I ignored Zhao Feiyu's strange look and casually tossed the dagger aside. Lifting my shirt, I examined the wound on my chest—just a minor cut that would heal in a couple of days.
Dropping my shirt, I walked to the edge of the robber's hole and peered down. Zhao Feiyu stood behind me. "Are we going down?" he asked.
"Since they've already found this place, we can't protect what's here anymore. Forget it. Let's deal with the mask situation instead." I stood up, no longer wanting anything to do with the hole, and headed towards the ancestral hall.
By the time I arrived, the police had already been and gone. They had taken the three bodies and, of course, sealed that mask in a transparent evidence bag. When I saw the mask, I could have sworn it smiled at me.
"Hey, you okay?" Zhao Feiyu, noticing my fixed stare, nudged me, worried.
I shook my head without a word and walked away silently. When I reached the well and saw the two iron chains, I turned to Zhao Feiyu. "Did you bring my meteorite iron?"
He nodded. "It's in the car."
"Go get it for me. I'll pack my things," I said.
"You're leaving?" Zhao Feiyu was shocked.
"I came here to protect what was buried here. Now that it's gone, my task is effectively over. Since I can't have it, Huang Shibu won't either. Use the meteorite iron to sever these two chains. Best to do it tonight, one clean cut!" I pointed at the chains.
Having said that, I turned and left.
"Since when did the dead guy's personality do a complete 180?" I heard Zhao Feiyu grumble discontentedly as I walked away.
I paid him no mind. I just returned to my place, packed my belongings with swift efficiency, wrote a letter of resignation, and went to Uncle Qiang's house to deliver it.
Uncle Qiang's expression was grim when he took the letter. "Xiao Lin," he asked, "is the village too poor? You're not used to it... Ah, never mind. You're a city boy. Going back to the city offers much better prospects. And with all these troubles in the village now... I won't make things difficult for you. When are you leaving?"
"First thing tomorrow morning. My friend is already here to pick me up," I replied with a polite smile.
Uncle Qiang nodded. He was about to say something when a group of people suddenly rushed into the courtyard, shouting at us, "Xiao Lin! Village Chief! Something else has happened!! Chen Erdian didn't listen to us! He went down that hole! We heard a terrible scream right after! We don't know if he's dead or alive!"
Hearing this, I frowned habitually. Could these people ever give it a rest? Given my position, I had no choice but to follow Uncle Qiang towards the large locust tree. On the way, I spotted Zhao Feiyu in the distance, already moving my things. Seeing our large, urgent group, he realized something was wrong.
When we reached the tree, I saw several young men, friends of Erdian's, pacing anxiously around the hole, too afraid to go down. I stood at the entrance and demanded sharply, "What happened?"
"Erdian wouldn't listen! He said this had to be an ancient tomb and insisted on going down to grab something. But... but... not long after he went down, we heard him scream! We were too scared to go down and look..." one of them said fearfully.
My frown deepened. I addressed the gathered villagers. "Everyone, to be frank, my friend knows a thing or two about these situations. Leave this to him and me. Also, when you go home later, do not go outside again. No matter what you hear or what seems to be happening outside, stay indoors today! Once you're home, drink several glasses of water and get some sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine!"
The villagers agreed in unison. The three men who died in the hall today were the ones who stood guard last night. After that, who would dare go out? As I finished speaking, Zhao Feiyu arrived.
Seeing him, Uncle Qiang immediately stepped forward and grasped his hand. "Young comrade! We're counting on you!"
Zhao Feiyu didn't know the specifics, but he puffed out his chest and declared righteously, "Everyone, rest assured!"
"Disperse," I waved my hand, urging everyone to leave quickly.
Zhao Feiyu, carrying a hiking backpack, watched the villagers depart and asked me, "What did you tell them?"
"To drink plenty of well water, to make things easier for us. There are sedatives in that water. Drinking it will just put them to sleep for a day. By the time they wake up tomorrow, we should be just about done here," I explained once the villagers were far enough away.
"Alright then," Zhao Feiyu said, pulling a short sword from his backpack and handing it to me.
I took it. It was my old meteorite iron short sword. I swung it a couple of times, feeling a bit rusty.
Noticing Zhao Feiyu's oddly constipated look, I asked, "What's wrong with you?"
He pulled another item from his backpack. My face fell the moment I saw it.
The purple mask!
I snatched the mask from his hands, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it furiously. I kept stamping on it like a madman. Zhao Feiyu didn't stop me, just watched quietly from the side.
"Mu Rongxing! Haven't you tormented me enough?!" I roared after reducing the mask to splinters.
Zhao Feiyu put a hand on my shoulder. "Xiao Lin, calm down..."
