everyone in their team was apparently equipped with.


    "Why didn''t you take it out just now?" When I asked him this, everyones expressions immediately changed.


    "Youll know when you use it," Jin Xingsan said.


    I turned the radio on and tried calling Xiao Hua.


    Everyone was looking at me; the cliff was very quiet.


    I called several times, but there was no response.


    As I looked at Jin Xingsan, hoping that he would exin what was going on, I noticed that everyone''s expressions were a little scared. At this time, a response suddenly came from the radio.


    "This is Urmei. Where are you?" It was the voice of a woman with an ent.


    I stared nkly for a moment<em>whos Urmei?</em> and then asked into the radio, "Xiao Hua?"


    "Im from the Urmei team. I need to return to the team. Where are you? Can you use your shlight to show me the way?" That same voice came over the radio again.


    I looked back at Jin Xingsan, but he was staring nkly at the radio without exining anything.


    "It''s dark here. I really think I can float when I jump," the voice on the radio suddenly said.


    "Don''t worry about this voice," Jin Xingsan said. "This is the channel we used tomunicate with the other teams before. The transmission has been ying in a loop here. Even if you call Master Hua directly, the transmissions can be superimposed."


    As I looked at Jin Xingsan in wonder, a man with thick sses behind him said, "The cliff here seems to have trapped the radio signals, which causes them to y in a loop."


    "Are you serious?" I asked.


    At this time, a strange voice came from the radio again. It was the same woman. "There is one more person in our team. Jin Xingsan, do you copy? Its really strange. He said you sent him here. He followed you into the team in anbaatar. His name is Deng Pujing. Is that true? I need to verify it."

 Book 4: Chapter 56: Papapapa

    Book 4: Chapter 56: Papapapa


    With all this noise, it was really difficult for me to call Xiao Hua.


    The radio finally fell into a brief silence after the womansst words fell, so I called Xiao Huas name again.


    There was no response, but Urmei''s voice rang out again, "Jin Xingsan, why arent you responding? What are you doing?"


    "Did you not reply at that time?" I asked Jin Xingsan.


    "I did," Jin Xingsan said. "But she couldnt hear me over there. It seemed as if my transmitter signal was being blocked."


    Fatty exhaled a smoke ring and began shouting into the darkness, "Saipan! Where are you?"<sup>(1)</sup>


    I held him down. At this time, the radio in my hand came on and the other party said another sentence, "Jin Xingsan, stop being so petty and answer me." After a pause, I heard a strange noiseing from the background on the other persons end.


    That noise was simr to the sound bugs made when they opened and closed their mouths.


    "Papapapapapapapa."


    Urmei must not have loosened her grip on the transmit button, so we could all hear the sounds. Then, she said a sentence which was obviously addressed to someone in her team, "Slow down. It''s not that I don''t believe you, its just obvious that youve snuck into the team. We didnt receive any notification of this, so I definitely want to verify that this is Jin Xingsans doing. But either way, I definitely don''t agree with it."


    Then, there came that papapapapapa sound again.


    "I drew a sketch that day and you werent in it, Urmeis voice said again. You definitely werent there that day and didn''t join the team at that time. Don''t try to pull one over on me."


    Then, there was another series of those papapapapa sounds.


    Fatty and I looked at each other, and Fatty asked, "Is this papapapa noise a taunt or something?"


    I shook my head. I couldn''t hear anyone talking to Urmei in the background, but the papapapapa sound was very clear.


    But whatever was making the papapapa sound didnt seem like it was close to Urmei, so it was probably a little distance away.


    If the radio could pick up the papapapa sound at a distance, then we should also be able to hear the voice of the person talking to Urmei.


    But Urmei was the only one talking on the radio, which was very strange.


    Plus, what was that papapapa sound we kept hearing?


    Jin Xingsan suddenly spoke up at this time, "Weve listened to it many times, so you should know that the next bit of dialogue is very unpleasant. You should mentally prepare yourself. But it''s useless to listen to it, so if youre not all that curious, you''d better not listen."


    I ignored him and continued listening, only to hear Urmei continue talking, "It''s really dark here. If you jump from here, youll keep falling forever without reaching the bottom. Its a bit like floating. I don''t know whats going on, but I really want to float in this ckness."


    Then came a series of slower papapapa sounds.


    "Suspend myself? Urmei continued, Others will treat me like an idiot."


    There was another series of papapapa sounds.


    "Stop messing with me, Urmei said. When Jin Xingsan gets in touch and verifies your identity, you''d better exin when you snuck in and what your purpose is."


    The frequency of her words and the papapapa sounds corresponded to each other, as if they were talking.


    When I heard this, I turned to Fatty and said, "This papapa sound seems to be answering Urmei''s words? Is this the bee mantalking?"


    "So this is a conversation?"


    I nodded. Based on the frequency of this back-and-forth between both sides, it was definitely a conversation. But the bee man definitely wasnt human and was making weird sounds. Plus, to make matters even more strange, Urmei could understand it and could even maintain this back-and-forth exchange.


    It kind of reminded me of someone with a mental illness.


    When you said one thing, theyd hear another. It was a problem where their brain couldnt trante the sound waves they heard into the correct meanings. But the brain had the ability to forcibly make the information seem logical, so it wouldpile these pieces of information and make itself think that it was reasonable.


    So, no matter what you said, the things the mental patient heard would be somethingpletely different but somehow reasonable to them.


    That was why schizophrenia seemed likepletely abnormal behavior in the eyes of normal people. But in the eyes of the patients themselves, they werepletely normal.


    Urmei''s performance on the walkie-talkie was exactly like a schizophrenic patient.


    I didn''t expect this kind of logic and felt my back go cold.


    Then, I broke out in a cold sweat as I heard what happened next over the radio.


    This strange conversationsted for four or five more sentences, during which time Urmei''s words were suddenly mixed in with the sound of teeth clicking together.


    "We won''t climb tonight. Jin Xingsan, if you don''t reply, well gegegegegegetest the humidity. I don''t think the humidity isgegegege."


    Urmei was obviously in the middle of talking when this sound of teeth clicking together suddenly appeared, but she didnt seem to notice it.


    Pale and tense as I continued to listen, I began to anticipate that things were going in an extremely bizarre direction.


    It must have been half an hourter when Urmei called Jin Xingsan again, but this time, it was a regr call.


    But when I listened carefully, I found that there were more and more of those teeth clicking sounds interspersed with Urmei''s words, while there were fewer and fewer normal words.


    And the papapapapa sound was still there. It appeared to have been by her side and asionally spoke.


    This regr callsted at least a dozen more cycles. Fatty and I listened attentively, but the others had probably already heard it, so they all started to rest. All of their faces were pale, making it obvious that the subsequent development had an impact on them.


    The regr call said almost the exact same thing, but the more I listened to it, the more creeped out I felt.


    This was because Urmei''s normal voice appeared less and less and the sound of teeth clicking together appeared more and more.


    By the thirteenth regr call, the sound of teeth clicking together was almost the only thing I could hear when the radio sounded.


    Gegegegegege.


    Urmei never uttered aplete sentence again. If I were at the scene, Id probably see her turning on the walkie-talkie and clicking her teeth together, thinking that she was talking.


    There were only a few gaps between these gegege sounds where other sporadic words could be heard. They sounded simr to the pronunciation of the word float, but I didnt know what she was saying.


    In the darkness, the noises sounded extremely strange.


    Fatty''s cigarette burned his fingers and fell directly into the darkness below.


    "Assimted." Fatty looked at me.


    I pinched the bridge of my nose and fell into an indescribable mood.


    First of all, after hearing what happened to Urmei, it seemed as if she had been slowly eaten away by something in the darkness here, but she was obviouslypletely unaware of it.


    Secondly, I realized another very serious problem.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) It''s a TikTok thing. Per Tiffany, the women in these super short videos here and here are frantically yelling and looking for someone named Saipan. It just blew up.

 Book 4: Chapter 57: Jin Xingsan

    Book 4: Chapter 57: Jin Xingsan


    As I stared nkly at the darkness in front of me, Jin Xingsan was still waiting beside me. I didn''t need to look at his face to know that he was still looking at me.


    There were a lot of puzzling bits of information in my mind, but at this time, the links began to appear.


    Jin Xingsan had handed me the walkie-talkie and asked me to call Xiao Hua. If he was acting in good faith, then his behavior seemed to indicate that the walkie-talkie couldmunicate both ways.


    But why did the walkie-talkie seem to be malfunctioning when Urmei called Jin Xingsan and only Urmei''s voice could be heard?


    To exin it in detail, the story probably went something like this: when Urmei called, her radio was only transmitting signals instead of receiving them, so she couldn''t hear how they answered. But this malfunction didn''t happen to the radios that Jin Xingsans team had.


    If Jin Xingsan hadn''t been by my side and paying attention to me the whole time, I probably would have thought about the problem in this way. But he kept staring at me so intently, which I felt was a bit abnormal.


    If I were to specte on him from a malicious viewpoint, then the smoothest logic I coulde up with was that he deliberately didn''t reply when Urmei called. I knew many people in the team had radios on them, so Jin Xingsan definitely wouldnt be the only one who could respond to Urmei. That meant that even if Jin Xingsan didnt respond, other people should have been able to.


    But why didn''t anyone respond, and why didn''t Xiao Hua force Jin Xingsan to respond?


    At this time, I had a strong feeling: Jin Xingsan''s prestige in this team seemed to be very high. If the whole team didn''t respond to Urmei, then there had to be a powerful person who shut everyone up.


    If it weren''t for the strange feeling that Jin Xingsan gave me, I definitely wouldve thought that he was Xiao Hua, and I would have wondered why Xiao Hua didn''t give orders to respond to Urmei.


    But now, I generally felt that this person wasnt Xiao Hua.


    Up to now, no one else had taken the initiative to talk to me and almost everyone was behind Jin Xingsan. He was the representative of the whole team who wasmunicating with me, but I didnt know exactly where this guy came from.


    When we first appeared, Xiao Hua showed a sense of alienation from the team while Jin Xingsan showed a strong bond with and control over the team.


    I suddenly felt that Jin Xingsan was the most powerful person in this team.


    In other words, ever since I joined up with Xiao Hua, the whole teams situation was different from what I had originally thought. Xiao Hua may have been in a very unfavorable situation, so did that mean that his power had been usurped?


    This was one possibility. Another possibility was that Jin Xingsan knew that the radio couldnt call Xiao Hua, but he gave it to me anyways so that I could hear this looped transmission. But this option didnt make much sense, because he could just tell me to listen directly. There was no need for him to pretend to let me call Xiao Hua.


    The real situation was still unclear right now, but Jin Xingsan had remained by my side and was watching me the whole time, which was starting to make me feel extremely ufortable. When I had been chatting with Xiao Hua up there before, he didn''t tell me this information, so did that mean that Jin Xingsan had a way to listen to our conversation?


    Or, was I putting too much thought into it?


    Little Master Three?


    Just as I was thinking about my next course of action, Jin Xingsan started talking to me again, "What should we do next?"


    I looked at him. If I really was right about this teams situation, then why would he be so polite to me?


    I put myself in his shoes and realized that it was because of Poker-Face.


    Although there were more than a dozen of them, thebination of me, Xiao Hua, Fatty, and Poker-Faceespecially Poker-Faces presencehad actually broken the bnce. This guy had attacked us directly when we approached, but the bullets didn''t kill us and we were still able to approach them.


    I didnt know what Jin Xingsan was using to control the team, but after the three of us appeared, it was obviously difficult for him to directly order his men to fight with us since we were very famous in the business.

 Book 4: Chapter 58: Bee Man

    Book 4: Chapter 58: Bee Man


    I crossed over Jin Xingsan and looked at the people behind him, only to find that all of these guys had very strange expressions. They were looking at me expectantly but didnt dare cross the invisible boundary Jin Xingsan had set up.


    It felt so strange. I was considered a master when it came to reading people, so I could easily tell by their postures that they were very afraid of Jin Xingsan even though they were depending on him. Moreover, they seemed to be expecting me to do something.


    "I want to do an experiment," I said to Jin Xingsan as I turned off the walkie-talkie and tried not to look him in the eye. I was worried that my eyes looked very cold right now and might startle him. "Now that Master Hua isnt in the team, his insurance measures have expired and something strange might happen at any time."


    Jin Xingsan continued maintaining his very humble attitude and nodded. Master Huas measures were to prevent a stranger from suddenly appearing in this team like what happened in Urmei''s team, I said. Urmei called this person a bee man and thought that it was a monster born on this cliff. Master Huas n was probably to ignore this strange phenomenon and quickly climb out of that skylight above, but I do things quite differently."


    As I spoke, I made a gesture to Fatty. This was a secret code which indicated that I thought there was something wrong with the environment and people around me and that I needed a deterrence.


    Fatty pulled out the detonator belt, hung it around his neck, climbed directly over my head, ced himself above the team, and then tied the fuses to the safety anchor. As long as he fell down, they would explode immediately. "Little Master Three''s style is more dangerous, but you guys have been trapped here for so long that youre probably going crazy. You should believe in Little Master Threes luck. Fat Master can attest to it."


    Fatty''s behavior was so illogical. I always asked him to have a little conviction when he was acting, but he never listened to me. Fortunately, his deterrence would be very effective (even I felt deterred when I looked at the detonators).


    Jin Xingsan clicked his tongue. I noticed that his eyes seemed to darken, but he quickly returned to normal. This seemed to confirm my previous theory a bit and I immediately narrowed my eyes and looked him up and down. "I want to catch the bee man," I said to him.


    "Masters, you really shouldnt, Jin Xingsan immediately replied. None of the people here are desperadoes in the industry. They are experts hired by Master Hua. They have children and elderly people in their families that they have to take care of. They arent willing to take such risks. Moreover, they don''t have your experience and can''t cooperate properly."


    When he said this, he moved to go up and drag Fatty down, but Fatty just pointed at him at said, "Don''t mess around. If you drag me down, something bad will happen. Why dont you shut up first and listen to Little Master Threes words? Weve indulged you guys enough."


    I saw everyone''s faces change and knew right away that they definitely knew about the bee man! The people here had just been ying dumb the whole time.


    Jin Xingsan smiled and said, "Little Master Three, stop joking. As a matter of fact, this isnt your Wu familys Pankou Faction where everyone has a tacit understanding. Youre ying around with everyone''s lives!"


    I looked at him, "Do you disagree with my method?"


    "No one will agree. We wont cooperate with you."


    I looked at Jin Xingsan. No one else said anything and Jin Xingsan was the only one doing the talking. He obviously wasnt worried about anyone in the team disagreeing with him.


    This team waspletely under his control.


    <em>What''s going on? With Xiao Hua''s charisma, hed never make a mistake when it came to something like dominance. How did this guye to power?</em>


    "Youre just going to let Jin Xingsan speak for all of you? Nobody disagrees?" I looked at the man behind him.


    Jin Xingsan looked back at his own team. At this time, I saw that everyone was shaking all over and their bodies appeared to be covered in goose bumps.


    That was fear.


    No one dared to speak. Jin Xingsan turned to look at mestill with a very polite expression on his faceand said, "Everyones scared to death, Little Master Three. You know, theyre still willing to call you Little Master Three because they think theres a chance you can take us out of here. But now youre acting recklessly and talking about something called a bee man. Don''t you think its a bit ridiculous?"


    I looked at everyone in bewilderment. At this time, the sense of confrontation could no longer be concealed and Jin Xingsan had clearly expressed his stance: if it doesnt conform to my way of thinking, then these people wont listen to you.


    I turned on the walkie-talkie again, only to hear those strange sounds of teeth clicking together again.


    "How do you exin this?"


    "I think it''s too dark here and she''s a schizophrenic."


    I looked at Jin Xingsan''s expression and then assessed his muscles. I knew for a fact that half the people in this team were stronger than him, and they were all men. In fact, being strong gave men more confidence than the average person could ever know. So what was it about this guy that made other people so afraid of him?


    This was too abnormal.


    At this time, I had a sh of inspiration, which was simr to the strange sh of inspiration I had before.


    I pulled out a cigarette and lit it before looking at Jin Xingsan and saying, "If you have the courage, say what you just said again."


    "Little Master Three, it''s not that Im disobeying you, its just that none of us agree with you taking risks." He spoke this sentence without an ounce of hesitation.


    While he was talking, I put the cigarette in front of his mouth and saw that the stream of smoke hit by his breath was very regr. But the strange thing was, the fluctuation of this stream of smoke waspletely even.


    His sentences had a cadence and rhythm to them, so there should have been irregr fluctuations in the stream of smoke as he breathed out.


    But I saw that the smoke fluctuated very evenly, as if the frequency between each word he spoke was the same and the speed was very fast.


    I watched the fluctuating stream of smoke and the shape of his mouth and realized that the two didnt match up at all.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.


    He wasnt talking.


    In fact, the sound Jin Xingsan was making wasnt aplete sentence but an extremely strange noise: papapapapapa.


    He was the bee man.


    ****


    <strong><em>I knew it wasing but it''s been a hot minute since I''ve whipped this bad boy out so</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 59: Bee Man 2

    Book 4: Chapter 59: Bee Man 2


    Jin Xingsan was confused by my act of holding the cigarette in front of his mouth, so I quickly flipped it between my fingers and held it up, turning it into a friendly gesture of passing a cigarette over.


    Thinking I was softening up, he took the cigarette and said to me, "Let''s think of another way."


    The bee man had never appeared in their team before. It wasnt that Xiao Hua''s measures were effective, but that the bee man had already mixed in among them long ago.


    Didn''t Xiao Hua consider this possibility? It was impossible that he didn''t. Not even Wang Meng would make such a mistake, so what was Xiao Hua thinking?


    Jin Xingsan looked at me attentively, but in my eyes, it was no longer a person. I didnt know what this thing was, but it definitely wasnt a person.


    "Lets think of another way."


    It didn''t actually say this sentence at all since it was really just making those papapa sounds, but why did it sound like apletely logical conversation? There could only be one possibilityI was bewitched by this thing and my own brain was making up this dialogue between the two of us. It was my brain that was listening to his papapa sounds and rationalizing them as a human voice.


    I was actually talking to myself.


    So what did this thing look like? Was it really different from what it looked like now?


    Whatever the case, the truth was that there was actually a strange monster in front of me, which waspletely different from a human being. It could only make those papapapapa sounds with its mouth, but I had called it arade and couldnt detect anything at all.


    I looked at the people behind Jin Xingsan and broke out in a cold sweat once more. Based on their terrified expressions, I couldnt help but wonder if maybe they were seeing something different than what I was seeing. Maybe they could actually see the monster and that was why they were so scared?


    So, had they seen a monster talking to me this whole time?


    There was indeed a certain expectation in their eyes, but I didnt know what they were expecting. Were they hoping that I would see through it all? But why didn''t they warn me about what was going on?


    My thoughts were racing and all kinds of ideas shed through my head like a revolvingntern, but my mind couldnt sort them out at all.


    It was understandable for ordinary people to be intimidated for whatever reason, but Xiao Hua wouldnt. So why didn''t he give me a hint regarding this matter when we first met up? Was he being manipted? He had designed the perfect n, so didn''t he check it before it was carried out?


    If he did check it but deliberately failed to reveal the w, did that mean that he had to apany the bee man and continue the act? But why?


    Could it beck sses was in Jin Xingsans hands?


    I sighed again as I realized that it was absolutely possible. Just now, Xiao Hua didn''t even talk to me about ck sses in order to avoid suspicion.


    <em>This is really troublesome. I can''t even act rashly.</em>


    At this time, various scenarios started popping into my head. Was there something around my neck that I couldnt see, which would kill me as soon as I was warned? Or was there something in all of them that was connected to this bee man, and once they warned me, theyd all die?


    I needed to see the truth; otherwise, I couldnt do anything. I also needed to know the whole story or I wouldnt be able to help Xiao Hua.


    Fatty and I looked at each other. Fatty didn''t know what to do next, but when I looked at his expression, I knew that he must have felt that the atmosphere was wrong even though he couldn''t quite figure it out.


    This was something that only I could handle.


    I subtly made a few small gestures, telling Fatty that Jin Xingsan wasnt human. Unfortunately, this was the extent of the information that could be ryed using these gestures.


    Then I stared at Jin Xingsan and asked myself, <em>what should I do to find out how youre affecting my brain? Is it visual or auditory?</em>


    At this time, I suddenly remembered something.


    After I came here, I started to forget that I had been able to see things out of the corner of my eye before. And it was only in this moment that I suddenly remembered that I could use my peripheral vision to see things.


