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墨書 Inktalez
A Li crouched at the cave entrance, peering down with an anxious expression. Startled, I instinctively tried to stand up, only to bump my head with a loud thud. Ignoring the pain, I quickly crawled to the edge of the cave.
Below was a dark abyss, and a chilling wind sent shivers down my spine. I swept my flashlight around, but there was no sign of Dui. I asked urgently, “What’s going on? Did he lose an argument? Surely he wouldn’t take such drastic measures!”
A Li replied, “Who argued with him? He came up with a plan to catch the Illusionist himself. I asked him how he intended to do it, and suddenly he smiled and jumped down.”
Though my junior was impulsive, he wouldn’t joke about his own life. Could it be that he really thought of a way to force the Illusionist into action? Even if that were true, he should have discussed it with us first! Jumping down without any plan was reckless—what if he guessed wrong? What if something went wrong? He was risking his life down there while we stayed up here; how could we be at ease? It was sheer madness! That brat must have gone too long without proper guidance; now he was itching for trouble!
I suppressed my anger, tucked away the Bronze Square Box, and quickly adjusted my position to squat facing away from the cave entrance. “You stay here and wait for me. I’m going down to check on him,” I told A Li.
She grabbed my arm tightly. “It’s dark and steep down there; who knows how deep it is? You don’t even have any tools—how will you get down?”
I glanced back and felt dizzy for a moment before quickly shifting my gaze. “I checked this area with Dui before; all the openings are about a meter square, and the gaps between layers don’t exceed two meters at most. I can use these caves to climb down step by step.” I continued, “A Li, you keep the flashlight; I won’t need it as much. The clearer I see, the more nervous I’ll feel.”
Just as I was about to move, A Li still wouldn’t let go of my arm. “ Brother Qian Yi, didn’t we agree not to separate?”
My heart softened at her concern. Sighing, I reassured her, “A Li, this is a different situation. Besides, this isn’t an official operation; I’m just going down to bring Dui back up. We’ll eventually return here. You wait for us and try to recall what you can about that thief’s cave; any detail might help us. And if Old Qiao happens to come out of the cave himself, we’ll be ready for him and save ourselves some trouble.”
There was something else I wanted to say but held back. There were too many unknowns about this descent, and I wasn’t entirely confident; I couldn’t risk bringing A Li into danger with me. Although her identity had changed dramatically—she was now Li San, Master Sun’s disciple and my junior—she had become strong enough that she no longer needed my protection. In times of crisis, she could stand by me as an equal partner in battle.
Yet in my heart, she remained that little girl who used to follow me around in the old neighborhood—innocent and kind-hearted. She had called me Brother Qian Yi for so many years; it was my duty as an older brother to protect her. Knowing full well the dangers ahead, how could I bring my sister into harm’s way? Suddenly, it struck me that I understood my junior’s smile just before he jumped—it wasn’t meant for A Li; it was a signal for me to follow him down into the unknown.
Without further ado, I released A Li's hand and said, "I'll leave this to you. Wait for us to return." With that, I placed my hands on the edge of the cave and jumped down, landing at the entrance of the next level. A Li nervously called out to me, shining the flashlight in my direction.
As I descended several more levels, I realized that the cave entrances were not aligned vertically but were staggered. The center of one entrance on a higher level faced either the left or right wall of the entrance below it, with some being even more offset. The distance between entrances on the same level was greater, resulting in a four-meter drop beneath one entrance that was entirely stone wall, leaving no foothold.
At my current position, I was nearly at the limit of the Wolf Eye Flashlight's range; A Li's light had dimmed to a faint yellow beam barely illuminating above my head. Below me lay a path shrouded in complete darkness.
People often fail to appreciate what they have until it's gone. Once plunged into this primal darkness, my eyes became useless decorations; I could only rely on my hands to feel my way forward inch by inch, realizing just how vital light truly is—it made every step a struggle.
I slowly turned around in place. Based on where I had swung in from earlier, I should now be facing the cave entrance, slightly leaning toward the left wall. I reached out to my left and, sure enough, before my arm was fully extended, my fingertips brushed against the wall. Steadying myself against it, I moved forward step by step. After just seven steps, my palm finally touched the entrance.
The most critical task now was to determine the location of the entrance on this level below me. Unfortunately, my staff wasn't long enough to act like a guide stick to probe and knock around first. My equipment was quite limited as well—just a pack of disinfectant cotton and a lighter... Wait! The lighter!
I quickly fished out the lighter. There was wind at the entrance; after two attempts, it wouldn't ignite. Shifting my body to block the wind, I struck it again—"click!"—a yellow flame flickered to life. But just then, I suddenly spotted a pair of Chilling Eyes staring back at me from behind the flame, only thirty or forty centimeters away.
Holy crap! My heart dropped instantly as I gasped in shock; damn it, that nearly made me choke! My body reflexively jerked back, and with nothing beneath my feet, I fell.
The entire sequence of events unfolded too quickly for me to even scream; all I felt was shock! My heart raced uncontrollably as countless images flashed through my mind—falling from a great height, blood splattering everywhere, brains splattered like a Meat Pie… Oh no! The thought of my handsome face being smashed into a puddle of Meat Pie made me panic!
With a swift motion, I pulled out my staff and thrust it forward with all my might—only to find nothing but air! It must have been right over an entrance. I reassured myself and raised my hand for another strike; with a loud "scrape," sparks flew as the staff carved a shallow groove into the rock wall. I fought through the pain in my palm and clutched Ma Tou tightly; finally, the groove stopped about twenty centimeters deep.
I let out a sigh of relief as cold sweat drenched my body; my clothes clung to me uncomfortably. The cold wind rising from below sent shivers down my spine. But thankfully, I had managed to save myself.
Holding my breath, I turned halfway in mid-air and faced the rock wall sideways. My left hand began to explore up and down and side to side. Unfortunately, this area seemed to be entirely composed of jagged granite—there wasn't even a place for a fingerhold, let alone somewhere to step down. I tried feeling around with my feet below but found no sign of an entrance either.
Suddenly, I found it strange. According to my previous assumptions, the distance between the cave layers should not exceed two meters. With my height and arm length combined, two meters should be more than enough. Did something change below? Had the cave reached its end?
Before I could think further, a sound like cracking stone echoed above me. My heart sank instantly, and I silently cursed my luck! The pressure on the palm of my right hand vanished in an instant; the rock could no longer bear my weight and completely shattered. I lay back, making my final farewell to the world—oh no, it was more like a goodbye...
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