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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 153 Ghost Wall
As soon as the three Oil Lamps on the offering table in front of the Zhuque statue were lit, suddenly the flames from all three Oil Lamps leaped into the mouth of the Zhuque, and in an instant, the three newly lit Oil Lamps went out.
This sudden and strange occurrence startled us, and we curiously stared at the mouth of the Zhuque, wondering if it was haunted. How could a stone statue absorb flames?
Just as Cao Qilong and I were in doubt, another anomaly occurred. With a loud "bang," a Fire Dragon suddenly erupted from the mouth of the Zhuque...
The Fire Dragon shot up high, reaching three to four meters, nearly turning us into charred meat. Fortunately, we weren't standing on the Ground; otherwise, that Fire Dragon would have blasted right onto us. Just as we were still in shock, the Fire Dragon retracted, and then the entire Stone Chamber erupted with a series of loud "bangs." Looking up, we saw that the whole Stone Chamber was now brightly lit; it turned out that dozens of Oil Lamps had ignited at some point.
At that moment, a rumbling sound came from behind us. Cao Qilong quickly urged me to look. I turned around to see that the "rumbling" noise was coming from the Stone Gate, which was slowly opening!
This excited me; the door opening meant my theory was indeed correct. Since Zhuque is associated with fire, lighting the Oil Lamps in front of it triggered a mechanism that opened this door.
The Stone Gate, having been closed for thousands of years, kicked up a cloud of dust when it opened, accompanied by a deafening roar. However, the dust lingered for a long time. Although it hadn't settled yet, we could still vaguely see lights flickering through the dust from beyond the Stone Gate. It seemed that activating the mechanism had ignited all the lights inside the stone cave.
Neither Cao Qilong nor I dared to rush forward; after all, we had no idea what lay beyond the Stone Gate or if there was any danger. So we could only stand in the Stone Chamber, waiting for the dust to settle before determining if it was safe to enter through the Stone Gate.
After about a cigarette's worth of time, the dust finally began to clear. At last, we could see what lay beyond the open Stone Gate. It revealed a seemingly endless passageway. The passage wasn't wide enough for more than two or three people to walk side by side. Every ten or so steps along the passage, there was an Oil Lamp lit up. Although the light from these Oil Lamps was dim, it was enough to see.
However, there were also gusts of Yin Wind blowing through the passage, causing the flames on the stone walls to flicker and sway dangerously. I worried they might not withstand the force of the wind and suddenly extinguish.
Cao Qilong appeared very excited and pointed towards the passage while exclaiming, "There really is a way! If we follow this seemingly endless passage, we must be able to cross over the mountains and reach the other side."
I completely agreed with him. Earlier, when I saw the Stone Chamber, I thought I had stumbled into some ancient tomb. Now seeing this endless passage made me feel like this was just a cave—albeit a rather special one.
Seeing that aside from the gusts of Yin Wind, there didn't seem to be any dangerous elements in sight, we decided to walk towards the Stone Gate.
As soon as we stepped past the Stone Gate, we couldn't help but shiver. I couldn't help but wonder, "Why is there such a strong Yin Wind in this passage?"
Cao Qilong's personality is usually carefree, and according to him, "Wong Tai Sin once said that this area has been designated under the jurisdiction of the Underworld, so it's not surprising to have Yin Wind here."
Even though I felt some concern in my heart, I set those worries aside under Cao Qilong's reasoning and began to walk toward the end of the passage.
At first, the passage extended straight ahead, but as we walked, it changed. The passage ahead branched out into multiple directions, resembling an underground maze.
Staring at the myriad paths before us, both Cao Qilong and I were dumbfounded. Which path should we take?
Before us appeared three passages, like an intersection. Each passage was of similar size, and every few steps inside each passage, there was an oil lamp lit. Choosing which passage to take left us both perplexed.
Cao Qilong carefully observed the three passages and then said, "Shidi, did you notice that in these three passages, two of them have oil lamps that remain still, while the oil lamp in the other passage flickers?"
I looked closely and indeed saw that as Cao Qilong had said, among the oil lamps on the stone walls of the three passages, only one lamp flickered. It was clearly being affected by the gusts of Yin Wind. I couldn't help but exclaim, "One passage has Yin Wind while the other two do not. Senior Brother, are you saying that if this Yin Wind is blowing in from the cave entrance, then the two passages without Yin Wind must be dead ends?"
Cao Qilong nodded and said, "Yes. Ever since we stepped into this cave, we've been feeling this persistent Yin Wind, indicating that this cave is ventilated. The passages without ventilation are obviously dead ends."
After hearing him say this, I couldn't help but give him a thumbs up for his progress.
With this analysis in mind, we no longer hesitated and directly stepped onto the passage filled with Yin Wind.
As we walked through it, we did not encounter any dead ends, which reassured us that our earlier choice was correct. Of course, this passage also branched out in multiple directions; every ten or so steps would reveal a fork leading to another direction. Fortunately, these forks were either left or right turns and did not lead us astray.
Continuing along the passage for about ten minutes, we encountered another intersection. This intersection was similar to the previous one: two passages had no wind while only one had wind. Following our earlier judgment, we chose to proceed down the passage with Yin Wind.
This time too, every few steps would reveal a fork either left or right. After walking for another ten minutes or so, we found ourselves stunned again because yet another intersection appeared before us. Again, two passages were still while one had wind.
Cao Qilong pointed to the windy passage and said, "Shall we continue to choose the passage with wind?"
This time, I did not continue forward but stopped at the Intersection, frowning at the Intersection in front of me.
Cao Qilong asked if I wanted to take another path. I shook my head and said, "Senior Brother, why do I always feel something is off? Why do we keep encountering these Intersections? This is the third Intersection we've come across, and don't you think this Intersection looks very familiar?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Qilong immediately broke into a cold sweat and panicked, saying, "Shidi, don't scare me! Are you suggesting that we have been going in circles?"
Yes, I wasn't trying to scare him because I indeed had that feeling. This fork in the road looked too familiar, just like the two Intersections we encountered before. Looking at this Intersection, I had an overwhelming sense that we might have circled back.
Thinking about this made me feel lost; in such an underground maze, it was impossible to tell directions and easy to get lost. Seeing Cao Qilong's panicked expression, to be honest, I wasn't sure if we were really going in circles or if there were actually several such Intersections here. So I said to Cao Qilong, "Look at this Intersection in front of us and think about the two Intersections we encountered before. Don't they look very similar?"
Cao Qilong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "Now that you mention it, I really do think this Intersection is exactly the same as the previous two. Could it be that we have been circling around this Intersection?"
Seeing that Cao Qilong felt the same way, I couldn't help but feel even more anxious. If my guess was correct, then we were truly in trouble. If we couldn't find a way out, wouldn't we be trapped here?
At that moment, Cao Qilong muttered, "I've always thought this place was strange; there's a constant Yin Wind blowing. Could it be that we've encountered a Ghost Wall today?"
A Ghost Wall, also known as a ghostly obstruction or ghost wall, refers to being blinded by ghosts when Yang Qi is weak, leading one to lose direction or walk according to the ghost's guidance.
As the saying goes, when people walk, they encounter a Ghost Wall. Ghost Walls often occur in rural areas, mountain paths, graveyards at night, where there are fewer living people and weaker Yang Qi with heavier Yin Qi. If a living person with weak Yang Qi walks in such places at night, they can easily be blinded by ghosts.
It is commonly said that when facing a Ghost Wall, if there’s no one behind you and it's dark outside, you should not proceed. If we truly encountered a Ghost Wall, we could not move forward anymore; otherwise, one foot might already step into the Ghost Gate.
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