    Although there was no logic to it, I suddenly felt that I should try it here.


    I looked at Fatty''s backpack, which had the bronze piece in it, and wondered if this sh of inspiration was another kind of heavenly gift.


    Then I took a deep breath and nced at Jin Xingsan slowly out of the corner of my eye.


    In those few seconds, even people like me had a faster heartbeat. Slowly, Jin Xingsans fuzzy outline began to appear, and when I looked at it, my brain buzzed.


    First of all,pared to what I was seeing just now, the light here was particrly dim when using my peripheral vision. I need to emphasize that it was very dim.


    It was already very dark on the cliff to begin with, but the light in the peripheral vision world was much weaker. The oppressive feeling of ckness was extremely strong, but it was basically in an invisible state.


    In my hazy peripheral vision, I saw Jin Xingsan sitting in a strange position. He had a very long face that had definitely grown out of the range a normal persons face would. In fact, it looked exactly like Jin Wantangs corpse had when I examined it earlier. With his skull grown to such an extreme length, Jin Xingsans face was distorted into a monster-like appearance and his eyes ended up very close to his forehead, which was extremely strange.


    This was a corpse that had undergone a transformation, just like Jin Wantang. Even the eyes had be very slender because of the way the skull had elongated.


    "Little Master Three, what''s wrong with you? Why arent you saying anything?" He probably asked me this because my expression was very strange.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the skin on his chin was pulled too tight to open his mouth properly, so he could only make that papapapapa sound. It appeared to be some kind of vibration, but all I was hearing was human words.


    I shifted my peripheral vision to the people behind him and saw that they were all huddled in the misty darkness. I didnt know what they were doing, but I saw one of them make three simple gestures with his hands.


    It was a bit like someones fingers twitching involuntarily when they were nervous, but I immediately recognized that it was a Shigou Diao gesture. That meant that there were Shigou Diao members in the team.


    I used my hands to carefully mimic that gesture and saw the other party make a very subtle movement telling me to look above.


    I faced Jin Xingsan head-on and said to him, "Lets take a break first. After a while, well divide into two teams. Those who are willing to catch the bee man will go with me and Fatty."


    "Little Master Three, it''s not appropriate to act separately. Being unreasonable like this is going to drive a wedge between the team."


    Pretending that my neck hurt, I impatiently turned my head and used my peripheral vision to look at the area above our heads.


    With my peripheral vision, I actually discovered that I could see the top of the cliff. As it turned out, our campsite was actually more than ten meters below the top of the mountain.


    In fact, we were very close to the top instead of halfway up like I had originally thought. But when I looked at it straight on, there was a hopeless void above my head, which seemed endless.


    At the same time, I saw a bronze censer<sup>(1)</sup> hanging at the top of the cliff in the extremely dim light. There were several rusty bronze chains hanging on the censer, which looked extremely old. Based on the thousands ofyers of rust on it, I figured it was made before the Zhanhan period.<sup>(2)</sup>


    This thing was hung here three thousand years ago.


    At the top of the cave above the bronze censer were many depressions, which were filled with strange corpses that looked just like Jin Xingsan. There wasyer uponyer of them, which really made them look like bees in a beehive. But these bodies were all shriveled up like mummies, indicating that they were just as old as the censer. I didnt know why they hadnt fallen down, but I assumed there were many hooks on the rocks above that kept them suspended up there.


    It suddenly dawned on me that this was a corpse barrier. Not only could the bee man make us feel that it was human, but it also made us feel that this ce was dark.


    These corpses above had affected our minds and made us think that the area above us was empty whenever we looked up.


    I looked down at the Shigou Diao guy again and saw him secretly make another gesture. I didn''t quite understand it, but I knew that there was something strange in that censer, which was why they couldn''t make a move.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Pinyin is luding (). Its a tripod stove/furnace ancient Chinese alchemists used so I thought censer was a better fit since the authorter refers to it as such. Pics can be found here.


    (2) I kept the pinyin since its apparently an abbreviation for the time period from the Warring States Period to Emperor Wus reign during the Han Dynasty. The characters are  and can mean something like War of the Han I think.

 Book 4: Chapter 60: Bee Man 3

    Book 4: Chapter 60: Bee Man 3


    I assumed that this Shigou Diao guy was able to see what I could see. Did that mean that I had inherited my grandfather''s constitution and that was why I could see such things?


    But my name was Wu Xie, so logically speaking, my grandfather must have thought that I was a very clean child.<sup>(1)</sup>


    If I had to inherit something from my family, then I honestly would have preferred some real estate instead.


    I once again faced Jin Xingsan head-on. He was a weird, evil thing which made it difficult to specte on his thought process, but he was still easier to deal with than a "human". But even if he was half as bad as a person, I was still in a precarious situation since I could be discovered as soon as my expression changed.


    <em>This bee man shouldnt be all that smartright?</em> I thought to myself. I didnt know how this bee man was rted to the bronze censer above, but I couldnt help but wonder what it would do if I hid now and then snuck up to deal with the problems above. I always felt that this bee man wouldnt be able to anything, but Xiao Hua had kept ying along with it. This meant that things werent all that simple; it must be a dead end to trap Xiao Hua.


    The safest course of action right now was to continue ying along with this thing and collect information slowly. I at least needed to know why I couldnt kill it directlywould the censer explode when I killed it or something?


    I lit another cigarette and said to it, "Sorry, I was thinking about a lot of things and got a little distracted. What did you say just now? By the way, you seem to be objecting to everything I say. Why dont you tell me what you think?"


    "First, we have to wait for Master Hua toe back. After all, hes in charge, right? Secondly, we still have enough food. This ce is too strange and we don''t know what will happen if we keep going. If Master Huaes back, well still need to find a way out of here. In short, we shouldnt use dangerous methods. We simply can''t afford to."


    "Then Fat Master and I wont apany you." As I spoke, I exhaled a smoke ring. "Im not used to sitting and waiting for death. Well just go and catch it ourselves."


    Noticing that Jin Xingsan''s expression didnt change at all, I continued, "Im going to keep climbing up. What about you guys?"


    I motioned for Fatty to start climbing up, but Jin Xingsan suddenly grabbed me.


    "Don''t, Little Master Three. If you leave, well be leaderless. And if Master Hua doesn''te back, youll have to lead us."


    "Youre in charge." I looked at it with a smile.


    "Im not leadership material," it said. "Master Hua told us that we should never rush up. Im just one of Master Huas soldiers, so if you want to go up, I have to stop you."


    "But Im not one of Master Huas soldiers, am I?" I continued to look at it with a smile.


    "I can''t watch you die. Please understand," it said to me.


    I tried to break free from its grip, but that hand was like an iron mp. I was a little surprised that it wouldnt let me go up.


    "Youre not going to use force, are you?" I asked while thinking to myself, <em>now this is definitely how I talk. </em>It seemed that I still had some of my usual cunningness, so I couldnt help but wonder what would happen if I kept snapping at him.


    In this world, there was a type of person who liked to approach others and act all buddy-buddy with them. People who were traditionally educated normally found it difficult to talk to this kind of person, because he politely forced you to ept his ideas and ns. When I was a child, I suffered a lot from people like this before I finally learned how to snap at them. To deal with this kind of overly-familiar person, you had to confront them head-on. So, when the other party was stunned for a moment, I asked him, "Are you nning on having the people behind you threaten me with their guns so that I won''t go up?"


    "Youre putting words in my mouth."


    I deliberately leaned closer to him and said, "Answer me. Im going to count to three, and if the answer still isnt clear, Im going to turn hostile." As I spoke, I began to observe his back carefully with my peripheral vision.


    There was nothing on this things back, and I only realized at this time that it was wearing ethnic minority clothing, which was severely dposed. It must have been here for quite a few years.


    "Little Master Three, are you bullying the younger generation?"


    "Three," I said to him. By the way, Little Master Three isnt a title you can call just because you want to."


    I kept smiling the whole time as I used my peripheral vision to see where he was grabbing my hand. I found that the hand holding onto me waspletely mummified and the fingernails were very long.


    Jin Xingsanughed and said, "My only goal is to ensure Little Master Threes safety. Im sure youll understand me in the future."


    With that said, he suddenly looked behind him and asked the others, "Right?"


    The people behind him didnt speak, but I found that they had actually started touching their guns. "Two," I said.


    I saw that he wasnt panicking at all, so I told myself to retreat a little bit. Then I nced at the Shigou Diao guy behind him. The guy was still quietly giving me hints, but I couldn''t understand them at all.


    At this time, I noticed that Jin Xingsan suddenly tilted his head and nced at where I was looking at. I immediately reached out and grabbed his ears so that he couldn''t turn aroundpletely.


    "One," I said smoothly, trying to cover up my strange behavior of suddenly grabbing his ears. "Answer me."


    He didn''t answer me this time, but when I looked at his expression, I found that he was looking right at me.


    The expression on his face was as vicious as the one in Urmei''s sketchbook.


    I narrowed my eyes. His change in attitude was too obvious, so I knew right away that something was wrong.


    Did this bee man realize that he had exposed himself?


    I was very confused and subconsciously looked behind him. The Shigou Diao guy behind him shivered and made a quick gesture: Run!


    When I directed my gaze back to Jin Xingsan, I suddenly saw him lunging towards my neck.


    I instinctively dodged and let go, causing him to just barely miss my neck. It wasnt easy to fight on the cliff, so I swung back in order to put some space between us. But Jin Xingsan grabbed the rock protrusion between the crevices on the cliff and climbed towards me like he was on t ground. He moved so fast that he jumped on me and began to choke me before I could escape.


    The force of the impact mmed me against the cliff, but I still managed to wrap my safety rope around his neck at the same time he started choking me.


    Jin Xingsan was so strong that I immediately started to suffocate. But rather than strangling me, it seemed more like he was trying to break my neck. I clenched my teeth, quickly unfastened my nearest safety buckle, and let my whole body fall through the air.


    In addition to the strong gravitational force, there was a lot of grime and sweat on my body since I hadnt been able to bathe for a long time. As a result, Jin Xingsan tried to grab my neck again, but I slipped right through his fingers.


    Even though I had unfastened one safety buckle, I still had another one set up farther away, so my safety rope tightened around his neck and started to strangle him.


    He was so strong that he could still cling to the cliff even in this state, but my suspended weight managed to keep him immobile. In the end, he could only hold onto the rock protrusion while being strangled.


    I yelled at Fatty. He immediately jumped out of the darkness above and grabbed me in a bear hug.


    His increased weight caused the rope to tighten even more and I heard the resounding crack of Jin Xingsan''s neck snapping. I looked up and saw that the angle of his neck and body had changed.


    But even so, Jin Xingsan''s hands and feet were still moving. Fatty and I looked at each other. As soon as the two of us swung to the edge of the cliff and climbed two or three steps up, we found that Jin Xingsan''s neck didnt look like it had been snapped at all. He immediately moved, but Fatty and I jumped off of the cliff at the same time.


    We fell through the air and strangled his neck until we heard it snap once more. This time, the connection between his neck and body had beenpletely broken.


    Jin Xingsan''s hands and feet were still moving, but it didnt look like there was any intent behind these movements. Now he really didnt look like a humanoid creature.


    As Fatty and I hit the cliff again, I heard a sizzling sound. I looked at the belt full of detonators hanging around his neck and asked, "Did you remove the fuses just now?"


    "Oh, I forgot!" As Fatty said this, I saw that a spark had burned along the fuse from the back of his neck to the front, heading right towards the first detonator under his chin.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Remember, Wu Xies name means no evil so hes saying his grandpa thought he was pure/not influenced by ghosts and bad juju and stuff.


    ****


    <strong><em>I should probably note that Wu Xie was referring to Jin Xingsan as it a lot but he was also using he. There were a lot of spots in this chapter where it just didnt really seem to fit very well so I used he instead. Hope you guys dont mind.</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 61: Endless

    Book 4: Chapter 61: Endless


    Fatty was in a hurry to put the fuse out, but the burning fuse was driven by gunpowder, so it was extremely difficult to extinguish. Seeing that he was nervous and disorganized, I stretched my head out and bit the burning point directly, trying to bite off the fuse head.


    The fuse didnt go out even when it encountered my saliva and just ended up burning my mouth instead. I spit it out, along with a big mouthful of sparks. My mouth was now full of blisters, but when I looked at the fuse again, I saw that it was still burning.


    The topyer of my tongue tasted a little burnt and Fattys face was looking pale. The fuse I had just tried to snuff out with my mouth was almost to the detonator, so it was toote to bite it again. In an instant, the fuse burned all the way to the detonator.


    Fatty let gohe still had a safety anchor higher up on the cliff and kicked off of the cliff wall as he fell straight down, "Mr. Nave, take care of Little Brother! You know your Fat Masters love for you is like a firework! It shines brightly and then disappears in an instant!"


    As his whole body swung out and away from me, I saw him turn around so that his back was to me. He was nning on using his body to block the direct st from the explosion in order to keep me from being injured by the flying shrapnel.


    My heart surged up like it was trying to w its way out of my chest, adrenaline rushed through my body, and my hair stood on end.


    At that moment, my throat tightened as I thought I saw him explode into pieces. <em>Its over! Fattys gone! </em>I thought to myself.


    But as it turned out, Fatty hit the cliff below, bounced off, turned around, hit it again, and then spun around once more.


    The detonator was still smoking.


    I felt my heart clench. Every time he hit the cliff, my heart twitched as I kept thinking that he was going to blow up. But in the end, he hit the cliff six or seven times before his whole body stabilized and the smoke slowly disappeared without anything exploding.


    I looked at him and he looked at me; I spit out a mouthful of blood.


    I touched my mouth, unable to believe it. It seemed that people really could vomit blood out of thin air. Fatty looked at the detonator and said to me, "Mr. Nave, it''s a dud! Mr. Nave, it''s a dud!!! Fuck me, my luck is amazing! Its as awesome as my dick!


    "Get rid of it!" I shouted at him.


    "But this is my lucky detonator! Fatty said. Ill keep it as a good luck charm!"


    "Lose it! Fucking get rid of it right now!" Feeling a huge wave of anxiety in my heart, I unfastened my safety buckle, climbed over the gap to Fattys side, and then headbutted him on the nose. As he sat there stunned, I pulled the detonator out and threw it directly below. It crashed into the rocks and then rolled down the cliff.


    When I was growing up and would set off firecrackers, my dad took special care to teach me that duds were the most dangerous thing in the world, because you didnt know what state the sparks inside were in.


    Almost at the same time, Jin Xingsan was freed from my rope''s stranglehold because I had unfastened my safety buckle. When we looked up, we found that all of the light around us had suddenly dimmed and we couldn''t see anything above our heads.


    "Is the light around here much darker than we originally thought?" Fatty asked me. I could barely see his face, but we were used to moving around in extremely dim light anyways.


    I nodded and went to grab my shlight, only to find that it wasnt on my equipment belt. Did it get stuck in a crevice just now?


    "Why did you spit up blood?" Fatty asked me.


    "I" I didnt know how to exin it. My heart hurt so much that I felt numb as I thought to myself, <em>its over. I just killed the bee man. Is there going to be some kind of chain reaction or something?</em>


    "What''s the matter with you? I asked Fatty. Why are you doing things so roughly? If it weren''t for that dud just now, you wouldve definitely died. Do you understand that? Its such a low-level mistake to make."


    This kind of low-level mistake was way too scary, and just thinking about it was enough to make me want to vomit blood again. I wanted to quickly go up and see what Xiao Huas people had to say, but at this time, something down below suddenly exploded.


    A loud noise erupted about thirty meters below our feet, and a huge explosion of light shed for a moment. The detonator wasnt a dud after all! It was just slow to explode!


    My mouth dropped open and my frightened mind buzzed, but in that brief sh of light from the explosion, I saw a strange face with eyes stretched thin by an elongated skull appear behind Fatty. It was peeking out directly from behind Fatty''s ear and was almost pressed up against my forehead.


    Fatty, who waspletely unaware of this, turned his pale face towards me and said, "Mr. Nave, thank you."


    I immediately retreated, raised my gun to take aim, and fired three shots in an instant. The loud crack of gunfire reverberated with a huge echo as the thing was instantly pushed back four or five steps. Then, it immediately disappeared into the darkness.


    Fatty was almost deafened by my actions, but I turned and shouted to Xiao Huas team above us, "Give me a hint! It''s already like this, so say something!


    There was no response.


    I forgot that I didn''t have a safety buckle and jumped up against a rock protrusion, thinking that I could swing myself up. As a result, I almost fell down the cliff, but Fatty managed to grab me and stuck me back on the cliff.


    I looked up again and saw that facee out of the darkness and appear beside Fatty''s head once more. Fatty felt it this time, but he couldn''t let go of me.


    It was only at this time that I remembered how horrible dealing with zombie-like things was.


    Fatty finally let go as I climbed the cliff on one side. The light was too dim here, so I could only vaguely see that weird face beside Fatty''s head from this distance. As a result, I didn''t dare shoot again.


    The two of us remained silent as I strained my eyes to see. <em>This things mouth doesn''t open very much, so how does it attack people?</em> I silently asked myself.


    At this time, I suddenly heard a papapapa sounding from the darkness on the other side.


    Seeing that the strange face was immediately attracted by that sound, I couldnt help but wonder, <em>is there another one?</em>


    As I listened to that papapapa sound getting closer and closer, I slowly saw Poker-Face''s face appear from the darkness. It was very hard to make out since I couldn''t see anything clearly, but I saw Poker-Face shaking his jaw quickly and making that papapapa sound.


    The bee corpse slowly climbed towards Poker-Face, who didn''t even look at me once as he slowly retreated into the darkness, the bee corpse following closely behind.


    I was afraid to disturb the atmosphere, but it wasnt long before the papapapa sound finally disappeared. "Whats going on with Little Brother?" Fatty asked me.


    "That''s not Little Brother," I said.


    "It''s so hard to see anything clearly. Are you sure?"


    I noddedmy instincts were giving me a strong warningand then started climbing back up to the ce where I had unfastened my safety buckle before. Once we made it, I motioned to Fatty that we should climb up quickly.


    As I crawled on my stomach and looked at the light shining down from above, I felt that the ambient light seemed a little brighter. We finally climbed back to the campsite, but as soon as I was about to speak, Fatty pressed my shoulder and motioned for me to look carefully.


    I looked at Xiao Hua''s camp and felt as if my brain exploded. Jin Xingsan was standing on a protruding rock as if nothing had happened. He looked at us and asked, "Little Master Three, what''s going on? What was that explosion just now?"


    Fatty and I looked at each other before I turned to look at Jin Xingsan and the people behind him. I found that nothing had happened here except that the light was much dimmer than before. The crowd behind him all had wooden expressions on their faces.


    "What kind of haunted circle is this?" Fatty murmured.


    I looked at Jin Xingsan out of the corner of my eye. It was still the same kind of corpse, but with my peripheral vision, I could tell that its clothes were different.


    This was another bee man. In just those few minutes we had been gone fighting, it had filled in the gap.


    As I pushed Fatty slowly back into the darkness, Jin Xingsan looked at us in confusion. My heart was full of despair; I really didn''t expect this kind of situation.


    I suddenly understood Xiao Hua''s tiredness. How many of these fucking bee men did he kill? So that Shigou Diao guys gestures didnt mean that this thing had anything to do with the censer above, he just meant that this thing was endless. If you killed one, then did another one appear immediately?


    At this time, Jin Xingsan quickly climbed over to us. "Little Master Three, its dangerous. You should hurry up and join us."


    My hands were trembling as I saw it climb over quickly, full of so much energy. My tired heart was aching and a huge wave of nausea hit me as I looked at his affectionate smile.


    ****


    <strong><em>My face after Fatty almost dying, learning there are endless bee men, and fake Poker-Face (maybe?) helping them</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 62: Tired

    Book 4: Chapter 62: Tired


    This was the time when people were the most tired.


    When Jin Xingsan climbed over, Fatty and I took a few steps back, thinking about whether we should just go ahead and fight him.


    But at that moment, a wave of dizziness hit me, my eyes blurred, and my hands could barely support my body. I was just about to fall but Fatty quickly held me up.


    Jin Xingsan arrived in front of me in an instant, face full of concern, "Little Master Three,e and drink some water."


    My vision went dark and Ipletely lost consciousness for the next few minutes. When I woke up again, I found that I had returned to my original position and was leaning against Fatty. I nced at him and he whispered to me, "Endure it. I couldnt feel your pulse just now."


    I looked at the other side using my peripheral vision and saw that Jin Xingsan was still sitting in his original position, looking at me like an owl. Out of the corner of my eye, I found that this ones expression looked even more bizarreits face was even more slender than the other ones, which made it look very sinister.


