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墨書 Inktalez
I suddenly felt a deep-seated despair rising from within me. I could vaguely hear someone calling my name, but the words were unclear, as if my ears were filled with water, buzzing and muffled. Before my eyes was a ghostly green phosphorescence, so vivid it was frightening. I felt my body sinking deeper and deeper, becoming heavier and darker, until in the blink of an eye, I could see nothing at all.
Strangely, my consciousness remained clear. I could still hear some indistinct sounds: the pounding of a heartbeat, the clattering of machinery, the squelching sound of pincers piercing flesh, human screams filled with despair, and some sounds that seemed like half-hearted cries or laughter, as if they were crawling up from the depths of the earth… All these noises blended together like they were submerged in a thick pool of water—distant, muffled, echoing chaotically, creating a cacophony that threatened to burst my head!
Could it be… that I really fell into the water?
I struggled to open my eyes, but all I saw was a vast expanse of green. Shadows flickered past me quickly, and something seemed to be moving slowly beneath me. I instinctively reached down to touch it and felt something soft and slippery—a round object. I froze in shock. Was it a snake?!
A flash of realization struck me—images of emerald snakes swirling in Emerald Villa flooded my mind… My God! My scalp tingled with fear; my body trembled uncontrollably as cold sweat poured down like rain. My brain felt almost completely blank… But the more terrified I became, the more I could feel countless snakes slithering over my body, their hissing tongues brushing against my nerves. The more I wanted to open my eyes wide to see clearly, the more I could only see an endless sea of green! This visual deprivation amplified my sense of touch and hearing. Oh dear God, I truly felt like I wanted to die right then and there!
Suddenly, a chill ran down my neck as a snake, as thick as a finger, crawled up my back and wrapped around my collar, its head burrowing downward.
I shivered violently and could hardly speak. My hand instinctively reached for my neck; every inch I moved made me tremble even more. By the time I touched it, the snake had already coiled into my collar and was slithering down along my spine. When it reached my belt, it turned its head and began winding around my waist, heading toward my stomach.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my belly button. I gasped and quickly reached down to feel it but only found a three-inch-long snake tail; the head had already wriggled into my belly button and was making its way inside!
My Great-Grandmother felt completely numb! I had never experienced such fear before; I was utterly panicked! A snake was actually crawling into my body?!
“No… don’t!” I desperately grabbed at the snake’s tail, but it was too short and slippery to hold onto. The harder I tried to grip it, the faster it burrowed inside me. I was on the verge of tears. “No! No, help me… please help me!”
Just then, a voice broke through: “ Brother Qian Yi, wake up… Brother Qian Yi, it’s me A Li, I’m here!”
The vague voice of my junior brother followed closely behind: “You’re being too gentle! It’s completely useless! My ears don’t work well, so calling out won’t help; it can only rely on—kiss—one peck! This glorious mission is now yours, Sixzi. We’re too familiar with him to do it ourselves!”
Perhaps the situation was urgent, as Sixzi accepted the task without hesitation, cursing, “Then I’ll just sacrifice myself!” A wave of foul breath immediately wafted toward my face.
My heart tightened, and I suddenly opened my eyes to see Sixzi’s pig-like mouth, devoid of a chin, coming toward mine. I jolted and quickly raised my hand to block him.
“ Brother Qian Yi, you’re awake!” A Li hurriedly grabbed Sixzi and casually tossed him back. Turning to me, he said, “You scared me just now; I thought you were possessed!”
“Possessed?” I slowly leaned against the wall and sat up. Looking around, I realized we were at the end of a long passageway. Not far ahead stood a two-meter-high copper door, intricately carved with symmetrical patterns of mysterious birds. A Chen, Old Qiao, Third Granduncle Master, and Cold Bench were gathered around two smokeless stoves, heating canned food. They paused their work to look at me while my junior brother, A Li, and Sixzi stood right in front of me.
I was taken aback. What was going on? Had we circled back? Was everything that had just happened merely an illusion? Had we not opened this copper door at all?
No, that couldn’t be!
I hurriedly got up to push open the copper door and see if it led to a quicksand layer. At that moment, Cold Bench quickly stopped me: “Don’t move; this door is different from the previous one.” With that, he returned to grilling meat.
I was left utterly confused. He didn’t seem inclined to explain further. Old Qiao, however, was smiling at me as if waiting for me to ask something.
I felt a surge of irritation; since he wanted me to ask, I decided not to. Sitting back in the corner again, I took the water A Li handed me and gulped down a few mouthfuls before asking him what had happened and why I felt possessed. Weren’t we supposed to have fallen into the burning pit?
Suddenly struck by a thought, I lifted my shirt and looked at my belly button; it was smooth with no wounds. However, my face, neck, and backside were all injured… My heart began to piece together what had happened.
A Li’s words confirmed my suspicions: I had been “possessed” while climbing down the safety rope. At that moment, the rope hadn’t snapped nor had any corpse bugs jumped on me; instead, I had acted like a madman—shouting and shaking the rope wildly in an attempt to throw both myself and A Li off. Fortunately, we were close to the end; A Li couldn’t hold onto me alone. My junior brothers noticed something was wrong and quickly climbed over with A Chen to rescue us. That’s how A Li and I managed to escape disaster.
I briefly recounted what I had seen during my "possession" to them. My junior brother listened and said, "The sand sank down? How is that possible? Senior Brother, look over there."
Following the direction of his finger, I saw a Passageway. It was dark at the end, and I couldn't see anything. Just as I was wondering what he wanted me to look at, a beam of flashlight suddenly illuminated the area. I realized that the Passageway wasn't long at all; just a few more steps forward and we would reach the end. Below was the Quicksand Pit we had crawled over earlier, with its red sandy surface occasionally glimmering with green light. Other than that, there were no changes.
I was secretly startled; I hadn't expected that the ordeal I had just experienced was merely an illusion.
Old Qiao added, "This kind of Quicksand that can create traps at the entrance of a tomb is usually lethal. It wouldn't set up another trap; otherwise, if someone figures it out, the integrity of the Quicksand would be compromised, losing its original function."
Suddenly, my junior brother called out and then seemed to remember something, shaking his head. I urged him to share whatever he had in mind; this was a time for brainstorming.
He raised an eyebrow and said, "Alright, you asked me to think. If someone gets offended, don't blame me!" He glanced over at Third Granduncle Master and the others, not specifying who he meant. "Actually, before this, A Li, Old Qiao, and I have all encountered similar situations where inexplicable illusions appeared. Each time it drove us crazy! Later we found out it was due to the Illusionary Technique."
“Illusionary Technique?” A Chen asked.
My junior brother nodded and explained, "That's right. The Illusionary Technique is a secret art that can extract fragments of memories from brainwaves through special means to create realistic illusions. Those affected by the Illusionary Technique may not even realize it; their bodies are in a state of infinite slumber while their souls live normally in the illusion—immortal and endlessly cycling. The higher the level of the Illusionist, the more realistic the Illusionary Realm they create. At first, I thought Senior Brother was affected by the Illusionary Technique, but after careful consideration, I realized it didn't fully align with that description, which is why I shook my head. However..."
He glanced at Cold Bench. "This also proves that our prime suspect—our master—is not a true Illusionist. But then again, since Senior Brother's illusion isn't related to the Illusionary Technique, whether our master is an Illusionist remains uncertain." My junior brother slapped his thigh decisively and asked directly, "Master, just come clean—are you really an Illusionist?"
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