"Mu Rongxing! Stop sending your masks out! If you want to kill me, show yourself, you bastard! Come out! You turned me into this... this walking corpse! What else do you want to take from me? Come out!" I stood alone in the empty space, screaming my rage. Zhao Feiyu couldn't calm me.
In that moment, it felt like the whole world was my enemy. I hated everything!
No one answered. There was only the shattered, ruined mask.
"Xiao Lin!" Zhao Feiyu called my name and pointed at the mask fragments.
I looked down. From the area where the mask's eyes had been, two trails of bloody tears were now seeping out, soaking the broken pieces.
"Is this your answer for me? Mu Rongxing?" I picked up the piece, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't need your pity!"
With that, I hurled the piece away with all my strength.
Zhao Feiyu pulled two cigarettes from his pocket, offering me one. He lit his and then mine with his lighter. I just held the cigarette, not moving, not smoking. Even when the burning ash fell onto my hand, I didn't react.
After Zhao Feiyu finished his smoke, stubbed out the butt, and walked to the robber's hole. "Let's go. It's time to head down."
I stood up numbly and discarded my own unsmoked cigarette. Zhao Feiyu pulled a long rope from his pack. He tied one end securely around the base of the large locust tree, then attached a smooth, round stone to the other end and dropped it down into the darkness.
"You're a Taoist priest. Since when did you learn tomb raider tricks?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"You're an Onmyōji. So why do you know Buddhist techniques?" Zhao Feiyu chuckled lightly, but his laughter died quickly.
"No sound," he frowned, perplexed. "That's strange."
"The rope's probably not long enough," I said indifferently.
"This is called 'throwing a stone to inquire about the road.' That stone has spiritual properties. A clear, ringing sound means it's safe below. A dull, heavy thud means strong Yin energy. But no sound at all... what does that mean?" Zhao Feiyu squatted by the hole, puzzled.
"I'll go first. You follow." I was done waiting. I tucked the meteorite sword into my belt, grabbed a flashlight from Zhao Feiyu's pack, clamped it between my teeth, and began lowering myself down the rope.
The hole was deep. All I could do was descend slowly, hand over hand. With the flashlight in my mouth, I periodically shone it downward, trying to gauge the distance left.
"How is it?" Zhao Feiyu yelled from above.
"Fine," I mumbled around the flashlight.
"Then I'm coming down!" he called back, preparing to descend.
Just as he said that, I felt something tugging at my ankle. I thought it was just a snag, but a penetrating cold shot up my leg from the contact. Realizing something was wrong, I reached for my sword, but a powerful yank on my leg jerked me several feet downward!
Then, I felt something clinging to my calf. The space in the shaft was too confined for significant movement! Left with no good options, I decided to take a risk.
The force pulled me down again, and this time, I let go of the rope.
For a moment, I was in freefall.
I landed with a jarring impact, crashing onto something. Thankfully, the flashlight in my mouth was unharmed. The bottom line: I wasn't dead. I took the flashlight and shone it below me. I was lying on a pile of human corpses.
尸体已经呈现出青紫的迹象,但他们都穿着现代服装.定睛一看,原来是昨天黄世步的手下.
我所在的空间大约有十平米,是一个密封的房间.我对它的目的感到困惑.四堵墙都是坚固的,没有可见的出口.
有五具尸体,穿着相似.最上面的是陈二殿的.
我感觉这堆尸体下面有什么东西.我正想查探,就听到上面传来赵飞宇的声音.
"哇!有东西拉着我的腿!"
"放手,扔下去.没关系,"我向他喊道,明智地离开了尸体堆.
轰的一声巨响,赵飞宇落在了尸体上.他呻吟了几声才爬了下去.当他意识到自己落在了什么地方时,他睁大了眼睛.
"这就是为什么石头不起作用!这里没有该死的路,只有死胡同!"赵飞宇抱怨道,不屑一顾. "这些家伙死得很惨,从这么高的地方摔下来,还不足以杀死你.而且他们也不应该成为'替身鬼'."
"不断地拉扯我们的裤子,试图让我们成为他们的替代品.他们的灵魂得到了解放,但他们选错了人."我说道,不满地踢了一具尸体.
"喂,别这样."赵飞宇冲过来,抓住了我的胳膊. "我知道你现在...不一样了,但最好对死者表现出一些尊重."
"你尊重他们,但他们尊重你吗?"我歪着头问他.
赵飞宇听了我的话,皱起了眉头.他正要回答,却突然脸色惨白,神色变得凝重.
我转过头去看看是什么原因导致他的态度发生了巨大的变化.
但看到它的时候,我的第一反应就是拔出了腰间的陨石铁剑.