    "What the hell is that thing? I didn''t have time to ask just now," Fatty asked. "Is it a bee man?"


    I nodded, "Don''t ask." Fatty nodded and also tried to use his peripheral vision to take a look, but it seemed like he couldnt see anything.


    That mouthful of blood just now made me feel like my chest cavity was empty. I couldnt move anymore, so I rubbed my chest for about ten minutes before I finally felt it warm up a bit. Just now, it felt as if I had a lot of ice shards lodged in my chest.


    I propped myself up and looked behind Jin Xingsan, only to find that the Shigou Diao guys spot behind him was now empty.


    As I looked for him carefully, I felt my heart thump. <em>This is bad</em>, I said to myself. I looked at Jin Xingsan again and saw that he had a yful expression on his face. That was when I realized that he seemed to know what I was looking for.


    <em>Brother, if youre dead, I will avenge you</em>, I silently vowed to myself. I didnt want to look at Jin Xingsan any longer, so I closed my eyes, rxed, and started to think.


    <em>Wu Xie, Wu Xie, Wu Xie. Do you think you can handle what Xiao Hua couldnt? What are your strengths? What are Xiao Hua''s weaknesses? Where is the breach?</em>


    I spent about ten minutes trying to find any ws, but none jumped out at me. I did, however, repeatedly think of a strange incident that didnt seem to fit with anything else.


    "Fatty, let me ask you a question," I said as I opened my eyes. "What did you see on that first night you kept watch?"


    Fatty''s face immediately changed and he whispered to me, "Why are you asking about this? I can''t remember clearly."


    "We saw that fake Little Brother twice, right? I asked him. Help me sort out my thoughts. First of all, it seems like this thing and that thing can''t be killed. If we kill one, another one will immediately show up. I dont know how long Xiao Hua has been trapped here, but he must have tried countless times and ended up with the same results every single time. Throughout this whole incident, this thing has stayed here, as if its purpose is to keep us from getting close to the top."


    When Fatty nodded, I continued, "But we saw that fake Little Brother twice. What do you think its purpose is?"


    "What do you mean?"


    "Don''t you think that this fake Little Brothers appearance doesnt fit in with everything else that''s going on?"


    Fatty looked at me, so I continued with another question, "Did you see Yun Cai when you were keeping watch that first day?"


    "Does this question have anything to do with what youre thinking about?" Fatty shot back.


    "No matter how much I think about it, this strange incident keeps popping up and interfering with my thoughts, I said to him. If you saw Yun Cai that first day you were keeping watch and I saw Little Brother hereboth of whom are people were familiar with and have the same naturedoes that mean this matter has nothing to do with the bee men? Is it another strange thing thats happening here?"


    Fatty looked at me with a veryplicated expression on his face, opened his mouth like he was about to speak, and then hesitated.


    ****


    <strong><em>Wu Xie: Gee whiz, I wonder why I''m coughing up blood and fainting?</em></strong><strong><em>I must be really tired.</em></strong>


    <strong><em>Me: It''s because your lungs are SHIT YOU IDIOT! STOP SMOKING! AHHHHHH!!!</em></strong>


    <strong><em>(also love the Fatty/Yun Cai and Wu Xie/Poker-Face parallel. The author is feeding our addiction lol)</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 63: Confrontation

    Book 4: Chapter 63: Confrontation


    I stared at Fatty until he eventually sighed and said, "Yes, I saw Yun Cai. She told me not to go in, but I didn''t respond to her. This ce is evil. I know that people can''te back to life. You just have to rationalize your inner pain."


    "Then why didn''t you mention it?"


    Fatty touched the memento hanging around his neck, "I thought I had gotten over it, but when I saw her, I realized that I wasnt over it at all. This ce is quite sinister. It picks out things from your past that you havente to terms with and uses it to provoke you. Plus, you should be asking Little Brother why he didnt mention it as well. Its two against one, so thats why we didn''t bother saying anything."


    I looked into the darkness. What did Poker-Face see?


    Was there anything from his past he hadnte to terms with?


    I looked at Fatty again and knew why he was so hesitant to talk. He felt that the things he saw were things that he hadnt been able toe to terms with. But I saw Poker-Face, so did that mean that I wasnt over everything that had happened during those ten years?


    I didnt think it was a matter ofing to terms with it. After all, I had no intention of putting that decade of my life behind me. With my character, I actually hoped that the wound would always hurt so that I could stay alert. But I felt that Fatty''s statement had some truth to it even though it was useless.


    "Then whats your final opinion on the matter?" I asked him.


    "Remember the sound that fake Little Brother made just now? I heard the same kind of sound during the first half of my shift when I was keeping watch that night. I think the Yun Cai that I saw was also one of these transformed things. But if there really is such a thing as these bee men here, is there something like a queen bee that has even more capabilities?"


    I looked at Fatty, thought about it for a moment, and immediately understood what he meant. He was thinking that if the bee men could turn into human beings, then maybe the queen bee was more powerful and could turn into someone who was close to our hearts.


    I gave a wry smile. The term bee man was just a code name; it wasnt a real bee.


    Iy down and continued to think, but slowly discovered a strange thing. Whenever I was about to fall asleep, Jin Xingsan would immediatelye over and talk to me. After a few conversations, my drowsiness disappeared, but when this happened a few more times, my fatigue was beyond words. I looked at his constantly energetic expression again. This oppressive atmosphere was enough to make people feel an overwhelming sense of despair.


    But I dared not confront it directly, because I knew it was difficult to deal with. Although we could kill it, such an act required a lot of physical strength and another one may immediately fill its spot. So, I tried to keep the current state of affairs stable, but I could barely get any rest like this.


    In the end, I couldnt help but start making some deductions. If this statested for seven to ten days, what would happen to me?


    I looked at the endless abyss below and figured that I would have the strong urge to jump, and may even fall asleep beforending.


    My mind was bing more and more chaotic, and the real fatigue was preventing me from thinking. I knew that as long as I could sleep for five minutes, I could recover a little bit, but Jin Xingsan was staring at me and wouldnt let me fall asleep.


    "Xiao Hua and Little Brother must have escaped, Fatty suddenly said from beside me. Should we endure it for a while and wait for them to save us?"


    I did some calctions and felt that it was impossible. The risk was too great. We didnt know what they were facing right now, and they may even need our help if the problem they were facing was even more serious than ours.


    I took out a cigarette. I guess this could be considered a rpse, but I needed the nicotine to get my brain working at full capacity.


    Compared to ordinary people, cigarettes helped me a lot, but the effective time was very short so I''d basically feel even more fatigued right after smoking. I looked at Jin Xingsan, lit the cigarette, and took the initiative to get up.


    Fattys voice came from behind me, "What are you doing? Let me warm up first."


    "Just watch, I said to him. Im going to trick it."


    Ignoring the fact that it was influencing my mind, it was essentially keeping me from climbing, so the way to fight it was to make it think that I was still in the same position.

 Book 4: Chapter 64: Separation

    Book 4: Chapter 64: Separation


    My logic was very simple. It was very important for me to understand what I was dealing with.


    Was it looking at me with its eyes, smelling me with its nose, or listening to me with its ears? Basically, how did it know that I was falling asleep?


    Also, was it really an it?


    I had considerable experience with this kind of thing. Grandpa''s notes often mentioned a need to rely on your own experiences, but when it came to the actual process, it was easy for people to forget the things they had previously learned and fall into a fearful state.


    The zombies I had encountered before werent like this because they were more of a dead thing with conditioned reflexes. The thing currently in front of me, however, seemed to have a strange, evil nature. ording to my grandpas theory, the situation I was facing wasnt consistent with my past experiences, so I needed to think in reverse.


    What happened here? Was it really a zombie?


    You might say that this thing in front of me was extremely intelligent, but that actually wasnt the case. In fact, its behavior had a certain pattern to it that wasnt all thatplicatedit just wouldnt let me continue climbing up. It had an extremely oppressive presence, which it seemed to be using to deliberately cause me to have a mental breakdown and jump from here. But you couldnt say that it didnt have any intelligence at all, because it didnt attack me like a beast or make me have a violent hallucination. Instead, it used a kind of depressing method.


    If everything that happened here was an attempt to lure me to jump off the cliff, then I wouldn''t find it so strange. After all, I had experienced some evil things before, and this kind of strange thing would happen in some ces. Plus, the evil presence here had a tendency to make people try their best tomit suicide. There were many parasites in the natural environment that would make the people they parasitized have strong suicidal thoughts. Those who witnessed such behavior would think that the people were possessed by evil spirits.


    But I wasnt allowed to climb up any more, which didnt fit in line with this behavior. As I was thinking, I looked up at the void overhead, which was actually where the censer was hanging.


    In fact, what would we do if we were able to climb to the top? Was there a hole for us to get out of here? Or maybe there was some kind of force that wouldnt let us out? It was also possible that there was something in the censer that I wasnt allowed to see, so this power sent a zombie down to stall us. If so, this Mr. Power was quite weak and powerless since it seemed like he didnt have many methods at his disposal.


    Following that line of thinking, if these zombies werent intelligent and were just dead thingswhich was in line with my past experiencesthen what enabled them to have behavioral patterns?


    To be honest, if I thought about it this way, I couldnt help but think that the thing in front of me was actually more like a paranormal phenomenon, or


    I exhaled a big mouthful of smoke and said to myself, <em>or theres something inside these zombies thats alive and intelligent.</em>


    But this intelligence was limited. It was just like those snakes in the Snake Marshs ancient city that were more intelligent than I had originally thought. Or maybe it was simr to getting close to the nest of arge animal out in nature. Take bears for example. If there were cubs in the nest, the mother bear would stop you from far away.


    When I thought of this, that strange sense of disharmony I kept feeling in my heart weakened a little bit.


    The next step was to try.


    <em>Ok</em>, I said to myself. I went over and sat down in front of Jin Xingsan without saying anything. It looked at me as if it were waiting for me to speak.


    If there really was something alive in this thing, then there were several ways that it could tell that I was falling asleep. After all, animals'' senses were much stronger than humans senses. Infrared rays, heat, hearing, and smell were all senses that could detect such a thing. I knew for a fact that there were some bats that could urately sense whether animals were asleep or not.


    Smoking would affect my smell, but ordinary cigarette smoke would hardly cover up any changes in the hormone levels in my body. If I wanted to forcibly cover up my smell, I may need more cigarettes.


    Hehehe.


    When I touched my pack of cigarettes, however, I suddenly remembered the past and couldn''t bring myself to do it.


    "Little Master Three, what are you nning? Jin Xingsan asked me. You''ve been smiling there for a while. What are you so happy about?"


    I calmed my mind, patted him, and realized that my expression must have looked like Tang Bohu when he was fantasizing on the roof in the movie Flirting Schr.<sup>(1)</sup>


    "Help me ask the people in your team, I said to him. I want a bottle of cologne."


    "What''s going on? You still need such a thing at a time like this?"


    "The smell of sweat is too strong and is making me ufortable," I said to him. Someone behind him immediately threw a bottle of cologne to me, which I caught in midair. I looked behind Jin Xingsan but couldnt figure out who had thrown it.


    "Is this why you were smiling for so long?"


    "I thought of something happy," I said while patting it again. "You smell pretty strongly, too. Here, have some."


    I sprayed a lot of cologne directly on him. Jin Xingsan was obviously greatly diforted by this and stepped back.


    I went back over to Fatty, had him block me from view so Jin Xingsan couldn''t see my actions, and then immediately started spraying the cologne on myself. The smell was really pungent, so after spraying a lot on myself, I felt as if my nose waspletely blocked. Then, I immediatelyy down and tried to go to sleep.


    But just as I was on the brink of sleep, Jin Xingsan came over and nudged me awake while saying, "You can''t sleep now, Little Master Three. I heard something moving around."


    I got up, the anger in my heart from falling asleep and then quickly being woken up going straight to my head.


    But at the same time, I also understood that it wasnt detecting me through smell.


    After that, I turned on my cell phone, yed a clip of a speakers low, static, thrumming sound, put it over my heart, and tried to continue sleeping.


    But it still wasnt working.


    Jin Xingsan came over again and woke me up once more. I was starting to feel uneasy in my heart, but I didnt interrupt its nonsense and just let it finish before persuading it to leave. My body was feeling kind of weak now.


    In the eyes of those who hadnt been bewitched, this was a situation where that thing wasing over as soon as I was sleepy and making a high-frequency papapapa sound beside me, which would wake me up. This was obviously a hunting method used by a group of predators to consume arge preys physical strength. They would constantly interfere with therge preys rest until it was finally exhausted.


    I sat up and patted my face. <em>Is it heat?</em> I figured that was the most unlikely thing since I was hiding behind Fatty, whose body heat should be masking my own. If Jin Xingsan could detect heat from his position, then he should only be able to see a mass of white light. Was there some other sensory ability I didnt know about?


    Most of my knowledge came from what I knew of the animal world. I didnt have a systematic memory, so now I was racking my brain withouting up with anything


    "Pheromones," Fatty suddenly whispered to me from the side.


    When I looked at him, he continued, "People must secrete hormones when they sleep. That kind of thing is so precise that you can''t cover it up."


    I narrowed my eyes. It made sense. So did that mean that there were ck-haired snakes in these corpses? It was true that this thing behaved a bit like those hei feizi.<sup>(2)</sup>


    But I had never met a ck-haired snake with the hallucinogenic ability we had been experiencing here.


    <em>Forget it, were in such a desperate situation that we should just keep trying everything. But even if it is pheromones, how does it work? If it can sense the hormones I secrete when I sleepthen my movements are more obvious. And if it really senses me like this, then it can find me wherever I hide.</em>


    But there was a way.


    I couldpletely wrap myself up in some way and hold my breath. Of course, like this, I couldnt monitor whether this idea was effective by falling asleep, so I could only take the risk and just leave directly. If I ended up being discovered, then I could just kill this one.


    I took a deep breath. My exhaustion was making me turn to extreme measures and I wanted this to end quickly, so I gave Fatty a look, silently telling him to get ready to do it.


    Fatty was also very tired and kept closing and opening his eyes as he tried to rest just now. After repeating this over and over again for a while, his eyes looked a little dark. Youd better be sure, his eyes seemed to be saying to me.


    I nodded and then began whispering my ns to him.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Flirting Schr is a 1993 Stephen Chow movie. Info here. The main character is based on Tang Bohu (1470-1523), a Ming painter and poet, one of the four great southern talents of the Ming.


    (2) If you dont remember, the term hei feizi first appeared in Sand Sea Part 4 Chapter 201 when those ck snakes crawled down peoples throats and took over their bodies (Im still traumatized by that one chapter). Hei feizi just means something like ck flying thing.

 Book 4: Chapter 65: Conferring Dragons

    Book 4: Chapter 65: Conferring Dragons


    After telling him my ns, I took out the liquid bandage spray<sup>(1)</sup> and stic tape from my bag and began sealing all the skin on my body.


    Once I was finished, I told Fatty to continue blocking me from view and prepare for a struggle if I was discovered. Then, I secretly retreated into the darkness. This time, I was delighted to find that the bee man didnt move and didn''t seem to notice me at all.


    Fatty continued to help block me from view, and when he was almost out of sight, he made a gesture at me which meant: It''s up to you.


    Holding my breath, I finally retreatedpletely into the darkness and started climbing the cliff bit by bit.


    The tape sealing my nose and mouth had a small gap through which a little air coulde through, but I barely breathed as I tried to get as far away as possible.


    Once I climbed to the spot where Xiao Hua and I had been chatting before, I looked down and saw the lights below. I pulled my nose free from the tape and took a deep breath.


    Fatty immediately coughed below, and I knew that Jin Xingsan must have reacted.


    I quickly held my breath again, stopped observing the area, and continued to climb up for about four or five meters. I found a crevice in the rock, stuck my head in, and released the mouthful of air I had been holding.


    Fatty''s cough didn''te from below, so I knew that I had basically escaped. A refreshing feeling of regaining my freedom suddenly spread throughout my whole body.


    The release of this pressure cleared away a lot of the fatigue I was feeling, so I adjusted my breathing, loaded my gun with ammo, and continued to climb.


    The area was getting darker and darker, so I turned on a very dim light that sat at my neckline. It normally looked like a button, but it was actually a small light that ran on a button battery.


    The light could only illuminate up to a distance of about one meter, but in fact, all I could see were the shadows within that range. Any details pertaining to those shadows werepletely iprehensible. It felt more like using the indicator light on a walkie-talkie to illuminate your way.


    I climbed all the way up until the darkness above was like a real entity. That was when I knew that I had finally reached the top. The area above actually contained a pile of corpses, so I made my light a little brighter and looked at it using my peripheral vision. I saw that the pile of corpses almost reached the top and the ones that were embedded in the cracks and depressions in the rock were all ancient.


    There were bronze chains everywhere at the top and the bronze censer was located at the center of them. I reached out and cautiously touched a bronze chain; it seemed like I could climb on it.


    In this position, I listened carefully to see if I could hear any signs of Xiao Hua and Poker-Face. When I didnt hear any sounds at all, I felt a trace of anxiety surge up in my heart.


    But I had made it this far, so I couldnt retreat now. I put a safety anchor in one of the crevices on the cliff, unfastened my safety buckle, and hooked it to the new anchor. Once that was done, I climbed onto the bronze chain and began crawling cautiously towards the censer.


    This was a very strange experience, because I couldnt actually see what I was holding. I waspletely blind in this area so close to the top, but I could use my peripheral vision to tell that I was crawling along the chain.


    At this distance, I could reach out and touch the corpses at the top, but they all seemed to have dried out and werent reacting to my presence.


    It wasnt long before I climbed to the edge of the bronze censer. Based on its appearance, I was nowpletely certain that it was from the pre-Zhanhan period. It was a miracle that it had been preserved like this.


    Since I could only hang upside down on the chain, I tried to hook my foot on another chain nearby, flip myself upright, and hold onto the two chains at the same time so that I could lie on them like a gecko. That way, I could look at the surface of the censer morefortably.


    There were many inscriptions on it that were faintly discernible, so I used my peripheral vision to read them word by word.


    I soon discovered that it was a bronze censer for conferment. It probably meant that there was a cave here and the emperor knew that there was a dragon god living in it. The dragon god probably ate tens of thousands of people when it left the cave and almost drove the local people to extinction, so the emperor hung the bronze censer up to suppress it. He would allow the local people to offer sacrifices to it twice a year and ordered the dragon god not to willfully hurt people. If it could do that, then he would confer upon it the title of mountain god and let it take charge of the area.


    At that time, bronze was as expensive as gold, so probably the only reason such sacrificial measures could be taken was because the emperor himself had intervened.


    I looked up along the censer using my peripheral vision and really did see a hole in it. This should be the ce where the sun was shining through. It probably led aboveground, but it was still dark now, which meant that the sky outside was still dark.


    <em>Dragon God? If this beast ate people every time it left the cave and ended up eating tens of thousands of people, then that really is a huge natural disaster.</em>


    This method of suppression using huge metal objects was verymon during floods and the objects were usually iron and bronze cauldrons. In many ces where the water system was developed and prone to floods, an unusually sharp iron sword would be hung under the bridge at the core waterway. It was believed that the flood was a result of the dragon passing through the river system, so the sword was affixed under the bridge with its de drawn right on the waters surface. This would warn the Dragon King that the water level shouldnt be too high when he passed through; otherwise, the sword would cut his back.


    <em>What does this all mean?</em>


    I tried to lift my upper body. This censer was extremely old, and when I used my peripheral vision to take a look, it even seemed to be filled with a demonic aura. To put it bluntly, this was a magical tool left here thousands of years ago to suppress evil spirits. It should have made me feel a little creeped out, but it was the only man-made thing I had seen during this period of time.


    In the huge expanse of darkness, these ancient words appeared at the end of my strange climbing journey. Its difficult to express the feeling in my heart at that time, because if it werent for this thing, my self-esteem as a human felt like it was going to be swallowed up by the huge ancient god that existed here in the darkness.


    But my heart felt a little more stable now that I could see that the ancients had arrived in this ce and tried to contend with the power in the darkness.


    I looked down again and noticed that the darkness below really did look like it was alive. When it came to this area, the fear in your heart made you hope that there really was a god here. That was why you had such a huge need for faith.


    I climbed to the top of the bronze censer and carefully climbed on top of its body, but it started shaking, which immediately caused the chains to make a rattling sound.


    I tried my best to keep the shaking to a minimum as I slowly climbed to the area directly above the bronze censers opening and used my peripheral vision to look inside.


