Chapter 146: Peering In The Darkness
Wu Xie looked at Master Liang, who was sticking to him from behind, almost turning into a conjoined twin, somewhat helplessly: “Do you not need to grab onto me? I’m not going to run. By the way, did you see which direction they went before?”
Master Liang, hearing this, indeed pulled even closer: “I, I don’t know either! I didn’t see, he suddenly disappeared.”
Wu Xie knew from his words that he wouldn’t get any clues from him. So he raised his flashlight and scanned around, wanting to see if there were any other light sources nearby. Lin Yan and Uncle Tai should have had a flashlight each when they left, so if there was a light source nearby, they were most likely there.
But after looking around, besides darkness there was only darkness, let alone a light source; besides the coffin and rock wall, he didn’t see anything else. Wu Xie had no choice but to shout at the top of his lungs: “Lin Yan? Where are you? Are you with Uncle Tai?”
His voice didn’t travel far before being swallowed by the darkness, and after a few seconds he even heard the echo in the cave, but still no response from Lin Yan.
Now he was a bit anxious. Logically, Lin Yan had the little white zombie with him, he himself was strong, and he wasn’t without equipment, so he shouldn’t encounter any danger. But why was there no movement at all now? Unless… Wu Xie shuddered; could he have accidentally triggered some mechanism?
Lin Yan and Uncle Tai were on their way back, preparing a two-pronged approach. It would be best if they could find the way back at the original coffin area, but if not, they couldn’t just sit and wait.
Suddenly, his ears twitched as if he heard some sound: “Uncle Tai, did you hear any sound?”
Uncle Tai stopped, held his breath, tilted his ear to listen, but all around was silent: “No, what did you hear?”
Lin Yan hesitated; he hadn’t heard clearly what it was, but it felt like someone speaking, like a whisper, indistinct: “I didn’t hear clearly either, but it seemed… like a human voice? Did they discover we’re missing and are looking for us?”
Uncle Tai pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked him: “How long have we been walking?”
Lin Yan was a bit dazed and checked his watch: “No impression, but it seems… just a few minutes?”
Uncle Tai’s face darkened: “A few minutes? We’ve only walked a few minutes and we can’t hear them calling us? Looks like we underestimated the tomb owner. This might not be some low-level ghost wall, but a formation, a massive formation laid out with coffins! So it seems we really made it straight there before purely by luck!”
“Formation?” Lin Yan frowned. If Wu Xie were here it would be fine, but the people here now were him and Uncle Tai—one clueless about formations, the other maybe able to escape a low-level ghost wall, but for a formation, judging from Uncle Tai’s forced calm yet troubled expression, he was the type who knew six out of seven orifices.
Suddenly, Uncle Tai’s eyes lit up as he looked at him: “Young Celestial Master, can you tell what kind of formation this is?”
What formation? I don’t know jack about formations! Lin Yan’s mind was a mess like a prairie trampled by a thousand mythical beasts; only now did he remember, Celestial Master, Celestial Master—if he didn’t know formations, what kind of Daoist Celestial Master was he! If he couldn’t break it, his persona would collapse!
Though this persona he’d maintained for less than one night.
But what could he do now? Though he didn’t want to admit it, holding position and waiting for rescue was the best option now, the only thing they could do. Persona collapse? Fine, even if he wasn’t a real Celestial Master, in Uncle Tai’s eyes he was still a formidable kid who raised zombies!
He was just about to say to Uncle Tai: Don’t know, no ideas, wait for people—when the little white zombie that had been quietly staying in his arms suddenly jumped up: “Ying ying ying?”
Hmm? Could the little white zombie have discovered something?
Ignoring Uncle Tai, who was stunned in place doubting life from the first encounter with a zombie that “ying ying ying”ed, Lin Yan patted the little white zombie’s head and softly asked: “What’s up?”
The little white zombie jumped out of his arms, bounced on the ground a few times, darted a few steps in one direction, then waited there for him.
Lin Yan raised an eyebrow: This meant follow it?
