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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 156: Dead End
This unventilated passage, aside from the absence of chilling winds, was not damp or cold; walking through it felt much more reassuring.
The passage was still lit by oil lamps, but the flames were completely still. The entire passage was eerily silent, with only the sound of my and Cao Qilong's footsteps echoing.
The biggest difference between this passage and the previous one with the cold winds was that there were no forks; it extended straight ahead. We had no idea if this passage had an end or if it led to a dead end. However, we had no choice but to press on.
We walked for over half an hour, and in this long passage, we could not tell east from west; we just knew to keep moving forward. Looking at the seemingly endless passage ahead, Cao Qilong began to complain, saying, "Junior Brother, we've been walking for nearly twenty miles in this passage. Why is there no end in sight?"
I sighed and replied, "As long as it's not a dead end."
Indeed, that was my greatest concern. We had already walked over twenty miles in this passage, yet the end seemed far away. We had no idea how much further we would need to go to reach the end or to emerge on the other side of the cave. Although we had only traveled twenty miles so far, what if we walked fifty or eighty miles and still saw no end? At that point, we would truly be at a loss about what to do. Should we turn back? Or should we continue forward? Turning back would mean giving up and acknowledging that the previous miles were wasted; perhaps just a mile ahead was the other side of the cave. But if we continued forward and this passage wound endlessly through the mountains, wouldn't we be trapped in it?
Thinking about these potential problems made my head ache. If I really faced such a situation later on, I wouldn't know where to go.
Of course, I didn't share my worries with Cao Qilong because voicing them would only make him as anxious as I was. Moreover, these were merely my concerns and did not necessarily reflect reality.
After walking for another half an hour, I suddenly stopped, nearly causing Cao Qilong behind me to bump his nose into me. He asked why I had stopped so abruptly. I pointed ahead and said, "Look! What is that?"
Indeed, I had stopped suddenly because I saw something shocking. Just a few steps ahead of us lay numerous corpses—many corpses! If you asked me how many there were, I could only say that the passage ahead was completely covered with piled-up bodies.
Seeing so many corpses ahead startled me immensely. Of course, Cao Qilong was equally shocked; he had been annoyed at my sudden stop until he saw the pile of bodies filling the passage. His eyes nearly popped out, and his mouth hung open wide enough to fit a bun.
After both of us stood in shock for quite some time, Cao Qilong finally asked incredulously, "How can there be so many dead people here?"
I didn't answer him because no one could provide an answer. I glanced at Cao Qilong and gestured for him to come closer to take a look; after all, we had come this far and couldn't possibly turn back just because of a pile of corpses.
Cao Qilong nodded in agreement, so we cautiously moved forward. As we got closer, we realized that these corpses were all ancient people; they wore clothing from long ago. After hundreds or even thousands of years, they had all become dry skeletons.
These mummified corpses, due to years of desiccation, had shriveled skin that made them look like deflated balloons, creating a terrifying sight. Of course, what struck us as most bizarre was that these dried bodies were all pitch black, as if they had been poisoned.
Although their skin was severely shriveled, it was still evident that among them were both men and women, young and old. They were either lying in groups of three or five or sprawled out in various positions. As far as the eye could see, the entire passage was filled with such mummified corpses.
Just imagine a seemingly endless corridor filled with these contorted, shriveled bodies; how could that not feel strange?
At that moment, Cao Qilong and I were stunned, feeling both astonished and terrified. We were astonished by the sheer number of corpses—what kind of catastrophe must have occurred? We were terrified at the thought that perhaps their souls had not departed and were still lingering in this passage; that would truly be disastrous for us.
I had heard before that in ancient times, when constructing royal tombs, it was common to seal the masons and workers inside the tomb to prevent them from revealing its secrets to the outside world.
However, the workers were generally male, while the mummified bodies before us included both genders and people of all ages. Clearly, their identities could not be those who were intentionally killed during the construction of this path.
Cao Qilong asked in disbelief, "Junior Brother, do you think these people might have fled here seeking refuge?"
I glanced at the corpses and nodded; it indeed seemed possible as Cao Qilong suggested. Many of these mummified bodies appeared to be clustered together in groups of five or six, resembling a family.
However, if that were the case, I couldn't help but feel concerned. I said, "If they truly came here seeking refuge, then how did they end up dying here? Is there something particularly dangerous in this place?"
Upon hearing my words, Cao Qilong was also startled. I urged him to be cautious and continued moving forward because we did not want to linger among so many corpses; hopefully there would be no more ahead.
We pressed on cautiously; each step was difficult because the passage was littered with mummified bodies. We had to tread carefully with every step to avoid stepping on them.
As the saying goes, "The dead deserve respect." They had already passed away and become mummies, but we still needed to show them respect. After all, we did not know if the spirits of these deceased lingered nearby. If we disrespected them and they saw it, that could lead to serious trouble. Ghosts can be both benevolent and malevolent. Not all spirits seek to harm the living; generally speaking, most spirits will not actively cause harm unless provoked.
Returning to our journey, we walked for another ten minutes or so. However, this time we hadn't gone very far—perhaps only five or six hundred meters at most. As we continued forward, the condition of the mummified bodies beneath our feet changed; the deeper we went, the darker their skin became until eventually they resembled charred remains.
After walking over a hundred meters further, we stopped again, speechless at what lay before us…
Because ahead of us over a hundred meters away was an impasse—this was a dead-end! We had reached the end of this passageway.
Of course, if it were just because this passage was a dead hutong, we wouldn't be showing such a terrified expression. The reason we were so frightened that we couldn't even speak was that in front of us, this passage of over a hundred meters was like a black ocean! At first glance, this passage seemed like a pool of ink!
Strange, the scene before us could only be described as bizarre. Looking at this pool of black ink, we quickly realized that it wasn't real ink; it was most likely black liquid produced from decomposed corpses.
I had seen corpse water before; it was yellow and extremely foul-smelling. But I had never seen bones turn into a pool of black liquid.
Cao Qilong couldn't contain his fear and asked me, "What the hell is this? How can bones produce such disgusting stuff? This is too bizarre!"
As soon as he said that, I was about to express my own astonishment when suddenly the black pool in front of us began to ripple, as if Cao Qilong's voice had startled it. The surface of the black water continuously formed ripples.
Seeing that speaking could provoke such a reaction, Cao Qilong shouted again at the black liquid pool, "Hey!"
Sure enough, his shout caused another reaction; the surface of the water in this passage of over a hundred meters seemed to reach a boiling point and began to bubble, with droplets of black liquid splashing up from the surface.
At that moment, both Cao Qilong and I felt it was very strange—how could the water boil just because Cao Qilong spoke?
Curious, I leaned closer to take a look. As soon as I did, I was horrified. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that what looked like bubbling black droplets were not droplets at all but insects!
Yes, insects—many insects. These insects were not large; they were about the size of rice grains and completely black and shiny. Because there were so many of them gathered together and motionless, combined with their shiny appearance, they really did look like a pool of black water at first glance.
Seeing this, I understood immediately; this wasn't a pool of black liquid at all—it was an ocean of insects!
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