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墨書 Inktalez
This was the second time I had heard that phrase in a single day, and my heart sank. "What trouble?"
Old Qiao sat cross-legged on the ground, his legs curled up, rummaging through his pockets as if searching for something. In the end, he found nothing, rubbed his chin, and shook his head slightly.
A Li and I exchanged glances, both puzzled by what he meant. I guessed it was just one of his old habits acting up again, so I said, "My dear brother, at this point, there's no need to keep us in suspense. What trouble are you talking about?"
Old Qiao lifted his eyelids and glanced at me, sighed deeply, hesitated to speak. It was A Li who took the initiative to clarify: "Does Old Qiao mean that this cave is strange and harbors some significant trouble, but for now, we can’t know exactly what that trouble is?"
Old Qiao nodded eagerly. "Miss A Li is exactly right. That is precisely what I mean." He added, "I just conducted a test on the walls here and discovered a rather peculiar phenomenon. Come over and take a look."
As he spoke, we gathered around him. Earlier, to conserve battery life, we had only used one flashlight. Now, to see more clearly, A Li turned on hers as well. However, for close observation of objects, the effect was the same. I suggested A Li put her flashlight away.
Old Qiao habitually touched the wall with his left hand's ring finger and thumb as he explained: "At first, I thought this was granite. The basic property of this type of rock is its hardness and resistance to wear, which is why it's often used as a building material. But look here; while the surface of this granite feels hard, it’s actually soft inside. If I'm not mistaken, there should be layers beneath the rock."
A Li listened and touched it herself; her brows quickly knitted together. "But I can't feel any layers."
Old Qiao exchanged a glance with me and chuckled while stroking his beard. "Miss A Li, are you saying only you Errand Runners have your special skills? Can't Old Qiao earn a living too?"
A Li immediately looked at him with admiration. "Qiao Brother, where did you learn such… such… (gesturing like Old Qiao probing the wall) skills? What else can you do?"
Old Qiao was already quite vain by nature; now that he had a beautiful woman praising him, he seemed to float even higher. He puffed out his chest proudly and said, "Well… that's a long story! Let me think; it all started when I was ten years old and first went to Yue Shan…"
Old Qiao was a person with a very strange and mysterious past, especially those eight years that had vanished without a trace. What could have caused him to transform from a young man in his twenties into someone who seemed to have aged thirty or forty years? It was rare for him to take the initiative to share his story, and how could I not listen attentively? Yet, the thought of my junior brother's uncertain fate weighed heavily on my mind, making it difficult for me to concentrate. I found myself wanting to interrupt him several times, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
As I wrestled with my thoughts, a sudden "gurgle" echoed through the air—someone's stomach had growled.
We three exchanged glances, and I said, "It wasn't me; who was it?" A Li immediately shook her head. "I just had some crackers; it wasn't me."
Our eyes turned in unison toward Old Qiao, who seemed to have not eaten enough. To our surprise, he widened his eyes and shook his head as well. "You all forgot; I just ate too. It really wasn't me."
I chuckled, "Well, that's strange. There are three of us here, and if none of our stomachs made that sound, then who did?"
Just then, that eerie "gurgle" came again. This time, the sound sent chills down my spine; it felt as if it was emanating directly from within our ears, making it impossible to discern its source—it seemed to resonate from everywhere at once.
A Li, being a girl, was understandably frightened. She pressed close behind me, clutching my arm tightly as her body trembled. Old Qiao was like my junior brother; as long as it wasn’t something related to ghosts, he was quite bold and fearless.
However, in this situation, none of us could figure out what was happening. One of us needed to take charge—either we pretended we hadn’t heard anything and continued on our way or we steeled ourselves to find out what that sound really was.
Noticing Old Qiao staring blankly at the wall, I glanced at A Li and said, "It's better to avoid trouble; let’s move quickly!"
A Li nodded vigorously in agreement. We bent low and were about to proceed when suddenly Old Qiao said, "Wait a moment; I think I know where that sound is coming from."
I turned around to see Old Qiao pressing his ear against the wall on the other side. With five fingers pushing against the wall with force, there came a thunderous "gurgle," as if someone’s stomach had been struck hard.
I suddenly felt a sense of foreboding and intended to stop Old Qiao from continuing. However, he acted swiftly and decisively without any hesitation. Like a pile driver, he pounded against the wall four or five times in quick succession. The cave reverberated with the sound of cracking stone that resembled the roar of a wild beast.
At that moment, Old Qiao let out a sound of acknowledgment and surprisingly broke a fist-sized hole in the stone wall with one hand. His palm completely slipped into the opening, and it seemed like he wanted to stretch his arm even further inside.
A thought flashed through my mind, reminding me of the Horror Box Game we used to play, where players couldn’t see what was inside the box and could only reach in with one hand to feel around. This game had tricked many people—not because the contents were particularly terrifying, but because in complete darkness, you could only make contact with whatever was inside using your fingers. The psychological horror of that experience is something most people can't even imagine.
Human fingertips are rich with sensory nerve endings, each pathway connected to the brain's nervous system. Any slight movement or sensation at the fingertips is transmitted rapidly and unchanged to the cerebral cortex, often amplified several times over. The sensitivity is unimaginable. There’s a Chinese saying: "Ten fingers connected to the heart," which conveys this very idea.
So when Old Qiao pushed his entire palm—and even his whole arm—into that tiny hole in the wall, A Li and I were completely dumbfounded, our skin crawling with goosebumps.
After about four or five seconds, Old Qiao suddenly exclaimed, "Got it!" and slowly began to pull his arm back out of the hole. His movements were careful, as if he were holding something in his hand.
I swallowed nervously, my mind racing with anxious thoughts. What if he pulled out something that was incredibly disgusting? Or worse… what if it was a snake? Everyone has their own phobias; for my junior brother, it’s ghosts, while for me, it’s snakes.
After experiencing the events in the Bagua Underground Palace, I had vowed never to confront such things again. Yet here I was, facing my fears once more as Emerald Villa had unleashed those bloodied figures covered in green snakes. It felt like a cruel joke! Was I destined to be haunted by this kind of misfortune for the rest of my life?
Just as I was lost in these thoughts, A Li suddenly tugged at my sleeve, her voice trembling as she said, " Brother Qian Yi, you have to look..."
I looked up and saw that Old Qiao had pulled out most of his arm; only his forearm and hand remained inside. As he gradually pulled back, I noticed his arm was covered in a sticky substance that dripped down like some kind of solid-liquid mixture, releasing an awful stench. When his wrist finally emerged from the hole, I could see it was wrapped in several strands of red blood vessels. Then I saw something I never wanted to see again in my life.
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