    I found that the censer was filled with a liquid that waspletely ck. There was an ancient corpse soaking in it that waspletely leatherized, but its skin was still white, unlike other leatherized corpses which were generally purple.


    This ancient corpse had originally been wearing an outfit made of gold-threaded silk, but now all the silk was rotten and looked ckened, which made it hard to see what it originally looked like.


    The corpse also wore a ck, purple, and gold crown with gems on it that reflected the light in bright pink, yellow, green, and blue colors. It was probably the local colored quartz here.


    This was a female corpse, which must have been a sacrifice to the dragon god at that time. I couldnt believe that a corpse from thousands of years ago was so well preserved.


    I turned my button light up to its maximum setting, looked carefully, and saw that this female corpses fingers were very long. There was a possibility that she was rted to the Zhang family. I also noticed that her chest under the water looked like it was still moving up and down, but the way it was moving didnt seem like she was breathing.


    I touched my shlight, thought about it for a second, and then turned it on, immediately illuminating the whole underwater situation. The female corpse was pale and scary, and when the shlight came on, I saw the body suddenly twist.


    At the same time, I also saw that there were two pipa locks<sup>(2)</sup> on the corpses shoulders, which locked it in the bronze censer. The corpses skin still had a lot of spots that were decaying, so I could see that metal rods had been pierced through the corpse''s skin.


    This was a protective cage that was made with a living person. The so-called "protective cage" was something that was usually used to catch snakes and fish, and there were barbs at the entrance so that the prey couldnt get out once it went in. Based on the corpses pained expression, the metal rods in her body interspersed to form a kind of hidden cage under her skin. They had pierced her with these metal rods when she was alive, put the pipa locks on her, locked her in the bronze censer, and put her inside this cave, using her body to catch something.


    Her stomach was now moving up and down, so did that mean she was still holding onto whatever she had caught? Did this cage still work?


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I was not aware this was a thing but apparently its a topical skin treatment for minor cuts and sores. The mixture of chemicals create a polymericyer which binds to the skin (like a spray on band-aid). Could also be called pster-spray.


    (2) A pipa is a Chinese lute with 4 strings, arge pear-shaped body, and a fretted fingerboard. ording to google sensei, a pipa lock could look something like this:

 Book 4: Chapter 66: Primitive Snake Monster

    Book 4: Chapter 66: Primitive Snake Monster


    I looked around again and was a little surprised to find that Poker-Face and Xiao Hua werent here. When I was down below, I assumed that they had used some kind of trick to break away and go up to the top to solve the problem.


    But as it turned out, they werent here. Where did they go?


    I looked at the white female corpse in the censer. I didnt know what to do, but I was certain that those bee corpses didnt want me to see this thing.


    I squinted at the female corpse''s stomach, the contents of which didnt look all that small. Every time the thing inside her body moved, the female corpse would twist. This was an extremely cruel sorcery technique that used the human body as a kind of trap.


    Since Jin Xingsan wouldnt let mee up to see this thing, it meant that it was very important to them. <em>Should I just blow it up?</em> I asked myself while searching my body. But Fatty was the one with all the detonators and he had already finished them off, so I took out my short submachine gun and aimed it at the female corpse.


    I believed that if she was alive in heaven, my actions would definitely be a form of relief for her.


    But after staring at it for a while, I found that my hands were shaking and I was covered in a cold sweat. I put the gun down, not daring to do it. After all, when it came to fights, I wasnt as daring as Fatty was.


    Moreover, if destroying this thing could solve the problem, then why didnt Xiao Huae up and do it? This was a very simple solution to the problem but they werent here. Wasn''t this censer the root of the problem? If it wasnt, then what was?


    I looked at the hole aboveFatty couldnt hold on much longer down thereand knew that I had to solve the problem. Was leaving this ce the answer?


    I swallowed a mouthful of saliva; the concept of leaving this ce was really tempting. I carefully stood up and thrust my upper body into the hole above.


    I immediately smelled a breath of fresh airing from the surface. The air smelled of grass and dew. After listening carefully, I even heard the sound of the wind blowing through the bushes.


    Looking out, I could vaguely see faint starlight in the darkness above the hole. As it turned out, I was actually very close to the surface.


    At that moment, I went into a frenzied state and started wing at the edge of the hole involuntarily, wanting to go up.


    My need to get out of this ce was too much. I was too depressed. I wanted to see the sky, white clouds, sunshine, and green grass. I wanted to see the endless sky.


    I was in such a trance that I slipped, lost my footing on the edge of the censer, and fell into the abyss. Fortunately, I was quick to stretch my hand out and managed to catch a nearby bronze chain.


    At this time, the censer and the bronze chains made a very loud rattling sound as they shook with my movements. I quickly hooked my legs on the chain again and tried to stay still so that my weight would make the sound die down as soon as possible.


    As the sounds of the bronze chains gradually calmed down again, I found that I was now clear-headed and covered in a cold sweat.


    But at this time, I noticed that the chains hadntpletely stopped shaking and I could even feel the censer shaking slightly. <em>Thats odd</em>, I thought to myself. After thinking about it for a moment, I immediately realized that something was crawling along the bronze chain towards the censer.


    I used my peripheral vision to look at the far end of the chain and saw a ck shadow crawling towards me.


    I knew at a nce that this thing definitely wasnt a person but a bee corpse, because it had a very elongated head. I picked up my gun, wondering what to do, when I suddenly heard a familiar voicee out of the darkness, Little Master Three, why are you here?


    <em>Shit, it''s Jin Xingsan.</em>


    As I slowly retreated, I saw that the shadow was getting closer and closer. I used my peripheral vision to look over there and gradually saw its face. This Jin Xingsan wasnt the one from below, but the one whose neck I had broken. His neck could no longer support the weight of his head, so his whole head was drooping down.


    Little Master Three?


    I crawled around to the other side of the censer in hopes of using it as a cover and then looked at Jin Xingsan out of the corner of my eye. His figure was still very vague, but I found that something wasnt quite right with him. It seemed like there was a hole in his neck and something was sticking out of it.


    As I strained to get a good look at it, I found that it was a white snake head about the size of a fist. This thing was very white and conspicuous, so I could see it clearly even using my peripheral vision.


    I had witnessed a scene like this before; it really was a hei feizi. Hei feizi were a special kind of snake that parasitized the human body, dissolved the human spine, and then took its ce. Five ck snakesusually one female and four maleswould control a persons spine and limbs. Both living and dead people could be parasitized and turn into sacks of skin controlled by these snakes.


    Hei feizi could imitate people and even had a certain degree of intelligence, which could be used for training. There was a type of dog in our old Wu family which was specially used to deal with this kind of hei feizi. It appeared that this corpses spine had been reced with a snake, and now that its neck was broken, the snake had stretched its head out.


    Hei feizi had to lie dormant for a long time, and most wouldnt mature until the host body had died of old age. Many supposed corpse transformations were actually a result of this process. The ancients didn''t understand that the corpses were moving because they were parasitized and instead thought that it was because of an influx of yang energy.


    But this particr snake was very different from the hei feizi I had seen before. Hei feizi werepletely ck with highly venomous ck hairs on their body, but this snake didnt have any scales and was white all over. It looked very demonic, almost like a very old creature in a textbook. The most obvious thing that I saw, however, was that its eyes werent very noticeable. In other words, it didnt have the obvious facial structure of a snake. At this very moment, the snakes head was protruding more and more and bing more distinct. It looked unspeakably strange.


    I had seen many murals before that had a bunch of very primitive depictions that were simr to the human-faced birds. Now, seeing how this snake also seemed to be in a primitive state, I felt that the things here pointed to some primitive civilization. In fact, this primitive existence strongly pointed to the concept of symbiosis. This ce seemed to be the origin of everything I had experienced before.


    The snake head bee corpse was getting closer and closer, but the only way to take out a hei feizi was to break its spine so that its limbs couldnt move properly. But it was very difficult to shoot it while using my peripheral vision.


    I held my breath, practically squinting as I looked out of the corner of my eye. But just when I was about to shoot, a loud gurgling sound suddenly came from the bronze censer.


    It almost sounded like someone had farted inside. Then, I saw the white female corpse sit up out of the water.


    Her head waspletely drooping down, but it could still move, and at this time, she turned her head and looked at me directly. I was still lying on the edge of the bronze censer, so she was almost half an arms length away from me. Then, she suddenly twisted her whole body and the darkness in front of me immediately began to fade and everything around me began to appear normally.


    She immediately stood up, but the two pipa locks straightened, preventing her from climbing out of the bronze censer.


    Snake head Jin Xingsan, who had already crawled halfway behind her, came to an abrupt stop. When I nced at him head-on, I found that he looked exactly like a corpse now.


    Then, a series of gegegege sounds came from the female corpses abdominal cavity. At this time, I discovered that there was something like a metal cor attached inside her throat that seemed to be a kind of mechanism. I saw snake head Jin Xingsan crawl over and climb up beside the female corpse. Then, the snake head began spitting a ck liquid into the female corpse''s mouth.


    If the snake head hadnt been sticking out of Jin Xingsans broken neck, it wouldve looked like two corpses were kissing.


    It was obviously a kind of feeding. The mechanism in the female corpses throat blocked the contents of her belly from getting out, so snake head Jin Xingsan had to spit out whatever it had digested and pour it down the gap in her throat in order to feed whatever was in her belly.


    ****


    <strong><em>I ve over this for 2 days and get this disgusting shit?! Damn it NPSS</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 67: Snake Head

    Book 4: Chapter 67: Snake Head


    I was right behind them, the hand holding my gun trembling as they continued feeding like nobody else was around.


    I wasnt afraid but I was extremely hesitant. Should I shoot these two things directly in the intestines and destroy them? But if I didnt manage to kill whatever was in the female corpses stomach, then the cage would be broken and the contents woulde out. There was no telling what would happen after that.


    If this female corpse was put here to catch this thing when she was still alive, did that mean that it had lived in her belly for three thousand years ever since it was caught?


    Based on how snake head Jin Xingsan was feeding it, the thing in this female corpse probably had a high status in this snake group. I suddenly remembered that the cockb snakes and ck-haired snakes in the Queen of the Wests country and Gutongjing had be a national-level disaster that wiped out everything. Even the inscription on the censer here had said that the dragon god had killed tens of thousands of people nearby, so it had to be very scary.


    In fact, on a cliff environment like this, if the thing was as venomous as a cockb or ck-haired snake, then I would die ten times over.


    But if I didnt shoot now when they were so engrossed with each other, would I get another chance to hit snake head Jin Xingsan?


    My thoughts were racing as I looked at snake head Jin Xingsan and saw that he was almost done feeding. A bad idea suddenly popped into my head and I immediately aimed my gun at his thoracic vertebra and pulled the trigger.


    Bang, bang, bang!


    Three shots went off with a deafening sound and all three bullets prated the body.


    Not only did the bullets pack a big punch from this distance, but snake head Jin Xingsan was also caught off guard. He fell back, rolled down the bronze censer, and made a sharp papapapa sound, but still didn''t fall down. With a swipe of his ws, he managed to grab onto the bronze chain and save himself. At the same time, the white female corpse turned and looked at me directly.


    The female corpse''s neck appeared to be broken and her head was lying on her shoulder with an indescribably evil smirk on her face. I crawled back a few steps as she tried to force her way over to me, her hands and waist twisting in an inhuman manner.


    But as soon as she leaned out of the bronze censer, she was immediately stopped by the two pipa locks and began struggling to get out.


    I was about half an arms length away from this female corpses head, so I was relieved to see that she couldnt break free from the pipa locks. As I continued to hang upside down on the chain, I looked at snake head Jin Xingsan hanging on the chain opposite me. I must have killed the female snake, but the male snakes that controlled the limbs could still move. As a result, his hands were still clinging to the chain and he was about to swing towards me.


    I immediately fired and hit his hands, causing him to fall into the abyss below.


    I breathed a sigh of relief, pulled myself back on top of the chain again, and suddenly made direct eye contact with the female corpse. Her eyes were actually open, and I could see that they were murky. Not knowing what was going on, I immediately backed away but suddenly bumped into something.


    Looking back, I saw that another bee corpse had crawled up behind me at some unknown point. I quickly raised my gun, but the bee corpse grabbed me by the neck and then pushed me into the bronze censer.


    The female corpse was still in the same position, so I ended up being pushed under her body. She immediately turned her head and stared straight at my mouth.


    I couldnt seal my mouth shut since my neck was being strangled, but I had a feeling that something was going to happen. Sure enough, the female corpse opened her mouth and vomited a lot of small white snakes from her throat directly into my throat. In an instant, the little snakes made it into my esophagus.


    They tasted like sour noodles.


    During the struggle, I somehow managed to pull the trigger of my gun. I didn''t know where the bullet hit, but I managed to shake the bee corpse off. Unfortunately, I didnt have time to reach out and grasp any of the chains, so as soon as the bee man released me, I slid down the side of the censure and into the abyss below.


    But I still had my safety rope, which had been wound around the bronze chain several times. I fell three or four meters beforeing to an abrupt stop in the air, bouncing up and down like a yo-yo before slowly starting to stabilize.


    Without hesitation, I immediately stuck my finger down my throat and forced myself to vomit. There actually wasnt anything in my stomach, so I vomited a lot of yellow liquid, but I could obviously feel something writhing in the yellow liquid.


    I vomited until I couldnt vomit anymore and then looked up. The bee corpses in the crevices had started to move and wereing down onto the chains one right after another.


    <em>I''m in trouble now</em>, I thought to myself.


    At this time, I couldnt even remember what I came up here to do. <em>Oh yeah, I wanted to save the people below. But when I go down, how am I supposed to exin to them that Ive created dozens of Jin Xingsan?</em>


    I calcted the height of this ce, looked at how many bullets I had left, and then fired directly at the chains above, breaking three of them as quickly as possible.


    My original intention was to break the chains directly and let the bronze censer fall from this height.


    <em>I don''t care if youre a dragon god or a weird snake. If you fall from this height, youll definitely turn into a t pancake.</em>


    But when the three chains broke, the bronze censers center of gravity was off and the censer tipped over. ck liquid spilled everywhere and then the female corpse fell out, those pipa locks the only things keeping her from plunging into the abyss below.


    She and I were hanging at the same height, with only about thirty centimeters separating us. I grabbed my rope and climbed up desperately, trying to get away from her.


    ****


    <strong><em>*sobs* Why? Why must you do this to us NPSS?</em></strong> o(TTo) <strong><em>Excuse me while I go dry heave </em></strong>_(` )_

 Book 4: Chapter 68: Escaping Trouble

    Book 4: Chapter 68: Escaping Trouble


    My efforts were quite effective, and I managed to climb more than a meter up until the female corpse was hanging below my feet. "Fatty, let''s kill something! I started shouting. Run! I got into some trouble at the top!"


    But as it turned out, I couldn''t say anything at all. Instead, all that came out of my mouth was a "gegegege" sound. When I touched my chin, I found that my whole mouth was numb.


    That kind of numbness was exactly like taking an anesthetic after dislocating an appendage. I squeezed my mouth hard and pinched my tongue to see what was going on, only to find that something was moving on my tongue. I could feel my hands touching my tongue, but I couldnt feel my tongue touching my hands.


    I immediately realized that the thing on my tongue was one of those little white snakes. Since I couldnt feel my entire chin, did that mean that this thing was poisonous?<sup>(1)</sup>


    I shouted as hard as I could, but my tongue waspletely out of my control. All I could do was make that "gegegege" sound as saliva involuntarily flowed from the corners of my mouth.


    Almost at the same time, all the bee corpses above responded with a "papapapa" sound. I would "gegegege" and they would "papapapapapa", which was starting to make me angry. <em>What, are you pretending to be velociraptors or something?</em> I thought to myself.


    I raised my gun to break the other chains, telling myself that I would destroy at least half of them first, but at this time, something suddenly grabbed my hand. I turned my head and saw that it was the female corpses hand. She had climbed up the pipa chain and was practically crawling on top of me, the strong smell of rancid water hitting me directly in the face.


    When I turned and faced her directly, I saw that her face had gradually changed from that sinister expression to a more normal one, and the smell had disappeared.


    But her head waspletely unsupported and was lying horizontally across her shoulders. This kind of movement wasnt something that people with normal necks could do. Plus, the female corpses face was pale and appeared even more bizarre.


    I figured it was because there was a one-way metal lock in her neck and some kind of special snakemaybe the king snake herehad entered this human body cage and couldnt get out. When the other snakes controlled corpses, their heads were usually just attached to the cervical vertebrae. Since their necks were hard, the snakes could even control the rotation of the corpses heads. But this king snake could only attach itself to the part of the spine in the middle of the neck and shoulder des. Plus, there was a mechanism in this female corpses neck, so it was the only thing supporting her neck. The spine had weakened after the cartge decayed, making it difficult to support the neck, but it seemed that this snake still had a way to open and close the female corpse''s mouth and eyes.


    The female corpse didn''t make any kind of noise, but I could feel a vibrationing from her stomach. Then, I saw her eyes slowly nce at the pipa lock chain behind her.


    If it was a zombie movie before, then it was most definitely a ghost movie now. The female corpse''s eyes were pale and murky like the inside of a lychee fruit<sup>(2)</sup> and all of her hair was stuck to her face.


    A bee corpse started to climb down, disturbing the safety rope that I was hanging on, but the female corpse abruptly jerked and made an extremely unpleasant sound.


    All of the bee corpses immediately retreated. The female corpse didnt attack me but continued to nce at the pipa chain.


    It still had a firm grasp on my hand so I couldn''t move at all, but it wasnt moving either. Instead, it just continued to look at me and kept "ncing" behind it.


    I couldnt say anything. Any time I tried, all that came out of my mouth was that "gegegege" sound. It almost sounded like the mating call of a long-horned grasshopper. I was wondering what this female corpse was trying to do, but there was nothing I could do besides maintain this state.


    After about six or seven minutes of this, I suddenly realized that it wanted me to break its chain.


    <em>Fuck!</em>


    I looked at it and said to myself, <em>this thing has a very high IQ, at least on the level of a border collie.</em>


    I quickly analyzed the situation. ording to themon practice in novels, I felt that I definitely shouldnt let this evildoer live even if it meant that Id die here with it. It would be better to let this stand-off continue. If she was patient, then I could be patient too; maybe I could just wait until Poker-Face came to fish me up. But if she was impatient, then shed surely kill me after a while. Or, if it was a situation where all three of us were patient, Poker-Face mighte to find me and discover that I had turned into a Jin Xingsan.


    But I definitely wasnt that kind of person. After thinking about it, I decided that as long as this female corpse could understand what I meant and let go of my hand, then I could shoot. After that, I could quickly break the two pipa locks and kick it down into the abyss.


    So, I also used my eyes to nce at my hand that was holding the gun.


    With it ncing at the pipa lock and me ncing at my hand, one person and one corpse began to silentlymunicate with our eyes.


    If others were to witness this scene at this time, they definitely wouldnt believe that I was looking for a way out. But there were many things that urred on the surface which werepletely different from what was actually going on below.


    At this time, it suddenly let go and my gun hand could finally move. I took a deep breath and, without giving it a chance to react, immediately gave it a hard kick and raised my gun to break one of the pipa locks. In an instant, its center of gravity tilted and its whole body began to spin. I raised my gun and directly broke the rope-entwined chain that was attached to the censer.


    I fell straight down and crashed into the cliff. The censer was even more tilted now, so the female corpse was spinning like a top, revolving around and around in a small orbit. The two of us passed each other like flying trapeze artists as I drew a huge arc, hit the cliff again, and spun three or four times before stopping. I looked up and saw the female corpse spinning like a yo-yo while many of the bee corpses above it were shaken off the chain. Then, the bee corpses began to climb down the cliff on my side, heading right towards me.


    I raised my gun and fired again. It wasnt so easy to hit the pipa lock chain at this distance, but I finally managed to break it after finishing off my remaining bullets.


    The female corpse quickly plunged into the darkness below, but at this time, at least three or four bee corpses had already descended upon me.


    Not willing to give up, I clenched my teeth and started reloading my ammo. But those three or four bee corpsespletely bypassed me and jumped into the void.


    I looked up again and found that all of the bee corpses had jumped into the void, heading in the direction that the female corpse had fallen in.


