Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Cold Bench called out to me as I lagged behind. I gritted my teeth; damn it, back in the Bagua Underground Palace, I had seen all sorts of terrifying things. Yet here I was, scared out of my wits. If word got out, I would be the laughingstock! I replied, “Coming!” and bent down to run a couple of steps before jumping into the cave.
Inside, it was pitch black, with occasional gusts of cold wind swirling around, carrying a foul stench of something rotten. The heat from my sweat turned instantly into a chill, making me shiver uncontrollably. My mind raced with horror scenes from movies I had seen before, and my heart pounded wildly, nearly jumping out of my throat from anxiety.
I cursed myself for being so cowardly and straightened up to bolster my courage. However, as soon as I stretched my neck, I bumped my head hard against the rocky ceiling with a thud. The pain made me gasp sharply, tears springing to my eyes. Cold Bench turned to look at me; I quickly pretended to rub the back of my head and feigned calmness as I asked, “What kind of place is this? It feels so eerie.”
With a click, Cold Bench turned on his flashlight. It struck me that he must not have seen my earlier attempt to hide my embarrassment in the dark, but now that the light was on me, he could see everything. Great, just great—what a humiliation!
But then again, embarrassing myself in front of Cold Bench wasn’t too bad; after all, who wouldn’t feel small next to someone so powerful?
Fortunately, Cold Bench had another virtue: he didn’t meddle in others’ affairs. He simply said “Heifeng Cave” as he continued forward, navigating through what seemed like several twists and turns.
I immediately thought of the Heifeng Cave from Journey to the West where Xiong Pi Lao Guai resided and shivered involuntarily. However, since that was set in Chaya Mountain in Suiping County, Henan Province, and we were currently in Sichuan, it shouldn’t be the same place.
Since this was Heifeng Cave, it was no surprise there were cold winds blowing; that must have been what Cold Bench meant.
I slapped my face to shake off the fear and tried to focus. However, psychological suggestions can be tricky; they aren’t easily controlled, especially in such an environment where it’s hard to keep one’s mind clear. I needed something to distract myself. So I asked, “By the way, when we were in the car, your junior brothers were caught in an Illusionary Technique—what happened there? What exactly are we doing here? How do we save them?”
As soon as I finished speaking, Cold Bench suddenly shushed me. Almost immediately after that came a series of thundering footsteps behind us; the ground shook as if something massive was charging toward us.
Having gone through so much already, my reflexes had improved significantly. Almost instantly, I rolled off to the side with Cold Bench. When I looked up, I shivered all over again—what on earth was this place!
We found ourselves in a massive cavern, roughly the size of a standard football field. In the center of the cave stood a large raised "X," about one meter high, three meters wide, and extending infinitely in all four directions—north, south, east, and west. Before I could examine it more closely, Cold Bench turned off his flashlight and quickly pulled me into a shallow pit beneath the Cross Bridge. Almost immediately, the thunderous sound of something galloping overhead erupted above us, clearly indicating that a group of enormous creatures was racing past our heads. The tremors they caused felt akin to a magnitude seven earthquake; several times I was nearly jolted off my feet, and if it weren't for Cold Bench's firm grip on me, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
I desperately wanted to see what these creatures were, but I feared that the light from the flashlight might disturb them and lead to unnecessary trouble. However, even though I couldn't see them, my nose and ears were unusually sensitive at that moment. I heard heavy breathing akin to that of cattle and caught a whiff of a strong urine odor. Coupled with their massive size, I speculated... they might indeed be cows!
After about ten minutes, the "stampede" finally passed. I brushed off the thick layer of dust from my clothes—at least as thick as a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms"—but there were some spots I couldn't reach. Just as I was about to ask Cold Bench for help, the ground began to shake again, this time more violently. In the distance, I could hear the sound of countless hooves thundering closer and closer, growing louder with each passing moment.
I froze. "Damn it, are these cows going crazy?"
Cold Bench whispered, "Not necessarily. Listen to their rhythm this time; it's clearly faster than before. They must have been spooked by something. Let's go take a look."
Given Cold Bench's temperament, he rarely concerned himself with such matters unless he had ulterior motives. So I stopped asking questions and obediently followed behind him.
We crawled along the tunnel beneath the Cross Bridge, stopping whenever the tremors became too intense to avoid being thrown underfoot by those hooves. Our progress was slow and arduous as we moved in darkness; I followed Cold Bench as he felt his way along the bridge without knowing where we were or how far we had gone. Several times I wanted to ask him, but every time I opened my mouth, I ended up tasting the foul mud and grime while being drowned out by the thundering hooves above us.
We stumbled along like this for nearly twenty minutes when Cold Bench suddenly halted; it seemed we had arrived at our destination. I let out a deep breath and collapsed onto the ground, my legs aching terribly. At that moment, Cold Bench handed me a handkerchief from up front. Surprised by his thoughtfulness, I thanked him and wiped my arms with it.
The handkerchief felt incredibly soft, as if made from fine silk. It not only absorbed sweat but also provided a pleasantly cool sensation against my skin that instantly relaxed me. If only there were someone here to give my legs a massage!
Just as I was thinking this, a pair of delicate hands began kneading my sore legs. Oh wow! That felt amazing! "Ahh, that feels so good... Just a bit harder! Later I'll return the favor," I couldn't help but feel euphoric. It seemed that Cold Bench was surprisingly capable despite his usual silence—much better than my junior brother who only knew how to talk big.
Suddenly, there was a sharp "snap," and a blinding beam of light shone directly on my face. Reflexively, I raised my hand to shield my eyes only to realize that my arm couldn't move at all; it felt like something had wrapped around it.
Looking down, I saw a strand of white hair—but upon closer inspection, it didn't seem quite right; it looked too thick for hair and appeared to be crawling with something resembling maggots... A chill ran down my spine—damn it! Silk! It was Silk!
Crystal Silkworm?! Qinling Tree Well?! Daughter of Xi Wangmu?!
At that moment, I felt a chill behind my ear, as if a tongue was licking it. Startled, my whole body shivered, and the hairs on my neck stood on end. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. Instead, another voice echoed from behind me: “I died so tragically... my head was smashed, my belly was hollowed out... come keep me company, please...”
My heart skipped a beat, and the image of the Red-Clothed Female Demon’s gruesome death flashed through my mind. Damn it, this creature had come seeking revenge: “You... you must have the wrong person. I wasn’t the one who smashed your head... I…”
“Then feel for yourself, touch my belly…” The female demon said as she grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her back. I felt utterly disgusted, my mind racing with images of the Crystal Silkworms—black, white, yellow, red—crawling all over. Just then, my fingertips brushed against something hard. Fighting back the nausea, I pulled it out to find it was a square Bronze box with six sides. Only five of those sides were engraved with patterns, but they were covered in bloodstains. The sixth side had a groove in the center shaped like an arch bridge, and it too was stained with blood.
I suddenly froze; wasn’t this the object that my junior brother had pulled from the belly of the Red-Clothed Old Monster?
At that moment, the light began to dim. Cold Bench took the box from my hands and shook his flashlight. “Thank you, Qian Yi. Until we meet again.” With a click, he turned off the light. My mind went blank; before I could react, something tightened around my neck—the Silk almost dug into my flesh…
Comment 0 Comment Count