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墨書 Inktalez
Hills was momentarily stunned by Fat Ma's scolding. Soon, her expression returned to normal as she coldly replied, "What did you say?"
"You are not her," Fat Ma continued.
Hills suddenly laughed, but quickly suppressed it, casting a cold glare at us. In the next moment, White Zhi and Aran had their crossbows aimed at us.
A chill ran down my spine; the answer was clear—she truly was not Hills. We had been deceived.
"That package was sent by you, wasn't it?" I asked.
"Yes," she admitted, no longer hiding the truth.
"Can I see your true form, Lushan?" I pressed on.
"This is me; what you see is the most authentic version of me," Hills replied in a cold tone.
Fat Ma, now certain that she was not Hills, spoke without restraint: "Don't tarnish my Hilly Big Sister's name."
Black Glasses kept Xiao Nan protected behind him, his expression serious and ready for anything.
Hills looked coldly at the Fat Ma. "Believe it or not."
Three icy arrow feathers were aimed at us.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
She said, "They can leave, but you have to stay."
"You're not leaving, what will you do then? Old Sun, don't listen to her," Fat Ma said defiantly.
"You have no choice; otherwise, you'll all die," Hills replied coldly.
"Brother Sun, Xiao Nan isn't afraid of death," Xiao Nan emerged from behind Black Glasses.
"You think you can scare Fat Master with those broken bows? You're dreaming," Fat Ma retorted boldly.
"Aran," Hills called out at that moment.
Aran pulled out the prepped explosives from his bag. Fat Ma was about to say something, but I interrupted him.
"I've made my promise," I replied.
"Old Sun, don't..." Fat Ma's words were cut off as I spoke again: "Niren, take them out." Niren looked at me but remained unmoved. I repeated my command.
"We can't leave you behind; that's not loyal," Niren said solemnly.
"Don't worry; he won't be harmed," Hills assured him.
Fat Ma glared angrily and said, "If Old Sun loses even a hair, I won't let you off the hook."
"Just go!" I urged them.
Niren sighed, no longer hesitating, and took the lead in stepping away. Fat Ma followed reluctantly, cursing under his breath. Then Black Glasses dragged the unwilling Xiao Nan out with him.
About ten minutes later, Hills sent White Zhi to check if the fat ones had retreated. After receiving White Zhi's affirmative response,
Hills was the one who made Aran put away the Crossbow.
"Don't blame me," Hills said to me.
I remained silent and didn't respond. After a while, I finally asked, "Is she okay?"
Upon hearing this, she paused for a moment and replied, "Don't worry, she's fine." I took a deep breath, relieved to put my anxious heart back at ease.
"What do you need me to do?"
"You'll know when the time comes."
"We've basically explored this tomb; there's no point in being futile."
Hills didn't say anything but instead pulled out a map. I recognized it immediately as the one she had refused to show me before.
"Take a look at this," she said, handing the map to me.
Without hesitation, I accepted it. As I unfolded the map, I felt confusion at first, followed by shock. Wasn't this the estate that Black Glasses had mentioned?
I couldn't help but exclaim, "Is this map real?"
Hills nodded firmly. From her gaze, I could see her determination. Moreover, Black Glasses had truly been there; he couldn't possibly be lying.
The others stared at me, but no one dared to step forward to look at the map.
I handed the map back to Hills, who rolled it up and tucked it back into her bag.
The shock within me had not yet subsided. Even if this mansion truly existed, what did it have to do with me? I voiced my confusion.
“Hills,” she said in an undeniable tone, “we can't discuss that right now.”
Seeing her tight-lipped, I decided not to press further, knowing it would be futile.
“But you can't possibly find the entrance again, can you?” I asked. The White Jade Chair had already vanished, making it difficult to locate the entrance.
“I will find a way,” Hills replied solemnly.
Hills then commanded, “We’ll split up to search. Once we find something, we’ll regroup here.” The others responded and dispersed.
Just as I was about to set off, Hills called out to me, “Stay close to me.”
I was taken aback and said, “I won’t run away.”
“I don’t believe you,” Hills replied coldly. With no other choice, I followed her. They headed towards the Golden Path while Hills and I made our way into the dark, damp tomb passage that might harbor an Evil Spirit.
We entered the passage with our lights. Suddenly, my old ailment struck again, but this time it was worse; after spitting out blood, my chest felt like it was ablaze.
Hills handed me a flask of water. I gulped down a mouthful and felt slightly better.
“Are you alright?” Hills asked coldly.
“I’m fine; just an old issue acting up.” After a few minutes of delay, we stepped deeper into the tomb. My heart tightened, and I couldn’t help but remind Hills to be careful.