    <em>Ah, love makes people do pitiful things</em>, I said to myself before immediately taking out my cell phone and using it to look at my tongue. <em>Fuck, there''s obviously a little snake on my tongue and it''s still fucking moving!</em>


    At this time, I was at a loss as to what to do and feltpletely miserable. <em>After Mute Zhang, there may be a Mute Wu.</em>


    <em>Wushanju can live off subsidies in the future.</em>


    I rearranged my climbing rope, climbed back down to Xiao Hua''s camp, and saw everyone looking at the bottom of the cliff. Jin Xingsan was no longer there.


    When I climbed over to Fattys side, he looked at me and said, "Shit, that guy jumped down."


    I nodded and tried not to make a "gegege" sound, lest Fatty think I was another Jin Xingsan and kill me directly. In the end, I could only make an "aba aba" sound and have Fatty look at my tongue.


    Fatty turned on his shlight to take a look and then shouted to Xiao Hua''s team, "Doctor!"


    When someone came up, Fatty had me lean against his knees. Iy down on my back, opened my mouth, and heard a burst of exmations.


    I looked up at the top of the cave and found that the morning sun was shining down. It was dawn outside, but I was so sleepy that I soon drifted off.


    When I woke up, I saw that Fatty was alone in the camp and the sunlight was shining down brightly from the top of the cave. It was so bright, in fact, that I immediately started crying.


    We had been oppressed for so long.


    There had to be a god behind this light.


    Fatty told me that I had slept for more than an hour, by which time the sun waspletely up outside. Everyone else became crazed and immediately went outside. My tongue had been treated and I could speak, but it was better if I kept it to a minimum. There also shouldnt be any residual effects. The snake on my tongue had been taken out, and since the tongue was considered epithelial tissue, it had a very fast metabolism. As a result, it should be almost fully healed in about three days.


    I asked him about Little Brother and Xiao Hua, but Fatty just shook his head and said that there was no one to help investigate since everyone had gone up and never came back down. He also had to look after me, so he couldnt check himself.


    The two of us began to climb up the cliff, being very cautious during thest stretch. We searched carefully along the way, but didnt see any clues pertaining to Xiao Hua and Poker-Face.


    Finally, we climbed to the entrance of the hole, the fresh air outside enough to make me feel drunk. Fatty and I finally crawled into the hole and climbed up.


    The moment I left the hole, I felt as if a huge wave of bright colors smacked me in the face. There was the blue sky, the highly saturated sunlight shining down, yellow grass, and green trees as far as the eye could see. I knelt at the entrance of the hole and startedughing uncontrobly. With these colors hovering before my eyes, I stood up and walked a few steps, fell down, walked a few more steps, and fell down again.


    Finally, I stopped getting up and justy there stroking the grass on the ground, hearing nothing and smelling it all greedily.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I know snakes are usually referred to as venomous but in this context, the author used poisonous and I feel like it fits (since Wu Xie ingested it rather than got bit). Fun fact, there are some snakes out there that are both venomous and poisonous.


    (2) Tropical fruit native to the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of southeastern China.

 Book 4: Chapter 69: Kunlun Mountains

    Book 4: Chapter 69: Kunlun Mountains


    In a daze, I was lifted up and helped to a temporary camp someone had set up nearby. Once I was settled on a patch of grass, someone came up to disinfect me.


    I saw a lot of people sleeping or making phone calls, and even some locals hade.


    I waspletely dumbfounded as I sat there on the grass, not daring to close my eyes. I was afraid that if I did, Id open them again and find that it had all just been a dream.


    I didn''t doze off, either. Although I had only slept for a short period of time and the exhaustion kept surging up, I couldnt sleep. Poker-Face and Xiao Hua were missing. I couldnt be in a daze right now.


    After a while, I looked at my watch and found that I had been sitting there for half an hour. The smell of food was what finally brought me back to reality. It seemed that someone had contacted the vigers nearby and had them bring food over.


    When I took a few of the proffered naan, I saw the vigers'' outfits and realized that I might have arrived in Xinjiang.<sup>(1)</sup> Looking into the distance, I found that we were in a river valley with bare mountains on both sides. The sunshine was truly amazing.


    This kind of intense sunlight probably couldnt be seen in in river valleys but more in alpine river valleys. In other words, we were probably at a very high altitude. The mountains on both sides didnt look all that high and actually seemed closer to hilltops than mountain peaks.


    In the distance, I could see towering snow-capped mountains that went on as far as the eye could see. They were supposedly far away, but they didnt feel all that far. In fact, it almost seemed like you could reach them in just a few hours if you rode a horse. I had seen a lot of mountains in my day, so I could tell right away that some were divine. The magnificence of the snow-capped mountains in the distance, as well as those endless peaks as far as the eye could see, all revealed a huge mystery.


    "What mountain is this?" I asked a man beside me as I chewed my naan.


    He also looked at the mountains and said faintly, "This is the Kunlun Mountain range, fool."


    I looked at him in surprise, but he just continued to look in that direction, "Were now in the Kunlun Mountains, so thats why the snow-capped mountains don''t look so huge."


    I nodded. It was just as I had expected. I didnt know who this jerk was, but I had more important things to do right now.


    After eating a few bites of my naan, I began to p my hands in order to find the temporary person in charge here. Xiao Huas enterprise was big, but he had the perfect management system. A guy soon came out, but he was still on the phone. Once I finally got him to put the phone down, he sighed and rubbed his face. He was obviously very tired. He looked at me and nodded before asking, "Little Master Three?"


    "Call me something else. Hearing that makes me want to vomit," I said to him. After hearing Jin Xingsan call me that over and over again, hearing it now made me feel nauseous. I didnt want to hear it again for the next several days.


    He nodded, "Boss Wu."


    This person was very delicate and pretty with very gender-neutral features. I initially felt that he was a girl, but his outfit waspletely masculine. Not wanting to delve into this matter right now, I asked him, "What should I do now? Did Xiao Hua set up a backup n before?"


    "The original n was to build amand post at the spot where we came up, he said. But this is the local peoples sky burial ground. There are a group of Tibetan viges forty kilometers away, with the nearest vige belonging to the Keriya people. We can''t camp here directly, but we can probably set up over there" he pointed to a spot in the river valley that was about one kilometer downstream. Theres a t slope over there where we can set up camp. The cost has already been discussed. The second team will arrive soon with supplies. We have to use horses to transport the core supplies, so it will take them three days to arrive, but the people and their personal equipment will arrive here at midnight. A helicopter ising in from Kashgar."


    "A helicopter?" I murmured.


    "Well, it should belong to Master Huas friends from various civilian rescue teams."


    "Never mind, its none of my business if he bought it himself. Im not envious," I said. "What happened to the second team?"


    "In the original n, other than the core group, each staff member would only make one trip. Master Hua believed that there would be hidden dangers when walking in the dark for a long time, so whenever there was an opportunity, he woulde up and rece the team members. He expected toe up about five or six times, so six teams were prepared."


    This familiar sense of thoughtfulness felt nice.


    Usually, in stories, thoughtful people acted like housekeepers. And if you ever fought in a battle, you would know that such thoughtful and meticulous people were like father figures.


    This temporarymander was named Wen Binghui. I still wasnt very clear on whether he was a man or a woman, but he was very capable and responsible. I had a ton of questions to ask him, but he said that he needed to coordinate everything first and that I should ask his colleagues instead.


    I felt like a useless extra.


    Wen Binghui asked me to go to the biggest tent to find Director Tie, and when I did, I saw Fatty sleeping inside. After reaching the surface, he was so tired that he left me alone.


    The people in Xiao Hua''s team werepletely different from those in my previous team. Director Tie was a middle-aged man who didnt look like an insider at first nce. He was short, lean, and had an unkempt beard. People in the industry normally introduced themselves when meeting others, but the people here were very secretive about their origins. Director Tie took out some tobo leaves and rolled them into a cigarette while saying to me, "I won''t go down again."


    <em>Of course you can</em>, I said to myself before starting to ask him for the details of what happened before I showed up. When Director Tie exined it in great detail, I found that many of my previous spections had been correct. For example, they had killed a total of six Jin Xingsans, but people in their team ended up dying every time. Also, there was something wrong with ck sses. His team was further ahead than theirs, but they didnt know what the specific problem was because Xiao Hua was the one who had been in contact with ck sses the whole time.


    Basically, those Jin Xingsan things used mental torture as a hunting method. They wouldnt let the creatures on the cliff sleep, but they didnt kill their prey immediately either. They just kept wearing down their prey''s mental state the whole time. After their prey had a mental breakdown, theyd either eat it or parasitize it.


    But humans were different from ordinary animals. In the dark, people were particrly prone to copse when theycked sleep for a long time. And if you were on a cliff, it was particrly easy to jump off once you had a mental breakdown. So, based on their hunting method, their prey wouldmit suicide due to mental torture.


    After we arrived, everyone was hoping that I could find a way to break this endless loop. But when Jin Xingsan spoke, everyone heard somethingpletely different from what I had heard. Then, they saw me talking incoherently and knew that I didn''t notice anything wrong. In the end, that Shigou Diao member took the risk and sent me a message.


    I asked him what Xiao Hua''s n was if I hadn''t showed up.


    After all, Xiao Hua and Poker-Face obviously wouldnt do something on the spur of the moment. Xiao Hua mustve had his own n which he implemented even though my arrival made things very difficult for him.


    Thinking of this, I became very concerned about one thing in particr. When Xiao Hua was talking with me, he didn''t mention that Jin Xingsan was a bee man at all. I had always thought that he was afraid of Jin Xingsan hearing him, but now I was basically certain that Jin Xingsan couldnt understand people''s words. That meant that Xiao Hua couldve just told me by using some ambiguous words.


    Why didn''t he mention it at all?


    Director Tie asked me if I wanted to smoke but I shook my head and continued thinking carefully. I felt that this point was very important to figuring out their whereabouts.


    My theory was that he was guarding against another person who could understand what he was saying.


    That person was in the team, at least close enough to us to hear what we were talking about. And that person didnt want me to know about the bee man.


    As a result, Xiao Hua couldnt say anything.


    I narrowed my eyes. Generally, things that happened naturally wouldnt be tooplicated, so I didnt believe that the person keeping Xiao Hua in check was in the team. After all, with Jin Xingsan there, why would they still be plotting internal strife? Were they too idle?


    So, this meant that it had to be someone outside the team. But the whole area had been covered in darkness and no one could move in the dark.


    <em>Ah</em>, my fingers trembled. Director Tie handed me a cigarette again but I shook my head.


    <em>It''s not that theres no one. In fact, theres actually one person who can.</em>


    ck sses.


    So many things had happenedst night, was he really nearby? Did he have something in his hand to control Xiao Hua and keep him from telling me the truth?


    That mustve been why Poker-Face also disappeared. In order to get ck sses in this kind of environment, Poker-Face had to take action. Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Heres a map to give you a super general idea of how far theyve gone (I didnt know where in the grasnd they were so I just started at Mand Town, which was mentioned in Part 3 Chapter 6):


    ****


    <strong><em>We have 12 chapters to go (about 60 pages in my word document). I will try to do a chapter a day, but these have been longerpared to normal so it''s obviously taking me a bit since I''m still doing OT at work. Just know that we should hopefully be done in the next two weeks. If Yvette doesn''t get around to it by that point, I will start on Notes in Rain Vige Part 2 </em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 70: Turnover

    Book 4: Chapter 70: Turnover


    Thinking up to this point, I finally calmed down a little bit. If Xiao Hua and Poker-Faces sudden disappearance before wasnt forced, then that was essentially saying that they had left me to deal with such a mess without telling me. This didnt make any sense. But if my analysis was done from the perspective that they had been forced, and it was rted to ck sses, then that meant that they really had no other way.


    It could at least prove that they were acting autonomously rather than falling off the cliff and dying without me ever knowing what happened to them.


    In my early years, I never trusted all the inferences I made, so they rarely affected my behavior except for extreme situations. Butter, I found that my inferences were basically urate most of the time. I believed in the principles of causality and reasoning and could prove what I had inferred by seeing it with my own eyes.


    Director Tie saw how anxious I was and told me that a team would lower the "fisheye ring catch" equipment into the cave in another fifteen minutes in order to scan the area and render a 3D model of it. This was the software special effectspanies used now, and many mappanies installed it in cars that drove all over the city. Everything scanned by the cars radar would be calcted together with the cameras to generate three-dimensional data in real time.


    If the equipment scanned all the way down, it could sweep the whole cliff, including every fine crevice. And if Xiao Hua and Poker-Face were still on the cliff, we definitely wouldnt miss them.


    I nodded while thinking to myself that this was an era of the musket being reced by the cannon.<sup>(1)</sup> It was so different from the equipment I used to use back in the day.


    Later, I watched the whole process on theputer. This equipment really was amazing. Wen Binghui had set up a satellite antenna, so as the equipment scanned the area in circles, the data was directly sent to the server and then transmitted back to theputer for disy. Anyway, it was all high-tech stuff.


    As the cliff was rendered in clear detailyer byyer, we all found that there were many things on the cliff that we couldn''t see before. First, there were extremely deep crevices, all of which were iid with mummies that looked simr to Jin Xingsan. When we passed by them before, we merely thought that they were shadows, but those crevices were actually very deep. It was impossible to determine whether they led into the mountain, but there definitely wasnt any problem hiding four or five people in them.


    In addition, there were very primitive rock paintings in many ces on the cliff, but the color was ck so it was very difficult to notice them with the naked eye if you didnt have electronic equipment.


    I asked for a copy of the screenshots that had been taken of these rock paintings because I wanted to take a closer look at them, but at this time, my exhaustion hit me like an avnche and my mind couldnt seem to function.


    Wen Binghui''s new camp had been set up in a sparse forest nearby, so I walked over to it, hung up a hammock, and then wrapped myself in my clothes. As Iy there in the sunshine, listening to the noises of the others, I fell asleep within seconds.


    When I woke up, I was met with the magnificent sight of dusk in the Kunlun Mountains. The light here made everything look like it was under a filter, and I sat there in a daze before I realized that I had been woken up by the loud noise of a helicopter.


    I still felt a little dizzy. In fact, I couldnt remember thest time I had woken up and felt clear-headed. When I climbed out of the hammock, I walked towards the white helicopter with red stripes on it and saw a woman getting out. She was wearing a jacket and had her hair tied up.


    It was Xiuxiu. It had been a long time since I had seen her, but she had be a mature woman.


    I crossed my arms and put my hands in the opposite sleeves of my jacketthe temperature in the Kunlun Mountains dropped rapidly at nightbefore casually wandering over to look at her. Xiuxiu walked past me and gave me a look, but didn''t seem to recognize me. Aftermunicating with Wen Binghui for a while and watching me staring at her, she looked at me again and finally recognized me.


    "Big Brother?"


    <em>Am I really that hard to recognize?</em> I wondered.


    As I looked at her and she looked at me, my heart was filled with all kinds of emotions.


    Xiuxiu had brought in some new team members and introduced them to the old ones. Fatty hadn''t woken up yet. Xiuxiu was capable and mature, but still full of energy even though she waspletely devoid of the youthfulness of the past. I watched the whole process from the sidelines at first, but then I went to the edge of the camp where there were some chairs the locals had brought. I sat and watched the sun set over the river valley and the distant Kunlun Mountains.


    I was sitting there in a daze, holding an enamel mug with medicated hot milk tea that Director Tie had given to me, when Xiuxiu came over and sat down next to me, "Don''t you want to shave your beard?"


    I touched my chin and gave a wry smile, "Ill shave tomorrow morning."


    "Do you want to go back to the city to get a thorough checkup? I heard that you were in close contact with that snake. Are you sure that only your tongue was parasitized?" She asked me.


    I wasnt sure, but I didnt want to go. I heaved a big sigh, "Fatty and I can''t go back like this."


    "Then you can cooperate with Director Tie tonight and the helicopter will send you to the city hospital in the morning. You cane back after you get a CT scan."


    Dusk was drawing to a close and night wasing again. The people here seemed to fear the darkness to a certain extent, so the camp was illuminated with very bright lights.


    I shook my head and said to her, "Youre busy. Just call me when the evening meeting starts. Ill get it checked out myself. Also, help me contact the crematorium in the city. When Fatty wakes up, well send Jin Wantang off."


    Fatty had been carrying Jin Wantangs corpse on his back when he came out of the cave and it was still sitting in a pile of luggage.


    She sighed and handed me something before turning and leaving. I took a look at it and found that it was a toothbrush and toothpaste.


    To make a long story short, I smelled myself, but it was hard to tell if I had bad breath or not. I eventually squatted by the stream to brush my teeth and wash my face, the water so cold that it made my teeth tremble. I also shaved my beard while I was at it.


    In addition to Director Tie and Wen Binghui, there was another person from the old team who was willing to stay. That person was called Zhao Qiao, and he was a middleman in the business. People called him Colonel Qiao because he looked like a colonel from an anti-Japanese film. This was a man whom Xiao Hua had used a lot in recent years. He left home to be a Taoist priest when he was younger and had been helping Xiao Hua deal with the special guqin<sup>(2)</sup> business ever since he returned to a secr life. I didnt really know the specific details.


    Since the other teams were going back at this time, Wen Binghui had to deal with reporting the deaths. But I won''t discuss that here. The new team had two women and six men.


    One of the two women was a team leader and doctor while the other one was a climbing expert. The doctor was about thirty-four or thirty-five years old and her name was Xiao Ling Guan. The expert''s name was Ming Er Nagqu. I didnt know which ethnic group they belonged to. All six men were in the business, but Ill introduce them one by er when I have the chance.


    Xiao Ling Guan gave me a checkup. The little snake that had been removed from my tongue before was put in a bottle. When she picked it up and looked at it carefully, she was amazed, "This snake doesnt have any eyes. It must have been living in the depths of the cave where theres no light all year round so the eyes degraded."


    "You also know a thing or two about snakes?"


    "Things in the depths of caves are generally isted from the outside world and evolve independently. If the ecosystem is stable, theyll look simr to how they looked hundreds of millions of years ago. Do you know what living fossils are?"


    Listening to her tone, I figured that this elder sister might be the argumentative type, so I didnt bother saying anything. She continued, "ording to the others'' testimonies and what youve told us, I think that its a multi-body parasite and you should still have it in your body. This one might be a female. It enters through the tongue and then develops little by little, working its way down the throat from the tongue to the spine. Since its parasitic, there should still be some snakes in your body."


    "She spit into my mouth. If there were any in my stomach, Id already have a perforated stomach by now."


    "Open your mouth," she said to me. I opened my mouth and she stuck a pair of tweezers deep into my throat. "If there are wounds behind the tonsils, it means that other snakes have entered your body from behind your tonsils. At most, youll feel a bit of a sore throat."


    After digging for a while, she said to me, "There are multiple snakes still stuck in the holes behind your tonsils."


    When I looked at her, she said, "Don''t move, I''ll use the tweezers to pull them out."


    <em>No, what if theyre poisonous?</em> I said to myself, but she had already started. I suddenly felt something twitch in my throat and then she pulled out a white, worm-like snake.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Musket being reced by the cannon is an idiom that basically means equipment has improved enormously.


    (2) Guqin or qin, is a long zither with seven strings that are plucked with the fingers.


    ****


    <strong><em>Literally my face as I''m working on thest few paragraphs:</em></strong>


    <strong><em>I thought we were done with this nonsense!</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 71: Turnover 2

    Book 4: Chapter 71: Turnover 2


    Everyone came to stand in a circle and watch as she pulled out three or four small white snakes from my throat and packed them all into a ss bottle. They looked like worms.


    She handed the bottle to me like she was showing off an internal organ shed cut out. "Come and see your good friends."


    I felt a burning pain in my throat. The snakes really did look primitive. I had seen a lot of strange things along the way, but these things really did look like they hade from the Stone Age. To be honest, I could still bluff my way through the Yin Shang Dynasty, but the Stone Age was basically beyond the scope of my knowledge.<sup>(1)</sup>


    That field was where anthropology and archaeology coexisted. It was basically closer to science and had weak cultural attributes.


    "Dont worry. Even if you still have more in your body, itll take quite a while for this thing to fool your immune system and get into your spine."


    Why? I asked.


    "This thingcks the muscle mass to produce enough strength to move quickly in your body, she said. It has to move little by little. Plus, people arent stupid. If something grows quickly in your body, youll immediately feel pain. Thats why the adult snakes parasitizing method is different from this small snakes method. The adult snake uses more of a hunting method to parasitize its prey, so the host is basically half dead. But the small snake can coexist with the host for a long time. Even after the host dies, the little snake can mature in the corpse."


    When I looked at her, she added, "Even if it''s not taken care of right away, it''s wont be a big problem. You can even get it checked out in the next year or two as long as you arent grossed out by the thought of it."


    I am grossed out, I said to her.


