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墨書 Inktalez
I felt a sense of unease in my heart, but I still tried to calm myself down because we had a long way to go.
I pressed my hand against my chest, holding my breath tightly for a moment before saying, "Let's go."
Fat Ma and the Mud Man walked ahead while I followed behind them, providing light for their path.
After walking for a while, a cool breeze blew from the entrance of the Passageway, carrying with it a hint of moisture. It was unexpected yet refreshing.
"There might be a river ahead," the Mud Man said.
Neither Fat Ma nor I responded.
The sound of rushing water became clearer; it was evident that there was indeed a river ahead. If it were a dead end, it would mean we had to turn back.
However, when we stepped out of the Passageway, our initial worries were eased.
Before us lay the Dark River, with a riverbank beside it. The water flow was not very strong; compared to the Min River, it was like comparing a small stream to a raging torrent.
The riverbank was made up of stones of various sizes. Even wearing shoes, stepping on them felt somewhat jarring.
The river itself was not very wide, about three meters across. The entire gorge of the Dark River stretched roughly seven or eight meters wide, with the riverbank occupying more than half of that space. Looking into the water, I could see the bottom in most places, although some areas were still quite deep.
A gentle breeze blew through the gorge, bringing with it a slight sense of calm.
Fat Ma wanted to walk to the riverbank to splash water on his face. However, as soon as his hand touched the river water, he quickly pulled it back and cursed, "Damn it! That burned like hell!"
Fat Ma's words served as a reminder, and I walked over with the clay figure. Perhaps the light hadn't been so clear before, which is why we couldn't see the situation at Water Surface.
Now that we were closer, I noticed a layer of white mist rising from Water Surface, though it wasn't very thick.
Fat Ma shook his hand, his skin reddened from the heat.
"Is the water really that hot?" I instinctively asked.
Fat Ma mocked me, saying, "Old Sun, why don't you try it yourself?"
After he said that, I approached the riverbank. Fat Ma genuinely thought I would give it a go and hurriedly warned me, "Old Sun, don't be foolish. The water is at least seventy or eighty degrees hot."
As I squatted by the riverbank, I could tell Fat Ma was right; a wave of heat hit me, and I stepped back a few inches.
I looked upstream and noticed there wasn't any mist like this. After walking a bit further, Fat Ma and the clay figure caught up with me.
I dipped my hand into the water, and indeed, my guess was correct—the heat source must be within the previous range; the water temperature upstream was much lower and pleasantly warm.
Seeing that I hadn't pulled my hand out for a while, Fat Ma asked in confusion, "Isn't the water hot?"
I nodded. Having learned from past experiences, Fat Ma was cautious this time. He dipped a finger into the water and exclaimed, "Hey! It's really not hot!" He then broke into a silly grin and splashed some water on his face.
"The heat source should be in that stretch of river," the clay figure said from behind me.
I responded with an affirmative sound to acknowledge his observation.
After washing his face, Fat Ma stood up and said, "Can we catch a fish to eat?" With that, he rolled up his pant legs and waded into the water.
I was afraid there might be danger, so I told Fat Ma not to jump into the water recklessly.
Fat Ma replied, "What danger could there be in such shallow water?"
I thought about it and agreed; water just above the knees shouldn't pose any risk. I realized I had become overly paranoid, seeing danger everywhere.
Fat Ma squinted at the water's surface and asked me to shine the light over there.
There was no choice; General Ma had given the order, so I aimed the searchlight at him.
The Mud Man said lightly, "How could there be fish in this kind of water?" I responded, "Anything is possible."
After I said that, the Mud Man hesitated for a moment before falling silent.
Fat Ma splashed around in the water for a while and suddenly shouted, "I've got something! Mud Man, come help me!"
"Really?" The Mud Man exclaimed as he rushed over. Fat Ma pulled a fish out of the water and quickly told him, "There's another one under my foot! Hurry up and catch it before it gets away!"
After a while, both of them made it back to shore, and Fat Ma laughed heartily. I interrupted his laughter, saying, "We caught fish but have no firewood." My words hit Fat Ma like a blow to the head, and his laughter abruptly stopped.
"Damn it! I was careless! What do we do now?" He still held the struggling fish in his hand.
"Just let it go!" I suggested.
Fat Ma was reluctant. "I went through so much trouble for this! No way, I'll leave it here first and look for firewood nearby."
He tossed the fish onto the riverbank, where it flopped around wildly. After a while, it stopped moving, its eyes wide open and mouth gasping as if trying to breathe; it looked quite strange.
Just a few steps after Fat Ma moved, a strange scene unfolded. The fish suddenly leaped up again, heading towards the river. It bounced a little further and then opened its mouth wide to breathe.
"Damn! The world is full of wonders," I exclaimed. Could it be that this fish was some kind of amphibious creature?
