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墨書 Inktalez
But what exactly was he hinting at? I couldn't tell.
The flashlight was pointed behind us. Was it meant to illuminate our path? I thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. Such a childish act surely wouldn't come from someone bold yet meticulous.
White Zhi's gaze remained fixed on me; he was waiting for my answer. Seeing that I hesitated to speak, he asked, "Are you doubting Windwalker?"
"No," I replied softly. I wiped the droplets of water from the tip of my nose and took a deep breath.
The team moved forward, and the long, damp tomb passage felt desolate and silent. The sound of our footsteps echoed in the corridor.
The footprints that seemed to belong to Windwalker continued to stretch downward. The passage was long and straight. Fat Ma had lit a cigarette at some point, took a few puffs, then broke into a violent cough, cursing under his breath before tossing the cigarette butt to the ground and stamping it out forcefully.
Moss grew thickly on the ceiling of the tomb passage, occasionally dripping water down. I was startled; it seemed like we were reaching the end of this corridor.
Hills' flashlight beam illuminated the end of the passage, revealing a stone wall in its glow. We couldn't help but quicken our pace. From entering this passage to reaching this point, we had covered nearly 1,000 meters—a distance that underscored the vastness of this tomb.
I felt a surge of anticipation and quickened my steps even more, nearly running. However, when we reached the end, a chill washed over me.
"Damn it, it's a dead end," I cursed aloud, frustration boiling within me. Fat Ma echoed my anger: "What footprints? This flashlight is all nonsense."
The expressions of the others were equally grim; Windwalker's disappearance had become even more perplexing and elusive.
"There must be an exit here. A living person can't just vanish without a trace," Mud Man said in a deep voice.
"That's right," Hills added sternly.
I took a moment to collect myself, reminding myself to stay calm; the more anxious I felt, the more I needed to maintain my composure. This passage surely had its purpose; there was no way it would be built for no reason, especially not one so hidden away. This alone suggested there might be an exit here. After rationally analyzing everything in my mind, I chose to trust Mud Man's words. Since I had decided to believe him, the next step was to find a breakthrough.
An exit—there had to be one hidden within this passage. Previous experiences told us that these walls might be hollow. I began knocking on the wall vigorously, and seeing my actions, Fat Ma joined in as well.
After several minutes passed, my expression grew dimmer; my hypothesis had failed—the walls were solid.
When the clay figure withdrew its hand, its expression stiffened. Yet I felt a strange calmness wash over me. The clay figure was right; the Windwalker couldn't just vanish into thin air, so there had to be some hidden mechanism.
"I think we should head back," Fat Ma said, his mood somewhat downcast.
Suddenly, I remembered the flashlight and connected it to the hint that Windwalker had given us. Could it be that Windwalker was actually guiding us to turn back? With a gamble in mind, I said to Fat Ma, "You might be right."
Fat Ma looked at me with suspicion. "What do you mean by 'right,' Old Sun?"
"Going back. What do you all think?" I stated decisively.
They all stared at me in surprise. Fat Ma seemed confused by my words. "Old Sun, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I replied, feeling a surge of excitement.
"I'm with you," Hills finally decided.
Although I was a bit exhilarated, I didn't lose my sense of reason. I knew there could be four or five Evil Spirits lurking ahead, which was definitely a threat we couldn't ignore.
Before heading back, we discussed how to deal with the Evil Spirits. Our first priority was to buy time for Aran to blow open that stone door; this was crucial.
After our discussion, we began retracing our steps. We moved quickly along familiar paths, but our eyes remained fixed on the ceiling of the tomb.
The thought of the Evil Spirits lingered ominously in our minds.
As we neared the end of our journey, we still hadn't spotted any trace of the Evil Spirits. Moreover, there was a flickering light ahead.
"Wait," I called out. Before they could react, I quickened my pace and ran forward.
Fat Ma shouted after me and chased after.
The stone door wasn't sealed shut; I rushed through it and re-entered the Golden House. A blaze of fire was rising within, and the thick black insects were now few and far between.
I quickly scanned the Golden House and noticed that Golden-Furred Mice were scattered everywhere, feasting on the black crawlers—truly a case of one creature preying upon another.
I quickly shifted my gaze to the fire pit, where I saw two dark figures sitting across from each other.
I pointed my flashlight in their direction and recognized it was Black Glasses and Windwalker. They shielded their eyes from the light, and I promptly moved the flashlight away. Fat Ma called out, "Black Glasses."
"It's me," Black Glasses replied.
At that moment, Xiao Nan and the others emerged from the tomb passage. Upon seeing Black Glasses, Xiao Nan rushed over and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Black Glasses shook his head, indicating he was fine.