    "I''m sorry, this is all I can do.


    Wen Binghui suddenly spoke up from the side, "Wont the snake go up into his brain? The throat is very close to the brain after all."


    Xiao Ling Guan pulled out a thin cigarette and looked at me, "Based on Boss Wu''s exnation, theres no record of that happening. It''s theoretically possible from a biological standpoint, but it still depends on how the final case turns out. If Boss Wu has never seen such a thing, then Ill assume that theres no possibility of it happening."


    "So basically what youre saying is that your judgment is based on my exnation and youre not responsible for any incidents that happen outside of the scope of my exnation," I said.


    She nodded. "The human brain is very delicate. If something goes in, youll more than likely die. Although this snake is like a worm, its not smallpared to real parasites. Itll bore into your brain, and even if it doesnt hurt, youll probably die."


    I looked up and saw Xiuxiu looking at me; I didn''t know when she had joined the crowd. For some reason, I felt both close and distant to her at this time.


    After that, the wound was stitched up and the onlookers dispersed. Fatty just now woke up and was already looking at the 3D model of the cave. Wen Binghui, who could finally take some time to rest, said to me, Boss Wu, Im going to get some sleep. If theres an emergency, Ill have to ask you to deal with it. Ill probably sleep for a long time."


    I nodded and sat down beside Fatty; the two of us were the only ones awake in the whole camp.


    The sky waspletely dark now, but there was still a big difference between the ck here and the ck down below. The Milky Way was extremely bright, so I put on my coat and tilted my head back to look up at the sky, which was a purple and red color.


    "Did you notice anything?" I asked Fatty.


    He sighed heavily, "No, but this cliff looks disgusting."


    "Should we stay up here for a few days?" I asked a little guiltily. In fact, my mind was telling me to go down immediately, but if I really had the courage to enter that cave again, I needed to mentally prepare myself to the fullest extent.


    We came out, but Xiao Hua and Poker-Face were still down there. Their extreme night was still ongoing.


    Fatty looked at the bonfire, "When we wake up tomorrow morning, welle up with a n and then go check out the temple. In the afternoon, well send Tang Tang off. In the evening, well go back down."


    "Thats basically what I was thinking," I said to him. "Wait, what temple? Why would we go to a temple? To burn incense?"


    "Theres an ancient temple near here. They said that the statues and murals inside are rted to this cave, so they want us to take a look," Fatty said.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) The Yin Shang Dynasty is the final name of the Shang dynasty after their move to Yinxu (so probably around 1200 BC). FYI, the Shang Dynasty was the second dynasty of China and was founded in 1600 BC. More info here.

 Book 4: Chapter 72: Ancient Temple

    Book 4: Chapter 72: Ancient Temple


    When I was young, I slept a lot during the day but couldn''t sleep at night. But now, at this age, I didnt have such concerns. While we examined the 3D modeling of the cave more than a dozen times, someone lowered a camera into the cave to carry out 24-hour surveince.


    After not finding anything, Fatty said that Xiao Hua and Poker-Face must have gone into one of the crevices. We didnt notice the crevices when we were feeling our way around and there was no way to see them with our eyes, so we might have been bewitched by that corpse. That was probably why we didnt notice them at all when we were climbing up before.


    I disagreed. To be honest, the light was so dim when we were climbing that we couldn''t see anything at all.


    We leaned back in our lounge chairs in a daze and then went back to the tent to rest. I slept very well that night and when I woke up, I put on a cotton-padded jacket and left the tent. Xiuxiu was sitting in front of the helicopter, waiting for us.


    Fatty woke up early, so I assumed they already had a chat. He was sitting on Xiuxius other side with a cup of coffee in hand and said to me, "Xiuxiu agrees with us. The team will go down tonight, increase the number of rappelling ropes, build a lifting tform below, and then lower the mule down."


    "Is it reliable? Plus, if Xiao Hua and Poker-Face really did enter the crevices, then its possible that we don''t have to go down and can move on instead."


    "What Xiuxiu means to say is that we shouldnt look for them. We should just keep moving forward."


    I looked at her in surprise, "Why?"


    "Because the two of them arent ordinary people. They can solve any problems by themselves and will continue to move forward. If we believe in them, then we should wait for them at a certain point up ahead," Xiuxiu said.


    I was a little hesitant, but at the same time, I was also surprised that Xiuxiu could make such a decision. When I looked at her, she said, "Of course, if you don''t feel reassured, you can search here with Fat Master for a while. In fact, I suggest you don''t go down again."


    I touched my chin, looked at Xiuxiu, and took a moment to think. "Xiuxiu, ah no, Boss Xiu, it appears you''ve been corrupted by Master Hua. You werent like this before."


    Xiuxiu smiled and made an expression as if to say, Im not a child anymore. Then she looked at me provocatively as if to see if I could persuade her.


    "Whats the reason for your suggestion?" I asked her, already determined to win. Someone handed me breakfast, so I took it and started eating. It tasted strange.


    "First of all, we don''t rmend you getting involved in this messy affair. This is a mission given to the other families; youve alreadypleted your mission. You dont owe us anything. So, when Little Brother helps us take care of whatever is going on with Master ck, you should take Little Brother back to Fujian immediately. Moreover, the situation down there isplicated. We dont have many of those bronze pieces and we dont know how they work either. Now that youvee out, there will be a lot of unexpected situations if you go down again. Its better to wait here."


    Xiuxiu was right. After all, the whole heavenly gift situation was tooplicated. It was true that people like us were too skilled and had too many responsibilities, so if we went down again and unexpectedly received the heavenly gift, it would have a great impact.


    But this was really Xiao Hua''s usual method of doing things, not mine. I was never afraid of screwing things up as long as they were in my hands.


    When I walked over, Xiuxiu immediately said, "Of course, I know I can''t persuade you, so just act like I didnt say anything."


    She let out an exmation as I gave her a light smack on the head.


    "When I die, you can call the shots again. But for now, you have to listen to me," I said.


    I wanted to leave right away without brushing my teeth, but Xiuxiu looked at me and shook her head. I brushed my teeth and washed my face quickly, and then the three of us got on the helicopter and took off for the ancient temple.


    Nobody spoke the whole way. The ancient temple really did have to be reached by helicopter. First of all, even though they said it was nearby, it would actually take six or seven hours if you were riding a horse or a mule. In addition, the temple was in the middle of a mountain. Although there was a road that could be used to reach it, very few people took it and it was uncertain whether it was even passable.


    The so-called roads in the Kunlun Mountains were as twisty as a sheeps intestines and were so narrow that you could only ce one foot down at a time. This was the kind of road we would have to walk if we couldnt fly.


    When we got to the temple, we dropped a hangingdder directly in front of the door and went down. This temple was actually just a house iming to be a temple. If you had been to Dunhuang before, then you would know that there were many houses like this. The front eaves were set right up against the mountain wall and the back was actually a grotto that had been dug into the mountain. It was really just a cave with an idol in it.


    I didnt see any cultural symbols, so I didnt know whether it was a Taoist, Buddhist, or Bon temple. It was extremely dpidated and covered an area of about a hundred square meters. The only thing inside was that earthen idol, which was so weathered that it looked like a wooden club now.


    There were blue bricks on the ground, along with broken roof tiles and straw. The whole temple looked like it would copse with the slightest breeze.


    "Its said that this ancient temple existed in the period when there was arge number of dead people. This temple was very old, and there were various opinions about when it was built so its impossible to verify what time period it belonged to. But this god here, which they offered sacrifices to, is said to have been a new god at that time," Xiuxiu said. "This god was created because of the high death toll of the poption here. If you look carefully at the cave walls, you can see that there are reliefs from that time. The locals said that their older generations imed that many people died here during that time and a monster came out of the ground. Later, the emperor sent people to build the temple before it finally became safe."


    "Are there no details about this legend?" I asked her.


    Xiuxiu shook her head. "It seems like too much time has passed."


    I walked up to the idol and found that it was basically just a block of mud. I couldn''t see anything, but for some reason, I thought that it was a bit familiar.


    ****


    <strong><em>No update tomorrow. It''s another long one (about 7.5 pages) and I have dinner ns with my coworkers, so I know I won''t get through it in time. Sorry in advance darlings~~</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 73: Farewell

    Book 4: Chapter 73: Farewell


    I squatted in front of this short mud idol and asked Fatty, "Isnt this thing pretty simr to the idol we saw in the Heavenly Pce?"


    Fatty also squatted down and touched his chin. "It''s very simr to the shit I took yesterday."


    "Are you that healthy? Shouldn''t you have some problems in such a dangerous environment in order to show your respect?"


    "If I had held it in, the first thing that would''vee out when I found Little Brother and Master Hua would be the urge to poop. How embarrassing would that be?" As Fatty spoke, he pointed to something behind the idol.


    This dpidated temple was set in the north and was facing the south. The idol hadnt moved from this ce for thousands of years, so the sun would sweep across it at the same time every day. Over the years, the statues shadow was cast on the wall, which caused the color of the wall to change.


    This change was like a drop of water repeatedly hitting a stone; it had urred for such a long time that there was now a vague outline.


    When we were in the Heavenly Pce, we saw murals depicting the local Eastern Xia people using hot oil to stop bug-like creatures from crawling out of the abyss. Their god had also looked like a wooden club, so the outline on this wall brought me back to that moment when I first saw the strange idol in the Heavenly Pce.


    This was not a humanoid god.


    "In the Kunlun Mountain region, the development of the Bon religion gave rise to many local gods," Xiuxiu said.


    I shook my head and bit my lower lip while thinking to myself, <em>this god isnt a local god</em>. <em>Its no mere coincidence that this thing appears in all the ces with huge geological crevices and huge underground structures.</em>


    The distance between Northeast China and the Kunlun Mountains was very far.


    Based on my past experiences, we may even see the truth about this god next.


    "If arge number of people died, then did they worship this god because they thought it could save them?"


    "Maybe they hoped that this god would let them go," I responded.


    At this time, Fatty suddenly bowed and paid his respects to the idol. When I looked at him, all he said was, "Just in case. It doesn''t hurt to be prepared."


    "Based on the current development, our ultimate goal should be to kill this thing, I said to him. Im afraid its useless to pay your respects."


    Fatty looked at Xiuxiu and asked, "ording to you Mystic Nine guys, is your brother Wu Xie considered too ambitious?"


    Xiuxiu turned on her shlight, illuminated the wall with the strong light, and motioned for us to look at the relief while saying, "No, he aplished everything he intended to do before."


    Fatty and I followed Xiuxiu''s shlight to look at the reliefs on the wall. They werepletely weathered and almost unrecognizable, but we could see that the previous lines were veryplicated. Looking at the wall now, however, it just looked like a mass of folds. But the mountain wall here seemed to be made of some kind of jade, so it had a glossy look to it when the shlight shined upon it. I felt an indescribable sensation as I looked at that wall; even my throat felt ufortable.


    Fatty finally summed it up for us. He looked at it and muttered to himself, "Which immortal carved a big mouthful of phlegm here?"


    I breathed a sigh of relief, finally understanding the reason why I had felt so ufortable. With Fattys vivid description, Xiuxiu immediately took about three or four steps away from the relief.


    I endured the nausea and continued to look at it. Now I could see that the whole relief could be divided into three parts. One part depicted the snakes entering people''s bodiesarge number of adult snakes had obviously directly parasitized the people back thenwhile the second part depicted some strange things mixing in among the vigers, just like what happened with Jin Xingsan. In the third part, one of the vigers was being burned to death. The snake in this persons body was different from the other snakes in that it had very short viper horns that almost looked like a crown.<sup>(1)</sup> There also appeared to be twelve other snakes in this persons body.


    After the person was burned to death, all the "snake people" who had mixed in among the vigers were discovered. The soldiers killed all these people and made the snake disaster disappear, but it could be seen from the relief that the horned snake escaped.


    I felt like I was going blind after reading these parts since my eyes were practically pressed up against the stone in order to see what the lines showed, but fortunately, I was skilled at interpreting this kind of thing. If it were ordinary people, they wouldnt know what these reliefs meant.


    "ording to what youve said, it''s not Jin Xingsan who can confuse us. Only this horned snake can," Fatty said.


    Yes, this horned snake could make people hallucinate and think that corpses were theirpanions. Plus, I believed that its IQ wasnt all that low.


    So, this snake was regarded as a dragon by the locals and the emperor sent people to make a censer, set up a trap in the cave, and trap the horned snake within a human cage. The girl who was used as the cage was probably a Zhang family member. I just didnt know if the Zhang family was around at that time, or if this person was someone with special abilities simr to the Zhang family.


    The girl waspletely sacrificed, but for some reason, they actually managed to trap the horned dragon within her body. Fatty said that this definitely wasnt the first time they had done this kind of thing; the emperor''s mage must have dealt with this snake disaster in other ces before.


    I didnt know which emperor it was or which dynasty it was in; all the information was too vague.


    Now that I thought of it, this snake had lived for a really long time, and now it had fallen to its death. I was a little weak.


    "This whole relief has nothing to do with this strange god?" Xiuxiu asked.


    After looking at the eighty percent of the relief that I couldnt make out, all I could infer was that there had to be a plot involving this god, but I couldnt see anything.


    <em>Tch</em>, Fatty and I looked at each other at the same time. Our tacit understanding really was awesome.


    "This relief was destroyed by someone," Fatty said.


    I nodded. Someone had thoroughly and urately destroyed all the content rted to this strange god a long time ago. We could tell because all the damage had a patina on it. This person had mainly destroyed the parts pertaining to this god, but in order to prevent others from seeing those parts, he also damaged other areas. The damage in those areas, however, wasnt as thorough.


    We got back on the helicopter and headed towards the town. Tang Tangs body was in a warehouse there so we were going to give our final farewells.


    On the way over, Fatty said to Xiuxiu, "If the Zhang family investigated this matter back then, its possible that they were the ones who took care of the information in the temple. Its like the Zhang family has been covering up the existence of this wooden club thing. But for what reason? Do they think of themselves as wooden clubs?


    I remained silent, my mind nowpletely nk. This information could basically be inferred, and Fatty had already deduced it.


    When we arrived in the town, wended in the crematoriums parking lot. This Kunlun Mountain town had a lot ofnd and arge parking lot. Many people here preferred to have sky burials, so the crematorium wasnt as full as it would be in the city. As a result, we were able to buy a spot without any problems.


    We didnt open the bag holding his body because we didnt want to scare the others. After dismissing the staff, the three of us performed a simple farewell ceremony.


    Fatty shed a tear, which he wiped away with his hand, "Tang Tang, were even. Take our money and go down and have fun. Hopefully there arent any little monsters in heaven."


    As I looked at the shapeless sleeping bag on the morgue bed, my mind went back to the first time I ever met him.


    <em>No matter how significant a role you yed in an era, youll eventually usher in your own end.</em>


    <em>Goodbye, Tang Tang</em>.


    Fatty and I moved the body to the furnace hearth, pushed it into the main body of the furnace, and then closed the door. After that, Fatty pulled down the ignition switch on the side.


    The whole furnace instantly turned red with the light from the mes and the sleeping bag started to burn, but at this time, we suddenly heard a scream. Then, something mmed against the furnace door and a strange face appeared behind the doors ss.


    I thought Jin Wantangs corpse had finally transformed, but when I saw that thing behind the ss, I realized that it wasnt Jin Wantang''s face but that little monster Qi Yu''s face.


    Before I had time to react, the thing mmed into the furnace door again, hitting it so hard that it knocked the door open. A huge heat wave poured out, along with the smell of burning flesh. The little monster was on fire as it rolled out, knocked into us, and then threw itself directly at Xiuxiu.


    Xiuxiu smoothly rolled to the side and dodged while supporting herself with one hand, but the little monster instantly turned and threw itself at her again. This time, Xiuxiu didn''t bother dodging at all and got ready to greet the little monster with an elbow. But before it could approach her, Fatty lifted the morgue bed up and smacked it away. I immediately picked up a nearby broom that was used to sweep up ashes and rushed over, but the little monster instantly broke the window and rushed out.


    Fatty and I chased it to the broken window, but there was a meadow outside so we couldnt see anything. We both looked at each other. It was at this time that I suddenly realized that this thing had been hiding in Jin Wantang''s sleeping bag the whole time. Had we been carrying it with us the whole way?


    I turned to look at Xiuxiu, who closed the furnace door again as if what happened just now was only a small scene. When she saw me looking at her, she also gave me a suspicious look.


    "Exin, she said. "Is Jin Wantang a corpse with two lives?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) If I have to suffer, you shall as well. Heres what a horned viper looks like:


    ****


    () <strong><em>Surprise! I got through morest night than I thought I would. Anyone else kind of forget about Qi Yu? Maybe it''s just me</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 74: Dog and Cave

    Book 4: Chapter 74: Dog and Cave


    We paid a lot of money for Jin Wantangs ashes to be taken back to Beijing by special car.


    After that, we had the helicopter circle around the meadow outside, but we didn''t see the monster. The meadow here was full of grass and there were also a lot of holes in the ground, which looked to be rabbit holes. Finding that monster amid all of that was like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    Fatty asked me what we should do, but I just sighed and shook my head while saying that it couldn''t be helped.


    Xiao Hua said that in the n the Mystic Nine came up with before, several families had to be present in order for it to seed. The Hong familys situation was currently unknown and the Qi family had be like this. It was all a huge mess. But Xiao Hua was still in a predicament, so I could only take it one step at a time. And most importantly, I didnt know what Qi Yu was now or even if he was alive or dead. If an ordinary person had received those burns, they would soon die from an infection.


    But knowing how vengeful he was and how he had shown extremely strong killing intent as he charged at Xiuxiu, if he didnt die and we allowed this thing to lurk around us, someone would definitely end up dying.


    After exining this to Xiuxiu, she arranged for someone toe and continue looking while we flew back to the camp. The atmosphere in the helicopter was particrly bad.


    After getting out of the helicopter, I had someone inspect it. I didnt know when this thing had entered Jin Wantangs body bag, but I figured it had nned ahead and might have been on the helicopter long before us.


    But after searching the helicopter, nothing was found. At this time, it was sunset again and the team was preparing to lower the mules and equipment down into the cave. But the situation down there was unclear, so I told them to wait until we went down first before making a decision.


    I carefully shaved, trimmed my fingernails, and took a half-bath with some boiled water. Once that was done, I put on a new set of equipment filled with rations, walked up to the hole again, and lowered the rope. At this time, the second helicopter arrived. I looked up at it and sighed; this one was bigger than the first one.


    <em>Damn, Xiao Hua, you have another one?</em>


    Six stic cages were brought out of the helicopter, and when I saw them, I found that they belonged to the Wu family. Wen Binghui carefully opened the cages and six ck dogs slowly walked out.


    Brother Xiao Man became enlightened a few years ago and was fond of life on earth as he grew older, so he made great achievements in breeding. These six dogs were his immediate children. There were three males and three females, all of whom were three years old. When I nced at Fatty and saw him make an OK gesture to take credit for it, I knew that he and Xiuxiu had discussed it.


    Our breeding facility called this generation of dogs San Man. It was normally hard to give dogs names since they bred too quickly, but Brother Xiao Man had a special status and was a noble dog among dogs, so each of his children had its own name.


    His sixth child looked very simr to him. The first one was called San Man Fo, the second one was called San Man Yue, the third one was called San Man Ban, the fourth one was called San Man Pi, the fifth one was called San Man Gou, and the sixth one was called San Man Hei.<sup>(1)</sup>


    Although they were all named after the Mystic Nine, the third child was very talented and clever, so it was the boss. They also had their own nicknames, so San Man Ban was called Brother Gan Shan.<sup>(2)</sup>


    When Brother Gan Shan caught sight of me, he immediately ran over with his tail wagging. Like Brother Xiao Man, he also didn''t have a very serious, business-like expression. I scratched his fur as all the other dogs followed him over. "Do you remember what happened to Ping Lian? I reminded Fatty. Jiang Siwang said that they didnt dare bring any small animals here."


    "Mr. Nave, Fatty said, youre dealing with the hei feizi. Are you sure you don''t want to bring a dog along? If you don''t, you might die. But if you do bring your dogs with you, you and your dogs may have a chance of surviving."


    I thought about it and realized that I really was being unreasonable. People''s lives were at stake, so any method avable should be used. Back then, the Wu familys dogs were trained to deal with the hei feizi and a lot had died.


    If we were in a movie, Fatty would probably say, This is war.


    I rubbed Brother Gan Shan''s face and said to him, "Can you be smart? Don''t make me have to save you."