The Mud Man slightly opened his mouth, still holding the struggling fish in his hands. After a moment, perhaps to test my theory, he placed the fish on the ground. To our astonishment, the fish rested for a moment and then continued to bounce all the way to the riverbank.
I quickly ran over to catch it. My heart was racing with excitement! Today had certainly been an eye-opener.
When Fat Ma returned in the dark, he excitedly said, "Old Sun, I found some firewood."
This news surprised me even more. I followed Fat Ma with the two fish in my arms.
It was a smoldering fire pit; however, the firewood hadn’t burned completely. Fat Ma said, "Just enough for me to cook them."
Upon hearing Fat Ma's words, the two fish began to struggle.
Wait, could it be that they had developed some sort of awareness? I warned Fat Ma that it would be best not to eat those two fish.
Fat Ma refused and started to set up the fire pit. The flames quickly ignited.
The Mud Man reminded me, "Look around at the remnants of food."
I followed his gaze and saw scattered food wrappers and bones from meat scattered on the ground.
"It seems that someone has indeed been here!" I said.
The Mud Man added, "It’s likely a group of people." Hearing this made me feel somewhat uneasy.
In other words, after we entered, another group of people came in. But why didn’t we encounter them? Could it be that our destinations are different?
Suddenly, I thought of another tomb passage, the one that Xiao Hui and the others took. If we were to meet anyone, it would likely be them, unless there was a third passage that I was unaware of.
The flames danced higher and higher as Fat Ma began to prepare the two fish.
I told Fat Ma to leave one alive. He replied, "An arrow is on the string; it must be released!" He swallowed hard.
The two fish seemed to sense their impending doom, or perhaps they knew I could save them, as they blinked at me in a way that resembled a child trying to be cute.
The more they did this, the more uneasy I felt. Perhaps these two fish truly had some spirit; things with spirit should not be eaten.
I urged Fat Ma to take a look. At first, he didn’t believe me, but then his expression turned blank as he stammered, "They’ve become Fish Spirits!"
Seizing the moment, I told Fat Ma to let them go.
Fat Ma hesitated but ultimately couldn’t bring himself to eat them. He released them into the water, and surprisingly, they jumped up to express their gratitude towards me.
Fat Ma shouted, "I’m the one who set you free! Why are you thanking him?"
The two fish ignored him, and bubbles rose from the water's surface before they disappeared completely.
Fat Ma sighed deeply and said, "The world is harsh! Old Sun, you need to compensate me for my emotional loss!"
I asked, "Why should I?"
Fat Ma insisted, "You did a good deed while I ended up looking like the bad guy. You owe me some compensation."
I had no choice but to agree to him.
"Let's go!" Fat Ma urged.
"Where are we going?" the Mud Man asked.
Fat Ma was not in a good mood. "Of course, we're going forward! There’s a campfire here, which means someone has been here before. I've told you many times to learn more, but you just wouldn't listen. Now it's proven true," Fat Ma said, trailing off.
"I'm waiting for the rest," I prompted.
After a moment of thought, Fat Ma replied, "If you don't listen to Fat Master, you'll suffer the consequences."
I couldn't help but laugh at Fat Ma's words, while the Mud Man, feeling wronged by the reprimand, argued back. Eventually, when Fat Ma pulled out his trump card, the M11, the Mud Man dared not argue anymore.
All three of us had come into contact with firearms, but Fat Ma was clearly the best at handling them.
We stepped carefully over the stones on the riverbank as we moved forward. Fat Ma lit a cigarette and offered one to me. The Mud Man declined, as expected.
The sound of rustling filled the air.
As we continued forward, the path began to narrow. We wove through it, flanked by high cliffs of the Gorge on both sides, with the top sealed off.
Suddenly, a cold wind blew through. At that moment, I finished my cigarette; the ashes were blown away and stung my eyes.
Since I was at the back of our group, I suddenly felt something brush against my back.
I quickly turned around to look but saw nothing. Just then, a drop of water fell from above and trickled down my neck onto my back. It felt similar to earlier—chilly and damp! I wiped away the droplets from my back with my hand.
Sighed with relief, I continued on my way.
After a while, that strange feeling returned, but I brushed it off and kept walking. Suddenly, I felt my feet leave the ground. I looked up sharply and was instantly terrified.
It was hair wrapping around me, countless strands of Fur pulling me upward. I wanted to scream, but something was covering my mouth tightly.
I watched helplessly as two living people were right in front of me, yet I couldn't call for help.
After being pulled about a meter off the ground, they finally sensed something was wrong because the direction of the light had changed.
The mud man reacted immediately, climbing the steep cliff face to cut the Fur that was entangling me.
Fat Ma caught me below and helped clear the Fur away. I had almost been wrapped up like a Zongzi. Once the Fur was cleared, I could finally move freely.
Fat Ma teased, "Old Sun, you really got what you deserved."
I cursed back, "You shut up, Fatty."
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