After I sat down, Black Glasses thanked me, and I replied it was unnecessary. Then I asked, "What happened?"
As I posed this question, Black Glasses' expression changed slightly, and he spoke in an incredulous tone, "Do you believe there exists another space within this tomb?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, confused by his words.
Black Glasses' face grew serious; the warmth from the fire had turned his complexion slightly pale as he said, "I was transported by that chair to a strange space. It seems unrelated to the tomb but rather resembles a complete residence."
I listened intently and couldn't help but interject, "Are you saying you left this tomb?"
Black Glasses nodded and then shook his head. Hills' eyes sparkled at the mention of a residence.
The Mud Man asked, "How did you end up together with him?"
Black Glasses understood he was referring to Windwalker. Windwalker also realized the Mud Man was talking about him. He then explained, "I gave you a hint by directing the flashlight beam toward you, hoping you would go back. At that time, a group of strange creatures was chasing me. Suddenly, a White Jade Chair appeared in front of me. When I touched it, it moved unexpectedly. I tried to break free but it was too late. However, I feared you might not know what was happening and take risks, so I aimed the flashlight beam in your direction to urge you to retreat quickly."
Windwalker's explanation cleared up many of our doubts but still left us with numerous questions.
"What did the residence look like? How did you end up here?" I asked these two questions in one breath, believing others were curious as well.
"You'll have to ask him," Windwalker said, turning our attention back to Black Glasses.
Black Glasses took a deep breath and said, "The residence itself isn't strange; what's odd is that the Main Hall contains many Spirit Tablets, resembling a spirit hall. Moreover, the inscriptions on the Spirit Tablets are not Chinese characters. After passing through the Main Hall and entering the backyard, it seemed like someone lived there. But when I opened the door to one of the rooms, I found it was actually a Tomb—each room contained a dead person's Tomb." Black Glasses described it vividly, making me involuntarily swallow hard.
Black Glasses paused before continuing, "Just as I was about to leave this mansion, suddenly, someone appeared behind me. We all widened our eyes at him.
“It’s me, you don’t need to be afraid!” Windwalker said with a smile. Hearing those words, I inexplicably felt relieved.
Then we used the White Jade Chair to return here.
Windwalker said, “I knew you would come back, so I opened the stone door and waited for you.” All doubts seemed to unravel at that moment.
“Where is the White Jade Chair now?” Hills suddenly asked.
“It’s gone,” Windwalker replied softly.
Hills shot an annoyed glance at Windwalker and said, “What have you done!” However, the tone quickly softened.
I looked at Hills in surprise, feeling something was off but unable to articulate it.
“Your master’s body?” Black Glasses asked Xiao Nan at that moment.
“It’s outside,” Xiao Nan replied. I feared that Black Glasses would blame Xiao Nan, so I said, “It was my idea for him to do that.” Black Glasses didn’t say anything more and simply patted Xiao Nan’s head.
Hills seemed to have lost a part of her spirit, her expression somewhat unnatural.
Black Glasses also couldn’t find the Ebony Coffin, but he no longer clung to it. With things having developed this far, we could retreat now.
My initial purpose for coming here was to save Hills; now that she was fine, I could almost wrap things up. And Fat Ma must have gained something here as well; the clay figurine naturally followed me and Fat Ma.
Hills scanned the Golden House as if still searching for something.
I said to her, “We should leave now.”
Hills snapped back to reality and replied indifferently, “I can’t leave until my mission is complete.”
A heaviness settled in my heart as I couldn’t help but ask, “What exactly are you looking for? The Ghostly Heavenly Palace?”
"Mind your own business," Hills said coldly.
I was momentarily speechless.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Fat Ma stepped in to mediate, saying, "Let's not create conflicts; harmony brings wealth. Harmony brings wealth." Fat Ma wore a broad smile.
"Hilly Big Sister, don't you agree?"
Hills let out a grunt, which counted as her response.
Fat Ma continued, "Back in the days when we were sent down to the countryside, Old Sun even washed your clothes!"
Hearing Fat Ma's random remark, I felt a pang of confusion. When did that happen? I couldn't recall. I hadn't even spoken yet.
Unexpectedly, Hills interjected, " Fat Ma, let's not bring up those past grievances."
Fat Ma's smile instantly turned into a glare as she scolded, "You are not Hilly Big Sister." The words hung in the air, shocking us all.
A layer of sweat broke out on Fat Ma's forehead as she awaited Hills' reaction.
I stared at Hills, also waiting for her response. Since entering the tomb and encountering Hills, I had noticed that her personality had changed drastically from when we were sent down to the countryside.
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