The night was thick, like the dark blood oozing from a rotting corpse. The strong wind covered the sky and the earth, while the trees and the ground under the rain seemed to rot. The air around them was filled with a suffocating smell.
A dark cloud completely blocked the moonlight in the sky. At that moment, the mountain seemed to be enveloped in a dark and dense fog, giving the illusion that inside the tunnel there were some mutilated <sup>1</sup> faces watching them.
Jiang Boās facial muscles were contracted downward, and the base of his tongue in his throat was stretched out. His hands were clasped tightly in the mud as if he was desperately trying to escape from something. His eyes were wide open, bulging out intensely staring at the entrance of the tunnel as if he was staring right at the two men standing in front of him.
Never expecting to see such a scene, Qin Cheng took a cold breath and subconsciously stepped back two steps.
Lin Hongxing, who was standing beside him, had long fallen to the ground with a pale, terrified face.
āCall the police! Qin Cheng, letās quickly call the police!ā Struggling to get up, Lin Hongxing grabbed Qin Chengās arm with trembling hands as he started to shout in a panic.
Frankly speaking, in this situation, Qin Cheng wasnāt less calm than Lin Hongxing, it was just that he was forcing himself to calm down. Qin Cheng then felt that Lin Hongxing was holding his arm with a strong force, almost strangling it. The tighter the hold became, the more painful it felt. Qin Cheng tried to shake off Lin Hongxingās hand, and when he couldnāt get rid of it, he turned his head to look at Lin Hongxing with confusion. However, when Qin Cheng looked back, he was shocked by the scene that welcomed him, making him sweat cold and his body became numb.
It was obvious that Lin Hongxing hadnāt hurt his head. It was obvious that Lin Hongxing was in excellent condition just a moment ago. However, right now, Qin Cheng could clearly see that Lin Hongxingās face was covered with thick blood, falling down from the top of his headā¦.
āLin Hongxing! Let me go!ā Finding that it was impossible to break free from his tight grip, Qin Cheng was extremely anxious as he raised his foot to kick Lin Hongxing away, but it was useless.
Lin Hongxing wasnāt noticing the pain he was inflicting on Qin Cheng, he was just staring at him with wide eyes. Qin Cheng could almost hear his arm, which was being held by the tight grip of Lin Hongxing, creaking.
It all happened so fast. It was so strange that Lin Hongxing would act like this out of the blue! Seeing Lin Hongxingās fierce face approaching him, Qin Cheng raised his metal lantern and slammed it down on Lin Hongxingās head.
The hit seemed to have awakened Lin Hongxing, who was unaware of the tight grip he had inflicted on Qin Chengās arm just a moment ago, and suddenly fell to the ground. He then held his head and started to groan in pain. This sudden action made Qin Cheng panic as he backed away from Lin Hongxing.
āIā¦.weā¦.shouldnātā¦.haveā¦.comeā¦.ā Lin Hongxing shook his head covered in blood as he said in a strange tone of voice: āWeāve offended the owner of the tombā¦.ā
Qin Cheng covered his arm with his other hand, which hurt so much that he could hardly move it. Qin Cheng tried to get away from Lin Hongxing, who looked terrified, muttering like a maniac.
āI just saw itā¦.I saw a blackened blue ghostly faceā¦.he was asking for our lives! He wants us dead!ā
Not wanting to listen to Lin Hongxing nonsense anymore, Qin Cheng, who was trembling all over, pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed 110.
After reporting to the police, Qin Cheng didnāt know how to go back, and Lin Hongxing, who was lying in front of him, was clearly too mentally unstable to show him the way back. Qin Cheng then decided that it would be better to carry him down the mountain, however, he couldnāt guarantee if Lin Hongxing would go berserk out of nowhere and try to bite his neck. However, Qin Cheng couldnāt leave Lin Hongxing alone in this place, injured and covered in blood.
Qin Cheng didnāt consider himself as a caring person, but that didnāt mean he would dare to be so cruel when someone was in distress.
At some point, the rain had soaked his clothes wet. Although Qin Cheng couldnāt understand what had happened not long ago, he knew that they couldnāt stay here any longer.
Qin Cheng heard too many stories about strange forces and spirits and had seen the scariest ghosts in horror films. Honestly, he wasnāt even afraid of those false props, but that didnāt mean that he can stay calm when meeting the real thing.
Humans will always be afraid of the unknown after all. At that moment, Qin Cheng suddenly felt that when Lin Hongxing came looking for him, he was stupid enough to follow him right in the middle of the night. He was tempted by the devil, instead of calling the police right away.
It was really tiring trying to keep up a high level of alert all the time, and by using the light of the flashlight to look at the mad Lin Hongxing, who was talking nonsense in front of him, Qin Cheng found that his face was looking even paler than before.
ā He had lost too much bloodā¦ His life could be in great dangerā¦. ā
Qin Cheng suddenly thought: ā If Lin Hongxing were to die here and now, how could I explain it to the police? Two people dying at the same placeā¦. Who would believe me if I say that it was done by a strange force? ā
ā Not to mentionā¦.. ā
Qin Cheng looked at the flashlight in his hand. ā I wonāt be able to hide the fact that I hit Lin Hongxing on the head with this. Who would believe me if I said that Lin Hongxingās injury had nothing to do with me? ā
Thinking like this, Qin Cheng began to sweat cold. ā No, Lin Hongxing canāt die. If he dies, then I will have to die with him! ā
After recognizing this fact, Qin Cheng didnāt care whether Lin Hongxing was still mad or not, he quickly ran to his side to check his injuries.