    Brother Gan Shan was very clever, and he immediately turned to the other dogs and barked at them as if to say: Did you hear that?


    The dogs needed to adapt to the environment, so we needed to go down first.


    Fatty and Xiuxiu both brought their equipment over. When I saw that Xiuxiu was going down as well, I wanted to make some remarks out of habit, but I didn''t say anything in the end.


    The three of us quickly descended into the hole and passed by the censer.


    This was almost like the dividing line between reality and hell. As soon as I passed it, all the beautiful things abovethe sunshine, the rain and the dew, and even the grassdisappeared from my mind in an instant and the depressing feeling from before returned within a few minutes.


    We turned on our shlights, which were so bright that they practically illuminated the cliff like daylight.


    Fatty and I were both surprised by the intensity of the light, but we quickly swept the beams over the cliff face. There really were a lot of crevices here. I wondered if the reason why we didnt notice them when we climbed up before was because that snake had made us see dark shadows.


    There were a lot of corpses in these crevices, many of which had turned to white bones. When I nced at Xiuxiu, who was being very well-behaved, she also looked at me as if to say, If youre calling the shots, Ill listen to you.


    We found a big crevice and swung over to it.


    It was wide enough to allow us to enter sideways one by one, so Fatty took a look inside. It was bottomless.


    He climbed in first and shouted, "Mr. Nave, theres a secret chamber."


    "What?"


    "No wait, isnt there an idiom that says another secret something?"<sup>(3)</sup>


    I decided not to pay any attention to him, but I was relieved that he was acting more normal now. I climbed in myself and found that the crevice went in for about six or seven meters before it gradually became wider. But there was no t ground to stand on, so I still had to put my feet on both sides of the wall.


    I saw that the crevice walls here were full of rock paintings and there were bones under our feet.


    The bones were a mixture of human, animal, and snake bones, which were in scattered piles, but the rock paintings on both sides were well preserved.


    When we turned on our shlights again, we saw that the crevice was very deep. We didnt know where it led to, but the rock paintings that stretched into the darkness had pairs of animals, snakes, and wooden clubs at regr intervals. The lines were very simple and had been painted on using ground yellow stone that had been mixed with water. There was one pattern in particr that I didnt quite understand, so I stopped for a moment and thought about it. It appeared to be a rock painting depicting sacrificial offers.


    A group of people were delivering offerings, which appeared to be humans.


    "Don''t go in," I said to Fatty.


    He nodded in agreement. The cave system here waspletely connected, so it was definitely veryplicated. It would be easy to get lost if you went in too deep. We had just barely entered a crevice, so it would really be impossible to find them if we searched like this.


    When we withdrew, the three of us remained silent for a while. Xiuxiu was the one who eventually broke the silence, "Should we consider what I said? Let''s keep moving forward. They must be in front of us."


    I felt uneasy, but I couldn''t think of a better way, so I said to her, "Lets wait for the dogs."


    We stayed on the cliff as Brother Gan Shan was soon lowered down. No matter how amazing the dog was, it was difficult for it to function vertically on a cliff. As I tied Brother Gan Shan to my chest, hetched onto me, trembling.


    I petted him and then had him smell Poker-Face''s T-shirt, which Fatty happened to be carrying in his backpack. Now that Brother Gan Shan knew his mission, I began climbing the rock wall, letting him smell the T-shirt and the rock wall in turn.


    I won''t bother describing the process here, but both Xiuxiu and Fatty remained in ce, waiting for me. I was extremely patient and let Brother Gan Shan sniff around and around, but since I knew thest ce where Poker-Face had been, I kept encouraging Brother Gan Shan towards that area.


    When I came to a very narrow crevice, Brother Gan Shan finally started barking. I put him into the crevice, and he was finally able to recover hisposure now that his feet were on solid ground. He barked into the crevice and looked back at me again and again.


    I tried hard to get in, but found that this fucking crevice was too small for normal people to get into. Both Poker-Face and Xiao Hua could do bone contraction, but I couldnt. At this time, Xiuxiu swung to my side. She was petite enough to go in, so she gave me a look and said, "I''ll go in and check it out."


    I shook my head. "Never act separately. Come on, Fatty, kick me in."


    Fatty came over, looked into the gap, and said to me, "This gap isnt quite right. Dont you think the stones inside look like human teeth?"


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Just FYI: The San in "San Man" means three, Gou means dog, and Hei means ck. I always trante Wu Xies Grandpas nickname as Old Dog Wu but it could be Wu Lao Gou. But with the puppys name, San Man Dog sounds stupid so I kept the pinyin.


    (2) Gan Shan can mean something like overtake mountains.


    (3) Per Tiffany: There is a Chinese idiom , which means Another secret world, but Fatty remembered the idiom wrong and said  / another secret chamber, so that''s why Wu Xie immediately ignored him.

 Book 4: Chapter 75: Set Off Again

    Book 4: Chapter 75: Set Off Again


    This crevice really was somewhat different from the others. I had studied geology, so I knew that these toothlike crystalline protrusions urred when the stone contained borax. This kind of ore was sometimes very simr to human teeth, so it gave off the feeling that teeth were growing out of the rock.


    I pulled out my mountaineering pickI usually didnt like to carry this thing since it was so heavy, but my only weaponst time was my shlight, so I decided to suck it up and bring it this timeand hit these stone teeth until a gap appeared. Now it looked like a mouth that had some teeth knocked out of it.


    Fatty and I were each carrying bronze pieces, which were actually very heavy, so dragging them into the crevice was also a hindrance.


    When I squeezed in, I could see that it would be a little more spacious inside. Fatty used his feet to push me about a dozen feet in, but then I got stuck in the crevice and couldn''t move forward or backward.


    Finally, Fatty used a flying kick to break me free, but I found that my nose was against the wall in front of me while the back of my head was against the wall behind me. I waspletely stuck inside now, and even if I wanted to move, I could only manage the slightest movement.


    The gap was so narrow that if I turned my head too quickly, the tip of my nose and the back of my head would simultaneously be scraped by the rock walls in front and behind me.


    This kind of situation was almost like having a broken hand and foot. Even a dedicated mosquito could slowly kill me.


    The gap in front of me showed no signs of improvement, either. Brother Gan Shan, who was right in front of me, took a few steps forward cautiously. Even he could barely look back at me in this narrow space.


    I continued following him forward. It took about fifteen minutes to move about ten meters, and I was so tired that I felt as if dark circles had appeared under my eyes.


    I looked back at the entrance where Fatty''s shlight was shining on me. Considering how there was no end in sight up ahead, this ray of light almost felt like the sunshine outside.


    "Whats the n?" Fatty shouted from ten meters away.


    I wanted to withdraw, but it was even harder because the texture of the stone felt like small barbs against my skin. I put down my shlight, eased myself back a bit, and then picked up my shlight again, ready to try and back out of this crevice.


    I would have to follow Xiuxiu''s idea and continue moving forward, because at the rate I was going, it would take me two years to travel ten kilometers in this crevice.


    But at the very moment I lifted my shlight up, I saw a long-haired woman at the end of this crevice who also appeared to be stuck like me.


    She was at the end of my shlights reach, which was about thirty meters away. I was startled and confused, but then the woman suddenly disappeared.


    My whole body was covered in a cold sweat. It wasnt that I was afraid of the long-haired woman, I just knew that if anything happened while I was in this trapped state, Id definitely die.


    At the same time, I saw Brother Gan Shan looking at that ce very quietly. I could tell that he was very nervous.


    At this age, I no longer believed in hallucinations.


    As I attempted to withdraw from the crevice very carefully, I tried to remember if I had seen this long-haired woman before. I thought it was the female corpse from the censer, but she should have been ttened after falling from that height. How could she appear here now?


    I didnt dare put my shlight down, but this kind of bright shlight was very heavy and it was difficult to hold with one hand. After retreating about three or four meters, my hand was too sore to lift it anymore.


    Fatty''s shlight was still shining in, but my body was blocking the light, which caused an absolute shadow to form. "Smash the entrance a bit more, I said to Fatty. Smash all those teeth."


    "What''s wrong?"


    "I think if I put my shlight down and raise it again, something I don''t want to see will appear in my shlight''s range."


    Fatty started knocking at the ore without saying a word. I tried to endure it until I couldn''t anymore, but my tired arm eventually lowered, plunging the area in front of me into darkness.


    I shook my sore joints out and then lifted the shlight up again.


    This time, nothing happened.


    Thankfully, I didnt see that long-haired woman crawling towards me bit by bit in the crevice. This time I was blessed; next time, I might not be so lucky.


    Eventually, I was pulled out of the crevice and Brother Gan Shan was tied to my chest again. Completely exhausted, I patted Xiuxiu and said to her, "It''s impossible to track them in this crevice. Let''s go down and follow your n." I looked inside the gap again. I couldnt see anything, but I knew there had to be something inside.


    I didnt know how they got in there, but Id definitely die if I went in any further.


    "No one should descend directly to the bottom or get close to the crevices. They should first descend to about ten meters from the bottom and burn it with me-throwers," I said to Xiuxiu. "The main goal is to see whether that female corpse is there or not, and whether the snake inside is there or not."


    Xiuxiu looked at me. "Why would we have methrowers?"


    "You can just make a few yourself with gasoline and pesticides," I said to her.


    We continued to descend until we reached the area where the corpses from before were hanging. Fatty shot the ropes until they broke and then the corpses fell. Not only did we not know what condition these bodies were in, but we were afraid to find out what happened to them.


    After continuing to descend to a height of ten meters, I hovered in the air and carefully looked below with my shlight.


    I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.


    There were several broken bee corpses below, but I didnt see the female corpse.


    You definitely wouldnt be fine if you were to fall from this height. In fact, your body would basically turn into a pile of mush.


    This female corpse didn''t fall to the ground, which meant that the special snake in her body somehow didn''t fall to its death and was now free.


    There would definitely be some entanglements in the future considering how cause and effect was like an arrow that had been shot from the bow.


    To make a long story short, we burned the bottom with gasoline. We used so much, in fact, that the air temperature below reached at least a hundred degrees Celsius. When we finally went down, there were no dead bodies left since they had all been burned to ash.


    I wasnt worried about snakes hiding in the rock crevices as we waited for the fire to die down, and soon, the mules, luggage, and other dogs came down.


    When Brother Gan Shannded, he immediately took the other dogs and began patrolling the area. I observed them for a while. In terms of hearing and smell, the Wu family''s dogs would greatly improve our range of detection.


    Their sense of smell was millions of times better than humanswell, maybe; I haven''t investigated itwhile their hearing was sixteen times better. Dogs had average eyesight, but their range of vision was 270 degrees. Moreover, dogs were dusk animals. This meant that they were mostfortable in the dim light at dusk, which was exactly the kind of environment we were in with our shlights.


    I felt a little relieved when I didn''t see them alert to anything.


    "Do you really want to stop looking?" Fatty asked me.


    "Sometimes, making a decision is more important than making the wisest decision," I said to him.


    The facts were here; we had to make a decision now.


    Wen Binghui came down, but Director Tie didn''t. Doctor Xiao and all the others also came down one right after another. I told them that they should turn their attention to the dogs first whenever strange things started to happen.


    "Do you know how many people in thest team came out of here alive?" Fatty asked them.


    I noticed that everyone who came down seemed indifferent. Fatty continued, "I think those who can go up should go up. Theres a good chance that youll die before you can spend this money."


    Doctor Xiao looked at me and said, "Isn''t there a rumor in the business? If you haven''t followed Wu Xie underground, then youre not considered a true grave robber."


    When I looked at her, she added, "Youre wrong if you think were here for the money. No one here is short of money."


    I sighed and motioned for them to stay close to the people with the bronze pieces. As the group continued to move forward, Wen Binghui came and stood next to me. This time, we all had a crutch, so it looked like we were a little more rxed.


    "How far do you think it is to the next point where you can reach the surface?" He asked me.


    I looked at the endless darkness in front of me and said, "Don''t think about this kind of thing. Just keep moving forward like a fool. Its the lucky fools who will make it to the end."


    ****


    <strong><em>*heavy breathing* 6 more chapters.</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 76: Endless Night

    Book 4: Chapter 76: Endless Night


    We were practically crawling forward on the gravel. Although I was very used to it, the neers still needed a certain amount of time to adjust. We couldnt ride the mules in this situation, so we just used them to transport the goods.


    There were manyrge and small packages among the goods, but there was a leather box in particr that I cared about the most. Wen Binghui told me that it held a spare set of ancient women''s clothes for Bon religious sacrifices. Their team had been carrying one before, but it should be in ck sses hands now.


    This was thest set. Xiao Hua had stipted in advance that it had to be brought with them, so the team had to take extra care of it.


    Along the way, I asked Doctor Xiao what the difference was between looking at something with your peripheral vision and looking at it head-on. She told me that the cone cells in your eyes controlled what you could see in front of you while the rod cells controlled what you could see with your peripheral vision. Rod cells perceived the shape of objects rather than their color while cone cells perceived color.


    If we used our peripheral vision to look at a night sky that wasnt particrly clear, we could easily see the stars, but we often couldnt see them when we looked at them head-on. This was because the rod cells were better at perceiving things in the dark.


    This meant that if I could see strange things with my peripheral vision before, then if there wasnt any strange supernatural phenomena, that first ray of light I saw was fake.


    I always thought that I was in a rtively bright ce, but I was actually in a very dark environment. This brightness was all just an illusion.


    In this dark reality, if my rod cells were a little more sensitive than others, I could see the blurred outlines of figures but I couldnt see them when I looked at them head-on.


    The only problem with this exnation was that if I were to shine my shlight on Fatty and Poker-Face, I wouldnt be able to see them either.


    In the end, shed have to experience it at least once herself before she could determine how it worked.


    After listening to Doctor Xiao''s professional exnation, I asked her if she was ck sses doctor. She nodded, "Yes, my specialty is ophthalmology. Boss Hua is our boss."


    I asked her what was wrong with ck sses'' eyes, and she said, "You just need to understand that he can see everything you can only see with your peripheral vision. So, what he sees here is definitely different from what everyone else sees."


    After that, there was nothing else to say the whole way, but every day was just like a lesson. In the morning and evening, every satellite phone and walkie-talkie was turned on, but there was no signal.


    This cliff seemed to have suffered a huge crisis at some point because everything had ttened out, but the topography of the crevices didnt change much.


    This trip took two whole weeks. Starting from the second week, I woke up every day not knowing whether I felt relieved with my decision to have us keep moving forward or not.


    Unlike my team, almost everyone was getting restless after three days, and with the exception of Doctor Xiao, everyone in Xiao Huas team was basically very cold.


    Ming Er Nagqu was particrly unsociable. Apart from exploring the path ahead, she basically didnt talk to us and sat far away from us.


    Brother Gan Shan and the other dogs gave us a great sense of security. They would basically stay at the edge of our group, run out very quickly into the darkness, and thene back from their patrol. Some dogs kept watch while others would leave their scent marks along the path. These dogs had definitely earned the Wu family its status.


    I also wasnt interested in making new friends either. The group walked until noon on Monday of the third weekthe sun should be shining brightly outsidewhen we finally saw a differentndscape.


    A cluster of steaming hot springs of various sizes was distributed among the rocks at the point of the crevices.


    Fatty and I exchanged a nce. He tested the water temperature, put a little bit of the water into a water quality cup, and then dipped a test paper into it. This thing could test the waters pH, because I knew that some hot springs were filled with sulfuric acid.


    Everything was normal, and the Geiger counter on Ming Er Nagqus body didnt make a sound (Xiao Hua had stipted that it must be brought along in order to monitor the radioactivity of the stones here).


    We unloaded the equipment silently, divided the men and women into two sides, undressed, and began soaking in the hot springs.


    After I sat down and leaned back, I found that Brother Gan Shan was looking at the hot springs while keeping his distance. He didn''t raise an rm or anything, but he was obviously looking at us very suspiciously.


    Fatty also found his behavior odd and asked, "What''s the matter, silly dog?"


    I scanned the area with my peripheral vision and didnt see anything, but when I turned my head, I saw a big stone by the hot spring behind us. It was in a very strange shape, just like a wooden club.


    The stone was in the shadows and our shlights werent shining on it, so I just sat there and stared at it for a moment. My shlight had been ced on the edge of the hot spring, so I silently moved over to grab it and point it at the stone.


    ****


    <strong><em>Fun fact: the title of this chapter can also mean "long suffering".</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 77: Wooden Club God

    Book 4: Chapter 77: Wooden Club God


    When the light hit the stone, I found that it really wasnt a stone. I didnt know what it was, but my first impression was that it was a long, thin pool of mud that could move.


    At this time, this thing was just standing there, as still as a statue.


    Everyone also noticed it and immediately started to go ashore silently.


    This showed that the people here were well trained, because ordinary people were more likely to stay put in this kind of situation.


    The thing continued to remain motionless. Please note that I would describe it as a giant leech if I could, but the whole aura of this thing definitely wasnt that of a bug.


    A male team member went to pull his gun out but I quickly stopped him. This thing was exactly the same as the idol we saw in the Heavenly Pce.


    This was something the ancients regarded as a god.


    If the ancients called it a god instead of an animal, then there had to be a special reason for it. Mammoths were muchrger than this thing, yet they werent enshrined as ancient gods.


    I also retreated to the water''s edge, grabbed my underwear, and put them on while ncing back at the girls side. They still had no idea what was going on over here, but none of the men could give them a warning since everyone''s attention was focused on this thing.


    Under my shlights glow, I saw that this things skin was transparent and the inside had the luster of colored ze. To my surprise, I saw a figure inside of it.


    No, that wasnt right. It wasnt a person''s shadow but a part of a costume. There was even a hat that looked like a phoenix crown resting above the costume.


    There was no body inside of this thing, just that costume.


    I tried hard not to jump to any conclusions, but I really didnt know what to do.


    Then, without showing any interest in us, that thing moved and slowly sank into a crevice between the rocks.


    It moved so slowly that it took about fifteen minutes before it hadpletely entered the crevice.


    At this time, Fatty called out to the girls. They put their clothes on and came over, but were baffled when they found that there was nothing to see.


    I rushed to the mules, opened the special box, and took out the crown from Xiao Hua''s spare ancient costume set. It was exactly the same as the one I saw just now.


    Fatty saw my solemn expression and asked me what was wrong, but I didnt know how to exin it. If what we saw just now was the kind of god enshrined in the Heavenly Pce, then many people must have been offered up as sacrifices over the years. These sacrifices should have entered here in full costume but were probablypletely digested after being swallowed, leaving only the crown and clothes behind.


    So, what I saw may have been the crown of another sacrifice which hadnt been digested and remained in that things body.


    But the crown from that era shouldnt be the same as Xiao Hua''s crown.


    Moreover, the crown I saw just now was the same as the spare crown in my hand, which meant that the crown inside of that thing was brought in by Xiao Hua. There were two in total: the one in my hand and the one in this ancient god.


    What did this mean?


    It meant that a sacrifice had been carried out.


    But I remembered that the costume wasnt in Xiao Hua''s hands at that time. It was with ck sses, who was always at the front of the team.


    This whole thing was very confusing. I only saw the clothes in the wooden club gods body, but I didn''t see any traces of a human body.


    At present, anything could happen.


    Fatty walked back to the hot spring, obviously refusing to give up the opportunity to soak in the hot water. The other guys hesitated, but the girls began to put all of their clothes back on.


    I climbed up a tall rock where I could see the ce where the wooden club god had slunk away to. It was also a small hot spring, and there was a big spring hole at the bottom that was visible to the naked eye. As it turned out, this spring hole was actually a very deep crevice between the rocks here. Wen Binghui crawled over, set off a cold firework, and threw it in.


    The cold firework sank into the depths of the hot spring hole before disappearingpletely.


    "I''ll go down and take a look," Ming Er Nagqu suddenly spoke up from the side. I looked back and saw that she had taken out a small oxygen tank, hung it on her waist, and then jumped directly into the spring right over the hole. This oxygen tank could provide oxygen for about seven minutes.


    The spring was very small and could only amodate one person. This was the kind of cave exploration that was very dangerous, but I couldnt stop her in time.


    At this moment, Xiuxiu came up behind me and tapped me on the back. When I turned to look at her, she held up a satellite phone in front of me and said, "Theres a strange signal here."

 Book 4: Chapter 78: Bat Sutra

    Book 4: Chapter 78: Bat Sutra


    I took the satellite phone and listened to the soundsing from it while looking at the hole in the hot spring. Amid the white noise, I began to hear the very faint sound of someone talking.


    I knew deep down in my heart that the calm of these past few weeks was about to be broken.