Hills looked at me in surprise and nodded in response.
We had already walked through this tomb passage once, so it felt familiar, but I couldn't let my guard down. The Evil Spirit was always a lingering concern in my mind.
After about five minutes of walking, I suddenly noticed something glowing ahead.
In the beam of my flashlight, it emitted a warm light. However, it was hard to see clearly because it was still quite far away. I couldn't afford to let my attention wander too much; I needed to stay alert to the situation above the tomb passage.
As we walked a bit further, suddenly, Hills shouted, "I found it."
I shifted my gaze back and saw the White Jade Chair sitting steadily in the center of the tomb passage.
Hills quickly moved forward, clearly excited.
I followed closely behind her, feeling an inexplicable urge to protect her from any danger. Soon we reached the White Jade Chair, and the Evil Spirit had not appeared.
"What are you going to do?" I called out.
Hills was just about to touch the White Jade Chair when one of her feet stepped forward.
I realized my question sounded abrupt, so I added, "Aren't you going to wait for them?"
"No need for so many people," Hills replied.
"Are you really sure about that?" I asked, struggling with my words.
Hills seemed amused by my concern and said, "You don't need to worry about this." Just as she finished speaking, a sinister claw suddenly reached out from behind her.
My pupils dilated in shock as I pulled Hills back. She reacted quickly and thought I was attacking her, so she punched me in the chest. I stumbled back a few steps, clutching my chest in disbelief. Damn, she was strong! But there was no time to dwell on that; I shouted, "Behind you!"
As I turned back, the sinister claws of the Evil Spirit had already reached the entrance. I saw Hills immediately lower her body, narrowly avoiding the strike of the claws, which let out a sharp cry.
Then, both of its claws attacked simultaneously, and Hills stepped back to stand beside me.
At that moment, the grotesque form of the Evil Spirit came into view before us.
I glanced at Hills; her profile showed determination, and there was no doubt she would not retreat.
I drew the dagger from my waist, ready for anything.
The Evil Spirit moved slowly toward us from the top of the tomb passage, while the White Jade Chair was just a stone's throw away behind it.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck me, and I scolded myself for forgetting this detail.
I quickly shone my flashlight into its eyes. The Evil Spirit let out a menacing cry and instinctively covered its eyes with one hand. Yet it did not stop; it continued to advance toward us.
"Follow my lead, back away slowly, and don't move the flashlight," Hills instructed.
I nodded and began to step back cautiously.
The Evil Spirit was slowed down by the light from my flashlight, so its pace was not fast.
After retreating for about several dozen meters, Hills suddenly pulled out a detonator from her pocket. Before I could ask, she said, "This is a signal flare made by Aran. When I throw it, we run as fast as we can. I'll count to three." At three, a bright light erupted.
Seizing the opportunity, Hills and I dashed forward. Just as I was catching my breath, Hills yanked me onto the White Jade Chair.
In that instant, I had no idea what had happened; all I felt was darkness before I found myself in another place.
Yes, it truly is another place; the only similarity is that it is dark here as well.
The White Jade Chair has disappeared. I called out to Hills. Hills responded.
"Turn off your flashlight," Hills said.
I heard the voice and extinguished it. In this unknown darkness, light might be more important than anything else, even food. Just like interrogating a prisoner, if you keep someone in the dark for ten days or half a month, even a normal person would go mad.
Hills slowly moved the flashlight around. We were standing in an open space, and above us was a wooden structure supporting the roof, adorned with intricate patterns and a few scattered groups of people.
Large pillars supported it, each at least as thick as two or three adults could embrace. The red paint on them had begun to peel away, but they showed no signs of decay.
The roof was at least ten meters above the ground. Staring up at it for too long made my head spin a bit. The open space we occupied was about four to five hundred square meters in size.
What a grand scale! I marveled inwardly.
If these were excavated by archaeologists, they would surely be extensively documented. The design of ancient tombs is quite labor-intensive and requires highly skilled architects. They must first consider the load-bearing capacity; if it's insufficient, a tomb would collapse within just a few years.
The structure before us seemed extremely sturdy; I believe it has stood for no less than several hundred years, perhaps even over a thousand.
Ancient people believed that after death, one entered another world, so they lived their lives as they did when alive. When constructing their tombs, they would arrange things according to their habits in life.
However, it is precisely because of this belief that tomb raiders and archaeologists came into existence.
I was stunned by the scene before me, and Hills was the same. He hurriedly pulled out a map and muttered to himself, "That's right, that's right, it's here."
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