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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
I threw the knife in my hand and, relying on instinct, grabbed the rat tightly. I shouted and squeezed my palm hard. In the darkness, the giant rat let out a piercing scream as I crushed it to death.
After killing the rat, I felt completely drained, instantly losing all my strength. My body went limp, and I collapsed to the ground, fainting.
I don't know how long it took, but I gradually regained consciousness. Every part of my body was in excruciating pain, and my shoulder and thigh were completely numb. After catching my breath for a moment, I struggled to get up, only to realize I was still holding the rat. Cursing under my breath, I tossed its remains far away.
I found a flashlight and tapped it a few times; surprisingly, it lit up again. Setting it aside, I rummaged through my Spatial Bag for a new shirt, tore it into strips, and tied them around my shoulder and thigh, ignoring the other wounds for now.
Damn it, in this battle between man and rat, I was the one who laughed last. Oh right, I haven't laughed yet—hahaha! I forced out three hearty laughs.
After laughing, worry set in again. I wondered if that rat was poisonous. Damn it, my body was covered in rat bites; if there was poison, I might end up dead. My Spatial Bag only had beer and no liquor. Should I wash the wounds with a can of beer? The alcohol content might not be high, but it should help a bit.
Wait a minute—I'm a once-in-a-millennium Yin-Yang Physique with Devouring Soul energy. Even if there's poison, it shouldn't kill me, right? I reassured myself as I pulled out some chocolate from my Spatial Bag and ate it with some mineral water. It made me feel slightly better.
I picked up the dagger and put it away before struggling to stand up. The flashlight illuminated the area as I thought about heading to the front hall to rest. The place reeked of rat blood; the smell was unbearable.
Stumbling into the hall, I found a table to sit at. I took out a cigarette and lit it. Just as I took a puff, I heard rustling sounds coming from the passageway, mixed with heavy breathing—something large was approaching rapidly.
Crap, here we go again! Is this never-ending?
With the cigarette in my mouth, I gathered my focus and pulled out my shotgun, quickly loading bullets into it. Aiming at the source of the noise in the passageway, I prepared to fire at anything that showed itself.
The heavy breathing grew closer. I adjusted the flashlight to its brightest setting and placed it on the table aimed at the passageway. Covering the front of the light source with my hand, I planned to release it as soon as the monster got close; that way, the intense light would blind it instantly before I fired away.
Finally, a monster appeared... I wasn't sure what it was. I loosened my grip and directed the flashlight beam at it. This creature resembled both a human and a rat; it had a human head and limbs. Its facial features were all concentrated around its nose, with bulging eyes and a mouth that gaped open, revealing two exceptionally sharp teeth. Its body was covered in smooth rat fur, and behind it was a tail over two meters long. This monster, half-human and half-rat, could barely be called a ratman.
My first instinct upon seeing it was to vomit. If it had clearly been a monster, that would have been one thing, but this creature bore too many human traits for me to handle. In that moment, I actually forgot to pull the trigger.
The bright light from the flashlight made the ratman squint as it stepped out of the passage to avoid the glare. It then shielded its eyes with its hand and looked at me. Upon seeing the shotgun in my hand, it was taken aback and exclaimed, "Hey, don't shoot!"
Damn, this ratman didn't hold back on the profanity as soon as it opened its mouth; I was completely stunned.
Seeing my shocked expression and that I still hadn't lowered my gun, the ratman became even more anxious: "Why are you so rude? Don't you know how to behave?"
I couldn't help but chuckle in disbelief as I lowered my gun slightly. "Who are you?"
The ratman was about ten meters away from me. At this distance, no matter how aggressively it acted, I was confident I could fire three shots at it—three shots that would surely be astonishing.
"Who am I? Heh, you wouldn't even know my name if I told you," the ratman seemed aware of my caution and didn't approach any closer, merely pacing around the passage.
I stayed silent, watching to see what it intended to do.
"Did you kill all the rats outside?" The ratman asked after circling near the entrance a few times.
At this question, I couldn't help but raise my gun again. "Yes, are you here for revenge?"
"Put it down, put it down!" The ratman shouted immediately. "Revenge for what? You killing them is none of my business!"
Smiling, he lowered the gun again and asked, "Hmm? What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, ten years ago, I was dragged into this by those beasts. Through various twists of fate, I've managed to survive all these years. Even if you don't kill them, they'll die by my hands anyway." A sense of weariness appeared on the rat man's face.
“Xu Wuji, you are Xu Wuji!” A flash of realization struck me, and I shouted.
“Hey, how do you know my name?” The rat man was taken aback for a moment, and his face suddenly lit up with excitement. He clearly acknowledged his identity.