    It was hard to understand what was being said even though I strained my ears, but I knew that it was a recording of someone talking.


    I was very familiar with this voice and probably knew this person, but it must have been a long time ago because the voice was stirring up some of my old memories. What I was most definitely certain of, however, was that this was the voice of an elderly woman.


    But the voice was so faint that I couldn''t understand it. I handed the satellite phone back to Xiuxiu, who recorded the voice with an app on her cell phone and then amplified it in the app.


    The old woman''s voice was now much clearer. She seemed to be talking to herself, saying some short sentences that were iprehensible.


    Xiuxiu suddenly nced at me, a surprised look shing through her eyes. She listened for a while and then said to me, "Isnt this my grandmother''s voice?"


    I froze for a moment as my memories came back like a flood.


    After listening carefully, I found that this was indeed Granny Huo''s voice, which I hadn''t heard for a long time.


    Fatty moved closer to us, but I pointed to the hot spring hole and told him to manage the situation. We couldnt let anybody die by any means.


    Huo Xiangu''s death had been absolute and I had witnessed it myself, so how could her voice appear here?


    Xiuxiu''s expression was very calm, so I also restrained my mood and joined her in listening to the vague words yed on the app.


    After listening for a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that it was a ritual.


    But it wasnt a Taoist ritual, because I had studied the tone of Buddhist scripture incantations before. Although she was speaking Chinese, I had never heard of what she was reading. It almost sounded like a very primitive scripture, which was the kind of scripture that would deviate from philosophical and abstract concepts and be very specific.


    Xiuxiu beckoned Wen Binghui over, and once he squatted down to listen with us, Xiuxiu asked him, "Youve done so much research on religious systems, can you tell me what this is?"


    "This is the Bon religions Bat Sutra," Wen Binghui said. He only listened for a moment before his face suddenly turned pale, "Where did thise from?"


    "Whats so special about it?" Xiuxiu asked him.


    "In the Bon religion, bats act as messengers between the people and the gods, Wen Binghui said. This scripture represents the connection, which means that she wants something that needs to bemunicated to the bats first."


    Xiuxiu had a very confused look on her face, so I said, "Youll see all kinds of hallucinations here; don''t worry about it too much. This may be some sentient being trying to torture you."


    Xiuxiu looked at me. "No, when I was a child, I heard my grandmother recite this scripture. She was in apletely dark room. The Huo family had many diseases, and my family said that Grandma was reciting that scripture to alleviate their pain."


    I froze for a moment as Xiuxiu continued, "I never wouldve thought that my grandmother believed in the Bon religion."


    But why were we hearing Huo Xiangu chanting here? Xiuxiu used the app to record the rest of the soundsing from the satellite phone.


    As we listened quietly, the sounds of chanting suddenly stopped and Huo Xiangu''s painful shrieks starteding from the satellite phone.


    It was very painful to hear. Even if we didn''t amplify the sound with the app, I knew that she was screaming.


    Then, the voice on the satellite phone disappeared. I looked at Xiuxiu and found that she wasnt shaken by this at all. She opened the app and listened to the scripture that had just been recorded.


    Wen Binghui listened as the Bat Sutra was recited at least six or seven times and was then followed by another passage. With his ear practically pressed up against the cell phone, he said, "My God, its the Luozeng Sutra."


    When I gave him a questioning look, he said, "It''s a scripture in the Bon religion thats meant to be recited silently. Its a secret scripture that only a few people can listen to several times in a lifetime. It''s my first time hearing it, but based on the pronunciation of the key words, this scripture isnt from Tibet but from Baozuo."


    <em>Baozuo in Sichuan?</em> I asked myself.


    "What does the Luozeng Sutra do?" Xiuxiu asked him.


    Wen Binghui was silent for a moment before saying, "This kind of scripture has many functions. I don''t know which version shes reading, but the meaning of this kind of scripture is basically the same. Its simr to praying for the Bon god to appear immediately and eat you."

 Book 4: Chapter 79: Mental Problem

    Book 4: Chapter 79: Mental Problem


    Wen Binghui quickly exined to us, "In Bonism, not just anyone can be used to feed the gods. Its written in the Ghost Sutra that in ancient times, it was necessary for mages to choose who would be eaten since the ancient gods didnt eat sick people. If the ancient gods chose you and you happened to be sick, they would cure you first.


    "As a result, people with incurable or chronic diseases who couldnt stand the pain would use this scripture to invite the gods to eat. If the ancient gods answered, your illness would improve every time you recited the scripture."


    After he said this, I asked him, "How do you know so much?"


    "Ive read all the existing Bon scriptures and even tranted many of them. The texts state that the Luozeng Sutra doesnt use actual words but is a mix of many ancient dialects. These dialects are as old as the Stone Age. In fact, there are some very ancient dialects in many religious scriptures. If you encounter this kind of scripture, its basically considered the Luozeng Sutra."


    I nodded before asking, "Then what about this scenario: When my illness is almost better, but Im notpletely cured, I cklist the ancient gods and burn the scriptures. Will I be fine in this case?"


    Wen Binghui looked at me and said, "I don''t know. After all, youre not all that delicious. It may not want to eat you."


    I nced at Xiuxiu. I had personally seen Huo Xiangu''s dead body back then. Although I knew that I wasnt responsible for her death, outsiders seemed to think that I had killed her faster than any old immortals who wanted to collect her soul.


    Xiuxiu continued to fiddle with the satellite phone. We heard a faint noise and then a new round of incantations started up.


    "This is a timed broadcast," Xiuxiu said. "The ck stones here can reflect the signal. This isnt a supernatural phenomenon; someone''s satellite phone is ying this."


    If that were true, then it was very possible that things could go in a direction that I didnt even want to think about.


    The Bon sacrificial ceremony had already beenpleted, but this broadcast snippet may have been recorded and brought in long ago. ck sses wasnt very good at using the looped yback function on cell phones, so he may have used the satellite phone to incessantly y that snippet of the Luozeng Sutra.


    He may have also put on Xiao Hua''s ancient costume and served as a sacrifice himself.


    When I thought of this, I suddenly remembered something and asked Wen Binghui, "When you guys initially set out, how were Master cks eyes?"


    "Not very good, Wen Binghui answered. He didnt have much time to move around freely throughout the journey. It was only at night when he could be more active."


    I looked at Xiuxiu, "Based on my understanding of ck sses, if he knew that the ancient gods would cure his illness before eating him, I think hed experiment on himself."


    It was simply a tailor-made way for him to die. At the bottom of the Kunlun Mountains, he put on his friend''s costume with a smile, yed the Luozeng Sutra that would call the ancient gods, and then watched as one of them emerged from the darkness and swept towards him.


    If there really was an ancient god, it didnt matter whether it was a wooden club or not; he would definitely look at it with a smile and maybe even open a bottle of beer while he was at it.


    Hell, if the ancient god really managed to cure his eyes, hed even have time to pull out a grenade and fight back.


    <em>Thats certainly one way to make Xiao Hua owe you a big favor. ck sses, ah, ck sses, your motives might truly be unfathomable, but I understand you.</em>


    But our knowledge of this primitive Bon religion was too scarce. We didnt know what spells and gods were recognized by the ancients at that time. It was important to know, however, that all the particrly ancient legends and gods before the Yin Shang Dynasty involved blood sacrifices, as well as arge number of deaths and corpses.


    Based on the current cultural system, all the gods in those days could be considered evil gods.


    So, ck sses must have experienced somethingpletely unexpected. He didn''t die, but he didn''t escape unscathed either.


    "The analysis should beplete, but don''t rush to get an answer." As Xiuxiu said this, I saw Ming Er Nagque up from the hot spring. Fatty went to help pull her up, but she smacked his hand away.


    "Ok, let''s walk through it one more time, I said to Xiuxiu. I heard ck sses voice before, and he was trying to lure us in. Assuming that the satellite phone he was holding at that time was A, then the satellite phone thats emitting a signal now is B. Are A and B the same phone?"


    "Is that important?" Wen Binghui asked.


    <em>It is</em>, I said to myself. <em>If its the same phone, then were now in extreme danger. Because it''s probably a trap.</em>


    As I was thinking this, I noticed that something was wrong with Ming Er Nagqu. She was soaking wet, but instead of going to dry off, she went straight to the box that was holding the ancient costume.


    Wen Binghui wanted to call out to her, but I quickly stopped him. Then, I saw her suddenly start dancing her way towards the costume box as if she were possessed.


    "Big Brother, can you hurry up and tell us your analysis?" Xiuxiu asked me.


    I shook my head. It was toote to say it. We had yed the scripture at least three times, so if the legend was true, something was going to happen here.

 Book 4: Chapter 80: Sacrifice

    Book 4: Chapter 80: Sacrifice


    I nced at Fatty, who spread his hands out and said, "I didnt do anything."


    "Get your gun out," I said to him.


    Everyone started to pull their guns out of their backpacks. Some of them were trained and acted very quickly, but they obviously werent as skilled as me and Fatty.


    Once the bullets were loaded, we squatted close to Ming Er Nagqu and watched her slowly dance as she opened the box and took out the crown.


    Brother Gan Shan and the other dogs were all at a loss because they didn''t know what these silly humans were doing.<sup>(1)</sup> I made a gesture telling them to stay alert and to attack at will in addition to giving a warning bark.


    But after thinking about it, I felt that this was wrong, so I went over, kicked Ming Er Nagqu to the ground, and snatched the crown from her. If she put this on and we used her as bait, I wouldnt know what to tell her family.


    Xiuxiu''s satellite phone was still ying the incantation, and it was bing clearer and clearer by the minute. Xiuxiu and I looked at each other. It had to be because the phone emitting the signal was approaching us, but whoor whatwas holding the satellite phone? Was it ck sses or something else?


    I motioned to Xiuxiu to turn the satellite phone off, so she quickly pulled the battery out.


    Quiet was instantly restored to our surroundings, and all of us held our breath. I went to lift the crown up and saw that Ming Er Nagqu was getting up slowly while staring straight at the crown.


    Without the evil background chanting, her actions seemed very embarrassing now. I moved to confront her, but she rushed to grab the phoenix crown, so I threw it directly to Fatty.


    She turned her head violently to follow it, but I hit her on the back of the head with the butt of my gun, knocking her out.


    Everyone else rxed a little, but I waved my hand and pointed to the crown in Fatty''s hand, silently telling him to throw it away.


    Fatty didn''t understand what I meant and made a gesture, thinking that I would let him keep it, so I anxiously said to him, "Throw it away."


    Fatty thought for a moment and then threw the crown towards the hot spring. Almost at the same time, all the dogs looked in the direction of the hot spring. I also stood up to look at it and saw that bubbles began to appear in all of the hot springs.


    Then, we all felt a slight vibration under our feet. Everyone immediately pointed their guns at the ground, but we obviously couldnt see anything.


    Fatty shined his shlight into the crevice of the stones beneath our feet and I immediately saw a "liquid" that looked like colored ze flowing under the stones.


    One could argue that it was a kind of mollusk or a stream, but it was huge and flowing quickly under the rocks beneath our feet.


    Brother Gan Shan appeared very anxious and was shaking all over as he quickly climbed to a high spot, but he still tried his best to restrain himself and suppress the other dogs so as to prevent them from losing control.


    In about half a minute''s time, the thing passed and all the bubbles in the hot springs disappeared. I looked at the crevice beneath our feet again and found that there was water in it. As it turned out, all of the water in the hot springs was connected under the rocks here.


    That thing was swimming under the water just now.


    After waiting for a while, everyone finally dared to move again and Fatty asked me, "What was that?"


    I shook my head, put my hand into the crevice, and touched the water. Recalling what I saw just now, I suddenly felt that the huge thing wasnt a single entity but a cluster of countless tiny things.


    Did this mean that the wooden club god wasnt a single entity but a cluster of things?


    Just as I was thinking this, Xiuxiu turned on the satellite phone again. Everyone''s expressions immediately changed, but Xiuxiu staggered the frequency modtion a little bit so that only white noise could be heard instead of specific words.


    "Im going to follow that thing, she said. Binghui, youre in charge."


    We could already hear the white noise gradually starting to fade, so Xiuxiu simply put her bag on her back and rushed out without waiting to hear our opinions on the matter. I turned to Wen Binghui and said, "Those who can keep up will follow; those who can''t keep up will move forward ording to the original n."


    Wen Binghui said anxiously, "Little Master Three, Sister Xiu, don''t separate!"


    But Xiuxiu had already given chase. I asked Fatty to leave three dogs here to guard and then took Brother Gan Shan and two other dogs to chase after Xiuxiu.


    I had only taken a few steps when I found that everyone was moving to catch up. Even the mules were urged on until they were practically flying, Ming Er Nagqu slung across one of their backs.


    Xiuxiu went to the hot spring, fished out the crown, threw it directly to Wen Binghui, and then moved on. Fatty and I followed close behind her. Although I didnt approve of this radical behavior, I had to agree with her approach.


    Based on the situation just now, the satellite phone should be in that things body, so we might be able to figure out something by following the strength of the signal.


    The team was spread out in a long line that stretched on for a kilometer, but we didnt lose anyone because the signal sometimes stopped moving and Xiuxiu didn''t dare press on. Most of the time, we didnt know where it was or if it was in our range of sight.


    After chasing it for about four hours, something I didn''t expect to see suddenly appeared in front of ustrees.


    When we got closer, we found that there were not only bare stones in this rocky area, but also many fallen leaves and soil that formed from decayed vegetation. The trees behind the ones we initially saw became denser and denser, and all of them appeared to be pine trees or trees you would find near the snow line.


    Fatty walked over and was very surprised to find that all of the trees here were actually alive.


    I looked up and found that there was a crevice at the top of this area which seemed to lead to the outside, but it was very high up.


    "The sunlight shouldnt be able to prate this far down; youd only see a sliver at most," Fatty said.


    It should be night now, and since it was only during the daytime that we could tell what was going on here, Xiuxiu fired a signal re into the depths of this narrow forest.


    An ancient, three-story building with flying eaves suddenly appeared out of the darkness in front of us, but we couldnt tell how old it was since it waspletely covered in fallen leaves.


    Fatty and I looked at each other,pletely surprised. The signal of the satellite phone in Xiuxiu''s hand was very strong, meaning that the strange thing should be in front of us, probably in this building.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) I used silly, but the term yaoezi () is actually ng from Northern China. Its used when you want to express that something is a strange/wicked/bad idea. This article has an interesting expos on it.


    ****


    <strong><em>Oh ho, 1 more chapter you guys. My cliffhanger senses are tingling~~~</em></strong><strong><em>(When I asked Tiffany a few weeks ago if it was as bad as Tibetan Sea Flower, she didn''t seem to think so but we''re all probably numb to it by now lol. Justprepare yourselves)</em></strong>

 Book 4: Chapter 81: The Last Stop

    Book 4: Chapter 81: The Last Stop


    We rested on a big rock while the people behind us came up one right after another.


    I took out my binocrs and used a bright shlight to illuminate the area in front of me. From this distance, I could see that this ancient building with flying eaves was very old. It was a mystery how it had managed to stay so well preserved up until now.


    I used my shlight to illuminate the rock walls in the mountain crevices on both sides and found that they actually contained a lot of teau moss, which indicated that the area wasnt closed off enough. In this rtively open environment, wooden buildings would easily be damaged.


    The damage wouldnt be that of decay, but more of the wood in these buildings turning to fine dust because of the drastic changes in temperature.


    But that wasnt the case with this building. Although the surface had been severely oxidized, the shape of the building was still well preserved.


    I had never seen flying eaves like this before. The earliest wooden building in China was generally considered to be the Nanchan Temple<sup>(1)</sup>, which had been preserved since the Tang Dynasty. No one had seen simr buildings that could be dated earlier than that period. The flying eaves on this building looked to be from an earlier period than the Tang Dynasty because they werent as delicate.


    "Do you know anything about this?" I asked Wen Binghui.


    "I have just two things to say, he replied. First, the roof tiles on this building are standard of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The differing thicknesses of the tiles and this kind of curvature shows that this tiled building had just recently been invented. In fact, the main body should have been built in thete Western Zhou Dynasty. Second, the flying eaves are from the Eastern Han Dynasty. If you look closely, youll find that theyre made of ceramic, which is a characteristic of the Eastern Han Dynasty. This thing must have been refurbished at that time."


    "How do you know everything? Are you sure? " Fatty asked him.


    "If I make a mistake, I''ll offer you my head."


    "Cant you just give me money? I don''t want your head."


    I smacked Fatty to get him to stop talking and then asked Xiuxiu, "How is it?"


    "The signal isnt moving anymore. The monster appears to be under the building in front of us." As she spoke, she turned off the satellite phone.


    "Is this the oldir of the ancient gods? Fatty asked. Are we already beneath the Kunlun Mountains? Lets use our magical powers. I''ll be a moth and you be a maggot and then well go and investigate."


    "If I be a maggot, can I keep up with you?" I snapped at him before looking ahead. "Be careful, theres something here that wants to give us the heavenly gift. Although we have the bronze pieces protecting us, this thing has been plotting against us in various ways. The signal that led us here was both fast and slow for a while, so maybe it was deliberately leading us here. This may be the old nest of an old ck mountain demon."


    Everyone remained silent as I looked up and continued, "I suggest that we wait until dawn. Once the sunlight filters down here, we can continue exploring. Fatty, youve got the most urate aim among us. Climb up the cliff on the left and cover us with your gun."


    Fatty narrowed his eyes in thought, "Im a little leery of climbing up cliffs nowhey, what''s that smell?"


    He sniffed the air, and when we looked into the darkness, we found that there was fireing from the depths of the woods in the direction of that wooden building.


    Fatty thought for a moment. "Did that re just now set the forest on fire?"


    Everyone just stood there but the fire was indeed getting bigger and bigger. As I was standing there in a daze like an idiot, Doctor Xiao suddenly took off her backpack.


    "What are you doing?" I asked her.


    "Thest clue may be in this building, she said. Boss Hua and your friend may also be in this building, but it could also be a trap. Im being paid to be expendable, so I have to do a good job of it. Ill try to put out the fire, so watch me and analyze the situation."


    With that said, she started to run into the forest. I could tell by her movements that she was very good at sports, but she didnt practice martial arts.


    I gave Fatty a look, and he picked up a stone and threw it at the back of her knee, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud.


    I started to take off my clothes at this time but quickly found that Xiuxiu was doing the same. We both looked at each other, and then Xiuxiu said, "It''s not fair to you, Big Brother. Youve already handled your matter. Let me go."


    "It''s not fair to anyone, but I''m luckier than you, so I should go."


    "When ites to this matter, no one has absolute luck."


    "Not necessarily." I pulled out a grenade belt that had seven grenades on it and checked it over before saying, "Fatty, cover me."


    Fatty patted Xiuxiu, "Let Mr. Nave go. When the situation is unknown, hes more crafty than you are. Youll get your chance to be a hero in the second wave."


    As he pulled the bolt back on his gun, I ran over to Doctor Xiao to help her up. She looked at me and was about to say something, but I quickly interrupted her, "No time to talk. I can put out the fire with a grenade. But youll have to use your clothes to stop the mes from spreading for half an hour. With that said, I quickly rushed towards the ce where the fire was burning.


    Soon, I entered the forest and found that all of the trees were growing out of the crevices in the rock. There was a thickyer of fallen leaves on the ground here, which was really easy to catch fire.


    With very light steps, I quickly rushed to the area that was on fire. I saw that the wooden building was dozens of meters behind it and the fire was already very big. Three or four trees had alreadypletely burned up, making the fire particrly bright. Under the firelight, the building almost felt like a dungeon in the raging mes of hell.


    I found a bunkerit was really just a big rockpulled out the safety pin on one of the grenades, and then threw it at the center of the fire.


    ****


    TN Notes:


    (1) Nanchan Temple is a Buddhist temple located near the town of Doucun on Wutaishan, Shanxi Province, China. It was built in 782 during China''s Tang dynasty, and its Great Buddha Hall is currently China''s oldest preserved timber building extant. Info here.


    ****


    <strong><em>AT LAST! FINALLY DONE! </em></strong>


    <strong><em>I think Tiffany is a liar liar pants on fire lol. This is definitely up there with Tibetan Sea Flower since it totally stopped in the middle of the action. No rants or table flipping this time; I''m too jaded I guess. I will probably take a few days off to get my mind right and then see if Yvette would be willing to let me help out with Notes in Rain Vige Part 2. I''d like to do at least 1 chapter a day since NPSS already has 25 chapters out so we''ll see how that goes. As always, stay ssy people</em></strong>


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