Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The smoke from Incense drifted towards a small pool of water. It was not quite right to call it a pool, as it was only about the size of a single bed, but its irregular shape made it resemble a small water basin.
The smoke from Incense floated above the pool and settled on the surface of the water in the center. As more smoke gathered, a layer of white mist gradually formed on the water's surface, thickening as if the smoke wanted to seep into the water but couldn't.
I looked at Master Pan in confusion. Earlier, when there was only a little smoke, I had peered inside. The water was shallow and crystal clear, revealing a yellowish layer of sediment at the bottom, with nothing else present. Such puddles were common in this cave, and there was nothing particularly strange about them—except that this pool was the largest.
Master Pan said, "This is definitely the place. You should extinguish Incense first."
I nodded and returned to break the spell of the corpse-finding technique. When I came back to the pool's edge, the continuous source of smoke had vanished. Even so, a thick haze still clung to the surface of the water. Master Pan took a deep breath and blew forcefully at the mist above the water; it immediately dispersed, vanishing without a trace.
Master Pan and I circled around the small pool several times, even reaching our hands into the bottom to feel around for a long while, but we found nothing.
This was a spring with several stalactites receiving slow drips of water from above, which gradually gathered in the small pool below. In the very center of the pool, there was also a higher frequency of dripping that caused gentle ripples to constantly form on the surface. Looking up, I saw that the space above was quite open; aside from a few resting bats, there was nothing unusual.
The stones surrounding where the water dripped had already worn down by two or three centimeters over time, indicating that this cave had existed for many years. Another observation was that there were many pointed stalagmites around; these had formed from years of dripping water. They resembled icicles in winter and looked quite beautiful. Many of these stalagmites had nearly turned white.
According to Brat's habit of exploring caves—because I used to be such a Brat—I always liked to break off these beautiful stones and take them out to play with for a while before discarding them. Looking back now, it feels like such a waste; these stones only truly displayed their beauty when left in the cave. Once taken out, they lost all value. The fact that so many intact stones remained here proved that this place hadn’t been visited by any Brats for at least hundreds or even thousands of years.
This also suggested that Senior Master’s Corpse had likely not been disturbed by anyone since such places were typically entered only by children; adults wouldn’t bother exploring caves unless they were accompanying someone else. Remembering Senior Master’s words when he left—“never mind”—made me wonder if his Corpse had been stolen by someone within our circle.
“What’s going on here, Master Pan? Is your corpse-finding technique really just a water-finding technique?” I said half-jokingly.
Master Pan didn’t respond; he merely stared at those stones receiving drips of water for a moment before measuring something with his steps. Then he reached out to catch one of the drips, stopping the ripples caused by it in the pool. He pointed to a spot opposite him and said, “Stand there for a moment in a horse stance and keep your eyes on the water’s surface.” He then removed his hand from catching drips and placed his flashlight upright on the ground; soon enough, we would be able to see clearly. “Since we didn’t bring any children along, I can only have you exhaust your energy quickly by holding that stance; this might allow you to see something.”
“It might allow me to see something? All this effort just for a possibility?” Hearing Master Pan say “might,” my heart sank immediately.
"Do you think you're the only one who's tired? I've been reaching for water for so long, and it's exhausting too. Stop complaining," Master Pan said.
My legs were shaking more violently, my face was flushed, and beads of sweat began to form on my forehead. "Master Pan, I can barely hold on any longer."
Master Pan rummaged through his bag and pulled out a talisman, crumpling it into a ball before tossing it to me. "Put this talisman in your mouth and keep watching for a while."
I caught the crumpled piece of paper and immediately shoved it into my mouth, not caring about anything else. Until we found this hiding place for the corpse, Master Pan wouldn’t let me off the hook.
The talisman felt ordinary in my mouth, no different from having a piece of paper there. My legs trembled violently, and I constantly adjusted the angle of the flashlight in my hand, shifting my head to find the best position. I pressed my eyes against the water's surface, silently praying for something to appear.
Just when despair began to creep in, my eyes suddenly brightened as if I had seen a glimmer of light in the darkness. My heart raced with excitement because something different appeared in the reflection I had seen countless times before. Upon closer inspection, I was shocked to see that above Master Pan's head, there was suddenly a corpse—yes, a corpse—and it was headless.
After seeing this bizarre scene, I quickly looked up at Master Pan's head, which clearly had nothing on it. Then I glanced back at the water's surface; that headless corpse was indeed suspended right above Master Pan's head.
What the hell? Was this a hallucination or reality? Noticing my strange expression, Master Pan quickly asked, "Did you see it? Where is it?"
With the talisman in my mouth, I replied in surprise, "I saw it; it's right above your head. But there's clearly nothing there!" After hearing this, Master Pan retracted his hand. With a plop, the once calm water surface rippled with small waves. When I looked again, that headless corpse had vanished. Unable to contain myself, I cursed under my breath, "What the hell is going on?"
At six o'clock, there would be another update later tonight.
Comment 0 Comment Count