Anyway, now it was a desperate gamble; the little white zombie couldn’t possibly harm him, right? So he stepped in that direction. After a few steps, he suddenly felt something off and looked back—Uncle Tai was still frozen in place.
He raised his eyebrows at Uncle Tai: “What’s wrong? Not coming?”
Uncle Tai was dumbfounded. Wait, what was this? This thing that ying ying yinged and bounced around was the zombie he suspected? He suddenly started doubting his judgment; wasn’t this some rare animal? But even an animal couldn’t have bitten Er Mazi like that, right?
Though this habit of hopping along the ground was pretty like zombies in movies.
Hearing Lin Yan’s question, he absentmindedly agreed: “Ah? Oh oh, walk? Yeah, walk…”
Seeing Uncle Tai following with a shocked gaze on the little white zombie and somewhat staggering steps, Lin Yan found it amusing. Indeed, the little white zombie was one of a kind among zombies; no one could say what it really was. But the problem was, since the little white zombie was a zombie, it wouldn’t lead them straight into the tomb, right?
Wu Xie and the others were still outside; if they didn’t meet up, what if they couldn’t find each other later? The tomb underground was so vast; who could guarantee they’d meet? The Iron Triangle would meet because they were protagonists, but Lin Yan himself wasn’t a protagonist! And he had Uncle Tai with him, who looked like a male N-number, maybe even a minor villain—what if they really didn’t meet?
Don’t end up with Wu Xie and them all out while he was still underground; that would really be calling to heaven with no response, calling to earth with no answer!
Don’t, right?
But facts proved his worry unnecessary; the little white zombie didn’t lead them straight into the tomb, but didn’t lead to any good place either!
For some reason, the little white zombie hopped faster and faster, occasionally looking back at them and calling out, like urging them to hurry. Lin Yan and Uncle Tai gradually went from fast walking to jogging, now running like flying. If not for the little white zombie going mostly straight without sharp turns, they might mishandle a turn and experience the thrill of face-planting into a coffin.
Uncle Tai panted while running and asked him: “Young Celest—Lin little brother, are you sure it can lead us out?”
Lin Yan inwardly rolled his eyes; even if it couldn’t lead them out, what could they do? Now with the little white zombie leading, they could only follow and run. Thinking of the last time in the underwater tomb when the little white zombie hid in a jar pointing the way, Lin Yan felt it was believable; maybe they’d run out of this formation? Then finding Wu Xie and them outside might be easier?
His demands were low: as long as it didn’t lead them straight into the tomb! He couldn’t handle the mechanisms and eerie things there now!
While they were running frantically, Wu Xie and the others also ran into trouble.
Wu Xie led, Lao Yang brought up the rear, Master Liang clutched Wu Xie’s clothes trembling while using Wu Xie’s flashlight to watch the path ahead. For some reason, Lao Yang even seemed eager to try.
After walking less than five meters, Lao Yang casually looked back and was shocked: “Holy shit!”
“What?”
Wu Xie and Master Liang turned their heads, looking at where Lao Yang’s flashlight shone, and said in unison: “Holy shit!”
The tomb entrance behind them was gone!
“This, this this… what do we do?” Lao Yang turned to Wu Xie, stunned. Clearly there was only one path behind; how after a few steps was the path gone?
Wu Xie looked serious: “This is… a ghost wall?”
Master Liang suddenly interjected: “No, not a ghost wall, or rather not just a ghost wall! This might be a formation!”
He let go of Wu Xie’s clothes, raised his hands and spun in place, like embracing the space in the cave: “I get it, I finally get it!”
His eyes seemed to shine: “When we came down from the cliff, we had already entered this formation. Who would’ve thought, really who would’ve thought. Can you imagine what the tomb owner is like? This place, this space, the entire cave, is a massive formation, laid out with thousands of coffins!”
His body trembled, but his expression was excited; unclear if he was afraid or thrilled, probably both.
Lao Yang now thought Master Liang might not just be a coward, but a madman! Just a cultured madman maybe.
