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墨書 Inktalez
I looked up to see Fat Ma, who was pulling me back with all his might.
The rumbling sound behind us continued, as if the entire Training Ground was shaking.
I gasped for breath and got back on my feet, my heart still lodged in my throat.
"Are you okay, Old Sun?"
"I'm fine."
"Look!" Fat Ma suddenly shouted, his expression quite dramatic. I quickly turned around and saw that the open ground of the Training Ground had suddenly sprouted large pillars. They stood tall right in front of me.
Still a bit shaken, I stared at the scene in disbelief and quickly counted; there were actually twenty-five of them.
Suddenly, Fat Ma yelled, "Old Sun, there are more behind you!"
I turned again to see that these abrupt pillars were also standing behind us, obscuring our view of the mud people. I counted again and found twenty-four more behind us, making a total of forty-nine pillars.
They occupied the Training Ground just like that.
"Old Sun, are you all okay?"
Voices from behind belonged to Zhang Tong and the mud people.
Fat Ma shouted back, "We're fine! Just don't move!"
"Alright, stay safe."
Once the words were spoken, everything returned to silence.
We found ourselves among these towering pillars. Judging by the material, they appeared to be made of stone, intricately carved with patterns.
I carefully examined the specifics of my surroundings. In front of me stood twenty-five Stone Pillars, while behind me were twenty-four. Could this be a designated entrance?
Suddenly, I recalled what my grandfather once said about certain unique numbers in ancient times, each holding special significance. For instance, in "Journey to the West," the monk Tang Seng had to endure ninety-nine trials to obtain the true scriptures; missing one or having an extra was unacceptable. Moreover, Sun Wukong was refined for Seventy-Seven Days in the furnace. The meanings behind these numbers were indeed extraordinary.
As these thoughts raced through my mind, it seemed I was grasping some hidden information.
It appeared that Sun Wukong was refined by the Supreme Old Lord, who is considered the founding ancestor of Taoism. If that were the case, could this mechanism be related to Taoist teachings?
Though I speculated this way, I was still groping in the dark, utterly clueless.
Fat Ma also widened his eyes, searching around.
Looking at these obstructive Stone Pillars, Fat Ma felt troubled but refrained from acting recklessly; he had finally learned his lesson in this tomb.
More importantly, Fat Ma had already accumulated enough wealth here to retire comfortably and enjoy a carefree life for the rest of his days.
Continuing forward would purely be a matter of brotherhood with Old Sun.
After all, this could be considered Fat Ma's final venture.
The towering Stone Pillars stood about two meters high, well above our heads. Consequently, our field of vision became quite narrow.
I meditated on the number seventy-seven, but my mind was devoid of sufficient information.
“Fat Ma, have you ever seen anything like this after so many years underground?”
Fat Ma shook his head. “Damn, something so mysterious, it’s like marrying a new bride for the first time!”
Hearing Fat Ma say this made my heart sink.
I looked at the stone slab I had just stepped into; it had returned to its original state. The difference was that there were now several Stone Pillars around it.
I glanced again at the position where the corpses had fallen, perfectly avoiding the spots where these Stone Pillars had suddenly appeared. All these details sparked a glimmer of hope within me.
Perhaps the positions of those corpses still held the key to our breakthrough.
“Old Sun, do you have any ideas?”
I shook my head.
Fat Ma suddenly smiled mysteriously. “I have a plan. Do you want to hear it?”
“Speak.”
“Old Sun, look at all the gaps between these pillars. Why don’t we just slip through them? It’s possible these Stone Pillars are just a distraction meant to scare us,” Fat Ma said proudly.
“ Fat Ma, who in their right mind would bury so many Stone Pillars underground just for a trick?” I countered.
“I have another idea,” Fat Ma exclaimed suddenly. “Let me climb up one of these Stone Pillars and see what’s going on here.” Without waiting for my response, he reached out to touch a Stone Pillar and applied some force.
Suddenly, a thunderous sound erupted again, and several fire dragons appeared unexpectedly. Fat Ma was caught off guard and burned directly. "Ah!" he screamed in agony as he stumbled backward.
I quickly grabbed Fat Ma, steadying him.
Flames were licking at his arm, and I hurried to extinguish them.
"Damn it," Fat Ma said angrily.
I quickly inquired about his condition.
"Don't worry, Old Sun, I'm fine." Fat Ma lowered his arm that had been shielding his face.
Although he had avoided the fire dragons, his face was still blackened from the smoke, and his eyebrows had been singed away.
Fat Ma stared at me and asked, "Old Sun, what kind of look is that? Are you jealous that Fat Master is more handsome than you? Some things are destined; you can't blame your father or your mother for it!"
To be honest, what I admired most about Fat Ma was his optimistic personality. No matter how dire the situation, he could always find a reason to laugh.
Fat Ma was waiting for my response.
I had no choice but to tell him to stop rambling. Fat Ma grinned proudly, "Admit it!"
I ignored him.
"What was up with those fire dragons just now?" Fat Ma suddenly asked seriously.
"They should be the Ambush Fire buried inside the Stone Pillar." Both Fat Ma and I were familiar with the term Ambush Fire; we had encountered it during our previous excursions.
However, the Ambush Fire buried within the Stone Pillar was something I had never heard of before.
Fat Ma snapped back to reality, staring intently at the Stone Pillar.
I urged him not to move recklessly again, lest he ignite something dangerous.
After the incident, Fat Ma was still able to remember the lesson a few hours later.
The Stone Pillars that had released the Ambush Fire bore some scorch marks, and the patterns on them had darkened as well. It was only then that I began to examine the designs above.
Yet, I still dared not touch the Stone Pillar, especially with Fat Ma's experience as a warning.
The patterns above were intricate and clear, showing no signs of damage. They seemed so familiar, yet I couldn't quite recall where I had seen them before.
Where had I encountered these patterns?
Moreover, it appeared that the designs on several nearby pillars were interconnected, like pieces of a continuous map.
I couldn't help but speculate that this might indeed be part of a larger map. I pondered this thought, but for now, I had no way of knowing about the patterns on the other pillars.
The position I found myself in was quite awkward, and those patterns seemed to trigger a memory from somewhere.
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