“I’m a friend of Brother Five!”
“Brother Five? You’re Fifth Brother?”
“Yeah, Brother Five, Pangolin Hu Wanli,” I exclaimed loudly.
“Wan Li is still alive! That's great; it was worth saving him! Haha!” The rat man Xu Wuji burst into joyous laughter, as if knowing that Fifth Brother was alive brought him immense happiness, even after living in this dark underground for ten years and becoming something that resembled neither human nor rat.
“What happened to you like this?” I lowered my gun and beckoned him over.
Xu Wuji walked over and sat on the table beside me without answering. He stared at the cigarette in my mouth, his eyes filled with longing that he couldn't hide. “Brother, can I have a smoke? Damn, it's been ten years since I last smoked.”
I laughed heartily, handed him a cigarette, and lit it for him. “Just call me Zheng Nan. How about I call you Old Xu?” Suddenly, I felt a pang of worry; Old Xu sounded similar to 'rat' in pronunciation. He wouldn’t think I was mocking him, would he?
Xu Wuji ignored my comment, squinting his eyes as he took a deep drag. A violent fit of coughing followed as he laughed, “Refreshing!”
Honestly, when he smiles, it looks quite unpleasant; his already crowded features become even more contorted.
After smoking three cigarettes in a row, Xu Wuji coughed and declined the fourth one I offered, waving his hand and saying, "That's enough! If I smoke any more, I'll faint!"
Taking a few deep breaths, Xu Wuji asked me, "How did you get in here?"
I recounted my experience to Xu Wuji in detail. He sighed and said, "It seems you, like me, have fallen into this deadlock."
"What deadlock?" I asked, puzzled.
"Come on, follow me!"
Xu Wuji led me to the Copper Door and pointed at it. "You opened the mechanism of this Copper Door to get to this passage, right?"
I nodded.
"Here's the thing: this Copper Door is actually a ball. The area around this ball within a three-meter radius is a rotating portal. You understand now?" Xu Wuji stepped forward and patted the Copper Door, a look of helplessness on his face.
What kind of expression is that? However, I didn't have time to think too much about it. Following Xu Wuji's lead, an image of a revolving door at a hotel appeared in my mind.
"This Black Mountain Ancient Prison is divided into four areas. It's like a round shape that has been cut into four equal parts with one horizontal and one vertical cut. The rotating portal of this Copper Door is located at the intersection point of these four sections. The first area is the entrance passage, the second area is a circular passage, and the third area is where we currently are. These three passages are all on the outskirts of the Black Mountain Ancient Prison, designed to confuse intruders. Only the fourth area is the core of the Black Mountain Ancient Prison," Xu Wuji said hoarsely. "And I have been trapped in the Third Area for ten years."
With what Xu Wuji said, I immediately understood. The rotating portal formed by the Copper Door turns ninety degrees each time it rotates, leading to a new passage. This explains why every passage near the Copper Door forms a right angle. It was Xiao Qingcheng who discovered the secret of the Copper Door and opened a new passage while I happened to be outside the rotating area of the Copper Door, which caused us to miss each other.
This makes everything much easier to explain. The entrance we came through is the first area. When we reached the Right Angle, the three of us were standing in the Copper Door's rotating area. Youdi secretly opened the Portal to the second area and took advantage of the darkness to enter another passage.
The circular passage where Xiao Qingcheng and I were trapped should be the second area. Just when I was confused and dozing off, Xiao Qingcheng somehow activated the Portal and broke out of the second area. By chance, I also entered the third area, which is the passage where Xu Wuji and I are currently located.
As long as we rotate the Copper Door again, we will enter the fourth area. Xiao Qingcheng and Youdi must have gone to the Fourth Area, which is the core region of the Black Mountain Ancient Prison.
It turns out that it was this simple. That sudden darkness was merely a trick to disguise the rotation of the Portal, and the rumbling sound from below and the Tremble were undoubtedly noises made during the mechanism's transition.
At this moment, I felt like I had figured everything out, and my mood instantly brightened. However, I completely overlooked one thing: if it was this simple, why had Xu Wuji been trapped here for ten years?
I quickly took out my dagger and began to rotate it on the central Ring.
Three turns clockwise, three turns counterclockwise.
Xu Wuji was watching me beside the Copper Door, his expression a mix of a smile and a cry, with an air of helplessness that was evident on his face. What did this expression mean?
Before I could think too much about it, darkness enveloped me; the flashlight's beam was suddenly absorbed without warning, followed by a Thunderous Roar and Tremble. I knew that this rotating Portal had been activated.
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