To make sure that Lin Hongxing was still breathing, Qin Cheng took off his thin jacket and covered the wound on Lin Hongxingās head. His arm was injured, so it was completely impossible for him to pick up or carry Lin Hongxing down the mountain.
Qin Cheng could only be on guard at Lin Hongxingās side, making sure that he would not die.
The dark mountain was extremely quiet, and at some point, the rain became heavier, hitting his already cold and wet body. Qin Cheng knew that there was a tunnel behind him that could shelter them from the rain, but Qin Cheng didnāt want to step in at all. Because he knew that there were a pair of eyes staring at him. Even though he understood that those eyes couldnāt see anything anymore, it still sent chills down Qin Chengās spine.
Afraid that the police wouldnāt be able to find the place where they were, Qin Cheng made another call, feeling slightly relieved once he learned that the police were on their way there.
However, he was only relieved for a brief moment. Because right at the next instant, Qin Cheng was suddenly thrown out five meters away. His flashlight fell far away from him.
After heavily falling to the ground, he felt a dull pain in his chest. Qin Cheng couldnāt see anything but still felt that āsomethingā was approaching him. Behind him was the tunnel dug by Jiang Bo, and Qin Cheng, who wasnāt able to retreat, had no other choice than to climb inside the tunnel.
After crawling over Jiang Boās dead body, Qin Cheng tried his best to climb ever further inside. In that instant, he felt how his ankle was being grabbed! With such a huge force too!
āArgh!ā
ā Shit! Itās over! ā
Knowing that āthat thingā was trying to drag him out of the tunnel, Qin Cheng panicked and tightly grabbed a stone from the wall of the tunnel. However, the stone was buried in soft soil, so it soon fell down.
As a result, a lot of stones and mud fell on top of Qin Chengās body. However, the pain of being crushed couldnāt withstand his desire to survive and escape from that āthingā.
His fingers were like Jiang Boās, clinging to the soil under his body with all his strength. His ankles seemed to be crushed too.
Suddenly, his throat was strangled, leaving him unable to breathe and scream!
The pain of suffocation caused Qin Chengās fingers to plunge into the soil to grip deeper and deeper. A sense of despair also started to spread from the bottom of his heart.
Just when Qin Cheng thought that he was about to die like this, his fingertips touched a cold ancient treasure. At that moment, the power that was strangling his throat disappeared all of a sudden.
After being relieved from the suffocation, Qin Cheng began to cough violently, as if he was about to cough up his heart and lungs.
When his breath rhythm finally calmed down, Qin Cheng dug out the object he had just touched with his bloody fingers. His subconscious told him that āthat thingā was pushed back by this object laying under his fingers.
The small object wasnāt buried too deep, and he was able to dig it out fairly quickly. The soft and smooth feeling told Qin Cheng that this should be a piece of jade. Even though the tunnel was too dark to see anything, the jade pendant in his hand was glowing with a pale white light.
This jade pendant was about the size of a childās palm, and it was engraved with intricate patterns. Three lifelike dragons were connected at the head and tail, surrounded by delicate edges. The pattern in the middle had carved a pine crane with its neck curved upward.
It was a beautiful, beautiful white jadeā¦.
This was the first time Qin Cheng had seen such a beautiful jade pendant. It was transparent and warm, and while holding it on his palm, Qin Cheng felt very calm. Calm, and comfortable.
Qin Chengās fingers traced across the round white jade until his fingertips suddenly stopped on a particular spotā¦.
Carefully feeling the soft soil around him, Qin Cheng found that he couldnāt find his glasses, so he had no other choice than to lean in closer to the jade pendant to carefully identify the three characters engraved on it.
The three characters were written in Official Script <sup>2</sup> .
Surprised, Qin Cheng whispered to himself: āā¦.Suā¦.Jingā¦.Moā¦.ā
When these three characters came out of his mouth, Qin Cheng suddenly fainted after feeling a dull pain surging from his headā¦.
The ML might not appear quite yet, but at least we have his nameā¢(āĻā)ā¢ā¦ ah the suspense (āÆā§āā§)āÆ!!
.
(ą¹ĖĶ ą„¢ź“ ĖĶ)ćā” ą„°ą„±
Footnotes
<ol><b>č”čęØ”ē³</b> <b>xuĆØ rĆ²u mĆ³ hu</b> ; Chinese idiom, it means that the blood and flesh are rotten and the organs and limbs cannot be identified. Describes the tragedy of a death or an injury. <b>é¶ä¹¦</b> <b>lƬ shÅ«</b> ; the Official Script or Clerical Script, itās an archaic style of Chinese calligraphy that was made between the Warring States period [475-221 BC] and the Qin Dynasty [221-207 BC]. It was dominant in the Han Dynasty [206 BC-220 AC] and remained in use during the Wei [220-265] and Jin [265-420] periods.</ol>