Wu Xie took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. After calming himself, he asked Master Liang: “Since you know this is a formation, do you know how to get out, or rather, how to break this formation?”
Though he claimed to know some feng shui, he was self-aware. After being here so long he hadn’t even seen it was a formation; how could he know the way out? Lin Yan and Uncle Tai left before them and were surely trapped somewhere in the formation.
Now he understood why he couldn’t see Lin Yan and their flashlight light or hear their voices; surroundings pitch black, clearly the formation cleverly blocked light and sound transmission. Had to say, the ancients’ wisdom was infinite; just with coffins they achieved this, modern people really…
He thought of Wang Canghai again.
If Wang Canghai arranged it, could he make such a formation?
Master Liang gradually calmed from excitement, his chest still heaving, but emotions stabilizing.
At this moment he even smiled smugly, pale lips cracked showing crimson blood: “Simple, this formation’s principle deceives our eyes and seals our senses; we just do the opposite.”
For some reason, Lao Yang suddenly had an ominous premonition: “Wh-what do you mean?”
Master Liang smiled at him, pale teeth gleaming coldly in the flashlight: “Walk with eyes closed. The problem is, who knows our current direction?”
Wu Xie shook his head with a bitter smile: “Even if we knew our direction, it’s useless; Lin Yan and them don’t know where they are, we need to rendezvous first.”
Master Liang hesitated, asked him: “Must we together? Maybe they’ve already gone ahead?”
Lao Yang’s eyes bulged: “What the hell do you mean? You want us to abandon them?”
Wu Xie got angry too, staring at Master Liang silently as Lao Yang closed in, grabbing his collar. Master Liang deflated instantly, awkwardly prying at Lao Yang’s hand with a fawning smile: “I-I didn’t mean that… I mean, now neither side knows where the other is; we can’t just buzz around like headless flies, right? Place is so big, odds of meeting honestly…”
Wu Xie stared more seriously, his voice trailing off until he couldn’t speak.
Lao Yang thought it over and found some reason in it… They couldn’t just wander everywhere, right? Forget meeting Lin Yan and them exactly; what if they got stuck themselves and starved here?
He turned to Wu Xie, silently asking his opinion: Which way?
Wu Xie paused, thinking Lin Yan was probably with Uncle Tai now and had realized they were trapped in the formation, firmly said: “Find Lin Yan and them first, then figure out how to get out!”
Lao Yang looked around: “How to find? Not every—everywhere has dirt, footprints aren’t—not clear; what to do?”
Wu Xie’s gaze stayed on Master Liang. He figured since Master Liang knew how to exit this labyrinth, he must have a way to find people in the formation: “Do you have…”
Do you have something else you haven’t said?
But before finishing, he saw something dart behind Master Liang. He and Lao Yang said in unison: “Watch out!”
Master Liang, pulled between two hands, was shaken: “What? What thing?”
Wu Xie swept his flashlight that way, asking Lao Yang without looking back: “Lao Yang, did you see what it was?”
Lao Yang shook his head, tensely watching, gun loaded ready to fire if danger: “N-no! Just saw a black-black thing dart by; didn’t—didn’t see clearly!”
Wu Xie clearly saw cold light flashing on the black shadow’s head; he guessed maybe animal eyes reflecting. But even small animals couldn’t be underestimated; he still remembered the terror of being dominated by corpse beetles in Lu King’s Palace…
Master Liang remembered something: “Was it the thing that rubbed me before? I knew there was something here; you didn’t believe me!”
Wu Xie inwardly startled; so if it was the same thing, he really wronged Master Liang before…
Just as his attention scattered, at the spot the thing came from, rustling sounds rose in patches, like…
Holy shit, size not matching but could this sound be corpse beetles? Wu Xie instantly widened eyes, hairs standing, reflexively grabbed Lao Yang and ran!
“Wh-what are you doing?”
Lao Yang stumbled from the pull; Master Liang saw them dash past, shuddered all over, hurriedly followed: “What is it? Don’t leave me behind!”
